John Mangum

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John Mangum, his personal and family background, and his involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.


John Mangum (1817-1885)
Biographical Sketch

John Mangum was born in Albemarle, Surry County, Virginia. His earliest American forebears were from Boydton, Mecklenburg County in south-central Virginia, close to the border with North Carolina. His parents moved from Mecklenburg County to Warren County in southwest Ohio before moving south to St. Clair County, Alabama where Mangum was born. 
Around 1844, the Mangums had relocated to Mississippi where Mangum married Mary Ann Adair(1822-1892), a native of Pickens County, Alabama. She was part of the large Adair clan who had converted to Mormonism. Mangum and Mary Ann eventually had twelve children. Mangum, his wife, his mother and many of his siblings joined the Mormons and immigrated to Utah in 1852. Initially, they settled in Nephi, Juab County, where Mangum served as marshal.
In 1853, Mangum married Ellen Bardsley (1819-1864), an emigrant from Lancashire, England. In spring 1857, many in the Mangum clan joined other Southerners in southern Utah where they founded Washington in Washington County.
In September 1857, John Mangum, 40, like his brother James, was a private in the fourth Washington platoon in Harrison Pearce’s Company I in John D. Lee’s 4th Battalion. Mangum was among those recruited from Washington. According to Lee, John Mangum helped quiet Indians during mid-week. His role in the massacre on Friday, September 11, is unknown. He was listed in Judge John Cradlebaugh's1859 arrest warrant. 
The Mangums remained in Washington County for many years where he worked as a farmer and stockraiser. According to Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, Mangum also married Mary Hamblin,the daughter of Jacob and Priscilla Hamblin.
In the 1860s, Mangum was a founder of the settlements in Long Valley, Kane County. At the beginning of the Black Hawk War, Kanab and the other Long Valley settlements were abandoned and the Mangums and other families returned to Washington County. In 1869, they reestablished the Kane County settlements. They were troubled by Navajo raiders for a time and Mangum helped establish a fort at Kanab. In 1872, Mangum had dealings with the John Wesley Powell's Colorado River expedition.
Later, like his brother James, Mangum and his family moved to Apache County, Arizona where he died in either 1881 or 1885. He was survived by his first wife and nine children. Their children later settled in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.
References: Alder and Brooks, The History of Washington County, 29 fn. 11; Bradley, The History of Kane County, 52, 66-67, 69; Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 1022; Gregory, "Journal of Jones, 1871-1872," Utah Historical Quarterly, 16,17 (1948-1949), 106, 108, 112, 250; "Journal of ... Powell, Utah Historical Quarterly, 16-17 (1948-1949), 358 fn. 78; Kelly, "Captain . . . Bishop’s Journal, 1870-1872," Utah Historical Quarterly, 15, 1-4 (1947), 232, 233; Lee, Mormonism Unveiled; Lee Trial transcripts; New.FamilySearch.org.; Woodbury, "A History of Southern Utah and Its National Parks, Utah Historical Quarterly, 12/3-4 (Jul.-Oct. 1944), 179; Walker, et al, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Appendix C.
Further information and confirmation needed.
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