History of Albert DeLong

History of Albert DeLong

HISTORY OF ALBERT DELONG

1841 - 1910

Albert DeLong was born in Sharon, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. He was a son of Ralph and Amanda Pitt DeLong. They emigrated to Nauvoo, Illinois with their five children, Edgar Pitt, Henry, Amanda, Albert, and a baby. They were very poor and did not have much of the material goods to do with.

One day the father went into the woods and gathered what he thought were blueberries. The mother made a pudding or pie and they all ate very hearty. The berries proved to be a poison berry and caused all of them to be very sick. The father, mother and the baby died. Albert was then five years old. He was very ill with dysentery and just before the mother died she took little Albert before the fire and washed him. To Albert and the other children she said, "Children don't ever forsake the church." The children were taken in by families of Saints. William and Dicy Perkins took Albert.

The Perkins family emigrated to Utah in the summer of 1854. They were crossing the Mississippi River on a flat boat and Albert's hat blew off. That was a terrible calamity for the hat was a luxury and Albert was very proud of it. Of course he had to go bare headed and drive cows all the way across the plains without a hat. His early childhood was spent in Salt Lake City and he herded cows every summer in the company of William Ashley and other prominent early settlers. He was the only child of Dicy Perkins. She was a plural wife and was very fond of Albert and tried to keep him from knowing that he was not her own child.

The Perkins' were among the first to be called to settle the Saint George country. Here Albert spent his early youth doing all kinds of work to help make a living out of the sand and cactus.

Albert was in a barber shop for a shave one day and a man was sitting there reading the paper. The man said, "There is a man in Council Bluffs who is the exact image of you. His name is Henry DeLong." When Albert heard the name DeLong a strong feeling came over him and he seemed to know that he was on the right track of finding out who he was. He wrote to Henry DeLong in Council Bluffs and found out he was his brother. He also found the location of his other brother and his sister Amanda.

Albert then returned to Salt Lake City and made heroic efforts to be known as Albert DeLong instead of Albert Perkins. He refused to answer or receive mail addressed to the latter. While at Salt Lake he succeeded in obtaining the necessary equipment (mules and wagons) to join a company freighting from Salt Lake City to the Missouri River.

In the latter part of December 1860 he returned to Saint George to see his foster parents and his sweetheart, Elizabeth Houston. He and Elizabeth were married by Erastus Snow January 1, 1866 and returned to Salt Lake where he continued freighting. Their first daughter was born July 19, 1868. She was named Margaret Amanda in honor of her maternal and paternal grandmothers.

In the spring of 1870, having saved $500.00, Albert decided to increase his business. He took his wife and baby and went on a visit to Saint George. While there he bought a span of mules with his savings. On their return trip, while visiting relatives in Kanarra, the Indians made a raid and drove off his mules. This left him stranded with no way of making a living. They fixed up a shelter and set up housekeeping to welcome their second daughter, Kate, who was born July 21, 1870.

In the spring of 1871 the family joined a company of Saints, led by George Sevy and proceeded over the mountain trails to Panguitch. They lived in the fort for a few weeks until Albert could drag timber from a nearby forest and erect a crude cabin. They were the first family to move out of the fort.

In the summer of 1880, after a very hard winter, the family moved to Escalante, built a cabin and expected to stay there. However, the horses and cows started back to Panguitch, the children cried to go home, and quoting Mr. Delong, "Even the dog left." So they returned to Panguitch having been away for five months. At Panguitch the following children were born to them: Ralph, Dicy, Elizabeth, Albert, James H., Mary Dempster, Gladys, and Winnie Belle.

It can truly be said of Albert Delong that he built bridges, killed snakes and was in every respect a pioneer. While working in a saw mill on the Mammoth he injured his knee and was lame afterwards., He was very patriotic and his creed was, "A fair deal for everyone." He was naturally of an optimistic disposition and could always see the funny side of the question.

During the summer of 1885 while the family were dairying at the Mammoth Ranch, Mary Dempster drowned at the age of fifteen months. Dicy and three of her children were burned to death Feb. 14, 1910 in Lovel, Wyoming. Albert died of cancer on August 9, 1910. Margaret Amanda (wife of George E. LeFevere) died in March 1922. Elizabeth, (wife of Loran Savage) died in September 1931. Albert's wife Elizabeth died in 1933.

Albert's daughter Kate, states that in looking back the most pleasant memories she has of her father are when the children gathered around his chair. He would hold the baby on his knee while he sang old songs. "Nellie Gray", "Massa's in the Cold, Cold Ground", "Du-Daw-Day", "Dixie", and many other old-time melodies were among his favorites.

Written by Gladys Delong Banks, Daughter; and Madge LeFevere Carter, Granddaughter