Tag Archives: polygamy

Rebecca Eleanor Collins

Rebecca Eleanor Collins

Alfred Cordon was married multiple times during his lifetime. He married Emma Parker in England, Emily Pridmore and Mary Ann Voss here in Utah. He technically married a four wife in 1852 by the name of Rebecca Collins.

In Salt Lake City at the endowment house, Heber C Kimball married Rebecca to her late husband Michael Fannon for time and eternity and to Alfred Cordon for time only. This was on February 7, 1852. Rebecca then passed away on April 19, 1852, just 6 months after arriving to the valley from England.SisterFannon-DeathNotice1852

Rebecca was born on the 9th of March 1800 in Eversham, Worcester, England. She married Michael Fannon on the 19th of July 1824 at St. Mary-Le-Bone, Middlesex, England. I don’t believe they had any children as Michael died in 1846 while living in Birmingham, England.

This is where Alfred Cordon met Sister Fannon. He mentions her a few times in his journals, in 1849, as a place he would stop to get a good meal and a place to sleep while in the area. She was 17 years older then him and took care of him while he was on his mission. You can read the references to her in his typescript journal on pages 254, 256, 281, 294,306, 337, 348 and 354.

After her husbands death we know she sailed for America arriving in New Orleans in March 1851. Alfred Cordon had just returned home from his mission and was with his family in Kanesville (Council Bluff) preparing to trek to the Salt Lake Valley. We can assume Rebecca joined him at some point as the next mention of her is in the endowment house record of their marriage in Feb, 1852.