Life Story of James and Cynthia McClellan

This is the Life story of James McClellan and Cynthia Stewart. They are Elizabeth Head Blumel's great-grandparents. It was taken from the book "James McClellan and His Progenitors" by Rosa Mae McClellan Evans

James McClellan was born August 8^th, 1804 in York County, South Carolina. He was the oldest son born to Hugh McClellan and Mary (Polly) McCall. At a young age James family moved to Tennessee where they grew and prospered. Being in the South not only did they own large amounts of land, they were also were slave owners, living on a large plantation. However, being slave owners did not stop James and his father from working very hard themselves. Hugh was a blacksmith and farmer by trade and James learned those skills by working along side him. In 1826 James married his 16 year old neighbor Cynthia Stewart.

Cynthia was born on April 28^th, 1810 in Bedford County Tennessee. She was the fourth daughter born to Samuel Stewart and Ann Wallace. Cynthia experienced loss at a young age, loosing her father in the war of 1812, leaving her mother to raise four young daughters and a fifth born a month after he died. For seven years Cynthia was raised by her single mother until her mother remarried James Armstrong McCall and the family moved to the farm next to the McClellan's.

James and Cynthia created a wonderful life and family together. This life started in Tennessee where they lived from the years of 1826 to 1833 and had 4 children William Carroll, Matilda Elizabeth, Mary Jane, and Samuel Wilburn. Very little is known of this time, but most likely James and family lived on his father, Hugh's land and helped his father on his plantation.

From Tennessee the family moved with James parents to Shelby County Illinois. The McClellan's lived there between the years of 1833 and 1841. William Carroll recorded in his journal of this time ''By industry and economy the family rapidly accumulated the comforts of life. Hogs and cattle did well on the range for quite a portion of the year, and St Louis and Chicago furnished a fairly good market for all the surplus, including coon skins, dressed turkey, venison, and hams.'' As they worked and prospered the family was growing which kept Cynthia very busy carrying for the small children. The children born to her in Illinois were Miles who only lived a short 4 months, Hugh Jefferson, and John Jasper. The 1840 census reveals that James and Cynthia had seven living children, the oldest not quite twelve, all who were of age could read and write.

In 1838 missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, making known to the world the witness of Christ contained in the Book of Mormon, made contact with the McClellan's. James, Cynthia and James's father and mother, Hugh and Polly McClellan, all accepted the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ and were baptized in 1839 by Dominicus Carter, a missionary. They had to have been aware of the unpopularity of that Church which was organized only ten years previously and now headquartered in Nauvoo, Illinois, not far from where they lived. They had to have been sincerely convinced of the truth of the message, for they committed themselves to suffer whatever might come to them in the way of ridicule and persecution. Also convinced and willing to make sacrifices in order to join the Latter Day Saint community were Cynthia's mother and stepfather Ann and James A. McCall. Since it was the policy at the time to urge converts to move to the headquarters of the Church, James and Cynthia, Hugh and Polly proceeded to sell their property in order to move to Nauvoo. This was not an easy task to sell such large land owning, however three years later a deal was made and the family left their large farm. They also gave all the slaves their freedom, with the exception of one housekeeper who refused to leave the family. Soon they made there way to Nauvoo to start a new life.

James and family made their home in Nauvoo, just down the street from the Mansion House where Joseph Smith lived. James's daughter, Matilda,recorded that she could remember very distinctly seeing Joseph and Emma riding in their carriage with Porter Rockwell as coachman, passing by McClellan house on their way to Joseph's farm.

This life in Nauvoo did not start off easy. Soon after the move James and Cynthia were both stricken with rheumatism and were confined to their beds for three months. They did not have time to establish their large family or herds in the new location. During this time William, only thirteen, was trying to look after the stock. Winter storms were coming on when about sixty head of cattle were stopped by the ice in the river. They were taken up and cared for until spring by someone who charged the McClellan's about half of the herd for his services. Because of this and other circumstances William stated '' From plenty to poverty seemed a short step.''

If it had indeed been a short step to poverty, it must also have been a short step back to plenty. James and Cynthia's daughter Matilda stated, ''We moved to Nauvoo in 1841. The first winter we suffered much from want and sickness, but still we did not murmur. We were thankful we had gathered with the Saints in the beautiful City of Nauvoo. My parents were very industrious and through the blessings of God we were soon in comfortable circumstances again.''

They led a busy life during the few years they lived in Nauvoo, caught up on the affairs of religious community, dedicated to their commitment. Cynthia delivered their ninth child, Sarah Amanda in 1844. They lived within walking distance of the temple block and it was near there that James set up his blacksmith shop, where he spent all possible time working on the temple. When necessary he did all kinds of labor. Cynthia permitted the children to take his dinner as he worked, and his daughter Matilda reported that he was always pleased to have them come. He would tell them about the temple and its importance to them, and they all looked forward to its completion.

Through the years they lived in Nauvoo, the threat of mob violence increased. The men took their turns on guard duty. Matilda remembered her father making bullets in the fire place when he would come home in the night after having been on guard duty. The troubles escalated for the city, fueled by the reports of apostates and other issues which the neighboring communities felt to be a threat. On June 27, 1844 the prophet Joseph Smith was assassinated in the Carthage jail. James and his son William, were working in the field hoeing corn in the late afternoon of that day. William latter testified:

'' It was quite warm and we were about to quit for the day when father straightened up and looked around and then looked at me. The solemn stillness of the surrounding area was almost frightening. The leaves on the corn suddenly drooped, as if they had been in a blast of extreme heat. The leaves on the trees wilted and hung as if in deepest sorrow. Father looked at me and said, '' Will, something has happened to the prophet,'' As soon as the men from the surrounding county could be notified from Carthage, we were told at that identical time of which I spoke, the Prophet had been killed. That was proof enough to me, if the leaves on the trees and on the corn could be near enough to the prophet to morn the passing of his spirit, I could not ask for anything more faith promoting or convincing.''

After the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith persecution did not cease for the Latter Day Saints in Nauvoo. By February of 1846 the persecution reached a boiling point, and Brigham Young along with the Council of Twelve decided it was time to leave. Brigham Young joined the growing camp in Lee County, Iowa, Across the Mississippi. It was at this time that William Carroll McClellan was called out in the night to help ferry a group of men across the river. This was the beginning of the exodus out of Nauvoo. James and Cynthia, along with Hugh and Polly and family followed suit, selling their property for what they could get out of it and they never looked back.

With smart planning on the part of Brigham Young and other church leaders, the Journey from Nauvoo to the camps on the Missouri was not as hard as what was to come. They were traveling late spring early summer so the weather was good, feed for the stock was in plenty and the roads were clear. William drove his grandfather Hugh's team, and they arrived at Kanesville, also termed Mosquito Creek or latter known as Council Bluffs. It was here where U.S. Government representatives enlisted men to join the army and participate in the war against Mexico. William had turned 18 so he enlisted in the place of his father, who would stay behind and watch out for the families.

Kanesville proved to be another trying time for the McClellan Family. James McClellan was one of those selected to act as Bishop over a group of families. This was not an easy task because many families were left without fathers and husbands to provide. Further even with William gone, there were seven children at home ranging in age from three to sixteen. Hugh and Polly lived for another year after their arrival at Kanesville. Hugh passed away in August 1847 at the age of seventy-four. Polly's death the following month came as a result of a snake bite inflicted as she reached into a hen's nest to gather eggs. She would have been seventy-one in three more months. Hugh and Polly had come a long way since their marriage: from South Carolina to Tennessee, from Tennessee to Shelby County, Illinois, then to Nauvoo; from Nauvoo in their final years to participate in that historic trek across still another wilderness to Kanesville, with the intention of going on with the Church across the Rocky Mountains to Salt Lake City. They had lived up to the reputation of the hardy and independent Scotch-Irish community from which they came.

Other deaths had occurred in the extended family during the time they were in the camps on the Missouri. Cynthia's mother, Ann died at age sixty-one on July 9, 1848. But life went on at the permanent camps, and for James McClellan and his family, it was to be four years before they were ready to make the trek to Salt Lake City. During that time, they welcomed their tenth child in August of 1848, a son they named James Travers. Also during this time James and Cynthia's three oldest kids were married including Mary Jane, who married William H. Head in January 1850 at the age of eighteen.

By the fall of 1849, James started to prepare to go west and wanted to leave as soon as possible. At that time the family didn’t know how they were going to afford to buy the things they needed to make the trek. But the discovery of gold in California and the men traveling through that area, provided an opportunity for the McClellan family. By early next spring, about a mile and a half below Kanesville on the main road, they set up a temporary shop for fitting wagons and for doing other work. James being a blacksmith and a carpenter, he and his son were able to provide services needed for the gold hunters. Business was very good, and by the first of June, they were just about ready to go.

In June of 1850, 350 wagons were organized into six companies to start for the Salt Lake Valley. The sixth company was organized near Kanesville, with Joseph Young as President. James was asked to be captain of fifty in that company. They started their journey June 20th by crossing the Missouri River. By then, James and Cynthia had 10 children with the eldest three already married. Cynthia was expecting her 11th child and was due in Aug.

On Monday, June 24th, just four days into there journey, they were camped at Rock Creek when cholera broke out in the camp. During the next few days, six people died of this disease as they slowly continued their journey. By Sunday, the camp came together and prayed for the health of the camp and for better weather.

Monday morning, July 1st, James and Cynthia had two very sick children, but they started on. They traveled about thirteen miles. That evening little two-year-old James Travers McClellan passed away of cholera. Nine-year-old Louisa was not expected to survive the night, but morning found her clinging to life. Tuesday morning they buried little Jimmie, then traveled about ten miles and camped. On Wednesday they traveled about fourteen miles to the Platte River bottom where they camped. Captain Snow reported that the weather was fine and the health of the camp much better than it had been for some time.

They carried on through-out the month, sometimes not in a totally orderly way. Companies of one hundred were sometimes scattered out for miles across the prairie. Some travelers became impatient to hurry on, while others found it necessary to stop. They might pass each other along the way again and again, not only wagons within one company, but sections of one company passing sections of others. In a journal entry written by William Snow of the same company mentions James.

Monday, July 22nd. Passed the Spring. Drove about eight miles. Stopped for noon. The buffalo became so plentiful, our camp thought they must have some and while we were getting up our cattle, Bro. McClellan with five or six more men started off, requesting that the teams should stop. We then drove about two miles to the river, got some wood. The next morning we burnt coal to fix some wagons
Tuesday, July 23rd. The men brought in two buffalo. We fixed our wagons.

On Thursday, August 22nd, some of the men left to go and hunt for some missing cattle. The rest of the group traveled five miles to “Little LeBonte” where they camped. That night Cynthia gave birth to their eleventh child, a daughter they named Cynthia Selena. Their oldest son, William, who was married to Almeda who was traveling with them. Almeda was of great assistance during this time. Cynthia, now forty, was much weakened by the stresses of the past two months: the difficult travel conditions during her last trimester of pregnancy, the death of little Jimmie, and the constant nursing care of Louisa who was still recovering from her bout with cholera, all in addition to the regular family chores. She found she did not have enough milk to nourish this new little daughter, so Almeda took over. Her baby was three months old and she, at eighteen, was evidently strong and healthy for she nursed both the babies successfully.

The following weeks passed rather routinely. They came into an area where there were choke cherries, so the women made pies. The boys had a “dance evening”, a pleasant diversion from the usual fare. However, they also had trouble with the cattle. One cow died from eating the choke cherries, another one had to be put down because of a broken leg. They always had to be on the lookout for feed for the cattle, and there were always some missing that had to be found.

The had just passed Fort Bridger, when they learned of the news from Salt Lake Valley that there was some difficulty with the Indians on the final leg of the trip. They decided to travel together from there on. Ahead was the hardest part of the journey, through the Wasatch Mountains. We don’t have record of this part of the journey, apparently they did not have the time nor the energy.

Captain Joseph Young and his company arrived in Salt Lake City on October 1, 1850. The McClellans went to the house of a friend, Barnett Rigby. Sister Rigby had bought an ox from James long before in order to make the trip, and was to pay for it when the McClellans arrived in Salt Lake. This she did, and let the family live in the stable that first winter. The boys turned the cows out and dug down to solid earth. That was their first “home” in Utah. Cynthia went about trying to make it a livable environment for their family as well as care for Louisa and her new baby, both of whom had whooping cough that they had contracted during the last month of travel.

Meanwhile, events to the south of Salt Lake were taking place which would determine the next move for James and his family. Elder George A. Smith had stopped at a new colony called Peteetnee (later named Payson) to organize the settlers there. He deemed it a fine location with plenty of water, timber, and farm land which could not be surpassed. They still had need of a blacksmith and for about fifteen more families to strengthen the settlement. James and his family were asked to settle there and they accepted. After a hard eight-day trip from Salt Lake City, James McClellan and his family arrived in Payson on March 18, 1851. The following year, on August 11th 1852, James and Cynthia made their family complete by giving birth to their 12th child, a daughter they named Arminta Zerada.

The land in Payson was apportioned out to the settlers in ten acre lots, and James located not too far from the center of town. He began immediately to build a blacksmith shop. Until the shop was finished and operating, the family made a home in the two wagon boxes they had lived in while traveling. Eventually a log house was built for them and in time they built up a good stock farm. James was called and served as a counselor to the Branch President.

In 1853, all-out war broke out between Utah Valley settlers and the Indians of the tribe of Chief Wakara (or Walker). A female Native had gone to the house of a settler in Springville to trade fish for flour. The trade was made, but as she turned to leave, her husband and a companion, being dissatisfied with the trade, began to abuse her. The settler interfered and an argument turned into a fight. When it was over, one of the Indians lay dead. Chief Wakara was nearby and was angry over the incident. The Bishop at Springville tried to settle matters with offers of ponies, beef, flour, and blankets, but Chief Wakara wanted the settler turned over to him for punishment. This the Bishop refused to do. Wakara took his followers and went to his camp up Payson Canyon, saying he would not rest until every white man was exterminated.

The next day was Sunday and some of the Indians from the canyon went to church services in Payson. There were signs of hostility and the Indians seemed excited, so they were asked to leave. As they went toward the canyon, one of them stopped at the house of James and Cynthia McClellan and asked for food. This was a common practice. Cynthia was home with Sarah, who was sick, and lying asleep on the bed. Cynthia prepared food for him and served it to him at the table, lighting a candle from the grate, as it was turning dusk. She noticed that he seemed sullen and angry. After he ate, he left the house, mounted his horse, and rode toward the canyon. Because of the unrest, a guard was posted a few hundred feet outside the four, and as the Indian rode past, he shot and killed the guard, then fled to the canyon. The next morning, the Indians fired at men who were working at the sawmill in the canyon. James and Cynthia’s oldest son, William, was among them. This was the beginning of what came to be called the Walker War, a year of intense Indian trouble for those who lived in the area.

This same year, James McClellan was made Branch President. Two years later, in 1855, Elders Ezra T. Benson and George A. Smith went to Payson to reorganize as the town was growing. A Bishop was ordained with James as a counselor.

It was that same summer that the saints in Utah had a particularly difficult year. The first blow was the grasshopper infestation that ate not only the first planting, but the second and third and all attempts to fight them proved to be futile. The destruction was accompanied by a hot, dry summer causing a late-season drought. The absence of grass prompted the moving of cattle to high up on the mountains to graze. However, the winter of 1855-1856 turned out to be the most severe since the settlement of Utah, and about half of all the cattle in the territory died as a result. The Indians were also facing starvation for the same reasons and stole many of the cattle that survived. Another contributor to the crisis was the immigration of 1855 was the heaviest in three years with over 4,000 persons coming to Utah with their own supplies almost exhausted.

The church was doing all that they could do help the members survive and so was the McClellan family. Among the existing written records bearing James’s name is a document written on January 26th, 1856 in which he consecrated all of his possessions to the Lord.

It may have been under these circumstances that James and Cynthia took a plural wife. On January 25, 1858, James married forty-six year old Ann Shaw in the office of the President of the Church. She was the widow of Robert Mattinson and had four surviving children. She was from England and was a member of the Martin Handcart company and her husband died on the journey. We know very little about this plural marriage and by November of 1859, this marriage was dissolved.

Cynthia Stewart McClellan passed way on April 29, 1862, one day after her fifty-second birthday. There is no known record of the cause of her death. She left three unmarried daughters at home, the youngest just nine years old.

Sometime in 1864, he married Lydia Goldthwaite Knight, widow of Newell Knight. She had three unmarried children at the time, the youngest was a twelve year old daughter she named Artemesia. Two years later, James and Lydia responded to another call which would move them from Payson to a town in Arizona called Beaver Dams. All of their children were now grown except the youngest two girls, Arminta and Artemesia, who were both fourteen years old. So the four of them left Payson, the town that James helped to build up and left his grown family as well, and set off to start again.

Beaver Dams was a very small community just starting to get settled, when at the end of 1867, an unusually large flood in the Virgin River submerged the little village and washed away a considerable amount of the tillable land. This ended for a time the attempts to colonize there.

So James and Lydia decided to go to Santa Clara, Utah. They had friends and relatives there. The soon made themselves comfortable and both began to serve in the ward. There are also records of him donating to the poor and giving to the building of the Manti and the St. George Temple.

A mission call was extended to James to preach the gospel in the United States. He was set apart by Daniel H. Wells on October 27, 1871. He traveled chiefly in Texas and reported that he was treated kindly by the people he visited. He returned home six months later.

James and Lydia went to Payson in 1874 to celebrate his seventieth birhtday with his family and friends. All of his ten living children and their families gathered together, numbering seventy-seven in all. Some had traveled long distances to be present. They had dinner at tables outdoors and afterward tributes were made.

On March 21, 1877, James ventured again into a plural marriage when he and Mary Magdalena Gahler were sealed together in the recently completed St. George temple. She was fifty-nine years old, born in Switzerland in October 1819. She most likely was part of the company of Swiss immigrants who arrived in Salt Lake in October of 1861, and whom Brigham Young immediately assigned to go to Santa Clara. After their marriage, she spent a great deal of time in the temple as well as James and Lydia. Mary passed away September 21, 1879 and was laid to rest in the Santa Clara cemetery.

In 1880, James’s health began to fail and he requested that he return to Payson. The trip was arranged and he arrived by train on Feb 6th, 1881. James’s son, Samuel wrote this letter to one of his sisters.

Dear Sister, I take my pen in hand to write you the sad news of the death of our dear old father which occurred Feb. 10th here in Payson. He got here on the 6th very sick. Got worse until Thursday. Died half past ten A.M. Was berried on Saturday. Him and the old lady made a division of property som years ago. His wish was that his portion should be divided equal with all of his children.

He then writes of his family and closes the letter, Samuel W. McClellan.

James was buried in the Payson Cemetery by the side of Cynthia. He died at the age of seventy-seven, leaving four sons and six daughters, their spouses and children. The grandchildren eventually numbered 111. Now, after more than one hundred years since their death, their descendants number into the thousands.



The Patriarchal Blessing of
James McClellan


son of Hugh and Polly (Mary) McCall
born in York District, State of South Carolina
the 8th day of August, 1804

I lay my hands upon your head in the name of Jesus to bless you as you have requested it; therefore, it shall be according to your faith both as to your Priesthood and your affairs which are temporal and your prosperity shall be according to your diligence both in exerting your mind in study in searching the writings that are sacred, wherein the doctrine the rock and salvation of Jesus Christ is revealed in your diligence in bearing testimony and examples in this the eleventh hour. For you are called with a holy calling and shall be entitled with power and authority to officiate in that calling and magnify it, which calling is from God from above and not from beneath and your testimony is from above and not from beneath. Which testimony is the holy spirit which worketh upon your heart at your moments of contemplation and solemn reflection, both in your secret resorts and on your pillow, which inspires your heart to extend the mind and reach after greatness, even to proclaim in power and reason, in greatness unto the convincing of many. Thus are ye and shall be inspired. Thus are ye admonished and called by the workings of the spirit that is in you. And the time shall come that the desires of your heart this far shall be given.

Your tongue shall be loosed and shall have a dispensation of the Gospel and the gifts of the Holy Priesthood which is given by the Spirit armed with the implements of your office and calling, for the purpose of your salvation and salvation of thousands as a blessing and a reward of your labors. And ye shall be blessed temporally in the labors of your hands.

And if you desire it and shall ask with fervent zeal, your years shall be many and you shall be blest with an inheritance in the remnants of Joseph and a crown of eternal life in the mansion of your Father and a promise unto your posterity with the blessings of the Priesthood unto the latest generation.

These blessings I seal upon you, Even so, Amen.

Given by Hyrum Smith at Nauvoo, January 10, 1842.