John Henry Hendricks and wife Clara Wahlen

John Henry was Juel Josiah's youngest brother.  This is one of the last biographies I have in the book I found.

John H. and Clara (Wahlen) Hendricks

John H. Hendricks, son of Joseph S. and Lucinda (Bess) Hendricks was born 29 Sept. 1873 Richmond, Utah. He came to Idaho when a boy of 16.  He met Clara Wahlen at Nelson Dairy where she was working, it was at Black Springs,  what is now called the Fish Hatchery.  She was born 13 March 1876 at Bern Switzerland, daughter of Karl and Anna Barber (Ashbacker) Wahlen.

            They were married when she was nineteen and he 21 at Marysville 1 April 1895 by Thomas E. Gooch, the first couple married at Marysville.  In October of that year they went by wagon and team to Logan there had their Endowment and were sealed 16 October 1895 in the Logan Temple.  They were four days on the way camping, the first night at Blackfood, 2^nd at Portneuf Canyon, then at Lewiston.  This was right after an Indian uprising and some white men had been killed a few days before and the Indians were on the prowl at night, they could hear them yelling and riding around both nights.  Clara said she was nearly frightened to death.  They came back to Marysville where they made their home all their married life except for a period of nine years when they moved to Mt. Glen, Oregon. 

            There were only about nine or ten families living in Marysville when they went there.  Father and his brothers worked at the sawmill at Warm River and hauled lumber to St. Anthony for about fifteen years.  We helped make the Marysville canal.  Clara took the children and moved up in the timber with him.  They were three years making the canal. 

            He homesteaded the Big Falls up about Bear Gulch, which he later sold.  He always liked to fish and hunt and live in the hills.  He was a stage couch driver in the Yellowstone Park eleven summers.  He likes music and dancing. 

            Clara was very active in Church work.  She worked in primary and Relief Society, and in genealogical work.  She was a good neighbor, in very deed, was always the first to be there when help was needed.  I guess she attended over a hundred births, acting as nurse or midwife many times without the help of a doctor.  She is the mother of nine children, thirty-six grandchildren, and six great grand children.  She died quite suddenly and quietly, 20 November 1942. 

            They were great pioneers, joining in with all civic projects like building the Ward House and other community projects. 

                                                                                                Veda Hendricks Kidd

Clara Wahlen Hendricks

            Clara Wahlen Hendricks was born in Bern Switzerland and was about 17 or 18 months old when she came with her parents to America.  They came straight to Utah as they and previously sent four of their sons over with the Elders, one of whom was Karl G. Maeser.

            Her parents were very poor, her father obtained work in a sawmill in Paradise, Utah.  Then they moved to Logan where he worked in a Taylor shop and in the Temple.  When Clara was about 8 years old they went to Rexburg, Idaho with the early pioneers who first settled there.  There she grew up working at whatever she could get to do, washing dishes at the Hotel, doing housework in the homes, and went to the school at Ricks Academy where it was first established.  Her parents were still paying for their fare over the ocean, so they all worked and saved to help.  The mother made yeast for the town, did washings and sewing with Clara and her sister helping.  Clara had two sisters Fronica, who was named for the ship on which they sailed, and Annie who died of scarlet fever when she was 6 or 7 years old.  They lived the gospel for which they left their native land, and always paid an honest tithing.  

Lucinda Bess Hendricks (Juel Josiah's mother)

Lucinda Bess Hendricks

 

            Lucinda Bess Hendricks was born 19 December 1842 in Greenwood New York, the seventh child of Juel Josiah and Laura Richison Bess.  The following names are of her brothers and sisters:  Oliver, James, Laura, Eliza, William, and Lurinda, which was her twin sister.  Her parents were staunch members of the L.D.S. Church, but the shadow of death visited this home and took the beloved father to another clime, and a great responsibility fell upon Laura, the mother of this small group of children.  But undaunted in her faith she began preparing to cross the trackless plains.  Trouble never came singlely.  Two of her children, James and Eliza, were kidnapped by her husband’s mother, who said she was crazy and not fit to take care of her children.  Therefore she had to have a doctor’s certificate to state she was sane before she could get her children back. 

            Laura, a very strong character surmounted all obstacles, so Lucinda crossed the plains with her family in 1848.  She was baptized a member of the Church in Salt Lake City, Utah.  She also receiver her endowments in the Endowment House at the age of seventeen.  Her school teachers were few.  Her school books were the Bible and Book of Mormon. 

            To assist with living expenses she embroidered buckskin gloves and various other things. 

            In a social way she partook of the activities of the young people, and many times attended banquets at the home of Brigham Young.  Later in life at the age of 23 she became the plural wife of Joseph Smith Hendricks and to that union was born eight children names as follows:  Juel, Laura L., William D., John H., Lurinda A., Asa O., Lola E, and Hyrum S.  She fought the good fight, and lived and died a true Latter-day Saint.  She was also a Relief Society worker.  Prayer was her watchword and all her troubles and sorrows were told to the Lord, and He in return gave her strength to carry on. 

            Dear Blessed Mother, I get so lonesome to see your dear face, but I know you are happy up there in you lot and place, so let us as her descendants, dare to do right, and dare to be true, and do the work she would have us do. 

            She has eight children, thirty-eight grandchildren, and number of great grand children, a few great great grandchildren. 

                                                                                    Lurinda A. Hendricks Leavitt

Sariah Fidelia Pew Hendricks - Joseph Smith Hendricks' first wife

Sariah Fidelia Pew Hendricks

            Sariah Pew was born in Jackson County Missouri on August 11, 1833.  She was the daughter of William and Caroline (Calkin) Pew.  He was a ship builder serving his apprentice – ship probably, in St. Louis, Missouri.  They heard the gospel and both joined the Church.  It seems the must have had to remain at his work, for she came on with the Saints to Jackson County, Missouri.  Their first child, Hyrum, named for Hyrum Smith who brought the Gospel to them, was born in 1831 before she left for Jackson Co.  Sariah was born a few months after she arrived at this place.  Caroline frequently heard from him for a time telling her when his time was up he would join her and the children.  However some time before his release from his contract, his letters stopped coming, and several months later his tool chest came to her.  But instead of containing his tools it was filled with trash.  Although she tried to learn something of him, she never did.  She always thought that he had been killed and robbed. 

            She went with the Saints when they were driven from Jackson Co., and again when they were mobbed and ordered to leave the state or be exterminated.  John H. Tippets and family became her friends and she traveled with them.  Many apostatized and the poor had to be helped by others.  They had gone only six miles when the wagon tire broke.  Brother Tippets and another man 70 years old walked the six miles to have it mended then back again to their wagon.  They went on and caught up with their company by dark where they had camped.  They arrived in Quincy, Illinois in April 1839. 

            Caroline went on to Nauvoo, there she lived near the Prophet Joseph.  Little Sariah now six years old and went to school in his house.  One day he took her on his knew and asked her if she knew she was born in the Garden of Eden.  He said always remember that and tell your children you were born in the Garden of Eden.  Caroline was a tailor and worked hard to support her children, the Prophet asked if he might adopt the little girl. 

            In March her friend Abby Tippets died at childbirth, the child, a son died too.

            26 September 1840, Caroline married John Tippets, their first child they named Abby Jane, who died when about 4 months old. 

            After the Prophet’s death, the Temple at Nauvoo was hurried to completion so the Saints could have their endowments.  There Caroline and J.H. Tippets received their endowment and were sealed in 1846. 

            Sariah was baptized in the Missouri River.  Brother Tippets was a member of the Mormon Battalion and so went into Salt Lake Valley in 1847.  Then went back to Winter Quarters to brink his family.  Early in 1848, they started on the long trek across the plains.  Sariah was now about 14 years old.  She and her little brother would gather buffalo chips with which they made their camp fires when wood was not available. 

            On the way they lost two cows and three oxen.  But they were going to a home where they could live as they desired so they did not complain.  They milked the cows in the morning and put the milk in a jar.  By night there would be fresh butter for the newly made salt rising bread, this was made from a start called emptings.  Hyrum and Sariah drove an ox team and walked most all the way from Winter Quarters to Salt Lake Valley.  

            Their first home was a dug out about 10 feet into the hill on City Creek, the front built up of dirt.  During the winter they built a house and in the spring moved into it. 

            Fashion followed then and it became the style to have very small waistlines.  If a man could span his sweet hearts waist with his two hands she was the bell of the ball.  One morning when her father, Brother Tippets went to call Sariah, he found she had slept in her corset to make her waist smaller.  He cut the string it surely would have awakened her had she not fainted.  He was kind to her, as if she were his own daughter and she adored him.  They lived there eight years and there the youngest girl was born.  When she grew up she was known to all as Aunt Fin.

            Sariah was married January 4, 1857 to Joseph S. Hendricks.  He was nineteen, and she was twenty three years old.  They went to the Bath house to live, which Joseph and his mother were running.  They had three negro servants to do much of the hard work, but she always found plenty to do, much to the admiration of the servants whose names were Bill, Cad, and Chloe. 

            Their first child, a girl whom they called Lilly was born there and died in a few months.  24 September 1859 another baby girl was born to them.  Her name was Sariah Fidelia, who grew to be a wonderful woman and nurse to all far and near of the pioneer section near her home in Snake River Valley to whom she was Aunt Dea, when she was eight months old the family moved to Richmond, Utah.  Three children were born in Richmond, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Inez. 

            When they moved to Snake River Valley, James Pilant “Jake” a young man from Nebraska went with them, their home was always his home.  He became as one of the family.   

            Their food was raised on their own farms, meat, milk, butter, eggs, and vegetables, having their grain made into flour.  Fish and game were plentiful.  Sweets such as sugar and syrup’s were brought in from outside. 

            The houses were made of logs most of them with dirt roofs.  But the Hendricks’ home had board roof and two rooms.  So many of the meetings and gatherings were held in their home. 

            Nearly all her life was spent on the frontier enduring the hardships and trials of the pioneer.  But she was always patient and a faithful Latter-day Saint working in Relief Society an Primary so long as she was able.  Being of such a loveable nature, friend and mother to everyone she became known throughout the country as Aunt Rye and her husband Uncle Joe. 

            When she was about 60 years old her son’s wife died leaving a family of six children, the baby two weeks old.  She took him and his children into her home and cared for them till they were married except one, who was shot while learning a .22 rifle, and died of lock-jaw. 

            Sometime near 1915-16 they moved back to Lewiston, Utah where 16 June 1919 she passed from this stage of life.  Funeral services were held at the Lewiston First Ward.  Bishop G A Hogan presiding.  Speakers were James W. and Brigham Hendricks, nephews of the deceased, and Brigham Pond.  Each of whom spoke of the noble spirit she possessed.  She was buried in Richmond, Utah.  

Joseph Smith Hendricks

I found an old book barely holding together in my dad's collection of family history.  It has a collection of original photos and biographies.  The book was compiled by a M.F.H.K.  I don't know who that is.  I think she wrote this biography of Joseph Smith Hendricks and is his daughter.  I don't know from which wife though.  It is hand written.  Although it could also have been written by a Lurinda Hendricks Leavitt.  They have similar handwriting.  I will try to post some additional biographies found in the book as time allows.  I enjoyed reading a biography of Joseph Smith Hendricks written by his child.  

Joseph Smith Hendricks

            Joseph, second son, fifth and youngest child of James and Drusilla Dorris Hendricks, born in a moment of quiet between mob drivings and persecution, where they had stopped to raise a crop at Far West, Caldwell Co. Mo. 23 Mar. 1838.

            A rare privilege was granted this babe, when he was taken in the arms of the Prophet Joseph Smith who blessed him and gave him his own name.  What a moment of joy, this must have been to his proud parents whose love for their prophet was perhaps surpassed only by their love for the things he taught.

            Peace was not for long; in August of the same year trouble began again.  Election was the excuse this time.  The crops were nearly all destroyed, and mob violence grew.  Joseph’s father was called out in defense of some brethren who were held and beaten by the mob, and was shot 24 Oct. 1838 in the battle of Crooked River.  Again the family, with many others, was driven from the state.  The mother with her little children and almost helpless companion were compelled to move on.  Many times there was little or nothing in their house to eat, and the mother’s heart ached when her baby asked for food which she could not provide, but as many times as needed the Lord came to their rescue and in some way they were supplied with enough to carry on. 

            You have read in Grandmother Drusilla’s history how they were driven again and again until they found another brief rest in Nauvoo, The City Beautiful.  Here Joseph Smith Hendricks, no doubt, at times watched the construction of the magnificent Temple, listened to the voices of the Prophet and apostles, went into their homes, or played with their children.  A picture he always retained in his mind was of Joseph Smith riding his splendid white horse at the head of the Nauvoo Legion.  He was six years old when the Prophet and Patriarch were martyred; he very likely went with his family to join the sad procession of mourning friends as they paused for one last look at their beloved leaders.  He was with his mother in that momentous meeting when the mantle of Joseph the Prophet fell upon Brigham Young.  He saw his mother quickly stand as many others, as they softly and wondrously exclaimed, “Can it be Joseph?”  For surely it was his voice.  But it was not Joseph, and these faithful saints knew their chosen leader was Pres. Brigham Young. 

            In Feb. of 1846, this family with others of the Church was again driven from their homes, from the State of Illinois across the frozen river, and the city of Nauvoo, with its beautiful Temple in the arm of the majestic Mississippi became as the “Deserted Village.”  The inhabitants with what little of their substance they could pack in a wagon or two, once more became wanderers facing they knew not what, going they knew not where, but fulfilling prophecy as they turned their faces westward toward the Rocky Mountains, and the Desert which would ‘blossom as the rose,’ where mobs would be left behind.  Weary destitute and ill there was yet another blow to be struck by their enemies.  This time in the “Call to Arms.”  This time five hundred of their able bodied men were to leave their families’ in wagons, tents, and on the trackless prairie, to fight for their country, which they loved, but which they felt were driving them from its border.  Joseph’s father not able bodied but still a cripple from the bullet of the mob could not answer the call, which duty fell upon William, the oldest son.  This left Joseph who was about nine years old to be the main help to his mother in tending and driving the oxen, and other chores needed to travel with a wagon train.  The 4^th of October 1847 they entered the Salt Lake Valley.  Ten days later the soldier brother joined them. 

            Salt Lake Valley!  Did that nine-year-old boy dream of the adventure, the hardships, the romance and final triumph that lay ahead. 

            With William’s return they built a home within the fort wall.  Hunger stood at the door through that long hard winter.  Crops were planted in the spring, and just when they held up the promise of the harvest, came the crickets.  Joseph and Rebecca were the youngest of the Hendricks family.  Both of them would hold an end of a bed cord, dragging it over the grain, knocking the crickets off the precious wheat.  Meanwhile their father and brother brushed them from the corn to save what they could of that.  You know the story of the crickets, the despair they brought to those disheartened pioneers, and the soul-stirring miracle, the rescue by the sea gulls.  It was just another trial.  The Lord had not forgotten His people. 

            They went to the warm springs and built a house and bathhouse.  They did not remain there long. 

            Joseph and Rebecca found much pleasure in singing. 

            On the 4^th of January 1857 when Joseph was 19 years old he was married by Pres. Young to Sariah F. Pew, daughter of William and Caroline Calkins Pew. 

            In the winter and spring of the next year came Johnston army, they with the others of Salt Lake City fled southward, leaving their homes deserted and ready for the torch.  This time the promise was kept, the soldiers marched through the city and camped on the opposite side of the Jordan River, three days later they passed on to the south west and founded Camp Floyd.  The word was carried to the refugees and they returned unmolested to their homes.  Two children were born to them in Salt Lake, Lillie and Fidelia.  Lillie died in infancy. 

            Pioneers – one who goes before to prepare the way for others.  These were pioneers, and now they moved onto Cache Valley and built a home in Richmond sometime about 1860.  He acted as minuteman and scout against Indian attacks between Richmond and Franklin.  In 1864 in obedience to council and at that time practice of the Church, he married as a plural wife Lucinda Bess, daughter of Juel J. and Laura Richison Bess.  Nine children were born in these two families while in Richmond.  Three were Sariah’s, and six were Lucinda’s. 

            Sometime near 1877 they made their way northward and built a home in Swan Lake Idaho, where two more children were born to Lucinda.  Here also in these first years a real siege of sickness fell upon these homes.  First Lola died.  A little later Libbee had typhoid fever, Inez and Laura were suffering with diphtheria, Juel and Will were also ill.  One winter day for about three hours, Laura lay so quiet, it seemed she must surely have passed from this life.  But she aroused and told her mother she had been in the other world, and that she had seen her relatives on the other side.  She told what a beautiful world it was and she wanted to go back, at her Mother’s protest she replied that she must go at once, she and Inez too.  Early in December they both joined those on the other side. 

            For a while Joseph drove freight teams, then contracted the building of railroads up through Idaho into Montana.  They were working with large groups of men.  He was a member of the High Council when he was in Swan Lake and Oxford. 

            Then came word that the rich Snake River Valley held a promise of prosperity and bright future – to those who would brave the hardships and struggle to subdue the wilderness. 

            Pioneers?  Yes the pioneer spirit arose to meet this challenge.  And once again these families loaded their goods into wagons and moved farther to the north, homesteading farms and making the sage country beautiful with fields of waving grain and hay.  They called their new home Marysville, a valley between the North Fork of the Snake and Fall River guarded on the east by the lofty and inspiring Teton Peaks. 

            To build homes in this wild untamed country meant work, hard work, long hours of work, but with it came the joy of achievement and a task well done.  Trees were cut and brought in to build houses.  Tall heavy sage brush thick sweet scented buck brush was cleared that the fields might be plowed and planted, these roots were large and tough, but they worked together undaunted men, women, and children, as little by little the sage gave way to growing crops.  Homes were enlarged, and fences built.  They were not fences of steel and wire at first, but high leaning pole fences picturesque and practical.  Canals were dug to sustain the thirsting crops.  The main one was the Brady Canal, for years it seemed all the time that what could be spared from the farms was given to this work.  Men with teams and scrapers digging deep to build this main artery of the network which is the lifeline of the country.  A dug way was made down to Warm River, where Joseph and others had a sawmill from which building materials were supplied to build up this new country.  A place for school and worship was soon needed.  At first gatherings could be held in the homes, but before long these were inadequate. 

            Water was hauled from the rivers in barrels and covered with clean canvas held in place by the hoop.  Lights were coal oil lamps, and sometimes candles.  Winter roads were often bad and travel dangerous.  One might start in what seemed ample time to reach his destination, but if a blizzard came up or a horse slipped off the road many hours might be consumed in going but a little way. 

            They pioneered not only temporally but also in spiritual affairs as they built up the ward adding one organization then another, each one doing his bit were it little or much.  Joseph was councilor to Bishop James H. Wilson for many years. 

            The social side of this growing community was not neglected.  There were home talent plays, Magic Lantern pictures, dances, surprise parties, and on the 24^th of July almost the entire community would take a vacation camping and fishing in the hills on Warm River or Big or Lower Falls on the Snake River.

            Another annual event was the Hendricks Family Reunion, where most everyone for miles was invited.  Joseph would lead in the merriment with singing and dancing.  Some of the old songs were “Hard Times”, “Fall River Valley”, and “Nelly Gray”, “After the Ball”, and “The Nauvoo Song”, but I think the most loved of all was “Come, Come ye Saints” and “Small Wonder,” as he would tell the stories of what we now call Church History, not as he had read them, but as he had seen them, lived them, and played a part in their making.  He would tell them with such fervor and conviction that his hearers, adult and children alike, would thrill with the spirit of his testimony.  Was it a factor in making you love the gospel and the history of our people as it was to me?

            He led in the dancing too, usually in the Virginia Reel, not the wild frolic we have made of it, but sedate and stately – I wish you could have seen them dance, you who did not.

            Joseph had the gift of healing, through the power of the Priesthood.  Sometime near 1914 they moved to Lewiston, Utah where he lost his wife Sariah in 1919.  He passed from this stage of life in 1922 in Tremonton, Utah at the home of his granddaughter.  Lucinda joined them about tree years later.  Not enough can be said of the sterling character of these Pioneer parents of ours.  And we are proud to be their children. 

 

  

Annetta Lucinda Clifford Wilson autobiography

This is Ione's Grandmother's sister

Biography of Annetta Lucinda Clifford Wilson

            I was born at Providence, Cache County, Utah, March 29, 1863, the third daughter of John Price and Mary Lois VanLuven Clifford.  I had six sisters and one brother.  My parents were among the first of the Saints that were called upon to pioneer and settle Cache Valley.  My father was one of the Mormon Battalion and also an Indian Interpreter and could speak the language fluently.  They moved from Brigham City, Box Elder County, Utah to Providence, before I was born, and remained there until 1876. 

            I was almost fourteen years of age when we moved to Clifton, Oneida County, Idaho.  Before going to Clifton, I was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

            Prior to this time while still living in Providence, I had a very bad sick spell, which resulted in my throat becoming very sore, and my jaws were locked so tight that I could not even get a knife blade between my teeth.  It continued to be so for three or four weeks.  My father administered to me and my little sisters prayed for me.  They did all they could to relieve me, but it was so slow and painful.  Sometimes I thought I could not endure the pain.  One day my uncle told them to poultice my neck with coal oil and fat meat, which they did, and the pain and swelling was gone almost in a day or two so that I could begin to get my finger between my teeth. 

            When about sixteen years of age, I went to help Joseph Wilson’s wife, Lerona Monroe Wilson, one of our old neighbors that had been our neighbor before we had left Providence.  They moved from Providence to Clifton soon after we moved there.  While staying with Lerona Wilson and her husband, I became acquainted with her husband’s brother Oliver, who had at that time met with an accident while cutting timber for the Logan Temple, and had injured one of his legs.  We became attached to each other.  His mother was a widow and he was obliged to take care of her, as his other brother was also a cripple.  Oliver left Clifton and went with his mother and brother to Arizona.  He stayed there for about four years.  I never seemed to care for anyone else, nor did he. 

            After he had been in Arizona three or four years, he wrote to me to see if I was married.  No one knew that I had been praying for my absent lover to return, if he was not married or if his love for me had not changed, so I wrote and told him that I was still single.  We began writing to each other.  He also composed some beautiful verses and sent to me, which we learned to sing together, and also about which I will have more to relate farther on in this sketch of my life. 

            He came from his Arizona home on the Gila River in the fall of 1882.  He arrived in Gentile valley where I lived at that time.  I had moved there with my parents in 1880. 

            Shortly after his arrival, we were married on October 3, 1882 by Bishop Robert Williams, a minister of the Gospel.  On November 9, 1882, we went to Salt Lake and received our endowments.  We bought a little farm in Gentile Valley, but with us it was quite a struggle.  We did not have the necessary implements to run a farm, and my husband’s health was quite poorly, owing to the change in climate. 

            In July 23, 1883, our eldest child was born.  We named him Oliver Elbert.  When he was about six months old we sold our home in Gentile Valley for a team and wagon and moved to Logan.  We stayed there until about October when we started to go back to Arizona, as my husband thought he could do much better there than in Logan.  We put what few household effects we could carry, along with dishes, fruit and some potatoes also a pig that we had killed and salted down.  We had our wagon fixed with projections, so that we could put our bed on slats and trunks and other necessities underneath.  It seemed a great undertaking to me to start on this journey so late in the fall with our wagon loaded and just one small team of horses.  But we had faith that we would accomplish the journey all right, which we did, but we were two long months in the wild and storm. 

            Just after leaving Panguitch, Utah, we met a young man and his wife and another older Lady.  The young couple also had a young baby about two weeks old.  The young man had been on a mission and had only been home about a year and was again called to go to Arizona to help colonize that part of the Lord’s vineyard.  The young wife seemed to think that was almost too much to expect from them so soon after her husband had already been away from home so long, but they started out and trusted in the Lord to take care of them. 

            Two or three days afterwards, while we were traveling on our journey, we stopped at a little store to get some necessary supplies.  Those people bought some coffee, about two pounds.  We traveled about ten miles farther on before camping for the night.  When the older lady went to roast the coffee to prepare it for their supper, she saw in looking it over, a ten dollar gold piece.  Then she examined the rest of the coffee and found more until she had found sixty dollars in all in the two pounds of coffee.  How it got there was a mystery.  But they thought it was a gift from Heaven and was very thankful for it.  As no one came to claim it, they of course kept it.  We left those people where the road divided and went on our way towards the Gila River.  When we got to the Apache Mountains, it commenced to snow, and it kept getting deeper and the mountains were so thick with tall pines and trees all around us.  At last the snow got so deep that we could scarcely go on, and the hay and grain that we had brought along with us was almost gone.  There were two young men that were going over the mountains too that helped us to tramp the snow down so that the horses could get through.  Finally we had to take our wagon back in the timber and leave it.  Then they put the four horses on the one wagon and we went on over and got to my husband’s brother’s place in three or four days.  

            On the Gila River in Arizona just before Christmas, we built a cabin of logs and factory.  There were logs for the corners of the house, two logs set close together for the window and the door, then factory stretched around and tacked to the logs.  The door was of rough lumber and the roof was brush, then straw and dirt on top.  We lived there about four years and while there, our two girls, Lucinda and Elizabeth Mary, were born. 

            There two of the children got severely burned in the fireplace.  One morning about the coldest of the season, the eldest girl and boy were out playing.  They found some ice and, of course, had to play with it.  They got their fingers to aching and came in crying.  All at once I heard them scream.  I was in the bedroom making beds when they came in crying.  I ran in where they were and there was the oldest girl right in the fireplace.  It frightened me so at first that I could scarcely move, but I jerked her out of the fireplace and in so doing I upset the teakettle on the baby girl’s feet and legs.  She was sitting there by the first to warm her feet.  To say I was frantic wouldn’t be exaggerating.  By the time I got the fire put out on the one’s clothes and back to the one who was scalded, her woolen stockings had held the heat until the skin came off with the stockings.  A neighbor lady came in and helped me poultice and care for them, but there were weeks of suffering for the children and days of care and anxiety for their father and me.  They suffered severely for several weeks, in fact all winter.  They still have the scars, but through faith and the blessings of the Lord, they both recovered without losing the use of their limbs or any defect of eyes or hearing. 

            From this place, we took up a small farm near a cold spring that we thought was wonderful, it being so cold.  But we found that we could not drink the water.  The more we tried to, the worse it was.  Then we had to haul the drinking water in a barrel about a mile from the river.  That was not so bad when there was someone to haul it, but my husband took the measles and then the children all took them.  My second boy, Wallace, was born at the same time and the neighbors were a long way off.  The girl I had staying with me only stayed five days, and we really suffered for water.  The Bishop came and administered to my husband when he was delirious.  From then on he was much better and the children also were greatly improved.

            A little more than a year later, we moved to Dias, Mexico, where there was a colony of Mormons or Latter-day Saints.  There we took us a farm and built an adobe house with two rooms.  We worked hard to clear off the mosquito brush which grew in abundance all over the place.  Our stable was built of mud, like the adobes, also the fence around the house and grounds.  My husband’s health had been bad for some time past, and he was in hopes he would have better health here than in Arizona. 

            When my second girl, Lizzie, was five years old, and Wallace about three, they were lost from just before sundown until noon of the following day.  That was certainly a shock to us, coming at a time when I thought I had all that I could stand.  But we do not know just what we can stand until we have to pass through the deep waters. 

            My husband, that morning had agreed to take a lady that was in town to her children several miles away from where we lived.  He was not feeling very well and I would much rather he would not go, but he was owing this woman, Mrs. Boyce, for a horse he had bought from her.  Therefore, he felt obliged to go and move her load of household goods to where she had left her children.  He said to me, “Nettie, there are several little errands I wish you would attend to, as I am in a hurry to get started.”  So I left my baby four months old with the older children and went with him.  While I was doing those errands for him, he was loading the wagon and in so doing he had a very severe heart attack.  I saw his team tied up and though I would speak to him before he went.  When I got to the door I saw the Elders administering to him.  He soon recovered enough to talk to me and soon got up.  I told my oldest boy to go and see how the baby was.  It was about four blocks to where we lived.

            It was a very hot day in July.  We had had no rain for several weeks, and that day seemed hotter than any other.  The first thing I knew, my boy came carrying the baby bareheaded.  The baby just looked at me and smiled a little then fainted or went unconscious.  It frightened all of us, and they said he was sun struck.  We did what we could and got the Elders for him also.  But he still continued to cramp and was in so much pain.  However, the woman we were indebted to still wanted Oliver, my husband, to go on with the load.  I begged him not to go and leave me with the baby so sick and himself so miserable.  But he said, “I must go, but if the baby doesn’t get better soon, send a boy after me and I will come back.”

            I was worried about my other children and I could feel a storm coming up, so I asked the boy if would go after my husband as the baby was no better, then I started for home.  When I was about a half a block from home there was a loud clap of thunder.  I heard a child cry out, and such a worried feeling came over me.  I heard a voice say to me, “What if you never hear that voice again!”  I hurried on with such a feeling of dread I could scarcely walk.  When I got to the house not one of the children was there.  My washing was on the line.  I knew that I would have to have dry clothes for my baby, so I laid him down, sick as he was, and went to gather the clothes in.  All the while I was calling to the children.  Just as I was coming in with the clothes, Oliver came in the door.  I told him the children were lost.  He said he thought they were coming with the cow, as he had heard the bell.  But he was so weak he could hardly stand, so I left him with the baby and went to find them.  However, I could hear two cow bells.  I was undecided as to which one was our bell.  As I would start for the one, I was afraid the other would be the right one so I ran back to the house and said, “Oh, Oliver, which is our cow bell?  I can’t tell, and the storm is coming on very fast.”  So he went himself to look for them.  He had scarcely gone when the storm broke.  Oh!  How it did rain!  It seemed as though it came in streams.  In a few minutes Oliver came in with the two oldest children.  The two youngest were not with them as we had thought they would be.  We sent the oldest boy to his uncle’s to tell him the children were lost, and to notify the town.  It was not long before there were men and boys from everywhere all anxious to join in the search.  They had lanterns and torches, but the night was so dark and it turned out so cold that they could not accomplish anything.  About two o’clock in the morning they had to give up the search until daylight.  Then they started out again.  They were to give the signal as soon as the children were found.  They were to fire their guns and ring the curfew.  But when the time went by and no guns were heard, I began to get so discouraged and uneasy, I just felt as though I could not endure it.  Some of the neighbors were with me.  They tried to encourage me.  At last we heard shouting and it was not long before they came in with the children.  It was about eleven o’ clock.  Then what a relief.  No one knows unless he has experienced something similar.  Our Bishop’s son was the one to first see them and they had lain out all night in the storm and cold with the coyotes and wild animals all around them.  They had had nothing to eat except the wild beans they had gathered before the storm overtook them.  It was the darkest night I ever saw, and many a prayer was rendered in their behalf.  They did not take cold or seem to have suffered in any way except the little boy, about three years old, was just about exhausted.  They had walked about three miles and then the Bishop’s son came across them when they were going towards home as unconcerned as could be.  He asked them where they had been, and they told him, “Oh, we just camped back there under a hackberry bush.”  Zeno Johnson, the boy who came across them first, said in Fast Meeting that before he found them he knelt down and prayed fervently to the Lord to guide him aright, that he would know the right direction to take, and he would take that as a testimony that the gospel taught by the Latter-day Saints was true and that prayers could be answered.  He got up and started in a different direction than he had been going, and in a short time came across the little fellow.  Guns were fired and the curfew rang to call all the searchers in, and all the town rejoiced to hear that they had been found.  The account of this incident was published in the Juvenile Instructor either that same fall or in the summer of 1893.

            At this time, flour was such a high price we could not get the means to buy it with.  We tried to sell our team or anything we had for flour, but there was none to be had that we could find without the ready cash.  We had to make bread of cornmeal and make hominy of the corn until I though I could not eat another bite.  I got so weak and hungry, I just though I would give almost anything for a piece of flour bread.  One morning, it being Fast Day, I thought I would fast and pray that the Lord would open up the way for us to get some flour, that I was almost starving on the cornmeal.  I went to Fast Meeting, and one of our neighbors told me that her husband had just returned with a load of flour.  I asked if they would sell us some, and they let us have seventy five cents worth.  But that was not very much, as flour was $6.00 per 100 pounds.  Then my husband got a chance to take loads of wheat over to the other valley and bring flour back, and he took flour for his work, which he was very thankful to do.  We still had some of the flour he had earned when he died.  From that day to this, I have never had to eat corn bread, which I am very thankful for. 

            In the year 1896, in the month of January, my husband was taken very ill with Typhoid Pneumonia.  He was so seriously ill that I felt very concerned about him.  I sent for the Elders and had him administered to, but instead of him improving as he always had done before, he continued to grow worse.  I went out to pray for him and ask the Lord if it was possible for him to recover, that he would heal him and make him well, but I did not get any consoling influence or any ray of hope from my prayer.  I went in the house to change my dress, as the one I had on was quite badly soiled.  I just had one good gingham dress, as my other house dress needed mending, and I just could not get time to mend it.  So I thought I would put on my best dress while he was in bed.  Just as I put out my hand to take it down off the nail, a voice said to me in a loud whisper, “Don’t you put that on!  You know that it is the best dress you have, and the only dress you have to wear to his funeral.”  I sank down on a chair overcome with grief, for I knew then beyond a doubt that would not recover.  Just a week from that day, about an hour before he died, I heard a voice exactly like my husband’s say to me, “May we meet again in heaven.”  He was unconscious and could not speak, but I knew it was his desire that that should be so.  Those words were in the last verse of the song he composed and sent to me before he came for me to marry him.  We had learned to sing that song together to the tune of The Gypsey’s Warning.  After he died, I could hear him pleading with me to sit down by him and sing our little song, but I just felt as though I could not do it.  The people would think I had lost my mind, but he seemed to say, “You will be helped.  You will surprise yourself.”  But I just could not raise the courage to do so.  Then I felt so disappointed and down-hearted.  I felt like I had shirked at my responsibility and left something undone.  I felt that I ought to have done so that night.  Finally I said, “Oliver, in the morning I will sing our son for you before they take you away.”  Which I did and I really was surprised at myself.  I did not feel afraid of anything it seemed.  I felt that he was right there helping me.  And after I had sung the song to him, I felt as I had pleased him in doing so and that I had accomplished something that he was anxious for me to do.  For so many hours those words of the song which we had sung together had been ringing in my ears, “May we meet again in Heaven, where our joys will have no end.”

            At the time of his death I was left with six small children…a baby girl about 3 months old.  I was glad to procure work of almost any kind, washing, housecleaning, or anything to help support my children.  I will not go into detail of how we all tried to live the next five years, but the Lord was kind to us.  We all lived and got along somehow, and the Bishop was kind and like a father to us.  I have always been grateful to him and my Heavenly Father for helping me in my hours of trial.

            The Folks wrote and wanted me to come back to Utah, and Idaho, so about the 10^th of April, 1901, I started back to my people in Utah and Idaho.  My mother at that time lived in Smithfield, Utah.  My sisters, two of them lived in Idaho.  I lived in Smithfield three years.  Then I became acquainted with William Chadwick.  I married him and moved to Franklin, Idaho.  Several years after William Chadwick died, I sold my home in Franklin, and moved to Preston, Idaho where I still reside.  I have been greatly blessed in many ways and I thank my Heavenly Father for His kind and watchful care and guidance. 

            I am now almost sixty-eight years old.  I have five living children all married and with families of their own.  And when the time come for me to leave this earth and go to a better one, I hope to meet my husband, Oliver, and all other dear ones, and again be reunited with them.  And again may we sing our song together, and may the beautiful thoughts come true that “We will meet again in Heaven, where our joys will have no end.” 

                                                                                    Annette Lucinda Clifford Wilson

Written by her sister, Mrs. Rosa A. Sant

Typewritten by her grand niece Orella Sant Bunce, on March 10, 1931 (First typing)

Typed on Word 2012 by her great great grand niece Stacey Hendricks Goodman

Courtship and Marriage

Composed by Oliver C. Wilson

1.     Down beside the Gila River

Where its water swiftly glide

How my heart with joy would quiver

If you were by my side.

2.     Oh, I’d be a happy creature

If you were with me today

But alas! That ne’er can be so,

For you’re miles away.

3.     Oh, there’s many miles between us

Thou art nearest to my heart

And I hope that the time is nearing

When we meet no more to part.

4.     How I long to see you, darling

And all sorrow cast aside

And be happy every after

When you do become my bride.

5.     Now I’ve started on my journey

Towards you now I swiftly glide

And I pray the Lord to bless me

With an angel for my guide.

6.     May he shield me from all danger

Vice and folly may I shun,

Through this world of sin and sorrow

Till at length the race is run.

7.     Now my journey it is over

And you have become my wife. 

And I pray that we’ll be happy

And always lead a pleasant life.

8.     When this toilsome life is over,

And we’ve left all earthly friends

May we meet again in Heaven

Where our joy will have no end.

MaryLois VanLuven (Van Leuven) Clifford Ione's great grandmother.  The line goes Ione - George Oscar - Sarah Jane Clifford - Mary Lois Van Leuven Clifford.

I just found a few autobiographies in some of my Dad's papers.  I will post them as I get them typed.  

Autobiography of Mary Lois VanLuven Clifford

First typewritten copy made May 25, 1915

            I was born in Upper Canada, in the town of Leborow, May 25 1834.  I was the second child of Ransom and Lucinda Harvey VanLuven.  They moved to Kirtland, Ohio when I was three weeks old, and there they helped in building the Kirtland Temple.  Also, they went through the many trials and hardships with the Saints at that time.  We moved from there to Morgan County, Illinois, and from there to Iowa.  From there we started with the Saints to the Valley, when I was eighteen years of age, in Captain Wimmer’s company in the year of 1852.

            My mother was blind from sun stroke.  She went blind on the plains.  There were eleven of us in the family.  The youngest a boy, was born on the plains just two weeks before we got to the Valley.  We came by ox teams, and I with others walked most of the way.  We arrived in Salt Lake City in time for October conference. 

            We went from there to North Ogden, where I became acquainted with John Price Wriston, one of the Mormon Battallion.  I was married to him December 15, 1852.  We went by that name until we went through the Endowment House and there Bro. Kimball advised my husband’s father to take his own father’s name, which was Elisha Clifford.  He had been raised by his stepfather whose name was Wriston, (his own father having been killed when Elisha was a boy).  So all the family, in fact all of them for two generations had all gone by that name until the year of 1852.  They took the name of Clifford when they went through the Endowment House.  Brother Kimball told them by all means “To take your own name, for Clifford is a good name, and don’t lose it that way.”

            We then moved to Box Elder which is now Brigham City, in 1853.  My husband, with others, was called out to stand guard to prevent the soldiers from entering the valley.  We went through a great many trials as our men had to be out all winter.  Clothing in those days was very scarce.  We women took all the old stockings we could get and unraveled them and wove them with cotton wrap and all the woolen blankets we could get to make coats and pants and overcoats to keep them from freezing.  Then in the spring we were called to leave our homes and go farther south as the soldiers had by this time gotten into the valley, and it was not safe for so few to stay in their homes without forts. 

            We went down to Springville, and there I had one of the greatest frights on my life with the Indians.  My husband, with others was up in the Canyon getting out timber to get a few dollars for food and clothing.  While they were gone, word came for us to take our children and what little we could carry and go to a log house that was not far away.  That was the only building there at the time.  Word had been received that two thousand Indians with Eagle Eye as their chief were coming to try and kill us all and burn our camps.  So we all hurried there, but not half could get inside.  What men there were, stood on guard at night, expecting every moment to hear the dreaded war whoop of the Red Man.  How fervently we all united in prayer.  At last the long dreadful night passed, and they told us then that the danger was over and that we could go back to our wagons.  Our prayers were heard and answered and we went back with thankful hearts that our lives had been spared.  Then we got word to go back to our homes in Brigham City.  Then, oh what shouts of joy arose.  It was Home Sweet Home again. 

            When we arrived at our home, there was enough volunteer wheat for our bread that winter.  We cut it with a cradle and threshed it with a flail. 

            My husband was an Indian Interpreter, and we had a great many exciting experiences with the Indians.  He was called away all hours of the day and night to go and make peace with the Indians, and to recover the stolen property.  I have often cooked cakes for thirty and thirty-five Indians before I had my own breakfast.  There are other experiences too numerous to mention. 

            We next moved to Providence, Cache County, Utah, where we lived for twenty five years.  Thence to Clifton, Oneida County, Idaho.  We lived there for four years. 

We then moved to Gentile Valley, since called Mound Valley, and Perry Ward, (I think this is Soda Springs, Idaho) where I lived until all my children were married, and my husband died at the age of seventy six. 

Then I sold my place and came to Smithfield, Cache County, Utah sixteen years ago, where I have lived up to the present time.  I am eighty one years old today, and feel thankful to my Heavenly Father that I am still permitted to enjoy the blessings that he has blessed me with, for I have many things to be thankful for. 

I am the mother of seven children, six of them are living and I have fifty-eight grandchildren, and seventy great grandchildren, and five great great grandchildren.  My greatest desire is that they may all live to be true Latter-day Saints.  It has always been my desire to do the will of my Heavenly Father and I pray that we may all continue to do so to the end of our journey here and all be reunited again after this life is over.

Is the sincere wish of

Mary Lois VanLuven Clifford.

P.S.  Mary VanLuven Clifford died December 10, 1919 at Preston, Idaho at the home of her daughter Rosa A. Sant.  She was buried December 12, 1919.  She was buried December 12, 1919 at Treasureton, Franklin County, Idaho.

Retyped from copy originally typed by her great grand daughter, Orella Sant Bunce, March 8, 1931.  Typed on Word by her great great great granddaughter Stacey Hendricks Goodman 2012.

Sant photos

Lucille (standing), Cecil, and Ione

Cecil sitting on the horse, Ione standing next to the horse, and Vera almost in left of picture

Burt and Leona Sant (Ione's aunt and uncle), Luvanah Sant (Ione's mother) Sarah Luvinia Townley (Ione's grandmother)

Luvana, George Oscar Sant, Lucille, Ione. Cecil and Vera

Luvanah (Ione's mother), Lucille Sant (Ione's sister),  Sarah Luvenia (Ione's grandmother) Herbert and McKinley (Ione's uncles, 1/2 brothers of Luvanah)

Dale Sant.  (Ione's brother)  He died in a car accident about 1947.

George Sant Jr. (Ione's grandfather) 12 sons standing behind him.  

(This photo is not labeled, but I think it is Lucille, Luvanah, and Cecil Sant).

Sarah Jane Clifford, George Sant Jr.  (Ione's grandmother and Grandfather)

Back row:  Ione Sant Hendricks, Middle row:  Norma, Harold, Vera, George Oscar Sant, Bottom row:  Lucille's daughter, Herbert Dale Sant

George Oscar Sant and Luvanah Townley Sant's wedding day

Norma Sant at age 7

Family group sheet of George Sant Jr.