George Spencer
George Spencer, his personal and family background, and his alleged involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre
George Spencer
1828-1872
Biographical Sketch
Early Life in Connecticut
George Spencer was born in Hartford County, Connecticut, to Moses Roswell Spencer (1789-1860) and Alma Flagg (1789-1854).
Migration to Illinois and Iowa
By the late 1840s, Spencer was in the Mormon settlements in western Iowa. In 1852, 23-year old Spencer immigrated to Utah. The name of the company is unknown.
Journey to Utah
By the late 1840s, Spencer had joined the Mormons in their temporary settlements in western Iowa and passed several years there. In 1851, he married Emily Brown Bush (1834-1906) in Burlington, Des Moines County, Iowa. By 1852, they had gathered sufficient means to equip and provision an outfit for the trek west. George made the trek with his new bride, Emily Spencer.
The name of the company they joined is unknown. But they crossed the plains during the 1852 travel season, probably leaving in the late spring and traveling the plains for most of the summer. They passed the usual milestones on the trail: Fort Kearney, the South Fork of the Platte River, Chimney Rock, Fort Laramie, the Sweetwater River, Independence Rock, Devil's Gate, Green River, Fort Bridger, Bear River, and Weber River. After suffering the usual hardships of overland trail they arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake in late summer or early fall.
Settling in Nephi, Juab County
Soon they had moved south and settled in Nephi in Juab County, south of Utah County. A child, Emily, was born in 1854 in Nephi. In 1855, he married into polygamy by taking a second wife, Mary Ann Payne (1841-1934), in Nephi, Utah. Mary Ann Payne was born in Nauvoo, Illinois.
To Washington and the Cotton Mission
In spring 1857, George Spencer and his wives, Emily and Mary Ann and at least one child join a migration of southerners to southern Utah. This reason for Spencer joining with the southerns is unclear since he was a New Englander while neither of his wives was a southerner. Nevertheless, they made the difficult wagon journey to Washington County. They encamped at Adair Springs near what would become Washington in Washington County. These southerners founded the Cotton Mission in what came to be known as Utah's Dixie.
Washington appeared to have many advantages over other nearby locales. It was located near several fine springs and the Washington fields seemed to provide a lush expanse of farmland. However, appearances proved to be deceiving and soon "Dixie" was considered one of the most difficult areas to colonize. The broad fields were actually floodplains so if their dams washed out, as they did with discouraging frequency, their crops were jeopardized. Meanwhile the springs, so inviting in an arid, hot country, created marshes, the perfect habitat for mosquitos. Many of them suffered from bouts of malaria (the "fever and ague" or "chills") for many years.
Although it eventually proved commercially unsuccessful, it did succeed in producing cotton goods for local use and export at an important stage in Utah Territory's economic development.
The Iron Military District: Adjutant George Spencer, Company I, John D. Lee's 4th Battalion, Washington, Washington County
In 1857, the Iron Military District consisted of four battalions led by regimental commander Col. William H. Dame. The platoons and companies in the first battalion drew on men in and around Parowan. (It had no involvement at Mountain Meadows.) Major Isaac Haight commanded the 2nd Battalion whose personnel in its many platoons and two companies came from Cedar City and outer-lying communities to the north such as Fort Johnson. Major John Higbee headed the 3rd Battalion whose many platoons and two companies were drawn from Cedar City and outer-lying communities to the southwest such as Fort Hamilton. Major John D. Lee of Fort Harmony headed the 4th Battalion whose platoons and companies drew on its militia personnel from Fort Harmony, the Southerners at the newly-founded settlement in Washington, the Indian interpreters at Fort Clara, and the new settlers at Pinto.
In the summer of 1857, 28-year-old George Spencer was appointed adjutant to Captain Harrison Pearce of Company I, attached to Major John D. Lee's 4th Battalion of the Iron County militia.
On Monday, September 7, 1857, after the Arkansas emigrant company was attacked at Mountain Meadows, John D. Lee left the Meadows to find the militiamen he was expecting to join him. He met those from Washington and Fort Clara, some miles to the south that evening. Although George Spencer was not specifically named in this party, he may have been there as the adjutant to Captain Harrison Pearce. They arrived at the Meadows around midday on Tuesday, the 8th. During the week while the wagon train was besieged, what Spencer did from Tuesday through Thursday is not known, nor is his role during the massacre known with any certainty. However, as one of the Washington militiamen he may have been in the militia guard alongside emigrant men with other militiamen from Cedar City and Washington.
Spencer Confesses Involvement in the Massacre
Spencer was not named in the 1859 arrest warranty issued by Judge John Cradlebaugh, nor in any of the usual nineteenth century sources for massacre participants. His apparent involvement is based on a letter he wrote in 1867.
On March 26, 1867, Spencer wrote a letter to Erastus Snow, Mormon apostle in charge of southern Utah. Spencer recited a tale of woe. Initially, he felt confidence when he had joined the church nearly fifteen years earlier; however, a string of misfortunes and tragedies had befallen him. In summer 1867, his son had died prematurely, and Spencer was still in deep mourning. Further, he blamed himself for his “lack of watchfulness!”
But something else disturbed him deeply. “Oh! what a life I have led. I was in that horrid “Mountain Meadow affair” (which was the grand cause of my moving back north)." “I feel that I shall break down if I should not undertake to talk. I feel like I was slowly waking from a hideous lethargic dream.” He berated himself for his lack of faithfulness and his constant preoccupation with making a living. He requested that his leaders direct his life for a good purpose, but, invoking blood atonement imagery, he queried: “If it is necessary that my blood must be shed, and that will secure to me life eternal, let it run freely every drop of it. Without the hope of immortality and eternal lives: existenace itself would be a burthen. I feel like a little child lost in the woods that needs a father to show me the path that leads to open ground.”
Whether Spencer got any relief from his torment is not known.
Married and Family Life
As we have seen, Spencer's first marriage was to Emily Brown Bush in 1851 on the plains of western Iowa.They had nine children, five of whom survived to adulthood. His second marriage was to Mary Ann Payne in Nephi, Utah. She bore him eight children, all of whom survived into the twentieth century,
His last marriage was in 1858 to Sarah Marinda Thompson (1841-1914) in St. George, Washington County, Utah. They had six children, four of whom survived into the twentieth century.
Among other things, he worked as a school teacher during his life.
He died in 1872 in Glendale, Kane County, Utah, at the age of 43. He was survived by his three wives and many children. Emily Bush Spencer lived to 1906; Sarah Marinda Thompson Spencer, to 1914; and Mary Ann Payne Spencer, to 1934.
Sources are sketchy on George Spencer (1828-1872) and further information on him would be greatly appreciated.
References
UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
For full bibliographic information see Bibliography.
External Links
For additional information on Harrison Pearce and family see:
Further information and confirmation needed. Please contact editor@1857ironcountymilitia.com.
