Edwin Whiting

Edwin Whiting Family Association, TESTIMONY OF JOSEPH SMITH By Edwin Whiting "My children, I have guarded the prophet Joseph Smith while he slept; I have guarded him while he walked the earth. I have slept at his side. I have felt the power of God in his life. I have seen the mantel of the Holy Ghost hover over him. I have received the witness that I know that he is and he was a prophet of the living god, and I want you children, my family to honor him and to honor each succeeding prophet following him because your security in the kingdom of God and your security in the church depends upon your full allegiance in the prophets in the earth. This testimony I leave with you and I know that he was indeed a prophet of the living god." About the year 1800, in the little town of Lee, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, near the border of New York, lived the family of Elisha and Sally Hulett Whiting. Elisha Whiting's father was a sea captain and lived in Connecticut. He died when Elisha was very young. His mother, not knowing what else to do, bound him to an old Quaker, who was very cruel to him, and after a few years, he ran away to Massachusetts and worked on a farm with a wheelwright. Here, he was married to Sally Hulett. They were highly respected, honest, generous, and firm in their convictions. Elisha Whiting followed the trade of wagon and chair making and did his work well. His wife was a very gifted lady in making prose and poetry a characteristic that has been bequeathed to many of the Whiting descendants. Edwin Whiting was born September 9, 1809, the third child of this family. When he was six years old, his parents moved to Nelson, Portage, Ohio. At that time, it was the western frontier of the USA but probably the very place his father wished to be to get suitable timber for his trade, for the support of his large family. Edwin Whiting's chance for education was very limited, but they all were taught the "3 R's, Readin', Ritin', and Rithmetic", and he wrote an eligible hand, an extra ordinary feat for his time. At an early age, he wrote credible verse. His early life in the forest, no doubt, accounts for his love of the out-of-doors, the beauties of nature, the trees, the flowers, the mountains, and the desire to hunt. One Sunday morning, when but a small boy, he decided to go hunting. He knew this was contrary to his parent's teachings, so he tried to draw his gun through the cracks between the logs of his bedroom and go unmolested. His gun caught and was discharged, inflicting a serious wound in his left arm. This, he said, was a lesson to observe the Sabbath Day and to obey his parents. He learned the chair making trade from his father and his workmanship was considered very good. In 1837, the Gospel was brought to the Whiting family. Edwin and his wife, his father and mother and some of his brothers and sisters joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were baptized by Thomas Marsh in 1838. Here, as in the time of Christ and His Apostles, the humble, hardworking class of people were the ones to listen and accept the gospel of truth. They were among the early members of our church and soon joined the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio. It was here that their trials, hardships and persecutions began and it took true manhood, womanhood, and faith in God to endure. They were forced to leave their new comfortable home, complete with furniture orchards, and land in Kirtland, Ohio and took only their clothing and a few valued relics and went to Far West Missouri. They were only in Far West a short time and had just built a new home, when a mob, several thousand strong, ordered them out. Every house in the village was burned except Father Elisha Whiting's, which was spared because he was so sick they could not move him. We remember of hearing Aunt Elizabeth tell how she sat on the pile of bedding far into the night with her little daughter, Jane, in her arms. Little Jane died soon after from exposure and lack of proper food. Sarah clapped her hands at the big bonfire the mob had made with their fences and the select wood from her father's chair shop. They were compelled to flee again so they joined the Saints at Lima in Father Morley's branch, where Edwin Whiting acted as counselor to Brother Morley. For several years, the Saints were happily building up the city of Nauvoo, and their Temple. Here they worshipped God without so many persecutions they had experienced at Lima. Edwin was appointed colonel in the Nauvoo Legion and was an active worker at all times for the up building of his church. Through the advice of those in authority, and for a righteous purpose, he entered the law of plural marriage. In the year 1845, he married Almira Meacham. The following year, January 27, 1846, he married Mary Elizabeth Cox. That same year, he was called on a mission to Pennsylvania and was there at the time of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph and Hyrum Smith. He soon returned home and took up arms with his brothers to protect his property and the lives of his family. During the battle of the Crooked River, his brother Charles was killed (It may have been his brother William E. Whiting instead). Still a greater test awaited him, his brothers, Almond, Sylvester, Chauncey and Lewis and his sister Louisa, did not feel that Brigham Young should be the leader of the church so they followed a Mr. Cutler and called themselves "Cutlerites" and moved up into Cletheral (maybe Clitherall), Minnesota. To this day, they hold tenaciously to the teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. They still correspond with the children of Edwin Whiting, and have given us, for temple work, an extensive genealogy of the Whiting Family. Edwin Whiting, his families, his father and mother stayed with the Saints, who were compelled to move West as far as Mt. Pisgah, (now known as Talmadge) Iowa. There, they stayed to prepare for the journey across the plains. The dreaded disease, cholera, (An infectious disease characterized by intense vomiting and profuse watery diarrhea and that rapidly leads to dehydration and often death typically from infected water.) took the father and mother of Edwin, his little brother and little daughter, Emily Jane. Their names are on the monument lately erected at that place in memory of those who died there. So many of his family were sick at one time, that there was no one well enough to get the sick ones a drink, but even in those trying times, they still had faith and rejoiced in the Gospel, for the Lord was with them, Emeline, a sister of Edwin, Married Fredrick Walter Cox and the two families were as one big family for years. They established a chair factory and hauled the chairs to Quincy, Illinois where they were sold. From this and their crops, they prepared to come west. Aunt Mary taught school two terms and helped the family some. In April, 1848, Edwin and Emeline, the only children of Elisha and Sally Whiting who stayed true to the church, started westward in Brother Morley's company. He settled Manti (See Mary Elizabeth Cox Life Story). After finding the climate of Manti unfavorable for raising fruit, his special work, he was advised by President Young to try out his nursery at Springville. He moved to Springville in 1861 and was able to plant and grow all kinds and varieties of fruit trees, vegetables and flowers. People used to come from neighboring communities to see his flowers. He built a home on the lot where the Springville Second Ward Church now stands. That old two story adobe home will stand in the memory of the members of the Whiting family as a place of many happy evenings and of fun and amusement. Aunt Mary also taught school there. He transplanted, in different towns, many evergreens from the mountains. Those around the old Court House in Provo, those at the Springville city Park, and one large evergreen that stands southwest of the Manti Temple, which can be seen for miles around. He once said, "I brought that in my dinner bucket and I think it was the first evergreen transplanted in Utah." His life was typical of this great tree. A poem written by Emma Whiting, wife of Daniel Whiting, describes his life and this tree as being similar. Edwin had one of the largest families in Utah. Many of those stand at the head of Stake and Ward organizations in our church. Among his descendants, we found seven bishops. In his later life, he did temple work for his dead relatives in the Salt Lake City Temple, St. George Temple, and in the Logan Temple. He lived the principles of his religion. He was honest, charitable, and never accumulated great riches. He was thrifty and loved his wives and children and gave them the comforts of life. He died at Mapleton, Utah on the 9th of December 1890 at the age of eighty-one years. He was firm in his belief and testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. This history was compiled by: Jennie Bird Hill, Year: 1919 Jennie Bird Hill is the daughter of Abby Ann whiting Bird who was the Daughter of Edwin and Hannah Whiting 1st March 1955 Edwin crossed the plains in 1849 and went south to help settle Manti. It took six weeks to get there, two weeks to build a road up Salt Creek Canyon. It was raining when they reached Temple Hill; the rain turned to snow and fell four feet deep. They shoveled the snow into winrows so cattle could get dry grass underneath. They cut down cottonwood trees so they could eat buds, bark, and small limbs. Edwin's 28 head were thin and tired from crossing the plains and when spring came only one big ox "old Buck", was still alive. Edwin wanted to raise fruit, so about 1860 he moved to Mapleton near Springville. (Orville S. Cox Genealogy Bulletin June 1957)