JOHN SKINNER AND JANE SMITH SKINNER
by Anona Skinner Sparks
John Skinner was born May 30, 1822 at Swan Bridge,
England. He was the son of Charlotte Stiner Skinner and William
Skinner. He spent his childhood in this vicinity. His parents owned a
comfortable home and John enjoyed the life of a normal English boy.
At the age of 22 he met and married a young girl by the name of Liza
Nott. They had two children, but both mother and children were
stricken and all three died. Later John accepted employment on a farm
where Jane Smith was working. He could see how unkind these people
were to her, so he befriended her. This friendship grew into love and
they were married in 1848. This young couple established a home of
their own at Temple Point, England. Here their first child, Hyrum,
was born. At the same time a young missionary from the U.S., Orson
Pratt, came to tell them about the truthfulness of the gospel. Both
John and Jane were converted and were baptized May 26, 1849. John's
parents were very displeased with him and were unwilling to listen to
him concerning his new found faith.
After having joined the church, they turned their
attention to a plan to go to America. By 1856 they had saved enough
to make the trip and they had two more boys, George and Brigham H. To
save money, John took the two oldest boys with him and traveled by
boat to Liverpool. Jane and the baby went by train. When Jane arrived
at Liverpool, it was reported that the boat which John and her
children were on had been lost; this was a bitter shock to her but
she prayed earnestly and later learned that it was a rumor and they
were soon on a sailing vessel bound for a new and strange country.
Jane was not well after her fourth child was born aboard ship,
December 11, 1856, just halfway across the ocean. The old sea captain
wanted the tiny baby named Columbia after his ship but Jane would not
hear of such a thing; she had been on the ship for such a long time
and endured such hardships that she wanted to forget the ship; so the
baby was named John Alexander. John and Jane arived in the U.S. and
settled in Elly [Elba or Elby?], Genessee [Genesee], New York. Here
he worked on a farm and saved enough money to buy a place of his own.
While they lived here the following children were born; William
Henry, Mary Jane, Elizabeth Ann, Harriet Eliza, and Emily Eugenia.
They decided that they should go west because
their reason for coming to America was to live in Zion, so they sold
their place and joined a pioneer wagon train in 1867-1868. Their long
trip west was one of great suffering and hardship punctuated with
scares by the Indians. All this they accepted willingly for the sake
of their great faith and love of the gospel.
They reached Utah in time to gain employment in
helping build the railroad and decided to make a home at Providence.
While here the following children were born: Joseph Alma, James
Albert, and Alice Amelia. October 5, 1869 they and their nine
children were sealed at the Logan Temple. In 1875 John accepted a
proposal by the church to go to Bear Lake in Idaho. They homesteaded
300 acres and built a home. Jane helped John establish a small cheese
factory which he operated along with cattle raising and sheep
raising. The name of the little settlement was Nounan. Among the men
who worked for Mr. Skinner was an intelligent, good looking, young
musician named Hyrum Winters who later married Emily.
The Skinner family was always snowed in during the
winter but was always prepared. However the young people often made
trips by snowshoe to Ovid and Montpelier. Jane Peterson Miles, thier
granddaughter, often told me of these trips. "On March 19, 1886,
my mother, Mary Jane, died, leaving me to Grandma and Grandpa
Skinner. I was only 12 days old. I always thought Grandpa was my
father and loved him dearly. I was his shadow and he told me many
beautiful stories of their family life.
"John was the first Bishop of the Nounan
Ward, a position which he held until his health would not allow him
to serve longer. He kept all of his records in his mind instead of on
paper, and the stake president, Budge, reported that he never made
one mistake in all those years. He would drive 16 miles to Paris to
attend priesthood meeting. He was a faithful member of the church and
although none of his near kin joined the church he helped to bring
William Smith and family to this country. (William Smith was his
wife's brother.) William had joined the church in England but it was
only through John's help that he was able to enjoy the blessings of
the gospel in this great land.
"All of John's children were married in the
temple, except James Albert, who died in infancy. John was a good
friend to the Indians. He kept a huge bin of flour and all that he
did not need he gave to his red brothers. They would come and fish in
the streams which ran through the valley from the canyon. One
interesting story which he told me concerned a young Indian named
Joe, who offered to kill a big bear that had been killing the sheep.
He brought his wife and child with him. He spent several nights
watching for the bear. At last the night came when he was to prove
his skill, and he climbed upon a shed, out of sight, and waited. He
could see the huge shadow moving from sheep pen to sheep pen, at last
it came to the big pen and put his paws on top of the pole fence. The
Indian took careful aim and killed the bear with his first shot. This
was a great relief to the Indian's wife, who never slept as long as
her husband was out looking for his quest. This Indian man took a
great fancy to Uncle Joe, because he had the same name, so he
insisted that Joe give him his cap, which he prized highly.
"The last child born to John and Jane Skinner
was Nephi Aaron, who was born at Nounan, December 8, 1876. Nephi
seemed like a brother to me because we were raised as brother and
sister. When John became so feeble that he couldn't leave the house,
he spent much time in the old rocker reading the scriptures.
"I was at his bedside when he died June 27,
1899 at Nounan, Idaho. The last words he spoke were spoken to me as
he held my hand; the words were "My darling child." He was
crippled with rheumatism and used a cane for a number of years. He
had a kind and loving disposition and certainly proved to be a
wonderful husband and father."
Jane was born May 26, 1831, at Bishops Nympton,
England. She was the daughter of George Smith and Ann Bowden. Her
father was a broom maker. Four months before Jane was born, he died
at the factory. This situation left Jane's mother with the
responsibility of raising her family alone. At the age of nine years
Jane was placed in a home where she earned her keep by helping a lady
do weaving. This lady was so large she could not get back of the loom
to tie the knots, so tiny Jane did this. As soon as Jane was old
enough to do heavier work she was bound out to work for a farmer --
here she learned meat cutting, dairy work, cooking, etc. She worked
very hard here and she became very discouraged and ran away, but was
later caught and put into prison, where they kept her in solitary
confinement. The farmer was responsible for this. Before she ran away
she had met a young man at the farm whom she had fallen in love with,
and as soon as she was released from the prison she was married to
this young man, John Skinner. John was from a well-to-do family, and
he made a home for Jane at Temple Point, England. They certainly had
great faith to leave their home and all they had to come to this
country.
Jane was very faithful to her belief and raised
all her children to adhere to the principles of the gospel. She was
president of the Relief Society for many years, and also a Sunday
School teacher. She always found time to help her fellow men in time
of sickness. She made clothing for those who were in need. She was a
good homemaker and ran a well organized household. Jane and John
lived a full life and were the parents of thirteen children, twelve
of whom lived to maturity. When their oldest daughter died at
childbirth, they took the tiny baby girl and raised her during their
declining years. This child was Jane Peterson Miles. Jane Skinner
died June 28, 1914 at Nounan, Idaho.
1998, November 11: Scanned by Matt Young from a copy of the book "History of Bear Lake Pioneers", by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. The book number is: F 752 .B3 H33 C.2
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