Edward's Autobiography |
I was born in the town of Atkinson, Penobscot County, State of Maine, August 1,
1822. My parents were Silas Bunker and Hannah Berry Bunker. I was the youngest of
nine children, seven boys and two girls, whose names were as follows: Nahum who
married Irene Thayer; Abigail, married Mr. Heath; Martin, married Mary Ann Gilpatrick;
Alfred, who never married; Hannah, who married John Berry; Kendall, who married his
cousin, Rachel Bunker; Silas died when 27 years old, unmarried; Sabin who married
after I came west so I do not know who he married. When I was about sixteen years
old, Father sold our home and moved to Charleston at which place we lived five years.
During our stay there, Father deeded his farm and other property to my brother Silas on
the condition that he take care of the old folks as long as they lived.
When I was nineteen years old I left home with the consent of my parents and
brother Silas, to work for myself, as Silas owned the property, I felt I ought to have my
time. After an absence of two or three months, Silas requested me to come back and
live at home as he was lonely without me. He offered me a deed to one-half of the
property if I would go back. I refused the offer, telling him it would be a good home for
him and he could care for father and mother.
A spirit of unrest had taken possession of me and I longed to get away. The farm was
a good one, consisting of 100 acres of land, good buildings, and a nice stock of cattle.
Silas felt so lonely without me that he rented the farm and went to Trenton, a distance
of sixty miles, to work for my brother Martin. After he got work, he wrote for me to come
there, too. As work was plentiful and I could get a job, I went down. A few days after my
arrival, Silas was taken sick with filious fever. I stayed with him until he died. Before his
death, realizing his time had come and not wishing the property to go back into Father's
hands as he was not capable of taking care of it, he wished to deed the property to
Martin and myself for the benefit of Father and Mother.
So we had the deeds drawn up and he sat up in bed and signed them. After the
death of Silas, Martin made me a proposition which was this: he would pay the funeral
expenses and the doctor bills and deed me his share of the property if I would pay him
$200 and take care of the old folks. Or he would pay me $200 and take care of the old
folks if I would deed him my share of the property and pay Silas' funeral expenses. I
accepted the latter offer, which astonished Martin very much. We returned to Charle-
ston, where at my request, he gave Father and Mother a life lease and I deeded him
my share of the property. After this was done I returned to Atkinson, bought a small
farm of my Brother Kendall and took a notion to visit my brother Nahum living near
Boston.
Accordingly, Brother Sabin took myself and a load of shingles to Bangor. I sold the
shingles and worked my passage to Plymouth. I visited Nahum in Brantree and he
proposed we visit Alfred, who was living in Hartford, Conn. This we did. Alfred wanted
me to remain with him, as I could get plenty of work and good wages , so I spent the
summer there.
In the fall, my brother-in-law, John Berry, came along and wanted me to go to Wis-
consin with him to see the country. Alfred was away from home at the time, but I
packed my trunk and left for the West without bidding him goodbye, and never saw him
again. John Berry and I came to Cleveland, Ohio. The lakes froze over and we had to
spend the winter there. I went to Kirtland to visit friends and see the temple. While there
we met Martin Harris, who invited us to his house, where we went and heard him bear
his testimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon.
I obtained work at Cleveland for eight dollars a month and board. John Berry left me
and went to Pittsburg to obtain work and we agreed to meet in Wisconsin. While in
Cleveland, Mr. Berry found the Book of Mormon, read it, and brought it to me to read,
which I did. The man with whom I was living had the Voice of Warning, which I read
also. I found a branch of the church there, attended the meetings, became convinced
of the truth of Mormonism, and was baptized in the month of April, 1845. Then I knew
why it was that I had been led from my father's house and left my dear old mother
whom I loved dearly.
After the lakes were opened, I got higher wages, $16 a month at Akron where I
worked one month. Then I went aboard a boat and landed at Chicago, then a small
frontier town. From there I went to Rock River, Wisconsin, to meet my cousin Patience
Millet, and friends from Maine. After the time was spent there, during which time I told
them I was a Latter-Day Saint, they accused the Mormons of believing in polygamy. I
told them it was only a slur and a false statement. At the end of my stay, I took the
stage for Galena, ninety miles distant, and then went aboard a steamboat, went down
the Mississippi River and arrived at Nauvoo in July 1845. I had a letter of
recommendation to George A. Smith, who was in council with his brothers, but came
out and spoke to me and asked me what I was going to do. I told him I did not know,
but wished to do whatever was the best. He asked me if I had any money. I told him I
had some. He advised me to hire my board and go to work on the temple, or Nauvoo
House. So I hired my board and went to work on the temple. I paid my tithing from the
day I was baptized every tenth day and the tenth of the worth of my clothes. After
having paid my tithing, I went to work for the Nauvoo House, cutting hay for them on
the prairie with two of the brethren. We camped where we worked until the mobs broke
out and began to burn the farms and drive the Saints into Nauvoo. I joined the militia
and went out as a guard to assist some of the Saints to move in. I was in the infantry
company that went to war by order of the Sheriff of Bannock County to make arrests of
those who had been burning and plundering the homes of the Saints.
The presiding priesthood compromised with the mob and agreed to leave Nauvoo.
Then I crossed the river to Montrose and went to work for Peter Robinson, threshing
grain and making flour barrels. While at Montrose, I became acquainted with Emily
Abbott and we were married in Nauvoo by John Taylor, February 9 [19], 1846, just
before Brother Taylor crossed the river to join the Saints at Sugar Creek.
After my marriage, not being plentifully supplied with this world's goods, I went down
the Mississippi to Keokuk. There I obtained a job cutting cord wood at 50 cents per
cord, boarded myself, camped in the timber, did my own cooking, and cut 15 cords of
wood a week. I worked about three weeks and obtained enough money to buy a few of
the necessities of life.
I returned home and Brother William Robinson offered to take myself and wife west
on condition that I drive and care for the team and Emily assist with the cooking. We
agreed to do this and journeyed westward with the main body of the Saints. When we
got to Garden Grove, Mr. Robinson concluded he couldn't take us any farther, so we
remained there. With the help of Brother Steward, a young man who had just married, I
bought a log cabin of one room. We put a roof on it and chucked it, but it was minus
doors, floors or windows. We moved our wives into it and I went to Missouri with the
intention of earning money enough to buy a team and wagon. I was in company with
two other brethren, and being unable to reach the nearest town, thirty miles distant, we
camped the first night in the woods without blankets or fire. The mosquitoes were very
bad. Arriving at my destination, I worked one week for corn and bacon.
At this time the report reached us that the United States government had called for a
company of Saints to go to Mexico. I did not believe it but the spirit of the Lord directed
me to go home. So the following Saturday, with the side of a bacon slung over my
shoulder, I started for home, thirty miles distant. As I neared my destination, I met some
brethren hunting stock and they confirmed the report I had heard concerning the call for
a battalion to go to Mexico. They also told me that Brigham Young had written a letter
to the Grove calling on all the single men and those that could be spared to come to
Bluffs, 140 miles distant west, to assist the families and care for the teams of those
who had joined the battalion, and they in turn could have use of their teams to bring
their families to the Bluffs.
Next day being Sunday, I went to meeting and heard the letter read. Volunteers were
called for and I was the first to offer my service. Eight others followed my example.
They agreed to meet me at my house the following Tuesday morning at nine o'clock
and we would start together for the Bluffs.
Tuesday morning came, but none of the men who had agreed to meet me put in an
appearance, so, with my small bundle of clothes and provisions, I started alone on the
journey of 140 miles, and only one settlement on the way. When within two days
journey of the Bluffs, I overtook Mr. Robinson, who had left us at Garden Grove. He
had lost a child and his teamster had deserted him, so he besought me to drive his
team on to the Bluffs, which I did. When within ten miles of our journey's end, a
messenger came into camp about midnight with the information that 16 men were
wanted to complete the battalion. The camp was called up and not one volunteered
until I broke the ice. Soon others followed and the required number made up.
The next morning we filed out of camp and went to Trading Point on the Missouri
River, where the Battalion was camped for a few days. We took up our line of march for
Fort Leavenworth where we received our arms and camp equipage. We had the
privilege of drawing our clothes or the money in lieu thereof. Most of the Battalion men
received the money and sent the greater portion of it back to our families. We moved
out a short distance from Fort Leavenworth and went into camp waiting for Col. Allen,
who was sick at the fort. On learning that Col. Allen was dead, Lieut. Smith was given
command of the Battalion and he put on a forced march to Santa Fe.
Brother Tyler's History of the Battalion will give the details of the march better than I
can. However, when we got to Santa Fe we drew all of our money and sent a portion of
it back to our families. Col. Cooke was left at Santa Fe by order of General Kearney to
take command of the Battalion and lead it to California. At Santa Fe I was detailed as
assistant teamster to Hyrum Judd. By so doing I did not have to carry my gun and
knapsack and was exempt from guard duty. One detachment of the Battalion consisting
of the women and sick men were sent to Benton's Fort to winter and another de-
tachment sent back after we left Santa Fe. As I did not keep a history of our journey, I
will refer the reader to Tyler's History. I will add, however, that on the 27th of January
we reached San Luis Mission where we remained a short time. Then we moved up to
Los Angeles at which place we remained until we were discharged on the 16th day of
July.
Having drawn our pay and procured an outfit, we prepared to return to our homes by
way of Sutter's Fort and across the North Pass of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the old
Emigrant Trail. While crossing the mountains we met Capt. Brown and Sam Brannon
from Salt Lake Valley. Brown to draw the pay for his company, and Brannon to meet
the company of Saints who had gone to California by water.
The returning men of the Battalion divided into three squads on their return trip, and I
was in company with Brothers Tyler, Hancock and others. We met Brown near where
the company of emigrants, enroute to California, had perished the winter before, and
saw the skeletons and bones of those unfortunate people lying on the ground unburied.
Brown brought word from Brigham Young that those of the Battalion who had not
provisions to last them into Salt Lake Valley had better remain in California during the
winter. Some of the brethren turned back and a few others continued eastward. I was in
the latter number and we arrived in Salt Lake Valley on the 16th of October, 1847. After
resting awhile, we proceeded on our journey towards the Missouri.
When I left the valley, I had sixteen pounds of flour to take me a thousand miles and
three mules which I took from California to Council Bluffs. On our journey we bought
some buffalo meat from the Indians and killed a few of these animals ourselves. On
arriving at Loop Fork on the Platte River, we camped for the night and tried to ford the
river, but the ice was running so thick that our mules would not try to cross, so we put
up for the night. The next morning found us in as cold a northeaster snowstorm as I
had ever experienced in the state of Maine.
We stayed in camp all day and ate the last bit of provision we had, even a pair of raw
hide saddle bags which I had brought from California on a wild mule. The next morning
there was about ten inches of snow on the ground and we started down the river
hoping to find missionaries at the Pawnee Mission. That day we killed some prairie
chickens which was all we had. Next day we came opposite the mission houses which
were across the river from us. Some of the boys commenced to build a raft when, on
looking down the river, we saw Robert Harris crossing the ice by means of a long pole.
We abandoned our raft and followed his example and crossed the river on the ice. We
found the mission deserted and the corn all gathered, but we went into the fields and
with our feet gathered a few ears of frost-bitten corn which the Indians had left, and
which we ate raw. We went into the houses and stayed all night without bedding. One
of the boys brought a frying pan and the corn we didn't eat raw, we parched and ate all
we wanted and took the rest to camp with us.
On reaching camp the next morning, we found that one of our mules had gotten into
the water and was so badly chilled that he had to be killed, and we ate all the meat ex-
cept the lights. Those I tried eating, but they were so much like Indian rubber that I
gave up the attempt.
After getting all the company across the ice, we went to the Mission homes and
stayed all day. Having obtained a little good corn from the Indians, we took up our line
of march for Council Bluffs, 140 mile distant, with the snow from 8 to 10 inches deep.
We arrived in Winter Quarters on the 18th of December, 1847, having been gone 18
months. Three days later the Missouri River froze over sufficiently hard to be crossed
by the teams and wagons. On reaching Winter Quarters I spent the night with one of
my companions thinking my wife was still in Garden Grove where I had left her. Next
morning I went to find Bro. Brown's family and they told me my wife was living a short
distance from them. This was good news, I assure you, and I lost no time in seeking out
Emily and her mother, Abigail Abbott, who was a widow with eight children. Emily, be-
ing the eldest, had been able to move to Winter Quarters with the assistance of William
Robinson.
It may be out of place to enumerate the articles I had for a winter campaign: one pair
of white cotton pants, a white cotton jacket, an old vest, a miltary overcoat, which I
bought from one of the dragoons, a pair of garments, and a shirt; the latter articles
were made from an old wagon cover by Sedric Judd, the tailor of our mess.
I found my wife in quite poor circumstances, but with a fine boy eleven months old,
my eldest son, Edward, who, at this writing, is bishop of Bunkerville. After resting a few
weeks, I got wagons and a harness, hitched up my mules and went to Missouri to work
for provisions. I found employment splitting rails for fencing. I earned a fat hog and
some corn and returned home. We moved across the river to Mesquite Creek. Sister
Abbott moved with us. She had two small boys and we put in crops of corn together.
The next spring Mother Abbott emigrated to Salt Lake City. I assisted her to a yoke of
oxen and the following year received from James Brown, the money for the same. With
this I bought cattle to assist me to emigrate next season. I also received three months
extra pay from the government and a land warrant which I sold for $150. The
emigration to California began next year and corn brought from 25 cents to $1.50 per
bushel. I had raised a good crop and this assisted me very much to obtain my outfit.
In the spring of 1850, I started to Salt Lake Valley in Captain Johnson's hundred and
Matthew Caldwell's fifty, and I was captain of a ten. We followed up the route of the
California emigrants on the south side of the Platte River. Nothing of importance
happened until we came in the cholera district where the emigrants had died in great
numbers and were buried by the roadside. We found one man unburied lying in the
brush. He was given a burial by our company. Our camp was stricken and 18 out of our
hundred died from the effects of the cholera. My wife and daughter, Emily, who had
been born to us the first of March, 1849, on Mesquite Creek, Iowa, were taken very
sick, but through the powers of faith and good nursing they soon recovered. At the end
of three months we reached Salt Lake Valley, our haven of rest, September 1, 1850. I
settled in Ogden City, took up a farm about a mile from the city on what was then
known as Canfield Creek. I built a house of three log rooms and fenced my farm the
first year.
William Lang owned a farm adjoining mine, also James Brown. William Lang died
soon after I came there and I married his widow, whose maiden name was Sarah A.
Browning, June, 1852. She had two girls by her first husband. President Young and
Heber C. Kimball came to Ogden in 1851 and organized the stake with Lorin Farr as
president and James Brown and William Palmer as councilors. I was chosen a member
of the High Council and ordained by Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball set me apart
for that calling. I was also a member of the first council of Ogden City.
In the fall of 1852, I was called to go on a mission to England. There were some sev-
enty elders called at that time. We started on our missions immediately after the Octo-
ber semi-annual conference and took with us the first publication of the revelation on
celestial marriage which was sent to the nations of the earth. After landing in Liverpool
we reported ourselves to the presidency of the mission in Liverpool at the office of the
Mellenial Star. I was appointed to preside over the Bristol conference in the place of
George Halliday who was released to emigrate. I presided there about three months,
then I was called to care for Mr. Clayton's field of labor, he being sent home. That field
included Sheffield, Bradford, and Lincolnshire conferences. I labored there two years,
then was released to preside in Scotland which included the conferences of Dundee,
Glasgow and Edinburgh. I labored there one year then was released to come home.
There were about five hundred emigrants, all Saints, and some returning elders on
board ship and presided over by Daniel Tyler.
The voyage was pleasant with the exception of one storm during which one sailor
was drowned. We landed in New York, at Castle Garden, thence by rail to St. Louis,
then by steamboat up the Mississippi River to Iowa City, which place we reached in the
month of June, 1856.
Here the company was fitted out with hand carts. I was given charge of a Welch
company and left Iowa City, June 28, 1856. We procured our provisions and teams to
haul our supplies at Council Bluffs. After leaving Iowa City, we encountered some
heavy rain and windstorms which blew down our tents and washed away our hand-
carts. I got a heavy drenching which brought on a spell of rheumatism that confined me
to my bed a portion of the journey.
I had for my councilors Brothers Grant, a Scotchman, and tailor by trade, and Mac-
Donald, a cabinet maker, neither of whom had much experience in handling teams.
Both were returned missionaries. The Welsh people had had no experience and very
few of them could speak English. This made my burden very heavy. I had the mule
team to drive and had to instruct the teamsters about yoking the oxen.
The journey from the Missouri River to Salt Lake City was accomplished in 65 days.
We were short of provisions all the way and would have suffered for food had not
supplies reached us from the valley. However, we arrived safely in Salt Lake City,
October 2, 1856. Other companies that started in the latter part of the season were
caught in the snow storms and suffered severely from cold and hunger and many of
them perished. When I arrived home my health was very poor, having suffered a great
deal while in England from the cold damp climate.
I found my family in poor circumstances, having lost about forty head of cattle during
the winter. The winter before I arrived they had also passed through what was called
the "Grasshopper War". Soon after my arrival I was made Bishop of the Second Ward
in Ogden and labored in that capacity until I moved to Dixie. Some time later I was in
Big Cottonwood Canyon celebrating the 24th of July, 1857, when word came that
Johnson's army was coming to exterminate the Mormons.
We all returned to our homes and prepared for the worst. The militia was called out
and sent into Echo Canyon and Johnson's Army was obligated to winter on Ham's
Fork. In the spring of '58 we moved as far south as Payson where we remained all
summer. During this time Governor Cummings and Col. Kane came directly from
Washington D.C. Everything was peaceable and in the fall we returned to our homes.
In the fall of '59, our daughter Emily, then ten years old, was sick with bilious fever
and tape worm, near unto death. Lost her speech and memory and was as helpless as
an infant. Her mother weaned the baby and gave Emily the breast and that was all the
nourishment she took for two months. She was healed thru the ordinances of the
church by the power of God, as one raised from the dead. All her faculties returned and
she is now living and the mother of four boys.
In April of 1861, I married Mary McQuarrie, and the following November with my
wives, Emily and Mary, moved to Dixie and spent the first year in Toquerville. My wife
Sarah remained in Ogden and the next fall I went for her.
In the fall of '62 I was called to preside at the Santa Clara. At this time we endured
many privations and hardships on account of dry seasons and loss of crops. I was
obliged to haul my breadstuffs from the north for several years. At one time grain was
so scarce that flour was worth $10 per cwt. and had it not been for the liberality of our
brethren in the north, our southern settlement would have suffered severely. Before
flour reached us, my family was reduced to bran bread and glad to get that.
I also assisted to establish a settlement in Clover Valley and moved part of my family
there. Salter and I bought a place in Panguitch and were among the first settlers after
the town was established. Moved part of my family and two of my sons also settled
there. I presided at the Santa Clara for about twelve years, then resigned on account of
poor health, not having sufficient resources to keep my family together. Marius Ensign,
my first councilor, was appointed my successor.
During my later administration as Bishop, President Brigham Young introduced the
United Order in the Dixie Mission. This we all joined. I put in all I possessed, the labor of
myself, two teams, and two boys. I had a nice crop of grain growing, said by the ap-
praisors to be the best in the field. I worked until the Order broke up, which it did just
one year from the date of commencement, January 1. At the division in our town, my
teams and wagons were returned to me, but I wasn't given a pound of hay, grain, or
cotton, with twenty in my family. Be assured this was a dark day for myself and family,
but we said in our hearts, "The Lord knows we obeyed that principle with a pure motive
and He will not let us suffer." I took my boys and teams and went into the mountains
and cut and hauled wood to St. George for the temple and for individuals, and in this
way obtained flour and factory pay to sustain my family until another harvest.
The next year I raised enough to support my family and pay off a $150 cash debt. So
you see the Lord abundantly blessed us for our integrity. Having seen by the spirit of
the Lord the necessity and blessings of the United Order, I labored for two or three
years with my family and neighbors and friends, and counciled with President Brigham
Young previous to making a settlement on the Rio Virgin, fifty miles south of St.
George. President Young told me I could go any place in the south, but said repeatedly
not to go north. So, having gathered a sufficient number, including Dudley and Lemuel
Leavitt and families, J. [G.] W. Lee, S.C. Crosby, E. Bunker, Jr., and families, others
joined us later on, we were organized as a company the first of January, 1877, at Santa
Clara.
We left there soon after and reached what was then known as Mesquite, but that was
afterwards named Bunkerville. We began work the eighth of January, myself presiding
over the company, and later was ordained Bishop with E. Bunker, Jr. as my first and
Myron Abbott as my second councilors.
We labored there in the order three years. At the end of that time, we attempted to or-
ganize into stewardships, and the result was that we broke up. The brethren did not
understand the principle sufficient to accept of it. Previous to this, we had labored in
one company. Our labors, however, were very highly crowned with success. In settling
up we paid off the capital stock dollar for dollar, fed and clothed the company and paid
18 per cent on every man's labor. We made a valuation of our improvements, divided
them up and they went to pay our indebtedness. Our land was covered with a heavy
growth of mesquite trees that had to be grubbed off. Then every acre had to be leveled
with a scraper before it was to be irrigated. This made our work very laborious for
ourselves and teams. But when the land was brought under cultivation, it was very
productive.
My health was very poor so I thought a trip to Arizona would be beneficial, and with
the consent of the President of the Stake and President John Taylor, I started south on
April 4, 1882. We reached Mesa City the 25th of the same month at which place we
spent the summer. The Apache Indians were on the war path and it was unsafe to
travel further south. After spending a pleasant summer, in the fall, I went to San Pedro
and stayed a few months, then pushed on to Sulphur Spring Valley where I had rela-
tives. I will also state I took my wife Emily with me and sons Silas and George, and
daughter Louella. Our outfit consisted of two teams, two wagons and a tent.
We remained in Sulphur Springs several months and regained our health and visited
friends. While at Mesa in company with a few of the brethren, I went into Old Mexico as
far south as the San Bernardino ranch. Having been gone nearly two years, we de-
cided to return home, which we did, arriving here December 26, 1883.
While I was absent the settlement of Bunkerville experienced a very heavy flood
which nearly broke up the town, but thru the perseverance and integrity of the people,
they were able to repair the damages and save the place from abandonment. From that
time on the town has grown and flourished. The Lord has blessed the people and now
they are beginning to reap the reward of their labors.
In conclusion I would say that now at the age of 72 I am resting from my labors and
am associated with a goodly portion of my family, having in all three wives, 28 children,
seventeen boys and eleven girls. Three girls and two boys have died. I also have sev-
enty grandchildren, sixty-one of whom are living and two great grandchildren.
Thanks to: Michael C. Bunker, 13 Carson Ct., Ely, NV, 89301-2034 for this item.
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