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Time in England

Mary Ann Dunkerley (also called ‘Polly’) was probably born on 16th March 1826 in Oldham in the county of Lancashire, England[1] (see map). She was the ninth of ten siblings born to Joseph and Hannah Dunkerley, of whom six survived into adulthood. Her father had been brought up as a cotton handloom weaver in the Sholver area, just north of Oldham, and when a young man had joined the Lancashire Militia and been posted to the eastern and southern coasts of England as part of the home forces that would face Napoleon’s French armies when they threatened invasion in 1803-04.

Following demobilisation in Bristol in 1807, Joseph stayed in that city where, in 1809, he married Hannah Spencer, a local girl, and started a family. However, some time between 1813 and 1816 things went badly wrong and Joseph and his family returned to Oldham where they were forced into the local workhouse for a period of about two years. Eventually they managed to extricate themselves but for the rest of their lives lived in the vicinity of the workhouse, in the Glodwick area of Oldham. At first Joseph earned his living as a cotton handloom weaver, but later became both a shoemaker and a watchman at a cotton mill. It is likely that life for Mary Ann was often difficult.

This is just a brief summary of the circumstances surrounding Mary Ann’s family, but for those who would like to learn more, the story of Joseph and Hannah, of Joseph’s parents Daniel Dunkerley and Alice Taylor, and the origins of the Dunkerley family in Oldham and Manchester are told in some detail elsewhere on this website (go to Joseph Dunkerley - Patriarch).

Mary was working in a cotton mill by the age of nine[2], and certainly when she was fourteen the 1841 census shows that she was employed in the cardroom of a cotton mill. This was the area where raw cotton was cleaned and prepared for spinning, heavy and dirty tasks commonly carried out by women and girls. Writing many years later, William Woodruff described how his sister had obtained similar employment: "Bridget finished up as a slubber, cleaning cotton, which was one of the dirtiest and least skilled occupations in textile manufacture. Slubbers, or cardroom hands, were looked down on"[3].

On November 17th 1844 Mary married John Gregory, who was probably then twenty-two years of age[4]. The wedding took place at Prestwich (near centre of map) parish church, near Oldham[5]. At the time John was working as a ‘collier’ (a coal miner) a job that was no doubt dirty, hard and dangerous. The marriage certificate shows that he was then residing at a place called ‘Tong’, properly called Tonge, a settlement at Middleton, located between Prestwich and Oldham (see map) [6]. John was one of nine siblings - six boys and three girls whose parents were handloom weavers from Westhoughton near Bolton. All six boys worked in the coal mines of the area and the story of the family can be read here.

It seems certain that John and Mary had become converts to the Mormon religion by the time that they were married[7], so it is important to look at the origins, development and way of working of the Mormons.

Mormonism

 In 1820 a 14 year old boy named Joseph Smith, who lived at Palmyra, New York, began to see visions and said he had discovered inscribed buried tablets on which the Book of Mormon is based. This induced him to found a new church, in 1830, called 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints', usually referred to as 'the Mormons'. The Mormons first established a significant presence in Missouri, but were expelled from there before 1841 and then moved to a town called ‘Commerce’, later renamed as the city of Nauvoo, located in a bend of the Mississippi River in Illinois. The Mormons were hard-working, successful, and keen to expand. One way they achieved this was by sending out missionaries to places that included England where they could appeal to people who were experiencing difficult circumstances.

Mormonism in England started when a group of seven missionaries arrived in Liverpool on 20th July 1837 and the first branch was established at Preston, Lancashire (northwest of map area). From this nucleus it spread to, among other places, Bolton, Burnley and Stockport and had probably reached Manchester by 1839. In 1840 Brigham Young (who was to become the most famous of the Mormon leaders) and five others landed in Liverpool and soon moved to Manchester. Young and a colleague wrote to Nauvoo on 5th September 1840, describing their experiences in England. America, they said, had no class structure, whereas in England there were 'Lords, Tradesmen, & mechanics or labourers, or, in other words, the highest, middle, & lowest classes'. They found their converts among the lowest classes, who were exceedingly poor and many of whom, at that time, were without work. Those who converted to Mormonism sometimes then suffered persecution and this, together with the prospect of migrating 'to a land where they may get a morsel of bread, & serve God according to his appointment' had enabled Young et al. to prepare 600, mostly of the 'very poor' to embark in Liverpool for America the following week[8]. They thus preached their doctrines with considerable success, developed a publishing business and produced a hymn book. Over the following years many people were converted to their cause and induced to leave England for America to seek ‘Zion’ and salvation. The Mormons facilitated the emigration process and new converts usually travelled in groups.

The Mormon message must have appealed to John and Mary such that only some six weeks after their marriage on 17th January 1845 they embarked at Liverpool on the sailing ship[9] ‘Palmyra’. Years later their daughter, Beatrice Gregory, commented that as John and Mary were ‘unwilling to live under oppression and feel disloyal at heart, they took with them their high qualities of the English and came to America’. It is true that life in Oldham for the common people had been very difficult for most of the nineteenth century and that there had been a particularly bad period at the start of the 1840s when Brigham Young had visited. Ironically, things began to improve soon after John and Mary left for America.

My Native Land, I Leave Thee 

As mentioned, it seems the Mormon Church developed a policy of shipping its converts from Europe to the United States in groups. From 1840 to 1868 no less than 157 ships took part in this task, about 142 from Liverpool, five from London, one from Bristol, eight from Hamburg, and one from Le Havre. Each group of 'Saints', or 'souls' had a leader. The leader of John and Mary's group was Amos Fielding who had conducted one previous group from Liverpool to New Orleans in 1842 aboard the 'Hanover'[10]. He was a Bolton man who worked for the Mormons in England from 1840 to 1845 when he travelled on the Palmyra and became a member of the 'Council of Fifty' in Navoo. He later migrated to Utah[11].

Although the Palmyra made other journeys across the Atlantic it appears to have been a coincidence that it had the same name as the town where Joseph Smith first received the calling to found the Mormon Church, for her name occurs only once among all the ships that sailed in the period mentioned. Perhaps it was considered a lucky omen. A listing shows seventy-five passengers, probably all Mormon converts[12]. Thus John and Mary were separated from their homes and families and they never saw England again. We can only imagine the trepidation and the heartache of parting, both for those who travelled and for those they left behind.

They were listed amongst the passengers as follows:

J. Gregory (22, M, Laborer, England)

Mary Ann Gregory (20, F, Laborer, England)

As the ship left Liverpool the passengers sang a hymn[13], which appears to have been a Mormon tradition:

     "Yes! My native land I love thee!

     All thy scenes I love them well.

     Friends, companions, happy country,

     Can I bid you all farewell?

     Can I leave you

     For in heathen lands to dwell

     Yes! I leave you

     For in heathen lands to dwell."

The Palmyra sailed straight into a winter storm in the English Channel where it was nearly turned on its side and was in danger of sinking. However, after a fifty-three day crossing it arrived safely in New Orleans on 10th March 1845. Mary Ann was sick for the whole time! Curiously, there is an account on the internet left by a girl who must have been on the same ship[14]:

"I sailed in the ship Palmyra, and left a kind father and friends. When the farewell hymn was sung on ship-board, I felt what it was to leave all for the truth…. Unkindness in all its forms I could cheerfully bear, but to leave a kind and aged parent was almost more than I could endure. Well did St. John say, "These are they who have come through great tribulation." We had soon something else to think of than farewells, friends, or anything else, for the winds arose, and our fears with them; wave dashed on wave, and storm on storm, every hour increasing; all unsecured boxes, tins, bottles, pans, &c., danced in wild confusion, cracking, clashing, jumbling, rolling, while the vessel pitched, and tossed, and bounced till people flew out of their berths on the floor, while others held on with difficulty; thus we continued for eight days - no fires made - nothing cooked - biscuits and cold water; the waves dashed down the hold into the interior of the vessel, hatchway then closed, all in utter darkness and terror, not knowing whether the vessel was sinking or not; none could tell - all prayed - and awful silence prevailed - sharks and sins presenting themselves, and doubts and fears; one awful hour after another passing, we found we were not yet drowned; some took courage and lit the lamps; we met in prayer, we pleaded the promises of our God - faith prevailed; the winds abated, the sky cleared, the fires were again lit, then the luxury of a cup of tea and a little gruel. 

"Oh! how ungrateful are we for our mercies, because they are so common. …. We arrived at New Orleans. The sight of land caused every face to smile, though on a foreign shore. Refreshed, we started up the noble Mississippi; the beauty of the scenery would take me too much time to describe; orange trees, houses, plantations, villages, pass in quick succession. We arrived at St. Louis - the great emporium of the west, all bustle, animation, and full of interest; leave St. Louis for Nauvoo. Our hearts now begin to feel lively and warm with emotions, as the Captain from time to time proclaims our near approach to Nauvoo. It was a beautiful moonlight night, our vessel glided silently and gracefully over the moon-lit waters. Spontaneously we sang a hymn, and never before or since has music seemed so sweet - it was from the heart; we had surmounted every difficulty, had braced every danger, and now were nearing our desired port. The bell rang - the vessel stayed - we were at Nauvoo." 

This gives a real feeling for what John and Mary experienced, with the difference that they left the ship at St. Louis, for they were to stay nearby at Belleville, Illinois, some two hundred miles south of Nauvoo[15] .

Although many Americans considered the Mormons to be decent, peaceable and hard-working people, their expulsion from Missouri clearly indicates that they were capable of causing upset, and this continued in Nauvoo. For example, they voted en block in local elections in order to obtain the political result that most suited them, and they organized a military force, probably for self-protection. Eventually Joseph Smith was murdered by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27^th, 1844 while awaiting trial on a charge of treason, and leadership of the sect ended up with Brigham Young, then the senior Apostle. The church members were driven by mobs from their homes in Nauvoo in 1846 and headed west – a journey through the wilderness in search of the Promised Land. Brigham Young – their Moses – organized the exodus and led the first group of pioneers in wagon trains across 1,000 miles of unsettled plains, following the Oregon Trail to found Salt Lake City in Utah.

The journey was extremely difficult, involving long days of travelling, busy overnight stays and occasional stops to make running repairs to harnesses and wagons, and rest the animals. The first travellers encountered frosty mornings during their first weeks’ travel, and later were faced with rain storms that could last for days and make a quagmire of the trail. Work was non-stop. The women prepared the food, looked after the clothes, and any children. The men looked after the animals, the wagons and kept on the lookout for Indians. The actual route taken is shown on the adjacent map, and the link, here, provides access to an excellent illustrated account of the journey produced by the State of Utah. Some of the images are shown below. One of the group, William Clayton, kept a log of the journey and as the expedition progressed an odometer was invented to measure the distances more accurately[16]. The log was subsequently published and served as a guide for many later travellers besides the Mormons, such as those taking part in the California Gold Rush of 1849 (the '49ers').

The first Mormons arrived at the Salt Lake Valley, Utah, on July 21^st 1847 and set about laying out what was to become Salt Lake City – their Zion. Approximately 1,650 people spent that first winter in the valley, but by 1850 there were 11, 380 inhabitants.

Returning to John and Mary, they arrived in America in March 1845 after Joseph Smith had been murdered and it must have been clear that the situation in Nauvoo was unstable. In September of that year some two hundred houses in the town were burned and immediately afterwards the trek to the west began.

It was perhaps because of the disturbances in Nauvoo that John and Mary remained in Belleville, waiting to see how things turned out, or it was perhaps because John knew that he could find employment there as a coal miner. In the end he worked in the coal mines of Belle Ville for several years[17] and Mary Ann found employment caring for children. Belleville at that time was quite small, still being classed as a village. In the 1840s it became the first important German settlement in the state of Illinois[18]. Belleville must have had a Mormon community, however, because an editorial of a Belleville satirical broadsheet (purporting to be a newspaper) of April 13th, 1844, had proposed Gen. Joe Smith of Nauvoo for President and James Gordon Bennett of The New York Herald for Vice-President[19]! What is clear from a reading of the source of this information is that the Mormons as a group were becoming very involved in regional and even national politics. It is hardly surprising if this upset many non-partisan people.

The Mormon Trail to Utah 

While they were in Illinois John and Mary received a visit from one of John’s brothers (possibly Richard, perhaps Thomas) who is then thought to have gone to Australia and done well in mining - probably gold mining. The couple must have learned of the successful establishment of the Mormon enterprise in Utah and they decided to travel west ‘to be saved’. They accomplished this by ox team, travelling in a wagon train across the prairies and driving some stock with them. We do not know exactly when John and Mary made their journey, but I estimate that it might have been in 1851 or 1852, soon after the gold rush to California.

The journey must have been an immense event for the young couple. They presumably sailed up the Mississippi River to near Nauvoo and there formed up into an organized group with fellow travellers. The trail led across Iowa to Council Bluffs on the Missouri River, where Brigham Young had spent the winter with the first expedition. The earlier travellers had built camps and made settlements along the line of the route, to provide support for those who would follow, so conditions when John and Mary journeyed would not have been as difficult as they had been at first. After crossing the Missouri, Nebraska lay ahead and the route followed the Platte and the North Platte Rivers. Chimney Rock was a significant landmark, not only because it was spectacular but also because it was a sign that the travellers would soon be entering Wyoming.

At Fort Laramie the track crossed to the south bank of the river and joined the Oregon Trail, which marked the half-way point to Salt Lake City. Some time later the way struck south for the Sweetwater River and the landmark of Independence Rock. Next came the continental divide at 7,700 feet above sea level, and South Pass. The next support point was Fort Bridger and soon after the road cut through the mountains and Salt Lake City came into sight.

By about 1851 the Mormons had founded several communities in Utah besides Salt Lake City and John and Mary went to what was to become Cedar City, about 250 miles to the south. Assuming that they travelled via Salt Lake City, the total distance that they journeyed from Belleville was about 1,600 miles.

Cedar City was originally settled in November 1851 by Mormon pioneers originating from Parowan as a camp named ‘Fort Cedar’ on the north bank of a stream named ‘Coal Creek’. The settlement was re-located nearby in 1853 and moved again in mid-1855 to the site of the present town. The settlement was founded to exploit the occurrence of iron ore ten miles to the west and coal deposits a similar distance to the east in Coal Creek. A small blast furnace was established, but it seems not to have been successful and finally closed down in 1858[20].

It would seem that John and Mary Gregory must have arrived at Cedar City in about 1852, very soon after its establishment, and it was probably because of John’s coal mining experience that they went there. This is supported by a later statement of Hannah Eliza Gregory (see below) who asserted that John ‘had worked in cole mine all his life till he came to Calif’. The coal deposits occurred in seams at least four feet thick and had to be worked underground.

To California

John and Mary stayed for about a year at Cedar City, working for the Mormon Church. However the Mormon experience in Utah must have been something of a shock for them. For one thing, it was only there that they learned that the Mormons believed in polygamy, a policy that apparently had been revealed to Brigham Young, who embraced it with some enthusiasm. In any case, for some reason John and Mary were badly treated. The Mormons put John in jail because he wanted to keep his ‘loose stock’ and ended up confiscating the animals. For a time John thought he would be killed, but finally he was released, apparently after it was discovered he had not been through the ‘endowment house’. Endowment for the Mormons is a special spiritual blessing given to worthy and faithful members of the Church in the temple[21]. After release, as soon as they could – perhaps about a year later in 1853 – John and Mary travelled on to San Bernardino in California, driving their only remaining stock, an ox and a cow which they milked along the way. This was a journey of 400 miles along the line now marked by Interstate Route 15 through the Las Vegas area and across the formidable Mojave Desert and would certainly have been another demanding expedition (see map below). According to Hannah Eliza Gregory, ‘the Indians were very bad’[22] and for protection it appears that once again they travelled in a wagon train.

Brigham Young had decided that a settlement in California would improve the supply route for Utah, obviating the long overland trek from the east. A group of almost five hundred Mormons set out from Utah for California in 1851 and bought the San Bernardino Ranch, which included most of the present San Bernardino area, and other land. In 1852 they began planning the town. In 1853 San Bernardino County was separated from Los Angeles County and the street grid system, based on that at Salt Lake City, was laid out. In the same year a road was built to Los Angeles and a school system was set up. The City of San Bernardino was incorporated in 1854 and Mormon Apostles became the first and second Mayors. Next they built a timber road to the mountains and a flour mill. In 1855 they diverted water to the town by means of a flume.

In San Bernardino John had difficulty finding work - he was considered an ‘apostate’, and so was ostracized. Eventually he got a job digging a ditch six feet wide by four feet deep for US$50 per rod (5½ yards, nearly 6 metres) and was glad of the work. It may have been the first time in his life that John was not earning his living in the depths of a coal mine and, if so, we can imagine that it must at least have felt good to be able to breathe the free air as he worked. Perhaps the ditch was part of the town-building projects of the development of San Bernardino. At about this time John and Mary started their family, almost ten eventful years after they had married. Alice Ann was born on 27th June 1854, Mary Jane followed on 18th May 1856 (but sadly died in infancy) then came Hannah Eliza on 30th July 1857, all in San Bernardino.

It is perhaps worth pausing for a moment to consider the fact that John and Mary waited for over nine years before starting their family. The chances are that this was a deliberate decision taken to allow them to deal with the instability inherent in their situation as Mormons during that period, and eventually to help them cope more successfully with their intended trek to the West. Looking back from the 21st century it is difficult to imagine what sort of pressure this abstinence would have put on their relationship, but John and Mary must have been resolute individuals who believed that they were responsible for their own actions.

In 1857 Brigham Young and the Mormon Church in Utah territory effectively declared independence from the federal government, which sent in troops to establish control. It was at this time that Young suddenly ordered ‘all good Mormons’ back to Utah and said that as soon as they crossed the Cajon Pass San Bernardino would sink[23]. Many went, despite having to sell their property at a loss. This was a critical moment for John and Mary because although Mary was scared John had evidently had enough and said ‘let it sink and be damned!’[24]. And they stayed in California.

The first locality where they lived in California was apparently a ranch on the Santa Ana river near Rincon, where they farmed and raised cattle[25]. It may have been while living there that their other children were born - Beatrice on 13th October 1859, John in 1862 (he apparently died in 1876), and Harriet Augusta on 6th October 1864. Later the family moved to Temescal in Riverside County, southwest of San Bernardino near Corona. There, in about 1882, John built an adobe house ‘across from the Santa Fe Depot, 3rd Street’, in which they lived until he died on 28th February 1885. Mary Ann lived on only until 23rd January 1898.

John evidently felt a great deal of loyalty to the United States and had become an American citizen by no later than 1864. He cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, and when Lincoln was assassinated in 1865 he ‘blended his tears with native citizens’ and from then on always appeared at the polls on election day[26] .

John and Mary were good providers for their family, for Beatrice Gregory noted that ‘we have the memory of a full pantry and a good table, tho others knew want tho there was plenty of work there was always a way provided for pleasure and looking for the best for the family’[27] .

This, then, is a brief history of two hardy, determined, principled people who left the Old World to follow a dream to the New. Perhaps initially it was the blandishments of the Mormon faith that gave them courage to leave their families and face the Atlantic Ocean in winter, and the uncertainty of a raw continent. Perhaps it was still that faith that induced them to embark in ox wagons for the Promised Land in Utah. From then on, however, disillusion with the Mormons seems to have started and after yet another great trek, though the Mojave Desert, it was their character, not their religion, that enabled them to succeed and raise their own family in California.

Alice Ann Gregory, probably writing about 1925, should have the last word. "What a blessing it was that our parents came to this country before we were born … we can’t appreciate the good it has been for us".

Acknowledgements

I am very grateful to Todd Murray of California, a descendent of John and Mary Ann Gregory, who provided much of the information, and scans of all the Items (below) in this story. Thanks too to Penny Green for helping sort out some of the relationships.

Transcription of Letters and Statements

There follow verbatim transcriptions of photocopies of a series of letters and statements from the Gregory-Dunkerley family. They were probably hand-written and appear to have been transcribed to typed copies by Helen Handley, a granddaughter of Hannah Eliza Gregory, in the 1930s. I have tried to copy them exactly as they are typed, spelling mistakes and all. I have marked some obvious errors in the Notes with ‘sic’.

Item 1: Letter of 5th January 1883

Written by Harriet Augusta Gregory in California to Henry Buckley, probably in Utah.

Temescal, San Bernardino Co.

Jan 5th 1883

My Dear Cousin Henry (Buckley)[28]

Having received a letter from your mother in England and your directions[29], with the rest of my cousins in Utah[30]. I concluded to write to you a short letter concerning your dear mother[31]. I am the daughter of your Aunt Mary Ann Gregory in Cal. Your mother’s youngest sister. Your mother writes to say they are very poor and in poor health, and her husband is out of work and it is very hard for them to live. They are so old too. Dear Aunt Harriet wants us to help her if we could. We sent her a small sum that we could spare, and if possible we will send her more. I though[32] I would write to you and if you could possible render her a little assistance it would help her so much. I have written your sister Mary[33] and am going to write to your other sister Harriet[34], and perhaps we can all do a little good. I hope you will write to me soon and tell me all about your family. And I will gladly correspond with you, although I never had the pleasure of seeing any of my cousins, I would like to know about them. I will expect you to answer this at your earliest convenience.

                     I remain your cousin,

                         Harriet A. Gregory[35]

                         Of Temescal San Bernardino Co. Cal

P.S. Your mothers address

                         Waterloo Ashton

                          Under Syne[36] Lancashire, England

Item 2: Letter of 4th February 1884

Written by Alice Kent in England to her cousin Harriet Augusta Gregory in California[37].

                                                                                                                       feb 4th 1884

Dear Cousin Hattie[38],

We receved your letter a little time ago and was very glad to hear from you again, We are all very well at present and we hope that you will get better before so long i wish we was a bit nearer to you and then we could come and see you but i am afraid that we are to far off one another, but we must keep writing to one another, Dear Cousin we will try and send you a present when you are got better, Dear Cousin Aunt Beatrice[39] sends her kind love to you, and cousin Elizabeth Ann and fanny[40] wishes to be remembered to you they are all in good health at present, Dear Cousin we have not receved a letter from Uncle Richard[41] yet but it is time now, We send a letter to Uncle Thomas[42], twelth months last December and it never found him and our own letter came back this January, and we sent the same direct[43] that you told us, my mother thinks that he must have removed from that place will you try and get to know weather he has removed from that place or not, for my mother wants to know how he is geting along my mother send her kind love to you and sister Rachel and Ester[44] and all my brothers wishes to be rememberd to you, we should like to have my cousin in law portrait and, then we can see what sort of a man he is, we will send you the others some other time, your Aunt Harriet[45] is no better she is very poor she would be very glad to receved a little of something from any of you please tell us how your father and mother[46] is geting along we have never written to them since you got married but i will do so before long, they will think we have forgot them, and how is all my other cousins getting on we shall phra_s[47] have the pleasure of sending them something some time, Dear Cousin i send you a valentine and wishing you happy new year Dear cousin i will draw this letter to close i think i have told you all i can think of this time so no more at present from your cousin Alice[48], and Aunt Ann and Breatrice[49]

Direct[50] John Kent[51],

Item 3: Letter of 23rd October 1885

Written by Alice Kent in England to her cousin Harriet Augusta Gregory in California.

                                                                                                                                           October 23th 1885

Dear Cousin Hattie[52] i receved your letter a few weeks ago and was very glad to hear from you again and to hear that you was all well we are all very well at present and Aunt Beatrice[53] is well and all her famley and i hope these few lines will find tou[54] and your mother and all my other cousins well, dear Cusin i have got a piano now and i ham learning music and i put all my spare time in learning notes i always thought i should like to learn music dear Cusin i wish you was a little near us i whould play music my sisters[55] and brothers[56] send their kind love to you, and also my cousins, i was very glad to hear that you receved a letter from cousin Richard[57] and his portrait my cousin Sophia, Richard’s sister is married and she is doing very well she as open a draper shop at the middeton junction[58], she is expecting to do better when trade better it is very bad out here all the mills have been stop only 3 or 4 13 weeks the masters wanted to take ten per cent of the mill hands the hands have give in to 5 per cent for 3 month and if trade is better in 3 month they will turn out for the other 5 per cent back, all ours children have been working all the time but Aunt Beatrice had 2 of her children out[59] and the other was working w[h]ere ours was but cousin John[60] was out and he has a wife and 3 children and they havent had no money nor meat only what people give them it is the end of turnout this week dear Cousin i have not been short of work and i have plenty to do now I wish we could have sent you that velvet i should have been so glad to have sent it to you but i hope that you have made your dress up i wish i had been near you i should have help you to make it up[61] please to tell me what you have trim it with, your Aunt Sophia[62] is all right she should have come to see us the other day but she did not

Dear Cousin i think i have told you all this time so i will bid you good bye for the present from you lovin g Cousin Alice and except[63] the same from all your other Cousin s

Direct Mr. John Kent, 294 Tongue Lane Middleton near Manchester Lanchire England

Item 4: Letter of 19th February 1897

Written by Alice Cooke[64] in England apparently to her Uncle John and Aunt Mary Ann Gregory in California.

                                                                                                                 Feb. 19th 1897

10, Villiers Street[65]

Oldham

Dear Aunt and Uncle[66]

I received your letter and was very glad to hear from you I think you are the only one on my Fathers side that I ever hear anything about there are only about two of my Uncle William Children I think that would know me if they saw me but I never see any of them they live in another part of the town. thier[67] is 5 of them altogether 2 daughters and 3 Sons[68] and then there are my Aunt Jane’s Children, Holts, is there name I do not know any of them[69]. And my Aunt Hannah Barons Children there are only two of them George and Hannah[70] And there is only one of Aunt Harriet Children in Oldham my Cousin Jane Smith[71]. They are all in some part of the States some where about New York only her. And then there is our Family There is my Sister Mary Ann Hardcastle[72]. She is our Oldest she is on a Farm at a place near Oldham called Moorside an is doing very well. And then there is my Brother John he lives at Bardsley near Oldham he is a mule overlooker at the Hather Shaw[73] xxx[74] Spinning Company I cannot tell you his Adress John Dunkerley Oldham Road Bardsley Near Oldham If you want to write to him that will find him that is what I always direct my letter to him he would be very glad to hear from you My mother is buried at Chadderton Cemetery on the top of my Father[75]. I have changed my Adress since last I wrote to you I have gone in a less house now There are only three of us my Husband[76] and Child I have only one Child she is goning 6 years getting a big girl now she is called Ethel. Love to all No mor at present From your Affectionate Neice Alice Cooke

Item 5: Letter of 13th August 1897

Written by Alice Cooke in England, presumably to her Uncle John and Aunt Mary Ann Gregory in California.

Aug. 13th 1897

Oldham

Dear Aunt and Uncle[77]. I received your letter and was glad to hear from[78] you are all well I thought you I thought you were not going to write to me again you have been so long about it. I was confined on the ninth of July of a little Girl but it died when it was a fortnight old. it is 6 years since I had one before I was very sorry to lose it I will tell my Brother John when I see him that you would be glad to hear from him. he came to see me the other week on his bicycle he will be very glad to know you have spoken about him in your letter I am sorry to tell you that the trade in Oldham is not looking so well at present it is expected this week end thier will be a turnout of many a thousand men in the iron trade which will last a long time. You must tell my cousin Eliza[79] I shall be very glad to hear from her or any of my Cousins I am sure I never had one from my Cousin Beatrice[80] since I was married and that is a long time since I dont know what I have done at her I think about her many a time and wonder how she is getting on. I hope you will keep well so that you can write to me I do like to hear from you I am always expecting a letter from you. like my Father was he was always saying I wonder when our Polly[81] is going to write to me I cannot forget him he was a good father to me if I had only been a little bit ill he would have done anything g for me you don’t know how I miss them both give my love to all my Cousins and the same to you and your husband[82]

So no more at present From your Neice[83] Alice Cooke

Item 6: Statement: Possibly written after Item 7 (i.e. after 1925)

Written by Eliza Mayhew, Hannah Eliza Gregory, who died 1st June 1930.

                To my Relatives

Will now try to tell you all what I can about my Father and Mother. John Gregory was born in LanchsterShire England he was 23 years old when he left England and Mother was 21.

They were married six weeks when they sailed to America. Mothers name was Mary Ann Dunkerley. Her Father Joseph Dunkerley was night watch man for a Gentelmans house same job all his life[84] and lived in one house all his life[85]. carring a short gun. My Father John Gregory was a cole[86] miner. Mother was born in Oldham England. worked in a cottom[87] mill from nine year old till married. Saved their money to pay their passage to America before they were married. They were converted to the Mormon faith and thought they had to come to America to be saved. Came in a sailing vessel six weeks on the ocean. Mother was sick all the way. Landed in New Orleans went up the Mississippi river to Bellville Illinois he worked nine years[88] in cole mines there. Mother went out nursing children. Then they came to Utah by ox team. was there one year worked for the Mormon church but was treated so badly by the mormons that they came to San Bernardino drove an ox and a. cow all the team they had from there as the Mormons had taken all their stock a way from them. Came in a wagon train. Indians very bad then. Killing people if they did not travel that way. Hadent[89] any children till they came to S.B. [San Bernardino] then they had six five girls and one boy. Alice Ann. Mary Jane. Hannah Eliza. Beatrice. John.and Harriet. I was born in 1857 July 30th and was married to James Thomas Mayhew Dec. 25, 1876. Have two children. Alice and Thomas Clay which will write in this family record their own letters. Will close now wishing you all happy lives.

Aunt Eliza Mayhew

Item 7: Statement: Probably written in 1925

Also written by Eliza Mayhew, Hannah Eliza Gregory, who died 1st June 1930.

              To my Relation

Will try now to write what I know about my parents. John Gregory born in Manchester England May 10th 1824. Mary Ann Dunkerley Gregory was born in Oldham England March 16th 1826. married about 1847[90] or near as I can figure if anyone can get the dates near please do so. came to America six weeks after marriage. landed in New Orleans came in a sailing vessel and was on the water six weeks Mother sick all the trip. sea sick. came up the Mississippi river to Belvile[91] Illinois lived there some years mined cole as he was a cole miner had worked in cole mine all his life till he came to Calif[92]. Mother worked in a cotton mill in England. Mother Fathers name was Joseph Dunkerley her Mothers name was Hannah Spenser Dunkerley. Father and Mother came across the plains from Illinois in an ox team with a wagon train. brought some other stock along with them to Utah. they had joined the Mormon church in England and thought they had to come to Utah to be saved. Zion it was called. came to Sedar Sitty[93]. the Mormons treated Father very badley[94] took his stock away from him and put him in jail because he wanted to keep his loose stock. he thought they would kill him. but then finely let him out he said because he xxx[95] had not been through the indowment house where they aremad[96] good mormons.

So as soon as he could, a about a year I think he came to San Bernardino. drove an ox and a cow that was all he had left and milked the cos[97]. came with a wagon train as the Indians were very bad. there were onely[98] mormons in S.B. so my Father had a hard time getting work to live. he dug a ditch six foot wide by four deep for $50 a rod and was glad to get the work. he was what they cald an apostat[99] mormon then. Then Brig am Young ordered all good mormons back to to[100] Utah. Said as soon as they were all over the Cajone[101] Pass San Bernardino would sink. Mother was scared and wanted to go but Father said let it sink and be damed. So we were all born in S.B. six of us Alice Eliza Mary Jane Beatrice. John and Harret[102]. I was born in 1857 July 30.

Married to James Thomas Mayhew in 1876 Dec. 25th Tom was born in 1855. xxxx has been dead eight years Sep. 13th Will send this along and hope if any one can corect it they will do so.

With love and kind regards to all

Aunt Eliza[103]

Item 8: Statement: Written by Harriet Augusta Gregory, who died 20th April 1950.

Denair, Calif.  Oct. 7th 1925

Dear Relations All

The big letter has finally reached us or rather me and I’m afraid Clay isn’t the only slacker as it has been here several days and still unanswered however I will try to do now and send it along on its merry way. And as the three sisters[104] have told about all there is to tell or at least about all I could tell of the family history, I will not be able to add very much Mother and father were about 21 and 22 years of age when they married in England sailed for America in the sailing vessel, Palmira or wind jammer as Leslie[105] would call it. They were all crying and singing the song "Yes my native land I love thee, can I can I say farewell".

They did say farewell and never saw their native land or people again. except a brother of father’s who came to Ill., to see them before they left to come to Utah. He went back to England and from there to Australia and the last we heard from him he had made a big fortune in the mines. Father’s family consisted of five brothers[106] and three sisters. The brothers were John, Richard, Roger and Thomas, sisters were Ann Beatrice and Esther[107]. Mother’s family were two boys William and Joseph[108]. The girls were Mother Mary Ann, Harriet, Jane and Hannah[109]. I’m going to add some of the cousins addresses so if any of you care to write. They are some I have had a long time, so of course they may not get your letter, but it will do no harm to

One of mother’s nieces Mrs. Alice Cooke, 20 Albert St., Draylsden[110], England. 

One of fathers nephews a sailor Richard Howarth, 38 Albert Street[111], Lark Hill, Middleton, Lancashire, England.

I wrote to these cousins for a long time. Richard was at one time in New Jersey was married there. He was also in San F., at one time. Xxxx Etc. Lovingly Aunt Hattie[112].

Item 9: Statement of 7th October 1925, written by Beatrice Gregory

                                                                                                                                          Oct. 7th 1925

To my dear Relatives.

As sister Eliza has told the history of our Parents, would like to touch on some of the points of character that have always been x present with me and have influenced my life. many of the things that I mention no doubt are familiar to you, and in order to give honor where honor is due, they belong to this xxxxxWas chain. Xxx[113] Unwilling to live under oppression and feel disloyal at heart, they took with them their high qualities of the English, and came to America. Father took out his naturalization papers. Started his career as a loyal American, cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, and when he was assassinated, blended his tears with native citizens, from that time on the "Old Hack" always appeared at the polls on election. I wonder if we can all say as much. In the home we have the memory of a full pantry and a good table, tho others knew want tho there was plenty of work there was always a way provided for pleasure and looking for the best for the family. Etc. Aunt Batie[114]

Item 10: Statement written by Alice A. Hall (the oldest child of John and Mary), died 1935.

My dear relations One and all.

Was so pleased to receive all these nice letters, and think it is such a nice thing to keep in reach with one another. I don’t know as there is any thing that I can add to my dear Sisters letters with the exception they forgot to add the name of the shop that Father and Mother came over in. The name of the vessel was Palmira. and she came very near sinking with them in the English channel. They were in a storm their, she turned over on her side and they thought they were gone.

I haven’t said any thing yet about my English blood, but theirxx isn’t any of them any prouder of it than I.

What a blessing it was that our parents came to this country before we were born (for us) we can’t appreciate the good it has been forus[115].

Well I am just run down (it dosn’t take much to run me down) so will close with ots of love to you all.

                                                                                                                                          Mrs. Alice A. Hall                                                               

Escondidox

San Diego Co., Calif.

Item 11: Statement of 1st December 1970, written by Edith Rammell[116].

                                                                                                                                           Idaho Falls, Idaho

                                                                                                                                           Dec. 1, 1970

Mrs. Helen Handley[117]

946 Regal Road,

Berkeley, Calif.

Dear Mrs. Handley;

I don’t know when I have been so delighted to receive a letter as I was yours.

My Great Grandmother was Harriet Dunkerley, the older sister of Mary Ann Dunkerley Gregory, and I have tried to find out more about this family for years.

My Grandfather[118] brought a diary over from England in 1862 in which he had some info on Wm. Dunkerley[119] and the address of John Gregory in Temescal, San Bernardino, Calif.

I have located all the brothers and sisters of Harriet Dunkerley and their mates but not their children. I have an old letter in the file from Hattie Gregory to my Grandfather, Henry Buckley, written in the 1800’s. You may be interested in a copy[120].

Also I have mg.[121] Certificates of the Dunkerley children, and do have the parentage for two more generations.

Anything you have on this Dunkerley family would be greatly appreciated and I xxxx would, of course, be glad to pay for a copy.

I am going into the Hospital this morning for some tests and whatever else they decide to do, but I just had to let you know how thrilled I was in receiving your letter. As soon as I get home, I will be glad to send you anything you may want.

We have a Genealogy Ord. And are trying to do all we can on several lines, but this line is the one I do most on. I am interested in histories or anything else you may have.

                                                                                                                                            Sincerely

                                                                                                                                            Edith H. Rammell

                                                                                                                                            Edith Rammell

                                                                                                                                            (Mrs. Joe Rammell)

I lived in San Bernadino for eight years & have a

daughter their now[122].

Item 12: Letter of 9th April 1971, written by Edith Rammell[123].

April 9, 1971

Mrs. Helen Handley

946 Regal Road,

Berkeley, Calif. 94708

Dear Helen:

I was in the hospital from Dec.1 to Dec 23 and didn’t know you had written until today. I had quite a severe back operation while there and had to have help after I got home. Somehow, your letter had been put unopened on my Genealogy desk and I just discovered it to day. I am feeling much better now and once again able to do my work.

I was really thrilled xx with the material you sent to me and wanted to tell you I will get the material together as soon as I can possibly get a minute to get it together for you. I have the death certificates of Joseph Dunkerley and wife also, and will send them.

There are many interesting facts I have gleaned that will add to the letters you sent to me. I also have a diary that my Grandfather Henry Buckley brought from England that has a few facts about the Dunkerleys in it that you might like—so you see it will take me a little time to get it all together as I still don’t move very fast & my husband has asthma really bad and can’t do much to help me. But I surely will get it for you!

We have a daughter that lives in Rialto, Calif. (near S. B.) We lived in S. B. for many years. I will send her Aura Boberick’s address[124] and I am sure she will want to meet her.

I am corresponding with some of the grandchildren of Harriet Dunkerley-Joseph Higham in Gunnison, Utah and in Canada[125] also, so you see you have more relatives than you thought.

In the early days of the Mormon church many things that don’t add up took place. I suppose, like anything new, it took awhile to iron out the kinks. I know, in England, they surely had a time to get organized right.

I haven’t had time to study this material thoroughly, but in what I did, I don’t quite grasp where Alice Cooke fits in. If I send some sheets to you with what info I have on them, will you look them over and see if you can add anything to them? I hope, one day, to be able to compile a booklet, at least, on the Dunkerley family. Anything you can add to this will be appreciated.

Again I would like to thank you for the material and assure you I will soon get everything together that I think will interest you and send it.

Best regards,

                                                                                                                                             Edith Rammell

                                                                                                                                             (Mrs. Joe Rammell)

This article was written by Philip M. Dunkerley

Filename: Mary Ann Dunkerley and John Gregory 2