July 24th - Pioneer Day

Today is the day that we celebrate in Utah, the day the Pioneers knew that "This is the Place" that long awaited place for the Saints to settle and live away from persecutions. I can only imagine the relief of those who had traveled so far, and had experienced so many trials, tragedies, loss of loved ones, sickness, and famine. I would also bet that a few of them looked and thought that they certainly had alot of work to do now that they had arrived.

For my last post, I wanted to share with you a letter from a sweet Danish Pioneer woman, who expressed a few thoughts she had about her pioneer trek. Her name was Marie Louise Lautrup. I wished I could find a picture of her, but I don't. I hope that you enjoy this letter....

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I could not resist the temptation to write to you, because I know all of you will be happy to hear from Zion, your home. I long deeply to hear from you, from little Denmark, and to know whom the Lord has given the grace to emigrate home this year. I would also like to know whether any of my friends or acquaintances have joined the Church. I know that the work of the Lord goes forward with power every day, and it is a joy to hear the testimony that is constantly given to the Danish Saints. I have not yet had the opportunity to give you a description of this area, the beautiful valleys between the mountains. All of nature is remarkably beautiful out here. Salt Lake City lies in a lovely valley surrounded by high mountains that form a wall Around it. The city is not densely built up, like cities in Denmark. Nevertheless, it holds several thousand inhabitants. The houses are so far from each other that each one has a garden and a yard. Many people also have several acres of land outside the city. The streets are wide but unpaved. The sidewalks are made of clay and are lined with trees, as are the streets. Clear water from the mountains flows along both sides of the street like streams. It is fresh and delicious. It is remarkable to look up at the high mountains, which in many places are covered with forest. People drive up there to get timber and fuel. The cattle always run loose, and it is strange to see horses, cows, sheep, and all kinds of cattle grazing in the mountains. The slopes are very steep in many places, but they are so accustomed to it that it is nothing for them to run up and down. This is true not only of the Salt Lake Valley, but of the other valleys as well. Every city or town is surrounded by mountains. In some places there are sulphurous mountains, from which flows boiling water. I traveled past one such place between Salt Lake City and Farmington. People here dress quite like the Danes, especially the ladies. They wear round hats. The men's clothing resembles that of sailors; in the summer they wear colored shirts of chintz and in winter of wool. They usually wear coats and have straw hats as well as gray and brown plush hats. Their military uniform is a dark blue coat with gold buttons and gold braid, dark trousers with scarlet piping, a scarlet scarf, and now they have a new kind of hat made of black felt and silk plush adorned with black feathers. They are round and go up like a sugar loaf but look dashing.... The Fourth of July was American Independence Day and was celebrated everywhere in the United States. Here in Farmington it was celebrated with music and a military parade through the streets. Today is 24 July, when we remember the founding of the Church in the desert. The celebration was held in a forest in the mountains several kilometers from Salt Lake City. . .

Marie Louise Lautrup

A story and the photo above were printed in The Pioneer, S.U.P., Vol. 5 No. 7 Winter 1953, Page 19, as a reprint of an editorial which appeared in the October 15, 1953 issue of the Utah Farmer. These stories state that this log cabin built in September 1847 by Osmyn Deuel and located just north of the east portion of the old Fort was the oldest house built in Utah. The Pioneer, Vol. 6, No. 1, Spring 1954, page 23 retracted the two stories referenced above. The Pioneer corrected that the oldest cabin/house built in Utah was built at the mouth of the Weber River in 1845 by Miles Goodyear and he sold this cabin and his holdings of 225 square miles to Captain James Brown in November 1847 for $1,950. It is reported that he built two or three cabins and one of these is today preserved in Ogden as the "Oldest House in Utah".

July 22 - Orr, Maggie Anna Ferrell

http://www.suplibrary.org/stories/detail.asp?id=190 Copy and paste into your address bar and this will take you to the story of Maggie Anna Ferrell Orr, another of the wonderful Pioneering Women.

July 17 - Handmade by the Pioneers

Well ladies, it has been a busy day for me and I am just barely getting to the post for Friday, and in only about 15 minutes it is going to be Saturday. I found this site earlier on in the day that had separate links to many of the things that Pioneers did. I think as we look at these things, we can be grateful that we don't have to dip our own candles (unless we want to), churn our own butter (once again unless if we want to) and so many other things. Go to the following links and you can see how Pioneers did things. It is fun and interesting and made me appreciate the fact that I live in this day and age, and not when the Pioneers lived, however they wouldn't have known the difference.

I hope that by morning some of these sites are up and running again. I will check back and see, and for some reason, they won't open right now. Enjoy ther rest! Katie G.

This is the site http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodpioneer.html
Here is another source of good information: http://heritage.uen.org/resources/food_list.htm

Hand dipped candles
http://www.lhf.org/cgi-bin/gygactivity.pl?35

Butter Churning
http://www.lhf.org/cgi-bin/gygactivity.pl?22

1850 Cross-Cut Sawing
http://www.lhf.org/cgi-bin/gygactivity.pl?23

Ironing
http://www.lhf.org/cgi-bin/gygactivity.pl?26

Baking
http://www.lhf.org/cgi-bin/gygactivity.pl?21

Interesting Recipes
http://www.mdc.mo.gov/teacher/highered/crafts/craft19.htm

Emma Vilate Johnson

I came upon this darling picture when I was doing my Pioneer Women Research on the internet. It was such a darling photo, it intrigued me enought that I desired to find out more about this woman. I found this link http://myfamilyhistory6.blogspot.com/ and found that it took me to a wonderful blogspot that was created by a woman. Her blog is dedicated to family history.

Instead of adding a Pioneer Woman story, I suggest that you go to this blog and see the pioneering efforts of linking family of generations past, to the present and making ancestors live through the stories and photos that are displayed.

July 16 - Margaret Alice McBride

Margaret Alice McBride is another of my ancestors who traveled to Utah in the Martin Handcart Company. I was reading through some genealogy and stories that my sister sent me this year for Christmas, and I stopped for a moment to read about her life. I laughed at the very end of this story as it talks about a letter that was written about her that said, "Your good sister (Margaret Alice) is physically all well, but has lost her memory almost entirely." Now I know where I got the memory loss genes.... from my relative Margaret.

Margaret Alice was the youngest in the family of Robert McBride 3rd and Margaret Ann Howard. Born June 29,1853, in Southport, Lancashire, England, and given her mother's name, she came to be affectionately known as "Little Maggie." She was just short of three years old, when her parents finalized preparations to migrate to America. Boarding the ship May 13, 1856, they landed in Boston Harbor June 30, the day after her third birthday.

Little Maggie shared in the arduous journey across the plains and mountains into Utah, much of which has been outlined in the accounts of the lives of her parents and other family members. At the tender age of three years it is doubtful that she would remember very much about those significant events. There were many children in the Martin Handcart Company, and they were given all the care limited facilities could afford. Any old enough to go it on foot were required to do so. Little Maggie, a mere toddler, always had her special place atop the equipment on the handcart. At times she, with other children, rode in the wagons when crossing rivers or in other difficult or dangerous situations.

The mother, Margaret, suffered much illness during the trip, and of course the father, Robert, lost his life. Much of the care of Maggie fell to Janetta and the other youngsters, a duty they willingly shared. Even with all the attention the family could give her, Maggie suffered a great deal. The rigors of traveling and camping in a hostile wilderness, the bitter cold, lack of food and clothing, took their toll. The tot barely survived. After suffering from hunger and exhaustion, she would cry herself to sleep. Seldom is one of such tender years required to undergo the privations she did.

Even after arriving in Utah, life for Margaret Alice remained a struggle for many years. Those early years were spent in the small town of Eden, Weber County. Here she attended school and received what education the Western Frontier made available. Closely associated with the church, she learned at an early age to love the gospel and to cherish all the church had to offer. It seems that the trauma of crossing the plains and finally getting settled in Eden had welded the McBride family firmly together. Little Maggie held a special place in the hearts of those who survived with her. Loved and cherished by them, she grew to be a beautiful and talented young lady.

Margaret Alice married Erastus White Snow, son of Apostle Erastus Show, August 3, 1874, at age twenty. They were sealed on that date in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, as no temple had been completed in the church at that time. Shortly thereafter they moved to St. George, Utah, where they made their home for the next ten years. During this period five children were born to them, three of whom died in infancy. Their first, Maggie May, lived only one month; their third child, Clifford, lived two years, nine months; and their fourth, Herbert, lived just short of one year. Both boys mentioned died of diphtheria on the same day, May 5, 1882. These were trying times indeed for the young mother. From dates of events taken from the life of her mother (Margaret Ann), it appears that the latter was visiting with Maggie and Erastus Snow in St. George: one time when their first boy, Junius Claude, was born, January 2, 1877, and another time when the two younger boys died, May 5,1882. The mother's presence there may have helped young Maggie bear up under some difficult times.

In the year 1884, Margaret Alice and Erastus moved to Provo, Utah, with their two children, Junius Claude and Ethel. In Provo two more daughters were born, Edna, January 10, 1885, and Lucille, February 12, 1887. Sometime after the birth of Lucille, the Snow family moved to Salt Lake City. The purpose and circumstances of this move are not known. However, soon thereafter, Margaret Alice was left a widow with their four surviving children. Erastus died March 20, 1888, in Salt Lake city. (He was thirty-nine. Cause of death not known.)

A few years after her husbands death, Margaret married Antone T. Christensen. They lived in Salt Lake City until their children were married, then the couple moved to California (after 1912.

Upon the death of her sister, Janetta Ann Ferrin, Margaret was notified of her passing by a letter from their brother, Peter Howard McBride. Margaret's reply has been preserved. Written from Ocean Park, California dated January 22, 1925, the letter is informative about her condition at that time. Reproduced here, her letter reveals that she is happy and in good health (then seventy-one years old), although possessed with a certain longing to be nearer other family members, or return to "Zion."

A bit of correspondence adds to the record. This one written by Maggie's husband, Antone, upon the death of Peter's wife, Ruth Dated April 30, 1932, at Long Beach, California, Brother Christensen offers condolences, then speaks thus of his wife's condition: “Your good sister (Margaret Alice) is physically all well, but has lost her memory almost entirely. But she is loving, good and kind and I am caring for her the best I know how. Let us hear from you again soon” Your Brother and Sister, AT. Christensen

From this we gather that they were then living in Long Beach California, with Margaret's health beginning to fail, possibly from stroke. Apparently her condition worsened, rendering her physically debilitated. Margaret passed away in Long Beach, July 25, 1934.

All this information was found at http://www.surnames.com/documented_websites/arminta/margaret_alice_mcbride_.htm

July 15 - Julia Ann Chapman Lee

JULIA ANN CHAPMAN LEE
Submitted By: Rodney Orr Chapman

JULIA ANN CHAPMAN LEE
20 August 1825 - 10 July 1852

Julia Ann Chapman was born 20 August 1825, in Eugene, Vermilion County, Indiana to Isaac Benjamin Chapman and Solona Brown Chapman. She married Isaac Lee and had a daughter Mariette, born 1846, Elizabeth Ann, born November 20, 1848, Eliza Ann, born December 20, 1850. Isaac helped build the Nauvoo Temple. He was a member of the Nauvoo Martial Bank. He started west with his father's family in 1849, but his wife Julia Ann became ill on the trail, which delayed his coming. She died July 10, 1852 at Loops Fork, leaving him with three small daughters. He arrived in Utah in 1852 (the same year Isaac Moroni Chapman arrived in the valley with his three remaining sisters). When Isaac Lee was forced, because of his wife's illness, to pull his wagon out of Brother Benson's train, he camped for a few days to allow her to recover. In spite of the fact that she had rest and fresh meat, she still remained weak. Her cough was sometimes violent. Concluding that they could not make the trip west this summer, they turned back and by easy stages made their way to Loup's Fork. With good milk and the tender care of the sisters who were living there, Julia made a partial recovery. Feeling that his wife, during the winter, might have a better chance to recover back in Kanesville, Isaac made a bed for her in the wagon box, then slowly and carefully he returned to Missouri.
Immediately, Isaac set about finding a house. Although they were dismantling the houses at Winter Quarters, Isaac got a place there for temporary shelter. Being an experienced sawmill man, he found employment immediately. Leaving Julia in the hands of a few women
still living in Winter Quarters, he began looking for a more personal place to live. He was unwilling to take her into Kanesville itself, for it was often ravaged with malaria and cholera. Finally he found a farm on the east bench above the river which had been abandoned by one of the Saints leaving for the West. He moved onto this farm and hauled one of the log houses from Winter Quarters and set it up in a protected ravine filled with trees and shrubs. Here Julia felt more at home.
Realizing that Julia was pregnant again, they both did everything they could to strengthen her for the ordeal. The baby came on a chilly night on the 19th of November 1850. For a time it was touch and go whether Julia would make it. The baby was farmed out to a big healthy Scandinavian woman who nursed it along with her own child. As the spring came, Julia ate dandelion greens, drank milk, and lay stripped to the skin in a protected place until her body was tanned like leather. During this summer, Isaac raised a crop on the land he occupied. Although she was not well, Julia lived comfortably through the winter of 1851, doing as little as possible, allowing her body to heal.
With the coming of spring, the brethren made a concerted drive to get all the Saints out of Kanesville. Other than for Julia's health, Isaac was well equipped to travel. In the heat of the late spring, Julia gained some weight and felt pretty well. Deciding that they could safely make the trip, Isaac loaded the wagon, making a special bed for his wife. At first she did very well, cheerful that at last they could go west and be with their relatives. But as the trip continued, the strain began to tell. Some mornings she was unable to get up. When they crossed Loup's Fork they again pulled out of the line, getting one of the Elders who lived at the Fork, Isaac and he administered to her. She seemed to relax and feel better, but during the night she lapsed into her last long sleep.
After they buried her, Isaac was so grief stricken that he sat for days, staring in front of him, felled by his tragedy. One evening James Walsh came to his fire and said, "I have seen many tragedies along the trail, and I respect you for your grief, but life must go on. Now you owe your little ones an even greater responsibility than before. Now you must be both father and mother to them. Crying tears of anguish over your lost wife is right and proper, but you must never allow your grief to immobilize you. What would Julia want you to do? You have begun a great quest, which, unfortunately, she was too weak to finish. Now you must finish it for her."
Out in the night Isaac walked for hours, asking why? Why? But with the coming of midnight, a peace enveloped him like a cloud. His beliefs taught him that although her body was dead, she, herself was still alive and would wait for him. He must not fail her. The next morning, 10 July 1852, he gathered a bunch of wild flowers and placed them at the base of the rude plank marker. They yoked up the oxen and started west.

I found this story in the website of the Sons of Utah Pioneers, and this is the direct link to this story: http://www.suplibrary.org/stories/detail.asp?id=189

July 14 – Louisa Miller Belleston

I added this story as I think it is important for us to understand alittle bit about the Perpetual Emigration fund. The Perpetual Emigration Fund was organized by Brigham Young to assure that all worthy Saints, regardless of economic circumstances, could come to Zion. Members paid into the fund what they could afford, drew what was needed and endeavored to repay any differenceas soon as possible after arrival.

James Thomas paid into this Fund sufficient to provide an outfit for the journey across the Plains. Then, after making a visit to London to bid farewell to his family there, the Bellistons packed their provisions and took the train for Liverpool, the most common point of departure for Mormon Emigrants to the United States. They left three children buried in England and took with them four living children: William Robert, age nine; Thomas, just turned seven; James Thomas Jr. just five and Louisa Maria, not yet six months old. They sailed on 15 February 1853 aboard the sailing vessel Elvira Owen, in a company of 343 presided over by Joseph W. Young.Six weeks later they arrived in New Orleans.

It is a credit to the masterful organizing efforts of presiding Church authorities of that time that so few lost their lives in the crossing. Many immigrant vessels were lost at sea, but of 333 transatlantic crossings of Mormon emigrants, not one vessel was lost. Most in that time had never traveled far from their homes and were ill prepared for such a journey. They suffered great hardship, sickness and disease. But their faith sustained them.

For many, the sea voyage was more frightening and dangerous than crossing the Plains in a covered wagon. Everyone was seasick, especially in storms. In the cramped, dark, suffocating cabins, the odors and misery were extreme. Food was never ample and never appetizing.Rations consisted of beef, pork, peas, beans, potatoes, barley, rice, prunes, coffee, tea, rye bread,herring and oil for the lamps. Space for so many humans was inadequate. Beds were uncomfortable. Germs of all kinds thrived in the close quarters. It was a test for the hardiest.But it was often fatal for the infirm and for children, who were buried at sea encased in a canvasshroud, after a simple service.

The Saints on the Elvira Owen landed at New Orleans on 31 March 1853 and departed as soon as possible up the Mississippi River. This journey too was difficult. River paddle wheelers made about six miles per hour against the river current. Fire, collision and exploding boilers were dangerous and threatening. In the forty years between 1810 and 1850, more than 4,000 people lost their lives in steamboat disasters. But the Bellistons apparently made it to Keokuk without serious incident. They were among a sizable group who disembarked at Keokuk, Iowa,across the river from Nauvoo. Here they acquired the ox team, covered wagon and other supplies arranged through the Perpetual Emigration Fund.

For this one year the staging point for LDS immigrants was in this new city, where the pioneers found work building city streets and other improvements while awaiting assignment to acompany for the journey across the Great Plains. Their company was to follow the trail of the Nauvoo refugees across Iowa to Council Bluffs, and from there to the Valley.

Journey to Zion:
The company with the Bellistons reached the Salt Lake Valley on 6 October 1853, just under eight months from their departure from England. No modern city welcomed them. The Pioneers had arrived only six years before and the desert was still waiting to blossom. They had been a long time without the comforts of a home. They were greeted by friends from England,the William Reeves family, and moved in with them. When the Reeves moved, they continued to occupy the home which belonged to Orin Woodbury until they were able to build their own small adobe home at 268 West 6th South in Salt Lake City. James Thomas had worked in the adobe yard and sold adobes and had also made enough for his own home. He traded work for other supplies and finally traded his best suit of clothes for enough lumber to finish the house.

Sadness came to the family while they lived in the Woodbury house. William Robert died soon after his tenth birthday, just three months after their arrival in the Valley. Death struck again shortly after they moved into their own home, taking their second daughter, little two year old Louisa Maria, who had been named for her mother, Louisa. This left only two of their seven children living, until the birth in 1855 of Emily. Later, in a dugout in Payson, where the family had fled from Johnston’s Army, Joseph Ephraim was born. Sarah, their last child, was born in Nephi in 1864. Although it was not unusual in their time to lose children to untimely deaths,these deaths brought with them great sadness.

It is likely the family would have continued to live on their property in Salt Lake City,had it not been for Johnston's Army. When this large militia approached the Valley in 1857 to put down a phantom "rebellion" of the Mormons, Brigham Young dug in his heels and sent his own militia out into Echo Canyon to prevent their entry. James Thomas joined this force of 1200 men, which successfully stalled Johnson's advance. But in May of 1848, when Johnston's Army entered the Valley, the Bellistons and many others left their homes and moved away from the city. Later James sold that house, which had cost about $400, for a mere $100.

They moved to Payson, piled all their worldly belongings on the ground under the wagon cover, secured a small lot and proceeded to dig a hole in the hillside, surround it with homemade adobes and cover it with a sod roof. In this makeshift home with a dirt floor, Joseph Ephraim was born a few weeks later. One year later, James Thomas sold the dugout for a pig valued at$20 (which was promptly butchered for meat), paid Edward Jones $80 for a lot at 225 South First East in Nephi and built another home, where he and Louisa lived until their deaths.

If you would like to read more aout Louisa and her family, as this represents just snippits taken from it, you can read more by going to http://www.suplibrary.org/stories/detail.asp?id=136 Many more stories can be found on the site that I found this story which is "The Sons of Utah Pioneers" found at http://www.utahpioneers.org/index.htm