When Eliza Ann Wright Zenger was born on May 3, 1865, in Salt Lake City, Utah, her father, John Prodger Wright, was 27 and her mother, Isabelle Wright (née Wardell), was 16. She married Christian Zenger on September 7, 1883, in Murray, Utah. They had five children in 12 years. She died on February 5, 1944, in Long Beach, California, at the age of 78. (Ancestry.com)
Her father, John, was born in Wrexham, Denbighshire, a town in northern Wales. At age 18, he joined the Mormon church, was disowned by his mother, and traveled to America, arriving at age 19 on March 17, 1857. (Ancestry.com) In 1860, John traveled across the plains with the Warren Walling Pioneer Company. He was a tailor in Murray, Utah.
Her mother, Isabelle, was born in Sunderland, Durham, England. She came to America at the age of eight in 1856. When she was 13 years old, she was part of the William H. Dame Pioneer Company. She married John a few months after his first wife's death and had 14 children together. Isabelle, with eight of her daughters, including Eliza, were photographed and featured in the August 1924 Relief Society magazine.
Census records have Eliza in Salt Lake in 1870 (age 5) and in 1880 (age 15). She is in Graham, Arizona in the 1900 census (age 35), then back in Utah after her husband's passing for 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses. A city directory has her in Long Beach, California in 1935, where she died in 1944. (Ancestry.com)
Christian Zenger
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| Interesting to note the backward "N" on Christian's headstone. |
Christian's mother, Susanna Bruni was born in Bern, Switzerland. She married, Christian H Zenger, also of Bern, in 1852. They had two children during their marriage. Christian H died in 1874. I've not yet found information about when Christian himself arrived in America, but it had to have been prior to 1883 when he married Eliza. Susanna made her way to America by 1894. She died in Salt Lake City in 1902.
Two children were born to Eliza and Christian during their time establishing Meridian, a daughter, Edna May Zenger (1890), and a son, Ismael Wright Zenger (1897). Three children were born prior to the Zenger's arrival in Idaho, the last of which was born in 1887. It must have been a short time after Harry was born that they moved to Idaho.
On Christmas Eve day 1896, the Statesman recorded a land sale from the Zengers to the Methodist Episcopal church for $16. The newspaper also records a series of land sales from the Zengers to several other individuals between 1900 and 1906.
The Zenger's impact in the history of Meridian stems from this article in the August 19th, 1893 Idaho Statesman:
"D.L. Bradly, the well know farmer-blacksmith, informs THE STATESMAN that the town of Hunter has changed its name and will now be known as Meridian, it being located precisely on the Boise meridian. Mr. C.G. Zenger, the proprietor of the new town, came in yesterday and filed the plat with the county recorder. A store is already in operation there, and another is being built. A lodge of Odd Fellows has been organized at that place, and they will erect a commodious hall this fall. Mr. Badley says the wheat crop on Five Mile creek is very good. Grasshoppers consumed the greater part of the second clover crop, but the third crop of alfalfa promises well."
The map below shows the Zenger's land holdings overlayed by today's primary streets. The yellow and blue star is the location of Meridian's city hall.
Eliza's Land Patent:
Good work Robert. I find it interesting that, according to the 1893 Idaho Statesman article, that an Odd Fellows Lodge was established early in Meridian's history. Was the Odd Fellows popular among early Mormons? Is it now?
ReplyDeleteExcellent question Jeff. I don't know the answer to the question about Mormon involvement in Odd Fellows lodges. There weren't a lot of Mormons in those early days of Meridian. If they wanted to attend an LDS church, they would have had to travel to Boise to worship with others. It is more likely that they simply did not attend church services. In my research about homesteaders in the foothills north of Eagle, I've come across several people involved in I.O.O.F., but none were Mormon. Many early Mormons were Freemasons, but not Odd Fellows, at least according to my anecdotal research.
DeletePerhaps Lila Hill can help me clear up something that may have been a generalization or an error. On the official Meridian city website under "Our History", it reads: "The early settlers, many of whom were the Zengers relatives, left their homes in Missouri to come west. They either traveled by wagon or immigrant railroad car, bringing their lodge and church preferences with them. They established local institutions soon after arriving and filed for homestead lands. In other words, they brought their community with them." I've not yet been able to substantiate that any of the Zengers' relatives were in this region of Idaho. Nor did they come from Missouri. Perhaps it was a generalization due to the fact that some Mormon families did live for a time in Missouri, between 1830 and the early 1840's, before they were expelled by mobs and they fled to Nauvoo, Illinois. Mormon pioneers began trekking west from Illinois/Iowa in the winter of 1846-47. There may also have been other groups of early Meridian settlers that come from Missouri. This research project should reveal that information.
ReplyDeleteUpdate from Lila: Robert - the earliest group of Meridian area settlers did come from Putnam County, Missouri. They were not related to the Zengers, who came from Utah. Some of those Missourians were related. This is a misinterpretation & hopefully has been corrected by the city . They were informed of the error several days ago - see "They Came to Build a Community" available in the History Center at city hall. Lila Hill
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