Charles Young Webb

Mormon Pioneer
(Compiled by Carolyn Webb, 1999)

Charles Young Webb, Sr., was born May 8, 1819 in Malone, Franklin County, New York. He was the 3rd child of Samuel and Polly Webb. Samuel had built a large house in Malone, New York, where all of his children were born and grew up. Samuel also built a small mill on the "Little Trout River", in what is now Bellmont, New York. When Samuel's boys grew to manhood, he gave them each 200 acres of land in Bellmont, New York. In 1833, a new town was formed from Malone and Chateauguy named Bellmont. It was named after William Bell who owned a great deal of land. At the age of 21, Charles had his own land. The 1840 census shows him living next door to his father with a young woman. She is 15-20 years old. It is unknown if this girl was Laura Smith, his first wife, or maybe a sister. However, early in the 1840's, Charles married a young lady by the name of Laura A. Smith.

It appears that Charles learned of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon sometime around 1843. It is said that he travelled to Ohio to meet the Prophet and a number of the saints. He became interested in the Mormon religion and was baptized in September 1844 by Amos Hodge.

Charles was still living in New York when his wife Laura gave birth to their first child - Willis. After this, Probably in the Spring of 1845 Charles sold his 200 acres and began the trek west to join the other Saints. Although the LDS Church has no record of Charles Y. Webb residing in Nauvoo, Illinois, we do have a church record that states he was ordained a Seventy in the 27th quorum on June 8, 1845 in Nauvoo.

Charles met Margaret Allen in Nauvoo, Illinois when she was nineteen. He married her as his second wife. At about this same time (in 1846) hostilities with Mexico over the annexation of Texas became such a conflict that the President of the United States, Pres. Polk, decided to enlist the immigrating Latter Day Saints as part of the force necessary to defeat the Mexicans. The Saints willingly answered the call to serve their country plus the money would help get their families west. Brigham Young called 500 men to serve in the Mexican War. This detachment was called the "Mormon Battalion". Private Charles Young Webb prepared himself to leave for war, leaving behind his two wives, his infant son, Willis, and both wives were now pregnant. Margaret went to live with her parents in Council Bluff, Iowa while Charles was away.

Charles enlisted on July 16th then departed from Leavenworth the 21st of July 1846 in Company A under the command of James Allen. Soon after they left, their commander took sick and died. Jefferson Hunt was appointed in his place. While Charles was 'off to war', his first wife Laura gave birth on October 3rd 1846 to her second child, Charles in Winter Quarters - otherwise known as Kaysville. That same date, she and the baby died. That left Margaret, his second wife, our ggg grandmother to look after Laura's child - little Willis as her own son. At this same time, Margaret herself had a child on 24 October 24th, a girl she named Jeanette.

Charles and his detachment reached San Diego on January 29th 1847. They arrived amidst the explosive political event known as the "Cahuengo Capitulation". Brig. Gen. Stephen Kearny arrived in San Diego from Washington D.C. where he had been appointed to be Governor of the California Territory. Fremont refused to accept Kearny as Governor. Kearny had no other alternative than to proceed with a court martial against Fremont. Gen. Kearney received loyal support from the Mormon Battalion and in recognition of their firm stance in his behalf, he ordered that 15 men from the Mormon Battalion be detached to escort Fremont to Ft. Leavenworth. Among those selected was Private Charles Y. Webb.

Kearney designated Monterey, California as the gathering point for various groups that would make th eastward journey. We learn from the Journal of Henry S. Turner that they reached Sutter's Fort June 13, 1847. By the 22nd of June they came upon the ghastly scene of the Donner Party. "...bones were every where presenting a revolting and distressing spectacle. Not a whole person was found." The Donner Party had been comprised of 86 immigrants trying to pass through during winter and getting trapped by heavy snowfalls. Thirty six of them perished from starvation and exposure to cold. Gen. Kearney ordered the Mormon Battalion to halt, and collect and inter the remains. While helping to bury the Donner Party, the bugler - J.C. Truigley, accidently shot himself just below the collar bone. His condition worsened as they traveled and twenty miles east of Ft. Laramie on the North Platte River, he requested that Gen. Kearney leave him behind with a small squad who could walk at a slower pace with him. Kearny detached 3 of his LDS escort men. Mathew Caldwell, Charles Y. Webb, and William Spencer to follow behind the detachment and assist the wounded bugler.

Unfortunately, while traveling by night, these men became lost and wandered for several days. They suffered extensively from hunger. The four men were saved only by an accidental meeting of a detail of 5 soldiers from Ft. Laramie who were on a bee hunt for honey. Fortunate for us that Charles Y. Webb was saved! Mathew Caldwell described their appearance when they finally reached Ft. Leavenworth (Kansas). "Webb and Spencer had the raggedest pants that I have ever seen, and our shirts were gone except the collars and a few strips down the back. I was entirely barefoot." Charles Y. Webb reported to the paymaster at the Fort on or about September 25, 1847 to receive issue of clothing of $75 and his discharge from the service. The other Mormon Battalion members had already been discharged Charles crossed to the east bank of the Missouri River by Ferry, then walked to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Seems like his walking was never done.

Charles Y. Webb had participated in the longest military march in history - 4,000 mile round trip. By December 17th, 1847 he had returned to Kanesville to reunite with his family and history would record his name as one of the remarkable 500 men of the Mormon Battalion. After reuniting with his family, Margaret, young Willis, Jeanette now 3 years old, and a new infant Lydia born March 25, 1847, Charles began to prepare for the trek west. At the same time he was reuniting with Margaret and the kids, Charles had to face the loss of his first wife, Laura who had died, along with his baby Charles...it must have been both a very happy time as well as a sad time for him.

In the year 1850, they finally left with the William Wall's fifty and in Chester Loveland's ten. The day they left their home, Margaret came down with the measles. She was very sick a long time on the trail, but finally recovered enough to leave the wagon for two weeks. Then she and Lydia both became ill with Cholera, and another tragedy struck the Webb family...baby Lydia died. Margaret survived, but it took a long time for her to gain back her strength.

It was a long, hard trek across the plains and when they reached the Rocky Mountains, Margaret again became ill and contracted a high fever called the "Rocky Mountain Fever". But even with her ill health, they trudged on across the miles of dusty trails. Eventually, they arrived in the Valley of Salt Lake in 1849. Incredibly, almost before the family could rest and settle, Apostle George A. Smith called for 100 volunteers to join him on a mission to Iron County - Parowan. The call came in 1850.

President Brigham Young wanted 100 men to start south on the 1st day of December with 500 bushels of seed wheat, 30,000 lbs of bread stuff or 300 lbs to each person. There was to be one mill wright, 5 carpenters and joiners, 2 blacksmiths, two shoemakers, and 1 surveyor, each with tools. After a long weary march across the continent - over 4,000 miles with the Mormon Battalion, now the call came to Charles Y. Webb to go 250 more miles to the southern part of Utah in the heart of Indian country and settle in the wilderness. It would take great faith in their leaders and dauntless courage to brave another march into the unknown. But even so, the call came and Charles Y. Webb was one of those willing to go. Margaret stayed behind in Provo while Charles went to Parowan in the winter of 1850 and 1851. Finally, after the men had built sufficient shelter they went back to Provo to pick up their wives and bring them to Parowan. After their settlement in Parowan, Margaret gave birth to a son on July 26th, 1851, naming him Charles Young Webb Jr. He was born in a log cabin. He is our great grandfather.

Charles Y. Webb Sr. often went to the Salt Lake Valley where he visited with various friends he had made. One of these friends was Abraham Owen Smoot. On one of these occasions he attended conference and visited this old friend. He met his friend's neice - Adeline Freeman and subsequently married her on March 24, 1852 in SLC, and then he brought her to Parowan. After his marriage to Adeline, Charles moved Margaret and her family to a place outside of Parowan, called Paragoonah. This seems to have been a difficult time for Margaret which we sense when reading her perspective of the struggles that were encountered.

Many children were born to his wives - 17 in all. Margaret gave birth, May 19, 1853 to her 4th child, James Dickerson Webb named after her father. On the 19th of August that same year, Adeline had her 1st child - John Freeman Webb, named after her father. Charles was a farmer and carpenter and he helped in raising buildings and live stock and putting up fences. Adeline bore her 2nd child Nancy Beal Webb January 7th, 1855. Eight days later Margaret became the mother of her 5th child, Joseph Webb born the 15th of January 1855 at Kaysville, Davis Co. Utah where her parents lived. It seems that Margaret and Charles had separated by this time. Margaret's children were still very young and she was struggling to survive. She must have moved in with her parents while she got back on her feet.

About two years after the birth of Joseph, Margaret married John Glover Smith - the 19th March 1857 in Salt Lake City, Utah - just a short time before the Mt. Meadow Massacre was to occur in Southern Utah. Since Charles Sr. was still alive, it is assumed that they must have divorced by then. Let me say something about the tumult going on in the territory about this time period. The years 1856-1857 were difficult times for the Saints. The men had been organized into companies of militia men being trained to fight for their lives. There was the approaching Army of the United States commited to exterminating the Mormons. There were the wagon trains of emigrants coming through, many whom were not only hostile to the Mormons but some of them had participated in the persecutions in Missouri, and Illinois and boasted of it to our settlers. Most of the Saints who had been called to the southern part of the state had gone through the persecutions in Missouri and Illinois. The bishop of Parowan, had been wounded at the Haun's Mill Massacre and others had lost relatives and friends in that horrible tragedy. Charles Y. Webb Sr. was swept up into readiness for war as a minute man and horseman, and was part of an organized company of militia. This, of course, had made him even less available to Margaret and the family. It was at this time that Charles Young Webb Sr. once a member of the Mormon Battalion, now became a member of the "Iron Battalion", a fully armed and trained militia for Southern Utah. According to the Church History Archives there is an entry which is from a letter of James H. Martineau March 13, 1856, writing to George A. Smith...it says: "...We have just had a muster and Col. Dame organized a company of minute men-horsemen out of the other companies. Jas. Lewis, Capt, C.Y.Webb 1st Lieut, and J.H. Martineau 2nd Lieut..

Even during these difficult times of tumult, uncertainty, and military readiness, Charles still had a family to take care of. The records indicate that Charles Sr. and Adeline had 12 children, and that they continued to live in Parowan, Iron County, Utah. In 1861 the settlers of Parowan decided to build a new LDS Church and recreation center. Charles donated $100 plus he also helped to build it. It is said to be still standing in Parowan today.

In 1870, Adeline was pregnant with twins when there was a fire in the barn and while she was helping to get the stock to safety, she bumped into a low fence with such a strong force that one of the twins was injured and subsequently born dead. Marvin died, Melvin lived. On January 1871, the Relief Society sisters decided to build a Relief Society house. Charles donated the building site. (The Paxton Hotel corner). Even with these recorded donations that Charles apparently made, it seems that he was struggling to have enough money to care for his family. Documents indicate that he went back East. According to War Department documents, Charles Y. Webb lived in Crossvilee, Tennessee from the Spring of 1890 until the following winter and from May 1893 to Nov 1894. Charles swore and declared under oath that he had no property except the clothes he was wearing and no income from any source except the Mexican War Pension of $8.00 per month which he was then drawing. He delcared that such pension was inadequate to provide him with the necessitites of life. He declared there was no one legally dependent on him for support. This statment was written on the 19th of NOv 1894 at Crossville, Tenn. Charles was applying for an increase under Mexican War Certificate #4565 - claiming he was disabled from manual labor perhaps due to an injury to his left ankle as reported in documents of pension increase.

Apparently, Charles went back to his former home in Malone, New York in the late 1880's. Some of his brothers and sisters still lived there. How long he stayed, or whether he returned to Utah or not is not indicated. It is not clear what happened between Adeline and Charles. Did she go with him or stay in Utah? The records indicate that he did apply for an increase in his pension. (Copies on hand of Mexican War Pension documents) And later, he is found living with his sister Angeline Dunn and her family for about 5 years. And still later, his other sister, Aluna invited him to come to live with her and her daughter, Mary. Aluna was a widow and was happy to have him. She lived in Crossville, Tennessee. Charles was last reported in Crossville, Tennessee the 17th of November, 1894 where he filed for declaration of increase of pension.

Nothing more at this time is known of his death or burial. It is not known whether Adeline was ever with him on the East Coast or not, or if they had separated. We do know of her death and burial. Adeline, his 3rd wife, died in 1899, at Circleville, Piute, Utah where she is buried. Two of their sons are buried next to her. Margaret, who married a total of three times, died in 1919 in Delco, Cassia County, Idaho.

Children of Charles Young Webb, Sr.:

1. Willis Webb son of Laura Smith
2. Charles Webb son of Laura Smith still born
3. Jeanette Webb d. of Margaret Allen b. 24 Oct 1844-1865
4. Lydia Webb d. of Margaret Allen b. 1847-1848 on trail
5. *Charles Young Webb Jr son of Margaret Allen b. 1851-1939
6. James Dickerson Webb son of Margaret Allen b. 1853-1927
7. Joseph Webb son of Margaret Allen b. 1855-1873
8. John Freeman Webb son of Adeline Freeman b. 1853-1914
9. Nancy Beal Webb daughter of Adeline Freeman b. 1855-1890
10. Adeline Webb daughter of Adeline Freeman b. 1857-1924
11. Abraham Owen Smoot Webb s. of Adeline Freeman 1859-1920
12. Charles (Tault) Webb s. of Adeline Freeman 1861-1884
13. Christopher Columbus Webb s. of Adeline Freeman 1862-1914
14. Hyrum Horton Webb s. of Adeline Freeman 1865-1919
15 George Washington Webb s. Adeline Freeman 1866-1926
16. (twin) Melvin Webb s. Adeline Freeman 1870-1925
17. (twin) Marvin Webb s. Adeline Freeman 1870