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parowan ut

5 posts

    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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      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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        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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          WOOD, George Lymer: An Incident in the Life

          "The usual method of disposing of the dead was to weight the bodies and dump them overboard. When others and I asked the privilege of removing our dead and burying them on land, the Captain was hateful and mean about it. All of my dear ones except Samuel's wife I had to perform this last earthly service for. Others of the party had sustained like losses, and were as anxious as I to bury them as decently as possible. The Captain at last agreed to wait and we hired a Negro to help dig a trench big enough to put them in all together. We removed the dead from the boat and began our heart¬breaking task, but had it only partly done when the boat whistle blew and the boat began to get underway. All ran hastily back except the Negro, one woman and myself. She and I stood at the grave site of our dead and watched them go. What bitterness of spirit I experienced only God knows. Was this what I had come to America, the home of the brave, for? Here I was with two strangers standing beside the open grave of a group of strangers. Our common interests were all lying before us or fast receding from sight, subject to the whim of a heartless thing in human form. "Surges of emotion swept over me, sorrow, anger, love, fear, and despair, but my nearest duty was to protect these rapidly decomposing dear forms of mine from the ravages of wild beasts, heat, and other elements. Perhaps I had been blessed and spared to perform this last service. If! were dead with them our bodies would rot together. So I urged on my companions the need for work. I felt responsible for seeing this thing through.
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