Two histories are included in this file, the
first, below, was written in his own hand when he was elderly. The second
history following, was written by his granddaughter
Aurelia Pyper Richards after his death.
A SHORT
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE LIFE OF
RIEGO HAWKINS
Written by Riego Hawkins
As
my wife, children, grandchildren and friends, have frequently urged me to write
a history of my life and incidents thereof, I will endeavor to comply with
their requests, tho I fear it will be rather dull and
uninteresting owing to my very limited education, if for no other reason.
But I am convinced that many of the incidents herein narrated will have no
value whatever to anyone save myself, although at the time they occurred they
were anything but uninteresting to me, and they were indelibly impressed on my
mind as shewing the hand of God in preserving the
lives of His children.
To begin, I was born
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Names Married |
Died |
Born |
Where Married |
To Whom |
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Samuel Harris Hawkins Savage |
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S.H. |
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Angilina Hawkins Piercy |
Unkown |
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Lavinia Hawkins Woodmansh? |
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James |
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Leo Hawkins Kay |
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Sarah |
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Aurelia Hawkins Hurst |
1907 |
|
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F.W. |
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Albert Hawkins |
Died in childhood |
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Unkown |
|
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Creighton Hawkins |
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1st Miriam Chase |
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Conrad Hawkins |
Died in childhood |
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Conalbert Hawkins |
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Riego Hawkins |
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Charlotte E. Stay |
My father being a well to do business man, a copper plate printer by
profession and owning and conducting his own establishment as also a 100 year
lease on the home in which I was born. Both of my parents were
religiously inclined. My father being firmly convinced
that it was necessary for God's people to gather together in order to worship
him acceptably. After much serious reflection on the subject he
was persuaded that Jerusalem was the gathering place designated by the Almighty
for his chosen people and was about to close up his business and make that his
future home, when he heard for the first time the "Gospel of Jesus Christ
as taught by the Latter Day Saints, commonly called (Mormons) he immediately
investigated the principles as proclaimed by the servants of God and upon
finding it in harmony in every detail with the Gospel as taught by the Savior
himself joyfully embraced it.
Thus was his desire to gather to
In accordance therefor with the light received
upon being baptized, he with his family about
After some six weeks on the ocean the vessel with its human cargo arrived at
its destination,
Shortly after our arrival there we embarked on the old Ben West for St.. Louis Mo. and I spent my second birthday thereon steaming
up the
In the spring of 1851 we left St. Louis to continue our journey to the great
west, we traveled that season as far as Pottowatomie
County Iowa, traveling with ox teams, we finally stopped for the winter at a
place called twelve mile grove 40 miles north of Kanesville.
During the winter several of the family were
stricken with fever and ague, of which my father died being about 47 years of
age, leaving my mother alone in the wilderness with two daughters and three
sons to take care of, ranging in age from 20 years to 4. My oldest sister
Angelina having married remained in England with her husband Frederic Piercy, and three of my brothers having died while
children.
My father died in full fellowship in the Gospel and in the assurance of a
glorious resurrection with the just, and in the knowledge that he would be
again reunited with his family never more to be parted.
The winter was extremely cold and on one occasion I had the misfortune to
fall into the open fire and severely burn both of my hands, but with the
careful nursing of my mother and the blessing of the Lord, I was entirely
healed without leaving any bad effects or even scars.
Early in the spring of 1852 my mother made preparations to continue her
journey to the
I was so young that I remember very little of what occurred on the journey,
but two incidents occurred that I distinctly remember, on one occasion my
mother took me out of the wagon so that I might walk a little, and put me back
in the wagon again when she thought I had walked far enough, but I did not
think I had, and rebelled and for revenge made a raid on the sugar jar, then
for the want of something else to do, I took my moccasins off and turned them
inside out now as I had been walking among sand burrs and as many of them had
affectionately attached themselves to the moccasins the experiment from one
point of view was entirely successful if not very pleasing, and I did not
investigate the merits or demerits of sand burrs any further.
I will state here that we crossed the plains in Jacob Biglers
independent company.
During the trip the cholera in a very violent form broke out among the
company many of whom died of the dread disease. My mother was in constant
attendance on the sick but owing to her great faith and fearlessness did not
contract the disease, neither did she suffer any ill effects other than that
caused by fatigue.
During the journey in many places it was impossible to obtain wood or any kind
of firing and we were compelled to use what was called (for the benefit of
delicate ears and also politeness) buffalo chips, which being interpreted means
manure from the cattle of former companies and to
say the least it makes excellent fuel and is in no way offensive, in fact it is
this same product that the Indians use in carrying fire on their journeys.
Sometime during the journey a tornado swept down upon us overturning wagons,
tearing wagon covers to shreds, scattering goods and utensils over the prairie,
and killing one man, the wagon in which were my brothers Leo and Creighton was
overturned but happily neither of them were injured.
When we came in sight of chimney rock my sister Lavinia
taking me with her started for a walk to it, however before going very far we
turned back as the object for which we started appeared to be getting farther
away instead of nearer and it was several days steady traveling before we
passed it, this shews how deceptive distances are in
such a clear atmosphere.
On the 22nd of September 1852 we arrived in the valley, and were received in
the home of brother George D. Watts, who was the first man baptized into the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in England in this dispensation,
whose residence was a small adobe house on the South East corner of second
South and second East Streets, we remained there until about the 1st of October
when my mother traded her teams to a man by the name of Seaburry
for a one room log house and a lot in the First Ward, on what is now known as
7th South St. between 6th and 7th East Sts on the South side of the street
where I lived for nearly 56 years and where my mother died in the 83rd year of
her life.
During the early days of our residence in the city we had to resort to every
honorable means within our power to obtain a living. My mother who had
never had to perform any kind of labor in her life did all kinds of work here
for the support of herself and family even taking in washing, gleaning in the
fields etc., during the first winter we spent in the valley living in the
little old log house in the first Ward, we had nothing whatever to burn save
sunflower stalks which my mother and the older members of the family gathered
on the tenth ward square (as it was then called) where the Salt Lake Street car
barns are now located, every morning they would go there and each gather a
bundle as large as they could carry and take home, but on Saturday they, as the
children of Israel in the wilderness gathered manna, gathered a double portion
to last over the Sabbath, these sunflower stalks were not only our sole source
of firing but of light also during the long evenings of that never to be
forgotten winter.
On July 3rd 1857 at the invitation of President Brigham Young, as many of
the people as could do so went up Big Cottonwood Canyon to celebrate the 10th
anniversary of the entrance of the pioneers into the valley.
While they were enjoying themselves in various ways the news reached them
that Jhonstons Army was on the way here to
exterminate the Mormons, They all returned home and soon began to prepare for
another exodus. On the 1st day of April 1858 we left our home in Salt
Lake City not expecting ever to see it again, we moved to Payson a settlement
64 miles South of Salt Lake City, a brother Ballard letting us have one room of
his two roomed log house where we remained until the army was permitted to pass
through S.L.City. When we
returned to our home. My brother Creighton being one of those sent
to Echo Canyon to prevent the soldiers from entering the valley, and if
necessary to burn the city and destroy every thing that would of use to the
invading army.
My brother Leo had previously obtained employment in the historians office,
as he was well educated and an expert penman, and I believe the first short
hand writer that ever came to Utah, he with J. V. Long was later employed as
reporter for the church which accrued on the 29th day of may 1859 in Salt Lake
City, he also died firm in the faith.
Some time after our arrival in the valley he married Sarah the eldest
daughter of Dr. John Kay, he was the father of two
children a girl named Nellie and a boy named after his father the latter dying
the day before his father. Some time after the death of my brother his
widow apostatized and withdrew from the Church taking her little girl with
her. After some years she married a man by the name of Crosby a judge or
so entitled by whom she had one child a girl named Maud he proved to be a heavy
drinker and after his death she again embarked on the matrimonial sea this time
marrying a miner by the name of Stevens. She was again left a
widow. Several years later she also died in
But to retrace my steps, for many years, we endured great hardships and
privations my brother Creighton even going to the canyon for wood to burn, in
the dead of winter with out shoes or socks to his feet.
About this time my sister Lavinia was married to a
man by the name of John Hyde also of
Some time after their marriage he was called to perform a mission in the
However he started on his mission but upon reaching California his courage
failed him and he left the Church and later wrote a book of lies which he
claimed was an expose of Mormonism he took ship and sailed around the horn for
England, but before leaving California he wrote to my sister informing her of
his action and asking her to meet him in England which she refused to do
remaining loyal to the Church, to add to her sorrow about this time she lost
her second child, a little boy she having lost her first child soon after his
birth.
History
of Riego Hawkins Pioneer of 1852
Written by Aurelia Pyper
Richards, daughter of Aurelia Hawkins and granddaughter of Rigo
Hawkins.
My Grandfather, Rigeo Hawkins, used to say, when
we pressed him to write his history, "Why I'm not a pioneer!" (He came to Utah in 1852), but we persisted, and he was working on
his story when he passed away. Unfortunately, no one has
been able to find it so I should like to submit this history which has been
placed or pieced together from family records and recollections, as a tentative
one until such time as his own autobiography shall be found. (editors note: The history above was found and is
attached)
Rigo Hawkins was born in
In the spring they went to Council Bluffs, but found no available living
quarters so they went on to Potowatamee )about 40
miles north) where they were able to obtain an old house without windows or
doors which Great-grandfather fixed up comfortably as possible for his
family. He passed away at this place, leaving Great-grandmother to make
the long trek alone across the plains with five little ones. She had to prepare
his body for burial alone, and a man came from a great distance to dig a grave
in the frozen ground.
Her hardships seemed greater, perhaps because of her former life. In
After many trials the family arrived in
Times were very hard for the little family and they all had to contribute
long hours of hard work to exist. Great-grandmother Hawkins, in spite of
the fact that she had never had to do a great deal of menial work, took in
washing and gleaned in the fields to support her children. They would
sometimes borrow a soup bone which had already been boiled and boil it again to
give a little flavor and perhaps a bit of nourishment to the water. The
children often dug sego and thistle roots to supplement their meager
provisions.
Grandfather had his left hip broken as a child (in fact it was broken
several times during his life), and because of the lack of knowledge or
carelessness of the doctor in charge of the case, it was left in a curved
position so long, the leg became stiff and was shorter than the other
leg. Because of this fact, he was never out of pain during his entire
life. In spite of drawback he always did more than his share of work and
his wonderful sense of humor was with him to the last.
Their home was illuminated for many years by the burning of sunflower stalks
and home-made candles. Their fuel consisted of wood obtained from the
canyons. Indians and wolves were bad in those days and it was unsafe for
one person to go alone to the canyons, as one had to stand guard with a gun
while the other cut and loaded wood.
Many times as a very young boy, Grandpa would go to the canyon in the dead
of winter when he did not have a coat to his back. He would perspire from
the exertion of his work and his shirt would become saturated and then freeze
stiff. Worn out clothes and gunny sacks were sometimes tied around their
feet to keep them from freezing. As a further idea of the privations and
suffering some of the early saints went through, the boys were often so hungry
that they caught fish from the
They took their fun, or made it, whenever they could. A group of
youngsters, Grandpa among them, or leading them, dug a hole in the adobe wall
of the old First Ward just above the Relief Society sisters table. When
the good ladies gathered around the table, the boys took a long stick and
pushed a frog through it into their midst, which caused no few shrieks, much to
the delight of the boys. However, when the ladies reached the outside,
there wasn't a soul around.
One of the forms of amusement was the telling of tall tales, I remember
Grandpa, with a very straight face, but an irrepressible twinkle in his blue
eyes, telling this one: "A tenderfoot had made a beautiful harness
for his team. but he had made it of rawhide. He
went up the canyon to get a load of wood. Everything went well until it
started to rain as he was coming down the canyon. The rawhide started to
stretch and stretch and stretch, and the team got farther and farther away from
the wagon which just stood still. The man frantically ran ahead with his
team and when they got home there was no sign of the wagon. He said to an
Old-timer, "what shall I do?" "Just let your team stand
there, don't unhitch them", he was told. The next day the sun came
out and the rawhide contracted, and when the Tenderfoot went out about
And of course there was the old favorite which always left the children a
bit skeptical as to his veracity. "Do you know that the eagle on top
of the Eagle Gate?" he would ask, "Well, every time it hears the
clock strike one, it flies down and takes a drink." "Does it really?"
came a chorus of young voices. "Yes, indeed it does, every time it
hears that clock strike."
And I can still hear him say, "We raise the biggest berries in the
world out here. Why many of them would fill a cup." (This was
when Grandpa lived in Granite and raised dewberries and strawberries) And
like the eagle story, it was absolutely true.
Grandpa's sister, Lavinia, often acted in the
"Old Salt Lake Theater" and as a boy he had to take her to the
theater and then wait for her and take her home. He was a very tired
youngster as he waited for her night after night. He was well acquainted
with Maude Adams and her family, the "Kiskadins".
When Grandpa was a young man, his mother, who had always been homesick for
On Thanksgiving Day in 1887, Grandpa married Charlotte Elizabeth Stay in the
Old Endowment House, to them were born two children, Riego
Stay Hawkins of Granite,
Among the many things Grandpa did was to haul granite for the
For many years, before the
He had a marvelous gift of healing. Many times he would return from
performing an administration for the sick, weak and ill. He said it took
all the strength out of him. But in all humility, he never had the same faith
for himself.
In 1908, he and his son purchased a farm in Granite,
Grandfather's religion came first and foremost in his life, as it does so
often with those who suffer most for it. I remember his taking me aside as
a very young child and quoting Matthew 16:17-18, to me. Then he asked
"Did Jesus mean that he would build His Church on Peter or on
revelation?" I thought a minute and answered, "On
revelation." Grandpa patted me on the head and said, "Good, you have
more sense than many of the ministers of the world." The glow I felt
at his praise still lingers.
Every night after a hard day of farming, he would sit by the table covered
with a red checkered cloth, pull the kerosene lamp (before electricity came to
the farm), close to him, take a bit of fruit to nibble
on and get out his "Book of Mormon". But I think he never
failed to lay it down when one of the grandchildren would say hopefully,
"Tell me an Indian story, Grandpa". On child would listen with
ever fresh interest to the stories of pioneer days which they had heard over
and over again.
His love of children was one of his outstanding characteristics. Many
times he made toys for them, grew watermelons for them, let them help him with
his work, even if it were only putting wooden shavings on their heads for curls
(shavings from the wood he was planeing) or hitched
up his team to take them on rides. One of the things which he did that
always delighted his small admirers, was to wrap a red bandana handkerchief
around his clenched fist like the kerchief around the head of an old
woman. Then he would draw eyes and nose on the forefinger, and moving the
thumb and finger, make it look like a toothless old
woman moving her mouth. Then in a perfectly tuneless voice, he would sing
"Oh My Father".
He was passionately fond of animals and the out-of-doors. He always
said that you go so fast in a car that you don't see anything of nature.
However, I never knew him to turn down an auto-ride.
Grandfather was creative and inventive. When not studying in the
evenings, he could often be found working at his big old roll-top desk.
He wrote many essays in his beautiful handwriting, on the thoughts that the
events of the day or his studies brought to his mind. And he, with my
father, applied for many patents, including one on a bicycle stand; one on a
safety coil oil lamp, and later on, a propeller for an air-plane which was
enclosed in a tube. They even worked on a perpetual motion machine. They
claimed that it worked, too, only "you had to give it a shove to get it
started, and you had to start it too often." Grandfather went to
school only about three months in his life, but was a well educated and well
read man.
He was of medium height, slender of build, with blue eyes and sandy hair and
mustache. He had the stubbornness of the English, the temper of the
Irish, and the charm of a man who has lived full and well. He not only
studied his religion, he lived it. He was kind, generous and honest to a fault.
He had many friends and was respected and trusted by all who knew him. He
left a wonderful heritage for his posterity.
Grandfather passed away on