George Graham

Born: December 14, 1847 in Thurnscoe, England

Died: 1877

Parents: Richard and Mary Woodcock Graham

Married: Ann Briggs on December 11, 1873 in Salina, Utah

Children: George William, James Richard

Overland Trail Company: Captain Ansel P. Harmon Company Left Florence, Nebraska in May 1862.

Relationship to Me: 3rd Great Grandfather (Graham Branch)

Second of 5 children born to Richard and Mary Woodcock Graham. Information on George has been very difficult to find. He came to Utah with his parents in 1862, but his mother died before reaching Zion, somewhere near the Utah/Wyoming border He married Ann Briggs in Salina on December 11, 1873 and their first son, George William was born the following year. In 1875 George's brother Richard was the first settler in Milburn, UT which is very near Fairview. George and his brother John soon followed. His second son James was born in 1876. The following year George passed away. I have not been able to find an exact date or cause for his death. Neither have I found a picture. It was stated in one of the documents I read while doing research that there is no known photo of him remaining today.

Charles Henry Hales

Born: On June 17, 1817 in Rainham, Kent, England

Died: On July 1, 1889 in Spanish Fork, Utah County, Utah

Parents: Stephen and Mary Ann Hales

Married: Julia Ann Lockwood on October 31, 1939. Frances Elizabeth Almira Brunyer on October 31, 1856. (This was a plural marriage.)

Children by Julia Ann Lockwood: George Gillett, John Taylor, Harriet Elizabeth, Maria Josephine, Stephen Fredrick, Joseph Lockwood, Charles Henry, Mary Isabell, Julia Ardena, Eliza Ann, Jonathan Hyrum, William Parley

Children by Frances Elisabeth Almira Brunyer: Lucy Elmina, James Lawrence, Alma Charles, Caroline Elmira, Franklin Henry, Harmon Brunyer, Edward Moroni, Joseph Mathew, Richard Smith, Sarah Jane, Hannah Permelia, Daniel Wells, Mary Ann

Relationship to Me: 3rd Great Grandfather (Hales Branch)

Charles was born in Rainham, England, the eldest of nine children born to Stephen and Mary Ann Hales. Growing up he and his family were members of the Church of England. He came to Canada with his family in 1832. His father, Stephen, was shoe and boot maker, and taught him to do the same. When he was 15 he was allowed to choose his own trade. Since being a boot maker did not interest him, he took up farming.

Upon hearing the gospel and being moved by it, Charles was baptized into the LDS faith in 1836 by Parley P. Pratt. In 1838 he sold the farm and began moving with the saints. He came to Huntsville, Missouri and stayed there for a time, working to earn money to push westward toward Zion. This is where he met Julia Ann Lockwood. Once he had moved to Quincy, Illinois he married Julia on "the last day of October 1839." She was just 15 years old.

In 1840 they moved to Nauvoo and Charles immediately joined a brass band. He and the band played at many local events, including a great number of building dedications for the ever-growing church.

He and his family arrived in Salt Lake City in 1852. He also chose October 31 to marry his second wife, Frances Brunyer in 1856.The family moved to Spanish Fork in 1858 and upon arrival were very poor. At that time their poverty was so great that they struggled even to feed and clothe their family. Eventually Charles became a prominent builder and farmer. He and Julia were members of the Spanish Fork Choir for a number of years. Additionally, he held offices and civic duties for the city of Spanish Fork.  Altogether there were 15 Hales children, and, despite the family's hardships, all of them survived to adulthood.

Spanish Fork Choir

James Briggs

Born: August 1828 in England

Died: 1877 between Fairview and Salina, Sevier County, Utah

Married: Hannah Smith on June 10, 1850 in Manchester, England

Children: William, Ann, Sarah, John, Eliza, Robert, James

Relationship to Me: 4th Great Grandfather (Graham Branch)

Information on James Briggs has been quite difficult to find. I have not yet found an exact birth date for him, nor have I found the names of his parents. He married Hannah Smith in 1850, and together the two had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood. It seems as though he and his family made the journey from England to Utah sometime in the early 1870's. This time frame makes immigration and emigration information difficult to obtain, since after the railroad reached Utah in 1868, records were no longer as meticulously kept about who had emigrated to the territory. He, Hannah, and their children, lived in Fairview. In 1877 there was a drought and James set out for Salina in search of water to bring back to his family. Somewhere between the two towns he had died on the road. Some passersby discovered his body and buried it along the roadside.