Marcy Jane Williams Barney

Birth: Dec. 25, 1812 Clinton County Ohio, USA Death: Mar. 20, 1896 Escalante Garfield County Utah, USA

Born at Summit, Clinton, Ohio

Daughter of Thomas Lucas and Sarah Hoblit

Married John Williams, 10 Oct 1831, Sangamon, Illinois. He died Sep 1844, Lake Fork, Logan, Illinois.

Children - Amanda Williams, Sarah Angeline Williams, Polly Williams, Elizabeth Williams, William George Williams, Mary Ann Williams

Married Henry Barney, 1846, Summit, Clinton, Ohio

Children - Alma Barney, Melissa Barney, Jacob Henry Barney, Marcy Jane Barney

History - Marcy moved to central Illinois with her parents in 1829. There she married John Williams, February 10, 1831, and they had six children while living near Mt. Pulaski, Sangamon (now Logan) County, Illinois. LDS (Mormon) missionaries visited the area in the early 1840's. According to her grandchildren, Marcy wanted to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but her husband forbade it because of the persecution he had seen around the area. He died September 20, 1844 in or near Springfield, Illinois.

Marcy, with the family, then removed to Kanesville, on the Missouri River where the body of the Saints were gathered. A great deal of courage was manifested in this move as the father's will, which left considerable property to the family, did not permit the family to leave the county [Logan County, Illinois] until the youngest child was of age. This provision was made to keep the family from joining the Church. A strong watch was kept over the family day and night to see that they did not leave. However, one night at the hour of twelve, during a change of guards, the mother took the family and reached a river steamer at daybreak.

Bishop Bigler, later bishop of Nephi, was on board looking for a sister. Some power told him that Sister Williams, the mother, was a Saint, so during the night he came and awakened the family, telling them to get bag and baggage and get off the steamer at the first landing for he had a vision. Without asking any questions, they landed [got off the steamer]. Next morning they again boarded the first steamer going their way. They had not gone far when they beheld only the smokestack of the other steamer protruding from the water. A terrific explosion had destroyed the ship and all including the crew and passengers.

Marcy married Henry Barney in 1846. He was already a member of the Church, having joined in 1840. Marcy must have known Henry Barney at least as long as she had known John Williams, because the Barneys, Lucases, and Williamses were all neighbors in Sangamon/Logan Co., Illinois in the 1830's.

The family emigrated to Utah in 1849, coming with ox-teams. The journey was uneventful. They were in St. Louis at the time of the Cholera plague* during which deaths were as high as 365 in one day. They arrived in Provo in October of 1849. They stayed there [in Provo] two or three years and then moved on down to Southern Utah.***

Ambrose Shurtz, a grandson, wrote in Feb. 1961 about his grandmother Marcy Jane Lucas Williams Barney: "(I regret that as a boy] I failed to find out about why it was necessary for Grandma Williams [while in Illinois] to escape a guard that had been placed over her to see that she did not join the church and come to Utah. I could have known all about this, had I taken advantage of my association with Grandma and my own mother. A few more words about Grandma which I think is quite appropriate. She was quite tall, but of slender build, had very black hair, and was always very industrious. Her conversion to the Church was full and complete. Her testimony never faltered. She always bore a testimony that Joseph Smith was divinely called by the Lord to act in His hands as an instrument to re-establish the Church. Toward the end of her life she became totally blind. On March 20, 1896 she died and was buried in Escalante Cemetery."

• **Note: Since they were in St. Louis in the summer of 1849, this indicates that the Williams family didn't travel to Kanesville until after this time. Probably they had been staying in the Nauvoo area, most likely on the western side of the Mississippi River near Montrose, Iowa, before 1849. Rather than crossing Iowa by wagon, an easier way to start the journey from Montrose to Utah was to take a steamer down the Mississippi River, stopping in St. Louis, then take another steamer up the Missouri River to Kanesville (or to the Winter Quarters area on the Nebraska side of the Missouri River). The ox-teams departed from Council Bluffs for Utah. The Mormon Pioneer Database shows that they actually crossed the plains in 1850, with the Warren Foote Company, arriving in September 1850.

Family links:

Spouses:

 Henry Barney (1816 - 1887)

 John Williams (1808 - 1844)*

Children:

 Amanda Williams Clark (1835 - 1920)*

 Sarah Angeline Williams Glenn (1836 - 1914)*

 Polly Williams Davis (1838 - 1914)*

 George Williams (1842 - 1914)*

 Elizabeth Williams Shirts (1844 - 1907)*

 Mary Ann Williams Lee (1844 - 1882)*

 Jacob Henry Barney (1851 - 1851)*

 Melissa Barney (1852 - 1853)*

 Marcy Jane Barney Deuel (1854 - 1927)*

*Calculated relationship

Note: Family research indicate birth date as 25 Dec 1812 and death date as 20 Nov 1896. Sealed to Erastus Fairbanks Snow in 1890.

Burial: Escalante Cemetery Escalante Garfield County Utah, USA Plot: 214

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Maintained by: SMSmith Originally Created by: Utah State Historical So... Record added: Feb 02, 2000 Find A Grave Memorial# 118819 https://old.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=118819