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From: Sheila Gibson <>
Subject: WARDLE THOMPSON MERKLEY
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 18:00:03 -0800 (PST)

I have long been curious to know the stories of my great grandparents, Edwin Ralph WARDLE & Elizabeth (Betsy or Betcy) Orinda THOMPSON. They were born one day apart, both in Wyoming, both enroute to Utah. Doesn't that just stir your curiosity? Did these two pregnant pioneer women (Fanny RUSHTON & Elizabeth UNKNOWN) know each other? Were they in the same pioneer company? Betsy Orinda's mother died while giving birth to her, which adds to my interest in this drama. I think the wife of one of the future Mormon prophets (Wilford WOODRUFF?), took baby Betsy & cared for her for a year or two. Then she was given to the Christopher MERKLEY family. She was endowed in an LDS temple as Mary Louisa MERKLEY yet all of the family records I can find show my great grandmother as Elizabeth Orinda THOMPSON. If her adopted name was now Mary Louisa MERKLEY, why was she known by my SHELTONS by her blood (THOMPSON) name? If she grew up around the same folks she knew as an adult, it seem!
s this
might have been confusing. My grandmother, Fannie Adelia WARDLE, has mentioned several times that her mother (Betsy Orinda) was in poor health, was "bedfast". Grandma SHELTON said she cared for her mother since she, herself, was a child. I look forward to hearing from anyone who can help with this. Thanks! Sheila Gibson





~~Sheila Gibson~~
www.sheilagibson.org
"Youll never once get a tinge of regret
For being a little too kind." Ezra Taft Benson

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• WARDLE THOMPSON MERKLEY by Sheila Gibson <>