THE FAMILIES OF DANIEL BERRY RAWSON AND HIS WIVES NANCY BOSS AND MARY MELVINA TAYLOR

THE FAMILIES OF DANIEL BERRY RAWSON AND HIS WIVES NANCY BOSS AND MARY MELVINA TAYLOR Daniel Berry Rawson Nancy Boss Mary Melvina Taylor Daniel Berry Rawson was born 15 Dec. 1827 at Randolph County, Indiana, the son of Horace Strong Rawson and Elizabeth Coffin. In 1831 his parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints... In 1832 the family moved to Jackson County, Missouri, where they purchased land near Big Blue Creek After fencing and clearing the land, they planted a crop; however, they never harvested it. In the fall of that year persecution increased, forcing the family to leave their crops and move to Lafayette County. Daniel and his oldest sister made the journey on foot with no shoes, walking across the frozen prairie ground. Renting an old log home and four or five acres of land from a Mr. Barnard, Daniel s father worked and paid for the use of the property. He planted a crop and felt encouraged by the prospects of a good crop. However, howling and threatening mobs forced them to move across the Missouri River to Clay County, leaving a crop that they were unable to sell. Having no shelter, they stuck willows into the sandy bank and stretched sheets over them for temporary shelter for the family until the father was able to arrange for a small place on the bluff of the river. Here they built a home during the winter of 1835. The next spring they sold their property and rented a home and farm, where they raised a good crop. Then in the spring of 1836 they moved again, this time into Caldwell County near Far West, Mob violence caused them to move from one place to another until the spring of 1839, when Governor Boggs issued his infamous extermination order. At that time the Rawson family had to leave behind all that they could not load into a repaired wagon to leave the state. In the latter part of 1829 their family arrived at Quincy, Illinois, then moved on to the area near Lima, where a number of the saints built a fairly large settlement. They stayed there until the spring of 1841, when they moved into Nauvoo and built another home. For two years the family enjoyed relative peace. In 1842 their father bought some property in Yelmore, moved there from Nauvoo, fenced their farm, cleared the land and planted crops for two years. However, after mob activities Daniel B. Rawson Page 1 of 7

increased and the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were slain, the Rawsons were forced to leave. Following is his account of some terrifying experiences: Joseph Etlerr drove down from Nauvoo with a team and moved the family and household goods up to Nauvoo, leaving part of our stock, swine and fowls behind. A few days after we returned to get what we had left. We found our house in ashes, swine, fowls and sheep and stock carried away. Fencing being hauled away. The men who were hauling the rails promised to pay father for them. During the winter of 1846 I went to try and get pay for them. When I got in sight of the house his dogs scented me and commenced barking. I saw three or four men come out of the house. I saw they were rank mob, Josh Vance being one of them. When I saw who was there, I dreaded to approach but they had seen me. I thought it was best to go up to the house. I asked the man who had got the rails (I forget his name) if he could let me have a little meat for my father as he was very destitute. He at first denied me, but after a few minutes of reconsideration he let me have one small bacon, ham and a few pounds of salt fish. While I was in his house I looked out and saw a large flock of geese that my mother had raised. I also noticed as he moved the stacks of boards overhead to get the ham (his meat was hanging in the loft) the large hams and midlines of a very large hog and a lot of other small sows and midlines. It struck me forcibly, there are the remains of my father s large sows and several other things that were taken from our home. I put my meat and fish in my sack and was glad to get away. It was sundown and began to get dusk. After I had gone a short distance from the house the mob began to shoot off their guns. Whether they shot at me, or whether they intended to scare me I could not tell. Be assured I did not stop to see but traveled as fast as I could until I was out of sight. Then I left the road and traveled through the woods and arrived safe at my destination and congratulated myself that I got off as well as I did. On the 20 th of November 1845 myself and a young man by the name of James Woodland made preparations for making shingles. By getting our tools and some provisions together we carried them to a vacant house located on the main road leading from Bear Creek to Nauvoo. At night another young man by the name of Gilbert Hunt came to our camp after supper. He proposed that we go over to Solomon Hancock s barn to sleep. We agreed. We picked our bedding and went to the barn a half mile down the road, climbed up onto the hay, made our beds and were soon asleep. Near twelve o clock I was awakened by the crackling and popping of fire. There had been a stack of straw stacked up in an old rail pen. It was the oak timber that made the popping. I looked out and saw the light of fire, woke up the other boys. We climbed up and out in quick time. There was a lot of dry straw in the barnyard. It was afire and burning near the barn. In a very short time the barn would have been on fire. George Hancock was awake, looked out and saw the light. He awakened his father and his family and also brother Edmund Durfey and son. They all came out. The horses and stock were all turned out of the barn. All hands went to work raking straw and rubbish to prevent the barn from catching fire. The barn yard was built of logs, so while we were in stooping position the mob did not have a chance to shoot at us but as soon as we straightened up, there was a shrill whistle heard south and answered around the west, then the shooting commenced. The guns roared and the bullets whistled around our heads. Solomon Hancock and the boys all ran for their guns but myself and Edmund Durfey. We stood for a short time, then there came a shower of bullets. One struck him hear the collar Daniel B. Rawson Page 2 of 7

bone. He fell, a dead man. By this time I thought it best for me to get out of there. I took legging it, as I had to run the length of the barn and stables exposed. They again opened fire on me. The bullets flew like a hail-storm. It was found next morning that bullets had lodged on either side of the gate I had passed through but through the blessings of the Lord, I had passed through unharmed. Durfey s remains were guarded until the next morning when his brother-in-law, David Gardner, came along with a team. We loaded the remains of Durfee on a straw bed. Myself and James Woodland followed as guard to Nauvoo. We washed, shaved and laid him out, sat up with the body during the night. The next day we dug his grave. On 9 Nov. 1845 Daniel married Mariah Atkinson, lived with her parents over winter, then moved to Nauvoo. In the spring they joined the westward movement of Saints, Daniel hiring passage for himself and his wife by driving a team. When they reached Mount Pisgah, they heard of Captain Allen enlisting men to serve in the war with Mexico. At the time he was very resentful against the government for its disregard for his family s need of protection in Missouri and Illinois; however, when he heard President Young s statement that the salvation of Israel depended upon raising the army, he promptly enlisted. The story of Daniel s experiences in the Mormon Battalion and the return trip to meet his loved ones who had yet to cross the plains reads like a wild west novel. One cannot do justice to the story in a brief account such as this. Arriving back in Council Bluffs, Daniel learned that his wife had been led astray by a Negro prophet. He lived with his parents that winter, then in the spring he bought a team and wagon and with his sister Samantha crossed the plains in the Captain Richards Company. The trip proved uneventful except for a terrible blizzard which occurred near the crossing of the Sweetwater. For 46 hours the blizzard raged, drifting show as high as their wagons. They had to dig the wagons out of the snow to continue their journey. Arriving in the Salt Lake Valley in October 1849, he stayed in Farmington over the winter. In November he married Nancy Boss and with her moved to Ogden in the spring of 1850. They took up a farm and built them a home. In the winter of 1850 he built a shop, put up a turning lathe and made the first chair and spinning wheel that were made in Weber County. In the ensuing years he moved his family to Farmington, then Payson. In the fall of 1858 he was called to take a load of supplies to assist the troops who were in the siege of Johnston s Army. He found his brother William C. Rawson very ill and used his influence to have the man released. Daniel himself was retained and called to act as Mayor s agent for Maylor Thurber from Spanish Fork Division. In the spring of 1860 he was called on a mission to scout the country south and west of Fillmore to find a place for the saints to colonize. After returning from that mission, he moved his family to Ogden. In August 1863 he was elected Constable for the Ogden City Precinct. In the latter part of 1864 he rented the farm of Bishop Chauncy West and moved his family there. In the spring of 1866 he was called to preside over the 8 th ecclesiastical district of Weber Stake, which position he held until 1876. In 1875 he was called at a general conference to go on a mission to Arizona and to the Indians in the region of the Colorado. During the winter of 1876 he reported having baptized four Indians, two men and their wives. In late July 1876 he was released to come home with the understanding that he would return in the fall; however, ill health terminated his mission. He resumed his position as president of the 8 th district of Weber Stake until June 1877, when the stake was organized into Daniel B. Rawson Page 3 of 7

wards. He was soon released to be called as a stake missionary, then subsequently called as a high councilor in the Weber Stake. In January 1890 he was attacked with liver and kidney complaint. He died 18 Feb. 1892 and was buried in the Ogden City Cemetery. (This life story was written in January 2006 by Brian L. Taylor. Source: Life story of Daniel Berry Rawson written by him at Farr West, Utah on 28 Jan. 1892 just three weeks before his death)) SHORT SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF NANCY BOSS - WRITTEN BY HER DAUGHTER SAMANTHA. My mother, Nancy Boss, was born in Davidson County, North Carolina on 26 th March 1829, daughter of Philip and Obedience Brown Boss. Her father passed away in 1838, leaving grandmother with nine children...she moved with her children to Illinois in 1838 where her family allied themselves with the Mormon Church and gathered at Nauvoo in 1842. At the time of the Prophet Joseph s death, she was employed as a servant girl at the home of Colonel (Levi) Williams, the man that led the mob that killed the Prophet. She prepared the dinner for the mob before they started to the jail. Knowing she was a Mormon girl, Colonel Williams refused to let her leave the house. The mob burned her mother s house. Her mother seemed to be a person who could make friends, was loved and respected by all. She was called Aunt Biddy. One of her non-mormon friends warned her to get out and leave her home as the mob intended to burn it. That night she took her children and what things they could carry and went down to the swamps to sleep. She said the mosquitoes nearly ate them up. The home was not burned that night, but it was burned the next night. Not knowing that Colonel Williams was the leader of the mob, she took employment at his home, being glad to get work. He threatened her life if she attempted to escape from there. Nancy said that the mob carried on like demons and she heard them planning the martyrdom. The night before they killed the Prophet, they painted their faces black and drank whiskey, acting as though they had gone mad. Nancy s room was upstairs and she was sitting on the stairs as she heard Colonel Williams say, Every nit makes a louse, let s kill her, but they did not come. The next night after they had murdered the Prophet, they returned to the house and seemed very frightened. They acted like crazy men. Somehow Nancy received word from Captain James Brown that he would be waiting for her down in the woods, where she met him, mounted his horse and made her escape. She remained with her mother until 1846. She died 20 August 1888 at Farr West, Utah. She had been a kind and affectionate mother, a faithful friend to the poor and needy, always ready to assist in Relief Society work. MARY MELVINA TAYLOR RAWSON Aunt Melviny, as she used to be called by my father, Riley Taylor, had been born early enough to be involved in the great pioneer trek, and she lived long enough to emerge from the most challenging days of pioneer life. She claimed Council Bluffs, Iowa, as her birthplace, where she was born 22 Feb 1847, just seven months after her father Joseph was mustered into the Mormon Battalion. He returned just a few months after she was born, finding that the family s provisions were gone and his cattle were scattered. Taking three years to work and prepare the family for crossing the plains, he finally brought them west in 1850 in the James Lake Company of 50 wagons. Daniel B. Rawson Page 4 of 7

Warned by parents to stay close to them when Indians frequently visited the travelers, Melvina became so terrified of the Indians that she had her mother Mary bring meals to her inside of the wagon. Riding inside the wagon was not really comfortable, because the motion of the wagon in traveling was sufficient to churn the family s butter. In the spring of 1852 when Melvina was just five years old, her mother died in childbirth. The family was so poor that burial clothing was difficult to find, and Joseph Taylor had to make a coffin from his wagon box. Melvina later recalled peering into the coffin and thinking how sweet her mother looked with the tiny baby on her arm. Later that same year when a stepmother was brought into the family to help raise four young children, Melvina faced heartbreak when Aunt Jane decided that the child s long, dark curls had to go because they required too much care. One day while the men folk were working in Farmington, a neighbor lady came rushing to their place with her small children and said the Indians were on the war path and headed their way. The women raced to load the children in their wagon and headed for Farmington as fast as they could. Soon the hideously painted Indians came into sight, heading straight toward them. Just in time, Joseph and the other men came into sight over the hill. Joseph Taylor had learned to talk the Indian language and was able to calm them down when they were angry. Holding a peace meeting with the painted Indians, the whites were able to defuse the situation. In 1858 when her father was called into military service in the Utah War, he had ordered shoes to be made for the children; however, when the shoemaker learned that the father was gone, he refused to make the shoes. Melvina had to help with the chores, carrying wood and water and doing other chores all winter without any shoes to wear. She learned early to spin and knit very well. Possessing those skills, she loved to tell how she earned her first pair of dress hoops. Her father had strictly opposed the wearing of hoops; however, one Saturday night when he returned from hauling logs from the hills, he stated that he needed new mittens to go into the hills the next Monday morning. He told his daughter that if she would knit him some mittens, she could have the hoops. She prepared the yarn, knitted and washed the mittens, working all night on Saturday and on Sunday to finish the job. He bought her the hoops. Melvina had been brought up in a polygamous society. No doubt her parents had mentioned that it would not only be appropriate, but desirable to so marry if she were approached by the right kind of man. When Daniel Berry Rawson came into her life, even though he was 20 years older than she, he had a lot of pluses in his background. Faithful in the church and respected in the community, he had shared some experiences with her father in the Mormon Battalion and the Utah War. He had filled assignments as a missionary and explorer for the Church, and he had served as a constable in the Ogden precinct in 1863. Their marriage was solemnized in the Salt Lake Endowment House on March 19, 1866. The couple lived on the farm which Daniel had bought from Chauncey West (owned in 2006 by Dale J. Chugg). After Melvina became a widow at the age of 45, she continued to run the farm with the help of her sons. She also raised turkeys, sold butter and eggs, and even made clothing for her sons from yarn she had spun at home. Then after her son Silas moved to Coleman, Idaho, she decided to follow and bought a 40-acre farm adjoining his. It was said of her that she was not afraid to tackle anything, and she was a good farmer. Of course her sons worked with her. However, she carried with her the fears of early days crossing the plains: water, snakes and Indians. Also, she had fears of being alone, so after her sons left home, she had her granddaughter Stella sleep with her for company. Daniel B. Rawson Page 5 of 7

When her son Silas moved back to Farr West, then into Ogden, she moved with him and occupied one room in his home. Her small pension from her husband s service in the Mexican War gave her the pin money she needed for personal use. As promised in her patriarchal blessing, her last days were her best. She died peacefully in her sleep on 8 June 1934 in Ogden. (Source: Written in 2006 by Brian L. Taylor from biographies of two granddaughters, LaVon Rawson Gaisford--1934 and Mary Estella Rawson Christensen 1954) THE CHILDREN OF DANIEL BERRY RAWSON AND NANCY BOSS 1. Nancy Emeline Rawson was born 29 Jan 1857 in Ogden, Weber, Utah. She married 5 Sep 1868 in the Salt Lake Endowment House, Harvey Green Taylor. He was born 6 Oct 1849 in,pottawattamie,iowa. 2. Elizabeth Ann Rawson was born 3 Feb 1853 in Ogden, Weber, Utah. She married 15 Aug 1868 in the Salt Lake Endowment House, Francis David Higginbotham, Sr. He was born 24 May 1848 in, Tazewell, Virginia. 3. Mary Ann Olive Rawson was born 2 Jan 1855 in Ogden, Weber, Utah. She married (1)in the summer of 1850 at, Stephen Ordway, Jr. He was born abt 1825 of, Hall, Missouri. Mary Ann married (2) 23 Sep 1872 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, Moroni Taylor. He was born 1 May 1853 in Kaysville, Davis, Utah. 4. Obedience Leonora Rawson was born 23 Apr 1857 in Payson, Utah, Utah. She married 28 Apr 1879 in Vernal, Uintah, Utah, Lamoni Taylor. He was born 12 Sep 1855 in Ogden, Weber, Utah. 5. Polly Ann Rawson was born 3 May 1859 in Payson, Utah, Utah. She married 28 Oct 1879 in the Salt Lake Endowment House, James Rushton Dinsdale. He was born 9 Oct 1855 in Ogden, Weber, Utah. 6. Sariah Diantha Rawson was born 28 Aug 1861 in Ogden, Weber, Utah. She married (1) 31 May 1878 in the Salt Lake Endowment House, Joseph Hyrum Daniels Brown. He was born 6 Jan 1856 in Goarton, Lancashire, England. Sariah married (2) George Brown in 1881 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah. He was born about 1857 of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah. 7. Daniel Heber Rawson was born 8 Sep 1863 in Ogden, Weber, Utah 8. Charlotte Grace Rawson was born18 Feb 1865 in Ogden, Weber, Utah. She married 13 Apr 1882 in the Salt Lake Endowment House, Chauncy West Richardson. He was born 15 Oct 1861 in Ogden, Weber, Utah. 9. Samantha Dalena Rawson was born26 Aug 1867 in Harrisville, Weber, Utah. She married 25 Jan 1888 in the Logan Temple, George Washington Rose. He was born 6 Dec 1859 in Ogden, Weber, Utah. 10. Daniel Benjamin Rawson was born 6 Nov 1870 in Harrisville, Weber, Utah. He married 15 Nov 1893 in the Logan Temple, Mary Leah Brown. She was born 7 Mar 1875 in Huntsville, Weber, Utah. Daniel B. Rawson Page 6 of 7

THE CHILDREN OF DANIEL BERRY RAWSON AND MARY MELVINA TAYLOR 1. Silas Daniel Rawson was born 4 Sep 1867 in Harrisville (now Farr West), Weber, Utah. He married 23 Jan 1889 in the Logan Temple, Johanne Marie (Mary) Hegsted. She was born 20 Nov 1866 in Huntsville, Weber, Utah. 2. David Ward Rawson was born 17 Sep 1871 in Harrisville (now Farr West), Weber, Utah. He married 26 Sep 1895 in the Salt Lake Temple, Nancy Jane Bingham. She was born 19 Apr 1876 in Wilson Lane, Weber, Utah. 3. Joseph Horace Rawson was born 6 Aug 1874 in Harrisville (now Farr West), Weber, Utah. He married 15 Dec 1899 in the Logan Temple, Emmeretta Bingham. She was born 15 Jul 1878 in Wilson, Weber, Utah. 4. Wilford Woodruff Rawson was born 1 Sep 1881 in Harrisville (now Farr West), Weber, Utah. He married (1) 4 Oct 1905 in the Salt Lake temple, Eugenia Lefgren. She was born 30 Oct 1879 in Ogden, Weber, Utah. He married (2)12 May 1932 in the Salt Lake Temple, Erma LaVera Madsen. She was born 11 Apr 1895 in Milford, Beaver, Utah. SOURCES: 1. LDS Church Census, microfilm #0271399 and #0471591 2. Internet IGI 3. Jeffery, Janet Franson, History of the James Lake, Jr. Family (Murray, Utah, Roylance Publishing, 1990), p. 201. Daniel B. Rawson Page 7 of 7