I am named after my great great grandfather, Jonathan Heaton. When my parents were naming me, they went through the family tree to see if there were any names they liked, and they settled on Jonathan, which is much better than some of the other options. My namesake (or am I his namesake? Or does it go both ways?) is the one on the right below. He looks a little fierce. Please notice how naturally his daughter places her hand on his shoulder. The familial warmth and affection is so tangible. I'm not sure why she's so hesitant, he seems friendly enough. The lady sitting next to him is one of his wives.
Yes, he had two. I figure that between the two of us, we even each other out. Maybe he was planning ahead for potentially homosexual progeny who wouldn't take a wife. Maybe that's the explanation for polygamy; our ancestors were trying to overcompensate for all these gays that they somehow knew would be cropping up, refusing to play along and marry a woman. He also had lots and lots of sons (pictured below).
Above is the whole brood gathered together for a family picture. I kind of love what they chose as their backdrop. They lived in Moccasin, Arizona, and judging by the location of Moccasin (see the Google map below), there probably wasn't much else to choose for a backdrop. If you zoom out, you'll notice that other than the city of Kaibab, the nearest city is Colorado City, of FLDS fame.
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As I was reading up on Jonathan and his wives, I thought I had discovered a dirty family secret. One website said that his first wife, Clarissa, was born in 1880. The church manifesto that banned the continuation of plural marriages (kind of) was in 1890, which would mean that either Jonathan was a post-manifesto polygamist or he married a 10 year old. As it turns out, the website with the 1880 birth date was off by 20 years. Clarissa was actually born in 1860. I just double checked when the two were married though, and it was was 1875. She was 15 and Jonathan was 18. I suppose by today's standards that could qualify as a dirty family secret. Or a reality show on MTV.
I have to admit though, part of me is a little bit disappointed to discover that my namesake wasn't actually a rogue, post-manifesto polygamist. Sometimes family does a really good job of disappointing us, don't they?
"We even each other out." Best comment ever.
ReplyDeleteReally charming story. And I agree with Ansley: "We even each other out" = Best comment ever.
ReplyDeleteActually, I seriously do wonder about this historically...
ReplyDeleteMormonism was one of the few 19th century faiths that had a 1:1 sex ratio. So, yes, actually, every plural wife more or less meant a Mormon man who couldn't marry. Based on available statistics, that's about 20% of 19th century Mormon men.
I think I see a bit of a family resemblance here. Though you are more handsome, and you have a nicer smile!
Thank you John. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting about the sex ratio. So were there also a bunch of Mormon spinster bachelors? It seems like that many men not being able to marry because other men had snatched up all the women would create some issues. Or maybe a bunch of that 20% were gay and so they didn't really care?
:) Great post, I have an aunt and uncle who are serving a mission in Kaibab. :) I loved the family picture too. I rather like the "vegetation", very interesting looking.
ReplyDeleteCool post Jon. Ditto Ansley and Holly regarding the "We even each other out" statement. And I agree with John that you have a much nicer smile than your polygamist ancestor.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was seven or eight years old, I drove through Kaibab (and many other small towns) with my family on a long road trip we took through Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. At the time, we lived in Snowflake, AZ, another Mormon colonial town. So here's a shout-out for all those small Mormon settlements, a lot of which have about the same population that they did back when they were founded. Contact me privately if you want stories about Snowflake.
And yes, we stopped at Four Corners on that big trip. In case you were wondering, Five Corners on The Simpsons is WAY cooler than the real Four Corners.
If I were to do another major historical research project, it seriously would be on the bachelor Mormons who were edged out of the opportunity for celestial marriage by their polygamous peers. I actually do wonder if a significant percentage of them might have been gay.
ReplyDeletenow you've got me thinking about our ancestors and what they thought about their lives. and now i'm just wondering what sammy's namesake
ReplyDelete(grandpa officer) thinks of him...and his rat's tail.....
I just figured out why the bell in my head is ringing. I knew a Jonathan Heaton in one of my BYU wards. Not a cousin of yours, is he?
ReplyDeleteSorry your ancestor wasn't a rogue polygamist. I won't judge if you still want to tell people that he was. :)
If he is a cousin, he's a distant one. Distant enough not to know him, anyway.
ReplyDeletePablo, sounds like you guys had some pretty magical family vacations growing up. :)
Becca, does your son have a rat tail?
i just love this story! And the pic's, the pic's! "...even each other out". :)
ReplyDeleteFunny guy! Such a good post. Glad to learn about your namesake. My namesake has hot pink hair and weighs 300 lbs, we kind of even each other out too.
ReplyDeleteHey Jonathan, I'm also a grandson of good ol' Grandpa Heaton. I'm from the Carroll wife. I grew up 30 minutes from Moccasin in a town called Fredonia. It's actually closer to Moccasin than Colorado City or Kaibab (too small to show up on maps I guess!)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post! I was actually investigating whether he was a post manifesto polygamist. I have another grandfather who was at Mt Meadows Massacre but claimed he didn't personally kill anyone. Crazy ancestors.