SMITH, Julia Elizabeth b. 29 Jul 1847 Cartersville, Pottawatomie, Iowa, United States d. 28 Oct 1878 Leamington, Millard, Utah, United States

1847 - 1878 (31 years)

Name	SMITH, Julia Elizabeth
Birth	29 Jul 1847	Cartersville, Pottawatomie, Iowa, United States
Gender	Female
WAC	22 Jun 1874	EHOUS
_TAG	Reviewed on FS
Death	28 Oct 1878	Leamington, Millard, Utah, United States
Burial	Nov 1878	Leamington, Millard, Utah, United States
Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
Person ID	I65222	Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith
Last Modified	19 Aug 2021

Father	SMITH, Silas Schellinger , b. 6 Jun 1822, Stockholm, St. Lawrence, New York, United States Stockholm, St. Lawrence, New York, United Statesd. 11 Jun 1892, Meadow, Millard, Utah Territory, United States (Age 70 years)
Mother	ORTON, Elizabeth , b. 1 Jun 1826, Lebanon, Clinton, Illinois, United States Lebanon, Clinton, Illinois, United Statesd. 27 Nov 1902, Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States (Age 76 years)
Marriage	9 Feb 1844	Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States [1]
Family ID	F20662	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family	ROSS, Melvin , b. 26 Sep 1842, Dyer, Gibson, Tennessee, United States Dyer, Gibson, Tennessee, United Statesd. 29 Nov 1920, American Falls, Power, Idaho, United States (Age 78 years)
Marriage	18 Nov 1861	Heber City, Wasatch, Utah, United States
Family ID	F10672	Group Sheet \| Family Chart
Last Modified	24 Jan 2022

Photos At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.

Notes

Life Sketch of Julia Elizabeth Smith

By Leon Pitman

Julia Elizabeth Smith

Born: 29 July 1847, Kanesville (Council Bluffs), Pottawatamie, Iowa
Died: 28 October 1878, Leamington, Millard, Utah
Father: Silas Smith
Mother: Elizabeth Orton

Julia Elizabeth Smith was the first wife of Melvin Ross, the mother of Sarah Lovina Ross and an ancestor of many of our Morgan descendants. But very little is known about her life. No pictures of her and no story of her life are known to exist, though she has thousands of descendants from five of the seven children she bore with her husband Melvin Ross, and she was a descendant of a famous family. Her father was a cousin of Joseph Smith Jr. founder of the Mormon church. We have not even found a grave marker for her where she was buried in Leamington, Utah. Her family initially probably put up a simple wood marker which deteriorated over the years while all of her family long ago moved from Leamington.

When Julia was born in or near Kanesville, now Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 1847, her parents, like many Mormon migrants, were temporarily living in Iowa, waiting for an opportunity to migrate to Utah. In the 1850 census of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Silas Smith, his wife Elizabeth, their children Marion (Silas Marion) 4, and Julia 2, were living next to Elizabeth's parents, William R. Orton, his wife Rebecca and their large family. When Julia was about 6 years old, her family made the trip to Utah in 1853 and first settled in Provo. Records have not been found about which wagon train company they traveled in. Julia's maternal grandparents, William and Rebecca Orton, also crossed the Plains from Iowa to Utah and settled in Provo.

While growing up in the 1850s, Julia lived in Provo where some of her siblings and half siblings were born between 1853 and 1861. In 1858 her father married her mother's sister Sarah Orton. In the 1860 census Julia's father Silas and his two wives (Elizabeth and Sarah) were all living in the same household in Provo, but Julia was not listed in the household at that time. Her maternal grandparents, William and Rebecca Orton also lived in Provo during the 1860 census. Melvin and Richard Ross are listed in the Provo census in the household of John W. Radford in 1850 in Provo, Utah. Melvin was 9 in 1850. They are also listed in the Provo 2nd Ward LDS Membership Records.

It was while living in Provo that Julia became acquainted with Melvin Ross, as both of them lived there and both were members of the Provo 2nd Ward of the LDS church. Julia and Melvin were married 18 Nov 1861 when Julia was 14 years old and Mel was 19. They were married in the town of Heber, Wasatch, Utah, about 40 miles northeast of Provo, where Mel's grandparents, Richard and Dianna Smith (not related to Julia's Smith line), and other of his family members lived at that time. Perhaps Mel was offered work in Heber by his mother's family. But Julia and Mel's first child, Sarah Lovina Ross, was born 27 March 1862 (some records say 1863) in Deseret, where by that time Mel's mother, brother, stepfather had all moved to help found this new community in Millard County, Utah. Julia's parents also had moved to Deseret by about 1861-62. Records show that Julia's father's plural wife Sarah Orton Smith's first child was born in Provo in 1859, but her second in 1861 was born in Deseret, Millard, Utah, indicating that the Silas Smith family had also moved in about 1861 to help found the town of Deseret.

Julia and Mel Ross apparently remained in Deseret until about 1868 when they, with many other members of his family made a move about 10 miles east to Oak City, Millard County. Her father and his two wives and families in 1864 moved to Meadow Creek, where they founded a new settlement called Meadow, Millard, Utah.

In the mid 1870s, Julia and Melvin Ross made another move, about 12 miles north of Oak City to the new town of Leamington, Millard County, where the family lived off and on until after Julia's death in 1878. In the book History of Millard County by Edward Lyman, page 170, it states that Julia Ross was the first school teacher in Leamington, when the first school opened in there in 1877.

Julia died 28 Oct 1878 in Leamington from injuries she sustained in a wagon accident. She was survived by her husband and seven children: the oldest, Sarah Lovina, soon married and moved from the family household. The 1880 census shows that Julia's parents had come to Leamington and were taking care of the two youngest children, Silas and Emma, and that the three older boys had gone to live with their other grandparents, Leah and John Radford in Kanosh, Millard County, Utah. Melvin Ross married his second wife Mary Ellen Hadden 18 July 1879 in Leamington. (See under the Melvin Ross link).

Julia Elizabeth Smith and her husband Melvin Ross had the following children:

1. Sarah Lovina Ross, born 27 Mar 1862 in Deseret, Millard, Utah, and died 10 Jan 1919 in Neeley, Power, Idaho. She first married John Holden who died soon after. She second married William Thomas Morgan 15 Feb 1880 in Leamington, Millard, Utah.

2. Francis Marion Ross, born 18 April 1866 in Deseret, Millard, Utah, and died 28 March 1949 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He first married Ellen Gurley (Gourley?) in about 1884 in Joseph, Sevier, Utah. They separated in 1891 with no children. He second married Alvira Ann Peterson at Beaver City, Beaver, Utah, in 1892. She was born 23 Aug 1870 in Beaver City, Utah. She died 20 Feb 1946 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

3. Don Carlos Ross, born 18 July 1867 in Oak City, Millard, Utah, and died 27 Oct 1918 in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He married 18 Oct 1888 to Alvira Ann Mackey in Richfield, Sevier, Utah. He died 27 Oct 1918 in Idaho Falls, Idaho. She died 5 June 1942 at Sevier, Utah.

4. James Melvin Ross, born 16 Jan 1869 in Oak City, Millard, Utah and died 25 July 1937 in Sevier County, Utah. He married Mary Elizabeth Hallett in Oct 1891. Elizabeth died in Pocatello, Bannock, Idaho.

5. Mary Ester Ross, born 14 Mar 1873 in Oak City, Millard, Utah, and died 2 April 1950 in Blackfoot, Bingham, Idaho. She married Hyrum Weld Stott 27 May 1896 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Hyrum was born 27 June 1875 in Meadow, Millard, Utah and died in Felt, Teton, Idaho, on 19 Jan 1958.

6. Silas Asahel Ross, born 17 Jun 1875 in Leamington, Millard, Utah, and died 18 Oct 1896. in Joseph, Sevier, Utah. He never married.

7. Emma Ross, born 7 Mar 1878 in Leamington, Millard, Utah, and died in 1881 from diphtheria.

Sources
[S285] Steven Webster, Book of Remembrance (Steven Webster), (Genealogy including pedigree and family group sheets for Steven Webster), 2 Feb 2009 (Reliability: 2).