WILLIAM MARION PENNINGTON was born 17 March l852 (from family records, death certificate) in Ohio (census records). The 1880 census for Frontier County, Nebraska, and later censuses indicate his mother was born in West Virginia, and and that he and his father were born in Ohio. After searching for over 20 years for my William Marion Pennington's parents, I found a listing in the LDS (Mormon) Church's International Genealogical Index in 1989 which I recognized immediately had come from a Bible record. I was ultimately able to ascertain that the listing had been submitted by a distant cousin. The listings submitted indicated that William Marion Pennington was the son of Marion Lucres (sic) Pennington and Emily Williams, and was born in or near Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio.

The LDS records also provided a marriage date that I had never been able to find.  This information was entered into the Mormon Church records by a descendant of Aunt Della Pennington Tarbert through her son Phil.

The Pennington Bible has been misread, which often happens because of deteriorating paper, faded writing, and difficulty in reading old handwriting. Now the Bible is said to be missing. At first I thought the name interpreted as "Lucres," was probably Lucas, which was Lloyd Pennington's middle name. I utlimately discovered it was in fact, Loveless. It took one of those strange, serendipitous, homecomings to determine the correct name.

On 31 December 1875 at Arapahoe, Nebraska (according to Peggy Weitz's LDS entries from the family Bible) William Marion Pennington and Abigail Marie Tucker, daughter of John Smart Tucker and Elvira Emerson, were married. The marriage seems likely to have been performed by an itinerant minister or circuit rider, according to Herbert Allen, a descendant of another pioneer family of Frontier County, Nebraska. Herbert Allen also related that one of the other Tucker daughters was the first marriage to be performed in Frontier County.

William Marion Pennington died 28 May l9l9 in Malheur County,Oregon while employed on a ranch near Vale or Brogan. No grave has been found for him, but his death certificate indicates he was buried in Vale and other graveyards seem unlikely since their records do not reflect his burial record. Vale records also do not record his burial, but in this case the records were damaged in a flood, so this would account for the record not being found there. My Aunt Opal and I went to Brogan and to Vale in 1987 and investigated the various possibilities. There is a large area in the front portion of the Vale cemetery where we are certain he is buried. It distressed us, because it is a dirt covered, lonely spot. He contracted rocky mountain spotted fever from a tick bite. My Dad said he was buried hurriedly because people were fearful that the disease might be contagious.

The Pennington daughters, (except Lucy) entitled "Seven Sisters." These are: Effie, the tall one in back; Emma, my Grandmother in the plaid dress to the left of Effie;
Rose -- little one in white pinafore; Clara -- next to Rose; the Baby - Belle, being held by Della;
Della -- holding Belle; Jennie -- standing next to Della.

Children of William Marion Pennington and Abigail Marie Tucker:
        These dates came from a typewritten transcript of "The Family Papers," originally prepared by John Smart Tucker. The original papers were in the possession of Florence Tarbert Reid prior to her death, and are no longer believed to be extant.

1. Mary Effie Pennington was born 4 Jul 1877, probably in Frontier County, Nebraska. She married Joseph Geossa.  She died in June l9l2.
2. Moselle (Della) was born 14 Jul 1879 and married Elmer Tarbert
3. Emily Elvira (Emma), my Grandmother, was born 3 July 1881 in the Black Hills region of South Dakota (Pennington County). She was married 4 December 1898 in Spokane County, Washington to Edward McDaniel. She died 23 January l9l2 in Idaho and is buried at Wild Rose Prairie in Spokane County, which is about l5 miles north of Spokane. Abigail Marie Tucker Pennington is buried at this cemetery and so are Abigail and Edward Riley, parents of Rachel Riley McDaniel.
4. Clara b. 22 May l882 near Red Fern, S. Dakota. Married Frank Tarbert on 28 Jan 1902 and died 22 October 1956. Aunt Clara was the best known of the Penningtons to me as she visited us when I was in fifth or sixth grade and I was of an age to remember more about her.
5. Jennie Forest born 4 March l884. She married Con Sinsel. Died in February l9l0.
6.  Almina Rose, called Rose, was born 10 April 1887. Married (1) Jay Lyle and (2)Ray Douglas. She died 7 January 1957.
7. Abby Belle b. 4 October 1891 near Missoula, Montana. Aunt Belle married (1)Martin Johnson, and (2) Everett Dearinger, 22 February l947. I had several letters from Aunt Belle and I greatly admired her spunk and her attitudes toward life. I only met her in person when I was six or seven, while visiting in Washington state with my Aunt Dorothy.
8. William Collins born 17 July 1894 near Missoula, Montana. Married 6 November 1930 to Mildred L. Rohner. He lived for many years at Baker, Oregon and died there.
9. Ollie Gertrude born 23 November 1896. Married 3 July 1915. Married Peter Brevick.
10. Lloyd Lucas, born 5 August 1899 near Spokane, Washington. Married (1) Louise Pugsley, m. (2) Nellie ________. Lloyd was amost exactly a year older than my Dad. They were friends, who shared similar attitudes towards the outdoors, hunting, and fishing. Lloyd moved to Alaska where he was a guide for big game hunters there. He was guiding another man when they were killed by a grizzly bear on l7 April 1956.
11. Lucy Ione, born 16 January 1904 near Spokane. She m. (1)Walter Blatchford and (2) Merle Weckwerth. I never met Aunt Lucy, but she was very kind and helpful to me in regard to the Penningtons. She had an interest in the family and she wrote me many letters and offered many suggestions for finding information. She had one daughter, Pat, and Weckwerth step-children. She died in the early 1980's in California.