ANOTHER UTAH PIONEER STORY
by
PHOEBE CAMPBELL SMOOT
It was summertime in Jun 1844, usually such a beautiful and happy month, was very sad one to the Latter-day Saints or Mormons of Nauvoo, for on the 28th their beloved leader, Joseph Smith was killed by a cruel mob. They were crushed with grief and fear, feeling that God had almost forsaken them. Far across the ocean, converts to the Mormon faith were also mourning for the loss of their prophet and leader. In Manchester, England there was a small branch of the Mormon Church. Among those who had embraced this religion, was Johnathan Dewsnup and his wife Jemima Topham. They, too, were saddened by the death of the prophet. To this couple, on 7 Aug 1844, was born a baby daughter, who was given the name of Ann. One brother, five years older than ann was called Joseph.
The father at that time worked on the police force but, as his salary was not large, they lived very frugally. As was the custom at that time, the little girl, at the tender age of 7 years, began working in a factory. Of course she was too small to do much but was first given the work of dusting off the machinery. She worked during the forenoon, attending school during the afternoon for a short time. As she grew larger, her labors became heavier and she worked all day, attending a private night school. These school days were brief, but long enough to learn to read and write. In fact she did so well in penmanship that she was given a prize.
During this time, because of the actions of some of the leaders in the Mormon Church, her father left the church and became so embittered that he ordered Ann and her sister, Phoebe, to remain away from Mormon meetings. Their mother, however, was still faithful to the Gospel and attended meetings as often as she could get away without causing trouble with her husband. It was she who helped the girls to find ways of attending meetings without their father's knowledge.
Ann loved these hours of worship because she was naturally very devout. Her faith in the Latter-day Saints missionaries was strong and unwavering. Her hours in the factory were long and tedious, leaving little time for recreation or leisure, but her greatest joy was to meet on Sunday evening with the Saints of God in a Mormon meeting.
Time and the prayers of his wife and daughter softened the heart of John Dewsnup. His bitterness toward the Mormon church passed away and when Ann was 19 years of age he arranged for his wife, his two daughters, Ann and Phoebe, and two sons, John and Hiram, to emigrate to Utah. He remained in England, planning to join them in Zion as soon as he could. The older son, Joseph, who had married, also remained in England. He had come to America in 1855, landing in Philadelphia, and remaining there for several years. While there, he became dissatisfied with the Mormon Church because of polygamy and joined with the Josephite church and returned to England about the time his mother and the other children sailed for Utah.(1)
For 5 long weeks their sailing vessel battled with winds and waves and at last arrived in Philadelphia, unloading its cargo of tired and weary passengers. Then the trip across the continent began.(2) They arrived in America in 1864, one year before the ending of the Civil War. The war-torn country could furnish but very poor accommodations for travelers so the Saints, wishing to reach Utah, had to put up with untold hardships. The railroads were new and in poor condition, and for many miles the emigrants were crowded into cattle cars because passenger cars could not be had. It was a relief to reach the plains where they met with companies sent from Utah to guide the emigrants to their western home. Those who were able to walk across the plains did so, but the older and weaker pioneers rode in wagons.
To these English people, reared in a large city and knowing nothing much but factory work, this was surely a new experience--an experience that was very interesting--but one that brought great weariness.
Ann, who had never been very strong, got along very well until the last part of the journey, when her feet became so sore and swollen that she could not walk so was forced to ride in the wagon. The driver of this wagon was a young man by the name of Holstein Monroe Warner, of Fillmore, UT. Ann's sister, Phoebe, teased her about the incident, saying that she was playing sick in order to have this young man pay attention to her.
On arriving in Utah, the Dewsnup family expected to meet some Mormon Elders from Cache Valley, but were disappointed. They did not know where to go. When Mr. Warner offered to take them to Fillmore with him they gladly consented to go. Thus it happened that they settled in Millard County instead of Cache Valley.
The two girls immediately found work in good homes. They were factory girls and the work in the Utah Homes was not just like they were used to in England, but they were apt and willing to learn, and soon became exceptionally good housekeepers.
That first year in Utah was a very interesting and important one in the lives of both girls. They were at once accepted into the social life of Fillmore and never looked for chances and partners for the different social events. Ann had not been there long when she began to be escorted by Holstein Warner, the driver of the wagon that brought them across the plains. This friendship ripened into love and at Christmas in 1866, they were married. Because of the cold weather they could not be married in the Endowment House, but planned to go to "The House of the Lord" in the Spring where they could be sealed for "time and eternity."
About this time the family was made very happy by the arrival in Utah of Ann's father. He soon made a home for his wife and family and they were surely pleased to be together again.
Those early months of married life were very happy ones for Ann and her husband. Of course, they did not have very much money, but they had youth and courage and the future looked very bright to them. Their happiness was intensified when they realized that in the coming Autumn they would be blessed with a baby.
In May, the young husband went out into the mountains with some of his brothers to bring in some wood and while there was taken ill. They hurried him home for treatment, but despite all their efforts he grew steadily worse and after a week of terrible suffering, death called him home.
The young wife was stunned but courageous. She knew that she must struggle on for the sake of the little life that was coming to her. Her parents were not able to help her so she again became a housekeeper for others. With her heart breaking she went bravely forward to procure the means to clothe the little baby that was coming.
At last the hard summer was over. Just a few weeks remained before the birth of her baby. As yet she had no idea where her baby was to be born, but she trusted in the Lord and He gave her help. One day her husband's sister invited Ann to stay with her until after her confinement. It seems that the sister had been visited and revisited in a dream by her brother and she felt that he wanted her to help his lonely young wife. On 29 Oct 1866, Ann became the mother of a dear little son whom she named for his dead father. She was a wife, a widow, and a mother in one short year. This was in exact fulfillment of a dream she had dreamed when she was about 17 years of age.
When the baby was about 6 months old she went to help her sister who was married and who had a new baby. Ann was not strong and her baby was fretful. Her sister's husband was ill with inflammatory rheumatism and the baby's fretting annoyed him so much that he said some very unkind things. The broken-hearted mother felt she could stand no more and went to her own mother for comfort. Her mother told her to come home, even though there was no floor in the house and they had to hang blankets at the open windows and their only heat was a fireplace. The grandmother's assurance that no harm would come to the baby was right, for he grew better from that time on.
When the baby was a few months older, his mother again went out to earn her living at housework. This was not easy for she had to take the baby with her. I think it was at this time that she went to help the grandparents of the present Senator William H. King. They were related to Ann's husband and were very kind to her. Her work must have been satisfactory, for people would rather have her with a little baby than some others who were free. When her little son was about two years old, she left him with her mother. This made it much easier for her in her work.
When the little boy was seven years of age, she was married to Orson Grant Campbell of Ogden. He had come to Fillmore with a threshing machine and worked there during the season. His kindness to her little boy won her over. This was about the year 1873.
She was very happy in this marriage too, but also felt the pinch of poverty. Her husband worked at several different things. Sometimes he followed his trade of blacksmithing, but more often he drove freight teams to the mines and outside towns. His salary was small, but they struggled along as best they could and in due time they had a family, two boys and two girls.
When their youngest baby, a girl, was six months of age a very bad epidemic of Diphtheria came to Fillmore. Ann's husband was a very kind-hearted man and when their neighbor family next door were stricken with the dread disease and could get no help, he went in to give what assistance he could. Soon his own children were down with the same malady and a fight for their life began. There were no doctors, no lifesaving serum and no nurses. People would not pass within a block of the place. One kind-hearted woman, Sister Davis, a midwife and practical nurse, came and was with them when death entered the house. George, their 8 year old son, died and 3 hours later his little 3-year old sister, Mary Ann, was taken. The second son, Orson, looked as though he would pass away at any minute. With only this kind neighbor to help, the children were prepared for burial, and with simple graveside services, laid away.
The trial was another test for Ann's courage and trust in God. She bore it bravely but the scar it left behind never entirely healed. She did her best to make life worth while for her remaining children. She taught them to pray and to have faith in the Heavenly Father she worshipped. They were taught to be honest, truthful and clean in body and mind. She was humble and modest but as brave as a lion in the things of God. Her ideals were high and she inspired her children to fight for a higher level. Her home was never pretentious but was spotlessly clean and decorated with her own handiwork. She was a fine seamstress and loved needlework and artistic things. For her I think her son Orson inherited his love for art and his talent for painting.
When Phoebe, the youngest child and only remaining daughter, was seven years old, the family moved to Deseret, a town about 32 miles northwest of Fillmore. Her parents and their sons had moved there early in her married life and had good substantial homes. This move bettered their financial condition some, but she always had to be a very careful housewife to make ends meet. Her oldest son, Monroe, began his education in the old Fillmore Academy, but the two younger children went to the district school in Deseret.
When Phoebe was about 15 years of age the family moved to Provo. The husband went on to Ogden to find work and never returned. He died in Idaho some years later and Ann was a widow for the second time in her life. She sewed and ironed and did everything in her power to aid Orson and Phoebe to get an education. Her elder son, Monroe, had been able to work his way through the Brigham Young Academy and was married to Mabel Pratt, and had his own family to care for. The other two children by helping each other and by their mother's sacrifices and efforts were able to get a few years in the BYU and become teachers. They were able to make life a little more comfortable but she never knew what ease and luxury were.
During her last few years she lived with her daughter, Phoebe, in the 6th Ward in Provo, and seemed to be happy although she missed having her own home.
She always remained a faithful Latter-day Saint and was a Relief Society teacher in the 6th Ward at the time of her death. There was no doubt in her mind about the truth of the gospel and she had absolute faith in a life beyond the grave. I do not think she ever had a low or mean thought in her life. She was forgiving to a fault, had a very hopeful disposition and always looked forward to something better in the future. Her grandchildren were a great joy to her, and as long as she was able she loved to do things for them.
About the year 1910, her health began to fail, but even then she was cheerful and hopeful. She was called to her reward 22 Sep 1913, at the age of 69 years. She died of tumor of the brain, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. A. O. Smoot and her funeral services were held in the Provo Sixth Ward Meeting House. She left three children: H. M. Warner of Rexburg, ID; Orson Dewsnup Campbell and Phoebe C. Smoot of Provo; also eleven grandchildren.
About the year 1907 she was sealed for eternity in the Manti Temple to Holstein Monroe Warner, having perfect faith that she would rejoin him in their Heavenly Home.
Ann Dewsnup was one of God's choice spirits. She was quiet and retiring, but she possessed a beautiful spirit and a courageous nature that carried her through all her trials with an abiding trust in God that carried and a sincere testimony to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have always felt that the Beatitude, "Blessed are the pure in Heart for they shall see God" could well be applied to her, for I am sure that no purer or sweeter soul ever lived.
My mother loved to read the Bible and the Church works. Among my earliest remembrances were the Sunday afternoons when she would read aloud to us all the sermons the church leaders that were published in the Deseret News. She loved, too, the Songs of Zion and spent many hours in her later life reviewing her hymn book and humming to herself the songs she especially liked. One of her favorite hymns was "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief".
Some facts as stated in this life history are not entirely accurate and the following footnotes are to be read as corrections:
(1) From Joseph's diary:
"After the departure of my parents(1865), I became more than ever attached to my faith and began to take an active part in the local affairs of the church. I had by this time been ordained to the Eldership, and honestly strove to magnify that calling, at the same time made such preparations as I could to join my kin in Utah and then prove my devotion to God and the Church. For some time I had been inquiring into claims of the Reorganized Church and felt that they were divinely appointed to administer the ordinance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On 16 Sep 1876, I was baptized in her fold by Elder Thomas Taylor of Birmingham, President of the English Mission."
(2) Jemima and the 4 children arrived in New York on 3rd June 1864 on the "Monarch of the Sea". George Finlinson, a fellow passenger, kept a daily diary of the sea trip and the trip from NY, up the Hudson river to the Great Lakes, to Chicago and then down to Wyoming Nebraska.