Rose Ellen King and Ephraim Hatch

Rose Ellen King is Steve's great-great grandmother, the wife of Ephraim Hatch (son of Ira Stearns Hatch). She was born in Ohio in 1843. In 1830, her grandfather, Enoch King, and several other family members joined the Church (most noteworthy is her uncle Thomas Jefferson King).

The King family traveled west in 1862 after the first pioneers. Enoch King did not continue when his wife (not a relative of Steve's--she had died some years earlier) who did not have much faith in the gospel decided she would go no further. This was about 40 miles from Mount Pisgah. The rest of the family made their way to Utah, but did not stay.

The Kings decided to leave Utah because they were not impressed with the farming conditions there, and instead of going directly back to Ohio they apparently decided to try their luck at finding some gold. So they traveled North to Virginia City, Montana.

Rose Ellen met Ephraim Hatch while traveling from Salt Lake to Montana. Ephraim and his brother were grocers and they hauled produce by wagon to the miners in in the Nevada City area during the gold rush. The King family and the Hatch brothers joined together while traveling in order to protect themselves against some rough-necks along the trail.

It is said that Rose Ellen had a dream or a blessing telling her she would be the only one to stay in Utah. She married Ephraim Hatch at Nevada City in 1864 and they returned to Salt Lake where they were sealed in the endowment house. The rest of her family returned to Ohio after traveling to Montana.

I was not able to find the conversion story of Rose Ellen King, although I am assuming she came to know the church through her grandfather and other relatives who joined the church in 1830. Although her parents apparently traveled west with her and later returned to Ohio, records do not show that they were ever baptized into the Church. I am grateful for Rose Ellen and Ephraim Hatch who made it possible for our family to have the gospel in our home today.

(source and I received this information from a history collected by Ephraim and Verena Hatch who live in Provo, UT. Included in this history was a history of The King Family written by Gary Ephraim Hatch in 1977).