PAMELO WISHAW
Pamelo was born April 14, 1841, at Worcester, Worcester, England. Her father was James Frederick Wishaw and her mother Maryann Merrick. By 1843 the family was living in Birmingham. Pamelo was christened 27 January 1845 at St. Martin's Parish, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England. James Wishaw was a fishmonger in Birmingham. Pamelo had younger siblings: Frederick, Susannah, and James. Her father died when she was six years old. The family moved in with Maryann’s parents, James Meyrick and Elizabeth Bumford Meyrick, in Ludlow, Shropshire. In Ludlow, the family met Mormon elders, and were baptized in the River Teme in 1849. When Pamelo was twelve years old, her mother died of dysentery. Pamelo’s grandparents raised the orphaned children.
When
Pamelo was fourteen years old, the Meyricks and the orphaned Wishaw children
came to America. Pamelo was fourteen, Susannah
ten, and James
seven years of age. They crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the ship Sanders
Curling and arrived in New York, May 22, 1855.
The
ship’s passenger list shows:
James
Meyrick, Age 57, laborer, Origin:
Ludlow
Elizabeth
Meyrick, 56, wife, Ludlow
George
Meyrick, 18, laborer, Ludlow
Pomelo
W. Meyrick, 14, spinster,Ludlow
Susannah
Meyrick, 10, Ludlow
James
Meyrick, 7, Ludlow
Address
of the family, April 1, 1855, as recorded on the ship register was:
James
Merrick, Ludlow, Shropshire, England.
From
the Millennial Star: “On the twenty-second of April, 1855, the ship, Samuel
Curling, sailed from Liverpool with five hundred and eighty-one Saints
on board, of whom three hundred and eighty-five were Perpetual Emigration
Fund emigrants, all under the presidency of Elder Israel Barlow, who had
acted as pastor of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Conferences. William
Willis, on his return form a mission to India, and other prominent elders
embarked on the on the Samuel Curling, which, after a safe and pleasant
passage, arrived in New York on Tuesday, the twenty-second on May. During
the voyage three children were born, and as there were no deaths on board
the net increase was that number. Elder Peter Reid, who emigrated to America
as a passenger in the Samuel Curling, in 1855, and who now resides in Sixteenth
Ward, Salt Lake City, told the writer some time ago that the ship encountered
several storms in her passage across the Atlantic, but that she passed
safely through them all. In the midst of one of these storms the captain
got somewhat disheartened, and declared to Brother Barlow, the president
of the company of emigrants, that he, in his long experience as a seafaring
man, had never encountered a worse one; he then added that the tempest
had not reached its highest point yet, but that the next half hour would
be worse still. Brother Barlow, in reply, told the captain that the storm
was nearly over, and would not increase in violence. This bold remark of
Brother Barlow made the captain angry, as he thought he knew more about
the weather and the sea than anyone else on board; but on going into his
cabin to examine his barometer and other nautical instruments, he found
that Brother Barlow was right; the storm abated almost immediately. Elder
Barlow afterwards told some of the Saints that while the storm was raging
he saw the ship surrounded by scores of angels, who stood in a circle around
it with joined hands. This was a testimony to the Saints that the Lord
was watching over the ship, and that there was no danger. Most of the passengers
left New York en route for the Valley on the twenty-fourth, going by steamboat
via Amboy to Philadelphia, where the emigrants were placed on the railway
train, and left Philadelphia on Friday the 25th, about noon,
arriving in Pittsburg on the morning of the twenty-seventh (Sunday). The
same day the P.E. Fund emigrants of the Samuel Curling joined the like
passengers who had crossed the Atlantic in the Chimborazo, and on the steamship
Amazon they continued the journey to St. Louis, whence they proceeded to
Atchison, Kansas.” (Millennial Star, Vol XVII, pp. 280, 397, 399, 423,
459, 461, 490)
They
then traveled across the plains with the Captain Milo Andrus
Company, which arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley on October 24, 1855.
Members
of the Milo Andrus Company:
James
Merrick
Elizabeth
Ann Merrick
Pamelo
Wishaw
Susan
Wishaw
James
Wishaw
The
trip was difficult for Pamelo. Her uncle, John Meyrick describes her arrival
in the Salt Lake Valley: “Pemlow has been very sick of the mountain fever.
Most of the hair has come out of her head.”
John Meyrick had settled in the Pleasant Grove area. The family traveled there, and moved into the house he had built. Here she met Samuel Green, and they were married August 28, 1858. They had sixteen children.
Pamelo
is described in the History of the William Henry Green Family: “Pamelo
Wishaw Green was fairly short and had a round face. Her eyes were deep
set and her hair was dark. In dress she was neat and clean; but it was
the gaiety of her spirit and the generosity of her nature that is remembered.
Pamelo was a faithful church member. It was her practice for many years
to see to it that flowers from her beautiful garden were taken to the chapel
each Sunday morning to help create a spiritual atmosphere.”
In
Timpangos
Town,Howard R. Driggs wrote
of her, "In a certain town lived a helpful lady whom everyone called Aunt
Pamelo. Every Sunday she would bring a beautiful home-grown bouquet to
place on the stand at church. Whenever there was a wedding or a funeral,
she expressed her heart through flowers. At one time the Superintendent
of the Sunday School expressed appreciation for her gift to help cheer
the day. He said, "Aunt Pamelo, how can you grow such beautiful flowers
all year?" "Oh, I just love flowers," she replied, "And I think they love
me."
Samuel
and Pamelo built a two-story soft rock home which still stands. She planted
her beautiful flowers around her home. She was also a good cook, and made
“gooseberry pies which her children remembered into their adulthood. Stewed
tomatoes heated with morsels of bread, and diced onions in bread and milk
are dishes she made and ones still served on the tables of her descendants.”(The
History of the William Henry Green Family)
Pamelo
Wishaw Green suffered from asthma: “For many years she slept propped up
by pillows and was ever seeking relief through the patent medicines the
traveling drug salesmen brought to town. She died of the ailment at 9:00
a.m. on January 10, 1907, at 65 years of age.” (The History of the William
Henry Green Family) Pamelo Wishaw Green was buried in the Pleasant
Grove Cemetery.
The
Deseret Evening News, Saturday, January 12, 1907, carried this item:
DEATH
OF MRS. SAMUEL GREEN
Tuesday,
Mrs. Samuel Green, wife of Samuel Green, died at her residence here. She
was the daughter of James and Maryann Wishaw, born in Birmingham, England,
April 14, 1841. She embraced the gospel in her youth and came to Utah in
1856. She married Samuel Green, August 28, 1858, and was the mother of
fifteen children, nine boys and six girls; eight survive.
For
many years she was a member of the ward choir and was an active worker
in the Relief Society, Sunday School, and Primary until her health failed
her.
She
had endured the privations of the early settlers, and was always found
on the right side, doing good. She leaves a large number of grandchildren
and a host of relatives and friends.
If you have additional information about this family,
please contact me at alice@boydhouse.com.