The Life of Moses Curtis:

A Spiritual Giant and Pioneer of Mormon Settlements

in Utah and Arizona

Written by Elizabeth Anne Cook Snow

(2nd great-granddaughter)
 Table of Contents

Table of Contents ii

Forward iii

Preface iv

Introduction 1

Ancestry of Moses Curtis 2

Children of Nahum and Millicent Curtis 3

Pennsylvania 4

Michigan 6

Missouri 13

Illinois 17

Children of Moses and Aurelia Curtis 17

Iowa and Nebraska 25

Trek to the Rocky Mountains 28

Utah 29

Children of Moses and Elizabeth Curtis 35

Arizona 37

Appendix 47

Recipe- Rusk 48

List of Illustrations 49

Pictures 51

Patriarchal Blessings 54

Bibliography 62

ii
 Foreward

This book about Moses Curtis was written for a required Family History class at Brigham Young
University under the direction of Dr. William G. Hartley. He has been working as a historian for almost
thirty years. He has authored countless books as a Professor and employee for the LDS Church Historical
Department. His latest project was co-authoring the Joseph Smith Papers Vol II. I feel that it was divine
providence to be in his class with his guidance and knowledge of Church History. I say that it was divine
providence because Dr. Hartley is retiring in April 2009 and I had originally planned to take this class in
September 2009, but ended up changing my plans. Being able to write under Dr. Harley’s direction was a
tremendous blessing I experienced in the process of writing Moses’s story. It was through his direction
that I sifted through some of the family legends and found evidence to prove or disprove them. These
legends include the family stories of the early missionaries in Pontiac, Michigan and Moses’s experiences
being imprisoned with the Prophet Joseph Smith.
This paper was completed in a short 4 month semester along with several other classes that all
demanded my time. Therefore, there is still research to be done that will have to be completed at a later
date. The teacher imposed several restrictions on the paper, one of which was the 40 page length. It was
not adequate to tell Moses’s story and include short bios of his wives and children. At a later date I fully
intend to expand this history and include his wives and children.
Also included in the sources of this book is a Church record for Moses’s parents in New Salem,
Massachusetts. While trying to verify birth and marriage dates for the family during this time period, I
discovered that the church records were not filmed by the LDS church. I searched the internet and found a
typescript of the church records I needed. I printed them all off without keeping a good source citation of
the location in which I found them. One week later, when I tried to return to the records on the internet,
they were not posted nor could I find any reference to them ever being posted. This was another “gift from
the other side of the veil” for this project.
The professor also discussed the usage of possessive “s” with his knowledgeable and well-
trained editors. He advised me that the new trend is to use ‘s after a word ending in s. Thus you will see
Moses name in the possessive form as Moses’s. While this may seem incorrect by most of us, I have
been assured, it is now the correct form of grammar to use.
I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have enjoyed researching it.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth A. Snow
Mapleton, UT.

iii
 Preface

This is the history of Moses Curtis, a great pioneer who helped to settle many places as

his family migrated westward across the frontier of the United States in the 19th century,

ultimately settling in Eden, Arizona. He never complained but quietly did whatever he was asked

to do by the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Moses made many great

sacrifices but his story and legacy are not being passed on to his large posterity. My purpose in

writing his life story is to create a history that will inspire his descendants. I hope that from the

example of his life experiences many will be able to feel strength in their trials as they try to

forge ahead in their own lives amidst their personal adversities.

I have attempted to tell the complete story of his life. However, it has been hard to gather

information from such a large extended family. As a descendant of Moses’ second wife,

Elizabeth, I have been very successful in gathering family information from their descendants. I

have not had the same success with the descendants through his wife Aurelia. I will attempt to

complete the story with the limited amount of resources that I have obtained. I realize that there

may be gaps that still need to be filled in to complete the history of Moses. I have tried to

document what family stories we have by word of mouth that do not have a source citation. This

is an ongoing project, though, and there are still some details that need to be verified. Time and

space constraints have limited this history to mainly focus on Moses’ life while mentioning

briefly other family members.

I hope that while reading about Moses’s life, you will come to know, love and appreciate

him as I have. His deeds in life helped develop the prosperity we now live in. I hope that his

strong spiritual character, faith and testimony in the gospel of Jesus Christ will shine forth

through the events as told in this history.

iv
 Introduction

In the 1830s in the United States of America there was much religious excitement.

People were trying to discover for themselves which religion was suitable for their beliefs and

moral values. The Nahum Curtis family was no different in this respect. In the early 1830s this

family of eleven, Nahum, his wife Millicent, and their nine children, Sophronia, Lyman, Moses,

Joseph, Mary, George, Foster, Leon, and Hyrum, lived in Michigan in a small settlement named

Sylvan Lake. It was near the town of Pontiac in the County of Oakland and in the state of

Michigan. An account by their son George age nine, tells about the family then:

In December of 1832 the prophet Joseph Smith and Jared Carter came to our place
preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The meeting was held in my
father’s house. That night after hearing the gospel preached my parents retired to their
bedroom where they were conversing about the principles they had listened to for the first
time earlier in the day. Suddenly they noticed the room started to become light. It grew
lighter and lighter until it was as bright as noon day. Then they heard a voice say, “Nahum,
the Book of Mormon is a true record of the people that lived on this continent.” They were
converted and soon every member of the family joined the church. 1

According to son Joseph, his father Nahum, promptly purchased a Book of Mormon for

the sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents for the family to read and study.

This was the family that Moses Curtis grew up in. His parents lived a quiet, moral,

religious life. They had enormous faith and strived to teach their children these principles by

their example and deeds. These attributes would appear again and again in the life of Moses and

his family.

1
Cherrel B. Weech & Nayda Luster, The Nahum Curtis Family History. p5. This story is also related in the Dora
‐  
Page 1 -

M. Curtis Taylor, “History of Nahum Curtis”. She records that George dictated the story to his granddaughter
Irene Colvin. Even though George tells that Joseph Smith and Jared Carter taught the family as missionaries,
evidence shows that it was Jared Carter and Joseph Wood who actually came to Michigan as missionaries. (See
footnote # 28 for further information.)
 Ancestryy of Moses Curtis

M
Moses’s parents were Naahum Curtis and Millicennt Waite. Naahum, was born
b in New

Salem, Franklin Cou

unty, Massachusetts on Juuly 7, 1784, to parents Moses
M Curtiss and Mary
2
(Molly) Meacham.
M The town of New Salem
m, Massachuusetts is in

a mountaainous region
n about seveenty miles noorthwest of the
t city of

Boston. Nahum waas the sixth of

o nine childrren. Nahum was five

feet seven, with dark

k hair and bluue eyes. He had
h a kind, mild
m

dispositioon but he waas slow of sppeech. Nahum

m’s grandpaarents,

Jeremiahh and Rebeccca Hawkins Meacham

M w among the
were t first
Fig 1 - I-N
Figure Naahum Curtis
Nahum Curtis

m. 3
ettlers off New Salem

M
Moses’s moth
her, Millicennt Waite wass born in Athhol, Worcestter, Massachhusetts on

Januarry 20, 1787, to parents Phineas

P Waitte and Mehittabel Foster 4 .

The toown of Atholl is about ninne miles norrtheast of Neew Salem whhere

Nahum
m was born. Millicent was
w christeneed a memberr of the Churrch

of Chrrist in New Salem,

S Masssachusetts. In
I the churchh record for

Decem
mber 8, 17944 under the direction
d of Pastor
P Joel Foster,
F it readds-

“Millicent, Josephh, Susannah and

a Lydia, ch.1,
c of Phinn.s Wait weree
Figg 2 - Millicent
W
Waite Curtis
baptizedd at his housee.” 5 Milliceent is the olddest of four children.
c Whhen

Millicentt was about eight

e years of
o age her mother died annd her fatherr married Euunis Smith.

2
Nahum m Curtis, Intern
national Geneallogical Index, FHL
F film # 103397, pg 27 enntry 16. Endow
wments for the
‐  
Page 2 -

Living, 1845-1846 Na auvoo Temple.

3
Dora M.
M Curtis Taylo or, History of Nahum
N Curtis. Daughters of Utah
U Pioneers: Salt Lake Cityy.
4
Milliceent Waite, Anceestral File, AF
FN: 1LMF-3J.
5
Church of Christ in New
N Salem, Maassachusetts. Book B of Recordds1779-1818. Swift
S River Hisstorical Societyy, Elm
St. Norrth New Salem, MA. http://ww ww.rootsweb.aancestry.com/~ ~mafrankl/zneww.html Jan 2008.
 Moses’s parents,
p Nahhum and Milllicent, weree

marrried on Octobber 29, 18099 in the Churrch of Christt in

New
w Salem, Frannklin, Massaachusetts by Reverend Jooel

Fosteer who had been

b ordaineed a pastor on
o June 9, 17779

just ten
t years beffore the marriage of Nahhum and
Fig 3 - New Salem,, Massachusetts
Milliceent. He was the
t same minnister who christened
c

Millicentt and her siblings near thhe time of heer mother’s death
d in 1795. This fact would lead us to

believe thhat he would

d certainly have
h known the
t family well.
w

A
According to Dora M. Cuurtis Taylor, a great grannddaughter of
o Nahum annd Millicent, at

the weddding of Nahu

um and Milliicent, the briide wore a drress of changgeable silk shading
s greeen

and lavennder. At herr early deathh during the mob

m persecuution in Misssouri in 18388, Millicent’s

beautifull silk weddin

ng gown wass cut up in piieces and givven to the chhildren as a remembranc
r ce of

their motther. 6 Nahum

m and Milliccent had the following chhildren. Theeir names annd birthplaces

are:

Sophronia
S 10 Feb 1810 New Salem m, Franklin, Massachuset
M tts
L
Lyman 21 Jan 18112 New Salem m, Franklin, Massachuset
M tts
P
Phineas 10 Jul 1814 New Salem m, Franklin, Massachuset
M tts
M
Moses 8 May 18816 Conneaut Township,
T Errie, Pennsylvvania
Jooseph 24 Dec 1818 Conneaut Township,
T Errie, Pennsylvvania
M
Mary 15 May 18821 Conneaut Township,
T Errie, Pennsylvvania
G
George 27 Oct 18223 Sylvan Lake, Oakland, Michigan
Foster 8 May 18826 Pontiac, Oaakland, Michhigan
L
Loren 9 May 18828 Pontiac, Oaakland, Michhigan
H
Hyrum 9 Sep 18229 Pontiac, Oaakland, Michhigan 7

N
Nahum served as a corpooral in the Unnited States military
m in thhe War of 18812. He servved

under Lt.. W. Whitak ment from Seeptember 12-

ker’s Companny and in Lt. Colonel Toown’s Regim
‐  
Page 3 -

6
Dora M.
M Curtis Taylo or. History of Millicent
M Waitee Curtis. Internnational Daughtters of Utah Piioneers, Salt Laake
City.
7
C. Fernn Burrell. Curtis Family Bookk. family groupp sheet p42.
 8
October 30,
3 1814 at Boston.
B Naahum and Miillicent livedd in New Sallem until som
metime arouund

1815, thee year their son

s Phineas, age fourteenn months oldd, died on March
M 28, 1815. 9

nnsylvania
Pen

Sometime beffore 1816 thhey decided to

t move to thhe newly forrmed Townsship of Connneaut

in Erie County,
C Penn
nsylvania. It is not knownn why they moved,
m but in
i this time period
p manyy

people were
w slowly migrating
m weestward to fiind more lannd and betterr farming. In the 1820 US
S

Fedeeral Census, Nahum andd his brothers Jeremiah and

a

Willliam are all found

f livingg in Conneauut Township,,

Eriee, Pennsylvannia. 10 The coounty of Erie is in the

nortthwest sectioon of the statte of Pennsyylvania and

Fig 4 - Pennsylvania sh
howing Erie Couunty.
Connneaut Townnship is locatted in the souuthwest cornner

of the couunty. A sign

nificant foresshadowing inn the Curtis

family hiistory would

d be the closee proximity of the Erie

and Pennnsylvania Caanals. Mosess and his brotthers would

be involvved with the building of canals or using rivers too

find lumbber their entiire lives. Fig 5 - Erie County, PA

A showing
Connneaut Twp.
A history of Conneaut
C Toownship desccribes life

there:

The pioneers of the townsship were a long time isoolated from the world, and
T a no personn, at
prresent time, can have anny idea of thee privations they had to endure.
e Theeir chief suppplies
of meat were deer and gaame. Mills were
w nearly out o of reach, a cavity cutt in the top of
o a
sttump and heeavy woodenn pestle attacched to a spriing pole, waas the simplee but laboriouus
‐  
Page 4 -

8
Taylor. History of Na ahum Curtis. p1
9
Burrelll, p42. It’s not known where Phineas
P died.
10
1820.UUS Federal cen nsus of US, Peennsylvania, Errie, Conneaut Township.
T NAR
RA Series M333_102 pg 27.
www.anncestry.com .
 machine for reducing corn to meal. Maple sugar could be had in abundance by making
it, but tea and coffee were almost unobtainable luxuries. 11

In the late 18th and early 19th century, roads in the United States were not always

adequate for travel therefore; the canal system

became an alternate means of transportation. In

Pennsylvania, because of their close proximity to the

Erie Canal and Lake Erie, a canal system was built in

Pennsylvania to connect with the system already in

place with the Erie Canal. This canal system would

eventually lead to a feeder canal being built that Fig 6 - Pennsylvania- Ohio Canal

joined with the Conneaut River, but construction was not completed until about 1844 which

would have been after the Curtis family left Pennsylvania. 12

Moses was born on May 8, 1816 in Conneaut Township, Erie, Pennsylvania to Nahum

and Millicent Waite Curtis. He was the fourth of ten children in this family. 13 We don’t have a

lot of information about Moses’s life as a youth, but his younger brother George gives an

account about his own childhood. He explains that their mother Millicent was a very religious

women and she insisted that George read a chapter each Sunday from the Testament when he

11
Andy Pochatko, “Erie County (PA) Genealogy, Lexington and Brief History of Conneaut Township,”Lexington
and brief history of Conneaut Township, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/...paerie/townships
Conneaut/LexingtonHist.htm (accessed November 28, 2008)
‐  
Page 5 -

12
"Beaver and Erie Canal." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 26 Nov 2008, 02:56 UTC. 28 Nov 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beaver_and_Erie_Canal&oldid=254151104. "Pennsylvania Canal."
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 25 Nov 2008, 18:57 UTC. 28 Nov 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pennsylvania_Canal&oldid=254062638.
13
Burrell, p 42
was quitee small. He also
a relates that
t his mothher was a good cook andd she showedd love and

concern for mily member. 14

f each fam

Michigan

Som
metime betweeen the birthh of their dauughter Mary,, in Pennsylvvania in Mayy 1821 and the
t

birth of thheir son Geo

orge in Octoober 1823, thhe Curtis fam
mily moved to
t the small community
c of

Sylvan Lake
L in the County
C of Oaakland in thee state of Micchigan. Sylvvan Lake is one
o of severaal

lakes cluustered in this area whichh is located in the easternn portion of the state. It is
i about thirtty

miles norrthwest of Detroit,

D Michhigan and lesss than three miles from the city of Pontiac,
P

Michigann a city that was

w first settled in 1818 by Stephen Mack, the brother
b of Luucy Mack Sm
mith,

mother of mith. 15 The Curtis

o the propheet Joseph Sm C familyy once again found themsselves in a new
n

settlemennt. This wou

uld become a pattern in the
t life of Moses.
M

It iss not known why Nahum

m moved his family to Michigan.
M In the United States Federal

Census of
o 1820 theree are no Curttis families living
l in Oakkland

County, Michigan,
M bu
ut in the 18330 U.S. Fedeeral Census, Nahum

is living in Oakland County

C alonng with his brrother Jerem
miah and

his family. 16 They may

m have sim
mply wanted to move weestward

d in a new territory that was

and obtaiin more land w less poppulated.

Some family members haave identifiedd the familyy as

living in Silver Lake near Pontiac, Michigan. As I studieed a

Fig 7 - Map of state of Michigaan
map and tried to deteermine exacttly where Sillver Lake waas, I

14
Taylor, Millicent Wa
aite Curtis History,p1. This source
s doesn’t clarify whetheer the word Tesstament is referrring
to the Neew Testament or not. Therefoore I have left the
t descriptionn as it appears in
i this cited hisstory as simplyy just
‐  
Page 6 -

the wordd Testament.

15
Cumm ming, John and Audrey, “The Saints Come to t Michigan,” Michigan
M histoory 49, no. 1 (M
March 1965): p12.
p
Stephen B. McCracken n, Fifty Years Ago
A and Now, in i the Michigaan Historical Coollections, 14:6616 (Lansing 1890).
1
16
1830.U
US Federal cennsus of US, Miichigan Territoory, Oakland. NARA
N Series M19,Roll
M 69, pg
p 99.
www.anncestry.com.
realized that there is a Silver Lake, Michigan, but it is located two hundreds miles away on the

west side of the state. However, I did discover that there was a Sylvan Lake less than three miles

away from the town of Pontiac, Michigan. I surmised that it was either a simple mistake made in

identifying the residence of the Nahum Curtis family and the birth place of their younger

children or, in the early days of settling Michigan there could have been two cities called Silver

Lake and one city later changed its name to Sylvan Lake. It seems most likely that they lived in

the settlement of Sylvan Lake, not Silver Lake.17

It is not clear the location or year of this next story about a hunting excursion by Moses and

his younger brother Joseph. The most likely place would have been in Michigan because Moses

was too young at the age of five or six when the family left Pennsylvania to carry a gun and

Joseph would have only been three or four. The boys, Joseph

and Moses, wanted to go hunting. They had been begging for

permission from their father to be allowed to go hunting for a

while. Nahum was apprehensive and was not sure it was the

best idea to let the boys go hunting without him. Nahum finally

Fig 8 - Flint Lock Musket relented, though, and let the boys go. Moses carried the gun

which was an old flint lock musket. Joseph carried the lighted torch to ignite the gun.

The family stories relate that it was a flint lock musket without any flint. This type of

musket was the most widely used gun in this time period. It was the main weapon used by

military forces, but it also worked well for hunting. In order to operate the gun you would need a

cock or hammer that would tightly hold a piece of flint. The person shooting the gun loads the

muzzle end in this order: first you pushed in the black powder, after which you put in a round
‐  
Page 7 -

lead ball that had been wrapped in paper or a cloth scrap. You would then push it down the
17
Further research will need to be done to thoroughly verify the name of the lake as Sylvan Lake or Silver Lake.
barrel of the gun with a ramrod. The ramrod was usually stored under the barrel. Next you prime

the flash pan with a small amount of finely ground gun powder, and then you close this small lid

called a frizzen. You now have a gun that is primed and ready to shoot. Most men would carry

their guns loaded in this manner. In order to ignite the gun, you must move the cock or hammer

to cock position, release the safety lock, aim the gun and pull the trigger. This action releases the

hammer that is holding the flint. The flint then strikes the frizzen which causes it to open

exposing the powder. A spark is caused by the contact between the flint and the frizzen. It goes

into the flash pan where the powder ignites and causes a flame in the barrel that ignites the main

powder and the gun discharges its contents of powder and balls. 18 Using the musket in this

manner would not require a torch, but the family said they did not have any flint on the gun,

therefore the gun would not cause a spark to ignite and they must use the torch to light the

gunpowder instead of the spark.

When the boys came to a place where they saw a deer, they laid the barrel of the gun over a

log to steady it. Moses tried to position the gun right at the targeted deer and Joseph lit the fuse

with the red hot flaming torch. The gun fired with a blast and surprisingly, the deer fell dead on

the ground where it stood. The boys were so excited they left the gun and the deer to run home

and tell their parents the good news. When Moses and Joseph finally convinced their Father and

Mother to come look at the site with them, they found everything exactly as the boys had left it.

The gun was lying over the log and the dead deer was still lying on the ground. It turned out to

be a successful hunting experience for Moses and Joseph. They shot and killed a deer with only

one shot. This was very fortunate considering how long it would take the boys to reload the

gun. 19
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Page 8 -

18
Flintlock Musket. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flintlock_musket
19
Weech, p21.
 Whiile living in Michigan,
M onn May 2, 1831, Nahum purchased
p a homestead of
o 80 acres. On

September 10, 1834 he

h purchased another 1220 acres. Theen on Augusst 2, 1837 hee made one final
f

purchasee of 41.54 acrres. All of thhese propertiies were recoorded as being in the couunty of Oaklland,

in the staate of Michig

gan. The totaal property owned
o by Naahum in 1837 looks to bee 241.54 acrres of

land. 20 That
T was quiite a large am
mount of groound to clearr and farm, assuming
a thaat Nahum cleeared

much of it.
i It was a blessing to haave a large family
fa and

several soons to help him

h work thee farm.

m have beeen looking for a

During this time the family must

better plaace to farm because

b they sent their olldest son Lyyman

F 9- Corn Beltt Map

Fig to investigate rumors of enormouus harvestingg in the “cornn

belt” souuth. The areaa called the “corn

“ belt” covers
c the Midwestern
M U
United Statess, which

primarilyy includes th
he states Iow
wa and Illinois, but it alsoo includes paarts of Indiaana, Minnesoota,

South Daakota, Nebraaska, Kansass, Missouri, and

a Ohio. Inn these states their majorr crop is corrn

and the liivestock are also corn-feed, which maakes them more
m desirablle. When Lyyman returneed he

was full of
o details ab
bout fields thhat were yieldding crops of
o corn betweeen eighty too one hundreed

p acre. Thiis amount waas significanntly greater thhan the cropp of Michigaan. 21
bushels per

The religious ferrvor of this time

t period included
i thee restoration of The Churrch of Jesus

Christ off Latter-day Saints

S on Appril 6, 1830 by
b Joseph Sm
mith. The message
m begaan to spread and

in 1832 it
i reached Michigan.
M Thee Curtis fam
mily was taugght about thiss new religioon in their ow
wn

home as related earlier in this hisstory. Througgh a miracullous experience of Mosees’s parents,

Nahum and
a Millicentt were specifically told of
o the truthfuulness of thee Book of Mormon. Theyy
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Page 9 -

20
Land Reecords for Nahu
um, U.S. Bureaau of Land Maanagement Genneral Land Reccord Office.
http://www
w.glorecords.bllm.gov/
21
Weech, p21.
p
quickly obtained
o a sttrong testimoony of the truuth which leed to their unnwavering faaith. The entire
22
family was
w baptized into this new
wly founded Church in 1833.
1

A hiistory written
n about the early
e churchh organization in Michigaan relates this story abouut the

Lucy Maack Smith, Mother

M of thee Prophet Josseph Smith. Lucy had gone
g to Pontiiac, Michigaan to

visit her
h nieces Allmira and Teemperance Mack.
M While there, Lucy was

introduuced to the local

l ministeer Reverend Isaac W. Ruuggles. He had
h

no usee for the Morrmons and toold her so. He

H also told Lucy
L that heer son

was a poor foolishh boy who prretended to translate

t the Book of

Morm
mon. As you can imaginee, this statem
ment made Lucy madder than

a mothher bear prottecting her cubs.

c She told the Revereend that withhin
Fig 10 -L
Lucy Mack Smith
h
three years a third of his congreggation will have
h joined the
t Mormonn

Church, including
i his deacon Sam
muel Bent. True
T to her prediction,
p

two yearss later it is reecorded in thhe Congregaational Churcch minute

book on February
F 9thh that Deaconn Bent was excommunic
e cated for

joining thhe Mormon Church. 23

Manny years laterr Moses’s yoounger brothher George told his

granddauughter Irene Colvin that Joseph Smitth and Jared Carter weree
Fig 11- Joseph Smith, Jrr.
the missiionaries that taught their family the gospel.
g Geoorge, born in

‐  
Page 10 -

22
Weech, p21.
p
23
Hilda Faulkner Browwn, The Michiggan Mormons- Their history from
f 1831 to 1952
1 and a littlle beyond. Provvo,
Utah 19885. p1-3. The first
f branch of the
t church in Pontiac,
P Michiggan was organiized on Februaary 16, 1833.
Journal History of the Church, Decem mber 31, 1833, p5-6.
 n years off age when thhis occurredd. 24 Joseph Smith
1823 wouuld have beeen a boy of nine S did visit

Pontiac, Michigan
M in
n October 1834 and younng George must
m have connfused thesee two events in

his youngg life.

Therre has been some

s disputee about the missionaries
m in this storyy as it is not recorded in any

official church
c historry about the Prophet Joseeph Smith, a missionaryy, being in Poontiac, Michhigan

in 1833. However, in the book The

T Father of the

Prophet-- Stories andd Insights froom the Life of

Joseph Smith,
S Sr. wrritten by Marrk L. McConnkie,

the authoor cites a history of Edward Stevensoon

which saays that Father Smith andd his sons Jooseph

and Hyrrum went to Michigan. 25 Unfortunateely,

Figg 12 - Pontiac Scchool house/Chuurch house
Stevensoon does not include the year.
y McConnkie

also citess Stevenson, who residedd in Pontiac,, Michigan at

a that time, as
a saying thaat Father andd

Mother Smith,
S with Hyrum
H and Joseph,
J visitted Pontiac, Michigan
M inn 1834. 26 It iss recorded inn the

History of
o the Church
h that Josephh Smith wennt to visit thee Saints in

Pontiac, Michigan
M on
n October 200, 1834. He made the joourney

mith, David Whitmer, Frrederick G. Williams,

along witth Hyrum Sm W

Oliver Coowdery and Roger Ortonn. They spent some timee “teaching

and preacching” in Miichigan and then they reeturned to Kiirtland. 27

In thhe early histo

ory of the LD
DS Church in
i Michigan as recorded
Fig 13
1 - Mary
Currtis Reed
‐  

24
Weechh, p 40.
Page 11 -

25
Mark L. McConkie, The Father off the Prophet- Stories
S and Inssights from the Life of Josephh Smith, Sr.
Bookcraaft Inc.: Salt Laake City, Utah,1993. p.40.
26
McCoonkie, p19 & 40 0.
27
Josephh Smith. History
ry of the Churcch of Jesus Chrrist of Latter-daay Saints. Deseeret Book: Saltt Lake City, 19978,
vol 2 p1668-169.
by Hilda Faulkner Browne, she lists Jared Carter and Joseph Wood as the missionaries laboring

in Pontiac, Michigan in January 1833, not Jared Carter and Joseph Smith. 28 She also relates that

meetings for the Mormons in Pontiac were held in a local schoolhouse. During one of these

meetings a Mary Curtis, [daughter of Nahum and Millicent] suddenly began speaking in

tongues. 29 It was recorded by Edward Stevenson who was in attendance at this meeting when

Mary was speaking in tongues. He described Mary as- “her face fairly shone, her countenance

changed, and often tears ran down her cheeks.” 30 Stevenson also related that the Prophet Joseph

Smith gave a great promise to the small congregation in Pontiac. “Joseph said, if you will obey

the gospel with honest hearts, I promise you in the name of the Lord, that the gifts as promised

by our Savior will follow you, and by this you may prove me to be a true servant of God.” 31 This

promise was fulfilled through Mary Curtis speaking in the gift of tongues.

Whatever the real details are, the fact still remains that the family of Nahum and Millicent

Curtis were taught by missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in

1832 and 1833. Lyman records in his life history that he was baptized on 14 March 1833 in

Milford, which is near Pontiac, by Samuel Bent along with some of his siblings. 32 Moses was

baptized by William Bathbridge on this same day and confirmed by Samuel Bent. 33

In June 1834 Moses siblings Lyman Curtis and Sophronia went on the Zion’s Camp march

to the Salt River in Missouri. They left from Pontiac Michigan and were led by Hyrum Smith. 34

Later a non-Mormon resident recalled the many converts to this new religion in the Pontiac

area. He gave a list of people that he remembered joined this church. Included in the list were

28
Also in the private journal of Edward Stevenson, he says that the gospel first came to Michigan through the
missionaries Jared Carter and Joseph Woods. Stevenson, Edward. Private Journal. Dec 23, 1867.
‐  

29
Browne, p5 & 11.
Page 12 -

30
J. Stevenson, p18 & 19.
31
Joseph Grant Stevenson. The Life of Edward Stevenson. BYU Press: Provo.1955, p 20.
32
Life history of Lyman Curtis, www.themorrisclan.com. p1.
33
S.C. Richardson, Sketches of the Curtis family, p29
34
Lyman Curtis history, p2
Nahum Curtis
C and hiis brother Jerremiah. Theyy were as foollows- Thadddeus Alvordd, Ezekiel

Kellogg, Seville Harrris, Jeremiahh Curtis, Nahhum Curtis, Joseph Bentt, Edward Sttevenson,
35
Temperaance Mack an
nd Almira Mack.
M

Missouri

Perssuaded by their faith andd new found devotion, whhen Moses was
w a teenagger, sometim
me

around 1835-1836, his

h parents moved
m their family
f to Misssouri. 36 Naahum sold hiis homesteadd in

Michigann for the sum

m of $800.000. Then he gaave $325.00 to Joseph Smith
S to helpp buy propertty in

Missourii for other ch

hurch membeers. The monney represennted the totall amount of the Curtis faamily

funds, buut Nahum glaadly donatedd it to the cauuse. 37

Mosses brother, George

G tells that his fathher bought thheir farm in Log
L Creek, Caldwell,
C

Missourii from a Mr. Fletcher. 38 Log

L Creek iss located sixx miles east of
o Far West where
w Shoall

Creek joins the Grand Riverr. It is aboutt halfway bettween Haun’s

Mill and Far West, which arre northeast of present day

d Kansas City
C

andd Independennce, Missourri. In 1833 thhere began ann anti- Morm

mon

senttiment in Miissouri. Afteer much persecution of thhe Mormonss and

expulsion from many of theeir homes byy an angry mob,

m the statee

legiislature interrvened and agreed

a that thhe Mormonss could settlee in

Misssouri, but onnly in the noorthern part of

o the state inn Caldwell
Fig 14 -Shoal Creek
k
Counnty. A few saaints settled in neighboriing Daviess and Carroll

Counties. 39 The legisslature agreeed that the coounty seat would

w be in Far
F West, thaat Mormons
‐  

35
Cumm ming, p15. Step phen B. McCraacken, Fifty Yeears Ago and Now,
N in the Micchigan Historiccal Collectionss,
Page 13 -

14:616 (Lansing
( 1890)).
36
It was after Zion’s Camp
C March inn 1834 and beffore the troublee in Far West inn 1838. Sourcee for this
time tablle- Lyman Currtis History. ww
ww.themorrisclan.com, p3.
37
Taylor, Nahum Histo ory, p2
38
Taylorr, p2
could holld county offfices, have representatio
r on in the Leggislature, andd create a coounty Militiaa. By

acceptingg these privileges, the Mormons

M agreeed not to seettle in any other
o countiees. The Morm
mons

lived peaacefully in Missouri

M for a short time. Then they began to dissagree amonng themselvees

o more perseecution. 40
which ledd to a time of

The Mormon’s received

r muuch persecutiion in Missouri and manny families suuffered greattly.

The Curttis family waas no exceptiion. While liiving at Logg Creek, Mosses’ mother, Millicent

became gravely
g ill. She
S died on September 3,
3 1838 at thhe age of fiftyy- one and was
w buried tw
wo

gest child waas eight yearrs old. 41

days later. Her young

O the same day

On d as the buurial, Mosess, his father Nahum
N and his
h brothers Lyman and

Joseph were
w called by the Propheet Joseph Sm
mith to makee a gatheringg place at thee Curtis

setttlement for thhose persecuuted Saints being

b drivenn out of their

hom
mes. They were
w also to stand
s as guaards over them
m as protecttion

from
m mob violeence. The people who heeeded the Proophet’s counnsel

andd went to thee Curtis settleement were not harmed in the raid on
o

Hauun’s Mill onn October 30, 1838. It was

w reported that
t a neighbbor
Fig 15 - Lyman Curttis lateer told the Cuurtis family that a mob had
h come inttending to

destroy thheir settlemeent, but theyy were adviseed there werre only a few
w women andd children

staying thhere so the mob

m went onn their way leeaving the seettlement unnharmed. Levvi Jackman

records thhat the Prophet Joseph Smith

S assureed him the peeople in the Curtis settlement would not

be harmeed. 42
‐  

39
Page 14 -

Thomas G. Alexander. Utah, the riight place: the official centennnial history. Gibbs
G Smith. Saalt Lake City, Utah
1996. p882
40
Historry of Caldwell and Livingstonn counties, Misssouri. The Prinntery, Clinton, Misssouri,19772. p117
119.
41
Burrelll, p42
42
Weechh, p42.
 Duriing this timee of great perrsecution froom belligerennt citizens of
o Missouri, the
t memberss

were bickkering and quarreling

q likke cats and dogs.
d There were churchh court proceeedings in

Februaryy of 1838 wh
here some chhurch membeers were actuually excom
mmunicated. In the Histoory of

the Churrch it says that a court prroceeding toook place at the Curtis setttlement on February
F 8,

1838. 43

In the
t short history of Moses Curtis hannded down by
b

the famiily, it is recoorded that hee was several times takenn

prisonerr with the Prrophet Joseph Smith. 44 I could find no

historicaal evidence in
i the lists of prisoners with
w the propphet

that clarrified this staatement. I diid find an insstance with the

t

Missourri Redress Peetitions where Moses waas taken as a

prisonerr to Richmonnd, made to wait there a few days, annd

releasedd. In 1839 affter the saintss had left Missouri, theyy

were alllowed to maake petitions that includeed a statemennt

before the
t Justice off the Peace about
a their loosses involved in
Fig 16- Typicall Jail Cell
the Missouri persecutions. Mosees’s list conssisted of a sw
word

at the cosst of $5.00, a gun at the cost

c of 62.5 cents, two weeks
w lost tim
me in workinng at the cosst of

$12.00, three
t weeks time
t lost froom moving thhe poor from
m Missouri for
f the cost of
o $18.00, annd

the loss of
o time in co
onsequence of
o the mobbeers of Missouuri for six months
m at $1.00 per day for
f

the price of $156.00. All of these expenses added

a up to the
t total of $192.615.
$ Thhis list was dated
d

May 13, 1839.

‐  
Page 15 -

Therre is also an excerpt in thhese petitionns that says the followingg-

43
Smith, Vol. 3 p3-6.
44
Richarrdson, p29.
 Hanndcock Co. State
S of Illinoois-
T may certtify that I Moses Curtis was
This w at the
Surrendeer at Farwestt in the Counnty of Calweell State of
Missourii and under a Strong guaard I was com mpell to givee up
my arms I was afterw wards taken prisoner
p by Lieutenant
L
Lakey whho marched us to Richm mond thirty miles
m after tw
wo
days I waas discharged without anny charge beeing found
against me
m and no means of Susttanance beinng found for my
support.
Signned Moses Curtis.
C (swornn before A. Monroe.
M J.PP.
45
Hancockk Co., Ill, on January 6, 1840.)
1
Fig 17- Pionneer Company
As thhis excerpt states,
s Moses was taken prisoner, aloong

with his younger

y brother Joseph. They were made to maarch like a troop of bedraaggled untraained

soldiers to
t Richmond
d under guarrd, but were both releaseed after two days.
d This march
m to

Richmonnd took placee in Novembber 1838. 46

On January
J 29, 1839, a grouup of saints met
m in Far West
W where thhey held a meeting
m and made

a covenaant under the direction off Brigham Young

Y that thhey would:

sttand by and assist each other

o to the utmost
u of ouur abilities inn removing from
fr this statte,
annd that we will
w never desert the poorr who are woorthy, till theey shall be out
o of the reaach
of the exterm o the state. 477
minating ordeer of Generall Clark, actinng for and inn the name of

In thhis long list of

o devoted saints are thee names of Nahum
N and Jooseph Curtiss. 48 The nam
mes

may havee only been the

t head of households
h a therefore would excclude Moses who remainned
and

single at the age of 23.

In December
D 1838 and Januuary 1839, thhe saints werre forced to leave
l Missouuri. A historyy of

Caldwelll County sum

mmarizes thee exodus as being
b in the middle of winter.
w The historian
h statees

that manyy men, wom

men, childrenn, the sick annd the old weere all drivenn out of theirr homes to liive

in the praairies and forrests. They had

h very littlle food and even
e less sheelter to proteect them from
m
‐  
Page 16 -

45
Clark V. Johnson, Mormon
M Redresss Petitions. Reeligious Studies BYU: Provo, Utah, 1992, p178.
p Originall
spelling was preserved
d in the documeent.
46
Smith, Vol. 3 p200-2233.
47
Smith, Vol. 3 p250-2251.
48
Smith, Vol. 3 p253.
the icy, cold winter elements. Many people were left with no other alternative but to walk the

entire journey to Illinois on foot at this time. 49

Illinois

During the mob violence in Missouri, the Curtis family moved with the body of the Saints to

the area of Quincy, Illinois. Mary describes their journey out of Missouri as being the first of

February when it was cold and muddy. She tells that they walked most of the way even though it

was hard to travel because of the mud. They camped outside of Quincy, Illinois for about two

weeks while the wagons and teams went to bring more Saints out of Missouri. There were about

three to four thousand people there. 50 A short time later they relocated to Commerce, which

then became known as the City of Nauvoo. While living there Moses married Aurelia Peckham

Jackman on May 28, 1839, the daughter of Levi and Angeline Myers Jackman long time friends

of the Curtis family. 51 Together they had the following seven children. Their names and

birthplaces are:

Moses Monroe 28 Oct 1840 Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois

Angeline 1843 Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois
Francis Argyle 5 Oct 1845 Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois
Evaline Madora 22 April 1850 Winter Quarters,Nebraska
Delia Elizabeth 30 Oct 1852 Provo, Utah, Utah
Levi Nahum 18 Sept 1855 Provo, Utah, Utah
Mary Melvina 30 Oct 1857 Provo, Utah, Utah 52

Moses’s father, a lonely widower, married Delia Byam Reed on October 29, 1839. 53 This

was thirty years to the day after he had married his first love, Millicent. Delia was a widow also

living in Nauvoo, with children of her own. The Curtis children were happy to have a new
‐  

49
Page 17 -

History of Caldwell County, p142.

50
Weech, p43.
51
Moses Curtis, groom and Aurelia Jackman bride, Illinois Statewide Marriage Index 1763-1900. Date 5/30/1839.
License no. 280 in Hancock Illinois. http://www.ilsos.gov/GenealogyMWeb/marrsrch.html
52
Beecher, p47.
53
www.earlylds.org, family group sheet Tillison Reed and Delia Byam Curtis.
mother too help with their
t care and ease the buurden

m’s load. 54 Two

of Nahum T of her children,
c Calvin

and Sallyy Ann Reed, later marrieed children of

o

Nahum, Mary
M oseph Curtis respectivelyy. 55
and Jo

In Nauvoo,
N Mosses served inn the Nauvooo

militia. 566 At one poin

nt, the men in the militiaa were Figg 18 - Nauvoo Militia

made to surrender
s theeir weapons to the local authorities trying
t to opppress the Moormons. Afteer all

the guns were laid in

n a pile as if to
t make a boonfire, Mosees’ brother Lyman
L retrievved his gun

while nonne of the guaards were loooking. He later used thiis gun on thee trek west too the Salt Laake

Valley. It
I is now in the C 57
t LDS Chuurch Historyy Museum inn Salt Lake City.

After his maarriage in Naauvoo, Mosees purchasedd his own

property. Apparrently he moved three tim

mes in their short stay inn

Nauvvoo. 58 Mosees remained active in thee church andd was ordainned a

Seveenty and beloonged to the Ninth Quorrum of the Seeventies in

18444. 59 A seventty was a prieesthood officce in the LD

DS church whhich

was revealed to Joseph

J Smithh in Februarry 1835. A seeventy at thiis

time was called to

t do missionary work and
a were connsidered as a
Fig 19-Wisconsin-
Loggingg on Mississippii
River General Authority inn the early yeears of the chhurch. In Occtober 1844

54
Weechh, p8.
55
www.earlylds.org. faamily group shheet.
56
Vernaa Colvin, The Garden
G and Hoow it Grew, Edeen 1881-1981. p199 & 200.
57
Lymann Curtis Historry, p6. Lyman’s history indicates the gun is in the DUP museum,
m but conntact was madee
with the museum curattor who could notn find any reecord of it in thheir collection. Therefore, wee think it
‐  
Page 18 -

must be in the LDS Ch hurch History Museum

M whosee curator has not
n responded to our request yet.
y
58
Nauvooo, Illinois Lan
nd Records Dattabase. Nauvoo, Illinois. Filee of Moses Cuurtis RIN # 8513. He lived onn
Block 333 Lot 1, Block 45 Lot 2 and Block
B 130 Lot 3.
59
Black,, Harvey B. Seventy Quorum Membership, 1835–1846: Ann Annotated Inndex of Over 3,,500 Seventies
Organizeed in the First Thirty-Five Quuorums of the Seventy
S in Kirttland, Ohio, annd Nauvoo, Illiinois. Provo, Utah:
Infobasees, 1996. 70s Bk
B B Sel, p25; 70s
7 rec, Qum 9. 9
conference, after the death of the prophet Joseph Smith, President Brigham called many

additional Seventies. 60 It was at this time that Moses was ordained to the priesthood office of

Seventy.

Moses and his brothers were sent to find lumber from the Mississippi River in Wisconsin,

northwest of Nauvoo, to help build the fast-growing city. There was not a readily available

lumber supply in the early 1840s when the Saints in Nauvoo were trying to build many houses,

the temple and the Nauvoo House. During the years 1841-1845, a church guided lumber

operation was underway in the Wisconsin Pineries. It is reported that during these years the

Latter-day Saints harvested “an estimated one-and-a-half million board feet of milled lumber,

over two hundred thousand shingles, and an undeterminable number of loose logs, hewed

timbers and barn boards. This was enough lumber to build about 215 three-bedroom houses of

our [modern] day”. 61

The Curtis brothers had many adventures trying to guide the lumber down the river. One

such experience happened to Lyman and Moses. They were gathering lumber for the Nauvoo

Temple on this particular trip. They had tied the logs together with wooden pins and hickory

withes to make a type of crude wooden raft to carry themselves and their supplies. (A hickory

withe is a green tree branch that has all the twigs trimmed off. Then you carefully bend the

branch until it is very pliable so you can use it as a type of fastener much like a rope.) At one

point while stopping to gather supplies, Moses guided the raft close to the river bank. Lyman

took the rope and jumped ashore to wrap it around a young tree close to the shore. The tree was

weak and bent by the strong current of the water. This bending action took Lyman under the
‐  
Page 19 -

60
William G. Hartley. “Nauvoo Stake, Priesthood Quorums, and the Church’s First Wards”. BYU Studies. Provo
Utah 32, 1992, p71.
61
Dennis Rowley. “The Mormon Experience in the Wisconsin Pineries, 1841-1845” BYU Studies. Provo Utah 32,
1992, p121.
 water. Lym
man hung on to the rope tightly
t and when
w

the tree spruung back up,, he sprang out

o of the waater

like a boom
merang and was
w able to geet free. This

event didn’tt hinder theirr travel planss and after thhe

little bit of excitement

e thhey continueed down the river

Fig 20 - Blaacksmith shop with their logs.

o There iss said to be a place on thee

river neaar La Crosse,, Wisconsin called Morm

mon Coulee after Moses and his brotther Lyman. It

mbering tripss. 62
received its name beccause they camped in the area often on their lum

Mosses had many

y run-ins witth the people around Nauvoo

who had a dislike forr the Mormoons. One eveening as he was

w

preparingg to return to
o his home from
fr the lum
mber businesss on

Parley Sttreet, he had a choice to take a shortccut through a

densely wooded
w areaa or to go aroound on the road.
r He waas

tired andd in his haste he decided to take the short

s cut. Ass he

turned thhe direction to

t head throuugh the treess a voice cam
me to
F 21 - Loggingg in the 19th cenntury
Fig

him and said, “Don’tt go that wayy.” He turnedd to see whoo had

spoken too him and no

o one was thhere. So he sttarted to heaad through thhe trees againn. He heard the

voice agaain saying, “Don’t

“ go thaat way.” Again he thougght it was sillly so he starrted once moore to

walk throough the treee. This time he couldn’tt ignore the voice
v i said, “Donn’t go that way.”
when it

He headeed for the roaad and took it safely hom

me. Later he heard that a group of unnruly men haad

been waiiting in the trrees to ambuush him. 63 Moses

M was yooung in his experience
e inn listening too the
‐  
Page 20 -

62
Ida Bllum, Nauvoo- Gateway
G to thee West. Journall Printing Co.: Carthage Ill. 1974. p27-28.
63
Weechh, p19-20.
gentle whisperings of the Holy Ghost. But he became well known as a man who lived close to

the spirit and was guided by its promptings.

Another time he was in the blacksmith shop where some men were fixing a muzzle loading

rifle. A voice told him to move, he listened and quickly backed away right before the gun went

off and shot right through the place he had been standing. Moses was prompted many times in

his life, so that he learned to be more aware of these warnings. 64

The Curtis family was greatly saddened when the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother

Hyrum were killed by a mob in Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844. Moses describes the Prophet

Joseph as “having a halo of light around him and Moses always felt joy in his association with

the Prophet.” 65 Moses’s brothers Lyman and George, members of the Nauvoo Militia, were once

again given an important responsibility to stand guard over the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum after

their death because there was a reward offered for the head of Joseph Smith. 66

Moses’s oldest sister Sophronia taught school while they lived in Nauvoo. Her husband

Patrick Norris drowned when returning from a mission in 1844, leaving her a young widow at

age thirty four. 67

Life in Nauvoo was hard. They were plagued by sickness because of the swamp and

mosquitoes. The life expectancy at this time was thirty-eight years for men and forty years for

women. 68 Most people upon arriving in Nauvoo had to live in their wagon box, a tent or a

dugout while they built a more permanent shelter. 69 Their food source was largely what they

grew themselves or found while hunting. Farming was not easy in Nauvoo, but they tried a

64
Weech, p21.
‐  

65
Page 21 -

Richardson, Sketches of the Curtis Family, p29.

66
Lyman Curtis History, p4.
67
Weech, p43.
68
George W. Givens. In old Nauvoo: everyday life in the city of Joseph. Deseret Book: Salt Lake City,
Utah,1990, p112.
69
Givens, p1.
different approach. Instead
I of peeople in Nauuvoo living on
o vast amouunts of land to
t farm, mosst of

them liveed in the city

y and then traveled each day out to

the rural area to theirr farm land. This approaach to

farming helped
h with the social asspect of livinng during

these harrd times. A ty

ypical farm in Nauvoo inn the 1840s

could havve had any combination

c of the follow
wing: fields

of crops such as corn

n, wheat, barrley, and oatss. They

could alsso have had pig

p pens, catttle, sheep, horses,
h

chickens, a vegetablee garden andd possibly ann apple, Fig 22 - Building thhe Nauvoo Tempple

peach or other fruit orchard.

o A prroblem involving livestoock though was
w how to help
h them suurvive

the harshh winters. 70 On Sunday, the saints coongregated in

i the grove,, an unknow
wn location, but
b

assumed to be near th
he Temple site. There was
w no place in
i Nauvoo thhat could hoouse the num
mber
71
of peoplee for a Sundaay church meeting.
m Inn the later years of Nauvooo, they buillt a bowery to
t

meet in. 72
7
A bowery is an open air
a structure with
w posts foor supports and
a a thatcheed roof. A

bowery could
c provid
de shelter forr up to a thouusand peoplee depending on its dimennsions. It waas

han being dirrectly out inn the elementts. 73

only slighhtly better th

E
Everyone in Nauvoo,
N inclluding Mosees and his fam
mily workedd tirelessly too finish theirr

beloved temple.
t Mosses’s father and
a brothers worked poliishing stones. They wouuld put one large
l

stone on the ground, pour sand over the top of

o it and thenn place anothher stone onn top of that. By

moving the
t stones arround they were
w able to polish
p the boottom stone. 74
7
‐  

70
Page 22 -

Givenns, p1.
71
Givenns, p146-147
72
Richarrdson, Sketchess of the Curtis Family, p13.
73
http://www.thisistheplace.org/. Weebsite of a repliica of early Sallt Lake City. They
T have a repplica and
explanattion of a bowerry. (accessed on
o November 29, 2008)
74
Givenns. p44.
 O June 26, 1845,
On 1 Mosess and his wiffe Aurelia booth received their Patriarrchal Blessinng by

h John Smithh, uncle of thhe Prophet Jooseph Smith. 75 In Mosess’s blessing he

the hand of Patriarch h

was given the follow

wing promisees:

T
Thou shalt haave power too gather the remnants
r of Jacob by thoousands & establish them m in
the citiess of the saints; as thy privvilege to go whithersoevver thou wiltt, thy callingg is more
particularrly among th he Lamanites, thou shaltt bring thoussands of themm to a knowlledge of the
truth; thoou shalt be ab ble to speak the languagge of any peoople whereveer thy lot is cast,
c or to doo any
76
t wisdom will direct for
miracle that f the prosperity of the great
g work of
o the Lord… …

N
Nahum and his
h wife Delia were the first
fi family members
m to receive
r their temple

endowmeent in Nauvo mber 18, 18445. 77 Moses’s sister Maryy and her huusband Calviin
oo on Decem

Reed, and his other sister

s Sophroonia all receiived their enndowment onn January 300, 1846. On

Februaryy 2, Moses, his w his wifee Sally Ann all received their
h wife Aureelia, his brotther Joseph with

endowmeent. 78 On Feebruary 7, the remaining family mem

mbers, Mosess’ brothers Foster,
F and

w his wife Charlotte reeceived theirr endowmennt. 79

Lyman with

The Nauvoo Temple musst have been very speciall to all thosee who workeed hard to seee its

compleetion. They joyfully

j receeived their teemple ordinaances

and theen turned theeir backs on the sacred building

b wheen

they were driven frrom Nauvooo. We can onnly imagine the

t

sadness in their heaarts during thhis difficult time.

Fig 23 - Nauvoo
o Temple

75
Churcch of Jesus Chrrist of Latter-daay Saints. Early
ly Church Inforrmation File, FHL film # 17550670. Moses #500
‐  
Page 23 -

& Aurelia # 453.

76
g, Moses Curtiss, June 26, 18445, copy in possession of authhor.
Patriaarchal Blessing
77
Churcch of Jesus Chrrist of Latter-daay Saints. Nauvvoo Temple Enndowment Regiister10 Decembber to 8 Februuary
1846, 19974,.p27 # 16 #17.
#
78
Givenns, p259.
79
Nauvooo Temple End dowment Registter, p335 #12##13.
 Inn February 1846,
1 the Saiints began leeaving their beautiful
b cityy Nauvoo, forced
fo to leavve

many beloongings alonng with the homes

h they had
h

worked haard to build. The Curtis family had a few

hardships as they triedd to cross thee Mississipppi

River. In February, Lyman

L Curtiss recorded inn his

history that his wagonn was swept downstream

m and

Fig 24 - Tombstone off Nahum Curtis (Nauvoo) his horsess drowned, but
b a kindly unknown
u

gentlemaan gave him money to buuy a new horrse. 80 Mary Curtis Reed,, Moses’s sisster, along with
w

her husbaand Calvin Reed

R and theeir three youung daughterrs, tried to crross the riverr with their

wagon onn a ferry. While

W crossinng the river, someone
s spaat tobacco inn the eye of their
t oxen while
w

it was stiill hitched to

o the wagon. Mary was holding
h

their baby, and sitting

g on the waggon seat. Som
mehow

miraculously they maanaged to unnhitch the oxxen from

the wagoon before eveeryone drow

wned. Mary was
w able to

keep the baby out of the water. Sometime

S duuring the

episode two
t of their oxen
o drowneed. 81
F 25 -The Nauvvoo Exodus
Fig

O February 22, there waas a raging blizzard

On b that

left a fooot of snow in

n Nauvoo andd its surrounnding areas. Moses’s
M fathher Nahum remained
r behhind

to help soome of the poorer

p familiies in the friggid, wintery weather. Duue to exposuure, he died on
o

March 9,, 1846. The family is noot entirely suure where he is buried buut it is probabbly whereveer he

died on thhe other sidee of the riverr. There is a grave markker in Nauvooo with his name
n on it. 82
‐  
Page 24 -

Nahum was
w a stalwarrt member of
o the churchh. He gave service willinngly and quietly. His

80
Lymann Curtis Historry. p3.
81
Richarrdson. Sketchess of the Curtis Family, p14-15.
82
Weechh, p52.
patriarchal blessing says that “he will be held in honorable remembrance by his descendants and

perpetuated by them for his sacrifices; spiritual blessings shall be multiplied upon his head and

for the integrity of his heart in which there is no guile. This is a blessing of promise upon you

and your children after you.” 83

Moses and his brothers, Joseph and Lyman worked together to build wagons big enough

to carry each family’s belongings on the journey west to the Rocky Mountains. Due to the

persecution and being forced to leave their homes, the Curtis family lost their mother, and father.

But they must have been comforted by the new found knowledge of temple ordinances that

sealed families together for eternity. At the time of the exodus of the saints from Nauvoo in

1846, the cities population was roughly about 17,000. This was in comparison to Chicago,

Illinois in that same year whose city population was about 10,000. 84

Iowa and Nebraska

The Saints did not make the long trek to the Rocky Mountains in the year of 1846 when

they were driven out of Nauvoo, because many were not prepared for the long journey. Some

had been forced to leave with very few provisions. Instead, under the direction of Brigham

Young they formed settlements along the trail from Nauvoo to provide shelter and food for the

travelers. They also helped those who were not prepared to make the trek yet. The first camp was

at Sugar Creek, Iowa Territory nine miles west of Nauvoo across the Mississippi. It was at Sugar

Creek that the leaders of the church formed a plan and made a decision which trail to follow to

their ultimate destination in the Rocky Mountains. They remained in this camp for the entire

month of February 1846. 85 It took a little more than three more months for this large body of
‐  
Page 25 -

83
Weech, p54.
84
Richard E. Bennett. Mormons at the Missouri, 1846-1852 “And Should We Die”. University of Oklahoma
Press, 1987. p15.
85
Bennett. p25-26.
Saints to cross the Io
owa Territoryy. They trekkked throughh mud, rain

and snow
w which caussed them to move
m slowerr than originnally

anticipateed. On June 14th, they reeached the Missouri

M Riveer. 86

A
Along the trail some of thhe men weree called to join the

Mormon Battalion. On
O June 26, 1846 while camped by the
t

Missourii River, the Saints

S were met
m by Uniteed States Arm
my officers

to enlist recruits
r for the
t Battalionn. This groupp included Moses’s
M Fig 266 - Foster Curtiss

younger unmarried brother

b who volunteeredd to go in plaace of Lymann who had a family to caare

D 87 The Mormon
for. Fosteer is listed ass a Private inn Company D. M Battaalion was a group
g of 5000

Mormon soldiers enllisted by the United Statees governmeent to help inn the Mexicaan War in 18846.

Althoughh at first this endeavor seeemed to be a huge sacriifice for the families of those
t that weere

left withoout their men

n, it turned out
o to be a bllessing. The pioneers weere left with an immediaate

h which theyy could buy supplies for their journeey ahead. 88

source off money with

Inn Septemberr 1846, Brighham Young and the otheer church leaaders decidedd to make a

camp for the winter on

o the west side
s of the

Missouri river at a plaace called Winter

W Quarteers.

By Septem
mber it was too late in thhe season to

begin a joourney to thee Rocky Mouuntains. Thiis

would givve the peoplee a chance too rest, and gather

more suppplies for the further jourrney west. 89

Fig 27 - Winter Quarterss
‐  
Page 26 -

86
Benneett. p45.
87
Mormmon Battalion Trek.
T http://www.mormonbatttalion.com/histtory/roster.htm
ml. (accessed
Novembber 29, 2008).
88
Alexannder. p92-93. Bennett.
B p51.
89
Benneett. p58.
 M
Moses with his
h wife Aureelia and theirr young children Moses Monroe, Anngeline, and

Franncis Argyle, settled in Winter

W Quarteers. They beelonged to thhe

settllement of thee Winter Quuarters Wardd 3, under Bishop Levi E.

mber 1846 thhere were 185 members of

Riteer. In Decem o this ward.

Amoong the mem

mbers of thiss ward were listed Mosess’s uncle,

Jereemiah Curtis, and Moses’s brothers Joseph

J and Lyman
L and thheir

families. 90 Mosees built a logg house, andd banked it with

w dirt. Theen he

Fig 28 - Joseph Curtis wennt back to Miissouri to buuy enough coorn to last thrrough the winter.

They haddn’t had timee to grow theeir own cropp. 91

M of the houses
Most h in Winter Quarterrs were smalll single room
m structures having

dimensioons of 12 x 18 feet or 12 x 12 feet. They

T had dirtt floors and shake roofs made from oak
o

timbers 6 inches wid

de by 3 feet loong and onee half inch thhick. Chimneeys were maade of either

prairie sood or brick. The

T familiess were glad to
t have a moore permanennt structure after
a living out
o of

their waggons for as many

m as fourr months for some. The families
f luckky enough too have been able
a

to have tiime to build a shelter maay have beenn asked to shhare with thoose less fortuunate. 92

T next yearr April 14, 1847, when thhe first grouup of pioneerrs left on theeir journey too the
The

Rocky Mountains,
M Moses
M and hiss brother Josseph discussed the welfaare of their families.
fa Thiss

vanguardd trip westwaard would bee physically rigorous forr the companny and there were still soome

unknownn aspects of their

t trek. Only those whho could enddure this type of experiennce were invvited

to come. Together th
he brothers decided
d that Joseph
J woulld go with thhe first groupp while his

pregnant wife Sally Ann

A remaineed at Winter Quarters unnder the care of Moses. He
H promisedd to
‐  
Page 27 -

return as soon as posssible after he was able too procure a home

h for theem at the endd of their jouurney

90
Winteer Quarters Projject. www.winnterquarters.byuu.edu/pages/W
Ward3.htm (accessed October 24, 2008).
91
S.C. Richardson,“M
R oses Monroe Curtis,
C Pioneer””, Improvemennt Era, 1923.
92
Benneett. p78.
in the Rocky Mountains. Moses’s brother Lyman also remained in Winter Quarters with his

family. 93

Life was full of ups and downs, happiness and trials, and births and deaths. Sadly,

Moses’s young daughter Angeline died January 1848 at age five and was buried in the Winter

Quarters Cemetery. 94 Then on April 22, 1850, Moses and Aurelia welcomed a new little

daughter into their home by the name of Evaline Madora. 95

Before returning to get his family in Winter Quarters, Joseph Curtis built two houses, one

for his family and one for the family of his brother Moses. 96 In the spring of 1850 while

preparing for their trip to the west, Moses and Lyman went into Missouri to obtain supplies for

their trip. They wanted to purchase a barrel and the store clerk gave them a heavy one without

checking the contents. When they returned home and opened the barrel, they found it had brown

sugar filling about one-third of the barrel. The children were elated for this was a very rare

treat. 97

Trek to the Rocky Mountains

Sometime between the twentieth and twenty seventh of June 1850, Moses left Winter

Quarters and began the trek west along with his family, and his brothers Lyman and Joseph and

their families. They were part of the Stephen Markham Company of fifty wagons. 98 In Pioneers

and Prominent Men, it says that Moses drove two yoke of oxen and two yoke of cows across the

plains. 99 In Lyman’s history it tells about the journey. It says they ate buffalo meat along the

way. Wood was scare and so they used buffalo chips for fuel. There were a few Indian scares,

93
Weech. p57.
94
www.winterquarters.byu.edu/pages/Ward3.htm (accessed October 24, 2008), cemetery record.
‐  

95
Page 28 -

Burrell, p47.
96
Weech, p57.
97
Lyman Curtis history, p7.
98
Mormon Pioneer Overland Trail. http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneercompany/0,15797,4017-1-
191,00.html (accessed Oct 2008).
99
Frank Esshom. Pioneers and Prominent Men. Utah Pioneer Book: Salt Lake City, Utah,1913. p833.
but no onne was hurt. A few people died from
m cholera. Thhe company arrived in Saalt Lake Cityy on

the first thru

t the third
d of Octoberr 1850. Josepph says that when
w they came
c in to thhe valley theyy still
100
had leftover buffalo jerky.
j Thiis journey toook a little more
m than thrree months too complete.

Utah

Inn the short tiime that Mosses and his family

f lived in Salt Lakee City, Mosees helped witth the

S Lake Citty. 101 Throuugh the yearss he

setting upp of the firstt telegraph liine between Provo and Salt

worked hard
h to build
d a nice homee for his fam
mily. In the 1850 Federall Census of Utah
U it says

Moses agge 35, lived in

i a househoold of five, inncluding hiss wife Aureliia age 30, annd his childreen,

Moses agge 11, Francis age 5 and Emeline age 1. It also states he had real propertty worth fiftyy

dollaars. 102 The 18850 census in

i Utah was actually takeen in 1851,

becauuse Utah waasn’t made a territory unttil Septembeer of 1850,

thouggh it is still called

c the 18850 census 1033 . Therefore it is possiblle

that Moses
M couldd be in the 18850 census even
e though they arrivedd in

Salt Lake
L City inn October 1850.

Moses’s brother
b Lym
man records thhat when theey first moveed to

Utah, bears and wolves

w were plentiful. On
O one trip innto Loafer
Fig 299 - George Curtiss
Canyonn (Utah Couunty near Payyson) the broothers encouuntered a beaar

that was very botherssome and keept getting innto their foodd. Emma Cuurtis, the wifee of their broother

100
Lymaan Curtis Histoory, p7
101
Esshoom, p 833. Eveen though this history
h says that Moses helpeed set up the first telegraph frrom Provo to Salt
S
Lake Citty, Moses lived d in Salt Lake City
C until 18533 at which timee he moved to Provo.
P The tellegraph didn’t come
to Utah until
u the 1860ss. This informaation was accesssed on
http://hisstorytogo.utah..gov/utah_chappters/pioneers__and_cowboys/thetelegraphw wasinformationnhighwayofthe11860s.
html . Thhis web page references
r Mirriam B. Murphyy, “The Telegrraph Comes to Utah,” Beehivve History8 (19982).
‐  
Page 29 -

Moses may
m have helpeed with the teleegraph after he moved to Utahh County, whicch would have been the correect
time period.
102
US Federal Census Office. 1850 Federal
F Censuss for Salt Lake City, Utah Terrritory. (accesssed at
www.anncestry.com) Seeries M432, rolll 919, p133.
103
Alexaander, p118. Utah
U was considdered part of thhe United Statees before it wass recognized ass a territory, soo they
would noot have been obligated
o to carrry out the censsus in that regioon.
George, had made some cheese with liquor in it to act as a preservative. They used this cheese in

a trap to catch the bear. The bear was scrambling in the trap, but before he could break loose,

Moses caught him by the foot while Lyman knocked him out and then killed him with an axe.

The bear meat was shared with many of their neighbors. 104

The decade of 1850 began ten years of one trial after another for the settlers in Provo. A

few years earlier, Indian troubles were so bad in Provo that they had to build a fort to protect the

houses and the settlers. During this time Moses worked on the Provo River, cutting down timbers

and floating them back down the river for the first big adobe meeting house in Provo. 105

In the LDS Bishop’s report of 1852-1853, Moses and his family lived in the Provo First

Ward. His brother Lyman lived in Salt Lake City Ninth Ward. His brother’s George and Joseph

both lived in Utah County in the Payson Ward at this time. 106

Moses Monroe, the oldest son of Moses and Aurelia relates a surprising happening in

Provo in the year 1852. The settlers had very little sugar and the people were becoming crazy to

have something sweet. One morning they woke up and the trees were all covered in something

sparkling white. It looked as if a snow storm had come, but after careful examination the

pioneers discovered it was actually sugar. They gathered limbs from the trees, some of which

had broken from the weight of the sugar on them. Then they rinsed the white residue off and

boiled it down so they could carefully store it for use in the future. 107

In Provo during the year 1853, one evening just after dark, two small children were found

to be missing. Many times they would ride out alone to find their father working in the field and
‐  

104
Page 30 -

Lyman Curtis History. p9.

105
Weech, p81.
106
LDS Bishops Report Index 1852-1853. Blue binder # 4 in Family History Center, HBLL, BYU. This
was a census taken by the LDS Church.
107
S. C. Richardson, “A Tale Characteristic of That of Hundreds of other Western Settlers”,
Improvement Era, Vol XXVI no. 10 (Aug 1923).
then ride back to the house with him.
h This particular dayy, when the father
f came home, he didn’t

have the children. Th

here had been a few bearr incidences in the area so
s the parentts were very

worried when
w they co
ouldn’t find their childreen. The tow
wn people weere called to look for them
m.

They seaarched for a long

l while with
w pine-pitch torches, but
b had no suuccess. The people decidded

to gatherr at one of th
he homes to have
h a prayeer. After theyy were finishhed praying, Moses was told

by a vooice to quickkly go straighht north. In thhe blacknesss of

the nighht he searcheed. He camee upon a corrnfield wheree he

heard a moan. He went

w towardss the sound and
a found thhe

little giirl they weree searching for.

fo He askedd her about her
h

brotherr and she repplied that shee thought he had gone hoome,

F 30 – Typicall cornfield
Fig but a feew rows over, Moses fouund her brothher lying aslleep

amidst thhe cornstalkss. He fired a signal shot to

t alert the toown membeers who quickly came to help

return thee children to

o their distrauught parentss. Moses wass well respeccted and adm
mired for his

b the whispperings of thee spirit. 108

ability too be guided by

O October 5,
On 5 1853, Mosses along witth his wife and
a children were called to go to the

o Provo. 109 After cominng to Utah, Moses

southern settlement of M
1100
continuedd to be in thee Ninth Quoorum of the Seventies.
S

Inn 1853, skirm

mishes with the Indians in the Provoo area

continuedd. There wass one incidennt in Provo where

w an Inddian beggingg

for food from the setttlers at Fort Utah (Provoo), accidentaally shot

himself and
a then blam
med it on thee white folk.. Shortly afteer this
‐  

Fig 31 - Indian Chief in war

Page 31 -

bonnnet

108
S.C. Richardson,“A
R A Pioneer Inciddent in the life of
o Moses Curtiis”, Improvemeent Era, 1923.
109
Churcch of Jesus Ch
hrist of Latter-dday Saints Histoorical Departm
ment. Journal History
H of the Church,
C 5 Oct 1853.
110
JH, 31
3 Mar 1858 an nd 29 May 18552.
incident, another Ind
dian group was
w exchanginng flour for fish when thhe husband of
o an Indian

squaw staarted beating

g and kickinng her in angger while theyy were at thee house of Jaames Ivie.

When Iviie tried to in

ntervene to prevent more injuries to the
t squaw, another Indiaan pulled outt his

bow and arrow and Iv

vie then hit him
h over thee head with his
h gun. Thiis Indian lateer died. Bothh of

these incidences were misunderstandings aboout culture and

a how to give
g punishm
ment. There was
w a

subsequeent killing off a guard at Fort

F Payson,, a few miless away from Fort Provo. A militia off 150

men thenn went to Pay

yson to assisst with protection againsst Indian attaacks. These skirmishes
s

started thhe Walker War

W with the local Indian tribe under Chief Walkeer and continnued with

constant Indian Raids. These fighhts with the Indian didn’’t stop until after
a the deaath of Chief

Walker. His brother then declareed they shouuld have peacce with the Mormon
M setttlers. 111

Inn 1854 and 1855

1 there were
w grasshoppper plaguess which desttroyed their crops.
c The

pioneers were
w left witthout food foor the winterr. The winteers of 1855 and
a

1856 weree very harshh with extrem

me cold and left
l the Sainnts hungry annd

discouragged. 112 Manyy of the cattlee from the herds

h up nortth in Cache

valley didd not survivee the winter. Wilford

Woodrufff said that onnly 500 headd of the

original 2600
2 head off cattle survivved the
Fig 32- Grasshopper
G
winter. In Springville, directly souuth of Provo,,

the peoplle were recorded to be eaating sego bulbs, thistle roots, and pig

weed greeen, because they were so low on foood supplies. 113

B
Brigham You
ung and the other
o churchh leaders couunseled the
Fig 23 - The Sego Lily
‐  
Page 32 -

111
Marillyn McMeen Miller.
M Provo, A Story of Peopple in Motion. BYU Press. Prrovo. 1974. p155-16.
112
Milleer, p17.
113
Paul H.
H Peterson. The
Th Mormon Reeformation. PhD D Diss. Brighaam Young University,1981) p42.
p
memberss that they neeeded to be more
m righteoous and havee a

stronger conviction to live the coommandmennts. If they would

w do

these thinngs, they wo

ould be blesssed with morre crops and less

trials. Too show theirr renewed coommitment too righteous living,

l

Brigham Young askeed that all the church meembers be re-baptized

at this tim
me, which beegan a time of
o rededicatiion and com
mmitment

ndard of reliigious devotion. 114 Withh all these

to living a higher stan
Fig 34 - Brigham Youngg
trials to overcome,
o it is no wondeer that we haave no recordd of

Moses annd his family

y at this timee, although itt is fairly proobable that he
h was invollved in manyy of

these triaals.

Sometime aro
ound 1857- 1858,
1 Mosess moved his family furthher south to a small

communiity named Pondtown, whhich today iss called Saleem. This wass just before the great exxodus

of the Saaints in Salt Lake

L City to Provo whicch happened in the springg of 1858. They
T were fleeeing

from the incoming United

U States Army troopps sent by miisinformed President
P Jam
mes Buchanaan.

His intenntion was to replace

r Briggham Youngg as Governoor. When thee new governnor came to

Utah, he realized thatt the Mormoons of Utah only

o wantedd peace with the United States
S

governm
ment and its citizens.
c Nonnetheless, thiis migration to Provo invvolved thirtyy thousand
115
people who
w came by wagon and formed a larrge camp in the city of Provo.
P

B the 1860 Federal

By F Censsus, Moses and
a his family lived in Pondtown.
P Thhey were a

householld of eight with

w real propperty worth three
t hundreed dollars annd personal property
p fourr

hundred dollars. 116 By

B 1870 he had
h a househhold of five, his real weaalth was ninee hundred fiffty
‐  
Page 33 -

114
Milleer, p18.
115
Milleer, p19.
116
US Federal
F Census 1860, Utah. Pondtown,
P Utahh, Utah Territoory. Series M6553, roll 1314, p961.
p
 117
dollars annd his person
nal wealth was
w three hunndred fifty dollars.
d M
Moses had sloowly been

building up his propeerty to make a nice homee for his wiffe and childreen, many off which had now

grown annd moved aw

way.

Pondtown is located
l fifteen miles souuthwest of Prrovo. It wass settled in 1851 but manny of

the settleers moved to Payson a neearby town because

b of Inndian raids that
t lasted beetween 18522-

1855. Pondtown wass then made a permanentt settlement in

i 1856 just before Moses moved thhere.

In 1862, the ward waas changed back

b to a Braanch under thhe direction of the leadeership in the

nearby Payson Ward

d. It was at thhis time that Moses was called to be the Presidinng Elder overr the

Branch inn Pondtown. 118 Moses Monroe,

M his oldest
o son buuilt a house in Pondtownn, which he then
t

gave to his
h father to live
l in. It waas thought too be one of thhe nicest houuses in the toown. The naails
119
used for its constructtion cost sixtty cents per pound.
p

Inn Pondtown,, Moses met an immigraant from Enggland named George Hannks. He workked

for Mosees until he co

ould procure a home for himself. In 1869, Georgge’s youngerr sister Elizabbeth

came to Utah.
U She had
h been bapptized on Maarch, 20, 18668 in Englandd by her unccle William

Hanks. Shee had been thhrilled upon finding a chhurch

that taught the true docctrine of lovee shown by Jesus

J

Christ. Shee came to Uttah by train in

i May 18699

with a family from herr hometown in

i England. She

planned to meet her fiaancé who had come to

America beefore her. Although

A shee waited in Salt
S
Fig 35 - The Endowmen
nt House in Salt Lake City
‐  
Page 34 -

117
US Federal
F Census 1870, Utah. Pondtown,
P Utahh, Utah Territoory. Series M5993, roll 1612, pg259.
p Moses’s
second wife
w Elizabeth was in the houusehold and listted as keeping house. The cennsus was takenn that year on July
J
29, six months
m after their marriage.
118
Holzaapfel, Richard. A History of Utah
U County. Utah
U Historicall Society. p65.
119
Weecch, p81.
Lake City he never contacted her. Not knowing what else to do, Elizabeth moved to Salem with

her brother George and met her brother’s employer Moses Curtis. By 1869 George had started a

family of his own which included a wife and small baby. He convinced Elizabeth to marry

Moses as a plural wife, which was legal in Utah at that time. On January 11, 1870, Moses and

Elizabeth traveled to Salt Lake City, where they were sealed in the Endowment House. Moses

was thirty six years older than Elizabeth who was eighteen. At times it was difficult because

Moses had three children older than Elizabeth. He was very good to Elizabeth and tried hard to

make her happy. 120 Together they had eight children. Their names and birthplaces are:

George Hyrum 29 December 1870 Salem, Utah, Utah

James Alfred 7 July 1872 Salem, Utah, Utah
Frances Elizabeth 11 April 1874 Salem, Utah, Utah
Eliza Jane 17 November 1876 Salem, Utah, Utah
Mary Sophronia 14 September 1878 Brigham City, Yavapai, Arizona
Joanna Beatrice 22 September 1881 Pima, Graham, Arizona
Joseph Lyman 8 August 1883 Eden, Graham, Arizona
Della 10 June 1895 Eden, Graham, Arizona 121

Sometime later when Elizabeth’s fiancé came to Salem to find her, she was already

married. She told him that she had made eternal marriage covenants that she was not willing to

break and he would have to find another woman to love and marry. Elizabeth was a great

example of taking marriage covenants seriously and of how to honor those covenants her entire

life. 122

‐  
Page 35 -

120
History of Elizabeth Hanks Curtis.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hanks/histories/elizabethhankscurtis.html)
121
Personal family group sheet, possession of author.
122
History of Elizabeth Hanks Curtis. p3.
 M
Moses and Ellizabeth’s olldest son Geoorge died at the age of eighteen monnths. This was
w

just one month

m to thee day before their next chhild James was
w born. Geeorge is buriied in Salem
m,

Utah. It is n what the caause of deathh was. 123

i not known

M
Moses’s neph
hew Samuel,, son of his brother
b Lym
man Curtis, teells that one day Uncle

Moses orr “Grandpa Moses”

M as hee was comm
monly

called hoooked up his oxen to a caart and was

travelingg to Payson to
o visit cousins. Moses would
w

drive the cart for a while,

w and theen when he tired
t he

would give Samuel a turn. Samuuel was younng and

Fiigure 36- Oxcartt
full of ennergy and hee liked to usee the whip onn the

oxen to see
s how fast he could prood them to go.
g Moses being a kind and
a gentle man
m didn’t

appreciatte Samuel whipping

w his oxen so mucch. Nor did Moses like the
t pace thatt the oxen were
w

travelingg which becaame faster annd faster to get

g out of thee reach of thee whip. Prettty soon, Mooses

h felt he neeeded to. 124

traded places with Saamuel and hee held the whip and usedd it only as he

Moses along with

w his brothhers Georgee and

Lyman saaw the need for

f an irrigattion canal inn the

Salem, Paayson area. They

T realizedd that the cannal

could be easily
e fed froom the river coming dow
wn

Spanish Fork
F Canyon. They triedd to get the

communitty involved in
i the work, but no one

Fig 37- The

T Salem Canal seemed innterested. Thhe Curtis broothers workeed
‐  
Page 36 -

alone on the project for

f the first year.
y Slowlyy as the citizzens of the toown began too realize thaat the

123
Persoonal family gro
oup sheet, in poossession of auuthor.
124
Richaardson, Sketches of the Curtis Family, p8.
Curtis brrothers were serious, theyy began to reeceive more help. The canal
c took thhree years to dig.

It ended up
u to be two
o feet deep, eight
e feet wiide on the boottom and tw
welve feet wiide at the topp. It
125
was seveen miles long
g and had thee capacity too irrigate twoo thousand acres.
a

Ariizona

Inn the LDS General

G Confference meetting on Aprill 7, 1877 in Salt Lake Ciity, Utah, Moses
M

and his sons were callled to movee to Arizona to be part off the settlem
ment in Brighham City along
126
with manny other fam
milies from Utah.
U The town
t was firrst known ass Ballenger, but the name

o President Brigham Yooung. 127 Thiis new settleement

was laterr changed to Brigham Ciity in honor of

was an exxperiment in
n living the United
U Orderr. It is not known exacctly when Moses and hiss

family made
m the trek
k, but it was sometime
s beetween the birth
b of daughhter Eliza Jaane who wass

born on November
N 1876 in Salem
m, Utah and daughter Mary Sophronnia born in Brigham
B Cityy,

i Septembeer 1878. 128

Arizona in

T pioneers in the Brighham City areea had a hardd

The

time makking a permaanent settlem

ment becausee of the deserrt

soil that had

h a high salt content. These condiitions made it

difficult to
t grow crop
ps well. Theey camped on the Little

Coloradoo River whicch at times fllooded and ruined

r their

crops. Thhe church leaaders from Salt

S Lake Citty, Utah sentt Fig 38-Map
3 of Statee of Arizona

word thaat the people in this Arizoona settlemeent should

m the red sannd stone. 129 The

build a roock fort from T Deseret News reporrted in 1878 that the Briggham

City fort had a wall that

t was seveen feet high. There werre 36 houses 13 by 15 feeet each and a
‐  
Page 37 -

125
Richaardson, Sketchees of the Curtiss Family, p22-223.
126
Journnal History of the
t Church, 7 April
A 1877.
127
James H. McClintocck. Mormon Seettlement in Arrizona. LDS Arrchive Publisheers: Grantsvillee, Utah,
reprint 1997, p145.
128
family
ly group record d Moses Curtiss and Elizabethh Hanks, in posssession of the author
dining haall 20 by 25 feet. In the dining hall the
t whole caamp ate togeether at a lonng table. Mooses

had two houses,

h one for each wiffe. They were located juust outside thhe fort wall, directly behhind

the housee of his son Moses

M Monrroe who wass already maarried. Theree were five houses
h in a liine

directly outside
o the fort
fo wall, witth the two Moses
M t fort. 130
Curtis houses being closest to the

Erastus Hancock,
H a future
fu son-inn-law to Mosses, said thatt Moses was responsible for the garddens

and the churning

c in Brigham
B Cityy. 131 He alsoo describes life in the Unnited Order as
a being

pleasurabble. He remembers that they had pleenty of milk for drinkingg and to makke cheese andd

butter. Thhe fields had

d green lusciious grass upp to the belliies of the cow
ws. They keppt the milk in
i

one barreel and then each

e family received
r a ceertain amounnt of milk baased on the size
s of their

family. 132

Aurelia , first wife off Moses, broought a spinnning wheel with

w

her to Arizona. She

S used it too spin wool from sheep and
a make yaarn.

Elizaa Jane, daughhter of Mosees and Elizabbeth remembbers watchinng

the process
p of making
m yarn with
w the spinnning wheel. She said thhat

first you had to wash

w the wool, then cardd it and makee it into rollss

abouut 15 inches long.

l After that
t Aurelia would fastenn the roll to the

Fiig 39- Aurelia spinning wheel,

w and thhen turn the wheel as fasst as she couuld. One rolll
Jaackman Curtis

could maake about fou

ur yards of thread. She continued
c thee process unntil she had a large ball of
o

white collored yarn. If

I she wantedd the yarn too be colored she would have
h to dye thhe wool by using
u

129
Charlles S. Peterson
n, Take Up Your Mission: Mormon Coloniziing Along the L Little Coloradoo River
1870-19900. University y of Arizona Prress: Tucson, Arizona,
A 1973, p20.
p
130
Colviin, p9.
131
Spenccer Palmer. Thhe Life and Anccestry of Erastuus Elijah Hanccock. Wuerth Letter Shop:Berrkeley,
‐  
Page 38 -

Californnia,1958, p7.
132
Palmer p8. This acccount of the abuundance of graass for the cow
ws doesn’t reallyy coincide withh the histories that
report thhe ground of alk
kali and being so hard to groww crops the unnited order wass disbanded by LDS Apostle
Erastus Snow.
S membrance toldd to Spencer J. Palmer by his grandfather Errastus E. Hancock
Howeveer, this is a rem
himself who
w lived there. The success of the dairy heerd is also conffirmed in the history
h of the arrea written by C.
Petersonn, Take Up You ur Mission. p1111.
tree bark or leaves. The dying process would be a combined family effort. Sometimes they

traded the yarn for dairy goods. 133

While living in Brigham City, the Moses Curtis family had a tragic event. On July 3,

1879, their six year old son Joseph Alfred drowned in the Little Colorado River just three days

before his seventh birthday. He was buried in a little cemetery by the settlement located in what

is now called the Sunset Pioneer Cemetery, in Yavapai County. 134

On October 27, 1880, Apostles Erastus Snow and Brigham Young, Jr., came to observe

how the settlement was working. They found the people in a meager situation. They had not

had one year of good yielding crops because of flooding and bad soil. The Apostles released the

members of the United Order and advised them to move to greener pastures where they could

more easily make a living and feed their families. 135 A poem was written about early pioneer life

in Arizona, describing the type of country that the deserts of Arizona were:

Saints should not murmur nor this land despise

Those who do so, Certainly are not wise
Did God not create it? Does he not understand?
What best will suit his purpose? A barren or fruitful land. 136

133
Eliza Jane Curtis Palmer. The First Families to settle in Curtis in 1880. copy in possession of author.
‐  

134
Page 39 -

Cemeteries Navajo [Arizona] County, Sunset Cemetery.

http://www.azhistcemeteries.org/NavajoCems.htm The grave of James A. Curtis is listed along with all the 23 others
buried in this history pioneer cemetery.
135
Colvin, p9. This date is given in this history of Eden. However, an official LDS church history source could
not be found to confirm this date.
136
C. Peterson, p13. This is a poem written by John Henry Standiford that was quoted.
 M
Moses moved
d with his family to the Gila
G Valley which
w was farther
f south, but still in the

state of Arizona.
A Theey set up a caamp on the North
N

Side of thhe Gila Riveer along withh his son Mooses

Monroe who
w was already in the area.
a In the beginning
b

they livedd in tents maade out of thhe box of theeir

covered wagon.
w Thiss was toppedd with a bowery made

out of bruush to keep the

t hot Arizona sun out. They
F 40- Pioneer Wagon
Fig

used the wagon box for

f a bed, buut then set upp the rest

of their camp
c on the ground. Eveeryone workeed hard on thhe task to clear land andd build shelteers

for the cooming winteer. There weere several Curtis

C familiees in this littlle camp so thhat it becam
me

known ass the Curtis settlement.

s Many years later when they
t appliedd for a post office
o as the town
t

of Curtis, they discov

vered that annother town in Arizona already
a had that
t name. Then
T they

changed the name off Curtis to Edden. The members of thee Curtis settllement begann to be sick

because theey lived by the

t river. Thhey didn’t reealize that the

mosquitoess carried mallaria; they siimply calledd it the ague. As

soon as theey were able they built a fort which was

w called thhe

Curtis Stocckade to prottect them froom the Indiaans. 137

Botth Elizabeth and Aureliaa were frugall and thrifty.

Elizabeth made
m a lot off suits by hannd with a neeedle and thrread

for the menn in Curtis annd the surrouunding townns. She also made
m
Fig 31- Needle and Thhread for
quilting m
many quilts to
t keep out thhe cold wintter air with their batting
‐  
Page 40 -

137
Colviin, p24.
made froom wool. 138

Inn 1881 theree were many Indian probblems in Curttis. This caaused the Cuurtis family too

vacate thheir house an

nd go to the nearby
n settleement of Sm
mithville whicch was on thhe opposite side
s

of the Giila River. In order to crosss the river with

w all the people,
p they first had to build
b a raft. It

was durinng one of theese Indian sccares that Ellizabeth gavee birth to theeir daughter Joanna. Thee

family was
w staying in
n a cottonwoood shed thatt was usuallyy used as ann animal shellter. Moses

cleaned it
i up and they
y were tempporarily “cam
mping” theree while waitiing for the Inndians to stoop

botheringg their settlem

ments. Durinng the labor and birth off the baby Jooanna, Elizabbeth felt thatt she

had beenn lying on a rock

r or someething very uncomfortab
u ble. She askeed Moses to find out whhat it

was so shhe could restt. When he checked

c the ground
g undeer the makesshift bed it was
w discovereed

Elizabethh had been ly

ying on a ratttlesnake whhich Moses promptly
p discarded. In later years,

d everyone that she was born in a pigg pen. 139

Joanna trruthfully told

A
After ten days, the men reeturned to thheir homes too find that thhe Indians haad killed all their

chickens, set the liveestock free too roam and destroyed

d

their bee hives. It mu

ust have beenn a discouragging site

after all their

t hard wo
ork, but theyy continued work
w

digging an
a irrigation canal

and buildding five hou

uses. They made
m the houuses very

me for betterr protection from the

close toggether this tim
Fig 42- Pig
raiding Inndians. 140

O day, Moses saw the Indians

One I com
ming to his hoouse. He knnew they usuually wanted food
‐  
Page 41 -

and took whatever th

hey found bee it livestock or food stufffs. He quickkly hid the pig
p he was saaving

138
Colviin, p24.
139
Colviin, p24.
140
Colvinn, p24-25.
 wn family. 141 The year off 1881 was thhe worst for Indian troubbles. The
to butcheer for his ow

families of
o the Curtiss settlement were forcedd to build a tyype of stockaade. They dug
d a trench

where theey placed co

ottonwood pooles which they
t pinned together
t andd then for thee corners theey

left a smaall opening in

i the cornerr where theyy could shoott from. The inside
i of thee stockade

included a well, five houses madde of cottonw

wood and theey had dirt rooofs. The stoockade had a

gate whicch they lock

ked at night. During the day they hadd a bell to rinng as a warnning for

impendinng danger. At
A night, the men
m would take
t turns standing guard in case of Indian attackks or

to prevennt the Indian

ns from stealiing their liveestock and horses
h duringg the darknesss of night. 1442

Inn 1881, Mosses was calleed to be the presiding

p eldder of the LD
DS church inn Graham Coounty

on the noorth side of the

t Gila Riveer. His area of
o stewardshhip covered what
w are now
w the towns of

Graham, Hubbard, Bryce

B and Edden. It was a big job to care
c for the needs
n of all the
t settlers. The
T

people off the Gila Vaalley had to work hard clearing the land
l to grow
w enough crops to supporrt

theirr families whhile buildingg houses to liive

in. There was very little food

fo at this tiime.

Theyy held their church

c meettings in nearb
rby

Pimaa in the earlyy years. Mosses served ass

Pressiding Elder until May 133, 1883 wheen he

was released andd his son Mooses Monroee was

calleed as the spirritual leader. 143

A typical home in Curtis was built at

Fig 43- Typical Pio
oneer Log Cabin in Arizona

that tim
me using the timber from
m the local
‐  
Page 42 -

cottonwoood trees wh
hich grew in abundance on
o the river bank
b of the Gila
G River. After
A erectinng the

141
Colvinn, p 25.
142
Colvinn, p25-26.
143
Colvinn, p200.
walls with logs, they would then put mud between the cracks of the logs to keep out the

elements. This process was called “chucking”. Most of the logs were not straight and therefore

the homes were not very straight, neither did they have glass for the windows. They used cloth to

hang over the opening. The roofs were made of reeds from the river and mud, and then they

would put hard dirt. This crude construction gave an easy access to rodents, insects and

snakes. 144

Frances Elizabeth, oldest daughter of Moses and Elizabeth, remembers watching the

Indians take a bag of flour from their home that was full of weevils and bugs. The Indians didn’t

even grimace as they ate the flour by handfuls bugs and all. They had discovered that they could

steal food from the settlement instead of having to grow their own. Elizabeth and Moses always

tried to share their food with the Indians and befriend them. 145

In December 31, 1882, the LDS Relief Society was organized in Eden under the direction

of Moses. He called his wife Elizabeth H. Curtis to be the first president with Martha Curtis and

Adeliah Coons as counselors, Josephine Curtis secretary and Octavia G. Sabin treasurer. 146

On August 12, 1883, Moses and Elizabeth had a son whom they named Joseph Lyman.

Sadly, he died four days later. Two weeks after that, Moses’s first wife Aurelia died on August

30, 1883 at the age of sixty two. After Aurelia’s death, Moses built a new two story brick home

outside the stockade. He lived there with Elizabeth for the remainder of his life. 147

‐  
Page 43 -

144
Colvin, p27.
145
Colvin, p25.
146
Colvin, p75.
147
Weech, p23.
 T first churrch meetingss held in Currtis were in the
The t home of Moses Curtiis which was

inside thee Curtis Stocckade and was

w 18 feet byy 16 feet. When
W Moses moved
m from
m this home inn

operty to thee church andd they still ussed the cabinn to hold meeetings. 148
1883, he gave the pro

B
Before comin
ng to the Uniited States, Elizabeth
E hadd been emplloyed in the home of a

physiciaan. At first, they

t employyed her as a nanny
n to care for

their youung childrenn. As time weent by the dooctor learnedd of

Elizabethh’s interest in
i music andd medicine. The family had

an organn which theyy let her playy. Elizabeth had a beautiiful

singing voice,
v a talennt which shee shared her entire life.

Slowly the
t doctor tauught Elizabeeth medical techniques
t a
and

let her asssist him witth his care foor his patiennts. When shhe

came to Utah she used this skill many times. By the tim
me

they movved to Arizoona, she was a well respeected midwiffe.

Figure 44-- Elizabeth H. Curtis with her
physiccian instruction book
b
She deliveered many baabies in the Gila
G Valley and surrounding

areas. Shhe was set ap

part by Aposstle John Sm
mith to be a doctor
d and midwife.
m She charged five

dollars a delivery. This cost included the dellivery and thhen care of thhe mother annd baby alonng

with houusecleaning and

a cooking duties for tw
wo weeks. Many
M times shhe would haave to cross the
t

river to go
g to a deliveery. On thesee occasions Moses woulld stay at hom
me and care for their fam
mily

and housse. 149

M
Moses contin
nued in his paattern of devvoted servicee to the churrch for his enntire life. Hee was

called to serve on thee High Counncil in the St.. Joseph Stakke on Marchh 28, 1885. 1550 Then on
‐  
Page 44 -

148
Colviin, p196.
149
Histoory of Elizabeth
h Hanks Curtiss.p5.
150
Fentoon W.Taylor. The
T 25th Stake of Zion, 1883-1983. St. Josepph Stake, Thatccher, Arizona. Phoenix,
Arizona::Thatcher Arizzona Stake Pressidency, 1983. p365.
February 7, 1898, he was ordained to be the Patriarch of Eden by John Henry Smith, a member

of the Quorum of Apostles at that time. 151 In December 1900 in the Eden ward minutes, they

recorded that the ward was comprised of two hundred fifty six members, which included forty

five families, twenty four Elders, twenty Deacons, one hundred twelve lay members and eighty

nine children under eight years of age. As you can see it was a fairly small ward with many

young children. 152

In the Eden Ward minutes, there are two excerpts about Moses. The first on Sunday

December 5, 1897 at two o’clock PM is a summary of another

member using Moses’s conversion story as an example by saying

“Brother Moses Curtis said when he first heard the gospel he felt

that it was true.” The second excerpt is a summary of his testimony

on Ward Fast day, Sunday January 3, 1898, at two o’clock PM,

during a testimony meeting. “Brother Moses Curtis bore his

testimony, saying- It has been my rule for the last sixty years to

Fig 45 - Man tanning leather attend all kinds of meetings and respect the Sabbath Day.” 153

Moses had many talents, one of which was tanning leather for the local shoemaker Soren

Nelson Ensthrum. Moses was known for tanning hides in every community that he lived in

throughout both Utah and Arizona. 154

On May 10, 1907 at the age of ninety one, Moses Curtis passed away. 155 He left behind

his wife Elizabeth and a large posterity. Even though his physical body was gone he left to all
‐  

151
Page 45 -

F. Taylor, p372.
152
Colvin, p197.
153
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Eden Ward, Arizona. Record of Ordinances, 1883-1899, Minutes
of Meetings, 1897-1899”. Genealogical Society of Utah: Salt Lake City, 1966. (FHL film # 450471). p6 & 9.
154
Colvin, p29.
155
Colvin, p200.
who knew him a legacy of true unwavering devotion to the religion that he found in his teenage

years. This devotion led him on a pathway that had taken him from Missouri to Illinois, then

Iowa, Utah and finally Arizona; a place where he spent his final years enjoying his family and

supporting his church.

‐  
Page 46 -
 APPENDIX

Page 47 -
‐  
Recipee from thee Nahum Curtis Faamily-

Rusk
Make corrnmeal breadd according to your favoorite recipe. After
A it has cooled,
c allow
w to dry for
several days
d then bak
ke slowly in a warmed oven
o until it is
i thoroughlyy dry and sliightly brownned.
Grate it on
o a coarse grater
g or crum
mble it with a rolling pinn. It can be eaten
e with crream and suggar,
h milk and honey poureed over it. This makes a tasty, quickk mush. (Reccipe used by the
or with hot
Nahum Curtis
C family
y at Nauvoo..) New Era » 1973 » Deccember

Fig 46- Rusk

R ‐  
Page 48 -
List of Illustrations-

1- C. Fern Burrell. Curtis Family Book

2- C. Fern Burrell. Curtis Family Book
3-http://www.northquabbinwoods.org/images/. Image listed as -Photo: New Salem Town Common,
photo by David Brothers.
4- http://www.wikipedia.org
5- http://www.wikipedia.org
6- http://www.burghamfamilytree.com/Places%20pages/youngstown.htm
7- drawn by Robert C. Snow, Mapleton, Utah.
8- http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/flintlock2.jpg
9-
http://images.absoluteastronomy.com/images/encyclopediaimages/m/ma/map_of_usa_highlighti
ng_corn_belt.png
10- http://www.ldsces.org/inst_manuals/chft/images/08-04.gif lucy mack smith
11-http://photobucket.com/images/joseph%20smith/
12- Used with permission from Stevenson family. Joseph Grant Stevenson. The Life of Edward
Stevenson. BYU Press: Provo.1955.
13- S.C. Richardson, Sketches of the Curtis family, unpublished.
14- http://www.farwesthistory.com/hmdamc.gif shaol creek pic
15- Courtesy, L.Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young
University, Provo, UT 84602.
16- http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/8359132.jpg- jail
17- http://www.propagandesign.com/octcweb/images/Pioneer-Etching.jpg
18- http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-utah/Nauvoo%20Legion.jpg
19- http://www.ldsces.org/inst_manuals/chft/images/19-02.gif - mississippi river
20-
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WzLD4MEErUw/SA57LMQ9kOI/AAAAAAAAA7E/L57AARIzlr0/s
400/nauvoo-blacksmith-shop-1024.JPG
21- http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/lgmnpi01.jpg - pine forest
22- http://www.ldsces.org/inst_manuals/pres-sm/images/01-14-3.gif building Nauvoo temple
23- http://www.ldsces.org/inst_manuals/chft/images/19-01.gif. - nauvoo temple
24-
http://earlylds.com/nauvoo%20cemetery%20photos%20for%20website/X%20Curtis,%20Nahum
.JPG
25-
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BD7ps97zTCU/SKjHHLgKXoI/AAAAAAAAADM/UR7MqsJ58ao/s
400/Leaving%2520Nauvoo-South%2520on%2520Partridge.jpg - leaving Nauvoo
26- http://www.mormonbattalion.com/gallery/pics/curtis_foster.jpg
27- http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~raymondfamily/WintQ.jpg
28- S.C. Richardson, Sketches of the Curtis family, unpublished.
29- S.C. Richardson, Sketches of the Curtis family, unpublished
30- http://www.norcalblogs.com/bumpkins/CornField.jpg
‐  
Page 49 -

31- http://comps.fotosearch.com/comp/LIQ/LIQ113/native-american-indian_~vl0009b008.jpg
32- unknown location
33- http://www.fs.fed.us/wcnf/unit/eco/SegoLily.gif
34- http://www.bethelhistorical.org/Brigham%20Young.jpg
35- http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/endowment/
36- http://www.saskschools.ca/~gregory/oxen.html
37-
http://www.salemcity.org/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_
id=2&MMN_position=2:2
38- drawn by Robert C. Snow, Mapleton, Utah.
39- unsure of source
40- http://www.sbwagonco.com/wagon_main.html
41- http://labelmeclothing.com/Pictures/1repair1.jpg - sewing
42- http://www.ace-clipart.com/clipart/animal_clipart/pig4.gif - pig
43- http://image63.webshots.com/63/3/86/59/2291386590083931530wtJGat_ph.jpg - log cabin
44- http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hanks/people.html
45- http://serc.carleton.edu/images/woburn/issues/historical_leather_tanning.png
46- http://greekproducts.com/images/icons/rusk.jpg

‐  
Page 50 -
 

   
                         A young Moses Curtis                                                  Middle‐aged Moses Curtis 

51 
51 

 
          Moses, 2nd wife Elizabeth and a daughter.              Moses Curtis with son Moses Monroe, grandson                              
Page

              Francis Osro and his baby Floyd (Nov. 1903) 
 

Back: Frances, Eliza Jane and Sophronia ; Front: Della, Parents, Moses and Elizabeth Curtis and Joanna 

52 

       
Page

      Grave markers of Moses and 1st wife Aurelia (Erelia) Jackman located in the Eden, AZ cemetery. 
 

Eden,  Arizona home of Moses and Elizabeth Curtis.  Elizabeth is on the porch with daughter Della. 

53 

             
Page

Elizabeth Curtis – 2nd wife of Moses Curtis              Grave marker for Elizabeth Curtis (Eden, AZ)    
Patriarchal Blessing- Nauvoo, Illinois 1845

­  
Page 54 -
June 26, 1845 given by Patriarch John Smith (uncle to Joseph Smith, Jr.)

June 26th A Blessing by John Smith Patriarch upon the head of Moses Curtis son of Nahum &
Milicent, born, May 8th 1816, Erie Co. Pennsylvannia. Br. Moses, I lay my hands upon thy
head for & in behalf of thy father, & seal upon thee a patriarchal or father's blessing in the
name of Jesus Christ; thou art a lawful heir to the priesthood which is after the order of the
only Begotten, the keys of the mysteries of which shall be committed unto thee in the house of
the Lord, when you receive your anointing & endowment with your companion, for all
mysteries shall be revealed which have been kept hid from before the foundation of the world;
thou shalt have power to gather the remnants of Jacob by thousands & establish them in the
cities of the saint; as thy privilege to go whithersoever thou wilt, thy calling is more
particularly among the Lamanites, thou shalt bring thousands of them to a knowledge of the
truth; thou shalt be able to speak the language of any people wherever thy lot is cast, or to do
any miracle that wisdom will direct for the prosperity of the great work of the Lord; thou shalt
also be a counseler in the house of Israel forever & shall be able to do the business acceptably
in the sight of the Lord & of all the saints; thy mind shall expand as wide as eternity & this
blessing & priesthood shall be perpetuated to thy progeny through all the generations of
Joseph; thy days & years shall be according to thy faith & thy possessions shall be exceeding
great, & thy desires shall all be realized, & thy name shall be written with the names of the
sanctified never to be blotted out; & inasmuch as you abide in faith to the end thou shalt
receive a crown of eternal life which I seal upon you in common with you companion &
children & no power shall take it from you, even so. Amen

Albert Carrington Rcdr

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Patriarchal Blessing- 1979- Eden, Graham, Arizona pg. 1

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 Brigham City Arizona Territory

March 5, 1879

A Patriarchal Blessing by S. H. Hatch upon the head of Moses Curtis son of Nahum Curtis and

Milicent Wait – Born Connaught town Erie Co. Pennsylvania, U.S.A. May 8th 1816

Brother Moses in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I place my hands upon thy head and seal upon

thee an patriarchal and father's blessing. Thou art through the loins of Ephraim; therefore thy life

hath been spared to rear up thy sons and daughters in the fear of the Lord. Your admonitions have

been timely, and thy faith and prayers come up in an acceptable manner into the ears of the Lord of

Sabaoth. Thou hast been permitted with many of thy house to come forth as pioneers of the gospel

unto the remnats of Lehi. This is the day in which the work of the Father shall commence among all

the nations of the earth. It is also a day of judgement and wrath upon the wicked. Thy course hath

been pleasing unto thy heavenly Father; behold how often thy life hath been preserved by thy

guardian angel who has had charge of thee from thine infancy. It is in fulfillment of prophecy that

thou art here in this land. Through your prosperity shall the work of redemption continue to go forth

until all shall be redeemed of thy kindred except those who have forfeited their rights. Lift up thy

heart Bro. Moses and praise the Lord. Bear testimony often unto thy brethren and sisters and your

name shall be had in honorable remembrance among your posterity and the saints throughout all

generations through time and all eternity. Thou shalt have dreams that shall comfort thee. I seal all

thy former blessings upon thee and thou shalt live as long as thou desirest it. I seal thee up to come

forth in the morning of the glorious reserection, to have part in the Celestial Kingdom, with thy

wives and posterity in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

(Original spelling was preserved)

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 Curtis Graham Co. A. T. (Arizona Territory)

A Blessing by Wm McBride Patriarch upon the head of Moses Son of Nahum & Millisant
Waite Curtis Born May 8th 1816 in coniatt Erie Co. Pennsylvannia State.

Bro. Moses in the name of the Lord Jesus I place my hands upon your head and by the athority
of the holy priesthood I seal upon thee a patriarchal blessing and I comfirm upon thee all the
former blessings and ordinations & I bless thee with life with health & wilh strength that
thy life maybe perlonged for the Lord is well pleased with thee because of they faithfullness
for thou was called chosen & set apart before the foundation of the Kingdom of God upon
the earth and to bring in the reighn of peace and turn the government into the hands of the
just onto this end thou wast born for thou art of the house of Israel by lineage & promise and
if thy faith fail thee not thou shalt live to see the day when thou shalt have the privelage of
worshiping god according to the dictates of thy consience and none will dare to molest thee
or make thee affraid thou shalt receive an everlasting inheritance for thy self thy children &
Friends and a crown of eternal lives and thy part in the morning of the first resurection with
all that are near & dear unto thee and thy children shall build upon the foundation that thou
hast laid for the redemption of thy fathers house for many generations back that thy work
may be complete for I seal these words upon thee in the name of Jesus Amen

recorded Nov 26th 1884 by S. J. Sims

(Original spelling was preserved)

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