Life of Heber C. Kimball, an Apostle Part 42

This you and your brethren in the old world can see through a gla.s.s clearly, not darkly. War, death, desolation of nations, famine and desolating sickness, are becoming prevalent throughout the old world, and in the United States it will be more so, and that soon, and they (the United States) will have all they can do to attend to their own concerns at home, without troubling themselves about the Mormons.

"At our April conference there were about three hundred missionaries selected for different missions; some thirty or forty to go to Europe and the United States, and about one hundred to Carson Valley, to try to sustain that place; a large company to Green River, another to Los Vegas and another to Salmon River. All business is given up for the present on the public works. Not much of any building is going on in the city, as all mechanics are advised to go to tilling the earth. The majority of the people feel well; your mother's health is rather poor, still she is about. I see Mary and Melissa and the children every day. Helen, your sister, has just come in with the little Vilate--well, Heber, David and all the boys, with all the family, are well, and say, 'Give my kind love to brother William, and all the faithful Elders.' I am still continuing my own improvements, making good rock fence and setting out many fruit trees.

"Now I will come to a close by saying, G.o.d bless you and Franklin, Daniel and all in that land, and all that believe on your words.

Even so, amen.

"HEBER C. KIMBALL."

And thus did this father in Israel not only give to the people the word of the Lord in time for a general provision against the day of famine, but when it came, his patriarchal care and benevolence were the means of preserving many from absolute want, and some perhaps from starvation.

CHAPTER LXI.

THE HAND-CART EMIGRATION--PERIs.h.i.+NG IN THE SNOW--HEROIC CONDUCT OF WILLIAM H. AND DAVID P. KIMBALL--PRESIDENT KIMBALL'S PLEA AND EXERTIONS IN BEHALF OF THE SUFFERERS--THE UTAH WAR--THE GREAT REBELLION.

The year 1856 witnessed another calamity, upon the harrowing details of which it would indeed be painful to dwell. It was the year of the famous hand-cart emigration, in which several hundred souls, overtaken by winter on the plains, perished in the snows and from starvation.

On hearing of the situation of these poor emigrants, the most strenuous efforts were made by the authorities and the people in the Valley to rescue them from their terrible fate. Presidents Young, Kimball and others despatched all their teams, loaded with bedding and provisions, to the relief of the sufferers, and prayers in public and in private were offered up throughout the entire Territory for the deliverance of the unfortunate companies from the destruction impending over them.

Among those sent out to meet the hand-carts, were two of the sons of President Kimball, William H. and David P., the former of whom had just arrived home from England; also Joseph A. Young, George W. Grant and others. These brave men by their heroism--for it was at the peril of their own lives that they thus braved the wintry storms on the plains--immortalized themselves, and won the undying grat.i.tude of hundreds who were undoubtedly saved by their timely action from peris.h.i.+ng.

David P. Kimball, George W. Grant and C. Allen Huntington carried upwards of five hundred of these emigrants on their backs across the Sweet.w.a.ter, breaking the thin ice of the frozen river before them, as they waded from sh.o.r.e to sh.o.r.e. The effects of the severe colds then contracted by these brethren, remained with them, and finally conduced to the death of the two former, while the survivor, Brother Huntington, is a sufferer from the same cause to this day.

The situation and sufferings of the emigrants were the main theme of the Tabernacle discourses at the time. President Kimball thus refers to them on the 2nd of November of that fatal year:

"Some find fault with and blame Brother Brigham and his council, because of the sufferings they have heard that our brethren are enduring on the plains. * * But let me tell you most emphatically that if all who were entrusted with the care and management of this year's immigration had done as they were counseled and dictated by the First Presidency of this Church, the sufferings and hards.h.i.+ps now endured by the companies on their way here would have been avoided. Why? Because they would have left the Missouri river in season, and not have been hindered until into September. * * Our brethren and sisters on the plains are in my mind all the time, and Brother Brigham has given, to those who wish it, the privilege of going back to help bring them in.

If I do not go myself I will send a team, though I have already sent back nearly all my teams, and so has Brother Brigham. Those who have gone back never will be sorry for or regret having done so. If brothers Joseph A. Young, my son William H., George D. Grant, and my son David P. had not gone to the a.s.sistance of those now on the plains I should always have regretted it. If they die during the trip, they will die while endeavoring to save their brethren; and who has greater love than he that lays down his life for his friends?"

"Were I in the situation of some of you, I would not sleep another night before starting to the a.s.sistance of the people that are now struggling through the snow. * * As Brother Brigham has said, I would rather be helping in those on the plains than be here, if circ.u.mstances and duty would permit. We offered our offering and started to go but the Lord ordered it otherwise and we came home. But we have done a better work than if we had gone. * * There would have been no general stir in behalf of our brethren on the plains; but scores and hundreds have now gone to meet them, and they have had good weather so far, have they not?"

The last of the hand-cart companies, the fifth one of the season, commanded by Edward Martin, arrived in Salt Lake City about the 1st of December. They had numbered nearly six hundred souls at starting, but lost over one-fourth of their number by death.

Let the curtain fall over the tragic scene.

During the exciting period of the "Utah War," the subject of which, treated at length, would cover the four years from 1857 to 1861, the time of the sojourn of "Johnston's army" in the valley, Heber was one with Brigham in the bold yet patriotic stand taken by Zion's leader in repelling the hostile invasion. We need not dwell upon the oft-told tale. President Kimball was a man of peace, and not of war, and, though not lacking in courage, preferred to battle with error and the powers of evil, than with his fellow-men.

In the spring of 1858, when the Saints, to the number of 30,000, abandoned their homes at the approach of the army, President Kimball accompanied the exodus of his people south as far as Provo, whence he returned, after peace was a.s.sured, to his home in Salt Lake City early in July. The soldiers had marched quietly through the deserted city, crossed the Jordan, and camped at Cedar Valley, forty miles south-west, opposite the town of Lehi, where they founded Camp Floyd, afterwards renamed Fort Crittenden, and occupied it until the autum of 1861, when the troops were withdrawn to take part in the war of the Great Rebellion.[A]

[Footnote A: General A. S. Johnston, who led this army to Utah, fell at the battle of s.h.i.+loh, April 6th, 1862, fighting on the side of the Confederacy. He was a brave and brilliant soldier, and one of the recognized great generals of the war.]

Apropos of the war:--In an old memorandum book belonging to President Kimball, in which he sometimes noted down his thoughts, appears the following:

"GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, "March 27th, 1859.

"The word of the Lord to me, Heber C. Kimball. At 9 o'clock in the evening the Lord said to me that division would take place between the north and south within six years, and much blood would be spilt, and I should live to see it."

CHAPTER LXII.

SOME OF HEBER'S FAMILY HISTORY--A PATRIARCHAL HOUSEHOLD--NAMES OF HIS WIVES AND CHILDREN--EPISODE OF ABRAM A. KIMBALL--PETER, THE CHILD OF PROMISE--HEBER AT FAMILY PRAYERS--DAVID H. KIMBALL'S STORY--HEBER P.

AND SOLOMON F. KIMBALL IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR.

A few leaves from President Kimball's domestic life will now be in order. His was one of the most interesting, as likewise one of the most numerous families in the Church. Like the patriarchs and prophets of old, whose example he religiously followed, he was the husband of many wives and the head of a mult.i.tudinous posterity.

Moreover, it is safe to say that no family in Israel, in its domestic relations, better exemplified the true nature and purpose of the polygamic principle, than the family of Heber C. Kimball.

That much of this was due to his wise government and upright example, none who knew him will doubt, but that it was also largely the result of the n.o.bility of character displayed by the true and faithful women who honored him as husband, father and friend, there is as little room for question. We can only regret that circ.u.mstances uncontrollable prevent our dwelling in detail upon their heroic lives and virtues.

Only here and there an incident, by modesty reluctantly supplied, has been furnished in response to solicitation for the purposes of this work.

We are enabled, however, to present in this chapter a complete list of the members of Heber's family, the names of the wives and children which G.o.d had given him, with whatever incidents relating to them that have come into the author's possession.

Reference has already been made to the fact that, before leaving Nauvoo, Heber, like many of his brethren, had entered upon his career as a polygamic patriarch. The story of Sarah Noon, his second wife, has been partly told in a former chapter. The other wives we cannot name in their order, but will speak of them in proceeding as the course of our narrative suggests.

VILATE MURRAY,*[A] Heber's first wife, was the mother of ten children.

Their names are as follows:

[Footnote A: The star attached to names in this chapter signifies deceased.]

Judith Marvin,*

William Henry, Helen Mar, Roswell Heber,*

Heber Parley,*

David Patten,*

Charles Spaulding, Brigham Willard,*

Solomon Farnham, Murray Gould.*

Heber's children by Sarah Noon were:

Adelbert Henry,*

Sarah Helen,*

Heber.*

Sarah, it will be remembered, was a widow with two little daughters when he married her. The names of these children were Betsy and Harriet Noon.

After the death of the Prophet Joseph, who had also taken many wives, most of his widows were married, for time, to Brigham, Heber and others of the martyr's brethren. The wives of the Prophet who wedded Heber C. Kimball were Sarah Ann Whitney,* eldest daughter of Bishop N.

K. Whitney; Lucy Walker, Prescindia Huntington, Sarah Lawrence, Mary Houston, Martha McBride.+[A] Sylvia P. Sessions,* Nancy Maria Smith+ and Sarah Scott.+

[Footnote A: Names marked thus, whether living or dead, unknown.]

The children of the first-named are as follows:

David,* } died in infancy David O.,* } died in infancy David Heber, Newel Whitney, Horace Heber, Maria, Joshua,

Newel has fulfilled a mission to the Southern States, and is now an acting Bishop of the Church in Logan, Cache County, Utah.