Septimus Whitney Sears Jr.

26 January 1874–8 September 1922

Born 26 Jan. 1874 in Ogden, Weber Co., Utah Territory.[1] Son of Septimus Wagstaff Sears and Isabel Modalena Whitney.[2] Grandson of EBW.[3] Baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 14 Sept. 1882.[4] At age fifteen, traveled from San Francisco to St. Louis, May 1890.[5] Assistant secretary to the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, 1891–1892; testified in a fraud case concerning the chamber and the railroad.[6] Lived in Oregon and Idaho, 1893–1894.[7] Assistant bookkeeper in a mining office in Butte, Silver Bow Co., Montana, 1895.[8] Living in San Francisco, by Feb. 1896.[9] Married first Esther Julian, ca. 1896; one child.[10] Returned to Salt Lake City, Aug. 1898.[11] Started a brawl at the Salt Palace, in Salt Lake City, 24 Oct. 1899.[12] Draftsman, Salt Lake City, 1901.[13] Married second Gertrude Trindle, 30 Nov. 1902, in Davis Co., Utah.[14] Architect, Salt Lake City, 1904.[15] Wife died, 1913; married third Agnes Regan Fiske, 13 Nov. 1916, in Los Angeles.[16] Died 8 Sept. 1922 in Los Angeles; buried in Salt Lake City.[17]

 

[1] EBW, Diary, 26 Jan. 1875; 26 Jan. 1891. “Endowments for the Dead, 1893–1970,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. 2R, 10 Jan. 1923–28 Aug. 1923, p. 123, line 3550, Septimus Whitney Sears, 24 Jan. 1923, microfilm 184146, DGS 4551662 (restricted access), FHL. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 11 Oct. 2018), Septimus Whitney Sears (L7LN-1LN).

[2] “Endowments for the Dead 1893–1970,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. 2R, 10 Jan. 1923–28 Aug. 1923, p. 123, line 3550, Septimus Whitney Sears, 24 Jan. 1923, microfilm 184146, DGS 4551662 (restricted access), FHL.

[3] “Mothers in Israel,” Relief Society Magazine, Feb. 1916, 65. Carol Cornwall Madsen, Emmeline B. Wells: An Intimate History (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2017), 505.

[4] “Endowments for the Dead 1893–1970,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. 2R, 10 Jan. 1923–28 Aug. 1923, p. 123, line 3550, Septimus Whitney Sears, 24 Jan. 1923, microfilm 184146, DGS 4551662 (restricted access), FHL.

[5] EBW, Diary, 4–15 May 1890.

[6] “A Great Scheme: Young Sears’ Statement,” Salt Lake Herald, 30 Aug. 1892, 6. “A Startling Conspiracy,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 29 Aug. 1892, 4.

[7] EBW, Diary, 1 and 6 Jan. 1893; 26 Jan. 1894; 7 Apr. 1894.

[8] EBW, Diary, 22 and 26 June 1895.

[9] EBW, Diary, 19 Feb. and 24 Feb. 1896; 16 Apr. 1896. San Francisco Co., CA, County Clerk, Great Registers, 1866–1898; Indexes, 1866, 1888–1904, vol. 4-2A, folder no. 104, Septimus Whitney Sears, district 43, voter no. 179, reg. no. 200, microfilm 977261, DGS 5030225, FHL.

[10] “Mothers in Israel,” Relief Society Magazine, Feb. 1916, 65. “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1893–1956,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. R, 1922–1923, p. 781, 15907-8, Septimus Whitney Sears and Esther Julien and Gertrude Trindle, 16 Feb. 1923, microfilm 184609, DGS 5265747 (restricted access), FHL. “Sealings of Children to Parents by Proxy, 1893–1942,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vol. Q, 9 Feb. 1923–14 May 1924, pp. 24, 873, Sidney Sears and Esther Julien and Septimus W. Sears, 16 Feb. 1923, microfilm 1239621, DGS 7456196 (restricted access), FHL.

[11] EBW, Diary, 25 Jan. 1898; 15 Aug. 1898; 25–27 Aug. 1898.

[12] “All Hands Fought: Pearl Necklace Contest Ends with a ‘Rough House,’” Salt Lake Herald, 25 Oct. 1899, 8.

[13] Salt Lake City Directory (Salt Lake City: R. L. Polk, 1901), 665.

[14] Davis Co., UT, County Clerk, Marriage License Records, 1887–1966, p. 61, no. 122, S. W. Sears and Gertrude Trindle, 30 Nov. 1902, microfilm 483530, DGS 4624255, image 347/561, FHL. “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1893–1956,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. R, 1922–1923, p. 781, 15907-8, Septimus Whitney Sears and Esther Julien and Gertrude Trindle, 16 Feb. 1923, microfilm 184609, DGS 5265747 (restricted access), FHL. EBW, Diary, 29 Nov. 1902.

[15] Salt Lake City Directory (Salt Lake City: R. L. Polk, 1904), 755.

[16] California State Board of Health, Los Angeles Co., Los Angeles City, California Death Records, 1905–1930, Death Certificates, 1913, no. 3427, Gertrude T. Sears, 26 June 1913, microfilm 2368782, DGS 5597643, image 1454/2779, FHL. Los Angeles Co., CA, County Recorder, Marriage Certificates, 1871–1950; Index, 1856–1925, p. 166, Septimus Whitney Sears and Agnes Regan Fiske, 13 Nov. 1916, microfilm 2074192, DGS 4929843, image 534/1448, FHL.

[17] California State Board of Health, Los Angeles Co., Los Angeles City, California Death Records, 1905–1930, Death Certificates, 1913, no. 3427, Gertrude T. Sears, 26 June 1913, microfilm 2368782, DGS 5597643, image 1454/2779, FHL. “Salt Lake Burial for Car Victim,” Salt Lake Telegram, 10 Sept. 1922, 11.