Lemuel Hardison Redd, Sr. 1836 - 1910

A "must read" book for you to make time for is The Undaunted by Gerald Lund.  It is a compelling read - only 802 pages long.  But hey, how many of us zoomed through the Harry Potter series in no time with over 800 pages per book?  Anyway, The Undaunted is a historical fiction of the story of the Hole in the Rock Pioneers who eventually settled in the San Juan Utah area. And guess what?  Our very own relative, Lemuel H. Redd was one of the scouts of that pioneer group of faithful saints who made that arduous, unimaginable, physically excruciating,  mentally exhausting and spiritually challenging trek of pure faith in God and devotion to a prophet who said "Go and do...." And they did. And of course, he is mentioned in the book - not a main character by any means, but the book is a compelling and enjoyable read.

As you might imagine, much has been written about Lemuel and trying to condense his life story to a few paragraphs is daunting at most. Here goes:

If you have ever been to Emerald Isle, North Carolina, you may have driven through Stump Sound, Sneed's Ferry, Onslow County, NC.  That was the birthplace of Lemuel who was the 6th of 8 children .  His parents were John Hardison Redd and Elizabeth Hancock (more about them later in a different blog entry).   When 2 years old, Lemuel's family moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee where they accepted the gospel, he being 6 years old at the time of his parents' baptisms. His family joined with the saints in Nauvoo, and when he was 14 the time had come for the saints to leave The City Beautiful for the great unknown of the West.

Lemuel certainly carried his load as a 14 year old youth. He drove an ox team the entire distance  from St. Joseph, Missouri to the Great Salt Lake Valley.  What a daunting task that must have been - especially since he and his father were stricken with cholera while on that difficult journey.  After arriving in the valley in 1850, they were sent to settle in Spanish Fork.

Now, in the meantime, a prominent man in early church history by the name of John Lowe Butler (more on him in a future blog)  had also moved his family to help establish Spanish Fork.  And wouldn't you know: there he met and later married the charming, kind, gentle, and amiable Keziah Jane Butler on a cold winter day of January 2, 1856.  Two years later they were sealed in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City.

Being called to missions to help settle Las Vegas and New Harmony, Utah, he became a prominent leader in local civil government  and was director of the Kanarra Cattle and Sheep Company.

In October of 1866, he married his second wife, 17-yr old Sarah Louisa Chamberlain.  She had worked as a "mother's helper" to Keziah so the 2 women knew each other well.  Keziah got along well with her and they not only shared a husband but they shared a duplex bought from John D. Lee.  Each family had its half of the duplex which served both families for 20 years. 

An excerpt from the book Saints Without Halos  describes the purpose and unimaginabilitly of the Hole in the Rock expedition in the winter of 1879-1880:

"A year and a half after the death of Brigham Young, President John Taylor began urging the Latter-day Saints to settle the usable farm and grazing land of southeastern Utah's San Juan region while it was still available.  Latter-day Saint settlements could help establish friendly relations with the Indians and do missionary work among them.  Moreover, the wild and remote area of San Juan was becoming a refuge for bank and train robbers, cattle rustlers, and other desperadoes.  'Solid citizens' were needed to establish law and order."

Here follows a description of the actual physical Hole in the Rock.

"Finally, after weeks of work, the first wagon was lowered down the Hole-in-the-Rock chute, which has been described as a mine with the top blown off.  Actually, it is not a 'hole" at all, but a narrow steep cut in the west wall of Glen Canyon.  First came a sheer drop of almost 100 feet, then a little less steep decline of another 300 feet.  Steps had been carved into the sandstone for footing.  With ropes tied to the wagons and held by twenty men and boys, each wagon was slowly guided down the 'hole'.  Jagged rocks tore at the feet of the horses and cattle.  Slowly and painfully, the entire company of 230 persons, their wagons, provisions, and livestock made their way down to the river below.

Charlie Redd, one of Lemuel's grandsons, graphically described the last effort:

Aside from the Hole-in-the-Rock itself, this was the steepest crossing on the journey.  Here again seven span of horses were used, so that some of the horses were on their knees, fighting to get up and to find a foothold, the still erect horses could plunge upward against the grade.  On the worst slopes the men were forced to beat their jaded animals into giving all they had.  After several pulls, rests, and pulls, many of the horses took to spasms and near-convulsions, so exhausted were they.  By the time most of the outfits were across, the worst stretches could easily be identified by the dried blood and matted hair from the forelegs of the struggling teams.  My father (young Lemuel) was a strong man and reluctant to display emotion; but when in later years the full pathos of San Juan Hill was recalled either by himself or someone else, the memory of such bitter struggles was too much for him and he wept."

With the federal polygamy ban, Lemuel Sr. was forced to live in exile.  He moved his second family to Bluff,  San Juan County, where they lived for 2 years before moving them to Colonia Juarez, Mexico.

First wife, Keziah, mother of 13 children, died in 1895.  Sarah Louisa, mother of 14, passed away in 1907.  Lemuel H. Redd, Sr. died in the summer of 1910 from injuries suffered in a fall while living in Mexico.


-For tons of reading on him, just google "Lemuel Harsison Redd, Sr."
-More specific resources for this post came from Biography of Lemuel Hardison Redd, by his daughter Ellen Redd Bryner
-Saints Without Halos by Leonard J. Arrington and Davis Bitton, chapter 10.
 

Thomas Davenport:1815 - 1888 and wife Sarah Burrows: 1811- 1882

Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a land far over the sea, Thomas Davenport and his bride, Sarah Burrows, began their "happy ever after" lives together.  The date was August 28, 1836; and the place - Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.  With stars in their eyes, little did they know then of the changes, adventures, and blessings that were to come into their lives in the coming years.

Thomas was born in Brampton, Derby, England on April 1, 1815 to parents Robert Davenport and Ann Jarvis.  His wife,  Sarah, daughter of John Burrows and Charlotte Barber, was born in Eckington, Derby, England on July 24, 1811.  How they met is up to our imagination:  maybe it was in a pottery factiory in the small country town of Brampton.

The first change they faced , which would shape the rest of their lives and on throughout the eternities, was accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ in the spring if 1847.  They made plans to unite with the saints in America and set sail in 1849, landing in New Orleans.  Little about their trek west is known; however, 2 entries from his journal are notable.  He told of his milk cows which had to be used to pull the heavily loaded wagon as his bull had died.  And then an actual quote:  "Had a pleasant trip over the plains."

After arriving in Salt Lake on October 8, 1852, he and family were sent almost immediately to Parowan, arriving there November 4.  As an artisan from the Old World, a potter to be exact, his skills were needed in the new settlement there.

It is interesting to note that English researchers and the 1841 census records indicate that he was most likely a pot thrower with no experience in finding or processing raw clay, making glazes, and especially in building and burning a kiln. I guess that has something to do with the fact that it took nearly 5 years of disappointing failed firings before finding success.  Trial and error,patience, learning new tricks of the trade, and pure grit and determination eventually led to his success.  His "Davenportware" was found in nearly every home in the valley and was identified by his thumbprint placed in the soft clay before it was fired.  His pottery business was successful for over 4 decades.

The Davenport family lived  in "the" old adobe house which Thomas acquired for the price of 3 steers and a wagon.  Years later his grandson, Thomas Davenport Adams (Grandpa Ray's father) purchased that home for $500.

Imagine hauling clay - in a wheelbarrow - from 2 and 3 miles up Parowan Canyon to his lot just south of the town square!

Consider the following passage.  "On Nov. 18, 1961, Luella Adams, the wife of Thomas Adams, described the pottery as she remembered it.  We went out  on the back porch of the home and looked over the yard.  There was one old tree left from pioneer time, but everything else had been taken down and removed from the place.  Mrs. Adams said that the pottery consisted of three log buildings which stood back in the lot and southwest of the present home.  The building on the south held the clay; the next one was the factory; it housed the wheel. The third room was used to store the pots for drying.  There was a basement midway between the home and the factory where the potter had his kiln."  (The Development of Pioneer Pottery in Utah by Emma Cynthia Nielsen. 1961:101-104)

Charles Adams: 1843-1927

I don't think that back in 1843 Ireland there were town signs welcoming tourists into their communities.  But there sure were in 2007.


September 16, 1843, to be exact, was when Charles Adams was born in Banbridge, County Down, Ireland. Now you might wonder why the sign says Hillsborough.  Well, I didn't think to take a picture of Banbridge while we were there, but it is a neighboring village.  And the grass and shrubbery look the same. 

Very likely, this was the actual church that his parents, William Adams and Mary Ann Leech, attended prior to their conversion to the Church of Jesus  Christ of Latter-day Saints just a year before Charles was born. 




And..............this is what the church looks like from a distance.  If you use your imagination, you can picture them walking down the well-groomed pathway every Sunday morning for their worship services carrying their infant son, Charles with them.



In his autobiography, Charles says, "I was brought to America at the age of 3 months by my parents who embarked at Liverpool, January 20, 1844, for New Orleans, arriving in Nauvoo in April 1844."


"Crossing the plains I well remember the herds of buffalo, and at Ft. Laramie I remember seeing the Sioux Indians in all the paraphernalia of war, painted and feathered, going to fight the Cheyennes.  We were 3 1/2 months on our trip across the plains.  The first winter in Salt Lake we lived in the Old Fort.  Father left in December 1850 with a party sent to colonize Parowan under George A. Smith.  In 1851 my mother left Salt Lake with her 3 children, I being 7 years old to join father in Parowan.  When I was 14, my father went to Salt Lake to work on the temple for 6 months.  I took charge of his farm, hauled wood, and had the responsibility of his affairs."


Where do we get our family determination?  Read on...

In 1862, before he was 19, he went as a teamster in a Church caravan.  In March he married Sarah Ann Davenport, and one week later, leaving his young wife behind, started on his 2nd trip across the plains.  He volunteered again in 1866 to make his 3rd trip to Missouri.  He crossed the plains 7 times in the service of bringing pioneers to Utah.


How's this for a real life adventure!!
On his last trip, an accident happened which nearly cost him his life. The ox-team caravan was crossing the Platte River and Charles' wagon was carrying 30 kegs of gunpowder.  He had crossed the river safely and was pulling up the steep bank, when lightning struck his lead cattle, killing them in their tracks.  The electric current followed the hitch chain back to the wagon killing 3 more oxen and set the wagon on fire.  Charles was stunned and was in the gravest danger from the gunpowder.  Another teamster, following close behind took in the scene and rushed to give assistance.  A good shake brought Charles to his senses and then the two worked furiously to unload the powder and extinguish the fire.


Many of us know about Minnie's Mansion at the base of Brian Head in Cedar Breaks.  Minnie was Charles' daughter who took over the wooden building her father built and turned it into a hostelry used for summer social events.  The "Mansion" was popular for several years before it was abandoned in 1934.

Meet Thomas and Luella Redd Adams

Let me introduce you to Grandpa Ray Adams' parents.

Thomas Davenport Adams – son of Charles and Sarah Ann Davenport.  Born 15 Nov. 1870 in Parowan.  Didn’t go to school regularly due to helping his father on the family farm and on the sheep range.  While attending school in Provo at Brigham Young Academy, Pres. Woodruff called him to be a missionary and asked if he had a young lady in mind to marry, and if so, to find out if she would marry him now.  If she would consent to marry him, she would also be called on the mission.  According to Luella Redd, his wife-to-be, he was a shy boy and loved to dance; he was a steady and well-behaved man with no bad habits. His mission call, February 1893, was to the South Sea  Islands.  They decided to marry and had 1 week to make wedding plans and mission plans as well.  They all rose early on Monday, February 20, 1893; were to be married in St. George and then depart  for the Samoan Islands  where Tom served for 3 years.  After the first 2 years, his wife returned home due to poor health.  While building their 2^nd new brick home (currently Aunt Carol’s home in Parowan) they moved in October 29, 1914, Thomas contracted a heavy cold that developed into pneumonia.  His illness was of typhoid type that ran 2 courses.  He lived for 40 days on nothing but liquids.  His life was spared but he was an invalid the remainder of his days on earth.  He passed away on Sept. 2, 1938.  For 17 summers  their home was in the Parowan mountains at Cedar Breaks, Little Ireland, where they homesteaded grazing sheep and making cheese.  Tom filled offices as mayor of Parowan, sat on the school board, and served on the city council, and many others. (Memories; Maria Luella Redd Adams, her autobiography)

Maria Luella Redd Adams – born in the small village of Harmony, Utah on 16^th of June 1875.  One of her childhood memories was the story of her mother’s silver thimble.  She writes:   “One sunny afternoon I ‘borrowed’ it to take it with me to the orchard to make doll clothes.  After gathering up my doll and scraps of calico and returning to the house, the silver thimble was not to be found.  Mother was most upset, and I was heartbroken.  We searched until dark, and I went to bed with swollen, tear-stained eyes.  How I prayed that night, kneeling beside my bed, begging Heavenly Father to help me find the thimble.  I finally slept and dreamed – and saw in my dream exactly where the thimble lay.  I woke up and hurried to my father’s bed to tell him he must come with me to get it.  Father said, “But Louie, it is three o’clock.  Go back to bed, and if you know where the thimble is  we will find it in the morning.”  I simply could not do that, so father got up and lighted a lantern.  We walked the length of the path into the orchard.  I asked father to hold the light underneath a small plank bridge over the irrigation ditch. There in the mud left from yesterday’s watering was the thimble – exactly where I had seen it in  my dream.  What a wonderful answer to prayer!  What an example for me to remember all my life!” ( Memories  p.36-37).

   She married Thomas Adams on  Feb 20, 1893 in St. George Temple “after which we departed for the Samoan Islands on a church mission ; our mission destination: Nukoalofa, Tonga Tabu .   We were taken by a small canoe to our island home located in Muia, a small village.  My mission assignment was to teach the native children mornings and evenings. As the first 2 years drew to a close, I found my health declining.  I had much trouble with swelling feet.  Finally I was released with Sister Maggie Durham (whom we shared our home with as missionary couples) to return home. Our husbands remained to complete their 3 year assignment.” 

   

Root Bound

A root bound plant is one where the roots are tightly wrapped around the root ball inside of a pot. They need to be loosened so that they can reach into the soil for the air and nutrients necessary for growth. Roots also function as an anchor, providing strength and support for the plant as it grows. Whether a flower, shrub or tree, a plant requires a sturdy root system to thrive.


Not unlike plants, we (people) have roots which contribute to our very nature.  Many of the stories of our predecessors remain tightly wrapped or even buried in the archives of time just yearning to be loosened - told and shared.  We can be strengthened by our ancestors only after we unravel the root bound stories waiting to be heard.


So, the purpose of this blog is to help us feel bound  to discover our ancestral roots.  Unlike being bound for Alaska or bound and determined to master a goal, my intent is to encourage us as family, to become more root bound as we learn more about our family roots.


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Theoretically each month a different ancestor will be introduced.  As time goes on, I may realize that that is way too ambitious of a goal.  Anyway, periodically a new person from our family past will  be featured. Keep in mind that in many cases I will select only snippets to post.  But where you might hunger and thirst for more of their stories, just let me know. Hopefully we can all benefit from the nutrients (faith, courage, determination) gleaned from them as we become root bound together.