Jean Pierre Merenz 1874

Jean Pierre Merenz

Jean Pierre Merenz

During the reign of the King of the Netherlands, the head of state of Luxembourg, Jean Pierre Merenz was born in Feulen, Diekirch, Luxembourg on 3 February 1874 to Julien and Anne Schleich Merenz, their fourth child and second son.

Eglise Parish

Niederfeulen, Luxembourg

Since the Merenz’ were members of the Catholic faith, Jean Pierre likely would have been baptized into the Catholic Church in the Eglise parish in Niederfeulen. Most of their fellow Luxembourgers were also members of the Catholic church, basically the state church since it was receiving support from the government. 

The Merenz family and their neighbors spoke German, French and Luxembourgish. The family seemed to lean more towards the French language but civil registration records at the time were written in German. Letters written by the Merenz family prove they could read and write in all three languages sometimes in the same letter.

Jean Pierre was a short man, just 5’ 1” with dark brown eyes, brown hair and sported a mustache. He and his brothers hunted in their area for wild boar and enjoyed a good family relationship.

In the mid and latter part of the 1800s immigration from Luxembourg was raging. Most historians attribute the migration to a general decline of the quality of life in Luxembourg. Young men also left Luxembourg to avoid being forced into military service.

Whatever the reason, Jean Pierre left Luxembourg for Le Marne, France in early 1893—his 19^th year. He found employment as a domestic servant by 11 March 1893. Jean Pierre continued for several years in Le Marne and as a domestic servant. He met and married Berthe Noemi Flamand on 6 April 1898 in Courtemont, Le Marne, France. It is more than likely Jean and Berthe met as they worked as domestic servants for Marcel Caquot and his wife Anna in Courtemont. Marcel was a farmer there.

The couple had four of their six children while living in Courtemont:

1.      1.  Raymond Georges Raymond Merenz born 16 September 1898, died 3 October 1898.

2.      2.  Joseph Paul Merenz born 9 October 1899, died 22 October 1899.

3.      3.  Helene Marie Marguerite Merenz born 2 March 1903.

4.      4.  Lucien Julien Gabriel Merenz born 12 October 1904, died 15 May 1905.

Jean Pierre and Berthe and their only living child, Helene, moved on 12 September 1905 to Aire, Ardennes, France about 50 miles from Courtemont.

Personal records of Jean Pierre show us that he followed the performing arts and was particularly fond of the opera Helene about the mythical Helene of Troy. He took the time to write down all of the verses so that he could refer to them. The opera Helene was popular in France in the early 1900s. Perhaps he named his first daughter after this Helene.

Two more children were born to the couple while they were living in Aire:

1.     5.   Julien Gabriel Merenz born 20 May 1908.

2.      6.  Simmone Ida Merenz born 13 April 1910.     

      Unfortunately, Berthe died on 23 June 1911 of consumption or tuberculosis just a year after Ida was born leaving Jean Pierre alone with their three children. One would suppose that he would go home or live somewhere close to other family members for help in rearing his children, but family letters state they were surprised to learn of the death of his wife and his subsequent move to the United States of America.

 Ship La Provence

      On 2 March 1912, Jean Pierre and his three children boarded the ship La Provence at the port in Havre, France and arrived in New York City on 19 March 1912. Passage fair for the family was paid by Jean Pierre’s sister living in Great Falls, Montana.

      His daughter Ida wrote of their coming to America,

   After Father, Helene, Gabe and I arrived in Montana in 1912, Dad asked his half sister            Elisabeth Poncelot Frank and her husband if his three children could come and live with them on their large Montana ranch. At the time he was homesteading adjoining land and felt he could not care for us. 
            

He stayed there three years by himself. After so long, the government let you have the land. Dad turned the land over to the Franks in payment for our keep.  

 

       After turning his homestead over to the Franks, Jean Pierre rented a farm. They all worked hard to make a living. During the winter of 1919 and 1920, Jean Pierre put the children in a Catholic orphan’s home, because the winters were too severe, and he could not make a living for all of them. For a while he worked at the orphan's home as a janitor. Later in the year 1920 he worked in a Great Falls hospital as an orderly.   

Helen and Ida Merenz

                                                                                                                  

      During their stay at the orphanage, Ida and Helene contracted the dreaded flu which had taken many lives all over the world. Ida was given last rights but got better and was able to go back to their ranch in Eden, Montana. Helene did not do as well. She had diphtheria, an appendicitis and pneumonia. She was in a hospital for a whole year. After she got well she stayed in Great Falls and went to high school, became a dietician and worked in the hospital. She never came back to the ranch to live. 

      Being a single man living in Eden, Montana, Jean Pierre was looked after by several ladies.They kept a check on him and his children, Gabe and Ida. 

      Jean Pierre taught his children to work hard. They were required to milk from eight to sixteen cows before they went to school in the morning and then again in the evening.

    Because of the long, harsh winters, Jean Pierre purchased a sleigh which he drove with two         horses. He put bells on the sleigh and on occasion took his children and picked up their friends for a ride. Reportedly, all who knew him loved him. In fact, the neighbor children called him Jumper because they could not pronounce Jean Pierre.

J    To support his family, Jean Pierre had to hire out during the winter seasons. One year he found a job 18 miles away from his ranch. Gabe and Ida looked after themselves during the week days until he came home on the weekends. He was eventually able to purchase a Model “T” Ford. The lights on the car were burnt out so Ida would lay on the running board with a flash light when they drove at night.

      Over the years, Gabe and Ida married and relocated to Great Falls, Montana. Jean Pierre did the same. He became a truck gardener, employed by a boyhood friend from Luxembourg, Nicolas Poncelot. He lived for a time with Nick. He also lived with his son Gabe and his daughter Ida and their families. He probably took much joy in being able to be near to his growing grandchildren.

Marilyn Davidson, Jean Pierre Merenz, Beverly Davidson

     His daughter Ida wrote,

      In 1939 [February 8] Dad disappeared. He walked to town [Great Falls] one day to come up for dinner. He was working on the west side of town. He was walking which he loved to do. He just vanished. We had his name and description broadcast on the radio. We went clear out in the country and had the river drug. To this day, he has never been located nor do they know what happened to him.

Margaret Green Whitehead 1844-1916

Margaret Green Whitehead

Margaret was born on 27 October 1844 in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the daughter of John and Mary Bradshaw Green. Sometime after her birth, the family relocated to Tintwistle, Derbyshire, England.

The family became interested in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when Margaret was young. She and her sister Alice were baptized in January of 1853 in Oldham, Lancashire, England. They belonged to the Tintwistle branch of the Church. 

Margaret's father, John and her mother Mary were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 10 March 1854. John is said to have immigrated to Utah earlier than his wife and children. Margaret and her mother Mary immigrated on 23 April 1862 on the ship John J. Boyd. They arrived in New York City on 1 June 1862.  They traveled with 700 other Mormon immigrants--the first ship of the 1862 season. 

Mother and daughter joined the John R. Murdock pioneer company to cross the plains on 24 July 1862 and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 27 September 1862. Margaret's older sister, Alice, married Edmund Buckley in 1859 in England. They immigrated in the following  year.

After arriving in Utah, Margaret and her parents lived in a small log house near Farmington, Utah. They raised and milked cows on pasture ground there. Margaret took the cows to the pasture in the mornings after being milked fand brought them back in to be milked in the evening. 

Margaret had black hair and blue eyes and stood about 5' 4" tall as an adult. Many enjoyed her cheerful disposition. It is said she loved music and had a beautiful voice.

In the spring of 1863, William Whitehead came to John Green's home for a visit having known the family in England. In all of one day he asked for Margaret's hand in marriage, proposed to her, married her the next day and took her as his wife to live in Franklin, Franklin county, Idaho. 

The couple lived in a one-room log cabin with a dirt floor, dirt roof and a fireplace to cook upon. This was all very common for the time and place. The cabin was located in the old fort on the west side of the square in Franklin. 

The couple's first son William James was born 8 April 1864--purported to be the first white baby boy born in Franklin county. Later she had twins John Charles and Hannah Jane on 18 October 1865.

Margaret was a very neat  housekeeper. She spun wool and made clothing for her family and others. She helped others in the community with her nursing and midwife skills. It is said that she was very successful with her nursing because she was humble and prayerful. If someone was not able to pay her for her services she did not charge them, but she also accepted food or help for pay.


Her husband William died in 1881 when Margaret was just 37 years old leaving her with their 9 children still to rear. Margaret also reared Alice Whitehead a daughter belonging to William and his deceased polygamist wife, Alice Butterworth.

The couple had the following children together:

1. William James 1864
2. Hannah Jane 1865
3. John Charles 1865
4. Willard Richard 1868
5. Abram Lorenzo 1869
6. Margaret Elizabeth 1871
7. Mary Green 1872
8. Peter Green 1874
9. Martha 1876
10. Alice Ethel 1878
11. Jeannette 1880 

Margaret Whitehead Family

Back row left:  Jeanette, Abraham Lorenzo, Peter Green, Mary Green

Front row left:  Martha, William James, Margaret Green Whitehead, John Charles, Margaret Elizabeth

Margaret continued nursing to make a living for her and her children. She lived to the age of 72 dying of influenza on 4 December 1916 in Franklin, Franklin, Idaho.

William Whitehead 1839-1881

William Whitehead was born 23 November 1839 in Calf Hey, Lancashire, England. He was the son of Martha Whitehead and Robert Wright, a machine printer. Martha Whitehead reared her son William while living in the homes of her sister Mary Chadwick and her husband Joseph and her widowed mother Hannah Hepworth Whitehead in Oldham, Lancashire, England.

 Oldham, Lancashire, England

Martha worked, as a did many in her area of Oldham, as a weaver in a woolen factory. William also was noted to be a factory worker in his teenage years.

Martha Whitehead Ramsbottom

William was well educated as a young man. His learning could have come from formal or home schooling. It was noted that in his adult life after his day's work, William would read and study by candlelight until very late.

Several of his family became affiliated with the Church of  Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints including his mother and her sister Mary Chadwick and her husband and children. William was baptized on 1 November 1848 just before his 9th birthday.

His Aunt Mary Chadwick and her husband and children were able to immigrate to Zion in America in 1855. 

Mary Whitehead Chadwick

William immigrated from Liverpool on the ship the William Tapscott on 11 April 1859 and docked in New York City on 13 May 1859. 

William and his fellow travelers continued their journey by steamship, railroad and riverboat until they were able to group together in Florence, Nebraska where they traveled taking 60 handcarts and 6 wagons in a company led by George Rowley. They began their journey on 9 June 1859 encountering many of the trials of those who had gone before them.

It is said they encountered a group of Sioux Indians who demanded food of them. As their trek continued, their food became scarce. Many suffered starvation until a wagon train from Salt Lake City came to their aid bringing much-needed supplies. 

William's party reached Salt Lake City on 4 September 1859.  After a brief stay in Lehi, Utah, with William Taylor, a returning missionary from England and a fellow passenger on the ship William Tapscott. His Aunt Mary was later able to take him with her to Ogden, Utah. She had promised to look after her nephew until William's mother and new husband Henry Ramsbottom and their family could emigrate.

In the early spring of 1861, William along with his two cousins, Benjamin and James Chadwick moved to Franklin, Franklin county, Idaho. He helped Ben and James bring logs out of the canyon which they used to build a house for their mother Mary.

Benjamin and James Chadwick

William's cousins 

Family lore has told that in the spring of 1863 William traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah to meet a girl who had promised him while they were both in England that in Utah they would reunite and marry. He found that she had already married.

After this disappointment, William decided to visit the home of John Green of Farmington, Utah. He had known the Green's daughter Margaret while in England, and they thought a lot of one another.

He found Margaret bringing in cows from pasture to be milked. Reportedly they were very happy to see one another again and a marriage proposal ensued with Margaret consenting. The next morning on 28 March 1863, they were married. 

 Margaret Green Whitehead

William and Margaret returned to Franklin, Idaho where they began their new life together.

The couple had the following children together:

1. William James 1864
2. Hannah Jane 1865
3. John Charles 1865
4. Willard Richard 1868
5. Abram Lorenzo 1869
6. Margaret Elizabeth 1871
7. Mary Green 1872
8. Peter Green 1874
9. Martha 1876
10. Alice Ethel 1878
11. Jeannette 1880

 William's mother and her husband Henry Ramsbottom and their children came into Ogden, Utah by rail in the fall of 1869. It can be assumed that Martha did not want to leave England until her mother's death which occurred on 23 June 1869. The family left the port in Liverpool on 22 September 1869 and arrived in New York harbor on 7 October 1869.


William married in polygamy Alice Butterworth on 22 August 1870 with the consent of his wife Margaret.


Alice gave birth to her first and only child, a daughter named Alice Lavina Whitehead on  8 December 1871. Alice Butterworth Whitehead died at the age of 22 on 12 April 1873 in Franklin, Idaho. Margaret then reared Alice Lavina to adulthood along with her own children.

Deseret News,  23 April 1873

William accomplished many and varied things in his short life including:

• Bookkeeper for Merrick and Duffin
• Bookkeeper for the first Co-op store in Franklin, Idaho
• Ward Clerk for Franklin Idaho Ward
• Choir leader
• Dramatically active
• Played several musical instruments including the cello
• Minuteman in the militia
• Stonemason
• Farmer

William was the second director of the ward choir in Franklin, Idaho, a choir continued on.

William was noted to be a person of high cleanliness in appearance and moral lifestyle. He had a strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and was honest, honorable and a kind and loving father. William was said to be intelligent, industrious and a good provider.

He died on 2 April 1881 in Franklin, Idaho of causes relating to a ruptured appendix.

Deseret News Weekly, 13 April 1881

 Remnant of William Whitehead's home near Franklin, Idaho

John Charles Whitehead

John Charles Whitehead

This account is taken from the book Glen Leonard Eppich, Autobiography of His Life Experiences

published privately by his family

John Charles Whitehead was born 18 October 1865 in the northeast corner of Franklin, Oneida County [now Franklin], Idaho, the second son of William and Margaret Green Whitehead, both born in England.  He was a twin to his sister Hannah Jane. 

 Margaret Green Whitehead and twins

Hannah Jane and John Charles Whitehead

The bed for Margaret's first three children [including the twins] was a bin of wheat with the bedding laid over it. When the twins were a few days old, three Indians came into the Whitehead home. Margaret thought they would all be killed. She offered a prayer and asked the Lord to protect her and the babies. Taking note of Margaret removing the quilt over her twin babies, the Indians quickly backed out of the room and left. Margaret later discovered the Indians believed twin babies brought bad luck. Her prayer had been answered.

John's father William died 2 April 1881 leaving John, age 17, and his older brother William to care for the family. Times were often difficult for them. One winter was long and cold with the snow very deep. Hay and feed for the animals was scarce. William and John worked for a week to earn money for a wagon bed of straw to feed the family cow. The straw had come from the top of a man's straw shed and was dusty and dark.

During his youth, John worked for several different people when his work at home was caught up. He and his brother William worked in the canyons to get lumber to build sheds and other buildings at their home and for others.

Beginning in 1884, John obtained a wagon and four horses. He started freighting supplies for stores and mining camps in Arco, Mackay, Challis and Salmon, Idaho. After delivering to the mines, he hauled back ore. With his earnings, he was able to buy three more horses. When the weather got bad late in the fall of 1884, he left the freight line, his horses and wagons in Blackfoot, Idaho and spent the winter at his home in Franklin, Idaho.

John married JoAnna Durney on 28 January 1885 in Franklin, Idaho and continued there until May when he began freighting again. John stayed on the freight line all through the summer months while JoAnna stayed in Franklin.

In the 1888 John and JoAnna began to homestead land in Cherryville, Idaho hoping to obtain squatter's rights. He cleared the land and built a house on the property. He built ditches to obtain water out of the creek and stables for wintering his cows. The family planted an orchard with cherry, plum, apple and apricot trees. They also grew gooseberries, currants and other fruits.

There were ten families living up the creek. They all joined together and built a big hall and used it for a school, church, dancing and other social events.

John's mother, Margaret, began homesteading 160 acres of land just northwest of him. When this land was proved up, John bought it from his mother along with more property in the area.

On 29 March 1891, the Cherryville branch of the Franklin, Idaho Ward was organized with John chosen as presiding elder. 

In 1893, John became a sheep rancher. He fed them at home in the winter and ran them on the range during the summer months. John built and ran a shearing corral up Cub River. He also had one at his home employing about ten men. 

In 1901 John obtained lumber from the Sugar Creek area and built a new, large eight-room home on the 80 acres he had obtained through squatter's rights. When the enlarged Homestead Act came into effect, he took up 320 more acres joining his home.  He also had the only sawmill running in the area at the time. 

John reserved the rights for 35 head of cattle to graze up Crooked Canyon. He also had pasture land for 20 head of milk cows an 8 horses. He employed 2 men with his herd of sheep and at times 4 men on his farms. He ran a milk wagon from Cherryville to Franklin for several years.

John and JoAnna had the following children:

1. Ethel May, 1885
2. Bertha, 1888
3. Edith, 1890
4. John William, 1893
5. Sarah, 1895
6. Margaret, 1898
7. James Leo, 1901
8. Florence Ordella, 1902

John became ill in the fall of 1914 and continued to be sickly. He died 29 April 1916 while living in Franklin, Idaho in the home he and his brother Peter had built for their mother.

Sarah Whitehead Eppich

 

Sarah Whitehead Eppich

Sarah Whitehead Eppich was born in Cherryville, Franklin, Idaho on 22 April 1895 to John Charles and Johanna Durney Whitehead. She was born in a two-room log house with a lean-to. This small home was fairly nice with sheep and lambing sheds in the back.

She spent her childhood among the hills with her five sisters and one brother. Friends were few because of the distance of neighboring homes.

Sarah Whitehead

Sarah loved to read--especially [Latter-day Saint] Church books. She shared a bedroom with her sisters Margaret and Della. Her sisters have told that Sarah never went to bed except she read a passage out of the Bible or a Church book. They remember her saying, "If you pray enough and have faith, you'll always get your prayers answered." 

Sarah started school in 1902 while living in Cherryville. The one-room school house used drawn curtains to partition off the various classes, but had only one teacher.

Sarah was quiet and reserved--considerate of everyone. Her children could not remember ever hearing her gossip about anyone. It was said of her, "If Sarah said it, it must be true!"

She was particular about her appearance--a neat and clean person. She took pride in keeping her hair in place. Her dresses were always nicely pressed and her shoes regularly polished.

In 1911, she went to Preston, Idaho for her eighth grade. Sarah attended the Oneida Stake Academy in Preston, Idaho for her high school years. She was once complimented by a fellow student at being a good student. She replied, "I wasn't so good, I sure worked hard to get what I did." Sarah did housework for some in the community to help pay for her room and board while living in Preston. It was here at the academy that she first met her future husband Leonard Eppich.

Instruction at the academy was not just secular but also religious. A friend from the academy noted, "Everyday we had chapel for an hour and our teacher taught us the things that were important."

Oneida Stake Academy

 

 After graduating from the academy, Sarah attended the Agriculture College in Logan, Utah. Besides her college classes, she worked as a milk condenser earning $30-$40 a month to help with her costs. 

 Sarah Whitehead

After finishing her college work, Sarah was firstly employed in a one-room school in Crystal, Idaho, a little, wheat ranching town in the hills west of Pocatello, Idaho. She either walked or rode a horse two miles to teach her students. Some in the community tried to persuade Sarah to homestead some land with the promise that she could sell it when she "proved up." But she decided that the land was not worthy proving.

Sarah left Crystal and was offered a job in Mapleton, Idaho. It seemed Sarah did not have as much education as she needed to teach but was hired anyway. She was a good teacher and very concerned about her students. When a student missed class, Sarah went to their home to tutor them so they would not get behind. A friend, Orin Myler said of Sarah, " I came home and remember a new school marm came into the ward. Everyone was interested in the new school marm and this was Sarah Whitehead."

Sarah lived with her sister Margaret while teaching in Mapleton. She had always worked hard, and while living with Margaret she milked cows, worked in the fields, pitched hay and hauled it to the stack. Her parents had a sheep ranch in Mapleton. Sarah prepared and transported the noon meal to the men who worked on the ranch in Mapleton. During this period, while riding a horse, it stumbled and fell on her foot. From that time on, she had trouble with her foot and often wore shoes which laced above her ankle.

She and Leonard Hodges Eppich started dating while both were living in Mapleton. A friend remembered, "One afternoon when school was out, I crossed the river on an old bridge and saw Lynn and Sarah sitting on the log by the bridge. I asked Lynn who he was with. Soon she became his wife." Sarah and Leonard were married in the Logan Temple on 29 September 1920.

 Sarah and Leonard Eppich

Sarah was very particular about cleanliness in her home. She was did a beautiful wash. She put water on the stove on Sunday night, and as soon as it was warm on Monday morning, she put it into the washer and the boiler was filled again. She added lye to the water for washing and then followed it by two rinses.

Often, the dishes had to be washed several times before she was satisfied. One of Sarah's mottos was, "If you don't do the dishes clean, do them over."

Sarah took care of neighbors who were ill and helped in their fields tromping hay and driving  derricks to pull the hay.

Sarah was known for her honesty. During the era of sugar rationing, she turned in every bit even measuring what was in the sugar bowl. Others were not so honest and had sugar stored in their homes.

Sarah and Leonard worked hard making a living for their family. Others noted that they were happy and enjoyed each other. One recalled their courting days and later said, "I hope their ambitions and dreams and desires they had then have been fulfilled."

Sarah and Leonard had five children:  Gladys Whitehead 1921, Glen Leonard 1923, 

Melba Whitehead 1925, Don C 1927, Wayne Whitehead 1928. She loved and taught her children and played right along with them.  

Sarah with Her Children

The children of Sarah and Leonard were taught gospel principles in their home and at church. Sarah was particularly concerned about her children paying an honest tithing. Their bishop,  Clarence Neeley said of Sarah and Leonard, "The mother and father taught these children to be honest with the Lord, and I could count just as regular as I could count on anything that their young people would be in with their tithing."

Sarah and Leonard's children matured into good people, married and had children of their own. Glen and Don served in the armed forces and Wayne served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  

 Sarah and Leonard Eppich

Leonard wrote of Sarah's death, "We spent Christmas of that year, 1950, with Gladys and Esbee at Hunt, Idaho. On the 27th, we left to go home and a few miles west of Paul, we hit an icy spot on the road. The car rolled over and Sarah was killed. That was a real tragedy. Life has not been the same since." 

Sarah is buried in Trenton City Cemetery in Trenton, Utah and her husband is beside her.