James Thomas Jakeman

jakeman-james-thomas

JAMES THOMAS JAKEMAN
28 Aug 1853 – 14 May 1921

James, my second great grandfather on my mother’s mother’s side, was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, one of ten children born to James and Ann Field Jakeman.

James’ father owned a needle factory. When his mother, Ann, was just nineteen, she married her first husband, Joseph Such. They became the parents of two children, the first, passing away soon after birth and the second they named Joseph Field. In 1829, her husband passed away and Joseph Jr. tells how, at age four, he started working in a needle factory, at the side of his mother, who taught him to sort the different-sized needles. The boss evidently liked her work: Ann married the factory owner, James Jakeman on 13 Nov 1833.

In 1856, Ann was baptized by Mormon missionaries in Britain and, on 4 Jun 1863, she and her family boarded the Amazon for passage to America. The Amazon arrived in New York City on 18 Jul 1863 and the family set out from there to Florence, Kansas, where they joined the Daniel D. McArthur Company, which consisted of 500 individuals and 75 wagons. The company arrived in Utah on 3 Oct 1863. James was just nine years old when he made the journey and walked across the plains.

James became a newspaperman. He printed and published some of the first newspapers in Juab, Sevier and Sanpete Counties, including the weekly Nephi Ensign, The Home Sentinel and The Sevier Valley Echo. James also wrote and published a book entitled “Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and their Mothers”.

James met Ellen Lee, a Mormon suffragist and writer and my second great grandmother, and the two were married in 1878. The couple had four children: Howard Lee, Cora Ellen and Gladys Annette, my great grandmother, who was born on 2 Jun 1886. They divorced and James remarried in 1900.

At the age of 67, on Saturday, May 7 1921, James was struck and killed by an automobile at the intersection of second south and main in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *