The Family of Bartholomew (History)

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The Family of Bartholomew, according to the record given by Mrs. Hannah Bartholomew O'Daniels, daughter of John Bartholomew, and faithfully preserved, is as follows.

During the terrible persecutions of the Huguenots in France by the Catholics, this family, whose members were residents of the French Provence of Alsace (French at that time) and members of the Huguenotic Faith, were nearly annihilated. This branch, however, saved itself through flight to the mountains of Switzerland.

After these troubles were over, during the latter portion of the 17th Century, this part of the family settled in Holland, and in the early part of the 18th Century, came to America. The above record may be wrong as to the residence in France, but is confirmed as to them being Protestants in Holland. This has been confirmed by each Branch of the family.

George W. Bartholomew Jr., the author of the Bartholomew record, was born in Bristol, Connecticut, and lived in San Antonio, Texas. The desire to know, "From whence he came and from what sources his father and grandfather stemmed," caused him to undertake the immense task and expense of completing a genealogy of the family.

In gathering the information, he completely covered the genealogy of his line. And, in gathering the information, he collected the data of several other Bartholomew families that he was unable to connect up with his direct line, but yet kept a record of them in his book. These occupy 55 pages of the book. In this record, he found three brothers-John, Jacob and Daniel.

DANIEL is our common ancestor who lived and died in Trenton, New Jersey. He married Elizabeth, whose surname we do not know, Daniel and Elizabeth had four children, two daughters--the names are not given-and two sons, John and Joseph. Joseph was our great-grandfather, called General Joseph Bartholomew. He had a large family from two marriages. Among the children of the first marriage was John, the third child. He was born in Pennsylvania about 1792 and was married in Indiana in 1814 to Nancy McKnaught. He died in Spencer, Indiana, in 1827.

Our grandfather, Joseph Bartholomew, was born of this couple, 16 Jan. 1820. He was the third child of John Bartholomew and Nancy McKnaught.

When Joseph was but seven years old, his father died and his mother passed away two years later. He went to live with his grandfather General Joseph Bartholomew. In his grandfather's family were older boys who had charge of the farm. Joseph felt that they imposed upon him, giving him work that was too hard and making the hours overly long

By the age of 12, this condition had become very disagreeable to Joseph and he wanted to get away from it. One day there was a group of travelers going by, headed for Missouri. Joseph thought that this would be a good way to get away from his disagreeable condition, so he joined one of these emigrant families by the name of Benson. He went with them to Missouri and became a permanent member of the family.

They traveled 1000 miles through Indiana, Illinois, and on to the western part of Missouri. They were among the first settlers of this country. They settled on a homestead on the banks of the Big Blue, about five miles from Kansas City and about five miles from Independence, in Jackson County, Missouri. Joseph learned the trade of Mill-wright from the Bensons and many other useful things. They prospered here and hoped to make it their permanent home. But-on the evening of 31 October, 1833, a friendly neighbor came rushing into their home warning them that a mob was coming to kill all the Mormons. They each picked up what was at hand and ran for their lives.

They went to another county and obtained a job building a flour mill. It was not long before the Saints were all driven out of Missouri. They next migrated to Illinois and settled at Warsaw, about six miles south of Nauvoo. Here again they cleared land and commenced to build homes.

On the 10 December 1843, Joseph married one of the Benson girls, Polly Benson. He was almost 24 years old and had lived with the Benson family for 12 years. Whatever happened to the Benson family, he too, had shared. He became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while living with this family.

A new home was established for Joseph and Polly and in the course of time; twin boys were born to this couple. They were named Joseph and Hyrum after the Prophet and his brother Hyrum. The twins did not live long and were buried in the Warsaw cemetery. Joseph hired out part of the time and part of the time he farmed. On the 11 September 1845, another son, John, was born. Enemies of the Saints were very numerous here. Joseph and Polly loved the prophet and his brother and would have nothing to do with these mobbing gangs, so they, like the rest of the faithful, were threatened. They were very sorrowful when they received word that the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum had been killed.

The mobocrats liked Joseph very much because he was fearless and was a good worker. He understood the building of mills, so the mobbers offered him work if he would quit the Mormons. When he refused, they threatened to kill him. He told them there would be more than one die if they attempted any trouble.

When their son, John, was 5 years old, during the cold spell when the Mississippi River was frozen over (in February 1846), Joseph placed his wife and son in a wagon with supplies and prepared to leave. Grandmother-Polly-drove the oxen across the river while grandfather stood guard with his gun to protect them. The mob had warned him that he would never cross that river. It was a very strenuous time for grandmother, for she knew that if the mob interfered with grandfather, someone would be killed. But the Lord heard and answered their prayers. The mob did not molest them. With grandfather walking behind the wagon, they landed in Iowa safely.

The journey was made to the western borders of Iowa in time to do some planting. About this time, the government officials came into the camp to recruit members for the Mormon Battalion, but grandfather was in another county, working for the seed with which to plant his crop. He was disappointed that he had not been home to enlist. However, he did some useful work in growing food, building equipment and helping the saints who went West during the years from 1847-1852.

During their stay in Iowa, three children were born to them, Mary Kezia on the 29 April, 1847, Joseph Jr. on 5 January, 1850, and George Marston on the 5 November 1851. With his wife and four children, grandfather prepared his teams and wagons with plenty of provisions ready for the journey to Utah. Some of the Benson family had preceded them to Utah, so they had a place to go to upon arrival. Their people were living on the Provo River and the Bartholomew family spent the late summer and fall with the Bensons.

During the time of their stay in Provo, grandfather was building a house at Springville, to which they moved as soon as it was finished. Grandfather became one of the pioneers of Springville. He helped to make the roads, trails, and etc. One of the canyons in the mountains nearby was named for him and is called Bartholomew Canyon. He was the first man to enter and haul wood from this canyon. He used to slide logs down the side of the mountain, so it gained the name of Bartholomew slide. He was a policeman in Springville for some years.

In the early spring of 1860, in company with two other families, the Mellors and the Melcalfs, he left Springville and went into Sanpete County settling in the place that came to be known as Fayette. They were the first people to settle the area, and called it Warm Springs, so-named for a small stream heading into springs about a mile east of the village. On account of Indian trouble it became necessary for them to move back and forth to the Gunnison Fort, which place was five miles to the south.

Grandfather made a treaty with the Indian Chief, Sanpitch, and paid him oxen for the valley. At the beginning of the Blackhawk War, grandfather, with his three sons, enlisted in the guard and were soldiers during that war. They saw action in Salina Canyon and in Grass Valley. At Grass Valley, Grandfather and his son, John, were in a battle with the Indians.

The stream of water upon whose banks they settled was small. They felt it might serve two families, so the Bartholomew and the Mellor families fell heir to the Warm Creek. However, apostle George Albert Smith came to the place called Warm Creek and counseled the settlers to divide the land into ten-acre lots and building lots sufficient to accommodate twenty families, and to divide the water. With it he gave the promise that if they would do this, there would be plenty of water for all. In faith and obedience they made the division and others were invited to settle there. One day, very soon afterward, while they were seated at dinner, the volume of the stream increased until it overflowed the banks! There was plenty of water for all.

A flour mill was built and operated from the water of Warm Creek. Grandfather built and operated a General Store and a Branch of the Church was organized. On the 4 July, 1877, Sanpete Stake was organized and the Fayette Branch was organized into a regular ward with John, Joseph's eldest son, set apart as Bishop.

Grandfather spent months in assisting to build the St. George and the Manti Temples. He did a great deal of work in both these temples for his dead ancestors.

Joseph Bartholomew and his wife, Polly Benson Bartholomew, were closely associated with the Prophet Joseph Smith and remained firm in their testimony that he was a prophet of the Lord. They were true and faithful to the Church to the end.

After thirty years of being mobbed, driven from their homes, being falsely accused, having trouble, fighting the Indians, etc., grandfather and his family were able to build a permanent home and settle down in peace, and to enj


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