William Smith was born 12 April 1824 in Macclessfield, Cheshire, England; his parents were William Smith, Jr. and Mary Etchells. They had 3 children when William Smith Jr. died in 1827. Young William was too young to remember much about his father. His mother then married Timothy Dale and had one son, John Dale. William was baptized on 8 April 1840 and served a partial LDS mission in England around 1852. He married his first wife Ann Ormandy on 12 May 1945 in Cheshire, England. They had two children before she died on 17 September 1850. The first was Thomas Garside Smith who was born 28 July 1845 and subsequently moved to America with his father and family. His death date remains unknown. The second child, Joseph Smith, was born 14 January 1850 and died 10 January 1852. After Ann Ormandy’s death William married Mary Hibbert Smith on the 27 of June 1852 at the Manchester old church by the Reverend J.N. Packlington, Minor Canon. William Smith and his wife Mary Hibbert Smith sailed from Liverpool England, 2 June 1856 sailing on the ship called Wellfleet with about 500 emigrants onboard. They landed in New York on July 11, 1856. From there arrangements were made for Brother Beulen, from President Taylor’s office, to take their things to Brooklyn, New York and rent a room for them. It was a little upstairs room in one of the buildings. William set out to find work as soon as they were settled in their room. They had only been there about 2 weeks when their baby Alma Walker took sick with cholera infantum and died on July 31, 1856. If he had lived 5 days longer, he would have been 6 months old. William had found employment, but could not lay off work at the time of the baby’s death. Having only seven cents with them, they bought a five cent loaf of bread and a candle the night the baby died. (Information gathered from the Life History of Mary Hibbert, by daughter Rose Smith Rasmussen) While in New York, Thomas Garside, Ann Ormandy’s son) ran away at age 11. They never heard from him again. William then moved to St. Louis where he was able to find work and be near his mother; his oldest daughter Mary Ann went with him. His wife Mary joined him in St. Louis a short time later. They were living in St. Louis, Missouri when the Civil War broke out in 1861. The information below is from the Smith, William, [Autobiography], in "Utah Pioneer Biographies," 44 vols. 2:185-86. “In the spring of 1862 we was told there would be a chance for the poor Saints if they could pay their fare to Florence, the church would take them to Salt Lake City.” They joined a company that would take them to Florence. Mr. McAllister was the leader of the emigrants. There were 52 families in the company to leave Missouri. Mr. McAllister appointed a leader to every ten wagons. The leader of their company was Captain [Henry W] Miller of Farmington, Utah. Every night when they camped, Captain Miller would see that the head of every family would offer prayers for their safety. They came in covered wagons; each wagon had four yoke of oxen. Their speed was about 15 miles a day where the road was good but if it was sandy or they got in any gumbo mud they could only make about ten miles a day. WILLIAM SMITH LIFE SKETCH, and LIFE HISTORY OF MARY HIBBERT by daughter Rose Smith Rasmussen Submi 162 tted by Email to Morgan Daughters of Utah Pioneers by Randy Rounds, April, 2017. Added to D.U.P. archives with humble appreciation for the sharing of these records of Morgan County pioneers. 163 “We landed alright at Florence which was in Nebraska. While we was on the camping ground we had one of the awfulest storms that I ever saw, with thunder and lightening and rain and the wind blowed as though the very eliments was coming down. There was a creek that ran past where we camped and a bridge over it. While John W. Young and others was traveling along the road, John W. Young was struck with lightening and hurt pretty bad. Some tents was blown over. I was a might glad that night; while going my rounds, I saw one tent that was blown over and a girl laying asleep on some boxes. I brought her to our tent and let her stay until next morning and then took her to her father and mother. We remained here about six weeks. We had two small children (of our own).[ Mary Ann Smith and Hannah Smith] [Also accompanying William Smith was his mother Mary Etchells Smith Dale.] We left Florence towards the last of August with a company of Saints that was led by Captain [Ansil] P. Harman’s church train. We arrived in Salt Lake City on the 5th of October [1862] with emigrants. Some fifteen children had died on the plains from measles. There was 3 grown persons died. One old man of the name of Smith, he went down in the brush to ease himself and laid down and died. One young lady in the next tent to ours. A wagon or two behind us there was a babe fell out of the wagon down between the wheels and if it had not been for a rock that was between the wheel and the childs head, it would have been killed. The strangest thing was about the rock was how it came there. The teamsters and the Captain said there could not be another found within one hundred miles of that place and it was a miracle. My wife was confined in one of the wagons of a girl. Her name was Lucy D. Platt Smith, born September 10, 1862 near the Platt river 8 miles West of Dear Creek, Nebraska territory at half past eleven at night, and died on 21st of October 1862”.[NOTE: It is recorded in his record book that Lucy D. Platt Smith died 16 Oct. 1862.) They first lived in Bountiful with William’s half-brother, John Dale. They lived but a short time with John Dale, then rented a log house. The following year, 1863 they moved from Bountiful to Porterville. They lived near what used to be called the Old Fort, at Porterville, Utah where William farmed and did weaving. There they had experiences with Indians. One time Indians came down to the village, and drove their horses in on Williams’s hay and grain. William started to drive the ponies. The Indians became angry. So William stood with his back against a pole fence while holding his gun. One of the Indians said to the other, “See, Indian take white man’s scalp and put it on post.” William thought they would have done it if some of his neighbors hadn’t come. The white men stayed on guard the rest of the day. The Indians returned at night and their horses destroyed Williams’s entire crop. One afternoon William and Mary received word that the grasshoppers were coming their way. The sun seemed to go behind a cloud and they thought it was a storm cloud passing over. But when they looked up they saw that it was a cloud of grasshoppers. William ran with the vegetables to the cellar and turned to see that Mary who had cabbages in her apron and was coming close behind him. She bent over her apron and ran as fast as she could. Before she could get to the house, they had eaten the whole back of her dress out. In 1866 they moved to Enterprise. In the summer of 1867 William and his half-brother John Dale started making bricks in Kaysville. Before the brick was burned, John left, leaving William to finish it alone. William was unable to pay all their debts and had to let the people they owed take their pay in brick. He 164 had nothing left for his family after the brick was hauled away. So that fall William helped neighbors harvest their crops and in the winter he went back to weaving. In the spring of 1869 they homesteaded in a quieter section of Enterprise. William and Mary were sealed in the Endowment house on February 2, 1869. William worked on the Salt Lake Temple and then contracted to make brick in Evanston, Wyoming in 1870. They moved where ever he could find work and life was hard for the family. They moved to East Bountiful about 1871; there Mary began to do washings for other people in order to earn a little that way. In 1874 William made a bargain with the railroad company for 40 acres of land in West Porterville. He had to rent a house, as the land didn’t have any on it. As soon as he was settled, he started to make brick to build a house on the 40 acres. Finally he built a bowery and they lived in that for a while during the summer, until the house was finished enough to move into. They had moved around so much and endured so many hardships that it was a blessing to them to have a home of their own. In 1913 William bore his testimony as follows: Porterville, Box 32, Morgan County September 19, 1913 To our daughter, I send this note for you to keep: I am the oldest man in Morgan County, also the oldest man in the Church. My next birthday, on the 12th of April 1914, I will be 90 years old. On the 28th of the same month I will have been in the Church 74 years. I know that God has spoken from the heavens, and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, and this work is true. You may ask, how do you know it; because God has revealed it to me in many ways. I want you to understand that this is no fantom [phantom] of the brain. From William Smith, your Father Mother will be 83 next on the 20th July 1914. We are the oldest married couple in Morgan. Mother joined the Church on the 19th of August 1847. William died on September 1915 being 91 years of age and having been a faithful member of the Church for 75 years. He was buried in “Grave Hill” in Porterville, Morgan, Utah in the corner of his own land and farm. William Smith’s family members include his spouse: Mary Hibbert Smith (1831 - 1921) and children: Mary Ann Smith McNeil (1853 - 1944), Hannah Smith Drew (1857 - 1945), Lucy D Platt Smith (1862 - 1862), Sarah Smith (1864 - 1865), William Smith (1866 - 1964), Alice Smith Gatliff (1868 - 1936), Joseph Hyrum Smith (1871 - 1930), and Rose Smith Rasmussen (1874 - 1962). 165 Life History of Mary Hibbert, by daughter Rose Smith Rasmussen Contributed By lynnlindsey45 · 22 December 2013 Mary Hibbert was born July 20, 1831 at Failsworth, Lancashire, England. She is the second child of James Hibbert and Hannah Brown. The following are the children of James Hibbert, born March 28, 1809 at Newton Heath, Lancashire, England, died April 24, 1869, and Hannah Brown, born September 26, 1808, Newton Heath, Lancashire, England, died February 16, 1896. 1.Sarah born September 15, 1829 died December 31, 1831 2.Mary born July 20, 1831 died July 24, 1921 3.Sarah born November 28, 1833 died April 24, 1879 4.Hannah born January 19, 1836 died June 15, 1882 5.James born November 26, 1838 died February 22, 1895 6.Benjamin born March 16, 1841 died November 29, 1894 7.Daniel Wild born April 29, 1844 died October 4, 1894 The Hibbert family belonged to the Church of England. Most of the little incidents that follow are what mother told me, her daughter, a short time before her death. In England, Sunday was a day of rest. People were not allowed to work on Sunday, and if they did they would be punished. The factories were closed on Saturday afternoon to give the people who were working in them a chance to get their Saturday’s work done. There were countless duties to be done on Saturday. Clothes were pressed, shoes polished, pots and kettles polished, and enough cooking done to last all day Sunday. Everything had to be done on Saturday for Sunday. It happened that one Sunday morning she went to a neighbor’s on an errand. Her Uncle John was there getting shaved. The man that was shaving her Uncle John turned to her and said, “I say, and does thy father shave on Sunday?” She knew she dared not tell a lie, and if she told him that he did, they might tell on him and he would be punished for working on Sunday. She stood wringing her hands and looking from first one to the other. She decided it was best to keep still. He asked again in a loud voice, “I say, does thy father shave on Sunday?” She knew that she must answer, so she stood erect, put her hands behind her and looking up at him said, “I shan’t tell thee.” This caused a big laugh. They thought it a clever remark from so small a child – she was about four. There was a celebration in a nearby settlement and her father wanted to go and take her, as he was invited. He dressed his best. He was very proud and looked very much of a gentleman when he was dressed up. While they were on the highway which ran alongside of a field, they saw some trees. In one tree a grapevine had grown up among the branches. Bunches of grapes were hanging down among the branches and they looked very tempting. Her father stood looking up at the grapes and said, “Well Molly, those grapes look very tempting. I shall have to get some.” They had to climb a bank in order to get to the tree. Her father told her to stand under the tree and catch the grapes as he dropped them down to her, and they could have grapes to eat as they were walking. Her father climbed the tree and began picking the grapes and dropping them down to her. While she was waiting to catch another bunch of grapes, he foot slipped and she slid down the bank into a little stream of water, getting her clothes very muddy. Her father climbed down from the tree and helped her 166 up the bank onto the road. He told her he felt very sorry that anything should happen like that. He wiped the mud from her dress with his silk handkerchief, laughing as he did so. She was expecting a scold, but instead her father laughed. She said she felt so bad that she couldn’t enjoy the grapes. They continued walking until they reached their destination, but she couldn’t remember what happened after they got there or how she got along in her muddy clothes. When she was 5 years old she had to wind bobbins at home. At the age of 7 she worked in the factory winding bobbins. She worked for some time in the factory. She told of a tragedy that happened at the factory. At 12 o’clock the machinery of the factory stopped and the weavers left the looms to eat their lunch. The machines were stopped a little longer in order to do a little repair work. After eating lunch one of the ladies started to comb her hair. She was a beautiful girl and had very beautiful long hair. So long that she could sit on it. Her friends were admiring it and telling her how pretty it was. This young lady was sitting too near the machines. The machines started before they thought it was time, her hair was hanging over the rollers of the machine and when it was started up, her hair started to roll around the roller and she could not pull away. Before they could get the machines stopped, the rollers had pulled her scalp off. It was a terrible scene and one of the most tragic things that had happened at the factory. There were Mormon missionaries preaching in town. People were becoming very interested in the new faith and joining the Church very rapidly. Her father would not let her go to the Mormon meetings because he was afraid she would be led away by the Mormons. She had asked him several different times before if she could attend the meetings. He said no, and told her never to ask him again. There was going to be a good speaker at a cottage meeting. She wanted to go to the Mormon meeting, but was afraid to ask father, so she asked her mother. Her mother told her that she was willing to let her go, but she would have to get her father’s consent. Her heart almost failed her. She asked where he was. Her mother told her he was out in the outhouses. She was afraid he would so no, so she went upstairs in her room and prayed to God that He might soften her father’s heart so he would let her go to this Mormon cottage meeting. She came downstairs and went outside. She saw her father coming from the coal shed and so she waited at the end of the boardwalk until he came up to her. He stopped and asked her what she wanted of him, as he saw she wanted to ask him something. She said, “Mother sent me to ask you if I could go to the Mormon Church tonight.” He stopped and looked at her, but didn’t speak for a moment. He bent over and tapped his pipe on his shoe toe, then stood up and said, “Yes, my lass, I reckon it would be well for you to go if you will be a good girl and come home early.” She ran into the house and said, “Oh, Mother, he said that I could go to the meeting tonight.” During the meeting Elder Ditchfield, an elderly missionary, spoke very interestingly. He asked them to bear their testimony as to how they felt toward the Mormon religion and if there were any of them that felt as though they would like to join the Church. After the others had borne their testimonies, she got up and said she felt it was the right church, that it was the work of the Lord, and she felt she would like to join the Church, but she knew her father wouldn’t let her. 167 After she had borne her testimony, Elder Ditchfield arose and said, “This young girl who has just borne her testimony shall receive the gospel and join the Church. She will marry a man of God and will go to Zion in God’s own due time. The returned missionaries shall visit her in her home and eat off her board. She shall be tried as gold, seven times in the fire, but will prove faithful unto the end. It shall also be her privilege to live until the Second Coming of the Son of Man if she so desires.” She said he seemed to be kind of a prophet because every word he had spoken came true. She went home and told her mother what the missionary had said. She continued to go to their cottage meetings whenever she could. She left the Church of England at the age of 16 and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, unbeknown to her father. She was secretly baptized at night August 19, 1847. The Mormons did not dare baptize in the daytime because of their enemies. During the times she was going to cottage meetings she had obtained a Book of Mormon. She would sit and read the Book of Mormon at night in secret. She said it was so interesting that she couldn’t go to bed until she had read a little in it. She had to read by candlelight, as that and the fireplace were their only means of light. One night her father had told her not to sit up late at night because they were using too much candlelight, and he accused her of sitting up and burning more candle than was necessary. He told her she could burn about an inch. He went upstairs to bed and she sat down to read the Book of Mormon. She thought she would read a chapter or two before going to bed. It was so interesting that she continued to read, forgetting about the candle until it was past the mark where her father told her she could burn to. She feared he would scold her so she finished burning it and got another, burned it down to the mark and went to bed. Another night she was reading the Book of Mormon and she heard someone walking gently on the upstairs floor and wondered if it could be her father. She hurriedly blew out the candle and ran quietly upstairs. Her father’s room and her room were on the same floor, but hers was nearer the head of the stairs. She had raked the coals in the fireplace to make it a little warmer. This awakened her father who began complaining to her mother about the girls sitting up so late. Mary reached her door just as he turned the latch and was in her room when he went downstairs to see if she was there. She knew she would not have time to undress, so she took off her clogs (shoes) and carefully got in bed with her clothes on. She had no sooner got into bed when her father came upstairs and over to her door. He opened the door and called to her. She pretended she was sleeping so he went back to bed. Grandmother was interested in the Mormon religion as well as Mother. She would oft-times go to her neighbors and take the Book of Mormon to read so Grandfather wouldn’t know she too was interested in Mormonism. One Sunday she stayed until late in the evening. Her husband scolded her when she came home and asked her why she had stayed away so late. She said, “Well, I thought I may as well have a cow as a calf.” Meaning she might as well take a big scolding as a little one. Mother was a weaver. In England the parents collected their children’s wages until they were 21 years of age. They were paid so much a yard for weaving. Many times mother would work faster to make a few cents over the usual wage. This would be given to her to spend as she pleased. This money mother spent to buy candles by which to read the Book of Mormon. She also donated money toward the building of the Salt Lake Temple. 168 The people working in the factories had to go to work at five in the morning, come home at eight for their breakfast, go back at nine, stop at twelve for dinner and go back to work at one and work until six in the evening. Grandfather was a cobbler (shoe repairer) and a weaver. Mother’s brother Benjamin was converted to Mormonism. He was about 16 years of age when he left England and came to Zion. He came in the handcart company. He came in Roswell Hyde’s (not quite sure) company. After Uncle Ben left, Grandfather was very grieved and wouldn’t let Grandmother go to the Mormon cottage meetings because he thought the Mormons would convert her too. The missionaries would oftimes come to their home. Grandmother and Mother would read and discuss the Book of Mormon whenever they could steal a chance while Grandfather was away. Grandfather wouldn’t allow his family to read “Old Joe Smith’s Bible”. Mother had to go to Manchester on Sundays to attend meeting. It was here she met Elder William Smith. One evening after church Elder Smith asked her if he might walk with her as far as she went. Grandfather was suspicious of her keeping company with some young man. On this particular evening Grandfather went to meet Mother. As Mother and Elder Smith were walking along they saw her father standing at the fork of the roads so that no matter which road she came on he would meet her and see whether or not she was walking with anyone. He was very vexed at Mother and scolded Elder Smith. He told him he had a notion to “clog and flog him”. He said, “Go your way home and I shall take care of me own daughter.” He would not let his daughters keep company with any young men because he thought they would pick them up and take them home to “Brigham”. Grandfather took Mother by the arm, and as they were walking home he told her he didn’t want her to wed. At this time Mother was 20 years of age. Mother asked him why he had married. He said he didn’t have sense, but he wanted his daughters to have sense. I have often heard Father joking with Mother about her father meeting them at the forks of the road. Elder William Smith had formerly belonged to the old Methodist church, but had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints April 28, 1840. He married Ann M. Ormandy and by her had two children, Thomas Garside born in Macclessfield, [Cheshire], England on July 28, 1845, and Joseph born January 14, 1850. Joseph died January 10, 1852 not long after his mother who died September 14, 1850, leaving her husband to care for the two little boys. He became acquainted with my mother, Mary Hibbert, and asked her to marry him. She had had good chances of marriage and should have liked one of them for a companion really better than the one she chose, but they were not of the “New Faith”. She accepted Elder William Smith’s marriage offer for the Gospel’s sake (she said). She was very anxious to come to Zion where she could receive the blessings of the Gospel. He was a very good religious young man of twenty-eight. He promised to bring her to Zion. Marrying him would mean a chance for her to come to Zion because he, too, was anxious to come. She was 21 years of age when she married Elder Smith. They were married June 27, 1852 at the Old Manchester Church by Rev. J. N. Packlington, Minor Canon. At the time of their marriage my Father had been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 12 years. Mother had been a member for 5 years. When her Father found out she was married he would not speak to her for over 3 years. 169 After Father and Mother had been married a little over a year their first child, Mary Ann was born to them July 2, 1853 at Newton Heath, [Lancashire], England. When Mother would see her father she would point him out to Mary Ann and taught her to know and love her Grandfather. Mary Ann was learning how to talk pretty good, so Mother would have her go over and talk to him whenever he happened to be at church or on the street. Mary Ann was such a pretty little girl and so loving to her Grandfather that she finally won his love for her. He would take her with him and buy her candy and cakes. Thus it was through Mary Ann that he would speak to Mother again. Sometime before the birth of Mother’s second child, an Elder by the name of Alma Walker told her she would give birth to a son and she would name him Alma. His prophecy was fulfilled 4 months before they left England. She gave birth to a son at Newton Heath, England February 5, 1856, and named him Alma Walker Smith. They were married 4 years before they were able to set sail for Zion. Father and Mother were invited to live a short while with Mother’s parents before leaving for America. The morning they were to leave to go to the ship, Grandfather whispered to Grandmother, who was cooking breakfast, and told her that if he was not back at eating time not to wait for him. He had to pass Mother who was near the door washing Mary Ann for breakfast. He staggered as he went to go out of the door, causing Mother to look up. She said he was very pale. The reason he left was because he didn’t feel like he could bid them goodbye. That was the last time she saw him at her old home as he did not return until after they had left for the ship. Grandmother bid Mother goodbye at home and told her that she would join her in America as soon as time would permit. The ship “Well Fleet” was to stay at anchor for a day or so before leaving the harbor in order to give the people a chance to come and bid their relatives goodbye, and get ready for sailing before the gates were closed. Mother was sitting in the waiting room when she looked up and saw her father and sister Sarah coming towards her. Her father said, “Well, Molly, we have come to bid thee goodbye, and we want you to cheer up and make the best of it because that life (coming to Zion) will be like wedded life. You’ll find ups and downs and troubles, but cheer up and make the best of it. You’ll have to take it for better or for worse.” She could see that her father was not in the mood for talking because he hated to see her go on such a long, dangerous journey and would probably never see her again. She was surprised to see him come to the ship to bid her farewell and always remembered how he was dressed and how pale he looked. He was dressed in his best suit that was dark in color and had a white silk handkerchief in his pocket. His shirt and collar were white and he wore a black tie. His shoes were polished so that looking on them would reflect your image as would a mirror. He wore a black silk stovepipe hat, black kid gloves and carried his cane in his hand. His eyes were dark and shiny in his pale face. His hair was a beautiful shiny black in color and he wore sideburns to the tips of his ears. He also wore a mustache. She always remembered him as she had seen him for the last time. Sarah had baked a half flour sack of cookies and had brought them down to her. She said, “I have brought you a few cookies for the children. They will come in handy for them to eat on the way.” The Captain came in and told them it was time to close the gates, so they bid her goodbye and left the ship. The ship set sail from Liverpool, England June 2, 1856. Mother had the 3 children, Mary Ann, Alma Walker, and Thomas Garside, son of her husband’s first wife. Thomas Garside was baptized March 31, 1856, just two months before they left England. She said she surely appreciated the cookies that Sarah had brought as the children couldn’t have their meals when they were hungry. There was so much food allowed each person. For breakfast they had a bowl of porridge and a cup of coffee; for dinner a bowl of soup, a drink of water, etc., and a slice of bread went 170 with each meal. If anyone wanted hot water for anything they had to go to the kitchen and ask for it. Food and water was allotted out to them, especially a short time before they landed because they were afraid they would run short of provisions. All vegetables and things that needed salt cooked in them were cooked in ocean water in order to save the water that was brought on the ship for drinking. Mother said she got very seasick while crossing the ocean and went to the side of the deck to vomit. Somebody had been just ahead of her, and being very sick had lost his false teeth out of his mouth. These teeth were lodged in the side of the spout through which people relieved themselves of their seasickness. She said first one and then another, being seasick, had come to the same place until there was quite a string of people. It appeared to her as being very comical. Whenever anyone would die on board the ship, they would dress them in the clothes they were to be buried in, wrap a sheet around them and send them down this spout into the ocean. She heard them say while on board the ship that the sharks had been known to follow the ship for 3 or 4 days before a death. She said she prayed and prayed that she might not have to sleep in a watery grave. I have often heard father tell the following incident: Some of the people on board the ship had asked the Captain when they could go up on deck. It happened to be a nice pleasant day so the Captain said they could go up that day. Mother and Father went up on deck along with many others to look out upon the ocean. The Captain was very interested in showing the people about and explaining different things to them. They had been on deck but a few minutes when one of the sailors yelled to the Captain who turned and saw a cloud and asked the sailors what they had been doing that they hadn’t noticed it before. Father said it was a little black cloud about the size of a small dishpan. The Captain took off his cap and jumped up and down and began shouting orders. The sailors ran up the rope ladders like monkeys. The Captain now turned to the people and told them to run below for their lives. Before they could all get down in the ship the skies were covered with black storm clouds and the wind was about to blow them off the deck. Father said it raised the tide so that the ship [looked] like it was going to be buried by the waves. Instead, the ship floated up the mountain wave and safely down the other side. The storm became so fierce they were almost shipwrecked. They had to drop anchor until the storm subsided. They were on the ocean for 6 weeks. They landed in Boston July 11, 1856, and from there went to New York. Brother Beulen came from President Taylor’s office and took their things to Brooklyn, New York and rented a room for them. It was a little upstairs room in one of the buildings. Father set out to find work as soon as they were settled in their room. They had only been there about 2 weeks when their baby Alma Walker took sick with cholera infantum and died July 31, 1856. If he had lived 5 days longer, he would have been 6 months old. Father had found employment, but in order to hold this job, he could not lay off work at the time of the baby’s death so he reported to the City Fathers. They were among strangers and without money. Having only seven cents with them, they bought a five cent loaf of bread and a candle the night the baby died. A Catholic father came up to find out how they were getting along, what they needed and what had to be done. Mother said, “Well, there lies my baby on the bed on the floor in the corner. We haven’t anything to eat, so if you have a mind to give us some money to get something to eat, it will be very acceptable.” He handed her some small change amounting to about twenty-five cents. He also found out the length for a coffin to be made for the baby; then he left. About two days after the baby’s death a strange man was sent with a hearse to take the baby away. Two Sisters of Charity, dressed in long black dresses with white aprons, came up and brought with them a 171 coffin made of rough lumber, which lined and padded very nicely. They arranged the baby in the casket and asked her how she thought it looked. She said she thought it looked very nice. She watched them carry her baby away to be buried in an unknown grave. She saw them get into the carriage and drive away. The baby was taken to a place called Flat Bush on Long Island, and was buried in a graveyard there. While they were living in New York, Thomas Garside, son of William’s first wife, ran away and never returned. He was about 11 years old. They never found him. About July 4, 1857 Father took his 4 year old daughter Mary Ann and went to St. Louis, Missouri where his mother lived, to find work and to be near her as she was living alone. After he had been in Missouri a short time Mother left New York and joined him there. The following year Hannah was born to them at Cheltenham, St. Louis, Missouri May 31, 1858. They were living in St. Louis, Missouri when the Civil War broke out in 1861. About June 2, 1862 they took a steamboat up the Mississippi River to Florence, Nebraska where they remained for 6 weeks. The latter part of August they set out with a Church train led by Ansil P. Harman, for Salt Lake City, Utah. Mother has told me many times how the Saints had suffered while they were crossing the plains. Many times they were delayed by the Indians driving away their ox teams and cattle, and many times delayed on account of storms, sickness and deaths. The following are a few incidents she told me about: There was a young lady in the company whose name was Mary. Everyone called her Moll. Other than being a little fat, she was a very pretty, healthy looking girl with nice rosy cheeks. She had a pleasing personality and was always pleasant looking. Oftimes while on the plains she would get quite sick. She couldn’t walk and keep up with the others so she told the Captain. They were afraid if she couldn’t keep up, the Indians would pick her up. The Captain ordered her to ride on one of the wagons that wasn’t so badly loaded. Some of the younger folks would make fun of her and say that if they were as big and fat as Moll, maybe they could ride to Zion. She took their teasing in good part, but Mother said she could see that it made her feel bad. Mother had taken a liking to Moll and would always give her a cheerful greeting whenever she saw her. She often wondered why such a healthy looking girl should be so sick. One morning the people were about a mile or so ahead before the wagons started out. When the wagons caught up to them and were passing them, Moll gave mother a very pleasant good morning. Before noon she had died of heart trouble while sitting in the seat of the wagon. That noon they had to stop and bury her. Mother said that this always taught her a lesson that no matter how well and healthy a person looked, they could still be sick. It also taught the younger people a lesson. Whenever anyone died, they would have to stop and bury them. If anyone had large dry goods boxes with clothes in, they would have to take their clothes out so the box could be used for a casket. Any sheets or pillowcases, etc., that could be gathered went to bury the dead. The men were buried in their shirts, pants and socks. When they held the funeral, they would sing and pray and dedicate the grave. There was one man in the company who was sort of a blacksmith and was quite handy at carving on iron or boards. Therefore, if they had any boards or could get poles and split them, they would use these for headstones. After the pole had been hewn as level as possible on both sides, this man would carve the names and dates of birth and death on the headboard. Whenever they came along a creek or river where there were trees, they would cut a few down for poles and drag them behind their wagons with pieces of rawhide so in case they would need them if their wagons broke down. 172 Mother has often told how terrible sand and windstorms would come up. Often while traveling, the wagon wheels would sink half way up to the hubs in the sand. Often, as soon as they left their campgrounds and were again on their journey, they would have to be on the lookout for buffalo chips because of scarcity of fuel. At that time of the year buffalo chips were getting scarce. Mother has stated that many times they would run races to get a chip. Some of the women would gather them in their bonnets and others would take off their petticoats and carry the buffalo chips in them. The reason for this was that they had to gather them while they were traveling in order to obtain enough fuel to build a fire. She has often stated that many times they would break a chip in two to divide with their neighbors because the chips were so scarce. Usually 3 or 4 neighbors would go together and build one fire because of the scarcity of fuel. The flour they had to make their bread and johnnycakes with got wet and mildewed so they had to eat moldy bread. Mother said that many times she could not eat the bread that had been cooked over the fires made of buffalo chips because the smoke would scent the bread. Some of the Saints had bake ovens (Dutch ovens) and could bake their bread in them. Others were less prepared for the journey and because they had no bake ovens, would have to boil their bread in a camp kettle. When they would camp for the night, the first team would drive around and the next one would drive up behind it so that the tongue could be pushed under the first wagon. This was continued with all the wagons until a circle was formed. The women and children were ordered to stay inside of the circle of wagons to protect them from the Indians, because the Indians would come down at any time of the night. They would appoint so many men each night to stand guard outside and inside of the circle of wagons to protect them from Indians and buffalo stampedes. Oftimes when they were camped for the night and when supper was over, they would hurry and get their clothes washed if they were close by a creek or stream of water. One big camp fire was built to heat the water on, and all those who were going to wash could heat their water on the fire. Not all washed their clothes at a time, just a few. Sometimes they would have to wash off the wagon wheels and hang their clothes on them to dry. They also used the bows of the wagons to hang clothes on. Sometimes they were near willows and would hang their clothes on them to dry. Often after their days journey, if they were not too tired, some of the men who had brought their violins along would play while the others danced. They danced square dances and taps. Sometimes they would hold camp meetings. Some of the missionaries and other good speakers would be called on to preach the gospel. They would sing songs of Zion, such as “Come, Come Ye Saints”, “We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet”, and others that were sacred to them. When they came to streams that had to be crossed, the men and women would all have to wade unless they were sickly. The children were allowed to get in the wagons and ride across. Father had to carry one of the little girls a good deal of the way (he carried Hannah as Mary Ann was about 9 years of age). He was allowed to put her in the wagon when crossing a stream. A couple of times when he went to put the little girl in the wagon, he put her in first and then crawled in himself. Some of the people asked him how he could get across the streams and not get his clothes wet. He said, “Why, take you clothes off and tie them around your neck.” Some of them got wise to what he was doing and reported it to the Captain. The next stream they crossed Father put the little girl in the wagon and started to crawl in with her. He was very much surprised when the Captain gave him a scutch [beating] with his quirt [riding whip] and told him to get out and walk along with the rest, and not to let him catch him doing anything like that again. Mary Ann walked quite a lot of the day. She was often permitted to ride on the rear of the wagon ahead of the wagon Mother was in. 173 Sometimes when they were crossing a stream, the Indians would gather along the side of the riverbank and say, “See white man go down stream.” One time the Saints were fording a river and 2 or 3 of the wagons were washed downstream, probably because of the light load. The Indians thought they would drown, but when they saw them come safely up on the bank, they whooped and hollered and rode their horses up and down the riverbank. The scouts always went ahead and found the fording places. One day they had to make an extra-long drive in order to get range for their cattle, which put them after dark. It clouded up and began to rain, making it hard for them to see the road. The guides had gone on ahead and knew they had to cross this stream. It was an extra hard stream to cross on account of large rocks in the bottom of the creek, and being on a mountainside. The teams were all waiting for the head teams to get across and lead the way. Men had lanterns and were standing on each side of the creek so they would know where to go. The oxen were tired and hard to handle and didn’t like to go into the water. It was a very dangerous crossing. When the wagons started to ford the stream, the wagon ahead of the wagon Mother was in had run over some large rocks in the bottom of the stream, causing it to tip over. Before the men could get it tipped upright again, two little girls were drowned. Mother prayed that they might cross safely over. The wagon she was in went safely over, but the wagon back of her also tipped over. She said that this was one time her prayers were certainly answered. They had to lay over the next morning and bury the little girls before they could continue their journey. She said the rain clouds passed by and the sun came up very beautiful and the birds sang sweetly, as though they were singing a funeral song. The Saints camped near the Platt River eight miles west of Deer Creek on Nebraska territory. It was here that Mother gave birth to her 4th child at 11:30 p.m. September 10, 1862. They named her Lucy D. Platt—(Lucy after the Prophet Joseph Smith’s mother, D stood for Deer Creek and Platt after the Platt River as the Saints had camped between the Platt River and Deer Creek, and it was here that she was born.) Mother was awful sick while crossing the plains, and Father had to hold her many times to keep her from fainting. They arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah October 5, 1862. They lived for a while with Father’s half-brother, John Dale. It was here their baby, Lucy D Platt died October 15, 1862, about 2 weeks after they arrived. All the money they had when they arrived was a bit, which is 12 ½ cents. The baby was buried in the Bountiful graveyard. They lived but a short time with John Dale, then rented a log house. The following year, 1863 they moved from Bountiful to Porterville. They lived by what used to be called the Old Fort, at Porterville. Father had gone to work for one of his neighbors. Mother was sick and wasn’t well enough to go to any of the neighbors, so she stayed in bed. After Father had left, Mother felt worried and uneasy as though something was going to happen. She prayed very earnestly to the Lord that He might protect her from any harm while Father was away. Their home was a one-roomed house so that their kitchen and bedroom were one. As she was laying there with her face toward the wall she heard the door softly open and someone enter. As she turned her head to see who it was her eyes met those of an Indian. She didn’t move or say anything, but just kept looking at him. He walked over towards her with his tomahawk raised above his head as though he was going to kill her. He said, “Ugh, you heap sick?” Mother nodded her head yes, but he did not speak. He said, “Ugh, ugh”, and walked backwards out of the door and closed it. She never saw him again. This was another time she felt to thank God for answering her prayers. 174 Another time the Saints saw dust rising along the hills and canyon roads. They wondered if it could be the Indians. They soon saw what it was. The Indians were all on horses, driving a large band of horses ahead of them. They were dragging their tent poles and began to whoop and holler. When they came down to the village, they began driving their horses in on Father’s day and grain as he didn’t have it fenced in. When Father and a few of the other neighbors saw what the Indians had done, they went to them and told them that they were not to do that, and started to drive their ponies out. The Indians became angry and wanted to fight. Father tried to reason with them and make them understand that their horses would eat white man’s flour. The Indians kept following Father around, trying to get behind him and stab him in the back. He knew what they were up to, so he went over and stood with his back against a pole fence and faced them until some of the other men could come to him. He had his gun, but did not dare shoot because the Indians had their bows and arrows, and there were more Indians than white men, and they were threatening a fight. One of the Indians said to the other, “See, Indian take white man’s scalp and put it on post.” Father said he thought they would have done it if some of the neighbors hadn’t come. The white men stayed on guard the rest of the day, but when they went back home, the Indians returned at night and turned their horses in and destroyed all Father’s crop. I don’t know what year the crickets and grasshoppers came, but I will enter the following incidents in this part of the history. When the crickets came the people had to leave their work and fight them. The crickets were so large you would think them toads coming; only they were longer than toads. They would come in droves from ½ to a mile wide. When the people would see them traveling towards the crops, they would spread the news and everyone would turn out and fight. They used sticks, clubs, ropes, shovels, ****, and anything that came in handy to fight them with. They would dig trenches about 2 feet wide since the crickets could jump at least one foot, and would jump over if the trench was not wide enough. The trench also had to be at least 2 feet deep. Some would set fire in the trenches and burn them; others would bury them. The crickets would come in quite straight droves (they would follow their leaders like sheep follow their leader). If they would come to anything that was in their way, such as a house, they would not turn out and try to find their way around, but keep jumping and jumping until the ones from the back would pull up on the ones in front. Sometimes they would pile up until they were a foot deep. If the doors or windows were open they would hop right in. Another time, Mother and Father had received word some way or other that the grasshoppers were coming and were headed in the direction of their location, and if they had any vegetables, to gather them and put away so the grasshoppers could not get them. The leaves and grass of the hills were all dried and the grasshoppers were hungry. They were in search of food and were traveling rapidly. Wherever they would light, they would eat everything ahead of them. It was in the afternoon that Father and Mother had been warned, and they were gathering their vegetables and putting them away. The sun seemed to go behind a cloud and they thought it was a storm cloud passing over. When they looked up they saw that it was a cloud of grasshoppers. Father ran with the vegetables to the cellar and turned to see if Mother was coming. She had cabbages in her apron and was coming close behind him. He saw the grasshoppers come down like sparrows and told her to hurry, that they were lighting on her. She bent over her apron so that they could not get at the cabbages and ran as fast as she could. Father said they swarmed over her like honey bees would over a queen bee. Before she could get to the house, they had settled on her back and eaten the whole back of her dress out. She said, “Oh, crack! I didn’t know what to do and I had put the whole back in dress out of 175 flour sack.” One of her neighbors had her clothes hanging on the line and before she could gather them in, they had eaten them all full of holes. While living at Porterville, Sarah was born to them, October 16, 1864, and died 3 months later, January 10, 1865. William was also born at Porterville, Morgan, Utah January 28, 1866. While in Porterville, Father worked mostly at farming and weaving. In 1866, about the fall of the year, they moved to Enterprise. They got along a little better this winter. In 1867 they moved to Kaysville. While they were living here Father went in with his half-brother, John Dale, to make brick. They had to go in debt for everything they got. They charged their groceries at the store, for which they had to sign a paper. Before the brick was burned, John left, leaving Father to finish it alone. John and his family lived well on the things they got from the store. They had plenty of good food and clothing. Father and Mother said they would rather do a little saving and have a little money for the winter. She made the children go without s**** [shoes] and proper clothing in the summer so they could have a little more to live on in the winter. After John left, the people they were indebted to looked to Father to pay the bills. The storekeeper brought his bill to Father. Father told him he hadn’t bought all those things and that part of the bill belonged to John, but because they were partners, Father had to pay the bill. He had to let the people they owed take their pay in brick. They had nothing left for themselves after the brick was all hauled away. Mother said she was so disappointed over their summers work that she couldn’t help crying. While they were living here Father bought her two-bushel seamless sacks (like a gunny sack – no seams on sides, only on the bottom), which she used to keep her clothes in. That fall Father worked out for different people helping to harvest their crops. In the winter they did weaving for a living. On the 12th of September, 1868, Mary Ann married into polygamy to John Corlet McNeil at the age of fifteen. Two months after Mary Ann’s marriage, Mother gave birth to her seventh child, Alice, November 18, 1868 at Kaysville, Davis Co., Utah. In the spring of 1869 they homesteaded in a quieter section. They had a call to go to Salt Lake to have their endowments. The Salt Lake Temple was not yet finished so they went to the Endowment House and were endowed and sealed February 2, 1869 by Daniel H. Wells. The children were not sealed to their parents until October 1898. I have often heard my Father tell how he helped work on the Salt Lake Temple and the sacrifices the Saints had to make. In the year 1870 they went to Evanston, Wyoming where Father had a contract to make brick. They went [back] to Kaysville where Joseph Hyrum was born March 5, 1871. He was named Joseph after the Prophet Joseph Smith and Hyrum after the Prophet’s brother. They moved to East Bountiful about 1871. Father and Mother were very poor and it was hard for them to get along. Mother went out doing people’s washings in order to earn a little that way. I don’t recall where she said she had to go, but she had to walk about 5 miles to this particular house. The woman she worked for was the wife of a storekeeper. Mother didn’t have any chest or closet to keep her clothes in, except the two bushel seamless sack Father had bought for her. Mother thought she could get a dry goods box from the storekeeper and let it go on the washing bill. She scrubbed on the board from 7 o’clock in the morning 176 until 6 at night, then she had the floors to scrub and the house to clean after the washing was done. When the storekeeper came home Mother asked him if she could get a dry goods box and let it go on what they owed her for the day’s washing. He let her have the box that they kept their kindling in, and when she asked him the price he said, “seventy-five cents.” It was a good-sized box and quite heavy. Mother was very disappointed as she didn’t think it would be over fifty-cents, at the most. She had to walk home and carry this box. She said, “Oh, fancy me walking down Main Street carrying that big box under my arm, but still at times I have been thankful for that box to keep my clothes in.” (It seems to me it was in Salt Lake where she had to walk down Main Street carrying the box.) Mother kept her clothes in this box until she died. Another time when they were pretty hard up, Mother would do weaving at home. Mr. John Rich of Richville came to ask Mother to do some weaving for him. When she had finished it and he came for it he said, “Well, Mrs. Smith, I don’t have the money to pay you now, but after a while I will have something to pay you with in place of money.” Mother knew that they had cows. She hadn’t had butter for her bread for a long, long time. One day, she went to him and said, “Well, Mr. Rich, I thought I would come and see if I could get a little butter on what you own me. My daughter and I are sick and I would be very thankful if I could get a little butter to put on our bread.” He scorned at her, stomped his foot, and said, “Why no, Mrs. Smith, we can get money for butter. You’ll have to take something else.” He wouldn’t let her have any butter, and she said she had to take it out in “chips and whet-stones”. They never paid her all they owed her. In 1874, I, Rose Smith, was born 21st of January at Bountiful, Davis Co., Utah. When I was 7 years old we moved to West Porterville in the spring of 1881. Father made a bargain for 40 acres of land from the railroad company. He had to rent a house, as the land didn’t have any on it. As soon as he was settled, he started to make brick to build a house on the 40 acres. I remember brother Joe and me helping Father make brick. We also helped him carry the brick and mortar to build the house. Everything seemed to work against them. They would not be in a house long before they would have to move out and rent another one. Finally Father built a bowery and we lived in that for a while during the summer, until our house was finished enough to move in. They had moved around so much and endured so many hardships that it was a blessing to them to have a home of their own. February 16, 1896 Mother’s mother, Hannah Brown Hibbert, died. Grandmother Hibbert was baptized at Newton Heath, England the same time Mother was, on the 19th of August, 1847. She was baptized by Robert Oaks and confirmed by Williams Dunn. She came to Utah in September 1864. At the time of her death, Grandmother was 88 years of age, had been in the Church for 51 years, and had been in this country about 34 years. As I have stated before, Grandmother promised Mother that she would join her in Zion as soon as time would permit. Grandmother had a son, Benjamin, and a daughter, Mary, in America. She left a son, Daniel, and daughter, Sarah, in England, and brought with her son James and married daughter Hannah Dalton, and Hannah’s son Edward and daughter Elina. (I am not sure her name is correctly spelled.) Grandmother Hibbert tried to convert her husband to Mormonism so that he would be baptized and they could come to America, but he would not be baptized. She wanted very badly to come to America, so little by little she saved enough money, unbeknown to her husband, to pay for her ticket. She learned of a ship sailing for American, so she packed the things she would need for her journey. The ship would sometimes be two or three days before sailing. She knew that if things looked different to her husband when he came home he would suspect where she had gone and would come down to the ship and 177 prevent her from going. So she hung her nightcap and gown in the usual place on the bedpost and left. When he came home he saw her nightcap and gown and thought she would be back soon, and so she was able to get away on the boat without him knowing it. Aunt Hannah Dalton planned on coming to America and bringing her children and her husband, Mr. Dalton promised to come later. Whether he meant it, I do not know, but he never did come to America. She got her children ready and went to the boat. Just before the boat started out her husband came on board and kissed them all goodbye. He picked up their youngest baby, a little boy of about 2 years of age, and kissed him. Just as he was kissing him the call came for all visitors to get off the ship. They were all off except Mr. Dalton and a few others. Just as they were raising the gangway of the ship, Mr. Dalton ran ashore with their little boy. It was too late to stop him as the anchor had been lifted and the ship was starting out. Aunt Hannah never saw her baby or husband again. On June 27, 1895 Father and Mother were surprised by about 38 guests who helped them celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. In 1913 I received a letter from my Father, William Smith, in which he bore me his testimony as follows: Porterville, Box 32, Morgan County September 19, 1913 To our daughter, I send this note for you to keep: I am the oldest man in Morgan County, also the oldest man in the Church. My next birthday, on the 12th of April 1914, I will be 90 years old. On the 28th of the same month I will have been in the Church 74 years. I know that God has spoken from the heavens, and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, and this work is true. You may ask, how do you know it; because God has revealed it to me in many ways. I want you to understand that this is no fantom [phantom] of the brain. From William Smith, your Father Mother will be 83 next on the 20th July 1914. We are the oldest married couple in Morgan. Mother joined the Church on the 19th of August 1847. Father died just 2 years after he wrote me this letter. He died at the age of 91, 10 of September 1915. After Father’s death, Mother lived at brother William’s place for about 8 months. She then came to Idaho and lived with me for about 3 years. She went back to Utah and lived with brother Will again for about 8 months. She then came back and lived with me until her death, which occurred July 24, 1921, at the age of 90. She was in the Church 74 years at the time of her death. Father and Mother were both buried in the West Porterville grave hill, Morgan County, Utah, in the corner of Father’s own land or farm. Father and Mother had to endure many trials and hardships, but proved faithful to the end. May their descendants be as true to the faith as were they. Story told by Rose Smith Rasmussen