Elisha Whiting and Sally Hulet

Elisha Whiting, Jr. was born December 17, 1785 to Elisha Whiting, Sr. and Susanna Butler in Hartford, Connecticut.

Sally Hulet was born October 19, 1787 to Sylvanus Hulet and Mary Lewis in Lee, Berkshire, Massachusetts.

Very little is known about the families of his parents as after the death of his father, his mother, Susanna, bound him out to a Quaker who was very cruel to him. He later ran away and found employment in Lee, Berkshire County, Massachusetts with a wagon maker. The family tradition is that Elisha never forgave his mother for doing this. Although, in defense of his mother, she may have done this, thinking that it would give him opportunities that she was unable to give him.

It was in Lee, Massachusetts that me met a small brunette girl of charm, Sally Hulet. Elisha and Sally were married September 18, 1806 in Lee, Berkshire, Massachusetts. They became the parents of six children while living in Lee. In 1816, the family migrated by wagon over the Mohawk Trail to Portage County, Nelson Township, Ohio, where Elisha settled on a small farm. This was about a three week journey up the Mohawk Valley and westward over what would soon become the route to the Erie Canal. At this time, Nelson was a western frontier, probably chosen by Elisha so as to get suitable timber to use in supporting his large family. Here he built a double-log house, using one room to live in and other for a wagon shop. At the foot of the hill was a spring of clear, cold water, so he had no need to dig a well. Here six other children were born to them. In spite of the rugged frontier life she led, Sally always wore a lace cap.

From Elisha and Sally’s granddaughter, Sarah Jane Talcott, comes the account of their farm here:

The house contained only one large room below with a huge fireplace reaching nearly across one end. There were no nice cookstoves or ranges in those days, and ...[Sally] had to cook over the fire in the fireplace. It was furnished with a great crane to swing out and in over the fire to which could be attached iron hooks of different lengths to hang kettles and other cooking utensils on.

For baking, she had a large shallow kettle with an iron cover, called a “bake kettle,” and when her bread was ready to bake, she would knead it into one large loaf, place it in the kettle, put the iron cover on, and set the kettle on some coals she had raked out on the stone hearth. Then taking a long handled shovel, she would shake coals all over the cover and leave it to bake. Delicious bread it was when it was baked and ready for the table.

Opposite the fireplace they had beds, and ranged around the room in different places were their cupboard, table, and chairs and a large chest in which to keep clothes and other things. They had brought an old fashioned bureau made of black walnut which was the pride of... [Sally’s] heart. She had a mirror too, hanging over a shelf her husband made for her, and when she had her things all arranged to her satisfaction she thought her home was very cozy and pleasant.

They had no lamps in those days but in the evening would build great blazing fires in the big fireplace and then set fire to pine knots which they used in place of candles and which, with the blazing logs in the fireplace, lighted up the room pretty well; and what pleasant evenings they spent sitting around the fire, the mother busy with her knitting, the boys listening to stories their father would tell of his adventures in his boyhood days...

Above the large room was a loft where the boys - William Edwin, and Charles slept. I think Mother [Catherine Louisa] and her little sister, Emeline, slept in a trundle bed which was pushed under their Mother’s bed when not in use. After a while, more boys and girls came and the house became so crowded that ... [Elisha] built a frame house with more rooms in it. And ...[Catherine] and Emeline had a bedroom upstairs and their mother had one downstairs, large enough for her bed and the trundle bed in which little Harriet and Jane slept – until so many little brothers came they too had to have a room upstairs...

They worked hard and after a while had tallow candles to use in the place of pine knots and ...[Elisha] built him a shop and made wagons and chairs to sell and could make many pieces of furniture for the house, as the older boys were now large enough to do farm work...

Sometime during the year 1830, Sylvester Hulet, Sally’s brother, went from Nelson to Kirtland, Ohio on business. While there, he met Oliver Cowdery and some other missionaries. In May of 1830, the Prophet Joseph Smith and Parley P. Pratt visited the Nelson area. Catherine Hulet remembered the event this way:

The Prophet Joseph Smith and Parley P. Pratt came to my father’s house and the Prophet bore testimony to finding the plates containing The Book of Mormon. Although being but eleven years old at the time, I well remember it.”

Who Joseph’s “congregation” was is uncertain but it must have been members of the Hulet, Whiting, and Cox families – they would have filled the house. Sally Hulet Whiting was convinced of the truthfulness of the church doctrine, and her baptismal records should that she joined the church on October 29, 1820, the first in her extended family to do so. According to historian A. J. Simmonds, “by February 1831 when John Whitmer and Lyman Wight...visited Nelson and preached there, the family...numbered at least 60 people. By the close of 1831 Nelson was one of fifteen branches of the church in Ohio.

Elisha reportedly listened with interest and had not objected when his wife wished to be baptized, though as has already been noted, he was not baptized until much later.

On September 12, 1831, the Prophet Joseph Smith moved his residence from Kirtland to Hiram, Portage County, Ohio, only five miles from Nelson. This afforded the family many more opportunities to come in contact with the Prophet and several members of the Whiting and Hulet families were baptized.

Elisha’s first reaction to hearing about the Mormons was, “I wish I had Joe Smith on my work bench. It’d be a pleasure to saw his head off with my hand saw.” Whether or not the venom in that statement was characteristic of Elisha’s temper is difficult to predict. It did, however, express the fact that his sympathies clearly lay neither with the Mormons, their prophet, nor their cause.

It is also unclear why Elisha was so frustrated with his wife, Sally’s, new religion. Sally became a Latter-day Saint by baptism some years earlier along with the rest of her Hulet siblings and her older children. She was, therefore, the first “Mormon Whiting,” in spite of the objections of her husband Elisha - the able wheelwright of strong words.

Sally and Elisha were of the same economic class as the poor New York Smith family into which Joseph Smith Jr. had been born. The Whitings and Hulets were among the large number of migrant pioneers who left the fringe of settlements along the New England coast after the middle of the eighteenth century to clear farms in the heavily forested interior.

Here in Ohio, Sally, along with much of her family, had been converted to Mormonism. The families of the Hulets, Coxes, Morleys, and Whitings were linked to such a degree that these and other families formed a mobile colony - interdependent, interknit, and intermingled. In their migration across a continent, these families maintained firm ties and worked together in the founding of several settlements.

Elisha’s family and acquaintances, knowing his dislike for the controversial young prophet Joseph Smith, might well have said, “It’ll take a miracle for him ever to become a Mormon.” According to one grandson, Lester Whiting, the family’s prayers for Elisha’s conversion were answered in the following experience:

Grandfather Elisha Whiting...moved into Ohio, where my father, Lewis Whiting was born on September 22, 1830. He [Lewis] was the youngest of a family of thirteen children, six girls and seven boys.

Here in Ohio the Angel Message [Mormonism] came to them, and Grandmother [Sally] Whiting with some of the older children were baptized. Grandfather was an objector to this new religion and made life miserable for the members of the family who had joined the church...

While in this frame of mind, he was taken sick with some sort of fever, which baffled the doctor who came many times to treat him. Eventually the doctor refused to continue his visits, saying he had done everything in his power and it was useless to make any further expense for the family.

Finally, when [Elisha’s] death was near – in fact the death hiccoughs had set in and his jaws became set, so that it was necessary to pry open his mouth with a spoon to administer a little water or liquid nourishment from time to time – Grandmother approached him again, as she had many times during his illness, asking if she might send for an elder. While he was unable to speak, he made some sign of willingness. An elder who lived nearby was summoned at once and administered to him. Immediately his hiccoughs ceased, his jaws loosened, and he asked for food, which was brought at once. Here was a case of instant healing, and on the fourth day following, the ice in the river was opened and Grandfather was baptized. He became a staunch defender of the faith from that time.

Healed, brought back from death’s threshold, his jaw loosened again, Elisha would make a full turnabout in his attitude and cast his lot with the Mormons. But Elisha’s miraculous healing and subsequent conversion would lead to this stark irony: anti-Mormon mobocrats would harass Elisha’s family, torch the Whitings’ home and workshop, turn them out onto the street, and expel them from their various homesteads under threat of extermination. In short, within a decade of his conversion of Mormonism, enemies would be treating Elisha precisely as he had once declared he would delight to treat the Mormon prophet. The persecutions his family would undergo can be seen as the consequences of his determination to be valiant.

He was baptized by Thomas Marsh in 1838 and his family was among the early members of the church and soon after, joined the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio. It was here in Kirtland that their trials and hardships began. They were forced to leave their new home, furniture and land. They took with them only their clothing a few valued relics. Sally packed a large chest with their best clothing and the records of the Hulet family. But this chest was seized and kept by a man, supposedly a friend, and was never recovered.

When persecutions had become unbearable, Elisha and Sally migrated and built a new home again at Far West, Missouri where their son, William had moved. They were in Far West only a short time when a mob, several thousand strong, ordered them to leave. Every house in the village, except Elisha’s was burned. His house was spared because he was so ill they could not move him from his bed. One member of the family tells how she sat on a pile of bedding far into the night watching their chair shop and select wood burn brightly. Then she watched the desolation of the dying embers.

Most of the fleeing Saints, Elisha and Sally Whiting included, sought safety in Clay County. Their refuge there was temporary, however. Residents of Clay County, noting the constant flow of new immigrants, became fearful that the Saints would make permanent settlements and in 1835, the Saints were asked to leave.

One document, dictated by Elisha, details some of the family’s struggles as they were driven from place to place:

In the year of our Lord 1837, I, Elisha Whiting, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, moved by family into the State of Missouri, Clay County, for the purpose of making a permanent settlement. I soon purchased an improved farm and moved my family consisting of a wife and 5 children onto the same. In a few months, 6 out of the 7 were taken sick & part of them were put into a wagon on a bed and moved to Caldwell Co. (Myself being left, and soon taken sick) and in a few days, a mob threatened to come upon and drive me from my home notwithstanding my sickness. But through the kindness of a neighbor who informed me of the plot, and offered me an asylum under his roof (which I accepted) [I] excaped from their snare. I had previously purchased an 80 of government land in the county of Caldwell for which I had paid my money. My family then there, and not hearing what had become of me, sent one of my sons to learn; he found me very low, but put me into his waggon on a bed and carried me to Caldwell where I lay sick for many months. Two of my sons, together with a son in law, had also bought [government land] and paid their money for the same; consisting of 300 and 20 acres. And there we thought surely to settle ourselves in peace, as the authorities of the County of Clay, had promised us protections; but in this were mistaken. For not many days after our move, a ruthless set of barbarians, living in the State of Mo. And even claiming to be the free born sons of America, marched their thousands of deamons into the County, and there threatened to exterminate or dive us from our lands and home, and we being unsufficient to meet so large a band of ruffians, were obliges to submit; and for a trifling sum to sign away our duplicates. And this to cap: the climax of [being] driven in the month of march through cold storms of Snow and rain, having to make our beds on the cold wet ground which, when we arose in the morning, we often found drenched with water. [We were] then obliged to load our wet bedding into the waggon and move slowly forward.

Once again they were forced to leave their home. This time, they went to Lima, Illinois. In 1839, after being driven from Caldwell County, the Cox, Whiting, and Morley families pitched their tents in the backwoods of Hancock County, Illinois, and waited out the cold winter. They were going to attempt to settle once again. Their colony became know as Yelrome, (Morley spelled backwards) or Morley settlement, named for Isaac Morley where they spent several happy years helping to build up the city and the temple.

The Saints from this community came from a wide variety of economic, social, and educational backgrounds,” wrote Donald Cannon. “Isaac Morley employed 12 men and sold his barrels in Quincy. Another saint, Frederick Cox, ran a chair making shop. Isaac Morley’s daughter taught school...” Records are unclear but Elisha and sons were also involved in chair making during this period. Perhaps the chair shop was a joint venture. One of the beams for the temple was also produced at the Whiting shop.

But this was another dream to be shattered, for when Joseph Smith and Hyrum were martyred, it meant that peace had to be sought elsewhere. Yelrome was burned including, “Father Whiting’s chair shop, Walter Cox, and Chancey Whiting’s houses.” At least 29 homes were destroyed in the settlement on this terrible day. From W. Cleon Skousen’s book, The Story of the Mormon Pioneers we read “Elisha Whiting was among those who were forced to leave Nauvoo with practically nothing. He fled with his wife and baby across the Mississippi River. Before shelter could be found, the baby died from the cold and shortly after, his wife died. The exposure, poor food, and physical exhaustion were too much. Elisha Whiting carried the remains of his wife and baby to rest in a grave in a place called Mt. Pisgah, Iowa (now known as Talmadge, Iowa) and there laid them to rest in a grave which may still be seen.”

In spite of all they endured, persecution, privation and hardships, they remained firm in their faith. During the battle of the Crooked River, their son, Charles was killed. Still another great trial came to Elisha and Sally. Their sons Almon, Sylvester, Chaucey, and Francis Lewis, and their daughter, Louisa did not believe that Brigham Young should be the leader of the Church after the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his bother Hyrum, so they followed a man by the name of Alpheus Cutler and called themselves Cutlerites. They very firmly believed the teachings of Joseph Smith with the exception of polygamy, but were very bitter toward Brigham Young. They moved up into Clitheral, Minnesota and after the death of their leader, Alpheus Cutler in August of 1864, they joined the Reorganized L.D.S. Church.

Elisha’s son, Almon, and grandson, Edmund Whiting, both volunteered and went with the Mormon Battalion. History tells us that Almon returned and then joined his brothers and sisters in Minnesota.

Only two of Elisha and Sally’s children (Edwin and Emeline) followed Brigham Young to Utah by staying in Mt. Pisgah for a period of two years preparing to cross the plains. During their stay at Mt. Pisgah, cholera and malaria fever took the life of Sally.

Sally was a gifted writer of prose and poetry. Sally and Elisha were highly respected, honest, generous, and always firm in their convictions.

Later Elisha married a widow named Mrs. Head, and about one year later, they both died at Mt. Pisgah. Their names are on the monument erected at Mt. Pisgah to honor those who passed away. Also on this monument are the names of Elisha’s grandchildren, Eliza and Louisa Cox, daughters of Emeline Whiting and Frederick Walter Cox.

http://www.lds.org/gospellibrary/pioneer/09Map.jpg

Written, collected, and edited by Ruth H. Barker

Source: Documents in the possession of David McKay Barker

History written by Mae Whiting Cardon May 15, 1957 in the possession of David McKay Barker

Edwin Whiting and his family compiled by Marie Jensen Whiting and Marcus L. Smith, 1999.

Uploaded by Emily Barker Farrer, 2010