Charles Shumway

Charles Shumway was born on August 1, 1806 in Oxford, Massachusetts. We know little about his life until his marriage in 1832 to Julia Ann Hooker. Following their marriage they moved to Sutton, Massachusetts, a short distance from Oxford. They lived at Sutton for a short period of time during which Charles worked as a carpenter and engaged in farming. His father and a brother had gone west. His brother had written glowing reports about the land in Illinois.
In 1835 Charles and his family traveled to the town of Sturbridge, Massachusetts, which was west of Oxford. He left his wife Julia Ann and son Andrew and daughter Mary Eliza in Sturbridge with her parents and traveled to Rockford, Illinois to visit his father and brother. He liked what he saw in Rockford and three months later he returned to Sturbridge to get his family and move them west.

Returning to Rockford, Charles purchased some real property located on the Kill Buck River in western Illinois. He constructed a log cabin and developed a farm. He remained there for approximately three years.
During his time in Rockford, he was active in the Baptist Church, but became disenchanted with what was expected of him and what was thought of him. He sold his farm and cabin to another family and moved to a half-section of property he purchased in the northwest corner of Illinois on the Picatonica river near Galena, Illinois.
While residing in Galena he constructed a house, erected a sawmill and cleared some farm land. Some writers say he became fairly well-to-do.
While Charles and Julia Ann lived in Galena, Illinois, something happened which changed their lives and their destiny. In 1840-41missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints visited them. In 1841 Charles and Julia Ann became members of that church. They would always remember with gratitude the missionaries, Elisha Grove and John Green who taught them the gospel of Christ and baptized them into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
To quote from the book, Don't Look Back, the missionaries came to the Shumway home "without purse or script", living and eating with those they taught. Eva Connover writes, "Brother Groves, the older of the two, in a clear, but low voice, began, "Well, there was this young boy in upstate New York, confused by the different sects and Churches all claiming to have the one and only true religion.'How could there be so many true Churches?' the young boy asked himself and others. In a state of bewilderment, wanting desperately to belong to the true religion, to find the truth, wanting to worship God according to the commandments set forth in the Bible, this young boy, only fourteen years of age, while reading the Bible, came upon James, chapter one, verses five and six which states - If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and it shall be given him. Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering."
This was the beginning of a new life for Charles and Julia Ann. Shortly after his baptism, Charles traveled to Nauvoo, Illinois and visited the prophet Joseph Smith. He was greatly impressed with the Prophet and his message and he returned immediately to Galena to dispose of his property and move his wife and children to Nauvoo. He loaded all of his possessions on a raft and floated the raft down the Mississippi River to Nauvoo, a distance of approximately 200 miles.

During 1841, the year Charles joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was ordained to the office of Seventy (a missionary office) in the church and was immediately called by the Prophet Joseph Smith to return to Galena and Rockford to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We don't know what Charles did for a full-time occupation during the years he lived in Nauvoo, but we have some information about his life at that time. Real estate records in Nauvoo indicate that he owned two parcel of property in the Nauvoo area. One of these parcels was located in Nauvoo and today is the site of a small garden near a home. This may have been the location of the Shumway home while they resided in Nauvoo. The second piece of property was in the country a short distance east of Nauvoo.
Some of the family records indicate that while Charles lived in Nauvoo he was a policeman and apparently was engaged in acting as a personal body guard for the Prophet Joseph Smith. Charles also spent many hours working on the Nauvoo Temple and in the construction of homes and other buildings.
While in Nauvoo, many members of the Church became members of the Masonic Order. One of the buildings which still stands and has been beautifully restored is the old Masonic Hall. Charles, along with about 600 men of the Church, was a member of the Masonic Order and he probably spent time in the beautiful Masonic Hall.
While Charles lived in Nauvoo he was an influential member of that community. He was appointed to membership in the Council of Fifty, a governmental body appointed by the Prophet Joseph Smith to assist in the government. In the book Charles Shumway, A Pioneer Life, written by Dr. Kenneth WE. Godfrey, a great grandson of Charles, we read, "On March 11, 1844, under the Prophet Joseph Smith's direction, the Council of Fifty was organized. Designed to be, depending upon which authority one wants to believe, the nucleus of the world government, the legislature of the Kingdom of God, or merely a group of practical men selected to help move the members of the Church more to the west or perhaps all three of these. That it was to be a significant and important organization under Priesthood leadership is attested to by the number of times this party met before they went west and even after they got to the Salt Lake valley."

In April or June, 1845, Charles was called to go on a mission to the Cherokee Nation. That mission apparently lasted for only a few months and in August of that year, he was back in Nauvoo. At this time he entered into the practice of polygamy when he married Louisa Minnerly. Charles and Louisa were sealed (married) in the Nauvoo Temple. In the fall of that year he was appointed to be one of the captains of fifty and to help the members of his company prepare to leave the beautiful City of Nauvoo, cross the Mississippi River and travel to a new home in the west. Charles and his young son Andrew established a wagon shop and they and the other members of their company began immediately to assemble wagons and to gather and prepare the necessaryprovisions for their trip to the west.

One important day in the life of Charles Shumway marks him different from all of the other pioneers who left Nauvoo. Late in the day on February 4, 1846, Charles and Julia Ann left their home and became the first of thousands to leave their beautiful city as they led their company of pioneers across the Mississippi River in flat boats. They crossed the wide river which was full of large chunks of floating ice. They embarked on the river at the foot of Parleys Street in Nauvoo and landed on western shore of river at a place which is now known as Montrose, Iowa.
In remembering the day the family left Nauvoo,Mary Eliza many years later told about her mother leaving their home in Nauvoo. She said that her mother delayed coming to the wagon and said, "I was scrubbing the floors! I just couldn't leave my beautiful birch floors all spotted and blotched! Move over Mary. I'm to drive this wagon. Your father will come on horesback. Hold Harriet tight." Mary Eliza then said that before the wagon was away from the house, a young man with his wife who were both strangers to the Shumways stepped onto the front door step and in a loud and emphatic voice shouted to those standing about, "We're taking possession of this house!"
And then he opened the door and he and his wife stepped inside, closing the door behind them. Mary Eliza remembered that she saw her mother's upper-lip quiver as she wiped away a tear and said simply, "Let's go!" As they left, Julia Ann wispered to Mary Eliza, "Don't look back...Mary. Never look back! Always keep your eyes on the present...and on what lies ahead!"

They camped first night at Sugar Creek, a short distance from the river, where they waited for other saints who were crossing river. The weather turned bitter cold and many of saints were able to drive their wagons across frozen river. In days and weeks that followed, Charles and his wives and children traveled from Sugar Creek to Locust Creek across Iowa to Garden Grove, Mt.Pisgah, Council Bluffs and finally across the Missouri River a place where the saints established a city of several thousand people which they named, Winter Quarter, Nebraska. (Today this is a part of Omaha, Nebraska).

According to one story, while at Sugar Creek, Charles and members of his company shared their food and other provisions with other pioneers/saints who had left Nauvoo hurriedly without necessary food and provisions. When his provisions were exhausted, Charles and others went in search of food.
Many of the saints worked for local residents along the way constructing buildings and fences and clearing land.
A few weeks after leaving Nauvoo, a call came from his leader Brigham Young for Charles and another man to go in Fr Leavenworth, Kansas in search of several Indian chiefs to get them to come to Council Bluffs, Iowa to meet with Brigham Young. This assignment required them to ride for more than nine days with little sleep and with very little food. When Charles returned, he was a tired and sick man. He returned, after having successfully completed the assignment, rejoined his family and traveled on to Winter Quarters.
The Shumway family and several other families after arriving at Winter Quarters continued on to the west. They had camped in an area which was inhabited by Pawnee Indians. They were waiting for other saints to catch up with them.
Late one night in October of 1846, they were sitting by a fireplace in a cabin which they had occupied. A loud thum,ping knock rattled the door and a voice called, "Shumway". Two tired men came in. They had come from Winter Quarters with a message from Brigham Young, stating, "For all companies camped at the Pawnee villages to move immediately back to Winter Quarters.
Reliable intelligence has been received from mountain men and from knowledgeable Indian sources that the Sioux are preparing to again attack the Pawnee tribes, striking first at the missions, the government station and the fort....There's no time to spare. They may strike at day's first light, tomorrow morning." They quickly got the teams of oxen and all of their possessions loaded in the wagons and long before daylight, the string of wagons was moving away from the Indian camps. The company of pioneers traveled in fear that they would meet the Souix on their way to battle with the Pawnee, but they never saw any Indians.
And then after they had traveled for nearly twelve miles and found their wagons on a low rise where they could see many miles to the west, they looked back to the west and above the horizon, a coiling black cloud rose---billows of smoke! The Sioux had attacked and the fort and all the rest of the buildings on both banks of the Lupe River were on fire. The entire Pawnee campsite where the Shumways had been
was afire.

In later years, when remembering the close encounter with the waring Indian tribes, Charles and his wifes would tell their family that this experience had taught them to listen to the words of the Prophet of God and follow without question.
Arriving back in Winter Quarters, the entire family were ill and on November 14, 1846, his wife Julia Ann Hooker, suffering from black canker, passed away. She was buried at Winter Quarters. While in Winter Quarters, a daughter Harriet also passed away and she is buried with her mother in the historic Winter Quarters Cemetery.
Charles remained in Winter Quarters for a few months and during this brief stay, he assisted in construction of a grist mill, a council house and homes. He was also assigned to work in peacemaking missions between Indians and church members.

When Julia Ann Hooker Shumway passed away, Charles was left with three children, Andrew, Mary Eliza and Harriet. Louisa became mother to these children. Julia Ann's posterity included her son Andrew Purley Shumway who had seven children and Mary Eliza Shumway Westover who had five children. After the death of Julia Ann, Louisa became the mother to her children. Louisa would eventually have four children of her own which included Charles "M" Shumway who had ten children, Wison Glen Shumway who had nine children, Peter Minnerly Shumway who had twelve children and Levi Minnerly Shumway who had six children.

On April 14, 1847, Charles was called by Brigham Young to be a member of the pioneer company. Charles' yound son Andrew, then 14 yeears of age, was broken hearted that he would have to remain behind while his father went west. Charles told Brigham Young of this and the Brigham Young said, "let him go, it will be allright." A few days after Charles left Winter Quarters, he received word that his little daughter Harriet had passed away. In the first company that left Winter Quarters there were 143 men, 3 women and 3 children. Two of those men were
Charles and his son Andrew. In this company Charles was called to preside over a group which included Thomas Woolsey, Chauncey Loveland, Erastus Snow, James Craig, William Wadsworth, William Vance, Simeon Howe and Celey Owens.
The most productive part of Charles Shumway's life began on July 22, 1847 when he arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. He and others were two days ahead of the main body of the pioneer company. By the time Brigham Young and his party arrived in the valley on July 24, the advance group had already plowed land and had begun planting potatoes and other crops. Charles and the others welcomed Brigham Young and the other members of the pioneer company as they entered the valley. The saints entrance into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847 is celebrated throughout the Church even to this day.
On August 30, 1847, just one month after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Charles was called to return to Winter Quarters with Brigham Young. He was probably delighted to go back because he thought his wife Louisa and daughter Mary Eliza were. However, on the trail some distance from the Salt Lake Valley, Charles met his wife and daughter and so the family turned around and returned to the Salt Lake Valley.
In May of 1849 Brigham Young called Charles and a group of men to return to the east and assist in building a ferry so that future saints come to Utah would not have to ford a stream.
When Charles finally returned to his family in the Salt Lake Valley, he may have thought that he had now arrived at a place where he could settle down, build a home for his family and began again to raise a family. But Brigham Young, the great colonizer of much of the intermountain west had other ideas. Brigham Young realized that many saints were crossing the plains and they would need new settlements where they could live and build cities and so he selected strong men to go to other places and develop these new settlements. Accordingly, Charles Shumway was called along with other men and their families to settle the area where Manti, Utah is now located. This settlement was headed by Bishop Isaac Morley with Charles to serve as his first counselor.
The Indians living in the area had told the Church leaders that the Manti area was a good place to dwell because the winters were moderate. However, the first winter after the group arrived was severe. Three feet of snow fell in one storm and it remained on the ground for a long time. Many of the livestock and some of the members of the party froze to death. In February, Charles Shumway journeyed to Salt Lake City on snowshoes and his horse to see Brigham Young and report the terrible conditions which existed in Manti and to obtain food for the people so they could survive.

While Charles lived in Manti, Utah, he was in a partnership with Brigham Young. Charles constructed the first saw mill in the area. Brigham Young provided the metal and straps and Charles constructed the saw mill.
On June 31, 1851, Charles increased his family once again when he married his third wife, Henrietta Bird. Henrietta's posterity are numerous. She had eight sons, George Albert Shumway who had six children, Mormon Alma Shumway who had seven children, Spencer David Shumway who had nine children, Samuel Bird Shumway who had eight children, Hyrum Smith Shumway who had eleven children, Charles Bird Shumway who had six children, Jedediah Grant Shumway who had six children and William Bird Shumway who had four children.

Another important event occurred in 1851. During that year Charles was elected or appointed to serve as a member of the first Territorial Legislature for the Utah Territory. This selection because he was already a member of the Council of Fifty.
In 1852 Brigham Young called Charles to move he and his families to Payson, Utah. He apparently was sent there to engage in the construction of a saw mill or grist mill. According to Franklin Young, in a document entitled,
"A Record of the Early Settlement of Payson, Utah", Charles ran into difficulty with some local church leaders in Payson. His record states: "About June 12, 1853, Charles Shumway was disfellow shipped for un-christian-like conduct and for speaking against and disrespectful of the authorities of the Place; but on the following day (June 13th) he went before the Branch and acknowledged that he had been two-faced and that he was sorry for it and asked forgiveness of the brethren and was restored to his former place and standing in the Church."
After spending a year in Payson, Charles and his family moved to South Cottonwood, an area at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains a few miles south of Salt Lake City. For the next few years the Shumway families lived in that area. In 1857, Charles was called on a mission for the Church to Canada. After completing that his mission, he returned to Utah and in 1859 he received a call from Brigham Young to move to Cache Valley, the area where Logan, Utah is located. He moved to Mendon, Utah and shortly thereafter, because of difficulties with the Indians, relocated a few miles south in Wellsville, Utah. He later returned to Mendon where he constructed a rock chapel and established a saw mill.

While Charles lived in Mendon, he took another wife. Elizabeth Jardine, a young women of 15 years of age had been working in his home helping care for some of the children in his other families. It was agreed that she would become his wife. In spite of the differences in the ages of Charles and Elizabeth, she loved Charles and was a devoted wife to him and a good friend to other members of the families. Elizabeth was the mother of seven children, Julia Ann Shumway Johnson who had seven children, James Jardine Shumway who had twelve children, Richard Franklin Shumway who had nine children, Melinda Shumway Johnson who had six children, William Howard Shumway who had twelve children, Mary Elizabeth Shumway Jennings who had seven children and Doras Shumway McCleve who had three children.
In 1857, Charles Shumway married Adaliza Lauretta Truman. This marriage was for only a brief period and ended in divorce.

Charles and his families remained in the Mendon/Wellsville are of Cache Valley, Utah for eighteen years. During that time, Charles achieved some prosperity. But Charles responded to the direction of the Prophet Brigham Young and again moved his families. His son Wilson Glen Shumway, his his life story stated:
"Brigham Young had told Father that he desired to see him farther south, and Father considered that a call, and he believed in being responsive to all calls when they came from the right source, and as that [Brigham Young] was the right source, he decided to sell out at once and go to the land of cotton."
Charles Shumway moved part of his families to Kanab, Utah and part of them to Johnson, Utah. While he was in Kanab, he engaged in the trading business and he constructed and operated a shingle mill on the east fork of the Virgin River located to the west of Alton, Utah. In 1878 Charles sent his married son Wilson and some of the other boys with a herd of cattle to Arizona. They drove the cattle east from Kanab to the Paria River and then south down the river to Lee's Ferry located on the Colorado River. They crossed the Colorado River and they drove the cattle up a steep embakement known as Lee's Backbone and then on across the country to Grand Falls on the Little Colorado River where they built a small house and camped for the winter.
During the winter months, the Shumway sons were visited by a man who called himself "Mr. Allen". This was really Wilford Woodruff, an apostle who later became president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Because of prosecution for practicing polygamy, Wilford Woodruff was living for a time in Arizona under the name of Mr. Allen. At his directions, one of the boys carved the name "Wilford Woodruff" in a rock near Grand Falls.
When spring came in 1879, the Shumway sons left their camp at Grand Falls and drove the cattle on to Concho, Arizona where the Church had purchased land for a settlement and for the establishment of a town. In 1880, Charles Shumway and two of his families arrived in Concho. He purchased 28 acres of land and attempted to carve out a place to make a living for his families.
Concho was not a very inviting place and troubles soon developed between the Mormon settlers and the Mexican and Indian people who were already living in the area.
Charles began to search for a better place to live and he found a place which was called Spring Valley. He purchased some land and water rights in Spring Valley and moved his families to that place. This beautiful and peaceful valley became the home of two of the Shumway families. The town was later named Shumway, Arizona. [It remains today a small town which has only a few homes and no post office, schools, [but a school house built in 1900 which needs much restoration], churches or businesses] Charles establised homes for his families, constructed a grist mill, planted orchards and settled down for the balance of his life, except for a brief return to Kanab where Henrietta and her family lived.
Charles Shumway passed away on May 21, 1898 in his home in Shumway, Navajo County, Arizona. On February 23, 1898, shortly before his death, authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Apostle Henry Smith and Snowflake Stake President Jesse N. Smith went to the home of Charles Shumway and ordained him a Patriarch.

Charles Shumway was a man who didn't write much about himself. His rapid and complete response to the calls of the prophets of God [He knew the Prophets Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff and Lorenzo Snow] seemed casual and unassuming and yet indicated his obedience to the requirements placed upon him by leaders of the Church who he respected and admired. Brigham Young, in speaking of Charles Shumway once made the following statement:
"There was never a more faithful man in the Church. He was a man who was not wed to his gold. He would give everything he had to the Church, to the building of the Kingdom of God."

Elias Gardner and Wives

Elias Gardner was born 2 April 1807 in Vernon, Oneida County, New York, to William Gardner and Nancy Graves. He is the second son, the first, William, Jr., was born 30 Nov., 1801 in Tyringham, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts.
William and Nancy moved to Vernon, New York, around 1802. While there Ira was born about 1803; Harriet was born 31 Dec 1804, then Elias in 1807 and George, the baby born about 1809.
This was Elias’ family, his parents with five children, one girl and four boys. It would be hoped that it was a happy family, but indications are that it was not. When Elias was around three years of age, his father left the home, leaving Nancy with this young family to carry on. Tradition has been handed down that William was a drinker, and this could account for his leaving his family. The family was cared for by others.
Elias and William, Jr. were taken into the home of their grandparents in Tyringham, Massachusetts. This was after Elias was 3 yrs of age. He was only there about six yrs. when his Grandfather, James Gardner, died, 11 Nov., 1816. Elias was nine years of age at this time. He undoubtedly was heart broken, for his Grandfather Gardner was in most respects the only father he had known.
Elias continued to live with his father’s family and learned the trade of Shoemaker, most likely from one of his uncles. “At the age of 14 yrs., Elias was working as an apprentice and by the age of 18 he was established in a shoemaker business.”



Ruth Markham Abbot, a sister of Betsy Markham, had been reunited with her daughter Ellen in Salt Lake. They moved to a plot of ground on the old 4th North between West Temple and East Temple. Some accounts have said that Joshua became offended over a land dispute with the church and left. Ruth, in a statement in her “Declaration for a Widow Pension” writes, “Joshua went to California in the spring of 1849…She presumed he was dead.”
Ruth, in 1851, was living in Davis County, next door to Stephen Markham, and evidently taking in boarders. In 1852, three years after Joshua left, Ruth was having a struggle caring for her two daughters, and she expressed these feelings to her sister Betsy in a letter. This letter was discussed in the Gardner household, and Betsy encouraged Elias to marry Ruth and have them come to Payson and live with them.
For a glimpse of how Elias viewed Polygamy, the following quote comes from instruction that he gave his son-in-law on the subject:
“It is a call to religious duty. It is not to be accepted as a pleasure. The purpose of Plural marriage is not earth happiness but earth discipline. Polygamy is a holy thing. It is a means whereby a man might inherit a higher degree of glory in the next life. The ideology of the doctrine is to raise a large number of children who will be faithful to the teachings of the Church. You’re a good man, and it is your obligation to make it possible for as many worthy spirits to take advantage of our religious teachings as you can.”
Elias knew of his own mother’s struggles and what it was like to be deserted by a father. He also had watched his grandmother in the years after she had become a widow. Viewing the commandment of polygamy as before explained, it was decided that not only should he ask Ruth to marry him but Ellen as well. This was discussed with Betsy and Diantha and the letter was written.
According to one story “when Betsy’s letter came suggesting that Ruth marry Elias, she thought it the only way out, but when he wanted to marry Ellen too, she almost backed out. She finally agreed to marry him, but she would never live with him as a wife as long as he was married to her daughter.”She couldn’t stand the thoughts of sleeping with her daughter’s husband.
Ruth was told by Elias “that she never again would be without a roof over her head. Never again would she have to worry about being taken care of.” If she had some misgivings about actually sleeping with Elias, she would have been readily assured that she did not have to live with him as a wife. He was concerned only with her welfare, and he would care for her as long as he was able.
So it was that the journey was made to Salt Lake City. Elias stayed at the home of Hosea Stout on Sunday 8 Feb 1852. A good visit with old friends was shared again. The next day was spent at the Endowment House. Elias spent some time officiating for the men that day, and Ruth and Ellen received their endowments. Elias, age 45, Ruth, 42, and Ellen, nearly 16, were sealed together for Eternity. Ruth’s belongings were gathered up and with Ellen’s sister Emily at their side, they journeyed to Payson with new hope and determination..
On 28 Aug 1852, a special conference of the Elders of the Church assembled in the Tabernacle. At the conference, Brigham Young gave the following: “I do not wish to detain the congregation longer this morning, Bro. Kimball set before you the object of the meeting, and I have hinted at it. We will now read over a few names that we have selected. May the Lord God of Israel bless you, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.” The clerk read 98 names of individuals who had been proposed to foreign missions. Elias Gardner’s name was among the 37 Elders who were going to England. Elias was set apart at this conference and instructed to be back in Salt Lake on the 15th of September, and ready to go. Elias was appointed to labor in the New Castle in Tyne Conference under President Thomas Squires in England. A complete diary of the missionaries’ journey across the plains and ocean to England is found in Kay Lundell’s book.




Emily Ann, the daughter of Ruth and sister to Ellen, had been living in Elias’ home all the while she was growing up. She did not have good health, and so Ruth and Ellen encouraged her to marry Elias. They felt that if she were to marry Elias, they would be better able to care for her in her poor health. Having thus been persuaded, Elias agreed. Elias was 60 years of age and Emily was 19. The family traveled to Salt Lake and on 13 July 1867 the sealing took place.
Ann’s mother, Martha Todd English, who was dead, was also sealed to Elias on that day.
Elias supervised the dances in the Salem area for many years. He taught the youth to dance many of the popular dances of that time, the Lancers and the Quadrille among them. Elias was an ordinance worker at the temple, and he and his wives did temple work at every opportunity.
Elias would often walk many miles to attend his meetings. At the age of 84, he walked to Richfield from his home in Annabelle to attend a meeting, though he was cautioned that this was not wise, with the cold temperature of the day. As a result of that walk, he contracted pneumonia and died 15 Feb 1891.
Elias taught his children this motto: Learn to speak right; Learn to think right; Learn to do right; and then you’ll be right. He also taught them “Respect yourself and you will be respected.” One of Elias Gardner’s favorite songs was “Home, Sweet Home”.

Joshua Chandler Abbott

Joshua Chandler Abbott was born 14 August 1804 in Massachusetts, the son of Solomon Abbott II and Lucy Frye.
Before the fall of 1834 Joshua moved to Rochester, Monroe, New York, where he was married to Ruth Markham by a Methodist minister. Ruth was the daughter of James Markham and Lois Leach.
After their marriage they resided in Brockport, Monroe County, [New York] until 1835. In that year they removed to Hiram, Portage County, Ohio. It is likely they moved to Hiram because Ruth's sister, Betsey Elizabeth Gardner, and her husband, Elias Gardner, lived there.
On 14 April 1837 they had a daughter Ellen Elizabeth Abbott at Ogden, Genessee County, New York. They had another daughter Mary Abbott in 1839 while at Portage County, Ohio.
It is assumed that they united with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints in Hiram. After their baptism by Thomas Ducher they migrated with the Saints to Hancock County, Illinois. They had James Steele Abbott in 1843 in Illinois, and in Hancock their two children died: Mary, 1845 age 6, and James, 1844 age 1.
After burying their children, Joshua and Ruth Abbott fled from religious persecution into Iowa Territory. At Council Bluffs, Joshua enlisted in the Mormon Battalion. Ruth volunteered to accompany him on the Battalion trek as a laundress in Captain Nelson Higgins Company D. Together they marched from Council Bluffs to Santa Fe., where they were detached with the sick under the leadership of Captain James Brown, to Fort Pueblo. At the fort, Joshua was wounded in his hand by a bullet in October 1846 (Pension File).
After wintering at Pueblo, Captain Brown's sick battalion, including Joshua and Ruth Abbott, migrated to the Salt Lake Valley, arriving on 27 July 1847. (See note below)
By Aug 1, 1846 the Mormon Battalion, at that time numbered 549 men, were camped at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas traveling westward by another route, thus greatly weakening the camp of the saints. The men had been given the privilege of having their wives with them and there were a few children named. Ruth Abbott's name was among the list of women of the Battalion but her child, Ellen Elizabeth Abbott, was not listed there. (PH vol 5)
It appears that Joshua and Ruth had left their nine year old daughter with Ruth's sister, Betsy Markham, at Winter Quarters. Tradition is that Ellen came across the plains with the Gardner's. (More complete details pertaining to the Abbott's daughter and her plural marriage as fifth wife of Elias Gardner on February 9, 1852, and their subequent twelve children, are recorded in the Joshua and Ruth Abbott Manuscript.)
When Joshua and Ruth were with the sick detachment to Pueblo, Colorado, where they wintered the winter of 1846-47, it is though they then came on to Salt Lake with the sick detachment in the summer of 1847, being mustered out at Utah Valley on July 16, 1847, according to an affidavit signed by two of his fellow soldiers. However, other records in his serviceman’s file and pension application file say he was discharged on Dec 30, 1847, but they don’t say where. His certificate of discharge does not appear to be in either of these files. He probably surrendered it to the land office to obtain his bounty land as was the requirement. Salt Lake Valley was the most likely place they were mustered out.
When Joshua and Ruth settled in Salt Lake Valley, they owned a little spring or stream of water. But as Salt Lake grew, the city had to have his stream of water for the city water. Joshua Abbott thought for the city to take his water that he ran his grist mill with wasn.t right, and it made him angry. Joshua left the Salt Lake Valley after a confrontation with Brigham Young in the spring of 1849.
One family story states that Joshua tried to persuade his wife, Ruth, to go with him, but she was tired out from their trip across the plains [and had a new daughter, Emily Ann Abbott born December 24, 1848 in SLC]. She told him to go ahead and get a home for them, and she would follow him. But I guess he (about that time) thought the world was turning against him, and he left.
Another story is that he heard that his family had been killed by Indians, and so he never did return to Salt Lake.
At any rate, by the spring of 1851, his wife was living alone in Bountiful, next door to her second cousin, Stephen Markham with her two daughters, Ellen Elizabeth and Emily Ann. According to what she said, Joshua left her in the spring of 1849. He migrated to Atchison Country, Missouri, where in July 1849, he applied for his bounty land of 160 acres in Illinois. A warrant was issued for 160 acres in Illinois. There is no evidence to indicate that Joshua ever went to Illinois to claim his land, as on Feb 8, 1850, he assigned it to a John S. Hayward, probably for some compensation, as this was a widespread practice at this time for soldiers to sell their land warrants. Two witnesses to the bill of sale were Allen Compton and James Brown, were also in the Mormon Battalion with Joshua; Compton in the same Company D and Brown, Captain of Company C; and they were also in the sick detachment sent to Pueblo and then on to Salt Lake City. Two of his companions from Company D of the Mormon Battalion, John Steele and William Howe, were also there at that time, and there might have been some involvement with them which took him to this area. How long he stayed here is unknown.
Sometime after Feb. 8, 1850, he must have moved to California. Where he was and when he moved to California, we don’t know. We know he was there and married the second time to Jane Brockway (Life Sketch, Joshua Abbot) by 1868 is obvious from the fact that his son, Jessie G. Abbot, was born then. He could have been married earlier than 1868, as he supposedly had another child named Susan Abbot by his second wife.
Between 1870 and 1880 he removed to Douglas County, Oregon, and worked as a farmer (Oregon Federal Census, 1880). In Gardiner, Douglas County, he was married for the third time to a 46-year-old widow Mrs. Nancy J. Bay (b. 6 July 1826, Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois and married to William F. Bay, about 1842) on 1 February 1882 by E. H. Burchard, justice of the peace (Pension File) in Gardiner, Douglas County, Oregon.
Ruth Markham Abbott never heard from him. Ruth Abbott was sealed to Elias Gardner, her son-in-law on February 9, 1852, and made her home with Elias Gardner and Ruth's daughter Ellen Elizabeth Abbott Gardner, wife of Elias Gardner.
Ruth Markham died 13 September 1888 in Annabella, Sevier County, Utah. Years after Ruth Abbott died, her daughter, Ellen Elizabeth Abbott Gardner, received a letter from her father, Joshua Chandler Abbott, wanting her to come to him, but she died shortly [twenty years] after she received his letter [she died July 17, 1916], so her daughter, Martha Jan Gardner Kearns (1880-1974), found out that Joshua Abbott married again and had one son, a doctor.
By 1888 Joshua's health was declining. In 1894 he suffered from rheumatism and natural disabilities related to old age. He was unable to perform manual labor on his 160 acres of land: 120 acres were mountainous, and 40 acres were swampland. This acreage, value at $250, did not provide him with any income (Pension File).
He died from hematemesis. On 9 April 1896 (age 91) at his home site on the Smith River in Gardiner, Douglas County, Oregon. T. B. Gabriel helped wash, dress, and bury the body. After this burial, a conflict arose over legal rights to the widow's pension. Joshua had never divorced his first wife even though he married two or three other women.
According to the government pension examiner, his marriage to his last wife was considered a common-law union and not valid in the state of Oregon (Pension File).
 

My Testimony

I know that God lives. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that the Holy Ghost comforts and guides us. I know Joseph Smith is the Lord’s prophet who restored the fullness of the only true gospel on the earth. I know that all the prophets are ordained of God. I know that God has a plan for us all, and that we cannot frustrate his works. I know that He wants to help us through our lives if we will only let Him. I know that the scriptures contain eternal truth. I know that God is just as well as merciful. He has made a way for us to be with our families forever. I know that He loves us all and wants us to be happy. I know all of this because the Spirit has confirmed it to me. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

More Family Pictures...

Family Pictures...

Life Goals

Get a bachelor’s degree in geology
Travel the world
Become a good artist
Get my black belt in Tae Kwon Do
Visit every national park
Release an album with my band

Personal History

I was born August 31, 1989 in Idaho Falls, Idaho to Paul and Jennifer Georgia. I don’t remember living in Idaho, because we moved to Hyrum, Utah when I was one year old. Our townhouse in Hyrum was quite 70’s, complete with dark wall paneling and shag carpets. I have a few memories of this time in my life. I remember taking walks down the road with my mom on Sundays. There was a place where she would pick me a cattail and I would work on disemboweling it on the way home. In the back yard, there was a fence that ran behind the length of the townhouses. Each yard had a fence between it, but those fences did not extend all the way to the back fence. My mom would let me walk through this space behind all the townhouses and play in the tractor-tire sandbox that existed beyond the stretch of backyards. The sand was the means by which I destroyed the speakers on my roaring dinosaur shoes. Yes, I loved dinosaurs. Whenever we went to the local library, I would run to the videos and ask my mom to check out “The Land Before Time.” Other forms of entertainment I enjoyed were the “People Store” which was like a library except you checked out toys, playing “King’s Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella” which was a computer game that at the time was cutting-edge, playing in our plastic kiddie pool in the backyard, and using shoelaces and yarn to tie together doorknobs, furniture, and stuffed animals with an array of knots and tangles; thereby causing my parents much chagrin.
In 1991, my first sibling; my sister Adrianne was born. I don’t remember much about her as a baby, but apparently she became more exciting as she learned to walk and talk because I have many memories of playing (and fighting) with her. Then my brother Quinn was born in 1993. I remember even less of him as a baby. Then only thing I remember was being indignant on one occasion that a visitor thought he was female. Something my siblings and I enjoyed doing was watching my dad play archaic computer games, including King’s Quest V, Wolfenstien, a car racing game a game featuring a submarine and some malicious animals, and a game that consisted on driving around alien planets and blowing up other vehicles. Other than my siblings, I also had a girl friend who visited her aunt and uncle a couple of apartments down from me, little boy I knew who I once ran away from home with (I remember my parents chewing me out for that one), and the son of a woman who babysat me a lot. My father’s sister Nalyn came to live with us at one point. Adri couldn’t say her name and called her “Nia.” The name has stuck ever since. Even her husband calls her that now.
We moved when I was 5. My dad was accepted to George Mason University to get his Ph. D. in economics, and he was also going to work for the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington D.C. So, we moved to Fairfax, Virginia. I don’t remember much about the actual moving process, or about the apartment we moved to because we were only there for about a year. I do remember a few things, like playing with Jenny Pennington who also lived in the Cavalier Court apartment complex with us, going to the pool where a lifeguard once had to save me, going to ballet and tap dance classes, and going to what we called the “blue park.”
My mom started homeschooling me at that time. She had met a homeschooled girl in one of her primary classes who could read the scriptures where all the other kids couldn’t, and she also just didn’t like the school system in general. Years later she told me that she had started off my homeschooling experience all wrong by trying to do it like public school and just forcing me to go through curriculum. I would always counter her attempts to get me to read with incessant questions about the story and characters (“Who’s Ted?” was on of my favorites). I also thought it was unjust that only I out of the three children had to do schoolwork.
After about a year we moved again, this time to a house in Centreville, Virginia. There, my schooling (and that of my siblings) really took off. My mother got together with various homeschoolers over the years to do co-ops. The longest running one of these was with the Patten family. Mondays and Wednesdays Stephen Patten would come to our house and my mom would teach us all science. Tuesdays and Thursdays we would go to his house and his mom would teach us history. On Fridays, we would go to the Centreville stake center and have “gym class” which consisted of all the homeschooled kids in the Centreville 1st ward running around in the church gym.
I spent most of my childhood in the house in Centreville, so that is the one I have the most memories of. I mostly played with Adri and Quinn. My mom was good at involving me in social activities so that I didn’t become the stereotype “antisocial homeschooler” (which, I must add is usually a very incorrect stereotype), but nonetheless I still liked to hang out with my siblings best, as I do to this day. We would have countless epic games of pretend in our sandbox, trampoline, or plastic kitchen set, using stuffed animals, plastic toys, paper dolls or just ourselves. We usually cast our poor brother as the damsel in distress (or other female role) and Adri and I would be the heroes. One friend that we played with a lot was Kristen Havrilla who lived across the street. We liked to visit her and play Barbies, or to explore the woods behind her house.
When I was 8 my youngest brother, Luke, was born. I remember when my mom announced that she was pregnant and we were all very surprised, including my dad. I didn’t even believe her at first; there was a 5 year gap since she was pregnant with Quinn, so I couldn’t really remember what it was like. I also remember not believing it months later when the Sykes kids from across the street woke us up to say their mom was babysitting us because our parents were in the hospital having a baby. Luke wasn’t officially named until after he was born, and there was actually a good deal of debate on the topic, since us kids were old enough to care by then. Ideas like Ralph, Noah, and Gabrielle were tossed around (the last one was my mom’s idea and failed to gain any popularity). The kids, as avid Star Wars fans, eventually became set on Luke, but I guess mother had to have the last word. She wanted his middle to be Rex after her father, and claimed that “Luke Rex” didn’t sound good. The compromise was to name him Lucas Rex Georgia. I still say that Luke Skywalker is his namesake though, because no one ever calls him Lucas.
When I turned 12, I of course graduated to the Young Women’s program. At this time in my life, I didn’t have many friends. Everyone I had been friends with before had moved away and the Young Women of my ward were somewhat cliquish. I hadn’t started out in a cool group and I don’t know if I could have gotten in if I had tried. But later on I was able to make friends with the girls a year younger than me. I remain good friends with some of them to this day.
When I was about 16 my parents decided that our house was too small for us so we had to move. All of us children were quite traumatized at the prospect of leaving the home that we had all spent the majority of our lives in. For me, it was the fact that where we lived I had at least a couple close friends, and I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to make friends in a new ward. I was also pretty attached to the house and my neighborhood. Luckily, my parents decided to move to Haymarket, (near Gainesville, Virginia) so we were in the same state as well as the same stake. They bought 5 acres of land to build a house on.
The process of selling our house was a nightmare. We had to keep it hotel-clean and run off whenever someone came to look at it. Despite the work we put into it though it was enjoyable to have such a clean house. Eventually, we got it sold for a good bargain to some Middle Eastern family (who decided to give the siding a horrific paint job, the front yard plastic flamingoes, and the rose bushes little to no care after we moved out).
Then we ran into another little problem: the building process of our new house was going so slowly that it wasn’t going to be done by the time we had to move out of our old one. So for a few months, we lived with my dad’s sister, Jennifer, and her husband, Juan, in Culpeper. This location was quite a bit farther south from Washington DC, where my dad worked, than our previous dwelling had been. Since he had to commute there every day, he lived in the basement of our old bishop’s house for that time.
Those few weeks were not terribly fun. Adrianne and I were lucky in that seminary was later and closer than it had been, and we did make one good friend while there. But mostly our lives consisted of trying to get our schoolwork done, sitting in the tiny room with mattresses covering the floor for me, Adri, and Mom as we tried not to get distracted by our young cousins running around causing chaos. When we did get our work done there wasn’t ever much to do except watch TV. Monday was “Centreville day” when we drove down to Centreville for our activities. These usually included the debate class Adri and I attended which was offered by a homeschool organization, going to McDonald’s for lunch, and then sitting in the Centreville library to do our homework. Sadly, we were always disturbed by the Asian invasion of high school kids who hung out at the library after school and were quite loud and distracting. Sometimes, to get out of the house, we would go to the site where they were constructing our new home and even do small tasks to help out.
Then the day finally came, November 11, 2005 that we were able to move into our house. It is quite larger than our old one, with an unfinished basement, a large open first floor with a sun room that we made into our library, and bedrooms and bathrooms on the second floor that are bigger and more numerous than in our old house. We also have much more outdoors to explore. Our yard is surrounded by forest, and our property runs downhill to a little creek running through the woods.
I found the Gainesville ward to be very friendly. The first Sunday in church there a girl my age came up to me and asked if we had moved into the ward. Upon my affirmative answer she said excitedly “That’s awesome! We haven’t had new people in forever!” It took a while, as well as a very fun week at girls’ camp that next summer, to feel at home in the ward, but in the longs run it was a good thing we moved. The people there helped me to come out of my shell and be just a little bit less shy than I was before.
Meanwhile, life continued much as it had before, with school and co-ops and family time and church and seminary and everything else. At that point in my education, I was actually mostly responsible for my schooling. I was into advanced math and calculus that my mother had never taken, so I taught it to myself. I also prepared myself to take the SAT by writing essays and working through SAT help books. This gave Mom a lot more time to focus on teaching the younger kids, and taught me important skills that have helped me in college.
I got my first job the year after we moved. The place I (and my sister) worked for is called “Cox Farms,” and it is a place that I enjoyed all through my childhood growing up in Virginia. It is a fall festival on a farm owned by the Cox family. It has all sorts of attractions like giant slides, a hay ride, rope swings, a corn maze, animals, apple cider, and lots more. I applied to work for the fall season, which is basically when all that stuff is open and all the children come to run wild.
Working there was…an experience. I think if I had been more excited about my first job rather than apprehensive I would have liked it a lot better. But it was definitely a learning experience.
On weekdays I worked on “mountain team,” which consists of all those overseeing the slide/main area of the farm. I was usually at the Fairyland slide or the Jack and the Beanstalk slide. I grew to hate both of them. On weekends I worked at the kitchen area. I cashiered a few times, and prepared food a few times, but usually I was a “runner,” or someone who went and grabbed the food for the people who ordered it. It was kind of hard to remember some people’s orders and if the cashiers were dumb enough to give the receipt away too soon you had to awkwardly ask (or get the cashier to ask) what they ordered. And if it got too busy people would have to wait long times for new batch of French fries or whatever else to be done. It got crazy sometimes.
That year was when I started applying for college and trying to decide where I wanted to go. There was a lot of stress and deadlines and papers involved. In the end, I decided to apply to BYU and BYU-Idaho as a computer engineering major. In the end, I was accepted to both! Which didn’t help my indecisiveness at all. I ended up going the Idaho route for multiple reasons. I liked the idea of a smaller school, I have a lot of family out there, and I had visited Idaho a lot on vacations so I was at least a little familiar with it. And plus, it’s just better than Utah.
And so, in fall of ’07 I started my first semester at BYU-Idaho. I was scared to be on my own for the first time. But luckily, all of my roommates that semester were freshmen to and very friendly. I soon found that I was having the time of my life at college. My schoolwork didn’t do great however, and I soon decided that I didn’t want to be a computer engineer after all. I switched to mechanical engineering.
My second semester I wasn’t quite as tight with my new roommates, but I did get to spend a lot of time practicing my talent of cartooning. I also discovered a new love of metal music that semester. Not the growling, dirty, hairy man metal that most people would think of, but melodic, symphonic, or power metal, which is quite a bit more beautiful. That summer I bought a bass guitar and I now play for two bands.
I eventually ended up switching my major to geology, because engineering took to much physics and math and I’m not that smart. I am still in geology and I love it.
My third semester I met a boy. His name was Nick and he was the friend of a new roommate. I thought he was really annoying and I hated him. By the end of the semester, I decided that, while he was really annoying, he was kind of fun and I could be friendly enough to tolerate him making occasional visits to my apartment. The next semester, to my shock, he asked me on a date. Then, we had a bit of a rocky “casual dating” relationship, but it didn’t really go anywhere. I left for the summer and then came back, and decided that semester that I really liked him. Eventually we decided to exclusively date. Now he is my boyfriend of 5 months and I love him. The end.