Life sketches of Lydia Ann Smith Johnson, Martha Jane Stratton Johnson, and Seth Guernsey Johnson [microform]: after 1910 | Collections | The Huntington

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Manuscripts

Life sketches of Lydia Ann Smith Johnson, Martha Jane Stratton Johnson, and Seth Guernsey Johnson [microform]: after 1910

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Description: Microfilm of volume containing life sketches of Lydia Ann Smith Johnson (1847-1910), Martha Jane Stratton Johnson (1848-1910), and Seth Guernsey Johnson (1839-1927), written by one of Lydia and Seth's sons. The biography of Lydia begins with her birth in Worcestershire to a Mormon convert and missionary, and their immigration to Utah in about 1855. It then recounts their move to Cedar City; the death of Lydia's mother in 1856 and her subsequent difficult relationship with her father and his plural wife; a serious illness she contracted while attending school in 1860; her engagement to schoolteacher Seth Johnson on her 14th birthday, their marriage and move to Summit in 1862, and the continuing warnings that Lydia should not have children due to her frail health (she ultimately had 14 children); Seth's contraction of mountain fever in 1863; their move to Kane County until a harsh winter and murder of some neighbors by a band of Navajos in 1866 forced them to move to Toquerville; their subsequent move to Hillsdale, which was organized in 1877 with Seth as bishop and Lydia as president of the Relief Society; their move to Cannonville; and an invitation to a homecoming at Virgin City in 1909. The account ends with a note on Lydia's distribution of her property and instructions to her children before her death in 1910. The biographies of Seth and his plural wife Martha recount many of the same events. The sketch of Martha recounts her birth in Iowa, moving with her family from Nauvoo to Provo and ultimately Cedar City, and her marriage to Seth in 1865. Seth's biography includes references to his birth in Carthage, Illinois, various childhood anecdotes, notes on his teaching career, and encounters with Navajos (including those sentenced to death and apparently spared by Johnson). The volume ends with a note to "Dear Son and family" that accompanied the life sketches.

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