Margaret Elizabeth Crandall

• Updated from MyHeritage Family Trees via son Harvey Leslie Crandall by SmartCopy: Aug 8 2015, 13:22:26 UTC

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GEDCOM Note

Life History of Margaret Elizabeth Guymon Crandall (1846 - 1929)

Margaret Elizabeth Guymon was born in Winter Quarters, Iowa on September 29, 1846, the daughter of Noah Thomas Guymon and Margaret Johnson, who were converts to the Latter-day Saint Church. Her father, Noah T. Guymon was noted for his honesty and integrity. Her mother, Margaret Johnson, was from a well-to-do family and the trials and hardships of pioneer life were very hard for one to bear whose whole life had been heretofore one of comfort and ease.

Grandma and Grandpa told of their experiences in Nauvoo, especially about the time of the Prophet´s martyrdom. How the gloom and depression of everyone was almost more than they could stand. She was at the meeting when the Mantle of the Prophet fell upon Brigham Young. She told her grandchildren that the day was very warm and she was standing at the back of the gathering when Brother Brigham started to speak. She testified that when he spoke, it was with the voice and expression of Joseph Smith.

Margaret Elizabeth´s parents were driven from Nauvoo with the rest of the Saints. In the spring of 1846 they stopped at Winter Quarters where their first child, Margaret Elizabeth, was born on September 29th.

They did not reach the Salt Lake Valley until 1852, when the company stopped in Salt Lake. Noah T. Guymon and family were told to move on some 56 miles further south where the city of Springville now is. They settled on a farm near this town.

The Indians were very troublesome at this time. At one time the word was sent that Chief Walker was on the warpath and for all the women and children to gather quickly in the meeting house and stay there while the men joined in repelling the Indians. The day was hot and their supply of water was gone. No one dared to go to the creek for more until Grandmother Guymon took the bucket and ran quickly to the stream, filled the bucket and ran back. They had been told to keep the doors closed and they all suffered greatly with the heat. Grandmother said, Well, I´ll stand in the door and watch and if I see an Indian, we can close the door before they get any more than me!´´

Margaret Elizabeth, more commonly called Betsy, received her education in the schools in Springville and when she was 17 years of age, she married Hyrum Oscar Crandall, March 6, 1864. Later they were sealed in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah, January 14, 1869.

One year later a baby girl was born to them, who lived just four months. Two years later a boy was born to them, Hyrum Oscar, Jr.

They had been married five years when it was decided that Betsy´s husband, Hyrum, would take a second wife, so he married her younger sister, Harriet. This was just a short time before Betsy´s second son, Franklin Edgar was born. Betsy worked very hard spinning the wool and weaving the cloth to make a suit for Hyrum to wear when he went to the Manti Temple to be married to Harriet. It was a three-day journey from Springville to Manti, so Grandmother Guymon went with them, Betsy not being well enough to go on account of her approaching confinement.

In 1879 the two families moved to Huntington, Emery County, Utah, but not finding what they wanted, they later moved to Vernal, Utah where Betsy was first counselor in the Relief Society. At this time the anti-Mormons were getting very active in the persecutions of the Latter-day Saints and so it was decided that they would emigrate to Mexico. On the 22nd day of January, 1890, they started with the two wives and 18 children. They arrived in Deming, New Mexico, on June 5, 1890, being six months on the journey.

On June 28, 1890 the last of Betsy´s twelve children was born, Leroy Ira. Three months later Betsey decided to return to Utah, leaving Hyrum with Aunt Harriet and her family. She then lived in the little town of Indianola, Utah, where she worked very hard to support her family. Here she was made president of the Relief Society.

After one year, Hyrum, having made a home for the second family, returned to Utah. Betsy was surely happy to be relieved of the burden of obtaining a livelihood for her large family.

Shortly after that, they moved to Otto, Wyoming, where again Betsey was made president of the Relief Society. During this time the dues for the Relief Society for a year was a bushel of wheat. This was started by Brigham Young. Betsy would take the buckboard and go to each home and carry the wheat from each home. Bertha and Julia went along to hold the lines for the horses.

They were still collecting wheat when Bertha was Relief Society president many years later, and they stored it in Relief Society granaries. During the World War, the President of the Church offered this wheat to the United States to sell to France.

After living in Wyoming until 1897, they moved again. This time to Driggs, Idaho, where Betsy was again made president of the Relief Society, a position she held for 15 years.

On April 30, 1904, Hyrum was stricken with a heart attack and died. This was a terrible blow to her and for a time the family feared that she would go too. Patriarch Latham was called in and gave her a wonderful blessing and told her that she was to stay and instruct the young mothers. Brother Latham lived 15 miles from Driggs and Bertha was sent to fetch him. After a large dinner, she took him back to his home.

Leslie was on his mission in the Easter States when Hyrum died. He came home and was unable to finish his mission. He had met Sally May Colvin on his mission and two years later he sent for her. She met him in Salt Lake City and they were married in the temple.

The twelve children born to Betsy and Hyrum were: 1) Clara Elizabeth (lived four months), 2) Hyrum Oscar, 3) Franklin Edgar, 4) Wallace Martin, 5) Harvey Leslie, 6) Mable Tryphena, 7) Helen Irene, 8) Zina Luella, 9) Bertha Grace, 10) Ross Nathan (lived six months), 11) Julia Bisbee, and 12) Elroy Ira (died age 3).

Betsy Guymon Crandall had a very strong testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel. She was a devout member of the Mormon Church and served all her life in the many organizations of the church.

Hyrum had been a lieutenant in the Blackfoot Indian War, and after he died, Betsy got a $45.00 pension once a month from the War Department. She sent Harriet half of it for a long time then decided that she would keep it one month and the next month give it to Harriet. One of the last things she did before she died was to mail Harriet her check. At one time Leslie told her that he didn´t feel that she should have to divide with Harriet, and Betsy said: Do you think I want to meet your Father in the next world and have him feel that I wasn´t fair?´´ Someone asked Father one time if he had ever killed an Indian and he said: I very much hope not, but I might have. At one time during the war the Indians seemed to know our every move. At last we saw an Indian riding on the hill above the battle, riding back and forth and giving them information. The Captain said shoot´´ and two of us shot. I always have hoped it was the other fellow´s bullet that killed him.

Until Margaret Elizabeth had a severe spell of pneumonia at the age of 75, she had never had the care of a doctor. She lived in Driggs until she was 83 years old, January 15, 1929.

REFLECTIONS OF A GRANDDAUGHTER By Glyda Johnson Webb

While I was just a little girl, I lived with Grandma while Mother clerked at the store in Driggs and my dad carried the mail over the hill´´ into Jackson Hole. I don´t remember anything about it except that I always had a deep love for Grandma Crandall.

Life was always interesting when Grandma came to see us, for with every new baby, Grandma came to help take care of Mama.

And how our lives changed. It was unheard of to take a bath every day, but every night all of our feet had to be washed and dirty hands and face were scrubbed before we went to bed, much to my brother Irvin´s disgust. Not only that, but it seemed she used gallons of water that had to be pumped by hand, and if Irvin wasn´t on hand, it was one of us girls that had to do it.

I remember bath time (once a week) well. The old wash tub was put up on two chairs and about two inches of warm water was put in it. A couple of chairs were put in front of it to put a blanket on to keep the heat of the big black range, and also for modesty´s sake. The first one to take a bath was the baby, whoever it chanced to be, then each one took his turn, generally adding warm water from the tea kettle with each new bather, until we were all clean.

Grandma was a firm believer that cleanliness was next to Godliness and she didn´t think that children weren´t made to help. My, how she would make the dust fly (with our help)!

She didn´t see much humor in our putting the baby in the tub, on some pillows and sailing her down the stream in front of our house, but oh, how Helen loved it, and even Mom would let us do it, with a watchful eye on the tub, but when Grandma came we didn´t get away with such shenanigans!

I remember Grandmother had such beautiful white hair, and she was real proud of it. In the days when there were no whiteners, after she washed her hair, she always rinsed it in bluing water. When she went out it was always becomingly fixed, she was dressed nicely and at her throat she always wore a piece of lace in the front of her dress and a nice pin.

Her clothes always smelled nice because she kept a bar of soap in with her things to keep them smelling that way. I remember when I was about 14, she gave me a bar of Woodbury´s Complexion soap and I protected it from everyone else. If the Woodbury Company realized what a booster they had in Grandma, they undoubtedly would have paid her for it.

When I graduated from the eighth grade, Grandma Crandall asked me to come to Driggs and live with her, and I know I must have been quite a handful, especially for a person that old. I remember talking to her about polygamy, and I was saying that I wouldn´t do it. Well, after I had finished my tirade, Grandma just looked at me, but with a look I´ll always remember she said, Glyda, don´t let me ever hear you talk like that again! We went into polygamy because we were called to do it. We went for our eternal salvation. There was no law in the Church as hard to live as that was. I have suffered more for that principle than any other principle of the Church. Don´t you ever dare to talk against it´´…and I never have.

GEDCOM Note

GEDCOM Source

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Year: 1870; Census Place: Springville, Utah, Utah Territory; Roll: M593_1612; Page: 331B; Image: 659; Family History Library Film: 553111

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GEDCOM Source

Year: 1850; Census Place: Utah, Utah Territory; Roll: M432_919; Page: 136B; Image: 279

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GEDCOM Source

Year: 1880; Census Place: Huntington, Emery, Utah; Roll: 1336; Family History Film: 1255336; Page: 323B; Enumeration District: 018

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GEDCOM Source

Year: 1880; Census Place: Huntington, Emery, Utah; Roll: 1336; Family History Film: 1255336; Page: 323B; Enumeration District: 18; Image: . Birth date: abt 1847Birth place: IowaResidence date: 1880Residence place: Huntington, Emery, Utah, United States

GEDCOM Source

GEDCOM Source

Year: 1880; Census Place: Huntington, Emery, Utah; Roll: 1336; Family History Film: 1255336; Page: 323B; Enumeration District: 018; Image: . Birth date: abt 1847 Birth place: Iowa Residence date: 1880 Residence place: Huntington, Emery, Utah, United States

GEDCOM Source

GEDCOM Source

Year: 1880; Census Place: Huntington, Emery, Utah; Roll: 1336; Family History Film: 1255336; Page: 323B; Enumeration District: 18; Image: . Birth date: abt 1847Birth place: IowaResidence date: 1880Residence place: Huntington, Emery, Utah, United States

GEDCOM Source

GEDCOM Source

Year: 1870; Census Place: Springville, Utah, Utah Territory; Roll: M593_1612; Page: 331B; Image: 659; Family History Library Film: 553111

GEDCOM Source

GEDCOM Source

Year: 1850; Census Place: Utah, Utah Territory; Roll: M432_919; Page: 136B; Image: 279

GEDCOM Source

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry Family Trees http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=21422852&amp...

GEDCOM Source

GEDCOM Source

Year: 1880; Census Place: Huntington, Emery, Utah; Roll: 1336; Family History Film: 1255336; Page: 323B; Enumeration District: 018

GEDCOM Source

GEDCOM Source

Year: 1880; Census Place: Huntington, Emery, Utah; Roll: 1336; Family History Film: 1255336; Page: 323B; Enumeration District: 18; Image: . Birth date: abt 1847Birth place: IowaResidence date: 1880Residence place: Huntington, Emery, Utah, United States

GEDCOM Source

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=50168237&amp...

GEDCOM Source

GEDCOM Source

Year: 1880; Census Place: Huntington, Emery, Utah; Roll: 1336; Family History Film: 1255336; Page: 323B; Enumeration District: 018; Image: . Birth date: abt 1847 Birth place: Iowa Residence date: 1880 Residence place: Huntington, Emery, Utah, United States