George Wardle

George WARDLE (P45) was born 3 Feb 1820 in Cheddleton, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom. He is the son of Ralph WARDLE & Ann ALLEN. George married Fanny RUSHTON on 24 Jan 1842 in Leek, Staffordshire, England. Two weeks later he sailed with his bride & her brother on the ship "Hope of Duxbury". They lived in Nauvoo, Illinois for a time. George left Fanny while he assisted with the first group of pioneers to arrive in Utah in 1847. He returned to Winter Quarters that October where he rejoined Fanny. George married Lucy Ann CRANDALL in Oct 1851 & Caroline Kazia FISHER on 15 Dec 1868. George died 25 Nov 1901 in Vernal, Utah at 81 yrs. George's son, Edwin Ralph WARDLE, is my father's grandfather.

George WARDLE (b. 3 Feb 1820) from Cheddleton, Staffordshire, England, married Fanny RUSHTON (b. 24 Nov 1821) from Leek, Staffordshire, England, on 24 Jan 1842. They were married in Leek. George is the son of Ralph WARDLE & Ann ALLEN. Fanny is the daughter of Richard RUSHTON & Lettice JOHNSON. Two weeks after they wed they left Liverpool for the new world aboard the ship "Hope".

On 1 Apr 1842 George & Fanny arrived at New Orleans, Louisiana, then came up the Mississippi River to Nauvoo, Illinois. Fanny gave birth to a baby boy on 13 Jul 1842. He was named Horatio. Fanny's parents, Richard & Lettice JOHNSON had also made the long journey from England to Nauvoo. Their time together in the new world would not last long however. Richard died at Nauvoo on 4 Oct 1843. Death and disease plagued Nauvoo even after the swamps were drained. "Diseases that attacked and often killed the Saints were diarrhea, canker, measles, mumps, whooping cough, the bloody flux, consumption and diphtheria."

Almost half of the reported deaths in Nauvoo were among children under age ten. Leonora TAYLOR wrote to her missionary husband, John, in England: "Almost every individual in every family [is] sick." Fanny RUSHTON Wardle was then pregnant with a second son, George Ambrose, who was born 7 May 1844 at Nauvoo.

(In the midst of all these family tragedies, Joseph SMITH, founder and prophet of the Mormons, was murdered by a mob at Carthage, Illinois on 27 Jun 1844.) George was only three months old when his brother, Horatio died on 5 Aug 1844. Sexton records say he died of consumption. He was 2 yrs old. Then George Ambrose died when only 17 mos in Oct 1845, also at Nauvoo. This was about the time (5 Oct) that general conference was held in the assembly room of the Nauvoo Temple. (Endowments were given from 10 Dec 1845 to 7 Feb 1846.)

Fanny's younger brother, Edwin, took their mother, Lettice JOHNSON Rushton, to the Nauvoo Temple on 23 Jan 1846. Edwin & Lettice were both endowed. George WARDLE took his wife, Fanny, on 7 Feb for that same purpose. Fanny's oldest brother, Frederick James RUSHTON, was also endowed that day.

Some of the first Saints crossed the Mississippi to leave Nauvoo forever beginning 4 Feb 1846. They established camps at Sugar Creek & Chariton River in Iowa. On 15 Apr 1846 the song, "All Is Well" was composed at Locust Creek. The early stages of the trek west had begun.

George & Fanny were about to experience their third setback in their attempts to have children. They were still at Nauvoo. Their third son, John, was born on 6 Sep 1846; he died the same day. Fourteen days later, on 20 Sep 1846, Fanny's mother, Lettice, died at St. Louis, Missouri.

Written by Sheila Shelton Gibson, a descentant of these most honorable souls.

Hi there! I've carried my pioneer story beyond Nauvoo now. Even tho the WARDLES were not yet related to the SHELTONS, they were nevertheless together much of the time. The HARRIS' & HENDERSONS also. Samuel HARRIS and Stephen SHELTON were both from Washington County Missouri. They both converted Mormon. They both stayed at Nauvoo to the end to harvest crops. They both experienced the Miracle of the Quails at the Poor Camp in Iowa. They both stayed at Mount Pisgah for extended periods before going to Utah.

Again I am pasting in the work I've done today. Mostly it's portions of history that affected our people but I don't have much yet on the family specifically during this time. Still, from the accounts of others we can still get an idea about our own. If you don't care to read this....... hit delete...... My pleasure to share; I do hope you enjoy it too! Feedback encouraged.

Respectfully, Cousin Sheila (DRAFT AS OF: 29 JAN 2007)

"bivouacked in tatters" Nauvoo to Mount Pisgah

(A story of the BULLOCK, HENDERSON, SHELTON & WARDLE Families.)

"In all of United States history, few people have suffered for their religious convictions as did the early Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Because of the rapid growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and what many contemporary religionists viewed as the heretical doctrine of living prophets and modern revelation, many outsiders viewed Latter-day Saints with suspicion and contempt." After Joseph Smith had been murdered by a mob, tension escalated rapidly. In the dead of winter 1846, the Latter-day Saints once again began to abandon their homes. This time their ultimate destination was the Rocky Mountains, where "they would at last find welcome refuge."

"From February through September of 1846, thousands of Latter-day Saints abandoned Nauvoo, fleeing to the West in barges and ferries across the Mississippi River. Some of those who crossed in late February did so on ice, as the wide river froze solid in sub-zero temperatures. A number of diarists refer to the freezing as a miracle, even though, notes one commentator, 'it was a miracle that nearly froze a couple of thousand Saints'"

On 24 April the advanced pioneers reached a place they named Garden Grove, sixty miles northwest of Locust Creek and about halfway across Iowa. "Within three weeks they had broken 715 acres of tough prairie sod, built cabins, and established a small community. A high council was called to regulate both Church and civic affairs, and two hundred people were assigned to improve this first way station. Garden Grove did not have enough timber to accommodate all the companies soon to arrive from Nauvoo, so the brethren sent scouts to explore the region. Parley P. Pratt located some grassy hills crowned with beautiful groves twenty-five miles northwest of Garden Grove. He was overjoyed. "

Referring to the mountain from which Moses saw the promised land, Parley cried out, �This is Mount Pisgah.� A few days later Brigham Young arrived and immediately organized a second way station at Mount Pisgah. Another high council was appointed, and several thousand acres were cooperatively enclosed, planted, and farmed. One of the new leaders, Ezra T. Benson (great-grandfather of the thirteenth President of the Church), declared, �This was the first place where I felt willing in my heart to stay at, since I left Nauvoo.� Mount Pisgah was an important pioneer way station from 1846 to 1852."

During the first of June 1846 the advance company left Mount Pisgah and headed for the Missouri River. Although they were two months behind the original schedule, the Brethren (LDS church leadership) still hoped that an express company would be able to make it to the Rocky Mountains by fall. But then Captain James ALLEN of the United States Army arrived at Mount Pisgah on 1 July 1846. The U.S. had declared war with Mexico on 12 May 1846. ALLEN had been sent by Colonel Stephen W. KEARNY to raise a battalion of Mormon soldiers. Wilford WOODRUFF directed ALLEN to Council Bluffs to meet with the LDS leaders there.

Brigham YOUNG saw this as an opportunity for Mormon men to earn desperately-needed capital for the exodus. It also provided rationale for establishing temporary settlements on Indian lands. ALLEN agreed. Men began being recruited at Council Bluffs. On 3 Jul Brigham YOUNG, Heber C. KIMBALL & Willard RICHARDS went east to recruit more men. Everyone at Mount Pisgah opposed the venture; but several relented and signed up after hearing several recruiting speeches. Recruiting continued until 20 Jul. The next day the battalion left for Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Brigham YOUNG selected the officers over each of the five companies of 100 men each. Church leaders promised that the families of the volunteers would be carefully provided for. Charles C. RICH was assigned to visit the wives and families of the soldiers, and they looked upon them as their guardian anagel. "He was always so full of faith and comfort." RICH counseled them regarding snakes. "We were never harmed by a snake, although that section of the country seemed to be over-stocked with the horrible things."

Wilford WOODRUFF reported (in Jul 1848) that the Saints still in Nauvoo were too poor to leave for the west. By late July the Brethren concluded that a main encampment would be established on the west bank of the Missouri River and that other camps would be scattered throughout western Iowa. By the end of August 820 lots had been laid out at Winter Quarters. With the loss of so many men to the battalion, the westward migration was delayed for a season. "By mid-August less than fifteen hundred Saints remained in Nauvoo, some of them new converts from the East who had arrived too late to join the earlier companies. Most of them had exhausted their savings just to reach Nauvoo and now looked to Church leaders as their only hope to proceed West."

It was well into September of 1846 when George WARDLE, Thomas BULLOCK and their families finally climbed into BULLOCK's two wagons & headed towards a ferry that would take them across the Mississippi River. And this was at gun point. Days before BULLOCK wrote: "There have been a many Saints who were preparing as fast as they could to go to the west�who have gone to the grave. Many literally dying for want�whole families are sick�and not one to help the other�two or three dying in a house�great difficulty in getting coffins and then to be buried by strangers�there is not one house in this neighborhood, but there has been sickness in it�there appears to me to be more sick now than when Nauvoo was crowded with Saints."

Theirs was the third and final wave of exiles. Brother-in-law, Edwin RUSHTON, had promised Brigham YOUNG that he would make sure the sick and the poor made it out of Nauvoo. BULLOCK had hoped to leave sooner but was yet scrambling to get money for the crossing. He was bringing his father's cattle. While he struggled he wrote: "We should have crossed the River this day, sick as we are�to secure your Cattle & Waggon & my few cloths but cannot pay the Ferryman, the Mob threaten if they get in the city to kill man woman & child & they have invited men from all the counties to join them�promising them that they shall share in the plunder of the city. Rest assured I keep as strict a look out after your cattle as if they were my own�they cost 125.00 & Waggon 80. I have spent scores of days looking after them and shall bring all safe to you, if possible."

Finally, the mob entered the city, looted homes, and desecrated the temple. Some Saints who were not able to escape fast enough were beaten or thrown into the river by the mob. Edwin RUSHTON made good on his promise to Brigham YOUNG; but for himself and his immediate family he chose to separate from WARDLE & BULLOCK. Instead of heading west towards Winter Quarters, Edwin set his sites on St. Louis and turned south. BULLOCK reported that John RUSHTON was "steam boating" and doing well. He stated that Jane HALL (His mother's family were Halls.) was in St. Louis. Lettice JOHNSON Rushton died at St. Louis, Missouri, on 20 Sep 1846. There was an outbreak of cholera in St. Louis.

The WARDLE family had experienced many losses including both of Fanny's parents and all three of George & Fanny's sons. Forced out of Nauvoo at gunpoint the family started off into a new chapter of their lives. The main body of the Saints were gathering at Winter Quarters; and that had become their plan too. As Brigham YOUNG had suggested, among this final group of about 650 souls were the poor, the sick and the destitute. "Known as the 'poor Saints' they were either physically or financially incapable of traveling west by themselves to join the main body of the Saints now near the western edge of Iowa. Thomas BULLOCK said had his wife, Henrietta RUSHTON Bullock, not thought ahead to sell her clothes that they would have most surely died of starvation. Thomas BULLOCK was interested in first going to Bonapare, Iowa, where he says: " I shall have to stay for the flour that Mr. Bolander has promised me."

Besides the elderly, sick & poor some others staying until the end had been assigned to sell as much property as they could. Some others stayed on to harvest crops. "Samuel Goforth HENDERSON (once a brother-in-law of Abigail HARRIS Goforth Sheiton) was part of this last group and likely stayed behind to help his father and step-mother." Most of the last residents lost just about everything they had. HENDERSON was among those in the "poor camp" who witnessed the miracle of the quails. So was Stephen SHELTON. These folks had been together since their days in Washington County, Missouri.

Refugee camps of five to six hundred dispossessed men, women and children were scattered along two miles of riverbank above Montrose, Iowa. Bishop Newel K. WHITNEY purchased flour and distributed it among the poor camps. Gilbert BELNAP wrote: "flickering lamps has directed my eyes to the crying of children, the restless movements of the aged and infirm, the mournfull groan of many a fevered brain, had made an impression on my mind that can never be forgotten". Thomas L. KANE wrote: "They were, almost all of them, the crippled victims of disease. They were there because they had no homes, nor hospital, nor poor-house nor friends to offer them any. They could not satisfy the feeble cravings of their sick: they had not bread to quiet the fractious hunger cries of their children. Mothers and babes, daughters and grandparents, all of them alike, were bivouacked in tatters, wanting even covering to comfort those whom the sick shiver of fever was searching to the marrow." ("These were Mormons, famishing, in Lee county, Iowa, in the fourth week of the month of September, in the year of our Lord 1846. . . .")

Stephen SHELTON's family was part of this last group. At the time Stephen's family left Nauvoo in 1846. (1) Stephen was about 37 years old. Nancy BROWN Shelton & Jewell SHELTON had been dead for many years. Stephen & Nancy's living sons (William, Samuel & Andrew Jackson were about 18, 17 & 16, respectively) had left home upon learning their father & his new family were moving west. Family lore says that an uncle in Quincy was hiding them; Family lore further says that Abigail HARRIS Goforth Shelton, the new step-mother, did not get along very well with the boys; and so they fled. The youngest of Stephen & Nancy's children; (3) Mary Ann (Polly) left Nauvoo with her dad and the rest of the family. She was about 15 years old; Stephen's second wife, (2) Abigail HARRIS Goforth, was about 28 years old. Abigail had a daughter from a previous marriage to a Mr. GOFORTH. The daughter, (4) Nancy Sarilda GOFORTH, was about 11 years old; (5) Stephen & Abigail's son, John SHELTON was about 7 years old; (6) Martha Jane was 2 years old. Another daughter, Elizabeth, had died 2 years earlier of the measles.

Summary of those in this Stephen Shelton travel group with approx ages:

Stephen Shelton, age 37 Abigail Harris Goforth Shelton, age 28 (and she was pregnant) Mary Ann Shelton, age 15 Nancy Sarilda Goforth Shelton, age 11 John Shelton, age 7 Martha Jane Shelton, age 2

Of all the entire trek it was the first 300 miles across Iowa that "most tried the stamina and courage" of the Saints. Months earlier, as Brigham YOUNG, himself, came across the windswept Iowa prairies, he realized that his people would never reach the Rocky Mountains in the time or manner most had hoped. Consequently, since the spring of 1846, as the refugees trudged forward, they prepared the way for those yet to come. Along their way they built bridges, erected cabins and even planted crops for the ones behind them. Since thousands had already passed thru, the trails were probably well defined. Along the banks of Sugar Creek, seven miles west of the Mississippi River was a place Brigham YOUNG had established as a staging ground for the exodus across Iowa. It was at this place in the river bottoms where the Mormon "Miracle of the Quails" took place. Mary Ann SHELTON (Fausett) says her family was among those involved.

On 9 Oct 1846 Thomas BULLOCK wrote: "This morning we had a direct manifestation of the mercy and goodness of God, in a miracle being performed in the camp. A large, or rather several large flocks of Quails, flew into camp-some fell on the wagons-some under-some on the breakfast tables-the boys and brethren ran about after them and caught them alive with their hands-men who were not in the church marvelled at the sight-the brethren and sisters praised God and glorified his name, that what was showered down upon the children of Israel in the wilderness is manifested unto us in our persecution. The boys caught about 20 alive and as to the number that were killed-every man, woman and child had quails to eat for their dinner-after dinner the flocks increased in size�Captain Allen ordered the brethren not to kill when they had eaten and were satisfied."

Throughout the fall of 1846 nearly 12,000 Latter-day Saints in various parts of the Midwest prepared for winter. An estimated seven hundred people were at Mount Pisgah, six hundred at Garden Grove and another 1,000 were scattered throughout Iowa. Another 500 were in the Mormon Battalion enroute to California. Many Mormons still gathered along the Mississippi. The Mormon population at St. Louis was about 1500. Lorenzo SNOW left Nauvoo in Feb 1846 but became ill. He stayed for a time at Mount Pisgah. Three of his children were born there. SNOW was called to preside over the church at Mount Pisgah. He raised money to assist the bands of emigrants in their move west. The SNOW family moved to Salt Lake City in 1848.

From Winter Quarters Brigham Young asked others to rescue Saints of the poor camps from Nauvoo. Rescue teams arrived in time to save the Saints from perishing from starvation and winter exposure. These folks were dispersed throughout various camps in western Iowa. Stephen SHELTON's family made it to Mount Pisgah before Joseph was born. The Mormon Battalion had taken workers from Garden Grove & Mount Pisgah. Seibert Crutcher SHELTON's family went with the battalion. Brigham YOUNG had previously assigned folks to stay & build up the way stations, and raise crops. Stephen stayed at least from the winter of 1846 until the spring of 1849. Hyrum SHELTON was also born at Mount Pisgah on 10 Mar 1848.

"High councils were organized in the main camps to superintend ecclesiastical & municipal affairs." The council at Winter Quarters was called the municipal high council. "To enhance their economic well-being many wintering Saints traded with settlements in northern Missouri and in Iowa for hogs, grain, vegetables and emigrant supplies." Wilford WOODRUFF wrote, "I have never seen the Latter Day Saints in any situation where they seemed to be passing through greater tribulations or wearing out faster than at the present time. Over seven hundred people died in the camps by the end of the first winter."

"In an era where everyone was anxious to get to Zion, the Saints serving in Mount Pisgah and Garden Grove knew they would never be the first to enter the valley, break the first plow or see Brigham Young mark the location of the temple with his cane. Yet, in order to make the westward migration of the Saints to the Salt Lake Valley as efficient and human as possible these hardy souls relinquished their desire to be "where the action was" and instead built cabins and planted crops for others." The HENDERSONs & the SHELTONs stayed at Nauvoo to harvest crops. They both stayed 1 1/2 to 2 yrs at Mount Pisgah, apparently for the same reason. This speaks volumes about the kind of men they were.

By Sheila Gibson Hello: This has been fun so far. Part one took some of our people from England to Nauvoo. Part two covered the expulsion and trek across Iowa. And now this part is about the Mormon Battalion and the advance round trip from WQ to SLC. Our Shelton stayed put during this time. Probably Thompson too. I covered the Battalion mostly because folks get Stephen mixed up with Sebert and also to expllain that there were two Samuel Thompsons, and close in age. Yikes! Most of this below is text pulled from church history. I've just tried to overlay our people so as to understand how their lives were affected. The next section I sill do is about Edwin Ralph WARDLE & Elizabeth Orinda Thompson. Feedback encouraged. Sheila Gibson (DRAFT AS OF 2 FEB 2007) WINTER QUARTERS, THE ROUND TRIP (A story of the BULLOCK, HENDERSON, SHELTON & WARDLE Families.) When Captain James ALLEN came thru Mount Pisgah & Winter Quarters recruiting for the Mormon Battalion in the summer of 1846, the families of Thomas BULLOCK, Samuel HENDERSON, Stephen SHELTON & George WARDLE were still in Nauvoo. Sebert C. SHELTON & one Samuel THOMPSON were in the west; and both joined the battalion. There are two Samuel THOMPSONs on the Nauvoo Temple endowment records. Since these records contain dates of birth, we know our Samuel is not the same as the 2nd Lieutenant in Company C of the Mormon Battalion. The Samuel who enlisted into the battalion is slightly younger; and he was endowed at Nauvoo on 29 Jan 1846. Our Samuel & his wife, Elizabeth, were endowed 3 Feb 1846. The relationship between Stephen SHELTON and Sebert C. SHELTON , if any, is not yet known. Records of Stephen & Sebert are sometimes confused. In Apr 1844, S. C. SHELTON was called on a mission to Virginia. Evidence suggests this mission call was most likely for Sebert. Stephen was on guard duty over the city of Nauvoo the night of 22 Jun 1844, the night Joseph SMITH was murdered. The TRANSCRIBED records of the Nauvoo Temple, mention our Stephen as "Stephen C. SHELTON". This is the only place the "C" shows up for Stephen. (It would be interesting to view the original scripted version to see if it was transcribed correctly.) Sebert Crutcher SHELTON was born 29 Jun 1793 in Pittsylvania Co, VA. He is the son of Richard SHELTON (b. 16 Jul 1772) & Nancy LANIER. Richard Shelton is the son of Beverly Shelton. One of Sebert's brothers is Coleman SHELTON. Another brother is named Spencer. There is also a Spencer SHELTON on the Cherokee rolls. In 1819 Sebert received a land patent in Carroll, County Missouri. (He died 10 Aug 1857 in Petaluma, CA.) Sebert entered the Mormon Battalion as a PVT in Company D. He was later promoted to Sergeant. He was one of the few men allowed to bring his family along with the battalion. His wife, Elizabeth, was assigned to help with laundry and cooking. However, as the soldiers proceeded west along the Arkansas River, acting battalion commander Lieutenant A. J. SMITH decided to send the women, their husbands & children to Pueblo. CO. They left about 12 Sep 1846. The first detachment, known as the Higgins Family Detachment (Arkansas Detachment) consisted of 11 men, 9 women and 33 children under Captain Nelson HIGGINS. They arrived at Pueblo in early Oct 1846. Sebert SHELTON & his family were with this group. There is record of Sebert marrying three women named Elizabeth. He married Elizabeth SPEAR, dau of George SPEAR, in Oct 1829. They had Emily C., b abt 1830 & Marion Jackson b 30 Aug 1833. Elizabeth SPEAR Shelton died 13 Sep 1835 in McDonough Co, IL. He second married Elizabeth Duncan on 5 Mar 1839 & had Abraham b 1840 & Thomas b 1842. He third married Elizabeth TRAINS (or FRAIM) Mayfield & had Mary Elizabeth in 1845 at Hancock Co, IL. Oct 1846 records for the Higgins Family Detachment show as children in this family: Emily Caroline, Cooper, Marion Jackson, Abraham C., Thomas B. & Mary Elizabeth. All except Mary Elizabeth would be step-children to Elizabeth TRAINS Mayfield. From her previous marriage to Mr. Mayfield, Elizabeth also had Andrew Jackson MAYFIELD, John MAYFIELD & Sarah MAYFIELD. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 29 Jul 1847. "After a windy night, the morning was refreshingly cool. Thomas Bullock got up early to bath in the warm springs. He cleared the pool of its scum. Brigham Young and the Twelve mounted horses and went to Emigration Canyon to greet the Pueblo company of Mormon Battalion soldiers and Mississippi Saints. They met them at the mouth of the canyon. Wilford Woodruff wrote: "We were truly glad to meet with them." They continued on up the canyon and met with the officers, James Brown, Nelson Higgins, and Wesley Willis. The soldiers were in military order and many of them were mounted. They arrived at 3:30, marching to the fife and drum. They were led by the Twelve and officers of the battalion. Thomas Bullock recorded: "The brethren were very much rejoiced at getting once more among their friends & a general congratulation took place." [The number of Saints now in the Valley was about 400. The battalion still planned to head for San Francisco to be discharged and to receive their pay, but their wagons were broken and their animals were failing, so it was time to rest." Samuel HENDERSON once owned land (lot 44) in Caledonia, Washington, Missouri. Stephen SHELTON & Samuel HENDERSON were both on the 1830 census there. It is reasonable to think they may have converted about the same time. Parley P. PRATT wrote: "In the beginning of 1831 we renewed our journey and passing through St. Louis and St. Charles we traveled on foot for three hundred miles through vast prairies and through trackless wilds of snow, no beaten road, houses few and far between � " Parley arrived at Independence in the County of Jackson on the extreme western frontiers of Missouri and of the United States around Feb 1831. Along the way he preached the gospel to tens of thousands of Gentiles and two nations of Indians, "baptizing, confirming and organizing many hundreds of people into churches of the Latter Day Saints. This was the first mission performed � in any of the states west of New York. We were the first members of the Church which were ever on this frontier." Samuel HENDERSON married into the same HARRIS family as Stephen SHELTON. Margaret SHELTON Hair mentioned that several of the HARRIS family married into the HENDERSON family and that the HENDERSONs had many of the family records. Other names of interest found in early Washington County, MO are GREGG, CROW & GOFORTH. In Nauvoo Stephen SHELTON & Samuel HENDERSON had stayed late to harvest crops. They'd both been at the Miracle of the Quails; and they were both at Mount Pisgah for an extended period. With so many men taken into the Mormon Battalion, SHELTON & HENDERSON were probably graciously welcomed in to help relieve this void at Mount Pisgah. Their extended stay invites us to presume they were called to be part of the support staff there (1 1/2-2 yrs). They probably continued in what they had been doing at Nauvoo, farming. Joseph SHELTON was born to Stephen & Abigail about September 1846 at Mount Pisgah, Iowa. George WARDLE & Thomas BULLOCK also stayed late in Nauvoo; but they eventually made it to Winter Quarters. BULLOCK says they had two wagons. And he was bringing his father's cattle. "As early as September 1846 a singing school had enrolled hundreds of young and old alike who regularly held choir practice. By year�s end, thanks to the efforts of Stephen H. Goddard, Winter Quarters boasted a fine large chorus, the prairie predecessor of the Tabernacle Choir." Thomas BULLOCK's wife, Henretta, and George WARDLE's wife, Fanny, were of the musical RUSHTON family. They may have joined this choir when they arrived in late 1846. Willard Richards�s octagon home, or �potato heap� as it was commonly called, was a unique structure, serving as the Winter Quarters post office, Church headquarters, and make-shift hospital. Near Brigham Young�s home on Main Street, the bishops constructed a one-and-one-half-story Council House�a community center, town hall, and gathering place. Measuring 22 by 32 feet, it had log floors, fireplaces, and windows. Because of its size, it housed most social events and indoor religious gatherings. Because we know George WARDLE was a dance instructor, the following about Winter Quarters is of particular interest: "A dancing school that opened in February 1847 at the Council House was also popular, with 440 students enrolled at one point. Dances, hosted almost nightly, offered a diversion from the austere frontier life and �contributed much to the cheerfulness of the community, amid the hardships and privations to which they were exposed.� WARDLE was there at that time. "By far the greatest physical resource of these pioneers was their massive herds of livestock. Of the 10,000 head in the area, some 1,200 were owned by the Church and the remainder by individual members. The enterprise of purchasing cattle had begun in Nauvoo as the Saints were preparing to go west. Committees were soon selected to pay herdsmen, control sales and distribution, and coordinate all livestock matters. The Winter Quarters economy was built on a general barter system, with cattle being the most popular item of exchange." With the loss of so many men to the battalion, the westward migration was delayed for a season. Nevertheless, during the fall & winter of 1846 leaders at Winter Quarters kept busy preparing. "Young reviewed information on the Great Salt Lake Valley and the Great Basin, consulted with mountain men and trappers and met with Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, a Jesuit missionary familiar with the region. He organized a vanguard company to break trail to the Rocky Mountains, evaluate trail conditions, find sources of water, and select a central gathering point in the Great Basin." Preparations for the advance party included gathering or building sturdy wagons & ox teams. Brigham Young hand picked men for his Pioneer Company� the original group consisted of 143 men (including three slaves of southern members, namely, Hark Lay, Green Flake, and Oscar Crosby. ), three women (wives of Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Lorenzo Dow Young, namely Clarissa Decker Young, Harriet Page Wheeler Young, and Ellen Sanders Kimball), and two children of Harriet Young. Of special interest are Thomas BULLOCK, Appleton Milo HARMON, John Somers HIGBEE, William KIMBALL, A. LYMAN, Willard RICHARDS, O. Porter ROCKWELL, William C. A. SMOOT & George WARDLE. Since Henrietta RUSHTON Bullock & Fanny RUSHTON Wardle were sisters, and their husbands had been picked to go with Brigham YOUNG, they were likely together back at Winter Quarters. Collectively these men had a variety of pioneering talents and skills. They included mechanics, teamsters, hunters, frontiersmen, carpenters, sailors, soldiers, accountants, bricklayers, blacksmiths, wagon makers, lumbermen, joiners, dairymen, stockmen, millers, and engineers. Eight of the party were Apostles, and several had been with Zion�s Camp. The company�s equipment included a boat, a cannon, seventy wagons and carriages, ninety-three horses, fifty-two mules, sixty-six oxen, nineteen cows, seventeen dogs, and some chickens. The train contained 73 wagons, draft animals, and livestock and carried enough supplies to provision the group for one year. Though delayed beyond their 22 March 1847 departure deadline, the advance, exploratory company��the Pioneer Camp��was finally ready to roll out of Winter Quarters on 5 April 1847. At that same time Parley P. Pratt & John Taylor returned from their missions in England. This was a blessed encounter for they brought back money contributed by the English Saints and scientific instruments for calculating latitude, elevation, temperature, and barometric pressure. Traveling to the Elk Horn River, about twenty-five miles west of Winter Quarters, Brigham Young divided the party into two parallel organizations. As companies were formed, George WARDLE was in the first ten, and Thomas BULLOCK was in the second ten. "Like a modern Moses, YOUNG issued instructions for the new Israelites. In Indian country, he cautioned each pioneer to carry a loaded gun. He ordered the wagons to travel two abreast, and drivers to walk beside their wagons and not leave them unless sent on an errand. He organized the camp in military fashion in case they encountered hostile Indians. Members of the party were directed to arise at 5:00 am, which allowed them to leave by 8:00 am, to travel during the daylight hours & to retire by 9:00 pm. William Clayton, the official camp historian, recorded accurate mileage for later emigrants. For the first few days this meticulous record keeper counted the monotonous revolutions of the wagon wheel to calculate the daily mileage. He soon proposed using a mechanical odometer for the job. Scientific-minded Orson Pratt designed the device, and Appleton Harmon, an experienced woodworker, constructed it." Some journals mention BULLOCK & WARDLE: 9 May 1847 about 11 Oclock on the banks of the plat[te] river[.] word came around that there would be meeting at 4 Oclock[.] Eld[er] A[masa] Lyman opened the meeting by prayer[.] Elder W. Woodruff[,] Eld[er] O. Pratt[,] Eld. E. Snow and Elder E. T. Benson all spoke[.] very interesting[.] Brother [Thomas] Bullock the clerck [clerk] then read the minits [minutes] of the last meeting[.] Elder Woodruff then rose up and dismissed the meeting 15 May 1847 stuck in the mud with my team until G[eorge] A. Smith & G. Wardle help me out�I helped him out�Camp on the Platte. A Meeting held & Prest. Young spoke very affectingly a short time. Across Nebraska the Oregon Trail ran along the south side of the Platte. Much of the first part of the Mormon Trail paralleled the Oregon Trail to Fort Laramie, Wyoming, but on the north side. This new route on the north side of the Platte and North Platte rivers was chosen to avoid potential conflicts over grazing rights, water access and campsites with travelers using the established Oregon Trail on the river�s south side. At Fort Laramie they halted for repairs and celebrated Brigham YOUNG's 46th birthday. While at Fort Laramie, the vanguard company was joined by members of the Mormon Battalion who had been excused due to illness and sent to winter in Pueblo, Colorado and a group of Mormons from Mississippi. This larger company then took the established Oregon Trail for 397 miles toward the trading post at Ft Bridger. The company pushed on through South Pass, rafted across the Green River and arrived at Fort Bridger on July 7th. When the Oregon Trail turned north to the Pacific Coast, the Mormons picked up the year-old track of the Reed-Donner party thru the Rockies into the Salt Lake Valley. After they left Fort Bridger, the increasingly difficult trail and the plague of mountain fever made the pioneers' journey torturous. Their greatest trials resulted from disease. Diarrhea, canker & fever plagued the travelers. The disease they called Mountain Fever struck Brigham Young and several others. Two months after Brigham YOUNG left Winter Quarters, Parley P. PRATT and John TAYLOR of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles led a party of 1,553 men, women, and children��the Emigration Camp��in the wake of their leader. Orson Hyde, who had accompanied the two to England, arrived during the middle of May. These three were not yet outfitted when YOUNG left so they remained in Winter Quarters. With PRATT & TAYLOR leaving, HYDE superintended the Saints who remained at the Missouri River. The primary objective of the thousands left behind was to plant and harvest substantial crops, gather provisions, organize themselves, and prepare for the exodus west as soon as possible. Some men went to Missouri late in the summer of 1847 to assist in the harvests there, receiving their pay in much-needed wheat. �All preparation and organization,� they had been counseled, �is for journeying and not for a permanent location at Winter Quarters.� "On July 24, 1847, an exhausted Brigham Young and other members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints arrived in Utah's Great Salt Lake Valley and called it home. These pioneers wanted an isolated place after the violence they had experienced, so the Great Salt Lake Valley seemed ideal. They immediately planted potatoes and turnips, built a dam, and had a solemn ceremony to dedicate the area as their "Promised Land." Then they sent word back to their fellow members describing the two-square-mile city they had settled. A company of Mississippi saints had joined with the Mormon Battalion sick detachment at Pueblo, and then followed the pioneers into the valley on July 29. Mormon Battalion men were assigned ox teams and wagons as vanguard of the return company. By the second week in August, the pioneers were well into building the adobe walls of the fort that would house the men remaining in the valley while YOUNG and the return party went back for the rest of the Mormon camps at Council Bluffs and Winter Quarters. YOUNG had only spent 35 days in the valley. On 16 Aug he commenced the return to Winter Quarters. YOUNG and his apostles on horseback followed with thirty-six wagons two weeks after the battalion vanguard company. They would rendezvous at Winter Quarters and lead the rest of the Mormons to the valley in late summer of 1848. Those who stayed behind in Great Salt Lake City were left with little but their own devices to face the coming winter. Fortunately, it was mild. President YOUNG returned to Winter Quarters on 31 October. A few weeks later, in accordance with government demands that the Church vacate Indian lands, President Young announced on 14 November 1847 plans to begin abandoning Winter Quarters in the spring of 1848. Those able to go west by spring should do so, while those remaining should move east across the river. With SHELTON & HENDERSON still at Mount Pisgah, they were not affected by this. The matter of reestablishing the First Presidency had weighed heavily on the Twelve for several months, particularly during the trek to the Salt Lake Valley. As President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Brigham Young felt impressed that the time had come to reestablish the First Presidency. After several months of discussing the matter, nine of the Twelve Apostles (Elders Parley P. Pratt and John Taylor were in the Salt Lake Valley, and Elder Lyman Wight was in Texas) gathered at the home of Elder Orson Hyde near Miller�s Hollow on the Iowa side of the Missouri. There, on 5 December 1847, their deliberations culminated in the prayerful action of sustaining Brigham Young as President of the Church, with Elders Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards, both of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as President Young�s counselors. To accommodate members wishing to attend a special conference where the matter would be placed before the general membership for their sustaining vote, 200 men, under the direction of Henry W. Miller, worked three weeks at Miller�s Hollow to construct a 60-by-40-foot log tabernacle. On 27 December 1847, after three days of conference sessions, Elder Orson Pratt presented the matter of business everyone had crowded into the tabernacle to hear�the reestablishment of the First Presidency. A motion was made and seconded that President Young of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles be sustained as President of the Church, with Elders Kimball and Richards as his First and Second Counselors. 26 Elder Orson Hyde was then sustained as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. A crowd of more than 1,000 people voted their unanimous support. George WARDLE returned to Winter Quarters; but apparently Thomas BULLOCK did not: "The wagon parties that had trailed the pioneers from Winter Quarters began streaming into the valley in late September 1847. In the next months, ten companies totaling 1,690 immigrants emerged from Emigration Canyon, overrunning the valley with 2,213 oxen, 887 cows, 124 horses, 358 sheep, 35 hogs and 716 chickens. The encampment now was a city on wheels, the wheels of 566 wagons; all dutifully recorded by Camp of Israel historian Thomas Bullock." (deletion here)We have reason to believe that George WARDLE was back with Fanny RUSHTON Wardle by November 1847. We have reason to believe Samuel THOMPSON was with Elizabeth also in November. From family records we know that two special babies would soon be born to two pioneer families on the prairies of Wyoming in Indian territory. Research Notes - Sheila Gibson

George Wardle (1820)

Shelton Research Website©DISCLAIMER