Martha Ann Smuin McFarlane History

Martha Ann Smuin McFarlane History by Betty McFarlane Sorenson

 

Martha Ann Smuin McFarlane was born 8 August 1847 in Abbington, Berkshire, England. Her parents were John Smuin and Jane Honey Smuin. She was the second child. The first child, Harriet, died when four years old. There were thirteen children born to the parents, but only four grew to maturity. They were Martha, John, Jane, and Louise. When Martha was five years old, the family moved to London, where they lived until they came to Utah. The parents and the grandparents, William Smuin and wife, and several of their sons and daughters had been baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as early as 1844, and their greatest desire was to come to Zion.

They were poor people and it was hard for them to save much from their scant earnings. Martha went to work at a very young age, and found employment in the home of a wealthy general of the British army. He was away from his home much of the time. The officer’s baby, when a month old, was given into the care of Martha. The graduate nurse remained in the home another month giving Martha instructions on the care of the baby. The mother was very young and knew very little about the care of children, or home keeping, but that was beautifully taken care of by expert help, cook, butler, first, and second maids, so the home life was very orderly and pleasant.

After two years, a little girl was born. She too, was placed in Martha’s care. The time came when she had saved enough money to pay her emigration to Utah. She was the first of the family to leave for Utah. Her parents went with her to Liverpool to see her on board ship. Two of her girl friends were going with her and they were to travel in the care of Brother and Sister Andrews, who were close friends of her parents. They had two young daughters, Angie, who in later years became the wife of M. H. Walker, a Salt Lake banker, and Louie, who married a young man by the name of Raymond, of Kaysville, Utah. Both have passed on.

Martha’s parents remained in Liverpool overnight, as the ship, or sailing vessel, did not set sail till the next day. They spent a sleepless night, for they knew there was a long, hard journey before their daughter. Still they were happy to have her go and they expected to follow soon; yet the parting was hard. As soon as it was daylight they went to the docks, hoping they would be permitted to go on board the ship to see her once more, but found the ship had been released from anchor and was moving out to sea. They could only wave farewell to her from the dock.

The company was presided over by Elder John Nicholson, with Joseph Rawlings, as chaplain. It was in the early spring of 1866 that their great journey started toward the promised land, which was to be their future home.

Martha frequently told her children how rough the sea was, at times, during the long voyage. Often, when their meal was prepared, the ship would give a lunge and food would be scattered on the floor. And what a clatter; for the dishes were all of tin. But they were a happy band of Saints. Only on one occasion were they all in deep sadness. A little child had passed away, and after brief services, the little body was wrapped in a blanket and lowered into the sea. Every heart was sad and the parents broken-hearted. There was nothing they could do, but accept the sorrow with humble hearts and pray to God for comfort.

 The sailing vessel was six weeks in crossing the ocean and to see and set their feet on land again made them happy once more. They didn’t fully realize the long hard journey yet ahead of them when crossing the plains.

They were met at Florence, Nebraska, by teamsters and covered wagons drawn by oxen, with provisions and food for the trip. Only the aged and little children could find places to ride while all the men and young people had to walk all the way. Their shoes were worn out long before the journey was over. They had to wrap their feet in any kind of heavy cloth they could get. At night their feet were often sore and bleeding from the thistles, rocks, and hot sand they had traveled over in the long hours of the day. Camp was made by the wagons forming a circle. After the evening meal, the Saints would gather for prayers, and they would sing the songs of Zion; “Come, Come Ye Saints” was a favorite.

They had a great deal of trouble with the Indians. Sometimes the teamsters would arise in the morning to find part of their cattle had been driven off by the Indians, although the guards were watching the animals all night. It required a great deal of judgment and diplomacy to get their cattle back without a fight.

It was during the pilgrimage that her life’s romance began. Because her shoes were worn and thin, James McFarlane noticed her predicament. He was driving a yoke of oxen, having been called on a mission to go to Florence, Nebraska, and bring a load of freight to Zion. He invited her to ride on his wagon and a few years later they were married.

Sometimes it was hard to find water for the cattle and the people. They spent June, July, August, and September on the plains and arrived in Salt Lake City about 1 October 1866, and made camp in the tithing yard, where the Hotel Utah now stands.

Mother often related an experience she had on the last day of the journey to the promised land. Her shoes had worn out and her feet were raw and bleeding when thy made camp the last night before entering the Salt Lake Valley, but she still had her pride. So while the camp was asleep and as soon as the stores were opened, she purchased a new pair of shoes and went back to meet the caravan as it moved toward the city.

If the Saints had relatives, or friends, in Utah, they were met by them and taken to their homes until places and work could be arranged for them. Those who had no one to meet them were placed in care of the Church Committee who helped them to get located. Sometimes it would take a week, or so to get them all located. The covered wagons still provided shelter for them.

Martha was met by her cousin, Bishop George Smuin, and taken to his home in Mound Fort, Ogden. Work was soon found for her in the home of Brother and Sister Miles Jones, who lived on Canyon Road, and were members of the Ogden Third Ward. The Jones’ had one child and were expecting the second. So very soon. Martha found herself serving as housekeeper and nurse. She managed both very well and gave perfect satisfaction to the family. She was quite young, having spent her 18th birthday on the plains.

In the spring of 1867, she went to the home of Bishop Chauncey West where she remained until October 5th, when she was married to James McFarlane in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. Traveling in a wagon three days was the time taken in making the trip to and from. There were six young people making the trip together. They were George T. Odell, Florence Grant, James McFarlane, and Martha Smuin. These young people were married October 5, 1867. The other couple, Annie Odell Wright and Gilbert Wright, were married in Ogden some time before, but had their endowments and were sealed the same day as the others.

They all returned to Ogden to continue to make their home. James and Martha had their home on Franklin Street (so named for Franklin D. Richards, a member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles). Later it was named Lincoln Avenue.

Peter McFarlane, father of James, owned a large piece of property and he gave James one-half acre and there he made his home. Martha had received one dollar and a half per week wages which she had saved for her wedding trousseau. She paid one dollar a yard for white material for her dress and it took 12 yards. Thread was twenty-five cents a spool. Later on she used the material to make window curtains and the layette for her first baby.

She and her husband loved music. He played the coronet in the Ogden City band and in the orchestra which furnished music for the dances and entertainment in the wards. They were both members of the Ogden Tabernacle Choir and the Third Ward’s choir for many years. They were active members of the Ogden Third Ward. Winslow Farr, Bernard White and James Wotherspoon were the bishops of the ward during their residence there.

Her husband, James, worked for the Union Pacific Railroad Company many years as Baggage Master and Depot Master. Later, he was transferred to Salt Lake City, where he held the same position until called to fill a mission to England. Ten children were reared to man and womanhood, one child having died at age three.

Martha continued active service in Relief Society and temple work in Salt Lake City until her death 13 November 1913. March 13, 1980

 From a history of Martha Ann Smuin - written by Betty McFarlane Sorenson (on file with D. U. P. at Museum Library in Salt Lake City.) She was 5’ 2” tall and weighed 105 pounds. She had dark brown hair, blue eyes, shiny lips, and a pleasant personality.

 

Ann "Annie" Hicks Free by Lenore McFarlane Ruesch

Annie Hicks Free

For They Had Faith Lesson Booklet (December) written by Lenore M. Ruesch

As an example of great faith, "Grandma Fee" has always appealed to me as a very special, worthy person.  She was a handcart pioneer, and she met many tests of faith throughout her life.  To her dying day, at the age of 89, she was strong in the faith, never wavering, "enduring unto the end"

Her life has always been an inspiration to me.  I have cherished the memory of one who was so strong in her convictions; and I am proud that I knew her well when I was young.  Her strength had been a guide to me specially when my own faith was not as strong as it is now.  I have told my children so many stories about Grandma Free that they too revere her memory.  My daughter (Marilyn Ruesch Schneider) a talented artist, has made a pencil portrait in our home from the only photo I have of Grandma Free, and guests in our home are introduced to Grandma via this framed artistic reproduction.  Of all my pioneer ancestors, she stands out above all the rest for her faithfulness.

Grandma Free, Annie Hicks Free, was really my great-great grandmother, mother of my mother's mother.  My grandmother Louesa Free Rock, in writing of her said "It gives me a great deal of pride of write this brief history because I was always proud of my mother."

She (Louesa Eve Free) wrote the following history:

"My mother, Annie Hicks Free, was born January 8th 1837 in Barking Essex, England, the younger daughter of Daniel Hicks and Hannah Wenlock Hicks.  Her only sister Louesa Hicks, was two years her senior.

Her father, being a sailor, was away from home much of the time.  He was captain of a ship which left England a few months before mother was born.  One of the first things that she could remember was looking forward to the return of her father,  She would say many times a day, when she saw a man that she didn't know, 'Is that my father?' 

Her mother laughingly said, ' No, be off with you, your father's a black man'.  When he came he was unshaven and very rough looking with long black hair and black beard, and mustache.

Her mother was very anxious for her to be nice but when she was her father she said, crying, 'Oh my father is a black man.  She was four years old when he returned, never having seen him before.

On his last sea voyage he became very sick and from then on was a confirmed invalid thus making it necessary for her mother to secure work in the work shop.  While yet a small child, my mother was taken to the work shop with her mother.  She was so small that she sat on a stool and learned to knit.  At a very early age she says, 'As a child I was very devout, praying and asking God for guidance and firmly believing that He would protect me from all wrong. And surly I have been saved many times from most certain evil'.

The only schools available at that time were private schools which were very expensive so her mother taught her to read and write.  However, she was very studious and learned very rapidly.

We have no record of any of her youthful experiences and amusements.

-------Missing Page 3 of the Transcript-----

Annie Hicks Free:

On the twenty-third day of May, 1856 I sailed for America on the ship Horizon, beginning my journey to Zion.  I crossed the plains with the belated Handcart Company of Edward Martin.  We underwent numerous hardships and lost many of our good and faithful band along the way.

I have been asked to relate an incident or two that might be of interest to you. One which I recall very clearly occurred as we crossed the Platte River.  The stream was very strong and the water bitter cold making it very hard to cross.  In the company was a window with her family.  Her oldest son, a fine young chap, had started across the river with his handcart but the current was so strong that he was borne downstream.  Seeing the boy's condition I ran down the bank of the river and went out into it in time to catch the boy and his hand cart.  I helped him to short but he was almost frozen.  In the evening when the company made camp the boy's mother was going out to gather chips of wood but the boy insisted upon going himself.  When he was been gone quite a long time a search was made for him and he was found frozen to death with sticks in his arms.

Lousea Eve Free:

Another incident which I well remember hearing my mother related I will give briefly;  One bitter cold day they were forced to make camp early because it was impossible to go farther without help.  A prayer meeting was called and they prayed to the Lord for relief.  Immediately when they arose from their knees a young man shouted, 'Looks: A horse-man is coming'.  The company looked off in the distance but could see no one.

The young man persisted and in a short time they could all see a speck in the distances.  They watched patiently as he came nearer and nearer.  When he arrived he brought the good news that relief was near...

Mother reached the Valley on the last day of November with not one friend to meet her.  She was taken to the home of a brother Ellerbeck where she did housework for which she was paid 75 cents per week.  She also did their knitting, sewing and embroidery work.

On March 5th 1857 she was married to my father, Absalom Pennington Free, who was a Patriarch of the Church.  She was the mother of seven children, all whom grew to man and womanhood, and survived her.

Mother was a women of rare ability.  She was possessed of a power of discernment that she could foretell things to come.  She was a great lover of good books, Charles Dickens being her favorite writer,  She could remember so many places that he wrote about in England and she knew well that he did not exaggerate.  His descriptions were so clear.

She was a gifted writer and wrote many beautiful poems.  For many years she was secretary of the Farmers Ward Relief Society and her records were kept beautifully.

Mother was a dignified women who was noticed wherever she went.  Her later life was devoted to reading and needle work.  She lived very comfortably on her income from the farm where she lived by fifty-six years.  Her death came at the age of eighty-nine years and seven months, dying on August 27, 1926 at her home, 370 East 21st South, Salt Lake City, Utah."

My Mother, Gertrude Tan Rock McFarlane, wrote the following comments about her grandmother:

"When I was a small child, I remember Grandmother Free sewing a great deal and ladies coming to her home to be fitted.  At that time I didn't realize she was doing it to make her living, but later I did.  I knew that while she sewed I could sit beside her and she would tell me stories, recite poetry, or tell me her own life's story.  She told me much about the Gospel and how she knew for herself that it was true, and then instructed me how I could find out for myself.  As I look back now I realize that she was very sorry for me when Winnie (Gertrude's older sister) died because she told me many times that Winnie was our binding link to Heaven and that I would see her again.  I dearly loved to visit with Grandma and to her dying day I ever missed going over there each time I went home.

In the Old Farmers Ward Relief Society Grandma was a secretary of many years and on those meeting days I waited at school and walked home with her .  We had no sidewalks but walked right down the middle of the road.  She had a beautiful voice and she would sing familiar songs.  She was tall and slim and had a dignified walk.  As we came home one afternoon I was embarrassed when the Nowel  boys called out after her, "there goes Mrs. Free--walking on her dignity!".  When I told her to go to their mother and tell her to punish them, she said, "Let's rise above it."

At her knee I learned much about the Gospel and I am thankful to her for her wonderful teaching.  Many times when she was having Sunday morning sacred hour I went to join her.  She played the organ very well and sang many songs.

Mother (Gertrude Tan Rock McFarlane) in her written message which was addressed "To my Children" talked of the influence of her grandmother's faith on her own life, she says:

"I was born of honorable and upright parents and through them was born under the true and everlasting covenant.  From them and Grandma Free I was first taught 'that the Gospel was true', that it was the 'Gospel of Jesus Christ, that our Prophet Joseph has restored to the earth'.  When I was just a tiny tot, I can remember Grandma telling me to 'get the stool' that I always sat on and she would tell me about her life.  It seems that I can almost hear her now as she would say, and I quote, " My Father was a Sea Captain and would be away for a very long time.  I never saw him until I was four years old and then when I did see him I was afraid of him, because I thought he was a black man' (Her mother had told her that he was a black man when she kept asking if her father was like different men she saw on the street).  He was of a very dark complexion and had a heavy beard and mustache which he always wore.

When we ate our dinner they asked him how he enjoyed it, and this is what he said " thank the Lord for this meal although it was but small, I could eat some more if I had some more, but thank the Lord for all'.  And mother said blame the man'.

My mother was a Wenlock; her uncle was the Earl of Wenlock.  Father went away again and Mother took me with her to the 'work house' where she earned her living.  It was there I learned to knit as I sat on the stool by Mother's side.  My life was uneventful until I heard two missionaries preaching the Gospel in the streets of London.  I loved it the first time I hear it; it seemed so quiet and peaceful.  I embraced the Gospel and was baptized on January 17, 1855 in the White Chapel Branch in London England.. shortly after my baptism and before I was confirmed by relatives sent me a terrible book against the Mormons, marking it in many places for me to read...."

When I heard Grandma's testimony I knew she told the truth and I had faith in her.  She taught me that the Lord heard and answered prayers.  She always said the Lord is close by and will protect you in time of danger.

She always held a sacred hour in her home on Sunday and we Grandchildren were always welcome.  She dressed up in her best dress and then put on a white apron, then would go to the organ and play and sing religious songs.  Then she read the scriptures.  Those were wonderful experiences to me as a child and it was then I learned to love and read the Bible."

Lenore McFarlane Ruesch:

Grandma Free influenced my faith too.  When I was a child I remember  visiting Grandma Free often.  She always greeted us with a smile and often would tell us pioneer stories and sing with us as she played her little foot pedal organ.  Especially do I remember her singing the old pioneer song, whose word still echo in my memory:

For some must push and some must pull

As we go marching up the hill,

And merrily on the way we go

Until we reach the Valley- "O"

Grandma Free was truly a person of much faith.  Even as a Child she believed strongly that God would protect her.  When she first came in contact with the gospel she "loved it", and was promptly called upon to prove her faith.  Her relatives all tried to talk her out of joining the church.  Her own story tells of this.  A marvelous manifestation came to her because of her faith in God.  She received a direct answer to prayer and she never doubted after that.  In later life when others pointed the failings of even some of those high in the Church, she didn't let that affect her faith.  She said "People and principles; People sometimes change, but principles never do."

Once she had joined the Church, she gave it a full lifetime devotion.  She proved her faith when she set out along without a relative or friend to come to Utah from her beloved England.  She broke up with a young man she had planned to marry because he didn't approve of her joining the Church.  She was among those sturdy folks , who, lacking funds for wagons, pushed handcarts all across the plains.  She belonged to the ill-fated Edward Martin Company which was the last to reach Utah in 1856.  After a rescue group out to food to those who survived (of the 575 persons who started out 135 died en-route) she and the other survivors arrived in Salt Lake City on November 30th 1856.

She tells in her brief writings how she along with others almost froze to death on the journey.  She claimed her life was saved only because a women chided her into getting some water, asking her if she was going to shirk her responsibility and let "an old women get it".  Even that experience didn't diminish her faith.

When she reached Deseret, alone and friendless, she was given a job at 75 cents a week.  She worked at that until she married by great-grandfather, Absalom Pennington Free, a patriarch of the Church and a member of Brigham Young's second company, which arrived in Utah in 1848.  He had children older than she was.  One daughter Emeline, was the wife of Brigham Young; and two daughters married Daniel H Wells (Louisa and Hannah).  Grandfather Free was almost 61 years and grandma Free just 20 when they were married.

Once again her faith was tested when she had been married only a short time. The young man who had been her sweetheart in England came across the ocean and over the plains to tell her that now he too, had joined the Church and they could be married.  When she told him she was married, both were sad.  Grandma would not even consider a divorce.  She had given her vow.  She told him to go away.  She still loved him; so the decision was hard; but once again her faith in the Church guided her in her actions.  Her vow, to her, meant what it said and could not be broken.  She had faith that all principles of the Gospel were right, and had had made a decision when she was baptized to follow all of them.

Grandma Fee had a hard life. As a child, she worked at the London Work Shop at the side of her mother.  She was poor all her life, suffering the  privation such as all pioneers suffered, and the extra suffering that was typical of handcart pioneers.  She was a polygamist wife (one of 3 living at the time) and was left a widow at the age of 40 with seven children to provide for and only a small farm as her share of her husband's property.  She had to sew for a living. Yet when wealth and power and social prestige were offered her, she proved her faith once again and rejected all those things in order that she could live in Zion, be among the Saints, free to practice her religion as she believed it and to raise her children in the Church.

Her mother was a Wenlock and her Uncle was the Earl of Wenlock.  Her mother had been disinherited by the family because she married a sea captain.  Proudly and defiantly she went to work in a work shop rather than ask her family for help when her husband was away for years at a time and their money was gone.

However, her brother, Earl of Wenlock, died without issue and Grandma Free received official word that she was inherited the family estates, title and wealth, but she must come to England to claim it.  According to English law, it was also necessary that she also live in England.  She would have the title of Lady, English equivalent of the European Countess.  Had she been a male, she would have been an Earl.

Grandma Free surely must have been tempted to accept this wonderful offer of wealth and power, but made her decision to stay in Utah and leave her estate unclaimed.  Seven after she became a widow and had to sew for a living, she still did not claim her inheritance.  She was proud of her family connections in a way.  She named one of her sons Wenlock.  I have heard my mother say that Granma Free often said, "When, oh when will I ever be the great lady I'm supposed to be?"

To me she was a great lady, one of the greatest I have ever been privileged to know.  Her faith made her great.

McFarlane/Rock Pioneers

Doing some research by googling some family names to see what was already out there on the Internet and came across a portion of the LDS Church website devoted to the Mormon pioneer travels.  See this website where you can look up names of ancestors that crossed the plains and the company that they traveled with.  You can read about their travels from the excerpts of various deseret news articles and travel journals.

http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/home

On the Ruesch side we have quite a few pioneer stories, I think the most famous one is Annie Hicks Free.  Grandma Marilyn wrote a book with beautiful art work about her journey to the Salt Lake Valley with the Martin Handcart Company (I'll have to do another blog post on that at a later date).

After reading a few of these travel journals from some of the Companies, what impressed me was that so many different companies came (passing each other and traveling within miles of each other at times) and their experiences so vastly different.  Where one company could have a relatively "easy" journey, and another could have a very rough journey fraught with danger and death.

Here are a few of the companies that I've verified that our ancestors were part of:
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Company: Brigham Young Company

Departure: 5 June 1848
Arrival: 20-24 September 1848

Related Pioneers: Absalom Pennington Free

Direct Line: Bryonny Van Camp-->Paula Schneider-->Marilyn Ruesch-->Lenore McFarlane-->Gertrude Tan Rock-->Louesa Free-->Absalom Pennington Free

LINK:  http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/companyDetail?lang=eng&companyId=192

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Company: Edward Martin Company

Departure: 28 July 1856
Arrival: 30 November 1856

Related Pioneers: Annie Hicks

Direct Line: Bryonny Van Camp-->Paula Schneider-->Marilyn Ruesch-->Lenore McFarlane-->Gertrude Tan Rock-->Louesa Free-->Annie Hicks

LINK:  http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/companyDetail?lang=eng&companyId=192
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Company: James D. Ross Company

Departure: 14-17 June 1860 
Arrival: 3 September 1860

Related Pioneers: Valentine & Harriet Rock, Also Jacob Nephi Rock traveling as a child

Direct Line: Bryonny Van Camp-->Paula Schneider-->Marilyn Ruesch-->Lenore McFarlane-->Gertrude Tan Rock-->Jacob Nephi Rock--> Valentine and Harriet Rock

Also note that some of Harriet's family (the Smiths) traveled with Valentine and Harriet Rock

LINK:  http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/companyDetail?lang=eng&companyId=256
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Company: Issac A Canfield Company

Departure: 30 July 1862
Arrival: 16-17 October 1862

Related Pioneers: Peter and Mary Clark McFarlane, Also James McFarlane as a teenager

Direct Line: Bryonny Van Camp-->Paula Schneider-->Marilyn Ruesch-->Lenore McFarlane-->Arthur McFarlane-->James McFarlane--> Peter and Mary Clark McFarlane

LINK:  http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/companyDetail?companyId=83
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Company: John D. Holladay

Departure: 16-18 July 1866
Arrival: 25 September 1866

Related Pioneers: Martha Ann Smuin (18yrs old)

Direct Line: Bryonny Van Camp-->Paula Schneider-->Marilyn Ruesch-->Lenore McFarlane-->Arthur McFarlane-->Martha Ann Smuin

LINK:  http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/companyPioneers?lang=eng&companyId=21
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