Elisha Averett
Autobiography
1810-1890
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
OF THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF ELISHA AVERETT
Elisha Averett was one of the most spiritual and obedient
children of our Heavenly Father. He was
also a personal friend and an obedient servant of two of the Lord’s choice
prophets.
Elisha and his twin brother Elijah were born on December 12, 1810 in Maury County,
Tennessee to John Averett and Jennett Gill Averett. John and Jennett Averett had 11
children. Elisha was the 4th
child and second twin born. Elisha and
Elijah were close friends all their lives.
They worked on many church projects together.
John Averett was born in Pittsylvania
County, Virginia, but moved to
Barren
County, Kentucky. In Barren
County he met and married Jennett
Hamilton Gill. After their daughter Mary
was Born, 28 Feb 1807 they
moved to Maury County, Tennessee. In
Maury
County they had the following
children: Jennett (20 Feb 1809); Elijah and Elisha (12 Dec 1810); Eliza (12 Jul 1814); Sarah (29 Oct 1816); Pyrenia (11 Feb 1819); John (15 Aug 1821); George Washington Gill
(20 Jan 1824); and Patrick
Gill (3 May 1827, who died
the same day), and Alexander Murray (20
Aug 1828).
The Averett family lived in Maury County, Tennessee till
1830. Elishas’ Father, Mother, and
Family immigrated to White County, Illinois,
somewhere near the Saline Salt Works.
Stopping there only a short time, his father traded his farm in White
county, Illinois for a farm in
the joining county (Hamilton) only living there in the first named county for a
short time, perhaps three months.
Situated in Hamilton County, Illinois
about 30 miles from Shownestown on the Ohio River and
about nine miles from the county seat of Hamilton County,
Illinois, south of the county seat in what
was then known as the Mayberry Settlement.
On the waters of the north fork of the Saline River and near a swamp
called the Scaters made by the Wheeling and Tennilles Creeks, spreading out and
making a vast swamp and lakes being in an island portion of the country quite
secluded to the things of the more populous portions of the county.
His family lived a quite quiet, sober life seeming to
appreciate the comforts and blessings that they enjoyed; having but small
advantages of education, having to travel three miles for all the schooling
that the children obtained in this place.
His father bought forty acres of land, most of the same in cultivation,
and being land that did not produce very heavy crops of grain, his father did
not become very wealthy but seemed to lose means in place of making them, for
many years raising some cotton and flax and manufacturing the same with our own
hands into clothing for our own use for Sunday and for everyday. All the children went barefooted in
summertime, and the boys and sometime both boys and girls going barefooted both
winter and summer except in very cold weather.
About the year 1832, his father went into the tobacco
raising quite extensively and thinking to help himself and family by so doing,
he bought several hogsheads of tobacco and shipped it and his own to the city
of New Orleans, having the same
appraised by the city inspection. It
being condemned he lost a heavy load on all of his tobacco which hurt him
financially in the following year.
While in Hamilton
County
both Elijah and Elisha joined the Mounted Volunteers of Illinois. The Governor of Illinois called them to
active duty on 15 May 1832,
to fight in the Black Hawk Campaign of 1832.
Elisha was the Fifth of Captain in Ardin Biggerstaff’s Company of the
Third Regiment, First Brigade, and Third Army.
Elijah was a private in the same company. Robert Witt, the first husband of Dorcas
Willis, was in the company of Captain James Hall, in the same Brigade. He was a 2nd Sergeant in
rank. All three men were called to duty
on the same day. They were discharged
three months later on 13 Aug 1832.
This matter somewhat frustrated their father in his
calculation and he slacked his efforts in the tobacco raising business. And he took more to the raising of corn and
wheat, sometimes having to borrow money to meet his promises and to pay his
debts having to pay by interest for the same yet having plenty of farmland and
stock land being poor.
In April of 1835, the Latter-day work found Elisha’s
family. Latter-day Saints Elisha Graves
and Isaac Higbee came to John Averetts home and preached the gospel and
baptized the family, Elisha was baptized 6
June 1835. Then came William
Ivy and Milton Homes
and assisted in their labors of preaching the gospel in that part of the
county. During their sojourn in that
part of the county they baptized some 30 or 40 persons, male and female, and
the power of the Lord was made manifest to the believers. Mostly they spoke with new tongues and gave
the interpretation of the same. The sick
was healed and the hearts of all the believers had cause to rejoice in the
goodness of God and a testimony of Heavenly Father of the truth of the
Latter-day work. And had many other
manifestations of his power made manifest to his Saints in them days when they
loved one another and sought the interests of each other, and the Lord blessed
them that loved and worshipped him the true and living God.
About April 1836 Elisha and Elijah with their sister and
brother-in-law S.A.P. Kelsey, their sister Eliza Averett, in company with a
number of their neighbors, immigrated to the Caldwell County, Missouri and
settled on Steve (or Steer) Creek some two miles from Far West. The spring following 1837 his father and
mother and sister Pyrenia and brothers John and Murray Averett all emigrated to
Caldwell County, Missouri, and settled on Shoal Creek about one and a half
miles from Far West, Missouri on a fertile spot of land. They rejoiced that they could help build up
Zion. They cleared off some land and fenced and
sowed to turnips some of the same. This
country seemed to teem with all of the blessings that mortals had or to wish
for. Convenient range one thousand of
acres of grass and the fertile prairie suitable for mowing for hay and easy to
be brought into cultivation, the country seeming to teem with all the blessings
that their hearts could desire; honey, deer, turkeys, hens, quails, and the
streams teeming with their furry tribes by the thousands and easy to obtain may
beautiful groves of beautiful timber and convenient wild fruit and nuts too
numerous to mention.
His father rented some corn that had been planted before he
arrived at Far West, raising some of the best corn and
sod that they had ever beheld on sod land.
Everything seemed to grow and prosper in this land that was put into the
ground and cultivated. Another blessing
that this country offered was the very best of spring water in abundance. This
land seemed to be a choice land in every deed and to the Averetts the land
seemed to be a heaven in every deed.
Everything seemed to smile with blessings too numerous to describe or
express. They gave praise to God and
bowed before him on bended knee and called on his great name for his blessing
and to thank him for the light of the gospel and for the many great blessings,
which he was blessing on them within that goodly land
of Zion.
In the summer of 1837 Elisha Averett was married to a widow
of the name of Dorcas De Witt, (she was a cousin of Joshua T. Willis) the widow
of Robert De Witt who was killed in an affray or fight in McLeansboro,
Hamilton
County, Illinois. Robert Witt had come to McLeanboro when he
was nineteen years of age. He became one
of the blacksmiths for the town. Robert
also served in the Black Hawk War in 1832.
Elijah and Elisha Averett were also soldiers of the war and in the same
county company as was Robert. The
brothers were near-by neighbors to Robert and his family living in the Mayberry
Settlement just nine miles south of McLeansboro. The Averett family had moved to Illinois
from Maury County, Tennessee. The Witts
became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints soon after it
was organized. Robert Witt married
Dorcas Willis on February 28, 1825
and they became parents of five children:
Kissie Ann, John Wesley, Sarah Jane, William and Miles. Robert was killed in 1834, when Sarah Jane
was three years old. Her father and his
neighbor (Bum Gamer) were in the process of a heated argument and in the
pursuit of this argument; the neighbor struck Robert in the back with a broadax
killing him almost instantly. Dorcas was
left with three children to care for.
William born in 1833 and Mills born in 1834 had both died before
1838. Dorcas left Hamilton
county with a group of Saints and traveled to Missouri. The Averett family was also part of this
group. Dorcas was well acquainted with
Elisha and Elijah as well as other members of the Averett family. The families had lived a few miles apart from
each other and they had joined the Church at approximately the same time. In 1838, at Caldwell
County, Missouri, Elisha
Averett and Dorcas Willis Witt were married.
About the months of July and August the mobbers of the
neighborhood and joining counties of Ray, Clinton, and La Fayette, Jackson, and
Daviess began to howl like so many bloodthirsty wolves, appealing to their
neighbors for help and declaring that the Mormons and Joe Smith would overrun
the country, and at the same time making all manners of lying, slandering
reproaches against the Latter-day Saints and especially against Joseph Smith,
the prophet of the Lord, having driven the saints from time to time from
Jackson County, Ray, Clay, and Clinton robbing them of their homes and
property. Each time, more or less being
at the present time, only making themselves new homes in
Caldwell
County and Daviess, one of the
joining counties.
In August of the year 1837 at the election polls in
(Gallatin,) Daviess County, Missouri some of the mobbers decided that the
damned Mormons shouldn’t vote and in consequence of their undertaking to
enforce the same, one of the Saints by the name of Butler and some several of
the mob got into a fight. Butler
getting the better of all who engaged in the fight, butler coming out
victorious in the skirmish by being an expert in welding his cudgel. This affair still enraged the mobbers still
more in Daviess and the adjoining counties.
Sometimes during that fall a portion of the Saints who lived
at DeWitt on or near the Missouri River was driven from their homes and full
grown fields of corn, and would have been murdered if it had not of been that
the hand of the Lord was over his people for good and his prophet Joseph was
awake to his duties and went to their welfare with some of his brethren of the
Saints and assisted them and guarded them to the city of Far West in Caldwell
County, Missouri.
One of the mobbers, before the Saints left DeWitt,
approaching the night guard (a man by the name of Alexander Williams) while on
duty and firing their guns at him without affect and breaking to run he,
Williams, fired his gun at one of them striking him near the mouth, and to use
the language of Williams he made the mobber call on his God he thought for the
first time in his whole lifetime, and it was stated that Williams shot his chew
of tobacco out of his mouth.
About or soon after this occurrence, difficulty occurred
betwixt the Saints and the mob in the neighborhood of Haun’s Mill and the tow
parties met together and held a treaty of peace, and agreed to be at peace with
each other and before the Saints who was assembled at the treaty of peace. The mobbers, contrary to their solemn
agreement, returned and commenced some two hundred of them to fire on the
unsuspecting Saints, men, women, and children, massacring them in a most brutal
manner. And some of them mangling the
bodies of the slain after death one man, by the name of McBride, whose body was
horribly mangled by being cut to pieces with a mowing scythe. It was also told that some of the mobbers
fired at some of the women of that place, shutting them in their place after
they had done all the meanness by killing all the men they could find
alive. They murdered two small boys to
satisfy their hellish disposition. All
of this shouting happening at or near the Haun’s Mill where there was a small
…of housed and amongst the worst, one blacksmith’s shop in which the most part
was committed and after the affair was all over 17 of the slain was buried in
an old well near the shop by the few men that was left and the women of the
place.
Soon after this occurrence the mob grew more and more
enraged. Some small skirmishes took place after this and some before. One bloody fight took place before at Crooked
River where a number of the mob was killed and wounded and several of the Saints
was wounded and one noble man of the Saints was killed, David Patten, and one
of the twelve apostles, a noble spirit much lamented by all the Saints. One of the Madge family and one of the
Henricks family was also shot and badly wounded at that encounter at
Crooked
River but both recovered after a
long time suffering.
Sometime in the fall of 1837, the governor of the state of
Missouri
ordered the militia of the state of Missouri
to go in numbers of some five to seven thousand to drive the Saints from the
state of Missouri or to
exterminate them indiscriminately.
Elisha and his brother Elijah acted as “minute men” for the Prophet
Joseph Smith. Elisha was present at the
time Governor Boggs read the proclamation proclaiming that “the Saints must
leave the state of Missouri or be
exterminated from off the face of the earth.” At the critical moment, Joseph
Smith the prophet, seeing the militia and mob being moved against the Far
West, seeming determined to massacre all the Saints, he in wisdom
gathered his brethren together to protect the interests of the Saints; some
three hundred in all able bodied men, old and young, to defend the helpless.
After several days maintaining their positions on the
borders of the city with this handful of men compared to the numerous numbers
of the mob and militia, there being a flag of truce place betwixt the two
armies there was a treaty being on the conditions that the Saints lay down
their arms and leave the state of Missouri and they shouldn’t be harmed. And so General Blake and his men marched into
the city of Far West, Missouri
and formed themselves around the Saints en masse and ordered them to lay down
their arms with a promise that they should receive them again.
As soon as the Saints left, and as soon as the mob and
militia got possession of the city, they commenced to plunder the Saints’
property in every quarter taking goods and chattels in every direction
pretending that they was their goods and said that the damned Mormons had
stolen them from them, often claiming men’s’ horses that they never had seen
before and taking them straightway with them biding defiance to all
opposition. Elisha’s younger brother
George was a witness of some of their thefts in the following manner: George and his younger brother Murray, being
in a corn field gathering corn that they and their father and brothers had
raised for their own use to make them bread and to feed their stock, the
unprincipled mob came into their field of corn in great numbers, sweeping the
corn as they went, asking no odds of the owner.
And making their way up to George and making a proposition to the affect
that they would make these boys haul their corn to their camp, and no doubt
would have carried their hellish plans into effect had not there have been one
among them that had more human principle that the rest of his kind, riding up
right in the nick of time and telling them to leave the boys alone.
As soon as this opening presented itself, George and Murray
hastily left for home taking with them what corn that they had gathered without
waiting to gather a full load. Things
moved on in about this manner more or less until the Saints left the
county
of Caldwell, Missouri
for the safety of Illinois in
cold weather thinly clad and poorly furnished with provisions in cold
weather. In the winter and spring of
1838, leaving their homes in Caldwell,
Daviess, and Clinton County
to their enemies without asking for an renumeration whatever, John Averett,
their father, leaving quite an improvement some two miles from Far
West without any renumeration whatever. Elisha and Elijah also both left their farms
and endured many hardships during the persecution of the Saints in Missouri
and also in Illinois.
Early in the spring of 1838 Elisha with his father, mother,
four brothers (Elijah, John, George, and Murray), and two sisters (Eliza and
Pyvenia) landed with the body of the church in the state of Illinois, most of
the church stopping in Adams County at first; renting land as they best could,
the people of Adams County being kind to the Saints and especially the people
of the city of Quincy, Adams County.
In 1839 Elisha and Dorcas, his wife, had a son named
William. Two more children were born in 1841 and 1843, but both of these
children died. They were buried at Nauvoo. Elisha was a member of the martial band of
the Nauvoo Legion.
In January 29, 1839, Elisha was one of approximately 176 men
who covenanted with Brigham Young “to stand by and assist each other to the
utmost of our abilities in removing from this state, and that we will never
desert the poor who are worthy, till they shall be out of reach of the
exterminating order of General Clark, acting for and in the name of the state.
“ This document originated in
Far
West, Missouri.
In 1839, the Averett families crossed the Mississippi
river at Hannibal, Missouri
and traveled to a place called “Pecan”.
They rested there for two weeks before continuing on to
Hamilton
County where they had once
resided. After several years in
Hamilton
County, the family moved to
Nauvoo,
Illinois.
While acting as a bodyguard for the Prophet, Elisha was hit
in the head by a jagged stone, thrown by a member of a mob. His injury was so severe that doctors had to
place a metal plate in his skull in order to preserve his life. The Prophet was so shaken by what had
happened to Elisha, that he paid for Elisha’s operation. There is no record that Elisha ever
complained bout his injury.
12 October 1840
– A limestone quarry in an old streambed northwest of Nauvoo, but within the
city limits, opened. It was located west
of Main Street, between
Hyrum
Street and Joseph Street. Elisha Averett was a stonemason and struck
the first blow for stone for the Nauvoo temple. Elisha and Elijah laid the
foundation stones for the Nauvoo
Temple. Elisha became the chief mason and his
brother, Elijah and John and Truman Leonard, assisted him. These men were skilled in stone masonry and
their trade was in great demand. Elisha
was also one of the doorkeepers at the Temple. In the history of Illinois
it lists: “Elisha Averett as leader of a
band; later it became known as Averett’s Band.”
The Averett and Witt families were listed as members of the Nauvoo 2nd
Ward.
From the History of the Church, by Joseph smith, we can read
many bits of information about Elisha Averett:
“The Lesser Priesthood was organized in the City of
Nauvoo,
March 21, 1841 …Elisha
Averett was chosen president of Teachers and James W. Huntsman and James
Hendricks, Counselors…”
“October 7, 1842-
This day the Teachers met in Nauvoo, and organized into a quorum by appointing
Elisha Averett, president; James Huntsman and Elijah Averett, counselors…”
Elisha and his brothers Elijah, John, and George quarried
rock for the Nauvoo Temple,
and also worked on the construction of the Temple.
On February 6, 1843,
Dorcas Witt Averett died in childbirth, along with her infant daughter. What a sad day for twelve-year-old Sarah Jane
and her sister and brothers when their mother died. Kissie Ann Witt was sixteen; John Wesley Witt
was fourteen; and William Averett was two.
Elisha was a conscientious man, not one to shirk his
responsibilities. He cared for these
children displaying a great amount of love and kindness toward them.
Elisha and children buried Dorcas in the “Old
Mormon Cemetery”
located in the Parley Street
Cemetery near Nauvoo. Elisha engraved on her stone: “Sacred to the Memory of Dorcas – consort of
Elisha Averett_ Died 6 Feb 1843_age 33 years”.
This inscription was found in a book of graveyard inscriptions of the
Nauvoo area.
A list of officers and laborers on the
Nauvoo
Temple 31 December 1844: A second crane was erected and rigged. Elisha Averett was the principal mason who
worked from this crane. He was called the principal backer up, because he laid
the stone on the inside walls and also the inside courses of the main
wall. His brothers, Elijah and John
Averett and Truman Leonard, gave Elisha assistance. The hands, who worked on the second crane,
being Elisha Averett’s crane, were John Harver, Thomas M Pearson, George M.
Potter, and William Cutler.
Tuesday, December
30, 1845 Nauvoo, Illinois: The weather was pleasant. A large number of people showed up at an
early hour to the temple, ready to receive their temple ordinances. At 9:00 am,
eighteen bottles of oil were consecrated in Brigham Young’s room.
At 11:00am, Almon
Babbitt came into the temple and reported that the marshal had left Carthage
for Springfield, and there would be
no more danger of writs. Bishop miller
stayed in the temple all day, fearing that he would be arrested.
At 4:00 pm,
Brigham Young left the temple and returned at 5:25
pm.
Parley P. Pratt spent time forming a schedule for a pioneer
company of 1000 men to precede the main body of the church to find a proper
location and put in seed early in the summer.
At 8:30pm, temple
ordinances ceased. It was thought proper
to have a time of recreation. A number
of people gather in the east room (Celestial Room.) Brother Hans Hanson was invited to produce
his violin, with Elisha Averett on his flute.
He played several lively dancing tunes.
Joseph Young soon started to dance joined by others. A French Four (square dance) was started. Brigham Young, Sister Whitney, Heber C.
Kimball and Sister Lewis opened the first one.
Soon the whole floor was covered with dancers. After an hour of dancing, several songs were
sung. Sister Whitney, at the invitation
of Brigham Young sang with the gift of tongues and her husband, Bishop Newell
Whitney interpreted. Brigham Young and
Heber C. Kimball also spoke in a foreign tongue. After conversations, the evening was closed
by prayer offered by Brigham Young.
After the religious and spiritual activities of Christmas
were over, the holiday became a time of gaiety.
Parties and dancing were the popular amusements, and everyone joined in
the fun. On Christmas 1843 Joseph Smith
held a party at his home. He wrote: “A
large party supped at my house, and spent the evening in music, dancing, etc.,
in a most cheerful and friendly manner. “ A New Year’s party was held in his
home the same year at which there was music and dancing until morning.
And so, while dancing was a favored recreation, the Mormons
were encouraged to conduct and attend their own dances rather than public
affairs. A party was provided after a
hard day’s work on the Nauvoo
Temple,
and we learn that “ Accordingly, Brother Hans C. Hanson was invited to produce
his violin, which he did, and played several lively airs, accompanied by Elisha
Averett on his flute, among others, some very good, lively dancing tunes. This was too much for the gravity of Brother
Joseph Young, who indulged in dancing a hornpipe and was soon joined by several
others; and before the dance was over, several French-fours were indulged in. Brigham Young and Sister Whitney and Elder C.
Kimball and partner opened the first dance.
The spirit of dancing increased until the whole floor was covered with
dancers.”
Sarah Jane was baptized a member of the Church on December 19, 1845. She also received here temple endowments on
the same day. Then on January 19, 1846, Elisha was sealed
to Dorcas Willis Witt Averett with Sarah Jane standing as proxy. This was the day also when Elisha and Sarah
Jane were married. Nauvoo
Temple
Records, P. 149. L.D.S. Historian’s
Office Salt Lake City, Utah. Dorcas had
been dead for almost three years. Sarah
Jane was now almost 15. Evidently it was
thought by both of them to be old enough to become a wife and mother. She had been helping her older sister take
care of young William and their older brother.
January 1846 Elisha Averett was ordained to the office of a
High Priest, in Nauvoo by Elder Ezra Taft Benson and Elder Isaac Morley. On January
6, 1846 Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and their wives left the
temple to attend a party at Elder John Taylor’s home. He held a supper with that was prepared in
the most sumptuous style. The dinner
concluded around 8 pm. In the evening, at the temple, another dance
was held. Hans C. Hanson, Jacob F.
Hutchinson, and Levi W. Hancock played the violin. James Smithies played the bass viola, and
Elisha Averett played the flute. After
dancing two figures, Joseph Young addressed the group for quite awhile. Brigham Young returned to the temple at 10 pm and organized a French Four. Erastus Snow and Levi W. Hancock sang
hymns. The dancing continued until midnight.
Frost again fell overnight.
At this time there were great troubles for the Saints. A great exodus out of Nauvoo began. Elisha’s knowledge of building was called on
again, but not to build a temple. The
temple was completed after most of the Saints had departed. It was dedicated privately under the
direction of Wilford Woodruff the night of April 30, 1846. The
next day it was dedicated publicly, which proved to the world that the
predictions of false prophets and the threats of the mobs that the building
should never be completed or dedicated …had fallen to the ground.”
After completing his assigned tasks on the
Nauvoo
Temple, Elisha received many new
and important tasks from Brigham Young and the other church leaders helping to
prepare for the exodus to the Rocky Mountains.
Elisha and Sarah Jane crossed the Mississippi
River on February 4, 1846. It isn’t certain if Kissie Ann went with her
sister. John Wesley Witt, the brother,
left Nauvoo and worked on the riverboats on the Mississippi river. He came across the plains to Utah
in 1850 and moved to Heber
Valley,
married and died there in 1907. William
Averett, Sarah Jane’s half brother, was reared in his early youth by his uncle
and aunt, John and Eliza Harvey. He
crossed the plains with them. After
Elisha and Sarah Jane had arrived in Salt
Lake, he lived with them for a
period of time. Then he went to
Heber
City to live with his half brother,
John Wesley Witt. William stayed with
this family the remainder of his life.
While Elisha and Sarah Jane were traveling to Iowa
with the Saints, the church leaders requested that Elisha and Elijah Averett,
along with two companies of pioneers, go to Locust Creek and complete the job
contracted by A.A. Lathrop. They were to
make four thousand rails at fifty cents per hundred. Their pay would be one half in cash, the
other half in ox bells. These two
companies also were instructed to build a bridge over Shoal Creek for the
benefit of their company and the companies that would follow. In the History of Brigham Young dated May 2, 1846: “Elisha and Elijah and their company of
thirty men were sent to Missouri
and received about one hundred dollars worth of grain and bacon in exchange for
clearing land and building two barns.”
After returning, Elisha was asked by President Young to go to Garden
Grove and help plant a garden for the saints who would
be arriving in the area. Sarah Jane went
with him.
27 March 1846 President Young, elders H.G. Kimball, John
Taylor and others left headquarters on the Chariton river in carriages and on
horseback, and after passing through one mud hole about six miles in length,
arrived at Captain Elisha Averett’s tent and assembled on council at the tent
of George A. Smith. Father John Smith,
Elisha and Elijah Averett and others met in council. Parley P. Pratt reported that his division of
the camp had purchased about one hundred bushels of corn at twenty cents per
bushel, mostly in trade. The price had
risen since to twenty-five cents.
Brigham Young counseled not to pay more than twenty-five cents. When it was decided that the Saints would
leave Nauvoo, about twenty-five men were selected by the general council and
called to be captains of hundreds, whose business it was to select one hundred
families and see that they were prepared for a journey across the Rocky
Mountains. Afterward the
captains of hundreds selected their own captains of fifties and tens, clerks,
etc.
Elisha and Elijah were selected by Steven Markham to help
organize Pioneer companies. John Gleason
was Captain of the first fifty, Elisha Averett was Captain of the second fifty,
and Elijah Averett was Captain of the first ten. Elijah reported in his journal at camp in
Richardson’s
Point, Mo. That he had been west about twenty five miles
he reported other companies ahead, including Elisha Averett’s. Corn was thirty cents per bushel at Orson
Pratt’s encampment.
30 March 1846
Elisha Averett met in the main camp on the Chariton
River, with President Brigham Young
and others. President Young selected
eighteen of the guard and Elisha Averett and a company of Pioneers to be
attached to and encamp nearby, the first division of fifty.
30 August 1846 a story taken from “Our Pioneer Heritage”
tells of Elisha’s skills as a stone mason and also as a kind human being: When the two wagons belonging to Jefferson
Hunt crossed the Mississippi river on ice the day following these rites in the
Nauvoo Temple, In Matilda’s wagon rode an elderly English couple, John and Jane
Bosco, who were perhaps relatives or dear friends of Matilda’s parents. When the families of the Battalion left
Council
Bluffs, following the brave band of volunteers, this
couple remained in Matilda’s wagon.
Matilda ministered to their needs on the difficult trek across the state
of Iowa. The Tyler History of the Battalion says: “On 28 August an elderly English lady, Jane
Bosco, who was traveling with Captain Hunt, died, and before daylight the next
morning, her husband John Bosco, passed away.
He was not a soldier. Their
oft-repeated wish that neither should be left to mourn the loss of the other
was realized. They were buried in one
grave, and under the supervision of Elisha Averett, a stone wall was built
around and over their resting place.”
The Mormon Battalion was organized while he was at Garden
Grove in 1846.
Captain James Allen of the U.S. Dragoons with a requisition from the
President of the United States for five hundred men to form a battalion of
infantry and march through and be discharged in California at the expiration of
one year. Brigham came back and called
men to volunteer, which they did promptly and on the sixteenth of July the now
famous Mormon Battalion was mustered into the service of the United
States and started for Mexico
via Santa Fe. Elisha Averett
enlisted as a Musician in Company A under the command of Captain Jefferson
Hunt.
The following is an excerpt on the Mormon Battalion for
those who might not know what the Mormon Battalion was.
“Circular to the Mormons”
(Presented by Brigham Young and Captain James Allen on July
1, 1846 at Council Bluffs, Iowa)
“I have come among you, instructed by Col, S.F. Kearney of
the U.S. Army, now commanding the Army of the West, to visit the Mormon camp,
and to accept the service for twelve months of four or five companies of Mormon
men who may be willing to serve their country for that period in our present
war with Mexico; this force to unite with the Army of the West at Santa Fe, and
be marched thence to California, where they will be discharged. “They will receive pay rations, and other
allowances, such as other volunteers or regular soldiers receive, from the day
they shall be mustered into the service.
They will be entitled to all comforts and benefits of regular soldiers
of the army. When discharged as
contemplated, at California, they
will be given gratis their arms and accoutrements for which they will be fully
equipped at Fort Leavenworth. This is offered to the Mormon people
now. This is an opportunity of sending a
portion of their young and intelligent men to the ultimate destination of their
whole people, and entirely at the expense of the United
States, and this advanced party can thus
pave the way and look out for the land for their brethren to come after them. “Those of the Mormons who are desirous of
serving their country, on the conditions here enumerated, are requested to meet
me with out delay at their principal camp at Council
Bluffs, whither I am going to consult with their
principal men, and to receive and organize the force contemplated to be
raised. “I will receive all healthy,
able-bodied men from eighteen to forty-five years of age.”
J. Allen, Captain 1st Dragoons
On July 13, 1846,
Jefferson Hunt called out the first company of volunteers. Brigham Young then chose the officers for
each of the companies. At 6 p.m. a farewell party was given for the
volunteers.
On July 16, four companies gathered to hear the last
instructions from Brigham Young and others in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
of the Church. On the 17th,
more volunteers were called to fill the Fifth Company of the Battalion. On the 18th, Brigham Young met
with the officers and instructed them to be as fathers to their men and to
remind them to pray always. He promised
the men that if they were faithful in their duties not one of them would fall
in battle with the enemy, and that their only battles would be with wild
beasts.
On July 21, 1846,
the Mormon Battalion began the longest infantry march in history to the tune,
“The Girl I Left Behind Me.”
“The Mormon Battalion will be held in honorable remembrance
to the latest generation; and I will prophesy that the children of those who
have been in the army, in defense of their country, will grow up and bless
their fathers for what they did at that time.
And men and nations will rise up and bless the men who went in that
Battalion. _Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints.
While Elisha was away Sarah Jane was pregnant at the time
and remained at Council Bluffs. She gave birth on December 14, 1846 to her first child, naming her
Dorcas in honor of her mother. Many of
the Averetts had come with the Saints and they watched over Sarah Jane.
Elisha in the Mormon Battalion was crossing the country on approaching
western Missouri, Colonel Allen being desirous of showing off his Mormon boys
to the Missourians, selected Levi W. Hancock and Elisha Averett as fifers, and
Jessie Earl and William Pace as drummers at the head of the command. They did not ever recollect ever feeling
prouder or weighing more. The march through the city and suburbs was about
three miles of continuous marching, so when they were through they were wet as
drowned rats from perspiration. The Battalion was fitted out with teams, wagons,
old flintlocks and bayonets at Fort
Leavenworth
set out for Santa Fe, a march of
over one thousand miles on foot.
They had only made a few miles and camped when it was
learned that Colonel Allen was dangerously ill in the fort, and the next day
brought word that he was dead. Here was
unforeseen difficulty the command legitimately belonged to Captain Jefferson
Hunt of Colonel Allen but after a council of war it was decided that Lieutenant
James Pace was to return to Council Bluffs,
see President Young, report progress, and ask advice etc.
The Battalion moved on to Hurricane Ridge (so called from a
violent storm that overtook the battalion there demolishing tents and spreading
havoc in camp so that they were compelled to lay-bye a few days for repairs)
and camped. Here Lieutenant Smith of
United States Dragoons and Dr. Sanderson overtook them. Smith claimed the command and a second
council of war gave it to him, through the modesty of Captain Hunt who
declined. The next day Smith assumed
command and the Battalion moved forward, nothing further of note occurring.
At the crossing of the Arkansas River Lieutenant James Pace
accompanied by John D. Lee and Howard Egan overtook the Battalion bringing new
from the bluffs. Here we shipped water
mostly in vinegar barrels to do us across the Semirone Desert 90 miles. Much suffering followed yet they got through
safe and finally arrived in Santa Fe
were they lay in camp several days. Here
the Battalion was divided; all the sick and most of the woman was sent back to
Pueblo on the outskirts of Mexico under command of Captain James Brown of
Company C, and the Battalion was place under Lieutenant Colonel Philip, St.
George Cook, and ordered to make a force march through to California to the
support of General Kearney who had already gone there with only one company of
Dragoons, with pack mules. They left
Santa
Fe with teams to make a force march through to
Santiago,
southern California. When about five miles out of Santa
Fe (in sight of abundance of government supplies) we
camped and were placed on “half rations.” Our line of march took us through
Albuquerque, Socora and many small Mexican settlements where we could buy
onions and many other garden productions that added to our half rations, kept
up in fair spirits, but on the River De Norte another detachment was selected
and sent back to Pueblo under Lieutenant Willis, leaving the Battalion only
about three hundred strong. Then we soon
turned west leaving civilization, as it were, into the wilds of the desert,
making our own roads and letting our wagons down over mountain sides with ropes
as circumstances demanded.
On arriving on the San Pedro river, their rations were
getting low, in the extreme, many were actually suffering for want of supplies;
there is a vast difference in men, as to their ability of endurance under such
circumstances, some can endure all manner of hardships, on half or quarter
rations, while others require more.
Hunting parties were sent in search of game but the country
was so poor little was accomplished until after we reached the San Pedro. Here we encountered wild cattle, and laid in
an immense supply of beef, while traveling down this river, some of us engaged
in fishing; a “Battle Royal” seemed to be raging in the command. In order to ascertain what was the matter, we
simultaneously took to trees, when to our astonishment the whole command were
engaged in a general “bull-fight.”
It appears that a large herd of wild cattle were enjoying a
quiet “siesta” in the tall grass along the San Pedro, where the command came in
and surprised them; result, and open battle in which several mules were killed
in the teams, five or six men were wounded by being gored and tossed up fifteen
or twenty feet in the air, some of them seriously, and an innumerable number of
wild cattle left dead on the ground.
After the smoke was cleared away, the wounded cared for, camp was made
and a fresh lot of meat added to our rations.
This was the famous bullfight of the San Pedro and proved to be the only
battle the Battalion engaged in during their term of enlistment.
We traveled a few miles farther down the river when our
scouts returned and reported one of their number arrested and held in custody
by the Senora commanding officer at Tucson,
also instructions to Colonel Cook to keep around to the north or he would serve
his whole command the same.
Here was an unexpected dilemma, we could only muster about
three hundred men and the idea of attacking the whole army of the province of
Senora, Mexico, would seem absurd, yet Colonel Cook made camp, issued a large
supply of ammunition, put the men on drill in the afternoon, then decided to go
by Tucson and "see if they would put his whole command under arrest.” Consequently, the next day found en-march for
Tucson distant about 60 miles,
teams worn and gadded could not make much more than twenty miles a day. At our first camp we were met by an officer
of the Mexican Army in Tucson and a
posse, with a request not to come through Tucson
but keep around and we would not be molested.
Learning that one of the generals son’s was in the posse, colonel Cook
place him under a strong guard, than told the officer of the posses to go back
to his general, tell him he was on the road to California, that he should pass
through Tucson, that if our scout was not returned to him before midnight he
would execute his son, than go after his scout.
Hence a little before midnight
of the day specified, the scout was returned, and the son released.
On the next day the Battalion marched into Tucson
and found it evacuated by several hundred cavalry, infantry and artillery. The people were friendly and contributed much
by way of beans, corn and fruit for which they took all they could get. We stayed here one day and replenished our
mules, seized some government wheat, beans, etc., had a false alarm at night,
which aroused the camp, but hurt no one.
It was learned afterwards that our picket guard fired on a herd of
cattle in the night killing one, supposing them to be cavalry causing alarm.
From Tucson we crossed
a 90-mile desert. Consequently, we
started in the afternoon. When fairly on
our way the Mexican troops returned to Tucson, then followed us intending to
give us battle by night; but colonel Cook marched late, built fires as if to
camp, then moved on 3 or 4 miles, built another fire, them moved on and camped
without any fire. From deserters we
learned that the Mexicans, being reinforced from neighboring posts, decided to
catch us on the desert, that they came and surrounded the second “campfire” but
not finding us went back, thus we probably escaped being annihilated. Another evidence of divine providence in our
behalf.
We arrived on the Gila River, safe
from the desert and had a feast of watermelons, at the Pima Indian village, on
Christmas Day. Lieutenant Rosecrance
said he enjoyed the luxury of a piece of roasted “rattlesnake” with an old
Indian chief, same day and place. From
here we traveled down the south bank of the Gila river to the Colorado River without
any particular mishap, save it be toiling through excessive sands, and an
effort to boat some of our baggage down the Gila in some of the zinc government
wagon boxes that resulted in a failure.
In the standing of the wagon boxes on some of the sandbars and the loss
of boxes and cargo thus shortening our rations again.
On reaching the Colorado River, a day
was spent in fixing up some more zinc wagon boxes, with a view to having to
ferry the river. The boats were made
ready and loaded, and run aground, them it was discovered that by wading, the
boats could be got across, than the teams were hitched up and the river forded
before night, thus saving several days in ferrying. From here we entered upon another 90 mile
desert, water was however obtained in two places by digging, sufficient for the
camp, on reaching the main chain, or California mountains. We followed up a wash until it became too
narrow for our wagons, not being able to get out, there was no other
alternative except to hew our way through which was done, and we arrived at
Warner’s ranch the first settlement in California.
The Battalion was concentrated on the bend above Los
Angeles. On July 16, 1847 Elisha was discharged
from the Army at Ft. Moore
in Los Angeles, California. Elisha left in the Levi W. Hancock Company
headed for the Salt Lake
Valley. He went, with a party of other Battalion
veterans, through central California
to Sacramento, then across the Sierra
Nevada. They met Captain
Sam Brannan while they were crossing the Sierra Nevada,
and his tales of the Salt
Lake
valley were so discouraging that some of the other men turned back; they
arrived at Sacramento in time to be
at Sutter’s Fort when gold was discovered there.
On the return journey, Elisha and several other men were
appointed scouts to go ahead and find the best roads or trails and good water
holes. On August 1st, Sgt
Daniel Tyler records: “We traveled
fourteen miles and encamped in a beautiful valley where we found, cut in the
bark of a tree, the name of Peter Lebeck, who was killed by a Grizzly bear on the 17th of October 1837. The skull and other bone of the bear, which
was killed by Lebeck’s comrades, were still lying on the ground near by. The next day, a ride of fifteen miles brought
us to Tulare River. Finding it impassable, we traveled five miles
up it and encamped. On August 3rd,
Elisha Averett returned from an Indian village, bringing with him several
Indians, including a chief. A guide was
procured from among them and we continued twelve miles farther up the river.” The company went by way of Sutter’s Fort and
to Fort Hall in Idaho than turned
south and continued on reaching Salt Lake October 16, 1847.
The men were destitute and their clothing was in rags. Settlers in the Valley took pity on the men
and donated clothing to them. Elisha found
that his family was not in the Valley, as did others of the Battalion. These men formed a company and started back
to Winter Quarters. Here again, the men
encountered hunger, poor weather conditions and problems with the Indians. When they finally reached Winter Quarters in
December 1847, they found their families were located at various settlements.
Elisha was ragged, gaunt from hunger and bone weary when he
found Sarah Jane. She was so relieved to
know that he had returned to her, to care about his appearance. They were happy to be together again. Elisha became acquainted with his new
daughter. The Averetts remained in
Iowa
for over a year. Sarah Jane gave birth
to Elisha born December 20, 1848.
The family made many plans and preparations in anticipation
of leaving Iowa for the trek
across the Plains to Salt
Lake. On July
4, 1849 they left in the George A. Smith Company. Little Elisha was seven months old and Dorcas
was nearly three. The family walked most
of the way arriving in Salt
Lake
on October 27th of the same year.
There were forty-seven souls and one hundred twenty wagons in the
company.
Elisha, Sarah Jane and children settle in
Salt
Lake for about eight years. Elisha and his brother, Elijah, became
stonemasons and did much of the work on the Salt
Lake, Manti and St.
George Temples. Sarah gave birth to four children while
living in Salt Lake. She was active in her ward and a devoted wife
and mother. The children attended school
and church. A large garden was planted
and cared for by the family. Life was hard for the settlers during the first
few years in the Valley. Food was scarce
until a crop could be grown and harvested.
The crickets played a major roll in the reduction of the pioneers’ food
supply.
At a meeting of the Nauvoo Legion Band, held at the home of
Robert Burton on the evening of the 9th day of April, 1850, brother
William Clayton made the following remarks:
“I have a conscientious notion in organizing this band, which was
organized by Joseph Smith under the name of the Nauvoo Band. The following new members were then voted
on: Elisha Averett. The band adopted a
straw hat for the covering of the head, a white dress coat and white pantaloons,
a sky-blue sash and a white muslin cravat as their uniform, and a committee was
appointed to commence negotiations for such a uniform.
And so, while dancing was a favored recreation, the Mormons
were encouraged to conduct and attend their own dances rather than public
affairs. A party was provided after a
hard day’s work on the Nauvoo
Temple,
and we learn that “Accordingly, Brother Hans C. Hanson was invited to produce
his violin, which he did, and played several lively airs, accompanied by Elisha
Averett on his flute.
Among the men that were called into the Mormon Battalion
were the following musicians: Elisha
Averett. Elisha Averett played the
piccolo and fife. He could also play the
violin.
8 March 1854
Elisha and Sarah’s fifth child John Harvey Averett was born in
Salt
Lake, Utah.
6 February 1855
The Mormon Battalion held a party in the Social Hall, which was superbly fitted
up for the occasion. The committee of
arrangements consisted of Dimick B. Huntington, Elisha Averett, and Thomas S.
Williams.
24 July 1856
Dimick B. Huntington and Elisha Averett had charge of ten cannons at the
celebration up Big Cottonwood
Canyon.
Preceding the October conference of 1861, articles appeared
in the Deseret News telling of the possibilities of Utah’s
Dixie and encouraging all Saints who could do so to move
in that direction. October 6th
a list of three hundred and nine names, all heads of families, was read from
the stand during Conference with the announcement that each had been selected
to go south on a cotton mission. This
mission assignment was for two years to raise cotton and other semi-tropical
plants. Elijah Averett said his father
(Elisha Averett) came home weary from a hard day’s work in the fields and when
he was told that he was called to Dixie he dropped into a chair saying, “I’ll
be damned if I’ll go.” After sitting a
few minutes with his head in his hands he stood up, stretched and said, “Well
if we are going to Dixie, we had better start to get
ready.” Most who were called felt to thank the Lord that they were worthy to
go. It was cheering too, to look over the
list of names of those who were to be their neighbors, for here were people of
ability—many of them skilled craftsmen, others cultured and well educated. As they met to talk over plans and to
consider necessary loading and equipment, their optimism increased until they
felt that great things lay ahead. Their
new home –to-be was like the Jerusalem of Nehemiah: “now the City was large and great, but the
people were few therein, and the houses were not builded.” Before the first wagon left Salt
Lake City, the new town had been named St. George, a
postmaster appointed, a choir leader selected and plans for lighting the
streets given some consideration. He settled in Washington
and he helped build the cotton mill in Washington,
Utah.
He lived there until he was called to work on the Provo
factory. From there he returned to the
South and worked two years on the St. George Temple. The original plat of St. George show’s Elisha
Averett’s lot at Main and Fourth South.
He then moved to Heber
City, where Sarah Jane died 31 December 1875 giving birth to her
fourteenth child, both mother and child died.
She was forty-four years of age. Sarah Jane Witt Averett was faithful to
her Church and a kind, loving wife and mother.
He buried his wife after which he moved to Kane
County and resided there with his
children.
3 March 1877
Elisha’s son John Harvey married Susan Emiline Allphine.
Elisha and his brother, Elijah, helped to build Cove Fort
and the Windsor Castle
at Pipe Springs located in northern Arizona. They were also stonemasons for the Heber City
Tabernacle, Fort Kanab
and the Cotton Factory in Washington,
Utah. “It was said of the Averett twins that when
they had a hand in building anything, it was well built. As a public service for the communities in which
they resided, Elisha and Elijah and George furnished the caskets for all their
fellow townsmen free of cost.”
Patriarchal Blessings, Volume 380, Page 221
Escalante, January 27, 1880 a blessing by Evan M. Greene,
Patriarch, on the head of Elisha Averett, son of John and Genette Averett, born
in Murray County, Tennessee, December 12 1810 Linage of Ephraim.
Escalante,
Utah
January 27, 1880
A blessing by Evan M. Greene, Patriarch, on the head of
Elisha Averett, son of John and Genette Gill Averett, Born Murray County
Tennessee, December 12, 1810
Brother Elisha, in the name of Jesus Christ I lay my hands
upon your head, and give to you a father’s blessing, even a patriarchal
blessing, which shall be a seal and a token unto you of the promises made unto
the fathers, you are of the house of Israel, of the tribe of Ephraim and to the
blessings promised unto Ephraim and to his seed in the last days, you are
entitled which blessing I now seal upon your head, together with all the
blessings of the New and Everlasting Covenant to which blessings you are
entitled:
Having proved your integrity and diligence in the works to
which you have been called in the Kingdom of our God. You are a father in Israel. You shall yet rejoice in the labor of your
posterity. They shall rise up and call
you blessed; there shall be many of your posterity that shall do much good in
aiding to redeem and in building up the center stake of Zion. There shall your inheritance be, and there
your children’s children, For though you die, there shall you be gathered, and
stand with the elect of God, to meet your Savior and Zion’s
city when they shall be revealed from heaven.
Let your heart rejoice, let your soul be glad, for these things are true
and faithful; a work shall you yet do for the benefit of your dead. In it shall you rejoice, and may shall
rejoice, and many shall rejoice in your labors and be comforted.
All these blessings I seal upon your head with all blessings
your soul shall desire in righteousness through your faith ad faithfulness by
virtue of the Holy Priest hood even so, Amen.
Sewellyn
Harris
Clerk
Not long after burying his wife in Heber
City, Elisha, now 65, continued to
work as a ‘building missionary’ for the church.
He went wherever he was called to use his special talents in the Lord’s
vineyard. He lived in Kanab for some
time, and finally settled in Glendale,
Kane, Utah.
Elisha and his son John built the Kanab schoolhouse in 1886-87. After his mind began failing at the age of 75,
he lived with his daughter Dorcas Averett Clark, assisted by his son,
George. He died in Glendale,
Utah on October 22, 1890 at the age of 80 and is buried
there. His youngest son Byron was now
19.
Mrs. Chai says that she well remembers a remark made by her
grandfather, Byron about his father: “My
father, Elisha loved the Prophet Joseph with his whole being. There was nothing that he would not have done
for him, even to the laying down of his life.
I never saw him speak of the Prophet without tears coming into his
eyes. He considered it a privilege to
have been able to associate with him.
This love was not only for the prophet, but also for the
kingdom
of God. He left his life as a testimony of his
faith.”
George Averett, Elisha’s eighth child by Sarah Jane, stated
that, “Elisha, besides being a personal friend of Joseph Smith, was also a body
guard for the Prophet.”
Excerpt from Deseret Evening News November 5, 1890
Veteran Laid To Rest
Elisha Averett of Glendale,
Died in this place Wednesday, October 22nd, after a protracted
illness, super induced by old age and the hardships to which he had been
subjected in consequence of being numbered with the Saints in their early
days. He was born in Tennessee
in the year of 1810. He joined the
church and shared in its persecutions.
He volunteered as one of the Mormon Battalion, and served in the same
and was honorably discharged in California
and returned to his family in Iowa. From there he immigrated with his family to
Utah,
and lived in Salt Lake City until
1862, when he was called to Dixie. He settled in Washington
where he lived until he was called to work on the Provo
factory. From there he returned to the
South and worked two years on the St. George Temple. He then moved to Heber
City where he buried his wife after
which he moved to Kane County
and resided there with his children until his death. The funeral services were held in the
meetinghouse. Bishop R.J. Cutler and
acquaintance with Brother Averett, knew him when he used to play in the martial
band in Nauvoo, born testimony to his unwavering faith in the Gospel and
implicit confidence and love he had for the Prophet Joseph, as also for
President Young; that he would have been willing to lay down his life for them,
had it been required. Peace to his
remains.
Respectfully
James
W. Watson
Glendale,
Kane Co., October 24, 1890
John Harvey Averett (son of Elisha Averett), Susan Emeline
Allphine (wife of John), children:
Dorcas, Sarah, Veinna, Susan
Wanda,
Leon, Mary J., Clinton, J.H. Averett at Averett home in Logandale,
Nevada
Left to right back row
(Grandchildren Elisha Averett): John
Harvey, Dorcas, Susie, and Vienna
John Harvey Averett
(Elisha’s son) in front
John Harvey Averett
(Elisha’s son)
Children back row: Dorcas, Vienna, Sarah, Susan
Front row: William and John Harvey