Mary Ann Bates
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Mary Ann Bates was born on the 16th day of October, 1834, at Upton On Severn, Worcestershire, England. She was the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth New Bates. Her childhood was spent here. Her mother died when Mary Ann was nice years old. When her father remarried, she moved to Birmingham to live with her aunt, Ann Passey. It was here she heard the gospel. She and her aunt were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
When the Church offered an opportunity by the Perpetual Emigrant Fund to reach America, by boat and handcart, Mary Ann and her aunt accepted. The ship, "Enoch Train" sailed from Liverpool, England on Easter Sunday, March 23, 1856. After 39 days on the sea on Thursday, May 1, 1856, the Enoch Train docked at Constitution Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. From here the group crossed by train to Iowa City, Iowa. With Edmund Lovell Ellsworth commanding, the handcart train left Iowa City bound for Salt Lake Valley. Mary Ann Bates (Curly Polly, as she was called by Edmund) and Mary Ann Jones were together on this trek and must have become good friends. They were brave, stalwart women and were glad to reach the valley on September 25, 1856. Soon after their arrival they were both sealed by Brigham Young to Edmund Lovell, becoming his third and fourth wives. Her babies came along until she had twelve. She lost her son, Homer, in 1861. He swallowed a piece of glass and they could not save him. In the fall of 1879 diphtheria struck West Weber and she lost two of her children, Loren and Emmaline. Her last two babies were twin girls. They wore beads of pink and blue so their father could tell them apart. The family moved from the Salt Lake Valley to West Weber, Utah in 1866. Here they remained until Edmund determined to move to Arizona. Two of the families remained by Mary Ann Bates and Mary Ann Jones left with Edmund. Life was good for this family in Show Low. But after a while Edmund was arrested for plural marriage and sent to Yuma Prison for two months. In 1886 it was decided that Mary Ann would move to Mesa where two of her sons had settled. She was a very clean, little, and gracious lady. She was an industrious woman and could sew beautifully. She made men's suits, women's corsets and many beautiful dresses and hats. She even ran a small restaurant for a while. She always kept her faith and had a strong testimony of the gospel. When close to death she was asked by a friend to bear her testimony. She replied, "Yes, I know the gospel is true." When asked about plural marriage she replied, "Yes, I know that it is a divine privilage and that I shall meet my husband and children and his wives and live happily with them throughout all eternity." She died on April 24, 1918 in Mesa, Arizona leaving many to revere her memory. Always sympathetic, generous and unselfish to a fault, her children's children unite in calling her blessed. compiled from "The Life and Times of a True American Frontiersman: Edmund Lovell Ellsworth"
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