Browsing Tag

kirtland oh

22 posts

    HIGGINS, Nelson: Through it All

    Prior to leaving Nauvoo, Daniel Allen, Nelson Higgins, and Samuel Shepherd were called as a committee to sell properties belonging to the saints in the Bear Creek area. They were successful in collecting a good deal of money for the saints, but when they returned, the mobs had hit Nauvoo and the exodus had already begun (4). This is the first thread we find that ties the families of Nelson Higgins and Daniel Allen in their dedicated struggle for survival. Their relationship must have been a close one because Daniel’s daughter, Diantha, married Nelson’s son, Alfred. We know Daniel was one of the last three families to leave Nauvoo, so there is a good possibility that the other two wagons were those of Nelson & Samuel. Also, Daniel went to Manti to set up a tannery in 1854, and the two children were married in 1858, so their friendship must have lasted a lifetime.
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      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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        YOUNG, John Ray: Experiences

        John R's mother was ill and stayed in Winter Quarters, but John R and his brother Franklin W ( 8 ) left soon after the advanced party, in the Jedediah M Grant Company. In his book John R. states that they were no ones responsibility, but everyones chore boys. It is heart renching to me to picture a sick mother sending a 10 year old son on a 1000 mile treck through wild country with an 8 year old in tow. One morning when they were camped on Hams Fork near Ft Bridger, in what is now Wyoming, a cow was sick and would not get up. John was left behind to try to get her up and bring her to the next camp site. It is terrible to think of the fear he felt as the last dust settled from the wagons as they faded from view. While tending the cow he saw an Indian across the river, and he decided to leave the cow and head for camp. The next morning several men returned to the previous camp site, and found that the cow had been butchered by Soux Indians 'on the war path after Shoshones', This band raided Ft Bridger, but left the Mormon train alone except for one sick cow.
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          ALLEN, Joseph Stewart: Blessings For Those Who Serve

          "I simply cannot go on any farther; my feet are too sore." They sought out a fallen log (tree) and there sat down to rest. There, too, they knelt down to pray. They prayed for some shoes out there in that raw, bleak country away from stores or from any town where shoes could be bought if they had the money to buy them. They must have had great faith for after sitting there awhile longer to rest they rose to go on and saw there beside the log a pair of shoes. "They were surely meant for you, Brother Allen," said his companion. "They would not do for me at all. They are too small." So Joseph put on the shoes which fit perfectly and they traveled on.
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            DURFEE, Edmund

            The mob told them to go back. Edmund Durfee hesitated and pleaded for them to allow him to put out the fire and the mob shot him down. They took his body and set it up against some hay and three or four of the mob shot him to make sure he was dead.
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              SHIRTS, Peter

              The road was to follow an old Indian trail on the west edge of the Black Ridge. When asked how the wagons would get across the deep canyon which barred the way, he replied, “We’ll leap it!” The 165 ft deep canyon crossing became “Peter’s Leap.” The stream became “Leap Creek.” A sturdy windlass was erected on top of the north canyon wall. The wagons coming from the north were stopped here. The cargo was lashed securely to the wagon box. The teams were unhitched and led down the winding 30 percent grade to the canyon bottom.
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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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