Elizabeth Whitaker

Mormon Pioneer:

"...Another time, I recall was after we had arrived over sea and were crossing the plains, I can remember it just as vividly as though it were only yesterday. We had traveled many weary miles over the plains and had reached the place about where the Denver is now located. Captain Wilkie [Wilkin] led our company[.] He had crossed the plains two or three times before[.] Each company consisted of 100 souls and each company was subdivided into smaller companies of ten each

The day or two preceding, we had seen warnings that the Indians were on the warpath[.] In one place, we found the body of a white man, who had been killed by them, his limbs had been cut off and crossed in his body. Captain Wilkie said This was a sign that the Indians were angry and this was one of their forms of revenge[.] Later we came upon a scene where a whole company of people had been killed and every thing they had was burned[.] All that was left was the scrap iron of the wagons and the iron bands that encircled the wheels[.] Such sights filled our hearts with dismay and anxiety[.] Captain Wilkie ordered all the men to stay at the heads of their oxen and not unyoke them[.] When it became necessary for us to camp each wagon was chained to the wagon wheel in front of it and formed n large circle of the wagons, inside this circle we made camp[.] We traveled all night some times, to evade the Indians[.] One afternoon we found a place to camp where the oxen could graze and there was water. The men were all away and the women were cooking supper, when 400 Indian braves rode up to our camp[.] They rode close and teased the children, knocked the lids off the skillets and took the biscuits[.] I was in the back of a wagon watching some children when the Indian chief came up to the wagon and tried to get one of the children[.] I cracked his knuckles with an ox yoke, where upon he laughed and said, ‘brave squak’[.] Then he put his arm around me and drew me on his horse and rode swiftly toward the mountains fortunately for me as we disappeared from view of the women at camp we chanced to come upon father and the other men who had gone hunting a short time earlier[.] Father and the other men talked with the Indians an hour trying to persuade them to let me free. Then they drove to the camp and talked for three hours more[.] The Indians finally consented te sell me back to my people[.] Some gave sugar, salt, rice, flower and whatever they could, until they could spare no more. The Indians said ‘more’ more’[.] Then Captain Wilkie became angry, fired off a small cannon[.] This frightened the Indians away but they followed us for five days frightening the horses and causing the cattle to stampede. Some of the wagons were broken up and several men were compelled to walk the rest of the way. I had a good time all the way across the plains, except for this incident..."

SOURCE: "Elizabeth Whitaker of Centerville Gives Sketches of Her Life," Davis County Clipper, 13 Nov. 1931, 1. retrieved from http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/source/1,18016,4976-64969,...

Biographical Summary:

"...Elizabeth was born March 7, 1839 at Douglas, Isle of Mann which then belonged to Ireland. When she was two years old she had a severe case of measles which caused her to be totally blind. Her parents, John Mills and Elizabeth Hall, were some of John Taylor's first converts. After her parents embraced the gospel, a fast meeting was held for the sake of Elizabeth so that the Lord would heal her blindness. She had been left at home during the meeting. "When they came home, Mother took me in her arms and I cried and the tears washed the scales from my eyes and I could see."

Elizabeth's family immigrated to Nauvoo where her father worked on the Temple baptismal fount. This gave him a close association with the Prophet Joseph Smith. Elizabeth remembers, "I use to take my father's lunch to him every day, and there I would see the Prophet Joseph. My mother was an excellent cook and she would sometimes put in an extra piece of chocolate cake, or other desert, and father would share it with the Prophet. Sometimes that wonderful man would take me on his knee, there on the steps of the Temple and stroke my hair and tell me how beautiful it was, and that I must always strive to be as beautiful inside (meaning the spirit) as I was on the outside. I remember his strong, beautiful face, his deep powerful voice, mellowed with gentle kindness impossible to describe." In the spring of 1852 making Elizabeth 13 years old, the Mills family started for the Salt Lake Valley. They traveled along the north side of the Platt River. They came upon a decapitated body of a gold seeker which frightened them so they traveled all one night. Captain Wilkie said that he knew of a place to camp where the camp fires would be carried away by the wind and thus not noticed by the Indians. When they reached the spot the pitched camp and the men drove the cattle into the foothills while the women prepared breakfast. While the women were left alone a band of Sioux Indians, decked in bright colored blankets and feathers as a sign that they were on the war path, came on horseback. Elizabeth was tending some of the little children in the back of one of the wagons and she became terribly frightened and angered as she saw the Chief teasing the children she was tending. She struck him in the face with an ox bow. Her spirit pleased him so much that he called her a brave squaw and put his arm about her waist and lifted her on his horse and rode away. The other Indians who had been taking food, knocking kettles over, and teasing the women followed their chief. When she got to the Indian camp, Elizabeth refused to eat, "I would rather starve than be their slave." Her parents and the other men in the company came to buy her back. The Chief was not willing to relinquish his prize easily. The Indians demanded 30 head of horses, flour, coffee, tea, crackers, tobacco, blankets and sugar as ransom before their would release Elizabeth. With Elizabeth's return to camp, the company immediately resumed their journey westward. The Indians followed them for three days, until they were finally frightened off by a cannon the company was delivering to Brigham Young.

Elizabeth's dark long curls and steel-grey eyes attracted many callers. Charles Oakden was one of these. It was his brother, William that won her heart though. He was more congenial, full of kindness and understanding. Elizabeth loved him dearly but their love was short lived. William Oakden drowned in the Jordan River nine months after they were married. Elizabeth, age 16, was with child at the time of her husband's death. The baby was a boy she named William after his father. Full of love for and sorrow in losing her husband, she refused immediate suitors, and supported herself and her son by working at the Simms farm for 25 cents a week.

Later she helped at the home of her Uncle William Gill. Her uncle introduced her to Thomas Whitaker, a well-educated gentleman. Upon the encouragement of her uncle she consented to marry him. "T.W." won Elizabeth's love with his kindness and care of her and her son. The newlyweds settled in Centerville. Elizabeth made close friends here. They would put a white table cloth on their clothesline which was the signal for the friends to gather. One would read while the others would work on handiwork. Elizabeth was very good at handiwork. She enjoyed weaving rugs and wove some of the first silk in Utah. Mr. Whitaker had sent to London for silk worms. She could skillfully make every article of clothing they wore from raw materials. She even made a vest and a scarf out of silk for President Brigham Young.

In the winter of 1868 President Brigham Young encouraged all Priesthood holders in good standing to marry a second wife. Thomas Whitaker had promised his wife he would never marry in polygamy but felt he must brake this promise to fill the Lord's command. He married an English convert Hannah Waddoups. Elizabeth felt her life was never the same after this. They endured living in the same house a short time until Elizabeth insisted that Hannah get her own. Elizabeth had 11 children with Thomas Whitaker and Hannah had 8. Thomas worked very hard to support them both by doing building and carpentry. Thomas Whitaker suddenly died the April 28, 1886 when Elizabeth's youngest was four. Elizabeth struggled to support her family, nursing for a dollar a day which included doing housework. She especially enjoyed delivering babies; she helped with most of her grandchildren.

She enjoyed reading, good health and a keen mind all of her days. In her later years her handiwork continued as she made braided rugs and beaded handbags. When she was 97 she went up to her son John's Weber Cabin and rode horses. Elizabeth Mills Oaken Whitaker died when she was 98 years old..."

SOURCE: Unknown.