Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Biography of Mary Boggs Perry (1843-1915)

Biography of Mary Boggs Perry

Mary Boggs Perry was born 12 April 1843 in Nauvoo, Illinois, a daughter of Francis Boggs and Elvina Martin. In 1847 she came with her mother and brother and sisters across the plains to Utah, being in the first ten of the second fifty of the first hundred under Daniel Spencer’s company, arriving in Salt Lake City in September, 1847.

Her father came in the first pioneer company under Brigham Young. The family lived in Salt Lake City for three years residing in the Eighth Ward. In 1850 they moved to Springville and lived there until 1857 when the family moved to Fillmore, Millard County. The daughter Mary had decided to live in Springville, and in the year 1857 was married to Stephen C. Perry as his fourth wife and became one of the mothers in this family. It must have been hard at times for Grandmother, but she was always of a quite cheerful disposition and never complained.

To this union were born eleven children, eight of whom are living at this time. They lived at Springville, Utah, the early part of their married life. In 1877 Stephen C. Perry and his wife, Mary Boggs, with their children moved up on a homestead on what was then called the Union Bench. Here, Grandma (to us) or Aunt Mary, (to the community) must have spent many lonely hours with just small children at home with her, as Grandfather’s other family still lived in Springville. She must also have spent many days of worry over the Indians, as there were few homes on the Bench at that time, and what few homes there were, were built far apart. The ground was covered with tall sagebrush with the possibility of an Indian hiding behind each bush.

Mary Boggs Perry and her children were indeed pioneers of the Union Bench, now known as Mapleton. Nine of her eleven children built nice, attractive homes in Mapleton. Three of these children later moved to other cities.

After the death of Aunt Ann Perry, second wife of Stephen C. Perry, Mary Boggs Perry took her youngest son, Charles, and raised him with her own family; he also built a nice home in Mapleton.

She was always a quiet, home-loving mother. In the later years of her life she built a new brick home near the first log house and lived there with her youngest son.

When the family first moved to the Union Bench in 1877, they had one log room for a home, but they later built a room of lumber on the east of the log room. But in July, 1884, after Aunt Ann’s death, the family moved back to Springville and lived in her home, as it had four rooms, so there was more room.

In the spring or [sic] 1884, Uncle Hine, Uncle George, and Aunt Ell were married, and as the old home was vacant, Uncle Hyrum and his wife, Luella Roundy Perry, and Uncle George and his wife, Charlotte Fullmer Perry, moved into the old home and each couple had one room. They lived there while they each built a home on the road south of the old home. Later Uncle George moved to Castle Valley, later Ferron, Utah, and Aunt Ell moved to Idaho.

Grandma lived in Springville until after 1890 when the home was sold, and they moved back to mapleton. Aunt Lucy was married by now and lived in Springville. They lived for a few years with Uncle Charl as he built him a five-room, brick home where Wings now live. When he was married in 1893 to Asenath Duncan, Grandma and her five boys moved back to the old two-room home. A few years later, marion, the youngest son, built a new brick home out by the road about ten rods east of the old home. Here Grandma lived until she died, about ten years later, on 11 March 1915. At that time her family were all married and lived near her.

--1938


The oldest daughter Francis was married April 9, 1883.

Biography of Francis Boggs (1807-1899)

Biography of Francis Boggs

Francis Boggs was born May 17, 1807 in Belmont County, Ohio. He was married to Evalina Martin, daughter of Reuben martin and Mary Swearingen in 1832. The Boggs family were visited by the L. D. S. missionaries and Francis Boggs was baptized a member of the church by John Cairn May 17, 1841 and took an active part in the building of the city of Nauvoo.

Before coming to Nauvoo they had the following children, Helen May born August 7, 1833, Reuben born December 4, 1835, Ephraim born October 23, 1839, and Zachariah Cairn born December 4, 1840. A daughter Mary was born in Nauvoo, April 12, 1843 and also a son Francis born October 25, 1845.

The Boggs family participated with the Saints in the exodus from the City of Nauvoo and when a selection of men was made to pioneer the way to the Rocky Mountains, Francis Boggs was chosen to go with the Historic Band who blazed the trail westward under the leadership of Brigham Young, arriving in the Valley July 24, 1847. Here he was joined by his wife Eveline and her small children when the 2nd Company of Pioneers arrived in September 1847.

The family made their home in Salt Lake City in the Eighth Ward, and while living in Salt Lake City two children were born to them, a daughter Eveline October 25, 1848 and a son Hyrum Smith Boggs born December 25, 1849. The family moved to Springville in 1850 and here three more daughters were born, Hannah born December 14, 1852, Phebe Jane born 18 June 1855 and Nancy Orpha born March 18, 1859.

From Springville the family moved to Fillmore and were called from there to help strengthen the town of Parawan and from Parawan they were called to the Las Vegas Mission. After returning to Parawan they were called to Dixie and they arrived in Washington, Washington County, Utah December 7, 1861. Here they made their home for the rest of their lives.


Francis Boggs was a faithful church worker and a hardy pioneer. He was a carpenter by trade and also engaged in farming. He filled a number of positions of honor and responsibility in the towns in which he lived. He served one term in the Utah Legislature. He died January 22, 1889 at Washington, Washington County, Utah.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Biography of Asahel Perry (1784-1869)

Biography of 
Asahel Perry, Pioneer of 1850

Written by Ruby Snow Jensen
his great-granddaughter

Asahel Perry, son of Abel Perry and Merriam Walcott was born at Williamsburg, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, February 26, 1784. He was married to Polly Chadwick, daughter of Isaac Chadwick and Dinah Brew, March 26, 1806. Polly Chadwick was born June 24, 1789, Tyringham, Berkshire County, Massachusetts.

After they were married they first made their home in Madison, Madison County, New York. Here their first six children were born. They moved to Middlebury, Genesee County, New York in the year 1815, and here four more children were born to them. It was while living at Middlebury that Asahel Perry and his family first heard the gospel of Jesus Christ preached. Later the father and mother, two sons and one daughter joined the church and were baptized.

The first missionaries to bring the gospel to the Perry family were Aaron C. Lyon and John P. Green, in the late summer and fall of 1832. President Brigham Young and his father and his brother, Joseph Young, and other elders held meetings at the home of Asahel Perry in Middlebury, New York.

Asahel Perry was baptised a member of the church on August 4, 1833 and was then set apart to preside over the branch of the church in Genesee County. In 1836 he sold his property in Genesee County, also land he owned in Erie and Chataqua Counties and moved to Kirtland where he lived and assisted in the building of the temple there.

In the spring of 1838 he moved to Missouri and settled in Davis County but in the fall of the same year was expelled with the saints from that place and they spent the winter of 1838-39 in Caldwell County. In February, 1839 the saints were expelled from the state of Missouri under the order of the Governor, G. W. Boggs.

The family lived near Quincy, Illinois until the spring of 1840 when they moved to Commerce, Illinois, which was later named Nauvoo. They lived there until the expulsion of the saints from that place. During this time Asahel Perry performed a short mission to the state of New York. He left his home at Quincy, Illinois on June 18, 1840 and traveled as far east as New York, his old home town, visiting his sons and daughters. He returned home November 15, 1840, having traveled a distance of 1,449 miles. Although he preached the gospel to his sons and daughters on this mission and his son, Stephen, also carried the gospel message to them twice in later years, not one of them ever joined the church except the three who joined the same time their father and mother joined.

In the spring of 1846 he crossed the Mississippi River, having lost, in the expulsions, all the property he owned except one Indian pony and an old one-horse wagon, a very small amount of household furniture and a few implements. He was compelled to remain in the Mississippi bottoms the summer of 1846 on account of severe sickness, as he was near death at that time.

Late in the fall, with some assistance, he traveled as far west as the Des Moines River and about 20 miles from Nauvoo, where they stayed through the winter. While here the saints were attacked by mobs many times. In the fall of 1847, with the assistance of his sons, Philander and Stephen, he moved to Mt. Pisgah, Iowa.

In the fall of 1849 he was called to preside over the branch of the church at Mt. Pisgah, which position he held until the spring of 1850 when he started on the trail of the saints to Utah. In October, 1850 he arrived at Hobble Creek, now known as Springville, Utah.

On the 20th of March 1851 he was set apart to preside over the branch of the church at Springville, Utah and was also a member of the High Council of the County. He was soon ordained a Patriarch at the General Conference in Salt Lake City, being the first Patriarch of the Springville branch.

He died, as he had lived, firm in the faith of the gospel of the Son of God, February 16, 1869, at the age of 85 years. His wife died at Springville, December 30, 1878 at the age of 89 years.

They had made many sacrifices. At one time they had much property and were considered wealthy people at that time but they gave their money to the church at the time of the building of the Kirtland Temple. They also left six of their loved sons and daughters in New York and the mother never saw but one of them again; one son, Willard, came to Utah on a visit.

They received their endowments in the Nauvoo Temple, December 17, 1845.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Biography of Stephen C. Perry (1818-1888)

Biography of Stephen C. Perry,
Pioneer of 1850

Written by Ruby Snow Jensen
His Granddaughter

Stephen C. Perry, son of Asahel Perry and Polly Chadwick was born December 22, 1818, Middlebury, Genesee, New York. He was a boy who had great love and respect for the teachings of his father and, firmly believing the word of the missionaries who came to his father's home, he was baptized a member of the church and left the town where he was born with his father and mother to go with the saints wherever they were called upon to move. He was ordained an elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on the sixth of April, 1840 by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

On June 6, 1840 Stephen C. Perry was married to Susannah Colista Hidden, daughter of Ebenezer Hidden. She was born at Holland, Erie County, New York, February 24, 1817. One son, Stephen Hidden Perry, was born to them on January 19, 1843. At the time of the baby's birth the mother died and two days later the baby died. They were both buried in the same casket.

On January 18, 1844, at Nauvoo, Illinois, Stephen C. Perry and Ann Marie Hulett were married. She was the daughter of Charles Hulett and Margaret Noah. She was born at Nelson, Portage county, Ohio. She had one brother and three sisters.

They made their home at Nauvoo, Illinois, where their first child was born in January, 1845. They left Nauvoo with the saints when they were driven from Missouri [does she mean Illinois?] and settled in Mt. Pisgah, Iowa. Here their first daughter was born--Tryphena Roseltha, June 19, 1847. In 1848 he went back to New York on a mission.

On December 31, 1849 a second son, Gerus Rosalvo, was born. In the spring of 1850 Stephen, his wife and two children and his father and mother started across the plains in Captain Bennett's company. The father and mother of Ann Marie were also in this company.

They arrived at Springville in October, 1850 and at first lived in small forts in the northwest part of town on Hobble Creek. Later a larger fort was built in the center of the townsite. In a very small house in this fort two more children were born to Stephen C. Perry and Ann Marie Hulett--John Sylvester and Colista Ann Boyer. They soon moved and built a house on their farming land south of the fort. Here Charles Asahel and one child who died in infancy were born. 

Ann Marie Hulett Perry was a very quiet, unassuming woman of sterling truth and was willing to do all she could to help anyone who needed any assistance. The trip across the plains must of necessity been very hard for these saints who had very little to start out on such a trip but, it being summertime, it was pleasant weather for traveling. Stephen's sister, Polly Marie Smith, and her husband, William, were in the same company so they had a sort of family party all the way.

Ann Marie Hulett Perry died at Springville, Utah on July 27, 1884.

On February 4, 1854, Stephen C. Perry entered the Order of Plural Marrieage [sic]. He took for a second wife Margaret Eleanor Stewart, who was born near Louisville, Kentucky on April 26, 1836, daughter of John Martin Stewart and Nancy King. To them were born three children, the oldest of whom, Harriet Perry Whiting, was the mother of fifteen children.

In 1855 Stephen C. Perry was called on a mission to help colonize Southern Utah and went with a party of elders to Las Vegas, where he spent two years away from his families of small children.

In the year 1857 he married Mary Boggs at Springville, Utah. To them were born eleven children: Hyrum Boggs Perry, Horace Brigham Perry, Parley Pratt Perry, Marcus Perry, Marian Perry, Frances Evaline Perry Snow, all of Mapleton, Utah; Harvey E. Perry of Arco, Idaho, Lucy Perry VanLeuvan of Springville, Utah, and George W. Perry of Vernal, Utah.

Mary Boggs Perry was born April 12, 1843, at Nauvoo, Illinois, the daughter of Francis Boggs and Evalina Martin. Her father came to Utah in the first company of Pioneers and she came in the second company when only four years old with her mother, brothers and sisters in Captain Spencer's company, arriving in Salt lake City, September, 1847.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Autobiography of Elizabeth Partridge Tillotson Whiting (1814-1892)

The incidents in this story are true and are taken from papers and letters in the possession of Teressa Fullmer Johnson, great granddaughter of Elizabeth P. Tillotson Whiting. Some of the letters are more than 100 years old.

My name is Elizabeth Partridge Tillotson. I was born on April 15, 1814, in Tyringham, Berkshire county, Massachusetts. I was one of fourteen children born to Sarah Partridge and Samuel Tillotson. They were humble, average new England people. While I was still a child, my parents and the rest of the family, including myself, moved to Nelson, Ohio. I was extremely interested in education and received all the education available to me in those frontier days. This education served me well when I later became a school teacher, teaching frontier children the fundamentals of learning.

One day while still living in Ohio, I met Edwin Whiting. We fell in love and were married September 21, 1833. Shortly after we were married, we learned of a new religion, fathered by Joseph smith. We were so impressed by the principles and teachings set forth by the Prophet Joseph Smith, we joined the Latter Day Saint Church and received a testimony of its truthfullness. So strong was our faith, we left our home and moved to Kirtland, Ohio.

During my early church association, I received numerous letters from my family, particularly from my sister Polly, who criticized me for accepting the Gospel and joining the Church. If only I could impress upon them the truthfulness of the gospel. Polly wrote that the Book of Mormon had originally been written as a novel but that certain men had felt that it would have greater sales as a religious work.

Stirred by bitter men, the feelings of the townspeople of Kirtland turned against us Mormons. Angry mobs forced us to flee our home, escaping only with our clothing, bedding and our lives. And while we were living in Lima, Illinois a group of hateful men forced their way into our homes. They had waited until the men of the Mormon families were away helping to guard the Prophet Joseph Smith. On that horror-filled night, the only Mormon home that was spared was that of father Elisha Whiting, who was so ill that he could not be moved from his bed. Fires were set to all the homes and buildings. The brightest flame in the night was that of the Whiting chair shop. Valuable lumber and expensive machinery shot showers of sparks into the air. My daughter, Sarah, who was three years old at the time, clapped her hands and danced about as if at a party at seeing the great number of enormous bonfires. Great was the fear in my heart, as I spent the night huddled on a pile of blankets we managed to save, trying every way to keep the baby Emily, who was sick, comforted and warm.

The next morning, teams came from Nauvoo. We loaded our meager possessions on to wagons and moved to a new home in Nauvoo. Edwin helped to erect the temple there. Great was our joy to enjoy the teachings and companionship of the Prophet Joseph.

"A group of crazed and angry men have killed the Prophet Joseph Smith, breaking their way into the Carthage jail where Joseph and others were being held. They shot him."

Once more we were forced to flee from our homes by angry mobs. After leaving Nauvoo, we settled for awhile at Mt. Pisgah, Union county, Iowa. While we were there, Edwin was president of the branch for a few seasons. Sorrow came to us at Mt. Pisgah where my darling daughter Emily, who was six years old at the time, passed away. Added sorrow came to us when father Elisha Whiting and his wife Sally contacted Malarial fever during an epidemic and also passed away. Their names are inscribed on the monument there. This monument was erected by the church, honoring the many Saints who rest there in unmarked graves.

So great was our faith that we heeded the call of our leaders -- in 1849. We undertook the task of crossing the plains to Utah. Day after dreary day crept slowly by as we trudged our way onward. My five children and I walked most of the way. We braved numerous hardships and suffered many trials. My wagon was next to that of George A. Smith. His wife, Bathsheba, and I became fond friends. Elder Smith was in charge of 50 wagons in Ezra T. Benson's train of 100 wagons.

Finally our goal was almost in sight as we slowly fought our way up the slopes of what is known as South pass. As we started to assent [sic], snow began to fall. As we neared the summit, the storm had grown into a raging blizzard. For three days we were beaten by the falling snow and the howling winds. Numerous cattle and other live stock were lost in the deep snow and bitter cold. At last, tired and weary, we worked our way through the pass and into the safety of the valley below. We arrived in Salt Lake Valley in November, 1849. But upon our arrival, Brigham Young asked us to go with Morley's company to start a  new settlement in the area which was later to be known as Manti in Sanpete County. With our foot-sore oxen, it took us three weeks to travel from Salt Lake City to the sight [sic] of our new settlement. After leaving Provo it was necessary to make our own trails and to build several dugways and bridges in order to continue our journey, which ended the latter part of November.

A large band of Indians, numbering about 500, were already living in the area. We made dug-outs in the hillsides where we spent the winter. We shared our meager possessions with the Indian band.

Snow fell very deep and all our cattle and oxen perished of starvation. The Indians were constantly begging for food. When spring finally came the Indians left to go to their hunting grounds in southern Utah. But they left behind the aged mother of the chief, who was too feeble and weak to make the trip. They placed her in a hole in the ground, left her a jug of water to drink and a piece of dried venison to eat. They covered her with brush and left her to die. Some children found her there before she died so she was taken to the home of Bishop Aaron Johnson for special care. She lived for several years, unknown to the chief, though he would have been very angry if he had found out the whole story.

I was very shocked at the treatment the Indians gave to their old people. When one became old and feeble, they would tie his feet to a horse with a rope and drag him over the rough rocky ground to their burial place which was on the south side of what is now temple hill.

Edwin went to Salt Lake to sell the chairs which he had made during the winter. These chairs were made out of timber which he had pulled down by hand from the canyon himself. He had fashioned the seats out of rawhide. With the money he received, we were able to buy food and supplies for the family.

My daughters, Caroline and Louisa were born in our primitave [sic], humble dug-out home. The city which we had settled was named Manti, and it was decided by the Church authorities to build a temple there.

Our dug-out was located at the bottom of temple hill. One spring a great multitude of rattlesnakes crawled from the rocks of temple hill and invaded our homes, causing great fear and terror among us. However, thanks to God, no one was ever bitten.

In 1855, Edwin was called to go on a mission to the East. While he was gone, a plague of grasshoppers descended upon the valley and destroyed all our crops. I spun wool, made straw hats and knit socks for my neighbors to procure food for my children. In the fall, my son William and I drove by ox team to Springville where William tearfully allowed me to exchange his pet colt for a wagon load of corn.

After the marriage of my daughter Amelia to Archibald Buchanan, and my daughter Sarah to Bishop Warren Snow of Manti, and my son William to Rebecca Losee, Edwin and I and our four children, Lucious, Oscar, Louisa, and Caroline, moved to Springville.

I was delighted and pleased to hear from my sister Polly, to learn that she had joined the L. D. S. Church. I was very happy to receive each one of her letters. We have kept in touch through the years even though it takes great lengths of time for our letters to be delivered. I knew in my heart that she had made the right decision. Her daughter, Sarah, later married Lorenzo Snow, who was later to become the President of the L. D. S. Church.

I had the privilege of serving as counselor in the first Primary in Springville along with Zabonia Alleman and Mary Crandall.

The twilight years of my life were spent in a comfortable home surrounded by an abundance of fruits and flowers. I have lived a full life, have had a wonderful husband and family. I truly have been blessed by the Lord.

Elisabeth Partridge Tillotson Whiting died February 4, and was buried beside her beloved husband in the Springville Cemetry [sic]. She was a kind and gentle home-loving person. She was loved by all.

Compiled in May, 1955 by William S. Johnson
Son of Teressa Fullmer Johnson
Spanish Fork, Utah

Elizabeth P. Tillotson Whiting (1814-1892)

History of
Elizabeth P. Tillotson Whiting

from a history
compiled by her granddaughter

Isabell Whiting Manwaring

copied by

Ruby Snow Jensen
great granddaughter

Biography of
Elizabeth Partridge Tillotson Whiting

Elizabeth Partridge Tillotson Whiting was born in Ohio April 15, 1814. She was a descendant of French parents and the youngest in a family of fourteen children. She lived near Cleveland, Ohio, and received a good education for those frontier days, and taught school in her girlhood. After settling in Springville, she was one of the first school teachers there.

A few years after her marriage to Edwin Whiting, they became members of the Latter-day Saints Church and moved to Kirtland. All her people turned against her and felt that they would rather see he dead than be a follower of that deluded Joseph Smith. Some of her people, however, joined the church a few years later. One of her nieces, a beautiful, refined girl, married Lorenzo Snow, one of the Twelve Apostles and later President of the Church, and lived in Brigham City.

[The niece was Sarah Ann Prichard, daughter of Polly Tillotson, who was Elizabeth's sister, and John Pritchard.]

Grandmother, along with Grandfather, passed through the mobbings and drivings of the Saints. They were driven from their comfortable home near Kirtland, leaving all their find furniture, homes and lands, taking only their clothes and bedding. Later, in Missouri, in the Morley settlement, while Grandfather and all the able bodied men were away guarding Joseph Smith, an angry and profane mob came, burning their homes and also grandfather's chair factory, including much seasoned wood ready for chairs. Every home in the village was burned except that of Great Grandfather Elisha Whiting, and he was too ill to be moved out.

However, the mob carried all the furniture and things that were in the houses before burning the homes. Then the mob emptied the straw from a bad tick in one room and set it afire. Soon the whole place was lit up by a great bonfire. The chair factory made the highest fire of all and little Sarah, who was about four years old, danced and clapped her hands over the big fire, while Grandmother sat in the long hours of the night on her bedding, holding her little baby girl, Emily Jane, who was very sick. This sister did not live to come to Utah, but died and was buried at Mt. Pisgah, this side of the Mississippi River during the exodus of the Saints from Illinois.

Along with all the Saints whose homes were burned, my grandparents traveled on to Nauvoo where they again built comfortable homes and enjoyed the privileges of that lovely city and the Temple. They had their Temple work done and were sealed in the Nauvoo Temple. Grandfather was a member of the Nauvoo Legion. They were there at the time of Joseph's martyrdom and when all were exiled, they lost their homes once more, living for a few years at Mt. Pisgah, then crossing the plains in 1849 in Ezra T. Benson's company. They traveled with ox team--grandmother with her five small children, walking most of the way.

Early in November they reached Salt Lake City, where they were asked to go on South to the present site of Manti by Brigham Young to live by Chief Walker and his band of 500 Indians. They were to help these Indians to learn the work of farming and raising crops. There was only one settlement at that time south of Salt Lake City. It was Provo and consisted of a dozen log houses. From there they had to make their roads, crossing over Hobble Creek, where Grandfather remarked that he would like to stop there.

On, on they went, crossing the Spanish fork River, through the tall sage beyond the summit where Santaquin now stands, cutting trees and making roads in Salt Creek Canyon. Through the Sanpete Valley, over the sluggish San Pitch River. Three long weeks it took to reach the stone quarry where Manti now stands and where they dug dug-outs in the south side of the hill where the Manti Temple now stands. This hill was near the Indian camp which swarmed with savages.

The snow fell three feet deep, covering the abundant wild hay on the banks of the San Pitch River. It was so deep that the oxen and cows could not get it for food. Most of the oxen and cows died and the continuous begging for food of the hungry Indians reduced their scanty supplies to just a meager amount of corn, which they ground in hand mills for flour or parched it to eat.

Brigham Young had promised to send them supplies--two loads of corn meal, which did not come; therefore, Grandfather and Uncle Orville Cox, with a hand sled with their bedding on and some parched corn on, started, on snow shoes, in February, over the deep crusted snow for Salt Lake City for help and to inform President Young of the lack of food in the camp. In Salt Creek Canyon, east of what is now known as Nephi, they found Dan or Dace Henry and his young wife, also her brother, a Mr. Dodge, and an Indian, where they had been snowbound all winter with the two loads of corn meal that Brigham Young had sent. Their oxen had all died and Mrs. Henry was very ill, so Grandfather gave them the little sled, which her husband and brother placed her on and pulled her to Manti. Grandfather and Uncle Orville proceeded on to Salt Lake carrying their bedding on their backs, but there was scant snow from there on to Salt Lake City. As soon as possible, teams were sent and the belated corn meal reached the destitute people.

In May, rattlesnakes came out of the rocks, invading their humble dug-outs, coiling on their beds, in their cupboards, by the fireplace--yet no one was harmed. Then on the 17th of May, 1850, a daughter, Louisa, was born, (She married Aaron Johnson) in a dug-out just beneath where the beautiful Temple now stands, while the Indians were howling day and night over their dead, many of them dying of hunger. When any of their aged became too old for further use, or to follow in the hunt or go on the warpath, their feet were tied together and a young buck on a pony would tie a rope to their feet and go galloping over the sage and rocks behind the hill until they were dead. Then they would be left for the wolves to finish.

During the Walker War, all the settlers lived in a fort built of rocks with high bastians at each corner with loopholes in to fire on the Indians if there should be an attack. A high, strong gate on the east was kept locked and the men working in the fields carried their guns. A few years later after the death of the powerful Chief Walker, who was called "The Napoleon of the Desert", his brother, Arapeen, was chief of all the utes and peace was declared. The Walker War had lasted about three years.

Grandfather now moved to the outskirts of the town across from the field. One morning they found all of their oxen and cows being driven across the San Pitch River, two miles distant, by the Indians, and rushed into the cedars of the low mountains. It was useless to follow or try to recover them, for it meant sure death to anyone entering that dense cedar forest. No other stock of the town was molested. One fat wild steer, named "Star" broke away and came bellowing home. As long as old Star lived, he would run away, dragging the load of hay or grain and the other ox every time he saw an Indian. With lowered head, he would chase any Indian he saw on the street or in the field.

While Grandfather was on a mission for two years to his native state, Ohio, they had the grasshopper war. They came by thousands, obscuring the sun and eating every green leaf. Then there was a miracle. After the hoppers left, a long and wide patch of pigweeds grew at the foot of the stone quarry and the settlers lived on them until they could get ripe corn from Springville and Provo. The Indians said the pigweeds never grew there before and they never have since.

Finding Sanpete unfavorable for fruit culture, Grandfather moved his three families to Springville in 1862, where from his nursery that he started with plants brought back with him from his mission to Ohio, many thousand fruit trees, small fruit, roses, lilacs, and other choice plants were sold and grew in the orchards of nearby towns, making the desert to bloom with beautiful blossoms, both useful and ornamental. The first transplanted pine in the state he brought from the hills in his dinner bucket and planted on his lot southwest of the Manti Temple. You can trace the Whiting homes on the Mapleton bench by the native pine trees that were brought from the mountains east of Mapleton. One large tree stands in front of the Second Ward Church in Springville. This was near the Whiting home where some of Edwin's nursery was. One also stands north of the Seminary building on the corner of Second East and Fourth South. This one was planted by Edwin Snow of Mapleton, a grandson of Edwin Whiting. It was on the land owned by Sarah Elizabeth Whiting Snow.

Both Grandmother and Grandfather were earnest workers in the Church, with a firm belief and testimony to the divinity of Joseph Smith. They ever lived in unison with his teachings. They were moral, upright members of the Church.

Grandmother was first counselor in the Primary Association in Springville, with the other counselor being Sabina Alleman, with Mary Crandall as President.

Grandmother died February 4, 1892, age seventy-eight years.

History of Edwin Whiting (1809-1890)

History of
Edwin Whiting

Compiled by

Jennie Bird Hill
his Granddaughter

Copied by

Ruby Snow Jensen
his Great Granddaughter

Edwin Whiting

About the year 1800 in a little town of Lee, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, near the border of New York, lived the family of Elisha and Sally Hulett Whiting. Elisha Whiting's father was a sea captain and lived in Connecticut. He died when Elisha was very young. His mother not knowing what else to do, bound him to an old Quaker who was very cruel and after a few years Elisha ran away to Massachusetts and worked on a farm with a wheel wright. Here he was married to Sally Hulett. They were highly honored and respected, honest, generous and firm in their convictions.

Elisha Whiting followed the trade of wagon and chair maker and did his work well.

His wife was very gifted in making prose and poetry, a characteristic that has been bequeathed to many Whiting descendents [sic].

To Elisha and Sally Whiting were born twelve children, eight sons and four daughters as follows: (1) Charles, born September 18, 1806 - he died the same day, (2) William, born 19 September 1807, (3) Edwin, born 9 September 1809, (4) Charles, born 24 March 1811, (5) Catherine Louisa, born October 3, 1813 - died 27 May, 1900, (6) Harriet, born 16 August 1815, (7) Sally Emeline, born July, 1817, (8) Chauncey, born 19 August, 1819 - died June 7, 1902, (9) Almond, born November, 1821, (10) Jane, born 1824, (11) Sylvester, born 29 July 1829 - died 19 June 1915, (12) Lewis, born 22 September, 1831.

Edwin was born 9 September, 1809, the third child in this family. When he was six years old, his parents moved to Nelson, Portage County, Ohio. At that time, it was the western frontier of the U.S.A. but probably the very place his father wished to be to get suitable timber for his trade, for the support of his large family.

Edwin Whiting's chance for education was very limited, but they all were taught the "3 R's", Readin', Riting', and Rithmetic, and he wrote a legible hand, and extraordinary feat for his time. At an early age, he wrote credible verse.

His early life in the forest, no doubt, accounts for his love of the out-of-doors, the beauties of nature, the trees, the flowers, the mountains and the desire to hunt.

One Sunday morning, when but a small boy, he decided to go hunting. He knew this was contrary to his parent's teachings, so he tried to draw his gun through the cracks between the logs of his bedroom and go unmolested. His gun caught and was discharged, inflicting a serious wound in his left arm. This, he said, was a lesson to observe the Sabbath Day and to obey his parents.

He learned the chair making trade from his father and his workmanship was considered very good.

In 1833, when Edwin was twenty-four years old, he married Elizabeth Partridge Tillotson, an Ohio girl of French descent. She was a highly educated school teacher, quite an accomplishment for those days.

In 1837, the Gospel was brought to the Whiting family. Edwin and his wife, his father and mother and some of his brothers and sisters joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were baptized by Thomas Marsh in 1838. Here, as in the time of Christ and His Apostles, the humble, hard working class of people were the ones to listen and accept the gospel of truth.

They were among the early members of our church and soon joined the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio. It was here that their trials, hardships and persecutions began and it took true manhood, womanhood, and faith in God to endure. They were forced to leave their new comfortable home, complete with furniture, orchards and land in Kirtland, Ohio and took only their clothing and a few valued relics and went to Far West, Missouri. By this time, Edwin and Elizabeth had four children: William, Helen Amelia, Sarah Elizabeth and Emily Jane. They were only in Far West a short time and had just built a new home, when a mob, several thousand strong, ordered them out. Every house in the village was burned except father Elisha Whitings [sic], which was spared because he was so sick they could not move him.

We remember of hearing Aunt Elizabeth tell how she sat on the pile of bedding far into the night with her little daughter Jane in her arms. Little Jane died soon after from exposure and lack of proper food. Sarah clapped her hands at the big bonfire the mob had made with their fences and the select wood from her father's chair shop. They were compelled to flee again so they joined the Saints at Lima in Father Morley's branch, where Edwin Whiting acted as counselor to Brother Morley.

For several years, the Saints were happily building up the city of Nauvoo, and their Temple. Here they worshipped God without so much persecution as they had experienced in Lima. Edwin was appointed colonel in the Nauvoo Legion and was an active worker at all times for the upbuilding of his church.

Through the advice of those in authority, and for a righteous purpose, he entered the law of plural marriage. In the year 1845, he married Almira Meacham. The following year, January 27, 1846, he married Mary Elizabeth Cox. That same year, he was called on a mission to Pennsylvania and was there at the time of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph and Hyrum Smith. He soon returned home and took up arms with his brothers to protect his property and the lives of his family.

During the battle of the Crooked River, his brother Charles was killed. Still a greater test awaited him. His brothers Almond, Sylvester, Chauncey and Lewis and his sister Louisa, did not feel that Brigham Young should be the leader of the church so they followed a Mr. Cutler and called themselves "Cutlerites" and moved up into Cletheral, Minnesota. To this day, they hold tenaciously to the teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. They still correspond with the children of Edwin Whiting, and have given us, for temple work, an extensive genealogy of the Whiting family. (Based on the Wikipedia article, it looks like the Whiting family has been very influential in the Cutlerite Church of Jesus Christ since then.)

Edwin Whiting, his families, his father and mother, stayed with the Saints, who were compelled to move west as far as Mt. Pisgah, (now known as Talmadge) Iowa. There they stayed to prepare for the journey across the plains.

The dreaded disease, cholera, took the father and mother of Edwin, his little brother and little daughter, Emily Jane. Their names are on the monument lately erected at that place in memory of those who died there. So many of his family were sick at one time, that there was no one well enough to get the sick ones a drink, but even in those trying times, they still had faith and rejoiced in the Gospel, for the Lord was with them. Emeline, a sister of Edwin, married Fredrick Walter Cox and the two families were as one big family for years. They established a chair factory and hauled the chairs to Quincey, Illinois, where they were sold. From this and their crops, they prepared to come west. Aunt Mary taught school two terms and helped the family some. While at Mt. Pisgah, three children were born. Albert Milton was born to Mary; Oscar Newell was born to Elizabeth; and Catherine Emeline was born to Almira.

In April, 1849, Edwin and Emeline, the only children of Elisha and Sally Whiting who stayed true to the church, started westward in Brother Morley's company.

Volumes have been written of the westward journey of the Saints, and as Congressman Leatherstood has said, "It is the greatest emigration trail that was ever blazed, and our pioneers will, some day, stand out in history as the greatest pioneers in the world."

They fought Indians, had their cattle stampeded, suffered for lack of proper food, and even though tired from that long and tedious trek, still went on. After reaching the Black Hills, a heavy snow storm came and for three days they were shut in. Many of their cattle died and perhaps they would have died had not the teams and provisions, sent by President Brigham Young, come to their aid. On October 28, 1849, they reached Salt Lake City, which looked like a heaven of rest to that travel worn company. Aunt Mary said, "I have never beheld a sight so good and so beautiful as Salt Lake City. We were so thankful our journey was at an end." But their rest was of short duration, for in a few days, Edwin Whiting, the Morleys and the Coxes were called to settle the San Pitch River, now known as Manti. Again they journeyed on. It took three weeks to go from Salt Lake City, because they had to build their own roads.

Provo was then a village of about six homes. As they passed Hobble Creek, afterwards known as Springville, Edwin Whiting remarked, "This is a fertile spot. I would like to stop here."

They arrived in Sanpete County on December 1, 1849, with almost nothing to eat, no food for their cattle, no shelter to keep them warm, and cold weather upon them. They made "dug-outs" on the south side of the hill where the Manti Temple now stands. It was a severe winter, with snow so deep the cattle could scarcely get grass and most of them died. Food had to be divided with the Indians to keep peace. President Young had promised them provisions and help, but none came; so Edwin and Orville Cox put on snow shoes and with a little parched corn in their pockets for food, placed their bedding on a sleigh, and started to Salt lake City for help. When they reached Nephi Canyon, they met their help, brother Dace Henry, his wife, her brother, Mr. Doge and an Indian, snow bound. Their cattle had died and their wagons were all but covered with snow. The young wife was very sick, so Edwin gave them the sleigh to pull her to Manti. They put their quilts on their backs and walked on to Salt Lake City and reported conditions to President Young. Aid was immediately sent, but some of that company went back to Salt Lake City.

Edwin's family now numbered fourteen. They lived in a large room in the wall of the hill, with their chair factory in one end. The men and boys hauled wood from the hills on the hand-sleighs.

The following spring (1850) there were three girls born. Harriet Lucinda was born to Mary Elizabeth in April, Louisa Melitia was born to Elizabeth in May, and Cornelia Dolly was born to Almira in June.

For several seasons, very little was raised. It became necessary to build a fort to protect themselves from the Indians, for they felt that the white man had stolen their land. The gates of the fort were locked while the men went to the fields with their guns. From this developed the Walker War. Edwin was appointed Captain of the Militia. Twice the Indians drove his cattle off and stole whatever they could.

Edwin often told us of one big ox that he owned. The ox would rebel whenever an Indian tried to drive him away. He would turn on his captors and break their defense and come home. He hated Indians and would always lower his head and challenge them if they came near.

Edwin tried planting fruit trees, shrubs and flowers, but could not survive the very cold winter. Their crops were poor, but they managed to exist and were a happy family in spite of their hardships.

In 1854, Edwin was called to Ohio on a mission and was gone for two years. While he was away, the grasshoppers came and took everything they raised. They faced starvation, but miraculously, where the crops had been, a patch of pigweeds grew, and they lived on them until the corn ripened in Utah County. A strange thing it was, for the Indians said those pigweeds had never grown there before, nor have they grown since. Walter Cox divided with his brother's (brother-in-law) family while Edwin was away.

Edwin, on his return, brought may kinds of fruit trees, (some from his father's farm that he helped to plant when a boy) shrubs, and flowers and again tried to grow them, but the climate was too cold.

On the 8th of October, 1856, Edwin married Hannah Haines Brown. Abby Ann Whiting was born to this couple at Manti in 1858 and Lorenzo Snow Whiting was born at Manti in 1860. On the 14th of April, 1857, he married Mary Ann Washburn. Two children were born to the family while they resided in Manti. Daniel Abraham was born in May, 1858, and Monroe Frank Whiting was born in November, 1862.

While he lived at Manti, Edwin was among the foremost men in religious and civic affairs of the community. He was counselor to the Stake President. He was mayor of the city from 1857 to 1861. He was a member of the legislature for two terms, and, as stated before, he was Captain of the Militia in the Walker War.

After finding the climate of Manti unfavorable for raising fruit, his special work, he was advised by President Young to try out his nursery at Springville. He moved to Springville in 1861 and was able to plant and grow all kinds and varieties of fruit trees, vegetables and flowers.

He built a home on the lot just a little east of where the Second Ward Chapel now stands. The old two-story adobe home will stand in the memory of the members of the Whiting Family as a place of many happy evenings of fun and amusements. It has a wide hall with a wide stairway to the upper floors.

Edwin transplanted many evergreen trees from the mountains--the ones standing around the old Court House in Provo, those standing on the Springville City Park, and one large evergreen stands southwest of the Manti Temple which can be seen for many miles. He said, "I brought it in my dinner bucket from the mountains." He thought it was the first tree transplanted in Utah. His life was typical of this great tree. A poem written by Emma Whiting, wife of Daniel Whiting, describes his life and the tree as being similar. (There's a tree stands in Manti, that's a type of his manhood. It is straight and erect with its head lifted high.)

Edwin had one of the largest families in Utah. Many of his descendents [sic] stand at the head of stake and ward organizations in our church. These descendents [sic] are in many states. Among his descendents we found seven bishops. Mapleton Ward, Kolob Stake, has had four bishops among his descendents: Lucious Whiting, a son of Edwin Whiting, was the first bishop. Oscar Whiting, a grandson, was the sixth bishop. He was the son of Albert and Harriet Perry Whiting. Welby Snow Warren was the seventh bishop, a great great grandson. He was the son of Jesse Benoni and Ruby Snow Warren, grandson of Edwin Marion Snow and Frances E. Perry Snow, and great grandson of Warren S. and Sarah Elizabeth Whiting Snow, a great great grandson of Edwin Ehiting and Elizabeth P. Tillotson. Stewart Whiting, the eighth bishop is a great grandson of Edwin Whiting. He is the son of Howard and Martha Cook Whiting, a grandson of Albert and Harriet Perry Whiting. (1963)

In Edwin's later life, he did much temple work for his dead relatives in Salt Lake, Logan and St. George, going to St. George in December, 1881. He went by team and took his wife Elizabeth and a granddaughter, Clara, oldest girl of his daughter Sarah with them. Stephen and his wife, Ann Marie Hulet, and Stephen's daughter Frances Evaline, who was a dear friend of Clara Snow. These two girls did hundreds of baptisms. Charles Perry, a son, was with them to do the names for the men. They also did many endowments and sealings of husbands and wives and families. They left home in December and started to work in the temple 28 December 1881. They stayed there until the middle of January. It was nice weather in St. George, but very cold traveling.

Edwin Whiting and his family lived the principles of his religion. He was honest, charitable, and loved his wives and children. He never accumulated great riches, but was thrifty and the families had the comforts of life. Edwin Whiting's two wives Elizabeth and Elmira, were sealed to him in the Nauvoo Temple and had their endowments there. The same day he married in the temple Mary Elizabeth Cox January 27, 1846. She was his third wife.

Nearly every home owned by the Whiting descendents in Mapleton have planted pine trees brought from the mountains in their yards and gardens.

Edwin Whiting died at Mapleton December 9, 1890, age 81 years, firm in his belief and testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.