Catharine Bouck

History of Catharine Bouck Herron

Catharine Bouck, daughter of Adam and Elizabeth Freymeyer Bouck was born 14 June 1804, at Schoharie County, New York. Little is known of her early life but we find by research that she was married to James Herron in the Lutheran Church ar Middleburgh, Schnherie County, New York, 25 Jan 1827. They remained in New York for several years, during which time their first two children were born, namely, Elmire and David.

Sometime between 1830 and 1833 they moved to Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, Michigan. They were part of a company consisting of Catharine's father and mother and other members of the Bouck family. They were farmers by trade and very industrious. They cleared land, made fences and built homes. at this time the country was sparse and wild but these people had what it took to succeed. James and Catharine remained in Michigan until 1840, during which time four more children blessed their home, Sarah, Orlando, John and Mary.

In the year 1840, Elder Serrine brought the gospel message to Ann Arbor. Among his converts were James and Catharine. They were baptized with others from the same neighborhood. Catharine and her brother, John Adam Bouck, were the only ones of the Bouck family to join, thus the parents of Catharine lived out the remainder of their lives in Michigan.

Wishing to be near the body of the church, James and Catharine moved to Carthage, Hancock Co. Illinois. While living here at Carthage, their seventh child was born, Emma by name. They lived within three miles of the Carthage jail, and were still at this place when the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum were martyred, (1844).

Some time later, they moved to Nauvoo. All the Saints labored hard to complete the building of the temple. Finally, it was finished, and many had their work done. On 7 Feb. 1846, James and Catharine were also privileged to have their endowments. This was the last day that any work was done in the Nauvoo temple, as most of the members left the state soon after this date. It was mostly the families of the poor and sick who remained. They were trying to get the necessities so they too could leave.

In late July of the same year, Catharine's husband, with five other men, was kidnapped while working in the field, harvesting crops. They were held for fourteen days, by an angry mob who treated them in a most shameful manner. One can well imagine the suffering of his wife and children for two long weeks, not knowing whether or not they would ever see their husband and father again alive.

After he was released and returned home, it was only a short time before he took part in the Nauvoo battle. After several fights, in which the mob was put down, an agreement was made that the Saints would leave the state by 3PM the next day, but this was too long for the bloodthirsty mob to wait. Early the next morning, they were there on the river bank, tipping over wagons and destroying what little the Saints had tried to save.

Lucky to escape with their lives, they crossed the Mississippi into Montrose, Lee County, Iowa. here they camped on the river bank with only the sky for a covering. They were fed by the hand of the Lord, who sent quail by the thousands to keep them from starving. Catharine's little ten-year-old son, Orlando, remembered in later years how they were so thick, several could be killed with one stroke of a stick.

After three weeks, they moved some few miles down the river to Nashville, Iowa. Here, they were able to get to a house to live in while they made preparations for their anticipated move to Utah.

In July of that year, 1847, they allowed their son, Orlando, now eleven years old, to go with their friends, the Lewis Robison family, to Utah. Lewis took a liking to the boy and wanted him to help drive one of his yoke of oxen. James accompanied his son, together with the Robisons as far as Sugar Creek, then he bid him goodbye and returned to Nashville, there to await their own departure the next spring.

Some time that winter, their eighth child was born, named Daniel. Cholera broke out, and James, Catharine, and the baby all died of that dread disease. Some reports are that Catharine died of childbirth, which of course could very well be true, considering all the hardships she had to endure. Whatever the cause, it was a real tragedy. We are not sure where the bodies were buried. We understood that Elmira, the oldest daughter, took the orphaned children back to Carthage, where she and her husband made a home for them. Orlando never saw his brothers or sisters again, except the one brother, John, who came to visit him in Pleasant Grove, Utah. At this time, both were in their eighties.

Orlando was the only one to remain in the church. Surely the Lord had a hand in his destiny. He married, having two wives and twenty-three children, many many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, a most remarkable record for a child who was left at such an earl ...