Francis Thomas Romeril
Francis was born 31 July, 1829, at St. John, Jersey, Channel Islands, England. There is some
discussion on his birth date, whether or not it was 1828, or 30, instead of 29. He was the oldest
son of the Francis Romeril family.
Not much is said about his childhood. He surely helped out with the family chores, which would
have included fishing and gathering seaweed. The family moved to Trinity when he was a young
teenager, then to Gory, which was one of the main fishing spots for the residents of Jersey.
Francis (he was known as Frank in later years) lived on his own in the 1850’s doing jobs around
the small village of Gory and city of Grouville. He was baptized into the LDS Church 17 Jan.
1853 by elder Phillip De Le Mare, and confirmed by the same.
At the age of 22, Frank decided to head out on his own for America. His younger brother was
already in St. Louis, Missouri. The ship Clara Wheeler had 422 passengers on board when it left
24 Nov. 1854 under the direction of elder Henry Phillips. The ship however was forced to return
to port November 30 due to bad weather.
The ship finally set sail from Liverpool, England, 7 Dec. Soon after leaving the port measles
broke out on the ship and 21 children and two adults died. The Clara Wheeler landed in New
Orleans 11 Jan. 1855. The group went by boat to St. Louis. Frank and the other passengers would
have to spend the winter in the city because wagon trains could not travel to Utah Territory until
Spring.
Since Frank’s brother George was in St. Louis it would seem that he stayed at his brother’s
house, or at least nearby. It would have been a nice reunion for the two. George was married at
the time and had one child. His child would die sometime after her birth, though we are not told
of the circumstances.
On 10 May, 1855 those in St. Louis who were heading to Utah left for Mormon Grove, outfitting
themselves with wagons and supplies. It is believed that Frank traveled with the John Hindley
Company which departed 7 June with 206 individuals and 46 wagons. They arrived in the Great
Salt Lake Valley on September 3rd.
Once in the valley Frank’s immediate need was to find housing for him and his family who
would be traveling about a month and one half behind him on the plains. The Romeril family
arrived in Salt Lake around Oct. 29. They, along with Frank lived in the 7th Ward area of Salt
Lake City. The family included Francis, Mary, Frank, Jane, Fanny, Abe, and Sophia.
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During the summer of 1857 the residents of Salt Lake and Ogden areas were told to move down
south, because of the advancement of the United States military. The family went to Lehi until
the crisis was over. They then moved to Bingham’s Fort, where they settled next to Francis
Romeril’s step sister, Mary LeMarguard Langlois.
Shortly after Frank arrived at Bingham’s Fort he moved to the Weber River Valley. This area is
located about 24th street in Ogden, Utah.
June 1, 1867, Frank Romrell, (he changed his name) married Harriett Batchelor. She was born 18
Aup. 1843, Brixton, England, d. 14 Oct. 1892. She is buried in the Ogden Cemetery next to her
brother. Her parents are Edward Batchelor and Caroline Pullen.
Frank’s neighbors at the Weber River area were Gilbert Belnap and family. They would be
friends to the Romrell family for rest of their lives, and would play a part in many of the
Romrells being able to buy land from the Belnaps and settle in Northern Idaho.
In 1880 Frank is living in Slaterville with Harriet. He was a blacksmith by trade. They lived in
the 4th Ward. There is a curious occurrence in 1873. Harriet filed for divorce from Frank
Romrell. I guess things must have changed for a while, because they were still together in 1880.
Harriet must have left Frank shortly after 1880 because he married Johanna Christine Anderson
sometime in 1881-2. Johanna (she went by Christine) was b. 21 Jul. 1844, Torup, Halland,
Sweden, d. 23 Feb. 1931. She is buried in Ogden Cemetery.
Frank and Christine had one child, Francis Joseph Romrell, b. 16 Aug. 1883, d. 29 Apr. 1955,
buried in Ogden. There is some question about the birth date. The tombstone says 1881, but the
WWI registration and death certificate says 1883. He was medium height, medium build, brown
eyes, hair, dark.
Frank spent the rest of his life on a small farm in Slaterville. His wife Christine could speak only
a little English. He died at his farm 11 March, 1903. Patience Romrell, Frank’s sister in law,
noted in a letter to her step daughter, Sarah Marshall, that Frank died all of a sudden. She says,
“Your uncle Frank is dead. He died 11 Mar. was seventy three years, and eight months. He died
very sudden, killed a pig the day before and Wednesday morning died at four o’clock.”
Frank is buried in the Ogden Cemetery, next to Christine at annex 23-11-4Eand 5E. There is no
head stone or marker on the grave.
Joseph Romrell (did not use Francis as name) lived in Ogden at 527 Cook street, with his mother
until he was married. He married Margaret Edwina Montogmery 11 May 1933, Randolph, Utah.
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She was born 16 Apr. 1885, d. 21 Feb. 1959. She is buried next to Joseph in the annex, just west
of Frank and Christine. There is no death date on the head stone.
Margaret was married before she was married to Joseph. David Geertsen was her first husband in
1908. She lived in Wyoming and had several children. In 1940 Joseph and Margaret are still
living on Cook street in Ogden.
We have no photos of Frank, Christine, Harriett, of Joseph Romrell. There is one photo of
Margaret.
References:
Census’ Jersey, 1841, 1851, Utah 1856, Ogden, 1870, 1880, 1900.
LDS Pedigree file for Margaret Montgomery.
Ancestry.com, divorce court filing Weber County, 1873.
Immigration File LDS CD.
Letter from Patience Swingewood Romrell to Sarah Romrell Marshall, dated 1903.
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