History of Robert Shaw and Flora Jane Smith
Robert was born in Garnkirk, Lanark, Scotland, just a
few miles out of Glasgow on December 6,1852.
Just a year or so before his family had moved to Garnkirk. They had been contacted by the Mormon
missionaries and had accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ and had been
baptized. He had four older siblings,
Jane, Elizabeth, Christina and James F.
(It would have been five but Agnes died as a baby in 1850).
During the next few years, they endured lots of
persecution from relatives, old friends and neighbors. Then on October 24, 1853[1]
his father Alexander was involved in an accident and died in Kilsyth. He was only 35 years old. Then about a year
later, his sister Christina died on September 28,1854[2]. In 1864, he got his turn to be
baptized. He was twelve years old and
was happy to join the true church. They
did not have very much. But they did
survive. Jane, the oldest had to go to
work at an early age to help the family budget. They wanted to go to Zion(Utah), but did not have the money. Because they were thrifty they were able to
save some money. Finally in 1868,
because of their own thrift and also generosity within the church and the push
from the church to help the poor saint of Europe, they were able to go to
Utah.
This trip started with the long journey to Liverpool,
England. They were given passage on the
packet ship "Constitution"[3][4]. William Hatten was the Captain of the
ship. He was easy to get along with and
thus made the trip fairly enjoyable. He
even went out of his way to help the Saints celebrate July 24th. This was the last sailing ship to bring a
large Mormon emigrant company across the Atlantic. There were 457 Saints on board.
Elder Harvey H. Cluff was the President of the company. Some were from Switzerland, Bavaria,
Wurttemberg, the Netherlands and of course the British Isles. It took 42 days to cross the Atlantic. No one died on the journey, but some were
sick. The food wasn't exactly the
best. Some tell about the
"hardtack" they had to eat rather than good old bread.[5] Elizabeth's son especially makes
comments. He was so seasick, that he
promised the Lord if He wouldn't ask him to go across the ocean again, he would
do all he could to further the cause of the gospel and live its laws. He was 21 years old at this time. The records verify that he fulfilled this
promise.
They arrived in New York on August 6, 1868. The next leg of the journey was by
rail. Immigrants traveling west set up
housekeeping in crowded railroad cars, sometimes called "Zulu
cars". They travel by rail to
Benton, Wyoming.[6] In Benton, they were assigned to Capt. John
Gillespie's ox train of 54 wagons. They
left Benton on August 15th. Many
appreciated Elizabeth because she was always cheerful and happy. They arrived in Salt Lake on August 24th.[7]
They first settled in Coalville. They lived there eight years.[8] During these years his older brothers and
sisters married. Agnes married Leaviett Munson November 24,
1868. Also the young Elizabeth married
Samuel Fletcher on October 31, 1870.
Jane became the plural wife of John Allan. Also James F. fell in love with Margaret Robertson. They went to Salt Lake and were married in the
Endowment House. His mother Elizabeth
came with them also. She was able
receive her endowments. This occurred
on September 5,1870.[9] This was a very special occasion. In 1876, Elizabeth, James F and his family
and of course Robert moved to Richfield, Utah.
While they were there they lived the United Order.
Flora Jane Smith was born 29 May 1860 in Springville,
Utah, the daughter of William Smith and Polly Marie Perry. She was the fifth child of eleven. Her father
had built the first adobe house with a board floor in Springville and her brother William Riley Smith
was the first child born in Springville.
Her parents had no stove so they cooked over a fireplace. They rarely had matches in those days, so at
night they would cover the coals with ashes to hold them until morning. But if the coals went out in the night, they
would have to watch to see whose house had smoke coming from the chimney, then
the children would be sent to borrow some live coals to start the fire
again. Their home had two rooms on the
main floor and one on the second or in the attic. Their chairs were made by her Uncle Stephen Perry. They had a table, cubboard, three beds and a
wash stand made out of a box, a lounge they had bought from Jane Packard and a
sewing machine which they had bought on an installment plan. To pay for the machine they took in washings
and hired out to wash and do house cleaning for those who could afford these
services. They money they earned went
to pay for the machine and other important items for the family. Flora says that she remembered picking wool
from fences and washing it, then her mother would card it and make her a dress
out of it. As soon as Flora was old
enough, she hired out for work to help support herself and her family.
Others in the family did the same.
Her first school teacher was Aaron Johnson, who was
also her Bishop. They attended school
in one room of his house. They used
slates to write their lesions on and only the teacher had books. They were taught reading, writing, spelling
and arithmetic. If anyone got into
trouble on the school grounds or in the classroom the teacher would take us on
his lap and cut our fingernails with his pocketknife.
Their dresses were mostly made out of calico and
their stockings were mostly cotton or hand knit out of wool yarn that her
mother used to spin after the children had been put to bed. Their shoes were very course and only one
pair per year. They went barefoot
during the summer. Her father made her
first pair of shoes.
One year they had a fire. They lost the house and hay.
They managed to save a 1/2 load of hay.
Her older brothers and sisters worked for hay the rest of the fall to
feed their two cows and two horses. The
younger children (this included Flora Jane), who were able, gleaned wheat and
grain in the fields. They did this while
herding cows. One day her and her
sister Lucy were gleaning grain. They
wore oil cloth aprons and when they got these full, they would empty them into
a seamless sack and carry it back home.
Then they would wait for a windy day, then they would tromp the grain
and let the wind blow the chaff
away. Also this the winter that
the house burned down, they lived on cornbread and molasses and peach preserves
made with molasses and some milk.
Lucy, Joe and Flora Jane gathered potwattmy plubs and
took them to Heber City, Utah by Wagon to sell them for twenty five cents a
peck. They sold enough to buy shingles
for their house. They slept on the road
going to and from Heber City. The girls
slept in the wagon and Joe slept on the ground under the wagon.
Also they shucked corn for a neighbor and he gave
them the shucks to make ticks for their beds.
Another time they gathered milk weeds for the ticks for the beds. Another thing they did to help out was to
gather ground cherries and scald them in lye, then they were ready to be
sold.
What did they do for light at night. Flora explains that they would dip a rag in
tallow and place it on a tin dish. This
kind of light was called a bitch light.
Flora related that many a night she held this light till twelve and one
o'clock in the morning so that her mother could see to quilt. Her mother did this to get cloth to make the
children clothes. How happy they were
when they could afford candles for light.
Her mother had bought these candles after she had made a quilt and sold
it. Flora tells the story, "This
is the way we got the third light. I
helped an old lady, one of our neighbors take her cows to the pasture and when
we returned back home, we stopped at her house. She ask me to come in .
She said that her mother and sent her a present and she wanted me to
have it. When she gave it to me (it was
a coal oil lamp), I cried and cried because I was so happy to get such a
gift." From that time until the
time this sweet neighbor died, Flora's mother let her take a loaf of homemade
bread to her every week.[10]
When Flora was sixteen years old, she went to work
for her Uncle Andrew Ross. She lived
with them for several years. It was
here that Robert Shaw and Flora Jane
Smith met. After a wonderful courtship
they decided to get married. They drove
from Kanosh to Springville to tell her parents. Her Uncle Andrew and Aunt Sack Ross went with them. In Springville her parents joined them and
they went all the way to Salt Lake City where they were married in the
Endowment house on December 27, 1876.[11] What a thrilling Christmas that must have
been.
This young couple moved with the Shaw relative to
Elsinore, Utah. They homesteaded a farm
just across the Sevier River from Elsinore.
Later, he ranched in the mountains between Elsinore and Kanosh. Robert loved ranching. He raised horses and cattle (especially
horses). His oldest son, Robert William
would often help him on the Ranch, in fact he grew up riding the range with his
father. This union was blessed with
seven children. However two children
died in the same night from Diphtheria, Alexander and Henrieta.
Robert was a good father, but about 1897, he
separated from his sweetheart and went to live in Kanosh.[12] It looks like he continued to ranch in the
Mountians, possible for a widow named Margaret Ann Hall Dorrity.[13] He also went into business with Ann Dorrity,
establishing the Konash Cash Store.[14] Then, sometime in August, September or
October of 1901 he married Ann Dorrity.[15] Ann had previously been sealed to James
“Lem” Dorrity to whom she had bore him nine children before he died in 1890.[16] Then a tragic event took place. Robert died in Salt Lake City on November
12. 1901.[17] He died of Hodgkins disease.[18] They had only been married for a very short
time.
Meanwhile
back in Elsinore, Flora, in order to support her family took care of the sick
and traveled many miles to take care of a mother and baby. She helped many a baby to come into the
world. She also took in washing and
ironing and cleaned houses for fifty cents a day.
Then on December 21, 1910 Flora married her husband’s
brother James Ferguson Shaw in the Manti Temple. They lived in Elsinore for several years, then they moved to
Joseph to take care of her Uncle Andrew Ross at his home. When he passed away, they continued to live
at his home until James took a stoke and for twelve years was unable to work
until he died. A year after James died,
Flora fell and broke her arm, some ribs and the collar bone. After this happened, she went to live with
her youngest daughter, Ora Warnock in Idaho Falls. She also made some visits to her oldest daughter who lived in
Victor. She lived with Ora for eight
years. She complained of being tired
and wanted to lie down. She passed away
in her sleep at the age of eighty one January 3, 1941 at her daughter Ora's
home in Idaho Falls, Idaho.[19]
Compiled by John Shaw, 4589 W. 1650 N. Ogden, Utah 84404, 801-731-7674
[1] LDS CHURCH, SLC, UTAH, Fam.Hist.Ctr.,Records of members of LDS Church - Elsinore Ward, 1800'S ed.: Microfilm
[2] ibid
[3] LDS Passenger List, Family History Library, Film # 025692
[4] Our Pioneer Heritage , p. 13. (Can be found at Fam.Hist. Ctr. SLC, Utah).
[5] ibid
[6] Various History Books telling the history of 1868 and pioneers.
[7] Our Pioneer Heritage , p. 13. (Can be found at Fam.Hist. Ctr. SLC, Utah).
[8] Personal Family history of James Ferguson Shaw.
[9] Family Search - Ordinance file; Also personal records.
[10] Taken from the a history written by Flora’s daughter, Ora Shaw Warnock.
[11] Ibid
[12] Taken from a history written by his grandson, Ivan Robert Shaw.
[13] Court Clerk , Millard County, Filmore, Utah, filed in Probate under Margaret Ann Dorrity. This file contains numerous documents that Ann Dorrity had to file after her first husband’s death in 1890. (Example: Robert Shaw as a Surety)
[14] ibid
[15] ibid, also note that in July 1901, was the last document showing Ann Dorrity signing as Dorrity. After his death, all records show that she signed as Dorrity-Shaw.
[16] LDS Church, Salt Lake City, UT, "Entry," Ancestral File of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1998 ed.:
[17] Court Clerk, Millard County Utah, Probate Records. File #163 Petition for letters of administration – Estate of Robert Shaw, deceased. Filed November 20, 1901 by Margaret Ann Dorrity Shaw.
[18] Salt Lake County Register of Deaths, #3139 Utah Archives, Salt Lake City Utah
[19] Taken from the a history written by Flora’s daughter, Ora Shaw Warnock