- ANN ELIZABETH WILD ASHMAN
1826-1906
Ann Elizabeth Wild Ashman was born April 26, 1826 to Thomas Wild and Sarah Rushworth in Meanwood, Chappeltown, Yorkshire, England (near Leeds) into a family of ten children.
When Ann was a little girl, she saw Queen Victoria as she sat in her carriage which was drawn by six white horses. Ann was often told she looked like the Queen. She had brown eyes and brown hair, and was a very stately lady. She was very outspoken, but had a very sympathetic heart.
When she was almost eighteen, she met a young man by the name of John Ashman who had joined the army for four years and was stationed in Leeds. He and a companion were walking down the street, passed two young ladies, and even though John had never seen her before, he told his companion he intended to marry the pretty one. It was Ann Wild.
John married Ann November 18, 1844 in Islington, Middlesex, England (near London). They became interested in the Mormon Church and were baptized-- John in 1851 and even though Ann at first was opposed, she was baptized the next year in 1852. The Elders made the Ashman home their headquarters. Ann cared for them as her own. George Q. Cannon, president of the British Mission, lived with the family.
They worked hard saving money to get to Zion. Ann Elizabeth, the oldest, was sent ahead to America, and her mother, Ann, was anxious to join her. She went to her bachelor uncle and asked for money to go to America, and since she was going to Utah to be with the Mormons, he refused to give her any. John told her not to despair, as “The Lord would take care of them.” Shortly after, her uncle passed away, and they used the inheritance to go to America. They traveled on The Monarch of the Sea with one of the largest groups of Mormon emigrants arriving in New York in June of 1864. They took the train to the jumping off point in Wyoming, Nebraska and crossed the plains and arrived in the valley in August. She and John moved to Fillmore with their five children and were reunited with Elizabeth Ann, her new husband, Abraham Carling, and their first grandson, John’s namesake, John Carling.
Ann was the first of four plural wives. The lovely home pictured was the Ashman home with a gable for each wife, so the story goes. The other wives were Lydia Tye, Batilda Nielsen, and Jane Ingles.
John and Ann had eight children all born in England, but in several different places indicating their many moves from one mill town to another. Ann Elizabeth was born December 20, 1846 in Islington, Middlesex, England; Harriet born July 4, 1848 in Leeds, Yorkshire; Isabella born May 15, 1850 in Leeds; John Thomas Ashman, our grandfather, born March 29, 1852 in Leeds; Ellen born May 28, 1854 in Moston, Lancashire; Sarah Jane, born in Fallsworth, Manchester in 1856 and dying in infancy; Emma Jean, 1858 dying in infancy; Imogene, 1859 dying in infancy. (Some records show a second Imogene who also died, and some records indicate that Emma Jean and the Imogene were the same child, with the name spelled two different ways).
Ann had a lovely singing voice, and sang in the choir for forty years. Music was an important part of the Ashman home. Ann never lost her English brogue, and everyone who knew her loved her witty jokes. She was known as a great entertainer, who gave excellent parties. She and John had a great deal of respect and love for each other. He enjoyed her humor as much as anyone.
Fillmore was the first capitol of the state of Utah. After the capitol was moved to Salt Lake, this building was used for church, recreation, and other meetings. The Ashmans would have been among those who sang, danced and worshiped there. Their pictures along with other pioneers hung on the walls of this old capitol building.
Ann would live a long life as wife of the Patriarch, and devoted mother, and church member. She passed away on March 12, 1906 at age of 80, three years before her husband. She is buried in Fillmore.
Taken from Pioneer Immigrants to Utah Territory, History of Ann Wild Ashman by Nellie Peterson Foote, and The Ashman Story by Kristie C. Teames, the 1900 Utah Census, the 1961 British Census, information from Ancestry. com (John Ashman Family Trees) and Family Group Sheets in my possession.
Compiled by Jane Watson Hales
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1827 - 1906 (78 år)
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