Elizabeth Terry Heward

Elizabeth Heward

Personal History Elisabeth Terry Heward For the benefit of my children, I undertake to write a history of my life. I was born in the state of New York, Town of Palmyra, and county of Ontario, the 17th of November 1814. The County is now called Wain. My name is Elizabeth Terry, daughter of Parshall and Hannah Terry. Parshall was the son of Parshall Terry and Amy Stevens. Amy’s father was an Englishman, and came to this country with the Mayflower. My parents moved from Palmyra to the town of Sheldon, Gennesee County, New Your, when I was two years old. When I was four, they moved to Upper Canada. We lived in several different places near Little York, since called Toronto. On July 2nd, 1822, we moved to the township of Albion, Home District, Upper Canada. It was a new country, with much timber upon the land. There were no prairies within hundreds of miles, and the country was very thinly inhabited. My parents were poor, having been cheated out of their property by wicked men before leaving the States. They had thirteen children, as follows: Stevens, Jacob, Joel, David, Joshua, James, Parshall and Clark, who died when he was two years old. My sisters are Dency, Jane, Marilla and Deborah. The people were so scattered that we could have no school - only Sunday School - and that was sometimes three miles from where we lived, and never nearer than two miles. By this means, I got what little education I have, except what my mother was able to teach me until I was seventeen, when I went to school three months. Beyond this, the only learning I have is what little I have been able to teach myself. My father was an honest man, and taught his children to be strictly honest and truthful, and to be sure to fulfill every promise, and to always mind the “Golden Rule”, “Do unto others as we would have others do unto us.” I was naturally of a religious turn of mind, and learned to pray when I was very young. In 1830, at the age of fifteen, I joined the Baptist Church, for I believed that I could not be saved unless I was baptized. I spent the time doing the best I knew until July 18th, 1833, at which time I married a young Englishman named Francis Kirby. He was almost an entire stranger to us, but father advised me to marry him and go to keeping tavern, but I soon found he was not such a companion as I wished to have for life. In December of 1837, we heard there were “Mormon “ preachers in Canada, about 20 miles from us. I sent for Brother Theodore Turley to come and preach at our home. He preached several times to us, and I believed it was true. Kirby hated the Baptists, yet as soon as he found that I believed the Mormons, he hated them also, and would not let them preach any more in our home, and swore that I should not go to hear them. One very cold day, in the winter, Brothers Turley and Robert B. Thompson, called at our house on their way to my father’s house, where they were going to preach. George Thompson sold me a Book of Mormon for $1.25, and Kirby was near when I received the book, and he snatched it out of my hands and threw it into the fire, which was very hot. It went in open, and he kicked it down between the sticks of wood. I was across the room from the fire, but I sprang as quickly as I could, and took out the book, which to our great astonishment, was not burned, and neither was there a letter scorched. Brother Turley took the book and presented it to Kirby, and told him it was the word of God. He told Turley that he would be damned if he did not receive it. Kirby cooled down in a minute and told me to give them something to eat. Right then I received a testimony that the Book of Mormon was true. He soon hardened his heart again, and said he would burn Brother Thompson in the fire. He was far worse against the Mormons than he had ever been against the Baptists. But in most of this persecution, the Lord blessed me. I asked Kirby to let me go get baptized, but he said I should not, but I kept praying to the Lord. On the 11th of February 1838, Samuel and Dency Hackett, my sister and her husband, went with Francis Kirby and I to my Father’s house to a meeting held there by R. B. Thompson. The spirit was poured out upon us. Brother Thompson spoke in tongues, and prophesied that my brother Joel should be mighty in the work of the last days, preaching the gospel to the nations. He spoke of many more things. Kirby did not know that there was to be a meeting until we got there, as he had sworn that I should never attend another meeting, and he raged like a mad man, but I acknowledged the hand of the Lord in this, as well as in everything else. In this way, I passed my time until July 3, 1838. Brother John K. Hicks came to our house and the Lord, in his mercy, softened Kirby’s heart so that he let me be baptized, but charged me not to let it be known, but it could not be kept a secret, as there were six or seven witnesses present. However, Kirby told the neighbors that I was not baptized. My father and mother, and their family, came to our home and started for Toronto on their way to Far West, Missouri. Kirby and my sister Dency and myself accompanied them to the city of Toronto and saw them on board the steamer “Transit”, on the 10th. Kirby was seldom at home during the whole day, but kept going about getting drunk, and coming home at night and abusing me. On the 26th of October 1839, I went out for a few minutes with my servant girl to pick up a few beach nuts. Kirby was not at home, but when he came, he was drunk, someone told him I had neglected the bar. He kicked me out of the door and swore he would kill me. However, I went around and walked in the other door and bore it as well as I could. It was in June 1839 that we heard from father the first time since they moved away. They had suffered very much, having been driven out of Missouri by the mob in the month of November. My father and mother, and all the family were sick. They had to leave much of their property, for the mob told father that if he was not gone within twenty four hours, they would tie him to a tree and give him 100 lashes to begin with, so they had to flee for their lives to the State of Illinois. My sister Deborah died having been exposed to the cold, wind and storms in the open air. She was nearly eleven years old. They settled in Pike County, Illinois, for some time. I was always afraid of thunder and lightening, or any violent storm. A dreadful hailstorm occurred on the 25th of April. I was terrified, and went into my bedroom to pray. I did not hear anything but the storm, and Kirby came and found me on my knees. He was very angry, and swung his fists over my head and swore he would kick me, and would not let me pray at all if he knew it, but I did pray every day in secret. I always had very poor health, but believe I caused it to be much worse, working too hard. I began to sew hats on the 26th day of February 1840, and in one season, I made more than six dozen straw hats. My hired girl plaited some of the straw. I did all the other sewing, such as making trousers, dresses, etc., and a great part of the housework besides. In November 1839, Kirby hired a young Englishman to live with us a year for $110.00. His name was John Heward. I was glad of this because he was steady and a sober man and all the other hired men were just drunkards, like Kirby. Sometimes when Kirby would come home drunk and act so bad, John Heward would come in the kitchen and, seeing me crying, would say “Never mind, you must bear it as patiently as you can.” That is all he would say, and then go out of the room. It was consoling to know that some one noticed my troubles. On April 9th, 1841, Matilda Wilkinson of Esra, Upper Canada, came to live with us for a month. I asked Kirby if I might take the “Times and Seasons”, a paper published by the Church in Nauvoo. He consented, so I wrote to R. B. Thompson for it and received eight copies. This day being fine, Sister Matilda went with me to see the place where I was Baptized, and that we might pray in secret undisturbed. When we got back Kirby was very angry, and to spite us as bad as he could, he burned the “Times and Seasons”. I felt very bad. On May 4, 1841, John Heward started for the States. Kirby went three miles with him, came back drunk and cried because John was gone. He said John was the best man he had ever hired. On May 31, 1841, Sister Elizabeth Hill came to stay with us. It was like heaven to me to see anyone that belonged to the church. Kirby finally took it into his head that he would go to Illinois to see Father. He said if he liked the place, he would move there. A little before this, there was an Irish family that came to live about a mile from me, and the man took sick and died very suddenly. His name was John Montgomery. His wife, Mary, took sick immediately afterward, so on the 15th of September 1841, I went to see her. She was very low and feeble, so that she had about given up talking to her family, but when she saw me, she began to laugh and to speak. She seemed very pleased and relieved considerably she said that she knew me as soon as she saw me, for she had seen me in a dream and knew my name when she was on the ocean. She told her family about it and said it was true. She was so much better while I was there that they thought she would get well, but she died the next day. I mention this circumstance because I do not know but what it will be my privilege, at some time, to be baptized for her. September 16, 1841, Francis Kirby came home from Illinois. I thought he was a wicked man before he went away, but he was ten times worse when he came back. He said Illinois was a poor man’s sickly place and he would not go there to live. My brother David came home with him and he told me that Kirby did something on the boat and told him not to tell. I never asked him what it was, for I was so grieved at what I already knew that I did not wish to hear anything more. All this time I did not forget to ask the Lord to deliver me from bondage, and he did send the Holy Spirit to rest upon me, which did comfort me. Kirby told me that when he was at Father’s, he promised them that he would let me go the next summer to see them. So in July 1842, Bro. Alexander Hill and about forty others came to our place on the their way to Nauvoo, so I was allowed to travel along with this company. I had resolved in my mind to go and see the Prophet Joseph Smith, and ask him whether I should go back to Kirby or not. If he should say “Stay in Nauvoo”, I would write and tell Kirby to come to me. I had been two weeks coming 250 miles with the company, so I decided to take a rail car and in two days, I was 300 miles from them. My Father had moved from Pike County to Hancock County, about three miles from Carthage. So I hired a man to take me with his team to my Father’s. On August 24th, my brother Jacob took me to Nauvoo. At this time, some of the mobbers were after the Prophet Joseph with a writ, so that I could not see him. I saw Bro. Hyrum Smith, and asked him what I should do. He told me to go back to Kirby, and that I should be blessed. I believed what he said, and told him I would do so. I went back to Father’s, and my brother Joshua took a horse and wagon and went with me to Bro. Zemir Draper’s, my Sister Amy’s husband. On the 5th, we started again on our journey. We reached John Crawford’s, my sister Marilla’s husband they lived on an island in the Illinois River. He was no Mormon, and would swear terribly. We stayed there one night and went a few miles down the river the next day to Jones Ferry, where my sister Jane lived. She was married to a man named George W. Young. On September 12th, I reached Chicago, and on the 19th I arrived in the City of Toronto in Canada. I was 25 miles from home, and I was almost overjoyed to think I should soon be at home. It was night when I arrived at Mr. Wallace’s tavern. The first one I saw when I arrived was Mrs. Wallace. I caught hold of her hand and said, “How do you do, how is Francis?” She turned from me as if with horror at seeing me so happy, then turned back in a moment and said: “You must know the worst. Francis Kirby is dead and buried.” If there had been an earthquake, I should not have been shocked half as much as I was at this news. He died August 31, 1842, after only four days of sickness, of inflammation and fever. They said he kept calling for me and about ten minutes before he died he walked through the house hunting for me. He said he knew I was in the house and was angry when they told him I was not. They got him to bed again, and he said, “she is there.” They said “Who”, he answered, “My wife”. Then he died in a moment without the least struggle. Those who were there said they did believe he saw me standing at the foot of the bed, for when he said I was in the house, he described what I had on. I allowed myself to be comforted because I knew the Lord, in his mercy, had taken him from me. I had taken a terrible cold coming home, and was very sick. I went to stay with a neighbor until I got better, but I know I should be home to take care of my affairs, because a lawyer had already taken over. My brother David was there, and had possession of the house. He heard I was coming, so he came two or three miles to meet me. He said he had had a great deal of trouble about the property, as Kirby had died without a will and had no children. I was Kirby’s lawful wife, and the only lawful heir, but I found it quite a task to pay his debts. I rented my place to a Mr. Johnson, and made ready to join my father’s family in the states. On May 25, 1843, I was in the city of Toronto, and having an opportunity, I rode out a few miles into the Township of Scharbrough to see the country. I crossed the river Dawn. I mention this because my Grandfather, Parshall Terry, was drowned there, and I had never seen the place before. My brother David did all he could to help me settle up my business. June 28th, I started for the states. My brother, David, accompanied me to Buffalo, New York. On June 29th, I boarded the steamer “Robert Fulton” for Chicago, parting with my brother David, who went back to Canada, and I have never seen him since. On the boat, I met Bros. Carrol and McQuin, who had been on a mission to the upper part of Ill. I was very glad of their company. I arrived at my father’s house on July 19th. He was then living in Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois. I felt to rejoice very much, and was very thankful to the Lord for his exceeding great mercy in bringing me safely to my family and the body of the church. I am only making a brief sketch of what occurred from time to time. August 5th, I went to meeting and saw the Prophet Joseph for the first time. He was a large, well built, good looking man. August 13th, I was baptized for Kirby and his mother, Ann Waples, his Uncle, William Kirby, His Aunt charlotte Foster, and his sister Nicholas Kirby. All were dead, but this work all had to be done again. It was a very sickly time, so I spent a great portion of my time working for the sick. September 6th, I was at a prayer meeting and sister Wheeler sang in tongues, and the gift of interpretation was given to me, and we had a joyful time indeed. I never missed a meeting when it was in my power to go. At this time I was living with Bro. Samuel Clark, who lived a short distance from my father. I went home every night, for I knew if I should lie down and sleep among the sick, I should be sick too. In this way, I was able to take care of the sick for some time, and had better health than I had in Canada. Sister Clark had a daughter born, and on the 2nd of Oct. 1843, her daughter, Emma Clark, died. October 9th, I went out of Nauvoo a few miles on the prairie to take care of my Aunt Elizabeth Terry, wife of my Uncle Timothy Terry. I stayed there until November 4, 1843. I liked to live with them, for they were very agreeable and good to live with, and this time passed away very pleasantly. November 18, 1843, my father and mother and my brother Jacob, and his wife and myself went to Bro. Hyrum Smith’s, and got our Patriarchal Blessings, of which we have the copies. About this time, it was taught in our meetings that we would have to sacrifice our idols in order to be saved. I could not think of anything that would grieve me to part with in my possession except Francis Kirby’s watch. So I gave it to help build the Nauvoo Temple, and the last few dollars that I had in the world, which altogether amounted to nearly $50.00, but I kept no account of it for I trusted Bro. Whitehead, who was the clerk at that time. I spent a great part of my time in going to meetings, working for the poor, and taking care of the sick. I wrote to Samuel Hackett and my sister Dency, asking them to come to Nauvoo to make us a visit, and to bring my things that I had left at Belvidere, but they could not come, so they got John Heward, who was living a few miles from there to come. He arrived at Nauvoo on the 11th of May. I had been acquainted with John for several years. My parents were old, and my father’s health was poor, and I was afraid that I should become chargeable to them. As the first years rent of my property in Canada had to pay a debt, I knew it would be some time before I could get anything from there to help live on, so when John Heward saw the circumstances under which I was placed, he told me if I was willing, he would buy a place in Nauvoo and go back to Belvidere and sell his farm and come to Nauvoo to live. I knew I could not obtain my blessings as I was, so I thought Perhaps it was the best thing that I could do. So on the 20th of May 1844, we went to Bro. Hyrum Smith and got him to marry us. John bought Bro. Timothy King’s house and lot and his cow and the 5th of June he started back to settle up his affairs in Boon County, Ill., and I went back to my old occupation of taking care of the sick. On June 16th, I went and heard Brother Joseph, the Prophet, preach to a very large congregation in the rain. I thought I would stay and listen as long as he would stay and preach, and though it rained very hard, all of the people seemed to feel as I did. A short time before this, a filthy nuisance of a printing press was destroyed in Nauvoo. Many falsehoods had been published against the church in it. The editors raised a mob and said if they could not get Joseph Smith, they would destroy the whole city for revenge. The first thought that came into my mind when I heard they were after the Prophet Joseph with a writ, was “Curse the man that will give him up”. But for the love he had for the Church, he gave himself up to save the brethren. His brother Hyrum and others went with him to Carthage, and on the 27th of June 1844, our beloved brothers Joseph and Hyrum were murdered in Carthage Jail. But as this is all written and well known in the church, I will not make a full account of it here, and will only say it was a time of solemnity and the deepest mourning. I felt as though I could willingly go and help avenge their blood. On July 10, 1844, John Heward came home. He had sold his place and all that was on it to his brother William Heward, but had to wait a year for his pay, so he went to work in the harvest fields. The weather was hot, and the water was bad, and John and I both became sick with the ague and neither of us was able to fetch water to drink. Sometimes when I heard children playing in the street, I would step out and hire them with melons and cucumbers to bring us some water. We had little to eat besides corn meal mush and milk, and this gave John the diarrhea so bad that he could not walk. I was a little better soon so that I took some melons and traded them off for about a peck of apples. The next day I traded half of the apples for four pounds of flour. We had no team, and it was very hard for us to get any wood. John was sick a long time, but on the 19th of October, he was much better so that he took a little corn on a wheelbarrow to mill, but this was too much for him, and it made him worse, so that I was obliged to take the wheelbarrow, which was not our own, and fetch the meal from the mill. This grieved me very much, to think that we were reduced to such poverty. In this way, our time passed until January 6th, 1845, when I received a check from my agent, Richar and Carr, in Canada, for $90.00 on the New York Bank. After some little trouble, I got it exchanged, and gave $10.00 to help build the temple, and $1.25 to the Bishop for the poor, and also redeemed a small keepsake which I had given as a pledge for money enough to get the letter out of the office. September, 1845, the mob began to break out and burn thousands of places belonging to the brethren, also stealing their cattle and driving the Saints to Nauvoo, and doing all the mischief they could out in the branches. December 1, 1845, my daughter, Rachel, was born. At this time, the mob raged so bad that it was impossible for the saints to stay in Nauvoo any longer than for them to dispose of their property and leave. All that had property on the East were counseled to sell it. So on February 9th, John started for Canada on foot, a distance of 8 or 9 hundred miles, to sell my land. John got a little boy, Alma Millet, to stay with me while he was gone. Our house was open and the weather was very cold, and Rachel was taken very ill. Then Alma was taken sick, and he was so bad that Father Milet had to take him home, and I was left alone with my little sick girl. Sometimes a little girl named Katherine Alred, daughter of Lige Alred, would come and stay with me. Rachel grew worse, and on March 4, my brother, Jacob Terry’s wife, came and stayed with me until 11 o’clock at night, and we thought she was better. Near morning I was so exhausted that I fell asleep, and at 6:00 I woke, and found that she was dead. I trembled so that I could hardly stand it, but I wrapped her in a blanket and took her to my father’s and mother’s. When I could part with her, Brother Huntington buried her out on the prairie in the burying ground east of the Temple, about 3 miles. I was very lonesome until the 17th of April 1846, when John came home. He had sold the property in Canada for $700.00, which was less than half what it was worth. But that was the best he could do with it, for he was a Mormon, and Mr. Johnson said he had possession, and talked of not giving him anything for it. But his wife said the money was hers, and she would buy it and send us the money as soon as I should sign the deed, and send it back to her. At the fall conference, the whole church had entered into a covenant to give all that they had to help the poor from Nauvoo. We went to Bro. Orson Hyde, one of the 12, for council, as all the others were away. He said that every one that had property and did not help the poor would be cursed - so we gave most of what we had to the Church trustees. I gave $100.00 to my father to help him from Nauvoo. I believe I did right with the money, but some of my friends were angry because we let the trustees have it to help the poor instead of giving it to them, ourselves. They said they were poor and had done a great deal for the church, and ought to be helped. On the 8th of June, we started from Nauvoo and followed the heads of the Church to the west. June 20, we camped alone on the prairie about 2 miles from wood or water, for we did not know where the camping place was. In the night I was taken very sick with Cholera Morbus, and thought I would die for a drink. But John laid his hands on me, and through the mercy of the Lord, I got better, and was able to go on next morning. We reached Council Bluffs July 8, 1846, in Pattawattomi County, Iowa, among the Indians. Here we concluded to stay through the winter, with several other families. John dug a cave in the bank of Mosquite Creek, and covered it with willows and grass for us to live in. Provisions were very scarce, but I had faith that we would never be without bread, as we had been promised when we gave everything to the Church. November 18, 1846, Bro. Levi Savage, Evan M. Green and John Heward went to Missouri for provisions. November 19th, my sister Jane Young came with Bro. Wm. Parshall and her two children, to our house. She had been poorly for a long time. In the morning I went with them to Winter Quarters, and left Jane with Sister Thompson, with whom she wanted to stay. I gave her a sovereign, and brought her little boy, Elisha Tarbox, back to live with me. December 5th, John came home from Missouri, and on the 27th my brother, Joshua, came to our house. He was sick with the ague. He lived with us the rest of the winter. We went a time or two to see my sister Jane, but when we went on February 15th, we found her very low, and she died that night. Her little brother, Joel, was there. He had paid Sister Holms, at whose place she died, for the care of her, and also paid the doctor and funeral expenses. Brother Brigham Young asked me if I could not take the children, and take care of them. I told him I would take them, and try to the best I could for them. But later, Elisha went to live with my father and mother. On the 4th of March 1848, Sarah Heward was born. This seemed, in some measure, to make up to me for the loss of Rachel. We were getting ready as fast as we could, to go to the Great Salt Lake valley. We gave father $40.00 worth of property to let my brother, James P. Terry, take a wagon and a yoke of stags to help us to the Valley. We had been to a great deal of expense to fit out my brother Joshua and Mr. Levi Savage to go to the Valley as Pioneers for us, and also to raise us some grain they went in May of 1847. On the 17th of April 1848, I felt impressed to pray for my father, because he was always sick. While I was at prayer, it was revealed to my by the spirit of the Lord, that my father would have ten more years added to his days. After this, I remembered that it was written in his patriarchal blessing that he should have days and yes, years, multiplied as a blessing to him. This made my heart rejoice greatly, for I verily believed. We left our cave, or dugout, on the 2nd of May 1848, and went about a mile, and camped at my brother Jacob Terry’s for the night. The next day, we left Mesquito Creek in company with Father Miller, for the Valley. My father also came with us about nine miles. We crossed the Elk Horn River on May 30th and 31st. We left Father Miller’s Company, and Joined Father Pulsipher’s Company. We had a very fatiguing journey lasting several months. We reached Pacific Springs on August 20th. We should easily have been through to the Valley by this time, but we had to wait weeks for the rest of the company. There were others in the company who could have gone as fast as we could. My health had been very poor all this time, but I had to do all the work for the family, which consisted of John Heward, James P. Terry, Emma A. Young, my little Sarah, and myself. James Terry started back August 26, 1848, and our company went on and left us, for they were not able to help us. We had to wait there until a team would come from the Valley to help us. On the 2nd and 3rd of September, it rained and snowed, and the wind blew so hard that it seemed as if we would perish with the cold. John dug a hole in the ground, and built a little fire in it so that this kept us from freezing. On Sunday, Bro. Brigham passed us on his way back to Sweet Water, where Bro. Kimball was camped. When he saw our situation, he sent a line to Bro. Hanks, about 2 miles farther ahead, and he came and moved us to his camp, which was on the 5th of September. On the 6th, Bro. James Vance came to us from the Valley with a wagon and two yoke of oxen. He took our provisions and traveled with us until we fell in with our old company, and he went on to the Valley. We did not get in until September 25th, 1848. We camped out until October 24th, when we moved into a house in the fort belonging to James McLenahan. John drew a city lot, and on November 24th, we moved to it, and lived in a willow tent. We lived in this open hole until December 4th, then the weather was exceedingly cold, and the wind blew very hard. In the meant time, I thought I would freeze to death. I told John to lay his hands on me and bless me he did, and soon we all began to feel warm. The weather continued cold, and on the 19th, John went for wood. When he had gone a few miles, one of his oxen fell dead. This left us with only on ox. Then father Lemon let John take one of his oxen to put with ours, and he went again for wood, but the weather was so cold that he froze his feet very badly, and they were lame and sore all winter, so he couldn’t even walk some of the time. I had to sell some of my clothing to get wood, and indeed, we did suffer with the cold. Many of the people were suffering very much for provisions, so in February of 1849, all the provisions in the valley were weighed, and it was found that there remained only three quarters of a pound per day for each person over one year old - none for those on the breast, until more supplies could be brought into the valley. Those who had more than this amount had to divide with the rest. We let go about three hundred weight. Father Lemon was a lame man, and could not walk straight. Some boys were playing one day in the fort, and I heard them mocking at him and calling him old “crook-back”. This grieved me very much, for I had been taught by my parents to always reverence old people and not to make derision of any person deformed or lame or blind. The spirit came upon me and told me I should keep a school for small children, and teach them the principles of truth, how to get faith to live, what to live for, to keep the word of wisdom, and the true principles of life and salvation. I thought I would not do anything unless I was sure that I should be upheld in it, so I saw Bro. Brigham Young, and asked him what I should do, and he said “keep the school, and you shall be blessed.” I felt thankful to the Lord for this. So on the 14th of February, I began to teach the little school. John built an adobe house on our lot in the 10th ward, and on the 24th of March 1849, we moved into it. I sent in a report of my school every conference to Bro. Spencer, who was President of the branch, and he said he would have it put on the church records. I was very anxious to be sealed to John before any more children were born, so I inquired about it and was told “It makes no difference, for no person can lose their rights”, so I rested contented, and was happy most of the time until my son Lehi was born August 7th, 1851. As soon as his father saw him, he began to prophesy and said that he would be a great warrior. November 11, 1851, I was taken violently ill with the colic, and became so cold that I was numb all over, and could feel no heat in anything around me. Even my breath felt cold to me, but through the mercy of the Lord, and by the prayers of faith, I got better, but was very poorly all winter. January 10th, 1852, we went up to Bro. John Vance, and spent the evening with them very happily, for they were a good family and I shall always look up to them with thanks and gratitude for saving our lives by sending their son James to bring us into the Valley. September 29th, Sisters Rebecca and Licia Miller came to see me, and brought me an assortment of good things to eat, such as apples, cakes, butter and cheese. They spent a very pleasant day with me. I was very glad they did, for I could not have treated them half so well if they had not brought something to eat, and before two o’clock the next morning, my son Nephi was born - this was September 30th, 1852, it being the day my father was 74 years old. I called him Nephi Parshall Heward in honor of him. I now had four children, and all well at this time, but John was away from home, having to be away most of the time, and the weather set in to be cold and stormy, and we did not have wood enough to make us comfortable. It was for several weeks that I was not warm enough, only when I was in bed with the children. I had so much work to do that I could not lie in bed in the daytime, and there was one day I did not work after Nephi was born. My little Mary grew smart and intelligent and had great wisdom for a child here age, Which was according to her blessing. The weather was very cold and stormy, and I had neglected to get her any shoes. Indeed I thought I was not able to pay for them, so she was exposed to the cold. On December 7, 1852, she was taken sick with the scarlet fever, and on the night of December 13th, she died. The stroke seemed more than I could bear. She was two years, 9 months and 8 days old. She had a weak constitution, needed a great deal of care, and my health was poor. Having two children younger than her, I could not give her the attention she needed. But she is gone, and I humbly pray that she may not lose anything by this change, for I thought I was doing the best I could. Old Sister Kimball, wife of James Kimball, was very kind to us, and gave us meat several times, also some milk, butter, cheese, etc. Others have been kind to us, but I cannot mention them all, but I must tell of my sister Amy and zemira Draper. They furnished us all we used for three or four years of meal, butter, cheese, etc. Lots of pork and I don’t know what all. My father and mother have been very good indeed. It seemed that father thought he could not do enough for us. June 28, 1853, John and I went to the city and on the 29th, we were sealed by Bro. Willard Richards for time and all eternity. John is my choice, and the blessings that were sealed upon us made my heart swell with gratitude. I do pray that we may be faithful, so as to receive them. In August there was a great cry about the Indians “The Indians are upon us, we will all have to live in fort,” but we did not move into the fort, and it was so far to go to meeting, that I seldom went. John had arranged to have prayer meeting n our house every Sunday night this does me a great deal of good. I pray that the time may soon come that we shall move to the fort so that we can meet with the Saints. The Lord has been very merciful to us and has truly blessed us here. It is said in my patriarchal blessing that my name will be had in honorable remembrance to all generations. Now, my dear children, this cannot be done unless you keep this record, and also a record of your lives, and hand it down to your children, and command them to do the same. In this way, you can keep the genealogy of your fathers as long as the Earth shall stand, for this is according to your blessings as children of Abraham. As long as you keep the commandments of the Lord, your posterity shall not be cut off from the Earth. March 22nd, Nephi fell on a bed, striking his head. The blood gathered in great lumps on his neck. He could make no noise, and seemed to be dying. I laid my hands on him and prayed for him to live. The Lord, in his Mercy, heard my prayer, and he soon recovered, for which I was very thankful. John built a log house at the Union Fort, and we moved into it April 20, 1854. We had very rainy weather for several days. The house was open, and fresh dirt off the roof soon let in water everywhere. There was not a place where a person could sit or stand and be dry. On the 25th of February, it was so wet and cold, it seemed as if we all would surely perish. On the morning of December 11, 1854, my son Teancum William was born. His grandfather’s name was William Heward, so I named him after him, and Teancum was the great warrior of the Book of Mormon. About this time, we were out of flour we had a little wheat, but the mill was frozen up. I was not able to go anywhere to do any trading, and we had never borrowed flour. The few vegetables we raised were gone, so w lived on sifted bran for a while. I had never felt so bad about provisions, before. I could hardly keep from murmuring, and had to pray in my mind all the time that I might not sin. At last, John said he would stand it no longer, and he borrowed 35 pounds of flour from Bro. Brown, having first been asked if he had any and offering to loan us some. But the flour was so full of grit and sand, that we could not use it, or we only used 5 pounds, and returned the balance to him. January 16th, my father came to see us, and John went home with him to Draperville to see if he could not get a farm, as we could not get land in Cottonwood. He saw Zemira Draper, and bought 22 acres of land from him. We moved to Draperville, on Willow Creek, March 8th, 1855. My health was so very poor that I could hardly do the work for the family. My health was very poor. June 24, 1856, my daughter, Hannah Elizabeth was born. I was so weak in body and mind that I did not know but what we both would die. I took the best care I could of her, and through the mercy of the Lord, we got better. We had been living in Bro. Zemira Draper’s house ever since we came to Willow Creek, so he came at this time, and said he wished us to get another house to live in, as he wanted the house for Peter White. This was quite unexpected, and John had all his crops to take care of, and it was too late to make adobe and build a house, so we did not know what to do. Still, we thought it was right, for he had not charged us any rent for the time we had been there, When Bro. Berry Fritzgereld heard of our affliction, for I was still not able to sit up, he said we could move into a little log cabin of his for awhile, but it was so open that the wind and snow would go right through it, and the winter was very cold and severe. Indeed, there was snow in the house nearly all the time for two months. The children’s shoes were so bad that they froze their feet. We lived in Bro. Fitzgerald’s cabin until it seemed we would all perish with the cold. On January 1, 1857, we moved into a room belonging to a Danish brother by name of Faurit Smidy. We were tolerably comfortable in this room until April, when it was taken for a blacksmith shop, and we had to be out whether we had any house to go to or not. John had the wall of a house up, but it had neither roof nor floor. My things were put out of the doors and the wind blew a terrible gale, and covered them with dust and sand. Indeed, some things were ruined. Mary Terry, my sister-in-law, was very good to me, and took the children and myself in for about three days, until John could fix the house a little, and when we moved into our house it had neither door nor window, and only a part of the roof on. We had lumber paid for, but were disappointed in getting it. The time has passed with me after manner of mortal life until I am 43 years old, and now all the cry is war. All the brethren that are able to bear arms are called to do so for the gentile mob is after us again, and we have to defend ourselves or flee to the wilderness. May 22, 1858, we started for Mountainville. My father came to me and took me by the hand and said, “Lizzy, may the Lord bless you with his Spirit and with the salvation that you may know what is best for your family, and your father’s house.” He said more, but this is all I can remember verbatim. I was very thankful for this blessing. We went on, and soon there came up a storm of wind, dust, rain and hail. We had no wagon cover, and it was very cold. John, Sarah, Lehi, and Nephi had to drive the sheep and cows by turn in the storm, and they had not clothes enough to keep them warm. I was very poorly, and it was all that I could do to take care of myself and the youngest children, but we reached there that day, a distance of 15 miles. We had a hole dug in the ground, and covered it with a little brush. May 26, 1858, John went back to Draperville. There was no meetinghouse close by, only at Mountain Fort, which was a mile from where we lived. My health was poor, so I could not go and carry the baby, so I never was at the fort. Lehi was herding the sheep, and he got a stick in the calf of his leg, and we could not get it out. For several days, he could not walk, but about fifteen days later, it came out by itself. John was at Draperville most of the time tending his crops. It was noised about that there were Indians around in the mountains, and that they might come and kill us, as we had no way to fasten our door at night. I called the children together, and asked the Lord to keep us safe through the night. Then we would lie down and sleep as unconcerned as if we had been in a strong fort. Indeed, I often felt the spirit of the Lord, and was thankful for his mercy. Word reached us about the 1st of June that we might return to our home. Some rejoiced very much to here this, but I was neither glad nor sorry, only I wished to do the right thing. July 8, 1858, we moved back to Draperville, and found our house about as we had left it. We had but a small crop of grain and a few vegetables. February 23, 1859, Hannah swallowed a piece of glass about as large as a 25-cent piece, with sharp corners on it. The next day, she was very sick. I got Joshua and her father to administer to her. The pain stopped instantly. Joshua said: “She shall live and grow up.” March 3, 1859, a young chap persuaded Lehi to leave the sheep and help him get some brush. Suddenly a storm of wind and snow arose, and scattered the sheep. They went about 4 miles from home. After much trouble, they found all the sheep except two lambs they were given up for lost, but Lehi said he felt sure that they would find the lambs, and sure enough, they heard of them being in a neighbor’s herd, and got them by paying $1.50. In the summer of 1860, Nephi was herding the sheep alone, and he got prickly pears in his feet. They were very painful, and he could not get them out. Note: It is unfortunate that this most interesting history of this good woman ends here. No doubt the rest is somewhere, if it could only be found. It can be said, though, that her children married and raised fine families, as follows: Sarah: Married Moroni Stocks, 2 January 1865, and had a family of 13 children. Lehi: Married 1st, Susan Janette Brandon, who died soon after the birth and death of her twin daughters. Then he married Susannah Talbot, and had 12 children. Nephi: Married first, Emeranda Hendrix, and had 8 children, just 2 growing to maturity (one of these was adopted). Then he married Lionia Andrus, who died early without children. Finally, he married Genevieve Stout, and had 4 children. Teancum William: Married Ruth Sweetman Talbot, who is still living (1952). They were the parents of 9 children. Rachel: Died young Mary: Died young. Hannah: Died at age 15. Elizabeth passed from this existence March 6th, 1878. She died at Draperville, Utah. John married a woman by the name of Annie Jane Lupton after Elizabeths death, and he passed away May 23, 1890. This history was recopied and placed in a computer database in August of 1991 by Vaun E. Harrison. All of this material was taken from a history written by Elizabeth, then copied by an unknown writer. Elizabeth is related to Vaun E. Harrison in the following way: Elizabeth Terry Heward her daughter, Sarah Heward Stocks her daughter, Sarah Rachel Stocks Blair her daughter Rachel Blair Harrison her son, Herbert B. Harrison His son, Vaun E. Harrison