Maria Wolcott Wilson 1840-1890

Maria Wolcott was the daughter of Electa Griffin and her husband Chauncey Wolcott. She was born in Colchester, Vermont, March 9, 1840. Family life was centered around her Griffin grandparents, Samuel Griffin and Sylvia Bradley. Her mother, Electa, was part of a very close-knit family. --------- The marriage of Maria Wolcott and Milon Wilson is recorded in the Colchester, VT. town records on October 12, 1859. In the 1860 census the young couple is living in Colchester. By the time of the 1870 census they had moved a short distance to the town of Duxbury. The 1870 census records a family of four, listing two children, Clara and Frank.---------- In the 1880 census the family is listed in two places. One is Etna, Hardin County, Iowa. Listed are Milon and Maria as well as three children, Clara, Frank and Minnie. Maria and the children are also listed as part of her parent’s household in Colchester.--------- Surviving family letters exchanged between her mother, Electa, and her brother, Albert, then living in Utah describe the Iowa experience as being a little hard scrabble. The extended Wolcott family then moved together to Webster County, Nebraska. Centered around the towns of Cowles and Inavale we find Milon and Maria, her parents, as well as her brother Sidney and his family.------- For many years it was uncertain when and where Maria passed away. The recent recovery of her obituary published in the local newspaper the Red Cloud Chief has provided the answer. It reports her death on August 16, 1890, in Cowles, Nebraska. The obituary is also the sources of her birthdate of March 9, 1840 in Colchester. It notes her burial in the Cowles Cemetery. We have previously noted that her father, Chauncey Wolcott, was also buried in the Cowles Cemetery. I suspect that Electa is interred there also. -------------- The Red Cloud Chief provides hints that Milon Wilson became a well known businessman. After the death of his wife he remarried. He ended his life in a home for Civil War Veterans in Danville, Illinois. His death is recorded there on June 1, 1913. He is buried in the Danville National Cemetery.------------ Also found in the Red Cloud Chief is notice of the marriage between Clara Wilson, the daughter of Milon Wilson, and Charles M Myers. Their Marriage Certificate is filed in Red Cloud, Nebraska on October 1, 1889. By 1920 they are living in Pinellas County, Florida. The last record of them is the 1940 Census in Pinellas. ------------- Notice of the marriage of Minnie Wilson to W. F. Gates in Cook County, Illinois is also found in the Red Cloud Chief. The marriage of Minnie Wilson and Willey Francis Gates is recorded in Cook County, Illinois on September 11, 1889. The Red Cloud Chief also noted that Minnie had returned home for her mother’s funeral. By 1900 the couple is living in Los Angeles. Minnie is present in the 1920 census. By the time of the 1930 census her husband has remarried. Willey Gates was born March 18, 1865 in Zanesville, Ohio. He died in Los Angeles December 22, 1941. He is buried in the Grand View Memorial Park in Glendale, California.----------------- Frank Wilson married Mary Gravis November 27, 1889 In Red Cloud, Nebraska. His marriage to Vernie Saucer in found in the Hardin County, Iowa records dated October 20, 1897. The couple lived for many years in Minnesota. The 1940 census finds him in Sioux Fall, South Dakota. They are buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Sioux Falls. His headstone has a date of 1940 for his death. Her headstone has the dates 1876-1957.----------------------------------- Maria Wolcott Wilson / Electa Griffin / Samuel Griffin / Samuel Griffin / Samuel Griffin of Killingworth, CT.

Sisters Sabra and Maryetta Griffin Havens

Worden Griffin was born September 6, 1772 in Killingworth, Middlesex Co, Connecticut. His birth is recorded in the Killingworth Congregational 2nd Society records. He was the son of Samuel Griffin Jr. and his 3rd wife Mercy Bailey. ------------ Worden grew up on the Griffin Lot on Roast Meat Hill with his 10 siblings. In the late 1790s when his father and brothers made the move to Vermont, Worden stayed behind having either purchased or inherited most of his father’s property. Worden died February 17, 1847 and rests in the Burying Yard next to his wife Rhoda Hull. The Burying Yard is separated from the home lot by a stacked rock fence.---------- Rhoda was born in Killingworth October 19, 1773. She died one year after Worden on December 9, 1848. They married February 15, 1796 the marriage is recorded in the Killingworth town records. ----------- There are very good records available for Killingworth. Many of the town records were entered into pages in the land deed ledgers. In addition the Congregational Society kept detailed records. In addition the Society’s leading Deacon, Abraham Pierson, kept a personal record of births, deaths and marriages. That record keeping came to an abrupt end in 1802. In those records you can find the birth records for 3 of Worden’s children, Harmon Mercy and Sabra. In addition the census records note that there was a 4th child a female born into the family between the years 1800 and 1810. Who this 4th daughter was and who she may have married remained a mystery for a long time.--------------- Sabra Steevens Griffin’s birth is recorded in both the Society records and in Pierson’s Journal on Nov 27, 1796. That is the only record for Sabra in Killingworth. Most of what we know of Sabra comes from the family histories written by the family of Silas Havens of Niantic/East Lyme Connecticut. Sabra and Silas probably married in about 1814. The Haven histories note that Sabra Griffin’s parents were Worden Griffin of Middlesex, Ct and his wife Rhoda Hull. They note that Rhoda was the seventh daughter in her household. In the world of folk magic and medicine that coincidence was considered to be providential. These family details are a perfect match for our Worden and Rhoda Hull Griffin. In addition the Griffin siblings used many of the same family names in naming their children. --------------- The Havens histories note that Silas married Sabra Griffin. On her early death they note that Silas then married Sabra’s sister who they called Marietta/Maryetta. In Silas’s pension records for the War of 1812 his widows are listed by their maiden names Sabra Griffin and Maryetta Griffin. Looking for the identity of Sabra’s sister in the Killingworth records they came up with the only other sister on record in the family of Worden Griffin, Mercy. That is why many of the early genealogies refer to Silas’s 2nd wife as Mercy Marietta/Maryetta. ---------------- Within the last ten years the true identity of Mercy Griffin has came to light. Mercy married Daniel Stevens. Together they raised a large family in Killingworth. We have documented that family in the Blog. So if the 2nd wife was not Mercy who was she? It turns out that Maryetta was the female child listed in the 1810 census who was unnamed in the Killingworth records. Silas, Sabra and Maryetta share a headstone in the Union Cemetery in East Lyme, Connecticut.------------- Sabra and Silas had 5 children, Charles, William, Abigail/Abby, Julia and Eliza. Sabra died on February 28, 1826 at the tender age of 30. Probably living in her household was her sister Marietta. Her name is alternate spelled Marietta or Maryetta. Silas married the younger Griffin sister September 24, 1826.------------ The census records record the birth of a female child in the household of Worden Griffin of Killingworth, CT in the 1810 census. The census notes that see was born in the time span of 1800 to 1810. The Havens family records Maryette’s birth as December 1809. Her headstone notes her death on April 13, 1884 at the age of 74. Silas and Maryetta had a family of 12 children, Silas, Sabra Angeline, Cynthia Marietta, Sanford Wilson, Joseph Francis, Nelson Monroe, Melissa Jane, Alfred Worden, Sophia Amelia, Theresa Florilla, Wilson Edson and Herman Edgar.------------------ Sabra-Maryetta / Worden / Samuel / Samuel Griffin Sen. of Killingworth, CT

Wealthy Dowd, Madison CT. 1831

Researching family history is rewarding in many ways. The foremost is that discovery of a sense of where you come from which is a plus in understanding who you are. I just had a new grandson. He represents the 13th generation of Griffins in America. The story of those thirteen generations is fascinating to me. I have an appreciation of who those people were and how what they did makes my life what it is today. Through those good people I have a connection to the Plymouth Colony, the Flushing Remonstrance, and the Constitutional Convention. I have an attachment to the French and Indian War, the War for Independence, the Battle of Saratoga, the War of 1812 the Civil War and much more.-------------- I have discovered a religious people, people who where part of and dedicated to the idea of family. About every 2-3 generations they were involved with life on the very frontier in the move west in America. All in all let it be said that researching family history is a very rewarding endeavor. The Bible notes in Malachi that it is a blessing from the heavens that the hearts of the fathers will be turned to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers.--------------- There are little things that pop up now and then that offer fun little moments of satisfaction. Posted below is a picture of a headstone. That headstone represents probably the only surviving record of a little girl named Wealthy Dowd.----------- The Dowd family is part of the Mayflower Society. As such it has been widely researched and widely published. Pres. Eisenhower’s wife is one to these Dowds. The Dowd family spread out across America. The extended Griffin family married into the Dowd family on as least two occasions.----------------- And so I came as a surprise to discover a child lost in the Dowd family histories. The family of George Dowd was widely published. Listed among his children was a Wealthy L Dowd who died in Madison, CT. April 13, 1852 at the age of 16. On looking for cemetery records for the family it came as a total surprise to find in the family plot an additional headstone for a second daughter with the name of Wealthy. The headstone reads “Wealthy L, daughter of George and Louisa Dowd, Died, 11 Dec 1831, AE 7 months.’------------- What you are seeing is a common occurrence in early America. A child is born and given a name. The child then died at an early age. It was common practice to then give the name to a second child. I have often pondered as to the why of this practice. Was it a way to honor the first child? To keep alive a memory?------------ The practice is also the cause of much confusion in family research. A second child with a name more often than not hid the existence of the other child. The multiple dates associated with a common name added uncertainty to a family record. For me I find it a true moment of pleasure to introduce to the extended family a new lost and long forgotten cousin. Wealthy’s grandmother was Fanny Griffin.

Wilbur Adelburt Griffin 1910-1990

Wilbur Adelburt Griffin famly---------------- Wilbur-Eli- Leicester-Asahel-Samuel-Samuel Griffin of Killingworth.----------- Wilbur was born April 17, 1910 In Burlington, VT. He died in Rutland VT Dec 9, 1990. Posted here is a picture of his twelve Griffin children. His father Eli was killed in a tragic train accident. This branch of the Griffin family lived for multiple generations near the final resting place of the branch patriarch Asahel Griffin who lived in Vermont and is buried in Moira, NY. This material comes to us from his daughter Wilma Brooks.

Charles Emerson Griffin, Nauvoo to Winter Quarters

Charles Emerson Griffin Biography--------------- Chapter-2 Nauvoo -------------------- From Munson, Ohio to Winter Quarters, Nebraska.------------------- Charles Emerson Griffin in his autobiography describes the journey that he took with his parents, Albert Bailey Griffin and Abigail Varney Griffin, from their farm in Munson, Ohio to Nauvoo, Illinois and eventually on to Winter Quarters on the banks of the Missouri River. -------------- “In the fall of 1844, my father having completed his preparation for moving, we started for Nauvoo, going by water first, by canal to the Ohio River, then by steam boat down the Ohio to the Mississippi and then up that river to Nauvoo. Arriving there in the fore part of Winter my father rented a room of brother Alfred Randall, where we lived through the Winter. In the Spring we moved out about fourteen miles from Nauvoo to a place called Pilot Grove my father having bought a farm in the neighborhood, as he supposed from a man by the name of Brooks, paying for it before he left Ohio by turning out property to the amount of four hundred dollars. Brooks proved to be an Apostate and all we could find of the supposed farm was about twenty acres of wild prairie land. We resided at Pilot Grove through the Summer.------------------- I was now eight years old and was baptized into the Church.------------ In the Fall it was advisable to move back to Nauvoo as the mob were committing depredations all around us and we knew not what day or night they might visit us. ----------------------- Accordingly, in the Fall, we moved back to Nauvoo, living in a rented house through the Winter and making what preparations we could to leave Nauvoo in the Spring with the rest of the Saints. I well remember the busy times there were that Winter, everybody doing all they could to forward their work as fast as possible. Wagon making and mending, parching corn for food to take along on the journey. -------------------- I spent my time in various ways. Often I visited the Temple and its vicinity. My father succeed in getting one yoke of oxen and an old wagon that he repaired sufficiently to venture to start West with the rest of the Saints. ----------------- In the month of April I think, we started, not knowing where we were going but glad to get away from persecution. ------------ The State of Iowa or rather Territory was very thinly settled and our journey was mostly through a wild country. ---------- After crossing the Mississippi River we traveled in company with a few others over good and bad roads until we came to a place called Garden Grove, so named by the Mormons. Here we found quite a camp, and a number of the Twelve. --------- We stopped a day or two and then started on with a small company headed by brothers Parley and Orson Pratt, two of the twelve. We had our own roads and bridges to make as we went along. We traveled some distance in this way until we came to a place called Mt. Pisgia. Here we stopped, I believe two weeks, until Pres. Young and company came up. We then journeyed on in company of different ones until we came to the Missouri River which I believe was four hundred miles from our starting point.” Here was a small trading post owned by a half breed named Scarpe. (Peter Sarpy) This was the only sign of habitation we had seen for a long time. Here all hands went to work to build a flat boat to cross the river on.” ----------- It took some three or four weeks to complete the boat. We then crossed the river with the rest of the Saints who were there.” --------------- As you read Charles Emerson Griffin’s autobiography you get the sense that the move from Munson, Ohio to Nauvoo then on to Winter Quarters represent one chapter of his life the events all flowing into a single story. His description seems more than a little muted given the dramatic period of history that is involved. As with much of his writing he is very circumspect and understated in his descriptions. Some of this can be explained as the actions of a very humble man. Another perspective is to remember that his autobiography was written late in his life as he tried his best to set down the memories of his early youth. He was seven when the family left Ohio and turned ten somewhere in the middle of Iowa. The task at hand is to use contemporary accounts to fill in the gaps in Charles’ narrative. ----------------- The history of the Nauvoo that the Griffin’s entered in the Fall of 1844 is very familiar to Latter Day Saints. Driven out of Missouri the church had relocated at a bend on the Mississippi renaming the place Nauvoo. The same biases that had plagued the Church in Missouri followed them to Nauvoo. In June that year the persecution had reached such a level that the mobs were bold enough to take the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. By that fall the mobs had turned their attention to the remaining church leadership. They began a campaign, couched in supposed legal arguments, to arrest and detain the church hierarchy. As their determination to rid themselves of the Mormons grew they began an active campaign to force the Mormon community to abandon their homes and farms and leave Illinois. Homes and farms were burned. State and federal agents entered Nauvoo looking to arrest church leaders. The fatal stroke was the revocation of the city’s charter by the state legislature. Their argument, the citizens of Nauvoo had abused the provisions of the charter for their own benefit at the expense of their neighbors. In the fall of 1845 a truce was negotiated. The opposition paused to consider the ramifications of further depredations. The church sough a reprieve from the persecution hoping to use the time to finish construction on the temple and make the necessary preparation to leave. ------------------- There had long been an understanding that the future of the church was to be found in the west. Parley P. Pratt gave a famous sermon declaring that the Saints needed to broaden their vision and prepare to establish the church in multiple locations. By February of 1846 the church leadership had left Nauvoo taking up residence in a camp they called Sugar City across the river in Iowa. With the withdrawal of the church leadership the persecution lessened. Over the next several months the rest of the Saints, including the Griffins, abandoned Nauvoo and followed Brigham Young and the church leaders into Iowa with the idea of relocating to the mountains of the west. ---------------- In his autobiography Charles offers a brief description of the family’s move from Munson, Ohio to Nauvoo, Illinois. The early part of the trip was on the canal system found in the state of Ohio. One of the great migrations in early American was from the eastern states to the Western Reserve in present day Ohio. This area was destined to become a breadbasket for America. The key to Ohio’s agricultural success was the canal system constructed between 1825 and 1847, which linked much of the state with the Ohio River. The first leg of the canal system extended south from Cleveland to meet the Ohio River at Portsmouth. A number of smaller feeder canals connected to this main branch of the Ohio and Erie Canal. One of these, the P&O Canal, flowed west out of Pennsylvania passing within twenty miles of Munson the home of the Griffins. By transporting their family’s belongs the twenty miles they would have been loaded onto the barges that were used to transport goods on the canal system. The typical cargo barge was about 70 to 80 feet long and 14 feet wide and could carry 50 to 80 tons. Teams of horses or mules with one team pulling and one riding on the barge pulled the canal barges. They each pulled for a six hour shift averaging about 4 miles per hour. The cost on the cargo barges was one or two cents per mile. At that rate the canal trip would have taken the Griffin’s about a week to make the 250-mile trip. The P&O connected to the Ohio and Erie at Akron, Ohio. The trip took them to Portsmouth, Ohio, which served as an inland port on the Ohio River. Charles recorded that they then boarded a steamer for the trip down the Ohio to where it meets the Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois. The steamer then headed north up the Mississippi, past St Louis, to off load the Griffin family at Nauvoo. Charles recorded that the trip was made in the Fall of 1844. ------------- There are two different dates given in church records for the baptism of Charles’s parents. Some records list their baptism in 1842. Other church records list it as July, 1843. Whatever the date, Albert and Abigail heeded the call to gather with the body of the Saints in Nauvoo. The story seems to indicate that in 1844, after the harvest was gathered, Albert sold his land and property and made the move to Nauvoo. What was the mindset of the Griffin family as they stood on the docks at Nauvoo? They had lived in Munson, Ohio for the past seven or eight years. In Munson they had owned and worked some very beautiful farm ground. We do not have very much information that tells us how successful they were although the deed records indicate that Albert was engaged in expanding his holdings. As early as 1841 the church had begun to encourage the Saints in Kirtland to join with the main body of the church in Nauvoo. We can only imagine the level of faith in the family circle that prompted them to leave an established home and extended family to strike out for Illinois.------------------------- In June of that year they had received the news of the death of Joseph Smith. That news injected a level of uncertainty in the Church. It raised questions of what would happen now. In certainly interjected the issue of what shape future church leadership would take. For many in the church searching for that answer led to apostasy. But all of that uncertainty and the news of the persecution of the church did not deter the Griffin’s from making the journey. The move from Munson to Nauvoo was not the simple journey that Charles describes in his autobiography. The move is a testament to the type of Latter Day Saints that the Griffin’s were. They traded an established life for a very uncertain life. We can pay them their due respect by imaging the levels of faith and commitment that they had achieved that gave them the strength to jump into such an uncertain future. -------------------- Charles wrote that the family moved into a room that his father Albert rented from Alfred Randall. From Alfred Randall’s history we learn that he was also from Munson, Ohio having joined the church in 1840 and moved to Nauvoo in 1841. I cannot but imagine that the two families knew each other in Munson. If that is true I think it is no accident that they reunited in Nauvoo. I would also venture to say they the living arraignments had been made before the Griffin’s arrival. From information that we can gather the Randall’s lived in the Fourth Ward, which was located on Temple Hill. There is also another historical references to Ezra Taft Benson at one point rooming at the Randall home. Given this history it is easy to imagine the Randall home served as something of a boarding house. -------------- The Nauvoo that the Griffins entered in 1844 was a hotbed of activity. In October of 1844 there were plans afoot to try the murders of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. The Griffins would have been aware of the machinations of the state and county officials in their pretense at justice. These efforts eventually all came to naught, no one was ever found guilty of the deaths. The Griffin’s would have soon became aware of the actions of the mob in the outlying communities as they harassed and burned houses and farms.----------------------- I am quite sure that the Griffins were uplifted as they witnessed the whirlwind of activity in the Church in Nauvoo, new doctrine was being preached, quorums were being organized and missionaries dispatched. The Quorum of the Twelve issued several epistles to the church for their general edification. They would have been privy to outpouring of the spirit that attended the dedication of the Seventies Hall that December. The move from Munson was probably validated as they found themselves thrust into the middle of the movement to build up the kingdom. There was probably not a week that passed in which they were not party to a profound sermon delivered by one of the Church’s leading lights. They were also more likely than ever to be aware of the debate over the future of the church leadership with all of the major players in residence in Nauvoo. Their faith was both uplifted and challenged as they processed all that was Nauvoo. ------------ But the centerpiece of Nauvoo was the Temple. By the early part of October the exterior walls had risen to the height of the tops of the thirty pilasters, which were ready to receive the capitals. The capitals, that toped the pilasters, were made up of five parts, a base, a sunstone, a trumpet stone and two capstones. The sunstones and the trumpet stones took on a special significance for the Mormon community. The stones represented the dawning of the restoration and the coming of the gospel to illuminate the earth. The two hands holding trumpets heralded the events. The laying of the sunstones was a much celebrated even. Their raising not only had a religious significance it also meant the Temple was nearing completion. The placing of the last of the thirty sunstones on December 6, 1844 was noted in almost every contemporary diary. It is not incomprehensible to imagine the Griffins being on hand for the event. In May of that year a large congregation gathered for the ceremony of laying the capstone on the competed outside walls. President Young on the occasion stated, --------------------- “The last stone is laid upon the Temple, and I pray the Almighty in the name of Jesus to defend us in this place, and sustain us until the temple is finished and we have all got our Temple blessings.” -------------- The services concluded with the Hosanna Shout. ------------------- Charles was to note that the next winter he visited the Temple site quite often. But he does not provide more detail for the family’s involvement in the project. There were ten wards in Nauvoo. Every tenth day one of the wards drew the assignment to furnish a work crew for temple construction. In addition the Church had adopted a policy that allowed you to pay your tithing by donating your labor to the Temple project. That winter of 1844/45 Albert did not have a farm to occupy his labor. I can not but imagine that he was part of the ward and probably the tithing donation efforts and spent time working on the Temple project. The labor force provided by the wards must have provided a fairly significant amount of the necessary labor on the temple. There are a number of references in the official correspondence directed at organizing and maximizing the effort. Wards were directed to be more particular in supplying men on their appointed days. There were also instructions that they should bring all necessary tools with them. -------------------- The same is true of Abigail Griffin. The Relief Society had been deeply involved with the Temple project since its inception. As the Temple walls were raised the Relief Society accepted the challenge to provide all the funds necessary to furnish the nails and glass needed to finish the project. On those days the Temple and Albert’s labors were sure to be the main subject at the dinner table. That Winter the main effort was aimed at quarrying the stone to finish the project. By February the stone baptismal font, which marked a major step in the temple project, was ready to be installed.------------------ In his history Brigham Young recorded for February 1, 1845, --------------- “The Seventies met at their hall in the evening. Elders George A. Smith, Joseph Young and others preached; several were ordained into the quorums, and several presidents were set apart for the eighteenth quorum.”---------------- The seventies’ records note that Albert Bailey Griffin was ordained into the Eighteenth Quorum of the Seventies in February 1845. By the time of their next regular meeting they had moved on to organizing the nineteenth quorum. That Saturday night Albert in all likelihood announced to the family that he had been ordained a seventy that very evening. The next week Albert would have listened to a fire and brimstone sermon delivered by Joseph Young. Joseph’s brother Brigham described it, ------------------- “President Joseph Young said he meant by the assistance of the great God to cut off all liars, swearers, bogus-makers and bogus-circulators and endeavors to purify the bodies of the seventies from filth and wickedness.” ----------------- How did Albert relate to that message and what did he teach his family? Was it enough to put the scare into seven-year-old Charles? In the records for Sunday, February, 23 the minutes note that Joseph Young spoke of the principal of receiving revelation from God. Residence in Nauvoo and membership in the Seventies certainly exposed Charles and the Griffin family to new levels of doctrinal instruction.-------------------- With the coming of Spring the Griffin family story turns to farming. In the Spring of 1845 there was still a great deal of uncertainty as to how long the body of the Church would remain in its current location. However long that might be the Griffins needed to make a living. Charles’ description of the events surrounding the farm that they would purchase poses some interesting questions. He wrote, -------------- “In the Spring we moved out about fourteen miles from Nauvoo to a place called Pilot Grove my father having bought a farm in the neighborhood, as he supposed from a man by the name of Brooks, paying for it before he left Ohio by turning out property to the amount of four hundred dollars. Brooks proved to be an apostate and all we could find of the supposed farm was about twenty acres of wild prairie land. We resided at Pilot Grove through the Summer.”------------------ In the deed records for Hancock County we find a deed that was not recorded until March 16, 1846. The deed read, --------------- “This indenture was made this the 20th day of June 1845 Between Lester Brooks of the County of Hancock and State of Illinois of the first part and Albert Griffin of the county and state afore said.” ---------------- The purchase price was $300.00. The land was described as being the south west quarter of the north west quarter of section 3, less twenty acres. That describes a purchase for twenty acres of land. The story differs from that related by Charles. Both parties to the transaction were then living in Nauvoo. Lester Brooks at that time was a well-regarded member of the church, a member of the first Stake Presidency organized in Kirtland and a confidant of Brigham Young. He did in fact leave the church at a later date becoming an apostle in the Strangite movement. Lester Brooks is also on record as having baptized the young Charles Emerson Griffin. -------------- So what to make of the seemingly conflicting pictures? Many of the leading men in the church, whose time was occupied with church service, had farms that they in fact did not work on fulltime. Joseph Smith for example had a large farm that was managed by John D. Lee. The same was certainly true of Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and a number of others. Did Lester Brooks have such a farm? Did Albert go to work for Brooks on his farm eventually buying a piece of ground for himself? In the deed is a description of holding back twenty acres. This would seem to suggest the Lester Brooks was farming those acres. Charles notes that the family stayed in Pilot Grove for the entire growing season. This certainly suggests that they planted with the anticipation of harvesting a crop. That winter he describes the family being involved in parching corn. Those acres today are found in the midst of beautiful cornfields. ------------------- That Fall Brigham Young reported that there was enough grain grown in the area surrounding Nauvoo to last the members for two years if it were all successfully gathered. These hints suggest that the Griffins may have been able to enjoy some level of success with their farm. Another argument for Albert working for or with Lester Brooks is the description offer by Charles of his father’s efforts to obtain a wagon and oxen for the move west. He notes that they took their farm implements west with them. If they did not obtain their own wagons and oxen until 1846, What did they use to transport themselves and their farm implements to Pilot Grove? What did they use for draft animals? Was part of the arraignment with Brooks the right to use his draft animals as payment for laboring on his acres? Was the whole story colored by Charles’s negative views of a traitor to the Church an apostate? In the Fall of that year, in response to the growing persecution and the increase in mob activity, the Griffins made the move back to Nauvoo. The Griffin Home in Pilot Grove was very close to Carthage. The three hundred-man militia, the Carthage Grays, provided the core for the mob activities against the Church. Most of the homes and farms that were raided and burned were in the outer districts like Pilot Grove. Still I think it is quite lucky that the Griffins avoided a similar fate. A careful reading of Charles’s autobiography indicates that they rented a “house” instead of just a room. Charles’ writings also indicated that the decision had been made for the family to make all the necessary preparations to leave Nauvoo in the Spring.---------- There were two great themes being played out in Nauvoo in the fall of 1845. One was the decision to leave Nauvoo and move the headquarters of the Church to the west. The other was the effort to finish the Temple and begin to provide the blessings of Temple Marriages and sealing together families.------------------------ There were many facets to the issue of beginning the move west. The most pressing was dealing with the growing persecution. The level of danger was growing to alarming proportions. Outlying communities were being forced to flee to Nauvoo for safety. Brigham Young recorded on September 14, ---------------- “I counseled the brethren to bring their families and grain here, and called for volunteers with wagons and teams to aid in removing the saints to this place; one hundred and thirty-four teams were procured and started forthwith.” ------------ You can gain some sense of the level of frustration felt by the Saints from this entry by Brigham Young, -------------------- “ I dreamed last night that I was chased by a mob to a place like a barn full of corn or grain, one chased me so close that he got into the same room with me and it was Thomas Ford, (Governor Ford) who appeared only two and one-half feet high. I took his wrist between my fingers and stepped to the door and knocked down one after another of the mob with him till I discovered he was dead. “------------------ There were all sorts of machinations between the state and county officials and the citizens of Nauvoo. It is hard to judge where these officials drew the line. There were actions taken by these officials seemingly in support of the Church and many of their actions can truly be seen as supporting and encouraging the mobs. It is easy to conclude that all of the involved parties had came to the same conclusion, the only way to resolve the issue, whatever the injustices involve, was for the Church to withdraw from Illinois. The only real credit that can be offered to the key members of the establishment, including Governor Ford, was that they did help in the negotiations of a truce that lasted most of that winter. In this regard one of the leading opposition groups, based in Quincy, wrote a letter, ------------- “To the First President and the Council of the Church in Nauvoo”. --------------- “ Having had a free and full conversation with you this day in reference to your proposed removal from this county, together with the members of your church, we have to request you to submit the facts and intentions stated to us in the said conversation in writing, in order that we may lay them before the governor and the people of the state. We hope that by so doing it will have a tendency to allay the excitement at present existing in the public mind”. ---------------- It is hard to imagine the Griffins or any other Mormon family learning or reading of these maneuvers and not reacting with anger and disgust and a deep sense of injustice. But the truce did in fact take hold. The local opposition papers themselves took up the cause of arguing for a season of calm.------------------- What was the mindset in the Griffin household that fall? As they played out in their minds eye the events of the past two years were they content with their lot in life? Was their appreciation of the bigger picture and their faith enough to overcome the sense of injustice? Were they simply swept up in in events bigger than and beyond their control? Their subsequent actions argued for the former. The Griffins were part of a Church tradition that pointed toward a Kingdom of God on earth. A major aspect of the tradition was the establishment of a Zion. ---------------- That idea of Zion had already led the church form New York to Ohio, then on to Missouri and now back to Nauvoo. Even thought the idea of a Zion held a prominent part in Mormon theology human frailties probably still argued for a slower easier path toward the goal. But now the issue was forced upon them. Certainly the concept of moving to a Zion made accepting the reality of leaving Nauvoo a lot easier. Parley P. Pratt had long argued that the Saints must change their mindset to establishing the church in many places. On September 9th the Council of Fifty met and resolved that a company of 1500 men be selected to go to the Great Salt Lake Valley. When the Council met on the 30th Pratt had made the calculations for what a family of five would need for the trip; one good wagon, three yoke of cattle, two cows, two beef cattle, three sheep, one thousand pounds of flour, twenty of sugar and 5 pounds of tea or coffee among other items. Charles himself describes the scene and resolve in Nauvoo that Winter, ------------- “I well remember the busy times there were that Winter, everybody doing all they could do to forward their work as fast as possible. Wagon making and mending, parching corn for food to take along on the journey”. ------------- That winter also saw the first major divisions in the Church play out. Sidney Rigdon and James J. Strang both made their claims on the church presidency. The apostle John E. Page was dismissed from the Church. The status of the church leadership during this time period has been the topic of much discussion over the years. As their descendants we cannot help wondering how the Griffins processed all that happened. The evidence suggests that they followed Brigham Young’s argument, ---------------- “I say let them go…..and make their own course for salvation.”---------------- With the decision having been made to abandon Nauvoo the last great story to unfold was the completion of the Temple. In May, 1845 the capstone was laid, By June work was well under way on the roof. By the end of June, Brigham Young reported that the framework for the attic was finished and the roof was ready to be shingled. On August 23, 1845 he wrote to Wilford Woodruff, then serving in England that, ------------------ “the Temple is up, the shingles all on, the tower raised and ready to dome up. The joiners are now at work finishing the inside.” -------------------- When the Griffins returned to Nauvoo after the harvest they would have viewed a temple that on its exterior looked almost complete.----------------- The first great event held in the Temple was a Sunday service held on October 6th, 1845. The first floor of the Temple included a design to hold 3,500 people in its pews. The report of that first service was that there were about 5,000 in attendance, probably including the Griffins. That number may have represented almost the entire adult population of Nauvoo. Brigham Young in offering the opening prayer presenting the Temple, thus far completed to the Lord, as a monument of the Saint’s liberality, fidelity and faith. He concluded, ‘Lord, we dedicate this house to thee and ourselves to thee.” Thereafter most of the Sunday services were held in the Temple. ------------------ On October 6th, 7th and 8th a General Conference was held in the Temple. The highlight of the first session was the rejection of William Smith from his office as an apostle as the names of the general authorities were offered for confirmation. Plans had been previously put forward to organize and dispatch a select company to pioneer the way to the Great Salt Lake Valley. The major theme of the remainder of the conference was the commitment to take every Saint who wanted to go with them on the move west. The morning session held on the 8th was probably the most anticipate and attended. Mother Lucy Smith had expressed a desire to speak to the membership. With the issue of succession of the Presidency of the Church being a much-discussed topic and a future source of division, most of the church membership was interested in hearing her views on the matter. From the history of the Church, ---------------- “She commenced by saying that she was truly glad that the Lord had let her see so large a congregation. She had a great deal of advice to give, but Brother Brigham Young had done the errand, he had fixed it completely.” ------------------- This is a close as she came to offering an opinion on the succession issue. She informed the congregation that she had written her history. She also gave her first person account of the early history of the Church. She declared her determination to go west with the body of the Church but exacted a promise that her bones be brought back to Nauvoo to be buried with her family. The Griffins may have been present to witness her testimony. If not they would certainly have had the chance to have all of the massages from the conference related to them.----------------- The Temple had long served as a rallying point for the beleaguered Saints. The Temple and the sealing ordinances performed there were a central theme in the restoration story. The membership waited anxiously for the opportunity to partake of the temple blessings. That Winter the Griffins along with the rest of the church membership probably took special notice of each announcement relating to the Temple project. Major milestone were published in the church publications. Even non-Mormon papers reported on the progress in the construction of the Temple. November 30, 1845 brought the news that Brigham Young had dedicated the attic room for ordinance work. Brigham Young noted in his history on December 10, 1845, ----------------- “Four-twenty-five p.m. Elder Heber C. Kimball and I commenced administering the sealing ordinances.” ------------------ On January 7, 1846 came the news that the Alter for administration of the sealing ordinances and been dedicated. The Winter of 1845/46 was an interesting time for the members of the Church. For a group of people who had been attracted to the message of Mormonism because of its promise of a restoration of the ancient church these had to be the best of times. With the Temple came the revelation of doctrines utterly familiar to us now, Celestial Marriage, familial relationship to God, character of God, comprehensive understanding of the Priesthood, premortal existence and ordinances for the dead. ------------------- The ordinance work in the temple continued throughout December and January. On most days over one hundred plus ordinances were completed. Those attending the temple, according to Brigham Young, were by invitation only. By the end of December over one thousand such ordinances had been completed. Brigham Young noted on a number of occasions that he had spent the entire night in the Temple. By the first of February the Griffin family had not had the opportunity to enter the Temple for ordinance work. On February 3, 1846 Brigham Young wrote, ---------------“Notwithstanding that I had announced that we would not attend to the administration of the ordinances, the House of the Lord was thronged all day, The anxiety being so great to receive, as if the brethren would have us stay here and continue the work until our way would be hedged up, and our enemies would intercept us, But I informed the brethren that this was not wise, and that we should build more Temples”. ------------------ The decision was subsequently made to keep the Temple open for a few more days with another one thousand plus endowments being completed. The Nauvoo Temple Endowment registry on pages 328 and 329 notes that on February 7, 1846 Albert and Abigail Griffin receive their Temple blessings. The Seventies records on page 135 note that they were sealed together in marriage that same day. For the record Albert offered up his birth date as February 28, 1809, In Essex, Chittenden County, Vermont. Abigail noted her birth in Colchester in the same county on February 6, 1810. During those hectic days the forty-four men who had been ordained as Temple workers as well as the apostles in residency were probably all engaged in the Temple. In the surviving records for the period Brigham Young usually assumed the lead at the sealing alter. Brigham Young in his history recorded a description of the Alter, ------------------ “The Alter is about 2 ½ feet high and 2 ½ feet long and one foot wide-Rising from a platform about 8 or 9 inches high and extending our on all sides about a foot, forming a convenient place to kneel upon. The top of the Alter and the platform for kneeling upon are covered with cushions of scarlet damask cloth, the side of the upright part or body of the alter are covered in white linen”.---------------- Charles noted that the winter of 1845/46 was a busy time. The whole community was deeply involved in preparations for leaving in the Spring. Groups of people were formed into organized companies prepared to leave Nauvoo and travel west together. One of the most urgent tasks was building and repairing wagons, which was organized on almost an industrial scale. Charles noted that his father obtained an old wagon, ”that he repaired sufficiently” for their use in moving west. Charles also notes that his father,” succeeded in getting one yoke of oxen”. -------------- We have previously discussed the possibility that Albert had worked for or on the farm of Lester Brooks using his draft animals to farm his own piece of land. Now we find Albert acquiring, for seemingly the first time, animals of his own. The oxen were the primary draft animals used in the time period. It is very unlikely that the one yoke of oxen was the only animals the Griffins used to pull their wagon. In the absence of multiple yokes of oxen people added a pair of common cows to the team. -------------------- In the three or four months the family spent in Nauvoo that winter they had plenty of chores to occupy their time. It seems almost an understood that Albert would have resumed his role with the wards in furnishing labor for the temple project, as would have Abigail with the Relief Society. Another layer of participation was added that year, the idea of “Tithing Hands”, men would donate their time every tenth day. Charles notes that he himself often visited the Temple. For the young Charles a visit to the Temple on almost any day that Winter was very likely to see him run into Brigham Young or any of the leading men in the Church. It is easy for me to picture him bringing lunch to his father as Albert labored on the Temple project. I hope he was there on January 30, 1846 when they raised the weather vane to the top of the steeple. Can you imagine the effect that watching that event would have had on a young man as he watch the angel being installed? The weather vane was described as,---------------- “a representation of an angel in his priestly robes with a Book of Mormon in one hand and a trumpet in the other, it was overlaid with gold.”--------------- That Winter the Griffins would have been anxiously engaged in preparations for the journey west. They would have been collecting and packaging the items on Parley P. Pratt’s list of necessities, flour, beans, sugar, tea or coffee, salt, dried beef, tent, clothing and bedding, farm implements, seed, cooking utensils, hooks and line, a keg of alcohol, dried fruit, black pepper, cayenne, nutmeg and mustard to name a few. In the world I grew up in the men who lived on the range with the sheep and cattle used a “grub box” to house all of the kitchen necessities. A tradition they in all likelihood inherited from Charles Griffin himself. ------------------- One of the interesting phenomenons that occurred that winter was the formation of, whittling and whistling brigades. Even though there was a truce of sorts in place the leading men of the church were plagued by government officers trying to serve summons or arrest warrens for one trumped up charge or another. With the revocation of the city charter Nauvoo was left with no authorized police force. The response was the organization of the whittling and whistling brigades. Adult men aided, by most of the young men in the community, would follow these government agents wherever they went all the while flashing large bladed knives in a faint imitation at whittling. The procession was accompanied by loud whistling designed to both irritate and identify the agents. The whole of the exercise was designed to intimidate and obstruct these men as they tried to serve their warrants. It is hard to imagine any rambunctious boy in Nauvoo not being intrigued by and desirous of participating in the exercise, including a young Charles Griffin. ----------------- Even with the general truce, that provided an acceptable level of calm that Winter, the church leadership still found itself bedeviled by government agents of one stripe or another looking to serve them with papers. Issues as trivial as a few missing pigs provided fodder for the local sheriff to come calling. Brigham Young in particular was forced to resort to subterfuge to avoid the harassment. Reading the writing on the wall the church hierarchy determined to leave Nauvoo as soon as practical in the Spring. Brigham Young noted in his journal that he crossed the river with his family on February 15, 1846. By the first of March some 3,000 Saints and 500 wagons were in camp in Sugar City seven miles west of the Mississippi. Over the next several months 12,000 Saints were to follow. -------------------- Charles recorded that he thought the family left Nauvoo some time in April. He wrote that the family traveled with a “few others”. While there had been extensive efforts made to form the Saints into organized companies the Griffin’s seem to have made an independent journey. Many times that was a reflection that during the period when the companies were organized that the Griffins were in a state of uncertainty, Could they or could they not get ready in time? Albert did not sell his farm until March 11, 1846. The deed denotes that it was between Albert Griffin and his wife Abigail Griffin of the County of Hancock and William Gorrell. The selling price was $50.00 much less that the $300.0 they had paid originally. In a work titled “History of Utah” there is a short biography of Albert Griffin. It describes a yoke of oxen and a dilapidated wagon as being part of the purchase price this being the wagon described by Charles in his autobiography. While the Griffins remained in Nauvoo finalizing their preparation the same history noted,------------------ “prior to that event, speaking of leaving Nauvoo, he frequently shouldered his rifle, and with others repaired to the Temple to stand guard, sometimes remaining all night ready for any emergency.”------------------ The main body of Saints left the Sugar Creek encampment around the 1st of March. The companies paused at a few other locations on their way to the first permanent encampment at Garden Grove arriving at the end of April. Garden Grove would serve as a major way station for the waves of emigrants heading west for the next several years. Garden Grove was one hundred-fifty miles from Nauvoo. The Griffins caught up with the main body of Saints at the Garden Grove location. Charles recorded that they were only at Garden Grove for, “a day or two” before they continued on the journey west. The leadership of the church, in the face of the growing adversity in Nauvoo, had begun to make serious plans for moving west as early as 1845. In his history Brigham Young records on September 9, 1945, --------- ” General Council met. Resolved that a company of 1500 men be selected to go to Great Salt Lake Valley”. ------------- That December he reported to the leaders of the Church that Parley P. Pratt had been assigned the task of leading the pioneer company. While the initial plan had been to make the trip from Nauvoo to the valley of the Great Salt Lake in one long exodus the realities of 1846 limited the vision to making it to the Missouri River. Pratt was given the assignment of pioneering the route. Charles records, -------- “We stopped a day or two then started on with a small company headed by brothers Parley and Orson Pratt, two of the twelve. We had to make our own roads and bridges as we went along.” ----------------- Parley P. Pratt in his own autobiography describes the journey, ----------------- “ I was dispatched by the Presidency with a small company to try to find another location” speaking of a place beyond Garden Grove. “Crossing the branch of the Grand River, I now steered through the vast and fertile prairies and groves without a track or anything but a compass to guide me”. “We crossed small streams daily, which, on account of deep beds and miry banks, as well as on account of their being swollen by rain, we had to bridge.” ---------------- “I took my horse and rode ahead some three miles in search of one of the main forks of the Grand River,” His search led him to the sight he was to name Mount Pisgah. “Being pleased and excited at the varied beauty before me, I cried out, this is Mount Pisgah.” I returned to my camp, with the report of having found the long sought river, and we soon moved on and encamped under the shade of these beautiful groves. It was now late in May.” -------------- The company stayed as Pisgah for a while until the main body of Saints arrived. Mount Pisgah was destined to become a major stopping place on the Mormon Trail. A permanent settlement was established and a large number of acres put under cultivation the crops to be used by companies that were to follow.--------- Parley then records, ------------ “June 1. We crossed the river, and traveling one mile, encamped; next day we travelled nine miles, the third day twenty miles. Passing on from day to day, we at length came to a large river which could not be forded”. “ We tarried here some days and built a large bridge over which the camps were enabled to cross.” ------------- “In July we arrived at the Missouri River, near Council Bluffs. There we encamped for several weeks; opening a trade with upper Missouri, exchanging wagons, horses, harnesses and various articles of furniture, cash etc., for provisions, oxen, cows etc.”----------- In the meantime we build a ferryboat, fixed landings, made dugways, etc., and commenced ferrying over the Missouri. The ferry ran day and night for a long time, and still could not complete the crossing of the camps till late in the season.”-------- “The lateness of the season, the poverty of the people, and, above all, the taking of five hundred of our best men, finally compelled us to abandon any further progress westward till the return of another spring, The camps, therefore, began to prepare for winter.”----------------- In the first stages of the journey across Iowa there were some established roads for the Saint to use. From Garden Grove onward the journey followed some existing primitive roads but mainly followed Indian trails. What Parley P. Pratt does not explain in any detail is that his company pioneered usable roads two thirds of the way across Iowa.-------------- The following was copied from a sign erected on the Mormon Trail by the state of Iowa, ---------------- “The Mormon Trail across Iowa was a patch work ribbon of wagons ruts, forked routes, hastily constructed bridges and ferries both large and small. It tied together bits and pieces of older roads, wagon trails, and Indian trails. This wagon road is largely characterized by its bridges. The Mormons built, on average, one bridge per day during their journey through southern Iowa. Philadelphian Thomas L Kane spent three months in the middle Missouri Valley observing the Mormons in 1846. Four years later, in 1850, he told the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, “Those were no ordinary bridges, they were capable of carrying heavy artillery.” The Mormons worked hard to cut through wooded areas, if it saved enough miles, and graded rough or steep spots along the trail. But it was their bridges and ferry building that aided travel into the American West for many years to come.” ----------------------- Having read of the role that Parley P. Pratt played in establishing the route across Iowa begs the question, What was it about Albert Bailey Griffin that caused Pratt to select him from among the thousands of men at Garden Grove to join his party? A picture of Albert taken later in his life in Kanarraville, Utah shows a very vigorous looking man. Did Pratt know something of Albert’s history as a pioneer on the frontiers of America? Had they met in Nauvoo? Perhaps as part of a building crew on the Temple project? Did Pratt make note that the Griffins made the journey to Garden Grove independently of the main body of Saints? After arriving in Winter Quarters Albert was part of an even smaller group selected to travel on to the next major obstacle on the westward trail the Elkhorn River. The group made preparations for crossing the Elkhorn in anticipation of the time when the Saints would begin the move further west. Charles writes, ------------------------- “My father, with some others, was called to go still further West to the Elkhorn River to build a bridge across it. The river was eight or ten rods wide as near as I can remember and two or three feet deep. The men commenced the bridge by going up the river and cutting large logs and rolling them in to the river to float down to the place where the bridge was to be built. There the logs were moved into place by the aid of ropes. The logs were lain up as one would a log house. These bents, as they were called, were about a rod apart. I think they had the bents completed when we were called back to the main camp.”---------------------- First in Munson, Ohio then in Nauvoo followed by the journey across Iowa, there were certain characteristics that allowed the Griffins to challenge the edge of the wildness. Their actions bespeak of a strong faith, an ability to face and overcome obstacles. While we may not view it as a positive they had lived a life that had hardened them. Such a life give them an ability to perform hard manual labor, to face privation, to face down challenges all skills that served them well in their journeys across the American plains. ----------------------------------------------------- References; www/samuelgriffingenealogy.blogspot.com, www/albertbaileygriffinfamilyhistory.blogspot.com

Charles E Griffin Crossing the Plains

Chapter-4 Crossing the Plains------------- From Charles Emerson Griffin’s autobiography, “My father worked and got a pair of young steers which he traded for another ox. Father had succeeded in getting two cows for work and that was to be our team to go to Salt Lake with. President Young and the rest of the pioneers having gone on to Salt Lake Valley and returned the year before. When spring broke we started for the “Valley” with one yoke of oxen and one yoke of cows with the understanding that we would have to take provisions enough to last us until we could raise a crop. Besides taking our other things, farming tools ect. Our wagon cover was a few strips of carpet and a couple of oiled quilts or blankets. Our bread stuff was principally corn meal with the exception of one barrel of flour. Flour bread was, as I remember, quite a rarity and only used once in a great while. We started west in President Kimball’s company and traveled in it most of the way. My father was a captain of Ten. Nothing of importance occurred on the plains excepting one stampede, which resulted only in a good scare to all. Our traveling was necessarily slow on account of our heavy loads. We were on the road three months. As last we arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.” Charles Emerson Griffin left us this brief account of the journey that he made with his parents, Albert Bailey Griffin and Abigail Varney Griffin, across the plains from Winter Quarters to the Salt Lake Valley. Charles wrote the account late in his life his view of the journey colored by the prism of a twelve year old boy’s eyes. Charles had lived his whole life on the pioneer edge of America. First as his father carved a farm out of raw land in Ohio, then in Nauvoo. As a nine year old he made the trek to Winter Quarters where for the next two years he helped his father carve new farmland out of the prairie in Nebraska. Spending a summer on the plains did not represent a totally new adventure to the twelve-year-old boy. As a result he tells a very simple version of a very complex and bold story. Joseph Smith had set the vision for a haven in the western mountains early on in the Church’s history. The events in Missouri had set in motions the factors that saw a fulfillment of that dream howbeit on a timetable that was much shorter than most had ever imagined. Forced out of Nauvoo in the spring of 1846 the Saints gathered themselves at places along the trail in Iowa and at Winter Quarters. The next year, 1847, Brigham Young’s party pioneered the route across the plains and identified the place of Joseph’s dreams. 1,800 Saints made the trek to Salt Lake City that first year. In 1848 the church was ready to begin the process that would see the Church completely transplanted to the American west. 1848 saw four large companies organized in Winter Quarters. That year over 2,500 Saints made the journey west. The 1848 companies were better organized, transporting whole families with all of the necessities, to establish a permanent society. These large, heavily laden, wagon trains moved at a slower, measured pace. Their size and complexity required more coordination and cooperation. Those factors demanded a more complex organization. Charles’s brief account touches on none of the points we have just raised. In the following pages we will attempted to fill in the empty spaces in Charles’s story. The Griffin journey west starts on the Kimball Farm, which was located six or seven miles north of Winter Quarters. The estimation is that there were about thirty families working together on several hundred acres under the supervision of Heber C. Kimball. By all account the farm was very successful raising large crops of buckwheat, potatoes and corn. Although Charles tells of his mother pounding corn the farm operated a large gristmill, which could process large quantities of corn meal. Charles’ father, Albert Bailey Griffin, traded his labor for the resources that he used to transport his family to Salt Lake City. The family had left Nauvoo with an older wagon and a yoke of oxen. Two years later one of the oxen had died. Albert bartered for a second ox to complete the yoke. The family also acquired a pair of cows. The four animals would make up the team that pulled their wagon across the plains. This set up was very common among the teams traveling the plains that year. The team is the only animals mentioned by Charles. They certainly represented the family’s most important resource. However it is very unlikely that they represented the only livestock that the family owned and took with them on the trip. For starters as you review the roles Albert assumed and the duties he performed as part of the Heber C. Kimball Company it is hard to imagine that he did not own or at least have easy access to a saddle horse. In the journal history from the trip there is an entry describing the sorts of animals that were taken along. With the 64 wagons in one particular group there were, 21 horses, 16 mules, 199 oxen, 93 cows, 28 sheep, 28 hogs and 71 hens. Milo Harmon described his families’ animals as, 2 ox, 2 cows, 2 heifer, 2 sheep, 1 pig and 1 horse. There are a couple of hints concerning the Griffin family’s animals. Charles describes his father’s trade for the extra ox as involving 2 young steers that he had acquired. This seems to hint that Albert was able to trade for and acquire animals. Anther hint is the fact that Albert was assigned to manage the sheep herd on the journey west. Was this an indication that he himself owned sheep? Everyone who has lived in the country understands how easy it is to acquire chickens, trade for a few chicks and watch them grow. Chickens were easily transported in cages hung on the outside of the wagon. Why is the accounting for animals important? Access to milk, butter and eggs turned a corn and flour based diet from the bare basics to a pleasant variety. Having a beef supply that could transport itself until needed was an integral part of the planning for all groups who crossed the American plains. Whatever the makeup it is almost certain that the Griffin’s owned animals other than those pulling the wagon. All of the animals taken on the journey by the individual families were managed as a communal herd. Although we have no records to so indicate it is easy to imagine that a milk cow was brought along with individual wagons. The chickens almost certainly were transported in cages carried in the wagons. What about the foodstuffs and other items that they may have carried? Charles indicated that they carried enough food for the journey with enough left over to carry them until the next harvest season. The, “Immigrants Guide to the West” makes the following recommendation for a family of 4 for food for the crossing; 600 lb flour, 120 lb hard tack, 400 lb bacon, 60lb coffee,100 lb sugar, 200 lb lard, rice & beans, dried fruit, baking soda, corn meal, dried beef, molasses, vinegar, salt & pepper. According to Charles’ description the 600 pounds of flour for them was more likely to have been 200 pounds of flour, a barrel of flour was about 150 pounds, and 400 pounds of corn meal. Of course these numbers would need to be multiplied if we account for the extra needed to see them through the next winter. If you spend any time studying the Mormon immigration story you soon gain an appreciation for their organizational genius. Starting with the moment they arrived in Winter Quarters it is a safe assumption that the Church set about accumulating all of the items in the Immigrant Guide. Sitting on the Missouri River, Winter Quarters had access to the full range of goods transported on the waterways of America. That meant that whatever items they could not produce could be bartered for. It is then probably a safe assumption that the Griffin’s lauder reflected the same recommendations even if it was based, according to Charles, more on corn meal than flour. Also included in the Guide is a list of cooking equipment and tools; Dutch Oven, skillet, kettle, reflector oven, tea pot, table ware and a water keg. For tools, augers, gimlet, axe, hammer, hoe, shovel and a plow. And for the wagon, kingbolts, ox shoes, spokes, extra wagon tongue, spare axels, heavy ropes and chains and a block and tackle set. Charles noted that they took their “other things, farming tools etc”. What about their wagon? Charles indicated in his autobiography that they left Nauvoo in an “old wagon that he repaired sufficiently”. In response to the constant movement west, that had become part of the America culture, we see the birth of the prairie schooner. This type of wagon was purpose build for transport goods over long journeys. It was build with higher sides but its defining feature was the cover stretched out over the wagon bows that provided protection for the contents from the weather. The typical wagon had a nine or ten foot long box that was four feet wide and two feet deep. The box was usually sealed at the joints to prevent water seepage at river crossings. Many wagons had a second removable floor above the first. This area was used as a protective storage area for the families most valuable and fragile possessions. To a nine-year-old boy a common farm wagon when compared to the image of the cover wagon was just an old wagon. A purpose build covered wagon cost about $70.00, a farm wagon less than half as much. Historical references indicate that as a means of transport both were equally capable of hauling over 2000 pounds. A common farm wagon could be fitted with wagon bows and a cover added. Charles describes the cover for their wagon as a few strips of carpet and a couple of oiled quilts or blankets. Again we must remember that his description comes from the memories and understanding of a 12 year old. The ideal cover was made of good canvas. The most common wagon cover was made out of homemade cloth that was waterproofed with beeswax or linseed oil. My interpretation of the events with the wagon is that Albert made a deal for an older wagon that he got for a good price. Using the experience that he gained from his wagon-making father in law he then made the repairs necessary to bring it back to a good working order. At the end of its working life most wagons probably still had very few of the their original parts with constant repair being the understood. The wagon certainly served the family well on the demanding trip across the plains. While the wagon served the Griffins well in transporting their food and possessions across the prairie, home for the trip was a tent. While the wagon cover may have been assembled out of available materials that were adapted to fit a need the tents were almost assuredly made out of good canvas. By 1848 there was even a rubberized canvas available to make tents out of. Setting up the tent was probably the first chore taken care of each evening. The tent, a fire pit for a kitchen and water from the water barrel hanging on the side of the wagon was home. In the morning the tent was taken down and the bedding hung to air out. Both were then folded and reloaded on the wagon. On reaching Salt Lake City the tent and the by then empty wagon would serve as home until a cabin could be constructed. What does a corn meal based diet look like? Most days probably started with cornmeal mush. The mush was made by slowly stirring cornmeal into boiling water. A teaspoonful of salt and a tablespoonful of lard and maybe some dried fruit was added. The mush took about 3 minutes to cook. If available the mush was toped with milk, butter or molasses. Extra mush would be spread out and allowed to dry. The dried cake was lightly fried and served as a meal for lunch. Johnny Cakes were a popular use for corn meal. The batter was baked as a cake cooked for about 20 minutes or they were served as a morning hot cake. The recipe called for 2 cups of corn meal, ½ cup of flour, 1 tsp salt then add 2 cups of buttermilk and 2 tablespoons of molasses. The batter was made lighter with the addition of eggs if they were available. Corn Dodgers represented an easily transportable ration. In addition they stayed good for a period of time. It’s easy to picture a man eating a lunch of Corn Dodgers that he had transported tied up in a handkerchief. The recipe called for 2 cups of corn meal, 2 tbs butter, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tbs sugar, 2 cups of milk and 1 tsp of baking soda. Cook corn with butter, salt, sugar, and milk until it boils then remove and let sit for 5 minutes. Spoonfuls were then added to a Dutch Oven where they baked for 10 to 15 minutes. For dinner the corn meal was probably cooked into the cornbread that we are all familiar with. A variation on standard cornbread saw the addition of sour dough starter. The buckwheat that they raised was primarily used for hotcakes adding a little variety. The availability of milk, buttermilk, butter and eggs added richness to all of the recipes. You could probably not tolerate a corn meal diet without having molasses available. Even with the given that the simpler times included a simpler view of the world the constant corn diet certainly had to become monotonous. Those good pioneer women certainly had to be inventive to add as much variety to one ingredient as possible. For Charles the appearance of a loaf of white bread was an occasion. A pot of beans flavored with a ham hock or bacon was probably a welcome change as was rice instead of bread served with the meat and gravy. With potatoes being a key crop on the Kimball Farm they probably carried a supply. The key shortage as a food source for travelers was vegetables. The only vegetable with a long enough shelf life to survive the trip was onions. On the frontier it is almost impossible to imagine a day without meat. For all people living away from home bacon, with its good shelf life, was the absolute go to for meat protein. It is hard to imagine that an occasional steer or a pig or sheep was not butchered and shared among the company. Each company assigned men to serve as hunters for the group. It is not uncommon in the diary entries recorded on the trip to include a report of 2 or 3 buffalos being killed in a single day. A large bull bison can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds. In one of the journals the writer described the success of his hunting party, July 4, 4 buffalo, 6th--2, 7th--3 , July 8th men selected from every 10 to hunt, killed 4 buffalo, 3 deer and 1 calf. The meat that was not quickly eaten was processed into dried meat or jerky. Today we talk of a meat and potatoes diet for them it was a meat and bread diet. Outfitted and ready to go the wagons would leave Winter Quarters and head 27 miles west to the river crossing on the Elkhorn River, west of present day Omaha. In 1846 Albert Griffin had been sent to the Elkhorn to build the infrastructure for a bridge and ferry. Once across the Elkhorn the scattered wagons were organized into companies for the journey west. Traveling in tandem were two major companies that year. One has led by Brigham Young. It was made up of 1054 souls and 397 wagons. The Heber C. Kimball Company, which included the Griffins, was made up of 701 Saints and 226 wagons. Each immigrant company was divided into administrative units. There were Hundreds and divisions of Fifty. The larger divisions were then subdivided into Tens. A man, elected by a vote of affirmation, led each of these administrative units. It was not uncommon for a unit to vote to change leadership. According to Charles, “My father was a captain of Ten”. The Heber C. Kimball Company was divided into four subdivisions. Henry Harriman was elected Captain of a Hundred. Titus Billings, John Peck and later Isaac Higbee were elected as Captains of Fifty. Henry Harriman after whom Herriman, Utah is named captained the Hundred that the Griffins belonged to. The company roster listed Albert Bailey Griffin age 39, Abigail Varney Griffin age 38 and Charles Emerson Griffin age 12. Names that many would recognize that were part of the company including William Clayton. Howard Egan, Charles’s future Nauvoo Legion commander was in the company. Included were Joseph Fielding and his sister Mary Fielding Smith along with Hyrum Smiths children including a 10-year-old Sarah. Bishop Newel K. Whitney, who had lived next to the Griffin’s on the Kimball Farm, was also in the Company. Once organized the companies left the Elkhorn and traveled on another 12 miles until they hit the Platte River. The Oregon Trail started in Kansas with Fort Leavenworth being the principal starting point. It traveled along the southern side of the Platte River. The Mormon’s chose to travel along the northern side of the Platte. The decision in no small part was a deliberate attempt to separate themselves from the other immigrants traveling across the plains. The trail followed the Platte across Nebraska. Fort Kearny and the confluence of the North and South branches of the river 358 miles from winter Quarters were the first two major reference points on the trail. Scotts Bluff at a distance of 472 miles marked a change in topography as the trail entered Wyoming. The single most important stop on the trail was Fort Laramie at a distance of 512 miles. Here the Mormon Trail crossed over to the south side of the Platte River. At Casper the trail left the Platte. After crossing the Platte at Casper the trail headed in a more southerly direction for 68 miles until it came to Devil’s Gate. From Devil’s Gate to South Pass was anther 95 miles. From South Pass on to Salt Lake City was another 232 miles. The journal history of the trip is replete with references to having reached these famous milestones. By June 4th most of the wagons had crossed the Elkhorn. From Heber C Kimball’s journal, “On Sunday the 4th most of the saints assembled for prayer meeting near Prest. Kimball’s wagon, and were addressed by Bishop N. K. Whitney and Prest. Kimball on various subjects of interest, touching on the journey before us, and the necessity of walking humbly and righteous before God, that we may realize the blessings we need during our journey”. The journey itself got off to a shaky start. On the morning of the 6th the herd boys came rushing into camp and announced that the Indians were raiding the cattle herds. A number of the men immediately began a pursuit. After a six mile chase a firefight ensued. Three of the men were wounded one seriously all however were to survive. The net result of the raid, excluding the wounding of the men, was the loss of a single ox. The raid however hastened the effort to complete the formal organization of the company, which was finalized on that same afternoon. Albert Bailey Griffin was named Captain of the 5th Ten in the First Hundred. The official start date listed for the company is June 7th. What was life like for the Griffins on the journey west? A typical journal entry reads as follows, “Saturday July 1st this morning be began our march about 9 0clock. All things were prosperous with us this day. We traveled 14 miles and corralled near Pres. Young’s camp. Three Buffalo were killed and brought into camp.” With their farm wagon loaded to the brim the pace was set by the slow moving oxen. A man on foot could easily keep up. Unlike horse teams or mule teams the oxen were not controlled with reins. The bull-whacker walked along side giving verbal commands and liberally applying the rod. With only three in their family it seems logical that all of them took turns managing the oxen and cows pulling the wagon. Charles noted in his autobiography that he had started herding cows while they still lived in Winter Quarter’s. With his father busy with his other non-family related responsibilities there were many times when in all likelihood it fell to the twelve year old Charles to keep the wagon moving. The primary task for each day was managing the animals. The search for grass was the number one topic in the journal history of the trek. A lost or a single missing animal was a cause for concern. At the end of each day the wagons were drawn in to a circle forming a corral. The animals were kept in the corral until usually about three in the morning when they were taken out to graze. By holding them until morning the animals were eager to start grazing instead of wandering off. Within the first week of being on the trail one of the first organizational tasks was to formally organize a guard, their number one priority, the safety of the animal herds. In addition to his duties as a Captain of a Ten, Albert Griffin was appointed to be the Sargent of the 6th company of guards in charge of eight other men. When it was their turn in the rotation they were responsible to see that the animals and camp went undisturbed through out the night. From camp rules that have survived concerning having a primed rifle in camp etc. it is clear that Albert conducted his duties as Sargent of the Guard fully armed. Heber C. Kimball noted in his journal, “I feel sleepy this morning being on guard after part of the night”. Jacob Norton recorded in his journal on June 15th, “Our cattle remain quietly within our corral by close watching, Albert Griffin’s company being on guard”. By early morning the animal herds were driven back to camp where each wagon sought out their own animals and hitched them up. The men assigned to manage the herds were organized along the same lines as the organization of the guards. One of the things on the minds of the guards was the threat posed by the Indians. In the first week of the journey west they had a major confrontation with causalities on both sides. The Nebraska plains were very much Indian territory. There are a number of references to the Indians in the journal histories, “some Indians were discovered in our rear crawling up to some of the wagons who were behind the main body no damage was done by them”. There are a number of references to the scene witnessed when they passed the Pawnee Mission Station, “The Sioux have burned their new mission house”. In one instance they recovered an ox that the Indians had hidden in a deep depression. A number of accounts note encounters with groups of friendly Indians. The number of hours spent on the road each day was not necessarily long. It was impractical to over work the draft animals. There were many days when the company only made five miles. An eighteen or twenty mile day was quite unusual. Brigham Young recorded that the daily average was twelve miles. He also noted that they rested for twenty-two days on the journey. They still traveled for part of the day on most Sundays. Robert T. Burton noted in his journal, “ We would occasionally lay over for a few days. The sisters could bake bread, wash, iron, mend etc.”. It may have been on these rest days when Charles’s mother had the time to bake him a loaf of white bread. Concerning the same subject another journal entry reported, “females a chance to do their washing etc. which was attended to with alacrity.” There are a number of descriptions in the journals of planned rest days. The entries note that the wagons equipped with the blacksmith shop were sent on ahead in order to be set up and be made ready to make needed repairs. What was required of Albert as a Captain of a Ten? As part of the documentation noting the appointment of the Captains of the Tens was the following entry, “The following is a report of the several Captains of Tens setting forth the names and numbers of persons, wagons, horses, mules, oxen, sheep etc., etc. in each company of Ten”. Albert was responsible for everything connected with the ten or so wagons under his care. The Tens were kept together as a close group. They would have marched together and camped together. Each morning he probably made a quick inspection to make sure everyone was up and ready to go. Under his leadership the people in his Ten would have worked together to solve the problems that came up. Over difficult patches on the trail they would take turns doubling up the yokes of oxen to affect a passage. Working together to fix or supply parts for a broken wagon was a common occurrence. Families that had an extra teenage boy lent him to other families that had a shortage of able hands. Albert had been in charge of the family of Winslow Farr Sr., who had been called east on a mission in Winter Quarters. Winslow Farr Jr. made the trip west with the Griffins. The young Farr was later to return to Winter Quarters and cross the plains again with his family in 1850. I am quite sure there were any number of other communal activities undertaken by these small groups. The women in each ten and related Fifties and Hundreds almost surely worked together to produce and share the butter, eggs and milk that made their diets more palatable. By July 15th there had been eight new babies born on the trail. For a Ten the birth of a child was certain to have been a cooperative event. The journals note Tens dropping out of line to search for missing animals belonging to one of their members. As the Captain, Albert was also responsible for their religious life leading morning and evening prayers. As the journey moved further and further west the large companies divided into smaller and smaller groups in order to expand the search for grazing. The smaller the subdivisions the greater the responsibly faced by the Captain of Ten. The Captains in some ways assumed the role of a Stake High Council. From Brigham Young’s journal, dated July 16, speaking concerning the Tens from the two large companies, “The Captains of Ten, were called together in our corral to know their minds relative to the companies”. We have no information other than that written in his autobiography that tells the story of Charles’s experiences crossing the plains. In much of his personal writings he explains his life as it related to his father. In this story we have been forced to do the same. For the three Griffin’s the story of crossing the plains is one and the same story. However there are a few insights from the perspective of the young men in the Company. His future brother in law, the fifteen year old John Smith, wrote this in his journal, “I had to be the boy who brought the wood and water, herded the cows, and assisted to double teams over bad places, up hills, etc. On one occasion a circumstance occurred, which I shall never forget. At sundown, while we were encamped on the Platte River, it was reported that a woman was lost. Without ceremony I took my coat on my arm and a piece of corn bread in my hand and started out up the road”. There are two references to a buffalo stampede that seem to fit the description of the stampede that Charles described, “Killed the first Buffalo at the head of the Pawnee Swamps ……….. This was a pell mell hunt, a small band being started down the swamps toward the river, came running and dashing through our line and receiving showers of bullets and being pursed by men, women and children”. “This day a herd of Buffalo was drove towards the wagons, and five or six of them were killed. This was something new to us to see the chase they ran between our wagons”. The members of the two large companies joined together often for Sunday services. On the journey west they had the opportunity to hear some of the leading Priesthood holders in the church speak, Lorenzo Snow, Heber C. Kimball, Bishop Newell K. Whitney and the Prophet Brigham Young. There must have been some very powerful testimonies offered given what those men and personally witnessed and been party to. Among the common themes found in the recorded sermons, living the commandments, building up the Kingdom of God and following the Prophet. One eyebrow-raising theme that is mentioned often is the condemnation of the profanity that seemed to have been common in the camps. From a journal entry, “Sunday 18th The Saints gathered midway between the camps on the banks of the river for worship. Brother Brigham opened the meeting by prayer and then address the saints on the object that should be constantly kept in view on this journey, the building up of the Kingdom Of God on the earth, that an individual might believe Mormonism to be true and be all his life in the midst of the Saints and be damned and go to hell at last because they did not keep and retain the influence of the Holy Ghost within their own breast to govern and rule the whole man”. From William Thompson’s journal, “ The camps met together at 4 o’clock. The meeting was opened by singing and prayer by Father Isaac Morley. President Young arose and said there was some items of business to attend to, as for preaching, my preaching is for every person to do right. Let them act on the principals of right according to the light that he posses for Jesus is the light of every man that cometh into the world, both Saint and savage. This people know a great deal; the know the principals of the Gospel and it far exceeds the knowledge of the Christian world. There is some among us that has been slow to learn, yet their knowledge of theology is ahead of the religious portion of mankind. Then, brethren, live according to your knowledge. I am as liable to do wrong as other men but I keep trying all the time to do right. I know what is right. Since I have been called to judge I always have been able to discern the good from the bad, right from wrong. God is very kind and compassionate; more ten times than we are to our children, or any kind friend. Was it not that he is we would fall far short. Let us act perfect as men and we will be as perfect in our sphere of action as God is in his. I have always been faithful in my calling. I feel as willing to day as to my duty as I ever did. I am now willing to go to the ends of the earth and preach the gospel it was my calling as ever I was. I have traveled and preached till the blood has squashed in my boots. But I am for the mountains; this is my calling at present. I feel that we should divide into small companies, so that our cattle can have more time to feed. I have traveled believing all the time I have pushed the people up. I have seen the companies over all the bad places before I crost. There has been no murmuring among us, all has been well. I expect to be judged by my works not by my good feelings and I mean that they will be good all the time and the leave the result in the hands of the Lord.” “Erastus Snow said I arise to bear testimony to the principles that President Young has been speaking of. They are calculated to make us dignified as angles and Gods.” I am more than a little intrigued by the idea of the campfire conversations that occurred on those months on the plains. It is easy to imagine Bishop Whitney relating his accounts of the events at Kirtland and elsewhere. There must have been any number of conversations concerning personal remembrances of the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum. In the journal history for the Heber C. Kimball Company Albert Griffin’s name comes up much more frequently than most. I think it is a fair conclusion to say that he was well known and well respected. On July 2nd Kimball wrote, “It was agreed that Brother Ricks and Brother Griffin’s 10 drives the sheep and that they start in the morning before the camp”. This puts Albert as the leading group of wagons on the journey. There are a number of other reference to where he had made camp seeming to indicate that as the lead group the others followed his lead as they sought camps sites based on the availably of good grazing. August 13, “He informed me that Brother Isaac Higbee’s camp left there in the morning also Brother Griffin 10”. August 18, “Brother Baldwin was camped on the east about 1 mile from us and Brother Griffin’s Ten.” August 20, Brother Baldwin and Griffin’s Ten moved off at 11”. The journey across the very flat plains of Nebraska went very smoothly. The only complaint was that there were days when there was a shortage of pasture. The company only suffered two deaths in Nebraska one a new convert and one a little girl who was killed in a wagon accident. As the Company moved into Wyoming the search for grass for the animals took on more urgency. We see notes in the dairies of the need to travel three miles or more off the trail to find adequate grazing. One reference refers to a ten-mile detour to find grass. The first real trouble on the journey west starts in the vicinity of Devil’s Gate. The journals note that because of their lack of familiarity with the west they did not understand the nature of alkali tainted water and flats. As a result the death of cattle and oxen became a severe problem. August 22, “Part of Brother Harriman’s company has come up this evening. They have lost so many cattle that they have to take part of the wagons on and come back for the rest.” The Griffin’s were part of the Harriman Hundred. Heber C. Kimball wrote to Brigham Young from Seventh Crossing, “although I have been weakened considerably by the loss of cattle, though my loss is not to be compared with many others behind, for some of them have to go along part at a time, and go back after the rest…….it would be better for us to stop here, as there is good range for the cattle”. Up to this point on the journey they had enough draft animals that when the need arose extras could be used to double up and aid the wagons over rough spots. The numbers of deaths among the oxen and cattle created a situation where the companies had to more closely coordinate their animals in order to overcome hard to pass areas. Brigham Young, in the larger company, organized his extra draft animals and sent them back to help the Kimball Company. By the time the Companies reached South Pass, Brigham Young had organized a resupply of draft animals to be delivered from the Salt Lake Valley. There are no references to Rocky Ridge in the journals. In fact the closer to Salt Lake City they got the less was written in the journals. Following references to Harriman’s Hundred we can track the Griffin’s movements. “September 3, Cold frosty morning, Brother Harriman’s camped moved off at 10 AM.” September 8th found then at the Green River, by the 12th they were at Fort Bridger. “September 17, Cool frosty morning 2 miles west of Echo creek by the cold spring on the right of the road we past Brother Harriman’s camp in corral.” On September 22, 1858 the Griffins got their first look at the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, from Heber C. Kimball’s journal, “when we got to the top of the high mountain we had a view of the south part of the valley. When descending the steep hill we had to lock both wheels of the wagons. The road to descend being new was pretty good”. From William Burton’s journal, Sunday Sep 24th 1848, “This morning was pleasant. We started about 9 & passed into the Valley. We arrived at the Great Salt Lake City about 2 0Clock P.M. and was Joyfully received. Brother Kimball’s Com. Was almost all together. We corralled on City Creek.” The Griffin’s had arrived in Utah. References; Thompson, William, In Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Jacob Norton, Reminiscence and Journal Kimball, Heber C, Journal, June-Sept. 1848 written by William Thompson Kimball, Heber C., Journal in Autobiography written by William Clayton