MARTHA HARVILLE (BICKMORE) (PARKINSON) 1808-1883

[Ancestral Link: Mary Elizabeth Bickmore (Schow), daughter of Isaac Danford Bickmore, son of Martha Harville (Bickmore).]

Burial: Wellsville Cemetery, Wellsville, Cache County, Utah, USA

Note: Gravestone with Timothy and Ann Fielding Parkinson

Birth: June 1803, North Carolina, USA

Death: October 26, 1883, Wellsville, Cache County, Utah, USA

Martha Eliza Harvill

BIOGRAPHY: Martha Eliza Harvel was born in North Carolina on June 4, 1808, a daughter of Squire James Harvell and Mary Money (Monnette). They came to Illinois and settled on a farm. They were well-to-do farmers, owning a large farm. They owned a large grove of sugar maples and when it was time to tap the trees, they would go to the grove and camp and make maple sugar. They would keep so many pounds of sugar for each member of the family for the year. They also gathered pecan and hazel nuts for the winter.

Their farm was near the Bickmore farm and when she grew up, she married Isaac Motor Bickmore. They had seven children, four boys and three girls. They were John Jackson, born 1828; Mary Jane who married Jacob Abbott; Isaac Danford who married Ellen Oldham; Mary Ann who married William Hardy; Sarah Elizabeth who married Francis Gunnel; David Newman who married Elizbeth McArthur; and Daniel Marion who died as a young man.

Isaac joined the LDS church several years before Martha did. They sold their farm and started with a company of saints to Utah. They joined the John B. Walker Company wagon train. Isaac died of cholera before reaching Utah. He was buried at Loup Fork, Nebraska. He was only ill a few hours. He and his mother died the same day, July 5, 1852. The wagon train arrived in Utah on 5 October 1852.

Isaac's brothers and families were in the same company. It was the time of the gold rush in California. A number of the Bickmore's went on to California but Martha stayed in Utah with her family. She had one married daughter, Mary Ann Hardy who came with her to Utah. Mary Ann's husband, William Hardy, was very kind to Martha and helped her a great deal.

Martha's oldest son, John Jackson, never came to Utah. When they left Illinois, some of their relatives started out on the wagon train but turned back. John went back with them and his mother never saw him again. He joined the Confederate Army and fought in the Civil War. He was an officer when he was killed.

Martha's son-in-law, James Abbott, was very good to her and her family. Martha was very efficient and could do all kinds of work, including carding, spinning and weaving cloth. She also colored it. She had a loom and her granddaughter, Martha Bickmore Shipley, remembered a dress she wove and colored for her. She could do all kinds of knitting such as stockings, mittens and gloves. He taught her granddaughter, Martha Bickmore to knit.

Martha was a midwife and went out among all kinds of sickness and there weren't any doctors in the area in those days. As a mid-wife, she helped deliver many babies, traveling on horseback for each delivery. She always kept a hired girl to help her with her family.

Martha married Timothy Parkinson on 4 June 1856 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah. Timothy Grant Parkinson, second husband of Martha Harville (Bickmore).

Timothy had two sons. Martha helped raise these sons. Martha's youngest son died as a young man, still in his teens. After their children were raised and married, they took a small boy in and raised him. He went by the name of Henry Parkinson.

Martha co-owned and operated a dairy farm in Wellsville, Utah. She made butter and cheese, which she promptly stamped with the big letter, "P". She was a good Latter-day Saint who was generous with her time and money. Martha donated a portion of her farm to the town of Wellsville to be used as the Wellsville City Cemetery. She was buried in the cemetery she donated the land for.

Martha died in Wellsville, Utah, where she had lived most of her life after coming to Utah. She is buried in the Wellsville Cemetery. [Source: Sketch of Martha Harvell Bickmore Parkinson by Martha Bickmore Shipley, a granddaughter. Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude, Vol. III, page 2301.]
found on ancestry.com

Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude, Vol. III, page 2301-2
BIRTHDATE: 4 January 1808, Kainey, North Carolina
DEATH: 25 October 1883 Wellsville, Cache County, Utah
PARENTS: Squire James Harvel and Mary Monette
PIONEER;  5 October 1852, John B. Walker Company Wagon Train
SPOUSE 1:  Isaac M. Birckmore
MARRIED: 1 March 1829, Friendship, Knox County, Maine
DEATH SP:  6 July 1852, Loop Fork, Nebraska
CHILDREN:
John Jackson Bickmore, 1829
Martha Jane Bickmore, 24 January 1832
Isaac Dandor Bickmore, 24 September 1838
Mary Ann Bickmore, 1 February 1840
Sarah Elizabeth Bickmore, 31 May 1842
David Newman Bickmore, 1 August 1844
Daniel Marion Bickmore, 10 March 1847
SPOUSE 2: Timothy Graham Parkinson Sr.
MARRIED: 4 June 1856, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah
DEATH SP:  20 October 1891, Wellsville, Cache County, Utah
CHILDREN:  None

Martha Harvel or Harville was born on January 4, 1808 in Kainey, North Carolina.  Her parents were Squire James Harvel and Mary Monette, She married Isaac Motor Bickmore in 1858 and they became the parents of seven children, all born in Illinois.

In 1852 they joined with the Walker Company to cross the Plains.  Her husband Isaac died at Loop Fork, Nebraska on July 6, 1852.  Martha arrived in the Salt Lake Valley with her children on October 5, 1952.

On June 4, 1856 she married Timothy Graham Parkinson Sr. in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah.  She helped to raise his two young sons, Henry Fielding Parkinson and Timothy Fielding Parkinson.  They also adopted a son together, who they named Henry Parkinson.

Martha co-owned and operated a dairy farm in Wellsvill, Utah.  She made butter and cheese, which she proudly stamped with a big letter "P."  She was a mid-wife and helped deliver many babies, traveling on horseback for each delivery.  She was a good Latter-day Saint, who was generous with her time and money.  She donated a portion of her farm to the town of Wellsville to be used as the Wellsville Cemetery.

Martha passed away on October 26, 1883 in Wellsville, Cache County, Utah.  She was buried in the cemetery she donated the land for.  Her husband, Timothy, passed away in 1891 also in Wellsville, Cache County, Utah.

Isaac Motor Bickmore

Contributed By elizabethanntaylor2 · 2014-01-11 19:43:39 GMT+0000 (UTC) · 1 Comments

Family History of Isaac Motor Bickmore & Martha Harville Written, edited and compiled by Lowell J. Parkinson Converted to digital by Faye Richman 2012 Life History of Martha Harville Bickmore Parkinson Martha Harville Bickmore Parkinson was born 4 June 1808 in Kainey, North Carolina; a daughter of Squire James Harville and Mary Monette. Martha lived with her parents in North Carolina until she was full grown. Her father was a rich plantation owner with many slaves. Martha’s mother was a very good cook and housekeeper. She said that no girl was ready to get married until she had learned all the phases of housekeeping and also outside work. So when Martha was ready for marriage, she was well trained in managing a household and providing for a husband and family. Martha and her parents and siblings left North Carolina and moved to Brown County, Illinois. There she met and fell in love with a man by the name of Isaac Motor Bickmore. She and Isaac were married sometime around the year 1828. Her husband, Isaac Motor Bickmore, was born 6 June 1798 in Medum Cook later to be renamed Friendship, Knox, Maine. Isaac Motor Bickmore’s parents settled in Brown County, Illinois, at the same time his wife’s parents settled there. A few years after they were married, Isaac joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). Twelve years later Martha embraced the gospel and joined the Church. Martha’s parents owned a large farm where they grew Maple trees. They extracted sugar maple from the trees and this harvest would take many weeks, so the family would camp near their groves and make the maple sugar and syrup. The Harvilles would keep so many pounds for each member of the family for the year. They also gathered pecan hazel nuts for the winter. Martha and Isaac were the parents of seven children: John Jackson, Martha Jane, Isaac Danford, Mary Ann, Sarah Elizabeth, David Newman, and Daniel Marion. In 1848 Martha and Isaac sold their farm in Springfield, Illinois, and moved to Desmoins, Polk, Iowa, but not being satisfied with their home, they again moved and relocated on a farm near Indian Creek, Pottawattami, Iowa, where they lived for about 4-years. It was while living at Indian Creek that Martha joined the Mormon Church. On account of bitter feelings that existed between the saints and the gentiles, the members were advised to dispose of their homes and immigrate to Utah where they could worship according to the dictates of their hearts and conscience without interruption. Listening to the advice of the church leaders, they sold their home and one of the farms which they owned. The money they had received for the sale of the house and farm was stashed in the house when the mob came and set fire to their home and belongings. The mob found the money and stole it. Martha and Isaac were compelled to move into the home of a neighbor until they could sell their other farms. In the year 1852, they joined the company of Latter-day Saints under the leadership of Captain John B. Walker and started for the long trek across the plains of America for the Utah Territory. While crossing the plains an epidemic of “Black Cholera” broke out among the saints and Isaac Bickmore and his mother, Margaret Dixon Bickmore, were afflicted with the dreaded disease. They both succumbed and died a few hours apart on 6 July 1852. They were both buried in the same grave at Loop Fork, Nebraska. Isaac’s brothers and their families were in the same wagon train. It was at the time of the “Gold Rush” in California and those families went on to California. When Isaac and Martha left Iowa, some of their brothers and sisters’ families started with them for Utah but became discouraged and turned back. Martha’s eldest son, John Jackson Bickmore, was one who turned back and she never saw him again. Martha had left Iowa with several wagons full of her earthly possessions; with the help and aid of her son-in-law, Jacob Abbott, and her children and friends she was able to continue the journey on to Utah with the absence of her beloved husband Isaac. Martha and her family, consisting of son, Isaac Danford and David Newman and daughters, Martha Jane Bickmore Abbott, Mary Ann, and Sarah Elizabeth, she was able to arrive in the Salt Lake Valley in September of 1852. Martha and her family settled in Mill Creek outside of Salt Lake for the first 2-years. In 1854, accompanied by families and friends who had braved the hardships of the plains from Iowa to Utah, the Bickmores moved once again to the place they helped colonize called Grantsville in Tooele County, Utah. On the first morning of their arrival in Grantsville the Indians were so hostile that the pioneers were forced to build a fort and live in it for the first few years. They had only been in Grantsville 6-week when Martha’s close friend, Mary Haslam Parkinson, was shot and killed by the Indians. Mary H. Parkinson was the first white woman buried in the Grantsville Cemetery. After Mary’s death, Martha began dating her friend’s widower, Timothy Parkinson, Sr. They were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City on Martha’s forty-eighth birthday – 4 June 1856. Timothy had two teen age sons, Timothy Jr., and Henry fielding living with him and Martha had two teen age children, Sarah Elizabeth and David Newman, living at home with her. The marriage brought the two families together under one common roof. Martha and Timothy were enticed by Captain Peter Maughan to go and help colonize Cache Valley 89-miles to the north and east of Grantsville. They left with their families in the fall of 1857, with the exception of Martha’s eldest daughter, Martha Jane, and her husband, Jacob Abbott. Timothy left behind his eldest son, Charles Graham, and the greave of his second wife, Mary Nuttal Haslam Parkinson. Martha and Timothy were only in Cache Valley a short time when they, along with the rest of the pioneers received a directive from Brigham Young telling them to disperse from Cache Valley. They again pulled up stakes and broke camp and headed back south for Salt Lake. In the fall of 1859, Martha and Timothy once again headed north to Cache Valley. But this time a fort had been erected and named Maughan’s Fort in honor of Peter Maughan. Timothy and Martha pooled their money and purchased a farm 1-mile north of the Maughan’s Fort. Martha was a very shrewd business woman and soon she and Timothy owned and operated a large dairy farm with many milk cows, pigs, and chickens. Timothy built large corrals and made their home and farm look very impressive. Martha built a log house with a big one-log room. She and Timothy later built a large house with two big rooms downstairs and two big ones upstairs and that house had wooden shingles on it. They later built a wooden frame home in 1865 at 112 North 200 East in what is now know as Wellsville, Utah. At this writing, 10 October 1982, that home is still standing. Martha and Timothy were very generous with their money and time. They adopted a young boy who they named Henry Parkinson. No information is available as to what happened to him. Martha and Timothy donated part of a parcel of their fame to be used as the Wellsville Cemetery. The North half of that cemetery was situated on their farm. Martha and Timothy were the first farmers in Utah to raise white pure-bred pigs from France, and they were the first farmers to practice the method of summer fallowing on the Wellsville bench dry farms. Martha made cheese and butter which she proudly stamped with a large letter “P.” Her business became so prosperous that she hired a young girl to help her with the business. That girl was Jane Leishman Greer. Jane would later marry Martha’s stepson, Timothy Fielding Parkinson. Martha was very energetic and efficient and could excel in all kinds of work. She could card, spin, and weave cloth as well as color it. She had a loom and wove many clothes, after which she would make and color dresses for her granddaughters. She could do all kinds of knotting such as stockings, mitten, and gloves. She derived great joy in knotting things for her grandchildren. Martha bought herself nice corsets and the other pioneer women had to wear homemade ones, made from bones that some of the weavers made. Martha’s granddaughter, Martha Bickmore Thomas, as a little girl, used to peek under the curtains to Martha’s bedroom to look at the pretty things because Martha owned things so uncommon to the other pioneer women. Martha wore pretty dresses and pretty underskirts. Martha and a woman by the name of Jane Allan Leishman were the only two mid-wives in Wellsville. Martha was an excellent practical nurse. At the time she first came to Wellsville there was an absence of any doctors in the entire Cache Valley. Martha learned her knowledge of mid-wifery from her sister friend, Jane Allan Leishman. Jane was a doctor in Scotland. Martha spent many long and cold nights helping the sick or injured. She helped a Dr. Ormsby when he came into the valley. Martha was responsible for the births of hundreds of babies. According to Martha, “the night was never too cold or stormy for her to go when anyone was sick and need her help.” In Martha’s day the only transportation was a wagon, so she simplified her mode of transportation and purchased a black horse and rode it to the homes of the sick. Martha was a kind, generous woman who was hospitable to friends and foe alike. Her home was always open to all. Many of the babies she helped bring into this world were named in her honor. With the hundreds of babies she delivered into this world and the sick people she nursed and took care of, she never charged for her services. The grateful people would give her produce or whatever they could spare from the pantry. Martha had a talent for extracting dyes from the berries and weeds that grew in Cache Valley and use them for dyeing cloth or used for medicines. Martha died on 26 Oct 1883 at the age of seventy-five. She was buried on land she and Timothy had farmed and once owned. She was laid to rest in the Wellsville Cemetery. Her widower, Timothy Parkinson, outlived Martha by 8-years. He died 10 Oct 1891 at the age of eight-five, and he was buried next Martha in the Wellsville Cemetery. Martha and Timothy were married for 27-years. Martha entered into polygamy with Timothy when he took a fourth wife, Rebecca Shaw Wood Green, on 4 Oct 1869. Timothy’s marriage to Rebecca only lasted 7-years. Timothy Parkinson and Martha Harville Bickmore’s graves went unmarked for 90-years, up to 10 Oct 1981, when the graves were located and the Parkinson and Bickmore families erected a memorial to Timothy and Martha, making a final tribute to two very courageous and sacrificing pioneers. Sources: This history was compiled and written by Lowell J. Parkinson, a great great step-grandson of Martha Harville Bickmore Parkinson. Information for this history was taken from the personal histories of Martha Bickmore Thomas, Mary Ann Bickmore Hardy, Sarah Elizabeth Bickmore Gunnell, and from a tape recording by Rachel Marietta Parkinson Parker.

Found on Family Tree

Martha Eliza Harville
1808 – 1883
Written and compiled by Larry Mace
11 October 2002
Revised 5 April 2004

Martha Eliza Harville (Harvel) was born at Kainey, Cumberland County, North Carolina, on June 4, 1808, a daughter of Squire James Harvel and Mary Monnette. [There is some question regarding the middle name, James, of Martha’s father. In all documentation found, he used only the name Squire.] Her grandfather was David Harvel, who resided most of his life in Surry County, North Carolina. Her grandfather’s brother, James Harvel, owned a large farm of 1790 acres in Cumberland County.1 Some traditional family stories indicate that Martha’s grandfather was James Harvel, rather than David. However, in the will of her grandmother, Mary Monnette, who was the wife of David, all of the daughters of David and Mary were named in the will. These would have been the sisters to Squire. None of the boys were named in the will. All of the boys but one had moved away and the remaining son, Moses, was estranged from his mother.

The Harville (Harvel) family arrived in America before 1650 with the arrival of John Harvel from London, England. He came to Virginia, and for the next three or four generations, the Harville family resided in Charles City County, Virginia. David Harville, the grandfather of Martha, moved from Virginia to North Carolina as a young man. There he met Mary Womack, and they were married in Johnson (later Wake) County, North Carolina. Within a few years after their marriage, they moved to Surry County, North Carolina.

Martha’s mother’s family, the Monnette family, originally came from France. On the Eve of St. Bartholomew on 24 August 1572, a massacre occurred where estimates of over 70,000 Huguenots were killed in a single night. The Roman Catholics had conceived such a bitter hatred for the Protestants that they determined to get rid of them. Catherine de Medicis, the mother of Charles IX, helped conceive the plan and convince her son, Charles, to carry this plan out. In Paris alone, over 10,000 were killed. The streets were reeking with the blood of men, women and children.2 Among those killed on that terrible night in 1572, was Pierre Monet, from whom the American Monnette family descended.

The surviving Huguenots existence, including the descendants of Pierre Monet, was in peril for a long time. The atrocities against the Protestants continued for over 150 years. Isaac Monnette, a descendant of Pierre Monet, escaped to England from France about 1687 and became a naturalized citizen of England in 1683. He did not remain in England for long and was the first of the Monnette family to migrate to America. He was living in Calvert County, Maryland by 1707. Some of his descendants became French trappers in Maryland and Virginia. Martha’s great grandfather was a French trapper in Virginia who, about 1760, married a Cherokee Indian maiden. Some traditional family stories indicate that she came from the Cherry Creek band of the Cherokee’s. Martha’s grandfather, Major Byran Monnett came to North Carolina and her mother, Mary Monnette, was born in Cumberland County, North Carolina in December 1790.

Most of the Harville family lived on the north side of Fox Knob, a fifteen hundred foot high hill at the headwaters of the south fork of Deep Creek, Surry County, North Carolina. This area is in the foothills on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Northwestern North Carolina, not far from the present day Blue Ridge Parkway.

Figure 1. Fox Knob hill in background, North Carolina.

This area of North Carolina was settled about 1750 by a group of settlers from Pennsylvania. They were a group of Quakers who had left Pennsylvania seeking new farming land, which was less expensive. So many people were flooding into Pennsylvania at that time that land prices were many times what land could be purchased for in North Carolina. At about the same time, there were also groups of German settlers from Pennsylvania who settled in this same area. They all came to this area traveling on the Great Wagon Road. It passed just four or five miles from Deep Creek. At this time, thousands of people were migrating along the Great Wagon Road. Some say that as many as six wagons per hour were traveling along this road moving south. Land in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania at that time was selling for 7 pounds 10 shillings for fifty acres. Land could be purchased in this area of North Carolina for 5 shillings for one hundred acres.

Due to farming techniques at this time, significant migration was necessary. Land quickly played out and became unproductive. A farmer’s plight was to either suffer from low production on used up farmland or move. Thus, farmers were moving fairly often to seek out new bottomland. Land in the hills was not nearly as productive as the rich bottomland along streams and rivers.

At Deep Creek, North Carolina, David Harvell (Harville) had four hundred acres there adjacent to his brother, James Harvell. Moses Harvell had one hundred acres adjacent to David Harvell’s land. There was also a Mary Harvell with one hundred acres adjacent to David’s land. In the general area, there was also a William Harvell.4  David’s son, Squire, may have had land also but it was not noted in the 1815 Tax List for Surry County. Several of Squire’s brothers were listed, however.

David Harvell’s daughters were Elizabeth Harvel, Mary Harvel, and Phereby Harvel. Elizabeth or Betsy as she was often called married Millington Finch on 19 January 1807. Mary Harvel married Reuben Johnson on 23 May 1812. Phereby Harvel married Jesse Sisk on 11 August 1797. These marriages become important in that Mary Monnette Harvell, after the death of David about 1816, remarried to John Cook. In her will, she named Elizabeth Finch, Ferrbe Sisk, and Polly Johnson as heirs along with her husband John. She named none of the boys in her will. All the boys except James and Moses had moved away. James had died about 1822. Traditional family stories state that Moses, upon the other boys leaving, set about acquiring their lands. This upset his mother tremendously. There was some subsequent court action over his acquisition of these lands, and he and his mother became estranged. In the will, Mary’s name was Patsy Cook, which leads one to question whether her name was Mary as it appears in many family records or if it was Martha, which also appears in numerous family records. If her name were Martha, Patsy was a nickname for Martha. Also, it would explain where Martha, her granddaughter acquired her name.

While Martha Eliza Harvel was still quite young, her parents with their family moved from North Carolina to Illinois. There are indications that one or more of Squire’s brothers may have traveled with them, as well as possibly other neighbors who had decided to move. Their move could have been as early as 1815 but they certainly had moved before 1820 as Squire Harville was living at Greenfield, Madison (Greene County today) County, Illinois at the time of the 1820 federal census.5 There could have been any number of reasons for the Harvilles moving but there was a significant migration from the area where they lived in North Carolina to Illinois at the time they moved. It may have been that the farmland they had was mostly played out and was becoming unproductive. Much of the migration of farmers throughout the late 1700’s and into the 1800’s was seeking rich bottom land at reasonable prices. Illinois filled the need of that time. It had virgin farmland and it was cheap. Regardless of the reasons, Squire Harville moved his family to Illinois. Illinois was on the western frontier and was just beginning to be settled in the early 1800’s. All but one of Squires brothers left North Carolina at about the same time as Squire. A traditional family story states that the family left because of the impending slavery issue. As a family, they did not believe in slavery, according to the story. With the beginning of rumors of war, the story states that they left to avoid the confrontation over this issue. Certainly that had been true of the French Indian War. Thousands migrated from western Pennsylvania to North Carolina and Georgia to avoid that war and to get out of harms way. A number of families in the geographical area where the Harville’s lived in North Carolina moved to Illinois so it may have been that Squire and other of the Harvels traveled to Illinois together. The Hudspeth family was one of those families who left Surry County and moved to Illinois. John Hudspeth, the local sheriff where the Harvilles lived in Surry County moved to Illinois and one of his descendants married a Harville in Illinois. Whether they Hudspeth family traveled with the Harvilles to Illinois or traveled separately is not known.

Some records reflect that Isaac and Martha’s son, Keener, was born in Tennessee en route to Illinois. Later in life, Keener Harville stated in more than one Federal Census that he was born in Tennessee6. Based on that, Squire Harville and his family would have been en route to Illinois through Tennessee in 1817. That was the same year that Squire’s father, David Harville, died in North Carolina. The roads from Surry County in North Carolina into Tennessee were few and quite primitive. Squire and his family likely would have gone from Deep Creek to the nearby Great Wagon Road and turned northward. Several days travel would have brought them to the Wilderness Road which connected to the Great Wagon Road in Virginia. Once on the Wilderness Road, which incidentally had been initially carved out by Daniel Boone and other frontiersman, they would have gone through the Cumberland Gap, the main route through the mountains between North Carolina and Tennessee. Just beyond the Cumberland Gap, there were a couple of routes leading west. They may have continued on the Wilderness Road or gone on the National Road, which were two of the early day roads used to travel westward. After the birth of Keener in Tennessee, they traveled on across the remainder of Tennessee and into southern Illinois. After many months of arduous travel, the family arrived at Greenfield, Madison County, Illinois. Greenfield is located north of St. Louis, Missouri.

After a few years at Greenfield, Squire moved his family further north into Illinois and settled on a farm in Morgan County, Illinois. Squire became a fairly well to do farmer, owning a large farm. The family owned a large grove of sugar maples and when it was time to tap the trees, the family would camp at the grove and gather the sap for making maple sugar. Harvesting the sap would take many weeks so the family would camp near their grove and make the maple sugar and syrup. They would keep a certain number of pounds of sugar for each member of the family for the year. They also raised and gathered pecan and hazel nuts for the winter.

Martha’s mother, Mary Monett Harville, was a very good cook and housekeeper. Mary had a philosophy that no girl was ready to get married until she had learned all phases of running a household as well as doing outside work. By the time Martha was ready for marriage, she was well trained in managing a household and in providing for a husband and family.

After the Harvilles had moved to Morgan County, one of the families who moved to a farm nearby was the Martha Dickey/Dickson Bickmore family. They too had previously been located in Madison County. Some of Martha’s children were still living in Madison County at that time. The Harville farm was located near the Bickmore family farm and thus, Martha met Isaac Motor Bickmore, a young man from this neighboring farm. She fell in love with Isaac and they were married in Morgan County, Illinois on 1 March 182978. After marrying, they lived in Morgan County, Illinois for a short time. Their first child, John Jackson Bickmore, was born there in 1829.9 In 1830, Isaac and his young family were located between the farms of Squire Harvel and Martha Bickmore with just one farm in between each direction. 

Shortly after 1830, Isaac and Martha moved from Morgan County southward to Madison, Madison County, Illinois. Several of Isaac’s brothers and sisters were living in Madison County.1213 Isaac and Martha lived in Madison County for the next few years. Madison, Illinois was a small town just outside St. Louis, Missouri. While at Madison, their second child, Martha Jane Bickmore was born on 24 January 1832. In 1835, Isaac and several of his brothers moved back northward to Elkhorn Township in Brown County near the town of Versailles14. Versailles was just a short distance from the state capitol, Springfield. Martha’s father, Squire Harville, had moved to Elkhorn Township the previous year.15 This may have influenced the Bickmore’s to move to Elkhorn Township. Isaac and Martha’s third child, Issac Danford Bickmore, was born 24 September 1838 at Versailles, Brown County, Illinois.

Isaac purchased three pieces of property under the Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales. All three pieces of property were in the Elkhorn Township tract. The first piece he purchased on 18 August 1835. The other two pieces he purchased on 16 March 1836. Full title on all three pieces of property totaling 120 acres was transferred to him from the Federal Government on 3 November 1840.17 His brothers Samuel and William had also purchased land in the Elkhorn Township tract. William made a land purchase on 14 March 1836 and Samuel made two purchases of land on 3 August 1836. Martha’s father, Squire Harville, purchased a tract of land in Elkhorn Township on 3 July 1835. 1819

Figure2. Farmland in area of Isaac Bickmore farmin

 Figure 2. Area of Isaac Bickmore farms.

Figure 3. Area of Isaac Bickmore farms.

Isaac and Martha had their fourth child, Mary Ann Bickmore on 1 February 1840. Some traditional family records report that Mary Ann was born in Springville, which is a small town in Madison County near Madison. In the 1840 Illinois census, however, Isaac and his family were still living in Brown County.20 Thus, it is more likely that Mary Ann was born in Elkhorn Township, which was located near the town of Versailles, Brown County, Illinois. Another daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Bickmore was born on 31 May 1842 at Versailles Isaac and Martha next had a son, David Newman who was born on 1 August 1844 at Versailles.

Isaac and Martha’s farms were located on McKee Creek, four or five miles to the southwest of Versailles, Illinois. This was a short distance from Quincy, Illinois. Nauvoo, Illinois was several days’ travel by wagon from where Isaac and Martha lived. In this area of Illinois at that time, local residents who were non-Mormons had bitter feelings toward the Mormons. There were a number of reasons for this resentment. Some of the main reasons were that non-Mormons thought their way of life was being negatively impacted through Mormon control of local elections and also by the Mormons having their own State militia unit. This caused the local non-Mormons to think they were being pushed out. They began to retaliate through forming mobs to try to force out the Mormons. The mob action became increasingly violent as time went on. What started out as attempts to intimidate eventually led to violent acts such as pulling roofs off houses and barns and burning of homes. Violence continued to increase until people started to get killed.

Figure 4. Farming area around Isaac Bickmore farms.

In 1845, Mormon Church leaders Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed by a mob and several others with them were severely injured. The conditions did not improve after the martyr of the Smith brothers but rather continued to worsen. Mormon leadership eventually advised members to begin disposing of their homes and to begin emigration to westward where they could worship as they saw fit without intervention. In February 1846, the Mormon migration began in earnest with members leaving their homes in Nauvoo and surrounding communities.
Isaac and Martha did not leave when the main exodus of Mormons began. They probably remained behind to try to sell their farms to have adequate money for the move. In 1847 or 1848, Isaac and Martha sold their home and one of the farms they owned. Before they could move, a mob burned their house and stole the money they had just gotten from the sale of the farm. This compelled them to move to the home of a friend until they could dispose of the remaining farm. After they sold the remaining farm, they left Illinois in 1848.
6
Isaac’s brother, William, had already sold his property in Brown County and had moved to Hancock County in 1841.21 After beginning their trek west, William Bickmore and his wife, Christena, had a son born in a covered wagon in Des Moines, Iowa on 27 September 1846. William Bickmore would have been part of the original migration out of Nauvoo in the spring of 1846. There is a story told of the original migration that may have involved William. As the fleeing people gathered at Sugar Camp, across the river from Nauvoo, an armed rider rode into camp one day asking if anyone knew the whereabouts of a Mr. Bickmore. Mrs. Leavitt, the lady he asked, knew the Bickmore wagon was nearby, but she valiantly said, “Bickmore, that name is familiar. I believe I have heard that name before.” On hearing the Bickmore name, some of her party slipped away and went to warn the Bickmore’s. Mr. Bickmore, from that wagon, was across the river gathering up cattle to bring back. After a time, the armed rider rode away. (Add reference). 

Although a record has not been located identifying when Isaac’s brother Samuel left Illinois, it is assumed he may have moved at the same time as Isaac. There was no record of him selling his land at an earlier date, as had their brother, William. Isaac’s mother, Martha Dickey/Dixon Bickmore, had been living with her son, Samuel and his family prior to their departure from Illinois so it is assumed that she left Illinois with her son, Samuel. (Check 1850 census for Samuel)

There was a steady stream of Mormon Pioneers moving west, beginning in 1846 and continuing for several years. The main exodus began in 1846, but many such as Isaac Bickmore, had to wait until they had accumulated adequate resources to make the move. Many families, upon reaching various points along the way westward, had to live in their wagon for some time as it took time to find or build housing. Many also quickly ran out of supplies and had to stop and find jobs or take up farming to acquire sufficient supplies to move on. Some traveled back to Missouri to find work to earn sufficient money to buy the necessary supplies before moving on westward.

From Brown County, the Bickmores traveled westward to the Mississippi River and likely crossed it on a ferry to Keokuk, Iowa. From there, they would have followed the roads to Montrose and on westward to the Des Moines River. Here they crossed the river. By the time they began the journey west, the trail westward had been improved a little from 1846 when the exodus began. Ferries and bridges were mostly in place by 1848 so it was not quite so perilous as it had been for those just a few years before. The trail was still difficult however. Because of so much traffic along the trail, feed for the livestock became increasingly scarce near the trail.
After crossing the Des Moines River, they moved westward again toward the Locust Creek Camp and on to Garden Grove where there was an established Mormon community. Along the way, they crossed several other rivers and streams. As was true of any roads of the day, they encountered occasional bogs that presented challenges to get the team and wagon through. After reaching Garden Grove, they turned northward, eventually arriving at Des Moines where Isaac’s brothers, William and Samuel, were located. William and Samuel must have sent word to Isaac regarding their temporary location since Isaac left the normal Mormon trail and traveled north to Des Moines, Iowa. There, they were rejoined with the Bickmore family, including Isaac’s mother.

Isaac and Martha settled for a short time in Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa. Soon after their arrival at Des Moines, Iowa, they had their seventh child, Daniel Marion Bickmore. Daniel was born on 10 March 1847. Before long, they found they were not satisfied with living in Des Moines. They decided they wanted to rejoin the large gathering of fellow Mormons near Winter Quarters in western Iowa. William and Samuel and their families likely left at the same time as Isaac. Historical records show that William was a settler at Rawles Township in Mills County in western Iowa in 1847. The three brothers had generally lived close by each other previously so it is assumed that all three moved together to western Iowa. Leaving Des Moines, they traveled southward to join the westward trail toward Winter Quarters. After a few days travel, they came to Mount Pisgah, another Mormon community. Leaving Mount Pisgah, they traveled on westward till they arrived in Pottawattamie County, near Winter Quarters. Mills County is adjacent to Pottawattamie County so it may be that all the brothers initially traveled to Mills County.

By 1850, both William and Isaac were located in Pottawattamie County22. Here, they took up temporary residence on a farm in Pottawattamie County, Iowa.23 Samuel Bickmore remained at Rawles Township, apparently, as he was located there in an 1852 Iowa State Census.24 Taking up temporary residence such as the Bickmore brothers did was typical for families moving west in order to acquire sufficient resources for the remainder of the trip. Isaac and Martha resided at this location for about three years. It was here that Martha was converted to the Mormon faith in 1850. Her husband, Isaac, had been a member for twelve years. (Document source.)

While on the farm at Pottawattamie County, a man came to work for Isaac on his farm by the name of Jacob Farnum Abbott. Jacob had been previously married and had a small child with him. He and his previous wife had divorced. Isaac’s daughter, Martha Jane, fell in love with Jacob and they were married on 9 January 1850. Martha Jane raised Jacob’s daughter, Hannah, as her own. Jacob was a kind, generous man and a wonderful addition to the family. On 12 November 1850, Isaac and Martha had their first grandchild. Jacob and Martha Jane had a daughter, Sarah Elizabeth.

In late 1851, President Young, the leader of the Mormon Church, had given stern counsel that it was time for those scattered out along the Mormon trail to leave their temporary homes and gather in Utah. The emigration of the Latter-day Saints across the plains in 1852 was larger than in any previous year, owing to the fact that the Saints who had made themselves temporary homes in Pottawattamie County, along with other Mormon locations, took heed of President Brigham Young’s counsel and began the immigration to Utah. As the majority of the members, including Isaac and Martha, complied with the counsel given, most of the branches in Pottawattamie County, thirty-to-forty in number, were discontinued and the membership of those branches constituted an important part of the migration that year. Joining with the branches from Pottawattamie County were a large contingent of emigrants from Great Britain and also a large contingent of Mormons who had spent a year or more in St. Louis.
Isaac and Martha, along with their family, along with their son-in-law Jacob Farnum Abbott and his family, and Isaac’s mother, Martha Dixon Bickmore, joined with a company of Mormon emigrants who were coming from Europe under the direction of Abraham O. Smoot, who guided the first Company. Isaac and Martha and their family were part of the 14th Company under the leadership of Captain John B. Walker, who was one of the Captain’s of fifty of those bound for Utah. Wagon trains organized by the Mormons were divided into groups of approximately 50 with a Captain appointed to attend to the needs of and to direct the actions of those under their leadership. Isaac’s brothers, William and Samuel and their families, were part of another wagon train, which left at about the same time.25
The John B. Walker Company, of which Isaac and Martha as well as Martha Dixon Bickmore were a part, completed all preparations for the trip on 25 June 1852. The wagon train crossed the nearby Missouri River on 30 June 1852. After crossing the river, it took some time to regroup before getting underway. In the wagon train, there were about 250 people and 31 wagons along with their teams and livestock.

Fairly early in their journey, camping procedures were established for the wagon train. The mules and horses were tied inside the wagon train circle at night so they would not wander off. No one in the camp was to wander off without permission. Indians were always a danger. The Indians were regularly setting fires around the wagon train as it progressed along. At times, these fires got so close that the faces of the wagon train members turned black from the flying ash.

Part of the daily routine for the members of the wagon train was to pray each morning and each evening. Typically, the camp awoke at 6 A.M., held prayer, got breakfast, loaded up anything not already in the wagons, hitched up the teams of oxen, rounded up the livestock, and were on their way. Starting out each day could be very hectic. Often, the stock would not cooperate in being hitched up or would run away during the night causing delays in getting on the trail. The group put their trust in God each day and thanked him each evening for that day’s safe travel. The first couple of days travel was across a succession of hills and hollows. The trail was relatively good but was very crooked as it traversed this hilly landscape. One stream was crossed which had steep banks and was hard to water the stock at because of the steepness of the banks.

The wagon train soon reached the Elkhorn River where the real journey began. The wagons were loaded onto rafts and these were pulled crossed the Elkhorn River by oxen26. Some of the horses swam across. From the Elkhorn, they moved on until they reached the forks of the Platte River. They typically traveled a mile or so away from the Platte River so once they established a new camp, they had to go a short distance to obtain water and to water their teams and livestock. Smaller streams were encountered often as the wagon train traveled along. One of these was the Beaver River, which was about 25 feet wide but only about two feet deep. Camping sites were fairly plentiful along this first stretch of their journey.

Less than a hundred miles into their journey, at the Loup Fork River, tragedy struck. An epidemic in the form of Black Cholera broke out among the emigrants. Two of those afflicted were Isaac Motor Bickmore and his mother, Martha Dixon Bickmore. They both died on the same day, 6 July 1852. In total, thirteen members of the wagon train were lost to Cholera. Traveling along the rivers was a necessity for wagon trains so they would have water for the livestock as well as for the emigrants but cholera was a lurking evil around these same waters. Isaac and his mother, Martha, were both buried alongside the trail at the wagon crossing of the main fork of the Loup Fork River in Howard County, Nebraska.27 Isaac’s wife, Martha, fell ill with this same illness. Even though ill, she took her washing to the river and in spite of being sick, she worked very hard at completing the washing. She recovered from the illness and later attributed her getting well to having worked hard which warded off the illness.

Figure 5. Loup Fork River Crossing.

Traditional family stories state that some members of the Bickmore party returned to Illinois after the death of Isaac and his mother, Martha. The only person that can be documented as having returned to Illinois is John Jackson, son of Isaac and Martha. It is not known for sure if he returned at that time or had returned earlier while the Bickmores were still living in Iowa. In any case, after he returned to Illinois, his mother never saw him again.
After returning east, John Jackson Bickmore married Margaret Bell Grotts, daughter of Samuel Grotts on 2 July 1853 in Canton, Lewis, Missouri. John Jackson had a lumber mill on the Mississippi River. Some traditional family stories say that John Jackson Bickmore joined the Confederate Army, became an officer, and fought in the Civil War. No documentation has been discovered to support this story. John Jackson Bickmore died in Hamburg, Calhoun, Illinois on 29 October 1912.

After the death of her husband, Isaac, Martha Harville Bickmore had to rely heavily on her son-in-law, Jacob Farnum Abbott for help. Jacob was a very unselfish, friendly sort who was undoubtedly a great help in seeing that his wife’s family had the help they needed. With all the chores necessary to provide for a young family along with taking care of livestock, caring for and maintaining the wagons, cooking meals, etc., Jacob was a great comfort to Martha who was trying to deal with her grief in addition to all the trials of life on the trail.

After the burying their dead at Loup Fork, the members of the wagon train moved on. After another few days travel, the main channel of the Platte River was sighted in the distance. The wagon train followed the Platte River valley for the next 600 miles. Shortly after this sighting, they crossed the Wood River, which was only about 12 feet wide and a foot deep. The banks were steep and the bottom of the river was soft and miry. After several more days travel, very deep ravines were encountered that presented a challenge for the drivers of the wagons to traverse. Just beyond these ravines, Grand Island, a large island in the river and a landmark along the trail west was sighted. Grand Island was estimated to be 40 to 60 miles long in the Platte River.

After passing Grand Island on the Platte River, the wagon train encountered plentiful grass for grazing of the stock, even though the wagon traffic was heavy on the trail that particular year. The buffalo grass along this section of the trail was nutritious for the stock. The wagon train continued to encounter numerous small streams and ravines, which had to be crossed. Fuel for fires along this stretch of the trail could only be obtained by going out onto the islands on the river and gathering wood.

After several weeks on the trail moving across present day Nebraska, members of the wagon train had not seen a single buffalo, until one of the outriders came back to the wagon train reporting he had seen two or three. Several of the men rushed off to bring some meat back for the camp and they got one buffalo. While the wagon train was stopped to take care of the buffalo meat, an immense herd of buffalo suddenly appeared on the horizon. There had been extreme drought in the Dakotas to the north, which had forced the buffalo south seeking water and feed. This huge herd was headed straight for the wagon train. Thousands of buffalo were suddenly surrounding the entire wagon train. For the next five days, the buffalo traveled right along with the wagon train. All the men were kept busy night and day to prevent the buffalo from goring their domestic livestock. The buffalo herd ground the grass into the earth and as a result, the cattle belonging to the wagon train nearly perished before the wagon train could separate themselves from the buffalo herd.

As the wagon train wound on west, two young girls who were traveling with the wagon train persuaded their father to let them take a saddle horse and ride ahead of the train. Once out of sight of the train, they came upon a little stream of water lined with a few trees and some willows. It was a warm day and they decided to dismount and lay in the shade for a bit. They suddenly noticed an Indian warrior dressed in war paint coming toward them. The girls made a dash for the horse, climbed on and headed for the train as fast as they could go. That was probably the last time they strayed from the wagon train.

The wagon train next encountered a series of low sandy bluffs that made travel very difficult. The soft sand made it was difficult for the teams to pull the wagons through these stretches. This was the most difficult section of trail across the Nebraska territory. Shortly after passing these sandy bluffs, the wagon train encountered no more timber for the next 200 miles except for occasional willows along the river.

Just west of present day Southerland, Nebraska, the wagon train encountered more sandy bluffs. Here these bluffs extend all the way to the river so it forced the wagons to go across these sandy hills. These hills became increasingly more difficult to get across. It was very hard on the teams trying to pull heavy wagons through this soft sand. Travel was very slow through these soft sections of the trail. Since there was little or no wood through this section of the trail, buffalo chips became more and more important as a source of fuel for cooking fires for the wagon train.

The wagon train soon encountered what were called the Castle Bluffs. This was the beginning of a series of bluffs or monuments along the Platte Valley that constituted important landmarks along the trail. Another couple of days brought the wagon train to the Ancient Ruin Bluffs, so called because they reminded travelers of ancient ruins. After a few days’ more travel, the wagon train came to one of the most famous landmarks along the trail, Chimney Rock. Jutting up out of the prairie, this landmark could be seen for many miles before reaching it. From Chimney Rock, it was only 20 more miles to Scott’s Bluff, another famous landmark along the trail.

Figure 6. Chimney Rock.

After leaving Scott’s Bluff, the members of the wagon train knew it was only another fifty miles travel to Fort Laramie, which at one time had been known as Fort John. Upon reaching Fort Laramie, the wagon train had traveled 500 miles from its starting point at Winter Quarters. This was the approximate halfway point in the journey of the wagon train participants. They had just over 500 miles left to go to reach the Salt Lake Valley.
At Fort Laramie, or North Post as it was sometimes called, the travelers learned that the Fort was named for Jacques Laramie, a trapper who was killed near a stream that later was called the Laramie River. The Fort had been in place for about 13 years before their arrival. At Fort Laramie, those who could afford to took advantage of obtaining added supplies. However, the prices were very high.

Just seven miles beyond Fort Laramie, the wagons suddenly had a dangerous descent in the trail over very rocky terrain. This had to be negotiated carefully to avoid wrecking a wagon. Just a short distance beyond this descent, the wagons had another steep ascent and a steep descent again over very rocky terrain with some sharp corners, which were very dangerous to negotiate. This was in sharp contrast to the terrain they had traveled up to this point where few rocks had been encountered. Today, one of those ascents can be seen in the deep wagon ruts cut four to five feet deep near Guernsey, Wyoming.

It was just beyond these steep hills that the trail left the river. The wagon train would not see the river for another eighty miles. This route cut off a lot of rough miles that would have been required to follow the river. Over those eighty miles, several creeks were encountered that provided opportunities for water and that had to be forded. There was a stream every seven to eight miles across this stretch of the trail.

Figure 7. Wagon ruts at Guernsey, Wyoming.

Beyond the steep hills, the wagon train arrived at Register Cliff where previous travelers had carved or painted their names in the rock on the cliff. Here the water was good and there was good grass for the livestock so it was a good resting place for the wagon train.

Just before reaching the Platte River again, the wagon train encountered the Fourche Boise River, or what today is called Box Elder Creek. This was a fast running stream about 30 feet across and running fast and clear. Along this stream was plenty of timber and good grass for the stock to graze on.

Another four miles beyond this river crossing, the wagon train encountered the Platte River again. Here the trail again became sandy and made it difficult on the teams to pull the wagons through the sandy soil. Five miles up the Platte, the wagon train encountered Deep Creek, a stream thirty feet wide and a couple of feet deep. Here there was abundant grass for the stock and wood for their campfires. This provided an excellent place to camp for the wagon train and afforded them a place to rest and allow the stock to feed.

Another ten to fifteen miles brought the wagon train to the Mormon ferry, which took them across the Platte River. This location would later be the building site of Fort Casper and the settlement of Casper, 

Figure 8. Replica of Mormon Ferry near what would later be Casper, Wyoming.

Wyoming. From this crossing onward, the trail became more and more difficult. The wagon train had to ascend through a gap just beyond the river crossing. Beyond that were alkali swamps that had to be carefully avoided to ensure the livestock did not get sick. Just beyond those stinky flats was a stream of good clear water that was good for camping and allowed the livestock to get a drink of good clear water.

Another days travel brought the wagon train to the Sweetwater River, which the wagon train would follow and cross and recross a number of times. The Sweetwater River was thus named because of its contrast to the brackish water that they had just passed on the alkali flats. The Sweetwater was not a large river and was only a few feet deep but it ran fast and clear. Near this point was a huge hump of solid rock sticking up out of the desert called Independence Rock. Here, the wagon train stopped to camp and many of the travelers climbed on the rock to carve their names on its face. This was a good area to camp as there was good grass for feeding the stock as well as good water.

Leaving Independence Rock, the wagon train soon came to Devil’s Gate, a curious place where the river had cut a narrow gap through solid rock leaving a narrow gap, which had appropriately been called Devil’s Gate. The wagon trains did not come through this narrow gap but traveled near enough to view this natural curiosity. Beyond Devil’s Gate, they traveled across a series of streams and deep ravines as they crossed this high desert country.

A few more days travel brought the wagon train to a place called Ice Slough. Here water under the ground would freeze as ice during the winter. With a covering of turf, the ice would last well into the summer. Travelers on the wagon train would sometimes be able to obtain ice at this location if they arrived early enough in the year. Through this stretch of trail, the wagon train crossed the Sweetwater several times.

Finally, after crossing the Sweetwater River nine times, the trail left the river and began climbing up through rough rocky areas that were very dangerous for the wagons and which had to be negotiated with great care to avoid breaking wheels or other wagon parts. Here the wagon train was starting to climb toward South Pass. The terrain contained many sharp rocks but they also started to encounter Quaking Aspen and other timber, which provided fuel for camping. There were several places with good grass for the livestock during this ascent.
After an extended slow climb, South Pass was finally reached by the wagon train. This was a broad valley at the crest of the Rocky Mountains. From this point, the wagons began a long descent down the other side of South Pass. They soon arrived at Pacific Springs, which was a good camping spot for the wagon trains. Here there was not much wood for camping but plenty of good water and grass. Beyond this point, good water soon became a rare commodity and would become a premium for the wagon train.

From Pacific Springs, there were a couple of other camping spots along the Little and Big Sandy Rivers, which were small streams running out into the high desert. It was at the Little Sandy several years earlier where Brigham Young had first met Jim Bridger. Beyond these streams, there was little water and feed until the wagons reached the Green River, which had a ferry for crossing this large river during high water. When the water was low, wagon trains forded this river but it was still quite deep.

After crossing the Green River, there was no water for the next 15 miles. Martha and her family, along with the other wagon train members had to cross high desert country with very sparse vegetation until they reached the Blacks Fork River. The only thing they saw, in addition to the alkaline soil, was low growing sagebrush. At the Blacks Fork River was good water as well as feed for the livestock and the teams. The wagon train would recross the Blacks Fork several times as well as crossing Hams Fork River before arriving at Fort Bridger, some twenty miles away. Just before reaching the Fort, the wagon trains had to cross four rushing streams within a half-mile. Just beyond the Fort, there were three more streams to cross. Fort Bridger consisted of four houses and a small enclosure for horses. Here, the pioneers spent a day repairing wagon wheels and making general preparations for continuing their journey. While at Fort Bridger, some went fishing and caught some mountain trout to eat. All had the opportunity to clean up and rest before continuing on.

Figure 9. Ferry crossing site on the Green River.

Another day’s travel brought the wagon train to the Bear River, which was fordable but was quite swift and clear. There were other small streams to be forded in the area as well. Along this section of the trail, there were long hills with steep descents that required the wagons to proceed carefully. Too much speed down one of these steep hills spelled disaster for a wagon. The wagon train soon entered Echo Canyon and traveled down it for twenty miles before reaching the Weber River.

After fording the Weber River, which was often quite swift, the wagon train proceeded into Pratt’s Pass or later called Main Canyon. They traveled over several steep ridges, affording the travelers a look at the high mountains they were going to have to traverse to get to the Salt Lake valley. They next came to Kanyon Creek, later to be called East Canyon Creek. From here, they had to ascend the highest mountain they would cross on the entire journey. It was appropriately called Big Mountain. The descent down the other side of Big Mountain was also one of the most difficult descents along the entire trail. At the bottom, they reached another creek. This formed a good place to camp and rest the teams after such a strenuous crossing of Big Mountain.

The wagon train had one more mountain to cross before arriving in the Salt Lake valley. This was called Little Mountain. The ascent was steep and the road winding to reach the summit. The oak brush was very tall through this stretch and would tear up the canvas of the wagon if it got too near either side of the trail. In addition, there were very large rocks in the trail that caused many a wagon to break a wheel. The descent down the other side of Big Mountain was very steep and dangerous for the wagons. In addition to the brakes on the wagon, poles were often shoved through the spokes of the wheels to help hold the wagon back. At the bottom of the mountain was a cold running stream and it afforded a nice place to stop and camp after this extremely strenuous and tiring stretch. The trail into Salt Lake from Fort Bridger was very tough for the wagon train. It took just over two weeks to travel the 115 miles from Ford Bridger into the Salt Lake valley so the going was quite slow and required numerous camps to rest the teams along this very difficult stretch of trail. It was 11 or 12 miles from the summit of Little Mountain down the canyon into the Salt Lake valley and the wagon trains final destination.
The Company traveled 14 to 15 miles per day to cover the distance from Kanesville (now Council Bluffs), Iowa to the Great Salt Lake valley in 59 days. The lead group of the wagon train arrived in Salt Lake on 2 October 1852. The First Presidency met them, along with Captain William Pitt's band and many of the towns leading citizens. Martha and the group of 50 she had traveled with arrived in the Salt Lake valley on 5 October 1852. Upon their arrival, they were directed by Brigham Young to be rebaptized. He stated it would wash away their sins from the long and tedious journey29. The wagon train camped at the mouth of one of the canyons on the edge of the valley for a couple of weeks, allowing the members of the wagon train along with their stock time to rest.

A short time after their arrival, the families of William M. Bickmore, Samuel Bickmore and Gilbert Bickmore moved to Fillmore, Utah, several days travel south of Salt Lake City. Martha decided not to accompany the other Bickmore families to Fillmore and settled at Mill Creek, on the east side of the Salt Lake valley.

The year following the arrival of the 1852 wagon trains, there was a call for volunteers to go settle an area in Southern California. The Bickmore families in Fillmore all volunteered to go to San Bernardino to help settle that area as a Mormon community.

The same year that Martha arrived in the Salt Lake valley, about 30 settlers and 45 Indians were living at Willow Creek (later Grantsville)30. The town site was surveyed that year. Major George D. Grant was sent with a company of 45 men from the Nauvoo legion to aid in the defense of the new settlement. The town was not formally established till much later in 1866 but it adopted the name of Grantsville in honor of Major George D. Grant, who had come to protect their community. These new settlers built their log cabins close to each other and facing the same direction and added a stockade that same year. The walls on the north and west sides were made of hard packed dirt and were five feet wide at the bottom and were twelve feet high. The other walls were of rock and adobe construction and were three feet wide and also were twelve feet high. There were four gates in and out of the fort and the individual dwellings as well as other buildings were housed within this stockade. [There is a marker today at the southwest corner of Cooley and Clark streets in Grantsville commemorating this fort.] Benjamin Parker, president of the Willow Creek Branch, wrote to President Brigham Young on 30 August 1852. In his letter, he stated there were only 8 white men with their families and 45 Indians living in the area. He asked that a dozen more families be sent to the area to strengthen the settlement and to provide enough children to start a school. At the October 1853 Conference of the Mormon Church, Ezra T. Benson and Wilford Woodruff were called to gather 50 families to settle the Tooele Valley. To encourage settlement, volunteers were called for at a meeting at the Great Salt Lake Tabernacle to raise the community numbers to safe levels. It is assumed that this was partly the reason for Martha and her party deciding to move to Grantsville.

Responding to this call for settlement, in the fall of 1854, Martha and her family, accompanied by friends who had braved the hardships of the trip from Iowa to Utah, volunteered to go help establish the town of Grantsville, to the west of Salt Lake City. Grantsville had previously been called Willow Creek.31 Among this group were Dan Burbanks, John B. Walker (the Captain of their company coming west), Benjamin Bear, and Dr. Pope. Harrison Severe, who had also accompanied Martha's group on the wagon train, had moved to Willow Creek earlier. The first group to attempt to settle at Willow Creek did not make it through the first year and were chased out by Indians. They moved back in the spring of 1851. This area had initially been called Tenderfoot and later was renamed Willow Creek.

Figure 10

. Grantsville Fort monument.

Martha and her family, which included her daughter Martha Jane and her husband Jacob Farnum Abbott and their family, experienced Indian problems on the first day of their arrival at Grantsville so they were likely appreciative of the fortifications that had been build there. Martha and her family had only been in Grantsville for six weeks when Martha’s close friend, Mary Haslam Parkinson, was shot and killed by Indians. Mary Haslam Parkinson was the first woman buried in the Grantsville Cemetery.

After the death of Martha’s friend, Mary Haslam Parkinson, her husband, Timothy Grant Parkinson began courting Martha. Timothy and Martha were married on Martha’s forty-eighth birthday, 4 June 1856, in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah. Timothy had two teenage sons. Martha had two children still living at home with her. The marriage brought these two families together under one roof. Martha helped raise Timothy’s two boys.
The years of 1854 to 1856 were terrible years for grasshoppers or locusts in Grantsville. They devoured much of the crops planted locally. The summer of 1855 was the worst of the three years, with these pests destroying nearly everything green in their path. They were everywhere. They were in the wells used for drinking water, in the irrigation ditches, and all over the ground. Doors had to be kept closed or they were in the houses as well.32 During that summer of 1855, an incident occurred that all of Grantsville was talking about relative to the grasshoppers. There was a lightning storm one day during that summer and the lightning killed millions of grasshoppers. They dropped into the Great Salt Lake and washed ashore. According to one observer, "at one point they drifted ashore and piled up on the beach six feet high and two miles long."33

During the time Martha was living in Grantsville, her daughter, Mary Ann Bickmore, a young girl of fourteen when they arrived there, spent some of the happiest times of her life there. Mary Ann attended school while there and passed with high honors. It was also there that she met her future husband, William Reed Hardy. Mary Ann and William Reed Hardy were married at Grantsville on 17 July 1856, just over a month after the marriage of Martha to Timothy.

A short time after their marriage, Martha and Timothy were approached by Captain Peter Maughan to go help colonize Cache Valley, eighty-nine miles to the north. They left for Cache Valley with part of their family in the spring of 1857 and were one of the families living in Wellsville by 4 April 1857.34 Mary Ann and her husband followed Martha in moving to Wellsville in Cache valley, Utah in 1864. Martha’s daughter, Martha Jane and her husband, Jacob Abbott also remained behind for a time. Jacob owned a sawmill located on Fishing Creek, located just four miles east of Grantsville, which provided lumber for the community. Most of the early homes built in Grantsville had lumber provided from the Abbott sawmill. Timothy left behind his eldest son, Charles Graham, and also left behind the grave of his second wife, Mary Haslam Parkinson.

On 8 October 1857, Martha and Timothy, along with the rest of the pioneers in Wellsville, received a directive from Church President Brigham Young telling them to leave Cache Valley. Johnson’s Army was approaching Utah and he directed them, along with the other pioneers, to move to the south of Salt Lake City. Rumors had circulated in the Nations capital that the Mormons in the Utah Territory were planning to establish their own Nation in Utah. So Johnson’s Army was sent to Utah to ensure the Utah Territory remained a United States possession and to ensure that not attempt was made to pull away from the United States. In reality, no such attempt had been planned as the Army found after arrival in Utah. Brigham Young, however, not knowing what the Army’s intentions were, had directed church members to move out of harms way. Their experiences in Missouri and Illinois had made them very apprehensive about any military group and what they might do. Most of the settlers moved as far as Utah valley, south of Salt Lake City. A few men were left behind to torch homes and businesses, if necessary, rather than have them fall into the hands of the approaching army. The order to move had gone out on 27 January 1858. The settlers of Maughan’s Fort, which included Timothy and Martha, began leaving about 21 March 1858. They had planned to leave a week or so earlier but a terrible snowstorm came in, delaying their departure. The group went as far as Brigham City and stopped awaiting further direction. They stayed at Brigham City for a time but eventually proceeded to Salt Lake City, where they stayed for another week. The group from Maughan’s Fort eventually moved south into Utah valley and there, spread out among the local communities in Utah valley.

On 26 June 1858, Johnston’s army arrived in Salt Lake City. It was soon found that all could return safely to their homes and by late summer, Martha and Timothy returned to Cache Valley. Timothy returned to harvest crops which had been planted before they had left
Maughan’s Fort was not actually a fort. A single street had houses down each side of the street. Surrounding the houses was a cooperative pole fence, designed to ward off Indian attacks, should they occur. The cabins built there were of mostly quaken aspen construction with mud chinking between the logs to keep out the weather and cold. Most of the cabins were single room structures. A few of the arrivals removed the boxes from their wagons and these served as a home till one could be constructed. There were numerous dugout shelters built during this initial settlement time. These were dug into the hillside with crude cabin walls covering the opening in the front to keep out the weather. The so-called Fort was named in honor of Peter Maughan, one of the original settlers. Timothy and Martha purchased a farm one mile north of Maughan’s Fort. As soon as possible, they built a log cabin but prior to that they probably lived in their wagon or in a tent.

The winter of 1858-59 was a particularly bitter winter in Cache valley. Snow piled up four to five feet deep in the valley. This would have been hard on both livestock as well as these pioneer settlers. Travel anywhere in the valley would have been limited with so much snow on the ground. Wagons were sometimes converted to sleighs to aid in getting around in the winter. Wagon wheels were removed and sleigh runners were installed under the wagon box.

On 4 April 1859, Sarah Elizabeth Bickmore, a daughter of Martha and Isaac, was married in Salt Lake City to Francis Wilson Gunnell. Sarah Elizabeth later died in Wellsville on 7 August 1877, leaving behind a young family of six children. She was but 35 years old when she died.
During the summer of 1859, the grasshoppers were particularly bad. Water was very scarce in Cache valley that summer, even though there had been a heavy snowfall the previous winter. The grasshoppers were very abundant and destroyed much of the crops that did grow that summer. In November 1859, Maughan’s Fort was formally renamed Wellsville.

Martha’s youngest son, Daniel Marion, died at Wellsville in 1862 or 1863. He was just a teenager, having been born in 1847 in Iowa. That would have been a tragic lose for Martha, loosing a son at such a young age.

In 1862, Timothy Parkinson was called to go back to Winter Quarters to assist immigrants coming to Utah. A Perpetual Emigration Fund had been established to assist those desiring to come to Utah but who could not afford the normal expense to come. As part of that effort, volunteers were asked to take their teams and wagons, go to Winter Quarters, pick up a wagon load of immigrants and their supplies and possessions, and bring them to Utah. This reduced the cost for the immigrants by not having to procure wagons and teams for the trek west. Timothy, along with others, drove four yoke of oxen to the Missouri River and back during the summer of 1862. It took nearly all summer to accomplish this tasking. This was an unusually high water year so it provided extra challenges to the drivers. While he was away, Martha had to run everything on the farm as well as the dairy, along with whatever else happened to occur.
Upon Timothy’s return from Winter Quarters, the Cache Valley Brigade of the Nauvoo Legion was reorganized on 5 August 1865, with Timothy Parkinson as a member of the 1st Platoon of Company E. Also in this platoon was his stepson, Issac Danford Bickmore. His son-in-law, Jacob Farnum Abbott was in the 5th Platoon of the 1st Battalion.

Martha was a very shrewd businesswoman. Martha and Timothy established and operated a large dairy farm in Wellsville, Utah. In addition to cows, they also had pigs and chickens. Timothy built large corrals and made their home look very impressive. They built a log house, which she and Timothy later replaced with a larger house with two big rooms downstairs and two more large rooms upstairs. That house had wooden shingles on the roof. Timothy and Martha later built a wood frame house in 1865. That home was located at 112 North 200 East in Wellsville. That home is still in place today (March 2004) but has been remodeled.

 Figure 12. Remodeled 1865 home of Timothy and Martha Harville Parkinson in May 2003.

Figure 11. Home built by Timothy and Martha Harville Parkinson about 1865, as it looked about 1980.

On 13 January 1865, Martha’s son, David Newman Bickmore, was married to Elizabeth McArthur, daughter of James and Elizabeth Dickson McArthur. The McArthur’s had settled at Willard, Box Elder, Utah. David and Elizabeth were married in Salt Lake City, Utah. It would have taken several days travel by horse and buggy for Martha and Timothy to attend the wedding in Salt Lake City.

Issac Danford Bickmore, son of Martha and Isaac, was married on 1 January 1866 at Paradise, Utah. He married Ellen Oldham.

Martha and Timothy were the first farmers in Utah to raise purebred white pigs, imported from France. They were also the first farmers to practice the method of summer fallowing on the Wellsville bench dry farms. Martha made cheese and butter at the dairy and she proudly stamped the products with a large letter “P”. Business was so prosperous that in 1867, Martha hired a girl to help with the business. The girls name was Jane Leishman Greer. Jane was thirteen years old when she began to work for Martha. Jane had thirteen cows to milk twice every day. She took care of the milk including preparing the butter and cheese, which were derived from the milk. Jane also spun three skeins of yarn and helped with the housework each day. At the age of fourteen, Jane also learned to sheer sheep and how to process the wool from the sheep. She learned to card, spin and weave the wool. Jane would later marry Timothy’s son, Timothy Fielding Parkinson. She was the granddaughter of Jane Allan Leishman, who was a friend and fellow midwife of Martha Harville Bickmore Parkinson. Jane and Timothy Fielding Parkinson were married on 21 November 1870.

Timothy Parkinson Sr. was a freighter and his freighting business kept him on the road much of the time. To the north of Utah, there had been mining strikes in Montana at several locations so the freighting business was quite profitable for those engaged in that business. There were mining strikes at Virginia City and also at Bannock in the Montana Territory, which necessitated hauling lots of freight to the miners there. There were two early roads leading to the Montana gold fields. There was a road from Corinne, Utah, which was just over the hills to the west of Wellsville, which went north to Bannock. The other road was one that went north from Cache valley up through present day Pocatello and on north to Virginia City, Montana. A ferry had been built across the Snake River in 1863 to allow freighting wagons across the river. By 1864, a toll bridge had been built across the Snake River. Freight wagons continued to be used till about 1880, when the railroads finally replaced much of the former freighting business. Timothy undoubtedly made many trips up and down these primitive roads hauling freight.35
Martha and a woman by the name of Jane Allan Leishman were the only two midwives in Wellsville. Martha was an excellent practical nurse and went out among all kinds of sickness. There weren't any doctors in the valley in those early days. Martha learned mid-wife skills from her friend, Jane Allen Leishman. Jane had been a doctor in Scotland prior to coming to Utah. Martha spent many long and cold nights helping the sick and injured. As a mid-wife, she helped deliver many babies, traveling on horseback for each delivery. The typical transportation of the day was a horse and wagon, but Martha simplified that by purchasing a black horse and riding it to see her patients. According to Martha, “the night was never too cold or stormy for her to go when anyone was sick or needed her help.” Martha helped a Doctor Ormsby when he arrived in the valley. Martha always kept a hired girl to help her with her family when she was away from home. She had hired Jane Leishman Greer, the granddaughter of her friend, Jane Allen Leishman.

Timothy entered into polygamy when he took another wife, Rebecca Shaw Wood Green on 4 October 1869. At that time, many Mormons practiced polygamy as a part of their faith. This practice was initially declared illegal by federal law as early as 1862 but the practice was carried on for a number of years in spite of its illegality. In 1882, the Edmunds Act was passed and it contained a strong definition of what specifically was considered illegal regarding “unlawful cohabitation”. This legislation, once passed, was the beginning of a significant number of prosecutions for “unlawful cohabitation” activities. A number of Mormons were prosecuted and served prison terms for this practice. The marriage between Timothy and Rebecca only lasted seven years. The Mormon Church's official position on polygamy changed on September 26, 1890, when President Wilford Woodruff issued a statement that has come to be known as the Woodruff Manifesto.

Martha Harville Bickmore Parkinson was a kind and generous woman who was hospitable to friends and foe alike. Her home was always open to all. Many of the babies she helped bring into this world were named in her honor. With all the hundreds of births and caring for the sick that she nursed and took care of, she never charged for her services. Grateful people would give her produce or whatever they could spare from the pantry.

Martha Harville Bickmore Parkinson was very efficient and could do all kinds of work, including carding, spinning, weaving cloth, as well as coloring it. Martha had a talent for extracting dyes from local berries and weeds that grew in Cache Valley and used them in dyes for medicines as well as for clothing dye. She had a loom and her granddaughter, Martha Bickmore Shipley, remembered a dress her grandmother wove and colored for her. Martha wove many clothes with the loom. She could do all kinds of knitting such as stockings, mittens and gloves. She taught her granddaughter, Martha Bickmore to knit. She derived great joy from knitting things for her granddaughters.

On 10 June 1873, Timothy and Martha received title to two pieces of property they had purchased in Cache valley from the Federal Government that totaled 120 acres. They purchased two parcels of land located at W1/2SW, Section 26, Township 11-N, Range 1-W and SESW, Section 26, Township 11-N, Range 1-W. 36

Martha bought herself nice corsets, while other pioneer women had to wear homemade ones. Martha Bickmore Thomas, another of Martha’s granddaughters, remembers peeking under the curtain to Martha’s bedroom to look at the pretty things because Martha owned things uncommon to other pioneer women of the day. Martha wore very pretty dresses and pretty underskirts.

William Hardy and Jacob Farnum Abbott, Martha’s sons-in-law were very kind to Martha and helped her a great deal while they lived in Wellsville. Martha and Timothy were very generous with their time and money. After their own children were raised, they adopted and raised a young boy who they named Henry Parkinson. Martha and Timothy donated a portion of their farm to the City of Wellsville for use as the Wellsville City Cemetery. The north half of the present cemetery was situated on their farm.

David Newman Bickmore, son of Martha’s, died at Paradise, Cache, Utah on 9 October 1881. He, like his one sister, died at a young age. He was but 37 years young when he died. He left behind 9 children with the youngest just over a year old. This was just one more of the many tragedies in Martha’s life. She had to endure so many over her lifetime. Seeing several of her children and a spouse die before she did would have had to have been a heart wrenching experience.

Martha died in Wellsville, Utah, on 26 October 1883. She had lived most of her life in Wellsville after coming to Utah. She was buried in the Wellsville Cemetery on the land that she had so graciously donated to the city.

Martha’s obituary appeared in The Journal, Logan, Utah on 3 November 1883. The obituary read as follows:

PARKINSON - At Wellsville, after a debilitating sickness of several years, Sister Martha Arville (Harvel) Parkinson, wife of Brother Timothy Parkinson, Sen. Deceased was born in the State of North Carolina, June 4th 1808, and died at Wellsville, Oct 26, 1883, being seventy-five years four months and twenty-two days old. The funeral services took place at 2 p.m., this day at the meeting house. Deceased leaves a large circle of relatives to mourn her loss; was the mother of seven children, by her first marriage and had thirty-nine grandchildren and twenty-four great-grandchildren. She immigrated with first husband Brother Isaac Bickmore, from North Carolina to Nauvoo [Martha came from North Carolina to Illinois with her parents and met Isaac in Illinois. She and Isaac, after their marriage, never did live in Nauvoo but did live in a nearby county.], about the year 1844, although she did not join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints until 1850, at Council Bluffs. She came to Utah in 1852, having buried her husband on the plains, at Loop Fork, Nebraska, on July 6th. On arriving at Utah, she settled at Grantsville, married Brother Timothy Parkinson, Sen., In 1855; removed and settled in Wellsville in 1857, where she has resided ever since. She followed accouching (Midwife) for many years, till too infirm to continue it any longer. She was true and faithful to the end, and died much respected by the community in which she lived. - Wellsville, Oct 28, 1883 T.B.37
For many years after the death of Martha and Timothy, their graves remained unmarked. In recent years, members of the family raised sufficient funds to erect a fitting monument to this couple. The monument eulogizes Timothy, his first wife, Ann Fielding, and Martha who is buried by his side.38 23

Figure 13. Parkinson Monument at Wellsville, Utah Cemetery.

Figure 14. Martha Harville inscription. 

(Copied from FamilySearch memory page for Martha Harville.)

Bibliography:
A. Biography of Mary Ann Bickmore, from Linda's Hardy Ancestors and Cousins Notes, http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~smithhouse/andergen/hardyfam/aqwn03.htm. This site was checked on 5 Aug 03 and was still active.
B. Carter, Kate B., Treasures of Pioneer History, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1952-1957, Compiled by Kate B. Carter. Call Number 979.2 H2ca, page 458, [from the writings of Andrew Jenson, Asst. Church Historian.]
C. Church Emigration Records, Film WRF Pt. 3, "Crossing the Plains 1847-1869", Journal History Supplement for Friday, December 31, 1852, page 91.
E. Journal of History, Supplement after 31 December 1852, p. 89-95*, D.N. Vol. 2, p. 90.
D. Gardiner, Alma A., Excerpts from The Founding and Development of Grantsville, Utah 1850-1950.
E. International Society of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude, Vol. III, Publishers Press, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1998, Call Number 979 D36p, page 2301. [Contains Sketch of Martha Harvell Bickmore Parkinson, noted above in A.]
F. Parkinson, Lowell J., Life History of Martha Harville Bickmore Parkinson. [Collected and written by Lowell J. Parkinson, a great great-step grandson of Martha Harville Bickmore Parkinson]
G. Photos of remodeled Parkinson home and of Parkinson memorial at Wellsville Cemetery taken in 2003 by Larry Mace, a 4th great grandson of Martha Harville.
H. Monnette, Orra Eugene, Monnette Family Genealogy immigrants Isaac (1) and Pierre (1) Monnet, 1911.
I. Shipley, Martha Bickmore, Sketch of Martha Harvell Bickmore Parkinson. Copy in possession of Larry Mace. [Martha Bickmore Shipley was a granddaughter of Martha Bickmore.]
J. Southworth, Chester II, “Autobiography of Chester Southworth II”, http://users.aol.com/sforg/profiles/cs02_1793.html.
K. The Founding and Development of Grantsville,
http://www.rawbw.com/~wrathall/utah.html.
L. Tullidge, Edward, Tullidge's Histories, II (1869). http://www.rawbw.com/~wrathall/utah.html.
26
1 1804 Tax Lists for Cumberland County, North Carolina.
2 C.H. Spurgeon, The Massacre of St. Barthomomew, Sword and trowel, April 1866, http:www.sprugeon.org/s_and_t/starts.htm
3 Orra Eugene Monnette, Monnette Family Genealogy immigrants Isaac (1) and Pierre (1) Monnet, 1911, Family History Library, Film # 1320642, Item 1.
4 1815 Tax List, Surry County, North Carolina.
5 1820 US Census, Illinois, Madison County, Greenfield Township, Roll 11, Book 1, p. 119. Genealogy.com repository.
6 1850 US Census, Illinois, Brown County; 1860 US Census, Missouri, Jefferson Township, Grundy Co.; 1870 US Census, Missouri, Dolan-Wadesburg Township, Cass Co. [In each of these census, Keener declared he was born in Tennessee and placed his birth at 1815.]
7 Marriages, Morgan Co. Ill. Surnames A-D, 1827-45, Call number 977.3463 V22h, p.8. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah [Marriage date of Isaac Bickmore and Patsey Harvil was 1 Mar 1829, Marriage License # 00000284, Vol. OOA, page 0004. Isaac signed the license with an “x” indicating he could not write.]
8 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index 1763-1900,
9 1830 US Census, Illinois, Morgan County, FHL Film # 0007649, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, page 114. [In that census, Isaac was living on a farm, which was located between the farms of his mother, Martha (Patey) and his wife’s father, Squire Harville. There was one farm separating them each way. In the census, there were Isaac, shown as between 30 and 40 in age, his wife, Martha, shown as age 20-23, and a male child who would be John, shown as under 5 years of age. They had only been married in 1829 so John would likely have been born toward the end of 1829 but certainly before the 1830 census.]
10 1830 US Census, Illinois, Morgan County, Family History Library, FHL Film #0007649, p. 114.
11 1830 US Census, Illinois, Morgan County, FHL Film # 0007649, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, p. 114.
12 Chronicles of Courage – Pioneer letters, Letter from Christena Bickmore, wife of William Bickmore to her sister in Ohio, Prudence Bagley Canfield, dated 26 Nov 1856, stating that her child, Eliza Bickmore was born in the American Bottoms of Madison County, Illinois on 29 Jan 1830.[Reference from records of Bonnie K. Taylor, Salem, Oregon.]
13 Madison County, Illinois Marriage Records Index 1813 - 1850, Vol. 1, George Bickmore, brother of Isaac, married on 20 Mar 1831 to Charity Jackson (Vol. 21, page 828). Also, Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, .
14 Illinois Public Land Tract Sales Database,
. Isaac purchased his first piece of property in Elkhorn Township, Illinois on 18 August 1835. Isaac purchased additional land in Elkhorn Township at SE5N and at 02S03W on 16 Aug 1836. His father-in-law, Squire Harville, had previously purchased land there in July 1835 and several of Isaac’s brothers purchased land there early in 1836.
15 Illinois Public Land Tract Sales Database, , stating Squire Harville purchased land on 3 Jul 1835 in Elkhorn Township (80 acres).
16 1900 US Census, Utah, Cache County, Paradise Precinct. [Birth date listed as Sept. 1838.]
17 Land Patent Sales, Land Patent Document Nr. 9793, Assession/Serial Nr. IL4040_2, and Document Nr. 11821, Assession/Serial Nr. IL4080_0;< http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/>.
18 Township Plats of Illinois, Illinois State Archives,
19 Brown County Tax List, 1842, Family History Library, FHL Film # 432006. [For the year 1840, Squire Harville was shown as having land subject to taxes for the State of Illinois on property he had purchased on 3 July 1835. He owned 80 acres subject to tax. For the year 1841, Isaac Bickmore had a piece of property subject to taxes for the State of Illinois for property he had purchased on 16 August 1836. He had 40 acres subject to taxes. Isaac’s father, David, had a piece of property subject to taxes for the State of Illinois for the year 1841 for land he had purchased on 3 August 1836. He had 40 acres subject to taxes. William, a brother of Isaac, had two pieces of property subject to tax in 1841 for a total of 80 acres subject to tax.]
27
20 1840 US Census, Illinois, Roll 55, Book 1, p.175a. Census shows one male 40-50 (Isaac), one female 30-40 (Martha), one male under 5 (Isaac), one male 10-15 (John), one female under 5 (Mary Ann), and one female 5-10 (Martha Jane).
21 Chronicles of Courage – Pioneer Letters.[Letter from Christena Bickmore, wife of William, to her sister in Ohio in 1856, stating they sold their farm in Brown County in 1842 and moved to Hancock County.][Reference from records of Bonnie K. Taylor, Salem, Oregon.]
22 1850 Federal Census, Iowa, Pottowattamie District. [Isaac and William and their families located near each other in this census.]
23 1850 Federal Census, Iowa, Pottowattamie District. [Showing Isaac, Martha, Danford, Mary, Isaac, David, and Daniel. Note that John was not still with his family at this time.]
24 1852 Iowa State Census, Rawles Township, Mills County, Enumeration dated 14 July 1852, Family History Library Film # 1022205. [The date on the Census enumeration was the completion date. Some of the parts of the survey had been taken earlier. Samuel had left Iowa and was on his way to Utah by 14 July 1852. The census would have been taken over several months preceding its completion.]
25 Journal of History, 31 Dec. 1852. showing William, Samuel and Gilbert Bickmore families as part of Joseph Outhouse’s 4th Company.
26 Chester Southworth II, Autobiography, http://users.aol.com/sforg/profiles/cs02_1793.html. [Accessed on 9 Aug 2003. Site still active at that time.]
27 Listed on the Pioneer Memorial on the Trail of Hope in Nauvoo, Illinois, a monument to those who lost their lives moving west. Picture of Isaac Bickmore and his mother, Martha Bickmore, listing on Trail of Hope Monument in possession of Larry Mace.
28 Chester Southworth II, Autobiography, http://users.aol.com/sforg/profiles/cs02_1793.html. [Accessed on 9 August 2003. Site still active at that time.]
29 Chester Southworth II, Autobiography, http://uses.aol.com/sforg/profiles/cs02_1793.html [Accessed on 9 Aug 2003. Site still active at that time.]
30 Alma Gardner, The Founding and Development of Grantsville, Utah 1850 0 1950, [Excerpts from this history used in construction of this history.] http://www.rawbw.com/~wrathall/america/willowcreek.html
31 Alma Gardner, The Founding and Development of Grantsville, Utah 1850 0 1950, [Excerpts from this history used in construction of this history.] http://www.rawbw.com/~wrathall/america/willowcreek.html.
32 Bitton, Davis and Wilcox, Linda P., Pestiferous Ironclads: The Grasshopper Problem in Pioneer Utah, Utah Historical Quarterly, 46 #4, http://historytogo.utah.gov/ironclads.html
33 Ballard, Henry in First Annual Report of the U.S. Entomological Commission, appendix, p. 256.
34 Christensen, LaRayne B., Hall, Wilma, and Maughan, Ruth H., Windows of Wellsville, 1856-1984, Ch. II, p.29-50, [copy at Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah or may be purchased from City of Wellsville, Utah.]
35 Link, Paul Carl & Phoenix, E. Chilton, Roads, Rails and Trails, Section 3, Chapter 7, pp. 50-53, http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/geog/rrt/part3/chp7/50.htm
36 Land Patent Sales, Document Nr. 942, Accession/Serial Nr. UTUTAA 001524, .
37 The Journal, Logan, Utah, 3 Nov. 1883, Obituary – Parkinson. Obituary of Martha Harvel Parkinson.

38 Information from headstone at family plot, Wellsville Cemetery, Wellsville, Cache, Utah. {Photo of headstone in possession of Larry Mace.}