Miranda (Jones) Davis Newton

Miranda's name at birth was Jones. She was the daughter of Samuel Jones and Dorothy Whitcomb, originally of Bolton, Massachusetts.

First Marriage

Her first husband was James Davis (b. October 5, 1786 in Princeton, Worcester County, Massachusetts - d. Sept. 29, 1814 in same). The couple married in Princeton and had three children:

• Charles Augustus Davis
• Maria Louise Davis
• Lucretia Davis

In 1814, James was killed by a falling tree, leaving Miranda to care for their three young children alone.

Second Marriage

Miranda first appears in Hubbardston records as "Mrs. Miranda Davis of Princeton," who married Nathan Newton. Their intentions to marry were published on September 21, 1821, and their actual marriage took place on October 14, 1821. Their children were:

• Miranda (Mary) Jones Newton, b. September 16, 1822 in Hubbardston
• Miriam Lyon Newton, b. September 12, 1824 in Hubbardston
• Lucy Newton, b. May 9, 1827 in Hubbardston

Conversion, Sealing & Migration

Along with her three children from her first marriage, Miranda -- now widowed again -- converted to Mormonism in 1841 and joined the Mormon migration westward. Her endowment ceremony was on December 23, 1845 at the Nauvoo Temple.

On January 15, 1846, she was one of five women sealed to John Smith, though the marriage was sacramental only and the two never cohabitated.

Miranda survived the persecution at Nauvoo, the bitter cold and disease at Winter Quarters, and eventually made it to Utah in 1850 after burying her daughter Maria and all six of her grandchildren through Maria along the way. At Nauvoo, she had been among the last to leave and was allegedly forced out at bayonet-point with Maria's family. She was part of the Shadrach Roundy Company and William Snow/Joseph Young Company.

At Spanish Fork, Utah, she lived with her son-in-law, Maria's husband Stillman Pond, who became a prominent colonizer. Miranda died there on December 9, 1857 and was buried there in the same month.

Sources

• Bird, Twila Davis. "Blessed, Honored Pioneers." August 7, 2011.
• Leonard, Ermina Elizabeth Newton. Newton Genealogy. Higginson Book Co., 1915.
• Pond, Leon Y. and H. Ray Pond. "Stillman Pond: A Biographical Sketch." Received electronically, 2011.
• Rice, Franklin P. Vital Records of Hubbardston, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. 1907.
• Stowe, J. M. History of the Town of Hubbardston, 1686-1881. Hubbardston, MA: Higginson Book Co., 1881. Reprint: General Books, 2010.
• Sullivan, Leo J. History of the Town of Hubbardston. Hubbardston, MA: Hubbardston Historical Commission, 2011.
• University of Virginia Mormon Studies Program. "The John Smith and Clarissa Lyman Family." < link > Accessed 28 October 2020.
• --. "Miranda Jones." < link > Accessed 1 December 2021.
• Find-A-Grave