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| Dimick Huntington |
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by Donovan Yingst
Do you have an ancestor that traveled any part of the Oregon Trail between 1811 and 1911? If so, you qualify for an Oregon Trail Certificate offered by the Idaho Genealogical Society. The Society requires proof for both travel and line of descent.
You may be lucky and readily find your information in published references, public and church records and family sources. Such was the case for my wife, Alice A. (Johnstone) Yingst. She actually had 5 ancestors that moved west to Utah in 1847 and 1848, with both travel and descent well-documented. Thus, it became a matter of deciding which ancestor should be picked for the certificate.
We decided on Dimick Baker Huntington, the oldest of her five ancestors that traveled part of the Oregon Trail; then began the search for acceptable proof. An extra bonus was family and historical information that came to light, especially for the early pioneers.
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| Dimick Huntington |
Dimick Baker Huntington's family had its start in America with the Puritan, Simon Huntington, who died of Small Pox in 1633 on board ship1. His spouse, Margaret (Baret) Huntington and at least three children survived. The Huntington migration to the West began with William Huntington, Dimick's father, who established his family in Watertown, NY soon after his marriage to Zina Baker, 28 December 1806 in New Hampshire2.
William joined the Mormon Church in 1835 and began his trip West in 1836 to Kirtland, Ohio, and eventually to Nauvoo, Illinois. He was active in the upper echelons of the church until he died in 1846 at Mr. Pisgah, Iowa, where he is buried2. William was the father of six sons and four daughters. Dimick Huntington, b. 26 May 1808, married Fannie Maria Allen, 28 April 1830 at Watertown, New York4. Following in his father's footsteps, he also joined the church in 1835 and headed for Kirtland, Ohio and later to Nauvoo. In contrast to William, however, he ultimately made his way to Utah with his family.
Dimick joined the Mormon Battalion and started the walk from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Diego, California during the winter of 1846-l8475. His wife Fannie and children, Clark Allen, Lot, and Martha Zina were allowed to accompany him–Fannie was signed on as a laundress. Dimick was one of a group that split off from the California trek in September and headed north to intersect the Oregon Trail and proceed on to Utah.
The party wintered at Pueblo, Colorado until moving on in the spring of 1847.While in Pueblo, a girl (Presendia) was born to Fannie; Presendia died shortly after birth6. It is said that she was attended by Indian women who gave her Indian Root Tea to drink and tossed her in a blanket to attempt to save her life.
When spring arrived, the Pueblo contingent joined the Oregon Trail near Fort Laramie; then branched off on the Salt Lake Trail at Fort Bridger in southwestern Wyoming. They arrived at Salt Lake on 29 July 1847, five days after the advance party led by Brigham Young7.
Dimick carried on with church and community work until his death in 1879. He was prominent in Indian affairs as an interpreter, a drum major in a martial band, and one of the first settlers of Provo, Utah.
Julia Caroline Huntington, Dimick and Fannie's daughter, was born 21 June 18488 at Salt Lake. She first
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| John Mellen |
married John Hancock, 24 June 1865 and then John R. Mellen, 7 June 1885. John R. Mellen, born 27 May 1838 at Bolton, Lancashire, England4 emigrated to Utah in 1848 with his parents, John Mellen and Jane Ramsden as members of the Erastus Snow Company. Very little appears in the written record that I have found about Julia Huntington, John Mellen and Jane Ramsden beyond their devotion to family and church. John R. Mellen was a Pony Express rider, miner, farmer and stockman, and a veteran of the Black Hawk Indian War4. He died in 1916 and Julia in 1925.
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| John R. Mellen |
The marriage of John R. MELLEN and Julia (Huntington) Hancock produced one child, Theresa Julia, born 23 November 1887 at Salt Lake8 .She married Martin T. Larsen 13 November 1905 at Salt Lake9. They lived at Hunter, Utah where they ran a truck farm and coal delivery business.
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| Theresa
and Martin Larsen |
Martin and Theresa moved their family to Jerome, Idaho in 1916, where they farmed10. Florence Julia Larsen, their first child was born at Salt Lake City. She has many interesting tales to tell about her early life on the Jerome Tract. Among them, she drove a horse-drawn school bus while in the seventh and eighth grades and had to harness and feed the horses on her own at the school barn.
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| Florence and Aubrey Johnstone |
Florence married Aubrey Johnstone at Shoshone, Idaho11. Aubrey's father, William Johnstone, drew a Carey Act Homestead on the Jerome Tract in 190712. Florence and Aubrey moved onto the homestead after their marriage to live in the original "prove-up" shack, where William had raised all his children. Both of their children (Dale and Alice) were born while they lived in the shack.
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| Alice and Dale |
Thus ends a brief look at 8 generations in one family line, starting with William
Huntington. Four generations still live – Dale and Alice Johnstone, Lyle Johnstone,
Susan and Patti Yingst, and the children of Lyle and Susan.
In retrospect, I often think about the opportunities now lost forever. Much could have
been learned about the family history simply by asking questions of Grandma Theresa
Larsen. Dimick Huntington died before she was born, but she lived during the time of her
other Trail ancestors–Fannie Maria Allen, John Mellen, Jane Ramsden, and John R.
Mellen.
Had we been interested during Grandma Larsen's lifetime, just think of what could have been recorded first-hand to add to the history already in the books. This surely would have filled in the gaps to round out our knowledge of the family.
So, my advice is, don't wait until they are gone to obtain first-hand family information–DO IT NOW!
SOURCES
Email
Link
PAGE URL: http://www.users.qwest.net/~alidonyin/Web/Home/Johfam/huntot.htm
AUTHOR: Donovan Yingst
UPDATED: 25 Apr 2009
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