The Josephine Streeper Chase Diaries

Josephine Streeper Chase

Josephine Streeper Chase was well respected by her many friends in Centerville, Utah.  She was a second wife to George Ogden Chase. She was the mother of fifteen children and one foster daughter.  She was a Sunday School teacher, a supporter of women's rights, the manager of a large household and a faithful church member.

Josephine's diary was found in this old log home.

Josephine kept a diary for several years that was found in the window box of the old Thurston-Chase cabin on the Chase Farm Property in Centerville.  The years covered were 1881-1894 but nine years were missing (1883-1887).  She actually wrote in July 1894 on the day of her death.  A granddaughter, Marjorie Mathews Ward donated the diary to the special Collections at the Univ. or Utah Marriott Library in 1970.

Josephine paints a word picture of daily activities in a large, busy pioneer Mormon home.   I have only one photocopied page of her handwriting. The typed transcription is about 99 pages long and I have read it twice with great interest.

Josephine's journal entry from March 11, 1893.

From an article published by the DUP "Museum Memories" p. 262 we read a description of Josephine's busy life:
"[Josephine] bore the weight of making family decisions in areas in which she felt she was not competent, worrying continually over things like crops, the orchard, the milking, and the brining of the meat.  She was also concerned about schooling for her children, the exchanging of farm goods at the store, and the purchasing and selling of land, horses, lucerne, molasses, and other products as they struggled to establish themselves on the raw, unworked land.  Despite her stress over these matters, no one was ever turned away from her door, and passersby often stayed for a meal, a night, or even a week at a time."  (Unknown author,  DUP article in Museum Memories- "Josephine's Folding Paper Fan". )

Born in Philadelpia on May 6, 1835 to Wilkinson and Matilda Wells Streeper, Josephine
moved to Nauvoo and then her family moved to St. Louis where she attended "Miss Benton's School for Young Ladies".  She was "gently raised in a home of Pennsylvania Dutch stock."  (Smoot, City in Between-History of Centerville Utah,  p. 271).  She was sixteen when she crossed the plains to join the saints in the valley of the Great Salt Lake.  She taught school for some time before becoming the second wife to George O. Chase.  It was Brigham Young who suggested (or possibly even commanded) that George take Josephine as a second wife.

This is the mill home in Salt Lake City where the Chase Family lived.  George helped his father, Isaac, with the mill there and married both his wives while living in what is today "Liberty Park".

George had already married Emily Hyde, the daughter of Apostle Orson Hyde on Christmas Day in 1854.  The story, according to granddaughter Josephine Chase Bradshaw goes like this:

"Emily Chase had prepared her husband's favorite dish, soda buiscuits and creamed chicken.  They were entertaining President Brigham Young, Apostles Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde and their families.

Emily Hyde divorced George Ogden Chase after 13 years of marriage and 6 children.  She is buried in SLC Cemetery. I haven't yet located her photo.

"At that dinner President Young, without warning said, 'George I want you to take another wife'.  Both George and Emily protested.  They had been married but a year and George was living with his father (in what is now Liberty Park) helping him at his mill.  Emily said, "George cannot support two families'.

Brigham Young "suggested" Josephine Streeper become George Odgen Chase's plural wife.

"Brigham Young replied, 'If George is unable to support you, I will help him out.  This is a principle given us by God Himself to the end that we may build for ourselves our Kingdom in Heaven.  There are spirits clammoring to be born and to take bodies that they may gain the experience of meeting and overcoming evil on this earth preparatory to their perfection in the worlds to come.  It is the mission of Latter-day Saints to help in raising up a righteous seed.  I, therefore, command you.'  To George he said 'I want you to marry Josephine Streeper'".

"And so it was that on March 26, 1856, he married Josephine Streeper in the Endowment House.  While they were still living at the Mill House which is now Liberty Park in Salt Lake, Josephine had two daughters, Kate Matilda and Josephine."
                       (Smoot, Mary Ellen, The City in Between-History of Centerville Utah,  p. 271)

George Ogden Chase "swept" Josephine Streeper off her feet and onto his horse, so the family story says.

The story of the "courtship" of George and Josephine is briefly mentioned in one history:
"George knew who Josephine was, so a while later (on a Sunday afternoon while riding his horse to Pioneer Square) he spotted her sitting on a swing.  After waiting patiently for her to get off and let her friend have a turn, he went over, picked her up, put her on his horse, jumped on behind, and then rode off with her.  She was outraged and protested vigorously, but as time passed and his attentions continued, she consented to his proposal and they were married." (Unknown author,  DUP article in Museum Memories- "Josephine's Folding Paper Fan". )

These sister wives shared four years together with their in-laws, Isaac and Phebe Chase at the Salt Lake "Liberty Park" mill and farm before moving to Centerville in 1859 or 1860. 

The first wife, Emily Hyde, apparently moved in 1859 or 1860 to Farmington where George O. Chase helped build a gristmill.  Emily later returned to Salt Lake City and asked for a divorce in 1867.  With six children in Emily's care, the alimony payment brought hardship on Josephine's growing family.  Emily's youngest child was only one year old at the time of the divorce in 1867 and therefore alimony payments were made for 17 years until that child was 18 years old.

The diary doesn't mention Josephine's feelings about her sister wife.  We believe she was saddened by the divorce.  Ironically the grounds for divorce were that Emily hadn't had enough of George's company.  Josephine also felt neglected by her husband and it is mentioned several times in her diary.  (See DUP article in Museum Memories- "Josephine's Folding Paper Fan".)

Josephine mentions how her husband was frequently away from home on his many projects-building the new mill, the Lake Shore Resort, the farm and his church duties.  She felt neglected by her husband and whenever she needed funds, she had to ask her son, John, who acted as a kind of financial mediator.

This is the interior of the Chase cabin in Centerville, UT.

Josephine's eldest, Kate, was a strong spirited woman who never married.  It seemed that Josephine leaned on Kate at times but also demanded respect from her.  In a Daughters of the Utah Pioneer publication, we read about Josephine's reaction to the divorce decree:

"Josephine felt bad about the divorce and was obviously hurt by it, the grounds being that Emily hadn't had enough of George's company.  Kate, Josephine's eldest child, did not agree with the decision, feeling that Brigham Young should never have granted the divorce and should have been more understanding of her father and the additional burden that they would all be called upon to bear because of it.  As they were leaving the proceedings, the Prophet (B. Young) came over to shake hands with Josephine and Kate, but Kate refused to shake his hand.  Josephine did not like the.  Turning to Kate, she said, "'Petty'-this is Brigham Young.  Shake hands with him!"  Kate again refused and left.  As for Josephine, she truly missed "Aunt Em" and wished that she had had her cooperation." (Unknown author,  DUP article in Museum Memories- "Josephine's Folding Paper Fan". )

 Frank Leslie Chase was the eldest son but sixth child.  His strong sisters gave him plenty of advice throughout the years.  For a time in his late teens was an inactive member of the LDS church.  When he wanted to get married in the Logan temple, Josephine made the arrangements to have him rebaptized.  He went by sleigh to Garn's Pond where his uncle rebaptized him.  They went to the family parlor where he was confirmed.  In her diary she wrote, "The Sun came out & shone bright around them, and no wind blew just as he went down into the water." (See article The Josephine Diaries: Glimpses of the Life of Josephine Streeper Chase, 1881-94 Fae Decker Dix p. 167 of Utah Historical Quarterly, Vol. 46, 1978.)

B. H. Roberts was friends with the Chase family.

B. H. Roberts was a friend of the family and wrote about the Chase family a few years before his death:

"Had I been called upon thirty years ago to designate what family in our little hamlet, or what family in our county or our state or country was the ideal, loving, united, loyal family, I would without hesitation or ado have selected the family of George Odgen Chase and his wife Josephine Streeper Chase.  They were the best famly group that I have known in the world.  They were merry hearted and bright faced.  ...The mother was a quiet and gentle character, though scarcely ever rising to the effort of governing and controlling the household, yet the household was governed
and the children were obedient and markedly responsible to their parents."  (Smoot, Mary Ellen,
The City in Between-History of Centerville Utah,  p. 273

The family of George O. and Josephine Streeper Chase

Three of the Chase children who died at or soon after birth.

Josephine had many experiences with death and sorrow.  Four of her infants were stillborn.  Her youngest child, Clarissa, died at four years of age.  Her son, David, was nineteen when he died at the Agricultural College in Logan of appendicitus (In family records, it says he died of typhoid.)

Josephine is buried in the well kept Centerville Utah Cemetery.

When she was age fifty-nine, Josephine had a cough that lasted from February to the time of her death on July 18th.   She died suddenly of apoplexy (stroke) at 10:30 that night after writing in her diary.  Her funeral was at her home two days later with speakers from Salt Lake, Ogden and Centerville.  The Centerville brass band played "appropriate selections" and led the procession to the cemetery.

"Mother" of 15.

I am thankful to have these 99 pages of Josephine's transcribed journals.  They are full of fascinating entries.  I have many questions that I would like to ask Josephine, but I feel I have a bit of understanding of what her life must have been like. 

Here are just a few excerpts....

April 5, 1891 Sunday
And now I must go and feed the bird for no one else thinks of him.  But our chores are endless and I very often grow weary of all my cares.   (This was the Sunday of General Conference and many of the family have gone to Salt Lake.)

April 26, 1891  Sunday
I feel worn out of patience with numerous chores to do and Emily to care for.  ...I made supper for 15 souls...11 oclock before they went out of gate.

April 29, 1891 Wednesday
Pa is gone to SLCity.  After dinner E(lijah) helped me to finish cleaning the boys room over the granary.  We put up another bed for Frank.

Jan 4, 1892 Monday
I am glad to be alive again this morning and thank my heavenly Parent and ask him to give us this day our daily bread & he did.

Jan 14, 1892 Thursday
...a lot more of our neighbors are gone to city to attend a meeting too see where this r
ailroad is to go by our place or through our farm.   Pa has come and says he thinks the cars will run just below our Barn right through our farm.  ("In 1894 the Bamberger Rail Road line reached Centerville on its way from Salt Lake City to Ogden. This line served Davis County with passenger and freight transportation, first by steam power, then by electric power, and finally by diesel. It discontinued operation in 1952. The Utah Light and Traction Company extended its trolley line to Centerville in 1913, with its terminus at Chase Lane."   See http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/c/CENTERVILLE.html)

Jan 19, 1892 Tuesday
The big sleigh is out all day.  A lot of brothers (including Mr. Geo. Chase) with Mr. Bamberger to look out the best place to run the new Railroad.  They took dinner at the Hotel Bountiful.  ...it has snowed all day.  Sold 4 gallons of milk.

Jan 20, 1892  Wednesday
I sent her (daughter Alice) to have Sister Bathsheba Smith make Frank's Temple things and to get my specs mended.  (son Frank was to be married in the Logan Temple on March 3, 1892) It looks like storming again.  ...Put the kids to bed and I wrote Frank's and David's Genealogy.  We are so eternally busy it can't be winter.

Jan 22, 1892  Friday
Relief Society Conference.  There were sisters from SL City.  Said there was to be a jubilee on the 17th of March next to commemorate the organization of the Relief Society.

Jan 30, 1892  Saturday
(The Centerville Recorder) has no record of Frank's first baptismal nor any of our family.  ..It seems to me I live by faith and do just as well as I can for my family.  Well, there is meals to get-errands to run.  I wrote out the genealogy for Frank and it is in his valise with the rest of his things.  ...So me and my family are drove from morn till night like a flock of sheep to and fro and we are weary.  I have all I can get of Frank's things all ready in valise and I pray our Heavenly Father to belss and watch over him for I have no other friend.  The ground is covered with a sheet of clear ice all over.  it rained last night and froze the rain.
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I would invite anyone who is interested to borrow my copy of the Josephine diaries and enjoy all the entries I have highlighted.  It is a delightful read and evidence of the challenges the pioneer women faced.

As the mother of a large family (we have eleven children) I relate to so much of what Josephine wrote.  I am thankful that she took time to share her life with us.


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Bonus material (See also blog on Chase Park-Centerville Utah Historic Family Homes).

After living here for a short while the Chase family built a large adobe home and this cabin was used as an additional bedroom.

 

Description on the historical marker outside the cabin pictured above.
In 1849 Thomas Jefferson Thurston and Rosetta Bull Thurston, who both immigrated to Utah in 1847, built a one-room log cabin on their 80-acre farm one mile north of the settlement that became Centerville. It remains as the first permanent residence and oldest building in the city today. It was moved on rollers to the present site in the 1850's. This property was sold in 1853 to Brigham Young for horses, sheep, and harnesses worth about $7,000.

In 1859 Isaac Chase received this cabin and surrounding farm in exchange for his mill property at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City. His only son, George Ogden Chase, his second wife, Josephine Streeper, and their children moved into the cabin in 1859. They lived here until a nearby adobe house was finished c.1860 (demolished in 1989), after which the cabin was used as an additional bedroom. The three-room addition to the south of the cabin was completed in the 1940's. The property remained in the Chase family until 1974.

The adobe home with the cabin on the left.  12 children were born here.

Description on the historic marker shown above:

In 1859, George Ogden Chase and his wife Josephine Streeper moved to Centerville with two small children. They moved into the log cabin built in 1849 by Thomas Thurston. This cabin was traded by Brigham Young to George's father, Isaac Chase, for his share of the Chase Mill in Liberty Park in Salt Lake City. The next year, George has a large white home built next to the cabin. Twelve more children were born here.

The 110-acre property was self-sustaining, as George built a two-story rock granary, laundry, ice house, smoke house, large barn and corral. He grew hay and grain for market, fruits and vegetables for his large family, and raised beef, lambs, and pork. The homestead was called "Chase Park" because of its full acre of lawn and shrubs, which surrounded the main home, log cabin and granary.

Josephine had been a school teacher in Salt Lake City and taught in the North Centerville Sunday School for many years. She kept a diary from 1881 to 1894, painting a picture of life in the Chase home. Visitors were numerous, including friends, church leaders, salesmen, and wanderers. These were elaborate events with-storytelling around the fire.

The home remained in the Chase family until 1982. In 1989, the home began to deteriorate and was torn down, leaving only the log cabin, the granary, and memories of the one grand home at Chase Park.

Days of '47 and other Pioneers in the Family

Blessed Honored Pioneer

Entering the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.  Isaac Chase's 5th wagon was the last to arrive that season.

It is that time of year again when in Utah we have a state holiday and honor the "firsts" to the Salt Lake Valley.  Every July 24th we "remember".

Here are the Utah Pioneer Lines of the Mark and Cyndy Weiss Family.
How many of them do you know by name?
Have you been to the cemeteries where your ancestors are laid to rest?
Could you recognize their photos?
Do you know what dreams brought these family members to the United States?

Here's the chart:

Utah Pioneer Lines of Mark and Cyndy Weiss

M for Mark’s ancestral lines, C for Cyndy’s lines

(rev. 8-05-13)

Name	Age at time of trek	Name of Ship	Overland Company	Year	Notes
Henry Clegg, Jr. C	30	Juventa March 31, 1855 From Liverpool to Philadelpia, PA	Richard Ballantyne	1855 Departed 1-2 July Arrived 25 Sept. 427 in company	Buried in Heber City, UT Wife of 12 years, Hannah Eastham, died May 28, 1855 in Mormon Grove (Atchison) KS and son died soon thereafter.
John Griffiths C	45	Horizon Liverpool to Boston MA	Edward Martin Handcart Co.	1856 Departed Aug 25 Arrived Nov 31 665 in company	Buried in SL City Cemetery Died day after arriving in SLC. 2 sons died on trail.
Elizabeth Webb Griffiths C	30	Horizon Liverpool to Boston, MA	Edward Martin Handcart Co.	1856 Departed Aug 25 Arrived Nov 31 665 in company	Buried in SL City Cemetery.  2nd wife of John.  Step-mother to Margaret. Remarried Wm. Keddington
Margaret Ann Griffiths C	16	Horizon from Liverpool to Boston MA	Edward Martin Handcart Co.	1856 Dep. Aug 25 Arr. Nov 31 665 in company	Buried in Heber City Cemetery 2 brothers died on trail. Separated from Sister and Father.
Thomas Moulton C	45	Thornton from Liverpool to NY	James G. Willie Handcart Co.	1856 Dep. Aug 16 Arr. Nov 9 500 in company	Buried in Heber City, UT One of Heber’s original settlers.
Sarah Denton Moulton C	39	Thornton from Liverpool to NY	James G. Willie Handcart Co.	1856 Dep. Aug 16 Arr. Nov 9 500 in company	Buried in Heber City, UT
Joseph Moulton C	11	Thornton from Liverpool to NY	James G. Willie Handcart Co.	1856 Dep. Aug 16 Arr. Nov 9 500 in company	Buried in Heber City, UT
Isaac Chase M	56	New York to To Nauvoo	Jedediah M. Grant-Joseph B. Noble Company	1847 Dep. 19 June Arr. 2 Oct. 175 in company	Buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery (Same Company with Eliza R. Snow)

Phebe Ogden Ross Chase M	53	New York To  Nauvoo	Jedediah M. Grant Co. Joseph B. Noble Company	1847 Dep 19 June Arr 2 Oct 175 in company	Buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery
George Ogden Chase M	15	New York to Nauvoo	Jedediah M. Grant-Joseph B. Noble Company	1847 Dep. 19 June Arr. 2 Oct 175 in company	Buried in Centerville, UT Cemetery

John Croft M	24	Underwriter from Liverpool to New York arr. May 3, 1860. (Train to Winter Quarters)	James D. Ross Company	1860 Dep. 14 June 1860 Arr. 3 Sep. 265 in company	Married to Amelia just before leaving England Jan 8, 1860 Newlywed adventure!
Amelia Mitchell Croft M	20	Underwriter from Liverpool to New York arr. May 3, 1860. (Train to Winter Quarters)	James D. Ross Company	1860 Dep. 14 June 1860 Arr. 3 Sep. 265 in company	Baby Howland born soon after arrival in SLC.  Buried in Enterprise, UT Cemetery
Jane Hornby Mitchell M	58	Underwriter from Liverpool to New York arr. May 3, 1860. (Train to Winter Quarters)	James D. Ross Company	1860 Dep. 14 June 1860 Arr. 3 Sep. 265 in company	Buried in Enterprise, UT Cemetery. Mother of Amelia Mitchell
John Cummings C	49	Tennessee to Nauvoo	Uriah Curtis Company	1852 Dep. Jun 28 Arr. 1 Oct 257 in company	(Personal Hist says John Maxwell Co.)
Rachel Canarda Cummings C	39	Tennessee to Nauvoo	Uriah Curtis Company	1852 Dep. Jun 28 Arr. 1 Oct 257 in company	Buried in Heber City, UT Cemetery
Isaac Cummings C	14	Tennessee to Nauvoo	Uriah Curtis Company	1852 Dep. Jun 28 Arr. 1 Oct 257 in company	Buried in Heber City, UT Cemetery
Elisha Jones C	37	Ohio to Winter Quarter’s	Aaron Johnson Company	1850 Dep June 8 Arr Sep 12	Buried in Heber City, UT Cemetery
Margaret Talbott Jones C	35	Ohio to Winter Quarter’s	Aaron Johnson Company	1850 Dep June 8 Arr Sep 12	Buried in Heber City, UT Cemetery
Sarah Jones C	8	Ohio to Winter Quarter’s	Aaron Johnson Company	1850 Dep June 8 Arr Sep 12	Buried in Heber City, UT Cemetery
Wilkinson Streeper M	41	Pennsylvania to Nauvoo	Easton Kelsey Company	1851 Dep June 29 Arr  Oct 7 157 in company	Salt Lake City Cemetery

Matilda Wells Streeper M	37	Pennsylvania to Nauvoo	Easton Kelsey Company	1851 Dep June 29 Arr  Oct 7 157 in company	Salt Lake City Cemetery
Josephine Streeper M	16	Pennsylvania to Nauvoo	Easton Kelsey Company	1851 Dep June 29 Arr  Oct 7 157 in company	BY commanded George O. Chase to marry her. Brother was a Pony Express rider

“Non-Pioneer” Ancestors who Immigrated to Utah
Inger Marie Jensen C	47	Ship Wyoming from Liverpool to New York Previously: Ship from Copenhagen Denmark to Hull, England. Train from Hull to Liverpool	Train from NYC to SLC	1874	Buried in Heber City, UT Mother of Jensine Marie Jensen
Jensine Marie Jensen C	15	Ship Wyoming from Liverpool to New York Previously: Ship from Copenhagen Denmark to Hull, England. Train from Hull to Liverpool	Train from NYC to Salt Lake City.	1874	Buried in Heber City, UT
Max Weiss M	26	Ship Normannia? From Ivanova, Belarus Hamburg Germany to SLC		1895	Salt Lake City Cemetery-Montefiore
Annie Wahrhoftig Weiss M	35	SS Nordam from Ivanova, Belarus to Rotterdam and NY then by train to SLC		1903	Salt Lake City Cemetery-Montefiore
Simon Solomon Weiss M	6	SS Nordam from Ivanova, Belarus to Rotterdam and NY then by train to SLC		1903	Centerville City Cemetery
Peter Carl Ballegooie M	6	From Netherlands To SLC 1904			Buried in Redwood Mem. Estates, Taylorsville, UT
Everett Van Ballegooie M		From Netherlands 1904		1904	Wasatch Lawn Memorial (no grave marker)
Teuntje (Tessie) Hofman M		From Denmark 1904		1904	Wasatch Lawn Memorial (no grave marker)
Christian Jensen M		From Denmark
See Pioneer Overland Travel http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/ for company details on all these individuals.

Many members of our family have re-enacted a Pioneer Trek.

Pioneers included the Moulton (Willie Company) and Griffiths (Martin Company).  Henry Clegg's brother's family also came with the Willie Company.

I can easily imagine John Griffiths in this picture.  2 of his boys died in Wyoming.  John made it to Salt Lake Valley with his two daughters and 2nd wife and then he died the very night of his arrival.

So have a great 24th of July-Pioneer Day Celebration.  Indeed we stand on the shoulders of giants.
Here is a wonderful talk that has always touched my heart.  

To Them of the Last Wagon

By President J. Reuben Clark Jr. (1871–1961)

The thousands of faithful, unsung Saints who endured the rigors of the westward trek and colonization left us a spiritual heritage to treasure.

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In 1947, the centennial of the arrival of Latter-day Saint pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley, many tributes were paid to those who set their faces toward Zion and wore out their lives in pursuit of that spiritual homeland. One of the most poignant of those tributes was voiced by President J. Reuben Clark Jr., First Counselor in the First Presidency, in a general conference address Sunday, 5 October 1947. That address is now reprinted in tribute to those early pioneer Saints as well as to the millions of Saints today who trek across plains of personal trial and deserts of worldly perils toward their spiritual homeland.

My brethren and sisters, I should like in the beginning to add my testimony to the many that we have heard during this conference—my testimony that God lives; that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of the World, the First Fruits of the Resurrection; that Joseph Smith was a prophet; that through him the gospel was restored and likewise the priesthood, the authority delegated to man on earth to represent Deity here among us; and that the Prophet has been followed down to and including our present president, George Albert Smith, by men who possessed the keys of the last dispensation as conferred upon Joseph Smith.

The matter that I shall give you today is very dear to my soul. Since I should like to say what I have to say in the best way I can say it, I have written it down and shall read it. I hope that what I shall say will be in harmony with the spirit of this great conference—I think the greatest I have attended in its high spiritual tone.

At the near close of this one hundredth year of the entering into these valleys of your fathers and your mothers, some of yours and mine, I wish to speak a few further words of humble tribute and thanksgiving to them, and especially to the meekest and lowliest of them, those great souls, majestic in the simplicity of their faith and in their living testimony of the truth of the restored gospel, to those souls in name unknown, unremembered, unhonored in the pages of history, but lovingly revered round the hearthstones of their children and their children’s children who pass down from generation to generation the story of their faith and their mighty works, and the righteousness of their lives and living, those souls who worked and worked, and prayed and followed, and wrought so gloriously.

I would not take away one word of praise or gratitude, honor or reverence from the great men who led these humble ones of ours. They were mighty men in brain and brawn, in courage and valor, in honesty and in love of truth, living near the Lord—Brothers Brigham and Heber and Wilford and Willard and Charles, the two Orsons and Parley and John and George and Erastus and Lorenzo and Daniel and Joseph and Jedediah, and a host of other giants, each and all richly blessed with the Lord’s divine love and with that gift of the Holy Ghost that made them leaders truly like unto Moses of old. I yield, we yield, to no one in our gratitude for them and for their work of directing the conquest of the wilderness and of saving men’s souls. Their names shine lustrously on those pages of history which record only the doings of the makers of epochs—those choice spirits, chosen before the foundation of the world, to be the leaders and builders of dispensations of God’s dealings with men; and these leaders of ours to be the builders of that dispensation which of old was named the “dispensation of the fulness of time[s]” [Eph. 1:10; D&C 112:30]. Unnumbered eternities will remember and honor them.

But I should like now and here to say a few words about those who trod after where those giants led, some in the same companies that the Brethren piloted, some in later companies following that year and the years after, some in the fateful handcarts, with their unexcelled devotion, heroism, and faith, all trickling forward in a never-failing, tiny stream, till they filled the valley they entered and then flowed out at the sides and ends, peopling this whole wilderness-waste which they fructified, making it to fulfill the ancient prophecy that the desert should blossom as the rose.

I would like to say something about the last wagon in each of the long wagon trains that toiled slowly over the plains, up mountain defiles, down steep, narrow canyons, and out into the valley floor that was to be home—this last wagon: last, because the ox team that pulled it was the smallest and leanest and weakest, and had the tenderest feet of any in the train; it was slow starting, and slow moving; last, because, worn and creaking, it took more time to fix and to grease, for young Jimmy generally had trouble in getting the wagon jack under the “ex” [the point where a shaft called the “reach” crosses the axle]; last, because its wind-rent cover was old and patched and took hours to mend and tie up to keep out the storm; last, because the wife, heavy with child, must rest till the very moment of starting; last, because sickly little Bill, the last born, poorly nourished, must be washed and coaxed to eat the rough food, all they had; last, because with all his tasks—helping little Bill, cooking and cleaning up the breakfast (Mother was not able to help much)—Father took a little longer to yoke his cattle and to gird himself for the day’s labor; last, because his morning prayers took a few more minutes than the others spent—he had so many blessings to thank the Lord for and some special blessings to ask the Lord to grant, blessings of health and strength, especially for his wife, and for little Bill, and for the rest, and then the blessings for himself that his own courage would not fail, but most of all for the blessing of faith, faith in God and in the Brethren who sometimes seemed so far away. For they were out in front where the air was clear and clean and where they had unbroken vision of the blue vault of heaven. The Brethren had really visioned the glory of the Lord, who walked near them, put his thoughts into their minds; his Spirit guided and directed them, petitioned thereto by the thousands of Saints who were back in Winter Quarters, back in Iowa, back in the States, and beyond, even across the waters, for the faithful poured out their souls in fervent prayer to Almighty God that the Brethren should be inspired. The Saints buoyed up the Brethren out in front with encouragement, with praise, and sometimes even with adulation. Knowing the Brethren were prophets of God, the Saints gave them full confidence, daily, almost hourly, expressed. The Brethren lived in a world of commendation from friends and the tried and true Saints. Rarely was their word or their act questioned by the faithful Saints. This was as it should be and had to be to carry out the Lord’s purposes.

But back in the last wagon, not always could they see the Brethren way out in front, and the blue heaven was often shut out from their sight by heavy, dense clouds of the dust of the earth. Yet day after day, they of the last wagon pressed forward, worn and tired, footsore, sometimes almost disheartened, borne up by their faith that God loved them, that the restored gospel was true, and that the Lord led and directed the Brethren out in front. Sometimes, they in the last wagon glimpsed, for an instant, when faith surged strongest, the glories of a celestial world, but it seemed so far away and the vision so quickly vanished because want and weariness and heartache and sometimes discouragement were always pressing so near.

When the vision faded, their hearts sank. But they prayed again and pushed on, with little praise, with not too much encouragement, and never with adulation. For there was nearly always something wrong with the last wagon or with its team—the off ox was a little lame in the right front shoulder; the hub of the left front wheel was often hot; the tire of the hind wheel on the same side was loose. So corrective counsel, sometimes strong reproof, was the rule, because the wagon must not delay the whole train. But yet in that last wagon there was devotion and loyalty and integrity, and above and beyond everything else, faith in the Brethren and in God’s power and goodness. For had not the Lord said that not even a sparrow fall[s] unnoticed by the Father [see Matt. 10:29], and were they not of more value than sparrows? And then they had their testimony, burning always like an eternal fire on a holy altar, that the restored gospel was true, that Joseph was a prophet of God, and that Brigham was Joseph’s chosen successor.

When the train moved forward in the early morning sun and the oxen with a swinging pull that almost broke the tongue got the last wagon on the move, the dust in the still morning air hung heavy over the road. Each wagon from the first stirred up its own cloud, till when the last wagon swung into line, the dust was dense and suffocating. It covered that last wagon and all that was in it; it clung to clothes; it blackened faces; it filled eyes already sore, and ears. The wife, soon to be a mother, could hardly catch her breath in the heavy, choking dust, for even in the pure air she breathed hard from her burden. Each jolt of the wagon, for those ahead had made wagon ruts almost “ex” deep, wrung from her clenched lips a half-groan she did her best to keep from the ears of the anxious, solicitous husband plodding slowly along, guiding and goading the poor, dumb cattle, themselves weary from the long trek. So through the long day of jolting and discomfort and sometimes pain, and sometimes panting for breath, the mother, anxious only that the unborn babe should not be injured, rode, for she could not walk; and the children walked, for the load was too heavy and big for them to ride; and the father walked sturdily alongside and prayed.

When in the evening the last wagon creaked slowly into its place in the circle corral and the Brethren came to inquire how the day had gone with the mother, then joy leaped in their hearts, for had not the Brethren remembered them? New hope was born, weariness fled, fresh will to do was enkindled; gratitude to God was poured out for their knowledge of the truth, for their testimony that God lived, that Jesus was the Christ, that Joseph was a prophet, that Brigham was his ordained successor, and that for the righteous a crown of glory awaited that should be theirs during the eternities of the life to come. Then they would join in the songs and dancing in the camp, making the camp’s gaiety their own—as much as Mother’s condition would permit.

Then the morning came when from out that last wagon floated the la-la of the newborn babe, and Mother love made a shrine and Father bowed in reverence before it. But the train must move on. So out into the dust and dirt the last wagon moved again, swaying and jolting, while Mother eased as best she could each pain-giving jolt so no harm might be done her, that she might be strong to feed the little one, bone of her bone, flesh of her flesh. Who will dare to say that angels did not cluster round and guard her and ease her rude bed, for she had given another choice spirit its mortal body that it might work out its God-given destiny?

My mother was one of those babes so born in 1848, ninety-nine years ago.

Another morning came, when courageous little Bill, who, with a hero’s heart, had trudged through long days of hot sun and through miles of soggy mud in the rain, his little body drenched, little Bill, weak and wan, must be crowded in to ride with Mother, for he was sick from a heavy cold. Months before, on that cold winter’s night when they fled Nauvoo for their lives to escape the fiendish wrath of a wild mob, Bill became dangerously ill with pneumonia, which left him with weak lungs. This old illness now returned. He grew worse and worse. The elders came and prayed he might get well. But the Lord wanted little Bill with Him. So a few mornings later a weeping mother and a grief-stricken father and that last wagon swung into place in the line, leaving beside the road, under some scrub brush, a little mound, unmarked save for heaped up rocks to keep out the wolves, a mound that covered another martyr to the cause of truth.

So through dust and dirt, dirt and dust, during the long hours, the longer days—that grew into weeks and then into months, they crept along till, passing down through its portals, the valley welcomed them to rest and home. The cattle dropped to their sides, wearied almost to death; nor moved they without goading, for they too sensed they had come to the journey’s end.

That evening was the last of the great trek, the mightiest trek that history records since Israel’s flight from Egypt, and as the sun sank below the mountain peaks of the west and the eastern crags were bathed in an amethyst glow that was a living light, while the western mountainsides were clothed in shadows of the rich blue of the deep sea, they of the last wagon, and of the wagon before them, and of the one before that, and so to the very front wagon of the train, these all sank to their knees in the joy of their souls, thanking God that at last they were in Zion—“Zion, Zion, lovely Zion; Beautiful Zion; Zion, city of our God!” [Hymns, no. 44]. They knew there was a God, for only he could have brought them, triumphant, militant, through all the scorn, the ridicule, the slander, the tarrings and featherings, the whippings, the burnings, the plunderings, the murderings, the ravishings of wives and daughters, that had been their lot, the lot of their people since Joseph visioned the Father and the Son.

But hundreds of these stalwart souls of undoubting faith and great prowess were not yet at their journey’s end.

Brother Brigham again called them to the colors of the kingdom of God, and sent them to settle the valleys, near and remote, in these vast mountains of refuge. So again they yoked their oxen and hitched up their teams, and putting their all in the covered wagon, this time willingly, unwhipped by the threat of mob cruelty and outrage, they wended their slow way to new valleys again trusting with implicit faith in the wisdom and divine guidance of their Moses. The very elements obeyed their faith, faith close kin to that which made the world.

These tens of thousands who so moved and so built were the warp and the woof of Brother Brigham’s great commonwealth. Without them Brother Brigham had failed his mission. These were the instruments—the shovelers, the plowers, the sowers and reapers, the machinists, the architects, the masons, the woodworkers, the organ builders, the artisans, the mathematicians, the men of letters, all gathered from the four corners of the earth, furnished by the Lord to Brother Brigham and the prophet leaders who came after, that he and they might direct the working out of His purposes. These wrought as God inspired Brother Brigham and the other prophets to plan, all to the glory of God and the upbuilding of His kingdom.

Upright men they were, and fearless, unmindful of what men thought or said of them, if they were in their line of duty. Calumny, slander, derision, scorn left them unmoved, if they were treading the straight and narrow way. Uncaring they were of men’s blame and censure, if the Lord approved them. Unswayed they were by the praise of men, to wander from the path of truth. Endowed by the spirit of discernment, they knew when kind words were mere courtesy, and when they betokened honest interest. They moved neither to the right nor to the left from the path of truth to court the good favor of men.

So for a full hundred years, urged by the spirit of gathering and led by a burning testimony of the truth of the restored gospel, thousands upon tens of thousands of these humble souls, one from a city, two from a family, have bade farewell to friends and homes and loved ones, and with sundered heart strings, companioned with privation and with sacrifice even to life itself, these multitudes have made their way to Zion, to join those who were privileged to come earlier, that all might build up the kingdom of God on earth—all welded together by common hardship and suffering, never-ending work and deep privation, tragic woes and heart-eating griefs, abiding faith and exalting joy, firm testimony and living spiritual knowledge—a mighty people, missioned with the salvation not only of the living but of the dead also, saviors, not worshippers of their ancestors, their hearts aglow with the divine fire of the spirit of Elijah, who turns the hearts of the fathers to the children and of the children to the fathers.

And thousands upon thousands of these tens of thousands, from the first till now, all the elect of God, measured to their humble calling and to their destiny as fully as Brother Brigham and the others measured to theirs, and God will so reward them. They were pioneers in word and thought and act and faith, even as were they of more exalted station. The building of this intermountain empire was not done in a corner by a select few but by this vast multitude flowing in from many nations, who came and labored and wrought, faithfully following their divinely called leaders.

In living our lives let us never forget that the deeds of our fathers and mothers are theirs, not ours; that their works cannot be counted to our glory; that we can claim no excellence and no place because of what they did, that we must rise by our own labor, and that labor failing, we shall fall. We may claim no honor, no reward, no respect, nor special position or recognition, no credit because of what our fathers were or what they wrought. We stand upon our own feet in our own shoes. There is no aristocracy of birth in this Church; it belongs equally to the highest and the lowliest; for as Peter said to Cornelius, the Roman centurion, seeking him: “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

“But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:34–35).

So to these humble but great souls, our fathers and mothers, the tools of the Lord, who have, for this great people, hewed the stones and laid the foundations of God’s kingdom, solid as the granite mountains from which they carved the rocks for their temple, to these humble souls, great in faith, great in work, great in righteous living, great in fashioning our priceless heritage, I humbly render my love, my respect, my reverent homage. God keep their memories ever fresh among us, their children, to help us meet our duties even as they met theirs, that God’s work may grow and prosper till the restored gospel of Jesus Christ rules all nations and all peoples, till peace, Christ’s peace, shall fill the whole earth, till righteousness shall cover the earth even as the waters cover the mighty deep [see Moses 7:62]. Let us here and now dedicate all that we have and all that we are to this divine work. May God help us so to do.

[illustration] To Them of the Last Wagon, by Lynn Fausett, © courtesy Museum of Art, Brigham Young University, all rights reserved

[photos] Photos courtesy of LDS Church Archives, except as noted.

[photo] This group of emigrants, photographed near Coalville in 1867, arrived in Utah toward the end of the wagon train era.

[illustration] Detail from Shall We Not Go On in So Great a Cause, by Clark Kelley Price. [photo] Inset, below: Pioneer sisters Mary Elizabeth and Emma Chase, about 1853.

[illustration] Chimney Rock, by George M. Ottinger.

[photo] Edward Martin, captain of the Martin Handcart Company, and family, about 1870.

[photo] The surviving pioneers of 1847 sat for this photograph on 24 July 1905. (Photo by C. R. Savage Photo.)

[photo] Mrs. Young Elizabeth Steele Stapley, first LDS child born in the Great Basin on 9 August 1847.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/print/1997/07/to-them-of-the-last-wagon?lang=eng&clang=eng

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July 24th Pioneer Day Parade in the late 1800's

Happy Pioneer Day!   

Remember who you are and where you came from.