Mary Jane Hill

Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847–1868

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Birth: Jan. 9, 1832 Montgomery County Illinois, USA

Death: Feb. 5, 1896 Fish Haven Bear Lake County Idaho, USA

Daughter of James Dean Miller and Sarah Searcy

Married John Hopwood Bleazard, 30 Mar 1846, Winter Quarters, Pottawattamie, Iowa.

Children - Mary Ann Bleazard; Sarah Jane Bleazard.

Married Isaac John Hill, 27 Oct 1852, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah.

Children - Eliza Homer Hill; Samuel Robert Hill; Ellen Margaret Hill; Joseph Young Hill; Martha Emeline Hill; Sylvia Annie Hill; Jacob Brigham Hill; Isaac Hill; Hyrum Smith Hill; Infant Hill; Elizabeth Hill.

Mary Jane embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ with her family when she was twelve years of age and was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is believed that her father, James Miller, died at Nauvoo, Illinois, while working on the temple.

Mary Jane and her mother Sarah Searcy were married in polygamy to John H. Blazzard (30 March 1848), and Mary Jane bore two children. Mary Jane was later granted a divorce in 1851.

Mary Jane, her daughter Sarah, and her mother left Illinois in 1848, and walked across the Plains in the Captain Hopper Company.

Mary Jane and her sister Martha, married Isaac Hill in polygamy on 27 October 1852. Their husband was called as a bishop's councilor and then as bishop. During the time he served in the bishopric, Mary Jane and several other women were called and set apart to serve as nurses by President Brigham Young; a calling she served until her death.

In September 1864, Mary Jane and her husband Isaac, received a call from President Young to go and help settle the Bear Lake region of Idaho. They settled first in St Charles and then in Fish Haven, Idaho.

The first winter was extremely difficult, they got snowed in and couldn't get supplies. They had very little food and warm clothing, and the winter was bitter cold. Mary Jane learned to ice fish on Bear Lake, to help supplement their food supply. The second winter was also harsh. Their food supply was again meager because of the cricket plague during the summer, however, they were able to build an adequate shelter to protect them from the cold and snow.

Mary Jane's husband, Isaac, died in June of 1879, and one year later, in 1880, Mary Jane and her family accepted a call to go to Castle Valley. They left in the spring and arrived in Huntington in July.

She and her son, Hyrum, farmed in Huntington Canyon and nearby, until 1892, when they returned to Fish Haven, Idaho, where she remained until her death on 5 February 1896, after being a widow for over seventeen years. She was buried in St. Charles, Idaho, beside her husband.

Mary Jane was a true, faithful and devoted Latter-day Saint. She was truly a wonderful pioneer woman of great faith and fortitude, honored by all.

Family links:

Parents:

• James Dean Miller (1810 - 1841)
• Sarah Searcy Pectol (1815 - 1889)

Spouses:

• John Hopwood Bleazard (1803 - 1871)

*Isaac John Hill (1806 - 1879)

Children:

• Sarah Jane Bleazard Stewart (1848 - 1922)*
• Elizabeth Hill Johnson (1853 - 1936)*
• Jacob Brigham Hill (1855 - 1856)*
• Isaac Hill (1857 - 1912)*
• Eliza Homer Hill Howard (1860 - 1933)*
• Samuel Robert Hill (1862 - 1902)*
• Ella Margaret Hill Smith (1864 - 1921)*
• Ellen Margaret Hill Smith (1864 - 1921)*
• Joseph Young Hill (1866 - 1929)*
• Sylvia Annie Hill Oviatt (1868 - 1946)*
• Hyrum Smith Hill (1874 - 1945)* Infant Hill (1874 - ____)*

Burial: Saint Charles Cemetery Saint Charles Bear Lake County Idaho, USA

• Updated from MyHeritage Family Trees via daughter Eliza Homer Howard (born Hill) by SmartCopy: May 19 2015, 7:42:34 UTC