Jane Blencowe 1850 Warwick – Blencowe Families One Name Study

→ Jane Blencowe (1 Dec 1850, Warwick, Warwickshire) → Salt Lake City, Utah. Arrived: 3 July 1871 Castle Gardens, New York on the ship Wyoming

Warwick 1850-1871

Jane was last born of a large family of Elias Blencowe and Jane Deeley, a gap in the household when she was born of 29 years between her oldest brother and herself.

Janes father Elias died 1852 when she was just 2 yrs so her mother and the younger children would have been in desperate situation.

Janes widowed mother remarried in 1860 to a John Herod in Birmingham but became a widower again by 1871

By 1861 Jane age 10 is living with her sister Mary in Birmingham and her husband is a Tailor and she began to learn to be a tailoress,

When Jane was 15 her older brother Richard Nathaniel emigrated to New Zealand and his story is here

10 years later in 1871 and she is just about to emigrate herself a Tailoress by occupation but by now a member of the Birmingham Chapter of the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) the census shows her with her mother Jane Herod age 61 yrs.

Sometime prior to 1871 Jane joined the LDS in worship attending small groups in rented rooms in Birmingham. Through this process she became a convert and was ragetted by the church to take to Utah and join the Mormon society there. We dont know if Janes mother attended with her or shared this conviction, in any event it was female child-bearing woman that the church was prepared to sponsor and pay for out its fairly large emigration fund. But this was not without a final examination of Janes charachter and compliance with the church standards and rules. So she would have have received a Final Certificate: Before leaving, Jane would have met with the Branch President at the chapel to receive her Certificate of Membership. This was her “passport” in the LDS world; without it, she wouldn’t be recognised as a member in good standing when she reached Salt Lake City.

Just a few days before the voyage Jane said one last farewell to her mother. which must have been heartbreaking for her mother

The Voyage

The ship departed from Liverpool to New York 10 May 1871 – 22 May 1871

Ship Name Wyoming Departure 10 May 1871 from Liverpool Arrival 22 May 1871 at Garden Castle New York

The Wyoming made more than 38 voyages carrying Mormon emigrants, more than any other vessel. It had an iron hull, three decks, two masts, and early compound steam engines.

A party of 253 Mormons recruited from England and managed on the journey by Church LeaderJoseph Parry

How Jane Was “Managed” During the Voyage
The LDS emigration system was designed to protect young single women like Jane:

Like other Mormons on the ship Jane was expected to keep to a very specific timetable each day;

Morning and evening prayers
Hymn singing
Scripture reading
Cleanliness inspections
Organized meal times

She would have been assigned to a “female company” under the supervision of a matron.

Her name would appear on the company roster kept by the LDS clerk.

She would have been expected to attend religious meetings and follow shipboard rules.

Leaders kept daily logs describing weather, health, discipline, and spiritual meetings.

This structure ensured safety, moral conduct, and community cohesion.

Joseph Parry’s Role on the Wyoming

So probably along with members of the Birmingham congregation Jane met up at the Railway Station a few days before the voyage, a rail trip to Liverpool and then a stay in accomodation as the ship was loaded would have been normal.

Joseph Parry was a returning missionary. After spending several years preaching in the British Isles, he was “released” to return home to Utah, but his final assignment was to lead this group of 253 converts (including Jane).

His responsibilities on the ship included:

Organisation: Dividing the 253 passengers into smaller “wards” or sections of the ship.
Daily Discipline: Leading morning and evening prayers on deck or in the steerage compartments.
Mediation: Settling any disputes between the passengers and the ship’s crew.
Spiritual Guidance: Ensuring the “spirit of the gathering” was maintained, which involved discouraging “frivolous” behaviour and ensuring everyone followed the health and sanitation rules set by the Church.

On arrival at Castle Gardens in New York Joseph Parry would have steered the group through customs clearance and took them to railway station where they boarded trains for Salt Lake City. This journey a relative new thing for Mormon emigrants the railroad only being open for 2 years, but it still took about 10 days Jane in “emigrant cars” oftern delayed for higher priority goods and they also had to change trains in Chicago and Omaha.

Based on the records of the Church History Library and the Deseret News of that era, the Joseph Parry Company (1871) refers to a group of Latter-day Saint immigrants arriving in Utah Territory during the expansion of the transcontinental railroad era. Leader: The company was under the charge of Elder Joseph Parry

Arrival Date: The Deseret News reported on June 14, 1871, that the company had arrived, likely on June 13, 1871, via the regular afternoon train.

Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City was 90% populated by Mormons on Janes arrival roughly 17,000 or so Later Day Saints.

Since Jane arrived a few days after her ship docked in New York (traveling by the new Transcontinental Railroad), she would have reached Salt Lake City in early June. For the six weeks leading up to her marriage, she was under the care of the Church’s Emigrant Support System.

The Immigrant House / Tithing Yard: Upon arrival, single women without family were typically taken to the Immigrant House located near the General Tithing Office (on the corner of South Temple and Main Street).
What she did: She would have been given a clean bed and basic meals. In exchange, she likely performed “domestic duties”—sewing, cleaning, or preparing food for other arrivals. This was also where the “matching” often began.
The Bishop’s Interview: Within days, she would have been interviewed by a local Bishop. He would have checked her Certificate of Membership from Birmingham and asked about her skills. His goal was to find her a permanent home, either as a domestic servant in a established household or through marriage.

The marriage on 16 July 1871 was almost certainly a “facilitated union.”

Feature	William Edward Smith	Jane Blencow
Origin	Corby Glen, Lincolnshire	Oxfordshire (via Birmingham)
Age at Marriage	21 (born 1849)	20 (born 1851)
Background	Labourer / Nottingham Conference	Domestic / Birmingham Conference

Was it a “good” match?

By Church standards of the day, it was a perfect match:

Age & Status: They were peers in age and both were recent British converts.
The “Settled” Factor: William Edward Smith had arrived more than two years earlier in 1868 with his widowed mother. He had proven he could survive a Utah winter and had with his mother and was working there land.
The Bishop’s Logic: The Bishop would have seen a single, faithful young man who needed a wife to “build his house” and a single, faithful young woman who needed a home and protection.

The Wedding Ceremony

William Edward Smith and Jane Blencowe were married on 16 July. Because the Salt Lake Temple was still decades away from completion, they likely married in the Endowment House (a building on Temple Block)

Janes marriage to a complete stranger seems really odd today but if we put ourselves in her shoes, she had been lifted spiritually by the church taken out of a dire situation of near poverty and guided to a new life with self determination of her success albeit with strings. The marriage to a man of similar English background would have been comforting and the fact that he too had been vetted and after two years in Salt Lake City considered by the church leaders a “settled person” an additional benefit.

William Edward Smith had arrived in Salt Lake Ciry in 1868 (1900 census) with his widowed mother Mary Zilla Crockett Smith 1805. Mary Zilla had bought a plot in Kaysville and so when in 1871 Jane arrived William Edward a Farm Labour was with his widowed mother in Kaysville.

Mothers house lot in Kaysville

Kaysville a population of 1500 plus made up of Scandinavian and British Mormons who had been gifted land in what was called the Davis County Garden, because the soil was so good. Williams mother Mary Zilla Crockett Smith had a plot in Kaysville by 1870. The young couple probably moved in with Williams’s mother when they married.

January 1875 Mary Zilla Smith died and likely left the house to her son. A deed exists and shows a plot was transferred from Mary Zilla Crockett to William E Smith.

When William Smith became a Whipmaker is not known but by 1880 it is recorded he is one. William would have made these whips at home likely in a shop building attached to the house He also did other leather work like harness repair. In 1880 they are in the house (census number 100) next door are Crocketts but they emanated from Lincolnshire and I don’t think related . In 1880 census William 33 and Jane 30 have three sons from 2-7 years. They lived very close to the meeting house which also served as a school.

An Advertisment in the 1898 Kaysville Eagle which by the way the editor is listed as W E Smith

As time moves on it seems the Smiths moved within Kayesville to a bigger house probably to house themselves and the 8 children they would have.

Tragedy – 12 August 1898

When the family was complete with eight children, one of boys Paul Henry age 20 died of a heart attack in his bed , he had an undetected weak heart and to died . To make things particularly hard on Jane, she and William had gone up to Marsh Valley on the excursion and were visiting with their son William when the telegram announcing his death was received.

1900

At the census of 1900 the family is living in Kaysville and William still a Whipmaker, there are four children are at home. Eldest William is a Farmer in Idaho married and as one child, son Albert is a Farmer is living close by and has 4 Children.

William E Smith 51 Whipmaker
Jane Smith 49
Jilla Smith 16
Ella L Smith 14
Violet Smith 10
Leroy Smith 8

1910

Kayesville daughter Ellen and son Roy at home.

William C Smith 60 Whipmaker
Jane Smith 58
Ellen I Smith 22 Clerk County Office
Roy B Smith 17

Death Obituary 1921

Ogden Standard-Examiner – 14 March 1921 OLD RESIDENT OF KAYSVILLE DIES
Mrs Jane Blencowe Smith, wife of William E Smith, one of tho oldest residents of Kaysvllle, died at her home here last evening after a long illness. Funeral services will be held today.

Timeline

Event	Date/Location	Details
Jane Blencowe	1 Dec 1850 Warwick, Warwickshire
Census UK 1851 (30 Mar)	30 Mar 1851, Warwick, Warwickshire	Elias 43 Labourer Jane 38 wife Thomas 29 Mary 19 Richard 8 Joseph 6 Jane 4 months"
Census UK 1861 (7 Apr)	7 Apr 1861, Birmingham Warwickshire	Charles W Smalley 22 Head Tailor Mary Smalley 21 Wife Jane Blencowe George Blockley 27 Lodger Jane Blinkco 20 Dau. Tailoress"
Emigrated a Blencowe variant	22 May 1871, New York, New York	Travelling in Mormon Party departed Liverpool 10 May 1871 le Ship Name The Wyoming
Marriage	16 Jul 1871, Salt Lake City Ut
Birth of Son William Charles	19 Mar 1873,
Birth of Son Albert Thomas	23 Jun 1875,
Birth of Son Paul Henry	31 Jan 1878,
Census US 1880 (1 Jun)	1 Jun 1880, House # 100 Kaysville, Davis, Utah	William E. Smith Jane Smith William C. Smith Albert Thomas Smith Paul Henry Smith
Birth of Son Herbert Elias	16 Feb 1881,
Birth of Daughter Mary Zilla	22 Sep 1883,
Birth of Daughter Ellanor Irene	16 Apr 1887,
Birth of Daughter Violet Louisa	3 Dec 1888,
Birth of Son Leroy Blencowe	25 Feb 1892,
Census US 1900 (15 apr)	15 Apr 1900, House no 118 Kaysville, Davis, Utah	William E Smith Jane Smith Jilla Smith Ella L Smith Violet Smith Leroy Smith
Census US 1910 (15 Apr)	15 Apr 1910, Kaysville, Davis, Utah	William C Smith Jane Smith Ellen I Smith Roy B Smith
Census US 1920 (1 Jan)	1 Jan 1920, Kaysville, Davis, Utah	William E Smith Jane Blinco Smith William H Smith
Death	11 Mar 1921, Kaysville, Davis, Utah