An Over-abundance of Sunshine

My cousin, Nancy Bailey Chase, daughter of my 5^th Great Uncle and Aunt Ezra and Tirzah Chase was born January 27, 1823, in Bristol, Vermont. When she was a teenager of fifteen her family heard and truly received the restored gospel. On New Year’s Day, 1839, Nancy entered the waters of baptism and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Later that year, her father led a company of eleven wagons on an 800-mile journey westward and the family joined with others who shared their newfound faith.  

A Latter-day Saint settlement was being built on a bend of the Mississippi River. Building homes and taming the swampy terrain along the river was an arduous endeavor for the immigrants in what came to be known as Nauvoo. Hundreds of the saints, including Nancy, fell victim to disease born by the swarming hordes of mosquitoes. Although many did not survive, Nancy was blessed by the Prophet Joseph Smith and was miraculously raised from her bed of affliction and instantly healed.

In 1842, the women who called each other “sisters” formed the Nauvoo Female Relief Society under the direction of Joseph Smith and Nancy became a charter member. Along with her sister saints she tirelessly tended the sick and aided newcomers arriving by steamboat to Nauvoo.

Along with seeking the truths of the restored gospel in the Book of Mormon, Nancy was fascinated with studying languages and history.

In 1843, twenty-year-old Nancy was drawing water from a neighbor’s well when her eyes met those of a recently returned missionary, Lorin Farr. You may doubt “love at first sight”, but Lorin’s attention was instantly captured, and from that moment on, he adored her “smiling eyes, with modestly lowered lids peeking under her ruffled sunbonnet”. Perhaps her attraction was not so immediate, because they had a surprisingly long courtship for the time and were married January 1, 1845, by Brigham Young and given a powerful blessing for a large posterity.

Lorin was a schoolteacher. Records show that numbered among his students were the children of the Prophet Joseph Smith and other church leaders, including the children of Heber C. Kimball and John Taylor. Much is written about him and his fervent testimony of and loyalty to the Prophet.

The original Farr home which is no longer standing.

Also talented as a carpenter, Nancy’s husband built them a one-story red brick home on Durphy Street in Nauvoo just north of his father's home and south of the Wilford Woodruff residence.

Their marriage was sealed for time and all eternity in the Nauvoo Temple on December 15, 1845, two weeks before their first son, Enoch, was born.

It’s hard to imagine the trauma which soon followed for the fledgling family as mob violence forced the couple and the rest of the saints from their homes in early 1846. Despite this, Nancy later downplayed these events, stating that although she had experienced difficulties and trials, her life had been “one round of joy and happiness”. In like manner, she described the journey west as “one of the most enjoyable periods” of her life.

The Chase’s traveled west with 175 other Latter-day Saints in the Daniel Spencer and Ira Eldredge Company. Seventy-six wagons carried their belongings and supplies. Lorin’s older brother Aaron and his family were also in the company. They departed from Elkhorn, Nebraska, June 17th, 1847, and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley September 22, 1847.

A second child, a daughter named Julia, was born the following spring in Salt Lake City. Everything changed for Nancy shortly after Julia’s third birthday, when tragedy struck. The tiny girl fell into the mill chase and drowned. Lorin retrieved her limp body and brought her into their humble home. Nancy was inconsolable. Her good friend, the well-known pioneer poetess, Eliza R. Snow, composed these words of comfort for her:

Eliza R. Snow's poem #289 To Sister Nancy Farr

That gem of life and beauty

Has gone—it did not die

It left this vale of sorrow

For shining courts on high.

God sent that lovely jewel

Endow’d with sinless charms

To win a father’s fondness—

To bless a mother’s arms.

She fill’d her earthly mission—

She’s gone where all is pure—

Where life and love and beauty

Eternally endure.

She’s safe from earth’s corruption—

Secure from sin and pain

The time is fast approaching

When you will meet again.

Histories state that although she carried on in faith and service, Nancy was never the same. She kept the tiny clothing of her beloved Julia throughout her life. 

Nevertheless, she courageously endured life on the frontier, including calls with her husband to settle other areas, including Ogden. In a faith I do not understand, she approved her husband’s choice of five polygamous wives. 

It is said that Nancy loved the Indians in their frontier territory without fear. She would allow them to sleep on her kitchen floor, and not even lock her adjoining bedroom door. At times as many as a dozen Indians could be seen sleeping in her yard between the house and the big barn. The Indians felt and returned her love and trusted her. 

Often left alone to head her household, Nancy had great strength and endurance and brought into the world 11 children. Her devotion to them was endless; she would sacrifice anything for their welfare. 

 At her passing, these words of tribute were written of Nancy:

“One of the noblest women who has ever graced the footstool of God has departed this life.

Many are the burdens of sorrow she has borne for others, and many are the words of cheer and comfort she has given to the afflicted and downtrodden. 

Gifted with an over-abundance of sunshine and good feeling toward her fellow-workers on this great field of action, she has never hesitated to divide those divine gifts with her less fortunate neighbors and thousands are the hearts she was gladdened and made excessively light thereby.”

Spunky Aunt Amy Lorette Chase

I claim this wonderful spunky woman, Amy Lorette Chase Bigler, as my Great, Great, Great, Great Aunt. She truly met life with courage, vigor, dedication, and zeal for her family and her religion.

The daughter of Abner Chase and his wife Amy Scott, she was born in Lincoln County, Vermont, November 7, 1822. Her mother was widowed when Amy was only seven years old. The poor family included nine children, the youngest daughter only two-years-old, the oldest a nineteen-year-old son. Little Amy, only a child, was determined to provide for herself and lighten the burden of her widowed mother.

Amy's education was extremely limited, with only occasional attendance at district schools. Nevertheless, as an adult, she became the first school teacher in Nephi, Utah.

Amy was eighteen when she first heard of Mormonism, from her uncle, Ezra Chase, and she became wholly converted to the faith and was baptized in the fall of 1840. Three years later, with her mother, two brothers and other relatives, she moved to gather with the saints in Zion, in Nauvoo, Illinois.

Jacob and Amy

In Nauvoo, Amy met Jacob G. Bigler, a young widower just returning home from a mission. They were married June 18, 1844, the day that Mayor Joseph Smith proclaimed Nauvoo under martial law. They were devastated by the news nine days later of the martyrdom of the Prophet. Intimate friends with the Smith family, they mourned with Joseph’s mother, Lucy, who often referred to Jacob as her son.

Two weeks later, Amy received her patriarchal blessing under the hands of John Smith Sr., the brother of Joseph Smith Sr.. The blessing included a wonderful promise: “Thou shalt be a mother in Israel, yea a mother of many mighty sons and daughters, and this blessing shall be perpetuated from generation to generation. It is your privilege to have faith to hold thy children that none of them shall die until they are old.” Amy’s patriarchal blessing was fulfilled; all ten of her children grew to adulthood, not the common lot of most pioneer mothers of the time.

Nauvoo Temple

One can only imagine the effort required of Amy as she supported Jacob while he devoted his time helping in the construction of the Nauvoo Temple. Although facing expulsion from Nauvoo, the couple found great reason for rejoicing when they entered that sacred House of the Lord to receive their endowments and to be sealed for all eternity on January 31, 1846. Eight days later, Amy gave birth to their first son, David George.

Apostle Orson Hyde

Having sacrificed most of their worldly possessions, the Bigler’s were among the poorest of poor when they arrived in Winter Quarters on the 18th of August 1846. Anxious to escape persecution and make a new home in the west, they scrimped and saved to prepare an outfit for their travel to the Great Salt Lake Valley. Just as they were preparing to leave Winter Quarters, Apostle Orson Hyde visited them, saying, “The Lord wants you to continue your services in Iowa.” So, there they remained.

They moved in the spring of 1848 across the river to the east, and then a year later to Kanesville, where Jacob was called as Bishop, and given charge of the general tithing office in Pottawatomie County. Looking after the poor who had been driven from Nauvoo would have been a difficult, yet rewarding opportunity, that undoubtedly involved Amy in significant ways. Jacob was additionally a member of the High Council at Kanesville, a Justice of the Peace, and County Probate Judge.

A simple entry in Jacob’s history hints at the patience amidst trials of dear, devoted Amy. He notes that on their way west, on July 17, 1852, he pulled their wagon up along the Platte River in Nebraska so that Amy could give birth to a fine daughter. While they were stopped, a fairly large band of war-painted Cheyenne Indians came upon them. Afraid of a hostile encounter, uncertain how to appease the natives, but in order to let them see that they were unafraid, the saints got out their fiddles and the young people danced to the amusement of the Indians. They gave gifts of food, and the band departed peacefully.

Only Amy and Jacob's three plural wives truly understand their challenges, joys and heartaches, but little is written of that situation, other than that the wives lived in harmony with one another. The 1885 invitation to the 80^th birthday anniversary of the Prophet Joseph Smith refers to the family as “Elder J. G. Bigler and Ladies”. 

The Bigler’s were called to settle in Nephi where Amy’s bravery among the Indians was legendary and has often been recounted. The settlement built a surrounding wall for their protection. The men had to go out of this wall to do their farming, but the women and children were warned never to leave the enclosure. 

Although conflicts occurred and there were casualties on both sides, the general policy was to give the Indians presents, and be kind to them. When the Indian braves would fiercely approach the family household and demand flour or meat or other food, Amy’s fear did not show. They would come and sit on the floor and never move until they got a fresh loaf of bread or something else to eat, which she calmly provided.

Jacob’s church and community service were impressive and extensive, another testament to the support and strength of Amy. He was the Bishop of Juab, the first Stake President of the Juab Stake, a Patriarch, six times a member of the territorial assembly, mayor of Nephi, probate judge in Juab County and a member of the Territorial Council.

Jacob passed away February 23, 1907, at the age of 73. His companion throughout mortal life, she followed him 3 ½ months later, June 8, 1907.

Amy’s spunky attitude toward the challenges of life are summed up in a poem that she wrote in March, 1899, when she was 76 years old. It is safe to say that she proved throughout her lifetime that she was up to a challenge!