History of Jane and Ellen Harrocks Livingston
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Wives of Charles Livingston
Jane and Ellen Harrocks Livingston were born in Aughton, near Ormskirk, Lancashire, England. Jane was born August 30, 1841 and Ellen was born August 5, 1848. Between Jane and Ellen was a sister, Ann, born June 22, 1844, another sister Elizabeth, who was born September 21, 1851 and a brother, Peter, who was born Jan 4, 1854 all in Aughton. Their parents were Daniel Harrocks, born December 17, 1804, and Ann Rutter Harrocks, born July 4, 1818 both born in Aughton.
Their relatives were among the first in England to hear and accept the gospel and join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
On the 14th of June 1852, their 8 year old sister, Ann, accidentally drowned, and in 1854, shortly after the birth of their only son, the family decided to immigrate to Utah, having accepted the Gospel. Their father was particularly determined to gather to Zion and after considerable persuasion and out of loyalty to her husband; their mother accepted his religion. They all decided to cast their lot with the Saints in the Rocky Mountains. Peter Harrocks, Daniel’s older brother, and his wife were also emigrating at the same time with other relatives. They were indeed filled with the spirit of the Gospel to undertake a voyage, not knowing the trials and hardships to come.
The Harrocks’ were fairly well to do people in England and from the reports, were farmers who had business frequently to transact in Liverpool. In the County Clerk’s Office in Salt Lake City are many papers, showing the breaking of the will of Peter Harrocks, which showed money owed to them in England and cash brought with them. Peter Harrocks’ home was planned and built in Salt Lake City before they came to America and was made ready for their arrival. The family sailed on the ship “Juventa” and arrived in Philadelphia May 5, 1855. Their shipping record reads as follows:
Daniel Harrocks Age 57 (actually 50) Farmer, Aughton, England Ann Harrocks Age 37 Jane Harrocks Age 14 Ellen Harrocks Age 7 Elizabeth Harrocks Age 3 Peter Harrocks Age 1 month
From Philadelphia the company went by rail to Pittsburgh and then by steamboat down the Ohio River to St. Louis, Missouri. They then went up the Missouri River to Mormon Grove where they remained for six weeks.
Andrew Jensen, a Church Historian, has this to say about Mormon Grove:
- "Mormon Grove was a temporary settlement, founded in Kansas by the Latter-day Saints in 1855 as an outfitting place for the emigrating Saints who commenced their journey that year over the plains and mountains to Great Salt Lake Valley. During the emigration season of 1855, the place was very lively, hundreds of teams and thousands of Saints commencing their long march westward toward the gathering place in the Rocky Mountains. Mormon Grove was situated on the prairie four and one half miles west of the city of Atchison in Kansas on the Missouri River, which was the landing place in 1855 for Saints who commenced their westward journey that year."
Daniel Harrocks and his family were organized into what was called a second company composed of Danish Saints and the British Independent Company. Captain Jacob Secrist was in charge. He was returning to Salt Lake City from a mission in Germany. The company consisted of 368 souls, 51 wagons, 317 oxen, 100 cows and 5 horses. Captain Secrist died of Cholera July 2, 1855, which left Noah T. Guyman to take charge.
While in Mormon Grove, they bought a wagon, oxen and a cow. Preparations were almost complete and the little family was rejoicing with the prospect of again starting for Zion when the first tragedy of their journey came - the death of their baby brother on May 29, 1855. Baby Peter died and was buried in Mormon Grove.
The company began their westward trek the next day. When they had traveled about six miles, an epidemic of cholera broke out among the Saints. Their father, Daniel Harrocks, was one of those stricken with cholera and he died June 13, 1855, leaving his widow with three little girls to raise. He had administered to a sick woman, whose husband was absent from the camp. He was taken sick about six o’clock in the evening and was dead by midnight. The wagon was unpacked so they could take his body back to Mormon Grove to be buried beside his son. Tradition of the family says, "He had a wooden box and clean hickory shirt to be laid ways in."
One of the young men who happened to be in Mormon Grove when they brought the body back to be buried, was Charles Livingston. He was on his way west and was asked to help bury the body. He gladly helped dig the grave. At the time, however, he didn’t know he would later marry two of Daniel’s daughters, Jane and Ellen.
It was in this trying circumstance that the widow with her three daughters showed her faith and courage. Their father’s brother, Peter Harrocks, said to the bereaved widow, “Now Ann, if you want to take your children and go back to England, there is money to take you.” “No,” she answered, “I started to Zion with Daniel and to Zion I am going!” So she and her three little girls, Jane, Ellen and Elizabeth sat on their luggage and waited for the wagon to return from burying Daniel, to take them to Zion. The girls remembered watching their mother wash the bedding while they waited for the brethren to return, so they could continue on their journey to Zion.
Even though Ann had not been as determined as Daniel, she was proven equal to the sacrifice she was called upon to make and remained true and faithful. Years afterward, the burial grounds in Mormon Grove were visited by descendents and no definite locations of the graves could be determined as the old cemetery had become a cornfield.
Before leaving England, the Harrocks family had given much service to the missionaries in England. One of them, O.M. Duall, was glad to drive the oxen and help the little widow in exchange for his board while crossing the plains. The group experienced the usual hardships during the journey and arrived in Salt Lake Valley on September 7, 1855, three months after starting out from Mormon Grove.
The emigrants were directed to the Eighth Ward Square (where the City and County Building now stands), until they could find a home. The day after their arrival Ann Harrocks went out to look for a home. She came upon some men building a one-room home on Seventh East between First and Second South Streets. They offered to sell her the home for two yoke of oxen and a wagon. She decided to buy the unfinished home and proceeded to move her little family into a dugout at the rear of the lot. They lived in the dugout until Christmas Day, 1855, when they moved into their little home.
Now came the problem of earning a living. One of the men who had crossed the plains with them offered to take Ellen to Farmington and pay her to assist his wife. When Ellen arrived in Farmington, he took away her good shoes and made her go barefoot. When fall came, it was cold and she would have to scrape beets out in the cold. Her hands were bleeding and her feet sore. A kind neighbor saw Ellen’s poor treatment and got word to her mother in Salt Lake City. Ann walked to Farmington and back bringing Ellen home.
The family endured many hardships, suffering greatly from cold and hunger. At one period they had no bread. It was necessary to burn the fence posts one winter in order to keep warm. The children dug Sego Lily roots for food. They all worked hard. At one point, Ann was able to obtain work for Isaac Chase, who had a flourmill where Liberty Park is now located. Much of her work consisted of baking bread to give to people who came begging to buy flour, which the mill was not able to supply. The kind-hearted miller could not turn them away empty-handed, so gave them a small portion of bread, because they didn’t have facilities to bake bread. Jane stayed home and took care of the house and the youngest child, Lizzie, and Ellen acted as nursemaid for the Chase children and assisted her mother with the baking.
They went to work early in the morning and stayed until late at night. They worked there for eleven weeks for their board and the bread and a few other necessities, which were brought home to the other children. The water had to be carried from the mill stream to the house, and one morning, when Ellen was getting the water, she fell into the stream. After being carried down about fifty feet, she caught on to a bush and pulled herself out. In later years she would show her children the place of this frightening experience.
To obtain needed money and supplies, Ann sold her husband’s black coat to Brother Chase for $20.00. This was to be paid in flour at $6.00 a hundred and $1.00 a week. This money was divided among herself and her uncle and cousin, who walked from Bountiful and back for their portions. Through having this unusual opportunity of securing a little flour and white bread, they were able to play the “Good Angel” to some of their neighbors.
In 1857, Johnston’s Army came to the Salt Lake Valley and the family joined with the other Saints in the “Move”. They were among the last to leave their home, as Ann was cleaning the Lion House for Brigham Young. He said, “No matter what we leave behind, let it be clean”. The group had only traveled as far as Provo when the trouble was over, so they returned.
The children all worked to help their mother earn a living. Even little Elizabeth gathered cattails from the big field below Liberty Park and used them to fill bed ticks for people. They also gathered wheat and threshed it with a flail. The grain was sold for $1.75 a bushel. The children made dozens of tallow candles and also soft soap. The soap was put into large barrels, and Mr. Jennings took it to his store, where it was sold by the quart. At one time a train derailed into the Green River, drenching a carload of starched bosom shirts consigned to Mr. Jennings store. Mr. Jennings bought a polishing iron and had Mother Harrocks and her girls refinish the shirts.
Jane was a good reader and was blessed with an extra good memory. Her grandchildren enjoyed hearing her tell of her husband walking to the stone quarries and of her being able to watch him for miles on his way to work. She talked of going to the first play, “The Pride of the Market”, at the Salt Lake Theater. While her mother was employed by Brigham Young, they were given tickets to the theater as his employees.
Charles Livingston married Jane Harrocks May 25, 1861.
The children born to Jane and Charles were:
- Charles, born July 24,1862 - died October 22, 1862
- Helen Ann, born October 8, 1863 - died November 9, 1868
- Jane, born March 26 1866 - died April 13, 1868
- Elizabeth, born March 2, 1868 - died August 13, 1938
- she married Thomas Battersby Child
- Mary Jane, born March 11, 1872 - died July 24, 1872
- Christina, born February 21, 1873 - died December 11, 1940
- she married Charles Kammerle & Tony Filmano
- Catherine, born March 2, 1877 – died February 8, 1952
- she married James Solomon
- Alice Grace, born February 26, 1880 - died April 20, 1881
Charles Livingston married Ellen Harrocks, on October 12, 1867.
The children born to Ellen and Charles were:
- Ann Harrocks, born August 30, 1868 - died December 24, 1932
- Charles Jr, born September 8, 1870 - died March 26, 1941
- he married Eliza Lavina Smith
- Ellen, born April 2, 1873 - died November 25, 1923
- she married Enoch Smith
- Daniel Harrocks, born April 12, 1875 - died March 25, 1955
- he married Annie Manette Armstrong
- Archibald, born April 25, 1877 – died August 29, 1954
- he married May Reed
- Margaret, born March 26, 1879 – died March 13, 1945
- Priscilla, born October 18, 1881- died August 12, 1957
- James, born August 12, 1884 – died August 13, 1884
- Grace, born September 12, 1885 – died December 1, 1972
- she married John Alma Ovard
- Isadora Morris, born February 6, 1888 – died February 17, 1908
- she married Lawrence Earl Petersen
- Hazel, born July 2, 1891 – died May 18, 1939
- she married Duncan Angus Maxwell
- Clarence, born January 17, 1894 – died August 19, 1981
- he married Ethel Paxman
Elizabeth Harrocks, the youngest Harrocks sister, married George Coulam, December 27, 1869.
While their children were young, the families of Jane and Ellen lived together, but as they grew older, Jane had her own three rooms and Ellen hers.
In 1890, Charles Livingston was superintendent of the building of the Salt Lake Temple under Bishop John Winder, until its completion. The wages were poor – one half being in tithing pay. On Saturday mornings they would go down to the tithing office early to get some good cuts of meat, and sometimes they would get outing flannel to make the girls warm petticoats and nightgowns.
Calico was $.60 a yard and thread was $.25 a spool, so one calico dress was a luxury. Flour was $25.00 a sack and at one time Ann Harrocks went to Henry W. Lawrence to buy a sack for her son-in-law, Charles Livingston. Mr. Lawrence invited her to ride in his buggy to her home, and on arrival she found that he had sent two sacks instead of the one she had paid for. Upon inquiry Mr. Lawrence said: “One is for you, Ann – you deserve it.”
After being released from the temple, Charles was without steady work for almost three years. At this time, they sold the property below 21st South on State Street, which was part of the Harrocks estate. In the settlement claim against the Peter Harrocks estate, Charles received the equivalent of $20,000 in real estate, notes and cash. Some of the money was invested in ventures that were a failure. Their son, Daniel was on a mission about 1894 in Australia. It was an expensive mission, from $50 to $75 per month and the mission lasted over a period of 3 ½ years.
Charles bought a fine surrey and a beautiful black horse. Ellen, able to drive most any horse, was afraid of this animal; and if by chance she had to drive out to get fruit in what is now Sugarhouse, the children realized they had to be very quiet or they might frighten the horse. He also bought what he called his secretary, which was a beautiful large bookcase with his desk attached. These things were a great pride and joy to the family.
When Charles was put in the bishopric of the 11th Ward in 1891 with Bishop Robert Morris, Ellen was called upon to take charge of the big ward dinners. Those were busy days and the dinners were always a rousing success because of her efficiency and organization.
There was always plenty of work for the Livingston’s to do. They always had cows and horses to take care of with orchards and currant bushes in the backyard and Lucerne growing on every available space that was not gardened. No one lacked for the necessities of life.
Jane received a great deal of satisfaction from her oldest living daughter, Elizabeth, who had a family of 6 sons and 2 daughters, and most of her time was spent at their home. She lost 5 of her children as infants and small children and her two other daughters caused her great anxiety because of circumstances and had often said, “There is worse trials than laying them away.”
Toward the end of her life, Jane fell and broke her arm and dislocated her ankle and rheumatism set in, which was so serious it twisted her limbs and body into such a misshapen condition that on July 2, 1914, age 72, she died. This must have been a happy relief from her suffering. Her funeral was held in the 11th Ward where she had resided all her life since leaving England.
Ellen was the mother of twelve children, raising eleven to maturity. She also raised two grandchildren, sons of a daughter who died, and her half sister, Lizzie, her sister Jane’s daughter, who was raised just like a twin with her daughter, Ann. To Ellen, her home was her kingdom and her entire time and energies were devoted to her children.
In November of 1923 Ellen Livingston Smith, her third child, died of cancer leaving 11 children. This must have been a terrible time for her. In the winter of 1924, she was taken seriously ill with pneumonia and she died, December 6, 1924 at the age of 76. She had lived and raised her family on the same property where she came to Salt Lake with her mother, Ann Harrocks and her two sisters, Jane and Elizabeth in 1855.