Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Jane Wells Cooper

Female 1817 - 1896  (78 years)


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  • Name Jane Wells Cooper 
    Born 4 Oct 1817  Cambridge, Washington, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Died 27 Mar 1896  Parowan, Iron, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Parowan City Cemetery, Parowan, Iron, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I986  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Father Samuel Cooper,   b. 19 Sep 1791, Cambridge, Washington, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 27 Mar 1839, Burton, Adams, Illinois, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 47 years) 
    Mother Wealthy Ann Wells,   b. 25 Jan 1794, Cambridge, Washington, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 23 Mar 1865, Buckeye, Yolo, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 71 years) 
    Married 1 May 1815  Cambridge, Washington, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F687  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Ebenezer Hanks,   b. 11 Feb 1815, Greenwich, Washington, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 4 Apr 1884, Hanksville, Wayne, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 69 years) 
    Married 27 Oct 1839  Burton, Adams, Illinois, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Martha Catherine Frederick,   b. 9 Mar 1858, San Bernardino, San Bernardino, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 24 Aug 1896, Marysvale, Piute, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 38 years)  [Adopted]
     2. Albert Hanks,   b. Abt 1845, , , Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aug 1878, Parowan, Iron, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 33 years)  [Adopted]
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F686  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. Reviewed Rootsweb.com Worldconnect 6 Apr 2002.

      2. Censuses:
      1840 US: Environs of Quincy, Adams, Illinois, p. 60a, related families:
      Ebenezer Hanks, males 20-30:2//females 20-30:1. [Newly married Ebenezer and Jane - not sure who second male is.]
      Henry Cooper, males 15-20:1; 20-30:2//females 40-50:1. [Four homes away from Ebenezer Hanks - probable brother to Jane Wells Cooper.]
      James Wells, males 5-10:2; 20-30:2; 40-50:1//females 5-10:1; 10-15:1; 40-50: 1. [Next door to Henry Cooper - possible uncle to Jane Wells Cooper?]

      1860 US: Provo, Utah, Utah, p. 427, 4 Oct 1860, family 2836:
      Ebenezer Hanks, 45, merchant, NY.
      Jane, 48, NY.
      Truman Swarthout, 30, clerk, NY.
      B.F. Baughman, 34, clerk, Ger.

      1870 US: Parowan, Iron, Utah, enum. 17 Jun 1870, Roll 16 Book 1, p. 293b, household 169, family 165:
      Ebenezer Hanks, 53, woolen manufacturer, $10,000 real estate, $2,000 personal property, NY.
      Jane W., 53, homework, NY.
      Martha, 12, at house, CA.
      Jane, 6, UT.
      Hyrum Coombs, 31, laborer, IL.

      1880 US: Parowan, Iron, Utah, FHL film 1255336, National Archives Film T9-1336, p. 355B:
      W. Jane Hanks, occupation: keeping house, age 62, married, birthplace: NY, NY, NY.

      3. Database entries of Jane's ancestors, siblings, and their families by database from Ancestry.com: database "1663942"; 13 Apr. 2002, contact . Email of 13 Apr 2002 from Bill Cooper states that his resources for the database came mainly from the family bible which is in the possession of Patricia Powell who is a descendant of Henry Cooper, bro. of Jane Wells Cooper. He used a lot of published trees from Genealogy.com and state records and public records to then verify the data. He has hit a stonewall on the parents of Samuel Cooper, Jane's father, and he's got the family traced back to PA but can't verify between his uncles and his father.

      4. I reviewed the following book at the FHL in Salt Lake City and found that it does not deal with our particular Wells family: D.W. Norris and H.A. Feldmann, "The Wells Family" (Milwaukee: The Cramer-Krasselt Co., 1942).

      5. Jane had a sister-in-law named Anna Mariah Peck whose parents were early LDS members from the original Colesville Branch in New York. Anna marries Jane's brother Henry in 1840 in Burton, Adams, Illinois.

      6. David L. Bigler and Will Bagley, editors, "Army of Israel, Mormon Battalion Narratives," vol. 4 of "Kingdom in the West" series, Arthur H. Clark Co., Spokane, WA, 2000, pp.457-460 contains a never before published roster of the Mormon Battalion detachments that wintered at El Pueblo in 1846 and entered the Salt Lake Valley on 29 July 1847. Shortly after their arrival, Thomas Bullock, the "Clerk of the Camp of Israel" compiled the list of 275 names and titled it: "August 1847 Names of Pueblo Soldiers and Mississippi Brethren Arrived in Great Salt Lake City." Under Nelson Higgins detachment: "Jane Hanks, [age] 26." Her husband is not listed.

      7. Per Carl V. Larson, "A Data Base of the Mormon Battalion," 1987, Copy at LDS Church Archives. From his data, the author indicates the oldest enlistee was 69 and that there were 11 others born before 1800.
      Average age death of the entire Battalion is a remarkable 79 which includes accidents and illnesses leading to death. Entry for Ebenezer Hanks indicates his wife Jane applied for pension in 1887 from Parowan, Utah.

      8. Bronze memorial plaque in Pueblo, Colorado [photo on file]: "This memorial is the property of the State of Colorado. A detachment of United States soldiers of the Mormon Battalion in the Mexican War spent the winter of 1846-47 near this site. With their families and Mormon immigrants from Mississippi they formed a settlement of 275 persons. They erected a church and rows of dwellings of cottonwood logs. Here were born the first white children in Colorado. Erected by the State Historical Society of Colorado, from the Mrs. J.N. Hall Foundation and by Colorado members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and by citizens of Pueblo. 1946."

      9. FHL film 0480137: "Selected Pension Application Files for Members of the Morman [sic] Battalion, Mexican War, 1846-1848" from the National Archives and Records Service, Washington, DC." Jane applied 14 Feb 1887 and was approved for $8.00 per month on 29 Jun 1887. The law which made the pension available was the "Mexican War Pension Act of Jan. 29, 1887." She was dropped from rolls 6 Aug 1896 as "pensioner dead" with note that last pension was paid 4 Mar 1896. Text of Mexican War Pension Files from Family History Library film [unnoted] for Jane Hanks:
      "No. 892, Mexican War, Act of Jan. 29, 1887. Widow. Jane Hanks, widow of Ebenezer Hanks; rank Serg't., Co. E, Regiment: Battn. of Iowa Mormon Vols. Rate per month, $8.00, commencing Jan. 29, 1887. Certificate dated June 30, 1887 and payable at San Francisco Agency. Fee none."
      Typed application: "War with Mexico. Claim of widow for service pension. Territory of Utah, County of Iron. Mrs. Jane Hanks, being duly sworn, says: I am the widow of Ebenezer Hanks. He died at Graves Valley, Utah, on the 4th day of April, 1884. I have not since remarried. I was married to him by Elija King, a Justice of the Peace, on the 27th day of October, 1839, in the County of Adams, State of Illinois. Neither of us had been previously married. My maiden name was Miss Jane Cooper. He enlisted on or about the 16th day of July, 1846, at Council Bluffs as a third sergeant in Company E commanded by Captain Daniel E. Davis in the Mormon Battalion in the War with Mexico, and served in said war in said company and battalion until about the 16th day of July, 1847 when he was honorably discharged at Los Angels, California. Since then he and I have resided as follows, viz: Salt Lake City, Utah, Elderado, and San Bernardino Counties, California, and Parowan City, Iron County, Utah. I have made diligent search for his discharge, but have not been able to find it. I hereby apply for a pension. My post office address is Parowan City, Iron County, Utah. My actual residence is in said Parowan City. Signed: Jane Hanks, James W. Brown, William Kirkjeah[?]. Also personally appeared Zachariah B. Decker, aged 67 years, and Charles Y. Webb, aged 67 years, whose post office addresses are Parowan City, Utah, persons whom I certify to be respectable and entitled to credit, and who being by me duly sworn, say that they have known the said Jane Hanks for 40 years and for 40 years respectively; and they were present and saw her sign her name to the forgoing declaration; that they know her to be the same person she represents herself to be; and they further say that they are able to identify her as the person who was the wife of the identical Ebenezer Hanks, who rendered the service alleged in the above application in the company of Captain Daniel C. Davis, in the Mormon Battalion, in the war with Mexico, by the following named facts and circumstances, to wit: that they know that the said Jane Hanks was with the said battalion as the wife of the said Ebenezer Hanks; and that she served as a laundress, in said company, in said battalion at the time above named; ant that they know that she has not remarried since the death of the said Ebenezer Hanks, her husband, and that they have no interest in the prosecution of this claim. Signed: Zach B. Decker, Wm. Marshall, Charles Webb.
      Stamped widow's brief with same information also included but subsequently stamped "Dropped from rolls Aug 6, 1896 - Pensioner dead"; also noted is a bounty land search showing "Bounty Land claim 80581-160-47."
      Also included is one page giving a copy of the actual Congressional Act granting pensions to the soldiers and sailors of the Mexican war, and for other purposes which was approved Jan. 29, 1887.

      13. Concerning how Ebenezer Hanks and his wife were sent to Pueblo with the sick camp of the Mormon Battalion: The book "John Doyle Lee, Zealot, Pioneer Builder, Scapegoat," by Juanita Brooks, pages 101 - 102: "When Lee heard that about twenty-five of the Battalion man had been placed on the sick list and were to be discharged from the service forthwith, his indignation knew no bounds. He at once told Adjutant George P. Dykes "that I would consider it more honorable to command those man (sick) to be shot & thereby to put an end to their suffering - then to leave them here to rot among prostitutes - without a friend to assist them... and that the man who raised his voice or assented to this move would have to atone for the sufferings and lives of those man." He immediately went to the Captain and other officers to protest in the action. But perhaps John Steele did as much to secure a reversal of orders as did Lee. His young wife and little daughter had come along with him, walking as he did. Now to have them assigned to go back with this group of sick man angered him until he did something about it. There were about twenty women along, each of whom had been able bodied husband. John Steele tried in vain to get the group to support him, but none dared until John Hess said that if he were fortified with a good stout drink he would go along to face Colonel Cooke. Steele wrote: 'We went and found him in a long low cellar, with about 30 officers. I asked which of the gentleman there is Colonel Cooke. Then, there arose a man from the other side of the table, measuring about 6 ft. four inches. I told him I understood he had issued orders for all the sick men and all the women to go back to Bent's Fort. He said yes that was so. I told him I had my wife and there and would like the privilege of either having my wife go to California with me or going back to Bent's Fort with her. He spoke very saucy and said he would like to have his wife, along with him (but he never had a wife). I told him very likely his wife was in Washington or some other good seaport town among her friends, while mine was in Santa Fe, among her enemies, and to have her left there with only a squad the sick men, I would not stand it, and the more I talked the more angry I got until at last, I could have thrashed the ground with him...' At any rate, between them they had the order changed so that the husbands who wished to do so accompanied their wives."

      10. The book "History of Iron County Mission - Parowan, Utah, comp. by Mrs. Luella Adams Dalton, chapter 41, p.366:
      A. "Ebenezer Hanks, after coming to Parowan to establish his cotton factory in 1861, opened the first general merchandise store in the northeast room of his home, that stood right where Oscar Lyman's home is. He kept a big six mule outfit on the road all the time with Joe Wixom as driver. He hauled fright from Call's Landing on the Colorado River. The freighters usually went in groups. The ships laden from the eastern markets went round by Cape Horn, then up the Colorado River to Call's Landing, where teams would be waiting to freight the goods to Salt Lake City and to the mines in Nevada. Father bought a charter oak stove from Ebenezer Hanks paying him 50 bushels of wheat at $5.00 a bushel" (Source: William H. Lyman)
      B. "Ebenezer Hank's outfit freighted from Los Angeles and San Bernardino, California to the mines in Nevada and on up thru the settlements to Salt Lake City. These were the first imported goods that came into the community; prior to this everything was homespun. The calico used to come in great big rolls with two or three hundred yards in a roll. Calico was 50c a yard, thread 25c a spool. This was a cash store and there weren't many folks that had cash." (Source: Samuel Mortenson)

      11. Excerpts involving Ebenezer and Jane Hanks in the book "History of Iron County Mission, Parowan, Utah," comp. by Mrs. Luella Adams Dalton (note the cooking ability of Jane Hanks):
      A. "Dances in the Homes; Wm. H. Lyman Story:
      'We used to have dances all over town in the homes. They'd clear away the chairs and tables and make room for the sets. After Aunty Hanks sold out their store, we used to have great times, dancing in her front room (old home that stood where Oscar Lyman's home is). All of us boys would pitch in and cut her wood, pile it and she'd stir up a fine molasses cake or cornbread with butter and molasses. We used to dance at Charlie Harrises (old lumber home that stood where Amelia Topham's home now stands) and at Lorenzo Barton's just east of Johnny Rasmussen's home. Thomas Richards and Mark Guymon used to play the violin for us.'"
      B. "Rush Lake Parties, by Sarah Ann Stevens:
      'The cotton was carded and made into rolls. These rolls were worked back and forth until they got smaller and smaller until they were made into yarn. The yarn was made into skeins and then into bundles of sixteen skeins, costing $9.00 a bunch. They never wove cloth at the Cotton Factory but it was a great help to have the cotton carded and spun into yarn. They never used wool at the factory.
      After the settlement of the Dixie country, President Young could see the necessity of a cotton factory close to the cotton fields. He sold out his interest in the Parowan Cotton Factory to Ebenezer Hanks and in 1865 and 1866 built the cotton factory at Washington.
      In 1866, the old Parowan plant stopped operating as a cotton factory on account of the scarcity of cotton. It was turned into a wool scouring and carding plant. Wool was washed and dried, then carded into rolls about twelve to sixteen inches long and from one to two inches thick. This was a great help to the women. It could soon be spun into yarn and ready for the hand loom. The pioneer children were kept busy carrying big baskets of rolls to their mothers. Most everyone did their own weaving.'"
      C. Chapter 41: "Early Day Stores, by William H. Lyman:
      'Ebenezer Hanks, after coming to Parowan to establish his cotton factory in 1861, opened the first general merchandise store in the northeast room of his home, that stood right where Oscar Lyman's home is. He kept a big six mule outfit on the road all the time with Jose Wixom as driver. He hauled freight from Call's Landing on the Colorado River. The freighters usually went in groups. The ships laden from the eastern markets went round by Cape Horn, then up the Colorado River to Call's Landing, where teams would be waiting to freight the goods to Salt Lake City and to the mines in Nevada. Father bought a charter oak stove from Ebenezer Hanks paying him 50 bushels of wheat at $5.00 a bushel.'"
      D. "Ebenezer Hanks' Store, by Samuel Mortenson:
      'Ebenezer Hank's outfit freighted from Los Angeles and San Bernardino, California to the mines in Nevada and on up thru the settlements to Salt Lake City. These were the first imported goods that came into the community; prior to this everything was homespun. The calico used to come in great big rolls with two or three hundred yards in a roll. Calico was 50c a yard, thread 25c a spool. This was a cash store and there weren't many folks that had cash.'"
      E. "Third Saw Mill Bee (Later Uncle Nathan Benson's mill), by Morgan Richards, Jr.:
      'William Ebenezer Hanks, William Adams and John Henderson had everything on hand for the erection of the 3rd Saw Mill; they had a work bee, for raising and placing the timbers of the frame work. About fifty people came and they served a hot dinner of pork and beans, chicken pie, boiled beef, potatoes, cheese, bread and butter, pies and cakes. This was about 1867. Aunt Celia Henderson, Aunt Jane Hanks and Margaret Adams, a girl of about fourteen, served the dinner. Aunt Jane Hanks could make the best mince pies you ever ate...'"

      12. Background excerpts of history of Washington Co., Utah from Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Lesson for April 2002, "History of Washington County," comp. by Anne Miller Eckman:
      "The Cotton Factory
      By 1863 settlers in the Virgin Valley were producing large amounts of quality cotton but were having difficulty trading it for flour and grain in the northern settlements. There was a market for the cotton in California, but Brigham Young wanted the fiber to remain in Utah to support his policy of self-sufficiency. It was decided that a cotton mill was needed to allow the settlers to produce thread and cloth for which there was a ready market in the north. President Young selected a site for the mill in September 1865, and construction began. Cotton machinery, which was in operation in Parley's Canyon near Salt Lake City, would be dismantled and taken to the Cotton Mission. The first story of the building was dedicated on July 24, 1866. The machinery arrived later that year, and operation began in the spring of 1867. Employees were hired at an average wage of four dollars per week. A second story was added during the summer of 1870, and twenty-eight tons of additional equipment were shipped in from the eastern states. By 1871 the building was three stories tall and could produce five hundred yards of cotton and woolen cloth per day.
      Following the Civil War, it became cheaper to import cotton and woolen goods from the East, and the cotton mill was unable to produce cloth at competitive prices. The business limped along until 1910 when the cloth factory was closed, and the venture became history. (Linda Sappington, "Cotton Factory Was Meant to Boost Spirits," Spectrum, May 29, 1994, 31; David Morris, "A Short History of the Washington Factory," DUP History Collection, 1923.)
      (Picture: "Workers at the Cotton Mill.")
      Pintura (Bellevue):
      Pintura is located on Interstate 15 and is the first town reached as one enters Washington County from the north. It has the unique distinction of having been a part of three separate counties- Iron, Kane, and Washington, when early boundaries were modified to meet changing pioneer needs. The settlers named their community Bellevue because the formation of the landscape looked like a bell.
      The first settler of Bellevue was a man named Morrill who started a ranch there in 1858. Joel Johnson purchased the property in 1866 and was soon joined by others, including James Bay, James Sylvester, Joseph Birch, Jacob Gates, and James C. Snow. Joel Johnson sent to France for choice grape roots and enlarged his acreage by planting cuttings from them. When the vines grew, he shared cuttings with his neighbors and friends. In time Pintura had many fine vineyards that produced thousands of gallons of wine. Joel Johnson also imported choice fruit trees of several varieties, and orchards soon flourished. Settlers also grew vegetables and raised cattle.
      Because Pintura was a day's journey from Cedar City to the north and Washington to the south, it became a popular way station for teamsters and other travelers who called it the "Great Camp Ground." During the boom days of Silver Reef, it was common to see from ten to fifty teams tied in the stalls of the huge barn. Three camp houses were built to shelter travelers from winds and storms.
      In 1883 Ebenezer Hanks directed the erection of an eighteen by twenty-five foot cobblestone building to be used for church meetings, education, and other public purposes. James Sylvester, James C. Snow, and Andrew F. Gregerson served as presiding elders of the Bellevue Branch. Years later, the citizens were indignant when the county school superintendent sold the building for a mere $10,000.
      In 1925 the United States Post Office asked that Bellevue's name be changed, as there were several other towns with the same name. Andy Gregerson looked at the brightly-colored hills nearby, and suggested Pintura, the Spanish word for painting.
      (Althea G. Hafen, "Bellevue," in Under Dixie Sun, 357-60.)"

      13. Deeds circa 1889-1890 in Iron County, Utah, involving Jane Hanks:
      A. Iron County, Utah Deed Book J; Pages 359-362, for property in Parowan, Utah with Wm. Holyoak:
      "This indenture made the 29th day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety.
      Between Jane W. Hanks, widow of Ebenezer Hanks of Parowan City in Iron County, Utah Territory, party of the first part and William Holyoak, a merchant of said city the party of the second part witnesseth that the said party of the first part for and in consideration of the sum of five hundred dollars ($500.00) money of the United States of America to her in hand paid by the said party of the second part the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged does by these presents grant bargain, sell, convey, and confirm unto the said party of the second part and to his heirs and assigns forever. The following described lots or parcel of land viz:
      Lots (1) one (2) two (3) three (4) four (5) five (6) six (7) seven (8) eight and (9) nine, each lot (2) two by (24) twenty-four rods, of the south and of block (16) sixteen in plat A, in Parowan City survey.
      Also lot (1) one, six (6) rods in width, east and west by (12) twelve rods north and south, and the south half of lot (2) two, six by six square of the south end and west part of block 16 sixteen in plat A of Parowan City survey, containing in all (3) three acres and (60) rods of ground, situated in section (14) fourteen, township (34) thirty-four south, range (9) west Salt Lake Meridian in Iron County, Utah Territory.
      Together with all and singular the tenements (?) and appurtenances thereunto belonging or in anywise appertaining and the rents, issues and profits thereof.
      To have and to hold all and singular the above mentioned and described premises together with the appurtenances unto the said party of the second part and to his heirs and assigns forever and the said party of the first part and her heirs, the said premises in the quiet and peaceable possession of the said party of the second part his heirs and assigns against the said party of the first part and her heirs and against all and every person and persons whomsoever lawfully claiming or to claim the same shall and will warrant and by these presents forever defend.
      In witness whereof, the said party of the first part has hereunto set her hand and seal the day and year first above written.
      Signed sealed and delivered in the presence of John W. Brown, Bridget Butt.
      Territory of Utah, County of Iron
      Jane W. Hanks (seal)"
      On the 29th day of July 1890, personally appeared before me John W. Brown a notary public, in and for the County of Iron Utah Territory, Jane W. Hanks of Parowan City, in said county, whose name is subscribed to the annexed instrument, as a party thereto, personally known to me to be the same person described in and who executed the said annexed instrument as a party thereto, and she the said Jane W. Hanks, duly acknowledged to me that she executed the same freely and voluntarily for the uses and purposes therein mentioned.
      In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my official seal, the day and year in this certificate first above written.
      John W. Brown, notary public in and for Iron County, Utah
      Filed Oct 18th, 1890
      Recorded Oct 20th, 1890, Wm. H. Holyoak, Recorder
      This indenture, made the 29th day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety between Jane W. Hanks, widow of Ebenezer Hanks, of Parowan City in Iron County Utah Territory party of the first part, and William Holyoak a merchant of said city the party of the second part witnesseth: that the said party of the first part for and in consideration of the sum of ($60.00) sixty dollars money of the United States of America to her in hand paid by the said party of the second part the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, does by these presents grant bargain sell convey and confirm unto the said party of the second part and to his heirs and assigns forever the following described parcel of land to ?:
      Commencing at a point (19) nineteen rods and (6) six feet north of the south-east corner of the quarter of the south-east quarter of section (24) twenty-four, in township (33) thirty three south, range (9) nine west Salt Lake meridian in Utah Territory.
      Thence north (4) four rods and (9) nine feet: thence west (80) eighty rods: thence south (4) four rods and (9) nine feet: thence east (80) eighty rods to the place of beginning:
      Also commencing (19) nineteen rods and (9) nine feet north from the south west corner of lot (4) four in the south west quarter of section (19) in township (33) south range 8, west Salt Lake meridian. Thence North (4) four rods and (9) nine feet. Thence east (80) eighty rods: thence south (4) four rods and nine (9) feet: thence west eighty (80) rods to the place of beginning, containing (4) four acres, eighty seven (87) rods, and (9) thirty thirds of a rod be the same more or less.
      Together with all and singular the tenements here [?] and appurtenances thereunto belonging or in anywise appertaining, and the rents issues and profits thereof:
      To have and to hold all and singular the above mentioned and described premises together with the appurtenances unto the said party of the second part and to his heirs and assigns forever. And the said party of the first part and her heirs the said premises in the quiet and peaceable possession of the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, against the said party of the first part, and her heirs, and against all and every person and persons whomsoever lawfully claiming or to claim the same shall and will warrant, and by these presents forever defend.
      In witness whereof, the said party of the first part hath hereunto set her hand and seal the day and year first above written.
      Signed sealed and delivered in the presence of Elizabeth Collester, John W. Brown.
      Jane W. Hanks (seal)
      Territory of Utah
      County of Iron
      On the 29th day of July 1890, personally appeared before me John W. Brown a notary public, in and for the county of Iron, Utah Territory, Jane W. Hanks of Parowan City, said county whose name is subscribed to the annexed instrument, as a party thereto, personally known to me to be the same person described in and who executed the said annexed instrument, as a party thereto and she the said Jane W. Hanks duly acknowledged to me that she executed the same freely and voluntarily for the uses and purposes therein mentioned.
      In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my official seal, the day and year in this certificate first above written. John W. Brown, Notary public.
      Iron Co Utah
      Filed October 18th 320 PM 1890
      Recorded Oct 20th 1890, Wm. H. Holyoak Recorder."
      B. Iron County, Utah Deed Book J; Pages 85-86 involving the estate of Edward Dalton:
      "In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto let my hand and affixed any official seal the day and year in this certificate first above written,
      John W. Brown, Notary Public
      Filed Apr 13th, 1889, 1-o'clock P.M.
      Recorded Apr. 18th, 1889,
      Wm. H. Holyoak, Recorder.
      This indenture, made the twenty-third day of March A.D. one thousand eight hundred and eighty nine at Parowan City by and between Emily Dalton, the duly appointed qualified and acting administrative of the estate of Edward M. Dalton deceased late of said city, and county the party of the first part, and Jane Hanks, of the said city county and territory the party of the second part, witnesseth, that whereas, the said Edward M. Dalton in his lifetime and on or about the 10th day of May A.D. 1885, by a contract bearing date the 10th day of May A.D. 1883, agreed to and with the said Jane Hanks, to sell and convey to her the promises herein after described, in consideration of the payment by the said Jane Hanks, of the same of $7.00 dollars, but the said Edward M. Dalton, died intestate without performing said contract, and whereas on the 19th day of November A.D. 1888, the probate court of Iron County, Utah Territory hold(?) at Parowan City in said county upon the application of said Jane Hanks. Said court did on the 18th day of March A.D. 1889, order said administratrix to carry into effect the terms and conditions of said contract.
      Now therefore by virtue of the authority and order aforesaid and in pursuance of the terms and conditions of said contract on the part of the said Edward M. Dalton to the performed and in consideration of the same of $7.00 dollars paid by the said Jane Hanks to the said Edward M. Dalton deceased I the said Emily Dalton do hereby grant, bargain, sell, and convey unto the said Jane Hanks, her heirs and assigns forever, the said lot (3) three.
      Also commencing (19) nineteen rods and 9 feet north, of the South-west corner of lot 4, in the South West quarter of section 19, in township 33, South. Range 8, West, Salt Lake Meridian. Thence North 4 rods and 9 feet thence East 80 rods. Thence South 4 rods and 9 feet. Thence West 80 rods 40 the place of beginning, containing 4 acres 87 rods and 9/33, of a rod, be the same more or less, with the appurtenances.
      To have and to hold, the same unto the said Jane Hanks her heirs, to her and their use forever, and the said Edward M. Dalton and his heirs, against all and every person or persons whomsoever (?) or to claim the same, shall and will warrant, and may these presents forever defend.
      In witness whereof, the said Emily Dalton has hereunto let her hand and seal the day and year first above written, signed sealed and delivered in the presence of Nathan Benson, John W. Brown.
      Territory of Utah, County of Iron
      Emily Dalton, Administratrix of the Estate of Edward M. Dalton, Deceased.
      On the 23rd day of March, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine, personally appeared before me John W. Brown a notary public in and for the county of Iron, Utah Territory, Emily Dalton the administratrix of the estate of Edward M. Dalton, deceased, whose name is subscribed to the annexed instrument as a party thereto personally known to me to be the same person described in and who executed the said annexed instrument as a party thereto, and she, Emily Dalton, the administratrix as aforesaid duly acknowledged to me that she as such administratrix executed the same freely and voluntarily, and for the uses and purposes therein mentioned.
      In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my official seal, the day and year in this certificate first above written,
      John W. Brown, Notary public.
      Filed Apr 13th, 1889, 1 P.M.
      Recorded Apr 18th, 1889, Wm. H. Holyoak, Recorder."

      14. I have on file from the book "Images of Parowan's Past," 1998, Parowan Main Street Corporation, an old photo of a mercantile store in Parowan located on the northwest corner of 100 East and Center Street. The store's name was Parowan Cash Store with C.C. Rasmussen as the proprietor. Rasmussen may have been a subsequent proprietor since Jane had the first "cash" store in Parowan. Subject to confirmation of land ownership records if any of where Jane Hanks lived in Parowan, this location may well be the site of her store prior to Rasmussen.
      Follow-up note: I visited Parowan in 2008 and was able to locate and visit Jane's old home at 132 S. 100 W. It is currently a rental owned by Burnett Evans, 3466 Meadow Brook Dr., West Valley, 84119-5059, 435-477-8825 (Phyllis is the property manager at 435-477-8825.) From the land records, it appears that Jane Hanks owned most of the block between 1st and 2nd S. and 1st and 2nd West.

      15. LDS Archives, Manuscript History of California Mission: 30 May 1888, Jane Hanks, Ebenezer's widow, gave her power of attorney to help resolve land title problems in San Bernardino from 29 years before when her husband finalized the ownership details of the LDS San Bernardino Rancho in 1858. Apparently, he had carried the deed back to Utah with him and had given it to Brigham Young.

      16. Iron County, Utah, Probate Record Book #2, pp. 129-131: "In the Fifth Judicial Court of the State of Utah, County of Iron, Decree of Distribution of Estate. In the matter of the Estate of Jane W. Hanks, Deceased John T. Mitchell, Executor of the Estate of Jane W. Hanks, deceased, having on the 13 day of January 1897, filed in this Court his petition, setting forth, among other matters, that his accounts have been finally settled, and said estate is in a condition to be closed, and that a portion of said estate remains to be divided among the heirs of said deceased, and said matter coming on regularly to be heard, the 12th day of February 1897,
      Now on this 12th day of February 1897, at 10 O'clock A.M. the said executor appearing by his counsel, Jos. T. Wilkinson, this Court proceeded to the hearing of said petition, and it appearing to the satisfaction of this Court that the residue of said estate, consisting of the property herein after particularly described, is now ready for distribution, and that said estate is now in a condition to be closed,
      That the whole of said estate is real property, situated and being in the County of Iron, in what is known as Iron City, in the plat of said Iron City survey, filed for record in the office of the County Recorder of Iron County,
      That the said Jane W. Hanks, died testate, in the City of Parowan, County of Iron, on the 27th day of March, 1896, leaving her surviving the following named heirs to-wit, Sarah Jane Caspar Hanks, age not known, Almira A. Hanks, McDugal, age 34 years, Jane A. Hanks, Sylvester 33 years, Ebenezer J. Hanks, age 32, Nancy l. Hanks, Gould, age 30 years, Ironna W. Hanks Davis, aged 27, Eva M. Hanks, Thompson aged 21, Neal W. Hanks, age 18, Charles C.R. Hanks, Mary Grace Shoemaker, Sarah Catherina Stoker, Amos Ebenezer Stevens, John Lincoln Ferris, and John Ferris,
      That since the rendition of the said final account, No Estate, has come in to the hands of the said Executor and the sum of Two Hundred and twelve, 35/100 dollars has been expended by said Executor, as necessary expences of administration, the vouchers whereof, together with a statement of such receipts and disbursements are now presented and filed, and the payments are approved by this Court; and that the estimated expenses of closing said estate will amount to the sum of
      That the said Surviving heirs as above mentioned are entitled to the residue of said estate,
      Now on this, the said 12th day of February 1897, on motion of Joseph T. Wilkinson Esq. counsel for said executor, It is Hereby Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed, That the residue of said estate of Jane W. Hanks, deceased, hereinafter particularly described and now remaining in the hands of said executor and any other property not now known or discovered which may belong to said estate, or in which the said estate may have any interest, be and the same is hereby distribut4ed as follows to-wit,
      To Sarah J. Caspar Hanks Burnell the undivided one tenth of said Estate.
      Almira A. Hanks McDougal, the undivided one tenth of Estate.
      Jane A. Hanks Sylvester, the undivided one tenth of Estate.
      Ebenezer J. Hanks, the undivided one tenth of Estate.
      Nancy L. Hanks Gould, the undivided one tenth of Estate.
      Irona W. Hanks Davis, the undivided one tenth of Estate.
      Eva M. Hanks Thompson, the undivided one tenth of Estate.
      Neal W. Hanks, the undivided one tenth of Estate.
      Charles C.R. Hanks, the undivided one tenth of Estate.
      To Mary Grace Shoemaker the undivided one fiftieth of Estate.
      To Sarah Catherine Stoker the undivided one fiftieth of Estate.
      Amos Ebenezer Stevens, the undivided one fiftieth of Estate.
      John Lincoln Ferris, the undivided one fiftieth of Estate.
      Jonathan Ferris, the undivided one fiftieth of Estate.
      The following is a particular description of the said residue of said estate referred to in this decree, wand of which distribution is ordered, adjudged, and decreed, as aforesaid to-wit,
      The Whole of Blocks Number 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, and 32,
      Lots number, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and Eight, in Block number 2, And Lots number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8, in block Six,
      And Lots number 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, in Block 12,
      And Lots number 1, 2, 5, 6, in block 14,
      And Lots number 3, 5, and 6, in block 20,
      And Lots number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8, in block 26,
      And Lots number1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, in block 33.
      Iron City Town Survey, situated and being in the North West quarter of Section Eight, Township Thirty seven, South of Range 14, West of Salt Lake Meridian,
      Done in Open Court this 12th day of February 1897, E.V. Higgins Judge, Filed March 13th A.D 1897 at 10.30 A.M."
      [Kerry's note: I have on file a copy of the plat map for the above. It has the following description on the plat: Plot of Iron City in Iron County, Utah Territory completed June 29th 1880 by Edward Dalton County Surveyor. Located on the North West 1/4 of Section 8, Township 37 South of Range 14 West, Salt Lake Base and Meridian. Blocks 24 rods square. Lots 6 by 12 rods. Streets 4 rods wide, except 3 streets that are 5 rods wide. Streets cross at right angles but vary from the cardinal points of the compass West 25 degrees north and north 25 degrees east scale 24 rods to the inch." The plat also shows 33 blocks with generally 8 lots to the block. The "Furnace" and "Foundry" are marked. In the 1930's all of this land was foreclosed in a tax sale for roughly $10 dollars or so owed on property taxes.]

      17. Parowan Times, 22 May 1931 (Parowan, Utah):
      "Annual May Tax Sale.
      Jane W. Hanks Heirs c/o Ebenezer Hanks - All of Blks 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32. Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8. Blk 2, Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, in Blk 6. Lots 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, in Blk 12: Lots 1, 2, 5, 6 in Blk 13; Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, in Blk 14; Lots 3, 4, 5, 6, in Blk 20; Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, in Blk 26; Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 in Blk 33, and other land not platted into lots and blocks all in the NW ¼ Sec 8, Tp 37 S Rg 14 W Cont, about 100 acres as per decree Ebenezer Hanks Est. …..$11.20."
      The money items set out in the foregoing list are only the original taxes assessed against the property described for the year 1926, for which the property was sold to Iron County. It will now be necessary to pay not only these amounts but all delinquent taxes of subsequent years together with interest and costs accrued before redemption can be made. This property is subject to redemption up to date of the sale, (May 29, 1931) Write the County Treasurer for a statement of the Costs to redeem."

      18. "Daily Enquirer," Sept. 9, 1896. The people she saw in vision would be her biological mother Mary Ann Winner and her daughter Charlotte Ann Ferris; the "grandma" may have been Hanna ( ) Winner, wife of George King Winner or perhaps a nickname for Jane Wells Cooper Hanks, her adoptive mother who had just recently died a few months earlier. It is also interesting to note that Martha had a testimony of her LDS religion which counters the perception that her adoptive mother Jane Hanks was apostate. The obituary:
      "Death at Marysvale. Editor Enquirer.
      Marysvale, Utah, Aug. 31, 1896 -- I write to inform the relatives and friends of the death of Martha C. Ferris, my wife, at this place on August 24, at 6:25 p.m. Her illness was nervous debility, caused by prolapsus-uteri, which took her away in some ten days sickness.
      She leaves her husband and five children to mourn the great loss of wife and mother.
      In her last hours she gave the strongest testimony of her faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, and, arousing at times, would say, "Oh what white robes there are in heaven that I am going to wear. I am going to my dear little Lottie and grandma, and my own real mother. They are here. See! See!" and many other expressions that showed that she was crossing the river to that land of eternal day.
      Sister Ferris was the daughter of David Frederick of the Mormon Battalion, and was born at the Mobava [Mojave] in California. Her mother died, leaving her in the care of Jane W. Hanks, the wife of Ebenezer Hanks, when she was only thirteen months old. The name by which she was known was Martha Hanks."

      19. Jane Wells Cooper is a descendant of William Bradford of the Mayflower as follows:
      William Bradford and Abigail Carpenter
      William Bradford and Alice Richards
      Samuel Bradford and Hannah Rogers
      Elizabeth Bradford and Charles Whiting
      Elizabeth Whiting and Samuel Goodrich.
      Wealthy Ann Goodrich and Edmund Wells
      Edmund Henry Wells and Hepsibah Buell
      Wealthy Ann Wells and Samuel Cooper
      Jane Wells Cooper and Ebenezer Hanks

      BIOGRAPHY:
      1. Short bio in Kate B. Carter, "Our Pioneer Heritage," Vol. 1, P. 491: "Jane Wells Cooper Hanks, wife of Ebenezer Hanks, started her trip west with the famous Mormon Battalion. She was an excellent cook and, therefore, proved a great asset to the welfare of the troops. History records that Jane was ever willing to do all she could for those who needed aid in any way. After spending the winter in Pueblo she and her husband came to Salt Lake where they lived for two years. During the gold rush Ebenezer and Jane went to California where they established an eating house. It is said that she served such fine meals that they soon accumulated a small fortune. From there the family moved to San Bernardino where they purchased a small ranch and during the following three years became the owners of a train of wagons and mules. Soon after they established themselves in the freighting business hauling supplies between Los Angeles and Salt Lake. At the time of the call home to Utah, people living in the out settlements made preparations to return, and Jane and her husband made their way to Parowan. It was here that Jane died March 27, 1896. Her obituary in the Deseret News states that 'She has been a remarkable woman and has assisted her husband in various enterprises, such as the cotton factory in Parowan and the development of iron in Iron City.' - Louella Dalton."

      2. State of Utah, Utah History Information Center, Rio Grande Railroad Depot, Salt Lake City, Utah, MSS A798 c.1, "Jane Hanks, Businesswoman, Spiritualist," by Kerry William Bate, transcription: "A childless Mormon woman who never kept a journal, left no letters or other written statements, and abandoned the Mormon faith is not generally the kind of person in our culture who receives much recognition. If a woman leaves descendants, then there are those who will be interested in her life story for genealogical reasons. If she left a journal, letters, or an autobiography, then like Fanny Stenhouse she leaves a literary contribution for posterity to weigh. If she was a pillar of the faith like Eliza R. Snow, she earns a special place in the kingdom. Jane Wells Cooper Hanks suffered from the liabilities mentioned above, and yet there are still enough documents to tell her interesting story. She was born 4 October 1817, probably in Cambridge, Washington County, New York, daughter of Samuel Cooper and Wealthy Ann Wells.(1) Her maternal relatives were among the most prominent families in Cambridge, and her great-grandfather, Edmund Wells, had been an original patentee of that town.(2) Her family pedigree includes a double descent from Plymouth governor William Bradford.(3) In 1837 Henry Wells, Jane's uncle, left Cambridge and settled in Burton, Adams County, Illinois.(4) Shortly thereafter other Cambridge friends and relatives migrated to Burton, including Jane's family. By early 1839 another Washington County man joined the New York migrants, Ebenezer Hanks. He had been town collector in Salem, New York, and following a disagreement with his family had left home.(5) Whether he chose the Burton settlement because he had relatives there, or because he was following young Jane Cooper is not known, but family tradition insists that Jane was a school teacher and he boarded in her home.(6) A 'fine, intelligent, refined' woman, an admirer later described her, 'a woman of superior culture,' who 'combined a strong mind with a regal appearance... she respected men worthy of her respect, but feared none.'(7) This strong minded and intelligent woman was courted by Ebenezer Hanks, who was at the same time acquiring property to build a homestead.(8) After several pieces had been purchased, they were married, 27 October 1839, probably in Burton.(9) Shortly after their marriage her father died, and she and Ebenezer inherited some property from his estate.(10). Mormons fleeing from Missouri in 1839 settled in Adams County and generally received a friendly welcome. It was probably during this time that the Hanks's made acquaintance with members of that sect. Ebenezer, described by a non-Mormon son, Rev. E.J. Hanks, as 'deeply reverential of religious things,'(11) but also as 'an emotionalist of a pronounced type' and full of 'a strong element of superstition'(12) joined the new faith, as did his wife. No date of his conversion has been given, though her baptism date is given in a much later record as having taken place in 1841.(13) His faith was of a relaxed type. 'He was not much for the ritual of the Mormon home, or church,'(14) recalled the son. No comments are preserved about her religious outlook, except that she was originally a Presbyterian and became a faithful participating Mormon for many years after her baptism. After conversion, they resisted moving to Nauvoo, instead concentrating on improving their farm and building a two story house finished in back walnut.(15) They eventually sold the homestead to Ebenezer's younger brother, Ike, and went to Nauvoo. While in Nauvoo, Ebenezer was called out on guard duty to protect Joseph Smith. While he was gone, three Mormons rode up to the Hanks' homestead - ten acres that had been cleared of timber and then fenced - and asked Jane if they could put some cattle in later that night. 'Why not take them in now?' Jane is reported to have queried. 'They are some we have lifted,' responded one of the men, 'and we can't take them in before dark.'(16) When Jane told the story years later, after her disenchantment with Mormonism, she added, 'the Saints would steal anything left out' and were not arrested because 'what was the use? They got into Nauvoo and were turned loose' by the city court.(17) Mormon testimony confirms that some 'consecrating' of Gentile property took place, despite strenuous objections from the pulpit. Little else is known of Jane's Nauvoo days, except that on 21 January 1846 she and her husband were sealed in the Nauvoo temple(18) and immediately thereafter made preparations to abandon their property in the city. On the way to Winter Quarters Ebenezer shot turkeys by moonlight to get food.(19) The Mormon Battalion meant salvation for this young couple. While many Mormons resented this 'requisition,'(20) for Jane and Ebenezer Hanks it provided an opportunity for 'free' transportation to California. He was made sergeant in Company 'E' and Jane worked as cook and washerwoman. (Perhaps an added reason for their interest in serving in the Mexican War was knowledge that Jane's younger brother, Wendell Cooper, had enlisted in a "gentile company.(21) Little has been written about the role of women in the Mormon Battalion, but one Battalion wife explained how it was that many of them were detached at Santa Fe and sent to winter at Pueblo, Colorado, Harriet S. Brown wrote to her mother, Mary Brown, that: 'The officers consulting on this long and ridgous rout[e] a distance twenty three hundred miles... [from Santa Fe to California] considered they [sic] impracticable for to take along the landress women togather with those who are worne out with sickness and fatigue they therefore drew of[f] a company of detached guard making in all about one hundred...(22)' Among the 'landress women' detached from the main company and sent to winter in Pueblo was Jane Hanks. Ebenezer went along to hunt and assist in guarding the Pueblo encampment.(23) After spending the winter in Pueblo, preparations were made in the spring to start for Salt Lake Valley. Jane rode side saddle on a little pony, driving along a cow. When the cow got sore footed, Jane lagged behind the group, and her angry husband threatened to whip her is she didn't keep up, fearful of the dangers of the unknown Indian county. Asked later what happened, she replied, 'I brought the cow along!' - and kept up with the group.(24) They spent the 1847-1848 winter in Utah, with Ebenezer making a trek to Fort Hall for supplies, but were dis[s]atisfied with the area and migrated back and forth from California to Utah several times between 1848 and 1852. The 1850 California census taker found the couple panning gold on Mormon Island in the American River, making $500 a day.(25) Mormon Island was one of the most successful gold strikes in California, and while Ebenezer panned for the valuable mineral Jane operated a store and boarding house. The building they lived in was a three room house with lumber floor and canvass walls: one room was a kitchen and dining room, one a private bedroom, and the third a store.(26) Exactly where the boarders slept is unclear. Jane 'served such fine meals that they [Jane and Ebenezer] soon accumulated a small fortune'(27) wrote a woman who knew her. Jane was a tough, capable businesswoman. When a boarder named Durham set up an elaborate scheme to rob her while Ebenezer was supposedly gone to Sacramento, he included some confederates in his plans. Jane was more than a match for him. She told the story in these words to her step-son: 'Your father had planned to go to Sacramento, but something at the [placer] works kept them... I was sitting by the table peeling potatoes; Durham sat opposite me, rather in the corner. The table was between us. There was a loaded shotgun in the corner he was supposed to use for my protection. The men had not yet come. Just as it got dark I heard a noise and then the canvas tear in the bedroom.' Durham's partners had made their move. 'It flashed through me just what that meant,' said Jane, 'and I was on my feet and my pistol was on Durham, just as he made a move to grab the shotgun. I said, 'take that gun, back out towards me.' He did till I got my pistol on his back. Then I said, 'open that door, walk out ahead of me, around the house where that noise was, and if you do not shoot the first man you see, I'll shoot you.' I marched that young man around the house,' she said, 'with my pistol almost against him. I made him go into the kitchen and lay his gun on the floor' after discovering that the men tearing the canvas had run off. She then marched Durham into the corner, sat him in a chair facing the wall (something she must have learned in her days as a school teacher), and waited for the rest of the men to come back. When they arrived, and learned of the incident, they were for hanging him 'right then' for his complicity in the affair. 'No,' Jane told them, they'd 'have to wait till Mr. Hanks came.' When Ebenezer got there, Durham confessed his role in the episode and was sent to the penitentiary.'(29) Jane had one other experience with thievery. A neighbor stole some of her chickens. Seeing the man in the act, she followed him to his place with her pistol. She was a crack shot - 'she could take the head off a chicken from her doorway with a pistol'(30) according to one informant - and she was determined to avenge the wrong. Standing in the man's yard, she shot the heads off several chickens, picked them up and started home. The enraged neighbor came out brandishing a bread knife, but she calmly fixed the pistol on him and he backed off. She summed up: 'We had chicken for dinner.'(31) With her strong personality and hard work she contributed much to their financial success, and they acquired holdings in the Salmon Falls area of the American River. Eventually they acquired enough money to think seriously about changing their line of business. Gold mining was hardly acceptable to the Mormon religion and they decided in the fall of 1855 to liquidate their Salmon Falls assets, buy one third interest in the Mormon ranch at San Bernardino, and send Jane from California by boat to New England.(32) The arrangements to purchase the ranch interests were greeted with enthusiasm by the debt ridden Mormons in San Bernardino, and Jane left full responsibility to resolving the details with Ebenezer when she left. He completed the purchase and began work on the ranch building a mill and other improvements. By spring of 1856 he was waiting impatiently for her return. He was so tender and solicitous for her welfare that Apostle Rich wrote with some guilt to one of his wives that, 'Bro. Hanks is... here and looks for his wife all the time. I suppose you all think I have but little anxiety about home but there is nothing that would be more congenial to my feelings than to be quietly placed in the midst of my domestic af[f]airs in Salt Lake Valley.'(33) Though Jane was expected in May, it was not until late June that Ebenezer Hanks left San Bernardino for San Francisco to pick her up. A leisurely shopping expedition resulted, and they arrived back at San Bernardino toward the end of July.(34) In January 1857, Apostles Rich and Lyman, proprietors in the San Bernardino Ranch with Ebenezer, announced they had been called on European missions, and Ebenezer was left in charge of paying off the outstanding debts owed on the ranch. But before that was accomplished, the events of the Utah War intervened, and Brigham Young gave orders to abandon San Bernardino. While others made hurried disposal of their property and started for Utah, Ebenezer stayed on to close out the business. The property was disposed of at tremendous loss.(35) Forever after Jane mourned the loss of 'San Berdoo' (as Ebenezer affectionately called it), and this was the beginning of her disaffection with Mormonism. It was also in San Bernardino that she became interested in spiritualism.(36) Several spiritualist demonstrations had been held there and one observer recorded in her diary, 'attended another lecture on Spiritualism - total failure,' and at another date, Kipp and Dennis 'are led away by spiritualism.' But back in Utah the couple spent their energies setting up a freighting operation that freighted goods between California and Utah(38) and a series of stores in Beaver, Parowan, and Provo to dispose of the goods. By 1860 Ebenezer was living in Provo (where he served briefly as mayor), and Jane had opened a store in the northeast corner of a home in Parowan.(39) The Hanks stores had reputations as cash stores, and some people thought it was hard to get credit,(40) but one man, Josiah Rogerson, had kind words for the Hankses: '[Ebenezer's} deeds of Kindness with his Mdse to the needy and poor, deserve to be recorded prominently in the history of Parowan & Utah forever.'(41) Perhaps the conflicting reputation of Hanks's stores represented the conflicting personalities of Ebenezer and Jane, with Ebenezer more open handed and Jane more frugal. At first Jane worked with Bishop William S. Warren, Hanks's Parowan partner. Warren, a friend from San Bernardino, proved dishonest and the partnership was dissolved. Daniel Page, a returned Mormon missionary, was brought in as a new partner, but he is reputed to have stolen enough money from the store to build himself a hotel, which he ran in Parowan.(42) Despite the problems, Jane ran the store at least until the Mormon cooperative movement in 1868, when the Parowan Cooperative Mercantile Institution was formed and Ebenezer was chosen as Vice President.(43) It is possible the store was open for a number of years after that. Other investments were made by the Hankses in the Parowan community, including turning the old bucket factory into a cotton factory. It is probable that in the last few years this establishment operated that Jane was primarily responsible for it, since her husband was not then living in town.(44) They also invested in a sawmill in Parowan canyon, and when a 'work bee' was held, Jane worked with others to serve a community dinner. 'Aunt Jane Hanks could make the best mince pies you ever tasted,' recalled a participant. Mormon polygamy was something Jane and Ebenezer were bound to come into contact with, especially since their marriage was childless. The childlessness was partially compensated for by the adoption of Martha Catherine Fredericks, the half-orphaned daughter of a San Bernardino couple.(46) In addition, a young California Indian boy named Albert was raised as a son.(47) As early as 1856, while Jane Hanks was back east visiting relatives, Apostle Rich wrote as a postscript in a letter to Apostle Lyman: 'Now Bro Amasa you are acquainted with Bro Hanks and know that his wife does not Bare him any children also he has put all his means in with us and the prospect is that he will remain here for some time in order to settle up the business and I would like for you to find out from the President if he would be willing for him to get another wife either by going to the [Great Salt] Lake or here if it could be done in a way that no evil could grow out of it. Bro Hanks don't wish to make any move only what is right. His wife is willing that he should make such a move when it is right...'(48) While Ebenezer was mayor of Provo he began to look for another wife. Eventually he found one in Sarah Jane Casper, a fifteen year old girl. His Presbyterian minister son, E.J., hostile to the Mormon religion and polygamy, later wrote of this marriage, 'The girl [Sarah Jane, his mother] had curves where they should be and to every appearance was a woman grown,' and attributed the marriage to 'the simple fact... that the average man of that age [Ebenezer was 45] desires a variety of sex experiences, and here was a fine chance...'(49) A possible additional marriage, to Sarah Jane's cousin (a daughter of John D. Lee) was aborted because of disagreement between the two girls over who would have precedence in the sealing ceremony. Life for the polygamous household was difficult, though Jane welcomed Sarah and tried hard to give moral and financial support. 'Mother was just a brood animal and a servant,' recalled Sarah Jane's son cruelly, adding 'she was more of a work horse... than a companion for her man... Her temper grew with the age of each child..."(50) There was a contrast between the two wives: Jane was older, mature, cultivated, refined, gracious. Sarah Jane was young, badly educated, inexperienced. 'As far different as is possible to imagine,'(51) recalled the son. In the early 1860s Ebenezer moved the second wife down to Parowan with Jane. Later in the decade, when he began investing in Iron City (a Mormon effort to develop Iron County iron mines(52)), he moved the second wife and her brood of children to that small community ten miles west of Cedar City. 'Dad made a pretense of keeping up both establishments but it was largely a pretense for his wife (Jane) largely kept herself and adopted daughter Martha,' wrote E.J., adding, 'Dad would go up there two or three times a year and would see to her fuel flour etc. but it was a shame to leave her as he did. I went there and stayed for some time. Her influence was all to the good. A fine noble intelligent woman.'(53) After the move to Iron City he never lived with Jane again, but he visited often and stayed many times, as shown by the various journal of friends. Jane, who was an independent woman and self-supporting with her mercantile efforts, loyally supported the failing Iron City venture, repeatedly buying its stock.(54) She also found other interest as Ebenezer spent less and less time with her. When Amasa Lyman traveled to Parowan to visit his wife Paulina, he called often on Jane Hanks. When Jane organized the 'Mother Eve Mining Company' to exploit the potential mineral wealth of the Mother Eve Mine, Jane sent Lyman samples of ore to by assayed and asked him to be company agent.(55) The 'Mother Eve' is one of the more intriguing events in Jane's life, but unfortunately the sources are sketchy. In July of 1872 she sent Lyman ore with he had assayed and it proved a disappointment, 'haveing nothing but Copper..."(56) A man named William Burrows took a ton of ore to Lyman's place later in July, and stored it for some time in the 'Cal[ifornia] Carrall.' That ore was also worthless, according to the assay report.(57) Meetings for the Mother Eve Mining Company were held at Jane's house, and she paid for expenses of transporting the ore and acted as principal agent. The intriguing name may have been an expression of the company's feminine founder or it may have been suggested by Lyman, who in a confused pantheon suggested a maternal figure of religious worship.(58) The name also may have been the source of the name of one of Ebenezer's daughters, Eva May. (Another daughter was named, appropriately enough, 'Irona Wealthy,' in anticipation of getting rich from the Iron City venture.) Besides working with Lyman in a business relationship, Jane was interested in spiritualism, something the excommunicated Apostle had embraced with enthusiasm. 'In her later and lonely years she as a goodly number of other neglected women took up with a sort of modified spiritualism,' recalled her stepson, 'to which she clung till her death...'(59) Ebenezer did not approve of this, and when his children stayed with Jane in Parowan, they were forbidden to attend the séances, though the adopted daughter, Martha, often served as a medium for the event.(60) Lyman joined in enthusiastically when he was in town, and between 1872 and 1876 mentions attending seventeen séances with Jane Hanks in his journal. A typical entry reads: [13 Feb. 1876 Sunday] Remained at home all the day and had the company of Mrs. Sarah Driggs and Mrs. Jane Hanks. In the evening, with Mrs. Lyman called on Mrs. Hanks at her residence and held a séance, Mrs. Burton present. Weather pleasant but freezing hard at night.'(61) Her interest in spiritualism had begun in San Bernardino. When she became disillusioned with Mormonism because of Brigham Young's attack on capitalism (he had attacked her husband by name in a public sermon in Payson, Utah in the early 1860s(62)) she joined the Godbeite 'New Movement' and was an enthusiastic follower. Her good friend Amasa Lyman was for a time president of that schismatic Mormon group. Part of her interest in this effort was because of her scorn for attempted ecclesiastical domination. William H. Dame, Parowan Stake president, once wanted her to refund an Indian customer money for a blanket he had cut in half. 'Sister Hanks, I order you to give the Indian his money!' screamed the excitable man. 'And I order you, President Dame, to go straight to the Devil!'(63) she replied. Her disillusionment with Mormonism led her to encourage Ebenezer's children to attend Presbyterian mission schools, and eventually one adopted the Presbyterian faith, became one of the first two men to graduate from Westminster College, and was a minister.(64) Relationships with Ebenezer's other family were complicated. The two wives got along well. Sarah Jane named one child after Jane Hanks, another after Jane's mother, and still another after Jane's brother. The children often stayed in Parowan with 'Auntie Hanks,' and besides son E.J., daughter Louella remembered Jane Hanks with fondness.(65) But another found her a strict disciplinarian. Eva May Hanks's daughter recalled Eva May 'had an awful Childhood. Her stepmother was very strict, never had any Children, and she expected a lot.'(66) Despite mixed reviews from the stepchildren, she was a person with stature in Parowan. Well educated, she often lent reading material to interested friends. She was cultured and refined, growing prize flowers and contributing to the community with her reputation for sharp repartee. 'She was the superior woman in all Parowan and was recognized by such,' recalled worshipful E.J., adding, 'I know of no one who did nor reverence 'Auntie Hanks.'(67) E.J. did not connect the word 'fear' with the word 'reverence,' which may have partially reflected the situation. The historian of Parowan recalled Jane fondly,(68) and when Jane died, her Deseret News obituary presented her as a believing Mormon, effectively posthumously reinstating her into the faith to which she had given so many years of her life. When she died 27 March 1896 in Parowan she left her estate to be equally divided among her heirs. Those heirs, each to receive one-tenth, included Ebenezer's children by the second wife, Jane's stepdaughter Martha, and Jane's sister-wife, Sarah Jane, who was in so many ways like a daughter also.(69) Certainly this was a more amicable settlement than was reached in some polygamist households, but it represented the common sense and fairness that was part of Jane Hanks's character. 'She has been a remarkable woman,' summed up a newspaper writer, 'and has assisted her husband in various enterprises, such as the cotton factory in Parowan and the development of iron in Iron City.' That writer sums it up well: 'she h