History of Jemima Wimmer Powell, Utah Pioneer

The most part of this history is material supplied by a Great grand-daughter Mary Powell Blackburn, which was taken from an old record book in 1930 by Mary who found it at the home of Charles Wimmer, now deceased.

Other information from a family group sheet submitted by Jay Prince, and a few personal memories of a Grandson, Samuel Powell. This history written for Mary Blackburn— by Nora Lund D.U.P. historian 1970.

Born - 14th March, 1814 - Lisbon, New Castle, Henry Co. Indiana.

Died - 13th Dec. 1893— At her son Robert's ranch-near Price, Carbon County, Utah

Buried in Salem, Utah County, Utah.

Married - James Powell

Information furnished and history filed by Mary Powell Blackburn - Granite Park Camp, South Center Salt Lake County

(My Great Grandmother) Jemima Wimmer Powell was born 14 March, 1814 in Lisbon, New Castle, Henry County, Indiana. She was number 5 in a family of 11 children, born to Peter and Elizabeth Shirley Wimmer. The group sheet lists her brothers and sisters as Robert, born in Penn., all the rest who were born in Indiana were as follows: John P, Jacob, Polly, Susannah, Peter Martha, Elisabeth, Ellen and William. Only four out of this large family grew maturity and married, these were Robert, John and Susannah and of course Jemima. We have no death dates recorded for the other members of the family with the exception of Susannah, who married Simeon J. Comfort, no doubt in Hancock County, Ill. She was just 22 years old when she died, 2 April, 1840.

Jemima was taught the rudiments of home making by her mother, so was well prepared to take on the  responsibilities of a home of her own when she married James Powell in 1334 in Indiana. She was 20 years old and he was 25, having been born 13 Oct. 1309 in North Carolina. He was the son of Abraham and Elizabeth Powell.

Jemima's parents, Peter and Elizabeth Wimmer became converted and were baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were thoroughly convinced of the truths of the gospel, and felt they were making the right choice, but just being members of this unpopular religion meant trouble, and they had plenty. Jemima and James didn’t join the church then.

Incidents in the Life of James Powell as Related by his Wife After his Death

One day while we were living in Caldwell County, Mo. We were visited by what might be termed a mob, composed of the following persons: Arthur F. Wethers, John Gardner, Riley Sanders, Clark Ellis and Philon Ellis. They requested my husband to join the forces against the Mormons. He told them that if they had no Federal Authority to molest them he could not go. They replied warningly, “If you do not join us we will kill you.” Following this they went in the direction of my father’s home. Fearing for the safety of our small daughter, who at the time was at my father’s place, we followed them, little knowing what might occur. As we were about to overtake them, they stopped and ordered us back. My husband said we were going after our little child.

At this remark three of the men sprang from their horses, and one a Mr. Wethers, caught up a stick and struck my husband between the shoulders, causing him to turn around and grapple with Wethers, who then shouted for help. Gardener shot at my husband, missing him, and not wanting to endanger a fellow posse man, Gardner then used his gun as a club and struck him on the head several times. I ran for help, but as the posse left I ran and lifted my husband’s head, thus relieving his pain as best I could until my mother and two sisters came to my assistance. They were Latter-Day Saints so they immediately administered to him by laying on of hands. After they had administered the ordinance he arose and walked to my father’s house about two hundred yards away.

When the men left they gave us warning that if we were not out of the place by the time the sun was a yard high the next morning they would return and kill all of us. Thinking that these fiends might return and carry out their hellish threats we decided it was best to leave. We packed up our things in the wagon and started that very night for Huntersville (a town about four miles away). We arrived there the next afternoon after driving all night through wooded country; being followed by the posse who were determined to see us well out of the country.

Upon our arrival in Huntersville we were immediately surrounded by a crowd of about three hundred men. They asked what he had in the wagon. They then asked if we had anything done for him and if we were Mormons. We had done very little for him and neither one of us was a Mormon, and had never heard a Mormon preach. One of the men then told us to go to a certain vacant house. Arriving there they took my husband out of the wagon, laid him on a door and the Doctors performed an operation on his head. They cut his scalp in four parts, drew down as far as his ears and forehead. Then thinking we would tell the posse they left him in this condition.

Incidents in the Life of Robert Wimmer Brother of Jemima Wimmer Powell

I Robert Wimmer, son of Peter and Elizabeth Shirley Wimmer, was born in the state of Pennsylvania in the year A. D. 1805. I moved with my father to Cincinnati, Ohio, in the year 1808, when Cincinnati had not more than 550 inhabitants. From there I moved to Gold Vain 11 miles west, and from there 5 miles still west. Here Father opened a large farm in the timber.

Here I got my first pair of pants. I wore long shirts. I expect I was ten years old before I owned a pair of pants or shoes. My mother had to make all our wearing apparel out of flax, tow and wool. Wool was carded by hand and spun on a little wheel. I can well recollect when the women made their dresses out of four yards of yard wide home made cloth. They made their skirts wide enough to run in. They made our shirts out of flax. Domestic cotton was not then worn. The women said it was so hard to wash, they would rather make linen than wash cotton cloth. You could hear the buzz of the little wheel in every home.

My father was called to war in 1814 under General Harrison and left my mother with four little boys in winter time. It was a hard winter too. There was a mad dog that came and drove us up on the loft and kept us there 30 hrs, when a neighbor man came in and rescued us from danger.

About the year 1820 my father hired me to an Indian trader and took me to Andersontown, twenty five miles north of Indianapolis, on the White River, a Delaware Indian Village. I became a great favorite with the Indians and they offered a very high price for me in horses. My father got uneasy about me and took me home. One, Ben Davis, and his squaw followed to steal me, but kept watch. Some of the Delaware Indians have silver ornaments, such as broaches. Half moons hung down their back. They wore large nose ornaments. They had the rims of their ears cut.

They laid their dead on top of the ground near black posts with a cross near the top and built pens around them. I was at one of their grave yards one day. Seeing a considerable pile of tobacco, I slipped a piece. One of the Indians saw me and gave me a chase. He over took me and picked me up by the seat of the pants and back of the neck and threw me against a big stump and came very near to caving my side in. Some of the Indians would bury their dead in great logs, others upon trees. The trails or roads were very narrow, as they always grew one right after the other. Their trail some places was very deep for roads.