Life History of Joshua Hawkes 1836 - 1914

1839. Father settled our family in the city of Nauvoo at the counsel of the Prophet Joseph Smith to help labor on the new Temple. He did this for seven years, until its completion and dedication on April 30, 1846. We suffered much through poverty and sickness during our stay at Nauvoo, having been driven from our homes and losing all that we possessed or nearly so. 

1841. My step-mother had a daughter, Adalie, and a son, Joseph, born while we lived at Nauvoo. They both died in infancy. The scepter of death made several calls to our family from 1842 to 1847. Adalie died Jan. 1842, only two months old. My oldest brother, Samuel, died April 24, 1843, at the age of 21 of consumption. Joseph & Hyrum Smith were killed June 27, 1844. My older brother, Levi, drowned in the Mississippi River July 31, 1845 at the age of 14. Little brother, Joseph, died Jan 6, 1846, at 2 1/2 years of age. Little brother, Seth, was born Dec. 30, 1846 at Garden Grove, Iowa, and died January 3, 1847, four days later. Five of our immediate family and the Prophet had all died in that brief time. 

1844. I was baptized August 10, 1844, by my father. 

1846. The Nauvoo Temple was dedicated April 30, 1846. In September the Temple fell into the hands of the mob. November 19th, it was gutted with fire. What were the feelings of my father after working seven toilsome years building the temple, then to know it had gone up in flames? 

In 1846, Father and Mother permanently lost their health with chills and fever as a result of exposure and the hardships they were forced to endure. It was in the month of October, after a hard battle of the few Saints that were left in Nauvoo, that we were driven out of the city, west, across the Mississippi River into the wilderness. Our little affects were moved with the rest of the exiles into the woods on the Iowa side. Our stock consisted of one three-year-old heifer. 

My older sister, Alzina, had died as an infant Nov. 26, 1835. Out of the nine children my father and two mothers brought into the world, only my little brother, Amos, and I were left to care for our ailing father and mother. I was now 10 years old. 

After a few days we were moved down to Montrose, a little town about three miles below, where we were taken into a house by a friend of Father's, a James Hoten. Father and Mother were both sick as yet. All the support we got, except for the charity of our friends, the Hoten family, was that I used to sell the little milk we got from the heifer to people on the steamboats at that place. 

A company of teams was sent back from Garden Grove, about 150 miles west in Iowa, where we were moved to a settlement of the Saints, where my sister Lucy was living. My father's health was a little better though he was quite weak. He decided to go back East to his native land and see if it would help his health. He also hoped some of his folks would help him out in his hour of need. 

1847. The first companies of Saints to cross the plains to Utah, left in the spring of 1847, and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, July 24, 1847. We were not able yet to go with them. It would be four more years before we would make the trip across the plains to Utah. 

In the fall of 1847, about October, Father left for Maine. Myself and Amos were all that were left of our family to care for our mother at Garden Grove. In a few weeks after Father had gone east, my step-mother became a raving maniac. I went to live with Pres. Kinkton, and Amos with someone else. My step-mother was taken care of by the ward until father returned the spring of 1848.

1848. My sister Lucy and her husband, Philo Allen, had moved to Council Bluffs in the spring of 1847. In the spring of 1848 they came back after us, shortly after Father returned from the East. Mother was still no better. We went back to live with Lucy and her family that summer and all farmed together. In the fall of that year we built a cabin on a farm Father had taken up two miles south of Kanesville/Council Bluffs. We moved that fall with our mother no better. 

1849. Sister Lucy and her family started for Salt Lake in the spring. We stayed and did our housework until in the fall. Father got a woman with two little children to do our work and help take care of our mother during the winter. 

1850. In the summer, Father got a widow with three children by the name of Mrs. Bowen, to come to our home and help us. Father married Mrs. Bowen, August 27, 1850. Mother, Phoebe Ann Baldwin, died in December 1850, still no better until death relieved her. We were still living at Kanesville. Father and Phoebe Ann had been married for 13 years. She was 47 and he was 51.

1851. We sold the farm in the spring and came to Utah. I came with a Mr. Kearns, walking much of the way, driving three yoke of oxen, helping with the animals and doing what work I could, as we went along. We found the Elkhorn River too high to cross and made a detour to Fort Kearney, where on the bottoms of the Platte River were camped nearly all of the immense Sioux nation who were negotiating a treaty with the Crows. 

I celebrated my 15th birthday on August 20th that summer. We went to Ogden. I worked in Salt Lake until Christmas and then came home and went to school that winter. Father and Mrs. Bowen separated after they arrived in Ogden, after being married about one year. Father was now 52 years old. 

1852. In the spring, I hired out to work for a man named Green at Kaysville. Father and Amos rented some land and farmed that summer. I went to sister Lucy's in the fall where we lived after Father and Mrs. Bowen separated. We boys went to school through the winter. 

1853. On March 20th, Father married my mother's sister, Albina Alvord Murry, a widow. She was 39 and he was 54. In April we moved near Spanish Fork, Utah, settling at Palmyra, a new town laid off the fall before. We took forty acres of land in what was called "The Big Field," and farmed a little of it that year. I spent the forepart of the season making a ditch and getting poles. We did quite a large amount of water work on the irrigation canal. 

On July 19, 1853, the Indians killed Alexander Keele at Payson, and commenced what is called the Walker War. On the 20th of July, Colonel Conover from Provo, in command of a company of militia known as the Nauvoo Legion, called at Palmyra, and asked for volunteers to join his company and defend the settlements not provided with sufficient guards. I joined this company, and with twenty-five others, we started at midnight, and went to the relief of those in Payson. 

The next day I went with Major Stephen Markham, John W. Berry, and 14 other men from Provo, Springville, Payson, and Summit Creek (now Santaquin) as far south as Manti, to ask for volunteers to fight in the Walker War. We were gone two or three weeks. 

Back home the Legion members were called on to build a fort near Palmyra, which we did that fall. Many of the local people spent an anxious winter in the confines of that fort. The next spring Brigham Young instructed us to build another fort at the site of the upper settlement which was called Spanish Fork. This fort housed 19 families during the winter of 1854-55. Father was one of those who lived there during that winter. 

Near the end of the war, Brigham Young advised the brethren to erect a house in the fort area for Peteetneet, one of the remaining Ute chiefs. The house was built and the warrior chief moved peaceably into it. He remained there until the settlement was broken up some time later. 

I served with honor for fourteen months in this war, and was in several battles and skirmishes. At times I acted as an interpreter to the Indians. 

In November 1853, my stepmother aunt died, at the age of 39, after being married to Father for only about eight months. She was his 4th wife. So, Father, Amos, and I were left alone again, without anyone to do the housework, only ourselves. I went to school that winter.

1854. In the spring I went to Ogden to work for Philo Allen and lived there that summer, except during harvest and haying, when I went and worked with D. Hendrix in Salt Lake City. I went home in the fall and went to school that winter. Father was still living without anyone to keep house. During the winter, it was not very pleasant with only ourselves to do the work.

I was ordained a Priest at the age of 18 by Bishop Stephen Markham. 

1855. In the early spring, I went to Ogden to help Philo Allen move to Spanish Fork, during which time Father and Amos moved up to the house we had built in the new fort. I worked at home that summer. We put in about thirty acres of wheat, but by the first of May, every bit of it was eaten off to the ground by the grasshoppers, which was a universal thing through the Territory. We immediately went to work and planted corn on the same land and raised enough so we had some to sell that fall. I worked with Philo Allen for a while and helped him build a house. The city of Spanish Fork was laid out so he took a lot and built on it. 

My father married a widow, his 5th wife, Catherine Cole Sterling, September 9, 1855. She had an adopted boy, Hyrum. She was about 30 years old and had come from New Brunswick. Father was now 56 years old, and I was 19. In the first municipal election Father was elected to the town council. I was ordained an Elder by Amos Stiles.

Father took up two lots in Spanish Fork, and I took one lot. They would not let a single man take but one. Amos and I made quite a number of thousand adobe bricks to build on Father's city lots. We put up a house of six rooms that fall and the next spring. It seemed that we were constantly on the move and building. 

I worked at home most of the time, helping to get Father comfortably fixed in life. His health was poor and he could not do hard labor, so the heft of it fell on us, Amos and I. I was much larger than Amos, so I had the heavy end to bear. I did not go to school that winter as there was now at the fort - only a woman who taught a few little children.

1856. We moved into our new house on the city lots. We labored hard to get out fencing and to fence the lots of Father's and my own. We raised a crop and got out lumber to finish our house. Most of my time was spent working in the mountains, except during harvest time, until winter set in. I went to school part of the winter and worked some in the mountains. At the age of 20, I was ordained a Seventy in the summer of 1856 by Pres. Joseph Young Jr. 

1857. I worked on the farm a part of the summer. At our municipal election, at the age of 21, I was elected a member of the City Council of Spanish Fork City, which place I filled for over one year. I was also called to act as Captain of Police, which place I occupied until my removal from the city in 1862. 

On the 24th of July, news came to Governor Young that four thousand U.S. Army soldiers and their supply trains were on their way to Utah to destroy the Mormons. Companies were raised all through the different settlements to go and stop them. I was called too, as one in our Company from Spanish Fork. I fitted up with one pony to ride. We started out, but by the time we reached American Fork, news reached us to go back for one week, which we did. 

About three weeks elapsed before we started out the second time. We traveled to Echo Canyon in two and one-half days. In about a week after our arrival there, I was selected, among others, to go as a scouting party toward the enemy, who were then in the vicinity of Green River. 

Our orders from Daniel H. Wells were as follows: "Proceed at once to annoy them in every possible way. Use every exertion to stampede their animals and set fire to their trains. Burn the whole country before them and on their flanks. Keep them from sleeping by night surprises; blockade the road by falling trees or destroying the river fords where you can. Watch for opportunities to set fire to the grass before them that can be burned." 

We first went to Fort Bridger, thence on to Fort Supply. From there to Hams Fork, we watched them and drove off their stock whenever we had an opportunity to do so. When the army started down Hams Fork to come into Fort Bridger, we came on ahead of them and burned the forts, which were built of cottonwood logs. The LDS Church owned Fort Bridger and Fort Supply. 

The weather was then getting very cold with about eight inches of snow at Fort Bridger. In company with other, we were fired at with grape shot and muskets several times, but all escaped unharmed. When the army came to Bridger, they found it in ashes. They decided to spend the winter nearby at Black's Fork, because of the lack of livestock and supplies. Most of us came home. Our company got home just before Christmas. I was twenty-one years old at this time. 

1858. During the winter and in the spring Governor Young ordered a standing army to be raised. I was chosen as one of that number from our town. I got a couple of ponies fit for action and fitted myself for the summer campaign. But, just as we were ready to start out news came that a compromise had been made. Johnson army was coming peacefully to Salt Lake City. That news broke up our standing army. 

I received my temple endowments on the 17th of February, as all men that were going into the standing army were given their endowments by counsel of President Young. 

My brother, Amos, married Agnes Mary White, the 18th of March.

I went back to work on the farm for a while, then went to the soldier camp with a few others and went to work for wages. They had come in July to settle in Camp Floyd in Cedar Valley, west of Lehi & Utah Lake. I stayed there working at different kinds of labor until near winter. I sold my horse and saddle and came home. With a few others we went back to buy cattle and wagons. I got one yoke of oxen and a wagon. 

1859. I stayed home during the winter. I worked on the farm and in the canyons through the summer. With my brother married and gone from home now, and Father's health still poor, I had the heft of the labor to do. Father was elected again to the city council, May 2nd. 

On the twenty-first of December in Spanish Fork, I was married to Mary, daughter of John A. Lewis and Ann Johns. She was 20 and I was 23. Mary was born November 22, 1839. Mary Lewis had a 2 year old daughter, Mary Ann Redd, from a previous marriage who came to live with us also. Mary Ann Redd, was born August 28, 1857, at Spanish Fork, Utah. As a young woman she married Walter Bryant Wickham. They moved to Wilford, Idaho, where she died September 5, 1911.

1860. I worked on Father's farm as well as tending my own land, he not being able to labor but little, which made my task much harder and having to build at the same time. Father had adopted a boy who helped some. On September 27, our daughter, Lucy, was born. Mary and I joined a dramatic association, helped build a theater, and were actors in it. I was acting as a Ward Teacher for about three years.

1861. I farmed and labored in the canyons, still assisting Father in his heavy labor. I spent some time in freighting grain for the Overland Mail Company, just opened by Ben Holiday through the Carson Valley, and was gone five weeks. I went to Ruby Valley also. I was elected to serve on the city council. 

I was selected as vice president of our dramatics building association with G.D. Snell as president. He soon went off to California and that left the responsibility of president on me. We went on and got the building in a partial state of completion by the spring of '62. In the fall, we engaged T.A. Lyne of Salt Lake City to play with us and to instruct us. My wife, Mary, was then taking the role of the leading female characters.

1862. I made some land trades. I got a piece in the upper end of the Old Field on the Spanish Fork Bottom, known as the Pace Farm. The water raised very high early in April, and commenced to overflow our land. My brother, Amos, had bought a piece of land next to mine. Quite a number of us began to levy against the rising water. We worked for three weeks in the water most of the time, which was very cold. We lost a part of our crop, but the land was cut in hollows, and most of the top soil washed away.

I contracted a heavy sickness by working in the water. It came on during the summer. In September our eldest son, Levi, was born. A large, fine child, healthy and strong, until the night of November 28th. He went to bed with his mother, as well as could be, apparently. In the night, I woke and heard an unnatural breathing with him. I got up immediately, woke my wife, and commenced doing all we could for him. I went and got a doctor immediately, found the baby was suffering in the chest and lungs. In spite of all we could do, he died just at daylight in the morning. From the time we found out he was sick until he was dead could not have been more than three hours at the most. So, he died the morning of the 29th. 

My father took sick about the 7th of December with a cold on his lungs and died on the 12th at the age of 63. He had been married to Catherine Cole Sterling, his 5th wife, for the last 7 years. Losing my father was the hardest blow on me of the whole. The loss of our eldest son and sweet babe was hard to bear, but the long years of toil and trials through which I had spent most of my life, knowing of his untiring zeal and faithfulness in the Gospel and the welfare of his family which he was always laboring for, made it quite hard for me to give up that he was dead. My loss of him as a father can never be replaced this side of the vale. Thus, inside of two months, I had lost my eldest son, a lovely and promising child, and my father. My great desire is to live that we can be able to meet with them beyond this world of strife, toil, pain, and sorrow, and to dwell in peace forever with all our loved ones. 

1863. In the spring my brother, Amos, and I concluded to move up to our farms, as it was so far to go - about three miles from town. We built a cabin each, and moved up and put in our crops. 

In June I was taken sick with the bilious fever, which settled in my hips for a while, then in the calves of my legs. For a long time all hopes of my recovery was given up. My wife's health was quite poor, but she would not leave scarcely day or night. In my very sick and weak state, I thought nobody could do anything for me. As soon as I could be moved, I was taken back to town where I could get assistance without so much trouble. I, or rather the folks who were very kind to me, employed Dr. Riggs of Provo to doctor me, which cost me forty dollars. He put a Seton in my leg just above the ankle on the inside to get an issue, which has troubled me ever since, more or less, by its continuing to run and break out in different places. 

It was when the people were returning home from the October Conference that I first attempted to walk across the floor. I thought I could go as far as the door and look at the people as they passed along the road, but I fell on the floor and my wife had to help me up and to bed. There I stayed until I got more strength. I was not able to do scarcely any labor through the winter. A great deal of my crop was destroyed for the want of proper care, making it hard for me during the winter and the next summer. My wife's health was quite poor, having so much care on her, and being broke of her rest at night so much. We passed the winter as best we could with friends and acquaintances. 

Idaho became a territory, which included all of Idaho and Montana, and most of Wyoming. 

1864. On March 26, Mary and I went to Salt Lake City to be sealed and get her endowments. 

Having had such bad luck farming, I concluded to try what I could at freighting. I traded some land and fitted up a four horse team and got a load for Idaho City. I spent the summer at that kind of labor or a part of it. I was not very strong. My leg still troubled me. I did some hauling at home, and got my own firewood from the canyons in the fall. I made one or two trips to Salt Lake City. 

On the fifth day of November our second son, Joseph Bryant, was born, which gave me great joy, for my thought at the time of my sickness was that I would not live to have a son to bear my name. We named him after my father, Joseph Bryant. Nothing of any importance transpired up to the end of that year. 

1865. My health was quite poor on account of my leg. My brother-in-law, Philo Allen, was living at Weber, Utah. He asked me to come and live near them as he had land enough for all, and would like us to come and share it with them. So, I sold my little affects, land and house and lot. In the spring, in April, we started for Weber. 

I rented some land from Philo. My leg got worse during the summer, so I underwent a treatment from Dr. Ormsby, Sr., but it did me little good. I managed to earn a little grain, enough for bread. My wife made cheese and butter that summer, as we had several cows. By changing work with my sister, Lucy, she helped in that hour of need, and did her part, taking care of her three little children at the same time. I did some labor in the fall, getting other labor, so we were provided for with the necessaries of life for the winter. 

1866. I rented some land again from Philo Allen, and put in a crop, and stayed at home during the summer. I had not obtained any land, being quite unsettled, things having taken a great change. Philo had made up his mind by then to sell out. That would leave me without a home. I had depended on his word, for he had urged me to come to his place. I did not want to leave although I/we had not made any special bargain. So, it was left in such a shape that he could sell and not break any particular bargain. We spent the winter there on the place. By the end of the year he had sold out. 

1867. My brother, Amos, was buying himself a farm at Willard City, Box Elder, County. He wanted me to go with him and help him. Since I had no place, I consented to go, which I did, and moved in the spring. My brother went to Montana, and I took care of the place and raised crops. He did not return until late in the fall. After my brother's return, we spent the winter in getting out fire-wood and attending our stock. 

On July 23rd, our third son, Lewis Joshua, was born in Willard, Utah. 

1868. In the spring, my brother thought he would put out an orchard. So, I went to Salt Lake City and got $44 dollars worth of fruit trees and set them out. We raised some corn and enough wheat for our use, although the grass-hoppers were very bad and destroyed a great deal for us. We went to work and got out logs and put up a house for me that summer. My leg was not so bad now, so I could labor quite well. We moved into the cabin in the fall. We were getting along quite comfortable by this time and thus we passed the winter.

1869. I still worked on the farm with my brother and raised a very good crop of grain and vegetables that summer. In the fall some of our acquaintances from Spanish Fork came and wanted us to go with them and take a contract on the C.P.R.Railroad. They wanted me to take my family and our stove, so that my wife could do the cooking, which we did. We started with all hands, on the 9th of November, for Promontory. There were fourteen of us in the contract. R. Hicks was the foreman. I sold my grain and potatoes to the company for a good price. The winter was quite mild, and we worked all winter. We finished one job early the following spring, although we did not get a lot of pay.

1870. My wife's father and her brother, Fredrick, came out to work on the railroad. I went with them as our company had finished, and took a contract to put in culverts. My wife and I got some money, and I bought a mule team and wagon. I paid one thousand dollars for the outfit. Our work was soon broken up, as the company did not want any more culverts put in. 

In April we returned home, as the work in the R.R. had ceased. We had made a very good winter's work of it, by turning our produce and labor into money and investing the money into a team and wagon as I had done. 

I then went and got the job of keeping the section house at the Bonneville switch. It then belonged to the C.P. Company. We stayed there all that fall and winter and until the next spring.

1871. My brother had sold out at Willard and gone to Promontory. I bought a home and city lot with a small orchard at Willard. We then moved to town and rented a part of Moses Dudley's house, ours being too small.

On May 12th, our fourth son, Charles Fredrick, was born at Willard. Before the summer was over we moved into part of the Warner place. In the course of the season, I did a great deal of hauling for people which helped us in our living. 

In the fall I traded my mules and wagon off for a farm in Wellsville, Cache County, Utah, of forty acres of farming land and twenty acres of meadow land and two city lots and three log rooms. In November we moved into our new home, which we could call our own and which we were very proud of. We were pretty well provided for with food and clothing for the winter and the ensuing summer.

1872. I had rather kept from public speaking up to this time, but as I knew I must do my own work, I concluded to bear my portion when opportunity offered itself. Bishop Maughn called upon me to speak in a very short time after we moved, so I did the best I could. From that time, I tried to improve my mind at every opportunity. I worked what I was able to on my farm, but as I was not very strong, I could do but little. I rented some land, planted my city lots to corn and potatoes. The grasshoppers came again and took quite a portion of the crops that season, which made it very hard for me again. We began to get acquainted with people and had a very good time. 

During the fore part of the winter of '71 and '72, my wife's folks, Caroline Pace and Millie, and Wm. Lewis, my wife's brother and sister, came up to see us and stayed a good part of the winter, which was greatly appreciated by us. 

We raised enough grain and other produce to do us through the season. I was able to get wood from the canyons, although it was quite a task for me, as my leg was very bad most of the time. Nothing more of great importance occurred that year. 

1873. My wife and I were invited to join the theatrical troupe at Wellsville, which we declined, but my wife played with them to accommodate the party. I was called on a home mission to travel through Cache Valley Stake with Jas. Jardine and others. We visited nearly every settlement in the Stake during the summer and fall, which gave me quite an experience in the line of public preaching. I raised a crop of grain and other produce that year. 

At their election, I was elected Justice of the Peace for the city, [Another record gives this election as the year 1872] which place I filled for one term or until I moved away in the spring of '75. I was also admitted to the School of the Prophets at Logan. I also was hired by the trustees of the first district to teach school for the winter, which I did with good success considering my limited education. Many events transpired during the year, but I cannot recall any of them that are important. 

1874. On March 5th, our third daughter, Sophronia Amelia, was born. She weighed 12 pounds.

My leg troubled me at times very much, and it was quite a task for me to labor hard on the farm. I put in a small crop that season and did what work I could during the summer. 

My brother, Amos, had moved to Franklin, Idaho, a year before and put up a water-powered sawmill. It was at the intersection of Maple Creek and it sawed a great deal of lumber from Crooked Canyon. It was afterwards known as the "Gibson Mill." He was quite anxious for me to move up there, as the prospects appeared good. 

An old acquaintance of mine, Andrew Morrison, was also anxious to have me come there. He had a farm that he would trade to me for the one I had at Wellsville. So, I thought perhaps it would be the best for me to do, to make the trade, which I did in the fall. We began to make preparations to move early in the spring. We spent the winter very nicely in Wellsville. 

1875. On the second day of March, having all things ready, we again started to move to our new home at Franklin, assisted by two of Amos' boys and a team. We came on a hard snow storm, so we did not arrive until the fifth. I had traded my hay and potatoes with the tithing, so I got mine at Franklin. 

Thus commenced our new life after another move. We formed new acquaintances in life again. Our home was but one log one, and that, not very stylish. I put in a small crop of wheat and had some volunteer grain which made us an ample amount for the season. I labored on the mill with my brother, what I was able to during the summer. 

In May, I think it was, I went to Salt Lake City for the purpose of having my leg doctored by the National Institute of Indianapolis. I bargained with them for a treatment for the sum of $100.00. I paid them $40.00, and they took a note for the remaining $60.00 to be paid in one year. They helped me in a very short time, and my leg, which had been sore for two years constantly, was healed in less than two months. This was a great help to me. 

1876. We were invited to join the dramatic association at Franklin, which my wife and I did. A new organization was formed and I was chosen as President, and I.B. Nash as stage manager. We played a few times in Franklin. The Bishop gave us a mission to play in all the settlements in Cache Valley for the benefit of John Biggs, who was then in the Boise Penitentiary, which we did. Thus we spent the winter very nicely at our town.

In March my wife, Mary had a very narrow escape of her life. She was sick for a long time. Through the faith of the Elders and the blessings of the Lord, and with good care, she recovered and was restored to health again. 

I was chosen and set apart by Bishop L.H. Hatch to act as a teacher in the Franklin Ward. I was also appointed by the City Council to fill the vacancy of L.H. Hatch, as acting Mayor of Franklin, as Brigham Young has asked him to go open up a new colony in Arizona. He had been Franklin's first mayor and I was the second mayor in Idaho's oldest town. 

Preston Thomas Sr. and myself were appointed as a committee to overhaul and revise the City Ordinances. As it was found, a great many defects were in them. This took us some time, and in the summer season when we were crowded with work. This work, and the amount of other business which we had to attend to in the council, took up a good deal of time during that whole season. I raised a crop of grain and did my other work.

Another labor of a public nature now devolved itself upon me by virtue of the office which I held as mayor of the city as successor of L.H. Hatch. He had filed on the townsite which consisted of 640 acres of land. That must be looked after, which took quite a good part of my time, as I had to make final proof on it, and re-survey the town and make a new plat. This was quite a labor. To raise the necessary funds within the prescribed time by law was the hardest part of the business, and a large amount of land that was not occupied besides the streets, made it appear very high. An amount had to be put upon the land to cover the amount, and it caused some unpleasant feelings with some people at the time. It seemed the only course to obtain the required amount and the whole business was upon me. The City Council were quite indifferent about the matter and seemed to think it all rested on me. So I commenced upon my field of labor, which took considerable part of the summer. 

1877. In the spring the foundation of the Logan Temple was begun. The building rock was obtained from Green Canyon east of Logan. The decorative stone for windows, doors, sills, corner pieces, etc. was obtained from a sandstone quarry northeast of Franklin. Many men from Franklin were employed in the quarry and in hauling stone in wagons to the temple site. 

I was busy with my labors of the ward as a teacher, and with dramatic affairs, and the labor for my family. My sons, Bryant, and also, Lewis, were getting old enough to help me a great deal, which took a great weight of labor and responsibility off from my shoulders. I established an office and commenced to take the money for the land. Having apportioned the amount per acre, and not getting the required money in time, I was necessitated to hire $400, as the entire proof must be made in the fore part of the summer. 

I obtained the money of D.H. Perry of Ogden, and in June, with a number of others, went to Malad and made the final proof on the townsite. The next thing was to re-survey all the occupied land and have a plat made of it in order to get the amount of land each person owned. I hired W.H. Martineau of Logan as the surveyor. Thus ended the work for the time. 

I was helping in the political affairs of the county and territory and spent some time attending conventions. At the time of President Young's death, I went to Salt Lake to the funeral. I saw my sister, Lucy, for the last time in this life.

Our son, Horace Bertrand, was born May 24th, in Franklin, Idaho.

In the fall and winter I did my own labor, all that could be, to prepare for the next season. We spent most of the winter at home and in visiting with our friends, and occasionally playing with the theater troupe. By this time, I was gaining considerable experience in public speaking, having often had the opportunity to speak. 

1878. I now began upon my task of making out deeds for the people, having attended all the other business necessary for that purpose. In the course of the summer the Utah and Northern Railroad began to extend on north from Franklin, its terminus at that time, and since 1875. Not having a very great supply of grain, owing to the grasshoppers eating our crop the previous year, and seeing an opportunity to help ourselves a little by boarding the construction hands, we got a house of W. L. Webster and commenced the boarding business, which we kept until the next spring. It was the best thing we could do to get hold of a little cash, and it was quite acceptable to us at that time.

Among other things of a public nature imposed upon me was the office of school trustee for two terms, which was not lucrative to me. I was elected mayor of Franklin at the regular election one year after I was appointed mayor by the council, a term of office which, under the charter, was two years. I held the office during that term, and again was elected to the same position, which place I held until our Franklin City Charter was repealed some time before the term of office expired. 

And so it was with me, more or less from the time I went to Franklin. I was called into requisition in some public capacity as long as I was permitted to stay at home. It seems that my lot has been wrought with many changes; some of which I could not control. Others, by moving, which I thought would be, to better our conditions in life. I struggled hard and under very difficult circumstances, through ill health, and having to look to someone else to assist me. I had to persuade them that they could assist me, owing to my being in poor health and, having no help in the line of field labor. 

For many years, both my brother and brother-in-law were anxious for me to come where they were. Perhaps their intentions were good, but they both changed their minds, to my great detriment at least. After I had left the little home, I had almost thrown myself, and my future prospects upon them. Then, for them to turn around and sell or leave their locality, it left me out-of-doors without a home, and not able to work but little for the support of my family. For this reason, I was on the move, more or less, for years, struggling to get a home that had the prospect of affording me a living in the future. It was not that I liked moving about, or that I could not find suitable places, but to find a farm that I could obtain with what means that were within my reach that could sustain my family. I had quite a number of boys by then.

1879. My boys and I put in quite a crop of wheat and oats and did considerable fencing in the summer. We raised a very good crop. We were beginning to make things move in the line of labor very well. My leg was better than it had been for years. 

At a special conference held in Salt Lake City, in August 1852, the doctrine of "plural marriage" was first publicly declared. The revelation to Joseph Smith upon the subject was read, and Orson Pratt gave a discourse from the standpoint of the Bible. The bounds and restrictions of the law as laid down by modern revelation were clarified. President Young held the keys of this order of marriage, to enter into its practice. In certain instances the President urged Church leaders to marry and provide a home for worthy women of the community, who had been denied the opportunity for the development of personality which comes from married life.

On August 28th, I married Sarah Ann Smart in the Salt Lake Temple. She was 24 and I was 43. Now, began the persecution against me for living polygamy. 

I had made out deeds for a large number of lots and parcels of land in the city entry, and this afforded me labor for all the spare time I had during the winter. Together with other affairs such as the theater business, missionary labor, and ward teaching. Quite a number of changes took place. I was a member of the convention at Malad to nominate officers for the county. 

I was nominated County Commissioner and honorably elected, but later beat out of it by fraud, through a set of political scoundrels, at the setting of the District Court, through a few vile apostates, that were doing all they could to destroy the Saints. They tried to get an indictment against me for polygamy, but I had a friend in the District Attorney, who soon broke up their little peace for a while. 

We, as a family, spent the winter very pleasantly, and enjoyed ourselves among the Saints. 

1880. My boys and I commenced our labors on the farm again. I attended to my labors in trust for the city, in making out deeds and a great amount of other business that had to be attended to in the townsite affairs. We did some work in getting our fencing and lumber for building. 

On June 22, my wife, Sarah Ann Smart Hawkes, gave birth to her eldest daughter, Alsymina Smart Hawkes.

We had a little building material on hand that we had got out during the summer and commenced to put up a house in the fall, but not until quite late, as we were so crowded with work. 

On October 30th, my wife, Mary, gave birth to our sixth son, Claudius Eugene Hawkes. 

Everything seemed to prosper in our hands, and we felt that the Lord was blessing our labors temporally and spiritually. I still worked at the deeding business and attending to the affairs pertaining to my office as Mayor of the City. About this time they reorganized the Relief Society of Franklin. Sister Elizabeth Fox was chosen President, Sophia Mecham first counselor, and my wife, Mary, second counselor. 

1881. After my sons and I had put in our crops in the spring, we turned our attention to the canyon labor, with the purpose of getting out lumber to build a new house. We did quite an amount of labor in that direction, and got several thousand board feet in the fall. We laid the foundation and put up the frame, 16X32 by fourteen feet to the square in height. I hired a few days labor in putting up the frame. We did all the rest of the work ourselves. We got the body up, and shingles and rustic siding on before the extreme cold weather came. As soon as the weather permitted it, we filled it in with adobes which we had made in the warm weather. I worked in dressing the timber, laying the floors, and casing the doors and windows through the winter all the time I could get, over attending to other business and doing the work that had to be done around the home. So passed the winter - but quite pleasantly at home with my family. 

1882. In the spring we resumed our labor on the farm as usual. As soon as we got our crops in, we again went into the canyons to finish getting out the necessary material to finish the new home. We all labored hard to get the new house done. We attended to the other labors we had to do in raising grain, as well as having to pay for our land and getting deeds for the same. We accomplished a good summer's work, and got ready to plaster our house in the fall or winter, which took considerable means and labor, it being quite late and cold weather. We labored under quite a disadvantage, but through perseverance, we accomplished our object. 

On June 3rd, my wife, Sarah Ann, had her first son, Estes Smart Hawkes.

I was crowded with labor and business all summer and winter. In September I attended our County Convention at Oxford, being sent there as a delegate. I was chosen to go to Boise City as a delegate to the Territorial Convention to nominate a delegate to the U.S. Congress. I was given the proxy of four others. I was to meet at Boise City on the 14th at 10 o'clock A.M. Accordingly, I started on the U.N. Railroad. I went to Blackfoot, and there took a stage via Bellevue and Mountain Home. I arrived at 8:00 A.M. and found Brother Budge of Bear Lake. We counseled together before going into the convention, and concluded to vote for George Ainsley. We succeeded in securing his nomination. We started for home the next day and came home via Kelton. I stopped two days with my daughter, Lucy, at Salmon Falls, and visited with them. 

Back home, I went on with the labor of the house. In a short time I was sent to Malad to another convention. On arriving, I learned that a bench warrant was out for my arrest on the charge of polygamy. We met at Bishop Stewart's that night in counsel. President Preston was there. He advised me to give my proxy to some of the brethren and not come into the convention, as it was the intention to arrest me at that time, if it should prove true that a warrant was out for me. The next morning President Preston sent Bishop Stewart with a note telling me to get out of the way and keep out. The main object at that time was to destroy all our votes at the convention, to weaken us all they could in our party.

I went home from there and then to Richmond. I stayed a few days and then went to work on the Logan Temple. In a few days I was sent for. My eldest son, Bryant, had pneumonia. I went home, found him very sick, and all the other children sick with the measles. My wife, Mary, had gone to Heber City with her youngest son, a mere baby. I sent for the Elders. We had prayer and went to work anointing every one of them. We commenced to administer to them, beginning at the oldest and so on, to the last. They soon got better. My wife was sent for, and as soon as we could, we moved into the new house, having finished the two lower rooms. We moved in on Christmas Day. 

While at Richmond, old Sister Dinis died. The family desired that I should preach at the funeral. While at the cemetery, Brother Monson said to me, he thought I ought to take a mission. He was President of the Seventies through that district, and I knew it meant something.

1883. Soon after New Year's, I went back to Logan to work on the temple. In February, while working at the carpenter bench one morning, a letter from the First Presidency was handed to me giving me notice that I was called on a mission to the Southern States. [The temple was dedicated May 17, 1884, while I was still on my mission]. I had but two weeks to prepare for going, having to start from Salt Lake City on the 27th. 

I went home that day and began preparations to go. I got all my things ready as near as I could to start. The Saints assisted me with means to travel to my field of labor. One little circumstance transpired before I went. My wife, Sarah Ann, took quinsy a short time before I was to start for Salt Lake. She was very bad, so I did not go as soon as I would have on that account. At 9:00 P.M., her quinsy broke, and I started out at 2:00 A.M. in the morning. I arrived at Salt Lake City at 8:00 A.M. I went to the Historian's office and was there set apart for my mission, to the Southern States Mission, by President Woodruff. I was blessed also, to go to my father's house in the Eastern States and take the Gospel to them there, after I had filled my mission in the south. 

On the 27th, in company with 23 other Elders, I left Salt Lake City for Ogden. I was placed in charge of the little band of Elders. We met President Morgan at St. Louis, who accompanied us to Chattanooga, Tennessee, the headquarters of the Southern States Mission. I was assigned to labor in Hickman County, Tennessee, in company with Elder Miner Wilcox. In November we baptized ten persons into the Church. We emigrated a small company of saints to Colorado and Utah in November. Brother Wilcox was sick most of that winter. I had a very severe attack of chills and fever in the fall. 

1884. On the 18th of January, I baptized seven more into the Church. In March, Elder Wilcox was released to return home, on account of poor health. I baptized two more in May. Shortly after, I started for the East. I left Tennessee June 2nd, on board the steamer, Gilbert, for Cincinnati, Ohio. I was on the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers for one week. I stayed two days in Cincinnati and took cars for New York City. I found Brother Hart and Elder Stevenson there. I stayed two days viewing the city, then took a steamer for Boston, as far as Fall River. Then I took the train from there to Portland, Maine, then to Sebago Lake. 

I arrived in the afternoon, at the place of my cousin, Almon Littlefield. I will here say that I had never seen some of my father's relatives. The first one to meet me at the door was my father's sister, 84 years old, who got up and opened the door for me, a thing folks said she had never done for a great many years, having been to feeble to get up. 

I must be brief in this, as my diary gives a daily account of all my travels while on my mission, which I design to have written in connection with this history. I arrived at A. Littlefield's on the 14th of June. In a few days I began hunting up and visiting relatives which I found were very scattered. I did not mention to them that I was an Elder in the Mormon Church for nearly two weeks, but formed new acquaintances with the relatives. 

When I told Cousin Almon, and talked with his brother about the matter, they became quite anxious to hear me preach, which was just what I was anxious to do. After talking with him about the affair, I told him if they could get me their church, and give out the appointment, I could fill it. I thought it the best way to let them take the lead, and I would have a better chance with them in the beginning. 

They obtained the church in two weeks, which gave me ample time to prepare, and for them to circulate the news. Accordingly, at the appointed time, the people gathered into a large congregation. I was staying with my uncle, Daniel Smith, at the time. He and his family were very much concerned about me; they were afraid the ministers would get a hold on me, as they thought I was not much of preacher. The old gentleman said to me, I must put my best foot forward, for they did not want the ministers to get the better of me. I was all alone and had to do all. 

It was quite a hard task for me with a large assembly of well educated people before me, and all strangers to me, except only a few acquaintances of my kindred. I spoke for two hours and ten minutes on the first principles of the Gospel and the apostasy of the Primitive Church, and bore a powerful testimony to them. After the meeting, many came and shook hands with me in approbation. Uncle Smith came with the others and said, I need not fear; none could gainsay anything I had said. Others said it was the greatest discourse that had ever been delivered in that house. I held other meetings at different places with good success. 

I visited my father's birthplace and saw many things of interest on the old homestead. I spent a very pleasant summer in the midst of my kindred in Maine. I visited the old homestead of our grandparents at Old Saugus, where they first settled in 1630. His name was Adam Hawkes, and he came from England. It is still owned by a descendent of Adam's, Lewis P. Hawkes.

My father's sister, Sally, 84 years old, died at her home on the seventh of September at 6:00 P.M. The funeral was on the tenth, as they kept her to give the friends and relatives time to come from a distance. By the request of the family, I preached her funeral to a large audience. I took up the subject of the resurrection. It was strange to most of them, but I proved every assertion from the Bible and made it very plain that none could gainsay. 

I spent a week in Beverly, Massachusetts with a cousin, W. Henry Hawkes, and came back to Maine on the 15th. On the 21st, cousin Almon's wife and daughter requested me to baptize them. Thinking it would be best not to let any know of it, we all went down to Sebago Lake at 9 o'clock in the evening, and I baptized them. I came back, changed my clothes, confirmed them and felt thankful to the Lord for giving them His Spirit, that they had obeyed the Gospel order, and were now numbered with the Saints. My prayers were answered thus far. From the time I first arrived and long before, I prayed that I might have power to convert at least some of my relatives to the truth of Mormonism, as it is called. 

I counseled, advised, and gave them all the instructions I was in possession of, to strengthen them after I was gone, to fortify them against the evils to which they would come in contact, knowing they would be left like sheep without a shepherd, until they gathered with the Saints. 

On September 27th, I started home. I went on a steamship from Portland, Maine, to New York and was very seasick most of the way. I came via Chicago to Council Bluffs on the N.Y. & Erie Railroad and the Chicago and Northwestern R.R. then on the Union Pacific R.R. to Ogden, where I arrived on the fourth of October. I saw my wife, Mary, standing on the platform at the depot, but lost sight of her. She gave up that I was on the train, and started for Salt Lake City that night. 

I went to Salt Lake City the next day, and found her at the Globe with a lot of friends taking dinner. I attended the General Conference and had an interview with President G.Q. Cannon and reported myself to the Deseret News Office. I spent a pleasant time meeting numerous friends. My wife and I returned home to the rest of the family, and found all well. I visited among the Saints, and on the following Sunday, gave an account of my missionary labors to the Saints in Franklin. 

1885. I spent the winter at home with my family, and in talking to and with the Saints. I attended the Oneida Stake Conference at Oxford in February with my wife, Mary.

On March 17th, myself, and wives left home and went to Smithfield, Utah. I went on to Salt Lake City and worked until late fall. Many unpleasant things took place, owing to my situation. There was much persecution against the Saints, or those that were living polygamy. Deputy marshals were now in nearly all the settlements, commencing their hellish work, hunting and harassing those they thought were in polygamy. Idaho was more troubled than Utah, as there were but few compared with the number of officers. I spent most of the summer in Utah, knowing the bitter feeling against me. 

We now come to the end of Joshua's journal/record. We will switch now from first person reporting, to narrating the rest of his history from various written sources listed in the bibliography at the end of this history.

From 1884 to 1892 the anti-Mormon forces completely dominated the Idaho State government. During this period the postmaster, constable, justice of the peace, and all other influential offices were held by non-Mormons in Franklin. The school board, which consisted of three trustees, were all non-Mormons and they employed their own teachers. None of the Mormons were allowed to teach school during this period of disfranchisement, and legally no Mormon could hold a political office or was allowed to vote. At this time, too, Franklin was disincorporated as a city and was finally made a village in 1897.

In 1890, the church sustained the Manifesto to discontinue polygamy. In December 1891, the church petitioned for amnesty or a general pardon for their "political offenses." Utah became a state, the Edmunds Act became inoperative, the church property was returned, and the restrictions against the Mormons by the government were removed. The Idaho State Legislature finally withdrew its restrictions against the Mormons in 1893. The Latter-day Saints then split up into the two leading national political parties, and have since enjoyed equality in their citizenship with no feelings of animosity.

On July 12th, [1885] my wife, Sarah Ann, had another son born in Franklin, whom we named Acil Smart Hawkes.

1887. Sarah Ann gave birth to William Thomas Hawkes on October 4th, at Franklin, Idaho. 

1888. Joshua's son, William Thomas Hawkes died January 7, at the age of three months old. Joshua's older sister, Lucy Hawkes Allen, died February 22, at the age of 59. 

From the diary of Joshua Hawkes dated September 1888 we find the following quote, "I concluded to give myself up to the officers on the charge of unlawful cohabitation. So, on the 25th, [probably August] surrendered to Le Hanson, U. S. Marshall. Went to Blackfoot on the 8th [September] and on the 9th pleaded guilty. Went home until the 16th, on the 19th was sentenced to go to Boise [Territorial] Penitentiary for four months and pay a $100.00 fine. Started for the Pen at 8:PM - arrived at Boise City on the 20th at 9:AM. Got breakfast at the hotel. Got to the Pen at 10:00 A.M. Also, Bros. Buckley, Jacobson, and Johnathan Smith - four month each - no fine on Buckley, $100.00 on Jacobson, and $200.00 on Smith." 

While imprisoned there he wrote his life history from memory up to that date. One source says that because of his excellent horsemanship, he was assigned prison duty to work in the horse stables. He was in charge of seeing that the horses were groomed, harnessed, and ready to travel when needed by the prison officials. 

1889. Effie Smart Hawkes was born to Joshua and Sarah Ann Hawkes, March 20th, at Franklin, Idaho. 

1890. On July 3, Idaho became the 43 state of the Union. 

1892. Percy Smart Hawkes was born to Joshua and Sarah Ann Hawkes, December 2nd, at Richmond, Utah. 

1894. LeGrand Smart Hawkes was born to Joshua and Sarah Ann Hawkes, April 18th, at Franklin, Idaho. 

1896. By now, Sarah Ann had lived in Franklin and vicinity for seventeen years as a second wife to Joshua, and in connection with his first wife and family. Sarah had six living children of her own between the ages of 16 and 2 years of age. 

Sarah encouraged Joshua to move her and their children north into the upper Snake River Valley. They had heard of some choice land that could be homesteaded up there. So in the springtime a trip was made to go and look at the new prospects, and then make a decision. Joshua was now 60 years old and Sarah Ann was 41. 

On May 4, Joshua and Sarah Ann Hawkes filed on homestead land in a place that had been called Leigh Valley, Houston Flat, Mountain Dell, and finally Horseshoe Flat. It was 20 miles east of St. Anthony, Idaho, in Fremont County. Later a nearby Post Office called Lillian was established two miles to the north. They filed separately so as to be able to obtain more acres of land. Joshua filed on 160 acres. Sarah filed on 160 acres. Joseph Bryant, Joshua's oldest living son, now 32 years old, married with several children, also filed on 160 acres nearby at the same time. Two or three years later on Lewis Joshua, another married son, filed on 160 acres nearby. 

Before returning to Franklin for the winter, Joshua and others organized the Conant Creek Canal Company with O. L. Packer, President; Joseph Bryant Hawkes, Secretary; with members Joshua Hawkes, Oscar Pope, Nathan Packer, Sarah A. Hawkes. June 20th, a surveyor was enlisted to survey the new ditch. That summer some of them worked making a 3 foot wide ditch in the open country. 

In October Joshua, Sarah, and a few others of the family left Franklin to go north again to the site of the homesteads. (They were required by law to live one day out of every six months of the year to legally prove up on it.) 

1897. Early in the spring Joshua moved Sarah Ann and all her children, except Elsie, by horse drawn wagons, up to the new homestead in Horseshoe Flat. Elsie stayed home to go to school so as to be able to begin teaching. Mary Lewis and most of her children stayed and continued to live in Franklin and nearby. [For a detailed account of these first few years on the homestead, read LUXURY IN A COVERED WAGON, by Acil S. Hawkes]

Here are some excerpts from the above mentioned book:

"With covered wagon...we came to the crest of the hill overlooking the place they had called Horseshoe Flat...

a very beautiful place, covered with a sea of tall grass intermingled with flowers of blues and yellows...what a quietness... and peace."

Spring 1897...Joshua & Sarah Ann Hawkes & children, Estes, Acil, Percy, Effie, & LeGrand. "On the homesteads...without gun or tent...

build a cabin...use snow from the bluffs...posts from the groves...dig a ditch...build a bowery...dig a deep water well by hand...

plow one or two acres of sod per day...we will make something of this place." (memories of 12 yr. old Acil S. Hawkes)

"For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7)

Joshua and Sarah Ann found that some of the people that had come the year before had become discouraged and left. So, they moved into an abandoned cabin in the middle of Horseshoe Flat until they could construct a two room cabin of their own near the south end of the property they had filed on. 

1898. They worked most of last year and this year building their cabins and getting things in order to make a living in this new land. Joshua was elected President of the Conant Creek Canal Company and served there for several years. Not only as president director, but helped along with his sons to do the actual digging and business to get the water down to the farms. 

Joshua and Sarah Ann's daughter, Elsie, came to teach the first school in the Farnum area. 

1900. The first Sunday School in the Conant LDS Branch was organized with Joshua Hawkes as president. Winter was so harsh that in each of these early years the family would take their kitchen stove by wagon and move to a small house in Rexburg until spring. By making this move the children could attend school in the winter. In 1903 the Hawkes family started the Academy boarding house to supplement their income.

Some of the families who came in this early era in addition to the Hawkes family were: O.L. Packer, J.E. Morrison, Lorin Mendenhall, Nathan Packer, Oscar Pope, Thomas Pratt, Billy Moss, Silas, James, & Wilmer Green, Thomas & Brigham Murdoch, Newby family, Hans Neilson, Daniel Gibson, Ferrins, Hills, Orrs, Wades, Simon Saunders, Tom Houston, & others. William Pratt lived in Wilford, Idaho and was instrumental in advising many of the above people to settle in the Farnum/Drummond area. Many of them were related to the Hawkes/Smart families. 

For a number of years the families hauled water in barrels from Conant Creek. Mr. Morrison finally suggested they dig a well in front of Joshua Hawkes' house as it looked like a likely place. With the help of several men, water was found at only 18 ft. in one day. This became a popular place for neighbors and travelers to come by and replenish their water supply. 

North of the Hawkes two-room cabin was a salt lick. Herds of antelope and other game could be seen there at times pawing the dirt away to obtain a few licks of salty mineral. Buffalo skulls were still to be found occasionally lying about on hill and vale. 

Out of necessity, Joshua selected the cemetery site on top of the hill in the middle of Horseshoe Flat, as the young son of Tom Houston passed away and there was no place as yet designated to bury anyone. He was the first one. This was the beginning of the two fenced cemetery sites now found on the hill. 

1901. Most of the summer and fall through these years were spent working on the Conant Creek Canal to get the water down and on the farm land. The water was finally brought down the nine miles from Conant Creek to the first terminus in 1903. There were still many miles of lateral ditches to be dug to get the water to the individual farms. 

It was thought that no crops could be raised without the practice of irrigation, as that had been the pattern in the places they farmed in the past in Utah and southern Idaho. As a result, not much land was broken up because their first effort was to obtain the water. In the years that followed, it was found that very good crops could be raised by summer fallowing one year and raising a crop the next. So great tracts of land were broken up that did not lay under the ditch and farmed in this dry farm method. 

Many of the farmers later gave up their water stock and relied solely on the blessings of rain. After all the years of toil and sacrifice Joshua and his sons put into getting the water down, it turned out to be more of a blessing to other farmers who used it than to his own family. However, the Hawkes family descendants continued to dry farm and have had a fine prosperous family business through the years. 

There is not much information available about the last 10 years of Joshua's life. His health deteriorated with the running sore in his leg, his advancing age, and the rigors of life he had experienced. He returned the last few years of his life to Franklin to the care of his first wife and family. He had a desire to work in the Logan Temple as much as was possible and rest from the cares of world. 

1914. Joshua Hawkes passed away at the age of 78, March 5th, in Logan, Utah, and was buried March 8th, in Franklin, Idaho. 

1920. Mary Lewis Hawkes died at the age of 81, and was buried in Franklin, Idaho, near her husband, Joshua. She was born November 22, 1839, and died August 9, 1920. 

1934. Sarah Ann Smart Hawkes died at the age of 79, and was buried in Franklin, Idaho, near her husband, Joshua. She was born October 24, 1855, and died November 3, 1934. 

There are several of Joshua's children and descendants buried nearby in the same cemetery. 

We do not have a history of Mary Lewis except to say that she was born November 22, 1839, in Cardeff, Glamorgan, Wales, the daughter of John A. Lewis and Ann John. Her father came from Wales to Utah in 1854, bringing 21 people with him. He followed the trade of a mason and died at the age of 75 in Utah. She was married to a Mr. Redd and had a daughter Mary Ann Redd, who was later adopted and became Joshua Hawkes' oldest child. Mary Lewis and Joshua had nine children counting Mary Ann. 

Sarah Ann Smart was born in American Fork, Utah, the daughter of Thomas Sharratt Smart and Ann Hayter on October 24, 1855. She grew up acquiring a talent for sewing, dancing, and homemaking. At the age of 22 she was sustained as a counselor in the first Young Ladies Association in Franklin. Mary Ann Hawkes was President. 

A grand-daughter of Sarah Ann reports that her grandmother fell deeply in love with a wonderful young man and he turned all his attention to her. But following a lovers quarrel she refused to be humble and meet him halfway. On a quick rebound he married someone else. It was a tragic heartache that became her constant companion. 

As time went on Sarah Ann undoubtedly visited the Hawkes home on occasion, with her friend and associate, Mary Ann Hawkes, and there became acquainted with Joshua. On August 28, 1879, Sarah Ann at the age of 24, became the plural wife of Joshua Hawkes. Sarah Ann and Joshua had 7 children. 

In the course of life and times while living in Franklin, the two families had some good times and some misunderstandings. It is reported that if there were any hard feelings between the wives that they were reconciled in the later years of their lives. 

It would be well to note, however, that according to the 22 March 1912 Endowment House Records #183402, that Sarah Ann and Joshua were temple divorced by order of Pres. Joseph F. Smith. This was just two years before his death. 

As his posterity, we will have to leave judgement to the Lord. These are noble people. Our worthy ancestors. We love and appreciate them. The hereafter will resolve all our concerns. We honor them. We respect them. May we live worthy of God's approval and blessings. 

As we conclude this report let us remember how Joshua grew from a pioneer boy who's humble family had practically nothing of this world's goods, to a prominent citizen in the community and church. We watched him repeatedly move from one place to another, constantly striving to improve his lot in life. He was always building, learning, and willing to serve his family, community, and the Lord. He taught us great lessons by his example and effort. His greatest growth and success may have come in Franklin. 

A Franklin, Idaho, pioneer newspaper editor named five main characteristics, and his description might well have been used as a fitting epitaph to have been inscribed on a future monument in memory of those early builders. 
First, every family in the community had available for its study the official publication printed and circulated under the direction of the pioneer leaders. This publication served both as a newspaper and as a medium through which they obtained the counsel and instruction from their leaders whose utterances they considered inspired and of unquestioned wisdom. From its pages they were able to satisfy in part their desire for knowledge and learning. 

Second, they had the reputation for paying their debts promptly. 

Third, they were public-spirited, as evidenced by the fact that in the nine years since their settlement they had built a fort as protection, a school, a church, a cooperative store, a post office with pony express routes to other communities, a sawmill, a telegraph, and a brass band. 

Fourth, the man who had been named as their leader, or bishop, as he was called, had so distinguished himself as to be given the title "a working bishop." Of him it was said he worked until he was tired, then rested by changing jobs. 

Fifth, they did not forget their poor. 

In their teachings and by their example they fathered a new concept of religion and patriotism. For them a place in the celestial world could be won not merely by being good, but by doing good. 

As Joshua and his families grew up in this environment it molded them into strong people who have given us a great heritage. They have given us the ambition and opportunity to also be of great service to our families, communities, and the Lord. 


NOTE:
We have found additional recorded evidence that some of Joshua's and Sarah Ann's descendants have re-sealed them together again in the temple in the 1990's.

Home + Historical Background + Historical Summary + Life History + Missionary Journal + Post Mission Journal + Horseshoe Flat Celebration + Bibliography + Contact

This history was compiled in 1998 by using the nearly thirty reference materials listed in the bibliography, by Joshua's grandson, Percy Blaine Hawkes. Please email  any additional information, journals, corrections, suggestions, etc., so we may make a more accurate record.