BIOGRAPHY OF JANE PAYNE PARRY
Very little is known about Jane Payne, the first wife of Joseph Parry. In Joseph's journal it gives 1 Sep 1848 as their marriage date but a copy of the Marriage Certificate obtained from Somerset House in England shows 29 August 1848 as the marriage date which took place in Liverpool, Lancaster, England. She was a daughter of James Payne, a chairmaker. Her birthdate is not known but on the passenger list when she came to America she was listed as twenty-four (24) years of age. Jane was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter?day Saints 2 January 1842 in the Liverpool Branch.
At the time of the marriag they didn't have enough money for both of them to emigrate to the United States so they agreed that Joseph would come first and send for her as soon as he could earn enough money for her passage. He left on the 7th of September 1848 on the ship Erins Queen and arrived in New Orleans 29 October 1848. He obtained work the next day and shortly after sent money to his wife so she could join him in America. Remember she was a bride of just eight days when she and her husband were separated.
It was 29 January 1849 that Jane sailed from Liverpool on the ship Zetland with 358 saints aboard. Elder Orson Spencer was in charge of the company. The company arrived in New Orleans on 2 April 1849.
It was on the 7th of April that Jane was stricken with Asiatic Cholera and she passed away 19 April 1849 as did thousands of others that year.
On the day Jane passed away Joseph?s uncle John Parry and his wife and his cousin Caleb arrived at New Orleans. They just passed through for they had to go with the rest of the company who were on their way to Utah. Joseph was left alone with no loved ones to help him in his time of sorrow. Joseph mentioned in his diary that this was the saddest day of his life (see 2nd part of diary).
In a few days after the death of his wife Joseph sailed up the Mississippi River in a steam boat for St. Louis. During the seven days to get there they had thirty?seven (37) deaths from cholera, making an average of five per day. This was a terrible sight to see. The boat would stop and the hands would dig a trench and place the corpses side by side and hurriedly cover them up. No marker was left to show the resting place of the dead.
On the 24th of February 1868 Joseph's wife Olive Ann acted proxy for Jane in obtaining her Second Annointing. At this writing (1979) we have not been successful in learning just what this means. It is felt that Joseph would have had Jane sealed to him before he passed away but there is no record of It. Joseph and Jane were sealed for time and all eternity in the Ogden Temple on the 30th of October 1975. (Check diary for complete information.)
Compiled by Elizabeth F. Braithwaite (1979). Information taken from Joseph Parry Journal, Liverpool Branch, Marriage Certificate.
Last updated: June 27, 2002
