Richard Kennington Probate Records, 1881

Before the Bear Lake and Star Valley chapters in the Kennington family, there was Richard and Mary Ann's experience in Tooele. Above is a copy of Richard's probate record as they settled his estate in 1881. He was born Oct. 18, 1804 in Louth, England and passed away Oct 12, 1879 in Tooele.

Because Richard and Mary Ann crossed the Plains as handcart pioneers in 1856, it's easy for us to see what they came with, but hard to say what all they left behind in England. Probate gives us a glimpse of what they accumulated in Utah.

Tooele was a common place for new folks to settle. In 1860 the Kenningtons had a home and lot in the old fort part of Tooele. They were with folks they knew in England such as the Atkins who had a part in the Kennington conversion. The Lee family's children were raised with the Kennington kids in Tooele, went on to the Bear Lake area together and eventually married.

Richard was a butcher in Tooele. The story told by Uncle Bert Kennington in 1953 is a gem:
"Richard continued in the trade of butchering for about 5 years [after coming to Utah], then being too old to continue longer, went back to raising vegetables for a livelihood. In his profession of butchering, he would take orders for work to be done, then travel from house to house filling his assignments. One Saturday night he lacked two orders of getting his week's work completed. Sunday morning, rather than break his promise and inconvenience a customer, he butchered the two remaining pigs. Upon his arrival home, the Ward teachers came and bluntly informed him he would have to make a public confession and ask forgiveness for breaking the Sabbath. His answer was that all he had to do was pay taxes and die. This led to his being disfranchized [sic] from the church."

Back to the probate. It shows a few things:
1. Mary Ann signed with her mark. She was either ill and unable to write or she hadn't learned and they address her as Mary, not Mary Ann.
2. Richard and Mary Ann still had their daughters and extended family in the area to help them. Sarah Jane was married to David Adamson. Eliza married John England. Mary Ann married Samuel Armatage.
3. Son William Henry and his wife, Annie Rebecca were in the Bear Lake area with their family. 4. Dick, the bachelor uncle, may have been with his mother during this time. We know he eventually ended up with William in Star Valley. Does anyone remember the story?
5. The personal estate inventory is extremely modest compared to today's standards, but it is very typical of inventories ranging back 200 years in both the United States and England.

Please feel free to leave comments or add information. I think the off button had been on. Sorry if you've tried to leave a comment. By the way, photos of Richard and Mary Ann Kennington are back a few posts.

The Afton Town Layout

Again from the Star Valley book, here is our drawing of Afton's layout. It may help you get your bearings on the photos. Remember that Jenks had climbed the east hills to get a good aerial view of the new town. The cemetery wasn't in place. The William Henry Kennington homes and sheds are on the block between Jefferson and Madison along 6th Avenue. The barn would eventually be built south of 6th Avenue. I believe (please correct me if I'm wrong) that the farm ground ran down to Washington.

Jenks' Photo of Afton from Star Hill

Another Jenks' photo - this one taken from Star Hill with Gardner's Mill at the bottom of the photo. This is the road up Swift Creek. Certainly changes from then till now. I see a big difference in the trees for one thing. They don't seem so thick along the creek. Obviously the town has filled in over the past 120 years. Dirt roads must have been a mess in the spring. (I drive one to work each day and during wet weather I come home looking like I've been mud bogging). The Kennington place is just off the picture to the left. If you follow the creek to the west you can see where the red brick Kennington home would be built on the north side of the creek and the west side of the main street.

We'd love to read comments from anyone with more information or thoughts. I wonder if there isn't a box full of Jenks' glass negatives in an attic or the back of an Idaho museum somewhere. I'd love to see his work made into a book. Anyone know the Jenks family?

From Maude's photo album

Here's a look at the little home of Annie Rebecca which is on the west end of the block in the Jenks' photo. Forrest photographed this from Maude Ranzenberg's album. She had everything labeled.

A story about the old house from Forrest: Apparently there was an addition between the kitchen and another room. Over time the house settled and there was a gap in the floors. One of the family members lost a silver dollar down the gap and was unable to recover it. So they told the rest of the family and when the little home was demolished a generation later, the dollar was recovered and returned to it's original owner.

Bert was Annie's youngest son. He was a tall man - especially compared with his petite mother. Esther's mother, Annie's daughter, had passed away and Esther was raised by Annie. By the way, Esther was also a school teacher, as was Maude. They followed in their grandmother's footsteps.

The Jenks Photograph of the Kennington Place

Jenks was a photographer from Montpelier, Idaho. He apparently traveled around the region marketing photos of the ranches and farms. Here is his aerial view of early Afton.

This one is taken from the slope above Graveyard Canyon before the ground was broken for the Stake Tabernacle. The Kennington place is on the lower right. You can see the two homes on either end of the block. The sheds are about half way between the houses. Looks like lumber for the barn is being stockpiled across the road to the south. If you look close, you can see the original little cabin. There's more about these photos in our book, A History of Star Valley, 1800-1900. We put a drawing in there labeling the streets and buildings as far as we knew them.

This picture came courtesy of the Star Valley Historical Society, which is a great resource for old photographs. We would never wish a hospital visit on anyone, but a trip to the halls of the Star Valley Hospital is a real treat because of all the S.V.H.S. photos on display. They are building a fine collection.