Aaron Freeman FARR Sr [Parents] [scrapbook] was born ^{1, 2} on 31 Oct 1818 in Waterford, Caledonia, Vermont, United States. He died ^{3, 4} on 8 Nov 1903 in Logan, Cache, Utah, United States. He was buried on 12 Nov 1903 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States. Aaron married Hope ASTILL on 28 Jan 1855 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory, United States.

Aaron resided ⁵ on 14 Jul 1870 in Ogden, Weber, Utah Territory, United States. He resided ⁶ in 1900 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States.

Other marriages:

ATHERTON, Persis
THORPE, Lucretia Ball

Farr, Aaron F., one of the original pioneers of Utah, was born Oct. 31, 1818, at Waterford, Caledonia Co., Vermont. He was baptized in 1832 and in 1836 his father's family moved to Kirtland, Ohio, and in 1842 located at Nauvoo, Ill. On June 16, 1844, he married Persia Atherton, the Prophet Joseph Smith performing the ceremony. In 1847 he was chosen as one of Pres. Brigham Young's company of pioneers and traveled with the main body until the company reached Green River, when he and four other brethren were sent back to act as guides to the oncoming emigration. He came to Salt Lake Valley Sept. 20, 1847, with Daniel Spencer's company and helped to establish a government in Salt Lake Valley, being by profession a lawyer. In 1852-1853 he filled a mission to the West Indies and on his way home was called to preside over the St. Louis Branch, succeeding Horace S. Eldredge in that position. Upon his return he made his home in Ogden where he practiced law and served as U. S. Deputy Marshal under Joseph L. Heywood. In 1856 he filled a mission to Las Vegas, Arizona (now Nevada), and in 1859 was elected probate judge of Weber County.

He also served as an alderman of Ogden and as representative for Weber County to the Utah territorial legislature. He died Nov. 8, 1903, at Logan, Utah, while visiting his daughter, wife of Moses Thatchef. He was survived by three sons and two daughters. He was a brother to Lorin Farr of Ogden.
LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 4, p.702

Aaron Freeman Farr was born in the Township of Waterford, Caledonia county, Vermont, October 31, 1818. His parents were Winslow and Olive Hovey Freeman Farr. Nothing of importance transpired in the life of Aaron Farr until the year 1832, when Orson Pratt and Lyman Johnson preached the gospel of the Latter-day Saints near their home and he and his younger brother, Lorin, were baptized. In 1837 he moved with his father's family to Kirtland, Ohio from which place he followed the body of the Church to Nauvoo, Illinois. On the 16th of January, 1844 he was married to Peris Atherton in the Mansion House by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Brigham Young selected Aaron Farr among the first to be one of the vanguard of the Saints to the Rocky Mountains. The following letter written by Mr. Farr to the Semi-Centennial Commission January 7, 1897 tells the story of his contribution:

Dear Sir:
Replying to your solicitations to all pioneers to Utah in 1847, would state that my name is Aaron F. Farr, and was born in the State of Vermont, October 31, 1818, being now 78 years of age. My first leader was Brigham Young. He was the leader of the pioneers who left Winter Quarters, on the Missouri River, April 7th and 8th, 1847. The company comprised 144 men, three women and two children in forty-three wagons. Nathaniel Fairbanks was my companion. We journeyed to Green River, (now in Wyoming) where we made rafts, and on the first three days of July ferried over the river, and on the 4th of July celebrated on the west side. Aaron Freeman Farr, President Young and his counselors thought it advisable to send several men back to meet the coming immigration that was following slowly after us, and to pilot them through the Black Hills from Laramie. I was selected, with four others, to return, noting each camping place on our way back. My companion, Fairbanks, took my mule team and outfit to Salt Lake with the pioneers proper. I met the immigration 200 miles east of old Fort Laramie. Met my wife and baby in the company. She had been driving two yoke of cattle hitched on to a wagon which contained our all. We were placed in Daniel Spencer's hundred and Horace S. Eldredge's fifty. We were in the lead of the immigration from there until we camped at some fine springs where Salt Lake City now stands, where we arrived September 20, 1847.

My companion had planted my half bushel of potatoes on July 27, also turnips and buckwheat. Frost came early and cut to the ground what appeared to be the showing of a fine crop. Later on I made a search for potatoes and succeeded in finding a half pint, some about the size of sparrow eggs, and the balance about as large as peas. My brother Lorin, in the spring of 1848, planted half of them where the Sixth Ward is now in Salt Lake City. I planted the other half near Big Cottonwood Creek, now Brinton Ward. My brother raised six bushels of excellent potatoes, while I raised three and one-half bushels. We distributed them in small lots for seed, and they were the only potatoes I saw [p.589] here in the year 1848. Captain Jefferson Hunt of the Mormon Battalion, left here in January for San Diego, California, and brought back with him, on horseback, one bushel of fine potatoes, and had to take great care of them for fear they should get frozen. He sold them for one dollar each, and as I was afraid mine might not come up, I bought one at this price

After I had my house logs hauled to the middle fort ground, William Walker and myself, being stalwarts, thought we could make a sawmill for ourselves, so we went into Red Butte canyon, northeast of Fort Douglas, and cut two saw logs, squared them with a broad-axe, and lining them sawed 400 feet of fine lumber, with which we floored our houses and made the first panel doors and three-light windows in the country in the year 1847.

Mr. Farr became one of the prominent citizens of Ogden, Utah contributing much time and effort towards its development. He died in Logan, Utah, November 8, 1903, while visiting at the home of his daughter. Burial was in the Ogden City cemetery.
Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 2, p.587-589

RESIDENCE: Age 51, wife Persis 49, Aaron 18, Lucian 14, Lucretia 39, Oliver, 12, William 14, Cordelia 10, Rose 8.

RESIDENCE: Age 81.

Hope ASTILL was born on 16 Oct 1833 in Burbage, Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom. Hope married Aaron Freeman FARR Sr on 28 Jan 1855 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory, United States.

Other marriages:

JOST, George Haliburton

Aaron Freeman Farr, Sr. married his third wife, Hope Astill on 28 January 1855, Salt Lake City, Ut. She birthed a son they named Aaron Alonzo Astill Farr on 5 January 1857, Salt Lake City, Utah. She left Aaron and went to California where she married a man by the name of Jost. Aaron Alonzo Astill Farr married Jennie S. Row, 13 May 1878 in Sacramento, Sacramento, California. He died 15 Jun 1923. I haven't found any evidence yet of any children and it is unclear at this time if he carried the Farr name or the Jost name, as he is listed with both and/or.

Hope was born in Burbridge, Leciestershire, England, daughter of Zachariah Astill and Ann Hopkins. She and Aaron Freeman Farr were married in 1855 in Salt Lake City. She and Aaron had one son they named Aaron Alonzo Astill Farr born on January 5, 1857 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Later Hope, not happy in her situation, left Aaron and went to California with her family where she married a man by the name of George Henry Jost on 8 January 1861 in Sacramento, California. Aaron Alonzo Astill Farr went by the name Alonzo Jost. He married Jennie S. Roy on May 13, 1878 in Sacramento. They had a little girl by the name of Pearl and a son named Ralph. Alonzo died June 15, 1923 in Sacramento, California

Aaron Freeman FARR Sr [Parents] [scrapbook] was born ^{1, 2} on 31 Oct 1818 in Waterford, Caledonia, Vermont, United States. He died ^{3, 4} on 8 Nov 1903 in Logan, Cache, Utah, United States. He was buried on 12 Nov 1903 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States. Aaron married Lucretia Ball THORPE on 28 Jan 1855.

Aaron resided ⁵ on 14 Jul 1870 in Ogden, Weber, Utah Territory, United States. He resided ⁶ in 1900 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States.

Other marriages:

ATHERTON, Persis
ASTILL, Hope

Farr, Aaron F., one of the original pioneers of Utah, was born Oct. 31, 1818, at Waterford, Caledonia Co., Vermont. He was baptized in 1832 and in 1836 his father's family moved to Kirtland, Ohio, and in 1842 located at Nauvoo, Ill. On June 16, 1844, he married Persia Atherton, the Prophet Joseph Smith performing the ceremony. In 1847 he was chosen as one of Pres. Brigham Young's company of pioneers and traveled with the main body until the company reached Green River, when he and four other brethren were sent back to act as guides to the oncoming emigration. He came to Salt Lake Valley Sept. 20, 1847, with Daniel Spencer's company and helped to establish a government in Salt Lake Valley, being by profession a lawyer. In 1852-1853 he filled a mission to the West Indies and on his way home was called to preside over the St. Louis Branch, succeeding Horace S. Eldredge in that position. Upon his return he made his home in Ogden where he practiced law and served as U. S. Deputy Marshal under Joseph L. Heywood. In 1856 he filled a mission to Las Vegas, Arizona (now Nevada), and in 1859 was elected probate judge of Weber County.

He also served as an alderman of Ogden and as representative for Weber County to the Utah territorial legislature. He died Nov. 8, 1903, at Logan, Utah, while visiting his daughter, wife of Moses Thatchef. He was survived by three sons and two daughters. He was a brother to Lorin Farr of Ogden.
LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 4, p.702

Aaron Freeman Farr was born in the Township of Waterford, Caledonia county, Vermont, October 31, 1818. His parents were Winslow and Olive Hovey Freeman Farr. Nothing of importance transpired in the life of Aaron Farr until the year 1832, when Orson Pratt and Lyman Johnson preached the gospel of the Latter-day Saints near their home and he and his younger brother, Lorin, were baptized. In 1837 he moved with his father's family to Kirtland, Ohio from which place he followed the body of the Church to Nauvoo, Illinois. On the 16th of January, 1844 he was married to Peris Atherton in the Mansion House by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Brigham Young selected Aaron Farr among the first to be one of the vanguard of the Saints to the Rocky Mountains. The following letter written by Mr. Farr to the Semi-Centennial Commission January 7, 1897 tells the story of his contribution:

Dear Sir:
Replying to your solicitations to all pioneers to Utah in 1847, would state that my name is Aaron F. Farr, and was born in the State of Vermont, October 31, 1818, being now 78 years of age. My first leader was Brigham Young. He was the leader of the pioneers who left Winter Quarters, on the Missouri River, April 7th and 8th, 1847. The company comprised 144 men, three women and two children in forty-three wagons. Nathaniel Fairbanks was my companion. We journeyed to Green River, (now in Wyoming) where we made rafts, and on the first three days of July ferried over the river, and on the 4th of July celebrated on the west side. Aaron Freeman Farr, President Young and his counselors thought it advisable to send several men back to meet the coming immigration that was following slowly after us, and to pilot them through the Black Hills from Laramie. I was selected, with four others, to return, noting each camping place on our way back. My companion, Fairbanks, took my mule team and outfit to Salt Lake with the pioneers proper. I met the immigration 200 miles east of old Fort Laramie. Met my wife and baby in the company. She had been driving two yoke of cattle hitched on to a wagon which contained our all. We were placed in Daniel Spencer's hundred and Horace S. Eldredge's fifty. We were in the lead of the immigration from there until we camped at some fine springs where Salt Lake City now stands, where we arrived September 20, 1847.

My companion had planted my half bushel of potatoes on July 27, also turnips and buckwheat. Frost came early and cut to the ground what appeared to be the showing of a fine crop. Later on I made a search for potatoes and succeeded in finding a half pint, some about the size of sparrow eggs, and the balance about as large as peas. My brother Lorin, in the spring of 1848, planted half of them where the Sixth Ward is now in Salt Lake City. I planted the other half near Big Cottonwood Creek, now Brinton Ward. My brother raised six bushels of excellent potatoes, while I raised three and one-half bushels. We distributed them in small lots for seed, and they were the only potatoes I saw [p.589] here in the year 1848. Captain Jefferson Hunt of the Mormon Battalion, left here in January for San Diego, California, and brought back with him, on horseback, one bushel of fine potatoes, and had to take great care of them for fear they should get frozen. He sold them for one dollar each, and as I was afraid mine might not come up, I bought one at this price

After I had my house logs hauled to the middle fort ground, William Walker and myself, being stalwarts, thought we could make a sawmill for ourselves, so we went into Red Butte canyon, northeast of Fort Douglas, and cut two saw logs, squared them with a broad-axe, and lining them sawed 400 feet of fine lumber, with which we floored our houses and made the first panel doors and three-light windows in the country in the year 1847.

Mr. Farr became one of the prominent citizens of Ogden, Utah contributing much time and effort towards its development. He died in Logan, Utah, November 8, 1903, while visiting at the home of his daughter. Burial was in the Ogden City cemetery.
Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 2, p.587-589

RESIDENCE: Age 51, wife Persis 49, Aaron 18, Lucian 14, Lucretia 39, Oliver, 12, William 14, Cordelia 10, Rose 8.

RESIDENCE: Age 81.

Lucretia Ball THORPE [scrapbook] was born ¹ on 20 Jan 1828 in North Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, United States. She died ² on 18 Nov 1915 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. She was buried on 21 Nov 1915 in City Cemetery, Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States. Lucretia married Aaron Freeman FARR Sr on 28 Jan 1855.

Lucretia resided ³ in 1870 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States. She resided ⁴ in 1900 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States.

This marriage was performed by Brigham Young, the prophet.

Lucretia Ball Thorp was born 20 January 1828 in North Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, the daughter of Lyman Thorp and Lucretia Ball. She died 18 November 1915 in Salt Lake City, Utah. She married Aaron Freeman Farr, Sr. on 28 January 1855 in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are both buried in the Ogden City Cemetery, Weber, Utah.

Olive Spangenberg Stum wrote the following, July 1953, taken from Aaron Farr's journal and from personal talks with her grandmother - The Life of Lucretia Ball Thorp Farr

In relating the history of my grandmother, Lucretia Ball Thorp Farr, I will go back to the parents of my grandmother of hwich I know very litter. Her father, Lyman Thorp, was born in North Haven, Connecticut, March 21, 1795 and lived there with his family consisting of at least several brothers who are mentioned in the journal. Lyman Thorp married Lucretia Ball who was born in Bethany, New Haven County, Connecticut July 9, 1800.

They were industrious and prosperous living in a large home with a basement where the winter food was stored, much of which consisted of sea food; oysters, clams and mussels stored in bins like we store potatoes, live lobsters and crabs were left to crawl around on the floor, large kegs of fish in brine were also stored and I presume dried fruits and vegitables as well.

To this couple three children were born - Margaret on September 9, 1819, Lucretia born January 20, 1838 and a son Charles. The father Lyman Thorp died August 18, 1852; it is not stated whether or not he became a member of the church. The widow Thorp was interested in the religion being taught in that part of the county by the Latter Day Saint missionaries, among them Aaron Frreman Farr, who was baoring there in 1853 and 1854 and who visited ofen in the home to preach the gospel. Sister Thorp or Widow Thorp as she was called was very kind to him, doing his wahing and cooking for him and even sewing. Grandfather Farr in his journal mentions a brother Cook buying him cloth for a pair of shirts and pair of garments for $2.36 which Widow Thorp made up for him.

Lucretial Ball Thorp was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, September 28, 1848, by Amos P. Stone of the 16th Quorum of the Seventies, her son Charles Lyman Thorp being baptized the same day. The daughter Lucretia was baptized in 1854 by E. H. Dair.

Soon after this the widow sold most of her possessions and with her three children moved to New York forom which place they sailed to St. Louis by way of New Orleans. At St. Louis they outfitted for Utah, also provided a complete outfit of ox teams for a poor family so that they could go to the valley with them. Captain
James Brown was in command of the company.

Young Lucretia walked almost every step of the way for St.Louis to Utah carrying with her a small stool on which she would sit and rest, having at times walked far ahead of the wagon company; she was then 16 years old and did not realize the dangers that could be lurking ahead for her. She lovingly cared for her mother who was ill nearly all that distanace and her sister Margaret who was an invalid, her brother Charles had charge of the ox teaams.

Grandmother told some instances that happened along the way. One day as the company rounded a bend in the road they came upon a band of Indian braves in full war paint, not an Indian child or woman to be seen anywhere. The braves had spread their blankets across the road; of course the saints knew what that meant - they wanted provisions and the chief made known to them that they wanted sugar, flour, tobacco and whatever they had. There was nothing to do but comply with their demands as each family gave of what they had; the braves being satisfied gathered up their blankets an started away. Soon from the neaby hills Indian squaws and children could be seen coming from behind rocks and trees, as was their custom; they had been hiding there. Had the saints not complied with the demands they prpobably would not have lived to reach Utah and their friends and loved ones who had already reached the valey.

Another incident she told was a young Dandy as they called one of the more properous young men of the company, who had tried to find favor with her. One day as she was walking far ahead of the company suddenly what she thought was an Indian blanket was thrown over her and she was grabbed by stout arms; she was too frightened to even cry out. It however turned out to be this young man who had been following her and had taken offhis long cloak (a cape which many of the men wore) and had thrown it over her just in fun. Grandmother didn't take it as a joke and would not speak to him all the rest of the trip.
They arrived in Salt Lake City, Sept. 1854, the journey having taken six months due to Indian troubles and cholera quarantine.

Her brother Charles soon left for California to seek wealth in the gold fields and was never seen again by his family, for he was supposedly lost at sean while returning on board a ship that saild around the Horn (meaning the sourther end of South America), he being missed on a Sunday morning after going up on deck with his Bible to read. He carried considerable money or gold he ad accumulated during the "Gold Rush" (between 1847-1854). This information was given to his mother, Lucretia Thorp by the captain of the vessel, who said "he was probably washed overboard".

Not long after arriving in Utah grandmother became the second wife of Aaron Freeman Farr who she had known before leaving her Connecticut home' they were married in Salt Lake City by Brigham Young on Jan. 28, 1855 at the age of 17. The following year she accompanied him on a colonizing mission to Las Vegas, Arizona, returning that same fall. In 1857 she removed to Ogden, Utah. When Johnstons army was on the march and in the "move shouth" March 21 1858 she left Ogden with her only child a little boy named Charles Lyman Farr (who was born Nov. 20, 1856, in Salt Lake City) and cmaped with the main body of people on the Provo bottoms. Here she was called to part with her baby on June 10, 1858, burying him in Provo. When peace was restored she returned to Ogden where she resided all her life.

She was a very devoted wife and mother caring for her husband and her family consisting of sone son, William Freeman Farr, three daughter, Olive Estella Farr Spangenberg (my mother), Lucretia Rosabell Farr Hyde (wife of Dr. George E. Hyde), she bing the only living child presently of Aaron and Lucretia Farr; she is not 87 years old and resides in Ogden. Cordellia Ballow Farr Poulter who died in early womanhood, leaving her husband and two small sons whom grandmother cared for until their father remarried. She also cared for her mother until her death in Ogden, Sept. 11 1888, she being 88 years old; and also her invaled sister Margaret whom she cared for tenderly until she died Aug 7, 1895.

Lucretia Farr was a woman of many talents. She was a beautiful penman and taught school for a shot time, having had a good education for those early times. She was an excellent seamstress, her needlework was most beautiful, two of her most cherished pieces being a child's dress and a kerchief embroidered in eyelet of must intricate work; these are now int he State Relic Hall of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers in Salt Lake City. She was a very excellent cook and even for pioneer days all were welcome and were served the best that could be provided. She has often told of having but one poind of white sugar which she kept in a trunk, only to be served when very special guest were present, but nevertheless cakes would be made of molasses and soon the produce of their land was filling the table with good things to eat.

Grandfather was a miller in his early days and thus flour was provided for his family. He was very thrifty and he always had a lovely garden, his own pigs and chickens, also cows to provide plenty of milk, butter and cheese and also all good things the markets later afforeded where purchased and used to make living more enjoyable and were surely appreciated afer the years of toil and hard ships.
Grandmother loved nice things and grandfather was one to provide the best he could for her. Their first home in OGden was adobe consisting of three rooms and a lean-to kitchen for summer use located at 20th Street and Washington Ave. This was soon added to, a lulmber two story being built in front. In a few years a very fine lumber home was built directly north (1972 Washignton Ave.) and was furnished in the very height of fashion and where they lived happily the remaining years of their lives.

Lucretia Farr was a very faithful member in the church especially working int he Relief Society, occupying every office in that organization and was finally made presiden of the Ogden Third Ward Relief Society, holding this position for 24 years, taking charge of many large banquest and all the duties that position requires. She always attended fast meeting, usually taking me with her at one such meeting the Holy Spirit was so strong that one of the sisters talked in tongues and another interreted what she said. I was too young to remember what was said, but I have never forgotten the experience.

She died in Salt Lake City, Nove. 18, 1915 at the home of her daugher, Rose Hyde, where she had gone for a short visit. She left a fine posterity who will always revere her memory.

NOTE: There is one bit of history that must be addressed. It appears that there is a Marcus Ball Thorp on the Church Records as being the son of Lucretia Ball and Lyman Thorp. He is reported to be one of the original pioneers of Utah, was born June 12, 1822 at New Haven, Connecticut. Having become a member of the Church he left his native town in 1846 and joined the exiled saints at Winter Quarters. He arrived in Great Salt Lake Valley, July 1847 and returned to Winter Quarters later the same year with President Brigham Young. He came back in 1848 and the following year went to California where he secured what he thought would be enough money to bring his parents and family to Utah. This money he placed in a belt which he wore when he left California in 1851 but on the voyage he fell overboard and was drowned. His body and money wer not recovered. I also have a alternate date of January 19. 1849 was murdered in California. He was baptized in 1843, two years before Lucretia Ball Thorp but the Thorp family was well to do and even supplied a team for a less fortunate family so it does not make sense that he went to California for this reason.

Marcus was endowed 2 Feb 1846 in Nauvoo. He was sealed to parents Lucretia and Lyman on 16 Sep 1909. This date would be before Lucretia died in 1915. There is no record of marriage. The birth date of 1822 is possible as Margaret Jane was born in 1819 and Charles Lyman was not born until 1834. But he is not mentioned in the family history of Lucretia and his life is somewhat confused with the fate of Charles Lyman with the disappearance at sea. I guess it is possible that both could have suffered the same fate or maybe Charles died at sea and Marcus was murdered in California. 1850 Census shows the Thorp family with Lyman 57, Lucretia 50, Margaret 30, Charles H. 16 and Lucreita 12. Luman died August 16, 1852. The 1830-40 Census has i female 5-10 (Lucretia), 1 female 15-20 (Margaret), 1 female 30-40 (Lucretia) 1 male 10-15 (Charles) and 1 male 30-40 (Lyman). 1820 Census shows Lyman Thorp head of household 1 male 26-46, 1 female under ten, 1 female 16-26 and one female 26-45 (not sure who this woman staying with them could be. Both mother and mother-in-law would be older, could be older sister.

RESIDENCE: Age 39.

RESIDENCE: Age 62.

William Holmes WALKER [scrapbook] was born ^{1, 2, 3} on 29 Aug 1820 in Peacham, Caledonia, Vermont, United States. He died ^{4, 5, 6} on 9 Jan 1908 in Lewisville, Jefferson, Idaho, United States. He was buried on 12 Jan 1908 in Lewisville, Jefferson, Idaho, United States. William married ^{7, 8} Olive Hovey FARR on 1 Nov 1843 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States.

William Walker, autobiography, typescript, BYU, p.11 November 1, 1843, I married Olive Hovey Farr, daughter of Winslow and Olive Hovey Freeman Farr. Myself and wife boarded at the [p.12] mansion six months, then we moved into a two-story brick house on Parley Street belonging to the Prophet, but I still continued to be in his employ. We had living with us five of my younger brothers and sisters and gave them a home for a year. My father then returned from his mission and soon he provided a home for them.

Taken from William Holmes Walker's Journal--Father joined Mormons, 1832.  To Far West, Missouri, 1834.  To Nauvoo, 1839.  Conversations with Joseph Smith.  Married.  Exodus from Nauvoo, 1846.  Mormon Battalion, 1846-47.  To Salt Lake City.  Mission to South Africa, 1852-57.  Mission president from 1855.  Return to Salt Lake City. Called to settle in Dixie, 1861.  Routine entries about family, Church activities, work, financial accounts.
Commments: #61. William was chosen as one of the presidents of the 57th Quorum of seventy.  From 1840 until the expulsion of the Saints from Illinois in 1846, he resided in Nauvoo, Illinois, whence he moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa.  Here he enlisted as a member of the famous Mormon Battalion, and crossed the great plains and deserts to the Pacific coast.  After serving his time as a soldier he made his way to Salt Lake City, where he arrived in the fall of 1847.  After residing in Salt Lake City for a number of years he moved to Big Cottonwood, Salt Lake county.  In 1852 he was called on a mission to South Africa, where he spent about five years laboring in the Cape of Good Hope and in the neighboring province on the east.  He worked both in the Logan and Salt Lake Temples.

LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 1, p.565
Walker, William H., a Patriarch in the Granite Stake of Zion, is the son of John Walker and Lydia Holmes, and was born in Peacham, Caledonia county, Vermont, Aug. 28, 1820. He was baptized in September, 1835, by Abraham Palmer, and ordained a Seventy by Benj. Clapp in 1846. Later, he was chosen as one of the presidents of the 57th quorum of Seventy. May 20, 1892, he was ordained a High Priest and a Patriarch by Pres. Joseph F. Smith. From 1840 till the expulsion of the Saints from Illinois in 1846, he resided in Nauvoo, Ill., whence he moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Here he enlisted as a member of the famous Mormon Battalion, and crossed the great plains and deserts to the Pacific coast. After serving his time as a soldier he made his way to Salt Lake City, where he arrived in the fall of 1847. After residing in Salt Lake City for a number of years he moved to Big Cottonwood, Salt Lake county, where he has continued to reside ever since. In 1852 he was called on a mission to South Africa, where he spent about five years laboring in the Cape of Good Hope and in the neighboring province on the east. During the past sixteen years he has keen engaged in Temple work both in the Logan and Salt Lake Temples, and together with his sisters he has performed ordinances for over ten thousand people.

William Holmes Walker
Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah, Vol. 4, p.192-196
The subject of this narrative was a member of the Mormon Battalion and virtually one of the pioneers of Utah. The son of John and Lydia Holmes Walker, he was born at Peacham, Caledonia county, Vermont, August 28, 1820. His parents were members of the Congregational church, and he was trained in all the tenets of the same. When, in the spring of 1832, his father joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, William, who at that time was from home, living with an uncle and attending school, shared with his devout mother and other relatives the astonishment and disgust experienced by them on learning of what had taken place. John Walker, a carpenter by trade and something of a machinist, went soon after his baptism to Stanstead Plains, Canada, where he had charge of a manufacturing establishment, putting in improved machinery. During his absence his wife made a diligent and thorough investigation of Mormonism, with the result that she herself was converted. After her husband's return home, she and her children in 1834 accompanied him to Ogdensburg, New York, where there was an organized branch of the Church. They resided there three or four years, and in 1835 William, one of his brothers and two sisters embraced the faith.

In the spring of 1838 the Walkers with several other families left Ogdensburg for Western Missouri, where they arrived just as the anti-Mormon troubles were at their height. While traveling through the State they were surrounded by an armed mob who searched their wagons, robbed them of their rifles and ammunition and warned them that they would be killed if they went any farther. Terrified by these threats two families stayed behind, while the others continued on to Shoal Creek, camping five miles below Haun's Mill. William's father visited that ill-starred settlement in quest of information as to the true state of affairs, and was there when Comstock's murderous ruffians fell upon the defenseless settlers and massacred nearly a score. Mr. Walker was wounded, and while hiding under some slabs that projected over or leaned against the bank of the creek near the mill, witnessed the brutal butchery of the revolutionary veteran, Father McBride, who, while pleading for mercy, was hacked to pieces by a stalwart Missourian with an old corn-cutter. Refugees from the mills reported the massacre to the campers on Shoal Creek, who supposed Mr. Walker to be among the slain. To their great joy they learned to the contrary after moving their camp about one hundred miles, when William sought and found his sire and brought him back to his family and friends. In November, while temporarily occupying a log house, the Walkers, father and son, assisted President Joseph Young and family, refugees from Haun's Mill, a distance of a hundred and fifty miles, on their way to Illinois.

The Walker family left Missouri early in 1839 and settled near Quincy, Illinois, where the father obtained work at his trade, while his sons William and Lewis tilled a farm that he had rented. During his subsequent mission through the Middle States, it was their labor that supported the family. William Walker's first meeting with the Prophet [p.193] Joseph Smith, with whom he became very intimate, was in the spring of 1840, when he was sent by his father to transact some business with him at Nauvoo. He arrived at the Prophet's home about nine o'clock in the evening, just as the family were singing before the usual evening prayer; Emma Smith, the Prophet's wife, leading the melodious chant. "I thought," says he, "I had never heard such sweet, heavenly music, and I was equally impressed with the prayer offered by the Prophet."

William and his parents having moved to Nauvoo, he was welcomed into the Prophet's home, where he remained during the next three years as a member of the household. As early as January, 1841, if not earlier, the Prophet spoke to him about the principle of plural marriage, and in the spring of 1843, Father Walker being absent on a mission, Joseph asked and obtained William's consent to marry his sister Lucy. His sire subsequently sanctioned the proceedings. William says of the Prophet: "The more extensive my acquaintance and experience with him, the more my confidence increased in him. I worked in the hay field with him, when he assisted in mowing grass with a scythe, many a day putting in ten hours work. Very few if any were his superiors in that kind of labor. I was entrusted by him with important business. The Urim and Thummim was once in my charge for the time being. On one occasion when he was the mayor of Nauvoo, it became his duty to fine a negro for selling liquor in violation of the city ordinances. The negro begged for leniency, stating that his object in selling the liquor was to raise money to send for his family. The mayor would not shrink from his duty; he fined him seventy-five dollars, but added that if he would honor the law in future, he would make him a present of a horse to aid him in his purpose. The gift was gladly accepted and the required promise made. When the Mansion House was finished and furnished and the Prophet and his family moved into it, I had charge of it under his direction. In regard to his private life, as to purity, honesty, charity, benevolence, refinement of feeling and nobility of character, his superior did not exist on earth. An incident occurred at the Mansion House to illustrate his contempt for and detestation of anything low and vile. Not long after the house was opened as a hotel, a stranger came and registered his name. Just before supper he insulted one of the hired girls. The Prophet heard of it after the stranger had retired, and next morning met him as he came down from his room. 'Sir,' said he, 'I understand that you insulted one of the employes of this house last evening.' The fellow began to make all kinds of apologies, but the Prophet cut him short by telling him to get into his buggy and leave the place at once, and this in such unmistakable language and in such a tone as to almost make the man's hair stand on end. He offered to pay his bill, but his money was refused. 'I want you to get out,' said the indignant proprietor. 'I want none of your money, nor the money of any man of your stamp.' Thereupon the stranger made a hasty exit."

November 1st, 1843, witnessed the marriage of William Holmes Walker with Olive Hovey Farr, daughter of Winslow and Olive Hovey Freeman Farr. He and his wife boarded at the Mansion House for six months, and then moved into a two-story brick house on Parley Street, belonging to the Prophet. William's mother was now dead, his father was on a mission, and five of his younger brothers and sisters were living with him. He still continued in the Prophet's employ, loaded and hauled rock for the Temple and officiated as president of the young men's and young ladies' relief society, organized to supply the needs of the poor.

When the Prophet was about to go to Carthage to give himself up for trial, he sent William Walker to Burlington for an important witness, whose affidavit was secured and sent to Carthage by express. The same day it was returned to him with the request that he go again for the witness. He started immediately, rode all night, and while taking breakfast with George J. Adams at Augusta, heard the awful news of the massacre in Carthage jail. He returned to Nauvoo in time to meet the dead bodies of Joseph and Hyrum on their arrival there. In the fall of 1845 he assisted to quell the mobs that were burning Mormon property around Nauvoo, and during the remaining months of his residence there made preparations to accompany his people in their westward flight.

The date of his departure from Nauvoo was February 21, 1846. He crossed the Mississippi (two miles wide) on the ice, and joined the migrating Saints on Sugar Creek. The camp was so organized that all able-bodied men who could possibly be spared went ahead and took contracts for splitting rails, building fences, or any other work that could be had, in order to supply the camp with grain. Mr. Walker, with his brother-in-law, Aaron F. Farr and Lorenzo D. Young, went into northern Missouri to trade their horses for oxen, which were found much better than horses for the journey. From that time he was actively engaged in hauling supplies through the storms that beat upon the [p.194] travelers, almost incessantly, as they wended their way towards the Missouri river, where he arrived with the advance company about the middle of June.

Next came the call for the Battalion. "I enlisted," says Mr. Walker, "more as a necessity than as a volunteer. It was a heavy draft upon the camp, and it required much effort upon the part of President Young and others to meet the demand." He was in Company "B," Jesse D. Hunter, Captain. From Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe he suffered much with chills and fever, and experienced rather harsh treatment from some in command, who did not realize his weak condition and required service impossible for him to perform. Finally the medical examiner passed upon his case, excused him, and he was sent with the disabled portion of the Battalion to Pueblo, where he passed the winter. This detachment left Pueblo late in May, 1847. Mr. Walker with a few others went on in advance and overtook the Pioneers at Green river, from which point he returned with a number of them on horseback to meet his family in the following emigration. He rode for days barefooted, (his moccasins being worn out), with a handkerchief wrapped around the foot that was exposed to the sun. Near Fort Kearney he met his wife, who had driven two yoke of oxen most of the way from the Missouri river, and was now sick, worn out with fatigue. They arrived in Salt Lake valley on the first day of October.

His wagon box was his first abode, but he lost no time in going to the canyon for logs to build a house, into which he moved in December. "Aaron F. Farr and myself cut the logs and sawed the first lumber in Utah, and I made the first three-panel doors. I also worked on the first grist-mill, a corn cracker, run by water power, and built by Charles Crismon on City Creek. I then hewed timber and framed a saw mill for Heber C. Kimball. Subsequently I worked on Neff's flouring mill. I drew a lot one mile north of what is now called Holladay, and after getting the ground broke, sent my oxen back to the Missouri river to help the immigration. In 1848 I fought the crickets, and the next year moved my house out of the Fort onto my city lot in the Sixteenth ward. I traded with the Indians and gold diggers, the latter on their way to California, and at the same time cultivated my land. In November of that year my brother Edwin, a member of the Battalion, who had served in the second enlistment, arrived from California. In the Provo Indian campaign of February, 1850, I drove the old cannon called 'Long Range.' I was in the thick of the fight on Provo river and in the final combat at the head of Utah Lake, where the hostiles were almost annihilated. On the 28th of the following April, I married Mary Jane Shadding, and next day went to Farmington to build and open a farm. In the fall my father arrived from Winter Quarters. The next year I built a two-story house at Salt Lake City, and in December, with my father-in-law, Winslow Farr, and my brother-in-law, Aaron F. Farr, began opening a road, building bridges and hewing timber for a saw-mill in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Our mill was just ready to raise, and I had started for Salt Lake to get men to help us put it up, when I learned that I had been called on a mission to South Africa. Instead of taking out men to raise the mill, I took one out to purchase my interest therein."

Elder Walker started upon his mission about the middle of September, 1852, accompanied by Jesse Haven and Leonard I. Smith. He left his affairs in the hands of an Englishman named Hill, a bad man who had been recommended to him as a good one, and who wasted his substance, mistreated his family and absconded before his employer's return. While the latter and his companions were crossing the plains an attempt was made, presumably by Indians, to run off their horses, quite a numerous band, as they were traveling in company with many other Elders, bound for missions in various parts. They had just made camp one evening on the Platte, when a strange horse, saddled but riderless, came galloping in from the darkness. A powder horn and a tin cup were tied to the horn of the saddle, and every jump made by the horse produced a peculiar ring and rattle. The unusual noise frightened the other horses, and quick as a flash they started on a stampede and were chased for six miles before they could be checked and turned. Proceeding on their way the missionaries soon met a band of Pawnees, three thousand strong, who divided to the right and left and allowed them to pass, showing no signs of hostility, though they had burned the grass for a distance of a hundred and fifty miles.

At Kanesville Elder Walker made arrangements for the emigration of his youngest sister, Mary, the next season. He then went on to Illinois to visit his brother Lorin, who had married the eldest daughter of the martyred Patriarch Hyrum Smith. He spent two days with the Prophet's family, at Nauvoo, and was kindly received by them. Emma Smith had remarried, and was then Mrs. Major Bidamon. He found his brother at Macedonia, where also dwelt the Prophet's sisters, Catherine and Sophronia, both widows. [p.195] All were glad to see him. He assisted Lorin in his preparations to emigrate to Utah. At Washington, D. C., he visited both houses of Congress, by invitation of his friend, Delegate Bernhisel, and on the 16th of December sailed from New York, landing at Liverpool on the 3rd of January. Elder Walker had his first experience in public speaking at Preston, the birthplace of the British Mission. Having visited Wales and various parts of England, he sailed from London for the Cape of Good Hope on the 11th of February. Crossing the Equator, he and his party escaped the usual experience meted out to neophytes in Neptune's realm—i. e., a salt water douse, a lathering with tar and a shave with an iron hoop—by informing the sea-god, or the sailor impersonating him, that they were missionaries. A small present was accepted as a substitute for the usual ceremony of initiation.

Elders Walker, Haven and Smith landed at the Cape of Good Hope April 19, 1853. The usual storms were raging in that locality. They preached in Cape Town and other places and met with much opposition, being mobbed repeatedly and slandered almost incessantly. The first six months they baptized forty-five persons and organized two branches of the Church. In November Elder Walker visited the Eastern province, on the borders of Kaffirland, and at Beaufort baptized nine and organized a branch. He also held some interesting meetings at Grahamtown and other points, laboring arduously against great opposition, Subsequently he was joined by his companions. At the close of his ministry in that land two conferences had been established at Beaufort and Port Elizabeth. One of his converts was Charles Roper, a wealthy rancher at Wintberg, who, when the ship-owners formed a league refusing to carry Mormon emigrants out of the country, purchased with others a ship called the "Unity" and placed it at the disposal of the missionaries. Thereupon the ship-owners gave notice that they would carry all Mormon emigrants that wanted to go. Elder Walker had been sustained as president of the South African Mission, Elder Smith had been released to take the first company to Utah, and Elder Haven was on the point of sailing for Liverpool, to report progress to the Presidency of the European Mission, when a letter came from President Brigham Young honorably releasing them to return home.

Sailing from Cape Town November 27, 1855, their ship, the "Unity," on December 13 touched at St. Helena, where they viewed Napoleon's tomb and preached under the shade of some trees on one of the streets of the town. Subsequently Elder Walker preached on board, the captain and crew paying respectful attention. The ship arrived at the London docks, January 30, 1856. Elder Walker left it at Gravesend, and took train for London, thence proceeding to Liverpool, where he met in council with President Franklin D. Richards, Daniel Spencer, George D. Grant, William H. Kimball, John Kay, Thomas Williams, James Little, Edward Tullidge and others, and after reporting his mission, discussed with them the subject, "Wheelbarrow or Handcart Emigration." Late in February he sailed from Liverpool on the ship "Caravan," with a company of Saints presided over by Daniel Tyler, to whom he acted as first counselor; Edward Bunker and Leonard I. Smith being the other counselors. From New York, where they landed late in March, Elder Walker had charge of the company to Iowa City, which was reached early in April. While waiting the word to start across the plains he visited relatives and friends in Illinois, among them the venerable Lucy Smith, the Prophet's mother, who was nearing the end of her life. He assisted President Daniel Spencer in emigrational matters on the frontier, and was preparing to follow the handcart companies, with his brother Lorin and family, but found it impossible to secure teamsters that late in the season; it being about the first of October when he reached Winter Quarters. He therefore remained on the Missouri, and escaped the disaster that befell the companies on the plains. At the head of a company of emigrants he reached Salt Lake City September 1st, 1857, having been absent from home five years, lacking fifteen days.

Scarcely had he greeted his family when he was called to take part in the "Echo Canyon war." He was all ready to go, when he was assigned the duty of selecting and forwarding supplies to his comrades at the front. Returning from the move in July, 1858, he purchased a farm four miles west of Ogden. August 30th of that year was the date of his marriage to his third wife, Olive Louisa Bingham. He now added to agriculture the occupation of dairying. He also established a carding machine at Farmington, freighting the machinery from the East. He had barely put up his buildings for this industry when he was called upon a mission into Southern Utah.

In company with his wife Olive H. he started upon this mission in May, 1862. At Toquerville, where they settled, he planted cotton, sugar cane and grape vines. In July he returned to Salt Lake to procure a cotton gin, but found no machinist who could make one. He next engaged in freighting from California and the East. In the spring [p.196] of 1863 he sent two four-mule teams to the States, with baled cotton for William S. Godbe, his wagons bringing back new card clothing for his carding machine. With four of his teams his brother Edwin freighted between Salt Lake, Boise City and Southern California. In 1864 he and his little son Simeon went to the Missouri river, taking passengers and bringing back freight. At Deseret he put up a flouring mill and in Oak Creek canyon a saw mill. On April 24, 1865, he married his fourth wife, Harriet Paul, who went to "Dixie" to live, his wife Olive L. going to Deseret. In the spring of 1866 he arrived at Salt Lake City from the south, with two tons of cotton for President Young's Deseret Mills. He was now released from the Dixie mission, sold out his interests there, and concentrated his energies upon his mills.

In the fall of 1872 Mr. Walker sold to the Utah Central railroad company a lot in Salt Lake City for eight thousand dollars, and purchased with the greater part of the proceeds the Farr estate on Big Cottonwood, resolving to turn his attention to farming and initiate his sons in that line. A serious accident befell him about this time, a young horse rearing up and striking its hoof on his shoulder, knocking the bone down into the armpit. Drs. Bernhisel and Benedict reduced the dislocation, but it was six months before the patient could raise his hand to the top of his head. In June, 1874, he became interested in a stamp mill at Ophir, and for a short time was business manager of the concern. In March, 1875, he began building his first house at Big Cottonwood, where he afterwards built two others. On completing the structure he fitted up a room as a school, hired a teacher and had fifteen of his children taught there. The neighbors also sent their children to this school, which was quite successful. In February, 1876, he was elected senior school trustee for the district and during his term of office a new school house was erected, for which he took the contract, advancing means for the materials. He also made the desks and other furniture, did the painting and varnishing, and provided a large bell for the cupola of the building. His last act as trustee was to have the school-house grounds fenced, leveled, sown to grass and planted with shade trees; also to arrange for the care and cultivation of the same during the next five years. William Walker was one of the first stockholders in Z. C. M. I., and also took stock in the Sixteenth ward co-operative store. He is now a stockholder in the Utah Sugar Company.

In April, 1884, he accompanied four of his married sons to Idaho, where they purchased and took up lands at Lewisville. There he settled with a portion of his family, and with his sons William A. and Don C. opened a small store, which was afterwards closed out to Z. C. M. I. He left Utah just in time to escape the beginning of the anti-polygamy crusade, but soon found that he was not much safer in Idaho, since the crusade began there about the same time. To avoid the prowling deputies he went into retirement for a season, camping out in the woods in an ingeniously planned retreat which he finally had to abandon as danger drew nearer.

During the winter of 1885–6, and at intervals during the next five years, he worked in the Logan Temple, where his sisters, Lucy, Jane and Mary assisted him in sacred labors for their dead ancestors. Leaving Logan in February, 1891, he worked during the next few weeks on the Salt Lake County Seminary, making a donation of half his labor to the institution. He was then engaged for six months on the Salt Lake Temple, laying floors, donating half his labor in like manner. He had the same tools that he had used on the Nauvoo Temple fifty years before. In July, 1893, he began working in the Salt Lake Temple, and until recently was regularly engaged there.

On May 20, 1892, the worthy veteran, a Seventy since December, 1844, and one of the presidency of the Fifty-seventh quorum since July 27, 1869, was ordained a High Priest and Patriarch, under the hands of Presidents George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith, the latter pronouncing the ordination. He still resides at Holladay, whence he reported himself in 1897 to the Utah Jubilee Commission, and from them received due recognition as one of the pioneer founders of the commonwealth. [p.197]

Olive Hovey FARR [Parents] [scrapbook] was born ^{1, 2, 3} on 8 Mar 1825 in Waterford, Caledonia, Vermont, United States. She died ^{4, 5} on 8 Dec 1915 in Lewisville, Jefferson, Idaho, United States. Olive married ^{6, 7} William Holmes WALKER on 1 Nov 1843 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States.

Birth year in Dave Farr's book "Winslow and Olive Farr" is listed as 1824

DEATH: Died possibly on the 12th

William CLAYTON [scrapbook] was born ^{1, 2} on 17 Jul 1814 in Penwortham, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom. He died ^{3, 4} on 4 Dec 1879 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory, United States. He was buried on 7 Dec 1879 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory, United States. William married Diantha FARR on 9 Jan 1845 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States.

Recorded the Revelation on Celestial Marriage.

Places of Residence: Clayton, William (Male) Manchester, Lancashire, ENG Zarahemla, IA, USA   9/00/1840; Nauvoo, Hancock, IL, USA 7/24/1847; UT, USA

Vocations: Clayton, William (Male) Rifle Co. Member, Secretary & Treasurer, Territorial Auditor, Bookkeeper, 1842; Clerk at the Joseph Smith Store in Nauvoo

Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, p.811
CLAYTON, WILLIAM (son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchlow of Manchester, Eng.). Born July 14, 1814, Preston, Lancashire, Eng. Came to Utah July 24, 1847, Brigham Young company.

Clayton, William (Male)William kept a journal which the original is located at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.  A copy of his journal is located in the Historical Department of the Church.   William was a missionary in England in 1840.   William was a high counselor in 1841.   William was a stake president in Utah.

Comments: #21. William was recorder and clerk of the Nauvoo Temple in 1842.   William was 2nd counselor to Joseph Fielding, the president of the England mission.   William was clerk of the high council in Iowa, July 1841.   William crossed the plains October 21, 1847.

Comments: #31. William came to Utah with the Brigham Young Company.   William's family home was in Salt Lake City.

William was one of the original pioneers of Utah and recorded many important events which occurred on the journey.   William was one of the 1st to embrace the gospel in England.   In 1842 William succeeded Willard Richards as clerk to the Prophet Joseph Smith.  William is the author of the Mormon hymn "Come, Come, Ye Saints."  William returned to Winter Quarters in 1847 with Pres. Brigham Young.  William served as treasurer of Z.C.M.I., Territorial.  Recorder of Marks and Brands, and Territorial Auditor of Public Accounts.  The latter office he held until the time of his death.  William, soon after baptism was ordained to the Priesthood and sent out to labor as a missionary.   In March 1838 William was appointed to act as 2nd counselor to Pres. Joseph Fielding, which position he occupied until the arrival of the Twelve in 1840.  William quit his temporal business October, 1838, to give himself wholly to the ministry.   He soon commenced preaching and baptizing in Manchester.   Eighteen months later (April 15, 1840), he reported 240 members in the branch he had built up in that city.  William was honorably released from his missionary labors.   William emigrated to America, sailing from Liverpool, England in the ship "North America," September 8, 1840 and arrived in Nauvoo December of the same year.  He located temporarily on the west side of the Mississippi river.  William was chosen clerk of the High Council in Iowa, July 1841.  William was clerk to the Prophet Joseph Smith.  He was present when Joseph Smith received the revelation on celestial marriage, and was an intimate associate, a tried and trusted friend of the Prophet, to whom he continued to act as private secretary up to the time of the latter's martyrdom.  William transcribed the revelation on celestial marriage and other revelations, under the Prophet's dictation and direction.   William was a prominent figure in the "Camps of Israel." William served for several years as treasurer of Z.C.M.I.   For many years he was Territorial recorder of marks and brands.   At the time of his death, the Deseret News spoke of William saying:  "He was a man of sterling integrity, remarkable ability, a faithful latter-day Saint, and a good and useful citizen, whose death, though a happy relief from his sufferings, was felt deeply by hosts of personal friends."

William and his wife, Margaret were married by Joseph Smith.William and his wife, Alice were married by Heber C. Kimball.   William and his wife, Sarah Ann were married by Brigham Young.

The history and far-reaching effects of the well-loved hymn "Come, Come Ye Saints" are disscussed in this paper by Paul E. Dahl.

The hymn "All Is Well," or "Come, Come, Ye Saints" as it is commonly referred to, composed on Locust Creek in April 1846, has an interesting history. Although the song was popular with the Mormon pioneers, obscurities in its history need clarification. There have been some misconceptions about the motivation for composing the hymn. Finally, the exact location of the Mormon camp on Locust Creek has never been identified, creating a question as to whether the song was composed in Iowa or Missouri. This paper will examine these problems in an effort to increase the reader's understanding of the history of this great hymn that was a marching song for the Mormon pioneers and is a hymn sung today by Mormons around the world as well as by members of other faiths.

The Composer

William Clayton, the composer of "Come, Come, Ye Saints," was one of thousands of exiles forced from their homes in Nauvoo, Illinois. In early spring of 1846 this group moved westward across Iowa en route to a new, more tolerant home. William, an early convert to Mormonism in Great Britain, was baptized by Heber C. Kimball in the River Ribble on 21 October 1837 and served as a counselor in the British mission presidency. On 8 September 1840 he and his family left their beloved England to make a new home in Nauvoo.

The Nauvoo years were busy ones for William. He served as a clerk for the Church and "was necessarily thrown constantly into the company" of Joseph Smith. Later he was recorder in the Nauvoo Temple.

These days were to be short-lived, however, for on 27 February 1846, unfriendly "gentile" neighbors forced him and numerous other Mormons to leave Nauvoo. For the journey west, Brigham Young appointed him clerk for the entire "Camp of Israel," an appointment that gave William extra assignments in addition to caring for his family. He was also involved in playing concerts with the camp band at the various settlements as the pioneers traveled west.

Because the first day of the journey was extremely cold, they traveled with difficulty only seven and one-half miles into the bleak Iowa prairie. The weather in Iowa that year was miserable for pioneer travel. Of the approximately ninety days spent in transit from the Mississippi to the Missouri, George A. Smith records in his diary that they had "thirty-four days of storm, either snow or rain. This was one of the wettest springs that Iowa had had or was to have for some years to come." The bad weather affected the health of these pioneers, not only bringing on sickness but also making recovery difficult. The following journal entry by William Clayton is typical of their miseries: "I have been sick again all day especially towards night. I was so distressed with pain it seemed as though I could not live."

No doubt adding to his distress was the necessity of leaving the youngest of his four wives, Diantha, in Nauvoo. Diantha, the daughter of Winslow Farr, was married to William Clayton on 9 January 1845, in Nauvoo, by Heber C. Kimball. When the remainder of the family left for Iowa, seventeen-year-old Diantha was expecting her first child and was only a month away from delivery. She was therefore in no condition to face the hardships of the journey. It is difficult to perceive the frustration and turmoil that William had during the several months after leaving Nauvoo. The terrible weather and living conditions, plus a large family to care for—including three wives, five children, and his mother—added greatly to these frustrations. He was particularly concerned about Diantha and frequently sent her letters.

Diantha, it appears, was also lonely for her husband. In a letter of 16 March she writes:

My Beloved but absent William

It rejoised my heart to heare a word from you but it would have given me more joy to have had a line from you but I am thankful for a little you know that is the way to get more.

To tell you I want to see you is useless yet true you are constantly in my mind by day and I dream about you almost every night, as to my helth it is about the same as when you left onely a little more so I often wish you had taken your house a long for it looks so lonesome it seems a long time since I saw you but how much longer it will be before I can have the priviledge of conversing with you face to face it is yet unknown to me father is doing as fast as he can he wants to get away soon after conference if possible Mother sends her best respects to you, often says how lonesome it seems dont you think Wm will come to night I expect it would cheer her heart as well as mind to hear your voice once more, dear Wm write as often as you can send, for one line from you would do my heart good.

I must draw to a close for I am in haste
I will try to compose myself as well as I can. I never shall consent to have you leave again.

Farewell, Farewell

A New Hymn is Composed

April 15 found the camp located at Locust Creek, about one-half mile west of the middle fork of Locust Creek. However, the exact location of this camp has not, to date, been positively identified, though it is known to have been near the present-day Iowa-Missouri state line, which has a history of changes and disputes from 1816 to 1895. Some evidence suggests that the camp was located just south of the present-day state line in Putnam County, Missouri. William Clayton records in his journal on 15 April that he spent the previous night on watch and was exceedingly frustrated because the cattle and horses were breaking into the tents. This day, however, brought him good news. The day before, Charles Decker had arrived from Nauvoo with a large packet of letters and messages for the camp. One of the letters, to a Brother Pond, noted that Diantha had delivered a "fine fat boy" on 30 March but "was very sick with ague and mumps."

It appears that maybe two women received this information from the Pond letter and then, in turn, passed the news on to William. Helen Mar Whitney, wife of Horace Whitney, records the event:

As I learned, through the mail, that Wm. Clayton was the father of a child by his wife, Diantha Farr, who was left with her parents in Nauvoo. I bore the tidings to Wm., whose delight knew no bounds, and that evening Horace, myself and a number were invited over to their camp, Wm. being one of the band, whose encampment was only a short distance from ours, and which event Horace mentions thus: "In the evening there was a grand christening held at Bro. Clayton's camp, in celebration of the birth of his child in Nauvoo."

William Clayton, in his journal, says he received the "good news" in the morning from Ellen Kimball and went immediately to Pond's camp. Brother Pond then read him the letter telling about William's wife and new son. William also records that after hearing the news he composed a new song, "All is Well." His complete journal entry for this date reads as follows:

Wednesday, 15th. Last night I got up to watch, there being no guard. The cattle and horses breaking into the tents and wagons. I tarried up then called S. Hales and Kimball. This morning Ellen Kimball came to me and wishes me much joy. She said Diantha has a son. I told her I was afraid it was not so, but she said Brother Pond had received a letter. I went over to Pond's and he read that she had a fine fat boy on the 30th ult., but she was very sick with ague and mumps. Truly I feel to rejoice at this intelligence but feel sorry to hear of her sickness. Spent the day chiefly reading. In the afternoon President Young came over and found some fault about our wagons, etc. In the evening the band played and after we dismissed the following persons retired to my tent to have a social christening, viz. William Pitt, Hutchinson, Smithies, Kay, Egan, Duzett, Redding, William Cahoon, James Clayton and Charles A. Terry and myself. We had a very pleasant time playing and singing until about twelve o'clock and drank health to my son. We named him William Adriel Benoni Clayton. The weather has been fine but rains a little tonight. Henry Terry's horses are missing and have been hunted today but not found. This morning I composed a new song—"All is well." I feel to thank my heavenly father for my boy and pray that he will spare and preserve his life and that of his mother and so order it so that we may soon meet again. O Lord bless thine handmaid and fill her with thy spirit, make her healthy that her life may be prolonged and that we may live upon the earth and honor the cause of truth. In the evening I asked the President if he would not suffer me to send for Diantha. He consented and said we would send when we got to Grand River.

Thus we have the setting for the composition of the hymn "Come, Come, Ye Saints," variously referred to as "the hymn that helped domesticate the American wilderness," "the hymn that went around the world," "the Mormon signature hymn," "the favorite hymn of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Mormons around the world," and a hymn "worthy to be classed among the great hymns of Christian literature."

Commemorating the Birth of a Son

Clayton's journal entry seems to indicate that the new song was written to commemorate the birth of his new son and the deliverance of his wife through the perils of childbirth. A tradition which is in error, however, has developed within the Church relative to the origin of that hymn. The common misconception claims that Brigham Young came to William Clayton, who was recognized as one of the capable musicians within the Church during his time, and asked him to write a hymn that would strengthen and encourage the members of the camp. A typical example of this account comes from an early lesson manual for the women of the Church:

It was at Locust Creek, Iowa, that President Brigham Young, feeling great anxiety, because there were murmurings in the camp of Israel, called Elder William Clayton aside, and said, "Brother Clayton, I want you write a hymn that the people can sing at their camp-fires, in the evening; something that will give them succor and support, and help them to forget the many troubles and trails of the journey."

Elder Clayton withdrew from the camp, and in two hours returned with the hymn familiarly known as, "Come, come ye Saints." His personal testimony is to the effect that the Spirit of the Lord rested upon him during the time of its composition, and that the hymn was written under the power and inspiration of the Lord.

No support has been found for this early tradition. It certainly is not included in Clayton's own journal; the long-held Clayton family tradition does not support it; and a letter written by Heber J. Grant, while serving as the seventh President of the Church, rejects it. President Grant, in a letter dated 28 March 1923 to Victoria C. McCune, a daughter of William Clayton, makes the following comment:

Elder Frank Penrose brought me a carbon copy of a letter dated July 21, 1920, written by yourself to Lillie T. Freeze, with reference to the hymn, "Come, Come ye Saints."

I was very glad to have this information regarding the writing of the poem. I had heard that the poem was written at the special request of President Brigham Young, at Winter Quarters. I do not know where I read or where I heard, at this late date, that President Young requested your father to go and write a hymn that would encourage and bless the Saints on their journey from Winter Quarters to Salt Lake Valley, but I have made this announcement time and time again in public, but of course shall do so no more.

The Hymn Grows In Popularity

William Clayton's "new song" appears to have gained rapid popularity with the members of the Church, for by 1851 it was included in a hymn book published by the Church. Another tradition referred to by numerous writers is that the song was sung by pioneer groups at evening camp fires to give them great encouragement in combating the many troubles and trails of the journey. But this writer has not seen any reference to Clayton's hymn recorded in any original pioneer journals or writings that he has studied.

One of the most authentic accounts we have of the inspiration evoked by this song is from a secondary source. Heber J. Grant shares a testimony given by his father-in-law, Oscar Winters, while Brother Winters was visiting at the Grant home:

Brother Grant, I do not believe that the young people today fully appreciate what a marvelous inspiration it was to the Saints in crossing the plains to sing, almost daily, the hymn, "Come, Come Ye Saints."

Brother Winters then related the following incident:

One night, as we were making camp, we noticed one of our brethren had not arrived, and a volunteer party was immediately organized to return and see if anything had happened to him. Just as we were about to start, we saw the missing brother coming in the distance. When he arrived, he said he had been quite sick; so some of us unyoked his oxen and attended to his part of the camp duties. After supper, he sat down before the campfire on a large rock, and sang in a very faint but plaintive and sweet voice, the hymn, "Come, Come Ye Saints." It was a rule of the camp that whenever anybody started this hymn all in the camp should join, but for some reason this evening nobody joined him; he sang the hymn alone. When he had finished, I doubt if there was a single dry eye in the camp. The next morning we noticed that he was not yoking up his cattle. We went to his wagon and found that he had died during the night. We dug a shallow grave, and after we had covered his body with the earth we rolled the large stone to the head of the grave to mark it, the stone on which he had been sitting the night before when he sang:

"And should we die before our journey's through
Happy day! All is well!
We then are free from toil and sorrow too;
With the just we shall dwell.
But if our lives are spared again
To see the Saints their rest obtain,
O how we'll make this chorus swell—
All is well! All is well!"

President Grant concludes by noting that there were tears in his father-in- law's eyes when Brother Winters finished relating the incident.

A most unusual account pertaining to this song is reported to have come to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from an old Indian chief who claimed he heard about the incident from his father:

Many, many moons ago my people were on the warpath. We hated the palefaces. We held council and decided to kill everyone. A band of palefaces were going west. They had almost reached the Rocky Mountains. I was the chief of 1,000 young braves. That night silently we waited on a mountain pass for these people, which were led by Brigham Young. There were braves with bows and arrows behind every rock and tree, waiting to pounce down upon the palefaces. The pioneers camped for the night and prepared dinner. The big bonfire was burning brightly, and the palefaces danced around the fire. Everyone then sat down and began singing, "Come, Come, Ye Saints." I gave the signal, but our fingers were like stone—not one arrow was shot. We mounted our horses and rode back to camp. We knew the Great Spirit was watching over the palefaces. This is your song; it was your forefathers' song and is my song every night before I go to bed. It brings the Great Spirit near to me and makes me and my people happy.

A more recent account of the popularity and effect of this song comes from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's European tour in 1955. At their first stop in Glasgow, Scotland, the choir sang "Come, Come, Ye Saints." "Midway in the program, after 'Come, Come, Ye Saints' the applause became so tumultuous, even to stamping, that it was necessary to repeat this hymn before proceeding with the concert."

A current choir member, Dr. Calvin R. Brown, who as a young man went with the choir on that European tour, relates the following:

"I first joined the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in 1944 at age 17. A year later I found myself in Bremen, Germany, a 2nd Lt. in the U.S. infantry. One Sunday morning during Christmas, I was alone by the great Dom in downtown Bremen, viewing with horror the total destruction of that beautiful city. Suddenly I heard the unmistakable strains of 'Come, Come, Ye Saints' in German drifting across the bombed out ruins. With great nostalgia and anticipation, I followed the sounds up some creaky stairs to a Sporthalle behind the great cathedral. When I opened the door, the singing stopped as all faces turned to me, noticing my uniform. Having experienced the most severe persecution all through the war, they were obviously frightened by my appearance. I tried to calm them and then began speaking in what they described as 'German without accent.' It must have been the gift of tongues. They considered me some kind of messenger delivering them from the extended period of darkness that they had suffered under Hitler. We then sang 'Come, Come, Ye Saints' together. I never hear it sung without remembering those tearful faces that day. The song changed my life."

More that a century and a third has passed since William Clayton identified himself as the composer of this "new song." However, its popularity has spread far beyond the camp fires of those Mormon pioneers and even beyond the singing by present-day Mormons in their various worship meetings. The Tabernacle Choir is widely recognized for its rendition of the great hymns of the plains, receiving requests that it be included in every broadcast. People of different faiths in many nations now thrill to its sound as do the Mormons. The song has been translated into many languages and is sung by Mormons and non-Mormons around the world. It is published, by permission, in two public school music series one of the ten best American hymns, comparing favorably with two of the great hymns of the world—France's "La Marseilaise" and Martin Luther's "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." It is one of the few hymns to have a special display, in its honor, in a non-Mormon museum at Corydon, Iowa, most likely only a few miles from the spot where the hymn was composed. The hymn has even been publicly recognized by a president of the United States. In a speech given in Salt Lake Tabernacle on 27 November 1978, President Jimmy Carter said:

I thought about the early Mormons coming across this country, singing a famous hymn . . . "Come, Come, Ye Saints." Only a deep faith could let the words of that song—"All is well"—ring out. In times when you and your forefathers were persecuted and driven one from another, [when you] crossed this land looking for freedom and a chance to worship in your own way, when perhaps you knew that you were about to die, when drought and thirst affected you, and still the song rang out, "All is well!"—this is indeed a demonstration of faith and a reaffirmation of hope.

Although William Clayton did not know it at the time, he immortalized his name when he composed the stirring words of his "new song" that spring day on Locust Creek. "Come, Come, Ye Saints" became a song of inspiration for the Mormon pioneers as they journeyed across the plains during the succeeding years, and it still stirs the hearts of Latter-day Saints, as well as those of other faiths, when it is rendered "around the world."

Diantha FARR [Parents] [scrapbook] was born ^{1, 2} on 12 Oct 1828 in Charleston, Orleans, Vermont, United States. She died ^{3, 4} on 11 Sep 1850 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory, United States from of dropsy. Diantha married William CLAYTON on 9 Jan 1845 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States.

An excerpt from:
Biography of Diantha Farr Clayton by Sharon Jeppson
Young and beautiful, Diantha Farr would become the fifth wife of William Clayton. Diantha was a teenager and would eventually marry in this city which would soon be renamed Nauvoo, the beautiful. Even at this early date, it must have been apparent she was becoming a very attractive young woman. It seems she quickly became popular and had her share of lively friends. Joseph Smith III made an interesting observation of Diantha, stating she was a very beautiful woman with whom Chauncey Higbee had become enamored. Chauncey was the son of Judge Elias Higbee and the brother of Francis. Joseph Smith III notes that Diantha was not attracted to Chauncey and later became a polygamist wife. (3, pp. 27-32, 38)

Diantha was among the first women in this dispensation to accept and enter into plural marriage. There can be no doubt that she first obtained a testimony of this principle before entering into a marriage arrangement so different from what her tender heart had been taught from childhood.  It is also evident that she felt a deep love for William. A brief description of the Clayton family as it was constituted when she married into it might assist with understanding the struggles this very young, sensitive girl occasionally had living this new doctrine on a daily basis.

Diantha was young, just 16 when she married William, and quite naturally she delighted in the youthful activities of an attractive teenage girl living in Nauvoo. William was fourteen years older, methodical, and of a much more serious turn of mind. He had held very responsible positions in the church and by this time had quite a growing family. He was British, as were all of his other wives, and Diantha was a daughter of New England. This may explain the discomfort he noted in his diary with a few of her young friends expressing his opinion that at times Diantha was too “gay and trifling.” Perhaps the real problem was the difference in their ages rather than a lack of wisdom on Diantha's part. On a Sunday in August of 1844, William took occasion sit Diantha down and talk seriously with her about the gospel. That day he commented in his journal, “She seems to be true and faithful.” Whatever concerns William harbored, they were put to rest, for very soon his ardent admiration of Diantha was not to be squelched, and she found her heart beginning to turn toward him, though not without a stumbling block or two to be overcome. (1, p. 199) and (2, p. 142)

By December of 1844, William's feelings of admiration had apparently progressed to the point that he asked Heber C. Kimball to approach Brigham Young for permission to marry Diantha. This permission was granted on December 5th, and Heber C. Kimball was appointed to unite the couple. Diantha herself had not yet consented to the marriage, but that night a hopeful William wrote, “I feel humbly grateful for this grant. And feel to ask the father in the name of Jesus to give me favor in her eyes and the eyes of her parents that I may receive the gift in full.” (2, p. 152)

As Christmas approached, an optimistic William continued to earnestly press his suit, but to his frustration, pretty Diantha vacillated. By December 27th, when her father gave William his personal consent for the marriage, she was busy eyeing young Franklin Cutler. A determined William was not to be dissuaded, however, and as he pondered his desires for the upcoming year, he yearningly wrote, “I have a good prospect of adding another crown to my family.” He continued to pepper his diary with concerns and prayers for her welfare, and he continued his frequent appearances on the Farr doorstep. Sometime, at the very end of December or the first part of January, William's anxious moments came to an end, and Diantha consented to give him her whole heart for all of eternity. From William's writings, it seems that she was as in love as he was.

On the evening of January 9th, 1845, Winslow and Olive Farr prepared for the marriage of their youngest daughter, which was to take place in the family's two-story red brick home. The Farr family gathered together, including Diantha's brother Lorin and his wife Nancy and her sister Olive with her husband William Walker. Though they lived just through the wall in the other half of the Farr home, Aaron and his wife did not attend. The reason has not been recorded.

At 7:30 P.M., William Clayton and Heber C. Kimball arrived. (1, p. 197-199) First Diantha's parents were sealed together, followed by the marriage of William and Diantha, to which all of her family present consented. Wonderful blessings were promised her, including a posterity that would become as “numerous as the sands on the seashore.” William departed an hour later for his own house, leaving her with her parents and her dreams. That night, however, his thoughts were with her, and he recorded, “May she never violate her covenant, but may she with her companion realize to the full all the blessings promised. And may there never [be] the first jar or unkind feeling toward each other exist to all eternity.”  (2, pp. 154-155)

Diantha was the first member of her family to enter into plural marriage. Her father would follow a year later, eventually taking five additional wives. Her brothers Aaron and Winslow would each marry four wives, Lorin would have six, and her sister, Olive Hovey Walker, would see her husband sealed to three more women.(10)  At the time of their marriage, as noted earlier, William Clayton had three other wives, and he would take no more until after Diantha's death. (2, p. lxix) and (10)

Three days later, she spent the night at the Clayton home. The next morning, William wrote, “This A.M. I had some talk with D[iantha] in bed. All things seemed to go right.” On January 14th he wrote, “Talked...with D[iantha] and was with her until 12 ½ [P.M.] and accomplished the desire of my heart by gaining victory over her feelings. May the Lord bless her until her cup shall run over and her heart be pure as gold.” On Sunday, January 26th, they missed church and spent the day together (2, pp. 155-156). She continued her visits to the Clayton home, interspersed with frequent visits from William to the Farrs, where Diantha continued to live. She was still attending school, and the principle of polygamy was not yet generally known, though rumors about the practice were beginning to be whispered throughout Nauvoo.

The difficulties faced by those in this first generation of saints to enter into plural marriage can well be imagined. They loved their families deeply and most really wanted to extend this love to each new wife that joined them, but inevitably there were struggles in the day-to-day practice of this principle. Though Ruth and Margaret welcomed Diantha into the family, they were naturally close as sisters, and, as the Moon family was already living with the Claytons, the two women were easily able to continue living together with their husband under the same roof. Diantha was very young and very beautiful. It would not be unusual if, with all of their warmth and good intentions, they felt a little anxiety about her addition to their family. For her part, Diantha began to feel that her husband's other wives did not trust her, and she struggled with jealousy for the rest of her life.

Diantha's parents always happily welcomed William. In February, when Diantha tarried unusually late before coming home from school, Olive sent for William, and he visited with her until his young wife arrived at about 7:30 P.M.  That night he recorded, “She grows more and more endearing.” By late summer, Diantha was pregnant. (1, pp. 198-200)

Despite her love for her husband, Diantha struggled with uncontrollable emotional outbursts when she was upset, escalating at times into what William called “fit[s] of mental derangement.” In July she was upset about something that had transpired during a visit to the Clayton home. William stopped by her house, and it all came out as they walked and talked together. By the time the two returned to the Farr home, Diantha had worked herself into a frenzy.  In an attempt to calm her, William and her mother forced her into bed, where she began to toss and rave as if she were in great pain. It took William's full strength holding her hands to prevent her from tearing out her hair. Finally, at 10:30 P.M., after struggling with her for fully 45 minutes, Diantha's mother called to her father for assistance.  He came down and gave her a blessing, rebuking the evil spirit that raged within her, and she immediately calmed down and fell into a gentle sleep.

Soon thereafter, she appeared to be talking with departed Saints on the other side of the veil, answering their questions about loved ones they had left behind.  Prominent among those with whom she conversed were the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum. Her experience lasted about two hours, and then she expressed a desire to hurry back home as she said her time had not yet come to remain. William recorded that she appeared to be overjoyed throughout the entire experience with “a pleasant smile... which continued after she awoke.” He further noted, “It was one of the most interesting and sweet interviews I ever witnessed, and a very good spirit seemed to prevail all the time.” Much relieved, he left for home about 1 A.M. The next day Diantha had no recollection of the events of the night before. To William's concerned eye, she appeared frail and exhausted from her exertions of the night before. (2, pp. 173-175)

Just a few months prior to William and Diantha's marriage, a great change had occurred in Nauvoo that brought profound sorrow to the populace. On June 27 of 1844, the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum had been murdered at Carthage Jail.  Much has been written concerning this tragic event. Suffice it now to say that peace was taken from Nauvoo as the strength of the wicked persecutors of the Saints intensified and the atrocities committed against church members increased. It quickly became apparent that the Saints were to be forced to leave their beloved city, which they had raised up, on the banks of the Mississippi. They struggled to quickly complete the beautiful temple located high on the hill, for they desired to receive the sacred blessings that were available for them only within its holy walls. William, Diantha, and the rest of the Clayton family would have been part of those efforts.

The Claytons were among those who partook of the sacred blessings within the temple walls prior to the final dedication. On December 29, 1845, William escorted Diantha, who was pregnant and not feeling well, through the endowment ceremony. Almost a month later, on January 26th, 1846, Ruth, Margaret, and Diantha entered the temple with William to be sealed to him for time and all eternity. Brigham Young officiated. All had been sealed to him earlier in various homes in Nauvoo, but there must have been a most sacred, sweet feeling as they stood together in white and had the promises affirmed again in that holy place. (1, p. 200) This was the second anointing for all four of them. The reason for the absence of Alice and Jane, William's 3rd and 4th wives, is not known.  Alice as well as Jane would later divorce him. After the sacred proceedings, Margaret tarried in the temple until morning, while William escorted Ruth and Diantha home. (2, p. 197)

As the bitter cold Illinois winter lingered, the mobs increased their pressure on the struggling Saints. The Saints had hoped to be able to delay starting west until early spring, but that was not to be.  The first groups of pioneers crossed the Mississippi in February of 1846. With them was William Clayton. Accompanying him were three of his wives and his four surviving children.  It was the 27th of February. It is hard to imagine how he must have felt with the heavy responsibilities facing him, not only as a husband and father, but also as a priesthood-holder with significant, time-consuming, official duties in the Church. Left behind in the care of her mother was Diantha, just seventeen, and due to deliver her first baby in a month.

The separation was not easy for either of them. Diantha surely worried about William and the rest of the family who would be facing harsh winter weather, bitter wind, cold rains, and mud with only thin shelter to protect them. William was worried about Diantha who was young and not physically strong. He was unhappy to have to leave without her, but he feared for her health and for their baby. He gave vent to his feelings and assured her of his love and kept her informed of the fate of the family in the frequent letters that he sent back to Nauvoo.

Diantha, her own heart aching with loneliness, penned a tender letter to William dated March 16, 1846.

“My Beloved but absent William,

“It rejoised my heart to heare a word from you but it would have given me more joy to have had a line from you but I am thankful for a little you know that is the way to get more.
To tell you I want to see you is useless yet true you are constantly in my mind by day and I dream about you almost every night, as to my helth it is about the same as when you left onley a little more so I often wish you had taken your house along for it looks so lonesome it seems a long time sinse I saw you but how much longer it will be before I can have the priviledge of conversing with you face to face it is yet unknown to me father is [ ] as fast as he can he wants to get away soon after conference if possible Mother sends her best respects to you, and often says how lonesome it seems dont you think Wm will come to night I expect it would cheer her heart as well as mine to hear your voice once more, dear Wm as often as you can send for one line from you would do my heart good. I must draw to a close for I am in haste. I will try to compose myself as well as I can. I never shall consent to have you leave again.
Farewell, Farewell” (1, pp. 200-202)

The morning of Wednesday, April 15th dawned none too soon for William. He had spent a rough night on watch trying to control unruly horses and cattle that kept breaking into the tents and wagons for which he was responsible, which included his own vehicles and fifteen wagons carrying Church property. For two weeks he had been very ill with aches and terrible chest pain. Suddenly, the day brightened. Diantha's old friend, Helen Kimball, sought him out with some good news. Brother Samuel Pond had received a letter announcing that Diantha had borne a son. William hurried to read the letter for himself and that evening recorded, “...she had a fine fat boy on the 30th...but she was very sick with ague and mumps. Truly I feel to rejoice at this intelligence but feel sorry to hear of her sickness.”

After all of his worry for Diantha's well being, William was so overjoyed that he wrote a new hymn that very morning. That beautiful, moving hymn quickly became beloved of all the Saints scattered across the prairies and continues so today. He named it “All is Well!” (2, p.270-271) and (8, p. 36)

“Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear
But with joy wend your way
Tho' hard to you this journey may appear
Grace shall be as your day.

“'Tis better far for us to strive
Our useless cares from us to drive;
Do this, and joy your hearts will swell-
All is well! All is well!

“Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
'Tis not so; all is right.
Why should we think to earn a great reward
If we now shun the fight?

“Gird up your loins; fresh courage take
Our God will never us forsake;
And soon we'll have this tale to tell-
All is well! All is well!

“We'll find the place which God for us prepared,
Far away in the West,
Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid;
There the Saints will be blessed.

“We'll make the air with music ring,
Shout praises to our God and King;
Above the rest these words we'll tell-
All is well! All is well!

“And should we die before our journey's through,
Happy day! All is well!
We then are free from toil and sorrow, too;
With the just we shall dwell!

“But if our lives are spared again
To see the Saints their rest obtain,
Oh, how we'll make this chorus swell-
All is well! All is well!” (6, pp. 30, 31)

An incident involving Diantha occurred on Monday, the 18th of February 1850, that caused him a great deal of distress. William had continued his practice of bringing in additional income by occasionally playing at various functions as part of a band. On this particular night, he was playing for a dancing party. He had brought Diantha along with him, and as the evening progressed, he suggested that she dance with Mr. Grist, who was a non-Mormon in attendance. Diantha complied, and, as luck would have it, the band struck-up a waltz.  Some staunch members of the church frowned on waltzing, as it involved more intimate contact between partners than the livelier dances of the day. They were shocked to see the pretty young wife of Brother Clayton waltzing with another man, and to make it worse he was a gentile.

Greatly embellished gossip flying on rapid wings soon reached the ears of the General Authorities. Wednesday morning, after William left for work, an apostle and another elder appeared on the Clayton doorstep and confronted Diantha. William records that they accused her of three very serious transgressions that were unworthy of a faithful Latter-day Saint: 1) She had waltzed in plain view with a gentile on Monday night; 2) During the past winter she had harbored and encourage gentiles in her home; and 3) She had been guilty of “slandering the authorities of the church to the Gentiles.”

Quite upset at the “very severe chastisement” his young wife had received and declaring, “The peace of my family is in a great degree destroyed,” William filled six legal-sized pages with his extreme dismay and sent them to Brigham Young. To his distress, he alone seemed willing to defend her good name. With barely suppressed fury, he explained that it was he who had suggested that Diantha dance with Mr. Grist, that only two gentiles had been in his home all winter, each at his own invitation and in his presence, and that Diantha was absolutely loyal to the authorities of the church and always spoke well of them when speaking with non-members. Though he did not desire to criticize an apostle, he declared that a more discreet method could have been found to confront the family, beginning with informing himself of the complaint before approaching his wife behind his back. With a stabbing “P.S.,” William informed Brigham Young that since music had caused the whole situation, he now intended to renounce it forever. This resolve, fortunately, was short-lived. (1, pp. 252-256)

It is sad that Diantha's story ended so young. She was in the early stages of her third pregnancy when the dancing incident occurred. Little Rachel Amelia Clayton was born on the 18th of August 1850 in Salt Lake City. Diantha survived her baby's birth by less than a month, passing away on September 11, 1850. She left behind Moroni, who was almost 4 ½ and Olive, who had just turned two, as well as tiny Rachel.  William, filled with sorrow at her passing, poured-out his grief in a poem that was filled with love, despite his acknowledgement of the jealousy she had struggled with throughout their marriage:

“Sweet in life, beautiful in death.
Aged twenty-one years, ten months, and 29 days.
Diantha has gone to the regions of rest,
To commune with her friends in the realms of the blest.
Her sufferings are o'er, her deep sorrows past.
And the long sighed-for-peace is her portion at last.
No more shall the poison of jealousy fill
That bosom so pure, so free from all ill.
Henceforth thou art free from all sorrow and pain.
Our deeply felt loss is thy infinite gain.” (1, p. 204)

Diantha's last child, Rachel, inherited her mother's beauty and attracted many young admirers. William had watched this daughter grow-up motherless and was naturally especially concerned about her welfare. He wanted all of his children to marry faithful members of the church, so he very firmly barred the gentile suitors who knocked on his door seeking Rachel. Rachel, however, had a mind of her own, and found a way to thwart her father's efforts where one young man in particular was concerned. His name was Jimmy Day, and he was a Gentile. The young couple fell in love and, determined to have their own way; they ran away to be married. When William heard of his daughter's actions, he promptly disowned her and refused to see her. Less than a year later, on her 21st birthday, Rachel gave birth to a tiny baby. It soon became evident that she would not survive. Her father was sent for, and he came, full of regret for his previous rash actions, and the two were reconciled. Both Rachel and her baby died, but Jimmy Day joined the church and was soon sealed for eternity to Rachel. (1, pp. 214-215)

Winslow FARR Jr [Parents] [scrapbook] was born ¹ on 11 May 1837 in East Charleston, Orleans, Vermont, United States. He died ² on 18 Feb 1913 in West Weber, Weber, Utah, United States. He was buried ³ on 20 Feb 1913 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States. Winslow married Cornelia Charlotte ROWLEY.

Other marriages:

COVINGTON, Emily Jane
BINGHAM, Susan Melvina
HALVORSEN, Matilda
MITCHELL, Sarah Ann

LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 4, p.499 Farr, Winslow, Bishop of the Dublan Ward, Juarez Stake, Mexico, from 1889 to 1899, was born May 11, 1837, in Charleston, Vermont, a son of Winslow Farr and Olive Hovey Freeman. He was baptized in 1845 in Nauvoo, Illinois, came to Utah in 1847, filled a mission to England in 1868-1870, was ordained a High Priest April 19, 1871, by Wilford Woodruff, and a Bishop May 28, 1877, by John Taylor, and presided over the Ogden 3rd Ward, Utah. He died Jan. 5, 1914.

Biographical Sketch of Winslow Farr Jr.
By Wilma S. Smith and Randall A. Smith
Winslow Farr, Jr., was born May 11, 1837, at Charleston, Orleans Co., Vermont. Winslow Jr., was the youngest and smallest at birth of the six children who were born to Winslow Farr, Sr., and Olive Hovey Freeman. He was born 10 years after the birth of the youngest of the five older children. Family tradition states at birth his mother's wedding ring would slide completely over his hand. When fully grown he was the tallest and largest of his family, reaching the height of 6 feet 4 inches.

The Farr family, who joined the church May 19, 1832, sold 2,000 acres they owned in September of 1837 and moved to Kirtland, Ohio. In 1838 Winslow Jr. was blessed by the prophet Joseph Smith. In the spring of 1840 the family moved on to Far West, Missouri. When persecutions drove the Mormons from Missouri, the Farr family joined the Saints in establishing the City of Nauvoo, Illinois, where Winslow Sr. built a comfortable home for his family.

Winslow Jr., was baptized by his father Winslow Sr., on his eighth birthday, May 11, 1845. With persecutions mounting, the Saints were once again forced to flee their substantial homes in "Nauvoo the Beautiful".

In June of 1846 the Farr family crossed the Mississippi River and joined hundreds of additional families journeying by wagon train across the state of Iowa.

By the summer of 1847 the Farr's were situated across the Missouri River in the settlement of Winter Quarters, which is known today as Florence, Nebraska. President Brigham Young instructed the Brethren in how to organize companies for emigration to the Great Salt Lake Valley. Winslow Farr, Sr., served on a mission to the eastern states from 1847 to 1849. The Farr family spent their time in Winter Quarters awaiting his return.

June 15, 1850 an emigrating company of 100 was organized on the Missouri, near Council Bluffs of which Joseph Young was appointed president, Winslow Farr Counselor, William Snow Captain, and Gardiner Snow captains of 50. The Winslow Farr Sr. family traveled with the Gardiner Snow Company. Thirteen year old Winslow Jr., walking barefoot, at times wrapping his feet in burlap, helped drive one of their team of oxen across the plains. The Gardiner Snow Co., arrived in Salt Lake Valley in September 30, 1850.

Winslow Sr., eventually moved his family to the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Winslow Jr., helped his father clear the land and plant the farm. The first pair of shoes ever worn by Winslow Jr., were crafted in Salt Lake City out of rawhide. His mother made him a "best" pair of pants out of a piece of carpet.

In 1857, 20 year old Winslow Jr., was selected as a Captain in the Mormon Militia, who called themselves "The Nauvoo Legion". The Militia had been organized to resist the U.S. Army troops headed by General Albert Johnston, who were rumored to be on their way to the Salt Lake Valley to "kill all of the Mormons". After months of preparation and drilling by the militia and meetings held between the Mormon and government leaders, the U.S. Army entered peaceably into the Salt Lake Valley on the 26th of June 1858.

In September 1858 Winslow Jr., journeyed by team and wagon to southern Utah. On October 17, 1858, at 11:00 a.m. Winslow Jr., and Emily Jane Covington, daughter of Robert D. Covington and Elizabeth Thomas were married at Washington, Washington Co.,Utah.

In 1860 the young couple were called to help establish a new settlement in Northern Utah. March of 1861 found them living in a dugout home on a farm in Paradise, Cache Valley, Utah. Soon after their arrival Winslow Jr., was appointed to the fence and school house committees and on March 3, 1861, was elected town marshal and a Captain in the Minutemen Militia. Groups of men were assigned to work together in the fields and to stand as guard against depredations in the Valley from the Indians.

Winslow Jr., had a saying "I am not a musician, I just love to fiddle around". As recorded in his diary, he tells of playing the violin for parties, weddings, dramatic productions and dances as well as many other special occasions. In 1867, Winslow Jr. and Emily Jane sold their farm and moved to Ogden, Utah where their home was built on the corner of 20th and Washington Boulevard.

In 1868 Winslow Jr., was called on a mission to Great Britain. He left by mule train from Laramie, Wyoming where he embarked on a train for New York City and set sail on the steamer, France. He labored in the Liverpool conference under the direction of Moroni Ensign.

He was honorably released from his mission in July of 1870. Upon his return to New York City, he was appointed Captain under Karl G. Maeser, to bring Saints to Utah.

When he returned to Utah he went to work for the Z.C.M.I. Co-Op Store. In 1871 he was ordained a High Priest by President Wilford Woodruff.

On May 5, 1873, Winslow took a plural wife named Susan Melvina Bingham.
Winslow Jr., was called and set apart as Bishop of the Ogden 3rd Ward North Weber Stake on May 28, 1877, by Franklin D. Richards & President John Taylor.

Records reveal that in February 1881 Winslow Jr., obtained a patent for a home- stead for an 80 acre homestead in West Weber, Weber County, west of Ogden, Utah. Winslow Jr., and Emily Jane's sons Lafayette and Lorin cleared the land where they built a granary, followed by a new adobe home near the front of the property. Winslow Jr., moved Emily Jane and her children to this farm.

On December 12, 1878 Winslow Jr., took another plural wife, Matilda Halverson. Matilda lived in her own small home on Farr Avenue in Ogden.

In March of 1882, the U.S. Congress passed the Edmunds Tucker Act which strengthened the U.S.law against the practice of polygamy. In October of 1885 word was received by Winslow Jr., while working at the Z.C.M.I. Co-op store, that the Federal Marshal's were on their way to arrest him. He made his escape by being nailed inside of a wooden box, which was carried away by team and wagon.

Winslow Jr. fled with his third wife Matilda, and their children to southern Utah. In 1887 Winslow Jr. spent time with the Navajo Indians, where he preached to them about the principles of the gospel and introduced them to the Book of Mormon. He told them that the Book of Mormon was a record of their forefathers that once lived in this land.

The Navajo understood his plight and offered to help him hide from the Federal authorities. The Indians invited him to stay with them; however, he moved on to Colorado. After two years of self imposed exile in San Juan, Utah and Cortez Co., Winslow Jr. returned to Ogden, Utah in November of 1887 to surrender to the Federal authorities. He was released on bond and stood trial on May 27, 1888.

The Trial: The Ogden Standard Examiner Newspaper Article.
Sunday Morning, May 27, 1888
The case of the United States vs. Winslow Farr, unlawful cohabitation was called. Kimball & White and N. Tanner, Jr. appeared for the defense.
After calling some twenty jurors the following were impaneled:
John O. Thomas
Charles Jay
A.F. Danielson
Geo White
Albert Herrck
Peter Christiansen,
James Brown,
James Iverson,
W. T. Washburn,
Francis Oliver,
Joseph B. Sewell and
Frank A. Benedict.
Mrs. Emily Jane Farr was the first witness. She had been married to defendant twenty-nine years; knew Susan Farr, but not prior to 1883. She claimed the privilege of exemption from testifying, as she was the legal wife. She was excused.
Mrs. Susan Melvina Bingham was called. She was married to the defendant fifteen years ago; defendant had visited her occasionally during 1883; had several children who bore his name. The youngest was 3 years old; he had not held her out as wife for several years.
The prosecution rested.
The defense did not introduce any testimony.
The case was submitted without argument.
The court charged the jury and they retired, making two juries in consultation, one on adultery and the other on unlawful cohabitation.
After an absence of ten minutes the jury in the Farr case returned and rendered a verdict of guilty. Time for sentence was waived and defendant was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and to pay a fine of $300 and costs."
Winslow Jr. was convicted of unlawful cohabitation and was sentenced to six months in the Utah Territorial Penitentiary with a fine of $300.00.
While he was in the penitentiary he studied bookkeeping and the Spanish language. He also worked outside, as a trustee, on the prison farm. While incarcerated, he made sixteen (16) fancy wool mats, one each for his three wives, with their initial woven into the center. He made ten (10) canes out of little oaks that grew around the penitentiary. He gave them to his fellow inmates, including one cane to George Q. Cannon. When released from prison on November 24, 1888, the Ogden Third Ward gave him a grand reception and welcome home party.
Winslow with his wives Melvina and Matilda and their children left Ogden in 1890 and journeyed with other Mormon families to establish farms in Mexico. Subsequent return trips to Ogden were made easier and affordable when his brother Lorin provided a railroad pass.
In 1897 Winslow Jr. was called in a letter from the first presidency, to locate permanently in Mexico. Before departing Ogden for Mexico, he deeded his interest in the homestead to his wife Emily Jane.
Winslow Jr., located in Colonia Dublan, Mexico, where he was called and presided as Bishop of the Dublan Ward, Juarez Stake from 1889 to 1899. On January 10, 1899, Winslow married his fourth wife, Sarah Mitchell Graham in Colonia Dublan, Mexico. He was released as bishop in September of 1899 and soon after was ordained a patriarch.
Winslow Jr., made a number of round trip journeys between Ogden and Mexico. He spent most of his time in Mexico; however, he made return trips to Ogden which lasted anywhere from a few months up to a year.
Winslow Jr., and all of his wives were in Utah in the spring and summer of 1903. In April 1903, Winslow's second wife Melvina, with her two youngest sons, returned by train to Dublan, Mexico. When Melvina took sick she was taken to the hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she died on November 6, 1903 from a ruptured intestine. She was buried in Colonia Dublan, Mexico. Winslow Jr., accompanied by his son, Joseph, returned to Mexico in November of 1903. Winlsow's fourth wife, Sarah, accompanied by Winslow's brother, Lorin Farr, returned to Dublan, Mexico in December 1903. Winslow remained in Mexico until July of 1906, when he made his final return trip, by train to Utah, where he resided until his death.
Between 1906 and 1913, Winslow Jr. resided with his fourth wife Sarah in Salt Lake City. On occasion he traveled by the Bamberger rail line to visit Matilda and her children in Ogden and by horse and buggy to visit Emily Jane and her family on the farm in West Weber. Winslow Jr., his wife Sarah and his brother Lorin, spent many days working in the Salt Lake Temple.
Winslow Jr. was the father of thirty one children. Fourteen (14) with Emily Jane Covington Farr, eleven (11) with Susan Melvina Bingham, six (6) with Matilda Halverson and none by Sarah Mitchell Graham.
On February 2, 1913, Winslow Jr. suffered a stroke. Emily Jane and Winslow Jr.'s, four sons moved him from Salt Lake City to the Farr family homestead in West Weber (now known as Taylor, Utah). His sons, Lafayette, Lorin, Barnard and Aldebert took turns attending and sitting through the night with their father. Winslow Jr., died February 18, 1913. Internment was on February 19, 1913 in the Ogden City Cemetery, Weber Co., Utah.
Those who gave the eulogies at his funeral spoke of his honesty, integrity, fairness in business matters and his special ability as an interpreter and peacemaker between the Indians and the communities where he had lived.
His descendants admire his talent with the violin, his robust, strong pioneering spirit and his unwavering dedication to the principles of his religious beliefs.

"SOURCES"
1) Diaries - Winslow Farr Jr. (1869-1910)
2) WH & Edna Manning 1959 (Our Kin) Walton Printing, Barnwell, SC (Covington Family)
3) Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah 1898, Volume Three, George Q. Cannon Pub. and Sons, Salt Lake City, Utah
4) Treasures of Pioneer History by Kate B. Carter, Volume three, 1954.
5) Womens Voices by Kenneth W. Godfrey, Audrey M. Godfrey, Jill Mulvay Derr 1982 Published Deseret Book Co.
6) Ogden Standard Examiner - Newspaper articles 1) May 27, 1888 (Trial) 2) November 27, 1888 (Release)
7) Unpublished History - History of Robert D. Covington, Copied by B.Y.U. Library. Manuscript returned to Mrs. Marian C. Bradshaw of Orem, Utah
8) Brief History - Winslow Farr Jr. written by Evelyn Farr Mower
9) Interviews with grandchildren a) Mabel Farr Harris Decker - Daughter of Barnard & Susan Alvord Farr; b) Kenneth Alvord Farr - Son of Barnard & Susan Alvord Farr; c) Evelyn Farr Mower - Daughter of Lorin Freeman Farr & Sariah Buck Farr; d) Glen Farr - Son of Lafayette & Nancy Hipwell Farr

History of Binghamton Ward
By Edna Bingham Sabin

This is the history of the first branch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Binghamton.

My father Nephi Bingham, my mother Elizabeth Dalkin Bingham and six children; Rebecca, Mae, Clara, Glen, Floyd and myself, Edna; moved from Casa Grande, Arizona to Tucson in the spring of 1900.  Tucson wasn’t very large at that time.  It had one street called Congress Street, not paved, two grocery stores; Ivancovich, and Wheeler & Perry.  The dry goods stores were Rosy’s and La Bananza and there was a watering trough for the horses.

My father located a place called the Davidson Place north of the Rillito River that ran the year around.  We lived there until the fall of 1904 when we moved to a place south of the river called the Bayless Place, then it was known as the Bingham Place.  There was a wagon road leading from our home to Tucson, six miles away.  There was only one house between our house and town.  We called it the half way house.  All we could see was catclaw bushes, sage brush, and chaparral.  The ground was crawling with rattle snakes, Gila monsters, lizards, and tarantulas and we had to keep our eyes on the road to keep the horses from running away.  There weren’t many Mexicans living near Tucson.  My father had to hire Indians from an Indian village south of Tucson to help him harvest his crops, as he had land along the river six or seven miles from our home.

We had Mormon Church officials and missionaries visiting us often.  On Sept 9, 1909 my father and my two older sisters, Rebecca and Mae, went to Colonia Dublan, Mexico to visit his nieces and nephews who were the children of his sister, Melvina, and her husband Winslow Farr, who had died.  My two sisters stayed in Mexico to attend college nearby.  When my father returned from Mexico his nephew, Heber Farr, and his brother-in-law, Charles Hurst, came with him.  They looked over the Davidson Place and decided to move to Tucson if it was agreeable with the other ones in Mexico.  The families were agreeable and they all began to make their plans to move to Tucson and my father began to make plans to have plenty of food for them when they arrived.  My father’s youngest brother, Jacob Bingham, lived near us and he made plans along with us.  My father owned a dairy and had plenty of milk.  He butchered a pig and cured it.  We had turkeys, ducks, chickens and eggs, plenty of bottled fruit from our orchards, dried corn, beans, dill pickles, sauerkraut, pumpkins, five gallons of mincemeat, and a winter garden.  A few days before they arrived, my father killed a beef.  He would hang it outside at night in the cool air then take it down and wrap it in a sheet and canvas and lay it on a cement floor in the daytime to hold the cold in.  On December 15, 1909, in the afternoon, eight covered wagons came rolling out of the catclaw and chaparral bushed down the lane to our home.  It was a wonderful meeting to see them all for the first time.  They parked their wagons between our home and Uncle Jacob’s home.  Some of them were very sick when they arrived.  The sick and the old people slept in the two homes and the others slept in the covered wagons and they all ate their meals in the two homes and would come and go as they pleased in the daytime.

The people who came out of Mexico in the covered wagons at this time were the five Farr brothers; Heber, Joseph, Ernest, and their families, Wilford and Acel, not yet married.  The sisters were Edith Webb and Lindy Young and their families and Mamie Farr who was not married.  Some of the in-laws and their families also came.

There was a small wooden school house near-by where all the children attended school.  The men started building their little tent houses to use until they could build better ones.  Heber and Joe remodeled two adode houses on their land north of the river.  Most of the people lived on the south side of the river.  After they were settled in their homes, the land cleared of mesquite trees and their crops planted, they all decided to dig and build reservoirs to store the water from the river that ran the year round.  It supplied water for all the farms along the river. 

Plans had been made earlier with President Joseph E. Robinson, President of the California Mission, to visit with us.  On Saturday morning, May 21, 1910, Heber Farr and my father met the train from Salt Lake and California to get George Albert Smith and Joseph W. MacMurrins and President Joseph E. Robinson.  That afternoon my father, my mother, and my sister Clara, my two brothers Glen and Floyd, and myself were baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The following Sunday afternoon, May 22, 1910, the first Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was organized, in the shade at the east of our home.  The opening prayer was given by President Joseph E. Robinson.  The new branch was called Binghamton Branch, after my father.  There was already a little town in Arizona by the name of Bingham.  Heber Farr was ordained Branch President, Fredrick Granger Williams first counselor and Frank Webb second counselor.  We were all confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The sacrament was passed, talks were given, and the closing prayer was given by Joseph A. Farr.  Church services were held that summer under the shade trees by Heber and Joseph Farr’s homes. 

My father was county trustee of the Davidson school district.  He received permission to have a large school house built as more Saints and relatives were moving out of Mexico.  By September 1910, the school house was built and by adding the little school house to the south end of the new building there was room for a stage and two class rooms more.  My father got permission to hold church services in the school house.  At that time, the Sunday School was organized.  Joseph A. Farr was ordained Superintendent of Sunday School, Elmer Cardon as first assistant, J. Alma Young as second assistant, Ellen Bluth as secretary, and Clara Bingham as assistant secretary.  Heber O. Chlarson was set apart as ward clerk.  The next Sunday, the ladies Relief Society was organized with Elizabeth Farr as President and Mae Bingham and Lindy Young as her assistants and Hazel Williams as secretary.  Later, the Primary and Mutual was organized.

More and more people were moving out of Mexico but they settled near Jaynes Station by the railroad tracks.  They were clearing land for some company.  There was a school house there.  There were many young people living there in little tent houses and they would come to Binghampton to dances one Saturday night and we all went to Jaynes Station the next Saturday night.  Some of the young boys living in Binghampton worked for my father on the farm and milked cows.  My father furnished transportation for all of the young people in Binghampton to get to the dances.  He had a large wagon and a hay rack on it and two spans of mules.  The boys would fill the hay rack full of hay and stretch canvas over it and then some quilts.  My father gave the drivers a little bell and said “don’t whip the mules, just ring this bell and they will go fast enough.”  We had to make our own fun and enjoyment, and we sure did, going on picnics up Sabino Canyon and playing Run-Sheep-Run and Twos and Threes and attending Church services.

After the land was cleared at Jaynes Station most of the people moved to Binghampton.  Some went to Mesa, Arizona and some went to El Paso, Texas.

When the Mormons living out of Tucson heard that there was a branch of the Church near Tucson they came from Safford, Thatcher, Duncan, Pima, St. David, Douglas and Benson.  Gordon Kimball came from Safford to Tucson and worked in a bank.  Later, his brother Spencer W. Kimball (now our Prophet) came and attended the University of Arizona.  He drove a taxi to help pay his way through school.  The Saints living in Tucson came to Binghampton to attend Church services, dances, entertainments, and home talent plays.

Automobiles were being shipped by rail but the little dirt roads were still being used.  A few years went by, the Ft. Lowell Road was paved to Cambell, then south to Speedway.  The people living in Tucson and Binghampton when I was married in 1915 and left there were: Nephi Bingham and his family, the five Farr brothers Heber, Joseph, Earnest, Wilford, and Acel; the sisters were Edith Web and Lindy Young and Mamie and all their families (wives and husbands and children) and in-laws, Chlarsons, Clawsons, Browns, Bluths, Bilbees, Cardons (three families), Evans, Farnsworths, Lillywhites, Hardys, Dones, Obegs, Headers, Jespersons, Johnsons, Paynes, Nelsons, Roleys, Stocks, Jones, Merrits, Youngs (three families), Winns, LeBarons, some more Johnsons, Prices, Tompkins, Williams, Webbs, Wheelers, some more Binghams from Mexico, Butlers and all their families.

In 1928, the chapel was built on Ft. Lowell Road.  I visited over there very often.  The last time I was to Church there was in 1965 and it had been remodeled.  There are only three members now living in Binghampton that was present when the Church was organized.  They are my brother Floyd Bingham, Milda Farr Jones, and Thelma Young Golstine.

I have enjoyed writing this history, but I forgot one thing.  If Fred Sabin hadn’t come from St. David to Tucson my name would not be Edna Bingham Sabin.

Cornelia Charlotte ROWLEY was born on 20 Oct 1852 in London, Middlesex, England. She died on 14 Aug 1875 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. She was buried in Utah, United States. Cornelia married Winslow FARR Jr.

Winslow FARR Jr [Parents] [scrapbook] was born ¹ on 11 May 1837 in East Charleston, Orleans, Vermont, United States. He died ² on 18 Feb 1913 in West Weber, Weber, Utah, United States. He was buried ³ on 20 Feb 1913 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States. Winslow married Emily Jane COVINGTON on 17 Oct 1858 in Washington, Washington, Utah Territory, United States.

Other marriages:

ROWLEY, Cornelia Charlotte
BINGHAM, Susan Melvina
HALVORSEN, Matilda
MITCHELL, Sarah Ann

LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 4, p.499 Farr, Winslow, Bishop of the Dublan Ward, Juarez Stake, Mexico, from 1889 to 1899, was born May 11, 1837, in Charleston, Vermont, a son of Winslow Farr and Olive Hovey Freeman. He was baptized in 1845 in Nauvoo, Illinois, came to Utah in 1847, filled a mission to England in 1868-1870, was ordained a High Priest April 19, 1871, by Wilford Woodruff, and a Bishop May 28, 1877, by John Taylor, and presided over the Ogden 3rd Ward, Utah. He died Jan. 5, 1914.

Biographical Sketch of Winslow Farr Jr.
By Wilma S. Smith and Randall A. Smith
Winslow Farr, Jr., was born May 11, 1837, at Charleston, Orleans Co., Vermont. Winslow Jr., was the youngest and smallest at birth of the six children who were born to Winslow Farr, Sr., and Olive Hovey Freeman. He was born 10 years after the birth of the youngest of the five older children. Family tradition states at birth his mother's wedding ring would slide completely over his hand. When fully grown he was the tallest and largest of his family, reaching the height of 6 feet 4 inches.

The Farr family, who joined the church May 19, 1832, sold 2,000 acres they owned in September of 1837 and moved to Kirtland, Ohio. In 1838 Winslow Jr. was blessed by the prophet Joseph Smith. In the spring of 1840 the family moved on to Far West, Missouri. When persecutions drove the Mormons from Missouri, the Farr family joined the Saints in establishing the City of Nauvoo, Illinois, where Winslow Sr. built a comfortable home for his family.

Winslow Jr., was baptized by his father Winslow Sr., on his eighth birthday, May 11, 1845. With persecutions mounting, the Saints were once again forced to flee their substantial homes in "Nauvoo the Beautiful".

In June of 1846 the Farr family crossed the Mississippi River and joined hundreds of additional families journeying by wagon train across the state of Iowa.

By the summer of 1847 the Farr's were situated across the Missouri River in the settlement of Winter Quarters, which is known today as Florence, Nebraska. President Brigham Young instructed the Brethren in how to organize companies for emigration to the Great Salt Lake Valley. Winslow Farr, Sr., served on a mission to the eastern states from 1847 to 1849. The Farr family spent their time in Winter Quarters awaiting his return.

June 15, 1850 an emigrating company of 100 was organized on the Missouri, near Council Bluffs of which Joseph Young was appointed president, Winslow Farr Counselor, William Snow Captain, and Gardiner Snow captains of 50. The Winslow Farr Sr. family traveled with the Gardiner Snow Company. Thirteen year old Winslow Jr., walking barefoot, at times wrapping his feet in burlap, helped drive one of their team of oxen across the plains. The Gardiner Snow Co., arrived in Salt Lake Valley in September 30, 1850.

Winslow Sr., eventually moved his family to the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Winslow Jr., helped his father clear the land and plant the farm. The first pair of shoes ever worn by Winslow Jr., were crafted in Salt Lake City out of rawhide. His mother made him a "best" pair of pants out of a piece of carpet.

In 1857, 20 year old Winslow Jr., was selected as a Captain in the Mormon Militia, who called themselves "The Nauvoo Legion". The Militia had been organized to resist the U.S. Army troops headed by General Albert Johnston, who were rumored to be on their way to the Salt Lake Valley to "kill all of the Mormons". After months of preparation and drilling by the militia and meetings held between the Mormon and government leaders, the U.S. Army entered peaceably into the Salt Lake Valley on the 26th of June 1858.

In September 1858 Winslow Jr., journeyed by team and wagon to southern Utah. On October 17, 1858, at 11:00 a.m. Winslow Jr., and Emily Jane Covington, daughter of Robert D. Covington and Elizabeth Thomas were married at Washington, Washington Co.,Utah.

In 1860 the young couple were called to help establish a new settlement in Northern Utah. March of 1861 found them living in a dugout home on a farm in Paradise, Cache Valley, Utah. Soon after their arrival Winslow Jr., was appointed to the fence and school house committees and on March 3, 1861, was elected town marshal and a Captain in the Minutemen Militia. Groups of men were assigned to work together in the fields and to stand as guard against depredations in the Valley from the Indians.

Winslow Jr., had a saying "I am not a musician, I just love to fiddle around". As recorded in his diary, he tells of playing the violin for parties, weddings, dramatic productions and dances as well as many other special occasions. In 1867, Winslow Jr. and Emily Jane sold their farm and moved to Ogden, Utah where their home was built on the corner of 20th and Washington Boulevard.

In 1868 Winslow Jr., was called on a mission to Great Britain. He left by mule train from Laramie, Wyoming where he embarked on a train for New York City and set sail on the steamer, France. He labored in the Liverpool conference under the direction of Moroni Ensign.

He was honorably released from his mission in July of 1870. Upon his return to New York City, he was appointed Captain under Karl G. Maeser, to bring Saints to Utah.

When he returned to Utah he went to work for the Z.C.M.I. Co-Op Store. In 1871 he was ordained a High Priest by President Wilford Woodruff.

On May 5, 1873, Winslow took a plural wife named Susan Melvina Bingham.
Winslow Jr., was called and set apart as Bishop of the Ogden 3rd Ward North Weber Stake on May 28, 1877, by Franklin D. Richards & President John Taylor.

Records reveal that in February 1881 Winslow Jr., obtained a patent for a home- stead for an 80 acre homestead in West Weber, Weber County, west of Ogden, Utah. Winslow Jr., and Emily Jane's sons Lafayette and Lorin cleared the land where they built a granary, followed by a new adobe home near the front of the property. Winslow Jr., moved Emily Jane and her children to this farm.

On December 12, 1878 Winslow Jr., took another plural wife, Matilda Halverson. Matilda lived in her own small home on Farr Avenue in Ogden.

In March of 1882, the U.S. Congress passed the Edmunds Tucker Act which strengthened the U.S.law against the practice of polygamy. In October of 1885 word was received by Winslow Jr., while working at the Z.C.M.I. Co-op store, that the Federal Marshal's were on their way to arrest him. He made his escape by being nailed inside of a wooden box, which was carried away by team and wagon.

Winslow Jr. fled with his third wife Matilda, and their children to southern Utah. In 1887 Winslow Jr. spent time with the Navajo Indians, where he preached to them about the principles of the gospel and introduced them to the Book of Mormon. He told them that the Book of Mormon was a record of their forefathers that once lived in this land.

The Navajo understood his plight and offered to help him hide from the Federal authorities. The Indians invited him to stay with them; however, he moved on to Colorado. After two years of self imposed exile in San Juan, Utah and Cortez Co., Winslow Jr. returned to Ogden, Utah in November of 1887 to surrender to the Federal authorities. He was released on bond and stood trial on May 27, 1888.

The Trial: The Ogden Standard Examiner Newspaper Article.
Sunday Morning, May 27, 1888
The case of the United States vs. Winslow Farr, unlawful cohabitation was called. Kimball & White and N. Tanner, Jr. appeared for the defense.
After calling some twenty jurors the following were impaneled:
John O. Thomas
Charles Jay
A.F. Danielson
Geo White
Albert Herrck
Peter Christiansen,
James Brown,
James Iverson,
W. T. Washburn,
Francis Oliver,
Joseph B. Sewell and
Frank A. Benedict.
Mrs. Emily Jane Farr was the first witness. She had been married to defendant twenty-nine years; knew Susan Farr, but not prior to 1883. She claimed the privilege of exemption from testifying, as she was the legal wife. She was excused.
Mrs. Susan Melvina Bingham was called. She was married to the defendant fifteen years ago; defendant had visited her occasionally during 1883; had several children who bore his name. The youngest was 3 years old; he had not held her out as wife for several years.
The prosecution rested.
The defense did not introduce any testimony.
The case was submitted without argument.
The court charged the jury and they retired, making two juries in consultation, one on adultery and the other on unlawful cohabitation.
After an absence of ten minutes the jury in the Farr case returned and rendered a verdict of guilty. Time for sentence was waived and defendant was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and to pay a fine of $300 and costs."
Winslow Jr. was convicted of unlawful cohabitation and was sentenced to six months in the Utah Territorial Penitentiary with a fine of $300.00.
While he was in the penitentiary he studied bookkeeping and the Spanish language. He also worked outside, as a trustee, on the prison farm. While incarcerated, he made sixteen (16) fancy wool mats, one each for his three wives, with their initial woven into the center. He made ten (10) canes out of little oaks that grew around the penitentiary. He gave them to his fellow inmates, including one cane to George Q. Cannon. When released from prison on November 24, 1888, the Ogden Third Ward gave him a grand reception and welcome home party.
Winslow with his wives Melvina and Matilda and their children left Ogden in 1890 and journeyed with other Mormon families to establish farms in Mexico. Subsequent return trips to Ogden were made easier and affordable when his brother Lorin provided a railroad pass.
In 1897 Winslow Jr. was called in a letter from the first presidency, to locate permanently in Mexico. Before departing Ogden for Mexico, he deeded his interest in the homestead to his wife Emily Jane.
Winslow Jr., located in Colonia Dublan, Mexico, where he was called and presided as Bishop of the Dublan Ward, Juarez Stake from 1889 to 1899. On January 10, 1899, Winslow married his fourth wife, Sarah Mitchell Graham in Colonia Dublan, Mexico. He was released as bishop in September of 1899 and soon after was ordained a patriarch.
Winslow Jr., made a number of round trip journeys between Ogden and Mexico. He spent most of his time in Mexico; however, he made return trips to Ogden which lasted anywhere from a few months up to a year.
Winslow Jr., and all of his wives were in Utah in the spring and summer of 1903. In April 1903, Winslow's second wife Melvina, with her two youngest sons, returned by train to Dublan, Mexico. When Melvina took sick she was taken to the hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she died on November 6, 1903 from a ruptured intestine. She was buried in Colonia Dublan, Mexico. Winslow Jr., accompanied by his son, Joseph, returned to Mexico in November of 1903. Winlsow's fourth wife, Sarah, accompanied by Winslow's brother, Lorin Farr, returned to Dublan, Mexico in December 1903. Winslow remained in Mexico until July of 1906, when he made his final return trip, by train to Utah, where he resided until his death.
Between 1906 and 1913, Winslow Jr. resided with his fourth wife Sarah in Salt Lake City. On occasion he traveled by the Bamberger rail line to visit Matilda and her children in Ogden and by horse and buggy to visit Emily Jane and her family on the farm in West Weber. Winslow Jr., his wife Sarah and his brother Lorin, spent many days working in the Salt Lake Temple.
Winslow Jr. was the father of thirty one children. Fourteen (14) with Emily Jane Covington Farr, eleven (11) with Susan Melvina Bingham, six (6) with Matilda Halverson and none by Sarah Mitchell Graham.
On February 2, 1913, Winslow Jr. suffered a stroke. Emily Jane and Winslow Jr.'s, four sons moved him from Salt Lake City to the Farr family homestead in West Weber (now known as Taylor, Utah). His sons, Lafayette, Lorin, Barnard and Aldebert took turns attending and sitting through the night with their father. Winslow Jr., died February 18, 1913. Internment was on February 19, 1913 in the Ogden City Cemetery, Weber Co., Utah.
Those who gave the eulogies at his funeral spoke of his honesty, integrity, fairness in business matters and his special ability as an interpreter and peacemaker between the Indians and the communities where he had lived.
His descendants admire his talent with the violin, his robust, strong pioneering spirit and his unwavering dedication to the principles of his religious beliefs.

"SOURCES"
1) Diaries - Winslow Farr Jr. (1869-1910)
2) WH & Edna Manning 1959 (Our Kin) Walton Printing, Barnwell, SC (Covington Family)
3) Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah 1898, Volume Three, George Q. Cannon Pub. and Sons, Salt Lake City, Utah
4) Treasures of Pioneer History by Kate B. Carter, Volume three, 1954.
5) Womens Voices by Kenneth W. Godfrey, Audrey M. Godfrey, Jill Mulvay Derr 1982 Published Deseret Book Co.
6) Ogden Standard Examiner - Newspaper articles 1) May 27, 1888 (Trial) 2) November 27, 1888 (Release)
7) Unpublished History - History of Robert D. Covington, Copied by B.Y.U. Library. Manuscript returned to Mrs. Marian C. Bradshaw of Orem, Utah
8) Brief History - Winslow Farr Jr. written by Evelyn Farr Mower
9) Interviews with grandchildren a) Mabel Farr Harris Decker - Daughter of Barnard & Susan Alvord Farr; b) Kenneth Alvord Farr - Son of Barnard & Susan Alvord Farr; c) Evelyn Farr Mower - Daughter of Lorin Freeman Farr & Sariah Buck Farr; d) Glen Farr - Son of Lafayette & Nancy Hipwell Farr

History of Binghamton Ward
By Edna Bingham Sabin

This is the history of the first branch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Binghamton.

My father Nephi Bingham, my mother Elizabeth Dalkin Bingham and six children; Rebecca, Mae, Clara, Glen, Floyd and myself, Edna; moved from Casa Grande, Arizona to Tucson in the spring of 1900.  Tucson wasn’t very large at that time.  It had one street called Congress Street, not paved, two grocery stores; Ivancovich, and Wheeler & Perry.  The dry goods stores were Rosy’s and La Bananza and there was a watering trough for the horses.

My father located a place called the Davidson Place north of the Rillito River that ran the year around.  We lived there until the fall of 1904 when we moved to a place south of the river called the Bayless Place, then it was known as the Bingham Place.  There was a wagon road leading from our home to Tucson, six miles away.  There was only one house between our house and town.  We called it the half way house.  All we could see was catclaw bushes, sage brush, and chaparral.  The ground was crawling with rattle snakes, Gila monsters, lizards, and tarantulas and we had to keep our eyes on the road to keep the horses from running away.  There weren’t many Mexicans living near Tucson.  My father had to hire Indians from an Indian village south of Tucson to help him harvest his crops, as he had land along the river six or seven miles from our home.

We had Mormon Church officials and missionaries visiting us often.  On Sept 9, 1909 my father and my two older sisters, Rebecca and Mae, went to Colonia Dublan, Mexico to visit his nieces and nephews who were the children of his sister, Melvina, and her husband Winslow Farr, who had died.  My two sisters stayed in Mexico to attend college nearby.  When my father returned from Mexico his nephew, Heber Farr, and his brother-in-law, Charles Hurst, came with him.  They looked over the Davidson Place and decided to move to Tucson if it was agreeable with the other ones in Mexico.  The families were agreeable and they all began to make their plans to move to Tucson and my father began to make plans to have plenty of food for them when they arrived.  My father’s youngest brother, Jacob Bingham, lived near us and he made plans along with us.  My father owned a dairy and had plenty of milk.  He butchered a pig and cured it.  We had turkeys, ducks, chickens and eggs, plenty of bottled fruit from our orchards, dried corn, beans, dill pickles, sauerkraut, pumpkins, five gallons of mincemeat, and a winter garden.  A few days before they arrived, my father killed a beef.  He would hang it outside at night in the cool air then take it down and wrap it in a sheet and canvas and lay it on a cement floor in the daytime to hold the cold in.  On December 15, 1909, in the afternoon, eight covered wagons came rolling out of the catclaw and chaparral bushed down the lane to our home.  It was a wonderful meeting to see them all for the first time.  They parked their wagons between our home and Uncle Jacob’s home.  Some of them were very sick when they arrived.  The sick and the old people slept in the two homes and the others slept in the covered wagons and they all ate their meals in the two homes and would come and go as they pleased in the daytime.

The people who came out of Mexico in the covered wagons at this time were the five Farr brothers; Heber, Joseph, Ernest, and their families, Wilford and Acel, not yet married.  The sisters were Edith Webb and Lindy Young and their families and Mamie Farr who was not married.  Some of the in-laws and their families also came.

There was a small wooden school house near-by where all the children attended school.  The men started building their little tent houses to use until they could build better ones.  Heber and Joe remodeled two adode houses on their land north of the river.  Most of the people lived on the south side of the river.  After they were settled in their homes, the land cleared of mesquite trees and their crops planted, they all decided to dig and build reservoirs to store the water from the river that ran the year round.  It supplied water for all the farms along the river. 

Plans had been made earlier with President Joseph E. Robinson, President of the California Mission, to visit with us.  On Saturday morning, May 21, 1910, Heber Farr and my father met the train from Salt Lake and California to get George Albert Smith and Joseph W. MacMurrins and President Joseph E. Robinson.  That afternoon my father, my mother, and my sister Clara, my two brothers Glen and Floyd, and myself were baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The following Sunday afternoon, May 22, 1910, the first Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was organized, in the shade at the east of our home.  The opening prayer was given by President Joseph E. Robinson.  The new branch was called Binghamton Branch, after my father.  There was already a little town in Arizona by the name of Bingham.  Heber Farr was ordained Branch President, Fredrick Granger Williams first counselor and Frank Webb second counselor.  We were all confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The sacrament was passed, talks were given, and the closing prayer was given by Joseph A. Farr.  Church services were held that summer under the shade trees by Heber and Joseph Farr’s homes. 

My father was county trustee of the Davidson school district.  He received permission to have a large school house built as more Saints and relatives were moving out of Mexico.  By September 1910, the school house was built and by adding the little school house to the south end of the new building there was room for a stage and two class rooms more.  My father got permission to hold church services in the school house.  At that time, the Sunday School was organized.  Joseph A. Farr was ordained Superintendent of Sunday School, Elmer Cardon as first assistant, J. Alma Young as second assistant, Ellen Bluth as secretary, and Clara Bingham as assistant secretary.  Heber O. Chlarson was set apart as ward clerk.  The next Sunday, the ladies Relief Society was organized with Elizabeth Farr as President and Mae Bingham and Lindy Young as her assistants and Hazel Williams as secretary.  Later, the Primary and Mutual was organized.

More and more people were moving out of Mexico but they settled near Jaynes Station by the railroad tracks.  They were clearing land for some company.  There was a school house there.  There were many young people living there in little tent houses and they would come to Binghampton to dances one Saturday night and we all went to Jaynes Station the next Saturday night.  Some of the young boys living in Binghampton worked for my father on the farm and milked cows.  My father furnished transportation for all of the young people in Binghampton to get to the dances.  He had a large wagon and a hay rack on it and two spans of mules.  The boys would fill the hay rack full of hay and stretch canvas over it and then some quilts.  My father gave the drivers a little bell and said “don’t whip the mules, just ring this bell and they will go fast enough.”  We had to make our own fun and enjoyment, and we sure did, going on picnics up Sabino Canyon and playing Run-Sheep-Run and Twos and Threes and attending Church services.

After the land was cleared at Jaynes Station most of the people moved to Binghampton.  Some went to Mesa, Arizona and some went to El Paso, Texas.

When the Mormons living out of Tucson heard that there was a branch of the Church near Tucson they came from Safford, Thatcher, Duncan, Pima, St. David, Douglas and Benson.  Gordon Kimball came from Safford to Tucson and worked in a bank.  Later, his brother Spencer W. Kimball (now our Prophet) came and attended the University of Arizona.  He drove a taxi to help pay his way through school.  The Saints living in Tucson came to Binghampton to attend Church services, dances, entertainments, and home talent plays.

Automobiles were being shipped by rail but the little dirt roads were still being used.  A few years went by, the Ft. Lowell Road was paved to Cambell, then south to Speedway.  The people living in Tucson and Binghampton when I was married in 1915 and left there were: Nephi Bingham and his family, the five Farr brothers Heber, Joseph, Earnest, Wilford, and Acel; the sisters were Edith Web and Lindy Young and Mamie and all their families (wives and husbands and children) and in-laws, Chlarsons, Clawsons, Browns, Bluths, Bilbees, Cardons (three families), Evans, Farnsworths, Lillywhites, Hardys, Dones, Obegs, Headers, Jespersons, Johnsons, Paynes, Nelsons, Roleys, Stocks, Jones, Merrits, Youngs (three families), Winns, LeBarons, some more Johnsons, Prices, Tompkins, Williams, Webbs, Wheelers, some more Binghams from Mexico, Butlers and all their families.

In 1928, the chapel was built on Ft. Lowell Road.  I visited over there very often.  The last time I was to Church there was in 1965 and it had been remodeled.  There are only three members now living in Binghampton that was present when the Church was organized.  They are my brother Floyd Bingham, Milda Farr Jones, and Thelma Young Golstine.

I have enjoyed writing this history, but I forgot one thing.  If Fred Sabin hadn’t come from St. David to Tucson my name would not be Edna Bingham Sabin.

Emily Jane COVINGTON [scrapbook] was born ¹ on 1 Jan 1843 in Summerville, Noxubee, Mississippi, United States. She died ² on 4 Mar 1921 in Taylor, Weber, Utah, United States. Emily married Winslow FARR Jr on 17 Oct 1858 in Washington, Washington, Utah Territory, United States.

Emily resided ³ in 1850 in Great Salt Lake, Deseret Territory, United States. She resided ⁴ in 1880 in Ogden, Weber, Utah Territory, United States. She resided ⁵ in 1920 in Taylor, Weber, Utah, United States.

Emily was among the 4th ten, of the 2nd fifty, in the 2nd hundred of the Pioneers of 1847.

Winslow FARR Jr [Parents] [scrapbook] was born ¹ on 11 May 1837 in East Charleston, Orleans, Vermont, United States. He died ² on 18 Feb 1913 in West Weber, Weber, Utah, United States. He was buried ³ on 20 Feb 1913 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States. Winslow married Susan Melvina BINGHAM on 5 May 1873 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory, United States.

Other marriages:

ROWLEY, Cornelia Charlotte
COVINGTON, Emily Jane
HALVORSEN, Matilda
MITCHELL, Sarah Ann

LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 4, p.499 Farr, Winslow, Bishop of the Dublan Ward, Juarez Stake, Mexico, from 1889 to 1899, was born May 11, 1837, in Charleston, Vermont, a son of Winslow Farr and Olive Hovey Freeman. He was baptized in 1845 in Nauvoo, Illinois, came to Utah in 1847, filled a mission to England in 1868-1870, was ordained a High Priest April 19, 1871, by Wilford Woodruff, and a Bishop May 28, 1877, by John Taylor, and presided over the Ogden 3rd Ward, Utah. He died Jan. 5, 1914.

Biographical Sketch of Winslow Farr Jr.
By Wilma S. Smith and Randall A. Smith
Winslow Farr, Jr., was born May 11, 1837, at Charleston, Orleans Co., Vermont. Winslow Jr., was the youngest and smallest at birth of the six children who were born to Winslow Farr, Sr., and Olive Hovey Freeman. He was born 10 years after the birth of the youngest of the five older children. Family tradition states at birth his mother's wedding ring would slide completely over his hand. When fully grown he was the tallest and largest of his family, reaching the height of 6 feet 4 inches.

The Farr family, who joined the church May 19, 1832, sold 2,000 acres they owned in September of 1837 and moved to Kirtland, Ohio. In 1838 Winslow Jr. was blessed by the prophet Joseph Smith. In the spring of 1840 the family moved on to Far West, Missouri. When persecutions drove the Mormons from Missouri, the Farr family joined the Saints in establishing the City of Nauvoo, Illinois, where Winslow Sr. built a comfortable home for his family.

Winslow Jr., was baptized by his father Winslow Sr., on his eighth birthday, May 11, 1845. With persecutions mounting, the Saints were once again forced to flee their substantial homes in "Nauvoo the Beautiful".

In June of 1846 the Farr family crossed the Mississippi River and joined hundreds of additional families journeying by wagon train across the state of Iowa.

By the summer of 1847 the Farr's were situated across the Missouri River in the settlement of Winter Quarters, which is known today as Florence, Nebraska. President Brigham Young instructed the Brethren in how to organize companies for emigration to the Great Salt Lake Valley. Winslow Farr, Sr., served on a mission to the eastern states from 1847 to 1849. The Farr family spent their time in Winter Quarters awaiting his return.

June 15, 1850 an emigrating company of 100 was organized on the Missouri, near Council Bluffs of which Joseph Young was appointed president, Winslow Farr Counselor, William Snow Captain, and Gardiner Snow captains of 50. The Winslow Farr Sr. family traveled with the Gardiner Snow Company. Thirteen year old Winslow Jr., walking barefoot, at times wrapping his feet in burlap, helped drive one of their team of oxen across the plains. The Gardiner Snow Co., arrived in Salt Lake Valley in September 30, 1850.

Winslow Sr., eventually moved his family to the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Winslow Jr., helped his father clear the land and plant the farm. The first pair of shoes ever worn by Winslow Jr., were crafted in Salt Lake City out of rawhide. His mother made him a "best" pair of pants out of a piece of carpet.

In 1857, 20 year old Winslow Jr., was selected as a Captain in the Mormon Militia, who called themselves "The Nauvoo Legion". The Militia had been organized to resist the U.S. Army troops headed by General Albert Johnston, who were rumored to be on their way to the Salt Lake Valley to "kill all of the Mormons". After months of preparation and drilling by the militia and meetings held between the Mormon and government leaders, the U.S. Army entered peaceably into the Salt Lake Valley on the 26th of June 1858.

In September 1858 Winslow Jr., journeyed by team and wagon to southern Utah. On October 17, 1858, at 11:00 a.m. Winslow Jr., and Emily Jane Covington, daughter of Robert D. Covington and Elizabeth Thomas were married at Washington, Washington Co.,Utah.

In 1860 the young couple were called to help establish a new settlement in Northern Utah. March of 1861 found them living in a dugout home on a farm in Paradise, Cache Valley, Utah. Soon after their arrival Winslow Jr., was appointed to the fence and school house committees and on March 3, 1861, was elected town marshal and a Captain in the Minutemen Militia. Groups of men were assigned to work together in the fields and to stand as guard against depredations in the Valley from the Indians.

Winslow Jr., had a saying "I am not a musician, I just love to fiddle around". As recorded in his diary, he tells of playing the violin for parties, weddings, dramatic productions and dances as well as many other special occasions. In 1867, Winslow Jr. and Emily Jane sold their farm and moved to Ogden, Utah where their home was built on the corner of 20th and Washington Boulevard.

In 1868 Winslow Jr., was called on a mission to Great Britain. He left by mule train from Laramie, Wyoming where he embarked on a train for New York City and set sail on the steamer, France. He labored in the Liverpool conference under the direction of Moroni Ensign.

He was honorably released from his mission in July of 1870. Upon his return to New York City, he was appointed Captain under Karl G. Maeser, to bring Saints to Utah.

When he returned to Utah he went to work for the Z.C.M.I. Co-Op Store. In 1871 he was ordained a High Priest by President Wilford Woodruff.

On May 5, 1873, Winslow took a plural wife named Susan Melvina Bingham.
Winslow Jr., was called and set apart as Bishop of the Ogden 3rd Ward North Weber Stake on May 28, 1877, by Franklin D. Richards & President John Taylor.

Records reveal that in February 1881 Winslow Jr., obtained a patent for a home- stead for an 80 acre homestead in West Weber, Weber County, west of Ogden, Utah. Winslow Jr., and Emily Jane's sons Lafayette and Lorin cleared the land where they built a granary, followed by a new adobe home near the front of the property. Winslow Jr., moved Emily Jane and her children to this farm.

On December 12, 1878 Winslow Jr., took another plural wife, Matilda Halverson. Matilda lived in her own small home on Farr Avenue in Ogden.

In March of 1882, the U.S. Congress passed the Edmunds Tucker Act which strengthened the U.S.law against the practice of polygamy. In October of 1885 word was received by Winslow Jr., while working at the Z.C.M.I. Co-op store, that the Federal Marshal's were on their way to arrest him. He made his escape by being nailed inside of a wooden box, which was carried away by team and wagon.

Winslow Jr. fled with his third wife Matilda, and their children to southern Utah. In 1887 Winslow Jr. spent time with the Navajo Indians, where he preached to them about the principles of the gospel and introduced them to the Book of Mormon. He told them that the Book of Mormon was a record of their forefathers that once lived in this land.

The Navajo understood his plight and offered to help him hide from the Federal authorities. The Indians invited him to stay with them; however, he moved on to Colorado. After two years of self imposed exile in San Juan, Utah and Cortez Co., Winslow Jr. returned to Ogden, Utah in November of 1887 to surrender to the Federal authorities. He was released on bond and stood trial on May 27, 1888.

The Trial: The Ogden Standard Examiner Newspaper Article.
Sunday Morning, May 27, 1888
The case of the United States vs. Winslow Farr, unlawful cohabitation was called. Kimball & White and N. Tanner, Jr. appeared for the defense.
After calling some twenty jurors the following were impaneled:
John O. Thomas
Charles Jay
A.F. Danielson
Geo White
Albert Herrck
Peter Christiansen,
James Brown,
James Iverson,
W. T. Washburn,
Francis Oliver,
Joseph B. Sewell and
Frank A. Benedict.
Mrs. Emily Jane Farr was the first witness. She had been married to defendant twenty-nine years; knew Susan Farr, but not prior to 1883. She claimed the privilege of exemption from testifying, as she was the legal wife. She was excused.
Mrs. Susan Melvina Bingham was called. She was married to the defendant fifteen years ago; defendant had visited her occasionally during 1883; had several children who bore his name. The youngest was 3 years old; he had not held her out as wife for several years.
The prosecution rested.
The defense did not introduce any testimony.
The case was submitted without argument.
The court charged the jury and they retired, making two juries in consultation, one on adultery and the other on unlawful cohabitation.
After an absence of ten minutes the jury in the Farr case returned and rendered a verdict of guilty. Time for sentence was waived and defendant was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and to pay a fine of $300 and costs."
Winslow Jr. was convicted of unlawful cohabitation and was sentenced to six months in the Utah Territorial Penitentiary with a fine of $300.00.
While he was in the penitentiary he studied bookkeeping and the Spanish language. He also worked outside, as a trustee, on the prison farm. While incarcerated, he made sixteen (16) fancy wool mats, one each for his three wives, with their initial woven into the center. He made ten (10) canes out of little oaks that grew around the penitentiary. He gave them to his fellow inmates, including one cane to George Q. Cannon. When released from prison on November 24, 1888, the Ogden Third Ward gave him a grand reception and welcome home party.
Winslow with his wives Melvina and Matilda and their children left Ogden in 1890 and journeyed with other Mormon families to establish farms in Mexico. Subsequent return trips to Ogden were made easier and affordable when his brother Lorin provided a railroad pass.
In 1897 Winslow Jr. was called in a letter from the first presidency, to locate permanently in Mexico. Before departing Ogden for Mexico, he deeded his interest in the homestead to his wife Emily Jane.
Winslow Jr., located in Colonia Dublan, Mexico, where he was called and presided as Bishop of the Dublan Ward, Juarez Stake from 1889 to 1899. On January 10, 1899, Winslow married his fourth wife, Sarah Mitchell Graham in Colonia Dublan, Mexico. He was released as bishop in September of 1899 and soon after was ordained a patriarch.
Winslow Jr., made a number of round trip journeys between Ogden and Mexico. He spent most of his time in Mexico; however, he made return trips to Ogden which lasted anywhere from a few months up to a year.
Winslow Jr., and all of his wives were in Utah in the spring and summer of 1903. In April 1903, Winslow's second wife Melvina, with her two youngest sons, returned by train to Dublan, Mexico. When Melvina took sick she was taken to the hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she died on November 6, 1903 from a ruptured intestine. She was buried in Colonia Dublan, Mexico. Winslow Jr., accompanied by his son, Joseph, returned to Mexico in November of 1903. Winlsow's fourth wife, Sarah, accompanied by Winslow's brother, Lorin Farr, returned to Dublan, Mexico in December 1903. Winslow remained in Mexico until July of 1906, when he made his final return trip, by train to Utah, where he resided until his death.
Between 1906 and 1913, Winslow Jr. resided with his fourth wife Sarah in Salt Lake City. On occasion he traveled by the Bamberger rail line to visit Matilda and her children in Ogden and by horse and buggy to visit Emily Jane and her family on the farm in West Weber. Winslow Jr., his wife Sarah and his brother Lorin, spent many days working in the Salt Lake Temple.
Winslow Jr. was the father of thirty one children. Fourteen (14) with Emily Jane Covington Farr, eleven (11) with Susan Melvina Bingham, six (6) with Matilda Halverson and none by Sarah Mitchell Graham.
On February 2, 1913, Winslow Jr. suffered a stroke. Emily Jane and Winslow Jr.'s, four sons moved him from Salt Lake City to the Farr family homestead in West Weber (now known as Taylor, Utah). His sons, Lafayette, Lorin, Barnard and Aldebert took turns attending and sitting through the night with their father. Winslow Jr., died February 18, 1913. Internment was on February 19, 1913 in the Ogden City Cemetery, Weber Co., Utah.
Those who gave the eulogies at his funeral spoke of his honesty, integrity, fairness in business matters and his special ability as an interpreter and peacemaker between the Indians and the communities where he had lived.
His descendants admire his talent with the violin, his robust, strong pioneering spirit and his unwavering dedication to the principles of his religious beliefs.

"SOURCES"
1) Diaries - Winslow Farr Jr. (1869-1910)
2) WH & Edna Manning 1959 (Our Kin) Walton Printing, Barnwell, SC (Covington Family)
3) Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah 1898, Volume Three, George Q. Cannon Pub. and Sons, Salt Lake City, Utah
4) Treasures of Pioneer History by Kate B. Carter, Volume three, 1954.
5) Womens Voices by Kenneth W. Godfrey, Audrey M. Godfrey, Jill Mulvay Derr 1982 Published Deseret Book Co.
6) Ogden Standard Examiner - Newspaper articles 1) May 27, 1888 (Trial) 2) November 27, 1888 (Release)
7) Unpublished History - History of Robert D. Covington, Copied by B.Y.U. Library. Manuscript returned to Mrs. Marian C. Bradshaw of Orem, Utah
8) Brief History - Winslow Farr Jr. written by Evelyn Farr Mower
9) Interviews with grandchildren a) Mabel Farr Harris Decker - Daughter of Barnard & Susan Alvord Farr; b) Kenneth Alvord Farr - Son of Barnard & Susan Alvord Farr; c) Evelyn Farr Mower - Daughter of Lorin Freeman Farr & Sariah Buck Farr; d) Glen Farr - Son of Lafayette & Nancy Hipwell Farr

History of Binghamton Ward
By Edna Bingham Sabin

This is the history of the first branch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Binghamton.

My father Nephi Bingham, my mother Elizabeth Dalkin Bingham and six children; Rebecca, Mae, Clara, Glen, Floyd and myself, Edna; moved from Casa Grande, Arizona to Tucson in the spring of 1900.  Tucson wasn’t very large at that time.  It had one street called Congress Street, not paved, two grocery stores; Ivancovich, and Wheeler & Perry.  The dry goods stores were Rosy’s and La Bananza and there was a watering trough for the horses.

My father located a place called the Davidson Place north of the Rillito River that ran the year around.  We lived there until the fall of 1904 when we moved to a place south of the river called the Bayless Place, then it was known as the Bingham Place.  There was a wagon road leading from our home to Tucson, six miles away.  There was only one house between our house and town.  We called it the half way house.  All we could see was catclaw bushes, sage brush, and chaparral.  The ground was crawling with rattle snakes, Gila monsters, lizards, and tarantulas and we had to keep our eyes on the road to keep the horses from running away.  There weren’t many Mexicans living near Tucson.  My father had to hire Indians from an Indian village south of Tucson to help him harvest his crops, as he had land along the river six or seven miles from our home.

We had Mormon Church officials and missionaries visiting us often.  On Sept 9, 1909 my father and my two older sisters, Rebecca and Mae, went to Colonia Dublan, Mexico to visit his nieces and nephews who were the children of his sister, Melvina, and her husband Winslow Farr, who had died.  My two sisters stayed in Mexico to attend college nearby.  When my father returned from Mexico his nephew, Heber Farr, and his brother-in-law, Charles Hurst, came with him.  They looked over the Davidson Place and decided to move to Tucson if it was agreeable with the other ones in Mexico.  The families were agreeable and they all began to make their plans to move to Tucson and my father began to make plans to have plenty of food for them when they arrived.  My father’s youngest brother, Jacob Bingham, lived near us and he made plans along with us.  My father owned a dairy and had plenty of milk.  He butchered a pig and cured it.  We had turkeys, ducks, chickens and eggs, plenty of bottled fruit from our orchards, dried corn, beans, dill pickles, sauerkraut, pumpkins, five gallons of mincemeat, and a winter garden.  A few days before they arrived, my father killed a beef.  He would hang it outside at night in the cool air then take it down and wrap it in a sheet and canvas and lay it on a cement floor in the daytime to hold the cold in.  On December 15, 1909, in the afternoon, eight covered wagons came rolling out of the catclaw and chaparral bushed down the lane to our home.  It was a wonderful meeting to see them all for the first time.  They parked their wagons between our home and Uncle Jacob’s home.  Some of them were very sick when they arrived.  The sick and the old people slept in the two homes and the others slept in the covered wagons and they all ate their meals in the two homes and would come and go as they pleased in the daytime.

The people who came out of Mexico in the covered wagons at this time were the five Farr brothers; Heber, Joseph, Ernest, and their families, Wilford and Acel, not yet married.  The sisters were Edith Webb and Lindy Young and their families and Mamie Farr who was not married.  Some of the in-laws and their families also came.

There was a small wooden school house near-by where all the children attended school.  The men started building their little tent houses to use until they could build better ones.  Heber and Joe remodeled two adode houses on their land north of the river.  Most of the people lived on the south side of the river.  After they were settled in their homes, the land cleared of mesquite trees and their crops planted, they all decided to dig and build reservoirs to store the water from the river that ran the year round.  It supplied water for all the farms along the river. 

Plans had been made earlier with President Joseph E. Robinson, President of the California Mission, to visit with us.  On Saturday morning, May 21, 1910, Heber Farr and my father met the train from Salt Lake and California to get George Albert Smith and Joseph W. MacMurrins and President Joseph E. Robinson.  That afternoon my father, my mother, and my sister Clara, my two brothers Glen and Floyd, and myself were baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The following Sunday afternoon, May 22, 1910, the first Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was organized, in the shade at the east of our home.  The opening prayer was given by President Joseph E. Robinson.  The new branch was called Binghamton Branch, after my father.  There was already a little town in Arizona by the name of Bingham.  Heber Farr was ordained Branch President, Fredrick Granger Williams first counselor and Frank Webb second counselor.  We were all confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The sacrament was passed, talks were given, and the closing prayer was given by Joseph A. Farr.  Church services were held that summer under the shade trees by Heber and Joseph Farr’s homes. 

My father was county trustee of the Davidson school district.  He received permission to have a large school house built as more Saints and relatives were moving out of Mexico.  By September 1910, the school house was built and by adding the little school house to the south end of the new building there was room for a stage and two class rooms more.  My father got permission to hold church services in the school house.  At that time, the Sunday School was organized.  Joseph A. Farr was ordained Superintendent of Sunday School, Elmer Cardon as first assistant, J. Alma Young as second assistant, Ellen Bluth as secretary, and Clara Bingham as assistant secretary.  Heber O. Chlarson was set apart as ward clerk.  The next Sunday, the ladies Relief Society was organized with Elizabeth Farr as President and Mae Bingham and Lindy Young as her assistants and Hazel Williams as secretary.  Later, the Primary and Mutual was organized.

More and more people were moving out of Mexico but they settled near Jaynes Station by the railroad tracks.  They were clearing land for some company.  There was a school house there.  There were many young people living there in little tent houses and they would come to Binghampton to dances one Saturday night and we all went to Jaynes Station the next Saturday night.  Some of the young boys living in Binghampton worked for my father on the farm and milked cows.  My father furnished transportation for all of the young people in Binghampton to get to the dances.  He had a large wagon and a hay rack on it and two spans of mules.  The boys would fill the hay rack full of hay and stretch canvas over it and then some quilts.  My father gave the drivers a little bell and said “don’t whip the mules, just ring this bell and they will go fast enough.”  We had to make our own fun and enjoyment, and we sure did, going on picnics up Sabino Canyon and playing Run-Sheep-Run and Twos and Threes and attending Church services.

After the land was cleared at Jaynes Station most of the people moved to Binghampton.  Some went to Mesa, Arizona and some went to El Paso, Texas.

When the Mormons living out of Tucson heard that there was a branch of the Church near Tucson they came from Safford, Thatcher, Duncan, Pima, St. David, Douglas and Benson.  Gordon Kimball came from Safford to Tucson and worked in a bank.  Later, his brother Spencer W. Kimball (now our Prophet) came and attended the University of Arizona.  He drove a taxi to help pay his way through school.  The Saints living in Tucson came to Binghampton to attend Church services, dances, entertainments, and home talent plays.

Automobiles were being shipped by rail but the little dirt roads were still being used.  A few years went by, the Ft. Lowell Road was paved to Cambell, then south to Speedway.  The people living in Tucson and Binghampton when I was married in 1915 and left there were: Nephi Bingham and his family, the five Farr brothers Heber, Joseph, Earnest, Wilford, and Acel; the sisters were Edith Web and Lindy Young and Mamie and all their families (wives and husbands and children) and in-laws, Chlarsons, Clawsons, Browns, Bluths, Bilbees, Cardons (three families), Evans, Farnsworths, Lillywhites, Hardys, Dones, Obegs, Headers, Jespersons, Johnsons, Paynes, Nelsons, Roleys, Stocks, Jones, Merrits, Youngs (three families), Winns, LeBarons, some more Johnsons, Prices, Tompkins, Williams, Webbs, Wheelers, some more Binghams from Mexico, Butlers and all their families.

In 1928, the chapel was built on Ft. Lowell Road.  I visited over there very often.  The last time I was to Church there was in 1965 and it had been remodeled.  There are only three members now living in Binghampton that was present when the Church was organized.  They are my brother Floyd Bingham, Milda Farr Jones, and Thelma Young Golstine.

I have enjoyed writing this history, but I forgot one thing.  If Fred Sabin hadn’t come from St. David to Tucson my name would not be Edna Bingham Sabin.

Susan Melvina BINGHAM [scrapbook] was born on 23 Nov 1856 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States. She died on 6 Nov 1903 in El Paso, El Paso, Texas, United States. She was buried on 10 Nov 1903 in Colonia Dublán, Chihuahua, Mexico. Susan married Winslow FARR Jr on 5 May 1873 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory, United States.

Winslow FARR Jr [Parents] [scrapbook] was born ¹ on 11 May 1837 in East Charleston, Orleans, Vermont, United States. He died ² on 18 Feb 1913 in West Weber, Weber, Utah, United States. He was buried ³ on 20 Feb 1913 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States. Winslow married Matilda HALVORSEN on 12 Dec 1878 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory, United States.

Other marriages:

ROWLEY, Cornelia Charlotte
COVINGTON, Emily Jane
BINGHAM, Susan Melvina
MITCHELL, Sarah Ann

LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 4, p.499 Farr, Winslow, Bishop of the Dublan Ward, Juarez Stake, Mexico, from 1889 to 1899, was born May 11, 1837, in Charleston, Vermont, a son of Winslow Farr and Olive Hovey Freeman. He was baptized in 1845 in Nauvoo, Illinois, came to Utah in 1847, filled a mission to England in 1868-1870, was ordained a High Priest April 19, 1871, by Wilford Woodruff, and a Bishop May 28, 1877, by John Taylor, and presided over the Ogden 3rd Ward, Utah. He died Jan. 5, 1914.

Biographical Sketch of Winslow Farr Jr.
By Wilma S. Smith and Randall A. Smith
Winslow Farr, Jr., was born May 11, 1837, at Charleston, Orleans Co., Vermont. Winslow Jr., was the youngest and smallest at birth of the six children who were born to Winslow Farr, Sr., and Olive Hovey Freeman. He was born 10 years after the birth of the youngest of the five older children. Family tradition states at birth his mother's wedding ring would slide completely over his hand. When fully grown he was the tallest and largest of his family, reaching the height of 6 feet 4 inches.

The Farr family, who joined the church May 19, 1832, sold 2,000 acres they owned in September of 1837 and moved to Kirtland, Ohio. In 1838 Winslow Jr. was blessed by the prophet Joseph Smith. In the spring of 1840 the family moved on to Far West, Missouri. When persecutions drove the Mormons from Missouri, the Farr family joined the Saints in establishing the City of Nauvoo, Illinois, where Winslow Sr. built a comfortable home for his family.

Winslow Jr., was baptized by his father Winslow Sr., on his eighth birthday, May 11, 1845. With persecutions mounting, the Saints were once again forced to flee their substantial homes in "Nauvoo the Beautiful".

In June of 1846 the Farr family crossed the Mississippi River and joined hundreds of additional families journeying by wagon train across the state of Iowa.

By the summer of 1847 the Farr's were situated across the Missouri River in the settlement of Winter Quarters, which is known today as Florence, Nebraska. President Brigham Young instructed the Brethren in how to organize companies for emigration to the Great Salt Lake Valley. Winslow Farr, Sr., served on a mission to the eastern states from 1847 to 1849. The Farr family spent their time in Winter Quarters awaiting his return.

June 15, 1850 an emigrating company of 100 was organized on the Missouri, near Council Bluffs of which Joseph Young was appointed president, Winslow Farr Counselor, William Snow Captain, and Gardiner Snow captains of 50. The Winslow Farr Sr. family traveled with the Gardiner Snow Company. Thirteen year old Winslow Jr., walking barefoot, at times wrapping his feet in burlap, helped drive one of their team of oxen across the plains. The Gardiner Snow Co., arrived in Salt Lake Valley in September 30, 1850.

Winslow Sr., eventually moved his family to the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Winslow Jr., helped his father clear the land and plant the farm. The first pair of shoes ever worn by Winslow Jr., were crafted in Salt Lake City out of rawhide. His mother made him a "best" pair of pants out of a piece of carpet.

In 1857, 20 year old Winslow Jr., was selected as a Captain in the Mormon Militia, who called themselves "The Nauvoo Legion". The Militia had been organized to resist the U.S. Army troops headed by General Albert Johnston, who were rumored to be on their way to the Salt Lake Valley to "kill all of the Mormons". After months of preparation and drilling by the militia and meetings held between the Mormon and government leaders, the U.S. Army entered peaceably into the Salt Lake Valley on the 26th of June 1858.

In September 1858 Winslow Jr., journeyed by team and wagon to southern Utah. On October 17, 1858, at 11:00 a.m. Winslow Jr., and Emily Jane Covington, daughter of Robert D. Covington and Elizabeth Thomas were married at Washington, Washington Co.,Utah.

In 1860 the young couple were called to help establish a new settlement in Northern Utah. March of 1861 found them living in a dugout home on a farm in Paradise, Cache Valley, Utah. Soon after their arrival Winslow Jr., was appointed to the fence and school house committees and on March 3, 1861, was elected town marshal and a Captain in the Minutemen Militia. Groups of men were assigned to work together in the fields and to stand as guard against depredations in the Valley from the Indians.

Winslow Jr., had a saying "I am not a musician, I just love to fiddle around". As recorded in his diary, he tells of playing the violin for parties, weddings, dramatic productions and dances as well as many other special occasions. In 1867, Winslow Jr. and Emily Jane sold their farm and moved to Ogden, Utah where their home was built on the corner of 20th and Washington Boulevard.

In 1868 Winslow Jr., was called on a mission to Great Britain. He left by mule train from Laramie, Wyoming where he embarked on a train for New York City and set sail on the steamer, France. He labored in the Liverpool conference under the direction of Moroni Ensign.

He was honorably released from his mission in July of 1870. Upon his return to New York City, he was appointed Captain under Karl G. Maeser, to bring Saints to Utah.

When he returned to Utah he went to work for the Z.C.M.I. Co-Op Store. In 1871 he was ordained a High Priest by President Wilford Woodruff.

On May 5, 1873, Winslow took a plural wife named Susan Melvina Bingham.
Winslow Jr., was called and set apart as Bishop of the Ogden 3rd Ward North Weber Stake on May 28, 1877, by Franklin D. Richards & President John Taylor.

Records reveal that in February 1881 Winslow Jr., obtained a patent for a home- stead for an 80 acre homestead in West Weber, Weber County, west of Ogden, Utah. Winslow Jr., and Emily Jane's sons Lafayette and Lorin cleared the land where they built a granary, followed by a new adobe home near the front of the property. Winslow Jr., moved Emily Jane and her children to this farm.

On December 12, 1878 Winslow Jr., took another plural wife, Matilda Halverson. Matilda lived in her own small home on Farr Avenue in Ogden.

In March of 1882, the U.S. Congress passed the Edmunds Tucker Act which strengthened the U.S.law against the practice of polygamy. In October of 1885 word was received by Winslow Jr., while working at the Z.C.M.I. Co-op store, that the Federal Marshal's were on their way to arrest him. He made his escape by being nailed inside of a wooden box, which was carried away by team and wagon.

Winslow Jr. fled with his third wife Matilda, and their children to southern Utah. In 1887 Winslow Jr. spent time with the Navajo Indians, where he preached to them about the principles of the gospel and introduced them to the Book of Mormon. He told them that the Book of Mormon was a record of their forefathers that once lived in this land.

The Navajo understood his plight and offered to help him hide from the Federal authorities. The Indians invited him to stay with them; however, he moved on to Colorado. After two years of self imposed exile in San Juan, Utah and Cortez Co., Winslow Jr. returned to Ogden, Utah in November of 1887 to surrender to the Federal authorities. He was released on bond and stood trial on May 27, 1888.

The Trial: The Ogden Standard Examiner Newspaper Article.
Sunday Morning, May 27, 1888
The case of the United States vs. Winslow Farr, unlawful cohabitation was called. Kimball & White and N. Tanner, Jr. appeared for the defense.
After calling some twenty jurors the following were impaneled:
John O. Thomas
Charles Jay
A.F. Danielson
Geo White
Albert Herrck
Peter Christiansen,
James Brown,
James Iverson,
W. T. Washburn,
Francis Oliver,
Joseph B. Sewell and
Frank A. Benedict.
Mrs. Emily Jane Farr was the first witness. She had been married to defendant twenty-nine years; knew Susan Farr, but not prior to 1883. She claimed the privilege of exemption from testifying, as she was the legal wife. She was excused.
Mrs. Susan Melvina Bingham was called. She was married to the defendant fifteen years ago; defendant had visited her occasionally during 1883; had several children who bore his name. The youngest was 3 years old; he had not held her out as wife for several years.
The prosecution rested.
The defense did not introduce any testimony.
The case was submitted without argument.
The court charged the jury and they retired, making two juries in consultation, one on adultery and the other on unlawful cohabitation.
After an absence of ten minutes the jury in the Farr case returned and rendered a verdict of guilty. Time for sentence was waived and defendant was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and to pay a fine of $300 and costs."
Winslow Jr. was convicted of unlawful cohabitation and was sentenced to six months in the Utah Territorial Penitentiary with a fine of $300.00.
While he was in the penitentiary he studied bookkeeping and the Spanish language. He also worked outside, as a trustee, on the prison farm. While incarcerated, he made sixteen (16) fancy wool mats, one each for his three wives, with their initial woven into the center. He made ten (10) canes out of little oaks that grew around the penitentiary. He gave them to his fellow inmates, including one cane to George Q. Cannon. When released from prison on November 24, 1888, the Ogden Third Ward gave him a grand reception and welcome home party.
Winslow with his wives Melvina and Matilda and their children left Ogden in 1890 and journeyed with other Mormon families to establish farms in Mexico. Subsequent return trips to Ogden were made easier and affordable when his brother Lorin provided a railroad pass.
In 1897 Winslow Jr. was called in a letter from the first presidency, to locate permanently in Mexico. Before departing Ogden for Mexico, he deeded his interest in the homestead to his wife Emily Jane.
Winslow Jr., located in Colonia Dublan, Mexico, where he was called and presided as Bishop of the Dublan Ward, Juarez Stake from 1889 to 1899. On January 10, 1899, Winslow married his fourth wife, Sarah Mitchell Graham in Colonia Dublan, Mexico. He was released as bishop in September of 1899 and soon after was ordained a patriarch.
Winslow Jr., made a number of round trip journeys between Ogden and Mexico. He spent most of his time in Mexico; however, he made return trips to Ogden which lasted anywhere from a few months up to a year.
Winslow Jr., and all of his wives were in Utah in the spring and summer of 1903. In April 1903, Winslow's second wife Melvina, with her two youngest sons, returned by train to Dublan, Mexico. When Melvina took sick she was taken to the hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she died on November 6, 1903 from a ruptured intestine. She was buried in Colonia Dublan, Mexico. Winslow Jr., accompanied by his son, Joseph, returned to Mexico in November of 1903. Winlsow's fourth wife, Sarah, accompanied by Winslow's brother, Lorin Farr, returned to Dublan, Mexico in December 1903. Winslow remained in Mexico until July of 1906, when he made his final return trip, by train to Utah, where he resided until his death.
Between 1906 and 1913, Winslow Jr. resided with his fourth wife Sarah in Salt Lake City. On occasion he traveled by the Bamberger rail line to visit Matilda and her children in Ogden and by horse and buggy to visit Emily Jane and her family on the farm in West Weber. Winslow Jr., his wife Sarah and his brother Lorin, spent many days working in the Salt Lake Temple.
Winslow Jr. was the father of thirty one children. Fourteen (14) with Emily Jane Covington Farr, eleven (11) with Susan Melvina Bingham, six (6) with Matilda Halverson and none by Sarah Mitchell Graham.
On February 2, 1913, Winslow Jr. suffered a stroke. Emily Jane and Winslow Jr.'s, four sons moved him from Salt Lake City to the Farr family homestead in West Weber (now known as Taylor, Utah). His sons, Lafayette, Lorin, Barnard and Aldebert took turns attending and sitting through the night with their father. Winslow Jr., died February 18, 1913. Internment was on February 19, 1913 in the Ogden City Cemetery, Weber Co., Utah.
Those who gave the eulogies at his funeral spoke of his honesty, integrity, fairness in business matters and his special ability as an interpreter and peacemaker between the Indians and the communities where he had lived.
His descendants admire his talent with the violin, his robust, strong pioneering spirit and his unwavering dedication to the principles of his religious beliefs.

"SOURCES"
1) Diaries - Winslow Farr Jr. (1869-1910)
2) WH & Edna Manning 1959 (Our Kin) Walton Printing, Barnwell, SC (Covington Family)
3) Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah 1898, Volume Three, George Q. Cannon Pub. and Sons, Salt Lake City, Utah
4) Treasures of Pioneer History by Kate B. Carter, Volume three, 1954.
5) Womens Voices by Kenneth W. Godfrey, Audrey M. Godfrey, Jill Mulvay Derr 1982 Published Deseret Book Co.
6) Ogden Standard Examiner - Newspaper articles 1) May 27, 1888 (Trial) 2) November 27, 1888 (Release)
7) Unpublished History - History of Robert D. Covington, Copied by B.Y.U. Library. Manuscript returned to Mrs. Marian C. Bradshaw of Orem, Utah
8) Brief History - Winslow Farr Jr. written by Evelyn Farr Mower
9) Interviews with grandchildren a) Mabel Farr Harris Decker - Daughter of Barnard & Susan Alvord Farr; b) Kenneth Alvord Farr - Son of Barnard & Susan Alvord Farr; c) Evelyn Farr Mower - Daughter of Lorin Freeman Farr & Sariah Buck Farr; d) Glen Farr - Son of Lafayette & Nancy Hipwell Farr

History of Binghamton Ward
By Edna Bingham Sabin

This is the history of the first branch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Binghamton.

My father Nephi Bingham, my mother Elizabeth Dalkin Bingham and six children; Rebecca, Mae, Clara, Glen, Floyd and myself, Edna; moved from Casa Grande, Arizona to Tucson in the spring of 1900.  Tucson wasn’t very large at that time.  It had one street called Congress Street, not paved, two grocery stores; Ivancovich, and Wheeler & Perry.  The dry goods stores were Rosy’s and La Bananza and there was a watering trough for the horses.

My father located a place called the Davidson Place north of the Rillito River that ran the year around.  We lived there until the fall of 1904 when we moved to a place south of the river called the Bayless Place, then it was known as the Bingham Place.  There was a wagon road leading from our home to Tucson, six miles away.  There was only one house between our house and town.  We called it the half way house.  All we could see was catclaw bushes, sage brush, and chaparral.  The ground was crawling with rattle snakes, Gila monsters, lizards, and tarantulas and we had to keep our eyes on the road to keep the horses from running away.  There weren’t many Mexicans living near Tucson.  My father had to hire Indians from an Indian village south of Tucson to help him harvest his crops, as he had land along the river six or seven miles from our home.

We had Mormon Church officials and missionaries visiting us often.  On Sept 9, 1909 my father and my two older sisters, Rebecca and Mae, went to Colonia Dublan, Mexico to visit his nieces and nephews who were the children of his sister, Melvina, and her husband Winslow Farr, who had died.  My two sisters stayed in Mexico to attend college nearby.  When my father returned from Mexico his nephew, Heber Farr, and his brother-in-law, Charles Hurst, came with him.  They looked over the Davidson Place and decided to move to Tucson if it was agreeable with the other ones in Mexico.  The families were agreeable and they all began to make their plans to move to Tucson and my father began to make plans to have plenty of food for them when they arrived.  My father’s youngest brother, Jacob Bingham, lived near us and he made plans along with us.  My father owned a dairy and had plenty of milk.  He butchered a pig and cured it.  We had turkeys, ducks, chickens and eggs, plenty of bottled fruit from our orchards, dried corn, beans, dill pickles, sauerkraut, pumpkins, five gallons of mincemeat, and a winter garden.  A few days before they arrived, my father killed a beef.  He would hang it outside at night in the cool air then take it down and wrap it in a sheet and canvas and lay it on a cement floor in the daytime to hold the cold in.  On December 15, 1909, in the afternoon, eight covered wagons came rolling out of the catclaw and chaparral bushed down the lane to our home.  It was a wonderful meeting to see them all for the first time.  They parked their wagons between our home and Uncle Jacob’s home.  Some of them were very sick when they arrived.  The sick and the old people slept in the two homes and the others slept in the covered wagons and they all ate their meals in the two homes and would come and go as they pleased in the daytime.

The people who came out of Mexico in the covered wagons at this time were the five Farr brothers; Heber, Joseph, Ernest, and their families, Wilford and Acel, not yet married.  The sisters were Edith Webb and Lindy Young and their families and Mamie Farr who was not married.  Some of the in-laws and their families also came.

There was a small wooden school house near-by where all the children attended school.  The men started building their little tent houses to use until they could build better ones.  Heber and Joe remodeled two adode houses on their land north of the river.  Most of the people lived on the south side of the river.  After they were settled in their homes, the land cleared of mesquite trees and their crops planted, they all decided to dig and build reservoirs to store the water from the river that ran the year round.  It supplied water for all the farms along the river. 

Plans had been made earlier with President Joseph E. Robinson, President of the California Mission, to visit with us.  On Saturday morning, May 21, 1910, Heber Farr and my father met the train from Salt Lake and California to get George Albert Smith and Joseph W. MacMurrins and President Joseph E. Robinson.  That afternoon my father, my mother, and my sister Clara, my two brothers Glen and Floyd, and myself were baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The following Sunday afternoon, May 22, 1910, the first Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was organized, in the shade at the east of our home.  The opening prayer was given by President Joseph E. Robinson.  The new branch was called Binghamton Branch, after my father.  There was already a little town in Arizona by the name of Bingham.  Heber Farr was ordained Branch President, Fredrick Granger Williams first counselor and Frank Webb second counselor.  We were all confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The sacrament was passed, talks were given, and the closing prayer was given by Joseph A. Farr.  Church services were held that summer under the shade trees by Heber and Joseph Farr’s homes. 

My father was county trustee of the Davidson school district.  He received permission to have a large school house built as more Saints and relatives were moving out of Mexico.  By September 1910, the school house was built and by adding the little school house to the south end of the new building there was room for a stage and two class rooms more.  My father got permission to hold church services in the school house.  At that time, the Sunday School was organized.  Joseph A. Farr was ordained Superintendent of Sunday School, Elmer Cardon as first assistant, J. Alma Young as second assistant, Ellen Bluth as secretary, and Clara Bingham as assistant secretary.  Heber O. Chlarson was set apart as ward clerk.  The next Sunday, the ladies Relief Society was organized with Elizabeth Farr as President and Mae Bingham and Lindy Young as her assistants and Hazel Williams as secretary.  Later, the Primary and Mutual was organized.

More and more people were moving out of Mexico but they settled near Jaynes Station by the railroad tracks.  They were clearing land for some company.  There was a school house there.  There were many young people living there in little tent houses and they would come to Binghampton to dances one Saturday night and we all went to Jaynes Station the next Saturday night.  Some of the young boys living in Binghampton worked for my father on the farm and milked cows.  My father furnished transportation for all of the young people in Binghampton to get to the dances.  He had a large wagon and a hay rack on it and two spans of mules.  The boys would fill the hay rack full of hay and stretch canvas over it and then some quilts.  My father gave the drivers a little bell and said “don’t whip the mules, just ring this bell and they will go fast enough.”  We had to make our own fun and enjoyment, and we sure did, going on picnics up Sabino Canyon and playing Run-Sheep-Run and Twos and Threes and attending Church services.

After the land was cleared at Jaynes Station most of the people moved to Binghampton.  Some went to Mesa, Arizona and some went to El Paso, Texas.

When the Mormons living out of Tucson heard that there was a branch of the Church near Tucson they came from Safford, Thatcher, Duncan, Pima, St. David, Douglas and Benson.  Gordon Kimball came from Safford to Tucson and worked in a bank.  Later, his brother Spencer W. Kimball (now our Prophet) came and attended the University of Arizona.  He drove a taxi to help pay his way through school.  The Saints living in Tucson came to Binghampton to attend Church services, dances, entertainments, and home talent plays.

Automobiles were being shipped by rail but the little dirt roads were still being used.  A few years went by, the Ft. Lowell Road was paved to Cambell, then south to Speedway.  The people living in Tucson and Binghampton when I was married in 1915 and left there were: Nephi Bingham and his family, the five Farr brothers Heber, Joseph, Earnest, Wilford, and Acel; the sisters were Edith Web and Lindy Young and Mamie and all their families (wives and husbands and children) and in-laws, Chlarsons, Clawsons, Browns, Bluths, Bilbees, Cardons (three families), Evans, Farnsworths, Lillywhites, Hardys, Dones, Obegs, Headers, Jespersons, Johnsons, Paynes, Nelsons, Roleys, Stocks, Jones, Merrits, Youngs (three families), Winns, LeBarons, some more Johnsons, Prices, Tompkins, Williams, Webbs, Wheelers, some more Binghams from Mexico, Butlers and all their families.

In 1928, the chapel was built on Ft. Lowell Road.  I visited over there very often.  The last time I was to Church there was in 1965 and it had been remodeled.  There are only three members now living in Binghampton that was present when the Church was organized.  They are my brother Floyd Bingham, Milda Farr Jones, and Thelma Young Golstine.

I have enjoyed writing this history, but I forgot one thing.  If Fred Sabin hadn’t come from St. David to Tucson my name would not be Edna Bingham Sabin.

Matilda HALVORSEN [scrapbook] was born on 4 Jul 1857 in Marriott, Weber, Utah Territory, United States. She died on 12 Oct 1934 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States. Matilda married Winslow FARR Jr on 12 Dec 1878 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory, United States.

Winslow FARR Jr [Parents] [scrapbook] was born ¹ on 11 May 1837 in East Charleston, Orleans, Vermont, United States. He died ² on 18 Feb 1913 in West Weber, Weber, Utah, United States. He was buried ³ on 20 Feb 1913 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States. Winslow married Sarah Ann MITCHELL on 10 Jan 1899 in Colonia Dublán, Chihuahua, Mexico.

Other marriages:

ROWLEY, Cornelia Charlotte
COVINGTON, Emily Jane
BINGHAM, Susan Melvina
HALVORSEN, Matilda

LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 4, p.499 Farr, Winslow, Bishop of the Dublan Ward, Juarez Stake, Mexico, from 1889 to 1899, was born May 11, 1837, in Charleston, Vermont, a son of Winslow Farr and Olive Hovey Freeman. He was baptized in 1845 in Nauvoo, Illinois, came to Utah in 1847, filled a mission to England in 1868-1870, was ordained a High Priest April 19, 1871, by Wilford Woodruff, and a Bishop May 28, 1877, by John Taylor, and presided over the Ogden 3rd Ward, Utah. He died Jan. 5, 1914.

Biographical Sketch of Winslow Farr Jr.
By Wilma S. Smith and Randall A. Smith
Winslow Farr, Jr., was born May 11, 1837, at Charleston, Orleans Co., Vermont. Winslow Jr., was the youngest and smallest at birth of the six children who were born to Winslow Farr, Sr., and Olive Hovey Freeman. He was born 10 years after the birth of the youngest of the five older children. Family tradition states at birth his mother's wedding ring would slide completely over his hand. When fully grown he was the tallest and largest of his family, reaching the height of 6 feet 4 inches.

The Farr family, who joined the church May 19, 1832, sold 2,000 acres they owned in September of 1837 and moved to Kirtland, Ohio. In 1838 Winslow Jr. was blessed by the prophet Joseph Smith. In the spring of 1840 the family moved on to Far West, Missouri. When persecutions drove the Mormons from Missouri, the Farr family joined the Saints in establishing the City of Nauvoo, Illinois, where Winslow Sr. built a comfortable home for his family.

Winslow Jr., was baptized by his father Winslow Sr., on his eighth birthday, May 11, 1845. With persecutions mounting, the Saints were once again forced to flee their substantial homes in "Nauvoo the Beautiful".

In June of 1846 the Farr family crossed the Mississippi River and joined hundreds of additional families journeying by wagon train across the state of Iowa.

By the summer of 1847 the Farr's were situated across the Missouri River in the settlement of Winter Quarters, which is known today as Florence, Nebraska. President Brigham Young instructed the Brethren in how to organize companies for emigration to the Great Salt Lake Valley. Winslow Farr, Sr., served on a mission to the eastern states from 1847 to 1849. The Farr family spent their time in Winter Quarters awaiting his return.

June 15, 1850 an emigrating company of 100 was organized on the Missouri, near Council Bluffs of which Joseph Young was appointed president, Winslow Farr Counselor, William Snow Captain, and Gardiner Snow captains of 50. The Winslow Farr Sr. family traveled with the Gardiner Snow Company. Thirteen year old Winslow Jr., walking barefoot, at times wrapping his feet in burlap, helped drive one of their team of oxen across the plains. The Gardiner Snow Co., arrived in Salt Lake Valley in September 30, 1850.

Winslow Sr., eventually moved his family to the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Winslow Jr., helped his father clear the land and plant the farm. The first pair of shoes ever worn by Winslow Jr., were crafted in Salt Lake City out of rawhide. His mother made him a "best" pair of pants out of a piece of carpet.

In 1857, 20 year old Winslow Jr., was selected as a Captain in the Mormon Militia, who called themselves "The Nauvoo Legion". The Militia had been organized to resist the U.S. Army troops headed by General Albert Johnston, who were rumored to be on their way to the Salt Lake Valley to "kill all of the Mormons". After months of preparation and drilling by the militia and meetings held between the Mormon and government leaders, the U.S. Army entered peaceably into the Salt Lake Valley on the 26th of June 1858.

In September 1858 Winslow Jr., journeyed by team and wagon to southern Utah. On October 17, 1858, at 11:00 a.m. Winslow Jr., and Emily Jane Covington, daughter of Robert D. Covington and Elizabeth Thomas were married at Washington, Washington Co.,Utah.

In 1860 the young couple were called to help establish a new settlement in Northern Utah. March of 1861 found them living in a dugout home on a farm in Paradise, Cache Valley, Utah. Soon after their arrival Winslow Jr., was appointed to the fence and school house committees and on March 3, 1861, was elected town marshal and a Captain in the Minutemen Militia. Groups of men were assigned to work together in the fields and to stand as guard against depredations in the Valley from the Indians.

Winslow Jr., had a saying "I am not a musician, I just love to fiddle around". As recorded in his diary, he tells of playing the violin for parties, weddings, dramatic productions and dances as well as many other special occasions. In 1867, Winslow Jr. and Emily Jane sold their farm and moved to Ogden, Utah where their home was built on the corner of 20th and Washington Boulevard.

In 1868 Winslow Jr., was called on a mission to Great Britain. He left by mule train from Laramie, Wyoming where he embarked on a train for New York City and set sail on the steamer, France. He labored in the Liverpool conference under the direction of Moroni Ensign.

He was honorably released from his mission in July of 1870. Upon his return to New York City, he was appointed Captain under Karl G. Maeser, to bring Saints to Utah.

When he returned to Utah he went to work for the Z.C.M.I. Co-Op Store. In 1871 he was ordained a High Priest by President Wilford Woodruff.

On May 5, 1873, Winslow took a plural wife named Susan Melvina Bingham.
Winslow Jr., was called and set apart as Bishop of the Ogden 3rd Ward North Weber Stake on May 28, 1877, by Franklin D. Richards & President John Taylor.

Records reveal that in February 1881 Winslow Jr., obtained a patent for a home- stead for an 80 acre homestead in West Weber, Weber County, west of Ogden, Utah. Winslow Jr., and Emily Jane's sons Lafayette and Lorin cleared the land where they built a granary, followed by a new adobe home near the front of the property. Winslow Jr., moved Emily Jane and her children to this farm.

On December 12, 1878 Winslow Jr., took another plural wife, Matilda Halverson. Matilda lived in her own small home on Farr Avenue in Ogden.

In March of 1882, the U.S. Congress passed the Edmunds Tucker Act which strengthened the U.S.law against the practice of polygamy. In October of 1885 word was received by Winslow Jr., while working at the Z.C.M.I. Co-op store, that the Federal Marshal's were on their way to arrest him. He made his escape by being nailed inside of a wooden box, which was carried away by team and wagon.

Winslow Jr. fled with his third wife Matilda, and their children to southern Utah. In 1887 Winslow Jr. spent time with the Navajo Indians, where he preached to them about the principles of the gospel and introduced them to the Book of Mormon. He told them that the Book of Mormon was a record of their forefathers that once lived in this land.

The Navajo understood his plight and offered to help him hide from the Federal authorities. The Indians invited him to stay with them; however, he moved on to Colorado. After two years of self imposed exile in San Juan, Utah and Cortez Co., Winslow Jr. returned to Ogden, Utah in November of 1887 to surrender to the Federal authorities. He was released on bond and stood trial on May 27, 1888.

The Trial: The Ogden Standard Examiner Newspaper Article.
Sunday Morning, May 27, 1888
The case of the United States vs. Winslow Farr, unlawful cohabitation was called. Kimball & White and N. Tanner, Jr. appeared for the defense.
After calling some twenty jurors the following were impaneled:
John O. Thomas
Charles Jay
A.F. Danielson
Geo White
Albert Herrck
Peter Christiansen,
James Brown,
James Iverson,
W. T. Washburn,
Francis Oliver,
Joseph B. Sewell and
Frank A. Benedict.
Mrs. Emily Jane Farr was the first witness. She had been married to defendant twenty-nine years; knew Susan Farr, but not prior to 1883. She claimed the privilege of exemption from testifying, as she was the legal wife. She was excused.
Mrs. Susan Melvina Bingham was called. She was married to the defendant fifteen years ago; defendant had visited her occasionally during 1883; had several children who bore his name. The youngest was 3 years old; he had not held her out as wife for several years.
The prosecution rested.
The defense did not introduce any testimony.
The case was submitted without argument.
The court charged the jury and they retired, making two juries in consultation, one on adultery and the other on unlawful cohabitation.
After an absence of ten minutes the jury in the Farr case returned and rendered a verdict of guilty. Time for sentence was waived and defendant was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and to pay a fine of $300 and costs."
Winslow Jr. was convicted of unlawful cohabitation and was sentenced to six months in the Utah Territorial Penitentiary with a fine of $300.00.
While he was in the penitentiary he studied bookkeeping and the Spanish language. He also worked outside, as a trustee, on the prison farm. While incarcerated, he made sixteen (16) fancy wool mats, one each for his three wives, with their initial woven into the center. He made ten (10) canes out of little oaks that grew around the penitentiary. He gave them to his fellow inmates, including one cane to George Q. Cannon. When released from prison on November 24, 1888, the Ogden Third Ward gave him a grand reception and welcome home party.
Winslow with his wives Melvina and Matilda and their children left Ogden in 1890 and journeyed with other Mormon families to establish farms in Mexico. Subsequent return trips to Ogden were made easier and affordable when his brother Lorin provided a railroad pass.
In 1897 Winslow Jr. was called in a letter from the first presidency, to locate permanently in Mexico. Before departing Ogden for Mexico, he deeded his interest in the homestead to his wife Emily Jane.
Winslow Jr., located in Colonia Dublan, Mexico, where he was called and presided as Bishop of the Dublan Ward, Juarez Stake from 1889 to 1899. On January 10, 1899, Winslow married his fourth wife, Sarah Mitchell Graham in Colonia Dublan, Mexico. He was released as bishop in September of 1899 and soon after was ordained a patriarch.
Winslow Jr., made a number of round trip journeys between Ogden and Mexico. He spent most of his time in Mexico; however, he made return trips to Ogden which lasted anywhere from a few months up to a year.
Winslow Jr., and all of his wives were in Utah in the spring and summer of 1903. In April 1903, Winslow's second wife Melvina, with her two youngest sons, returned by train to Dublan, Mexico. When Melvina took sick she was taken to the hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she died on November 6, 1903 from a ruptured intestine. She was buried in Colonia Dublan, Mexico. Winslow Jr., accompanied by his son, Joseph, returned to Mexico in November of 1903. Winlsow's fourth wife, Sarah, accompanied by Winslow's brother, Lorin Farr, returned to Dublan, Mexico in December 1903. Winslow remained in Mexico until July of 1906, when he made his final return trip, by train to Utah, where he resided until his death.
Between 1906 and 1913, Winslow Jr. resided with his fourth wife Sarah in Salt Lake City. On occasion he traveled by the Bamberger rail line to visit Matilda and her children in Ogden and by horse and buggy to visit Emily Jane and her family on the farm in West Weber. Winslow Jr., his wife Sarah and his brother Lorin, spent many days working in the Salt Lake Temple.
Winslow Jr. was the father of thirty one children. Fourteen (14) with Emily Jane Covington Farr, eleven (11) with Susan Melvina Bingham, six (6) with Matilda Halverson and none by Sarah Mitchell Graham.
On February 2, 1913, Winslow Jr. suffered a stroke. Emily Jane and Winslow Jr.'s, four sons moved him from Salt Lake City to the Farr family homestead in West Weber (now known as Taylor, Utah). His sons, Lafayette, Lorin, Barnard and Aldebert took turns attending and sitting through the night with their father. Winslow Jr., died February 18, 1913. Internment was on February 19, 1913 in the Ogden City Cemetery, Weber Co., Utah.
Those who gave the eulogies at his funeral spoke of his honesty, integrity, fairness in business matters and his special ability as an interpreter and peacemaker between the Indians and the communities where he had lived.
His descendants admire his talent with the violin, his robust, strong pioneering spirit and his unwavering dedication to the principles of his religious beliefs.

"SOURCES"
1) Diaries - Winslow Farr Jr. (1869-1910)
2) WH & Edna Manning 1959 (Our Kin) Walton Printing, Barnwell, SC (Covington Family)
3) Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah 1898, Volume Three, George Q. Cannon Pub. and Sons, Salt Lake City, Utah
4) Treasures of Pioneer History by Kate B. Carter, Volume three, 1954.
5) Womens Voices by Kenneth W. Godfrey, Audrey M. Godfrey, Jill Mulvay Derr 1982 Published Deseret Book Co.
6) Ogden Standard Examiner - Newspaper articles 1) May 27, 1888 (Trial) 2) November 27, 1888 (Release)
7) Unpublished History - History of Robert D. Covington, Copied by B.Y.U. Library. Manuscript returned to Mrs. Marian C. Bradshaw of Orem, Utah
8) Brief History - Winslow Farr Jr. written by Evelyn Farr Mower
9) Interviews with grandchildren a) Mabel Farr Harris Decker - Daughter of Barnard & Susan Alvord Farr; b) Kenneth Alvord Farr - Son of Barnard & Susan Alvord Farr; c) Evelyn Farr Mower - Daughter of Lorin Freeman Farr & Sariah Buck Farr; d) Glen Farr - Son of Lafayette & Nancy Hipwell Farr

History of Binghamton Ward
By Edna Bingham Sabin

This is the history of the first branch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Binghamton.

My father Nephi Bingham, my mother Elizabeth Dalkin Bingham and six children; Rebecca, Mae, Clara, Glen, Floyd and myself, Edna; moved from Casa Grande, Arizona to Tucson in the spring of 1900.  Tucson wasn’t very large at that time.  It had one street called Congress Street, not paved, two grocery stores; Ivancovich, and Wheeler & Perry.  The dry goods stores were Rosy’s and La Bananza and there was a watering trough for the horses.

My father located a place called the Davidson Place north of the Rillito River that ran the year around.  We lived there until the fall of 1904 when we moved to a place south of the river called the Bayless Place, then it was known as the Bingham Place.  There was a wagon road leading from our home to Tucson, six miles away.  There was only one house between our house and town.  We called it the half way house.  All we could see was catclaw bushes, sage brush, and chaparral.  The ground was crawling with rattle snakes, Gila monsters, lizards, and tarantulas and we had to keep our eyes on the road to keep the horses from running away.  There weren’t many Mexicans living near Tucson.  My father had to hire Indians from an Indian village south of Tucson to help him harvest his crops, as he had land along the river six or seven miles from our home.

We had Mormon Church officials and missionaries visiting us often.  On Sept 9, 1909 my father and my two older sisters, Rebecca and Mae, went to Colonia Dublan, Mexico to visit his nieces and nephews who were the children of his sister, Melvina, and her husband Winslow Farr, who had died.  My two sisters stayed in Mexico to attend college nearby.  When my father returned from Mexico his nephew, Heber Farr, and his brother-in-law, Charles Hurst, came with him.  They looked over the Davidson Place and decided to move to Tucson if it was agreeable with the other ones in Mexico.  The families were agreeable and they all began to make their plans to move to Tucson and my father began to make plans to have plenty of food for them when they arrived.  My father’s youngest brother, Jacob Bingham, lived near us and he made plans along with us.  My father owned a dairy and had plenty of milk.  He butchered a pig and cured it.  We had turkeys, ducks, chickens and eggs, plenty of bottled fruit from our orchards, dried corn, beans, dill pickles, sauerkraut, pumpkins, five gallons of mincemeat, and a winter garden.  A few days before they arrived, my father killed a beef.  He would hang it outside at night in the cool air then take it down and wrap it in a sheet and canvas and lay it on a cement floor in the daytime to hold the cold in.  On December 15, 1909, in the afternoon, eight covered wagons came rolling out of the catclaw and chaparral bushed down the lane to our home.  It was a wonderful meeting to see them all for the first time.  They parked their wagons between our home and Uncle Jacob’s home.  Some of them were very sick when they arrived.  The sick and the old people slept in the two homes and the others slept in the covered wagons and they all ate their meals in the two homes and would come and go as they pleased in the daytime.

The people who came out of Mexico in the covered wagons at this time were the five Farr brothers; Heber, Joseph, Ernest, and their families, Wilford and Acel, not yet married.  The sisters were Edith Webb and Lindy Young and their families and Mamie Farr who was not married.  Some of the in-laws and their families also came.

There was a small wooden school house near-by where all the children attended school.  The men started building their little tent houses to use until they could build better ones.  Heber and Joe remodeled two adode houses on their land north of the river.  Most of the people lived on the south side of the river.  After they were settled in their homes, the land cleared of mesquite trees and their crops planted, they all decided to dig and build reservoirs to store the water from the river that ran the year round.  It supplied water for all the farms along the river. 

Plans had been made earlier with President Joseph E. Robinson, President of the California Mission, to visit with us.  On Saturday morning, May 21, 1910, Heber Farr and my father met the train from Salt Lake and California to get George Albert Smith and Joseph W. MacMurrins and President Joseph E. Robinson.  That afternoon my father, my mother, and my sister Clara, my two brothers Glen and Floyd, and myself were baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The following Sunday afternoon, May 22, 1910, the first Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was organized, in the shade at the east of our home.  The opening prayer was given by President Joseph E. Robinson.  The new branch was called Binghamton Branch, after my father.  There was already a little town in Arizona by the name of Bingham.  Heber Farr was ordained Branch President, Fredrick Granger Williams first counselor and Frank Webb second counselor.  We were all confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The sacrament was passed, talks were given, and the closing prayer was given by Joseph A. Farr.  Church services were held that summer under the shade trees by Heber and Joseph Farr’s homes. 

My father was county trustee of the Davidson school district.  He received permission to have a large school house built as more Saints and relatives were moving out of Mexico.  By September 1910, the school house was built and by adding the little school house to the south end of the new building there was room for a stage and two class rooms more.  My father got permission to hold church services in the school house.  At that time, the Sunday School was organized.  Joseph A. Farr was ordained Superintendent of Sunday School, Elmer Cardon as first assistant, J. Alma Young as second assistant, Ellen Bluth as secretary, and Clara Bingham as assistant secretary.  Heber O. Chlarson was set apart as ward clerk.  The next Sunday, the ladies Relief Society was organized with Elizabeth Farr as President and Mae Bingham and Lindy Young as her assistants and Hazel Williams as secretary.  Later, the Primary and Mutual was organized.

More and more people were moving out of Mexico but they settled near Jaynes Station by the railroad tracks.  They were clearing land for some company.  There was a school house there.  There were many young people living there in little tent houses and they would come to Binghampton to dances one Saturday night and we all went to Jaynes Station the next Saturday night.  Some of the young boys living in Binghampton worked for my father on the farm and milked cows.  My father furnished transportation for all of the young people in Binghampton to get to the dances.  He had a large wagon and a hay rack on it and two spans of mules.  The boys would fill the hay rack full of hay and stretch canvas over it and then some quilts.  My father gave the drivers a little bell and said “don’t whip the mules, just ring this bell and they will go fast enough.”  We had to make our own fun and enjoyment, and we sure did, going on picnics up Sabino Canyon and playing Run-Sheep-Run and Twos and Threes and attending Church services.

After the land was cleared at Jaynes Station most of the people moved to Binghampton.  Some went to Mesa, Arizona and some went to El Paso, Texas.

When the Mormons living out of Tucson heard that there was a branch of the Church near Tucson they came from Safford, Thatcher, Duncan, Pima, St. David, Douglas and Benson.  Gordon Kimball came from Safford to Tucson and worked in a bank.  Later, his brother Spencer W. Kimball (now our Prophet) came and attended the University of Arizona.  He drove a taxi to help pay his way through school.  The Saints living in Tucson came to Binghampton to attend Church services, dances, entertainments, and home talent plays.

Automobiles were being shipped by rail but the little dirt roads were still being used.  A few years went by, the Ft. Lowell Road was paved to Cambell, then south to Speedway.  The people living in Tucson and Binghampton when I was married in 1915 and left there were: Nephi Bingham and his family, the five Farr brothers Heber, Joseph, Earnest, Wilford, and Acel; the sisters were Edith Web and Lindy Young and Mamie and all their families (wives and husbands and children) and in-laws, Chlarsons, Clawsons, Browns, Bluths, Bilbees, Cardons (three families), Evans, Farnsworths, Lillywhites, Hardys, Dones, Obegs, Headers, Jespersons, Johnsons, Paynes, Nelsons, Roleys, Stocks, Jones, Merrits, Youngs (three families), Winns, LeBarons, some more Johnsons, Prices, Tompkins, Williams, Webbs, Wheelers, some more Binghams from Mexico, Butlers and all their families.

In 1928, the chapel was built on Ft. Lowell Road.  I visited over there very often.  The last time I was to Church there was in 1965 and it had been remodeled.  There are only three members now living in Binghampton that was present when the Church was organized.  They are my brother Floyd Bingham, Milda Farr Jones, and Thelma Young Golstine.

I have enjoyed writing this history, but I forgot one thing.  If Fred Sabin hadn’t come from St. David to Tucson my name would not be Edna Bingham Sabin.

Sarah Ann MITCHELL [scrapbook] was born on 31 Mar 1851 in Saint Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States. She died on 6 Dec 1928 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. She was buried on 11 Dec 1928 in Wasatch Lawn Cemetary, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah. Sarah married Winslow FARR Jr on 10 Jan 1899 in Colonia Dublán, Chihuahua, Mexico.

Other marriages:

GRAHAM, Joseph Leyland

Was first married to Joseph Graham.

William BALLANTYNE [Parents] was christened on 3 Feb 1712 in Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland, United Kingdom. William married Margaret RENWICK about 1742.

Margaret RENWICK [Parents] ¹ was born about 1719 in of Hawick, Roxburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. Margaret married William BALLANTYNE about 1742.