TITLE PAGE. Daughters of Utah Pioneers. 77 [077]. PIONEER NAME- Minerva Whittle Allen BIRTH DATE AND PLACE- 15 May 1854m Ft. Herriman, Salt Lake County, Utah Territory DEATH DATE AND PLACE- 18 Septmber 1929, Cove, Cache, Utah FATHER- Thomas Levi Whittle MOTHER- Mary Jane Butterfield WHO MARRIED AND DATE- Andrew Lee Allen, 4 March 1872 YEAR ARRIVED IN UTAH- [Native Pioneer] NAME OF COMPANY- WHO WROTE HISTORY AND DATE- Condensed by Barbara Croft, 2/10/2010 WHO SUBMITTED HISTORY AND DATE- Barbara Jean Miller Croft (great-granddaughter) CAMP NAME- Mt. Joy CAMP HISTORIAN- COMPANY NAME- HISTORIAN- SOURCE OF INFORMATION- Taken from a Family History: “A Biography of Minerva Whittle Allen” of unknown origin and date. SIGNATURE OF AUTHOR OR OWNER OF THIS HISTORY- Barbara J. Miller Croft CAMP RECEIVED (DATE)- COMPANY RECEIVED (DATE)- A BIOGRAPHY OF MINERVA WHITilE ALLEN Minerva Whittle Allen, daughter of Thomas Levi Whittle and Mary Jane Butterfield, was born 15 May 1854 at Ft. Herriman, Salt Lake County, Utah Territory. She was the first child of her father's second marriage. Minerva's parents were early converts to the church and she remembers them telling her about the early events in church history. The family was called 'by President Brigham Young to move to the Cache valley. So in 1860 they sold out and moved to Richmond. Minerva tells of this event in her own words as quoted from DESCENDANTS OF ANDREW LEE ALLEN, page 115. "Father had two families and brought all of us to Richmond at the same time. We came with ox teams. My mother drove her own team, father drove the loose cattle, and my half brothers drove the ox teams for the other family. We got along all right until we came to the dugway in Wellsville Canyon. The women folks got out to walk down the dugway so mother did the same, taking myself and brother Edwin. I was six years old and my brother was two. When we got out, the oxen ran away and someone called, "Stop that team, they will break the stove to pieces." Mother was glad it was the stove and not us in the wagon. But no damage was done to the stove. "We came to Richmond the same spring (1860). I remember how my mother did her cooking. She gathered rocks and put them together and built a fire, put her kettle on and ba.ked her bread or cooked whatever she had to cook. We lived in our wagon with a quilt up for shade until our house was built. Many others had to live the same way, there were very few houses. We had to live close together on account of the Indians, who were very troublesome. They would run off our cattle and horses. The men folks had to take turns standing guard day and night. When the word would come "The Indians are coming", it was an exciting time." 2 ?'f Minerva and her family lived without any modern conveniences. Water had to be carried from the springs, washing was a real chore and food had to be prepared each meal. Then there was drying fruit, and also canning of that which was available, and neighbors sharing with each other. Schooling was at a premium, a few months of the year, but Minerva was ambitious and practiced her reading, writing and spelling and did well. She was also taught the art of spinning the wool and weaving it into cloth by her mother, Mary Jane. Her father, Thomas Levi Whittle, was killed while helping his son build a log home when a log rolled on him. Minerva was 14 years old and was heavily relied upon to help with the family. As the years passed, Minerva grew to be a lovely young lady with soft brown eyes, dark hair, and clear complexion. There was another family that had moved into Richmond in about 1862. Among that family was one Andrew Lee Allen, Jr. He and his brothers owned and operated the saw mill. Like most young men and women do, Minerva and Andrew Lee met and a romance was begun which later brought them to marriage. They went to Salt Lake City and were married in the Endowment House 4 March 1872. Minerva made her own wedding dress. She related many times that she sheared the sheep, spun the wool, wove the cloth, cut her own patten, did her own fitting, and sewed her dress. While they were at Salt Lake City for the marriage the young couple went to the Land Office and filed a homestead. Their first residence was in Richmond. Later Andrew built a log cabin in.Coveville, (now Cove) where his farm was located. Minerva spent most of her married life in Cove on one location on the farm. Minerva and Andrew had a family of nine boys and two girls. They had two boys who died at the age of thirteen. Minerva's husband, Andrew Lee Allen Jr. married a second wife, Ann Spackman on 8 May 1884. They had four daughters. When the second wife died her three surviving daughters came to live with the first family. They were welcomed by Minerva as part of her own family and no favoritism was ever shown. Minerva was never idle. In her spare time she would knit stockings, mittens and sweaters. She taught her daughters how to make carpets, candles and soap and how to can and preserve food for future need. Andrew Lee Allen Jr. passed away in 1918 and Minerva lived eleven years longer. She departed this life 18 September 1929 in her home at Cove, Utah. She is buried next to her husband in Richmond .