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Of Their Own Choosing

James Munns, 1820–1906 · Elizabeth Collis Munns, 1825–1918 · Orwell, England to Lehi, Utah

About the film

A gardener and his wife, a faith that cost them work and their children's schooling, twenty years of saving, and a crossing that brought their family to Utah. Of Their Own Choosing is the 20-minute film we made for the Munns family. It follows James and Elizabeth from a room in a brick stable in Orwell, Cambridgeshire, across the Atlantic in 1877, to a little adobe cottage in Lehi, Utah. More than 700 descendants. It began with one decision.

Fact sheet

James Munns1820–1906
Elizabeth Collis Munns1825–1918
Early homeA room in a brick stable in Orwell, Cambridgeshire, England
James's workGardener
Baptism26 May 1850, in a brook, by his friend and fellow workman Elijah Parcell. He would not be baptized without telling Elizabeth first.
The costA faith that cost them work and their children's schooling
The crossingAfter twenty years of saving, they sailed from Liverpool in October 1877 with Sarah, Arthur, Annie and Henry: thirteen days on the Atlantic
ArrivalSalt Lake City, 7 November 1877
Later homeA little adobe cottage in Lehi, Utah
LegacyMore than 700 descendants

Every Forebear film starts from the records; each client film comes with a fact sheet showing the source for each fact. Dramatized dialogue is labeled on screen. Animated with AI tools, built from real records.

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