LIFE OF JOHN GREEN

Written and compiled by Melissa Green Manwill.

John Green was born 27 October 1834, in Claverley, Shropshire, England.  He was the son of William Henry Green and Mary Bennett Green.  He had a brother Samuel, born 28 October 1831, a sister Mary, born 19 February 1838, and Hannah born 15 March 1841.

He lived with his father and mother until he was old enough to shift for himself.  So he and his brother Samuel moved around in search of work doing anything they could find.  His father moved to Kensworth, Hertfordshire.  John and Sam joined the family here.  It was here that, his father William Henry and wife had already heard the missionaries and were anxious to have the two boys home with them so they could all embrace the gospel at the same time.  They were all baptized on January 11, l850.  They all became devout members of the Studham Branch.  Mary Bennett was baptized in 1849.

Life changed for the family after they joined the Church.  They accepted it with all their heart and soul.  They were willing to make any sacrifice necessary for the Gospel’s sake.

Soon after Christmas in the year 1852, they bid farewell to their friends, neighbors and their home in McRowan St. in Worchestershire, and went to Liverpool, England, to wait for the vessel that was to take them across the deep waters of the Atlantic to the United States and the City of Zion.  While waiting for the ship they witnessed disappointment and hardships.

On February 2, 1853, a vessel docked in the harbor of Liverpool.  The family was told they could board this vessel and sail for America in a few days.  It was called the "Elvira Owen."  How happy they were to be on their way at last, There were mixed feelings at leaving their native land and going to a land unknown to them.  But they had great faith that the Lord would protect them and deliver them safely to their new home.  So on the 12th of February the "Elvira Owen" set sail for New Orleans.  The saints suffered many hardships.  The waves were so large, they racked the ship and most everyone was sick the entire journey.  They held daily prayers for their safety and guidance.  Despite their sickness they all joined in the singing of the songs of Zion.

On the 23rd day of March 1853, after a speedy voyage, lasting only 36 days, the ship arrived at the bar of the Mississippi River.  The ship was towed up the river to New Orleans, arriving there the 31st day of March.  Proceeding on up the river, they arrived at Keokuk on the 13th day of April.  Here they had to be outfitted for their trek Westward.  They got their covered wagon and oxen and journeyed to Montrose, Iowa.  They made this their home while preparations were being made for the 1,500 mile trek to Zion.

The Green family came in the Cyrus H. Wheelock Company.  They traveled under the provision of the 10 lb. company.  There were only five groups in the 10 lb. company.  They were called the Poor Fund.  The people in the 10 lb. Company were each given 10 lbs. of English money for their journey to Zion.  This was a meager amount, they had to survive on very little.  They had to walk the whole distance as there weren't enough wagons and oxen for them to ride.  Their mother was a very frail little lady and the trip was very hard on her.  Her two sons, Samuel and John would put her on a cart and push her part of the way.

John was a young lad of twenty.  He was strong and healthy.  He helped the weaker ones, drove the oxen teams, helped pitch camp, brought firewood and did all he could to make the journey pleasant, He was of a very impressionable age and each days activities were imprinted on his mind.  This hard trek across the plains helped to prepare him for the hard life that lay ahead of him.

The Company left Montrose, Iowa the 11th day of July 1853.  It was a beautiful morning to start their westward journey.  Despite the deprivations of the Company their spirits were high.  Again they bid goodbye to their home, this time a camp ground of about 3 months.

With a song in their heart and faith in their Heavenly Father, the camp pulled out one by one until the last wagon was on its way.  It took them three months and five days to make the journey to the Rocky Mountains.  They arrived in Salt Lake the evening of October 16, 1853.  What a thrill it was to look down into the valley, the city of Zion, their destination.  They thought all their hardships were over, but alas, little did they know what lay ahead of them.

After a short resting period, Brigham Young called them to go to Pleasant Grove and help settle there.  They left Salt Lake in their covered wagon and yoke of oxen and scanty possessions.  The Fort had just been completed, so all the pioneer families were asked to live within the walls of the Fort.  This was to protect them from the Indians.

During 1853 and a portion of 1854, the Walker War started.  Walker, a favorite Chief of the Utahns, was at this time in the prime of his life, an excellent shot and a capable judge of horse-flesh.  He spoke several dialects, could converse fluently in Spanish and make himself understood in English.  At first Walker received the exiled Saints with open arms, gave them information as to the nature of the country, advised them where to make settlements, and guarded them from depredation.  But when he saw that they had occupied his valuable lands, when game disappeared from the mountains, and when his people were shot down without provocation, and their cattle stolen by bands of emigrants passing through the State, his friendship turned to hate and he longed to rid himself of the white man.  Hostilities broke out in July.  The Saints tried everything possible to settle the trouble with Walker.  They offered ponies, beef, flour and blankets, but Walker refused to settle.  Caldwell's cavalry and Parry's infantry was called to be mustered and be ready for action.  All males over 16 years of age were enrolled as a home guard.  John Green enlisted in the home guard.  He went with his father to take cows to pasture with a six-shooter strapped on his belt.  Homes had to be guarded at night.  Men, for safety went in large numbers to the canyons to cut timbers, also to their farms to attend to their duties.  Later in 1854 the Indians broke Camp and went into Juab and Sanpete, Millard and Iron Counties.

John Green worked from daylight until dark, helping build roads, bring timber into town to build their homes.  Their first home was a log cabin.  Later they built a two-story rock home,

It was now the year 1855.  John was romantic.  He met a beautiful young lady by the name of Sarah Malinda Alexander.  He fell in love with her and asked her to marry him.  She went to President Brigham Young for advice.  He asked her if she loved him and she told him she liked him, but didn't love him.  They talked it over and President Young told her he thought John Green was a good honest man and perhaps she could learn to love him.  They were married in the endowment house the 27th of May 1856.  John built his young bride a cabin from logs and timber he had hauled in from the mountains.  It was built close to his fathers.  While living in Pleasant Grove, four children were born to them: John Martin, Evaline, Clarissa Louise, and Mary Melissa.

Soon after this fourth child was born, John and Sarah Green were called to help settle Springville.  Again they packed up their few belongings and journeyed south to Springville.  Here, my father Amasa Lyman Green was born.  They named him after Amasa Lyman the Apostle, who was a close friend of Sarah’s father back in Nauvoo, Illinois.

The Indians were still hostile and causing a great deal of anxiety among the settlers.  When Amasa was ten days old, the Indians came and surrounded the house.  They put their horses in the barn and demanded that the Green family leave the premises immediately.  Sarah got up out of her sick bed and John picked up the baby, took the other little ones by the hand and left the house.  They got out to the road, and Sarah said: "where is Melissa, oh! we've left Melissa.”  John ran back and called to the soldiers not to shoot, that there was another baby in the house.  They let him go in, he picked baby Melissa up from the crib and ran out of the house.  He no more than got to the road, when the Indians started firing.  They riddled the house with their bullets.  Then they moved in, stayed long enough to eat all the provisions that were stored under the house, consisting of two barrels of molasses, all their meat and flour.

When the Green family moved back into the house, he had to ask the Bishop for some of the food that had been turned in for tithing.

Now John was called to help settle Fairview.  So again they packed up their belongings and left for Sanpete County.  While living here they suffered many hardships.  Sarah now with five children under the age of eight years old had all she could do to take care of them.  John was always on guard duty, and Sarah was left alone most of the time.  The Black Hawk War was raging, every able bodied man was called out to protect their family and animals.

In 1866 John and Sarah and five children moved to Mt. Pleasant.  While John was still fighting the Indians, diphtheria broke out in the community.  Most of the families contracted the disease.  Their daughter, Clarissa Louise died of it in the spring of 1867.  She was only six years old.  A few months later, a son, Horace Alexander was born.  This child helped to ease the pain of the loss of their small daughter.

There was no let up with the Indians.  They dressed up in their war-paint and raided the settlements in Utah, Juab and Sanpete Counties.  They kept it up during that Summer and into Autumn.  Because of this fact, it was extremely necessary to keep guards on duty at all times.  Even in their religious services men sat with their guns by their side. The Black Hawk War brought much suffering in mind and body to the inhabitants of these valleys, as well as taking many lives.  From 1867 on, the dread of the trouble with the Indians ceased.  Peace and happiness was once more in the hearts of the Saints.  In 1869 the John Green family moved to Mona, Utah in Juab County.  He dug a dug-out in the side of a knoll down by the Old Pond south of Mona.  The family lived here until John could build a larger home.

He took up a homestead west of town and built a comfortable adobe home.  He lived here till his dying day.

John ran a thresher over into Sanpete County, doing this for some time.  Later he worked at the Homersville Mill in Tintic.  He also worked in the mine taking out silver.  While working at the Homersville Mill he had the contract to supply the mill with cord wood at $3.00 a cord.  On his own farm he cut grain and hay in the old way with scythe and cradle.  He fixed up an old rake for the children to rake it up with.  In the Fall he would get some hay from his father’s estate in Pleasant Grove, but would take most of his cattle to Pleasant Grove to pasture.  Besides farming and hauling he run the mail by pony into the surrounding counties.

The winter of 1889-90 was an extremely cold one and the one cow that was left for the family to milk, starved and froze to death.  The family had nothing to eat but bran and duck-meat.  Amasa and Sarah would wrap their feet in sacks and rawhide moccasins and go out and kill the ducks.  In this way they provided the family with meat.

When Jim, the youngest boy was four years old, grandmother Green separated from grandpa.  They divided the homestead and each took half.  She took the lower half and he went to Tintic for awhile.  Sarah had a very hard life.  She was left alone most of the time while grandfather moved around.  She lived in the old home till Hans Mortensen (her sister’s husband) came and took her and the youngest children down to Parowan.  They were married in Manti on the way down.  Here Sarah Alexander Green lived until she died.  She was buried in Parowan.  John Green came back to Mona and lived here till his death in 14 November 1908.  It is a sad story of hardships.  At times their faith wavered.  They thought their life would be much better in the land of Zion than it was in England.  But the years were filled with disappointments and hardships.  I hope her few remaining years in Parowan were better than the early years after coming to Utah.

This information was furnished by Aunt Sarah.  She frequently came to Mona and told us these stories.  I also got some stories from the book on Juab County, also the book on Sanpete County.