Samuel Kendall Gifford born 11 Nov 1821 was a participant of much of early Church history. His family moved to Missouri when he was 11. He was baptised there. They were driven out eventually to Nauvoo while he was a teenager. He was a young man while the Temple was being built. He received his endowments there in Feb 1846. He married his wife Lora Ann Demille in 1848, on the plains during the emmigration to the west and their first son was born during that migration. They settled first in Manti and later moved to the area of Zions Canyon in southern Utah. His journal makes for very interesting reading so I encourage you to follow the link.
Here is a sample:
The saints were driven enmass across the Missouri River
into Clay County. We camped on the banks of the Missouri River
on the night of the 13th of November 1833. There I beheld a
strange and beautiful scene. To all appearance, brilliant stars
or balls of fire falling like rain upon the earth and upon the
water.
[Side note: The night of November 12-13, 1833, not only marks the discovery of the Leonid meteor shower, but it marks the actual birth of meteor astronomy.]
He lived till 1907 when he was 85. My grandmother, Elsie Gifford was 11 when he passed away and had the chance to hear his stories.
2 comments:
You're right, his journal is interesting:
"Saturday 4th, laying stone in the shop building until about 4 p.m. when I attended the last (12) lesson, phonography school. About half past 11 at night my wife gave birth to a son. We called his name
Samuel Kendall after myself."
What a strange time to live in.
Do you know anything about his wives. I know he had two, Lora Ann and Ursala, but a record I found online stated that he was sealed to two other women after their deaths (Orpha DeMille and elizabeth Knight Johnson. The new.familysearch also list about ten other wives which seem errors. Can you give me any light on this subject?
Bernice Pratt
pratts009@hotmail.com
Post a Comment