Seeking Wealtha

This is Wealtha Bradford Hatch.  She is my 4th great grandmother.  She was born in November 1804 and died in 1841, a day before her 37th birthday. She is also the 3rd great granddaughter of Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford.  She was about 5'7", slender, and had brown hair and blue eyes.  

She married Ira Stearns Hatch and the first of my Hatch ancestors to be converted to Mormonism.  After moving to Illinois with her family.  After living there with her family for a short time, she got cholera and died.

Fast forward to 1981. Amos C. Hatch (my great-grandfather) aka, "Famous Amos" and "The Potter of Parowan", travels to Blandinsville, Illinois to research where Wealtha is buried.  His research began with a letter to Orrin Hatch, the US Senator from Utah to see if Senator Hatch had any information in his possession or if he knew of any family members who had researched the Hatch lands in the Illinois area.  Grandpa Amos's research uncovers where the Hatch family lived in Illinois and he visited the area, taking pictures and making meticulous notes on maps. 

He discovers a story of a skeleton that was found when a road crew was working on widening or surfacing a road in that area back in the 1920's or 30's.  They moved the skeleton across the road from where they found it and re-buried it in a field.  Grandpa Amos went to where the locals remembered the event was supposed to have taken place.

Amos passed away before he was able to continue his research.  His son, Oleen acquired his research notes and they were stored with his photo albums and other family heirlooms.  After Oleen published the family history in what the family calls "The Red Book", the collection goes in a box and back into storage.

Forward to 1999.   Another Hatch relative gets a copy of the letter Amos wrote to Orrin and begins the quest for Wealtha anew, traveling to the area and talking to the same family Amos spoke to.  However, the research stopped short when he was unable to find the photographs Amos had taken while there in 1981.

Forward to 2009.  I was visiting Oleen's daughter to find more information about my family history and to go through the box of pictures in Oleen's collection.  As I was leaving, she hands me an envelope to take with me and do some homework with.  Inside were some letters from a family in Illinois and some Polaroids of fields in their area.  I didn't know what to do with it at the time, so I put them in a safe place as a curiosity and didn't think much more about it.

Forward to 2010.  I am doing some researches on Wealtha's life and the rest of my ancestors story to make a small booklet for my Mom for a Christmas gift (don't tell her!).  An internet search located the 1999 notes of the other Hatch relative.  As I read, I became concerned that my 4th great grandmother might be buried in some field in an umarked makeshift grave.  The relative desired to bring Wealtha to Utah and have her re-interned in the Bountiful Cemetery with her husband and the rest of her family.  

As I read, it dawned on me that I just might have the key to the whole thing.  I dug out the envelope and took a look at the pictures, letters and map with fresh eyes.  I about know the acre where she might be.  

I am in contact with this relative and an emailing scans of the pictures to him.  With these pictures and his own research experience, we just might find a final home Wealtha.  I'll keep this blog posted if anything develops.