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