HISTORY OF SARAH VAN WAGONER ** WIFE OF JOHN BOYLSTON FAIRBANKS
Sarah Van Wagoner was born at Wanaque, Pompton Township, Berger County, (now Passaic
County), New Jersey, the 11th of July 1822. She was the third daughter and
youngest child of Halmagh John and Mary Van HoutenVan Wagoner. They were both of Dutch
descent. Their ancestors came from Holland in the early 1600’s. The Dutch people
bought their land from the Indians, thus avoiding fierce combats and ill feelings. They
owned large tracts of land. When I was a child, my grandmother took me on her lap and
said, "My dear, when Grandma gets her property, you nor your children will ever have
to work hard as we do now. We will have all the money we need." When their family
decided to go to Nauvoo, they left their property in the hands of supposed friends. When
they took the deeds back to claim the property, a law had been enacted in New Jersey. If
land was left for twenty years, no claims could be brought against it. So we lost the
property. The Van Wagoner home in New Jersey had been remodeled, but the beautiful
hand-carved walnut staircase, the antique cupboards and the doors and many other parts
have been preserved. My father and brothers have visited this home.
Grandmother’s father was a farmer and among other products, he
raised flax. Her mother would weave linen for table cloths, towels, sheets, etc. She
colored some for her children’s dresses. The children thought cotton dresses were
nicer because to them it was a newer material.
The Dutch people were hard workers and thrifty. They had always been
taught economy. The girls were taught to card and spin, weave and sew, to mend, darn and
patch and care for their things.
Grandmother wove a beautiful linen bed spread in a very intricate
design. It is over a hundred years old. She made a marvelous carpet of wool. She carded
the wool from sheep they raised. Colored in several colors, spun into heavy yarn, she wove
it into a carpet. She gave this to Sarah, for a wedding present. Grandmother Sarah gave
this carpet to cover one of the rooms in the Nauvoo Temple.
My Grandmother and her sisters would sit and tell stories of their
younger days and laugh until tears fill their eyes. They must have had a very happy
childhood. Their brother John was apprenticed out for seven years. He learned the
carpenter trade and the Wheelright trade.
One day, my grandmother noticed a strange young man across the street.
He was tall, slender, good-looking with a noble bearing. Grandmother rather glibly
remarked, "That’s the fellow I am going to Marry." She met him soon after
at a cottage meeting. It was the beginning of a romance. and John B. Fairbanks became a
frequent visitor at the Van Wagoner home. They were married the 31st of August
1844.
The Van Wagoners had one problem, Sarah’s grandmother was about
eighty years old. Her name was Ann Roome Van Houten. They did not want to go away and
leave her alone and felt the journey would be more than she could stand. They were
thinking of putting a bed in the wagon so she could ride lying down. About two weeks
before they left she was taken suddenly ill and died, and was buried by the side of her
husband. She had been baptized into the church.
The Van Wagoner family and the Fairbanks family who had joined the
church left New Jersey with some other families in 1844 to make their home in Nauvoo with
the saints. Here John Boylston Fairbanks built a beautiful two story brick home which was
furnished well. Their first child was born here, the 27th of June 1845. He
lived only six hours but was blessed and named John Joseph Fairbanks. While in Nauvoo
Grandfather worked on the Temple in 1844 and 45. John and his wife Sarah received their
endowments the 21st of January 1846 and were sealed the 23rd of
January, 1846. They consecrated their property in Nauvoo to the Church.
On Saturday, the 25th of April, 1846, they left their home
and the beautiful city of Nauvoo for the West, where they hoped they could worship God
according to the dictates of their conscience, unmolested. They crossed the Mississippi
River in May and traveled to Winter Quarters. Here they spent the winter.
They built a saw mill and a grist mill. They knew these homes were only
temporary but they built well for many people would follow after them. They would need
comfort and rest, before starting on a longer and more difficult journey. Some lived in
dugouts. They made caves in the sides of the hills—just any kind of shelter for the
winter. They made their own furniture, beds, tables, benches, etc. Grandfather mentions
building a chimney and shingling their roof. Grandmothers’ Mother, Mary, died in
October, 1846. Sarah’s second child, little Harriet was born in November one month
before her father, Halmagh John died 4 December 1846. (Death dates on Headstones at Winter
Quarters.) Grandmother was quite ill all winter, Patriarch John Smith, father of George A.
smith, came and gave her a blessing. He said her days should be prolonged upon the earth,
that she should live to raise her children in the fear of the Lord. She began to recover
from that time and was given health and strength to walk. They left Winter Quarters the 17th
of June, 1847, for their long journey across the plains and into the Valley of the
mountains.
They were in the 4th company of 10, Grandfather Fairbanks,
Captain; in the second company of 50, Brother Snow, Captain; and third hundred, with J.M.
Grant as Captain.
They arrived safely in the valley October 6, 1848, with the winter
before them. That winter they lived in the wagon box. It was a mild winter and they did
not suffer. In the early spring they moved into their own log cabin in the first ward.
Uncle David Fairbanks, Grandfather’s brother, was appointed 1st Bishop,
and Grandfather was ward clerk. Here two sons, Henry and Nathaniel were born. President
Brigham young advised the people to move into the country. Grandfather, his brother David,
and a number of friends went as far south as Payson. There the water was so scarce they
were not allowed to settle. They went about three miles east to Pondtown (Salem) and
camped near some springs. They made a dam and planted a garden and put in crops.
That winter the Indians were very troublesome. It was unsafe for so few
families to live by the Springs, so they all moved to Payson. The men built a dam in
Payson Canyon that retained the spring runoff. This helped to conserve and increase the
water supply. Payson became their permanent home. Grandfather built a large two-story
adobe house. They now had six children: Harriet, Henry, Nathaniel, Sarah, John, and Mary.
The tenth of August, 1857, their four-year-old daughter, Sarah Ann, died. The next year,
1858, Grandfather was called on a mission to the White Mountains, and Grandmother was left
with five small children and a baby three weeks old.
In this year Johnston’s Army came to Utah. It was called the year
of the move, for the people in Salt Lake City were asked to move South, leave their homes
to be burned in case the Army was hostile.
August 6, 1859, their second son, Nathaniel was run over and killed.
Grandmother would card and spin her own yarn, color it and get it ready
for the weavers. The girls were happy with their new striped dresses. Like other pioneer
women she made soap, candles, carpets, made lye from wood ashes to soften the wash water,
did her own sewing, knitted stockings, etc. For Christmas she made and dressed rag dolls
for the girls, jumping jacks and handmade toys for the boys. Their sweet meats were
molasses candy and fried cakes.
In 1858 the Relief Society was organized with Sarah Fairbanks as
Treasurer. This position she held for twenty years. Payson was divided into four
districts. They were called "wards," but all functioned under one bishop.
Grandfather filled three missions and his wife had the care and
responsibility of the home and family during his absences. She was left a widow with eight
children, four sons and four daughters. The oldest son and oldest daughter were married.
She had eleven children, six boys and five girls; eight children survived her. She taught
them obedience to the principles of the Gospel and instilled into their minds faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. She lived a long and useful life and died February 8, 1898, at Payson.
Note:
Mary Van Houten, wife of Halmagh John Van Wagoner, died 4 October 1946. Journal
History – Tragedy at Winter Quarters, by Andrew Jensen.
Halmagh John died January, 1847, at Winter Quarters. John B. Fairbanks’ Diary.