The Life of George Prince

The Life of George Prince

LIFE OF GEORGE PRINCE

George Prince was born December 22, 1815 at Fordham, Cambridgeshire, England. At the age of 18 he left his home town, going to Suffolk, England. In August 1835 his father died and George was called home to care for his mother. He remained with her until he married Sarah Bowman (daughter of Francis and Sophia Bowman) October 10, 1837.

In 1841 Queen Victoria was offering grants of land in South Africa, also money to take people there to build up her country. Grandfather was with the first group that went. His family, which consisted of his wife and one child, went with him. She was the only woman in the party, therefore, it was several years before she saw a white woman.

The place where they settled was very rich and fertile and it was not long until they were prospering, although the natives caused considerable trouble. Grandfather took part in two wars while living there and received several badges of honor. When the last war started they stationed one of the boys (Richard) on a hill overlooking the country to watch the coming of the negroes. When he saw them approaching he notified the people and they all gathered in a block house for safety. This block house had port holes through which the men shot at the negroes. There were fifteen white men and about two thousand negroes. Grandfather’s brother John (a young man) was killed during this war. He became impatient at shooting through port holes so opened a door a little and was hit by an arrow. He died soon after and was buried on the battle field of Africa. When the war was over they found hundreds of dead natives which they buried in trenches.

This country teemed with many brilliantly colored birds, and numerous monkeys lived in their orchards. They never tried to drive them away because they always had more fruit than they needed.

One evening grandfather told his wife that he had dreamed a dream in which two men appeared to him dressed in black broadcloth suits and high hats. He said this dream seemed real and he had the impression that what they told him was true. She said, “You are as visionary as Abraham of old,” but she knew they had been helped many times this way. Not long after this, I September, 1853, the missionary system was introduced in this place by Jesse Haven, William Walker and Lenord I. Smith, Mormon Missionaries. These men whom Grandfather had seen in a dream visited the Prince family not long after this, and in February 1855 the family was baptized.

Feelings rose against the church members. One day George’s son Richard, a boy of perhaps ten years, was directing Elder Haven around the country when a mob captured them. They put the elder in pen and the boy in an old well, however the police soon came and freed them.

On the fifth of October, 1860, they set sail for America, coming on the Alacerty, a sailing vessel. They lost their way and were three months on the water, going by way of St. Helena Island. Here they went ashore long enough to look at Napoleon’s grave. The mother was very ill while crossing the water. She left the care of the eight children to the father. The youngest of these children was less than two years of age and the oldest was twenty.

They landed at Boston, Massachusetts and preparations were made for the long trip across the plains. One day while on the way to Winter Quarter their party was surrounded by soldiers whose captain demanded to know if they sympathized with the cause of the North or South. Their captain replied that they were immigrants and had not formed a opinion on the subject of slavery. Some of the soldiers wanted to kill them but when the officer heard that they were going west he let them go, remarking that the Indians would kill them anyway.

They left Florence, or Winter Quarters, in July , 1861, with the last company of saints to cross the plains that season.

They traveled in the company of Captain William Budge. In this company was over 400 persons, 55 wagons, 215 oxen and 77 cows. It was a long trip and the mother continued in poor health all the way. When the journey was little more than half over she gave birth to premature twins which they had to leave buried hundreds of miles out on the plains.

They arrived in Salt Lake City October 5. After a short time they went to Kaysville and in 1862 were called by President Young to help settle Dixie, making their home in Washington. Their son, Richard, while herding cows in what is now Middleton, a place three miles from Washington, decided to make his home there and urged his parents to do likewise.

Their first home in Middleton was a dugout in the side of a hill. One day Mrs. Prince was sitting in a homemade rocker and singing her baby to sleep when the door was darkened by someone entering it. Looking up she saw Bill, an Indian who had been raised by white people, and who understood their ways and language. He was dressed in an old dirty shirt and greasy overalls. His face was daubed with streaks of red and brown paint. Mrs. Prince had on a full black skirt and a tight fitting blue basque. The children were dressed in plain long dresses with panties reaching down to their ankles.

The Indian came in and walked across the room to where Mr. Prince’s gun hung on the accustomed peg and reached for it saying, “Mrs. Prince that is a good gun. Me thinks Bill take it.” “No, you won’t take our gun. You cannot have it.” Replied the woman. “I will kill you if you won’t let me have it,” declared the Indian, “If you will give it to me I will leave and won’t hurt you.” He took the gun in his hands and the woman jumped up and tried to take it away from him. Throwing the baby to Sarah Ann, who was a girl of about six years, she turned to one of the other girls and said, “Susan, go and call for help.” “No help is near,” and Bill laughed, “Me see all men go to field. Indian will have gun, I will kill you. Me already kill Berry boys.” He took a strap from his pocked and hit her over the shoulders and back but she would not let him have the weapon. Soon Susan came running into the house.

“Hold on to the gun, mama,” she cried, “Papa and the boys are coming.” Bill turned hurriedly to go but he took time to remark, “You heap brave squaw, Indian like brave squaw.”

“Brave or not, I am not going to be killed with my own gun,” said Mrs. Prince.

This is only one example of the trouble the Indians caused them. The men often spent the night guarding their homes and families and working hard in the field all day raising cotton and cane, etc. The children had to walk three miles to the school at Washington. The school was a one-room log house with hand made benches. They would open school by song and prayer. Then all the children would stand in a circle an take turns reading a verse from the BOOK OF MORMON. Other books they had were MCGUFFEY’S READER and the ELEMENTARY SPELLER. Their Sunday schools were not like the ones we have. They had not church buildings, so they would meet at one of the homes, where they held sacrament meeting. George Prince always took an active part in church work.

Pioneering was hard for the frail wife and mother who had given up a life of luxury to come to Zion, but she never regretted the step she had taken and when she died at the age of fifty-seven on the 13th of July, 1875, fifteen years after coming to Utah, she was true Latter-day Saint.

In 1879 George called all of his children to come to St. George to be sealed in the temple to their parents. Some of them had married and moved away but on the day set for them to meet, all of them were there.

A few years after his wife died, George married Francis Wilkens who by becoming the mother of two sons raised the number his children to twelve. Later he moved to Escalante, Utah, where he died January 22, 1905 at the age of ninety.