Charles Ramsden Bailey and Susannah Hawkins

These are Steve's great-great-great grandparents, married in 1863 in Salt Lake City. Charles Ramsden Bailey was born in Honley, Yorkshire, England, August 31, 1839.  Susannah Hawkins was born on 8 Mar 1847 in Kensington, London, Middlesex, England.

The Story of Charles Ramsden Bailey

Charles grew up in a religious family with a mother who always attended church and loved the Bible. He began to go to Sunday School at a young age, and the family worshiped in the Church of England.

He was an exceptionally fast runner (I mention this because Steve also has this talent), and at age 14 he won 13 out of 14 races.  When he was 13, his family moved to Lancashire  to work in the cotton factory. The family received two visitors while living in Lancashire who are an important part of their conversion story.

The first visitor was Charles' cousin Mary A Weelock. She was the first member of the Church Charles had ever met. She stayed with their family for about two months, talking with different people about the gospel. Two of his sisters were baptized into the Church at this time. The first sermon Charles ever heard was an open air sermon by Cyrus H Wheelock.

The second visitor came a few months later: Uncle William Broomhead, who was currently a Branch President. He visited Charles' family one evening on his way to Liverpool and spent the night. This night was a memorable one for Charles as he heard him preach. the next morning when his uncle left, he told Charles that it wouldn't be long before he came into the Church. Charles thought of those words often, and it wasn't long before they came to pass.

In May of 1852, Charles and his sisters went on a visit to some of their relatives living in West Broomwick.  They planned to stay about 10 days, but after a week they received a letter from their mother. She told them she and their father were having trouble and that she was going to leave him and would join them soon. His father was a good man, although he was very easily led by company to drink. In June of 1852, Charles and his mother were baptized in the West Broomwick Baths.  Elder John Taylor baptized them and they were confirmed by Elder James Bowers.

After 10 months, the family moved to Manchester where his mother and sister found work.  There were 400 saints in Manchester. They wanted to go to Zion, and were excited to hear of an opportunity in Liverpool in 1854. Unfortunately their first attempt was foiled with a damaged ship, but another opportunity came a few months later, and they bid farewell to England.

The voyage was long and hard. Charles said, "I had no fear for I knew the God would watch over us".  They arrived in New Orleans in March after eight weeks crossing the ocean. They then went to St. Lewis by steam boat, where cousin Benjamin Broomhead took them to his home for six days to rest.

The next stop was Atchison where they worked for six weeks before going to work in Missouri. Thousands of Saints were now gathering at Hickey Grove, later called Mormon Grove.  By now the Saints had started to immigrate, and those gathering numbered in the thousands. Charles and his family left in 1855 to travel across the plains.

While they were traveling along, the little Blue River Charles' Sister Mary Ann had an accident. She was sitting on the wagon tongue, giving Charles a drink of water, when she fell in front of the wheel.  It went over her chest and the hind wheel went over her jaw, breaking it. Charles ran and picked her up--she appeared to be dead. He called upon some of the Elders to administer to her and prayed to God to restore her to life.  She soon showed signs of life.  An old man set her jaw.  She was a little disfigured,  but otherwise recovered.  There were eleven accidents on the journey. Food was very  poor. A stampede broke 16 of their wagons, which had to be repaired. They ran out of provisions and that night, they were met by a wagon of wheat and flour.  They were so thankful that they danced into the night.

After ten months of their journey, they were 15 miles from Salt Lake City. President Young and others of the twelve came to greet them.  They told them what to do and what to expect and warned them that they may find living difficult for a while.  Cousin William Broomhead came with a team and wagon and took them to his home where they stayed for the winter.

In 1859 Charles moved to Cache Valley and settled in Wellsville. He knew this was the place he wanted to live. He was well liked by many and died peacefully in Wellsville, Utah on 16 Jan 1910.

The Story of Susannah Hawkins

James Richard Hawkins

Susannah Hawkins Bailey came to America with her parents in 1853 when she was six years old. Her parents were James Richard and Ann Sewell Hawkins. They heard the gospel in 1851 through Eli   B Kelley who was a missionary there at the time. They decided to be baptized and sold all they had  and prepared to go to Zion.

They spent 61 days crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a sailboat. They crossed the planes with the Jacob Gate company, reaching Salt Lake April 4, 1853.   They first settled in Tooele, moving to Wellsville six years later. Susannah and  Charles were married in 1863.

One of Susannah's great-grand daughters shared the following memory about Susannah Hawkins: "I remember, not long before her death, how she stood up in a family reunion and bore her testimony as to the  truthfulness of the Gospel.  She bade her posterity to ever be faithful and diligent in the work of the Lord." At the time of her death--at age 85--Susannah was the oldest pioneer woman living in Wellsville.

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Charles Ramsden Bailey, by Jay and Betsy Long

James Davenport and Almira Phelps

 

James Davenport

James Davenport and Almira Phelps are Steve's great-great-great-great grandparents. James was born in 1802 in Vermont, and Almira was born in 1805 In New York. They were married in 1822 in New York when he was twenty and she was seventeen. They had eleven children. Shortly after the church was organized, they were baptized. Unfortunately, nothing more is said of their actual conversion, although their life after baptism shows a great amount of faith.

James worked as a blacksmith and a farmer in Nauvoo before leaving for Winter Quarters with his wife and small children in order to escape persecution. It was in Winter Quarters that Brigham Young invited James to join the first company of Pioneers going to the Salt Lake Valley. This meant that James had to leave his family behind until he could return for them.

Although James was in the Pioneer Company, he did not enter the Valley with Brigham Young. He served as a blacksmith for the company and was among nine men (coincidentally, one of my ancestors was also one of these nine men!) left to operate the upper ferry of the Platte River, later known as Fort Casper. This group was instructed to ferry the companies across and charge those who could pay.

Late in July, after the ferry had ceased operations due to the end of the high water season, James headed back to Winter Quarters for his family. In 1850 they joined with another company and went west to settle in Grantsville, near Tooele. James traveled across the plains twice more to help bring wagon trains of converts.

The family later moved to Wellsville, and finally Richmond, in Cache County, Utah. Some of the children did not come west, and James and Almira spent some time visiting with them in the Midwest. Both died and were buried in Richmond.

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Jeremiah Leavitt and Sarah Sturdevant

Jeremiah Leavitt was born May 30, 1796 in New Hampshire. Sarah Sturtevant Leavitt was born September 5, 1798 in New Hampshire as well. They are Steve's great-great-great-great grandparents, married in 1817 in Vermont. After their marriage, the Leavitt's moved to Hatley, Canada, where his parents were already living.

 

Mormon elders were in Canada in the 1830's, but none of them found their way to Hatley. Sarah was raised by Presbyterian parents and regularly studied the Bible and prayed on her own. She was seeking a church similar to the early church described in the New Testament. 

A traveler who had attended a Mormon gathering somewhere else loaned the Leavitts a copy of the Book of Mormon. "We believed them without preaching," Jeremiah Leavitt later wrote. About 1838, the extended Leavitt family, including nine children of Jeremiah and Sarah, started as a group to gather with the Saints in Missouri. Delays kept them from joining with the Saints at Far West, but they later moved to Nauvoo, and finally to Utah.

Here is an excerpt from Sarah's journal:

"I read the Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, and all the writings I could get from the Latter-day Saints. It was the book of Doctrine and Covenants that confirmed my faith in the work. I knew that no man...that could make such a book or would dare try from any wisdom that man possessed. I knew it was the word of God and a revelation from Heaven and received it as such. I sought with my whole heart a knowledge of the truth and obtained a knowledge that never has nor never will leave me."

During the 13 years it took to move from Hatley, Canada to the Salt Lake Valley, several of the Leavitt's died, including Jeremiah. Sarah continued the journey with her family, and through much travail and sacrifice eventually settled and colonized the Santa Clara River area.

In 1998, a bronze statue of Sarah  was unveiled in a park in Santa Clara, Utah on what would have been Sarah's 200th birthday. "Sarah was a noble woman and a matriarch to more family than perhaps any other person in the LDS Church. She suffered and sacrificed all she had, that we, her posterity, could enjoy life as we do today."

"The monument's purpose is not only to honor Sarah Sturtevant Leavitt, but also to enable her posterity, now and in the future, to have a place where they can come and feel a sense of the connection that exists to each other, and also to the remarkable ancestry so well represented by Sarah. Ours is a rich heritage.   It is hoped that we and our children will learn to love, honor, and cherish it."

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John Moses Wyatt and Sarah Caroline Horsecroft

John Moses Wyatt was born May 22, 1829 in England. Sarah Caroline Horsecroft was born on January 25, 1829 in England as well. They are Steve's great-great-great grandparents, married on December 25, 1838.  About three years after they were married, John Moses was coming home from work in the evening when he was attracted by two Mormon missionaries who were holding an open air meeting. He afterward reported that the truth of their message came to him with great force. It seemed to him that the message they brought was what he had been waiting for. When he got home he said to his young wife, "Sarah, I have heard the true gospel that has been restore to the earth. Tomorrow evening we will go together and hear these messengers again." Without reservations they accepted the gospel and were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on June 21, 1852, by Frederick Moore and confirmed by Henry Hollis. The spirit of the Gathering was immediately manifest in their lives and preparations for immigration to America were made. They were immediately met with opposition. Their families became very bitter toward the church and tried to prevent them from bringing their young son John (Steve's great-great grandfather) with them by hiding him. Fortunately the boy was found in time for the family to leave with a company that sailed from Liverpool, England on February 23, 1853.   There were four hundred immigrants cramped in this small vessel. This was stormy season on the Atlantic. The passengers endured many hardships in the ten long weeks they were in crossing. The company reached New Orleans on April 23, 1853. They traveled up the Mississippi River to Iowa where they were organized in an ox team company and walked most of the way across the plains, experiencing many of the hardships incident to pioneer life. The threat of attack from Indians was ever present. Food and water was often scarce. Their second son, Charles, was born September 2, 1853 in Green River, Wyoming. They were not able to stop for the birth of the child because of the urgent need of water for camping. When they left England they were not aware that a child was on the way and had made no preparation for its arrival. As a result it was necessary to use pillow slips, underwear, and other available articles to provide for the infant's clothing. They struggled on in the face of these hardships and arrived in Salt Lake City, October 5, 1853, almost nine months from the time they left Liverpool. Before leaving England, Sarah had a dream in which she saw Brigham Young. As the company entered Salt Lake Valley they were met by Brigham Young. She pointed him out and said "there is the leader, and the man I saw in my dream". They lived in Salt Lake City for seven years working for Brigham Young. Five years after their arrival, in 1858, Brigham Young led the entire population of Salt Lake City as far south as Provo because of the threat posed by Johnson's Army. The saints took all their livestock with them. When they returned the Wyatt family found their home and garden in good condition. In the year 1860 they moved to Cache Valley. Their plans were to go to Providence but the Little Bear River was in flood, so they remained in Wellsville. The first year they lived in a dugout in the hill just east of the fort. Later they moved into the fort. The houses were close together because of the danger of Indian attacks and the men took turns acting as sentries to insure their safety. After some time the town was surveyed into blocks of ten acres each with eight lots to the block. The families purchased lots and built houses of logs with dirt floors. John Moses Wyatt bought the lot across the street west from where his son John Horsecroft later lived. A few years later the family moved to Franklin where they stayed only one summer. They returned to Wellsville and made this their home until their deaths. John Moses worked on the Logan Temple as a rock mason for one year and later he helped to build the school house. His wife Sarah, was always ready and willing to aid the sick and needy. She went many times to help sisters in confinement. She was the mother of eleven children, seven boys and four girls. Three of these children died in infancy. Two of her sons, John and Franklin filled missions to their native land of England. The family did much to build and sustain the Church and community in this pioneer period. Sarah was a brave and hardy woman. On one occasion after they had moved to Wellsville, she had left her baby outside the cabin while she gathered firewood. On returning she found two Indian braves with her baby. They threatened to take the baby if she did not give them sugar. Instead of being frightened into granting their request she chased them away with a rolling pin. The next morning the chief and the two braves came to her cabin with a gift of venison and the chief called her a "brave squaw." (source)

Josephine Fritz and Carl Johan Larsen

Josephine Fritz is Steve's great-great grandmother, born in Lundberg, Litslene, Uppsala County, Sweden on February 18, 1849. She was the oldest of six children and lived on a small farm that was the source of their living.

Josephine's parents were Lutheran. In order to join the Lutheran church, she had to be able to read the catechism before the reverend minister, so her parents let her go to school to learn to read and write. They wanted her to learn just enough reading so that she could be confirmed a Lutheran, since women were not given a chance to become educated. So when her parents occasionally asked Josephine if she could read, she told them not very well because she was so anxious to learn all she could.

At the age of 28, Josephine joined the church on February 15, 1878. Here are her own words about this event:

"My mother said she would disown me when I joined the Church and thought I had turned crazy when I went to the priest for genealogy records, because I would not let the dead alone. The river was frozen over where I was baptized, a hole having been chopped in the ice the preceding evening. I had my first faith-promoting experience at that time. As I stood on the bank, I shuddered and thought, "I will surely take cold going in such cold water. But when I entered the icy water, I felt no cold, nor did I get a cold."

Josephine worked with a few other women in the home of a well-to-do professor in Stockholm. Because of the unpopularity of the church, she cleverly concealed her conversion from the women she worked with. Eventually they found out where she was going on her Sunday evenings off, and they were anxious to hear this new gospel from America that was led by prophets and apostles. When they heard the gospel, it rang true in the hearts and ears of these women.

Lovisa was one of these women, a good friend of Josephine's who was also baptized. Lovisa and Josephine wanted to come to America. They started to save their money, but they didn't have enough. They decided one of them would go and work, and then send for the other. So Lovisa loaned Josephine enough money that when combined with her own savings was enough to go to America.

Josephine left Sweden for America on June 8, 1883. The water was rough and the journey across the ocean took two weeks. She then traveled to Salt Lake on a railroad car, a rather miserable trip. She went to work doing laundry in Park City for almost two years. Each time she was paid, she sent money to her mother and Lovisa in Sweden. When Lovisa had been repaid, Josephina sent her enough extra money so that she too could come to America. They were lifelong friends.

Concerning her mother, Josephine said, "I sent money to my mother for years after coming to Amerca. She wrote and said she received almost $20 for every $5 I sent her. I was forgiven, but she never expected me to come back to Sweden."

Josephine met her husband, Carl Johan Larsen (Steve's great-great grandfather) at a Scandinavian meeting in her Ward in Salt Lake City. Carl was born July 13, 1844 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He immigrated from Denmark to America in 1880 after being baptized around 1865 by a brother Lundberg, a member of the 3rd Quorum of the Seventy. (The Autobiography of Anna Larsen Kolts)