Heritage Gateways

Pioneer 1848-1868 Companies

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1850 (age 33), Clemens, Ann Wilde

Ann Wild was born 28 August 1817 at Carlton, Yorkshire, England, the daughter of James and Mary Wild. She married William Clemens and their first child, Mary Ann, was born at Doncaster, Yorkshire, England 5 July 1841. William was a scissors grinder by profession. The branch records of Doncaster states that William was baptized in 1841 by George Yardley and Ann was baptized in 1842 by Edwin Senior.

William and Ann emigrated to America from Liverpool, England 1 January 1844. They came to New Orleans and up the Mississippi River to St. Louis where they lived until 1850. Both were signers of the charter of St. Louis. They opened a store and being diligent people were better prepared for the journey westward than many of the pioneers. Two more sons had been added to the family, William George, born December 26, 1847, in St. Louis and James Hyrum, born December 24, 1849, also born in St. Louis. The Clemens family were part of the company formed by Orson Hyde two miles from the ferry above Bethlehem with Warren Foote as captain. They traveled the long road across the plains, the same trail the Saints had been traveling for three years, along the Platte River for the sake of grass for the stock, timber for fires, fish in the streams and then, on August 7, 1850, Ann was left alone with her children to care for. Captain Foote wrote in his diary:

"We started this morning one-mile east of the bend in the road near Dead Timber Creek. As the first ten reached the deep ravine a stampede took place in the fifth and tenth as they were coming into line on the road. The teams that were running providentially stopped, or who can tell the awful scene that would have taken place in that deep ravine, for every wagon would have been at the bottom of it. Poor Brother Clemens lost his life endeavoring to stop the wagons. He was knocked down by a team that trod on his body and a heavy wagon passed over his bowels. He lived until toward evening. August 8th, the company stopped over one day to bury the dead and clean up after the accident."

Ann came on with her family arriving in Salt Lake, September 26th, fifty days after her husband was laid to rest on the plains of Nebraska. Her baby was then only nine months old. Shortly after her arrival Ann married again and two more children were born to her. Her husband was drowned in the Missouri River while helping to bring emigrants to Utah. In 1852 she was sealed to William with Alexander Neibaur as proxy in President Young's office. She used her first husband's name and all five of her children are called Clemens.

Ann was one of the first settlers of Santaquin and lived there until 1880. Her son George's first wife, Eliza Maxham, died leaving two little girls and Ann took care of them. When he married a sister of Eliza, Jane Maxham, they took the children with their own little son to Arizona. Ann became so lonesome for the children that she went to Arizona.

Source: Our Pioneer Heritage © Carter, Kate B., ed. 20 vols. Salt Lake City: International Society, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1958-1977. All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. Documents and images are exerpted by permission from the LDS Family History Suite CDROM from Ancestry.