Joseph White and Ruby Elnora Sterns, and their daughter Sarah Elnora White

Joseph White (Born in Boston in 1801, Married Ruby Elnora Sterns in 1829, Father of Sarah Elnora White, Died in 1850) and Ruby Elnora Sterns

Joseph was born in a small log cabin in Boston in 1801. After marrying Ruby, he took her home to Boston for one year, then they moved to Palmyra, New York, where their baby Sarah was born. In 1834 they moved to Ohio. In 1838, Joseph heard the Gospel preached by a missionary and was converted at once. Upon arriving home, he told his wife that he had found the gospel that he had been seeking for all his life. Ruby was a Methodist school teacher and investigated the Church for a year before joining in 1839. She was baptized by Martin Harris, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon. Her family was very upset at her for joining the Church, so Joseph and Ruby moved to Nauvoo. In 1840, Joseph joined the Nauvoo legion and was a mounted guard until the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. The Whites lived just one mile from Carthage Jail, then in Bear Creek (eight miles out of Nauvoo). While Joseph was guarding Nauvoo, word came that all Mormon families would be killed or tortured in a terrible way. As a result, Ruby Elnora and her children went to a neighbor’s home with a big cellar. Each evening, several families locked themselves in the cellar for safety, while the house was guarded by six armed men outside. This continued for about two weeks, during which time no one took off their clothes.

In 1846, the Whites moved to Council Bluffs on their trek to Utah. They drove into Council Bluffs at night with nothing more than a wagon and a yoke of oxen. The next morning, Joseph told his wife that he had volunteered to join the Mormon Battalion. Ruby Elnora fainted, but a neighbor comforted her and said he’d care for the family until Joseph returned. Leaving his family camped in their covered wagon, Joseph walked all the way to Mexico and California, then returned to Council Bluffs by way of Utah in 1847. Joseph found his family in a two-room log cabin; in one room, Ruby Elnora had been teaching school to support the family for nearly two years. The Bishop and other men had decided to build her the cabin so she could teach all the children. Ruby Elnora was a wonderful teacher and was paid with flour and clothes and everything to keep them well and warm. Joseph worked for another year in Council Bluffs, earning money for two wagons, two yoke of oxen for one wagon and four oxen and two cows on the other wagon. A man bought him a wagon if he would carry groceries for him. They headed west in April 1849 and spent four months on the trail. Once while crossing a deep stream, Joseph was riding behind the wagon driven by his 12-year-old son. When an undercurrent of water hit them and Joseph thought Robert might drown, Joseph screamed for him to jump on the back of the head oxen and turn them back in the proper course. With the aid of his Heavenly Father, Robert jumped safely onto the back of the oxen and in a miraculous way turned the oxen in the right direction, thus saving the lives of them all. While on their trek, the pioneers caught cholera from the Indians and many pioneers died. Joseph became very ill, overdosed on the medicine, and as a result slept for three days. He appeared to be dead and was prepared for burial, but then he woke up from his deep sleep!

The Whites settled in Farmington and were able to clear, plow, and plant wheat that year. Joseph left in early 1850 to try for gold in California. When he returned in the fall, he was sick but planted four acres of wheat. He fenced his farm, then cut and

shocked all his wheat. But he worked too hard and took sick with a bad sore throat and died within five days. He was one of the first people buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery.

Sarah Elnora White (Born November 18, 1831, in New York Married James Stevenson Died January 12, 1915 (age 83))

Eleanor lived in Nauvoo when she was a little girl, while Joseph Smith was a prophet. Her father was a guard to help protect Joseph Smith; wherever the Prophet was, Grandfather White could also be found. When Sarah was about 8 or 9, she played with the jailer’s daughter. Sarah’s friend lived in the same jail in which Joseph Smith was killed. Sarah often went to the jail to play with her friend; she drew many a bucket of water from the well and oftimes dangled her feet from the window where the prophet and his brother, Hyrum, were martyred. One day as Sarah and her family were walking out of their front gate, a man on horseback rode down the street waving a hat and crying that the prophet and his brother had been killed. (Margaret Steed Hess, My Farmington 1847-1976, p.122)

In 1845, Sarah travelled to Council Bluffs and lived there while her father served in the Mormon Battalion’s march to Mexico. When Sarah was 16, she crossed the plains with the pioneers. Sarah and her 12-year-old brother were in charge of driving a team of oxen hitched to a wagon, while her parents drove another team and wagon. That way, her family would have two teams of oxen and two wagons when they reached the Salt Lake Valley. Sarah and her brother traded off riding a horse while leading the cows and driving the wagon. Many times, the pioneers didn’t have enough food and Sarah was very hungry. One day, they boiled the leather harnesses (worn by the oxen) to make some soup. One day while crossing a river, the oxen and wagon became caught in a whirlpool. Sarah and her brother were riding alone in the wagon and bravely manipulated the oxen until they arrived safely on the other side of the river and climbed onto the bank. At some deep streams, the water was so high due to rainfall that the pioneers would raise the wagon box by placing four blocks under the box. Even then the water often came into the wagon and soaked all their goods. Halfway across the plains, the pioneers came to a big river and had to be ferried across (they took turns riding on a big raft made of logs). 1500 Indians were coming across the river going the other direction, so after a load of pioneers crossed the river, a load of Indians rode the ferry back across the river. When night came on, 50 pioneers were camping on one side of the river and 50 pioneers were on the other side of the river, both groups surrounded by Indians. A double guard was placed for protection, but the Indians were not hostile. That evening, a teenage boy and girl went for a walk along the river bank. They had been warned not to go beyond the covered wagons, but they walked too far and were kidnapped by Indians. A big Indian came into the pioneers’ camp with an interpreter and informed the pioneers that the two teenagers would be returned if the pioneers would give their best team of oxen to the Indians, which they did. Sarah camped on the ground that night with Indians all around on one side and buffalo running around on the other side, with wolves howling in the distance. One night the buffalo frightened the oxen and caused them to stampede and run away. It took two days to locate all the oxen. Every Sunday, the pioneers rested from their travels to hold church meetings and show gratitude to the Lord.

When they arrived in Utah, they settled in Farmington, . Sarah met and married a pioneer boy, James Stevenson. They lived with Sarah’s mother for one year, then they

built a house out of rocks with walls one-foot thick. In the fireplace they cooked all their food. The large windows had deep windowsills, so deep they could use them as tables! They had to leave their comfortable home and move south when Johnston’s Army was marching to Utah. They thought everything would be burned when they returned home, but Brigham Young promised them that nothing would be harmed. The family had two beds in the one big room; father and mother slept in the one big bed, while all the children slept on a bed that was kept underneath the parents’ bed and pulled out at nighttime. Sarah and James had 12 children, but not all of them lived. One time, Sarah and some of the children were very ill with diptheria. Sarah had two daughters at the time and both of them died. Shortly thereafter, Sarah gave birth to another daughter. The baby was rushed out of the home and cared for by a neighbor until the Stevenson’s had recovered from diptheria. This baby was the only surviving daughter. She had six older brothers, one of whom is our great-great-great-grandfather Wilford Albert Stevenson.

One time, the Indians came to Sarah’s home while all the men were up in the canyons cutting wood. “They didn’t know just what to do, but Aunt Emma...talked in tongues to these Indians and she had never spoken a word in her life of the Indian language. She never knew what she said to them, but it frightened them so that they got on their horses and went away very quickly. This was always a testimony to me that they Lord will help you when you really need it.” According to Margaret Hess, Aunt Nancy talked to the six Indians in the Indians’ language, then invited the Indians to eat dinner with them. The Indians made her understand that if she would give each Indian a blanket, they would leave in peace, and they did.

Sources: Cassette-tape interview with Gladys Stevenson Jordan, by John Rogers Burk, 1971

Margaret Steed Hess, My Farmington 1847-1976, p.122-26)

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(The following typewritten account by Gladys Stevenson is nearly identical to the account above.)

Sarah Elnora’s father, Joseph White, was born in 1801 in Boston. At age 28 he married Ruby Elnora Stearns. He took her home to Boston for one year. In 1830 they moved to Jefferson Co., New York. Sarah Elnora was born here on November 18, 1831. In 1834 they moved to Ohio. Here in 1836 at 34 Joseph White heard the Gospel preached by Acel Blachard and was converted at once. On arriving home he told his wife that he had found the Gospel he had been seeking all of his life. Sarah Elnora’s mother was a school teacher and a Methodist. She did not become converted until 1839 and then after a year of investigation, she was baptized by Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses. Her family was extremely bitter toward her for joining the Mormon Church so they moved to Nauvoo.

At Nauvoo in 1840, Joseph W. joined the Nauvoo Legion. He was one of the mounted guards and remained one until and during the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. While Joseph W. was guarding Nauvoo, the little family moved to Carthage, just one mile from the jail. Elnora played with the jail keeper’s little girl. She drew many a bucket of water from the well and often dangled her feet from the window where the prophet and brother Hyrum were martyred. During this time of mob bitterness toward the Mormons, her family moved to Bear Creek, about 8 miles out of Nauvoo. Joseph White was on guard in the City of Nauvoo when it was feared that all Mormon families would be killed or tortured in some terrible way. It was unsafe for Ruby Elnora and her little family to stay home at night so they went to Russel White’s home, a large house with a large cellar. Each evening with the other families they were locked in for safety. The house outside was guarded by six armed men. This continued for about two weeks during which time no one took off their clothes. One day as they were going out of their gate to go to the Hyde home a man on horseback came down the street waving a hat and crying that the prophet and his brother Hyrum had been killed.

After one year on the farm at Bear Creek, the family moved back to Nauvoo, in the fall of 1844. In 1846 the White family moved to Council Bluffs. They drove at night with nothing more than a yoke of oxen. The next morning Sarah Elnora’s father came into camp and said he had volunteered to join the Mormon Battalion and go to Mexico to fight for his country. On hearing this his wife fainted, but Brother Miller, a neighbor, comforted her, saying he would care for her and the family during Joseph’s absence. Joseph walked all the way to Mexico and California. He returned through Salt Lake City and met the pioneers there in 1847 and reached Council Bluffs the same year. He found his family living in a  two-room log cabin. One room was used for a school where Sarah Elnora’s mother taught and supported the family. She taught school for almost two years to pay for food and clothing to keep them well and warm. When Joseph White left with the Mormon Battalion, his family was camped in a wagon. Daniel Miller, bishop of the little colony of pioneers, called the men together and they decided to build a log cabin with one room for a school and the other room for the family to live in. All the children of hte colony came to the little school as she was a splendid teacher. In this way the family was cared for until Joseph returned from Mexico. Sarah Elnora was 13 when they arrived in Council Bluffs and 16 when the family started across the plains to Utah in 1848. They remained in Council Bluffs during 1848 while Joseph earned money to outfit two wagons and teams. The teams were two oxen on one wagon and four oxen and two cows on the other. A man bought them a wagon if they would carry groceries for him.

The White family was in Captain Gully’s charge and there were 100 teams. This division was again divided into 50 teams with Captain Vanderhoof as head and Captain McCarthey was head over the division of 10 teams. The journey began in April 1849 and took four months. Sarah Elnora, just a girl of 16, drove one team of oxen in the afternoon and in the morning rode a horse and drove the cattle. Her brother Robert, just 12, drove the oxen in the morning and the cattle in the afternoon. About half way across the plains they came to a river and had to be ferried across. About 1500 Indians were moving camp in the opposite direction. This meant that after a load of Saints was taken over, a load of Indians was brought back. That night fifty teams were on one side of the river and 50 on the other side. A double guard was posted for protection but the Indians were not hostile. While camped by the river that evening a boy and girl about 19 went for a walk along the river bank. They had been warned not to go outside the enclosure of wagons. They were kidnapped by the Indians and a short time later a big Indian with an interpreter informed the pioneers that they would return the two for the finest yoke of oxen they had. They were given the oxen and the two were returned. The Indians had cholera and the pioneers took it from them. Ten out of the 50 died with it, Captain McCarthey being one of them. Joseph White also took the cholera, but he recovered after a severe attack. He took an overdose of medicine which caused him to sleep for three days. They prepared to fix him for burial for they supposed he would die, but he awoke and fully recovered.

Imagine camping at night with all the wagons in a circle forming a corral, the Indians wandering about on one side and buffalo on the other, and listening to the uncanny howling of wolves. One night the buffalo frightened the oxen and caused them to stampede. It took two days to round them up. Some of the streams were so high because of the rains that it was almost impossible to cross. They raised the wagon  box by putting blocks under it and even then sometimes the water soaked all their goods. One stream of water was especially swift. Joseph White was in the wagon behind the one his son Robert was driving. The leaders on Robert’s wagon turned downstream because of the the current hitting them. Realizing the danger of his son and the oxen drowning, Joseph called to him to jump on the back of the head oxen and turn them back in the proper direction. With the aid of his Father in Heaven the boy jumped safely onto the back of the oxen and some way turned them back, thus saving himself and his oxen, which were so valuable to them. Sunday was a day held sacred by them and they ceased their travel to hold meetings and show gratitude to the Lord. They also had their recreation period in their little circle when music, singing and dancing were enjoyed.

After four months of travel this division of pioneers landed in Salt Lake City coming through Emigration Canyon. Joseph’s family went to Farmington, and took up land and began farming. The winter of 1849 was mild and Joseph cleared, plowed and planted one acre of  at. Joseph and Amasa Lyman and a company of 100 men left for California in the spring of 1850 to look for gold. When summer came and the wheat grew tall and ripened with no one to cut it, Sarah Elnora and Robert went into the fields and with a scythe cut the wheat. The brave youngsters with the help of their mother shocked the wheat and thrashed it. This was done with two wagon covers sewed together and flakes made from willows. After the wheat was sacked the two children hauled it to Brigham Young’s flour mill at Liberty Park to be ground.

Joseph White returned from California in the fall, sick. He planted four acres of wheat, fenced his farm and scythed and cradled the grain. he took sick with putrid sore throat and within five days he died. He was buried in one of the first graves in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

After her father’s death, Sarah Elnora went out to work at different places. Before she became 21 she married James Stevenson of Salt Lake City. They lived one year with her mother and then rented a farm.James built a log cabin on the main street of Farmington. In 1853 he went on a mission to the Indians at Fort Supply, some miles from Fort Bridger. He had just finished building two more rooms and making them comfortable when they call came to go south on account of Johnson’s Army coming. They had to leave everything except what they were to eat and wear, and did not expect to find anything when they returned, if they ever did return. They thought it would all be burned. They went south with Brigham Young and he promised them nothing would be harmed. When they returned no damage had been done. Once all of the men had to go into the hills, to get logs, leaving one man to fire a gun if help was needed. One day while the women were preparing dinner, six warriors with intent to  kill came up to the house. Nancy Stevenson, wife of Edward, went calmly to them and for the first time in her life talked in tongues. It was the language of the Indians. Aunt Nancy had dinner served and invited the Indians in to eat. They ate dinner and made her understand that if she would give them each one blanket they would leave in peace, and they kept their word.

Here in this little home they raised six children and buried five, for a total of 11. They added two more frame rooms, making a five room house. They were very happy there and celebrated their 65th anniversary of married life. Both were well at that time. Sarah Elnora died January 12, 1915, at the age of 83 and James Stevenson, 29 March 1916 at the age of 85. Both died at the old homestead they built as pioneers in Farmington, and were buried by their five children in the city cemetery.

---by Sarah’s granddaughter, Gladys Stevenson Jordan (typed up by Alicia)

pic on right: 1852 age 21

 1896 age 65  / 1905 age 74

Obituary of Sarah Elnora White
appeared in the Deseret News January 12, 1915

Death of Mrs. Stevenson, Utah Pioneer of 1849. Mrs. Stevenson, an esteemed pioneer, passed away at 1:30 this morning at her home in Farmington. She was loved by all who knew her, her live having been one of goodness from childhood to old age. She cast her lot among the Later-day Saints when only a child, her father having been baptized when she was 7 years old and her mother one year later by Martin Harris, on of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon.
Mrs. Stevenson, formerly Sara Elnora White. was born Mar. 18. 1831 in Pamella, Jefferson county, New York. Her father, Joseph White, later became a member of the Nauvoo Legion and was one of the mounted body guards of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He was also one of the Mormon Battalion.
Mrs. Stevenson endured the many persecutions at Nauvoo. The trip to Utah was by ox team, with all hardships and privations incident to that great pilgrimage. The journey was made particularly sad from the fact that she witnessed the burial of many companions who died from cholera. She arrived in Utah in the fall of 1849, when her father and mother made their home in Farmington. She also experienced the discomforts of the move south.
Mrs. Stevenson is survived by a husband, James Stevenson, and six children William H., Edward D., Wilford A., Frank, Orson L. Stevenson and Mrs. Herbert Stayner. Funeral announcement will be later.