John Carlos Wilcox and Eliza Violet Westwood Wilcox ~~~ Pioneers of the Month ~~~ January 2024

 

Back Row:  John Carlos Jr., John Carlos Sr., Eliza Violet Westwood Wilcox, 

        Front Row: Henry Webley Wilcox, baby             Mabel, Two girls:  Grace Wilcox, Eva Wilcox                 

John Carlos Wilcox 

```` 

Wilcox Siblings 

~~~~~

The John Henry Owen Wilcox Family (from our archives and updated)

History Of John Henry Owen Wilcox

History Of John Henry Owen Wilcox

taken from Family Search written by J.O. Meiling

On December 25, 1775, in a little town in Rhode Island, was born Hazard Wilcox. He met and wed Sarah Seeley. In 1824 the resided at Benton, Arkansas, where on 14 Feb. 1824, was born John Henry Owen Wilcox, the youngest and last of a larg family and the subject of this treatise.

Little is known of his early life. Leaving Arkansas the family settled in Missouri, where in 1831 the father died. It was here in Marion County, Missouri that the boy accepted Mormonism. This new religion had aroused such bitter antagonism against its adherents that mob violence was prevalent throughout the Middle west. They lived in Jackson, Clay, and Caldwell counties in Missouri, being driven from place to place with less regard than for so many cattle. On one occasion, Grandfather escaped the wrath of the mob by hiding in a corn field, and another time he was clad in girls clothing to cover his idnentity lest he be taken away by a brother-in-law who was bitterly opposed to his affiliating with the Mormons. He witnessed the transfiguration of Brigham Young when he assumed the likeness of the Prophet Joseph Smith at the time a successor to lead the western trek was being discussed. When it was seen futile to further attempt to maintain the homesteads in the Mississippi valley, and hold their religious convictions, the Mormon converts, in accordance with the advice of the Prophet Joseph, prepared to head west into the unknown Rocky Mountain region. John Henry Owen, with his widowed mother and sister Jane, was among them and early in the summer of 1847, in a slowly moving ox drawn prairie schooner, set out in John Taylor's Company, bound for that unknown, unexplored western wilderness. Jane and Justus Azel Sealey were married 10 March 1842, and were in the same Company. Over the prairie lands, along the North Platte river, up the ridges and valleys, up of the Wasatch Mountains, and down through Emmigration Canyon continued that trek of more than 1000 miles, the like of which is recorded no where else in history. What were the emotions that surged through his being his being when , on September 30, 1847, from a vantage point on the Western Slope of Big Mountain, he gazed over Salt Lake Valley, a cheerless, desolate, uninviting desert wasteland? What did he behold in that panorama to bid him welcome, or to suggest that this is the long sought haven in which to build a home? Somber indeed, was the picture painted by Jim Bridger when he urged the original emigrants not to stop in Salt Lake Valley. Said he, "This is no place for civilized man. Nothing but wild beasts and savages could possibly survive the vigors of the elements and the destitution of this barren land. Nothing can grow and utter starvation will inevitably follow if settlement is attempted." Did Grandfather lament and want to turn back as did the children of Israel? Never. With a burning desire for a home in a land of religious freedom, as the obstacles that beset the way of the o conquer the obstacles that beset the way of the frontiersman, as in the woof there was woven into his being some of the most enduring fabric that ever formed a part of human character.

He first settled in Salt Lake, where on the 14th of March, 1848, he was married to Mary Young, a convert from Ontario, Canada, who also came westward in John Taylor's Company. In 1850, they moved to Manti remaining there until 1853, when they settled at Fort Hamilton, a settlement located some distance west of the present site of Mt. Pleasant. That same year, they moved to Pleasant Grove, Then to North Ogden. In 1860, he came to Mt. Pleasant whare they resided the rest of their lives. He homesteaded 20 acres of land Three miles north of the town and tilled this land for nearly 40 years until he became so feeble he could plow but a quarter of an acre per day.

Grandfather participated in the Walker and the Blackhawk Indian Wars. While residing at Fort Hamilton, he was employed at a sawmill in Pleasant Creek Canyon, where on one occasion he was left as a watchman while the other workmen went to town. In the early evening he heard the words, "go home." He paid no attention to this until the warning was repeated three times then he went home. On returning to camp the next day they found it a smoldering mass of ruin. The Indians had set fire to the lumber, the logs, the wagons and every combustible object, and driven off the cattle. This cost Grandfather his wagon and oxen, but did not deter him in his determination to strive on. He traded all his possessions, including a house and lot for another wagon and yoke of cattle.

Though he went hunting occasionally to augment the family food supply, he had little recreation, his first concern was to supply provisions for a wife and eleven children. His life was filled with toil, trials, hardships, privations, sacrifices and heartaches incident to life in that time. He was ambitious and worked at any form of labor available, including farming, logging, mining, building log and adobe dwellings. At one time he worked at a mine near Austin, Nevada, where he was so severely injured that he was weak for years. He was an expert log hewer, even made lumber by this method. His ability in making ox yokes was widely known and many men came to him for his service. On one occasion he exchanged a large load of poles for 40 pounds of wheat, which he planted on an acre and a quarted of land, and with joyousness they gathered from the threshing floor seventy bushels of grain. He grubbed oak brush for a peck of corn per day and thanked God for the opportunity of earning that 14 pounds of corn to help feed his family. In our day, we hear much about the full dinner pail but Grandfather well remembers the days his dinner bucket contained only a pinch of salt, with which he hoped to season a kettle of segas, thistle stocks, pig weed or other edible plants he might find to cook for his noon day meal. Grandmother Wilcox oft repeated, "As I look back on these agonizing times, I wonder how in the world we ever managed to keep body and soul together. I know, However, that it was through the graciousness of the Good Lord on High, we were able to withstand those terrible ordeals." The Mormons made the desert blossom as the rose, but the first "roses to bloom for grandfather were a few potatoes broduced from seed brought from California on pack animals and sold pour to a customer at 25 cents each.

Grandfather never learned to read or write, yet the feat of turning this sagebrush covered wasteland into fields of bounteous harvests, will be emblanzoned on the history of Utah by these early pioneers. It was not the call of wild, the desire for fame or fortune, or adventure that promted him to abondon his friends and posessions, but the hope of finding a place where he could dwell in peace and safety, unbomolested by a bloodthirsty mob determined to annihilate the converts to this newly-born religion. He had morality, truthfulness, and strict adherence to the golden rule worthy of emulation to the end of time.


"Well done, thou good and faithful servant, ... ... ..."

~~~~~

The following is a handwritten history written by a daughter of Mary and John Henry Wilcox .

Elisha Wilcox and Annie Pickle Wilcox ~~~ Pioneers of the Month ~~~ November 2019

The following comes From Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah p. 1244

Jefferson and Sarah Seely Tidwell ~~~ Piuoneers of the Month ~~~ July 2019

Jefferson Tidwell, fourth in a family of seven, was born Oct. 7, 1836, in Charleston, Clark county, Indiana. At an early age his parents moved to Nauvoo, Ill. he was there when Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martred, in 1844.

June 5th, 1852, he left for Utah, in his father's company of Saints, who arrived in Pleasant Grove, Utah, in September of the same year. Here he spent his boyhood until the winter of 1857-8, which he spent in Lot Smith's company in Echo Canyon.

 He fought in the Blackhawk and Walker wars, and in June, 1859, when President Smith called on some Saints to settle in Sanpete county, Jefferson, with his father, moved to Mt. Pleasant. Here, on Dec. 16, 1860, he was married to Sarah Seeley. To this union 11 children were born, two of whom died in infancy. The remaining nine, three girls and six boys, survive him, namely, W. J., John F., Hyrum, J. R., Orange and David A Tidwell, and Sarah S. Thayn, Mary M. Strong and Hannah Barnes.

He was the first bishop of Indianola, where numerous Indian families joined the church.


In 1877 President Young called on him to explore what is now Carbon, Emery and Wayne counties, with a view of settlement. When he delivered his message to President Young, the latter told him that if he would settle on White river (now Price river), he would soon be on one of the great thoroughfares of the nation. (A prediction later verified by the construction of the Rio Grande.) In response to this, Bishop Tidwell settled on Wellington townsite in October, 1879.

Jefferson William Tidwell
Birthdate:	October 07, 1837
Birthplace:	Charlestown, Marysville, Clark County, Indiana, United States
Death:	November 21, 1913 (76) Wellington, Carbon County, Utah, United States
Place of Burial:	Wellington, Carbon County, Utah, United States
Immediate Family:	Son of John Tidwell and Jane Tidwell Husband of Sarah Jane Tidwell Father of Justus Hyrum Tidwell; William Jefferson Tidwell; David Alonzo Tidwell and Beatrice Tidwell Brother of James Harvey Tidwell; William Neilson Tidwell; Mary Jane Johnson; Maria Emiline Tidwell; William Tidwell and 8 others

Mrs. Sarah Seeley Tidwell, wife of    Jefferson Tidwell,   She was born on the 10th of April, 1841 in Lee county, Ia, and was the daughter of Justice Wellington Seeley and Clarissa Jane Seeley Wilcox of Toronto, Can. she emigrated to Utah with her parents in 1847 crossing the plains in John Lowry's company. Six sons and three daughters, thirty-three grandchildren and three great grandchildren survive her. 

The sons are William J., John F., Hiram Joseph R. and D. A. Tidwell, and the daughters, Mrs. Sarah S. Thayn and Mrs. Hannah Barnes all of Wellington and Mrs. Miranda Strong of Twin Falls, Idaho.

Sarah had a varied and interesting experience, being one of the first children to be baptized in Salt Lake City. Some time afterward she was among the party that accompanied President Amasa Lyman to San Bernardino California, and in 1858 was called back with the Saints when Johnson's army was pressing on towards Utah. About that time she moved to Mt. Pleasant in Sanpete county, where she was married to Jefferson Tidwell.

 In 1877 President Brigham Young called her husband Jefferson Tidwell to Wellington and in 1881 she followed him there where she resided until death summoned her.

While the family lived at Sunnyside for a short period, deceased was the first president and the organizer of the relief society there. During her long life Mrs. Tidwell was an ardent worker in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Sarah Jane Tidwell (Seeley)
Birthdate:	April 10, 1844
Birthplace:	Nashville, Lee County, Iowa, United States
Death:	December 03, 1915 (71) Mount Pleasant, Sanpete County, Utah, United States
Place of Burial:	Wellington, Carbon County, Utah, United States
Immediate Family:	Daughter of Justus Wellington Seeley and Clarissa Jane Seeley (Wilcox) Wife of Jefferson William Tidwell Mother of Justus Hyrum Tidwell; William Jefferson Tidwell; David Alonzo Tidwell and Beatrice Tidwell Sister of Orange Seely; Don Carlos Seely; Hyrum Seeley; Justus Wellington Seely, II; William Hazard Seely and 5 others Half sister of Eva Rebecca Seeley

Tidwell Luncheon in basement of Wellington Tabernacle 

Tidwell Shearing Company

Elisha Wilcox and Anna Pickle Wilcox ~ Pioneers of the Month December 2017

 The Wilcox  family came to Great Salt Lake, Deseret with the EzraT. Benson Company in 1849.  They departed on 15 July 1849 from the outfitting post at Kanesville, Iowa.  They traveled close together with the George A. Smith Company as they crossed the plains. Their family consisted of his father, Elisha, age 39; his mother Anna Pickle, age 34; Miner, age 14; Polly, age 12; Francis, age 10; Margaret, age 8;Sally, age 4; Joseph. age 1; and Hyrum, an infant. 

             When they got to the Elkhorn River they found two large companies on the bank of the river.  They had not been able to cross the river, because the ferry had been left on the other side, and a heavy rainstorm in the upper country had swollen the stream to the height of twelve feet.  Canute Peterson and Ira Sabe volunteered to swim across and reach the ferry. When they got about a third of the way across, Ira began to give out.  Canute knew he had to reach the ferry so he exerted himself to the utmost to reach the ferry, which he did.  He pulled Ira after he got there.  They got the ferry boat in operation and before evening had quite a number of the wagons across. 

             They had a few stampedes on the road, one on the Elk Horn River, but there were no damages until they arrived at Williow Springs which was east of Sweetwater.  Here they encountered a severe snow storm, freezing 17 head of cattle and one horse during the night.  Snow fell nearly to the top of their wagon covers and they had to dig their way out. The storm lasted about forty hours. 

            The cattle had wondered off but they found the majority of the in quite good condition.  There was an abundance of large willows in an area that served as both food and shelter.  They had to camp there for three days.  They were about 80 head short so they yoked up any animal that could do any work. They traveled about ten miles and came out of the snow to bare ground again and traveled on reaching the valley on 25 October 1849. 

 The above is taken from of

BIOGRAPHY OF LUCINDA ADALINE OLIVER WILCOX a daughter-in-law.

History of John Henry Owen Wilcox

History Of John Henry Owen Wilcox

taken from Family Search written by J.O. Meiling

On December 25, 1775, in a little town in Rhode Island, was born Hazard Wilcox. He met and wed Sarah Seeley. In 1824 the resided at Benton, Arkansas, where on 14 Feb. 1824, was born John Henry Owen Wilcox, the youngest and last of a larg family and the subject of this treatise.

Little is known of his early life. Leaving Arkansas the family settled in Missouri, where in 1831 the father died. It was here in Marion County, Missouri that the boy accepted Mormonism. This new religion had aroused such bitter antagonism against its adherents that mob violence was prevalent throughout the Middle west. They lived in Jackson, Clay, and Caldwell counties in Missouri, being driven from place to place with less regard than for so many cattle. On one occasion, Grandfather escaped the wrath of the mob by hiding in a corn field, and another time he was clad in girls clothing to cover his idnentity lest he be taken away by a brother-in-law who was bitterly opposed to his affiliating with the Mormons. He witnessed the transfiguration of Brigham Young when he assumed the likeness of the Prophet Joseph Smith at the time a successor to lead the western trek was being discussed. When it was seen futile to further attempt to maintain the homesteads in the Mississippi valley, and hold their religious convictions, the Mormon converts, in accordance with the advice of the Prophet Joseph, prepared to head west into the unknown Rocky Mountain region. John Henry Owen, with his widowed mother and sister Jane, was among them and early in the summer of 1847, in a slowly moving ox drawn prairie schooner, set out in John Taylor's Company, bound for that unknown, unexplored western wilderness. Jane and Justus Azel Sealey were married 10 March 1842, and were in the same Company. Over the prairie lands, along the North Platte river, up the ridges and valleys, up of the Wasatch Mountains, and down through Emmigration Canyon continued that trek of more than 1000 miles, the like of which is recorded no where else in history. What were the emotions that surged through his being his being when , on September 30, 1847, from a vantage point on the Western Slope of Big Mountain, he gazed over Salt Lake Valley, a cheerless, desolate, uninviting desert wasteland? What did he behold in that panorama to bid him welcome, or to suggest that this is the long sought haven in which to build a home? Somber indeed, was the picture painted by Jim Bridger when he urged the original emigrants not to stop in Salt Lake Valley. Said he, "This is no place for civilized man. Nothing but wild beasts and savages could possibly survive the vigors of the elements and the destitution of this barren land. Nothing can grow and utter starvation will inevitably follow if settlement is attempted." Did Grandfather lament and want to turn back as did the children of Israel? Never. With a burning desire for a home in a land of religious freedom, as the obstacles that beset the way of the o conquer the obstacles that beset the way of the frontiersman, as in the woof there was woven into his being some of the most enduring fabric that ever formed a part of human character.

He first settled in Salt Lake, where on the 14th of March, 1848, he was married to Mary Young, a convert from Ontario, Canada, who also came westward in John Taylor's Company. In 1850, they moved to Manti remaining there until 1853, when they settled at Fort Hamilton, a settlement located some distance west of the present site of Mt. Pleasant. That same year, they moved to Pleasant Grove, Then to North Ogden. In 1860, he came to Mt. Pleasant whare they resided the rest of their lives. He homesteaded 20 acres of land Three miles north of the town and tilled this land for nearly 40 years until he became so feeble he could plow but a quarter of an acre per day.

Grandfather participated in the Walker and the Blackhawk Indian Wars. While residing at Fort Hamilton, he was employed at a sawmill in Pleasant Creek Canyon, where on one occasion he was left as a watchman while the other workmen went to town. In the early evening he heard the words, "go home." He paid no attention to this until the warning was repeated three times then he went home. On returning to camp the next day they found it a smoldering mass of ruin. The Indians had set fire to the lumber, the logs, the wagons and every combustible object, and driven off the cattle. This cost Grandfather his wagon and oxen, but did not deter him in his determination to strive on. He traded all his possessions, including a house and lot for another wagon and yoke of cattle.

Though he went hunting occasionally to augment the family food supply, he had little recreation, his first concern was to supply provisions for a wife and eleven children. His life was filled with toil, trials, hardships, privations, sacrifices and heartaches incident to life in that time. He was ambitious and worked at any form of labor available, including farming, logging, mining, building log and adobe dwellings. At one time he worked at a mine near Austin, Nevada, where he was so severely injured that he was weak for years. He was an expert log hewer, even made lumber by this method. His ability in making ox yokes was widely known and many men came to him for his service. On one occasion he exchanged a large load of poles for 40 pounds of wheat, which he planted on an acre and a quarted of land, and with joyousness they gathered from the threshing floor seventy bushels of grain. He grubbed oak brush for a peck of corn per day and thanked God for the opportunity of earning that 14 pounds of corn to help feed his family. In our day, we hear much about the full dinner pail but Grandfather well remembers the days his dinner bucket contained only a pinch of salt, with which he hoped to season a kettle of segas, thistle stocks, pig weed or other edible plants he might find to cook for his noon day meal. Grandmother Wilcox oft repeated, "As I look back on these agonizing times, I wonder how in the world we ever managed to keep body and soul together. I know, However, that it was through the graciousness of the Good Lord on High, we were able to withstand those terrible ordeals." The Mormons made the desert blossom as the rose, but the first "roses to bloom for grandfather were a few potatoes broduced from seed brought from California on pack animals and sold pour to a customer at 25 cents each.

Grandfather never learned to read or write, yet the feat of turning this sagebrush covered wasteland into fields of bounteous harvests, will be emblanzoned on the history of Utah by these early pioneers. It was not the call of wild, the desire for fame or fortune, or adventure that promted him to abondon his friends and posessions, but the hope of finding a place where he could dwell in peace and safety, unbomolested by a bloodthirsty mob determined to annihilate the converts to this newly-born religion. He had morality, truthfulness, and strict adherence to the golden rule worthy of emulation to the end of time.


"Well done, thou good and faithful servant, ... ... ..."



Written by J. O. (Owen) Meiling, Lehi, Utah. 4 Aug. 1939

Mary Young Wilcox

The following histories come from two sources.  The first from "Seely Family History"  sponsored by the Justus Azel Seelye Family Organization.  The  second from Family Search, told by Mary, herself to Annie C. Bills; a grandson's wife.

        The History of Mary Young Wilcox

This history of Mary Young Wilcox was told by her on Jan. 27, 1924 and times thereafter until June 6, 1925 to Annie C. Bills; a grandson’s wife.


Mary Young Wilcox was born Jue 6, 1831 in Upper Canada town of Whitbay, Ontario, daughter of James and Elizabeth Seely Young.


In 1837 Parley P. Pratt brought the gospel to her parents and grandparents and they accepted it and joined the Church. Their acceptance of the gospel, together with others, helped fulfill the prophecy which Elder C. Kimball made, when he told Parley P. Pratt, he would go to Upper Canada, even to Toronto, its Capitol, and find a people there, who were prepared for the fulness of the gospel.


In 1838 they emigrated to Missouri, leaving their home going to Toronto, and across Lake Erie, through the Erie Canal, down the Ohio River to the Mississippi River thence up the Mississippi landing at Sharidon, Missouri. When they reached the place the mob was raging and mobbing the saints.


Mary, but a small child, realized their danger and also suffered from their persecutions. She didn’t realize why they were persecuted, but she remembered the scenes and hardships of it.


She tells the story of seeing Isaac Laney, one of the survivors of Haun’s Mill massacre. He had seven bullet holes in his back and sic in his breast which he recieved at the hands of the enemy. No one thought he would live but he had been promised by the prophet Joseph Smith that he would not fall at the hands of the enemy. He recovered from the terrible wounds and made the journey across the plains and died several years later in the valley of the “Great Salt Lake.”


She also saw after coming to Utah, a woman who was one of the survivors of Haun’s Mill. She said the girl was going to the mill race for of bucket of water just as the mob was coming. She told how she threw herself behind a log to keep the mob from seeing her, but they spied her and shot, she thought as many as fifty bullets above and into the log, but she wasn’t touched by any of them. After the mob had gone those who were left cut twenty bullets out of the log that had lodged in it. She came to Utah and lived and died in Pleasant Grove. Her name as Mary remembered was Mrs. Foutz.


The Prophet’s brother William Smith had twin boys in his family and one of them was killed at a blacksmith shop where another massacre took place, his father and others were killed. The othe rwas wounded by lived and came to Utah.


In Caldwell County in the fall of 1838 she remembered seeing the mob who took the prophet, but did not see the prophet. The mob surrounded the town and sid if they didn’t give up the prophet, they would “Clean them out root and branch.” The prophet and his brother Hyrum were guarded by the saints, and when word reached them as to what the mob had said, they came out carrying white flags and told the mob they were ready. They were kept in jail all winter not getting out until spring. The mob didn’t keep their promise, they kept mobbing just the same.


The prophet (Joseph Smith) sent word to the saints to go some place for safety through the winter for they would be compelled to leave the site in the spring. The saints left, taking what few belongings they had with them. Some had only what the could easily place in a wheelbarrow. The mob came upon the little group who had come from Canada, and gave them four hours to leave and get out of the state of Missouri, they would pile up their blongings into the street, burn them and kill everyone.


There were two steamers which had gone up the Mississippi river just four days before, going for their last trip for that winter. The river had frozen up so they could not get where they had started for, so they had to turn back. Before a few hours they were up the Canadian Saints got on the steamer and sailed down the river. This was on December 11, 1838. The Steamers sailed nicely through the night and on the morning of December 12, it being clear, the men running the steamers thought they would race down the river as they thought they were out of danger. While thus racing, the steamer the saints were on, struck a snag in the river and ripped the bottom off the boat full length.


Mary’s father and her Uncle, were sailors, having sailed on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, realized their situation, and quickly lowered the lifeboats, putting the women and children and part of their luggage into the boats, made to shore. All on the steamer were saved. They were landed in the snow on the shore into the state of Iowa. They could have gone on the other steamer and been taken on down the river to St. Louis, but they were glad to land in Iowa for they were only glad to get away from Missouri.


There were 15,000 saints driven out of Missouri. Many of this number were very poor. Some only had what they could carry in a grip or on their back. They were strangers in a strange land. Some had to go or be slain. The mob had told them if they would give up “Jo Smit, visions and their religion,: they could live there and be citizens with them, but they would rather die than give up their religion which meant so much to them.


In the spring of 1839 when the prophet and remaining saints were out of Missouri they settled in Illinois, the main places being Nauvoo and across the river in Iowa. Mary’s people settled in Burlington, Iowa, where they lived seven years, quite peacefully for a time. Their wasn’t much killing done there, like that of Missouri until they killed the prophet and patriachs in the Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844. After the killing of the prophet the mob thought “Mormonism” as they called it, would die out. The saints weren’t bothered so much for about a year and a half. Seeing that they would get all of their land and everything they had, they readily saw the achievements of the saints.


Mary remembers the Temple of Nauvoo standing out on the hillside, as she says, “shining like a glittering gold.” Brigham Young said they should not look back after they were driven out, but look forward, because that was build and had been dedicated to the Lord and they should not mourn after it.


In 1842 when the church was in a destitute condition, the saints were sick and suffering from hunger and cold, eighteen were called together by the prophet and the Relief Society was organized. There was a lady who came to Salt Lake whom Mary talked with, told her how the saints would divide the little of everything they had with those who had none. She said there was a case where one woman had a little corn meal for bread which she stirred with water and baked it had no salt. Another heard this and said she had a few spoonfuls of salt and she gave a tablespoonful of it wrapped in a paper to the one who hadn’t any. The ones who were sick were looked after and administered to by the well. Thus they lived in Nauvoo, when the mob was driving them again after the prophet’s death. Brigham Young told the mobs they would leave the country if they would only give them a little more time. In the fall of 1845 they began to leave. In the spring of 1846 they started on their westward journey across the plains. Brigham Young told the saints to fit themselves out the best they could for their journey.

They started from Iowa, after the saints got out of Illinois. After travelling about three hundred miles from Nauvoo, the call came from the government for five hundred of their young men to go to the Mexican war. This was the choosing of the “Mormon Battalion.” Here Mary witnessed the marching away of the Battalion. Here also was written the hymn by William Clayton “Come, Come Ye Saints” After the Battalion was packed with their pack, which weighed about thirty five pounds, a meeting was held and Brigham Young promised the men if they would keep the commandments of the Lord they should not meet the hostile foe, but that God would fight the battle for them. The scene that followed, she says she can never forget. Widowed mothers parting with, sometimes, their only sons, sweethearts, husbands and wives, a scene which only the ones who witnessed can realize the sadness of. The Battalion bravely underwent the terrible hardships as did their loved ones whom they left behind. She saw their parting also saw some of them as they returned to Salt Lake, after their march and travels through Mexico, California and around the Great Salt Lake. After the Battalion marched away they resumed their journey, traveling as far as the place they called Winter Quarters, where they camped for the winter.

Tomorrow:  John Henry Owen Wilcox 

John Henry Owen Wilcox and wife, Mary Young Wilcox

John Henry Owen Wilcox and Mary Young Wilcox were original pioneers to Hambleton, the original settlement west of where Mt. Pleasant City is now located.  They were driven out by Indians.

The excerpts below, taken from "History of Mt. Pleasant by Hilda Madsen Longsdorf, are shaded where Henry Wilcox is part of the text.  In some later excerpts, John Henry may be the son and not the father.

During the winter of 1851 and 1852, Madison D. Hambleton and Gardner Potter, left Manti going to Pleasant Creek Canyon to get out lumber for the market. Some shingles were manufactured in 1851, and the lumber produced was used in 1852 to build the first house erected in Allred's Settlement on Canal Creek, later this settlement was known as Spring Town.
In the spring of 1852, under the direction of Madison D. Ham bleton and Gardner Potter, about half a dozen families proceeded to move northward from Manti, for the purpose of establishing a new colony. Among these settlers were  Henry Wilcox, John Lowry Jr., William Davis, Seth Dodge, and John 'Bench. They located on both sides of the stream, just below where Mount Pleasant is now situated, and north of the main road running east and west. The stream, now Pleasant Creek, they named Ham bleton, and the settlement was given the same name in honor of the leader of the company. Early in March, at the mouth of Pleas ant Creek Canyon, just below where the Mount Pleasant City Power plant is now located, they erected a saw mill known as the Hambleton and Potter Mill. They commenced cutting timber and sawing lumber for the purpose of building their homes. They cleared the land and began farming about a mile slightly north west of where the D. & R. G. depot is now located; planting crops on the south side of the creek, near the place where they built their homes. They enclosed some of the land with substantial fences, and raised a fair crop of wheat that year, and at the same time, the Hambleton and Potter Mill was turning out lumber and shingles. (Mt. Pleasant History, Longsdorf p. 18)


On March 5th,(??) Henry Wilcox, with his wife, Mary, and family, who were among the pioneers driven from Hambleton in 1853, arrived in Mount Pleasant. This was the only family who pioneered Hambleton, to settle later in Mount Pleasant. (Mt. Pleasant History, Longsdorf p. 64)



On April 11, 1885, the stockholders of the Birch Creek Irrigation Company met at the home of P. M. Peel and formed them selves into an "incorporated body" as follows: P. M. Peel, Pres ident; Thomas C. Christensen, Vice-President; Thomas C. Christensen, Treasurer; H. M. Bohne, 1st Director; P. C. Meiling, 2nd Director; Peter M. Peel, Hans C. Davidson, James C. Meiling, Henry M. Bohne, Peter Neilsen, Thomas C. Christensen, Henry Wilcox, Lars Pearson, Jens Nielsen, James Staker, Mads Madsen, Christian P. Lawson, Martin Rasmussen, and Martin Bohne, stock holders. (Mt. Pleasant History, Longsdorf p.163)



PIONEER STORY OF MARY YOUNG WILCOX
1847 PIONEER TO UTAH - 1852 PIONEER TO HAMBLETON - 1860 PIONEER TO MT. PLEASANT By Annie Carlson Bills

Mary Young Wilcox was born June 6, 1831, in Upper Canada,
daughter of James and Elizabeth Seely Young.
In the spring of 1846 they started from Kainsville, Iowa, on
their westward journey across the plains to Utah.
After traveling about three hundred miles, the call carne from the government for five hundred of their young men to go to Mexico. This was the choosing of the "Mormon Battalion."
The Battalion was packed with their packs, which weighed
about thirty-five pounds.
The scene which followed, Mrs. Wilcox says, she can never forget. Widowed mothers parting with, sometimes, their only son, sweethearts, husbands and wives, a scene which only the ones who witnessed can realize the sadness of.
After the Battalion marched away, they resumed their journey, traveling as far as Winter Quarters, where they camped for the winter.


They built log cabins, with no windows, and taking their wagon boxes off the wagons, placed them inside of the houses, replacing the bows and covers. These they slept in. They had no stoves so a hole was dug in the center of the house and a fire was made in it. A hole in the center of the roof served as a place for the smoke to escape and light to enter. Thus they lived during the winter, suffering with cold and hunger. Many died from disease, through being so poorly nourished and clothed. Wher ever a grove of timber and trees could be found, as many as could made cabins and stayed there through the winter.
Mary left Winter Quarters in May 1847. Traveling on the plains from Winter Quarters to Salt Lake Valley, she yoked and unyoked her oxen and drove them every step of the way, and was only sixteen years old. Suffering with the rest on the journey, she reached the valley on September 29, 1847. After resting a couple of weeks, they began making preparations for winter. She went with her father to get logs for their cabin. She also made the adobes that made the chimney for their cabin. She says, "No kings could be happier than we, when we reached the valley and had built our first log cabin."
The houses were so built as to form a fort, it being two blocks long and one block wide when completed. Two gates, one at the north and one at the south, were made. It being located about where the Seventh ward is.  About Christmas of 1847, their cabins were ready to move into.
On March 14, 1848, she was married to John Henry Wilcox. Spring came and they began to survey the land and let each couple have a chance to draw for the land. They drew the land where the Sugarhouse Ward is.
They made a brush "shanty" and began to work on their land. Her husband grubbed the brush and she piled and burned it, and prepared the land for plowing. They sowed a nice piece of the land and had a nice garden planted, having brought the seed across the plains with them. The seeds took root and grew and looked very prosperous. But by this time the crickets had hatched out and they soon consumed the whole crop. Then came the blessed "Sea Gulls." They came in great Hocks and devoured the crickets. They would stay a few hours at a time, then fly away with a squawk, and after a while return for more crickets. It was not too late to replant, but no more seed could be had.
After the crickets had destroyed their crops, the people went back to the fort for the rest of the summer.

After the people of the northern sections had harvested their crops, they allowed them to go and glean. Her husband grubbed oak brush for a peck of corn a day and boarded himself out of what little they had. In this way they saved a little for winter. Later her husband went to the canyon and got a big load of poles. A man offered him forty pounds of wheat and he sold the poles to him for the wheat. He sowed one and one-fourth acres of ground where the crickets had eaten his crop the spring before. The next summer they threshed seventy bushels of wheat from the forty pounds of seed.
The first potatoes were brought from California on pack animals and sold to the people for twenty five cents a piece and only four being allowed to each man.
In the spring of 1849 they planted a peck of potatoes; when they dug them they got thirty bushels.

In the fall of 1850 they were called to settle Manti. They stayed there three years. Built homes and raised a crop.

In the spring of 1853 her husband went to Hambleton. The Indians killed all his cattle and oxen and burned the wagons, saw. mill. and all the lumber, and they were left once more without anything. They moved to the fort at Manti.

In 1853 they gave all they had for one yoke of oxen and wagon, and moved to Pleasant Grove. In 1860 they moved to Mt. Pleasant. They lived in Mt. Pleasant ever after.

There are five living generations. Her mother also lived to see five generations. Mrs. Wilcox died May 16, 1929. (Mt. Pleasant History, Longsdorf pp 315-316)

The following is excerpts taken from Seely Family History p.146 by Montell Seely 

John Henry Owen Wilcox joined the Mormon Church at nine years of age with his widowed mother, Sarah Seeley Wilcox and at least two sisters in Marion County, Missouri.  They had been persecuted and driven into Iowa, Illinois and back into Missouri.  

On 14 March, 1848, Mary Young was married to John Henry Owen Wilcox by William Stewart Seely who later became the first bishop of Mt. Pleasant Ward, Utah

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MARY PRAYED, JOHN HENRY HEARD A VOICE

1978 Saga of the Sanpitch


Kathy B. Ockey Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas

Mary sat looking out of the window for a moment, got up and put the baby in her cradle and began to pace the floor in worry. Earlier, she had taken the cradle outside. Little Henry had played contentedly by his sister while Mary had done the washing. She had just finished the diapers and was starting on the white things when Paul Taylor came around. “Sister Mary, gather the children and get in the house, the Indians are on the warpath.” Mary had dumped Henry in the cradle next to the baby. Leaving the clean clothes and soap to a fate of their own, she had rushed to her cabin, which formed part of the outside wall of the fort. She had then fed Henry and changed and nursed the baby. Now that both were finally napping her thoughts turned to her husband.

 Her frenzied pacing kept step with her worrying John Henry had left early in the week for the saw mill. The other men had come home last night, but John had spent the night, wanting to have an extra day to get some logs ready for a fence for their garden which was nearing maturity. It promised to help provide them with food during the long winter if it could be protected from rabbits, groundhogs and deer. So they needed the fence and Mary had been glad that the task was getting done, but now that word had come of the approaching hostile Indians, she was frightened. Finally, in desperation, Mary knelt and petitioned her God, the one who had brought her from Canada to Winter Quarters, from there to Salt Lake to Manti and from Manti to Ft. Hambleton. As she folded her arms, her hand brushed the lump on her chest. It had been caused by the stick she had used to dig sego lily roots that first fall when food was scarce. For some reason it had never gone away. Now it served to remind her of one of God’s miracles: His providing food when there seemed to be none. The thought of this brought to mind another miracle.

 This time it occurred a few months after she and John Henry were married-the crickets and seagulls. Their crops were in the fields in the sugarhouse area and were thus completely destroyed before the seagulls could save them but the seagulls devoured the crickets quickly enough that many of the crops, especially on the northern side, were saved. So through bartering work for food and gleaning, they had survived that first winter as man and wife. Again God had helped them. Now Mary, her faith strengthened by her memories of God’s miracles, asked for one more. Everyone knew the fate of the lone settler confronted by warring Indians, so Mary asked that John Henry please be brought home in safety. 

At the saw mill, John Henry had about two-third of the logs needed and was taking the bark from a particularly stubborn specimen. He stopped to wipe his forehead with his handkerchief. It was hot, one of the hottest days he could ever remember. As he stuffed his handkerchief back in his pocket, he seemed to hear a voice: “Go home.” He turned and looked around. Seeing no one, he decided it was the heat and picked up his axe and went back to work. Again he heard the same two words: “Go home.” This time, knowing that he was alone, he didn’t even pause. But a third time, it came again: “Go home!” This time it was so forceful, he could do nothing but obey. He saddled one horse and leaving the other horse and the partially loaded wagon started for home. He rode slowly at first, but a strange urgency pushed him to ride faster and faster, even his horse seemed to sense a need for hurry and needed no urging to hurry.

 Mary had started some stew and biscuits in case John Henry did come home, and too, to keep busy. She had bathed both children, and trying to keep her thoughts from John Henry and his possible danger, had started worrying about the cow. She had been left in the clearing near the vegetable patch and was mooing unmercifully, her full udder giving her great pain. Mary went to the window to try to locate the poor animal, wishing she could do something. Brother Taylor had said no one should leave the fort and she couldn’t see the cow to try to call her. But something else caught her eye, there in the northeast, the sky held an ominous glow. Since it was a clear night, it could mean only one thing; the saw mill was on fire. Mary choked back a cry, said a silent prayer and checked the biscuits.

 Darkness was falling as John Henry entered the home stretch. The horse was getting tired so of necessity he had slackened his pace. He glanced over his shoulder; maybe it hadn’t been wise to leave the saw mill with his work only half finished and without the wagon and other horse. He, too, saw the glow on the horizon and knew it could only be one thing; the saw mill on fire. There had been so much rain; it couldn’t have been an act of nature either. A cold feeling set in at the base of John Henry’s spine. There had been rumblings the last few weeks of the Indians, wanting to drive the settlers out. If that were the case, if the Indians were indeed on the warpath again, he had been very lucky, or more likely, very blessed in hearing the strange warning. One lone settler at the sawmill facing a band of resentful, hostile Indians would not fare well. The cold at the base of John Henry’s spine rose, until, in spite of the heat, he was shivering with delayed reaction. He quickened the tired horse’s pace. The night was cooler and the stars glistened brightly as John Henry came within sight of the fort. Mary must have been watching for him, for as the gates were opened, she came running toward him, tears streaming down her smiling face. “The Indians………..” “Yes, I know.” The rest was lost in an embrace that after almost five years of marriage said so much more that mere words could.

 It was a good week before Mary and John Henry pieced together both sides of their story. Morning brought the Indians headed toward Ft. Hambleton. Because of their small numbers, the settlers decided it would be better to go to Allred’s settlement. On August 22nd, the Indians attacked Allred’s settlement and stole all of the livestock except for a few claves which had been in the corral. The men formed a posse and started after the band of Indians. As the neared the Indians, the Indians turned and headed toward the settlement so the men were forced to return and protect it. The people sent to Manti Fort for help, They were evacuated to Manti for the winter.

 When Mary and John Henry finally found time to compare notes, the saw mill they had worked so hard to start was gone, as was their wagon. All of the lumber was burned, the livestock had been run off or killed by the Indians and most of their household items had also been stolen by the warring band. They were left with almost nothing, except each other and the children. But they felt blessed. 

 John Henry Owen Wilcox lived to be almost 86 years old, Mary Young Wilcox lived to be 98 years old. They were married 67 years and reared 11 children, four sons and seven daughters. Fifty-six of these years and nine of these children came after Mary prayed and John Henry heard a voice. Source: A sketch of the life of John Henry Owen Wilcox

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The following comes from Family Search

History Of John Henry Owen Wilcox

· 30 July 2013 · 5 Comments

On December 25, 1775, in a little town in Rhode Island, was born Hazard Wilcox. He met and wed Sarah Seeley. In 1824 the resided at Benton, Arkansas, where on 14 Feb. 1824, was born John Henry Owen Wilcox, the youngest and last of a larg family and the subject of this treatise. Little is known of his early life. Leaving Arkansas the family settled in Missouri, where in 1831 the father died. It was here in Marion County, Missouri that the boy accepted Mormonism. This new religion had aroused such bitter antagonism against its adherents that mob violence was prevalent throughout the Middle west. They lived in Jackson, Clay, and Caldwell counties in Missouri, being driven from place to place with less regard than for so many cattle. On one occasion, Grandfather escaped the wrath of the mob by hiding in a corn field, and another time he was clad in girls clothing to cover his idnentity lest he be taken away by a brother-in-law who was bitterly opposed to his affiliating with the Mormons. He witnessed the transfiguration of Brigham Young when he assumed the likeness of the Prophet Joseph Smith at the time a successor to lead the western trek was being discussed. When it was seen futile to further attempt to maintain the homesteads in the Mississippi valley, and hold their religious convictions, the Mormon converts, in accordance with the advice of the Prophet Joseph, prepared to head west into the unknown Rocky Mountain region. John Henry Owen, with his widowed mother and sister Jane, was among them and early in the summer of 1847, in a slowly moving ox drawn prairie schooner, set out in John Taylor's Company, bound for that unknown, unexplored western wilderness. Jane and Justus Azel Sealey were married 10 March 1842, and were in the same Company. Over the prairie lands, along the North Platte river, up the ridges and valleys, up of the Wasatch Mountains, and down through Emmigration Canyon continued that trek of more than 1000 miles, the like of which is recorded no where else in history. What were the emotions that surged through his being his being when , on September 30, 1847, from a vantage point on the Western Slope of Big Mountain, he gazed over Salt Lake Valley, a cheerless, desolate, uninviting desert wasteland? What did he behold in that panorama to bid him welcome, or to suggest that this is the long sought haven in which to build a home? Somber indeed, was the picture painted by Jim Bridger when he urged the original emigrants not to stop in Salt Lake Valley. Said he, "This is no place for civilized man. Nothing but wild beasts and savages could possibly survive the vigors of the elements and the destitution of this barren land. Nothing can grow and utter starvation will inevitably follow if settlement is attempted." Did Grandfather lament and want to turn back as did the children of Israel? Never. With a burning desire for a home in a land of religious freedom, as the obstacles that beset the way of the o conquer the obstacles that beset the way of the frontiersman, as in the woof there was woven into his being some of the most enduring fabric that ever formed a part of human character. He first settled in Salt Lake, where on the 14th of March, 1848, he was married to Mary Young, a convert from Ontario, Canada, who also came westward in John Taylor's Company. In 1850, they moved to Manti remaining there until 1853, when they settled at Fort Hamilton, a settlement located some distance west of the present site of Mt. Pleasant. That same year, they moved to Pleasant Grove, Then to North Ogden. In 1860, he came to Mt. Pleasant whare they resided the rest of their lives. He homesteaded 20 acres of land Three miles north of the town and tilled this land for nearly 40 years until he became so feeble he could plow but a quarter of an acre per day. Grandfather participated in the Walker and the Blackhawk Indian Wars. While residing at Fort Hamilton, he was employed at a sawmill in Pleasant Creek Canyon, where on one occasion he was left as a watchman while the other workmen went to town. In the early evening he heard the words, "go home." He paid no attention to this until the warning was repeated three times then he went home. On returning to camp the next day they found it a smoldering mass of ruin. The Indians had set fire to the lumber, the logs, the wagons and every combustible object, and driven off the cattle. This cost Grandfather his wagon and oxen, but did not deter him in his determination to strive on. He traded all his possessions, including a house and lot for another wagon and yoke of cattle. Though he went hunting occasionally to augment the family food supply, he had little recreation, his first concern was to supply provisions for a wife and eleven children. His life was filled with toil, trials, hardships, privations, sacrifices and heartaches incident to life in that time. He was ambitious and worked at any form of labor available, including farming, logging, mining, building log and adobe dwellings. At one time he worked at a mine near Austin, Nevada, where he was so severely injured that he was weak for years. He was an expert log hewer, even made lumber by this method. His ability in making ox yokes was widely known and many men came to him for his service. On one occasion he exchanged a large load of poles for 40 pounds of wheat, which he planted on an acre and a quarted of land, and with joyousness they gathered from the threshing floor seventy bushels of grain. He grubbed oak brush for a peck of corn per day and thanked God for the opportunity of earning that 14 pounds of corn to help feed his family. In our day, we hear much about the full dinner pail but Grandfather well remembers the days his dinner bucket contained only a pinch of salt, with which he hoped to season a kettle of segas, thistle stocks, pig weed or other edible plants he might find to cook for his noon day meal. Grandmother Wilcox oft repeated, "As I look back on these agonizing times, I wonder how in the world we ever managed to keep body and soul together. I know, However, that it was through the graciousness of the Good Lord on High, we were able to withstand those terrible ordeals." The Mormons made the desert blossom as the rose, but the first "roses to bloom for grandfather were a few potatoes broduced from seed brought from California on pack animals and sold pour to a customer at 25 cents each. Grandfather never learned to read or write, yet the feat of turning this sagebrush covered wasteland into fields of bounteous harvests, will be emblanzoned on the history of Utah by these early pioneers. It was not the call of wild, the desire for fame or fortune, or adventure that promted him to abondon his friends and posessions, but the hope of finding a place where he could dwell in peace and safety, unbomolested by a bloodthirsty mob determined to annihilate the converts to this newly-born religion. He had morality, truthfulness, and strict adherence to the golden rule worthy of emulation to the end of time. "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, ... ... ..." Written by J. O. (Owen) Meiling, Lehi, Utah. 4 Aug. 1939

COMMENTS:

  

• Thanks for adding this story.
• A wonderful story. Thank you for sharing.
• After reading this today, my life doesn't seem so hard. I plan on thanking him someday...when I finally get to meet him. Lauralee Wilcox Chase
• Great history
• Hazard was born in Walloomscoick, New York. Sarah was born in Saratoga New York. They did not meet until they lived in Upper Canada. Neither of them lived in Rhode Island. Dian Little

John Henry Owen Wilcox Original name: John Henry Owen Wilcox
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Birth:  Feb. 14, 1824 Benton Saline County Arkansas, USA Death:  Nov. 21, 1909 Mount Pleasant Sanpete County Utah, USA Born in Salina, Benton, Arkansas Parents: Hassard Wilcox and Sarah Seely Married COD: Bright's disease Death certificate State of Utah Records may also be found under Wilcox Family links:  Parents:   Sarah Seeley Wilcox (1780 - 1856)  Spouse:   Mary Young Wilcox (1831 - 1929)*  Children:   Hazzard Wilcox (1849 - 1925)*   Elizabeth Wilcox Hurst (1851 - 1942)*   Sarah Wilcox Bills (1853 - 1936)*   James Henery Wilcox (1855 - 1939)*   John Carlos Wilcox (1858 - 1938)*   Mary H Wilcox Day (1860 - 1946)*   Clarissa Jane Wilcox Meiling (1863 - 1951)*   Sabra Ellen Willcox Oliver (1865 - 1914)*   Hannah Wilcox Carlston (1868 - 1943)*   Martha Anna Wilcox Westwood Foy (1871 - 1962)*   Justus Azel Wilcox (1874 - 1945)*  Siblings:   Mary Wilcox Lowry (1802 - 1859)*   Sarah Seeley Wilcox McKinney (1804 - 1881)*   Clarissa Jane Wilcox Seely (1821 - 1908)*   John Henry Owen Wilcox (1824 - 1909) *Calculated relationship Burial: Mount Pleasant City Cemetery Mount Pleasant Sanpete County Utah, USA Plot: A_128_2_8 Maintained by: Love My Ancestors Originally Created by: Utah State Historical So... Record added: Feb 02, 2000 Find A Grave Memorial# 139580	Added by: Lora King Added by: Thom Wilcox Added by: Thom Wilcox

Mary Young Wilcox Original name: Mary Young Wilcox
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Birth:  Jun. 6, 1831 Ontario, Canada Death:  May 16, 1929 Mount Pleasant Sanpete County Utah, USA Parents: James Young and Elizabeth Seely Married John Henry Wilcox COD: Myocarditis, chronic Death certificate State of Utah Records may also be found under Wilcox Family links:  Parents:   James Ross Young (1804 - 1894)   Elizabeth Jane Seeley Young (1807 - 1900)  Spouse:   John Henry Owen Wilcox (1824 - 1909)  Children:   Hazzard Wilcox (1849 - 1925)*   Elizabeth Wilcox Hurst (1851 - 1942)*   Sarah Wilcox Bills (1853 - 1936)*   James Henery Wilcox (1855 - 1939)*   John Carlos Wilcox (1858 - 1938)*   Mary H Wilcox Day (1860 - 1946)*   Clarissa Jane Wilcox Meiling (1863 - 1951)*   Sabra Ellen Willcox Oliver (1865 - 1914)*   Hannah Wilcox Carlston (1868 - 1943)*   Martha Anna Wilcox Westwood Foy (1871 - 1962)*   Justus Azel Wilcox (1874 - 1945)*  Siblings:   John Henry Young (1829 - 1906)*   Mary Young Wilcox (1831 - 1929)   Anna Young Peck (1832 - 1851)*   Sarah (Sally) Young Mayhew (1834 - 1896)*   Elizabeth Young Staker (1837 - 1912)*   Hannah Seely Young Moore (1842 - 1909)* *Calculated relationship Burial: Mount Pleasant City Cemetery Mount Pleasant Sanpete County Utah, USA Plot: A_128_2_7 Maintained by: Love My Ancestors Originally Created by: Utah State Historical So... Record added: Feb 02, 2000 Find A Grave Memorial# 139581	Added by: Lora King Added by: karl weiler Added by: karl weiler