Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Ancestors: Alexander Neibaur

Alexander Neibaur

Alexander Neibaur (January 8, 1808 – December 15, 1883) was the first dentist to practice in Utah and first Jewish person to join the Mormon Church. He was educated for the profession at the University of Berlin and was a skilled dentist before the establishment of dental schools in America. He was fluent in 7 languages and as many dialects.

 It was in England where Neibaur learned about the Mormon faith.  Prior to meeting preachers from the Church, he had had dreams of a book being given him, but he did not know what they meant.  When he heard of Mormon elders in the area, he approached them and asked if they had a book, which they did and gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon.  Neibaur recognized this book as the one from his dreams, and he read it in three days.  He wanted to be baptized immediately, but was convinced to wait until he had a chance to fully investigate the Church.  Neibaur was baptized on April 9, 1838, becoming one of the first Jews to join the Church.  Three years later he and his wife migrated to the United States and joined the Saints in Nauvoo in April 1841.  

Neibaur arrived in Nauvoo, Illinois on 18 April 1841. There he established his dental practice, using a room in Brigham Young's house for his practice, and developed a close friendship with Joseph Smith, Jr., whom he helped study German and Hebrew.  (Neibaur made gold dentures for Brigham.)

Neibaur described in his journal what Joseph told him during a dinner conversation. Brother Neibaur wrote that the Prophet said he had been “struck” by a passage on prayer in the Bible and so went into the woods to pray. After his tongue cleaved temporarily to the roof of his mouth, he saw a fire which gradually drew nearer to him. He “saw a personage in the fire, light complexion, blue eyes. … [Another] person came to the side of the first. Mr. Smith then asked, must I join the Methodist Church. No, they are not my People, [they] have gone astray. There is none that Doeth good, not one, but this is my Beloved Son harken ye him.”

After the Mormons were driven from Nauvoo, Neibaur went to Winter Quarters, Nebraska, and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, rejoining with the main body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1848. In Utah Territory he continued the practice of dentistry and was a manufacturer of matches.

Ancestors: Peter Barton

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Peter Barton, Bishop of Kaysville, Davis county, Utah, is the son of John Barton and Elizabeth Bell, and was born March 21, 1845, at St. Helens, Lancashire England. He was baptized by Elder James Barton in 1853; ordained a Deacon and later a Priest while in England.


He emigrated to Utah in 1862, crossing the Atlantic in the ship "Manchester".



He then traveled over the plains in Ansil P. Harmon's ox-train. After his arrival in Utah, he settled in Kaysville.  He was ordained an Elder and subsequently a Seventy, and in 1874-76 he labored as a missionary in Great Britain.


Peter Barton Home in Kaysville

June 18, 1877, he was ordained a High Priest and Bishop and set apart to preside over the Kaysville Ward, which position he filled with honor, both to himself and the Ward. He also served as Ward clerk in Kaysville for a number of years.

Peter Barton (center) at Sugarhouse Penitentiary
In February, 1889, he was sentenced to fifteen months' imprisonment for "unlawful cohabitation," but before having served his full term, he was pardoned, being the first "Mormon" ever pardoned by Pres. Benjamin Harrison. Bishop Barton has held a number of civil positions, such as justice of the peace, city recorder of Kaysville, etc. He has also served two terms in the Utah legislature.

Ancestors: Ferdinand Frederick Ludwick Cobabe

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Ferdinand Frederick Ludwick Cobabe moved his family from the ancestral home in Malchow Prussia to Copenhagen Denmark around 1850-1860 . Ferdinand raised his family for some years in Copenhagen Denmark until he came in contact with Mormon missionaries, apparently some time around 1860. He was baptized 12 Oct 1862.


In 1864 the Ferdinand Cobabe family sailed to America with a company of Scandinavian converts on the sailing ship "Monarch of the Sea".