Hannah Molland Byington 1838 - 1889
Hannah Molland Byington Hannah Molland Byington later years.
Photos of Joseph and Hannah's Children This history is used with permission from Fay Byington of Bountiful, Utah. Hannah Molland was born July 21, 1838 in Toxteth Park, Liverpool, Lancashire, England. Her parents were, James William Molland and Rebecca Gallaway Molland. Toxteth Park is a village on the banks of the Mersey River and is near the large seaport town of Liverpool. A tradition says that when King John enclosed the lands which formed Toxteth Park, her he moved the inhabitants of them to Liverpool and that these, with some fishermen and boatmen consisted of the town's original population. Liverpool is a large port and has castles, large cathedrals, and many old churches and in the nearby villages, small cottages where the farmers and the poorer citizens lived. James Molland was a master blacksmith and a ship smith, so he no doubt came to this area because he could find work. It was here that their children were born, attended school, church and other social functions. They had thirteen children. Only three grew to maturity: Hannah, John and Charles. The rest died when they were children of just one or two years of age. (In an interview with Martha Byington Reed, she stated that they had sixteen children and 13 died. This was not proven. She also said that it was caused by the tight lacings in the corsets of that time. Rebecca's ribs were pressed in until they overlapped in front.) Hannah's brother, John Molland, was born the 12th of April 1840. He married twice - first to Sarah Edwards and second to Ann Lawton. John had only one little girl by his first wife. They named her Rebecca. Her brother, Charles, married a girl named Mary Bell and they had ten children. John was a "jack of all trades" and could make and assemble a gun or a sailing vessel, including manning the vessel with guns. He was a fine ship's carpenter. He was drowned while at work the 28th day of November in 1881. He was 41 years old. Charles Molland had no death date on his family group sheet but, he was living in Toxteth Park when his last child was born the 25th day of January 1895. Hannah worked in a silk factory where she became very proficient and because of her skill, rose to the position of head lady. Some time around the year 1841, the Mormon missionaries came into this area. In the branch records we find the Molland family listed: (Film #087012 - Genealogical library in Salt Lake City, Utah.) In 1861, just a couple of years before Hannah sailed for America, Liverpool had 443,938 citizens. The places of worship in 1851 within the area were: 59 Church of England, with 60,545 settings; 10 of the Independents with 7,942 settings; 11 Baptist with 6,520; 4 Unitarians with 1,791; 17 Wesleyans with 8,944; 3 New Connexion Methodist, with 2,020; 4 of the Wesleyan Association with 2,431; 1 of the Latter Day Saints with 9 settings; 16 of Roman Catholic with 14,218 settings. You can see that at that time, the Mormon church was just getting started. It is amazing that with all the other churches, the Molland family joined the Mormons. Hannah knew that the restored gospel was true, every principle of it, for she lived all the commandments. Her motto probably was, "keep the line between you and God open with prayer and keep your own standards." With a prayer in her heart and many days of hard work, she saved enough for her passage on the boat to Zion. How brave she was to leave her home in England and make the long, tedious journey across the ocean. On the 19th of May 1863, Hannah deposited 320 dollars for her passage to America. At this time she was 24 years old. The 30th of May 1863, she said her last farewell to her family and set sail from the port of Liverpool on the ship Cynosure, a sailing vessel weighing 1230 tons. The ship's master was a man named Williams. George Q. Cannon was the agent. Before she left, her father, James Molland, gave her his Bible. On the front page is written, "24 April 1840 James Molland's Book. On the back page is written, Hannah Byington, her book, presented to her by her father James Molland, 1 May, 1861. She also recorded her marriage date 27th of Feb. 1864 and the birth of her first child, James Henry Byington - born 4 Apr. 1865. At this time, (1984), this Bible is in the possession of Thayle Byington of Layton, Utah. Aunt Martha Byington Reed stated that Hannah came with 15 young girls who came to the United States together. In doing the list of passengers on the vessel Cynosure, I found several single girls mentioned. They were: Mary Hooper, age 22, Rose A. Weaver, Elizabeth Smith, age 20, Sophia Rose, age 17 and Elizabeth Simpson, age 21. These could have been some of the girls she came with to America. Shortly after the ship left England it was stopped because of no wind. For three days the ocean was so quiet they could almost see the bottom. The Saints aboard held a meeting and in prayer, they asked the Lord to cause the wind to blow. Their prayers were answered and the next day the ship sailed on. They had favorable winds for sailing for several more days. Many of the passengers became seasick. Several others contracted the measles and some of them died and were buried at sea. The drinking water on the ship became stale and was rationed, causing many of the passengers to have bowel ailments. The bread they had to eat was called hard-tack. They slept in bunks in little cabins way down in the ship. A storm came up suddenly one day and they all rushed down to their cabins. The port holes were closed up. For three days they were locked in their cabins with no air, no light and no cooked food - just hard-tack. The trunks bumped from one side of the cabin to the other, so they couldn't sleep. The ship tossed and rocked so much they were afraid of falling from their bunks. The wind was so strong that the captain had to let the anchor drag to keep the ship from going backward. When the storm was over they went out on the deck. The waves were still strong enough to almost wash them overboard. At last a great shout went up, "land, land, and one more, land". My what a noise. Some of the people laughed and some cried for joy. After six weeks on the ocean they were just as happy as Columbus and his sailors were to see land. America at last! They arrived in New York City about the middle of July. It was a beautiful sight after seeing nothing for six weeks but ship and water. For those who were going to Zion the trip was not over yet. From here they journeyed to the Mississippi by train. The train cars had no comforts, no upholstered seats. They had no water and so every time the train would stop they would get off and fill everything they could from the railroad tanks. On and on, day and night they rode until they came to St. Louis. Here they were having an outbreak of cholera. Some of the Saints died here and had to be buried along the way. From here they went on a steam ship across the Mississippi River and up the Missouri River. Their destination was Florence, Nebraska. They thought they could be comfortable there, but to their surprise, no houses were to be had. A man met the steamer with a wagon and team. The sickest of the company were put in the wagon. The rest had to walk from the river in the night. They put them in the only place that was available, a stable where the government kept horses for the soldiers who had to protect the people from the Indians. It had clean straw and was dry. Most of the company were glad to get under shelter from the drizzling rain. No stoves were available, they had to cook their food on camp fires. Did the girls who left England with Hannah, come on to Utah or was she alone on this long trip from New York? The stay in Florence was about three weeks. It was terribly hot and there were se many flies. It was a miserable time. One of the children in this company died while they were at Florence. In this three week period, they made ready for the last part of the journey. It was by no means the easiest part. From now on they would probably walk most of the way. The leaders of the company went to Omaha, Nebraska to purchase provisions for the long trip, while others stayed to make ready the wagons and tents, shoe the horses or oxen, wash and mend the clothes, etc. It would be interesting to know what Hannah did to prepare. Did she have extra money so she could buy food or did she work for someone so she could share what they had? The trip from Florence, Nebraska to Utah would be another twelve week long, scorching trek across miles and miles of endless prairie. Aunt Martha Byington Reed said that Hannah met Joseph Henry Byington when she came across the plains. Joseph Henry made several trips with a team to assist in bringing immigrants to Zion. He must have been with the Thomas E. Ricks company, because that is the one that Hannah traveled with. The journey was hot and humid for the first part, since it was mid summer. Hannah's birthday was on the 21st of July. Where was she on the prairie at this time? Did she tell anyone it was her birthday? Did she just go along with the others and not say a word? Wouldn't it be interesting to know the facts? Coming across the plains they would sleep at night under the wagons or in a tent if they had one. Saturday the train stopped early because it was wash and scrub day. Everything was taken from the wagon box, scrubbed and put back clean. They never traveled on Sunday. I can see Hannah sitting quietly beside the stream or in the wagon, reading the Bible her father gave her. At one place the company was held up for hours by a herd of buffalo. Another time a young buck from the Sioux tribe stole some crackers from one of the wagons. This was probably the first time Hannah had ever seen an Indian or a buffalo. Was she excited or was she just plain scared? While crossing the Platte River, some teams on the wagons ahead became entangled while struggling in quicksand. The bedding and clothing in the wagon fell into the water and floated away. Sometimes wood was scarce. The women, as they walked along, would pick up buffalo chips to be used with scanty bits of wood, gathered to make the campfires. As the company traveled along the well marked trail, they would pass newly-made graves of some unfortunate person in the company ahead. At the head of the grave was the familiar buffalo skull to mark the spot. The writing on the skull would sometimes be in Danish, sometimes in German and other inscriptions would be in English. The message given by all was that some faithful saint had perished on his way to his beloved Zion. By the last weeks of the trek, the weather had cooled and now the nights and days were rather chilly. They were a sorry looking crowd when they reached the valley-weary, dirty, ragged, with chapped and burned faces. Captain Thomas E. Rick's Company arrived the 4th of October, 1863. Just about five months after leaving her home in England, Hannah was at last at her destination, the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. About four months after her arrival, she became the second wife of Joseph Henry Byington on 27 Feb. 1864. Most of her life in Utah and Idaho was spent caring for her children, making the best of any burden which she was called to bear. Again we quote from the interview with Martha Byington Reed "Hannah was a mild mannered, saintly woman who sacrificed herself completely for others." She had a lonely life, as her daughter Martha said, Joseph Henry spent most of his time at the home of the first wife, Nancy, or was running freight wagons or working out for others. I can imagine that many times she longed to see her family in England. It must have been a joyful time for her when her mother, Rebecca decided to come to America. Martha says, she came about the year 1873. Hannah's father James, died the 23rd of Oct. 1872 so Rebecca no doubt decided to spend her remaining years with her only living daughter. Hannah and her family of four children were living at Nine Mile (now Cambridge) near Downey, Idaho when her mother, Rebecca Galloway Molland, came to America. Hannah always managed to have a cow, some pigs and chickens. She also taught school while there. The little log house where she taught school has been preserved and is now in Downey, Idaho. An article found in the Idaho State Journal, tells about it. First Downey Log School House Dedicated As Pioneer Memorial Downey - A log cabin used as the first school house in Marsh Valley, as a store and the home of Abigail Starbuck Coffin and her children, now is in the city park. The cabin was built by William Jackson at Nine Mile, now known as Cambridge. From there Mrs. Coffin assisted her neighbors and friends as midwife and nurse. When there were no doctors or nurses between Fort Hall and Red Rock. Mrs. Coffin was born July 1, 1813 in Indiana and spent her girlhood there. At age 20, she was married to William Barney Coffin in North Carolina. They were parents of four sons and four daughters. The family lived in Nauvoo, Ill. and later at Council Bluffs, Iowa where Mr. Coffin died. Mrs. Coffin crossed the plains with an ox team, her eldest son Nathan, 12, driving. They arrived at Ogden, Utah, then a small village, in 1852, and Mrs. Coffin worked as a doctor and midwife. In 1871 she and her family came to Marsh Valley. She settled in a log cabin at Nine Mile and seeing the need for a store she established one in her home. Traveling to Ogden with a horse and carriage she would take farm produce to exchange for such commodities as were needed by the settlers. Thus the cabin home became a first store in the valley. It became the first school in the valley when she donated its use as a class room for the six or eight children of school age in the settlement. Hannah Byington was the teacher. Many descendants of these women live in the valley and in surrounding areas. The cabin was dedicated in September 1961 by Camp Hunt Daughters of the Utah Pioneers as a pioneer memorial. It is furnished with pioneer and early day furniture contributed by area residents. Hannah was the first teacher of this school. In order to do this she had to leave her little six year old daughter, Maria, in charge of the baby, Martha, who was only a few months old. She was skilled in embroidery, crocheting and knitting and many times was seen knitting an article as she hurried along the three miles of rough country road toward church. Grandmother Rebecca was at their home when Hannah's sons James and Charles accidentally started a fire. It burned out of control. They became frightened and tried to put it out. James was throwing dirt on it and Charley was using the hatchet to cut the dirt loose when James got his hand in the way and got two fingers cut off. They ran to the house. One finger was still hanging by a piece of skin. Grandmother Rebecca put it back in place and it healed. Hannah grew a beautiful garden and gathered the wild chokecherries and gooseberries which she dried for winter's use. She told her children many times that she had found a treasure in the Gospel that was richer and dearer than anything she had ever known. She was the children's only teacher and help. She did little scolding in disciplining her family. In her firm kindness she reigned supremely over her home. Her daughter Martha says "She taught us not to take a pin if it did not belong to us." One time some of the boys stole some watermelons. Hannah made her son James take the melon back and apologize. Mother Rebecca was with them when they moved to Red Rock, where they stayed for about six years. It was here that they met their old friend Captain Jefferson Hunt, who they knew when they lived in Huntsville. He was a good friend to Hannah and many times helped her family. Hannah lived at first in the early forts in Utah. How different it must have been from her life in England. When she was alone in her dugout or log cabin with her small children, what did she think when the mountain lion raided the chicken house or when the coyotes howled near the cabin at night? I believe that Nancy Maria, Joseph Henry's first wife was always kind and helpful. They seemed to work together raising their families. Hannah's children called her Aunt Nancy. Nancy was born in a frontier settlement of Pennsylvania. She was familiar with the ways of the pioneers. She probably taught Hannah many things -- how to make lye soap in an iron kettle in the yard; how to churn the cream into butter in the old wooden churn. When they lived in Red Rock, they had a few sheep. They took the wool and spun it into material for their clothing and blankets. Hannah would wash it and Nancy, she lived about 3 miles away, would spin it into thread, which Hannah wove into cloth. Before the advent of matches, fires once made were never let die out. The flint and steel to build a fire was the most valuable piece of equipment for the early settlers. They also used the frietion and the tinder box. Finally they got the old sulphur matches. If your fire went out, you would check to see which settler had smoke coming out of the chimney, then you took your frying pan and ran to that house for some live coals to start your fire. About the year 1883, Joseph Henry moved his families to the farm where Hyrum Elliott had settled. It was between Nine Mile (Cambridge) and Red Rock. They lived in his old house for a few months. It was here that a great sorrow came to the family. Hannah's mother, Rebecca, died. She was sixty-three years old. Aunt Martha says she was buried close by. Since the Byington cemetery is located on the Hyrum Elliott Byington farm in this area, I think grandmother Rebecca Molland is buried in this cemetery. Hannah's older boys, Charles and James, were now young men. James was eighteen, Charles was fifteen, Hannah Maria was seventeen, Martha Jane was eleven, Susan Elizabeth was seven, Joseph Henry was five, John Parley was three, and Clarence Spencer was two. In 1883, the family was getting ready for another move. James and his half brother, Jode, were at a little town in Idaho called Wilford, where they spent the summer fixing up places for the families to move into. Charles was no doubt left with the responsibility of helping his mother pack the wagon and do all the needed chores for the move. Hannah Maria married William Burrup on 9 August 1883, so she did not move with the family to Annis. Aunt Martha Byington Reed, who was twelve years old, tells how cold it was when they got to Annis on November 22, 1883. They found a place there for three hundred dollars, so they decided to stay. It was a one-room log house with a dirt floor. James sold his place in Wilford and stayed with his mother in Annis. Times were hard. Martha says, "there was scarcely any money> I remember having a nickel once in a while. Even after I worked out for a living I was paid with an order on the store. We could buy things like sugar, raisins and salt. Then when the crops were harvested, the store took wheat for their pay. Fruit was very scarce. An apple was a great treat. Sometimes we took butter and eggs to the store to trade for the things we needed. Butter sold for eight to ten cents a pound and eggs from six to eight cents a dozen." Everyone who was old enough to work had chores to do. Their recreation was dancing, sleigh riding and church. Sometimes they would have a home talent show or a play, put on in the ward. Hannah had to walk to church most of the time. She was counselor in primary, which was held on a week day. She would take her knitting and knit as fast as she would walk. The year 1886 brought another sorrow to Hannah. Her son, Joseph Henry, who was about eight years old, died in June. He died of the dread disease diphtheria. Diphtheria took many children in the early days. Often scarlet fever swept the area, destroying the hearing when it did not kill, resulting in deaf-mutism. Measles came almost every spring. The terrible epidemic of smallpox spread like wildfire on a prairie. Nothing could be done. Home remedies and native herbs did not help. A few days of terrible fever and little bodies lay lifeless, covered by the ugly pock marks. Hannah nursed her children through these sicknesses with a prayerful heart and loving care. She was called many times to the homes of her neighbors to help them. She was always a good friend and would divide her last bit of food with them. The first school in Annis was held in the home of a Mrs. Carr. Soon a one-room schoolhouse was built and the children - Martha, Susan, Parley, and Spencer - all went to school at this place. Joseph Henry was sent to prison in Sioux Falls, Dakota Territory for having two wives. At this time, Hannah was alone in Annis, Idaho with her children. Nancy Maria (Aunt Nancy) was with her children in Wilford. Hannah kept a record in a little book which was found by Aunt Martha Reed. It read: "James started 6 June 1888 for Caribou (about Gray's Lake). James and Charley got home from Caribou 9 Nov. 1888. Joseph arrived here from Sioux Falls 12 Mar. 1889. James started for Bay Horse 18 Apr. 1889." Grandmother Hannah had a humble beginning. She never lost sight of the thought that with frugality and careful planning, things would someday be different. She was thoroughly converted to the principle of tithing and felt that her success in raising her family was largely due to the observance of this principle. I can see her in the evenings in the quiet moments of twilight, in front of the fireplace, where she loved to sit with her loved ones around her after the days work was done. Sometimes she read to them, other times her knitting needles snapped like shooting stars as she hummed or sang softly. She died the 19th of November 1889 in Annis, Idaho. She was buried in the Annis Cemetery on the 23rd of Nov. 1889. Her daughter Martha was seventeen years old at the time. She kept the house and children together as well as she could. At the time of her death, Hannah was just fifty-one years old. The youngest living child was Clarence Spencer, who was just eight years old. How they must have missed her. Her trials made her humble, her great love of people made her charitable, her faith in the Gospel set her free. May our testimonies be strengthened and may the story of her life make a lasting impression on our memories. May we emulate her worthy example and live our lives so that this great pioneer would be proud of her posterity. TO HANNAH'S POSTERITY
TO OUR GRANDMOTHER'S
|
%20of%20Hannah%20Molland%20Byington%20headstone.jpg)