Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Ebenezer Hanks

Male 1815 - 1884  (69 years)


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  • Name Ebenezer Hanks 
    Born 11 Feb 1815  Greenwich, Washington, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 4 Apr 1884  Hanksville, Wayne, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried 5 Apr 1884  Hanksville Cemetery, Hanksville, Wayne, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I987  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Family 1 Jane Wells Cooper,   b. 4 Oct 1817, Cambridge, Washington, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 27 Mar 1896, Parowan, Iron, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 78 years) 
    Married 27 Oct 1839  Burton, Adams, Illinois, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Martha Catherine Frederick,   b. 9 Mar 1858, San Bernardino, San Bernardino, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 24 Aug 1896, Marysvale, Piute, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 38 years)  [Adopted]
     2. Albert Hanks,   b. Abt 1845, , , Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aug 1878, Parowan, Iron, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 33 years)  [Adopted]
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F686  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 2 Sarah Jane Casper,   b. 7 Oct 1845, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 20 Feb 1920, Kanarraville, Iron, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 74 years) 
    Married 6 Apr 1861  Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F674  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. Censuses:
      1840 US: Environs of Quincy, Adams, Illinois, p. 60a, related families:
      Ebenezer Hanks, males 20-30:2//females 20-30:1. [Newly married Ebenezer and Jane - not sure who second male is.]
      Henry Cooper, males 15-20:1; 20-30:2//females 40-50:1. [Four homes away from Ebenezer Hanks - probable brother to Jane Wells Cooper.]
      James Wells, males 5-10:2; 20-30:2; 40-50:1//females 5-10:1; 10-15:1; 40-50: 1. [Next door to Henry Cooper - possible uncle to Jane Wells Cooper?]

      1860 US: Provo, Utah, Utah, p. 427, 4 Oct 1860, family 2836:
      Ebenezer Hanks, 45, merchant, NY.
      Jane, 48, NY.
      Truman Swarthout, 30, clerk, NY.
      B.F. Baughman, 34, clerk, Ger.

      1870 US: Parowan, Iron, Utah, enum. 17 Jun 1870, Roll 16 Book 1, p. 293b, household 169, family 165:
      Ebenezer Hanks, 53, woolen manufacturer, $10,000 real estate, $2,000 personal property, NY.
      Jane W., 53, homework, NY.
      Martha, 12, at house, CA.
      Jane, 6, UT.
      Hyrum Coombs, 31, laborer, IL.

      1880 US: Bellevue, Kane, Utah, p. 429A, NA film T9-1336 (I believe Kane as a county was a mistake. Bellevue later became Pintura when a post office was established there.):
      Ebaneezer Hanks, cooper, self, M, 65, NY NY NY.
      Sarah J., housekeeper, other, M, 35, IL OH IL.
      Jane A., dau, 16, UT NY IL.
      Ebaneezer, son, 14, UT NY IL.
      Nancy Luella, dau, 12, UT NY IL.
      Irona Wealthy, dau, 9, UT NY IL.
      Evan A., son, 4, UT NY IL.
      Kneel, son, 1, UT NY IL.

      BIOGRAPHY:
      1. See book referenced below. Ebenezer Hanks was very well known in early Utah history. Also see Biography under the records of his first wife. Ordinance Index gives parents as Joseph Hanks and Almira Kennedy.

      2. The book "Mormon Redress Petitions, Documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri Conflict," edited by Clark V. Johnson, contains a copy of the "Scroll Petition" dated 28 Nov 1843 at Nauvoo, IL addressed to the U.S. Congress by members of the LDS Church who had property destroyed by Missouri mobs in the 1830's. Included with over a couple thousand signatures is that of Ebenezer Hanks. I do not see his wife Jane's signature.

      2. Per Kate B. Carter, "Our Pioneer Heritage" (Dau. of Utah Pioneers, SLC, UT, 1977) vol.4, pp. 465, 466: "Ebenezer Hanks, son of Joseph and Almira Hanks, was born near Troy, NY, 11 Feb 1815. After his conversion to Mormonism and his marriage to Jane Wells Cooper, he started westward with other Saints living for a time in Kirtland, Ohio. He followed the migration of the Church membership, and when the call came for the Mormon Battalion at Council Bluffs he enlisted and was made 3rd Sergeant in Company E under the command of Capt. Daniel C. Davis. Ebenezer was accompanied by his wife Jane and went with the sick detachment to Pueblo, CO, coming to Salt Lake Valley in late July, 1847. During the winter of 1849, Ebenezer and Jane went to California where he had secured a claim on the south side of American River and engaged in gold mining. He, and his wife, also operated a boarding house, and it is said that Jane cooked such good meals they accumulated considerable money. From there the family moved to San Bernardino where Ebenezer purchased a ranch, and during the next few years he became the owner of a string of freight wagons, using mule teams, operating between California and the Salt Lake Valley. Mr. Hanks became a partner with Apostles Lyman and Rich in the San Bernardino Rancho, and when the settlement was abandoned by the greater majority of the Saints in 1857-58, the responsibility of paying off the remaining debts was left in his hands. A notation in 'Heritage of the Valley' says it was Mr. Hanks who furnished a team of the 'fastest and best mules and a good express wagon' which transported Col. Thomas L. Kane to SLC when he came to intercede with the government in behalf of his friends, the Mormons. Mr. Hanks served as foreman of the jury in the Court of Sessions in at least one case involving Mormons and non-Mormons during those trying last days in San Bernardino. Mr. Hanks returned to Utah with his family in late 1857, and became interested in saw mills, the mercantile, and foundry business. In 1882 he moved to Wayne county where...he was instrumental in building the little community later named Hanksville in his honor. He died 4 Apr 1884 and was interred in the Hanksville cemetery."

      3. Per Carl V. Larson, "A Data Base of the Mormon Battalion," 1987, Copy at LDS Church Archives. From his data, the author indicates the oldest enlistee was 69 and that there were 11 others born before 1800. Average age death of the entire Battalion is a remarkable 79 which includes accidents and illnesses leading to death. Entry for Ebenezer Hanks indicates his wife Jane applied for pension in 1887 from Parowan, Utah. Also notes he was born 11 Feb 1815 in Greenwich, New York [different location from other sources cited within these notes]. Received endowment in Nauvoo 21 Jan 1846 as a Seventy.

      4. Bronze memorial plaque in Pueblo, Colorado [photo on file]: "This memorial is the property of the State of Colorado. A detachment of United States soldiers of the Mormon Battalion in the Mexican War spent the winter of 1846-47 near this site. With their families and Mormon immigrants from Mississippi they formed a settlement of 275 persons. They erected a church and rows of dwellings of cottonwood logs. Here were born the first white children in Colorado. Erected by the State Historical Society of Colorado, from the Mrs. J.N. Hall Foundation and by Colorado members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and by citizens of Pueblo. 1946."

      5. Synopsis of copy in my possession of "Mormon Battalion Iowa Vols. Mexican War" service records per FHL film 0471517 for Ebenezer Hanks, Sergeant, Co. ?:
      p. 1: Index of 10 card numbers listed by number with note that no personal papers are herein.
      p. 2: Poor copy of muster-in roll not entirely readable but showing Ebenezer Hanks enlisting and mustering 16 Jul 1846 at Council Bluffs for one year. Company and rank unreadable.
      p. 3: Poor copy of Company Muster Roll for July/Aug 1846 not entirely readable but appearing to show Ebenezer Hanks, Sgt., Company E, enlisting 16 Jul 1846 at Council Bluffs with presence or absence not stated (even though not stated, the existence of the muster roll for this individual is considered being present).
      p. 4: Poor copy of Company Muster Roll for Sep/Oct 1846 not entirely readable but appearing to show Ebenezer Hanks, Sgt., Company E, enlisting 16 Jul 1846 at Council Bluffs with presence or absence not stated (even though not stated, the existence of the muster roll for this individual is considered being present).
      p. 5: Poor copy of Company Muster Roll for Nov/Dec 1846 not entirely readable but appearing to show Ebenezer Hanks, Sgt., Company E, enlisting 16 Jul 1846 at Council Bluffs with remark that Ebenezer is on detached service since Oct. 17, 1846 by order of Col. Doniphan, Commanding, Army of the West.
      p. 6: Poor copy of Company Muster Roll for Jan/Feb 1847 not entirely readable but appearing to show Ebenezer Hanks, Sgt., Company E, enlisting 16 Jul 1846 at Council Bluffs with remark that Ebenezer is on detached service since Oct. 17, 1846 by order of Col. Doniphan, Commanding, Army of the West.
      p. 7: Poor copy of Company Muster Roll for Mar/Apr 1847 not entirely readable but appearing to show Ebenezer Hanks, Sgt., Company E, enlisting 16 Jul 1846 at Council Bluffs with remark that Ebenezer is on detached service since Oct. 17, 1846 by order of Col. Doniphan, Commanding, Army of the West.
      p. 8: Poor copy of "Detachment Company Muster Roll" not entirely readable but appearing to show Ebenezer Hanks, Sgt., Company E, from (July 24, 1846?) to Apr. 30, 1847 stationed at (Pueblew?), Ark. with presence or absence not stated (even though not stated, the existence of the muster roll for this individual is considered being present).
      p. 9: Poor copy of Company Muster Roll for May/Jun 1847 not entirely readable but appearing to show Ebenezer Hanks, Sgt., Company E, enlisting 16 Jul 1846 at Council Bluffs with remark that Ebenezer is on detached service since Oct. 17, 1846 by order of Col. Doniphan, Commanding, Army of the West.
      p. 10: Muster-out Roll for Ebenezer Hanks, Sgt., Company E, 16 Jul 1847 at Los Angeles, Cal., last paid Aug. 31, 1846. Notes Ebenezer is on detached service since Oct. 17, 1846 by order of Col. Doniphan, Commanding, Army of the West.
      p. 11: "Returns" for Ebenezer Hanks, Sergt, Co. E., with remarks noting:
      Oct 1846: Absent on detached service to Pueblo since 18 Oct 1846 by order of Col. Doniphan.
      Nov 1846 to Feb 1847: Absent on detached service to Pueblo since 17 Oct 1846 by order of Col. Doniphan, Army of the West.
      Mar and Apr 1847: Absent on detached service to Pueblo since 17 Oct 1846 by order of Col. Doniphan, Army in New Mexico.
      p. 12: Descriptive Muster Roll of Detachment for Ebenezer Hanks, 3 Sergt., Co. E, roll dated San Francisco, Cal, Sept. 20, 1847.

      6. The book "An Intimate Chronicle, the Journals of William Clayton," ed. by George Smith, Signature Books, 1995, Salt Lake City, Utah, includes the account of the meeting up and arrival of the Pueblo detachment of the Mormon Battalion with the original Pioneer Company of the Mormon vanguard just as they have passed Green River and just before Bridger's Fort on their way to the Salt Lake Valley:
      P. 354: "(July 4, 1847, Sunday) ...some of the brethren assembled for meeting in the circle. At half after 2 P.M. the brethren returned from the ferry accompanied by 12 of the Pueblo brethren from the army. They have got their discharge and by riding hard overtaken us. They feel well and on arriving in camp gave three cheers after which President Young moved that we give glory to God which was done by hosannas..."
      Pp. 368-377:
      "(July 27, 1847, Tuesday): [Brigham Young just arrived in the valley a few days before.] At half past 8 Amasa Lyman, Rodney Badger, Roswell Stevens, and Brother (Samuel) Brannan arrived in Camp. They report that the Pueblo company will be in tomorrow of the day after. The brethren are still busy plowing and planting..."
      "(July 29, 1847, Thursday): ...At 3 o'clock the Pueblo brethren came in sight. The soldiers appearing in military order, many of them mounted. They have 29 wagons in the company and one carriage. Presidents Young, Kimball and the Twelve went to meet the brethren and met them in the Kanion. They report that they have very heavy rain there, the water rising in the creek three feet in a very short time, caused by the rush from the mountains. The brethren arrived at the lower camp at half past, and marched in headed by the fifes and side drum. They have camped a little west of the other camp. The brethren are represented as feeling well and cheerful..."
      "(July 30, 1847, Friday): Day warm. Twelve held a council with the officers of the Battalion, then rode up to the hot spring. Evening a general meeting of the camp and addressed by President Young. He told his feeling concerning the soldiers, they have saved the people by going when required &c. He rejoices that they are here. He expressed his feeling warmly towards the brethren, and also told his feeling towards the gentiles, The meeting was opened by Hosannas three times and closed by requesting the Battalion to build a bower(y) tomorrow on the temple lot where we can assemble for meetings &c."
      "(July 31, 1847, Saturday) This morning the brethren commenced making the bower(y) on the Temple lot a little south west from our camp. They will make it about 40 feet long and 28 feet wide. Walked with Presidents Young, Kimball, Richards and others to the mississippi Camp. Brother Thomas Richardson is very sick and several others of the soldiers... There are from 20 to 30 of the Utah Indians here and some squaws trading with the brethren. They are generally of low stature, pleasing countenance but poorly clad... These Indians who are now here are of the Shoshones... There were 4 or 5 of the Utah here this morning... they sat down and made a meal of some of these large crickets. They appear to be crisped over the fire which is all the cooking requires. Many of the brethren have traded muskets and rifles for horses, and ordinary musket will buy a pretty good horse..."
      "(August 1, 1847, Sunday) [We have had another cool, windy night. At 10 A.M. the brethren assembled for meeting under the Bower(y) on the Temple Lot, all members of the quorum of the Twelve being present except President Young who is quite sick ...President Young instructed the Battalion last evening, and councilled them for their comfort, and the counsel is for the brethren to keep their guns, and their powder, and their balls and lead, and not let the Indians have it, for they will shoot down our cattle. 'They stole guns yesterday and had them under their blankets and if you don't attend to this you are heating a kettle of boiling water to scald your own feet. If you listen to council you will let them alone, and let them eat the crickets, there's plenty of them. I understand they offered to sell the land and if we were to buy it of them the Utahs would want pay for it too. The land belongs to our Father in heaven and we calculate to plow and plant it, and no man will have power to sell his inheritance, for he can't remove it it belongs to the Lord. I am glad I am come to a place where I feel free... We will have a farm, and cultivate them, and plant vineyards, and if we are faithful five years will not pass away before we are better off than we ever were in Nauvoo. If we had brought our families along, everybody else would have come and we have got to lose another year. We could not bring all the soldiers families for the same reason that we did not bring our own families. I thank the Lord that here are so many of the soldiers here, if they had tarried in winter quarters there would have been many more deaths among them... Elder (Willard) Richards then read an order from Lieut. Cook of the Mormon Battalion on the Pacific, after which Elder (Thomas) Bullock read a letter from Jefferson Hunt to James Brown dated July 6, 1847, after which and a few other remarks, the meeting was dismissed... Colonel (Albert) Rockwood remarked that a Log house 16 by 15 would cost forty dollars and one of adobes half as much. Capt. (James) Brown was in favor of setting men to work building both log and adobie houses to hasten the work. Capt. Lewis said that inasmuch as timber is scarce, and we have spades and shovels and tools enough as many as can be used he is in favor of building adobie houses and save the timber. Lieutenant (Ira) Willis said, you can put up an adobe house before a man could get the Logs for a log house. Adobe house are healthy and are the best for equinoctial gales. Elder (Samuel) Brannan has a man in California who will take 3 men, make adobes for a 30 foot house; build the house and put a family in it in a week. His printing office was put up in 14 days and a paper printed."

      7. Concerning how Ebenezer Hanks and his wife were sent to Pueblo with the sick camp of the Mormon Battalion: The book "John Doyle Lee, Zealot, Pioneer Builder, Scapegoat," by Juanita Brooks, pages 101 - 102: "When Lee heard that about twenty-five of the Battalion man had been placed on the sick list and were to be discharged from the service forthwith, his indignation knew no bounds. He at once told Adjutant George P. Dykes "that I would consider it more honorable to command those man (sick) to be shot & thereby to put an end to their suffering - then to leave them here to rot among prostitutes - without a friend to assist them... and that the man who raised his voice or assented to this move would have to atone for the sufferings and lives of those man." He immediately went to the Captain and other officers to protest in the action. But perhaps John Steele did as much to secure a reversal of orders as did Lee. His young wife and little daughter had come along with him, walking as he did. Now to have them assigned to go back with this group of sick man angered him until he did something about it. There were about twenty women along, each of whom had been able bodied husband. John Steele tried in vain to get the group to support him, but none dared until John Hess said that if he were fortified with a good stout drink he would go along to face Colonel Cooke. Steele wrote: 'We went and found him in a long low cellar, with about 30 officers. I asked which of the gentleman there is Colonel Cooke. Then, there arose a man from the other side of the table, measuring about 6 ft four inches. I told him I understood he had issued orders for all the sick men and all the women to go back to Bent's Fort. He said yes that was so. I told him I had my wife and there and would like the privilege of either having my wife go to California with me or going back to Bent's Fort with her. He spoke very saucy and said he would like to have his wife, along with him (but he never had a wife). I told him very likely his wife was in Washington or some other good seaport town among her friends, while mine was in Santa Fe, among her enemies, and to have her left there with only a squad the sick men, I would not stand it, and the more I talked the more angry I got until at last, I could have thrashed the ground with him...' At any rate, between them they had the order changed so that the husbands who wished to do so accompanied their wives."

      8. J. Kenneth Davies, "Mormon Gold, the Story of California's Mormon Argonauts" (Olympus Publishing Company, SLC, UT, 1984) p.142: "A Battalion detachee, Ebenezer Hanks was one of the small company of Battalion detachees sent to California with James Brown to secure the back pay of the others detached. After returning to Utah, he stayed until 1849 when he and his wife Jane went to California. The 35 year old Ebenzer settled near Salmon Falls on the South Fork, possibly New York Ravine which enters the South Fork a short distance below Salmon Falls. They established an eating house which Jane ran while he mined for gold. Hanks evidently returned to Utah over the winter of 1849-50, being there in the spring when he made deposits to the gold accounts. His wife was not well, but Pres. Young did not let that deter him in issuing Hanks a mission call to the Society Islands. In a letter written on 22 Apr 1850, Hanks was told by Brigham Young that if he went, taking his wife, she would regain her health. He was also told 'I can freely say that it is the will of the Lord you should do this and also help the brethren who are going there with your means, and by complying you shall be abundantly blessed and prospered on your mission.' While he did not go on the mission, upon his return to California that season Ebenezer was not too busy to be involved with Elders Lyman and Rich during the summer. Nor was he so obsessed with the desire for money that he forgot to tithe, contributing several hundred dollars in tithing. He became one of the chief financiers of the San Bernardino colony, investing more than $25,000 between 1851 and 1855. He went to S.B. in Dec. of 1855, leaving his wife behind for awhile, returned to the north in Oct. of 1856, and then finally moved to S.B. in 1857."

      9. Quote from the book "Abraham Boswell, Utah pioneer, 1847," by Evan Boswell, 1999, FHL Salt Lake City, p. 36, in speaking of the California goldfields: "Finally, oh to parties who went to California, using the northern route, Abraham was well-connected. These included Martin Moses, (who had baptized him), Eight. C. Brower who was captain of Abraham's group of 10 wagons in the 1847 track, Orrin Porter Rockwell, Williams McIntyre, James Harmon and George Rosencrantz. Many of his former acquaintances who later settled/mind in and around Salmon Falls predominantly arrived in California in 1848 - 49, via the northern route. Therefore, whether Abraham arrived in California with the Hanks/Lyman/Rockwell parties, it using the northern route, or came the following year with the Southern groups like Pomeroy, is uncertain. He mined with members of both groups... (footnote 59: Moses Martin was in Murderer's Bar in August of 1850, paying tithing to Amasa Lyman on about the 16th, while A.C. Brower was also a hotel operator and miner in Salmon Falls in 1849-50, selling his hotel interest eventually to Ebenezer Hanks who ran same with help from Hezekiah Thatcher in Salmon Falls. David Seeley was also the area... Orrin Porter Rockwell operated a tavern near Murderer's Bar at the same time. These men were all previous acquaintances of Abraham and all in the area in which Abraham mined (Salmon Falls/Murderers Bar)..."
      P. 45: "In another account, it is reported that the Thatchers were first engaged in freighting business. In 1849, there was only one river landing for miner's freight, which was shipped up the Sacramento River from San Francisco. During that season Mrs. Thatcher kept a summer eating house "halfway" between Sacramento and Auburn and her husband and sons freighted. In the winter they went to Sacramento, which was then being laid out in city lots. They bought some lots and built a home, but on account of the floods which usually came in the spring, they moved toward the more mountainous country. They spent one summer near Placerville, and in the fall they went to Mormon Island on the American River, where they engaged in placer mining. She did not like the idea of mining, however, on account of the influence of her young boys, so they left the mines and went to Salmon Falls, where they went into the hotel business, in partnership with Ebenezer Hanks... In Salmon Falls, not only was the Thatcher family partners in the hotel with Ebenezer Hanks who had come to Salmon Falls in 1849, but the Thomas Orr family, also known acquaintances of Abraham, operated another hotel in Salmon Falls. Interesting in the history of Abraham Boswell is the fact that the hotel operated by Thatcher/Hanks was originally opened by A. C. Brower, the captain of Abraham's 1847 group of 10 wagons with whom he made the trek to Salt Lake." The book continues my speaking of the Orr family's hotel where meals generally cost one dollar each. The money used was Mexican silver quarters and half dollars and $50 and $10 gold slugs, but the principal medium of exchange was gold dust. Some days with their hotel and bakery business in Salmon Falls, and they would take in $1000-$1500.

      10. The book, "On the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout, 1844-1861," edited by Juanita Brooks, Univ. of Utah Press, p. 366: "Thursday 4th Apl 1850. At 10 o'clock a.m. attnded a trial before Bishop Whitney which had been appealed from Bishops urdoc & Hickenlooper Jas Ivy against Ebenezer Hanks Appealled by Hanks. I was councel to Ivy. & sustained the former decision & costs to be paid by Hanks. Friday 5th Apl 1850 In the after noon I attended as council for Jas Ivy another Vs Hanks which had also been appealed by Hanks as above to the County Court In this case I gained 14.50 more than the former judgment in favor of Ivy & Hanks to pay the costs."

      11. FHL film 0480137: "Selected Pension Application Files For Members of the Morman [sic] Battalion, Mexican War, 1846-1848" from the the National Archives and Records Service, Washington, DC." Jane, his legal wife, applied 14 Feb 1887 and was approved for $8.00 per month on 29 Jun 1887. The law which made the pension available was the "Mexican War Pension Act of Jan. 29, 1887." She was dropped from rolls 6 Aug 1896 as "pensioner dead" with note that last pension was paid 4 Mar 1896. See file for copy of pension forms and Jane Cooper's notes for more detail on her pension.

      12. Picture of this individual is at the gallery portion of the website .

      13. A History of Iron County: Community Above Self, by Janet Burton Seegmiller. This was part of the Utah Centennial County History Series (each county was commissioned to write a history book, which are generally very thorough in detail). Libraries in Utah have copies of the book. Jane Hanks wasn't in the index and there are no photos, but Ebenezer Hanks was cited 6 times:
      p. 75 Between 1862 and 1866 ... factory in Parowan, owned by Ebenezer Hanks and . . .
      p. 82 About the iron-making enterprise about 1868 and the men involved with that, and a description of the area.
      p. 89 Building the Parowan Rock Church (now a museum), 1861.
      p. 173 Chapter on Place Names, Iron City, Ebenezer Hanks was president of the Union/Pinto Iron Works. This is about 20 miles west of Cedar City on Hwy 56 and still has some kilns.
      p. 181 Businesses in Parowan, including the cotton factory.
      p. 326 1868. A company was formed by several of southern Utah's more successful businessmen, Ebenezer Hanks, Peter Shirts... and more about the Pinto Iron Works (Union Iron Works).

      14. The book "History of Iron County Mission - Parowan, Utah, comp. by Mrs. Luella Adams Dalton, chapter 41, p.366:
      a. "Ebenezer Hanks, after coming to Parowan to establish his cotton factory in 1861, opened the first general merchandise store in the northeast room of his home, that stood right where Oscar Lyman's home is. He kept a big six mule outfit on the road all the time with Joe Wixom as driver. He hauled fright from Call's Landing on the Colorado River. The freighters usually went in groups. The ships laden from the eastern markets went round by Cape Horn, then up the Colorado River to Call's Landing, where teams would be waiting to freight the goods to Salt Lake City and to the mines in Nevada. Father bought a charter oak stove from Ebenezer Hanks paying him 50 bushels of wheat at $5.00 a bushel" (Source: William H. Lyman)
      b. "Ebenezer Hank's outfit freighted from Los Angeles and San Bernardino, California to the mines in Nevada and on up thru the settlements to Salt Lake City. These were the first imported goods that came into the community; prior to this everything was homespun. The calico used to come in great big rolls with two or three hundred yards in a roll. Calico was 50c a yard, thread 25c a spool. This was a cash store and there weren't many folks that had cash." (Source: Samuel Mortenson)

      15. The Sons of Utah Pioneers, Cedar City Chapter, maintains the ruins of Iron Town, one of the most unique ghost towns in the history of Utah. It was founded by the Union Iron Co. on June 12, 1869 as a Mormon cooperative effort with Ebenezer Hanks as President, and Seth Blair and Robert Richey as Directors. The iron operation ended by 1877. The iron for the St. George Temple baptismal font and twelve oxen on which it rests was made here and cast at a foundry in Salt Lake City. Recommended reading: Bate, Kerry William "Iron City, Mormon Mining Town," Utah Historical Quarterly 50, (Winter, 1982).

      16. Newspaper article in Piute County, 14 May 1937: "World Waits for Aluminum from Marysvale Area. A dozen Utah counties point with pride to mines of gold, silver, and lead. But one only can boast, in addition to these, a mineral in universal demand, and that in unlimited quantity. The area around Marysvale has, so far as known, a monopoly of 'alunite,' the rock from which aluminum is extracted. Adventure and romance attended the discovery and development of the silver, lead and gold deposits which first lured prospectors to Marysvale and the adjacent territory. Originally 'Marysvale' was not 'Marysvale' at all, nor was it a mining settlement. Beautiful trees and sparkling waters made it a summer camping spot so ideal that Mormon church leaders, on an exploring expedition in 1858, called it 'Merryville.' Its present name was adopted later. Frank E. King started a ranch there. While he raised calves, an old California miner named Hewitt panned for gold. The miner found 'colors' along Pine creek. Jacob Hess and Ebenezer Hanks, in 1869, tried sluicing. This failed, but, crossing the creek they discovered a lode and filed on the 'Webster,' the first mineral location in Piute county. The ore was rich, but transportation cost was prohibitive and a home-made smelter did not work. Some 200 prospectors flocked in. Good croppings were found, but no one could afford the wagon haul to Salt Lake City... After the completion of a railroad to Marysvale the Webster mine was enabled to send ore out to the smelters..."

      17. Nauvoo LDS Land and Records Office research file (copy in my possession as of 2 Jun 2007 and also partially viewable at www.earlylds.com). Includes family group sheet from Ancestral File and Susan Black's entry in her book "Early LDS Members." Also included is:
      A. 70s Record: Ebenezer Joseph Hanks was a member of Quorum 24 per 70s Bk B Sel, pg. 85.
      B. Mormon Battalion records: Ebenezer Hanks, 3rd Sergeant Co. E. Ebenezer hanks was a Sergeant in Company E. He was a memeber of Captain Brown's Pueblo detachment. In 1856, Ebenezer Hanks was a member of the handcart rescue party. Various references in Mormon Battalion records and books:
      351: Ebenezer Hanks, CPL, 282.
      Tyler: Ebenezer Hanks, 3SGT, page 372, Parowan, Miner.
      Jensen: Ebenezer Hanks, 3SGT.
      Iowa: Ebenezer Hanks, 3SGT, on detached service, 17 Oct 1846.
      Pension: Ebenezer Hanks.
      Esshom: Ebenezer Hanks, 3SGT.
      Fish: Ebenezer Hanks.
      Smoot: Ebenezer Hanks, CPL-SGT.
      Golder: Ebenezer Hanks, 3SGT.
      HTW-7: Ebenezer Hanks, 3SGT.
      OPH-11: Ebenezer Hanks, 3SGT.
      Pension: Ebenezer died 4 apr 1884. His wife Jane was living in Parowan when she applied for the pension in 1887.
      Historical File: An account of the life of Ebenezer Hanks is contained in "The Trail of Ebenezer Joseph Hanks," by Ebenezer Joseph Hanks, edited by Carrie W. Bate. On file with the LDS Church Historical Department.

      18. "Treasures of Pioneer History," pp. 522, 523:
      "Ebenezer Hanks, son of Almira Kennedy and Josph Hanks, was born near Troy, New York February 11, 1815. He married and came West, in 1840, first stopping at kirtland, Ohio. He later enlisted in the Mormon Battalion and served as 3rd Sergeonat in Campany "E." He was detached at Santa Fe and sent to Pueblo, Clolrado shere he spent the winter of 1846-47. While in Pueblo he and another Battalion member were sent out on picket duty and were left there for two weeks without relief. He came into the Valley in late July, 1847.
      In the winter of 1849-50, he went to California and sluiced gold on the South Fork of the American River. Later he carried on a freighting business between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. After his return to Utah he settled in Parowan where he operated a sawmill. He helped to build a tannery, cabinet shop and a cotton factory in the southern part of the state. In 1882 he moved to Hanksville, Wayne County where he spent his remaining years helping to build up that conmmunity. - Mildred Noyes Moss."

      19. LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah:
      A. MS9124: Mormon Battalion, W.W. Willis Detached Co. "Descriptive List of the Detachment of Mormon Volunteers Sent Back to Santa Fe Under the Command of Lieut. W.W. Willis, Nov. 10, 1846": David Frederick, mustered in service 16 Jul 1846 at Council Bluff, Co. A.
      B. MS9126-2: Mormon Battalion, James Brown Detached Company - Soldier's Pay Records, 1847 [Note that since Captain Brown's company ended up in Utah from Colorado, Cpt. Brown traveled from Salt Lake City to California to collect his company's pay, he deducted 10% - this was not popular with his men to say the least):
      David Frederick, soldier due: $17.50, Brown's percentage: $1.75.
      Sylvester Hewlett, soldier due: $17.50, Brown's percentage: $1.75.
      E. Hanks, soldier due: $32.50, Brown's percentage: $3.25.

      20. Excerpts involving Ebenezer and Jane Hanks in the book "History of Iron County Mission, Parowan, Utah," comp. by Mrs. Luella Adams Dalton (note the cooking ability of Jane Hanks):
      A. "Dances in the Homes; Wm. H. Lyman Story:
      'We used to have dances all over town in the homes. They'd clear away the chairs and tables and make room for the sets. After Aunty Hanks sold out their store, we used to have great times, dancing in her front room (old home that stood where Oscar Lyman's home is). All of us boys would pitch in and cut her wood, pile it and she'd stir up a fine molasses cake or cornbread with butter and molasses. We used to dance at Charlie Harrises (old lumber home that stood where Amelia Topham's home now stands) and at Lorenzo Barton's just east of Johnny Rasmussen's home. Thomas Richards and Mark Guymon used to play the violin for us.'"
      B. "Rush Lake Parties, by Sarah Ann Stevens:
      'The cotton was carded and made into rolls. These rolls were worked back and forth until they got smaller and smaller until they were made into yarn. The yarn was made into skeins and then into bundles of sixteen skeins, costing $9.00 a bunch. They never wove cloth at the Cotton Factory but it was a great help to have the cotton carded and spun into yarn. They never used wool at the factory.
      After the settlement of the Dixie country, President Young could see the necessity of a cotton factory close to the cotton fields. He sold out his interest in the Parowan Cotton Factory to Ebenezer Hanks and in 1865 and 1866 built the cotton factory at Washington.
      In 1866, the old Parowan plant stopped operating as a cotton factory on account of the scarcity of cotton. It was turned into a wool scouring and carding plant. Wool was washed and dried, then carded into rolls about twelve to sixteen inches long and from one to two inches thick. This was a great help to the women. It could soon be spun into yarn and ready for the hand loom. The pioneer children were kept busy carrying big baskets of rolls to their mothers. Most everyone did their own weaving.'"
      C. Chapter 41: "Early Day Stores, by William H. Lyman:
      'Ebenezer Hanks, after coming to Parowan to establish his cotton factory in 1861, opened the first general merchandise store in the northeast room of his home, that stood right where Oscar Lyman's home is. He kept a big six mule outfit on the road all the time with Jose Wixom as driver. He hauled freight from Call's Landing on the Colorado River. The freighters usually went in groups. The ships laden from the eastern markets went round by Cape Horn, then up the Colorado River to Call's Landing, where teams would be waiting to freight the goods to Salt Lake City and to the mines in Nevada. Father bought a charter oak stove from Ebenezer Hanks paying him 50 bushes of wheat at $5.00 a bushel.'"
      D. "Ebenezer Hanks' Store, by Samuel Mortenson:
      'Ebenezer Hank's outfit freighted from Los Angeles and San Bernardino, California to the mines in Nevada and on up thru the settlements to Salt Lake City. These were the first imported goods that came into the community; prior to this everything was homespun. The calico used to come in great big rolls with two or three hundred yards in a roll. Calico was 50c a yard, thread 25c a spool. This was a cash store and there weren't many folks that had cash.'"
      E. "Third Saw Mill Bee (Later Uncle Nathan Benson's mill), by Morgan Richards, Jr.:
      'William Ebenezer Hanks, William Adams and John Henderson had everything on hand for the erection of the 3rd Saw Mill; they had a work bee, for raising and placing the timbers of the frame work. About fifty people came and they served a hot dinner of pork and beans, chicken pie, boiled beef, potatoes, cheese, bread and butter, pies and cakes. This was about 1867. Aunt Celia Henderson, Aunt Jane Hanks and Margaret Adams, a girl of about fourteen, served the dinner. Aunt Jane Hanks could make the best mince pies you ever ate...'"

      21. Background excerpts of history of Washington Co., Utah from Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Lesson for April 2002, "History of Washington County," comp. by Anne Miller Eckman:
      "The Cotton Factory
      By 1863 settlers in the Virgin Valley were producing large amounts of quality cotton but were having difficulty trading it for flour and grain in the northern settlements. There was a market for the cotton in California, but Brigham Young wanted the fiber to remain in Utah to support his policy of self-sufficiency. It was decided that a cotton mill was needed to allow the settlers to produce thread and cloth for which there was a ready market in the north. President Young selected a site for the mill in September 1865, and construction began. Cotton machinery, which was in operation in Parley's Canyon near Salt Lake City, would be dismantled and taken to the Cotton Mission. The first story of the building was dedicated on July 24, 1866. The machinery arrived later that year, and operation began in the spring of 1867. Employees were hired at an average wage of four dollars per week. A second story was added during the summer of 1870, and twenty-eight tons of additional equipment were shipped in from the eastern states. By 1871 the building was three stories tall and could produced five hundred yards of cotton and woolen cloth per day.
      Following the Civil War, it became cheaper to import cotton and woolen goods from the East, and the cotton mill was unable to produce cloth at competitive prices. The business limped along until 1910 when the cloth factory was closed, and the venture became history. (Linda Sappington, "Cooton Factory Was Meant to Boost Spirits," Spectrum, May 29, 1994, 31; David Morris, "A Short History of the Washington Factory," DUP History Collection, 1923.)
      (Picture: "Workers at the Cotton Mill.")
      Pintura (Bellevue):
      Pintura is located on Interstate 15 and is the first town reached as one enters Washington County from the north. It has the unique distinction of having been a part of three separate counties- Iron, Kane, and Washington, when early boundaries were modified to meet changing pioneer needs. The settlers named their community Bellevue because the formation of the landscape looked like a bell.
      The first settler of Bellevue was a man named Morrill who started a ranch there in 1858. Joel Johnson purchased the property in 1866 and was soon joined by others, including James Bay, James Sylvester, Joseph Birch, Jacob Gates, and James C. Snow. Joel Johnson sent to France for choice grape roots and enlarged his acreage by planting cuttings from them. When the vines grew, he shared cuttings with his neighbors and friends. In time Pintura had many fine vineyards that produced thousands of gallons of wine. Joel Johnson also imported choice fruit trees of several varieties, and orchards soon flourished. Settlers also grew vegetables and raised cattle.
      Because Pintura was a day's journey from Cedar City to the north and Washington to the south, it became a popular way station for teamsters and other travelers who called it the "Great Camp Ground." During the boom days of Silver Reef, it was common to see from ten to fifty teams tied in the stalls of the huge barn. Three camp houses were build to shelter travelers from winds and storms.
      In 1883 Ebenezer Hanks directed the erection of an eighteen by twenty-five foot cobblestone building to be used for church meetings, education, and other public purposes. James Sylvester, James C. Snow, and Andrew F. Gregerson served as presiding elders of the Bellevue Branch. Years later, the citizens were indignant when the county school superintendent sold the building for a mere $10,000.
      In 1925 the United States Post Office asked that Bellevue's name be changed, as there were several other towns with the same name. Andy Gregerson looked at the brightly-colored hills nearby, and suggested Pintura, the Spanish word for painting. (Althea G. Hafen, "Bellevue," in Under Dixie Sun, 357-60.)"

      22. FHL book 921.73 L989la "Biography, Francis Marion Lyman, 1840-1916, Apostle 1880-1916," by Melvin A. Lyman (Delta, UT, 1958) pp. 15, 23, 28, 30, 95, 96, 103, 104, 142, and 143. This quote talks about about Francis Marion Lyman's addiction to smoke and drink and how Ebenezer Hanks turned him from his bad habits. Later in life, when Francis was nearly insolvent, he pays for a very expensive grave memorial for Ebenezer Hanks. Francis also names one of his children Ellen Hanks:
      "[San Bernardino, 1851.] Up from the valley to the southwest of them, with its lure of Mexican huts and its enchantment of tropical trees and shrubbery, came the Mexicans themselves with donkey-loads of delicious peaches and the fruit of the prickly-pear. The Mexican with his wide hat and jingle of spurs makes irresistible bid for attention. He wears glittering buttons and flashy colors, his language is mus­ical even though it is not understood, and his horseman­ship is the proud survival of ancient chivalry. He is at once the gallant caballero, and the eyes of the live boy follows him in a fever of admiration.
      Along with these innocent charms the vices of el Caballero became equally alluring as he peddled his juicy fruit to the junior members of that half-starved company. To the boys of that big-tree school he was unwittingly one of the chief lures into a dangerous net which was set to catch them, and from which few of them would ever struggle free after its meshes once tightened around them The gallant Mexican puffed his cigarrito and drank his aguardiente before their admiring eyes. These things could be more easily adopted than his unusual dress, his particular manners or his euphonious dialect, and it became the ambition of the boys in the school to smoke and drink right away. .:
      …A dangerous thing was about to "happen" to F. M. - a snare was set to catch him, and an innocent-looking lure was placed there to draw him into it. Its thread was so fine as to be almost invisible, but if it could be wrapped around him a few times every day, it would soon be as strong as ropes, and he would be bound with it for life.
      …Those fascinating caballeros who sold peaches and prickly-pear apples in Sycamore Groves had become pied pipers with the Mormon children eagerly at their heels. More strange still, these eager youngsters were not inspired to emulate the Mexican's virtues: his music and song, his tripping vernacular and gaudy colors, but to adopt his vices: los cigarritos y el aguardiente, the things most certain to estrange them from the cher­ished ideals of their fathers.
      Thus something had "just happened," a cunning snare had been set, a film as nearly invisible as thin tobacco smoke, and before F. M. was aware he had been caught in its harmless-looking meshes. When the first novelty of the practice became lost in its offensiveness, behold it had wrapped its silken threads many times around him, forming bands of terrible strength. His father and mother had implored him to cast them off, and he had tried, only to be discouraged with the discovery that they had fastened themselves like the tentacles of an octupus upon.him.
      "The brightest students in our school," says the F. M. journal, "and the leading spirits among our young men, nearly all indulged in the cigarette habit and in the use of strong drink and in profanity. As I entered my fifteenth year I was large for my age, and had the per­nicious habit of smoking cigarettes fairly well fastened upon me. It gave my father and mother very much con­cern lest one bad habit should be followed by another. The Mexicans of that region were expert smokers, and would pass volumes of smoke out by the nose which, to such boys as me, appeared to be a very great accomplish­ment, and I strove to do likewise, or like foolish, and succeeded."
      …After a year [1855-56] of futile effort to master the carpenter's trade, where he worked with Brother Whitt­aker on his father's house, staying often with it into the hours of candlelight, he went freighting with his uncles, Sidney and Freeman Tanner, down the Mojave River.
      Among the essentials of a complete freight outfit, as constituted in the "fifties," as well as before and after that decade, was a supply of tobacco for all the time, and enough strong drink to relieve the monotony of long, hard days and wearisome situations. These freighters down the Mojave carried all the essentials.
      "While in this employment,' runs the F. M. account, "I took to drinking, and found that I really liked it, though it was miserable stuff, and I wonder we were not poisoned by it. I found freighters about as good and no better than other classes of men; we did not seem to remember the Lord to talk to Him much while thus engaged. Freighters generally do their pray­ing, if any, before they leave home or after they return, so nothing of that kind takes their attention while on the road."
      …Following, his account: "I was sixteen years old, six feet one and a half inches high, and weighed 184 pounds. I was notorious for my strength among the boys and small men. I was boisterous but not wicked."
      Along about this time the hand of a wise old friend reached out to restrain the bubbling vitality of the boy from crossing safety limits into dangers from which he might not be able to extricate himself with the years. Ebenezer Hanks, with the love of a patriarch and the vision of a prophet, saw that Francis M., with his abundant life and vigor, "was going on to dangerous ground, and he whispered in my ear, 'Marion, for your father's sake, stop.' I stopped."
      The boy brought himself to a firm halt, and as he steered his youthful bark away from the rocks to zones of safety; He evolved a keen sense of gratitude to Bro­ther Hanks, a sense of obligation which could not be content after forty years till it had made a special offering of acknowledgement…
      [1882] But the sweet things of life are balanced by their unfailing cost, even as the bitter things have their just compensations, F. M. found great joy in his labors, and in the wonderful meetings with his Quorum [of Apostles] - all this promised realization of his dearest hope. Yet it took him from his family whom he so much loved, from the children with whom he delighted to sing, and to whom he told stories. While he traveled in the stakes from Canada to Mexico preaching the gospel and becoming known as a great peace-maker, startling messages called him to grieving loved ones at home in less than a year he re­ceived three of these messages, the first one calling him to the funeral of his married daughter, Ellen Hanks, and the other two bringing him to see the death of his little daughter Alta, and then his little daughter Hila. Each one the long trip home was a sorrowful journey, but leaving the bereaved family again was more difficult still…
      In 1884, in a remote little village of Piute County, Utah, Ebenezer Hanks died and was buried, and when word of it reached Francis M., he paused solemnly in his busy activities and recalled how this man, by a wise word of warning at the critical time, had saved him from steps which might have meant disaster. With an intensi­fied sense of gratitude, appreciating now as never before what Brother Hanks had done for him, F. M. resolved to do some fitting thing in return, if for nothing else then to pacify his own sense of obligation.
      He resolved therefore to erect a tombstone. This project was destined to meet with hindrance and delay, and to drag through eleven eventful years before it was accomplished. But the resolution was forged of such durable stuff it was bound to place a seventy five dollar stone at the remote grave, even though it had to be done at a time when Marion's finances were more distressed than he had known them to be before.
      …His accounts that fell due [1894-95] with the closing of the old year made an unpleasant opening for the new. In answer to a notice that his note to the State Bank was overdue, he wrote, "I am mortified beyond expression to be in such a helpless condition… It has been the pride of my life to be honorable and meet my obligations promptly. Your bank has been very patient, and I hope it will never suffer loss on my account."
      …At this perilous moment of his financial existence, he was faced with an obligation he had assumed in more prosperous times, an obligation to pay seventy-five doll­ars for a tomb-stone to place at the grave of Ebenezer Hanks. He makes no explanation of how he did it, but he refused to allow the difficulty of the process crush the essential joy out of the accomplishment.
      Speaking of this his journal says, "I gave this stone for Brother Hanks' grave for the love I bear him because once, when I was about eighteen years old, and was going on dangerous ground in San Bernardino, California, he called to me and whispered in my ear, 'Marion, for your father's sake, stop.' I did stop, and for those fitly spoken words of warning, only six in number, I have given him this stone."

      23. FHL book "Saint and Savage," by Helen Bay Gibbons (SLC, 1965), pp. 7-13, talks of a potential Indian killing of Ebenezer Hanks:
      "Patrolling the California Trail was a regular mission responsibility, in addition to the primary labors of teaching the Indians. The missionaries often served as scouts and guides to protect Mormon travelers. With Johnston's Army approaching Utah and the San Bernardino Saints being called home to aid in the "defense of Zion," travel was increasing. Ira Hatch, one of the Santa Clara missionaries, had gone to Las Vegas Spring earlier, and had stayed alone in the desert for several weeks. It was a dangerous assignment, for the Indians were especially troublesome, harassing trav­elers and then stealing Hatch's food when he went to their aid. Reinforcements were needed, so Elder Ben­jamin R. Hulse was sent out to serve as "President of the Vegas Mission," with Andrew Gibbons and Sid­ney R. Burton to assist him. They relieved Ira Hatch about the first of June, 1858...
      Las Vegas was an important stop on the San Ber­nardino Trail across the desert. There Gibbons and Burton had taken up their posts at a crude fort they erected about 3½ miles from Las Vegas Spring.
      As they slept in their wagons, the sounds of children's voices in Andy's dreams were suddenly replaced by the gutteral tones of the Indian tongue right in his ear.
      "You friends?" asked Chief Patsearump.
      Gibbons and Burton shot bolt upright in their blankets to find themselves surrounded by about ninety Indian braves with painted faces. Andrew's heart was beating wildly with the sudden shock, but he had already learned that the worst thing a white man could do in dealing with Indians was to show fear. Deliber­ately pausing to compose himself, he answered with an easy confidence he did not feel.
      "You know we are your friends, Chief Patsear­ump," he said in Paiute.
      "If you friends, you let us go kill enemies."
      "Enemies?" asked Elder Burton, also in the In­dian tongue.
      "White men camped at spring. They killed our brave! Gave him poison! We take revenge while they sleep!"
      A murmur of hate swept through the painted band.
      (Good heavens, thought Andrew. They're asking our permission to commit a massacre.) He and Burton exchanged glances.
      "It's the U.S. Mail party," whispered Elder Bur­ton.
      "I'm sure there's no cause for bloodshed."
      "I agree," said Burton, "better stall for time."
      Andrew turned again to his dark-skinned breth­ren.
      "If you go," he said, "one of us must go with you."
      "No!" cried Patsearump. "You'd warn enemies. If you friends, you'll let us go kill."
      "Wait," insisted Andrew. "We must talk first."
      "Talk" in Indian jargon meant deliberate and un­hurried discussion, and this often was exasperating to whites who wanted quick action. This time, however, the Indian missionaries said silent prayers of thanks for this native tradition which just might give them time to think of a way to prevent a tragedy.
      The white men climbed down from their wagons, seated themselves upon the ground, while the reluctant braves squatted around them in a circle. Under the warm desert stars they talked-ninety painted red­skins and two bearded palefaces. The talk was slow, if heated, engaged in almost as a ritual. After a time Brother Benjamin R. Hulse, the president of the Vegas Mission, arrived and joined the discussion.
      "We'll not consent for you to kill the party," Hulse told the Indians. "One of the Mormon captains, Brother Ebenezer Hanks, is with them. He's a great friend of Brother Brigham and Amasa M. Lyman. They would be very angry if you killed him !"
      This statement was enough to give Chief Pat­searump pause, for it was considered very bad medi­cine to kill a Mormon. The Mormons seemed to have some special influence with the Great Spirit, and Mormons never spoke with forked tongue. All of the tribesmen in the area made careful distinction between "Mormons" and "Mericats" (Americans) -the name they applied to all other white men.
      "We save your friend," conceded Patsearump, "but kill others."
      "No!" cried Gibbons. "It is wrong to kill. It grieves the Great Spirit. Better to have peace. Why don't you wait here until the party comes past our fort and then we can find out what happened to your brave. We are your friends. We will see that you are treated fairly."
      "Yes, wait!" urged President Hulse.
      After much persuasion, the Indians agreed, and they all sat around quietly to watch for the mail party. They had not long to wait, for already the white trav­elers had risen from their supper at Las Vegas Spring, and from their rest during the searing daytime heat, to begin another leg of their desert crossing. As they approached the Mormon fort, they were stunned at their reception. Without warning, they were com­pletely surrounded by ninety glaring Indian warriors. Seeing his enemies so near at hand, Chief Patsearump became livid with rage and seemed determined to fight. He made many savage gestures and used much threatening language. The startled members of the mail party, faced with the unexpected native fury, huddled in confusion in a close circle. The Indian mis­sionaries had to shove and elbow their way into the center of the crowd to stand between the angry red men and their intended victims.
      "Wait!" commanded President Hulse.
      "You agreed to talk!" Gibbons sternly reminded Chief Patsearump.
      The white men had a hurried discussion with members of the mail party as to the cause of the Indians' anger.
      "Oh, that Indian," said Mr. Yaff, one of the mail contractors, when he understood what the fuss was about.
      "We didn't poison him. He was sick when he first came into our camp. We could do nothing for him, so we left him there."
      "He's probably still back there somewhere on the desert," added another white man. "We can stop and wait here while somebody goes back to find him." After expressing many doubts about the man be­ing alive, Chief Patsearump at last consented to this course. The Indian missionaries breathed a sigh of relief, but this compromise displeased Mr. Yaff, who wished for another solution so that the mail company could continue their journey.
      "My business is urgent," he said, "and I do not wish to delay."
      When his words were interpreted for the native band, an angry undertone was heard again in the Indian ranks. Andy detected such statements as "Don't let them go!" and "Kill them!" and he braced himself for the battle that seemed inevitable.
      Then, in a quiet, reassuring tone, Elder Hulse spoke again: "There's no cause for anger. Your brave must be alive right now."
      "He dead!"
      "Why don't we go find out?" asked Andrew.
      At length, Patsearump made a proposition to Brother Hulse. "You go find Indian." Then he turned cold eyes upon Yaff and spelled out his demands: "If brave is dead, you give me one horse and a blanket."
      Yaff eagerly agreed, and Hulse was willing to go back and look for the Indian. Yaff gave Patsearump the blanket and made arrangements for the payment of a horse in case the Indian was found dead. Then, in great haste, the mail party "pursued their course."
      It smelled wrong. Andrew felt strangely uneasy about the arrangement, and he read the same concern in Elder Burton's eyes. The reprieved mail party left the fort and Elder Hulse started off alone to search for the missing Indian, directing Gibbons and Burton to remain behind to continue the talk and to try and calm the Indians. In the nighttime stillness the white men watched and waited. Indian blankets were spread upon the ground and the natives lay down to sleep. Then the missionaries found their anxieties had been justi­fied. By the dim starlight, Gibbons noticed five or six stealthy figures trying to slip away unnoticed. He nudged his companion.
      "I don't like it," he whispered. "They're going after President Hulse."'
      "Keep an eye on them," Burton said, "and I'll go up to the chief's lodge. I'd like to find out what his feel­ings are."
      Andrew moved out cautiously behind the skulking braves, but in the darkness they soon eluded him. Mean­while, Burton was arousing Patsearump.
      "You agreed to wait. Why did you send your braves out after Brother Hulse?"
      "I not send them. I am friend," replied the chief smoothly, "but I could not control them. They are rela­tives of missing brave and they demand blood for blood."
      Out in the darkness, Gibbons searched helplessly, trying to pick up the lost trail, but the night had swal­lowed them up completely. More than once the thought occurred to him: We're helpless! How can three missionaries expect to prevail against ninety angry Indians? Then, as he testified later in a letter to Elder George A. Smith, he knelt alone in the desert darkness to pray.
      I felt gloomy and sad. Consequently, I called on the Lord in fervent prayer, that if it was His will the way might open so that we might be delivered from the hands of those who de­sired to shed our blood.
      I received a testimony for myself that we would find deliv­erance.
      We did. Brother Hulse, after traveling some ten or twelve miles in the direction in which the lost Indian had been last seen met him, but in a very bad state of health. Brother Hulse administered to him, and he was immediately restored.
      The Indians who had followed now came up and were made to rejoice in the power of God which had been made manifest. All were ready to return to the fort, sending one Indian as a runner ahead to tell the news, which caused a good state of feeling and restored peace and order."

      24. Three biographies transcribed from typescripts in the Utah History Information Center, Rio Grande Rail Station, Salt Lake City, Utah, reference MSS A 4384 c.1 "Ebeneezer Hanks, Utah Pioneer":
      A. "History of Ebenezer Hanks Utah Pioneer of 1847. Written by his daughter [probably Ironia W. Davis], June 10, 1936 for the Cedar City Camp [Daughters of Utah Pioneers], Cedar City, Utah. Ebeneezer Hanks was the son of Joseph Hanks and Alvira Kennedy. He was born February 11, 1814, Troy, New York. Ebeneezer Hanks came west about 1840, his first stopping place being Kirtland, Ohio. He remained with the emigrants until he came to Omaha, and then in 1845 became a member of the Mormon Battalion, first sargent of Captain Browuris [Brown's] Company. When alarm that 500 Mexicans were approaching, he and Harry Morley were sent out on advance picket duty and were left for two weeks without relief. He was also one of the hunters for the company. In the spring of 1847, his attachment from Brown's company was one to go with the sick to what is now called Colorado Springs, and so missed the march into California. He came in August and September 1847, with the second company, and remained in Salt Lake City and vacinity two years trading with the Indians. He and another man named Tucker made one trip as far south as the present site of Monroe. He and Harry Morley as advance scouts discovered three Indians and chased them across Utah Lake, wounding them and leaving them behind in the snow. Another man behind scalped them and so became the hero of the fight. He and Harry Morley also made many trips together over the mountain to Fort Bridger for beef cattle, which they brought down Weber canyon, in order to keep the people from starving. In the winter of 1849-50, he went to California, where he secured a considerable amount of dust. Later, we found him in San Bernardino, California. He was superintendent of a ranch there for years. At that time or a little later he owned a considerable freight train of wagons and mules. He carried on a considerable freight train business between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. At one time in his life he was part owner in a mercantile buisness in Provo. He later moved to Parowan, Iron County and conducted a store, also a saw mill. From this came the lumber for the first Tabernacle organ in Salt Lake City. At the request of Brigham Young he built a tannery, a cabinet shop, and a cotton factory. He was largely the financial life of the south end of the state. When the railroad came into Salt Lake City, he sold his teams and interest in the Great Western Iron & Manufacturing Company of which he was superintendent. He always kept his interest in mining, and helped to open up the Bully Boy, the Dear Trail, and the Great Western, and old time producer in Marysvale. While there he became the first Probate Judge of Piute County. When the market of the Iron Works collapsed and the works was closed out he went in company with E.H. Dougal, Billy Shoemaker, Silverson Borup to the Silver Reef where they discovered and located a claim at the extreme south end of the white reef, but it proved too low a grade to pay for working and milling the ore. In 1882, he moved to Hanksville which is in Wayne county. Here he presented the people the townsite of Hanksville which was named for him. The people who settled this valley were Samuel and Charles Gould, E.H. McDougal and of course Ebeneezer Hanks. He surveyed two canals in that valley with the help of his son E.J. Hanks and C.H. Gould. These canals are still in use. He spent the rest of his days in the town of Hanksville."

      B. Ebenezer Hanks, by Vinnie S. Leeds Day Hanks. "1815 Feb 11, New York. Ebenezer Hanks was born in Troy, New York. Joseph Hanks father, Almira Kennedy mother. Ebenezer Hanks when grown went to live in the Cooper home in New York and married the daughter Jane Cooper who had been teaching school. They went to Ohio to buy a farm, and there met Joseph Smith and his men who were putting out old truths in a new way, and he joined them. Trouble came and they were driven out of Ohio and went to Missouri. Then more trouble came, and they were driven into Illinois, where they built a beautiful temple in Nauvoo. Then the trouble followed, and the mobs shot and killed Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. Sarah Jane Casper was born in Nauvoo, in 1844. Under the leadership of Brigham Young, the Saints crossed the river and began the long journey to the West. War with Mexico came, and the Mormon Battalion was formed. Ebenezer Hanks joined and with his wife went with them as far as Santa Fe, when E. Hanks and some of the Co. became ill. The sick people turned back arriving in Salt Lake in 1847. Ebenezer Hanks was Sergeant in Co. E. He did the hunting for the troops and kept them in fresh meat. Jane Hanks took care of the sick, and cooked. She rode a mule all the way there and back. Ebenezer Hanks's name is on the Monument for the Mormon Battlalion in Salt Lake City but Janes's is not there. Why? Amasa Lyman and Chas. Rich along with Ebenezer Hanks and others formed a Company, took two hundred Saints with their families and went to California to where is now San Bernardino, and bought the Lugo Ranche for $61,000/$77,500 eighty thousand acres. Ebenezer Hanks was foreman. They built schools, grist mills, and lumber yards. They raised cattle, fruit and became a most prosperous community. See Beattie's book 'The Heritage of the Valley.' Joseph H. Bridges a convert, in Sidney, Australia, had built a pipe organ in Sidney, and when he came to San Bernardo, he brought it with him. He had dismantled it and crated it. Then he sent it to Salt Lake City to be installed in the Tabernacle. This was the first pipe organ. After the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Brigham Young broke up the colony, calling them all home, and sending Apostles Lyman and Rich on missions. Ebenezer Hanks, stayed to sell what property he could, but the sale was a great loss. Jane Hanks sailed around the Horn to New England, to visit their families, and her husband returned to Salt Lake to find work. Brigham Young sent E. Hanks to Provo to install Woolen Mills there. While there he was elected Mayor of Provo, then he married Sarah Jane Casper. Then he was sent to Parowan to install woolen mills, so he resigned, and with his wives moved South. In Parowan, four children were born to E. Hanks and his wife Sarah Jane. The children were Almira Hanks who later married Daniel MacDougal, Jane Allie who married Joseph Sylvesert, Eben Joseph who married Mary Hemmenway, and Luella Nancy who married Charley Goold. Brigham Young sent Eben Hanks to Irontown to establish a smelter in order to make pig iro