"Ann" as a surname? And a Bassingthwaighte disappointment...

I've been searching for my Pike ancestors, namely James Pike and his wife, Hester. The family lived in Alveston, Gloucestershire and all the children were born there. The only marriage that seemed plausible, however, was between James Pike and Hester Ann on 26 June 1811 in Bristol. I'm not sure if people from Alveston would have gone to Bristol to get married. If they did, though, and this is the correct couple, then I may have found a whole lot of new cousins.

There seem to be a lot of people with the Ann surname in the areas of Alveston and Olveston. These were such small places that everybody must have known the family!

Oh, and as for the Bassingthwaightes, I don't think they're related to me after all. I've found a more likely candidate for my Robert Johnson's wife (Mary Elseygood rather than Mary Bassingthwaighte), and now all the censuses make sense. There may still be a connection, as one of the children of Robert Johnson and Mary Bassingthwaighte was living with my Robert Johnson in 1841. Unfortunately, I don't know what the relationship was. (The two Robert Johnsons are perhaps cousins?)

Musings... about Mormons?

One of the tree branches I've been walking lately is a line of folks from the Norfolk, England area. They are variously Murrells and Johnsons, with some Bassingthwaightes thrown in for good measure. I was going merrily along, adding in some potential distant cousins to my database... when I hit a patch of polygamist Mormons. Now I think I'm getting carpal tunnel syndrome...

While not a Mormon myself, I know that there are quite a few Mormon families scattered through the family tree. This group that I was looking at today originated in Suffolk, England and settled in Utah in the U.S.A. I would love to know what the impetus was for packing up everything, heading for North America, and then traversing most of the continent to arrive at their destination! Things must've been tough in England. Why else would you risk your family's lives by undertaking such a journey?