John Pinnock Thirkell

1814 - 1884  (69 years)

• Name	John Pinnock Thirkell
  Born	17 Jul 1814	Cranbrook, Kent, England
  Christened	9 Oct 1814	Chapel on the Hill-Independent, Cranbook, Kent, England   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Died	10 Apr 1884	Wellsville, Cache, Utah, United States
  Buried	Wellsville, Cache, Utah, United States
  Person ID	I3198	My Family Tree | Thirkell-Brown
  Last Modified	25 Feb 2015

  
  

  Father	Nathan Pinock Thirkell,   b. 26 Nov 1787, Benenden, Kent, England ,   d. 24 Nov 1869, Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom  (Age 81 years)
  Mother	Jemima Chantler,   b. Nov 1788, Goudhurst, Kent, England ,   d. 9 Dec 1869, Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom  (Age ~ 81 years)
  Married	20 Mar 1809	Maidstone, Kent, England   [2]
  Family ID	F1237	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Mary Baynes Brown,   b. 30 Mar 1815, Hutton-Bushel, York, England ,   d. 7 Dec 1881, Wellsville, Cache, Utah, United States  (Age 66 years)
  Married	21 Sep 1836	Hutton-Bushel, York, England
  Children	1. Sarah Ann Thirkell,   b. 18 Sep 1837, Hutton-Bushel, England ,   d. 3 Nov 1917, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States  (Age 80 years)   2. Jemima Thirkell,   b. 11 Nov 1841, Hutton-Bushel, England ,   d. 9 Jul 1916, Wellsville, Cache, Utah, United States  (Age 74 years)   3. Caroline Thirkell,   b. 17 Feb 1844, Ebberston, England ,   d. 30 Jan 1937, Wellsville, Cache, Utah, United States  (Age 92 years)   4. Mary Agnes Thirkell,   b. 28 Apr 1847, Glapsthorne Lodge, Fotheringhay, Northamptonhshire, Eng ,   d. 10 Aug 1853  (Age 6 years)   5. Rebecca Thirkell,   b. 28 Aug 1852, Brigstock Park, Thrapston, Northamptonshire, England ,   d. 3 Aug 1853  (Age 0 years)   6. Emily Alice Thirkell,   b. 16 Aug 1854, Grantsville, Toole, Utah, United States ,   d. 10 Jun 1937  (Age 82 years)   7. Henrietta Thirkell,   b. 22 Oct 1857, Grantsville, Utah, United States ,   d. 22 Mar 1861  (Age 3 years)   8. Serepta Davis,   b. 5 Aug 1861, Paradise, Cache, Utah, United States ,   d. 26 Sep 1917  (Age 56 years)  [Adopted]
  Last Modified	31 Dec 2014
  Family ID	F1236	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 17 Jul 1814 - Cranbrook, Kent, England Christened - 9 Oct 1814 - Chapel on the Hill-Independent, Cranbook, Kent, England Married - 21 Sep 1836 - Hutton-Bushel, York, England Died - 10 Apr 1884 - Wellsville, Cache, Utah, United States Buried - - Wellsville, Cache, Utah, United States  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Photos

  John Pinock [Pinnock] Thirkell and Mary Baynes Brown Thirkell

  
  

  Documents » Slide Show		Baptism record for John Thirkell John, Son of Nathan Thirkell and Jemima his bride, born July 17, 1817, was baptized Oct. 9th following.
  		1841 England and Wales Census for the Family of John Thirkell The Parish of Hutton Bushell, Yorkshire, England John Thirkell, 25 year old Game Keeper; not born in county of census Mary Thirkell, 25 years old; was born in county of census. Source Citation Class: HO107; Piece: 1260; Book: 14; Civil Parish: Hutton Bushell; County: Yorkshire; Enumeration District: 6; Folio: 5; Page: 4; Line: 17; GSU roll: 464234 Source Information Ancestry.com. 1841 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010.
  		1851 England Census, Northamptionshire John Thirkell, head, 36, Game Keeper, born in Kent Cranbrook Mary Thirkell, wife, 36, born in York Hutton-Bushel Sarah Ann Thirkell, daughter, 13, Scholar, born in York Hutton-Bushel Jemima Thirkell, daughter, 9, Scholar, born in York Hutton-Bushel
  		Immigration record for John Thirkell, March 7th, 1853, New Orleans, Louisana Port of Departure: Liverpool, England Ship Name: Ellen Maria John Thirkell, 38, Gamekeeper Mary, 37 Sarah, 15 Jemima, 11 Caroline, 8 Mary, 5
  		1860 US Census, Cache, Utah Jno. Thirkell, 45, Value of real estate: 300, Value of property: 900 Mary Thirkell, 44 Emily Thirkell, 6 Henrietta Thirkill, 2 Wm. Darley, 25 Jemimah Darley, 18 Wm. H. Darley, 2 Thos. Darley, 3/12
  		1870 US Census, Wellsville, Cache, Utah Thirkell, John, 55, Famer, Value of real estate: 1500, Value of property: 750, born in England Thirkell, Mary, 55, Keeping House, born in England Thirkell, Emala (Emily), 15, At home, born in Utah
  		1880 US Census, Wellsville, Cache, Utah Darley, F. William, 49, Farmer Darley, Jemima, wife, 38, Keeping House Darley, Thomas, son, 20, Works on farm Darley, John, son, 17, Work on farm Darley, Calrinda, daughter, 14, At school Darley, George, son, 11, At school Darley, Frederick, son, 6 Darley, Henry, son, 2 Thirkell P. John, 65, Farmer Thirkell, Mary, wife, 65, Keeping House Davis Serepta, adopted daughter, 18, At home

  
  

  Headstones		Headstone for John P. Thirkell and Mary Brown Thirkell Find A Grave Memorial# 9058223
  		Biographical sketch for John Thirkell on secondary headstone Married Mary Baynes Brown-born March 30 1815, died Dec 7 1881. Children: Sarah, Jemima, Caroline, Mary, Rebecca, Emily & Henrietta John & his family joined the LDS Church in England, & there prophesied that they would go to Utah & experience hunger. His prophecy was fulfilled soon after they arrived in Utah. After a bitter winter, discouraged saints ready to leave the Cache Valley met on the 4th of July, 1857, at the Wellsville Bowery. John stood pointing to the Logan East Bench & prophesied that a temple would be built there among many homes. He told the people to be steadfast & God would temper the elements in the valley. This is the first recorded vision of this temple, & he lived to see the prophecy fulfilled. He made the first real bricks in Cache Valley, using them for an addition to his home. The first apples & black native currants were brought to the valley by John. When Brigham Young visited, the trees had twenty apples, two of which were given for tithing. (Biography inscribed on stone)

  
  

• Notes

  John Pinnock Thirkell was born the eighteenth of July 1814. His Father Nathan Pinnock Thirkell was a game keeper. This occupation was very dangerous. Two of his sons had been killed while Nathan was employed as a game keeper; yet John started working with his father at the age of seventeen. One time when John and his father heard poachers in the forest, they called to them to come out of hiding. As two of them appeared, one of them shot John in the leg. It was at close range, and cloth from his trousers went into the wound with the shot, causing a great deal of trouble. John limped, and in later years, had to use crutches. On other occasions, John had a finger and eye injured by poachers. The eye was taken out, scraped and returned to the socket and he had good eyesight afterwards. When John was 21, he went to the north of England to be a gamekeeper for Squire Oswald Eaton. While in the Northern England, John met Mary Brown Baynes. The Baynes were textile designers and weavers. John and Mary were married the 21 of September, 1836. Five children were born to them. One day John encountered a local L.D.S. Elder cutting timber. This man told him about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Elder talked with him a long time, quoting and explaining scripture from the Bible to him. When John arrived home, he looked in the Bible for these passages of scripture and was surprised that he had not understood them before. John prayed that he might know whether or not they were true. Shortly after this incident he became seriously ill; never before nor after had he known such illness. His wife suggested that the Elders be called. They came and administered to him, and he was healed. He felt that his prayer had been answered. Following this event the Elders met often with the Thirkell family. Believing strongly in the new religion, John joined the Church and was baptized on the 6th of October 1850. His wife and the two oldest children were baptized later in October. The parish minister objected to the Thirkell family joining the “Mormon Church” and complained to the Earl so forcefully that the Earl gave John notice to leave his employ in 1 month. A neighbor gave the family shelter until John found another job as a game keeper for Mr Goodman. At a branch meeting, John prophesied that he and his family would go to Utah and that they would experience hunger. The people were amazed that he would consider going to America. Just before sailing to America John and Mary heard about polygamy; Mary wanted none of that and objected to their going; but John knew the Gospel was true and wanted to go to America; therefore he promised that he would not enter into plural marriage. This promise he faithfully kept. John and Mary with their 5 daughters, Sarah Ann (15), Jemima (11), Caroline (9), Mary Agnes (6) and Rebecca (6 months), sailed from Liverpool. While on board the ship a fire broke out, causing much excitement among the passengers. Shortly after the fire was controlled, they found themselves stranded on a sand bar. Here they remained for 2-3 days while a strong wind and high waves rocked the ship until it was thought that they would never reach America. John assisted the crewmen in lowering the anchor and drawing in the sails. He was a very strong man and helped while the wind whipped him from side to side. After many hard and anxious hours the men succeeded in freeing the ship, which was still in good condition to continue the voyage. They landed in New Orleans and then traveled to Keokuk, Iowa where they encountered wind storms, flood and rain which added to their delay. John purchased 2 milk cows, 3 oxen and 1 ½ wagons. He shared ½ a wagon with another man. While crossing the plains, two of the daughters became ill and died; Rebecca, one year old and Mary Agnes 6 years old. Mary brought yards of fabric that was woven by her parent’s textile business in England. She hoped to use the material to make clothes for her daughters, but most of the material was sold or traded for food or protection on the journey west. Two of the large boxes that had carried this material from England were used as coffins to bury their two little girls along the wagon trail. After arriving in SLC, President Brigham Young asked them to continue on to Grantsville (West of SLC and south of the Great Salt Lake in Tooele County). They lived in tents and wagons until they could build a 2 room log cabin. They cleared 10 acres of land and planted grain, but the grasshoppers were numerous, consequently their crop was very poor. They had no wheat bread for three months, only bread made from musty corn. Two more daughters were born to them while they lived in Grantsville. Their home was in the fort walls of Grantsville. In 1857 the family decided to move to Cache Valley. They planted wheat. On July fourth 1857, their first summer in the CacheValley, a meeting was held in the bowery. Many were discouraged because their fields of wheat had recently been frozen black. Also hundreds of cattle had died of starvation and cold. John Thirkell, filled with the Spirit, stood up pointing northeast toward where Logan now is and prophesied that someday a Temple would be built on the east bench. He said that he could see it and many houses and thousands of people in them. He told the people to press on, be diligent and faithful and that God would temper the elements for their good, and that Cache Valley would be a fruitful land, a place to be desired. John was wearing the short buckskin breeches, as they were called; that he had worn as a gamekeeper in England. The buckskin had dried and shrunken after the rains and washings, they were halfway up to his knees. Years later a man asked John why he still wore the short buckskin pants, his answer was, “For the same reason any man wears pants” The first real bricks made in Cache Valley were made by John Thirkell and used to build an addition onto his home. The first apples and black native currants in the valley were brought by ox team from the Salt Lake Valley by John Thirkell. There were twenty apples on the trees when President Young visited the valley. Two apples were given to him for tithing. At age 70, John Pinnock Thirkell died on the tenth of April 1884 in Wellsville, Cache, Valley, Utah. Biography taken from FamilySearch.org.

  
  

• Sources

  [S40] England Births and Christenings, Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C06811-1 , System Origin: England-ODM , GS Film number: 0596906 (RG4 31) (Reliability: 3). Name: John Thirkell Gender: Male Christening Date: 09 Oct 1814 Christening Place: CHAPEL ON THE HILL-INDEPENDENT,CRANBROOK,KENT,ENGLAND Birth Date: 17 Jul 1814 Father's Name: Nathan Thirkell Mother's Name: Jemima [S41] England Marriages, 1538–1973, Indexing Project (Batch) Number: I04953-6 , System Origin: England-EASy , GS Film number: 1736877 , Reference ID: Item 1 (Reliability: 3). Name: Nathan Thirkell Spouse's Name: Jemima Chantler Event Date: 20 Mar 1809 Event Place: All Saints Parish, Maidstone, Kent, England