My Family Quest

Who is Louisa Mellor in relation to my family and me? Louisa is the 2nd plural wife of Edward Watkins Cark and the daughter of James Mellor and his wife Mary Ann Payne. Edward Watkins Clark is my 3rd great-grandfather on my maternal side of the family tree. He is the great-grandfather of my grandmother, Reva May McBride. 

While she is not a direct blood ancestor, her life and story are compelling.  It is one of the many examples of the early dedication of faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the formative years of the restoration of Christ’s church upon the earth.

She was a member of the Martin  Handcart Company in 1856, a group of converts who trekked from Iowa City to Salt Lake City. The company led by Edward Martin began its journey late in the season and faced severe winter weather, leading to hundreds of deaths due to cold and starvation. The company was rescued in Wyoming in late October 1856. 

There have been many stories and multiple films written about the tragic events of this handcart company. The most notable being a 2011 film directed by T.C. Christensen known as 17 Miracles. Another notable film is Ephriam’s Rescue, also produced by T.C. Christensen, which tells the story of Ephriam Hanks, a rescuer who helps the stranded members of the Martin Company.

The story I’m about to tell is from the autobiography of Louisa Melor Clark, found on FamilySearch and contributed by Reva L Hansen Brooks. I will leave the story as written, but will add a few details or pictures along the way.

I, Louisa Mellor Clark, oldest living daughter of James Mellor and Mary Ann Payne, was born 23 May 1840 in the town of Leicester, England. My father was born in Leicester 20 March 1818 and my mother was born 23 January, 1819 in Warwick, England. They were married on 14 March 1838, All Saints Parish, in Leicester, England.

They had twelve children born to them –Salina Ann, Louisa, Elizabeth Charlotte, Mary Ann 1st, Mary Ann the 2nd, James Mellor, William Charles, Emma Marintha, Clara Altheria, Eliza and Elizabeth, and John Carlos. Emma and Clara, and Eliza and Elizabeth were twins.

Father and mother were blessed, as they heard the gospel from some of the first missionaries sent to England. Father received it first, and soon after mother accepted it as the true Church. We do not have the exact date when they joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but it was in April 1844 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, where we lived for three years.

A few months after joining the church the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were killed by the mob. It was thought by some of the Saints that it might be the end of Mormonism, but I remember quite well one circumstance when Apostle John Taylor came to Leeds. My mother and a sister Cluff were going to meeting and carrying their babies, when Brother Taylor and his brother came along in their carriage. Apostle Taylor stopped the carriage and asked them to get in and ride to meeting.

My parents were very poor. My father was a wool comber by trade, and worked at the factory daily. Work was getting very poor as machinery was high, so we went back to Leicester and Papa gave up working at his trade and got work in the factory dyeing yarn. I lived at home and went to Sunday School regularly, but I only had about six months schooling in my life. I went to work doing various kinds of labor. I was a nurse girl for years; then I worked for a lady and turned the mangle, which was seemingly hard work. I took sick and would have died if it hadn’t been for the blessings of the Lord. The doctor said I would die, and I guess I would have if I had taken his medicine, but I threw it in the fire. I was baptized at about the age of 14 by Elder Newton in Leicester Conference.

There was one faith-promoting incident I wish to mention. We lived quite a distance from our own meetinghouse, but mother always went to Sunday afternoon meeting, taking the twins along. This particular Sunday I thought I would go to Sunday School close by our house, which was not LDS, but when I took my book to read, my speech was gone so I could not read a word, but when I got home my speech came back. That was a great testimony to me, and after that I walked three miles to the LDS Sunday School, in the afternoon. It was not long after father and mother accepted the Gospel that they found their friends and loved ones turning away from them. The spirit of gathering soon took hold of them, and although father worked as a local missionary, he still prepared to go to Utah, or at least West.

When my parents left England they had seven small children as Salina Ann and Mary Ann had died when very young. The twins Emma and Clara, were the youngest, and two and one half years old at that time. We stayed awhile at Liverpool to secure our passage, and while there mother gave birth to another pair of twins, who died shortly after birth. They were Siamese twins, and just like little dolls. The doctor gave mother up and said she could not live, that if we took her on board the ship the sharks would follow until she died. Brother Wheelock and Brother Goddard and others administered to her and promised her that she would live and come to Utah, that she would see her seed in Zion, and that her mission on this earth was not yet finished. The doctor said he had buried the twins in the ocean, but later we found that he had preserved them, and had made a fortune with them.

While we were in Liverpool, I spent my 16th birthday. It was on May 23, 1856, and a sad one it was for me, as I was left to take the rest of the family and go aboard. The ship sailed out to sea, so I thought my father could not come back again, but he did. My mother was very low, but father said if she wanted to he wouldn’t give her up, so they got a stretcher and carried her in a bed to the seashore and then in a steamboat out to sea to catch the vessel where the rest of the children were. When we got to the vessel the Captain asked, “What are you bringing a dead woman here for, and why don’t you throw her in the sea?” But they got her on board, and some of the sisters tended her. I had the care of the family of nine- seven children.

We left Liverpool under the leadership of Edward Martin on the ship Horizon. There were 856 saints in all who were coming to North America. Storms arose and the ship tipped to and fro and delayed us from a straight voyage; however, on the evening of 28 June, 1856, the ship cast anchor in the Boston Harbor. By this time my mother was getting better and able to get around some, so we joined the Saints and went west to Iowa. After landing we took what might be called cattle cars, which were thought good enough for Mormons, until we reached Iowa. We remained in Iowa City from July 8 to July 28, 1856, where my father secured work, and with the means was able to get two handcarts and some food and clothes to make the journey across the plains.

One thing happened that convinced me that if we put our trust in our Heavenly Father he will answer our prayers when we are in need. While we were in Iowa we had to burn, or sell, our things because we could not haul them, and so as we were two miles from the city, mother and I went to town to sell a few things, such as clothes. We walked from house to house before we could sell them, and we were so long when we got back to camp they had dinner started again, and the captain came back and met us. Poor mother was sick after that, but the Lord protected us from wild beasts and gave us food to eat.

Mother was put in the wagon for awhile. We traveled twenty miles a day, and then my father took sick. He got so weak he could not pull his handcart, so I had to help him. We had two handcarts; my sister and I pulled one, and father and the younger sister pulled the other one. Father got weaker, so we had to lighten our load again, and as 17 pounds were all that was allowed for each adult we had but little to spare, but a box of books and records which father valued very much. What could we do but let them go? As we were going through the town we stopped and I helped carry them to a house, and we got the privilege to leave them till we sent for them, but we never got them again.

While crossing the plains, trials of different kinds were our portion. Many fainted and fell by the wayside. Many a mound was dug and a fervent prayer uttered for those gone and those left, that God would spare them to reach Zion. We were so fatigued and hungry that we would sometimes stop and get rawhide to chew on, as our food was diminished. We tried to keep a little flour as long as we could to make porridge for the children; at first it was biscuits; then pancakes; then porridge. Often we would cook a hide, or piece of it, to get a little strength; it being winter, we could not find weeds to help out. One time, mother and family saw a young man chew his finger ends before dying. A little incident I well remember occurred on the journey. A cow died with calf, and mother got the calf head and roasted it in the campfire. The next day we took it along with us and had a great feast of it.

The first snowstorm left about two feet of snow on the ground, and we began to feel very nervous. We had to wade through more streams, and sometimes up to our waists, and when we got through our clothes would freeze on us until a great many gave up and many died, mostly old people. At last the snow got to be four and five feet deep and often we had to shovel a road before we could move. Thus our traveling was very slow and our provisions nearly gave out.

My mother, still being weak, finally gave up and said she could go no further. The company could not wait for her, so she bade my father goodbye and kissed each one of the children Godspeed. Then my mother sat down on a boulder and wept. I told my sister, Elizabeth, to take good care of the twins and the rest of the family, and that I would stay with mother. I went a few yards away and prayed with faith that God would help us, that He would protect us from devouring wolves, and asked that He would let us reach camp. As I was going back to where my mother was sitting I found a pie in the road. I picked it up and gave it to mother to eat. After resting awhile we started on our journey, thanking God for the blessings. A few miles before we reached camp we met my father coming out to meet us. We arrived in camp at 10:00 p.m. Many times after that mother felt like giving up and quitting, but then would remember how wonderful the Lord had been to spare her so many times, and offered a prayer of gratitude instead. So she went on her way rejoicing while walking the blood-stained path of snow.

The snow was getting deeper and it was growing colder and more bitter at nights. My father’s feet were both frozen. One night I had been holding my sister, Clara, in my arms while I slept, and when I awoke I found my long braids frozen to the ground. They had to be cut off to release them.

At last, some of the company gave up and decided they could go no further. We all gathered around and held a meeting praying God to help us, as we knew it was He alone who could deliver us from death. We were happy and willing to die for a just cause. The Lord knew our desperate condition, and sent us deliverance. A hurrah burst from the camp as three messengers came riding in – Brother Cyrus Wheelock, Joseph A. Young, and E. Hawks. They told us to cheer up as there were ten wagons loaded with provisions only three miles away, but they were snowed in. They could not get to us, but for us to eat all the food we had left for the morning’s breakfast and by 7 the next night we could get to the camp. We had to do much hard work and shoveling of snow before we reached camp, but they had a large fire and a good supper prepared for us and we were very thankful. The overwhelming feeling we had cannot be described. These scouts had traveled over 200 miles to meet our company. They were sent by President Brigham Young and the saints in Salt Lake.

Some of our company were so nearly exhausted by this time that a goodly number died; some were frozen to death and others were with frozen hands and feet. Only about one-half of our company survived to reach Salt Lake Valley; however, all of my people got through. We arrived in Salt Lake on November 30, 1856, being six months from England. Brother Wheelock and Brother Goddard were in the crowd to meet us when we arrived. They asked for James Mellor. When they saw him they were stunned! A man 38 years of age with hair as white as the driven show! Indeed, the trials and tribulations, the hardships and the deprivations they had suffered from England to Salt Lake Valley had taken its toll. They took him in their arms and wept! They also greeted my mother, to whom they had promised life and that she would live to see Zion. We were received by the saints, some with tears in their eyes and some with joy. We were a pitiful sight to see, and for seeks the company was not allowed to eat much nor to see themselves in a mirror. President Young met us, and when he saw us he was so melted down with grief at sight of our condition he had to go home sick, but he blessed us first.

We stayed in the city about three days, then started south with my parents. They divided us to be cared for during the winter months. My father and mother and family went to Springville, where my youngest brother, John Carlos, was born. They later moved to Fayette, Sanpete County, Utah, where my father engaged in sheep raising and farming. In 1873 he became postmaster of Fayette. During their lives in this community they suffered many hardships in the Black Hawk war. However, they reared the family in grace and truth, all of them going through the Temple. Later on my father went to Manchester, England, and contacted his oldest brother, John, bringing him and his family back with him.

On the journey south from Salt Lake I was left at the home of Sister Roper in Provo, Utah, to do housework for a few weeks. She wanted me to marry one of her sons, but I did not like him for a husband, and also did not feel I wanted to be married at that time, so I made it a matter of prayer to God to know if it was right to marry him, and it was made manifest to me that he was not the right man. But God showed me my husband and his family in a few weeks. Edward Watkin Clark came to ask Sister Roper if I could wait on his wife who had just been confined. She agreed to let me go for two of three weeks. So I went to live at Brother Clark’s home and was invited to come into his home as his wife. I gave the matter much thought and finally gave my consent, as I liked him very much. My parents gave their consent so we went to the City and were married and sealed by President Brigham Young on February 3, 1857. I lived with him and in the same house with his family three years and six months. My first son was born on May 12, 1859. Later I moved to a home of my own. I have born to my husband nine children and eight are living at this time. We went through the Endowment House and were sealed over the alter in 1868 by Daniel H. Wells in Salt Lake.

Now, my children and grandchildren, who are living today, the year of Jubilee, we your parents, wish you, as we shall be in our graves, to hunt up our records, and if possible do some more of our work as we have not had time to do all. And also for any of our posterity that have died and not finished their work, and if it is consistent with the will of our Father in Heaven, we your parents, will aid you and bless you in all righteousness.