Manuscripts
Sketch of the life of Mary Minerva Dart [Judd] [microform]: c.1840-1881
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Autobiographies of Zadok Knapp Judd, Mary Minerva Dart Judd, and Wandle Mace [microform]: approximately 1881-1892
Manuscripts
Microfilm of typescript autobiographies by Zadok Knapp Judd and Mary Minerva Dart Judd, along with the manuscript autobiography of Wandle Mace. The second reel contains a copy of the Zadok Knapp Judd autobiography.
MSS MFilm 00413
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Mary Minerva Dart Judd autobiography, (bulk 1879-1885)
Manuscripts
This is the original handwritten manuscript of Mary Minerva Dart Judd. The bound volume consists of Judd's reminiscences of her life; family records such as births, deaths, and baptisms; and poetry and songs. The subjects covered include Judd's recollections of her move to Utah, her marriage to Zodak Knapp Judd, their movement between various Mormon settlements, and her descriptions of her life as a woman pioneer. She also provides accounts of the births and deaths of her children, relationships with Native Americans, frontier and pioneer life, the purchase of Native American children, and the various activities of Jacob Hamblin (1819-1886)
mssHM 66416
![Sketch of the life of William Morley Black [microform] : c.1915](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Frail.huntington.org%2FIIIF3%2FImage%2F22APN455ISJX%2Ffull%2F%5E360%2C%2F0%2Fdefault.jpg&w=750&q=75)
Sketch of the life of William Morley Black [microform] : c.1915
Manuscripts
Microfilm of the life history of William Morley Black, probably in the handwriting of his daughter Eva Minerva Black Palmer. Black opens with recollections of the difficulties of frontier life in Ohio and Illinois, his work as a farmer and mason after his father's death, and his marriage to Margaret Bonks in 1846. While living in Illinois in 1848, Black notes that "news of the discovery of gold in California created quite a fever in our town, and I caught the fever in the spring 1849." He describes joining William Maxwell's joint stock company, passing through Nauvoo, and crossing the plains. His overland account is limited except for his notes on buffalo hunting, of which he reflected "sad indeed it was for the Sioux nation when the white man made a through fare [sic] thru [sic] their well stocked hunting grounds." The party entered the Salt Lake Valley in July 1849, and "were all on tip toe to see what kind of civilization the Mormons would exhibit." Black learned of the "martyrdom" of Joseph Smith, was impacted by the persecutions the Mormons had suffered, and was so impressed by a church sermon that he wrote "if that is Mormonism then I am a Mormon." He writes that "any desire and ambition for gold was swept away," and he abandoned the California company to remain in Utah. In February 1850 he was selected to go on a mission to the Sanpete Valley, which he was not eager to do. "I could not see just what right the President had to call me. I understood and expected them to guide me in spiritual matters, but this was of a temporal nature and beyond their jurisdiction." Black ultimately submitted to the call and writes of paying tributes to Indians on the road to Sanpete, quoting Brigham Young as saying that it was "cheaper to feed them than it was to fight them." Black describes living with a Father Morley at Manti, building a grist mill, and marrying his first plural wife. In 1851 he was finally allowed to travel back to Illinois with the J.M Grant company to retrieve his family. He broke his ribs falling into a well and was in poor condition when he arrived in South Canton in December. He writes that he was "full of enthusiasm" for Mormonism, and when he told his family about his conversion his mother-in-law was "wild with rage" and his father-in-law would not share a house with him. His wife and two children, as well as a brother and sister he converted, traveled back to Utah in October 1852. Along the way he was cheated out of wages by a Brother Leonard, but Brigham Young convinced Black to let Leonard use the money to fund a mission to China instead of paying him. Back in Utah Black partnered with a Brother Washburn in tanning and shoemaking. When local grist millers were killed during the Walker War in July 1853, Black took over the mill. He describes running various mills, including those at Nephi (he writes that with the establishment of Camp Floyd in 1858 his "wheat was turned to gold"), Ephraim, and Circle Valley, where he was held under siege by Indians (two brothers recently arrived from Illinois were killed). After abandoning the Circle Valley settlement in 1867, Black moved to Beaver before being called to a mission in Washington. He later helped John R. Young build a grist mill at Kanab. He praised the establishment of United Orders and lived at Orderville until the late 1870s. He describes moving to Mexico in 1889 "not out of choice but of necessity," and of his various homes there. He writes that when war broke out between the Madero and Diaz parties in Pacheco, his family fled to El Paso and later returned to Utah. The final pages of the autobiography contain genealogy and a note on Black's death probably written by Eva Palmer.
MSS MFilm 00075
![Diaries of Thomas Judd [microform] : 1876-1908](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Frail.huntington.org%2FIIIF3%2FImage%2F22APN4SLITDJ%2Ffull%2F%5E360%2C%2F0%2Fdefault.jpg&w=750&q=75)
Diaries of Thomas Judd [microform] : 1876-1908
Manuscripts
Microfilm of the diaries of Thomas Judd, covering the years 1876-1878 and 1906-1908. The first two diaries, dated 1876-1877 and 1877-1878, cover Judd's mission to Britain. The 1906 diary covers Judd's activities in La Verkin, his business trips around Washington County, and a trip to Las Vegas and California, including Los Angeles, Pasadena, several beaches, and Santa Catalina Island (where he took a glass bottom boat ride). The 1907 diary describes a second trip to California, including San Francisco, as well as Utah business activities, and the 1908 diary traces Judd's sea voyage from New York to Los Angeles. Portions of the diary are very faint and may be partially illegible.
MSS MFilm 00043
![Autobiography of Samuel Miles [microform]: 1881](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Frail.huntington.org%2FIIIF3%2FImage%2F22APN45SHW_G%2Ffull%2F%5E360%2C%2F0%2Fdefault.jpg&w=750&q=75)
Autobiography of Samuel Miles [microform]: 1881
Manuscripts
Microfilm of the autobiography of Samuel Miles, kept in about 1881. It includes a brief family history and descriptions of Miles' childhood and his family's move to Freedom, New York, where they were neighbors to Miles' uncle (by marriage) Warren A. Cowdery; Mormon missionaries in the area; the family's move to Missouri, where Miles worked on his father's farm; persecutions of Mormons in Missouri; a history of the Mormon expulsion to Illinois; various accounts of Joseph Smith; the family's 1845 move to Nauvoo and Miles' work as a teacher; a detailed account of Miles' time with the Mormon Battalion, first under Captain Allen (who died at Fort Leavenworth) and then Lieutenant Smith (who was unpopular compared to Jefferson Hunt), and their overland travels to San Diego and Sutter's Fort; Miles' move to Utah; a trip to California he took in 1858; the formation of the United Order at Enoch in 1874; and various notes on Miles' teaching and farming activities. The autobiography covers the years through 1881.
MSS MFilm 00829
![Short sketch of the life of John F. Nash [microform] : c.1927](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Frail.huntington.org%2FIIIF3%2FImage%2F22APN4D14HCW%2Ffull%2F%5E360%2C%2F0%2Fdefault.jpg&w=750&q=75)
Short sketch of the life of John F. Nash [microform] : c.1927
Manuscripts
Microfilm of John F. Nash's autobiography, written in about 1927. Nash recalls his childhood around the California gold mines, including his friendship with a nearby "Company of Chinese" over whom he "held arbitrary jurisdiction;" his family's move to Ventura County and his first experiences of attending school; and of his father's loss of a land grant after oil was discovered on their property in 1874. Nash then describes traveling toward Texas driving livestock, of his experiences in Woodruff and Snowflake, of the theft of his family's livestock, the family's settlement in the Gila Valley, encounters with Indians "on the warpath" and fear of ambushes, and his acquiring of a teaching license. He then describes his conversion to Mormonism in 1888 following his experiences at the Matthews settlement, his 1890 trip to Salt Lake City, his decision to attend the Brigham Young Academy, and his experiences teaching in Loa, Wanship, Pima, the St. Joseph Stake Academy, and the Thatcher Junior High School. He briefly recounts his joining of a local national guard and a mission to retrieve fellow soldiers from a saloon. Nash also recalls his mission to Australia, where he primarily preached in Sydney and Brisbane, and his clash with "Reorganists" there.
MSS MFilm 00127