George and Ann Prior Jarvis Histories and Journals

{Click on an image to see full size picture.}

Born of solid English stock . . .
George's parents, Thomas and Elizabeth Billings Jarvis	Ann's mother, Catherine McEwan Prior	Reported Jarvis Coat of Arms	Reported Prior Coat of Arms
George and Ann Prior Jarvis chronology The bare bones of George and Ann Prior Jarvis' journey through life. Compiled in 2004.
George and Ann Prior Jarvis		HMS Victory, the ship on which George and Ann Jarvis served and where they began their married life.
History of Ann Prior Jarvis Fatherless at 8, working for 50 cents a week at 11, Married at 16, Ann Prior had no easy life. Ann Prior's own journal with additional material by Ann's granddaughter Eleanor Jarvis Seegmiller.
Ann Prior Jarvis		St George in the East, London, Middlesex England, where Ann Prior was Christened on 31 October, 1831.

A brief history of George and Ann Prior Jarvis by their daughter, Victoria Josephine Jarvis Miles

History of George Jarvis Sailor, pioneer, temple builder . . .
George Jarvis		Birthplace of George Jarvis, Harlow, Essex, England. Picture taken in 1977	George's Certificate of Citizenship
The St. George Temple under construction. Because of his background aboard ship, George was in charge of Scaffolding.	The St. George Temple.

Link to online book with Jarvis Family information: Biographies and Autobiographies of Heber Charles and Asineth Jarvis Cottam and Their Ancestors Ellen Raye Cottam Brown, a descendant of Brigham Young and Mary Forsyth Jarvis has written an exceptional book about her ancestors. It includes much material about our Jarvis family which is not available on this web site. You can use the link above or go to: http://familysearch.org/ \| Search Records \| Historical books and search using: Surname: Jarvis; Author: Ellen Raye Cottam Brown Link to online blog with Jarvis Family information: Blog containing a lot of information about the George and Ann Prior Jarvis family Amy Thirot has an ongoing blog where she regularly posts biographies, stories, photos, etc. from her family tree, which includes the Margaret and Charles Godfrey Defriez Jarvis line.
The George Washington carried the Jarvis family from England to America Information about the ship and the journey, compiled in 1999.			The SS George Washington
Story of George and Ann Prior Jarvis' walk across the plains He told the Lord that he'd get to Utah even if he had to walk all the way to get there. Thanks to unkindness by the driver of the wagon carrying their goods, that's just what he did. As told by a granddaughter, Eleanor Jarvis Seegmiller.			A Wagon Train
Life in early St. George Interview with Doug Alder telling some interesting facts about early St. George In the 1861 October General Conference a call was made for pioneers to settle Dixie or St. George, Utah Southern Territory. George volunteered to take his family and be among the first to go. Life in early St. George was very hard. In "Great Basin Kingdom", Leonard Arringron says: "Acute shortages of food and feed, sickness, and back breaking labor affected all of the settlers. The combination of poor soil, unruly rivers, distance from source of supply and market, and dreary landscape was enough to try the faith of the staunchest." J. Golden Kimball, a Mormon leader from the last century known for his blunt and humorous manner was quoted as saying: "I don't know how the people of St. George can stand the heat, the indians, the snakes and the flooding Virgin River. If I had a house in St. George and a house in hell, I'd rent out the one in St. George and move straight to hell."

St. George as it may have looked to Ann and George.

George and Ann's Home in St. George.

George and Ann's Home in St. George (porch removed).

Roster of the 1860 Jesse Murphy wagon train
This roster lists George and Ann Prior Jarvis and their family as members of the wagon train captained by Jesse Murphy. It is interesting to note that this is one of the few places where George's middle name, Franklin, was used.
2 letters from Catherine Prior to her daughter, Ann Prior Jarvis
Written from England to St.George, Utah in 1862 and 1863, they provide a glimpse of life then.
A time line of happenings in Southern Utah.

Want full size, full resolution copies of photos from this web site?
In an effort to minimize both space on the server and image download times, photos on this web site have been specifically configured for web viewing. Unfortunately, that means that they end up configured for the lowest common denominator. Full size, full resolution (or resolution at least as good as that originally submitted) photos may be found and downloaded from http://picasaweb.google.com/jarvisfamilyweb#. In addition, submitted photos that didn't quite fit into the web site--particularly all the photos of the Brigham Young Jarvis line that have been collected by Ellen Raye Cottam Brown--have been, or are in the process of being added to the Picasa site.

Sources for photos
Undoubtedly, multiple copies of these photos have been around the family for years, hiding in various scrapbooks. Some of the photos were, I'm sure, taken from Margaret Jarvis Overson's book George Jarvis and Joseph George DeFriez Genealogy (Mesa, Arizona: 1957) or from copies of the photos used in her book. The best that I can do is credit and thank those who furnished the pictures used here. Some photos were received from more than one source and with differing quality and/or resolution. Only the one actually used is referenced.

Amy Thiriot furnished the picture of George and Ann with George sitting, the picture of George's parents, and the double picture of Ann.

Ellen Raye Jarvis Brown furnished the picture of George and Ann with George standing, the Jarvis and Prior coats of arms, and the picture of the Jarvis home with the porch removed.

When some of those who submitted pictures early on indicated that they didn't particularly care if their names were mentioned, I got careless and did't try to attribute pictures. I'm now going back through my files and digging out who sent what. Proper attribution will be added as it develops. [mwj]