On April 6, 1830, the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized.
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| Nelson and Sarah Higgins |
Fifty-two days later a baby
girl was born to Nelson and Sarah Blackman Higgins. Little did the family know
how deeply affected their lives would be by what had taken place those few
weeks before.
Let’s take a quick glance
back in time and learn of the character and fortitude of the young father, Nelson
Higgins. When he was a young lad of ten his parents chose to migrate from their
New York home in search of a more secure livelihood. For some reason they left their
young son behind to live with his married sister. One year later the older
sister passed away. Eleven-year-old Nelson set out alone to find his parents,
working for nearly three years, at last locating them in Huron, Ohio,
having walked some 400 miles. This inner strength and perseverance demonstrated at a young age would serve
him well later in life.
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| Orson Hyde |
In 1833, when Almira was
three years old, her parents were baptized by Orson Hyde. Nelson was ordained
an Elder before September of that year. At the dedication of the Kirtland
Temple he was ordained to the office of Seventy. His ordination certificate, signed by the Prophet Joseph Smith, is below.
We were surprised to see the name Thomas Burdick, recording clerk, on the back of the documents. I must investigate.
One family record states
this about Almira’s father:
Nelson was a close friend of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, and on several occasions he and the Prophet engaged in wrestling bouts
for amusement. At times Grandfather Higgins was heard to say that he knew as
soon as he began wrestling whether he was wrestling with just Joseph (the man)
or with the Prophet Joseph. If it were man to man grandfather was usually
victorious but if Joseph was wrestling still under the Spirit of the Lord,
grandfather was always vanquished.
Several brothers and sisters
were born to the family, but sadly her eleven-year-old brother Alonzo passed away in
an accident.
In 1841, the family moved to Nauvoo. Her father was appointed a
Second Lieutenant in the Nauvoo Legion. It should be mentioned that he was not paid
for this time in the Legion. The officers should have been paid from the State
of Illinois as was done in other cities, but the State refused to remunerate
the Mormons.
Almira’s family was
respected in the region, with her father serving as a Justice of the Peace in
Hancock County where he was authorized to perform marriages.
As had happened in Kirtland,
the saints in Nauvoo began to suffer great persecution at the hands of mobs and
ruffians in surrounding communities. Supreme sadness came to their home when
they learned of the martyrdom of their beloved friend and Prophet, Joseph Smith
Junior.
Privations in 1845 led to
the death of Almira’s baby sister Clarissa at the age of eighteen months. In
October of that year the persecutions had risen to the level that the
leadership deemed it necessary to sell property and depart from Illinois, once
more fleeing from their oppressors.
Amidst trials, great joy
came to the family in January, 1846, when her parents received their endowments
in the Nauvoo Temple in the second company.
It is not known exactly when
the family left Nauvoo, but they were among some of the first groups that
crossed the river. As families prepared to leave, the scene was described this way:
At every blacksmith shop
tense and eager men waited around the anvil watching the sparks fly upward as
the iron rims of wagon wheels were pounded into shape, or shoes were fitted to
the feet of all their husky horses.
In the houses women looked
for the last time on cherished furniture, bedsteads, tables, and chairs for
which there would be no room in the wagons. Some easily portable heirlooms were
exceptions. They could be bartered for food and livestock along the way.
Playthings were gently lifted from the hands of children and stacked in a
corner, only beloved and perhaps battered dolls could be carried with them
(Note: Some favorite things were buried in hopes that they may be coming back
someday)… Hot stones were being heated (to insure warmth)…
Outside beside the doors,
waited the wagons, covered at the sides and tops with yards of new canvas. Feather
beds, linens and heavy clothing had been loaded into the vehicles, along with
flour, corn meal, biscuits, meat, seed corn, seed wheat, buckwheat, rifles,
muskets, pistols, powder, lead and shot. Ox teams stood solidly in their tracks
and behind the wagons, sleepy cows were tethered together with horses, mules,
and sheep, ready to begin the westward march.
Across the river:
Smoke from a dozen campfires
spiraled up through the bitter February night. The flames case a rosy glow on
the thick crust of snow … As volunteer cooks prepared a warm meal, families
gathered together to give thanks to the Lord for a safe passage over the water
food, shelter and the prospects for a new life.
Huddling around the fires,
the campers sang hymns and spoke soberly of the day that had drawn to a close.
The Higgins family made
their camp along the trail not knowing what hardships or turn of events was
ahead of them. The traveling was difficult and uncomfortable.
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| Brigham Young signing up voluneers |
President Polk sent representatives to the camp at Winter Quarters requesting 500 volunteers, men aged 17-45, to march to California in the war against
Mexico, a contingent that would become known as the Mormon Battalion. Many were the reasons
why these men could have refused to be a part of this contingent. They had
suffered persecution without governmental assistance or protection to the point
of being targeting for “extermination” from Illinois. They had left their homes
and possessions at great personal loss and were now taking their wives and families
through sometimes hostile territories. Nevertheless, in obedience to the
Prophet Brigham Young who foresaw the benefits from volunteering, five
companies totaling over 500 men were mustered in at Council Bluffs, Iowa, July
16, 1846.
Almira’s father was among
the volunteers. He was elected by the Battalion to be Captain over “Company D”.
Some of the officers chose to take their families in their own wagons at no
expense to the government, which the army permitted. Among these families were
Sarah and the children. Some accounts report eight Higgins
children accompanying the battalion, but I tend to believe that is an inflated
number as I can only locate the names of 6 on the rosters. Orders were
that up to four women could accompany them as laundresses, traveling with the
company receiving rations and other allowances given to those in the army.
Sarah and her daughters acted in this capacity. I truly can't imagine volunteering to to the laundry for hundreds of soldiers marching across rugged terrain.
The Mormon Battalion proved to be very beneficial to the church, providing needed funds to the destitute refuges forced to flee their beautiful homes in Nauvoo. They also gained approval as loyal citizens of the United States.
Our family benefited in a more personal way. Almira became acquainted with John Darwin Chase who was
serving in the Battalion. He is my Great, Great, Great Uncle, the younger brother of
Solomon Drake Chase, my Great, Great, Great Grandfather. Another Great, Great,
Great Uncle, Abner Chase was among those who died of illness while serving in
the Mormon Battalion.
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| Almira Higgins Chase |
John and Almira were married while in Pueblo,
Colorado. February 17, 1847. She was not quite seventeen years old. John was thirty-one and had been married before but his wife did not
wish to go west with the Saints. He had one young son, Amos, traveling with him in the
Battalion.
