Tag Archives: Mormon Colonies in Mexico

Pearson Ballinger

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                Pearson Ballinger

(1832-1910)Pearson Ballinger young

Pearson Ballinger, a High Counselor in the Juarez stake of Zion, Mexico, was a son of John Ballinger and Mary Sparrow.  He was born in Leigh, Gloucestershire, England, June 9, 1832.  His own account follows.

I was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, October 6, 1853, and crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the ship Thorton in 1856.  With wife and one child, I resided in Quincy, Illinois for six years; here I buried the child one and a half years old. There were born immediate Quincy one son and two daughters, namely, Albert, now residing in Ogden; Emily (Mrs. Emily Ballinger Ware) now dead; and Clara (Mrs. Clara B. Williams) residing in Ogden. We moved from Quincy to Florence, Nebraska where we resided six weeks, and then started on our journey across the plains in Capt. Brunson’s company.  We left Florence with a blind pony and two cows, the cows furnishing milk and butter sufficient for our needs. We got along all right until we were 300 miles from Salt Lake City, when one of the cows gave out. The Captain of the company told me to ask brother Williams for another cow to assist me on my journey, as he had plenty, but he refused to let me have one. I then prayed concerning it, after which my cow was able to travel and stood the rest of the journey well.

The company followed along on the old “Mormon trail,” passing close to the Carthage jail, and crossed the river Keokuk. We arrived in Salt Lake City August 29, 1862. Here we stayed a few days and then went to Ogden where I obtained work with Elder Lorin Farr, assisting to build the first flour mill in Weber County.  I worked for Elder Farr for several years and also worked for Elder Peery as a millwright, etc., for 10 years.

I have seven children born to me in Ogden, namely: Willard, Frederick, James, John, Charles, George, Sarah and Isaac. Willard and Frederick died in infancy. Charles died at the age of 14 was smallpox. John, George and Sarah (now Mrs. Sarah B. Wright), and Isaac are still residing in Ogden.  

I went to Hooper for a while and had a farm there, Bishop Belnap being my nearest neighbor.  I was driven from Hooper and exiled for conscience sake and went to Mancos, Colorado, where I resided for three and a half years.  Here I worked at the coopering trade and ran the grist mill for three years.  I also helped to build the first meeting house at Hooper.  I returned to Ogden and was arrested and put under $2,000 bonds.  I then left Ogden again for Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, December 20, 1890, again enduring necessary trials incidental to the building up of a new country, being exiled from my family.  

Often I longed for the leeks and onions of Utah, as at times I would tire of Mexican mush and molasses and would wish for something else for a change.  But I still rejoice that I have passed through these trials with the Saints, knowing that the Gospel is true.  I have now resided in Colonia Juarez 17 years with wife and one child, Alma Nephi, and I expect to close my mortal career here, as I am now 75 years of age and quite feeble.  I was ordained a High Priest in Ogden, in 1889, and set apart as a member o the High Council in Colonia Juarez, in 1894.

Pearson Ballinger died August 23, 1910, in Colonia Juarez.

Stalwarts South of the Border  

Nelle Spilsbury Hatch

page 24

P.H. Carlin

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The Latter-day Saint colonists had been counseled from the beginning of the revolution to remain neutral and offer no resistance to marauders, rather than retaliate and thus invite a terrible vengeance. The non-Mormon ranchers, however, were much less willing to stand for mistreatment without putting up a fight. One of these was P. H. Carlin, who operated the ranch at San Jose, 4 miles southwest of Colonia Dublan.  (In early August 1912, when the men and boys of Dublan escaped to the United States during the first exodus from Mexico, Carlin had quickly saddled his horse and left with them as they passed by his ranch on their way to the mountains.)  The Deseret Evening News told what happened when half a dozen Red Flaggers attempted to extort money from Mr. Carlin:

Six bandits appeared late Saturday night [December 27, 1913] at the home of P. N. Skousen a “Mormon” farmer living in Casas Grandes, and demanded money. As Skousen had no money he gave provisions instead. After loading up with the provisions the bandits took one of the Skousen boys as a guide and left for the home of Carlin not too far distant.

Reaching the Carlin home, the six Mexicans battered the door down and covered Carlin with their guns, demanding the payment of $500 as a ransom for his freedom. Refusing to comply with their demand, and calling them thieves and cowards, Carlin was led from the house to a grove in the neighborhood, and stood in front of a tree preparatory to being shot.

After having been searched at his house, however, and before leaving for the grove, Carlin managed to conceal a revolver under his arm in such a way that the bandits were unaware that he had it.  As the chief of the outlaws ordered the others to take aim, five gunbarrels were leveled at his breast, and the count, “Uno, dos,” was given when, during a momentary pause after the second count, and just as the leader seemed ready to pronounce the “tres,” Carlin seized the revolver and fired on his assailants, killing two before they hardly realized what was occurring.  The others took flight, but he succeeded in winging two of them. The others escaped after he had chased them a considerable distance.

Elder Anthony W. Ivins, who had known P. H. Carlin for many years, commented that he was “he was of a fearless nature” and that the bandits “got hold of the wrong man.”

Anson Bowen Call Bishop of Colonia Dublan by William G. Hartley and Lorna Call Alder pages 340-341

William Wallace Haws

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William Wallace Haws old

William Wallace Haws

(1835 – 1895)

William Wallace Haws, son of Gilbert and Hannah Witcomb Haws, was born February 18, 1835, at Green Township, Wayne County, Illinois. 1835,  he was the seventh of fourteen children. He had six sisters and seven brothers. The father, Gilbert Haws, was born March 10, 1801, in Logan County, Kentucky. The mother, Hannah Witcomb, was born April 17, 1806, at Cazenvonia, Madison County, New York.  The couple first learned of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about 1840. Previous to this time they had not affiliated with any church. They, with two of their daughters, Lucinda and Elizabeth, were baptized during the years 1842-1843. Gilbert and Hannah lived on a farm near Xenia, Illinois, in the northwestern part of Wayne County, helping with the sheep and cattle. 

In 1845, after the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith, they received word from the Elders of the Church that a body of the Saints would leave the State of Illinois the next spring. Although they lived in Wayne County, some distance from Nauvoo, and suffered less persecution, they decided to leave with the others. They made their preparations and left Wayne county in May, 1847, leaving many friends and some relatives behind. 

The family traveled northwest through Illinois, crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa, beyond the first account of Saints at Garden Grove, to Mount Pisgah, about 200 miles from Nauvoo. Here they stayed the winter. William was 12 years old at the time. In the spring of 1848, the family continued on to Council Bluffs, then to Winter Quarters. They crossed the Missouri River in Lorenzo Snow’s company. Here they made preparations to go west with the first company of the season. In May, 1848, they left winter quarters for the Rocky Mountains. The trip was difficult. They washed clothes in cold water and use Buffalo chips for fuel, for wood was scarce. The crossing was not all hardship, however, for the 13-year-old boy enjoyed many adventures incident to the pioneers’ travels —the programs and dances at night, the herds of buffalo on the plains, and the ever present threat of molestation by the Indians. 

They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September 23, 1848, where the father bought one of the little adobe houses in the old fort which had been built by the pioneers the year before. The new Haws home was one room, 12 feet square. It had a fireplace and two portholes about 10 inches square on each side of the chimney. The roof of the house was made of logs across which willows and bushes were piled and covered with dirt. The floor was packed dirt.  The old fort was formed by a great many of these little houses built together in the shape of a square with all doors opening into the square.  Spaces were left for gates on the east and west sides of the fort. No windows were put into the house for fear that Indians, who were numerous and had attacked the fort, might again do so. The portals were on the outer wall to shoot through in case of attack. 

William Wallace, in company with Orville Cox, went to the Sessions settlement about 10 miles north of Salt Lake City to take care of his father’s animals grazing on land leased until they could locate on a place of their own. He was baptized in City Creek, November 18, 1848, by Brother E. Strong.   

In December 1848, three of his sisters were married to men who had just returned from service with the Mormon Battalion. Food was very scarce this first year in Utah. Few crops were planted and the harvest was meager. They have little corn for making bread but very little to go with it. Sometimes a beef was killed and a little meat rationed to each family. Dried buffalo meat was available at times, which was cut into small pieces and pounded and used to make gravy and soup, with flour added to make the gravy thick and more palatable.

In March of 1849 William’s father was called to help settle Utah Valley at what is now Provo.  John S. Higbee was called to organize this group of 150 people. They were met by Timpanogos ,or Ute Indians, who would not let the colonizers cross the Provo River until the interpreter had made a treaty with them that they would not drive the Indians from their lands. The treaty made, the company establish the Provo Branch of the Church, March 18, 1849, with John S. Higbee as President. 

William helped with the herding of the cows and though he was but 14 at the time he also helped build a fort. This year his sister Matilde died and was buried on a little knoll near the river. The body was later moved to the Provo Cemetery. His brother Gilbert Oliver was born in Provo, being the second white child to be born there. While they lived in and around Provo, they were harassed, quite severely at times by the Indians, and more than once had to move to the fort until the Indians were at peace again. 

On December 1, 1853, William was married to Barbara Belinda Mills, by Bishop J.O. Duke.  She was the third child of John and Jane Sanford Mills.  She was born July 1, 1836, at Suffan’s Creek, Pickering Township, Leads, Canada.  Her family was taught the Gospel and was baptized by Elder John Taylor.  Her parents and an older sister received their endowments in the Nauvoo Temple, having moved from Canada, settling in Nashville, Iowa, until the temple was completed.  In October of 1846, they started west, but spent the winter at Winter Quarters.  John Mills preceded his family to the Salt Lake Valley.  Jane and the children crossed later in the company of Morris Phelps, arriving in Lehi, Utah in the fall of 1851.  They soon moved to the Provo bench, where Barbara and William met and were married.  They lived that year with  Barbara’s parents, farming with her brother Martin W. Mills.  For several years they had a hard time getting enough to eat.  But they built a small home, helped to establish a sawmill and gave birth to two children, Hanna Jane and William Wallace. 

During the October Conference of 1871, William was called on a short term mission to the area around his old home of Xenia, Illinois. He visited and preached the Gospel to many of his relatives and saw the old homestead.  He was released from his mission in February 1872, but consumed a month returning home because of heavy snow.  He earned most of his passage home by shoveling snow so the train could travel. 

In May, 1875, Millie May was born and William became a member of the Provo police force in 1875, continuing at the same time to carry on his farming and wood hauling.  He married Martha Barrett, November 8, 1875, a twin, who was the eleventh child of William and Phoebe Colburn Barrett, recent immigrants to Provo from England.  Her twin stayed with an Aunt in England when the family came to the United States.  As a result the twins did not see each other for some 32 years, when Mary and her family came to America. Martha’s first child, Wallace John, was born February 21, 1878.   

Because of the crusade against polygamy, William Wallace was obliged to spend most of 1878 hiding in one place and another. In April 1879 he sold his property in Utah and moved with his sons William and George and their families to Show Low, Arizona, near Fort Apache, where they engaged in wood hauling for the fort, and in farming.  They provided butter and cheese and fresh produce for the fort. On April 15, 1881, Charles James, Martha’s second son was born. That fall his wife Barbara took her family to Provo so that the girls could go to school. He found out that the land he had settled on near the fort was government land, so he moved both his families to Smithsville (now called Pima), Arizona, where he started anew with his land clearing and planting crops. In the Arizona community they lived very happy lives and were able to build and make improvements on homes for both families. William established a sawmill at the mouth of a canyon in the Graham mountains nearby.   

By January, 1885, U.S. Marshals were moving into Arizona Territory and men with plural wives again went into hiding. William made immediate plans to move his family to Mexico. He first made a preliminary trip on horseback. At Corralitos he found a body of Saints in conditions similar to his own, with more families arriving each day. He stayed long enough to help plant crops on land rented from Mexican neighbors. In August he returned to Arizona and by September 14, 1885 was back in Mexico with Martha’s family. 

The Saints in Corralitos could not arrange for enough land in one tract to meet their needs, so they split up into two camps, renting land at Janos and Casas Grandes. William went with the Casas Grandes group which later established the colony of Colonia Juarez. The Janos group founded Colonia Diaz. A third group, called the Turley group, merged with the two larger groups, although for a while most of the Sunday services were held at the site of the Turley camp. 

In Mexico, William was helpful in laying out townsites, carrying the surveyor’s chain, digging ditches and planting crops.  When not busy with farm, church or community duties, he explored the mountain areas to the west in search of new townsites.  On one of these trips he located the areas later named Hop Valley, because of the many wild hops growing there, Corrales Basin and in the Strawberry Valley.  He helped build a road to get to these areas and planted crops such as potatoes, squash, beans and corn in the Strawberry Valley, so named because of the abundance of wild strawberries. Other locations nearby were Williams Ranch and Cave Valley, where a Ward was established. Near Cave Valley were many well-preserved cliff dwellings. 

In May, 1887, William was called as one of the several men to go with teams and wagons to meet a group of native Mexican Saints being moved from the interior of Mexico to the colonies. Efforts of these missionaries had been fruitful, but the lot of new converts was difficult because of persecution. It was thought best, to have the Mexican converts moved to the colonies. The men left on April 30, 1887 and returned May 10, traveling 260 miles. 

Among these converts was a widow and her children, Gertrude Guameros Paez, whom William married on March 1, 1888 as a plural wife. The men in the Church were advised in those times to marry widows as a way to help care for them. William built her a home in Corrales where she lived until his death, after which she moved to Colonia Juarez where her children could receive adequate schooling. Three children were born to this couple: two girls and a boy. One of these youngsters reached adulthood —Elizabeth. Gertrude’s children by her previous marriage moved back to the interior of Mexico after living in the colonies only a short time. After Elizabeth married, Gertrude also returned to her old home near Mexico City, where she died during the Mexican Revolution. 

William was happy with his family as at Corrales, where he built, planted, harvested and fenced.  Soon other families were also locating in the vicinity and a Branch of the Church was organized on April 28, 1889.  During this time, William helped survey and stake out the townsites for Colonia Pacheco. His son George and family moved to Pacheco in January, 1891 and William spent considerable time helping them build a home and getting crops planted.   

By this time many families had moved into the Corrales-Pacheco area:  The Staleys, Lunts, Naegles, Humphreys, Carlins, Smiths, McConkies, Farnsworth, Sellers, Spencers, Jarvises, and Cluffs to mention a few.

To get money to buy salt, sugar, clothing and other staples, William would haul lumber from the sawmills to the lower valleys to sell. During one of these trips, his eyes became terribly infected and he nearly lost his sight. His eyes troubled him for the remainder of his days.

He spent his days making a livelihood for his family by logging, hauling lumber, planting and harvesting his crops, in fair weather and foul. During one of his trips to the valley with lumber he contracted a heavy cold which kept him ill for many weeks. During this time he was clearing land in Galeana, with several other men, to give them more acreage on which to plant, they also built a reservoir to hold irrigation water. Here he contracted chills and fever, which bothered him more as time went on.

In December 1892 he went with a group of men to clear roadway to Colonia Chuhuichupa. The group some on horseback, some with teams and wagons, consisted of Alexander F. Macdonald, George Russell, David A. McClellan, John McNeil, William Ivins, Alfred Baker, Brigham Stowell, and George and William Wallace Haws. 

He was ordained a High Priest at meetings held in Pacheco by Apostle John Henry Smith in February 1893. He suffered from the chills and fever all that summer and on  August 3, 1894 his wife Martha gave birth to twins, Mary and Martha.  He suffered terribly as a result of the cold weather and exposure while working on the Galeana project, but was able to return to Colonia Pacheco.  William died on March 6, 1895 and was buried in  the cemetery at Colonia Pacheco.  He was survived by three widows, the two in Mexico and Barbara, who had remained in the United States.  Martha and her family stayed in Mexico until the Exodus in 1912.  The William Wallace Haws estate was divided equally among all three wives.

Nelle Spilsbury Hatch

Stalwart’s South of the Border page 254

James Douglas Harvey

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James Douglas Harvey beardJames Douglas Harvey

(1863-1912)

My father, James D. Harvey, had two wives and when Church leaders advised men living in plural marriage to go to Mexico, he was one of those who made that long journey south in 1890. He and my mother, Sarah Elizabeth Kellett, went to Colonia Diaz, leaving the other wife, Nancy Anderson, with her folks until they could get a place. They bought an adobe structure with a dirt floor.Father worked for John W. Young who was attempting to build a railroad through the country at that time. This required my mother to stay at home and care for the garden and similar chores by herself. The railroad project failed. Father came home but receive no pay for his work. Mother had worked so hard while he was gone getting the garden planted that she was sick and lost the baby.

In the autumn of 1890, they sold the place where they were living for a team and wagon and moved into a tin shop. In March 1891, they took the team and wagon and went to Deming to meet my father’s second wife, Nancy, and her little boy.  They succeeded in buying two lots on which all live together.  My mother inherited a home which she sold for sheep that she was able to also sell for enough money that she was able to buy a nice three-room house in which the entire family lived for some time.

Both my mother and Father’s wife Nancy gave birth to children 1892. There was a drought at the time and nearly all the cattle died from thirst. My parents’ only cow was one of the victims. Then it rained so much that the wheat grew in the bundles. They would pound it out on a canvas with sticks and grind it into flour.  Flour was so scarce that it was selling for $10 a hundred.  There were some fruit but no milk and no grease of any kind. They learn to make cake without grease.  The Church gave them some beef but it was so poor they just made soup out of it.  They raised garden vegetables and lots of cane and made lots of molasses. It was delicious. They made cornbread with vinegar and soda. Mother could not eat it. It gave her heartburn and took all the skin off her throat and tongue.  On one occasion, a family came from their hometown in Utah and stayed with them for a week. They had brought lots of flour with them and other groceries. They divided them with our family for which we were very grateful. Then the family went on up into the mountain colonies to settle.

The next summer our family raised grain, plenty of fruit and garden vegetables. They also made butter, cheese and had lots of eggs. My father took these things out to the mines in the mountains to sell. After a great deal of hardship and saving all we could, my father was also able to purchase a farm five miles west of town.

On this farm my parents raised two crops of potatoes every year, grain, corn, and came to make molasses. There was a two room house on the farm. My father’s wives took turns living there in the summertime.

I remember being told as a child how Apostle George Teasdale had dedicated a certain spot on which he wanted Colonia Diaz to be built. He named it Rock Joseph.

But the settlers were already starting their farms elsewhere and didn’t want to move. As it turned out, it was wise that they didn’t move because when the river flooded the area was so swamped that a levee had to be built.  They named the place where the settlers located Colonia Diaz.

During all this time father’s families were growing. Eventually each of his two wives had nine children, 18 in all.

In 1912, Frank Whiting arose at two o’clock in them morning with a crying baby and heard a commotion in the co-op store next door to his home.  He looked out the window and could see some Mexicans trying to pry open the doors of the store. He slipped out of the house rounded up some of the men of the town. When they arrived back at the store the Mexicans were leaving. Whiting and the men with him shouted for them to halt but they refused. Consequently, the men fired on them and killed one of the thieves. One of those running away was named Cesario. He didn’t have a horse but succeeded in making his way to his home on the edge of town. It was his brother who was killed. When he found out that his brother that was shot, he went out to his farm which bordered on the land we owned. He allowed his mother-in-law to live at the farm house and kept his own family at home in town. He knew how to get into the store because he was always hanging around and observing the Mormons who owned and operated it.

Once a Cesario reached his farm, he turned his horses in my father’s grain, which, at the time, was ripe and ready to harvest. On the morning of May 3, 1912, my father and my brother Will were in that part of his properties the horses were permitted to enter.  When they saw the horses, Father told Will to go over to the house until Cesario to please take care of his horses. Will said he was afraid to go over there because the family had such a mean dog. So Father said he would go, taking a shovel for protection against the dog. When he had almost arrived at the house, Cesario came out swearing, using foul language. His mother-in-law was crying, begging him not to be violent. But Cesario swore that he would get gringos to pay for the death of his brother.  He had a pistol and pointed at Father but his mother-in-law knocked his arm down forcing him to miss. This made him so angry that he knocked her to the ground.  Father raised his shovel and was going to hit Cesario, trying to escape him by running around the house. My brother Will was shouting at Father telling him which way to go but Cesario was able to get close enough to fire, and shot my Father through the heart. He shot him three times. He walked up after Father fell and shot him in the temple close eye.

Will ran to Mexican neighbors and told them what happened. They took him into their house and told him that if Cesario were to come after him, they would protect Will with their own guns. But rather than pursue Will, Cesario had taken a horse into the Mexican town of La Ascension.  Will then went to the house and told the rest the family what had happened, telling him to go cover Father’s body with the quilt and that he would go to town and get help. Everyone was terribly frightened. I was married at the time and Will had to pass by the home where I was living, and gave me the sad news. I then took my baby and went to comfort my mother as best I could.

The Bishop and others of the men from town took a wagon and went to the home of Cesario where my father still lay. Some other men went to La Ascension to get the authorities to conduct an inquest so that the body of my father could be brought home. It was late afternoon before the Mexican authorities came out to the place were my father’s body was. When they arrived, they arrested Brother Jim Jacobson and those with him rather than pursuing Cesario. Father’s body was placed in a wagon and brought home. It was drenched in blood and was a horrible sight. When Jim Jacobson and the boys got to the La Ascension they said it was like going into a den of hungry wolves. The Mexican population was so aroused they didn’t expect to get out of there alive. The next morning three Mexican officers came out and looked father’s body but never did anything about it. Cesario was allowed to go free.

Some of the Church brethren  went over to La Ascension to see if they couldn’t have Cesario restrained or put behind bars so he could not do any more killing. The Mexican sheriff just cried and said that if he tried to do anything more people would be killed and to please just go home and peace. They did allow Jacobson and the boys to leave jail and return to their homes. My father was buried on May 5, 1912.

His sons went to the farm, gathered the grain and planted a second crop of potatoes. They lived in fear all the time. We were told later that Cesario was killed by Poncho Villa. I and my husband, George Guile Hardy, then went with my mother and her four small children north across the border to visit her people in Utah and Idaho. While there, we heard that the leaders had directed the colonists to leave, taking only what they needed for they would be gone for only a few days.

Those in Colonia Diaz went to Hachita, just across the line where some American soldiers were stationed.  Some men and boys remained in the colony to watch and care for the people’s livestock and properties but word was sent for them to come out also and to join the rest in Hachita.  They never went back.  The Rebels that came through were so upset at not obtaining guns and ammunition that they burned and destroyed everything they could.

Sarah Agnes Hardy, daughter

Stalwarts South of the Border Nelle Spilsbury Hatch pg 235

 

William Cook Prows

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William Cook Prows

William Cook Prows

(1827 –1894)

 It was the upper Kanawha Valley, Virginia (now West Virginia), on the eleventh day of June, 1827, that a son was born in the home of Thomas Prows and Elenor Kounts (Kountz).  He was given the name of William Cook Prows.  Two brothers, John Thomas Prows, born July 15, 1819, and Daniel “W” Prows, born 1824, along with a sister, Mary Ann Prows, born February.  22, 1822, greeted the new child.

Thomas Prows’ father was born April 17, 1792. We have record of two brothers of this Thomas, a Daniel and a Samuel G. His mother, Elenor Kounts, was born January 4, 1802. Temple records indicate that both Thomas and Elenor came from Virginia. We also have record of three sisters of Eleanor—Mary, Jerusha, and Margaret—listed from St. Louis Missouri.

Very little is known about the route his family followed westward. However, records indicate that other brothers and sisters were born in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

We know that after arriving in Utah territory, William married Lodeskey Ann Roberds on the 14th day of April, 1850. He entered plural marriage by taking Louisa Melinda Rowan James to wife on 6 June, 1867.  Like so many others, this led to difficulties because of laws passed by the federal government prohibiting polygamy.

In 1891, William Cook Prows sold his property and farm of 12 acres to Anthony Paxton for $650 to move to Mexico. His family had coaxed him into going there that they might get away from the U.S. Marshals.

In the year 1892, William went as far as Mesa City, Arizona, accompanied by Lodeskey and their sons, John and Joseph, with their families.

The following November, his second wife Louisa James, and family, joined them in Mesa. On Christmas eve of that year, 1893, William remark to his wives, “well, I am going to give to all my children here, something that I have never given them before and never will again.”  Awakening Christmas morning, each child found by his stocking a watermelon picked fresh from the vine and a bottle of wine William’s own making.

Early in the spring of 1894, William took Louisa and her family and left for Mexico. Elizabeth Jane Barney narrated this adventure:

 We were going from Mesa to Juarez, Mexico for the purpose of establishing a home. We pastor El Paso, Texas and traveled several days out into the desert. There were three wagons and one buggy in this caravan. The trip from Mesa to Mexico took about a month. After several days journey from Tucson, my mother became very sick which continued to increase in intensity as time went on… My father desire to get out of the sand into a country where gravel could be located, for the purpose he later stated, to find a suitable place to bury mother, as he feared that she would pass on any minute… On the certain day, he started very early in the morning in order to make as much distance as possible, but after traveling a few hours, my mother’s stated that she could not stand the jarring any longer… Camp was made and preparations were made for breakfast.  Then man suddenly appeared in camp not more than 10 or 20 feet away. The stranger asked, “How are you?” To which my father replied, “I have a mighty sick wife.” Father raised the wagon cover, the stranger extended his hand and placed it on mother’s forehead and gently rubbed her head… After a few minutes he said to father, ”Come out here and I will show you something to give your wife and she will be all right and you can be on your way.”  A scrubby tree was some green berries on it was near. After taking a few of these he went on a short distance and told father to gather the leaves from a small shrub growing in the desert. He told my father to steep a tea from the berries and leaves.

 Father insisted that he stay and have breakfast but he said he must be on his way. One of the children did something which drew our attention and, upon looking up, the stranger had suddenly vanished. The tea was made and given and my mother soon revived.

 It was sometime in March before we reach Colonia Juarez, Mexico and they started planting their crops immediately. One afternoon in May, William Cook wasn’t feeling well. That night he arose from his bed and went outside where he was very ill. Louisa brought him back into the house and seeing that he was dying, cried, “Oh, William, don’t go and leave me in this God-forsaken country all alone!”

Before he died he said to Eliza, “I want you to go back to Utah and see that my father is sealed to my mother and their children sealed to their parents for they have all been sealed to President Brigham Young.” This sealing was attended to by President Lorenzo Snow.  William Cook Prows died May 24, 1894, at Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. They had no money with which to bury him, but a Mr. Thomas Romney loaned them enough with which to bury him and the Relief Society made his clothes. He died at 5 o’clock in the morning, and the government gave them until 2 o’clock the next day to get him buried. But at 8 o’clock the next morning a messenger came to the door and told them that Mr. Prows had to be in the ground by 9 o’clock, which gave them one hour. They just got him into the ground when the hour was up and here came the law.

William Cook Prows was not unprepared to meet his Maker, for his faith, sacrifice, hardships and obedience to the Gospel had brought many rich blessings, which he recognized had been given him.

He honored his priesthood above all else. He was a Seventy and a High Priest and died a faithful Latter-day Saint.  He sacrificed his association with his father, sisters, and brothers that he might be with the body of the Church.  He showed kindness and love to his fellow men and lifted the downtrodden. He followed the Savior’s admonition, “Thou shalt teach my children to walk uprightly before me.”  His children and grandchildren down through the ages should feel grateful for the heritage he left them, a heritage to be proud of, a goal to work for and an example to follow.

The death of William C. was a heartbreaking experience for his family. On the eighth day of December, 1895, they left Mexico, arriving at Mesa City, Arizona, the latter part of January, 1896. They left Mesa on 8 June, 1896, and went on to Kanosh. After a few years at Kanosh, Louisa moved to Clawson and resided a number of years, experiencing extreme hardship and privation, until the boys grew to manhood, where they tenderly cared for her in her later years. They moved out into the Uintah basin at Altonah, Duchesne County, and Louisa lived there until five days before her death in Salt Lake City, January 4, 1929.  She had gone to visit her daughter, Elizabeth J. Barney, caught a bad cold and was not able to fight it. She was buried in Kanosh, Utah. Her sons-in-law were heard many times to remark, “She was one of the best women that God ever sent to earth.” Besides her own eight children she raised seven orphans.

Lodeskey Ann had remained in Arizona to see how they came out in Mexico. It is said she bought a tombstone in Mesa and took it down to Mexico to put at her husband’s grave. She had to get a Mexican permit to put it on the grave. In August, 1894, she applied to the US government for widow’s pension and it was granted to her. She left Mesa on June 8, 1896, and returned to Kanosh, Utah.  In 1907 she moved to Salina, Utah to live with her eldest son, John Thomas. There she died on September 2, 1922, at the age of 87. She was buried in Salina Utah.

Excerpted from the family generation book and submitted by Merle Howle Dow, granddaughter

Stalwarts South of the Border pg 553

George Washington Sevey

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George Washington Sevey

George Washington Sevey

1832 – 1902

George W. Sevey, the first Bishop of Colonia Juarez, was born February 25, 1932, in Le Roy, Genesee County, New York.  He was a son of George and Hannah Libby Sevey.

In LeRoy, a frontier township, his education was limited to about six months of actual schooling, yet his love of learning made him conversant with topics of the day and gave him what was considered a normal level of education for pioneer times.

He grew into a strong, well built man, with a pleasing personality that drew people to him. He was the main support of his widowed mother, and in 1849, wishing to add to her material welfare, he acquired the “gold fever” that sent hundreds of easterners to California.  Hiring himself out as a teamster to accompany of gold seekers, he started his long trek to the West, promising his mother that he would return with enough gold to fill her every need.

On his way west, he heard unfavorable reports of the Mormons and so determined to avoid them.  He probably would have bypassed Salt Lake City or made haste to pass through it, had he not become so ill that he was replaced as a teamster and left at a wayside camp. In telling later of this part of the story, he recalled thinking he had died and that his spirit left his body. His spirit hovered near enough to observe the body, repulsive and emaciated as it lay beside a stream. But something told him his work was not yet finished, and that he must re-inhabited his body. He was soon picked up by a passing party and left in Salt Lake City.

Distrustful and fearful of people of whom he had heard unfavorable comments, dreaded contact with them. He had to have work, however, or starve. A friendly Mormon offered him a teaming job, moving freight to Palmyra, Utah.  There he took lodging with the Mormon family and was taught the Gospel by the way this family lived. His fears began to seem foolish, and his heart softened. One night he attended a cottage meeting out of curiosity.  There a miracle happened. And man to whom he had been listening indifferently, unexpectedly began speaking a strange language.  Even more strange was fact that George can understand them. The man was speaking directly to him, in a language  non one else could understand. “You must not deny the voice speaking to you, or be deaf to what it is trying to tell you. Listen, and you will be the means of taking the Gospel plan of salvation to your widowed mother and be a savior to her.”

These words so disturbed him that he was unaware of the sermons end.  The hush and quiet of the room aroused him and he heard the next speaker ask if anyone had the interpretation of the sermon spoken “in tongues.” When no one responded he wondered why they all could not understand it as well as he had. But his lips are sealed and he could not tell them the wonderful thing that has happened to him. All he could do was sit with questions racing through his mind. When the questioners singled him out and pointed asked, “don’t you know the interpretation?” He merely shook his head. When the meeting was over without any interpretation being given, he walked out, wondering why he had denied something he knew was true.  Throughout the night he was tormented by a feeling of cowardice. On his knees, he confessed to his maker his weaknesses, asked for strength to do as his heart dictated, and then dropped into slumber. Then, first the family, and later to the Elders, he confessed to the conviction he had formulated during the night. With peace in his soul, he knew his search for truth was over, that though he had not found the gold he had left home to seek, he found something far more precious. He later fulfilled the promise that he would be a savior to his mother by sending a team to the Mississippi River to meet her, and she was brought to spend her last days in his home in Panguitch. She died a firm believer in the Gospel.

He was baptized May 3, 1853 by Steven Markham, presiding Elder of Spanish Fork, then a frontier town made up of Saints who had to abandon settlement attempts at Palmyra. Here he met the Redds, the Paces and the Butlers to whom he became attached and with whom he was to spend much of his later life. Here he met Lem Redd, who became a lifelong friend, and this friendship was cemented into a family relationship when they married sisters. George married Phoebe Butler, daughter of John Lowe and Caroline Farozine Skeen Butler, December 5, 1854. They spent their early married life in Spanish Fork.

George was helpful in harnessing mountain waters, and bringing life to the sage-covered desert areas and planting orchards, fields and gardens. He was a factor in carrying out Brigham Young’s policy of feeding rather than fighting the Indians and took the lead in a campaign to share food and make friends with them. He built a cabin for himself and his wife on the banks of the Spanish Fork River. She cooked what they ate over an open fireplace. She carded and spun cloth for clothing and he made their shoes. Undaunted they endured pioneer life together.

In 1861, he was called to help settle southern Utah, at Harmony, Washington County, being among the first to locate there. It was then called Ash Fort, and was near old Fort Harmony. They made the trip from Spanish Fork in a covered wagon drawn by oxen, with one extra ox and two cows. They spent the night with John D. Lee had built the fort. George and Phoebe were among the first settlers, and made camp near the Jim Payson family, also relatives by marriage. Their tent was soon replaced with a log cabin.

But the “Big Storm” the next year crumbled the fort, washed away a part of their farmland, and even took two lives. So a move four miles north was imperative, and the town became New Harmony. New settlers arrived, the Redds and more Paces.

George was made First Counselor to Wilson D. Pace when a Ward was organized. He built a three-room log house, cleared land, got a few sheep and cows, peddled what he raised in the mining town of Pioche, Nevada, and soon set up a store in New Harmony with a Mr. Pateson, a Pioche merchant, to back him in the buying and selling of merchandise.  It was New Harmony’s first store. He also built a water-powered sawmill with an up-and-down saw, and hauled timber from Pine Valley Mountain with ox teams.

Here he met Margaret Nebraska Imlay, daughter of James Haven and Hannah Eliza Coward Imlay. With her, George made his first step into the principle of plural marriage. Two years later, he was called by President Brigham Young to lead a party and resettle Panguitch now that Indian troubles had subsided. He placed the following advertisement in the Deseret News: “All that wish to go with us to resettle Panguitch Valley will meet at Red Creek on the fourth day of March 1871, and we will go over the mountain in company to settle that country.”  From Red Creek (Paragonah) he drove over rough mountainous roads into a high valley where cold and snow had made the fertile valley prohibitive for settlement until arduous labor and wise planning made it into a thriving community.  A mountain stream was harnessed, soon making it a community surrounded by ranches and farms, where sheep and cattle businesses prospered.  Panguitch, within two years, numbered 500 people, and George became its first Bishop, a position he held for nine years.  In 1875 he went with others to Potato Valley to assist in the settlement of what later became Escalante.  In 1877, when the Panguitch Stake was organized he was chosen to be the First Counselor to Stake President James Henrei, but still maintained his office as Bishop.  In these two capacities he attended the dedication of the St. George Temple in 1877, going by way of Pipe Springs to inspect the source for food that was provided to temple workers.

On December 19, 1877, George married Martha Ann Thomas of Pine Valley, Utah, a daughter of John Pledger and Mahala Matthews Thomas.  The following year, as a favor to the Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition, George, in company with Lem Redd, George Morrell and George Hobbs, floated a raft over the Colorado River, and, in deep snow, spent almost a month marking out a wagon road from the Colorado River to Bluff on the San Juan River.

While he was Bishop, many industries were started:  shoe and harness shops, a printing press, a shingle mill, pottery plant, and others.  The community boasted of many tradesmen, such as carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, seamstresses and musicians. A church-schoolhouse of brick was soon built to climax other enterprises.  He was rated as one of the outstanding characters of the pioneer days.  He made brooms for sale, shoes for himself and others, and before his life was over he had become successful in farming, stock raising, freighting, and promoted the building of roads, canals, and railroad grades.  By 1885 he was considered a well-to-do man.  Cattle and sheep stocked his ranches, his barns were filled with hay.  His dairy furnished milk which was sold to miners in Nevada.  His comfortable homes housed contented families.

But in that year, 1885, the hopeful outlook for the future was drastically changed by the enforcement of the Edmunds Act that outlawed his form of family living.   To escape arrest and imprisonment he left it all, took his plural families and joined others fleeing to Mexico.  He located at Camp Turley near San Jose on the Casas Grandes River while waiting for land purchases to be completed.  There he heard the letter read that appointed him Presiding Elder of Colonia Juarez.  When word came to move onto property finally purchased, he led the camp members to what later was called Old Town.  When it was discovered that they had put their improvements on private property, he led them to the present site of Colonia Juarez, maintained the same policy toward land ownership and used the same method to build a brotherhood and neighborly atmosphere.

George took a town lot after the survey was completed, and a farm up the river, then started operations for building canals to bring water to the desolate spot their real claim turned out to be.  He promoted road building over the eastern hills to facilitate entrance to the town.  He scouted the forbidding San Diego Canyon over which lumber had to be hauled from the sawmill on top of the mountains.  He encouraged the completion of the school and church house and bought a tannery in which John. J. Walser and sons soon began making leather from the tanned hides of cattle. He established Martha Ann in the lumber home he soon built on his town lot, and Margaret in the same type of home four miles up the river.  From an orchard he was soon peddling fruit, and he raised alfalfa on both pieces of property.

In June of 1887, the Juarez Ward was organized and Miles P. Romney and Ernest L. Taylor were appointed as his Counselors, making an outstanding Bishopric.  Miles P. Romney kept watch over the morals of the community and promoted cultural activities and set a level that is still maintained.  Ernest L. Taylor, besides being the peace officer, promoted businesses of cattle and stock raising.  Bishop Sevey, warmhearted and congenial, full of compassion for the erring, quick to see the needs of those struggling against odds, kept the principles of brotherhood growing.

 

George was saddened when word reached him of the death of his wife Phoebe, who passed away on August 4, 1892 in Panguitch. It was impossible to attend her funeral. This bereavement was beset with another worry, that of Maggie’s ill health. Before the next three years had passed, it was plain to see her illness was malignant. With no medical help in the country to fight this dread killer, and knowing of his good friend Doctor Blackburn in Utah, George immediately fixed a conveyance in which he could travel comfortably and set out to get help.  He traveled against time and did his best to cover the miles with all possible speed. It was in vain. Maggie died within a few miles of their destination. He buried her in Panguitch beside his departed Phoebe.

The return to Mexico to move Martha Ann to the farm, put the motherless children into her care, and was soon at work again in his capacity as a ward leader. He made sure that the owner of every lot had his quota of hillside pasture for milk cows. He created a fund for the keeping of widows and those in need. He had the rare art of giving without hurting, and too many he became an Angel of mercy. He frowned on bickering among neighbors and from the pulpit urged his congregation not to “go into the new year with hard feelings against her neighbor. Go to him and acknowledge her faults if you have been wronged. If you can’t fix it up among yourselves, then let the Ward Teachers help.”  Created a scab pasture for tithing cattle and a storehouse for produce gathered by the Deacons as fast offerings, and dispensed it to those in need.

George’s long life on the frontier was taking its toll, however. In deference to this he was released as Bishop in 1896, is six years later he died, on June 22, 1902. He was buried in the cemetery in Colonia Juarez. He left the posterity of 30 children, among whom are financiers, state legislator, bishops, many missionaries and church workers, all blessed with benign qualities and all promoters of the love of brotherhood.

Tom Sevey, son

Stalwart’s South of the Border Nelle Spilsbury Hatch  page 605

Lemuel Hardison Redd

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Redd house Colonia Juarez, Mexico. Courtesy of www.brimhallkerby.com

Redd house Colonia Juarez, Mexico. Courtesy of www.brimhallkerby.com

Redd, Lemuel H

 

 

Lemuel Hardison Redd

                (1836 – 1910)

Lemuel Hardison Redd, eldest son and fifth child of John Hardison and Elizabeth Hancock Redd, was born at Sneeds Ferry, Onslow County, North Carolina, July 31, 1836.

In 1839 his parents moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where his father acquired a huge tobacco plantation and purchase slaves to operated it. In 1842, converted to the Gospel by John D. Lee, he was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Becoming convinced that one man should not be in bondage to another, he freed his slaves, sold his plantation, invested the proceeds in wagons and ox teams and prepared to migrate to Zion. While these negotiations were in progress, he and his wife made a trip to Nauvoo to become acquainted with Joseph Smith. There they were given Patriarchal Blessings by Hyrum Smith.

Emigrating west they joined Captain Session’s company at the Missouri River. Lem, a boy of 14, walked and drove and ox team the entire distance to Utah. Although slight in weight and short in stature, he was agile and strong and a quick and willing worker. When cholera broke out in camp, taking the lives of many, he and his father both survived an attack. Without further incident, other than fear of Indians and of being run down by buffalo stampedes, they arrived in Salt Lake Valley in October, 1850.  The family settled in Provo, then a village of some 50 families. There Lem and his sisters went to school, and one sister, Mary Catherine, died.  The next year, the Redds, with William Pace and family, moved to Spanish Fork, being pioneers in its settlement. There John, the father, built the first sawmill, which was burned by hostile Indians. Soon afterward, Lem was assigned defense service against the Indians, while his father assisted in erection of a fort. This was the beginning of the Walker War.

There seem to be no time to build the rock house which John H. had in mind to duplicate his Murfreesboro home, and it was postponed. His wife Elizabeth, and his son, John Holt, both died.  Soon after, his two older daughters, Moriah and Elizabeth, married Wilson D. Pace and Harvey Pace in a double wedding.  Lem himself married Keziah Jane Butler, daughter of John Lowe and Caroline Skeen Butler, on January 2, 1856.

All these family changes made John’s dream house pointless and his mission to help settle the Muddy was given up. Lem, newly married and still living in the fort, was called to take his father’s place in settling the Muddy.

Members of this party were chosen with care. They were instructed on what the mission entailed and learning something of the Indian’s nature and various approaches to them. All were well supplied with guns and ammunition and instructed in self-protection. They left in the spring of 1856 and, after traveling some time but seeing no Indians, they became alarmed for they were aware of nearness by signs.  Horses were driven off, and clothing and foodstuffs were stolen and unobserved moments. One Indian was seen from a distance, but he skulked out of sight. How could they make friends with such an elusive people and fulfill the mission of preaching the Gospel to them? As result, they were released and allowed to return to their homes, Lem went back to his home in the fort, and 1856 , his first son, Lemuel Hardison, Jr., was born.  Life in the fort created bonds fellowship.

Relationships were cemented between the Butlers, the Paces, the Seveys, the Redds and other first settlers of Spanish Fork.  John Lowe Butler was Lem’s father-in-law as well as that of George W. Sevey, who had married Keziah, Jane’s sister, Phoebe.  Harvey and Wilson Pace were his brothers-in-law, and all remained firm and lifelong friends.

 The year 1856 was a hard one. An epidemic of measles afflicted most of them, Lem and Keziah (Kizzie) being confined to their beds at the same time. Snow lay on the ground three and four feet deep.  Canyon roads were so completely blocked that all able-bodied men were called to keep the passes open.  In the snowbound state, telegrams came stating that immigrant Saints, late in beginning their trek across the plains, were starving and freezing in the mountains. Lem was chosen to go with his father and others to rescue them.

In 1858, Lem’s father was thrown from a horse and killed, leaving a young wife, Mary Lewis, and a year-old baby daughter besides his half-grown son, Benjamin.  That year crops were good and life seemed propitious. But the Utah War disturbed and frighten the Saints. Lem, with about 2,000 other men, became part of a standing army detailed to do guard at mountain passes in an effort to keep Johnston’s Army from entering Salt Lake City.  When the crisis was over, he settled down to help build up Spanish Fork in to a beautiful and prosperous settlement.

In 1862, a call came from President Brigham Young for settlers to go to southern Utah. Lem, the Butlers, the Seveys and Paces were among those called.  By that time, Lem was the father of four children:  Lem, six; Mary Jane, four; John, two; and William, a babe in arms.  He sold his property, invested in teams and wagons, placed heavy machinery and furniture and a sturdy wagon, his wife and children with bedding, clothing and foodstuffs in the lighter one, and his six-year-old son, Lem, and brother, Ben, to drive the loose stock, set out for St. George.  At Harmony, however where the Seveys and Paces had already located, they ended their journey and settle among relatives and acquaintances.  The settlement at this time, following a washout by the “Big Storm” earlier in the year, was moving to higher ground.  The storm had destroyed the fort, washed away a part of the farmland, and a New Harmony was being established 4 miles farther north. At New Harmony, they met John D. Lee, who had carried the Gospel to Lem’s parents in Kentucky, and was the founder of New Harmony.

Lem moved onto lot near the river. But not being satisfied with either the location of the house, he soon built more commodious Adobe home on higher ground in which the Redds lived for the next eight years.  Here three more children are born. November 5, 1866, he entered the principle of plural marriage and married Sarah Louise Chamberlain. She was the daughter, and only child, of Solomon Chamberlain and Theresa Morse her father had crossed the plains as Brigham Young’s teamster in the original group of pioneers in 1847. Soon after this marriage, Lem bought the John D. Lee home, and unfurnished two-story building against the foothills of the Pine Mountains. John D. Lee was then a fugitive from justice as the accused leader in the Mountain Meadows massacre.

Lem and his boys finished the home and made it into a duplex with Louisa occupying the north half and Keziah the South half.  Here, peaceful family living was enjoyed for 20 years and a setting was provided for a tranquil life for every child in the home. Each member willingly accepted his share of responsibilities and cooperated in the distribution of work about the house and farm. To Luisa were born 11 children and all but the two older ones, who died in infancy, were born after settling in the Lee home.  To Keziah, five were born there. Life seemed good in the future bright.

All this changed, however, with the passing of anti-polygamy legislation that made polygamy a crime and everyone who entered into it a criminal. Almost overnight, their free, wholesome life was changed to one of anxiety. Plural wives were also to be arrested. A hideout for both Lem and Louisa was made in the wash behind the house, that was used many times when the approach of U.S. Marshals was suspected.  In addition, Lem created reasons for being absent from home, going to and from places where businesses were created, under cover of night.  He went to Mesa, Arizona, to visit his daughter, Jane, and to San Juan where he that isolated section of Utah was open for colonization. Any place where safety seemed possible he went. He served as scout for the first company that set out for San Juan by way of the Hole-in-the-Rock. Lem and three Georges – Hobbs, Morrell, and Sevey – loaded pack mules with bedding and food for eight days, and went ahead to locate a possible trail through almost impassable country to the Colorado River and beyond. The eight days stretched to 28 before they returned.   

It was considered a miracle that they survived, considering the ordeals they passed through. After leaving the main company at Hole-in-the-Rock, they ferried themselves across the Colorado River. There they were confronted with many canyons leading off from the river, only one of which, of course, was the San Juan River canyon which led to the outpost for which the company was headed.  Exhausting themselves and their animals by climbing the top of ridge after ridge, and further expending their strength and food on several vain searches, they finally reached a barrier through which they never could have found their way except that a mountain goat whose trail they followed led them down. Wallowing through snow drifts, have frozen and facing hunger, they made camp wondering if they could hold out until sight of the San Juan River was gained. The next morning, Lem in formed the others it if they would go with him to the top of a nearby knoll, he would show them the San Juan River just as it had appeared to him in a dream. As he predicted, there before them lay that glinting waters of the river they sought and off to the left Blue Mountain, a landmark they sought.  This site was so cheering that although they had been without food for five days, they completed the journey to a log cabin on the San Juan River into which they stumbled half dead from hunger. Then, refreshed with food, they retraced their steps, marking a feasible route over Grey Mountain and delivered to the anxious Hole-in-the-Rockers the message of a possible way to reach their destination  their tired bodies, weather-beaten faces and tattered clothing were mute evidence of what the information had cost.

Lem later made a trip to Bluff, after a better route had been made, on vacation with two daughters, Delle and Ellen, to help his son, Monroe, move cattle, and at the same time to dodge marshals. They had not proceeded far, however, when signs behind them indicated they were being followed. To avoid being taken by surprise, Lem slept in some hideout each night and all were on the lookout through the day. Deciding one night they had outdistance there pursuers, he began to lay out his bedroll in camp. “My second thought is that I’d better not,” and he slipped into the darkness. Ten minutes later, two marshals suddenly stepped into the firelight with a warrant for the arrest of L. H. Redd.

At Bluff, Lem found a possible place to move his wife, Louisa.  For two years this to be the right decision, but marshals again put in their appearance and he realized that a better place must be found. Mexico was the place. It seemed a last resort.

In 1891, Lem loaded Louisa and her children, including baby Effie, who had been born in Bluff, but excluding Wayne, who had married, into wagons and again began the lonely trek to a foreign country. They faced water shortage in desert sections, grim fears as they passed through Indian country, and the anxiety of running out of food. They arrived in Colonia Juarez in the fall the year. There they would live the rest of their lives.

Louisa’s 13th child, Ancil, was born in the little rock house on the Alfred Baker farm above town.  And her 14th, Hazel, was born in a frame house they had bought just outside town limits. Later they built a spacious, two-story brick home on the same lot. Into it the family moved. And by industry and love beautiful they made it a show place.

For the first four years, Lem’s time was divided between his home in Mexico and that the new harmony. Hectic living of the past years have allowed his Harmony farm and home to run down.  Kizzie was in poor health with cancer, from which she died on May 15, 1895.  Lem sold his property and interests in New Harmony and spent his entire time in Colonia Juarez, of which he and his family soon became an integral part. He acted as a High Councilman to help in the deliberations that made for the best and surest growth of the community. His children were active in school and community affairs. Life was good and free from fears of the houndings of the “underground days.”

When the Juarez Stake was first organized 1895, Lem was released from the High Council to become the First Counselor to Alexander F. McDonald, who was sustained as President of the High Priest Quorum. Shortly after, he was released and made Patriarch of the Juarez Stake of Zion.  In this capacity he endeavored to give each one of his living descendants a Patriarchal Blessing before he died.  In 1897, he attended the jubilee celebration of the LDS church held in Salt Lake City and connection with the October Conference.  There, he visited Alice and Vilo, Kizzie’s two youngest daughters, who were attending the University of Utah, his son, Lem and daughter Hattie from San Juan, and other immediate members of his family.   

In October, 1902, a memorable reunion with Kizzie’s children took place in Salt Lake City. To this gathering also went to Louisa from Mexico and her youngest child and her oldest son, Wayne.  The L. H. Redd family, long separated, was able to meet for the first time since the old happy days in the John D. Lee home in New Harmony.  They attended several sessions in the Salt Lake Temple together.

In March 1907, Louisa succumbed to an attack of pneumonia, her death leaving Lem bereft of a wife, with seven unmarried children, all of whom were away from home except Hazel, the youngest. Lem sold the “show place” home, and rented a house in town where he and12-year-old Hazel settled down to care for each other.  It was not for long. Failing health, incident to a broken hip and advancing years, resulted in his death on June 10, 1910 at the age of 74. He was buried in Colonia Juarez Chihuahua, beside his wife Louisa.  His 74 years of accomplishments, of triumphs, of hardships and of steadfastness to his church were over. Love for the Gospel was ever a dominant feature of his life, and he passed this on to his numerous posterity. Of the 21 children who survived L. H. Redd, none but have done honor to his name in this respect.

In business and the professions, his descendants have been above average in their success, public service, and loyalty to their country. In World War II, for example, his descendants served in all theaters of the war, and were a part of every division of the Armed Forces, some of them rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In all, there were 70 representatives as of his family in active duty; 21 of these were officers.

Lem with his wives, Kezziah and Louisa, may well rest in peace. Their posterity do them proud.

Nelle Spilsbury Hatch Stalwarts South of the Border pg 563

The Walter J. Stevens Tragedy

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The Walter J. Stevens Tragedy

by Joel H. Martineau

 When the families left Colonia Pacheco in July 1912, at the time of the Exodus, it was with the hope that the federal army, under General Blanco, would arrive soon and the rebels would be driven out of the country and the families could return.

There was one family, however, who did not go, that of Walter J. Stevens. This family lived on a ranch a mile north of town and instead of going to El Paso, they moved into a small cave on the riverbank not far from their home. The mouth of the cave was in a patch of brush and trees and had recently been discovered.  The cave was not known to anyone except the Stevens family.

The entrance was not very large but the cave widened out and extended into the bank about 40 feet. Into this, they brought supplies of food and bedding, and when General Salazar, with his army of 700 men occupied Pacheco for three weeks, they pass the time quietly and were not discovered.

At length, when the rebels had all gone, the family again moved into their home. There is a small creek that came from the west the past near the house. Along its border, for about 195 yards, was a blackberry patch and the berries were ripe. Beyond the berry patch was an orchard of apple trees.

Shortly after they returned to their home, Sextus H. Johnson came from Sonora and visited the family and camped nearby.  The next day he went home and was cleaning out the rubbish and wreckage left in his home by the rebels when Brig, the little Stevens boy, came and told him that his father had just been stabbed by a Mexican and was dead. Hastening to the Stevens’ home, he found the grief stricken family under intense suspense over the terrible tragedy.  Artificial respiration was tried, but to no avail. The husband and father was dead.

There were three big boys in the family but Walter had gone hunting and Alden and Ammon were riding out to locate their horses that had been driven off to a secure place a month earlier.

Events leading up to the tragedy were related by the family. The two girls, Ella and Emma, were picking blackberries near the upper end of the patch when two Mexicans passed near and spoke to them. They did not speak Spanish so did not know what was said. The Mexicans went on across the creek, which is lined with willows, and the girls began working toward the house. Soon the Mexicans came back across the creek and saluted them with “Buenos Dias” and the girls went at once to the house and the men slowly followed them, eating berries as they walked along.

Brother Stevens was in the field a short distance away and little Brig was sent to tell him the Mexicans were coming. He went home at once and got his double-barreled shotgun and met the intruders as they neared the house and ordered them away, evidently thinking they were not there for any good purpose. They evidently did not come to rob them for they knew there was a man and three big boys there and they were unarmed except for a knife.

As the two men retired back the way they came, Stevens followed close behind them and was still talking to them.  The two girls took their pails to again resume their berry picking. Now Stevens is a man unafraid, yet he is a man of peace and may have unwittingly made some remark that cause a burst of passion in the natives, for one of them turned suddenly and plunged a knife deep into the breast of Stevens. The reaction came immediately for Stevens’ trigger finger tightened and both barrels went off, both loads striking the other man in the side making a ghastly wound. He went about 150 yards into the orchard and died.

As soon as the gun discharge, Stevens dropped it and seized the two wrists of the killer and forced him down on his back on top of the gun.  Another girl, Mina, was looking out of an upstairs window and saw her father stabbed and screamed. Her two sisters immediately rushed to the assistance of their father. He was sitting astride the Mexican and grasping his wrists. His face was ashen and he spoke not a word.

Ella pulled the gun from beneath them and Emma struck the man in the face with a stick. Their father weakened and fell over. The Mexican jumped up and made a lunge at Emma with the knife. Ella seized her skirt and pulled her back far enough to miss the knife by a small margin and as she raised the gun, the native fled. As he passed his fallen comrade, he took his hat, having lost his own in the scuffle. The girls then carried the limp body of their father to the house and when halfway there, he gave his last gasp and expired.

As soon as Johnson came, he did all he could for the stricken family and when the sons finally came home, he went at once to Pearson and notified the military then came on, though quite late, and told us in Colonia Juarez what had happened. At daylight next morning, half a dozen of us left on horseback for Colonia Pacheco. You the top of the mountain we met the Stevens family in a wagon driven by Joel Porter on their way to Colonia Juarez.

On arriving in the Stevens’ home I (J.H. Martineau) made two coffins for the dead while the others dug Stevens’ grave in the local natives buried their dead friend. A posse of soldiers came up from Pearson to take cognizance of the tragedy.

The local Mexicans said the two men were employed at the railroad construction camp about 6 miles east of Colonia Pacheco and had come hunting their saddle horses and were on their way to the house to inquire of the boys if they had seen them.

Walter Joshua Stevens was a man of strong convictions. He did not see the necessity of abandoning the colonies at this time as all of the colonists in the mountains had lived in comparative peace. He had many friends among the natives as well as colonists and had scarcely an enemy and felt perfectly safe to remain as he had his hidden cave, if needed.

He was fearless but not quarrelsome; a kind neighbor, honest in his business deals, always ready to aid the sick with his help at the bedside as well as with his means. He left the host of friends among all classes who knew him.. The slayer was unhurt and proceeded to camp, told what had happened to his companion and went on his way.

Taken from Pacheco History and Stories compiled by Sylvia Lunt Heywood

Eli Whipple

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Eli Whipple

Eli Whipple younger

      Eli Whipple

      (1820 – 1904)

Eli Whipple was the fourth child of John and Mary Jane Whipple. He was born October 17, 1920, at Lucorn, Warren County, New York.

 At the age of 15 his parents left New York and went to Pennsylvania where he located in McKean County in the town of Bradford. They bought a farm and put in a sawmill in store. His father was very successful in all these ventures. Eli was in charge of the work until he was 21 years of age. He then met Patience Foster, who was the daughter of a successful lawyer. They were married and were happy in their home. They were members of the Christian Church until 1845. Then Eli joined the Mormons. Patience, however, was unhappy with this. Eli tried to persuade her to leave her mother and go with him and the Mormons, but to no avail. A child was on November 15, 1846. Her name was Marion.

Eli heard of riches in California and saw prospects of wealth. His wife Patience consented to go, so in 1852 they left New York and went to San Francisco where he went into the store and lumber business. They soon had three mills and made lots of money. However, early one spring, two mills burned down. They became discouraged and went to Utah, arriving on March 17, 1858. Eli invested in some woolen mills with some other fellows but lost a great deal of money. In the fall of 1861, Eli was called to help settle Dixie. He sold all he had and bought land there. It wasn’t long until he was busy making lumber to build homes. Here in 1861, he married a widow, Caroline Lytle, as his second wife, and had her two children, Edgar and Harriet, sealed to him. He bought more land and cattle and raise lots potatoes. In fact, he was called the “Potato King of Utah..”  He was called on a mission in 1872 to Ohio. On his return he started making butter and cheese. A man named Benjamin Clark then came to work for him. Clark had with him to nieces and a nephew: Mary Jane, Sarah, and Samuel Legg. Eli took Mary Jane as a third wife in the St. George Temple on July 6, 1877. At that time Eli was 57 and she was 19.

Because the enforcement of anti-polygamy legislation, Eli decided it best to go to Mexico. Two of his wives, however refused to go. Eli decided to make the move anyway. This was a difficult decision. Patience and Caroline, with their children, by choosing to remain behind, well knew that it meant not having a loving father to help in raising their families. Many tears were shed. They had all the worldly goods necessary to make them happy. For, at this time, Eli was one of the wealthiest men in southern Utah. By spring of 1887 everything was in readiness. They departed for a strange land where they knew they would have to pioneer and there would be many hardships. They knew little of the customs of the people of Mexico. It was a trial in many ways. It was a cold and long journey. They were two days in getting across the border.

The spring after arriving, Eli was an accident. He was thrown off a wagonload of lumber. He broke both his legs and some of his ribs. He was laid up for a year and had to walk to with two canes for the rest of his life. With his wife Mary Jane and her children he made cheese and butter and raise hogs for sale. He moved to Colonia Dublan and put up a blacksmith shop to get money for his family. He also had a vineyard and sold many grapes. A deeply religious man, Eli Whipple also enjoyed writing poetry. He died at the age of 84 on May 11, 1904.

Jennie W. Brown and Pearl W. Cooley granddaugters

Pg 770 Stalwarts South of the Border Nelle Spilsbury Hatch

Cave Valley Indian Princess

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Cave Valley Indian Princess

(as told by Keith Bowman)

Many years ago the boys in Colonia Pacheco would hurt their cows down by the river. As time passed, they would go farther and farther and thus got down as far as Cave Valley.  The boys would play around the caves well there cows were grazing. It was interesting for the boys to find different caves going to them.

One day they found a cave that was back in a little canyon that they hadn’t been to before it was hidden by some trees. As they went into it, they sought it was very well preserved and had Indian dwellings in it. In the back there was one room that didn’t have any doors or windows. They pounded on it and knew it was a hollow room.  They got a stick and dug a little hole then put the smallest boy through the hole to see what was inside. When he got in and sat down, the light came in through the hole and he could see a girl sitting there. He said he had a hard time getting in that room through the small hole, but didn’t have a hard time getting out!

About a month later, an archaeologist from the United States was visiting the Pacheco area. He was told about this boy seeing the girl in the case. The archaeologist went to the boy and said he would give him a dollar if he’d take him where the girl was. He was taken there and they opened up a door into the cave and sure enough, there was a girl sitting there. She had on a blue velvet dress, had long blonde hair and blue eyes. There were two hollas (clay jars) by her, one contained squash seeds and the other one was empty.  It had probably contained water.

We don’t know why they put her in there or if they were putting her the there to preserve her during some more or attack or whether she was a prisoner. They intended to come back and get her, I’m sure, because they left her with food and water. She was very well preserved but her fingers were all worn off where she had tried to scratch and dig herself out. Of course, the archaeologist took the girl to United States and probably put it in a museum or other location for display.

When I tell this story to the girls who had “Girl’s Camp” in that area each year, they’d say, “Let’s go and find the cave.”  We’d go and find a cave where there were dwellings in little room in the back it had an opening so we figured this was a place where they found the princess mummy.