I have been going through the Church History Trail Excerpts for the Martin Handcart Company. These can be found at the church website LDS.org. http://lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneercompanysources/1,16272,4019-1-192,00.html
I am finding their is a great deal to go through, but the process is worth it. However I have divided it into sections so I can keep track of where I have been. In this section there is an excerpt from Dan Jones' book. He was one of the rescuers and part of the express group that found the Martin Handcart Company. He was also selected to spend the winter at Devil's Gate to guard the goods of the Saints that were left so they could use the wagons to cart the pioneers.
There is a quote from one young man who noted that because some were sick, there was an added burden on others to carry them on their carts. Of great import in this section is the journal of Jesse Haven. He was captain of Company E from Iowa City to Florence. This company was combined with Company F at Florence to form the Martin Handcart Company. Jesse Haven then helped with the wagons. I am convinced that Isaac was in this company until reaching Florence. This is based on Langley's mother appealing to Captain Toone for a blessing for her son. Captain Toone was with the Haven group. He continues as a captain of 100 with Elder Martin.
These pages also give an idea of the weather. It went from in the 100s to below zero in a matter of a few months. It also describes the problems with the Indians this year. There were several attacks upon the plains, but they left the handcart pioneers alone for the most part. There is a gruesome story of a wolf attacking and eating a man just before the last crossing of the Platte. This seems to have made an impression on the pioneers.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Pioneer History of Isaac J. Wardle
Pioneer History of Isaac J. Wardle
Pioneer History of Isaac J. Wardle
No author is given but I think it is my dad’s
handwriting
Isaac John Wardle was the son of John and Mary Kinston,
the former of Ravenstone England, the latter of Snayson, Leicestershire,
Eng. He was born June 1, 1835, and
Ravenstone. He came to Utah Nov 30, 1856
in the Edward Martin “Frozen Handcart Co.”
Married Martha Ann
Egbert Apr 17, 1859 (daughter of Samuel Egbert and Maria Beckstead, pioneers
1849) who was born March 1, 1844, and came to Utah with parents. Their children:
1.
Isaac John born Oct. 31, 1862, married Alice
Robinson.
2.
Samuel born Feb 4, 1864 died March 26, 1864.
3.
Crella Marie born Oct 15, 1868, married Zachariah
Butterfield.
4.
Araminta born Apr. 25, 1868, married Daniel
Densley.
5.
Joseph Smith born Sept. 13, 1870, married
Sabrina Ann Beckstead.
6.
Hyrum Smith born May 26, 1873, died July 26,
1873.
7.
Silas D. born July 16, 1875, married Emeline
Orgelo.
8.
Junius F. born June 9, 1879.
9.
Etney May born May 15, 1882 married Jon Palmer.
10.
Edgar R. born May 15, 1882, died Sept. 3, 1882.
The family home was in South
Jordan, Utah.
He married Mary
Ann Ashton, 1868, Salt Lake City. She was
the daughter of William Ashton, pioneer 1856, Edward Martin Co. She was born at Oldham, Lancastershire,
England. Their child William H. born
April 5, 1869, married Annie Sorenson.
Married Sophia
Meyer July, 26, 1869, Salt Lake City (daughter of Charles F. Meyers and Annie
Jacobson, pioneer Oct. 1, 1862, Joseph Horne Co.) She was born Sept. 11, 1849 in Denmark. Their children:
1.
Charles M., born Dec. 18, 1870, married Harriet
Rhodehouse.
2.
Hannah M. born March 13, 1873, married Robert N.
Holt.
3.
Atheamer M. born Sept. 3, 1881, married Rosa
Powell.
4.
Wilford Woodruff born Oct. 6, 1883, died Aug. 7.
1887.
He took an active
part in the Echo Canyon trouble. He
filled a mission to England in 1879; he was Superintendent of South Jordan Sunday
School from 1879-1897; He was a home missionary, ward teacher, high
priest. He moved from South Jordan, Utah
to Parker, Idaho in 1900.
He worked in the coal mines as a youth
in England. It was there he heard the
Gospel from the Mormon missionaries.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Francis Webster: HandcartPioneer
I am enclosing the famous story of Francis Webster. The interesting thing to note about his story, is the angels seem to have come even before the snow. Not that he talks about making it to a "patch of sand" He was likely referring to the hills of Western Nebraska, before the snows came. The Black Hills area was one of the most difficult of the journey. The article linked at the end from Chad Orton talks about this.
Some years ago president David O.
McKay told from this pulpit of the experience of some of those in the Martin
handcart company. Many of these early converts had emigrated from Europe and
were too poor to buy oxen or horses and a wagon. They were forced by their
poverty to pull handcarts containing all of their belongings across the plains
by their own brute strength. President McKay relates an occurrence which took
place some years after the heroic exodus: “A teacher, conducting a class, said
it was unwise ever to attempt, even to permit them [the Martin handcart
company] to come across the plains under such conditions.
“[According to a class member,] some
sharp criticism of the Church and its leaders was being indulged in for
permitting any company of converts to venture across the plains with no more
supplies or protection than a handcart caravan afforded.
“An old man in the corner … sat
silent and listened as long as he could stand it, then he arose and said things
that no person who heard him will ever forget. His face was white with emotion,
yet he spoke calmly, deliberately, but with great earnestness and sincerity.
“In substance [he] said, ‘I ask you
to stop this criticism. You are discussing a matter you know nothing about.
Cold historic facts mean nothing here, for they give no proper interpretation
of the questions involved. Mistake to send the Handcart Company out so late in
the season? Yes. But I was in that company and my wife was in it and Sister
Nellie Unthank whom you have cited was there, too. We suffered beyond anything
you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear
a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? Not one of that
company ever apostatized or left the Church, because everyone of us came
through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted
with him in our extremities.
“‘I have pulled my handcart when I
was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one
foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill
slope and I have said, I can go only that far and there I must give up, for I
cannot pull the load through it.’” He continues: “‘I have gone on to that sand
and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times
to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the
angels of God were there.
“‘Was I sorry that I chose to come
by handcart? No. Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we
paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful
that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company.’” (Relief
Society Magazine, Jan. 1948, p. 8.)
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Wardle Names from Ravenstone Parrish
This is a summary of the names I found on a reel at the family history library
Reel 145800 0498117
Parrish Ravenstone, Bishop’s Transcript
Baptisms, marriages, burials 1813-1883
Ann Wardle
Baptism April 7, 1816
Parents Thomas and Elizabeth Wardle
Ravenstone, labourer
Charles Smith and Hannah Wardle
Marriage
April 30, 1816
Both marked with X
Thomas Wardle
Baptism June 24, 1820
Illegitimate son of Elizabeth Wardle
Ravenstone
Hannah Wardle
Baptism Sept. 25, 1821
Daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Wardle
Ravenstone, labourer
Elizabeth Wardle no. 73
Burials, Jan. 14, 1823
Ravenstone, age 21
Dorothea Wardle
Burial Jan. 6, 1824
77 y.o.
Mary Wardle no. 109
Burial Nov. 12, 1826
77 y.o.
William Lackling and Susan Wardle
Marriage July 30, 1829
Of this parish
Hannah Wardle
Burials Jan. 28, 1832
10 y.o.
She appears to be the daughter of Thomas
and Elizabeth Wardle
John Wardle (bachelor) and Mary Morton
(spinster)
Marriage Nov. 12, 1832
Both of this parrish
Witnesses Mary Wardle and William Martin
Both made their mark with an X
Labourer
Isaac Wardle
Baptism #240
Son of John and Mary Wardle Labourer
Note of death at Ravenstone Hospital
James Smith and Ann Wardle
Marriage Dec. 11, 1836
Thomas Smith
Baptism #278 July 11, 1838
Son of James and Ann Smith
Swangington, labourer
Hannah Smith
Baptism #311 Dec. 27, 1840
Daughter of James and Ann Smith
Ravenstone, labourer
James Smith
Baptism #334 Oct. 15, 1843
Son of James and Ann Smith
Ravenston, labourer
Elizabeth Wardle
Burial #269 Feb. 15, 1843
60 Y.O.
James Wardle
Baptisme #327 Mar. 14, 1842
Son of John and Mary Wardle
Ravenstone, collier
Ann Smith
Baptism #359 May 31, 1846
Daughter of James and Ann Smith
Ravenstone, labourer
William Smith
Baptism #777 Dec. 10, 1848
Son of James and Ann Smith
Ravenstone, collier
Thomas Wardle
Burial Aug. 3, 1847
72 Y.O.
Findmypast.com
Death records,
Joseph Wardle
Ashby de la Zouch
1859 April, May June
V 7A pg 75
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Iva Beckstead contribution
Thanks for your new blog entry. Do you know if this journal entry
was written in his own handwriting? If so, Do you happen to have a copy
of it? I have a typed copy that was given to me years ago (can't
remember by whom) but it isn't quite the same as your blog entry. Yours
has more detail. Do you know if a complete journal exists for Isaac
John Wardle?
I have attached some research that I have done.
Iva Beckstead
According
to The Journal of Langley Allgood Bailey, edited by Allen C.
Christensen, “I was taken down with a hemerage (hemorrhage) of the bowles
(bowels). I was unable to walk. Had to be hauled on Bro. Isaac J. Wardle and
my brother, John’s cart. After reaching Florence (Nebraska), a Doctor was
consulted. (The Doctor) said I must not
go another step or I would die and be buried on the road side. A captain named Tune would not administer to
me—said he did not have faith enough to rais(e) the dead. Mother, on hearing that Apostle F. D.
Richards and C. H. Wheelock had arrived in camp, got them to administer to
me. They promised me I would live to
reach the vallies (valleys). All this
time I was uncounsis (unconscious) of what was going on.”
***********************
One
account written by a granddaughter of Isaac, Ollie Palmer Parkinson, states: “I
remember grandfather telling us how he left bloody tracks in the snow as they
came across the plains, and how he prayed for a pair of shoes and he came on to
a pair by the side of the road. They
were small for him and hurt his feet, but how good they felt to him, and he
knelt and thanked his Heavenly father for them.”
Another
time Ollie states that her grandfather said, “They almost starved to death and
more than once they singed the hair off the hides and chewed that. The longer they chewed, the larger it
got. They would take it out of their
mouths and cutoff another piece and chew again.”
***************************
They
had to cross streams and rivers that were filled with ice chunks. On page 5 of the book Of Dugouts and
Spires by Ronald R. Bateman, 1998 published by the South Jordan City
Corporation it states, “Isaac J. Wardle helped bury twenty people in a single
grave in that desolate white wilderness.”
Monday, August 29, 2011
Picassa Pictures
https://picasaweb.google.com/103595303801313510528/BillyWardleGenealogy?authkey=Gv1sRgCOztuYSW0ZXCqwE
This is a quick look at the genealogy pictures I have posted.
This is a quick look at the genealogy pictures I have posted.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Isaac Wardle's History in His Words
Isaac wrote a short description of his life.
I like the way he ends this, "to rest our weary body." After a trip of thousands of miles, and a trek of 1300 miles, I am sure Isaac's body was very weary.
Copied as written by Isaac J. Wardle
Born June 14, 1835 in the Theune of Raven Stone, Lester Shire, England. Son of John and Mary Wardle. I had four brothers and one sister. I did not have the privilege to go to school much as I was put to work at the age of 7 years old. At 9 years old I was to work in the lead mines. I was after put to work to learn the rope making business. I only stayed at that work a short time as the family moved to the town of Loalcvill [Coalville.] I was put to work in coal mine again. I continued to work at the same place till I was 18 years old. In September 23, 1853 I was Baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, by Elder Fredrick Smith. I was confirmed next day by Elder Smith. In a short time I moved to the town of Worcel, Staford Shire. I stay-ed there till I had saved money enough to emigrate to America. Then I went to father and mother, brothers and sister again till the spring of 1856. On the 19th day of May I bid them all goodby and sailed for Liverpool. Saturday, May 26, 1853 went on board the ship Orizen [Horizon] with 840 passengers on board. John Read was Captain. Edward Martin, President of the company, Josef Haven, councilor. We was on the sea 5 weeks. Arrived in Boston Saturday 10 a.m. , stayed there two days, then took train for Iowa City, state of Iowa. We stayed there a short time and then started for Council Bluffs with Hand Carts. Distance was 300 miles. We did not have difficulty on the road. WE crossed the Missouri River at Florence. Stayed there a short time to fill out for the plains. Edward Martin continued to be our President and Captain. When we left Florence there was some where about 740 soles in the company. Some had stayed at different towns along the road. When we left Florence I had on my handcart a young man 18 years old by the name of Langley Baley, (now living in Nephi City, Utah.) and 100 lbs flour and tent and camp equipment for 7 persons, with John Baley to help me pull it. (Now living in Monrchie, [Moroni] Sanpete County, Utah). Every thing went along fairly well with us for about 630 miles, except the Indians came to see us once in a while till we got to Platt bridge, there we encountered a severe snow storm. This was in the early part of October. Then our old men and women commenced to give way with some young people too. We kept moving on a little every day. By this time some of our brethren and sisters and children commenced to die and give out by the wayside. I myself fell to the ground and lay for some time. About this time Joseph A. Young and Ephram Hanks came to our camp at noon one day and told us that horse teams was coming to meet us from Salt Lake City, with provisions. In 2 days we met 10 teams. More team continued to meet every day on, so we left our hand carts at Picfick Springs. By this time quite a number had died, which I helped to burry. It continued to be very cold and stormy and some of them dying most every day. We got to Salt Lake City, Utah about 11: O’Clock A.M. Sunday Morning 30th day of November 1856. President Brigham Young with many other brethren and sister bid us welcome and took us to their homes. By night we all had places to lay our heads down, rest in comfort, to rest our weary body.
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