See What Our Family Was Up to During

. . . the Early Days of the Mormon Church

Church, Lewis, Younger

There are members of our families, who joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in its early days. Those who chose to be baptized are not our direct ancestors but are related very closely.

David and Ann (Beason) Lewis raised their family in Guilford County, North Carolina, during the last half of the eighteenth century. At some point the family moved to Pendleton District, Anderson County, South Carolina. Elizabeth, one of their thirteen children and also our direct ancestor, married Micajah Alexander. After rearing eleven children of her own, she died in 1840 in neighboring Pickens County.

About 1810, Elizabeth bid farewell to her six little nieces and nephews, when her brother, Neriah, moved his young family out to Simpson County, Kentucky. The children were all under the age of ten at the time. Little did Elizabeth know that three of those children would one day become part of one of the most controversial religions in America. Neriah and his wife, Mary, had five more children, two of whom also joined the Church.

A similar situation occurred in our ancestral family known by the name of Church. Thomas and Betsy (Collett) Church produced eight children between 1790 and 1813 in Burke County, North Carolina. Eventually the family moved out to Williamson County, Tennessee. One of the children was Charles Church, who was also our direct ancestor. He married Nancy Younger, and they eventually settled out in Cedar County, Missouri, sometime after 1850.

Charles’ oldest brother, Abraham, was newly married when the Church family moved to Tennessee. He chose to settle in Hickman County, where his nine children were born. Five of those children were later baptized into the Church.

Nancy Younger, mentioned above, was one of thirteen children. She and her siblings were all born in Chatham County, North Carolina, and the family eventually moved out to Williamson County, Tennessee. One of her older brothers, James Newton Younger, is our direct ancestor. He married Rachel Murphy and lived in Maury County, Tennessee, before moving to Cedar County, Missouri. Nancy’s and James’ sister, Mary, married John Mayberry and the two of them joined with the Latter-day Saints.

A few years after the Church was organized, missionaries went out into the field to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Tennessee was a dangerous place for missionaries in those days; nevertheless, Haden Wells Church seems to be the first of Charles Church’s nephews, to join the Church. 

Benjamin Lewis was the first of Elizabeth Lewis’ nephews to be baptized in Kentucky. Both had siblings who joined the Church at later dates. Benjamin Lewis and his brothers, Tarlton and David, moved to Caldwell County, Missouri, to be with the body of Saints. The brothers were at Haun’s Mill the afternoon it was attacked by an angry mob. Tarlton took a ball in his shoulder which was lodged there the rest of his life. He and his wife buried Benjamin next to the well. David was unharmed.

The Lewises, Churches, and Mayberrys eventually joined the main body of Saints at Nauvoo and helped to build the temple. They were driven out with the rest of the Saints in 1846 by more angry mobs and endured the hard winter season at Winter Quarters, across the river in Iowa. Some members of these families joined with the Mormon Battalion, and some went out to Salt Lake City with Brigham Young and the first company, arriving on July 24, 1847. Other family members came out west in later companies.

Once in Salt Lake, they were called upon to settle in various parts of the territory. They served as bishops and missionaries and helped in building more temples. These members of our family were very instrumental in establishing the Saints in their new home in the mountains.

Image from https://www.thorntongallery.com/p/45-Nauvoo-Illinois-mid-1840s-Open-Print.aspx