Morgan Pioneer History Binds Us Together Short Sketch of the Eife of Nancy Boss My mother, Nancy Boss, was born in Davidson County, North Carolina, on March 26, 1829, daughter of Philip Boss and Obedience Brown Boss. Her father passed away in 1838, leaving grandmother with nine children, six sons and three daughters. She moved with her children to Illinois in 1838 where her family allied themselves with the Mormon Church and gathered at Nauvoo in 1842, at the time of Prophet Joseph's death. She was employed as a servant girl at the home of Colonel Williams, the man that led the mob that killed the Prophet. She prepared the dinner for the mob before they started to the jail. Knowing she was a Mormon girl, Colonel Williams refused to let her leave the house. The mob burned her mother's house. Her mother seemed to be a person who could make friends, was loved and respected by all. She was called "Aunt Biddy." One of her non-Mormon friends warned her to get out and leave her home as the mob intended to burn it. That night she took her children and what things they could carry and went down to the swamps to sleep. She said the mosquitoes nearly ate them up. The home was not burned that night, but it was burned the next night. Not knowing that Colonel Williams was the leader of the mob, Nancy took employment at his home, being glad to get work. He threatened her life if she attempted to escape from there. Nancy said that the mob carried on like demons and she heard them planning the martyrdom. The night before they killed the Prophet, they painted their faces black and drank whiskey, acting a though they had gone mad. Nancy's room was upstairs and she was sitting on the stairs as she heard Colonel Williams say, "Every nit makes a louse, let's kill her." She was very badly frightened, not knowing when they would come up to kill her, but they did not come. The next night after they had murdered the Prophet, they returned to the house and seemed very frightened. They acted like crazy men. Somehow Nancy received word from Captain James Brown that he would be waiting for her down in the woods, where she met him, mounted his horse and made her escape. She remained with her mother until 1846, when the family left Nauvoo, they came to Utah in 1849. She married Daniel Berry Rawson in November of that year. Nancy Boss Rawson was the mother of eight daughters and two sons. She died August 20,1888, at Farr West, Weber County, Utah. She had been a kind and affectionate mother, a faithful friend to the poor and needy, always ready to assist in Relief Society work. Simmons Hall The Simmons Hall was a social center for a number of years. Dancing wasn't the only activity. Besides the local groups, theatrical groups came in from the outside and would stay for a week at a time. They also had some of the old Medicine Shows with their stunt acting and noisy music, then the performers would go through the audience selling their cure-all medicines. The hall was later turned into a roller skating rink and they even had their own orchestra for music while skating. {Mountains Conquered, Fine Arts Study Group, 1959, pp. 54-55.) From Samuel & Esther Family Organization, ©1984.