JACOB MICA TRUMAN

JACOB MICA TRUMAN
Jacob Mica Truman, son of Martha Patty Spencer and John Frank Truman, was born in Niagara, New York, August 30, 1825. In the early 1840̓s he heard and accepted the Gospel along with .other members of his family. When the call came for five hundred Mormon men to form a battalion, Jacob was among the first to volunteer. He was assigned to Company “C.”

Jacob loved to ride horses and when new horses were bought to replace those that had died along the way, Jacob helped to break them in. One day he tried to ride a very wild animal. The horse ran under a tree whose branches knocked Jacob to the ground and he was badly hurt. The doctor of the company said he would not live long that they would have to go on and leave him there to die. Four of his comrades begged the doctor to dress the wounds and let them stay behind with him for a little while. The request was granted. As soon .as the company moved on, the four boys formed a circle and offered up a fervent prayer for the recovery of their comrade. After a short time Jacob was sufficiently recovered to be put on a horse and all rejoined the camp that evening. The doctor, not being of their faith said:
“You can̓t kill those d_ _ _  Mormons.”

After Jacob̓s release from service, he stayed in California and Panned gold. He brought back a small sack of nuggets to Salt Lake. Soon after he met, fell in love with and married Elizabeth Boyce.They had three children when he married Catherine Maxwell. He built two homes and purchased a small farm for each of his families.

In 1860 Jacob was called to help settle small communities located in Southern Utah. Later he was called by President Erastus Snow to help settle a small town, named Hamblin, where he served as Presiding Elder. He passed away November 31, 1881.

—Lauretta Hunt Ross




In 1830 Jacob and his family removed to Charlottesville, Upper
Canada. In 1838 they were residing in Ypsilanti, Washtenaw,
Michigan, and were converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints (Life Sketch, Jacob Truman). They migrated to
Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, to be with the Saints, and on 10 June
1845 Jacob was baptized into the Church by Lyman Stoddard (Life
Sketch, Jacob Truman). On 22 August 1845 he was given his patriarchal blessing and on 30 August 1845 was ordained a seventy Patriarchal BlessingIndex; Early Church File).Religious persecution forced him to flee with his mother from Illinois to Iowa Territory.
In Council Bluffs he enlisted in the Mormon Battalion. He marched with the battalion from Council Bluffs to Ciudad de los Angeles. During the march Jacob was responsible for caring for the stock: One day, while attempting to “break” a mule for riding, the mule ran under a tree, bucking as he went. A low branch knocked Jacob from the saddle and he lay bleeding on the ground. A few hours later he was found by his companions. . . . At first Jacob was thought to be dead, but he was not, although the blow had laid open his head to the bone, in a gash from ear to ear. The Army doctor examined him and said he could do nothing. Since the Army was breaking camp, they decided to leave him to die as they had no facilities to care for him while traveling. After much persuasion, three members of the Battalion obtained permission to stay and bury Jacob . . . as soon as the Army had left, the elders laid hands on Jacob and administered to him. . . . Jacob had not only been healed through the power of the priesthood, but had walked a day̓s journey across the desert, with only a scar to show that an accident had occurred. . . . When the doctor saw him, he exclaimed, “You can̓t even kill those d---- Mormons!” (Clegg, “You Can̓t Kill Those D--- Mormons!”, qtd. in When Faith Writes the Story)
After his discharge Jacob migrated to northern California, where he panned for gold. In 1848 he helped pioneer a wagon road over the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Salt Lake Valley (Carter, Heart Throbs, 9:461). In the valley he became reaquainted with Elizabeth Boyce, whom he was married to by John Taylor (Pension File)
Jacob and Elizabeth resided on twelve acres in South Cottonwood, enduring the cricket plagues and all the hardships of pioneer life (Life Sketch, Jacob Truman). By 1850 they had accumulated a real wealth of $200 through farming (Utah Federal Census, 1850). On 25 August 1852 Jacob was given his endowment and was sealed to his wife in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City (TIB). In 1853 he returned east to help his mother and sisters migrate to the Salt Lake Valley (Life Sketch, Jacob Truman).
After his plural marriage, he built two houses and purchased a small farm for each wife in Salt Lake City (Carter, Treasures 4:496). Family tradition purports that his plural wife, Julia, argued with his other wives, which led to her divorce from him (Life Sketch, Jacob Truman).
By 1860 Jacob had accrued a real wealth of $400 from produce grown on his one-hundred-and-three acre farm in South Cottonwood (Utah Federal Census, 1860). In late 1860 he accepted a settling mission call to Peoa, Summit, Utah. In 1861 he was reassigned to settle in St. George, Washington County. In 1868 he became the presiding Church authority at Fort Hamblin, Washington County. By 1870 he was residing in Mountain Meadows, Washington County, and had accumulated a real wealth of $500 and a personal wealth of $700 through farming (Utah Federal Census, 1870).
In 1877 Jacob was living in Gunlock, Washington County. He died from pneumonia at the age of 56.

PIONEER AND SERVANT OF GOD

Jacob Mica Truman was one of those remarkable individuals that always seemed to be in the right place at the right time, doing all of the right things, but never being recognized for his part in the great events for which he took part. For instance, Jacob was in Nauvoo defending Brigham Young and other Mormon church leaders during persecutions and expulsion of the Mormons from Illinois, during  the summer, fall and winter of 1845 & 1846. Jacob participated in the trek west to Winter Quarters , leaving Nauvoo in the dead of winter with his Mother’s family as the Saints were driven from their homes. Jacob enlisted in the Mormon Battalion when the first call came for volunteers to fight in the Mexican
War. Jacob was also  at Sutters mill in 1847 when gold was found in California.  He stayed that winter, panned for gold, and traveled to Salt Lake City with the first group to cross the mountains eastward bearing news of the gold discovery in California.

In Utah, Jacob was instrumental in settling the South Cottonwood settlements of Salt Lake County.  Later he helped settle Peoa, Summit County Utah., and became one of the first “Selectmen for Summit County.  While in Cottonwood he witnessed the miracle of the seagulls during the summers of 1852-1853,   the Cottonwood settlements being the hardest hit. Yet built one of the best farms in the area. During the Utah War Jacob was a Captain in the Nauvoo Legion as the Mormons defied the U.S. Government.   As a member of Utah̓s militia he participated in some of the early confrontations between the early settlers and the Indians. When the call came to settle St. George in 1860, Jacob volunteered to go.. And finally he was willing to help settle Mountain Meadows, the sight of the Mountain Meadows Massacre when others refused.

Though Jacob Truman held no high callings, he served his God and his church with much devotion.. During his lifetime he was known as “Old Walking Jesus”, because of the way he would encourage others to obey the commandments of God. While in Hamblin, Utah he served as Presiding Elder to the Saints there.  To his dying day he was known to have a fervent testimony of the restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith, and he never missed  an opportunity to share his testimony or his support for the church to those who would listen. He was a defender of the doctrines of the Church, and while it was difficult, he supported two families, rearing children who would remain strong in the Church, and in the gospel, for years to come. Jacob Mica Truman was truly a man born to the times in which he lived. Though he never gained any notoriety for what he did, he always managed to be in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing.

I ANCESTRY

Jacob Mica Truman, was the youngest of five children born to John Franklin (Frank) Truman and Martha (Patty) Spencer. He was born the 30th of August 1825, probably on his father̓s farm not far from Niagara Falls, in Niagara County, New York, a backwoods area of Western New York barely in the process of being settled. Jacob Truman was born into the hardships of life that accompanied those adventurous enough to leave the easier life in the firmly established settlements of the East and venture into the largely unsettled West, in an attempt to better themselves and their families. Jacob̓s ancestry was firmly rooted in frontier America. His mother was descended from the early colonial settlers of Massachusetts and Connecticut who had left their native homeland to seek religious freedom in America̓s untamed wilderness. His father̓s family was from the Dutch settlements of New York.
Jacob̓s mother, Martha (Patty) Spencer, was born July 22, 1793 in the town of Unadilla, Otsego County, New York, where her father, Mica Spencer, had spent his youth. Mica Spencer had moved to Unadilla from Massachusetts with his family as a child. In 1792 he married Rhoda Mudge, a local girl and started raising a large family. Mica Spencer and his family lived in Unadilla until Martha (Patty), their oldest child was about thirteen years old. At that time Mica, along, with some of his brothers decided to move to Tioga County, Pennsylvania. In 1806 Tioga County was a newly settled area with great tracts of land that were still unoccupied. Mica, and his brothers found an area near what is now Canoe Camp, Richmond Township which was not yet been settled. After scouting out it̓s possibilities they soon settled there.
Soon after the family had moved to Tioga County, Martha̓s uncle, Amos Spencer, built a grist mill to grind flour while the others started farming. Later, Amos also built a sawmill to provide lumber for many of the new settlers who were moving into the area. This lumber was needed to build permanent houses and barns. Amos̓ saw mill kept many of the family employed, both logging and sawing lumber while they struggled to get their own farms going. As other settlers moved into the area the towns of Mansfield, Canoe Camp, Lamb̓s Creek, and Kellytown were founded. Mica Spencer, always seeking to improve his family̓s station in life, and taking advantage of the increased population opened a bookstore which provided extra income for his family. It was while living in Tioga County that Martha (Patty) met John Franklin Truman.
John Franklin (Frank) Truman was born the 28th of January, 1789, either in Connecticut or Vermont, the son of Jacob Luther Truman and Anna Latham. While it is not known exactly where he was born, we know spent his early youth in Burlington, Vermont on the shores of Lake Champlain. Burlington at this time was a small community slowly becoming a shipping point on Lake Champlain. It was tied closely with the other communities surrounding the lake. Lake Champlain acted like a tiny sea with commerce flowing from community to community along it̓s shores. It was also closely tied with Quebec, Canada, Lake Champlain being the natural trading route between New York and Canada. This area of Vermont was settled mostly by people from Connecticut and New York, with portions along the border with Canada being settled by Loyalists from the Revolutionary War. Jacob Luther Truman was from one of these Loyalist families.
Shortly before 1800 his parents moved across the lake to Plattsburgh, New York, a rival shipping port. It was about this time that John (Frank) was apprenticed out to another family to learn a trade. In apprenticeships the employer usually furnished food, clothes, lodging and some schooling, while the apprentice was required to work assisting his employer in what ever work was needed. Eventually the apprentice was to learn a useful trade. After a time this family moved away and John lost track of his family. John stayed in his apprenticeship until he was twenty one, when his apprenticeship ended.
Whomever he was apprenticed to had apparently moved to the area of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, and John (Frank) moved with them. Because soon after his release he met Martha (Patty) Spencer and in 1810 they were married. For a time John and Martha stayed in Tioga County where John built Martha a nice frame house, which~stood on a knoll just South of Kelleytown. This house was later used as one of the first school houses in the area.
John and Martha did not stay long in Tioga County, though. Shortly before Anna Maria was born, in 1811, they moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. An important commercial center, and departure point for people traveling down the Ohio River to the Western lands beyond. They stayed in Pittsburgh until after their second daughter, Adeliza Lauretta, was born. They then moved back to Tioga County for a while before moving on to New York.
It is not completely known where John and Martha first moved to in New York. Family tradition states that at one time they lived not far from the St. Lawrence River in Northern New York where John ran a tavern and the family “owned land with many maple sugar trees growing, where they made enough for their own use and to spare.” This tradition has not been verified. It is more likely that they moved straight to the area of Niagara township, Niagara County, New York where John (Frank) purchased 200 acres of land from the Holland Land Company in 1821. This land may have had sugar maple trees on it where they produced their own sugar. This land was also not far from Niagara Falls along the Niagara river, and it is entirely possible that John, in addition to farming, ran an inn or tavern in the neighborhood as this was along a major trading route to Ontario, Canada.
While living in New York in 1820, John and Martha̓s third daughter, Rhoda Sarah, was born. In 1822 or 1823 Almus Spencer, their first son, was born in Canada, possibly while visiting Martha̓s relatives in Charlottesville. In 1825 Jacob Mica was born, this time back in New York, in Niagara County where the family farm was.
John̓s father, Jacob Luther Truman, at this time was also living in Niagara County, New York, having bought a farm in 1823 next to John and Martha in the neighboring township of Wheatfield. John, no doubt, not only took the opportunity to get re-acquainted with his father, but also to meet his new step-mother, Abigail Horton, and his three young half-brothers. Jacob Luther Truman, sometime shortly after John had been apprenticed in 1800 had apparently left his mother (or his mother had left Jacob), had moved to Clark twp., Ontario, Canada, later to Toronto, and finally back to New York where he met Abigail Horton and married her. John and Jacob operated their farms next to each other until John decided to move to Canada in 1830.
It was while living in Niagara County that John decided to visit his mother, who had stayed behind in Burlington, Vermont and had since remarried. He took his brother-in-law George C. Spencer and started off for Burlington. When they arrived they found his mother at home one night George was to do the talking. He did so and they got permission to stay. John kept his hat on. He had curly hair and thought his mother might recognize him. She looked at him, walked over and raised his hat, and said: “John, my son.” What a happy meeting that must have been. They sat up and talked all night.




II- BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD

After Jacob Mica̓s birth in 1825 his family stayed in Niagara for almost five years. While his father tried to make their new farm productive. Jacob̓s grandfather Mica Spencer had moved back with Jacob Mica̓s family after living in Charlottesville, Canada for a while. About 1828 many of Jacob Mica̓s family took sick, probably with the ague and his grandmother, Rhoda Mudge, finally became so ill that she died on October 1st, 1828. This unhealthiness of the area, along with the apparent inability to make their farm productive, and other financial woes, finally became too much for John and Martha Truman. Mica Spencer, who was living with them, and who had apparently also had just suffered some financial setbacks when his son, Roswell, lost the land they were trying to buy, expressed their sentiments in a letter to a purchasing agent in Canada, Here Mica expressed his desire to move to Canada, where he thought life would be better. He wrote:
Niagara, N.Y. Sept. 23d, 1829

Owning to sickness and other misfortunes we were unable to pay for the soil of the lot Roswell Articled for in this place. We have sold our improvements and as Dorastus and Amos have purchased a lot at Long Point we should like to go there too... Mrs. Spencer is dead she died the first day of last October. The rest of the family are all living but some are in a very indifferent state of health vis. myself Roswell George and Sophia.. We came here to get into a healthy country. Than which a more unhealthy place cannot be found on the face of Go̓s earth. the inhabitants have more the appearance of Dondering Ghosts than living mortals if we can once more get well seated in Canada the inhabitants of the States may enjoy all their boasted liberty (which God knows is more wind that reality) and welcome.”

Before the end of the year, Jacob̓s whole family including his grandfather, Mica Spencer and his family, had moved to Charlottesville, Canada. On the way, possibly while visiting with John Truman̓s brother Almus in Ogdensburg, Almus Spencer, Jacob̓s only brother, took sick and on the Th of January 1830 he died in Ogdensburg, New York; leaving Jacob as the only son in a family of three sisters.
Jacob and his family lived in Canada for eight years. While there, they worked together to build a new home. Not long after they had arrived, Lauretta started seeing a young man named Henry Barnum. He was a local boy who had grown up in the vicinity. Henry worked as a boatman or mariner on Lake Erie. As John was an inn keeper after moving to Charlottesville, it was only natural that he would have met some of John̓s family. The courtship must not have lasted long for on the 22nd of March, 1831, hardly a year after they had arrived in Charlottesville, Lauretta, then only 16, and Henry Barnum were married by the local Presbyterian minister. Listed as witnesses at the marriage were John F. Truman, Mica Spencer, and Jacob̓s nine year old sister Rhoda.
As a consequence of Lauretta knowing Henry Barnum, Anna Maria met Henry̓s brother, James Barnum. They quickly fell in love and they were married a year afterward on the 20th of June 1832, at the local Baptist church.
During these years the family stayed together and worked hard, making improvements to the land on which they lived. Jacob helped out where he could laboring in the fields, helping his father and uncles clear land, and helping make the necessary improvements to their land as well as helping in the inn that his father operated..
In 1837 Upper Canada, as Ontario was then known, became embroiled in the midst of political turmoil. Due to some of the arbitrary decisions make by many of the British appointed officials, who seemed to favor the rich and landed interests over the less wealthy settlers, many of whom were originally from the United States, a revolt broke out, led by William Lyon Mackenzie. This was an effort to get Canada to join the United States. One of the hotbeds of the revolt was the area of Long Point and Charlottesville. This revolt, or Patriot̓s Rebellion as it was known, was quickly put down in December of 1837, and many of it̓s leaders were captured. At least one of Jacob̓s uncles took part in this revolt. Henry Barnum was captured during the rebellion, tried for treason, and transported to Tasmania for life imprisonment, the family thinking he was dead. John F. Truman, Mica Spencer, James Barnum, Lauretta Barnum, and their families all quickly left, and by 1838 were all living in the area if Ypsilanti, Washtenaw County, Michigan. A short distance from Detroit.
It was while Jacob̓s family lived in Michigan that tragedy struck his family. On December 26th, 1839, the day after Christmas, just a year after they had moved to Michigan, John F. Truman, according to tradition, went “fishing” and never returned - dying while away from his family. Jacob was only 14 when this happened and he was left to help care for his mother, something he faithfully did until she died. For a time Martha, Rhoda, and Jacob lived with his sister Lauretta and her family where they appeared in the 1840 census of Ypsilanti, Michigan.
         It was while they were living in Ypsilanti that Jacob̓s family first heard about the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the Gospel by Joseph Smith, from missionaries sent out from Nauvoo. Lauretta was presumably the first to receive the Gospel and was baptized November 17th, 1842. The rest of the family didn̓t accept the Church quite as fast. Apparently wanting time to think about this new religion before joining.

  NAUVOO AND THE JOURNEY WEST
                 About this time a lot of things started happening at once to Jacob̓s family. First, Anna Maria̓s husband died in 1842 leaving her with three small children. Rhoda married Stephen Hicks in 1844 and moved away. And Mica Spencer decided to move to Knox County, Illinois in 1845, where a small Mormon settlement had been established by Michigan Saints gathering to the vicinity of Nauvoo as Brigham Young had urged. The whole family moved with Mica Spencer, and after their arrival in Illinois Lauretta married Ashel Murrey as a second wife. It was also at this time that Jacob decided to seriously consider joining the Church. He wanted to go to Nauvoo before doing so however, so in the summer of 1845, while Brigham Young was trying to gather the scattered Saints to Nauvoo and making plans to travel West the next spring, Jacob moved to Nauvoo where he was baptized June 10th 1845 by Lyman Stoddard. Two months later on the 22nd of August Jacob received his patriarchal blessing. Eight days later, on his twentieth birthday he was ordained a Seventy in the 30th Quorum of Seventies.
            When the Saints were driven from Nauvoo in the winter and early spring of 1846, Jacob returned to Knox County, and with his mother and sister, Anna Maria, gathered their possessions and oxen, and gathered with the Saints on the West side of the Mississippi River. During the spring and early summer they struggled across Iowa to Council Bluffs where semi-permanent camps were being made to gather the Saints. While at Council Bluffs, the call for the Mormon Battalion came and Jacob Mica Truman enlisted on the 16th of July 1846 in Company “C” commanded by Capt. James Brown.
           There were only five days to prepare for service with the battalion. Jacob left his mother and sister in the best care that he could and departed with the Battalion around the 21st of July and traveled to Fort Leavenworth, in Kansas, to be outfitted and equipped for their journey. Since no one was familiar with such a lengthy march for infantry, estimates of what supplies were needed were greatly underestimated. This was to trouble the Battalion throughout their whole march.
          All of the men liked their first commander, Colonel James Allen, the man who had raised the
Battalion. But shortly after they left Ft. Leavenworth he took sick and died. His Replacement
Lt. Col. A.J. Smith of the regular Army was extremely unliked and many of the men wanted to make
Capt. Jefferson Hunt of Company “A” their commander, he being the senior officer of the Battalion
itself. This request was turned down, and it wasn̓t until October 19th, 10 days before arriving at
Santa Fe, that Lt. Cot. Philip St. George Cooke arrived to take permanent command of the Battalion.
He was regarded by all as a just and honorable soldier.
One of the officers that the Battalion disliked most was Dr. Sanderson, the Battalion doctor and a non-Mormon. Most of the men regarded Dr. Sanderson with a mixture of fear and loathing. Many times Dr. Sanderson showed his contempt and dislike for the “Mormon” Battalion members, and was willing to let many men suffer rather than to properly treat them. Most men were willing to endure their illnesses and the rigors of marching with the Battalion rather than to submit to Dr. Sanderson̓s “cures” before being allowed to ride in the sick wagons.
         Since Jacob was one of the younger Battalion members, one of his duties was to help care for the stock and help “break in” any new animals they got for their work. One of these animals, either a mule or a horse, was especially wild, and when Jacob tried to mount it, it ran off running and bucking wildly into the desert with Jacob on top. Three different versions of this story relate what happened next:

           “The horse ran under a tree whose branches knocked Jacob to the ground and he was badly hurt. The doctor of the company said he would not live long - that they would have to go on and leave him there to die. Four of his comrades begged the doctor to dress his wounds and let them stay behind with him for a little while. The request was granted. As soon as the company moved on, the four boys formed a circle and offered up a fervent prayer for the recovery of their comrade. After a short time Jacob was sufficiently recovered to be put on a horse and all rejoined the camp that evening. The doctor, not being of their faith said: ‘You can̓t kill those d...
             One day, while attempting to “break” a mule for riding, the mule ran bolting and bucking across the desert. He ran under a tree, bucking as he went. A low branch knocked Jacob from the saddle and he lay bleeding on the ground. A few hours later he was found by his companions, who had traced the mules tracks when the mule had returned to camp riderless. At first, Jacob was thought to be dead, but he was not, although the blow had laid open his head to the bone, in a gash from ear to ear. The Army doctor examined him and said he could do nothing. Since the Army was breaking camp, they decided to leave him to die as they had no facilities to care for him while traveling. After much persuasion, three members of the Battalion obtained permission to stay and bury Jacob, promising to catch up with the remainder of the Army at their next camp.” “As soon as the Army left, the Elders laid hands on Jacob and administered to him.” “Meanwhile, the remainder of the Battalion kept watch for their comrades who had stayed behind. As they looked back on their trail, a moving dot became larger and larger until finally it was evident to all that walking toward them were four, not three men as expected! Jacob had not only been healed through the power of the Priesthood, but had walked a day̓s journey across the desert, with only a scar to show that an accident had occurred (the scar he carried to his grave).” “When the doctor saw him, he exclaimed, ‘You can̓t even kill those d... Mormons!”

          Jacob M. Truman had a scar on his head five inches across and ½ inch deep. A horse fell with him as he ran under a tree. The tree cut his head. He laid there all night and then made his way back to camp. The doctor said that couldn̓t hold the whole camp for him, ‘He won̓t live more than an hour anyway.̓ They asked the doctor to bind up his wound. The doctor didn̓t want to, but did anyway. Brother Morris (sic Moore) and three other men stayed with him and told the camp that they would catch up with them by Noon. As soon as they were out of sight, the four brethren knelt down and blessed him. He got up and walked back to camp. The doctor never had to bind the wound up again. The doctor said: ‘The God damned Mormons - Knock all their brains out and they get up and walk.”
The Mormon Battalion, on its march to California, is pictured here as it reached the Gila River after afifty-two-hour forced dry march.
           After Jacob and the men left Santa Fe, their supply situation became worse. Not only were they footsore~, but their food supply was running out rapidly. Eventually the Battalion was forced to start eating some of their own oxen before arriving at the San Diego Mission on January 29th, 1847.
After the Battalion arrived at San Diego, and until the battalion was discharged, the Battalion preformed garrison duty at San Diego, San Luis Rey, and Los Angeles. After their release, those who did not want to re-enlist, which was the majority, traveled as a group north to the Sacramento River with the intent to lay over there, a few days before crossing the mountains to the East and finding the body of the Saints. Jacob was among this group.
                In August this company reached Sutter̓s Fort where they rested and relaxed while they prepared lix the rest of their journey. While at Sutter̓s Fort they met Sam Brennan with the news that the pioneers had reached the Salt Lake Valley. He seemed discouraged that he had not been able to convince Brigham Young to settle the saints in the more fertile and prosperous areas of California, instead of the barren wastes of the Salt Lake Valley. He also brought with him an epistle from the Apostles instructing those Battalion members who did not have the means to finish the trip to Salt Lake to remain in California over the winter and work; and then to bring their earnings with them to Salt Lake in the spring.
              About half of the men decided to stay the winter, while the others forged ahead to the Salt Lake Valley. Jacob decided he had better stay and was able to find employment nearby. couldn̓t hold the whole camp for him,One of the larger employers in the area was John Sutter.  He was attempting to build a grist mill and flume to supplement his large land holdings. In order to build these he employed many of the former Battalion members who were in the area seeking work. It is possible that Jacob found a job there also, for in January of 1848 gold was discovered at Sutter̓s Mill by James Brown a former Battalion member employed by John Sutter.. “Gold Fever” quickly spread like wild fire and just about everybody dropped what they were doing and started hunting for gold, which they found was quite easy to find. Jacob joined in  this hysteria and panned for gold most of that winter; and reportedly brought back a small sack of it with him to Salt Lake.
     Wanting to get back to their families an expedition of former  Battalion members, including Jacob formed early the next spring to travel to Salt Lake. They planned to go in early May but were forced to wait until July 2nd before they found the passes through the Sierra Nevadas clear enough to go. On October 1st 1848 they arrived in Salt Lake where they were heartily welcomed.














IV - SOUTH COTTONWOOD

       Soon after arriving in Salt Lake, on April 19th, 1849 Jacob married Elizabeth Boyce, the daughter of George Boyce. The Boyces had lived in Redford and Livonia, Michigan, where they had become members of the Church, before corning West with the Saints in 1847. Redford and Livonia are close to Ypsilanti and were the centers of the Church in Southern Michigan. No doubt Jacob and Elizabeth had already become acquainted with each other there, while Jacob was investigating the Chui~h and before he moved to Nauvoo. On seeing her already in Salt Lake he quickly fell in love and married her.
            After their marriage Jacob received an allotment of 12 acres of land in South Cottonwood on the Northwest corner of what is now Lakewood Drive and Woodcrest Drive in Salt Lake. Jacob and Elizabeth worked hard to build a home and plant crops to sustain them. Twice in those early years they had to endure cricket infestations which destroyed many of their crops. South Cottonwood         Elizabeth Boyce Truman - Jacob ‘s 1st wife was one of the hardest hit. But, through their hard work and industriousness they were able to overcome these difficulties and add another 22 acres on the East side, between Woodcrest Drive and Highland Drive, to their holdings. Gradually they were also able to acquire 46 additional acres to the west and north on which Jacob planned to settle his mother and sisters, who had not yet arrived in Utah.
            Jacob supplemented his income by serving as an officer in the Nauvoo Legion, as Utah̓s state militia was then called. In February of 1850 he was called on with the rest of his company on an expedition against some Indians who had killed some cattle and stolen some horses. Expeditions like these paid well for early Utah, with Jacob as a private making as much as a dollar-fifty to two dollars a day while gone. This was much needed cash at a time when any sort of currency was scarce in Utah.
           Jacob gradually came up through the ranks to become first a lieutenant, then finally Captain, commanding his own company in 1857.  Jacob̓s first three children - Martha Ann, John Franklin, and Emma Boyce were born during this time and before Jacob went back East to bring his mother and family to Utah. Martha Ann was born in 1850, John Franklin in 1851, and Emma Maria in 1852.
           In 1853 Jacob decided it was time to go back East and bring his mother and sisters back to Utah. In 1849 Jacob̓s grandfather, Mica Spencer had died leaving only his uncle George C. Spencer to care for them. Martha and Anna Maria had originally gone to Council Bluffs during the exodus from Nauvoo, and had intended to emigrate with the main body of the Saints, but were financially unable to. They had since moved back to their farm in Knox County where they were joined by
              Lauretta̓s family and were waiting for Jacob to come back for them. Jacob brought them to Utah the next year in 1854, as part of a small independent company led by Peregrine Sessions. After their arrival he settled them on some of the land he had previously prepared for them in South Cottonwood  After returning to Salt Lake, Jacob was called by Brigham Young to enter into polygamy by taking a second wife, Catherine  Maxwell. Catherine had received the gospel in her native Scotland along with her family. A man named Gaddis had helped pay her way to Utah with the intention of marrying her when she arrived. But Brigham Young had advised him to many someone else first and to marry Catherine as a second wife. After she arrived in Salt Lake and found out the situation, Catherine refused to man~r him, and made her brother tell him that she wouldn̓t. She said: “I will not be the second wife to any man.”           She later met Jacob, and, since he was more to her liking, quickly broke her oath and married him on December 21st, 1856. Brigham Young officiated. Catherine and Elizabeth were able to get along. Catherine had to learn to cook and clean house, something she hadn̓t learned to do in Scotland because she had worked in factones all of her life. Jacob helped in the training and she did learn to cook somewhat. But she never did learn the fine art of proper housekeeping, Jacob never did complain though, so they got along just fine.
Jacob̓s third marriage did not work out near as well. On June 7th 1857 Jacob married Julia Ardena Hales, a young girl of 16. When Jacob brought her home to Elizabeth and Catherine, and they found out how young she was, things started going wrong from the start. It wasn̓t long before she and Elizabeth had a major disagreement and she refused to stay any longer. Jacob tried to talk her out of leaving, but she left anyway and never came back. She and Jacob soon divorced. Later she married a man by the name of Berry.
While living in South Cottonwood most of Jacob̓s children were born. Jacob Boyce was the first to be born after his return from the East, being born on July 24th 1855. George Almus followed in 1857, then Catherine̓s first child Ralph Maxwell was born. Also in 1857. William Thomas (Uncle Billy), Elizabeth̓s sixth child was born in 1858. Rhoda Maria, Catherine̓s second was born in 1859. The last of Jacob̓s children to be born in South Cottonwood was Elizabeth̓s little Laceus, born in 1 860,who lived for only a few months.
As Jacob̓s family grew so did his relative wealth. In 1853 Jacob owned land and improvements worth $300. By 1857 this had grown to $600. In 1856 Jacob purchased 26 more acres adjoining the land that he already owned. In all, by 1860 Jacob owned around 103 acres in South Cottonwood, on which he supported himself, his two wives, his mother, his uncle George C. Spencer, and his two sisters and their families. His place was considered “one of the outstanding homes and small farms in that district.”
In 1857, during what is known as the “Utah War” Jacob moved his family, along with the other families in South Cottonwood to the South side of Utah Lake near Pond Town (now Salem to wait out the expected fighting that everyone thought was sure to come when Johnston̓s Army reached Utah. As a Captain in the Nauvoo Legion, and the commander of one of the companies of soldiers, Jacob was probably placed in charge of seeing that the citizens were safely evacuated from South Cottonwood, and to burn their homes if called on to do so.
After it was safe to return to their homes, Jacob went back to Pond Town and retrieved his family. All were glad that bloodshed had been avoided and that their homes had not been destroyed.
In 1860, Jacob was called by Brigham Young to help settle Peoa in Summit County, Utah. But, Jacob didn̓t immediately go there with both of his wives, he decided instead to take Catherine and leave Elizabeth in South Cottonwood to help run the farm there. Jacob was able to go to Peoa in two days by wagon and faster by horse, so he felt that he was close enough that he could both manage his farm in South Cottonwood and help build up the new settlement at Peoa. Apparently, Jacob split his time evenly between his two homes. ~,
Others that helped settle Peoa were Henry and William Boyce - Elizabeth̓s brothers, Jacob̓s sister Anna Maria Barnum, his uncle George C. Spencer, and Catherine̓s brother John Maxwell and his family.
.
In 1861, Jacob was appointed as one of the Selectmen for the new County of Summit. Part of his duties as a selectman were to oversee the construction and upkeep of the roads, the gathering of taxes, and to otherwise run the County. Much like being a County Commissioner now.
Log cabin on Jacob Mica Truman̓s land in South Cottonwood - ageunknown. Was this one of Jacob Truman̓s original cabins? This building was later used in the 1890̓s as the first school house in the Big Cottonwood area

V - ST. GEORGE

           1862 was a pivotal year for Jacob Mica Truman. This was the year that he volunteered to go to Utah̓s Dixie to help build up the settlement of St. George. The actual call came during the October Conference of 1861. Going to St. George meant that Jacob had to either give up his home in South Cottonwood, or abandon his attempt to settle in Peoa. Jacob decided to sell both his farms and take Elizabeth and Catherine with him, at least for the time being. Mormon settlers called to found distant settlements usually met near Salt Lake City and were organized into companies. This is part of the company called to settle St. George in 1862.

           According to Elizabeth to trip to St. George was one of the most trying, hard, and perilous trips the pioneers had encountered. When they came to the Black Ridge, south of Ceder City she could not see how they would ever get down it. The story is told how in places the gulches were so straight down and narrow that it was necessary to unload the wagons, take them apart, and then piece by piece take them to the other side.
         While on the road, George Almus, only five years old, fell out of the wagon and broke his leg. The Company had to lay over a day to set the limb before they could continue on. After they first arrived, they lived in their wagon until the town was laid out and lots were assigned to each family. Jacob was given a lot on the corner of 2nd South and 1st West where he went to work building a small one room adobe house. Later he would enlarge it to accommodate both of his families.
         Neither Catherine or Eli2abeth liked St. George very well. It was too hot, the water was terrible and brackish, and if you drank too much of it you would get sick. Sand blew everywhere. During the first three or four summers the whole family would move up to Diamond Valley where they would make butter and cheese for everyone who had cows in the surrounding settlements. Later Jacob again enlarged his home in St. George so that it eventually became known as a “nice place”.Id make all of their own clothes out of the cotton they spun .Life in St. George was a lot harder than in the Salt Lake Valley. During a particularly hard when food got scarce, Catherine sold her fine black silk dress, which had been woven in land before she came to Utah, for flour to feed the family. This hurt Catherine more than any thing else she ever did. Despite the hardness of their lives, Jacob̓s family continued to grow. In 1861 Catherine Lauretta was born to Cathern while still in Peoa..But in 1863 Elizabeth Ann was born, only to die a few months later. Lucy Elizabeth was born in 1864, Mica Spencer in 1865, Albert Henry in 1867, Ellen Sophia in 1868, Arthur Monroe in 1870, while Catherine was visiting in Peoa.
From hard work, Jacob gradually increased his wealth.  In 1865 he was worth only $500. While by 1868 his worth had grown to $1000.  The tax assessment records for these years show how his small herd of cattle and horses gradually increased from one horse and nine head of cattle in 1865 to 18 head of cattle and for horses in 1870, the year they moved to Hamblin.
VI - Hamblin and later life
After living in St. George for 8 years, Erastus Snow, the Presiding Church authority in St. George, called Jacob to go the Fort Hamblin (Mountain Meadows) to help build up the small settlement there.  Several people, for now unknown reasons, threatened to kill him is he and his family attempted to settle in Hamblin.  But President Snow promised him that no one would have the power to kill him.
Both Elizabeth and Catherine objected to having to move again, especially to a locality that was.
so isolated, but Jacob insisted and the family moved. Again everyone had to work hard to carve new home for themselves. Deed records show that Jacob purchased three lots in Hamblin. There plenty of room for everyone since there were only nine families that lived there. The only occupations at Hamblin other than growing a few garden crops was ranching. The hills round about idea good grazing for cattle, and the grass at the Meadows was sufficient for the cattle to winter there. Jacob̓s herd of cattle grew quickly from 18 to 36 head. At times he had as many as 8 ~s.
After his arrival in Hamblin, Jacob became presiding Elder there. Hamblin was part of the
Pinto Ward, but because of it̓s isolation they would send someone to church in Pinto who would
attend the Ward meetings there, and then in turn return and report on the proceedings at a separate
church meeting at Hamblin. This continued as long as Jacob lived there.
The Gospel played a large part in Jacob̓s life. When Emma Marie decided to get married to Franklin Everton Holt in 1874 the St. George Temple had not yet been completed. Jacob decided that would get married by the authority of the Church in the proper way. This meant that they had ) to Salt Lake to properly seal the marriage. It took three weeks to make this long trip to Salt Jacob took Elizabeth along with the future bride and groom, so that she could visit some of her ~y who were still living in the Holiday area.
After the wedding Jacob and Elizabeth visited with Elizabeth̓s sister Nona Boyce Taylor. She was touched at the signs of hardship and toil that Jacob and Elizabeth had been through so she said
Out yonder is plenty of corn. If you will shuck it, you may have all your wagon can hold.” Thanking the Lord, Jacob and Elizabeth set about shucking all that they could. In a few hours the wagon was heaped with corn. This they took, along with bags of dried peaches from Hamblin, to the market in Salt Lake and sold it. With the money they bought clothing shoes, yarn and cloth. All commodities lacking in Southern Utah. Elizabeth is quoted as saying before they left Salt Lake: “Alright Jacob, we can go home now and be assured that we are covered until prosperity and markets come to Southern Utah.
Hamblin was not free from ifs share of occasional trouble. Though Jacob was 6 feet tall with curly hair and blue eyes, he was slender of build and wiry. He was also quick tempered, stern, and outspoken. Some of his neighbors called him “Old Walking Jesus” because of the way in which he would walk around from place to place in Hamblin giving his opinions on how he thought things should be run, or on what he thought people should be doing. His daughter, Nell Brockbank said that no one ever disobeyed Jacob Truman.
One time John Reed, a local ruffian and sometimes outlaw, was gotten drunk by some of Jacob̓s enemies and sent over to Jacob̓s house to cause trouble. Jacob was just getting over a bout of pneumonia and was still weak. When the family saw him coming Almus stationed himself with a gun out by the fence just in case of trouble. Jacob told Almus that he must not kill Reed under any circumstances because “I wouldn̓t have that dirty rascal̓s blood on my hands for anything.” While Jacob and Almus waited outside, Catherine made up a lye solution to throw in his face if he tried to come inside the house. When Reed saw that Jacob was ready for him, he didn̓t try to force his way inside the gate, but stayed outside whooping and hollering for a while before riding off.
The next morning Jacob got up, put an old gray shawl around his shoulders and went to see Reed to find out what the trouble was. All Reed would say was that some of the fellows had got him drunk and that he didn̓t have anything personal against Jacob. Jacob told him that if he tried something like that again, he would kill him.
Another time, Elizabeth looked out of the window just in time to see Jacob running toward the house just as fast as he could run, with another man tight behind trying to catch him. Jacob dashed into the house, shut the door behind him and slipped quickly upstairs. The man, obviously upset, flung open the door and hollered at Elizabeth “Where̓s Jake?” Elizabeth pointed towards the kitchen. The man thinking she meant that he had gone out the back door, ran through the house and out the back, still hunting and hollering:”Where̓s Jake?”
Later this same man came back sneaking around the house. When he saw that the table was set for dinner, he proceeded to take the plates, one by one, and broke them by dropping them on the floor. No one knows what Jacob did to upset him so much.
While living in Hamblin John D. Lee, the man the Government and the Church blamed for leading the Mountain Meadows Massacre, was brought to the sight of the massacre after his trial to be shot. Jacob took some of his boys to see the execution but wouldn̓t let them get very close. They did hear John D. Lee say “Yes, Joseph Smith is a true Prophet of God, but Brigham Young is leading the people astray.” Later Jacob would say about John D. Lee: “He has done our church more harm than any other thousand men in the world.”
            In 1877 Jacob located a spot two and a half miles below Gunlock and started a second Ranch. He settled Elizabeth and her family in this new house where Elizabeth lived the rest of her life. Gunlock and Hamblin were only about a days ride apart so Jacob found it easy to travel back and forth between the two ranchers as he saw fit.
Jacob’s last three children were born while the family lived in Hamblin.  Mary Lois was born in 1871, Lucina Almina in 1873, and Ester Pricilla in 1876




Black, Porter, Johnson, Bloxham, BYU, Biographies, Mormon Battalion ~Jacob Mica Truman (1825-1881)
MILITARY SERVICE: Private, Company C
Enlisted: 16 July 1846, Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory (age
20)
Discharged: 16 July 1847, Ciudad de los Angeles Bounty Land Claim: 62416-160-41
Widow̓s Pension: Elizabeth Boyce Truman, 18 April 1887, Gunlock, Washington, Utah
Captain, Utah Territorial Militia
BIRTH:30 August 1825, Niagara Falls, Niagara, New York
Son of John Franklin Truman and Martha Patty Spencer
FIRST MARRIAGE: Elizabeth Boyce, 19 April 1849, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Daughter of George Boyce and Ann Geldord (Geldard)
Birth:19 April 1831, Redford, Wayne, Michigan
Children: Martha Ann Truman, 2 May 1850, South Cottonwood, Salt Lake, Utah
John Franklin Truman, 7 July 1851, South Cottonwood, Salt Lake, Utah
Emma Maria Truman, 5 November 1852, South Cottonwood, Salt Lake, Utah
Jacob Boyce Truman, 24 July 1855, South Cottonwood, Salt Lake, Utah
George Almus Truman, 2 March 1857,. South Cottonwood, Salt Lake, Utah
William Thomas Truman, 20 December 1858, South Cottonwood, Salt Lake, Utah
Lucius Truman, 5 March 1860, South Cottonwood, Salt Lake, Utah Lucy Elizabeth Truman, 8 October 1864, St. George, Washington,
Utah
Albert Henry Truman, 20 October 1867 (1868), St. George, Washington, Utah
Mary Lois Truman, 26 March 1871, Mountain Meadows, Washington, Utah
Lucina (Lasina) Almena Truman, 11 September 1873, Mountain Meadows, Washington, Utah
Esther Pricilla Truman, 4 January 1876, Mountain Meadows, Washington, Utah
Death:6 November 1919, Gunlock, Washington, Utah
Burial:8 November 1919, Mountain Meadows, Washington, Utah
SECOND MARRIAGE: Catherine Maxwell, 21 December 1856 (plural wife)
Daughter of Ralph Maxwell and Elizabeth Donnally (Donelly)
Birth:15 April 1832, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Children: Ralph Maxwell Truman, 2 October 1857, South Cottonwood, Salt Lake, Utah
Rhoda Maria Truman, 4 May 1859, South Cottonwood, Salt Lake, Utah
Lauretta Catherine Truman, 4 August 1861, Peoa, Summit, Utah Elizabeth Ann Truman, 26 April 1863, St. George, Washington,
Utah
Mica Spencer Truman, 2 November 1865, St. George, Washington,
Utah
Ellen Sophia Truman, 18 February 1868, Hamblin, Washington, Utah
Arthur Monroe Truman, 12 December 1872, Peoa, Summit, Utah
Death: 29 December 1922, Huntington, Emery, Utah
THIRD MARRIAGE: Julia Ardena Hales, 7 June 1857, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah (plural wife; divorced)
Daughter of Charles Henry Hales and Julia Ann Lockwood
Birth: 17 July 1842, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois
Death: 24 November 1919
DEATH: 26 (22) November 1881, Gunlock, Washington, Utah (age
56)
BURIAL: November 1881, Hamblin Cemetery, Hamblin, Washington, Utah