Daniel Spencer, Jr

1794 - 1868  (74 years)  Submit Photo / Document    Has 2 ancestors and 35 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Daniel Spencer
  Suffix	Jr
  Birth	20 Jul 1794	West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States
  Gender	Male
  Initiatory (LDS)	13 Dec 1845	NAUVO
  FamilySearch ID	KWJ4-ZH3
  Death	15 Dec 1868	Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
  Burial	Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
  Person ID	I17207	mytree
  Last Modified	25 Feb 2024

  
  

  Father	Daniel Spencer,   b. 14 May 1764, East Haddam, Middlesex, Connecticut, United States d. 26 Nov 1843, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States (Age 79 years)
  Mother	Chloe Willson,   b. 24 May 1765, Richmond, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States d. 22 Jan 1845, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States (Age 79 years)
  Marriage	9 Jan 1788	West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States
  Family ID	F8524	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Sophronia Eliza Pomeroy,   b. 21 Jun 1805, West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States d. 5 Oct 1832, West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States (Age 27 years)
  Marriage	16 Jan 1823	West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States
  Children	1. Claudius Victor Spencer,   b. 2 Apr 1824, West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States d. 5 Jan 1910, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 85 years)
  Family ID	F8516	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Sep 2024

  
  

  Family 2	Sarah Lester,   b. 3 Jan 1805, Great Barrington, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States d. 1 Oct 1845, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States (Age 40 years)
  Marriage	30 Jun 1834	West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States
  Children	1. Amanda Spencer,   b. 12 Jun 1835, West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States d. 30 Aug 1838, West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States (Age 3 years)   2. Son 1 Spencer,   b. 1837, West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States d. Abt 1837, West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States (Age 0 years)   3. Son 2 Spencer,   b. 1840, West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States d. 1840, West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States (Age 0 years)   4. Mary Leone Spencer,   b. 17 Feb 1843, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States d. 24 Jan 1929, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 85 years)
  Family ID	F8517	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Sep 2024

  
  

  Family 3	Mary Spencer,   b. 12 Apr 1824, West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States d. 6 Aug 1846, Iowa Township, Wright, Iowa, United States (Age 22 years)
  Marriage	6 Jan 1846	Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States
  Children	1. Daniel Spencer,   b. 5 Aug 1846, East side of Missouri River, Iowa, United States d. 5 Aug 1846, Iowa, United States (Age 0 years)
  Family ID	F8518	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Sep 2024

  
  

  Family 4	Emily Slafter Thompson,   b. 13 Aug 1819, Norwich, New London, Connecticut, United States d. 15 May 1895, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 75 years)
  Marriage	25 Jan 1847	Winter Quarters, Douglas, Nebraska, United States
  Children	1. Jared Spencer,   b. 29 Dec 1847, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 14 Mar 1866, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 18 years)   2. Aurelia Spencer,   b. 25 Sep 1849, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 14 Sep 1871, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 21 years)   3. Sophia Spencer,   b. 28 Oct 1851, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. Abt 1852, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 0 years)   4. Emma Spencer,   b. 28 Mar 1853, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 7 Oct 1934, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 81 years)   5. John Daniel Spencer,   b. 27 Jun 1858, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 16 Jun 1947, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 88 years)   6. Josephine Spencer,   b. 30 Apr 1861, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 28 Oct 1928, Norwalk, Los Angeles, California, United States (Age 67 years)
  Family ID	F8519	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Sep 2024

  
  

  Family 5	Mary Woollerton,   b. 22 Jun 1826, Thrussington, Leicestershire, England d. 5 Feb 1904, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 77 years)
  Marriage	10 Sep 1850	Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
  Family ID	F8520	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Sep 2024

  
  

  Family 6	Mary Jane Cutcliffe,   b. 5 Jul 1835, Combe Martin, Devonshire, England d. 28 Jun 1909, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 73 years)
  Marriage	27 Dec 1856	Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
  Children	+ 1. Alvira Spencer,   b. 6 Oct 1858, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 30 Dec 1931, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 73 years)   2. Lydia Elizabeth Spencer,   b. 13 Nov 1860, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 1 Feb 1941, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 80 years)   3. Son 1 Spencer,   b. 1863, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 1863, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 0 years)   4. Son 2 Spencer,   b. 1863, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 1863, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 0 years)   5. Samuel George Spencer,   b. 14 Feb 1864, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 26 Apr 1951, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 87 years)   6. Amelia Spencer,   b. 1 Mar 1866, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 13 Nov 1947, Mount Pleasant, Sanpete, Utah, United States (Age 81 years)
  Family ID	F128	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Sep 2024

  
  

  Family 7	Sarah Jane Gray,   b. 6 Jul 1842, York, Yorkshire, England d. 10 May 1914, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 71 years)
  Marriage	27 Dec 1856	Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
  Children	1. Sophronia Spencer,   b. 15 Sep 1859, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 9 Dec 1948, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 89 years)   2. Orson Spencer,   b. 26 Sep 1861, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 23 Jun 1864, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 2 years)   3. Mark Spencer,   b. 30 May 1864, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 25 Sep 1928, Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota, United States (Age 64 years)   4. Grove Spencer,   b. 25 Jun 1868, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 6 Aug 1926, Cardston, Alberta, Canada (Age 58 years)
  Family ID	F8521	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Sep 2024

  
  

  Family 8	Elizabeth Ann Funnell,   b. 24 May 1833, Norwich, Norfolk, England d. 21 Sep 1920, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 87 years)
  Marriage	27 Dec 1856	Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
  Children	1. Henry Wilson Spencer,   b. 14 May 1858, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 8 Jan 1924, Blackfoot, Bingham, Idaho, United States (Age 65 years)   2. Georgena Spencer,   b. 14 Dec 1859, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 25 May 1947, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 87 years)   3. Mary Elizabeth Spencer,   b. 12 Jun 1862, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 7 Mar 1941, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 78 years)   4. Chloe Louise Spencer,   b. 16 Mar 1865, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 27 Nov 1905, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 40 years)   5. Cordelia Spencer,   b. 28 Aug 1868, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 24 Jan 1955, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 86 years)
  Family ID	F8522	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Sep 2024

  
  

  Family 9	Sarah Cowup McConochie,   b. 13 Apr 1814, Liverpool, Lancashire, England d. 11 Sep 1889, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 75 years)
  Marriage	13 Feb 1857	Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
  Family ID	F8523	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Sep 2024

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 20 Jul 1794 - West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States Marriage - 16 Jan 1823 - West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States Marriage - 30 Jun 1834 - West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States Initiatory (LDS) - 13 Dec 1845 - NAUVO Marriage - 6 Jan 1846 - Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States Marriage - 25 Jan 1847 - Winter Quarters, Douglas, Nebraska, United States Marriage - 10 Sep 1850 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Marriage - 27 Dec 1856 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Marriage - 27 Dec 1856 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Marriage - 27 Dec 1856 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Marriage - 13 Feb 1857 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Death - 15 Dec 1868 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Burial - - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  Daniel Spencer- Autobiography Respectfully dedicated to President George Q. Cannon, with discretio n o f publication. "I was one of eleven children, born to Daniel Spencer and Chloe Wilso n , my birth being on the 20th day of July, 1794, at West Stockbridge, Be rk shire County, Massachusetts. My father enlisted in the Continental Arm y a t the age of sixteen and remained with it until he witnessed the surr ende r of Yorktown. He was the son of Peter and Ruth Emmons Spencer. Pete r wa s a descendant of Gerard Spencer who settled at Lynn, Massachusett s in 16 45, and whose daughter Mehitable, married Daniel Cone who was th e first C one that settled in America, the site of Hadam, Connecticut, pu rchased fr om the Indians March 1662. In the fall of that year, Gerard Sp encer, Dani el Cone and twenty-six others, founded the settlement there . Gerard’s Eng lish ancestors were numerous in Bedford, England. During my childhood, the young and growing family of my father left n o s urplus means over and above their kind and generous support. Both par ent s were members of the Baptist church. They gave their children excell en t advice by precept and example, and were held in high esteem by thei r ne ighbors, both rich and poor. They sent me to the district school dur ing t he winter months until I about eleven years of age. Through this op portun ity I obtained a fair common school education. At twelve years o f age I w as sent to freighting marble with team to Hudson, distant abou t thirty mi les. At the age of fourteen I was placed in charge of my fath er’s farm, a nd was accorded much praise for my successful management. I n these earl y years I indulged a desire and hope to at some time becom e a merchant. A t the age of nineteen years I promised my father if he wo uld let me begi n life on my own account, I would present him with the fi rst hundred doll ars I could save up. He consented to this, and I was hir ed by one Josep h cone, living at Herr----ton, Lichtfield County, Connect icut, who sent m e with team and wagon leaded with merchandise to sell i n North and Sout h Carolina. I worked for him for two years and then ente red into busines s on my own account, and soon had several of my brother s engaged with m e in merchandise in the two states named, and in Georgi a and Alabama. W e spent the winters South and the summers in the New Eng land States. I ma de quite an amount of money and was able to do much mor e for my father th an the hundred dollars I had promised him. About 1820 , I entered into mer cantile business in my native town, forming a co-par tnership with Charle s and Bilson Boynton, as silent partners. I turned i n most of my salary a s manager, together with my profits, into the gener al store, intending i n time to become sole proprietor. During the time o f this partnership , I embraced "Mormonism". Not long after this those tw o took the benefi t of the bankruptcy act, through which I lost much mean s. Charles Boynto n afterwards became a minister and acted as chaplain i n the House of cong ress. Sharp criticisms of their course in bankruptc y were very prevalent , and I presume would have been more so if a Mormo n had not been the chie f loser. January 21, 1823, I was married to Sophronia E. Pomeroy, who was the da u ghter of General Grove Pomery (who was a member of the state assembl y o f Massachusetts, I think the year of 1801-2 by whom I had one son, Cl audi us Victor. She died October 5, 1832. Something over two years afte r her d eath I married Sarah Lester Van Schoonoven, who bore me two sons , who die d early, two daughters, Amanda and Mary Leone. In my early years I had entertained great reverence for God, and had so u ght Him often in secret prayer, but could not unite with any of the chu rc hes, nevertheless, at one time there came to me the conviction that ba pti sm by immersion was essential, and I journeyed about forty miles to m y br other Orson’s, who was a close Baptist minister, and he buried me i n th e water, in the likeness of the burial and resurrection of Christ, b u t I refused to take membership in the Baptist Church. During the winter of 1838, I met a Mormon elder on the street of our to w n who said he had been trying through the day to get a place where he c ou ld preach. He was poorly clad and some of his extremities were frost b itt en and he was altogether a peculiar looking minister. Being chairma n of t he School Board, I told him he could have the schoolhouse to preac h in, a nd I sent Edward Morgan (who for many years afterward kept a hote l at Lee , Mass.) to light and warm the room. When Morgan reached the hou se he fou nd parties inside who had locked him out and refused him admiss ion. Whe n he reported this, I told him to take an axe and if the partie s did no t open the door to chop it up and warm the room with it. I too k pains t o spread notice of the meeting, and sent my son to invite the P resbyteria n minister, Nathan Shaw, to hear the Elder. His answer was, "T ell your fa ther I would as soon go to hear the Devil preach." This comin g from an ol d friend, from one noted for his guarded and sanctimonious s peech seeme d to me marvelous. Later experience has solved it. The meetin g was largel y attended by members of the different churches, but at th e close, when t he Elder states that he was a stranger, 1300 miles from h ome without purs e or script and asked if anyone would keep him over nigh t, for Christ an d the Gospel’s sake, not an answer came from any churc h member. After a p ainful silence, I stepped from my seat into the ope n aisle, and invited h im home with me. I refused to discuss Mormonism wi th him, and next mornin g I took him to my store and clothed him comforta bly. In about a month h e came again. I obtained for him the Presbyteria n meetinghouse, and enter tained him as before. On leaving he left some b ooks, these I read and soo n became interested to the extent that I close d my store and business an d gave my whole attention to comparing the cla ims of the Mormons with th e Bible, and one forenoon while reading the Bo ok of Mormon, the convictio n came to me with great power that "Mormonis m was true, and involuntaril y I exclaimed, "My God, it is true but it wi ll cost me friends, kindred , and all I have on earth!" A few days after this, I sent notice to the entire townspeople that a t n oon of a certain date, I should be baptized by the Mormon Elder. A va st c oncourse came to see the ice broken in the river, and the ordinanc e perfo rmed. After I was confirmed, I spoke to the people in a new langu age, whi ch knowing me as they did created a profound sensation? I was or dained an d Elder and did much preaching in Berkshire County On the 19th of April, 1840, Elder Franklin d. Richards and Elder Steph e n Burnham organized a branch in our town of thirty members, among thes e w as a merchant by the name of Crandall, and his wife, a sister of sena to r Concklin, another merchant by the name of DeVol who for some years w a s a judge at Council bluffs, and still another merchant, a Mr. Hunt. In de ed without exception the standing of the members in society was the be st , and few sections of our country have had greater testimonies of th e tru th of Mormonism than did that region. From the adjoining town cam e the Ri chards family, prominent for so many years among our people. After my baptism, my good father and mother and my good Baptist broth e r Orson told me in an interview that they did not wish any further asso ci ation with me until I gave up my awful delusion. However, in time I pe rfo rmed the same ordinance for my brother as a Mormon Elder that he ha d onc e performed for me as a Baptist elder and I had the pleasure of gat herin g father and mother to Nauvoo. I had accumulated considerable property, owning much real estate, b u t I learned that a general impression prevailed that all Mormons must g at her to Nauvoo, and that this property would be got from me very chea p i f they combined to without offers. Under these circumstances I approa che d a man who had been trying for some time to sell a heavily wooded an d ti mbered farm of a hundred and sixty acres, with a share in a sawmill . I to ld him I would give him so much for the property on the conditio n that n o one should know of my offer until the execution of the deeds . He compli ed with this, and as soon as the townspeople knew it the repo rts flew aro und that I was not going to Nauvoo, that I was too smart t o let the ‘Morm on’ leaders get my means. In the meantime I contracted with the proprietor of the Angles Iron Fur n aces to deliver several hundred cords of wood; bought horses and wagon s , entering in to business as thougHishould remain there a lifetime, usi n g my mill right to saw whatever timber was fit, into lumber. This plac e d me on about the same business vantage ground that I had held before b ap tism, which I improved in disposing of all my real estate, except th e 16 0 acres farm to good advantage. I realized in wood and lumber from t he fa rm almost its first cost, and had it lefty for sale on the basis th at whe ther it brought much or little, it was almost all clear profit . I trade d it for a good figure for broadcloth and satinet, and with sho rt warning , in company with my brother Hyrum, Daniel Hendricks and thei r families a nd mine, started with teams and wagon for Nauvoo, and in tha t way travele d from West Stockbridge, Berkshire county, Massachusetts t o Salt Lake Cit y, presumably as long a wagon ride as any of the gathere d Saints have had . In leaving my native town, I had many warnings from m any well meaning f riends, who were so fully prejudiced against Mormons a s to consider tha t no good thing could come to me and my family by goin g among them. Proph ecies were plentiful that I should lose all my worldl y possessions and pr omises abundant that if I would write back that I wi shed to return they w ould raise means for my deliverance. Though I have been peeled, robbed and driven by a mob, I have prosper e d in worldly things far more than those who gave me warnings, and the a cq uaintance I formed with Joseph Smith confirmed my faith in the wor k I emb raced. I entered considerable government land adjoining Nauvoo, f enced an d improved a 160 acre farm six miles out of Nauvoo, built a goo d substant ial two-story brick house with extensive and good barn and out houses in t he city. In 1842, I filled a mission to Canada; in 1843, I filled a mission to t h e Indian Nation, and during that year was elected a member of the Cit y Co uncil of Nauvoo, and in 844, by vote of the council was elected Mayo r o f that city and held the office until its charter was repealed. The s am e year I was sent on a mission to Massachusetts. During these years th rea tening of the mobs had been violent. Joseph and Hyrum Smith had bee n crue lly murdered while under the protection of the governor of the Sta te, an d in February 1846, I with many others were forced to flee from Na uvoo, c rossing the Mississippi on the ice, and seeking refuge in the wil ds of Io wa with snow on the ground. We here lost some of our dearest fri ends an d relations by the hardships and exposures they were called to me et, prin cipally among them my brother Orson’s wife, daughter of Deacon S amuel Cur tis, Canaan, Columbia County, N. Y. Her death and that of other s was dire ctly due to our compulsory exodus from Nauvoo. Her father, mot her, and ki ndred were according to the light they had, exemplary and dev oted Christi ans. To such as these were the western mobocrats appealing f or countenanc e and aid, while they were hounding their children to mos t cruel deaths . Not many weeks after my brother Orson lost his wife, m y wife Mary weake ned under the exposure and hardships of the journey, an d was like many ot hers, laid to rest by the roadside, none of their kind red having today an y recognition of where they lay. I wish here to make affectionate and honorable mention of my brother Hy r um, whose life before association with our people, and his devotion an d l oyalty to the Gospel after embracing it, was worthy of the highest an d no blest recognition. He had left Nauvoo with the first outgoing Saint s as C aptain of fifty in the company of Hundred, organized under my pres idency . During the journey from Nauvoo to Garden Grove, he organized th e labo r force of the camp, and took contracts from the settlers borderin g our r oute of travel, to chop timber, split rails, and thereby procurin g susten ance for the camp, and acquiring other much needed means for th e feeble a nd ailing. The next morning after his arrival at Garden Grov e he voluntar ily started back to Nauvoo. Through great efforts he succee ded in emigrat ing from there several poor families, also sold some of th e property lef t there by the three Spencer brothers, taking payment in s tock cattle bu t immediately trumped up writs were manufactured, and atta chments issue d to hold the property until the mob which was gathering sh ould come int o Nauvoo. By almost super-human efforts, he escaped with th e cattle and m eans, reaching the camp of the Saints at Pisgah, althoug h he did so a s a martyr—his exposure, anxieties, and labors had killed h im. He died so me miles east of Pisgah, and his body was brought there fo r burial, his g rave being fenced and marked by two stones, inscribed wit h the letter ‘H. S.’ In pursuing our journey west from this point we followed the Indian tra i l across Iowa to Council Bluffs, camping much of the time in close prox im ity to Indians, and herding our cattle on their grounds. We had not tr oub le with them for while we were suffering so cruelly from the Christia n mo bs the hearts of the savage seemed changed, and softened and true sy mpath y was extended by them to us in a most touching degree. It was her e prove d as it has been often proved by our people, that having the gosp el the y had also with them the power of God unto Salvation. We tarried during the winter of ’46 and ’47 near the banks of the Missou r i River. I acted as Bishop during these memorable months when the ver y es sence of manhood and womanhood was tested, and I leave this affirmat ion t hat the test was not only heroically met, but met with that divinit y of p atience and that only a people can show who are divinely inspired. I fitted out from this camp Francis Cobbs, Elijah Newman, and Levi Kend a l with two yoke of oxen, wagon provisions, seed grain, farming tools, e tc ., and who came as pioneers, arriving on the site of Salt Lake city, t h e 25th of July 1847, and if their testimony be true, these oxen drew t h e plow that turned the first sod in Utah Territory. After the pioneers left, my re-organized company of 100 started wes t i n June with Ira Eldredge as Captain of Fifty, following on the Indian s an d trappers’ trail which led to the north fork of the Platte River. T his j ourney was a continuous panorama of incidents. Only an arms lengt h as i t were, back of us was our old New England life, our New England r elative s and associates, our fine homes and farms, and still nearer, onl y a shor t drive back, lay the home and farm which we had just been drive n from in to exile, but here morning, noon and night, this seemingly boun dless plai ns, red men by the thousands, buffalo by the tens of thousands . Here to u s was a new world. Here for weeks no rain fell, and for month s no dew coo led or moistened the arid air. Here the very atmosphere seem ed to lie an d deceive in all the estimates of distance. Objects seemingl y ten miles a way would prove to be twenty or more. Here an animal coul d be killed at e ventide, "jerked," hung by the wagon side, and cured wit hout taint as w e traveled on. We had read of the children of Israel in t he Wilderness, b ut here were the children of Israel in very fact. Thes e ancient ones wer e scientifically preserved by God. So were we. Their f amine was fed by ma nna, ours with quail. They subdued enemies with the s word., Ours, the mos t savage of savages, were softened and made in som e respects to ministe r to our wants. I wish it to go on record that th e hand of God was as muc h or more visible with the modern Israel, in bri nging and planting and su ccessfully sustaining them in this then deser t land, as it was with the a ncient Israel. When all the facts come to li ght it will be the pleasure a nd justice of the world to acknowledge it . Then it will be no longer said , "that the Lord God liveth that brough t the children of Israel out of th e land of Egypt," but "He liveth who h ath brought Israel out of all count ries in the latter days." I reached the present site of Salt Lake City with my company Septembe r 2 4, 1847, and was the first eastern emigrating company organized in Ju ne a t the Elk Horn, to reach the valley, and to move into what has bee n calle d the Old Fort. I engaged in farming and various industries, forming at one time a part n ership with Jacob Gates, J.C. Little and my son in opening a ranch in R us h Valley, from which we were unjustly ousted by Johnson’s Army at a lo s s to us of many thousands of dollars, and by members of whom my nephe w Ho ward O. was afterwards nearly murdered. I have realized the blessings of God in sustaining a large family in th i s once desert, having had in addition to the wives before named, Emil y Th ompson, by whom I had two sons, Jared and John D., and four daughter s Aur elia, Sophia, Emma and Josephine. December 27, 1856, Sarah Jane Gre y wa s sealed to me, who bore me three sons, Orson, Mark and Grove, and o ne da ughter, Sophronia. Elizabeth Funnel was also sealed to me, by who m I ha d four daughters, Georgiana, Elizabeth, Chloe and Cora, and one so n Henr y Wilson. The name of ‘Wilson’ was given to this son in memory o f Judge W ilson of Richmond Hill, Canadagua County, N.Y. who married my s ister Elec ta, who was the mother of Marcus Wilson, author of the serie s of schoolbo oks known as the "Wilson Series." Mary Jane Cutcliffe was a lso married t o me by whom I had three daughters, Alvira, Lydia, Amelia a nd one son Sam uel G. On February 7, 1849, I was appointed President of the Salt Lake Stak e o f Zion. At the general conference, Sept. 6, 1850, I was appointed wit h Ed ward Hunter and Willard Snow as a committee "to take care of and tra nsac t the business of the fund of gathering the poor." In 1852, I was ap point ed a missionary to Europe, arriving there December 20th. On the 14t h of M ay 1853, I was appointed first counselor to the President of the B ritis h Mission. March 15, 1856, I left Europe to act as agent in the Uni ted St ates to forward the through emigration of Saints to Utah. The outf ittin g points were Iowa City, Iowa, and Florence, Nebraska, from whenc e I arri ved in Salt Lake City, October 4, 1856, to resume the duties o f my callin g as President of the Stake. I have served as member of the Legislature of Utah, in the House 1851- 2 , 1856-7, 1858-9; and in the Council, 1861-2, 1862-3 and 1864-5. In reply to the oft repeated question what were my motives or expectati o ns in coming to Utah, I can only answer they were about the same as tho s e of my Pilgrim forefathers, to found a commonwealth where I could wors hi p God unmolested, and to aid in the fulfillment off a prophecy made b y Jo seph Smith before his death "that the Saints should become a numerou s peo ple in the Rocky Mountains. We outfitted for this great journey with oxen, cows and a wagon in whi c h we had hard tack, bacon, beans, potato chips, potato starch, dried pu mp kins, all in small amount, crossing the Mississippi River on the ice i n t he winter of 1846. All that I had from then till landing in Utah, Sep t. 1 847, I had to haul on wagons-- food, bedding, tools, seeds, all kind s o f hardware, seed grain, chicken, cats; everything save our clothing w hic h we carried easily on our person, and were not heavily weighted eith er , when we came to live six months on a ration of two ounces of flou r a da y from which to draw physical strength to carry the burden inciden t to ca rving out a home in the desert resulted in a lack of weight (phys ical wei ght) a blessing rather otherwise. I wish at the close of this memoir to bear record of a most interesti n g incident. When our first sowing of wheat headed out, hordes of cricke t s assailed it with such destructiveness that forty-eight hours would ha v e seen the entire settlement left without a vestige of grain substance . W hat would have been our fate here, left wholly destitute, over 900 mi le s from any supplies, in the fall of the year, can easily be conjecture d , especially as we had not faster transportation than ox teams. At thi s c ritical time, thousands of gulls came to our rescue, sarcastic, infid eli c statements have been made that the gulls were here before us and th at t hey came to the destruction of the crickets by instinct. I ask how t hat i nstinct brought them in, just the forty-eight hours that saved th e settle ment? And I will venture the assertion that an honest person can not be fo und who witnessed that occurrence, and has lived to the present , but wil l testify that there was a ratio of a thousand gulls to one hun dred tha t was ever seen here by us before, or has been here since. I foresee a future when the conditions of these people will be largel y c hanged, when the culture of the world will seek to measure arms wit h th e simplicity and inspiration of the Gospel. If these voicings of the pen should ever reach the Saints of the Salt La k e Stake over which God honored me to preside for some nineteen years , i t will be years after my natural voice will be hushed. But I desire t o em phasize a great truth once uttered by a great worthy, "God revealet h hi s secrets to his servants the Prophets,’ and there is safety for th e indi vidual, and the people in the channels they pilot." Daniel Spencer, Jr.