TITLE PAGE PIONEER (full name) BIRTH {date and place) DEA TH (date and place) PARENTS Betsey Jane Dean Long hurs t 24 Au g ust 1862 - Bountiful, Utah 29 October 1943 - Woodr u ff, Utah Charles Dean Mary Cope MARRIED (who and date) Willi am Henr y Longhu r st - ·2 October 1884 ARRIVAL IN UTAH {date) {Company arrived with) HISTORY (who wrote) (date written) (who submitted) (address) -· · (Par ents arrived .12 September 186 1) Ha!'lel Cornia Sims March 1985 Hazel Cornia Sims ' Rose Dr ive Morgan , Utah 84050 CAMP & CO UNTY S UBMIT TIN G Mt_._J_o_.y'--_ _____ ____ C amp - Mo_r_.g..__an_ ___________ C ounty. (Camp Historian & address)-· --L-a-ren-e -Pr-ee-ce- ----------- Rt 2 Box 100, Morgan, Utah 8405 0 County Historian & address )_ __V_ e_l o-y''--T_o_nk_s D_1· c_k_s_o_n_ ________ PO Box 20 3 , Mor gan, Utah 8405 0 S OURC E OF I NFORMAT ION & PAGE NUMBERS : • • BETSEY JANE DEAN LONGHURST Betsey Jane D ean was born 24 August 1862 at Bountiful, Utah, to Charles and Mary Cope Dean. She was the first girl born to her parents. Her parents had embraced the gospel in London, England, and they were bapti?ed 2 June 1860. They l eft Engl and in April 1961. They sailed on the ship Underwriter . A baby was born to them at sea. The baby passed away and was buried in the ocean. They named the baby Underwriter. Charles, Mary and family crossed the plains with an ox team and arrived in Salt Lake City, 12 September 1861. The journey covered a period of eleven weeks and three days. They spent one week on the old campgro u nd in Salt Lak e, and then moved on to Bountiful to make their home. Here was a history of elev en years that only the pioneers and early settlers can truly know the hardships, pr i vations, joys and sorrows that were borne. Here Betsey Jane was born. She was the first child and the first girl born to her parents in America. A call to col onize and move to Woodruff, Utah, came to Charles and Mary D~an in 1872. Betsey Jane who was ten years old, came with her parents to make their home. They joined with the other settlers and worked hard t o mak e a home and a living. Summers were short. Winters were cold. It was a hard life. As soon as Charles could he built and adobe house for his family . Three more girls and three boys were born to the family. Betsey Jane attended school in a rough log house that was built across the st r eet from their home. Church meetings were hel d in the homes until a place for worship could be built. Betsey helped with the duties in the home, caring and feeding the family. Her mother ran a store in her home and also assisted • • • - 2 - others as a midwife. Betsey ha d a beautiful alto voice. She and her sister, Hannah, sang duets often at social functions. No record was found for Betsey's baptism, so the baptism was done for her on 2 October 1967, after she had pas s ed away. As Betsey Jane grew up to b e a young lady, polygamy was very common. When a married man asked her to be his second wife, she qui ckl y fled away. She was almost considered to be an ol d maid. She was courted and wooed by William Henry Longhurst. Betsey was twenty-two. He was ten years older than her. They travel ed w ith a team and wagon to the Logan Templ e and were sealed for time and a ll eternity on 2 October 1884. Bill as he was called, really loved his b r ide. They built a one room l og cabin in Woodruff. Two children were born to them. The e l dest a boy, was named William A l bert, and the second child was named Betsey. Then they leased a farm from Ezekeil Lee that was on Bear River. At this time, Mary Ann was born to them in the G r andparent Dean' s home on 28 December 188_. I n the fall of 1890, William filed for a homestead one mile north of the settlement at Woodruff. Here they built a two room log house. The land was c l eared of sage brush, p l owed, leveled and planted. My mother told how they would a ll help chop and pull the brush and then would set fire to the big pile to get rid of the brush. It must have been a tremendous job to dig di tches, prepare the land and p l ant the crops . They had to raise enough feed for the animals and food for the family. Frost came early and the seasons were short. • • • Three more children were born in this home. They were George Leonard, Clara Marintha and Asael Dean, making a family of three boys and three girls . Everyone had to help with the work. They gathered wood from the hills to keep them warm and to cook the meals. In the summer the child ren were sent to the hills with the milk cows each morning. At night they had to bring them back to be milked. The milk was placed in pans to cool. The cream would form on top. Betsey skimmed the cream off and made butter to be traded for food. All of the clothes had to be sewn by hand. It was a long time before Betsey had a treadle sewing machine. After three of the older children were married and had homes of their own, William and Betsey built a new home. It must have seemed l ike a palace to them. It had a kitchen and pantry, a large parlor and a bedroom on the bottom floor. A stairway led to three bedrooms on the second floor. Betsey was so proud of her home. Always it was kept spotless. The windows always glistened, and the floors were swept and scrubbed. Betsey said that the outside steps and porch had to be clean, because they told others what kind of a housekeeper you were. An old cookstove and a small heater kept the home warm. They both had a lot of nickel trim on them and they had to shine. The top was blackened, so that your face was reflected in it. Rag rugs were woven and covered the bedroom floors . A rug with beautiful red rose covered the parlor floor. Each year the rugs were taken up to be beaten, swept and cleaned. Fres h straw was placed on the floors to make a pad for the rugs. Most of the beds had a tick filled with straw for the mattress. William'' s and Betsey's bed had a feather tick that was so soft and warm • Betsey was a good mother, homemaker and cook. She made delicious bread and pies. Always there was a cookie for the grandchildren. It looked like a • • • - 4 - muffin, but was so good. They were stored in a brown crock, that kept them moist. A lawn, trees and garden were planted around the house. I remember the beautiful roses and flowers that were grown. A large patch -0f red English currants and gooseberr ies were part of the garden . Each summer as the currants and berries ripened the fruit had to be picked, washed and bottled. It was great fun to be with all of the families to do this. William took jobs away from home at times to help make a living. He traveled with surveyors and was their cook. He was also a door keeper in the Utah House of Representatives. Betsey remained at home and took care of the family and the farm with the aid of the children. There were always cows, chickens, pigs and sheep to be taken care of. Betsey could milk the cows and slop the pigs and shs did many times. Betsey believed that everyone must be kept busy. There was always k nitting, sewing, mending, washing on a scrub board, ironing with sad irons, water carried and heated for the home, and many other jobs . Betsey was always tearing and sewing rags for rugs. Grandchildren could help with that . Two months before Memorial Day, flowers had to be made out of crepe paper for the graves at the cemetery. All of the women and the gir ls helped with the project. Betsey wanted flowers for the loved ones graves. Wild flowers were gathered from the hills on the morning of Memorial Day. Bluebells. Indian Paint Brush and Sand Lilies grew quite profusely. Then the trip to the cemetery was made. Betsey had a buggy for transportation, She would hitch the old white horse named Beck and head for town to do a little shopping at the store and to visit family and friends . Beck was really a trusty old horse. Later in her life, her son Asael, had a car and he would drive Betsey to church, to do the shopping and visiting. • • • I ndians used to come beggi ng for food in the summer. Food was always given to them. I n later years, bands of gypsies would travel through the valley begging for food and stealing anything that they could. Betsey always gave them food. She entertained family and friends many times , William passed away 31 March 1925, with a heart attack. Betsey really missed him. For several years she had a granddaughter stay with her at night to s l eep with her. The youngest son, Asael, was sixteen and living with her. Betsey and Asael moved to the town of Woodruff during the winter months. Finally they moved into part of the son Albert ' s home , so that there would be electricity and water in the home. Betsey died 29 October 1943. All of her family were gathered around her. She was eighty-one years ol d. She was buried in the Woodruff Cemetery by the side of her bel oved husband . Many friends and family attend ed her funeral service and many kind words were spoken about her. She had been an active member of the church and had held various offices. The family had a l ways been a happy loving famil y. They had been taught honesty, respect and love for others. She was loved and missed by a ll .