Sarah Jane Perkins Rogerson

I put together a submission for the Women of Faith in the Latter Days vol. 3 using my 2nd Great Grandma, Sarah Jane Perkins Rogerson, but I missed the deadline. So I thought I would put it up here for all to read.

Sarah Jane was the daughter of Jane Benson and John Perkins. Her parents were married in March 1860. Sarah Jane was born January 1861 in Parowan, Utah Territory. She already had two half-brothers, Amos Hyrum Fielding and George Francis Perkins, from her parents’ previous marriages.

Jane Benson was baptized with her family by Heber C. Kimball in 1837 in Wrightington, Lancashire, England. Jane travelled to America with her infant son, Hyrum, where she waited for her husband in St. Louis. While in St. Louis, she learned the Tailoring Trade. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1854.

John Perkins was born in Bath, England, but was baptized in 1855 in Sydney, Australia. His first wife, Mary Conway, who was a criminal from Ireland, and two younger children died of the flu in Tazmania. John and his twelve year old son, George, travelled with other Saints to San Bernadino, California. There, John worked to earn enough money to arrive in the Salt Lake Valley. When John arrived, Heber C. Kimball directed him to go meet Jane Benson in Parowan. Three days after they met they were married.

Sarah Jane was born in the old fort at Parowan and was educated in the public schools of that time. She had two sisters, Phoebe and Eva, however Eva died at three years old. Her father died when she was nine years old. She, her mother, and sister, Phoebe, went to live with several relatives at various times to earn money, but did go back to Parowan. Sarah Jane received her Patriarchal Blessing in 1875.

In 1879, a large company was called to settle San Juan County. Her brother, Hyrum Fielding, and his family were among those called. This company built its own road from Escalante to the Colorado River, the famous "Hole in the Rock". At 18 years old, Sarah Jane married the 32 years old John Edward Rogerson on 23 October 1879 in Beaver the day their company left for San Juan County. For five years after they were married they lived in Parowan Canyon, Panguitch Lake, Bluff City, and eventually Mancos, Colorado where her mother, sister, and brother Hyrum settled with their families. They milked cows, made cheese and John worked at saw mills hauling and chopping logs and cutting shingles. John and Sarah Jane had one daughter and four sons. While in Mancos, they built a log cabin and Sarah Jane taught school. They were very happy being around family.

Just after Christmas 1887, they got word from President Hammond that they were called to settle Monticello. Sarah Jane wrote in her journal that she did not want to move to Monticello and cried for three days after they arrived in July 1888. She did not want to live in “a country full of Indians, cowboys, and where the howl of the wild coyote smote the ear at any time and all times.” She wrote, “I confess that my soul was tried, but I had been taught to obey the servants of the Lord, and I said to my husband, ‘I am willing and ready to go.’ I felt the sacrifice was almost greater than I could bear, but I had faith that the Lord would help me and He has.”  Sarah Jane “could not sleep nor eat, but just sit and looked toward the Mancos where my mother was living. I suffered in the agony of my soul. I prayed and my husband prayed that I would have peace of mind, and that my heart would turn to Monticello and that I would love it here.

We prayed many times in those three days and nights, and in the end, peace came to my soul. Our prayers were answered. My heart went out to Monticello and I have loved it and that love has stayed with me up to the present time, after 42 years. I have loved my new home here and I have ever been loyal to Monticello and her up building.”

Monticello was laid out in blocks and the fields were laid out in five acre plots. The men all drew tickets for their town lots and field plots. John drew lots one and two, and block 13, and the land just north of the grave yard. John planted wheat, potatoes, and beans. The grain grew fine, but the prairie dogs ate it all up. Sarah Jane had the first school in their home with nine students; her three children, the three Jones children, and the three Hyde children. After a couple of years the school was moved to the old log church with up to 30 students.

John became the first Monticello Sunday School Superintendent. Sarah Jane had callings in Primary, Relief Society, and Y.L.M.I.A. Sarah Jane was elected as Deputy County Clerk of San Juan County in the autumn of 1900, around the time her mother died. She was elected to several offices at the city and county level on the Republican ticket and the Democratic ticket, and twice she was on both tickets. During her time in office, her sons Ed and Lynn, each filled a mission for the Church. John, Sarah Jane, and their daughter, Madora LaVerna, attended the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple. [I saw a ticket at my Grandpa Jensen’s house the week before he died.]

In her journal she writes, “If I wrote the whole story of my life I would have to write the history of Monticello. It would make my story too long so I am compelled to pass over many, many parts that bring back memories of sorrow and happiness.

My memory is full of times when our dances would be broken up by the cowboys and they would ride thru the streets, shooting and carousing. I have passed through harrowing times. I was at the dance the night Sister Walton was killed and a cowboy was lying dead in front of the dance hall, killed by his friends, but I must forebear and go on with my story.”

John died at the age of 80 years on June 22, 1928 (click here to see a picture of John and Sarah Jane in their old age). After John died, Sarah Jane lived with her children at various times. In the fall of 1930, she went to the Manti Temple with her daughter’s family and worked there for a week. Sarah Jane died on 3 May 1936 in Monticello, San Juan, Utah. She has numerous descendants.