Samuel Goforth Henderson
Compiled by Maurine Harrison
Samuel Goforth Henderson was born in Bellview, Missouri, October 19, 1820. He was the son of Samuel Henderson and Mary Goforth, who were the parents of twelve children: James, John, William, Isabell, Sarah, Rachel, Mary, Samuel, Elizabeth, George, Manerva, and Jane.
Samuel Henderson was a pioneer in three states: Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. He displayed in each the qualities of ambition, enterprise and public spirit. He was a potent and serviceable factor in building up the communities in which he lived as well as the surround-ing areas. He can justly be entitled to the designation of a Pioneer, for all his life was amid the stirring events and undeveloped conditions with which civilization battled continuously in bringing the country into a prosperous and profitable state. He was involved with the transition from a sagebrush wilderness into a rounded civilized section governed by law and order, and influenced by religious activity. He lived in an environment of progress. His quickness of thought and versatility, plus his activities as a businessman gave ample scope to his energies.
Samuel Henderson joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when a young man in the state of Missouri. In company with his father's family he moved to Illinois and joined the great body of it's people in their city beautiful—Nauvoo. Soon afterward he mar-ried Maryette Cory in the Nauvoo Endowment House. She was born January 1827. They had three children. The first died at birth (not named). Josiah and Samuel S. were the other children and they both died while young,
After living together for seven years his wife left him and their marriage ended. Samuel continued to live and labor continually for the building up of the city of Nauvoo and the king-dom of God upon the earth—both spiritually and temporally. He was well acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith. He worked with him splitting rails. He was also a bodyguard to the Prophet. He was still residing at Nauvoo when the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred. He heard the last public discourse given by the Prophet Joseph
After the martyrdom he moved from the city of Nauvoo to Pisga for the winter. In the spring of 1849 he moved from Pisga on to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and while here he became acquainted with Harriet Hawkins, a daughter of Benjamin and Rhoda Cleveland Hawkins. They were married by Apostle Orson Hyde April 21, 1850, at Council Bluffs. On June 1, 1850 they started for Salt Lake Valley.
Quite a number of their company died on the journey with cholera, but those remain-ing arrived in Salt Lake Valley on September 15, 1850. They stayed there for three weeks and then moved to Kays Ward, now known as Kaysville, Utah, Davis County. They settled down on Kay's Creek about October and began to make a home by digging a hole in the ground, called a dug-out, to live in through the coming winter. They had a 10" by 12" pane of glass for a window, and a quilt for a door and a deerskin for a carpet. Samuel made chairs and his wife Harriet put the bottoms in them with rushes. Their supplies for the winter consisted of 30 pounds of flour, given to them by Lyman Hawkins, a half-brother of Benjamin Hawkins (Harriet's father), one pound of tea, 5 pounds of coffee and a quart of dry beans. They didn't use the coffee, so sold it for $5. The first set of chairs they sold for a quarter of beef—the chairs being worth $18 per set. They rendered out 32 pounds of tallow from the beef and it was used for shortening and for lights. For lights they used a cloth tied around a button and set in the middle of a tin plate filled with melted tallow. The second set of chairs were sold for 100 pounds of flour, worth $10 at that time, one-half bushel of turnips, one bushel of pota-toes, and a bushel of beets.
The third set of chairs Harriet took to Farmington on the running gears of a wagon, which had a few loose boards to ride on and a yoke of oxen for a team. The chairs were worth $18 and she sold them for a bake oven, a skillet, one-half dozen chickens, some squash and the rest in groceries. The fourth set of chairs was taken to Salt Lake City in the same way. She received $5 in cash and the balance of the $18 was taken in dry goods.
The chairs they made after this were sold near their home. When spring came they were able to buy the frame for a house. The roof consisted of boards, put on up and down. This house cost $75. They finished it during the summer, and from that time they began to really live. All this time they were in danger of being attacked by Indians.
In the spring of 1851 they put in seeds and raised good crops that season, and on August 13, 1851 their first child was born. They named him Ammon Benjamine. In the fall of 1852 they sold their frame house and the land it was on and moved half a mile down the creek where they had taken up some more land and built a log house, On May 26, 1853 their second child, Orson, was born in their new home. Samuel was acting as Ward Teacher at this time and they lived at this place until after their third child, Harriet Ann was born, February 4, 1855.
On May 6, 1855 Samuel Henderson married his third wife, Helen Mar Cutler in the En-dowment House at Salt Lake City. It was on this date also that Harriet Henderson received her endowment. In the fall of 1855 he built a ‘dobe house in the city limits of Kay's City. On May 23, 1856, Helen Mar gave birth to her first child, Melvin Cutler, He was born in their new 'dobe house. On May 26, 1857 Harriet gave birth to her fourth child, Mary Ellen.
In the spring of 1858, Samuel Henderson with his two families loaded up their house-hold goods into a wagon, with a piece of carpet for a wagon cover, and started for the south. This was a general move for all the Latter-day Saints that lived in that part of the country be-cause General Johnston's army was threatening to hang every Mormon who was a polygamist. They moved to Provo, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City. Helen Mar gave birth to her second child on May 26, 1858 at Brigham City. They left her there while the rest of the fam-ily went on to Santaquin. Two weeks later Samuel returned to Salt Lake City and brought Helen Mar back to Santaquin to join them.
Samuel made six trips back and forth from Santaquin to Kaysville with no trouble. On 1 August 1858, peace was restored to their homeland. They returned to Kaysville on September 1, 1858. Their crops during that year were almost a total loss. The grain which was not taken by the grasshoppers was destroyed by rust. They saved 6 bushel of barley and threshed it out with a flail, and after taking it to the mill to have it ground, they divided it with their neighbors until they had just five pounds left.
The winter of 1858-59 was a hard one on everybody as the grasshoppers had taken nearly everything. On March 20, 1859, Harriet's fifth child, Edith Alice was born. The snow was two feet deep on the level. On April 28, 1860, Helen Mar gave birth to her third child, Marion.
In 1860, Harriet taught the public day school, commencing about the first of April and taught for six months. The students paid tuition, and she took a molasses mill for part of her pay. Samuel Henderson was an agent for the Deseret News at that time, and one of the school trustees. He was also Senior President of the 55th Quorum of Seventies.
On April 14, 1861, Harriet gave birth to her 6th child, William Arthur, her last child to be born at Kaysville. The grasshoppers were still there, which made it very hard to save enough to live on. July 11, 1862, Helen Mar gave birth to her 4th child, Adelbert, the last of her children to be born at Kaysville. In the fall of 1862 they sold their farm and city property in Kaysville and moved to Brigham City, Box Elder County, Utah. There they bought a farm from a man four miles north of Brigham City, but could not take possession of the farm until the next spring about 15 May 1863. So during that winter they lived in Sheldon Cutler's house, about three miles north of the city. At this place Harriet's seventh child, LaFayette, was born on March 14, 1865.
About February 4, 1863, General Conner was returning from a campaign in the northern part of the territory where he had been to quiet the hostile Indians and had given them a battle on a creek that emptied into Bear River. This afterwards was called Battle Creek. It is about 12 miles north of Franklin, Idaho. They stopped at Samuel's home and got hot coffee for the wounded soldiers. Samuel Parkinson Sr. of Franklin was a teamster for the wounded soldiers.
About May 15 they moved into their new farm home and their agricultural interests were greatly increased. They planted a large orchard of different kinds of fruit trees and berries. They also raised hay and grain and had quite an interest in sheep, cattle, and horses. They raised their own wool, carded it by hand, spun it into yarn, wove their cloth and made their own clothes.
Samuel was a school teacher and taught his own 36 children. He was a soldier, having fought in the Black Hawk war. He was a carpenter, a tanner, blacksmith, farmer, stock-raiser, and owned and operated a sawmill in Cottonwood canyon, owner of a large orchard in Brigham City, Utah. He was a shoemaker and he was a musician. He lived in many communities and or-ganized a band in each, making many of the instruments himself.
On August 17, 1864, Helen Mar gave birth to her 5th child, Oscar Sheldon During the year of 1864 they were very prosperous and happy and enjoyed good health.
On August 26, 1864, Samuel Henderson went to Salt Lake City with Mary Jane Chivers to take her for his fourth wife, but on account of the Endowment House going through repairs, they returned without being married. On September 2 they again went to Salt Lake City and were married. In the fall of 1864 they bought a house and lot in Brigham City. On February 25, 1865, Harriet gave birth to her eighth child, Ulyssus. On August 5, 1866, Mary Jane gave birth to her first child, James. He was given the name by Samuel Henderson. It died the same day it was born.
Samuel was the first postmaster of Kaysville, Utah. He built a molasses mill and made molasses for his own families and others. He owned an interest in a tannery. He taught his wives the art of leather and tailoring.
From Brigham City he moved to Clifton, Idaho. He and his sons had a contract with the railroad company to secure and saw ties. They camped in the canyon to do the work. A hazardous winter set in and they were compelled to return to Clifton on snow shoes as the heavy snows restricted them from returning by sleigh. Arriving home with food, they could not find the cabin as it was completely covered with snow. They finally detected it by discovering smoke from the chimney and an icy tunnel descending to the door. Another tunnel led through 15 feet of snow to the water spring. Samuel's fourth wife, Mary Jane, was in bed with the quinzy. The food supply had dwindled to a few morsels of beans. But more tragic than this was the sight of three bodies—victims of diphtheria—the oldest three in the family. They were buried in the snow until spring. William Sanford died December 23, 1879; Wilson died December 19, 1879 and Leslie died December 25, 1879.
After moving to Brigham City from Kaysville, Samuel was called back to Missouri on a mission by Lorenzo Snow, who was then Stake President. His relatives there were bitter and refused him admittance into their homes unless he would agree not to mention his re-ligion. While there his 11 year old son died.
Samuel Henderson came to Star Valley in July 1886. In October he sent for his wife, Mary Jane, and her family, hers having the youngest children. As winter was coming on, they stopped in a small log house west of what is now Afton. The next spring he moved his family to the west side of the valley. He moved but once more, and this time to Dry Creek (Osmond) where the family lived in a tent during the summer while he was getting out logs for a house. (This place is still in 1973 owned by his descendents. LeVon Hender-son and Leslie Harrison, Samuel's grandsons, live on the divided place.)
There were many deer and elk to be seen, and Indians could be seen almost every day in the summer. Samuel took pride in raising many fine sheep and cattle, and he had fine horses. He was successful at farming and gardening, supplying Star Valley with the first small fruits to be grown here. He was instrumental in getting the first day school started in Osmond. This first school house was a small one-room log cabin. It stood just north of where the Church house now stands. Each student furnished his own desk and stool. Slates were used to write on and there were very few books. School lasted about 3 or 4 months a year and was at first held in the summertime.
Samuel Henderson helped build the first church house in Afton and later one in Osmond. He started the first band also. It consisted of 2 drums, a flute and 2 bass horns. Samuel, Mary Jane, and a few others met with the authorities and organized a Sunday School. Samuel was called to be Superintendent, an office he held almost up to the time of his death. He was a faithful church worker and always held some position in the church. He was president of the Seventies Quorum for many years.
Samuel had a pair of large steers which he used for oxen. He made a yoke for them and when company came, the boys would hitch them up and all the young folks would go for a merry ride. They made their own entertainment, dancing—usually in the school house with either a violin or accordion for the music—sometimes both. Samuel liked to watch the young folks dance but liked to see them do it "in a proper manner." It was commented by Mary Hill in later years, "I believe with all our pioneer days, people were as happy and contented as they are now."
Most travel was by horseback, or, in winter months, snowshoes. Later by sleigh or buggy. The buggies were white topped with front and back seats, drawn by two horses. Dur-ing the long winter months Samuel spent his time making furniture for himself and others. He did extensive carving to decorate bedsteads, high chairs and other pieces of furniture. He made many looms and spinning wheels. Some of them are still kept as relics by people in the valley, and some are to be found in the Museum at Afton, Wyoming, which is operated by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. Samuel seldom, if ever, swore. Once when he mashed his finger, he was heard to say, "Oh, Jeremiah!"
Reminiscing at the funeral of Otto Harrison, Clarence Gardner, another early Star Valley pioneer, said, "I have been thinking of that splendid old man that came here years ago, and that was Brother Samuel Henderson. He lived down near the creamery and was one of the most faithful men that I have ever known. He was growing old in the service but never shirked his duties. He would do whatever he was called upon to do. I remember when we used to meet in the old log schoolhouse, which later was burned, Brother Henderson at that time was superintendent of the Sunday School, and he was devoted to taking care of his work. I remem-ber coming there and Brother Henderson didn't have any watch or any way of telling the time. I was very much impressed with him when he went up about time to take up Sunday School and he had his mark on the floor, and said, "When the sun gets to that mark it is time to take up Sunday School." Many people of this ward (Osmond) are children and grandchildren of those old pioneer families. I just feel that we as a people of those early days have been watched over and blessed spiritually, temporally and financially so much that we should express thanks to the Lord for the blessings we have received." (July 25, 1948)
Samuel Henderson was about five feet seven inches tall. He was 38 inches around the chest and weighed 155 pounds. He had dark gray eyes, black hair and good health. He died of old age at 84 years. At one time while digging a ditch by hand, he asked his wife not to bury him "up here among these rocks" and so when he passed away October 29, 1904, he was taken to Clifton, Idaho to rest beside his loved ones.
(Information taken from Fannie Henderson Harrison Book of Remembrance; Family History written by Thomas A. Howell, March 2,1911 from information given him by Harriet Hender-son; Hartolian 1937; History of Osmond Community by Merettie Harrison Leavitt, taken from some personal interviews with Otto and Fannie Harrison and Mary Henderson; Osmond Ward Record books; Family recording of Otto Harrison funeral; and other family records.)
Patriarchal Blessing Given to Samuel Goforth Henderson
by Patriarch Hyrum Smith a Few Months Before his and Joseph Smith's Martyrdom
Patriarchal Blessing of Samuel Henderson, Jr. son of Samuel and Mary Goforth Henderson, born in the township of Belview, County of Washington, State of Missouri, 19 October 1820.
Brother Samuel I lay my hands upon your head in the name of Jesus of Nazareth to place and seal a blessing upon you according to your lineage. Behold, I say unto you, Samuel, you are of the seed and lineage of Jacob and in the lineage and tribe of your father shall be your inheritance. Also the blessings of that inheritance as spoken by the prophets shall be answered upon your head if your faith shall continue your days shall not fail but you shall live to see the salvation of God, and the administrations of justice, judgment and mercy to the nations and Zion flourish in her beauty and a great and marvelous work which your mind has not yet con-ceived of.
And you shall be blessed with the Priesthood and its power of administration to be answered upon your head in due time unto a fullness and shall stand forth in the midst of this generation as a laborer in the eleventh hour. And in so doing there shall be salvation administered to you and to your house and to your posterity after you unto the fulness of the covenant unto your father Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the power of God that shall perpetuate your name and crown you with honor from generation to generation together with your acts and name to be written as a memorial to future generations handed down in honour by your pos-terity unto the latest generation. These blessings I seal upon your head, even so, Amen.