The vertical chart listing the family of Edmund Lovell Ellsworth, “captain of the first handcart company,” is more than 5½ feet long. The term handcart company refers to the group that migrated from Iowa City to Utah in 1856.
Compiled some years ago by descendant John Orval Ellsworth of Salt Lake City, the narrow chart names Edmund’s four wives, 42 children and all his grandchildren and great-grandchildren at whatever time it was put together. It was a polygamous family during a time when that was allowed in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The document was passed on to me by someone who lived in Down East Maine, so of course I wonder if there is any connection between Edmund Ellsworth and Maine or even the city of Ellsworth. The Maine city was named in 1800 for Oliver Ellsworth, the Connecticut delegate to the National Convention that worked on the Constitution.
Edmund Lovell Ellsworth married four women between 1842 and 1856 — Mormon pioneer Brigham Young’s first child Elizabeth Young, Mary Ann Dudley, Mary Ann Bates and Mary Ann Jones. Dudley was born in New Hampshire, Bates and Jones in England, according to information online. Edmund was born in 1819 in Paris, New York, and died in 1893 in Arizona. I have copied the names of the children exactly as they were handwritten on the chart, which was printed in Salt Lake City.
Edmund’s children with Elizabeth Young were: Charlotte; Edmund, who married Ellen Cornelia Blair; Rowennah W., who married John Howard; Brigham H., who married Helen A. Gibson; Alice Vilate, who married J.O. Swift; Luna Caroline, who married Richard Franklin Jardine; John W., who married Jennie Hanson; and Mariam J., who married Emmett Mansley.
His children with Mary Ann Dudley were: Mary Ann, who married Spencer Raymond; Albert Lovel, married Emma Eams and Isabella Hogge; James Dudley; Oliver Dudley, married Bernadena B. Washburn; Susan L., married W.N. Stephens; Asa Charles, married Emily Theurer; Jerome D., married Mary Klingler; Dudley; Hannah, married L.H. Poole.
Edmund’s children with Mary Ann Bates were: William, who married Emma Daley; George F., married Sarah Follett; Homer; Fannie, married Charles H. Greenwell; Orson, married Lucy Oakley; Nellie, married A.J. Merrill; Loretta, married H. Hansen; Julia married S.E. West; Annie M., married M.C. Phelps; Loren; Emmaline; Effie, married G.E. Phelps; Ellye, married R.M. Bleak.
His children with Mary Ann Jones were: Abner, who married Betsy Merrill; Agnes, married J. Hogge; Charles Henry, married Isabelle Merriot; Frank, married Edna Merrill; Louis, married Josephine Crismon; William Wallace, married Martha Passey; Ernest, married Estella A. Johnson; Wilford; Sarah Violate, married E. Crisman; Laura, married John Hall; Harry, married Margaret Hall; Byron, married Clara J. Hall.
In perusing the names of the 42 grandchildren and their spouses, when listed, I didn’t notice any that seemed to be particularly Maine surnames, except for Washburn, though of course that name did spread to other states, including Minnesota.
The Bernadena B. Washburn who married Oliver Dudley Ellsworth, I found online, was Bernadena Blomquist, born in 1863 to Frederick and Ulricka (Carlson or Carlsdotter) Blomquist in Stockholm, Sweden. The family came to Oregon. But I never found a Washburn husband or other connection.
I read in one online site that in 1986, there were estimated to be 5,000 descendants of Edmund Ellsworth and his wives. I’m very interested to know if there are known descendants of the family in Maine and where, not that we need to publish anyone’s name who wishes not to.
In writing that, I’m not suggesting that descendants should feel stigmatized if ancestors were involved in plural marriage. The LDS Church has not allowed polygamy for more than 100 years.
I wanted to publish the names of Edmund Lovell Ellsworth’s immediate family as a genealogical resource. At some point the chart will be placed with a public library in Maine so that it is available to anyone who wants to see it and read up on the grandchildren and their spouses, etc. Information on the family is available on the Web, as well.
Genealogy meeting
Judith Reitze will give a program on “Using FamilySearch” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20, at Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow St.. All are welcome, and I’m sure this will be a most informative program.
For i nformation on researching family history in Maine, see Genealogy Resources under Family Ties at bangordailynews.com/browse/family-ties. Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402, or email familyti@bangordailynews.com.