History of Ellen Carter Bone

Ellen Carter Bone

Ellen Carter Bone, daughter of Mary Ann Stockdale and Edwin Carter, was born on June 24, 1835 at Prince Rock, Plymouth, Devonshire, England and was the fourth of six children. When she was six years old her father who was a stone mason was killed in a stone quarry on June 10, 1841, leaving five small children in the family. They were as follow:

Ellen, b. September 28, 1831, d. October 10, 1831

Edwin John, b. September 28, 1833

Ellen, b. June 24, 1835, d. November 22, 1915
William James, b. June 29, 1837

Jane, b. January 16, 1839, d. August 1, 1933

Mary Ann, b. July 31, 1840, d. November 19, 1884

After the father’s death Mary Ann did all she could to support the family, washing, ironing, mending for hire, even having her long black wavy hair cut to sell for women’s switches to get food for her children. In March of 1845 Mary Ann married James Martin and living conditions improved for a time. On June 7, 1846, a son was born, James Martin. The father, James Martin, died a few years later and again hardships came although the older children were able to help a little.

Mormon missionaries brought the gospel to the family which Mary Ann accepted and was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1851.

Ellen met William Henry Bone and on August 13, 1854 they were married. October of 1854 they were both baptized and confirmed members of the church.  They were anxious as were other members of the family to go to America and to Zion, and worked to that end. In the meantime Ellen’s two brothers, Edwin and William had left home and had gone to America or Australia returning home once after the family had left for America and were never heard from.

In 1856, a daughter Ellen Mary was born to them.

           On March 28, 1857 they sailed from Liverpool on the fine ship George Washington, Captain Cummings, with 817 saints on board, including fourteen returning elders, namely, James P. Park, Jesse B. Martin, C. R. Dana, D. B. Dille, James Carrigan, J. C. Hall, Israel Evans, Benjamin Ashby, A. P. Tyler, Thomas H. Latey, O. G. Workman, D. A. Curtis, A. M. Musser and William G. Walker.  James P. Park was appointed president of the company with Jesse B. Martin and C. R. Dana as counselors; A. M. Musser, secretary.

Friday 27^th, the George Washington left the docks and in the morning they found themselves out in the Mersey on the good ship at anchor there.

            

           Saturday, the 28^th, the government officers came on board and discharged their duties and on the 28th, Saturday, the steam tug came and towed the ship out into the channel.

The ship had an unusually speedy and prosperous voyage, reaching Boston in twenty-three sailing days from Liverpool.  Four deaths occurred on board, and one child was born.  Captain Cummings, in reply to a complimentary note from President Park, his counselors, and secretary of the company, stated, 'I am free to acknowledge that on no previous voyage have my passengers conducted themselves so orderly and peaceably as those in your charge; cleanliness, morality, sobriety, reciprocation of favors and general good behavior were preeminently conspicuous in their conduct and character.' 

On Monday, April 20th, the George Washington arrived in Boston harbor, and on the following Thursday, April 23rd, the emigrants disembarked. Ellen, William and baby Ellen Mary went on to New York where Ellen’s mother and half-brother were living.

  

In New York City and Brooklyn, William followed his trade and while there, Rhoda Jane and William James were born.

In 1861 William and Ellen with their three children, Ellen’s mother, Mary Ann and her son James Martin started on their three thousand mile journey to Utah. They traveled by train as far a Florence, Nebraska where they bought two yoke of oxen, a wagon and a handcart and joined a company of Saints led by Milo Andrus. William Henry, due to an accident suffered as a child, was unable to walk all the way so he and the two little girls, Ellen Mary (Mary) and Rhoda alternated walking and riding. William, (Bill) who was only eighteen months old had a bed in the back of one of the wagons. Ellen and her mother with James’ help pushed the handcart with eighty pounds of provisions into Salt Lake City arriving September 12, 1861. Ellen walked the entire distance across the weary miles. Ellen’s two sisters, Jane and Mary Ann had preceded them and settled in Kaysville where Ellen and William also made their home. They had all accomplished their fondest hope, they had reached Zion.

Ellen and William moved into their first house in Utah, a log cabin with a dirt floor and sod and bough roof, but for just a short time until they could find something better. In 1865 they purchased some lots on Main and First North from Jesse Dredge where they built a story and one-half brick home. William built a small shop on the southeast corner of the property. Here he continued his trade as maker of fine shoes and boots. During the next few years they homesteaded a section of land on Gentile Street in Layton, Utah, acquired a farm in East Kaysville, also some land west and north of Farmington. The wall built as a protection from the Indians ran along the front of their home in Kaysville. However, the Indians did not molest them. Ellen had a small mirror and many times the Indians walked in and used the mirror to see to paint their faces. Sometimes one or two of the younger children hid under the voluminous skirts of their mother until the Indians were gone. A fireplace was built in one end of the large living room where Ellen baked bread in a Dutch oven by heaping hot embers over and around it. She preserved Pottawatomie plums in molasses, gathered service berries (pronounced sarvice), wild currants, greens, (lambs tongue), and sego roots and in the spring made a tonic of various herbs to cleanse the blood from winter. A small bag of asafetida was worn around the neck to ward off disease. All clothes were made by hand, tiny stitches made by her nimble fingers, a work of art, all were washed by hand on a washboard, a wooden frame around corrugated metal that stood in the tub, soap was rubbed onto the clothes and the clothes rubbed up and down the corrugated metal.

Large ticks were made of denim and filled with straw or corn husks for mattresses. She tore inch wide strips of cloth from worn out clothing, sewed the ends together, wound them into one pound balls, and had them woven into yarn wide strips which she sewed together making a carpet for the floors. She, as nearly all pioneer women, was very industrious, making their homes as pleasant as their means and provisions could provide.

Ellen loved flowers and beautiful things and until the time of her death, she surrounded their home with flowers and shrubs from early spring until the frosts came. In the rear of the house was an orchard with many varieties of fruits, gooseberry bushes, red English currants, black native currants, bedbug currants, raspberries and grapes were planted between the trees and in the spring, purple and white violets with an occasional daffodil bloomed everywhere. Near the back door, two crabapple trees grew shading a well which had a small square roof with a concave wheel under it which held the rope with buckets on each end and buckets of cold, clear water were drawn up for culinary use. The buckets were made of oak with wide metal bands around them. As on bucket was pulled up full of water the other went down into the water. A long handled dipper hung by the side of the well and many travelers of the road (tramps) came to refresh themselves with the sweet cold water. The garden was irrigated from a small stream which ran in front of the house. Two black walnut trees and two locust trees shaded the front of the house and walnuts were gathered for winter use. In the crotch of the tree a currant bush grew, blossomed and bore fruit. Ellen’s garden was always peaceful and beautiful but in an invasion of grasshoppers in the early times, she tied her beautiful dresses that she had brought with her around and over some tiny trees to protect them but the trees and dresses were destroyed.

William, her husband, was a shoemaker by profession he cut the shoes out while Ellen sewed them up. Sometime later William became Postmaster of Kaysville. Again his wife, Ellen, took over and did most of the work. This was when the mail brought in by stage. According to their sons, Francis Bone, the stages were met at the old Grandison Raymond place on the Mountain road, by William Jefferies Barnes, (John R. Barnes’ father). The mail was then delivered to the Bone home in Kaysville where Ellen completed the rest of the work of sorting and distributing the mail.

            

          Ellen was a moderately tall woman with a strong frame. She had brown hair, blue eyes, air complexion and was a beautiful woman, quiet but capable, a fine example of pioneer womanhood, able to cope with hardship and remain calm. She was a good mother and faithful wife and was the mother of twelve children, two of whom died as babies. They were Mary Ellen Barnett and Rhoda Jane Blamires of Kaysville, William James and Francis of Layton, Emma Egbert of Fairview, Idaho, Thomas Henry and Richard Edwin of Kaysville, Florence Clara and Anna of Salt Lake City and Clarence, a twin to Florence and Alice both of whom died in infancy.

At the age of seventy eight she still planted a small vegetable garden and kept her yard clean and attractive. William, her husband, passed away suddenly of a heart attack in 1900, leaving her a widow for fifteen years. In November of 1915 she became ill with pneumonia and passed away at her home with most of her family around her. She was buried by the side of her husband in the Kaysville City Cemetery on November 24, 1915.

A granddaughter, Alberta Blamires Streeper, (Rhoda Jane’s daughter) writes, “I remember grandmother best, sitting in her little rocking chair, a black, elbow length corticello silk cape threaded with black satin ribbon around her shoulders, at the farther side of her brightly polished combination cooking and heating stove, her book, glasses and needle work on a deep ledged window beside her. She always had a chocolate for me”.

Another granddaughter, Corilla Bone Sessions, (Thomas Henry’s daughter) writes, “The family has very little history of her life, I, her granddaughter, lived with her two school terms but all I found out was what I observed from day to day.  Once I came home from school at lunch time and found her with her head over the coal bucket. Blood was streaming from it. As I came into the room she said, “Run and get Dr. Ingram, quick”. The Dr. had been to her home during the morning and removed two wens (cysts) from her head. Later one of the veins had ruptured. Dr. Ingram came and took care of it. Grandmother insisted I eat and return to school. When I came home that night after school one would never know anything had happened. One thing I remember vividly was her warm bread and delicious biscuits. Another thing she did was to always have apples in one of her cupboard drawers which were easily accessible to all her visiting grandchildren. Grandmother was an immaculate housekeeper and an excellent cook. I never remember seeing a spot of dust on anything in her house. She was considered a most beautiful woman and a wonderful wife and mother. She was admired and loved by all who knew her. I was by her side when she passed away and lovingly helped to lay her out. 

At the time of death she had 42 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren.