Edmund Lovell Ellsworth
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Excerpts from Edmund Lovell Ellsworth's Autobiography
My father, at the time of my birth, was absent on a journey to Quebec, where he went with one of my uncles, his brother. They went down the St. Lawrence River on a raft loaded with lumber. Soon after my birth, my mother received a letter from my uncle stating that my father had died with yellow fever.
When I was about nineteen (1839-1840), I went down the Mississippi River. I received a letter from my mother stating that she and her husband had joined the church called the Latter-Day Saints, or Mormons. I had heard many bad reports about this people. I, therefore, felt it my duty to try and save my mother from this supposed delusion. Accordingly, I prepared to go home. On the way, I passed through the country where Joseph Smith found the plates and started the Church. I took all pains to collect all the evidence that I could against the people. Instead of obtaining anything against them, I found much in their favor. When I arrived home, I learned the truth relative to the gospel. One the 20th of February, 1841, I was baptized... The next September, 1841, I joined the Elders Quorum. I went to work immediately at the Temple quarry where I was occupied most of the winter. I was re-baptized on my arrival in Nauvoo by the Prophet Joseph Smith who also reconfirmed me. In August, 1842, I was ordained a Seventy under the hands of Joseph Young. Soon after, the Prophet Joseph Smith concluded to run for President of the United States. I was called to go to the state of New York on an electioneering mission, to which place I immediately started. There I labored until the death of the Prophet. I was informed of the tragedy in a letter from President Young, in which he called the Elders home. I was present at the meeting which heard President Sidney Rigdon. I plainly saw the mantle of Priesthood fa upon President Young with its power and spirit. The testimony of this was given to most of the congregation. In the winter of 1855-1856, I received a letter from President Young calling me to lead the First Handcart Company across the plains. We started over the plains about the first of July. We arrived in Salt Lake City on the 26th of September. We had a few deaths which was the usual thing in companies traveling with wagons. (The Handcart method was a world innovation in human transportation and the success of the first attempt rested in the hands of Edmund Lovell Ellsworth.) Upon arriving in Salt Lake City, the President sealed to me Mary Ann Bates and Mary Ann Jones, who were members of the handcart company. Soon after my return home, I was set apart to be the senior president of the Third Quorum of the Seventy. I was also elected to alderman on the City Council and Major of the 2nd Battalion o Infantry, Nauvoo Legion, and first counselor to Bishop Moon of the 1st Ward. I served in all offices, civil and military, until I moved to Weber County in 1866. In 1880, I moved two of my families to Show Low, Apache County, Arizona. If I found a place that suited me, the other two families were to come to me. The two that moved with me were Mary Ann Bates and Mary Ann Jones. (At Show Low, he purchased the Cluff Ranch for forty acres.) In 1884, the 1st of December, I was arrested for polygamy and taken to Prescott. Under $2,000 bond, I was instructed to appear at the June term of court to answer the charge. The sentence was that I pay a fine of $300 within twenty-four hours or serve sixty days in the territorial prison at Yuma. Not having the money I concluded to accept the prison sentence. In the evening, the marshal delivered me to the sheriff, who locked me in jail. There was plenty of odors. (August, 1885) I am leaving Yuma, the hottest place I have ever seen...(on his way home to Show Low, Edmund passed through Mesa, Arizona) I was captivated wiht the fine fruit and the locality of Mesa City. In the fall my sons, William and George moved to Mesa. The next spring they sent for their mother to come to them. In June, I moved to Mesa and bargained for a place for the other family. It was one mile northeast of the center of the town, containing 40 acres with four acres of grapes and four of orchard and twenty of alfalfa. On the 21st of August I moved Mary Ann Jones to Mesa. We lived in Mesa City for six years. I moved back to Show Low in November of 1892. In 1893, I went to the dedication of the Temple in Salt Lake City. Introduction to "The Life and Times of a True American Frontiersman: Edmund Lovell Ellsworth"
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