My mother used to say, "My girl is a bell."

Isabella

Actually my girl is Isabella.  My mother's name is Vesta Isabella Pettersson Curtis.  She was not the first Isabella.  I will discuss here some of her ancestors, and mine, who were also named Isabella.

I believe my mother was named after Vesta Isabella Dixon.  She died at 3 years of age.  Born August 3, 1898 in Coalville, Summit, Utah.  Died January 26, 1902 in Scofield, Carbon, Utah.  Buried January 29, 1902 in Coalville, Summit, Utah.

They were both named after Isabella Pilkington.  Isabella Pilkington was the mother of both Vesta Isabella Dixon and Vesta Isabella Pettersson Curtis.  Isabella Pilkington was born May 16, 1854 in Bolton, Lancashire, England.  She died November 26, 1931 and is buried at Scofield, Carbon,  Utah.

Isabella Pilkington also had a daughter named Miriam Isabella Dixon.  She is the mother of Vesta Isabella Dixon.  Miriam was born April 28, 1876 in Smithfield, Cache, Utah.  She died September 22, 1906 in Salt Lake City and was buried September 25, 1906 at Coalville, Summit, Utah.  This information contradicts the death certificate for Miriam.  The death certificate is wrong.  See below for information on newspaper articles which already have her buried before the date on the death certificate. 

Isabella Pilkington's father was William Pilkington, Sr.  He had a sister named Isabella Pilkington Frost.  She was born January 30, 1925  in Little Bolton, Lancashire, England.  She married Hugh Hilton April 9, 1852 in St. Louis, Missouri.  She died June 5, 1875 in Virgin City, Washington, Utah and is buried there.  She had a daughter named Isabella Jane Hilton born July 21, 1866 and died August 23, 1867 all in Virgin City, Washington, Utah and is buried there.

There is another Isabella.  Miriam Isabella Livsey was born July 22, 1907 in Scofield, Carbon, Utah, a daughter of William Livsey and Anna Elizabeth Eden.  William is the younger brother of my grandmother Ellen Lydia Livsey Pettersson.  Miriam died October 25, 1972 and apparently is buried in San Diego, California. 

Coalville Times, September 28, 1906, page 1.
http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/coalville/id/29774/show/29659/rec/2

Salt Lake Herald, September 28, 1906, page 7.
http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/slherald2/id/36211/show/36363/rec/24

Elder L. Tom Perry's Funeral was last Friday, June 5, 2015.

One of my great-grandmothers was Isabella Livsey.  William Pilkington, Jr., was her brother.  When William was a young man he went to work for the Martin Harris family on their farm.  Martin Harris gave his last dying testimony of the Book of Mormon to William.  Martin Harris was one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon.  He also mortgaged part of his farm to help print the Book of Mormon.  Martin handled the plates shown to him and Joseph Smith by Moroni.

When L. Tom Perry was Deacon's Quorum President in his ward he remembers vividly a trip tot he dedication of the Martin Harris grave site in Clarkston, Utah.  Elder Perry often spoke of this event and in 2003 gave a CES Fireside talk to young people about the importance of studying the scriptures.  He has a BYU professor by the name of Lael Woodbury come and play the part of William Pilkington as he told about the story of William working for the Harris family and his experiences with Martin Harris.  Lael nailed it.  William often spoke of his experiences in LDS sacrament meetings.  He even filed a legal affidavit relating the testimony that Martin Harris gave to him.

Every year there is a pageant at the Clarkston Cemetery.  It is called the Martin Harris Pageant.  It tells about the early history of the LDS Church and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.  William Pilkington is mentioned in this pageant.

Below are some links to some of this information more especially a video of the 2003 CES Fireside.

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2003-11-05-the-scriptures-and-the-restoration?category=ces-devotionals/2003-ces-firesides&lang=eng

Fair Mormon Documents. See page 17.
http://www.fairmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2006-Daniel-Peterson.pdf

• Quotes to Keep
• http://quotestokeep.blogspot.com/2013/06/testimony-of-martin-harris.html 
• L. Tom Perry on William Pilkington
• http://www.deseretnews.com/article/525035368/LDS-told-to-study-scriptures.html?pg=all
• First Vision Refernce LDS Studies
• http://lds-studies.blogspot.com/2012/04/first-vision.html
• Iva Lou Groutage Video
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjWiIm0Sit8
• The Early Anthology
• http://theearlyanthology.tripod.com/1828/id5.html