Information about William Stiff Neville, Rachel Jennings and the West Family

Joseph Hyrum Neville and Ann Lydia West

Joseph Hyrum Neville, the father of Leo, was born in England in 1852 shortly after his family had converted to the LDS faith. He was named after the Prophet Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, the prophet’s older brother. The family came to Utah when Joseph Hyrum was 16 years old (1868). They stayed in New York for a year until they were able to go west with a church company.

Ann Lydia West’s family was also converted to the LDS faith in England. Her family, lacking in funds, sent Ann and her older sister, Caroline, with another family to Utah in 1862 when Ann was only 6 years old. In 1872, Joseph Hyrum NeVille and Ann Lydia West were married in Salt Lake City. Together they had ten children, Leo Jennings being their sixth child.

Joseph Hyrum was handy at many things including bricklaying, blacksmithing, surveying, and construction. He helped with the ornamental plasterwork in the Salt Lake City Theater. He later served as a justice of the peace where he had the sobering experiencing of carrying out the execution of an 18-year-old boy from Salt Lake City who had committed serious crimes. He received a call to serve as a missionary in the Hawaiian Islands, but this was changed to Great Britain, and finally to go to Big Horn County in Wyoming to help settle that area under the direction of Byron Sessions (1900). Their experiences in the Big Horn settlements were challenging. Ann, or Annie as she was called, describes it as the “worst pace I had ever seen.” They persevered, however, and slowly began to prosper. They found a gas well on their property, which brought them a good price for their land. This enabled them to build a nice house and a gristmill that Joseph operated. Joseph served three terms in the state Legislature but did not finish the third term due to illness from which he died (1924). Lydia died in 1930, a year after she wrote her personal history. She and Joseph are buried in Bryon, Wyoming.

Ann Lydia’s personal history provides a vivid description of the early settlement of Utah and the Big Horn Country in Wyoming. 

Ann Lydia West

From Linda Frye Hartley...

THE WEST’S: Spring 1862 – Ann Lydia West, and sister Caroline West, arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. They went with a Bro. King and his family. On October 4, 1863: Charles and Eliza West arrive in Salt Lake Valley. They are the parents of Ann Lydia and Caroline. The church website titles many companies who came across later as the Unidentified Companies. Source: West photo album/Journals.

William Stiff Neville

William stopped using his surname when he immigrated to this country and started using the family name of NEVILLE, his mother's maiden name.

From "Leo Jennings NeVille and Carrie Hatch"...
William Stiff Neville and Rachel Jennings

Leo Jennings Neville’s’ grandfather, William Stiff Neville was born in England in 1803.  His father was William Stiff. The Stiff surname dates back several generations and “has a heritage …of nobility.” William was given his mother’s name “Neville,” however, because his parent’s marriage had not been legalized at the time of his birth. William, however, preferred the royal surname “Stiff.” In 1826, William Stiff Neville married Rachel Jennings in Sherbourn, England.

William and Rachel were converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1852. Sixteen years passed before William Stiff and his family came to Utah and settled in Woodruff, Rich County (1868). William died in 1880 and was buried in Woodruff as “William Stiff.” Rachel died in Woodruff 21 years later (1901).

All of the ten children of William and Rachel took the legal name “Neville.” Joseph Hyrum [Leo Jennings NeVille’s father] preferred the French spelling “NeVille” which has been used by many in the family since that time.  Marriage place was either Sherbourn, England, United Kingdom or Hartley Wespall, Hampshire, England.

Rachel Jennings
Marriage place was either Sherbourn, England, United Kingdom or Hartley Wespall, Hampshire, England.