{History of Mapleton} Anna Mary Bulkley Whiting (1854-1929) and Edwin Lucius Whiting (1845-1896)

This is from The History of Mapleton, by Ralph K. Harmer and Wendell B. Johnson, on page 178.

Anna Mary Bulkley Whiting

Anna Mary Bulkley was born January 21, 1854 in Springville, Utah. She was the daughter of Newman Bulkley and Olive Amanda Fullmer Bulkley. She married Edwin Lucius Whiting December 18, 1871 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake city, Utah. Soon afterward they went to Mapleton, Utah to build a home. Mapleton was a sage covered benchland at the time which was just being homesteaded. She and her husband took up some acres to homestead and built a house, barn, granary and buggy shed. They cleared off the land, planted fruit and shade trees, berry bushes, grapevines, a garden, and crops of grain, alfalfa, and later, sugar beets.

Anna had three children before her husband, Bishop Whiting, took a second wife. She eventually bore him eleven children. Since her husband was so busy with his ward obligations, and a second family, Anna was chiefly responsible for raising her own little family. This she did by hard work and good management.

Anna spent much of her life alone with her young family because her husband died in 1896. So this pious, hardworking woman and her young family all pitched in together to earn their own way. They did it successfully and even sent some of the children on missions for their church. There was always time for her to help a neighbor, deliver a baby, or nurse the sick. She was active in her church and encouraged her children to be active also. She loved music, and to watch young people dance and have fun. As a result, she always had a house full of young people and visitors.

The people of Mapleton respected Mrs. Whiting so much that they gave her a party at the Town Hall. They presented her with a small table, a beautiful lamp, and a dark wood mahogany rocking chair as a token of appreciation for all the service that she had rendered the community. She used them constantly and appreciated them very much until her death June 10, 1929 at her home in Mapleton.

Edwin Lucius Whiting

Edwin Lucius Whiting was born October 22, 1845 at Nauvoo, Illinois. His parents were Edwin and Elizabeth Partridge Tillotson Whiting. His father was a man of moderate means and worked as a farmer and horticulturist in Nauvoo until 1846 when he moved with his family to Mt. Pisgah. Three years later, when Lucius was four years old, the family was driven out of that area after having their home, a chair factory, and all that they owned burned by mobs.

The Whiting family then emigrated to Utah traveling across the plains by ox team. Captain Ezra T. Benson was in command of their company and they reached Salt Lake City in November of 1849. From there they were directed by Brigham Young to proceed to Manti. After three weeks of hard travel they reached Walker’s Camp of five hundred Indians on the present site of Manti. Here they made dugouts on the south side of the stone quarry, just beneath where the temple now stands. In this dugout father’s sister Louisa was born. It was a very hard winter, snow fell four feet deep and all their cows and oxen perished. Lucius’s father and Orvilla Cox had to travel to Salt Lake City on Snowshoes to get relief for the settlement.

In 1868 President Young called Lucius’s father to Springville where he became a very successful nurseryman and farmer. Edwin Whiting planted many of the beautiful fir trees in Springville, Provo and other central Utah towns. In 1868 Lucius Whiting, with several other young men, made a trip across the plains to get emigrants. This trip lasted six months and was a special calling from the general authorities. Edwin Lucius also took part in the Black Hawk War and was assigned as a minute man in the home guard.

On December 18, 1871 Lucius married Anna Mary Bulkley. She bore him eleven children: Millie, Elizabeth, Lucius Burr, Clarence Othel, Jane, Ovilla, George Clinton, Belva, Blanche, Randall Austin and Edna. On December 26, 1877 he married a second wife, Fannie Johnson, in the St. George Temple. To care for his growing families Lucius constantly engaged in the labors of his choice, that of farming and stock raising. His two young families had to work hard to make ends meet. In 1885 Lucius was selected Presiding Elder of the little branch on Union Bench and on August 21, 1888 a Mapleton ward was organized with Brother Whiting as its first Bishop.

In 1891 Lucius went to Mexico to escape prosecution for being a polygamist. He and his family stayed there eighteen months before they returned. When they returned Lucius resumed his job as bishop and reestablished his family here. Before he completed his activities, however, he was stricken with pneumonia and taken from this life. He left his family and many friends to mourn his loss. He was honored and loved by all who knew his pleasant thoughtful nature, and he was respected by those who opposed his religious beliefs.

He was Bishop of the Mapleton Ward at the time of his death which occurred February 19, 1896. He was fifty years old. His passing ended a career of usefulness and created a void in Mapleton’s social and religious circles which was hard to fill. However, his record of service and hard work has given his family a legacy to be proud of.