Compiled and given by granddaughter, Louie Ann Hale Call... Caribou Co. Bancroft Idaho.
HISTORY OF OLIVE BOYNTON
HALE
Daughter of Eliphalet
Boynton and Susannah Nichols. Born 30 July 1805, Bradford Massachusetts. Wife of Jonathon Hale. Died 8 Dec 1846 at Council Bluffs, Iowa
while crossing the plains.
She was a sweet, lovely
and beautiful young woman. She was blonde, of normal proportions, embodying strength, grace, and
feminine charm. Olive had two brothers, Osgood George and John Farnham, who was one of the First
Quorum of Apostles, he was a noted scientist and lecturer. She had one sister, Clarissa, who married
Henry Harriman. This sister joined the Church and came to Utah with the
pioneers in 1848 with the Heber C. Kimball Company.
When Olive was a girl, she
became acquainted with Jonathon Harriman Hale, a young man from her home town. They were
married 1 September 1825. He was 25 years old and she was 20. They established a home at
Dover, New Hampshire, about 40 miles from where they had been living. Here they went into the
butchering business with his brother-in-law, Stephen Palmer.
Their first child, a baby
girl, was born to them 22 August 1826, and was named Sarah. This baby died the same day. This was the
first real sorrow that had come into their lives. On 18 May 1828 they were blessed with a son. He was
named Aroet Lucius Little Hale. Their next child was a girl whom they named Rachel Johnson
Savory Hale, after her paternal grandmother and Jonathan’s sister.
While living at Dover, New
Hampshire, there came into the neighborhood some missionaries, telling of a strange new book,
translated from golden plates. This book they were permitted to read. Their
hearts were touched and they soon
became converted, and Olive and her husband Jonathan were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints by Elder Gladden Bishop, the Branch
president of the church at Westerfield, New York. They were baptized on 13
June 1834.
Soon after joining the
church, things moved pretty rapidly for them. Olive’s husband was called to be
Branch President of the Dover Branch.
Olive was a very devoted
wife. She was co-operative and worked
harmoniously with her husband with whom she was one in all
things. After joining the church, her
husband being made Branch President, he had a strong desire to go
to Kirtland to meet the Prophet Joseph Smith, about whom he had heard so much, so he began to make
preparations for the trip to Kirtland, Ohio, which was the headquarters of the
church at that time.
On 10 April 1835, he left
Dover and went to Bradford, Massachusetts, a distance of about 40 miles, where he picked up Henry
Harriman, his brother-in-law, and Jonathan Harriman Holmes, his cousin, and the three of them
journeyed to Kirtland to see the Mormon Prophet and to shake his hand and hear
his voice. Eighteen days later, on 28 April, they
arrived at their destination, and what a marvelous and thrilling experience
awaited them. They found in the Prophet, a handsome young man under 30, tall
and athletic in appearance,
approachable and kind, strong in his convictions and confident in his position. He received the three
strangers as brothers and took them into his confidence and administered not
only to their physical needs but gave them the kind of food their souls hungered
for.
Jonathan recorded in his
journal at the time, that he had there received many blessings, one of these
many blessings was his Patriarchal blessing, given to him by Joseph Smith, Sr.,
the first Patriarch of the church.
About this time they started
to make preparations to move to Ohio with the Saints. It was indeed no small task, but they
thought it the will of the Lord that the Saints should gather to Kirtland, Ohio
and bring all their means to establish “Zion” and build a temple sacred to God.
So the Hale family sold all they had in Dover and Bradford for cash and a
traveling outfit and prepared to move.
Olive’s sister, Clarissa, and her husband moved with them. They arrived
in Kirtland on 10 July 1836, having been 24 days en route, all feeling in good
spirits. Olive provided for the comfort of their 2 month old baby, Alma, on
this long journey by making a nice little bed in a basket, which they suspended in the wagon box
and swinging like a hammock as they traveled along the road.
On their arrival they were
to establish a home. This Jonathan did and found time also to devote to the
interests of the church and in local service and with their means and labor for
the construction of the temple. Olive received
her Patriarchal blessing given by Joseph Smith Sr.
Jonathan had provided his
family with a comfortable home. Elder Wilford Woodruff and his wife were
boarding with them at this time. Jonathan and Wilford Woodruff were called on a
mission. They left for their mission, a tedious journey on foot, as it was
necessary to travel that way. They went to Canada and baptized many souls.
Wilford Woodruff’s wife stayed with Olive at the Hale home while they were
gone. On 16 February 1838, on returning
home he found the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon had to flee for their lives. They
left on horseback to escape mob violence. Soon it was necessary for the Saints
to move to Missouri. Olive’s husband writes in his journal on 6 July 1838, “We
left Kirtland; the camp consisted of 529 souls, 96 horses, 22 oxen, 68 cows, 59
wagons, and about 33 tents with provisions. We pitched our tents by the way, as
children of Israel.” They had traveled 251 miles and stopped at Bath, Green
County, Ohio for one month. Here Jonathan
was engaged in buying provisions for the camp.
There were additions to
the constitutions of the camp, which included the blowing of the horn for
arising at 4 a.m. every morning and for assembly and prayer 20 minutes later,
also appointing of herdsmen for
livestock and for guards at night. Every company in camp was entitled to an
equal proportion of milk, whether individuals of the several tents owned the
cows or not. “In no case shall the camp move more than 15 miles in one day”.
The company was compelled to halt frequently to
repair broken wagons, replace worn out oxen, nurse the sick and bury those who
had died. There were instances when contracts were taken for building roads,
bridges, harvesting crops, and doing other lines of work to earn money and
re-stock their needed supply of food and provisions.
Naturally such a large
group traveling in a body would attract much attention; sometimes they were
denied camping places in the open near settlements, and often they were refused
the sale of food for themselves and their animals, for cash, because they were
found to be Mormons.
On the Sabbath day, they
held religious services of singing, preaching and bearing testimonies. After being en route three months, this weary
band called “Kirtland camp” came to their journey’s end at Farr West, Missouri
on 8 October 1838. Five miles from the city they were met by the First
Presidency of the church: Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith, and
several others who received them with open arms and escorted them into the
city. They encamped on the public square around the foundation of a temple. The
total distance from Kirtland was 870 miles.
This was a day long to be
remembered by this part of the church called Kirtland Camp, for they arrived at
their destination and began to pitch their tents about sunset. When one of the
brethren (quoted from the D&C 107:53-57) declared, “Brethren, your long and
tedious journey is now ended; you are now on the public square of
Adam-ondi-ahman”.
This is the place where
Adam blessed his posterity when they arose up and called him Michael, the
Prince, the Archangel. This is the territory assigned to them. They lived in
tents until the first of November, when they were driven to Farr West,
Caldwell, Missouri. In Jonathan’s
journal he says, “During this time, the weather was cold and snowy. I laid
night after night on the ground with my brethren with little or no shelter, to
defend my wife and little ones from the mob”.
They were being persecuted
to the extreme. The terrible massacre at Haun’s Mill took place just twelve
miles from them, and 17 of the Saints were killed and a number were wounded.
This was on 30 October 1838. The Saints were being daily and nightly outraged
by the burning of their homes and tents, driving away of their horses and
cattle, sheep and hogs, or shooting them down where they found them.
Aroet, their oldest son,
tells: “Shortly after our arrival there, Governor Boggs issued his
extermination order, which gave the Saints their choice between banishment from
Missouri, or death.” Jonathan laid down two nice rifles; one was to be for
Aroet when he was older. “Shortly after this our tents were searched by a mob
militia. My dear mother was lying sick in a wagon box in a tent. Four men
entered our tent, two on each side of the bed where mother was lying, evidently
in search of firearms. They rolled mother from side to side of the bed, roughly
thrusting her against the side of the wagon box, until she was nearly
exhausted. The tents and wagons of the other families were treated in like
manner. After obtaining all the arms and ammunition they could find, they took
Father and other brethren prisoners, and marched them away. I was about the
largest boy in camp; I had to cut wood, burn it into coals and take the hot
coals into the tent in a bake-kettle to keep my Mother and the children from
freezing”.
“Father returned in a few
days. Mother handed him two silver-mounted derringer pistols, which she had
preserved from the mob by concealing them under her breasts. They lived in the
tent until the ice on the Grand River had frozen sufficiently to bare loaded
wagons to cross. Before the withdrawal of the armed forces, however, many acts
of cruelty were committed. For instance, they had in their herd of cows, which
were brought from Kirtland, a beautiful bull with brass knobs on its horns.
Just for a pastime, the militia began shooting at the brass knobs on the horns
and finally blew them into splinters. The following morning the bull was dead”.
Their next move was to
Quincy, Illinois, where they rented a farm. Here they were able to fit
themselves out with a good wagon team, harness and outfit in preparation for
their next move with the body of the church. Here their third son, Solomon, was
born or 30 April 1839. He was named after his Grandfather.
Some time later, when they
arrived in Nauvoo, and Solomon was approaching his 4th birthday, he was
complaining one evening, when the Prophet Joseph Smith was visiting the Hale
home, of having only one name while his brother had two. The Prophet observed
the child’s complaint and asked him to sit on a little footstool in front of
him. He then inquired as to what additional name he would like. The boy
answered, “I want the name of Henry, after Uncle Harriman”. The Prophet said,
“alright my boy, you shall have it”, and he then placed his hands upon the
child’s head and conferred upon him the additional name of Henry.
While living in Quincy,
Olive wrote a letter to Jonathan’s mother, Martha, in March 1841. She stated
that Jonathan bought land in Nauvoo, about a hundred miles from where they were
living and was there fencing the land. They moved to Nauvoo. Peace and
happiness for at least once, dwelt in the heart of the Latter Day Saints, as
they gathered for a fine day, General Conference.
The Nauvoo Legion was on
parade with all its glory and led the procession to the Temple grounds where
the First Presidency took part in laying the cornerstone for the Temple of the
Lord. He hauled rocks for the Temple and never ceased until he had paid up two
and one half years of back tithing.
They had a baby boy named
Jonathon Eliphalet Hale. He lived six and one half months. and died on 22 July
1842. Jonathon was Bishop of the 9th ward and also an officer in the Nauvoo
Legion. Their second daughter, Olive Susan was born on 14 March 1844.
On the 27th of June 1847
the great tragedy at Carthage came, when the Prophet and his brother were
killed. The Prophet had planned the movement of his people to the Rocky
Mountains, and now it became necessary for them to make preparations to
evacuate their beautiful Nauvoo.
Jonathon was made Captain
of company number 21. Wilford Woodruff says in his journal, the last of June,
“I stopped my carriage on the top of the hill in the midst of the rolling
prairie where I had an extended view all about me. I beheld the Saints coming
in all directions from hill and dale, like the movement of a nation”.
Bishop Jonathon Hale was a
member of the High Council. He successfully led his company to Council Bluffs,
300 miles away, arriving on 16th July 1844. He was given the assignment to help
care for the poor and see that they were all brought from Nauvoo to a gathering
place for winter. Also to assist in looking out for the families of the Mormon
battalion and to go to Fort Leavenworth to receive the pay of the soldiers, for
their families.
Before leaving Nauvoo,
Olive and Jonathan had their endowments in the temple on 24 December 1845.
Olive had to be brave while her husband was so busy with his many assignments
and look after her own needs and that of her children. Her oldest son had been
gone as a teamster for three months.
Jonathan broke his leg,
but this did not stop him. He went about his work on crutches, caring for the
sick and the dying. On 27 August 1846, a daughter was born to them, named
Clarissa Martha. On 5 September 1846 Jonathan H. Hale died with malaria and
just four days later his faithful wife, Olive passed away. Then little Susan
died 15 September, and baby Clarissa Martha died 18 September. Thus, the father
and mother and two little daughters all died within 14 days. They were all buried together at Council
Bluff, Iowa in an unmarked grave, leaving four orphaned children alone in the
wilderness.
Her son, Solomon, said,
“it was terrible in extreme, so unexpected, so laden with grief. Father and Mother and 2 little sisters were
taken within 2 weeks. There we stood, alone and loveless, the desolate plains
and Rocky Mountains ahead of us, and hostile enemies ahead of us, and burning
our homes behind us. Before Father died
he gave us his blessings, and said, “Stand by the faith and carry on with
Brother Brigham and Brother Heber to the Rocky Mountains. It is God’s work and
we must not fail. Do not be persuaded to turn back, even though our relatives
insist upon it. Go with the church and God will bless you.”
He said that his mother
was so worn and weary that she also contacted the fever and she called her
children to her and asked them to follow the counsel of their father and go
with Brigham Young and the brethren to the Rocky Mountains and to remain true and
faithful. Then she turned to her son, Aroet, and asked him if he would see it
that this was done, then she smiled and said that she would go with Jonathan.
She had previously made temple robes for both of them and
brought with her, in which
they were buried. Their favorite hymn was “How Firm a Foundation, Ye Saints of
the Lord, Is Laid for Your Faith in His Excellent Word”.
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