[Birth] Alexander McRae was born September 7, 1807, in Anson County (Very Close to Charlotte), North Carolina. [1] [Parents] He was the first child of John B. and Mary Jane McRae McRae. [Grandparents] His grandfather, Phillip McRae, had come to the United States about the time of the Revolution from Kintail, in the far northern part of Scotland.
He moved with his parents into South Carolina, and then later went with them to Iredell County, North Carolina. [2] In March, 1829, Alexander enlisted in the United States Army in South Carolina. [3] While in the army, or possibly before he enlisted, he learned the trade of a tailor. [4] While serving in the army he was sent as far west as Iowa on account of an Indian uprising. [5] After serving five years, he was discharged in 1834. [6]
Having left the service, he worked for some time as a tailor, traveling through several states. Finally he went to work for David Fitzgerald in a small town in Kentucky. While working there Alexander met David's sister Eunice. [7] Apparently he fell in love with her, because on the second of October, 1834, they were married at Newcastle, Henry County, Kentucky. [8] Alexander was 27 at the time, and Eunice was 16.
She had been born February 7, 1818, in Newcastle, the daughter of Joseph Hawkins and Catherine Parkhurst Fitzgerald. [9] Her father had been born in Virginia and her mother in New Jersey. They had been living in Henry County since about 1800. Her father had been a soldier under General Anthony Wayne in the War of 1812. [10]
Soon after their marriage, Alexander and Eunice moved across the Ohio River to Ripley County, Indiana, where Alexander established himself on a farm. [11] Their first child, John, was born there January 30, 1836. [12]
In 1837, they were visited on their farm by missionaries (Who???) of the L.D.S. Church. [13] "Alexander was a Baptist, but upon hearing that the Mormons believed in baptism by immersion, he became interested." [14] They had to walk eight miles to hear the elders preach, and would make the return journey the same night on foot, carrying their young baby in their arms. [15] Perhaps their conversion was a quick one, [16] but it must have also represented a difficult choice. Alexander's parents would have nothing to do with him after he joined the Mormon Church. But at any rate, Alexander and Eunice decided that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God [17] and that they would be baptized into the Mormon Church. In June of 1837 they walked the sixteen miles to the place of baptism, carrying John in their arms all the way. When they arrived they found a mob of 200 men who had gathered to prevent any baptisms from taking place. The mormon elders told Alexander and Eunice that they had better postpone the ceremony and wait for a more favorable time. Alexander asked if he was worthy of baptism. The elder told him that he was. "Then I demand baptism, and as for these men, I am not afraid of all the devils out of ****." He and Eunice were baptized by Elisha P. Davis, [18] and none of the 200 moved to stop them. Then they walked sixteen miles home. [19]
Eunice later said, "Alexander was a very profane man, and was addicted to the use of tobacco, but he made a complete reversal of his life." [20]
In September of 1837, the McRaes moved to Far West, Missouri, the center of the Church. Alexander was elected a captain in the 23rd Regiment of the Missouri Militia. [21] During the persecutions and mobbings of 1838 he was very active in defending the members of the Church. Trouble had been building up for a long time between the Mormons and the Missourians. On October 25, a band of Missourians, led by a Captain Bogart, and seventy-five Mormons clashed at Crooked River, and one of the Missourians was killed. Two days later Governor Lilburn W. Boggs issued a proclamation which gave the Mormons a choice between leaving Missouri and being exterminated. Mobs and state militia began to gather around Far West. The Mormons in outlying settlements had moved into Far West for protection and six hundred had armed themselves to defend the city. On October 30 the mob attacked the Mormon settlement at Haun's Mill. 2,000 men arrived at Far West and surrounded the town.
On the 31st several of the leaders of the Church met with General Lucas of the Missouri militia, thinking they were having a conference for settling the problem peaceably. But Colonel George M. Hinkle, in charge of the Mormon forces, surrendered them to the Missourians, and they were made prisoners. Alexander McRae was one of the Saints betrayed by Hinkle. [22] The Missouri forces expected to court martial the Mormon prisoners and have them shot in Far West's city square, [22a] but they were stopped from this by the action of General Doniphan on November 2. Governor Boggs ordered that they be delivered to the civil authorities. 56 were turned over to the court of inquiry of Austin A. King at Richmond. The remaining Mormons in Far West surrendered their arms, after which the mob pillaged the town.
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The prisoners were marched the sixty miles from Far West to Independence and four days later were marched thirty miles further to Richmond, arriving on November 9. [23] Charges of high treason, murder, burglary, arson, robbery and larceny were brought against 53 of them. The preliminary hearing began before Austin A. King, of the 5th Judicial Circuit of Missouri, on November 11. The first act of the court was to send out a body of armed men, without a civil process, to obtain witnesses. [24] Thomas C. Burch began to present the case for the prosecution on the 13th. Sixty-one pages of testimony were given claiming the Mormons were trying to overthrow the government of Missouri, form a band of Mormon avengers, and anything else the apostates, who were the main witnesses, wished to claim. The case for the prosecution continued until November 18, when the prisoners were called on for their witnesses. The names of 40 or 50 were given, and these were arrested and put into prison. Finally the attorneys for the defense advised against naming any further witnesses if they wished to have any left for the final hearing. Some witnesses did appear, but they were intimidated to some extent. The testimony for the defense occupied less than four pages. Most of the time while the hearing was going on the prisoners were kept in chains. It was at this time that Joseph rebuked his guards for their blasphemous utterances.
On the 24th of November, twenty-three of the prisoners were discharged as having nothing proven against them. On the 28th, the remaining ones were released or admitted to bail except Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin, Hyrum Smith, Alexander McRae, Sidney Rigdon, and Joseph Smith, who were sent to the jail in Liberty Clay County, to await trial, there being no jail in Caldwell County, where the men had been living prior to their arrest. Parley P. Pratt and four others were sent to the jail of Ray County, at Richmond, to await their trial. All were charged with treason and murder. Joseph Smith said that the treason consisted of having driven the mob out of Daviess County, and the murder in having killed the man at the Crooked River battle in October. [25] The prisoners were angry at Judge King, and their lawyer, Doniphan, declared that King had determined from the beginning to cast them into prison. [26]
On the 29th a wagon drove up to the jail at Richmond and a blacksmith entered with chains and handcuffs. King had made out of mittimus to keep them from getting bail. The blacksmith said that the judge intended to keep them in jail until all the Mormons had left the state, and that if he let them out before that, there would be another d----d fuss kicked up. The smith put the chains on them and they were ordered into the wagon and were driven to Clay County, where they were put in close confinement in the Liberty Jail. [27]
Most of the time they were kept chained together. Joseph wrote, "We are kept under a strong guard, night and day . . . our food is scant, uniform and coarse. We have been compelled to sleep on the floor with straw and not blankets sufficient to keep us warm; and when we have a fire we are obliged to have an almost constant smoke." [28] The jail was 20 feet by 22 feet, and was built of limestone. (I'd like to add in some details from my lesson plans) There was a small barred opening a foot and a half square in the south side. [29] The ceiling wasn't much above five and a half feet high, while Alexander was six foot four or six foot six. [30] It was said, "Alexander McRae stood taller than the Prophet." [30a]
Eunice McRae said, "I visited my husband several times while he was in Liberty Jail. I carried letters to and from the Prophet, that were sent by his family. . . I took him (their second child Joseph, born March 3, 1838, at Far West [31]) to the jail to have him blessed. The prophet blessed him and gave him the name of Joseph." [32] Once the guards searched her before admitting her, [33] but usually they failed to take this precaution. Once she took a pistol in without being detected. [34] On another of her visits she fastened a butcher knife to the inside of her leg and carried that in with her. Joseph told her that that was just the kind of excuse the Missourians wanted to kill them, so she took the knife home with her. [35] When she carried letters in or out, she put them inside her stockings. Eunice also told this of her experiences in the Liberty Jail, "Several times when I visited, I sat down at the table and ate with them. The food was brought in and we all sat down together. The Prophet always deferred to his brother Hyrum, and as he was the eldest he had Hyrum sit at the head of the table and serve. Any meat that was to be carved was carved by Hyrum. One day a piece of roast meat was brought in that looked very dark, as though it had been burned. Brother Hyrum took the carving knife and fork, put the fork into the meat and they fell from his hands. He picked up the tools again and attempted to carve the meat and they fell from his hands again. After the second attempt, the Prophet said, 'Do not touch it, for it is human flesh!' It was afterwards told that the guards boasted they had cut a piece of the flesh from the thigh of an old negro and had fed it to the Mormons." [36]
Hyrum Smith also stated that poison was given to them, as well as the human flesh Eunice mentioned. "Poison was administered to us three or four times. The effect it had upon our systems was that it vomited us almost to death, and then we would lay some two or three days in a torpid state, not even caring or wishing for life.
"The poison would inevitably have proved fatal had not the power of Jehovah interposed in our behalf. . . We were also subjected to the necessity of eating human flesh, for the space of five days, or go without food, except a little coffee or a little corn bread. I chose the latter alternative. None of us partook of the flesh except Lyman Wight. We also heard the guard which was placed over us, making sport of saying that they fed us on 'Mormon beef.'
"I have described the appearance of the flesh to several physicians, and they have decided it was human flesh." [37]
Alexander himself wrote to the Deseret News, "Sometimes during our stay in Liberty Jail an attempt was made to destroy us by poison. I supposed it was administered in either tea or coffee, but as I did not use either, I escaped unhurt, while all who did were sorely afflicted, some being blind two or three days, and it was only by much faith and prayer that the effect was overcome." [38]
The prisoners had twice petitioned the Missouri Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpis, but had been refused both times. In early 1839 they petitioned one of the Clay County judges for a writ, which was granted. They were taken out of jail for a few hours and then were remanded back again. Three or four days later the judge, Judge Turnham, came to the jail and said that he had permitted Sidney Rigdon to get bail (February 1839) but that Rigdon would have to leave in the night or the people would kill him. As to the other five men, "he dare not let us go for fear of his own life, as well as ours." [39]
By this time, the prisoners had decided that they could not have a fair trial, nor would they be released. On the evening of February 7, 1839, they planned to escape, and probably could have done so, but they had some disagreement among themselves and postponed it until the next evening. The attempt to escape at that time failed. [40]
There were two letters written by Alexander McRae to the Desseret News while they were publishing Church History giving details about their stay in Liberty Jail. Letter 1 andLetter 2.
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In March, Edward Partidge wrote to the men in Liberty Jail and mentioned that Sister McRae was at Quincy, staying with a Brother Henderson and was well. [41]
On March 15, 1839, the prisoners sent a petition to the Missouri Supreme Court declaring they were unlawfully confined and were being deprived of their rights to be tried as the law provided. About a week later, Heber C. Kimball and Theodore Turley went to see the governor, and not finding him in town, spoke to the secretary of state. "He could hardley believe those were all the documents by which the prisoners were held in custody; for they were all illegal." [42]
About this time the five men were informed that Judge King had said that, "There was nothing against Hyrum, only he was a friend to the Prophet. He also said there was nothing against Caleb Baldwin or Alexander McRae." [43] He repeated this when Kimball and Turley called on him April 4th. "I could have done all the business for you properly, if you had come to me; and I would have signed the petition for all but Joe and he is not fit to live." [44]
In a letter written to the Church on March 25, 1839, Joseph told of another unsuccessful attempt they had made to escape. They had been drilling through the timbers of the walls with augers, but the handles had given out and slowed them down considerably. They could have escaped except for the imprudent behavior of a friend, which led to the discovery of the hole they had made in the wall. [45]
On April 6, 1839, Alexander and the other four men were started from Liberty Jail to Gallatin, Daviess County, where they arrived on the 8th, and were tried before the grand jury of Daviess County, under a change of venue from Judge King. On the 9th Stephen Markham arrived with a bill of legislature giving them permission to a change of venue on their affadavit. They applied for a change of venue to Marion County, which was denied, but they were given one to Boone County. On the 10th the grand jury brought in a bill for murder, treason, burglary, arson, larceny, theft, and stealing against five of them. Judge Birch of the Daviess County Court made out a mittimus without date, name or place on it, and on the 15th the prisoners set out for Boone County under a guard of five men.
Hyrum states that that evening all the guards but one got drunk, and the other one helped two of them mount the two horses they had sold them earlier in the day. The other three set out on foot, "and thus we took our change of venue for the State of Illinois." [46] Joseph said that they would not have escaped, which was taken by some as an admission of guild, but they feared being killed by murderers and assassins. [47] Alexander McRae, Hyrum Smith, and Lyman Wight, in an affadavit signed on July 7, 1843, said they had been delivered to the guards to be conducted out of the state, by order of the county authorities and the governor, and had een set at large, with directions to leave the state without delay. [48]
Needless to say, they had no desire to remain in Missouri any longer than necessary. The body of the Church had moved to Quincy, Illinois, during the time they were in prison, so they set off for Quincy, and arrived there on April 22, 1839. [49]
As earlier mentioned, Eunice had already gone to Quincy. Before she had gone, she had had a visit at her home from four men who came there to search for counterfeit money and for dies for making it. She gave them accesss to all parts of the house and they searched every part of the cupboards and dresser drawers without success. Then they tore a hole in the log floor and two of them got down and began to dig and throw dirt out. When they found nothing they turned to the door, to be confronted by Mrs. McRae with a pistol in her hand. She said, "Gentlemen, you have had your fun, now put all that dirt back in the hole you took it from, and put the floor down as it was, and clean the floor. The first man who attempts to leave before it is completed with get killed." They had only to look at her to see she meant what she said and they complied. [50]
After five months in prison the prisoners were in a weakened condition, having suffered terribly. Those five months had had a great effect upon them. One outward sign noticed by some was that Alexander would never allow anyone to keep a bird in a cage in his home. [51] But still Alexander and Eunice believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.
He stayed at Quincy for a while, and on May 6, 1839, was ordained a Seventy, without his quorum being specified. [52] He was in Quincy for most of the year, because on November 29, 1839, he was one of those who presented a claim against the state of Missouri for losses of property. His claim was for $302.50. [53]
After leaving Quincy he and his family went to Ripley County, Indiana, Eunice's parents and some of her brothers were living there at the time [54] and had probably gone there at about the same time as Alexander and Eunice had, five years earlier. Possibly this trip was made to see Eunice's family. While they were there, their third child, Kenneth, was born March 11, 1840. [55]
The family left Indiana and moved to Nauvoo, where Alexander set up shop as a tailor. He was active in building up the city, and became a Captain in the Nauvoo Legion. He also served as aide-de-camp to General Don Carlos Smith. [56] His fourth son, Alexander, was born in Nauvoo October 22, 1842. [57]
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In June, 1843, it was reported that there were state writs in Nauvoo to arrest Lyman Wight, Parley P. Pratt, and Alexander, probably to take them back to Missouri. The case in the Boone County court had been dismissed when the defendants failed to appear [58] but this didn't seem to make much difference. The three men who were threadtened by this action armed themselves to prevent being kidnapped. [59]
On April 15, 1844, Alexander McRae was called to labor as a missionary, and to preside over the Church in North Carolina. Aaron Razer, Thomas Guymon, George Watt, John Holt, John Houston, and James Sanderson were called to work with him. [60] Brigham Young instructed the missionaries to preach the gospel and to also present "General Smith's Views of the Powers and Policy of the General Government" with an eye to finding electors who would stand for him in the presidential election later in the year. [61]
Alexander must have had some influence in Nauvoo, because on April 18 he met with the Quorum of the Twelve, the City Council, the High Council and several others to act as part of an excommunication court. [62] The men they excommunicated in April were those who would publish the Nauvoo Expositor in June, which would be the immediate cause for the murder of Joseph and Hyrum at Carthage. Alexander was said to have made the suit Joseph was wearing when he was shot in the Carthage Jail. [63] But by then he had left on his mission. After Joseph's death (June 27, 1844), he returned to Indiana, not returning to Nauvoo until the spring of 1845. [64] The McRae's first daughter, Catherine, was born in Nauvoo December 24, 1844. [65] The little girl died in Nauvoo on April 24, 1845. [66] Alexander was ordained into the 22nd Quorum of Seventies in Nauvoo April 9, 1845. [67]
The leaders of the Church had decided to leave Nauvoo to go to the West, but they wished to complete the Nauvoo Temple first so theat they could receive their endowments before leaving. There was no telling how long it would be before a temple could be built in the West. The temple was completed enough in December that the first ordinances could be performed. Alexander McRae received his endowment December 18, 1845. [68] The next day he was called to officiate and labor in the temple by Brigham Young. [69] Eunice was endowed February 7, 1846. [70]
By the spring of 1846 most of Nauvoo's citizens were leaving for Iowa and the West. Alexander probably stayed because of his position witht he Nauvoo Legion, in order to help defend the city until its inhabitants had gone. The McRae's sixth child, Daniel, was born in the city April 12, 1846. [71]
There had been trouble with mobs since the time of Joseph's death two years earlier. Now the mobs were growing more insistant that the remaining Mormons clear out of Nauvoo and out of Illinois immediately. But it was September 10, 1846, the watchmen on the temple tower saw a mob approaching the city along the Carthage Road. The mob wanted Nauvoo to surrender immediately, and its citizens to leave the state within thirty days. [72] Companies of volunteers had earlier been organized to defend the city. Alexander McRae was in command of the 2nd company. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th companies were ordered to advance to a cornfield north of the road and east of Calkin's brick house, and the 1st company was posted in a hollow at the corner of the field by the grave yard.
The mob advanced and camped for the night. Captain McRae with four of his men crawled through the thick grass and weeds under cover of a fence to a place where the mob cannon had been, hoping to get a shot at a guard stationed there, but the guard had left before they got within shooting range. [73]
The next day the mob continued its attack on Nauvoo. No reinforecements arrived for the Mormons. William Anderson chose a band of select men as flankers and sharp shooters, mostly armed with repeating rifles. Anderson became first captain of this group and Alexander McRae became second captain. The new group was known as the Spartan Band.
The Spartan Band advanced to the New La Harpe Road and ambushed the mob in a corn field south of the road. They had to fall back finally or be surrounded by mob flankers. They retreaded slowly. The mob continued to advance and the volunteers to retreat toward Nauvoo. [74] The volunteers remained during the night on Young and Winchester Streets and erected breastworks. On the 12th the mob sent a flag of truce and an offer of surrender terms. The Mormons would have to give up their arms and allow the mob to enter the city. Benjamin Clifford, commanding the Illinois militia in the city, refused to accept the terms.
The Spartan Band was now stationed in the extreme norhtern part of the city, in a thicket. Upon receiving Clifford's reply to their surrender terms the mob drew up in a column on ground between their camp and the city. Their cannon began firing. The Mormon cannon returned the fire. There was cannonading for fifteen or twenty minutes.
The Spartan Band began to move south. The other companies were also retreating before the mobs. At this point there was an engagement of an hour and twenty minutes between the mobbers and the Mormons and the mob began to be driven back. After taking care of their dead and wounded, the volunteers resumed the positions they had held in the morning. The command of the Spartan Band now devolved on Alexander McRae and Almon L. Fullmer. They moved their company to a position on Knight Street.
The mob's newspaper, the Warsaw Signal, complained after the battle that they would have taken the city if they had only had more cannon balls, but they had only had 61 to begin with. The paper also reported the strength of the mob as 500 men, with four pieces of artillery. [75]
The next day, which was a Sunday, was not disturbed by a major battle. Several scouting parties on both sides were constantly on the move, and occassionally exchanged shots. About dusk the Mormons advanced and fired into the mob camp. [76]
On the 14th there was some firing of small arms. The volunteers spent the day repairing and extending their batteries. There was some cannonading. [77]
The next day the Spartan Band kept a close watch on the movements of the mob troops, but there was no attack. A committee of 100 new mobbers arrived in the camp of the mob from Quincy. [78]
On September 16, there was a conference between the trustees-in-trust for the Church, who had been left in charge of Nauvoo when the Quorum of the Twelve had gone to Winter Quarters, the commanders of the mob, and the chairman of the Quincy "committee." An agreement was reached whereby the city of Nauvoo would be surrendered to the mob the next day at 3 p.m., the Mormons would deliver up their arms, to receive them again upon crossing the Mississippi, and would leave the state. [79]
Many of the volunteers were outraged over the action of the Church trustees. A good many of them felt incensed by their success on the 12th, and felt they could beat the mob. But the trustees decided that the city could not be defended, and that it ought to be surrendered without further bloodshed as it would soon be abandoned at any event. The volunteer troops were disbanded, and preparations were made to leave the city. At 3 p.m., September 17, 1,500 of the mob marched into the city. [80] Charles Middleton said he was an eye-witness to the surrender of various companies of the Nauvoo Legion. Of Captain Alexander McRae he said, "He marched his company up, then drew his sword from the scabbard and drove it into the ground. (He was a giant of a man). He twisted the handle from the blade and threw it on the ground in front of the receiving officer and said, 'Take it if it will do you any good!' He was ordered shot. Several guns were snapped, but none of them went off, and he escaped." [81] He was a hunted man for a long while, while his wife and family were wondering what had become of him. Eunice had to take care of the family, which probably included getting them across the river into Iowa. [82]
The McRaes moved to join the main body of the Saints at Florence, (Winter Quarters), Nebraska. Alexander along with Andrew L. Lamoreaux, was back in Nauvoo in February, 1847, leaving February 18 to carry a packet of letters to Brigham Young at Winter Quarters. They had narrowly avoided a clash with unfriendly elements in Nauvoo, and Alexander had been put in jail in Van Burren County, Iowa. He had been remanded to Lee County where he was released. He also reported to Brigham Young on the persecutions being given to the members of the Church still living in Van Burren County. [83]
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In June, 1847, he was part of an expedition against the Indians in the Bellevue area, under the command of Hosea Stout. It was voted that Alexander McRae and Jesse P. Harman lead the company, which was divided into two divisions. Hosea Stout reported the expedition would be a delicate job, and might lead the Church into a scrape. [84]
In January, 1848, he was present at the Seventies Jubilee at Miller's Hollow (later Kanesville), Iowa, and was one of those who signed a petition to the postmaster general requesting that a post office be established there. Also, all of his sons, including Daniel, who was not quite two years old, signed the petition. [85]
On March 23, 1848, Alexander and Eunice were sealed for time and all eternity by Brigham Young at their home in Winter Quarters. Daniel Carn and David Grant were witnesses. [86]
Those of the Saints who did not cross the plains in 1848 recrossed the Missouri River and settled in Kanesville (later called Council Bluffs) until they did come west. [87] The McRaes made this move. Another daughter, Mary Jane, (She later married Joseph White Pierce's Son Isaac Riley Pierce Sr.) was born to them at Kanesville September 6, 1848. [88] Kanesville was in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, which was organized in September, 1848. The first district judge, James Sloan, was elected in May, 1851. At this time Alexander was sheriff of Pottawattamie County. [89] Some sources indicate that Alexander was serving in the position considerably earlier than this. [90]
The McRaes lived in Kanesville until the summer of 1852. Their eighth child, Martha, was born in Kanesville January 14, 1851. Alexander served as the reporter for the general conference of the Pottawattamie District of the Church held April 6 and 7, 1852. He also spoke aat this meeting on the subject of faithfulness, and referred to his experiences with Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail. He ended by saying the Saints should go to the valley that summer. Those present shared this sentiment, because the conference adjourned unanimously to meet again on October 6 in Great Salt Lake City. [91] Nearly all the members of the Church left for the mountains in 1852. [92] The McRaes left Kanesville in July in Captain Allen Weeks's oxteam company, the 21st Company, in which there were 110 people. [93] Alexander McRae is recorded as having complained at having to be held up by slow teams. [94] The Weeks's Company arrived in the Valley October 12, 1852, after a three month trip. [95]
Upon arriving in Great Salt City, the family camped on a lot owned by William Booth on 8th East between 3rd and 4th South, on the west side of the street. [96] Alexander bought a house on the northwest corner of the same block. This house was in the Tenth Ward. [97] Alexander and Eunice's ninth child, Charles, was born January 12, 1853, exactly four months after their arrival in Salt Lake. [98]
A ditch had been begun in 1850 to bring water from Emigration Canyon into the 10th Ward, and Alexander is recorded as having worked on this "water canal" twice in the spring of 1853. [99] A volunteer fire company was organized in the Tenth Ward, November 8, 1853, with Conrad Kleinman as captain and Alexander McRae as first lieutenant. [100] An ordinance had been passed in 1853 by the City Council for the organization of a fire brigade, and since this was to be a volunteer fire department, bucket companies were organized in each of the wards in the city. [101]
The 22nd Quorum of Seventies, of which Alexander had become a member in 1845, had its headquarters in Salt Lake City, and met the first Sunday on every month at the home of Jonathan Pugmire, Jr., in the 7th Ward. The seven presidents in April, 1854, as reported by Alexander McRae, who was the clerk of the quorum, were David Cluff, Sr., Provo City, David Elliot, Melvin Wilber, Alexander Wright, Alexander McRae, Great Salt Lake City, Andrew Henry, Fillmore City, and Jonathan Pugmire, Jr., Great Salt Lake City. [102]
Alexander's tenth child, Eunice, was born January 2, 1855, in Salt Lake City, and died the same year on December 10. [103]
Alexander McRae was in Fillmore, the territorial captain on December 10, 1855, for the opening of the 5th Session of the Utah Legislature. He was elected sergeant-at-arms for the Council branch of the legislative assembly, which was presided over by Heber C. Kimball. [104] While in Fillmore, he married Caroline Amelia Owens Webb, a thirty-six year old widow with five children. She had also come to Utah in 1852, and had settled in Fillmore after living for a short time in Salt Lake County. This marriage probably took place in December, 1855, or January, 1856. [105] After marrying her, he sent word to Eunice in Salt Lake City that he had married a widow with five children and was bringing them home. In the meantime, their litle girl Eunice had died and Eunice had sent this news to Alexander in Fillmore. Their letters passed each other, so that Eunice thought that the answer to her letter telling of Eunice's death was the letter announcing Alexander's second marriage. So it wasn't surprising that Alexander didn't get a very good reception when he arrived home. [106]
Before leaving Fillmore for home, he had been elected Territorial Marshal for 1856 by a joint session of the legislature. [107]
After reaching Salt Lake he settled Caroline Webb and her family in a house on South Temple and 7th East. In May of 1856, traded the house he had been living in in the Tenth Ward for a home on the corner of 6th East and Second South, in the Eleventh Ward. [108]
Also in May, he was sealed to Caroline Amelia Webb on the evening of the 17th by Brigham Young, in his office. Heber C. Kimball and John Rae were witnesses. [109]
On September, 1856, Alexander preferred a charge of unchristianlike conduct against Joseph Pierce of the 10th ward for removing property from his home. The court decided that John McRae, Alexander's son, and Joseph Pierce's son-law, ought to return the said property. [110]
Caroline Webb and her family must have returned, if only for a short time, to Fillmore, because Alexander's first child by her, Albert McRae, was born October 9, 1856, in Fillmore, and was blessed at Cedar Springs in 1857 by William Felshaw. [111] But Caroline did not move back to Fillmore permanently before the coming of Johnston's Army in 1858. [112] Back in Salt Lake, Eunice didn't particularly care for Caroline or her children, but when they were sick, she would take care of them. [113]
Alexander was at Fillmore on December 8, 1856, for the organization of the 6th Session of the Legislature, in which he was a member of the House. He was appointed a member of the Standing Committee on Indian Affairs that day along with N.W. Bartholomew and E. Reese. [114] But by December 30, he was back in Salt Lake again, and along with other members of the Legislative Assembly was rebaptized on the 30th by James W. Cummings and was reconfirmed a member of the Church by Orson Hyde and Lorenzo Snow, with Orson Hyde acting as mouth. [115] Apparently many of the early members of the Church were rebaptized as a sign of a rededication of their lives to the Gospel. On January 5, 1857, the legislature , still in session at Fillmore, met in joint session and re-elected Alexander McRae to the office of Territorial Marshal, this time for the year 1857. [116]
Alexander and Eunice's eleventh child, who was named David Fitzgerald McRae, possibly after the brother who had introduced them in Kentucky in 1834, was born in Salt Lake City January 16, 1857. [117]
Bishop John Lytle of the Eleventh Ward had been called on a mission to Carson Valley April 6, 1856, and the ward had been for a while under the charge of his two counselors, William A. McMaster and Joseph E. Taylor. In June, 1856, the ward had been placed under the jurisdiction of Leonard W. Hardy, bishop of the 12th Ward, although the 11th Ward continued to hold its own meetings. The Church leaders desired to reestablish the 11th Ward on an independent footing, so on January 19, 1857, Alexander McRae was ordained a High Priest and a Bishop by Edward Hunter, Presiding Bishop of the Church, and was set apart to be the bishop of the Eleventh Ward. [118] One of his first acts as Bishop was, on January 24, to bless his eight day old, son David. [119] Joseph E. Taylor was set apart as his second counselor March 3, 1857. William Thompson continued in his position as ward clerk. [120] The boundaries of the Ward, at a time long after 1857, were 12th East and Elizabeth Street on the East, South Temple on the North, 6th East on the west, and 3rd South on the south. [121] These appear, however, to be close to the 1857 boundaries.
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The Nauvoo Legion had been revived in Utah in 1849 as a territorial militia, and had been reorganized by the legislature in 1857. The entire territory had been divided into military districts. [122] By the 1857 reorganization George D. Grant was the major general over the Great Salt Lake Military District, which included all of Salt Lake County. Grant was also commander of the 1st Division of the Legion. In April, 1857, he appointed his staff, with Joseph M. Simmons as adjutant, and David Candland and Alexander McRae as 1st and 2nd aide-de-camps, respectively. [123]
On the 14th of December, the 7th Session of the Legislature met in Salt Lake City, the new capital, perhaps not wanting to meet in a plae so far south as Fillmore when the situation seemed so critical. Alexander McRae was again a member of the House, one of the twelve representatives from Salt Lake County, with John Taylor as Speaker. [124] Johnston's Army had realized that it could not reach Utah during 1857, and had gone into winter quarters. The Legislature thus had a little pressure taken off it, and tried to conduct business as though conditions were normal. On December 16, the speaker appointed the members of the various standing committees. Alexander McRae was chosen to serve with Albert P. Rockwood and Aaron Johnson on the Appropriations Committee, and with Isaac Bullock and George Peacock on the Incorporations Committeee. On January 4, 1858, he presented a petition before the joint session asking that a hearding ground in Ibapah Valley be granted to James Worthington and others, which was referred to the Committee on Herding and Herd Grounds. [126] Another joint session was held January 15, and Alexander McRae was nominated by the govenor and elected for the third year in a row as Territorial Marshal. [127] But there were ominous notes to remind the members that the Army would enter Utah in the spring. A petition was sent to the President and Congress January 4, requesting the withdrawal of federal troops. [128] January 22 the Legislature voted to move the capitoal tof the territory to Parowan and adjourned sine die (without appointing a time for the next session) probably because they were't sure there would be a next session. [129]
Brigham Young had decided to abandon Salt Lake and burn it to the ground rather than defend it. Most of the citizens left their homes and moved south. As earlier mentioned, Caroline Webb and her family returned to Fillmore. Probably the rest of the McRae family went south too. But the situation was relaxed to the point where Johnston's troops only marched through the city to establish a post at Camp Floyd in Cedar Valley, and the Saints began to return to Salt Lake.
After they had returned, there seemed to be a great deal of lawlessness in the city. Many accredited this to the pressence of the troops at Camp Floyd. Whatever the reasons for the conditions, it was necessary to enlarge a strong police force in Salt Lake City. The city council on September 16 decided to increase the police force to 200. Andrew Cunningham was serving as marshal of the city at the time, with N.V. Jones, Rober T. Burton, John Sharp, R.J. Golding, John Kay, James Barlow, Lewis Robison, Seth M. Blair, W.G. Mills, and Alexander McRae serving as deputy marshals. This new police force was apparently able to superess some of the lawlessness and to restore the city to some degree of order. [130] An account is given of one example of police action:
"The police arrested a man by the name of Finch for being drunk and threatening to shoot Brother Townsend, landlord of the Salt Lake House. He resisted Deputy Marshall [sic] McRae and attempted to shoot any man who laid hands on him. He said there were not men enough in the city to take him. Drawing his revolver he mounted his horse and said he would go where he ****ed pleased and started off. McRae requested Police Woodard and three others to get their horses, follow and arrest him. Finch took the state road south to the limits of the city, where he dismounted and took his horse in a stable, and laid himself down to sleep. The officer arrested and brought him before the mayor, who fined him twenty-five dollars and costs. He then told the mayor he had been a 'Mormon' for nive years. The mayor said if he had known that he would have doubled the fine." [131]
Back in Fillmore, another child was born to Alexander and Carolinne Webb. This child, a girl born October 12, 1858, was given the name Julia Estella McRae. [132] Apparently Alexander and Caroline were separeted by this time. One source says that she had divorced him since he wasn't a good provider. [133] At this time he was working as a tailor for Brigham Young and the Church, and took his pay out of the tithing office. [134]
Since the Legislature had not made any plans for the 1858-9 session, several of the members met in Salt Lake in November to determine the time and place for the meeting. Alexander McRae, as one of the representatives from Salt Lake County, was present at this meeting, which decided to hold the session in two parts, one portion of the Legislatures meeting in Salt Lake and the other in Fillmore, and then have the two groups change meeting places. [135]
Alexander was chosen as warden of the penitentiary in the sprng of 1859, probably by the Legislature. [136] His second counselor in the bishopric of the 11th Ward, Joseph E. Taylor, became his assistant or deputy and moved to a home near the penitentiary. Alexander was elected warden for 1860 by a joint session of the Legislature meeting January 18, 1860. [137] Apparently his term ended January 31, 1861, because at that time Joseph E. Taylor returned to Salt Lake from the penitentiary. [138] Probably most of the duties of the offie had fallen on Taylor. Alexander was free enough that he could meet with Brigham Young at his home to talk over old times [139] and could officiate at the sacrament table with the presiding bishopric at General Conference. [140] But still, it was his official occupation as the 1860 Census states. [141] He was also listed as having $500 worth of real estate and $500 worth of personl property. All the children except John were living at home at the time. Joseph's occupation was listed as farmer. Daniel, Mary Jane, Martha, Charles, and David had attended school within the year.
The McRae's last child, Sarah Eunice, was born May 2, 1861, in Salt Lake. [142]
Brigham Young made a trip to southern Utah in the summer of 1861. Alexander McRae and several other bishops accompanied him. [143]
August 31, 1861, [144] a major tragedy hit the family. A mule had been stolen, and Kenneth, 21, and Alexander, 18, were suspected of having stolen it. A warrant was issued for their arrest and Porter Rockwell adn a deputy sherisff were sent to Emigration Canyon to arrest them. Rockwell reported to the authorities that the two boys had tried to escape. Rockwell and the deputy claimed that they had fired at them with their shotguns to stop them, and both of them had been killed. The two bodies were loaded into a wagon and were taken to the McRae home in the 11th Ward and dumped on Mrs. McRae's lawn. Eunice denounced Porter Rockwell as a "bloody-handed murderer" and told the men that if she had a gun she would kill them. One of them jokingly offered her his gun, but the other stopped him, telling him that she was receiving only her just deserts, and that if he did his duty she would be lying beside them. He mounted his horse and rode away. [146]
In spite of the sorrow brought into the family, affairs had to go on much as usual. Sarah was blessed September 12 by her father and William A. McMaster. [147]
The next year, 1862, all the bishops were appointed as agents for the Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society. This had been set up in 1856 by the Legislature with a view to encouraging self-sufficiency for the territory. The Society was to promote the arts of domestic industry and to encourage the production of articles from native elements in the territory. The Society was also told to hold an annual exhibition in Salt Lake City of agricultural, stock and domestic manufactured products. As part of its work, the society also imported plants, seeds, and purebred livestock. It listed mineral resources in the territory, worked on reclamation projects and encouraged progress in the arts and sciences. For the first twenty to thirty years it was an arm of the Church, which was the reason why bishops of wards were chosen as agents. Alexander McRae was elected the agent for the 11th Ward on August 27, 1862, and along with the others chosen at that time was encouraged to work hard to get ready for the annual fair. As an agent he was authorized to receive cash, trustee-in-trust, territorial and store orders, grain, cotton, wool, stock, and any other good pay. Thus it would appear that the Society also acted as a sort of early-day mail order house. [148]
Joseph married Mariah (or Maria) Taylor, the sister of Joseph E. Taylor, March 4, 1862, which left Daniel as the oldest child living at home. In 1863 Daniel was sent to the east to drive a team accross the plains and bring some of the immigrants of that season to Utah. The Penrose family and a Mrs. Salisbury returned with him to Salt Lake. [149]
In Salt Lake City, Eunice was providing most of the support for the family by taking in washing. [150] Alexander spoke at times at the Sunday services in the Tabernacle. [151] He provided support of a kind. Once he brought a pair of shoes home for Sarah. Eunice threw them into the stove, saying she wouldn't have her girls wearing shoes like those. She wouldn't go into debt, or buy anything on credit. She might be considered wasteful today, because if she had leftovers from a roast she would scrape them into the stove. [152] But perhaps she simply had no way of keeping food from spoiling.
Once Alexander wanted to buy Estella, Caroline's daughter, a gold watch. He decided he had better buy one for Mary Jane and one for Martha if he wanted to keep his wife happy, but he forgot to buy one for Sarah and Eunice was boiling mad. [153]
Alexander was a delegate to a convention which met in Salt Lake in August, 1864, to set prices for wheat, corn, and other agricultural commodities for the territory. [154] Alexander also spoke at the Tabernacle or officiated at the sacrament table at various time during the 1860's. [155]
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Alexander and Eunice were again sealed for time and all eternity in the Endowment House, July 29, 1865, by President Heber C. Kimball. [156] Also in 1865, Joseph Bean was called to act temporarily as a counselor in the bishopric, as William McMaster had left on a mission to England. McMaster returned in the summer of 1868, and resumed his duties, but Bean remained as the permanent second counselor, because Joseph E. Taylor had moved into the 13th Ward (1861) although he continued to act as counselor for a while after that. There had been no Sunday School organization in the ward since the people had returned to the city from the south in 1858, so Bishop McRae appointed a superintendency in 1865 to establish one. [157]
A Phonetic Society was organized in Salt Lake City in the summer of 1867, with Edward L. Sloan as president, and Alexander McRae, David W. Evans, and George A. Burgon as vice presidents. The objects of the society were to extend a knowledge of phonetics and to obtain a uniform system of writing phonography throughout Utah. To this end the members had agreed to adopt a uniform system as soon as the books they had ordered from the East arrived so that they could tell what the system would be. [158]
In 1868 John Coulam replaced William Thompson as ward clerk, and acted in that capacity until 1900. [159] Also in 1868, Alexander McRae entered into a contract to furnish workers from his ward to help lay the railroad track through Echo Canyon. His men lived at a camp in the canyon. The contract he had undertaken was nearly all completed by the end of July. [160]
In November, 1868, he became interested in the possibility of the 11th Ward entering into the business of producing silk in a cooperative, and appropriated the land this cooperative would need. This Society had been organized after a lecture on mulberry trees and the production of silk worms by G.D. Watt. [161]
A Relief Society had been organized in the ward April 4, 1857, but had only lasted a short time. The Relief Society was reorganized March 3, 1869, with Mrs. Eunice McRae as president, Mrs. Sarah Bean, first counselor, Mrs. Margaret Hoggan, second counselor, Mrs. Ann Coulam, secretary, Mrs. Elizabeth D. Leaker, assistant secretary, and Mrs. Margaret McMaster, tresurer. Unfortunately, a misunderstanding arose and the group dissolved, and was not set up again until July, 1884. [162]
On September 15, 1869, he was sealed to Eleanor Georgena Jones, age 36, in the Endowment House by Brigham Young. He had just turned 62. [163]
At General Conference in October, 1869, Alexander's name was presented as one of those called to go on a short mission to the eastern states. [164] Apparently he called his son Daniel to go with him. [165] Alexander was set apart October 9, 1869, and Daniel, whoever called him, was set apart a week later, on the 18th. [166] During their absense, William A. McMaster took temporary charge of the ward as acting bishop, and Joseph Bean and George Hoggan acted as counselors. On their mission they labored principally in Alabama and Mississippi. [167] Daniel's Son Later Wrote:
"Father told me of an incident that occured when he and grandfather were on their mission in Mississippi. A body of Ku Klux Klan called one evening at Uncle Donald's house and demanded that the Mormons come out. They came out to face a dozen or more hooded, masked men, all, or most of whom had been drinking. The leader asked a great many questions, cursed, and threatened. On several occasions he had difficulty in repressing the mob, but after half an hour or more he warned father and grandfather not to preach in that county on penalty of being shot. After they left, Grandfather said to Father, 'I don't know what was in your mind, but I had every move planned for a real battle. At the first step of one of them towards us, I would grab the man nearest me, disarm him, hold him between me and the others and do some shooting from behind, with his body as a shield.' " [168]
The two of them completed the mission they had been called for, and arrived in Salt Lake the evening of May 20, 1870. [169] When they returned William A. McMaster was released from the bishopric and Joseph Bean and George Hoggan became permanent counselors. [170] Alexander was not listed as having an occupation in the 1870 Census, but his real estate was valued at $1,700, and his personal property at $100. Martha, Charles, David, and Sarah were living at home. [171] Joseph, his wife, and their three children were living in the house next to his parents, and Daniel, his second wife, Christina Jensen McRae, and his two children were also living in the 11th Ward.
Alexander received a patriarchal blessing February 21, 1871, from Patriarch John Smith. The patriarch declared that he was of the lineage of Jospeph. [172]
[Sealings] April 3, 1872, Eunice had her three dead sisters, Matilda, Mary, and Abigail, sealed to Alexander in the Endowment House by Joseph F. Smith. [173] It was important to her that they were sealed to someone. A few months later, on September 25, Alexander was sealed to Hollyann Murphy, 38, in the Endowment House, by President Daniel H. Wells. [174] A year later, December 31, 1873, he was sealed to Maria Billings Morris, 67, by Joseph F. Smith. [175] He apparently was actually married to her, because she is listed in the 11th Ward Records with the other members of the family. At the same time she was sealed to Alexander, her mother, Sophia Billings Linney, who was dead, was sealed to him. She served in this sealing as the proxy, and was listed as Maria Billings McRae. [176]
In 1873, a building committee was appointed, with Alexander McRae as chairman, and the 11th Ward began to build a new meetinghouse. This was to be of stone, and would be 66 feet by 36 feet when finished. The building stood on the corner of 8th East and 1st South. An adobe building, containing the district school, was attached to the west side of it. [177]
Early in 1874, Brigham Young had organized branches of the United Order in St. George to help in the building of the temple there. As the Church leaders returned to Salt Lake in April more branches were organized. The talks given on the Order at the General Conference held in May were received enthusiastically. The Salt Lake City wards had begun to organize branches in April. Extensive organization continued until June. A branch was set up in the 11th Ward May 21, 1874, with Alexander McRae as president, George Hoggan, vice president, John Coulam, Jr., secretary, James P. Freeze, treasurer, and Charles H. Crow and William A. McMaster, directors. [178] As can be noticed, the personnel of the Order were also the officers of the ward. Many of the Church members joined, but by 1875 there were serious problems in many of the branches, and enthusiasm for living in the order was dropping. By November of the next year there were only a few branches functioning. The Order had been successful only in a few places, such as Ordersville. After Brigham Young's death in August, 1877, even those faithful places rebelled. [179] It is likely that the Order experiment in the 11th Ward had failed long before that.
A YMMIA was organized in the 11th Ward December 20, 1875. Prior to this time, a Literary Association had existed. A YIMIA-Retrenchment Association had been organized October 18, 1871. A Primary was organized in September, 1878. [180]
Alexander had agian been rebaptized November 5, 1875, by George Q. Cannon, and had been reconfirmed the same day by John Taylor. A few months later, on February 3, 1876, Eunice was rebaptized by David Leaker and was confirmed by her husband. Maria B. McRae, Alexander's wife, was rebaptized at the same time by David Leaker, and was confirmed by Joseph Bean. Also, Sarah was rebaptized by David Leaker, adn was confirmed by M. Barnes. [181] George Hoggan, the second counselor in the bishopric acted in that position until the early part of 1876 when there was a misunderstanding between him and the bishop. Charles Edwards acted as a temporary counselor for about a year. [182]
It was decided in March, 1877, to build a new schoolhouse in the ward. June 19, 1877, the ward was reorganized. Alexander McRae was sustained as bishop, with Joseph H. Felt and Robert Morris as his first and second cousnelors, respectively, and John Coulam as clerk. [183]
[Marriage] Alexander was sealed to Johanna Lyon, 66, in the Endowment House by Joseph F. Smith. [185] The 1879-80 Directory of Utah listed him as a tailor, although he probably hadn't done any tailoring for a while. [186] On the 8th of August, 1879, Alexander, along with A. Milton Musser and Elbridge Tufts was bound over in Judge Alexander Pyper's police court at $500 each to await action of the grand jury in an assault on a Henry Bane. [187]
Alexander was sealed to Louisa Morris, 39, on September 15, 1880, in the Endowment House, by Joseph F. Smith. [188] The 1880 Census of Salt Lake City still lists Alexander as a tailor. Charles was listed as a stone cutter, who had been unemployed seven of the previous twelve months. David was listed as a laborer. Sarah was also living at home. [189]\
January 19, 1882, a testimonial dinner was given to Bishop McRae in the 11th Ward meetinghouse, the occasion being his completion of twenty-five years as bishop. The dinner was organized and carried out by Joseph H. Felt and Robert Morris, assisted by a committee of members of the ward. The members of the ward turned out en masse, and several other visitors, among whom were President John Taylor, Erastus and Lorenzo Snow, and Bishop Edward Partridge and his couselors, were present in tribute to their friend. The bishop had been kept in total ignorance of the whole affiair. After the dinner, he was presented with a watch chain and locket inscribed "Presented to Alex. McRae, on the 25th anniversary of his bishopric." The MIA then presented him with a large, framed likeness of himself. John Taylor spoke for a few moments, declaring that Alexander had always shown an unwavering integrity. He was followed in the same strain by Apostles Lorenzo and Erastus Snow, Bishop Hunter, and Joseph E. Taylor and W.A. McMaster, who had been his couselors 25 years earlier. [190]
John's wife Roxey died May 3, 1882, and John, who had been a drinker for a long time, became much worse. Eunice would often get up early in the morning and go to his home to find him drunk and his littler children with nothing to eat. Two or three years after Roxey's death, she made John give the two youngest children, Walter and Nettie, to people who would take care of them decently. [191]
Alexander received a second patriarchal blessing June 11, 1884, under the hands of Patriarch William J. Smith at Salt Lake City. [192] A statistical report for the 11th Ward was begun in 1884, which shows the population of the 11th Ward from then until Bishop McRae's death as averaging about 1300 people. [193]
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Alexander McRae had two pieces of trouble with the law over polygamy during 1886. The first occured in January. There had been a business meeting in the 17th Ward Hall the evening of the 19th. Several of the bishops of the city wards were present. Marshal Ireland was waiting outside, watching all those who came out, as he hoped to find several of the bretheren that he wanted to arrest.
"A very foolish occurence took place while the people were passing out, which caused a ripple of excitement. Bishop Alexander McRae, who was almost 80 years of age and quite feeble, came out with others, walked by the Marshal and went to the corner [sic] of the building, where he was seized by Deputy Mix, and some warm words ensued, Mix drawing his pistol and calling for Mr. Ireland. The Marshal, who acted in a very gentlemanly way throughout, immediately went over, and, and seeing it was a case of mistaken identity, settled the matter by relesing the aged Bishop." [194]
Early in the morning of July 17, Alexander was arrested on a charge of unlawful cohabitation (polygamy) and was brought before commissioner McKay at 9:00 a.m. A complaint was read charging him with unlawful cohabitation with Elizabeth McRae, a Mrs. Baxter, and Jane Doe McCullough. His son Charles, his wife, and a niece had been subpoenaed as witnesses. The prosecuting attorney decided that there wouldn't be time to complete this case before a lynching case came before the court, so he asked for continuance until the next Monday, the 19th, which was granted. Alexander gave a bond of $1,000 and was released. [195] The case was not called until Tuesday morning, July 20th. The first witness sworn was Mrs. Janet Morris, who testified that she did not know Mrs. Elizabeth McRae, and that her husband was not related to the McRae family. Nor did she know a woman named Baxter. She knew Mr. McRae was a bishop, but wasn't on visiting terms with him.
The next witness was John McRae. He testified that he was a son of the defendant, and that he did not know an Elizabeth McRae, nor a Polly Baxter, nor a woman named McCullough. He said that twenty years earlier he had known a woman named Webb, reputed to be his father's wife. He further testified that he had never known his father to sleep out of his own bed at his house in the 11th Ward.
"The commissioner said that if there was any unlawful cohabitation in this case, it had been managed in a very bungling manner. Whether his honor meant that it was the unlawful cohabitation, or the case which had been managed in a bungling manner, was left in vague uncertainty. His honor further observed that the defendant had probably many years ago entered into polygamy, but that the evidence went to prove that he had not lived in it for many years. The commissioner then told the defendant to stand up. The defendant stood up. His honor then said: 'You are discharged.' 'Thank you,' said the Bishop." [196]
Martha's husband had died in 1881 and sometime after this she had moved into her parent's home. [197] Charles, still living there, having never married, was working as a stone cutter for the temple. Charles became ill and died of consumption October 27, 1887, at the age of 34. [198] From the 8th to the 11th of November, 1887, the family was at Logan, performing temple work for some of the members of the family who had died.
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