Caroline Fidelia Calkins

Caroline Fidelia Calkins was born July 24, 1808 in Stanbridge, Canada to Amos and Huldah Marvin Calkins. Caroline is a Pioneer of Richmond.

History

The early life of Caroline is unknown, but at some point, she moved to the United States. Caroline married William Pew in 1830 and made their home in Cincinnati, Ohio. Soon after, the family was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and were baptized.

In 1833, William signed a shipbuilding contract in St. Louis, Missouri, and Caroline moved to Independence, Missouri, to live among the Saints. William continued to write, but at some point, his letters stopped, and the last thing Caroline received from William was his tool chest. The Pew family supposed that he had been killed.

"Caroline was with the Saints in Jackson County [, Missouri] during the conflict and violence attendant to them being expelled in October 1833. Caroline was driven out onto the prairie by a mob with two-year-old Hyrum and two-month-old Sariah. They reportedly had only one quilt to cover them as they slept on the ground. They made their way with the fleeing Saints to Clay County, Missouri, and eventually to Caldwell County, where they settled for the next few years."1

In 1839, the Saints were pushed out of Caldwell County and pushed to Illinois. During their journey, Caroline traveled with her friend Abigail Jane Smith and her husband John Tippits. Caroline settled her family in Nauvoo, Illinois, and had many interactions with President Joseph Smith and Smith family members. Caroline provided for her family by being a tailoress. According to family histories, Joseph Smith asked Caroline if the Smiths could adopt Sariah to help relieve her from so much stress, but Caroline declined.

In 1840, Abigail Smith died. John Tippits approached Caroline with the possibility of marriage and to care for his motherless child, John Austin. She agreed and married John Harvey Tippets on Sep 25, 1840 in Nauvoo, Illinois.

After the assassination of President Joseph Smith in 1844, the Tippets family prepared their belongings and fled Nauvoo to Council Bluffs, Iowa. In 1847, John enlisted in the Mormon Battalion, leaving Caroline to care for herself and her five children. John was not gone for long, as he returned to his family the same year. The Tippets joined the Heber C. Kimball Company on June 7, 1848 and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on Sep 24.

The family first made a dugout in order to survive. In 1856, the family finally received a city lot and began constructing a home. Once her children were old enough to move out, her children Hyrum, Sariah, and John moved to Richmond. Caroline lived in Salt Lake and Richmond at different times in her life. 

Epilogue