Hannah Maria Jacquez
Jackson
Pioneer to Utah and
Colorado
"And
the members shall
manifest
before
the church, and also before
the elders, by a godly walk and conversation,
that they are worthy of it, that there may be works and
faith agreeable to the holy scriptures – walking in holiness before
the
Lord."
-
Doctrine
&
Covenants
20:69
Hannah Maria
Jaques
Jackson is
one
of
my
great-grandmothers
and is,
therefore, a
great-great-great-grandmother to
my grand children.
A granddaughter of Hannah's, Mary
(Mamie)
Sowards Rasmussen, has
written the
life story of Hannah Maria
Jaques Jackson,
and
I
want to
share
it
with my
grandchildren.
(One
of my granddaughters is
named Hannah, and another of my grand daughters has
Marie as a second name.)
"Hannah Maria Jaques
Jackson was born
February 18, 1850.
She was
the
daughter of
Zackariah Jaques,
Jr.,
and Sarah Clewer. She was the fifth child born to this
couple.
She was born in Foleshill, Warwickshire, England, in the
country, near
Coven try.
Hannah loved
this
beautiful
country.
She
described it
as lovely,
green meadows, and told how
she and her girl friends liked to
run
and play in these meadows.
One of her favorite past times
was
to
run
with her
special girl
friend
down
the
meadows to
a
spring of
clear water.
Here they would fall onto their
knees
and admire their reflections in the
clear water.
Hannah's parents were
average people, very good and industrious.
They heard the
Gospel of Jesus Christ preached by
the early Elders who were
sent to England for this purpose.
They were
blessed with five
children,
four
girls
and
one
boy.
Their oldest daughter was born in the year 1838,
and
she
died that same year.
Their second daughter was born November 5, 1840, and was given the name
of Mary Maria.
A1third
daughter, Sarah Ann,
was
born
April 22,
1845.
Then
came
Hannah's
brother,
Josiah, born March 4, 1848.
I
do
not
know just when
Hannah's parents joined The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, but Hannah was just two years old when her father left
England and came to America to find work so
his
family could also come over to America.
It was their desire to
come
and raise their family among the Saints here in America.
Zackariah was
an
engine winder and worked in the
factories, but wages were low
and it
was
decided that
he
should
come
ahead of
the
family.
Their
plans,
however, did not work out
as
the
family had planned.
Zackariah came to America in 1852,
and arrived in
St.
Louis, Missouri, where
he began work.
It
was
at this time that cholera, that
dreadful disease, was
raging.
Zackariah contracted the
disease and died, thus leaving Sarah and her four
children in
England to make their own way.
Hannah, being only two
years old
at
the time her father left England, did not remember him.
Sarah
was determined
she
would
come
to America.
She was a very industrious
woman
and
was
gifted
with
making
ends
meet.
She went
to work
in the factories
weaving
cloth.
Her children
were taught
to
work
and
were
sent
to
school
as
they
became
old enough.
Hannah
was
left at
home
where she was
taught
to keep house,
weave
and
cook.
For
eleven
years,
the
family
struggled to
make
and
save.
Sarah
began
to
put
money
into
the Perpetual
Emigration Fund which had been set
up by
The
Church of Jesus
Christ
of
Latter-day
Saints
to
help
people
save
for
their
voyage
to
America.
Finally, the
day came when
Sarah had enough saved
to
have
her
heart's
desires
come
true
but,
when
she
took her
savings book
to the Church
headquarters in
England, she
found
she
had not been given
credit
for
all
she had put into it.
But, in time, this was made right so
they
could leave.
In
the
year
1863,
when
Hannah
was
thirteen
years
of
age,
she and
her family
set sail
for
America.
There
were many Saints
on board
the ship, one of the old sailing
vessels,
the 'Brooklyn.' The voyage was hard and
very crowded
and
there was much sick ness on board.
Scarlet
fever
broke
out and
many
were stricken with
this disease, Hannah
being
one
of them.
She was
very
ill and
it appeared
she would
not live.
About
this
time, the captain of the ship thought
it would
be better
to throw
her overboard, since she was
not going
to get well anyway.
But Sarah would
not listen
to
this.
She had
great
faith.
She fasted
and prayed
and, with
the prayers
of the Saints on board, Hannah's life was spared.
The aftermath
of the disease
left Hannah's hearing
impaired.
From
this time on, she gradually
lost her hearing.
By
the
time
of
her
death,
she
was
almost
totally
deaf.
Finally,
the day came when
they
reached
the United
States and preparations
were made
to cross the
plains and come
to Utah. They crossed
the plains
with
ox teams and
wagons.
Hannah
told how hard
the trip was, how long
it took, but they were blessed as
all
the
family
arrived
safely
in
Salt1Lake
City.
The
'Brooklyn'
had
put the family
ashore
at New York
City where they had
boarded
a train which
they rode
to its terminus at Omaha,
Nebraska.
At Florence, near Omaha, they were
met
by wagons
and
ox
teams
sent
by
President
Brigham
Young.
These were
the
'down and
back'
wagon
trains, on one of which
Hannah's future
husband,
Samuel
Jackson,
was
an
ox
team
driver.
It
was a successful
trip across
the
plains
to Salt Lake City, and cost one hundred dollars per
person.
From
Salt Lake City,
they
were sent
to
Nephi, as were
many of their company,
to settle and
make
their
new home.
Here, they began a life so different
from
the one
they
had
left in England.
But, Sarah was not to give
up.
She and
her children pitched
in and began
to make a home for themselves.
Hannah learned
to work
hard.
She could
weave
her
own cloth
and
make her own clothes.
She kept house and
learned
to live
the
hard life of a pioneer.
Time
passed.
Hannah's two
older
sisters
married,
and
Sarah
Ann moved to
Salt
Lake City to live.
Four years after she
came to Utah, when she
was
seventeen, Hannah met
Samuel Jackson.
They fell in
love and were married December 31, 1867, in
the
Endowment House in
Salt Lake City.
It
was in the
winter-time
and, of
course, very cold, and it took two long days to go from
Nephi
to
Salt Lake
City by team and wagon.
But, the trip
was
made and they were married.
Her sister, Sarah Ann, thought Hannah and Samuel should
stay in
Salt Lake City where they could
have
a
much
easier life,
but
Hannah and
Samuel
would
have none
of this.
They
returned to Nephi and began their married life.
Samuel was
a very industrious and hard-working man
and, with
a
wife
like
Hannah,
soon
made
a
start.
Their
family began to
arrive.
They were blessed with their first
child, a
son, Samuel,
Jr.,
who
arrived
September 15,
1869,
William,
a
second son,
came to their home August 21, 1871.
Three years later,
a daughter, Bernecia, was born June 29, 1874,
Then
came Lafayette,
a
son,
born November 6, 1876,
and their baby
daughter, Mary Hannah,
came
February 10, 1880.
Thus, Hannah and
Samuel were blessed with five wonderful, healthy
children.
Samuel had
a farm on
which he
worked.
He
also freighted goods to the miners in Nevada.
Hannah helped him in every way
she could.
She raised a garden, milked cows,
and made all their clothes.
She
told
of
how
happy
she
was
when
the
'gentiles' began
to
come to Utah; they brought money with them,
so
times began to be
a little better.
They were able to build a
comfortable home,
and Hannah was happy and content.
Her
children were taught to work and, when Samuel was
away freighting, her boys,
who
were very hard workers and very trustworthy, helped her
care for the farm.
When
Mary
Hannah was
just
one
year
old,
her
father
was
called to go on
a mission for the Church, to the southern states.
Hannah
was
happy
to
have
him
go,
although it
would be
hard
for them, but they
kept things going while he was gone.
This was in 1881.
When
Samuel
returned home in 1883,
things
went
on
for
a
while and, then, they began to
change.
Samuel was
advised by the General
Authorities of
the
Church to take
a
plural
wife.
So, in
1885,
Samuel married Martha
Ann
Jackson
(her
maiden
name), and, in that same year, he was called as
a
counselor to the bishop of the Nephi Second Ward.
Life went on
for Samuel, Hannah, Martha and their family. Samuel
and
Martha
were
blessed with
a
baby
daughter,
Vida,
born July 17, 1887.
During these
years,
Samuel
was
looking ahead,
and
he
was
desirous
of
obtaining
more land for himself and his
sons.
About this
time,
he
heard
of
the
very place.
Brigham Young was
sending Church members out to
Colorado to settle in the
San Luis Valley in
the extreme south-central part of the
state.
This appealed to Samuel and he wanted to go
out there.
Hannah was not too pleased with this; she tried to talk Samuel out
of
going and leaving
their home in
Nephi, but to
no
avail,
Samuel was
determined to go,
Arrangements were made and
Samuel took Martha and Vida
and went to
Colorado.
There he worked and cleared land,
and
built
a
cabin
for his
family.
Hannah and her sons made ready for the trip.
It took Samuel a
year to get ready
for
them to
follow.
Samuel,
Jr.,
and William took
all
of
their
possessions, with teams
and wagons,
and drove to
Colorado.
They
were
just
boys,
but
they
made the
trip.
Hannah
and one
son,
Lafayette, and two
daughters, Bernecia and Mary Hannah, were
able to
go on the train as far as
Pueblo, Colorado, where
Sam and Will met them,
and took them to Manassa in the San
Luis Valley.
Samuel had secured land east of Manassa and to
this
place
Hannah went
to
start
pioneer life
all
over
again. Hannah hated Colorado but
she
did not
complain.
Instead, she pitched right in
and raised a
garden, raised chickens, milked cows,
raised
pigs for their meat,
cured the meat,
made soap from the rinds
after she had rendered
the lard.
She
worked very
hard,
as
did
Samuel, Martha,
and
all
their
children.
Soon they
were
able to make a start and Samuel built them a very
comfortable home on the ranch.
These were the years between 1888 and 1891.
When
Martha's
second
daughter,
Fannie,
was
born
June
6,
1889, it was quite an
event for all
of them, especially
for Hannah. When Martha started
in labor, Samuel
set out to bring
the mid wife who lived
some
ten
or more
miles from
the ranch, leaving Hannah
to take care
of
Martha
until
the
midwife came.
The little daughter, Fannie,
decided
not
to
wait
for the
midwife.
She was
born
before
help
arrived.
Hannah
was
so
frightened.
She had never
delivered
a baby before, but she managed
to tie the cord
and keep the
baby
and
mother
warm, and
then she
walked
the floor
and prayed
until Samuel came with
the
midwife.
The midwife
told
Hannah
she
had
done
a
good
job,
but
it
took
Hannah some time to recover
from
all of this.
Time
passed – Samuel bought
a
lot
in
Manassa
and
here
he
built a
very
lovely
brick
home
for
his
wives and
families.
While
living
on
the
ranch,
Hannah
was
to
see
her
three
sons each
fill
a
mission
for
The
Church
of
Jesus
Christ
of
Latter day Saints,
within
the
boundaries
of
the
United
States
and, after
each
of her sons had
married,
he filled
a
mission
to England, where
he preached
to the
people
in
the country
where his parents had been born and raised.
Hannah
had
many trials to bear.
Lafayette
lost his wife not long after
they were
married.
This was a
very hard
thing
for her to bear.
So,
when
the
family moved to
Manassa,
there
was
Samuel,
Hannah, Martha, and her three daughters, Vida,
Fannie, and Jessie Elizabeth (born on August 2, 1892).
In
1896, Samuel
was set apart as bishop of the Manassa
Ward, a position
he was to
hold
for
21 years.
Hannah
was a good
bishop's wife.
She continued
to raise a
garden,
milk cows, raise chickens,
sell eggs, raise
pork
for
meat
and, since
most
of the tithing
and
fast
offerings
were
paid
'in kind,'
it
involved
a lot of work
for Hannah
as well
as the
bishop.
She made
butter and
bread
and
gave
it
to
the
poor.
One
dear
little
lady
from the south
would
never
have
anything
except Sister
Jackson's
butter
and
she
used to
come
to
the
house to
be
sure
she
was getting just that.
Hannah
became
very
famous
for
making
braided
rugs.
She made them
for all
the
family, and she also
quilted
many quilts.
She made quilts
from
scraps
of cloth, and
many were made of wool scraps which
made
heavy warm
quilts.
I might add, her braided rugs were very colorful.
She would
dye rags
from
heavy under wear and braid
these with
the darker
pieces.
Each spring, for as
long
back
as I can remember, Hannah
would pack
up and
take
me,
her
granddaughter
Mamie,
and
go
to
the ranch
where she would cook
for
the men while
the sheep were lambing
and during
the shearing, and
until
the sheep were
taken to the mountains
for
the summer.
Then, she would return to Manassa and
raise a fine garden.
She was the first
person
to raise strawberries
in the San Luis
Valley and this brought
many people
to see
them.
It
had
been
supposed
that
these
fruits could
not
be
grown
in
the
Valley
because
of
the
short
season.
Here
I
might
add,
while
Samuel
was
bishop,
there
was
no
hotel in
Manassa
so,
when
the
General
Authorities
of
the Church
came to Conference,
Hannah
always took care of them, providing
them with
food and
beds
while
in Manassa.
Many
of
the General
Authorities
would
praise
her
and
all
appreciated
her
service
to
them.
One
of
the
greatest
griefs
and
heartbreaks for
Hannah
was
when her baby
daughter, Mary Hannah, passed away.
Mary had been married just a
year when
she
died of
childbirth complications and
left
a
baby
daughter,
Marnie, whom
Hannah and
Samuel
cared for.
Mary's
death broke
Hannah's heart.
She
grieved
for
many years
but
she
was
permitted
by
Wilbur
Sowards,
Marnie's
father, to
keep
the baby,
and no
one
could have been a better mother and father than my
grandparents were to me.
One
interesting thing happened
when
Samuel,
Jr.,
was
old
enough to
be baptized.
During the
years of moving and
growing up, Hannah's
baptismal record
was
lost,
so
she
was
re-baptized when Samuel, Jr., was baptized.
Hannah remained faithful to the
Gospel and
obeyed its principles
all her life.
She never forgot her early teachings.
She was
always very
careful with money and, yet,
she
loved beautiful things.
Even when money was plentiful, she was very
careful
when
spending it.
Hannah was
a
firm believer in
the
law
of tithing.
She always paid her tithing and she always told me that,
if you
did not pay your money to the Lord, the
devil would get it,
and she lived by this rule.
Samuel
passed
away May 3,
1919.
This grieved
Hannah
to her last days.
After
his death, she lived
in the big
house with Mamie until
Mamie married
Jordan Rasmussen.
Then, Mamie and Jordan
lived
with
her until
her death.
She continued
to work in
her
garden.
She
also
loved
to
read
the
Scriptures
and
enjoyed
this
so much.
She was
always
so thankful for her eyesight
as
she
was
too
deaf
to
hear very much.
Her
sons
and
her daughter, Bernecia, all
lived within a block of
her house
and hardly a
day passed that she
did not go to
see
all of them.
When
Mamie's and Jordan's babies came along, she spent
much time tending
them.
They
loved
her so much.
Ten years after Samuel
died, Hannah
was stricken
with
a kidney infection and was bedfast for about a month
before she passed away.
Thus ended
the life
of a noble
woman
much
loved
by her family.
She died
August
19,
1929, and
was
buried next to her beloved Samuel
in the Sowards Cemetery
at Manassa.
Mary Hannah and
Lafayette
are
buried
close
by.
She
was
79
years
old
when she died."
DLH/2-17-89
(7-6-85)