Augusta Brannan Joyce
Born 9 Oct. 1844 in Boston.[1] Daughter of John Joyce and Caroline Augusta Perkins.[2] Sailed with her parents on the Brooklyn; left New York, 4 Feb. 1846, and arrived in Yerba Buena (later San Francisco), Mexico, 31 July 1846.[3] Moved to San Bernardino, San Bernardino Co., California, after her father apostatized and her mother married Colonel Alden A. M. Jackson, 1852.[4] Baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1853.[5] Moved with her family to St. George, Washington Co., Utah Territory, 1865, and to Salt Lake City, 1869.[6] Appointed as secretary of the Relief Society in St. George, 1867, and was also appointed as a teacher in the Sunday School.[7] Married George Washington Crocheron, 8 Aug. 1870, in Salt Lake City; five children.[8] Served as secretary of the Salt Lake City Ninth Ward Relief Society and as secretary of the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association of the Salt Lake Stake, 1875.[9] Award-winning author and poet; published in the Contributor and Woman’s Exponent; encouraged by EBW and published a collection titled Wild Flowers of Deseret.[10] Published Representative Women of Deseret, a Book of Biographical Sketches, 1884.[11] Created a pencil sketch, titled Joseph Rebuking the Guard, used by the artist Dan Weggeland to create a painting, 1888.[12] Wrote The Children’s Book: A Collection of Short Stories and Poems; A Mormon Book for Mormon Children, 1890.[13] Died 17 Mar. 1915 in Salt Lake City.[14] Tribute to her written by EBW and published in the Relief Society Magazine, July 1915.[15]
[1] “Endowment of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vol. G, p. 109, line 5, Augusta Brannan Joyce, microfilm 1239501, DGS 7751472 (restricted access), FHL. Augusta Joyce Crocheron, Representative Women of Deseret, a Book of Biographical Sketches, to Accompany the Picture Bearing the Same Title (Salt Lake City: J. C. Graham, 1884), 97–108. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 25 July 2018), Augusta Branum Joyce (K2W1-Q3D).
[2] “Endowment of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vol. G, p. 109, line 5, Augusta Brannan Joyce, microfilm 1239501, DGS 7751472 (restricted access), FHL. Augusta Joyce Crocheron, Representative Women of Deseret, a Book of Biographical Sketches, to Accompany the Picture Bearing the Same Title (Salt Lake City: J. C. Graham, 1884), 97–108.
[3] Augusta Joyce Crocheron, “The Ship Brooklyn,” The Western Galaxy 1, no. 1 (Mar. 1888): 78–84. “Passenger Lists: San Francisco 1800s,” Ship Passengers—Ship Captains, Maritime Heritage Project (http://www.maritimeheritage.org/passengers/br073146.htm, accessed 8 June 2020).
[4] Augusta Joyce Crocheron, Representative Women of Deseret, a Book of Biographical Sketches, to Accompany the Picture Bearing the Same Title (Salt Lake City: J. C. Graham, 1884), 105–107. 1860 U.S. Census, San Bernardino, San Bernardino Co., CA, p. 16, Augusta Jackson.
[5] “Endowment of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vol. G, p. 109, line 5, Augusta Brannan Joyce, microfilm 1239501, DGS 7751472 (restricted access), FHL.
[6] Augusta Joyce Crocheron, “Some of Our Poets,” Juvenile Instructor, 1 Mar. 1903, 129–132. “Augusta Joyce Jackson,” Pioneer Database (http://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravels, accessed 17 July 2018). 1870 U.S. Census, 15th Ward, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory, p. 14, Augusta Jackson.
[7] “Notable Utah Women: Augusta Joyce Crocheron,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 17 Mar. 1900, 24.
[8] “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. F, p. 285, line 16943, George Washington Crocheron and Augusta Brannin Joyce, 8 Aug. 1870, microfilm 1149515, DGS 7226456 (restricted access), FHL. Augusta Joyce Crocheron, Representative Women of Deseret, a Book of Biographical Sketches, to Accompany the Picture Bearing the Same Title (Salt Lake City: J. C. Graham, 1884), 108.
[9] “Notable Utah Women: Augusta Joyce Crocheron,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 17 Mar. 1900, 24. Susa Young Gates, History of the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from November 1869 to June 1910 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1911), 433.
[10] Thomas W. Herringshaw, Local and National Poets of America: Biographical Sketches and Choice Selections from Over One Thousand Living American Poets (Chicago: American Publishers Association, 1890), 507. “The Contributor Christmas Story,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 10 Dec. 1883, 761. “Prize Story and Poem,” Contributor, Dec. 1884, 114. “The Holiday Contributor,” Salt Lake Herald, 25 Dec. 1887, 8. Augusta Joyce Crocheron, Woman’s Exponent Index, 1883–1886, 2:7. Augusta Joyce Crocheron, “California Memories,” Contributor, Oct. 1885, 19–22. Augusta Joyce Crocheron, “A Dream,” Contributor, Dec. 1887, 33. Augusta Joyce Crocheron, Wildflowers of Deseret (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor, 1881).
[11] Augusta Joyce Crocheron, Representative Women of Deseret, a Book of Biographical Sketches, to Accompany the Picture Bearing the Same Title (Salt Lake City: J. C. Graham, 1884), 97.
[12] “A Striking Scene,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 3 Oct. 1888, 601. Augusta B. Joyce Crocheron, To My Friends (Bountiful, UT: By the author), copy at CHL.
[13]Augusta Joyce Crocheron, The Children’s Book: A Collection of Short Stories and Poems; A Mormon Book for Mormon Children (Bountiful, UT: By the author, 1890). “A Book for Children,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 13 Dec. 1890.
[14] “Utah State Archives Indexes,” database and images, Utah State Archives (https://archives.utah.gov, accessed 8 June 2020); Utah Department of Health Office of Vital Records and Statistics Death Certificates, series 81448, file no. 433 (1915), Augusta J. Crocheron. “Tender Tributes to Augusta J. Crocheron, Gifted Utah Poetess,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 20 Mar. 1915, 2.
[15] EBW, “Augusta Joyce Crocheron: A Tribute,” Relief Society Magazine, July 1915, 301.