Eveline Crissy Rollins

Eveline Walker was born May 16, 1823, in Winchester, Randolph, Indiana, to Oliver and Nancy Cressy Walker. Oliver was born in New York and Nancy was born in North Brunswick, New Jersey. Eveline married James Henry Rollins September 4, 1838, in Shoal Creek near Far West, Missouri, at her father's farm four miles from Haun's Mill about four weeks before the Mormon massacre. She was only 15 and one half years old at the time. From Missouri they moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. They left Nauvoo, Illinois, and went to Winter Quarters, Iowa, where on February 4, 1848, in the Amasa Lyman Company, they left in route for the Great Salt Lake Valley. Traveling in the company was Eveline and James Henry and their two children, John Henry and his sister, Mary Amelia. Their first son, Horace Algernon, died in Alton, Iowa, when he was only five months old.

Eveline supported her husband in his work and his church callings even though sometimes she was ill and twice was close to death. She also endured his plural marriage to a young, orphaned English girl, Hannah Hulmes, who was helping their family with the housework and children in 1850. The LDS church told James Henry that before he left Utah for San Bernardino in 1851, he would have to marry Hannah if they were to take her with them to California. James Henry did marry Hannah, and between his two wives he had 22 children, 9 with Eveline and 13 with Hannah.

The family went to San Bernardino in 1851, to help settle that area for the Mormons, and they were called back to Utah around the time of Johnson's War in 1857 or 1858. In 1860, the family was living in Beaver, Utah, and they were listed in the census as follows: J.H. Rawlins, 44, Eveline, 37, Hannah, 23, (plural wife) Charles L., 7, Malissa, 8, Caroline, 6, James Watson., 4, George, 4, Frances, 1, Mary Amelia, 14, John Henry, 19, and John Henry's wife, Nancy Malinda West Rollins, 16. Also living in the home was John Newman, 17, a hired hand who helped James Henry with the farming. John Henry's real estate was valued at $260 and his personal estate at $2,100.

By 1870, the family was living in Minersville, and listed in the census were James Henry, 54, Caroline (Eveline) 47, Charles C., 17, James Watson, 13, and Ida Minerva, 7. Hannah, 34, was living next door and was listed with her children, George W., 14, Frances R., 10, Lois, 8, Ernest, 6, Jane L., 3, twins, Edgar W., and Edmund W., 9 months old, and Elizabeth Gilbert, 68, who was James Henry Rollins aunt, the sister of his mother, Keziah Ketura Van Benthuysen. Elizabeth's occupation was listed as midwife. James Henry's real estate was valued at $600 and his personal estate at $1,000. By 1870, their oldest son John Henry Rollins was living with his wife Nancy Malinda West Rollins and their children in Minersville, but sometime around 1879 they left Utah and moved to Snowflake, Arizona, to help the church settle that area.

In the 1880 census for Minersville, James Henry, 65, and Eveline, 57, were living with their youngest daughter, Ida, 17. James was still working as a farmer. Hannah, 43, was living nearby with her children, Ernest 15, Jane L., 12, Edgar W., 10, Julian, 8, and Hannah Burdette, 3. The twin brother of Edgar, Edmund, died as an infant. Sixteen years later, Hannah passed away on September 30, 1896, and was buried in Minersville, Utah.

In about 1898, James Henry and Eveline moved to Lyman, Wyoming, to live near some of their children, and James Henry died there in 1899. Eveline passed away 13 years later at the age of 89 years old on September 25, 1912, in Lyman, Wyoming, and was buried there with her husband.

Following are some Overland Trail Reminiscences of Eveline's husband during their trek from Winter Quarters across the plains to the Great Salt Lake Valley:

Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847–1868, Source of Trail Excerpt: Rollins, James Henry, Reminiscences 1896; 1898, 29-31. Read Trail Excerpt: When the company started from Winter Quarters to cross the plains, Brigham being the leader of the Company, started ahead with his company, then Amasa Lyman’s company of a hundred wagons, then Dr. Richard’s the most of his company being English, with Joseph Horn as Captain of the hundred in this company.

The second day out we camped on the little horn river where we stayed two or three days, then resuming our journey to the loop [Loup] fork of the Platt[e] river when we crossed on the other side, which was very difficult to cross. Dr. Richards and Company, arrived on the side. We had left. when it was determined to help with our lead Oxen to cross them over on the same side of the river as we were, which was accomplished that day. No accident happened to them.

We remained there until the next day or two then starting early for the main Platt[e] river, 20 miles distant and when we arrived at the Platt[e] both Dr. Richards and Amasa Lyman were taken very sick. We remained there 2 days. I killed 4 antelope on the Sunday we laid over.

Our next move was up the Platt[e] towards fort Laramie to which place we arrived in due time. We stopped one or two days previous to reaching Laramie to hunt, as Buffalo were quite plentiful, and supplied ourselves with meat, killing 3 buffaloes myself that day, and another which brother Flake had down. and we were obliged to shoot two bulls in order to get the cow that he had killed. As we were skinning the cow, another cow had made its appearance coming down a ravine near us. I took aim and shot it, it turned and went up the bluff. About this time brother Horn came to us and said his company had not killed anything. we told him to take the loins and hump and as much more as he wanted out of the two bulls and go up on the bluff and he would find a cow that he might have for his company, which he found to be very fat.

We then, the next day resumed our journey towards Laramie and came to an Indian Village. There were a great many tents made of buffalo hides. They impeded our progress, stopped our train by squatting in the road. They demanded pay of us for the water and grass our company had used. And the chief said, “We want you to give us flour, sugar, coffee, pow[d]er and lead.” The captains of each 10 were set to work to get from the wagons these articles. The chief spreading his large buffalo robe, on which the contributions were emptied. We then asked them if they [were] satisfied, they said, “yes if you will give us a little more powder.” They were told that we hadn’t it to spare, the Indians then removed the contents of the buffalo skin and said we could pass on our journey and we were not troubled any more until we reached Laramie Fort, where we stopped our train.

Many Indians were there with the French who kept the Fort. The Frenchman told us not to sell the Indians any whiskey, which of course we did not do, but to sell it to them if we had any and they would pay us a big price. Those who had it to sell, sold it to the French at a dollar a pint. Banters were out by the Indians for a horse race, and Nathan Tanner ran his horse with the Indian and beat him. Then, they wanted to give him a larger horse which brother Tanner needed, and the trade was made. About this time while our people were trading for Buffalo-skins, the Indian Chief was discovered to be drunk and seemed very mad as he walked through with tomahawk in hand/ He cut many gashes through buffalo-skins which hung on the banister, he was watched by his squaws and one or two of the French men, and taken and bound and laid away.

We then resumed our journey after obtaining many buffalo skins until we came to the three crossings of sweet water. we here camped for 2 or 3 days for the women to wash. we killed quite a number of mountain sheep and buffaloes. After 3 or 4 days we continued our journey up Sweet Water. I killed on Sweet water as we traveled up the stream some 20 antelope and 11 of their hides I took in to Salt Lake. Then [When] we came to Pacific Springs we camped for one day.

The next day we started for Bear River which we crossed safely by raising our wagon beds with blocks to keep the water from running into them. Then we resumed our way towards green river and crossing the river we again raised our wagon boxes, and crossed without an accident and then wended our way over the mountains and arrived at Salt Lake some time in October being 5 months on the road from the time we started from winter quarters until we arrived in Salt Lake.

All this I have written from memory. The records of our travels which I had kept and delivered to our Captain were lost and could not be found, and at the time of this writing, I am eighty years and 6 months old. Many instances in our travels are not here related such as loosing our cattle many of them, the Indians stealing my son, who was recovered, and a daughter that was run over, but not seriously injured, and the death of Sidney Tanner’s little boy who fell from the wagon tongue and was instantly killed by the wagon running over his neck. He was buried near the road the same day. After arriving in Salt Lake I moved my wagon into the old fort also that of Horace Alexander’s and family.

Following is a list of James Henry Rollins and Eveline Walker Rollins children and grandchildren:

1.) Son Horace Algernon Rollins born 30 June 1839 in Alton, Madison, Illinois and died 6 November 1839.

2.) Son John Henry Rollins born 17 February 1841 in Lee County, Iowa, and died 19 Oct 1887 in Safford, Graham, Arizona, and was buried there. He married Nancy Malinda West (1844-1917) 1 April 1860 in Parowan, Iron, Utah. John Henry Rollins, Sr., and Nancy Malinda West Rollins had the following 11 children:

A.) Edward Ephraim Rollins 1861-1887, married Ida Patton and had three children.

B.) Nancy Malinda Rollins 1863-1945/6, married James Scott and had three children

C.) John Henry Rollins 1865-1889, married Dortha Roxana Madsen, and had two children. He died in a tragic accident on Chrismas Day in 1889, leaving his 20 year old widow and two small children, age 3 and 1 year old.

D.) William Samuel Rollins 1867-1934, married Ida Patton Rollins after his brother Edward Ephraim's death, and they had six children.

E.) Guy Washington Rollins 1870-1955, married Berta Web Rollins and they had one daughter, Alberta in 1913.

F.) Jesse West Rollins 1872-1930, married Ruth Smith and they had one son, Thomas James Rollins in 1911.

G.) Iles Marion Rollins 1873-1900/1922, married Susan May Smith and they had a daughter and a son.

H.) Moses Porter Rollins 1875-1896, died unmarried at the very young age of 21 years old.

I.) Charles Watson Rollins 1876-1877, died as an infant.

J.) Margaret Eve Rollins 1881-1967, married Thomas Harbo Rynning, had 3 daughters between 1902 & 1912.

K.) Emma Jane Rollins 1883-1947, married Joseph Washington Speer, had 3 daughters between 1904 & 1912.

John Henry Rollins, Sr., may have also had a plural wife, Mary Pierson, but she apparently died while still fairly young, and I don't know if they ever had any children. John Henry may have been married to Mary Pierson before he married Nancy Malinda West in 1860.

3.) Daughter Mary Amelia Rollins born 27 December 1843 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, died 9 September 1917 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and buried in Salt Lake 11 September 1917. She married John H. Osborn (1833-1891) 9 September 1857 in San Bernardino, California. They separated sometime around 1895, and she later married Collins Rowe Hakes, but they had no children. He died in 1916. Mary and John Osborn had the following 11 children:

A.) Eva Amelia Osborn 1858-1889, married Daniel Greening

B.) John Wesley Osborn 1860-1941, married Emily Jane Hart

C.) Lydia Adell Osborn 1861-1945, married Melvyn Conway Morris, Sr.,

D.) Mary Minerva Osborn 1864-1941, married David Nathan

E.) Harriet Cordelia Osborn 1865-1914, married William John Kennedy

F.) Ephraim Henry Osborn 1867-1936, married Ellen Stone

G.) William Volney Osborn 1869-1949, married Pattie Taylor

H.) Melissa Jane Osborn 1872-1959, married Frederick William Camomile

I.) Frank Lorin Osborn 1875-1952, married Edyth Ellen Slaughter, and second Ida Dionitia Lee

J.) Daniel Boone Osborn 1878-1879, died as a child

K.) Walter Le Roy Osborn 1881-1898, died age 17

4.) Son Ephraim Edward Rollins born 7 July 1845 Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois and died 19 August 1848 Winter Quarters, Nebraska, age three years old.

5.) Daughter Nancy Eveline Rollins born 16 February 1849 Salt Lake City, Utah and died 5 October 1854, San Bernardino, California, age five years old.

6.) Daughter Melissa Keziah Rollins born 13 July 1851 at Cajon Pass, San Bernardino, California, died 1 September 1949 in Pananca, Lincoln, Nevada, and buried 3 September in Panaca. Married John Nelson Lee (1841-1914) 30 December 1868 in Minersville, Beaver, Utah. Panaca. They had eleven children:

A.) Jane Eveline Lee, born 1870, married Joseph Heber Wadworth

B.) Ad Melissa Lee, born 1872, married Charles C. Ronnow

C.) Ida Dionitia Lee, born 1873, married John Franklin Hollingshead

D.) Mary Etta Cox, born 1875, married Warren Cox

E.) John Raymond Lee, born 1877, married Annie Eliza Keele, then Harriett Theobald, and then Mary Elizabeth Lowe

F.) James Henry Lee born 1879, married Ivy Louise

G.) Luverna Edessa Lee, born 1881, married Charles Philip Matthews

H.) Peter LeRoy Lee, born 1883, died 1903, age 10 years old

I.) Angus Melvin Lee, born 1886, married Leah Keele

J.) Lester Eugene Lee, born 1889, married Grace Gentry, then married Athela Melissa Osborne

K.) Porter Lafayette Lee, born 1892, married Erma Ellen Rice.

7.) Son Charles Lyman Rollins born 10 November 1854 in San Bernardino, California, died 16 September 1916 in Lyman, Uinta, Wyoming, and buried 19 September in Lyman. He married Ada Dotson (1859-1942) 30 June 1875 in Minersville, Beaver, Utah. They had the following six children:

A.) Daisy Estella Rollins 1876-1957, married William Thomas Hollingshead

B.) William Clarence Rollins 1878-1945, married Clara Rachel Slade

C.) Charles Watson Rollins 1880-1962, married Jane Knight Syme

D.) Hardiman Ezra Rollins 1884-1959, married Wilhelmine Nielsine Jensen

E.) Henrietta Rollins 1886-1965, married Joseph Wilford Slade

F.) Stanley Tine Rollins 1888-1918, married Violet Evans

8.) Son James Watson Rollins born 24 May 1856 in San Bernardino, California, died 10 December 1917 in Lyman, Uinta, Wyoming, and buried in Lyman. He married Harriet Ann Eyre (1864-1934) 14 December 1881 in St. George, Washington, Utah. They had the following ten children:

A.) Watson Loraine Rollins 1881-1978, married Agnes Ethal Rae, then married Robena Vida Rae

B.) Henry Melvin Rollins 1886-1971, married Mary Ellen Stewart

C.) Leona June Rollins 1889-1931, married William Arnell Pearce

D.) George Leon Rollins 1892-1995, married Margaret Viola Easton

E.) Irene Rollins 1894-1991, married John Lovell Platts

F.) James Hayward Rollins 1896-1986, married Bernice Roberts, then Florence Skillicorn, then Ada ?

G.) Harriet Evelyn Rollins 1900-1992, married Darius Matthew Syme

H.) Joseph Leslie Rollins 1902-1988, married Louise Daphne Horsley

I.) Porter Eyre Rollins 1904-1992, married Elease Elmer

J.) Ruby Rollins 1907-1991, married Clyde Caniel Walker

9.) Daughter Ida Minerva Rollins born 2 October 1862 in Minersville, Beaver, Utah, died 5 October 1949, in Rock Springs, Sweetwater, Wyoming, and buried 8 October 1949 in Lyman, Uinta, Wyoming. She married Wallace Hamblin (1862-1937) 14 December 1881. They had the following 10 children:

A.) Wallace Eugene Hamblin 1882-1918, married Pauline Zabriskie

B.) Claudius Lee Hamblin 1884-1969, married Mary Easton

C.) Edwin Rollins Hamblin 1887-1970, married Cora Roberts

D.) Addie Hamblin 1887-1970, died age three years old

E.) Ida Melissa Hamblin 1891-1975, (twin sister to Addie) married Aaron Eugene Eyre

F.) Addie Minerva Hamblin, 1891-1933, (twin sister to Ida) married Carl Levi Blad

G.) William Clark Hamblin 1893-1963, married Bernice McWilliams

H.) Henry Marcene Hamblin 1896-1969, married Duella Eyre

I.) James Robert Hamblin 1901-1971, married Leta B. ?

J.) Vella Lucille Hamblin 1906-1996, married Lorenzo Earl Long, then married Joseph Earl Cates, and finally married Kenneth Samuel Eberhart.

The following information about Eveline was written by Erma Marie Gillies Madsen, a great granddaughter, in 1986, and was found on the website FamilySearch.org:

Eveline Walker, the tenth and last child of Oliver and Nancy Cressy Walker, was born May 16, 1823, in Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana. In 1831 Eveline's parents were baptized by LDS missionaries, and by 1838 the family was with the Saints on Shoal Creek, near Haun's Mill, Caldwell County, Missouri. Here, 15-year old Eveline married James Henry Rollins on September 4, 1838. Within the next eight weeks Governor Boggs had issued his "exterminating order," and the Haun's Mill massacre had occurred.

About this time Joseph and Hyrum Smith and some fifty others were arrested at Far West and imprisoned at Richmond, Ray County. Eveline and her husband, Henry, were spirited out of Far West. A few days later Henry was taken to Richmond to appear as a defense witness for Joseph Smith, but he was imprisoned with the others. Near the end of November Eveline visited Henry. He then obtained bail and they went to Far West. From there Henry fled to Illinois to avoid being taken back to Richmond.

A few weeks later, while working in Macoupin County, Illinois, Henry received an impression that Eveline was sick in Alton, Illinois. Acting on the impression he found Eveline desperately ill at her brother John's home. However, she recovered and they remained in Alton, where their first son was born in June, 1839.

In the fall, Henry and Eveline moved a few miles up the Mississippi River to Grafton, Illinois. Here their son died in November. The next spring they moved to the farm of Henry's mother and stepfather, Keziah and John Burk, in Lee County, Iowa Territory. Here their second son was born in 1841.

Later Henry and Eveline moved across the Mississippi to Nauvoo, Illinois, where Eveline bore a daughter and a son. Henry and Eveline were endowed and sealed in the Nauvoo Temple before fleeing with the other Saints across Iowa in 1846. They crossed the plains in 1848, Henry being captain of the "ten" in which they traveled. Eveline's fifth child was born in Salt Lake City in 1849.

Early in 1851 Eveline and Henry were called to join the Rich/Lyman expedition to settle San Bernardino, California. Before leaving Salt Lake, Henry took a plural wife, Hannah Humes.

In July, while the group was camped at the Cajon Pass, short of San Bernardino, Eveline gave birth to a daughter. She later bore two sons in San Bernardino.

Henry and his families returned to Utah in 1858, settling briefly in Parowan, then finally in Minersville, Beaver County, where he became Bishop for the church. Eveline's last child was born here in 1862, when she was 39 years old. Of her five sons and four daughters, six lived to maturity and married.

Eveline lived the next 35 years in Minersville as a pioneer wife, mother, grandmother, and church worker.

In 1898 Henry and Eveline moved to Lyman, Wyoming, to live with their youngest daughter, Ida Rollins Hamblin. Henry died the next year; Eveline died September 25, 1912, at the age of 89.