Trip Down A Muddy Memory Lane

I’ve been home in Idaho for the past few days recovering from a minor surgery. Bad for school work, but good for family history! Most of my ancestors settled in the Cassia County area, many of which were close to my hometown of Malta. Such was the case for John Darrington. He settled in the Elba valley, less than 20 miles from Malta. I cannot count the number of times I have driven past the cemetery where he was buried. But this time I actually stopped and recorded the history right under my nose.

At the crossroads of the sleepy little town of Elba (population less than 100) was a sign that pointed towards an even greater “middle of nowhere” destination: the Grand View Cemetery.

The muddy, snow-encrusted road was foreboding, but not enough to stop an Idaho country girl. You know you are truly in the sticks when the pavement ends and the population of cows exceed people.

John’s grave is situated in the northeast corner of the cemetery, right beside that of his first wife, Sarah Jane Low Darrington. A few steps west is the grave of his second wife, Sarah Mariah Perry Stokes Darrington.

JOHN DARRINGTON

May 31, 1850

Dec. 6, 1920

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF

SARAH. J. LOWE

Wife of

JOHN DARRINGTON

Born

Jan. 7th 1859.

Died

Aug. 14th 1886.

There safe shall thou abide,

There sweet shall be thy rest,

and every longing satisfied,

With full salvation blest.

MOTHER

SARAH MARIA P.

WIFE OF

JOHN DARRINGTON

JAN. 27, 1862 MAR. 8, 1925

This little cemetery situated at the base of the Jim Sage Mountains is a hallowed place for the Darrington family. Here lies the progenitors of numerous Darringtons today, as well as a multiplicity of those tied to the family by another name. This trip back home to rural Idaho opened my eyes to the wealth of genealogical information that has been available to me since the day I was born. From now on, every time I pass through the sleepy town of Elba, I’ll glance towards the eastern mountains and think of John.

 I can see why John spent over forty years in the Elba Valley. He had such a beautiful place to call home.

Google Map Your Ancestors

In a family history class that I'm taking this semester, I learned how important Google Maps are to genealogy research and presentation. Did you know that you could create your own Google Map with specific places marked and even add photos and video? Below is the map I created for John Darrington. The bare bones of where he lived is marked and I will be adding more soon.


View John Darrington in a larger map

Darrington family photo

Before I get too far into the story of John's father, I wanted to identify his wife and children in the family photo. This family was a combination of the children of John and Sarah Jane Lowe, John and Sarah Mariah Perry Stokes, and Williams Stokes and Sarah Mariah Perry Stokes. It was very much a "yours, mine, and ours" family!

Back L to R: Edward Darrington, Lillie Stokes (Smith), John C. Darrington, Henry Stokes, Clark Darrington, Hannah Stokes (Babbitt), Fred Darrington
Seated: John Darrington, Sarah Darrington (Rasmussen), Sarah Mariah Perry Stokes Darrington, George Darrington
Front: Lorenzo Darrington, Matilda Ann Darrington (?)

Are you my father?

The first clue that John could have been an illegitimate child was the absence of a father’s name on his civil registration certificate. This, in combination with Ann listing her maiden name suggested that John was born out of wedlock. 

John Darrington, 30 May 1850, birth registration no. 241, district of Saint Neots, Huntingdon, England.

Census information also supported this statement. The 1851 England census revealed that John and Ann were both living in the household of Ann’s father, Charles, in Eynesbury, Huntingdonshire. Others in the home included Charles’ wife Sarah (47), son William (12), daughter Fanny (6), and granddaughter Ann Mail (2 months). John was ten months old and Ann was twenty-two. The fact that Ann was living at home at the time of this census showed that they did not have continued association with the father. 

 Darrington family living at 104 Buck Street, Eynesbury, Huntingdonshire, England in 1851. 

Source Information: Class: HO107; Piece: 1750; Folio: 261; Page: 26; GSU roll: 193647. 

Ancestry.com. 1851 England Census [database on-line].

Another indication that John was born out of wedlock was the civil registration marriage certificate for Ann Darrington and William Woods dated 28 July 1858. This wedding occurred eight years after John’s birth. The fact that Ann retained the Darrington surname and her marital status was listed as spinster added to the evidence that she was not married when she had John.

 William Woods - Ann Darrington, 28 July 1858, marriage registration no. 70, 

district of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England.

Was William Woods John’s father? No. The records of the LDS Church in Elba, Idaho (where John died) proved that John knew who his father was. In John’s membership record, he gave the name of his father as Fred Bird.[1] This was also the case in the Form-E section of the Church records. Beginning in 1907 these were updated each year to report the happenings of the members from that year.[2]  These two church records supported the family legend of Fred Bird being the father of John.

Elba, Idaho Ward, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,  

Annual Genealogical Report, Form E, 1907-1948, 

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[1] Elba, Idaho Ward, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of members, minutes of meetings, and donations 1881-1895 (Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1950) FHL film 4750.

[2] Elba, Idaho Ward, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Annual Genealogical Report, Form E, 1907-1948, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1950) FHL film 4750.