William and Mary Taylor Hiatt

This is the headstone of our great-great-great grandfather and grandmother, William Hiatt and Mary Taylor Hiatt (by "our" I mean Moses Ray Hiatt's grandchildren). I'll write all about the adventures we had in finding this cemetery and gravestone later this week, but I wanted to at least post this picture so everyone could see it and hopefully motivate me to write the rest of the story. Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Who exactly are William Hiatt and Mary Taylor Hiatt? They lived and died in Mount Airy, North Carolina, and are buried there in the W.C. Hiatt Cemetery, a very small and obscure cemetery on the outskirts of Mount Airy. Other than where they lived and died, I don't know anything about what they did but it's a safe bet that they were farmers. They had five children, all boys -- James Madison, Isaac Samuel, Jesse Lafayette, John Henry, and Edmund Franklin.

Three of the sons moved to Utah sometime during their lives. I'm not sure when they went there but according to my parents these three brothers have some sort of pioneer imprint on their gravestones which indicates they made the trek before the connecting of the intercontinental railroad at Promontory Summit in 1869 (well before William and Mary died, in 1891 and 1899, respectively). The three who went to Utah were James Madison, Isaac Samuel, and Edmund Franklin. James Madison and Edmund Franklin are buried in Payson and Isaac Samuel is buried in Salem.

As far as I can tell from a cursory search of the Internet and familysearch.org, all five of the sons were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which leads me to believe that William and Mary Taylor Hiatt were also members of the church. I'm not sure about that but I would like to find out for sure when and if they joined the church.

Edmund Franklin Hiatt (one of the three sons who went to Utah) is the father of Alma Leon Hiatt who is grandpa's (Moses Ray Hiatt's) father.

So, to sum up:

William Hiatt -> Edmund Franklin Hiatt -> Alma Leon Hiatt -> Moses Ray Hiatt

If anybody knows any details that I left out or has any information or where to find it, please let me know by commenting on this post or emailing me. You can also talk to Aunt Sylvia or Uncle Paul.

UPDATE: I was looking again tonight at the records on familysearch.org and if that information is correct the three brothers couldn't have come to Utah before 1869 because they were all married in Mount Airy in or after 1869.

James Madison married Martha Ellen Taylor on 8 July 1869 in Mount Airy.

Edmund Franklin married Elizabeth Martisha Hutchins on 24 June 1877 in Mount Airy.

Isaac Samuel married Martha Francis Bryant on 17 February 1879 in Mount Airy.

Lake Powell

Here are some of the pictures from our camera at Lake Powell. Also, just a hats off to Noel and Sandy for planning such a great trip. All the hard work and effort they put into Lake Powell really made it such a great trip. We are already looking forward to next year!!!! WELL that's if Ryan ever recoporates from Noels boat ride!! He has been going to physical therapy and it looks like he is going to be ok ;) He learned his lesson to never ride on the tube with Landon while he is tanting Noel " Is that all you got cheapo". From Noels famous boat rides to the scrable games, the treasure hunt for the kids, and sitting around talking about old times.....what a great trip. When I tell people that I went to Lake Powell with my aunts, uncles, cousins, and even second cousins they just are amazed that we are all so close. I feel we have truely been blessed with a wonderful family thanks to grandma and grandpa for setting the way. I love everyone and am so excited for next years big adventure. Unfortunately our picture of the entire group didn't turn out so I'm hoping someone else will share that!!