Life sketches of Arizona pioneers [microform]: c.1929-1940 | Collections | The Huntington

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Manuscripts

Life sketches of Arizona pioneers [microform]: c.1929-1940

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Description: Microfilm of 17 brief typescript biographies of Mormon pioneers to Arizona. Many of the biographies were written by Belva Willis Ballard, including those of Samuel Parish (1798-1873), Frances Reed Willis (1840-1924), John Henry Willis (1835-1886), William Wesley Willis, Sr. (1811-1872), Shadrach Roundy (1789-1872), Priscilla Parish Roundy (1833-1914), and Lorenzo Wesley Roundy (b.1819). Also included are a life sketch of Lulu J. Hatch Smith (b.1876) by her daughter Alice Smith Hansen, a sketch of Samuel Francis Smith (b.1873) by his daughters Alice Smith Hansen and Emma Smith Dewey, a sketch of Lois B. Hunt (1837-1885) by May Hunt Larsen, a sketch of May Louise Hunt Larson (b.1860) by Nettie Hunt Rencher, and biographies by unnamed relatives of Alice Hansen Hatch (b.1837), Smith Doolittle Rogers (b.1852), Eliza Snow Smith (1859-1927), John Albert Freeman (b.1860), Sarah Adaline Hall Freeman (1860-1901), James Irving Youngblood (1837-1883), and Susan Hamilton Youngblood (d.1926). Included throughout the biographies are references to conversions to Mormonism, the death of Joseph Smith and the expulsion of the Mormons from Nauvoo, overland journeys to Utah, life in Toquerville, Parowan, and Beaver, Utah, life in Snowflake, Arizona, and experiences in the Mormon Battalion (see William Wesley Willis). Most of the sketches appear to have been written from 1929-1940.

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Sketches of pioneer days in Southern Utah and Arizona [microform]: 1923-1924
Manuscripts
Microfilm of a collection of typed anecdotes about early Mormon pioneers in Utah and Arizona, primarily written by Sullivan Calvin Richardson. The text opens with a general story of Mormons crossing the plains to Utah and early descriptions of settlements and the landscape. It also notes difficult working condition of laborers on the canal from the Rio Virgin, the building of settlements in Dixie, the construction of Call's Landing, and the giving up of homes on the Muddy River after some were found to be across the Nevada state line (where taxes were too high). The account includes quotes from settlers such as Charley Curtis, William Halladay, George A. Smith, Orville Allen, Lorenzo Watson, and Ammon M. Tenney. The microfilm also includes two poems identified as "The Transformation of the Pioneers," consisting of "Someone's Opinion of Arizona" by Charles O. Brown and "Answer to Some-one's Opinion of Arizona" by S.C. Richardson; a sketch of early Arizona by 'Lige Hancock; sketches of 1870s Arizona pioneers Peter O. Peterson, Andrew Anderson, Andrew Woods, O.C. Oveson, M.H. Peterson, and Andrew Locie Rogers by S.C. Richardson; the text of the "Arizona Song" by "some of the Salt Lake Boys;" and a sketch of Arizona pioneers by Joseph H. Richards.
MSS MFilm 00189
Essays on pioneer life in Arizona [microform] : approximately 1930
Manuscripts
Microfilm of a variety of essays and notes by Evans Coleman, primarily recalling pioneer life in Arizona. The essays and notes include "No.7 Pioneer Reunion, August 1930" (recalling "big reunion of the Apache County pioneer," which Coleman attended with W.W. Pace and others), "1880 Springerville (Round Valley) Horse Racing," "A Pioneer Incident II, 1884" (story about "Old Mase" Slaughter), "Along in the '90s: Do You Remember the Thrills of Yesterday?", "The Apache County Treasury Robbery," "Alpine School House" (photograph and summary), "The Firsts in Bush Valley," "Thatcher, Arizona, in 1899," "Incidents in Thatcher in 1899," and miscellaneous notes and photographs. The reel also contains the diary of Coleman's father Prime Thornton Coleman, recalling his daily life in Upper Kanab, Utah, in 1879.
MSS MFilm 00235
A life sketch of Ida Frances Hunt Udall [microform]: 1941, July
Manuscripts
Microfilm typescript of Pauline Udall Smith's biography of her mother, Ida Frances Hunt Udall (1858-1915). Ida was born at Hamilton's Fort near Cedar City, Utah, and was a granddaughter of Jefferson Hunt and Addison Pratt. She lived in San Bernardino, California, as a child before returning to Beaver, Utah, at the age of 5. Smith's account traces Ida's childhood, including notes on her schooling and her family's move to Savoia, one of the settlements at Little Colorado, Arizona. Her father was appointed bishop of Snowflake in the late 1870s, and Ida lived with her grandmother in Beaver, Utah, until 1880. Pauline writes that on returning to Arizona with the Jesse N. Smith Company Ida was inspired to pursue a life of polygamous marriage. She taught school in Taylor and Snowflake, Arizona, until meeting Bishop David K. Udall (1851-1938) in 1881. He offered her a position at the St. Johns cooperative store, and she became his plural wife in 1882. Smith's account describes how Ida, along with her sister-in-law Eliza Tenney and Catherine and Annie Romney, were forced to flee after her brother-in-law Ammon Tenny was arrested for polygamy. Polygamy charges were brought against David Udall in 1884, but were dropped as Ida could not be found to testify. In 1885 he was indicted for perjury in a case involving a land claim, and sentenced to 3 years in the Detroit House of Corrections (he was released by presidential pardon in December 1885). Smith describes the difficulty of the situation for Ida, and her unsettled life in Eagar, Snowflake, St. Johns, and finally Hunt, Arizona, following her husband's release. Included are the typescripts of several letters sent by Ida to David Udall.
MSS MFilm 00099
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Jarvis family life histories [microform]: c.1943
Manuscripts
Microfilm of typescript and handwritten biographies and autobiographies, primarily related to the Jarvis family. Included are a biography of Heber Jarvis (1860-1953) by his daughter Pearl Jarvis Farr written in 1943 (and which also includes biographical notes on her grandparents George Jarvis and Ann Prior Jarvis), a biography of Janet Mauretta Johnson Smith (1848-1933) by Farr, a biography of Joel H. Johnson (1850-1902), a biography of George Jarvis by his daughter Victoria Josephine Jarvis Miles, a portion of Ann Prior Jarvis' autobiography (see also MSS MFILM 137), a biography of Lorin Farr (1820-1909), and a biography of Margaret Jarvis (1857-1934) by her daughter Stella Jarvis Peterson.
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.
A short sketch of the life of Levi Jackman [microform]: c.1832-1848
Manuscripts
Microfilm of Levi Jackman's autobiography and diary, which begins with an account of his childhood and conversion to the Mormon faith. He also gives an extensive account of mob violence in Missouri in 1833 and of his journey to Kirtland by way of Louisiana. He describes his missionary work in Illinois from 1835-1836, writes of the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, and mentions his work on the temples at Kirtland and Nauvoo. Much of the volume is a detailed diary account of his overland travels to Utah with the first company of Mormon pioneers in 1847. He gives a daily account of scenery and landmarks passed, as well as an account of camp life. He specifically describes Pawnee Indians, passing through a prairie dog town, sighting buffalo, and meeting Sam Brannan on the trail near the Salt Lake Valley. Jackman also writes of his reaction to his first sighting of Utah, declaring that "like Moses on Pisgah's top we could see a part of the Salt Lake Valley, our long anticipated home. We did truly rejoice at the sight" (July 19, 1847). The remainder of the volume includes Jackman family genealogy and a brief continuation of the autobiography, in which Jackman describes his life in Utah from 1847-1848, including a mention of the Mormon Battalion. Portions of the text are very faint and may be partially illegible.
MSS MFilm 00071