Richard Harrison Carter - Mormon Battalion Pioneer

 

Richard Harrison Carter – Mormon Battalion Pioneer

By Robert Givens (August 20, 2020)

With the 200^th anniversary of Richard Carters birth approaching, this is an appropriate time to revisit his life in an attempt to construct an accurate depiction of his life and times.  Until now there was only one compilation of his life written by his great niece, Almira T Bethers, and filed in the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers collection.  On reading this account of his life it was easy to identify several instances where recent research has proven statements in that account of his life to be inaccurate.  That being said, this account of his life will still rely heavily on the earlier biography when possible. 

Birth and His Family 

On 20 August 1820 a son named Richard Carter was born to John Carter and Hannah Knight Libby Carter in Newry, Oxford, Maine. (Office of Town Clerk, Newry, Maine, Town Records, 1805 - 1846, Family History Library film #11589, pages unnumbered) John and Hannah were in their mid to late thirties and this was the ninth child born to them and Richard was their sixth son.  In a time when there was high infant mortality the Carter family was fortunate in that they had only lost one child previously, John Harrison, who had died on 11 April 1815 in Newry at just short of three months of age.

John Carter and his wife were both from families that had been in the Americas since at least the mid-1600’s.  John Carter’s parents, Richard Carter and Jane or Anne McKenney Carter lived in Scarborough, Cumberland, Maine.  The farm on Broadturn Road had been in the family going back to at least John’s grandfather, Benjamin Carter.  Richard had inherited the farm from his father and had purchased several tracks of land in the vicinity increasing his holdings significantly.  It was surely this Richard Carter, his grandfather, that the baby born in 1820 was named.

Hannah Knight Libby was also born in the Scarborough area quite close to where John lived.  Today the old Libby farm is located on Watson Mill Road in Saco, Maine and is just a mile or so to the west of the land owned by John Carter.  Hannah’s parents, Zebulon Libby and Lydia Andrews had inherited this land from Zebulon’s father, Thomas, who had accumulated a large tract of land, of which the Zebulon Libby farm was but a portion.  Zebulon was a patriot having served three years in the Revolutionary War, and was afterward a captain in the state militia.

Little is known of John Carter’s early life until in 1804 a remarkable deed is found that describes his purchase (with another man) of a home in Portland, Maine. John is described as being a “mariner” on[RG1]  the deed. Family lore has always said that he was a sea captain at one point in his life and that rumor, at least, has some substance as the 22-year-old John was living in one of the main seaports of New England in 1804.  Unfortunately for John, by 1806 the prosperous trade business in Portland virtually shut down as the British passed the Non-Intercourse Act that essentially said any American ships not trading with the British could be confiscated and their crews held.  This act would be one of the main actions that would lead to shortly to the War of 1812.

John did not long remain in Portland.  On 7 Nov 1805 John purchased 72 acres of land that was between the farms of his parents and Hannah’s parents and on 2 March 1806 John and Hannah married.  It was on this farm that their first three children – Dominicus, Almira and Hannah – were born.  By 1809 John had sold half of his Scarborough land and was purchasing land in upstate Maine in Newry.  This was undeveloped land and it apparently took him some three years to clear and develop it sufficiently to actually move his young family to this remote community.  But move they did, and it was on their farm in Newry that the rest of their family were born.  Before Richard was born, they had five children in Newry – William Furlsbury, Philip Libby, John Harrison (who died in 1815), another John Harrison and Eliza Ann.  After Richard two more children would be born here, Mary Jane and Rufus, who died on his second birthday in 1827. 

Early Life 

It is true that we know very little about Richard in his early years but we can assume many things base on what we know about life in Newry and nuggets of information found in the town records.  The first thing we learn is that when the family registered their children in the town records he was recorded simply as Richard Carter.  He was not listed with a middle name.  It doesn’t mean that he wasn’t born Richard Harrison but it wasn’t until the Nauvoo time period that we find him with a middle name.

By 1820, when Richard was born, the Carters had been in Newry for about a decade and were firmly established there.  Life in Newry was close to being at a subsistence level. Farms had to be as self-sufficient as possible as this northern forest land required great effort to clear and the growing season was short. Most of the arable land was used to grow foodstuffs for the family or to produce forage for their animals. Hunting, trapping and fishing was important for food and for the skins that could be traded for needed food. The forest, which was everywhere and plentiful, was a source for logs and cut timber. Still the bottom line was everyone needed food so food was king. John Carter had an extra skill that would help them in this time of resettlement. He had learned the blacksmithing trade since his marriage to Hannah. He probably learned this from Hannah’s father Zebulon Libby who was a farmer-blacksmith back in Scarborough. John most likely plied his trade on the side accepting barter in commodities which his family would need. (Life Story of Hannah Knight Libby Carter, p. 36 at https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/KWVM-MGY)

From 1820 to 1827, few or no details about the family are known. The family farm seems to have done well. For the most part John tilled 1.5 acres, though some years just a half acre. He consistently mowed 2.5 acres to provide food for his livestock and finally had about one acre of pasture. His livestock usually consisted of two oxen, a horse, between 2 and 4 cows, between 2 and 8 cattle, and between 2 and 5 swine. Assuming that John was probably earning extra income from blacksmithing, the family was probably doing fine by Newry standards.  (Life Story of Hannah Knight Libby Carter, p. 39 at https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/KWVM-MGY )

These were the formative years of Richard’s life.  His older sisters Almira and Hannah probably played a big part in helping their mother in raising the young Richard.  The education he did receive was probably from his mother while sitting at her knee.  It was likely that from his early days he was trained in working on the family farm and by age seven he  was being given chores to do to help the family. 

1828 – 1833 

The dynamic of the John Carter family began to change in 1828 and with this Richard must have had to take a more important role in helping run the family farm and business.  In 1828 and 1829, when Richard was just 8 and 9, his three oldest siblings married and left the home.  In May of 1828 Dominicus married Lydia Smith.  In January 1829 Almira married Alvin Baron Tripp and in December of the same year Hannah married Aaron Mereon York.  When Richard was just 12 William married Sarah York.  Thus, by the time he was 13 the family living at home consisted of Philip age 21, John age 16, Eliza Ann age 14, Richard 13, and Mary Jane 10. 

With the family shrinking Richard’s role in the family probably grew rapidly.  Richard and his brothers, John and Philip, would have had plenty to do with clearing land and probably helping their father with his blacksmith work.  In any case, this was the way of life in the 1800’s – the sons helped on their family farm until they were old enough to marry and go out on their own. 

1834 – 1838 

There are often seminal events that change the course of a family’s experience.  This event could be natural disaster, an accident or a war.  The event that changed the course of the life of the entire Carter family was the sickness of Richard’s mother, Hannah, in early July 1834.  This event would have a lasting impact on each and every member of the John Carter family.  It was on 4 July 1834 that Mormon missionaries, Daniel Bean and John F. Boynton, appeared at the Carter home and while healing Hannah of her sickness also brought the message of the restoration taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Daniel Bean was a first cousin once removed of Sarah York and Aaron M York, spouses of William F Carter and Hannah Carter – older siblings of Richard.  Daniel was baptized in 1833 and lived some 15 miles from Newry.  He was paired up with John F. Boynton, who had joined the church in Ohio.  They had been traveling through towns in the backwoods of Maine having much success converting people to the Gospel.  It appears that they had actually baptized Richard’s oldest sibling, Dominicus and his wife, Lydia just days earlier on 30 Jun 1834. 

Thus, we come to 4 July 1834.  John probably had sent one of the children living at home to make the short trip to the homes of his married children informing them their mother’s grave illness and possible impending death.  Fortunately, we have one account of that day thanks to the then 15-year-old Eliza Ann Carter Snow who wrote of that day in a short diary recorded in 1892.  In her own words here is her account of that day: “I first embraced Mormonism in 1834, in the town of Newry, Oxford County, State of Maine.  The first Mormon elders I ever heard preach were John F. Boynton and Daniel Bean.  They came to my father's house, and my mother lay very sick.  The doctors had given her up.  The elders told her they were preaching a new doctrine and they told her that she could be healed if she could have faith, that they would hold hands on her.  They did lay hands on her and said, 'In the name of the Lord Jesus be thou made whole.'  And she was made whole and arose and called for her clothes and said I must go to the water.  She walked one-half mile and was baptized in the river called Bear River and confirmed.   And there was a large branch raised up in that place."   (Eliza Ann Carter Snow, Autobiographical Sketch, 1892 April 10, LDS Church History Library, MS 9676 – microfilm of the original handwritten record transcribed by the author, 14 Feb 2012.)  The quote of the day was John’s comment on this event, “That beats doctor bills.” (Ibid.) It should be noted that the date of the baptism is not recorded by Eliza Ann, or anyone else in the family for that matter but is recorded in the records of the Church.

The joy that Hannah experienced surely led her to want her other children to partake of this new faith of hers.  Along with Dominicus, who appears to already be a member, Hannah was joined in baptism by her children John H (age 18) and Eliza Ann (age 15) on the day their mother was baptized.  The exact baptism date of the subject of this sketch, Richard Harrison (age 13), appears to have been about 31 Oct 1834.  Two other married children William F (baptized 17 Nov 1834) and Hannah (who appears to have waited until 1844 to be baptized) shows the effect of the married children having a harder time to convert.  Her oldest daughter Almira, who was already married in 1834 never did join the church.  The then 21-year-old son, Philip Libby, soon left home for Massachusetts and didn’t join the church either, though he and Almira and their families joined the family in Tioga, Illinois years later.  Lastly, the youngest daughter Mary Jane, just 11 in 1834, never joined the church but lived with John and Hannah until her marriage in Missouri in 1840.

On 15 August 1835, Brigham Young and Lyman Johnson visited Newry.  They held a conference at the home of David and Patty Sessions, and Brigham Young crossed the Androscoggin River to preach at the Middle Intervale Meetinghouse, in Bethel, which at the time was without a settled pastor.  At the meeting in the Sessions home, Young spoke of “establishing Zion” somewhere in the west, a place where Saints could live together and practice their religious beliefs without fear of persecution.  He encouraged the local Saints to sell their farms and travel to Missouri to join others in this endeavor.  On August 21 of the same year, the Sessions were visited by another Mormon elder and missionary, William McLellin, who recorded in his journal that he had preached about two hours at a “bro Cessions… Brigham Young and other members of the Twelve Apostles visited Newry again in August 1836, and once more preached in at Middle Intervale.  He again urged the members of the Newry branch to sell their farms in Maine and travel to Missouri where the Saints were gathering.”    (Mary E. Valentine, WESTERN MAINE SAINTS, [Part 2] - A Newry Family Who Joined the Latter-Day Saints in Seeking a Home in the West, The Courier, Volume 29, No. 2 (2005))

The year 1836 witnessed the beginning of the division of the Carter family as the Latter-day Saint members began to heed the call of their Church leaders to gather in the West.  The two married sons, Dominicus and William, did heed this call and left for Kirtland, Ohio in 1836 (probably in the spring.)  At this point Richard’s mother Hannah faced a difficult dilemma. She had two single children, John approaching 20 and Eliza 18, who if they stayed in Newry, would find it difficult to find someone of the faith to marry.  Surely it was their mother, Hannah, who was behind the fact that these two unmarried children left with their married siblings that spring and traveled to Ohio.  Hannah would be vindicated for this move as both John and Eliza found mates and married within the Mormon faith during the short time they were in Kirtland.  This left just four members of the family in the Carter home in Newry – John, the father, Hannah his wife, Richard, who would turn 16 in 1836 and Mary Jane, who was 13.  At this point Richard’s role in the family grew as he was the only son left to help his father in his farming and blacksmith work. 

1838 – 1841 

In the short biography of Richard (Treasures of Pioneer History – Stories of the Mormon Battalion, pp. 456-7) it is stated that Richard, along with the rest of the John Carter family, traveled with the Saints to Kirtland, Ohio and Far West, Missouri.  This just isn’t so.  The evidence for John and Hannah being in Kirtland is that there was a John Carter in the Kirtland Company that traveled to Missouri.  The problem with that fact is that the John Carter of the Kirtland Company was in a party of 2 so this has to be John Harrison Carter and his young bride, Elizabeth Runnels Sweet whom he married in Kirtland in April of 1838.  The Kirtland Company left the Ohio gathering place between July and October of 1838 for Missouri.  At this time Richard, Mary Jane and their parents were still living in Newry.  The town records of Newry do give us an approximate time of the family’s departure for the west.  There is a notation in the Newry town records that on 10 Sep 1838 that John Carter called the meeting that month and was paid $1.50 for calling meetings that year.  This is the last mention of John while he lived in Newry. For on 25 October 1838 we read that Andrew N Stowe was chosen in Newry as collector of taxes to fill the vacancy of John Carter.  At the same time Stephen E Frost was chosen to take John’s place as highwayman and surveyor. (Town and Vital Records, 1805 - 1891; Newry, Oxford, Maine, FHL Film #11589, pages unnumbered.) Since John was in attendance at the meeting of 10 Sep 1838, we can narrow the date that John and Hannah left Newry to between mid-September to late October 1838.  Since the rest of the family had left Kirtland on July 5 of that year, they had a large head start but were making very slow time.  The Kirtland Camp groups were financially strapped and had trouble obtaining supplies and therefore had to stop to work to earn money to buy supplies.  Their progress was extremely slow and they would not reach their destination at Far West, Missouri until October 2^nd.

The trip to Missouri for Richard and his family was accomplished in a very short time when compared with the part of the family who left Kirtland around July of 1838 and didn’t arrive in Far West until early October of the same year.  Richard and his family left Newry between 10 September and 25 October and on 10 November 1838 Richard’s father John purchased 40 acres of land in Monroe County, Missouri. (Monroe County, Missouri, Deeds, Book E, p. 574 - Family History Library Film 975063) It is significant that Monroe County is three counties east of where the rest of the Latter-day Saints were settling in the Far West area. 

Richard spent the winter of 1838 through early 1841 in Monroe County, Missouri.  His father, John, had not been willing to move to the Far West area, which was a wise choice as by the time Richard and his family reached Missouri, the Saints were already being driven from their land and were making a winter pilgrimage eastward which would culminate in their settling in the Commerce, Illinois area, which in time, would be called Nauvoo.  Richard and his family laid low during this time farming their land in northcentral Missouri.  It was here on 27 Aug 1840 that Richard’s sister, Mary Jane, married Jacob Dooley. (Ancestry.com. Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. Original data: Missouri Marriage Records. Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives. Microfilm. Marriage date – 27 Aug 1840 – Monroe Co., Missouri.) This left Richard as the last child living at home.  His presence in the home as his parents who were growing older (his father turned 58 in 1840) must have been a great comfort to them.   It is not an accident that Richard and his parents were keeping their distance from the main body of the Saints.  Richard’s father, John, was not interested in getting involved in the mob actions directed towards the Saints.  He surely had had communications with his Latter-day Saint children and he appeared to not want to be involved in that kind of life. 

1841 – 1846 

As Richard’s immediate family continued to live in Monroe Co., Missouri, most of the rest of the family had left Far West back in the winter of 1838 under the direction of Isaac Morley and would ultimately settle some 33 miles south of Nauvoo along the Hancock and Adams County lines near modern-day Tioga, Illinois.  It appears that John Carter was not interested in getting his family into the middle of the “Mormon” issues but along the way his wife, Hannah, must have convinced him that moving to where the children settled would be safe because of its distance from Nauvoo.  For whatever reason, we do know that by May of 1841 they had moved to Morley Town or Yelrom settlement.  At that time John purchased a tract of land, of not quite 23 acres, from Richard’s brother William Furlsbury Carter. (Hancock County, Illinois Deeds, Book I, p. 227 – 228 (FHL Film 954,598). Transcription found in Susan Eaton Black, et. al., Property Transactions in Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois and Surrounding Communities (1839 – 1859), Vol. II C-F, p. 749.)

So fully five years after the family had been split due to the westward migration of the Saints, Richard was reunited with most all of his family.  In fact, except for his older brother Philip, who wouldn’t arrive in Morley Town until the mobs were driving the Saints out, virtually all the family was now living within a short distance of each other in southern Hancock County or across the county line in northern Adams County.  It is not known for sure exactly where Richard lived at this time. Richard left no record of land dealings so it should be presumed that he probably continued to live with his parents. 

One can’t help but think that Hannah had pushed to move to be near her children for more than to just be in their company.  By 1840 Richard was 20 years old and surely Hannah hoped that he would marry someone in the Church.  Living in central Missouri would have made that dream virtually impossible.  They wouldn’t want to send him to Illinois to live with his siblings as then they would be without any help with their farm and other business.  Thus, it is likely that the move to Illinois was motivated by a hope Richard could find a good Latter-day Saint young lady to marry while still helping his parents.

If the goal was to have Richard marry in the Church, then they were successful as on 29 Nov 1840 in Lima, Adams, IL Richard married Hannah Parker. ("Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1940," database with images, FamilySearch at https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KFK3-XCJ : 5 November 2017), Richard Carter and Hannah Parker, 29 Nov 1840; citing Hancock, Illinois, United States, county offices, Illinois; FHL microfilm 229,486.) Hannah Parker was born in York County, Maine on 24 June 1822 to Samuel Parker and his second wife, Molly (Mary) Bracey Trueworthy.  Samuel Parker was an early convert to the LDS Church in Maine.  Hannah’s mother died in Quincy, Illinois in 1839.  Her father would live to die in Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1846.  Unfortunately, nothing else is known about her life prior to 1840.  With no land records known for Richard it is possible that they lived either with Hannah’s family or with John and Hannah Carter after their marriage in 1840.

While living in Illinois, Richard and Hannah had two children who all the family have traditionally recognized.  If the place of birth for their first-born child is accurate, they were possibly in Hancock County when their first child, Mary Trueworthy Carter was born 23 Sep 1841.   There is some discrepancy with the births of Mary Trueworthy Carter and the next sibling, Samuel Parker Carter, as family tradition and his death certificate give his birth as 10 Feb 1842 which is too soon after Mary’s birth to be accurate.  Without any evidence the family has changed Samuel’s birth to 1843 so the dates now work.  Family tradition gives Samuel’s birth place as Lima, Adams, Illinois which is the home of Alvira Carter Tripp, Richard’s sister.  It is possible that they had moved down there to live with her family or possibly the Parker family may have lived there.

In addition to Mary Trueworthy and Samuel Parker, it appears that Richard and Hannah had a third child born to them in Illinois, Angelina Carter.  Little is known of her and in fact no primary sources can be found to document her birth in this family.  That being said there is substantial secondary evidence to support her placement in the family.  In recent years the BYU Center for Family History and Genealogy has tried to document all the Latter-day Saints that lived in the Nauvoo area in their “Nauvoo Community Project, 1839 – 1846.”  They have Angelina Carter as born in 1845 in Lima, Adams, IL and died in 1848 in Mt. Pisgah, Union, IA the daughter of Richard Carter and Hannah Parker.  (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL3Z-G94C)  Her half-brother, Franklin Fitzfield Carter mentions her in his family record, and Hannah Parker Carter’s last husband Cornelius Brown, after Hannah died,  told his subsequent wife that followed Hannah that he had buried Hannah and two children on the prairies of Iowa.  In Union County, Iowa today is the Mount Pisgah Cemetery State Preserve which contains a 12-foot high white obelisk whereon are inscribed 60 of the presumed 300 people who were buried in the cemetery there.  On the north side of the obelisk is inscribed Angelina Carter.  This is the only record outside of family tradition to actually prove that she lived and died.  For what it is worth, Franklin Fitzfield Carter had her sealed to Richard and Hannah in the Salt Lake temple in March of 1918.  We should be grateful that Franklin didn’t want this little girl to be forgotten or we might not know of her today.

Richard and his young family passed through the persecutions in the Nauvoo area but absolutely nothing has been found regarding their specific experience.  We know they were there as Richard and Hannah were the last of the Carter clan to take out their endowments in the Nauvoo Temple.  They attended the temple to receive their endowments on 7 Feb 1846.  The evacuation of Nauvoo was in process having actually begun 3 days before Richard and Hannah attended the temple. Since there is no record of their being sealed together in the Nauvoo Temple after 7 Feb 1846 it must be assumed that they left Nauvoo shortly after that date. 

1846 – Exodus to Iowa 

Richard and Hannah left Nauvoo during the Mormon Exodus of 1846 as mentioned above sometime after they were endowed on 7 Feb 1846.  There are no family records describing the crossing of Iowa during that winter and spring.  The travail of the Saints as they fled west is well documented.  Depending upon when they actually left, they either had to plow through snow drifts or later, after the spring rains, through mud making the trek miserable and exhausting.  It was this journey that inspired William Clayton to pen his song “All is Well.”  We do not know for a surety if Richard and his family traveled with other family members or separately.  All we know is that Richard and his family arrived at the Grand Encampment east of the Missouri River in and around modern-day Council Bluffs.  The only thing we know for sure is that they had to have arrived sometime prior to July 13 as later events will show.

1846 – Mormon Battalion

 Shortly after arriving at the Grand Encampment, the Richard’s life took a sudden and ultimately fatal turn as the call went out from Brigham Young for young men to volunteer for service in the United States military.  It is hard to imagine how the Saints first reacted to this news as they were fleeing from United States land because of the government’s refusal to protect them and now the government wanted their service against the country of Mexico. 

Following the 1845 annexation of Texas by the United States, tensions with Mexico grew until on April 26, 1846 fighting broke out between the U.S. and Mexico.  On May 13th war was officially declared. At this time the Mormon refugees were in the midst of crossing Iowa.  While crossing Iowa Brigham Young and the rest of the Quorum of the Twelve, through Jesse C. Little, President of the Eastern States conference of the Church, had petitioned President Polk seeking assistance from the Federal Government.  On June 2nd President Polk authorized Col. Stephen W. Kearney to recruit a few hundred Mormons to help in the war but also “to conciliate them, attach them to our country, and prevent them from taking part against us.” (Polk, James K. (1929), Nevins, Allan, ed., Polk: The Diary of a President, 1845–1849, London and New York: Longmans, Green & Co., p. 109) This was an unusual symbiotic relationship, as the Church members as a whole had very negative feelings towards the government after receiving no redress from being driven from their homes, and the government who wasn’t willing to support the Saints in their time of need turning to them for help.  Young and the other leaders of the Church did see this as an opportunity for some much-needed financial help and ultimately agreed to the arrangement. One author suggested that the Battalion’s enlistment would be a public relations victory for the church, demonstrating additional evidence of its loyalty to the United States. (McLynn, Frank. Wagons West: The Epic Story of America's Overland Trails. Grove Press. pp. 386–7.)

The men were given a clothing allowance at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., of US$42 each, paid in advance, for their one-year enlistment. The men generally used their own clothes so they wouldn’t spend all their pay.  Ultimately about a quarter of these funds were sent back to Council Bluffs, some to their families, some to the Church, and some for the poor still in Nauvoo. The infusion of cash given to the Church was used to purchase food, wagons, teams, and other necessities for the Church exodus. The actual wages paid over the next year to the Mormon Battalion totaled nearly $30,000 of which about $6,000 sent back to Council Bluffs. ("The Pioneer Story: Pioneer Trail Map", LDS.org, archived from the original on March 5, 2012.) The reason more money was not sent back to the Saints was that the Battalion members still needed to provide for themselves so clothing, shoes and any personal gear that the Army didn’t furnish.  The one added benefit to the Saints left in Iowa in addition to the funds that were sent, was that, thanks to the Army, the Saints had 500 less people to feed.

Richard Carter, Hannah’s youngest surviving son, was one of the early volunteers as he was enrolled in Company B of the Battalion.  On July 13^th an “All Camp” meeting was arranged at the Council Bluffs bowery where a call was made for volunteers.  Captain Allen expressed to the Saints that the Battalion, as it was later called, would probably see no battle action but would instead fill a supporting role. What Captain Allen failed to tell was the extreme conditions that the Battalion would encounter in their trek – over a trail that was much more challenging than the Mormon Trail route the bulk of the Saints would take to Utah.  The Battalion route was through deserts where food and water were scarce, they had limited rations, and struggled with their wagons through sand and hilly unimproved paths.  Considering the arduous nature of their travels, it is amazing that more Battalion members didn’t succumb during this trek. In any case, the volunteers began to sign up with Captain Allen’s dragoons acting as clerks.  Some officers were selected and three companies and part of a fourth were organized.  Approximately 250 to 350 men signed up that day. That evening they held farewell dance in the Bowery at the west end of the Grand Encampment.  The Carter family probably attended the dance with heavy hearts.

On July 14^th and 15^th the recruitment continued and four full companies were raised suggesting that Captain Allen now had approximately 400 volunteers.  July 16^th was formally Muster Day – the day the recruits were officially accepted into service.  At mid-morning Captain Allen accepted the 4 and a half companies into service and assumed their command.  He thereby was elevated to the rank of Lt. Colonel of volunteers.  His first official order was to formally name this unit the “Mormon Battalion.”  On the afternoon of the 16^th the command marched about 5 miles south to Peter Sarpy’s Trading post at Trader’s Point where they established their temporary camp.

July 17^th and 18^th were taken up by the men outfitting as they drew some supplies (blankets, cups, plates, etc.) from Sarpy’s stockpile.  The 18^th, being a Saturday, a dance was organized in the afternoon at the Soldier’s Camp near Sarpy’s at 1 pm.  At 5:30 that evening President Young and others gave them "their last charge and blessing," which included a promise that their "lives should be spared and [their] expedition result in great good, and [their] names be handed down in honorable remembrance to all generations." (William Hyde, The Private Journal of William Hyde (privately published, 1962?), 19; spelling standardized. Cited at:  https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/historic-sites/journey-of-the-mormon-battalion?lang=eng 

On Sunday, July 19^th most of the men were given furlough for the day.  Many hiked back to the Bluffs to see family again.  It is assumed that Richard most likely did this so he could see his wife and young children and parents one more time.  The day was given to much preaching in the Bowery as the now Lt. Colonel Allen was still filling out his 5^th company of volunteers.

The plan was to leave and head south on the 20^th but the volunteers were not ready yet.  More men actually enlisted that day.  The 21^st began with rain in the morning.  This caused a further delay and they finally pushed off that afternoon and only made 3 or 4 miles to Mosquito Creek and had to encamp there for the night.  On the next day (the 22^nd), the last of Co. E left Sarpy’s and joined the main command and they all proceeded towards Ft. Leavenworth. (Ironically the first Battalion death occurred that night of the 22^nd/23^rd when Pvt. Boley died in camp.) Thus, it was on July 23^rd Richard finally marched off towards Ft. Leavenworth and to his destiny.

Nineteen or twenty members of the Mormon Battalion died during the march.  All died from diseases or accidents - as the Battalion never had to engage in any military actions, though they did skirmish with Indians a couple of times in California.  The 2000-mile trek from Council Bluffs to San Diego was arduous and two different sick detachments were sent back to Pueblo, Colorado and then on to Utah or in a few cases to Iowa.  Richard was a member of Lieutenant Willis's Pueblo detachment of the sick. He and Pvt Elijah Freeman, also of Co B, both died on 19 Nov 1846 as the detachment was traveling north along the Rio Grande. Lt. Willis in his letter (transcribed below) reported the graves were four miles south of Sacora on the Rio Grande.  No grave marker memorializes his last resting place.  The modern-day spelling of the earlier Indian village is Socorro, New Mexico, and can be found on the western side of the Rio Grande River on maps of the region. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socorro,_New_Mexico) 

(Much of the detail above and edits to the information from Lt. Willis’ diary below was graciously provided by Kevin Henson, a historian for the Mormon Battalion Association.  They have an interactive map of the Battalion route at https://www.mapntour.com/viewer/?c=487  Their recent research has narrowed the last resting place of Richard as being between ¾ and 1 ½ south of Socorro.)

To try to provide the family with some feeling of what this journey was like in the last days of Richard’s life the following excerpts are from a letter dated 6 Aug 1869 written by Lt. William W. Willis found in the Church Historian’s Office correspondence files.

(see: https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets?id=3442a609-08a3-41f4-ad8b-5c4629b96c58&crate=0&index=0) It must be noted that his account was written many years after the fact and without his original journal to refer to, so that are some inaccuracies which will be noted.  

The narrative begins with page 4 of the letter as Lt. Willis leaves Santa Fe.  “I think, on the first day of Nov. Col Cook issued marching orders accordingly the Battalion marched with 40 (actually 60) days rations being the only outfit deemed sufficient for that mighty march. His mules and oxen being in very low condition having made the trip from the States our road lay down the Rio Grande passing through the principal settlements of New Mexico to a place called Sacora at this place Col. Cook took the right-hand side of the river no wagons ever having traveled on that side.  His route lay over a rough rocky and sandy country so the Colonel attached ropes and pull and so walk that the wheels of the wagons would follow in their track.  This labor was so hard that men were daily dropping under the excessive fatigue on the morning of the 10^th Nov (I think) (actually Nov 3) the sergeant reported James Hamilton (Hampton) fit for service and before night he was dead he died in the wagon the team stopping about 20 minutes to let him depart as it were in peace in the evening where we camped we buried him.

We continued our march till about the 12^th (9^th) when Col. Cook called a halt… On that portion of the Rio Grande over which we traveled fruit and vegetables were abundant and we all eat freely of both then the hard and excessive toil and labor that we had to perform under the scorching heat of  an almost tropical sun and the frequent use of the old iron spoon out of which all kinds of medicine was freely administered produced so much sickness in the ranks that the Col. Was obliged to order a halt and issued the following orders viz: …

iii That Leiut W W Willis assume command of the invalids and that he call upon Capt Berguin (Bergwin) at Alberquerque for assistance and report to the commander at Santa Fe and for orders… Active operations now commenced to carry into effect the forgoing orders and by 4 o’clock of same day we had collected fifty six invalids one big government wagon, four yoke of poor cattle, five days rations and two dressed sheep as a luxury for the sick Our bedding for the one wagon consisted of the clothing blankets cooking utensils tents and tent poles and their knapsacks(?) fifty six in number which surly made load enough, there on the top of all that must be placed those that were unable to walk.

With some difficulty I got a spade or two and a shovel but was provided with no medicine or other necessaries for sick men and only five days rations for a journey of three hundred miles.  Thus provided we commenced our lonesome march back to Santa Fee we traveled about two miles and camped and were visited that even by Capt Hurst (Capt Jefferson Hunt, Co A’s senior captain) and others who spoke words of comfort to us & blessed us administering the Church ordinances to the sick and bidding us God speed they left us.

Next day we resumed our march, in the evening camped near some springs of water, one yoke of our oxen got mired in the mud we took the yoke off and one got out the other we undertook to pull out but unfortunately broke his neck, our team was then too weak to pull our load, in the night Bro John Green died and we buried him by the side of Bro. Hampton (Nov 15^th), what to do for team we did not know this was a dark time and many were the earnest petition that went up to our God and Father, to our joy the next morning we found with our oxen a pair of splendid good steers which cheered our spirits for we looked upon it as one of the kind providences of our Father in Heaven.

We marched two days more without meeting with any accident.  The night of the 15^th Nov.(16^th) we camped as usual. Bro Elijah Freeman was to night taken very ill, we hauled him next day (17^th) in our wagon, he suffered extremely this night camped as usual, lay by next (18^th) day for the benefit of Bro. Freeman whose groans and lamentations could be heard throughout the entire day it was a very cold and snow day Next (19^th) day we resumed our march.  This day we halted for Bro. Freeman to die after which we continued our march till the usual time of camping we then buried his corpse To night Bro Richard Carter died next morning we buried him by the side of Bro Freeman, their graves are four miles south of Sacora on the Rio Grande…”  (Note: spelling and punctuation are as written.  Paragraphing is provided to help break up the narrative.) As to Richard’s cause of death, it was probably due to exposure and fatigue.  No one will ever know for sure.

Richard had turned 26 on 8 Aug 1846 and died three months and 11 days later.   Thus, ends the all to short life of Richard Harrison Carter.   It is fitting to end this short biography with two quotes.  The following is from President Brigham Young at the first reunion of the Mormon Battalion on 6 February 1855 where he stated:

The Mormon Battalion will be held in honorable remembrance to the latest generation; and I will prophesy that the children of those who have been in the army, in defence [sic defense] of their country, will grow up and bless their fathers for what they did at that time.  And men and nations will yet rise up and bless the men who went in that Battalion. ...As the Lord lives, ...you will never be forgotten, worlds without end, but you will be had in honorable remembrance, for ever and ever.  (Report of the First General Festival of the Reknowned Mormon Battalion, Which Came Off on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 6 and 7, 1855, in the Social Hall, G.S.L City, reported by J. V. Long, reported by T. S. Williams, Deseret New Office [1855], p 17.  Copy in Historian’s Office Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vault P, M273.42, R-425, 1855. https://ia800500.us.archive.org/14/items/reportoffirstgen00unse/reportoffirstgen00unse.pdf.)

Lastly, on 1 Nov 1997 at the rededication of the Mormon Battalion monument on the grounds of the State Capitol in Salt Lake City, President Gordon B. Hinckley stated: “I think our people generally don't know much about the Mormon Battalion. They know a few broad brush strokes, that's all. In my judgment, with the exception of the sufferings of the handcart pioneers of 1856, the Mormon Battalion suffered more than any other body of our pioneers. That's saying a very great deal, and I believe it with all my heart…Tremendous was their contribution!" he exclaimed. "Great was their suffering. Their loyalty can never be questioned. Their dedication, I think, was equal to any in all of the history of our people."  (Held 'in honorable remembrance,' by R. Scott Lloyd, Church News, 8 Nov 1997.)

Note:  To learn more about what happened to Richard’s family after his passing please see The Life of Hannah Parker (Wife of Richard Harrison Carter) by this author. It can be found at: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/KWV3-YWX).

 Again, more can be found about the Mormon Battalion at http://www.mormonbattalion.com/

Life of Hannah Parker Carter Part 2

Hannah Parker Carter Life Story (conclusion)

      In our last newsletter we published the first half of the life story of Hannah Parker, wife of Richard Harrison Carter, John and Hannah’s son who died on the march of the Mormon Battalion. Much of the family lore that has been passed down over the generations relating to Hannah is just not true or only partly true. This account of her life is written in the hope of correcting the inaccuracies in her history that been accepted as truth. The first part of this story can be found at: https://johnandhannahcarter.blogspot.com/2018/07/life-of-hannah-parker-wife-of-richard.html

The Life of Hannah Parker 

(Wife of Richard Harrison Carter) 

By Robert Givens (September, 2017) 

(Part 2) 

   

The Mr. York Period of Hannah’s Life 

       Without the DNA results of Keith Carter, this chapter in the story of Hannah Parker would never have been written. This chapter of the life of Hannah Parker Carter is as much the story of Franklin Fitzfield Carter as it is about Hannah. There are two facts and two facts only that are known about this phase of Hannah’s life. The first is that on 4 Feb 1848 Hannah gave birth to a son named Franklin Fitzfield Carter (Franklin’s death certificate – see: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZP9-RH1) The second was that, based on the Y-DNA of Franklin’s last male descendant, Keith Carter, Franklin’s father was a member of the York family.

      The one part of the much-reported story of Hannah that can be disproved at this point is that the Mr. Enslow of family tradition was not the birth father of Franklin. There is no known record of Hannah being married at this point of her life. Elza (Elzy) Enslow, if he is the Mr. Enslow, could not have been the father as he was still in the Nauvoo area at the time Franklin would have been conceived, about May of 1847. The widow Hannah Carter had been widowed for about six months in May, 1847. Her situation was difficult at best, she was probably distraught at having lost her husband and for whatever reason ended up pregnant.

       There might be other options but at this point the only logical person to be Franklin Fitzfield Carter’s father is Aaron Mereon York. He was Hannah’s brother-in-law and knew Hannah well. We don’t know if Hannah lived on her own or with family but it is probable that she was housed with family members at this point. There is some collateral evidence that she did not live in the Council Bluffs area. If we assume Aaron M. York was Franklin’s father it makes sense as Franklin was supposed to be born in Stringtown, Iowa. Stringtown is about 85 or 90 miles south and east of Council Bluffs. Why would Hannah Parker Carter move her family back that far towards Nauvoo? The logical answer is so she could live with or near her sister-in-law Hannah Carter York. Aaron and his wife lived at this time in Mt. Pisgah which today is located some 10 or so miles to the east of Stringtown, but in the pioneer days these communities could have been one in the same. In any case this would have put Hannah Parker Carter close to the Yorks and lends credence to the supposition that Aaron M. York was in fact Franklin Fitzfield Carter’s father.

       In any case Hannah was pregnant and she surely knew who the father was. It is interesting that within all the records of the Carter family the only explanation of the paternity of Franklin was the reference by Franklin’s sister Mary Trueworthy Carter that Hannah married a Mr. Enslow and had her brother. Mary would have been seven years old when her brother was conceived so she may or may not have known exactly what transpired around the time of his conception and birth. It is also possible that she knew the whole story but had no intention to say anything that would compromise the position of the man she later married as his polygamous wife. As far as Aaron is concerned it is hard to believe that he was unaware that the child Hannah bore was his.

       It has been suggested that possibly Aaron, if he is in fact Franklin’s father, might have taken Hannah as a polygamous wife. Aaron’s brothers-in-law, Dominicus and William Furlsbury Carter, were both in polygamous marriages by this time so there would have been no stigma for Aaron to publicly announce that he had entered polygamy with is widowed sister-in-law. Because the family is totally silent on this point we have to assume there was no marriage involved in this relationship. 

       Thus by early February, 1848 Hannah is living in Stringtown, Iowa with either three or four children. The mysterious Angelia Carter, that we know so little about was supposed to have died sometime between 1845 and 1848.

 Elsa (Elzy) Enslow and Hannah Parker Carter

       There is some truth in most family traditions though traditions often have false sides as well. Family tradition says that Hannah Parker Carter married a Mr. Enslow after the death of Richard and Elsa (or Elzy) Enslow appears to be the most likely candidate. To place him in this narrative, it would be helpful to tell his story as it is told by various sources in FamilySearch.

        Elza Enslow (as he will be called) was born on 17 Aug 1821 in Wheelersburg, Scioto, Ohio to David and Rachel “Delila” (Virgin) Enslow. Elza appears to have joined the LDS Church in 1840 though no known date exists. In 1846 in Ohio Elza married Charlotte Eldredge who was born 20 Dec 1818. According to family tradition they had two children. Elza eventually felt the need to gather with the rest of the Church in Nauvoo, and because his wife wasn’t a member and didn’t want to move, he left her and traveled to be with the Church. While in Nauvoo, Elza married a widow, Mary Harding Fielding. Family tradition says this marriage was about March 1848 but that is doubtful as most Mormons had long left Nauvoo by that time. March 1846 would be more likely for the date. According to this same tradition in the spring of 1847 Elza and Mary joined some Saints and started west. They stopped in Burlington, Iowa, just across the Mississippi River, to pick up a daughter of Mary, who had been living with a Mrs. Holdridge for about 3 years. It was lastly said that in Burlington Elza contracted cholera and died in September, 1849.

        The Carter family had its tradition too that a Mr. Enslow had married Hannah Parker Carter and fathered Franklin Fitzfield Carter (the paternity disproved by DNA.) So which tradition do we believe or is the truth somewhere in between the stories. There are two pieces of evidence that can be brought forth to show what happened to Elza and his family. The first is the 1850 United States Census Mortality Schedule. In the Pottawatomie County, Iowa register is found Elski Endslow age 30, born in Illinois and died Nov 1849. He was listed as a farmer. Due to the handwriting and transcription issues his name has been garbled a little but this is surely Elza. So with this knowledge we know Elza wasn’t in Burlington when he died and it is possible that he and Hannah Parker Carter had some kind of relationship.

        The problem with this theory is the fact that Elza’s wife Mary Enslow and her family are also listed in the 1850 US Census in Pottawatomie County. On the census in dwelling 333 were found Mary Endslow 4 (surely 44) Enland, James Field 19 Eng, Kaziah Field 16 Eng, Wm Field 14 Eng, Mary Field 12 Eng, Sarah Field 10 Eng, Joseph Field 4 Illinois, and Lucy Endslow 9/12 Iowa. So Elza and his family came out to the Council Bluffs area together. They were obviously on their way west to Utah when tragedy struck Elza. With this census record the theory that Elza married Hannah Parker Carter can largely discounted. Maybe as some have suggested Elza Enslow was just a convenient name used to give Franklin Fitzfield Carter a father. Unless Elza had come out at some earlier date, there is little likelihood that Elza and Hannah ever married.

 Hannah and Cornelius Brown 

        The final act in the life of Hannah Parker Carter begins with her marriage on 13 Dec 1849 in Kanesville, Pottawattamie, IA to Cornelius Brown. There is little question that Hannah needed a husband and in Cornelius Brown she would finally find someone to provide and protect her.
 
        Cornelius Brown was born 21 May 1801 in Milford, Otsego, New York the second of six children of Frederick Brown and Catherine Huyck. Somewhere along the way Cornelius joined the Church and found his way to Council Bluffs in 1849. At 48 he may have been married previously but there is no information about him between his birth and his appearance in Iowa in 1849.

        His marriage to Hannah was short as after two years and four months Hannah died of smallpox on 12 Apr 1852. We have only one glimpse of this family and it comes from an interesting source. Four months following Hannah’s death Cornelius again married a widow, Sarah Hamer Worsley and in a life story of her at FamilySearch is found a letter to her deceased husband’s family England where she mentions she married “…Cornelious Brown in whom I have a good husband and a kind indulgent father to my children. He buried his wife and two children in this place.” Now if this report is accurate who are the two deceased children. Earlier it was mentioned that there was a child Angelia Carter who was born to Richard Harrison Carter and Hannah according to the family record kept by Franklin Fitzfield Carter. Angelia was buried at Mt. Pisgah as her name is found on a common monument the pioneer cemetery there. No dates of birth or death are found. Could she be one of the children of Hannah that were buried. The other possibility was that there were two children born to Cornelius and Hannah in their two-year marriage and both died. This is yet another mystery in the story of Hannah Parker Carter.

        Following the death of Hannah and his marriage to Sarah Hamer Worsley, Sarah and Cornelius had a child. They were still in Council Bluffs and Church had been instructing the members that were left in Iowa that it was time for them to leave and come to Utah. Sarah wanted to follow the direction of the Brethren and move to Utah. Cornelius wanted to move too but he wanted them to go to New York and be with his family where they could have a less primitive life. It appears, according to the life story of Sarah, that Cornelius had apostatized and wanted nothing to do with Utah. To his credit he did help provision his family and allowed them to leave for Utah on 8 Jun 1853. After they left Cornelius did indeed return to New York where he died in 1866 and was buried in the family plot in Riverside Cemetery, Oneonta, Otsego, New York.

 Epilogue 

 It is not known where Hannah was buried following her death in 1852. Her supposed child Angelina was buried in Mt. Pisgah but there is no record of Hannah being buried there. If she was living in the Council Bluffs (Kanesville) area at death it is possible that the Carter family had her buried in the Carterville Cemetery. There are no known records of this cemetery so will probably never know where she was buried. It isn’t known if Hannah’s children stayed with Cornelius after Hannah’s death or if he gave them to the Carter family. The latter option is the logical solution. Cornelius’ future wife, Sarah, made no mention of them when she wrote to England and described being married to Cornelius. We do know that not long after Hannah died on 12 April 1852 the children left Iowa for Utah in the James C Snow Company in July of that year. Mary Trueworthy Carter, in her life story dictated to her granddaughter Madge York Thorpe, stated she crossed the plains with her uncle, Aaron Mereon York, Sr. That can’t be completely correct as she was listed in the James C. Snow company. What is probably more correct is to say she traveled with the Snows to Utah and was then given to the Yorks in Provo to raise. Samuel Parker Carter was apparently taken by the Yorks and raised in Provo. As was shown at the beginning of this narrative, Franklin Fitzfield Carter, was given over to the Martindale family. Knowing his background now makes this action more understandable. In closing, Brad York pinned the following in reference Franklin’s birth but it applies to all those involved in the story of Hannah Parker Carter: IF, Aaron M. York did father Franklin with Hannah, then there is no doubt why the family "adopted out" Franklin to another family, the Martindales. This is one of those areas of Family History, where we cannot judge the morality of history, we simply must let the facts be facts, and "Facts are stubborn things". May none of us judge Hannah either – the hardships and heartaches she suffered through can’t possibly be imagined through our eyes.

HANNAH KNIGHT LIBBY - Part 25 - Crossing the Plains to Salt Lake

The years 1850 to 1852 saw the Carter families cross the plains from Winter Quarters/Kanesville to Salt Lake City in three groups.  The first to cross were William Furlsbury, John Harrison and their sister, Hannah Carter York and their families.  They crossed the plains with the William Snow Company, leaving on 21 June 1850 and arriving in Salt Lake on 1 to 4 October 1850.  The last sibling to come was Eliza Ann Carter Snow who traveled in her husband, James C. Snow’s Company.  They left Iowa on 5 July 1852 and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 9 October 1852.  In addition to her family they also brought the Richard and Hannah Parker Carter orphans – Franklin Fitzfield, Mary A and Samuel Parker Carter.

This leaves us with Dominicus, who by several accounts brought his mother Hannah along with his family in 1851.  The Church is developing a comprehensive database of the pioneers who crossed the plains called “Pioneer Overland Travel” – see:  https://history.lds.org/overlandtravel/  It is a database that is incomplete and constantly being updated.  The irony is that 1851 is the biggest weak line.  The Brethren encouraged all that could travel to come to Utah that year.  In response there were many groups that crossed the plains that year but they were poorly documented.  Not one group has yet been fully accounted for at this time. So this leaves us to surmise the best we can what transpired in Hannah’s crossing the plains.

So the question becomes when in 1851 did Dominicus and Hannah cross the plains.  Most of the accounts of Dominicus life state that he arrived in Utah in June, 1851.  To do that they would have had to leave in early spring before the snows had melted.  That just seemed to this writer to be too early for them to arrive.  After much futile searching it was decided to locate Dominicus’ obituary – which is located at Familysearch.org in his memories in Family Tree.  This obituary states "From Nauvoo he migrated to Boniplat, Iowa, and resided one year at Mount Pisgah, he removed thence to Council Bluffs, whe he resided two years.  He left the latter place on the 20th of June, 1851, and arrived in Salt Lake City on Sept. 25 of that year.  Two months later he came to Provo (Nov., 1851) where he has resided ever since." ("A Veteran Gone," Published in the Territorial Enquirer, 5 Feb. 1884. Seen in Journal History of the Church, Vol 5, Feb. 1884, page 7.) This is the only place where this writer has found absolute beginning and ending dates for their journey.

There is one other source that provides an extra tidbit of information.  Dominicus crossed the plains in 1851 according to the record in Frank Essholm’s book published in 1913 at Salt Lake City—a 4500 copy by subscription edition—Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, page 281. This record shows his picture and states “Dominicus Carter a native of Maine came to Utah in 1851 with Captain Homers Co.”  A search for Captain Homer’s Company has located no further references to the supposed wagon train.  There was a supply train that arrived in Salt Lake in late September what was lead by a Captain Horner.  In looking closely at a copy of Essholm’s book Homer could in fact be Horner, which would explain the non-existence of Captain Homer. 

Typical Wagon

Without any absolutely related documentation of their travels the following will have to suffice to help us to picture what this trip must have been like in 1851 (or thereabouts.)  To go west by wagon and teams was not cheap. People had to obtain their own outfits or pay to go with someone else. President Hyde reported in 1850 that outfits that year cost about $600 each, equivalent in today’s dollars to about $13,000.  It was not wise for any to head for Utah unless they had “team and wagon sufficient to come through without any assistance from the valley,” the First Presidency instructed from Utah in June 1849. “And they should bring breadstuffs sufficient to last them a few months after their arrival.” (The Ensign Magazine, August 2002 – “Pushing on to Zion: Kanesville, Iowa, 1846–1853” By William G. Hartley)

Ironically the year 1851 was a year of low emigration.  With the Mormons, Oregonians and Gold Rushers 1848-1850 had been boon years.  There was a significant drop off in 1851 but things picked up significantly in 1852.  The latter year (1852) was significant for Mormons as the First Presidency essentially told all remaining Saints in the Kanesville area to pack up and move to Utah and abandon all holdings in the States.  Four letters detailing this shut down of the settlements in Iowa were sent from Salt Lake during the 1851 year – at the time Dominicus packed up and left.  (See:  BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol 52, Issue 3, Article  - 10-1-2013 - The Closedown of LDS Iowa Settlements in 1852 That Completed the Nauvoo Exodus and Jampacked the Mormon Trail by William G. Hartley.  Online at http://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4463&context=byusq)

The initial cost of the outfit was just the beginning of the costs.  You then had to pay for food to keep you alive and to pay to cross rivers (on bridges or on ferrys.) Since it was impossible to carry enough food to feed your family during the whole trip, it was essential to have funds to resupply your stores as your traveled.   Prices for foodstuffs varied widely from year to year and trading post to trading post.  The following demonstrate this from 1850 and 1852 since no figures could be found for 1851.  In 1850 prices at Fort Laramie were as follows:  Flour $.12 to $.50 per pound; Sugar $.50 to $2.00 pound; Coffee $.50 pound; and Bacon $.50 pound.  In 1852 before Fort Laramie: Flour $.20 pound/$15.00 per 100 pound; Sugar $.50 to $.60 pound; Coffee $.50 pound.  At Fort Laramie in 1852: Flour $10.00 to $10.50 per 100 pounds; Sugar $.50 to $.75 pound; Coffee $.40 pound; and Bacon $.15 pound. (The Plains Across - The Overland Emigrants and Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-60 by John D. Unruh, Jr. [University of Illinois Press – 1979] pp. 276 and 283.)

Ferrying the Platt River

Crossing rivers was an expensive process if they couldn’t be forded.  With 1851 being a high river year the use of ferrys and bridges was essential.  Cost ran anywhere from $1.00 to upwards of $10.00 per wagon and often $1.00 per horse.  Bridges were an extra bonus as they cut down the wait that often occurred at ferry crossings as wagons would back up for days at many ferry passings.

The modern roadmap was not in use in the early days of travel across the plains.  There were maps but they were expensive and in short supply.   Instead there were guide books that were produced to help travelers in their journey.  Perhaps the most famous of the guidebooks available to the Mormons and other emigrants was Lansford Hastings’s The Emigrants’ Guide to Oregon and California, which was written in 1844 and published in Ohio in 1845. Hastings is best known for forging the trail through Emmigrant Canyon into the Salt Lake Valley that the Saints so benefitted from.  He is forever linked in infamy with the Donner Party whose demise was partly due to following the “Hasting’s Cutoff.”  Of more value to the Mormon emmigrants was a guide written by William Clayton.  Clayton was charged with keeping a journal of the first pioneer wagon train of 1847.  His notes were later published as “The Latter-Day Saints Emmigrants’ Guide” which became an instant success with the Mormons and the Gold Rushers headed to California.  (William E Hill, “The Mormon Trail” [published by Utah State University 1-1-2006] see:  http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1098&context=usupress_pubs)  Mr. Clayton, the original publisher of this Guide, is justly entitled to much credit and great praise for his diligence, care, perseverance and untiring industry in measuring the distances from point to point on this route, in describing the country, in pointing out the streams and springs of water, showing the distances in English miles, from one camp ground to another, so that the traveler may always know, when he starts in the morning, how far he has to go before he finds another suitable stopping place. ("Emigrants' Guide to Salt Lake and California," Frontier Guardian, 7 Feb. 1851, 2. See: https://history.lds.org/overlandtravel/sources/6644/emigrants-guide-to-salt-lake-and-california-frontier-guardian-7-feb-1851-2)

Wagon Train Crossing the Plains

In researching this part of Hannah’s life one detailed account of a wagon train crossing the plains in 1851 was located.  It is found at FamilySearch.org  in the Family Tree attached as a memory for Elizabeth Carson Griffeth (“On the Trail With the Carsons in 1851” contributed by Nyla Skinner).  The Carsons traveled in what came to be called the Garden Grove Company as they left Garden Grove, Iowa on May 17^th and left Winter Quarters on July 3^rd (about 3 weeks after Dominicus left) and arrived in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, September 24 (the day before Dominicus arrived.)  Thus their two wagon trains surely shared the trail and probably were in communication with each other.  The experiences of the Carson group probably parallel what happened to the Carter wagon train to some extent.  The following excerpts from the Carson article follow.

In 1850, an article in the Frontier Guardian stated that the average fully loaded wagon weighed about 1,850 pounds. For each person, old or young, it was recommended that one hundred and twenty five pounds of flour be taken, "plus bacon, sugar, coffee, tea, rice, dried fruit and other necessaries in proportion." … Each family would also have stocked their wagons with clothing, household goods, cooking utensils, tools, farming equipment and seeds.  The article in the Frontier Guardian also recommended that for each wagon, the family should have "two good yoke of oxen and from one to three yoke of cows." If those traveling in the company have even four or five oxen, or cows with them, it means they are moving at least three hundred head of livestock. Most families also have several horses. Herding this large group of animals, finding food for them, and keeping them safe from the Indians is a daunting task that requires a good portion of the labor each day.

Winter Quarters had been abandoned since 1848 and was virtually a ghost town falling into ruins.  By the time the Carsons left Winter Quarters on July 2 the Elkhorn River had rose so high they had to make a 100 mile detour to travel to the head of the river so they could cross it.  A day into their journey they met the party of Brother Orson Hyde traveling east from Salt Lake.  Surely Dominicus’ group probably passed him on the trail too.   The Carsons described their early challenges in getting their oxen teams to travel the route they desired and how it took quite some time to train the animals and drivers on how to accomplish this task.  They then encountered Indians along the Elkhorn that drove off cattle and horses.  They also endured more than one spontaneous stampede of their livestock which lead to a couple of the party being trampled to death.  One day they crested a hill only to find gigantic herds of buffalo heading their way.  It took hours for the beasts to pass them. 

By late July the wet cool Spring had turned to a dry, hot summer.  Mountain Fever, or malaria, became a problem on the trail thanks to the wet spring conditions.  The disease is spread through water. None of the pioneer accounts I have read have described how they washed and bathed while on the trail, nor how they took care of other basic needs. They had no toilet paper, and I doubt they carried a four month supply of "corn cobs." It was customary at the time to make use of small pieces of cloth. These, naturally, were washed frequently in the streams. This is why it was possible for the disease to spread so rapidly.

Wagon Ruts in Wyoming

The pioneers passed several natural landmarks such as Chimney Rock, Lone Tree and Devil’s Gate.  Heading into Fort Laramie (or Fort John in those days) the landscape changed drastically from grasslands to dryer vegetation, sage and cactus.  This meant that livestock would now need more feed to survive.  Fort Laramie was a trading establishment of 12 houses enclosed in a wall 11 feet high.  He buildings were built of adobe – which the pioneers would see much of in the coming months.  Wagon trains would stop here to trade, to use the blacksmith shops to make repairs and generally rest up.  This fort was approximately half way between Winter Quarters and Salt Lake City.

The pioneers tried to keep spirits up with dancing, songs and story telling in the evenings.  These activities were important to break the monotony of the days and give the travelers something to look forward to.  This was often a 7 days a week journey with only part of the day on Sunday’s taken out to worship.  The trip was always arduous at best.  It was hard to keep everyone happy.  Discontent seemed to raise its head in every wagon train.  The trail included loose cobble stones, ravines and creek beds to pass.  Wagons were forever having souse wheels.  Every company needed a blacksmith traveling with it to help keep the wagons in repair.  (Dominicus would be very helpful to have around in this case.)

By late August the company spent a week traveling through a bleak and dangerous landscape of mineral springs, alkali beds, and poisonous swamps. It was remembered that many of the families lost cattle to the alkali during this portion of the trek.  The only good thing about this alkali land was the women could gather “salaratus, or soda, since this was the only source of this mineral on the trip. It could be used in place of yeast in baking.   Upon reaching the Sweatwater River they passed Independence Rock.  On August 31^st they reported that three companies were traveling together – the Garden Grove Company captained by William Walton, “Captain Brown’s” Company, and “Father Allred’s” company.  These companies would have been in competition for good camping places and for feed for their livestock.

As they passed from Nebraska into Utah their trials were not over.  The land was still dry and oxen died daily from exhaustion, lack of adequate nourishment and water.  This problem wasn’t resolved until they finally reached the Green River.  By this time they were only 120 or so miles out of Salt Lake but the teams were giving out and provisions were growing short.  The companies were throwing away all they could possibly spare in order to lighten the loads. It appears that all of the companies that were nearing Utah at this time were experiencing the same difficulties - shortages of food, and livestock dying nor near death from exhaustion.  On Tuesday, September 16^th 1851 the company arrived at Fort Bridger and drove pass it a mile or so and camped.  There they divided their teams up in preparation for crossing the passes of the Rocky Mountains that were ahead of them as it would take cooperation of all the families to make this last crossing.  They were just 112 miles from Salt Lake but the challenges were not over.

In the mountains east of Salt Lake City

The final week of their trek was not described – probably from the extreme exhaustion everyone must have had in crossing the mountains.  Others described the beauty of the scenery and the comfort of not having to breathe dust all day like they had done for months. On Saturday, the 20st of September, the Carsons were about seventeen miles from the valley. Here, the pioneers probably had their first view of the Salt Lake Valley. From the summit of a mountain which the Emmigrants’ Guide described as being 7245 feet high, it was possible to see in the distance the south part of the Valley. Here they met several men with teams ready to assist those who needed help. ... The descent of the mountain was awfully steep and dangerous for about four miles. The next two days saw them travel a whole 4 miles over the roughest, most treacherous landscape they would pass on the entire trip.

On Wednesday, September 24, 1851 the Garden Grove company had breakfast and then moved up and over the last hill and entered the Salt Lake Valley with 60 wagons.  The next day it is reported that Dominicus arrived.  Hopefully this account gives the reader a taste of what the journey for Dominicus and Hannah was like. 

HANNAH KNIGHT LIBBY - Part 24 - Carterville Interlude

The Grand Encampment
(https://history.lds.org/place/pioneer-story-grand-encampment?lang=eng)

The first Mormon evacuees arrived in the Council Bluffs area on June 14, 1846 after a trip of 255 miles and four grueling months.  Because there was insufficient means to transport the travelers across the Missouri River, they stopped short of the river in an area that became called the Grand Encampment.  These first wagons camped close to the banks of the Missouri and as new wagon trains came they would stop just east of the last group that had arrived.  By the time the needed ferry had been built about the first of July, the Grand Encampment had grown to cover an area of nine miles east to west and three miles wide north to south.  This mass of some 10,000 people, wagons and livestock completely overwhelmed the ability of the ferry to help them to cross the river.

This large a group gathered in one location quickly became apparent that there wasn’t enough grass for the grazing animals and wood for fires and other needs quickly became scarce.  A few of the Saints were able to cross over the river but the rest were dispersed out from the Grand Encampment to between 80 and 100 smaller communities in a 30 mile radius out from the Council Bluffs area.  Carterville, some two miles north and east of the original stopping place would become one of these settlements.

Brigham Young and the rest of the leadership of the Church still had hopes of a group continuing on to the West but as the year was rapidly passing and it was already late into the travel season the decision was made to stay in this locality and wait for the following spring before crossing the Rocky Mountains.

We know that Hannah and much of her family were in the Grand Encampment by July 1.  It is doubtful that they had been dispersed prior to that day date.  It was while they were in the Grand Encampment that the long arm of the United States government reached out to the despised and displaced Mormon gathered there.

Following the 1845 annexation of Texas by the United States, tensions with Mexico grew until on April 26, 1846 fighting broke out between the U.S. and Mexico.  On May 13^th war was officially declared. At this time the Mormon refugees were in the midst of crossing Iowa.  While crossing Iowa Brigham Young and the rest of the Quorum of the Twelve had petitioned President Polk seeking assistance from the Federal Government.  On June 2^nd President Polk authorized Col. Stephen W. Kearney to recruit a few hundred Mormons to help in the war but to also “to conciliate them, attach them to our country, and prevent them from taking part against us.” (Polk, James K. (1929), Nevins, Allan, ed., Polk: the Diary of a President, 1845–1849, London and New York: Longmans, Green & Co., p. 109)  This was a symbiotic relationship as Church benefitted greatly from the financial benefits they received from this arrangement.  Young and the other leaders saw nothing but good coming from this arrangement.  Their enlistment would be a public relations victory for the church, demonstrating additional evidence of its loyalty to the United States. (McLynn, Frank. Wagons West: The Epic Story of America's Overland Trails. Grove Press. pp. 386–7.) As the men were given a uniform allowance at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., of US$42 each, paid in advance, for their one-year enlistment and as they were allowed to wear their civilian clothing for the march, the bulk of those funds were immediately donated to a general Church fund. These funds were used to purchase wagons, teams, and other necessities for the American exodus (Actual wages paid over the next year to the Mormon Battalion totaled nearly $30,000). ("The Pioneer Story: Pioneer Trail Map", LDS.org, archived from the original on March 5, 2012.)

Mormon Battalion Ball (by C. C. A. Christensen)

So how did all of this affect the Carter family?  Hannah and the other Carters were in the area when Captain James Allen met with Brigham and the other Church leaders and put forth his proposal for 5 companies of 100 men.  Though Brigham was thrilled with this prospect as noted above, the general populace of the Grand Encampment was not.  Richard Carter, Hannah’s youngest surviving son, was one of the early volunteers as he was enrolled in Company B.  Brigham was assured by Captain Allen that the Battalion would see so battle action but would instead fill a supporting role.  Thus, Richard would not face many more dangers than the Saints as a whole endured in their travels.  As the day of mustering (July 16^th) approached they held farewell dance in the Bowery at the west end of the Grand Encampment.  The Carter family probably attended with heavy hearts.  On the 16^th Richard said his good-byes and marched off to his destiny.

Twenty members of the Mormon Battalion died during the march.  All died from diseases or accidents -  as the Battalion never had to engage in any military actions.  The 2000 mile trek from Council Bluffs to San Diego was arduous and three different sick detachments were sent back to Pueblo, Colorado and then back to Council Bluffs.  Richard was a member of Lieutenant Willis's Pueblo detachment. He died 25 Nov 1846 as the detachment was traveling north along the Rio Grande.  No grave marker memorializes his last resting space though it is reported he was buried at Puerbelo, fur miles south of Socow, New Mexico along the Rio Grande.  Hannah’s heart must have been broken when the word made it back to Iowa that her son had died.  He left a wife, Hannah, and two young children.  Tragedy would strike this family again in Winter Quarters when Hannah died of smallpox sometime in 1851.  The children were cared for by Eliza Ann Carter Snow’s family and made it to Utah with the wagon trains of 1851.

(https://winterquarters.byu.edu/Settlements/KanesvilleArea)

The Carters were dispersed from the Grand Encampment and settled some two miles northeast of the Bowery along the trail into Council Bluffs.  The community was named Carterville and it was here they made their home for nearly 5 years when they would leave for Utah.  Hannah most likely lived with Dominicus and his family though many of her family were probably also in the immediate area.  The location of Carterville was significant as it was the first community travelers on this portion of the Oregon/Mormon Trail would pass through.  The Carters being mostly blacksmiths were located ideally to provide repairs to the travelers.  A story is told of William Furlsbury coming in to eat lunch each day and emptying his pockets of piles of coins he had already earned repairing wagons of those passing by. These funds were given to the Brethren and helped to fund the needs of the community as a whole. (William actually moved to Kanesville – modern day Council Bluffs – sometime during this period.)

Kanesville Tabernacle (restored)

While living in Carterville with her son Dominicus, Brigham Young was sustained as the second Prophet of the Church and the First Presidency was formally reorganized:

It was discussed occasionally that the First Presidency would be reinstated and it was clear that Brigham Young would be the one most likely sustained as the Prophet and President of the Church.  On December 5th, 1847, the Quorum of the Twelve met at Orson Hyde's farm home about eight miles southeast of present day Council Bluffs.

A unanimous approval reorganized the First Presidency with Brigham Young as Prophet and President, Heber C. Kinball as First Counselor, and Dr. Willard Richards as Second Counselor.  The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles comprised of Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Orson Hyde, Willard Richards, Lyman Wight, Orson Pratt, Amasa Lyman, and Ezra T. Benson.  The precedent set in the tabernacle of reorganizing the First Presidency following the death of a Prophet continues today.

Church policy is to sustain the reorganization by church members.  Immediately, Bishop Henry W. Miller was assigned the task of building a tabernacle large enough to accommodate a large gathering of the members in order to present and sustain the new First Presidency.  A log tabernacle was built in the near downtown area of current day Council Bluffs, and the gathering occurred on December 27th.  This means that Bishop Miller had to build the 60' x 40' tabernacle in approximately 18 days.  This allowed him 2 or 3 days to gather 200 men to complete the monumental task in a cold and bitter December.  The building would need to accommodate 800 to 1,000 people, and was packed when at least 1,000 showed up. (http://www.allaboutomaha.com/Omaha/Mormons/KanesvilleTabernacle.htm)

There is no record of Hannah, or the other members of the Carter family attending this event but they lived so close it is highly likely that they were there or at the General Conference on 6 April 1948 when Brigham was again sustained as the Prophet.

This was only a temporary arrangement, and indeed the Carters hoped to be with the first wave of emigrants to cross over the Rockies with Brigham but they were asked to stay behind and help outfit those passing through.  Though we know very little of this time period we can assume that it was a relatively peaceful interlude compared to the previous ten years.  Hannah would be able to watch her grandchildren grow up in a climate much safer than that which they had left.  Of her family left in Illinois we can only guess that Hannah probably corresponded by mail with them on occasion.  Eventually the call would come to head west but that is another story.

Sources:

Coleman, Arthur D, “Carter pioneers of Provo, Utah : a biographical, genealogical and historical account of the Dominicus and other Carter families” (1966).

Carter, Barton L, “Dominicus Carter Latter-day Pioneer” (1997)

Scharrer, Leora Carter, “Life of William F. Carter” (197?) FHL  921.73 A1

Jensen, Andrew, “The Historical Record, Vol. 9” (1890)

Wikipedia Articles – “Mormon Battalion,” “Winter Quarters,” “Mexican-American War.”

Mormon Battalion Fact Sheet (http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/additional-resource/mormon-battalion-fact-sheet)

Mormon Local History (http://www.allaboutomaha.com/Omaha/Mormons/index.htm)

Historical Pioneer Research Group, “Early Latter-day Saints – A Mormon Pioneer Data Base” (http://earlylds.com/index.php#Walk Where They Walked - Visit Historic Sites)