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| Alma (Tam) Wright on his horse at Kolob Utah |
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| Lewis Martin Hodgkinson |
7. You
come from a long line of great men and women and you are who you are in no
small part because of them. Just think if you had a different grandfather you
would be 1/8th different than you are now. It was rumored that your
great, great grandpa cut his toe off and just wrapped his toe up stuck his boot
on and went back to work. He didn’t take his boot back off some time after that
even sleeping in his boot. He just kept doing what he needed to do. His DNA is
part of you. Also in the book From
Tabernacle to Temple – the Story of the Vernal Utah Temple (ISBN
0-9665966-C-9) on page 22 William and Hephzibeh are mentioned in conjunction
with a visit from the President of the Church, Joseph F. Smith for the
dedication of the Uintah Stake Tabernacle. He tells that your 3rd great
grandfather saved him from an angry mob and wanted to visit his family to tell
them the story. I can see parts of them
in each of you.
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| Garrett Case Family |
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| Maria Jackson Normington Parker |
Thomas and Maria Jackson Normington were converted to the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Burnley, Lancashire, England. They had
three daughters and a year old son, having had two boys and their oldest daughter
die there in England. They worked and saved money to immigrate to Zion.
Finally, the sailed on the vessel, “Horizon” from Liverpool on May 22, 1856
with two of Maria’s brothers who had also joined the church. The ship reached
Boston, Massachusetts six weeks later, on June 30 and the arrived in Iowa City,
Iowa on July 8, 1856. The Normingtons learned that there had been so many
converts preparing to cross the plains to Salt Lake City that all the handcarts
were being used by earlier companies, so more carts had to be hastily
constructed and all that was available was green wood. Precious time was lost
making the handcarts, which should have been spent in traveling, and many
provisions were used which should have been for their journey. At last, on July
28, 1856, the Martin Handcart company started westward. In spite of the
lateness of the season and the advice of those in charge at Winter Questers,
the leaders decided the company should leave. In their desire to go to Zion,
the overlooked the fact that God moves in natural ways and expects us to
respect natural laws. It was the fifth handcart company to leave that season
and consisted of 576 person, 146 handcarts, 7 wagons, 6 mules, 50 cows and beef
cattle. Usually the man would pull the handcart and his wife and children push
or walked alongside. Thus, Maria and her family traveled the first lap of the
journey, 300 miles to Florence, Nebraska, where they arrived August 11, 1856.
At Florence, Nebraska the two sections of the Martin Handcart Company were consolidated
into one as a protection against the Indians in crossing the mountains and
plains, and on August 25th, the company rolled out of Florence. They reached
Fort Laramie six weeks later in October, and were told Salt Lake was just two
weeks away. Perhaps they would have made it to the Sale Lake valley before the
sons but there were numerous delays. That hastily made handcarts and the use of
the green wood combined to make the carts break down frequently resulting in a
costly loss of time and provision. Maria and Thomas were expecting their eighth
child in about three months but things hadn’t been overly difficult. Their
three little girls and boy toddler were happy and she has a good singer with a
jolly, cheerful disposition. Her favorite song was “Come, Come, Ye Saints” and
it was a great comfort to sing as they pushed and pulled the cart. Each adult
received a ration of one pound of flour a day, but even so there were still
hungry, so when they reached Fort Laramie, they were glad to exchange their watches
and other valuables for extra food. Maria and the other pioneer women were well
organized and would have dinner ready a half hour after camp was made for the
night. They made biscuits on the way by mixing soda with a cup of sour milk,
pouring it into the top of the flour sack, adding a pinch of salt and quickly
shaping biscuits which were cooked as soon as they stopped. Soon however, the
flour rations had to be cut to ¾ a pound a day, later to ½ pound, and still
alter to less and finally no flour at all. Still the company toiled cheerfully
on. They were becoming weak from fatigue and lack of food. So it was with heavy
hearts that any extra things from the handcarts were cached or simply abandoned
along the road. Extra bedding, carefully guarded heirlooms, personal treasures,
all were left behind to lighten the loads, but still, with rivers to ford and
an early winter sapping their energy, progress was slow. Maria and Thomas’
little boy, about eighteen months old, dies, and she was permitted to ride half
a day in a wagon with his little body until camp was made and he was buried.
Soon after, Maria gave birth to a new baby boy, who soon died. On the morning
of October 19, they awoke to a raging snowstorm. Already their beds were
covered with four inches of snow. They were camped by the Platte River and had
to cross it before the storm grew worse. The river was wagon-bed deep, and the
men carried the children and those women who were too ill across, but most of
the women tied up their long skirts and waded across. The storm continued for
several days until the snow was fifteen inches deep on the level, but still
they struggled on, strong in their faith and their hopes for a new life in
Zion. Probably as a result of the exposure from the storm and freezing cold of
the river fording, cholera broke out among the starving, suffering camp and one
night Maria’s husband, Thomas, and sixteen other died and were buried in a
common grave. A friend of the Normington family, James Bleak became so ill from
the cholera that his family thought he was dying, and since the company had to
move on, they wrapped him in a blanket and left him to die on the prairie. That
evening when they camped for the night, Maria went to ask how their friend,
James Bleak was feeling. When Mrs. Bleak told her they had left him back on the
trail to die. Marie told her she should not have permitted him to be left
because he had been promised in England by the gift of tongues that he should
reach Zion in peace and safety. Maria then took her handcart and went back on
the trail until she found him and brought him back to the camp, helping bring
him back to health. James Bleak did live to reach Zion and became secretary to
President Brigham Young. Their clothing and shoes were worn out. They had very
little bedding and practically no food. Maria saved what food she had for the
three little girls and she tried to eat dirt to satisfy the hunger pangs. She
walked until her feet were so frozen and sore she could walk no more. Then she
crawled along on her hands and knees, and when her hands were so frozen she
could use them no more, she went on her knees and elbows. Years later, at the
time of her death, there were great scares on them from this awful experience.
Maria was so overcome with hardships, starvation and grief that when the relief
wagons came, she was unconscious and remembered nothing of the last part of the
journey. A company of missionaries, returning to Salt Lake City on October 4th,
had reported the terrible conditions of the handcart company they had passed.
Conference, which was in session, was adjourned and president Young called for
20 teams, loaded with provision, to leave the next day to meet the emigrants.
John Parker furnished one team and wagon loaded with provisions, and his son
William Parker drove the team. It was into this wagon that Maria and her three
little girls were placed. On Monday, November 30, 1856, the weary survivors
reached Salt Lake City more than four months after they started. Only about 300
of the original 567 reached the valley. Some turned back, but most died of
privation along the trail. Maria and her children were taken to the home of
John parker and nursed until she recovered, after which she helped with the
house and farm work at the Parker farm near Taylorsville. She was sealed in the
Endowment House to her dead husband, Thomas Normington and in 1857 married John
Parker as a plural wife. Six years later, John Parker and his three families
were called on a mission to southern Utah to raise cotton, fruit, etc. They left
their comfortable homes again and moved their cattle and sheep to help build up
and redeem a rough, desolate wasteland. At first, Maria lived in a “dugout” and
later in a log house. She was thrifty and industrious, washing and scouring
wool from their sheep, carding and dying it with dock roots or adder, then
weaving it into cloth for their dresses and suits, which she also made. She
sewed, knitted, tatted, and netted, making the most of she had, and was soon
comfortable in their home. Maria was never heard to censure anyone for her
trials, nor complain because her lot was hard. She was cheerful and faithful
throughout her life and felt that the gospel of Jesus Christ, for which she had
endures so much, was the most glorious of all blessings. Her family said her
prayers reflected her great faith as she seemed to actually see and talk with
her Father in Heaven as she expressed her gratitude and asked for the blessings
they needed. She died in Virgin City, Washing County on March, 18, 1881.
Side note: One time on the farm when grandpa Case (far right in the 3rd picture)
was visiting us and was helping me move the 4” sprinkler lines that kept our
crops watered and growing. We had just turned on one of the sprinkler line
after we had moved it and watched to make sure that the line had come to full pressure
insuring that the job was done and all was well. We heard the distinctive clang
as the pipe hit full pressure and all the sprinkler heads sprung into full
production. (No
greater sight for a farm boy in summer than a sprinkler line at full pressure after
having just moving it) Satisfied that our work on this line was done I turned for his old red
Chevy truck and met the soul searching gaze of my grandfather. He was just
standing there looking at me, muddy and covered in sweat. It was getting a
little uncomfortable, then with an intense look he said, “I’ve given
your dad a good name and he has taken good care of it. He has given that name
to you. What do you plan to do with it?” This has stuck with me throughout my life, sometimes it condemns me
when I should have done better and other times it lifts me as I have done my
best. Like it or not, we carry this name that has been defended and built up by
all those that have come before us and we should do our best to honor it in our
words and deeds.
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