Phippen Family - Ourfolk

Given by his daughter, Ada Louisa Phippen Mahoney Walker
at Heber, Utah, Sept. 13, 1923
Isaac is the great great Grandfather of Arthur Phippen

My Grandfather Joseph Phippen was born in Massachusetts in 1762. Hiswife's name was Silva Paul. They moved from Vermont, where my father,Isaac, was born in 1792 in the town of Westminster, Winden County, theseventh child of a family of 13 children. He lived there as a boyworking on a farm and going to school in the winter months where hesecured a fair education. When he was about 25 years old, a cousin ofhis sent for him to come to Ohio and learned the carpenter trade. Hewent and learned and carpenter's and builder's trade. He also learned tomake all kinds of furniture which came in very handy in later years.After he had been in Ohio some time when he met the girl that became mymother. Her name was Ada Stewart. She was one of the large family. Mymother was born 19 July 1798 in a western county of the state of NewYork. Her father and family removed to the state of Ohio, in Clark Co.My father and mother were married 18 October 1818 in Ohio. They livedthere some years and my mother had two children and they were doing well,but about that time my father's mother died and his father wanted him tocome home and take charge of his farm, as his older brothers had marriedand left the state. So they removed to Vermont and lived there someyears. My mother had two more children--three boys and a girl. Afterawhile my grandfather married again and things became unpleasant. So myfather removed his family to Chatugua Co, New York, where they lived manyyears and became well fixed financially and enjoyed life. My brothersand sister grew up with the advantages of good schools and plenty to liveon.

In 1833 they heard the Gospel and joined the Church of Jesus Christ, butdid not move to any of the places where the Mormon people had settled.They were counseled to stay and keep a place for the missionaries to stayas they traveled through. So they stayed until 1839. Then my fathersold everything and removed his family to Commerce, later called Nauvoo.My two oldest brothers and my sister were baptized soon after theirparents. The name was soon changed to Nauvoo. They were all sick withthe ague but my father and his oldest brother. So my father secured apiece of land near the city and built a house where they lived awhile.In 1841 my mother lost her young child; it was a great trial to them.Soon after my father got a lot in Nauvoo and built a good house where Iwas born in 1842.

Before I was very old the people not of our faith began to have troublewith the Mormons. They wanted to drive them from their homes as they haddone so many times before. Things got worse and worse and when I was ayear and 10 months old the Prophet and his brother Hyrum were martyred.I have heard my mother tell what a time of sorrow it was, and times werehard and many of the people were poor but they continued to work on thetemple and finally got it finished so that many went through and wereendowed and felt repaid for all their hardships.

In 1845 times were very bad in Nauvoo. They had to stand guard aroundthe city and my brother was on guard and was shot accidently and died afew hours later. In 1846 we had to leave our homes with hundreds ofothers. There was much suffering among the people and many were sick.We had two wagons for our family and my brother's family. So we lefteverything, almost, and crossed the Mississippi River and came to Winterquarters where we stayed until after the Mormon Battalion boys had gone.Also after the first company had gone to Utah. In the summer of 1847 myfather planted some corn and other vegetables and raised considerablestuff that helped us through the winter. In the summer of 1848 wecrossed the Missouri River into the state of Iowa. My father secured alarge farm where he raised a hundred bushels of corn that he sold to thegold seekers to get money to go to Utah. He also made wagons for peopleto cross the plains. My mother spun and made cloth for clothing andevery effort was made to get fit out to cross the plains. With hard workand economy they got a good outfit together, but as there were some poorthat had to be helped to cross the plains, my father had a widow andthree children in one of his wagons. On June 28, 1852, we were ready tostart to Utah again. My father and mother left everything only thatwhich they could put in the two wagons. Left their farm and never gotone cent for it. Their house and nearly everything that was in them.Only a small stove and a chair for two, not even a table, but we hadplenty of provisions and clothes and had no regrets for what we left.The only thought was to get to Zion, the valley of the Mormons. We hadquite a time getting started. The cows decided they did not want to goto Utah but with much persuasion and some other things, we got to theMissouri River. There were hundreds of wagons waiting their turn tocross the river. I think we stayed two nights before we could cross asthere was only one beat and two wagons with teams could cross at a time.Then there were all the loose stock to cross after Father had gotten allhis things over. They with a hundred other wagons, traveled severalmiles to a large flat where we camped, and the companies were organizedinto fifties with a captain over each fifty families and a captain overeach ten. Our company was the 12th and our captain was Harmon Cutler.Two other companies were organized at the same time; the 10th and the11th. We traveled together for several hundred miles for mutualprotection. We saw lots of buffalo and lots of Indian scares. If therewere wood and grass, and water for the teams, our captain always campedover for Sunday and held meetings and we generally had meetings Thursdaynights. There they sang the songs Zion and rejoiced to think they weregoing to the Valley. No one grumbled over their hardships. We went onand on and had dances. We stopped and dried buffalo meat and washed ourclothes when we stopped for a day or two. The women would take theirstoves out and wash the clothes and bake up a lot of bread and cakes.When we milked the cows, Mother would put the milk in the churn and whenwe camped at noon the butter would be churned and we ate the milk withour bread and mush. They never cooked at noon. That was a time to rest.When we got to a place called Ash Hollow the Indians stole all ourhorses. So the captain had to have oxen draw his carriage the rest ofthe way to the Valley. When we got to Independence Rock we had awedding. Lots of the young folks went through the Devil's Gate. Iwanted to go but Mother would not let me. She said I was too little.Our captain was awful slow and some of the company got dissatisfied andsaid that the snow would catch us before we got to the Valley. So theydivided the company and put my father in as Captain and we went alongfine but had some snow in South Pass. We were all glad when we saw thevalley of the Great Salt Lake. It surely looked beautiful to us. Webeat the other part of the company 15 days.

Before we had been in the city a week my father bought a lot with a smallhouse on it, in the 10th ward. And we were glad to have a roof over ourheads once more. At the next spring conference, 1853, they laid thecorner stone for the temple. Being a child I watched everything they didvery carefully and never will forget the impression I had at the time.It made a mark that has never left me and never will while life lasts. Iwas 10 years old at the time.

In 1854 my father moved his family to Grantsville where we lived severalyears. The Indians were very troublesome for some years, so we lived ina fort all the time we lived in Grantsville. My father engaged infarming and stock raising, helping to build the fort walls, and standingguard at times when the Indians were worse. My mother was a fine nurseso she had plenty of calls. At other times she spun and made cloth forour clothes. She made a great deal of butter and cheese, made molassesout of beets, out of parsnips, and anything that had sugar in it.

In 1850 we moved back to Salt Lake City. We stayed there about twoyears. Then Father thought he had to have a place for his stock. So in1861 Father got land in Coalville, Summit County, and still we moved. Welived there some years. In 1867 the Indians became very bad in SummitCounty and we had to move into Coalville. We had been living one mileand a half from the settlement, and it was no longer safe for a fewfamilies to stay out so far. My parents moved back to Salt Lake City andlived in our old home, where they both died. My mother died on April 14,1870, aged 72. My father died May 2, 1875, aged 86. They were buried inthe City Cemetery in Salt Lake City.

This history was given to the Daughters of the Pioneers on Sept. 13, 1923.
Extracted from Ancestry.com, from an entry by Sue Phippen Stewart.