Henry & Sarah Debenham
Contributed By Debenham Harold James · 2013-10-27
A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE LIVES OF HENRY DEBENHAM AND WIFE SARAH LARTER
by Cassandra Debenham Bailey (Their Granddaughter)
Edited by Harold James Debenham 20 November 2013. The following story is gleamed from research in the Parish registers, and church, Temple, Municipal records in England. Also from written and oral accounts left by other Debenham family members. It has been a precious privilege to record the history of these faithful pioneer ancestors.
Henry Debenham was born 23 July, 1821 in Scole, Norfolk, England. He died in East Millcreek, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Sarah Larter was born 12 May 1822 in Mellis, Suffolk, England. She died 1 June 1903 in Almo, Cassia, Idaho, USA. Henry’s parents were James Debenham born 27 March 1792 in Scole, Norfolk, England. He died 28 November 1844 in Scole, Norfolk, England. Henry was the 4th child and oldest son in the family of seven girls and two boys. Sarah’s parents were Thomas Larter born 1789 in Brockdish, Norfolk, England. He died 11 June 1879 in Mellis, Norfolk, England. Sarah was the fifth child and oldest daughter of four girls and nine sons. Sarah’s mother was Frances Day born in Brockdish, Norfolk, England born 24 June 1793; she died 29 September 1871 in Mellis, Suffolk, England.
Henry and Sarah were married 24 December 1843 in Mellis, Suffolk, England. A child named Edger Larter born 20 July 1841 was two years and three months old at the time of their church marriage. Their first daughter, Naomi, was born 10 October 1844 in Scole, Suffolk, England the birth place of Henry Debenham. Henry’s father, James, passed away the following year so it is possible that Henry and Sarah with little Edgar moved to Scole soon after they were married. This information came to me, Cassandra, from my father, Hyrum James Debenham, and was reiterated by my Aunt Naomi, the oldest daughter of Henry and Sarah.
In Norfolk they were land owners, owning their home and sufficient land to raise vegetables and fruit for their own consumption. Grandmother often spoke of their little cottage and flower garden and of the beautiful countryside, the lovely green hills and valleys of Norfolk. A few lines taken from a letter by Otella Ecms, a great granddaughter of Sarah and Henry describes the countryside of this part of England. “Having spent a month in England with my son and family, we visited different parts of England and drove to the birthplace of my grandparents. What a thrill! We drove from London to Scole and Mellis a distant of 85 miles in a very beautiful part of England, mostly agriculture and stock raising, especially sheep. The famous Suffolk sheep were bred originally in Suffolk. There is a little town by the name of Debenham there so they must have been prominent people in that part of the country. Why didn’t we find out more about our English ancestors while they were still alive?”
Henry Debenham evidently had some advantage of education as he wrote a beautiful hand; he could read and spell well; which abilities were accorded to a minority of the common class in England at that time. History tells us that in the days of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, few could read and write. Most of the girls who applied for marriage license signed the paper with a cross, which a copy of the marriage license of Henry and Sarah shows she did.
It is while they lived in Norfolk that three more children were born. Dorcas Georgina, their second daughter was born 10 July 1946. A son Henry William, called Harry, was born 18 November 1848, and daughter Christina was born 11 December 1850 and died 10 May 1856 in London.
Aunt Naomi records in her life’s story that the home in Norfolk was a very comfortable one. Her father, Henry was well established as the village boot maker and her mother, Sarah, was an excellent house keeper and unusually good seamstress. They were a content and happy family, closely associated with neighbors, relatives and fellow workers. Because Grandfather was a good provider and his wife an industrious and frugal homemaker, their financial circumstances offered the family a good sense of security.
It was under these conditions that they first heard the message of the gospel of Christ of L.D.S. from Mormon missionaries who came to their village in the year 1852. Out of curiosity, or was it providential that Grandmother stopped on her way home from delivering some fine sewing she had done for a neighbor to listen to the words of a young man who was holding a “soap box” meeting on the street corner. She hastened home to tell her husband about the doctrine which had impressed her as message of truth. In fact she was so influenced that she could scarcely wait to reach home to tell her husband of “the good tidings of great joy that seemed to permeate my whole being.”
This was very important year in the life of Henry Debenham and family—in fact one in which events would affect the lives of their posterity. It meant a rooting up of associations, tearing themselves away from brothers and sisters and other relatives. Perhaps it was all in the pattern of life to help to prepare the family for the great and mighty changes and trials they would have to undergo.
The first introduction to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ made a lasting impression upon Grandmother. It seemed that when the seed was sown her mind and heart were prepared to receive it. Grandfather seemed to ponder, test and prove some things, although favorable impressed, before he was ready to accept it. Grandmother’s own words stated many years later said, “It seemed that our hearts were hungry for words of righteousness. Our Bible said, “Prove all things and hold fast to that which is good”, which we tried humbly to do.” Soon they invited an Elder, Brother Bunce, into their home to whom they listened eagerly. They were delighted with what they heard. It all seemed truthful and reasonable. For a period of six weeks Henry and Sarah with their children, listened to the teaching of the Elders. They compared what they learned with their bible. They read, studied and prayed fervently to know if this religion was truly the word of God.
Desiring to share their great joy and happiness they invited friends and neighbors into their home to hear the message of the restored gospel. After one evening of listening to the Elders the invited guests did not return. They lost no time in spreading the news through the village, circulating many false accusations and distorting the truth that the Debenhams were interested in the very unpopular doctrine of Mormonism. It was too much for the leaders and members of the church in which grandfather and family had been so actively engaged. Regardless of the contempt, dissuading, and threats of their associates, six weeks after hearing the Elders on the street corner, Grandfather Henry went down in the water of baptism on 6 March, 1852. Grandmother Sarah was baptized 15 March 1852. Dorcas was baptized 23 October 1855. Edgar was baptized 6 March 1857 and Naomi was baptized 15 March 1857.
Soon after joining the “Mormonites” as they were called, their former neighbors, friends and fellow church members became embittered towards them. Riots took place, the family was mobbed, and finally they were forced to board up their windows for self-preservation. During these persecutions Sarah would gather her children and hide under the chimney in the fireplace.
She said she could remember walking a distance of twelve miles with Henry and other members of the church to attend conference and then during the night walking back home again. The clergymen of the parish declared from the pulpit that the Debenhams should be starved out if they refused to renounce this new doctrine. Sarah skimped and saved on foodstuff, which they had at their command until all was gone. They then ventured to the village store and asked for enough food to sustain life. The store keeper refused to sell them any provisions and declared “Denounce the Mormonites and you can buy whatever you wish, otherwise we can sell you nothing.”
Grandmother Sarah said that for days they lived on turnips and little else out of their garden. It was useless to attempt to sell their home and Grandfather Henry’s business as no one would even give them an offer. They realized that they would either forsake their new faith or leave the place completely as it would be impossible to remain in Scole under these circumstances. Under these adverse conditions Henry was forced to leave his family and seek employment elsewhere. Henry took Edgar the oldest son, a lad of 11 years of age, and traveled to London quite some distance away, probably 90 miles or more.
In a few weeks grandfather had been blessed to extent that a comfortable home was ready for his family. He had obtained work and was anxious for his loved ones to join him. During his absence his little wife busied herself making paper flowers which the two young daughters, Naomi and Dorcas, took and walked to a distant village some seven miles away and sold or traded for food. Sarah prepared the family for the journey into the big city of London, taking what personal things they could manage, leaving behind their lovely cottage home and most of the furniture and other belongings.
Situated in London among fellow members of the church, there they had contact with the missionaries from Utah. They rejoiced in the goodness of the Lord to them. Aunt Naomi remembered the London house as a two story building. The ground floor provided for the needs of the family while the upstairs rooms were rented out which helped to augment the family income. Grandfather had a “Boot Shop” where he fashioned all sorts of shoes. His son, Edgar, did the decorative stitching on the finer shoes. Grandmother did dressmaking and modeling. Naomi secured employment in one of London’s department stores.
They worshiped, labored and saved money as they looked forward to the day when they could gather to Zion with saints of God in the valley of the Rocky Mountains. It was to be several years before this dream would come true, and it would never be fully realized, as disappointment and death were to be encountered.
Being without sufficient income to migrate to America as a family unit, it was decided the Edgar would leave the family and sail to America where he would be in a better position to assist other members of the family to follow him. They bade good bye to Edgar, now 21 years of age, May 13, 1862, as he was sailing on the vessel William Tapcott. In charge of the saints was William Gibson. From Church Emigration File, Vol. III, the following information was taken. “The one hundred eighteenth company of emigrants on the ship William Tapcott with Captain J. B. Beil cleared from the Port of Liverpool, England, with 607 emigrant saints on board, on Tuesday, May 13, 1862. On Tuesday afternoon, Apostle Amasa H. Lyman, Charles C. Rich and George Q, Cannon held a meeting on board the ship, addressed the Saints and organized the company with William Gibson as presiding elder and John Clark and Francis M. Lyman as his counselors. The Saints were divided into nineteen wards with brethren appointed to preside over them. After a successful voyage the William Tapcott arrived safely in New York, June 25, 1862.” (For the roster of this company, see History of British Mission under date May 14, 1862.) We know that Edgar was welcomed into the Salt Lake Valley with other members who crossed the plains also at that time, and that he obtained work and made ready for the arrival of his sister Naomi and young brother Harry, Henry Williams, age 13, who were to follow the next year. In “Our Pioneer Heritage Book” it states that Edgar Debenham was among the early actors who performed in the Salt Lake Theater.
Naomi and Harry set sail on the 4th of June, 1863 on the good ship Amazon. They were placed in the charge of Brother and Sister Dorsan, who were church members who were on the same sailing vessel. They did not lack for friends as the Debenham home in London had always been open to the Elders and Saints, many of whom were on this vessel. George Q. Cannon gave instructions to the departing Saints and appointed W. Bramet as President with E. L. Sloon and U. Palmer as counselors. From the Church Emigration File of 4863 in the Church Historical Building we find the following: The 126th Co. ship Amazon sailed from London with 895 Emigrants. In relation to the departure of the ship Amazon, the Millennial Star made the following note editorially: “It is worthy of note that the departure of the ship Amazon from London laden with Saints is another instance of the fulfillment of prophesy. Some years ago while Elder Eli B. Kelsey was laboring in London, he predicted in a public meeting in that city that ships should yet leave the London port filled with saints emigrating to Zion”. We learn here that the ship Amazon was the first ship laden with saints to sail out of the London Port.
The following particulars of the voyage of the Amazon are taken from a letter written in New York to Pres. G. Q. Cannon, London, England, under date of April 19, 1864: “In looking back over the time since we left London and weighing the various considerations that presented themselves for reflection, we feel truly thankful to God for the many mercies that have been vouchsafed to us. The blessings pronounced by you before we left have been realized to the letter. On the evening of the 9th we have up anchor. Here we received an addition to our company in the shape of a fine baby girl born to Brother and Sister Harris from Stratford, which was blessed under the name of Amazon Seaborn Harris”.
When Aunt Naomi was eighty years old she spent a couple of days in my home. In spite of the years, she was still young in spirit and was good and amusing company as she recalled experiences on board the ship and while crossing the plains. Being young (18 years old) and gay at heart the trek across the plains was filled with excitement and romance. She seemed to remember only the pleasant things, such as dancing to a band which played lively music, inspirational meetings held on board the ship which the Captain and other officers attended, and the merry times they had as they engaged in games on deck. She recalled how during part of the voyage the weather was cold and stormy with many of the passengers sea sick. The ship cast anchor upon reaching the Isle of Wight due to stormy weather but after three days the journey was resumed. Six weeks were spent on the ocean, and then they arrived at Castle Gardens then followed up the Hudson River to Albany New York.
Here Aunt Naomi was happily surprised to find a friend, a young man Edwin Dowden, whom she had met while clerking in one of the large department stores in London. He was laden with baskets of delicious fruit and delicacies awaiting her arrival. Here in Albany Edward proposed to Naomi and she promised to be his bride, sometime after they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. No wonder the trek across the plains was filled with fond memories for her as Edwin attached himself to the same company and proceeded along the trail.
Brother Edgar, who had preceded Naomi to the valley the year before had worked diligently building a small yet adequate home in order that the three of them, sister and two brothers, could have a home together and plan and prepare for the rest of the family to join them in the near future. Working into the night building the one room house after his days’ work was done, in the damp fall weather, he contracted a severe cold, but could not be constrained from walking the fifteen miles from the city to meet the company and welcome his kin to the valley. He contracted pneumonia and passed away three weeks after Naomi’s arrival, thus leaving Naomi a stranger in a strange land with the responsibility of her brother Harry. After Edgar passed away, friends were raised up to administer to the needs of Naomi and Harry without which Naomi said she never would have survived as she was recovering from a severe case of mountain fever. This together with grief over her brother’s death was a trial she never forgot.
Naomi was taken into the family of an Elder Teasdale, but his wife, fearing polygamy made her life so miserable that Naomi got up, left her sick bed and found refuge elsewhere. “With the blessings of Heaven many friends were raised up in my hour of need. My health was restored and within a year I became the bride of Edwin Dowden.” Thirteen children were born to Naomi and Edwin. During Aunt Naomi’s last visit to our home not long before she passed away she was as young in heart and entertaining as she must have been in her early years. She chuckled as she reminisced about the proposals of polygamous marriages which came to her of men of high standing in the church. But she was true to her lover who crossed the ocean and met her with a basket of goodies before crossing the plains.
She told me how she longed for the arrival of her lovely sister Dorcas, who in 1864 left family and friends as well as a sweetheart in London and crossed an ocean and a continent to join loved ones and Saints in the valley of the mountains. Dorcas came in care of the Tudenham family who were staunch friends and fellow workers in the church in London. That friendship lasted all the days of their lives. Mr. Tudenham was the main speaker at the funeral of both Henry and Sarah Debenham.
According to information found in “Church Emigration Files” the following is submitted in regards to the voyage which brought Dorcas to America. The ship Hudson with Captain Isaiah Pratt sailed from Liverpool June 3, 1864 with 863 saints and a few other passengers. John Kay presided over the Saints assisted by counselors George Holliday and John L. Smith. The company voyage occupied 46 days, an unusually long period, but the kindness of Captain Pratt did much to alleviate the fatigue of the journey. The company was comprised largely of Saints from British Isles but also included about one hundred Saints from Switzerland, Germany and Holland. Besides Elder Kay and his counselors; Elder Louis A. Bertrand, Samuel F. Hesland and Thomas O. King, returning missionaries also crossed the Atlantic with this company. Measles broke out on the ship brought on by a Jewish family. Nine little ones belonging to the company died and were buried at sea. Three children were born during the voyage.
They reached New York July 19th then the Saints immediately continued their journey to Wyoming, Nebraska, where they arrived August 2, 1864. Most of them crossed the plains with Warren S. Snow’s ox team train. This was the last ox team train company to cross the plains that season. They left Wyoming, Nebraska in the middle of August. About twenty of the emigrants in the company died, including John H. Kay who had taken charge of the 863 Saints on board the Hudson. Snow’s company arrived in Salt Lake City November 2, 1864. Upon arriving in the valley Dorcas made her home with Naomi and Edwin Dowden. She found employment in the ZCMI store where she remained until her marriage to Thomas C. King in 1868 a few months before the arrival of her parents.
In later years Dorcas and Tom with two or three small children moved to the Raft River Country in Idaho where they raised a large family of outstanding Latter-day Saint men and women whose influence have been felt for good wherever they have chosen to live. Uncle Tom served with honor and distinction as Bishop in his ward and in many civic capacities. The worthy history of this fine family has been written and recorded elsewhere.
In the meantime in far off England, Henry and Sarah Debenham met the vicissitudes and sorrows of life as well as the joys and happiness which were their lot as they lived for and dreamed of the day when they could gather with their children and the saints of God in Zion. Seven more children were born to them during the time they lived in London. The twins were named Alma Alfred and Ann Ada born 17 March 1855, Hyrum James born 2 May 1861, Christiana born 11 December 1850, Fanny Alice born 16 May 1859, Emily Sarah born 16 May 1864 and Katie Ruth born 19 July 1866. Only two, Hyrum and Katie Ruth lived to come to America with them as five died in infancy. Due to unsanitary conditions in the milk supply which was prevalent in old England the infant mortality was exceptionally high. How heart breaking it must have been to part with their little ones. With the aid of the perpetual emigration fund established by the Church the remaining members of the family were privileged to emigrate to Utah. So on June 4, 1868, sixteen years after their conversion to the Church, Henry Debenham, his wife Sarah, son Hyrum (my father, 6 years old) and little Kate, 2 1/2 years of age set sail on the Packet Ship John Bright with Captain John Towart from Liverpool to New York.
Crossing the Atlantic today in a luxury liner is a far cry from the transportation facilities and accommodations they encountered. The weekly scale of provisions allowed to each passenger was very meager indeed. They were required to furnish their own beds and bedding, pots and pans and other cooking utensils. Foodstuffs were rationed according to the number in the family.
Taken from Church Emigration to Utah in 1886: “In 1868 the Church made a special effort to assist saints from Great Britain to emigrate to Zion by means of the Perpetual Emigration Fund. Special attention was paid to those saints who had proven themselves worthy and faith members of the church for a long period of time…
“The Packet Ship [John Bright] sailed from Liverpool, England bound for New York on Thursday, June 4, 1868 with a company of Saints numbering 722 souls of whom 176 were from Scandinavia and the rest from the British Isles. These emigrating saints were sailing in fine spirits being full of joy at being on their way to Zion, an event for which they had long labored and hoped and prayed. Most of them had been members of the church for many years, some of them as long as thirty years. (Debenhams had been members 16 years). A Swedish couple was married during the voyage.
“During the voyage there was very little sickness. Only an aged sister from England died. “The company arrived safely in New York, July 13 and on the following day, July 14, was conveyed by railroad westward. These emigrants traveled by way of Chicago and Omaha and then on to Laramie City, Nebraska. The fare from New York to Omaha was $14 and to the terminus on the plains $35, but those who would stop to work on the Union Pacific Railroad were conveyed all the way for $16. The company arrived at Laramie, 573 miles from Omaha, July 23. At that time Laramie was the Western terminus of the Union Pacific R.R. and also temporarily the outfitting place for the emigrants en route to Salt Lake City.”
At Laramie City the companies were met by Church wagon trains and most of the saints of the ship John Wright left Laramie July 27th in Horton D. Haight’s company and arrived in Salt Lake City August 24, 1868. Upon their arrival in the valley, they lived near Aunt Naomi in a house the Dowdens had made ready for them. It was located in the 17th Ward at First North between First and Second West, according to an old directory. Still mourning the death of Edgar and the long tiring trek across the plains proved too much for the weary little mother. Everyone despaired of her life as she lay day after day in a comatose condition neither eating nor sleeping. It seemed impossible for her to relieve her grief by shedding a tear. Finally after many days of fasting and praying for her recovery the crisis passed and she began to recover.
Another sad, grief-strickening experience was the death of her darling little Kate, December 1, 1868, a few months after their arrival in the valley. Having left five little graves in a London Cemetery and one in Norfolk, they now had one more beside Edgar in this pioneer cemetery in Salt Lake City. In an old Salt Lake City Directory we find Henry Debenham’s name listed as owner of a boot shop located near 1st East and 2nd South. But the desire to get back to the land in the country caused him to look about for a permanent place to locate. No doubt their memory of the beautiful countryside in Norfolk and Suffolk was a determining factor in their locating near the mill creek stream eight miles southeast of the city. Further research confirms this fact that Henry and Sarah Debenham with children Hyrum and Kate crossed the plains on the John R. Murdock Co. and arrived in the valley on Aug 19, 1868. The Debenham farm was situated in the southeastern part of Salt Lake County eight miles from Temple Square and at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains near the Mill Creek stream. With prayerful consideration, exploration of possible sites, and advice from the church brethren, 20 acres of land were purchased at a cost of two hundred dollars. A few years later an additional fifteen acres of land adjoining the original twenty acres were brought under cultivation.
They immediately began to clear the land and build a house. The house was a two-room structure. The log room to the West served as a combined living and sleeping area. It was heated by an open grate, the flames of the fire lending a cheerful atmosphere. A floral carpet covered the floor. The furniture consisted of a bed, a dresser, a china closet, and two tapestry back English style chairs. The kitchen to the East may have been added later as it was constructed of slabs and adobes. A narrow stairway led up to an attic room which served as grandfather’s workshop. A porch facing the setting sun extended the length of the living room. A cellar under the house and another one on the North side afforded ample storage space.
For several years water for culinary purposes was carried from Mill Creek stream about one block away. Grandfather dug for water near the house but after going down many feet without striking water, the well digging was abandoned. The dry hole was used for discarded cans, trash and rocks which were too plentiful on the farm. After many years it was filled up and was no longer a hazard for the children or an eyesore to the landscape.
My father, Hyrum James, was about 8 years of age when they settled in East Mill Creek. Being the only child at home he worked with his parents in clearing the land of scrub oak and sagebrush. As a section was cleared and cultivated and made ready, crops would be planted. The land was fertile but rocky, and getting water enough to make it productive was a problem which faced all the early settlers in this part of the valley. Soon a cistern was dug, plastered and filled each fall with irrigation water for culinary purposes; a hand operated pump brought the water up into a bucket. The irrigation turn every eight days watered the crops. A large fruit orchard was planted, acres of strawberry patches were set out, raspberries, currants and other small fruits and vegetables grew well in the virgin soil. Enough chickens to supply eggs and foul for the table, with two porkers for family use during the winter helped considerably.
Besides developing the farm grandfather made boots and shoes for the people of the area. He died before I was born but years later I recall playing in the attic room which had been his shoe shop and finding a black leather book which contains hundreds of names of the people, with the sizes and cost of the shoes he made for them. We grandchildren played at shoemaking using his bench, awls, and shoe lasts which seemed to be left where he had last used them.
The little farm home was surrounded by locust trees, the first trees planted after they settled here. A barn several times larger than the house housed the farm animals, Prince and Jenny, a fine span of horses, and a cow or two, ample space for the tons of new mown hay and a shed for storage of the buggy, wagons and other farm machinery. The twenty acres of land which was covered with sagebrush and weeds was finally under cultivation due to the faith, industry and perseverance of those early settlers.
The gospel which had brought them across the ocean and a continent was the mainstay in their lives. Aside from their immediate loved ones, friendships formed through their church activities and meeting mutual problems of each day with neighbors. Life was made more meaningful and beautiful. Through friendship everything is more enjoyable and everything seems to have a greater purpose. Most of their friends were the very early settlers in this community, so here I shall mention briefly the early pioneers who played a most important role in the development of East Mill Creek and in the lives of Henry and Sarah Debenham and all of us who have continued to live here and whose lives have been woven into the warp of this community.
This entire area was at first a part of the Mill Creek Ward which comprised the whole county. When the Debenhams settled in this area the upper or Eastern part of the Mill Creek Ward had been made a branch called the Big Cottonwood Branch. On July 15, 1877 the branch became East Mill Creek Ward with John Neff sustained as bishop, Henry B. Skidmore and Samuel Oliver as counselors and Henry Debenham as clerk. He held this position until his death.
Then as now adequate meeting houses were a serious problem. The first public building in this area was built in 1853. It was a simple little structure, 24 feet by 26 feet which served for religious purposes on Sunday, and as a school where readin’, writin’, and ‘rithmetic were taught to the tune of the hickory stick on weekdays. This was a community effort in which all joined hands. Logs were hauled from the canyon to a distance of about half way between the present East Mill Creek meetinghouse and the mouth of the Mill Creek Canyon. Log walls with one door and four windows, a simple roof and a rough floor comprised the building with crude plank benches and teacher’s table to match. All grades met together and the teacher’s birch rod enforced disciplining and made the moment happy when the day’s lessons were over.
Education was to be had only by those who could afford it. The tuition was one dollar per child. Because of the extreme scarcity of money in the community this burdensome cost seriously handicapped many in their efforts to secure any formal education. In this building young Hyrum Debenham attended school on weekdays and the family worshipped on the Sabbath. Harry Debenham acted as a trustee for this little school.
Besides educational and religious training held in this building, social gatherings were by no means forgotten and members of the East Mill Creek Ward and other wards also enjoyed themselves in dances often bringing candles as part of their admission fee. Four sets of quadrilles could form at the same time, the music consisting of one fiddle. By 1877 the population of East Millcreek had increased until the little public building no longer met the needs of the community. The first settlers had located near the mouth of the canyon, hence the site of the first public building was chosen in the vicinity. As more people took up land and built their homes father down in the valley the new one-roomed chapel was erected centrally at about 27th East but still near the Creek. At one time there were twenty mills built near the Creek. These mills turned out logs, lumber, shingles, ground the farmer’s wheat, made it into flour and furnished work for many people.
School was held in the chapel for the younger children; the older pupils met in part of a large room built to store big gunnysacks full of sawdust. These were hauled to the city and other places where they were used to keep large blocks of ice which were stored for summer use. In 1892 a two-room schoolhouse was erected about one block north of the chapel.
In their humble home Henry and Sarah rejoiced as the saw the youngest son Hyrum grow to maturity and bring to their home a beautiful young seventeen year old bride, Barbara Jane Wright. She was a devoted daughter bringing love and happiness into the life of her mother-in-law who for many years shared their home after the death of her husband. Their daughters Naomi and Dorcas and son William Henry blessed their home with several grandchildren who loved to visit their grandparents and enjoy the delights of farm life which seemed to them a long distance from their city homes.
On 19 Apr. 1879, their son Henry William, aged 30, passed away leaving a widow and four young daughters and one son. He had sustained an injury while logging in Mill Creek Canyon from which he never recovered. His passing brought deep sorrow to them and greatly added to their responsibilities. However, Harry’s (the name he usually went by) courageous wife worked hard to keep the family together, rearing the four daughters until they were established in homes of their own.
In a few short years the pioneer wife, the little mother who had laid so many of her dear ones to rest was to pass through the greatest sorrow and tragedy of her life. On October 24, 1884, Henry Debenham died of what the medical men of that day termed inflammation of the bowels, probably appendicitis. His funeral was held in the East Mill Creek Chapel with the room overflowing with grief stricken loved ones and friends from all over the valley. He was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery Oct. 28, 1884. No picture of grandfather has come down to us. My mother often spoke of him as being rather tall, broad and muscular with thick black beard and hair and dark blue eyes. He seemed rather a formidable character to her as a young bride, but she learned to respect and love him dearly. The first daughter of Hyrum and Barbara was born a few months before his passing. At his request she was named Dorcas after his own mother, Dorcas Dearing.
I will now jot down a few memories and recollections I have of my faithful and devoted Latter-day Saint grandmother. She especially insisted upon good manners. It seemed to me that she never let an opportunity pass to teach us as children to be kind to each other. I recollect her saying, “A lady always keeps her voice low and stands and sits up straight.” She was industrious and frugal. Her motto was, “waste not, want not.” Her leisure moments were filled with mending, darning, knitting or sewing. She saved every scrap of material for carpet rags or quilt making which occupied her time during the long winter days and nights. She was a beautiful seamstress. I loved to see her ready for Relief Society block teaching. In company with Sister Ann Oliver the two of them dressed in their Sunday best long black dresses with black satin petticoats which rustled as they walked. On top of her head was the proverbial little black silk bonnet with satin ribbons tied under her chin. They would go off to fulfill their assignment. Each carried a flour sack to hold the wheat which was contributed by the Relief Society sisters in fulfillment of a request by the church leaders for the Relief Society to store wheat in case of need. It was stored in a big silo and many years later was sold to the United States Government to supply wheat during the awful World War I.
As Mother found it necessary to assist with the fruit picking I was left in Grandmother’s charge a great deal. Most of my early impressions and general information of her life I acquired in this way. She was humble and very spiritual. How many times I have heard her say, “Oh thank Thee Lord for so many things which we take too much for granted today.” Occasionally I was allowed to spend the night with Grandmother in her little adobe house. As we settled down to rest in her luxurious feather bed atop a newly filled straw mattress, even though prayers had been offered previously, she would mutter, “Thank Thee Lord for this good bed to sleep in”. Next morning with a small table set for two, drawn up in front of the little two hole Franklin stove, which heated the bedroom and on which she would toast our bread and heat the water for ginger tea with cream and sugar. Hot buttered toast and soft boiled eggs in grandmother’s cozy room was the tastiest breakfast in the world. A fire was then kindled in the kitchen stove and the day’s work begun.
Early in the spring Grandmother would go to visit an elderly couple, a Mr. & Mrs. Stockdale, about 2951 South 20th East, who lived together about a mile or so from our home. They were from Old England and she felt rather responsible for them, as she always carried food for them. I was delighted to walk with her early in the day before the snow was thawed and the road became muddy. Both the man and the woman would sit and puff away on corncob pipes as the visiting continued. On our way home Grandmother would explain to me that pipe smoking was bad habit and the wrong thing to do, but she said those poor souls had acquired the habit in the old country where it was quite customary and where they had not been taught that it was a bad habit to form. She moralized that a bad habit was hard to break, therefore, little girls like me should “look to their ways” and always be ladylike.
When I was a grown woman an old acquaintance of Grandmother’s asked me if I could remember my Grandmother Debenham. I said I had a few childhood memories of her and she replied, “If ever there was a true English lady--she was one”. That certainly confirmed my impressions of her. Although her back was bowed and bent from a life of hard work, she was ever a lady. After my grandmother, Sarah’s, death, my mother, Barbara’s, last baby, a beautiful boy 2 1/2 years old, died of complications following a case of whooping cough. We were all saddened by this great loss. After the funeral mother told us of a dream she had had during little Weston’s illness; It seemed that she was sitting in the rocking chair holding the baby in her arms then suddenly Grandmother Debenham appeared in the room clothed in white. Coming over to Mother’s side she held out her arms for the baby. Mother hesitated, holding the child closer to her bosom but Grandmother gently took the child and left the room as quietly as she had come. Mother told us that all through the baby’s illness she had a premonition that he was wanted on the other side. It seemed to relieve our sorrows and comfort us to know that our baby brother was in Grandmother’s tender care.
Although Grandmother, Sarah, was small and frail appearing she enjoyed good health. She spent many hours daily during the harvest time picking currants and other fruit, preserving and drying them for winter use. She enjoyed having her family and friends from the city come. She was ever willing and spent much time assisting her daughter, Naomi, with her large family, only five of whom lived to maturity. Much of the wintertime she enjoyed in Naomi’s home. She was a strong and courageous woman and a faithful Latter-day Saint. All her life she served in church work, paid her dues and offerings out of her scanty store, and shared her time and resources with those in need. Neighbors and friends turned to her in times of tribulation. She had the ability to bring peace and comfort to those in trouble. Surely she will enjoy the promises given to the meek and humble and peacemakers. Neither did she neglect her temple work, but found joy and pleasure in doing this sacred work for her kindred dead.
In the fall of 1902 when she, Sarah, was eighty years old, she had a desire to go to Almo, Idaho and spend the winter with her lovely and devoted daughter Dorcas. This was the second time she had traveled the many miles to visit her dear ones in Idaho, having gone there several years before. There the King family surrounded her with every convenience and tender loving care possible, enjoying her sweet spirit as she basked in their loving hospitality. Here is a little side story as told by Edgar “Ted” King, grandson, now 76 years old: “While my sister Nellie and Mother, Dorcas King, were making and fitting Grandmother’s burial clothes, a short time before she died, Grandma in her jovial good nature said, ‘Edgar, how do you like my bridal gown?’ Then she laughed heartily. It was not long after this that she needed the clothing she had supervised in the making.” Ted also said, “She fetched strawberry jam from Salt Lake, made of fresh strawberries mixed with gooseberries and currants raised on the farm; it was the best jam ever made.” Reminiscing further Ted said, “One day she offered me a dollar. Mother, hearing, said, ‘Don’t you give him that dollar, for you need it more than he does.’ As Mother went on to protest she slipped the dollar into my hand and believe me, it was the biggest dollar I ever saw.” These little incidents so long remembered by her grandchildren give us an insight into the real character and personality of our grandmother.
The family of Hyrum and Barbara, with their eight children were looking forward to Grandma’s return from Idaho when word was received that she had passed away. We had missed her presence in our family circle where she had been an inspiration and an uplifting spiritual influence in our lives. She, Sarah, had ever been willing and ready to bind up a wound, to help nurse us to health during illness, to sew on a missing button or to assist in numerous ways in the daily lives of family members. Nor did she hesitate when her services were needed elsewhere. She had gone to the home of Henry and Sarah during the illness and death of their two children, Hy Edgar and Eliza and also Elizabeth an infant daughter. In 1884 she journeyed to Almo, Idaho to assist and care for her daughter Dorcas when she gave birth to a baby girl, little Hannah. This beautiful child met with a tragic death by drowning when she was three years of age, which event left deep and lasting sorrow to her loved ones.
Both Grandfather, Henry, and Grandmother, Sarah, extended help and comfort to Edwin and Naomi during the illness and death of eight of their thirteen children. The following news item is found in Aunt Naomi’s scrapbook and is a clipping from an old Deseret News published in 1887. The Fourth in the Family “We regret to have to chronicle the fact Ward Edwin Dowden about twelve years old died yesterday at the residence of his grandparents, Brother and Sister Debenham, in East Mill Creek Ward. The cause of death was diphtheria. Deceased was the son of Edwin and Naomi Dowden. This makes the fourth child, three sons and a daughter that Brother and Sister Dowden have lost in the last few months by this dread malady. We join with their many friends in sincere sympathy for the family in their bereavement. The lad who has just departed to the other life was most remarkable for brightness and natural intelligence.”
It was on June 1, 1903 that our little grandmother passed away at the home of her daughter Dorcas in Almo, Cassia Co., Idaho. She was in her eighty-second year. Georgianna King Eamos submitted the following account of her death: “It was on a beautiful spring morning after a very restless night for our dear grandmother that my sister Nellie, I and Otolla, a tiny girl at that time, walked over to Mary Durfee’s to obtain medicine for her. Upon our return we reported to Mother who was standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes. Otolla went into Grandmother’s bedroom, then quickly running back to us she said, ‘Grandma looks funny.’ Hastening to her bedside we discovered that the dear sweet soul had passed away in her sleep. Word was sent to Uncle Hyrum who came out to Almo from East Mill Creek.”
Upon receiving the sad news of his Mother’s death my father, Hyrum, immediately left for Almo. He traveled by train to Kelton, which was as near his destination as the railroad afforded transportation. From Kelton he rode horseback a distance of about sixty miles to the King home. It was a happy yet mournful reunion as he met with his sister and family preparatory to accompanying his cherished mother’s body to Salt Lake City for burial. Kind hands prepared the body of our departed loved one for the journey by wagon and train to Salt Lake. The funeral was held in the old Eighth Ward on June 4, 1903 where family and friends assembled to pay their last respects to a devoted Latter-day Saint lady. She was buried beside her husband in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. My own memories of the funeral services, although I was a little girl at the time, were my feelings of pride and joy at the praiseworthy remarks and wonderful tributes paid by Bishop John Neff who had been her bishop for thirty-two years, and especially the words of praise and honor expressed by Eliza Ann Neff, her friend and Relief Society President for so many years.
Although only three of their twelve children lived to have families of their own, today Henry and Sarah Debenham have a numerous posterity. May we profit by the example of those pioneer forbearers which is so worthy emulation. As we find pleasure and profit in reviewing those records of the past, may we live in the present ever mindful that our every action is the heritage of generations yet to come. May we pass on to our posterity a heritage as honest and as true to the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the one Henry and Sarah have given to us.
Children of Henry and Sarah Debenham, When Born, When Died:
1. Edgar Larter Debenham, 26 July 1841, 13 Nov 1863,
2. Naomi Debenham, 10 Oct 1844, 5 Mar 1928,
3. Dorcas Georgina Debenham, 10 July 1846, 20 Aug 1905,
4. Henry William Debenham, 18 Nov 1848, 19 Apr 1879,
5. Christiana Debenham, 11 Dec 1850, 10 May 1855,
6. Esther Debenham, 11 Apr 1853, 15 Apr 1854,
7. Ann Ada Debenham (twin) , 17 Apr 1855, 11 Mar 1856,
8. Alma Alfred Debenham (twin) , 17 Apr 1855, 21 Jan 1856,
9. Fanny Alice Debenham, 16 May 1859, 11 Feb 1860,
10. Hyrum James Debenham, 2 May 1861, 11 Jan 1924,
11. Emily Sarah Debenham, 2 May 1864, 11 Feb 1865,
12. Kate Ruth Debenham, 9 July 1866, 21 Dec 1868.
Henry and Sarah Debenham received their endowments and were sealed for time and eternity in the old Endowment House in Salt Lake City on February 9, 1869. They did a great deal of temple work both in the Salt Lake and Logan temple for their kindred dead as well as having their own children sealed to them. I submit these few pages with gratitude to all who have contributed to this sketch in any way and with apologies for any omissions or errors which may have inadvertently crept into this brief history. Written by Cassandra Debenham Bailey, a granddaughter.