Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847–1868 William Snow/Joseph Young Company (1850) Age 29

Departure: 21 June 1850 Arrival: 1-4 October 1850

Company Information: 42 wagons were in the company when it began its journey from the outfitting post at Kanesville, Iowa (present day Council Bluffs). This company was organized near the Missouri River.

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Birth: Dec. 13, 1820 Albion Edwards County Illinois, USA

Death: Apr. 12, 1920 Willard Box Elder County Utah, USA

Nancy Woodland Whitaker was born in Edwards County, Illinois, to John and Celia Steepleford Woodland. In the 1830's Missouri was the home of the Mormon leader Joseph Smith and most of his followers, and the Woodlands were a Mormon family. In 1835 15-year old Nancy was at home by herself when the church's leader, Joseph Smith, came to her parent's house. A mob of men was chasing him, and he asked Nancy to hide him. Nancy hid him in her mother's flour bin and he escaped harm. Covered head to toe in flour, Joseph Smith told Nancy that God would reward her for saving his life and that she'd live to see her hundredth year.

In 1838 Nancy Woodland married James Whitaker, a widower who had moved to Missouri from North Carolina. They lived together in Missouri for two years until they were forced to flee due to persecution of Mormons at the "Massacre at Huan's Hill". They joined other Mormons and moved to Illinois where they founded the town of Nauvoo. Nauvoo prospered into a thriving city, but political persecution once again forced Mormons to abandon Nauvoo. Nancy gave birth to her son Leander on the banks of the Mississippi River on the night of January 14th,1844, and the following day they crossed the ice-covered river to the Mormon winter quarters of Council Bluff, Iowa. Nancy's husband James was asked by the Mormon leader Brigham Young to stay in Council Bluffs to build and repair the wagon trains used for the Mormon exodus to Utah. In 1850 Nancy and James joined the William Snow Wagon Train Company and arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley in September 1850.

Nancy and James Whitaker settled in Willard, Utah. Nancy outlived her husband by 28 years, passing away in Willard in 1920 in her hundredth year.

Family links:

Parents:

• John Woodland (1772 - 1868)
• Celia Stapleford Woodland (1801 - 1885)

Spouse:

• James Whitaker (1805 - 1892)*

Children:

• James Woodland Whitaker (1841 - 1893)*
• Leander Jefferson Whitaker (1844 - 1912)*
• John Nelson Whitaker (1853 - 1934)*

Burial: Willard Precinct Cemetery Willard Box Elder County Utah, USA