Origins of the Hope Family
The Hope Family began, of course, with Adam and Eve and then through the
lineage of Shem, one of Noah’s sons. The
Old Testament and the history of the world is probably the best reference to
where the family was led. We first meet
the Hope name in England. The name Hope
is believed to mean a meadow in a glen, dell or wooded valley. We can follow the Hope name to the present.
The Hope name first
appears, at least for now (2003), in East Sussex, England. It was part of the old province of Wessex at
the time. Most of the Hope family
history in England is centered in this area so a map of the area is listed
below for reference.
The first Hope in
our records was Anthony Hope born in Heathfield, East Sussex about 1661
and lived to about 64 years. He married
a woman named Avis from the same town.
She died at age 52 but bore 5 children to Anthony: Elizabeth, Avis,
Anthony, Ralph, and William. Avis and
Ralph were born in the nearby town of Waldron so the family must have moved
around a little.
Ralph
Hope,
born in Waldron in 1695, married Anne Pyles also from Waldron when he was 30
and she was 18. They had 7 children:
William, Anne, Elizabeth, Sarah, Avis, Mary, and Charity. Ralph died at age 73 and is probably buried
in the Waldron Parish cemetery. A
picture of the Parish and cemetery taken in about the year 2001 is included.
Avis
Hope,
the fifth child, born in the year 1735, must have had some difficulties in her
life. Her sister Elizabeth, three years older, died when Avis was only
ten. Avis remained single for many
years. She gave birth to Sarah when she
was 31 and Stephen when she was 33. Both
were born out of wedlock and she refused to reveal whom the father might
be. She gave both children her own last
name. She lived her entire life in
Waldron, which was probably not an easy thing to do with fatherless
children. Avis eventually married
Barnaby Jenner when she was 44.
Stephen
Hope,
Avis’ second child, was born in Waldron in 1769, just 7 years before the
American Revolution. They lived their
entire lives in Waldron. He married, at
age 25, Elizabeth Coleman, age 22, in the nearby town of Mayfield. They had 8 children all born in Waldron.
Stephen died at age 52, and Elizabeth died at age 81. Their children were Stephen, Mary, Ann, John,
Jemima, Sarah, Lucy, and Francis.
Stephen
Hope,
the oldest son, was born in 1823 and lived his entire life in Waldron. He married Caroline Hook when he was 27. She was 24 and apparently had been married
before. They had 8 children: Stephen,
who died 4 days later, Caroline, Stephen, Frances, Elizabeth, James, Elias and
Sarah.
James
Hope,
the 6th child, was born 7 Jan 1833.
He was born in Waldron and probably farmed with his father, brothers,
cousins and everyone else in town. After
years of living in a small town, everyone was probably related and knew each
other from generation to generation.
James married Martha Goldsmith from East Hoathly when he was 27 and she
was 19. They had 4 children: Fannie,
William Edwin, James, and Stephen.
James Hope (Jr) was born on 11
September 1864 in Waldron. His
grandmother, Caroline,
died when he was 3 years old. When
James was 13, his mother died at the young age of 36. Six
months later, his Grandfather, James, also died. He was 82.
When James was 14 his life changed drastically. His older brother William, age 17, left in
the spring for America, in company with
some returning LDS missionaries aboard the ship
Nevada. James and his father and
younger brother left Waldron and set sail for America
from Liverpool on 6 September, 1879.
Fannie, age 19, stayed in England and married
William Woodgate about two months after their departure, on 22 Nov
1879. She lived a full
life and had 13 children.
James turned 15 on board the ship “Wyoming”. They arrived in Utah on 24 September,
1879. The ocean crossing and the
train trip to Utah took only 18 days.
(Note: My heart has often ached for James Hope (Sr). He came from
a small town where everyone knew everyone as friends and who
probably turned against him for his new-found religion. He left the
green, wet countryside of England where he had recently buried
his wife, mother and father. He left his oldest daughter there
just 2 months before her wedding knowing he would probably
never see her again in this life. Leaving the only home he had ever
known, he arrived just 18 days later to look over a dry, sage-brush
covered desert where he had to start all over from scratch. It was fall,
a time of death for a farmer. He lived on the frontier 10 more years
and died of old age at 56)
The Hope Family was
sponsored to go to America by the Dansie family from Bluffdale, Utah. It is assumed, by Dennis Hope, that the
sponsor was Robert Dansie and his brother Alfred. Robert, older by two years, went on a mission
to England. He would have been about 27
years old when the James Hope family emigrated.
There is an “R. Dansie” among the returning missionaries.
Mousley (Bluffdale)
before the Hope’s arrived:
The land was covered
primarily with dry june grass and sage brush.
Water was the primary influence to how and where people settled. There was always too much or too little
water. There were no appreciable streams
up on the bench land to sustain a settlement and the low lands flooded each
spring. Forts had to be built for
possible Indian depredations and they were built at Herriman, Draper, Union and
West Jordan, all near streams. It wasn’t
until the mid 1860’s that settlement could progress without the need of
forts. Indians continued to travel
through the area twice a year as they moved from different camping
grounds. Contacts were mostly congenial
with some trading and begging. They
routinely camped in the area around 13400 S and 1900 W. Their migrations continued until almost
1900.
Trees grew only in
low areas, near water. The first
pioneers settled in the river low lands in 1865, but the river was uncontrolled
and would flood every spring. At one
time, the low lands stayed covered with water for two full years. The pioneers built their homes along the
bluffs to avoid the floods but have easy access to water. The lower ground was used for wet grass,
alfalfa and other water dependent crops.
The upper bench (high ground) was used for pasture and dry farm wheat. Raising sheep was a big industry in the early
days of the southwest valley. There was
no wire for fences, so brands became important to keep livestock apart. The first fences, especially in the low
lands, were made of intertwined willows and native wood.
Each family, as all
pioneers had to be, was self sufficient with livestock, cows, chickens, sheep,
etc. They hunted in the low lands, bench
land and canyons in the mountains.
It required a lot of effort to go to one of the canyons to get logs for cabins, so early homes were often dugouts, small one-room homes dug into the side of a hill with the front made of local wood or adobe. The roofs leaked and the floors were packed dirt. As time went by, log cabins were built and eventually rock/brick homes. If you look under some of the aluminum siding around town, the old pioneer brick can still be seen.
It required a lot of effort to go to one of the canyons to get logs for cabins, so early homes were often dugouts, small one-room homes dug into the side of a hill with the front made of local wood or adobe. The roofs leaked and the floors were packed dirt. As time went by, log cabins were built and eventually rock/brick homes. If you look under some of the aluminum siding around town, the old pioneer brick can still be seen.
1879 James Hope (Sr) and his
family homesteaded 40 acres in Mousley (later called Bluffdale) on Redwood road
near the Dansies. They probably built a
dugout first, then, built a more substantial place as soon as they could. James Eli, born in 1893, remembers, “The
home was of brick adobe with an orchard beside it. Eli liked the peaches.” The location is on the map where Eli
remembered the house to be, just below the canal at about 14060 S and 1600 W.
They were not the first settlers so they probably relied on the Robert and Alfred Dansie families. Alfred Dansie, Robert’s younger brother, had arrived a year or two earlier and had cleared 60 acres of sagebrush to farm.
They were not the first settlers so they probably relied on the Robert and Alfred Dansie families. Alfred Dansie, Robert’s younger brother, had arrived a year or two earlier and had cleared 60 acres of sagebrush to farm.
1880 The 1880 U.S. Census lists
James Hope age 60, farm laborer and one son, James age 15, farm laborer. Two entries away are Robert Dansie, rancher,
age 30, his wife and two kids, ages 5 and 2.
James (Jr) got a job herding sheep for the Dansies. He said he would work until he had some money
accumulated and then quit and go back to the valley until it was gone then go
back to work again. He told of driving
sheep down State Street in downtown Salt Lake City. He never did pick up the habit of swearing or
taking the Lord's name in vain.
A family story tells of a day when James (Sr) went gunning for
rabbits. He was crawling through a
fence. In maneuvering the gun through
the fence, it discharged accidentally and hit him in the arm. The discharge tore away a bit of his flesh
and ignited his shirt. He caught a bit
of the blood with his hand and dripped it onto his shirt to squelch the burning
1882 James (Jr) older brother,
William Edwin Hope, age 20, married Lucy Jane Higley from South Jordan.
1883 Bluffdale Precinct was
created on Dec 14.
1884 On Nov 5th William
E. Hope bought 26.68 acres of land just north of his father’s homestead. He bought it from the widow Elizabeth Jones
for $266.80.
1886 On May 1st Stephen
Hope bought 10 acres from the widow Elizabeth Jones. He paid $100 (verified through Salt Lake
County Land Records). In the book,
“Bluffdale, One of a Kind,” Compiled by the Neilson Family, page 81 it states
that Stephen lived in a dugout along Rose Creek Hollow for about six
years. (or this may be the James (sr)
family.)
1886 The name of the town,
Mousley, was changed to Bluffdale, Aug 5th.
1888 James’ younger brother,
Stephen, died in October at the age of 19.
There are two death dates in “Family Search” of the LDS Church, this one
and one in 1885. Dennis Hope uses this
date because of the May 1, 1886 entry.
1889 James Hope (Jr), age 25,
married Fannie Elzada Higley on Jan 29.
James (Jr) was an honest, likeable man.
The neighbors used to say that everything Jimmie turned to do he did
well. He was diligent and used to get up
about 4:00 o'clock in the morning during the summer. Years later when he came up to Idaho to visit
in the summers he could be heard working in the garden with a hoe about
daylight. The farm (Bluffdale) wasn't
very good and he couldn't make a living on it so he worked for the railroad
days and did the farming morning and night.
He hauled hay by the light of the moon.
He was in a cave-in on the railroad and hurt his back. This bothered him throughout the remainder of
his life.
1889 James Hope (Sr) hand wrote
his last will and testament on November 11, leaving his 40 acres to his two
sons, William and James. Stephen is not
mentioned as a living heir. (See the 1888 entry) It was filed in Probate Court of Salt Lake
County, by William Hope, on Oct 2, 1894.
1889 James Hope (Sr) died on
November 25th, just two weeks after writing his will. Family records indicate he was buried in
Bluffdale, but he is not buried in the Bluffdale City Cemetery. The first interment in that cemetery is
1890. No evidence can be found of any
other burial site, private or public in Bluffdale, South Jordan, or West
Jordan. South Jordan and West Jordan
have unmarked, unknown graves.
However, there is a “James Steven Hope” buried in
the Riverton City Cemetery in plot 07-01-05.
No one knows who or when this James Hope was buried but the location
indicates that it was in the very early years of the settlement of the
Riverton/Bluffdale areas, and no other Hope family was found in any of the
surrounding communities. The cemetery is on 13200 S and about 1500 W, only
about a mile from the Hope Homestead. It
could be James’ (Sr) grave, or his son Stephen, who died about 2 years earlier
and his grave location is also unknown.
1889 Fannie, James (Jr) and
Fannie’s first child, was born on Nov 25, the same day that her grandfather
James (sr) Hope died.
1891 Florence, James (jr) and
Fannie’s second child, was born Feb 19th.
1893 James Eli, James (jr) and
Fannie’s third child, was born on Feb 11th.
1893 The first schoolhouse was
built at 14459 S 1700 W.
1894 William E. Hope cleared his
father’s will through probate court, leaving his 40 acres to William and to
James (jr), debt free.
1896 Utah became a state.
1898 James (jr) and another man,
Jim Koon, traveled to the Rexburg area to investigate the opportunities
there. The area had been opened for
settlement in 1890.
1900 A growing drought forced many
farmers to sell and even abandon their farms.
Sugar beets had become a large cash crop in Bluffdale, but by 1901 some
farmers couldn’t even pay their taxes.
The canals across the bench land were dry. Many farmers that were forced out moved to
southern Idaho (Rexburg) and Oregon.
Some residents eventually returned to Bluffdale and later told their family stories for the history books. Those that didn’t return, like the Hopes, aren’t in the Bluffdale histories except on page 81 of “Bluffdale, One of a Kind,” compiled by the Neilson Family.
Some residents eventually returned to Bluffdale and later told their family stories for the history books. Those that didn’t return, like the Hopes, aren’t in the Bluffdale histories except on page 81 of “Bluffdale, One of a Kind,” compiled by the Neilson Family.
1900 In April, James sold their place in Bluffdale
and moved. Their ages at the time were:
James (Jr) 36, his wife, Fannie, 31, Fannie age 10, Florence age 9, James Eli
age 7, Annabell age 5, Harriet age 3, John Henry age 1 ½.
James and his son Eli left Bluffdale
together. Years later, Eli related a
little of the move. A
team pulled a wagon with a white top buggy behind.
An unbroken, young saddle horse-with saddle-and
six cows were tied behind the vehicles. James and Eli (7yrs) were the "captain and crew". As they passed Uncle Will's place little Hyrum (6 yrs) came out and
wanted to go with them.
He cried when his parents came out and got him.
They probably went up Redwood Road and got up as
far as the main part of Salt Lake when night overtook
them. They camped by the rock wall of one of the
Tithing yards. It
snowed during the night. One heifer got
loose from her tether and got into the yard and ate some of the church hay. (Bet it tasted good.) She bloated but James worked with her and saved her life. It snowed so much during the night that they
stayed over until the following morning.
The other members of the family traveled by train to Preston where Freeman Higley, Fannie Higley Hope's father, met them and carried them home to Thatcher near Grace and Soda Springs, in Gentile Valley. Freeman had moved there from Bluffdale in 1890 as dated by a land purchase. James and Eli brought the animals and vehicles up through Gentile Valley (Gem Valley today) and then it appears that the entire family traveled to Rexburg together. The family continued on to Salem but the exact date is not known.
The other members of the family traveled by train to Preston where Freeman Higley, Fannie Higley Hope's father, met them and carried them home to Thatcher near Grace and Soda Springs, in Gentile Valley. Freeman had moved there from Bluffdale in 1890 as dated by a land purchase. James and Eli brought the animals and vehicles up through Gentile Valley (Gem Valley today) and then it appears that the entire family traveled to Rexburg together. The family continued on to Salem but the exact date is not known.
About the journey Eli wrote: "Only part of
the streams were bridged in those days.
At one stream in Southeastern Idaho's Gentile Valley the outfit started to
cross. It was my assignment to scurry
the cattle into the water after which I would hurry and jump into the trailing
buggy. On this occasion the buggy came
unhitched in midstream. I was frightened
but Dad got it re-attached and we continued.
Like most young boys I was afraid of Indians. As we approached Ft. Hall we came upon two on
horseback. As we approached I was having
a turn at riding in the wagon and driving the team. In my fright I got down off the wagon seat
and crouched down in the wagon box peeking up occasionally to see if I was
staying on the roadway. But I thought I
would surely lose my scalp here."
The Hope Family in Idaho
1900 They went directly to Salem to stay with Wells Cheney, Fannie's
uncle, who lived in the old John Ball place (1 1/2 miles straight north of the
Rexburg Cemetery). They traveled to
Ashton, Marysville, over into the Teton Basin, and elsewhere looking for the
ideal place to settle, and finally selected 120 acres across the street from
Wells. The farm was still occupied so
they rented a four-room house with a dirt roof until fall.
1900 William came to Idaho in the
late fall and needed a well. They
shoveled the snow away and then built a fire to thaw the ground so they could
dig the well. They got along fine, and
always helped each other when they could.
William had to pass James' (Jr) place when tending ditch water and would
always come in before breakfast to say hello.
William had to go to Ogden for an operation and James (Jr) went and
stayed with him. He was very good with
the sick.
James (Jr) and Fannie had 3 more children for a total of 10. Their names were, Jennie Irene 25 Aug 1901,
Clarence Dewey 2 Jun 1904, William Earl 11 Jun 1906.
James (Jr) raised beets, grain, hay, potatoes and livestock. He was honest and dependable and always ready
to help the Bishop with work or money.
He helped build churches, temples and hospitals. His word was as good as his bond. He tried to keep out of debt.
1913 James Eli Hope went on a
mission to England on 11 June. He spent
two years there, one year during World War I.
1916 James Eli Hope married Emily
Withers on 20 Dec, in the Salt Lake Temple.
James (jr) sold the farm to James Eli and Emily, and moved to Salt
Lake. In colder months of the year,
Emily used to kill a chicken, cool it, and send it to them in Salt Lake via
mail for their dinner table.
1917 Jennie Clara Hope was born on
17 Oct.
1918 Arthur Carl Hope was born on 4 Oct
1921 Lester Eli Hope was born on
14 May
1922 Grant Hope was born on 8 Jun.
1923 Ross Hope was born on 31 May
1927 Ivan Nephi Hope was born on
15 Oct.
1939 Fannie died on 30 Jan. As her and James’ (jr) children were
gathering for the 50th wedding anniversary, Fannie took sick with a blood
clot. She didn't know the family when
they arrived. They were at her side when
she died. James took it very well but
never got over it. He was very lonely
without her. They had never been
separated but for a few days in all their married life.
1941 James (jr) lived two years
after Fannie’s death. He died on 2
Feb. He and Fannie are buried in lots 66
and 67 of the Ferndale section of the Wasatch Lawn Cemetery in Salt Lake City.
1942 Emily Withers Hope died on 9
Aug and was buried in Rexburg on 12 Aug.
1978 James Eli Hope died in Idaho
Falls on 6 Dec and was buried in Rexburg on 9 Dec.
7. Sources
Private
Records:
·
A Brief History of James Eli and Emily Withers
Hope, Written by Arthur C. Hope, Edited by Rene C. Hope
·
Arthur Hope's summary notes in family records, July
1995.
·
Family Records in the possession of Dennis Hope
·
Conversations by Dennis Hope with:
- Bart Barton, Bluffdale City Code Enforcement
- Melvin Spencer, grandson of original Bluffdale pioneer
- Ron Jones, grandson of Elizabeth Jones
- Thelma Peterson, great granddaughter of Alfred Dansie
- Brent Dansie, great grandson of Alfred Dansie
Public Records:
·
“Bluffdale, One of a Kind”, Compiled by the Neilson
Family, Northwest Publishing of Salt Lake City, 1995
·
“Riverton, The Story of a Utah Country Town” by
Melvin L. Bashore and Scott Crump, Publishers Press, Salt Lake City, 1994
Government Records:
·
Cemetery Records for:
- City of Bluffdale
- City of Herriman
- City of Riverton
- City of South Jordan
- City of West Jordan
- State Cemetery database
(http://www.dced.state.ut.us/history/Services/lcburials.html)
·
Last Will and Testament of James (sr) Hope, on file
with the Third District Court, Probate Division, Salt Lake County, Utah, Nov.
3, 1894.
·
Salt Lake County Records, land and property
·
Utah State Archives
·
Utah State Historical Society, at the Rio Grande
Station Museum
·
1880 U.S. Census, FHL Film # 1255337, page
291A
Church
Records:
·
Church Archives, Membership Records for the
Mayfield, England Branch, Call # CR 375 8, Reel # 1979
·
Church Archives, Membership Records for the
Salem, Idaho Ward, Call # CR375 8, Reel # 6083
·
Church Archives, Membership Records for the
South Jordan Utah Ward, Call # CR375 8, Reel # 6551
·
Church Archives, Membership Records for the Chiddingly/Heathfield,
Branches in England, Call # CR375 8, Reel # 1962
·
Church Archives, Membership Records for the
Uckfield Branch in England, Call # CR375 8, Reel # 1993
·
Church Family History Library, Immigration
Index, S.S. Wyoming 1879
No comments:
Post a Comment