- "Iron monger" and Mormon Pioneer
- 1st Cheney to join L.D.S. Church
Aaron Cheney, Sr. was born 14 July 1787 in Berwick, York County, Maine, United States to Benjamin Cheney (1763-1840) and Eunice Hubbard (1757-1794) and died 23 May 1861 Ogden, Weber County, Utah, United States of unspecified causes. He married Mehitable Wells (1787-1869) 17 August 1807 in Marshfield, Washington County, Vermont, United States.
Vital Stats
- Son of Benjamin Cheney (1763-1840) and Eunice Hubbard (1757-1794)
- 1787-Jul-14 : Birth at Berwick, York Co, Maine
- 1807-Aug-14 : Marriage to Mehitable Wells (1787-1869) in Marshfield, Washington Co, Vermont
- 1817 : Relocation to Freedom, Cattaraugus Co, New York
- 1831 : Visit with the prophet Joseph Smith, family joins L.D.S. Church
- 1835 : Move to Kirtland, Ohio
- 1861-May : Died Ogden, Weber co, Utah Territory, USA
Biography
When Aaron Cheney was but a small boy, his father Benjamin, moved to Granby, Vermont. When he was twenty years of age he married Mehitable Wells on August 14, 1807 nearby at Marshfield, Vermont.
In 1817, Aaron and Mehitable moved to Freedom in Cattaraugus County, New York where his father's family was located. Here he became a prosperous farmer, purchased several lots of land, and became the owner of a foundry where several men were employed and where large quantities of cast iron were produced.
Aaron and his wife were both religiously inclined and were faithful members of the Methodist Church until they were visited by the Mormon missionaries John Murdock (1792-1871) and Orson Whitley Pratt (1811-1881). Because of their teachings they were baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the year 1834.
Biography
Freedom 1834 LDS Church Branch
Being one of the first members baptized into the historic Freedom 1831 LDS Church Branch, a branch of the newly founded The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, organized just one year earlier. In spring of 1834, two notable missionaries, Orson Whitley Pratt (1811-1881) and John Murdock (1760-1858) visited the Freedom Township, Cattaraugus County, New York. Their mission journal lists their several church converts and other key insights. A key part of this mission was to recruit volunteers for Zion's Camp (1834). Eventually, many of these Mormon families moved west to Ohio, Illinois and then Utah.
1835 Kirtland Ohio
In 1835 they followed the Church to Kirtland, Ohio, where their ten-year-old son, Elam, was baptized in the Shegran River by Elder Deamascus Carter. They purchased a farm located about two miles southeast of where the Kirtland Temple was built.
in 1835, they moved to Kirtland, Ohio, purchased a farm. after building a house, he built an iron foundry in their new place. They were driven from Kirtland in July 1838, joining the company known as the Kirtland Camp and traveled to Nauvoo, where they helped build the temple.
The Cheney's were driven from beautiful Nauvoo leaving behind their home and their valuables, taking with them the clothes they were wearing and what they could carry with them. They met with the Saints at Winter Quarters and they traveled in the George A Smith Wagon Train company Oct 27, 1849.
They first settled in Ogden, in the Mound Fort district. When Johnson's Army was sent to Utah they had a stressful three months, living mostly on sego bulbs. After that period, Aaron's health failed rapidly. At the age of 84, on Sept 22., 1861, he died and was buried in the Ogden City Cemetery. Mehetable went to Grantsville, to be with family."
Family of Aaron Cheney and Mehitable Wells
Aaron married Mehitable Wells (1787-1869) on 14 Aug. 1807. Those that survived past childbirth were:
- Selah Cheney (1808-)
- Amasa Cheney (1809-1870)
- Orren Cheney (1813-1866)
- Selar Cheney (1815-1867) - final status unknown
- Olive Mehitable Cheney (1817-1907) - b. Bloomfield, NY
- Aaron Cheney (1822-1889) - b Freedom, NY
- Elam Cheney (1825-1912) - At age 12 he had witnessed a miraculous vision in the Kirtland Temple. Late a pioneer to Colonia Diaz.
- Ezekiel Wells Cheney (1828-1886) -
Children
Siblings
Vital Records
1849 Smith Wagon Company Census
This Cheney family were in the same wagon company as another Cheney Family, (Elijah Cheney (1785-1863) and his two wives, Sarah Griffith & Sarah Harmon) who was a distant cousin.
- Cheney, Aaron 62
- Cheney, Elijah 63
- Cheney, Eliza Ann Infant
- Cheney, Ezekiel Wells 23
- Cheney, Lucy Elzada Hardy 20
- Cheney, Mehitable Wells 62
- Cheney, Sarah Griffith 58
- Cheney, Sarah Harmon 62
Gravestone of Aaron Cheney

Gravestone of Aaron Cheney Sr
- Gravestone Location: Ogden City Cemetery.
- Aaron Cheney at Find A Grave
Aaron Cheney Sr, Son of Benjamin and Eunice Hubbard. July 14, 1787 - Sept 18, 1862 Burick, York, Main - Ogden, Utah First Cheney to join L.D.S. Church. Great, Great, Grandfather of Byron Cheney
Ancestry
Cheney Family
- Benjamin Cheney Immigrant Ancestors -
- Cheney Family Ancestry - Lineage back to Norman Knights and the Battle of Hastings
- John Cheney List of Famous Descendants -
- Cheney Family History
See Also
- Aaron Cheney
- Cheney Family
- Cheney in York County, Maine
- Cheney in Cattaraugus County, New York
- Cheney in Washington County, Vermont
- Cheney in Weber County, Utah
- Cheney in Salt Lake County, Utah
- Cheney History -
- Heart Throbs of the West: Volume 10, The Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Pioneers of 1849, Daughters of Utah Pioneers.
- History of Elam Cheney, my Grandfather by Aaron Lincon Cheney of Utah.
- A Brief History of Peter Wimmer Cheney and Keziah Lovina Brady Cheney by Aaron H. Cheney.
References
- Marriage - Vermont Vital Records (1760-1954) - to Mehitable Wells - 14 Aug 1807 in Marshfield, VT.
Footnotes (including sources)
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