On the 24th of July, the State of Utah celebrates the arrival of the Mormon Pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley. These sturdy pioneers went through tremendous tribulation. As a people, they were expelled from Nauvoo, Illinois following the Martyrdom of their beloved Prophet, Joseph Smith, and his brother Hyrum. They had just finished building a beautiful temple thus preparing for Eternal Temple Covenants. They gathered together and made plans to travel west. Many hearts were broken, and tears shed as they left their beautiful Nauvoo.
Brigham Young became their Prophet leader and had seen in a vision the place they were to settle in the west.
There are countless stories of their faith, spiritual experiences, and hardships traveling per wagon and by handcart to this desert valley. We are blessed to have ancestors that paved the way for this marvelous Gospel to thrive. Their stories are poignant and show their deep faith and commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When reading of their experiences our faith grows and we revere these stalwart pioneers.
You can read more about their exodus here. And here.
The Life Story of My Great Great Grandmother Mary Elizabeth Wightman Daley...(The Last of the Saints Leaving Kirtland, Ohio)
Mary E. Wightman Daley was born the second child of Charles Billings Wightman and Mary Ann Dixon Wightman on August 22, 1846, near Kirtland, Ohio, on the banks of the Erie where the Latter-day Saints had made camp for the summer.
Her father was a maker of buggies and wagons and made a good living for his family. The family home was a gracious old stone house on a beautiful piece of property in Kirtland, Ohio.
Charles Wightman, a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was a very spiritually minded man although not at all demonstrative about his religion. He helped build the Kirtland Temple and was commanded by Joseph Smith to stay in Kirtland, Ohio to support the saints and repair their wagons in preparation to leave Kirtland for the West.
In the summer of 1862, the Wightman family, consisting of two parents and eight children set out on the first lap of their journey westward. They went by train from Kirtland to Cleveland, Ohio, then they boarded the riverboat for their trip to St. Joseph, Missouri. From St. Joseph, they went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and later on to Winter Quarters in the Territory of Nebraska. For the second lap of their journey westward, the Wightmans bought two wagons and two teams of oxen and set out for Salt Lake City in a forty wagon train. In a wagon train of that size, as many as two hundred people traveled together. Charles Wightman was the blacksmith and wagon smith for the train, shoeing horses, setting the wagon wheels, and making repairs. He was also the dentist on the journey. His practice mostly consisted of pulling teeth. Everyone in the wagon-train loved him and called him "Uncle Charlie 0. On the westward trip, the wagon train stopped about every two-weeks declaring it "family wash day." The children's job on these wash days was to gather buffalo chips to make a fire for heating the water. On one of those wash days Arthur, who was just learning to walk, put his hand into the hot ashes and burned it so severely it was crippled for the rest of his life.
Often when they stopped, Indians came around the wagon train and begged for food. The leaders taught people to be fair in their dealings with the Indians. Because of this policy, there was no major trouble with the Indians en route to Salt Lake City. In her later years, Mary S. Wightman told stories of the trek. She said she remembered spreading out their blankets and giving crackers to the Indians.
She remembered that her father’s team led the wagon train, and she told of driving the entire distance to Utah without using the whip. She also said how the oxen would kick, so they had to get out of the back of the wagon instead of the front.
One of the thrills of the journey came when the wagon train was nearing the end of its long trek, Mary's mother's brother, Christopher Dixon, came out from Salt Lake to meet the wagon train. He brought a team of horses and a light wagon. He took the Wightman children back to Salt Lake City with him. One night they were camped in a cave with a bear. They also spent one night in Echo Canyon. They reached Salt Lake City a week ahead of the wagon train.
When the wagon train arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1862, Brigham Young sent them to Payson, Utah to make their home. Mary often told how her uncle Arvil Simons had sent her future husband, -Matthew Daley, to the point of the mountain to meet the wagon train and escort them to Payson. Mary said Mr. Simons had told Matthew to take the "pick of the girls,” and how he'd looked when they met him.
Mary often told of her wedding day, March 1, I863. There was a large crowd of relatives at the wedding. During the next two or three years, Mathew spent much of his time rescuing saints whose wagons broke clown or who were stranded on the prairie. He had a four-horse team and a large wagon which he used in these operations.
During this time Mary lived with her aunt and uncle, William and Jane Wightman. They raised calves and made and sold butter and cheese. Also during this period, William and Amy were born. William did not live very long. Between trips, Matthew worked for his father-in-law, Charles B. Wightman, in the blacksmith shop at 814 South Main Street in Payson. Sometime in 1866, he began to work in the blacksmith shop on a regular basis.
He built a little house on Cow Lane known as the Gary Stevens House. Here Mary, Lille, and David were born. Soon after Arthur was born, Matthew sold their house to Uncle Jesse Knight and the family moved to Thistle Valley where they built a log house, The Indians stole all of their cattle, so they moved to Grass Valley and built a two-room log house. Here Carolyn (Dollie) and Wilford Frank were born. Then they went back to Payson living in the Wightman house at 814 South Main where Hyrum and David were born.
It was hard to move from place to place with such a large family, Mary had many hardships making a home for her family in various situations and circumstances— nevertheless, she loved the Lord and was always willing to help the poor and those in need.
She had a vivid recollection of Kirtland, Ohio and told of things that occurred in the Kirtland Temple after most of the saints had left. She told of entertaining Martin Harris at her parent's home and of his testimony of having seen the Angel Moroni and the Gold Plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated.
In 1892, Matthew drove his cows from Grass Valley, Koosharem and rented the Dixon Ranch east of Payson* They made cheese during that summer.
He built the Daley home located back of the high school on Canyon Road. He hired Chet Brimhall to lay the rock and brick. The brick was made west of Payson, the lime was hauled from Provo, and the lumber came from Grass Valley near Koosharem. Matthew paid the men with fresh beef he had raised. This home was one of the most beautiful homes in Payson at the time, with a blacksmith shop in the rear and fifteen acres planted into orchard, berries, and garden. They sold produce to the miners going to work in Eureka.
Mary and Matthew lived here until they bought the Roy Porter home on South Main Street, Payson.
Matthew Daley passed away June 30, 1920. It was a lonely time for Mary, but she continued to care for her home and yard, and her family. She loved to tell the stories of her life, and often spoke of how Eliza R. Snow had said to her, that she would be like "Sarah” of old with children in her old age." She knew the gospel of Jesus Christ was true and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and she often bore her testimony to her children. In her later years, children or grandchildren lived with her to care for her and spent the last of her 8 years living with her daughter Carolyn (Dollie) Mansfield. Mary Elizabeth Wightman Daley died in Payson, Utah, February 5, 1931, and is buried in the Payson City Cemetery. She was a loving mother and grandmother and a faithful Latter-day Saint.
I love this Great Great Grandmother for the sacrifices she made as a pioneer. She was stalwart and true to the faith. I hope to meet her someday and learn even more about her life.
Her example gives me courage when I have moments of struggles and trials. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true and that my ancestors have blessed our lives by their strong testimonies of The Prophet Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the Gospel of Christ.
HAPPY 24TH OF JULY - Pioneer Day Celebration!
