Heritage Gateways

Pioneer 1848-1868 Companies

Previous | Next

1846-52 (age 46-52), Standley, Alexander Scobia (Iowa experience)

My father, Alexander Scobia Standley, was born May 12, 1800, at New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was put out to work as soon as he was old enough to earn his clothes; therefore, he never had a day's schooling in his life. When he was eighteen he went with his father to Portage County, Ohio. He obtained a book called The Young Man's Companion which contained the rules for reading, writing, arithmetic and grammar. With the aid of this book he educated himself sufficient that he was chosen to teach the district school. He obtained a small piece of land and in the summer spent his time clearing and fencing it. In the winter he taught school. He was also elected Justice of the Peace of that precinct.

Father built a log house and was married to Philinda Upson March 10, 1829. Their first child, Eliza, was born April 13, 1830, and died May 10, 1830. In the spring of 1837 a Mormon missionary came into the neighborhood. ...Father and Mother went to his first meeting. They were baptized March 10, 1837. [The family went to Far West, Missouri, then to Springfield, Illinois in 1837-1838.]

...He sold his farm in Ohio, mostly on future payments. He returned to Ohio in 1845 accepting as his pay anything useful in outfitting his family to cross the plains.

In the spring of 1846 Father started with what is known as the Miller Company. They went some distance and in consequence of the Battalion being called at that time, they located for the winter in Nebraska and returned to Council Bluffs next spring with very scanty rations. They settled near Kanesville at what was known as Miller's Hollow, or Pottawattomie. He there struggled for a livelihood and to render what assistance he could to others. In helping to fit out one company, who lacked one animal of having enough, Father offered a cow. When they asked if he could spare it he said, "Oh, I could use it all right, I have a large family and only two cows, but we will manage with one." Elder Orson Hyde said, "Brother Standley, you shall be blessed in time and all Eternity." This was in the spring of 1848. With the help of two boys he raised a large crop of corn, and as this was the year before the gold rush to California the price of corn went up enormously. He sold his corn and bought 20 cows and calves, and in a short time had the family well fitted with the necessities of life. He also assisted others for the journey. At this place on May 7, 1849, I [Michael Standley], the eleventh child, was born.

In 1852 Father yoked up his cows and young steers, and with them we crossed the plains. When we arrived he was true to his word and asked for nothing more. My father died February 20, 1856. He reached the Valley in October, spent the winter in Weber. In the spring he settled in Bountiful.

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.