| LDS POLYGAMIST DIRECT-LINE ANCESTORS OF BRENT J. BELNAP | ||||||
| Listed here are the 17 direct-line ancestors of Brent J. Belnap who were practitioners of LDS polygamy. Most direct-line LDS ancestors who lived during the "Polygamy" period of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints did not practice polygamy: Of those males who joined or were born into the Church between 1830 (the founding of the Church) and 1890 (the Manifesto), only 9 (or 37.5% of approximately 24) practiced polygamy. Of females, only 8 were polygamous. | ||||||
| Some interesting facts: | ||||||
| ▪ | Of the 9 males, 7 (or 6, if Vinson Knight was not married polygamously after all) had only 2 polygamous wives at once. Emer Harris married 5 times, but he divorced his first wife and his second wife died young. Of his last 3 wives, all of whom were LDS converts, the third wife shared her husband with the fourth, who later died, and then again with the fifth (through whom there were no children). | |||||
| ▪ | Robert Erwin Baird had 3 wives at once, the last 2 of whom were sisters. | |||||
| ▪ | James Graham had 5 wives, but not all at once. He was sealed to his first wife on the same day he was sealed to his second (and first polygamous) wife. He divorced his second wife, reportedly prior to marrying his third wife, who herself had been previously married. In Utah, he married twice more (daughter and mother). | |||||
| ▪ | James Gale had 3 wives, but he married his third and last wife only after the first two plural wives had died. The exact opposite occurred with William Stimpson, who also had 3 wives, but who married his two plural wives only after his first (non-plural) wife had died (at Martin's Cove). | |||||
| ▪ | Gilbert Belnap's 2 plural wives were first cousins. Robert Erwin Baird's second and third wives were sisters. James Graham's last 2 wives were mother and daughter (although he only had children through the daughter and not the mother.) | |||||
| ▪ | Only one male who was born to LDS parents, Hyrum Belnap, practiced polygamy; all others who practiced polygamy were adult converts to the Church. | |||||
| ▪ | Of the males, 2 divorced (although Emer Harris divorced his first wife before he joined the Church) and 1 (William Stimpson) married a woman who divorced in a polygamous marriage (Edna Hinchcliff). | |||||
| ▪ | Of the 8 females, 6 were married to only 1 man during their lifetimes. As for the other two, Martha McBride married three times, having lost her first two husbands to untimely death; two of her husbands (Joseph Smith, Jr. and Heber C. Kimball) were among the most "married" of LDS polygamists; her last husband has yet to be definitively confirmed as having entered into polygamy. Edna Hinchcliff was also married three times; her first husband died; she divorced her second (polygamist) husband. | |||||
| ▪ | Of the 6 females who married only once in their lifetimes, 3 were the "first" wife, 2 were the "second" wife, 1 was the "third" wife. | |||||
| ▪ | Post-Manifesto polygamy has continued among some descendants of August Christian Fredrick Bluth, brother of Johan (John) Melcher Ludvig Bluth. | |||||
| Direct polygamist ancestors: Males married to more than 1 woman at the same time | ||||||
| Direct-line Male Ancestor | Names of Multiple Spouses (listed in marriage order; direct-line female ancestor in bold/italics) | Notes | ||||
| 4th Generation | ||||||
| 8 | Hyrum Belnap (1858-1938) | (1) | Christiana Rasmussen (1863-1928) | ~husband and 2 wives continued the practice post-1890 until respective deaths; legal conflict between families over husband's estate; children of wife (2) deemed "illegitimate" by family of wife (1); each wife had 7 children | ||
| (2) | Anna Constantia Bluth (1869-1931) | |||||
| 5th Generation | ||||||
| 16 | Gilbert Belnap (1821-1899) | (1) | Adaline Knight (1831-1919) | ~first cousin of wife (2); 13 children | ||
| (2) | Henrietta McBride (1821-1899) | ~first cousin of wife (1); 4 children | ||||
| 6th Generation | ||||||
| 34 | Vinson Knight (1804-1842) | (1) | Martha McBride (1805-1901) | ~following husband's death was sealed to Joseph Smith, Jr. and later Heber C. Kimball | ||
| (2) | Philindia Clark Eldredge (180[7]-1852) | ~marriage presumed by family researchers but not confirmed; widow of Levi Newton Merrick who was killed at Haun's Mill; founding member of Relief Society along with wife (1) | ||||
| 40 | Emer Harris (1781-1869) | (1) | Roxana Peas (1781-after 1819) | ~divorced in 1819 prior to husband joining LDS Church; did not practice polygamy | ||
| (2) | Deborah Lott (1799-1825) | ~died prior to husband joining LDS Church; did not practice polygamy | ||||
| (3) | Parna Chappell (1792-1857) | ~4 children | ||||
| (4) | Polly Chamberlain (1812-1849) | ~1 child | ||||
| (5) | Martha Allen (1803-unknown) | ~no issue | ||||
| 52 | James Gale (1829-1915) | (1) | Emma Blake (1829-1888) | ~13 children | ||
| (2) | Mary Ann Shepherd Derrick (1837-1870) | ~9 children | ||||
| (3) | Lilley Bentley Crossley Sutcliffe (1861-1941) | ~only married after deaths of wives (1) and (2); did not practice polygamy; 1 child | ||||
| 54 | William Stimpson (1821-1907) | (1) | Rebecca Lubbock (1826-1856) | ~did not practice polygamy; died in Edward Martin Handcart Company; 4 children | ||
| (2) | Edna Hinchcliff (1828-1906) | ~divorced from previous polygamous marriage; 6 children by second husband | ||||
| (3) | Ann Mary Christensen (1840-1909) | ~7 children | ||||
| 62 | Robert Erwin Baird (1817-1875) | (1) | Hannah Everhart McCullough (1817-1888) | ~5 children | ||
| (2) | Jane Hadley (1835-1911) | ~older sister of wife (3); 8 children | ||||
| (3) | Mary Hadley (1837-1908) | ~younger sister of wife (2); 9 children | ||||
| 7th Generation | ||||||
| 106 | Zachariah Wise Derrick (1814-1898) | (1) | Mary Sheppard (1812-1886) | ~7 children | ||
| (2) | Mary Emma Moore Horspool (1843-1912) | ~9 children | ||||
| 122 | James Graham (1804-1857) | (1) | Mary Ann Butler (1804-1846) | ~sealed on same day husband married wife (2); died in Iowa; 11 children | ||
| (2) | Orilla Crandall (1803-after 1846) | ~no children; divorced, reportedly before 1848 marriage to wife (3) | ||||
| (3) | Sarah Thompson (1810-unknown) | ~previously married to ____ Lindsay; 1 child by second husband | ||||
| (4) | Hannah Tucker Reed (1821-1904) | ~married 3 times; divorced from first husband with 1 child when married to James Graham; 2 children | ||||
| (5) | Christiana Nixon Gregory (1793-1874) | ~widowed at time of marriage; mother of wife (4) by first marriage; no children with James Graham | ||||
| Direct polygamist ancestors: Females married to a man who was married to more than 1 woman at the same time | ||||||
| Direct-line Female Ancestor | Names of Multiple Spouses (listed in marriage order; direct-line male ancestor in bold/italics) | Notes | ||||
| 4th Generation | ||||||
| 9 | Anna Constantia Bluth (1869-1931) | (1) | Hyrum Belnap (1858-1938) | ~second wife; shared husband with one other woman; 7 children | ||
| 5th Generation | ||||||
| 17 | Adaline Knight (1831-1919) | (1) | Gilbert Belnap (1821-1899) | ~first wife; shared husband with one other woman who was her first cousin; 13 children | ||
| 6th Generation | ||||||
| 35 | Martha McBride (1805-1901) | (1) | Vinson Knight (1804-1842) | ~first wife to husband who might have been polygamously married (see above); 7 children | ||
| (2) | Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805-1844) | ~married to at least 27 women; no children | ||||
| (3) | Heber Chase Kimball (1801-1868) | ~married to at least 43 women; 1 child (son; died as infant) | ||||
| 53 | Mary Ann Shepherd Derrick (1837-1870) | (1) | James Gale (1829-1915) | ~second wife; shared husband with one other woman; husband later married third time after deaths of first 2 wives; 9 children | ||
| 55 | Edna Hinchcliff (1828-1906) | (1) | Edwin M. Wood (unknown-after 1851) | ~3 children | ||
| (2) | David Evans (1804-1883) | ~married shortly after arrival in UT; David Evans married her as 5th of 7 wives; divorced after 2 children | ||||
| (3) | William Stimpson (1821-1907) | ~second wife but first polygamous wife; later shared husband with one other woman; 6 children | ||||
| 63 | Mary Hadley (1837-1908) | (1) | Robert Erwin Baird (1817-1875) | ~third wife; shared husband with 2 other women, including one who was her older sister; 9 children | ||
| 7th Generation | ||||||
| 107 | Mary Sheppard (1812-1886) | (1) | Zachariah Wise Derrick (1814-1898) | ~first wife; shared husband with one other woman; 7 children | ||
| 123 | Mary Ann Butler (1804-1846) | (1) | James Graham (1804-1857) | ~first wife; briefly shared husband with one other woman before early death; he later married 3 more women; 11 children | ||
| Corrections and contributions of information are always appreciated and welcomed. | ||||||
| Last update: 17 Jul 2012 | ||||||
| Return to Brent J. Belnap: Family History | ||||||