Tag Archives: Mormon Colonies in Mexico

Benjamin Julius Johnson

(1857-1937)

Benjamin Julius Johnson was born to Benjamin Franklin Johnson and Sarah Melissa Homan Johnson, May 10, 1857 in Santaquin, Utah. His family moved to Spring Lake, Utah when he was 8 years old.

His father was engaged in agricultural pursuits and was also somewhat of an expert in horticulture, planting quite a large orchard and engaging in making syrup, ketchup, keeping bees, using the whole family to help with the work. So Benjamin Julius was brought up learning various occupations, which knowledge served him well in the task of pioneering.

He married Isabelle Millican Russell, November 28, 1878. Sometime between 1880 and 1883 he with his family wife and twin boys moved to Tempe, Arizona, where he engaged in general farming, specializing in bee culture and honey. A daughter, Isabelle Melissa, was born at Tempe, May 19, 1883. Shirley H. was born April 12, 1886. About this time, he moved out on the “Bench” in Mesa, Arizona and developed a large apiary. While at this place he became interested in a young lady by the name of Harriet Jane Hakes and, with the consent of his wife, Belle, they decided he should marry Jane and all move to Mexico where they could live polygamy legally.

A covered wagon was outfitted for the trip, and with a single team of horses they headed for the newly established colonies. Starting early in the fall, they crossed the line at Palomas and camped at a nearby lake. Here Alexander F. Macdonald caught up with them and that same night performed the ceremony then joined Harriet Jane Hakes in marriage to Benjamin Julius Johnson as wife number two. This was October 22, 1889. The stepson of L. V. Guthrie traveled with them and he, too, was married to Winnie Johnson, the same night by A.F. Macdonald.

They traveled on to Colonia Juarez where they bought a house and a small plot of land. The house stood against the hill at the northeast corner of town, above the crossing of the Eastern canal. The plot of land was situated under and adjacent to the west side of the canal. He later built a four room house and tore down the old Orvel Allen two-room shack. The plot of ground served as a family garden and help supply the family food.

These were really hard times, at least for a season, as most of his resources have been spent on the journey. But Benjie, as he was called, was resourceful and versatile. He had learned plastering, and, as a number of brick and Adobe houses were being constructed, he obtained considerable employment, which brought much needed income.

The Johnson family contributed to the cultural life of the colony. Belle had some literary talent and also gave lessons on the organ. Benjie, with natural music talent, played various instruments. He was especially efficient with the violin, and made an excellent fiddler when square dancing was an informal social exercise. He with his lively fiddle and “Uncle Pete” Wood with his flute, playing for many of the hometown dances.

In May, 1895, Benjie moved to Chuhuichupa, where four or five other families had already settled. Sometime later a Branch was organized under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Pacheco and Benjie was called to be the Presiding Elder until George M. Haws of Colonia Juarez was called to preside over the Chuhuichupa Ward. Benjie was then set apart as a Counselor to the Bishop. Later he was ordained Bishop.

The Johnson family became a sort of hot for cultural and social activities with Benjie at the center as chorister and dance fiddler, and daughter, Belle, at the organ. Later his son Frank became the choir leader, school principal and a leader in academic activities, which “relieved” Uncle Benjie’s overcrowded agenda of Ward duties. Besides serving as leader in religious activities, Benjie set the pace in home beautification. Although not blessed with great financial resources, he did the best he could with what he had. He planted the first apple and cherry orchards in Chuhuichupa. On his farm he raised oats, corn and potatoes. He also worked at sawmilling between farming seasons. His favorite activity was horticulture, and, inasmuch is Chuhuichupa did not seem to fulfill his expectations in this field, he looked elsewhere for a better opportunity. The search led him to Coahuila, Mexico, where his cousin Derby Johnson was promoting a colonization project. This appealed to him as “the Place.” So he decided to make the move and in the early spring of 1911 he moved to Coahuila. However, because of the Revolution in Mexico, he became apprehensive and didn’t stay long in Coahuila, moving to Blue Water, New Mexico, where Colin Hakes, brother of his second wife, Harriet Jane, presided as Bishop. Here Benjie with his two sons Frank and Shirley, engaged in the business of burning lime. But this was not the occupation for Benjie, so he with his sons moved to Mesa, Arizona, in the winter of 1913.

There he engaged in farming, gardening and dairying, until his health began to fail. Then he became a full-time worker in Mesa Temple until the time of his death on February 10, 1938, ten years to the day after his wife Bell passed away. He was buried beside Bell in the Mesa Cemetery close to the graves of his father and mother.

Isabelle Johnson Sevey, daughter

Stalwarts South of the Border, Nelle Spilsbury Hatch page 341

Peter Cotton Wood

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Peter Cotton Wood

(1852 – 1929)

Daniel Wood, father of Peter Cotton Wood and founder of Woods Cross, Utah, was born October 16, 1800 in Dutchess County, New York. He was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints February 20, 1833, in Ernestown, Canada by Brigham Young. He stood persecutions with the Saints in Ohio, Missouri and Illinois, and was a guard of the temple at Nauvoo.

He exchanged 260 acres of land for two wagons, a carriage and three cows in order to go west. In recognition of his ability as an excellent farmer, Brigham Young requested he remain on the trail to raise crops for the emigrating Saints as they passed on their way to the Great Basin.

At the age of 48, he captained fifty wagons in the 2^nd company, first division in Brigham Young’s company, leaving in the spring of 1848 and arriving in the Salt Lake Valley on September 20 of the same year. There, he settled near the Woods Cross plot.

In 1850 he built a large two-story adobe house which for years was the only religious meeting house in Davis County. Later he built the first public hall, complete with belfry and bell that rang for all public affairs. It housed the first formal church organization. The choir consisted of his own family, and he organized the first band, also made up of family members. The Wood school was held here also, the teacher being paid by the hall owner and contributions. This hall also served as a convenient recreation facility. The crossing of the railroad through the Woods’s private cemetery provided the occasion for the name Woods Cross. Family members record that Daniel and his brother argued about permitting this intrusion on their private cemetery and this was the real reason for the name. Daniel wanted the proposed station or depot to be closer to the main road on the edge of the property. When angry words were exchanged between the two brothers, the conductor jokingly called it “Woods Cross.” It has kept its name since that time. This private cemetery was dedicated August 27, 1859 by Daniel Wood; and a memorial erected by Daniel Wood’s posterity was dedicated by his great-grandson, Henry D. Moyle, First Counselor in the Church’s First Presidency, April 1, 1962.

Peter Cotton Wood, son of Daniel Wood, was born July 4, 1852 in Woods Cross, Davis County, Utah and went to school in Salt Lake City. Born into a musical family, he became part of the first choir and also the first band in the small community and at a very early age composed musical numbers, writing both the words and the music for his compositions. He also wrote poetry and arranged programs and took part in them. Of all this, however, gardening was his first love.

At the age of 18, he was ordained a Seventy and went on a mission to Canada with his father, Daniel Wood. He met and married Launa Pace in Utah about the year 1872. They became parents of six children, every one of whom died within two weeks of a diphtheria epidemic.

He acquired extensive acres of land and a herd of livestock but, when a call came to help settle Arizona, he sold it all and settled near where Snowflake is now located. There he endured the hardships of pioneering on a remote frontier. While at Snowflake he met and married Lucy Jane Flake and with her and the now childless Launa they soon had all the necessities and some of the comforts of life. His love of gardening and seeing things grow, his joy in surrounding himself with the beauty and necessities from what they grew, soon produced a home that made them seem prosperous and kept them happy. When the call came to take his families to Mexico, he gathered seed, roots, roses, and cuttings of choice flowers and trees, to take with him to the foreign land.

He joined a group of exiles leaving the United States for the same reason, and landed in Colonia Juarez on March 21, 1889. He chose a lot in Colonia Juarez on the east bank of Piedras Verdes River. There he built a concrete home in which his families lived comfortably and happily. In the beginning, like most others, he had a hard time making ends meet. But he worked hard and his wives were frugal and thrifty. Together they made every possible use of what advantages were available. His love of the soil and what he could make it produce induced him to building two points to conserve his water turns, and catch waste water. With this water supply, he planted a garden, trees, and the plants, shrubs, and roses he had brought with him. Soon his walls were covered with climbing berries, roses, honeysuckle, and other vines. His street was lined with shade trees, his garden was filled with vegetables to supply his family needs and much to sell, and he had trees to give the people of the community. The high quality of his vegetables proved what love for gardening can do.

His green thumb service went beyond the people of Colonia Juarez. He donated and planted the trees in the plaza in Casas Grandes and lined the street around it with shade trees, mostly poplar. Peter built a lime kiln, made the lime that went into the walls of his own concrete homes, and helped build other homes in town as well. The walls of some of these homes still stand today.

Peter’s inherent love for music was passed onto his family, and with Launa’s beautiful voice he was soon able to create a Wood Orchestra patterned after his father’s Wood Band in Woods Cross where he played the flute. He taught his daughter to chord on the organ for the tunes he made. A son learned to play the guitar, another to play the harmonica and still another son to play his beloved flute. He taught himself to play the violin after he was 50 years of age, and with these instruments tuned and spiritedly led him, the music he produced recalled his boyhood band and choir days in Woods Cross, even if it didn’t rival it.

Peter and his flute became legendary. He played it for celebrations, programs, for parties, for his own comfort and amusement, and for all this dances. Sometimes he had only the organ to accompany him. Other times he had a guitar or violin or both. But whether he played alone or with others, Peter and his flute were always there. With the first tremolo that lifted from his flute, as his lips caressingly whispered into it, dancers were on the floor ready to take the tempo he set, to dance the schottische, the quadrille or a reel, as his musical spell dictated. No dance was complete without Peter and his flute. In later life, he contrived a neck band to hold the harmonica in place, and while his lips and tongue coaxed music from its reeds, his fingers would simultaneously strum the guitar. This one-man band made the same dance-inducing music as his flute, both of which paid tribute to his talent and his love of sharing it with others.

Peter and Launa were a part of the first choir and religiously attended the weekly rehearsals held by the conductor, John J. Walser. They both capably participated in the concerts, cantatas and operas he produced. In the early days, they trundled the baby to these functions in a wheelbarrow so that (Lucy) Jane could attend also. They looked upon these walks of 10 blocks as an accepted part of life.

Peter’s home was always filled to capacity at Conference time, his yard and stable filled with wagons and teams, his table loaded with good food and a hearty welcome for all. His wives, Launa and Jane, were excellent cooks. They worked together beautifully because they loved each other. Launa expended the love for her lost children on those of Jane. She not only helped in raising them but became a second mother to them, which made a united and loving family. Something went out of their lives when Launa sickened and died. She felt so many vacant spots that only she could fill. She was such an integral part of Peter’s musical life that his love for and interest in that art could easily have died, too. Instead, he let her continue to live in the music he enjoyed and produced.

Being the watermaster for years, Peter made the necessary rounds, took care of ditches, the head gates, and the water in them. He could be seen walking or riding a horse with a shovel over his shoulder, checking to make sure there were no leaky headgates and that users both took and released water on time. Water to him was so precious that not a drop should be wasted. In this capacity, he represented the community in Casas Grandes. Old-timers say that with him in this work there was never any trouble. Besides this his team was always ready to take General Authorities into the mountains whenever it was necessary.

Peter was a great friend to the Mexican people. He used to say, “If you make one friend of an Indian, he will make you a hundred more. Or if you make one enemy, he’ll make you a hundred more enemies.” It was the same, he said, with the Mexican people.

Peter was the town dentist for years, and never broke a tooth. With no anesthesia to deaden the painful yank, he had methods all his own to not only quiet the fears of the sufferer but to get his mind on something besides the menacing forceps he often tried to hide. “Just let Uncle Pete get a look at that fellow that kept you awake all night, while you just think of a white horse without a tail.” If that didn’t provoke a smile he had other antics that would. Before the patient was aware of it, the forceps were firmly in place and the tooth was out.

Peter, like his father, was spiritual-minded and early formed the habit of taking his problems to the Lord. He never failed to get his answer, often through dreams. Many problems were solved through following instructions given in his dreams and important moves in his life were dictated by what he had seen or been told in a dream. The following are typical: While on his Mission in Arizona, he returned to his homesteads in Woods Cross to sell out. He received an offer of $1500 cash but hesitated because the offer had come from a gentile. In answer to an earnest inquiry of the Lord, he was told to deal with the man. He did, receive his money, and returned to his mission. On another occasion he was told by heavenly messenger, surrounded by a bright light, “Go straight for Mexico!” This occurred after he had prayerfully asked for guidance, and after he had arranged to move to Beaver. “Go by all means,” his Bishop said when he reported his dreams. “And God bless you!”

On the way to Mexico, in company with John McNeil, he was shown in a dream a way to cross the swollen Gila River, in which a large ox appeared by his team and guided them moving from side to side so quickly that he seemed intelligent. Next morning he told McNeil he was going up the river. “There’s no crossing there,” said McNeil. But Peter was impressed to go. Soon an Indian was riding by their side leading him toward San Carlos on the other side of the river. He later led his team and wagon safely across, going from side to side of his team, guiding them as the ox had done in his dream. McNeil followed and they soon were safely across and on their way.

He was a hard working man yet he took time each day to read a newspaper, or something good, most often the scriptures. And every day he played one or all of the instruments he loved. He could pick out a tune on any instrument he picked up.

Fifteen of his descendants have spent more than 25 years as full-time missionaries to the Mexican people. Two of his descendants have spent two years working in the Andes Mission. One son filled three Stake Mission calls among the Spanish-speaking people in the colonies. These are some of the results that have flowed from his dreams concerning where he should move his family.

He died November 9, 1929 in Colonia Dublan, and was buried in the eastern cemetery in Colonia Juarez.

One of the climbing roses he brought to the country is het blooming in the yards of his sons Enos and Lee.

Nelle Spilsbury Hatch Stalwarts South of the Border, page 793

Jens Christian Larsen Breinholt

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Jens Christian Larsen Breinholt

1841-1914

I was born on September 8, 1841 at Vinding Land on the beautiful shore of Vejle Bay, about 8 miles from the city of Vejle, Jylland, Denmark. My father’s name was Lauers Jensen and my mother, Ane Sophie Nielsen.

My parents belonged to the Lutheran protestant church and in accordance with the customs of denomination, I was at the age of about one and one-half months taken to the church, sprinkled with water which act was called baptism by that church, christened and given the name of Jens Christian Lauersen. The reason why I don’t bear exactly the same name now will be explained later.

My parents were both conscientious, God-fearing people, honest, upright, and industrious. They were kind and loving toward their children of which they had 10 in number—five boys and five girls. I was the first child. Having been reared by googly parents I presume that I naturally inherited the same tendencies. Especially did I at an early age acquire a reverence for God. In my early youth in mingling with people of the world, I did not exhibit my inward convictions in outward manifestations and during the years of my minority I sowed a good deal of wild oats.

By the time I had grown to the age of 20 I had become somewhat disgusted with the religions of the day, deeming them in most cases only hypocrisy. I consequently took no stock in them.

At the age of 11½ I was hired out to work for my living. The nature of my work was tending horses, cows, and sheep. As I remember, the wages for my first summer’s work was less than five dollars (American money) plus by board. During my early years I hired out to various farmers and also acquired the customary schooling. In the spring of 1856 when I was 15 years old, I commenced as an apprentice with my father to learn bricklaying and plastering, which occupation I followed more or less as long as I stayed in my native land and also when I came to America.

Inn the spring of 1861 I was introduced by a chym to aman by the name of Niels Jensen, a bricklayer. This man was a Mormon, a fact which my young fried cunningly concealed from my knowledge until I had bargained with him. Had I known before hand that he wa a Mormon I would have had nothing to do with him. On telling my friend so, he assured me it wouldn’t have made any difference, for though a Mormon; he was a pretty good fellow.

Here came the turning point in my life, for although I had been reared in a Christian church by Christian parents and Christian ministers, I did not know what a true Christian was until this man told me. It did not take very long after my acquaintance with Niels Jensen, through conversing with him on religious matters, that I was convinced that Mormonism was true. I did not however become humble enough to receive baptism until 1863 when on the 11^th day of January I was baptized in a broke on the borders of the city of Vejle by Elder Anders Hansen and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The conference held in the fall of 1863 in Vejle I was ordained a teacher and sent on a mission to the Horsens Branch to labor under the direction of Gustav Pegan. I was by him ordained a Priest. Shortly after, I was ordained Elder and set apart to preside over the Horsens Branch. On account of the war between Prussia and Denmark, my work as a messenger of the Gospel did not last long as I, being 22 ½ years old was eligible to be drafted into the army. Therefore, the spring of 1864 I was released from my mission with the privilege of emigrating to Zion. I have built myself of the opportunity. My father, although not a member of the Church at the time was liberal with means to enable me to go. On 4 April 1864 I bade goodbye to my parents, brothers and sisters in Nebsager Mark in on 6 April, I bade adieu to my native land, Jutland, and proceeded on until we arrived at Liverpool, England.

On 28 April 1864 I boarded a large sail ship called the Monarch of the Sea in company with about 1,000 Saints. The captain in charge was John Smith. We found ourselves pretty low crowded. Especially did we experience a great deal of inconveniencing the cooking department and it was chance work if we got anything to eat. It took about 35 days from Liverpool to Castle Garden, New York.

We proceeded on by boat and trail until we landed on the west bank of the Missouri River at a place called Wyoming, where we laid in waiting about a week before the ox trains from Utah arrived which were to take us across the dreary plains. Instead of going with the church teams, I am for other men decided to go as teamsters for a man named Soren Christofferson from Manti so we would not be in debt to the Church for passage.

Her company numbered eight souls with six wagons and 20 yolk of cattle. During the summers of’64,’65 and ’66, the Indians were very hostile on the plains and we were greatly exposed to being massacred by them, being so if you traveling alone and guarded. But God preserved our lives many of our cattle down the plains. When we got to Fort Bridger we were compelled to leave two of our wagons there.

I enjoyed the trip across the plains very much, enjoying good health all the way. We saw no Indians and they did not molest us but many depredations were committed on the plains that summer. We entered the valleys of the mountains by way of Provo Canyon 13 October 1864 and proceeded right onto Manti.

My first job in my adopted country was digging the seller for a Miller who live south of Manti. The next hired out for a year to Peter Rasmussen, Bishop of Salina, Sevier County, Utah.

Manti on 29 October and traveled on foot towards my new home. Went about four miles south of Manti, I retired to a secluded place and kneel down before the Lord in secret prayer and thanksgiving and to him who preserve me over land and sea to the land of Zion and the home of the Saints. I asked my heavenly father on this occasion to bless me with a gift of speedily acquiring the English language and the Gila my lungs which for several years before leaving Denmark had been very weak and at this time would often bleed profusely. I prayed for my mother and father, brothers and sisters, all of whom were left in my native land. I asked God to lead them all into the fold of Christ. I asked him to bless me and all my labors and travels in the land of Zion. I covenanted anew that if he would hear and answer these my humble petitions that I would serve him all days my life. I can say to the praise of the name of God that he has bestowed upon me every gift I asked on this occasion.

I soon acquired the use of the English language, the Bishop taking great pains to instruct me. While living at Salina, the Black Hawk War broke out in April 1865. There were several men killed which stirred up great resentment amongst the settlers. I rode bareback on a pony to Glenwood, 15 miles away to warn the settlers of that vicinity that the Indians were on the rampage. I carried a small rifle already loaded as there was no place to carry a ramrod. I returned safely quite late in the day.

During my stay at Salina I heard news about a girl, Joanne Hansen, whom I had known in Denmark. I had shunned her on account of it being rumored that she was going to become a Mormon. She did join the Church and came to Zion with her brother. She was now living alone out in circle Valley since her brother had been killed by the Indians. I renewed my acquaintance with her and after the necessary proposals, we were married by Bishop William Allred on 13 February 1866 and I moved to Circle Valley and join together in building a fort for protection against the savages. I moved our house into the floor for protection and we lived there until the early part of June. Then my order general Daniel H. Wells, the place was vacated. We left our land, crops and all we never returned.

We made our about it Manti for a few weeks and then moved to Ephraim, Sanpete County, where we lived in a little log house. We both worked in the harvest fields cradling and binding wheat and oats to help us acquire a few of the necessities of life. On July 11, 1867 our first son was born, but he died when 11 months old in 1868. Grasshoppers ate most of the wheat crop this year and I spent much of my time in fighting these destroyers. There was however enough we took bread the people and my family did not suffer.

This fall I had the pleasure of meeting my brother Peter and my sister Ane and her husband as emigrant Saints to this land.

This fall, 1868, a call was made by President Brigham Young for volunteers to go work on the Union Pacific Railroad in Weber Canyon. My brother and I and a great many more went, but it was cold and the work was dangerous, being in a a deep stone cut called Slate point near the 1,000 mile tree West of Omaha, Nebraska. The majority the men soon went home, many of them not clearing expenses. I stayed until spring and then left without my pay afterwards and afterwards had considerable difficulty in getting it and finally had to take it mostly and goods.

In February 1869 I was ordained a Seventy of the 47th Quorum of Seventies by Thora Thurstesen. In the fall of 1869 I went to Salt Lake to meet my parents and family and learn my mother had died while crossing the plains.

In 1870 I took my wife to the endowment house in Salt Lake City to be sealed for time and all eternity. With my wife’s consent in full approval I married a young lady from Laaland, Denmark, named Christine Larsen and she was also sealed to me in the Endowment House. She bore me two daughters, one of whom died in childhood of Diphtheria. My wife Christine also died in April, 1873.

In December 1873 a call came from the First Presidency of the Church for masons and laborers to go work on the St. George Temple. I felt that my duty to go. Thus with approval of my family I left them on 1 December and joined a company of 25 men and boys who arrived in St. George after very difficult weather and bad roads. I worked on the St. George Temple at this time a little over three months giving my time as a free will offering for the erection of the house of the Lord. In the middle of October 1874 I again went to work on the St. George Temple and worked until the stonework was completed which was in March 1875. My wife Christiana whom I had married 30 March 1874 in the Endowment House, accompanied me and also my little daughter Sophia. I then returned home to see from where lived for several years and where several of my children were born.

The spring of 1879 I went to work on the Manti Temple cutting stone in the winter and laying it in the summer for seven continuous years. My wages were $3.50 a day.

Well any from, I and my brothers and my father desired to have our name changed. The reason for doing so was because there were so many families named Larsen living any from that our mail matters went to the wrong persons, and also because the various spellings are names since coming to America. We petitioned the legislative assembly of the Territory Utah asking the privilege of adopting the name of Breinholt as a surname for ourselves and posterity. The privileges granted us by the last legislature in which polygamists were allowed to serve in 1882.

I bought some property in Redmond, Sevier County and move my families there in 1886 and tending to settle down to farming, but I was unable to live in peace on account of the pressure from the US Marshall and forcing the Edmunds law and the charter amendment which required a man to abandon all but one wife. For conscience sake it could not abandon my wife Christiana and her five little children and thus I was tried and found guilty of the crime of unlawful cohabitation. I served hundred five days in the state penitentiary along with many great and good men of the Church. I felt proud that I had been numbered among so many staunch man and true, who were willing to suffer imprisonment for the sake of their families rather than to make the unholy promise to obey the law made by man on purpose to persecute the Mormons.

In 1889 I was asked to take charge and conduct the stonework of the Stake Tabernacle being built in Richfield, so after I put in my spring crop on the farm in Redmond and leaving it to my sons to care for, I began work on the Tabernacle and continued to work there until November 1891.

During this time I had made plans to leave the United States and traveled down to old Mexico and thus in connection with Simon Hansen of Mayfield and Soren Thyggersen of Ephraim, I chartered a Rio Grande freight car to be loaded at you from 24 November 1891. My wife Johanne and family prefer to stay with the home in Redmond and this was a sad parting. I loaded some furniture, provisions, one cow, a team, and some farm implements in the boxcar along with those of my brethren and I wrote on this car being allowed free passage for taking care of the animals.

I arrived at Deming, New Mexico on 3 December to join my family and friends who had arrived by passenger train. From Deming we were to proceed the remainder of our journey by our teams. We also were to receive pass papers from the Mexican Consul and have everything classified, numbered and listed in shape to passed the custom house at Ascensión. This proved to be a very tedious and laborious ordeal, besides its being expensive. On 9 November we started for old Mexico and had an uneventful journey over the barren country to the first Mormon settlement, Colonia Diaz. On 17 December we passed the last guardhouse at Carlito’s and proceeded on to Colonia Dublan, arriving after dark.

On 18 December 1891 we drove onto Joseph Jackson’s flour mill near Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. Here we were made welcome by William Morley Black and his wife who was a sister to my wife Christiana. The following day we pitched our tents beside their house which was a lumber building about 12’ x 14’. The ground was so dry and Rocky that it was difficult to drive stakes in it. We were now thankful to our heavenly father that we had reached the end of our journey without any sickness or harm. The year 1891 was a very dry year and it was difficult to get feed for our livestock and also flour and other food was very scarce. Shortly after the new year I got to build a dry stone wall for brother Jackson around an enclosure of his home. With the help of my two small sons we earned about $3.00 a day.

Shortly after my arrival in Mexico, Brother Black moved to the mountains and he sold me his house. I proceeded to tear it apart and moved it on to a 25 acre tract of farmland in San Jose that I had bought for Brother Jackson. I pitched my tent in the riverbed ownership trees until I got the house built. I continue to work as a stonemason for Joseph Jackson for about two years until his new grist mill was completed.

My family and I became members of the Colonia Dublan Ward, Juarez Stake. We hear joined in the activities of the Ward in my children attended school here until 1899. I did amazing construction on several of the early built homes in Dublan. To mention a few: Helaman Pratt, Gaskel Romney, Lewis Cardon (Louis Cardon)and many others.

Note: After 1894, this journal history was never completed by J. C. L. Breinholt in his own handwriting, but there were many important things that are necessary to record about his activity and honorable life.

My father, J. C. L. Breinholt, with his wife Christiana and their children on their farm in San Jose, Mexico. Here he cared for his farm and always worked at his trade of masonry and stone cutting. He almost always more to and from work every day, sometimes a total of ten miles.

In the fall of 1894 while at San Jose, Christopher B. Heaton was operating a molasses mill at the adjoining farm. One day some Mexicans were seen loitering around. After Heaton had left for the night the Mexicans returned and rolled barrel of molasses to the pummis pile and covered it with pummis (the pulp of the sugar cane) in preparation for coming back the following night. He decided to try to have them arrested. He went to the officers of the law and asked them to come and arrest these natives when they came back, but he was disappointed as the authors never came. He attempted to handle the situation alone and concealed himself to wait for them to return. Shortly after dark they arrived in ox team and wagon on which the load of the barrel of molasses. When they started to leave, Heaton stepped out and ordered them to stop. They were prepared for trouble and shot Mr. Heaton through the shoulder, then beat him to death of the club. They took his gun robbed him of his watch. Breinholt heard the shot and knew that there was trouble. He immediately sent his two oldest boys to go after the horses in the field instructed them to go to Dublan for help. He then went on foot to the scene of the tragedy. The murderers had left and dragged tree limbs behind the wagon to try to cover up their tracks. These thieves were apprehended but turned free in a day or two without being punished.

In the spring of 1899, J. C. L. Breinholt moved his family to Colonia Juarez. While living in Juarez he built some of the brick and stone houses of that area including one for Anthony W. Ivins and a large stone house for John W. Taylor.

In Juarez and took pride implanting choice fruit trees and other things. At the time they had no culinary water except from the irrigation ditch. An early morning chore, while the water was fresh and clear, was to fill the water barrels for household use. J. C. L. Breinholt was called to serve a mission for the Church in his native land, Denmark. He left November 5, 1900 and return from this mission November 22, 1902. He enjoyed excellent health even though he was at the time 60 years of age.

On account of the revolution in Mexico during the years 1910-1912 the people in the Mormon colonies were counseled by Church Authorities to leave Mexico until the trial was over. Many never returned. J. C. L. Breinholt and his family returned to Redmond, Utah leaving everything they owned except what could be packed in a couple of trunks and a suitcase.

It was difficult to leave his home at age 72 and face the necessity of taking charity from friends and relatives, although he was very happy to see them all again. During the two years that he lived at Redmond he spent considerable time fixing fences, gates, and other things for his eldest son who had remained in Utah and made the family welcome and provide for them with a log house. The summer carrying it was made quite comfortable and here Father and Mother Breinholt lived out the remainder of their lives. He died November 5, 1914 being sick just five days with pneumonia contracted while helping harvest beets. She died just a month later on December 7, 1914 and was buried beside him. J. C. L. Breinholt was honest and forthright man in all his daily dealings with his fellow man. He was kind intemperate in his disposition. He was neat, clean, and systematic in his everyday habits in person. He observed the Sabbath Day and was regular with family prayers, and his blessings on the food. He paid an honest tithing and he was liberal in his contribution to the Church and the communities in which he lived. He kept his homes and lands in good repair and his orchard in garden were always well cared for. His manners were outstanding and he enjoyed the food that was prepared for the family. He was very particular about his appearance and kept his sandy-colored, medium length beard clean and trim. His penmanship was excellent and he was good in mathematics and tried to improve his education by reading a great deal. He lived the health rule of “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.”

Although he never acquired worldly goods in excess of the moderate living he left a good name for his 18 children and the numerous posterity that survived him.

Condensed from the personal Journal of Jens Christian Larsen Breinholt, and completed by Oliver C. Breinholt, son.

Stalwarts South of the Border Nelle Spilsbury Hatch page 63

David Brigham Brown

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David Brigham Brown

(1847 – 1920)

Descended from sturdy New England forbears, David Brigham Brown was born January 21, 1847 in Des Moines, Iowa. His father and mother were both faithful members of the church, having resided with the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio and Nauvoo, Illinois. His mother, Lydia M. Lathrop, died of cholera while traveling to the great basin with the company of Saints in August, 1852.

Samuel, David’s father, continued with his family to Utah and settled in Fillmore where David grew to manhood. David early displayed a love for horses, was an expert with them, and with the pony express rider, carrying mail on the road between Fillmore and a point near Camp Floyd, northwest of Lake Utah.

The family later moved to Payson, Utah where David met and married Cynthia Selena McClellan on October 6, 1873. They moved to Gentile Valley, Idaho, where their first four children were born. Two other children were born in Grass Valley, Utah. Tragically, the last child was but a few days old when the mother sickened and died. They then married Anna Helena Rasmussen on February 11, 1885. When their first child, George Andrew, was one year old, David moved his family to San Luis Valley in Colorado. Two more children were born there.

The climate in the San Luis Valley could be severe, however. Crops were slow to mature and the hard winters took a heavy toll on livestock. David dust decided to move south. Working their way down the Rio Grande, the family finally stopped at Deming, New Mexico. There the Browns put up a livery stable and operated a kind of open house where meals were served and beds provided. This developed into “half-way” house for those living in the Mormon colonies, and was often used as a kind of headquarters for many of them. As church leaders visited the colonists, they frequently stayed at the Browns’, going and coming. Eventually, in the mid-1890s, David moved his family to Colonia Diaz. After another stay in Colonia Juarez, they settled in Chuhuichupa, farthest south of all the colonies. There David followed farming, stock raising and dairying. As his family grew, they married and settled near their parents, pursuing the same occupation.

Wherever David lived, he was active in the church, serving as a counselor in several bishoprics. He had a generous nature and, during their life together, he and Lenie made their home welcome to all who needed care and shelter. There was scarcely a time when guests were not living in the Brown home. To mention only a few, there were John and Rob Beecroft, David Fife, George and Mary Russell, and the three Elliott children, Louise, Romula and Jesse who were taken into the Brown home after the death of their mother. The Browns took a young Mexican couple into their home, Dulce and Marie Gonzalez to work on the farm and help in the house. The Browns converted the couple to Mormonism with many of their children, in turn, continuing as active members of the Church. Delbert and Blythe, the last of the Brown children, were both born in Chuhuichupa. During all this time Anna Helena (known as Lenie) worked as a midwife and nurse, caring for the sick with love and kindness.

Along with others, David and his family left Chuhuichupa with most of their possessions at the time of the Exodus of the colonists in the summer of 1912. They erected a livery stable in El Paso as a source of income. Later yet, they rented a 500 acre farm in the Rio Grande Valley. Nostalgia grew, however, and the Browns eventually returned to the colonies, first to Colonia Juarez and then to their beloved Chuhuichupa. They loved the quiet little valley in the high Sierra Madre. It was there that David died on August 9, 1920 and was buried in the little cemetery north of town. Lenie closed her life on September 30, 1943 in Colonia Dublan.

Ruby S. Brown, daughter-in-law

Stalwarts South of the Border by Nelle Spilsbury Hatch page 70

Louis Philip Cardon

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Louis Philip Cardon

(1832 – 1911)

The ancestors of Louis Philip Cardon and Susette Staley have been traced back several generations in the Piedmont Valleys to Italy to 1644. Some of the maternal lines have been traced to the middle of the 1500’s.

Connections have not been made out of the valleys, but they were of French extractions, since French was the main language they spoke.

These people were known from the twelfth century as Vaudois, Waldense, or Walloon and were driven to various parts of France, Switzerland, and Germany, then to the final refuge in the High Alpine Valleys of the Piedmont. They sent preachers out, first openly, then as opposition grew, disguised as tinkers and various other occupations, gaining many adherents. They were constantly pursued as heretics and had Crusades directed against them. They were subject to unjust taxation, many persecutions, and as late as 1848 the law forbade them entrance to any of the universities or the professions. However, they owned their own homes and in 1848 were permitted to enjoy civil and political rights but were still restricted in their religious worship. This background built character, and they were ready to accept the Gospel as preached by the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when they finally heard it.

Philippe Cardon had accumulated enough money by 1836 to purchase a large vineyard and an orchard in the valleys of the Piedmont, and there he built a good, comfortable home. Unfortunately this was shortly destroyed by fire. His eldest child was seriously ill upstairs at the time and they felt fortunate in being able to save her. It was the middle of the winter, so there was even more hardship. However, they were able to rebuild, and by the time the Mormon Elders came were in good circumstances.

Louis Philip Cardon was the 5^th child of Philippe Cardon and Marthe Marie Tourn. He was born March 9, 1832, in Praustin (Prarustino), Turino, Italy. The other children were: Anne, Jean, Barthelemy, Catherine, Marie, Madeleine, Louise, Jean Paul, and Thomas Barthelemy.

Louis Philip’s younger sister tells in her autobiography of a dream she had as a very young child. Three men came to her and told her they were the servants of God. They related the story and the restoration of the Gospel, about the Prophet Joseph Smith and his vision, along with many other truths. Continuing, they said the day was not far off when her parents would embrace the Gospel. Many things concerning their departure from their home and the long tedious journey they would take as they went to Zion were also mentioned. When she awoke she felt so strange that her mother wondered what had happened. When the father came in she told him how strange the child was acting. He listened to her as she told him the whole story. The mother also listened and stored up every word she heard. Relieved, the child then forgot all about it, as a young child would. The father, Philippe Cardon, was an architect and was directing the building of a large house on day about 1851 when a man came from La Tour, quite a distance from his home. The man said some strangers were teaching and preaching some very strange doctrine related what he had heard. Philippe listened intently and knew then that these men were teaching and preaching the very things his young daughter related to him as a child from the three strangers in her dream. He immediately put down his tools, saying he would go find the strangers.

He walked all Saturday afternoon, all night and the next morning over the mountains and down the valley. He reached the Palais de la Tour in time to find these men and hear them preach. After the meeting he went to them and invited them to come to his home and make it their headquarters.

At the October Conference in Salt Lake City, in 1849 many missionaries had been called to go preach the Gospel to the nations. President Lorenzo Snow, Elders T.B. Stenhouse and Joseph Toronto were sent to Italy. After checking around, President Snow felt impressed to go to the Piedmont Valleys. When they got there, there were about 22,000 Protestants and 5,000 Catholics. They had been but a short time at the Palais de la Tour and were laboring hard. While they were allowed to preach in the streets it was hard to get contacts so they were glad to accept the invitation to the Cardon home.

Marie Madelaine was now about 18 years of age. She was reading a book and did not see them approaching. When she heard her father say, “This is my daughter who had the vision I told you about,” she looked up quickly, and recognized them and the dream came back to her memory.

Philippe, his wife, their son Louis Philip and his brothers were soon converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and were baptized. The sisters were slower, studying more but all joined except one whose husband forbade her to even listen to her sister. Their minister tried to stop the conversions, but could not.

The congregation grew to about 50 faithful members. Meetings were generally held in the Cardon home, but as the crowds came from far and near, a bowery was built and meetings were held there. The Cardon family often served food to those who came so far. Opposition became strong and, on occasion, mobs threatened them.

When Philippe Cardon received word to prepare to go to Zion, he decided in February, 1854 to sell his home. Since he was in a hurry, he did not get full value, but enough was raised to leave. A few days before they started the Elders held a meeting, giving instructions for the journey over the great ocean and the desert places and gave them a blessing saying if they obeyed the principles of the Gospel faithfully they would reach their destination safely and in good health in spite of the dangers.

Three days before they left, friends came to bid them goodbye knowing full well they would never return. Eight of the Cardon family left for Zion. They had with them a family of five who had no money of their own. They could neither understand nor speak English but soon met Elders who spoke French as the Cardons did, so gradually they picked up the language.

First they went to London where two weeks were spent making the necessary preparations. Then they went to Liverpool where they waited 17 days for their ship to be completed. There were 485 passengers, all Latter-day Saints, except the crew and captain.

The first few days out were good sailing. Then a terrible storm arose. The ship rocked to and fro and finally the captain ordered the anchor to be dropped as they were about onto “the Rock of Providence” as he called it. The captain said no ship every hit that and had survivors. However, calm weather finally came, and drawing up the anchor, they sailed on. On reaching New Orleans, they were transferred to the from the sailing ship to a big steamer.

Some of the company who went ashore to view the City of New Orleans contracted cholera. In a short time cholera broke out on ship and they were quarantined on an island not far from St. Louis. Quite a number died.

The father, Philippe, contracted the disease. For a time it seemed that death would come. But through faith and prayer he recovered. When the cholera abated, the family and Saints continued their journey up the Mississippi and camped above Kansas City. Here they began final preparations for the journey across the plains. However, cholera struck again, worse than before. Many died, sometimes as many as 15 or 20 a day were buried. This too finally passed.

The Cardons left with a few others and soon as the oxen, cattle and covered wagons could be readied. Louis Philip and his two brothers had a wagon with three to four yokes of cattle each. The roads were rough and there were many steep dugways, so they often had to stop for repairs. At times they were frightened by Indians but the captain of the company was crossing the plains for the third time so he knew how to deal with emergencies as they came up. They finally arrived safely in Utah.

Susette Staley was born February 12, 1837 in Angrogne, Torino, Italy, in the Piedmont Valleys, and was the daughters of Jean Pierre Staley and Jeanne Marie Gaudin. Her parents, being thrifty became quite prosperous, having two homes, one in the mountains and one in the Valley Prarustin. They spent summers on the mountain with their sheep and cattle, the winters down where it was warmer. They lived mostly on their own produce.

Susette had a long way to go to church. She was religious and learned her catechism so well she was always able to quote long passages from the Bible. When the missionaries came she went wherever she could to hear the Gospel preached. Opposition arose as the Church grew, with mobs trying to break up the meetings. On one occasion in 1855, Elder Franklin D. Richards and two other missionaries were forced to hide in the high mountain passes from the mob, going without food for three days before being found by the Staley family.

Elder Franklin D. Richards was instrumental in getting members of the family to emigrate. They were in the company overseen by Elder Canute Peterson and sailed from Liverpool, December 12, 1855, on the Ship John J. Boyd. There were a number of other families from Italy and some 500 saints from Scandinavia and Great Britain. Immediately after their departure, the Italian Mission was closed and was not reopened for 40 years.

They arrived in New York on February 15, 1856 and went from there to Florence, Nebraska by rail, stopping at Chicago and St. Louis on the way. They were delayed for three months waiting for the handcarts to be completed, then joined the first handcart company which left on June 9, 1856 with 273 in the company. Many things have been written of the trials and tribulations acts of faith and heroism of those who came in the handcart companies.

The father, Jean Pierre Staley was not well when he left Winter Quarters and became progressively worse. It is said that he did not eat all the food issued for him, saving it for his children. Suzette and her brother Daniel did most of the work after he became ill. He told his wife he would never reach the valley, but that she and her children would, and that they would never want for the necessities of life. The second morning that he had to be helped into a wagon, he died. His body was wrapped in a sheet placed between layers of sagebrush, and was buried on banks of the banks of the Platte River, opposite Ash Grove. His death was entered in the diary of the handcart company, August 17, 1856. A bonfire was built over his grave to keep the Indians and coyotes from finding it.

The company arrived in Salt Lake Valley on September 26^th 1856 and were met at Willow Springs by President Brigham Young and many others. The Cardons from Ogden met the widow and her younger children and helped them to get settled in a dugout. Susette and her sister Mary went to work to help the family. The trials and tribulations made her faith grow stronger and dearer. The 24^th of July was sacred to her and took precedence over all other celebrations.

Louis Philip first married Sarah Ann Wellborn. No children were born to this union. In 1857 at Logan, Susette and Louis Philip Cardon were married. Their first two children, Joseph Samuel and Louis Philip, were born in Ogden. The daughter, Mary Katherine, was born in Logan. They next moved to Oxford, Oneida (now Franklin) County, Idaho where Louis Paul Cardon and Isabelle Susette, who died when about two years of age, were born. The persecution because of plural marriage became so persistent that Louis Philip traveled to Salt Lake City to ask advice from President Brigham Young. President Young arose from his chair, smote the palm of one hand with the fist of the other, and said, “Brother Cardon, it is about time for the Saints to move to Arizona, as I have been thinking about. Be here in a week with your wife and belongings. The Company will be ready to leave.”

Again there was a long journey. They settled first at George Lake’s Camp on the Little Colorado in Northern Arizona. The camp was later called Obed. In February, 1877, he and his family moved to Tenney’s Camp. Here they lived in the United Order, being on the first roll taken. This called for sacrifice as the Cardons had ample supplies for two years. They were active in the church and building the community.

After two years they moved from Woodruff to Taylor. The Woodruff Ward was organized on September 26, 1879 when the name was changed to Tenney’s Camp. They had hoped to make Taylor their permanent home but peace was not possible for those practicing plural marriage. In 1885 President Taylor advised Louis Philip, his first wife Sarah and his son Joseph, to move to Mexico. Emanuel and Louis Philip went along to help the families move, but Louis Paul returned to Taylor where he had married and stayed w=there with his mother, Susette, until 1896 when he was called to go Colonia Dublan to help with the church school. Susette and her daughter Mary Katherine Cardon Clawson, wife of Joseph I. Clawson, accompanied him and his family. The father, Louis Philip, had settled in Colonia Juarez, where he stayed until a couple of years before his death.

The town of Dublan was blocked out in the Mormon way: A mile square divided into blocks of then acres each, minus a large street all the way around. Louis Paul and his sister Katie were able to purchase a block across the street from their brother Joseph, so once more the brothers and sister were together. They were active in church, community and civic affairs, in addition to teaching supporting the schools. Louis Paul led the choir too.

The farms of the colonists were in town. Irrigation was a problem so it was decided to build what was called “The Big Canal.” Louis Paul did all the surveying and his brother Joseph was the chief engineer. The men of the community worked hard to get the project completed. When the new irrigation system was laid many shook their heads saying, “He can’t make water run up hill.” Both Louis Paul and Joseph contracted typhoid fever before the project was finished, and Joseph died. Later, the whole town turned out for a parade and dedication service when the canal was finished. Susette said she felt as though she were going to her son Joseph’s funeral, as to her, the work seemed like a monument to him. The water was turned into the canals and they worked perfectly. Plentiful water made the farms produce more and prospects for the colonists and their future were more encouraging.

The industrious and thrifty habits of Susette kept her family well clothed and well fed. She wove her own cloth from wool, coloring it with plants and indigo. She even made suits for her husband and sons. These clothes were durable and beautiful, and some were good 35 and 50 years later. She lived to be 86 years old and many of her grandchildren remember her dresses. They were old-fashioned then but on her they looked very beautiful.

She always preserved meats, vegetables, and fruits. But her specialty was strawberries and cream. She planted strawberries both in Arizona and in Mexico. Her Strawberry Parlor was a popular place to gather. She was successful in drying strawberries and after her move back to Arizona the University of Arizona Economics Department asked for samples of them saying they had never heard of strawberries keeping in places like Arizona and Mexico. She was very generous, and many a friend received strawberries from her.

Louis Philip Cardon died and was buried in Dublan on April 9, 1911. Susette continued to live near her son, Louis Paul, as she had done since the days in Taylor. Her testimony of the Gospel never wavered, and she always did whatever she was asked by those in authority.

When the Saints were driven from Mexico during the Madero Revolution, she had over $6,000 in stock in the Union Mercantile Store. One of the greatest trials of her life must have been to be reduced from a condition of easy independence. She never complained or mentioned what she had left behind as so many of us did.

When the colonists finally knew they were going to have to leave Mexico and would not be able to take their treasured possessions, many tried in various ways to hide them so they would not be stolen. Some dug holes and buried things that would not rust. Susette was asked by someone if she wasn’t going to try and do something of the kind. She replied, “No, they will never touch any of my things.” Her son Louis Paul’s home, a large two-story home, at one time housed twelve Mexican families, and was badly misused and stripped. The large parlor and living room were used to stable the horses of the Revolutionists, planks being put up the front steps to bring them in. Her home, a neat little three roomed adobe, stood just a few yards away.

When the first war storm passed over, Louis Paul sent some teams down to the colonies and told the driver to bring back anything of hers he could find. When he came back that was all he had on the wagons, for nothing had been molested. She had trunks of clothing, bed linen, and table linen, quantities of dried fruit, and preserved fruit. Elmer said that it did not look as though the door had been opened, although it was unlocked.

She was a brave woman. The afternoon the Rebels came into town, one of them went to her clothesline, which was made of rope, and cut it so he could lead away a horse belonging to Roy Clawson. Disregarding the fact that the rebel had a gun and a knife in his hand, she went out and demanded that he return it. He did.

The Exodus occurred in late July 1912. The Saints went first to El Paso where they received temporary help. They were then encouraged by the government to go where their relatives were or someplace where they could start making a living. Her son Louis Paul moved his family to Binghampton near Tucson, where some of the refugee Saints were making a colony. He built a nice one-room place for her near his own. She didn’t want to be a burden to anyone.

Although she spoke English, she did all her reading and praying in French. She was intuitive, and at times would ask us if something had happened. When we asked her how she knew, she would say, “I knew it. I dreamed it.” She died on July 19, 1923 at Binghampton (now in Tucson), Pima, Arizona, and is buried in the Binghampton cemetery.

Edith Cardon Thatcher, granddaughter

Stalwarts South of the Border by Nelle Spilsbury Hatch page 98

Erastus Kruse Fillerup

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Erastus Kruse Fillerup

(1875 – 1910)

My father, Erastus Kruse Fillerup, son of Anders Peter and Caroline Rasmine (Rasmussen) Fillerup, was born in Lake View, Utah on February 16, 1875.

He was the fifth of nine children, six boys and three girls. His parents were immigrants from Denmark. He attended the Lake View Elementary School, then entered the Brigham Young Academy, graduating from that institution in 1895.

On May 31, he was set apart by Heber J. Grant and June 1 of that year he left for a mission to the southern states, where he served 2 and a half years, chiefly in Tennessee. He reported his mission at the church offices December 26, 1897, and was called by President Wilford Woodruff of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to teach in the elementary school of Colonia Diaz, Mexico, which was a church school. He was also instructed to remain in Mexico until he was called elsewhere.

Here he met Lucy Ann Johnson and on May 18, 1899, he married her in the Salt Lake Temple. Lacking the proper chaperone they were not allowed to travel the long distance from Diaz, Mexico to Salt Lake City together. Lucy was sent ahead with a Mrs. Galbraith to stay with his parents until he arrived for the wedding. They were the parents of six children, the youngest of whom, Drexel, was born five days after his father’s death.

Erastus Kruse took a very active part in all church organizations in the Ward and was a Counselor in the Bishopric for a time. He loved to take part in dramatics, and let the Ward choir.

In 1905 he was called to teach horticulture in the Juarez Stake Academy at Colonia Juarez, Mexico. There again, after but a short time he was called to the Bishopric, and work in the MIA Stake Board. As band and choir later, along with his other activities, he had meetings every night of the month but one.

Erastus was a friend to everybody and tried to influence those in his classes with the desire to get an education. To his students he used to say, “Set your aims high and work to reach them. There is no honor in reaching goals that require little or no effort.” He had a way of holding his students up to their best without preaching urging. It is said that none slept in his classes.

Death came to Erastus Kruse Fillerup on July 2, 1910, in the little town of Pearson, Mexico. He was doing construction work on a bridge and fell, being killed instantly. He was buried in Colonia Juarez. The Bishop, Joseph C. Bentley, made the remark that it would take ten men to replace them.

In 1912 in the Mormon colonists were forced to abandon their homes and possessions because of the Revolution, Lulu, with her six children, went to Tucson, Arizona where she stayed about a year. The next year she stayed about a year. The next two years she lived on the Provo bench, now Orem. Her children attended the Lake View Elementary school and BYU Training School. During this time her helpless poor and it was a struggle for providing care for a family. She moved to Ammon, Idaho to be near her parents and sisters, who homesteaded farms there. We went out on maternity cases into general nursing care for invalids and other work, getting fine service to her fellow sisters.

After six years she moved to Logan, Utah, where her children could have the opportunity for better schooling, and she secured steady work cooking for the fraternity houses. During the summer months she was employed by Deseret Livestock Company on their ranch in Evanston, Wyoming.

Later, on a trip to Cedar city to visit her daughter, Thelda, she met a man who was energetic and ambitious in his work. By trade he was a carpenter and built homes to rent and sell. He also did bricklaying and other work in the construction of houses. He was a widower and alone as she was. On April 19, 1931, Lulu married Martin Ray Tanner in Salt Lake City, Utah. For a time they lived in Cedar City; then they moved to Salt Lake City in 1946, where he managed apartment houses. Lulu, ever ambitious to be doing work, continued to work. For a while she sewed for the Deseret industries. She also worked as a pastry cook for the ZCMI cafeteria.

With Martin’s failing health, they moved to Mesa, Arizona, where they lived quietly and happily doing temple work and other activities in their church. Lulu passed away in 1969.

Irva Fillerup Huber, daughter

Stalwarts South of the Border, Nelle Spilsbury Hatch page 197

Thanks for Phil Stover for sharing this power point.

Erastus Fillerup powerpoint by Phil Stover (file will download when link is clicked).

William Morley Black

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William Morley Black

(1826 – 1915)

The son of John and Mary Kline Black, William Morley Black was born February 11, 1826 in Vermillion, Richard County, Ohio. William’s own account follows:

When I was eleven years old, one of our neighbors, a man whom we had always respected by the name of John Potts, got into trouble, and my father made his bond in the sum of $500.00. When trial came on, Potts could not be found and it took our farm to pay the bond. At that time Illinois, a new state, was widely advertised as a place homes were cheaply obtained, so Father and three of our neighbors moved into Lawrence County, southern Illinois, and purchased homes near where Bridgeport now stands. It was a wide, level, beautiful country with groves of timber and stretches of prairie, with cold springs and streams of cold clear water abounding in fish. The drawbacks were occasional swamps, giving rise to malarial fevers and here — after two years of hard labor in building a new home – our first great sorrow came to us in the death of our father.

My brother Martin, being the first born – the responsibility of managing in the home rested upon him, while I aided what I could by hiring out and giving the family my means. For two summers I worked in the brickyard getting 37 and one half cents (a) day. Winters I hired to do farm work, getting $5.00 a month. When 17 years of age the family consented to let me strike out for myself and I went northward and stopped in the vicinity of where Peoria now stands. The first summer after leaving home I worked on a farm, getting $8.00 a month, which was considered good wages at the time. The second summer I made an agreement with a Mr. Brockman, a contractor and builder, to work two summers with him. He was to pay me $6.00 a month and learn me the trade of masonry. I worked one summer when Mr. Brockman died, which ended that adventure.

In 1845 a little town called Cuba was started. I secured a town lot and began to gather material to build me a home. At that time I had made the acquaintance of a family by the name of Banks. I was temperate, industrious and saving, and during the summer erected, mainly by my own labors, a tidy two-roomed house; and in February 1845, I married Margaret Ruth Banks. I took quite an interest in politics, and in 1848 I ran for sheriff on the Democratic ticket and was elected. In the winter of ’48-’49 the news of the discovery of gold in California created quite a fever in our town and I caught it. In the spring of 1849 a joint stock company was formed to go to the gold field. I resigned the sheriff’s office and paid one hundred dollars into the company which entitled me to a passage by team across the plains of California…

William Newell was elected captain. I was selected as a teamster. On the third day of April with light hearts and high ambitions we kissed our wives, children and parents goodbye and took the trail for the Eldorado of the West. One hundred miles from Cuba brought us to Nauvoo, Illinois, on Saturday, and we rested the Sabbath. I strolled through the streets of the city. Many of the homes were vacant. Those that were inhabited were occupied by people whose language was strange to me. I was told that the builders of the city were a lawless sect who for their crime had been driven out; and their beautiful substantial homes and become a prey, almost without price, to a community of French Icarians who purchased from the mob at low prices the homes of the exited Mormons. Here we crossed the Mississippi River and followed westward the roads made three years previous by the fleeing fugitives from Nauvoo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icarians#Nauvoo.2C_Illinois

On the 24^th of July we entered Salt Lake Valley emerging from Emigration Canyon. We were all on tip-toe, anxiously waiting to see what kind of civilization the Mormons would exhibit to us. Descending from the bench lands, we soon encountered well-cultivated fields that extended westward, evidently small compact holdings, to the very doors of their homes. Every field was bordered by a newly-made irrigation canal. And the scarcity of weeds gave evidence of careful culture. Passing through city, I saw the marking of several blacksmith shops but not a saloon, barber pole, tavern or even a hotel could I see. But in the northern and thickest settled part of the city we passed a large brush bowery constructed evidently as a screen from the sun and used for public gatherings, and today it looked as if the entire community, both young and old, male and female, were assembled there. At first I thought we had lost of reckoning and that this was the Sabbath day – but this could not be as the Mormons were an unchristian lawless sect and doubtless paid no heed to the Sabbath. Passing the city we camped on open ground on the bank of a small stream called the Jordan. Across the street opposite us stood a low two-roomed dirt-roofed adobe house. The laughter of children announced to us that the inmates of the home had come. I met the father whom they familiarly called “Uncle Buck Smith.” I asked if myself and companion could get supper with them. He hesitated and finally said, “I am fearful our simple supper would not please you gentlemen. We can give you a supper of meat, milk, and pigweed greens, but bread we have not. You see, the flour we brought a year agoa has given out. We have not had bread for three weeks and have not hopes of any until our harvest comes off.” I gave them a pan of flour and in return partook of a very relishable meal. The dirt floor was cleanly swept. In fact, everything, though crude and primitive, was neat and tidy. When seated at the table Uncle Buck said, “Be quiet, children,” then he gave thanks for the amply supply of food and asked the Father to bless it to our use. This was the first time in my life that I had heard a blessing asked on our daily food and this prayer fell from the lips of an uncultured Mormon.

Toward evening I met another Mormon, a Mr. William Wordsworth. He was a man of pleasing dress, evidently well educated. He explained to me the nature of the gathering in the bowery. Two years ago today the pioneer company of the Mormon people, the fugitives from Nauvoo, entered this uninhabited and almost unknown valley, and their thankfulness was enhanced by the hope that they were beyond the reach and power of their old enemies who had cruelly mobbed and persecuted them for the last 15 years. Their suffering and martyrdom of their Prophet was all news to me and I wished to know the nature of their worship — which, as they affirm, was the primal cause of all their suffering. To my surprise Mr. Wordsworth invited us to attend their church services the next day. I accepted the invitation and he promised to call for me.

Sunday, July 25, 1849 is the day ever to be remembered by me. Mr. Wordsworth called early and after chatting 10 or 15 minutes with members of the company and again extending an invitation to us all to attend their church, he and I walked together to the bowery. We secured seats near the front of the congregation. On the west was a raised platform of lumber on which were seated some 20 of their leading Elders, on neatly-made slab benches were the choir and congregation. Services opened with singing and prayer, and the sacrament (bread and water)of the Lord’s Supper was blessed and passed to all the people. Then a man of noble, princely bearing addressed the meeting. As he arose Mr. Wordsworth said, “That is Apostle John Taylor, one of the two men who were with our Prophet and Patriarch when they were martyred in Carthage jail.” The word “Apostle” thrilled me, and the sermon, powerful, and testimony that followed filled my soul with a joy and satisfaction that I never felt before and I said to Mr. W., “If that is Mormonism then I am a Mormon. How can I become a member of your church?”

“By baptism,” he answered.

“I am ready for that ordinance.”

He replied, “Do not be in a hurry. Stay here and get acquainted with our people. Study more fully the principles of the gospel. Then if you wish to cast your lot with us it will be a pleasure to me to baptize you.” That night I slept but little, I was too happy to sleep. A revelation had come to me and its light filled my soul. My desire and ambition for gold was swept away. I had found the Pearl of Great Price, and I resolved to purchase it, let it cost what it would.

After a few days rest the company pushed on for California, but another man drove my team. I gave them my all, and in exchange received Baptism at the hands of Levi Jackman. I had lost the world and become a “Mormon.” “He that putteth his hand to the plow and turneth back, is not worthy of me.” As they continued their journey, it was a little painful; their warm cheery good-byes touched me in a tender place; as neighbors and companions for 1400 miles on the plains, they had become dear to me and the parting turned my thoughts back to home and loved ones. A shade of homesickness rested upon me. I stood alone with strangers, but “Uncle Buck Smith” sensed the situation and strengthened my young faith with brotherly sympathy inviting me to take my home with them, and he contrived to set me to work which is a sure antidote for the blues.

One day President Wells told me that I had been selected, as one of a party, to go to Sanpete Valley and aid in making a settlement. I did not wish to go as I had been told that it was a cold frosty place, too high in altitude for agricultural purposes and I felt that my condition would not be bettered again. I could not see just what right the President had to call me. I understood and expected them to guide me in spiritual matters but this was of a temporal nature and beyond their jurisdiction. These were my thoughts and this Pioneer Call was the first trial to my faith. I am pleased to say the pause was only for a moment. On reflection, God’s dealings with Noah, Abraham, Moses, Lehi and Nephi was strong evidence that reasoning and tradition were incorrect. Was not God the Author of the world, as well as the Gospel? If he builded the earth, why not govern it? If it requires union of spirit and matter to bring the exaltation of man then it must be that the Priesthood has a right to direct in material and temporal things, as well as in Spiritual things. The next time I met Brother Wells I told him I was willing to go to Sanpete or anywhere else.

I want my descendants, who may read this sketch, to bear in mind that I was a new disciple and in my mind was still wrapped in the ideas and thoughts of sectarianism, and obedience to the requirements of the Priesthood was a new doctrine to me. But the call set me to thinking, and studying, and led to an increase in knowledge.

Today I cannot recall the exact date of my starting to Sanpete, but sometime in February 1850 in company of Ephraim Hanks, William Porter and four others the start was made. There were no settlements south of Salt Lake City until we reached Provo, where the settlers were living in a fort. Our progress was slow on account of muddy roads from the melting snows and frequent storms that came at that season of the year. At the crossing of the Spanish Fork Creek, as we were moving in a narrow road cut through heavy willows, a troop of Indians appeared on the opposite bluff and opened fire on us. I was driving the lead team and I am free to confess that I halted as soon as I could. Eph Hanks, the leading spirit of the company, stepped fearlessly to the front and in Spanish held a parley with the Red men, who under the leadership of Josephine, a reputed half-brother of Walker (Chief Wakara) The Indians refused to let us advance unless we would pay tribute. We gave them one sack of flour and three sacks of corn meal as a peace offering, which was in harmony with President Young’s axiom that it is cheaper to feed them than it is to fight them. It was by President Young’s wisdom and foresight that Hanks was along. He is by nature an athlete of wonderful power. He loved excitement and danger, qualities that gave him influence with the Indians. On this occasion they had the advantage of us — and had they continued — we could not have escaped. The whistling of bullets was new music to me, and I was glad when the music ceased and we received no further harm than by scare and the loss of four sacks of provisions.

The trip was a hard one. Mud and bottomless roads in the valleys. And over the divide at the head of Salt Creek the snow was from two to four feet deep; for several miles we could move but two wagons at a time. I have often thought how wise it is that we cannot see the end from the beginning for often the difficulties would be greater than our faith, and we would fail to make the progress that we do. After two weeks hard struggling, we reached Manti on Sunday and received the heartiest of welcomes — old and young turned out to greet us. In a short time all of our little company was made to feel at home with old accountancies. I alone a stranger without kin or acquaintance so when Father Morley, who presided at Manti came and asked if I had friends to stop with, I told him I was an entire stranger. “Well, then come and live with me and be my boy.”

I went for two years and my home was with Father Morley. I learned to love him as my own father. No bargains ever made. I never asked for wages and never received any. I worked at whatever was most needed; as harvest approach we saw the need for grist mill, as there was none within 100 miles of us. Phineas W. Cook and I undertook to build one. We went to the canyon, cut and hewed timber, then hauled it to the mill site at the mouth of the canyon one mile above the Fort. With broad axes and whip saw me prepared and directed to frame the mill. In the meantime Charles Shumway and John D. Chance have built a sawmill just below us. From there we got lumber to finish our mill and President Young came to our assistance by furnishing a pair of Utah homemade burrs. My Christmas our little mill is running improved a great blessing to the infant settlement of Sanpete.

All this time I made my home at Father Morley’s and had learned that Adam and Eve were married before Adam’s fall. Hence, marriage for Eternity, as well as for time, and the union till death do you part, is of human origin. Then he pointed to Abraham and Jacob who founded the house of Israel; then he cited the revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, which says, “I reveal unto you a new and everlasting covenant, and if you abide not the covenant then ye are damned, for all who will have of blessing at my hands will abide law that was appointed for that blessing.” To my understanding at that time, that meant “plural marriage.” I accepted it. I met a young lady of good family who please me and I pleased her. I told her of my wife and two children and of my desire to go and bring them to Utah. With this information and understanding she was willing to marry me, and in February 1851 I married Mary Ann Washburn. Patriarch Isaac Morley performed the ceremony.

I started back to the states for my family and on 20^th of December reached South Canton. To my joy I found my wife Margaret and the children, Martin and Martha there, well. She received me as one from the dead though I had written to her. Yet her friends had prophesied that I would never return. I will be brief and relating the outcome of my return. I was full of love and zeal for Mormonism and my wife’s family, especially her parents, were full of bitterness toward Mormonism. One evening in answer to a question of mother Banks, I told them I had been baptized in the Mormon Church. My mother-in-law was wild with rage and abused me without stint. I was prepared for the outburst and calmly and kindly made explanations and tried to turn away her wrath with mild answers. Father Banks refused to talk further than to give me to understand that, as a Mormon, I was not welcome beneath his roof. Then they retired without bidding us good night. There was no sleep for myself or Margaret that night.

It was one of the sorrows of my life. It was not a trial, my faith is not shaken. I received life and I knew my duty and was as well-to-do it. As daylight approached I said, “You are my wife and I love you, but I love God better. I’m going to harness my horses and leave your father’s roof. If you want to go with me happier things ready. Otherwise, I shall take Martin, leaving Martha and did you goodbye.” At daylight I drove up to the door. Her bedding was tied and everything packed and ready. I lifted her and the children into the wagon, wrap them in quilts for it was storming furiously. By her suggestions I drove to William Biers, who had married one of her schoolmates. They lived two miles away. They were surprised and amazed that received us kindly. We stayed that day, thankful for the hospitality for it was one of the worst blizzards that I ever have seen. I shall never forget the day and the incident. That time on Margaret’s trust in me was a great comfort. I resolved the heed President Young’s parting counsel, “Be a good boy and come back as soon as you can.” By the time we returned to Utah, Margaret had been baptized and was prepared to meet the new conditions and accepted cheerfully her share of the increase responsibilities that plural marriage brings to all. Margaret and Amy lived together cheerfully and our lives were happy and contented.

In 1874 President Young and George A. Smith visited southern Utah put forth their best efforts to organize us into working companies called United Order. Those who join the order, consecrating all that well, seemed baptized with the new zeal that fill their souls with energy, goodwill and brotherly love, while those who oppose that were filled with jealousy and hatred. In the Order people sold their homes in choosing flat uncultivated land two and a half miles north of Carmel, laid out a town and named it Orderville. Under Brigham Young’s watchful eye and counsel they were greatly prospered. I cast my lot with the Orderville community consecrating my farm, teams, and interest in the Kanab mill. In fact, my earthly all was put upon the altar and sacrificed in a cause that I believe was instituted for the good of the human family. I was placed in charge of the boardinghouse with seven assistants. We prepared the food for all community, numbering it first 200 but increasing to 600. We got to the system and method so that our meals were served as regular as clockwork. On economic lines the hotel is a grand success. No waste of substance and eight persons served breakfast to a hundred families for one year. The work was confining, yet I was contented.

In 1871 I married Louise Washburn, daughter of Abraham and Clarinda Washburn. My families live together in Orderville. We had good schools and well attended meetings. Indeed life there was a spiritual feast. Our wisest men had been called to the front as directors and above them was in the church was Brigham Young. That stood as a beacon of light to us — and when the lights went out, we were a ship that had lost its pilot. The sailors remained, but they were soon divided in counsel and with division can weakness. When the Orderville United Order dissolved, I moved to Huntington, Castle Valley, bought me a farm of 80 acres which my sons cared for while I worked in Seeley Brothers Grist Mill for three years.

Then I spent one year playing “hide and seek” with the U. S. deputy marshals; but I got tired of the play so I took Louise, the youngest family and skipped for Old Mexico. I went with two teams, leaving Huntington November 13, 1888, passing through Rabbit Valley and up the Sevier by Johnson’s, then across the Buckskin Mount into Lee’s Ferry. The nights were cold, but no storms. We passed up the Little Colorado in Arizona in the day before Christmas to reach St. Johns, where my own son William G. lived. We spent a pleasant week with them and then moved on. The 4^th of June 1889 I reached Colonia Diaz, Old Mexico. So here I am in a foreign land, not a choice but of necessity, in mt own land made a criminal; yet I have not injured any living person. The law that makes me a sinner was enacted on purpose to convict me and was retro-active in its operations. To me it is legally unjust, which adds a sting to the cruelty; but what can’t be cured must be endured so I take as little of the medicine as possible and try to be cheerful.

November I received a letter from W.R.R. Stowell of Colonia Juarez, pushing me to come and help put the machinery into his grist mill. I went at once and then cared for the mill for three years. I then found employment at Jackson’s old mill near Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. I had charge of it for two years and for a year I was superintendent of his new roller mill. When Jackson sold to Memmott and Co., I continued as superintendent. In 1897, feeling the need for a rest, I left the milling business and had a one year of Jubilee like the patriarchs of old. I spent the 24^th of July — Pioneer Day — in Salt Lake City, then visited my sister Rachel in Beaver. From Beaver I returned to Mexico in found employment in Stowell’s grist mill. For nearly 2 years I attended the mill, sometimes night and day, but the best of my days were passed. The evening of life was approaching. My lungs commenced leading in one day I broke completely down. Father Stowell came to see me and pronounced my condition serious. He hurriedly brought Dr. Keats. They administered to me and the doctor gave me medicine that check the bleeding, but he forbade my working in the mill; so I parted with the labor that I love and that I had followed most of my life. My son David took me to Colonia Pacheco where I made my home with my wife Maria; and for two years of exercise I worked in the garden or with David or Morley. I rode the range helping to look after our stock.

I visited my children and my sons-in-law in Fruitland, New Mexico. While residing there and just before returning to Mexico, I attended the San Juan stake conference at Mancos, Colorado. Apostle Mathias F. Cowley was in attendance, and on the 16^th day of May 1903, he ordained me a Patriarch and gave me a highly treasured blessing.

In the winter of 1906, in mounting a saddle horse, my gloved hand slipped from the horn of the saddle giving me a heavy fall. I had to be carefully nursed for three months. From 1906 and 1912 I remained at Pacheco and during that time, with the assistance of David and Morley, I built a good comfortable four-roomed brick house.

When the Civil War between Francisco I. Madero and Porfirio Diaz broke out, it was understood by both parties are people would remain neutral and they were assured he would not be disturbed; but when Huerta seize the reins of government and Venustiano Carranza took the field as leader of the Constitutionalists, conditions became so violent that President Wilson advised all Americans to leave Mexico. Still the Mormon colonists hesitated, hoping the war would soon pass in peace return without their having to abandon their homes. But it was not to be. As the strife went on, robbings and plundering’s of our people by both parties became so frequent, property rights were not respected, and life was not secure. Conditions were becoming unbearable, and it was feared resistance to unjust demands would be made and then a general massacre of the Mormon people might follow. To avoid that calamity it was deemed best to sacrifice their homes. On the 28^th day of July 1912 just as our Sabbath meeting with closing, a messenger arrived and gave public notice that the entire community must be ready to leave at seven the next morning.

Wagons had to be coupled together and the best put on. Every vehicle in the town was brought out and put to use. At last when all was done that could be done in the darkness of night, the weary, anxious community sat down for a few hours rest. They were awakened by the rumbling storm that swept in fury over the mountain. All day it rain poured ‘til every hollow was a river and no move could be made; with the results of the days carrying would be, no one could tell. Monday night brought rest and then Tuesday morning bright and clear came, all accepted it as a good omen and the pilgrimage was started in a more cheerful mood. My son David P. Was made guide to direct the movements of the company. Thirty-two wagons were lined up all crammed full of the aged and the young but mostly with women and children, because many of the men were in the mountains looking after their stock. Promptly at 7:00 a.m. The train moved. With tearful eyes about 300 persons bade adieu to their earthly all, the homes of comfort and graves of their loved ones.

At Corrales we were joined by another small company of refugees. Then commenced in earnest a hard day’s drive of 30 miles to Pearson. Nine miles out a company of Red Flag Cavalry dashed across the road, haulted our train and demanded our guns and ammunition. Upon giving solemn promise of protection their demands were complied with and we were permitted to pass on. We reached Pearson without further interruption but too late to take the train for El Paso. The inhabitants of Pearson had abandoned their homes and they were thrown open to us. So we found a grateful shelter for the night.

On the 31^st of July we were put on the cars at Pearson. There was a limited number of cars, and in order to take all the refugees, the cars were packed to the utmost limit of their carrying capacity. About 10:00 a.m. the train moved with the load of human freight and at sunset reached Ciudad Juárez. It was dark when they passed the Custom House and swept into El Paso. Here wonderful reception greeted us. Automobiles, streetcars and private vehicles were placed free for our service. Everything was done that could be done to make us welcome. We were soon transferred to a lumber yard two miles from El Paso where we were served a plentiful supper. True, we were proud, the multitude is great, and in the throng the sick, feeble and aged could not help but suffer. Several women were rushed to the hospital where kindly and skillful assistance given there saved mothers and babes. Soon after our camping in the lumber sheds we had a heavy rain and the yard became a mud puddle, making it very unpleasant for several days. I faced these discomforts and although I felt my strength failing, I made no complaint.

Harry Payne came and said, “Father Black, this is no place for you. You must go to better quarters.” I replied, “I must stay here for I have no money to go anywhere else with.” He leaned forward and whispered, “I remember seeing your name of the Tithing record. You are going to be cared for.”

The next day Apostle Ivins came and talked kindly with me. He called a Brother Sevey and directed him to take me and Maria and see that we were well cared for. The instructions were carried out. I remember with pleasure the Hotel Alberta where for eight days we rested and were treated royally. I feel thankful to the good citizens of El Paso for the aid and sympathy they gave us, and I feel thankful to our government and to President William H. Taft for the prompt appropriation of the magnificent sum of $100,000 to be used in giving aid to the American citizens who were expelled from Mexico. Of those, about 4,000 were Latter Day Saints and the hearts of all were gladdened by this generous assistance.

On the 10^th day of August, Maria and I were furnished with a railroad pass that would take us to Price, Utah. There was sorrow mixed with joy when we parted our friends and fellow sufferers, the colonists. We had gone to Mexico in a common cause and for 25 years we had toiled together and had endeared to each other by sacrifices we had made. As a finishing touch to our experiences, we had drunk together from the bitter cup of expulsion from our homes. A two-day ride brought us to Price and to our children living in Huntington.

Patriarch William Morley Black died at 4:00 a.m., June 21, 1915 at Blanding, Utah. He left a wife and 28 living children, 214 living grandchildren and 206 great-grandchildren.

Submitted by Thora Bradford

Stalwarts South of the Border, Nelle Spilsbury Hatch page 42

Harry M Payne

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Harry “M” Payne

(1857 – 1940)

Harry “M” Payne was born on December 3, 1857 in Cassup, Durham, England. His parents were Edward Payne and Emma Powell, who were both of English descent and bother were converted to the Church prior to their marriage on September 16, 1854.

This young couple was not satisfied nor happy with the conditions under which they had to work and live, and in their hearts was a longing and desire to gather with the Saints in the Salt Lake Valley. Quietly, they began to make plans and to pray that the way might be opened that they would be able to emigrate.

Harry’s father Edward, was employed in the coal mines, but working conditions were poor and pay was meager. Each miner was bound to his employer by a contract, which made it impossible to improve working conditions or seek other employment. About this time, Edward and three other men, who were members of the Church, decided to break their contracts with the mines. They felt justified in doing this because they were working only half-time.

Consequently, these four men quietly sold what household possessions they could spare to help raise sufficient funds to take them to America. They hoped to find employment and save enough money to send for their families. The men took passage on a sailing vessel and upon arrival in New York were offered employment in the coal mines in Fallbrook, Pennsylvania. This was during the early part of 1863 when the Civil War was being fought in the United States. Therefore, laborers were scarce and the wages high. Edward, with his three companions, decided to do contract work instead of day labor.

In the fall of 1863, Edward, Harry’s father, sent for his wife and four children— George, Harry “M”, Lucy, and Thomas. He also sent passage money for his father-in-law, George Powell. When this group was finally able to leave England, they were joined by the families of the other men, who were with Edward in Pennsylvania. They secured passage on the same sailing vessel and arrived safely in New York on Christmas day 1863. One of the men working in Pennsylvania met the party in New York and took them to Fallbrook, where they joined in a most happy reunion. They Payne family spent the remainder of the winter and the next spring there.

In July, Harry’s mother, brothers, sister, and grandfather left Fallbrook and continued their journey toward Zion. They went by ox team to St. Joseph, Missouri, and from there up the Missouri River to Winter Quarters companies were formed and they began the long, arduous journey across the plains.

The Emigration Fund, sponsored by the Church, afforded the Payne and Powell families the opportunity to borrow money to finance their journey across the plains. There was an unusually large number of Saints from England at this time at Winter Quarters, and the transportation from the regular companies was found to be inadequate. Fortunately, there was a large freight outfit leaving Winter Quarters at the same time, so the belongings of 375 of the group were piled on top of the loaded freight wagons.

To more clearly understand the circumstances, I quote fhe following from Harry’s lips: “My mother and her family, her father and his family, my mother’s sister and her family, making a group of 16 souls in all, were assigned to one freight wagon.” Whe we think fo their baggage, and all the earthly possessions of 16 people being loaded on the top of the wagon, we can readily conclude that all who were physically able had to walk. Grandmother Powell was ill and rode all of the way. The smaller children rode part of the way and occasionally they were allowed to ride the oxen.

On their journey to Zion, Harry and the family saw their first Indians. An Indian chief approached the company and asked for flour, promising that if he were granted the request, the company would have buffalo meat awaiting them on the road the next day. The following day, the came upon Indians who were waiting with three or four dressed buffalo to pay the debt incurred for flour.

This was a treat because, prior to this, the menu had consisted of bread, salt bacon, gravy and small portions of dry foods. They gathered berries and dried them for future use. Usually, the Saints in Utah sent help to travelers by sending dried fruit, squash, beans and any other food.

When nearly halfway to Utah, Thomas, the baby, two years of age, took sick. He died on August 22, 1864, as they camped at Bitter Creek. As the train left camp the next morning, the wagon carrying the sorrowing family lingered behind, while they dressed the child, sewed him up in a sheet, as there was no material for a coffin, and then laid him in a grave, the end of a wagon gate placed over him.

Welcome was the day when they came in sight of the first settlements and people met them with loads of vegetables and fresh foods. The freight wagon which had been used by the Payne’s was going to Heber City, so the three families stayed with the wagon and settled temporarily in Heber. Here, they stayed in the school house for a few days and neighbors brought in milk, butter, and fresh vegetables. So they feasted sumptuously for a time. Only two weeks after the family arrived, Harry’s mother gave birth to a new daughter, Elizabeth.

The next fall, Harry’s father purchased a farm. With the help of his boys, they tried to make a living, but the fourth year of farming was marked by the grasshopper plague. As farming was the only means of support, Edward walked 50 miles to a railroad construction camp where he obtained employment. Later he returned to Heber City and moved his family to Coalville, where they worked in the mines. Harry began working in the mine two months before he was eleven years old. He worked 12 hours per day for .75 cents. His job was to lead a mule which pulled the coal cars. Every other week he had to work at night. The next summer, 1869, the East and West were joined by rail with the completion of the Union Pacific to Salt Lake City.

The family spent the next six years working in the mines, but grew tired of it, so they moved to Glenwood, Utah, where the boys could work on a farm. Shortly after their arrival there, the Church commenced the United Order. Edward told his boys that he was going to join the Order, but they could choose for themselves. By this time, Harry was 18 years old and he joined the Order also. His father divided the property, giving him a pair of oxen and a cow, which he turned into the Order.

Harry had admired a lovely young lady, Helen Amelia Buchanan. Their friendship grew into courtship, and they made plans for marriage. Late in February of 1878, they started for the St. George Temple, 200 miles away, to be married for time and eternity. Another young couple, also to be married, traveled with them. As they were still living in the Order, they were provided a team, feed and wagon, five dollars in cash and 100 pounds of flour to give as a donation to the Temple. It took them a week to make the trip to St. George and on March 6, 1878, they were married and the following day started their homeward journey. A small adobe house with a dirt roof was their first home and what was left of the five dollars set them up in housekeeping. Harry’s assignment in the Order was to haul timber from the mountains and for this purpose he was provided with a team of young oxen and a wagon. After five years the United Order was closed. Harry remained until his termination and drew his equity with which he bought a city lot, a team of horses and a wagon. Very shortly he built a well-constructed, two-room, adobe house, which was their first real home.

Their first child, Harry Lorenzo, was born January 18, 1879. Two years later on January 8, 1881, a daughter, Elnora, blessed their home. At this time Harry found it necessary to leave home to find work, so he went to Marysvale and obtained a job making railroad ties. While there, on April 2, 1882, a call came to fill a mission to what was then known as the Northern States Mission. After his departure, his wife taught school for one year and also worked as a telegraph operator to support herself and her two children. Owning to conditions at the time, the missionaries were required to spend only two summers and one winter, as it was almost impossible to do much tracting during the winter months.

Harry returned from his Mission in December, 1883 and in April of the next year, he moved his family to Rabbit Valley. Here they intended to make their new home, but five days after their arrival, Harry received a letter from President John Taylor calling him to preside as Bishop over the Aurora Ward of the Sevier Stake of Zion. He was only 26 years of age when his family moved to Aurora and there, on April 11, Harry was sustained as Bishop.

At this time polygamy was being practiced and Harry, like other Church leaders, was requested to live this principle. He talked the matter over with his wife Helen, as he did not wish to shirk his responsibility. They looked about for someone to help them live this higher law, and after much deliberation and prayer were led to a young woman by the name of Ruth Curtis. Harry broached this subject to Ruth’s parents and obtained their consent to take their daughter in plural marriage. He then went to Ruth about the matter, gained her consent, and began to court her. Their courtship was short of necessity secret, because of the opposition of outside forces. In order to obey the principle, Harry and Ruth traveled 400 miles round trip from Aurora to St. George by team and wagon to be married in the temple on March 3, 1886.

Harry, Helen and Ruth had lived under trying circumstances because of the crusade against polygamy, but were true to the principles in which they so firmly believed. On June 15, 1887, a daughter, Edna, was born to Harry and Ruth, and as the deputy marshals were constantly seeking to arrest anyone with two wives, Harry took employment up in the mountains in a timber camp. Here he remained until he received a letter from his wife Helen, asking him to come home for short time. He not been home long before Helen gave birth to a son, Junius Edward, on October 3, 1887. A day or two later, Harry’s brother Edward, came to warn him that he would soon be arrested. Harry went immediately to the President of the Stake for counsel and was advised, “You can do more good in the mission field than in the penitentiary.” With the recommended from the Stake President, he reported to Apostle Franklin D. Richards, and was soon on his way to Great Britain. He remained there until October 1889.

On October 30, 1889, Harry returned from his mission and was promptly arrested by S. F. Mount, deputy marshal, for “unlawful cohabitation.” This term meant that a man acknowledged his plural wife whether he was living with her or not. The charge carried a penalty of six months imprisonment and a $300 fine. On February 24, 1890, Harry and his two wives appeared in court. The two ladies were called to witness before a grand jury, but refused to testify against her husband. Nevertheless, sufficient evidence was obtained to get an indictment, so on March 6, Harry was sentenced to six months imprisonment and a $300 fine.

While serving his sentence, Harry decided he would move to Mexico, for he had no intention of learning his plural family. He was released a month early for good behavior. Immediately they prepared for the moved to Mexico. President Wilford Woodruff issued the Manifesto on September 24, 1890, in which he advised the Saints to obey the laws of the land. It was made plain by Church Authorities that the only way in which they could continue to live with their families was to go to a country where there was no law against a plurality of wives. Harry began at once to prepare to move. At last things were ready and their wagon, plow, farm implements, supplies, furniture, bedding, stoves and other household items were are all loaded into a freight car on the Denver-Rio Grande Railroad and the team forces was put in one end of the same car. Harry went along on this trained to care for his animals. The families were scheduled to follow on a passenger train to Deming, New Mexico. Friends met the Paynes in Deming with a team and wagon to assist them in making their way to the colonies in Mexico. They arrived there October 25, 1891.

In Colonia Dublan, Harry and his families were very active in both civil and church affairs. They were poor at this time and had to forgo many pleasures, but managed to sustain themselves. The first year was the hardest, and an example of their poverty is related by second wife, Ruth. Their menu consisted mainly of bread and gravy. Once in a while, they would get a handful of beans and would have a treat of bean soup. When the Payne’s first arrived in Dublan, they lived in a small two-room house. It was here that Ruth’s second daughter, Lucinda, was born on February 12, 1892. Harry’s first job in Dublan was helping to make molasses, and his pay was also in molasses. When winter came, he took a job about 6 miles west of town at Jackson’s flour mill, where he was able to secure flour enough to feed his families.

In the spring of 1892, he rented a small farm from Philip H. Hurst and planted wheat crop, but it proved to be an unusually dry year. The family desperately needed that crop, so they fasted and prayed for rain. The Lord, in answer to their place, sent the “dews of Heaven” to save the wheat and keep it growing another day. In the fall of 1892, the families moved into a house on the main street of town. It was a very cold, open, rough-sawed lumber house. On December 8 18, 1892, Helen’s 4^th son and 6^th child, George, was born. It was snowing at the time of his birth and it was necessary to hang canvas around her bed to keep out the cold wind. In the spring of 1893, Harry found the farm that he could by he could raise the down payment. Anson B. Call, a friend and a neighbor, offered assistance to close the deal by lending him $25.

Harry set about to provide better home for his families. During the next four years, he built to homes and a granary to care for his week. In 1897, Harry purchased a city block in the townsite, and the new home was built for Ruth on the southwest corner. A large tent was pitched on the Northwest corner for Helen. This located the Payne families just across the corner from church and school. Later, another home was erected where the tent had been pitched, and living conditions were much improved for both families. Harry was a man of action, full of vigor, resourceful and determined. These characteristics, along with his faith and testimony of the Gospel, made him an outstanding leader wherever he went.

His first church appointment after arriving in Dublan, Mexico was as an assistant Sunday School teacher. Following this, a Ward was organized in Dublan late in 1891 with Winslow Farr as the Bishop, Frederick G. Williams, First Counselor, Philip H. Hurst Second Counselor, and Harry “M” Payne as Ward Clerk. Shortly after this, Harry was chosen as a regular teacher in the Sunday School. Approximately 2 years later he was sustained as Superintendent and served for several years. Harry was quite musically inclined and talented and singing. Shortly after his arrival in Dublan, he was asked to help lead the singing in the meetings. There is no piano or organ to accompany the singing, so he used a tuning fork to get the pitch for the songs. He served on the first High Council, which was before the Juarez Stake was organized, and served through the administration of President Anthony W. Ivins. During the years of his Stake assignments, he was faithful, and visited all the Wards and Branches by team and wagon or on horseback. In 1894, Harry was called as President Of the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association. He was also called to do home missionary work. He traveled 60 miles to the north to visit Colonia Diaz, 150 miles to the west to visit Morelos and Oaxaca, and 90 miles to the southwest to Chuhuichupa. Harry’s eldest son, Harry L., Was the first missionary to leave Dublan by train. He went to the Southern States Mission in the summer of 1897.

In Mexico, the chief industry was farming and, besides caring for his farm, Harry took the job as water master on one of the canals. This job lasted from 1903 to 1912. In overseeing the jurisdiction of water for 1,500 acres of farmland and 300 city lots, much of his traveling for this job was done on the bicycle. Besides this work, he went on the week thresher every season from 1891 to 1912.

Early in the first decade of the new century, there began to be political disturbances in Mexico. The colonists were not alarmed. The rumblings of revolution constantly grew louder and soon actual war broke out in the country. This caused much concern for the safety of all American citizens living south of the border. As the majority of the colonists had retained their American citizenship, they were told to take no part in the Revolution. After much counseling by Authorities, it was decided that all Mormons who were willing to leave their home should return to United States. Harry, with other men, was requested to go on the train that was to take the women, children and older people to the states, and to look after their safety and welfare.

The people of Dublan all gathered at the Union Mercantile to meet the train which was to take them to the States. When the train finally arrived it was loaded almost a capacity with Saints from other colonies, so the Dublan people had to wait for another. In the meantime it started to rain and the dismal weather seemed to add a spirit of sadness. When an extreme came, it was still raining and as the people were getting into the cars, one dear old Englishman said, “Ah, even the ‘evens are weaping with us.” When the trains caring the women and children arrived in El Paso, Texas, the problem of housing caring for them proved to be a real challenge. City officials and immigration officers were very helpful and cooperative in doing what they could to make everyone as comfortable possible. One of the Twelve Apostles, Anthony W. Ivins, who had been the former stake president in Mexico, was sent to El Paso to represent the church in this hour crisis.

All were advised to make their own decisions as to whether they would remain in the States or return to Mexico. Most of the Payne family returned to Utah, leaving behind forever their entire accumulations of 20 years. Many of the refugees settled temporarily along the Rio Grande River, but were desirous of finding a place to establish themselves permanently. Martin L. Harris, who and also settled there, started first Sonora, Mexico, in the summer of 1913. He passed through Lordsburg, he saw Mr. Frank Stowell, a former colonist, who persuaded him to go to Richmond and look at the Valley along the Gila River. Mr. Harris was impressed, so after his return from Sonora he aroused the interest of other refugees in looking at the Valley with intent to make a settlement.

A committee of three men was appointed to look over the proposition. They made the trip immediately after Christmas of 1914, and upon their return the committee, Frederick W. Jones, John B. Jones, and Peter Mortensen, gave a most favorable report. In February 1915, Frederick W. Jones and Samuel A. Brown were sent from the Rio Grande, Peter Mortensen and Joseph Mortenson of Deming accompanying them to meet with Mr. Virden and Mr. Cherry in Duncan, Arizona. They made arrangements to purchase a tract of land belonging to Mr. Burton and Mr. Cherry. As soon as the people began moving into the Gila area, 40 acres were surveyed and divided into blocks for lots and streets, with added acreage for a school. Two lots were reserved for a church and park. About six months after the townsite was laid out, award was organized and the name of the town was changed from Richmond to Virden.

On February 24, 1918, Harry was ordained a Patriarch in this ordination took place at Layton (now Safford), Arizona under the hands of Orson F. Whitney, a member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles. He held this office until his death. Here Harry was still active in the Sunday School, and before his service terminated, he had worked over 50 years in this one organization. This picture and an account of some of his work in the Sunday school appeared in an issue of The Instructor magazine, under the caption, “A Veteran Sunday School Teacher.” In his article, he expressed his confidence that the Sunday School would keep growing and doing much good. He also stated that this organization had done him a great deal of good in broadening his view of the Gospel and giving him an opportunity to serve.

Harry “M” Payne enjoyed a long and active life, but the years always take their toll. He buried his loving wife, Helen, on January 3, 1936. Gradually his shoulders became stooped and his hair turned a beautiful snowy white. But his spirit only grew more stalwart and his noble influence on family and friends more broad and deep. One of Harry’s greatest joys was to be with his children and grandchildren. He was always willing to share some interesting story, experience, or song at family gatherings. On his 81^st birthday, December 3, 1938, his oldest son Harry Lorenzo, known as H.L., paid his father a wonderful tribute when he read a poem and sang the song “That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine” over the radio from the Safford, Arizona station. In the evening, his children and grandchildren gathered at his home to express her love and appreciation and to wish him health and happiness. In January 1940, he suffered a slight stroke and was cared for with love and tenderness by his devoted wife, Ruth, with the assistance of his sons and daughters who were living nearby. Death came peacefully, on February 28, 1940, in his 83^rd year.

Myrtle Jones Nelson, granddaughter

Stalwarts South of the Border Nelle Spilsbury Hatch page 519

Brigham Horace Pierce

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Brigham Horace Pierce

(1864 – 1944)

Brigham Horace Pierce, son of George Henry Pierce and Sarah Skinner, was born March 28, 1864 in Deseret, Millard County, Utah. Brigham’s grandparents were converts to the Church and were among the early settlers of Utah, having crossed the plains and settled in Utah Valley. They lived in the United Order for a short while when Brigham was a child.

As a young man he worked on the railroad and herded sheep to help his father maintain a large family. Brigham’s mother was a plural wife and had thirteen children, of whom Brigham was the fourth child and second son.

Brigham married Mary Elizabeth Harris. She bore him no children. He then married Martha Alice Thorton. Because of his polygamous marriage it was necessary to leave Utah. He loaded his wives and the few things he could put into a wagon and carriage and befan the long overland trip to Mexico, arriving in Colonia Juarez late in the year of 1890. Shortly after the arrival, his first child, Mary Alice, was born. Two years later, his wife, Martha Alice, died in childbirth, her twin daughters dying with her. Elizabeth raised Mary Alice. They were poor, as were all the early settlers of the colonies, but Brigham was thrift and hardworking and provided well for his family. He found what work he could to supplement his garden income, including work on the road from Colonia Juarez to the mountain colonies. He also built the dugway over the hill east of Colonia Juarez leading to the road to Colonia Dublan. The mountains were rocky and tools were scarce. In his own small blacksmith shop he sharpened and tempered his own tools. He hauled lumber from the mountain colonies, spending long days and bitter cold nights on the road. He bought a few cows and Elizabeth sold butter and cheese. She frugally and carefully saved what she could. Having no family of her own, she went into the homes of those who needed her help, always taking some small gift of food or clothing to the less fortunate.

Between Brigham and Elizabeth, enough money was saved to buy a small piece of land which they planted to orchard. As they prospered, more land was purchased and more orchards planted. While waiting for the trees to bear, they planted blackberries and strawberries, which in addition to bringing them a small income also provided work for young people in the community. Brigham paid two cents a quart for picking the fruit and Elizabeth provided the pickers with hot biscuits with butter and strawberry jam for lunch. Brigham would load the berries on his wagon and peddle it in Colonia Juarez and Dublan. Persons who were children at that time remembered Brig Pierce coming to their homews to bring berries to their mothers. All can recall how they would run out to watch him pour the luscious fruit into pans held by the women and, when the mothers would go to pay him, he would catch hold of one of the children and say that he would trader her the berries for the girl. Then he would lift the child into this wagon and pretend that he was going to take her home. Finally, of course, he would let her down and reward her with a handful of berries, telling the mother that the child was still quite small and that he would let her stay with her mother until next year. This was very much part of the fun of buying berries and he never forgot to do it.

When a canal was needed to convey water to the town, Brigham worked long hours on the project, taking canal stock for pay. He served as watermaster and each morning as he walked to the head of the canal he took his shovel along and cleaned it as he went. During the time he served as watermaster, it was never necessary to hire outside help to keep the canal clean.

In 1900, Brigham was called on a mission to the Southern States. He wrote regularly to his wife and daughter, instructing them in money matters and the care of the property. IN each letter he would bear his testimony of the truth of the Gospel. In one letter he related how the Elders were miraculously saved by heeding a voice that told them to remain in the upper story of their headquarters when a great tidal wave struck Galveston, Texas, and did great damage for miles around.

After returning from his mission in 1904, he married Sarah Ellen Harris, Elizabeth’s sister. She bore him eight children, four of whom survived him. After the deaths of Elizabeth and Sarah, he married, in 1944, Louisa Berbmer Duthie. She survived him and bore him no children.

Brigham Horace Pierce was a true pioneer to the Mormon Colonies in Mexico, helping to build up his town, working long hours for little pay other than the pleasure of seeing what once appeared to be a field of stones take shape and become a beautiful valley nestled in the heart of the Sierra Madre Mountains. He lived to see dreams come true. And his posterity reap the benefit of the labor of this kind, honest, God-fearing man.

He was especially thoughtful of windows and orphans and helped those in need. Although his own life was one of hardship and marked with many sorrows, he was always cheerful. He never gave up peddling his berries until the time of his death and still offered to trade berries for little girls. His cheery greeting and sense of humor made life pleasant for those around him and his generous nature kept many from want. His name belongs with the builders of the colonies. He died on September 26, 1944 in El Paso, Texas, and he was buried there.

Floriene F. Taylor, granddaughter-in-law

Stalwarts South of the Border Page 529 Nelle Spilsbury Hatch

Billy the Kid

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Many of the Mormon Colonists settled in Arizona before jumping the border into Mexico. In reality there probably wasn’t much difference in pioneering a far-flung settlement in the Arizona desert to pioneering a far-flung settlement in the Sonoran or Chihuahuan desert. Both sides of the border had hostile Apache Indians and blood-thirsty banditos.

Here is a link to a Billy the Kid website which may very well place Billy the Kid in Arizona at the time the Farnsworth’s were living there.

Billy the Kid website

Las Colonias – The Mormon Colonies in Mexico

Everything You Need to Know about Mormon Colonies in Mexico

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Benjamin Julius Johnson

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Louis Philip Cardon

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Harry M Payne

Brigham Horace Pierce

Billy the Kid