I have an estranged sister. She's 16 years older than me so we were never close, and since we've stopped talking I can't say I truly miss her in my life (though I do feel the hole where she should be). I miss her daughter. I was 14 when her daughter was born. In years, I am closer to her than her mother and have always felt more of a connection. Elizabeth was the first grandchild and it was exciting to become an aunt. Because they lived far away, I only got to actually be with Elizabeth a handful of times through her childhood, but there were letters and pictures and occasional visits through her younger years that I always cherished. Thanks to social media, it was very easy to find Elizabeth and reconnect. She is a young adult now and is reaching out to family. She's interested in where she came from, wants to know not only the family her mother left, but the extended family of our past. Today I told her the story of her Great-Great-Grandfather. I decided to tell it here, too. It's the first time I've written it in my own words. When I told it to Elizabeth it was basically verbatim from interviews with our Great-Great-Great-Aunt as well as snippets of her journal. This telling also incorporates a bit of what I know from studying the history of the LDS church.
In 1851, Samuel, a teacher and farmer, and Maria set out on a journey with their fellow Mormons. They were following their prophet across the American West, to what they hoped would be their promised land, where they would not be ridiculed and persecuted for their religion. Samuel and Maria stopped at a place the Mormons called Winter Quarters, in Navoo, Illinois. In Navoo, he continued teaching the children there, until his own family fell ill. Maria and five of their six children contracted measles, which one by one took them all except the eight year old Gabriel, who recovered. Samuel was left a widower with two children, 15 year old Harriet, and young Gabe. It was a terrible winter. Many at Winter Quarters died and were buried in the mud, their grieving families eager for spring when they could leave that dreary place and continue to their new homes in Utah.
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My Great-Great-Great Grandmother Maria (and her children), memorialized on a common marker at Winter Quarters
(Last name is misspelled.) |
During his time in Navoo, Samuel saved what he was paid for teaching and gathered hardwood, which he seasoned and used to build a wagon, even while grieving most of his family. When the spring of 1852 arrived, Samuel was able to buy two milk cows to pull the wagon and the necessities his now much smaller family would need for the rest of their trip. Harriett wrote "we made good progress until we reached the alkali beds and then one of the cows died." Another member of the company had spare animals, and they gave Samuel a yoke of oxen. They hoped this was their last hardship, but a few days later cholera broke out in the company and Samuel was one of the unfortunate victims. Samuel was laid to rest without a coffin along with other members of the company. A man without a team volunteered to drive the oxen for Harriet so she would not have to worry about that, but because their father had died from a communicable disease they had to burn all of their bedding and extra clothes. Until this time, Harriet and Gabriel had been relatively comfortable, with warm blankets and even pillows. After this they had only what other families could spare, which amounted to one pillow and two thin blankets. Harriet writes "We suffered much from the cold."
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| Harriet with her daughters, photo probably taken in the late 1880s. |
Finally, after many months of travel, Harriet and Gabriel arrived in the Salt Lake valley. They were taken in by a family already established there, who treated them kindly. Soon, Harriet was engaged to the man who had plowed the first field in the valley, John Carter. She and John took Gabriel into their home where he lived until he was 15. Gabriel then took a job as a farm hand and lived with the farmer's family until he was chosen to move to California and settle an area of California for the Saints. Gabriel must have either been a valuable settler or a trouble maker because soon after the California settlement was established, he was called back to Utah where he helped build settlements in many parts of southern Utah before finally laying down roots for good in a small south central Utah town. During his travels, Gabriel became a blacksmith and married a woman named Sophia. They had 13 children, all of whom lived to adulthood. (That seems to me a miracle, considering the high mortality rate among pioneers.) Their seventh child was my Great Grandfather Benjamin.
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| My Great Great Grandfather, Gabriel |
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| My Great Great Grandmother Sophia |
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| Great Great Grandfather Gabriel with 11 of his 13 children, including my Great Grandfather Benjamin |
When I was young, I loved this story and that I could read it in Harriet's own words (more or less, she wasn't verbose in her journal or interviews). When times have gotten tough, I've tried to think of how difficult Gabriel's life was and reminded myself that at least I don't have to worry about leaving my home for religion, or losing most of my family in one winter, or traveling across the plains in early spring and having to burn my bedding so I wouldn't die, too. I hope that Elizabeth finds something of value in this story, that it helps connect her to our family again.
