History of Christina Campbell Livingston
From LFAwiki
History of Christina Campbell Livingston
By Margaret Mae Bergeson Livingston
Christina Campbell Livingston, better known as Granny Livingston, was born February 14, 1788/9. She married James Livingston October 9, 1807. They had twelve children: (1) Archibald, (2) Agnes, (3) Grace, (4) Helen, (5) Catherine, (6) Christina, (7) Agnes McLuckie, (8) Janet, (9) Elisa, (10) Robert, (11) James, (12) Helen.
When Archibald Livingston (Granny's son who was born in 1808) passed away, he left six children. Granny took the family and proceeded to raise them. She was a remarkable woman. She mothered those children with the help of the two older boys, James and Charles.
James, the oldest, was not too strong physically, and that forced Charles to take upon his young shoulders additional responsibilities. At a young age, he was forced to work in the coal mines to help support the family.
Coal mining was very difficult and hard work. They worked long hours and several months out of the year, they didn't see daylight.
The Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints brought the message of the gospel to them, and they became acquainted with its principles and subsequently joined the church.
After joining the Church, Granny was filled with the desire of gathering with the Saints in Zion, but finances were not available. It was several years before they could make this journey.
In 1853, the family managed to send their oldest son, James, to Utah. Then, two years later, James, with the help of the immigration fund and Uncle John Dobbie, the entire family came to Utah. The trip was long and tiring. They left Glasgow, Scotland, on the 16th day of December, 1854, crossed the ocean in a sailing vessel and landed in New Orleans, then St. Lewis. They then made their way up the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to a place called Atchinson, Kansas, then Mormon Grove. They remained there for a short time and were able to replenish their meager stores. Charles was 20 by this time, and he and his uncle secured employment falling timber and building log cabins. They helped build the first houses in Atchinson, now one of the important railroad centers in the United States.
Granny and her family arrived in Salt Lake on September 25, 1855. Their brother James joined them and they located a lot on 9th East between 1st and 2nd South Streets. They succeeded in getting a little home built and Charles secured employment for a short time in the quarries, getting out the coping for the wall around the temple block, but winter set in early and work at the quarry was suspended, which left the family without any source of income. Before spring, the family was reduced to extreme poverty. It was almost impossible to get enough to keep the family alive.
Granny insisted that Charles take what few clothes they had brought with them that they could spare and take them down to the country south of Salt Lake and try to trade them for something to eat. It seemed the people of the Southern part of the city were better off than the people around other parts. Charles tramped as far as Draper in deep snow trying to dispose of things. He was able to raise a little food for the family. He secured some employment as a farm hand and got $15.00 a month. As he received the money, a little at a time, he would tramp through the snow and see that his hungry family got it. He never did say too much about this experience, but he knew Granny Livingston met the situation courageously. The other children helped every way possible.
A few years later Charles and James were able to provide a comfortable home for Granny and the younger children.
Granny had quite a sense of humor. It was said that when she first saw the valley from Emigration Canyon, she was surely disappointed and repeated twice, "Is this Zion?"
Also, on her first trip to the tithing office, she said to the clerk in her broad Scotch dialect, "Is this the Lord's storehouse? I see nothing but empty barrels and boxes."
Granny always wore a cap or mutch, which had a row of lace or some kind of frill around the outer edge. Not only did she have humor, but her concern was always for others and her family. She most certainly relied on the Lord to help her in raising this family. Following is a story she often told:
"One morning, just about dawn, she arose and stepped out to the front of the cottage. As she looked toward the left, where on the corner stood a clump of trees, she saw distinctly the face of a man within a halo or circle of light, the face having a pleasant expression. As she gazed at this unusual sight, the head made a bow or obeisance to her three times (in her words, "Played so," suiting the action of the nod or bow to the word) and then faded from view. She felt somewhat frightened and went back to the house. A short time later the same morning, a man on horseback dashed up to the door and inquired if she had seen anything of a little child who was lost and for whom search was being made. She replied negative. The man was just turning away when Granny thought of the face she had seen a short time before and instantly seeming to connect in some manner the face with the missing child, she called to the man who reined up his horse and looked back. Granny told him to go down to that clump of trees and see if anything was there. She followed him to the place indicated and Lo and Behold, there lay the child fast asleep and uninjured. Granny said the child had some sort of cloak or covering and as she lay there the white frost was visible on a portion of her."
Granny was a remarkable person, having wonderful courage and determination. Her devotion to the family that she undertook to raise plus her own devotion to the Church and to our Father in Heaven could only be summed up in the following words: STERLING INTEGRITY.