Sophina Alcesta Fuller b. 5 May 1843 Nashville, Lee, Iowa, United States d. 26 Dec 1930 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States: Our Family History

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1843 - 1930 (87 years)

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Name	Sophina Alcesta Fuller
Birth	5 May 1843	Nashville, Lee, Iowa, United States
Gender	Female
Initiatory (LDS)	5 Dec 1862	EHOUS
FamilySearch ID	KWN6-CHG
Death	26 Dec 1930	Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
Burial	28 Dec 1930	Provo, Utah, Utah, United States
Person ID	I51145	mytree
Last Modified	25 Feb 2024

Father	Amos Botsford Fuller, b. 26 Mar 1810, Stockholm, St. Lawrence, New York, United States d. 29 Mar 1853, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa, United States (Age 43 years)
Mother	Esther Smith, b. 20 Sep 1810, Stockholm, St. Lawrence, New York, United States d. 31 Oct 1856, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 46 years)
Marriage	8 Mar 1832	Stockholm, St. Lawrence, New York, United States
Family ID	F19017	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family George Washington Gee, Jr, b. 9 Oct 1841, Ambrosia, Lee, Iowa, United States d. 17 Sep 1919, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 77 years)

Marriage 4 May 1862 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States

Children

	1. George Washington Gee, III, b. 8 May 1864, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States d. 26 Mar 1865, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 0 years)
	2. Elias Amos Gee, b. 29 Jun 1868, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States d. 27 Apr 1936, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 67 years)
	3. Georgiana Gee, b. 15 Dec 1869, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States d. 5 Feb 1899, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 29 years)
	4. Mary Jane Gee, b. 8 Oct 1871, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States d. 16 May 1916, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 44 years)
	5. Esther Gee, b. 29 Oct 1875, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States d. 22 May 1942, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 66 years)
+	6. Sophina Alcesta Gee, b. 6 Aug 1876, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States d. 17 May 1959, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 82 years)
	7. Don Carlos Gee, b. 20 Apr 1878, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States d. 11 Jan 1949, Compton, Los Angeles, California, United States (Age 70 years)
	8. Bertha Victoria Gee, b. 31 May 1880, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States d. 27 Dec 1930, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 50 years)
	9. Martha Electa Gee, b. 28 Apr 1883, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States d. 13 May 1968, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 85 years)
	10. Adelia May Gee, b. 14 May 1885, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States d. 17 Feb 1964, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 78 years)

Family ID F19018 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 3 Sep 2024

Event Map

	Birth - 5 May 1843 - Nashville, Lee, Iowa, United States
	Marriage - 4 May 1862 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
	Initiatory (LDS) - 5 Dec 1862 - EHOUS
	Death - 26 Dec 1930 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
	Burial - 28 Dec 1930 - Provo, Utah, Utah, United States

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Notes

Obituary:
WIDOW, UTAH PIONEER, DIES
Mrs. Sophia Fuller Gee
Passes Away in Home of Daughter.

Mrs. Sophina Fuller Gee, widow of George W. Gee of Provo, died Frida y a t the home of her daughter, Mrs, Hyrum C. Smith, wife of Presiding Pa tria rch Smith, 1358 Yale avenue.
Funeral services will be held Sunday at 1 p. m. at the Provo Fifth war d c hapel. The body may be viewed at the home of her daughter, Mrs. J. K . Hod son, 57 North Fourth East Street, Provo, Saturday and Sunday.

Mrs. Gee was born at Nashville, Lee county, Iowa, May 5, 1843, the daugh t er of Amos B. Fuller and Esther Smith.

She accompanied her widowed mother, four brothers and a younger siste r t o Salt Lake, arriving August 17, 1856. She was a granddaughter of Asa he l Smith, an uncle of Joseph Smith.

She was married May 4, 1862 to George W. Gee in the Salt Lake endowmen t h ouse, and later moved to Provo.

She is survived by the following (children: Elias A. Gee, Provo; Mrs. Jo s eph S. Smith, Provo; Mrs. J. A. Hodson, Provo; Dan C. Gee, Salt Lake; M rs . Thomas G. Summer, Salt Lake; Mrs. Hyrum G. Smith, Salt Lake; Mrs. El vo n L. Jackson, Provo. thirty-seven grandchildren and thirty great-grand chi ldren.

HISTORY OF SOPHINA A. FULLER GEE
By Her daughter, Ina Gee Hodson June 1926

Sophina A. Fuller Gee's ancestors back to her third great grandparent s o n both her father and mother's side were born in America. She is a de scen dant on her father's side of Robert Fuller and Margaret Waller, wh o cam e to America in 1638 and settled in Salem, Massachusetts. They wer e her f ourth great grandparents.

Their son Benjamin and his wife Judith Smith were her third great grandp a rents. Amos Fuller and Priscilla Woodworth were her second great grandp ar ents.

James Fuller and Abiah Bottsford were her first great grandparents. Luth e r Fuller and Lorana Mitchell were her grandparents. And now we come t o he r father whose name was Amos Bottsford Fuller.

On her mother's side she is a descendent of Samuel Smith and Rebecca Cur t is who were her third great grandparents, and his son Samuel and Prisci ll a Gould were her second great grandparents. Asahel Smith and Mary Dut y we re her grandparents and their daughter Esther Smith was her mother . The e arly settlers of the New England States did considerable moving a round. I f the conditions were not favorable for the kind of work the fam ily did , they would move to another part. For this reason we often fin d our ance stor's fathers coming from one state and our ancestor's mothe r from anoth er. This moving around had its advantages as well as its dis advantages. B esides trying to improve their financial conditions, it gav e the familie s the opportunity of enlarging their circle of acquaintance s. Thus the yo ung people would meet, court, marry and often move to an e ntirely differe nt locality to begin their life's work together. So it wa s with the ances tors of Sophina A. Fuller Gee.

About the same time the children of Asahel Smith 1st and Mary Duty wer e g rowing up in New Hampshire there was a family by the name of Schellin ge r (Abraham Schellinger and Jane Johnson Schellinger) in Connecticut wh o w ere trying to do their bit to make the New England States a better pl ac e in which to live. In the course of moving around the Smiths and th e Sch ellingers became friends, and Asahel Smith II married Elizabeth Sch elling er. They were the grandparents of Sophina A. Fuller Gee. Asahel Sm ith I I was born in Windham, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, May 21, 17 73. H e was an uncle of the Prophet Joseph Smith and was the third Patria rch o f the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Elizabeth Schell inger , his wife, was born in Chatham, Hartford, Connecticut, December 1 , 1775 . This couple moved to Stockholm, St. Lawrence County, New York. T hey wer e blessed with eight children, three boys and five girls. Esthe r Smith wa s the fourth child born to this couple and she was married t o Amos Bottsf ord Fuller March 8, 1832. They were the parents of Mrs. Gee . Amos Bottsfo rd Fuller was born in Stockholm, St. Lawrence County, Ne w York March 26 , 1810. He was a Colonel in the Nauvoo Legion at the tim e of the martyrdo m of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. He joined the Church in 18 36 and filled seve ral short missions in the States before starting West.

Esther Smith, his wife, was born in the same town as her husband, Septem b er 20, 1810. She also joined the Church in 1836. There were nine childr e n born to them, five boys and four girls. They lived in Stockholm unti l a fter their first three children were born, a boy and a girl who die d at b irth and Jesse J. Fuller. Then they moved to Fredricksburg, Ray Co unty, M issouri where Mary Adelia was born. She became the wife of J. Wil liam Lew is, who owned the Lewis Hall in Provo where the Brigham Young Ac ademy wa s first started. He was also the owner of the block where a par t of the B righam Young University buildings now stand. After Mary Adeli a was born t hey moved to Nashville, Lee County, Iowa where Luburn Lavoni a and Sophin a Alcesta were born. They then moved to Voree, Wolworth Coun ty, Wisconsi n where Amos Bottsford Jr. was born September 28, 1846.

In the early part of November 1848 this family, consisting of father, mo t her and five children, the oldest 13 years old and the youngest less th a n two years, packed their belongings and bade farewell to all who wer e de ar to them in Nashville and started for Council Bluffs, where a ban d of S aints were gathering preparatory to coming to the Rocky Mountains . The su bject of this history was then four and a half years old, havin g been bor n May 5, 1843. The family traveled all day, and when night cam e stopped a t Forte Des Moines, Iowa. Here the soldier’s barracks were de serted, wit h the exception of a few soldiers who were on guard. It was r aining ver y hard and during the night it snowed. The next morning they s tarted on t heir journey, and after traveling a few miles found the road s almost impa ssable. As her mother was not very well, her father decide d to go back t o Forte Des Moines and wait until the weather improved. Bu t it continue d to snow, accompanied by a blizzard. The temperature dropp ed to the free zing point. Under the circumstances it was deemed best t o make the desert ed barracks their home for the winter.

Her father was a blacksmith by trade, so he set up his forge and began s h oeing horses and repairing wagons for the Saints who passed by on thei r w ay to the Rocky Mountains. Soon after this the Fort, was chosen to b e on e of the wayside stations and her father was asked by the leaders t o sta y for a while to assist the passing immigrants by doing their repai r work . He did so, and months later, under very unfavorable circumstance s a bab y girl was born to them. The mother came very near giving her lif e, but t he hand of the Lord was over her and she finally recovered. Thi s little g irl was given the name of Esther Victoria.

Early the following spring a Dutchman, whose name was not remembered, a n d who was a boot, shoe, and a harness maker and a Mr. Haymond, who w a s a wagon maker, went into business in the same place with Mr. Fuller . Th is was in 1849 when the gold rush was on in California and it brough t o n an immense immigration. So among the three workmen wagons and harne sse s were made and repaired, horseshoeing was done, boots and shoes wer e mad e and mended for the moving mass of travelers.

Mrs. Fuller was a very good tailor and was kept busy making suits and ov e rcoats and mending trousers and coats for those needing this kind of wo rk . This was indeed a very busy corner, and many times the yard was fill e d with travelers and their outfits for days and weeks waiting for the n ec essary repairing to be done before going farther on their journey.

Mr. Fuller bought 160 acres of land from the Indians for a small sum a n d built a very comfortable log house on it for his family. The old For t h ad grown into a real town and the log cabins had been replaced by ver y ni ce cottages. By this time the wagon maker and shoemaker had left fo r th e West and Mr. Fuller was taking full charge of the needs of the tra velin g public, which seemed to increase all the time. The Fuller famil y was ge tting very anxious to join the Saints in Utah and were now pract ically pr epared to leave, but the mother was in a delicate condition an d the fathe r, fearing a repetition of the previous time and the danger s of being awa y from help on the unsheltered plains in hot summer, thoug ht it wise to w ait a little longer.

On July 3, 1852 their last child was born, a boy, who was named Asahel L u ther. When this child was but a few months old the husband and father w a s striken with typhoid fever and after suffering for two or three mont h s died, leaving the wife and seven children to battle with pioneer lif e w ithout the help of the head of the household. From the events that ha ppen ed, it seemed that Mr. Fuller was not to come to the valley of the M ounta ins, but he was to prepare the way for his family to come. It seeme d impo ssible for the widow to pull up stakes and leave until she could d ispos e of her property. Four of the children were in school and the onl y thin g to do was to be patient until conditions were such that she coul d leave . Mrs. Fuller would never allow herself to become discouraged--ev er havin g faith in her Patriarchal blessing which was given by her grand father, A sahel Smith, in which she was promised that she would live to s ee her chi ldren gathered to the Valleys of the Mountains. During the tim e the wido w was making preparations to leave, the two older children, Je sse Jr. an d Mary Adelia, were married.

Early in 1856 she sold her property and on June 3 they bade farewell t o t he old home and commenced the long journey. Jesse Jr. and his young w if e came with the family, but Mary Adelia remained with her husband in D e s Moines for a little while longer. Twenty miles from home was the fir s t stop the family made, and their hearts were filled with joy and thank sg iving to God for his blessings, for they knew they were now really o n the ir way to Zion. They had two wagons, four yoke of oxen, a two-seate d bugg y and two horses for the mother and children, and a wagon and tw o horse s for Jesse Jr. and his wife. There was a young widow named Emil y Parkin s who came with the family and was a great help to the mother an d littl e ones. She lived with the family until she married again, whic h was a fe w months after reaching Utah.

They drove into Salt Lake Valley on August 17, 1856. Elias Smith, her un c le, and probate judge in Salt Lake for many years, met the family at t h e mouth of Immigration Canyon and took them to his home, where they we r e made comfortable until they found a place in which to move, locate d a l ittle north of the Temple block on West Temple Street, just one-hal f bloc k from the uncle's home. The family was comfortable and happy her e for th ree months when the mother took sick and died on October 31, 185 6, leavin g five children in the care of the older brother Jesse .

In February 1857 Jesse Jr. and wife brought the children to Provo, whe r e he found employment in a blacksmith shop. They lived in a little hom e o n South, Fifth West. All went well for seven months when death visite d th e family once more and took two from them. September 3 the young wif e die d and the following day Esther Victoria, the nine year-old sister , was ca lled home. The funeral and burial were the same day. This left f our broth ers and the sister, Sophina A. who was thirteen years old, grie f stricke n and lonely.

The next summer on the 24th of July Sophina A. went to Salt Lake to li v e with her Uncle Elias’ family. She was now 14 years old, the age whe n al l girls need the loving care of a mother, and she received it from h er Au nt Lucy Smith, who was a mother in very deed. She attended school , learne d to spin and weave and knit, and helped with the household duti es and th us her life went on until the day before she was nineteen year s old whe n she was married to George Washington Gee on the fourth of Ma y 1862 in S alt Lake City.

The ceremony was performed by the Uncle, Judge Elias Smith. The endowme n t house had not been furnished long and the older people had first priv il eges of endowments and sealings, so this couple had to wait but thei r opp ortunity came the following December 16th, and so all of their chil dren w ere born under the Everlasting Covenant, Her husband came to Uta h with hi s widowed mother in the year 1851. His father having died whil e on a miss ion when the baby George W. was only a few months old, leavin g George W . II with his mother to struggle alone.

In 1857 when Johnson's Army invaded Utah and the Saints made preparatio n s to leave Salt Lake and move to other localities, George W. and his mo th er came to Provo to make their home.

The day after George and Sophina were married and it was the bride's bir t hday, they loaded her belongings, said goodbye to dear ones in Salt La k e City, and started for Provo where they were to make their future hom e . They left about noon in a wagon drawn by horses and when night came t he y were about half way. They drove out to the side of the road, had sup pe r and made camp for the night. It was a beautiful moonlight evening an d t heir hearts were full of love and gratitude for each other and the ma ny b lessings they were enjoying. They reached Provo in time to have thei r noo n meal the following day. Her husband lived with his mother on wha t is no w University Avenue, where the State Bank is located. Mother Ge e lived wi th them until she died sixteen years later .

Two years after they were married Mr. Gee built a house on the corne r o f Second North and Fourth East, where all of their children were born . I n the early spring of 1864 the husband was called on a mission, and o n th e 27th of March left for England. Twelve days after he left their fi rst b aby came, a boy, and he was named George Washington III. This littl e on e filled the mother’s heart with joy for eleven months, when he cont racte d Diphtheria and died, leaving sorrow and loneliness in the home, t hat n o one can realize except those who have gone through it .

Her husband spent three and a half years in the mission field, being fir s t sent to Sweden where he labored for two years and then returned to En gl and for one and one-half years. I would like to relate a great testimo n y which Mr. Gee received soon after reaching Sweden, He had studied th e l anguage some, but could not speak it very well. When at one of the Su nda y morning meetings, he was prompted to arise and express his feeling s wit h the few words he knew. The words of that language came to him jus t as f ast has he could speak them. His whole being was thrilled with th e spiri t of the Lord, and he spoke very fluently and with great power fo r more t han half an hour. From then on he had no trouble with the langua ge .

While Mr. Gee was on his mission his wife managed to keep herself, and o c casionally send a few dollars to her husband. The first winter she car e d for a motherless boy six years old. His name was Jackman. His fathe r pa yed for his care. Then she cared for an invalid woman for several mo nths . Then the next season a schoolteacher boarded with her, and the las t win ter she taught school. This, with sewing, knitting and mending sh e did fo r others, and the help of kind neighbors who never forgot her, s he manage d very nicely. She has always thanked her Heavenly Father for h is goodnes s to her.

Mr. Gee returned in September 1867. On June 29, 1868 their second baby w a s born, a boy, who was named Elias Amos. Just one week before this bab y w as born, President Heber C. Kimball organized the Relief Society in t he P rovo Fourth Ward and Mrs. Gee was called to be one of the teachers , and i n three months after was appointed Secretary, which she held unti l her th ird baby, a girl, was born on December 15, 1869. She was named G eorgiana.

After this Mrs. Gee was not active in the organization for several year s , for her family cares increased, and she was not strong physically, a n d she always considered her home and family her first responsibility. B u t after her last baby, Adelia May, was born she resumed her labors in t h e Church organizations. She was Secretary of the Provo Fourth Ward Prim ar y for several years. Then she was President of the Provo Fourth Ward P rim ary, this position she held for ten years, and Acting Stake Secretar y o f Primary for five years during the same period. When the Fourth War d wa s divided she was released from these duties and called to be a teac her i n the Relief Society of the Fifth Ward. Here she served faithfull y and we ll for many years. She was also appointed special missionary o r teacher i n the Relief Society, visiting the families in the entire war d once eac h year, giving advice and urging all to affiliate with the org anizations , then reporting conditions to the President. But her specia l calling see med to be among the sick and in the homes of sorrow, givin g comfort and a id-to those who were grief stricken, laying out and makin g clothing, an d preparing for burial for those who had passed away. Sh e was splendid a t making clothing for the dead and especially the, Templ e clothing, makin g entire suits for Temple, prayer circle and burial pur poses. Her work wa s not confined to one ward or one stake, but she had m ade hundreds of Tem ple aprons and many entire suits for people in many s takes of the Church.

She has been active to some extent in civil affairs in the community, al w ays deeming it a privilege to use her franchise, she was one of the fir s t group of women to work for woman suffrage in Utah. She is the mothe r o f ten children, three boys and seven girls, nine of whom she has rais ed t o man and womanhood, and all beginning married life right by going t hroug h the Temple. She has 46 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren t o date , one son and three grandsons who have filled honorable missions . One gra ndson having died after his honorable release in the Hawaiian I slands, an d before he left his field of labor for home.

With all the joys, sorrow and hardships of 84 years she is still very ke e n of intellect and strong in the faith of her fathers, and her greates t d esire is that her posterity will never cease to have that abiding fai th a nd hope to magnify their callings as sons and daughters in the Churc h o f Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

She died December 26, 1930 in Salt Lake City, at the time of her death s h e was survived by seven children, thirty-seven grandchildren, and twent y- seven great grandchildren.