Reuben Farnsworth the Third, 5th generation in the
U.S. married Lucinda Kent. They had
three children. Their third child was Stephen Martindale.
He was born on October 8,
1810 at Dorsett, Vermont. His family subsequently moved
to Athens, Athens, Ohio
(before 1817). They may have traveled to Morgan County, Illinois
for a time because a
brother named Dennis was born there. However it must have been
a short stay because
his brother William was born in Ohio in 1822. Also his brother
Philo T. was born on the
Hocking River in Ohio in 1826. In about 1830, his family moved
south to Indianapolis,
Indiana to a place called Edinburgh, Johnson County, Indiana.
Julia Ann Clark was the eighth child of Richard and Anne Elizabeth
Sheffer Clark.
Her family moved from Pennsyvannia to eastern Ohio before November
1816 because
Julia Ann's older brother was born in Jefferson County, Ohio.
Later the family must have
moved north because Julia Ann was born on May 1, 1819 in Uniontown,
Richland County
(the map shows Uniontown not in Richland County, but rather just north
of Canton),Ohio.
Probably when Julia Ann was young, (about 1828) the family moved to
the Indianapolis,
Indiana area. Her sister Nancy was born in 1829 in Indianapolis.
Sometime after 1830, both families must have moved north from
Indianapolis to
Marshall County, Indiana. Here on August 30, 1837 Stephen Martindale
Farnsworth and
Julia Ann Clark were married. They began they family close to
their parents in Plymouth,
Marshall County, Indiana. Their first child was born in 1838.
Then in 1840 they gained a testimony on the restoration of the
Gospel of Jesus
Christ. They were baptized in July 1840. In 1841 another
son was born before they
moved to Nauvoo to be with the Saints.
He and his family went through the trials and tribulations and
persecutions with the
saints in Nauvoo. He became a close friend to Brigham Young.
He also was a carpenter
and worked on the Nauvoo Temple. Stephen, while working on the
temple in the spring,
received a vision showing the absence of Joseph Smith and his brother
Hyrum in death.
He also saw the terrible conditions that the people of the church would
have to go through
following the death of the Prophet and Hyrum, also the vision revealed
Brigham Young
coming among the saints and leading them west . He saw the twelve
apostles plan the
trip.When the prophet was killed he had no hesitations in following
Brigham Young.
Stephen was in attendance at the meeting when the mantle of Joseph
Smith fell upon
Brigham Young. At this time it was made known to the Saints that
Brigham was to lead
the them. Stephen and Julia Anns' third son Albert Stephen,
was born May 22, 1844 at
Nauvoo, Illinois.
During all the persecution of the Saints in Nauvoo, Stephen and
Julia Ann decided
that they wanted to seal their marriage in the temple before leaving
Nauvoo. This they did
on January 15, 1846. Then they came west with the exodus of Nauvoo
and settled at Keg
Creek, Pottawatomie, Iowa, where Stephen Martindale Jr. was born February
17, 1847 in
a dugout in the side of a hill. Stephen Sr. said to Brigham Young,
" I have given two of
my elder sons one of my names, what shall I name this one?" Brigham
said, "This is the
first one born under the covenant, let him be called Stephen Martindale
Jr." and so it was.
He was blessed by Brigham Young in Florence, Nebraska, on June 2, 1847,
which is a
matter of Genealogical record in the archives of Salt Lake City.
Brigham Young was leaving for the west on the 3rd of March.
Stephen wanted to
go, but Brigham said, "Stephen, your baby is young and they need strong
men here. Stay
and help take care of the saints until later." Stephen was a
wheel setter and was needed to
help get the wagons ready for the long trek west. Winter Quarters
was located by
Florence, Nebraska, which is by Omaha. This was the main outfitting
post for the long
journey to the west. Winter Quarters was founded for winter encampment
where the
saints could gather by the Missouri River before going west.
It was here that 600 saints
died from the Black Plague.
Another child, a daughter, Caroline Eliza, was born March 21,
1849 at Keg Creek,
Pottawatomie, Iowa. They left Keg Creek with the Higby Co.
Stephen remembered as a
young boy, the blood curdling cries of the Indians, which was never
forgotten. To him,
home was a covered wagon that seemed to roll forever onward, it seemed
small as he
scanned the distance before him. He could recall gathering sagebrush
and buffalo chips
for the campfires, the hot sun, wind and rain that drenched the desert
floor making it
impossible, sometimes, for the wagons to roll until dry enough
to go again. Dust, always
dust, that shut out vision, and hot air making ones' tongue feel dry
and swollen, the weird
call of the coyotes, the buzzards that ruled the air and followed the
rattlesnakes that lay
along the way, Indians being slightly different, they didn't warn before
an attack. These
things he remembered.
Stephen and Julia entered the Salt Lake Valley, stayed a short
while, then moved
on to Pleasant Grove, where four more children were born to them.
Julie Ann, born May
26, 1852, who died young, May 1, 1853, on her mother's birthday.
Cyrus Walter, born
April 20, 1854. Harriet Nancy, born 1856. Rueben Richard,
born April 3, 1859.
This was the time of plural wives, so on May 30, 1854, Stephen
Martindale Sr.
married Eliza Lewis, daughter of Nathan Lewis and Jemima Sydan.
They had ten
children. Then on February 26, 1857, he married Ellen Louisa
Showell. They had one
daughter, Cosmelia Ellen. Ellen died with the birth of baby Cosmelia.
They resided in Pleasant Grove until 1870, when they moved to
Richfield, Utah.
They were one of the first families to settle there. Stephen
Martindale Sr. was First
Counselor to the President of the Stake. He was a carpenter by
trade and engaged in mill
building. In 1875, he moved his family to Jerico, Utah, not far
from Joseph, and built a
large house and tried living the United Order for some years.
As the family grew up and
married, it proved not to be successful and was discontinued.
He then moved his second
wife and family to Sevier, Utah.
When the government decided to stamp out polygamy, Stephen took
his first wife
and family and moved to Tuba City, Arizona. His second wife,
Eliza Lewis, decided not
to go to Arizona. She stayed in Sevier for a while. Stephen
came back several times to
see Eliza and the family. She later sold the farm and moved to
Joseph, Utah. When some
of her children were grown, they moved to Uintah Basin, where they
raised their families.
Eliza lived in Joseph until her death on September 18, 1899.
Stephen had a large family and set an example worthy of them
to follow. He was a
true and trustworthy man commanding respect and esteem amongst his
fellow men
wherever he lived. He died in Tuba City, Arizona on September
19, 1885, at the age of
75. Julie Ann, his first wife, with some of her children went
into Mexico. She died there
November 1894, at Col Pacheco Chiha, Mexico.