Thursday, April 19, 2012


BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF ELIZABETH BOYES TRUMAN, PIONEER TO UTAH 1847
PIONEER TO ST.GEORGE, UTAH 1862

WRITTEN BY CLARE MARIA HOLT CHADBURN

Elizabeth Boyes was the daughter of George and Ann  (Gallard) Boyes.  She was born April 19, 1831, at LaHarp, Michigan.  Her childhood and early education took place in that State at the time it was the borderline of civilization, and physical learning on how to make gardens, milk cows and make butter and cheese, raise sheep, shear, wash, dye and spin the wool, was common knowledge among young ladies of her day, yet she learned to spell, read and write.  She was highly intellectual and each day of her entire life she added knowledge to her fine mind.

In her childhood she loved to roam the green hills of her homeland and gather the wild flowers and in the spring the winter-green berries to chew.  This flavor was always her favorite choice, throughout her life.

Her father was the fine type of Latter-day Saint. The missionaries found him when they were proselyting the gospel and as soon as he became a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he gathered his family and went to Nauvoo, to be with the Prophet Joseph Smith and the body of the Saints.

Her mother, Ann Gellard Boyes, one of God's noblewomen was endowed with faith to heal the sick, drive the power of the destroyer from her habitation and her talent was to set a table of abundance of the things of the earth with very little to do with. She  was a peacemaker and enjoyed, with her husband and children, the spirit of the Lord.  She died while crossing the plains in 1847, on her way to the valleys of the Rocky Mounts

Elizabeth Boyes, with her parents, brothers and sisters, were with the Saints when they were driven out of Nauvoo and spent the winter of 1846 at Council Bluffs Iowa.  It was here we presume she met Jacob Mica Truman who was born 30 August 1825 in New Your State.

He had not reached his 21st birthday when on 26 June 1846, Captain James Allen of the United States Army arrived at Mount Pisgah, Iowa and presented to these homeless, persecuted and driven refugees a circular asking for 500 men to take part in the war with Mexico.  He was among the first to volunteer/  He was placed in Company C with Captain James Brown, a company of 90 men and 14 officers in all.

According to Daniel Tylers journal, Jacob M. Truman was among the soldiers who made the entire trip to San Diago and up to Sutters Fork on the Sacramento River and was there when gold was discovered.  He obtained work from Captain John A Sutter.  Captain Sutter was hiring men to help build sawmills, flower mills and dig a mill race.  He was one  of the men Samuel Brannan met on his return trip after seeing President 'Brigham Young and they were advised to remain there in California for the winter and work.

He returned to Salt Lake Valley in the fall of 1849. Jacob Mica Truman took Elizabeth Boyes to be his bride.  They wore married by John Taylor on her 18th birthday.

Jacob and Elizabeth went down into the South East part of the valley and took up land in South Cottonwood and built a house, both went to work to plant a garden and a few acres of wheat that they might reap a harvest and be sustained in this barren desert land.

Soon after her marriage she was called at the age of 19, and set apart as a midwife and doctor.  This calling well became her, because by nature she was endowed with wisdom, sincere faith, and keen knowledge of the functioning of the human body.  The first child she brought into this world she was all alone.  She continued the practice of obstetrics (midwife)  until she was 75 years old and attributed all of her great success to her Father in Heaven, who had restored his priesthood authority  to men and they were always called in to administer and bless the patient whom mingled with her own faith was delivered in safety and brought back form the gates of death with a wee one safe and secure. Her calls were many and on horseback and on a wagon drawn by oxen, mules or horses, she answered all calls, going as far as 60 to 70 miles from her own home to do so.  Of such K words are great symbol to praise her name. surely there are laid up for them crown of glory for the reward of their lave and unselfishness.  We love them and will always revere the memory of such heroinism  as Elizabeth Boyes Truman.

When she had three children,  Martha Ann, John Franklin and Emma Maria, her husband went back to the States to get his mother and his two widowed sisters, Maria and Lauretta. He was gone a year. In that year she milked cows and made butter sufficient to clear the indebtedness of $300. on their place.  It was one of the outstanding homes and small farms in that district.  They were so proud of it and were prospering very will when the call came for them to pioneer into Utah' Dixie Country.

Obedient tot he call the place was sold and wagon and outfit was purchased and sometime  in the spring or fall of 1862 they with others and their little family of seven children set out.

Brigham Young had visited Southern Utah and could see resources there that would make a more self-supporting people and put to use their trade and abilities.  Therefore in the year of 1857 he called 28 families who were  from the cotton growing states of Virginia, Tennessee, and Texas to move south, then in 1862 many fore were called so that by March 22, 1862, sufficient  members had responded that a Conference was called ant the City of St.George was divided into 4 Wards.  That fall 100,000 pounds of cotton was raised in Washington Co, Utah.
This trip was the most trying, hard and perilous trip our pioneers encountered.  When they came to  that great Black Ridge, northeast of St.George, grandmother, Elizabeth B. Truman could not see how they would ever get over it and the story is told how in places the gulches were so straight and narrow it was necessary to unload the wagon, take them apart and peace by peace taken to the other side of the gully. Such obstacles overcame the doubt of "how on earth would they ever be able to live in such a desolate looking place."

While on the road George Almus Truman, her little son of five years fell out of the wagon and had his leg broken.  The company laid over one day to set the limb and then journeyed on the next day.

They lived in their wagon until they could build a small adobe home.  It was shelter and was dear to them, with its surroundings of mesquite and arrow willows.  Soon a garden was planted, trees brought from the mountain and flowers edging the walk and geraniums in the windows made it Home sweet home to everyone
The water here was blackish in color and warm, very unsatisfactory to quenching the thirst and  made the entire family ill.

The first three or four summers that the Truman family  moved up on the south side of Pine Valley Mountain and made butter and cheese for everyone who had cows in the settlement around.

In 1870, they moved to Mountain Meadows,  here she experienced some real thrilling experiences; one day she looked out of the window and saw her husband running toward the house just as fast as he could run, another man was pursuing him, almost upon him.  Grandpa Truman darted into the house, shut the door and slipped upstairs, the man opened the door and hollered "where is Jake", she pointed toward the kitchen. At another time the same villain came to her home, sneaking in and seeing her table set for dinner, took the plates and one by one broke them as he threw them to the floor.  With the indians  and the constant fear of them she was glad to leave the town of Hamblin and move.

It was in April 1877 Elizabeth Boyes Truman moved from Mountain Meadows to a farm 2 1/2 miles below Gunlock, Utah. Here she planted an orchard, obtained a weaving loom for weaving homemade carpets and rugs, and with her practice of being a midwife she lived here for thirty-eight years.

Gunlock was a very small place and had only a small community square with a one-room school house and meeting house combined, also for a public  amusement hall located on the square.  The nearest store was at St. George, which was 20 miles away and would take a complete day of travel to get there and a complete day to return. They received mail only when someone went to St. George therefore they didn't get many letters and they wrote very few.

In the month of June 1874 Grandfather and Grandmother Truman their daughter Emma Maria and Franklin Overton Holt left St. George for Salt Lake City in a covered wagon. The  occasion was to have their young folks married by the authority of the church in the proper way.  This was done in the endowment house on the 6th day of July 1874 for time and all eternity and sealed for that purpose by Pres. Brigham Young.

It took three weeks to make this long trip to Salt Lake and three weeks to return home again.  Such faith and obedience to the principles as taught by their elders make us of today marvel at their loyalty and desire to adhere to wise council.  When they arrived in the city they went to Elizabeth's sister  Nona Boyes Taylor.  Nona was touched at the sings of tail and hardships as shown on the brow, hands and bent back, also the poverty of dress and equipment so she said, "Out yonder in plenty of corn if you will shuck it, you may ;have all your wagon will hold."  Thanking the Good Father above and loving their kind sister and aunt more that more words con express they set to work and in a few hours the wagon was heaped to running over with golden ears of corn.  They took it with the bags of dried peaches, to the market and sold it, buying every cent in needed clothing, shoes, yarn and yardage goods.  Oh, how happy they were and Elizabeth  was heard saying "Alright, Jacob, we can go home now and be assured we are covered until prosperity and markets come to Southern Utah."  Those who lived in the northern part of the state of Utah where the railroad came to carry the crops to market will never know the struggle of the saints in the Southern part of the state where the railroad never went. Each family raised an abundance and could neither trade nor sell or give away their surplus for even a postage stamp.

Her home in Gunlock was situated 2 1/2 miles below the town and when "Grandfather Truman was gone from home, which was a great part of the time, as his second wife, Katie Maxfield Truman and family still lived upon the farm at Mountain Meadows.  Grandmother Elizabeth Boyes Truman would take her entire family and walk to Sunday School and Sacrament meeting every Sunday.

She was a teacher in Sunday School and taught the Book of Mormon class for many years.  She was also appointed President of the Relief Society on 7 Nov.1895 and served until 1897 when she was released.

In 1896 when she was 65 years old Elder Matthias F. Cowley an apostle visiting them asked her how old she was and she answered"65 years." He replied "You  are good for 20 more years or more" and she lived 22 years more. enjoying the fruits of her labor in the well organized and faithful sons and daughters.  They loved her and her grandchildren revered her and knew her taste for green peas, mashed potatoes, dried peaches, stewed and made into pie with nutmeg sprinkled upon it.

The summer time is very warm and when grandma was coming to spend the day the children would draw water from the well and sprinkle it all over the dooryard and walls of the house to cool and make pleasant the arbor where she could sit and enjoy herself as she sat to knit and visit with them

She had many beautiful traits of character as well as beauty of feature, her eyes were black and smiling wrinkles, that  patience, sympathy and true devotion to her God and his children had etched about her mouth with her white hair she was very beautiful.  Her stature was short and rather plump.  She was neatness itself in every thing she did.  She often remarked," No one had ever seen her bed unmade, nor her dishes not done". Indeed work was her philosophy, she had cut and dried enough fruit to encircle the glove, made quilts sufficient to cove the families of a city, woven miles of carpet, besides tons of butter and cheese, bushels of wild fruits gathered and she followed day after day garnering wheat after the man  who cut wit an old-fashioned grain cradle.  We have no count of the babies she brought into the world nor the lives she saved through her administrations.  she always reminded her grandchildren to always do two jobs while you are doing one.  For instance, if you went to feed the cow, always bring back an armful of wood on your return; if you went for water draw an extra bucket and put in the trough fort the animals in the yard to drink; if you went visiting take your stitching or knitting with you thus wasting not a minute of the day so that at its close you may truthfully say, "Something accomplished, something done has earned a night rest."

These latter-day women of the first generation were Saints defending a new religion, they were also Saints of perfection as they lived their span of life,

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