David Garner Jr.
- born January 30, 1818 in Lexington, North Carolina
- died April 27, 1889 in North Ogden, Utah
- was baptized in 1839 by Solomon Hancock
- joined the Mormon Battalion and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 9, 1847
- served a mission in 1871 to the eastern United States
DAVID GARNER
Born
30 January 1818 - Died 27 April 1889
Written by Robert Jean Addams, Third
great-grandson
David Garner was born in Lexington, Davidson County, North
Carolina on January 30, 1818 to David Garner and Jane Stevens (Stephens). He was the sixth of twelve children.
We have no known information concerning his early life. When he was about 15 years of age he moved
with his parents and brothers and sisters to Lima, Illinois. Lima, Illinois was a long way from North
Carolina, but there were, no doubt, compelling reasons or opportunities that
motivated David Garner, Sr. to uproot his family from Davidson County where the
Garners had lived for several generations.
Unfortunately, there is no information as to either why they moved or
why Lima was chosen as a destination.
We do know that they had located in Adams County sometime prior to 1835
as two of David's sisters were married in Adams County in 1835 and 1836
respectively.
Beginning in late 1838 and continuing throughout 1839,
members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been driven
out of the westward neighboring state of Missouri, began migrating into western
Illinois by the thousands. Many Mormon
families, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were
generally called, soon settled in the area around Lima. Apparently the greater
Garner family (of which there were now several) became interested in the
teachings of this relatively new church from these new neighbors. By the fall of 1839, at the age of 21, David Garner
was baptized into The Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints by Solomon Hancock
and became a faithful member of the Lima Branch of the Church. His parents and many of his brothers and
sisters and their families were baptized also.
At a two-day conference of the Church held at Lima on October 23-0ctober
24, 1841, conducted by apostles Brigham Young, John Taylor and Willard
Richards, the clerk reported local church membership of 424, which included 32
Elders. One of these Elders was 23
year-old David Garner.
It was at Lima that David met Dolly Durfee. They were married on October 18, 1842. Dolly
was born in Lennox, Madison County, New York on March 8, 1816, the daughter of
Edmund and Magdalena Pickle Durfee. The
Durfee family was conver1ed to the Church in early 1831. Interestingly, the same Solomon Hancock that
baptized David Garner baptized the Durfee family eight years earlier, except
for their daughter Dolly.
Their first child was born July 12, 1843 and they nan1ed her
Louisa Ann (after David’s youngest sister).
In October of 1843 David baptized his wife and she remained a faithful
member of the church throughout her life.
Less than a year later, on June 27, 1844, while David and Dolly were
still living in the Lima area, they received word that the Prophet and leader
of their church, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, had been killed by a mob
while awaiting trial in Carthage, Illinois.
This tragic event was, of course, a great shock to them and the entire
church. A week later on Jul y 2, 1844,
their second child Fannie Marilla was born.
Persecution of the Latter-day Saints in western Illinois not
only continued after the death of their prophet and patriarch, but also
increased. Members living outside the
immediate area of Nauvoo, Illinois were harassed, had their crops destroyed
and, eventually, their houses and barns burned.
David and his little family moved to Nauvoo for protection. Tragically,
Dolly's father, Edmund Durfee and some of his family returned to Morley's
Settlement (known also as Yelrome -Morley spelled backward with an
"e" added) on November 15, 1845 to get a load of their grain. They stayed the night at Solomon Hancock's
place and were planning on leaving the next morning. While they were sleeping a mob set fire to
some unthreshed grain. With a wind
blowing, the fire quickly spread. After
they were convinced that the mob had fled, they started fighting the fire and
taking the horses and cows out of the stable.
Suddenly a man stepped out from behind a tree and fired one shot at
Brother Hancock. This was a signal for
fifteen or twenty others who had been hiding behind the log fence. They now stood up and started shooting. Father Durfee was struck in the throat and
killed instantly. This was a tremendous
personal blow to Dolly and David and other members of the Durfee family. This event caused the leadership of the Church
to accelerate their plans throughout the winter of 1845-1846; both for the
completion of the Nauvoo temple and for an orderly exodus out of Illinois the
following spring.
By early December 1845, construction had progressed
sufficiently to allow Brigham Young and the apostles to begin ordinance work
for the worthy members of the church. David received his endowments on January
28, 1846. Many of David’s extended
family also received their endowments between December 1845 and February
1846. It is not known why Dolly, his
wife, did not receive her endowment at this time.
By February 1846, the persecution and the threat of mobs and
renegade militia became so severe that the Latter-day Saints, under the
direction of Brigham Young, were forced to leave their beautiful city and head
west. Before his death, the Mormon
prophet Joseph Smith had prophesied, "the saints (as members of the Church
were sometimes called) would go to
the Rocky
Mountains and become a mighty people".
And it was to the Rocky Mountains that Brigham YoUI1g, Joseph Smith's
successor, would lead them. First,
however, they had to get across Iowa Territory.
Because of miserable weather and primitive (or no) roads this became a
formidable task. The Garner’s left
sometime in late winter or early spring 1846.
A covered wagon and oxen to pull it was the primary mode of
transportation for most of the departing saints. Provisions, tools, clothing and dishes,
together with pots, pans and other cooking utensils were packed in barrels and
trunks along with maybe a piece or two of furniture and loaded into the wagon.
All but the youngest of the children walked.
It is presumed that the Garner family stopped at Su gar Creek and later Mount
Pisgah as they worked their way, along with thousands of other saints, west
across Iowa.
Shortly after the Garner's arrival in June of 1846 at
Mosquito Creek, situated on the eastern bank of the Missouri River, the
encampment (Council Bluffs) was greeted on July 1 by Captain James Allen, an
officer of the United States Army.
Captain Allen had first met up
with an
encampment of the saints at Mt.
Pisgah. His reception there was
cool. However, he was treated cordially
and with Apostle Woodruffs instructions sent on to meet Brigham Young at
Council Bluffs. General Stephen W.
Kearny had sent Captain Allen to the Mormon camps, after receiving orders from
the Secretary of War. President James
Polk had authorized the recruitment of five companies (500 men) of Mormons for
the recently declared war against Mexico.
The Church had actively been lobbying the United States Congress and the
President, through the services of Jesse C. Little, for just such an
opportunity. Captain Allen's reception
by Brigham Young at Council Bluffs was enthusiastic rather than cool.
Accordingly, President
Young and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles actively helped in the recruitment
of what was to become known as the Mormon Battalion. Captain Allen explained to the hastily
arranged assembly of the saints (called by Young on the day Captain Allen
arrived), that the term of enlistment was to be for one year. At the encouragement of his church leaders,
David Garner volunteered and was enrolled in Company A. Two of his brothers,
Phillip and William also joined the Battalion (thus becoming the only three
brother enlistment in the Battalion) and were assigned to Company B.
Putting his full faith and trust in the Lord and the leaders
of his church, David left his wife and three small children in a wagon at
Mosquito Creek and began the long march to Fort Leavenworth on July 16,
1846. (Brothers Phillip and William also
left their families behind). It became the responsibility of the remaining
family members (4 brothers, 3 sisters, brothers in law and sisters-in-law and
parents) and friends and the members of the church to care for his family and
for his two brothers families for the next sixteen months. Unfortunately, we do not have any recorded
thoughts of David or Dolly at this critical time in their lives. However, Sergeant William Hyde recorded his
feelings that were most certainly the thoughts of David and the others who were
about to depart: "The thoughts of
leaving my family at this critical time are indescribable. They were far from
the land of their nativity, situated upon a lonely prairie with no dwelling but
for a wagon, the scorching sun beating upon them, with the prospect of the cold
winds of December finding them in the same bleak, dreary place. When we were to meet with them again, God
only knew. Nevertheless, we did not feel
to murmur."
In fulfilling this request for "500 able bodied
men" from the United States government, Brigham Young was able to gain
permission from Captain Allen, acting on
behalf of the government, for the members of the church to remain on Indian lands
for a period of time. This had been a
major concern of Brigham Young. The
church desperately needed to avoid further problems, either from the government
or from the Indians themselves. Therefore,
Brigham Young had made this concern a condition of his active participation in
the recruitment effort. Having obtained
this promise from Captain Allen, Brigham Young could now move across the river
to what would become known as Winter Quarters in present day Nebraska. Additionally, he could begin to build crude,
semi-permanent cabins to house the saints.
Leaving a family behind in a wagon without any hope of something more
permanent would have made the recruitment efforts considerably more difficult.
The Battalion was mustered into service on July 16 and left
from Council Bluffs for Fort Leavenworth on July 20, 1846. The trip to Fort Leavenworth was difficult,
even for 
these already hardened pioneers. Captain Allen had a schedule to keep and
pushed the men and women hard. (Some men
were allowed to bring their families along at their own expense. Additionally,
the U.S. Army hired four women for each company as laundresses). Arriving at Fort Leavenworth (a distance of
approximately 200 miles) on August 1, the Battalion was outfitted and supplied
for the march to Santa Fe. At Ft.
Leavenworth, each soldier was also given $42 in cash for, a year's clothing
allowance. Nearly all of these funds were
sent back by Apostle Parley P. Pratt and others for the support of the
fan1ilies of the soldiers and for the gathering of the poor from Nauvoo. There was also a donation for Elders Pratt,
Hyde and Taylor of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in pursuing their mission
to England. No doubt this infusion of
cash helped David's family and many others back at Council Bluffs and those yet
struggling to get out of Nauvoo.
Unfortunately for the saints, Captain, now Lt. Colonel, Allen
took sick at Ft. Leavenworth and did not accompany them to Santa Fe (tragically
he died at Ft. Leavenworth a short time later).
Instead, Lt. A. J. Smith took over command (even though each company had
a captain- they were elected by the men of each company) on the premise that he
was as a "regular" officer in the United States Army. He was an intolerable man and often made a
difficult march worse. The medical
doctor assigned to the Battalion, George B. Sanderson, surpassed even his
brashness and arrogance, however.
Competent medical care was totally lacking. This doctor’s basic remedy for anything was
calomel and arsenic administered with a "rusty spoon". Treatment from this questionable doctor was
avoided at all costs, if possible. Food at times became difficult to
obtain. There were equipment problems. And, there were the wives and children of
some of the men and the wives that had been hired by the Army as
laundresses. By the time the Battalion
reached the Arkansas River, almost all of the women and all of the children
were assigned an escort and sent to Pueblo (now in the state of Colorado).
Upon reaching Santa Fe (now in the state of New Mexico) on
October 12, 1846, Colonel Philip St. George Cooke took command of the
Battalion. Describing the Battalion,
Cooke recorded "... it was much worn out by traveling on foot... their
clothing was very scant." And,
there were a number of sick and injured among the men and as Cooke states:
"the Battalion was embarrassed by many women." He decided that the remaining women, children
and disabled men were to be sent back to Pueblo under Captain James Brown.
Initially, Colonel Cooke wanted to send only disabled men along with the women
and children. This caused grave concern
among the men who did not want their families sent to Pueblo with only sick men
to protect them. Cooke decided,
therefore, to form a "sick detachment", commanded by Captain James
Brown and assigned several strong and healthy men to help the sick and injured
and required all the remaining women, except three, to accompany the
"detachment" to Pueblo. In
this group were David and Phillip Garner.
Phillip had been injured in a fall while on sentry duty and had broken
two or three ribs and (according to his pension application years later)
apparently suffered from dysentery as well. David was one of those designated
as strong and healthy to accompany the "sick detachment", perhaps
because of his injured brother. In her
widow's pension application, Polly Garner states that David was "detailed
as one of a party in charge of the sick to go to Pueblo." The number of
the group totaled about 110 persons. The
remaining brother, William, continued the march with Col. Cooke to
California. It is of particular note
that the accrued wages due the Battalion upon arrival at Santa Fe, were, for
the most part, paid to the men (and women) in the form of checks. No coin or currency was available in Santa
Fe. These checks were then given to
agents of the Church who subsequently tendered them for gold or hard currency which
was used by the church to buy supplies necessary to help the saints scattered
across Iowa and to survive the winter of 1846-1847.
The "sick detachment" took up its line of march on
October 18, 1846. In spite of the
miserable plight of the teams and the feeble condition of most of the men, very
good time was made in traveling. As the
condition of the teams weakened, the sick were compelled to walk up the steep
hills and where the roads were exceptionally bad. They arrived in Pueblo on November 17,
1846. It was immediately agreed that
eighteen cabins, fourteen feet square should be erected for the winter. The healthy men, including David, were sent
to the woods to obtain logs for the houses.
This work was pushed with all possible urgency as winter was already
upon them. Unfortunately, before they
were finished building these crude shelters some of the sick had already succumbed.
A third group of sick or disabled soldiers was "detailed
out" of the main body of the Battalion on November 9, 1846 after leaving
Santa Fe. This group numbered around 60
individuals. They, too, joined the two
other groups in Pueblo for the winter.
Additionally, a pioneer group known as the Mississippi saints had
already arrived at Pueblo before the first group (those sent before arriving at
Santa Fe). On May 24, 1847, this
combined group - soldiers, families, and Mississippi saints - headed north
until they intersected the trail of the main body of the saints heading west
for the Great Basin west of the Rocky Mountains. At this junction, they too headed west.
The three "detachments" of the Mormon battalion,
accompanying women and children and the
saints from Mississippi, comprising in total about 240 individuals, together
with 60 wagons, 100 head of horses and mules, a few oxen and 300 head of
cattle, arrived in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake on July 29, 1847. Their arrival was just 5 days after Brigham Young’s
original group had entered the Valley.
David and Philip Garner are, therefore, included in that select group of
about 385 persons who first arrived in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake during
the last week of July 1847. Brigham
Young formed a mounted company and met these Battalion and Mississippi
companies at the mouth of Emigration Canyon.
Upon arriving in the valley a few hours later, he called a meeting and
publicly thanked the Battalion for their service to their country. In as much as their one-year enlistment had
now expired, it was decided that Captain James Brown should leave for
California and collect the remaining pay due the soldiers. It was also decided
that the discharged soldiers would return to Winter Quarters or Council Bluffs
with Brigham Young in August. On the
following morning, July 30, 1847, the men of the Battalion erected the first
building of worship in Utah. It was a
bowery 40 feet long and 28 feet wide and provided welcome relief from the
scorching hot sun. It was used the
following Sunday. David also made adobes
for a fort and assisted in the construction of some of the very earliest homes
in the Valley before his departure.
On August 17, 1847, the company began their journey east with
Brigham Young and several others. It was
a long trip to Council Bluffs - a distance of 1,032 miles. The company in which David journeyed was made
up of two divisions. The first division
was made up of three "tens"; the second division had four
"tens" and comprised the returning soldiers of the Mormon Battalion. David
traveled in the third "ten" of the second division. The company consisted of71 men and 33
wagons, 14 mules, 16 horses, and 92 yolks of oxen. Each "ten" started out at a
different time so that the company behind would not be eating dust continually. Nor did they always camp together.
William Clayton received special instructions from President
Young to measure the road carefully as he traveled back in order to get such information
that might be beneficial to the companies crossing the plains and mountains in
the years to come. His daily journal, as
recorded in Journal History, gives some interesting sidelights for the trip and
gives us an insight into the conditions and hardships endured by David, Philip
and their fellow travelers. The following brief recital gives some of the
highlights of the Journal as they made their trip to Winter Quarters:
Thurs. Aug
19 - Started about 8 a.m. Encamped on
Red Mountain Creek at 6 o'clock having traveled 16 114 miles. Day was very hot. Night quite cold.
Mon. Aug 23
- Stopped at Ft. Bridger at 1 o'clock and stopped for 1 1/2 hours while some of the brethren did a little
trading. Traveled 211h miles. Today was very cool.
Fri. Aug 27
- Traded sugar, powder, lead to the Indians for robes, skins, and meat. Bailey
Jacobs killed a big antelope, a cause for rejoicing, as we are nearly out of
breadstuffs and have had but little meat for several days. Left the Valley with 8 pounds of flour, 9
pounds of meal, and a few beans for each man and have to depend on getting meat
on the road for further sustenance.
Mon. Sept. 6
- Fierce wind blew up. It rained so hard it was impossible to build a fire.
Went to bed cold, wet, and hungry having eaten nothing since morning. Traveled 21 1/2 miles.
Sun. Sept 12
--Our breadstuff is all gone and have to live solely on meat for the balance of
the journey.
Sun. Sept 19
-Killed a buffalo. Met some Frenchmen
who are trappers. Had a feast of
buffalo ribs. Cold rain in the evening.
Tues. Oct.
12- Weather severely cold. Strong wind.
Thurs.
October 21 -Arrived in Winter Quarters a little before noon. The journey had taken nine long weeks and
three days.
David immediately crossed the Missouri River to Council
Bluffs. One can only imagine what a
joyful and happy reunion it was for David and his wife and their three
children, his parents and other family members and friends.
The saints at Winter Quarters and Council Bluffs were without
postal service of any kind, and the settlement, on both sides of the river, was
now a large one. Therefore, a petition,
dated January 20, 1848, was formulated and sent to the President of the United
States asking for the establishment of a post office in the "Pottawatomie
Lands". David and his father were
among those who signed this petition.
On April 12, 1848, David signed an affidavit in front
of a Justice of the Peace in Atchison County, Missouri. It is his recital of his enlistment and
service and discharge in the Mexican War.
This document was submitted, along with other affidavits, to the
appropriate government offices in Washington, D.C. for the specific request of
obtaining a Land Warrant based on his military service. A Land Warrant (#327308 - US Government,
National Archives) was subsequently issued on September 19, 1848 granting him
160 acres of land near Linden, Missouri for his military service in the Mexican
War. (Atchison County is the
northwestern most county in Missouri - on the Nebraska and Iowa borders. His brother Philip also obtained a warrant
and received land at the same time and place.)
It is an unanswered question as to either the use or the disposition of
this land, but perhaps David farmed it in 1849 since he did not leave Council
Bluffs for the trip west with his family until 1850. His brother Philip and family left in 1849.
His brother William (who had successfully completed the march of the Mormon
Battalion to San Diego and returned in 1848) never moved to the Valley.
On May 13, 1848, Brigham Young sealed David and Dolly Garner
for time and eternity at Winter Quarters.
Before their departure for the Valley in 1850, two additional children
were born to David and Dolly. William
Franklin (named for one of David's brothers) was born December 12, 1848 and
Mary Marinda (named for one of David's sisters) was born February 20, 1850,
both at Council Bluffs, Iowa. On
February 16, 1850, the Garner family happily witnessed the marriage of David's
youngest sibling, Henry, to Anne Mahoney at Council Bluffs. Sadly, just before their planned departure, David’s
mother-in-law, Magdalena Durfee passed away at Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory,
on May 17, 1850.
Finally, nearly four years after being forced out of Nauvoo,
the Garner family began their trek to the Salt Lake Valley. The baby Mary was only a few months old when
they departed. David was assigned to
Patriarch James Lake's company and arrived in Great Salt Lake City on September
6, 1850. The average trip took about 100
days. While no family record apparently
exists, one can assume that the difficulties and perils of such an undertaking
were little different than those experienced by the pioneer companies that had
preceded them in 1847, 1848 and 1849.
And, of course, David was well aware of the difficulties and challenges
having already endured them in both directions in 1847. They traveled with one wagon, which contained
one bed and what provisions, tools, and clothing they could obtain, or still
had from their exodus from Nauvoo and endured the hardships associated with
such an arduous journey. It is of
interest to note that in spite of the late date of their arrival in the Valley,
they were still counted on the official United States census for the Territory
of Utah for the year 1850. They were
listed as living in Weber County and it is assumed that they were located, at
least temporarily for the winter of 1850-1851, in or near Ogden, Utah.
On March 4, 1851, the David Garner family, along with 12 to
15 other families, relocated to an area about 6 miles north of the settlement
of Ogden. They traveled with Jonathan
and Samuel Campbell who were the designated leaders. Jonathan had been a member of the Mormon
Battalion and, thus, may explain why David was included in thisgroup of
original settlers. Indian problems had
prevented the Campbell’s from settling the area in the fall of 1850 and may
explain why the Garners were in or near Ogden during the winter 
of 1850-1851 . These new settlers immediately l aid out the
town site. The actual layout of the town
site commenced with the acreage of David Garner on the east bench. Measurements were laid off to the north and
west from his property boundaries. David
made his home on this claimed acreage the rest of his life.
The first pioneers arriving in North Ogden lived temporarily
in their wagons or in tents. Their
first homes were crudely constructed du gouts built in the sides of hills. They dug holes in the ground like a cellar
with perpendicular walls and then sheered up the walls with rocks. Roofs were constructed of saplings laid
close together over the dugout. The
saplings forming the roofs were covered, first, with a layer of reeds or grass
and, then, with two or three feet of earth.
Timbers standing on end were used to form the front wall of the dugouts. Cowhide and skins were used to cover the door and windows. A stone fireplace provided heat and light and
a place for cooking.
In addition to all of the extraordinary hard work that was
required of David and Dolly that first year in North Ogden, they were blessed
with the birth of a daughter on September 7, 1851. The little girl was given the name of Nancy
Jane, (after one of David's sisters and his mother). Tragically, she died approximately three
years later in 1854. Another daughter, Amelia
Jane was born on May 10, 1853.
In 1853 the community commenced to build a fort due to recurring
Indian problems. The fort enclosed about 70 acres, including several springs
for water sources. The first school was
organized in 1851, soon after the town site was laid out. (A one-room adobe schoolhouse was completed
in 1856). The growing community of North Ogden was organized by the Church into
a branch on December 9, 1852. Some three
months later on March 4, 1853, Brigham Young authorized that the branch be changed
to a ward.
On December 29, 1853, President Joseph Young of the Council
of Seventy organized the 38th Quorum of Seventy in Ogden, Utah. David was ordained a Seventy by Joseph Young
on this same date.
The winter of 1855-1856 was extremely y harsh. The native sego lily bulb was again harvested
to supplement meager food reserves in a desperate move to survive this terrible
winter. Journals and family lore from
this period indicate that the straw from mattresses was used to feed
livestock. In spite of such valiant
efforts, there was a considerable loss of stock throughout the settlements that
winter due to starvation and freezing.
As if that was not enough, the Indians became very troublesome due to
their own indigent circumstances from the severe winter. In order to appease them, the saints
constantly had to give them presents and make feasts for them. The summer of 1856 brought another massive
grasshopper invasion, which seriously damaged or destroyed the crops. And as difficult as these two years had been,
they were a prelude to an entirely different challenge they were about to face
during the years 1857 and 1858.
In spite of the difficulties and constant setbacks, David
continued to manage and further develop
his property. Early on, he managed to
procure fruit trees and planted a very large orchard, which gave bounteous
harvests in the ears to
follow. He also had a large vineyard in
addition to ground cherries and excellent gardens. He was a very good provider and an extremely
hard worker. Over the earl y years, in
addition to maintaining the farm, his family built a rock wall around their
entire property. As a further challenge
to David personally, sometime after arriving in the Valley, he blinded himself
in one eye when his knife slipped while skinning a muskrat. As a result of this accident, he was never
seen without his glasses.
President James Buchanan, in 1857, sent to Utah Territory,
what has become known as Johnston's Army.
The purpose of this military action was to put down a supposed rebellion
of the inhabitants of the territory, which, of course, in 1857, meant the
members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It seemed that their trials of crossing the
plains, cultivating crops and adapting to the climatic conditions of the Great
Basin were not enough. While efforts at
obtaining compromise or resolution were underway, Brigham Young organized the
saints to resist an invasion of their homes and property. Guerilla tactics (organized by the Nauvoo
Legion, a carryover from the days of the authorized militia unit when the
Church was headquartered in that city) prevented Johnston from entering the Valley
in late 1857, as he had hoped, and forced the army to winter at Ft. Bridger.
(The Church had purchased Ft. Bridger some years earlier. Upon receiving word
that the army was approaching the area near the fort, Brigham Young ordered
that it be burned prior to the arrival of the army).
In the spring of 1858, Brigham Young ordered the evacuation
of all the inhabitants of the Ogden and Great Salt Lake City areas and directed
them to move south toward Provo, some going as far as Santaquin. Some men were directed
to remain behind and, if necessary, torch the settlements. Once again, David and Dolly Garner and their
family, were prepared to "lay it all on the line" and move again and
start over, if necessary. And, in
compliance with instructions from their church leaders and trusting in the
Lord, they did as they were told, leaving their home and newly planted or as
yet unplanted fields. Fortunately, a
peaceful conclusion to the misunderstandings was achieved through the mediation
efforts of Col. Thomas Kane, a true friend of the Latter-day Saints. The citizens of the territory returned to
their homes and farms beginning on June 30, 1858, after the army had marched
south through Salt Lake City and located itself in Cedar Valley about
thirty-five miles distant. It is possible, but without verification, that David
and his family may have temporarily relocated near Payson where his eldest
brother George is thought to have been living at the time.
Between the extreme difficulties of the winter of 1855-1856
and the invasion of grasshoppers the summer of 1856, Charles Henry (named after
another of David's brothers) was born to David and Dolly on April16, 1856. Their last child, a daughter they named
Lydia, was born on March 2, 1858, just prior to their removal to the Provo area
in advance of Johnston's Am1y coming into the Valley in June of 1858.
During the first forty-three years of settlement in Utah Territory, the principle of plural
marriage (technically it was the practice of polygyny - meaning more than one
wife – but it was commonly referred to as polygamy) was practiced by certain
members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All bishops and branch presidents in North
Ogden from the time of the initial settlement in 1851 until 1894 were polygamists. Polygamists in North Ogden were prominent
men and were influential in the community, including David Garner. As early as
1853 there were several plural marriages performed among members of the church
in North Ogden. On April 16, 1857, David
married Bethzina Bums in the Salt Lake Endowment House after taking out her
endowments on April 2, 1857. Bethzina
was the daughter of Enoch Bums and Elizabeth Moffet. She was born March 5, 1842, in Nauvoo, Illinois. The Bums family was also among the first 112
or 15 families to settle in North Ogden in 1851.
(There are several spellings for Bethzina. Also, some records indicate that she was
married to David on March 16, 1857. This
is possibly a mistake in the records or a record of a civil marriage, as it is
unlikely that the recorded Endowment House marriage would have been performed
prior to Bethzina taking out her endowments).
On December 3, 1858, a daughter named Elizabeth was born to
Bethzina and David. Tragically, Bethzina lived only a month after the birth of
their daughter, dying, presumably, from complications following
childbirth. She was buried in the Ogden
City Cemetery. Their daughter, Elizabeth,
followed her in death not long afterward- on November 5, 1859. She was also buried in the Ogden City
Cemetery.
David's kindly disposition endeared him to his
associates. Being gifted with a good
voice he loved to sing. Late in his life, at a reunion of the Mormon Battalion
survivors, David is recorded as having performed a singing number. Activity in the Church was second nature to
him.
While early pioneer books and other lists of the early
settlers of Utah generally show David as a farmer, he was much more than that,
earning a livelihood from several sources.
At one time he and his brother-in-law set up a sawmill in the valley at
Liberty. David owned the sawmill, but
hired the help to run it. He always had excellent teams and good livestock. Sheep were essential to the pioneer economy
and David had a large flock. His wife
and daughters knew how to use the wool to make the clothing that they all
needed. David also raised goats, which
were put to pasture on the mountains and brought in once a week. Bobcats were a
risk in those early years and on one occasion, after putting the goats to pasture,
David went out to bring them in, as was the established pattern. To his great horror and dismay, the bobcats
had killed off most of the goats. David
and his grandsons ski1med the goats and tanned the hides.
A very important crop in North Ogden was sorghum. In the early years of the settlement, the
David Garner family built a sugar mill and made molasses from sorghum. Molasses
was used as a sweetener for food and also as a medium of exchange. Honey was also used relatively early as a
sweetener for food in North Ogden.
David, as reported in his diary, brought two swarms of bees with him
from San Bernardino, California, in April of 1868. He records that he paid $120.00.
In the early 1850's, "the first limekiln in the Ogden
area was built by David Garner in Cold Water Canyon just above the
spring". This lime was of a quality
superior to that generally used in building and was excellent for
'white-washing.' It was used extensively in beautifying and cleansing the
interior of the homes of the settlers in the earlier days. Later, David built a kiln on the bench east
of his place and burned lime there for many years. The kiln was finally abandoned, but the
remains were still visible as late as the 1930’s. (The location was east of about 2440 North
Mountain Road.)
In addition to his farm animals, gardens and orchard, David
raised a lot of hay on his property. To
supplement the limited rainfall of the Great Basin the early pioneers relied heavily
on irrigation. David was not an
exception. He was fortunate enough to
have a stream feed his property coming down from Coon Canyon at the base of the
mountain to the east of his property. He
built a reservoir to store the precious water so that he could irrigate his
crops throughout the summer. In later
years on one occasion, David's grandson, Will Garner, reported that as he and
his grandfather were returning from the field with a load of hay. David noticed
a small bundle of hay (small enough to put under one's arm) lying to one side of
the field. He got down from the wagon and walked to
where the small bundle lay, picked it up and brought it to the wagon. This made an obvious impression on young
Will. No doubt the years of poor crops
and scarcities had made him appreciate the bounties of nature and David was
anxious to conserve it all Will also recalls that they raised "the tallest
com in the whole valley" that summer.
Also grown on the Garner farm were choice watermelons and they became
subject to "melon raids" by some of the local young boys. It is told that one of the boys of the group
would take a cowbell and jingle it in the cornstalks while the rest of the boys
picked the watermelons they could carry.
David would hurry out of the house to frighten the cows out of the
com. By this ruse the boys were
apparently never caught.
After the early years of sacrifice and scarcity, David made a
very good living for his family. Over
time he built a lovely two-story home that still stands at 1409 North Mountain
Road. (David Garner originally built
only the center of the home where the front doorway is located.) It is one of the first homes built in North
Ogden.
In the spring of 1863, David returned to Council Bluffs, Iowa
with an ox team to bring his sister and her family to Ogden. (It is difficult to ascertain which sister
this might have been. Perhaps one of his
sisters had gone west and then returned to Iowa to be near other members of the
family, only to later change her mind and return again to the Valley). He returned with the family on the last day
of September 1863.
In early 1867, David received word that his mother was
extremely ill in San Bernardino, California.
David’s brother, John, and two of his sisters, Nancy Wakefield and Sarah
Wakefield (the two sisters had married brothers), had settled in San
Bernardino, probably during Brigham Young's colonizing efforts of that area in
the early 1850's. The 1860 census of San
Bernardino, California, shows that Jane aged 73 was living with John
Garner. It is also noted that a son
John, Jr. was born in Ogden, Utah in 1850.
Therefore, we can definitely conclude that John and his young family
were also among those first pioneers to be in the Great Salt Lake Valley. Whether, Jane Garner was in the Valley at that
time is not known. It can also be concluded, that Jane came west certainly
before 1860. Her husband, and David's
father, did not go west. Family history
states that David took temple clothes for her burial. Jane Stevens Garner died in San Bernardino on
April 13, 1868 at the age of 81. (This
age determination is further verified with the 1840 Illinois census showing
Jane to be between 50 and 60.) It was on
this return trip that David brought the two swarms of bees mentioned earlier.
On November 15, 1868, David Garner was called to serve as 1st
Counselor to Bishop Henry Holmes in the North Ogden ward bishopric. Abraham Chadwick was called to be 2nd
Counselor (the Chadwick family settled in North Ogden between 1851 and 1854). A
patriarchal blessing was given to David on February 6, 1869, at North Ogden by
Elder John Smith (Church Patriarch), which is recorded in Volume 43, page 207,
Church Archives.
David married, as a plural wife, Mary Louisa Whitmore Price,
on January 3, 1870. They were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake
City. Mary was the daughter of John
Whitmore and Elizabeth Burk, born February 14, 1837 in McMinn County,
Tennessee. She had previously been married to Samuel Maxwell Price (that
marriage taking place in 1858). There is apparently little known detail of this
third wife. The 1870 census records the David Garner family of North Ogden with
both Mary and Dolly listed. They are
both shown as "keeping
house". Living
grandchildren interviewed many years ago
do not recall anything about her. (In
the various widow’s pension affidavits filed by Polly Garner following David's
death, there is, specifically, no mention of this wife).
On October 10, 1871, David Garner was called on a mission for
the Church. The official church document
that records missionary departures states "United States" as his
field of labor. The exact area of his
labor is apparently unknown or not recorded.
It could have been anywhere in the United States. He returned on February 22, 1872, having been
gone from his family for approximately five months. He was then 53 years of age. David was one of sixty missionaries that had
been called to serve at the 1871 October Conference of the Church. They met at 7:30a.m. on a Tuesday morning
following the Conference in the Church Historian's office in Salt Lake City,
and received instructions and exhortations from Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow,
and Franklin D. Richards (members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles). He left in the company of Bishop P. G. Taylor
of Harrisville.
Approximately a month earlier, David had received word of the
passing of his aged father, David Garner, Sr., in Council Bluffs, Iowa. At the time of his passing he was somewhere
between 98 and 103 years of age. Family
history has generally listed his birth year as 1768, which would put his age at
his passing at 103 or 104. However, the
1850 census of Iowa gives his age as 77.
Adding 77 plus an additional 21 years, from the time of this census to
the year of his death, would put his age at death at either 98 or 99. He had not journeyed west, remaining behind
in Council Bluffs, along with David’s brothers William (of the Mormon
Battalion) and Henry; and possibly his sister Louisa.
During the month of February 1873, Bishop Holmes and David
Edmund Garner (David’s son) went on a "settling mission" to Arizona. David (senior) was left in charge of the ward
in Holmes' absence. David chose,
apparently without permission or at least without the proper procedure, new
counselors. Eventually, the stake
authorities questioned this action and after nearly two years, on January 30,
1875, Apostle Franklin D. Richards selected a new bishop replacing both Holmes
and Garner.
On Sunday afternoon, June 14, 1885, David’s devoted wife,
Dolly, died after a long illness. They
had been married for 43 years. Funeral services
were held at their home on Tuesday, June 16, 1885. She was buried in the Ogden City Cemetery. Following Dolly’s death, David performed
temple work for some of his ancestors in the Logan and Manti temples.
David married Polly Cater in the Logan Temple on June 14,
1886. Will Garner and Emily Chadwick Zaugg
(both grandchildren) remember this woman very well, having spent a Summer at
the Garner home and farm in 1888. After
David’s death, and in accordance with The terms of David’s will, Polly was
"left the use of one-half of the homestead below the road And almost 40
acres, two rooms in the house and a horse and wagon with all property to revert
To the estate when she dies." (While certain records state explicitly that
David had a will, no copy is known to exist.
The above information was obtained from a deposition given by Maxilla
Graham (Fannie Marilla Garner Tracy Graham), a daughter of David's. The Deposition was made at the time that
Polly Garner requested a Widow's pension for David's service in the Mexican War
as a member of the Mormon Battalion.
David's son, David E. Garner, gave a similar deposition at the same time
and for the same purpose).
In January 1889, David made another journey to San Bernardino
to visit his relatives, returning in February.
During the first week of April he attended the 59th Annual Conference of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was forced to return home before its
close (conference could last from 3 to 5 days) due to a severe cold. On April21 and 22, he attended the Quarterly
Conference of the Weber Stake held in Ogden. Possibly not having recovered
sufficiently from the earlier cold, David again became ill. The cold developed
into pneumonia and he was confined to bed.
David Garner died five days later at 1 a.m. on April 27, 1889,
after a long life of service to his family, community and church. David was 71 at the time of his passing and
was serving as the senior president of the 38th Quorum of Seventy. Funeral services were held in the chapel at
North Ogden, April 30, 1889, after which interment took place at the Ogden City
Cemetery, by the side of his wife Dolly.
PATRIARCHAL BLESSING
No. 237
C. Hiederborg, Recorder
North Ogden, Weber Co., Utah, Feb 6, 1869
Patriarchal blessing of David Garner, son of David & Jane
Garner, born in Lexington, Davison Co., North Carolina, Jan 30, 1818
Bro. David, in the name of Jesus Christ, I lay my hands upon
thy head to pronounce and seal a blessing upon thee, which shall be as the
spirit may imbibe, therefore prepare thy mind and look forward to the future
that you may comprehend the blessings which the Lord hath in store for thee,
for thou art of the house of Israel, and entitled through thy lineage to the
blessings of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, thou shalt hereafter be crowned among
the fathers in Israel and have an inheritance on Mount Zion, the new Jerusalem,
for thou hast yielded obedience to the laws of God through his servants, left
home, kindred and friends for the gospels sake, thou hast also seen many
changes for which thou shall receive thy reward and I say unto thee, be firm in
thy mind, yea even as the rock of Ages, ??? in every good ??? and work and be
of good cheer for the Lord knoweth thy integrity and will give unto thee,
according as thou shalt merit and thou shalt be blessed in the labour of they
hands, and gather around thee the riches of the earth until thou art satisfied,
and be enabled to impart freely unto the poor and the needy, thou shalt also be
called to labour in the ministry and thou shalt school thy brethren to
faithfulness and thou shalt also have power over the adversary and he shall not
mar or disturb the peace of thy habitation, and the angel of thy presence shall
give thee counsel in time of need, and warn thee of danger in time to escape,
and whisper peace and consolation in thy ear,if thou wilt listen unto the
whisperings of the still small voice of comforter which cometh from our father
in heaven, and thy posterity shalt be numerous and bear they name in honorable
remembrance. This blessing I seal upon thy head, and I seal thee up unto
eternal life, to come forth in the morning of the first resurrection a savior
in they father's house. Even so Amen!
