My Pioneer Legacy

I have been waiting to write this post for such a long time! My family heritage has influenced my own faith in such a great way, that I wanted to fill this post with history. The history of our trek as a family of three as well as the history of my Great (4) Grandma Sarah Moulton and her families trek west with the Willie handcart company.

Four years ago we went as a family of four on the first handcart trek ever made by my family line since Thomas Moulton and his family of seven set sail from Liverpool, England, March 3, 1856, on the ship "Thornton."

Scott, Christina, Trevor and I loaded our 5lbs of gear and "headed west" with the rest of the Omaha Nebraska Stake as well as the Papillion Nebraska Stake. We had many adventures on this trek (saved for another day) but the most memorable moment on this footpath of faith was as we arrived at the Kanesville tabernacle. I was along the trip as the nurse, many families were organized and Trevor was placed, quite unexpectantly, in the Willie Handcart Company #2. Each family learned of an original handcart family and about their lives as pioneers.
As we entered Kanesville I walked next to some of the youth in the lead handcart company I asked them what was the name of their family. They answered Moulton! I had secretly been caring Sarah's name as well as Christina and Trevor carried Sophia and Hebers names. When one of my dearest friends daughter, Natalie Sorensen said
'I am Sarah Moulton'
and another dear friends daughter, Courtney Bartlett said,
'and I am Sophia'. I wept.
Courtney said,
'what happened to me?'
'I happened Courtney, because of this amazing family I am here, on trek honoring them'. I said.

So I wish to introduce you to the Moulton family and why trek holds such a dear honor in my heart. It is why we as a family again walked a total of 25 miles in two and a half days in pouring rain with smiles on our faces on 11~13 June 2009.

Compiled by Verda Hicken, great-granddaughter of Thomas Moulton
These were the days when great things were happening in the United States and Thomas and his family were to be permanently affected by these events. By the time Thomas was 20 years old, the Prophet Joseph Smith had organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Seven years later on June 13, 1837, Heber C. Kimball, together with other church leaders, was on his way to England. Among the many converts made by these missionaries was the family of a shoemaker, John Tingey,, who later became branch president in the area. Mrs. Tingey was a friend of the Moultons, and she tried to persuade Sarah to go with her to some of the meetings being held by the Mormon missionaries, but Sarah was not interested.

One day when visiting at the Moulton home, Mrs. Tingey left a tract, “The Voice of Warning” by Parley P. Pratt, lying on the table. Sarah was not home when Thomas came for supper, but had spread a simple meal for him on the table and left the tract lying beside it. “That was part of the supper he ate,” his descendants were later told. Indeed, it was a feast, spiritual food of the choicest kind. When Sarah came home, Thomas greeted her with these words, “Mother, where have we been? Here is the gospel!” The Savior said, “My sheep know my voice.” Thomas had heard and recognized the voice of the Master. From then on they studied the Gospel and joined the Church December 29, 1841. At that time their family consisted of but two children, Sarah age four and Mary Ann just seven months old.

After the Mormon Saints had been driven to Utah where they finally found a place of their own, converts throughout their world were encouraged to move to "Zion." Like the Moultons, most of these converts would never have been able to come to Utah without help. Two programs were set up to help these poor emigrants secure passage. In 1849 Brigham Young set up the Perpetual Emigration Fund(PEF), This consisted originally of five thousand dollars which was immediately available to Saints of the frontier and in England. It was the intent of this program that after they had been able to earn money in their new homeland, the recipients of the program would return the money to the Fund so that others might also be able to come.

The first to travel with the aid of this Fund did so by wagon train, but this means of transportation was expensive and even with the help of the PEF few could afford it. The use of handcarts was investigated and it was learned that not only could the saints travel much more cheaply with handcarts than with wagons, they could also travel faster.

At last Sarah's day had come. With the help of the PEF and the cheaper means of transportation, her dream could be realized much sooner than she had anticipated. What had looked like such an impossibility, particularly with the number in their family steadily increasing, was now within their grasp. To their (the rest of the family) great surprise, Sarah got out the fruit jar filled with money and the family began the tremendous task of preparing for a trip of over six thousand miles, one that would take about six months.

The Moulton family now numbered seven children, four girls and three boys all born in the little town of Irchester. For a family of nine it took careful planning to prepare for the trip. To save even more money for the purchases they would need to make, they lived chiefly on barley flour for nearly a year. As the time of departure approached Sarah was expecting a new baby. The baby would be born at sea and Thomas feared for both mother and child. But Sarah had made up her mind to go and, brave, staunch soul that she was, she replied, "Father, we are going. The Lord will take care of us." Thomas continued to feel hesitant about making the long journey under such circumstances but Sarah could not be persuaded otherwise. So before they were to leave England one of the brethren gave her a blessing in which he promised her that if she would go to Utah she would make the journey safely without losing one member of her family

Yet another test of their faith was to come. Sophia Elizabeth Moulton Hicken, who was three years old at the time of the following incident, wrote a letter dated November 27, 1932, to her granddaughter, Verda Hicken, as follows: "Before leaving England our sister was staying with our aunt, and she took the smallpox and died.* My sister took it, too, but lived. When we left she had only one pox mark. It was on her left wrist. She had some gloves (which her mother had made for each of the girls to cover the pox and allow the family to pass the health inspection). When we went to be examined, before we could get in the ship, Father prayed earnestly that they would not take off the glove covering the mark, for if they did the mark was so fresh they would not have let us come. God answered his prayer. They did not take off the glove. I consider the whole journey faith promoting."

Thomas Moulton and his family were assigned to the 4th handcart company, again under the direction of Capt. Willie. The Willie Company was composed of 500 Saints, with more than the usual number of aged. With them were three cows, a wagon to carry supplies and three yoke of oxen for each 100 travelers. There was a tent for every 20 persons and a handcart for every five. All together there were 120 carts, 5 wagons, 24 oxen and 45 beef cattle and cows.

The Moulton family was allowed one covered and one open handcart. Thomas and his wife pulled the covered cart. The baby, Charles, and "Lizzie" rode in this cart. "Lottie" was allowed to ride whenever the cart was going downhill (but complained that she would rather ride uphill). Heber, only seven years old walked behind with a rope tied around his waist to keep him from straying away. The other cart was pulled by the two girls, Sarah 18 and Mary Ann 15, and the two boys, William 12 and Joseph 10. It was so late in the season before the Willie Company was prepared to leave Florence, that a council was held to decide whether they should go or remain in Winter Quarters till Spring Some who had been over the route strongly cautioned them against the danger of traveling so late in the season. But Captain Willie and the members of his company felt that they should go on, knowing that if they stayed at Florence they would be without any accommodations. Among those who cautioned against a delayed trip was Elder Levi Savage, a returning missionary. Elder Savage, seeing himself overruled, said: "What I have said I know to be true; but seeing you are to go forward, I will go with you; will help all I can; will work with you, will rest with you, will suffer with you, and if necessary, will die with you. May God in His mercy bless and preserve us." ("Mr. Chislett's Narrative," in Stenhouse, The Rocky Mountain Saints (New York, 1873, p.316). John Chislett was the sub-captain of the fourth hundred in the Willie Company.

Thomas Moulton was the camp butcher. Though weary from each day's trek, it was his responsibility to do the butchering. The immigrants drove the beef until they got "poor" from the trek. Then the worn out oxen would be killed and cut up to supply the Saints with beef. "When a beef was killed the children would burn the hair off the skin, put the skin on long sticks and roast it till crisp --- to them it tasted better than pie does to children today." (Charlotte "Lottie" Moulton Carroll from her autobiography.) To make soup, the immigrants cooked hoofs. None of the company, it seems, knew how to catch a good buffalo, so this source of food was denied them. For fuel they gathered dried buffalo chips to burn.

The trials of these Willie Company pioneers were getting more difficult all the time'

Nights had been getting colder from the time they left Fort Laramie but as they began traveling up the Sweetwater River the nights became very severe.
When they arrived at Rocky Ridge another terrible wind and snowstorm fell upon them.

In fancy one might imagine the Moultons, with their brood of eight, to be one of these families, pulling and pushing the two carts assigned to them as they struggled on through the deep snow: the one cart drawn by Thomas and his wife, with its precious cargo of life--Lottie, Lizzie and baby Charles--with little Heber stumbling and being dragged along by the rope around his waist, his limbs so cold that he scarce could move them; the other cart being drawn and pushed by the four older children, encouraging and helping one another.

Little Heber took the brunt of the bitter weather. Perhaps there was not sufficient warm clothing to go around for all. A kindly old lady, seeing the freezing lad's dilemma, grasped his hand as he trailed behind the handcart, held by the rope around his waist, and struggling to climb the slippery slopes of the ridge. This kindly act saved his right hand, but his left hand, being exposed to the sub-zero weather, was frozen. The flesh dropped off his poor little fingers to the first joint. When they reached Salt Lake City, it was necessary to saw off the blackened bones and, as there was no ether or other painkiller, Heber did not even have the comfort of those to buoy him up during the operation.

Each morning they pushed on as rapidly as possible, anxious to get the benefit of the newly broken road before the drifting snow filled it. On the 24th of October after a hard climb, they reached South Pass, where flour and plenty of wood were found at the camp where Reddick N. Allred's rescue team and wagon had stalled. November 1st they met seven teams from Fort Supply coming to their aid and three from Salt Lake City. From then on they met teams every day, but most of them went to the relief of the other parties.

The following day they were filled with joy to find about fifty teams that had been sent from the settlements north and south of Salt Lake to haul them the rest of the way, although many still walked all the way. Up to this time about one- sixth of their number had died since they had left Iowa City on the morning of July 15th.

Charlie, the nursing infant, was a mere skeleton so weak and frail that no one expected him to live. He had been cushioned all the way on a pillow to support his frail body. People came from all around to see him and give his mother warm clothing to cover him and his brothers and sisters. When his pitiful little body was held up to the sun, one could see right through it, so little flesh did he have. Certainly the blessings given to the Moultons before they left England had been fulfilled, for not one member of their family was lost on this perilous journey.

I will NOT break this chain of faith as I struggle to raise my family in the wilderness of current events...faith in every footstep!