Charles Ashael Allen

Notes:

Known as Ashael "Ace" Allen, he was a Los Angeles motorcycle policeman in the 1930s through 1950s. He also worked for various movie studios.

Charles married Ida Lillywhite on 4 Feb 1919 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah. Ida was born on 13 Oct 1896 in Woodruff, Navajo, Arizona; died on 5 May 1984 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"John Seymour spent his first eleven years in Cove before his family moved to Mesa, Arizona. He has been extremely active in missionary work and colonization. He has made his livelihood by farming and canal building. His first mission was in the Southern States; the second in the Eastern States; and the third in the Southwest Indian Mission among the Pimas. He and his wife have financed twenty-one years of missionary work and have contributed funds for temple work. No request from the church was refused whether great or small. He has been a faithful ward teacher for fifty years without missing one month. While supporting one missionary he prospered greatly and was so encouraged that he supported two more after the first had returned. His financial status reversed and he became almost bankrupt, barely able to keep the missionaries out. Later he was asked why he had not become discouraged in the Gospel because of this situation and he replied, 'Whether I get rich or go broke while I keep a missionary out doesn't change the fact that the Gospel is true.'

"His wife, Barbara Phelps, came to Mesa from Montpelier, Idaho when she was a year old. They suffered the rigors of pioneer life including a smallpox epidemic. She recalls having her shoes blacked with soot and grease before she could go to Sunday School and Primary. She was energetic and capable with a nice singing voice. Their marriage has been humble and devout. Ten of their twelve children grew to maturity and are active in the Church. She milked cows to support herself and family and to supply her husband while he was on two missions. She joined her husband on his third mission and they did a splendid job among the Indians at Santon, Arizona. She has worked in all the auxilaries and at present, at the age of seventy-five, she is still teaching Primary." [Ancestors and Descendants of Andrew Lee and Clarinda Knapp Allen]

"Allen was proud of his large family of 12 children, which included [his] seven sons. While living in Gilbert, in 1934, he organized and coached the Allen family basketball team and challenged any family in the church to a game." [Images of America: Latter-Day Saints in Mesa by D. L. Turner and Catherine H. Ellis. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2009.]

John married Barbara Ann Phelps on 2 Oct 1895 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. Barbara (daughter of Hyrum Smith Phelps and Mary Elizabeth Bingham) was born on 26 Aug 1877 in Montpelier, Bear Lake, Idaho; died on 31 Jan 1957 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona; was buried in Mesa City Cemetery, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"Barbara Phelps (later Allen) arrived in Mesa in 1879 and a 16-month-old infant. At age 12, she received an accordion for Christmas. She then earned money by playing with her father, Hyrum Phelps, for dances in Lehi, especially at Christmas. In later life, she organized the Granny Band, which performed at events around town." [Images of America: Latter-Day Saints in Mesa by D. L. Turner and Catherine H. Ellis. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2009.]

A memoir by Barbara Ann Phelps Allen:

My parents were Hyrum Smith Phelps and Mary Elizabeth Bingham Phelps. I was born August 26, 1877 at Montpelier, Bear Lake County, Idaho. I was just sixteen months old when the family reached Mesa. The first house Father built was on the east side of Hibbert Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues.

Among my first recollections of this place was the first Sunday School I attended, It was held in the school house, a one-room adobe. Hannah Peterson (Miller) was the teacher. We recited the alphabet from cards. We were seated on a low bench in front of the room. I attended my first Primary with my sister Lucy. We were very devoted to each other. One never went without the other. Each week we listened anxiously while the secretary read the program for the following week, but we were never on it.

When I was nine years old, the school put on a program and every child in the room was given a part but me, I felt disgraced, and I never even told my mother. I always remembered the feeling I had and in the sixteen years I presided over the Primary I always favored the backward child and never slighted anyone to my knowledge.

Father built a long room on the back of the house to accommodate the growing family. Grandma Bingham lived with us awhile before moving into a house on Broadway just east of Mesa Drive. We children were staying with her after Father was taken to Yuma to the penitentiary. The officers came there one night looking for Mother; they had a warrant, and Grandma wouldn't take it, so they threw it on the floor. I thought she wasn't very polite.

When I was twelve years old, Mother gave me an accordion for Christmas. I soon learned to play it. A few years later, she and Lucy gave me a larger one which I kept until after I was married.

One time Father went to Tempe and bought a bolt of cloth called Zephyr gingham; it was a beautiful plaid. As I remember, five of us girls had dresses alike. Lucy and I always dressed alike. Most people thought we were twins. The first M.I.A. I attended had only one class for everyone. Pres. Charles I. Robson told the story of Joseph Smith's first prayer. That was the first time I had heard it, and I have never forgotten how it impressed me.

Soon after this Lucy and I were asked to sing at one of the meetings. We sang, "Write Me a Letter from Home.' After that I think we were asked to sing at every public entertainment held in Mesa until after I was married. Lucy and Grandma Phelps bought us an organ which I learned to play by ear. Father and I played for the dances at Lehi a few times. I earned $2.50 over the Christmas holidays playing out there. I left my organ there during that time so I wouldn't have to carry it back and forth. Lucy and I joined the choir when I was sixteen, and I sang with them for twenty years. I memorized 200 hymns besides the anthems we sang.

I well remember the first dress I made; it was a real pretty blue and I wore a blue ribbon around my waist. Mother's sister, Anner LeSueur sent me the ribbon because they told her I looked so much like her. In the summer of about 1891 there was a conference held at Pinetop, and Mother and Aunt Clarinda in company with quite a large group of saints, attended. Brother William took them. It took six weeks to make the round trip. Amy was about four years old. While they were gone, I made Amy a dress. I made it a plain tight waist with a full skirt that came nearly to her ankles, and it was so tight I could hardly fasten it. She had it on when mother came and when mother saw her she began to cry, and she said Amy looked like we had starved her. One night at a dance, John S. Allen, known as Seymour, came into our lives. He rushed across the floor, came up to me and said, "Come on , Caddie, let's dance." Then he saw his mistake, and after an apology, asked me to dance. From then on he never failed to dance with Lucy and me. Later on he began making regular visits to our home, but we did not know which of us he was most interested in. We had a lot of good times together. One night he asked if he could take me home. Up to this time he had never taken us any place. He had a lady friend and we were just side issues, but after this night we knew which was his favorite.

John S. and I kept company for about nine months and were married on Oct. 2, 1895. We had a quiet wedding at our home on the corner of Hibbert and East First Avenue. Only close relatives were invited. The ceremony was performed by Bishop James Malen Home. We stood at the head of the table, and the guests were seated around it, ready to partake as soon as the ceremony ended. Mother and Lucy had cooked a very fine dinner. When we went through the kitchen to be married, Mother and Lucy were standing by the stove. Mother was crying and Lucy looked sad, but I couldn't see anything to feel sad about. One week after we were married, we started in company with Eli and Medora Openshaw for the St. George Temple. It took six weeks to make the round trip.

When we returned home we started housekeeping in a two-rooms of the house built for Warner and Fannie Allen. It was here our first child, Charles Ashael, was born July 31, 1896. At this time the monthly fast meeting was held on the first Thursday of the month, and he was blessed by Grandpa [Charles H.] Allen.

We moved into a 2-room lumber house with a lean-to on the back that Father had built on 20 acres Grandpa Allen had given Seymour at the corner of Broadway and Stapley. On Feb. 15, 1898, Blanche was born. When she was four months old, J. S. was called on a mission to the Southern States. He left in June and I milked eight to ten cows while he was gone. Esther stayed with me and cared for the babies all the time. Mother was very good to me. I used to wonder how I could get along without her. I did all the sewing for the six girls, Lucy, Hattie, Amy, Esther, Clara, and Gertrude. At this time Lucy was working in Johnson's store and did a lot to help the family.

I was blessed while J. S. was gone. We all enjoyed good health. When it was time for him to be released, I went to Utah in company with my parents, Father Allen and his wife, Annie. Uncle Perry Bingham met us at Price, Utah and took us to Vernal where I stayed until I heard from John S., then I went on to meet him in Cove, Utah. After we returned home, Seymour and Warner went into partners and bought eighty acres on Baseline. Hyrum Loren was born Oct. 7, 1901 and Barbara Oct. 5, 1903.

John R. was born Oct. 29, 1905 and was just a few months old when Seymour sold the 20 acres and bought 60 acres two miles east of Mesa on the Apache Trail from Mr. Lamb. This was where Gove Liahona was born July 26, 1907. Then John Seymour was called on another mission, this time to the Eastern States. President Ben Rich was his mission president both times. I was left this time with more work and more responsibilities. Ashael was a big help to me. One of my sisters stayed with me most of the time and helped.

J. S. came off his mission June 1909, and Mary was born Sept. 1,1910. On March 27, 1912, Eldred Phelps was born, but lived only six weeks. This was the first real sorrow to come to us. July 8, 1914 Russell Hoopes was born. In the Summer of 1915, we moved to a 320 acre ranch four miles south of Gilbert.

Seymour had gone into partners with his older brother Warner and acquired a 320-acre farm four miles south of Gilbert. This was entirely alfalfa at the time but was later planted to cotton.

December 2, 1915 Ashael left for a mission to the Southern States and June 5, 1916 Ben Rich Allen was born, and November 5, 1917, Joseph Seymour was born. Two babies were born while Ashael was away.

When Joe was about eight months old, I took a little motherless baby, Robert Southers, four months old, to raise. I kept him nine months, then his aunt, Mrs. Ellingbow, wanted him so badly that J. S. told me I shouldn't be selfish and keep him, so I let her have him.

After several years the depression came on and we decided J. S.'s brother, Benjamin, should live with us for a couple of years. J. S. sent him on a mission. Chancy, Seymour's older brother, lived with us a lot. October 11, 1920, Della, our twelfth and last child was born three days after Loren had left for a mission. He labored in Louisiana.

We struggled along for several years. The depression came on and we decided to rent. The boys wanted to finish school. As J. S. couldn't run the ranch alone, he decided to rent it out. We bought us a home in Mesa at 48 West Second Street and lived there for a year or more.

J. S. and his brother Jim took a job building a fence along the railroad. It was at this time that the next great sorrow came when Della died of mastoid infection Nov. 21, 1925.

We sent Gove on a mission to the Eastern States and in February 1935 we sent Russell to the Samoan Island to fill his mission. Before he returned home, we sent Ben in March 1938 to Argentina. All our family have very fine companions. We are very proud to have them to associate with. In all our family gatherings, they are with us one hundred percent. We are very proud of our family and their families, and always pray for their success in righteousness.

October 29, 1945, we held our Golden Wedding Anniversary, the first time all the family had been together for a long time. For the reception, Ashael came from the Spanish American Mission, Ida from Los Angeles, Russell from Kirtland, New Mexico, and Mary from Vallejo, California. We had a dinner at the ranch home. All ten of the family and twenty-seven of the grandchildren were present. We all had a lovely time. After this gathering Ida was called to labor with Ashael in the mission, taking George with them.

My mother was very strict about us attending our duties and being punctual. Because of this, the Sunday School Superintendent called me to be a substitute teacher when I was quite young. When I was seventeen I attended Conference and they reorganized the Stake Y.L.M.I.A. and I was surprised when they sustained me as secretary. I served in that capacity for twelve years underfive presidents, Ann Eliza Leavitt, Jannett Johnson, Lulu Macdonald, Fannie Dana and Mary Hibbert. Soon after I was released, I was chosen stake secretary for the Relief Society. I held that position for about six years. I was released to be president of the Mesa First Ward Relief Society. I served about a year and we moved to Gilbert. There was no Gilbert Ward then, and we were in the Chandler Ward. After this I served about sixteen years as president of the Primary for Chandler, Gilbert, and Mesa Wards. I was superintendent of Religion Class in Gilbert the same time I was President of the Primary. At this time John R. was attending high school in Gilbert and he assisted me with religion class.

We rented our ranch and bought us a home in Mesa, but stayed only a year or so. At this time I was president of the Primary in Gilbert and Bishop Haymore asked me to preside there until Barbara came home from vacation, and before she came I was made president of the Mesa First Ward Primary. I presided over both of them for about six weeks. I have been president of the Gilbert Relief Society two different times, second counselor to Grace Nielson and then president in the Mesa First Ward Relief Society, second counselor to Adelaide Peterson in the Stake Primary, and I held several other positions. Now at the age of seventy-four, I am a Relief Society district teacher and a Guide teacher of four boys in the Primary of the Mesa Ninth Ward. I am very thankful for the many opportunities I have had to serve.

March 1942 was the Centennial celebration of the Relief Society, and the General Board requested that pioneer stories be brought before the public as much as possible. I was president of the Gilbert Relief Society at that time. I read several good stories and decided to put them into a pageant. I had fine cooperation, and it turned out to be a success. We played it in six different wards. I also wrote two other pageants which were very successful, an Easter pageant and one on the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood. In doing this work I received some of the greatest joy of my life. Another thing that I enjoyed a lot was putting on entertainments with the Primary children. I found a lot of work doing these things, but when it was all over, there was unspeakable joy that came to us seeing the happiness that came to the children.

The Lord has been good to me for which I am grateful. We have been relieved of pain through prayer and being administered to many times. My first relief came when I was first married. I had an ulcerated tooth which was so severe I didn't think I could stand it any longer. John S. administered to me and relief came instantly. Another time when I was alone on the ranch with the little children, I became very sick. My head pained so badly at times I wasn't conscious. John was nine years old. He went off by himself and prayed for me. All at once a quivering feeling went through my body and with it went the pain. I couldn't account for it until he told me he had prayed for me. John had been instantly relieved twice when his father administered to him when he had gathered ears.

One time when we had been helping the Chandler Ward top maize to pay off on their piano, we came home after dark and found Loren crying with pain. As he drove the cows around the haystack, they loosened the derrick fork and it swung around before he knew it, striking him on the leg and puncturing the bone. The pain was so severe he couldn't stand to have us walk across the floor. He immediately called for his father to administer to him, which he did, and the pain left as he took his hands off, and it never returned. For these and many more blessings too numerous to mention, I am grateful.

Notes:

From the Dictionary of Mormon Biography:

"Allen, Charles Hopkins, 1830-1922 [...] Born at Burton, Cattaraugus County, New York, 1830. Father converted to Mormonism and family moved to Kirtland, Ohio, c. 1835-36. Left for Missouri but for want of means stayed in Illinois. Living in vicinity of Springfield when visited by Joseph Smith and party, c. 1843. Lived near Carthage in June, 1844. Baptized, 1844. Family moved to Nauvoo after martyrdom. Visited Carthage Jail on the way. Stopped at Camp Creek for a while. Moved to Iowa, 1846. Spent some time at Winter Quarters. Farmed at Keg Creek near Kanesville, 1847-52. Brother served in Mormon Battalion. Operated ferry across Missouri River, 1849. Operated mill another season. Traveled to Utah, 1852. Mountaineer at Ft. Bridger offered them $1,000 for first bushel of grain matured in Salt Lake Valley.

"Settled at Provo City. Operated David W. Roger's sawmill. Built fort at Blacksmith Fork. Released from that mission and returned to Provo, 1853. Ordained teacher, 1853. Journeyed to San Bernardino, 1855. Trouble with meddlesome Indians en route. Freight trip to Salt Lake City, c. 1857. Returned to California. Trip to Carson Valley via San Francisco. Spent winter there. Discovery of Comstock Lode. Returned to San Bernardino. Visit to Utah, 1862. Traveled to Florence to bring company of immigrants west, 1863. Returned to California to sell property, 1863-64.

"Settled in Cache Valley, Utah. Married Elizabeth Adelaide Hoopes, 1864. Lived in Richmond several years, then moved to ranch. Ordained elder, went to temple. Presided five years over Coveville Branch. Advised to move to warmer climate. Settled at Mesa, Arizona, 1882. President and director of Mesa Canal Company. Ordained high priest, 1882. Member of Maricopa Stake High Council. Apparently also counselor to stake president. Served in Lamanite mission fifteen years. President of high priests' quorum, 1885--. Trips to Logan Temple. Death of wife, 1889. Married Annie Eliza Jones, 1890. Allen family reunion, 1898. Second anointing, 1900."

Charles married Elizabeth Adelaide Hoopes on 15 Jun 1864 in Richmond, Cache, Utah. Elizabeth (daughter of Warner Hoopes and Priscilla Gifford) was born on 9 Sep 1847 in Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie, Iowa; died on 19 Nov 1889 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona; was buried in City of Mesa Cemetery, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

An unsigned sketch of the life of Elizabeth Adelaide Hoopes Allen, found on familysearch.org:

Adelaide, as she was lovingly called, was one of the first babies born in a covered wagon during the time her LDS parents were being expelled from Nauvoo. On the 9th of September, 1847, she came to Warner Hoopes and Priscilla when they were traveling through the state of Iowa, at Council Point, Pottawattamie County, sometime before they arrived in Council Bluffs. Her early life was filled with trials and tribulations, as experienced by many other faithful Saints at that time.

Her father was a shoemaker by trade and her mother possessed great faith and energy. When Adelaide was around three, her parents moved to St. Joseph, Missouri to find work as they did not have the means to travel any farther at that time. Brigham Young had told the Saints who could not finance themselves to go all the way to the Great Salt Lake Valley to wait until they could. Her father secured a job of burning charcoal and things looked good for a time. Her mother was in poor health and they hoped this climate would make her better. The following is based on an event recorded in Adelaide's journal that occurred while the family was living in St. Joseph:

One night we were entertaining an Elder McGraw who had stopped at our place as he was returning from his mission in England. He told my father that he felt impressed to tell him to remove his family immediately to Florence, Nebraska and there to prepare to immigrate to Utah. He repeated that same advice later that night and again the next morning. After he started away he returned and advised him to go right away and leave his family to dispose of the property. But my father was loathe to leave his prosperous situation and heeded not the counsel. About a week later a non-Mormon family's home was burned and the Mormons were accused of committing the deed. Four of the brethren were arrested but they were proven innocent and released. However, the decision of the court did not please the hellish mob which then planned to kill the men. The brethren were warned by a friend but my father didn't believe he was in any danger. The sheriff of Buchanan County came to father and offered protection and he refused as "he had no enemies". After a few days he had an uneasy feeling that he should not remain at home that night. He counseled his wife and told her if a friend came to the house to call him as he would stay out in the woods, but if it was an enemy, she should blow the dinner horn, made from a cow's horn, signifying that the more she blew the horn the deeper into the woods he should go. Sometime during the night my mother was awakened by voices outside. She listened and recognized voices of some of the mob and they were making plans to take father away. After they had stationed the guards at the windows and doors with instructions to "shoot him down" should he try to escape, mother grabbed the horn and blew three loud blasts. The leader of the mob, thinking it was a signal for him to come to her rescue, grabbed the horn and blew it repeatedly. Finally mother told him the louder and longer he blew, the further and faster father would run. The mob grew more angry but she told them that had they come like gentlemen, she would have called him and he would have returned. Furiously they took to the woods where they hunted the rest of the night but could not locate him. The next day they returned and tried to get mother to give up this terrible religion, saying that if she would she and her children would be cared for. My mother's answer was an inspiration to me; she said, "My husband and religion mean more to me than money or anything that money can buy." They cursed her and used vile language as they took their departure. We children scattered hot coals in the yard hoping that if they returned they would get burned.

In spite of protests, her father and a Brother Lincoln were put in jail and had to remain there for nine months before they were proven innocent. Adelaide remembered the night the mob took her father to jail. They broke the door to get into the house and though her mother pleaded with them not to take him, they were rude to her. It made it very hard on the family as Adelaide's mother was not too well and she had to provide for them. She disposed of most of their belongings and then resorted to making willow baskets which the children sold. Adelaide remembered visiting her father in jail. He was - pale and thin, with black eyes, and with hair and whiskers all over his face. It was frightening to look at him. After he was released from jail, they decided to cross the plains and go where the Saints were, though they had no money. The parents sold their only cow and her father took the money and left immediately for Florence, Nebraska where his brother Hyrum Hoopes was preparing to leave with a group of Saints for the Salt Lake Valley. This was in the year of 1857 when the last body of Saints left Winter Quarters. Adelaide's father borrowed enough money from his brother and sent for his family who arrived in time to leave with the company. Adelaide was then a girl of 10 and her job was to look her baby brother, Daniel. She remembered that she walked much of the way and carried her brother on her back when he got too tired to walk.

The company had cattle which they were driving through. One of the cows had a sucking calf and one of the men told Adelaide that if she would catch the calf and tie it up at night, she could have the milk from the cow in the morning. That sounded very good so unbeknown to her parents, she slipped up to the cow when the calf was getting his milk and got the rope around the calfs neck. The calf became frightened and began to run. Adelaide hung on to the rope for quite a while but when he pulled her through the bushes and a muddy place, she had to let go. She said she could have held it if her sister Melissa had helped. She never did get the milk.

Her sister Melissa, age 12, rode a horse all the way and drove the cattle to help pay back the money their father had borrowed. The group arrived in Salt Lake in 1857 . They moved to Bountiful for a short time, then moved to Richmond, Cache County, Utah. Adelaide was the one chosen to help her father with the sheep. She helped with the shearing as well as the herding. With the wool, she learned to spin, weave and sew, besides learning to cook and keep a tidy house. Adelaide had a girl friend by the name of Belinda Bear. One day she was over visiting with Adelaide when Belinda's boy friend, Charles Allen, called for her. Just for a joke, Adelaide hid Belinda's bonnet and when Belinda found out that she had hid it, she began to chase Adelaide around the house. Around they went, in and out. Apparently Charles thought they would never stop so he caught Adelaide, then about seventeen years old, and held her until she told where the bonnet was. That was the last time that Charles took Belinda out, as he began to court Adelaide. Although he was seventeen years her senior, she seemed to share his feelings and consented to be his wife. They were married in Richmond on 15 June 1864, and later went to Salt Lake and were sealed in the Endowment House. Their first five children, all boys, were born while they lived in Richmond. Five other children, four girls and a boy, were born in Cove, Utah where the family homesteaded 160 acres in a canyon.

While the family was still in Cove, Adelaide and her sister-in-law Mary decided to kill the pig. Mary was to hit it in the head to knock it down, then Adelaide was to cut its throat to make it bleed. When the water was hot enough so the pig could later be scalded, Mary climbed into the pen with the axe and hit it but not hard enough to make it fall. The pig began running and squealing around the pen so Mary called for Adelaide. They both took after it. Around and around the pen they went. When Adelaide finally caught one of the hind legs, they both pulled hard and stopped it. Mary hung on to its leg while Adelaide cut its throat. They found it a hard job to kill a pig and often laughed about their experience.

Adelaide's husband was Branch President in Cove, but the cold winters were too much for him and he contracted rheumatism and was badly crippled. They thought they had better try a warmer climate for his health, so relocated to Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona. Adelaide and the girls rode in a white top buggy on the trip. She knitted socks for the family on the way, which they did not need so badly in a warm climate.

They moved into an adobe house with a dirt floor but it was not long a dirt floor, as Adelaide with her energy and pride soon had a nice wood one. Within the next seven years, four more children were born. Their home was always a gathering place for the young folks. They were always made to feel welcome even though they had to be bedded on the floor.

Adelaide drove a little span of mules, Jack and Molly, sitting in the white top buggy whenever she traveled without the men folk. Those little mules were deathly afraid of Indians. Whenever they saw one they would break into a dead run. There were Indians all over the valley when they first came to Mesa. One might pop up at any time so Adelaide had to be on the watch. The mules could smell them first. They would first stick up their ears, then their nose up in the air with their eyes on the lookout. That surely meant a "runaway" and Adelaide was always prepared. She grasped her lines just so, braced her feet to give her strength and pushed on the brake. Many times she had small children with her. She never had an accident.

Their house was built right on the trail where the Indians used to hunt rabbits. They objected to this and would often stop, get off their horses and peek into the windows, as well as ask for something to eat. Her children remembered how scared they were when the Indians came galloping up on their horses with their dark, bare bodies and nothing on but a "breech clout" around their loins and their long, black hair flopping up and down. One day an Indian came walking to the door and demanded something to eat. Adelaide, remembering the counsel of President Young to feed instead of fight them, turned to go get him something when she looked around just in time to see him entering the door with his eye on the gun that was hanging on the wall. Adelaide, "quick as a wink", gave him a big shove and he landed on his back out the door on a board with nails in it. The Indian was shocked. He did not move very soon. He looked around, got up slowly and started off on a trot. He left a piece of his "breech clout" on the nails. He never came back.

Adelaide loved music. She and the children sang together many of the ballads of the day, such as "Polly Van", "Joe Bowers", "Captain Jinks" and "Vacant Chair". The family often held what they called "Primary" where they met together in the evening and sang songs and told stories. It was always opened with prayer.

Adelaide died giving birth to her fourteenth child, on 13 November 1889, at age 42. It was a great sorrow to the father and family. After her death, everybody in town tried to help. The funeral was held out at the front of the home. Brother Henry Rogers was one of the speakers and he remarked that, "The old, poor and needy will miss Sister Allen most of all". She was always there to help them in their time of need. She was laid to rest in the Mesa Cemetery.

Her last request to the family was to keep them together. The request was granted for a council meeting with the father and older children, it was decided that the oldest daughter, Adelaide, would care for the home and the children. She was fifteen years old at the time and Seymour, age nineteen, took over the job of providing as best he could. The father lived a short distance away after taking a second wife.

Notes:

[From this Phelps site.]

Autobiography of Hyrum Smith Phelps

Hyrum Smith Phelps first saw the light of day in the once beautiful city of Nauvoo, Illinois, February 26, 1846. Referring to his early life he said:

My parents, Morris Phelps and Sarah Thompson Phelps, had already been expelled from their homes twice--Kirtland, Ohio and Independence, Missouri--leaving them very little of this world's goods. Some three or four thousand Saints had crossed the Mississippi River by ferry boat and on the ice headed for the valleys in the Rocky Mountains.

By the middle of the following June, my father had a yoke of oxen and cows to pull one wagon, and in company with some others he started to follow those who had gone previously, arriving at what they called "Winter Quarters" on the Missouri River in Iowa. We remained there until June 1851. Father worked at wagon making most of the time. When he had managed to raise two teams of oxen and cows, a company of sixty wagons was organized, Father was made captain, and they started for Utah.

After many trials and hardships, they arrived in Salt Lake City September 25, 1851. The first winter Mother and two children stayed with her brother, Samuel Thompson, in Mill Creek Canyon. During the winter, Father found a location in Alpine, Utah County and a house (such as it was) built on a piece of ground he had taken up. Soon after we were located, another member was added to the family, a son, Charles Wilkes Phelps, who lived four years and died with measles. During 1853 and 1854, Father, his son-in-law, James Holmes, Isaac Huston and James Preston built a saw mill near the mouth of Dry Creek Canyon about a mile and a half from Alpine. During the summers from 1853 to 1859, I herded sheep that belonged to the settlers of Alpine. All I had for my dinner was segos [lily bulbs] that I would dig out of the ground with a digger that I carried with me. (It was a pointed stick something the shape of a beaver's tail.) It was while herding sheep that I was tempted the hardest to steal It came very near getting the best of me. James Preston was down in the penstock of the saw mill repairing something, and I brought my sheep near the mill. I spied a dinner pail and taking the lid off I saw some flour biscuits. I put my hand in the pail to take a biscuit and was reminded of that commandment, "Thou shalt not steal. " Then I remembered the teachings of my mother, "Thou shalt not steal. " Finally I got courage enough to get away and I went out in the mill yard and began to pick gum. Soon I heard a voice call my name and when I went back, James Preston gave me a biscuit and a leg of chicken. Maybe you think I wasn't thankful I had resisted the temptation. We had been without wheat flour for several months and had been eating musty corn meal bread. I can now [1922] remember those days just as vividly as though they had been within the last two years. Only those that experienced the hardships of those days can realize what they were.

I went to school three or four months in the winter until I was seventeen years old. About the fifth grade was as far as I reached. When I grew large enough to put a yoke on the oxen, I quit herding sheep and worked on the farm and in the canyon. When I was sixteen, I calculated I could do as much as a common man at most anything. In the spring of 1864 I was 18 years old. Father sold out all his lands and home and decided to go up to Bear Lake Valley, Idaho. James Holmes and my half brother, Joseph Phelps, and my father fitted out ox teams and made the start April 1864. They landed in Montpelier on May 17, 1864. All three took up a farm and started once more to make homes. They built log houses with dirt floors and roofs.

In the winter of 1865 I commenced keeping company with Miss Clarinda Bingham. In the fall of 1866 frost had killed all of the grain and Calvin Bingham decided to move back to Hyrum, Cache Valley, as he had to depend on blacksmithing for a living. That meant he would take his daughter Clarinda also. She and I talked the matter over and we decided to get married. When I laid the matter before the blacksmith, he said, "Nothing doing. You are both too young!" (Which was verily true.) I talked the matter over with a friend, and he advised me to give the old folks the dodge and get married anyway. So on the evening of September 26, 1866, we invited a high priest by the name of John Turner to come over to the neighbors' and perform the ceremony for us. For a short time it looked like something interesting was going to happen around the place. I didn't have very much to say, but a good many things ran through my mind that space will not permit me to mention. Finally, things began to get normal again, and we decided if I would go down below to the town of Benningston and help get the sheep across the Bear River, we would be forgiven. This was carried out to the satisfaction of all concerned.

Now for a description of the home I took my bride to: My mother's house had but one room 18 by 17 feet, a dirt roof and floor with a straw carpet. She had her loom in there during the winter. Her bed was in one corner and I had a bunk built in another corner. It was built into two sides of the house and one log stood out in the room. A straw bed, buffalo robe and quilts comprised our bed for the winter. In the spring, the fore part of May, I found there was going to be an increase in the family, which put me to my wits' ends to know how to meet the situation. But it happened that providence had smiled down on me again by sending the Indians into the valley somewhat earlier than usual. I happened to be the sole owner of a little brown pony which I sold to an Indian for a buffalo robe and seven elk skins. The nearest dry goods store at that time was Richmond, Cache Valley, some 65 miles across a big mountain. It happened that my brother Joseph was in the same boat that I was, and he and I started out to find a market for what we had to sell. I sold my buffalo robe and three of my elk skins, (I had four elk skins left to make me a suit of clothes) and bought a few yards of flannel and a few yards of calico, a bottle of castor oil, a box of Grafenburg pills and three hundred pounds of flour, and I went home with a smile on my face that did not come off for a long time. That summer I built a house and moved in and we called it our home. Father took a contract that summer to build a bridge over Blacksmith Fork about 60 miles southwest en route to Ogden. He let James Homes, Hyrum S. Rich and myself in with him, and we received $86 each in store pay on Williams Jennings in Salt Lake City.

Now, reader, I want to tell you that was the first time in my life I had worked for money and appropriated the proceeds for myself. Previous to that it had always been for Father's family. With my store bill I bought me a scythe to cut hay, a pitchfork, a shovel, ax and kitchen furniture. And we were just as happy as young married folks can be Then for the next ten or fifteen years, every sixteen or eighteen months, an extra member was added to the family until we had an even dozen. I forgot to say that we obtained the cattail feather bed from bulrushes on the river bottoms the first winter.

My spare time was occupied trying to improve my home and surroundings. Crops were cut short by the early frosts. Sometimes entirely. But with all the drawbacks that I endured, I accumulated means and felt I had been wonderfully blessed. In the summer of 1872, Brigham Young came to the valley on one of his annual visits and he preached discourses on plural marriage. (Up to that time, polygamy had never appealed to me very strong. I had been raised in a polygamous family, and I thought I never wanted any of it in mine.) After I heard Brigham Young's sermon, there was a feeling came over me that I had better at least make the attempt to get another wife, but to eliminate the courting; just ask the consent of the girl and her parents and if either was opposed, that was to be the end of it. When I raised courage to put it to the test, everything was in the affirmative. September 8, 1873, I was married to Mary Elizabeth Bingham, sister to my first wife, in the Endowment House. Being raised in a polygamous family, I thought I knew about as much as anybody on how to guide the ship. How well I succeeded, those that have been acquainted with me can be the judge.

During the winter and spring of 1874 and 1875, Charles Mallory and I built a sawmill in Montpelier Canyon. After that I could build and finally got comfortably situated. On May 22, 1876, Father died after spending the winter in Southern Utah. He arrived home May 17 and died five days later. The early frost and cold long winters caused me to make a change to a warmer climate. With consent of Apostle Charles C. Rich, I disposed of all my belongings and put it into teams, wagons and cattle. On October 3, 1878, in company with Charles Dana and son Roswell, John Hibbert, John and William Lesueur, Charles Warrener and Robert Williams, we set out for Salt River Valley, Arizona. We arrived at Mesa on January 17, 1879. Robert Williams stopped in Salem, Utah. He had an ox team and the rest of us had horses. We arrived in Mesa with four teams, three wagons and about 25 head of cattle, mostly cows. The first settlers had only been located since October. They were living in tents and sheds mostly. The company let us join them, giving us a chance to work out water rights to get shares in the company.

It was hard to get a home and get comfortably located again. I disposed of all my surplus stock, teams, and wagons which enabled me to buy provisions until I got houses, such as they were, to live in. Everything went well with us until September 1884 when Charles I. Robson, Oscar Stewart, Alma Spillsbury, George Wilson, James Wilson and I were indicted for polygamy and unlawful cohabitations. We never tried to evade the propositions as we believed the law unconstitutional, and we had no trouble getting bondsmen. The next spring the trial court convened in April, We all went down to Phoenix, the county seat, about a week before our trial was to come off to see if we had any friends that we could depend on. We found about all the friends we had were saloon men and that kind of people. We employed lawyers and the church sent Tom Fitch of Los Angeles to take charge of the trial. Things looked darker to us every day. Our lawyers worked with the judge and did all they could to get some assurance from him to show us some leniency, but failed. Alma Spillsbury's case was brought to the jury and in less than twenty minutes a verdict was given--Guilty. Our lawyers told us there was no use for any other to stand trial, and so they informed the judge that the others would plead guilty. We were told to appear at 10 a.m. the next day. The judge said we would have to promise to obey the law. That caused me some serious reflections. I will now relate a dream I had two or three nights before. I went to bed wondering what the outcome of it all would be. I dreamed I was out in an open country all alone, close by me stood a very small bull, a cherry red in color, the most perfect and handsome animal I had ever seen. His horns looked to be transparent and came to a very sharp point. As I looked, at a great distance I saw a large object moving towards me, and when it came close enough to tell what it was, I saw that it was a monstrous bull. I discovered that he was mad, and the closer he came the more mad he became. I saw he was making for the little bull, and he looked as large to me as an elephant. He never halted till he came up within six or eight feet of the little fellow, and all the while the little fellow stood chewing his cud not seeming to pay any attention to the monster bull. When the monster stopped, I thought he put out his tongue and his eyes were like balls of fire. He made a dive at the little bull, and at the same time the little bull caught him in the neck, completely unjointing it. The monster fell and I woke up. This dream brought joy to all of us. We felt that something was going to happen that would cause a change in our favor. On the morning of April 11 at 10 a.m., we all appeared ready to take our medicine. The first name called was Hyrum S. Phelps.

The judge asked, "Mr. Phelps, you have pleaded guilty to the charge of unlawful cohabitation. Have you anything to say why the court should not pass sentence on you?"

"I have just one request, your honor," I replied. "That is that you do not insist on me obeying the law as you interpret it. I consider the law unconstitutional and made especially to punish the Mormons. I will hold myself subject to the law at all times, but I don't want to make any promises."

"Mr. Phelps, I am not here to decide on the constitutionality of the law, but punish those that violate the law as it stands, and I shall expect something from you that will convince me you will obey it the same as all law abiding citizens," he said.

"Your honor, God gave me my wives. They were virgins when I married them. I can hold my hand up and say before God and man that I never did, outside of the marriage relations, have anything to do with any man's wife or daughter." I spoke for fully five minutes on the purity of marriages and why we practiced it. At the conclusion of my talk I said, "That is all I have to say."

The first word he spoke was to those sitting near him. He said with tears in his eyes, "Gentlemen, you may think that this is a desirable position to pass sentence on these men. This is the hardest thing I ever had to do. You are some of the best citizens we have." Turning to me he added, "Mr. Phelps, I realize your family needs you at home, and I shall give you only ninety days and no fine to pay." I thanked him for being so lenient.

The next day the warden inspected us, gave us a clean haircut, a shave and a brand new suit of clothes with the stripes running horizontally. The night before I was sentenced, Mary Elizabeth gave birth to a baby girl and a month following she lost her little two-year-old boy. The warden gave us all privileges that were possible and the most comfortable cells in the prison.

We were turned loose again on July 12, 1885. I then went to living again as I had always done. The stake authorities thought I was running desperate chances as I was living with both families, and advised me to go to Mexico. In the spring of 1887, I drove down to Juarez, Mexico to see what I thought of the country. I did not like the government in that country. On Dec. 3, 1890, I received a call to serve a mission to the Southern States and to be in Salt Lake to leave for the mission Dec. 16. I told my boys I would borrow the money and start Dec. 5 to go up to Bear Lake and see my folks there before going on my mission. The third day after I received my call, I started. I arrived at Maricopa where I was to change cars on the Southern Pacific Railroad. The train stopped, I looked out of the window and who should I see but my old friend the Federal Marshall who was after me. The Spirit told me he was wanting me and for me to get off the car on the opposite side from where the others were getting off. I was to go around, and come in behind and get on the other train on the opposite side from where the others were getting on and walk lame. When I came in full view of the officer, the Spirit seemed to operate on me just like some person giving me a command. When the train started off, I looked out the window and saw that my poor old uncle Brother Sam Thompson was returning home after a short visit with my mother. I did not have time to tell him what was taking place. I waited in Yuma until the next day and Uncle was on the train, so we went on our way without any more trouble. I visited my relatives in Bear Lake and they contributed more than enough to pay my expenses from Salt Lake and back again. I arrived at my journey's end (Spartanburg Mills) on Dec. 23, 1890. I had just one dollar in my pocket, and I gave that to the family I was to stay with to buy Christmas presents as they were very poor.

David LeBaron was my first companion. I was gone 23 months, but never slept out one night, only had to pay for one night's lodging during my entire stay in the mission field. While on my mission I baptized four persons. When I returned home, I was a better man and had a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel During my absence, President Wilford Woodruff had issued the Manifesto and my law breaking was at an end.

On the 26th of February 1889, I fitted out two teams and went to St. George, Utah, to work in the temple. I took my mother, wife Clarinda, daughter Lucretia and son Calvin. We had our three oldest children sealed to us and mother had her two oldest sealed to her and father. I also did the work for Grandfather Spencer Phelps and his wife. We were gone from home six weeks. The work done at St. George completed all the vicarious work on my ancestors that I knew of at that time. My mother made her home with me from the time we left Bear Lake, Idaho until her death January 31, 1896.

About the year 1900, I received a letter from my nephew, William R. Holmes, who was laboring as a missionary in Massachusetts at the time that The Phelps Family of America and Their English Ancestors was being published in two volumes and there might be a chance for me to get my family included in the work. I sent a list of my family, but it was too late to be inserted in the book, However, I sent an order and received the genealogy of my ancestors back for eight generations. My wife Mary Elizabeth and I have been working in the temple at Logan, Utah most of the time since April 1919 to 1925.

After returning home from my mission, my time was occupied on my farm and surroundings until about the year 1910. My sons being married and myself along in years, I was not able to do the work required. I decided to sell the 80 acres and when the buyer came along, I sold for $19,000 and bought a city lot in the town of Mesa, and built a home on it for Clarinda and a home for Mary Elizabeth on 20 acres I had left previous to my selling. On October 13, 1906 Mary Elizabeth's house burned down. We were sleeping out of doors at the time and everything was burned except the beds and clothing we had taken off our bodies when we went to bed. It was a brick house and it burned so quickly that the walls were not damaged very much. I soon rebuilt and was comfortably situated again. During the winter of 1917-18 I sold my ranch home and we moved into another home I had built in town. My plans were to spend the balance of my days working in the temple for the redemption of my ancestors who are dead and gone.

Now in conclusion of the story I have given of my life, I must say that I have been true and faithful. On the advent of another birthday, I will be 77 years old and I have every reason to believe I will live till I am 95 years old. If I should live that long, I expect to hear of more sorrow and suffering from wars, famines, earthquakes and destruction by the destroying elements than I have ever heard of in the last fifty years. I have never sought after notoriety of civil offices. I am thankful that I was counted worthy to be called into the High Council at the organization of the Maricopa Stake, which office I held and tried to honor until the 8th of December, 1912, when I was ordained a patriarch. And I say as Nephi of Old, "I was born of goodly parents" who did all they could for their children under the circumstances by which they were surrounded.

And as my ancestors before them. I am proud to know that I am of such stock, for many of them fought, bled and died in the Revolutionary War. I thank my God that I am permitted to do their work in the temple of the Lord, and I pray that my children will join with me as soon as circumstances will permit them to do so. I know the Lord expects it of us, and if we fail to do what we can for them, we will come to our condemnation. (You have ears to hear, take warning.) As for myself, I know I have made many mistakes and fallen into many habits that were not becoming to a Latter-day Saint. I have not controlled my tongue and have said many things I should not have said. But with all my failings, I have always tried to be honest with my fellow men. I have had no dollar in my life that I would be ashamed for any person to know how I came by it, not have I ever spent a dollar that I would be ashamed to tell my children— Clarinda, 12, and Mary Elizabeth, 14. Eleven of them have passed to the great beyond. Three of them died and left infant babes. A daughter, a young woman grown and a son 19 years. The others ranged in age from three months to four years. I have also two daughters that are left widows with ten and five children to take care of.

So I feel content to know that when my time comes, I will have loved ones to mingle with over there. I thank the Lord that I was permitted to be born when the Gospel of Jesus Christ was again on the earth. I know that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of the world and that Joseph Smith was and is Prophet of God and that the Church known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is indeed the only church that is acceptable unto Him as a church. This is my testimony and I here subscribe to it in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

P.S. When I die, I prefer to be buried by the side of my mother without any display of flowers, the same as the rest that have gone on before me. It is a satisfaction to know I will have loved ones to mingle with when my turn comes to go. Given this day the tenth of December, 1922, at Logan, Utah.

/s/ H. S. Phelps

[Hyrum Phelps died April 23, 1926 after being gored by a bull. Kenneth and Lavel Whatcott were with him when he was gored and said that his intestines were lying on the ground in the manure. He died two days later.]

Hyrum married Mary Elizabeth Bingham on 8 Sep 1873 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah. Mary (daughter of Calvin Bingham and Elizabeth Lucretia Thorne) was born on 25 Dec 1853 in East Weber, Weber, Utah; died on 14 Nov 1933 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona; was buried in Mesa City Cemetery, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 17 Nov 1933, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona

Notes:

Died of diabetes.

"Mary Elizabeth Bingham Phelps," by her daughter Barbara Ann Phelps Allen:

Mother was born on Christmas day, 1853, the daughter of Calvin Perry and Lucretia Thorne Bingham. Her early life was as useful and busy as were her later years. She worked out some, and also helped her grandfather Ashael Thorne make butter and cheese plus other work to be done on a farm.

When she was a young lady, she earned money to buy herself a nice yellow calico dress with black dots in it and thought it most beautiful. She, like Father, loved to dance and said often after they had danced until after midnight, a crowd would get into a sleigh and ride until daylight.

She had quite a number of boy friends, one in particular she liked real well, It was while she was keeping company with him that she married Father (Hyrum Smith Phelps) as a plural wife. She said she didn't know why she did it, but supposed it was meant to be that way.

At the time she married they lived in Montpelier, Idaho, but the winters were too severe so they moved to Mesa, Arizona after three daughters had been born, Laurett, Lucy and Barbara. Laurett died of diphtheria before they left Idaho.

The journey to Arizona was a long hard one, especially for mother, as she was in her last months of pregnancy. The company laid over three days at Lee's Ferry because of her condition, and on the third day, Dec. 2, 1878 her oldest son, Gove Edward, was born. They arrived in Mesa Jan. 17, 1879. Mesa was practically a desert when they arrived and they lived in tents the first three months until Father and his sons could make adobes to build a house.

The first one was a long three-room house. Mother lived in one end and Aunt Clarinda the other. The center room was used for awhile to store corn and grain, and later Grandma Bingham lived there awhile. While she lived there, he son Ashael died.

In 1881 Father built a home on the corner of First Avenue and Hibbert Street for Aunt Clarinda. This house was a T-shape with a porch on two sides, had a shingle roof and dirt floors. It still stands today [1953] but has been improved. Mother had the long house then to herself. It was here that Hattie, Orson and Yuma were born. The Federal officers had been after Father and Mother for plural marriage, and Father was arrested. He was sent to Yuma, Arizona Penitentiary for three months. Mother was taken to the home of Ed Jones in Lehi. She stayed there until just before Yuma was born, then went to her mother.

Father bought or traded and got eighty acres one mile east of town and built another home for Aunt Clarinda who had a family of boys and moved mother to the home on First Avenue and Hibbert because she had mostly girls. Here Grace, who lived only a few weeks, Amy, Esther, Clara and Gertrude were born.

After Aunt Clarinda moved to the ranch, Mother was allotted a few cows for her support. It was Gove's job to drive the cows to and from the pasture, and he often rode a cow called Puso. I remember we had a lot of grief because the cows would often get out of the corral and get into Brother Hibbert's place at night, and he would come and awake mother and say ugly things to her. We milked some of the cows that were brought from Montpelier. When Esther was a few months old, Father went on a mission to the Southern States.

Mother lived in this home until 1895 when Father sold it and built her a nice brick house on the eighty acres. Wilford, Mother's fourteenth child, was born here. He was the pride and joy of the family. Father used to call him the little prophet. He is four months younger than my oldest son, Ashael. Mother practically raised him with Wilford. They were like brothers.

While living in this home Mother's greatest sorrow came when Lucy died. At the time she was confined to her bed with a sore leg, and couldn't go see Lucy during her sickness. Lucy had developed blood poison after the birth of her fourth child and namesake, Lucy. Brother Calvin was surely good to mother during Lucy's sickness; he would come three times a day to keep her informed of Lucy's condition. Sometimes he would call at midnight. Lucy died Jan. 6, 1905. Mother took little Lucy and raised her as her own.

Because of Father's age and the boys married and gone, he found he couldn't do the work on the ranch, so he sold to a Mr. Fraser and moved onto twenty acres on Home Lane. He built mother the nicest home she had had and built two houses in town on Sirrine, one for Aunt Clarinda and one to rent. As age kept creeping, he found he had to stop work altogether, so he sold the twenty acres and moved Mother in the house he built to rent. Here they spent their last days. Father died April 23, 1926, after having been gored in the belly by a bull. Mother died 17 November, 1933 from the effects of diabetes.

Mother was a wonderful mother to her family, a typical Bingham, the most unselfish and generous person to be found. She always went without for her family. I've seen her many times skim the cream off the milk and give it to father and she would use the skim milk. She didn't go out very often, having 14 children, two babies most of the time. One May Day she sent us on ahead to a picnic. Amy was the baby. Lucy and I took her and the other children on; Mother came later. When we took Amy to her, the baby didn't recognize Mother and began to scream. It was the first time she had seen Mother in her dress-up clothes. Amy cried with hunger, so Mother had to go home and change her dress so Amy would nurse.

Mother had inflammatory rheumatism while Amy was a baby. At that time there was an epidemic of some kind of fever, and Aunt Clarinda's oldest son, Hyrum, had it. Father had to be with him until he died. Lucy and I, with Grandma Sarah Phelps had to take care of Mother and the baby. She suffered something awful. Her legs were swollen twice their size, and she couldn't bear to be moved. After Hyrum died and Father came to help take care of Mother, he and Grandma decided to get her up on an open bottom chair and steam her. They got her on the chair, but it was cruel what she suffered during the ordeal, and the sad part was that no good came from it. She finally got well.

Mother was quite spiritual. A number of times things happened and it was made known to her before hand. One time she was troubled and went into the bedroom to pray. As she came out, she said just above the door she heard the sweetest music she had ever heard, and as the music died away, a peaceful feeling came over her and she was comforted.

Very few people suffered as much as Mother. One time she and sister Annie went into the field to glean wheat, and they came in contact with poison weeds and their legs broke out with sores. Mother's was the worst. Both her legs were solid sores from her knees to the soles of her feet. It took weeks for them to heal. Every summer for several years at the same time, her legs would break out with the same kind of sores, but each year they would he more mild. This was a few weeks before Grace was born; after that her legs caused her a lot of misery. There were quite a few other things that caused a lot of suffering that I'll not take time to mention, besides giving birth to 14 children without the aid of a doctor or having something done to ease the pain.

Mother was a good Latter-day Saint. She always donated liberally, paid her tithing and fast offerings. When she began paying, she saved all her statements from the dairy so she would know how much she owed, and at the end of the year, she owed a few cents more than ten dollars. I don't know how she managed to live. She had a few hens, but they didn't lay any eggs until the price went down to ten cents a dozen. Lucy was the main stay of the family. Hattie and I worked some. When either of us earned any money, it was turned over to Mother. Not a cent did we use for ourselves without her telling us to. She would shine our heavy shoes with stove soot. We were quite large before we could afford dress shoes. We weren't the only poor people, however; most everyone was alike

We had a happy home, Mother made it so. Our home was a house of prayer. We had family prayer night and morning, and I think that had everything to do with the spirit of our home. I know I speak for all of the family when I say I am thankful for wonderful parents and what they did for us.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: New Hampshire

Notes:

There is a blurry photo of a balding gentleman in a suit and tie that is widely shown on the web as being an image of this Andrew Lee Allen, despite the fact that the gentleman's clothing is more modern than anything worn before 1870, and the photo is clearly captioned "Andrew Allen, Born Aug 17, 1832". In other words, it's Andrew Lee Allen, Jr. (1832-1918). Sometimes we wonder if people are doing genealogy in their sleep.

From "Our Family" by Charles Hopkins Allen [Ancestors and Descendants of Andrew Lee and Clarinda Knapp Allen]:

"Andrew Lee Allen was born in Limerick, York Co., Maine November 24th 1791. He was the son of Elijah Allen, who was born in 1763 at Stratham, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire, and his first wife, Mehitable Hall, who was christened March 26th, 1769 at Rochester, Strafford Co., New Hampshire.

"His mother died June 25th, 1800 in Corinth, Orange Co., Vermont and his father was remarried October 21st, 1809 to Hannah, widow of George Perry. His father died October 19th, 1839 at Limerick, York Co., Maine.

"After his mother's death Andrew Lee Allen went to live with his maternal grandfather, Rev. Avery Hall, staying until he was 14 years of age. He worked at the blacksmith trade. Not being satisfied, he left home and never went back again. He went on shipboard to help protect the American vessels during the war known as the War of 1812. He left there and went into Canada, where he got into trouble with the British by drinking a toast at a barn-raising. The toast was, 'he wished that the Eagle of America would triumph over the crown of Great Britain,' for which he was arrested by the British. Making his escape he went into the state of New York, Cattaraugus Co., where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land, and made himself a very nice home. He planned to settle down for life and he soon owned a large grove of sugar maple trees besides his prosperous farm.

"On December 11th, 1824, he married Clarinda Knapp, daughter of Calvin and Deborah (Hopkins) Knapp. Clarinda was a refined, educated woman who was highly skilled in the arts of fine painting, sewing, tailoring, ladies' leghorn hat designing, and homemaking. Her gentle upbringing had a great influence on the lives of those about her. She was a woman of true faith and was a Bible scholar.

"They remained in Burton, Cattaraugus Co., New York until they had seven children, namely: Elijah, Lydia, Saphronia, Charles, Andrew, James, and Sidney. They had not joined any religious society but were honest and upright with all men, waiting for something to come along that would give them better satisfaction than the religions of the day. [...]"

Andrew married Clarinda Knapp on 11 Dec 1824 in Cattaraugus, New Hampshire. Clarinda (daughter of Calvin Knapp and Deborah Hopkins) was born on 10 Aug 1802 in Bethlehem, Litchfield, Connecticut; died on 7 Dec 1862 in Richmond, Cache, Utah. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: New York

Notes:

Daniels and McLean (citation details below) have him dying in "Weston, Oneida Co., Utah". This is clearly an error; there is no Oneida County in Utah, but there is one on the Utah border in southern Idaho. Weston, where Warner Hoopes died, was in Oneida county, Idaho at the time; it's now in Franklin county.

[Everything below, including the footnote, was posted to ancestry.com by "mmbrown66".]

Sketch of the Life of Warner Hoopes

Warner Hoopes, son of Jonathan Hoopes and Rebecca Watts Hoopes, was born in York County, Pennsylvania, October 29, 1817. He died at Weston, Idaho February 13, 1891. His ancestors were of the Puritan stock, of the Quaker religion. His grandfather was engaged as a provision hauler in the Revolutionary War. Warner was the third child in a family of twelve children. Not being very strong as a young man, he was taught the shoemaker trade. While he was still a boy, his parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They were with the Mormons in their wanderings, and shared with the Saints the mobbings, drivings, and persecutions incident to the membership in the Church during its infancy.

For the first ten years of his life as a Mormon elder, Warner Hoopes spent most of his time in missionary work in the surrounding states, and while the Saints were fleeing through Missouri before the mobs, in the winter of 1838, leaving bloody footprints on the frozen ground, he alleviated the suffering very much by sitting near the campfire far into the night making shoes for those who had been driven from their homes before they could collect the necessary wearing apparel.

Joseph Smith Sr., father of the Prophet Joseph, and first patriarch of the Church, gave Brother Hoopes a blessing. One of the promises given was that the Lord would chastise him whenever necessary. Brother Hoopes always considered this a great blessing, and one which was literally fulfilled. Whenever he became the least bit slack in his religious duties, the Lord chastened him.

In 1840, he married Priscilla Gifford, daughter of Levi Gifford and Deborah Wing Gifford. Priscilla was born at Tiago County, Pennsylvania March 3, 1818; and died in Weston, Idaho August 2, 1876. She, too, was a descendant of Puritan ancestors. She was a woman of remarkable faith and energy. To Warner and Priscilla Hoopes were born nine children; six girls and three boys. Only four lived until maturity, the others died while children. Three died during the wanderings and persecutions of the Saints, and two were buried at Richmond, Utah. Of those who reached maturity, Rebecca married Matthew Fifield, and lived and died in Weston, Idaho; Melissa married William McCarrey and lived at Richmond, Utah; Adelaide married Charles Allen of Cove, Utah, who moved to Arizona, where Adelaide died; Daniel Lewis Hoopes, lived for a time in Weston, Idaho, then moved to Logan, Utah. (He died April 20, 1925.)

After the marriage of Warner Hoopes, he continued to travel with the Saints. He lived at Nauvoo, where his first three children were born. He was fleeing through Lee County with the Mormons during that terrible period of suffering and starvation; and witnessed the miraculous appearance of quails into camp; so tame that they could readily be caught with the hands, or shaken from the bushes where they would lie until picked up.

When the people were at Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1846, preparatory to moving toward the Rocky Mountains, President Brigham Young advised all who had not enough provisions to last one year, to go back into Missouri and get the means to come on as soon as possible. He also advised them while doing this, not to say anything as to they were with about religion. Brother Hoopes and his family moved back into Buchannon County near St. Joseph. Here, he became engaged in burning charcoal and became quite prosperous. Contrary to the counsel of President Young, the Saints in that region began holding meetings, which brought them into prominence and soon aroused the anger of the non-Mormons in that community.

About that time, a Brother McGraw stopped by at the Hoopes place over night. He was on his way to a mission in England. During the evening, he told the family that he felt impressed that they should go directly to Florence, Nebraska, and prepare to emigrate to Utah. He repeated this advice in the morning, and after he had gone some distance, he came back and advised Brother Hoopes to leave his family to dispose of what property could be sold, and for him to go immediately, and for the family to follow as soon as possible. Hoopes did not heed this counsel, and he stated that he did not know of an enemy he had in the country; that he wanted to wait until the charcoal that he had was ready for the market.

About two weeks after this, a non-Mormon family was burned in their house. The burning occurred at night. The father, mother and five children all perished in the flames. Some enemy accused the Mormons of doing this, and four of them - including Hoopes - were arrested. The court declared them innocent. Soon after that, an enemy collected a number of tar barrels and set fire to them, then gave the fire alarm in St. Joseph. This accomplished its purpose. It collected a large crowd of men. He then proceeded to read what he called the confession of a Mormon. The confession was that Mormons had set fire to the before mentioned, with the purpose of killing the inhabitants. A mob was soon collected, ready for mischief and crime. A neighbor heard the threats of the mob and warned the Mormons.

The day preceeding the incident just related, the sheriff of Buchanan County had called upon Broher Hoopes, and offered him protection as he feared some mischief was brewing; but Hoopes said he thought it was not necessary as he knew of no enemies he had. After the neighbor's warning, he felt a little uncomfortable and decided not to stay in the house that night. It was arranged with Mrs. Hoopes that if a friend or the sheriff should come by the house during the evening or night, she should come out and call Brother Hoopes; but if any danger was about, she should blow the dinner horn. All went well until long into the night. Mrs. Hoopes was awakened by voices outside stationing men to guard the windows and doors, and ordering that if Hoopes attempted to escape, to "shoot him down like a dog." She arose praying, and the answer to her prayer came in a voice which left her without a doubt what to do. "Blow." She gave the horn one strong blast. The leader of the mob demanded that the door be opened. When he entered, he asked for Mr. Hoopes. She told him that he had gone.

"Give me that horn!" he demanded. Taking the horn, he blew and blew and blew again until Sister Hoopes said, "The louder you blow, the farther he'll go."

As soon as she had said these words, she wondered at herself for saying them. She never could understand just what it was that made her say the words. She told the leader further, that if he had come like a gentleman, she would have called her husband in; but now it was impossible.

All night, the mob looked for him and Brother Lincoln.

Next morning, he started for St. Joseph, hiding from the mob by slipping behind trees. Finally, Brother Hoopes saw the sheriff who was a friend and always continued to be so, even during the long days of imprisonment. For Hoopes' protection, the sheriff put him in prison where he kept him for ten months and a day. When he was released, he was freed rather miraculously, thus:

About the time of the trial, Roe Thomas, who had been away from home, came back; and hearing from his mother of the arrest of Hoopes and Lincoln, recalled the events which resulted in the release of these two men.

On the night before the burning of the home, Roe Thomas and John Keen ran away from home. While Keen was going home for his clothes, Thomas lay down near Mrs. Luellen's house and fell asleep. When he awoke, he heard the large clock in Luellen's house strike twelve. This was the exact time that Mrs. Luellen said she had seen Hoopes, who was short; and Lincoln who was extra tall, pass. This had been the testimony on which Hoopes and Lincoln were held. When Mrs, Luellen heard what the boys said, she recalled her testimony, knowing that she had been mistaken.

A horse had been stolen, and when Mr. Luellen went away for the night, he told his wife to keep an eye on the horses, and if she heard the dog bark, to look out. She therefore saw the two boys, Keen and Thomas as they went by, and thought it to be Hoopes and Lincoln coming from a Mormon meeting.

* 1825 or 1826 was the time when Hoopes was in the St. Joseph prison for ten months and one day. During this time, all the property and money he had collected was spent to feed and clothe the family, and for lawyer's fees. The last cow was sold for steamboat fare to Florence, Nebraska. Here, Brother Hoopes joined the family and his brother, Hyrum, from whom he got means for coming across the plains. Both Hoopes and his son were sick most of the way. Mrs. Hoopes, who had a young baby, drove a team and the children helped drive the cattle.

Brother Hoopes and Dan Lewis were both sick with fever and did not get much better until they reached the Black Hills. Dan Lewis had his knee swollen with rheumatism so that he had to use crutches. Rebecca worked as a hired girl for Hyrum Hoopes. Melissa worked for Bovier, brother-in-law of Hyrum Hoopes. She drove his cattle for him, riding horseback. She stayed with the Boviers the first winter in Grantsville.

Brother Hyrum Hoopes had been in Utah once, and had trouble with his bishop, and had taken his family back to Missouri. Here, he had nothing but trouble and sickness, so he decided to return to Utah. He had teams and wagons, and equipment so that he was able to give Warner Hoopes the job of helping him out. Brother Warner Hoopes and Dan Lewis should have driven the teams but were too ill. At the time of Johnston's Army, Hyrum Hoopes drove a team for the Army. His wagon was burned by Lot Smith -- wagon and all it contained, except the personal belongings of the drivers.

Brother Bovier promised Mrs. Hoopes milk for the children if they would catch and tie up a suckling calf at night. Adelaide, who was a little girl, succeeded in getting the rope on the calf's neck; but it, being nearly a year old, was too much for her and pulled her through the slough. She complained that Melissa had not come and helped her when she called.

When Brother Hoopes was in prison, young Dan Lewis went with his mother to visit him. He was so startled at seeing his father through the bars, that he fainted.

* Special note.... this history was typed as originally written by the author... more likely it was about 1858 that he was imprisoned.

Warner married Priscilla Gifford on 29 Jul 1840 in Brown, Illinois. Priscilla (daughter of Levi Gifford and Deborah Wing) was born on 3 Mar 1818 in Covington, Tioga, Pennsylvania; died on 2 Aug 1876 in Weston, Franklin, Idaho. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Covington, Tioga, Pennsylvania is now called Sullivan.

Notes:

Transcription of a handwritten history of his family by Morris Charles Phelps, here.

Transcriptions of some entries, from August 1851, of the journal of the Morris Phelps Emigrating Company.

Transcript of a journal of daily events kept by Morris Charles Phelps in Alpine, Utah from 1856 through 1859.

Much more about Morris Charles Phelps here.

By "SMSmith" at Find a Grave:

"Morris' line goes back to William Phelps who immigrated to America in 1630. Morris' mother was the descendant of a Hessian soldier who was captured at Trenton during the American Revolution. He then joined the colonial army and fought with Washington. Morris attended school in various frontier communities as his family moved west. They settled in Ohio and he had the opportunity to attend school briefly at Mentor, Ohio. His diaries and letters show a better than average vocabulary and he was excellent penman.

"When he was about nineteen years of age, he visited his relatives in Illinois. While there he met and fell in love with Laura Clark. Laura was born in New Fairfield, Connecticut on July 28, 1807. Morris and Laura were married March 26, 1826. They lived in Illinois for five years and their two oldest daughters, Paulina Eliza and Mary Ann were born there. They became interested in the new religion of Mormonism in 1831 and after several weeks of investigation, they were baptized in the Dupage River on August 18, 1831. They left Illinois two months later and joined the Saints in Missouri. Their daughter, Harriet Wight, was born soon after their arrival. Morris and his family were driven from their homes in Jackson County and moved north into Clay County. He was called on a mission for the church in 1834 and was sent to the states of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. This left Laura alone with her three daughters. She taught school and practiced obstetrics. Charles C. Rich traveled with Morris as his companion, Morris baptized Laura's parents who moved to Missouri and help her while Morris was away.

"Morris spent the winter of 1835-36 as a carpenter on the Kirtland Temple in Ohio. He was ordained a high priest and attended the dedication of the Temple on April 6, 1836. He then returned to his family in Missouri. He returned home in time to help his family move again because of persecution.

"Morris established a home on a small farm just outside of Far West and it was here that his first son, Joseph Morris was born in 1837. Although there was intense persecution and bitterness, this was a time of happiness for the family. Morris invested in a merchandising business and did quite well. The happiness did not last for long, because new mobs formed and caused a great deal of damage and sorrow. They raided the Phelps home and threatened Morris' life, but only killed his hogs, Morris said in his diary that 'I was attacked by the mob...my property was confiscated and I was made a prisoner. (October 31, 1838.) Was put in jail where I remained until July 4, 1839, from which made my escape with Parley P. Pratt, by the assistance of Orson Pratt and my wife, Laura.'

"While Morris was incarcerated, Laura and the children went with her parents to Montrose, Iowa. They found an abandoned farmhouse and made a home. Morris and Parley Pratt were chained with wrist and ankle irons in such a manner that they could only sleep on their backs. The story of Laura's plan to free her husband is amazing and illustrates the great faith courage. She and her brother, John Wesley Clark, rode horseback from Montrose to Columbia, Missouri, a distance of 160 miles. A grandson, Will R. Holmes left the following account: 'Here was her plan to free them: She would secrete three horses in some brush a short distance from the jail. As an excuse to get the jailer to unlock the prison door, she would suggest to the jailer that he open the door and pass the coffee pot in to the prisoners through the open door. Should the jailer unlock the door, it would be the signal to get busy, pull the door wide open, grab the jailer, throw him to the floor and flee for their lives.'

"Laura was warned by her brother, John not to touch the prisoners or assist them as that would be an offense. Will Holmes' history continues: 'The scheme worked but not without difficulties. The second door was unlocked and King Follett (one of the prisoners) pulled the door open and ran out, Parley P. Pratt was to follow and grandfather Phelps, being an athlete and wrestler, was to throw the jailer down and he would follow. It proved to be an exciting event...it was the fourth of Fourth of July and hundreds were nearby celebrating.'

"The escapees made it to where Orson Pratt and John Clark were waiting with the horses. They split up and made their way to Illinois. Morris was quite ill from exposure and being confined to prison for eight months. Laura was left to the mercy of the mob in Columbia. A young man sneaked her away from the angry mob and then assisted her in returning to Illinois where she found friends.

"Morris went on another mission east in 1839. He took Laura with him and also his youngest child, Joseph. Another son, Jacob Spencer, was born in Indiana. Morris' writings reveal the next tragic event, which occurred shortly after the end of the mission to the east. 'Rested a few days, got our children together and settled in Macedonia, Illinois, 25 miles east of Nauvoo. Here we lived in peace and quiet for some time. My wife, Laura, acting in the capacity of a midwife, by over exertion and by traveling day and night, took sick 1st of February and died on the 9th of February, 1842.'

"Laura's death was a great sorrow to Morris, especially with the five small children. Persecution against the Mormons was beginning in Illinois and he worried about protecting them from the mobs. Morris met Sara Thompson, the daughter of David and Leah L. Thompson. Sara was twenty-two years old and a schoolteacher. She was born March 20, 1820 in Pompey, New York and had come to Nauvoo with her widowed mother. Morris and Sara were married March 27, 1842 and they moved into Nauvoo where Morris could work on the temple. Two daughters were born to them while living in Nauvoo, but both died in infancy. Laura's youngest child, Jacob, was accidentally scalded to death. Morris' daughters Mary Ann and Paulina married Charles C. Rich and Amasa M. Lyman respectively. Hyrum Smith Phelps, Sara's third child, was born in Nauvoo on February 26, 1846. This was the bitter cold night that many saints were being driven from their homes and across the Mississippi River.

"The Phelps family reached Winter Quarters in the fall of 1846. They remained here for five years and prepared for the journey to the mountains. Morris spent five his time building and repairing wagons and travel equipment. Morris married Martha Barker Holmes on February 26, 1848. Martha was fifty years and the mother of James Holmes, who later married Morris' daughter, Harriet. They came to Utah together in 1851 and settled in Alpine. Morris and James Holmes owned interest in a sawmill and other properties in Alpine. Morris served as an Alderman and as a counselor in the bishopric while they lived in Alpine. In June, 1864, both men pulled up stakes and followed Charles C. Rich to Bear Lake.

"Morris' first home in Montpelier was a one room log hut with a dirt floor and a dirt roof. The floor was covered with straw and the roof leaked. The door was made of wooden planks with a latch that was operated by a buckskin, which was pulled in at night for a lock. The furniture was homemade and the beds were made of small poles bored into the walls and supported with crossbeams. The mattress was made of straw. The logs were obtained from 'Joe's Gap,' a narrow gorge two miles north of Montpelier, which opened into a pine-covered canyon. It was Morris's son, Joseph, who found the narrow ravine, and ever since that time it has been called 'Joe's Gap.' The food was cooked on open fireplaces or in Dutch ovens covered with coals. Clothing was all hand made. Every family had its spinning wheel and each community had good weavers. Sarah T. Phelps was one of the most prominent weavers. Most all of the clothing was made from homespun cloth. Men wore buckskin shirts and britches and beaver vests and caps to keep them warm.

"The first year, 1864, an early frost damaged the crops. Teams went to Cache Valley for flour, but before they got back it snowed so hard that they were unable to reach the settlements without additional aid. The winter was a long and severe one, the snow was deep and blizzards made travel impossible. Communication between settlements was made on snowshoes. By spring most of the people were eating frozen potatoes or sticky bread made from frozen wheat.

"Morris later built a large, two-story home with wooden floor and shingle roof, the first in Montpelier. This became a center for community gatherings. He became postmaster of Montpelier in 1869 and was ordained a patriarch by Brigham Young in 1873. Sarah was the first President of the Relief Society in Montpelier. She also served the community as a midwife and she delivered 580 women without a loss. Morris and Sarah lost one daughter, Martha, in Montpelier, who was nineteen. Their daughters, Amanda and Olive, grew to maturity. A son, Charles Wilks, died as a child. Morris and Sarah had seven children, but raised only three. Morris Phelps died at Montpelier on May 22, 1876. After his death Sarah moved to Mesa, Arizona with her son Hyrum. She died there on January 31, 1896."

Regarding the birth date and place of Morris Charles Phelps: Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve ed. Mrs. Gertrude van Rensselaer Wickham (Women's Department of the Cleveland Centennial Commission, 1896), quoted at length here, says that Spencer Phelps came to the township of Leroy in the Western Reserve in 1803, that Mary "Keneep" arrived two years later, and that Spencer and Mary were married there in December 1807. If this is true (which is obviously not established), it calls into question whether Morris Charles Phelps was in fact born on 20 Dec 1805 in Northampton, Massachusetts as reported in many family histories and on his headstone in Montpelier, Idaho. It's worth noting that we have been unable to find any record of the birth of any Morris Phelps in western Massachusetts in the first decade of the 19th century. Is it possible that Morris Charles Phelps was actually born circa 1808 in Ohio? This would mean he began courting Laura Clark Baldwin on his trip to Illinois when he was actually sixteen, and married her in Laurenceville when he was about eighteen -- exactly the ages at which a young man might be tempted to add two years to his claimed age, particularly when far away from any close relatives who might contradict him.

Morris married Sarah Thompson on 27 Mar 1842 in Hancock, Illinois. Sarah (daughter of David John Thompson and Leah Lewis) was born on 20 Mar 1820 in Pomfret, Chautauqua, New York; died on 31 Jan 1896 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Allegedly she and her mother Leah Lewis were founding members of the Relief Society when it was organized on 17 Mar 1842, but neither of them is mentioned in Wikipedia's coverage of that first meeting.

From Sarah Thompson Phelps, a memoir by her granddaughter Barbara Ann Phelps Allen:

Grandma was born March 20, 1820. Her parents were James and Leah Lewis Thompson. When she was four years old, her father died leaving her mother with seven small children, making it necessary for her to start out early in life making her own way. In spite of poverty, she succeeded in acquiring sufficient education to be able to teach school.

When she was eleven years old, the gospel came into their home. She, together with her mother and other members of the family except one brother, joined and were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After they joined, their friends turned against them, and from then on their trials began. They were driven from place to place and finally forced to flee to the Rocky Mountains. She was brave and courageous as a young woman.

She taught school when she was a young woman. It was customary for teachers to board among the homes of their pupils, which she did, and in doing so she learned many of the plots and schemes of the mobs to assassinate the Saints. She kept the saints posted, and when the final plot came for the general roundup of the saints, she made a dash on horseback to give the alarm to her people. She was followed for five miles one time, but her horse being fastest, she made her escape. Another time when she was teaching, she went to a home to collect her pay, and the people refused to pay. They said their intentions were to drive all the Mormons out and take the crops that they had recently harvested. She told them what she thought of them. While she was speaking, a voice came to her telling her to leave the next morning as soon as she arose. She did, and as she was leaving, she saw the mob coming and they tried to kill her.

At the time of Haun's Mill Massacre, she lived but a few miles from the mill on the creek; some of those who were fortunate enough to get away came to her home. While the mob was going through the country, they crossed the creek where Grandma and all the women were washing clothes. She told many times how they looked, saying they had their faces painted and were disguised in every imaginable way. Some of the women were so frightened, they fainted, but grandma shouted, "Hooray for the captain!" Two of the men rode up to her and asked if she wasn't afraid of them. She said she hadn't been raised in the woods to be afraid of owls. They asked her if she didn't recognize them, and she said she did not. They told her she should, they were her old neighbors. She then asked them what they intended to do, and one replied, "Kill everyone on the creek." Grandma asked what they had done that they should be killed. Their reply was they did not know, they were only obeying orders. On two different occasions, she was chased by a mob who tried to shoot her, but their guns refused to go off.

One time when they had been driven from their home, she said they had traveled all day in the rain driving their cattle. She had on a sunbonnet that was quilted so that cardboard slats could be inserted. The rain had dissolved the slats, and the front of her bonnet flopped in her face. She was soaked to the skin, weary and tired after plodding the mud all day. As they were passing a farm house, a lady saw her and invited her into her home to dry her clothes and get warm. She was taken into the parlor by the fireplace. There were two young ladies and their boy friends sitting there, and when they saw grandma they burst out laughing. She said she was nearly in tears; she looked them in the eye and said, "You must have been born in the woods."

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 27 Sep 1827, Fowler, St. Lawrence, Jefferson, New York
• Alternate death: 29 May 1883, St. David, Cochise, Arizona

Notes:

A memoir of his daughter Mary Elizabeth Bingham, by her daughter Barbara Ann Phelps, calls him "Calvin Perry Bingham."

From The Bingham Family in the United States, citation details below:

Calvin and his family were with the earliest Mormon groups to move across America. The oldest child of Lucius Augustus, Calvin was born in NY, lived in Upper Canada as a child, and by 1840 when he was thirteen, lived with the Mormon group in Henderson, Knox Co IL. About 1848, probably in IA after the Mormons moved to Pottawattamie Co, Calvin married Elizabeth Lucretia Thorn. He, his wife and her entire family, mother and siblings lived in one household in 1850.

Between 1853 and 1867, Calvin and his family lived in several different UT settlements. They then lived for about ten years in Montpelier, Bear Lake Co ID before returning to Box Elder Co UT by 1880. After Calvin died in AZ in 1883, wife Elizabeth moved to Vernal, Uintah Co UT where she lived with grown children William and Alice in 1900.

Posted to ancestry.com by user NORDSEEKER, with the remark: "This account was written by their great grandson, Wes Martin. I don't know where he got all the information, but I found it typed on the back of a family group sheet in his genealogy book."

"Calvin Bingham was the son of Lucius and Sarah Stone Bingham. He was born Sept. 7, 1827 in Fowler, St. Lawrence County, New York. He was the oldest of eight children: four brothers--Benjamin, Augustus, Perry, and Prosper-- and three sisters: Emeline, Lucy, and MaryJane.

"His mother died about 1849. His father remarried but never came west to Utah. Calvin was baptized into the Mormon church at the age of seventeen in Bannock County, Illinois in 1844.

"Elizabeth Lucretia Thorn was the daughter of Ashael and Sarah Lester Thorn, born in Monrovia, Cayuga county, New York on March 25, 1832. She was the second child in a family of ten: three boys--William L., Richard, and Isaac, and seven girls--Maryann, Sarah, Nancy, Lydia, Abigale, Barbara Ann, and Elizabeth Lucretia. Her mother died about 1852 and her father re-married Elizabeth Lusk, a widow. They came west with his family.

"Calvin and Elizabeth were married December 18, 1848 in Pottawatamie, Iowa. Sarah and Calvin were born to them here. In 1853 they and several other members of the Thorn family moved west to Utah settleing in the West Weber area (now known as Uintah). Their third child, Mary Elizabeth, was born here. While living in Uintah, Calvin was called to serve in Col. Johnson's army. They were among the saints that made the move south--leaving their homes to be burned if necessary. On returning they settled in Farmington, Utah, where Lucy Melissa, their fourth child, was born. Later they moved to Three Mile Creek which is now known as Perry, Utah. In about 1857, the Ashael Thorn family moved here too and they built their homes near each other. Barbara Ann, their fifth child was born here. Three years later in 1860 they moved to Hyrum, Utah.

"Being among the first settlers in Hyrum, they took an active part in civic and church activities. Calvin became the first Bishop of Hyrum and was loved and remembered by people for a great many years. Two more children were born to them here, Anna Marie and Ashael.

"In 1865 they were called to settle the Bear Lake, Idaho area. They settled in Montpelier where due to very harsh winters, they lost their crops. Very discouraged, they returned to Hyrum, Utah. Their son, William Augustus, was born here in Montpelier.

"About 1868 they returned to Montpelier. Elizabeth taught the first school in town--teaching out of their small log home. Another daughter, Lydia Emeline, was born to them here. Later, they built a large home on the banks of the creek that ran through town. Their last two children were born here--Orissa Vilate and Alice. Orissa Vilate died at nine months old. Also at this residence, their daughter, Lucy Melissa Bigham Williams, died after giving birth to a baby girl. She was only eighteen years old. This two week old baby girl was raised by her grandparents, Calvin and Elizabeth.

"In 1878, the Binghams, their married son and daughters, and a large group of other people left Montpelier intending to go to Arizona and settle an area there. But upon reaching Salem, Utah, they decided to stop there for a year or so. The Perry Bingham family and the Robert H. Williams family were among those that settled in Salem for that short time. In 1880, with several other families including the Alonzo Bingham family, Calvin and Elizabeth headed for Arizona again. They stopped in St. Johns, Arizona where their daughter, Anna Marie and husband William were living. They stayed there until 1891 when they moved to St. David, Arizona. Arriving on Christmas Day, they joined others of the original group who had settled that area and started up a freighting business. This business engaged in the freight business between Benson, Tombstone and Bisbee. Although Calvin was a blacksmith by trade, he found freighting more profitable. So he bought a team of large horses to go with the team he already had, and followed this occupation for a little more than a year.

"Calvin Bingham left his home with a wagon loaded with freight for Bisbee, about 56 miles from St. David. On the following day, May 27,1883, while going down a steep grade, his freight wagon upset pinning him under the wagon and causing his death.

"His body was brought home by three men from his ward. Funeral services were held in the ward at St. David May 29, 1883. Speakers were Patriarch P.C. Merrill, President David P. Kimball, J.H. Martineau, Bishop Henry Horn, and S.B. Merrill, who all spoke highly of the integrity, faithfullness and honesty of Calvin. After the death of her husband, Elizabeth Lucretia Bingham, with her family consisting of the younger children Ashael, William, Emeline, Lucy Jane, a grand-daughter, and Alice moved to Mesa, Arizona where her three oldest children, Clarinda, Mary Elizabeth Phelps, and Calvin Perry Bingham lived. She had only been there a short time when another sorrow came into her life. Ashael, then 23 years old, had an appendicitis attack and died just four months after his father's death.

"The family spent three years in Mesa and then returned to their former home in Montpelier, Idaho. Then in 1888 they moved to Vernal, Utah where Lucretia spent the remainder of her life. She was a faithful LDS woman and worked in the Relief Society organization. While in Montpelier she had been called to work among the sick and dying. She helped make burial clothes and to dress and lay out the dead. She underwent many hardships of the early pioneers. She learned to be thrifty and to economize so she could feed and clothe her family. It is said that when she bought a piece of calico, she would tear a quilt block from it for the quilt she was making. She made very nice quilts that were the envy of her friends and neighbors. Thread was expensive, so she would ravel out cloth to sew her blocks together with. She taught her 11 children to be thrifty and industrious too. She passed away at her home in Vernal Nov. 28, 1903 as a result of a heart attack."

Calvin married Elizabeth Lucretia Thorne on 18 Dec 1848 in Big Pigeon, Pottawattamie, Iowa. Elizabeth (daughter of Ashal Enoch Thorne and Sarah Lester) was born on 25 Mar 1832 in Moravia, Cayuga, New York; died on 28 Nov 1903 in Vernal, Uintah, Utah; was buried in Vernal Memorial Park, Vernal, Uintah, Utah. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]