History of John and Rheumina Wilson Earl

Prepared by their Grandson Frank J. Earl in 1975.

John Earl, son of William, who was the son of Henry Earl, was born Sept. 8, 1827 in Scarborough, York County, Ontario, Upper Canada, near present Toronto, Canada. Rheumina Wilson, John’s wife to be, was born in Perryville, Green Township, Ohio, Feb. 28, 1829. Your writer has no further information of her until after her marriage to John Earl.

John Earl died July 13, 1908 in Fileding, Utah and was buried in Farmington Cemebery, Davis County, Utah. Rheumina Wilson Earl died Dec. 16, 1904 in Farmington and was buried beside her husband.

Wiliam and Sarah Syphers Earl, John’s parents, joined the Church in Scarborough, Canada in 1836 and shortly thereafter they moved to Kirland, Ohio. In 1836 John was nine years old. July 6, 1838 John’s parents and their nine children left Kirtland, Ohio as a part of the Kirtland Camp. There were 529 members of this group. After a very strenuous journey of 870 miles the group arrived in Far West, Missouri Oct. 2, 1838. Two days later they were in Adam-ondi-Ahmen where the family may have lived for some time.

William Earl (John’s Father) was a Nauvoo tax payer 1839 to 1844. His “substantial” home was built on Lot #3 Block 28 on the Church Property Plat and at the intersection of Durphy and Carlos Streets. The property was assessed at $43.00 for the lot and $55.00 for the personal property. As of May 18, 1845 “William Earl was president of the Coopers Union.” Brigham Young was perhaps a member for his trade was also that of cooper.

Records indicate that John Earl was baptized in Nauvoo in 1843 and he would have been 16 years old at that time. During these years and until the family moved to Utah, little is of record concerning John Earl. He married Rheumina Wilson, daughter of Whitford Gill and Mary Sheehand Wilson perhaps in 1847 or 1848, no date or place of their marriage is known to me.

At this period Saraj Earl Harris, youngest child of William and Sarah Earl leaves the following record,: “The Earl family were among the first to leave Nauvoo. They did not go immediately to Winter Quaters, the sons of the family built a house of sod. The father who was an excellent cooper, went down into Missouri to pursue his trade and earn enough money to bring his family on their western pilgrimage.” William’s sons Jacob and Justus (Jesse) joined the Mormoan Battallion.

“The rest of the family went back to Missouri where they all found employment.They prospered here so well that when they came to Utah in 1850, they brought enough flour, hams, and bacon to last them for over a year. They had several wagons, a number of horses, four ox teams, and four milk cows. Mr. Earl made a little churn into which they used to put the cream from the night’s milk and the stripings from the morning’s milking. Then the churn was set in one of the wagons and the jolting movement as they traveled along, churned the cream into butter. In the evening, the mother would put a nice fresh pat of butter before the family for their supper. The whole company used to stop on Saturdays to bake bread, dry buffalo meat, and wash. Sunday they rested and held religious services.”

With the Earls, traveled a California bound emigrant who was a good violinist. Sister Harris says, “I will never forget the wild, sweet strains he drew from his violin, there in the desolate waste places of the world. Neither, can I forget the thunder and roar made by the buffalo hoofs as they galloped in mud stamped over the hills with the Indians in pursuit, nor at night when I would awake, find the camp fires all out, the heavens glitter of a billion stars and the vast prairies, then hear the buffalo trailing, trailing by. It is not at all strange that a young girl, so susceptible to harmonies, would grow up to be the mother of musicians.”

Aug. 14, 1946, Charles Harris a son of Sarah Earl Harris, told me Frank J. Earl, that John Earl, my grandfather played the violin for step dances while they crossed the plains. They used to end gates from the wagons for the dance platform. The Earl family arrived in Salt Lake Valley Sept. 11, 1850 in an ox train company in charge of Capt. David Evans, a former bishop of the 11th ward in Nauvoo. They left Council Bluffs, Iowa in June 4, 1850. John was 23 years old.

There is somewhere indications that all of the family did not arrive at the same time. Some may have gone ahead of the regular party. John and Rheumina’s first child was born Sept. 5, 1850, with his birth place Salt Lake City. They no doubt came in time for the birth to take place. His name was Milton William.

John and Rheumina must have remained in Salt Lake City for some time for their second child Sarah was born in that city Nov. 23, 1851. The next three children, Adaline, John H. and Jedediah were born in Farmington, 1853, 1855, and 1858.

On May 14, 1946 Hubert Bowen, a distant cousin, told me, F.J. Earl, that the John Earl family first lived on the Richards block in Farmington.

At the coming of Johnstons Army to Utah, John moved his family to Smithfield, Utah, and here their daughter Mary was born Sept. 25, 1860. They were back in Farmington for the birth of their last four children, Louise in 1862, Charles Wilson, 1865, Jane Elzade 1869, and Mildred in 1872. Mildred died April 14,1844. During his years in Farmington, John acquired a farm South and West of the twon. I have no information indicating the acreage but with the coming of the Utah Central R.R. he was paid $250.00 for a Right-of Way- across his property.

Since living in Utah he had spent most of his time in Farmington as a farmer and blacksmith. As a blacksmith he worked for some time with his father-in-law, Whitford Gill Wilson. May 2, 1870 he received a deed for lot 1, block 21, plat A for a cost of $37.55, this lot was on th North West corner of 3rd North and Main street and consisted of 150 sq. rods. Third North Street for many years was the main entrance to Lagoon Resort.

Grandfather built his own blacksmith shop on the southeast corner of the lot. A barn was dug into a slope, west of the shop, with a frame structure over the dugout area. In the upper part he kept hay to feed the animals below. His rock home was built set back from Main Street North of the other buildings. The remainder of the lot was his garden area where he grew excellent vegetables and plated some Black Walnut trees, which had grown very large as I remember them.

Older members of my family tell me that at least once each summer Grandfather would load his buggy with fresh vegetables and make a trip to Fielding where several of his children lived. This included my father, the eighth child in the family. He would divide his supplies among the families. After a brief visit with each he was ready to return home. When asked why he did not stay longer he would say, “I’ve seen all of you, you are in good health, I can see no further need for me so I will be on my way home.”

Leo gave me the following information, “When Grandpa John Earl visited Fielding he often took his grandchildren fishing on Bear River south of Fielding. Old Bell pulled the one horse buggy. Grandpa Earl made a one legged stool which was strapped to his body so he could move about and his stool always went with him.”

It was quite generally understood that John Earl was not a religious man. A few quotes from people who knew him better than I did may help to explain this statement. My sister, Gertrude Earl Hansen West, wrote to me the following letter dated, Oct. 3, 1966, “Grandpa John Earl was at the meeting when the mantle of Prophet Joseph Smith fell upon Brigham Young.” Bishop Hess said, “There is a place in Heaven for John Earl.” Milton H. Welling, pres. Of the Bear River Stake said, “John Earl was a diamond in the rough, he did not live his religion but he would have fought or died for it.” John. H. Earl, his son said to me, “I never heard my father say a word against the Church or its people.” Nine of his children were married in the temple or endowment house. The 10th child, Mildred, died before the age to marry. Grandmother Rheumina Wilson and John Earl were endowed in the endowment house in Salt Lake City Nov. 7, 1863. Amasa L. Clarck, at the age of one hundred and one, in an interview with Naoma and me in Farmington, Utah, Oct. 3, 1966 said “John Earl loved his fellowmen but he did not say long prayers.”

Eleanor Earl Vause, who lived with Grandma and grandpa Earl for 16 years as a child, four to twenty years of age, after her own mother died said of him, “John Earl was good to people in need. He would often take a sack of flour, a sack of potatoes, some honey, etc. leave it, in the early hours of the day, on their door steps. He never left any evidence of who had placed these items there. He may not have paid his tithing but substituted this method of giving instead. He would give food and lodging to anyone who requested it, including tramps.”

Eleanor did not remember Grandpa or Grandma ever writing a letter or any other documents. They did read, but not very much. They apparently had little or no formal schooling. “Grandfather was a brusk man. He often chastised me and on occasions he whipped me. When I stayed out after his bed time I was locked out of the house and hod to sleep where I could. Early on the morning of the 4th of July he would get up and fire an old cannon, he owned, to wake folks up for the day. The old cannon later was located in the South area of Lagoon, south of the ponds.”

She also said, “Grandma Wilson, mother of my grandmother was a sweet old lady. The parades would always stop in front of her place and the band would play for her. She would, stand, braced in the doorway of her home and do a dance for the crowd.”

Gerturde Earl in her letter of Oct. 3, 1966 said, “Dear little Grandma Earl (Rheumina) used to cook some wonderful meals for us in her home. How well I remember her sending me to the cellar, under the house, to bring up delicious ground cherry preserves and just about as choice, concord grape preserves. I’m sure I could tell you where each piece of furniture stood, also, the old water pump south of the kitchen door. The pump had a tin cup fastened to the chain which was attached to the pump. Everybody drank out of this same cup.”

My own memory is very limited as I was ten years old when Grandfather died and seven years old when Grandmother Rheumina died. I seem to remember Grandmother Earl from her picture, not in person. I’m assuming that after Grandmothers death, Grandfather disposed of his home in Farmington and moved to Fielding. With the help of his families there he had built a small frame “white” house on the lot of Uncle Frank and Aunt Louise Walker. After a short while this home was moved to the lot of Uncle John and Aunt Ada Earl. There he lived until his death.

Grandfather Earl was always neat in appearance, he wore a dark suit, a “derby” or “Duffy” black hat. He was a joke as most Earls seem to be. He usually walked with a cane but used it to hook about the legs of children. He was gruff and not entirely lovable. We children shied away from him. Most of us carried food from our homes to him and we were always welcome to his home.

I trust that this brief record of these Grandparents will give us a greater appreciation of them. In the main they were genuine parents and grandparents and we have aright to be proud of them as our pioneer ancestors.