We are moving soon, but the Burley 11th Ward gave me another chance to address them. Since I received a number of requests for a copy of the talk, which is really just a collage of various items I could find online, the Journal of Discourses, the Saints second and third volumes, and other various histories. Here is the text of the talk I wrote, that does not mean it is the talk I gave…
I first addressed the freedoms we have as contrasted in the Saints third volume related to Germany. I said the word Jew and Israel from the stand and did not fear reprisal. I listen to free radio anytime I want and even seek out British radio from time to time and there is nothing illegal. Lastly, we could congregate without the worry of those in our midst about what was said or in the actual act of meeting.
Then to the following:
Declaration of Independence – We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
George Washington: “The success, which has hitherto attended our united efforts, we owe to the gracious interposition of Heaven, and to that interposition let us gratefully ascribe the praise of victory, and the blessings of peace.”
Alexander Hamilton: “The Sacred Rights of mankind are not to be rummaged from among old parchments or musty records. They are written . . . by the Hand of Divinity itself.” “For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system, which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests.”
Thomas Jefferson: “The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time.”
John Adams: “As I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation.”
Benjamin Franklin: “The longer I live the more convincing Proofs I see of this Truth. That God Governs in the Affairs of Men!—And if a Sparrow cannot fall to the Ground without his Notice, is it probable that an Empire can rise without his Aid?—We have been assured, . . . in the Sacred Writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House, they labour in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this;—and I also believe that without his concurring Aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than Builders of Babel.”
James Madison: “It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution.”
Samuel Adams: “Revelation assures us that ‘Righteousness exalteth a Nation’—Communities are dealt with in this World by the wise and just Ruler of the Universe. He rewards or punishes them according to their general Character.”
Charles Pinckney: “When the great work was done and published, I was . . . struck with amazement. Nothing less than that superintending hand of Providence, that so miraculously carried us through the war, . . . could have brought it about so complete, upon the whole.”
On May 4, 1842, he called to his side nine of the most faithful of his brethren—Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Newell K. Whitney, and others—and later their wives came with them to the upper floor of the Red Brick Store in Nauvoo.
Joseph was seeking to fulfill the promise from D&C 124, given in 1841, which the Lord would reveal to Joseph “all things pertaining to this house, and the priesthood thereof, and the place whereon it shall be built.”
He had started, “If it should be the will of God that I might live.” Then he corrected and said, “It is not the will of the Lord that I should live, and I must give you, here in this upper room, all those glorious plans and principles whereby men are entitled to the fulness of the priesthood.” He proceeded in an improvised and makeshift way to do so.
We have from Brigham Young that after they had received these blessings the Prophet said: “Brother Brigham, this is not arranged right. But we have done the best we could under the circumstances in which we are placed, and I wish you to take this matter in hand and organize and systematize all these ceremonies.”
Brigham Young later said, “I did so. And each time I got something more, so that when we went through the temple at Nauvoo I understood and knew how to place them there. We had our ceremonies pretty correct.”
While the Nauvoo Temple was started in 1841, the first endowments were performed in the winter of 1845 and into 1846. Baptisms had started in the Mississippi River prior to the temple and moved into the temple baptistery soon after it was completed and dedicated, well before the rest of the temple was done. Brigham, leading the church, was personally overseeing the organization and perfection of the endowment and other ordinances that started in Nauvoo.
After arriving in Salt Lake City, the church used the top floor of the Council House, starting in 1852 until the Endowment House was completed in 1855. It was in this building that endowments, prayer circles, some missionary training, and some setting aparts were conducted. The use of the Endowment House ended in 1877 with the completion of the St George Temple. That building stood until Wilford Woodruff heard that unauthorized sealings were occurring there and ordered it razed in 1889.
The St George Temple was the only one completed during Brigham Young’s 30 year tenure as President. It was dedicated on 1 January 1877 in three dedicatory prayers under the direction of Brigham. The baptistery by Wilford Woodruff, the main floor by Erastus Snow, and the sealing room by Brigham Young Jr. Wilford Woodruff served as St George Temple President from 1877 to 1884. Brigham had to be carried up the stairs, but he stood and spoke in the Assembly Room.
“When I think upon this subject, I want the tongues of seven thunders to wake up the people,” he declared. “Can the fathers be saved without us? No. Can we be saved without them? No. And if we do not wake up and cease to long after the things of this earth, we will find that we as individuals will go down to hell.”
Brigham lamented that many Saints were pursuing worldly things. “Supposing we were awake to this thing, namely the salvation of the human family,” he said, “this house would be crowded, as we hope it will be, from Monday morning until Saturday night.”
On 9 January 1877, the first baptisms for the dead were performed in the St George Temple. The first endowment for the dead was performed on 11 January 1877. Brigham and Wilford personally oversaw the ordinances being performed. Wilford began wearing a white suit, starting the trend that continues to this day.
All endowments to this point had been done and passed by word of mouth. It was in St George, far from Salt Lake City, that the ordinances were first written down. Brigham also wanted to make sure the record was preserved and that they were standardized. They were read to Brigham time and time again who would then approve or continue to revise the ordinances. Brigham went home to Salt Lake City in April 1877. He stopped and dedicated the spot for the Manti Temple on the way home.
Wilford Woodruff then wrote in his journal on Sunday 19 August 1877, “I spent the evening in preparing a list of the noted men of the 17 century and 18th, including the signers of the Declaration of Independence and presidents of the United States, for baptism on Tuesday the 21 Aug 1877.”
His journal entry for August 21 reads, “I, Wilford Woodruff, went to the temple of the Lord this morning and was baptized for 100 persons who were dead, including the signers of the Declaration of Independence. … I was baptized for the following names.” He then listed the names of one hundred men.
Elder Woodruff continued his journal entry: “When [John Daniel Thompson] McAllister had baptized me for the 100 names, I baptized him for 21, including Gen. Washington and his forefathers and all the presidents of the United States that were not on my list except Buchanan, Van Buren, and Grant.” (The work for these presidents has since been done.)
“It was a very interesting day,” Elder Woodruff continued. “I felt thankful that we had the privilege and the power to administer for the worthy dead, especially for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, that inasmuch as they had laid the foundation of our Government, that we could do as much for them as they had done for us.
“Sister Lucy Bigelow Young went forth into the font and was baptized for Martha Washington and her family, and seventy of the eminent women of the world. I called upon the brethren and sisters who were present to assist in getting endowments for those that we had been baptized for today.” (Wilford Woodruff’s journal, typescript, vol. 7, Church History Library; spelling and punctuation modernized.)
The first public mention of these events was made nearly a month after the baptisms were performed. In an address in the Tabernacle on Temple Square on 16 September 1877, Elder Woodruff first told publicly of the visitation of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
“You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we never apostatized from it, but we remained true to it and were faithful to God. (Conference Report, April 10, 1898; Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, pp. 160-61)
During the 68th Annual General Conference of the Church which was held in April 1898, President Woodruff recounted the sacred experience:
I am going to bear my testimony to this assembly, if I never do it again in my life, that those men who laid the foundation of this American government and signed the Declaration of Independence were the best spirits the God of heaven could find on the face of the earth. They were choice spirits, not wicked men. General Washington and all the men that labored for the purpose were inspired of the Lord.
Another thing I am going to say here, because I have a right to say it. Every one of those men that signed the Declaration of Independence, with General Washington, called upon me, as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Temple at St. George, two consecutive nights, and demanded at my hands that I should go forth and attend to the ordinances of the House of God for them. Men are here, I believe, that know of this, Brother John D. T. McAllister, David H. Cannon and James S. Bleak. Brother McAllister baptized me for all those men, and then I told these brethren that it was their duty to go into the Temple and labor until they had got endowments for all of them. They did it. Would those spirits have called up on me, as an Elder in Israel to perform that work if they had not been noble spirits before God? They would not. (Wilford Woodruff, Conference Report, April 1989, pp. 89-90.)
“They waited on me for two days and two nights,” he said,
“I thought it very singular, that notwithstanding so much work had been done, and yet nothing had been done for them.” (Journal of Discourses, 19:229.)
I was also present in the St. George Temple and witnessed the appearance of the Spirits of the Signers….the spirits of the Presidents….and also others, such as Martin Luther and John Wesley….Who came to Wilford Woodruff and demanded that their baptism and endowments be done. Wilford Woodruff was baptized for all of them. While I and Brothers J.D.T. McAllister and David H Cannon (who were witnesses to the request) were endowed for them. These men… laid the foundation of this American Gov., and signed the Declaration of Independence and were the best spirits the God of Heaven could find on the face of the earth to perform this work. Martin Luther and John Wesley helped to release the people from religious bondage that held them during the dark ages. They also prepared the people’s hearts so they would be ready to receive the restored gospel when the Lord sent it again to men on the earth.” (Personal journal of James Godson Bleak – Chief Recorder of the St. George Temple.)
In 1986, some of the staff of the Family History Library’s LDS Reference Unit were assigned to compile and computerize all the existing genealogical data on the founding fathers, to identify their families, and to document completed temple ordinances for each. For purposes of the project, a founding father was identified as one who had signed one or more of the following documents: the Articles of Association (1774), the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Articles of Confederation (1778), or the Constitution (1787).
The library study of 1986 revealed that there were no sealings of children to parents performed at the time the baptisms and endowments were performed. As a note, the ongoing revelation related to sealings to parents was not revealed until 1894. It was then that the Law of Adoption, or sealing to prominent church leaders, was discontinued and we were encouraged to do genealogical work to compile the pedigree of the entire human family. It was then that the Utah Genealogical Society was founded that has snowballed into the fantastic work of FamilySearch and all its appendages.
He also recorded that George Washington, John Wesley, Benjamin Franklin, and Christopher Columbus were ordained High Priests at the time.
Temple work was performed on behalf of the following well-known and respected men and women in the St. George Utah Temple in August 1877.
Founding Fathers: William Hooper (NC), Joseph Hewes (NC), John Penn (NC), Button Gwinnett (GA), Lyman Hall (GA), George Walton (GA), Edward Rutledge (SC), Thomas Heyward Jr. (SC), Thomas Lynch (SC), Arthur Middleton (SC), Samuel Chase (MD), William Paca (MD), Thomas Stone (MD), Charles Carroll (MD), George Wythe (VA), Richard Henty Lee (VA), Thomas Jefferson (VA), Benjamin Harrison (VA), Thomas Nelson Jr. (VA), Francis Lightfoot Lee (VA), Carter Braxton (VA), Robert Morris (PA), Benjamin Rush (PA), Benjamin Franklin (PA), John Morton (PA), George Clymer (PA), James Smith (PA), George Taylor (PA), James Wilson (PA), George Ross (PA), Caeser Rodney (DE), George Read (DE), Thomas McKean (DE), Philip Livingston (NY), Francis Lewis (NY), Lewis Morris (NY), Richard Stockton (NJ), John Witherspoon (NJ), Francis Hopkinson (NJ), John Hart (NJ), Abraham Clark (NJ), Josiah Bartlett (NH), William Whipple (NH), Matthew Thornton (NH), Samuel Adams (MA), John Adams (MA), Robert Treat Paine (MA), Elbridge Gerry (MA), Stephen Hopkins (RI), William Ellery (RI), Roger Sherman (CN), Samuel Huntington (CN), William Williams (CN), and Oliver Wolcott (CN).
Note: Temple work was not done for John Hancock or William Floyd as it had already been completed previously.
Presidents of the United States: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James Knox Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Johnson. Temple work was not done for James Buchanan, Martin Van Buren, or Ulysses S. Grant.
Other eminent men baptized by Wilford Woodruff in the St. George Utah Temple in August 1877 include: Sir Edward Gibbon, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Oliver Goldsmith, Henry Grattan, Humboldt, Alexander von Irving, Washington Jackson, Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Johnson, Samuel Juarez, Benito Pablo Kemble, John Philip Liebig, Baron Justus von Livingstone, David Macaulay, Thomas Babington Nelson, Lord Horatio O’Connell, Daniel Peabody, George Powers, Hiram Reynolds, Sir Joshua Schiller, Johann Christoph Friedrich von Scott, Sir Walter Seward, William Henry Stephenson, George Thackeray, William Makepeace, Vespucci, Amerigo Webster, Daniel Wesley, John Wordsworth, William Parepa, Count Dimitrius, Martha Washington and her family, John Washington (Great Grandfather of George Washington), Sir Henry Washington, Lawrence Washington (Brother of George Washington), Augustine Washington (Father of George Washington), Lawrence Washington (Father of Augustine), Lawrence Washington, Daniel Park Custis, John Park Custis (Son of Daniel and Martha Parke Custis), and Martin Luther.
Eminent Women baptized include: Jean Armour (1767—1834) of Scotland, Jean Armour Burns (Wife of Robert Burns) (1759—1796), Jane Austen (1775—1817) of England, novelist, Mary Ball (1708—1789) of America, Mary Ball Washington (Mother of George Washington) (1732—1799), Sarah Bernard (1800—1879) of England, Sarah Barnard Faraday (wife of Michael Faraday (1791—1867), Charlotte Bronte (1816—1855) of England, novelist, Felicia Dorothea Browne (1793—1835) of England, Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806—1861) of England, poet, (wife of Robert Browning) (1812—18?), Martha Caldwell Calhoun (d. 1802) of America (mother of John Caldwell Calhoun) (1782—1850), Martha Parke Custis (1755—1773) of America (Daughter of Martha Washington) (1732—1802), Martha Dandridge Washington (1732—1802) of America (wife of George Washington) (1732—1799), Rachel Donelson Jackson (1767—1828) of America (wife of Andrew Jackson (1767—1845), and Abigail Eastman Webster (1737—1816) of America (mother of Daniel Webster (1782—1852), to name but a few. Temple work was performed for a total of 70 eminent women.
During most of our national history Columbus and the Founders were considered heroes with determination and foresight. Cities, rivers, and many other places were named after them. More recently there has been a wide spread effort, designed especially to indoctrinate young people, which slanders Columbus, the Founders and their accomplishments. Columbus is held personally responsible for centuries of mistreatment of Native Americans. The Founders are portrayed as being greedy and motivated by selfish interests. All of this is as astonishing as it is misleading.
From the Lord’s perspective among the most important events of the history of the world was the discovery and founding of America. 1 Ne 11-14. Nephi was referring to Columbus when he wrote: “I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land” 1 Ne 13:12. By the Founders “the Lord God will raise up a mighty nation…even on the face of this land.” 1 Ne 22:7.
Go on to life and history of George Ross of Pennsylvania, signer of Declaration of Independence.
Anna Rinderknecht Nuffer
Another entry from “We of Johann Christoph Nuffer, also known as: Neuffer, Nufer, Neufer,” The book was published in April 1990 by Dabco Printing and Binding Co in Roy, Utah. I will quote from the book itself.
“Written October 17, 1933.
“I will begin with my grandmother on my mother’s side, what I remember my mother telling us as children. My grandmother was a lover of music and she became acquainted with a young man who was very good looking a good singer with curly hair. He was a poor boy and my grandmother’s parents were well to do. It seems that they opposed their marriage for that reason. But they were married anyway. I do not remember his given name (Ulrich Ramp) but my grandmother’s name was Ann Elizabeth Bauman Ramp. They lived very happy although they were poor, and for disobeying her parents she was disinherited which made it very hard for them. In due time, they had a baby boy, and then a baby girl, who was my mother. I do not remember what became of the boy but they made a great deal of the baby girl. The father did work whenever he could. It seems like there always has been hard times for some from the very beginning.
“Everything was going as well as might be expected until father died very suddenly, which caused the mother to go to work in some kind of a mill. She was unable to take care of the children and, as is the custom in some countries, she let some well to do people take the little girl and raise her. They sent her to school where she had a good education. Her name was Anna Barbara Ramp. She lived with those people for many years. Her mother would come to see her whenever she could. She was a great lover of all children and when Easter time came she would get eggs and color them as nice as she could just for the pleasure of giving them to children that she knew. She was yet a young woman when she died.
“Then my mother, when she was a grown woman, worked in a tred mill which belonged to the people she lived with. They also had children, some her own age. They thought a great deal of each other.
“In due time, she met some Mormon missionaries and became very interested in their talks, after which she became a member of the church. During this time she became acquainted with Jacob Rinderknecht, who later became my father, but she didn’t come to America for a number of years after that.
“Jacob Rinderknecht had a family when my mother first met him which he brought to America in the early sixties. They lived in New York for a while, then came to Utah. The family consisted of Father, Mother, a daughter and a son (some children having died in Switzerland where they all came from). They settled in Providence on the very spot where my brother Jake Rinderknecht now lives.
“All this time my mother was working in her country trying to save enough money to come to America. Finally the time came when she landed in New York. Then she came across the plaints with ox teams and walked much of the way. When she arrived in Salt Lake City, the missionary that she was so good to over in Switzerland was to meet her and take her to Southern Utah. This he never did.
“Jacob Rinderknecht happened to be there at the time, having had a chance to go to Salt Lake City with someone that drove an ox team there from Providence. So he got her to go home with him. Later they made a trip to Salt Lake and were married in the Endowment House. She was then 36 years old and one of Utah’s Pioneers. She was the second wife. I have heard her tell what a terrible, hard life she lived. At that time she lived in a dugout in a bank, or hollow, that used to run through the lot which is now filled in. I think that was where I was born. The first family had a log house and after the first wife died, my mother moved in.
“When I was 4 years old my father gave me away. Not long after that he died. I don’t remember him very well. He was 62 and very poor. He may have done this and meant it for my good, but my poor mother fought hard for me. I was older than my brother, Jake, and then a pair of twins; one, my sister, still lives.
“My father gave me to some English people of Providence who adopted me. They were well to do for those times. They had buried all their children while babies, and they seemed to take a liking to me. They said I was so pretty, and I guess they were right as I can remember that I had long ringlets, my hair being curly and how hard it was to comb. Once, when I played with the neighbor’s children, I got lice in my hair. My hair had to but cut off close to my head and I was glad because then it was easy to comb.
“At first I rather liked my new home but when I wanted to go back to my mother they said no. As I got older I would run away and go home, then they would take me back and I would cry for days. I wanted to go home and my mother did everything she could to get me back, bu no, they watched me so close that I didn’t get a chance very often. I always had the feeling that I would get back sometime. They would lock me in a room and if my mother came to see me they would say I had gone somewhere. Many a time they would see her coming, then they would take me out the back door and hide me somewhere.
“As I grew older, they gave me all kinds of hard jobs to do such as going after the cows that had strayed through town and if I didn’t find them or came home without them they would send me to bed without supper in a dark room, or would lock me in a dark cellar for an hour or so. They had so many ways of punishing me that I couldn’t them all. One time, I was trying to jump a ditch of water and fell in backward. I was scared to go home so I sat around in my wet clothes. One of the neighbors told on me, then they took my clothes off, got a gunny sack, cut a whole for my head and some for my arms, then put that on and locked me in a small closet that I couldn’t stand up in, and without any dinner. They left me there all afternoon while they went away.
“I had about 4 years of this life which was anything but a happy one. It was the rule those days that the ones that could afford it should go to conference either in April or October. At one of those times, the only man that I can remember calling father, the one who had adopted me, went to Salt Lake. His wife and myself stayed home and did all the work about the place. In due time, he came back and I suppose he was very happy although his wife did a lot of crying and was very unhappy. At the time I didn’t quite grasp the thing or what it was all about but at last it came out. He had married another woman while he was in the city and she was soon to come and live with us. Can you imagine what a trick to play on his first wife? So one fine day she came. She had not been in this country very long. She had come from London and rather a nice lady, a dressmaker, I think and as soon as she found out about me she wanted them to let me go to my mother, but I did not for a long time.
“So they finally got things settled and the house was divided and each woman had her half. Then I had more chores to do. And in due time there came a baby son which was the king of the house. When he got old enough I would take him out in his carriage as they called it. One day one of the wheels came off. Then I was scared and ran back to the house to get help. I really was expecting a whipping, but not that time and soon everything was all right again.
“One Sunday all the children in the neighborhood were in the street playing. I was inside my fence looking on. I wanted to go out with them so bad that I got up enough courage to go to the house and ask if I could go and play. Then the second wife said, yes, you can go home to your mother if you want to. It surprised me so I couldn’t believe they meant it, so I went out and when I got int he street, which was a straight line and in the third block was my mother’s place, I just ran every bit of the way.
“I was, at this time, about nine years old and had started to school. My mother was so glad and yet she was afraid to believe it. I had quite a time trying to make her understand as I couldn’t talk German anymore, but I soon learned. I stayed but I was always on the watch. If any of them had come after me I couldn’t have been found. I was very happy at home again. But one evening here came my adopted mother with an interpreter to talk to mother and try to get me back. She cried and begged me to come. I wouldn’t go near her for fear she wouldn’t let me loose. She promised me things but it did no good. I wanted to stay with my mother, brother and sister.
“I was so poor and thin that my mother would cry when she saw my thin little body, but I soon grew big and strong and was large for my age. In due time, I used to go back and see my adopted parents. As I got older I went back and worked for them. They were candy makers and sold candy to the stores in Logan.
The book then seems to transfer from the autobiography to the biography of Anna Rinderknecht Nuffer by an unknown person.
“In Hedingen, Zurich, Switzerland lived a girl Elizabeth Bauman. She was a jolly happy girl with a good home and many friends. She kept company with Ulrich Ramp, a young man with pretty curly hair. He was a fine singer. These two people were very much in love with each other but Elizabeth’s parents who were well to do disapproved of their marriage and threatened to disinherit her if she married Ulrich, but this made no difference. They were married and lived happily together in spite of being very poor.
“A baby girl was born, which they named Barbara. When she was two years old, her father died suddenly. This was a terrible blow to this young mother. Her parents were bitter and did not help her, so she had someone take care of her baby and went out to work. When Barbara became of school age her mother had her put into a home of well to do people who put her through school. Her mother died shortly after and these people cared for her until she was grown. They treated her kindly and she loved them very much, (and later had Temple work done for them). These people owned a threat factory and Barbara worked there along time. She had many friends. She heard of the Mormon Elders and went to their meetings which seemed to impress her greatly. She would walk many miles to go to their meetings and would give the Elders all the money she could spare to get food. She was insulted by her friends when she joined the Mormon Church, but she saved her money to go to Zion. One missionary from Southern Utah fell in love with her and promised to meet her when she arrived in Salt Lake City.
“She crossed the ocean in an old Sailing Vessel. There were many bad storms which kept them back. After eight weeks they landed and crossed the plains with ox-teams in the year 1866. Grandmother walked most of the way, she being young and strong. I remember her telling of her breaking her garnet beads, which she prized very highly, on the yoke of the oxen.
“After the long walk across the plains with all the hardships of those Pioneer days, scarcity of food, sickness and death, their faith still unfaltering, they finally reach Salt Lake Valley. But in her sorrow the good Mormon Elder sweetheart was not there to meet her as promised. Imagine a young girl here along without relatives. She did get disappointed badly but not discouraged. She worked for other Pioneers for her food.
“Jacob Rinderknecht, a pioneer living in the little town of Providence, along with other men, went to Salt Lake City looking for a young wife. He saw Barbara a fine rosy cheeked strong young lady and decided she would be just what he wanted so he persuaded her to go back with him, offering her a home, so she married him in the Endowment House in 1868 and walked back to Providence with him. Here she was introduced to his first wife and family.
“Jacob Rinderknecht was in his sixties and Barbara 36. She lived in a dug-out and his first wife was in a log cabin on the old Rinderknecht lot at Providence, Utah. There were four children, one died when very young. When Emma was quite young, her father died, his first wife died several years before. This left the mother to care for the children. She had a garden which supplied her with vegetables, a few hens, and a cow which kept the family. She had a churn which the whole settlement borrowed, and she was noted for her good yeast. She wanted her girls dressed as fine as she could so she hired Sister Campbell to crochet lace for their petticoats and pants, as father (Jacob Rinderknecht Jr.) told me for he would take the eggs to pay for the lace.
“She was a real tithe payer, always went to church, although she understood very little English. She taught her children high ideals, love of music, honesty, industry and faith in God. She was fond of her Grandchildren and went to see them at least once a year.
“She endured many hardships but she never lost her faith. She said many times she thought God was her only friend. When her children were sick she went for the Elders.
“After her husband’s death, Jacob, a small boy, took the responsibility of caring for the family. The girls worked hard. Annie worked for Frank Madison. Emma worked hard, she went to wash for people in Logan so Jacob could buy horses to run a small piece of land. He went up Logan Canyon when 14 years of age all alone and got enough lumber to build the frame house for his mother.
Bkr. Ky. 1981.
In re Johnson
14 B.R. 14
There was another case about whether a tractor-lawnmower could be classified as ‘household furniture”. But the judge doesn’t have as much fun with it as the above judge did. Check it out. 169 B.R. 732
Sagacity 