Allen Family History

Life Sketch of Ann Redding

Ann Redding was born 18 November 1819 in Bitterne, South Stoneham, Hampshire, England to James Reading and Mary Chalk. She was the oldest of seven known children, four daughters and three sons. Ann met Thomas Judd and they were married on 31 May 18 41 in South Stoneham, Southampton, Hampshire, England. Thomas Judd and Ann Redding had seven children, George, who was born 12 November 1842, James, who was born 10 December 1844, Charles, who was born 17 March 1847, Henry, who was born 7 March 1849, John, who was born 8 February 1855, Selena, who was born 4 May 1857, and Thomas Frederick, who was born 22 September 1860. The family lived near a brewery and so many of the children began working in the brewery at a young age. George and Ann also taught their children how to till the ground and work the soil of a farm.

In 1847 missionaries from Utah, were in the vicinity of the Judd home teaching the doctrines of a new religion called Mormonism. Thomas tried at first to prove their teachings wrong but it wasn’t long before the missionaries had convinced them of the truthfulness of their doctrine. Thomas and Ann then knew in their hearts that the message of the restored gospel was true, so they were baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in June of 1848. The children were baptized as they came of age by Willet S. Harder.

As new converts to the church, Thomas and Ann were encouraged to try to save enough money for passage to Utah. After saving for fourteen years, they finally had enough money to pay for passage for their entire family. Thomas, Ann, and their family boarded the packet ship Manchester to sail to America. Their oldest son, George, was then eighteen years of age. It was with mixed emotions that they left England, for two members of their family were left behind in a country graveyard, son, Henry, who died at age six, and daughter, Selena, who died at the age of four months.

The ship set sail from Liverpool on the morning of 16 April 1861, carrying amongst its passengers, 379 immigrant converts and returning Mormon missionaries. The voyage was long and dangerous and many hardships were suffered. Ann became ill with milk fever during the voyage. Thomas Frederick was an infant of six months of age at the time and Ann was unable to take care of him. When she recovered from her illness, Ann discovered that her milk was gone and so her little son was fed from a spoon from that time on. The voyage took twenty-eight days and reached harbor in New York on 14 May 1861. They were met and visited there by Apostle Erastus Snow and Thomas Williams.

The family had very little money when they arrived and was forced to remain in New York to earn money to continue the trek west. They stayed for 15 months working and saving money, but then Thomas began to fear that he and his sons would be drafted as soldiers for the Civil War if they stayed in the United States, so they left for Utah as soon as possible. They took part in Henry Miller's ox train and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley October 17, 1862.

They soon settled in a small town called Upton in Summit County and began immediately to build a two-room log home. The home had a dirt roof with straw laid over the dirt. It also boasted a rock fireplace and a few pieces of furniture made by the hands of Thomas.

In 1869, Ann's mother, Mary, then a widow, came to Utah. She sailed from Liverpool on the Minnesota on August 25. She moved in with her daughter and family and stayed there for almost ten years. In her old age, she became blind and would put up lines of string throughout the house and yard in order to walk around alone. Mary passed away in the Judd home April 29, 1878.

Later, the Judds purchased a farm in Hoytsville, Utah, which is almost fifteen miles southwest of Upton near the Weber River. Thomas and his sons built a home there of cottonwood logs chopped from the Weber River bottoms. It had two rooms and a wooden floor. Thomas and Ann remained in Hoytsville for the remainder of their lives. Thomas died there December 15, 1891 at the age of 70 and Ann passed away January 13, 1899.

Ann’s grandchildren remember as “a fussy little lady, always neat and tidy in appearance and in her home as well. She taught these worthy attributes to her children and grandchildren also. She wore her hair in a large roll around her head and tied it with a ribbon on top of her head. She was always very modest; never appearing from her bedroom in the morning until she was fully clothed, including a clean front apron, and her hair combed and tied with the accustomed ribbon.”

On November 7, 1865, Thomas and Ann traveled to Salt Lake City where they received their endowments and were sealed to each other in the Endowment House. Their children were not sealed to them until the Logan temple was completed. on June 9, 1886 the family made a special trip to the Logan Temple where all their children were sealed to them and other ordinance work was done for their family.

Of Thomas and Ann, their great-granddaughters, Ruth West Gregory and Maxine Richins Wright, have said: “We, their descendants are proud and greateful to them for the good name they gave us and the wonderful heritage they left us. Let each one of [us] show our gratitude to them, by living lives of honesty and integrity, and above all, let us be true to the teachings of the gospel plan for which they gave their all, that we might be born to live in this land chosen above all others, America.”

This life sketch of Ann Redding was compiled from a history prepared by Ruth W. Gregory, “Family Histories for Members of the Hawkeswood, Gregory, Poulsen, Felt, West, Judd, and Richins Families.” It can be found on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah: film #1421284, Item 8.