(Taken
from the Holbrook Family Organization Website)
Caroline Frances Angell Davis Holbrook
|
1825 - 1908
Caroline's
Autobiography
Caroline's
Biography - written by Alice
Anderson Harris
Obituary - from the
'Davis County Clipper' newspaper
A Sketch of the Life and Experiences of
Caroline Frances Angell Davis Holbrook
I was born October 3rd,
1825, in North Providence, Rhode Island. I am the daughter of James Williams
Angell and Phebe Morton Angell, who was the daughter of Phebe Langford Morton
and Abraham Morton.
My father was the son of
Solomon Angell; was born in Providence, State of Rhode Island, October 15th,
1776. Mother was born March 28th, 1786, Udica, New York State. Father was named
for Roger Williams who was burned at the stake for his religion. By this union
five brothers and four sisters. They are as follows:
Mary Ann Angell was born June the 8th,
1808, Seneca, Ontario County, New York State. She was married to Brigham Young,
who succeeded Joseph Smith, the President of the Mormon Church (born June 1st
1806).
Jamima Angell was born October 5th,
Seneca, Ontario County, New York State. She was married to Valentine Young; six
children.
Solomon Angell was born April 25th.
He married Eunice Young; by that union eight children were born to them.
Truman Osburn Angell was born June
5th, 1814. He married Polley Johnson after coming to Utah; by this union eight
children were born to them. He became leading architect of four temples: St.
George, Logan, Manti, Salt Lake, and many other buildings.
Hyrum Angell was born in July and
died in his 23rd year. He was not married; he was a good carpenter.
Washington Angell died in his 16th
year, was born October 12th.
James Angell died in his 8th year,
was born December 17th.
Abigil Angell was born June, 1825;
died October.
Phebe Ann Angell was born October
13th; married Dyer Johnson.
The last six were all born in Providence,
Rhode Island. I am the youngest. I married [George] David [Varner] Davis March
26th, 1843. By this union three children were born:
Mary Ann Angell, born January 11th, 1844; married Jorgen
Anderson August 18th, 1860; he was born November 14th, 1836; they had five
children by this union:
George Anderson, September 23rd, 1861, married Ann
Hogan;
Caroline Frances was born in Richmond, Cache Valley, October 31st, 1863, died
when three years old;
Mary was born December 11th 1865, married David Beach June 13th 1886
Phebe was born March 5th, 1868; married to Joseph Allen, December 9th,
1883;
Sarah Alice, January 10th 1870; married Charles Z. Harris April 14th, 1886.
Sarah Abigil died in her infancy.
George David Davis was born in Winter Quarters November 5th
1846, married Celestia Green December 3rd.
WINTER QUARTERS:
We began our
journey. We got to Winter Quarters from Nauvoo and there my husband
left me and children and mother on May 25th, 1846 to travel alone the rest of
the journey to Utah. He thought he could live in the States just as well as
here. David married there a woman out of the Church, and is there yet for all I
know. He left me and my children and mother to perform the rest of the journey
to Utah without much means. I never had or heard from him only by the by. I
then journeyed with mother to the mountains in President Young's company, which
consisted of two hundred wagons, divided by fifties and tens. Enduring many
hardships, we landed safe in Salt Lake Valley, September 16th, 1848. When we
got on Little Mountain, President Young showed me where he saw the Valley with
his natural eye. We first moved the under-brush and I saw the valley for the
first time. I thought it was beautiful and green, a home for the Saints.
SALT LAKE CITY:
When I was twenty seven years
old, I was taken very sick. Many thought my time had come to go; I thought I
would not. I asked for seven sisters to come and wash and anoint me with oil;
this was done. I began to mend from that very hour and got well. The sisters
said my feet were as cold as though I was dead. I have lived over fifty years
since.
Joseph Holbrook, my husband, died November 14th, 1885, at
ten o'clock p.m. at Bountiful, Davis County, Utah, aged 79 years, 9 months, 28
days.
PROVIDENCE:
I left with my parents,
Providence, the place of my birth, when I was six years old. The next month
after I left there we traveled by steam and canal boats to Buffalo; hence to
China, now called Java, in New York State. There I, with the rest of my family,
first heard the gospel. And all that was there joined the Church but me, I
being only seven years of age. In February 1837 we moved to Kirtland,
State of Ohio, the first gathering place of the Saints. There I became
acquainted with Prophet Joseph and his father, mother, brothers, sisters, and
his wife Emma. At this time, the mob spirit was raging and they caused untold
misery and suffering to the Church and its members. They went to the prophet's
house in the night, dragged him out of bed, and some distance from his house,
laid him on a pile of lumber and beat him till his spirit left his body and
stood overhead, witnessing the mob beat his body; now he could not feel it
hurt. They took all the clothing off his body and covered his flesh with tar
and feathers and tried to administer poison to him. They left him for dead; he
regained consciousness and managed to get back to the house. By this time, a
number of brothers and sisters had assembled at the home of the prophet, glad
he had returned, but sorry to see the condition of his person. They spent the
remainder of the night in cleaning off the tar and feathers and dressing the
wounds. O dear, how dreadful!
When we got to Winter
Quarters I was confined the fifth of November with my oldest son, in a wagon,
and a very bad storm and wind for days, and no fire; one house in camp; went to
get a bake kettle of coals to dress the baby by. Little fellow shook with the
cold and I was very sick, nigh unto death. I sent to Brother Brigham to pray
for me. I soon got better, and I am here yet.
The next spring, a few
families in a small company, mostly men, started for Salt Lake Valley, Utah for
for the West. This company, now pioneers, arrived safely in Salt Lake Valley
July 24th, 1847. The same summer, President Young returned with all the
brethren that did not take their families with them to Winter Quarters, and the
next spring, after spending one summer and two winters in Winter Quarters, we
began to prepare for our journey to the Rocky Mountains. The entire company
which left Winter Quarters consisted of six hundred ox teams, one horse team,
and two or three saddle horses. This company was divided into three companies,
two hundred wagons in each. We traveled two rows abreast, three rods apart, on
account of Indians.
KIRTLAND:
The spring after we
arrived at Kirtland, the Lord, through Joseph Smith, called for a company of
men to go up to redeem Zion, Iacounty County, Missouri. They went. The mob had
driven the Mormons from their home; they could not do anything. The Lord had
accepted what they had done and they returned home to Kirtland. At Kirtland,
the first Mormon temple was in progress at this time. The brethren were
generally poor but gave freely for the temple for its erection when Mother
Smith took her one horse and went around to gather means for glass and nails
and also to gather all the broken earthen to put in the outside plaster. Soon
after the temple was completed, an attempt was made to destroy it and destroy
the printing office which stood close to the temple by setting fire, but the
temple was not harmed much. Some of the outside plaster fell off. The temple
was plastered on the outside and marked off like big square rock.
In 1835 we moved from
Kirtland to Far West, Missouri. There I saw the cornerstone of a temple laid.
On account of the trouble and driving by our enemies it never was erected.
On account of the
surrounding circumstances, I was not baptized until January 1838 in Shoal
Creek, Missouri, by President Brigham Young and confirmed by him.
MISSOURI:
I was very sick with
chills and fever. I was immediately healed after being baptized and confirmed.
I was thirteen years old in October before I taught school the next following
summer. I had about 25 pupils. I learned them what was taught in common schools,
the girls to knit and sew. This was in Missouri.
NAUVOO:
When I was 16, I taught
school. I had thirty pupils under my tuition. This was in Nauvoo.
The Nauvoo temple was
practically finished; many of the brethren and sisters received their endowments.
This duration of peace did not last long and we had soon to prepare for a visit
from the State and to look for safety elsewhere. In February 1846 we crossed
the Mississippi River; the persecution of the mob became hard to bear.
MISSOURI:
In the following
February, 1838, Brother Brigham and family, and many of the leading men, left
Missouri for Quincy, Illinois, and by spring many of the Saints had followed
them to Quincy. We, however, remained here but a short time when circumstances
compelled us to journey as a people to a place which we named Nauvoo. Mother
and I went out six miles form Quincy on a man's farm, by the name of Hyal
Travers, and my brother Truman Angell. These people were not Mormons. We
stayed a year from the next fall. They were very kind. We could, for our work,
have a share of anything that grew on the farm. They treated us like we were
their sisters; the young men of the place turned out and got our winter wood
with teams and we gave them a good dinner; they would have no other pay because
we had been driven away from our home.
In Nauvoo, here the
people built a temple and many fine houses and laid out a fine city. Brother
Joseph Smith built what was called the Mansion House, which was his home at his
death. Mother and I built us a brick house. It was only one room, finished and
comfortable. We built it by our own industry and lived there till the mob drove
us away.
In Missouri a large body
of soldiers, called mob, came and camped on Crooked River about a mile from Far
West, with the determination of destroying the Mormons. The brethren went
outside the town to defend the women and the children; then the mob advanced to
the Mormons; a fierce battle was fought in which the mob was defeated. Three of
the brethren were killed and an apostle, one of the twelve, the Mormon Captain
David H. Patten, Brother Carter, Brother O'Banion; and some of the brethren
were wounded, brother Joseph Holbrook ----- and many of the mob were killed and
wounded. This was called Crooked River Battle. Then the mob reinforced and came
and camped in Far West. They were very hostile to the Mormons, destroying their
crops and property and burning many of their houses. This same fall the mob
took Joseph and Hyrum and several of the brethren prisoners to Clay County
jail, Missouri.
CAMP TO MISSOURI:
It proved to be a very
arduous journey and many murmured. Brother Joseph told them to cease murmuring;
if they did not, something worse would come upon them. The plague came, the
colery [cholera] broke out in the camp; nearly all had a stage of it and some
died. It caused a great deal of serious suffering. This was called the name of
Zion's Camp.
NAUVOO:
Brother Joseph and Hyrum
Smith got out of jail in Clay County, in April, and fled to Quincy; from there,
they went to Nauvoo, the courts and officers of the law harassing Brother
Joseph continuously. He had been arrested and after being dragged from one
court to another, he was acquitted.
On one occasion Brother
Joseph and Brother Hyrum swam the Mississippi River to escape the officers.
This alarmed some of the brethren and they murmured, saying, "Joseph is
trying to forsake us, and leave us to be killed," which was false. When
Joseph heard of this, he returned to Nauvoo to stand by the Saints even if it cost
him his life. His enemies soon captured him and carried him away to Carthage
Jail to await trial. The Governor of the State promised protection to Joseph
and Hyrum, and the five brethren with them, and he placed a guard of Carthage
Grays to guard the jail. Their guns were loaded with false cartridges. About
three hundred armed and disguised men approached the jail for the purpose of
destroying the prophet Joseph and Hyrum Smith; the Carthage Grays fired their
false cartridges in the air; the mob had full sway; the Prophet and his brother
were shot in cold blood June 27th, 1844. Brother John Taylor was with them and
would have been killed, but the ball entered his watch and thereby saved his
life. The Governor must have understood the plot of the wicked massacre, for he
went to Nauvoo to deliver a speech to the people, at the same time the brothers
Joseph and Hyrum were killed in jail, on the piece of building where Joseph
talked last to the Nauvoo Legion.
Monday morning, when they
started to the jail, Joseph on a black horse and Hyrum on a white horse, my
eyes followed up the road as far as I could see them. I felt it would be the
last time I would see them in this life.
This was a great
affliction and sorrow to the Latter-Day Saints. All the missionaries that were
in the world were called home. Brigham and Heber arrived just in time to
prevent Sidney Rigdon from calling a vote of the people for him, Sidney, to be
put in leader of the Church. A voice was heard at the door like Joseph's
"Hold On," and things changed, and at this meeting Brigham Young was
chosen leader of the Church of Jesus Christ.
MISSOURI:
When in Missouri and
brothers Joseph and Hyrum were in Clay County Jail, Mary Fielding Smith,
Hyrum's wife, had a baby boy. Father Smith sent word to Hyrum: his wife had a
boy, what shall it be named? He sent back word: when it was eight days old,
have father come and name and bless him, and call him Joseph Fielding Smith. He
is now President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Mother
Angell washed and dressed him and laid him on his grandfather's arms for the
occasion, and looked after mother till she was alright. The enemies were
prowling around us at the time.
(I am living with my
daughter Caroline F. A. Corbridge and son-in-law John Corbridge, Richmond. I am
78 years old next October.)
SALT LAKE VALLEY:
I was married to Joseph
Holbrook December 31st, 1850. He was the son of Moses and Hannah Morton
Holbrook. Joseph was born in Florence, Oneida County New York, January 16th,
1806. (Moses Holbrook was born May 15th, 1778, and was the son of John and Lucy
Babbitt Holbrook.) From this union 9 children were born, 1 daughter and 8
sons:
Caroline
Frances Angell Holbrook, born Salt Lake, October 21st 1851;
Joseph Hyrum Angell Holbrook, born Salt Lake City, February 8th, 1854;
Brigham Angell Holbrook, born Bountiful, February 10th, 1856;
Moses Angell Holbrook born Bountiful, January 16th, 185_;
James Angell Holbrook born Bountiful, April 3rd, 1860; died infancy;
John Angell Holbrook born December 9th; died in infancy;
Ephraim Angell Holbrook born April 8th, 1863; died 10 months old;
Enoch Angell Holbrook born Bountiful, July 12th, 1865; and
Heber Angell Holbrook born Bountiful, June 5th, 1867.
VALLEY:
When I saw the valley, it
appeared to be the Garden Spot of the earth, except the ground which the
pioneers had raised crops on. Then to the west appeared the beautiful lake. One
house caught my eye beside the fort, which the pioneers had built. This house
was Lorenzo Young's, Brigham Young's brother. We then finished our journey into
the valley and during the winter we had to live on rations because our
provisions were very low and the pioneers had not raised much during the
summer. For two or three years, the grasshoppers and crickets were very thick;
they destroyed a good deal of the crops. About the third year, the seagulls
came and destroyed many of the grasshoppers and crickets. They would fill their
crops, throw up, and eat again; so on, all day for days. Then we had a few prosperous
years, raised good crops and the Saints became comfortable and happy, most of
them.
The Governor of United
States, when we were traveling between Nauvoo and Winter Quarters, called for
five hundred of our best men out of the camp to come and aid in the United
States and Mexican War. They had families in rather distressed circumstances.
The rest of the travelers had to look after them and do the best we could for
all.
TRAVELS IN PART TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS:
Although we had many
hardships and much care, we did not feel to murmur at all. We did not
experience much trouble with the Indians; we kept a guard out every night to
protect the camp and watch the stock; the wagons would corral in the form of a
long O so as to make a fence so as to keep some of the stock inside during the
night, as a mode to protect the camp. The guard called every hour the time of
night or hour of night and changed guard at midnight. In this way, we traveled
from Winter Quarters. We started April 19th, 1848, and arrived in Salt Lake
Valley September 16th, 1848.
BOUNTIFUL, DAVIS COUNTY:
My mother died in Salt
Lake City, November 14th, 1854, aged 69 years. I moved to Bountiful in 1853,
where I have lived ever since. In the main, we have been prosperous and been
blessed by the word of God, and always had enough to get along by using
economy, and got along alright.
RICHMOND, UTAH (at the home of C. Z.
Harris):
I have had many trials
and many troubles. I have tried to overcome as best I could. Now to my children
and great grandchildren and all my posterity who will read these words, I do
not know how long I shall live, and I want to leave and bear my testimony to
the truthfulness of this work. I know that the things here in writing are true,
and that this is the church and kingdom of God, and I want to exhort my
posterity to be true and faithful in Christ and to live their religion that
they may be saved in the Celestial Kingdom of God, and I want not one of them
to be lost. I have had hands laid on me many times, and been healed by the Holy
Priesthood of God in Nauvoo, Winter Quarters, Salt Lake and Bountiful, I sign
my name to this, that it may be read and thought upon by posterity.
(signed) Caroline Frances Angell
Holbrook
[note: much of the
spelling and grammar remain intact from Caroline's writing; some changes have
been made for readability]
Caroline Frances Angell [Davis] Holbrook
a
biography, written by Alice Anderson Harris, a granddaughter
In attempting to give a
short sketch of pioneer life, the traveling, hardships and suffering as told by
one of the pioneers herself, Mrs. Caroline F. A. Holbrook, I find it difficult
to remember in detail the most interesting events, when it comes to properly
placing them on paper, although I seem to know them well enough in a general
way.
Mrs. Holbrook is my
grandmother on my mother's side. Her maiden name was Angell and she was an own sister
to Mary Ann Angell, Brigham Young's wife. As a result of this relationship, she
was very close to the Young family, also was well acquainted with the Prophet
Joseph and his brother Hyrum Smith, visiting and associating with them before
their martyrdom.
She was __ years old at
the time they were murdered and lived within a few blocks of the Carthage Jail
at the time. For days the women of the Saints were anxiously watching the
doings and reporting the intentions of the mob.
On the day of the murder,
reports of the approaching mob were received. Taking her baby (my mother Mary
Ann A. Anderson) in her arms, she went to the front gate from which place she
could see the mob surrounding the jail and at times could see the barrels of
the guns and the bayonets glistening in the sun. Under such a trying scene, we
may think we can imagine the feelings of this young woman, but such is
impossible to feel and know that their beloved brothers and leaders were being
murdered, and to be powerless at such a trying time to render assistance.
She and her people were
fairly well off, having a good home in Kirtland, Ohio. She, with her mother,
aided in building the Kirtland Temple by boarding several of the workmen while
the temple was in course of construction, With many of the others, it was a
severe task and one of those trials which none but faithful saints could
endure, for her to have her home and nearly every article of furniture so dear
to every mother to the destruction of the mob. But the love of God and the
desire to do His will prevailed against the human ties of peaceful and
comfortable homes, so she deserted all for the gospel's sake and started west.
She was born 3 October
1825 in Worth Province, Rhode Island. She was the daughter of James William
Angell and Phebe Morton Angell, who was the daughter of Abraham Morton and
Phebe Langford Morton. Both of her parents were born New York State.
[excerpt from Caroline's autobiography,
above, was inserted here]
Grandmother raised a
large family and was a hard worker and a faithful Latter-Day Saint. She lived
to a good old age and passed away 28 October 1908 at Bountiful, Utah at the age
of 84 years. Thus ended the career of one of God's noble creatures, but the
stories of the pioneer hardships she left with us and the example of true
womanhood we hope will live forever.
Obituary
"Davis
County Clipper"
6 November 1908
MRS C.F.A. HOLBROOK Funeral services over the remains of Mrs C.F.A. Holbrook,
widow of the late Judge Holbrook, who passed away at the home of her son,
Bishop Heber A. Holbrook, in Curlew Valley, Oct. 28th, were held in the East |