John Bair

John Bair was born Nov 26, 1810, in Somerset, Pennsylvania to Adam Baehr and Catherine Bowermaster. John converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and because of this, he had many callings in the Church, including the practice of polygamy, having 5 wives. John is credited for being the leading settler of Richmond.

Early Life

John's father, Adam, fought valiantly in the War of 1812. Unfortunately, Adam lost his life in the Battle of Tippecanoe, as the war was about to commence. John was only four years old, and his only brother Henry was at the age of one. There is no record as to if Catherine remarried.

It is recorded that John was raised by not just his strong and determined mother, but also among his father’s friends and possibly family.1 John was a very large and strong man. In his youth, he used this to his advantage and would wrestle to pass the time. Most of the time, matches would be between him and Native Americans. 

“On one occasion, a large young man came into the little settlement and asked to have a wrestling match with John. He had heard of the great strength and ability of John to throw anyone and decided he was not going to be [overdone]. [The man] placed a razor blade in the sole of his shoe so that it would cut John’s legs in their struggle. This made John so angry to be taken advantage [like] that [so] easy that he picked the man up and threw him to the ground with such a force that his leg was broke.”1

In 1829, John married Lydia Register. They together had seven children.

Conversion

John was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1834. He joined the church while in Kirtland, Ohio. He served as the Prophet Joseph Smith’s bodyguard and visited the Prophet on a daily basis. This association with the “Mormons” did not please Lydia. She refused to travel to Kirtland and later moved in with her parents and divorced John on Oct 20, 1846. 

Marriages and Legal Business

Before the divorce, John married Lucinda Owen in 1843. They were sealed in the Nauvoo, Illinois temple on January 24, 1846, by A.M. Lyman. Three days later, John took Lucinda’s sister, Belinda, and married her. They were sealed on January 27, 1846, by Brigham Young. That same evening, he was married to Jerusha Ann Richardson Card who was a recent widow. With his spouses, John moved to Garden Grove, Iowa. At the time, he was a lawyer and was needed in the affairs of settling all land dispersals for the church.8 While giving birth to their first child, Belinda Own Bair died on January 20, 1847, in Garden Grove. 

On April 2, 1848, a note was made among the ward records that, on the business of selling a farm, “Thomas Kington was appointed Agent to sell,” to help collect money for the pioneers to move west. On the 19th of the same month, a council was organized and George Wilson, George Carson, and John Bair were nominated as agents to help with selling the farm.2

On September 2, 1848, a copy of minutes at a Captain’s meeting stated: “A council meeting was held this day, the meeting was open by prayer…. The business was stated, et., what would be the best way to secure the land for the church by entering or by land warrants. Elder Hugh McKenney made the motion and was seconded by Elder George Wilson. A vote was taken and unanimously for it would be best to secure the land and Elder McKenny made a motion that Brother John Bair is appointed to be an agent, by warrant or any he thinks best.”3

In a Captain's meeting held April 30, 1848, “John Bair addressed them on the subject to have their books and schedules in good order, also on tithings, … and keep correct accounts; and to regulate and raise means to pay the debts which the President has to contract fitting out the Pioneers and other purposes first…”3

Pioneering Treks

In 1846, John moved to Nauvoo, Illinois.4

John immigrated to Utah on June 3 or 4, 1850. Quoting from The Instructor, March of 1947, page 121, “The Journal of the Pioneer.” by Nelson Wheeler Whipple: 

“In a few days Brother O. Hyde and Brother Joseph Young and some others came down and examined our wagon and our outfit; organized us into 10’s, 50’s, and 100’s, appointed captains of the first 50 and John Bair of the second fifty. There were 105 wagons in all. We crossed the river very well without accident except an old cow that was fool enough to jump overboard and came near upsetting the boat and caused us to drift downstream a long ways below and landing, but we towed up and got ashore."

Lucinda was a school teacher and taught from their own wagon. They taught the children while crossing the plains how to make their own letters. She would do this by drawing in the sand.

John settled in Kay’s Ward where Kaysville, Utah is now located. Later, he settled in Farmington, Utah. John built the first sawmill in the county while residing there.

Maneuvering to Cache Valley

In 1852, John built and operated the first ferry boat in Utah on the Bear River that crossed from Box Elder County to Cache County, starting from Collington, Box Elder, Utah. That same year, he married Lucy Ann Marina Cole. 

That same year, he and Nels Empy with others made the journey into Cache Valley for their first time. They were astonished by the many streams of water, heavy growth of grass, and many other features that would make great sections to live. The state of Utah, as they had known of, was but a desert; a wasteland of dust and debris, with a scorching sun and thirst-quenching air, waiting to claim its next victim. The fact that there was some beautiful land in the area, was an absolute astonishment by all that came. They decided to take up some land claims when the proper time came.

On April 8, 1856, John married his sixth wife, Mary Jane Bigelow. 

As Cache Valley was starting to become a large known area for the settlers, Brigham Young wanted the valley, as how beautiful and luscious it was, to be a large cattle ground for the Church. President Young sent John with some cattle to be pasteurized in the valley. He spent the summer with the cattle near a spring. In November, due to a severe snowstorm that killed more than 100+ head of cattle, they were driven out. President Young inquired of John Bair about possibly making settlements in the valley. John replied that it was a great place to have settlers. 

In 1859, John, with several others, returned to Cache Valley to begin a new life. Where they had previously seen in 1852 was taken by many settlers in now Logan. They went a little further north, to maybe find some other land to settle. They unfortunately found more settlers in Summit Creek, who had already planted their crops for the season. With a little disappointment, and wanting a new life, they carried on north and located near the same spring that he watched over the cattle President Young asked him to take care of. 

Life in Richmond

John Bair was a High Priest and was one of the first ward teachers in Richmond. He was appointed president of the teachers quorum in 1859. At this time, in the winter, he took charge of all meetings and of public affairs in general during the absence of Bishop Thomas Tidwell. In the early periods, the bishop had no counselors and the president of the teacher’s quorum acted in the absence of the Bishop. They wintered on City Creek opposite Brower's Spring. This was called “Old Fort.” The people suffered from cold and hunger during that first winter, as the snow fell to a depth of 2.5 feet. The pioneers lived on boiled wheat and flour was made from wheat made in coffee mills.

“After their arrival in Richmond, the first project tackled was that of cutting and staking the wild hay for use during the winter. Then four small cabins of logs were erected on the present site of Richmond.”1 Cottonwood logs along High Creek and pine logs near the foot of Mt. Naomi were obtained to build the log houses and to furnish fuel.5

During this time of growth and building, Brigham Young visited the families in Richmond in 1860 and instructed them to build a fort in order to protect themselves from Native American Attacks. The settlers built their houses enclosing a tract of land about twenty rods (330 feet) square.

The pioneers in the many settlements of Richmond, for the most part, lived very close to each other. This was for several reasons: possible Native American attacks, difficulties in bringing canals to lands and farmers, and the desire to be compact in order to worship together and bring a sense of family and unity to the community. Yes, most (if not all) of the settlers were members of the same church, but not all were from the same country or had the same background. They all needed to be together, or there would be no settlement, and possible wars among the communities. They succeeded at not only making a community but also a family. The town work, as the state name implied it to be, a bee hive. Together, the townsmen went to the mountains to cut wood and logs with which to build their chapels and schoolhouses. Together they marched or rode to distant settlements to defend the people or give assistance when necessary. 

It was remembered by John's son, Hyrum, that many times John called out to warn the townspeople when danger or trouble threatened. "His voice could be heard clearly and distinctly over the village." After the railroad came to the little settlement of Richmond, a bandit had come in and was hiding near the railroad. Two or three young men went down to capture him. A son of John’s was one of them. John, wishing to send help to the boys, went outside of his house and in a very loud voice shouted, “Let's go down and help the boys catch a bandit.” The bandit was captured while he was sleeping.”1

“The [Church] policy to feed the [Native Americans] rather than fight them was a heavy drain on the valley’s economy. In 1864, a year of considerable trial the pioneers gave to the [Native Americans] a tone of flour, 200 bushels of wheat, two oxen, 2 steers, and a large amount of corn, potatoes, carrots, ammunition and other things. On page 56 of the Richmond Ward record John Bair is listed as giving $2.00 for the [Native Americans].”1

In the year 1862, John was appointed as prosecuting attorney, a job he held until 1867.

Native American Translator

The Native Americans respected John and called him “Bear John.” The word “bear” is not only for his almost name association, nor for how large John was, but the name comes from old Native American mythology. Bears are symbolized as strong and wise, and also so be associated with healing and medicine.6 John was the Native American interpreter for the town and many times the Native Americans in the county would come to him to settle their troubles with the pioneers. John would council with them and then he would shake hands with each one, even though sometimes it was a large crowd. 

One story of Bear John was while in Kaysville, Utah. He and his family were in the fort there while some Native Americans had surrounded the fort. After some time, the Native Americans withdrew themselves. Some of the men in the fort called out for someone to scout out around the fort to make sure there were no Native Americans waiting for them. John Bair volunteered and walked around the fort with two pistols to keep himself safe. There were no Native Americans around, so all was safe. The next day, a Native friend came to see Bear John and said to him, “Bear John, don’t ever come out of the fort again with just two little guns. I had a hard time keeping the other[s] … from shooting you as they were hiding watching. I told them you were my friend and your name was Bear John and Bear is a sacred name.”

At one point, John took a Native American by the name of Dixie into his home.

Epilogue

John Bair died on October 11, 1884, in Richmond, Utah due to dropsy, also known as edema. Edema is when excess watery fluid collects in the cavities of the body. He was with his wife Lucy at the time of his death. According to the Journal History in the Church Historian’s office, it reads, “The entire community was plunged into the profoundest grief Saturday evening by the announcement of the death of Brother John Bair of Dropsy.”7 John was buried in the Richmond Cemetery.

A short poem was written about John by Elenor Bair.9

A wonderful heritage has been given to me

It’s the gift of my pioneer ancestry.

There's one special ancestor whom i’d like to know,

It’s my great, great grandfather, who lived long ago.

John Bair is the name of this special man

An early convert to the gospel plan.

Born in Pennsylvania, when it was a wild frontier,

He crossed the plains to make a home out here.

It was in 1850 that he came west,

He endured the hardships and survived that test.

A special blessing was his, too,

As a bodyguard to the Prophet in Nauvoo.

Most men would have hated the Indians who killed his father,

But, John forgave them and loved them as a brother.

They called him Bear John as a sign he was good,

For he always remembered to help them with food.

If you will read the early Church History

Many entries prove, John was a man of generosity.

Most men have one wife to love and treasure

But in days of polygamy, six were John’s measure.

With a family of thirty-two girls and boys,

There certainly must have been plenty of noise.

No wonder one family he left in the East,

Surely a man is entitled to some peace.

Yes, a wonderful heritage has been given to me

It’s the gift of my pioneer ancestry.

There's one special ancestry that I’d love to know,

It’s my great, great grandfather, who lived long ago.

Perhaps someday I can sit at his knee

And listen as he tells me his life story.

Sources