Journey of Discovery – Westover Family History

Azariah’s Song

September 28, 2024/0 Comments/by Jeff Westover

Meet Henry W. Bigler, not-so-famous Mormon pioneer who lived from 1815 to 1900.

From what I can tell, we have no relation to this fine man. But, I think it is important to learn his story and to appreciate his life. While he’s not family he sure connected to many of our Utah pioneer ancestors and crossed paths with many of them.

Born in 1815 in Virginia Henry W. Bigler would join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1837. He was an avid life-long journal keeper and his record of life as a first-generation Latter-day Saint in Missouri, Illinois, and later in Utah has been studied extensively by modern scholars.

As a 30-year old single man in 1846 he joined the Mormon Battalion, documenting his experiences all the way to San Diego and then to the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill. He returned to Utah after that and lived in Farmington, Utah where he got married, began to farm and raise a family. In short order he was called on a mission to Hawaii, where he served for several years. He returned but was later called again to Hawaii to serve as mission president.

After he returned and with his family, Bigler was called to serve in the Cotton Mission and would spend the rest of his life in the St. George area. The final 20 years of his life was spent as a temple worker in the St. George Temple.

With such a history you would assume that Brother Bigler was well acquainted with the Westovers.

Indeed, he was. He is buried in the St. George City Cemetery just feed away from Uncle Charles and Aunt Eliza Westover. After his first wife passed away Henry Bigler married Eleanor Parthenia Emett, a daughter of Moses Emett, who was Electa Jane Westover’s husband. (keeping up?)

As a temple worker, he had to have known Electa Beal Westover, too.

I recently visited the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum in St. George and saw a small exhibit there dedicated to Henry W. Bigler.

Before my visit I knew his name if only because he is one of those pioneers who had family and connections all over the state, including up in Mendon, Utah where he had a brother who lived close to the Findleys and the Westovers.

I was also aware of Bigler’s Mormon Battalion Journal and I assumed he had to have known the Smiths due to his service in Company B.

What I wasn’t expecting to find was a treasure connected to Azariah Smith among the archived information at the DUP Museum in St. George dedicated to Henry Bigler.

~ Three Journals of the Mormon Battalion ~

The 1846-1848 march of the Mormon Battalion is well documented thanks to men like Henry W. Bigler. His is one of several journals that historians lean upon in sharing the experience of the Battalion.

It is interesting to note why Bigler’s journal is quoted most often, in contrast to the journals of Albert Smith and his son Azariah.

The first reason why Bigler’s journal is leaned upon so readily is because he wrote in it every day. Continuity of the story line seems to rise and fall on the pages of Henry Bigler’s journal. How he did it and the time it must have cost him cannot be underestimated.

Bigler seemed to have a sense of the importance of what he was writing. He knew it was historic.

But there are a couple of other things to consider in comparing the records these men left behind.

Bigler was a single man in his prime. His perspective is considered a little more balanced compared to the older Albert Smith and the younger Azariah Smith.

Albert Smith was a married man with four children. His wife Esther, and their remaining children, were left on the plains in the hands of Church leadership. Albert had the anxiety of not knowing their situation and expressed concerns constantly about their welfare. He was clearly anxious to get back to them.

Azariah was 17 when his enlistment in the Battalion began. He clearly came at the insistence of his father. Azariah’s perspective on the entire experience is clearly through the eyes of a teenager, who saw this entire new world with all the wonder you would expect.

Neither Albert or Azariah wrote on a daily basis. They could go weeks or even months at a time without recording an entry. Frequently, what they shared was after the fact. Bigler’s journal provides a more real-time perspective.

~ Azariah’s Song ~

A less well known chapter in the story of the Mormon Battalion was all that happened after their march ended in San Diego.

They were not immediately discharged. They found themselves somewhat idle in a beautiful place right by the ocean – a sight many of the men had never experienced. Each journal expresses the joy of discovery this part of the world meant to them.

It was also a period of celebration and transition for the Battalion.

For some, like Albert Smith, there was haste to get out of there and return to his family. For others, like Bigler, who did not have family responsibilities waiting for him in Utah, it was a time to wonder about the next call to serve. For Azariah, it was where the road to the future could take them.

That’s why Albert took off to return to Utah as soon as discharge orders arrived. But for Henry Bigler and Azariah Smith, and for a few other single men, the call to travel north to work at Sutter’s Mill was extended. They were sent there to make money and gather provisions needed for the pioneer effort in Utah.

But they had to wait the full time of their enlistment until they could all go. Among their activities was a patriotic celebration of the 4th of July in San Diego. It was there that speeches were given and recreation was had while celebrating their service to country. It was also there that Henry Bigler recorded a song penned by the young Azariah Smith just for the celebration.

This is Azariah’s song:

In forty-six we bade adieu
To loving friends and kindred too:
For one year’s service, one and all
Enlisted at our country’s call,
In these hard times.

We onward marched until we gained
Fort Leavenworth, where we obtained
Our outfit-each a musket drew-
Canteen, knapsack, and money, too,
In these hard times.

Our Colonel died-Smith took his place,
And marched us on at rapid pace;
O’er hills and plains, we had to go,
Through herds of deer and buffalo,
In these hard times.

O’er mountains and through valleys too-
We town and villages went through;
Through forests dense, with mazes twined,
Our tedious step we had to wind,
In these hard times.

At length we came to Santa Fe,
As much fatigued as men could be;
With only ten days there to stay,
When orders came to march away,
In these hard times.

Three days and twenty we march’d down
Rio Del Norte, past many a town;
Then changed our course-resolved to go
Across the mountains, high or low,
In these hard times.

We found the mountains very high,
Our patience and our strength to try;
For, on half rations, day by day,
O’er mountain heights we made our way,
In these hard times.

Some pushed the wagons up the hill,
Some drove the teams, some pack’d the mules,
Some stood on guard by night and day,
Lest haplessly our teams should stray,
In these hard times.

We traveled twenty days or more,
Adown the Gila River’s shore-
Crossed o’er the Colorado then,
And marched upon a sandy plain,
In these hard times.

We thirsted much from day to day,
And mules were dying by the way,
When lo! to view, a glad scene burst,
Where all could quench our burning thirst,
In these hard times.

We traveled on without delay,
And quartered at San Luis Rey;
We halted there some thirty days,
And now are quartered in this place,
In these hard times.

A “Mormon” soldier band we are:
May our great Father’s watchful care
In safety kindly guide our feet,
Till we, again, our friends shall meet,
And have good times.

O yes, we trust to meet our friends
Where truth its light to all extends-
Where love prevails in every breast,
Throughout the province of the blest,
And have good times.

While I was aware of Azariah’s connection to Henry Bigler (more on that below) it wasn’t until I found the Bigler exhibit at the DUP Museum that I learned about Azariah’s song.

To me this is quite the insight into the young mind and keen talents of Azariah Smith. I appreciate adding this to his record.

~ Sutter’s Mill ~

Members of the Battalion, and indeed all the pioneers of 1847, would be celebrated in later years for what they did.

When the fifty year mark of the discovery of gold in California came up, newspapers in San Francisco were trying to piece together the definitive story of how it all happened. Henry Bigler saw that newspaper’s call for information and offered up his journals.

The State of California was quick to embrace Bigler’s record. From it they were able to learn the names of all the men who were there and they invited Bigler – and Azariah and others – to an all expense paid trip to San Francisco to celebrate the 50th Anniversary. This is the photo, now famous, that they took of that event. Henry Bigler is standing in the back on the left, Azariah Smith is standing in the back on the right.

It is also interesting to note that a 50th anniversary photo of surviving members of the Mormon Battalion does NOT include either Azariah Smith or Henry Bigler:

However, this photo of surviving 1847 pioneers taken during the Jubilee of 1897, may include both men because both of their journals mention being there:

Henry Bigler would live until 1900. Azariah Smith survived until 1912.

Both men seemed to have a sense of their historic standing. Both appreciated “being there” when it came to the pioneer events of the American West, which included the Mormon Battalion, the discovery of gold in California, and the building and dedicating of temples in St. George and in Manti.

Why was Azariah’s song included in Bigler’s DUP display?

The ladies at the DUP Museum could not explain it. They couldn’t even explain where Azariah’s song originally came from. They did allow me to take a photo of it, as they couldn’t find an original copy that was submitted. Regardless, I’m glad to have it and will include it in Azariah’s record on Family Search.

The Sacred Name of Reeves

September 22, 2024/0 Comments/by Jeff Westover

If I were to start over writing our family history I would start with the women.

The wives, mothers and grandmothers are difficult to research because their names are missing from a lot of vital records.

As women, they were counted more by surviving stories than by census records, marriage, birth and death records.

In many cases they came to be remembered because their names were passed down in one form or another.

What follows is another such story – a story of a remarkable woman whose history has had to be pieced together by the records of the men in her life.

Today, not even a marker survives to remember that she was ever here.

But her name lives on.

And ironically, that name – Reeves – was given to men who were her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Like Frances Long Reeves, the men who after her would bear the name Reeves, were and are great people.

But the name Reeves needs some explanation to understand why it has been so faithfully passed down.

~ Five Generations Named Reeves ~

I have a younger cousin named Reeves. He’s about the same age as several of my children. I contacted his father – my Uncle Keith – and asked why he and Julia chose the name Reeves for their son.

He said it was to honor his mother – my grandmother – who had a brother named Reeves. That Reeves was Grandma’s bosom buddy while they were growing up. As siblings they competed and Grandma was known to say that her brother Reeves made a tomboy out of her.

Sadly, Reeves Jay Riggs died while a young man of 23 years due to tuberculosis.

Reeves Jay Riggs was the third child and the first son of William Reeves Riggs, Jr. and Muriel Snow Riggs.

Will Riggs, my great-grandfather, got his name from his father, William Reeves Riggs, Sr.

William Reeves Riggs Sr. was born in 1865 in Cedar City, Utah, the sixth child but first son of William Sears Riggs and Sarah Reeves.

It was not uncommon in those days for a first-born son to bear his mother’s maiden name as a middle name.

Sarah Reeves was born in England in 1837 and came to the USA as a child with her parents. She was about six years old.

Her parents were William and Frances Reeves, both around the age of 40.

William Reeves III was a cobbler and Frances was a nurse, having received professional training in England and working as a nurse prior to marrying William.
They arrived in Nauvoo after sailing across on the ship Swanton and coming up the Mississippi with a group of saints led by Lorenzo Snow.

The Nauvoo experience of the Reeves family was somewhat typical.

They lived on a farm outside of town and were close enough to walk into Nauvoo for meetings.

There they became acquainted with the Prophet and many other known individuals central to Church history there. For the rest of her life Frances would share stories of their time in Nauvoo.

William and Frances Reeves were parents of five children.

Their 2nd child, a boy named Samuel, died at the age of 2 when he was gored by a pig.

Their surviving children – Elizabeth, Josiah, Sarah and Frances – would go on to live pioneer lives in Utah.

But they would have to live that experience in Utah without William Reeves.

He was a rather sickly man – stricken at a young age with “consumption” – an early 19th century word for tuberculosis.

~ The Pioneer Experience of Frances Reeves ~

William Reeves would not live long enough to do his ordinance work in Nauvoo.

In August 1845 he died, months before the Nauvoo temple was finished enough for ordinance work to be done. There are no records of Frances making it there either.

At this time Grandmother Frances was 43 years old with three surviving children to care for: Elizabeth was 16, Josiah 10 and Sarah just 9 years old.

With the Saints being driven from Nauvoo and no male partner for Frances to rely on, you have to wonder how she viewed her options.

The record shows that many families were on the move out of Nauvoo in the Spring of 1846. We can only assume that Frances and her family were likely included in that move in some way.

In 1850 her name appears linked to a man named John Sweat.

While no “official” marriage record exists several histories show that Frances was wed to “Father Sweat” in Mt. Pisgah around 1849.

John Sweat was a man about 25 years older than Frances.

He was given responsibility in building up the encampment at Mt. Pisgah to grow crops and sustain a community of transient saints heading towards Utah.

Sweat’s children were all older than Frances’ children. Yet the record shows that she cared for them.

This was all likely an arrangement made by Church leadership based on needs at the time.

Both John and Frances were recently widowed and both had children.

The arrangement was made to fit the needs.

Perhaps no marriage record exists because it didn’t last long.

John died in the outbreak of cholera at the encampment that took many lives and Frances was once again widowed.

She came west caring for all of those children.

The arranged marriages of widows and widowers was common among pioneer families. As Jacob Hamblin said, upon taking on another wife who was a widow, “love can come later” so that immediate needs could be met.

Frances arrived in Salt Lake and with most of the William Snow/Joseph Young Company settled at least temporarily in Big Cottonwood.

The continual stream of pioneers coming into Utah included the family of William Wesley Willis, another man of pioneer experience, an officer in the Mormon Battalion, and a father of 9.

He was aided with his wife’s illness, as well as the critical care of a newborn daughter, by Frances Reeves, who nursed them all.

Willis’ journal accounts for the kind work Frances put in for their family. Again, considering needs, they were wed in 1852 and for a few years Frances lived and moved with the Willis family.

William Willis was a man of both means and considerable responsibilities.

He was involved in many enterprises between Cedar City and Provo.

With her own children getting married and bringing grandchildren into the world for Frances, she settled with her son Josiah, who had married and lived in Kanarraville, Utah, located just south of Cedar City.

This would be the place where Frances would spend the rest of her life.

As a nurse and a midwife, she became embedded over the entire region because many came to her for help.

Her son Josiah married and had a large family in Kanarraville.

He ran a “camphouse” and livery stable, where teams coming from Silver Reef hauling silver ingots would stop over to stay the night and change out horses.

The Reeves house in Kanarraville became known as a place of rest, food and healing for anyone on the trail or in trouble.

Josiah would care for the livestock and the travelers, Frances would care for the women expecting children, the sick and the injured.

~ Grandma Frances ~

For years I have blown by the town of Kanarraville on Interstate 15 not knowing I had family there.

Later, after learning Grandma Frances was there, I failed to visit as I would pass through.

After another recent trip where I didn’t have the time to stop occurred, I felt prompted to make time.

I went there this morning on a return trip from St. George.

Her record is so well documented that I assumed it would be easy to find her grave. Imagine my shock when I could not find her.

The picture shown on Family Search of a little fenced area is the family plot of Josiah and his wife Sarah. There is no marker for Grandma Frances anywhere.

It’s a small, neat cemetery, like so many others I have visited in Utah.

Kanarraville is still a little nowhere town and the cemetery is filled with families with the same names – Williams, and Pollocks, and Davis and, yes, Reeves, dominate.

But Frances Long Reeves Sweat Willis is not there – or, at least a marker is not there for her.

Perhaps there was at one time.

Or maybe hers is among the many weathered sandstone markers that have not aged well in over a century of weather.

Grandma Frances, however, was not forgotten or ignored by her children or grandchildren.

Daughter Elizabeth, who married in Nauvoo in 1846, named her first son Hyrum Reeves. Josiah’s 12 children all carried the Reeves name, of course.

Sarah (her daughter and my 4th great grandmother), named her first son William Reeves.

And her daughter and namesake, Frances Reeves, also carried on the Reeves name through a son named Ira Reeves.

Sprinkled among her grandchildren is the name Frances or Francis, as well.

Very clearly Grandma Frances was an influence for good.

Her grandson and my 3rd great grandfather, William Reeves Riggs, Sr, spent much of his childhood in Kanarraville.

His Grandma Frances was first introduced to his father, William Sears Riggs, when she nursed him to health in Palmyra (which later came to be called Spanish Fork).

William Wesley Willis was mayor at the time and Grandma Frances was the local nurse.

It was while caring for William Sears Riggs that he met Frances’ daughter Sarah.

William Wesley Willis would live until 1872, passing away in Beaver.

It is not known how often he saw Frances or just what the nature of their relationship was over the years of their marriage. His family history and records of family reunions remember Frances Reeves Willis very kindly.

Kanarraville Cemetery

Grandma Frances would live until 1885, passing away at the home of her son Josiah in Kanarraville.

As I ventured through that little cemetery this morning I felt an urgent anxiety.

It was a new feeling for me and the trip all the way home for the next several hours left me pondering its meaning.

Since coming home I’ve studied all of her histories, and those of her children, and those of her husbands.

I’ve looked at ordinance work to see if anything is undone. Everything appears to be complete.

And yet the feeling that something is “off” just persists.

At this point, I think it’s that Grandma Frances, like so many stalwart women in our pioneer heritage, maybe isn’t properly remembered.

She should have a marker. Her histories could be more complete.

I am thankful for the families that have made the name Reeves remembered.

It needs to continue. These stories need to be told. And we need to continue to research.

I think there will be much more good to be found.

Electa’s Life in Washington City

July 6, 2024/0 Comments/by Jeff Westover

In this video we visit the grave of grandmother Electa Westover, matriarch of the pioneering Westover family in Utah of the 19th century. We focus in particular on the later years of Electa’s life and what it was like for her:

This is an image from the 1870s showing the Cotton Mill that was built in Washington City, near to St. George. Men such as Joel Hills Johnson and James Willard Bay oversaw the farming efforts that did indeed produce cotton in Utah’s Dixie. It took a few years, but they did it. The mill in Washington City was certainly the focal point for families living there, including the Westovers.

Charles Westover Sr, a local farmer, had his hand in it from time to time. He was, like many other men, a water master. Getting water to support crops and life was vital to every community but particularly to this area near the Virgin River where water was closer and soil was better for growing. The story of water in the St. George area from the 1860s through 1900 is really one of constant battle. The iron-rich red soil was terrible for building dams that would last. As summer monsoon season would begin entire dams would be washed away in an instant.

As a result there was a constant effort to build and re-build, as well as long periods of redirecting water sources just to keep things working.

These communities were also growing. Building of a county courthouse, the St. George Tabernacle and then the St. George Temple, would be projects that affected and drew from the resources of nearly every local family. Not only was money needed but so too were labor and resources such as lumber and stone. Here’s load of lumber brought to St. George in support of one of those projects from the mid-1860s:

What was normal life like? There were church and school gatherings. Even though many of the local residents were pioneers, like Electa and Charles, they celebrated on July 24th a Pioneer Day every year. This is an image from the 1870s and a community celebration of July 24th in Washington City:

This picture is what it all looked like – this is St. George from somewhere near Washington City in the 1880s:

When someone died and needed to be buried, it was usually noted in newspaper publications. Here is what was published about Edwin in 1878 after he died:

A funeral would be held, presided over by local Church authorities, then a hearse would take the body to the cemetery. Here’s what the hearse looked like in St. George and Washington in the 1880s:

The heat of the summer, the lack of water, the constant battles to grow crops and the details of day-to-day living sure make these pioneer generations of family living in Southern Utah a wonder. We owe them a great deal. Their great works of temple building, of crop growing, of just sustaining life deserve our respect.

Family in St. George

June 30, 2024/0 Comments/by Jeff Westover

St. George is the biggest city in Southern Utah and it was the first to be pioneer in 1861. From our family, Charles Westover and families were there to begin with. Charles is the younger brother of Edwin Westover, and the 2nd son of Electa Westover.

We have been fortunate over the years to collect a lot of history about Charles and his families. He was just a teen when he crossed the plains in 1848 and he came in association with Erastus Snow, who hired him to manage his rig and help the Snow family come to Utah. (Erastus Snow, an apostle, was one very busy man and needed the help).

Charles and Erastus Snow would maintain a life long association (Erastus Snow baptized Charles Westover). After arriving in Salt Lake, Charles continued to work for the Snows until after he married Eliza Ann Haven, who he had met and fell in love with while on the trek west. Charles lived and worked with Edwin while both were in Big Cottonwood. He was called to the Cotton Mission in 1861 with hundreds of others. He appears on the original settler city map for St. George and did build a home that is now just blocks away from where he is now buried in the St. George City cemetery. Here is our video about Charles, his families, and St. George:

Charles was a farmer. He lived in St. George for several years before moving to Pinto. After about a decade he came back to St. George before settling in Washington City, which is a small city nearby. In his many years in Washington Charles remained very active in community affairs and served for a while as Bishop.

He also provided a home for his mother, Electa Westover, who established herself in the community and church. When the temple was built she would spend the remainder of her life living with Charles and his family and as a temple worker in St. George.

Charles and Eliza was the anchor of Westover family gatherings and activities in the St. George area. They held reunions, attended family temple events, weddings, baptisms and other significant occasions. When other Westovers – such as Edwin and families – traveled it was at the Charles Westover home they stayed.

It’s easy to say that Charles was “just a farmer”. His industry over many decades is well documented but so too is his service in church and community affairs. He fought in the Black Hawk War. He served many times moving goods from Southern Utah to Northern Utah. He went where he was asked, dug in roots, and became productive everywhere he served in Southern Utah.

Charles was a faithful foot soldier, little noted for big accomplishments. He gave up his life for the cause by being a steady steward. His family loved him and later generations have honored his goodness.

This picture of Charles and Eliza was widely published in newspapers in their last days, remember them for their pioneer contributions and longevity. At one time they were thought of as the “first married couple in Utah” (1849). They have not only their citizenship, work and service records out there but also their testimonies are written and their spiritual experiences are recorded.

Their children went on to pioneering stories of their own, their grandchildren have preserved and added to their beautiful record.

Like others we have talked about on Damon’s Family History Adventure, Charles was connected and known. His work on the St. George temple is as significant as anyone’s and with the others of the Westover family he gathered with them when that temple was dedicated. There is no doubt that he too has years of temple working experience in St. George.

The Town of Johnson

June 23, 2024/1 Comment/by Jeff Westover

We have known for a long time that Damon’s two great grandfathers – Joel Hills Johnson and Edwin Ruthven Westover – were laid to rest in the same place. That place has a history all of its own.

Not long after Jacob Hamblin established Fort Kanab Joel Hills Johnson was instructed by Brigham Young to build a settlement with his four brothers some 12 miles east of Kanab. The Johnsons explored the area and found a meadow with access to water that they felt could support a new settlement. All four brothers moved family members there and within a short time the settlement seemingly flourished.

The productivity capacity of the Johnson family cannot be understated. They were working several communities all over Southern Utah all at the same time. How could they do this? Our video explains:

Unlike the other communities associated with Joel Johnson the town of Johnson did not survive. After a few decades as the settlers died off or moved away the town died and the post office was pulled. Other folks moved in to ranch and at one time a near-by meadow was used as a movie set for Hollywood westerns set in the area. There remains – just barely – a set that was famously used for the television series Gunsmoke

The Johnson cemetery is about all that remains to tell the Johnson family story. What a story it is though!

The cemetery is easy enough to find. Just take Highway 89 east from Kanab for about 12 miles and hang a left on Johnson Canyon Road. The cemetery is about 4.5 miles up the highway on the left. There is a home with several cows in a field to the south immediately next to it. Just beyond the house is a small gate, usually open during the summer months, that has a rutted, sandy path to the cemetery. The cemetery is visible from the gate.

Taking Damon to Johnson Cemetery checks off a big bucket list item for me. I’ve felt impressed to get him there for the longest time and I think this was the right age to do it. He’s just a sponge when it comes to family history right now and I believe that having two great grandfathers from separate lines of his heritage is quite a story.

The research on the sons of Joel Johnson was shocking. Of course, we knew that Damon’s great grandfather Seth Johnson, needed a review. But we just didn’t expect his connection to Hatch. There’s no way he didn’t know every Barnhurst and Riggs family in Hatch. Just impossible. Didn’t expect anything like that.

But the histories of Nephi Johnson and Sixtus Johnson (which has to be one of the greatest-ever names of the Old West) to be as connected and interesting. These were good men who did so much in pioneering Southern Utah. I think the odds of all of our family members, including the Westovers, of knowing them are really high. In all, this is a VERY big story overall on all sides.

It ended up, as it usually does, a bigger story than we all imagined. The continual stream of family connections on nearly all sides in Southern Utah just seems endless. We have several videos yet to make and many more discoveries to share.

Azariah’s Song

The Sacred Name of Reeves

Electa’s Life in Washington City

Family in St. George

The Town of Johnson

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