Some Latter-day Saints have pioneer ancestors going back almost 200 years. Other Church members are themselves the pioneers in their families.
In the weeks surrounding Pioneer Day, July 24 — the annual celebration of the first wagon company entering the Salt Lake Valley — Church News staff members and others share stories of pioneers in their families, some from the 1800s and some from the 1900s.
Click on the headline to read the article. See TheChurchNews.com/pioneers for more about the pioneers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- “From the Welsh coal mines to Bountiful’s farmland,” by Jon Ryan Jensen, about his fourth-great-grandmother, Jane Anne Morgan Lewis
- “Mary Parry Rowberry’s journey of faith,” by Dale Jones, about his second-great-grandmother Mary Parry Rowberry
- “My mother’s legacy of faith,” by Nadia Gavarret, about her mother Norma Gorgoroso Gavarret
- “Inspiration from a sleeping cap,” by Camille West, about her ancestor Daniel Allen Jr. and his wife, Mary Ann
- “Hope beyond the veil,” by Joel Randall, about his second-great-grandfather Bert Davis Randall
- “Faithfully following where the Holy Ghost leads,” by Valerie Walton, about her husband’s parents, Kevin and Susan Walton
- “What I learned from my Norwegian ancestor about faith and perseverance,” by Trent Toone, about his third-great-grandmother Laura Ingeman Mickelsen
- “The converting power of the Spirit,” by Ryker Eggenberger, about his grandfather Lance Eggenberger
- “Finding strength in one’s ancestors,” by Stevi Ginolfi, about Susanna Stone Lloyd, her fourth-great-grandmother
- “Showing resilience during trials,” by Kaitlyn Bancroft, about Genevieve “Jenny” Pettit Francom, her great-grandmother
- “A legacy of defending the Church and the Prophet,” by Jessica Lawrence, about John Lowe Butler, her fourth-great-grandfather
- “We are all pioneers in these latter days,” by Vanessa Fitzgibbon, about her own experiences
- “Responding with faith and grit when discipleship is hard,” by Rachel Sterzer Gibson, about Francis Kerby II, her fourth-great-grandfather
- “Learning about vanguard company pioneer from both written and unwritten records,” by Christine Rappleye, about her third-great-grandfather Tunis Rappleye
- “Listening to the missionaries in Switzerland in 1954,” by David Schneider, about his mother, Rosmarie Brunold Schneider
- “From family discord to a family sealing,” by Mary Richards, about Wayne Crossen, her grandfather
- “The woman who led her family — and mine — to the Church,” by Sarah Jane Weaver, about her ancestor Leonora Cannon Taylor
- “What Grandma taught me about compassion for new converts,” by Sydney Walker, about her grandmother Jean Grayson Wirrick
- “Named after martyred Prophet, Joseph Smith Barlow Sr. lived a short life of hardships,” by Scott Taylor, about Joseph Smith Barlow Sr., his second-great-grandfather
