Autobiography of Martha Timothy Gardner Rudy, Part 1

I'm working on typing up this autobiography of Martha Timothy Gardner Rudy. It's pretty long, so I'll post it in parts.

My father, John Griffith Timothy, was born March 12, 1826 at Bethania near Lampeter, Cardiganshire, Wales. My mother, Martha Davis Timothy, was born August 12, 1825 at Cilcennin, Cardiganshire, Wales.

My father was converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1849, and my mother was converted a short time later. They were married in 1850. My father was appointed a traveling missionary to preach the gospel. They being the only members of their families who joined the Church, and because of the hostility that arose, they decided to immigrate to Utah.  Father was a watchmaker by trade, however, added to his income by working in the coal mines. In seven years, eight children were born to them, therefore, their means were quite scant. Upon receiving word that the Latter-day Saints were sailing for the United States on April 1, 1862 on the “John J. Boyd,” there were just nine days of preparation and father had to sell his business and household goods.

Mother’s tears and pleadings to father did not stop him from going ashore making his final attempt to sell his last basket of watches. In doing so, the ship embarked without him and there was a total of 701 Latter-day Saints aboard which included the missionaries. After the ship had sailed several hours, a small boat approached the side of the “John J. Boyd” and father was taken aboard. There just wasn’t any accommodations on the boat, for the beds were bunks and each family had to prepare their own food. After five weeks, the boat docked in New York and all had suffered from privation and sickness. The first night in New York, they slept on the floor of the Castle Garden building.

The party continued on by train to Omaha, Nebraska and waited there two weeks for the ox teams in order to start the long journey to Utah. The company was named “Dan Jones” after its captain. The wagon assigned to father carried two families, which included five adults and nine children. Father had to walk all the way to lead a cow which he had purchased in order that the children might have milk.

It was during a raging storm on the night of August 3, 1862, along the Platte River in Nebraska, that I was born. Mother was in a covered wagon, and the other children were in a tent that blew down. It is impossible to enumerate the many hardships they endured while crossing the plains.

Late in October 1862, they arrived in Salt Lake City and unloaded in the “Public Square.” After looking everywhere for work, father hired out to Israel Evans at Lehi, Utah. He contracted for one year, and in return, received a one-room adobe house that he lived in, five head of sheep, and flour for the family use. With some assistance from other Welsh families in Lehi, the winter passed, however, many hardships were endured.

Another son was born in March 1864 named Hyrum. They then moved to Provo Valley in the vicinity of Heber City. Father and my eldest brother, David, walked and drove the animals (which consisted of a small herd of sheep, and one cow), and mother and the children rode.

Father rented a farm from Robert Broadbent and farmed on shares. Not having an ox team, he had to work an extra day for each day that he used their ox teams. Heber City was just being lead out, so father took two lots and built a house from rough pine logs, this being the first house they owned. Sometime later, this house was traded for a yoke of oxen, which was a great assistance in making a living. All during that winter, father grubbed brush from the open flat for fire wood.

In March 1867, Father and my eldest brother, Dave, took the sheep and cows and walked over the mountain through several feet of snow to Round Valley, later known as Wallsburg. He rented a farm from William Wall, and in April moved the family there. But after three years of Indian Scare, they were driven back to Heber. The women and children were packed in wagons, and after some days, all quieted and the men ventured and were organized into a company, and took turns to guard and report signs of Indians. 

(Click here to continue to Part 2.)