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Life of My Grandfather John James Cherry and Ancestors

In writing the history of my grandfather, John James Cherry, let us first go back fifteengenerations to the family name of "Cherry," which is of Normandy-English extraction, Jean or

John "Cherie" son of Thomas Cherry, went from Normandy France to Northamptionshire,

England in 1407.

Descendents from there, the "Cherry" families in England, passed from there into Ireland. Here

we find them in the county of Antrim, Ireland. But they were not satisfied, because of being

denied religious freedom.

Thomas Cherry and his wife, Rachel, were born in Ireland. They came to America in 1737 and

built their home in Norfork, Virginia, and along the Potomac River in Virginia, which is now

Charleston, West Virginia.

Thomas and Rachel had seven sons: Thomas, Aaron, Ralph, Honour, William, Moses and John

and one daughter, Rachel.

They were men of means for we find they acquired large tracts of land in Virginia and Maryland.

In 1752 Lord Fairflax granted 400 acres in Fredrick County, Virginia, to Thomas Cherry and it

was surveyed by George Washington, Thomas and his brother, William Cherry.

Aaron Cherry, son of Thomas and Rachel, was born in 1739 in Fredrick County, Virginia. Hemarried Mary Johnson, who was born in 1741 in Washington County, Pennsylvania. They had

three sons: Aaron, Moses and John and a daughter, Rachel.

Aaron Cherry received from his father's will, dated 6 October 1759 in Virginia, the home

plantation with the stipulation that he care for his mother, Rachel Cherry, and was living there

at the time of the Boston Tea Party in 1773, when men dressed as Indians, dumped the

contents of some British Ships with a cargo of Tea worth $90,000.00 into the Boston Harbor,

the beginning you may say of the Revolutionary War.

Aaron Cherry was stirred by the famous speech of Patrick Henry, "Give me liberty or give me

death." Aaron enlisted in Captain Van Zant's company of the 5th Pennsylvania Battalion 9March 1776. His brother William, was promoted to rank of Captain in the 4th Regiment, brother

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Moses became a Lieutenant in Captain Brandon's Regiment and his brother Thomas an Ensign

in Captain Reed's Company.

A history of Washington County, Pennsylvania, published in 1839, made the following comment

regarding a prominent member of the Thomas Cherry family living at that time. ThisGentleman can boast of a prouder lineage than Lord or Lady of Royal birth for his ancestors

were among the first rulers of the New World and Martyrs for future generations freely giving

their lives that "The children might have happier homes and the God given liberties that were

denied our Fathers." Shall the memory of these Ancestors, our Royal Peerage, sink intooblivion while we enjoy the priceless liberties for which our Fathers toiled, suffered and died?

Small wonder then that we are eager to obtain and record every incident of those noble lives,hoping to rear a monument for our loved and honored ones which will live in the hearts of our

children when we too are gathered to the land of our Fathers.

Among the earliest of the early Pioneers in Washington County, Pennsylvania the name of

Cherry takes a prominent place.

John Cherry, son of Aaron and Mary Johnson Cherry, was born 5 September 1765, on theplantation home of Thomas and Rachel Cherry in Virginia. He moved with the family to Jacobs

Creek in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, when he was just a boy. Later the family moved

to Kentucky. After the Revolution, where the Indians made life so miserable for them, theyreturned to Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1799.

He married Rebecca Anthony. She was born 3 January 1777, in Westmoreland County,Pennsylvania, the daughter of Jacob and Nancy Ann Johnson. John and Rebecca AnthonyCherry had three sons and four daughters. They were Aaron Benjaman, (my grandfather),

Ebenezer and John and Nancy, Elizabeth, Rebecca and Mary.

Aaron Benjeman Cherry, (my grandfather), son of John and Rebecca Anthony Cherry, was born21 February 1801, in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, and later moved to Falmouth,

Pendleton County, Kentucky. In 1829, he married Margaret Yelton. She was born 11 February

1801, in Falmouth, Pendleton County, Kentucky.

She was a daughter of John and Ann Lambert Yelton. Her parents had seven sons: William


Phillip, Jesse, Perry, Samuel, Isaac and John. Daughters were: Rebecca, Molly, Milly and

Margaret, (my grandmother), who was always called Peggy.

John Yelton's father and mother were Charles and Amelia Yelton. His father was Charlie Yeltonwho came from Wales in Colonial days and settled in Loudon County, Virginia. His family

consists of three sons and one daughter, William, James and Charles. Daughters Name? During

the Revolutionary War, William and James were soldiers on the field of battle, Charles was

working in a gun department After the war was over Charles, my grandfather, came toKentucky with his family and settled in Paris, Oxford County, Kentucky on the Ruddles Mill

Road.

My great grandparents, Aaron Benjaman and Margaret Yelton Cherry, had three sons and four

daughters: Rebecca Ann, Sarah Jane, John James, (my father), Mary Margaret and AmeliaMaria, Jesse Yelton and Thomas born in Falmouth, Pendleton County, Kentucky. In 1840, the

family moved to Adams County, Illinois, and took up a farm; while there Caroline and Joseph

were born.

They visited in Nauvoo during a Mormon Conference and it was here they first heard the

Doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the lips of the Prophet JosephSmith and his Associates and were soon converted. The family was baptized and confirmed

members of the Church in April, 1846, by Orson Hyde.

With the exodus of the Saints from Illinois, they left their homes and went to Winter Quartersin Western Iowa, a camp for the refugees and the homeless exiles. Here they madepreparations for the long journey across the plains to the Rocky Mountain Region, where they

might establish homes in the unknown West. They left Council Bluffs 20 June 1847, with

Charles C. Rich's Company.

The Cherry's were well to do and their outfit was one of the best in the company. They hadthree well-stored wagons, several yoke of oxen and a band of horses.

They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, 2 September 1847. They camped in the Fort at Salt Lakethe first winter, but moved North about twelve miles to Centerville, Davis County, Utah, in

1848, and settled with William and Osmand Deuel and others on what was called Cherry Creek

and later named Deuel Creek.


Here they bought out the claim and a two-room log house of Thomas Grover, Centerville's first

settler, and made for themselves a permanent home.

Grandfather Aaron Benjaman passed away 16 October 1864, in Centerville, Davis County, Utah,

at the age of 63 years. His wife, Margaret Yelton, was a widow for 43 years, living to the good•old age of eighty eight years. She died 17 October 1898, in Centerville, Davis County, Utah.

They had 50 grandchildren, 73 great grandchildren and four great great grandchildren at that

time. They remained true and faithful to the principles of the Doctrine of Jesus Christ.

My grandfather, John James Cherry, was the eldest son of Aaron Benjaman and Margaret

Yelton Cherry, born 13 January 1834, in Falmouth, Pendleton Co., Kentucky. His early childhood

was spent on their Kentucky Plantation. When he was eight years old his parents and brothersand sisters who were born in Falmouth moved to Adams County, Illinois, and took up a farm.

Grandfather Cherry was twelve years old when the family came west. He drove one of the ox

teams and wagons across the plains.

Grandfather never spoke of the trip as being sad or wearisome, although they had many trials.It was a great adventure and they had faith and confidence in their leaders who were guiding

them on this long and oft times perilous journey. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, 2

September 1847.

The family later moved to Centerville and here grandfather grew up as a young man and metand later married Laura Bratton on 25 October 1856, in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City,

Utah.

Laura Bratton was born 10 November 1841, in Ottawa, LaSalle County, Illinois, a daughter of

George Washington and Mary Palmer Graves Bratton. Her father, a cabinet maker by trade,decided to leave his home in LaSalle County and go to Nauvoo. It was here that they first

heard the Missionaries preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and were

converted to its truthfulness and accepted it.

After coming to Nauvoo her father worked for five years on the Nauvoo Temple, designing and

making much of its beautiful wood work.

Mary, his wife, decided that she would go West, but her husband did not want to go further

West. The gospel had not made such a deep impression on him. In the month of May 1852,


the husband provided the mother and four daughters with two yoke of oxen and a wagon to

make the trip. A company of Saints left the Missouri River in a Captain Brim's Company of fiftywagons. They arrived in the Salt lake Valley in September 1852, and spent the winter at the

Old Fort, which is now Pioneer Park. In the spring of 1853, they went to Centerville to the

home of her mother's sister, Eliza Ann, second wife of Apostle Charles C. Rich.

Grandfather built them a two room rock house just north and East of his father's home, the

home that is now owned by laura Smith and is still in good condition. Here the following

children were born; John James Jr., Mary Minetta, (my mother), Phoebe Adeline, Jesse, Aaron

Benjaman, George Washington and Thomas.

Grandfather was a hard working man and, like his father, he loved the soil and the things it

produced. In his day things were not done by machinery; his crops were planted by hand. I

remember so well how the neighbors had grandfather sow their lucerne seed as he could sowit so even, just going along with a bag of seed scattering it along. In the fall he used the scytheto cut the grain. After tying it in bundles and letting it dry, it was hauled to a place in the barn

where the kernels were separated by hitting the bundles with a stick with a piece of raw hidetied on the end. The straw was then gathered and stored away, waiting for a good windy day

to blow the chaff out; and then the wheat was ready for family use.

In 1857, when Johnson's Army was sent by the Government of the United States, Grandfather

went with the rest of the men from Centerville to meet the Army in Echo Canyon.

In 1861, when the Church Authorities called for men and teams to be sent to the Missouri River

to help the Weary Hand Cart Co., he responded to that call. He made four trips in 1862, 63, 64

and 66.

When our Mormon Temple was being built, he took his ox team and with other men went into

the canyon to haul rock for the foundation. His winter supply of wood was hauled from the

canyon by ox team.

In 1875, the family moved to Porterville, Morgan County, Utah where Joseph Charles, Clarence

Orville and Melva Estella were born. The family lived there ten years before returning to

Centerville.

Grandfather built the first Molasses Mill in Centerville. It was built on a creek and the water

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would turn the wheels to grind and press the juice from the sugar cane. How weill remember

that old Molasses Mill, and how all the children came from far and near to get skimming's tomake molasses candy. He gave to all that came.

On 26 October 1906, Grandfather and Grandmother celebrated their "Golden WeddingAnniversary" with their family and friends. Fifty Years of Happiness. Grandmother wrote the

following lines to Jim on this occasion:

To My Husband, A Pioneer of 47

.......Laura B. Cherry

Dear husband of fifty years ago,

a sturdy pioneer;You've helped the desert to subdue

And build our home to dear.

You've toiled on the lofty mountains,

You've toiled in the canyon low;You've toiled mid the burning summer sun,

In the valley far below.

On the broad and firm foundation,

Where our noble temple stands,You worked for many a weary day

With willing heart and hand.

When the call to arms resoundedThrough our valley both near and far,

You left your all at duty's call,

For the Echo Canyon War.

You helped the weary handcart saintsTo cross the mountain high,

the winter winds were blowing cold

Beneath a stormy sky.


You've never preached the gospel

In foreign land and yet

You've nobly done your duty

And the word of wisdom kept.

You've passed your three score and ten

Your work is nearly done.

Your life's been one long labor day

Now rest till the setting sun.

And now my dearest husband

Of fifty years today,Prepare your heart and prepare your mind

For the dawn of a brighter day.

Grandfather owned ten acres of land South of Parrish lane and west of the highway, running

down to the Bamberger Railroad. This was his pride and joy, and it was a wonderful sight to seehis lovely garden all free from weeds. Millie and I used to go help him top onions, a job he was

still doing at the grand old age of ninety years.

Of course, as the mind wonders back to our childhood days and Grandfather, we cannot forgetGrandmother was always there and how she and mother would spread the big table out under

the trees about three times a week during the hot summer days so we could enjoy our evening

meal and a big freezer of delicious ice cream.

Grandmother was a member of the first Relief Society in Centerville. She enjoyed writing

beautiful poetry.

Grandfather's life can be added up in this way: He was a kind, loveable man, an honest man;everyone who knew him loved him, a good neighbor, a true latter-day Saint. My life has been

very rich to have been his Granddaughter.

He and Grandmother lived together sixty-eight years. She died at their home in Centerville, 1

February 1924, in her eighty-third year. Grandfather died 1S May 1925, at Centerville at the

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age of 91 years. 5 months and 2 days. At the time of his death he was survived by forty-two

grandchildren and forty-nine great grandchildren.

And now I want to thank my sister, Laura L. Barber, for the endless hours she has spent at the

Archives and the Genealogical library in completing this work this far which our Uncle ClarenceCherry started.

Written by Minetta Walton Wood, A Granddaughter of John James and Laura Bratton Cherry.

11 June 1960

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