Joseph Asay (1823 - 1879)

Born 17 Feb 1823 in Wrightstown, Burlington, New Jersey

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah Ann (Pedrick) Asay — married 17 Jul 1841 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

Descendants

Died 3 Oct 1879 at age 56 in Mount Carmel, Kane, Utah Territory, USA

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Joseph was born 19 July 1823 in Wrightstown, NJ,^[1] the fourth child of Isaac and Phoebe Johnson. He grew up on the family farm.

At the age of 18, he met Sarah Ann Pedrick, 5 years his senior. Joseph’s parents objected to the relationship because of his youth and didn’t think he was mature enough to take on the responsibility of marriage and family. The young lovers thought otherwise, so ran away to the city of Philadelphia, where they were married 17 July 1841,^[2] and their first child, William was born.^[3]

The family moved to Trenton, NJ where Joseph is reputed to have invested in a manufacturing business in which he prospered. They remained there until Amos, their eleventh and last child was born. Joseph and Sarah Ann then joined the Mormon Church, and soon struck out for Utah. Family lore maintains that the family arrived in Salt Lake City on Sept 14, 1860. After a while they moved south of town along the Jordan River and established a farm.^[3]

In 1867 they joined about 100 families moving south to a settlement established by Anson Call along the "Muddy" a tributary of the Colorado River (now part of Nevada). Among them ‘Joseph Asay and three sons. According to Parmer Asay, Sarah Ann remained in Salt Lake City, working with Dr. Anderson, and taking a course in mid-wifery which would be needed in the frontier settlements. It is thought she joined the others a year or two later. Nearly three difficult years, the family moved to Mt. Carmel in Utah. Joseph had a ranch on what is now Asay Creek.^[3]

Joseph died on 3 OCT 1879 in Mt. Carmel^[4] and is buried with Sarah Ann in the cemetery there.

Sources

1. ↑ "Utah Death Certificates, 1904-1964", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZL1-QQT : 11 September 2015)
2. ↑ Pioneer Immigrants to Utah Territory [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Asay, Flossie W., "The Descendants of Joseph and Sarah Ann Asay."
4. ↑ Find-a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19083669

• 1850 United States Federal Census
• 1870 United States Federal Census