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Show 1894, at which time they built and moved into the large brick house at 1284 North Main St . In 1902 they moved into a smaller home across the street. They had seven children, five sons and two daughters. All of them are livin g, married and rearin g families of upright citizens. Everyone of the children married in the temple and many of the sons and grandsons have filled honorable missi ons and held responsible positions in the church. They also adopted and rai sed one girl, Ora Pe nnin g ton, to womanhood. Mr. <ln d Mrs. Ford celebrated th eir 60th weddi ng an niversary , January 4,1928, in Centerville 2nd Ward A mu seme nt Hall, w ith 125 guests in attendance. At this time, a picture WilS taken of the family pres e nt numbering eighty -fiv e, includin g th e in-l aws. With his wife, h e had the pleasure of takin g two trips out of the state, one to <1 livestock convention in Fort Worth, T exas in January 1900 and the other to Los Angeles in January 1909, also to the dedication of the Canadi<1l1 Templ e. John Ford, Jr . died October 1st, 1928, at his hom e in Centerville of heart trouble . Although he was eighty-five years of age, he never appeared old. The family cherishes his memory . ELLA MAUD (B LISS) ALLEN The joseph Frallce biography was received from Maud Bliss Allell of 220 Callyoll Rd, Salt wke City, who was a lIatiollally recogllized genealogist. She passed nway 0/1 july 3, 1968 . Mrs. Allen devoted forty years of her life to ge/lealogical research. Her books are found in many of the great gellen logical libraries of the United States. A member of the Church of jesus Christ of wtter-day Saints, she sen1ed as a teacher in the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Assn . alld in gmealogical clnsses. Mrs. Allm was bam Feb. 1, 1880, ill Salt Lake City, a daughter of Charles Henry and Matilda Wilcox Bliss . She graduated from LOS Business College. a,l jun e 20, 1902, she was married to Wilford jacksoll Allell. Their marriage was later solemnized in th e Salt wke Tem ple. Mr. Allen died April 6, 1949. The mother of nine childrm, she IOns a gold star mother. FitJe of her sons served in World War II. This great gmealogist was recognized for her work in gmealogical a/lei historical research , by being elected a member of the h,stitute of American Gmealogy of ChiCilgo . Atthe time she was givell this hOllOr she was the only woman from Salt Lake to receitJe this recog nitioll . She was also givellt he great honor by the Mitre Press of Londoll, Engla lid, of bei ng asked to appear in Volume II of the Prillcipai Women of America. Her daughter, Mrs . Bicknell (Ruby) Robbins , also very talented and well known for her genealogy work, has given us the information about Mrs . Allen. She has been extremely helpful in gaining information about her great-grandfather joseph Fran ce. JOSEPH FRANCE In the small Township of Sugarloaf, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, Ann Wale France gave birth to a baby boy, the 9th of September 1813 . Her husband William was a pioneer from England to Pennsylvania . Who would believe this small baby boy, with blue eyes and black hair, named Joseph France would some day become over six feet tall and be a well-built man of 226 pounds , He became known as a great pioneer, a convincing preacher and a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He grew to manhood, was baptized in September 1843 and married Elizabeth or Betsey Card. She was born in Howard, Steuben County, New York, on August 9th, 1816. After giving birth to a son DeWilt and a daughter Amanda Melvina, Joseph's wife passed away. At that time Amanda was only three years old. Amanda grew to womanhood and later married Steuben Rollins, another original settler in Cen terville. DeWilt went to California and died there unmarried. Joseph France's second wife was Diana Lusina Smith, born 25 March 1822, at Cayhea, New York and she was the mother of two of his daughters Annie and Leona . (On one sheet Leona was listed as Naomi). It is recorded in the minutes of the conference held at Greenwood, Steuben County, New York, the 6th of April, 1845, "The Ossian East Branch of the Alleganey County, Pa. was represented by Joseph France. There were thirty-nine members, two elders, three priests, two teachers, one deacon and five members baptized since last conference. In 1846 Joseph France with Isaac and John Roger Robbins and many other Saints signed up to travel on the ship Brooklyn which was to sail around Cape Horn as an experiment of Church immigration, but for some reason, perhaps for lack of funds as this was a very expensive trip, his reserva tions were canceled. He emigrated with his family to Council Bluffs, suffering the trials and tribulations, the sad persecutions and hardships which was the lot of all pioneers at that time . Driven again by the ruthless mobs they finally settled in Pottawattamie Co., Iowa, where on the 20th of January he with hundreds of other Saints of the community in their camp, known as "Log Tabernacle" signed a petition to the United States for a post office at that place as they were compelled to go so far for the mail. In the company of Captain Cully, he left with his family and started on their long, weary journey across the trackless plains to join (217) |
