Cyril Call

Conquerors of the West Volume 1: "Cyril was introduced to the Church early in his life. He was always active, being the first member of the Call family to join the church. On his way west, he lived for a time in Kirtland, Ohio , and contributed aid in the building of the temple at Kirtland . Cyril followed the saints to Nauvoo and from there to the Valley. He endured the torments and hardships that early members of the church had endured. He willingly brought his family to the valley and settled in Bountiful . He died at the advanced age of 88 years. He had lost the sight in his left eye in an accident at an earlier age."

Cyril and his wife, Sarah (who went by "Sally") were pioneers in every sense of the word. They started out in Vermont, where they purchased and cleared land for a farm. After a while, they and their large family moved to north eastern Ohio where they again purchased and cleared property for a farm. While in Ohio, Cyril and his family joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They moved west with the Church to Missouri, then to Nauvoo, Illinois, and eventually settled in Davis County, Utah, in the area that is now called Bountiful. Many members of the Call family, including Cyril and Sally, were buried in the Bountiful Cemetery. Their headstones were replaced a few years ago because the old ones were falling apart.

Perhaps the most famous of their vast posterity was their son, Anson.

Son of Joseph and Mary Sanderson Call.

Husband of Sally or Sarah Tiffany Call.

Died at Bountiful, Davis County, Utah 23 May 1873, of jaundice, after a lingering sickness of six weeks, Cyril Call, age 88 years less one month and six days.

He was born at Woodstock, Vermont, 29 June 1785, unto Joseph Call, who was for forty years a Baptist Minister in Vermont and also served under Gen. Washington in the Revolutionary War. His father, Samuel Call served in Quebec under Gen. Wolfe during the French and English War of 1759. While the Father of Samuel Call, John, was a soldier during the French of King William War of 1689, Cyril Call served during the War of 1812 and was in the engagement of Plattsburgh under General Macomb in 1814, thus becoming a pensioner under the Act of 1871.

He became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Oct. 1831, being baptized by Elder John Murdock in the Town of Madison, Lake County, Ohio. He was with the Saints of Kirtland, whence he moved with his family to Missouri, suffering the trials and privations of that journey. He was driven into Illinois where he settled at Hancock County where his home was burned and his property destroyed by a mob led by Lawyer Stephens of Warsaw, the Worthy Master of the Hancock Masonic Lodge of which he, Cyril Call, was a member. This Stephens, at the time of the mobbing, asked him to renounce his Mormon faith, which not being done, he ordered the mob to do their duty, which consisted of burning their house and laying waste to their property. Thence he moved with his family to Council Bluffs, and in 1850 (1849) they emigrated to Utah where he has since resided, in Bountiful, Davis County, surrounded by the saints and his posterity, consisting of 97 boys and the same number of girls, 154 of which survive him.

He was the father of 13 children of whom one died when 18 months old. The other twelve became members of the church and came to this territory, save one who died on the way at Council Bluffs. (This child died at Fort Leavenworth.) He lived to see his children of the fourth generation, many of whom surrounded his dying bed.

His remains were interred in the Cemetery at Bountiful, 25 May 1873, being followed to the grave by a large concourse of sorrowing relatives, friends and acquaintances who mourn the loss of an aged father and honorable citizen and society of a just and independent man.

• Updated from Find A Grave Memorial via daughter Mary Sessions (born Call) by SmartCopy: Feb 25 2015, 21:32:12 UTC

The following is from Family Search.org

Cyril Call History - June 26, 2013:

CYRIL CALL HISTORY BORN 1785 - Read by Ardell C. Thomas at Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, University Park Camp, Bannock North County Company, Pocatello, Idaho, on October 1, 1996.

Cyril Call was born at Woodstock, Vermont on June 29, 1785. to Joseph Call and Mary Sanderson. Joseph was an active Baptist minister and missionary in Woodstock, and many references are made of him and his activities in Rev. Henry Crocker's book, "The History of Baptists in Vermont". One account I'd like to read:

"The first Baptist minister in this section (Georgia, Vermont) was Rev. Joseph Call, an itinerant preacher whose family resided in Woodstock, which was then the center of Baptist operations in that part of the state. In the fall of 1789 he is reported as the Pastor of the Woodstock Church. In one of his missionary journeys northward, about 1790, he stopped at the house of Mr. Ezra Butler, as he was wont to do, for a night's lodging, and became instrumental in the conversion of Mr. Butler, whom he subsequently baptized. Mr. Butler afterwards became a Baptist Preacher and the Governor of the State…"

Cyril was the youngest of Joseph and Mary's seven children, all of them born in Woodstock.

On April 6, 1806, Cyril married Sally (or Sarah) Tiffany, who was a native of Fletcher, Franklin County, Vermont. Her father was said to be a German immigrant, but very little is known about her ancestry. Cyril served during the War of 1812, and was in the engagement of Plattsburg under General Macomb in 1814. He and Sally moved to Ohio in 1817 and shortly afterward established their home near Kirtland. They had thirteen children, five of whom were born in Vermont and the rest in Ohio. All but one of these children lived to maturity.

In 1831, at age 46, Cyril was visited by Mormon missionaries. He believed their message and was baptized in October of that year by Elder John Murdock. He then became the first member of the Call family to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Cyril's grandson, Benjamin C. Call wrote the following about his grandfather:

"To become a convert to an unpopular religion, whose leaders were severely persecuted and members as well, requires great stamina and bravery. Cyril Call met the challenge and duties of life with rare courage and fidelity. There was not the slightest trace of hypocrisy or cowardice in his whole make-up. He stood for principle and had great faith in the religion he had espoused. It was while they lived near Kirtland that Cyril and his family became acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith. He loved the prophet in scriptural measure, heaped up, pressed down and running over, and Joseph Smith loved him. They belonged to the same Masonic order, the Rising Sun and Cyril was a warden in this organization. The prophet visited his home many times and rocked his twin sons, Omer and Homer, on his knee.

On account of the persecutions of the Mormons in Ohio, he and two of his sons went to Missouri in the spring of 1838 and were with the saints and Zion's Camp. He purchased land near Far West and returned to Ohio to get his family. The Missourians in the meantime had started their persecutions of the Saints so he remained on the Illinois side of the river locating near Warsaw. It was here, in the fall of 1845, that his home was visited by a mob. There are a number of versions as to what was said at the time of this visit but they are in general agreement. The leader of the mob said something like this: "Mr. Call, you are a good citizen, and we like you. If you will renounce Mormonism and Joe Smith, we will not burn your home." Cyril replied: "Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and Mormonism has been divinely instituted." The mob proceeded to burn his house down. His wife and children were forced to make their beds in a cornfield until help came to relieve the dreadful situation. Following this catastrophe he moved his family to Nauvoo where they remained during the following year. They started west in 1846, remaining in Iowa and Nebraska until the spring of 1849, and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in the Fall of that year. Cyril was Sixty-one years of age when he started West. His son Anson and some of his daughters preceded him to Utah."

Cyril's son Omer often told the story of the burning of their home near Warsaw, Illinois, to his children. His daughter Esther composed a poem about it when she was a young girl. I'd like to read it to you:

And now you want a story

One that Grandpa always tells

About the Mormon people

That's the one he knows so well.

I was once a little chatterer

With blue eyes and golden hair

I had all a small boy wanted

I was free from every care.

We lived wealthy in the city

Many friends and neighbors near,

Yes, our home was nicely furnished

And we thought our way was clear.

But we heard of the young boy prophet,

And the plates that he had found

Father went to hear his preaching,

And he loved the very sound.

He at once believed the story,

Told us all he knew 'twas true.

And from that very moment,

Many friends we loved withdrew.

Now we could not understand it.

We were scoffed at in the street

And we felt so very lonely,

For a friend we'd never meet.

And one day we got a notice,

Father wasn't wanted more

In the office where he'd labored

Many days and years before.

Now our home and all was taken,

And we knew not where to stay

So we got our team and wagon

And the city left that day.

We found land that was not taken

But 'twas covered o'er with sage

And each one worked late and early

And our hands were all engaged.

Soon we had a little cabin

That we now could call our own.

And a place was plowed and furrowed

Where the small seeds could be sown.

So we worked and toiled all summer

No one ever thought to cheat

For he knew the fall was coming

And the food we'd need to eat.

Now the hardest time was over

And my brother Anson said

He would go from home to labor

And in that way earn his bread.

One night we sat round the fireplace,

Something like you children do

Only not so snug and cozy

For the country then was new.

We were startled, someone's knocking

Whispered mother very low,

And my father stepping forward

Opened wide the rough made door.

And a large, well dressed man entered

Mr. Call, now have no fear

You're a man we all think lots of

You're a man we all need here.

All you need to do is sign this

Or else, now say that you know

Joe Smith is not a prophet

And you do not need to go.

For the mob will be upon you

It is furious with rage

It takes all that lies before it

Everything within its gaze.

Do you see the burning dwellings?

In the distance out that way

This will be exactly like it,

In an hour, now come do say.

Father stamped his foot in anger,

Let them come. I still will say

He's a prophet true and faithful

And I know it every day.

Then my friend you'd better travel

For before five hours have gone

This house and all your ownings

Will be burnt down to the ground.

Then we gathered things around us,

For we knew he told us right

To the corn field we not journeyed

For a long and dreaded night.

Dear mother was weak and weary

And her bed we knelt around.

Breathlessly we shook and trembled

For well we heard a sound.

It was footsteps coming nearer

In the cornfield now it came

Father, Father, was the calling

But he answered not the same.

Mother woke and heard the calling

She knew well it was her son Anson

And she spoke in tones of anguish,

"Answer him so he can come."

He was frightened and he murmured

In a tone so soft and slow,

"Are all here and out of danger?"

"Yes," my mother answered low.

"Oh, the mob with rage is furious

List, their curses can be heard.

See, our home in flames is rising

Like a full fledged winged bird."

And we prayed and watched and waited

Breathlessly around the bed.

Till the flames died down in quiet

And my mother raised her head.

And then we stayed in the cornfield

Until after dark next night

When we drove into Nauvoo

Ready for the Westward flight

We found our friends all ready

To leave their homes for the west

Where, we looked for, prayed for and found it

Shelter, freedom and rest.

Cyril Call settled at what is now Bountiful, Utah, and most of his original farm is included in that town site. His wife Sally died in 1856 and was buried in the Bountiful Cemetery. Cyril joined her seventeen years later. He died on May 23, 1873, at the age of eighty-eight years. He left a large posterity, consisting of ninety-seven boys and the same number of girls.

I'd like to read some excerpts from a Eulogy of Cyril given by Benjamin C. Call, his grandson:

"Cyril met the vicissitudes of life with rare courage and fidelity. He was honest and knowingly did wrong to no man. He had great faith in a religion to which he became converted while in middle life. He had no ambition for high office but acted his part upon an obscure stage at a time when men holding high positions in the Church turned traitor to their leader. No trumpet or fame or words of great praise cheered him in his onerous and hazardous tasks….

We owe our ancestors a debt of gratitude which we can never repay except by being model, upright and God-fearing citizens. The self-sacrificing devotion and courageous deed of Cyril and Sally Tiffany Call, their sons and daughters, have seldom been surpassed in the History of the Mormon Church. When the Calls meet in distant ages to do honor to their ancestors, they will be able to say: "There were great giants in the earth in those days and the Calls will be known among them."

"Tell your children of it, and let their children tell their children and their children another generation." (Joel 1:3)

"It has been said, 'They who do not remember and revere their ancestors who have done worthy deeds, are not likely to leave a posterity that will be worthy of being remembered."

Cyril Call is my husband's, Jay Roberts Thomas, great great great grandfather. Cyril and Sally Call's daughter Samantha married Jeremiah Willey and their son Jeremiah Russell married Annie Roberts (B.H. Robert's sister). They are my husband's great grandparents.