Marcy (or Mercy) Jane Lucas Barney (2nd Great Grand Aunt)
Birth: Dec. 25, 1802 Clinton County Ohio, USA
Death: Mar. 20, 1886 Escalante, Garfield County, Utah, USA
History - Marcy moved to central Illinois with her parents in 1829. There she married John Williams, February 10, 1831, and they had six children while living near Mt. Pulaski, Sangamon (now Logan) County, Illinois. LDS (Mormon) missionaries visited the area in the early 1840's. According to her grandchildren, Marcy wanted to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but her husband forbade it because of the persecution he had seen around the area. He died September 20, 1844 in or near Springfield, Illinois.
Marcy, with the family, then removed to Kanesville, on the Missouri River where the body of the Saints were gathered. A great deal of courage was manifested in this move as the father's will, which left considerable property to the family, did not permit the family to leave the county [Logan County, Illinois] until the youngest child was of age. This provision was made to keep the family from joining the Church. A strong watch was kept over the family day and night to see that they did not leave. However, one night at the hour of twelve, during a change of guards, the mother took the family and reached a river steamer at daybreak.
Bishop Bigler, later bishop of Nephi, was on board looking for a sister. Some power told him that Sister Williams, the mother, was a Saint, so during the night he came and awakened the family, telling them to get bag and baggage and get off the steamer at the first landing for he had a vision. Without asking any questions, they landed [got off the steamer]. Next morning they again boarded the first steamer going their way. They had not gone far when they beheld only the smokestack of the other steamer protruding from the water. A terrific explosion had destroyed the ship and all including the crew and passengers.
Marcy married Henry Barney in 1846. He was already a member of the Church, having joined in 1840. Marcy must have known Henry Barney at least as long as she had known John Williams, because the Barneys, Lucases, and Williams were all neighbors in Sangamon/Logan County, Illinois in the 1830's.
The family immigrated to Utah in 1849, coming with ox-teams. The journey was uneventful. They were in St. Louis at the time of the Cholera plague* during which deaths were as high as 365 in one day. They arrived in Provo in October of 1849. They stayed there [in Provo] two or three years and then moved on down to Southern Utah.***
No comments:
Post a Comment