The Pioneers

I am here in St. George, Utah (actually Washington, Utah, a smaller city just to the north) for the St. George Family History Expo which starts today, 24 February 2012. I am certainly looking forward to the presentations, but even more to meeting new friends and renewing friendships.

St. George is particularly significant to me since at least two of my family lines lived and were pioneers in the area. My 3rd Great-grandfather, George Jarvis and his wife Ann Prior Jarvis lived most of their lives here in St. George. In addition, my Great-great-grandfather, Charles De Friez (who later changed his name to Jarvis) also lived here in St. George. He later married one of George and Ann's daughters, Margaret Jarvis and moved to Arizona. Charles and Margaret Jarvis were the parents of my Great-grandmother, Margaret Godfrey Jarvis Overson. Grandmother Overson helped raise my father after his mother died when my father was eight years old. She was a frequent visitor in our household while I was a child and my wife and I had the fortunate experience to drive her to St. Johns, Arizona from Mesa, where she lived to attend a family reunion.

Some of my other relatives, such as my Great-grandfather, Henry Martin Tanner and his wives and family also had connections to St. George and some of the surrounding communities such as Toquerville, Utah where Henry's second wife, Emma Ellen Stapley lived.

As you can probably guess, St. George is vastly different than it was during the pioneer days. This area was so difficult to settle, that the early pioneers had to be subsidized by surrounding communities for many years. This is a spectacular area for scenery but until there was a tourism industry you couldn't live on scenery.

Hopefully, I will get time to put up a few posts. Check in again.

In the interest of disclosure, I have become associated with Family History Expos as their Social Media Representative.