Story from "Life of ERASTUS BINGHAM And Family"
BRIGHAM HEBER BINGHAM was the ninth child and sixth son of ERASTUS BINGHAM and LUCINDA GATES, and was born at LaHarpe, Hancock county, Illinois, 15 Dec. 1841. He left Nauvoo, Illinois, with his parents the 6th day of May 1846, and distinctly remembered crossing the Mississippi River.
He arrived in Salt Lake Valley with his parents 19 Sep. 1847. He remembered the buffaloes on the plains, also that his father's wagon was in the lead the day they entered the Salt Lake Valley, and the old cedar tree at the corner of their campground in Salt Lake City. He remembered his mother gathering thistles and cooking the tops for greens, and the roots for vegetables which cooked up as tender as carrots.
He remembered the crickets that were eating the crops, and the statement of PARLEY P. PRATT that deliverance will come somehow. When the sea gulls came in multitude, lighting on the fields, devouring the crickets, JEDEDIAH M. GRANT said, "Stop fighting, deliverance has come."
BINGHAM moved to Ogden with his parents in 1850 and was baptized the 10th of December 1851 in Farr's Mill pond and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. While living at Bingham's Fort he was one of the herd boys, the boys worked three weeks at a time when they would have two weeks off to do something else. While he was laying off one time, a band of Indians, several hundred in number, came and camped within a mile of the Fort. The Indians would take the dinners away from the herd boys and drag them around by the hair of their heads and frighten them with threats of death. At the end of the two weeks layoff when it was his turn to herd again, his father told the Indians not to bother him. He said to himself, 'if they get my dinner they will know how they got it.' WILLIAM PAYNE and NATHANIEL LEAVITT were captains the day his turn came to take the cattle to the herd grounds near the present town of Plain City. The captains went to hunt some lost cattle which had strayed away the day before and left him alone with the herd. He saw an Indian riding toward him as fast as he could. He felt the Indian intended to run over him, so he jumped to one side and as the Indian passed, he struck the horse over the head with a club. The horse jumped to one side and almost threw the Indian off, but he held on to the mane and pulled himself back on the horse.
The Indian turned around and came back, and when the Indian saw he was preparing to strike the horse again he stopped and asked for a biscuit. BRIGHAM gave the Indian about one third of his dinner and the Indian insisted on more. He refused to give the Indian more and said he would be eating the rest of it himself. The Indian looked him in the eye for a few minutes and then rode away.
He was with his parents and family and the saints celebrating their entrance to the Salt Lake Valley when the word came that the President of the United States was sending an army to Utah to put down the rebellion. He experienced the hardships of their move south and after the trouble with Johnson's army settled, they moved back to Ogden to find everything in good shape. He received his education at home and at the little school house at Bingham's Fort. On the 16th of December 1861, he married ANGELINA THERESIA ALDOUS. He lived at Bingham's Fort for several years after his marriage and two of his children were born there.
In about 1864 he moved into Ogden Valley and took up a tract of land, and two more of his children were born there.
He was not satisfied with his location in Ogden Valley, and he moved to a section of land in the eastern part of West Weber, four miles west of Ogden. He built a one room log house with a board floor. They experienced some of the trials and hardships of pioneer life.
At this time the big bend of the Weber River was the winter home of several bands of Indians. BRIGHAM followed President YOUNG's advice to feed the Indians and they were never molested.
When the Wilson Canal was laid out he helped in its supervision and construction and was a director in the Wilson Irrigation company for a number of years. They used a spirit level and line when the canal was laid out. The accuracy of their measurements was proven in later years when the old wooden flume was replaced with a cement flume planned by a college graduate engineer. In order to serve the purpose for which the wooden flume was designed they had to go back to the wooden flume level.
He built a brick house by the side of the log house, with two bedrooms and a large kitchen. When the Liberal Party came into power, they refused to let the Mormon's use the school house for religious services, and the ward meetings were in his home. Later he added a large living room and two bedrooms downstairs and bedrooms upstairs to his home. This house is still in use and being occupied by his grandson and family.
16 July 1882, the Wilson district which was presided over by John Martin, was organized into a separate ward, and BRIGHAM HEBER BINGHAM was made Bishop with THOMAS JEFFERSON WILSON as first counselor and AUSTIN TRACY as second counselor. The ward was named in honor of the WILSON brothers, who, in 1854, purchased the land in the lane and farmed it by going back and forth over a foot bridge across the Weber River until 1860 when they moved their families on the farms.
Bishop BINGHAM was counseled to build a meeting house by D. H. PERRY, President of the Stake, and Apostle FRANKLIN D. RICHARDS. The meeting house was completed and dedicated in 1885 at a cost of $3,000.
The 6th of August 1882, he was elected a Selectman of Weber County and served with ROBERT McQUARRIE and Nathaniel Montgomery. He assisted in the construction of thee Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads in this vicinity.
24 June 1886 he married his second wife, MARY ALICE LOMAX and 15 December 1886 he married his third wife, REBECCA ANN HUNT. There was a nationwide opposition to the practice of plural marriage and after the passage of the EDMUND TUCKER law the polygamist men had to go into hiding or go to jail, or renounce the plural wives.
BRIGHAM decided to go to Mexico with his wives and younger children. In about 1890 he left for Mexico taking his third wife REBECCA and his second wife MARY. His first wife ANGELINA remained in Wilson. However, he took one of ANGELINA's sons ELIJAH with him. They traveled by light wagon and settled in Diaz. After one year his third wife REBECCA, and his son ELIJAH returned to Utah by train. He then moved to Dublan, then to Mt. Colonia Garcia in the top of the mountains. Here he applied his carpenter trade, helped to build houses, churches, and schools. BRIGHAM served in the Bishopric for 5 years there. He helped build two reservoirs, survey and build the ditch which brought water to the town. He was one of the best farmers in the country. He was always ready to go to the aid of the sick and to care for those who had passed away. MARY ALICE was always on hand to help in this work of love. She helped as midwife and was on call day or night to aid the sick or needy. She had a lovely voice and sang in the ward choir. She was also active in the Relief Society.
Soon trouble arose with the Mexican government and he was advised to leave. The families were not allowed to take anything with them other than the clothing on their backs. Many people were having trouble in passing the customs officer, but he unloaded all his goods, stacked them in a pile, put his rifle and his last $5 on top of the pile and told the customs officer that was all they had. They were allowed to go through without a charge. When they got across the border they were in very poor circumstances. His sons in Utah and Idaho sent him money to return to Utah with his family. After living in Utah a short time, he moved back to Tucson, Arizona with his entire second family and established a new home there. There he helped establish a school and church. He supported the family by raising vegetables which were sold in Tucson.
In 1919 after his children were raised, he came back to Utah and lived with his first wife in a home purchased for them by the first wife's children. A few years later he desired to do temple work, and he and MARY ALICE lived in Salt Lake in a rented apartment. They moved to Mesa Arizona in 1927.
In June 1931 he was crowned King of the Maricopa Stake MIA old folks party and was awarded the honor of being the oldest man who could read without glasses.
He died 10 February 1935 in Glendale, Arizona. Funeral services were held there the 12th of February and his body was brought to Ogden, where funeral services were held the 15th. He was buried in the Ogden City cemetery.
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