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'''Nephi Johnson, his personal and family background, and his involvement in and statements about the Mountain Meadows Massacre''' | '''Nephi Johnson, his personal and family background, and his involvement in and statements about the Mountain Meadows Massacre''' | ||
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Revision as of 07:10, 24 June 2011
Nephi Johnson, his personal and family background, and his involvement in and statements about the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Nephi Johnson
1833-1919
Biographical Sketch
Early Days in Ohio and Illinois
Nephi Johnson was born at Kirtland, Ohio, to Joel Hills Johnson and Anna Pixley. His parents were New Englanders who with other members of the extended family were early believers in Joseph Smith's restoration movement and followed him from New York to Ohio and later to western Illinois. By 1839, members of the extended Johnson family were in Carthage, Illinois and Johnson was baptized in 1842.
Migration to Utah
The Johnson family departed Illinois in 1846 and immigrated to Utah in 1848. The family settled in Parowan in 1850, then relocated to Johnson's Springs (modern Enoch) just north of Cedar City. From an early age, Johnson began learning the local Indian languages and became a proficient interpreter.
In the Iron Military District: 2nd Lieutenant Nephi Johnson, Company D, Isaac Haight's 2nd Battalion, Fort Johnson
In 1857, Johnson was 2nd lieutenant in a platoon in Company D of the Iron Military District. Joel White was the captain of Company D and Daniel Macfarlane was his adjutant. Company D was attached to Major Isaac Haight's 2nd Battalion. However, the members of Johnson's platoon were from Johnson's Springs, not Cedar City, and none of them, except Johnson, were at Mountain Meadows. The reason Johnson was singled out was because of his skill as an interpreter: Haight specifically sent for Johnson because Haight needed someone with Johnson's linguistic skills to deal with the Paiutes he and John D. Lee had unleased at Mountain Meadows.
Johnson rode to Mountain Meadows on Thursday, September 10. The following day, he delivered orders to the Indians to disburse and hide. At the time of the massacre he probably translated the orders to attack the women and children.
He was listed in the 1859 arrest warrant issued by Judge John Cradlebaugh for those suspected of complicity in the massacre.
Later Life
In 1858, he was in the exploring party into western Utah and Nevada, scouting for new areas for possible settlement. He also helped found the colony at Virgin City, where he lived for fourteen years and acted in succession as presiding elder, acting bishop, and bishop's counselor.
Johnson explored the upper Virgin River drainage and he along with his brothers were the first whites to enter Zion Canyon. In 1862-63, he traveled with Jacob Hamblin to the Hopi mesas in northeast Arizona.
In 1856, he had married Mandana R. Merrill who bore him ten children; in 1860, he had married Conradina A. Mariger, who bore him sixteen children; in 1889 he married a widow with six children, who bore him one additional child.
Move to Kanab, Kane County
He moved to Kanab, Kane County in 1871, where he fulfilled a series of positions including first counselor to the bishop, county commissioner, town president, superintendent of waterworks and road commissioner. Johnson was employed by John Wesley Powell in Powell's 1872 Colorado River expedition.
Testifying in Lee's Second Trial in 1876
In 1876, Johnson testified in the second trial of John D. Lee.
He moved to Juarez, Mexico, 1889-1894, then relocated and lived his remaining years in Bunkerville, Nevada, were he served in the church in the office of patriarch to the Mormon community there.
Final Statements about the Massacre
As the years passed and the threat of criminal prosecutions receded, he made several other important statements about the massacre. Part of the importance of Nephi Johnson was that in his later years he became more forthcoming about lesser known aspects of the massacre.
Final Years
Nephi Johnson died in 1919, survived by many children and descendants. On his deathbed, a young schoolteacher witnessed his tortured, delirious recollections of the massacre more than six decades before. The experience prompted her in later life to write The Mountain Meadows Massacre. She was Juanita Leavitt, the granddaughter of massacre participant, Dudley Leavitt. Later, she was better known by her married name, Juanita Brooks.
References
Alder and Brooks, A History of Washington County, 32, fn. 13; Bagley and Bigler, Innocent Blood: Essential Narratives, 406-411; Bitton, Guide to Mormon Diaries, 183; Bradley, A History of Kane County, 151; Brooks, The Mountain Meadows Massacre, Appendix I, 224-226; “Diary of Almon Harris Thompson,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 7/1-3 (1939), 79; Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 970; Fielding, The Tribune Reports of the Trials of John D. Lee, ; Goodman, “New Look at Old Treasures,” Utah Historical Quarterly 26/3 (July 1958), 283; Jenson, LDS Biographical Encyclopedia III: 131-132; Lee, Mormonism Unveiled,; Lee Trial transcripts; Newell, A History of Garfield County, 109; Seegmiller, A History of Iron County, 366; Turley and Walker, Mountain Meadows Massacre: Jenson and Morris Collections, 324-34; Walker, et al, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Appendix C.
External Links
Nephi Johnson's testimony in the 1876 trial of John D. Lee:
Further information and confirmation needed. Please comment below or contact editor@1857ironcountymilitia.com.
