Benjamin Freeman Bird

Benjamin Freeman Bird is my great-great-great grandfather.  He was born January 19, 1778 in Rahway, Essex County, New Jersey. 

He was the fifth of eleven children of Jeremiah Freeman Bird and  Elizabeth Marsh. He had four sisters and six brothers. He spent his whole childhood in that same area as all his brothers and sisters were born in New Jersey.

In the winter of 1832, Benjamin Freeman Bird and his wife Marabah Reeves lived in a comfortable home in Southport, New York with eight of their nine living children. As the snow blanketed the New York countryside, a single Elder from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints knocked at their door. He asked for admittance and keep since he was a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and was preaching without purse or script. Benjamin and Marabah were touched by the testimony that he bore. Over the next few weeks, by reading the Book of Mormon, they became convinced that his message was true. Because the Church was in its very early infancy, having been only 31 months since the church was organized, the Bird family had nowhere to turn for additional information. 

Benjamin wrote a letter to leaders of the church which read,  “I have received your papers almost one year; and because I held the Book of Mormon as sacred as I do the Bible, the Methodist Church (though I had been a regular member almost 37 years)., turned me out; but I bless God for it, for though they cast me out Jesus took me in." He further added, "I do not know as I shall ever have a privilege of uniting with this church, as I never saw but one Elder, whom I solicited to preach twice; and it caused a great stir and noise among the people. If any of the Elders are passing near, would they not do well to call?" 

Before a team of Elders could respond to Benjamin’s request, he lost his sweet-heart Marabah in the winter of 1833, leaving him with a heavy heart and the responsibility of raising eight children. As he shared his testimony of the truthfulness of the Church of Jesus Christ with his friends, many mocked, but a few hearts were touched. 

One who came to know by the Spirit that Benjamin’s testimony was true, was a woman named Margaret Crain. After a short courtship they were married on the 25th day of April, 1833. A year later, Margaret bore Benjamin a daughter. Finally in June of 1834, a team of Mormon Elders came to the area and having the necessary authority, Benjamin, his wife Margaret and several of the married children of Benjamin and Marabah, with their spouses, were baptized. 

Shortly after the birth of their next child, Benjamin, his unmarried family and his three married sons with their families, moved to Kirtland, Ohio as part of the gathering of Israel.  By commandment from the Lord, this camp of Saints, who were faithful to the Lord’s Prophet, took the wearisome trek to Jackson County, Missouri, ending their seven month march by camping at the site of Adam-Ondi-Ahman. 

In January, 1839, the Bird families were residing at Far West, Missouri, and were aggrieved participants in the maleficent scenes which have since proved to be one of the worst persecutions ever imposed upon any people. As they left Far West, the Bird families looked back and saw their homes in flames. They left Missouri with only the clothes on their backs in the dead of the winter, with nowhere to go. 

While at Kirtland and Far West, the Bird families became personal, close acquaintances with the Prophet Joseph Smith and his wife Emma. They gathered at Nauvoo with the rest of the Saints. In January 1840, Benjamin purchased the property now known as the Bird-Browning on Main Street from the Prophet Joseph Smith for $300.00 They built a nice two room log cabin with a root cellar, which has been restored by the Church, and dug a well.  

Benjamin and his family lived in the log cabin for three years. During this time they enjoyed all of the special cultural events that have come to mark the Nauvoo period as being one of the most unique in history. Since converts from all over the world came to Nauvoo and established their homes during those years, there was a great mixing of culture and arts. Bound by oneness, all being Latter-Day-Saints, there was a friendly blending of a variety of cultures and a feeling of personal pride and friendliness. The people, who had been persecuted and driven from Ohio and then Missouri, now lived in relative peace. They enjoyed a pronounced zest for life, which enabled them to live and appreciate the unique cultural advantage that was theirs. The Bird families traded at the store of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and often attended parties and socials at the Mansion House. There were several occasions where Benjamin played a friendly game of croquet with his friends and neighbors, which included Joseph, Hyrum, Wilford Woodruff and Heber C. Kimball. 

While living in the log cabin, Benjamin and Margaret were blessed with a baby daughter, who being born at this time of relative peace and prosperity, brought a great deal of joy and happiness into their lives. Also at Nauvoo, Benjamin enjoyed the association of several of his children and many of his grandchildren. His sons Phineas, Charles, James and Samuel all had their families at Nauvoo. He still had living at home two sons by Marabah and three children by Margaret. 

In the fall of 1843, disruptions, both internal and external to the Church were caused by John C. Bennett and William Law, who were at one time counselors to the Prophet Joseph in the first Presidency. Benjamin with his home on Main Street was in the middle of all the excitement and persecution. Because Benjamin was now 65 years old and had three children at home under the age of 9, he desired to move to a quieter location. He sold his property and purchased a large 50 acre farm on the outskirts of Nauvoo. 

Benjamin and all of his sons participated in the building of the Nauvoo Temple. One of his sons, Richard, was called on a mission to the Wisconsin Pineries. While on his mission Richard was involved in cutting down pine trees, which were then floated down the Mississippi River to Nauvoo where they ultimately were used in the building of the Temple. 

After the death of the Prophet Joseph, the Birds along with the other Saints worked under armed guard to complete the Temple. Most of the Birds received their endowments on the third floor rooms of the Nauvoo Temple. They were sealed to their spouses in the large rectangular room beneath the Gable. In fact, Nauvoo Temple records indicate that Charles Bird was an ordained Temple worker, which means that he worked night and day to assist those Saints who desired to receive their special endowments to do so, before the mob could destroy their Temple or drive them out. In two months (December 10, 1845 to February 5, 1846) Charles assisted the more than 5,000 Saints who were endowed in the Nauvoo Temple in the twelve and a half hour ceremony. This included washings and anointing’s, the endowment and the sealing of families. The ceremony was basically the same as it is today except it was acted out on platforms, sheets were hung from the ceiling to make rooms or compartments and there were several lengthy discussions instructing the candidates on the covenants they were entering into. 

Benjamin and his sons and their families were present after the martyrdom when Sidney Rigdon claimed that he was the guardian of the Church. They witnessed President Brigham Young transfigured into the voice, appearance and personality of the Prophet Joseph Smith and felt the Spirit bear witness to their souls that the Twelve should preside. 

In January 1846, the presiding Brethren decided to move west. President Brigham Young, knowing that Charles had one of the best teams of horses in the City of Nauvoo. He asked Charles if he would be the first person to cross the Mississippi River on the ice. On February 25, 1846, Benjamin Freeman Bird stood under the old tree at the end of Teardrop Lane and watched his son drive his loaded wagon across the frozen river to see if the ice was firm enough to cross. Because several of the Birds’ were weavers by trade, Benjamin and his sons and their families were asked to remain at Council Bluffs and Winter Quarters and assist in the outfitting of the emigrant Saints. Many had been driven out of their homes without an opportunity to take the necessary clothing and other items that they would need to make the long trek into the wilderness to they knew not where. The Bird family set up a woolen mill, of sorts, similar to the one that they had at Nauvoo, and thereby assisted in the emigration of the thousands of homeless Saints. In 1850 the Brethren invited the Bird families to come west. They emigrated with the Milo Andrus Company. There were 206 persons and 51 wagons in the Company. On this train with Benjamin Freeman Bird were his wife and small children and Richard and James with their families. This was the first company of emigrating Saints for the season, leaving Missouri in June of 1850. They took the pioneer trail on which the year before trains had passed which had been stricken with cholera. As the pioneers moved along they saw the bones of their dead comrades, as their bodies had been ripped out of their shallow graves by wolves and other scavengers and scattered over the country side. 

Benjamin’s son William marched with the Mormon Battalion in the historic trek that has come to be known as the symbol of dedication and patriotism of the Latter-Day-Saint people. To show the magnanimity and noble characters of the Birds' and their spouses, and the love the Birds' felt for their spouses, the sacrifices of Charles’ wife Mary Ann Kennedy, is illustrative. Mary Ann, after leaving her comfortable home in Hampton New York (she was the daughter of a doctor) experienced the apostasy of the Kirtland era and of the Far West War with six children under the age of 11 and at the time was six months pregnant. She bore a child while destitute in the wilderness before reaching Nauvoo, bore three children at Nauvoo, one at Winter Quarters, one while crossing the plains at Council Point and another at Salt Lake City. This means that she bore children at or near every major church historical site during these periods of driving’s and persecutions. She was pregnant and had a small family to care for during those times of serious trial when so many people of less character left the church. Mary Ann recalled having seen her home being burnt to the ground by the mobs four times during her lifetime as she was fleeing with her family for their lives.  

Benjamin Bird Home in Nauvoo

On one occasion, Charles and Mary Ann and their small family found themselves in the middle of the wilderness in the snow. They had to abandon their wagon containing all that they owned in this world. Mary Ann, pregnant, so over-extended herself in the care of her small family that her toes on one foot became so seriously frost bitten that she had to have them amputated without anesthesia. When the Charles and Mary Ann Bird family eventually arrived in Salt Lake City, they had only the clothes on their backs as possessions, but were grateful to be alive. The Bird families had paid a dear price indeed, to be gathered in the tops of the mountains to worship the God of Abraham. 

Soon after arriving in Salt Lake City, Benjamin had the privilege of being present when Apostle George A. Smith called his son James Bird to be the first Bishop of the Provo Second Ward and was also present when Elder Smith ordained him to that Office. Because of his advancing age and the trials he had been subjected to for the last 14 years, Benjamin found the peaceful seclusion of the Rocky Mountains particularly delightful. Several of the Bird families settled in the beautiful area of Springville and there Benjamin enjoyed the association of many of his numerous grandchildren and watched them wax strong in the Gospel. Benjamin crossed over into the Spirit world a content and happy man in 1862 and is buried near the home of his dreams in Springville, Utah.

Ancestral Line:  Janeal Kindred Smith... Kent Lewis Kindred... Fred Lewis Kindred... Luanna Mariah Bird... Richard Bird... Benjamin Freeman Bird

Wagon and Handcart Companies

Here is a list of some my pioneer ancestors who came across the plains to Utah, and the companies they traveled with.

Edmund Henry Kindred (1817 - 1874)	Milo Andrus Company
Elizabeth Mellor Albiston (1812 - 1879)	Darwin Richardson Company
Elizabeth Zimmerman (1831 - 1911)	Harry Walton/Garden Grove Company
Emeline Crandall Bird (1824 - 1898)	Aaron Johnson Company
Erastus Lamb (1804 - 1852)	James C. Snow Company
George Gotleib Zimmerman (1781 - 1866)	Harry Walton/Garden Grove Company
George Lee (1824 - 1868)	Edward Stevenson Company
Heman Allison Hill (1836 - 1907)	James Pace Company
Henry Soars (1799 - 1884)	Joseph Horne Company
James Finlayson (1830 - 1908)	James S. Brown Company
James Robertson Sharp (1809 - 1863)	John Taylor Company
John Albiston (1842 - 1915)	Darwin Richardson Company
John Albiston (1814 - 1891)	Darwin Richardson Company
John Smith (1781 - 1862)	Ansil P. Harmon Company
Joseph Smith Sharp (1840 - 1899)	John Taylor Company
Lucretia Higley Higley (1781 - 1865)	David H. Cannon Company
Lurancy Chase (1842 - 1927)	Daniel A. Miller/John W. Cooley Company
Mary Ann Lee (1846 - 1921)	Edward Stevenson Company
Rebecca Jane Higley (1845 - 1906)	David H. Cannon Company
Richard Bird (1820 - 1895)	Aaron Johnson Company
Robert Gregory (1826 - 1900)	Horton D. Haight Company
Selina Marshall (1846 - 1918)	Edmund Ellsworth Company
Sisson Almadoras Chase (1808 - 1872)	Daniel A. Miller/John W. Cooley Company
Suel Lamb (1833 - 1913)	James C. Snow Company

Elizabeth Zimmerman

 Elizabeth Zimmerman was my great-great grandmother.  She was born in Quincy, Pennsylvania on October 24, 1831.

Elizabeth's life story is written in her own words. 

"In my 69th year, thinking a sketch of my life would be of some use to my children, I will write from memory, not having kept a journal. I was born in the town of Quincy, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, the 24 of October 1831. I am not large, brown hair, blue eyes, light complected. I am the daughter of George Gotlieb and Julianna Hoke Zimmerman, they were both natives of Germany, they came to this country in 1804. 

When we started West with the Church my father was sure the Indians would kill us or we would starve, this was in the spring of 1846. We lived in Illinois, not far from Chicago, then a small town.  It was hard for mother to give up her home, we had only lived there two years. It was a lonely country to live in, part timber and part prairie.

In 1846 we went to Nauvoo. We were the only Saints in that part of the country. We had to stay in Nauvoo one month. Father had a large mare in a corral with our cattle.  Someone stole her and broke the fence down and let the cattle go so they had to hunt for them and found them all but the mare that made the team light. 

While there, I went to meeting in the grove and in the Nauvoo Temple when it was dedicated. I went all through the temple up on the tower. We had a large ox in our team that had a head and horns just like the oxen under the fountain. When we were traveling along so many made the remark that he was the image of them in the temple. He was a fine red animal.

Four families of us crossed the Mississippi River, it rained and the mud was deep, we camped there about one week, that was our first experience in outdoor life. 

Mother left all her folks, it was a great trial for her, she loved them, but she never saw any of them afterwards. Father and her were the only ones that joined the Church. One of her sisters, Catherine Eyerby came to Utah years after Mother was dead and lived with us children and died here, but never joined the Church.  

We had such muddy roads and had to travel slow, none of the men had ever driven oxen before. It was a hard trip for us, but we got there all right. 

Garden Grove was a lovely place to live in. part of the town was in the timber, and part in the prairie. Father went to Missouri and taught school among strangers, but we did not feel to murmur nor complain. The girls learned to spin and weave and make our own clothes. My sister Juliann went to Missouri to learn to weave coverlets. I wove one just before I was married and had it for years. We had some lovely times, there were so many young folks lived there, they did not care to get married till they got to their journeys end.

The first thing they did was to break land with large plows and from six to eight oxen on them, take an axe and cut it into the sod and drop corn in. It was called sod corn. Then it was fenced into a large field for all the settlers. We lived in our wagons and tent all summer. In the fall Father and Levi Thornton put up a log house, one room for each of us. We lived there the first winter then we had both. It was built of logs about a yard long and covered with clapboards split out of logs about a yard long and about 1/2 foot apart. One rafter under and one on top. Sometimes the snow would sift it through the boards. I well remember one night it snowed all night and the wind blew. Us girls slept in one room, in the morning the snow was half a foot deep on our bed. Mother brought us dry clothes to put on, for ours were all covered with snow. 

As soon as our corn was large enough to grate, we grated it and made bread of it. Then we ground it in hand mills. I would walk a mile with a bucket of corn, two of us went together and ground it to make bread. The mill was fastened onto a tree. Corn bread was all we had to eat. When we raised wheat it was ground and sifted in meal sifts. After awhile there was a horse mill put up. 

In 1846 (age 15) I became acquainted with Suel Lamb. The first time I ever saw him, he came to our house one Sunday in company with some other young folks. The next year I was baptized by John W. Smith who became a bitter apostate. The men had to go to Missouri to work to get something to eat and get our outfit to come to Utah.

My brother John got married and stayed one year after we left. We left Garden Grove the 17 of May, 1851. Arrived in Salt Lake City 24 September, 1851. Father was old and never drove oxen so we got a boy to drive our team, Al Clyde. There were about 20 families with us, a number of young folks. There were more joining our company when we left Winter Quarters. Our number was 50 families and 60 wagons. Harry Walton was our captain, he had traveled the road before. We stayed in Mount Pisgah several days. It was very rainy that spring and lots of mud and heavy loads.

When we got to Winter Quarters our team consisted of one yoke of oxen, one of steers, one of cows. When we got near the old camp ground, our lead steers turned and led the team into a slough to get a drink and turned our wagon over into the water. Most of all our things got wet, so did the bedding. We camped two nights and had a gay time drying our things and a good time sleeping with most of our bedding wet, but none of us took cold. 

The Elk Horn River was so high we could not cross it so we had to head it and had to travel several hundred miles further. Apostle Hyde took charge of five or six companies. There was no road and it drilled our teams. It took us one month longer. It was a wild country. Thousands of buffalo could be seen. One day we could hear them coming, a roaring noise when they were miles away. They came straight for our train. We could not get out of the way so half of the teams stopped and the others went on. As they came up the hill and passed between the wagons, ours was the second one that stopped. We had to give them room or they would have run over our teams. There was about five thousand of them. It took such a long time for them to pass. The men put ropes on the oxen horns and loosed them from the wagons. The women and children got in the wagons. It was a scary time, for our cattle were so afraid of them. We had some of their meat. It was fine we could cut it in slices, salt it, and string it on sticks and jerk it over the fire to let it dry. It was sweet and good. We were in a wild country. 

Our cattle got so they could hardly be controlled. There were a good many stampedes. Whole trains would run at breakneck speed. Spect half of our teams stampeded. One woman by the name of Ellen Weingsley jumped from her wagon. As she did so the next team and wagon ran over her and she never breathed again. She left one child and a sister. It was hard for them to leave her in that lonely spot. She was washed and dressed and some goods box put in the grave and she was put in and left. 

One day we traveled, all day till dark in deep sand. We had no water, only what we were hauling. It was very hot and our teams almost perished. When we got to water it was a warm slough and full of live wrigglers. We strained and boiled it before we could use it, then set it in the slough to cool it. In the night the buffaloes came near enough to frighten our teams and they stampeded so we had to camp there all day. We all washed in the boiling hot sun with no wood. The men had to hunt all day for them and found some with the buffaloes and had hard work to get them. One of our cows was with them. She was so wild they had to lasso her so they could milk her for the boys were almost perished. They said they could never have reached camp without a drink so she saved them. They were so glad she was there. 

Sister Tomson (who was Sister Horn's mother) died and was buried by the Platte River. The lonesomest night I ever spent, Betsy Crooks and I set up with her. There were a few wagons camped to one side so as to be out of the noise. We could hear the buffalo pass to go to the river. They made such a roaring noise we were frightened. 

There were two births in camp. There were many interesting things to see such as the Chimney Rock, the Lone Tree, the Devil's Gate, and a cave we went into, Independence Rock, we would climb on rocks, almost mountains. I often think it was dangerous. We might have run among wild beasts. 

Two or three days before we came to Salt Lake, Sister Farrer sent us some garden stuff by boy and sent some to all the company, but he sold some of it, that vexed her. But we did enjoy it after not having green all summer. We never forgot her kindness to us. 

We had many good times. We would camp at night, get supper, make our beds, and our chores would be done. When the boys would scrape off the grass, we would dance as if we were not tired. We had two good fiddlers and several good callers in camp. The men had to stand guard every night, 7:00 until 12, then 12 till morning, rain or shine. Sometimes it would rain and the mud would be hub deep. We would have to double team from six to eight yoke of oxen on a wagon. We crossed one stream, it was so deep and no timber to build a bridge, so they cut long grass and put it in and a few wagons crossed and they had to put in more. We camped on one side of the stream one night and on the other side the next morning and the men worked so hard all day. There were two wagons emptied and put into the stream, one behind the other and the women and children walked over. That was fine for us all to sit in the boiling sun all day on the grass. 

For a long time we had to burn buffalo chips as we called them or dung. There was no wood to get. Then we got to wild sage, it was worse than the chips. The first night to it, oh, how sick I got of the smell. We had to do all our cooking with it, everything was seasoned with it. When the wind blew, we could not relish our meals, but the Lord provided for our needs. 

We used tar to grease our wagons. The tar was carried in buckets swung under the wagons. We were getting short, but came to a tar spring. The men filled the buckets with tar. I did not see the spring but saw the tar. It was so far for the women to walk so we missed seeing it. 

Our supply was flour, meal, beans, dried bread, crackers, dried apples, sugar and milk, with some butter and bacon and a few dried parsnips. No wonder we were glad to get something out of a garden. One man killed a very large tortoise and divided it to five or six families, only kept one meal for themselves. It was fine, it was the only one I ever tasted. 

Our company was heavy loaded and we had to walk so much. I have walked twenty miles in one day. We had good health all the time for which we thanked the Lord many times. It was fun to see the green teamsters drive unruly teams. They would run around behind their wagons to head their teams if they were off. 

I will relate one incident of the hundred that I saw. . . One man, a clothesman, had a three yoke on his wagon. He never handled a team before. He was a blacksmith and had his heavy tools in his wagon, oh the times he had. One day we crossed a stream and had to go up a long steep hill, all had to double team when his wagon got part way up the hill the chain next to the tongue broke. The wagon and the wheelers went back in the creek so the end gate dipped water and most of the things got wet. The wagon had to be unloaded. 

All along the route, if any man had a mean ox he would sell it to the Saints. We had the largest ox in the company. He could start the load himself, but if he took a notion not to pull, they could not make him. He was good most of the time. 

We left Garden Grove the 17 of May and arrived in Utah the 24 of September in good health, stayed there a short time then we went to Lehi, Utah in 1851. This was settled in the spring before, there were only 15 families. We lived in one of Samuel White's rooms the first winter. They let us have half of their house, only ours did not have a floor in it. They did not charge us rent. Father made and mended all their shoes and us girls helped do her washing and would milk and help her. Mother did lots of her knitting so we paid our way. The Bishop offered to help us with tithing and donation but we would not take anything. Us girls would work at any kind of work we could get. I have worked and got wheat and meat, anything we needed. Father was old and could not do hard work, he got plenty of shoe making to do. We would rather be independent and pay for what we got. 

There were good crops raised that summer. Such fine squashes. We dried the tithing squash on shares, that was our first. We were glad to get to our journeys end but we had many lonely hours after being outdoors and on the move all summer to settle down to housework. Everyone and everything was strange to us. The Saints were very kind and sociable to us. It seemed odd to see old and young join in the dance. I liked it. In Garden Grove the aged did not dance. 

In the spring, Father bought a lot and bought a log house out on it. I slept in a covered wagon two winters. In the spring of 1853, we moved into a fort. The Indians were so hostile there.  

Suel Lamb crossed the plains in '52 and went to Pleasant Grove.  In the summer of '53 he went on a 1-year mission to Fort Supply among the Indians. While he was gone his folks moved to Lehi so he settled there. I was married to Suel the 30 of November 1854."

Elizabeth Zimmerman Lamb died June 10, 1911 at her home in Hyde Park, Cache County, Utah at the age of 79 years. 
 
Ancestral Line:  Janeal Kindred Smith... Janice Gregory... Elizabeth Sharp... Margaret Elsie Lamb... Elizabeth Zimmerman

Rebecca Jane Higley

Rebecca Jane Higley was my great-great grandmother.  She was born June 26, 1845 at Yellow Creek, Illinois. 

Rebecca was born just one year after the martyrdom of Joseph Smith. Her family were dedicated members of the LDS Church and emigrated to Utah.

She married Joseph Smith Sharp when she was just sixteen years old, on March 13, 1862. They moved to Tooele where they made their first home. 

Joseph and Rebecca had four children born while they lived in Tooele:  They were: Joseph Truman, born in 1864,  James Irven, born in 1867. William Franklin, born 1868, and Anna Rebecca, born in1870.

The family moved to Richmond, Utah the next year where they lived for two years.  Lucy Ellen joined them there as their fifth child in 1972.  They then were asked to moved to Franklin, Idaho to farm an area known as Poverty Flat. The sixth child, John Henry was born there in 1876.  

The family then moved to Preston, Idaho before the seventh child, Araminta Elizabeth was born in 1877. 

 

She died at age 60 on October 8, 1906 in Preston, Idaho  

Ancestral Line: Janeal Kindred Smith... Janice Gregory... Elizabeth Sharp... Joseph Truman Sharp... Rebecca Jane Higley 

Emeline Crandall Bird

Emeline Crandall Bird is my great-great grandmother.  She was born in the state of New York on June 27th, 1824.

After embracing the New and Everlasting Gospel, Emeline emigrated to Kirtland, Ohio with her family when she was eleven years old. She was baptized, and in 1838 she went to Missouri, and the following spring was driven out to Illinois by a ruthless mob. Her family settled in Quincy, Illinois and remained there for five years.  She was married at the age of nineteen to Richard Bird in March of 1845. 

They spent the winter in Nauvoo, and in the spring of 1846 after having their wheat stacks and homes and goods burned, was expelled from Nauvoo, together with the Latter Day Saints, to seek an asylum in the wilderness.  In July they landed in Iowa and there underwent many hardships such as sickness, cold and hunger and death.  In the spring of 1850 they took up the line of march not knowing whither they would go, to seek an asylum in the Rocky Mountains, and after a long and dreary march of one thousand miles through a desert country which took three months of hard traveling and passing through very many trying scenes they landed in Salt Lake City.  The first day of October they commenced a settlement in Springville and built a fort to protect from the savage Indians which roamed over the valleys.

In the spring of 1851 an organization of a branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was organized by Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball.  Soon after a female Relief Society was organized.  Emeline joined and was a member the rest of her life. 

Emeline wrote, "I, Emeline Bird, am the mother of six sons and four daughters. In November 1879 a Primary Association was organized in the different wards of the city of Springville and I was set apart as President of the Third Ward and served for ten years."

She continued, "In the year 1853 the Saints commenced a temple in Salt Lake City, a very costly and magnificent building, costing about two million dollars.  On the sixth of April 1892, at twelve o'clock the last stone will be laid."

Emeline died in Springville, Utah, at the age of 74.

Ancestral Line:  Janeal Kindred Smith... Kent Lewis Kindred... Fred Lewis Kindred... Luanna Mariah Bird... Emeline Crandall 

Joseph Smith Sharp

Joseph Smith Sharp was my great-great grandfather. He was born July 17, 1840 in Calhoun County, Illinois. 

His family was driven west with the exodus from Nauvoo which began in February 1846. They reached Council Bluff, Iowa in June, Joseph was six years old. 

For some reason the family then moved back to Illinois and lived for several years in towns from which they had come.  The family then moved west. Joseph turned sixteen in July of 1856. He was a big help to his father with twelve children, traveling hundreds of miles across the plains to an unknown land. They left the security of home, family, friends, prestige and jobs. Comforts and luxuries of the time were traded for hardships, hunger, sorrow, pain and suffering. Their lives were at risk, daily, in such an undertaking. This they did willingly to hold onto that which they valued most, their testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.


Later that year, five handcart companies were organized to travel West. The first three companies arrived in the Salt Lake Valley by October without serious loss. The Willie Company and the Martin Company left much later and were caught crossing the mountains in deep snow and bitter cold. When Brigham Young learned that two more handcart companies were en-route, he immediately took steps to send supply trains to relieve them. Joseph Smith Sharp was one of those chosen to leave immediately with one of Brigham’s wagons. He was sixteen years old at the time. He was large for his age, knew the trail as he had just come that way himself and he was mature and dependable.  The handcart companies were hundreds of miles away, near the Sweetwater River. They were in desperate conditions when they were finally met. It was the middle of December before all surviving emigrants from those companies were safely in the Salt Lake Valley.

Joseph stayed with his family for several years after they reached Utah. He spent the next few years helping his father prepare a home and farm for the family. He was the older brother who was looked up to by the younger ones. He helped support the family and matured quickly in his responsibilities.

During this time Joseph met Rebecca Jane Higley. She had been born in Yellow Creek, Illinois. They were married March 13, 1862. Joseph was 21 and Rebecca was 16. She was born just one year after the martyrdom of Joseph Smith. Her family were members of the LDS church and came to Utah. Family records indicate that Joseph and Rebecca were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City.   They made their home in Toole.

Joseph and Rebecca had three children born while they lived in Tooele.  The family moved to Richmond, Utah in 1871 where they lived for two years. Two years later they were called by the prophet to move their family to Franklin, Idaho, to farm an area referred to as Poverty Flat. The family then moved to Preston, Idaho. 

The children started school in a private home about one half mile from where they lived in Preston. Joseph was the school teacher. There were about forty students and school was in session only three months of the year. The sessions were opened and closed with prayer. Arithmetic and the alphabet were the main subjects taught.  Most of the students at that time were fortunate to have a slate and slate pencil. There were, however, very few books. The children took turns reading a paragraph as the book was passed down the row. For a number of years there were no regular salaries paid to the teachers. A tuition was paid by each child at the rate of one dollar per month, if the teacher could collect it from the parents. 

About 1885 Rebecca Jane gave her consent for Joseph to marry a second wife. He chose Emily Fellows, a widow, with two boys. Together they had one child, a girl, who they named Emily.  Soon after this marriage, Rebecca Jane decided it was a mistake for Joseph to have two wives and thereafter they were never entirely without domestic problems. That situation may have had something to do with the decision to sell the farm near Preston. Idaho and move to a small farming area near St. Anthony, Idaho. Joseph bought a farm there, Rebecca and her family moved with him, Emily and her children remained in Preston.

Joseph was active in the church all his life. He spent much of his time in positions in the Sunday School. He was Sunday School Superintendent for many years. 

Joseph had dropsy the last part of his life and suffered a great deal before his death. His legs became very bad and he was not able to stand during his last few months. He died in Idaho on November 25, 1899, at the age of 59. 

Selena Marshall

Selena Marshall is my great-great grandmother. She was the daughter of Thomas Marshall and Sarah Goode. She was born 22, February 1844, at Linton Hill, Herefordshire, England. 

Selena was baptized in England when she was 10 years old. Her father, Thomas Marshall, did not have good health and died in England. After his death, her mother was very anxious to come to America. She had the courage and desire to immigrate to Utah. She had five daughters and one son. One of the daughters was a frail, sickly child, and on that account she hesitated to leave their comfortable home, but she had a blessing given to her in which she was promised that she would go to the Salt Lake Valley and would not lose a child. This was a great encouragement to her. She made preparations as fast as she could for their departure from England. She, along with her children, left England in April, 1856 by railroad to Liverpool, where they sailed on the ship "S. Curling", comprising 800 souls of Latter Day Saints, mostly of Welch stock. Selena's mother also paid emigration for her 25-year-old unmarried sister, Maria Goode.  Sister Marshall was 34 years of age. The children were: Lavinia 12, Selena 10, Tryphina 8, Louisa 6, George 4, and Sarah 2. 

They sailed from Liverpool and landed in Boston about a month later. Here they boarded a train for Iowa City, arriving there in June. A few days after their arrival on the camp grounds, they joined a handcart company, and headed for the Salt Lake Valley, with Daniel McArthur as their captain and leader. This was the first Handcart Company headed for the Salt Lake Valley. 

Selena was next to the oldest child, and she had the responsibility of helping her younger sisters and brothers along while her mother and eldest sister pulled the handcart. Everyone, even the small children, had to walk unless they were ill. 

Every person in the company was given a pint of flour a day to make whatever they wanted. Selena always made her share into bread, and kept most of it to coax her sisters and brothers along, and it helped a great deal when they were so tired and weary. She sometimes helped others in their camp by gathering wood for their campfires. Some were wealthier than others for they had more supplies in their camp. These people gave bread to Selena for her help. She would keep it to coax the children along. It helped so much for her to keep the children moving along ahead of the handcarts. Selena asked her Father in Heaven to take away her appetite so that she could give her rations to the younger ones more easily. She got very weak but she seldom got hungry. When the children were tired she offered them a small piece of bread if they would go to a bush or rock that she would point out ahead, and she took turns carrying them a little ways to rest them. When they reached the chosen place she would give them a bite of bread. This was a very long and tiresome journey for these brave souls. 

They encountered a very disheartening experience on their journey. When the company had stopped to make camp after a long, hard day, they found that one of Selena's sisters was missing. Many were alarmed but the captain tried to quiet them by saying that the wolves would have her by that time, and he didn't want any more lives lost by going back and trying to rescue her. Selena and her mother really felt that they could find the child and started back in search for her. After going a short distance from camp, they both knelt down in prayer. Her mother had a feeling immediately that she would find her child. They did find her huddled up close to a large bunch of grass near the trail. The wolves howled on all sides of them, but they were so thankful to find the lost one that they were not afraid. The mother didn't forget the promise made to her in the beginning of her journey westward, and it buoyed her up on the road to her goal. 

When the company was two days from Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young and a few men came to welcome and cheer them on. Brother Young brought them a treat of gingersnaps. Each child was given three cookies. Selena kept most of hers for her little brother and sisters. 

Their journey proved a very hard one, and conditions were very bad in the Salt Lake Valley. They arrived in September, 1856. Here they camped a week to rest. Then they went on to Ogden.

The next year, Selena's mother married Joseph Chadwick.  Mr. Chadwick didn't prove to be a good husband, and she obtained a divorce in the beginning of 1860. That spring she left Ogden and took her family to Cache Valley, arriving in Franklin, Idaho in April, 1860, where they made their home. Selena worked very hard to help her mother get a home. She went to the canyon for wood, she plowed with an ox team, and she planted a garden and some small crops. 

When Selena was 18 years old, she became acquainted with a good man from England who was a widower, and who had just previously come to Franklin. His name was Robert Gregory.  They were married at the bride's home and lived a short time with Selena's mother, then made a home out in the Franklin Fort. Selena was very happy and contented with her fine husband. She became the mother of thirteen children, eight girls and five boys. Three children died in infancy. All the rest of her children married, had large families, and faithfully worked in the church in their respective wards.

In January 1865, Selena and Robert received their endowments, and Selena acted as proxy for her husband's first wife, Mary Stevens Gregory, who had died while they were crossing the plains at Fort Laramie, Wyoming. 

Selena worked as a nurse and midwife and helped many, many people through sickness, epidemics and childbirth. It is estimated that she brought 200 or more babies into the world, including all her grandchildren. There were many times the doctor would send patients to Selena telling them that she could do more for them than he could do. 

In November 1883 the YLMIA was organized, Selena taking the office of president. In 1894 the primary organization was effected, and Selena served as counselor in this organization for six years. Selena also served as a Relief Society visiting teacher for many years. 

Her husband, Robert Gregory, died suddenly in 1900, while asleep in bed at the home of their daughter with whom he was visiting.  

Selena contracted sugar diabetes and suffered several years from that disease. She cared for herself until December 1917, when she became bedfast and died in January 1918. 

She left a numerous posterity. She was a noble wife and mother with a sterling character, and did much good in this world. All loved her and her kind, loving ways. 

She was buried in Franklin, Idaho.

Robert Gregory

John Gregory was my great-great grandfather. He was born November 30, 1826 at Pitminster, Somersetshire, England.

Robert was raised in poverty, hardly knew what it was to have enough to eat and most of the time destitute for clothes. He went to school at the age of eight for one year, his education didn't amount to much. When he was ten years old he went to work for one pence per day. He had to board himself. When he was sixteen, he received ten pence per day working in a lime rock quarry; he thought he was rich. He worked like this for several years in the summertime. The winter times were very hard for him. He learned to read and write where he worked, taking advantage of every opportunity he had. Being active he obtained employment and tried to please those he worked for.

He attended the church of England for some time. He wanted to serve the Lord, but he could not find the way. When he was about 20 years old he met an elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints.  He and his friend went and heard the elders preach on the first principles of the Gospel. He was quite interested in their talks. They returned to preach in two weeks, Robert was delighted with their teaching. After the meeting he walked part way home with them and decided to be baptized. The following Wednesday according to appointment, he met the elders at a canal and was baptized. He was promised that the Bible would appear to be as a new book. He found it so and could read it with pleasure. It was meat and drink for him to advocate the doctrine of the gospel he had received. 

It was not long until he was called on a mission. He enjoyed it but had much opposition. He baptized three persons and spent much time preaching the gospel. 

He was appointed to go to Zion, but financially was not able to do so. He finally got a job at Plymouth in a sugar refinery for 12 schillings a week. His wages were increased until he was able to save money. He labored hard to introduce the Gospel wherever he worked. After eight months he left and went to Cornwall and worked in the mines for two or three years. He converted six people while there. One of his converts was a young girl named Mary Stevens.   He baptized her on July 14, 1854. They were married four months later. 

 By the year 1862 he had saved a good sum of money. They boarded the "Antarctic" steamship for New York with a small company of 20 Latter-Day Saints. They left New York on the same evening on which they arrived and traveled by train to St. Joseph, Missouri. From here they took passage on the steamboat "Amahi" for Florence, Nebraska. After four weeks in Nebraska Robert was engaged to drive a team to the Salt Lake Valley for $10 a month. His wife took very sick while on the plains and died and was buried at Fort Laramie, Wyoming, September, 1862. In October he started for Salt Lake arriving there on a Sunday afternoon. All members of the company agreed to give thanks to God when they reached Salt Lake. Robert was called upon to be the mouth in prayer. 

One of his old friends persuaded him to go to Franklin, Idaho arriving there November 15, 1862. He stood guard at the fort many times, because the Indians were so hostile. He held many important positions in the church too. After arriving at Franklin, Idaho he met Selena Sarah Goode Marshall. They were married in the old Endowment House January 2, 1863. From their union thirteen children were born.

For a short time they lived in a dugout. Robert, being a mason and very handy with the hammer and saw, built them a house which was the first in Franklin. It was a very humble home. It consisted of two rooms made of sand-rick. They used a board for a bench and table. Four posts and two 2 X 4's with rope threaded through to hold a straw tick was their bed. He made all of their furniture, but dishes were very scarce. He soon managed to get a farm. Selena worked for some saints and received some money that way.  For light they made candles of tallow. Selena studied and became a nurse and mid-wife. She went out practicing and helping all her fellowmen from one end of the valley to the other. 

They bought another farm in Cove, Utah and moved there with the first settlers in 1871.  

One day he went to the church house and paid his tithing of $100. The bishop made a comment on his honesty in paying his tithing and also toward his fellowmen. Robert replied that he didn't owe any man and now he was straight with the Lord. He said "I am going now to visit all my children."  He started that evening to make his visits by making the first with his daughter Sarah Porter at Mapleton. He arrived there that evening and died during the night at the age of 74. It was December 28, 1900. His life had been full.

Sarah Clifford Wilson Finlayson

Sarah Clifford Wilson Finlayson is my great-great grandmother.  She was born in England on September 5, 1848.

Her parents were John and Elizabeth Clifford. She had an older sister, Emma, and a younger brother, Thomas.

Sarah grew up and was educated in Eastwood.  She learned to become a seamstress and did beautiful handwork, embroidery and crocheting.

Sarah and her family belonged to the Church of England. Sarah's mother's sister became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when she was baptized in 1848.  Sarah's grandfather, Henry Soar, was baptized three weeks later. John and Elizabeth and their daughters were baptized nearly thirteen years later in 1861.

Sarah's father, John, was not to have the privilege of enjoying the new gospel with his family for very long. About a year later, John Clifford, whilst working in the Moorgreen Colliery Mine was placing a charge of powder for blasting down the coal when it accidentally caught fire and exploded. John was brought home, his body mangled, suffering from multiple injuries and lived until about 10 o'clock in the evening.  He left his wife and three children to mourn his loss.

Sarah's mother, Elizabeth, later married Matthew Coleman, a widower, and moved to Selston, there were no children from this marriage. At the time of her mother's second marriage, Sarah was about seventeen years of age. Elizabeth lived in Selston until the death of her second husband, then she went to live with her son Thomas where she died in 1911.

Sarah met and married Anthony Wilson in the Eastwood Parish church in 1867. Although she was a Mormon, England only recognized marriages that were performed in the Church of England. Anthony was born in 1946 in Eastwood, Nottingham, England. He was baptized into the church in 1869.

Sarah and Anthony became the parents of three children, Elizabeth: born September 1, 1867 and died at age 2; Emma: born in 1869, and John: born in 1870.  Their happiness was of short duration, Anthony Wilson worked in the same mine as Sarah's father had done.  When they had been married for only four years, there was another accident in the mine that clained the life of Anthony, age 25. The mine again brought sorrow to her.  Many saints journeyed to Eastwood to attend the funeral services of Brother Wilson.  He was a faithful member of the church and was loved and respected by the Saints.

Following the death of her husband, Sarah was caught up in the spirit of the gathering of Israel and with the money the mining company gave her, she emigrated to Utah. Sarah with her two children, Emma and John, left England in 1871 on the ship "Nevada".  Sarah was 23 years old, her daughter Emma was 2, and John was an infant. There were 300 Saints on board.  The company arrived in New York on November 1st, and arrived in Salt Lake City on November 11th. (Note from Janeal...Ten days?? I think she must have traveled from New York to Utah by train...the transcontinental railroad was completed two years before Sarah's journey in 1869.)

Sarah's sister, Emma, had previously emigrated and had married William James Stone, they lived in Ogden.  Sarah stayed with her sister in Ogden for some time. While there, sorrow again came to her.  She was called to part with her baby son, John who died in 1872 and was buried in Ogden.

Sarah's grandfather, Henry Soar, and her Aunt Mary had migrated and were living in Payson. They told her that if she came to Payson she could get work.  After moving to Payson she secured work at the home of her brother. Here in Payson she met a widower, James Finlayson. James had been married twice before. His first wife, Jane Malcolm, died of an illness in St. Louis in 1858, there had been no children from this union. He and his second wife, Mary Ada, were the parents of five children.  Mary died in 1871, leaving three living children, two boys and a baby girl, Lisle Sarah.  Mary's sister raised Lisle so when Sarah met James, he had two little boys, and she had one girl, her little Emma. James said that one day he was going to town when he saw a lady going up the street, holding a child by the hand, and something seemed to say to him, "That is your future wife."

Sarah and James were married in the Endowment House in 1873.  In addition to their three living children, they together became the parents of twelve children. 

On April 9, 1889, twins were born, a boy and a girl, Louis and Louie. They were both very sick and weak, Louis died February 3rd, and Louis followed on March 8th. The following January, Maggie was born, and their last child, Roxie Eliza was born in 1892.  This made fifteen children for Sarah, and seventeen for James.

As her children grew, Sarah was able to accept positions in the church and community. She was on the burial committee for 35 years. Day or night, when a call came, she went to help. Burial clothes had to be made for them, so many a time Sarah sewed into the wee hours of morning, an act of service she willingly performed.

James died on December 19, 1908, and Sarah followed on January 25, 1912.
Ancestral Line:  Janeal Kindred Smith... Kent Lewis Kindred... Chloris Hill... Alice Mary Finlayson... Sarah Clifford Wilson Finlayson