Aaron Cheney (1787-1861)

Aaron Cheney Sr (1787-1861)

Early Convert to Mormonism 1831

Vital Stats

 * Son of Benjamin Cheney (1763-1840) and Eunice Hubbard (1757-?)
 * 1787-Jul-14 : Birth at Berwick, York Co, Maine
 * 1807-Aug-14 : Marriage to Mehitable Wells (1787-1869) in Marshfield, Washington Co, Vermont
 * 1831 : Conversion to Mormonism in Cattaragus Co, New York
 * 1861-May : Died Ogden, Weber co, Utah Territory, USA

Biography
Aaron (7) CHENEY, was born 14th July 1787 and married Mehitable Wells on 14 Aug. 1807. (Mehitable was born in Bolton, Laneshire, England, January 1, 1787)

When Aaron Cheney (7) was but a small boy, his father Benjamin, moved to Granby, VT. As Aaron grew, he became a prosperous farmer and also the owner of a foundry where several men were employed and where large quantities of cast iron were produced. When he was twenty years of age he married Mehitable Wells on August 14, 1807. Elam (8), their fifth son, was born in Freedom, Cattaragus Co., N.Y. on 16 May 1825.

Elam?s father and mother were both religiously inclined and were faithful members of the Methodist Church until they were visited by the Prophet Joseph Smith and Orson Pratt who taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They were baptized members of this church in the year 1831.

In 1835 they moved to Kirtland, Ohio, where their ten-year-old son, Elam, was baptized in the Shegran River by Elder Deamascus Carter. They purchased a farm located about two miles southeast of where the Kirtland Temple was built.

Elam developed an unquenchable thirst for learning everything he could. He learned the COOPER?s trade; a Cooper is one who makes, or repairs, wooden caskets or tubs.

He studied medicine and surgery, and worked long hours on the Kirtland temple. Later on, he helped in building the Nauvoo Temple in Illinois. His father, Aaron, taught him how to manage the farm, how to handle the iron and work at the blacksmith forge in the foundry which his father built.

Elam?s father taught him how to build a wagon, make the wheels, how to make a gristmill for making flour, how to farm. Elam learned how to make a living for his own family by developing every skill possible. He learned each trade well. Running races and wrestling came naturally and he loved wrestling.

Children

 * 1) Selar Cheney (1808-1867)
 * 2) Amasa F Cheney (1810-1870)
 * 3) Infant Cheney (b 1811) - Marshfield VT
 * 4) Infant Cheney (b 1813) - Marshfield VT
 * 5) Orrin Cheney (1813-1867) - b. Fredonia, NY
 * 6) Sealar Cheney (1815-?) - Freedom, NY
 * 7) Olive Mehitable Cheney (1817-1907) - b. Bloomfield, NY
 * 8) Infant Cheney (b 1819) - b. Freedom, NY
 * 9) Infant Cheney (b 1820) - b. Freedom, NY
 * 10) Infant Cheney (b 1820) - b. Freedom, NY
 * 11) Aaron Cheney (1822-1888) - b Freedom, NY
 * 12) Elam Cheney (1825-1912) - b Freedom, NY
 * 13) Ezekiel Wells Cheney (1828-1886) -
 * 14) Infant Cheney (b 1832) - Freedom, NY
 * 15) Infant Cheney (b 1832) - Freedom, NY