RUTH CLARISSA CARTER CORNIA Ruth Clarissa Carter Cornia was born November 2, 1836 at Kirtland, Geoga County, Ohio, the daughter of Daniel and Clarissa Amelia Carter.The following facts were written by Ruth Carter Cornia's pen -That, that has been so important to me was, when I became eight years of age I was baptized in the Mississippi River by my father, Daniel Carter. (Oh and what a long time ago that was.)My parents moved from Kirtland to Missouri when I was quite young. We were in all of the trying scenes there. My father, and my mother's sister Sophia M. Foster (Burgess) were both near unto death with cholera. I have heard my aunt talk of the old wagon bed that they had hidden away in the brush to bury them in when they died. But that wagon bed was not used for caskets. It was not God's will, for he spared both of their lives. At this time too, they were worried, teased and tormented by the mob. It seemed that nowhere could they find peace. It wasn't meant for them to have it.My mother scalded her foot and we children were all sick at the same time, three of us. There was my sister, Harriet who was eight years old, myself - three, and a baby brother Jabez, one year. Little Jabez was born in Far West, Missouri, December 22, 1838. From here our family moved to Pittsfield, Pike County, Illinois, and then my mother died February 12, 1840, when we needed her so much.I can recall our living in Kirtland and occupying Hyrum Smith's house for a short while. My folks were intimately acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith, and knew Oliver Cowdry well. We attended the conference at the Bluffs when Cowdry made his confession. (He had apostatized and seemed very proud of the fact when he stood up to tell us.)While in Nauvoo, Hyrum Smith's wife sent me a pretty little glass plate. I thought it so pretty! My Aunt Sophia Burgess handed it to me saying, "Mrs. Smith asked me to bring this to you, Ruth." I don't know why she so favored me, but it made "a little girl" very, very happy. Their family came to our place many times and were always so appreciative. Perhaps this is why she sent the plate to me.I remember all of the Smiths, especially the Prophet and his brother, Hyrum. When "Uncle Dan Russell" came running in to tell us of the murder of these men, we were all terribly broken up. The children seemed to sense the sorrow as keenly as did their elders. We had just taken our places around the breakfast table when the word came in - the chairs were all pushed back, and the meal left untouched.Those were trying days - awful scenes! I especially recall the hour of the funeral procession, the playing of the marshal band and the caskets that held sacks of sand rather than the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. God surely helped the friends of these martyred men. Their remains were hidden in a cave, away from those who were seeking the reward that had been offered for their heads. One large fellow (one of the howling mob) sprang up after the shooting, to claim the head of the Prophet. It looked as if no one could stop him, so quick he was, like a mad animal. At that instant a bright light struck him and seemed to make his body numb, so paralyzing it that he was utterly helpless. His companions had to carry him, and were very glad of this opportunity to make "their getaway," I can tell you. All of this, and more happened during that winter at Council Bluffs.In the Spring the government compelled us to move across the River, so the land might be used to a better advantage. In our newly made home upon the banks of the river, planting was done and a big crop was harvested, all happening in our stay there of three months. Such large strawberries as we raised that year, I have never seen before or since. The vines were heavy with them -Though we were driven here and there, tried and tested almost beyond our endurance - we knew we were a blessed people, and that God was with us, and that some days our lives would be different.One morning I was riding along with my father in the wagon. Because I had been thinking of my mother, I said, "Father, why can't we girls have our mother's name?" I could take one and Harriet the other. "Will you let us, Father?" "You may do that," he answered. My choice was Clarissa, and Harriet like Amelia, mother's second name. So from that day on, my sister was Harriet Amelia, and I was Ruth Clarissa.I can also recollect going into the Kirtland Temple. And well I remember, when we packed our few belongings and journeyed from Kirtland to Nauvoo, and the incident that happened on the boat as told by one (an "Old Chest")An Old Chest SpeaksI am the "speaking one" of the triplet chestsMade strong and sturdy for the journey west,From Vermont to Ohio, on to NauvooAre we not "something" of Pioneers true?Packed right to the top with bedding and clothes,We, three important pine chests held this for thoseWho have helped to build an empire broadTo carry on and on this work of God -While on the boat from Ohio to Nauvoo,I, the small, was placed upon the other two,And well I remember a part of that dayWhen two drunken Irishmen played their wayBreaking their beer bottles on every sideUntil passengers all were looking to hide.Daniel Carter glanced up quickly at me,Then gathered his frightened little girls and boyAnd one at a time he lifted them upWhile the drinkers turned for another sup -And we kept his children safely all through,Three motherless little ones, Pioneers true -There are other stories I might tell to youMany old ones, and many that are new,But I am tired now and glad to rest,Of service, I think, we have given our best -If ever by chance you should look our wayMay the "spirit of us" help you todayTo face testings and trials when they comeAs "we" Pioneers of yesterday have done!Yes, and I have those old pine chests, all three of them, as useful now as they were in those other days. They are pretty old keepsakes, I think - don't you?We passed through trying times in Nauvoo. Besides the martyrdom of our beloved prophets, and the death of my little brother who was in his fifth year, our Mother, at this time, had been dead so long that it seemed like we had never had a mother.Father married Sally Sylvia Perry in the Nauvoo Temple. She was one of the many who died April 20, 1847 at Winter Quarters. She left a baby girl eleven weeks old. Her name was Mary. She married Edward Stone in her youthful years and to them were born five sons and five daughters.Our family was among those that left Nauvoo after the martyrdom. We lived at Mosquito Creek until we started on the long way to Utah.I repeat again, the one day that I remember well and like to think of was that day I went into the Nauvoo Temple.My sister Harriet Amelia was married at the Bluffs to William Henry Lee, December 11, 1849. Harriet's getting married left father and I, of our family, alone to cross the plains. Our company was sorely afflicted with cholera. Seventeen of our number left us. Everybody looked as worried not knowing who would be stricken next with the fever.Those who captained our company were Aaron Johnston and Mattie Caldwell. The journey was rough, long and uncertain, but we arrived at our destination, "Utah," September 10, 1850. Father and I made our home in Bountiful in 1852, and four years later in 1856 he married Cordelia Hotchkiss.Then spring came and May. May 2, 1856, I married Peter Cornia in the Endowment House. (Heber C. Kimball performed the ceremony.) To us God gave twelve children. Eight sons and four daughters. Our first baby was a girl, our last one a boy.My sister Harriet, and her husband came to Utah also in 1850. They chose Woodruff, Rich County, Utah for their home-place. To them were born thirteen children. One more than had come to us. In January [1894], on its twenty-first day, my sister passed away, and her burial took place in the cemetery at Bountiful.In the early spring of 1865 we moved from Bountiful to Kamas, Prairie, Summit County.In 1868 in the Autumn, we were called to go to Dixie, the West Point of Nevada. While living there I gained experiences I shall never, never forget. The way of Indians and scorching hot weather. We were grateful for plenty to eat and sufficient clothing, but we suffered for the want of water to drink. Because of the over amount of mineral there in Dixie, it was impossible to dig wells, but we could grow everything except Irish potatoes. The climate was too hot for them to grow without water, and when irrigated with it, the vines looked as if they had been scalded.Our gardens were choice with the loveliest corn, cucumbers, melons, squash, and all of the kinds of fruit given to such climate. There were also abundant crops of wheat, sugar cane, cotton, and yet the sun was hot enough to melt resin.In this sunshine we lived until Brigham Young and his company came and released us, which was in the fall of the year after the harvesting. In 1870 we were told that we might choose any spot in Utah in which to make our home.At this time doctors were not available and they were needed as much as they are today. I bought a book on obstetrics, read and studied its pages thoroughly, and prayed for an understanding of the same. After gaining the information I needed, and people knew of my new interest, they came for me at all hours of the day and night - from near and far. If it was winter and cold, my husband heated a flat rock to put at my feet. This was always kept on the stove in readiness.Although I did not keep count of the babies that I helped to bring into the world, I know they numbered more than a thousand. Then there were the countless cases of pneumonia, measles, typhoid and scarlet fever.Sometimes they came for me from ten and twelve miles away. When I was bewildered, uncertain in what to do for the one I had been called to help, I prayed - God always came to me with knowledge and strength, all that I needed.


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Mother came to Bountiful in 1890 to take care of Grandmother Carter and to work in the Temple. She did the work for more than 8,000. Had the endowments for the men done in the Logan, Manti and St. George Temples. The Endowments for the women, and the sealings and adoptions, were done in the Salt Lake Temple. When my sister, Zoe Cornia Rampton, age 37, passed away on May 14th, 1913, leaving seven children (1 boy, 17 years old and six girls, the youngest 14-1/2 months), mother, at the age of 77 years, took care of the family - nine in all - for four and one-half years. John Rampton, Zoe's husband, then married again so mother came to live with us. In 1916, when the flu was so bad, three of Zoe's girls passed away within two weeks. Carol, age 18, was the first to go and within that two weeks, Zoe, age 8 and Mila, age 11 followed.Mother died in Bountiful, May 20, 1920 and was buried in the Bountiful cemetery on May 25th.- Harriet Cornia