ALLEN Jr., Daniel: A Life of Consecration

Having completed their assignment, Daniel and his committee returned to Nauvoo, only to find buildings burning, mobs raging, and the saints gone. Daniel hurried to his home to find that his family was still alive, but his wife Mary Ann had just had a new baby and was very ill. He pled with the mob to let him stay a few days so his wife could recover, but they said they would kill them all if they weren’t gone by the next day. They hurriedly loaded what they could in the wagon and made a bed for Mary Ann and the baby. The Allen wagon was one of the last three to leave Nauvoo. They traveled together for a short distance, but couldn’t keep up because of Mary Ann’s grave condition. Being left alone with only one other wagon, they trudged through the mud and snow as best they could until they reached the head of Soap Creek (it looks like this might be less than 100 miles from Nauvoo). Mary Ann had struggled so valiantly, but could endure no more, so she whispered her last words to her loving husband…”We’ll meet again dear love in a better world and I shall wait your coming”. She died on the trail in May, 1846, along Soap Creek, Davis County, Iowa with no one but her family and the angels in heaven to mourn her passing.
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TAYLOR, William & Elizabeth Patrick

After the surrender of the city, the Taylors returned to their home, a distance of eight miles. There they found that about 7,000 of the mob had camped for two nights at or near their place, turning their horses into the Taylor’s cornfield. The mob ate or destroyed about 300 bushels of potatoes, 75 geese, 100 chickens, several head of cattle, 40 head of hogs, 20 stands of bees; also, they had burned about one mile of rail fence in their campfires.
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BINGHAM, Erastus

Erastus Bingham stood up on his wagon wheel and talked to the Saints, telling him that he proposed to obey the council of president Brigham Young, that he and his family would remain until Spring and invited all to join with him in accepting the invitation of the Indians to share their camping ground. About one half of the company remained with Erastus Bingham; the others decided to attempt the journey Westward with their commander, Bishop Miller. They pushed on Westward but met with a great many losses. The Indians stole some of their animals; and they suffered from the cold and lack of food and were compelled to return, some of them camping near Erastus Bingham’s camp. The Ponca Indians were very kind to the families who were sharing with them their camping ground, even bringing meat for some of the most destitute families. They wintered with the Ponca Indians, living in their wagons and a wickiup the friendly Indians provided for them.
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KILLIAN, Captain John

When the Elders administered to me, Brother Killian being mouth, I was in bed. He poured the oil on my forehead and I jumped right out of bed and put on my clothes. On hearing that Robbins was going to Quincy in the morning, I walked up to his house, three-quarters of a mile, and went with him in his carriage to Quincy, remained all day and returned with him at night.”
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