LIFE HISTORY OF ROXANA LEAVITT
FLETCHER HUNTSMAN SNOW
by Luna Joy Simmons Viehweg (daughter of Florence Priday Simmons who was the daughter of Luna Amanda Chipman Priday, the daughter of Salena Huntsman Chipman, oldest daughter of Roxana Leavitt Fletcher Huntsman Snow)
June 2003.

Roxana Leavitt's life is a saga of the American frontier, an epic story of a woman who moved from Vermont to Lower Canada (Quebec) and then to the Great Basin of the Rockies, driven by a religious faith which characterized her as truly one of the great Mormon pioneers, a people from many varied backgrounds, united by their conviction and a desire to follow their prophet. This is a story which demonstrates the true pioneer spirit: the ability to make the best of a situation when faced with heartbreak, death, and desperate physical conditions.

Comments on the earlier history of the Leavitt families must be made here before Roxana's story continues. The original American Leavitts originated in England, coming to the New World in the earliest of times. John Leavitt came as an indentured servant and stepped off the ship in 1628 to start a new life. He first settled in Hingham, Massachusetts¹, and was later known as Deacon John Leavitt. The Leavitt men fought in the early wars on the continent, including the American Revolution which won for the colonists their freedom from the British crown. Some of the Leavitts moved up into New Hampshire, to Vermont, and on to Lower Canada.

Roxana's Delano family line goes back to early New England and from there to Leyden, Holland where the Pilgrims had gone to escape religious persecution in England. The Delano name had originally been De La Noye and De Lannoy. (This is the family from which President Franklin Delano Roosevelt also descended.)

Roxana's parents were Nathaniel Leavitt and Deborah Delano. Nathaniel was the second son of Jeremiah Leavitt and Sarah Shannon, while Deborah was the daughter of Moses Delano and Lydia Baker. Nathaniel and Deborah were married about 1817 in Grantham, New Hampshire. Nathaniel had purchased a parcel of land in Irasburg, Orleans Co., Vermont in the year 1815 from a Mr. Ebenezer Burr of New Grantham, New Hampshire paying one hundred fifty dollars. This lot was on the road from Irasburg to Brownington, Vermont. After their marriage the young couple then moved to their newly purchased land which lies in an area of lakes and low, wooded hills in the northeastern part of the state. Nathaniel made a wise business decision here as shown by the fact that he sold the land shortly thereafter for the sum of $462.00.

The first child born to Nathaniel and Deborah was Salena who was born about 1817, in either New Grantham, NH or Irasburg, VT. A recent discovery of Salena's tombstone indicates from the age at death that she was born in 1817. Roxana was born in Irasburg December 15, 1818, according to a number of records. There is a question about this birth date. This issue of the birth date arises because the next younger child, Caroline Elizabeth was born six months after Roxana's birth date. According to Caroline's tombstone, at her death on April 13, 1869 she was 49 years and 9 months. This would compute to July 13, 1819. Roxana's age at death on June 16, 1881 is given on her gravestone in the American Fork City (Utah) City Cemetery as 63 years, 6 months, and 24 days. This would compute to November 22, 1817. Her obituary in the Deseret News, Salt Lake City also gives her birth year as 1817. Further research is needed in order to solve the problem. It must be added here that Roxana gave the birthdate herself as Dec. 15, 1818 when she married William Snow in 1853 and on the day she received her endowment in 1855.

Roxana was the second daughter in the family. Caroline Elizabeth was born in Vermont as indicated in her place of birth given in the 1850 and 1860 U.S. Censuses. Nathaniel and his family moved on to Hatley, Lower Canada sometime after Caroline was born. Hatley is not far from Irasburg, being just over the Canadian border to the north. Some of Nathaniel's brothers and sisters and his mother are known to have been residents of the same area.² Roxana's brothers and one sister were born in Canada. Their names: Nathaniel, Jr., born in 1823 in Hatley, Flavilla Lucy born 1826 in Compton (about 6 miles from Hatley), and John, born 1827, also in Hatley. For purposes of clarity in this history, the son, Nathaniel, will be referred to as Nathaniel, Jr.

Death claimed the life of Deborah Leavitt April 18, 1829, leaving the children motherless. This had to be a trying time for Nathaniel who had six young children in his care. Not too long after Deborah's passing, Nathaniel took another wife in October 1829. Her name was Betsy Bean. This new bride was only sixteen years old, just five years older than Roxana and four years older than Salena. How did Roxana feel about this new family arrangement? It is hoped that these young girls became good friends. From this new union Nathaniel and Betsey brought three children into the world, Priscilla, Mary and Weir.³

From her research on the Leavitts in Canada and in Vermont, Anne O. Leavitt feels that it is possible that Roxana and Caroline went to live with relatives in Vermont when their father remarried. It is believed that Caroline was raised by Nathaniel's sister, Sarah, and her husband, William Rowell. Caroline later married Enoch Rowell in Irasburg, Vermont. And Roxana knew William Snow at some point in her life in Vermont. His biography states that this was the case. William Snow was Roxana's third husband, the marriage taking place many years later in Utah.

By 1835 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been established and was sending out missionaries to bring the Gospel to all who would hear. Some of these emissaries visited the Hatley/Compton area and preached of a "new" religion. One of these missionaries was Elder Hazen Eldridge. A number of the Leavitts accepted the teachings of the missionaries and one or two were baptized there. Others had to wait to be baptized later. A great desire welled up in the hearts of many of these dear people to join with the Saints, as they were called, in Kirtland, Ohio. This was a tremendous undertaking. Many plans had to be formed, and preparations for a long wagon trip had to be made. By the summer of 1837 there were fifty-five of the Leavitt family members who were ready to set off. Mother Sarah Shannon Leavitt was the matriarch of the group, a lady of about seventy-six years, revered by all who knew her. The wagons rolled out on July 20, 1837. The string of wagons packed with all their earthly belongings which they could take must have been a sight to behold. Can we begin to imagine Roxana's feelings at the thought of leaving the place where she had grown up? Can we get even a glimpse of her anguish at leaving two sisters, Caroline Elizabeth and Salena who had decided to remain in Canada? Salena had married Joseph Kezar, and they had two small offspring. Roxana was eighteen when she climbed up on a wagon to embark on a new part of her life. She traveled with cousins, perhaps helping to care for little ones along the way.

Nathaniel decided to leave the group and continue another way. This was the summer of 1837. In his group were his wife, Betsy, their three young children, his three youngest children by his late wife, Deborah (Nathaniel, Jr., Flavilla, and John), and also Josiah Leavitt, the younger, single brother of Nathaniel. Roxana was with the Leavitts who went by land to Ohio and then on to Illinois. From perusal of an autobiography written years later by Nathaniel, Jr., we learn a great deal about the results of that decision: (Note - throughout this history when direct quotes are made, no attempt is made to change errors in spelling or grammar. In certain cases water and stains have obliterated some of the text.)

"We traveled through the state of Vermont and New York. When we arrived in Buffalo my father took a notion to leave the company and cross Lake Erie to Detroit. The balance of the company going around the lake by way of Kirkland [sic] Ohio. We hitched up again at Detroit and traveled west as far as Sturgess Prairie, St. Joseph County, Michigan. Here my father rented a farm for one year calculating to move on west and find the church.

"Two of my uncles and their families stopped in Ohio. The balance of the company came along where we were, stopped two or three days and made us a visit, then traveled on west until they came to Twelve Mile Grove in Will County, Illinois, forty miles south of Chicago. Here they purchases some farms, intending to stay until they had learned where the church had settled, for the Mormons had all been driven from the state of Missouri by a ruthless mob".⁴

The next summer, in 1838, a terrible thing happened. Nathaniel and his brother, Josiah, both died. The cause of death is unknown, perhaps from a communicable disease of which there were many, or possibly an accident involving both men. Now Betsy's plight was desperate. What should she do, so far from home with three little ones and three older step children for which to care and provide? The ages of Nathaniel, Jr., Flavilla Lucy, and John were 14, 12, and 11, respectively. Betsy's decision was to sell all she could and return to Canada to be near her family. She offered to take the older siblings with her, feeling, no doubt, that their relatives would take them in. However, Nathaniel, Jr. had a strong testimony of the Gospel, and he wanted to find the other Leavitts and the church. He persuaded Flavilla and John to stay with him.⁵ The three were left with strangers as Betsy made her way back to Canada with her children. What courage and fortitude this required of, not only Betsy, but the three orphans left in the wilderness, as it truly was at that time. It should be said here that through the efforts of the Western Association of Leavitt Families Betsy's descendents are being found and "gathered in" with the loving arms of their western relatives.

Now comes an event which vitally affected the lives of Nathaniel Jr., Flavilla, and John. Some Leavitt families had passed through White Pigeon, Michigan (another name for Sturgess Prairie where Nathaniel and Josiah were farming before they died) visiting with Nathaniel and his family for several days before traveling on to settle in Twelve Mile Grove, Illinois. They knew where Nathaniel's family was. Meanwhile, Nathaniel's brother, Jeremiah, and his wife, Sarah Sturtevant Leavitt, and their children had stayed in Mayfield, Ohio to earn money for the balance of their trip.⁶ When the Leavitts left Canada, they probably thought that they were only going as far as Kirtland, Ohio. At Kirtland the group learned that the Saints had for the most part left and were in Missouri. When a longer trip was found to be necessary, some were short of money and provisions. Such was the case with Jeremiah and Sarah. It would be fascinating to learn how these families communicated with each other across the states in those early days. Did Jeremiah and Sarah know where Nathaniel had settled in White Pigeon? What actually happened was that about a month after their stepmother had left the three children of Nathaniel's in White Pigeon, Jeremiah and Sarah and their eight children were making their way from Ohio to join the other Leavitts in Twelve Mile Grove, Illinois. When they got to White Pigeon, they found those three youngsters there.⁷ Sarah wrote in her journal:

"Nathaniel Leavitt had come up the lake to Michigan, stopped to a place called White Pigeon. When we got into that place we heard Nathaniel was dead and that his wife had took all the property and gone back to Canada and left three children that were his first wife's children, among strangers sick with the ague. The older boy was ten or twelve years old; he told the folks when he got big enough he was going to hunt his folks. They were with the Mormons somewhere. They told him the Mormons were all killed; he never would find any of them. What a pitiful situation for three sick orphans with hardly clothes enough to cover their nakedness, did not know if they should see a friend again. They were at three different houses; their names were Nathaniel, Flavilla and John". ⁸

What a glad reunion that must have been! To travel back through time and to be able to see the looks on their faces at this propitious meeting would be truly marvelous.

Uncle Jeremiah and Aunt Sarah took Nathaniel's three with them, making eleven children in their group. This was a difficult time. Also found in Sarah's journal is this:

"We had a hard and tiresome journey. The roads were bad all the way. In one place there was a five mile pole bridge over a swamp without any gravel or dirt on it and the wagon jolted so it almost took our breath away."⁹

A pole bridge must have been one with wooden poles lain across width-wise and with nothing to fill in the spaces. The wagon wheels would bump over each pole, jarring the wagon as it went along. They went on to Twelve Mile Grove and had another great reunion with relatives and friends. How glad Roxana's three siblings must have been to be with their older sister again after the ordeal they had suffered! How amazed and grateful she felt, knowing that they were safe after hearing of the frightening experience they had had. And how she must have mourned to hear that her father had died. Roxana had been only about eleven when her own mother had departed this earth. Much to the sadness of the group with Jeremiah and Sarah, they learned that Mother Sarah Shannon Leavitt had died before their arrival. They had had such high hopes of seeing her again.

Roxana had married Benjamin Fletcher on April 12, 1838 in Will County, Illinois.¹⁰ Into this marriage Benjamin brought three small children from his previous marriage. Their names were Jane, Joseph, and William.¹¹ This was a great challenge for a young woman of twenty. And, sad to say, Benjamin died after only two years of marriage to Roxana. He passed away on April 21, 1840 at Juliett (Joliet), Will County, Illinois at the age of twenty-nine.¹² Now what was Roxana to do? The 1840 U.S. Census of Rock Village Precinct, Will County, Illinois shows Roxana as the head of her household with five children living with her.¹³ Rock Village Precinct is near or part of Twelve Mile Grove. The 1840 U.S. Census gives only the name of the head of the household and then marks which show only the sex and general age groups of other residents in the house. These marks indicate that the two oldest children were probably Flavilla and John. Nathaniel, Jr. must have been with another Leavitt family. The three youngest children were undoubtedly Benjamin's little ones. No vital record for another marriage of Benjamin Fletcher has been found in Will County. A search has been made, and no children by the name of Fletcher were born in Rock Village Precinct between 1837 and 1840.¹⁴ Benjamin must also have come from somewhere else, as did the Leavitts. Others living near Roxana, according to the 1840 Census, were the families of her uncles and aunts: Jeremiah Leavitt, with wife, Sarah, Phebe Leavitt, widow of Weir Leavitt, Horace Fish with wife, Hannah Leavitt, Franklin Chamberlain with wife, Rebecca Leavitt, and James Adams with wife, Betsey Leavitt. Surely these close relatives assisted Roxana with the huge task she had of caring for those five young children.

In 1840 these Leavitt families moved on to Nauvoo, Illinois. The Saints had been driven out of Missouri by mob action in 1839, and had located in a place on the east side of the Mississippi River where they drained swampy areas and built this city which could be envied by anyone in the state or country. Converts were traveling there by the thousands, and all were helping to build a remarkable temple on a hill overlooking the river to the west. Some of the Leavitts purchased farms several miles east of Nauvoo in a place called "The Mound". In the 1841 roster of members of the Nauvoo Second Ward are listed John and Nathaniel Leavitt with the family of Horace Fish, also Roxana Fletcher with Jane, Joseph and William Fletcher, these last three under the age of eight.¹⁵ Listed just below Roxana's family we find John Huntsman with four of his children, Jackson, Washington, Charlotte and Sally Ann, all over eight years old, according to the column designations of the record. Also listed were the families of Jeremiah Leavitt and Horace Fish.

On June 23, 1841 in Nauvoo Roxana Leavitt Fletcher married John Huntsman, who was probably about twenty years her senior. Jacob Fouts (LDS) performed the civil ceremony. A check of the Nauvoo Temple records shows that they were not endowed nor married there.16 In an 1842 list of Nauvoo church members we find listed John Huntsman, Roxyina [sic] Huntsman, Flavilia [sic] L. Huntsman, and Almira Huntsman (John's daughter by his first wife).¹⁷ The practice of listing all children in a home with the surname of the head of the household, whether a child actually had a different surname or not, was a common practice in church and census records. In this case Flavilla and Almira are listed as daughters in the family, even though Flavilla was not a daughter to John, but a sister to Roxana. Because of this entry, many have believed that John Huntsman had a daughter, Flavilla, but such was not the case. The Fletcher children were not with Roxana in 1842. This writer has not yet found what happened to them.

John Huntsman is believed to have been born in Washington County, Pennsylvania or in Ohio in about 1800. His parents were James Huntsman and Catherine Wirick. The family of his daughter, Charlotte, claims that his first wife was Deborah Huntsman, his first cousin. Others believe to the contrary that he married Deborah Snyder, probably in Ohio about 1825. John Huntsman and his first wife, whichever Deborah she was, had six children: Jackson, Washington, Sally Ann, Charlotte, Almira and Jasper. The son, Washington, stayed in Missouri and married there. It is said that Jasper joined the rush for gold in California and was not heard from again. Charlotte married Reuben Lloyd DeWitt in 1846 in Nauvoo, and they subsequently lived in San Bernardino, California, she bearing him twelve children. Almira married Dudley Justin Merrill, and after her death he married Almira's half sister, Ellen Orliva Huntsman, second daughter of Roxana.

HUNTSMAN/CRAWFORD MILL AT ELKHART, INDIANA

In 1829 John Huntsman and his family settled in Elkhart, Indiana where he built the first grist mill.¹⁸ The picture of John Huntsman's mill shown in the printed history appeared in the newspaper, The Elkhart Daily Truth, on 26 Sept., 1900.¹⁹ The photograph was undoubtedly taken many years after it was built. It is hoped that when it was a working mill, it was in much better condition. Years before, when the mill was in its best form, it was an excellent example of what determined people were able to do on the frontier with limited resources.

"Ranssalaer Harris inaugurated storekeeping near John Huntsman's log mill on the north bank of the St. Joseph (Elkhart Village in Concord Township)".²⁰

"George Crawford….in company with John Huntsman….built the first grist mill in 1829 at the confluence of the St. Joseph and Christiana creek….".²¹

The 1830 U.S. Census of Elkhart, Indiana shows John Huntsman with a wife, two sons and a daughter. Since only the head of the household was named, the marks representing the children probably stood for Jackson, Washington, and Sally Ann or Almira. Also shown in the same household is one man aged 50 to 60. Perhaps John's or Deborah's father was living with them at that time.²²

In the mid- or late- 1830's John and his family left Elkhart and migrated to Missouri with the Saints, enduring the terrible injustices and hardships inflicted by the mobsters. One source claims that John Huntsman was at Haun's Mill when that horrible massacre took place, but no proof of that has been found by this writer. Haun's Mill was in the eastern part of Caldwell County, Missouri in what is now Fairview Township.²³ In a description of the Haun's Mill Massacre the following is given:

"Mr. Charles R. Ross says a Mormon named Huntsman was one of the killed, but the Mormon records do not contain his name, and Mr. G. Huntsman of Fillmore City, Utah, says that although three of the Huntsmans, his ancestors, were at the mill the day of the massacre, none of them were hurt.²⁴

In the Journal History of the Church, John Huntsman is listed as having suffered a loss valued at two hundred dollars in the Missouri persecutions. This included $50 for moving to the state of Missouri and $150 for loss of property moving out of Missouri. He signed an affidavit in Quincy, Illinois on May 11, 1839 attesting to that fact.²⁵ This affidavit was included with many such documents submitted by the LDS Church Presidency asking Congress for a redress of grievances for the wrongs committed and the losses incurred by church members at the hands of mobocrats in Missouri. Unfortunately, nothing came of this request made to the U.S. Government.

John Huntsman is listed as head of his household in the 1840 U.S. Census of Hancock County, Illinois (the county in which Nauvoo lies).²⁶ No other names are given, but it appears that there was no wife, three sons, and four daughters. His wife, Deborah, must have died in Elkhart or Missouri.

With that bit of John Huntsman's history, the narrative of his life with Roxana can continue. Having been married in Nauvoo in 1841, their first child, Salena, was born there on December 17, 1843. The next few years must have been horrible in many ways for the Saints. The martyrdom in June 1846 of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum Smith, must have been frightening and very disheartening, and the mob cruelties increased to the point where the Saints had to leave their fair city in 1846. Roxana's uncle, Horace Fish, and his family crossed the Mississippi River in May 1846. After proceeding on past the river a short distance, they camped for a time. To show the meanness of the mobsters, the following statement is cited from a history written about the Horace Fish family:

"From this point they could hear the shouts of the mob in Nauvoo. They would often ring the bell on the Temple and would fire their cannon across the river at the Saints who were camped there."²⁷

A further example of the types of difficulties these fleeing people endured is given in the "History of Sarah Studevant Leavitt. This aunt of Roxana's had a very strong testimony of the Gospel, was very intelligent, and had a keen sense of humor. She tells of this experience which happened not long after their family had crossed the Mississippi River and had gone a short distance into Iowa:

"One night, just dark, there came an officer into the door of the camp and commenced talking with the children that were in the entrance. I looked up and saw him and knew that the children did not know enough to talk to him. I stepped up to where he was and said, 'What does this gentleman wish?' For I knew he was upon some mischief, for he was dressed in the highest style and had every deadly weapon hanging around him that could be imagined. He asked if there was a man by the name of Bickmore in the camp. I looked down as if in study and I was in study to know what to say to deceive and yet tell the truth. 'Bickmore - Bickmore - I heard of that name. There was a man by that name went in the first company.' So I deceived him and told the truth, but the Bickmore that he had a warrant for had gone back over the river [Mississippi River] for cattle. His wagon stood in our reach and we expected him every moment. The next thing was to keep the officer there until the man could be notified of the danger.

"Bickmore's wife was there and heard all that was said and they sent children to tell the men to keep away until the officer had gone. I gave him a seat and sat down by his side. He commenced asking me questions and the Lord gave me answers. 'Why, madam', he said, 'I see nothing before you but inevitable destruction in going off into the wilderness among savages, far from civilization, with nothing but what you can carry in your wagon.' I told him I had known for ten years that we had got to go and I was glad we had got started….I would not go back if I could have the whole country at my command and all the riches in it….He says, 'I understand that your women go armed'. 'Armed', said I, 'indeed they do, and I never felt like giving pain to a mouse unless it was necessary; but if a mob should come on me I should try to defend myself, and I think I could fight'. I can't write half of what there was said, but we talked perhaps an hour. I kept him in conversation until I thought the men were safe and that was all I wanted of Mr. Mob. As to the arms the women carried, they brought them into the world with them and I had reference to no other. I deceived him entirely and told the truth."²⁸

John and Roxana also joined the exodus and made their way to Mt. Pisgah, Iowa. This was a Mormon camp in the center of the state where most of the people leaving Nauvoo caught up with the largest number of refugees. It was located on the east bank of the middle fork of the Grand River. The camp population rose to two thousand at its height. Hundred of these poor people are buried there, probably including John Huntsman. Many years ago at the cemetery there a monument was erected honoring many who died there between 1846 and 1852.²⁹ Unfortunately the only names which appear on the monument are those whose descendents paid to have the names inscribed. John Huntsman's name and that of many others of the deceased are not found on the monument.

The information about John Huntsman's death is sketchy, at best. Some sources say that he died in 1846. A Peter Huntsman, who was John's nephew and a son of James Huntsman III, wrote in a letter that John was stabbed by an Indian and died on the Mississippi River in 1846.³⁰ This letter also states that John was the oldest son of James Huntsman and Catherine Wirick, and it names his brothers and sisters as Jeremiah, Peter, James, Jacob, William, Samuel, Elizabeth, and Safrona. Since John's and Roxana's second child was born in Mt. Pisgah March 18, 1848, John's death could have been as late as mid-1847. This little girl was named Ellen Orliva and is the daughter mentioned earlier, who, after reaching adulthood, married Dudley Justin Merrill.

Roxana must have felt truly abandoned after having lost her second husband in death. The responsibility of rearing two daughters on the raw frontier without the help and support of a husband must have weighed heavily on her shoulders. The 1850 U.S. Census of Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County, Iowas shows Roxany [sic] Huntsman at age 31 with Salena, age six, and Ellen, age two. Living close to her was her sister, Flavilla, and her husband, Orrin Day Farlin, and their child, Orrilla (later called Orliva), age five months.³¹ Flavilla and Orrin had been married in Wapello, Iowa on March 7, 1847.³² Little Orliva lived only nineteen months³³ which was a great sadness, not only to her parents, but also to Roxana and to her little girls, Salena and Ellen Orliva, who must have been so fond of their little cousin. Death is hard enough to bear, but when it comes to a tiny babe, it is incomprehensible to other children who have been its playmates and companions.

On July 24, 1847 the first group of Mormons pioneers had arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley. This group was under the direction of Brigham Young. Many wagon trains had made their way to Utah since that time, and the settlement of many places in the Great Basin was already taking place under church leadership.

In the summer of 1852 Roxana and her family were living at Council Point, Iowa.

"This place [Council Point] is about four miles up the Missouri River from Council Bluffs or, as it was then called, Kanesville".³⁴

Many preparations were being made at Council Point by numerous people who wanted to go to Utah. John Tidwell, a wise person experienced in traveling over rough country, was named as the leader of the wagon train. One of the most important things that he did was to ask George Bowering to be the clerk for the trek across the plains. Bowering's day-by-day accounts add huge amounts of interesting information about their great undertaking of traveling by wagon to the Rocky Mountains. For many months wagons were constructed and decisions of what could be taken were made. There were strict limitations on what each person could take. Much property had to be sold or left to be sold later. The company journal relates this:

"May 30^th Sunday. Captain Tidwell said today at meeting, That we are all going to roll out right ahead and we want every one to make themselves ready to get set across the river by next Saturday. The last few days Wagons has spring up in the camp all in full rig for crossing the Plains like mushrooms. June 3. This evening the company again met and after considerable talk it was finally moved and carried that the property that the brethren left unsold was to be left in the hands of Thomas and James McKee, who are going to remain here, until the property is put in the hands of a committee which is to be appointed by authorities for that purpose."³⁵

After leaving much property in Nauvoo and now leaving more precious possessions behind, trimming down again to the bare essentials must have been heart-wrenching.

Elder Ezra T. Benson, of the Quorum of the Twelve, was in Iowa helping to get the Saints ready to make the trip to the mountains. He gave some important advice to the members of the Council Point Company. These were "The Rules":

"First. Prayers to be observed night and morning.
Second. Meeting to be held on the Sabbath.
Third. No swearing to be allowed.
Fourth. Every one to be prepared to tie up their cattle.
Fifth. A Guard to be kept every night and the word cried every half hour.
Sixth. Horses put into the correll [sic] for safty [sic] every night.
Seventh. No cattle to be put in the correll [sic], but to be kept….outside and a guard kept round them.
Eighth. No man Permitted to leave the Camp without the consent of the Captain.
Nineth. [sic] Every man to have a good gun and ammunition.
Tenth. No gun to be put in the wagon with a cap on to avoid accident, and put a piece of leather over the tube.
Eleventh. Treat your animals with utmost kindness.
Twelfth. A Captain of fifty to be appointed."³⁶

Roxana and her girls were ready to cross the plains, but they were unable to move to Utah without complete help. Flavilla and Orrin were in the same company, and were able to give the assistance needed. In fact, Orrin Farlin's group as a family included his wife, Flavilla, and also Roxana, Salena, and Ellen Orliva.

On June 4^th, 1852 the wagons of the Council Point Company started to roll out. The company was organized into groups of ten families. Listed in the fifth ten were the Orrin D. Farlin family and the Jeremiah Leavitt families (Jeremiah being Roxana's cousin). The Farlin group had 1 wagon, four oxen, two cows and 1 man "fit for duty".³⁷ If the women "fit for duty" had been listed, the true strength of the company would have been shown! Seriously, the men had heavy duties of managing the cattle, scouting, chasing lost animals, standing guard, going out to get fresh meat, etc. In fact, related in the journal for the day of July 11^th this tale is told:

"And just before sun down Captain T. Roger and William Clark came rolling into camp with their horses loaded down with Baffalo [sic] beef. Captain Roger first shot it then W. Clark also shot it and between them they killed it and brought what they could with them, but before they had done they were surrounded by wolves and had enough to do to keep them off until they could get away."³⁸

Today those of us who were not raised on farms and who take little notice of what is required in the care of animals will be instructed by the next comments. The cows in the company were needed for their milk and for the calves they could produce, so definite measures were taken to insure that this would happen.

"At sundown there was a meeting held to decide matters respecting a bull that had be bought by Benjamin Dallow for the good of the camp, it was bought last Sunday in consequence of the company desiring him to do so, and this meeting is to deside [sic] how he is to be paid again. He said he was willing to be paid in the way the company desired. Moved by Charles Miller, seconded by David Ross, that each man who owns cows give him ten cents a head whether he required the use of the bull or not and if any misfortune befalls the said bull in consequence of using him that the company refund the balance of the money to said Benjamin Dallow for the pay of the bull, Carried Unanimous."³⁹

Fifty-three men paid for the use of the bull, including Orrin D. Farlin and Jeremiah Leavitt, each paying twenty cents. A total of $11.95 was paid to Benjamin Dallow. All this took place on or about July 1^st. Owners of about 135 cows paid for the bull's service. Just how the use of the bull was managed as they made their way west is even more than the imagination of farm folk could conceive.

As Roxana and her girls traveled along the trail, she helped to drive the wagon. Family tradition says that the wagon was pulled by a cow and an ox. However, the Farlins did have four oxen when they reached the end of their journey, so it makes one wonder why Roxana had a cow paired with an ox. Life was particularly hard for Flavilla who was expecting her second child. She was four months into her pregnancy when they had started in June. No doubt Roxana was a great comfort and support to her as they walked the trail or bumped along in the wagon. As wagon train crossings went, their traveling went along well. Of course there were animal problems, accidents, sickness and death during their trek, but everyone helped each other in times of trouble.

The journal records this on Sept. 5^th, a Sunday: "Went about five or six miles and came to Fort Bridger [now in Wyoming] at noon where we stayed for dinner. At half past 1 o'clock a.m. we were met by a young man named John Leivett [sic], whose friends is in our company. He gives an excellent report of the state of things in the valley."⁴⁰

Who could this have been but Roxana's and Flavilla's younger brother? What a joyous reunion that must have been! They had been through so much together, and they hadn't seen each other for at least a year and a half. John had arrived in Utah before them, and Nathaniel, Jr., too. What embraces and tears were shared by these sisters and a brother who had been through so much.

Naturally, on a journey where many people are involved and when conditions are difficult and frustrating, there are complaints. Such was the case with Captain John Tidwell's company, although the friction was minimal. At the end of the journal George Bowering, the company clerk, wrote this tribute to Captain Tidwell:

"As our journey has now come to an end and I have thus far fulled [sic] the clerkship I have done it for the Honor thereof and also found most of the materials such as pens ink and paper out of my own pocket which thing I rejoice in. I will here say one word concerning John Tidwell, our Captain. What I have seen of him with my own eyes I believe him to be a first rate good man, a man that has tried with all his might to do the best he could of the whole company. And it is my prayer that the blessings of heaven may rest upon him and every member in said company."⁴¹

Now the Council Point Company was nearing its destination, and the travelers were in great anticipation of seeing the Great Salt Lake Valley. The company journal records the following on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 1852:

"We passed through the mouth of the canyon and rolled into the city in full rig and in good health and spirits, rejoicing in the Lord God our Savior whose hand and mercy has been over us up the ….[words missing] present time and moment through all our ups and downs. And from our hearts we say unto his name be the praise the honor the glory, pwoer [sic] might and majisty [sic] both now and forever and ever Amen and Amen."⁴²

The journal recorded the names of those who arrived that day in the John Tidwell company. Among the names on the list were these: "Orren [sic] Day Farlin, 30, with 5 in his group, 2 wagons, 4 oxen, and 1 young stock, Faleclia [sic] Farlen [sic], 26 Roxene [sic], 32 Selena [sic] Huntsman, 5 Ellen Huntsman, 4 Jeremiah Leveitt [sic] [son of Jeremiah and Sarah Sturtevant Leavitt] , 30 Elizer [sic] Leveitt [sic], 26 Clausia [sic] Ann Leavitt, 7 Lusy [sic] Leavitt, 6 Sarah P. Leaveitt [sic], 5 Mary E. Leveitt [sic], 3 Jeremiah Leveitt [sic], 1 ⁴³

Orrilla and Flavilla Farlin settled at first in the 16^th Ward of Salt Lake City. The next we see of Roxana is the following spring when on the 13^th of March, 1853 she married and was sealed to William Snow in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. On that same day he also married Ann Rogers.⁴⁴ Roxana was 34 years old and Ann was 17. It is difficult to imagine all of Roxana's feelings on that day. No doubt she felt grateful, but did she feel loved? William Snow had previously married Hanna Miles, Lydia Leavitt, Sally Adams, and Maria Shearer Wines.⁴⁵ Lydia and Sally were cousins of Roxana. Lehi, Utah is where the Snow families were established. In that same year troubles with the Indians in the area erupted into the Walker War, with Chief Walker leading the Indians against the whites. The log houses in Lehi were moved into rows to form the walls of a fort. In the places where there were no houses, the settlers made walls out of mud placed on top of sagebrush.⁴⁶ This was known as the "mud fort".

In 1854 Roxana was teaching in the Snow Family School in Lehi. In the same year the harvest of their crops was so bountiful that plans were made to expand their planting the next spring. A few months later on Jan. 21, 1855 Roxana bore to William Snow a daughter, Melissa Leavitt Snow.⁴⁷ This was a perilous time to bring a baby into the world, but the prospects for the future looked bright, considering the farming success of the previous summer. Then disaster struck! Hordes of grasshoppers gathered and descended upon the crops, leaving nothing but devastation. The following winter was one of terrible hardship for the settlers. Extremely cold weather and deep snow lasted until late in the season. The principal fare was sego bulbs, thistle roots and pig-weed "greens".⁴⁸ It is not difficult to imagine the concern which Roxana must have felt in trying to nourish an infant under these circumstances.

On November 3, 1855 Roxana received her endowment in the Endowment House.⁴⁹ That this would take place after she was sealed to her husband seems strange to us today, but this was not uncommon then.

In 1856 the LDS Church took a census, and in Lehi we find Orrin and Flavilla Leavitt living near Roxana again with their little sons, William and Orrin, Jr. They must have lived in Lehi a very short time because they are not listed as members of the original Lehi LDS Ward. That Lehi Ward record began in that same year of 1856. In 1860 Orrin and Flavilla were living in Odgen with a daughter, Flavilla Lucy, now added to their family. Another daughter, Emma, was born later in 1860. Some time after that Flavilla and Orrin went separate ways. Orrin went to Montana to work in the mines. Flavilla then married William Lloyd, who is believed to have died shortly afterward. She bore him a daughter, Catherine, in 1857. Then she married Peter I. Mesick, and a son, John Peter, came from that union in 1869.

Roxana bore a second child to William Snow in Lehi on September 5, 1857. This son's name was John Leavitt Snow. When John reached adulthood, he married Annie Eastmond.⁵⁰ His life work was in farming and in merchandising in American Fork, Salt Lake City, and on the Provo Bench. While in the orchard business on the Provo Bench he was instrumental in securing a right of way for the Bamberger Electric Co. which built a railway line from Payson, Utah to Ogden, Utah. For his efforts the company named a station in his name.⁵¹ John died in Salt Lake City at the age of 58 years.

Salena, Roxana's oldest daughter, married James Chipman of American Fork, Utah on August 1, 1863 in the Endowment House. She bore James twelve children, and she also raised four children of James' first wife after their mother had died. James Chipman was a leader in finance, banking and real estate. When Utah became a state in 1896, he was the first StateTreasurer. At that time James and Salena moved their residence from American Fork to Salt Lake City. Salena died from chronic Bright's Disease Feb. 21, 1913 and is buried in the American Fork Cemetery.

On the 4^th of April, 1868 Ellen Orliva Huntsman married Dudley Justin Merrill in the Endowment House. His first wife, Almira Huntsman, had passed away just the year before. Ellen cared for Almira's children while raising her own family. The Merrills lived in various places; Cache Valley, Utah, southern Idaho, and Arizona. Ellen is buried in the American Fork City Cemetery.

In the 1870 U.S. Census of American Fork, Utah, Roxana is found living in the home of her daughter, Salena Chipman. In addition to Salena and her husband, James, and six Chipman children, Roxana is listed with Melissa, 15, and John, 12. Salena had invited her mother to bring her two young children to live with her family until William Snow could become established in southern Utah. It is interesting to note that Jacob Greenwood, 17, a domestic servant, was living with the James Chipman family in 1870. Melissa married Jacob three years later.

In 1871 William Snow moved Roxana, Melissa and John to St. George, Utah. He had been asked by the church leaders to move to southern Utah to help colonize that area. His home was in Pine Valley, a remote little town in the hills north of St. George. He was the first bishop of the Pine Valley Ward, holding that position from 1867 to 1879.⁵² William also was the county judge, and had to be in St. George frequently. It is said that when William had business there, he stayed at Roxana's home. Melissa and John Snow returned to American Fork in 1872. John had not been able to find suitable employment in Dixie, and so he went back to work with his brother-in-law, James Chipman, in the Chipman store where he had worked before going to St. George. Melissa soon married Jacob Greenwood, and they made their home in American Fork.⁵³

It is not clear just when Roxana returned to American Fork, but in a letter dated February, 1875, Melissa wrote to her father-in-law, William Greenwood, who was on a mission in England, that her mother was living with her.⁵⁴ As a note of interest, in that same letter Melissa wrote that the Saints in the "south" were doing quite well in living the United Order, but that in American Fork they were not doing much with it.

As was the custom in the early days of the church, many people were rebaptized. Perhaps the reason for this was that after all the tribulations the Saints had endured, now that they were in Utah they were starting a new life. Following this practice, Roxana and Melissa were rebaptized in American Fork on September 2, 1875 by William Greenwood.⁵⁵

Roxana was an educated woman, probably mostly self-taught. As mentioned previously, she taught in the Snow family school in Lehi. Now, years later in American Fork, she was teaching again. The book "Early History of American Fork" describes the condition of the school system in those days. It relates:

"The early schools were maintained by tuition paid by the parents. Sometimes various kinds of produce were used as pay. At times tuition was even paid in firewood….Early in the year1867, an event happened which marked an epoch in the history of schools in Utah….a bill was passed in the Territorial Legislature giving a community the right, by a majority vote of its taxpayers, to maintain a free school by taxation….The taxpayers of American Fork were called together for the purpose of putting into effect its provisions….A vote was called for, and those in favor were lined up on one side of the

meeting house and those opposed on the opposite side. When the count was made, it was found that the vote was a tie, and the chairman's vote decided the issue in favor of a free school.⁵⁶

American Fork was leading the way in the area of education in the territory of Utah, having the first free school where children could attend without paying tuition,

"The first teachers under the free system were Eugene A. Henriod, Joseph B. Forbes, Elizabeth Griffith and Roxannah [sic] Snow."⁵⁷

The above-mentioned book on the history of American Fork contains the only known picture of Roxana. A copy of it appears on the first page of this history. In it her hair is parted in the middle and pulled back rather straight, but covering part of her ears. Her hair is dark with perhaps some gray showing. Her eyes look light and alert, almost piercing. She is wearing a dark dress with a lacy, white collar which has a pin or brooch attached in the center. Her general expression is serious, but that was common in photographs of that day. Subjects had to sit still for so long to avoid ruining the picture that their expressions often looked rather static. This woman had been through a lot of grief in her life. It is no wonder that she looks rather serious.

Roxana Leavitt Fletcher Huntsman Snow died in American Fork on June 16, 1881 of diphtheria after an illness of six months. She is buried in the American Fork City Cemetery.⁵⁸ Her grave is the next plot south of that of her daughter, Ellen Merrill. Nearby are the graves of Salena Chipman, Melissa Greenwood, and John Snow. On Roxana's grave is a very old marker about thirty-six inches high, the top broken off and very weather-worn. It appears old enough to have been erected at the time of her death. At this writing in 2003 it is difficult to read more than a few letters on the stone. Fortunately, this writer visited Roxana's grave in about 1975 and found the stone very hard to decipher. Using the only tools she had with her, that of typing paper and a blue crayon, she made a "rubbing" of the monument. That effort made it possible to read the complete inscription. Now many years of weathering have made it extremely difficult to recognize any of the letters today. The poem at the bottom of the marker is especially tender, showing the esteem with which Roxana was held by her family and friends. It says:

OUR MOTHER

ROXANA

SNOW

JUNE 16, 1881

AGED 63 YEARS

6 MOS

AND 24 DAYS

DEAR MOTHER, GOD HATH TAKEN THEE

FROM A WORLD OF SIN AND CARE

TO DWELL AMONG THE ANGELS

WHO THY BRIGHT COMPANIONS ARE

Roxana's obituary which appeared in the Deseret News, a Salt Lake City newspaper, reads thus: "At American Fork, June 16, 1881, Roxanna Snow, wife of the late William Snow….She was born Dec. 17, 1817 in the state of Vermont. She passed through the persecutions of the Saints and came to Salt Lake City in the 1853. Married Elder William Snow and moved to Lehi where they lived 11 years. Her husband being called to Dixie, she spent the remainder of her days in St. George and with her children in American Fork, where she died after an illness of six months, leaving four children and sixteen grandchildren with a large circle of kind friends to mourn her departure. Her life was one of usefulness and goodness, a pattern of a saint full of faith in the resurrection of the just."⁵⁹

The courage , fortitude, and faith in God which Roxana exhibited many times in her life carried her through numerous trying, even desperate, experiences. To sum up some important events of her life; she was born in Vermont and as a young child was taken by her parents to Canada where she grew up, she lost her mother at a young age, left two dear sisters in Canada when she joined the Leavitt wagon group to go and find the Church, lost her father and almost lost her three younger siblings, became a widow at age 22 with three little stepchildren to care for, married a second time in Nauvoo and had a daughter, Salena, there, was driven out of Nauvoo by mob action against the Saints, lost her second husband at age 29 and had a second daughter in Mt. Pisgah, Iowa posthumously, traveled by wagon train to Utah, married a third time at age 34 in Salt Lake City and bore another daughter and a son in Lehi, moved to St. George and then to American Fork where she taught school and eventually died after a prolonged illness in 1881. What kind of personal assets does it take to meet challenges like that? It takes exactly those characteristics possessed by Roxana, traits which demonstrate what a very strong woman she was.

An indirect description of Roxana is given in a book about the William Snow families. It actually describes Roxana's daughter, Melissa: "Melissa lived a rich and useful life. As a girl she helped her mother spin yarn, weave cloth, make candles and soap and do many of the other important pioneer tasks…She was one of the first children to attend the first public school, which was taught by her mother in American Fork. She was then thirteen years of age and exhibited those qualities of keen intellect, courage, patience and devotion that so characterized her mother."⁶⁰

Roxana left her numerous descendants a heritage which cannot be easily forgotten. The debt which we, with our lives of comparative ease, owe to those who gave so much, cannot adequately be expressed. We can, however emulate their sterling qualities and think of the yet unborn generations while conducting our lives in the present day.

DOCUMENTATION

1. Jane Jennings Eldredge, The Leavitts of America.
2. Sarah Studevant Leavitt, History of Sarah Studevant Leavitt, p. 4
3. Dixie Leavitt, President's Report, The Leavitt Letter, October 1999, V2, Issue 7, p.1
4. Nathaniel Leavitt Autobiography
5. Ibid.
6. Sarah Studevant Leavitt, History of Sarah Studevant Leavitt, pp. 5-6
7. Nathaniel Leavitt Autobiography
8. Sarah Studevant Leavitt, History of Sarah Studevant Leavitt, p. 8
9. Ibid, p. 8
10. Will County, IL Marriages, Certificate 00097
11. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Nauvoo, IL 2nd Ward Membership Record, FHL #581219
12. Deseret News Obituary Index T. & S. V1: 159
13. U.S. Government, 1840 U.S. Census of Will County, IL, p. 376
14. Will County, IL Vital Records, Correspondence with County Clerk, Documents in possession of Joy S. Viehweg
15. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Nauvoo, IL 2nd Ward Membership Record, FHL #581219
16. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ordinance Index
17. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1842 LDS Census, FHL #581219
18. Elkhart Daily Truth, 26 Sept 1900, Art souvenir Edition, Originally issued as a special number of the Springfield Daily Times, FHL #413057
19. Ibid
20. History of Elkhart County, IN, FHL Book F 532. E4 H6 188 la, p. 732
21. Ibid
22. U.S. Government, 1830 U.S. Census of Elkhart, IN, p. 429
23. Andrew Jenson, The Historical Record, FHL Mor M272 J45lh V508
24. Ibid
25. Clark V. Johnson, B.Y.U. Religion Dept., Mormon Redress Petitions: Documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri Conflict, B.Y.U. BX 8677.78.M828 1992
26. U.S. Government, 1840 U.S. Census of Hancock Co., IL, p. 169
27. Short History of My Grandfather, Horace Fish and Family, p. 3
28. Sarah Studevant Leavitt, History of Sarah Studevant Leavitt, pp. 14-15
29. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Ensign, June 1972, p. 43, Stanley B. Kimball, The Iowa Trek of 1846, The Brigham Young Route from Nauvoo to Winter Quarters
30. Peter Huntsman, Letter written to his nephew, Isaiah Huntsman, Copy in possession of Joy S. Viehweg
31. U.S. Government, 1850 U.S. Census of Pottawattamie Co., IL, Dist. 21, p. 189
32. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ordinance Index
33. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Early Church Information Card Index, FHL #820139
34. Short History of My Grandfather, Horace Fish and Family, B.Y.U. MS Film 920 no. 1, p. 3
35. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, A Journal of the Emigration Company of Council Point, Pottawattamie County, Iowa in the Summer of 1852, Clerk George Bowering, Copied by Brigham Young University 1947, p. 27
36. Ibid, p. 31
37. Ibid, p. 30
38. Ibid, p. 54
39. Ibid, pp. 48-49
40. Ibid, p. 74
41. Ibid, p. 81
42. Ibid, p. 77
43. Ibid, p. 80
44. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House Sealings, FHL #183393
45. Elizabeth S. Beckstrom, O' Ye Mountains High, B.Y.U. F 834 .P B43x 1980
46. Celestia Snow Gardner, History of the William Snow and Robert Gardner Families, pp. 90-92
47. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Lehi Ward Baptisms, FHL # 889413 / 2-5
48. Biographical Sketch of the Life of Salena H. Chipman, Author unknown, Possibly a funeral item
49. Churchof Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House Records, FHL #183403, p. 38
50. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File
51. Celestia Snow Gardner, History of William Snow and Robert Gardner Families, pp. 90-92
52. Bessie Snow and Elizabeth Beckstrom, O' Ye Mountains High
53. Celestia Snow Gardner, History of William Snow and Robert Gardner Families, pp. 90-92
54. Greenwood Genealogy, formerly in possession of Mrs. Harry E. Barratt, American Fork, Utah
55. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, American Fork Ward Records, FHL #25,557
56. George F. Shelley, Early History of American Fork, 1945, pp. 76-77
57. Ibid. p. 78
58. American Fork City Cemetery Sexton's Records, p. 255
59. Deseret News, 6 Jul 1881, p. 368, FHL F Utah S183 Pt. 14 6501
60. Celestia Snow Gardner, History of the William Snow and Robert Gardner Families, p. 91