Heritage Gateways

Pioneer 1848-1868 Companies

Previous | Next

1868 (age 21), Clucas (Mullet), Elizabeth Ann (Isle of Man)

Elizabeth Ann Clucas Mullet, daughter of James and Margaret Henry Clucas, was born August 6, 1847, on the Isle of Man. When the child was only three months old, her mother died and she was cared for by an aunt who raised her with the idea that "children should be seen and not heard," and was so told when asking questions pertaining to her relatives, as well as other things.

After emigrating to the United States, the family lived in St. Louis. Here Elizabeth attended school, and Lydia Dunford, later Mrs. George Alder, was her seatmate in the Benton School. She continued to live with her aunt, but when an opportunity to go to Utah presented itself, she was married July 8, 1868, to Charles Mullet by David M. Stewart, and on July 9th started on a strange honeymoon by crossing the plains. From her journal we quote:

My uncle and aunt didn't want me to leave until they had given me a wedding reception, but I was anxious to be on my way. Among their gifts to me was a beautiful pair of blankets. They were rolled carefully in yards of table oilcloth for protection from dirt and moisture and then securely strapped on top of the trunk containing my other belongings. While going by boat to Omaha, these precious blankets disappeared. Needless to say, this upset me very much. I knew they were on the boat and was determined to have a thorough search made. I was on my way to ask the captain to have this done when I met David M. Stewart, the elder in charge of the company of Saints. Upon learning of the situation, he advised me against carrying out my intentions of having a search made as he feared by so doing the hard feelings already existing toward the Saints would be increased to our disadvantage. Reluctantly I gave up the idea and with it my blankets, for I never saw them again. I had the feeling they had been taken by a deck hand whose actions were suspicious to me.

My twenty-first birthday was spent on the plains. On July 24th we traveled only one-half of the day. Camp was made and our flag was flung at half-mast to show respect to Heber C. Kimball who had died. When we reached Laramie, we camped two or three weeks, waiting for a company of English emigrants to arrive and join us on the last lap of our journey to Salt Lake City. There were about one hundred fifty-two in this last company to make the journey with ox teams. From Laramie we traveled by horse and mule teams.

Arriving in Salt Lake City, we spent three or four days in the tithing yard block while getting provisions and conveyance to take us to Spanish Fork where we had relatives. The first night in Salt Lake City my husband and I went to the Salt Lake Theatre to see "The Witch of Endor." I was very anxious to go to see the final performance in the theatre but was unable to do so, to my great disappointment.

My husband was engaged to drive a team to Dixie, and being left alone I hired out for housework in a family by the name of Snedeker, the salt man, as he was called. With the first money I earned I bought a washboard, paying $2.00 for it. My husband didn't want me to work out, as he could care for me, but I continued to do so, living in the family of John Kimball and also working for the first wife of Henry Lawrence.

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.