My Mormon ancestors - Part 1 - Tales from the Tree

It surprises me somewhat to find that there is quite a large group of Mormons, or LDS adherents  hanging out in the family tree. The large part is not surprising; when you have a half dozen wives (or in the case of one over-achieving relative, an even dozen), large families are the norm. I guess it's the choice of religion that surprises me. Most of the family tends to be in the conservative evangelical tribes, or maybe that just reflects my own bias.

At any rate, there's a bunch of Mormons in the mix, and some of them have interesting stories. Like the Berry family, whose roots stretch back to the American Revolution. They took up residence in Tennessee when it was necessary to build the cattle and pig pens adjacent to the house because of marauding bears. Jesse Woods Berry and his wife Armelia Shanks appear to be the first Mormons in the family, and left Tennessee to join a multitude of Joseph Smith followers in building Nauvoo, Illinois - a Mormon stronghold.

Jesse died in Navoo, and Armelia, with four sons and six daughters, joined the Brigham Young-led exodus to Utah. It's there that we pick up the story. In the fall of 1865, Armelia and sons Joseph, who was single, and Robert and his wife, went to spend the winter with relatives in Spanish Fork and also to purchase seed grain. Late in March, 1866, Joseph, Robert and Robert's wife started home leaving mother Berry still visiting with her married daughters.

Because of the illness and death of Robert's child, they were delayed in departing with the company with whom they had intended to travel; consequently, they made the trip alone. On April 2, they reached Short Creek and were attacked by Indians. The battle was brief and deadly, and all were tortured and killed.

Another of Armelia's sons, William Berry, was at home in Berryville, and knowing that the brothers were on the road, grew anxious about them. An unknown biographer of William described his actions thusly:

 "He saddled his horse and rode out to meet them. Stopping at a grassy spot to let the horse feed, he knelt in prayer for their safety. As he did so, a vision was opened to him of their mutilated bodies laying in their ransacked wagon. Horrified, he quickly mounted and rode his horse for help. He soon met a friendly Indian who was coming to tell him about the tragedy. He sent the Indian on to Berryville to tell his brother, John, while he hurried on to Grafton for help."

"A posse was quickly organized to recover the bodies to bring them to Grafton where they were buried. Word was dispatched to settlers who were scattered throughout Southern Utah to gather into larger centers for protection. The Black Hawk War had reached the south and the Indians were on a rampage."

"William tried to find the Indians who killed his family and he thought he knew who they were. The story is told that William found 2 Indians in a log cabin and was sure that they were among those who had killed his family. With one Indian backed against the wall and the point of a butcher knife pricking his bare abdomen, William tried to make him tell what he knew."

"When the Indian said that he was one of the guilty party, William could hardly restrain himself, and he felt that if he killed the Indian it would settle the score. Then the Indian did a brave thing that brought William to his senses, he calmly folded his arms, looked William straight in the eye and stood solid. He spoke no word and for a moment the two stood staring at each other. At this time it was made known to William that vengeance was the Lord's and that he wouldn't want the blood of any man on his hands. So he told the Indian to get out. The incident taught William a lesson in self-control which he would never forget."

But we are not done with William Shanks Berry, my 9th cousin 4 times removed (try and diagram that relationship chart).  In Part 2, we pick up the story of the Tennessee Mormon Massacre.