Samuel Jackson (3rd Great Grandfather)

Biography of Samuel Jackson, Sr.

Samuel Jackson was born 13 July, 1844 at Manchester, Lancashire, England. He was the eighth child in a family of nine children, born to Benjamin Jackson and Ann Grimshaw, who with most of their children were converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by the early missionaries. The father came to America about three years before his family came. The mother and some of the children came to America, including Samuel, from Liverpool, England on the sailing vessel Horizon, 1 leaving Liverpool on May 25, 1856 with eight hundred fifty-six other people aboard. The voyage across the ocean was made under the direction of Captain Edward Martin. The Horizon reached Boston, Massachusetts about the first of July and the Jackson family went from there to Florence, Nebraska, the terminal of the railroad, arriving there July 8, 1856. Here the party was held up due to the making of hand carts. After several days the party started on. After a few weeks a count was taken which showed seven wagons and one hundred forty-six hand carts. After several days of hardships the hand carts were abandoned due to heavy snows. On November 13, Joseph Young and Able Snow arrived in Salt Lake City and reported that the Martin company was stranded in the mountains on account of heavy snows. President Brigham Young immediately sent men, teams, supplies, and everything necessary to the Saints. The party finally reached Salt Lake City after loosing many of their number through. different kinds of hardships and being encountered by the Indians. The Jackson family had two carts, one managed by Samuel's two sisters, Elizabeth and Martha, and one managed by Samuel and his brother, Joseph. The mother, Ann Grimshaw Jackson, who was very small woman, afflicted with a heart ailment, took the responsibility of caring for the youngest child, Nephi, who was nine years old. She, with her son Nephi, started ahead of the carts every morning of their journey, and often with nothing but a dried biscuit for food to be divided between her and her son, and usually the little boy would get up so hungry and fretful that the mother would give him her part of the biscuit. Part of the time she carried him on her back to rest him. By the time the rescue party reached the Saints, many of them had died of starvation and had fallen by the wayside. Those who remained were so hungry and weak they were warned not to eat too much for fear they would kill themselves. Samuel related to the rescue party from Salt Lake City that in their travels thay had found carcases of fallen animals beside the road and would break and suck the marrow out of the sun parched bones, and would singe the hair from the skins and roast and eat them. He also told them that they were met by the wagons. He said they fed the horses a little corn and that he would crawl around on the ground and pick up the corn that would slobber from the horses mouths and would eat it himself. He said how sweet and good it tasted. On Sunday, November 30, 1856 the Martin Company, what remained of them, arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah. Brigham Young and the authorities of the Church were very careful to place the emigrants in the settlements where they spoke their own language. The Jackson family was sent to Nephi, Jaub County, Utah. As soon as the family could, they built a home in Nephi. Samuel, being the oldest son at home, took the place of a father as much as possible. He worked from early to late, hauling blue clay from the flats to make adobe to build houses in Nephi. Some of these houses, including the old Jackson home, are still standing today. After settling in Nephi, Samuel realized his soul’s desire, as he made the remark when the family left England that he wanted to go to the valley of the mountains. When the boat reached Boston as the family was coming to America, Samuel refused to visit a brother John who was living there as he was afraid John would persuade them to make their home in Boston. In just a few days after the family arrived in Nephi, Joseph died. He was fourteen years of age. It was the morning of December 6, 1856 that Samuel called his mother and told her that his brother Joseph who was sleeping with him was dead. The hardships he had endured while crossing the plains had been too much for him. Samuel was always willing to do anything the authorities of the Church asked him to do. Upon one occasion the authorities from Salt Lake City were in the southern settlements and wished to go on south to other settlements so they asked if some of the Saints would take team and wagon and take them on. Samuel volunteered to do this right at the time his land was ready to plant in molasses cane. His neighbors ridiculed him and told him he was too liberal, but he told them his faith was great enough and he would plant his cane and would still be just as far ahead. After he left the others had their crops planted and a severe rain came and packed and crusted the ground until most of the seeds never came up. When Samuel returned from his trip he found his land damp and in good condition. He prepared, planted it, and raised a good crop. In 1863 Samuel had the privilege of going back over the same trail he and the family had come over in 1856. This time to bring emigrants from England. He was called by the Church to go as an ox driver. He and others took two yoke of oxen and wagons and told of many hardships on this trip. He said they would cross streams of water of any size and he would wade and steer the oxen on the lower side of the stream because if they had gone downstream all would have been lost. On this trip he was away from home six months. A little later Samuel and others from Nephi began to go on freighting trips to the mining camps in Nevada. Some of the places he mentioned were Tuanna, Canacca, Picoca, Cherry Creek, Eureka, Ely, Wells, and Elke. Sometimes he would go as far north as Malad, Idaho, around the lake and back south by Brigham City, Ogden, and Salt Lake City. His frieght coming back would be ore for the smelters near Salt Lake. On these trips he would never use a wallet to carry his money in but would put his money in an old gunny sack or put it in the nose bags and cover it up with oats. He never was robbed. Sometimes a man would crawl into the wagon and lie down and cover up. When Samuel asked him why he did it, he would say that he had killed a man back there and they might be looking for him. On December 31, 1867 Samuel Jackson and Hannah Marie Jaques were married in the Endownment House in Salt Lake City, Utah by Heber C. Kimball. To this marriage were born five children, namely: Samuel, Jr., William, Bernicia, Lafayette, and Mary Hannah. While still freighting on September 17, 1881 he was called on a mission to the Southern States. He leased his freighting interests to some of his friends to take care of while he was gone. A while after he left, his mules and horses got into a band of wild horses in Nevada, so the parties responsible wrote Samuel telling him about this and he wrote back and told them to let them alone. In 1883 he returned home from his mission. He hired a few Indians and they set out to hunt the horses and mules. One of the Indians shot the leader which scattered the band. They were able to surround the horses and mules, rope them, and return them to Nephi. About this time the Church advised him to take a plural marriage so on November 22, 1883 he married Martha Ann Jackson (her maiden name). They were married in the Salt Lake Temple. To this marriage were born three daughters, Vida, Fannie, and Jessie. On December 16, 1885 he was ordained a High Priest and set apart as second counselor to Bishop David K. Udall of the second ward at Nephi. This position he held faithfully until he was honorably released to come to Colorado in 1887. On February 16, 1896 he was set apart as Bishop of Manassa Ward, San Luis Stake. He chose as his counselors Hugh L. Sellers and George K. Koch. He held this position until May 6, 1917. He was released due to failing health. He was honored and loved by all. In 1919 he went to California due to his health and while there it began raining so much that he went to St. George, Utah but on May 3, 1919 he passed away. He was buried in Manassa Cemetary.

SAMUEL JACKSON, SEN.

 

by Mary Jane Sowards Rasmussen (a granddaughter)

Born: 17. July 1844 -in- Manchester, Lancashire, England Died: 3 May 1919 -in- St. George, Wash. Co, Utah Arrived in Utah: 30 November 1856 Company: Edward Martin Married to: Hannah Maria Jaques -on- 21 Dec 1867 Martha Ann Jackson -on- 30 Nov 1883

HISTORY OF SAMUEL JACKSON 1844- 1919 Samuel Jackson was born in the city of Manchester, Lancashire, England on July 13, 1844. He was the 8th child in a family of 9 children, born to Benjamin Jackson and Ann Grimshaw. The Jackson family heard the gospel preached by the early missionaries who went to England. The parents and most of their children were converted and baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was their desire to leave England and come to America and make their home with the Saints. They began to work toward this end. Father Benjamin came to America three years before his family, it may have been his intention to earn money to send for his family. Whether he was able to do this or not it is not known, but he was lured to California seeking gold. The family had been living in Utah for 7 years before they heard from him again. One day he came to Nephi to his family, but he brought no gold with him. Mother Ann and her family, including Samuel, left Liverpool England to come to America on May 25, 1856. They sailed on the ship "Horizon.” There were on board some 856 saints all coming to America for the gospel's sake. The voyage was under the direction of Captain Edward Martin. The sailing vessel ‘Horizon' reached Boston on July 1 1856. From Boston the Jackson family went by rail to Florence Neb. which was then the terminal of the railroad. They arrived in Florence about July 8 1856. Now plans had to be made to cross the plains. It took a long time to get ready to leave, due to the fact that they had to make their handcarts. Finally after all was ready they had 7 wagons and 146 handcarts and were ready to start on their journey. The Jacksons had two carts, one was managed by Samuel's two sisters Elizabeth and Martha and the other managed by Samuel and his older brother Joseph. I do not know the ages of the girls, but Joseph was 14 and Samuel 12. Responsibility had to be taken at an early age. Mother Ann was afflicted with a heart ailment, but she took the responsibility of caring for her youngest son Nephi, who was about 9 years old. Each morning Ann and Nephi would start out walking ahead of the carts, and many times they would have one dried biscuit to divide between them. Often times Nephi would become so tired and fretful she would carry him on her back and many times he was given her share of the bread. Due to the lateness of the season, this journey became very hazardous, snows and cold freezing weather overtook them, and many times they were molested by the Indians. The delays they encountered caused them to run out of food long before they reached their journey's end. The handcarts had to be abandoned when the snows came, leaving them to carry what they could of their possessions. Many of the company died of freezing and starving and had to be buried along the way. Finally two of the men from the company were able to get to Salt Lake and report the plight of the company to Brigham Young. Immediately men,teams, and wagons with supplies were sent out and what was left of the Edward Martin company arrived in Salt Lake on a Sunday morning, Nov. 30,1856. Just a few days after they got to Utah, Joseph was found dead in his bed by Samuel who had slept with him. Joseph had died as a result of the journey across the plains, and even though the family were grief stricken over his death, still his mother was thankful he had been spared till they reached Utah. Joseph was just 14 years old. The next step now they were in Utah was to get settled and start their new home as well as a new life. The General Authorities were very careful to place the Saints who came, into settlements where they would find people of their own nationality and customs. The Jackson family were sent to Nephi, Juab Co., Utah to settle. Now that they were actually in Utah, Samuel had his heart's desire, that of coming to the valleys of the mountains. From his earliest remembrance this had been his dream. Samuel had refused to visit a brother John, when they reached Boston, who was living there, for fear his brother would persuade him to stay in Boston instead of coining on to Utah. Being the oldest son in the family now, Samuel took the responsibility of helping his mother get a home. He helped haul blue clay from the flats near Nephi to make adobes to build homes. The Jacksons built a home of this material, and in Nephi today many of these homes, including the Jackson home are still standing. (When my husband Jordan, and I were married here in Salt Lake we spent our honeymoon visiting the former homes of some of our grandparents. We had the privilege of staying one night in the old Jackson home in Nephi. Uncle Neph and Aunt MaryAnn lived there at the time.) Samuel also helped guard the homes from Indian attacks during the Black Hawk war. One time he was in the mountains trailing some Indians and he slipped from a cliff, dropping his gun. But he was able to grab hold of a tree limb and hang there till he was rescued quite some time later, luckily by some other guards. Samuel was always willing to do whatever was asked by the General Authorities. One time they were in Nephi attending conference, and they decided they wanted to go on to some of the towns farther south before returning to Salt Lake. So they asked for a volunteer to drive them on south. Well Samuel volunteered to go. Some of his friends were a little out of patience with Samuel and ridiculed him, telling him he was much to liberal with his time. It was just the time of the year to plant their molasses cane, and the ground was already. But Samuel said his faith was strong enough to know that he could make this trip and still have time to plant and harvest a good crop. After Samuel and the authorities left the others planted their crops as planned. And then a very severe rain came. It crusted the ground so hard that the cane could not come up. When Samuel returned, his land was just ready to work after the storm. He prepared the land, planted his crop and did indeed harvest a very good crop. In 1863 Samuel had the privilege of being called to go back over the pioneer trail to the Missouri river to transport saints to Utah. This proved to be a treacherous journey and took them six months to make. Samuel was engaged in farming as a means of support, when the opportunity came to freight supplies to the mining camps in Nevada. He mentions Wells, Cherry Creek, Eureka, Ely and Elko as places he went. Sometimes they went as far north as Malad Idaho, around the lake and back south to Brigham City, Ogden and Salt Lake, bringing back ore for the smelters near Salt Lake. Many interesting accounts were recorded by Samuel of experiences on these trips. Here I will just mention a few. --It was a rule in camp that if anyone complained of the cooking they would have to be cook till someone else complained. Well one night Samuel came into camp and the cook had burned the bread black. Samuel said, "Oh just look at that bread will you.?". Then he caught himself and added, "Oh, its all the better for that." Samuel would never carry his money in a wallet. He would put it in a gunny sack or hide it in the horses feed nose bags. He was never robbed. Sometimes along the road, men would climb into his wagon to ride, and if they saw a stage coach approaching they would lie down and cover up. When asked why they did this, they would say that they had killed a man or committed some other dreadful crime, and were afraid someone was on the stage looking for them. Samuel was never harmed by these men. Time passes, Samuel is a grown man of 23 years old, and on December 21, 1867 he, Samuel Jackson and Hannah Maria Jaques were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. Both had come from England as young children and had grown up in Nephi. To this union 5 children were born. They were Samuel Jr., William, Bernecia, Lafayette and Mary Hannah. Thus their life began in Nephi raising their family and Samuel continuing to farm and freight. Some 14 years later, in 1881, Samuel received a call to go into the mission field. He labored in the southern states in Alabama and Tennessee. Samuel fulfilled an honorable mission and labored for two years there, then received an honorable release. He returned to Nephi in 1883. When Samuel went into the mission field he leased his horses and mules and freighting equipment to some of his friends. A while before he came home he received word from his friends that his horses and mules had broken loose and gone into a band of wild horses. Samuel advised his friends to let the animals be and when he came homo he would go after them. So after he came home he hired some Indians to help him, and they went out to find his animals. One of the Indians was able to shoot and kill the lead stallion. Then they were able to catch Samuel's horses and mules and bring them home. Shortly after Samuel returned home from his mission he was advised by the Church Authorities to take a plural wife. So on Nov. 30, 1883 Samuel married Martha Ann Jackson (her maiden name). To this union three daughters were born: Vida, Fannie,and Jessie. Samuel was ordained a High Priest on Dec. 2, 1885 by Joel Grover. He was then set apart as second counselor to Bishop David Udell of Nephi Second Ward. This position he faithfully held until he was released to move to Colorado in 1887. Samuel had always been a great lover of the western wilds, and one who appreciated the wide open country. It was also his desire to obtain land enough for he and his three sons. Samuel found such a place in the San Luis valley In the south central part of Colorado. So in 1887 Samuel went to this great valley to clear land and prepare a place for his family. Samuel, worked hard and in 1889 the family came to Colorado. There was no home yet built for them so they lived for a time in a hut with dirt floors. Later, Samuel burned the first brick in the vicinity of Manassa Colo, and built a home on his ranch east of Manassa on the San Antone river. They lived on this ranch for a number of years. Soon after they came to Colo. the manifesto was signed and Samuel was subject to jail for having a plural wife, so he moved Martha and her family over the line into New Mexico, and here she lived till the trouble was over. Samuel built a fine home in Manassa and moved both his families into this home. In the meantime his sons had grown up and each of them had filled a mission here in the states. They came home, married and eventually built fine homes for themselves. The three boys, after they were married, also filled a mission to England. Samuel was always very devoted to his children and especially his sons. While they were growing up he made pals of them. They worked together and played together. One time they made a trip to a sawmill for lumber. This was a long day’s work to go there and load their lumber in one day. This one evening, after everything was taken care of, all the lumber camp men were tired out and ready to retire. But there was Samuel and his boys out playing tag on a hill a short distance from the camp. Samuel and his sons pursued the sheep raising business along with their farming. Their first venture in the sheep business was very discouraging. They didn't give up however, and it wasn't many years before their sheep were widely known for their superior quality. they prospered and Samuel organized the Jackson Investment Company, of which he was president. While he lived the company was very successful and prospered. For many years Samuel was vice President of the Colonial State Bank in Manassa. Samuel was ordained bishop of the Manassa Ward on Feb. 16, 1896. His first set of counselors was Hugh L. Sellers and George B. Koch. (The Bob Koch we know is a great-grand-son of this George Koch.) Samuel was a wonderful bishop. He was always very kind and thoughtful to the needy and those who were sick. In those days tithing was payed in kind. Many nights in the fall of the year after he had spent a hard day at work, the large loads of grain and hay were brought into the tithing granery, and Samuel was always there to help unload this produce, weigh it, and make receipts. This would go on until late into the night. Samuel was bishop of the Manassa ward for 21 years. He resigned on account of failing health, and was given an honorable release on May 6, 1917. He was beloved by all his ward members and had many friends who were not members of the church. At a later time Samuel went to California to see if the climate there would aid his health. He found it too damp there, so he then went to St. George Utah, where it was warm and dry. This was of no avail, and Samuel died May 3, 1919 in St. George. He was taken back to Manassa Colorado for burial, and was grieved by all his family and friends. (I have rewritten this history taken from family history and records, and have added some things that I remember. I lived with my grandfather from the time I was born until he passed away. I was born in his home. My mother died giving birth to me in his home. Samuel was the only father that I knew. He was always so kind and good to me. I loved this good man as if he were my own father.)

.... . Written by Mary Jane Sowards Rasmussen (a grand daughter )