History of FRANCIS TUFT WHITNEY

History of FRANCIS TUFT WHITNEY

FRANCIS TUFT WHITNEY

March 24, 1805–April 6, 1883

Note: A sketch of the life of Francis Tuft Whitney as complied by his great-granddaughter Ilene Hanks Kingsbury with the aid of his son New Samuel Whitney and several of his grandchildren, including Mable Whitney Hanks, Jane Whitney Adams, and Samuel James Whitney. Other sources of information are noted herein.

Francis Tuft Whitney, son of Joseph Whitney and Rebecca Stinchfield, was born March 24, 1805 in Massachusetts. His grandparents lived in New Meadows, Brunswick, and Lisbon, Maine. His parents settled in Phillis, Maine. In 1816 they, with their eleven children, moved to Ohio where they were among the earliest settlers of Shelby County. Francis was eleven years of age when they left New England, where the family had been for five generations; having come to the New World in June 1635. After going to Ohio his parents had three more children: Samuel, Rebecca, and Joseph G. Whitney.

Francis was a descendant of some of the earliest colonists in the New World. His grandfather Benjamin served in the Revolutionary war. During his lifetime Francis was destined to make his home and help build settlements on the frontiers from Massachusetts, Maine, Ohio, California, and Utah.

Little is known of his youth after arriving in Spears Landing, Shelby County, Ohio, but let us suppose the lives of the people from 1816 to 1850 were similar to all Midwestern settlers when Chicago had a population of less than 5,000 people and was called “far out west”. On February 17, 1827, at the age of twenty two years, Francis married Abagail Blanchard. She was born June 11, 1808. To this union were born ten children: Alvah, Christina, Rizpah, Araminto, Ernestine, Stephen, Oscar, Francis M., Abagail, and Sarah P. Whitney.

You will note that Francis was born in the same year as the Prophet Joseph Smith. When the gospel was being preached in Ohio between 1832 and 1846 Francis heard it, and joined the church. His wife, his sons and daughters, and his friends all protested , but to no avail. And it was with grief that he left them all and joined the hated Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois and later went to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Francis was somewhat of a poet, being called upon to write on all occasions. On the occasion of departure from his home and family he wrote a poem, an acrostic telling of his grief and sorrow. (See Appendix #1) So great was the hatred of those he left behind that he was warned never to return. Attached hereto (Appendix #2) is a letter he received from his brother-in-law which shows these feelings. Francis left his family and home on the morning of July 18, 1845. (See Appendix #3 for additional poems)

Early in 1846 the hostilities with Mexico (over the annexation of Texas and other differences) became such a conflict that the U.S. Government under President Polk called upon the people of the United States for 50,000 volunteers and the sum of ten million dollars for war purposes. Shortly before these events, and immediately prior to the beginning of the Mormon exodus from Illinois, an agent of the Latter-day Saints, acting under instructions from Brigham Young, who 2had succeeded Joseph Smith at the head of the Mormon community, went to the City of Washington to solicit government aid for his people. No gift of money or of other means was asked–only employment in freighting provisions and naval stores to Oregon or other points on the Pacific. President Polk received the agent of the Mormons kindly and promised to do what he could for the homeless people. Just at this juncture the news reached Washington that General Taylor had fought two battles with the Mexicans, and these tidings determined the President upon taking immediate possession of California and using some of the migrating Mormons as part of the force necessary for that purpose.

Thus in answer to the call of the government the Mormons who had fled from the mobs in Illinois and Missouri were enrolled in infantry service. The detachment was called the Mormon Battalion. The enrollment was completed on the sixteenth of July 1846 from Mt. Pisgah and Council Bluffs. Francis T. Whitney, then at the age of forty-one, was one of the volunteers.

Francis Tuft Whitney was a private in Company B under Captain Jesse D. Hunter. There were 90 men in Company B. On February 15, 1847 Company B was detached from the Battalion and directed (March 15, 1847) to march to the port of San Diego to perform garrison duty at that place. The other companies (A, C, D, and E) went to Los Angeles.

The Monument to the Mormon Battalion on the Utah State Capitol grounds, depicting so admirable the spirit of the members, bears the name of Francis Tuft Whitney, Private, Company B under Captain Jesse D. Hunter. (See photo on the CD)

During the years 1847 and 1850 Francis lived in Salk Lake City earning a living at his trade of black smithing. Later he taught this trade to his four sons and they in turn taught it to their sons. Sometime between the years 1848 and 1850 he met and wed Clarissa Alger, daughter of Samuel and Clarissa Hancock Alger. She was born June 2, 1830 in the East. At the time of their marriage she was twenty-five years his junior. This couple are known as original pioneers of Utah, having arrived before the advent of the railroad, which was May 12, 1869. Francis arrived October 16, 1847 and Clarissa arrived September 22, 1848.

In December 1850, George A. Smith led about 30 families from Salt Lake Valley to southern Utah for the purpose of establishing a settlement. Francis T. Whitney and his bride of a year were in the company. The place they journeyed to was called Center Creek, and then later became known as Parowan, an Indian name Pah-oan meaning yellow water or Little Salt Lake. Parowan was begun as a farming district to provide for those who might be employed in the Cedar Iron Works, then in prospect. A fort was built, land enclosed, canals constructed, and harvests sown. The company of Pioneers arrived at the proposed site of the new settlement January 13, 1851 after many weeks of travel in ox-drawn wagons over trackless wastes in the dead of winter.

The pioneer company left Salt Lake early in December 1850, and from the historical journal I quote under date of December 25, 1850, Christmas Day. “The camp crossed the Sevier River; they found the banks slippery and bad, considerable ice on the edges of the river. Having reached the other side they traveled about one mile and camped. The thermometer fell to 16 degrees below zero.” On page 37 for Saturday, March 1, 1851 it reads, “New Samuel Whitney, a son of Francis and Clarissa Whitney, was born in the camp, he being the first white child born in Iron County.”

Thus is recorded that on March 1, 1851, six weeks after arriving at their destination, Clarissa Alger Whitney gave birth to her first child, a son, whom they christened New Samuel Whitney. He was called “New” all his life because of the fact that he was the first white child born in Iron County. I have often heard him say that his place of birth was in a wagon box, covered with ice and snow. No cabins had been built and no accommodations or comforts were available to the little Pioneer Mother. This same wagon box was soon hewn into a coffin for a woman who died very shortly afterward and it became her last resting place. Thus, life and death walked hand in hand with adventure.

Francis and Clarissa became active in the life of Parowan in religious and civic duties. For several years he was Superintendent of the Sunday School there. Francis’ poetical ability was used on all occasions. Under date of July 24, 1851, Thursday (Pioneer Day) we learn that a celebration was given in memory of Pioneer Day with a procession, program, etc., and a comic song was given by Francis T. Whitney.

June 12, 1852: Francis T. Whitney visited the Upper Sevier Valley with 6 others to explore the region for possible settlements. They talked with the Indians, were gone 12 days, and traveled 336 miles.

May 1854: Census of city of Parowan page 105

#325 Francis T. Whitney - High Priest - age 49 - one house

326 Clarissa Whitney 24

327 New Samuel Whitney 3

328 Eli Alger Whitney 1 ½

329 Abi Clarissa Whitney ½

This couple became the parents of five children. Four of these grew to honorable manhood, each of whom was a credit to their Puritan-Pioneer ancestry. Their third child, a daughter named Abi Clarissa, died at the age of three months. The names of the four sons are: New Samuel (March 1, 1851), Ira Blanchard (December 6, 1856), Job Hall (April 20, 1855), and Eli Alger (November 22, 1852).

Page 122 of the Parowan History: Monday, May 14, 1855. Mr F. T. Whitney of Parowan, is manufacturing a very good article of nails; the cutting machine was got up under the supervision of Hon. C. C. Pedleton, and the header was constructed by Mr. Whitney, who is an ingenious mechanic. The work is principally done by Piede workmen, under his supervision.

Page 128 of the Parowan History: Tuesday, December 30, 1855. Francis T. Whitney raised on a garden spot measuring 144 x 82 ½ feet the following: 1200 lbs. fodder, 2000 lbs. squash, 1600 lbs. pumpkins, 500 lbs. melons, 150 lbs. sweet corn, 44 lbs. beans and peas, 5 rows of potatoes, and 2 rows of broom corn.

An interesting member of the Whitney family was a Pay-eed Indian boy who was raised in the Whitney home from the age of seven years. The Pay-eed Indians had traded the boy and an Indian blanket to Brother Whitney for a horse. The boy was treated as a member of the family and taught the smithy trade. Brother Whitney made Joe Indian, for that was what they called him, a dirk or dagger of which he grew very fond. One day the four Whitney boys and Joe Indian

were playing together when the Indian became angry from being teased by the boys. He quickly drew his dirk on one of them, wounding him rather seriously. In fright they ran to their father. Francis reprimanded Joe Indian, took the dirk from him and broke it to bits with a blacksmith hammer. This beloved weapon, now broken, symbolized happiness to Joe and now that it was gone, he no longer wished to live with the white men. He stole away in the middle of the night and never was heard of thereafter. Inquiry, as to where he had gone or with what Indian tribe, always met with failure. This incident always saddened the Whitneys, for they had 1ooked upon Joe Indian as a friend and brother.

Francis served in the Black Hawk War of 1865-66. One of his duties was to blow his horn as a warning of the coming of the Indians. Years later his widow received a pension for his services in the Mormon Battalion.

During the period of his life Francis often thought of his former life in Ohio and yearned for his wife and sons and daughters. He tried to establish contact with them but was always brutally repulsed.

He was somewhat of an inventor, and at one time he and Mr. Billy Ashton made a machine which they hoped would result in perpetual motion. So sure were they of success that they brought their invention to Great Salt Lake to Brigham Young. According to reports of this visit President Young pointed to a large wash tub near them and said, “As well get in that tub and try to lift yourself and it from the floor by the handles as to find success in inventing perpetual motion.” This conversation somewhat discouraged the enthusiastic inventors, but they bent their efforts along other lines.

After about twenty years of life in Utah as a Pioneer, settler, and citizen the urge to again see his family and friends and the desire to bring them into the fold of the Church and to Utah became very strong in Francis. In 1868 or 1869 he returned to Ohio with this worthy purpose in view. For fourteen years he remained there. Year after year passed without hearing from him. His boys in Utah grew from young boyhood to manhood, married, and became fathers before he finally returned early in 1883. While he was in Ohio, his first wife Abagail died on December 9, 1878, at the age of seventy. During his Ohio stay his last child Sarah, died at age 24 years. One of his sons in Ohio married while Francis was there also. During his twenty years absence from them, seven of them had married and had homes of their own. Thus in both of his families great changes took place while he was away from them. He remained five years in Ohio after Abagail died, but failed to interest or convert any of his family or friends.

He returned to Utah and the city of Parowan early in 1883. He was then seventy-eight years of age. After a short stay with his wife Clarissa he traveled to Huntington, Emery County, Utah to see his sons Job and Ira who resided there with their families. Very shortly he became ill and died in Huntington on April 6, 1883 and was buried there two days later. His first born, New Samuel, purchased and erected a monument in the Huntington cemetery.

Francis Tuft Whitney died at the age of seventy-eight after having lived a life of sacrifice and hardship and separation from his families, a man indeed who helped to build the Great West and the Church of Christ.

Appendix

#1:

Note: The following was copied from the original most of which was written on the Mormon Battalion March 1846-1847.

In eighteen hundred and forty five

The word of the gathering did arrive,

And to obey the Lord’s command

I started for the gathering Land.

I left the 18th of July,

O how my wife did weep and cry.

To think her husband should depart,

It almost broke her tender heart.

I left them in the hands of God

Believing it was for their good.

Not knowing when I should return,

It caused my heart to burn.

I left my relatives behind.

To me they were so good and kind.

Although the Gospel they did slight,

I prayed for them both day and night.

On foot alone I did go,

To meet my brethren in Nauvoo

Because the Lord did give the command

The Saints should gather to the Land.

When I arrived at Nauvoo

I found from the there we soon must go.

Because the mobbers they did rage

Against the Mormons did engage.

They burnt the houses of the Saints

And drove them from their residence.

Some of the Saints they murdered there.

Their precious blood they didn’t spare.

Widows and orphans had to flee

For safety into the city.

And when the Saints were gathered in

From different places where they’d been.

The Lord did then open the way

That we might leave and come away.

#2:

Note: Following is an exact copy of a letter received by Francis Tuft Whitney from his brother-in-law, John Blanchard.

Speers Landing, Shelby, Co., Ohio Jan. 23, 1852

Francis T. Whitney Sir:

Having a spare time I thought I would write you a few lines to express my opinion etc. etc. ----. Abagail rec’d a letter from you of which I had the honor of perusing. I have seen some men who returned from California who gave a graphic description of the manners, customs, etc., of the Saints. It was truly interesting, rendered still more so by some who wrote on this subject previous to his, which appears more farcified than true but which is now authenticated, beyond doubt. Official dispatches received by the U.S. government at Washington also go to substantiate the facts related by those men. Even at a glance of your letters, a person will readily form an adequate idea of the facts, such as they are.

You undoubtedly will be a great people in time of you are not stunted in your infancy. But I am apt to think things will not run on loose ends like they have done heretofore. You are now numerous, and propagation is carried on to such an extent that in a few years you will outnumber the Philistines that were so numerous. You boast of your opportunities. If you have more money than you know what to do with, or how to dispose of it, let me till you what to do. Send some of it home to a deserted family, deserted by him who was their head and who in former years provided for their wants and who contributed so much to their happiness. Those are the ones who should receive it, who have no protector save a poor woman, and the God who in time will require of you how you provided for your family. My wishes are: that their Father may only come off as well in the great day as they will. Have you forgot when you promised to forsake all others, and protect her as long as you should live, and those promises made before a just God? Had you not a heart of adamant you never could bear this when your thoughts would rush across your mind.

Yes, when you would think upon those things and consider within yourself, “Have I not been wronging my family? Have I not broken a heart who in my youthful days was my sole delight; which, when I was in trouble sympathized with me, yes that being when my fevered brow was burning with the fever gave me cooling drink and bathed my fevered temples, watching hour by hour by my side; that being who always welcomed me home with a smile, and made so great a part of my happiness.” Me thinks were your heart not stone it would melt when you think upon those things. Just ask yourself, “Can God forgive me for this, and I here far away from my friends and family, giving my earnings to others, yes to strangers, and my family in destitute circumstances?” I ask, can you expect mercy from an offended God, a God who has instructed us to provide for our household. Moreover, you claim you are following the path selected for a Christian. This looks far different from Christianity. You said you would go to California and get gold, come back and pay your debts. You see how it has turned out; this lie is open, palpable, and accrues well with the rather of it. I am informed you have three wives there. If such is the case you deserve a thousand deaths; and should meet with no mercy at all. Should I see you there with your wives, I could in cool blood sever your head from your body and take your heart out and see it quiver; undaunted , and you will receive a just retribution for all this. In twofold sense you are a scamp of the lowest quality; and deserve to be hung up by the heels and there hang until the wind would blow you away. The government has seen so much of this hellish work of Brigham Young, and it is about to take those things into consideration, and unless he carried himself better, the scenes of Nauvoo will be enacted over again. And I think unless Mr. Young carries himself straight he will be in the company with the devil.

You need never expect to come back here, for if you do you would grace one of the highest trees in the forest. Write and let me know the names of your wives and how many children you have.

I would write oftener, but I was taught while small not to spend anything uselessly, and I don’t want to spend ink and paper for that which is not bread, and time for that which satisfieth not. We Gentiles are getting along as well as could be expected. You say unless we repent we will be damned. You are very free in calculation what will become of us, and seem to know all about it. You appear to evince quite a genius at composing poetry. I am no poet but I will do the best I can at it:

In other men you faults can spy,

And blame the mote that dims their eye;

Each little speck and blemish find,

To your own stronger errors blind.

Ere you remark another’s sin,

Let your own conscience look within.

I cannot give you much more at present. Francis, I once was a friend of yours and think you were to me, but now you are an enemy of mine, and I am yours,

John Blanchard

#3:

An Acrostic by Francis T. Whitney

Farewell to my wife and my children so dear

Remember I leave you and far from you come

Away to the mountains with Saints I appear

Never to regret that I left my old home

Content with my fate and condition in life

I feel to rejoice in the goodness of God.

Severed now as I am from my Children and Wife

Thanks to my Redeemer, He yet spares the rod.

Welcome the day when we’ll all meet again

Hard as it may seem ‘twill all turn out right.

I feel to rejoice and never complain

To meet you again will be my delight.

Now turn to the Gospel, repent and obey

Enjoy all the blessings that’s promised you here,

You then will rejoice that you are in the right way;

So then we’ll be ready when Christ will appear.

Now Brothers and Sisters farewell for awhile.

Again we will meet and rejoice at the sight.

Me thanks we’ll rejoice when we meet with a smile

Even we will rejoice when we know it’s all right.