e TITLE PAGE PIONEER {full name) BIRTH (date and place} DEATH (date and. place) PARENTS . MARR IED (wh o and date) ARRIVA L IN UTAH (date) (Company arrived with) HISTORY (who wrote) (date written) (who submitted) (address ) CAMP & COUNTY SUBMITTING Hannah Bigle r Miller 24 June 1820 - Harrison County. Virginia 13 March 190 5 Jacob Bigler Eli7.a beth Harvey Daniel A. Miller 29 December 1844 4 September 1848 Jean Deamer Bigler Rt. l Box 250, Morgan, Utah 84050 _ w_e_b_e_r_R_i_v_e_r _______~ Carnp _M_o_r_g_a_n_ ___________ County ( Camp Histor i an & address )_ ___J_ e_a_n_ B_1· g_l_e_r_ ____________ Rt. 1 Box 250, Morgan, Utah 84050 County Historian & address)- --------------------- Veloy Tonks Dickson PO Box 203, Morgan, Utah 84050 · SOURCE OF INFORMATION & PAGE NUMBERS: My aunt, Arlene Tays om of 1017 35th Street , Ogden, Uta h, received this history from a relative in Wyoming. No r e cord was kept of the name of the p ers on that mail e d it or wrote it . . e HANNAH BIGLER MILLER Hannah Miller, daught er of Jacob Bigler and Elba beth Harvey Bigler, was born 24 June 1820, at Harrison County, Virginia. Little is known of her childhood and youth. Her mother died when she was about seven years old leaving three children, Henry, Hannah and Emeline. They stayed at the home of their Grandmother Harvey until the marriage of fheir father to Sarah Cunningham. After this marriage other children were born --Adam, Mark, Andrew , Jacob and Sally. In speaking of her childhood home, Hannah mentioned the numerous Neg ro children who lived near them and worked on the surrounding plantations. Her opportunities for schooling were limited due to the fact that children on the frontiers were expected to help on the farm and in the home for the maintenance of the family. In 1838, Jacob Big ler and family accepted the M;ormon g ospel and moved to Far West where the body of the church was then located. At that time the Saints were being driven from place to place by their enemies. The followin g year the Saints were exterminated from the State of Missouri and went to Illinois. The Bigler family located in Adams County. In 1839, they moved up into Hancock County about four miles from Carthage and carried o n farming. They endured persecution and the privations incident to the establishment of the Later-day gospel. Hannah related an incident in the expulsion from Missouri. As they were nearing their day• s travel they had intended to stop for the night at Haun• s Mill but on arriving there decided to go farther. That very night the Haun• s Mill massacre occured. Had they remained there as they first intended they would e e -2- undoubtedl y have met the same fate as did some of thei r friends. This occurance left such an impression on Hannah's mind with so many other tragic incidents that transpired in her early life which i n some girls would have developed fear and weakness, but to h er was given courage and strength of character and s he had no fear of friend or foe. As a girl, beaming with a cheerful disposition and a heart full of love and sympathy for others, she was ever ready to assis t those who needed her help. In the earl y summer in 1844, she went into the h ome of Daniel S. Miller whose wife la y seriously ill. There were five young children ranging from three to ten years. Here Hannah nursed the sick mother, cared for the children and after months of suffering, the afflicted wife of Daniel A. Miller passed away on l September 1844. Hannah remained in the M i ller home sometime a ft er this death. The child-re n dearly loved h er and she in return loved them. Lat er their Aunt Almira Miller took care of them until the 29 December 1844, when Hannah became the wife of Daniel A. Miller . Joseph Smith, the prophet, and his brother, Hyrum, had been martyred at Carthage and persecution of the Saints continued. Many of their homes had been burned and the inmates left des titute. V ery often they were car ed for by the Miller family. Aunt Hannah, as she was now lovingl y called , always had house room and heart room for those in dis tress . In February 1846 , most of the S :;i ints were compelled to leave their homes and they crossed the Mississippi River on the ice. On the 1st of March of that year, D aniel A. and his brother, Henry W. , disposed of what property they could and fitted up wagons to move westwa rd with the Saints t o the Rocky Mountains . e -3 - Aunt Hannah's first babe was just a few weeks ol d when they left their home. She a l so had the five motherl ess children of h e r husband's to care for. The weather was col d and stormy, the b l eak w i nds howl ed through their wagon covers as they travel ed day after day through a w ild, desolate country. Their prog ress was very slow. They had to make roads and build bridges over streams. The Miller families were in the advanced company of Saints. They formed temporary settlements along the way for those Saints who coul d g o no fart h er and for those who should follow l ater ·on. They traveled on till the middle of June when they reached the Missouri River . And, as it was now decided, that the Saints should remain here till the next spring. The Miller brothers bought a house and some land off a Frenchman near Misquito Creek, about nine miles eas t of the Missouri River Several families located here. At first it was called Miller• s Hollow, but as it was headquarters for the enrollment of the Mormon Battalion, it later received the name of Kanesville in honor of Col. Kane. Years later it was called Council Bluffs. Aunt Hannah's oldest son was born here on 12 August 1847. In the spring of 1848, it was arrange d between the Miller brothers that Daniel A. should move on to the Great Salt Lake Valley while Henry W. remained in their new location until he could dispose of it. The outfit for the move west consisted of four ox teams, two yoke to each wag on, and a horse team. Aunt Hannah was a good manager and an efficient house k eeper. She was left so much alone with her large growing family to discipline while her husband did missionary work, but she never complained. From the sheep they brought with them the wool was taken, afterwhich .it was washed, picked, carded, spun and woven into cloth, all in the home. This furnished much of the clothing for .. • e e \i -4- the family. Grandma Miller was blessed with some things that many others did not have. She never failed to share with them. As time went on the Millers' owned quite a lar ge herd of sheep and a mutton was often killed for home use. Her children tell of how their mother would send tnem with a piece to this sister, and a piece to that one. She would say, 11 I know she hasn't had any fresh meat for a long time and would like some. 11 This was the case with everything that she had which others did not have. One of the outstanding features of her life was generosity. Her home was never too hungry. Though cheerful, yet unassuming, she was a friend to all. Her greatest strength was that of a true wife and mother. To her were born ten children, four sons and six daught ers. All but one survived he:::-. She also reared seven motherless children of her husband's b esides caring for four others who lived several years at her home. If there could have been any partiality shown toward any of the child1·en it was in favor of the motherless on es. She unselfishly did a mother's part toward them all. Neighbor's children loved to g ather there and were always handed a slice of bread and butter whenever her own children were. Years later one of these children, now grown to manhood, in passing the Miller home said, 11 There lives a woman who is a mother to every-body. 11 Grandma Miller lived her religion every day of her life. She was always the same, staunch Aunt Hannah Miller, one horse to drive the loose stock, seven cows, seventeen sheep, fo'.lr pig s and five chickens. Two young men were added to the family as teamsters making eleven persons in all that Aunt Hannah cared and cooked for throughout the whole journey. Her bus band was appointed capt ain of one of the ten's. President Young was _in charge of the whole company of Saints. They left Kanesville the first part of June and arrived in the Salt Lake • • e • -5- Valley on the 4 September 1848. Aunt Hannah not only shared the hardships co-n n .e,oted with that long tedious journey but she also carried the greater respon - sibility of her lar ge family while her husband was in charge of fifty persons and twenty wagons. In the early part of October. the Mill er family moved sixteen miles north and settled at the p la ce now known as Farmington. They soon had a t wo roomed lo g cabin built of cottonwood logs . With lumber roof and floors > also lumber doors and windows. Aunt Hannah later said, never before nor since was she happier than she was in that lo g cabin. When we consider the many weeks she lived in a wagon, cooking the food for eleven persons on a campfire, baking bread in a bake kettle, climbing in and out of the wagon, making beds down and rolling them up again, washing their clothes by a river or creek bank, drying them on the bushes, driving a team all day besides watching five small children in th e wagon (one less than a year old), co:.ild we wonder at her happiness whe n she moved into her two room cabin? She told of how her husband pc1t up shelves in one corner of her kitchen where she kept her food and dishes, over which she hung a curtain. He also made some benches to sit on and a table. She told of their killing a beef late that fall and with th e corn meal and flour they had brought with them, they had ple nty to eat and some to spare to the four other families who lived here. She was true t o her fr.iends. full of hu mility and devotion. She accepted and lived every principle of th e g ospel. Her death occurred at h er home in her ei ghty -fifth year on 13 March 190 5. The morning of her death, she sat at her breakfast table. Later in the day s he realized that the end was near and called .for her children and friends. She g reeted them warmly, and apparently did not suffer pain . She said. 11 I feel so t ired and want to rest. 11