Subject: History of Lucinda [Gates] Bingham from_Desc of Erastus Bingham
and Lucinda Gates_
wife of Erastus Bingham who was the son of Sarah (Sally) Perry
[and Elisha Warner Bingham], who was the daughter of Capt. David Perry
[and Anna Bliss]
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History of Lucinda [Gates] Bingham
(pages 10-11 of The Descendants of Erastus Bingham and Lucinda Gates,
lst Edition, June 1970,
Erastus Bingham Family Corp., Ogden, Utah)
Electronic Edition 1999 Richard (Dick) Bingham
Lucinda Gates, the eldest of the eleven children born to Thomas Gates and Patty
Plumly, was born at Ackworth, Sullivan County, New Hampshire, on the 19th of
September 1797.
On the 21st of March 1820 she married Erastus Bingham, the sixth child
of a family of nine children, born the 12th of March 1798 at Concord, Essex
County, Vermont.
She was mother of ten children, three daughters and seven sons, four
of these were born in Concord, Essex County, Vermont; three at Littletown,
Grafton County, New Hampshire; two at St. Johnsburg, Caledonia County,
Vermont; and one (the youngest) was born in LaHarpe, Illinois.
She was talented in music and singing, an ideal mother and homemaker,
very hospitable, and, although her home was only a log cabin, it became a
palace to her.
In the year of 1833 John F. Boyington (or Boynton), a missionary for the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was assigned to the territory
where she resided; and she, her children and husband, after prayerful
consideration of the truths he declared to them and prayerful reading of
the Book of Mormon, accepted his testimony and were baptized. Early in
1836 she and her husband sold their farm and home in Vermont and
accompanied Willard Snow and others in migrating from Vermont to
Kirtland, Ohio, the central point of the Latter-day Saints headquarters
at that early date.
She and her family remained in Kirtland, Ohio, until late September 1836,
when they left for Farr West, Missouri, where they arrived 4 November 1836.
Soon after her husband rented a farm located on Shoal Creek about 2 1/2 miles
from Farr West. Here he erected a log cabin large enough to comfortably house
his wife and their eight children. The farm was fenced and she and the children
aided in cultivating the soil until 1838 when the exterminating order of Governor
Lilburn W. Boggs was issued. She and her family were driven away from their
humble, but comfortable home by the mob and mobbings of individuals opposed
to the teachings of the Latter-day Saints. The mob relented and did not burn
her home, but permitted them to assemble the cattle and their personal possession,
part of which were sold for cash, and take them to Hancock County, Illinois.
Early in 1839 a farm was rented near LaHarpe in the North Eastern part of
Hancock County, Illinois, where her youngest child, Brigham Heber, was born
on the 15th day of Dee 1841.
Her fervent prayers prevailed to the extent that she and her family did not suffer
so extensively as did many others when the mob drove the Saints out of Missouri.
She saw and experienced the ravages, burnings and destruction of personal
property as it occurred in 1838 and early 1839, when the Saints suffered
violence through the mobbings directed against the members of the Latter-day
Saint Church.
In the spring of 1845 her husband purchased a farm of 160 acres near Nauvoo,
Hancock County, Illinois, which he cultivated and erected a comfortable home
for her and her children. The next year mobbings occurred again and this mob
violence caused her, her husband and family great distress and sorrow, even
to the extent that the mob caused them to sacrifice their farm and possessions
for a team of horses. With this team, other horses, livestock, wagons stocked
with a few personal possessions and a scant supply of food they escaped from
the infuriated mob on the 6th of May 1846.
She met the Prophet Joseph Smith while in Kirtland, Ohio, and knew him personally.
She loved him and her religion and was willing to undergo great sacrifices for the
religious cause she had accepted and knew to be the TRUTH.
She was privileged to receive her endowments in the Nauvoo Temple and passed
through all of the trying days of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and the
leadership of the Church by the Twelve Apostles. During this time apostasy,
hardship, and disruptions occurred in so many ways, but none of these disturbed
her faith or knowledge in the divinity of the Gospel and the Testimony she possessed
concerning its truthfulness.
The weather prevailing in May 1846 was cold and stormy, and she and her family
suffered greatly from exposure and lack of proper food, during their trip from
Nauvoo, Illinois, to Winter Quarters in Iowa. When they finally arrived at Winter
Quarters, Iowa, she and her family found that food and provisions were very
scarce, and as there were so many others there who were less fortunate than they,
a decision was made to remove from Winter Quarters to a point or place where the
necessities of life could be had. They then migrated a distance of 150 miles north of
Winter Quarters, and they wintered with the Ponca Indians at Swift Water living in
their wagons and a wickiup provided by the friendly Indians.
In the spring of 1847 she, her three daughters, six sons and husband left Swift Water
and the Indians who had so graciously wintered them, and returned to Winter
Quarters, Iowa. In June 1847 they purchased additional provisions, equipment,
and supplies and joined with the second company to leave for the West, with Daniel
Spencer presiding over the group of 100; Ira Eldredge was Captain of 50 and
Erastus Bingham, Captain of 10.
These emigrants suffered the hardship of storms and early snowfall, but successfully
overcame these and arrived in Great Salt Lake Valley on 9 September 1847. She
experienced the hardships of the early pioneers, and the attacks from the Indians,
who frequently had to be fed to pacify them. The lack of large supplies of food,
reduced them to want during the winter of 1848-1849, but she bore these trials with
patience and with faith in the Lord that means to meet every emergency would be
provided by God her Eternal Father. I t was this enduring faith that helped to make
her home a happy one during the period from the fall of 1847 to the spring of 1851.
During her stay in Salt Lake County, her home was in Salt Lake City; however, the
men engaged in farming and ranching in the valley and near the mouth of Bingham
Canyon.
The Indians knew the kindness of Mrs. Bingham and her family and they were safe
from the violence of the occasional raids.
Early in 1859 her husband, Erastus, was called by Brigham Young to leave his
family and help make new homes in Weber County. He left his wife and part of
the younger children to care for the farm in Salt Lake Valley, while they removed
northward to select a new farm, build another log cabin, and establish another
new home in the wilderness to the north. A log cabin was erected in Ogden, but
before it was finished the 'leaders of the Church recommended erecting homes
at Lynn, where his farm was located. There he erected another log house and
in 1851 moved her and the balance of the family to their new home. A fort was
constructed to protect the women and children and this place was known as
Bingham's Fort [now located on west 2nd Street in Ogden].
Her husband was selected to preside as Bishop which position he continued to
occupy until the year 1868. His responsible positions in Church and State affairs
(as he served in the Utah Territorial Legislature and other civic responsibilities, etc.)
required her to sacrifice companionship and to adjust herself to many responsibilities.
She was required to give part of her time to the sick and others who had been
unfortunate, especially the new emigrants who arrived in Utah in poor health and
lacking resources. These required assistance in food, clothing and home comforts
or necessities and Lucinda was often called upon to lead out in administering to
those who needed comfort, advice and assistance. She was equal to all demands
made upon her, both as mother, homemaker, and also in aiding others in all cases
where help and assistance in homemaking was required.
During the period of time required to cross the plains, she and her three daughters,
each night or evening, took a leading part in singing songs of praise and
encouragement. In this manner they rendered excellent service to the Saints
and gladdened their hearts to prepare them for a rest, patience and fortitude to
endure the trials of the next day. In this respect she was greatly blessed of the
Lord, and was able to mingle with others and create greater faith and cheer among
everyone who joined in the trek with the Daniel Spencer Company of June 1847.
Lucinda passed away in Ogden, Utah, 3 January 1874.
[from Denise G. Jones -- a descendant of David Perry1, Sarah [Perry]
Bingham2, Erastus Bingham3 and Lucinda Gates, Sanford Bingham4 and Martha
Ann Lewis, William Bingham5 and Anna Maria Petersen, Annie Maria
[Bingham] Gudmundson6 and Arthur Daniel Gudmundson. Sr.)
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