Gracia and Ivor Jones-Liaison Committee to the Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Foundation September 21, 1999 report on trip to Montana-A DESCENDANT SEARCH…
When Ivor retired August 1, we were at last free to begin our journey to find and get acquainted with our relatives who are scattered all over the United States,
Canada, Mexico, and the world. Traveling with Dean and Jaynann Payne in their beautiful 32 foot motor home, we left Provo, Utah, on August 25th. In 27 days we have covered 2500 miles. We took I-15, north from Utah into Montana, visiting family from Butte to Kalispell, then skirted Glacier National Park on Highway 2, went to Cardston and Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. We visited families in the great wheat country in Eastern Montana, we stopped briefly in Great Falls to see the C.M. Russell museum, visited the Bighorn Battlefield. We visited friends on a cattle ranch, and old friends in Billings, Montana.
We have visited in the homes of 24 families, all descendants of of Alexander Hale Smith, 2 families of Hyrum s descendants. At meetings and firesides, we met 8 more descendants of Hyrum, and 3 families who are descendants of Samuel. We regret that due to timing and circumstances beyond our control we missed 5 families,
within the area we traveled. We hope to visit them at a later date. Wherever we went we found the families warm and welcoming, eager to share their homes and lives with us. They fed us too well! We brought our Dutch-ovens with us, and at several homes were able to treat our hosts and relatives to a real Dixie feast. (Gracia and Ivor are from Utah’s Dixie – ed. Note)
We have found that there is a very real need for strengthening the bonds and ties of the family. We have encouraged developing grandfather organizations
and holding family get-togethers. This has struck a chord everywhere we went. Plans have already begun for such events to be held in the coming year. We can
add several new names and addresses to the Foundation database.
We received the unexpected bonus of being given copies of precious old pictures to add to the collection we already have. We also obtained copies of some personal
writings of family members who have passed on; we gathered some taped stories and took a lot of photos everywhere we went. We were able to present one dear young cousin with a photo of her grandfather as a young man–one she had never seen before. We were also able to bring several cousins together who had not met each
other before, and united others who had met years ago, but had not seen each other in many years. They had not known, until we arrived, that they lived within twenty miles of each other.
This first trip has confirmed our feelings that this is a worthwhile endeavor. Our plans include a return trip to Montana in early October, then we will head for
Washington, Oregon, and California. Winter will find us in Arizona, and Utah. We have word that Bill Wright, a cousin from Australia, is coming at New Years. Later in the Spring we expect to visit Australia. In future trips we plan to go to Texas, New Mexico, then to the mid-west, etc. There are family members in nearly every state of the Union, and Mexico. In due time we hope to visit as many
of the family as we can find.
Our hope is to hold some get-togethers in various locations where clusters of the extended family reside. Anyone interested in helping host or just participating in
such events, please let us know. Write to: Gracia and Ivor Jones, 557 E. 400 S. St. George, UT 84770, or e-mail us at ivorandgracia@gmail.com.