Grandmother of Annie Edwards Bradshaw
(Transcription by Floyd Edwards)
Elizabeth Huntington was the daughter of Joseph and Mary Haste Huntington, born February 29,
1830 at Chipping, England. She was the only girl and had three brothers, namely: Robert, Henry
and Joseph. When she was about five years old her schooling began. An old lady being the
teacher, she was very refined and taught the children to be the same. The little children were
taught to read first then write. Her father was taken sick in June 1837. Grandmother, being seven
years old then and her brother Henry were sent to Preston, 12 miles to see their Grandmother,
Jeanette Huntington. They took a letter to her telling of the sickness of their father, Joseph
Huntington.
At this time Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, Willard Richards had arrived to open up a mission
in England. These missionaries preached one of their first sermons near her grandmother,
Jeanette Holden Huntington's door. Her Grandmother Huntington was converted and one of the
first 17 to be baptized in England.
When Elizabeth and Henry arrived at their Grandmothers with the letter, she told them to tell
their Mother and Father that these men from America were to let people know of the angel
coming to a young boy, Joseph Smith, and told them what to teach to the people.
Grandmother being only a child couldn't remember all her Grandmother had told her; but she did
remember the young man's name. This same trip, Grandmother, Elizabeth Huntington was told
about the first steam engine that was going to run on a track laid down the street. Her
Grandmother Huntington wanted all her folks to come to Preston to see it.
Her father Joseph Huntington was very ill from swelling on his knee, caused by breaking
kindling over it. Elizabeth and Henry went to the factory where they’re worked. They brought
home the spools of cotton that was used to weave what we know as unbleached muslin.
Joseph Huntington was a carpenter and weaver, also a stockholder of the cotton mills. While her
father was so ill, Elizabeth's mother did weaving and sent the cloth back to the factory with
Elizabeth and Henry so the print could be put on the cloth. They called this print "handloom
prints".
Grandmother's oldest brother Robert married very young and died a few days after his marriage.
When Grandmother was 10 years old, her father, Joseph Huntington died. He got over his
lameness and then took Typhus Fever and died.
Grandmother went to work in the factory, as her Mother, Mary Haste Huntington, was in very
poor health. Six months after her husband died a babe was born. This was Joseph Huntington.
He was the Father of Will, John and Al Huntington of Beaver.
After she became stronger, she went on weaving. The family got along fine. When Joseph was 2
years old and Elizabeth was 12, their mother died. Elizabeth was left to care for Joseph and
Henry. The owner of the factory took all three children to his home and put Henry to work in the
factory. Elizabeth and Joseph were cared for in his home. When Henry was 16 years old, his
Uncle Robert Huntington sent for him. He was taught the carpenter and cabinet trade. In 1846
Henry went to America.
Elizabeth Aunt Jane Easton, sister of her father, being pretty well off, sent for Elizabeth and
Joseph. Grandmother acted as head housekeeper. Aunt Jane was not very well. Grandmother
had charge of the housework and had to see that the housemaid did her work properly. Aunt
Jane always looked after her six children herself. Grandmother was with her 8 years.
When Grandmother was 21 years old she and one of her cousins were out walking on Sunday
afternoon; as they came out of the lane from their beautiful home, there was a large crowd of
people standing at a street corner and a man was speaking. Grandmother wanted to go hear what
was being said, but her cousin didn't want to be seen around such a crowd. She feared it might
be a street brawl. Grandmother told her cousin to go on alone, as she wanted to hear what was
being said. When she came quite near she heard a man say: "I do know the gospel has been
restored to earth and Joseph Smith did see an angel and is a true Prophet of God". Another
meeting was announced for that night in Rotherham. Grandmother ran home and told her Aunt
Jane's family that Joseph Smith was the name of the man her Grandmother had told her about
when she was a small girl. She also told them what she heard the man say. Grandmother went to
the meeting that night. Ezra T. Benson and a young man, Robert Edwards were the speakers. The
next Sunday meeting was held at chapel town, about five miles away. She was disappointed at
not seeing the young preacher of the last meeting there as she went. Other people were going so
she did not go alone.
The first principles of the gospel were the subject and grandmother was converted. Before the
meeting was closed, the presiding Elder said that Bro. Edwards was unable to attend, as his wife
was very ill. Some of the Elders were to go and administer to his wife and some of the sisters
were asked to go.
Grandmother went with the others. She found a little boy of 2 years old crying for his mother,
Sarah Jubb Edwards. His name was Hyrum Edwards. Elizabeth took him and rocked him to
sleep. She said he was the prettiest child she had ever seen. His mother died a day or two after
and was buried with her newborn baby. Before her death, she had noticed how Elizabeth had
cared for her boy.
After the death of Sister Edwards her husband Robert Edwards was called to act as a visiting
elder of a certain district. Grandmother's Aunt Jane lived in this district. None of the Easton
family had joined the church at this time. Aunt Jane was visited and later the Easton family
listened and were all baptized.
Grandmother was baptized February 1853. Ice was broken so she could be baptized, but she was
so happy she didn't notice the cold.
August 19, 1855, Grandmother was married to Elder Robert Edwards, the father of the baby
whom she had rocked to sleep. She was indeed a true Mother to little Hyrum until he was a
grown man.
Sarah Edwards Hutching was the first child of Elizabeth and Robert Edwards. She was born May
26, 1856. Robert took Elizabeth and moved out into the country in a little village of Winfield,
near Rotherham, about a mile from Greensborough.
Six Children were born to them while there. Joseph, born 7 April 1858; Moses, born 26 May 1860;
Mary Jane, born 23 May 1862 lived about 8 hours; Aaron Robert, born 13 May 1863; Mary Elizabeth,
born 1 April 1865 and died at Birmingham, age 14 months.
While living at Wingfield, Elizabeth and Robert had a very remarkable experience. Moses was not a
very strong baby. When he was three or four days old, they thought he was dead. When Grandfather
came home from work one day, he found the baby was washed and laid out for the dead. They also
had the coffin ordered. Grandmother was feeling downhearted. The nurse told Robert he should go
down on his knees and thank the Lord that he (the baby) was gone out of his misery. Grandfather felt
the full spirit of the Lord. He told the folks their room was better than their company. They were only
Job’s comforters. They thought he was crazy. Grandfather took the baby and gave him three pats on
the back, moistened his lips and then administered to the baby. He then named him, called him Moses
and said that he would live to do a great work.
All the Easton family joined the Church and came to Utah. They settled in Grantsville, Utah. This
seems to be a case of ‘Cast your bread upon the waters and after many days it shall be brought back to
you’. For up to the time of this writing, there has been 7 generation of our family that has belonged to
the Church.
Sarah was 10 years old when the Edwards family moved to Birmingham; of course it was not like
home to them. Grandmother missed the Elders that stayed with them so much and the beautiful
flowers and gardens. They lived on High Gate Street.
In June 1868 my grandfather, Robert Edwards, being in very poor health was advised by his doctor to
take an ocean voyage; as he was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or
‘Mormon’ as called, Grandfather then decided to come to Utah, In the United States of America.
Grandfather’s health improved so much after his ocean voyage and his walk across the plains to where
Brigham Young lived, that he started on the building of the Union Pacific Railroad. He sent what
money he earned to the Immigration fund at Liverpool, the headquarters of the English LDS Mission.
My grandmother was notified that their fares were paid to Utah and that a company would leave on
Wednesday, 23 Septemeber1869. She had 3 days and nights to get everything ready in time. She had a
very sick baby that had been born on 19 February 1869 at Sparkly, where they had moved to after
Grandfather left for America. But she was determined to go by the first chance she had. They were
nearly the first ones of the company at the new station on the morning of September 23, 1869. After
many ‘good byes’ and ‘God bless you’, by those they were leaving behind and ‘May we meet again in
Zion’, they left Liverpool, England and set sail that evening on the Steamship ‘Manhattan’. After a
very pleasant voyage of seven days, a great sorrow came to them. Grandmother’s baby grew so much
worse on the morning of 30 September 1869 that he died and soon after his death a great storm arose
and they thought for awhile that the ship would go down, at least some thought so, But the Latter Day
Saints that were on the vessel had faith the storm would pass and they would get across to new York in
safety. The next morning everything was calm and after the funeral services held for the baby by the
saints on board, he was gently lowered to his watery grave. His name was Jesse. After the funeral
Grandmother was so overcome with grief she wasn’t able to look after her children. Their passage was
second class. Grandmother couldn’t eat the ship food. They had brought a little tea and a few buns. In
those days there was on board ship what they called a cooking gallery. It looked like a big boiler. Aunt
Sarah prepared her something to eat.
They finally landed at Castle Gardens in New York. They had been on the ocean 10 ½ days.
The Elders in charge of the company got in line and all marched to the river where they were all
ferried across to Brooklyn. There was no Brooklyn Bridge in those days. They traveled by rail to
Omaha, where they had to ferried again over the Missouri River. Then wait two days for the train to
come back from the frontier to take them on. They were put in freight cars to sleep, as none of them
had anything to camp with. The Indians were so vicious that they wee much safer shut up in the freight
cars than running loose on the prairie.
They were eleven days coming from New York to Ogden, Utah. They were with the first immigrants
that crossed the plains by Railroad. The end of the track was about 2 miles from Ogden. Some of the
good people of Ogden took their luggage into the tithing office yard met them. My Grandfather was
standing at the end of the track waiting for them. He had turned gray as gray during the 16 months he
had been away from his family, but they knew him. He looked so happy, but his smiles were turned to
tears when he learned the baby had been buried at sea. My grandmother would say ‘If Father could
only have seen him, it wouldn’t have seemed so hard to bear’.
Uncle Joseph Huntington, Grandmother’s brother was at Ogden to meet them with a small team and
wagon. He and his wife, his mother-in-law, and three children, their bedding, new cook stove, and
other things he had bought in Salt Lake City, then my grandparents and five children and luggage. The
older children had to walk. They arrived in Greenville, November 5, 1869, making 46 days from
Liverpool, England to Beaver County. My grandfather worked for a lot (land) with a log house, while
Joseph Huntington worked for a home and a cow. They worked butter and meat. People thought they
were lucky to get 25 cents a week in cash.
In 187, July 26th, Uncle Nephi was born at Greenville, Utah. When he was three years old, they
decided to move north. The moved to Croyden, Utah, close to Ogden. The winters were so cold, they
didn’t like the place and wanted to move back to Greenville, Annie Edwards, the mother of Annie
Kesler Fotheringham, was born May 16, 1876. They moved back to Greenville in time for the 24th of
July celebrations.
They were far from being rich, as good many of us are. Grandmother knitted for people to get food for
them. One time she worked all day from an empty lard bucket. In a few years grandfather sold the
farm and moved to Beaver.
In August 1890, my uncle Joseph Huntington died in Greenville, Utah after being poor in health for
several years. He left a widow, and four children.
In February 1891, Uncle Nephi was called to serve on a mission to Great Britain. His field of labor
was around Glasgow, Scotland. In July the following year on account of poor health he had an
honorable release from his mission.
My grandmother was left a widow Nov 1, 1893. On November 25th my grandmother had another
sorrow. Her daughter Annie died. Leaving a baby 17 days old, now known as Annie Kesler
Fotheringham.
Grandmother spent the rest of her life in Beaver. She died October 16, 1901. She was indeed a very
good and useful woman.
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