Emeline Sally Whiting

Born: July 23, 1817 Nelson, Portage, Ohio

Died: March 4, 1896 Manti, Sanpete, Utah

Baptized: January 2, 1968 Salt Lake Temple

Endowed: December 25, 1845 Nauvoo Temple

Daughter of: Elisha Jr. Whiting and Sally Hulet (daughter of Sylvanus Hulet and Mary Lewis (brother: Charles Hulet our ancestor) (Sealed to parents: September 29, 1933 Salt Lake Temple)

Married: Frederick W. Cox September 16, 1835 Nelson, Portage, Ohio by the Prophet Joseph Smith. (Sealed: January 27, 1846 Nauvoo Temple)

Children:

1. Frederick Walter Cox Jr. b: November 6, 1836 d: March 17, 1921

2. Louisa Jane Cox b: February 3, 1839 d: August 1, 1846

3. William Arthur Cox b: December 27, 1840 d: April 3, 1932

4. Eliza Emeline Cox b: May 4, 1843 d: August 1, 1846

5. Eliza E. Cox b: May 4, 1843 d:

6. Rosalia Ellen Cox b: February 22, 1846 d: March 30, 1924

7. Edwin Marion Cox b: August 2, 1848 d: March 29, 1932

8. Edward Warren Cox b: December 4, 1850 d: December 4, 1850

9. Emily Amelia Cox b: August 8, 1852 d: March 4, 1919

10. Harriett Lenora Cox b: February 6, 1855 d: December 2, 1941

11. Sylvester Hulet Cox b: February 15, 1857 d: November 9, 1935

12. Lucia Isabelle Cox b: February 4, 1860 d: October 10, 1936

13. Luella Adelia Cox b: August 10, 1863 d: June 24, 1865

Emeline’s brother Charles Whiting was close friends with Frederick Walter Cox. The details of when and where they met are not known, but Charles was connected with the chair shop and Frederick Walter Cox was a lumberman and also worked with wood. Emeline married Frederick Walter Cox September 6, 1835 in Nelson, Ohio by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

On September 10, 1845 an armed mob entered Yelrome. One of Emeline’s neighbors ran to her home and said, “Here comes a mob of eighteen men.” Nine-year-old Frederick Walter Jr. lay sick with a fever. One of the mobbers came to the door and told Emeline to get what she wanted out of the house in a hurry. She helped her sick boy to a near-by tree where he lay down on a blanket. She began removing their belongings from the little home. She was five months pregnant and could not move the little cupboard. Some of the houses were beginning to burn and two men stood ready to burn her home. She turned to them and said, “wont one of you men help me get my cupboard out?” They both stared at her. One of them shook his head, after hesitating the other man walked in and dragged the cupboard out of the door. The men carried some straw into the house and threw it on the floor. They carried burning sticks from the fireplace and set fire to the straw. They carried burning sticks out and stabbed one each into the haystack and a stack of unthrashed grain. When Frederick Walter returned that evening he helped cook supper on the dying embers of his home. They loaded their belongings in a wagon and spent that night at a house about two miles from Morley Settlement. The next day, they moved to Nauvoo in a heavy rainstorm.

Emeline was told that her husband intended to marry Cordelia Morley. She was not happy about the news. When Cordelia heard that Emeline was troubled she went to Emeline and asked whether she should marry him or not. Emeline replied that Cordelia must decide the matter for herself. January 27, 1846 Emeline Sally Whiting had her endowments in the Nauvoo Temple. Emeline was then married to Frederick Walter Cox for time and all eternity. Then Jemima Losee was married to Frederick Walter Cox. Cordelia Morley had been asked by Joseph Smith to be his wife before his death and was thereby sealed to Joseph Smith Jr. for eternity with Brigham Young acting as proxy for Joseph. Then Cordelia was married to Frederick Walter Cox for time. Jemima had nine children and Cordelia had seven children. On October 11, 1854 Frederick married his fourth wife, Margaret Lydia Losee and they had three children.

While they were at Mt. Pisgah, in 1846, a dreadful sickness broke out. Two of their children died and Emeline was at the point of dying when someone sent a dose of quinine, which saved her life.

Emeline and her family arrived in Manti on October 4, 1852. In the spring of 1853 they purchased the Old Cox barn and used it for sleeping quarters. During seven of the nine years spent there they were building a house inside the Big Fort. The house was split in quarters and each wife lived in a section with a fireplace in each section. They required a bushel of wheat a day for their bread alone; they had a large oven built in the dooryard to bake their bread. It would hold fourteen large loaves. When shearing time came the wool was brought home and each mother had her portion weighed out to her according to the number of children she had. There were three looms used by the mothers. At times there were seven or eight spinning wheels ranged side-by-side facing the windows and street. They ran races to see who could spin the most in a day. They sang every song they could think of. They had games, singing and dancing. All the wives and children would be together and have a glorious time. They were so united that people outside the family could not tell which mother the children belonged to.

After Frederick Walter Cox died, Emeline spent most of her days at the homes of her daughters. In the evenings Emeline would sit and tell her grandchildren stories that they had Indian blood in their veins, and that their fourth great grandmother’s name meant “Running Deer.”

Submitted by Ginger S. Vandenburg, 2010