Sunday, July 8, 2012

Joseph Bateman and Mary Eliza Allen

This is my Great Great Grandma on my mom's side. I was searching to find out who her parent's were. My Grandma has is listed on her hard copy as Joseph Bateman and Mary Eliza Allen. I wasn't able to prove it and it's not on my Family Tree on new.familysearch.org but I have found errors there before.

While I was searching I found this. I don't know who posted it or how long it has been on the internet. Someone just posted it as a Word Document. It's all about their life. If you posted it thank you for writing down their stories so I too can enjoy them!!!


JOSEPH BATEMAN
1837 - 1890
Joseph Bateman was born December 9, 1837, in Lancashire, England.  He was the son of Thomas Bateman and Mary Street.  In 1840 he came to the United States on a ship named “Philadelphia,” arriving in New Orleans April 1, 1840.  Those who came with him were among some of the first members of the Church to come through New Orleans.
On the day the cornerstone of the temple was laid, the family arrived in Nauvoo.  Joseph’s father assisted in laying the cornerstone and in the building of the temple.  Joseph was three years old at the time they arrived there.  He did not remember seeing the Prophet Joseph Smith, but his older brothers and his parents heard him speak several times.
Joseph’s father owned a farm about one mile from Nauvoo on the Schunch River.  The family went through all the trials and tribulations with the other saints, and was later driven out.
In the spring of 1849 they began to make preparations to go to Utah.  They traveled to Council Bluffs and in 1850 became part of a company headed for Utah.  They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley September 15, 1850.  They were asked to settle in West Jordan.
Joseph’s father went back to England to settle some business matters, and on his way back he died and was buried at sea.  Joseph’s mother was left alone to raise a large family of six boys and four girls.  Joseph was the fifth child in the family.  He married Mary Eliza Allen on October 14, 1860.  The couple had two children while they were living in West Jordan.  In 1864 they moved to Alpine, taking out a homestead just North and East of Alpine.
In this area there were many Indians, but they never caused the family any trouble.  Great Grandfather always gave them food and treated them respectfully, and in turn they respected him.  After living on the homestead for several years, he and his family moved down into Alpine, and he continued to farm and raise livestock.
On one of his trips to West Jordan to visit his family and relatives, he died.  He was only fifty-two years old.  The date was May 17, 1890.
MARY ELIZA ALLEN BATEMAN
1844 — 1924
Mary Eliza Allen Bateman was born November 11, 1845, in Brooklyn, Long Island, New York, the daughter of David R. Allen and Eliza Martin.  Her family moved to West Jordan, Utah in 1853, and this is where she spent her teen years.   She married Joseph Bateman on October 14, 1860, and they continued to live in West Jordan where two of their thirteen children were born.  They then moved to Alpine and lived on a homestead for many years. Mary was a practical nurse and was always on hand to help people in the Alpine area.
Their homestead was in a beautiful area with good soil and a stream of water running through it (It is presently owned by Alpine City and has been made into a recreational park).  However, they were over two miles from town and there were no neighbors around.  Many times there were Indians in the area.  Mary was nervous about being left alone on the homestead.
Marinda Durrant, wrote the following about her Grandparents, Joseph and Mary:  “My little Grandmother was afraid when one morning in late October my Grandfather said he was going to the canyon for some logs to build a shed for the sheep, and would be gone all day.  Grandmother cried and said she did not want to stay alone, but Grandfather said, ‘Don’t be afraid of the Indians, Mary.  They are friendly and will not hurt you.  They have been up on Round Mountain for several days now and have not bothered anyone.  I saw their fires last night.  I will be home before dark, so do not be afraid.’  Then he left with his ox team for the canyon.   “No sooner had the clang of the chains died down than Grandmother saw three big Indians standing in her doorway.  She grabbed her tiny baby, only six weeks old, and calling to my mother, who was three, to bring Sammy, who was two, out of the back door.  She started to run after Grandfather’s wagon, calling, ‘Joseph, Joseph!’
“After she had run a long way with the two little children trailing behind, Grandfather heard her calling him, and stopped his wagon and ran back to her.  She told him some Indians were at the house.  She got into the wagon and they went back and picked up the two little ones who were crying and frightened to death.
“When they reached the cabin, the Indians were still standing on the doorstep.  Grandfather asked them what they wanted.  They said they wanted food.  Grandfather could speak the Indian language, and he told them to come in.  Grandmother was glad to fix them some hot corn bread and mutton and other things she had.  They were hungry and ate all she could put before them.  She said she thought they never would be full.
“Grandfather showed them his guns and other things he had.  He took them out and showed them his sheep and his cows.  They stayed most of the day, and when they left, Grandfather gave them flour and mutton and molasses of which they were very fond.  He also gave them some jerky he had made.
“When they left, Grandfather said to them, ‘Don’t come around here any more; my squaw is scared.’  They said they would not.  The next morning when Grandfather got ready to go again, he said, ‘don’t be afraid, Mary, they will not be back again.  When any Indian gives you his word he keeps it.  ‘The next day the Indians left that part of the country, and never bothered the family any more.
“One day when Mother was out playing in the yard not far from the house, a large wildcat jumped from a tree and lit on her shoulder, tearing her dress and burying his claws in her shoulder.  She screamed and it ran away, but the marks of its claws were on her shoulder as long as she lived.”
Great Grandmother and her family moved to Murray, Utah in May of 1897.  She was President of the Grant Stake Relief Society for many years.
She died January 28, 1924 at the age of eighty.  I remember her very well.  I went with my mother many times to visit Grandmother Bateman.  She was a small woman and very nice-looking.  She had been a widow for thirty-four years.  When Great Grandfather Bateman died, she was left with eleven living children.  Two children had died in infancy.  She had gone through many difficult times, but remained bright and pleasant to the end of her life.

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