Gideon Mead

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1743, Nine Partners, Dutchess, New York
• Alternate birth: Bef 1750
• Alternate death: 27 Sep 1814, Chester, Warren, New York

Notes:

He and his wife were second cousins once removed, by virtue of him being a great-great grandson of John Mead and Hannah Potter while she was a great-granddaughter of the same couple.

Gideon married Martha Fiske about 1768. Martha (daughter of Jonathan Fiske and Abigail Mead) was born between 1745 and 1750 in Greenwich, Fairfield, Connecticut; died on 13 Oct 1813 in Chester, Warren, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 13 Mar 1854, Ogden, Weber, Utah

Notes:

"Daniel McBride married Abigail Mead, who was born in 1770 in Dutchess County, New York. She descended from the Quaker Mead and Fiske families of Fairfield County, Connecticut. Abigail joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1833, almost 10 years after Daniel's death, as did most of their 9 children, and, after living in Kirtland, Ohio and Nauvoo, Illinois, emigrated to Utah in 1847, one of the oldest persons to cross the plains to Utah in that first settlement year." [Our Crandall and Beckstead Ancestors]

It's notable that Abigail Mead was descended from Meads on both sides -- her father was a Mead, and her mother's mother was one as well.

Out of all of TNH's Mormon pioneer ancestors, she may or may not have been the first to be baptised into the church, but born in 1770, she was certainly the oldest. She was born before the Revolution and lived to see the Salt Lake Valley.

From Our Crandall and Beckstead Ancestors:

About 1829, Abigail heard of the mysterious visions of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and wholly believed in them. She was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on June 25, 1833. The entire family also joined the church.

In the spring of 1835, they sold their farms at great sacrifices and traveled to Kirtland, Ohio to be with the rest of the Saints. The trip was made by stagecoach and canal boat, which took about six days.

They donated liberally to the building of the city of Kirtland and to the temple. With six of her children, Abigail enjoyed the heavenly manifestations given at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple on March 27, 1836. Her son, Reuben, became the custodian of the Kirtland Temple.

She received her patriarchal blessing from Joseph Smith, Sr. on June 8, 1836. The following is the body of the blessing:

"My aged sister, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world, and by the power and authority of the Priesthood, I lay my hands on thy head; and on the heads of thy posterity, confer a blessing. Thou hast had sorrow and affliction out of which the Lord is delivering thee. He has established thy faith. Thou has obeyed the Gospel of the Savior. Thy name is been written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Thou art of the lineage of Abraham. If thou holdest on thy way, the time will come when thou, like Job, shall see God, in the flesh, standing upon the earth. Thou shalt see angels and receive the communication of the Holy Ghost. Thy children shall stand in the covenant, by the power of God, thou shalt go to Zion, and be in good health. Thy mind shall be strong and rejoice in thy God. Thou shalt not want for the things of this life. Give up thyself to God and thou shalt see they redeemer, who thou desirest to know. Thou shalt be a member of the Celestial World. I seal these blessings upon thy head. I seal these things up to eternal life. Amen and amen."

Abigail endured the persecutions attending the twelve thousand members of the church in their migration to Nauvoo, Illinois. [...]

Abigail assembled with the huge crowd when Joseph led his famous Nauvoo Legion, in their elegant uniforms with their plumed hats, through the streets of Nauvoo for the last time. She heard his famous farewell address, with unsheathed sword, pointing heavenward in defense of his followers, from the top of an unfinished building.

Shortly after the Prophet was martyred, with deepest sorrow, she was able to view his remains, along with thousands of tear-stained companions. [...]

Abigail was present on August 8, 1844, when the mantle of Joseph Smith fell upon Brigham Young. She heard Brigham Young's declaration that he was the rightful leader of the Saints and would lead them safely to the tops of the Rocky Mountains, as predicted by the martyred Prophet.

Abigail was endowed on January 28, 1846, in the Nauvoo Temple. She was among the Saints expelled from Nauvoo, who made their homes in tents, covered wagons, and hurriedly erected log cabins across the Mississippi River.

She joined the first emigrant company to follow Brigham Young, leaving Elk Horn on June 17, 1847. She endured the inconveniences of the long trek in this huge company of fifteen hundred men, women, and children, who were in five hundred sixty wagons, with five thousand head of stock. They traveled between four to eleven miles a day, taking turns by the hundreds in leading the caravan.

On September 4, 1847, they rejoiced in meeting Brigham Young and his party, who had come to lead them into the Salt Lake Valley. Three days later, a great feast was arranged, concluding with a dance; an Indian attack followed. It was the latter part of September when they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.

Abigail was described as a short, rather stout, fine old lady with a square face and a fair complexion.

Abigail married Rev. Daniel McBride in 1787 in Stillwater, Saratoga, New York. Daniel (son of Samuel McBride and Margaret Brown) was born on 13 Sep 1766 in Stillwater, Saratoga, New York; died on 1 Sep 1823 in Le Roy, Genesee, New York; was buried in Genesee, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Nancy married George Davis on 28 Jan 1795 in Saratoga, Saratoga, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Fanny married Jonathan Westgate on 8 Oct 1817 in Chester, Washington, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Charles Starbuck. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Newcomb Mead. Newcomb (son of Nehemiah Mead and Sarah Newcomb) was born on 12 Nov 1775. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Hannah Wheeler. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Avis. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 9 Jul 1783, Stillwater, Saratoga, New York

James married Betsy Mead in 1818 in York, Livingston, New York. Betsy was born on 6 Feb 1802 in Chester, Washington, New York; died on 8 Oct 1881 in Hyrum, Cache, Utah; was buried in Hyrum, Cache, Utah. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1 Jun 1792
• Alternate birth: 1 Jun 1794, Chester, Washington, New York

Notes:

Baptized into the LDS, along with her husband and some of their children, 16 Apr 1833 in Villanova, New York. [Our Crandall and Beckstead Ancestors]

The baptisms were performed by Amasa M. Lyman and William F. Cahoon. [David Crandall]

In 1842, her sister Martha McBride became one of the plural wives of Joseph Smith.

Margaret married David Crandall about 1810. David (son of Pardon Crandall and Susannah Wells) was born in 1789 in Hebron, Washington, New York; died on 12 Mar 1861 in La Harpe, Hancock, Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Sally Davis. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Almira Parsons. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 6 Jun 1803, Chester, Washington, New York

Family/Spouse: Mary A. Anderson. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From Wikipedia:

Martha McBride Knight Smith Kimball (March 17, 1805 – November 20, 1901) was a founding member of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which was organized on her birthday in 1842. She was married to early Latter Day Saint leader Vinson Knight, by whom she had seven children. In 1842 she was sealed as a plural wife to Joseph Smith, Jr. In January 1846, she was married polygamously to Heber C. Kimball, by whom she had one child, a son, who was born at Winter Quarters and died there as an infant. She later emigrated to Utah Territory, where she resided in various locations across the territory until her death at age 96. She was a witness to, and in some instances a key participant in, some of the pivotal events in early Latter Day Saint history.

Martha McBride Knight at the Remembering the Wives of Joseph Smith site.

From the Ogden Standard Examiner, November 21, 1901:

Death Of Pioneer Woman -- Was The Wife Of The Prophet Joseph Smith -- She Was Well Known and Esteemed in Weber County -- Identified With The Early History Of The Church.

Kimball, of Hooper, died yesterday, received word that Mrs. Martha Smith Kimball, of Hooper, died yesterday morning at 5 o'clock, of old age. She was one of the most notable women in Utah, having taken a very active part in the early history of the Mormon Church.

She was born in Chester, Washington County, New York, March 17, 1805 and was married to Vinson Knight, July 26, 1826. Mr. Knight was for a time presiding bishop of the church and was one of two men chosen by the church to purchase the townsite of Nauvoo and in Hancock County.

They were baptized into the church in 1834, Mrs. Knight became a member of the Relief Society of the Church which was organized in Nauvoo.

Mr. Knight died July 31, 1842, at Nauvoo and in August 1942, she was sealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Nauvoo Temple.

She came to Utah in 1850, settling in Ogden, where she made her home for a number of years. She went to Hooper in 1869, where she has lived most of the time since, although visiting often with relatives in other parts of Utah.

After the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, she was married to Heber C. Kimball and by him had one child who died in infancy.

She was the mother of six other children by her first husband, Mr. Knight, and three of them survive her, all of them being between 70 and 80 years of age. They are Mrs. Almira Hanscom, who resides near Akron, Ohio; Mrs. Adeline Belnap, Living at Hooper, this county, and James Knight, who resides at Circleville, Piute County.

She had a great many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Pictures of the old lady grouped with four of her direct descendants are to be found in the homes of most of her Ogden relatives.

The physical strength and endurance of Mrs. Knight was well-nigh marvelous. For nearly twenty years she had not used spectacles. Her needlework was a model of fineness amongst all her acquaintances for the past fifty years. She was a great reader, particularly of the daily papers, reading every word of telegraphic news, and during the Spanish-American War she was regarded as one of the best posted persons in Weber County on the military operations of the contending forces.

Two or three years ago at a birthday reunion of the family held in her honor, Mrs. Knight was called on for a speech and prefaced one of considerable length with a recital of the tremendous changes which had taken place in her lifetime, mentioning the steam engine, the modern printing press and the telegraph. To illustrate this latter she described with what slowness news traveled when she was a young woman of 40, and wound up her recital of how on that very day the entire country was able to watch every detail of a little affair at Carson City when Corbett was knocked out by Fitzsimmons.

The Belnap family of Ogden are relatives. The funeral services will take place in the Hooper meeting house at 12 o'clock and the remains will be interred by the side of her mother, Mrs. Abigail McBride. The mother was sealed to Joseph Smith Sr., at Nauvoo.

Martha married Vinson Knight on 26 Jul 1826 in Cattaraugus, New York. Vinson was born on 14 Mar 1804 in Norwich, Hampshire, Massachusetts; died on 31 Jul 1842 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Martha married Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1842. Joseph was born on 23 Dec 1805 in Sharon, Windsor, Vermont; died on 27 Jun 1844 in Carthage, Hancock, Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Martha married Heber Chase Kimball in Jan 1846. Heber was born on 14 Jun 1801 in Sheldon, Franklin, Vermont; died on 22 Jun 1868 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

His wedding to Tryphena Bisbee was performed by Hyrum Smith, brother of Joseph Smith. He and his family were among the eight families that founded what is now Springville, Utah.

Life sketch of Myron Nathan Crandall, author unknown:

Myron Nathan Crandall, the fourth child of David Crandall and Margret McBride, was born in Genessee County, western New York on 17 Aug 1818. In 1823 the family moved to Villanova, NY where they lived for about eleven years. There they heard the gospel, joined the church and moved to Kirtland, Ohio. Myron Nathan was fifteen years old. The family then followed the church migrations from Kirtland to Missourit then to Quincy, IL and later to LaHarpe, IL, not far from Nauvoo.

On Jan 26, 1841 Myron Nathan married Tryphena Bisbee who had joined the church in 1837 and was living in Nauvoo. They were married in her Uncle Noah Packard's home by Hyrum Smith, brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Two children were born to them in Illinois, Julia Ann 26 Nov 1841 and Hyrum Oscar 26 Apr 1844. Persecution was so strong against the church the members were forced to leave Illinois.

In Aug 1844 Myron Nathan's mother died and in 1845 his father married Mrs. Jerusha Smith who was not interested in following the Saints when most of them left Illinois and moved to Iowa. David, his nine year old daughter, Margret Ann, and his new wife, Jerusha, stayed in LaHarpe. Margaret Ann died there at age seventeen.

Myron Nathan, his married brothers and sisters with their spouses and children, and his three unmarried brothers left Illinois about 1847 and settled in Kanesville, Iowa. Myron Nathan built the first dugout in the community. In 1848 his third child, Myron Edgar was born and during this period their first child, Julia Ann suffered a severe hip injury which left her permanetly crippled and they were unable to travel with her for some time.

Early in June 1850 the Crandalls left Kanesville to go to Utah with the Aaron Johnson Company. There were 22 in the Crandall group as follows: Eliza Crandall, her husband John Deal and 4 children; Myron N Crandall, his wife Tryphena Bisbee and 3 children; Spicer Wells, his wife Orinda Spafford; Emiline Crandall, husband Richard Bird and 2 children; Laura Crandall her husband Willis K Johnson; Martin Pardon Crandall age 20 unmarried; Lucien Delancy Crandall age 18 unmarried; Nelson David Crandall age 16 unmarried.

While in Kanesville Myron Nathan owned a six acre farm, had a span of horses, two yoke of oxen, two cows and sufficient provisions to last two years; consequently, they came across the plains with fewer hardships than many of the Saints. Myron's kindness and thoughtfulness for his wife, who was pregnant, was shown by his taking a rocking chair and a small cook stove for her comfort and a hammock for his crippled daughter which swung from the wagon bows and made her journey more bearable.

In the latter part of June tragedy struck the company. Aaron Johnson's wife, Polly Kelsey, Spicer Crandall's wife Irinda Spafford, her mother four of her brothers and sisters and Willis K Johnson, husband of Laura Crandall, all died of Cholera. They were buried near the Platte river in Nebraska.

The Aaron Johnson Company arrived in Salt Lake 12 September 1850. Brigham Young requested the first eight wagons to go to Springville and build a fort there. The teams comprised those of Aaron Johnson, Myron Nathan Crandall, Martin Pardon Crandall, William Miller, John W Deal, Richard Bird, and Amos Warren and his brother.

In November 1850 Myron Nathan and Tryphena's fourth child, Franklin Austin, was born, the first child born in the settlement.

Before the first winter set in a fort was competed and the church organization effected. The Springville fort was built on a rise and covered 1.5 acres of ground. It was located near the northwest corner of Main and Center streets. All the houses faced the enclosure with their doors and window opening into it. For safety measures there were no windows on the outside of the cabins. There were gates on the east and west sides of the fort and bastions at the corners. In times of trouble the cattle were driven inside the enclosure for protection.

Aaron Johnson was the first bishop with William Miller and Myron Nathan Crandall as his counselors. For the first two years church was held in the fort but later Aaron Johnson built a large adobe home with one large room reserved for church, social gatherings and dances.

During the winter of 1851-2 Springville was surveyed and a site chosen for a city square and a school. The rest of the lots which were 12.5 rods square were chosen by drawing a number out of a box. The lot drawn by Myron Nathan is located at what is now the northwest corner of Main street and Second north.

In 1852 the legislature approved a charter for Springville and held an election to appoint a mayor and alderman. Myron Nathan was appointed an alderman and his duties included acting as Justice of the Peace, a position he held until his death.

Myron Nathan had received his endowmnets at Nauvoo but was not sealed until it could be done in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City.

He entered into plural marriage with Susanna Wimmer 9 Dec 1854 and with Mary Hurst 11 Mar 1857. He was a hard worker and a good provider.

While sickling grain Myron Nathan became overheated, contracted pneumonia and died 4 August 1860, age 42. He was survived by his three wives and eleven children, seven by Tryphena, two by Susanna Wimmer and two by Mary Hurst.

Tryphena died in 1863 and she and Myron Nathan are buried in the old Springville cemetery with a suitable marker on their graves. His other wives married his brothers. Susanna Wimmer Crandall married Spicer Wills Crandall and gave birth to seven more children. she died in 1918. Mary Hurst Crandall married Martin Pardon Crandall and had one child. In 1875 she married Amost Maycock and had three more children.

While the life of Myron Nathan Crandall covered only 42 years it was a life filled with hardship, responsibilities and tribulations but also major accomplishments, blessings and rewards. He was a valiant pioneer and a most faithful church leader.

Myron Nathan's father, David, and his mother, Margret McBride, led the family into the church and journeyed together from Villanova to Missouri and Nauvoo. Myron Nathan, his good wife and his brothers and sisters stayed together through the tribulations from Nauvoo to Utah. The Crandall posterity now numbers in the thousands and the benefits of the struggles and hardships their ancestors endured in remaining faithful to the church.

Myron married Tryphena Bisbee on 26 Jan 1841 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois. Tryphena (daughter of James Bisbee and Polly Packard) was born on 4 Apr 1819 in McDonough, Chenango, New York; died on 12 Oct 1863 in Springville, Utah, Utah. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]