Mary Jane Champlin

MARY JANE CHAMPLIN

20 May 1830 Born in Brooklyn, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania to William Sisson Champlin and Mary or Polly Ring.

30 Oct 1838 Her family were survivors in the Haun's Mill Massacre in Missouri; she would have been 8 years old at that time. Lived in the family of Prophet Joseph Smith's home in Nauvoo, Illinois.

27 Aug 1849 Married Stewart Dickson at Austin, Fremont, Iowa at 19 years old. Moved around the first few years. Each child born in different place

23 Aug 1851 First child, William S. Dickson, born in Kanesville, Potawattamie, Iowa.

7 Aug 1853 Second child, Mary Sophronia, born in Lehi, Utah, Utah.

10 Nov 1855 Third child Sarah Maria Dickson born in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah.

2 Mar 1858 Received endowments and was sealed to husband in Endowment House.

9 Nov 1858 Fourth child, Adelaide Avilda Dickson born in Centerville, Davis, Utah.

1860 Listed in Brigham City, Box Elder, Utah on census page 200.

8 May 1862 Fifth child Albert Henry Dickson born in Brigham City, Box Elder, Utah.

4 Apr 1863 Next 3 children born in Richville, Morgan, Utah.

1870 Listed in Richville, Morgan, Utah on census page 33.

1881 Moved to Woodruff, Rich, Utah and lived south of Woodruff on Saleratus Creek President of Saleratus Creek Relief Society. Her name is on quilt from Bear Lake Stake which is in DUP museum showing her as President.

1900 Listed on census in Woodruff, Rich, Utah with daughter and son-in-law, Ezekiel and Adelaide Lee.

7 Jun 1893 When daughter Lucy Helen Dickson Cornia, died 7 Jun 1893, she went into her son-in-law's home to care for the family which included Peter Carlos Cornia and his children Jeannette 10 years old, Peter Carlos 7 years old , Lucy Helen 5 years old, and Milton 1 year old. Peter was married almost 3 years later to Sarah Reed 8 Apr 1896.

6 Jan 1896 At celebration in Woodruff as Utah became a state, she made some remarks.

10 Jan 1900 Member of Relief Society that was first organized in Ivins Ward, Bannock Stake, Idaho.

21 Feb 1900 At Old Folks Party in Woodruff and mentioned as living in the Prophet Joseph Smith's home.

1900 Census Listed in Woodruff, Rich, Utah with daughter and son-in-law Ezekiel and Adelaide Lee.

1 Nov 1906 Died in Chesterfield, Bannock, Idaho at 76 years old.

MARY JANE CHAMPLIN DICKSON (1830-1906) Mary Jane was born in 1830 in Brooklin, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. The Champlin family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while the headquarters were in Kirtland, Ohio, and they moved there soon after. They later moved to Missouri, then they lived at Kirtland, their family became friends with the family of John Dickson. As recorded in Church History, Mary Jane, at eight years of age, participated at the Haun's Mill Massacre.

At Haun's Mill men were gathered near the blacksmith shop, and the women and children were around their respective camps when the mob came in. The men dashed for the shop and the women and children ran for the woods.

Mother Champlin and her three girls ages ten, eight, and six stayed in the woods until the shooting had ceased and the mob had left. When they came out of the woods they found a few men who had not been killed, debating what to do with the bodies of the seventeen dead men.

William Sisson Champlin was among the uninjured. He fell to the ground by the blacksmith shop and pretended to be dead. Others fell across him, but he did not move a muscle, and was the one person who heard everything that was said by the mob. One mobster discovered a small boy hidden under the bellows and another said to him, "You are not going to kill that child, are you?" The other replied, "Nits make lice," and shot the child.

So perfectly did William Champlin feign death that one of the mob pulled a new pair of boots from his feet without discovering that he was alive.

When Mary Jane was a girl of fifteen years, she worked on a farm owned by the Prophet Joseph Smith, four miles east of Nauvoo, Illinois. She cooked for him whenever he visited the farm. Many times she rode "Joe Duncan" and "Charlie", horses owned by the Prophet and Emma Smith. She talked to the Prophet the same she would have talked to her own father.

Mary Jane was at the meeting when Brigham Young took on the appearance and the voice of the Prophet, and but for the fact that she knew he was dead, there would have been no doubt as to his identity.

Mary Jane married Stuart Dickson August 27,1849. Stuart was a shoemaker. They joined the exodus westward in 1852. The 1,200 miles of endless prairie, dust, mud, huge rocks, deep ruts and high sage, always the fear of Indians were experiences they had. At the end of the day they cooked what little food they had over an open fire. Their beds were on the ground near the carts with the heavens for a roof, the howling wolves and lonely coyotes nearby. They experienced heartbreak, sorrow, and misery on this seemingly endless journey but faith and courage traveled with them each day.

After their arrival into the Great Salt Lake Valley, Stuart and Mary Jane settled in Lehi, Utah County, where three daughters were born to them. After being hi the valley for a few years, they traveled to the Endowment House in Salt Lake City and were sealed for time and all eternity and received their endowments on March 2,1858. Later, they moved north to Brigham City, and then later again to Richville, where three more daughters were born.

Stuart and Mary Jane's golden years were spent in Idaho living with some of their children. Mary Jane passed away at the age of seventy-six years. In 1911 Stuart passed away. They are buried in Chesterfield, Idaho.

A quilt displayed in the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum, included the name of Mary Jane Dickson, showing her to be the president of the Salratus Creek Relief Society.

From Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude. Daughters of Utah Pioneers, pages SIS-816.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Aug 4 2017, 22:58:17 UTC