I feel I wouldn't be doing my civic duty without blogging about Pioneers. Or about my pioneer ancestry. It's hard work, but somebody's gotta do it.
Hannah Thornock (my great-great-great grandmother on my father's side) was three months old when her parents and five older siblings boarded the ship Golconda to emigrate to the United States, specifically to meet with the rest of the Mormons in the Salt Lake Valley. The ship left Liverpool, England on February 4th, 1854, and arrived in New Orleans on March 18th.
From there they went to Kansas City and outfitted themselves for the nine week trek over the plains and rockies to Salt Lake City!
From there they went to Kansas City and outfitted themselves for the nine week trek over the plains and rockies to Salt Lake City!
"In addition to all the heavy labor of assembling the wagons, training the young oxen, constructing pasture fences and corrals and all the camping and household chores, there was a lot of time for church and social activities. From the middle of April to the middle of June the days were warm and nights cool, a delightful time of year. The seven Branches of the church as organized on the Golconda continued to function during this nine—week period in the camping grounds. Meetings were held five times a week, including the dances and socials for the Branches and the whole conference. The most memorable and encouraging hymn which was sung at each meeting was ‘‘Come, Come, Ye Saints." (Please watch the Video of the Mo Tab singing Mack Wilberg's rendition of this beautiful Pioneer Hymn!)
"The Thornock Family worked diligently in Salt Lake City for about two years. They were filled with joy when a lovely daughter, Sarah Ann, was born on April 16, 1856, nearly two years after little Mary Ann had died. By this time they were searching for some land to build a more permanent home and get back to farming and gardening- work they were used to in England. They found “just the place” in the Farmington area about 16 miles to the north. The Thornock family was involved in all the activities of Farmington for 14 years 1857-71."
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John W. Hess and his wife, Emeline Bigler Hess were among the early saints who lived with persecution in Missouri and Illinois. John lived and grew up around the Prophet Joseph Smith before his martyrdom in 1844.
"Brother Hess says he has never seen any one else that he has loved as he loved the Prophet Joseph Smith. He can remember of Joseph's taking him on his lap at different times, and of putting his own arms around the beloved Prophet's neck and being embr
aced by him; and that, being thus clasped to the noble, generous, mighty heart of the Prophet, gave him a heavenly sensation never to be described or forgotten."
John and Emeline married in the Nauvoo Temple before it was burned down by angry mobs.
They made their way westward to unknown territory with the rest of the saints in 1846. The two of them enlisted in the Mormon Battalion, he as a private, and she as a laundress. Together they marched to San Diego, anticipating a fight, but they in fact had a very peaceful journey. They returned to meet the saints in what was later known as the Salt Lake Valley on July 29, 1847.
Said John of their circumstances after leaving the Battalion:
“I was now a free man in a country untried, one thousand miles from where any supplies could be obtained, and only the outfit of a discharged soldier, which consisted of a small tent, a sheet-iron kettle, a mess pan, two tin plates, two spoons, two knives and forks, a pair of badly worn blankets, two old quilts, ten pounds of flour, and my dear, precious wife, Emeline, who had been with me through all the trials and hardships and endured them all without a murmer. God bless her -- had it not been for her noble spirit to comfort me, I think many times I would have despaired, because of the gloomy outlook. I concluded a faint heart would not buy a baby frock (although we were not blessed with one at this time), and
began to get out house logs to put up a shelter for the winter.”
John and Emeline's first born son was named Jacob- and he married Hannah Thornock! They were married in the Endowment House on February 16, 1868. (The Salt Lake Temple was not yet completed at that time)
I am so proud of my pioneer heritage! I love learning about my ancestors.
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