Many years ago, when I was still a little child, my family went to Fayette, Utah to visit my great-grandmother. What I remember was a very rural place where people still had very large farms. I remember seeing unpaved roads, white fences and a herd of sheep. I also remember being in my great-grandmother’s kitchen and being told that she didn’t cook food on the sabbath day. Sunday meals were prepared ahead of time on Saturday. I was just old enough to find this interesting, since my mother had never taught us that it was wrong to cook on the Sabbath day. Visiting Fayette was a strange and interesting experience for me, even when I was that young. White Plains, New York (where I was living) and Fayette, Utah are very different places.
Years later, when I was a student at Brigham Young University, people would often ask me if I was related to Bartholomews they knew in Springville, Utah. I have been acquainted with all my aunts and uncles and first cousins, and none of them were from Springville. So I usually responded that I was probably distantly related to Bartholomews in Springville, but that I didn’t know them.
I didn’t think too much about why people were asking me this question. It didn’t even occur to me to wonder why there were Bartholomews in Springville. My Bartholomew grandparents lived in Provo, which is next door to Springville, so I wasn’t thinking too much about Fayette. Honestly, the geographical locations of Bartholomews in Utah wasn’t a question in my mind.
A few weeks ago I learned about something I never knew before about my genealogy and the reasons for Bartholomews being in Fayette and Springville. I’m still working on getting more information about it. What I know is that my great-great-great-grandfather Joseph Bartholomew, Sr. originally lived in Springville, Utah. His bishop there, I believe his name was Bishop Aaron Johnson tried to have my ancestor killed and may have also had him excommunicated. From what little I know about this, my ancestor knew about some other murders or killings that were orchestrated by this bishop, and so this bishop was trying to get rid of him.
A few things surprised me about this story. First, until a few weeks ago I hadn’t heard about it. Second, I was a little surprised that my Bartholomew family line didn’t fall away from the church. From what I can tell, they always remained devout Mormons. If in fact my great-great-great-grandfather was excommunicated, I wonder how he worked his way back into the church. Did he have to be re-baptized? Perhaps in the Utah of these times, excommunication and membership were handled differently or maybe this excommunication didn’t really happen. I don’t know. I’m hoping to have some better sources about this soon.
Basically my ancestor dealt with this extremely hostile situation by taking his family and moving to a remote part of Utah. I don’t know much else about the details, except that some Bartholomews moved back to Springville (or perhaps never left) and that is why people were asking me about Bartholomews they knew in Springville.
I’m going to try and get some more specific information about this. For the first time in my life I am finding genealogy very interesting. This story struck a chord in me because I am grateful that my family is still devoted to the church.
1Flo Moscon on Sep 5, 2006 at 1:09 am:
The murders were the Parrish-Potter murders which occurred March 19, 1857 in Springville. I have copies of the research done by Dan Bartholomew - if you want copies please email me.
2Daniel B. on Sep 5, 2006 at 7:59 am:
Flo, I’m sorry for the delay in posting your comments (and those of others). Due to spam attacks I have made it so that all comments go through comment moderation.
I have gained a copy of Dan Bartholomew’s research. I have been meaning to post some quotes from that research … I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. I should add that though my name and my father’s name are also Dan Bartholomew, neither of us is the Dan Bartholomew who put this research together.
3DadPa on Sep 26, 2006 at 5:47 pm:
Sir,
I think your memory of you great-grandmother not cooking on Sunday is not quite correct. It seems to me she did cook on Sunday, and this was never any kind of an issue. In fact, when I was staying w them (Grps Ray & Martha) for a time during one of my boyhood summers, she acceded to my reqest to make fudge togther. Yumm!
DadPa
4DadPa on Sep 26, 2006 at 5:58 pm:
Joseph Bartholomew Sr. and all his family moved, along with the Mellor and Metcalfe families and one other, I believe (at the instance of Brigham Young, according to some accounts–Joseph Sr. was glad to volunteer for the move and to leave Springville) to Warm Springs–eventually Fayette, near Gunnison, Utah These families were soon forced to move into a fort in or near Gunnison because of the “Blackhawk Indian War,” which flared up at this time and continued for a year or two. This fort and/or part of the Gunnison area was actually referred to as “Hog Wallow.” After the Indian conflict subsided, the families moved back and continued building, plowing, and pioneering in Fayette. Two of the families eventually moved elsewhere, but the Mellors and Bartholomews remained and became much intermarried in subsequent generations.
5DadPa on Sep 26, 2006 at 6:02 pm:
Apparently, Joseph Smith Sr and his family felt that the church was greater than Bishop Johnson. I can’t remember whether Brigham Young undid the excommunication or whether it was just ignored, especially after the move and a fresh start. As the next generation matured, one of Joseph Sr’s sons, George Marston Bartholomew (as I recall) moved with his family back to the Springville area.
6Dan Bartholomew on Oct 15, 2006 at 5:11 pm:
Joseph of Fayette whose son George Marston married Salena Roper daughter of Charlotte Elizabeth Mellor Roper. George Marston and Salena lived their whole married life in Fayette and are buried in the Fayette cemetery. Their two sons, George Marston Jr and Floyd (my father) moved to Springville in the early days of the depression. Joseph was disfellowshiped from the church by Aaron Johnson. It was a general authority(a friend of Joseph’s) who reinstated him. I would have to look at my research to recall which authority. In one of my books there is an article which identifies just where Hog Wallow was. Three families left Warm Springs leaving only the Bartholomews and Mellors. The Metcalf came later and built a flour mill. Their dugout was located just to the northwest of George Marston and Salena’s home.
7Daniel B. on Oct 16, 2006 at 7:01 am:
[Note to readers, though we are distantly related, the Dan Bartholomew comment I am responding to here is not myself or my father, though we share the same name. I only write this note to clarify this, since it could be confusing.]
Dan, thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. I would certainly be interested in learning the name of the general authority who reinstated Joseph’s full church privileges. I heard somewhere that someone wrote a biography of Bishop Aaron Johnson and am curious if this issue is addressed at all in the biography or if our ancestor is described in the book. I have to say that this story has ignited my interest in my own genealogy. I had only learned about this story this year.
8Dan Bartholomew on Oct 19, 2006 at 5:06 pm:
Dan Bartholomew is my full name. Not Daniel. It was Orson Hyde who had Joseph Bartholomew reinstated in the Church. From a biography by Joseph’s grandson George Marston Jr. it reads: “Orson Hyde hd our grandfather reinstated in the Church. Some time after grandfather had his rock house built in Fayeette it was considered the best house in town. Bishop Johnson who had mistreated grandfaher had a wife in Gunnsion and was returning from there to Springville when night overtook him in Fayette. He inquired for a place to stop and was directed to Bartholomews. It was dark , the boys put up his team and when he came to the house and found himself in the presence of the Bartholomews he was very much embarrassed, The biography of Aaron Johnson was written by Alan P. Johnson, a descendant of Aaron Johnson. The only reference I could find in the book reads on page 576: “The attempt of Abraham Durfee and Jos. Bartholomew to turn states evidence had so far resulted in their being mistreated more than the other prisoners. They were also taken in charge by the troops and marched to Camp Floyd.” I hope this answers your questions.