Family History Tourism: Visiting Fillmore – Utah’s First State Capital

Sometimes family history discoveries are even better than we can plan. At least that’s what happened last summer on our genealogy road trip!

Halfway between our home and St George is Fillmore, Utah. Home to not only Utah’s first state capital, but also to many of my Ashby, Cropper, Rogers, and Land ancestors. What was once a quick, gas station rest stop became a family history destination when I discovered our family ties to this interesting town.

I’d had my eye on the Territorial Statehouse Museum ever since seeing the billboard advertisements on  I-15.  Since we were heading South to St George/Disneyland, I thought it would be a perfect stop for us to stretch our legs and learn a little history. I checked the Family Search  Map My Ancestor feature on the app and discovered that several of my ancestors had lived and died there. Even cooler! And when we stepped inside, the museum did not disappoint!

While admiring the grand building plans for the first state capitol, I talked with the museum worker about the museum’s hall of ancestors. As I was telling him of my hope that I’d find our own ancestors there, a familiar face caught my eye.  The photos are in alphabetical order so my Ashby family was the first photo I saw.

Coming face to face with my ancestors in their home town was stirring. Did they walk these halls? Each exhibit in the museum took on added meaning as we pictured our  family in the town of Fillmore. The woman in the photo below is my 4th Great-Grandmother – Hannah Jones Rogers. She came to America from Worcestershire, England when she was 13 years old. I didn’t recall much of her story so she was moved up my list of people to research when we got home. I came across this blog through a source on Family Search. Come to find out – her spinning wheel and bake skillet are in the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers exhibit at the Museum.  I had viewed my family’s possessions without even knowing it!

Being inspired to learn more about Hannah reminded me of how grateful I am to know so much about her grand-daughter and my great-grandmother – Hannah Cropper Ashby. From an article posted on Family Search, I knew that Hannah was an accomplished woman. While being Mother of the Year for Utah in 1960, she was also a member of the Utah County Legislative Women’s Council for 10 years, precinct co-chairwoman for the Republic party in her area, chairman of the American citizenship for the Utah Federation of Women’s Republican Club, and many other literary and local positions.  

Was it her time in this historic city that inspired her patriotic roots? Hannah was born in 1879 in Fillmore. Her mother Hannah Lucretia was also born in Fillmore in 1858 during the time that Fillmore was the capital city. I am grateful for these three generations of Hannah’s and their dedication during the early year’s of Utah’s statehood! What a treat to walk through the Statehouse Museum and get a peek into what their lives may have been like!

Visiting the Fillmore Cemetery

We also used the Map My Ancestors feature to find that several of our ancestors were buried in the Fillmore Cemetery. I downloaded the Find a Grave app to help us find a more precise location in the cemetery.

My kids are excellent at locating the grave sites based on pictures! We found them in no time. While we were at the cemetery, we fulfilled two photo requests as well. Find a Grave allows you to take pictures and upload them to their site for others to view. Easy service project to do with kids!

We loved our brief visit to Fillmore, a town we hadn’t given a second glance to from the freeway on previous trips! The Map My Ancestor feature of the Family Tree app helped us to connect to our ancestors in a new and fun way. Our visit was the perfect mix of connection and discovery. I understand and know these ancestors just that much more now!

We are eagerly planning more family history day trips in Utah – Brigham City, Price, Huntsville – to name a few! What place from your family history would you love to visit?