Daughter of John Sant and Mary Shaw
Married Charles Williams, 13 October 1861, Smithfield, Cache, Utah
Children - Charles Williams, Mary Jane Williams, Fannie Eliza Williams, Margaret Williams, Catherine Williams, Elizabeth Williams, Thomas James Williams, Martha Ellen Williams
History - Margaret Sant Williams was born at Middlewich, Chestershire, England, on February 20, 1844. She was the sixth child in a family of twelve. Her father was John Sant, born January 11, 1811, and her mother was Mary Shaw born January 2, 1813. The brothers and sisters were George, Hannah, John, Samual, Betsey, Jane, Mary, William, Joseph, Eliza, and Thomas. She was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at Rancour, England.
The Sant family was early converts to the L.D.S. church and their home was a sort of haven to the members of the church in that area. It was to that home that Charles Williams went after his baptism, being disowned and turned out by his own family. He was 22 years old, so Margaret would have been about 10 or 12, according to birthdates.
Her parents joined the church and started to save money for immigrating to Utah. The family numbered nine. All were grown, but two. They set sail April 16, 1861, on board the Manchester Sailing Vessel. They arrived in New York May 16, 1861, and traveled from there to Florence, Nebraska, where they had to leave clothing and bedding. They had done without real necessities to make warm quilts and clothing they so much needed in their wilderness home. They were only allowed enough to get to Utah. They hoped they could sell or trade their good bedding, but they werenever able to sell their goods.
They had one wagon for every twelve people, so all that were able, had to walk. Grandmother, Margaret, walked all the way to where Evanston, Wyoming is now. They were met there by her brother, George, who had come ahead several years before to prepare for the family. However, he was sent among the Indians and no money was earned. He had built a large dugout with a fireplace and had a cow toward making their living. They arrived in Salt Lake City in August 1861.
Charles Williams, Sr. encountered sickness, hardship and privation during the two years since he left England, arriving in New York on December 29, 1855. In 1857 he went to Utah, driving an ox team to pay for transportation. In 1860 he moved to Smithfield, Utah, and helped build the Fort there. Here again, he met the John Sant family and the friendships were renewed. The little Margaret he had left in England was now a beautiful young lady, charming, industrious, possessing the Sant gift of singing and entertaining.
The story goes that Margaret took care of Charles’ chores for the eggs and butter while he worked in the canyon. When he came back, Margaret wanted to continue the chores to make enough money to buy new shoes. It was agreeable with Charles, but Grandmother Sant objected. It was about this time that Jane and Nathan Smith intervened. They were going to be married on Monday and they suggested Charles and Margaret get married at the same time. “How about it, Margaret?” asked Charles. “It’s alright with me,” Margaret replied. John Sant Sr. married the two sisters to the two men on October 3, 1861, at Smithfield, Utah.
John Sant helped the men grease and pack their wagons as they were going to travel, with two other couples, to Salt Lake City, Utah to receive their endowments and be sealed in the Endowment House. They went by ox team. They had sheep pelts, hops, and butter to trade for things along the way. They had hay for the oxen, a tent and some bedding. The ladies sewed the temple clothes they would need, on the way, doing it all by hand. They drove two yokes of oxen, one pair was wild and the men had to take turns to herd and hold them. The men that rode in the wagon had to trade and hunt for something to eat. It took them seven days to go and come back.
They lived at Smithfield two and a half years and grew a garden and had several milk cows. Their first child, a son, Charles Jr. was born at Smithfield. They were then called to help settle Bear Lake Valley where, two and a half years later, Mary Jane, was born. They stayed only a little more than two years. Their grain was frozen both years and that which they gathered could not be made into bread. Since they had no threshing machine, they ground their grain in a coffee mill. They made a stiff mush and cut it into slices and fried it. They had all kinds of dairy products. Margaret told them they had good health and appetites and did not suffer for bread as much as for something sweet. They never had any sugar or sweetening.
In the fall of 1866, Margaret and Charles moved to Oxford, Idaho, and helped build a fort to protect them from the Indians. There Margaret kept a little flour for her two-year-old son, Charles, who was not well. Now it was all gone. He would not eat the frost-bitten bread. He said, “Let’s go to Grandma’s.” They went to where she lived at the end of the fort. When they came to the door, he ran to his Grandma and said, “Grandma, will you give me some good bread? I am hungry.” She took him on her lap and said she did not have any good bread either. She and the boy both cried. Margaret said that was a real trial as they had had plenty to eat and wear in England. She, like a true pioneer, took the boy and fixed some of the ‘hard times bread’ as they called it, and he ate some with her. Grandma asked her if she wished she was back in England and she said, “No, not with my testimony.”
Margaret had been married several years before she had a stove or window. She tacked white cloth over the frame to let in light and had a shutter made of split logs to close to keep the cold storms out. She used tallow candles for light until she had been married for ten years. Charles bought a lamp with a round wick. It was a real curiosity. They never used it except to sew or read, and they used candles to do evening chores. She weaved and spun cloth for clothing and sheet blankets.
Charles and Margaret moved from Oxford, Idaho to Clifton, Idaho to what then was called Dry Ranch. Later they moved to Banida, Idaho where they made better living dairying. Charles worked with others all summer to build a dam across Battle Creek.
They planted good crops and gardens and irrigated once when a cloudburst came with a flood and washed it all away. They fixed the dam and the next year planted crops when the grasshoppers came and took everything. They moved to Treasureton, Idaho. They moved the log house and built one room onto it. They also built a cellar and corrals and a good stable. Margaret made cheese and butter to sell in order to buy all the lumber, nails, and flooring, also shoes for the family. The house had one room upstairs with only loose boards, and they had to climb a ladder to get to it, but it was warm. Also, they had home-made carpets, straw ticks and plenty of bedding. Now they had six daughters and one son. The next year they had a good harvest and sent the three oldest children to school. All worked very hard and were comfortable at last.
Margaret had a good education for those days. She was cheerful and witty and was a beautiful singer. She was asked several times to sing at conferences, funerals and other gatherings.
The year, 1880, all of the family was working hard. They had added rooms to the house. The children did the milking, churning and other chores. They were comfortable. Margaret overdid while in a delicate condition. She had eight children, six girls, and two boys. The names were Charles Jr., Mary Jane, Fannie Eliza, Margaret, Catherine, Elizabeth, Thomas, and Martha Ellen. Her ninth baby was on the way. She and Charles were setting out cabbage plants in the garden. She began to hemorrhage and was very ill. Neighbors and relatives did everything they could to help her. They sent to Logan, Utah for a doctor. He came and said there was not much he could do until they could build her up. Blood poisoning set in and the end came too soon. She was sick for two weeks. On June 13, 1880, she died, a faithful member of the church, at age thirty-six. Her casket was homemade of red pine boards, covered with black velvet. She was buried in the Treasureton Cemetery, near the old home.
If a mother can be judged by her offspring, then this little woman was truly great for this family came through their adversities as through a refiners fire, pure gold. It is an honor to their family name, true Latter-day Saints and stalwarts in the communities in which they lived.
Written by a granddaughter, Mary Clifford Thomas
Married Charles Williams, 13 October 1861, Smithfield, Cache, Utah
Children - Charles Williams, Mary Jane Williams, Fannie Eliza Williams, Margaret Williams, Catherine Williams, Elizabeth Williams, Thomas James Williams, Martha Ellen Williams
History - Margaret Sant Williams was born at Middlewich, Chestershire, England, on February 20, 1844. She was the sixth child in a family of twelve. Her father was John Sant, born January 11, 1811, and her mother was Mary Shaw born January 2, 1813. The brothers and sisters were George, Hannah, John, Samual, Betsey, Jane, Mary, William, Joseph, Eliza, and Thomas. She was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at Rancour, England.
The Sant family was early converts to the L.D.S. church and their home was a sort of haven to the members of the church in that area. It was to that home that Charles Williams went after his baptism, being disowned and turned out by his own family. He was 22 years old, so Margaret would have been about 10 or 12, according to birthdates.
Her parents joined the church and started to save money for immigrating to Utah. The family numbered nine. All were grown, but two. They set sail April 16, 1861, on board the Manchester Sailing Vessel. They arrived in New York May 16, 1861, and traveled from there to Florence, Nebraska, where they had to leave clothing and bedding. They had done without real necessities to make warm quilts and clothing they so much needed in their wilderness home. They were only allowed enough to get to Utah. They hoped they could sell or trade their good bedding, but they werenever able to sell their goods.
They had one wagon for every twelve people, so all that were able, had to walk. Grandmother, Margaret, walked all the way to where Evanston, Wyoming is now. They were met there by her brother, George, who had come ahead several years before to prepare for the family. However, he was sent among the Indians and no money was earned. He had built a large dugout with a fireplace and had a cow toward making their living. They arrived in Salt Lake City in August 1861.
Charles Williams, Sr. encountered sickness, hardship and privation during the two years since he left England, arriving in New York on December 29, 1855. In 1857 he went to Utah, driving an ox team to pay for transportation. In 1860 he moved to Smithfield, Utah, and helped build the Fort there. Here again, he met the John Sant family and the friendships were renewed. The little Margaret he had left in England was now a beautiful young lady, charming, industrious, possessing the Sant gift of singing and entertaining.
The story goes that Margaret took care of Charles’ chores for the eggs and butter while he worked in the canyon. When he came back, Margaret wanted to continue the chores to make enough money to buy new shoes. It was agreeable with Charles, but Grandmother Sant objected. It was about this time that Jane and Nathan Smith intervened. They were going to be married on Monday and they suggested Charles and Margaret get married at the same time. “How about it, Margaret?” asked Charles. “It’s alright with me,” Margaret replied. John Sant Sr. married the two sisters to the two men on October 3, 1861, at Smithfield, Utah.
John Sant helped the men grease and pack their wagons as they were going to travel, with two other couples, to Salt Lake City, Utah to receive their endowments and be sealed in the Endowment House. They went by ox team. They had sheep pelts, hops, and butter to trade for things along the way. They had hay for the oxen, a tent and some bedding. The ladies sewed the temple clothes they would need, on the way, doing it all by hand. They drove two yokes of oxen, one pair was wild and the men had to take turns to herd and hold them. The men that rode in the wagon had to trade and hunt for something to eat. It took them seven days to go and come back.
They lived at Smithfield two and a half years and grew a garden and had several milk cows. Their first child, a son, Charles Jr. was born at Smithfield. They were then called to help settle Bear Lake Valley where, two and a half years later, Mary Jane, was born. They stayed only a little more than two years. Their grain was frozen both years and that which they gathered could not be made into bread. Since they had no threshing machine, they ground their grain in a coffee mill. They made a stiff mush and cut it into slices and fried it. They had all kinds of dairy products. Margaret told them they had good health and appetites and did not suffer for bread as much as for something sweet. They never had any sugar or sweetening.
In the fall of 1866, Margaret and Charles moved to Oxford, Idaho, and helped build a fort to protect them from the Indians. There Margaret kept a little flour for her two-year-old son, Charles, who was not well. Now it was all gone. He would not eat the frost-bitten bread. He said, “Let’s go to Grandma’s.” They went to where she lived at the end of the fort. When they came to the door, he ran to his Grandma and said, “Grandma, will you give me some good bread? I am hungry.” She took him on her lap and said she did not have any good bread either. She and the boy both cried. Margaret said that was a real trial as they had had plenty to eat and wear in England. She, like a true pioneer, took the boy and fixed some of the ‘hard times bread’ as they called it, and he ate some with her. Grandma asked her if she wished she was back in England and she said, “No, not with my testimony.”
Margaret had been married several years before she had a stove or window. She tacked white cloth over the frame to let in light and had a shutter made of split logs to close to keep the cold storms out. She used tallow candles for light until she had been married for ten years. Charles bought a lamp with a round wick. It was a real curiosity. They never used it except to sew or read, and they used candles to do evening chores. She weaved and spun cloth for clothing and sheet blankets.
Charles and Margaret moved from Oxford, Idaho to Clifton, Idaho to what then was called Dry Ranch. Later they moved to Banida, Idaho where they made better living dairying. Charles worked with others all summer to build a dam across Battle Creek.
They planted good crops and gardens and irrigated once when a cloudburst came with a flood and washed it all away. They fixed the dam and the next year planted crops when the grasshoppers came and took everything. They moved to Treasureton, Idaho. They moved the log house and built one room onto it. They also built a cellar and corrals and a good stable. Margaret made cheese and butter to sell in order to buy all the lumber, nails, and flooring, also shoes for the family. The house had one room upstairs with only loose boards, and they had to climb a ladder to get to it, but it was warm. Also, they had home-made carpets, straw ticks and plenty of bedding. Now they had six daughters and one son. The next year they had a good harvest and sent the three oldest children to school. All worked very hard and were comfortable at last.
Margaret had a good education for those days. She was cheerful and witty and was a beautiful singer. She was asked several times to sing at conferences, funerals and other gatherings.
The year, 1880, all of the family was working hard. They had added rooms to the house. The children did the milking, churning and other chores. They were comfortable. Margaret overdid while in a delicate condition. She had eight children, six girls, and two boys. The names were Charles Jr., Mary Jane, Fannie Eliza, Margaret, Catherine, Elizabeth, Thomas, and Martha Ellen. Her ninth baby was on the way. She and Charles were setting out cabbage plants in the garden. She began to hemorrhage and was very ill. Neighbors and relatives did everything they could to help her. They sent to Logan, Utah for a doctor. He came and said there was not much he could do until they could build her up. Blood poisoning set in and the end came too soon. She was sick for two weeks. On June 13, 1880, she died, a faithful member of the church, at age thirty-six. Her casket was homemade of red pine boards, covered with black velvet. She was buried in the Treasureton Cemetery, near the old home.
If a mother can be judged by her offspring, then this little woman was truly great for this family came through their adversities as through a refiners fire, pure gold. It is an honor to their family name, true Latter-day Saints and stalwarts in the communities in which they lived.
Written by a granddaughter, Mary Clifford Thomas
Daughter of John Sant and Mary Shaw
Married Charles Williams, 13 October 1861, Smithfield, Cache, Utah
Children - Charles Williams, Mary Jane Williams, Fannie Eliza Williams, Margaret Williams, Catherine Williams, Elizabeth Williams, Thomas James Williams, Martha Ellen Williams
History - Margaret Sant Williams was born at Middlewich, Chestershire, England, on February 20, 1844. She was the sixth child in a family of twelve. Her father was John Sant, born January 11, 1811, and her mother was Mary Shaw born January 2, 1813. The brothers and sisters were George, Hannah, John, Samual, Betsey, Jane, Mary, William, Joseph, Eliza, and Thomas. She was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at Rancour, England.
The Sant family was early converts to the L.D.S. church and their home was a sort of haven to the members of the church in that area. It was to that home that Charles Williams went after his baptism, being disowned and turned out by his own family. He was 22 years old, so Margaret would have been about 10 or 12, according to birthdates.
Her parents joined the church and started to save money for immigrating to Utah. The family numbered nine. All were grown, but two. They set sail April 16, 1861, on board the Manchester Sailing Vessel. They arrived in New York May 16, 1861, and traveled from there to Florence, Nebraska, where they had to leave clothing and bedding. They had done without real necessities to make warm quilts and clothing they so much needed in their wilderness home. They were only allowed enough to get to Utah. They hoped they could sell or trade their good bedding, but they werenever able to sell their goods.
They had one wagon for every twelve people, so all that were able, had to walk. Grandmother, Margaret, walked all the way to where Evanston, Wyoming is now. They were met there by her brother, George, who had come ahead several years before to prepare for the family. However, he was sent among the Indians and no money was earned. He had built a large dugout with a fireplace and had a cow toward making their living. They arrived in Salt Lake City in August 1861.
Charles Williams, Sr. encountered sickness, hardship and privation during the two years since he left England, arriving in New York on December 29, 1855. In 1857 he went to Utah, driving an ox team to pay for transportation. In 1860 he moved to Smithfield, Utah, and helped build the Fort there. Here again, he met the John Sant family and the friendships were renewed. The little Margaret he had left in England was now a beautiful young lady, charming, industrious, possessing the Sant gift of singing and entertaining.
The story goes that Margaret took care of Charles’ chores for the eggs and butter while he worked in the canyon. When he came back, Margaret wanted to continue the chores to make enough money to buy new shoes. It was agreeable with Charles, but Grandmother Sant objected. It was about this time that Jane and Nathan Smith intervened. They were going to be married on Monday and they suggested Charles and Margaret get married at the same time. “How about it, Margaret?” asked Charles. “It’s alright with me,” Margaret replied. John Sant Sr. married the two sisters to the two men on October 3, 1861, at Smithfield, Utah.
John Sant helped the men grease and pack their wagons as they were going to travel, with two other couples, to Salt Lake City, Utah to receive their endowments and be sealed in the Endowment House. They went by ox team. They had sheep pelts, hops, and butter to trade for things along the way. They had hay for the oxen, a tent and some bedding. The ladies sewed the temple clothes they would need, on the way, doing it all by hand. They drove two yokes of oxen, one pair was wild and the men had to take turns to herd and hold them. The men that rode in the wagon had to trade and hunt for something to eat. It took them seven days to go and come back.
They lived at Smithfield two and a half years and grew a garden and had several milk cows. Their first child, a son, Charles Jr. was born at Smithfield. They were then called to help settle Bear Lake Valley where, two and a half years later, Mary Jane, was born. They stayed only a little more than two years. Their grain was frozen both years and that which they gathered could not be made into bread. Since they had no threshing machine, they ground their grain in a coffee mill. They made a stiff mush and cut it into slices and fried it. They had all kinds of dairy products. Margaret told them they had good health and appetites and did not suffer for bread as much as for something sweet. They never had any sugar or sweetening.
In the fall of 1866, Margaret and Charles moved to Oxford, Idaho, and helped build a fort to protect them from the Indians. There Margaret kept a little flour for her two-year-old son, Charles, who was not well. Now it was all gone. He would not eat the frost-bitten bread. He said, “Let’s go to Grandma’s.” They went to where she lived at the end of the fort. When they came to the door, he ran to his Grandma and said, “Grandma, will you give me some good bread? I am hungry.” She took him on her lap and said she did not have any good bread either. She and the boy both cried. Margaret said that was a real trial as they had had plenty to eat and wear in England. She, like a true pioneer, took the boy and fixed some of the ‘hard times bread’ as they called it, and he ate some with her. Grandma asked her if she wished she was back in England and she said, “No, not with my testimony.”
Margaret had been married several years before she had a stove or window. She tacked white cloth over the frame to let in light and had a shutter made of split logs to close to keep the cold storms out. She used tallow candles for light until she had been married for ten years. Charles bought a lamp with a round wick. It was a real curiosity. They never used it except to sew or read, and they used candles to do evening chores. She weaved and spun cloth for clothing and sheet blankets.
Charles and Margaret moved from Oxford, Idaho to Clifton, Idaho to what then was called Dry Ranch. Later they moved to Banida, Idaho where they made better living dairying. Charles worked with others all summer to build a dam across Battle Creek.
They planted good crops and gardens and irrigated once when a cloudburst came with a flood and washed it all away. They fixed the dam and the next year planted crops when the grasshoppers came and took everything. They moved to Treasureton, Idaho. They moved the log house and built one room onto it. They also built a cellar and corrals and a good stable. Margaret made cheese and butter to sell in order to buy all the lumber, nails, and flooring, also shoes for the family. The house had one room upstairs with only loose boards, and they had to climb a ladder to get to it, but it was warm. Also, they had home-made carpets, straw ticks and plenty of bedding. Now they had six daughters and one son. The next year they had a good harvest and sent the three oldest children to school. All worked very hard and were comfortable at last.
Margaret had a good education for those days. She was cheerful and witty and was a beautiful singer. She was asked several times to sing at conferences, funerals and other gatherings.
The year, 1880, all of the family was working hard. They had added rooms to the house. The children did the milking, churning and other chores. They were comfortable. Margaret overdid while in a delicate condition. She had eight children, six girls, and two boys. The names were Charles Jr., Mary Jane, Fannie Eliza, Margaret, Catherine, Elizabeth, Thomas, and Martha Ellen. Her ninth baby was on the way. She and Charles were setting out cabbage plants in the garden. She began to hemorrhage and was very ill. Neighbors and relatives did everything they could to help her. They sent to Logan, Utah for a doctor. He came and said there was not much he could do until they could build her up. Blood poisoning set in and the end came too soon. She was sick for two weeks. On June 13, 1880, she died, a faithful member of the church, at age thirty-six. Her casket was homemade of red pine boards, covered with black velvet. She was buried in the Treasureton Cemetery, near the old home.
If a mother can be judged by her offspring, then this little woman was truly great for this family came through their adversities as through a refiners fire, pure gold. It is an honor to their family name, true Latter-day Saints and stalwarts in the communities in which they lived.
Written by a granddaughter, Mary Clifford Thomas
Married Charles Williams, 13 October 1861, Smithfield, Cache, Utah
Children - Charles Williams, Mary Jane Williams, Fannie Eliza Williams, Margaret Williams, Catherine Williams, Elizabeth Williams, Thomas James Williams, Martha Ellen Williams
History - Margaret Sant Williams was born at Middlewich, Chestershire, England, on February 20, 1844. She was the sixth child in a family of twelve. Her father was John Sant, born January 11, 1811, and her mother was Mary Shaw born January 2, 1813. The brothers and sisters were George, Hannah, John, Samual, Betsey, Jane, Mary, William, Joseph, Eliza, and Thomas. She was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at Rancour, England.
The Sant family was early converts to the L.D.S. church and their home was a sort of haven to the members of the church in that area. It was to that home that Charles Williams went after his baptism, being disowned and turned out by his own family. He was 22 years old, so Margaret would have been about 10 or 12, according to birthdates.
Her parents joined the church and started to save money for immigrating to Utah. The family numbered nine. All were grown, but two. They set sail April 16, 1861, on board the Manchester Sailing Vessel. They arrived in New York May 16, 1861, and traveled from there to Florence, Nebraska, where they had to leave clothing and bedding. They had done without real necessities to make warm quilts and clothing they so much needed in their wilderness home. They were only allowed enough to get to Utah. They hoped they could sell or trade their good bedding, but they werenever able to sell their goods.
They had one wagon for every twelve people, so all that were able, had to walk. Grandmother, Margaret, walked all the way to where Evanston, Wyoming is now. They were met there by her brother, George, who had come ahead several years before to prepare for the family. However, he was sent among the Indians and no money was earned. He had built a large dugout with a fireplace and had a cow toward making their living. They arrived in Salt Lake City in August 1861.
Charles Williams, Sr. encountered sickness, hardship and privation during the two years since he left England, arriving in New York on December 29, 1855. In 1857 he went to Utah, driving an ox team to pay for transportation. In 1860 he moved to Smithfield, Utah, and helped build the Fort there. Here again, he met the John Sant family and the friendships were renewed. The little Margaret he had left in England was now a beautiful young lady, charming, industrious, possessing the Sant gift of singing and entertaining.
The story goes that Margaret took care of Charles’ chores for the eggs and butter while he worked in the canyon. When he came back, Margaret wanted to continue the chores to make enough money to buy new shoes. It was agreeable with Charles, but Grandmother Sant objected. It was about this time that Jane and Nathan Smith intervened. They were going to be married on Monday and they suggested Charles and Margaret get married at the same time. “How about it, Margaret?” asked Charles. “It’s alright with me,” Margaret replied. John Sant Sr. married the two sisters to the two men on October 3, 1861, at Smithfield, Utah.
John Sant helped the men grease and pack their wagons as they were going to travel, with two other couples, to Salt Lake City, Utah to receive their endowments and be sealed in the Endowment House. They went by ox team. They had sheep pelts, hops, and butter to trade for things along the way. They had hay for the oxen, a tent and some bedding. The ladies sewed the temple clothes they would need, on the way, doing it all by hand. They drove two yokes of oxen, one pair was wild and the men had to take turns to herd and hold them. The men that rode in the wagon had to trade and hunt for something to eat. It took them seven days to go and come back.
They lived at Smithfield two and a half years and grew a garden and had several milk cows. Their first child, a son, Charles Jr. was born at Smithfield. They were then called to help settle Bear Lake Valley where, two and a half years later, Mary Jane, was born. They stayed only a little more than two years. Their grain was frozen both years and that which they gathered could not be made into bread. Since they had no threshing machine, they ground their grain in a coffee mill. They made a stiff mush and cut it into slices and fried it. They had all kinds of dairy products. Margaret told them they had good health and appetites and did not suffer for bread as much as for something sweet. They never had any sugar or sweetening.
In the fall of 1866, Margaret and Charles moved to Oxford, Idaho, and helped build a fort to protect them from the Indians. There Margaret kept a little flour for her two-year-old son, Charles, who was not well. Now it was all gone. He would not eat the frost-bitten bread. He said, “Let’s go to Grandma’s.” They went to where she lived at the end of the fort. When they came to the door, he ran to his Grandma and said, “Grandma, will you give me some good bread? I am hungry.” She took him on her lap and said she did not have any good bread either. She and the boy both cried. Margaret said that was a real trial as they had had plenty to eat and wear in England. She, like a true pioneer, took the boy and fixed some of the ‘hard times bread’ as they called it, and he ate some with her. Grandma asked her if she wished she was back in England and she said, “No, not with my testimony.”
Margaret had been married several years before she had a stove or window. She tacked white cloth over the frame to let in light and had a shutter made of split logs to close to keep the cold storms out. She used tallow candles for light until she had been married for ten years. Charles bought a lamp with a round wick. It was a real curiosity. They never used it except to sew or read, and they used candles to do evening chores. She weaved and spun cloth for clothing and sheet blankets.
Charles and Margaret moved from Oxford, Idaho to Clifton, Idaho to what then was called Dry Ranch. Later they moved to Banida, Idaho where they made better living dairying. Charles worked with others all summer to build a dam across Battle Creek.
They planted good crops and gardens and irrigated once when a cloudburst came with a flood and washed it all away. They fixed the dam and the next year planted crops when the grasshoppers came and took everything. They moved to Treasureton, Idaho. They moved the log house and built one room onto it. They also built a cellar and corrals and a good stable. Margaret made cheese and butter to sell in order to buy all the lumber, nails, and flooring, also shoes for the family. The house had one room upstairs with only loose boards, and they had to climb a ladder to get to it, but it was warm. Also, they had home-made carpets, straw ticks and plenty of bedding. Now they had six daughters and one son. The next year they had a good harvest and sent the three oldest children to school. All worked very hard and were comfortable at last.
Margaret had a good education for those days. She was cheerful and witty and was a beautiful singer. She was asked several times to sing at conferences, funerals and other gatherings.
The year, 1880, all of the family was working hard. They had added rooms to the house. The children did the milking, churning and other chores. They were comfortable. Margaret overdid while in a delicate condition. She had eight children, six girls, and two boys. The names were Charles Jr., Mary Jane, Fannie Eliza, Margaret, Catherine, Elizabeth, Thomas, and Martha Ellen. Her ninth baby was on the way. She and Charles were setting out cabbage plants in the garden. She began to hemorrhage and was very ill. Neighbors and relatives did everything they could to help her. They sent to Logan, Utah for a doctor. He came and said there was not much he could do until they could build her up. Blood poisoning set in and the end came too soon. She was sick for two weeks. On June 13, 1880, she died, a faithful member of the church, at age thirty-six. Her casket was homemade of red pine boards, covered with black velvet. She was buried in the Treasureton Cemetery, near the old home.
If a mother can be judged by her offspring, then this little woman was truly great for this family came through their adversities as through a refiners fire, pure gold. It is an honor to their family name, true Latter-day Saints and stalwarts in the communities in which they lived.
Written by a granddaughter, Mary Clifford Thomas
Family Members
Siblings
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
