1811-1870
By Stephanie Johnson
Ellen watched her husband pore over the book. Ever since
they had heard from a neighbor that there were some new missionaries from
America in town, all he had done was read the Book of Mormon. It was published by the newly formed Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Over the next few weeks, Alexander patiently read to Ellen from the Book
of Mormon for hours every night. By the time they came to the end, Ellen had come
to admire the book and enjoy listening to it, but she wasn’t impressed. One night, though, she had a dream which
convinced her of the truth of the restored gospel. She was baptized soon after.
Ellen Breakell was born February 28, 1811, in Preston, England
to Richard and Alice Breakell. She married Alexander Neibaur on September 16,
1833. By the time they heard of the missionaries in 1837, they had two
children, Joseph and Margaret. They were very comfortable with Alexander
working in town as a dentist.
On February 5, 1841, with four kids in tow and another
baby on the way, they left Ellen’s childhood town and started out for the
gathering place of the saints. They were greeted in Nauvoo by Heber C. Kimball
and Willard Richards, the missionaries who had baptized them in England. Over
the next few years, they welcomed two more children into their family,
Alexander received the priesthood and was ordained a seventy. And the couple received their endowments and
were sealed together for time and all eternity in the Nauvoo Temple.
The happiness and prosperity of Nauvoo was not to last.
In the end, the persecution and hard times caught up with them. It was doubly
hard with the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, as their families had all become
good friends. Although most of the saints left Nauvoo in February 1846, the
Neibaurs stayed in Nauvoo through the summer.
Ellen was expecting another baby and this time was in no condition to
travel. After delivering a healthy baby
girl, Leah, on August 29, 1946, they prepared to leave. Ten days later the
family, comprised of six children and a newborn, walked away from their home in
Nauvoo.
Ellen soon became sick as they arrived in Winter
Quarters. A kind church member cared for
Ellen, putting her to bed and caring for her baby until Ellen was well enough
to care for her family. This care lasted
for several weeks. Ellen was so grateful
for the help she received.
They camped in Winter Quarters until they could gather
supplies to travel westward, which took over a year. When they were ready, they joined the Brigham
Young company and began their trek on June 4, 1848 across the plains. Crossing the plains, Ellen now found herself
with more to do than ever before. Ellen carried the new and oftentimes sick
baby in one arm and drove the lead cows with the other. She milked the cows and took care of the
chores when the company camped at night. Walking several thousand miles ruined Ellen’s
shoes. By the end of the journey, Ellen
had discarded her shoes and was wrapping her sore feet in rags.
It was a great sight for them when they finally reached
the valley on September 20, 1848. They set up house in a tent and Alexander
began to practice dentistry again, becoming the first dentist in Utah. Many of his patients paid in goods at first, but eventually Alexander began to bring in money. When he had saved up a little money,
Alexander gave Ellen a beautiful new pair of shoes. For the next few days, Ellen could be found
madly knitting a beautiful pair of socks to go with the wonderful pair of
shoes. Finally she could remove the rags from her feet.
One morning, soon after she finished making her socks, a
collector came by the Neibaurs’ house to find Ellen in her new socks and shoes. A new company of pioneers were coming into
town and the collectors were gathering supplies for the refugees. Alexander told the men they had nothing to
spare, but Ellen interrupted and asked them to wait a moment. She took off her new socks and shoes and
handed them to the collector. She
wrapped her own feet in rags once more.
It had been hard for her to give up her shoes, but she remembered the kindness
offered to her and her family once they reached the Salt Lake Valley and in
Winter Quarters, and all along the way.
Works Cited:
Bassett, Theda. Grandpa
Neibaur was a Pioneer. Salt Lake City: Artistic Printing, 1988.
Carpenter, Ellen Wilde.
The Story of Ellen Breakel Neibaur. 17 July 2011
<http://www.neibaur.org/journals/ellen.htm>.
Story written in good faith using the available resources.
The comprehensive biography by Ellen W. Carpenter is excellent!
No comments:
Post a Comment