Jemima Newey

Jemima Newey

Born March 22, 1836/1837 Died April 12, 1866

Married Simon Barker November 4, 1855

Jemima Newey was born March 22, 1836/1837 to John Mathew Newey and Leah Welland in Purbright, Surrey, England. Her mother died when Jemima was only about nine years old.

For the next ten years her father talked with the Jemima and her sister, Elizabeth about immigrating to America. Finally, Jemima Newey’s family left Liverpool, England on February 27, 1855 and arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 20, 1855. Jemima was nineteen when they sailed on the ship Siddons with 430 Latter-day Saint immigrants under the leadership of John S. Fullmer. Ninety-seven passengers were financed by the Perpetual Emigration Fund, established by the church to provide for needy emigrants. The Siddons was one of the first of many vessels to travel from Liverpool to Philadelphia. Most Mormon emigrants came as "ordinary" passengers in contrast to the more expensive "first-class" or the "steerage", which was in the bottom of the ship. They paid 6 pounds down, with their total fare being 23 pounds and 10 shilling, paid before boarding. In March 1996 an English pound was worth $1.55. (23 pounds would be near $115.00 in 1855). The ocean voyage went well at first, but about the first of April, a storm arose and drove the Siddons on the banks of Newfoundland, when the passengers almost froze. The weather was very severe and the hailstones were as large as walnuts. The ship had run low on its extra four-week provisions. Although the passengers shared what extra food they had brought, there was some hunger. On April 19, 1855 a tugboat came alongside and pulled the Siddons free. On April 22 the ship dropped anchor in Philadelphia.

Jemima and her family crossed the plains in the Jacob F. Secrist/Noah T. Guymon Company which left June 13, 1855 and arrived in Salt Lake City on September 7, 1855. 368 individuals and 58 wagons were in the company when it began its journey from the outfitting post at Mormon Grove, Kansas (Near Atchison). Jacob F. Secrist died on July 2 and Noah T. Guymon became captain of the company. John was 49 years old at this time and Pamela was 61.

A narrative of the crossing follows: “For a 19th century traveler on the Great Plains to be buried in a tin coffin was unusual. Most deceased emigrants were simply wrapped in a blanket or some other cloth (if even that) before being interred. Jacob F. Secrist was an exception. Secrist, a Mormon missionary who was returning from Germany, was captain of a large wagon train consisting of English and Danish emigrants who came to America by different routes.

The Danes, led by Elder Peter Olsen Hansen, left their homeland on November 24, 1855, aboard the steamer Cimbria. Because of stormy weather, they did not reach the Humber River in England until December 24. The following day they took rail cars to Liverpool. There, they boarded the James Nesmith and sailed for America, arriving in New Orleans on February 23. Two steamboats, the Moses Greenwood and the Oceana, carried these travelers to St. Louis, where they arrived March 7. Those who could not immediately afford passage to Salt Lake City took the steamboat Polar Star to Weston, where they sought employment. The remainder of the passengers boarded the Clara and journeyed to Leavenworth, a new settlement some 35 miles below Atchison, Kansas Territory. There, the wayfarers waited two months for draft animals to arrive (probably because Kansas and Nebraska Territories had just been opened for settlement, creating a population influx and a high demand for cattle). Meanwhile, Elder Eric G. M. Hogan (a returning missionary from Norway) had escorted another 28 Danish Saints to Leavenworth by a different route (via Hamburg, from St. Louis to Atchison aboard the steamboat Admiral) on March 31.

About 20 of the Danes died at Leavenworth – most from scurvy (cause: prolonged vitamin C deficiency; symptoms: progressive bodily weakness, spongy and inflamed gums, loose teeth, swollen and tender joints, degraded capillaries, ruptured blood vessels, and hemorrhage). Fearing that cholera might break out among the emigrants, the citizens of Leavenworth demanded that they relocate their camp. To do so, Elder Hansen had to hire a local ox team at $1.00 per wagon. Shortly after this transfer, cholera did attack the Mormon camp, immediately killing four people.

When the emigrants' cattle finally did arrive, new problems arose. The animals were unbroken and often mismatched, and the Danes had no idea how to manage them. Finally, by splitting the camp and moving one half at a time, the company was able to reach Atchison on May 22.

The English division of Secrist's emigrant train came to America under the leadership of Elder William Glover. They sailed from Liverpool on March 31, 1855, aboard the Juventa. Among the passengers was Elder Noah T. Guyman (soon to succeed Secrist as company captain). The Juventa had a remarkably placid voyage and no one died. On May 5, the passengers landed at Philadelphia, then traveled to Pittsburgh by rail. There, some 200 of them took the steamboat Equinox down the Ohio River to St. Louis and up the Missouri River to Atchison, arriving there on May 28. It was here that a number of the English Saints contracted cholera and died.

At Mormon Grove (the Mormon outfitting point near Atchison), the Englishmen camped east of the road, while the Danes occupied the west side. Combined, their company included 368 emigrants, 51 wagons (30 of these belonging to Danes). The party headed west on June 13 amid apprehensions caused by rumors of Indian attacks against earlier travelers. Secrist and company was 50 miles west of Mormon Grove on June 17.

By June 24 it had become obvious to all concerned that some of the wagons were overloaded; others were not. Owners of the latter agreed to carry excess baggage at the rate of $11.00 per 100 pounds. Together with the Livingston-Kinkead merchant train, the Danes and the English camped 8 miles west of the Big Blue River on June 26.

When a government wagon train passed too close to the Mormon party, it spooked the emigrant's horses, causing them to stampede. Captain Secrist and a few companions set out to recover the runaways but during their search the captain fell victim to cholera. Borrowing a buggy from the Blair/Stevenson emigrant company, Secrist's companions took him to their camp on Turkey Creek. The Captain died July 2 at Ketchem's Creek between Forts Kearny and Leavenworth. Wishing to transport the captain's remains to Salt Lake City for interment, Secrist's friends obtained tin from a merchant and had Edward Stevenson, a tinsmith, fashion a coffin . But it soon became obvious that the casket was not airtight. Therefore, Captain Secrist's remains were laid to rest on the banks of the Little Blue River.

Meanwhile, measles had attacked the emigrant children and an elder's council had appointed Noah T. Guyman as the new captain. On July 1, members of the party helped search for a missing member of the Blair/Stevenson train, but the man was never found. Cattle belonging to the English emigrants stampeded. Six wagons overturned; one ox and an elderly woman were hurt. Cheyenne Indians visited the camp and on the following day, the train camped for the last time on the Little Blue. Later, the company passed Fort Kearny and slowly followed the south bank of the Platte River while waiting for other trains to catch up. They felt that concentration of forces would make the travelers more formidable to hostile Indians. This precaution proved to be unnecessary. Although these travelers "saw scores of Indians, all were very civil, very much for shaking hands."

On July 15, Guyman and company passed Edward Stevenson's Texan company and, on the 20th, the Danes and Englishmen forded the South Fork of the Platte. Reaching Ash Hollow on July 21, they stopped to gather currants and cherries. In time, they arrived at Fort Laramie.

As the train traversed the Black Hills, feed for the animals grew scarce and the cattle grew weak. Apparently, earlier trains had similar difficulties, for the stench of dead cattle troubled the emigrants for several days. West of present-day Casper, Wyoming, the party found a new route around "the Poison Spring" (Mineral Spring). They camped at Devil's Gate. At the Green River, they found the ground covered with saleratus (either potassium bicarbonate or sodium bicarbonate, both used as leavening agents). The water in this river was so high that the cattle nearly drowned. In a "small valley in the mountains" members of the company "gathered a small quantity of tar that was sprung up."

Because the animals had continued to fail, the company had difficulty getting over Big Mountain. Finally, they camped in Emigration Canyon on September 6 and entered Salt Lake City the next day.”

The family settled in Ogden where John was a farmer and gardener. Within a few days, Jemima met the Barker family who had also immigrated from England and settled in Ogden a few years earlier.

Jemima and Simon were married on November 3, 1855 in the Endowment House. Their home was on Main Street, a two-room log cabin. Five children, three girls and two boys were born in their new cabin home. They are: George Simon, Clarissa Ann, Frederick Ellis, Leah Jemima, and Eveline Barker.

Jemima Newey died April 12, 1866, leaving four little ones (Leah Jemima had died as an infant) to be cared for by Simon with the aid of hired help. Jemima Newey is buried in the Ogden City Cemetery, Ogden, Utah.

Headstone reads:

Jemima

Wife of Simon Barker

Born Mar. 22, 1837

Died Apr. 12, 1866

Poem at the base reads:

Our mother has gone to a mansion of rest. To the glorious land by the Deity blest.

Headstone reads:

Leah J.

Dau of Simon and Jemima Barker

Born Sep. 2, 1863

Died Oct 10, 1864

Poem at the base reads:

Happy infant early blest, rest in peaceful slumber rest.

Compiled and edited by Ruth H. Barker

Sources: Clarence Sharp Barker Life History, by himself

History of Simon Barker by May Barlow Watkins, a granddaughter

A Recording of Al Barker made in November 1977 by his daughter Marjorie B. Sorensen

Smith, George A. and Ezra T. Benson, [Letter to Orson Hyde, 5 Aug. 1849], Frontier Guardian, 19 Sept. 1849, 4.

Taylor, Allen, [Letter], in Journal History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 3 Sept. 1849, 5-6.

http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneercompanysources/0,16272,4019-1-298,00.html

Heslop History, compiled and published by J. Malan Heslop, 1955

Life history written by Lucile Mary Todd Birch, written in 1984

http://heritage.uen.org/companies/Wc7b9be2458f36.htm

Notes of David McKay Barker in his possession