James Brinkerhoff's Wagon
Legend written by George Melvin Brinkerhoff, son of Jesse Brinkerhoff who was the son of James Brinkerhoff and Rebecca Hawk Edited by JoAnn J. Hadden
The morning was already warm, and the road would be dusty going to Great Salt Lake City. James Brinkerhoff had many chores to do before he would be ready to start. He had received a call from President Brigham Young to meet with him at 8 o'clock in the morning before Salt Lake Stake Conference on Sunday, Sept. 3, 1852. Sally Ann called to James from their small home they had built in Deuel Creek, named after William and Osmyn Deuel. Later the name was changed to Centerville.
"James, it is almost 5:00 A.M. You better leave the milking and the rest of the chores for me and the girls;"
"I am almost through," called James who was thirtysix years old.
"You are in no shape to do the milking anyway, and the baby could come here in the barn."
"Don't be silly," chided Sally Ann. "She is not due for a month."
"You told me you would have boys from now on to help me on the farm."
"Wait and see," said Sally Ann, as she closed the door and went back inside. Soon the door opened as James came in with a bucket of warm milk.
"I won't have time to eat. It is fifteen miles to the bowery, and I must not keep President Young waiting."
"Take some apples in your pocket to eat along the way," said Sally. "Are you going to ride one of the horses?"
"No, I have tied the horses so they can feed along the ditch bank; I can walk faster and take the short cuts, besides the horses would have nothing to eat all day, and I need them tomorrow to help build the canal, " said James.
"What do you think President Young wants with you?" asked Sally. "I hope he is not sending you on another mission to Ohio or somewhere. Oh, what will we do if he does?"
"I don't know, but Nephi said the Lord will not ask His children to do anything else he provides a way. Have faith, my dear," said James as he put his strong arm around Sally and kissed her goodbye. "Let the kids sleep awhile," said James as he went out the door.
It was still dark as James Brinkerhoff started down the road toward Great Salt Lake City. (The name was later changed to Salt Lake City.) It was dusty all the way, and as James neared Millcreek it was already starting to get light. The mill built on the bank of the creek was idle, as it always was on Sunday. James stopped to get a drink, Millcreek always had such cool water; then on his way he munched on an apple. Half running, half walking, he hurried on. He would get one more drink before he went around the point of the mountain, because there would be nothing but hot springs from then on to City Creek, running by the temple lot where the bowery was built. City Creek always had cool, fresh water coming from the mountains. As James neared the point of the mountain he overtook Aaron Cherry.
"Want a ride?" asked Aaron.
"No," said James. "I'm in a hurry."
The sun was climbing high in the sky when James reached the bowery. Already, other brethren were there.
"Do you know what we are called here for?", asked Jed Black.
"No," said James as he shook hands with his old friend. Jed and James had been in the same company crossing the plains from Winter Quarters, Nebraska to Great Salt Lake City. Other men James also knew.
"How is the family, and where do you live?" each asked.
Brigham Young was a little late. He had had a sick cow that he had to care for before the meeting, but he had sent word to Heber C. Kimball, his First Counselor, to take charge of the meeting. As Brother Kimball opened the meeting he said, "Brethren, we will sing and pray and by that time President Young,I hope, will be here because I don't know what he
called you for."
As Brigham arrived, he didn't have the smile he usually wore, but looked as if he had been talking to the Lord. "Brethren," he said, "This is something I would rather not do, but I must. I must." James felt his blood go cold, and the sweat started running down his back. "What now?", he thought. In the Book of Mormon, Nephi said the Lord will not ask His children to do anything unless He provides away. He had told Sally that just this morning. "We have in our midst some very lovely sisters," Brigham said, "who do not have husbands. The Prophet Joseph introduced polygamy, or I should say the Lord introduced polygamy through the Prophet Joseph. Some of the brethren have already taken the second wife. Now I have called you men here to ask that you take another wife, and help these sisters establish homes here in the valleys of the mountains where they can raise children and build up this Church."
James stayed for the morning and afternoon sessions of Conference. He hadn't told Brigham that he would take another wife. James met a lot of old friends, but did not tell why he was in town. The sun was far in the West as James started for
home. He caught a ride with Brother Sessions and rode as far as Sessions Settlement (later called Bountiful). There the two friends parted. The sun was just setting when James arrived home. Sally Ann met him at the door. "This has been a long day," she said, "the children went to Sunday Service, but I stayed home. I have wondered all day what Brother Brigham wanted with you. Tell me all, for I can't wait another minute," said Sally.
"We can talk about it after I am through with the chores," said James. Sally Ann knew that something bad was about to take place. After the chores were all done, and they had eaten their bread and milk. (James didn't know how hungry he was until he sat down to eat.) The children were put to bed.
"Come set by the table," he said. Sally's heart was pounding. "Brigham wants me to take another wife."
"Well," said Sally, "I thought it was something real bad."
"And you think that isn't bad?" said James. "How will I find another woman?"
"You found me," Sally answered.
"That was different. I was looking for someone, now I'm not," said James.
"Well," said Sally, "In the spring before you plant your crops, maybe you can go look for someone."
"That is the catch," said James, "President Young wants all that were to the meeting to find a wife before October Conference on the 6th of October."
"You told me this morning, 'The Lord never asks anything of His children else He prepares a way," said Sally.
"I think we better go to bed. I must be up early in the morning to work on the canal. As long as I am head of the Deuel Creek Canal Company, I will have to be there and show the others where the ditches should be built," said James.
"Good morning, Brother Brinkerhoff," said Ira Call as the two men met on Deuel Creek. "I didn't see you at Church yesterday."
"No," said James, "I went into Great Salt Lake City for Church."
"What was the occasion that took you clear in there?" said Ira.
"On church business," said James, "but let's get this work started." Soon other men arrived with their teams and work was started; some of the men with plows and some with scrapers.
James was tired when he got home that night. After he did his chores, Sally Ann had a very nice supper waiting. Then James said, "I have some work to do on my wagon, so I will go out while you and girls do up the dishes." Sally knew her husband, she knew he had more on his mind than the wagon, so she put on a coat and went out to be with him.
"Have you thought about who you might ask?" said Sally, knowing if she could get him to talk about it, it would make him feel better.
"Why does President Young want this all done so soon?"
"Well," said James, "he doesn't want us to go courting another lady and leave our wife home alone. That's why he wants us to have a wife by October Conference. But why me?"
"Because you are one of the leading men in the community," said Sally.
"You didn't hesitate when Brigham asked us to leave our home and all we had in Nauvoo, and come to the valley of the mountains. Many of the people lost loved ones on the plains. We lost our baby boy at Winter quarters. It was hard to leave him buried there and come west knowing we would never visit his grave again, nor the grave of our daughter, Hannah, buried in Niles, New York. When word came that the Prophet Joseph and Hyrum were killed, we turned to Brigham Young to guide us. We have done all this because we believed Brigham Young was a Prophet and our leader," said Sally.
"Yes," answered James, "so many of our friends lost more than we, like the Hawks family. I wonder where the Hawk girls ever located? I remember when their mother was killed by that oxen stampede. That was a horrible experience for them; then to have their father and brother join the Mormon Battalion and leave the three girls to come west by themselves.* (William and Margaret Harris Hawk, with two sons and four daughters, left Nauvoo in the winter of 1846 and went to Winter Quarters to get ready for the long journey across the plains to Utah. Their second daughter, Rebecca was born August 12, 1835 at Parks Count, Indiana. She was eleven years old when they left Nauvoo. They, with their six children, left their home and all belonging except for bedding and food in their wagon. It was hard to leave, and so far away to their new home in the west. The Mississippi River was frozen over so they were able to cross on the ice. This was one of the few time the river had ever been frozen over at Nauvoo. The way was slow,hard and cold. It was hard to keep from freezing.
Most of the time they walked to keep warm and at night huddled around a fire. It was about 450 miles from Nauvoo to Winter Quarters, Nebraska. They traveled through the State of Iowa. Often oxen would stampede when they had been without water for a long time. At one of these stampedes, Margaret, the mother, was killed and buried on the plains in 1849.
This was very hard on William and his young family to go on, but move on they must. After arriving at Winter Quarters, they were very busy getting ready for the long journey to Deseret. They lived in their wagon the winter of 1846, then in
the spring as they were about ready to move, the United States Government asked for 500 men to go fight in a war between Mexico and the United States.
Brigham Young asked for volunteers to help the Government that had run them from their homes. "If we don't get men enough we will send women," he said. William Hawk and his son, Nathan, (a son by another marriage to Elizabeth McClanhan.) remembered leaving the three girls to get to Utah on their own. The way was hard for strong men, but even more hard for the little girls with their small brother William, but with the help of other people, they made their way west.)
Rebecca Hawk was so sweet to us when we lost little Jimmy. She was only a child but while he was sick she came to our wagon with hot soup, and each day asked about him. I guess it was because she had lost three brothers and sisters, then her mother. And Sarah and Mary Caroline Hawk were also sweet to us."
James leaned against the wagon. "What will I tell Brigham?"
"Don't tell him anything, show him," said Sally.
"What about one of the Hawk girls, you always liked them. Your helped them crossing the plains; I don't know what they would have done without you. And when their one oxen was taken by the Indians, you helped them yoke their milk cow with the other oxen to make their way to the valley. Why don't you look them up?
"No," said James, "they are just children."
"Children?" answered Sally. Sarah is twenty-two years old, and Rebecca is seventeen.
"It seemed to me they were only children when they came to the valley," said James.
"Well, Rebecca was only eleven years old when her mother was killed, but that was in 1849; that was six years ago, and girls do grow up," said Sally.
"It is getting late and this is a short week. Thursday is fast-day, and we want to get the ditch done before winter sets in," said James. He put his arm around Sally as the two walked toward the house. If this next one is a girl, I will trade it to someone for a boy,"James teased as he opened the door.
Nothing more was said about a new wife until Sunday afternoon, September 10, 1852. James and Sally had been to Sacrament Meeting with their children, Jeanette 16, Mary Ann 10, Levi 5, and Hyrum 2 years old. After the night supper was over and the children were in bed, James said to Sally,
"Where would we put another woman in this small house?"
"She would be your wife," said Sally.
"Well, said James, "I am going to tell Brother Brigham the answer is no."
"You will do no such thing. This is a call from the Lord, just as it would have been if you were called on a mission," said Sally. "Anyway, she can help me with the new baby."
Next morning James hitched his horses to the wagon and told Sally he was going to Great Salt Lake City with a load of wheat to pay in tithing. "I will be gone all day."
Sally was busy all day making baby clothes. At five o'clock she heard a wagon in the distance; she knew by the sound it was James coming home. "Hello," she said as James pulled his team to a halt by the gate. "Did you have a good day?"
"Yes, only I'm tired. Guess who I saw in town?"
"Brother Brigham?" asked Sally.
"No," said James, "Our old friend William Hawk."
"Did you ask him about his daughters?" asked Sally.
"No, I thought some day you could go and talk to Rebecca," said James.
"Me talk to her? It's you that is going to marry her,not me."
The next Sunday morning, September 17, 1852, James was up early. He did his chores, had breakfast, and put on his best clothes. "Sally Ann, (He only called her Sally Ann on special occasions.) I am going to Church." This was not uncommon for him to go to church early. Sometimes he met with the Bishop. They met in the school house because the church house had not been built yet. James took a horse which was unusual because the meeting house was only two blocks away. James Brinkerhoff galloped his horse most of the way to Great Salt Lake City. It was eleven o'clock when he reached the west-side of town.
"Hello Brother Brinkerhoff, won't you come in?"asked Rebecca, as she stood in the doorway of her father's home. She hadn't seen him for four years, but she had always admired him and remembered how he had helped her and Sarah and Mary Caroline on the way to Great Salt Lake. James noticed how Rebecca had changed. She was a nice looking woman; dark hair, tall with her own sweet smile. William Hawk was living with his three daughters. Calvin, his son, had died.
"Yes, I will come in for awhile, and I would like to stay and go to church with you this afternoon."
"How is Sally?' asked William, "and how are Jeanette and Mary Ann and the boys, Levi and Hyrum and the new baby. Has she had it yet?" asked Mary Caroline Hawk.
"They are all fine," said James, as he tied his horse to a post and came into the house.
"Jeanette is married. She married George Leavitt on August 29, 1852."
"Well, you have a nice home here, William," said James.
"Yes," answered William, "I received a little money when I left the Mormon Battalion, so I build this home, with the help of the three girls. But now it seems they are going to leave me."
"How is that," asked James.
"Getting married," said William; James felt a chill. no, it was more like a relief, like having a tooth pulled but it still hurt.
"That is, all but Rebecca. She has been so busy making clothes for people that she doesn't have time for boys. Sarah is marrying John Mikesell, and Mary is to be married December 17th to Samuel Moore," said William.
To James it was like the tooth had been put back in. "Anyway, James what brings you here on the Sabbath?" asked William.
"I don't know how to tell you what I'm here for, but Brother Brigham asked me to take another wife."
"How can we help?"
"I was thinking about Rebecca, or I should say, Sally and I talked about Rebecca.
"Me?" asked Rebecca.
"Is this a call from the Lord?" asked William.
"Yes, I must have another wife by October Conference."
Rebecca started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" asked Mary Caroline.
"Well," said Rebecca, "I have been making wedding dresses for President Young's two daughters and for President Kimball's daughter and for my own two sisters, now to think I may be married before any of you. How soon do you need to know Brother Brinkerhoff?"
"I would like to go to Sacrament Meeting with you this afternoon, and I would like your answer before then."
"If President Young called you to take another wife, and if you would like me to be that other wife, what day should we be married?' asked Rebecca.
"It can't be this week," said James. "How about the 28th of September?"
"Fine," said Rebecca.
After James left home, Sally Ann stood long in the doorway watching her husband as he rode down the lane and out of sight. She turned and walked back into the house. She felt an emptiness. It was not the kind of emptiness she felt when little Jimmy died, not the kind of emptiness she felt when her friendMargaret Harris Hawk had been killed right before he eyes by the oxen stampede. It was more like the emptiness she had the night she spent in their covered wagon, just after they had moved to Centerville. James had taken the team into the mountains for logs to build a house. The lightening lit up the whole sky, and thunder shook the wagon; she and the children had been so frightened. There were no neighbors for miles. She and the children prayed. The thunder still roared and shook the wagon; she didn't feel as frightened but the emptiness did not go away.
James returned while the sun was still shining in the west.
"People asked about you at church today."
"What did you tell them?"
"The truth," answered Sally.
"Rebecca wants to come out and stay a few nights and get acquainted before we get married. I though maybe she could come next week while I am in Ogden," said James.
"Is it you or me that she wants to get acquainted with?" asked Sally. "Or is it that you don't want to be home when she comes?"
James left for Ogden September 20th, Thursday 1852, just as the sun was coming up. He would be gone for three days. Rebecca Hannah Hawk arrived at Centerville, Utah about one hour after James had left.
"I'm glad to see you," called Sally, "come in so we can talk."
"Where is Brother Brinkerhoff?" asked Rebecca.
"On his way to Ogden," said Sally.
"Hello," said Jeanette and Mary Ann.
"Hello, and where are the boys?" asked Rebecca.
"They are still in bed," said Mary Ann.
"And you are married, Jeanette?"
"Yes, I married George Leavitt. I am staying here while my husband builds a home."
The Brinkerhoff girls went to work for a neighbor. This left the two women to get better acquainted. "James is a good man," said Sally. "He is a hard worker, very witty and gets along very well with other men. He can give a talk in church or anywhere else. But he is shy around women. He puts on a big front. He will do anything for me that I ask. He will help with the kids or help with the cooking, but he won't tell me he loves me. Oh, I know he does. He won't tell me how nice I look or say the dinner was nice, but I find if he doesn't complain than all is well. So don't expect him to compliment you," said Sally.
"Brother Brinkerhoff seems to be an honest man, and this is something I didn't expect to be a plural wife," said Rebecca.
"Tell me a little about yourself," said Sally.
"Well, I have been a seamstress. I have made clothes for people, wedding dresses, suits for men, and just plain clothes. Since Mother was killed, Sarah takes care of the cooking, Mary takes care of the house, and I do the sewing. I don't like to cook," said Rebecca.
"James does like to eat good food," said Sally. "We eat lots of pig-weed greens. He likes them the way I cook them. He likes sego lilies, too. We have learned to eat lots of wild food." The two women spent a delightful three days together. Rebecca went home just before James returned from Ogden.
"How did things go?" asked James, as Sally met him at the door.
"Fine, but you would think it was me going to marry her, not you."
"You will be living with her more than I will," said James.
Before the sun was up on the morning of September 28, 1852, James helped Sally into the wagon. Together they drove to Great Salt Lake City where they picked up Rebecca Hannah Hawk, and together they went to the Endowment House to have Rebecca sealed to him for time and all eternity. The road was dusty all the way home, and it was starting to get cold. When they arrived home, the Brinkerhoff children had a nice supper waiting for them. After supper, James went out to do his chores. He stayed out longer than he had ever before. Then when he did go in, for the first time in his life he felt like a stranger in his own home. He had always been the head of his house, but now he felt like the tail. It was Sally who took the lead.
The winter was cold, but not much snow. James Brinkerhoff was busy building onto his house, and hauling water from the creek. He took a forked tree limb and a fifty-gallon barrel on it to haul water. He was after water the morning of October 29, 1852. Sally hadn't been feeling too well, but had said nothing to anyone.
"Rebecca, you better call James, the baby is on the way." Rebecca ran to the creek.
"Brother Brinkerhoff, you better get the mid-wife fast," she said.
"As soon as I get back with the water," he said.
"You don't have time. Let me take the water back."
by the time James arrived with a mid-wife from five miles away, the baby was already there.
Rebecca Hawk Brinkerhoff had helped with her first birth; she had never seen a birth before, but it would not be her last one.
"A boy, Brother Brinkerhoff," Rebecca said as James came in all out of breath.
"We will call him George," said James, "to keep the James and George going. You see, he will be George because my name is James, my father's George, his father Jacobus, or James, his father Joris or George, the his father, Jacobus or James, while his father was Hendrik Joris or George." Little George was christened on the first Thursday fast-day of December 1852.
Sunday, December 6th, Rebecca was up early tidied up the house, and told the rest of the family, "We will all go to church this afternoon, but Sally and the baby."
As they entered the meeting-house, Mary Thompson came up and said, "And how is Sister Brinkerhoff this afternoon?"
"Oh", said Rebecca. "She didn't feel like coming yet."
"I was referring to you."
"Oh, yes," said Rebecca, "I'm fine." But she never made that mistake again. Yes, she was Mrs. Brinkerhoff too, just as much as Sally Ann.
The winter of 1852 was cold. One Monday morning, Rebecca was asked if she would come to Salt Lake City to make clothes for the Smith family. I will drive you in, said James.
"No Brother Brinkerhoff, I can drive myself. You forget that I drove a team of oxen across the plains, and horses are much easier to handle than cows."Rebecca worked all day then stayed with her father at night. She worked until Friday afternoon. The Smiths gave her 300 pounds of wheat, 2 chickens and 3 sacks of potatoes. Rebecca took them to her father. This is the way she had been paid for all her work, very little money had she ever received.
"No," said William Hawk, "You take all this stuff home. You are married now." But Brother Brinkerhoff doesn't need this and youdo," protested Rebecca.
"Just the same, take it to him."
Rebecca didn't go to town to work often during the winter, but when spring came, she spent a lot of time sewing for people in Salt Lake City. Carding her own wool, spinning and weaving, making her own cloth,and staying with her father. She always spent the weekend at home in Centerville. In May of 1854, James was called to Brigham Young's office, and asked if he would like to take another wife. After talking it over with Sally Ann and Rebecca Hannah, it was decided he would; so
on the 11th June 1854, James married Eliza Jane Henderson in the Endowment House at Salt Lake City.
Rebecca had her first child two years after she was married; a son that she called David, born May 22nd, 1854, then Mary Caroline born August 19, 1856. Eliza had a son, John born March 20, 1858. Sally had a son Willard born October 10, 1858. Eliza had a son, Silas, born January 23, 1859. Rebecca had a daughter, Margaret (Nina), born May 1, 1859. Eliza had a girl Eliza Ann born January 24, 1861. Rebecca had a boy Samuel W. born October 15, 1863.
The three families got along as if they were one big family. Each had their own work to do. Sally Ann managed the home, Rebecca did the sewing and made clothes for the family, Eliza Jane did the cooking. If a child misbehaved, no matter which one he belonged to, or which mother was there, he was punished.
James was a very busy man with his farm and the canals to build and roads to make, new people coming into Centerville to be helped, a new schoolhouse to be built. It was James that hired the first school teacher, a man teacher. James was always
there to help new people.
At the Salt Lake Stake Conference the last of August 1863, President Young called for James Brinkerhoff to be there and meet with him at eight o'clock. "What can it be this time?" James said to Sally.
"I don't know, but this I do know, you will be there, and we will do what is asked of us."
As James entered the meeting, Brigham Young was there and so were other people that James knew. President Young stood and said, "Brethren, we must expand this State of Deseret. We want families to move to the north and to the south and to the west. James Brinkerhoff, you have been helpful in building waterways in Centerville. I want you to go with a group to the south of here three hundred miles and build water-ways in St. George."
James began to think about the past. Heremembered when he was called on a mission in 1842 to Ohio, and then was called home to Nauvoo when the Prophet Joseph Smith and his broth Hyrum were martyred. He remembered the meeting when he saw the transfiguration of Brigham Young to the form and voice of Joseph. He recalled the box the size of a cigar box full of twenty-dollar gold pieces that he had given to finish the Nauvoo Temple. Then he'd had to leave Sally in Winter Quarters while he went with other men to Missouri to find work to get money for the long trip west. Then they had joined the Perigrine Sessions company for the long trip to the Great Salt Lake Valley. How hard it had been on everyone, especially the women. How the women had washed their clothes in the creeks along the way, cooked on a bonfire using buffalo chips for
fuel, walking most of the way to relieve the load for the horses and oxen.
"If this is what the Lord wants, He will sustain us," she would say. Many times traveling all day without water, he worried about Sally walking so much. Sally was a twin and her health had never been too good. Then, living in a wagon the winter before, she was sick when little Jimmy died on November 16, 1847. She had not completely recovered when they started
on the long trek west. Sally never complained. They had arrived on September 25, 1847. Their son Levi, was born six weeks after they arrived in the valley; the first boy baby born to white parents. He was born November 3, 1847. A girl baby
had been born before Levi.
He remembered the second summer he was in the valley; how the crops were almost destroyed by the crickets. Brigham was not there; he had left and gone to Winter Quarters shortly after the Saints had come into the valley. Brigham had not returned yet with he main body of Saints. James remembered how the people had prayed for help, how the seagulls had
come and saved the crops. He and Sally Ann had lived in Great Salt Lake City until 1850. Although James had been to Centerville in 1849 and laid out forty acres of land, they didn't move to Centerville until 1850. Hyrum was born in Great Salt Lake City¾ June 31, 1850. James remembered how the first crops were coming up the second year and the frost had almost destroyed everything. But he had been blessed. He remembered in 1858 when Johnston's Army came to Utah, how they had left their homes in Centerville and gone south. Then after the Army was encamped on the other side of the valley, they returned to their home. Now they had a home once more, not as good as the one we left in Nauvoo, but it is home.
"James Brinkerhoff, you don't look like you heard what I said," snapped Brigham.
"Oh, said James, "I guess I was day-dreaming."
"What is your answer?" asked Brigham.
"We'll forge ahead," said James, "but I have two wives heavy with child," James answered.
"You and the Lord have a problem; together you can solve it, I'm sure," said Brigham Young.
When James told his family that night, some of them wanted to go and some didn't. Sally Ann was fortyeight
years old. James was forty-seven years old. "Why doesn't Brigham send younger people?"
"Because if he sent green horns to settle, they would starve to death. He must sent experienced people," said James.
"If President Young wants us to go, we will go." said Rebecca, "so let's get packing these wagons."
James sold his farm and home and bought another team and wagon. He already had two teams, or one and a half. He had a colt he was going to break to work in the spring, but he would break him to work in the next two days. It was decided that James would take Sally Ann, his first wife, and Eliza Jane, his third wire, and their children and two wagons with him. He would take the young horse and put it with an older horse on one wagon and another team. He would leave sixteen-year-old Levi to help Rebecca his second wife, and her nine-year-old-son Clark. He would leave the gentle team with them. James would take the chickens and cattle with him. James would return for Rebecca, and Levi could stay and harvest the potatoes.
James left Centerville, Utah, on the 17th of September 1863 and stayed with friends on the way. He took two wives and seven children. The older children walked most of the way driving the cows. They arrived at St. George September 18. James only stayed long enough to find a place to live. James was able to buy a one-room home that would do until he could build another home. The weather was warm and much nicer than the weather back in Centerville. Much work must be done before spring. He must return and bring the rest of his family, waterways must be built, and ground must be leveled and ready to plant, a home must be built, and schools and roads must be built. James only stayed long enough to settle his family. Then he returned to Centerville. When he arrived sixteen-year-old Levi, with the help of nine-year-old Clark, had all the potatoes dug and most of them sold. "I am glad you got back when you did," said Rebecca. "The baby is due any day." Her baby was born the night James returned. She called him Samuel W., born October 15, 1863. When the baby was one week old, James loaded up potatoes, flour, corn, wheat, oats, carrots, dried apples, dried corn, and bacon and started back to St. George. James drove one wagon; Levi and Clark drove the other one. It took them three weeks, arriving in St. George the middle of November 1863.
They had a very cold trip. It snowed on them part of the way. The teams could hardly pull the wagons up some of the hills. The roads were very bad, muddy and slick. Everyone but the two-week old baby had to get out and walk. St. George was settled in 1861, just two years before the Brinkerhoffs came. James had with him on this trip his second wife, Rebecca, her son Clark, nine; Mary, age seven; Nina, age four; and Samuel, the baby; and Levi. James took with him on the first trip Sally and her children, Hyrum, George and Willard, together with his third wife, Eliza Jane and her children, David, John, Silas and Eliza Ann. Eliza Jane gave birth to Lucinda on October 20, 1863 in St. George before James returned. There were no schools for the children to go to. So, each of the mothers took turns teaching. The next winter they had build a one-room school for thechildren.
The Civil War was in full swing. It started in 1861 and lasted until 1865, but it didn't have much weight on the Saints. The winter of 1865, Brigham Young came to St. George and spent some time. "Here," he said, "we will build a temple. It will not be as big as the Salt Lake Temple. It will be completed first." So the temple was started in 1867 and finished in 1877.
On July 8, 1864, just eight and a half months after her last baby, Rebecca had a son, in St. George, whom she names Alonzo. Then on August 13, 1866, Eliza had a son, Joseph. Rebecca had a son she named Jesse, May 22, 1869 at Promontory, Utah.
The town was laid out in square blocks of ten acres each. The blocks were divided into four lots each. The town had wide streets with water running down each street. James Brinkerhoff helped build the waterways for town, and their farms on the outskirts. Water was taken from the Rio Virgin River. The womenfolk at the Brinkerhoff home had never had water so handy, just at their front door almost, in a ditch. Next President Young asked the Saints to build a cotton mill and raise cotton. The first year one hundred thousand pounds of cotton were raised. "This," said Brigham, "will be Utah's Dixie." Brigham Young built a home in St. George and each winter spent much time at his winter home. It took him six weeks to travel from Salt lake to St. George, holding conferences along the way and the same going back in the spring. The Brinkerhoff families liked St. George. The climate was warm. Sometimes the summer here was more than they could bear, but the winters were nice enough to make the difference.
One Sunday afternoon in the spring of 1867, after the family had all been to church, James took his three wives for a drive in their new buggy. They went out to the farm where James changed the water to a dryer spot. "I think," said James, "we have finally found our home. We have been all over this land of America. First, Sally and I were married in Sempronius, Cayuga County, New York. then we moved to Niles in the same county. There, three daughters were born. We joined the Church in 1841. Then in 1843 we moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. Then after the Prophet Joseph was murdered, we went to Winter Quarters, Nebraska; then to Great Salt Lake City; then to Centerville. Now here we are in St. George, but I think we arethrough moving."
"I hope so, Brother Brinkerhoff," said Rebecca. "I for one am tired of living in a wagon, cooking on a bonfire, washing clothes in the creek, and caring for sick children in a cold wagon, bathing in a tub. Here at least the boys can bathe in the river."
"But," said Sally, "if the Lord wants us to move on, we will go."
"Then you will go on without me because this is where I am going to stay. At least here the boys don't have to herd cows bare-footed in the snow like they did in Centerville.", said Eliza Jane.
"One thing we have learned," said James, "is the law of obedience."
"And the law of sacrifice," said Rebecca.
Work was started on the St. George temple in the spring of 1867, just a few days before Rebecca's son Jesse was born on May 26th. James and his boys were among the first men to work on digging the foundation of the temple with teams and scrapers. In June of 1867, Brigham Young asked James to go on a mission. "But who will take care of my families?" asked James.
"Take them with you," said President Young. "I want you to go with some other families farther south. Go to the Muddy River and build a community. There will be a lot of land there where you can expand and where your sons can make their
homes. We want to expand our territory as much as we can. It will be the largest state in the Union," said Brigham.
There were a lot of tears shed that night when James, after evening prayer told his family. "Bother Brigham has asked that we move one more time. We will have a lot of room out there, and the weather is warm, too."
So, once again the plow and scraper, shovels, forks, pots, kettles, clothing, bedding, dried apples and apricots, dried corn, the churn, bacon, broom, mops, dishes, trunks were loaded into the wagons. The straw ticks (mattresses) were emptied because they took up too much room, and they could be filled again when they got there. They were emptied and filled once a year anyway. The Muddy Mission was hard on the Saints. The ones who were called almost starved to death. They did not have enough water for their crops and not enough food for the animals, and the Indians made war on them and stole all they could carry away. Indians came to war with the Saints on the Muddy, and the Saints gave them food to make peace with them. They the Indians kept coming and with faces painted, and threatened to kill them if they didn't give them bread. Sometimes the last loaf of bread was given to the Indians, leaving the children without food. Going to bed hungry was not uncommon.1
Rebecca had one son, born at West Point on August 24, 1870, who she named Ira. Early in the year of 1872 the Saints, who were called to settle the Muddy River, were released by President Young. They abandoned their homes, partly due to oppressive taxation levied against them by the new state of Nevada, which had been created out of the western portion of the Territory of Utah.
"Where will we go this time?" said James.
"Back to St. George," said Sally. So the families loaded everything back into the wagons, and the families headed back to St. George. They only stayed in St. George a short while, staying with friends. Then they moved on the Orderville, Utah.
While in St. George, James was able to buy a stove for his wives. it was the first stove they had since they left Nauvoo, Illinois. They had been cooking in the fireplace or a bonfire. They also bought a better lamp, so that they would not have to use so manycandles.
The road to Orderville was long and hard. (The Mount Carmel tunnel was not built.) So, they went the long way around. The Brinkerhoffs joined the United Order, but they only lived there one summer. James could see the United Order was not what it should be. The people were not all equal. The ones at the head were living better than the ones doing the work. Although the plan was a good one, human greed crept in. So after one summer in the United Order, everything they had was loaded back into their wagons. ready to move on.
James lost almost all he had at the Muddy Mission. Now he was getting tired of moving. He was 55 years old and had been on the move most of his life. So, he bought a small farm at Glendale, Utah, only five miles from Orderville. First they moved into an old log fort that had been abandoned seven years before because of trouble with the Indians. "I will not get in another wagon," said Rebecca. "I will walk and help drive the cattle." So Rebecca Brinkerhoff walked to their new home in Glendale, Utah.
Eliza Jane said, "If I wasn't afraid I would have by baby on the way, I would walk, too." The Brinkerhoffs arrived at their new home December 23,1871, just before Christmas. Christmas morning was exciting because Eliza Jane gave birth to a son, Wilford. This was to be her last child.
"And we thought Santa Claus didn't know where we had moved to," said Sally.
James and his boys had sheep and cattle which they kept on the mountain in the summer and in the valley in the winter. The next few years were good ones for James and his families. On March 10, 1873, Rebecca's daughter, Eliza Edith, was born at
Glendale. On March 4, 1875, James Brinkerhoff, who had only been sick a few days in his life, died of sun stroke in Glendale at age 59. He was buried in Glendale. Just four months after his death, on July 2, 1875, Rebecca
gave birth to a daughter, Loretta, at Glendale. James Brinkerhoff had been on the move all his life. He had answered every call that Brigham Young had asked of him. He had lived a hard life. Yet it was full of joy and sorrow, sunshine and rain, peace and happiness. He had learned to share, had learned the law of sacrifice, and the law of obedience. He had kept the faith.
In 1878, three years after the death of James Brinkerhoff, Rebecca took her family and moved once more in a wagon to Huntington, Utah, a distance of 275 miles. Rebecca's oldest child, Clark, was twenty-four years old. Her youngest was three. Jesse, her eleven year old son, stayed with his sister Margaret, who had married James Swapp, November 22, 1875. Mary Caroline was married in 1874. Rebecca moved to Huntington just as the town was being laid out and got one of the choice lots. They drew lots, to see who got what lot. Her lot was on Main Street on the South side of town. Rebecca married a man by the name of Garner in her later life. Rebecca later moved to Salt Lake, where she did seamstress work, then she move to Price, Utah where she died December 23, 1904. She was buried in Huntington.
Sally Ann took her family and moved to Thurber (Bicknell), Utah where she died February 8, 1895. Eliza Jane stayed with her family in Glendale, Utah, where she died in 1905. She was buried in Glendale.
*{The dates show that Rebecca's brother died December 14, 1841, and therefore could not have joined the Mormon Battalion. However, legend said that one Hawk boy did join.}
