HANNAH KNIGHT LIBBY - Part 12 - EVENTS LEADING TO HER BAPTISM

(I have now written about this event several times - most recently in the blog entries on the Life of John Carter.  For the most part this will be a repeat of the entry in John's life.  If I add information to the previous narrative I will put it in italics.)        

          One last episode before we explore the day of Hannah Knight Libby’s baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints .   We, who have done any family history know where this story is headed but before going there I would like to take you where most members of the family has never gone – to learn about the climate of religion in Newry and the appearance of missionaries for the Church.  One other topic needs to be addressed – the actual first baptism in the family.  You see, in spite of family lore, it appears that Hannah wasn’t the first member of the Church in the Carter family.

          To tell this story I will need to rely heavily on the research of our cousin Carole York.  Carole wrote her master’s thesis for the University of New Hampshire in 2010 on Western Maine Saints: The First Mormons of Western Maine 1830—1890.  This thesis is about the forty-nine individuals and ten families who converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in Bethel and Newry, Maine and the missionaries who brought them into the church.  So of all members of the family Carole is the best researched this phase of the family’s history.  Parts of her story were posted online after be published in The Courier (the publication of the Bethel Historical Society – See http://bethelhistorical.org/legacy-site/Western_Maine_Saints.html).

There was no organized religion in Newry in 1834.  In fact the first church was built there in 1865.  Services were sometimes held on the Sunday River and baptisms were administered at Artist Bridge.  There was a Baptist Church in Middle Intervale on the opposite side of the river in Bethel.  This church served the Newry area and parts of Hanover and Bethel.  To reach it, people in Newry would have to row a boat across the river or take a ferry if it was in operation.  It is unknown if the Carter’s worshiped with the local Baptists.  They had been members of the various Congregationalist churches in Scarborough.

Umbagog Lake from Letter B Township (Upton, Maine)

In June of 1832, two years after Joseph Smith published the Book of Mormon, there came a young man to the home of Daniel Bean, Jr., in Letter B (now Upton), an unorganized territory in the western mountains of Maine, just east of Lake Umbagog.  (This was about 15 miles NE of where the Carters lived.)  This man was Horace Cowan and he was joined shortly by Hazen Aldrich.  The two men began preaching the Latter-Day Saint doctrines and were so well received that the Mormons soon organized a church of a large number of members, entirely breaking up the Free Will Baptists and the Congregationalists.  As Peter Smith Bean later recalled, “They took whole families . . . . Half the settlers left and were believers in the Mormon doctrine.”  It was this Daniel Bean Jr., who with his companion, John F. Boynton would in 1834 bring Mormonism to the Carter family.

The First Vision
(LDS Museum of Church History and Art)

          The Carters may not have even heard of this new religion.  Formerly organized in up-state New York on 6 Apr 1830 and starting with 6 official members, it had been growing slowly amid much persecution.  The doctrine of this faith had it origins in this era with a singular event that occurred in the spring of 1820 involving the then 14 year old Joseph Smith Jr. in Manchester, New York.  Joseph, who had been on a search for the "true" church for two years took himself into some woods besides his father's farm one day to to ask of God which faith was true.  What transpired - called "The First Vision" - involved God the Father and Jesus Christ appearing to Joseph and telling him that none of the churches were correct and that in time he "the fullness of the Gospel" would be made known unto him.

          Over the next 8 years Joseph received visitations by several heavenly beings and in time he received the golden plates that contained writings of ancient Prophets who lived upon the American continent and were later translated by Joseph and became our present day Book of Mormon - named after the last ancient Prophet who had hidden up the plates before his death.  The book was first published in March of 1830 and the Church organized the following month as noted above.  Following it's organization missionaries had been sent out spreading the word of the Book of Mormon.  The religion slowly grew in the face of stiff persecution led by religious leaders of established religions. Beginning as early as 1831 many of the new converts had begun moving to Kirtland, Ohio to escape this persecution.  This was in this climate in the world that the message of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was brought to upstate Maine.

Daniel Bean Tombstone in Wisconsin
(image by Alva Van Houton at
Findagrave.com)

          Not an awful lot is known about the life of Daniel Bean Jr.  He was the son of Daniel Bean Sr. and Margaret Shaw.  Daniel Bean, Jr., was baptized 23 March 1833 into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He became active as an Elder, missionary and leader of the LDS branch in the western Maine mountains.  Daniel’s grandparents were Jonathan Bean and Abigail Gordon.  For any of us who are descendants of Aaron M. York (and Hannah Carter) or Sarah York, wife of William Furlsbury Carter, this brings us a pleasant surprise.  Daniel Bean Jr. was actually our cousin as we too are descended from Jonathan and Abigail Gordon Bean.  Sarah York Carter and her brother Aaron M. York were actually 1st cousins once removed from Daniel Bean.  This might account for the success he had in preaching to the Carters in Newry.

John F. Boynton

John F. Boynton was born September 20, 1811, in Bradford, Essex County, Mass.; baptized in September, 1832, by Joseph Smith, in Kirtland, Ohio, and ordained an elder by Sidney Rigdon. He performed a mission, together with Zebedee Coltrin, to Pennsylvania in 1832 and another one to Maine in 1833 and 1834. February 15, 1835, he was ordained an apostle in Kirtland, Ohio, under the hands of Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris, after which he accompanied the Twelve on their mission to the Eastern States and Canada. During his last mission he borrowed all the money he could among the brethren, with which he entered into the mercantile business with Lyman E. Johnson, and followed it until he apostatized and was dis-fellowshipped from the quorum of apostles Sept. 3, 1837, in Kirtland, Ohio. On the following Sunday he made confessions and was forgiven, but as he did not repent of his evils, he was finally excommunicated from the Church. (http://www.gapages.com/boyntjf1.htm)

So who were the first Carter converts of  Daniel Bean Jr. and John F. Boynton?  Though there is some discrepancy in the records it appears that Dominicus Carter was baptized 30 Jun 1834.  One record I have seen showed 30 June 1832 but the 1834 date appears to be the accurate one.  If this is correct it was Dominicus who was baptized five days prior to his mother’s conversion and baptism.  This fact could have a big part to play in the story of his mother’s conversion story.  That story sill be coming next.

LIFE OF JOHN CARTER - Part 21 - MORLEYVILLE BURNS

The story behind the two previous deeds (land purchased from his sons John Jr and William) was the end result of the schism in the family that had begun with the conversion of Hannah to Mormonism some 11 or 12 years earlier.  The family had since 1836 been moving apart and coming back together as the Mormon part of the family traveled and was driven by mobs with the other Saints from Ohio to Missouri to Illinois.   John had somewhat followed behind the bulk of the family but had finally settled with them in the far southern part of Hancock County.  Possibly he hoped that mob violence was finally over as they were in an area where the issues of North vs. South were not an issue as it was in Missouri.  Another possibility was that he felt that if there were mob problems in Illinois that they were far enough from Nauvoo that they might be able to avoid problems in Morleyville (or Yelrome) as it was known.

            Life in Morleyville, as a result of the anti-Mormon mobs, turned ugly:

            “While the residents of Yelrome had their share of blessings, they also had problems with persecution.  As pressures against the Saints in Hancock County increased, Yelrome became the target of mob attacks.  Yelrome was vulnerable to attack for several reasons.  First it was rather isolated.  Second, it was situated between Warsaw on the north and Adams County on the South – both of which contained strong anti-Mormon elements.

            The people of Yelrome were especially vulnerable to attack because of the presence of the noted anti-Mormon leader Colonel Levi Williams, who lived in Green Plains, about ten miles distant.”[1]

            In Hannah’s life story the following is recorded:

            “In the space of 5 years fertile farms had been developed and the community was a veritable hive of industry.  On June 15, 1844, a mob of two thousand men headed by the bitter anti-Mormon Col. Levi Williams, came upon the Saints at Morley’s Settlement and ordered them to make a choice of one of three alternatives.  First they were to take up arms, join the mob and go with them to Nauvoo and help them arrest the Prophet Joseph Smith and 17 other leaders.  They must abandon their homes and go to Nauvoo, or third give up their arms and remain neutral.  They were given until eight o’clock to decide and told that if they did not join the mob they would ‘smell thunder.’

Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith 

            These brave and devoted Church members did not join the mob or remain neutral, so they were compelled to leave their homes and flee to Nauvoo for safety.  The Prophet heard their story and sent messengers to report this outrage to Governor Ford.  Before any action was taken, however, the martyrdom of the Prophet and Hyrum occurred on June 27 at Carthage Jail.

           

            

Morleyville Burning

              In the months that followed the situation became more peaceful and the group returned to their homes in Morley’s settlement, and peace reigned until September 10, 1845.”[2] 

            This story can be continued from one of the life stories of John’s son William Furlsbury Carter:

Morleyville Burning

            “On September 10, 1845, another mob bent on destruction came upon the settlement at Morelyville.  For eight days and nights they fired upon the settlers, burned between seventy and eighty homes, all of their stacks of hay and grain, shops and other buildings.  The inhabitants were forced out into the cold night in a drenching rain.  The aged, sick, and little ones suffered intently, and many deaths occurred.  Brigham Young and the leaders advised them to abandon their homes and possessions to the mob, but to save as many of their families as they could and again flee into Nauvoo.  Teams and wagons were sent from Nauvoo to assist in bringing them in.”[3]  It was during this September persecution that town leader Edmond Durfee was shot and killed by the mob.

            In most of the records of the family there is never any mention of John and Hannah having to move or having their home burned.  William’s home and shop were burned in this September attack on Morleyville.  It isn’t known about the other family members but most likely those of the Mormon faith lost their homes.  The fate of John and Hannah’s home is actually noted in the biography of their grandson Charles Carter, son of Philip Carter who would eventually move to Hancock County.[4] In the article on Charles Carter (1846 – 1925) he states in referring to John and Hannah Carter: “With a band of colonists they came westward to Hancock County at an early day and were owners of a cottage which was torn down during the attack made upon the Mormons by settlers of this part of the state.”   It would have to be presumed that they then moved either into Nauvoo or more likely to the homestead of either Mary Jane Carter Dooley or Almira Carter Tripp.

            It was apparent by the beginning of 1846 that the Saints were going to have to move once again.  It was at this point that John finally put his foot down and refused to move yet again.  In Dominicus Carter’s life story this situation is well described:

            “Hannah Knight Libby Carter, Dominicus’ mother, had cast her lot with the Saints nearly twelve years previously in the waters of the Bear River in Newry, Maine.  Somehow she had managed to keep her family together through all the troubles in Ohio, Missouri and Illinois.  Now, however, her non-member children and husband refused to go further.  John elected to stay at Morley Settlement and there he died.  Hannah came west with Dominicus and was buried in the Provo City Cemetery.  Before leaving Nauvoo she was sealed for time and eternity to Isaac Morley.

            Let us be kind in our judgment of those who stayed in Illinois.  John Carter was at the time nearly sixty-four years old.  Though he was not of the faith, his love for his wife and family had steeled him to endure the same hardships as they.  He must have been at the end of patience and just plain tired and wanting to settle down.  He had worked all his life for that.  Sadly without the passion of belief, he chose rest and repose rather than his wife and her religion, his other children and the rigors of another trail.  If he had gone ahead, the others in the family might ultimately have followed.”[5]  Some of the “facts” in the forgoing are not accurate but the general picture is true.

            At this point the last two deeds, mentioned above can be put into context.  When John purchased these lands from John Jr. and William C Wilson it was at the height of the departure of the Saints from Nauvoo.  As the summer of 1846 arrived the Carter’s left in Nauvoo were John, and his children:  Almira Carter Tripp and family in Lima and Mary Jane Carter Dooley and family in Tioga (Morleyville), with whom he probably lived.  His remaining non-Mormon son, Philip Libby Carter and family were at this time living in Lowell, Middlesex, Massachusetts.

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[1] Reference Book for Nauvoo Family History and Property Identification Department, op. cit., p. 23.

[2] Anonymous, Biography of Hannah Knight Libby (1786 – 1867 in Arthur D. Coleman: Carter Pioneers of Utah, (Provo UT: J. Grant Stevenson, 1966), pp.137-145.

[3] Leora Carter Scharrer; Life of William F. Carter, op. cit., page 5.

[4] Biographical Review of Hancock County, Illinois : containing biographical and genealogical sketches of many of the prominent citizens of today and also of the past,” Chicago : Hobart Pub. Co., 1907, pages not cited but transcribed by Leslie A Carter.

[5] Barton L Carter; Dominicus Carter, Latter-Day Pioneer, (self-published, no date), p. 30