Daniel Hendrix By Mrs. Laura Gubler Hendrix

Daniel Hendrix By Mrs. Laura Gubler Hendrix

Daniel Hendrix was born 6 Aug. 1801 in Great Barrington, Berkshire County, Mass. His father was also named Daniel and his mother was Lydia Phelps who was born in West Stockbridge near Great Barrington. His descendants have wondered if he were an only child, but research in the St. George Temple files of work done by Lucy Allen Hendrix, his fourth wife, reveals that he came from a family of at least eight children as follows:

Electa 14 Feb 1789 - 16 Mar 1816

Harriet 17 Apr 1791 - 14 Feb 1826

Martin 7 Mar 1793 - 13 Dec 1844

Asa 3 Mar 1795 - 26 Oct 1822

Lydia 11 Jan 1797 - 14 Feb 1826

Polly 22 Oct 1799 - 2 Jan 1826

Daniel 6 Aug 1801 - 6 Jun 1876

George B 26 Jul 1803 - 18 Mar 1828

As can be seen, most of Daniel's brothers and sisters died at an early age with the exception of his brother Martin.

So far no one has been able to trace Daniel's father Daniel back another generation, but temple work for a sister Charlotte has been found in the St. George Temple which may sometime help to identify his family group.

Daniel married Patsey Page in 1831 Four years later on 29 Mar 1835 she died at the age of 26 just 3 days after her 3-year-old son George Pitkin had died.

On 3 Dec 1835 he married Louisa Maria Lester. This marriage is found recorded in the parish records of Great Barrington (on film in the genealogical library).

The next recorded event is when they joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Daniel was baptized on 4 May 1 841 by Elder James Burnham. Three months later he was ordained a teacher at a Church conference assembled at West Stockbridge, Mass. on 13 June 1841. He was now 40 years of age, and the certificate of this memorable event is signed by Daniel Spencer and states that Daniel is of good character.

Daniel and his wife migrated to Nauvoo, Illinois the following year. They received their endowments in the Nauvoo Temple on 12 Jan 1846. He was ordained a High Priest in the Nauvoo Temple on 17 Jan 1846. He and Lousia were sealed there on 6 Feb of that same year. Worthy members had begun receiving their blessings there on 10 Dec 1845. Day and night they paused in their feverish preparations for the trek west to come to the almost completed temple. Temple ordinances closed 7 Feb 1846, and President Brigham Young quietly dedicated it on 8 Feb 1846. It was again dedicated on 30 Apr 1846. Meanwhile Nauvoo was becoming deserted. The first wagons crossed the river on 4 Feb 1846. (Improvement Era, Nov. 1963) Daniel, in company with the 12 apostles and many others, now went to Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Five months later, 12 July 1846, his wife Louisa gave birth to a baby girl, Mary Louisa. They had been married almost 11 years, and this seems to be their first child. Tragedy again came into Daniel's life when Louisa died on 25 July 1846, just 13 days after the baby was born, and the baby died on 15 Aug 1846.

In a patriarchal blessing given to Louisa Lester by Patriarch Hyrum Smith on 23 Apr 1844, she was told that her name would be "remembered and perpetuated from generation to generation." Beginning with Daniel's first son we find that the name "Lester" has been given, and it is still a favored name in the Hendrix families. This at least partly seems to fulfill that promise made to Louisa although she wasn't permitted to live to have a large posterity of her own. The family has always claimed that though Daniel had 4 wives he was not a polygamist; so apparently he married his third wife, Carolina Lovina Orcutt the fall of 1846 after the death of his wife Louisa. Carolina had received her endowments on 7 Feb 1846 previous to leaving Nauvoo. This was the last day that the temple was used before dedication. She died the following July, the same day that a baby son was born (20 July 1847), and the child, William, also died the same day.

On 9 Apr 1849, Daniel, who was almost 47 years old and without a family, married Lucy Allen. She was 37 years of age and had previously been married to a Foote and had one child, which apparently she had lost. She was an early convert to the Church having been baptized 2 Nov 1834.

They must have started west soon after their marriage as we find that he came to Utah in 1848. According to a D.U.P. record they left Winter Quarters, Nebraska on 26 May 1848. The Journal History which is a day-by-day account of the activities of the Church, tells that the emigration of 1848 was divided into 3 divisions directly under the First Presidency of the Church. The first division was under President Brigham Young, the second under Heber C. Kimball, and the third under Willard Richards. The divisions were then divided into companies. Daniel Hendrix was in the second company of the first division, sometimes called Brigham Young's Company. Daniel was a Captain of 10. Brigham Young was the General Superintendent, and Daniel H. Wells his aide-de-camp. This company left Elkhorn River on 1 Jun 1848. (Journal History 16 June 1868).

We find that in this division there were: 1229 souls, 397 wagons, 74 horses, 19 mules, 1275 oxen, 699 cows, 184 loose cattle, 44 sheep, 141 pigs, 605 chickens, 37 cats, 82 dogs, 3 goats, 10 geese, 2 hives of bees, 8 doves, I crow. They arrived 20 Sep 1848 and a few days thereafter.

Daniel kept a journal of this journey. The first entry is 1 June 1848 at Elkhorn, Nebraska, and the last entry is 20 Sep 1848, when he arrived in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. He told how they camped by streams to let the women wash clothes and to let the animals feed and drink.

Daniel and Lucy had their first child, Emeranda, on 8 May 1849. Daniel at last was to be blessed with and to enjoy a little family. His and Lucy's marriage seems to have been one of "happy and congenial companionship.'

Daniel, like many converts of the Church, was a man of considerable means when he arrived in the valley. Here, at the age of 49 years, we find some interesting events in his life which classes him as one of the stalwart members of the Church.

Daniel was a prosperous farmer in the Salt Lake City area in 1850 when President Young called for volunteers to go to examine the country and to ascertain its possibilities for sustaining settlers. Lucy's nephew, Rufus Allen was among the group under the leadership of Parley P. Pratt. A notice was published in the Deseret News on 16 Nov 1850 giving the names of some chosen to go south to settle and asking for 100 volunteers. One place chosen was near what is now Parowan. Instructions were given as to what and how much they should take with them. The company was under the leadership of George. A few families had provided themselves with shelter other than a wagon box, willow shed, sod hut, or dugout.

On 31 Dec 1861 at a mass meeting Daniel Hendrix and Eli Whipple were among a small group chosen to draft a petition asking the State Legislature to grant a charter to the town of St. George. The charter was approved 17 Jan 1862, just 2 weeks later.

One letter from an eastern friend stated that Daniel worked in the U.S. treasury department for 1 2 years.

Other letters and old certificates indicated that he served a mission for the Church while in Nauvoo (1842 - 1846) and shows his close association with the Prophet Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.

Daniel died 6 June 1876 at the age of 75. His obituary in the Deseret News of 6 June 1876 was titled "A Veteran Gone" and states that he died a veteran of the Church (Journal History 7 June 1876).

His wife Lucy later went to live with her daughter Angenette who had become widowed. She made for herself a loving place in the hearts of her grand children, and after the St. George Temple was dedicated in 1877 she with her 2 sons and 2 daughters did a great deal of temple work for their kindred dead. It is through this work that we have been able to learn the names of her husband's brothers and sisters.

Lucy had received a patriarchal blessing from Patriarch Hyrum Smith on 29 Nov 1840. This was 8 years before she was married to Daniel, and she was apparently a widow at that time. He told her that the day would come when sorrow and tribulation would cease and that her heart would be cheered by a helpmate who was ordained before this earth life. He said that her years would be many and that her last days would be her best. She lived to realize these blessings, to enjoy and be blessed by her family.

She died on 23 Nov 1889, loved and mourned by all who knew her. (Our records show that she died on 23 Nov 1889, while an index card from the Logan Temple gives it as 18 Nov 1889)

We give thanks to those who have helped to preserve some of the material in old certificates and Lucy's letters or little would be known of their lives and families.

One letter written to Lucy after Daniel's death, in possession of Nan Lund, St. George, Utah, came from a cousin, Eliza Warren of Beloit, Rock County, Wisconsin. She said that her mother was Daniel's oldest sister and gave the names of several other children, which has helped to identify his family.

To date, this is all we have learned of two faithful souls who came among the first pioneers to settle and build for those who would come after them. Although they were comparatively late in life getting a family, they have left a large posterity to enjoy the fruits of their labor and sacrifice.

We give thanks to Emily Pearce (a grand daughter-in-law) who has helped us with information that she says she gleaned from "old letters and manuscripts in possession of the Keats, Lund, and Pearce families,' and from a Dixie History called "Dixie Cotton Mission Arrivals' by James G. Bleak.

We have also used items from the Journal History of the Church and have located names and dates in the St. George Temple records and baptisms for the dead, endowments, and sealings.

Daniel's marriage to Louise Lester was found in Berkshire, Mass records of marriages

Quotes have been made from Patriarchal Blessings given to Daniel, Lucy, and Louisa Lester, all given by Patriarch Hyrum Smith. These blessings are (transcribed from) the originals which had been handed down through a son, Edmund (Allen) to Ervin L. Hendrix. Copies of these blessings are in the possession of Mrs. Leland Hendrix, Orem, Utah.

Thanks also goes to all who have helped with pictures of the Daniel Hendrix family, and we hope that these pictures will help us to feel closer to our first grandparents in the gospel.

*Daniel was ordained an Elder in the Church in May 1845 by Willard Richards.

Transcribed from "The History of West Stockbridge", page 69