Abraham Durfee

Abraham Durfee, 1826 - 1905, age 79, was born on 14 November 1826 in Amboy, Oswego, ,New York to Edmund and Magdalena Pickle Durfee. He was the tenth of fourteen children, six girls and eight boys, all born in New York except for the last child who was born in Kirtland, Geauga, Ohio. His father, Edmond,was born on 3 October 1788 in Tiverton, Newport, Rhode Island. He was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 15 May 1831 at the age of 42. He served a mission between 1 December 1831 and February 1831 in Ohio and New York. He helped build the Kirtland Temple and was one of the 24 elders who laid the cornerstone in Kirtland, Geauga, Ohio. The family went with the Saints to Missouri and had a farm in Caldwell County Missouri in 1837. When they were driven from Missouri, they settled in Morley, Illinois. Morley was half way between Nauvoo and Quincy. He was a member of the High Council in Lima Township, Carroll, Illinois.He served three different missions for the Church. He was killed by a mob who had burned the farm of Solomon Hancock.They started the Hancock home on fire and everyone came running out. There were some 16 men who came from behind a fence and began shooting. Her father was the only one hit. The bullet struck him in the neck and he fell dead immediately. His endowments were completed for him in the Nauvoo Temple on 18 December 1845. His mother, Magdalena Pickle was born 6 June 1785 in Stone Arabia,Montgomery, New York. She was of Dutch descent. She was baptized into the Church on 1 June 1831 at the age of 45. After they left Missouri they settled in the Morley Settlement in Yelrome, Adams, Illinois.She received her endowments on 21 January 1846 and was sealed to Edmund. His father died on 15 November 1845 in Green Fields, Hancock, Illinois and was buried on 17 November 1845 in the old Nauvoo Burial Grounds. Her mother died on 17 May 1850 at Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie, Iowa at the age of 64. She was buried in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois. They must have taken the body back to be buried beside her husband. Abraham was putting out a fire during the mobbing of Morley’s Settlement,when he was brutally shot by a marksman who won a jug of whiskey for his prize. The mob destroyed and burned over 200 homes. After the saints were driven from Nauvoo they made their way to Winter Quarters, Iowa. He married Ursula Curtis in 1846 in Carterville (Winter Quarters), Pottawattamie, Iowa at the age of 20. Ursula was born on 14 December 1826 in Sulligan Township, Tioga, Pennsylvania to Enos and Ruth Franklin Curtis. She was also 20 years old when they married. She was the twelfth of fourteen children, six girls and eight boys. Her parents were married on 15 December 1805 in New York City, New York. They raised their children in Sullivan Township and Rutland Township,Tioga, Pennsylvania. Her father served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1832. He and four other missionaries were instrumental in the conversions of Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball. His family moved from Kirtland, Ohio, then Missouri and finally Nauvoo. The family resided in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois from 1839 to 1846. His father was a carpenter and a wheelwright. Ezra was about 20 years old when the prophet Joseph Smith and his brother were killed. He heard his last speech when the Prophet said,”I go like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am as calm as a Summer morning.” They had two children born there, Celestia Ann was born on 21 September 1847 and died on 6 July 1850 and Mahala Ruth was born on 17 May 1850. They traveled to the Utah Territory with the Benjamin Hawkins Company in 1850. They departed on 5 June 1850 with 150 individuals and 150 wagons. (Perhaps they were not counting children and women to have that many wagons in the company. The company when it began its journey from the outfitting post at Kanesville, Iowa (present day Council Bluffs). James Lake may have been Captain of the Second Division but at some point his"fifty" moved on ahead as its own company. Abraham was 23; his brother Jabez was 22; Ursula was 23; his brother Nephi was 14; and Mahala Ruth was an infant. Samuel Kendall Gifford tells of a miracle on the trail: “I consider a miracle was wrought for the benefit of the companies that were about to cross the plains. The Pawnee Indians made their appearance by hundreds, and I believe by thousands, for they could be seen standing on the bluffs like a thousand stumps. Quite a lot of them came into camp and commenced begging and stealing, and stole more than they begged. One finally stole a sack of crackers, and got caught at it and brought it back. The old Chief, quite an old Indian gave him a number of heavy licks with his riding whip over the head and gave him a terrible talking to. I suppose it was for getting caught and not for stealing. About this time it was discovered that a Gentile who had come up on a steamboat and got into our company to cross the Plains was nearly dead with the small pox. This word was soon conveyed to the Red men who disappeared like dew before the searching rays of the sun.” They arrived in the Salt Lake valley on 9 September 1850. When they got to the valley they settled in Springville, Utah, Utah Territory where the rest of their children were born. Abraham Augustus was born on 8 December 1850; John Franklin was born on 4 March 1855; Ursula Jane was born on 23 February 1857; and Enos Curtis was born on 16 October 1859. Abraham entered into plural marriage on 5 May 1853 marrying Mary Turner in Salt Lake City at the age of 26. He was also sealed to Ursula on that same day, most likely in the President’s Office as the Endowment House was not finished until 1855. She was a widow of George Washington Langley who died in February 1850 in Salt Lake City. They had had three children, but one had died before they came west. One died in 1850 in the valley and the oldest boy had died by 1864. They had four children together, Samantah Cementha was born in 1852; Sarah D. was born in 1855; Parley was born in 1856 and died 3 April 1856; and Melvin was born on 4 March 1857. He married Alsa Langley on 7 April 1857 in Salt Lake City and was sealed to her in the President’s Office. They did not have any children. He married Maria Simmons Twitchell, date unknown, and they had one child Cordelia born about 1868. Apparently Abraham was excommunicated from the Church and Ursula had the sealing canceled and then she was sealed to Samuel Kendall Gifford. He was on the same company coming west so she knew him from their travels. Ursula died on 20 June 1902 in Springdale, Washington, Utah at the age of 75. She was buried in the Shunesburg Cemetery, Shunesburg,Washington, Utah. Abraham died on 14 December 1905 in the Burbank Hospital, Soda Springs, Caribou, Idaho at the age of 79. It is not known where he was buried. by Marge Becraft