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Warriner Ahaz Porter of the Mormon Colonies in Mexico

Warriner Ahaz Porter

of

the Mormon Colonies in Mexico

(1848 – 1932)

Warriner Ahaz Porter was born May 20, 1848, at Winter Quarters, Florence, Nebraska.  His parents, Chauncy Warriner and Lydia Ann Cook Porter were encamped there with others of Mormon Church who had been driven from their homes in Nauvoo.  In the fall of that same year, Lydia Ann Porter crossed the plains to Utah in a covered wagon, taking with her the infant Warriner and four young stepchildren.

After their arrival in Salt Lake City, they suffered through a year of near starvation before Chauncy was able to join them in the fall of 1849.  Soon after settling in Salt Lake City, he was assigned to manage a sawmill in the Mill Creek area south of the city.  In the autumn of 1854 they moved to Centerville.

The settlers living in Centerville during those early years were beset by many hardships and privations.  Food was very scarce, and cloth or wool for weaving was almost impossible to find.  For this reason, young Warriner worked as a farm laborer at the age of seven, using his earnings to help with the finances of the home.  His formal schooling was very limited, as school was held for only two or three months a year, during the coldest weather when there was less demand for manual labor.

In 1858, Chauncy Porter moved his family to Morgan County, where he went into business with his brothers running a sawmill.  They later founded  a community know as Porterville.  Once again, Warriner was denied a chance for the education he desired so much, but he learned a valuable lessons in knowing how to work with his hands, and grew up strong, independent, and able to support himself at several occupations.

In Porterville there lived the family of Richard S. and Elizabeth Norwood.  Through the years of growing up together, Warriner and Mary Malinda Norwood fell in love. They were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, on October 5, 1867.

Warriner had been raised in a home where plural marriage was accepted as part of his religion.  He was sincerely convinced that it was right, and therefore on July 21, 1873, after he and Mary had three children, he married Martha Norwood, Mary’s younger sister.

The people in Porterville made an attempt to organize themselves in the United Order.  The experiment lasted only 18 months, but the  Porter family believed this to be the right way of life, if people could only learn to live its principles.  Warriner sold his home and farm and moved to southern Utah were the United Order had been set up in the small town of Orderville, Kane County.  Each adult in the Order was assigned to work at the task best suited to his or her talents.  Warriner worked in the cabinet and carpenter shop and later became the manager of all furniture making in the Order.

In addition to this work in the Order, Warriner was busy in church and in civic affairs.  He served as a Ward Teacher, Sunday School Teacher, a member of the Stake Sunday School Superintendency, and a High Councilman.  For a time he was the sheriff of Kane County.  Warriner always felt that the time years he spent in Orderville were the most pleasant of his life.

While living in Orderville, Warriner married his third wife.  On April 23, 1879, he married Rachel Ann Black, a daughter of William Morley and Maria Hansen Black.

When the United States Congress passed laws against plural marriage, it became illegal for any man living this principle to vote, to hold public office or to own property.  Men were hounded, persecuted and even imprisoned.  So these good men who married in the sincere belief that they were doing right were forced to make a grim decision.  They must abandon the wives and children whom they loved, or they must seek some other locality where they might live together as families, free from persecution.  After asking advice from the President of the Church, Warriner decided the only solution was to take his family, leave the United States and settle in the Mormon colonies which were being established in Mexico.

The summer of 1889 was spent in preparation. Property must be sold and business affairs settled.  Clothing must be provided for two years, and wagons teams and supplies must be assembled.  At the time the Porter family began the exodus to Mexico, Mary had eight children, one of whom was married.  Martha had four living children, the oldest just 15 years old, and Rachel’s four living children were all under nine years of age.  Each of the wives was leaving behind a small grave, for each had lost a child.  They had no hopes that they would  ever again see the friends and family they were leaving in Utah, so the start of the journey was tinged with sadness.

On October 3, 1889, the long line of wagons left Orderville.  The Porter family traveled with a good friend, Christopher Heaton, who later married Phoebe Ellen Billingsly, a sister to Mary and Martha Norwood.  Tragedy struck within weeks of their departure. On October 28, Warriner Eugene, Mary’s oldest son, died at Black Rock crossing of the Little Colorado.  He had not been in good health for a long time, and the hardships of the trip overtaxed his heart.  The grief-stricken father and brother retraced their way back about three miles to a small station where they were able salvage enough lumber to make a simple casket.   He was then carried another 10 miles to the town of St. Joseph, Arizona.  Some of Warriner’s people lived there, and it was a great comfort that they did not have to bury him among strangers.

After weary weeks, the travelers reached Deming , New Mexico.  Some miles beyond Deming, they were required to pass through customers.  A bond was set on all their property with instructions that they must return within six months, bringing each item of property to prove it had not been sold in Mexico.  In this way the bond would be lifted.

After crossing the border at Las Palomas, they followed the Boca Grande, traveling along the west bank until they reached the Mormon settlement at Colonia Diaz.  Before they could rest, however, they had to go on to Ascension to report to the Mexican Government.  They arrived there on December 17, 1889.

Warriner returned his family to Diaz and then went on a tour of the colonies of Dublan, Juarez and Pacheco to decide where it would be best for them to settle.  The mountains near Pacheco were covered with tall pines, the first Warriner had seen for many weeks, and he felt that this was the place for him.  Hence, on February 3, 1890, the Porters and Heatons settled in Pacheco on a three-acre flat near the river and under the hills on the northeast side of town.  They tunneled back into the hill to make dugouts, stretched out their tents, and by using the wagon boxes for bedrooms were able to settle into temporary quarters.

Because of his skill as a carpenter, Warriner found a job building a millhouse near Juarez.  But before the task was more than started, he was stricken by a severe attack of chills and fever which left him unable to work for over three months.  Another three months was spent in returning to lift his bond in Deming, so the first years in Pacheco were lean ones.  Most of the bread was made from corn grown by the Mexicans which had to be hauled 40 miles over almost impassable roads.  This corn bread with Mexican beans and molasses made up the major part of their diet.  Deer and turkey could be found in the hills, but the men could spare little time for hunting.

By the fall of 1891, through much back-breaking effort, the families had adequate housing, a good crop of corn and potatoes and a vegetable garden.  A team and tow of the wagons had been traded for milk cows, so living conditions began to improve.  Warriner found, however, that the little farm had insufficient water in the dry season, while the rainy season brought floods roaring down the canyon to wash out dams and ditches. 

When they received an offer of land in Cave Valley, the Porters and Heatons sold the farm and moved, arriving in Cave Valley in the spring of 1892.  Warriner bought a house and lot with a nice orchard and also a small farm.  Then he and Chris Heaton went into partnership and bought a combination shigle and grist mill and they began to prosper. 

During the summer of 1893, Martha Porter became very ill.  On August 21, she died, leaving four children, one of whom was married.  So once again the Porter family was plunged into sorrow.  The three wives had lived together in complete harmony.  The children hardly knew which mother was their own.  Mary and Rachel took Marth’as children and raised them with the same love they showed toward the children born to them. 

Cave Valley was organized in the United Order early in 1893 with Christopher Heaton as President and William Morley Black and Warriner Porter as Vice Presidents.  When the Order leased a sawmill near Pacheco, Warriner was assigned to manage it.  For two years, he and Rachel lived there while Mary kept things going in Cave Valley. 

Christopher Heaton was killed by Mexicans while working at the manufacture of molasses in the Casas Grandes Valley.  Warriner was stunned by this loss, as Chris had been a brother as well as a good friend.  Phoebe Ellen, Heaton’s wife, moved her family back to Utah.

William M. Black was then made President of the Order, but it was not to last much longer.  The settlers were forced to leave their homes because of a misunderstanding about financial arrangements.  The Order was dissolved and the settlers moved back to the other colonies.  With others, Warriner chose to move to Pacheco.

A short time before Chris Heaton’s death, Warriner had bought his share of the mill.  But tragically, just after making the final payment on it, the mill burned to the ground.

While living in Cave Valley, four more daughters had been born.  Mary’s daughter was the last of her 11 children.  The first of three daughters born to Rachel during this period lived only a few weeks, so there was another small grave to leave behind.

The move to Pacheco necessitated the buying of a farm, as all the Church land under irrigation had been taken up.  The farm that Warriner purchased contained a very good site for a water-powered mill.  The dam which had furnished water for this area had been washed out, leaving the farms with and the mill high and dry.  Warriner offered to rebuild one third of the dam if other farmers would help with the rest.  It was finally agreed that each famer should pay for his share according to the size of his farm.  Warriner’s farm was of such size that he ended up being responsible for building two-thirds of the dam and two-thirds of the upkeep of the ditches.  When a water company was formed he was logically elected president.

After moving his families to Pacheco in 1897, Warriner returned to Cave Valley and gathered up all of the equipment which had not been destroyed in the fire with the mill.  He was also able to salvage enough lumber from the old home to build two rooms on his farm.  By constructing a workshop near the mill, he provided adequate shelter for his families.  During the next three years Warriner and his boys managed to add eleven rooms to the house.  This home served as comfortable living quarters for both families.  There was an enormous living room in the center which was shared by both families, while on each side were the private living quarters, so that each family could have its own individuality.  This was a happy time for the family, marred only by the death of Rachel’s year-old son on August of 1899.

In 1903 Warriner sold the shingle mill, keeping the little gristmill to grind his own grain and that of the mountain settlements.  He purchased a sawmill and was soon selling lumber throughout the colonies.  This mill was operated near Garcia for a time and was then moved to Pacheco.  In 1905 it was decided to move the mill back to the boundary line between Pacheco and Garcia, locating near the head of Round Valley Draw.  His sons were now able to do most of the milling, while Warriner drove a four-horse team, hauling lumber to the various settlements.

Then disaster struck again in the form of the worst flood ever to hit the valley.  It tore the mill from its foundation and carried with it over 50,000 feet of lumber which was scattered in all directions.  Once again this intrepid pioneer gathered up the pieces and started over.  The mill was rebuilt a few miles down the canyon, although it meant a debt of over $1,000, an overwhelming amount for those days.  After the mill was completed, Warriner went into partnership with his son, Omni, who then took over management of the mill.

The Pacheco Land Company was formed about this time for the purpose of assisting settlers to purchase their land from the Church and owning it on a private basis.  Warriner was chosen president of the company and spent many hours of his time helping to complete the negotiations.

The Porters met with another business failure when they took a contract to float a large amount of timber down into the Casas Valley where it was to be milled at the railroad.  They had somply taken on more than could be accomplished and so were not able to fulfill the contract.

The immense financial loss of this experience really hurt, but it seemed as nothing to Warriner compared to the loss of his wife Rachel.  She died on May 5, 1906, just eight days after the birth of her 14th child. The baby daughter lived only one day.  Rachel left 11 living children, one of whom was married and one living away from home. 

It was hard to adjust to this loss, but as always, their faith gave them the needed strength.  Mary, now 55 years old, became a 2nd mother to Rachel’s children, just as she and Rachel had for the children that Martha had left. Of the three families, there were four boys and ten girls still at home.  With a family of this size, Warriner could not afford to be idle.  He tunred the sawmill over to his sons, keeping a one- half share, and operated the shingle mill as well as doing carpenter work, cabinet building, and farming.

Somehow, Warriner always found time to carry his full share of responsibility in church and community. He served as President of the Pacheco Land Company and as a school trustee, and was always on hand to help with community improvements.  His church positions included being a teacher in the Ward, a Stake High Councilman, a Stake Missionary assigned to visit all the Wards, and many other callings through the years.

In 1910, a terrible epidemic of typhoid fever rated through the colonies.  Rachel’s daughter Hortense, a lovely girl of 20, was stricken with the disease.  She died on August 30, 1910.  It was a great blow to lose her in her young womanhood.

In 1911 and the early months of 1912 Warriner spent a great deal of time and money in a complete remodeling of the shingle mill.  He had no sooner put it into operation than they were forced to leave it.  The civil war in Mexico was growing worse and the Mormon colonists were ordered by their leaders to leave the country.  They were given 36 hours in which to reach the nearest railroad, 35 miles away.  Each family was allowed to take only a small amount of clothing and bedding and just enough supplies to get them to El Paso.

Thus, on July 30, 1912, the Porters took their departure from Mexico, leaving an estimated $30,000 worth of property, none which was recovered in Warriner’s lifetime.  After settling his bills and collecting the little he could of money owed to him, Warriner had $17.00 in his pocket with which to move 7 people over 1,000 miles.  His married daughter and her family, number six, also traveled with them, making Warriner responsible for 13 people.

How they accomplished this is another story in itself.  But through their faith and their industry they succeeded.  Because some family members had previously moved to the small town of Grayson, in southeastern Utah, it was decided to move there.  Warriner and Mary Porter lived in Grayson, now Blanding, in San Juan County, Utah, until 1922.  Then they moved to Salt Lake City where they spent their declining years working in the temple. 

Mary passed away on September 10, 1929, at the age of 78.  Warriner carried on alone, faithful and active to the end of his life, which came on May 28, 1932, just after his 84th birthday.

Warriner Ahaz Porter stood at the head of a numerous posterity.  He was the father of 30 children, 10 boys, and 20 girls.  At the time of his death he could count 125 grandchildren and 55 great grandchildren.  Although the last years of his life were spent in poverty in a financial sense, he was wealthy in those riches of life which count the most.      

Carol P. Lyman, granddaughter

Stalwarts South of the Border Nelle Spilsbury Hatch, page 537

Mormon Colonies in Mexico

Christopher B. Heaton Murdered By Thieves In Mexico

Christopher B. Heaton Murdered By Thieves In Mexico

Surprised by Murders at Work and Was Shot-

Supposed Assassins are Caught-Great Loss to Colonies

 E. G. Woolley, Jr., received a letter yesterday from his uncle and Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, containing an account of the murder of Christopher B. Heaton, near Colonia Pacheco, on November 10.

Mr. Heaton was one of the best-known men in Utah, and leaves a large circle of friends and relatives to mourn his untimely death.

With reference to his murder, the letter says:

I just received the sad news of the death of Christopher B. Heaton, and thinking perhaps you would like for the paper, in case you cannot get a full account from the Colonia. I send you this, to be fixed up as you please: Brother Heaton was First Counselor to Bishop Jesse N. Smith, Jr., of Colonia Pacheco. Last September he came down to Colonia Dublan, to make molasses, and finished on Saturday, November 9, in the evening. That night to barrels of molasses were stolen and next morning he found one of them cash away in the pumice. He then decided to watch the next night and see if the thieves came after the cash to barrel. That night about 8 o’clock some Mexicans with a yoke of oxen and a wagon came loaded up the molasses. It is not known what took place, but three shots were heard by Brother Breinholt, who was nearby, and as he ran to see what was the matter, he heard the wagon rattling off. He followed and two Mexicans were caught with the team and molasses and put under arrest. Brother Heaton was found dead, having been shot. His head also was terribly beaten with a club. Several other Mexicans have been arrested, and it is hoped the guilty parties will be put to death. The officers of Casas Grandes appear to be doing all they can to catch the murderers. Brother Heaton’s death will be a terrible loss to the Mexican colonies, as he was one of our leading men, and was highly respected by everyone. He was buried in Colonia Dublan.

This newspaper article appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday November 24, 1895 page 5.

Jesse Nathaniel Smith, Jr.

Jesse Nathaniel Smith, Jr.

1861-1912

Jesse Nathaniel Smith, Jr. was born May 16, 1861 at Parowan, Utah.  He was the seventh generation of an influential family of Smiths who came from England and settled Topsfield, Massachusetts.  From father to son, they are: Robert, who migrated in 1638, Samuel, Samuel II, Asael, Silas, Jesse Nathaniel, and Jesse N., Jr.

Samuel held many positions including that of delegate to the Provincial Congress, and chairman of the “Topsfield Tea Party.”  Asael was a free thinker and predicted that one of his descendants would “promote a work to revolutionize the world of religious thought.”  His grandson, the Prophet Joseph, was that man.

Jesse N., his brother Silas S. and their widowed mother were called to settle in Parowan, Utah.  The boys’ lives were parallel, Silas in Colorado and Jesse N. in Arizona.  Jesse N. held many positions in both state and church, among them legislator and President of a Stake. He married Emma S. West, daughter of Samuel Walker West and Margaret Cooper.  Jesse N., Sr. had five wives and 44 children.  All but two of the children grew to maturity.  Two of them died before marrying.  The other forty all married in the temple.  Their posterity, as of 1967, numbered about 6,000.

Jesse N., Jr. was sealed in infancy.  His life was saved by the administration of the Elders and the application of home remedies He went to school two or three months each winter.

At age 17 he was recommended to attend the University of Utah to prepare to teach.  He returned to his home town to take up his profession.  During his first year he courted Mary Ann Mitchell, daughter of William C. Mitchell and Mary Ann Holmes.  The Mitchells joined the Church in England, migrated to Utah and became community builders at Parowan. They did well, financially.  Mary Ann was born February 10, 1863.  Her mother took sick when she was nine years old and the girl assumed most of her care until she died five years later.

Jesse N., Jr.’s teaching was interrupted when his father was called to preside over the Eastern Arizona Stake.  In the early spring of 1860 he helped his father move the family to Snowflake, Arizona.  While there he worked with her father who had contracted to build a section of the Atlantic-Pacific railroad over the Continental Divide, near Ft. Wingate, New Mexico.  Jesse then returned to Parowan to get his bride.  They were married in the St. George Temple, October 14, 1880.  From there they went to Snowflake where he took up his profession as a teacher, his wife working with him.  Mary Ann returned as her family came along.  Jesse N. III and Elias were born there.  Jesse N., Jr. took up some land nearby which squatters jumped.  Even though he knew there were Texas cattlemen hostile toward the Mormons, he rode up and claimed the land anyway.  By diplomacy he persuaded them of the justice of his claim. 

Jesse N., Jr. fell in love with one of his students, Nancy Ann Freeman.  They were married September 11, 1884.  Her parents, John Woodruff and Sarah Adeline Collins Freeman, were sturdy pioneer stock.  They answered the call of the First Presidency to help colonize the St. George country.  He was called to be Bishop of the Washington Ward until 1877 when he was called to help settle northern Arizona.  He moved to Snowflake and became a prominent citizen of the town.

The Edmunds anti-polygamy law was being enforced with vigor.  Many were being prosecuted.  President John Taylor decided the Saints in Arizona who were vulnerable should go to Mexico to colonize.  He called Alexander F. Macdonald to take charge of the project.  Brother Macdonald took a company, which he located south of the border at Corralitos.  President Taylor also instructed President Jesse N. Smith to warn the brethren liable to prosecution for polygamy to go to Chihuahua, Mexico, on the Casas Grandes River.  He then appointed Apostle Moses Thatcher to be a committee to purchase lands. 

President Smith organized a company to go immediately.  His son Jesse N., Jr. being in a public position, joined the group. They left on February 10, 1885, and after 18 days of hard travel over mountains and rivers arrived at La Ascension, the site of the Mexican customhouse. 

A meeting of the committee was called the next day at Corralitos to plan operations. For months the committee met and made explorations.  Brother Smith was also appointed to preside over the camp at Ascension.  This entailed helping with payment of duties.  The camp entertained customs officials at the best dinner they could prepare.  The officers reciprocated.  Brother Smith signed bonds for the payment of duties by some of the colonists.  He also had to join in giving surety for the payment of double duty imposed by the government in certain cases.  He wrote a remonstrance to the Treasurer General who finally remitted the assessment.

On November 25, a conditional contract was signed for the purchase of 20,000 hectares of land in three locations for 12,000 Mexican pesos.  Three days later Brother Smith returned to Arizona as other members of the committee had done.  Jesse N., Jr. chose to dedicate his life to pioneering in the new country so he remained in Mexico.  During the months he had been active in camp affairs, he rented land which he farmed.  Jesse N., Jr. committed himself to learning the language, customs and legal procedures of this new land so that he could be of service as a mediator between the colonists and the Mexicans.  He learned to speak the language fluently.  He also did a great deal of studying in other fields and came to be known as one of the best-read men of the colonies.

It is unique that with all his training and culture, Jesse N., Jr. turned to raising cattle and horses.  He moved to Colonia Juarez where he taught a class in grammar and raised a crop.  Here he commenced his life as a gentleman-stockman by caring, with Lyman Wilson, for the town dry herd on the Tinaja Wash.  Mary Ann’s daughter, Mary was born there.  After two years the lack of feed and water required them to find new pastures, so Jesse N., Jr. (as he was always known) took the herd up into the Sierra Madre Mountains and located them on a ranch in the Corrales Basin. 

At Tinaja, Mary Ann had made butter from cream that raised on milk set in pans.  At Corrales she also made cheese.  They pioneered cheese-making by using galvanized tubs for vats.  Then Franklin Spencer joined them and they made cheese in shares.  After they moved to Pacheco they continued the cheese-making, using their own cows.  Nancy Ann’s sons, John Woodruff and Francis Clair, and Mary Ann’s son, William Cooke, were born at Corrales. 

On February 12, 1891, Jesse N. Smith Jr. was ordained the first Bishop of the Pacheco Ward.  He had moved into town to teach school.  Mary Ann also taught.  As Bishop, he took the lead in community, as well as church, activities.  Handling tithing was the hardest of his jobs.  Tithing and fast offerings were paid in kind, as with livestock, crops, eggs and butter, all of which had to be sold or consumed. He frequently went to the city of Chihuahua to sell tithing stores as well as his own crops and cheese.

Three sources of anxiety plagued the community:  Indians, Mexicans, and “Black Jack,” the cattle rustler.  Mexicans killed the wife of Brother Macdonald in Garcia.  They also killed Brother Heaton who was guarding his molasses.  Indians killed the wife and shot one of boy of the Thompson family.  Indians annoyed and threatened the colonists in many ways.  Bishop Smith kept horse and Winchester in readiness at all times for an Indian raid.

Eventually, in the interest of the education of his family, he moved them to Colonia Dublan.  There he bought a large farm of about 100 acres.  He bought a home for Nancy and later built a house on the farm for Mary Ann.  Then misfortune came.  The cattle with which he expected to pay for his new home were driven off before he could round them up.  After 16 years of married life he had to start all over again financially with 13 in the family.  But this also meant he had lots of help, and two crops could be raised on the land each year:  grain in the winter and another field crop in the summer.  With family organization and hard work, they managed to survive. 

Jesse N., Jr. was called on a three month MIA mission to the Gila Valley in 1898-1899.  He was called upon to strengthen the faith of the faithful and encourage those of less conviction to increase their activity in the Church.  After his return he moved Mary Ann into a brick home in town.  Before this, the Mexicans stole a great deal of his stacked grain but when he built good stockyards in town and hired Mexicans to work for him they became friendly and trustworthy. 

In 1900 he took a contract to haul lumber from the sawmill near Pacheco to Terrazas.  He moved Mary Ann to Brown’s Ranch.  The two older boys hauled the lumber down the dugway to the ranch where it was loaded onto trailer wagons with two, three, and four teams in tandem.  It was here that Jesse N., Jr.’s life was miraculously saved.  A flying board from a heavy wind struck him on the back of the next at the base of the skull.  Although he was thought to be dead he was administered to and his life was restored.  He related how his spirit left his body and hovered over it.  He saw his wives and little children and pleaded to be able to return and care for them.  He heard the blessings of the Elders and was permitted to return to life.

The contracted completed, Jesse N., Jr. moved his outfits to Naco, in Sonora.  He hauled coal to the mines at Nacozari and brought back ore.  Later, he worked on the railroad.  Here he put to good use his knowledge of Spanish and of Mexican law.  He helped many people to cross the border both ways.  At Colonia Morelos he and the older boys hauled ore from Cananea to Douglas for three months.  He returned to Dublan on the fall of 1901.

On May 18, 1902, Jesse N. Smith, Jr. was set apart as Stake Sunday School Superintendent of the Juarez State, a position he held until his death.  It was said that he was the best Stake Superintendent in the Church at the time.  He traveled much by team visiting the schools, a distance of some 200 miles from one end of the Stake to the other.  He wrote letters of instruction and encouragement.  Another thing that made his ministry successful was his ability to choose men and women of character to serve on his board.  These included Harry L. Payne, Junius Romney, Ben F. LeBaron, Gaskell Romney, Willard Call, L. Paul Cardon, Wilford Farnsworth, Edward Payne, William G. Sears, Ed McClellan, Verda Pratt, Lucile Robinson, Ada Mortensen and Myra Longhurst.

In 1904 Jesse N., Jr. was made superintendent and manager of the Dublan stock pasture.  He fenced around the lakes which furnished water; when the water dried up in the summer he pumped it with a horse-powered centrifugal pump.  His boys did most of the riding and the pumping.  He also imported well-bred horses which he sold.  A proup of men came in from the States and established ranges nearby.  They created problems at times, but he maintained respectable relations with them.  After trying to involve him in a “maverick” incident, one of the men said to Jesse N., Jr.’s son, “Your father is too honest to be a cattleman.”  Mary Ann gave birth to Joseph Holmes and Sara at this time.  Sadie died.  Elias died also.

The Mexican Revolution was a sore trial to Jesse N., Jr. At first he was able, because of his use of their language, to prevent soldiers from taking his horses.  But when sickness came upon him he was forced to watch them ride off on his last horse with his own saddle.  He worried a great deal about the welfare of others.  One Sunday at noon, he suddenly said, “I must go to Diaz; they are having trouble.”  Although he couldn’t get out of bed, he continued to talk about it. Within the hour word came that Will Adams was killed at Diaz. 

His sickness lingered for a year.  He had suffered at intervals form the blow of the flying board.  On one occasion when he was very sick his family in Snowflake called a special fast.  Local Elders were called to administer to him at the appointed time and he recovered.  But gradually his entire nervous system succumbed to the frailty of his condition.  Jesse N. Smith, Jr. died on August 13, 1912, just two weeks before the Exodus.  At the funeral, his remains were carried into and out of the meetinghouse between two rows of Sunday School children.

After Jesse N., Jr.’s death, the wives took their children to the United States at the time of the Exodus.  Mary Ann, with seven children, visited Snowflake, her former home, then moved to Parowan, the home of her children.  There, her sons built her a home near her brothers.  She sold it to follow her boys when they went to college.  She died at Virden, New Mexico, at the home of her daughter in 1949.  Nancy Ann gathered her children at El Paso, then joined them at Virden, New Mexico, a town they helped settle.  They provided her a home in which she lived until her death in 1951.  As of 1967, all but five of the children had passed on – all strong in the faith and activity of the Church. 

William Cooke Smith, son

Stalwarts South of the Border, Nelle Spilsbury Hatch, page 620

Charles Edmund Richardson

Charles Edmund Richardson

(1858-1925)

Charles Edmund Richardson was born in Manti, Sanpete County, Utah, October 13, 1858.  He was the son of Mary Ann Darrow and Edmund Richardson, converts to the Church, who had been called to Manti to help increase the population of that city as protection against Walker’s band of Indians.  They later moved to Springville, Utah.

From his father, Edmund learned mechanics, carpentering, and building.  He was considered a prodigy because of the eas with which he absorbed learning.  When he was 14 years old his parents died, leaving to him the care of a younger brother, Sullivan Calvin.  This responsibility developed in him resourcefulness and ingenuity.  Thoughtful and logical, cheerful but never loud, he was inclined to plainness in clothes and manner, and yet was possessed of natural dignity.  He was cautions but never worried or fearful.  His hair was red, and, even as an old man, he had an erect figure which he maintained until his death. He had steady blue eyes and grew a heavy moustache.  After the death of his parents, he worked fo a short time in the mines but later took his younger brother and went to northern Arizona to join the United Order at Brigham City.  There he learned the art of community living and developed his skills in the trades.

Although he had married Sarah Louisa Adams (Sadie) in 1882, and Sarah Rogers in 1887, polygamy was not the reason he moved to Mexico in 1888.  Rather, it came about because of a misunderstanding over land.  This prompted him to leave Pleasant Valley, near Heber in Arizona, and move south with Sadie and their three small children.  He turned to Mexico because his friends and the relatives of his wife were either already there or planning to go there.  His recent plural marriage simply supported his decision. 

On a hot summer day in 1888, Charles E. Richardson and his family crossed the border into Mexico and settled in Colonia Diaz, a fast-growing Mormon colony three years of age.  This was not his first trip to Mexico, for he had interrupted his duties in the Indian Mission in 1885 to be transferred to northern Chihuahua as an interpreter for Apostle George Teasdale and others during the Mexican land purchase negotiations.

Edmund was an immediate asset to the Mexico communities.  He set up blacksmith and carpenter shops and came to be rated during those early years as one of the best mechanics among the Mormons in Mexico.  He shod horses, made wheelbarrows, and handcarts.  He even made a complete windmill, including pump.  As a complete wheelwright, he made repairs to wagons and wheels for the colonists.  He had taught school on his earlier arrival in Mexico and was one of the first school teachers in the colonies.

During those first years there was much sickness in Colonia Diaz, and no professional medical help was available, only services of several devoted women who served as practical nurses and midwives.  Among these were Annie Nelson, Maude Acord, and, later, Leah Jane Keeler, who was a registered nurse.  In January, 1891, tow of Edmund’s children died almost the same day.  This sorrow so affected him that he resolved to do something about the lack of medical help.  He consulted with doctors in Deming, New Mexico, Casas Grandes, and El Paso, Texas.  He bought books on medicine and drugs, and charts on anatomy.  He purchased a skull and the trunk of a skeleton.  With encouragement from area doctors, he began to study medicine earnestly.  William Gailbraith owned a large drugstore in Chihuahua City and, when Edmund and his brother, Sullivan, learned that Gailbraith was going to return to the United States, they bought his drug stock.

Aided by regular and frequent consultation with doctors, Edmund became remarkably successful in the practice of medicine among the colonists.  In 1892, he was called upon so much for medical service that he was forced to neglect other duties.  Often, the gristmill which he had set up earlier was left all day unattended, except by his nine-year-old son Eddie, who was too small to pour grain into the hopper, so the machine ground on without wheat until some older person happened by.  This was one of the first water-powered grist mills installed in the colonies.  He christened the mill El Molino Joyero, meaning “jewel mill.”  

Edmund successfully applied his ingenuity and resourcefulness to many facets of the Mexico colonization project, but perhaps his greatest contribution was with legal problems encountered by the colonists.  Many precedents established by cases he fought in the Mexican courts proved invaluable to the welfare of the Saintes long after the Exodus in 1912.   

In January, 1896, Edmund received a mission call to Great Britain.  This was later changed to Mexico City to allow him to study Mexican law to prepare him to act as legal advisor to the Mormon colony Diaz which, at that time, was considered the most thriving of the colonies.  Two other men, Pleasant S. Williams and Hyrum Harris were also called at the same time to study law to prepare for duties at Colonia Dublan and Juarez. 

Having lawyers among the Mormons was a wise move inasmuch as the colonists had suffered for lack for legal counsel from the time they first crossed the line into Mexico.  Some cases had dragged on for years and amounted to nothing less than extortion or blackmail.  In compliance with the missionary call, Edmund enrolled as a student at the University of Mexico where he completed a four-year course in two years and graduated with honors. 

Through a series of circumstances, Edmund became the only “home grown” lawyer in the colonies and the sole source of legal counsel unless Mexican lawyers were engaged, whose sympathies were not always clear.  A fellow colonist said of him, “As a lawyer in Mexico, Edmund Richardson knew his stuff.”  And a Mexican lawyer is said to have observed, “If Don Edmundo is on the other side, we will not take the case.”  He had a phenomenal memory and the word of Don Edmundo, as he was called, came to be received with deference at the jefetura (county seat).  His son Edmund is authority for the statement that Charles Edmund Richardson never lost a case in the Mexican courts.

In 1889 Richardson married Caroline Rebecca Jacobsen, and, in 1904, Daisy Stout.  He had also brought his second wife, Sarah Rogers, down to Mexico.  Edmund was a family man cum laude.  His family and genealogical records kept in his own handwriting are examples of his efficiency and thoroughness and compliment to his love for his families.  That the family was due to their deep religious convictions, forbearance, and the wise counsel and just dealings of of the husband and father.  He created such harmony and good attitudes that the family continued to have close and strong bonds of affection even after Edmund had died.

In the latter part of 1904, Edmund moved his wife Sadie to Colonia Juarez and later established a home there for his fourth wife Daisy. This move provided a home for the lawyer during the time his legal duties kept him a t Casas Grandes, county seat, and put the children near the Juarez Academy.  However, Sadie and Daisy often returned to the ranch at Colonia Diaz to spend the summer.

An incident told by Edmund’s daughter, Hazel, reveals the need of the people for the help he could and did give.  “One day,” said Hazel, “not long after my father’s death, I met Daniel Skousen of Colonia Juarez on the streets of El Paso, Texas.  AS soon as the greetings were over, he asked me where my father could be reached, and said, “We need him so much.  If we could only persuade him him to come back to the Colonies!  The people down there are in trouble and he is our only hope.  He must come back!”  When I finally said, “He is dead,” Uncle Dan Remarked, “No one will ever do for the colonies what he has done.  He filled his mission faithfully and well.  He knew how to handle the Mexicans and they knew that they would receive justice.”

Adam Fredrickson of Colonia Diaz noted that:

Edmund Richardson was a student of merit, utilized all his spare time for study.  His overland trips were made with a team and a book.  He spoke both Spanish and English fluently.  His interesting and enlightening sermons were second to none, and were enunciated clearly.  He had the best control of his temper of anyone I knew.  Once while he was fencing his property, an angry stockman who favored open grazing reviled him with abusive language and every foul name at his command.  Richardson went calmly about his work remarking, “If you get any pleasure out of calling me such names, just go ahead.”  Even when the cattleman threatened to strike with a shovel, Richardson laughed him out of it.  He was a friend to everyone… He helped many a poor family enjoy a better Christmas because he helped Santa put dolls and toys on the community Christmas tree.

Edmund Richardson tried to make the best possible use of every hour for he believed that wasting time was foolish and irresponsible.  He read avidly while traveling to his appointments at the courts, or on business, thus accumulating a superior store of knowledge.

Because he was so capable, it was sometimes a relief to find that he was human, too.  An incident will illustrate this.  His wives, Sadie and Becky, when they fed the pigs, were in the habit of going together, one carrying the feed in a bucket and the other armed with a large stick to keep off the pigs as the women approached the trough.  One day Edmund was at home, he decided to feed the pigs himself.  “Take a stick,” cautioned Sadie.  “Never mind my dears.  Don’t worry.  I will take care of myself,” he called back as he walked away out the kitchen door, both knowing well the difficulties involved, and yet wondering if he could possibly take care of the situation. But before he reached the trough, an overeager pig had run from behind, pushed himself between Edmund’s legs, tripping him.  Before he realized what was happening, Edmund was down on the ground, completely out of sight of the watching women, surrounded by a horde of scrambling, pushing pigs.  It is understandable that the story was told and retold with relish by the wives.  The husband, after all, was just human enough to still have something to learn.

Charles Edmund Richardson’s versatility was evident by his many activities:  law, medicine, cattle raising, farming, mechanics and blacksmithing, teaching, designing and building, reconciliation fo the needs and demands of his wives and pluaral families, not to mention his church activities.  He managed to crowd all these activities into his life with a fair degree of success in every area.  He seemed to have a driving force and ability to manage his time which enabled him to accomplish what he did.

His daughter, Hazel R. Taylor, happened to be talking with Anthony W. Ivins, President of the Juarez Stake in Mexico, and perhaps Edmund’s closest friend in Mexico. At the time of the conversation with President Ivins was then in Salt Lake City as Counselor to the President of the Church.  President Ivins said, “Do you know you have a wonderful father?” Hazel, who adored her father, as did all his children, said, “Well, I am his child and perhaps inclined to be prejudiced, but I think that my father is just wonderful!”

Brother Ivins went on, “I suppose that he did as much or more good for the colonies in Mexico that any other man.  Did you know that except for one thing he would have had many important positions in the church, but we couldn’t depend on him…”  Shocked, Hazel interrupted him to expostulate regarding her father’s dependability.  She said she could not imagine him, who knew her father so well, thinking such a thing.  President Ivins quickly said, “Now wait, let me explain,” and went on to say that her father had a brilliant mind, that his capabilities were remarkable, that his spirituality was far above average, and that his principles were unquestioned, but that because of his mission he could not be relied upon to fill scheduled church appointments.

This was certainly true.  When he was teaching commercial law at the Juarez Stake Academy, the only way students knew whether he was in town was by the ringing of the bell.  Edmund would advise the custodian, John Allen, when he came into town to ring the bell and students would prepare for class.  Because his lessons were so enjoyable he was retained as the teacher of the adult class in Sunday School for many years.  Likely as not, Brother Richardson would be found in some Ward other than his own on a Sunday, and was usually called upon to talk in his clear yet deep and thoughtful way to an appreciative audience while his Sunday School class accepted a substitute.

So it was true, as President Ivins indicated, the positions Edmund held in the Church did not reflect the extent of his abilities, his spirituality, or his dependability.  Through he valued his property holdings, he valued his membership in the Church and his testimony of its truthfulness far more.  His entire life dedicated to compliance with its demands.  He honored his priesthood and was sincere in his devotion to it. He vowed to submit to authority, and succeeded in every instance.  Great characters stand tall, and Charles Edmund Richardson towered with other stalwarts who established and maintained the Mormon colonies of Mexico.  He was a pillar of strength on whom others depended for help. 

In August, 1925, Edmund became ill and passed away.  H was buried in Thatcher, Arizona. He was the father of 36 children, 24 of whom grew to adulthood.  If there is anything that can be said to describe the family generally, it would be an unusual closeness among the families of the four wives, the clean living and high moral character of the family members, and their involvement in church activity. Among his posterity are found professional men and women in the fields of medicine, education, law, and finance.

Compiled and submitted by members and descendants of the Charles Edmund Richardson family

Stalwarts South of the Border Nelle Spilsbury Hatch, page 564

Elmer Wood Johnson

Elmer Wood Johnson

Elmer Wood Johnson

Elmer Wood Johnson was the son of William Derby Johnson and Jane Cadwallader Brown.  He was born on May 18, 1854 in Kanesville (now Council Bluffs), Pottawattamie County, Iowa.

His parents, before coming to Iowa, lived at Nauvoo, Illinois and personally knew the Prophet Joseph Smith.  When Elmer was two years old the family moved 6 miles above Omaha, Nebraska on the Missouri River to Old Winter Quarters (now Florence, Nebraska).  It was here he spent his first school year.  He often related an incident told him by his mother, that when he was a very small child he stood with his mother and watched the first handcart company go by on their way to Salt Lake City.  In that company was Anna Matilda Baldwin, his future mother-in-law.

In the year 1861 when Elmer was seven years old, they trekked to Salt Lake City with other pioneers.  They traveled with a company of pioneers under the direction of Sixtus Johnson, a cousin.  There were a good many ox teams and a lot of people, and as near as he could remember, they were about three months on the road and traveled about 1,500 miles.  His father had his own outfit and brought his family, who were seven in number, his sister Almera and her two daughters, his brother-in-law Alva W. Brown and a teamster.  They had four teams, one with four yoke of oxen, on with two yoke, one with one yoke, and a single horse and wagon.  This horse and wagon were used especially for Elmer’s mother and the smaller children.  He remembered well the way they camped at night.  The would form their wagons in a half circle to the right, and a half circle to the left; in the center a large fire was  made to keep them warm and give them light.  After singing, reciting, telling stories, sometimes dancing and sometimes holding formal meetings.  Evening and morning prayers were never neglected.  Elmer was too young to remember much himself, but as he grew older his parents often told him about the trip.  He did remember Indians coming into camp several times but no serious trouble with them and also seeing small herds of buffalo.  His brother Willie, four years older, drove the one yoke wagon.

 One incident taught Elmer a great lesson.  One morning while the camp was preparing to start, and all fo the grownups were busy getting ready, he and his cousin Della climbed into the wagon they were going to ride in.  She was sitting up front; he was to the reare end hanging on some wagon bows.  On one of the bows was an old pistol.  Elmer was sure the pistol would misfire more that it would fire and recalling that his father warned Willie not to leave it loaded, Elmer took it down to Della and suggested to her that they play “hold up,” each taking turns demanding something from the other.  They had been planning for some time this way when Della grabbed Elmer’s straw hat from his head and stuck it on her head.  Elmer, whose turn it was to be the bandit, demanded to have his hat back.  Della of course refused, so hin fun he said, “Give me my hat or I’ll blow your brains out.”  She said, “I’ll not do it.”  He took aim at the back of her head and pulled the trigger.  To his horror it went off.  Della jumped out of the wagon, her hand clasped to the back of her head and blood running down her neck.  Running and screaming she cried, “Elmer had killed me.” Elmer’s mother came running to the wagon where Elmer sat frozen stiff with horror.  They understandable why Elmer was always opposed to both young and old pointing a toy or real gun at anyone. 

Enduring the usual hardships of pioneers the Johnsons arrived in Salt Lake City in the early part of 1862.  Elmer’s father bought a house on South Temple Street between 3rd and 2nd West.  While living here Elmer attended the first school in Utah and during that winter he was baptized.  When 12 years old he was ordained a Deacon.   He sant alto in the 15th Ward choir for about four years and he took part in in the first local play at the Sale Lake Theatre.  When he was 17 years old, President Brigham Young advised Elmer’s father to move to southern Utah.   They stayed one winter in Washington near St. George, then settled at Johnson 15 miles east of Kanab.   During the winter of 1872-1873, Elmer, in his late teens, attended school three months; that was the last of his formal schooling.

While going to school that winter he met Mary Jane Little. He tells the good one. We just didn’t how impressed he was with her and could describe the color and kind of dress she wore; she was only 12 or 13 years old. About three years later Elmer persuaded Mary Jane to marry him. She was not quite 16 and he was 21. On November 5th they left now for Salt Lake City by team and wagon, with his sister-in-law Lucy Johnson as a chaperone. After traveling two and a half weeks, camping at night and cooking over a campfire, they arrived. They were married November 22, 1875 by Daniel H. Wells in the Endowment House at Salt Lake City and they arrived back home December 22.

It was during this time that men in the Church were advised by the Authorities to take more than one wife, and so on November 22, 1879 Elmer married his second cousin, Julia Anna Orton.

In the fall of 1880 Elmer was sent on a church mission. He bought each of his two wives enough material for two grasses and left them in the same house, with $.25 cash. Elmer had been gone only 18 months when he became ill with chills and fever. Because they couldn’t get., He was given an honorable release and sent home. His wife met him, dressed alike, white Leghorn hats with black ribbon bands, and streamers at their waists, black shoes and white stockings. Elmer was surprised to find all debts paid and much more in the house then when he left.

When their babies were born about a year later, there was only a month difference in birthdates. The wives lived in the same house and plan and made their baby clothes alike. Two years later the stork again visited mother and Aunt Julia.  On 20 February, 1885, another little girl was born to and Julia. They called her Anna. About three weeks later on March 13, 1885, a son was born to Mary Jane. This was Elmer Wood Johnson, Jr.

By this time, for safety reasons, the wives were not living in the same house. Elmer, along with other Mormon polygamist men, were being sought by U.S. Marshals. Eventually, with others, Elmer served his time in jail. Finally Pres. John Taylor advised those who wish to live in polygamy to go to Mexico. In the autumn of 1885, Elmer took a part of his brother Wille’s family south of the border. The next year he decided on a like move for his own family.  Julia was expecting a baby in October and Mary Jan in January.  Elmer left Julia at Johnson with his mother and in September 1887, with Mary Jane and their four small children, he left for Mexico.   They traveled in covered wagons.  Bed springs were put in the wagon box to serve as a bed for the mother and two younger children.  Elmer and the older two youngsters slept under the stars except when it rained.  Then all spent the night in the wagon.  The trip took two months.

They arrived in Colonia Diaz latter part of November, 1887. Other families were already there. They pitch their tents and proceeded to prepare for winter. On January 22, 1888, another daughter was born while the family was living in a tent. The tent leaked and Elmer had to keep hands on the bed to keep mother and baby dry. Sometime in 1889, Julia and family went to Mexico. By this time Elmer had seven girls and one boy.

Mary Jane and her older girls decided to go into the candy business. They paid $100 for a pure sugar candy recipe, got a small hand mill, and started the business. As it grew they were unable to handle it in the home kitchen so Elmer built a little candy shop. He decided to help with the candy making and it became a major part of the family income. Candy was applied to all the Mormon colonies as well as to some of the Mexican communities nearby.

Elmer had good looks and a pleasing personality. Most everyone in the community referred him as “Uncle Elmer.” He served as chairman of the dance committee for about 12 years, was head of the old folks’ committee, and was in charge of the dramatic Association productions. He lost social dancing and with a clear voice called the quadrills and other public dances in Colonia Diaz. He imparted the first phonograph in the colony and put it to frequent use. He sold tunes to the young people. He had a little room in the front of the candy shop where he sold candy and soft drink made by Mary Jane. Elmer put the gramophone in their on dance nights. He had a large horn for it and earphones to serve for couples. It went over big. The gramophone was as thrilling then as TV is to us today.

He also sent back east for the first “store” Valentines, both comic and pretty, and sold them. He was always trying to promote the interests of young people in homemade entertainment. A favorite pastime was hayrack riding.  “Uncle Elmer” could always be depended on to provide a team and rack, serve as chaperon, and have fun along with the young people.

After living in Mexico 25 years, going through many hardships, building their homes and pioneering a new country, the Elmer Johnsons left their homes in July 28, 1912, with the rest of the Saints.  A few minutes before 10:00 a.m., 84 wagons, hacks, and buggies filled with people, bedding and lunches, pulled out of town with between 600 and 700 men, women, and children.  We did not camp until we were on U.S. soil.  We finally pitched camp at Hachita, New Mexico and were provided with tents and provisions by the U.S. Government, and from there the people scattered in all directions.  Before all had gone, however, some 17 babies were born and several old folks had died whil waiting in the camps.  When the colonists realized that they could not go back, word was sent all that the U.S. Government would provide free transportation to anywhere in the United States that the refugees wished to go.  It was ironic that the same government that 25 years previously had compelled them to take their families to Mexico was now feeding them and providing them with refuge.

It was impossible for Elmer to take both families with him, because he was destitute. A daughter, Mary Heva, and her family lived in a dry farm near Idaho Falls. She and her husband invited her father and mother and any others who wish to join them and Homestead land in the area. Members of the family decided to go north to Idaho, take up homesteads of 340 acres with adjoining corners.

Elmer second wife Julia was not among those who settled in Idaho. She went to Oregon where her brother Joel Orton lived. She stayed there about year, then spent the next year in Salt Lake City. In the summer of 1914, she moved to St. Johns, Arizona where her daughter Caddie was living. She yet had two younger daughters with her. The rest of her children had married. She lived there the rest of her life, passing away in 1946.

Elmer and Mary Jane struggled on in Idaho, and endured enormous hardships. Eventually, they decided to sell their farm and moved to Salt Lake City where they could work in the temple. Mary Jane’s health was poor and Elmer spent increasing amounts of time caring for her. Despite great want, they were always faithful tithe payers. On November 22, 1925, they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary at Heva’s home in Ogden. They had been married for 56 years on November 22, 1931. Mary Jane passed away January 12, 1932 in Salt Lake City. After this, Elmer seemed to lose interest in life and people. In the spring of 1936, after breaking his ankle and being sent to the hospital, Elmer began to slip rapidly. On May 6, 1936, he quietly passed away and was laid to rest by Mary Jane in the Salt Lake City cemetery. At his passing, Elmer Wood Johnson had between 80 and 90 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Abby Johnson Gooch, daughter

Stalwart’s South of the Border, Nelle Spillsbury Hatch page 351

Frederick William Jones, Sr.

Frederick William Jones, Sr.

Frederick William Jones, Sr.

(1842-1921)

Frederick William Jones, son of William Jones and Mary Ann Dovell, was born October 7, 1842 at Appledore, Devon Shire, England. He was the youngest child in a family of three and was called Fred.

While Fred was a very young boy, his parents heard the Gospel and in 1851 his father and family became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Because of this their relatives turned against them, so they gave up their family ties and came to America. In 1856 they joined a company of Saints and cross the plains to Utah.

During this time our journey, a great sorrow came the family as the father, William Jones, was taken death. He was wrapped in a sheet and buried in a shallow grave near Fort Laramie, Wyoming. At this time, Fred was only 14 years old, but with his father’s death the responsibility of caring for the family fell mostly on his shoulders. His older brother, Robert, was an invalid and was an able to be of much assistance. While crossing the plains, Fred took his turn hurting the oxen at night and then driving during the day.

A few years after the family and settled in the Salt Lake Valley, Fred was called by Pres. Brigham Young to go with a party of young men back to the Missouri River to meet a company of Saints and help them across the plains. During this trip he became acquainted with a lovely well-educated English girl by the name of Ellen Marshall. She and her two sisters had been raised in an aristocratic English home; therefore, it was very hard for them to adapt themselves to the rugged pioneer life. Fred taught Ellen how to cook over a campfire and was of great assistance to them.

As the journey progressed, there developed a romance between Fred and Ellen, and they were married a short time before the company reached the Salt Lake Valley. To them were born six children.

Fred and Ellen lived in Salt Lake but a short time when they were called to join a group of Saints and help settle the southern part of Utah. They help to establish the town St. George where Fred helped to make the first ditches and plow the first land in that area.

During the early years in St. George, Fred had a very severe case of chills and fever which caused him to lose most of his hair. Being a bit proud, he always wore a hat, except in meetings where he had to remove it. He parted his hair low on the left side and let the top grow quite long so he could comb it across his head and thus give the appearance of not being so bald.

In 1867 Fred moved his family to a little settlement called Pine Valley, not far from St. George. Shortly after his arrival there Fred was made Bishop of the Ward and served in this capacity for about 20 years. He had Ellen had the privilege of entertaining some of the general authorities of the church in their home, and Ellen took great pleasure in serving meals to her guests in her dignified English style. Alma was in our church worker, was a good musician and she played the organ or lead the singing in most of the church gatherings. Her son William often spoke of how beautiful his mother’s hands were, oh only shapely and well cared for, and showing the nobility of her birth.

In January, 1874 Fred married his second wife, Eliza Jane Baker, who bore him eight children. Eliza was a good wife and she and Ellen loved each other very much and got along well together.

Ellen developed inflammatory rheumatism and suffered several years of it. Finally, Fred took her to Salt Lake City to seek medical treatment, but she had been there only a few weeks when she passed away on May 10, 1888.

Later, Fred married a widow by the name of Julia Cox and they had this one son named Freddie. Sometime during 1889, Fred left for Mexico with Julia, his daughter Mary, and his mother. His daughter Edith had married before her father and his family went to Mexico.

Upon arrival in Mexico, Fred settled in the little town of Colonia Dublan. Shortly after this, a branch of the Juarez Ward was organized in Dublan and Fred was made the first Presiding Elder of this Branch. About a year later, Fred sent for Liza and her family, and also for Ellen’s two sons to join him in Mexico.

While Dublan was still a branch of the war as Ward, Fred’s mother Mary Ann Devell Jones, died and was taken to Juarez for burial. Sometime later, there was an epidemic of typhoid fever in Dublan and Fred lost two children. Parley, a young man of 18, died September 29, 1893, and on October 4, 1893, 13-year-old Teci May died.

Fred was a kind and loving father and grandfather. He was loved by all who knew him, and was often called in times of sickness to administer to people, as he was blessed with the gift of healing. Although there were trials and sorrows in Mexico, there was also much that brought happiness to Fred his families.

Fred was a very good farmer and he delighted in owning and driving find horses. He kept his team, harness, and wagon clean and often his wagon was used as the hearse in the time of a funeral. It was also used for happy times to carry the band and their instruments as they led a parade. Fred saw the need for bricks in the colonies so he and his sons made and burned a brick kiln. It turned out very well and he soon found sales for them. They made more bricks and helped put many of them into the finest homes built in Dublan. He and some of his boys became efficient bricklayers and work at the trade for many years.

At the time of the Exodus from Mexico in 1912, Fred and his families were forced to leave their comfortable homes and go back to the United States. They stayed a short time in El Paso, Texas, but as soon as he could make preparations for the trip, he moved his families back to St. George, Utah. There they had to begin all over, but Fred was able to do some gardening and raise fruit, so they had a comfortable living again.

Frederick William Jones, Sr. Died in St. George, Utah, July 10, 1921.

No contributor name given.

Stalwarts South of the Border Nelle Spilsbury Hatch, page 365

Isaac Alldredge

 

Isaac Alldredge

1843 – 1936

Isaac Alldredge was born in Jackson County, Illinois on July 25, 1843.  He married Susanna Evans on December 27, 1869, in the old Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah.  There were 10 children born to them, all in Utah.

Isaac Alldredge went to Mexico in 1902, from Ferron, Emery County, Utah with his wife and three children, Nettie, Leo, and Jacosa. Two other families from Utah accompanied the Alldredges at that time, those of William Wanlass and William Winn.  They went first to the Colony of Dublan, then to the new settlement of Morelos in Sonora.  There they farmed and helped with building dams and ditches.  They stayed two years before going to Nacozari to work on the railroad.

They returned and purchased a farm in San Jose, 10 miles from Morelos.  Again they helped with the pioneering tasks of clearing the ground, building dams, irrigation ditches, church and school houses.  Isaac had three children marry in Mexico:  Nettie married John Keate at Morelos; Leo married Ida Romney in Colonia Juarez; and Jacosa was married to Alva B. Langford at San Jose.

Isaac lived a long, full life in the interest of his family, church, and community.  After leaving Mexico, at the time of the Revolution, he settled in Mesa, Arizona.  While there he ran a popcorn stand.  Many of his friends long remember him as the “popcorn man.”

Susannah passed away on July 23, 1932 in Mesa.  Isaac died four years later, September 24, 1936, also in Mesa, at the age of 93.

Nelle Spilsbury Hatch and B. Carmon Hardy

Stalwarts South of the Border, page 12

 

Additional information on Isaac Alldredge

Walter Fredrick Hurst

 

Walter Fredrick Hurst

1867-1956

Walter’s father, Philip, was born September 15, 1836.  He came to Utah in Captain James. J. Jepson’s Company in 1852 and settled in Springville, Utah.

Philip Hurst married Lucinda Harris Guymon who was born September 9, 1840 in Nauvoo, Illinois.  She came to Utah in the Hancock Company and located in Springville, Utah where she and Philip were married.  They moved to Fairview later.

To this union were born seven children, including twins, William and Walter.  The twins were born June 18, 1967, at Fairview, Utah.  The mother, Lucinda, died when they were nine days old. One of the twins, William, who was a strong and healthy looking baby, died when he was two or three months old, leaving Walter, who was a very small and apparently puny baby. 

Shortly after Walter’s mother died, his father married Elizabeth Wilcox of Mount Pleasant, Utah. She was very young, not more than 16 or 17 years of age.  Even for a woman older and more experienced, it would have been a big undertaking and responsibility to step into a family of five children under conditions of financial insecurity, with a husband away from home so much of the time.  Consequently, the young stepmother and the five children had a great many adjustments to make, which led to numerous heartaches and unhappy experiences.

Mr. Orvil Cox of Fairview once told me he remembered calling my father off the street and sewing his big toe on after it had chapped practically off.  I asked father in his later years if he remembered anything of this experience.  He said he remembered it very well, but that Mr. Cox had confused some of the circumstances.  He said that it wasn’t his toe, but his heel.  He had gone swimming almost daily and left the water day after day without drying his feet.  From getting his feet wet and not wearing shoes his feet became so chapped that a large part of his heel had broken loose.  He said he could remember Mr. Cox calling him into the house after examining the heel, making him soak the heel in hot water for a long time, greasing it well, then giving him a bowl of cubed sugar to eat while Mr. Cox sewed the loose heel back on.

When father was about eight years of age he was hit in the eye with a hard snowball.  Larger boys were having a snowball fight, and Walter was the victim.  His left eye was put out, which was a painful ordeal.  Although he could distinguish between light and darkness, the damaged eye greatly handicapped him throughout his life and it finally had to be completely removed.  He went to school in the Fairview school, getting no more than a 6th grade education.  In spite of his limited schooling, he died a well-educated man.  He schooled himself through observation, reading and practical experience. 

I have heard Father say that he always pitied every stray dog he came in contact with and how he was always getting in trouble with the family for bringing stray dogs home.  Perhaps his great affection for animals was the result of his missing the security of a motherly love at home.  He used to say how he longed more than anything else in the world to call someone “Mother,” and how he used to daydream of how his life might have been if he had a mother.  He would form mental pictures visible to his mind’s eye and imagine he was talking to her and she to him. 

As a young man he became interested in Alzadia Anderson who was the oldest daughter and second child of James Anderson.  The Andersons were from Scotland.  Having heard the missionaries in their native land, the father, mother, and three sons had joined the Church.  In 1855, Alzadia’s grandfather came to America and the following year the three boys and their mother joined him to settle in Utah.  The youngest son, James, married Matilda Cheney who gave birth to Alzadia.  In the Logan Temple, on April, 20, 1886, Walter Hurst married Alzadia Anderson, who became the best wife and mother anyone could ask for.

Eleven months after their marriage, the first child born to Walter and Alzadia, a five pound baby girl whom they called Eunice Alzadia.  Father and mother built a one-room log house which became their first home.  It was here that their second child was born, a boy whom they named Walter Lauretz.  At this time the house was still not complete.  The boy was born on December 27, and I have heard them tell how the snow blew in and covered the bed while mother was bedfast with the new baby.  A year and half later Walter and Alzadia, with two small children, went to work on the new railroad that was being built in Pigeon Hollow, between Spring City and Ephraim.  They lived in a tent, and while living in such difficult circumstances both children came down with scarlet fever, which was then a much dreaded disease.  Because of inadequate medical help and exposure Walter Lauretz died.

The following spring the Hurst family moved to Mexico.  Walter’s father was a polygamist, and things were uncomfortable for these people at that time.  They were advised to move to Mexico where the government had no laws prohibiting plural marriage.  Whether to remain in Fairview with my mother’s people or to move to Mexico with my father’s folks was a hard decision to make, but in April of 1891, Walter and Alzadia left the United States with their only living child to follow Walter’s father, Philip, who along with two wives and his oldest son, had moved to Mexico in January.  Grandpa Philip and his wife, Elizabeth Wilcox, had gone first, to be followed later by his second wife, Rebecca, along with Walter’s eldest brother, “young Philip,” who also had two families. 

The Hurst families left Walter with the responsibility of chartering railroad cars for the purpose of shipping livestock, machinery, and all kinds of furniture and farm equipment from the states to Mexico.  At that time the railroad did not go as far as the Chihuahua colonies.  The shipping point was at Deming, New Mexico.  There the other members of the Hurst family met Walter and Alzadia to help them transport the livestock and other belongings to where they were colonizing.

When the train stopped in Deming and they climbed from the railroad cars, the wind was blowing so hard their cloths were blown over their heads and they were hardly able to stand on their feet.  They were in desert country, and to people who have never been in a windy country it would be hard to describe the conditions that confronted them.

They traveled by team from Deming, New Mexico, to Colonia Dublan in the state of Chihuahua in Mexico.  When they reached their destination Walter and Alzadia didn’t have so much as a tent of their own to move into.  They had to move into a tent with Walther’s brother and his family.  The summer that followed was to Alzadia one of hardship, homesickness, and sacrifice, since she had left all her family and loved ones behind.

Walter bought three or four acres of land his father had purchased, and built a two-room house and barn.  He had purchased some oxen and, the following fall, his brother rented and became manager of a sawmill in the mountains where Walter went to work.  As nearly as I can find out, the sawmill belonged to the Church and was the responsibility of Moses Thatcher.

The following February, the third child was born.  Since their second child had died shortly before they left Utah, this was their second living child, a daughter, whom they named Hannah Lucinda.  Now that I have arrived on the scene and can speak for myself, I will write mostly from my own recollections of things that happened after I was four or five years old.  I will also call Walter and Alzadia, Father and Mother.

As I reminisce over my life I can remember nothing but hard work, striving honestly and persistently to meet problems and teaching each child that honesty was the most valuable asset one can possess if he were looking for true success. My father had a natural talent for teaching in a way that would leave lasting impressions on a child’s life. My mother was a patient good-natured helpmate. It always seemed to me that she sang or whistled from morning till night regardless of how much poverty she was enduring or what her health condition was.

When I was two months old I was taken to the sawmill and I was there most of the time until I was nine years old. I remember a great many experiences connected with the sawmill history. My parents told me many times how mother would set me in a half-bushel tub when I was a baby. On one particular day, mother was peeling peaches. She gave me a pealed peach. I became restless and she set the tub outside the door with me in it and the peeled peach in my hand. There were four or five other families living on the sawmill at the time, and some of them had pigs running loose. Mother was busy with her work until she heard a frightened cry. Upon looking up she saw the large sow had grabbed me by the wrist while attempting to get the peach. It had tipped over the tub and was still dragging me by the wrist. My uncle George Arthur was just coming around the corner of the bunkhouse and he rescued me before Mother could get to me. I am still carrying the scar from that pig’s teeth.

During the time that Father was sawmilling he sold the land with the two-room house and bought a farm north of town. The land extended west to the river and the top part of it was along the main Street of town. There were a number of buildings on this place, but no house. We lived in a granary while the first brick home in Dublan was being built. We really thought we were rich when we moved into it. This was where Agnes Fern was born on December 1, 1898. As nice as we thought our home was, we still had problems. It was the farthest home north in town and we were in a Mexican district. Mother’s health was very poor and she was afraid to be left alone so much of the time at nights with four little girls. The Mexicans would come from the Corralitos ranch and from the San José district to trade at the Dublan stores. They would gather in groups in front of our home to eat their lunches and drink their tequila. They often became so intoxicated that it worried Mother. I remember how she would lock the doors and not allow us children to step outside. Dad was still sawmilling and was away from home most of the time. Due to Mother’s fear and nervousness, she spent the greater part of her time at the sawmill with Dad. My older sister and I were old enough to go to school but our schooling was interrupted much of the time because we were in the mountains at the  sawmill so much.

Consequently, in 1901, Father sold the farm with the new brick house. While he planned to build a nicer home near the center of town where he had purchased the lot, and had the foundation laid, he changed his plans and purchased a large farm four miles from town in the San José district. This was a disappointment to Mother, but inasmuch as we children were old enough to go to school, they realized that the sawmill days would have to come to an end. In Mexico, sawmilling went on the year-round.

The new farm was in a Mexican district and Mother would never make up her mind to live on the farm. She did consent to move into a two-room adobe house in the center of town until the farm was paid for. Paying for the farm, fencing it, and equipping it with machinery and livestock took a long time. It did, however, have a shanty on the back which served as a wash house and utility room.

There was a large river about halfway between the farm and town. When Father was putting up hay, putting in grain or irrigating, he would take a grub box and his bedding and stay three or four days at a time. In the spring or fall when there is a lot of rain in the mountains the river would rise until its banks would overflow a mile or more on either side.

One spring when I was about 10 years of age, Dad went to the farm to sow grain. He was to be gone a couple of days and took my sister Eunice with him. The rain had been quite steady in the mountains and we knew the river was rising. That night Dad and Eunice were supposed to come home, they did not return. Mother and I waited long into the night. We could hear the river roaring, but that was all we knew. I don’t think mother shut her eyes all night. The next morning at sunrise Father rode up to the gate on a strange horse. He was also dressed in strange clothes. As mother saw him she cried out, “Where is Eunice? Is she drowned?” Then Dad explained. He had attempted to cross the river on his way home the evening before. He knew it was high, but did not realize it was nearly as high as it was. He had a team and wagon with a disc, harrow, and other machinery on; he also had several sacks of grain and a plow. As he reached the middle of the river, the horses, wagon, machinery and all were carried away in the stream. He quickly cut the tugs on the harnesses so the horses could be free to swim out. Taking Eunice on his back, he managed to swim to shore, but everything else was carried away in the stream.

There was one American family living on the west side of the river so Eunice went there that night. The family’s name was Carlton. Mrs. Carlton managed to find them some dry clothing that didn’t fit too well, and the next morning Mr. Carlton offered dad his horse which he said was an extra good swimmer. Eunice remained with the Carlton family a few days but Dad swam the river and came home to let us know the conditions, and to get help to find his wagon and machinery.

On April 25, 1902, my sister Lora was added to the family and two years later a brother whose name was James Otis. We had buried a little boy when he was seven months old. I remember how patiently Mother and Dad nursed and cared for the little fellow all through the sickness, of the neighbors and friends came in and administered to his suffering. They worked so hard to save them, but good doctors were not available. He had a large abscess on his throat. It was lanced several times, but infection set in, and he died of blood poisoning I remember how hard Dad cried when they saw he was gone. Mother turned so white and shook, but still kept working with him. This was in May 1905, in the following November, Dad went on a 27 month mission to the southern states.

Dad had always wanted a mission so badly. I think by now he practically had the farm paid for although we were still living in the adobe house. He was afraid if he waited to build, he would never get the mission, and his life would never be complete without it. Mother had just as much faith in the mission as Dad did. Another thing they had so much faith in was the law of tithing. The 10th load of hay, the 10th load grain, the 10th dozen eggs and so on with all their income, they did not consider the 10th was theirs, but was instead taken to the tithing yard or office. Just before Dad left for his mission, his brothers came up and helped him tear the shanty off the adobe house and put on a large kitchen made of rough lumber. Dad thought it would give us much more room, but the lumber shrank and left large cracks and with just a cook stove to keep it warm, and nothing but wood to burn, we almost froze in it.

I didn’t realize at the time Dad left for his mission that Mother was four months along with another baby, but I soon found out. I thought it was so strange that he would go on the 27 month mission with mother in that condition and no help but five little girls. Whenever there was anything said about it, or any of us complained about the way we had to work, Mother would stop and tell us some story about the sacrifices early members of the Church had made to fill missions, and how it took strong faith and regular prayers to keep in tune with their Heavenly Father so we could expect his help.

Eunice, my oldest sister, went to the sawmill to work for dad’s oldest brother, Philip, after Dad left. Mother and I would get up real early in the morning and milk the cows. We would strain the milk and I would harness a horse and hook it up to a one-seated buggy, and take the milk to a railroad junction two miles south of Dublan. There I would deliver one, two, or three quarts to a customer. Then I would have to get back in time for school.

In April 1906, Walden was born. The fact that both my other brothers had died when babies made Walden the only boy in the family. My sister, Eunice, was the backbone of the family when Dad was away, and Mother was sick. It seems she could supply all the needs for the family and be both mother and dad when it was necessary.

By the last December, 1907, Dad’s mission was finished. He came home just in time for Christmas. Walden was past 20 months old. He had long yellow ringlets. Dad came home at night and the next morning he wrapped Walden in a sweater and took him off to find a barber. He wanted those curls cut off so he could realize he had a son.

We prospered beyond words to express during the next three or four years. We were out of debt. Our horses, livestock and other property had increased. Dad worked at the milk business at Nuevo Casas Grandes. A year or two later he worked up a milk business at Pearson where he had sale for our milk and our neighbors’ milk. By 1910 we were considering building a new home. There was one major drawback. The Mexican revolution was doing its worst. The whole country was in an uproar, and everything was unsettled. We didn’t know from one day to another what was going to happen. The papers were full of battle reports. Some of them took place only a few miles from our town. Crops and our accumulations of all kinds were unsafe because there was no government that could protect us. One day the rebels were in power, and within a few days they would be overthrown by the federals. The colonists, or American citizens, were advised to stand neutral and show no sympathy toward either side.

I remember one Sunday afternoon a rebel army marched through our town. They were a pitiful looking group. Some of them were barefoot and their clothes would hardly hang on them. They were headed for old Casas Grandes which was a distance of 12 or 13 miles from our town. At 4:00 a.m. the next morning the battle began and raged until the middle of the afternoon. Hundreds were killed. I remember I was working in the candy shop that day. Most of the places of business in town closed up because people were so upset they could not concentrate. I have often described the noise from that battle as sounding like a community of lumber houses all falling down at the same time.

Conditions went from bad to worse. I remember one day five or six Mexican men came to our house. They said they wanted to come in. There was nothing anyone could do about it. We had no protection as far as the government was concerned. I don’t know what they wanted that day, but they searched through the house and left. There was money in three different places in the house. One box of money belonged to the Dublan Sunday School, as my sister Lillian was the secretary and treasurer of that organization. Dad had a purse another place that the priesthood had delegated him to collect for the purpose of remodeling a widow’s home. We also had the proceeds from the milk sales of the previous week. It seemed they were not supposed to find any of that cash.

A few days after this, I was at my Uncle Jim Young’s home. I happen to be out on the porch and saw Uncle Jim coming from the farm on a large pinto horse which was his pride and joy. He was surrounded by five Mexican men. They all had guns pointed at his head. They told him they wanted his horse, but he wasn’t so sure they were going to get it. When he reached his gate he jumped from his horse still holding it by the reins. He was as white as a dead man. He then turned loose with all the bad phrases that could be uttered; I believe he used all the bad words that I ever heard and a lot more. He told them he was an American citizen and if they didn’t want trouble with the American government they better lay clear of him and his property. This must have frightened them because they turned and fled.

Things went on this way until July 1912. The colonists were ordered by the Mexican Government to turn in all their firearms and weapons of all kinds. The Stake priesthood authorities called meetings in all Wards and advised the Mormon people to turn in no more than one firearm from each home. Some homes had several, and some didn’t have any.

By July 27, the colonists could see that they were in grave danger. The Church and the U.S. Government came to the rescue. Word was circulated that there would be railroad cars in from the states to evacuate the colonists. They would be ready to leave by Sunday evening, July 28.

Dublan, our hometown, was the only colony that the railroad went through, and was the first one to be evacuated. All night Saturday all day Sunday we work to get things ready to leave the best way we could. In our family there were 10. We were allowed to take two mattresses and our best quilts, pillows, and our best clothing. We opened our chicken coops, our pig pens, turned our livestock, turned loose our horses, and at 9:30 p.m. we walked out of our home, never again to return. Part of our crops were harvested, our granaries were full, and we left large stacks of hay. We had bottled quite a bit of fruit that summer which we buried under the floors.

The whole town was at the station at 10:00 p.m. We stood right there and waited until 6:00 a.m. the following morning. When the train did, it wasn’t nearly large enough to hold all the people. It was decided that the women and children under 17 years of age should leave, with barely enough men to take care of them. The remainder of the men were left.

No sooner had the train pulled out than a mob of Mexicans came into the town. The men grabbed horses and the firearms and fled the hills with the Mexicans firing on them. The Mexicans discovered they had guns and could shoot back, they were very much surprised. The Mormons found a place in the hills where they could march around the hill and make it look like there were a great many more of them than there really were.

They fled to the mountains between Colonia Dublan and Colonia Juarez. Here they felt quite safe because they were located where they could ward off quite a large army. Many privations were experience to the fact that they didn’t have time to gather food or clothing, or bedding of any kind to take with them. Someone did take a sack of flour, however, and I have heard Father tell how they stirred flour and water together to make hotcakes, and cooked them on a piece of tin over the campfire. It was two weeks before they were able to get across the border to El Paso, Texas, where they joined their families.

In the meantime the women and children that left on the train at 6:00 a.m. the morning of July 29, 1912, landed in El Paso, Texas, the same afternoon. I remember how worn out we were as we hadn’t slept since the Friday night before and this was Monday. We were transported to a large lumber yard east of town by means of automobiles. Automobiles were new then and there was only one in our hometown when we left, and when we reach Fairview, Utah there was just one there. It belonged to Pat and Jess Young. 

When we reached the lumber yard in El Paso, Texas, we were given a small division, like a stall for a horse. It was large enough that we could lay our two mattresses down, but there wasn’t room to walk around or between them. We just sat on them. Our food was delivered by the government and consisted mostly of bread, milk, prepared cereals and canned foods. There were dozens of men working in the lumber yard, dividing it into small sections and putting a roof on it to protect us from the rain. We were so worn out we lay on her mattresses and slept all afternoon the first day while Texas men sawed and hammered over our overheads. We lived in these conditions about 10 days. Then we were transported south of the city to on tenant house where each family was given a small room. They wanted to make room in the lumber yard for other colonists on their way from Mexico.

Believe me, refugees were curiosities to the Texas people. News reporters and cameramen were on the job making the most of everything. When we moved in, we had a chance to cook in a campfire out in front of the building. Each day two or three persons would cook dinner for the whole group that were in the building. We cooked potatoes in a six-gallon lard can and it seemed so good to have hot food.

About August 19, the men arrived from Mexico. How glad we were to see them, and what an experience they had been through. Poor Dad looked so pitiful and worn out. They hadn’t as much as shaved or changed clothes in all this time. Dad didn’t have a saddle on his horse most of the way. Cleveland LeBaron, who at the time was my sister Lillian’s boyfriend, insisted that Dad take his saddle part of the trip.

It was four weeks since we left our home and conditions were no better. Affair steadily grew worse and the refugees were advised by the U.S. government to find locations in the states as rapidly as possible. About the time we received a letter from mothers folks in Fairview, Utah, saying we should take advantage of this opportunity to make a trip to Utah until the trouble in Mexico cleared up. The government paid transportation for the refugees to various places and advise them to seek employment in order to support themselves, as it was evident that we were not going to be able to return or property. It looks like we might lose everything Dad and Mother had spent the best 21 years of their lives to accumulate.

We children were thrilled at the thought of making a trip to Utah to get acquainted with our relatives, but little did we realize the embarrassment that Dad and Mother were suffering at the thought of returning to their old hometown under such financial circumstances.  Their pride and independence almost got the best of them. On August 21, 1912, we left El Paso on the railroad for Utah. We arrived at Thistle station at 11:00 p.m. The rain was pouring down and we learned we would have to stay there all night. We bade goodbye to our old Mexico neighbors who had come this far with us but were going on to Bountiful, Utah. Part of Uncle Philip Hurst’s family was with us. We were also hungry, and we learned that everything was closed for the night. We found a hotel and someone there told Dad where he could go to find some food. When he returned he had four cans of tomatoes, one pound of butter, and three small loaves of baked bread. How good it tasted.  There were 10 in our family and six of Georgiana’s family.

We arrived at Fairview at 12:00 noon on August 14, 1912. Uncle Jimmie Anderson was at the depot to meet us with a taxicab and driver.  Nobody expected us to have the extra family with us, and while the relatives had partly made preparations for taking care of our family until we could help ourselves, they had another problem when they saw we had an extra family. Their situation was more serious than our own as they were perfect strangers and didn’t know a soul in Fairview. How understanding our relatives were and how patiently they sacrificed to make us feel comfortable and welcome! The townspeople were generous with the Fairview hospitality that they have always been known for, and soon we all felt more at ease.

When we reach Fairview Dad had $.60, which was every cent we owned. It had been close to a month since we left home. Mexicans and stolen the last two shipments of milk we had made before leaving, and the month’s experiences had taken what we had on hand. But we weren’t not long(with the help of our good relatives) finding a little work one way or another. Eunice spent the winter with Aunt Agnes Terry, and Lillie stayed with Aunt Deseret Larson at Spring City.  Uncle Phil sold the horse of Dad’s in Mexico and sent us $100 for it. This along with a little we were making help tide us over until spring.

Up until now dad had not made up his mind that we could not return to our home and property. By spring he was convinced. He wrote Uncle Philip and told him if there was any chance whatever to sell any of our property, for him to do so and send Dad what he could get out of it. There wasn’t anyone who would take the chance of paying very much for the property under the present conditions of the country. There was one fellow who was buying up property the people had with a prospect of investment. He told Uncle Philip he would pay $4,000 for Dad’s land, which was a small percentage of what it was worth. This deal was made and Dad received the money, making it possible for him to make a new start.  Dad also received a little cash on livestock and horses however, he never did receive any thing of our home.

In March, 1913 the family moved to Mapleton, Utah. They rented the LeRoy farm with a good home. The income from the place was mostly fruit. Dad also got the job of hauling the schoolchildren from Mapleton to Springville. This job, along with what they could make from fruit and by selling a little milk, helped them to get ahead and I think they were as happy as at any time in their lives.

Dad bought 30 acres of land in Idaho in 1919, with water, and he perhaps would have done alright if he had been satisfied. The 30 acres was plenty, considering his age. It wasn’t long until he found that water and other conditions were unsatisfactory. Dad thought by buying the 360 acres which joined him the problems could be worked out. He mortgaged 30 acres on the big farm. The folks almost worked themselves to death trying to meet payments and make a living but it was too big of an undertaking considering what their income was. After seven or eight years they gave up the whole Idaho venture and moved back to Ogden, Utah. I have heard Dad say many times that the Idaho experience was the biggest mistake of his life. He worked some time as a Raleigh salesman, then he tried different jobs. Part of the time he was out of work and they saw some hard times.

After the death of my Grandmother Anderson my mother inherited a little money, and they considered building but they were both quite old by then and starting a new home was to be an undertaking. They decided to fix up the old home a little and have a little money left to pull them through. They were wise in making this decision because it was only a year or two after my grandmother’s death then Mother’s health became very poor. She had stood too many hardships while raising so large a family. Her health grew steadily worse and after obtaining medical assistance we learned that she had a bad heart and also diabetes. Prior to this she had a large goiter removed and one breast taken off.

Mother passed away at the age of 74 on April 16, 1944. Dad held on until February 6, 1956. He was buried beside Mother in Ogden.

Hannah Hurst Howell Bohne, daughter

Condensed from the original by Ruby Hurst Morgan

Stalwarts South of the Border Nelle Spilsbury Hatch page 300

Erastus Snow

Erastus Snow

(1818-1888)

Among the early settlers of Massachusetts colony was the family of the Levi and Lucina Snow, parents of seven sons and two daughters.  All but two of the sons and father Levi accepted the Gospel when missionaries visited them in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia County, Vermont, where Erastus was born on November 9, 1818.

Erastus, 14 years old at the time Elders Pratt and Johnson introduced the Gospel to the Snow family, was zealous in his study of the scriptures and search for truth.  After his baptism on February 3, 1833, he was advanced quickly in the Priesthood. 

On November 8, 1835, he left his home in Vermont to travel to Kirtland, Ohio, where he became acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith and where, after attending the Elders’ School, he received his endowments in the Kirtland Temple, and his Patriarchal Blessing under the hands of Joseph Smith, Sr.

On April 16, 1836, after the glorious spiritual experiences he had had in Kirtland, he left on a mission to Pennsylvania where he was successful in converting some 50 people and organizing several Branches of the Church.

This was the commencement of many missionary travels and experiences, confrontations with ministers of other fathers, miraculous healings and considerable verbal and physical abuse.  In June 1838, he joined a company of 40 or 50 Saints, including Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde, who had just returned from a successful mission to England, and with them traveled to Far West, Missouri, where he was reunited with his family, who had moved there from Vermont.  When Far West was subsequently besieged by the mob, Erastus, like all the able-bodied Mormon men, was forced to take up arms in defense of their homes and families.  Suffering from fever and ague, which left him extremely weak, he nonetheless stuck bravely to his post.

On December 3, 1838, Erastus and other brethren were sent as messengers to Liberty, Missouri, where the Prophet Joseph was incarcerated.  On the evening of February 8, when the jailer brought food to the prisoners, a previously planned escape attempt failed, and not only were the prisoners locked in their cell again, but their visitors were incarcerated also.  At the suggestion of the Prophet, who promised Erastus success if he would follow counsel, Erastus pled his own case before the court and was set free; the others, with professional lawyers, were freed on bail.

Upon his return to Illinois with his family, Elder Snow commenced a series of missionary assignments that took him throughout the northeastern part of the United States.  Despite continiuing bours of fever and ague, which plagued his family as well, in six months’ time he managed to travel some 5,650 miles, a great deal of the distance on foot, and was responsible for the conversion of many souls and the establishment of numerous Branches of the Church.

His missionary labors continued over the next several years, during which time his wife bore him a daughter and a son.  Occasionally, he was able to return to Nauvoo, Illinois, for counsel and, on one such visit, he was instructed by the Prophet on the principle of celestial and plural marriage.  Sometime later, he obeyed that teaching by having his wife, Artemisia, and a 2nd wife, Minerva, sealed to him.

He and his family suffered the hardships endured by all the Mormon pioneers crossing the plains and the rigors of establishing themselves in a new and barren land, but he was ready for additional missionary service when he was called to establish a Scandinavian mission.

On his way to that field of labor, he stopped in St. Louis and stayed at the home of a Mrs. Streeper.  While there, he contracted a light case of smallpox.    Noting her concern for her family, he promised her that neither she nor her family would have the disease, and they did not.

Elder Snow was responsible for the translation to the Scandinavian languages of many of the Church publications of that day, and the missions flourished under his supervision.  After three years in Scandinavia, he returned to his home and family only to be called on two additional missions which took him away from them again. 

On February 12, 1849, Erastus Snow was ordained an Apostle.

In the early 1860’s, his mission took him to southern Utah and northern Arizona, where he supervised and organized early settlements in those areas.  From there, he supervised and organized the Saints in their move to Mexico.  This was an area which he had previously scouted and which he felt would be suitable for the families of plural marriages who needed to be together but who, out of necessity to avoid persecution, were separated.

In 1882, with Apostle Moses Thatcher, Apostle Snow was on a trip to northern Mexico, attempting to secure lands for the Mormons to colonize.  While there, Erastus received a poignant letter from his 2nd wife, Minerva, advising him of the death of Artemisia on December 21.  The love and devotion which Minerva felt toward his older wife was expressed in simple but eloquent terms:  she wanted to go with her in death, their ties were so fast. 

The ensuing years of his life were devoted to the welfare of the self-exiled Saints in Mexico.  In Colonia Juarez, a town nestled in the narrow valley through which flows the Piedras Verdes River, he built a lovely home near the banks of the East Canal. 

While his energies were directed toward making a comfortable home fo his family in the small Mormon colony, he continued to travel extensively to aid the Saints with land problems which often required meetings with President Porfirio Diaz in Mexico City, and to oversee affairs of the scattered colonies in the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua.  He was in Salt Lake City on business for the colonies when he succumbed to a heart attack on May 27, 1888.

His life spanned an exciting, challenging and remarkable period in the history of the Church, and he was equal to the burdens he was called to bear throughout his lifetime of service during that period.   A deep thinker, a kindhearted and benevolent man of impressive bearing, a man noted for his honesty, a kind father, wise counselor, efficient pioneer and colonizer, and a great statesman—truly, he was an Apostle of the Lord. 

Jeanne J. Hatch

Stalwarts South of the Border, Nelle Spilsbury Hatch, page 627

The Stairs Mormon Colonies in Mexico

The “Stairs”

The Secret Rendezvous Location Prior to the Men’s 1912 Exodus from Mexico

Rondal R. Bridgemon

As an amateur historian of the Mexican Revolution, I am interested in all aspects of the Revolution. As a part time resident of Mata Ortiz (previously Pearson), I am especially interested in the history of the colonies during this violent period in Mexico.

In the summer of 1912, the Casas Grandes area was firmly in the grip of Orozco forces and under the command of General Jose Inez Salazar who was from the area himself. Being upset with the United States for imposing an arms embargo to Mexico, Salazar sought to seize all arms and ammunition from the local Mormon community.

On July 26, 1912, General Salazar sent a message ordering Juárez Stake President Junius Romney to come to Casas Grandes for a meeting. At this meeting, Salazar informed Romney he was withdrawing all previous guarantees for protection of the colonists and their property. He further ordered Romney to turn over all arms and ammunition held by colonists by July 28. This event and other depredations at the hands of the Red Flaggers let the colonists know it was no longer safe to remain in Mexico.

President Romney agreed to turn over the weapons if Salazar would guarantee safe passage to the United States for the women and children and he agreed. Romney decided only old guns would be turned into Salazar and the best weapons kept hidden for personal protection.

Meanwhile, the women, children, and older men quickly began making preparations for a quick exit to the United States.  Those family members living in Colonia Díaz would head by wagon directly to Hachita, New Mexico. Women and children in Dublán would leave by trains from The Station (Nuevo Casas Grandes), those from Juárez, Garcia, and Pacheco were to proceed to the Pearson (Mata Ortiz) train station, and colonists from Colonia Chuichupa would catch the train at the Chico station some 60 miles south of Pearson. The Díaz group reached Hachita on July 28th and the others arrived in El Paso on the 29th.

While the men were turning in their old weapons, approximately 2,000 women, children, and older men boarded trains headed for El Paso.  Women and children loading onto train, probably at Pearson (now Juan Mata Ortiz).

Women leave Pearson

 

 

 

 

On August 1, 1912, messengers were sent from Colonia Juárez to Dublán, Garcia, Pacheco, and Chuichupa for all the men to meet at the Stairs. The Stairs was a secret location in rugged country a few miles west of Colonia Juárez known to all the men. This narrow canyon derived its name from the bedrock floor that resembled stair steps.

Some of the Colonia Juárez men reached the Stairs on August 1 and the Dublán men arrived the next day. The Pacheco men arrived on August 3 and over the following two days the Garcia contingent arrived along with more men from Juárez. By August 5th the men from Chuichupa had yet to arrive as they had a good 30 miles farther to travel than anyone else.

On August 5th the company of over 230 men and 500 horses broke camp and moved a short distance from the Stairs. On the 6th they moved east and remained that night and August 7th camped in the Tapiecitas arroyo hoping that the Chuichupa men would overtake them. On the 8th they headed north traveling with a white flag ahead of the column assuming a posture of neutrality in case they encountered rebels (Red Flaggers) or federal troops (Maderistas).

The column crossed the U.S. border late on August 9th and set up camp in the dark at Dog Springs, New Mexico, the same day the Chuichupa men finally arrived at the Stairs. The first contingent reached Hachita on August 12th. Finding no one at the Stairs, the Chuichupa contingent pushed on and reached Dog Springs on August 11. All the men were reunited with their families in El Paso a couple of days later.

The search for the “Stairs”

As I had visited numerous sites in the region that were associated with the Mexican Revolution, it was deemed necessary to locate the Stairs and hopefully duplicate the 1912 photograph taken there. The various accounts of the exodus that I had read didn’t provide an exact location and often disagreed on the distance from Colonia Juárez.

Michael N. Landon, archivist for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, comments on this discrepancy in his article on Bishop Sevey’s account of the exodus of the Chuichupa men.  Landon states “that the exact distance and direction to the Stairs from Juárez is not known.”  Sevey’s account in his journal provides perhaps the best information as to the Stair’s location as he gives a fairly detailed description of the route taken from the Stairs to Tapiecitas.

In 2009 and 2010, two unsuccessful attempts were made to locate the Stairs using descriptions from various journals and hiking west up the Piedras Verdes River. Later we discovered that we had at least been to the location where Stair Canyon meets the Piedras Verdes.

We finally connected with Jay Whetten (sadly, now deceased) and he told his we could essentially drive to the Stairs. After a long visit and he was assured our intentions were strictly historical, he graciously gave us the keys needed to pass through the many gates on the way to Stair Canyon. So finally, on December 11, 2010, we drove several miles west of Colonia Juárez and arrived at the cabin Mr. Whetten had described. We even found a large wooden sign on the porch announcing our arrival at “The Stairs.” As promised, the section of Stair Canyon we had been looking for was just a short distance away. While this section was much shorter than we had envisioned, it was much more beautiful than we had anticipated. We were able to take photos at the same location, albeit a different time of year, as the one taken in 1912.

 

Wall photo - 1912

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gate 2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the 100th anniversary of the 1912 Exodus approached, I learned of an event that was to beheld in El Paso that would commemorative the Exodus of the women and children from the colonies. After making a few inquires, I was surprised to learn that no such event was planned for the men’s exodus. So, plans were made to commemorate the event ourselves. On August 3, 2012, we had a wonderful picnic lunch at the Stairs and contemplated on all the hardships these pioneers had to endure.

Lunch at the Stairs, August 3, 2012

Stairs Lunch Commemorating 100 Years Since Exodus of Mormon Colonies in Mexico

 

 

 

 

Landon, Michael N. “‘We Navigated by Pure Understanding: Bishop George T. Sevey’s Account of the 1912 Exodus from Mexico’,” BYU Studies. 2004. Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 63-101.

Illustration credits: 1912 Stair photos by John Edmund Hall – from Landon; Train photo from Hartley & Call; 2010 and 2012

photos by R. R. Bridgemon