Birth:   2 March 1829 
Place:   Coleford, Kilmersdon Somerset, England, United Kingdom
Death:   2 May 1898   
Place:   St. John, Oneida, Idaho USA
         Father:  Henry Denning    
         Mother:  Martha Nichols

Spouse:  Sarah Merrifield     
Born:    8 July 1849  
Place:   Tahowan, England
Death:   9 January 1900
Place:   Malad, Oneida, Idaho, USA
         Father:  Uriah Merrifield
         Mother:  Jane Denning

James married Sarah Merrifield on July 8, 1849, at Tahowan, England.  After their marriage, Sarah taught him the ABC’s and he then learned to read. He became a prolific reader and could talk intelligently on most subjects.

He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1850.   Then on February 15, 1853 he and Sarah boarded the ship “International” in Liverpool, England, heading for the Americas, with their baby, James Henry, who was only three weeks old.  There were 425 Saints on board the ship.  The ship sat the Irish Channel for two weeks, waiting for favorable weather conditions, before sailing.

The following picture gives you an idea of what it was like back then to take a cruise across the Atlantic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They arrived in New Orleans on April 23, 1853.  They went on to Winter Quarters and left for Utah on June 9, 1858.  Their group was 282 people, 70 wagons, 27 horses, 470 cattle, 153 sheep.  They ended up walking most of the way, a distance of over 1,000 miles.  They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in September of 1853, settling in Bountiful, Utah.

James was a veteran of the Indian Wars in Utah and assisted in bringing immigrants to Utah.  He and Sarah helped establish a town at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon, now known as Brighton, Utah.

Later, James and Sarah moved to Montpelier, Idaho.  They had no shoes, so Sarah made moccasins out of cowhide.  There were a lot of hardships during these times.

James died in Malad, Idaho on May 2, 1898 and is buried at the St. John Cemetery near Malad.

His son, James Henry Denning, had the following put on the headstone:

“Amiable and beloved Father.  Farewell.  Not on this perishing stone, but in the Book of Life and in the hearts of thy Afflicted Friends is they worth recorded.”

I have attached the brief history of James Denning and if you are interested I have a larger book of this man’s work.

Denning, James b 1830 history

Ancestral Lineage:

1. James Denning
2. James Henry Denning
3. George Williams Denning
4. Richard Telford Denning
5. Richard Rigby Denning