Lucy Ann Marie Cole

Lucy Ann Marie Cole was born Sep 15, 1830, in Kirtland, Ohio to Barnett and Phebe Van Alstyne Cole. Lucy is a Founder of Richmond.

History

According to family histories, the Cole family was converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830, just after Lucy's birth. Lucy's father, at one point, was one of Joseph Smith's bodyguards.

"[We] were intimately acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith and his family. He had visited at our home and enjoyed our hospitality, and I have sat on his lap many times. I have often heard him preach."1

In 1831, the Cole family moved to Independence, Missouri. The Cole family had many persecutions while in Missouri.

"We suffered all the mobbings and driving of the Saints, being driven from Jackson and Clay counties. ... [On three occasions,] Father was taken out of bed, tied to a tree and whipped...by a mob in Jackson County... [He] received 60 lashes on his bare back, but it left only one small red mark.

"On the third time, Mother pleaded with the mob to spare him, but one man told her to 'shake' with him for she would never see him again. Father kidded the baby and told Mother to pray for him and the mob could not hurt him. When they got to the forest, one man showed him a whip and said with an oath, 'This has whipped you once and will do it again, or I hope my soul will go to hell and eternally lay there.' He raised the whip to strike and it flew out of his hand and broke into small pieces. This man died in less than two weeks, and Father helped bury him."1

With her sister—either Lucinda or Phebe, it is not clear—Lucy experienced the Haun's Mill massacre and tended to the wounded after the fighting was over.2 In 1839, the Cole family was forced to move out of Missouri by the Extermination Order by Governor Lilburn W. Boggs. The Cole family followed the main body of Saints and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois.

"[Father] had been industrious in building a good house, stables, etc. [on] five acres of land. Mother attended the meeting when the Prophet organized the first Relief Society in Nauvoo."1 3

However, the Cole family would only have a few months of peace. In 1844, Church President Joseph would be assassinated, and the Saints would be driven out of Nauvoo.

"Father sold his home, consisting of a good house, stables, etc. and his five acres of land for a yoke of cattle and a wagon. We then moved to Black Jack Grove where a few of the Saints were camped, many being without even a tent. From there we traveled to Mt. Pisgah where we planted corn and made all possible preparations to come to Utah."1

The Cole family joined the James Lake Company in June of 1850 and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on Sep 5. She nearly walked the entire distance. After their arrival, they settled in Ogden, Utah. The following spring, the family moved to North Willow Creek and named the area Willard, Utah.1

Lucy married John Bair on July 1, 1852 in Salt Lake City, Utah. After some time in the Salt Lake Valley, they moved to Richmond. Their first home was made of Cottonwood logs with a dirt roof and no floor. She, along with her younger brother Moroni Cole settled in Richmond.1

Epilogue