My Great, Great, Great Grandmother, Charlotte Savage, was
born March 10, 1805, to George Savage and Ann Jupe in Titchfield,
Toringham, Hampshire, England.
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| Saint Martin in the Fields |
Little is known of her youth until she was married
just before her 24th birthday at Saint Martin in the Fields, an
English Anglican church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the
City of Westminster, London, to Samuel Harris Hawkins.
Charlotte and Samuel had a very comfortable home as their
children came along. Samuel was a steel engraver and owned a thriving business
and they never lacked for anything.
Eleven
children were born to the family in London, but four of them died as
infants. In spite of bearing such a large family, Charlotte’s history states
that she led a life of leisure with a chore woman to do the hard work.
The children enjoyed the privileges of wealth, for example, their
daughter Lavina enjoyed piano lessons, and their son Leo was trained in stenography.
With all of these conveniences, something was missing in
their life, and Samuel felt drawn to a religious gathering, which they assumed
would be to Jerusalem. During this time, when their hearts hungered for religious direction, they met the Elders from
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, learned the restored gospel
and entered the waters of baptism in October, 1848.
The family sold their holdings and immigrated to America in 1849 aboard
the ship Zetland, arriving in New Orleans, traveling through St. Louis, and on
to Council Bluffs, where they were unable to find living quarters. They traveled
on to Pottawatomie, Iowa, where Samuel obtained an old house without windows or
doors which he fixed up as comfortably as possible for the family. This must
have been quite a shock to the family who were accustomed to comfort and ease.
On January 22, 1852, Samuel passed away in the old home in Pottawattamie.
Charlotte prepared his body for burial alone and prevailed upon a brother to dig
a grave in the frozen ground.
Samuel’s death left Charlotte the full responsibility of
finishing the family’s journey to Utah. That spring she purchased two yoke of
oxen and three wagons, loaning the extra wagon to a man who agreed to bring
part of her belongings along with his own to Utah. The agreement was not
honored and her belongings were dumped along the trail. Some stories say that
most of her money was in a barrel on this wagon and the man absconded with the
funds, but this cannot be verified.
After a strenuous journey, Charlotte and five of her children
arrived in Utah where they purchased a home with one pair of oxen and a wagon.
The remaining pair of oxen and wagon was traded for supplies.
The starving family did whatever they could to obtain food.
Charlotte and her daughters gleaned grain and made it into flour for bread.
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They would sometimes borrow a
soup bone which had already been boiled and boil it again to give a little
flavor and perhaps a bit of nourishment to the water.
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| Sego lily bulbs used for food |
The children dug sego and
thistle roots to supplement their meager provisions.
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| Thistle roots |
Their home was illuminated by the burning of sunflower
stalks and home-made candles.
The family lived near the Brigham Young home where they were
frequent visitors; the children became fast friends with Brigham’s children.
Charlotte raised a remarkable family. Her daughter Lavina became a musical performer
in the Salt Lake Theatre. Her son Leo became the Secretary to President Young.
Throughout her life she remained steadfast in the gospel in spite of the privations
she suffered.
Her well-taught daughter, Aurelia, made the observation that the Hawkins
family had been wealthy in worldly goods in England and although they had very
little after coming to Zion, they gained wealth in Spiritual Blessings.
