"A Few Incidents in
the Life of George Benjamin Wallace"
By Howes Crowell Wallace (son), written between 1933 and 1943
Edited by Gilbert K. Wallace in Nov 1993
Few men have had wider or more varied experience than my
father. Coming from that hardy, liberty loving little band of Pilgrims who had
been deprived of religious freedom in their native land who came to America
where they could worship God according to the dictates of their conscience.
Father seemed to be imbued with the same undaunted spirit, hence he was well
qualified to take up the hazardous life of a pioneer.
George Benjamin Wallace was born (16 Feb 1817) and reared on
a small, but well tilled, farm in the little village of Epsom, New Hampshire.
He gained the first experience, which fitted him for the pioneer life which he
seemed destined to follow on this farm. He stayed with this little patch of
rocky land called a farm until he was about twenty-three, at which time he
married Mary C. McMurphy, a young lady born in Boston, Mass. 22 Apr 1818. They
were married 13 Feb 1840 in the town of Northwood, N.H., just a few miles away
from Epsom. While yet living in Epsom he acquired a pretty fair knowledge of
carpentry. This he did at spare times when not engaged on the farm, so that
when he was married he was prepared to take up the work as a means of support
for himself and bride.
Soon after marriage he decided to try his luck as a building
contractor and set out for Boston where he rented a shop and launched out in
his new profession. He had been in Boston but a short time when he became
deeply interested in the religion called
“Mormonism” and being converted to their teachings, he was
baptized in December 1842 (baptized and
confirmed by Elder Freeman Nickerson “daughter Lydia Wallace White”). About this time, or a little sooner, he
became very enthusiastic in a political movement in which he put his whole
heart and soul. Jan. 29, 1840 a political meeting was held in Nauvoo, Illinois,
at which Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, was nominated for President of the
United States, and on the 17th of the following May, at a State
Convention held in the same city, the nomination was sustained. It was during
this campaign that George Benjamin Wallace, my father, took the stump for
Joseph Smith and delivered a political speech in the famous Fenniel Hall in
Boston, which I believe he considered his political “masterpiece.” He became so
enthused that he committed the speech to memory. After father became so
engrossed in his new faith, his real trouble commenced. The rupture which
separated he and his young and devoted wife was brought about by his wife’s
parents who steadfastly refused to have anything to do with Mormonism.
Notwithstanding, they had been married about four years and had three children
to bless their union, they parted on these grounds, his wife going back home to
live with her parents, taking the children with her, and father after a few
months left for Nauvoo.
However, while still living in Boston, father was made
President of the Boston Branch of the Church (In July 1844 he was called by the Twelve (Brigham Young) to preside
over the New Bedford Branch. On October 18 1844 he was ordained a High Priest
under the hands of Elder Adams – “G.B. Wallace Journal”). It was during his
residence
[2]
in Boston that he first became acquainted with my mother,
who had but recently married a young mechanic from Cape Cod named Howes
Crowell. (She was later to become the
mother of Howes Crowell Wallace). Mother and her young husband had also
become converts to Mormonism and were both baptized, and like most new converts
decided to move to Nauvoo, and applied to the Branch President for a recommend,
which I still have in my possession and which I have here recorded. The
following is a verbatim copy:
[Recommend]
It was always a source of regret that Father never met the
Prophet, Joseph Smith. He came to Nauvoo
a few months after Joseph was killed. (He
parted from his wife, Mary and children in Boston on March 10 1845, and arrived
in Nauvoo April 8, 1845.) Before Father arrived in Nauvoo, Brother Crowell
and the two children born to him and my Mother had all died, so when Father
came to Nauvoo he found Mrs Crowell, the young lady that he had met in Boston a
few years previous, to be a widow, almost distracted with grief, and who was
naturally very happy to see him at this particular time.
Although Father had not obtained a divorce from his wife
Mary, he married the young widow, Mrs Crowell, June 4 1845, and immediately
thereafter returned to his former home at Epsom and other parts and preached
his adopted faith to his old acquaintances and others. (He departed from Nauvoo and his new wife on October 17, 1845 – “G. B.
Wallace journal”) His particular object and desire on this visit was to try
once more to persuade his wife to return with him to Nauvoo, but her parents
were more obdurate than ever, hence he returned to Nauvoo resolved to stay with
the Church, regardless of the outcome. Father, no doubt, thought he was doing
the right thing, for he wrote to Mrs Crowell while on this fruitless trip
saying “I have done my duty towards Mary and toward God.” During all this time
since Father and his wife parted, until he left Nauvoo for Utah, he never
divulged (to anyone in the Boston area)
the secret of his marriage to Mrs Crowell. He addressed all his letters to her
with “Mrs Crowell” and signed his name G.W. Benson or just initials G.B.W.
It was while Father was on this mission that the Saints
first commence to leave Nauvoo. He returned via Boston and visited Mother’s
folks, but was careful not to mention his marriage to Mother, leaving Boston
March 15, 1846 for Nauvoo. In Mother’s last letter to him before leaving Boston
she said, in part:
“Dear George: I have bad news to write. All the Twelve and
High Council and Presidents of Seventies and the Police and a great many others
are going from here in three or four days. I do not know as yet what has
occasioned this sudden move. What I shall do the Lord only knows. Oh, how I
wish you were here!
The move Mother speaks of was the first indication of the
awful truth that the Saints were to be driven out of Nauvoo, so when Father
arrived from Boston he found everything in confusion. Both Father and Mother
had a convincing testimony of the truth of the Gospel and no doubt though of what
the Savior said “He that will not leave father and mother for my sake is not
worthy of one.”
[3]
After fitting themselves out for the long journey, they left
Nauvoo for Winter Quarters, and spent the winter of 1846-47 there. During their
temporary stay in Winter Quarters their first child (Mary Melissa) was born, January 8, 1847.
The Pioneers, as you know, were organized in companies of
one hundred and these companies were subdivided in companies of fifty persons.
Father was appointed Captain over fifty persons in the 4th Hundred
over which Abram O. Smoot was President. While crossing the plains, Father kept
a diary from which Church Historians have copied. Father’s company was
organized January 17, 1847 (June 17 1847
– “G. B. Wallace Journal”), and soon set out on that nerve racking journey
with a young baby. I will not attempt to describe the details of this journey,
but I am here reminded of what the Lord said by the mouth of Jeremiah
concerning the gathering of Israel in the latter days. “Turn, Oh backsliding
children! sayeth the Lord, for I am married unto you and I will take you one of
a city and two of a family and will bring you to Zion and will give you Pastors
according to mine heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.”
In the case of Father and Mother, this prophesy was fulfilled, for from each
family two were taken; Father and his sister Sarah from the Wallace Family, and
Mother and her sister Louisa from the King family. Neither Sarah nor Louisa
lived to reach Utah.
Father and Mother reached the valley of Salt Lake September
26 1847, and camped in the “Old Fort”, now know as Pioneer Square or Park (located on the block west of 2nd
West (300 West) between 3rd and 4th West. Baby daughter,
Mary Melissa died the day after they arrived). During their residence there
in one large log room, one of the Apostles was ordained in the room with Mother
present. (At a meeting of the First
Presidency held in the home of G. B. Wallace on Feb 12, 1849, Charles C. Rich,
Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow and Franklin D. Richards were ordained Apostles.)
This, up to that time, was the only case where a woman was present at such an
ordination, and I do not know of any other like case in all the history of the
Church. About two months before Father’s arrival in the Valley, the present
site of Salt Lake City was laid out.
Not many months after Father arrived, he chose the corner
now known as 1st North and 2nd West Streets (southeast corner of 200 North and 300 West).
That was one time he had an eye to business, for at that time 2nd
West was thought to be the future business street. As evidence of this there
was a good hotel built just opposite Father’s corner. Also John Squires built a
barber shop on our corner. The Hotel mentioned was name the Union Hotel, which
eventually was used for a first class school, known as Union Academy, still
later the building was used as a temporary headquarters for the University of
Deseret, L.D.S. Hospital and finally as a wharehouse for the Salt Lake Knitting
Works. (This block northwest of the
“Wallace corner” is presently West High School).
Father built a one room brick house near the corner and
covered the roof with board and cracks with cottons. The “bricks” however, were
sun dried and made from a mixture of red clay and vine gravel. Father had
scarcely gotten settled in his new home when he was called on a mission to
England in October 1849, leaving home on the 18th of the same month.
(He arrived in Liverpool, England June 9,
1850, and served almost two years in the British Mission)
Since he and Mother arrived in the valley two years before,
their first two children (Mary Melissa
and George Crowell) had died, and the third one born. The last one was
Louisa and she was but one month old when he left. Mother was compelled to
[4]
rely on the neighbors for help and that was grudgingly
rendered, notwithstanding the fact the Father had made contracts with two or
three to attend to his garden, etc. while he was away. Those were the
conditions and circumstances surrounding this faithful couple when Father left
for England. I am endeavoring to follow Father in this little narrative, but
you must excuse me if I digress a little. I must relate circumstances here that
will probably interest some. Just previous to starting on his mission, Father
had silver watch that he had brought from Boston and which was the only
time-piece they had in the house. Mother remarked: “What shall I do for time if
you take that watch?”, whereupon Brigham Young said to Father, “Brother
Wallace, if you will leave that watch with your wife I will promise you that
you will come home with a gold one.” As you all know, he did come home with a
gold watch and chain. Not only that, but when he got ready to leave for home he
issued a small circular among the Saints and friends among whom he had labored,
for help to return home. He was greatly blessed in this appeal as a direct
result of which a purse of $800.00 in cash and many presents were given him.
On March 20, 1852 he set sail for home on the steamer
“Canada” and arrived in Boston the 31st of the same month, going
directly to his former wife, but she was not home, so he reluctantly left Epsom
for his home in the West. I don’t know just when he reached home, but if he
traveled at the same rate as he did when he left home, he must have arrived
about June 1, 1852. When he left for his mission it took him fifty days to
reach the Missouri River, averaging twenty miles a day. (Another account indicates he arrived home “in August following”.)
On February 14, 1853, a few months after his arrival home,
the site for the Temple was surveyed by Jesse W. Fox, the starting point being
given by President Young. Ground was broken on this day and on the 6th
of April following, the four corner stones were laid and dedicated. When it
came to the northwest corner, John Young, president of the High Priests Quorum,
with his two councilors, Renolds Cahoon and George B. Wallace, David Fulmer,
president of the Salt Lake Stake, and the High Council, proceeded to lay the
corner stone. John Young delivered the oration and Father offered the
dedicatory prayer. At the dedication of the Temple, April 6, 1893, Father was
the only man living who had taken part in the ceremony of the dedication of the
northwest corner.
The next year after Father returned from England, or to be
more exact, October 15, 1853, he married three sister, daughters of Edward and
Sarah Davis from London, England, whom he brought home with him. (Elder Wallace became acquainted with the
Davis family while on his mission in London. The Davis family, including the
parents, three daughters, Lydia, Hannah, and Martha, and a young son, Josiah,
emigrated to America from Liverpool via St Louis. They arrived in the Salt Lake
Valley 3 September 1852. On October 15, 1852 Father married and was sealed to
the three Davis sisters.) He soon added three or four rooms to the original
red brick room.
From that time on our family increased at a pretty rapid
rate until the number of children reached 44. (Howes Crowell Wallace was born in 1860, child number 22.) It
required an abiding faith and a courageous spirit to cope with circumstances
and conditions that followed, until death finally relieved my father.
During all these years of hardship, trials, and worry, I
never heard Father use a swear word but once; that was one time when one of the
boys had done something that made him very angry. For or five of the boys were
out in the back yard discussing some
[5]
trivial matter Father approached us and asked each one in
turn “who did it?”, and each one replied, “I don’t know,” whereupon he said,
“Oh, you all lie like hell.” Although he never swore or used bad language, he
could get about as angry as anyone. On one occasion when he was watering the
garden, he had carefully turned the water down several rows of potatoes and
then went away for an hour. While he was gone, Cy and myself were attracted by
the pretty little streams of water running down the drills. It was really an
ideal place to show our engineering skill, so we walked into that inviting spot
and played, building bridges and dams and waterfalls, etc. and at the same time
unconsciously tramping the vines down and doing other damage. When we were
satisfied with our work, or play rather, we returned to the house. I was eating
bread and milk from a nice new tin cup when to my surprise and consternation I
suddenly heard cries from kitchen where Cy was also eating. The next moment I
heard heavy and rapid footsteps coming in my direction. I turned cold and
shivery and my appetite had left me. At that moment the door opened and in came
Father with fire in his eye and the law in his hand, and believe me, he laid
the law down on my back without even asking if I was guilty. As a general rule
Father was very patient and long suffering.
Father never aspired to any public office, either
ecclesiastical or civil. He was not shy, but never put himself forward. If his
services were required, he was always ready and willing to respond. Nor did he
ever aspire to the gaining of riches. Maybe that is the reason he never had
much of the good things of this life. On the contrary, he sometimes used very
poor judgment. For example he spent many years and considerable money on what
he used to call the “field,” situated on the east bank of Jordan River, which
to this day is not worth the time spent on it, but he did do well in his
nursery venture. There he made more money in one year than he made from the
field in five years.
Father was a devout Christian all his life and that thought
always took precedence over everything else. If Father made mistakes, his
virtues outnumbered them by far, for he was always zealous, faithful and
persevering.
I can say very little regarding his scholastic attainments.
He had a fairly good understanding of current events as he was a subscribed and
constant reader of the daily papers. He also had a pretty good vocabulary. His
main impediment in this regard was his writing and spelling.
I took particular interest while in Epsom (in 1933) in the little red school house
where he acquired the first rudiments of an education. The little old fashioned
school room was still standing, as was also the little frame house in which he
was born over one hundred sixteen years ago.
While in Epsom, I also visited the village cemetery where
most of his folks are buried. One conspicuous part was a row of headstones
called “Wallace Row”. Close by was the McMurphy lot, where Father’s wife Mary
is laid away. Her folks were embittered against Father that they would not even
have her married name on the headstone, but simply said “Mary McMurphy”.
Let us return to Utah events once more. In writing death
notices for publication let us be very careful we are right. One death notice
said Father was President of the European Mission. Another said he was the
first President of the Salt Lake Stake of Zion, both of which were errors and
were published in the Deseret News.
[6]
I wish to make mention here of another mission Father
filled; this time to the Eastern States. He left home in a wagon in company
with Nathan Eldridge in October 1869. (They
raveled north to Uintah Station (Weber County) where they boarded a train for
Omaha and New York.) His mission this time was comparatively short. He
returned the following April. (While on
this mission he met his daughter Sarah Ellen (Nellie), then age 25, and on his
way home in February 1870 in Ohio stayed with his son James Berney, then age
28. His first wife, Mary, had died in 1853.) I distinctly remember the day
he left as well as the day he returned. We were playing out in the street when
he returned and he kissed each one of us before he even went in the house. That
was the only kiss he ever gave me that I remember.
Sometime before going on this mission, he had secured a ten
acre tract known as “Union Square” from the City, agreeing to pay the City one
third of the crop raised. We raised all the vegetables need for our large
family, besides considerable ret-top hay. Here is really where all us boys
acquired our knowledge of gardening. Some few years after this, Father homesteaded
one hundred twenty acres in Granger, Salt Lake County. This was about 1875.
Here he really enjoyed life, for he loved the great out door invigorating life
of a farmer. He soon sold the fields on the Jordan River and moved the
remaining few trees from the nursery to the new farm so he could devote nearly
all his time now on his farm. (This farm
was located in Granger at 3200 West between 4100 and 4700, and in 1933 is part
of West Valley City, and is almost all residential.)
It was during his residence on the farm that a raid was made
on all polygamists, but he was unafraid. While many of the leading men of the
Church were hiding away on the “Underground”, Father traveled back and forth
between the farm and the City, visiting the two wives in the City and one on
the farm with the utmost unconcern. Finally he was arrested and had a short
trial and was acquitted without cost.
Father spent practically the last twenty-five years of his
life on this new farm and really enjoyed it. I think this part of his life was
the happiest of all his eighty-three years, as most of the family were now
married, leaving him almost free from worry.
He survived four of his wives and twenty children and died (30 Jan 1900) at a good old age, just
lacking a little over two weeks of reaching his 83rd birthday. He
was buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery, his funeral services being held in the
Salt Lake Assembly Hall where several hundred of his old friends and
acquaintances attended the funeral services. Among the speakers at the funeral
was Pres. Joseph F. Smith, George Q. Cannon, Charles W. Penrose, Angus W.
Cannon, John T. Cain, Wm H. Folsom, and his neighbor friend, Bishop McRae.
President Penrose said Father had worn himself out in the cause of truth.
Howes C. Wallace
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