Baptized by Paul Gourly, at Lanark, Scotland, 11 April 1848; Confirmed 13 April, 1848, by William Livingston.
Traveled from Liverpool, England 17 Jan 1855 on the "Charles Buck" and arrived at New Orleans about 14 Mar 1855 and at St. Louis 27 Mar 1855. She was 65 years old with 2 children, James 26 and Helen, 23, and 6 grandchildren.
Christina Campbell Livingston, better known as Granny Livingston, was born February 14, 1789. She married James Livingston October 9, 1807. They had twelve children: (1) Archibald, (2) Agnes, (3) Grace, (4) Helen, (5) Catherine, (6) Christina, (7) Agnes McLuckie, (8) Janet, (9) Elisa, (10) Robert, (11) James, (12) Helen.
When Archibald Livingston (Granny's son who was born in 1808) passed away, he left six children. Granny took the family and proceeded to raise them. She was a remarkable woman. She mothered those children with the help of the two older boys, James and Charles.
James, the oldest, was not too strong physically and that forced Charles to take upon his young shoulders additional responsibilities. At a young age, he was forced to work in the coal mines to help support the family.
Coal mining was very difficult and hard work. They worked long hours and several months out of the year, they didn't see daylight.
The Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints brought the message of the gospel to them and they became acquainted with its principles and subsequently joined the church.
After joining the Church, Granny was filled with the desire of gathering with the Saints in Zion, but finances were not available. It was several years before they could make this journey.
In 1853, the family managed to send their oldest son, James, to Utah. Then two years later, James, with the help of the Perpetual Immigration Fund and Uncle John Dobbie, the entire family came to Utah. The trip was long and tiring. They left Glasgow, Scotland, on the 16th day of December, 1854, crossed the ocean in a sailing vessel and landed in New Orleans, then St. Louis. They then made their way up the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to a place called Atchison, Kansas, then Mormon Grove. They remained there for a short time and were able to replenish their meager stores. Charles was 20 by this time, and he and his uncle secured employment falling timber and building log cabins. They helped build the first homes at Atchison, now one of the important railroad centers in the United States.
Granny and her family arrived in Salt Lake on September 25, 1855. Their brother, James, joined them and they located a lot on 9th East between 1st and 2nd South Streets. They succeeded in getting a little home built and Charles secured employment for a short time in the quarries, getting out the coping for the wall around the temple block, but winter set in early and work at the quarry was suspended, which left the family without any source of income. Before spring, the family was reduced to extreme poverty. It was almost impossible to get enough to keep the family alive. A few years later, Charles and James were able to provide a comfortable home for Granny and the younger children.
Granny was a wonderful person, having remarkable courage and determination. Her now extensive family of descendants owe her a deep debt of gratitude for there are not many who have made the extreme sacrifices that she has for her posterity. Had her choices and decisions been any other, all their lives would have been so different, if even at all. What a beautiful, stalwart, and noble individual Christina Campbell Livingston was. Certainly the heroine of her family.
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A Tribute to Cristina Campbell Livingston "Granny"

by Ronald B. Livingston

Few people, I feel, realize the great debt of gratitude we all owe Christina Campbell Livingston (Granny) for there are not many who would have made the sacrifices she did. After hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ and recognizing it to be true, she accepted it and was baptized in May of 1848. She was then about 59 years old.
After raising 12 of her own children, at the age of 60 she began raising 6 more of her orphaned grandchildren, the youngest being 9 months old (William). Though having very little, they saved for four years to send the oldest grandson, James, to Utah on 15 March 1853. Then they saved for twenty-one months more before the rest of the family could go. After deciding to leave her home, she left most of her belongings of a lifetime acquirement, her friends, sons and daughters (how many and which ones we don't know) and other relatives, knowing she would probably never see them again. Now, at age 65, with six remaining grandchildren, the youngest 6 years old, and two of her own children (James, 26, and Helen, 23), they prepared to leave to a land they had never seen - a place that would have very little developed when they got here, actually much less than they were leaving behind.
They began in the cold months of winter, 16 December 1854, to go 9,000 miles in a time of primitive transportation that would take 10 long months; first made their way over to Glasgow (10-15 miles), boarded a ship, went 250 miles to Liverpool, England, boarded another sailing ship, spent 8 weeks on the water with little or no heat, down around the tip of Florida to New Orleans, boarded a steam ship and then up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri, then over the Missouri River to Atchinson, Kansas, then prepared for another journey across the plains and mountains 1,450 miles to Salt Lake City. They arrived with virtually nothing but themselves and knowing others were depending on them and in essence to build again, started a new life and in hard times and did it for twenty-two more years. Had Christina's decision been any other, all our lives would have been different, if at all. What a beautiful, stalwart and noble individual.
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For more information on the Livingston Family, please visit:
Livingston Family Association