Owen Isom

Brief Life History of Owen

Owen Isom was born on 22 May 1814 in the peaceful English village of Greatworth. His parents were William Isom, an agricultural laborer, and Elizabeth Hawkins. After Elizabeth died of a goiter in 1818, Owen's older sister Sarah cared for her five younger brothers. Owen worked as an agricultural laborer near Birmingham, the busy manufacturing center of England. There, Owen met blue-eyed and black-haired Elizabeth Howard, who worked in a Birmingham glove factory. After courting, Owen married Elizabeth in the parish church of St. Bartholomew, Edgbaston, on 11 March 1839. Owen and Elizabeth lived in Birmingham where Owen worked as a farmhand and journeyman skinner. Ten years later, Owen and Elizabeth met missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Owen and Elizabeth joined the Chuch about 1849, beginning a lifelong journey of faith. In Birmingham, members of the Church endured anti-Mormon riots with broken windows and hurled insults and rotten food. True to the faith, Owen and Elizabeth named a son born in 1857 Joseph Hyrum after the first prophet of the church and his brother. In May 1860, Owen and Elizabeth and sailed from Liverpool on the William Tapscott and arrived in New York City on 16 June 1860. A month later, their infant son Fredrick Heber died. The Isoms lived for a time in Queens, New York, so that Owen could save money for the journey west. In 1862, the Isoms boarded a train bound for Nebraska. Upon arriving in Nebraska, they joined other saints in a wagon company bounded for Utah. Owen offered the morning prayer as the wagon train passed Chimney Rock near Fort Laramie on September 1. In October, the Isoms arrived in Salt Lake City. From there, they moved south and settled in Mountain Dell, near present-day Zion National Park. From 1869 to 1874, Owen served as the president of the branch of the church in Mountain Dell. On 29 June 1867, Owen and Elizabeth wed for eternity in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. After the dedication of the St. George temple on 1 January 1877, Owen and Elizabeth participated in temple work there. Owen died on 26 April 1884 at the age of 69, and was buried in Virgin, Utah, south of his home in Mountain Dell.

Photos and Memories (72)

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Family Time Line

Owen Isom
1814–1884
Elizabeth Howard
1821–1898
Marriage: 11 March 1839
William Isom
1840–1885
Mary Amelia Isom
1842–1876
George Isom
1846–1885
Samuel Isom
1849–1896
Alfred Isom
1851–1852
Sarah Elizabeth Isom
1854–1935
Joseph Hyrum Isom
1857–1858
Fredrick Heber Isom
1859–1860
Franklin Howard Isom
1861–1906

Sources (35)

  • Isom Irvin, "United States Census, 1870"
  • Marriage record for Owen Isom and Elizabeth Howard
  • Owen Ison, 1884, "BillionGraves Index"

Spouse and Children

Parents and Siblings

World Events (8)

1815

The defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo marks the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon defeated and exiled to St. Helena.

1819 · 67 Streets in Brooklyn By 1819

A village map dated April 8, 1819 shows sixty seven streets. The widest streets measured 60 feet wide while the narrowest street, Doughty Street, measured 20 feet wide.

1834 · The City of Brooklyn is Incorporated

An act of incorporation in 1834 turned the village and town of Brooklyn to the city of Brooklyn. The city was divided into nine wards.

Name Meaning

English (Essex): habitational name from Isham in Northamptonshire. The placename is derived from the river name Ise (of Celtic origin) + Old English hām ‘homestead’.

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

Possible Related Names

Story Highlight

Biography of Owen & Elizabeth Howard Isom

A BIOGRAPHY OF OWEN AND ELIZABETH HOWARD ISOM As told to Hortense Bradshaw By Sarah Isom Wilson My father, Owen Isom, was born May 2, 1814, in Birmingham, England or on a farm close by. He was th …

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