Correspondence and manuscripts related to John Milton Bernhisel [microform]: 1825-1912 (bulk 1850-1864)

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  John Milton Bernhisel letter to Franklin Pierce

  Manuscripts

  Letter to President Franklin Pierce from John Milton Bernhisel, written while he was serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. Bernhisel writes to Pierce of public opinion in Utah, particularly regarding the Territory's desire to retain Brigham Young as governor. Bernhisel praises Young, noting that he possesses "the entire confidence of the people." He continues that "respecting Governor Young I would...refer your Excellency to...Stephen A. Douglas of the United States Senate." Bernhisel continues that Utah would like to see Zerubbabel Snow kept as Associate Judge, and that Seth M. Blair remain as United States Attorney for the district of Utah, and mentions Blair's original recommendation from Sam Houston. The letter is unsigned and appears incomplete.

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  The Deseret News and Utah, 1850-1867 [microform], 1949

  Manuscripts

  Microfilm of Arlington Russell Mortensen's doctoral thesis from the University of California, Los Angeles, entitled "The Deseret News and Utah, 1850-1867," written in 1949. The preface to the paper notes that "in addition to being a history of the birth and early years of a western newspaper, this study proposes to examine significant events and conditions in pioneer Utah as reflected in the pages of its oldest newspaper." The paper is divided into six sections: Genesis and Early Problems, News Gathering and Later Editors, Federal Relations 1850-1856, The News and the Utah War, Federal Relations 1859-1867, the Breaking of Isolation, and Zion Grows. Includes bibliography.

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  Autobiography of John Powell [microform]:

  Manuscripts

  Microfilm of the autobiography of John Powell. Powell begins by recalling his early life in England, including his conversion to Mormonism and his mission to Stratford in 1849. He then describes his family's immigration to the United States, sailing from Liverpool to New Orleans on the ship Ellen. The family rented a room in St. Louis, and Powell describes the sickness and poverty that prevented them from starting for Salt Lake City until 1856 (in the interim he mentions his mission to Calhoun County in 1855). He describes the family's overland journey to Utah, including meeting with Indians near the Platte River. Once in Utah Powell joined the Utah Territorial Mormon Militia, and he briefly describes his experiences in Echo Canyon in 1857. The rest of the autobiography focuses on Powell's life in Fillmore, Utah, and includes references to his work on the settlement at Deseret, his furniture store in Fillmore, his trips to St. George in 1877 and 1884, and his time in the Utah Penitentiary after pleading guilty to unlawful cohabitation in 1889. Also included in the volume are descriptions of Powell's visions and dreams; copies of letters; transcriptions of blessings and articles from the Deseret News; and transcribed texts of the Constitution of the State of Utah, The Edmunds Bill (also known as the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882), the Declaration of Principles from the People's Convention (1882), and the Origin and Destiny of Women by John Taylor (1897). The volume ends with lists of local births, deaths, and blessings given; some Powell family genealogy; and a list of the residents of Fillmore in 1858.

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  Correspondence, photographs, and manuscripts related to the Rich family [microform] : 1854-1908

  Manuscripts

  Microfilm of photographs, letters, and typed manuscripts primarily related to Joseph Coulson Rich and Ann Eliza Hunter Rich. The first 48 frames of the microfilm include various photographs of Rich family members. The correspondence, consisting of 90 pieces, includes a letter from Charles C. Rich to his sons (1854); 19 letters from Edward Hunter to Joseph and Ann Eliza Rich dated 1872-1883; 5 letters from Sarah D. Pea Rich to Joseph C. Rich and James Brown dated 1859-1861; 6 letters from Ann Hunter to dear sister (1851), Hannah Pauley (1854), Annabell Cowperthuik (1857), and Edward Hunter (1848); 50 letters from Joseph C. Rich to his sister Sarah Jane Rich (1855-1868), mother Sarah D. Pea Rich (1855-1887), father Charles Coulson Rich (1861-1870), grandfather Joseph Rich (1862), the President of the Derby Conference 1862), wife Ann Eliza Rich (1868-1885), father-in-law Edward Hunter (1869-1872), daughter Susanna L. Rich (1884-1893), and son Eddie C. Rich (1884); and one letter from Edmund Hood to Joseph C. Rich (1872). The correspondence was written in Utah, San Bernardino, Kentucky, New York, Illinois, Idaho (including while Rich was working at the Crawford and Rich law firm), and during Joseph Rich's mission to England. The rest of the film consists of various typescripts, including Paris, Idaho, by Standley H. Rich; Joe Rich's Account of Launching His Steamer on the Bear Lake; Pioneer Joseph Rich, 1786-1866 by Zule R. Cole (1948); Copy of a Record Written by Edward Hunter; Early Days in Bear Lake Valley by S.H. Rich; Will of Charles Coulson Rich; Health Report of the Charles Coulson Rich Family by Dr.Edward I. Rich; Joseph C. Rich citizenship certificate; and Funeral Services Held Over the Remains of the Hon.Joseph C. Rich (1908).

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  Diary of Martha Spence Heywood [microform] : 1850-1856

  Manuscripts

  Microfilm of a typescript of Martha Spence Heywood's diary, kept from 1850-1856. It begins when Martha was living in Kanesville, Iowa, after joining the Mormon Church and while waiting to travel westward. She gives a brief account of her baptism in Canada and sojourns with various Mormon families in New York State. She also recounts her travels to St. Louis in 1849 and teaching school in Springville. Martha departed with the Joseph Heywood company for Utah in 1850 and gives a detailed account of the company's journey across the plains. The majority of the diary recounts in detail Martha's life in Nephi, Utah, from 1850-1856. She writes personal and insightful insights on polygamy (shortly after her marriage to Heywood she wrote "Tis rather trying to a woman's feelings not to be acknowledged by the man she has given herself to and desires to love with all her heart"), the birth and raising of her children, her illnesses from childbirth, the death of her daughter Serepta Maria from measles in 1856, her loneliness in Nephi (she wrote that she "could not bear" to be left alone by her husband and taught school in 1854 since it was "of much benefit to me as the activity ... and its responsibility prevented lonesomeness that otherwise would have been disagreeable"), and politics within the Mormon settlement at Nephi. She also writes of Indian troubles, including Mormons killed by Indians in 1853, and of the discovery of two bodies dressed in United States livery who were shot to death in November 1852. Martha also writes frequently of her acquaintances in Nephi, visits by Brigham Young, and a variety of other domestic concerns.

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  Reminiscences of John Langston [microform] :

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  Microfilm of the autobiography of John Langston, covering his childhood through 1875. Langston recalls growing up in England and briefly moving to the United States before his father's interests failed and the family returned to England. Langston worked at iron works in Staffordshire and Wales before returning to the United States at the age of sixteen. He writes of working at iron works in New Jersey and Pittsburgh, and of spending the early 1840s looking for work in Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky. He eventually got hired as a steamer fireman in St. Louis and settled in Independence, Missouri, in 1844. Langston then describes a serious illness he suffered and his subsequent decision to join the Carmelite Church. He briefly covers his time in California, his journey to Council Bluffs, and his decision to join the Mormon Church after much internal debate over the practice of polygamy. After briefly writing of his overland journey to Utah, Langston focuses on the Utah War of 1857-1858, including his time in the Alpine militia at Echo Canyon. He believed that the U.S. Army was "sent out ... with the intent of hanging and killing all the leading Mormons." The last few pages of the volume trace Langston's move to Rockville and his cotton growing experiences through about 1875.

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