HEAMON ALISON HILL

 

 

 

 

 Heamon Alison Hill*

       Heamon Alison Hill was born at Petersboro, Hillsboro County, New Hampshire, on the 24th of December 1836.  He is the son of Leonard Hill and Sally Forbush Hill.
     Alison lived with his parents, and their seven his siblings, in Petersboro.  In 1841 the family was contacted by the Mormon missionaries and converted to the gospel.  They were the only members of their families to join the church, and were ostracized from their family and friends.  In 1843 they decided to leave their comfortable home and move to Nauvoo, Illinois to be with the main body of the church.  Their extended families regarded them as "lost".  One record simply states, "They joined the Mormons and moved west."
    After their arrival in Nauvoo, Leonard, being a carpenter and a builder, helped to build many homes in the area at the time.  He was building a new home for his family, on the outskirts of town when they were forced to leave it in the great exodus.
      The Hill family rejoiced in being with the saints.  They were grateful for their association with the Prophet Joseph Smith, and were diligent in accepting and following his leadership and counsel.  They were firm and true to their faith.  As with the other faithful saints, their grief was heavy when the Prophet and his brother Hyrum were martyred, 27 June 1844.  In connection with this event, Alison's sister, Maria, related the following story: " One day I was sitting on the doorstep of our home when the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum stopped at our home and came to our well to get a drink.  They were on their way to Carthage, where they were shot and killed.  Father said it was the last place they stopped as they left Nauvoo for the last time.  They came to the well and got a drink, but they did not come to the house,  The cup they used was kept in the family for a long time.  Maria said she remembered the incident so distinctly, and held it close to her heart, even in her elderly years.
    The ninth child of Leonard and Sally was born in Nauvoo, 30 Sept 1845.  They named him Emerald Jasper.
    In the spring of 1846, the family was forced to leave Nauvoo, their new home, and most of their belongings that wouldn't fit into their wagons.  They headed west.  The exodus was executed under the orders of Governor Ford, the Governor of illinois.  Alison was about 9 1/2 at this time.  After crossing the Mississippi River conditions were so severe, and their persecution so great, many of the saints became ill.  They needed to stop and organize themselves to continue their journey.
    Leonard Hill became very ill.  Being the Priesthood father, he undoubtedly did without that members of his family might have his meager share.  He has endured strenuous labors and persecutions, but endurance has its limits.  He passed away 10 sep 1846, the exact location is not recorded.  The baby, Emerald Jasper, passed away 20 days later.  Of these events, Alison's sister Maria reported, "The Lord blessed us, for a man came to us seeing our plight, took us to his farm.  He gave us a room in his home, put our cattle to pasture, and burried our Father and baby brother on his private burial ground.  We stayed there for a long time because our Mother and older brother Charles were both very sick."
      Later that year,  the Hill family moved on with a group of Saints.  By February 1847 they had reached the Misouri River, reaching it in the winter months so that they could cross it on the ice.  Sally Forbush Hill became very ill and passed away.  A hand sled was fashioned by her children, and it was said that Alison, then 10 years of age, pulled the sled, carrying the body of their dead mother, that they might bury her on a hill on the opposite shore.

    Less than 2 months later their oldest brother, Charles, died and was buried along the wayside.  Out of a family of 11, only 5 remained--three girls, and two boys.  The oldest, Sarah, was only 16 years old.  They had no home, parents, or food and traded everything they had to survive.  They were left in a settlement again, and eventually divided between several families.  Heamon and his brother George were placed with the Turley family.  While with them Alison permanently lost the sight in one eye when whipped, on accident, by one of the Turley boys.
     Their sister, Sarah, married a widower named Bingham Bement.  He was a kind man who gathered all the children together to live with him and Sarah.  They had only a small one-room home, but at least they were together.  They were working diligently, trying to prepare to continue their journey to Utah, when an epidemic of small pox broke out.  They all contracted the disease.  Sarah was expecting her first child.  They baby was born, but it was covered with small pox and only lived a short time.
    In the spring of 1850 they finally continued their trek across the plains.  Alison was traveling with a Mr. Bigford and his wife.  He was to help them with all of their tasks, and he would receive his food and keep.  He felt lucky to have such an arrangement.  Hardship struck again when Mr. Bigford contracted Cholera and died.  This made the trip very difficult for Alison as he was left with all of the work--work meant for a man.  He walked every bit of the way, with the exception of one half of a day when he fell ill.  He was allowed to ride in the wagon.
    It has been said of him, that he walked the entire distance, but it would be more like twice the distance as he had to go back and forth so much to keep the Bigford sheep and cattle together and on the trail.  
    The camp arrived in Salt lake City in October 1850.  The only possesions Alison had were the clothes on his body, and surely they were very worn.  It had been a long and tiresom trip for a young man still waiting for his 14th birthday.
 

    His sister Jerusha had married John Courtland Searle in March of 1850.  Soon after they arrived in the city, President Brigham Young sent them, along with 2 other families, to settle the area of the Peteetneet Creek, now known as Payson.  There were the Searles, The James Pace family, the Andrew Jackson Stewart family, and two young boys Alison Hill and Nathaniel Haws.
    As winter would soon be upon them, they immediately began to harvest the wild hay growing there, made corrals, and erected log cabins.  The cabins were built from rough hewn cottonwood logs from the banks of the river.  Not having a broad axe, they had to use an ordinary axe, an awesome task.  Young Alison worked as hard as any man, and was always willing to do his share and a little more.
    A few years later, Alison Hill rented a piece of hay land south of Salt Lake City.  He had to cut the hay with a hand scythe, and give the owner 3/4ths of the crop as rent.  It was while working here that he met Lurancy Chase from Salt Lake City and began courting her.
    Alison asked Lurancy to marry him in the spring of 1860, but she always said she put him off until the 25th of November of that same year.  They were married in Salt lake City and their first home together was in two rooms of her fathers home.  These were log rooms with no chinking.  They had plenty of fresh air, and must have been very cold during the cold months.
    After the endowment house was finished they were sealed together for time and all Eternity on 8 Nov 1861
 

 

    In 1862 they moved to Payson where they built their first home, of which Alison was very proud.  When they had been married 5 years still no baby had blessed this home.  Lurancy said that one day a Mr. Milan Fillmore, having lost his wife in childbirth, came to her home and asked her to care for the child.  She was hesitant because she had no experience with tiny babies, and this one was not very strong.  When he saw her hesitation he raised his arm and said, "Sister Hill, I promise you, in the name of Jesus Christ, that if you take this child and care for it, the Lord will bless you with children of your own."  She took the baby, cared for it and loved it, however, a little later it died.  Of this Lurancy said, "I could have felt no worse had it been my very own."  About one year later they were blessed with a baby girl of their own.  They named her Miriam Lurancy, after her Grandmother Miriam Chase.
    When President Brigham Young called for volunteers to go back and help the emigrants who did not have sufficient means to get to Utah, Alison willingly left his wife and 3 week old baby, took his team and wagon and on 25 april 1866 he started back acrossed the plains.  He was hoping to make the long trip easier for some than it had been for him.
    Alison Hill returned home six months later, Oct 1866.  This was a great sacrifice.  He had missed the growing season of the year.  He was needed so much at home to comfort his wife and tiny daughter.  Due to the damp cold weather on the trip, and the exposure, his health was never as good as it had been before.  He developed asthma and it effected him the rest of his life.  Upon his return he sold his team to buy his wife a cook stove.  It was ordinary for him to walk the distance from Payson to Salt Lake City  fairly often.
    They were blessed  with 7 children; four sons, and three daughters.
    He died on 24 February 1907 at the age of 70.  He wass buried in the Payson City Cemetery.
   
*The Facts for this story were gathered by Jennie Bird Hill, wife of Leonard A. Hill, son of Heamon Alison Hill.  This history was re-written by Marie T. Hill, and condensed by Jana Nielson.