Anna Cushing LDS Baptism Dates
Anna Cushing 4 September 1844 – 30 July 1866 • L788-184 was born in England. She married, Jan 1866, at age 21 in England, Septimus Wagstaff Sears, who was an early convert to the LDS Church, having been baptized in 1858, at age 13. The young couple immigrated to the US in 1866, and came across the plains in that same year. Anna died on the trail in July 1866. Anna’s mother was also convert to the LDS Church, having been baptized in England in 1853. Anna’s younger sister, Laura Cushing, and my great grandmother, was baptized in England, in 1862, at age 8. When Anna’s mother was baptized in June 1853, Anna would have been age 8. It is likely that Anna would have been baptized with her mother, or perhaps a year or so later. But Anna is listed in Family Tree (FT) with a baptism date in 1890, 24 years after her death. Surely the baptisms into the Shipdham branch of the LDS Church would have been recorded. The baptism dates for Anna’s mother, and for Anna’s sister Laura, were not found in any branch records. They were listed at the time Anna’s mother, and Anna’s sister Laura, were endowed in the Endowment House. We looked in the online Catalog for the Church History Library, east of the Conference Center, and found one entry: Shipdham Branch confidential minutes, Call Number LR 12604 10, which had not yet been digitized. We don’t know if this is a book or a micro film. Perhaps someone in the community will know more about the old branch records of the LDS church in England. Anna had four other siblings who have similar problems with their baptism dates in FT.
