Far West
James Riley Jennings 1967
Henry Jennings, (1812), son of James, grandson of Jacob, left Waynesville, Ohio, in 1855, for the west. The family consisted of the mother, Ann Morgan Jennings, (Born in Haddonfield) and four sons ranging in age from one to six years. Transportation was by means of two teams and two covered wagons. One wagon was loaded with furniture, household goods and food, the other with implements, tools grain and other supplies. The teams and wagons, with a cow tied on behind to furnish milk for the children, were loaded onto a barge near Cincinnati and floated down the Ohio River, thence on the Mississippi, to St. Louis. Here they joined a wagon train that was being formed for the trek across “great plains”. When they reached Wyoming, near Fort Bridger, they were joined by a new member of the family, Emma Cecelia, who was born 23, Sept. 1856. The only daughter was later to become the mother of the very fine McCleve family in Arizona.
From Wyoming the family settled in Provo, Utah, home of the present Brigham Young University. As young men, two of the boys, Cyrus Morgan and James Henry Jennings, attended the then Brigham Young Academy, later to become the university. At this time the Academy was one of three institutions
of higher learning in the west. The other two were in California. At a slightly later date an uncle, Andrew Jackson Hansen, who also crossed the plains by wagon train from Iowa, was attending Santa Clara College in California and was to become a Methodist Minister.
In the course of a few years the family moved to southern Utah where they engaged in farming and cattle raising. Cyrus M. Jennings taught school for a time and was secretary to the school board for a number of years. The family still has some tools such as a saw, square and hand scales received as payment for teaching. Coin of the realm was very scarce in the frontier west and Sorghum Molasses was a common medium of exchange in southern Utah. James H. Jennings became one of the largest and most successful cattlemen in Utah. In later years he drove cattle to the Imperial Valley in California for fattening. He stayed in the saddle until he was eighty seven and died at age ninety four.
He was a staunch believer in education and spent most of his fortune in helping deserving and ambitious young people to go through college. He never married.
At an early date (1887) Cyrus Morgan Jennings moved his family to Taylor, Arizona, where his activities were fanning, livestock and freighting. He was very active in school, church and community affairs.
Upon arriving in Arizona, he purchased a home and fertile farm along the banks of Silver Creek. The home was on a city block, one fourth of which was used for a home, vegetable and flower gardens. One fourth was devoted to barns, sheds, corrals and granary; one fourth to an orchard consisting of many kinds and varieties of fruit; the remainder was in alfalfa.
In making the purchase of the property no cash changed hands. There was none. The purchase was made with teams, wagons, harness etc. This was a common practice of the day.
Eight of the twelve children reached maturity and reared families of sound citizenship. They were:
Elnora Jennings Solomon, 1875
Henry 1877
Lafayette 1879
Myrtle Jennings Shumway 1888
Nellie Jennings Bates 1891
James R. 1893
Irving A. 1886
Renz L. 1899
Henry and Lafe were a study in contrast. While both worked hard and were dependable, Henry was steady, thrifty and ambitious, Lafe had considerable talent in music and drama. He was always chosen for a leading part in town plays at holiday season. He was in the middle of Halloween or New Years Eve pranks. Henry was not.
As the children grew the sons engaged in enterprise along with their father. This pattern maintained until 1910 men high school and college opportunities presented themselves to younger members of the family. James R. entered upon a career with the U.S. Public Health Service until 1944 when he returned to Phoenix and engaged in various business enterprises, ending in the investment field where he enjoyed a modicum of success.
Irving A. became the senior member of the, leading law firm of the state, occupying two floors of large building in downtown Phoenix. A prominent member of the bar credits him with having the best legal mind the state has produced. Renz L. undoubtedly has the widest acquaintance of any political figure in the state. His career has taken him through the practice of law, member of the state legislature, County Attorney, Deputy Attorney General, several terms as Judge of the SuiJ0rior Court, and finally, as a Justice of the State Supreme Court.
David S. Jennings, an elder brother, Cornell University 1917, PhD, has had a distinguished career in research at the Utah State University.
The women of the family have been a noble breed, dedicating their lives to the rearing of families steeped in the love of God, country and fellow men. It would require another volume to recite their sacrifices and their love,
The purpose of this report is historical. It is not within its scope to cover members of the family in the twentieth century. Complete records are being kept of the various branches of the family in this generation. It might be said, however, to the credit of their ancestors, that the present generation, for the most part, is sound, ambitious, college bred and a credit to the social, business and professional fraternities in the stream of American life.
The following several items in script are from the coffer handed down to the family of the compiler. As will be noted, they are incomplete and in as state of disintegration, but have been plasticized for permanent preservation.