A Tennant Family

Mary Elizabeth (Lizzie) Hastings was a daughter of Jane Burdett and John Hastings. She was born 14 December 1843 in Countesthorpe, Leicestershire, England as the oldest of six children. In the fall of 1848, the gospel was presented to the family, and her mother was baptized on Easter Sunday in April 1849. Her father did not accept the gospel at this time, but was baptized in 1853. About this time her brother Thomas died, and shortly after his death, their father left home. The family never heard from him for almost seven years, and during this time, Mary's younger sister, Lizzie, died leaving only four children in the family. Early in 1861, a letter came to the family from Mary's father, telling them that he was in America and had been working to make enough money to send them for their passage to come and join him. They left their home in England 10 April and sailed on the ship Manchester. It took four weeks to cross the ocean. After landing, the family stayed at a mission home with a family by the name of Stone.

They joined the Joseph Horn Company to cross the plains and Mary's father joined them in St. Joseph, Missouri and traveled the rest of the way with them. The children walked most of the way and were tired at the end of the day, there was music and dancing in the evening when they camped for the night. Since this was during the time of the Civil War, they saw soldiers camped along the way. At one time, they had to pass the encampment of Johnson's Army. They were terrified, not knowing what to expect but nothing happened. They also had several encounters with Indians along the way, but they did make the trip in safety and arrived in Ogden on 14 September 1861. This was just a few months before Mary turned 18.

Their first home in Ogden was an adobe house with planks for doors on which there were no locks. Sometimes Indians would come around and even get into the house, which terrified the family, but the Indians did not harm them. This home was located near 22nd and Wall Avenue.

Mary was baptized in January 1862 and on 4 January 1863 she was married to Winthrop Farley in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah. This was my grandfather's fourth marriage. They lived on Grant Avenue north of 23rd Street. She shared the house with two of his other wives. After a short time they went with my grandfather's brother and his family to Gunnison, Utah, where they planned on farming, but the Indians in that area were so mean that they became afraid for their lives and moved back to Ogden. They lived in a camp in Ogden Valley while my grandfather cut and hauled logs to build a log cabin at the corner of 24th and Adams, where the Catholic Parsonage is now located. While they were living in the valley their oldest daughter, Analine was born.

They later sold the property where the log house was located and built a home in West Court, just above Adams between 23rd and 24th. This was known as the family home and was a large two story frame home.

Altogether, Mary and Winthrop had eleven children. There fifth child, a boy, died four days after his birth. During the small pox epidemic in May 1882, they lost two more small boys within ten days. Their second daughter died in childbirth with her second child in February 1892. Then Mary's husband died September 1892.

Mary maintained the home, and as the family grew up and left home, she took in boarders and roomers. This was how my own mother and father met. After her youngest daughter, Mae, was married in 1362, they moved into the home and helped to take care of my grandmother until her death on 16 May 1916. My uncle also lived there until his death in 1941.

Since progress makes many changes, the family home changed hands after my aunt's death in 1954 and became rental property for awhile. When the Mansion House extended their parking area recently, they demolished the houses that were located on the properties.