The History of the Lowder and Bullard Families
As understood and presented by Merna Thurman Madden
According to Jesse Lowder, when he performed temple work for his father, Joseph Lowder, and
his grandfather, John Lowder, at the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, John Lowder, the emigrant
ancestor and forbearer of our branch of the Lowder family, was born in England.
There are those who maintain that John Lowder came from Pennsylvania, and perhaps he did
pass through that state, but years of research on my part have not produced what I consider proof of that
fact. True, there were some in Pennsylvania by that name, but dates and circumstances of those men
cannot be correlated with the knowledge we have of our family.
From what I can learn of this early Lowder family, and I have done extensive research, I believe
that John and Hannah Lowder (her maiden name unknown) were Quakers when they left England, for,
first, they migrated to New Jersey, a Quaker state, where their eldest son, Caleb was born in 1760, and
second, they migrated again to the Quaker area in South Carolina, where the 4th child, Joseph, was born
in 1766. Proof of the above statement is found, first, in the 1850 Census of Monroe County, Indiana,
where Caleb, who was 90 years of age, declared that he was born in New Jersey. Secondly, the land
records of South Carolina establish John and Thomas Lowder in South Carolina in the Quaker area
there. Both John and Thomas moved on to North Carolina. John and Hannah settling in Guilford Co.,
where they and their children officially became members of Guilford N.C. Meeting. The entire family is
listed in the Quaker records there.
Since John and Hannah Lowder were staunch Quakers all their days after we pick them up in
North Carolina, and many of their children and grandchildren remained faithful, I think that it is wise for
each of us to understand just what they believed. Their official name was “The Society of Friends,” and
the name “Quaker” was tacked onto them in the same manner as the name “Mormon” became attached
to us.
This Society or “church” (a term that they very much disliked) was founded by an English son of
a well-to-do weaver of Fenny Drayton, Leicestershire, England named George Fox. George was a very
serious, but well liked young man who could not accept the religious teachings of the English churches
of his day. In 1643 and again in 1646, he wandered through the country having frequent discussions
with the clergy and members of the different religions.
In 1647, according to his Journal, he heard a Voice which said, “There is one, even Jesus Christ,
that can speak to thy Condition.” He further writes that “when I heard it, My Heart did leap for Joy.”
George Fox considered this a direct revelation and this was the heart of his preaching, which soon began
at Dukinfield and Manchester. Those who joined him were mainly people of the lower middle class of
the English society. By 1652 Quakerism had been carried through most of England. By 1655 it had
covered Scotland and Ireland.
Fox and his followers preached that God reveals himself directly to every responsive soul, this
“inner Light’ being the central tenet from which all others derive. They recognized no church authority
or ceremony. They refused to pay tithes and despised the clergy of all denominations and their
churches. They refused to take oaths or bear arms. Their dress and food were extremely simple. All
ordinary amusements were shunned. So adverse were they to worldly things that they refused to have
any kind of music in their worship. They had no “preachers” or sermons in their worship, but they sat,
men on one side and women on the other side of their meeting house, motionless and wordless, until one
of them was moved upon by the Spirit to stand and speak. Sometimes the entire meeting would elapse
without a word being spoken.
They discarded many of the conventions of social life, addressing each other as “thee” and “thy,”
and refusing to remove their hats to anyone. They firmly asserted the divine worth of every human
being, many devoting their lives to social reform. They believed in religious freedom as a matter of
conscience. They resisted the legal system which rated property higher than human life, as well as all
forms of injustice and slavery. In America, they became the “champions” for the Indians and spent
much time and effort teaching and caring for them.
In the early days of the colonies (especially in Massachusetts) Quakers were persecuted in
unbelievable ways. Their tongues were cut out and they were cast into jails in Boston where they spent
the harsh winters living on bread and water and practically without clothing and with no form of heat or
warm bedding. Then, when they were released from jail, they were whipped (literally) from town to
town until they left the state.
Rhode Island, to her eternal credit, took them in.
After Pennsylvania and New Jersey were settled, the Quakers fared much better, for they had a
place to go where they could find their own. But those colonies soon filled up, and this unwanted
people began to move south into Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas and Georgia. When Ohio and
Indiana opened up in the early 1800’s they migrated by the thousands to those states. Our Lowders were
a part of that migration.
But to back track a bit, a thorough search of the Quaker records of New Jersey and also the land
records failed to establish our “John and Hannah” in that state. There were John Lowders, but none who
could be identified as ours. If Caleb was born in New Jersey in 1760 and Joseph was born in South
Carolina in 1766, their stay in New Jersey could have been very brief, too brief to settle on land there.
Also, by 1760, New Jersey was thickly settled and many of the Quaker faith were moving on to
Maryland, Virginia and other areas. There was simply not enough room in New Jersey to accommodate
the large number of persons who flocked to that area.
At that time there was a condition in South Carolina that made it a logical place to go for those
who were new in the country and needed a home.
Beginning in the 1730’s, the people who lived along the eastern shore of South Carolina, and
almost everyone in South Carolina lived there, found themselves in an uncomfortable situation. They
lived on the eastern shore, but they had large plantations inland. It was on these plantations that they
housed their Negro slaves and they, themselves, lived during the cool season of the year, returning to
Charleston and other coastal areas during the devastating heat of the summer. Of course the slaves
remained on the plantations through all seasons, and many of them died with the fevers and other things
caused by their living conditions.
At this time the Cherokee Indians of North Carolina made frequent raids on these inland
plantations, killing the inhabitants and plundering the plantations. Protection against these raids was
impossible.
After years of this condition, a plan evolved in the minds of South Carolina officials, which
would put a human buffer between their plantations and the Indians.
They had all that “back country” beyond their plantations in which there were no inhabitants. If
they could place a large number of people on that land, the Indians would spend their energy attacking
them instead of the plantations.
And so they offered 100 acres of land and one year’s supply of seed and food to everyone who
would come to South Carolina and settle. They advertised heavily in Scotland, Germany, England, New
England and particularly in New Jersey. I am convinced that is why so many Quakers ended up in
South Carolina. They were homeless, unwanted in most areas, and eastern Pennsylvania and New
Jersey were filled up. And I am convinced that that is the reason why the Lowders went to South
Carolina.
The Quakers in South Carolina were so isolated from the main body of the church that it was
impossible at that time to maintain their usual organization. If such an organization was possible and
Monthly Meetings were held, the records have been destroyed. It is believed that there was no formal
organization in most parts of South Carolina.
Now, it was a Quaker law that anyone not being associated with an organized group and not
participating in Quaker worship for an established period of time lost his membership and he had to be
reinstated as if he had never been a member.
When John and Hannah Lowder left South Carolina and migrated to Guilford County N.C., they
again came to Quaker country. There, in Guilford County, the organization of the church was complete
and in full force. Since the Lowders had spent years away from an organized Quaker assembly, they
were required to take the instructions, be investigated, and approved by a council set up for that purpose.
Evidently John and his family passed all the inspections and their names were recorded, with the
date of the births of the children on the Quaker records of that Monthly Meeting. Thank goodness for
that rule. Otherwise we would have no record at all of those children or the name of John’s wife.
From all that I can find, John and Hannah remained faithful Quakers throughout their lives.
Catherine, the first child and daughter born 17 July 1758, died 30 June 1760, possibly in New Jersey, as
the next child, Caleb, was born there 2 Sept 1760. On the other hand, Catherine might have died on the
journey to New Jersey. Often times children did die enroute from one place to another.
Caleb married Ann Ozbourn 26 Dec 1782 in Guilford County, N.C. They were married in the
Quaker church there. She was a faithful member all her days. Caleb, with his brother, Samuel, and
other members of the Lowder family, including sons of his brother John, migrated to Monroe County,
Indiana, where he, with most of his family, remained a loyal Quaker all his days. I found his grave
marker, a simple board with only his name on it, in a small Quaker cemetery in a rural area in Monroe
County, Indiana.
John Jr., the second son, born 29 June 1762, place unknown, married Sarah. He became
wealthy, owning a gold mine in Guilford County. He left the Quaker church early. He was dismissed
by the Center Monthly Meeting, 19 March 1791. No reason is given but since there is no record of his
marriage in the Quaker records, it is possible that he “married out of unity,” in which case he would lose
his membership. Also the fact of his wealth would have alienated him from the church, as Quakers were
not allowed to be wealthy.
In any case, some of his sons grew up in the Quaker faith, and, as I said before, accompanied
their uncles Caleb and Samuel to Indiana, where they are recorded on the records there. John, Jr. died in
in1839. His will is to be found in the county probate records on 11 Oct. 1839. A list of John Jr.’s
children, as far as I have found them and what happened to them, will be given further on this narrative.
We have very little information on the daughters of John and Hannah beyond their birth dates.
Mary, the oldest daughter who lived, married William Ozborn, the brother of Caleb’s wife, and lived a
faithful Quaker in Guilford County. I can find no further record of Rebekah, born 15 Mar 1770 and
Hannah, born 9 August 1774.
Joseph, our progenitor, married Martha Clark, who evidently was not a Quaker, for Joseph was
excommunicated from the church for “marrying out of Unity.” Quakers could not even attend a nonQuaker wedding without being “handled by the council,” let alone marry a non-Quaker. Later we find
Joseph back in the church in good standing, so Martha must have joined the Quakers and the two of
them admitted into the fold.
Joseph, however, could not abide the rules of the Quaker faith and he again, on the 10 Jan 1808,
was relieved of his membership at Deep Creek Monthly Meeting in Surry County, N.C. (That area is
now in Yadkin County) This time no reason is given in the record.
By 1793 Joseph and Martha were in Surry County, N.C., where their son Jesse was born.
Another son, James, is credited to this family. He was born about 1791, and took out a marriage bond
with Margaret Gibbs 17 April 1816 in Patrick County, Virginia, the same county where Jesse and Zilpha
Bullard took out a marriage bond 15 June 1815. Other than that, we can find no other children.
Extensive research has been done to find records that would give us more information on this
family and none have been found. Martha Clark’s parentage, or any other facts about her, is a complete
blank. Jesse Lowder’s patriarchal blessing and church record is our only source of information. The
name Clark in North Carolina is very prolific. That is one of the problems. There are so many Clarks,
but none that we find in the area where Martha is found have left a record naming a daughter Martha
who married a Lowder. That field of research is wide open for anyone who would like to find the origin
of Martha Clark.
From Surry County, N.C., (possibly by this time they were in Stokes County, which was formed
from Surry County in 1798, as Joseph sold land in that county) Joseph and family moved to Grayson
County, Virginia. This location was just over the state line from where they lived in North Carolina.
Joseph Lowder bought land on the “waters of Big Reed Island,” (73) acres 7 Dec. 1829.
Again on the 11 of Aug 1830, he bought land for $100. This purchase was for 80 acres on the
west side of Big Reed Island.
Surely these were not Joseph’s first purchases of land in that area for by that time his son Jesse
had married, lived in Virginia, had a large family, and was getting ready to move with his wife’s parents
to Brown County, Illinois. Furthermore, Jesse, a veteran of the War of 1812, is recorded as being from
Greenville, Grayson County, Virginia. This fact would surely put his father there that early. Also his
marriage bond, 6 June 1815, in Patrick County, Virginia records him and his bride, Zilpha Bullard, as
being from Grayson County. Land records in Grayson County have much to be desired.
An item which needs to be explored is the fact that Joseph Lowder’s deed of 7 Dec. 1829 was
not recorded until 1855. I could not find Joseph Lowder in the 1850 census of Grayson Co., Va. But
does the recording of this deed in 1855 mean that he was still there in 1855? He would have been very
old by then. It is here in Grayson County that we lose track of Joseph Lowder, for a thorough search in
Brown County, Illinois could not locate him.
An interesting note which needs to be injected here is the fact that on 19 Feb 1809, James
Bullard, the father of Zilpha Bullard, who married Jesse Lowder, son of Joseph, in 1815, had land
surveyed on “Big Reed Island River” in Grayson County. In 1808 he had also had another piece of land
surveyed on the same river. Since Joseph Lowder’s land was also on that river (“waters”), the two
families evidently lived in the same area.
Now it is time to go back to the obscure beginning of the Bullard family in North Carolina.
Here, again, we run into almost total lack of records which give any definite information. One needs to
understand the settlement of that state and conditions that led to the migration of a large number of
people from Scotland to several of the eastern counties, particularly Cumberland and Johnson, in order
to appreciate the lives of our Bullard ancestors.
North Carolina was very sparsely settled in the early 1700’s. Most of the emigrants from Europe
settled in the northern English colonies or along the Atlantic seaboard in South Carolina. North
Carolina, at that time, had no good harbors and overland travelling from bordering states was very
difficult due to enormous swamps, precipitous mountains and unfordable rivers.
However, in the early 1700’s, settlers from South Carolina began to establish homes around the
Albemarle Sound, and during the period of 1723-28, they located on the lower Cape Fear river.
In the meantime, events in Europe had dislodged thousands of people from their homes.
Between 1710 and 1713, 13,000 refugees from Germany landed in England, most of them descending
on already overburdened London. To alleviate this situation, Queen Anne arranged, at England’s
expense, to send one hundred families to North Carolina. In 1710, a Swiss land agent had bought
17,000 acres of land on the Neuse and Trent rivers in North Carolina, and began the transportation of
650 young people to that area. This was a very ill fated venture, for about half of them died on ship.
The remainder were attacked by pirates, who took all the goods they possessed. A shattered group
landed at what became the town of New Burn. In 1711, those who remained of the colony were almost
entirely destroyed by an Indian massacre.
But unrest in Europe could not be curtailed, and a demand for land in America increased. Wars,
past, present and anticipated, poverty, unemployment, religious persecution, a harsh and vindictive penal
system, and discriminatory laws all added up to an intense desire to escape to America, where they
hoped to enjoy peace and security, freedom of worship and an opportunity to own their own land on
which to establish homes. There, too, they hope to escape the perpetual sight and sound of marching
armies.
1729-1775 was a period of rapid growth and expansion within the borders of North Carolina. By
1752, the population of the colony had increased to more than 50,000; three years later it was 80,000
and by 1765 it had jumped to 120,000. By 1775, when the Revolutionary War started, the white
population was estimated at 265,000 and a Negro population of 80,000. North Carolina had become the
fourth most populous English continental colony, exceeded only by Virginia, Pennsylvania, and
Massachusetts.
As mentioned above, there were many reasons for this nine fold increase in population in less
than half a century. Scotch-Irish, Germans, Scottish Highlanders, Welch, English, and people from a
few other nations poured into the Upper Cape Fear Valley and into the back country. Quakers, who
were always looking for a new home, flooded into the counties further west and north against Virginia.
Settlements reached the foot of the mountains by 1760 and soon pushed across this barrier. A vast
number of Germans moved south through Virginia’s Shenandoah valley and settled about 1750 in
Rowan County. A vast area, hitherto almost unbroken wilderness, was turned into farms and homes.
Roads, bridges and ferries were built; sawmills and gristmills were established; lumber, naval stores,
potash, shipbuilding and other industries were developed; some river channels were improved to allow
larger vessels to ascend them, and a few lighthouses were constructed to protect ships along her rocky
coast and in her harbors, which also had been improved. Old towns, such as Edenton and New Bern
took on new life, while many new towns were begun, most significant of which were Wilmington
(which became the principle harbor), Halifax, Hillsboro, Salisbury, Salem, Charlotte, and what is now
known as Fayetteville. The creation of twenty-six new counties during this period is ample evidence of
the growth and expansion of the population.
But to return to the Cape Fear river area, which is where our Bullards settled. Settlement was
moving slowly and steadily up the Cape Fear and other eastern rivers. In 1733 a small group of
Highland Scots established a colony on the Upper Cape Fear river. In 1744 Governor Gabriel Johnston
reported that the Cape Fear Valley was being settled by a “a sober and industrious set of people” who
were noted for their amazing progress in their improvements, and “this region is the place of greatest
trade in the whole province.”
The earliest, largest and most numerous settlement of Scotch Highlanders was the one in North
Carolina during the period just mentioned. They were the only large group to come directly from their
native land. In 1736 Alexander Clark of Jura in the Hebrides Isles, a group of islands which lay off the
northwest shore of northern Scotland, brought a shipload of his country fellowmen to North Carolina,
where he found “a good many Scotch.” Three years later 350 Highlanders landed at Wilmington under
the leadership of Neil McNeill and, according to tradition, left that town because the settlers made fun of
their peculiar costumes and unusual language, and settled in the present Fayetteville region. These
newcomers, pleased with their new location and future prospects, petitioned the Assembly in February
1740, saying, “If Proper encouragement be given them, they’ll invite the rest of their friends and
acquaintances over.” The Assembly, interested in promoting immigration, and probably prodded by
Governor Johnston, who was a native of Scotland, voted to exempt the new settlers from all taxation for
ten years. A similar exemption from payment of any “Publick or County tax for Ten years” was offered
to all Highlanders who should come to North Carolina in groups of forty or more, and the Governor was
requested “to use his interest, in such manner as he shall think most proper, to obtain an Instruction for
giving Encouragement to Protestants from foreign parts, to settle within Townships within this
Province.”
Meantime conditions in Scotland were becoming more distasteful to the Highlanders. Since the
Act of Union in 1707, Scotland had been resisting the enforced union with England. Smoldering unrest
finally broke out into open warfare, and on 16 April 1746, at Culloden, the Scots were decisively
defeated by a British army led by the “Bloody Duke” of Cumberland. The aftermath of this battle
created a situation which led thousands of Scots to come to North Carolina. The clan system—so dear
to the hearts of the Highlanders—was broken up, estates were confiscated, and the Scots were forbidden
to bear arms and to wear the costumes of their clans. Many estates were taken over by British officers
and soldiers, who substituted sheep raising for ordinary agriculture, and thus threw many Scots out of
work. Rents were increased and there was economic distress throughout the Highlands.
There was one way out of this unhappy situation. After Culloden, the King offered pardons to
all “rebels” who would take the oath of allegiance to the House of Hanover and emigrate to America.
Thousands hastened to take advantage of this offer, and there developed “a Carolina mania which was
not broken until the Revolution.”
Within a few years there were Highland settlements throughout the Upper Cape Fear Valley in
the region now embracing Anson, Bladen, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Moore, Richmond, Robeson,
Sampson and Scotland counties. It was in 1754 that the legislature created Cumberland County,
ironically named for “Butcher Cumberland.” At the head of navigation on the Cape Fear river a town
was begun, which was incorporated as Campbellton in 1762, and renamed Fayetteville in 1783 in honor
of the French general Lafayette.
The community which became the chief center of the Highland settlement was called Cross
Creek, so named because of the phenomenon of the two creeks which apparently crossed each other
without their currents mixing. This community no longer exists, but was near the present Fayetteville.
Soon after Cumberland County was created, the legislature authorized the construction of a road
from Dan River on the Virginia border to Cross Creek, and another road leading to it from Shallow Ford
in Surry County. Thus Cross Creek became a significant river port and the center of “wagon trade” for a
vast region extending westward as far as the Moravian settlement at Salem (now Winston-Salem).
The French and Indian War (1754-1763) interrupted immigration to the colonies, but with the
advent of peace it was renewed on a larger scale than ever. Thousands of Scots came to America from
the Scottish mainland and also from the “Western Isles” of Jura, Islay, Argyleshire, Stonoway, Skye,
Lewis, Lochabar, Ross, and Sutherland, as well as from other island groups. Between 1763 and 1769,
the Scots Magazine mentioned four different migrations from Islay to North Carolina. From 1768 to
1771, some 1600 Highlanders came into the Cape Fear River area, and in the summer of 1770, fifty-four
shiploads migrated from the Western Isles to the province. In 1772 Governor Martin wrote Lord
Hillsborough, Secretary of State for the Colonies: “Near a thousand people have arrived in Cape Fear
River from the Scottish Isles since the month of November.”
The year 1773 witnessed the heaviest emigration, approximately 4,000 leaving that year, a
goodly portion of whom came to North Carolina, “where they found the largest and most important
settlement of Highlanders in America.” In 1775 Governor Martin estimated that he could raise an army
of 3,000 Highlanders, which indicates that there were probably as many as 20,000 Scots in the province.
The Highlanders who came to North Carolina were among the most substantial and energetic
people of Scotland. Scottish Journals referred to them as men “of wealth and merit,” as “the most
wealthy and substantial people in Skye,” and the finest set of fellows in the Highlands” who carried “at
least 6,000 pounds sterling in ready cash with them.” In the 1772-1773 migration, it was claimed that
each person carried an average of 4 pounds, and it was estimated that the 1,500 emigrants from County
Sunderland during these two years carried with them 7,500 pounds.
The Scots continued to use Gaelic; and in 1756 Hugh McAden reported that many of them
“scarcely knew one word of English.” But Gaelic gradually gave way to English, although there were
survivals of the ancient tongue for more than a century.
Most of the Highlanders became farmers, and they were particularly foremost in the production
of naval stores from the vast forests of long leaf pine. Quite a number became merchants and, according
to Governor Tryon, many of them were skilled mechanics. Some of them entered the professions and
made distinctive contributions in politics, religion, education and military affairs.
Thus we see that our Bullard ancestors came from very distinctive and prolific people. The big
problem is the inadequate records made of individuals. We have no passenger lists of the many
boatloads who came. We have practically no church records, if indeed they became members of a
church. Mainly we have only land records with which to link people together. There were a number of
Bullards among the emigrants, and there was a vast duplication of first names. Hence to trace our James
Bullard, born 1768, becomes a real problem.
Johnston County, N.C. was established in 1746. It included a large area which later became
several other counties.
Land records of Cumberland Co., N.C., a great portion of which was taken from Johnston
County, reveal that there were Bullards buying and selling land in that county as early as 1768. They
seemed to all be located in three areas, Lower Little River, Buies Creek, and the Middle Prong of Bruces
Creek. There were several named James and also Thomas.
The earliest land record I could find was a land grant of 250 acres from Granville to William
Bullard in Johnston County on 22 July 1761. Granville was the English government representative who
granted all of the land in the Province of North Caroline to the first grantees. William Bullard’s land
was designated as “unoccupied land.” It was situated on both sides of Little River in the north-east
corner of Johnston County. William sold 150 acres of this land to Thomas Bullard of Johnston County 6
July 1765. They were both designated as “planters,” which means that they were men of property and
prestige. Later a John Bullard was witness for land transactions in the same area. William Bullard, Jr.
shows up on the same river, and Thomas and James are also found in the same area. In the 1790 census,
there is a James Bullard registered in Johnston County.
20 January 1789. Hester Bullard was witness to the sale of a piece of land lying next to the
above land.
3 January 1770, Thomas Bullard sold his 150 acres of land on Little River. This sale was signed
by Thomas Bullard and Sarah Bullard. I presume that Sarah was his wife.
John Bullard, in the same period of time, witnessed the sale of several pieces of land in Johnston
County lying on the Neuse River, into which the Little River flowed. These two rivers were in close
proximity. John’s first witness on the Neuse River was in 1763. So it seems that there were three
Bullard men in a small area of Northeast Johnston County at the same early date—William, Thomas and
John. Later, 1766, William Bullard Jr. appears as a witness to the sale of the 150 acres of land by
William, Sr. to Thomas Bullard. So William Jr. was at least 21 years by 1766.
Our James was born in 1768. To which or any of the above mentioned men is, at present,
unknown. He could have been the son of William Sr., Thomas or John, even William Jr.
James Bullard and wife Rachel lived in Johnson County N.C. 8 September 1794 when their
daughter Zilpha was born.
In 1800, James was in Rowan County, that part of Rowan County later becoming Davidson
County. In 1807, 1811 and 1822, James Bullard of Grayson County, Virginia, bought land on the waters
of the Big Reed Island. While in Grayson County, there is a record of his selling his land in Davidson
County, N.C.
From church, marriage, land and court records, as well as wills, we find that James and Rachel
Bullard had six children. They were James, born about 1791, who married Katherine or Katurah (it is
found both ways), Dicey, born about 1792, who married in Grayson Co., Va., 25 Aug. 1813, Robert
Bobbit, Zilpha, (our grandmother) born 8 Sept. 1794 in Johnston Co., N.C. and took out a marriage bond
with Jesse Lowder, 15 June 1815 in Patrick Co., Va., Theophelus born about 1799 in North Carolina,
John age 47 in 1850, making him born in 1803 in North Carolina, married Fanny, moved to Brown Co.,
Ill., and Mary or Polly, age 36 in 1850, making her born in 1814 in Virginia, married Hamilton
Nyswonger.
When Jesse Lowder and his family moved from Grayson County, Va., to Brown County, Illinois
before 1835, James and Rachael Bullard went with them. They are to found in the 1850 census in
Brown County at the small town of Versailles. As far as I can determine none of the Bullards came west
to Utah.
Evidence in the 1850 census of Brown County, Ill. indicates that John Bullard, Zilpha’s brother,
came to Brown County around 1840 or a little later.
Before we go on with the history of the Jesse Lowder and Zilpha Bullard family we need to
relate as much of the history as we have about Joseph Lowder’s brothers and their descendants. John,
as stated before, remained in Guilford County, N.C. and died there. Several of his sons migrated to
Monroe County, Indiana with their uncle Caleb. One of them named Solomon will be part of our story a
little later.
Samuel Lowder went to Indiana with Caleb, but his son Jonathan remained in the area of
Winston-Salem, which is now in Forsyth County. Jonathan had a son Samuel who left a number of
descendants in that area.
Ralph went with Caleb to Indiana. Both he and Caleb left numerous faithful Quaker descendants
there. Ralph is found in the 1820 census in Randolph Co., Indiana, and Caleb is in Monroe County.
There is also a Joseph Lowder found in Monroe County, Indiana. He lived near Caleb. Since Caleb had
a son named Joseph, I assume that he is the one listed in that census. Caleb lived to be over 90 years of
age and is found in the 1850 census of Monroe County. That is where I learned that he was born in New
Jersey, a really significant find.
Now to tell the story about Solomon Lowder, who was evidently the eldest son of John. When
John died, Solomon left Indiana on horseback for the purpose of returning to Guilford County, N.C. to
probate his father’s will and settle his estate. Solomon was never seen nor heard of again. He was
evidently the victim of the “Trail Pirates” who swarmed the trails and rivers along which travelers found
their way going both east and west. An account of their depredations will be a part of this history so that
you might realize the extreme danger that these people faced east of the Mississippi. The only safety
against this condition was in numbers, and often large groups moved together. When Caleb, Samuel,
and Ralph moved to Indiana, many of the Quaker faith went with them. By 1850 and 1860, central
Indiana is loaded with those bearing the Lowder name and those of Lowder descent.
Rather than insert the history of the trail and river pirates in this part of the narrative, I will attach
it to the end of this family history. Both the Lowders and one branch of my husband’s family were
affected by their depredations. Therefore I believe it is important that we understand the condition.
Now to return to the combined history of the Lowders and Bullards.
It seems from the land records of Grayson County, Va., that James Bullard Jr. and Sr. had
difficulty paying their debts, for James Sr. had to sell his land in Davidson Co., to pay off a mortgage
that had something to do with his son, James Jr. He put up not only his land but all of his property,
including rifles and shot guns as collateral. If he doesn’t pay in one year the property will be sold.
Evidently he couldn’t pay and lost his property. This was on the 8 June 1829. On the 11th of April
1830, James Jr. was in the hands of the sheriff for non-payment of debt. He signed over to the sheriff
two pieces of land, one on which his brother-in-law, Robert Babbit, lived and also one on which his
father lived. I wonder if this loss of property had much to with James, Sr.’s moving to Illinois.
Although James Bullard, Jr. did not leave Grayson Co., James Sr. appears to have left with Jesse
Lowder and Zilpha Bullard about 1830, as I could not find him there in that census. John, son of James
Sr., appears to have left Grayson Co. after 1840 as his youngest daughter, who was ten years of age in
1850, had been born in Virginia.
However, census records are very unreliable, so one cannot be sure of the information found
there. For instance, when one finds Jesse Lowder and Zilpha in Pottawatomi Co., in the territory of
Iowa in 1850, the census says that John, then 15 years of age, was born in Virginia. We know from
family records that John was born at Versailles, Brown Co., Illinois. I have found other similar false
facts in the census records.
Brown County, Illinois is next door to both Adams and Hancock Counties, Illinois, and the
people there were probably much affected by the events of 1838 and 1839 which happened in Missouri
when the “Mormons” were driven from that state in mid-winter. As those people flocked into Quincy,
Adams Co., Illinois they probably spilled over into Brown County. At any rate, the elders found Jesse
and Zilpha in 1839. They were converted and Zilpha was baptized in 1839. Jesse was baptized in
January 1840. Evidently, since they were so close to the headquarters of the church at Nauvoo, they
remained in Brown Co.
However, we find Richmond Lowder, son of Jesse and Zilpha in 1846 with the Saints at Winter
Quarters, for he was baptized there by Apostle Ezra Taft Benson, and confirmed by Brigham Young.
By 1850 Jesse and Zilpha are found on Soap Creek in Pottawatomi County, Iowa, the same county in
which Council Bluff was located with daughter, Catherine, and son, John. That census records Jesse,
Zilpha and the two children in one household at that time. The other children are not accounted for.
Children of Jesse Lowder and Zilpha Bullard
(According to an old Bible record of Ella Louder Felsted)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Lewis, b. 25 Mar 1815, Grayson Co., VA., d. age 6 weeks 1815
Rachel, b. 5 Jan 1818, Grayson Co., VA d. 16 Jul 1844
Jonathan, b. 20 Mar 1820, Grayson Co., VA d. 5 years 5 mos
Richmond, b. 29 Apr 1822, Grayson Co., VA, md. Emily Caroline Norton, d. 4 Oct. 1891 at
Bountiful, Utah
James, b. 16 Nov. 1824, Grayson Co., VA md Julia Minerva Owens, d. 2 Feb 1851 in
Missouri
Mary, B. 12 May 1826, Grayson Co., VA
Lewis, B. Dec. 1828 Grayson Co., VA
Catherine, b. 10 Dec 1830, md. William Creeland Burrows
John, b. 1 Dec 1835 Versailles, Brown Co., Illinois, md. Emily Teressa Hodgetts 25 May
1860, d. 14 Feb 1917
Family of John Bullard, brother of Zilpha
(As found in the 1850 Census of Brown Co. Illinois
John Bullard, M. age 47, farmer, born in N.C.
Fanny Bullard, F. age 48, born in VA
Rhody Bullard, F. age 26, born in VA
John Bullard, M. age 22, farmer, born in VA
Rachel Bullard, F age 17, born in VA
Clestia Bullard, F. age 12, born in VA
William Bullard, M. age 11, born in VA
Sarah Ann Bullard, F. age 10, born in VA
According to family tradition, Richmond Lowder and Emily Caroline Norton came west to the
Great Salt Lake Valley in 1849 with the family of Harmond Moulton. Richmond, age 27 in 1849, came
as the driver of one of the wagons belonging to this family. Emily, who was born in May 1830, would
have been age 19, even though the census of 1850 declares her to be 22. What her status was with that
family during the trip west, we do not know. Neither do we know the time when she left her family,
which stayed in Hancock County, Illinois, and journeyed to the area occupied by the Saints on the
Missouri River. It has been said that her brother, James, came with her to Utah, but later returned to
Illinois. The truth of this is unknown. It is a fact, however, that James was married and living in
Hancock County, Illinois in 1860 when the U.S. Census was taken that year.
The history of the life of Emily Caroline Norton and that of her parents prior to her trip west will
be found in the Norton-Pullman History which I will begin as soon as I finish this history.
According to the 1850 census of Utah, Richmond and Emily Caroline had been married within
the year. Whether that means the full year prior to the census, or within the year of 1850 is unknown by
me. However that places the marriage date either after June 1849 or before June 1850.
Let us now return to Jesse and Zilpha and their family on Soap Creek in Pottawatomi County,
Iowa. Pottawatomi County was named after that tribe of Indians who lived in the area. This tribe of
Indians was kind and helpful to the Saints. The county lay on the western border of that Territory along
the Missouri River. By the spring of 1852, Jesse and his family were ready to leave for the Salt Lake
Valley.
I do not know of any account of their journey across the Plains, but when they arrived in the Salt
Lake Valley, they settled in West Jordan. There in early Ward records both the families of Jesse and
Zilpha and Richmond and Emily Caroline can be found. It was in that Ward that all the members of
both families who were old enough were rebaptized in 1853. This event does not single our family out
as unusual. At that time there was a universal rebaptizing of all members of the Church in Utah. The
reason for this could have been two-fold. Many of the records had been lost; and also some could have
been baptized by men having improper authority or in the wrong manner. At any rate, 1853 saw the
rebaptism of all members in Utah.
By 1854, when a territorial census was taken, Jesse Lowder and Zilpha were at Parowan, Utah.
The 1856 territorial census also shows Jesse and Zilpha at Parowan. John is recorded both at Parowan
and in the Seventeenth Ward at Salt Lake City, and Richmond and Emily Caroline were in West Jordan.
We find also in that census a number of Lowders living in San Pete County, several in Provo, and a
group at Union, as well as a couple by that name in what is now Nevada.
Just why Jesse Lowder and Zilpha wet to Parowan is not clear to me. As Brigham Young was
establishing an Iron County Mission in that area, they might have been called to go there. Nevertheless,
they were in Parowan in the summer of 1854 with a number of others with them.
Parowan was one of five towns given a charter by the Territory of Deseret. The charter was
given in 1851, and the history of why it was settled is interesting.
In the summer of 1849, between the first and second Indian disturbances of that year, Walker,
the Utah Indian chief and twelve of his tribe held an interview with Brigham Young. This interview was
preceded by the ceremony of smoking the “Peace Pipe,” in which ceremony it was established that the
Indian tribes of Utah worshipped the sun.
The pipe was first offered to their “Lord” by pointing and holding the pipe up to the sun before
Chief Walker smoked the pipe and then offered it to Heber C. Kimball, seated on his right. The pipe
was then passed from person to person until it had gone fully around the circle.
The purpose of Walker’s visit was to encourage more of his “Mormon” brethren to settle on what
he called “his lands.” These included San Pete Valley, the upper Sevier River Valley, and in the region
of “Little Salt Lake,” a shallow sheet of salt water, about seven by one mile in width, some sixty miles
south of Sevier Lake, and near the present towns of Parowan and Paragoonah. President Young
promised that he would send settlers among them in “six moons.” The talk was all for peace. “It is not
good to fight the Indians,” said President Young. “Tell your Indians not to steal. We want to be
friendly with you. We are poor now, but in a few years we will be rich. We will trade cattle with you.”
Walker replied, “That is good.” Brigham Young encouraged them to raise cattle instead of stealing
them, and have flocks of sheep and make warm clothing and blankets from the wool. Both sides agreed
that it was not good to fight.
Chief Walker, in addition to several Indian dialects, could speak fluent Spanish and make
himself understood in English. He was now in the prime of life, having been born, as nearly as the time
can be ascertained, in 1808, at a spot on the Spanish Fork River in Utah Valley.
Chief Walker, whose name had been anglicized from Walkara, is said to have had a vision about
two years before the advents of the Mormons into Utah. He was recovering from a serious illness at the
time. According to the account, Walker saw God who told him of the coming of “white friends,” and
gave him a new name “Pannacarra-Quinker,” meaning “Iron Twister.”
Chief Walker, who had been given the first name of Joseph, was baptized a member of the
church on 13th of March 1850. His brother Arapen, was also baptized, and later these two chiefs,
together with Sowiette and Unhoquitch, were ordained elders in the church. Brigham Young, Heber C.
Kimball, Willard Richards and Elijah Ward were present and did the ordaining. Elijah Ward was the
interpreter. The baptism of Chief Walker had been performed by Isaac Morley. As we will learn later,
the Indians, feeling that they had been betrayed, later went on the war path again and did much harm.
However, if the policy established by Brigham Young concerning the Indians had been faithfully
adhered to by all of the Latter-day Saints in the territory, the Indians would no doubt have fulfilled their
part of the treaty. Chief Walker died a good friend of the Mormons on the 29th of January, 1855, at
Meadow Creek, near Fillmore of a cold which had settled in his lungs. He spoke affectionately of
Brigham Young, telling his people that the Mormons were their friends and pleading with them to live
peaceably with the settlers. He was succeeded as chief by his brother, Arapen.
In December, 1850, a company which numbered 118 men, in which there were thirty families,
with 101 wagons, left the Salt Lake area for “Little Salt Lake Valley,” to make a settlement. This
undertaking was in fulfillment of part of the promises made to Chief Walker. The group was under the
leadership of George A. Smith, cousin of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and a member of the Council of the
Twelve. He was a very practical and sturdy character, active and prominent in nearly all of the
colonizing movements in southern Utah. St. George, Utah was named in honor of this great man.
The company of settlers arrived in Little Salt Lake Valley, over 200 miles south of Salt Lake
City, on the 13th of January 1851, and settled on a mountain stream “about three yards wide, one foot
deep, with a rapid current, and having a gravel bottom and banks,” afterwards named Center Creek. The
first site for the settlement, after a thorough exploration of the area, was made permanent, and named
Parowan after a Utah Indian Chief of the vicinity.
The settlers were welcomed by Chief Peteeneet and his people, a miserable tribe known as
“Piedes,” who expressed themselves as pleased that the brethren were settling in their valley. Peteeneet
said that his tribes owned the country—afterwards confirmed by Chief Walker.
This tribe of Indians was extremely poor. They possessed scarcely a horse, and were compelled
to travel on foot. Their houses were composed of a few boughs of sagebrush or stunted greasewood,
laid up in a manner to break the force of the wind, and were seldom more than five feet high. In storms
they would sometimes go for shelter among the cedars. They built very small fires, due to lack of fuel.
They were armed with short bows. Some of their arrow points were made of greasewood, others of
flint. The arrow heads owned by the Chiefs of the tribe were of iron, but never more than one and one
half inch long. Not having weapons adequate for killing the few deer in the mountains, the Piedes lived
principally on rabbits, snakes, lizards, mice, etc. Even this kind of game appeared scarce. Is it any
wonder that these poor people begged for food from the whites and drove off their cattle in an effort to
sustain life?
Soon after the party of whites arrived, a peace pipe was smoked by the Indians and the whites.
Canarrah, another Piede chief, having first sent in one of his braves to discover if it would be safe for
him to visit the settlers, paid them a visit. “His apparel consisted of a pair of moccasins, short leggings,
and a kind of small cloak made of rabbit-skins. He was tall and stately in appearance, though apparently
suffering from hunger. His followers were not as well dressed, being really specimens of humanity in
its most degraded form.” This description was taken from Brigham Young’s Manuscript Journal.
When Chief Walker visited the settlement in March 1851, he was very friendly and expressed the
desire to build a house and teach his children to work. He said that he had visited all the Indians in the
surrounding country and advised them to be friendly with the colonists, never disturbing anything that
belonged to the whites. The object of his visit was to trade horses for cattle, as his people were in need
of beef.
In the first year, the settlers built a fort at Parowan, enclosing a stockade for their cattle and
horses. Cannon commanded two sides of the fort.
In May of 1851, the settlement was visited by Brigham Young and a party of church leaders.
The people met them some distance from the little village on Center Creek, firing their cannon and
rejoicing. The company stayed three days, during which time Brigham Young advised the people to
take the Indian children into their homes and educate them both in secular matters and in the Gospel. In
this way, he advised them, they could become real friends of the Indians and help to fulfill prophecy.
He also recommended that they name their little settlement Parowan, an Indian name.
And so Parowan, the southernmost settlement founded during the actual existence of the “State
of Deseret,” was established. And to Parowan Jesse and Zilpha Lowder found their way.
Although the Parowan Ward was established in 1851, the earliest Ward Records to be found
today begin in 1861, and they are indeed in a pitiful state. They compose not only church records but
also some of the town records. All public meetings were called by the Parowan Stake President at the
Council House, where church meetings were also held.
At a meeting held 19 March 1861 for the purpose of organizing the public works, Jesse Lowder
was appointed Supervisor of Streets.
Sunday, 12 May 1861, Jesse Lowder addressed the congregation at the forenoon meeting.
An election was held 5 Aug 1861. Jesse Lowder was elected Pound Keeper, and D. Ward and
Jesse Lowder were appointed Fence Viewers.
16 Nov 1861, a meeting was called at the Council House and it was decided to build a rock
house three stories in height, 54 x 44 feet, with the basement divided to accommodate a school and other
public affairs. The ground story would be a church. The upper story would be for public meetings.
Jesse Lowder pledged a $150.00 to help in the erection of the building. $150.00 was a sizable amount in
those days.
22 Dec 1861, Jesse Lowder was on a committee to arrange a Christmas program.
20 March 1862, Jesse Lowder was part of a committee appointed to build a breakwater for the
protection of the city from floods.
There were a number of experienced stone masons living at Parowan at the time that the rock
church was started. The stone work was commenced 24 March 1863 and completed 26 June 1863. The
bishop of the ward at that time was Herman D. Bayles who had been a ship builder. He and President
Dames, along with Christian Scoguard, did a masterful job on the carpentry. The story is told that
Bishop Bayles, who lived just across the street from the building, was so anxious to get the house
completed that he would not come home for meals until the signal was given that it was all on the table.
The building was patterned after the Salt Lake Tabernacle, with a balcony around three sides,
which was supported by pillars. The walls were of stone and were from two to three feet in thickness.
Beams and ceiling joists were heavy timbers fastened together with hard, wooden pegs and tied with
rawhide. The basement floor was double. The sub-floor is still in excellent condition today.
The timbers in the building were hewn with an adz, and they were so clean cut and true to size
that one would think that they were sawed in a mill. The experts with the adz who turned out such
timbers were A.G. Hadden, Horace Fish, and Jesse Lowder. All the timbers that were used as bracers
and floor joists throughout the Rock Church and those in the Bishop’s Storehouse were hewed by these
three men.
Grandchildren of Jesse Lowder, Lewis Lowder and Emma Lowder Webb, often told of hearing
their grandfather relate how he helped to hew the timbers for the Rock Church.
With love and cooperation, these loyal people toiled on and on. They were busy men and
women, earning their bread by the sweat of their brow, and the building of a church and recreation
center was a mighty task for them. Their numbers had thinned out. Many of the original settlers had
gone back to the northern part of the state, where the soil looked better and the climate was not as harsh.
Some had gone on to the gold fields of California. Only twenty-five men of the original group were left.
So the load was doubly hard for those that stayed.
I now pick up the account of the Southern Utah Lowders from the life story of Emily Theresa
Hodgetts, the wife of John Lowder, the youngest child of Jesse and Zilpha. On 26 May 1860, John
married, at Salt Lake City, this spunky little English girl. They had two children born at Salt Lake City,
John Logan, 6 April 1861, and Mary Emma, 30 June 1863. Although John had a good job with Walker
Brothers, requests from Jesse and Zilpha Lowder for them to come to Parowan and go with them to help
settle Panguitch were complied with. When John and Emily arrived at Parowan, the older couple were
ready to go.
As early as 12 June 1852, a group of men (seven in number) left Parowan, going up little Creek
Canyon, to scout out the possibilities of making a settlement over the mountains to the east on the upper
Sevier River. This movement would further fulfill Brigham Young’s promise to Chief Walker. The
report that was made by this group of men when they returned was that the land and water would
support 50 to 100 families if they wished to go into the lumber business, but that the climate was too
cold for agriculture.
The question of this settlement constantly surfaced in the early Parowan records. By 1862 and
1863 the settlement of the upper Sevier River valley became something that had to be dealt with.
On 16 March 1864, a group of families from Beaver and Parowan made a definite decision to
proceed over the mountains and settle in that area. Among these were Jesse and Zilpha Lowder and son
John, with his wife, Emily and two children, John Logan and Mary Emma.
This group of settlers built a fort with houses on the south, east and west, facing the public
square. The north side of the fort was of cedar posts, set so close together that the Indians could not
shoot their arrows between them.
They named their little settlement Panguitch, which name was derived from the Indian word
“Pagu” or “Pang-we,” meaning big, big fish.
This new colony suffered through much affliction due to lack of food and constant Indian
depredations. Their flour gave out and all they had to make bread from was frosted wheat, which they
ground up in an old coffee grinder. But the determination of the settlers to make a success of their
venture was strong. They surveyed the town carefully, laying out wide streets. They plowed and dug a
ditch which brought water from Panguitch Lake for irrigation. That ditch is still in use.
A Ward was organized with Jens Nielson as Bishop, Jesse Lowder as first counselor, and Daniel
Matheson as second counselor. The Panguitch Ward was part of the Parowan Stake and the
organization was under the direction of President William H. Dame.
They cleared and fenced a large field, made a number of smaller ditches leading from the main
canal, built log houses and raised a fair crop of wheat and a few hardy vegetables. Their cattle thrived
on the river-bottom grass and they had plenty of beef. However, the wheat crop had been frosted and
much of it was eaten boiled with milk. Sometimes they parched the wheat, giving the diet a slight
variety.
In 1864, President Dame of the Parowan Stake, who was in charge of the Iron County Militia,
and Colonel George A. Smith called John Lowder as Captain of about 25 men to act as “minute men,”
and to help build a stockade for the protection of the colony’s livestock. This stockade was built about
eight miles north of Panguitch on the east side of the Sevier River and opposite from Lowder’s Springs.
Early in 1865 it was decided to build a large schoolhouse 20 x 30 feet with a large fireplace in
the west end. The house was made from hewn logs, the floor the same, and the master workman with
the adz who hewed all these timbers was Jesse Lowder. It is said that Jesse Lowder was such a master
with the adz that it is almost impossible to tell that the logs were not sawed. This building served as
school house, church and recreation center.
In 1865 the Indians became so hostile that the settlers had to spend most of their time in the fort,
and a heavy guard had to be maintained at the stockade to guard the cattle and horses.
On the 21 March 1865 a militia was organized in Panguitch. Captain John Lowder wrote his
story of these times and events when he was 79 years of age. I here include it as he wrote it.
“An election was held; Colonel George A. Smith was present. My name was proposed for
captain, and I was elected, a position which I held until Panguitch was vacated.
We had been given orders to take in all straggling Indians, and this led to William West getting
shot. Some of us rode down to the stockade, and while there we saw two Indians on the west side of the
Sevier River shooting ducks. William West took my horses and rode with Collins Hakes across the river
to intercept the Indians and bring them into the stockade. The Indians objected and said they were on an
express from Chief Black Hawk’s band, and they wanted to see Lowder. The men told them that I was
over at the stockade.
The Indians tried to pass, and William West rode out in front of them. As he did so, one of the
Indians caught his horse by the bit, and held him while the other Indian fired at him, shooting him in the
shoulder. Then there was a skirmish between Collins Hakes and one of the Indians, each one trying to
shoot the other, but their guns failed to go off, so no damage was done. Hakes’ gun was a cartridge
type, and the Indian’s was a cap gun.
I got a horse and rode across the river and got a shot at the other Indian, wounding him in the
shoulder. I trailed him about four miles, and left him in some large boulders. They next day my father,
Jessie Lowder, and two or three others found that he had been taken away by some other Indians. They
found his old gun that wouldn’t go off when he and Collins Hakes were shooting at each other. He must
have snapped 50 caps at Collins from this old cap gun. One of the men decided to see if it would shoot,
and it went off with a bang. The Indian that was killed was Santick, and the other one Shegump.
Shegump and William West became good friends.
During the Black Hawk Indian War, we had many skirmishes with the Indians and many
hardships to endure in guarding, going on express, taking care of the stock, and moving houses into the
fort. They had to answer to Guard roll call every morning, and no man was allowed to go off alone.
The next day I received an order from Major Silas S. Smith for me to take an escort and go up to
the Indian Camp above Panguitch and take the Indians in as prisoners and bring them to Panguitch and
hold them until further orders. We decided to separate and to come into camp in different groups so as
not to excite them. We found them camped pretty close together. Old Doctor Bill was with them. He
soon got excited when I asked for their guns. He began to look for his gun, but was stuck back in his
brush shanty out of sight.
By this time I saw another Indian with his gun in his hand. I asked him for it, and came up like
he was going to hand it to me, but he turned the muzzle on me. I caught it in my left hand and hung on.
By this time James Butler had been shot by old Doctor Bill in the side with an arrow. Butler returned
the fire with his double barrel gun. The men commenced firing at old Doctor Bill, and shot off three of
his fingers.
As soon as James Butler saw me and the Red Lake Indian scuffling for the gun, he came to me
with the arrow sticking in his side, and he shot the Indian and killed him. I sent John Butler down to
town for a wagon to take James, the wounded man, down to town where he could have his wounds
dressed. The rest of the men guarded the prisoners and took care of them.
We kept them for a considerable time, until we got an order from Colonel Dame to liberate them.
So we set them free. My father, Jesse Lowder, and three or four men buried the two Indians that were
killed while being taken prisoners.”
Of this incident Emily, wife of John Lowder, says that John was asked to lead out in these Indian
matters because he spoke their language fluently, thereby giving the Indians confidence in him. Emily
also says that after the Indians and James Butler were brought into town she prepared their meals each
day for them, and that she nursed Jim back to health. She adds this last statement. “We were very
thankful when the Saints were ordered to leave Panguitch, May 28, 1866.”
When Jesse and John Lowder and their families left Panguitch, they settled in Paragonah. (This
Indian name was spelled Paragoonah originally, but the one “o” has been dropped in the modern
spelling. Therefore, in the future I will spell it Paragonah) The people in that area were very poor, and
many, having worked mainly in the factories or other city trades before coming to Utah, had had no
experience with farming and rural life. Therefore most of them were totally unprepared to meet the
hardships of life as found in Utah’s desert mountains, and it was vital that each person help and support
others both physically and spiritually.
Probably the greatest sustaining power that this colony enjoyed was frequent visits of the Prophet
Brigham Young, his counselors and members of the Council of Twelve. The names of these men which
show up over and over again in the records of Parowan are Brigham Young, Orson Pratt, Bishop
Edward Hunter, Heber C. Kimball, Erastus Snow, Daniel H. Wells, Lorenzo Snow, Amasa M. Lyman,
Charles C. Rich, and, of course George A. Smith, who was overseer and director of the colony. These
men stayed often for several days at a time in the homes of the settlers, and they always met with the
group, encouraging and counseling them.
After Zilpha Bullard died at Paragonah, 26 Mar 1867—less than one year after leaving
Panguitch—Jesse Lowder, who married Ann Davenport, widow of James Hancock, 10 Dec 1867,
moved to Virgin, Washington County, Utah. John Lowder and his wife, Emily Hodgetts, moved their
family to Parowan. Except for summers, during which time they spent at their ranch near Cedar Breaks,
they remained in their home at Parowan. The old John Lowder home can still be seen in that town.
Jesse Lowder died at Virgin, Utah, 9 September 1875, age 82. According to family records, he
was buried in the Virgin Cemetery, but a thorough search has failed to locate his grave there. At one
time the Virgin River, in a high flood stage, washed away part of the cemetery. Hence the actual spot of
the grave of this faithful, hard-working ancestor is not known.
Before I leave Jesse Lowder and Zilpha Bullard, I need to mention the fact that they were sealed
to each other 9 Oct 1855 by George A. Smith. As they were living at Parowan at that time, the
ceremony was probably performed in their own home. In the early days of the Church, when no
Temples were available in which to perform the sealing ordinance, the members of the First Presidency
and Council of the Twelve performed sealings in other appropriate places. Some were performed on
mountain peaks, some in the President’s Office, some in the homes of the people. The record of these
sealings carry the initials “PO” after or above the date. Jesse’s and Zilpha’s sealing is in this category.
Since the Endowment House had been dedicated 5 May 1855, and the ordinance is designated as “PO,”
it is logical to suppose that they did not journey to Salt Lake City for the sealing, but that it was
performed in Parowan by George A. Smith. The record of the sealing carries the note above the date,
“probably in own home.”
This remarkable couple latter journeyed to the Endowment House in Salt Lake City and received
their endowments. This, too, was permissible in the early days of Utah. A couple could be sealed
before they received their endowments.
As related before, Jesse Lowder was a soldier in the War of 1812, enlisting at Greenville,
Grayson Co., Va. 7 Aug 1814. On 18 May 1871, while a resident of Paragonah, Utah, he was allowed a
pension upon his application, for services in that war. He was stated to be 78 years of age, soldier,
married in Surry Co., N.C. 17 June 1815, to Zilpha Bullard. She died in Pargonah, Utah 26 Mar 1867.
This document also states that he married Ann Davenport, widow of James Hancock, 10 Dec
1867 at Parowan, Iron Co., Utah. The soldier died 9 Sep 1875 at Virgin, Washington Co., Utah, and his
widow, Ann, was allowed a pension while residing in Virgin, Utah, age 70. It further states that the
veteran had children, but none are listed. This same document declares that Jesse Lowder received
bounty land for his services in the War of 1812. The location of those lands is not stated. I have often
wondered why Jesse moved at such a late age from Pargonah to Virgin. Now I wonder if his bounty
lands were in Virgin. If he took up his claim, he would have to move to the lands and improve them.
Perhaps in the future we will find proof of the truth of this statement.
But now to continue the history of John Lowder of Parowan. John, brother of Richmond, is
uncle of differing degrees to all of Richmond’s descendants. Hence our interest in the life of John and
his descendants.
The Black Hawk Indian Wars, which commenced while the Lowder families were at Panguitch,
continued to plague the settlers of Southern Utah. During June of 1867, several meetings were called to
decide what to do with the live stock to keep the Indians from driving them off and killing them. It was
quite necessary that the stock should be put out to graze.
Two plans were presented. One proposed herding the cattle by day and corralling them at night.
The other plan was that the stock should run on the range in the valley with a constant guard with them.
The second plan was adopted, and a guard consisting of John Lowder, James Butler, William Lefever
and Joseph Fish was appointed. Both John Lowder and James Butler, who had been wounded by
Indians at Panguitch, had encountered much experience with vengeful Indians, and had a working
knowledge of their temperament and ways. Also, because John Lowder could speak the Indian language
fluently, these were the natural choice for the job appointed. John, at that time, in his early thirties, was
a hardy, vigorous young man.
The duty of this guard, which consisted of riding among the stock, keeping within sight of all of
them and constantly looking for signs of Indians, started 3 July 1867. During July of that year, the Utes
under Old Black Hawk came from Utah County to the Parowan area, roamed the hills and killed a lot of
cattle and dried and jerked the meat. Carcasses of cattle were found in many places. They also rounded
up many horses and mules and some cattle and tried to drive them away.
One way the guard tried to outwit the Indians was by moving their camp every night after dark.
In this way they hoped to make their whereabouts unknown to the Indians.
On July 21st, John Lowder and James Butler went to Paragonah to get provisions. William
Lefever and Joseph Fish were preparing to move their camp about 9 pm, when some horses passed them
on the full run. At first the men thought that these horses were loose, but soon found that they were
ridden by Indians. Lefever and Fish hurried down to the stock and found that the Indians were gathering
them. It was so dark that the two men could not see much, so they rode their horses close to the Indians,
lying flat on the horse’s backs to escape detection. They hoped to be able to hear what the Indians were
saying. Fortunately these young men had also learned the Indian language. They discovered that there
were about thirty Indians in the party, and that they were planning to herd the cattle up Little Creek
Canyon.
Lefever and Fish, leaving the herd as silently as they had come, and in the same manner, rode to
Red Creek to give the alarm. There they found the men all ready to start. John Lowder and James
Butler had, after they had gotten their supplies, run into a small band of Indian raiders. They had fired
on the Indians and then rode back to give the alarm. They were afraid that both Lefever and Fish had
been killed.
George Taylor, who was on duty at Red Creek, was sent to Parowan for help. Indians were all
over the valley. As Taylor rode, one began to howl like a coyote, and away off to the right he heard an
answering call. He rode with all his might, wondering all the time when he would lose his scalp. As he
was admitted into the fort, he began shouting that the fight with the Indians was on at Little Creek
Canyon.
Eleven men headed for Little Creek Canyon, hoping to head off the raiders before they reached
the mouth of the canyon. As they came near the canyon they heard the Indians coming with their stock.
The men quickly crossed the creek and charged the herd at full speed, firing whenever they could hear
or see anyone. Giving a terrific yell, they charged into the herd, stampeding it. The Indians disappeared
into the canyon and hills, hardly returning the men’s fire.
After driving the stock at full speed for about three miles, the men stopped to see if any of their
party were wounded or missing. To their relief they found that all men were accounted for and none
were injured. They now rode through the valley looking for other parties of Indians.
As they rode back to Red Creek, they met another group of men from Parowan, coming to their
assistance. Along with this party was one Monroe Lowder. I have yet to find a satisfactory answer as to
who this Monroe Lowder was.
The Black Hawk War was felt mainly in Iron, Washington, and Sevier Counties. This war,
which lasted three years, caused much loss of stock in Iron and Washington Counties, and presented a
constant struggle among the settlers to protect their herds of cattle from the marauding Indians.
Fortunately in those two counties there was little loss of life. In Sevier County, on the other hand, many
people lost their lives and property.
Slowly, finely, life settled down in Iron County and the settlers began to live fairly comfortable
and safe lives. However, life there was seldom easy and the threat of Indians troubles remained for
some time.
John Lowder fixed himself a handy place to camp while he was working in the canyon hauling
wood or putting logs into the saw mill. John called this little establishment Bluff City. Just below the
Hogs Back, he built a regular house back under the big bluffs or cliffs, by putting up a board face with
the back and roof of solid rock. It was plenty big for his camp outfit in one end and his oxen or horses
in the other end. His children used to like to go there on camping trips with their father. It was a nice
warm place, out of the wind and storm, and many happy hours were spent there at Bluff City.
John used to cart big logs into camp, and later into the Shingle Mill just above the Five Mile, by
chaining the butt end onto the two wheels of the wagon while the other end dragged in the snow or on
the ground.
Once while he was camped at Bluff City he left his horses out to graze, and an Indian drove them
off. John trailed up the canyon after him, and took a shot at him, wounding him in the leg. He tracked
him for some time, but the Indian got away. A few years later the Indian Shegump came to Parowan
and called on John Lowder. He showed him a scar on his leg saying, “That is where you shot me.”
John Lowder took him into supper with him. Shegump stayed three days.
Some years later a group of Indians came to John Lowder’s home and wanted him and Shegump
to fight to see which was the best man. John Lowder went into the bedroom and got his gun and said as
he came out, “Now if you black devils haven’t had enough of this, come on.” The Indians left on the
run.
The following is an article written by a granddaughter, Eleanor G. Bruhn. It describes the ranch
and the ranch life of John Lowder and Emily Hodgetts and is entitled “John and Emily Lowder Ranch,
Below the Mammoth.”
High in the tops of Parowan Mountains, in close proximity to the Cedar Breaks, lays Lowder
Ranger Station. ‘Twas the ranch of our beloved parents and grandparents, John and Emily Lowder. No
prettier spot can be found anywhere.
‘Twas reached in our youth by a dug way on the north side of the valley and as we traveled down
toward the homey nest of log cabins we beheld (by peek-a-booing) thru the pines and the aspens, the
large meadow, the meandering stream, the clumps of willows, the rip rap fences, the peaceful cattle,
multicolored plots of wild flowers and the lake by the knoll.
There were gates to be opened and closed, neatly hung on hinges of pioneer make and fastened
in a sturdy style.
There was the longhouse, the milk house, the vat house, Uncle Lew’s house and Grandpa’s
house, surrounded by a strong log fence about three or four logs high, keeping out the animals.
The door-yards were swept and cleaned, the needles and cones which fell from the sheltering
pines were removed from the expansive yard daily.
There was a stream of cold clear water running thru logs which had been hued to a “V.”
Following the stream in the logs to its head we found a beautiful spring. It, together with the flume, was
fenced (to insure cleanliness.) Deer and other animals (there were bear, too) were forced to go to nearby
streams and springs for water. The only living things who shared that water with us were the creeping
or flying animals, like the saucy chipmunks, the shy squirrel or the cocky birds. They chirped and
chattered and screamed away as if to say, “we were here first.”
Health inspectors were unknown in those days, but we are sure that the ranch would have passed
the test. The milk house was clean and cool. Posts were set inside reaching from ceiling to the floor.
On these posts were nailed pairs of slats on which the milk pans could be set alternating pans east and
west, and north and south. ‘Twas a pretty sight to see the posts when filled with bright tin milk pans.
This usually happened only on Sunday, for on the Sabbath no cheese was made and the milk was “set”
for butter to be used by the family, or put down in crocks for winter.
Grandfather had also built a rack out in the sun for the pans to be “sunned” in during the week
days.
Churning day was really a job. Getting the cream too cold makes one churn for hours, getting
the cream warm makes soft butter, and Grandma had a horror of soft butter. The coloring too must be
just right. She had also a strong dislike for yellow, yellow butter.
Grandpa made the butter paddies out of beautiful red cedar. He would work for hours making
the paddle even and smooth with his jack knife and file. That was good butter-milk too; wonder why we
preferred milk with lots of cream better.
Now the vat house was the chief wonder to us, how grandma ever became such an expert. As if
it were yesterday we can see the vat full of milk heating with the vat of water beneath it—a giant double
boiler, heated by a wood fire. She would add rennin and coloring and watch the thermometer; cut it
with the cheese knife. Have you ever seen a cheese knife? A family of knives together. How pretty the
curd looked cut in squares and green whey starting to ooze out thru the cracks. She tests—not yet—she
tests—ok—now the curd can be turned and worked gently by hand and arm, the whey can be drained,
the salt can be added, and did you ever taste anything so good in your life as that curd?
Now it is ready for the press. Grandpa made that press, yes sir, he was handy and smart.
Hurrah! There is more than one hoop full—two cheeses today! “Press it lightly at first, she says, “then
add a little more pressure later.”
“How did you learn to make cheese?” we ask her. She, a little English maiden who had not
learned to cook (unused to the labor of keeping a home when she met grandpa). “Adams’s and
Ollorton’s, my child, mind you there are no better neighbors on earth.” They were her neighbors on the
nearby ranch.
Now I must tell you about the house. Log, yes, with a dirt roof like the milk house, the vat house
and Uncle Lew’s house. Grass and smoke both came out of the roof. A large room it was—built
railroad fashion, with bunk beds built into the walls one bed above the other. We doubt if Paul Bunyan
could have broken those beds down.
Near to the center of the room was a huge heater for it gets cold on “Mammoth” early spring and
fall.
There was a cook stove with an oven that just made cream biscuits “English maiden style” melt
in your mouth. There were iron stove kettles and a black iron tea kettle with a yawning mouth. The
black iron frying pans hung on the wall. What a pretty sight these pans were when filled with fried eggs.
There was plenty of room for a dozen at the table, with its clean oil cloth and sturdy benches.
There was Dixie Molasses too; no wonder we nearly starved while Grandpa asked the blessing.
Even the cattle lived in order. There were fences everywhere, the milking corral, the sleeping
corral for the cows, the pen for the calves to come out of the pen, for the calves to go into, and willows
to see that we got them there, too.
Then there were pastures for each. How did they build all those fences?
A feeling of nostalgia comes over us as we write these pages, even though our hair is white. And
as we look at each other we say, it is our heritage, our Blessing for being sons and daughters of Mormon
Pioneers.
So here you have a vivid description of the life and character of these sturdy Southern Utah
Lowder pioneers.
But life was not all work. There were group picnics. There were parties and dancing. There
were Christmas trees, Christmas parties, and Santa Claus. In the winter there was sledding and sleighing
parties. There was molasses candy and cake. And there was a rich spiritual atmosphere that permeated
both the work and the fun.
An interesting story is told about John Logan Lowder, son of John and Emily. In the spring of
1884 the L.D.S. Church made a call for missionaries to help strengthen the colony in St. Johns, Arizona.
At the Sunday afternoon meeting of the April Conference of the Parowan Stake, the President of the
Stake called John Logan Lowder and Ezra Thornton of Parowan to get married and go as missionaries to
St. Johns, giving them two weeks in which to get ready.
Logan and Ezra were only 23 and 22 years old. They had been courting Sally Ann Hyatt 19 and
Laura Orton 15, so they had to hurry up and pop the question, although neither one had planned to get
married before that call. Logan and Sally started out with a wagon and a span of mules, while Ezra and
Laura had a wagon and a span of horses. But they weren’t married until they reached the St. George
Temple. They left St. George with $20.00 and a six shooter which they were told to wear night and day.
When they reached the Colorado River at Lees Ferry the water was so high that they could not
ferry across, so they were forced to take their wagons apart and take them across in a little skiff. The
horses and mules were forced to swim. They had spent $10.00 at St. George for equipment and it cost
them their other $10.00 to cross the river, so they were without any money. Later they found a bag
containing $20.00, which no one claimed. So they had $20.00 to start life with in Arizona.
At first they lived at the church. Then they lived in a small shack, and finally they moved in with
another family. There first son, John Logan Lowder, Jr. was born at St. Johns.
The foursome stayed at St. Johns for one year and a half, when they were released to return
home. When they were ready to come home they had between them two wagons and one mule. They
traded one of the wagons for a horse, and came home. They were happy to get to Parowan where it was
not necessary to wear a six shooter even on Sunday.
But now we must return to the Great Salt Lake Valley and West Jordan. West Jordan, the rural
farming community where Jesse and Zilpha Lowder, with children John and Catherine, and Richmond
and Emily Caroline Lowder settled, lies in the southwest portion of the Salt Lake Valley, and is located
west of the Jordan River, which divides the valley east and west.
The history of how the Jordan River received its name is interesting. When scouts were sent out
by Brigham Young to explore the surrounding area, they returned with the amazing information that a
fresh water lake lay in the valley to the south and that the waters of that lake flowed north in a river that
flowed into the Great Salt Lake. This parallel of the situation in Palestine, where the Jordan River runs
from the Sea of Galilee south to the Dead Sea, struck the authorities with such force that they named the
stream the Jordan River.
The land west of Jordan River is fertile and deep. It made a favorable impression on the settlers,
and was a natural location for those who had come from farms in the East.
The Lowders had been farmers for several generations in the Carolinas, Virginia, and Illinois.
Here, in West Jordan, they found a familiar life.
Richmond Lowder and Emily Caroline Norton came into the Salt Lake Valley in 1849. We
don’t know how soon they migrated to West Jordan, but their first child, Ester Ann, was born there 2 Jan
1852, and they were there 3 April 1853, for they were members of the West Jordan Ward at that time
and were rebaptized by John Bennion. When Jesse Lowder and Zilpha Bullard came into the valley in
the fall of 1852, they no doubt went to the area where Richmond and Emily lived, for they were also in
the West Jordan Ward. Jesse was rebaptized 27 March 1853 and Zilpha, John, and Catherine were
rebaptized 3 April 1853.
When the Territorial Census of 1854 was taken in the summer of that year, Jesse, Zilpha, John
and Catherine were in Parowan, Iron County. Richmond and Emily were still in West Jordan, where
seven of their eight children were born. Richmond farmed, but he was also a miller. Archibald Gardner
had constructed a grist mill on the creek that runs through Murray, and Richmond worked for him.
Before June 1869, the family moved to Cottonwood, for the last child, Benjamin Franklin
Lowder, was born there 10 June 1869. The move no doubt was made to be nearer to the mill, and their
stay there lasted 11 years. About 1880 the family moved to Bountiful, and again Richmond ran a grist
mill.
Bountiful was known by several names in its early history. Perrigrine Sessions was the first
settler there. His campsite was located at what is now 300 North and 200 West. The family lived in
their wagon until the cold drove them to carve a “dug-out” into an embankment. This they joined with
the wagon, making a much warmer abode. However, they continued to cook outside on an open fire. At
first the locality was known as “Sessions’ Settlement.” In the 1856 Territorial Census of Utah, the
locality is called North Canyon Ward.
The “Hastings Cutoff” of the Oregon Trail ran right through Bountiful. Anson Call, well known
by the Lowder and Thurman families, came in 1848. New families arrived every fall as the wagon trains
arrived from Winter Quarters and other points East. The new families were usually exhausted, poor, and
homeless. To survive, they ate roots, sego lily bulbs, watercress, pig weeds, thistles, and a little milk.
They were a part of the cricket plagues, and after those disappeared, the grasshoppers came. Water was
a constant problem. In 1863, there was no rain from the 22nd of April until the 30th of September. The
surface of the Great Salt Lake fell three feet.
A unique local wind is characteristic of the west face of the Wasatch Mountains north of Salt
Lake City. Low hanging clouds hover at the top of this mountain range. When this cloud mass builds
up, strong, chilling winds swoop down the canyons from the high plateau of western Wyoming creating
paths of destruction. These winds come every spring and fall. One of the early settlers of Bountiful,
Newton Tuttle, gave an account of some of the major windstorms in his journal. It reads like a recurring
nightmare:
December 25, 1855
December 2, 1858
September 9, 1863
October 31, 1864
November 16, 1864
November 17, 1864
February 12, 1865
April 24, 1883
6 below zero—snow and wind
The east wind blew over a stack of hay, and a window
and door blew off a house….
There was a singular whirlwind just after noon. It
formed in the clouds like a large serpent.
A hard east wind blew my horse shed down and also
a fence.
A hard east wind blew. It snowed. It blew like a
hurricane in the night. It blew over my haystack, shed
and buried our horse, “Old Charley.”
The wind blew a little. The roof was blown off from the
south side of the tabernacle, and a great many roofs were
blown off in the settlement. We dug out Charley and
stacked up the hay. I worked on the tabernacle roof all day.
The east wind blew, and I shoveled snow all day.
Strong east wind blew down barns, unroofed houses, and
destroyed many other things.
You can see from this that Bountiful was famous for its ferocious winds and cold weather in the
early days of its settlement. Once, in a blizzard, a mother and child were blown against a fence, from
which they could not extricate themselves, and they froze to death. Animals also froze in the cold and
snows of Bountiful. Even today, Bountiful is noted for its strong winds that swoop down from its
canyons, overturning semi-trailer trucks, campers and trailers, and ripping off roofs.
When the Harts went to live at Bountiful, primitive conditions existed there. They lived in a
dugout for several years, and Elizabeth Ann Hart, who married Richmond Carlos Lowder was born in
that dugout. But by the time the Lowders arrived about 1880, the town was a fair size settlement, and
was mainly “modernized” for its day.
The mill that Richmond Lowder ran in Bountiful was built by Heber C. Kimball, and was a burr
flour mill. Its history should be interesting to members of the family.
In 1851, Heber C. Kimball called his family together and told them of the need of a flour mill in
North Canyon Ward, now Bountiful. He thought it would be a good investment, so asked for their
cooperation. They were all willing. The site was surveyed by Jesse W. Fox, Heber C. Kimball and
Frederick Kesler, 1 August 1852. The architect was Frederick Kesler, and the machinery was installed
by Appleton Harmon.
The following is an excerpt from the diary of Daniel Davis, the adopted son of Heber C.
Kimball.
“On the 18th day of October 1852, I went into North Mill Canyon for the purpose of clearing
away the brush from the ground where Father had planned to build the flour mill. The ground had been
staked off by Father, Brother Fox and Brother Kesler and it measured forty-eight by thirty feet. I did
most of the hauling of the stone for the foundation, the timber, and the adobes. The spirit of building
was growing among the people…Wednesday, April 20, 1853, Brother Isaac Hunter, James Leach and
myself laid the southeast and the northwest cornerstones for the foundation of the gristmill. I was mouth
for the southeast corner and Brother Hunter for the northwest. (This expression tells me that they
dedicated these cornerstones the same as if were a religious building. MBM) Brother Hunter did the
masonry work with Brother Leach as tender. May 6 Isaac Hunter laid the south cornerstone and Father
was present and dedicated and consecrated it and the mill and all pertaining to the mill, the ground and
the water unto the building up of Zion and the good of the Saints. I spent most of my time about the
mill. In July 1853, raised the attic story of the mill. On August 10, we finished laying the adobes to the
gristmill. I assisted Brother Isaac Hunter in laying the first stones for the gristmill, and helped him to
finish even to the topping of the chimney. I was called to go to Green River. When I returned home it
was the month of August, 1854, and the new flour mill was all finished and we looked upon it with
pride. Its foundation was rock, solid walls, adobe with sandstone trimmings, gave it dignity.”
The exact day of completion of building and beginning of operation is not known, but it is
definite that it was sometime during the fall of 1853. The mill was again dedicated by Heber C.
Kimball, after which a dinner was given at his home. After the mill building was finished and before the
machinery was installed, a dance was given. A jolly company gathered and the fiddlers played the
dance tunes of the times. Lunch was a feature of those pioneer dances. When the time came to go
home, rain was pouring and the night was pitch dark, so they danced until morning. The pond to store
water was excavated on the south side of the mill and water was taken out of the mill creek a few rods
up the stream. The cottage, an adobe building with a wide porch across the front, stood facing the pond
on its east bank. Shade Trees were planted around the pond, making an attractive home.
Daniel Davis and family were the first to make their home in the cottage and lived there several
years. Daniel Davis was the second miller. As the property changed hands, other millers operated the
mill, namely, George Lincoln, George Winn, Richmond Lowder, Charles Adock, and William Major.
With the advent of the roller mill process, the burr mills became out of date. William D. Major,
the miller at that time, because of loss of business, discontinued milling and ran a little confectionery
store on the present site of the mill marker.
The Heber C. Kimball mill was a very impressive three story building and the millers who ran it
were likewise impressive men. In that small town, the miller’s son or daughter was a real “catch.”
In a way, this gives us a picture of the surroundings that Richmond Lowder and Emily Caroline
Norton and family lived in Bountiful. Richmond lived until 4 Oct 1891 and died at Bountiful. He would
have been 69 years of age. All of the children except Benjamin Franklin would have been married by
then. Emily Caroline lived another 16 years, and was blind all of that time. She died 31 Jan 1907 at
Bountiful. They are both buried in the Bountiful Cemetery.
I am at a loss to give an accurate account of the life and character of Richmond Lowder. All we
really have is family tradition, which is sometimes very incorrect. He was evidently a tall, rather austere
man, who found life difficult. It is said, and I don’t know how true it is, that he would have moods
during which he would go into the mountains for as long as a month by himself. Surely this could not
have happened often, as he held the responsible position of miller. Actually, we should not relegate
Richmond to any particular type, since we know so little about him. Let’s honor and love him as our
grandfather.
Emily Caroline Norton, on the other hand, is spoken of with great love and respect. Even in the
blindness of the last sixteen years of her life, she showed extreme patience and love. Her grandchildren
delighted in leading “Grandma Lowder” by the hand so that she could go outside and enjoy the smells
and sounds of green grass, new mown hay, the songs of birds, and the sounds and smells of the
barnyard. Many summers she was brought by concerned children from Bountiful to Grover, Wyoming,
where her son, Richmond Carlos lived. Zilpha, Emily, Roy and others of the children spoke lovingly of
those times.
Great praise must be given to those of her children who lived at Bountiful and in other close-by
areas who cared for her through the long, dark winter months. Indeed those months must have been
extremely trying for all concerned.
Before I leave the account of Emily Caroline Norton, I want to include part of a letter written by
Martha, the wife of her grandson, Jesse Lowder Cook, son of Esther Lowder and Mark Cook. Jesse
lived in Bountiful, and, no doubt, visited with his grandmother often. Probably both Martha and Jesse
Lowder Cook helped to take care of Emily Caroline in her later years. I give it to you as the testimony
of one who knew her well. She writes:
“Emily Caroline Norton Lowder, born in New York state 14 May 1830 passed through the trials
of Nauvoo and arrived in the Salt Lake valley about 1849.
She was at Haun’s Mill massacre and was personally acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith
and heard him preach many times. She was present at the meeting when President Brigham Young was
chosen as President of the church and bore testimony of the power manifest when he stood up to speak
and appeared as the Prophet.”
The other information included in the letter is already recorded in this history.
This is the only information I have found which definitely places Esther Ann Pullman Norton,
wife of Harmon Norton, who died about 1838 at Kirtland, Ohio, and her children in Missouri. I have an
old letter written 2 Feb 1838 by Esther’s mother, Elizabeth Lewis Pullman, imploring her (Elizabeth’s)
children to gather to Zion in Missouri as soon as they can, to escape the great calamities that are coming
on the earth. That letter was written at Kirtland and says that she and her husband, Psalter Pullman,
along with Esther, Harmon and children are leaving soon for Missouri. Since Harmon Norton died, as
far as we can tell, at Kirtland, we have always wondered if Esther Ann and her parents and children
made the long, hard trip to Missouri.
A large group of Saints left Kirtland in July 1838 under the supervision of the Presidency of the
Seventies. This was known as “Kirtland Camp.” We are not sure whether Esther, her parents and
children were with the group or not. The group arrived in western Missouri in September and October
of that year. Since we now know that Esther was at the Haun’s Mill Massacre, we know that she was
there by the 30th of October, 1838.
December of 1838 found the Prophet and companions in Liberty Jail, and the entire body of the
Saints on their way to Illinois through the mud, ice and snow of that terrible journey. No doubt Esther
and her family were among them.
But let us return to our story of Richmond and Emily Caroline and their family of almost grown
adult children when the family moved from Cottonwood to Bountiful. They no doubt moved into the
little cottage that stood beside the mill pond of the old Heber C. Kimball flour mill. The description
given before of this place gives it a homey, yet picturesque, atmosphere. The trees, the mill pond, the
veranda across the front of the house, the mountains beyond, all add up to a delightful scene.
Richmond Carlos, fifth child, and oldest boy, was about nineteen years of age when the family
moved to Bountiful. He had four sisters older than himself, but two of those had died as small children,
so actually there were two older sisters, two younger sisters, and one younger brother at that time.
Family tradition passes down the picture of Richmond Carlos as the “darling” of the family. His
older sisters doted on him, and it is said, that, when he was all dressed and ready to go to a dance, his
sisters would bring his horse all saddled and bridled up to the veranda so that he would not have to soil
his brightly polished shoes by stepping into the dust. Evidently he was very popular at dances and
parties. His one impatience with these affairs was the length of the opening and closing prayers, and he
sometimes objected vocally during the ceremony.
For information on the history of Elizabeth Ann Hart and her family, I refer you to the Hart-Leah
family history which I wrote a number of years ago.
Elizabeth Ann had two renowned teachers in her school days. They were Brigham H. Roberts,
the noted Utah historian, and Anson V. Call, a well known early Utah and Wyoming colonist, whose
large family is spread throughout the western United States. She had a remarkable soprano voice, and
began singing in local choirs at age 12.
Since Elizabeth Ann’s father, Samuel Cornelius Hart, was in very poor health and her mother,
Sarah Ann Leah Hart, was hard pressed to make a living for the family, Elizabeth went out and did
washings to earn the money to buy material for her dresses. Aunt Ada Lowder Hatch Hammond says
that she paid to have her dresses made, but this does not correlate with the tradition in the family that her
mother was a skilled dressmaker and tailor. Nevertheless, Elizabeth Ann saw to it that she was
beautifully dressed and groomed.
I do not know how long the courtship lasted, nor do I know how placid or stormy it was, but on
11 Nov 1885, she and Richmond Carlos Lowder were married in the Logan Temple. This Temple had
been completed in 1884, and was a magnificent building. Many young couples drove long distances to
be married there. Elizabeth and Richmond made the almost one hundred mile trip each way with wagon
and team.
The couple made their home in Bountiful for four years. What Carl (that was the name
Richmond Carlos went by) did for a living or where in Bountiful they lived is unknown to me. But they
remained in Bountiful until the summer of 1889, at which time they moved to Grover, Wyoming. Two
daughters were born to Carl and Elizabeth at Bountiful—Zilpha Ann, born 30 Aug 1886 and Ada
Louisa, born 23 Jun 1888.
Carl’s older sister, Electa Louisa, married, as his second wife, Thomas Walton, and because of
polygamy persecution, had gone with him to Star Valley, Wyoming. They persuaded Carl and Elizabeth
to come there to live. The valley was pristine and beautiful. There was plenty of land to be
homesteaded for farming and ranching. It would be a good place for a young family to get a start. So
the young couple, with their two children, packed all of their belongings into a covered wagon and made
the long, hard trip to Grover, Wyoming.
The history of Star Valley is extremely interesting. It had been the home of trappers and Indians
for many years. Boiling Springs, later known as Sulpher Hot Springs, was the meeting place of Indians
and trappers each summer to exchange furs for “white man’s trinkets” and plenty of whiskey. They
usually had a two week orgy of drinking and fighting, and the Indian always came away the loser. The
Lander’s Cut-Off of the Oregon Trail ran through the valley, coming out of the eastern mountains about
three miles south of Smoot, where Thomas and Electa had their home for many years. It ran across the
valley to the west, passing through Fairview, until it came to the western mountains. Then it turned north
and skirted the western hills as far as Stump Creek Canyon, where it turned west again, ascended the
canyon, passed through Tygee and on through the mountains to Grey’s Lake, to Henry, and to Soda
Springs, where it again joined the Oregon Trail.
After the days of the Oregon Trail ended, that road was used by the settlers of Star Valley to go
to Soda Springs for supplies, etc. As a little girl, I travelled its dusty tracks, and had no idea that I was
following a road so famous.
The first winter that Carl and Elizabeth spent in Star Valley was the hard winter of the great
snows, when most of the cattle and horses in the valley died of starvation, and the settlers almost did
likewise.
The winter before had been very mild, and the cattle and horses had been able to forage in the
meadows the entire winter. So the settlers supposed that they had come to a mild climate and that there
was no need to store the abundant meadow hay. To their dismay, the snows came early and never
stopped all winter.
It is said that eighteen feet of snow fell that year. It would fall in four feet depths, melt
somewhat, and then fall again in the same devastating manner. The elk and deer wandered down from
the mountains, but they, too, were skin and bones. One man who had over two hundred head of cattle
lost every one. The sheep died in heaps, after which the wool was plucked from their dead bodies and
spun into yarn. The horses did a little better, for they could paw the snow away from the long grass on
the sides of the hills. However, few animals in the valley survived.
People, likewise, were starving. Groups of men went on snow shoes both to Montpelier, Idaho
and Soda Springs and carried seventy-five pound sacks of flour back into the valley, where the flour was
handed out by the panful to the hungry people. It is said that Carl built a toboggan and hauled sacks of
flour on it from Soda Springs, which was a fifty mile trip both ways. This effort, however, was not
sufficient, and the men finally decided that they had to break a road through to Montpelier. The only
horses left were so weak that they could hardly pull the wagons that would have to be taken. So the men
went before the teams and trampled and shoveled the snow so that the teams could proceed. They had
gone about half of the fifty miles, and were becoming so exhausted that they doubted that they could go
on. They were “just give out,” when to their utter amazement and joy they discovered that there was a
group of men coming from the opposite direction. The settlers in Montpelier, fearful for the lives of
their brothers and sisters in Star Valley, had begun breaking a road toward the valley. It has always
been conceded that if the group of men from Montpelier had not met the group from the valley, the
venture would have failed and the settlers of Star Valley would probably have died of starvation.
Camp Give-Out, one of the many stopping places along the wagon road that led from Star Valley
to Montpelier, was named after that incident.
The snow finally melted and the settlers went on with their lives, grubbing sage brush from their
fields, plowing and planting, picking the wild strawberries and service berries, growing the hardy plants
that would grow in that climate, and preserving all that they could for the coming winter. Every summer
thereafter they took advantage of the great crop of meadow hay. No more would they be caught short
when winter came. To speed up their economic and financial recovery, those who could afford it, went
out of the valley and rented milk cows, bought sheep and horses. Each family struggled ahead slowly
but surely.
The Carl Lowder family rented a log house in the small town of Grover when they first came
into the valley. It had dirt floors and a dirt roof. They lived in this until they could build a home on the
320 acres of land which they had taken up in the northwest end of the upper valley. Their land lay along
the Salt River, being partly meadow, which was heavily covered with willows, and higher ground,
which bordered the hills and was covered with sage brush. These hills swung down from the eastern
mountains and almost touched the western range, nearly closing in the northern end of the upper valley,
and leaving only a narrow canyon through which Salt River flowed toward the lower valley and Snake
River.
They lived at the Ranch, as they called it, for several years until the children became of school
age. The home on the Ranch also had a dirt floor and roof at first, and Elizabeth had to carry water from
a spring down below the little hill on which the house stood. Since the land was mostly meadow, they
raised cattle, did some dairying, and farmed the small piece of land that they could cultivate. They had
also bought two lots in the town of Grover. When the children grew older it became too difficult to get
them to school and church meetings. So they moved from the Ranch to Grover in the winter.
But we are getting ahead of our story.
In early spring of 1890 Elizabeth realized that she was pregnant again. By summer she had
decided that she would go to Bountiful to have this baby, as there were no doctors in the valley, and only
one midwife at Afton. She was afraid to trust her life and her baby’s to such a condition. So in late
summer she made the trip by wagon, arrived safely, and gave birth to her third child a son, 4 September
1890. They named him Richmond Barton.
Seven other children were born at Grover with the aid of a midwife. They were Samuel Carlos,
born 6 Nov 1892, Joseph William, born 26 September 1894, Emily, born 26 Dec 1896, Lewis LeRoy,
born 10 Dec 1898, Bessie Elizabeth, born 16 June 1900, Melvin Hart, born 26 Dec 1903, and DeLoyd,
born 6 June 1906.
Life was hard in Star Valley. At one time, after a long winter of suffering with a tooth ache,
Elizabeth sat on a kitchen chair and allowed a travelling dentist, A.B. Clark, to extract the offending
teeth. Of course in those days, they had no deadening agents, and one just suffered through the pain.
But there were times of fun and excitement also. In the winter there were sleighing parties in the
big bob sled. There were taffy pulling parties and dances. Each winter the “theatric group” produced
plays, usually westerns, using kerosene lamps and lanterns for foot lights. Christmas and New Year was
a great time of parties and dances. Often whole families came to the dances, the young children being
bedded down on the benches, the older children running the hall and stage, and the older people dancing
the night away. They boiled taffy on the flat top pot-bellied heaters, and turned the event into a candy
pulling party. Often there were fist fights outside the hall, and occasionally brass knuckles were used.
During the winter months, the men often had shooting matches inside the hall which served for
school, church and recreation. The women filled the long winter hours with quilting bees, sewing bees
and the like.
Parties were sometimes spiced up by playing “post office” and other such games. Sometimes
this kind of entertainment led to difficulties both in the home and community. One such occasion is
cited as the reason for just such discord in the Lowder home. It is said, and I am recording only what
has been told me, that Carl Lowder was a very jealous man. Elizabeth, who was a very beautiful
woman, quite often was the object of his jealousy. Whether this was intentional or accidental I have no
sure knowledge. However, during one such party, Carl had gone home to check on the children who
had been left alone. When he returned to the party, he walked in on what he thought was a kiss between
Elizabeth and one of the men at the party. His Lowder anger erupted to such great heights that he never
again felt comfortable in that community. It is suggested that this factor, as well as the harsh climate,
which made making a living difficult, caused him to move his family to Blackfoot, Idaho, where his
eldest son, Barton, was making his home with relatives. Perhaps the fact that his son, Barton, had left
home and gone to Idaho influenced him more than we know. There could have been a number of
reasons. We can only guess what really motivated Carl to make the move.
But again I am getting ahead of my story.
The Lowder lots in the town of Grover were just west of the school lot, and just east of the
Bishop’s granary and cellar. On the northern most lot, Carl built one of the nicest houses in the town. It
was a two story building with at least ten rooms. Carl was not one to be outdone by anybody. He drove
the fastest teams in the valley, and his wagons and sleighs were of the latest design. On the ranch, his
out buildings and fences were kept in the best order. So that his family would not have to carry water
from the common watering place, he dug a well. That well was still there and functioning when I was a
little girl.
I do not know the size of his herd of cows, but I do know that they owned a cream separator, for
Mother many times spoke of running it, even though she had a broken ankle and carried her foot around
on a kitchen chair. In those days they sold the cream for so much an inch in a special container, or made
butter from the cream and sold the butter. Later the “Creamery” came into existence, which in reality,
was a cheese factory.
On 10 October 1906, Zilpha Ann, the eldest daughter of the family, married Charles Alvin
Thurman in the Salt Lake Temple.
The following spring, Carl sold his property in Grover to Francis Astle, and in May 1907, moved
his family to Blackfoot, Idaho. I have no idea to whom he sold his ranch.
At Blackfoot, Carl bought 160 acres of sagebrush land about a mile and a half south of the town.
It lay between the Snake and Blackfoot Rivers. After clearing the land, the family built a seven room,
two story brick house, fenced the property, and set up a farming and dairying operation. It was there in
that house that the eleventh child, Harold John, was born 10 June 1908. At Blackfoot Elizabeth became
famous for her butter making ability. She had many customers, delivering her butter, buttermilk and
cream in a one seated buggy, drawn by a sleek horse. LeRoy, her young son, drove for her. One of her
main customers was the Blackfoot Mercantile Company, the foremost store in the community.
It was at Blackfoot that five of the children married. Ada Louisa married Charles Hatch 23 June
1910. Richmond Barton married Sarah Phyllis Marshall 18 Oct 1914. Samuel Carlos married Eva
Olmstead 3 April 1915. Joseph William married Amelia Weine 19 June 1915, and Emily married
Brigham Young Snarr 9 Dec. 1915.
Before we move on to the next phase of the Lowder family life, it should be interesting to take a
look at the country they moved into at Blackfoot.
I have often wondered how Blackfoot got its name, since, as far as I can determine, the Blackfoot
Indians never lived in that area. The following is taken from the account published in “The History of
Bingham County, Idaho” on the occasion of the centennial celebration of that county, and I assume that
it is correct.
Since the settlers of both Star Valley and Blackfoot had close association with Soda Springs
(then known as Beer Springs), I am sure that each community had knowledge of the affairs of the other.
It was in 1907, the very year that the Lowder family moved to Blackfoot, that that city was incorporated
under the laws of the State of Idaho. Not only that, by that time the Mormons, in their quest for new
homes, were pouring in. The fertility of the vast acres of the Snake River Valley had been discovered,
and a great demand for the products it could produce was growing because of the mining towns that had
sprung up at Mackay, Arco, and other areas in the Lost River country.
But let’s begin at the beginning.
Blackfoot started as a cluster of buildings around the railroad tracks over a century ago.
However, its roots go back, as did Star Valley, to the fur trade which thrived in eastern Idaho in the early
1800’s.
In 1818, a party of traders and trappers who were employed by the Hudson Bay Company,
travelled by land from the Missouri River to the Columbia, traversing mainly the same route later
followed by the railroad. When they arrived at Beer Springs (Soda Springs), they were in dire need of
supplies. There they learned that buffalo hunting was very good in a little valley about 20 miles north.
That location is now known as the Blackfoot Reservoir.
The story goes that in 1812 there had been much trouble between the Indian tribes who were
competing for the use of that little valley as a buffalo hunting ground. Evidently one group set the grass
on fire to smoke out the others. The fire got away and burned a very large area. Later, as the Indians of
that area walked across the burned out valley, their moccasins became all black, and others referred to
them as “the Blackfoot Indians.” In that early days, when there were no names attached to the western
parts of the United States, the only means of identifying areas and people was through just such things,
and the little valley became known as the Blackfoot Meadows, and the stream that ran through it as the
Blackfoot River. At the same time, Snake River, a name suggested by the Astor exploring party seven
years before, because of its snaking course, became the official name.
By 1830, it became established that the only possible ford of the Snake River was at what
became Fort Hall in 1834, and then only when the river was low. Even then, many lost their horses,
wagons and lives at that dangerous crossing. Fort Hall was established at “the bottoms,” a location on
the river just south of present day Blackfoot.
Because of the danger of the river crossing, and because it could be crossed only at low water
times, a ferry was constructed at a small butte just north of Fort Hall. This became known as the “Ferry
Butte Ferry.” That little hill is still known as Ferry Butte. Later a ferry was established just below the
present bridges at Blackfoot, and trade slowly shifted north from “Ferry Butte Ferry” to the small
struggling community then known as Grove City.
In 1860 a town was laid out just north of the Indian Reservation in anticipation of the railroad
which was pushing west. Because the first settlers there had planted the fast growing cottonwood trees
along the dusty streets, and they were beginning to make a showing in that dry, treeless landscape, the
name “Grove City” persisted. In 1864 a log building was erected to be used as a stage coach and
freighters station. Mail passed through that log building and was unofficially re-routed.
In 1874, when it was learned that a branch of the railroad would be built from Pocatello to Butte,
Montana, a number of men took up homesteads in the area. This paid off as the railroad finally, after
manipulations in Washington, D.C., ran directly through the homesteads.
10 November 1878, the railroad track was laid into Blackfoot directly behind the back door of
the Danilson-Stevens grocery store. This store had built a loading dock at the back of their store, and
the loading dock became a loading dock for the railroad. The narrow gauge line and the store were
officially named Blackfoot.
Picture the Snake River Valley in the 1870’s, and put Blackfoot in the middle of it. On the west
side of the river, beyond a narrow strip of fertile farm land, the great lava desert stretched as far as the
eye could see. Elsewhere, the land was covered with sage brush and high grass. Buffalo and deer
roamed unrestricted. Nearby, unfriendly Indians threatened attack. Only a stage coach outpost offered
transportation. There were a few scattered homes, a store and fifteen saloons.
The first train arrived at Blackfoot 24 Dec 1878. It brought exotic foods such as oranges, apples
and bananas, which were handed out to everyone there, but especially to the children. The little hamlet
put on a great celebration.
It was in 1878 that the town was officially laid out and on 20 March 1879 the name was declared
to be Blackfoot.
In 1885, Bingham County was created and Blackfoot became the county seat. In those days
Bingham County covered a much larger area, in which the town of Eagle Rock was situated. Eagle
Rock was the preferred county seat, but again, by manipulation, Blackfoot was named. Eagle Rock later
became Idaho Falls, and also the county seat of Bonneville County.
A court house was built in 1885 at Blackfoot. Immediately following that, it was proposed by
the State that the insane asylum also be located there. The town accepted and the asylum was
constructed in 1886.
Blackfoot’s population in 1900 was about 900 people.
In 1901, a railroad track was laid across the lava desert to Mackay and other mining towns in that
area. Blackfoot was becoming gradually an important commercial and railroad center. The need for
farm produce, dairy products and other services was apparent.
By 1907, when Carl Lowder and his family arrived at Blackfoot, the population averaged about
2,000 people. The town boasted numerous businesses, saloons, and churches besides a railroad depot,
courthouse, insane asylum, fairgrounds and a sugar factory. Due to the Blackfoot and Snake Rivers
skirting the town, there was enough water to irrigate extensive farms and gardens. By 1910, the
population was 2,200. The “Mormons” were moving in in ever increasing numbers, and Blackfoot was
there to stay.
As far as the climate was concerned, there was not much improvement over Star Valley except
that the growing season was noticeably longer. Blackfoot was about two thousand feet lower in
elevation, but the severity of the winters was very little less. It was common at the time that the
Lowders first lived in the Snake River Valley for blizzards to rage three days at a time with such ferocity
that ropes had to be strung from the house to the barn so that one might find his way from one to the
other without becoming lost. At one time, Carl tried to make the trip without this precaution and almost
missed the house as he returned from the barn. Once having missed either the house or the barn, it was
almost certain that the person would not survive the storm.
Snake River Valley, as you know, stretches for hundreds of miles without a break of any
magnitude. The wind sweeps down the full length of the valley and can increase to extreme speeds. At
that time three and four feet of snow was common. The speed of the wind, plus the amount of snow,
made a perfect formula for the blizzards that raged.
As with most other places, the climate has changed so that the winters there have moderated
considerably. Although there are still some very cold areas down the Snake River, and that Snake River
wind still chills to the bone, those who live there now cannot know the cold and snow as I knew it in my
childhood and as I grew up. Twenty-six degrees below zero was common as I trudged to school, and the
wind chill made it feel much colder.
In 1917 Carl packed up what remained of his family and moved to Rupert, Idaho. There he
bought a farm east of town and soon had one of the most prosperous farms in the community. Carl was
a tremendously hard worker and expected everyone else to do the same. This quality in Carl caused
difficulties between him and most of his sons. Some left home early because of unreasonable demands
placed on them. Emily left home and supported herself from the time she was fifteen. Other children
stayed and thrived under Carl’s leadership. Who is to say the rightness or wrongness of a father’s
methods?
Carl had a couple of major illnesses which he came through. But, by 1939 his health was such
that they turned the farm over to Joseph William, always called Bill, and moved into town. There on 29
May 1943, Carl passed away. Elizabeth stayed on in the little white house until 11 Nov 1952. Had Carl
lived it would have been their 67thwedding anniversary. She was 86 years of age.
I am sure that there are errors both in spelling and in syntax in this family history. I am sure,
also , that my information and memory will not match completely the things that others believe and
know about this family. However, I have researched to the best of my ability the lives of these people.
Actually, this is only a hundredth part of what really happened in the lives of these wonderful ancestors.
My hope is that we may hear first hand from the lips of those who thus lived and have gone on before
some of the many experiences of which we know little or nothings.
I offer this history to you, hoping that you will add or take from it what you will. I hope that you
will add the life history of your ancestor and his children.
Merna Besella Thurman Madden
16 November 1990
Trail and River Pirates
During the movement west in the late 1700’s and until after 1850, the rivers and trails were
plagued with men who travelled the trails, many times along with the regular emigrants, and attacked
those travelling west. Particularly if one were moving along a trail alone, as was probably Solomon
Lowder, the danger was very real. Even large groups were surprised and slain. Everything of value
carried by the travelers was taken. Some of these pirates pretended to be itinerate preachers, wearing the
robes of the church, and thus lulled the travelers into confidence. Others roved in numbers from small to
large groups, ambushing the parties of emigrants. Usually all of the members of the emigrating parties
were killed.
The rivers were just as prone to attack by the river pirates. These men would live in caves along
the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and attack the flat boats as they floated down river. At times one of the
pirates would board a boat some distance up the river and when almost reaching the destination of the
pirate caves would go into the bottom of the boat and make a hole in the boat. They would even hide in
the bottom of the boat the whole trip. As the boat began to sink, the pirates on shore would row out to
save the people and take them to shore where they would rob and murder the travelers.
Some times the pirate on the boat who disabled the craft would not escape in time, or the pirates
on shore would be too late in getting there, and that man would pay with his life. Many people lost their
lives due to those trail and river pirates in the westward trek of the pioneers of that time.
As I wrote, that is probably what happened to Solomon Lowder.