The Utter Family: William Utter to William Utter

Sumitted to Inyo County GenWeb by Bill and Lillian Utter.

 

 

This the story of WILLIAM UTTER and AMELIA F. HUBBARD UTTER and their descendants. Some of the information is not complete but in time I hope to be able finish the story. William is reported to have come from Newark, Essex Co, New Jersey. He was born sometime in 1814. He may have been a shoemaker and farmer during his life time. William decided to leave New Jersey and travel to Illinois. Sometime around October 10, 1838 at the age of 24 years, he decides to marry Amelia F. Hubbard somewhere in Clark Co., Illinois. Amelia was born around November 11, 1806 in Cincinnati, Hamilton Co, Ohio. She was 32 years old. Possibly she had been married before and the last name Hubbard was from her first husband. Soon after their marriage a daughter was born in 1838 (possibly in Terre Haute, Vigo Co., Indiana.) Her name at this time is unknown. November 14, 1839 and still in Terre Haute, Indiana a son is born. They named him HENRY H. UTTER. In 1841, they decide to move back to Clark Co., Illinois, where on November 3, 1841 they had their third child that they named Joseph Ransom Utter. Then , (still in Illinois), sometime in 1843 they had Hannah Utter. Not much is known about her. Now a couple of years passed and on Christmas day, 1845 twin girls were born. They were named Mary Ann and Amanda Maria Utter. William decided to leave Illinois and move to Warren Co., Ohio. Here, another girl child was born and they named her Caroline H. Utter. From this point on, I don't know how long they stayed in Ohio. In any event they decided to make another move and in 1860 they are in Spring Valley Township, Dallas Co., Iowa (according to the 1860 census record). William was listed as a farmer with real estate valued at 1200 dollars and personal value of 300 dollars. William was now 45 years old and Amelia 55. HENRY H. UTTER now 20 years old and with a personal value of 20 dollars, and having the skill of being a farmer, falls in love with a neighbor named SARAH ELLEN EMBREE . She was only 19 years old and had a trade of being a tailor. She was born in Indiana, February 20,1840. Both her father Amos Embree and her mother Elizabeth F. Shepherd Embree consented to a marriage. So on July 4th, 1860 HENRY and SARAH were married. HENRY moved with his new bride to Redfield, Dallas Co., Iowa. Here a son is born on November 25, 1861. They named him WILLIAM RANSOME UTTER. I'm not sure but sometime during this period of time HENRY may have served as a Union Soldier in the Civil War. He may have been gone for a short time and returned home for awhile. On January 16, 1863 they had a girl and the called her Flora May Utter. He may have returned to the war because their next son James H. Utter wasn't born until May 6 ,1865. Still living in Dallas Co., on June 12, 1867, Frances E. Utter is born. HENRY now moves his family to a little coal mining town called Angus, Greene Co., Iowa. Here they are reported to have had a butcher shop and a couple of ranches. Also it is here Adron S. Utter is born on November 7, 1869. Then on December 22, 1871, Robert Ezekiel Utter came into the family. The Utter family remained in Angus for several years. During that time they had the following children, Charles H. Utter, born January 18, 1874 but lived only 10 days and died on January 28, 1874, Susan Elizabeth Utter, born February 11, 1875, Mary Comfort Utter, born March 1, 1877, Joseph Walter Utter, born August 29, 1879, John Chester Utter, born January 28, 1882, Sarah Ellen Utter, born August 11, 1884 (she was born blind and only lived to be 20 years old), and the last but not least child was Iva Nora Utter, born July 7, 1887.

 

We now return to WILLIAM RANSOME UTTER, first born son of Henry and Sarah, who was now 30 years old on July 7, 1891 when he decided to marry LILLIE JANE CRAMER. It is possible that while on a business trip to Chicago, Illinois to buy cattle for the ranch and meat market, he met Lillie Jane. She was born in Peoria, Illinois August 27, 1864. She was 27 years old at the time of marriage. They took their wedding vows in Dawson, Dallas Co., Iowa. The Utters may have been on the move at this time because of the problems that were going on with the coal miners in Angus. They gave the miners credit for the food they bought but because of the trouble many of the miners could not pay their bills. The Utters must have seen the hand writing on the wall and decided to take their losses and relocate to Dawson. Here their first son, William Edison Utter, came along on March 17, 1893. for the next 7 years they must have been content living in the Dawson area. They were ranchers and farmers and probably had a very good life. It has been said that Lillie loved to dance and entertain and even in later life she was known to turn the victrola on and dance with the grand children. As the new century approached we find Henry traveling, probably by train, to California. He makes several stops in Banning, Redlands and finally in Big Pine. He probably was scouting new land for the family and by 1900 we find WILLIAM, LILLIE and their son William E. relocated in Big Pine, Inyo Co., California. Then on February of 1900 their second son , Elmer Ray Utter, was born. I was told that he ate too many green apples that caused swelling in his stomach. Doctors and hospitals were not handy at that time and he died. He only lived to be 5 years old and is buried in the Big Pine cemetery. A year later after Elmer's birth a third son, LEONARD JENNINGS UTTER , was born on February 27 1901 in a place near Big Pine called Fish Springs. There may have been problems in the marriage of William and Lillie, as to the fact they lived apart from one another during this time and much of the rest of their lives. I believe that they divorced but still continued to see each other from time to time. Here in Big Pine, we find other Iowa members of the family, like Robert Ezekiel Utter, Mary Comfort Utter, Joseph Walter Utter, John Chester Utter and Sarah Ellen Utter, joining Henry Utter and his wife Sarah along with William R. and Lillie Jane. They worked the land as they did in Iowa. Here they also took advantage of the Sierra Nevada Mountains where they hunted for deer and bear and fished for trout in the cold clear streams of Bishop and Big Pine. They had their good times and their bad times. Sarah Ellen at the age of 20 passed away and was buried in the Big Pine cemetery on January 28, 1904. Time continued to pass and William's third son, LEONARD JENNING UTTER fell in love with ALICE LUCY BAGLEY. She was born in Kirby, Josephine Co., Oregon on July 29, 1901.They decided to marry on December 10, 1919. They may have moved into the abandoned railway depot just outside the town of Big Pine. Later they moved to a piece of land where they ranched and farmed. February 18, 1921 LEONARD RANSOME UTTER was their first son to be born. Then 4 years later Roy Gorden Utter comes into the family on April 12, 1924. Both sons enjoy playing and using their imaginations around the farm. They would make wooden airplanes and get in them and try to fly them off the house's roof. During the hot summer time down in the valley the family would set up camp on Big Pine creek 12 miles up the mountain where it was cooler. Here they would fish, hike the trails and enjoy the beautiful scenery. LEONARD JENNINGS helped work on the aqueduct that was to bring water into the Los Angeles area. As the great depression was coming disaster hit the Utters. The banker in Bishop had left town with all their savings. Times were hard so they sold their land and moved the family to the big city of Los Angeles sometime in 1928. In a small town and part of the LA area called Hawthorne is where the made their new start. Land was cheap so Leonard bought a couple of lots. Now a third son, Richard Neil Utter was born on January 28, 1929. WILLIAM RANSOME UTTER was also reported living with the family at this time too. He was now 68 years old. He always tended the garden that was in the empty lot next to the house. He passed away on December 24, 1947 and is burried in the Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California. LILLIE JANE had moved to Rialto, San Bernardino Co., California and lived by herself until June 16, 1942 when she passed away and was buried there in Rialto in the Rialto Park Cemetery. Henry Utter in 1929 was now at the ripe old age of 90 years. He was still in the Big Pine area until June 12, 1931 when he passed away and was buried in the Big Pine cemetery along with his wife Sarah Ellen who has gone on ahead of him on May 6, 1925. She was 85 years old. The LA Utters made several trips back to the Big pine area to enjoy the hunting and fishing in the High Sierra country. The three boys attended school in Hawthorne, California and graduated from Leuzinger High School at the appropriate times in their lives. It was right after high school when LEONARD RANSOME UTTER met and fell in love with an Inglewood girl, BEULAH GENEVIEVE ARMSTRONG. She was born April 28, 1920 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California. They ran off to Yuma , Yuma Co., Arizona to get married. Then a year later WILLIAM LEONARD UTTER was born on April 7, 1941 in a house in the Inglewood area. It was also at this time that LEONARD RANSOME UTTER was called into the service of his country. He served in the United States Army and was sent to North Africa and then into Italy. Roy Gorden Utter was also called into service and served in the Army Air Corp. After the war Roy continued flying airplanes and was a bush pilot in Alaska and then a commercial airline pilot. He married Helen Jane Smeigh December 8, 1952 in Anchorage, Alaska. Richard Niel Utter was only 11 years old during World War II (born June 28, 1929 Los Angeles, California) so he stayed home. He did get his chance to serve in the 1950's when he was sent to the Korean conflict. He was a fireman in the service. His first marriage to Georgia Lee Richey ended in divorce with no children. His second marriage was to Nancy Caroline Collins on September 28, 1957 . They were married in Redondo Beach, California and lived there for many years.They raised three children Richard Douglas Utter born December 12, 1959, Nancy Lee Utter born April 8, 1963, and Scott Leonard Utter born March 17 1966. When LEONARD RANSOME came home from World War II , he became a tool and die maker. He also worked for the US Postal. Service and retired from the Hugh Corporation. BEULAH GENEVIEVE worked in a drug store during the war years then after the war she stayed at home to raise her son and keep house. Then on September 20, 1955 a girl child was born. They named her Juli Ann Utter. WILLIAM LEONARD UTTER grew up in the Hawthorne area and attended and graduated from Leuzinger High School in 1959. After a year of wondering what he would do with his life, he decided to become a teacher. He attended El Camino Jr. College and then Long Beach State College where he received his Bachelor of Arts Degree and teaching credintial in 1964 . He began his career of teaching for the Los Angeles City Schools that same year. Juli Ann Utter graduated from Leuzinger High School and went to El Camino College and then over to Long Beach State College. She also became a Teacher. She married Stan Helm on October 20, 1979 . They had a son named Brian Phillip Helm born June 6, 1981 in Hawthorne, California. The marriage didn't last and Juli and Stan divorced. Juli later married John Douglas Peterson in Waimea Falls, Kauai, Hawaii on August 13, 1987. They had a son Scott Douglas Peterson born June 23, 1988 in Redondo Beach, California. They adopted a beautiful young lady from Russia August 28, 1998. Her name was Victoria (Vicky) age 6 at the time. She has become a real treasure in all of our lives. WILLIAM LEONARD UTTER married Charlene Hoerig on March 18, 1967. and had three girls. Terri Lynn Utter was the first born on May 19, 1968, Linda Jean Utter born on February 27, 1971 and Amy Susan Utter born July 19, 1972. Linda Jean married Roy Tago and they have three beautiful children Isaac Roy Tago, Nathaniel Tago, Moriah Tago. Amy Utter married Chad Bennett june 1997 and have a son called Cody. WILLIAM LEONARD UTTER divorced Charlene Utter in 1980 and married Lillian Jane Torres Hanniff June 23, 2001. They are now residing in the city of Cypress, California. They claim 10 grandchildren but that's another story to be told. This concludes this part of the story from WILLIAM UTTER 1814 to WILLIAM LEONARD UTTER 1941.

 

 

 

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