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| Susannah Elizabeth Nebeker |
Susannah Elizabeth Nebeker was born 9 April, 1884 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her mother was Elizabeth Jane Davis and her father, Peter Nebeker. She had a younger brother, Peter Alma Nebeker who was born 31 March, 1850, but this young mother died, leaving her family--- and Peter married Elizabeth’s sister Mary Maria Davis to help him raise them. Mary Maria stood in place of her sister to have her sealed to Peter Nebeker on 18 March 1852 in Brigham Young’s office. She not only raised these children, but eleven other children were born to her and to Peter.
Susannah spent her childhood in Salt Lake City. The family were members of the 19th Ward.
Susannah and her husband John Redmond Conyngham (Known as Paul Lechtenberg) were married in the Endowment House on 23 September 1865. They also lived in Salt Lake City and their children were born there. (1) Peter Paul on 27 June 1866, (2) Myrtle on 8 January 1870, (3) Karl on 23 May 1873. It is possible that they also had another infant that died, but no record can be found to prove this.
A sad time came into their lives when her husband’s father came to see them and asked John to return to Philadelphia to see his ailing mother, who wanted very much to see him again before she died. At first it was decided that they would take their young family and go, but then Peter Nebeker asked them not to do that. He felt it was too far for Susannah and her young children to go. Sadly, John (Paul Lechtenberg) started off alone to see his mother. He was gone a long time and Susannah felt he had died, so she married George Facer on 6 September 1975 to help her raise her children. They also started a family. When John returned, he was dismayed to find her married again. Susannah decided it was best to stay with her second husband to raise these children, so John left with a broken heart.
Susannah and George Facer had eight children, (olive Nile, Susie May, Ethel Rose, Florence Zoe, Edna A, Georgia Gretta, Horace S and Wanda L.) Only Susie May and Ethel Rose survived childhood and lived to have families of their own.
When her children were raised, she came to Lund, Idaho and homesteaded 120 to 160 acres of mountain land which was near her son Peter Paul Lechtenberg’s home. He built her a small one room home on that property and he broke and farmed part of this land for her. After her son’s death, her grandson, Paul Theron Lechtenberg broke and farmed more of this land.
Susannah was a generous woman with her time and once she offered to make a baby’s layette for Delia, her daughter-in-law. She wasn’t afraid of work---even disagreeable work. She would milk cows, clean the barn, feed the cattle or anything else that needed to be done. She enjoyed baking cookies for her grandchildren. She delighted in the fact that half of Peter Paul’s children had red hair. She had a strong testimony of the gospel.
[Sent by Ella Lechtenberg Lloyd, great granddaughter, March, 1979
Assisted in writing by her father, Paul Theron Lechtenberg.]
[FamilySearch Memories, contributed by janetselck1]
John Redmond Conyngham was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the oldest son of David and Lucinda Slater, and heir to the Conyngham fortune which was very extensive.
As a young man, he fell in love with a girl named Mary Miller. Her Parents were poor, and didn’t have a dowry. He knew that his parents would never give permission for them to marry because her parents were not of high-social rank, and so they ran away and got married in secret.
His parents were angry, and would not accept their marriage. In time, John’s parents offered Mary a large sum of money to leave John, and she accepted their money. John came home one night to find Mary and his infant son gone. He was hurt and angry. He told his parents that he wanted nothing more to do with them, and he left and joined Johnston’s army. This is the army that came out west to conquer the Mormons. John wanted to get away completely from his past; and so one day after a battle, he exchanged papers with a dead soldier and then took this dead soldier’s name. This meant that he would be reported “Killed-in-action.” The dead man’s name was Paul Lechtenberg.
He later decided that he liked the Mormons and so he deserted the army and joined the Mormon Church. He married Susannah Elizabeth Nebeker in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah.
After the birth of their third, possibly fourth child, John again heard from his parents. They had disinherited him, and they were angry about him joining the Mormon Church. His mother was ill, and his father had been searching for him for a long time. He was asked to go home and see his mother before she died.
John and Susannah decided to do so; but Susannah’s father, Peter Nebeker, said “No.” He did not want his daughter to go that far away from home. John went alone to fulfill his mother’s request. He was gone for several years; and when he returned home, he found that his wife had married another man named George Facer. She had decided that he was not coming home and had married to help her children. (No divorce records have been found.)
He was broken-hearted. He said, “Susannah will be mine in the world to come.” He lived for awhile with his son, Peter Paul and helped dig the well and worked on the farm in Lund, Idaho. He used the name of Lechtenberg, and his children continue to use that name.
Later in life he moved to California and worked as a painter. He changed his name back to Conyngham again, and he died in an Old Soldier’s Home in Sawtelle, Los Angeles, California.
John Redmond died in 1912 and was buried in
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Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA |
| PLOT 29H12 | |
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Gravestone for:
JOHN R. CONYNGHAM
COMPANY H
6 PA. INF |
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