Update

Hello all - I haven't completely abandoned this blog. But life gets busy.

I have spent a considerable amount of time on geni.com. I think that site fulfills some of what I intended this site to be; it seems like a nice way to share family history records, stories and pictures on our shared ancestors. If you get a chance, check out William Lindsay's tree and profile and add yourself to it. Maybe there is still space for this blog though?

Also, let me tell you about an exciting find, something to check out next time I am in Utah. A searchable LDS Church Catalog (in beta) has opened up and I found out about the existence of two items from William Lindsay.

1) the 1894 Notebook containing from classes Lindsay attended at Brigham Young Academy as a student in the Sunday School Normal training class.
2) the 1921 Notebook sent to John L. Hughes. Gives family history and testimony (I'm very curious to know how many times he wrote this history out now).

Grandparents in Utah

Elizabeth Geddes LindsayRobert McQueen Lindsay

Knowing that William Lindsay's father William Geddes Lindsay died in a mining accident in Scotland, I figured that Christina Howie Lindsay probably represented the first of the Lindsays to be buried on American soil. Not so.

William Lindsay's paternal grandparents Robert McQueen and Elizabeth Geddes Lindsay as well as his great-grandparents Robert Geddes and Marion Gibson Geddes are all buried in the Salt Lake City cemetery. Oddly, the writings of William Lindsay never mention their deaths, or any reunion with either grandparents while in Utah as Robert McQueen Lindsay and Elizabeth Geddes Lindsay's time there overlapped from 1867-1873. This seems odd in that they had a relationship with these grandparents while in Scotland as noted from one of William Lindsay's accounts.

" Our next move was to Gatehead near Kilmarnock and while here our sister, Jean, was born and while living here Grandfather Lindsay was severely burned in an explosion of gas in the coal mine, but by careful nursing and the blessings of the Lord he finally recovered. Brother Robert and I used to gather hawthorn blossoms to scent the room he was in."

Source: A brief history of William Lindsay Senior and his wife and family, written by William Lindsay, found on ancestry.com from Heidi Lindsay

Below is information about Robert McQueen Lindsay from Ancestry.com

A FEW INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT MCQUEEN LINDSAY
He was born at Wanlockhead, Dumfries Shire, Scotland, August 14th, 1799. We know nothing for sure about his father. His mother’s name is given as Elizabeth Lindsay, and that is practically all we know about her.

Wanlockhead where he was born and married, and raised most of his family, is a small village high up in Lowther Hills, where the bonnie heather grows on the hills nearby. There are lead mines all around there and most of the men work in the mines. So of course, he also became a miner, as soon as he finished his schooling.

There is no railroad or public road within ten miles of the village so they live in peace and quiet and seldom move away. Few people move into the village, only the ones wishing to work in the mines. They seem to be industrious, honest and simple and nearly all are related by marriage. They are strict observers of the Sabbath Day.

When about twenty years old, he married Elizabeth Geddes of Lead Hills, another small village, only two miles away, but in the county of Lanark. She was born also on the 14th of August 1799. They were married in 1819 and lived there until about 1832.

We understand the family moved into Ayrshire, where he and his wife engaged in taking contracts opening mines, sinking pits and working as coal miners part of the time. Times were hard and wages low and sometimes it was hard to get work at all. So they had to move quite often to find employment. … Missing words… April 1848, the whole family joined the Mormon Church, having been thoroughly convinced that it was the gospel taught by Jesus Christ and his Apostles while they were on the earth.

About 1856, he was seriously burned by fire in an explosion in a coal mine. But by the administration of the Elders and the blessings of the Lord, he was healed. He was very fond of his children but he liked to tease them. He and his wife and daughter, Elizabeth, came to Utah in 1867, crossing the plains with ox teams. Soon after their arrival in Salt Lake City, He was employed as keeper of the gate at the Temple block for some years. In the fall of (1868?) he went to work on the railroad in Weber Canyon. He was accidentally injured and from his hurts he never fully recovered. He died in Salt Lake City, on February 23rd, 1869. He and his wife were a fine old couple and were very happy in each others’ company. They had lived together some fifty years. She lived until October (?) 17th, 1873, and lived with her daughter, Mrs. C. J. Thomas in Salt Lake City.

1868 retrieval of pioneers

William Lindsay was part of the 1868 efforts to seek out and guide some of the very last pioneers that made the overland trek west. This call was made by Bishop Hatch and required the then 21 year old William to travel by handcart starting in June to where the end of the railroad line had reached near Rawlings, Wyoming. Below is a map of the path taken, which mostly followed the Mormon trail until Devil's gate where they split south towards Rawlings.


View 1868 John Gillespie Company in a larger map

William Lindsay devotes 3 pages detailing the journey in his journal, included below:

"About this time I was called by Bp. Hatch to drive an ox team back to the end of the railroad after emigrants who were coming to Utah. However before I started on that trip I had a promise from from my Dear girl that she would marry me when I returned in the fall. There were 4 of us called from Heber 3 from Midway & one from Charleston. From Heber Wm Moulton, Willard Carroll, B.A. Norris & Wm Lindsay. Midway Emanuel Richman, John Van Wagoner & Brigham Hamilton. Charleston Geo. Noakes. All had ox teams 3 & 4 yoke to a wagon except Carroll & Norris who had horses & mules. Hamilton was a night herd & had a horse. We started early in June & we was to meet the Captain & the main body of the train at the head of Echo Canyon. We camped on Silver creek & I came near getting hurt the oxen I had on the wagon were rather wild & had not worked on the wheel as we called it & as soon as I unhitched them & the tongue dropped they started to run & the off ox kept kicking at me as I was still between them I however got hold of the yoke & clung to it till they slacked their pace then I dodged out in front of them all right. Of course I soon learned how to prevent further trouble. The Weber river was very high & at Wanship they charged a heavy toll & we had no money so we drove down 3 mile to Rockport up to Peoa & crossed the Weber on an old bridge with the water running over it & all around it & went down to Wanship on the other side over a very rough rocky road that never been traveled before by teams.

We intended to camp at Grass Creek but just we got to the Chalk Creek bridge some boys were coming with a bunch of cows & rustled them on to the old bridge to be ahead of our string of wagons. The bridge gave way & the cows & timbers were carried down the raging stream towards the Weber river of course we camped right there. It was known that a new bridge was need ed & new stringers were all in place ready to lay the new plank on. So next morning the new plank was laid & we crossed on it. Two days after we reached Cache cave at the head of Echo & joined the main part of the train. The men & teams were mostly from West Jordan, Cottonwood & Salt Lake The Springville Provo, Battle Creek, & American Fork teams came up Proyo Canyon & joined us at Heber. Now there was over 50 wagons & that many men besides the Captain John G. Holman his assistant Chauncy Bacon & some 6 night herders. We laid over one day to get acquainted & get instructions as to our places in the train & what we were expected to do. The Captain warned us all to be very careful of our health. He said we are now starting out on a long & tedious journey that will take all summer. We have no extra men & everyone of us have our part to do. One thing I especially remember he said boys it will be warm days & cool nights traveling over the high mountain country be sure to keep your coats handy so you can slip them on each evening as the sun goes down. We started on our journey got over Bear river on bridge all right Went over the Quakingasp ridge crossed the Muddy near Bridger & on to Green river which was a raging torrent a quarter of a mile wild. Three days before 6 men were drowned there by the ferry boat being up set & it certainly was a dangerous stream to cross The wagons & men of course were taken over on the boat. But there was some 400 oxen & we had a job making them swim over to the other side We finally drove them up the river to where there was a riffle or shallow- er place & the men on horse back forced the oxen into the stream & we on foot waded into the stream as far we dare to keep them from turning back & of course the water was very cold & everybody had to get in up to their waist & stand there for hours. It took most of two days getting all the oxen over. There was several narrow escapes from drowning one, man was saved by getting hold of an ox's tail as he was being carried down the raging stream, another on a horse in swimming water the horse turned over backwards with him & kicked him but others were near & helped him out. I tell you we were all thankful & happy when everything was landed safely on the other side. Men from the other train were still there trying to find the bodies of their comrades. Some I think were never found although the river & its banks were searched for miles

Our train traveled on day after day on what was the original trail of the Pioneers passed Big Sandy, Little Sandy & Dry Sandy & Pacific Springs & on to South Pass & Sweetwater which we follow- ed down for nearly a week to Devil's Gate. From there,we struck of to the right through Whiskey Gap & on to Rawlins on the line of the U.P. railroad. Some grading was being done there at that time However we traveled on till we reached the North Platte near a railroad town called Benton*.
Here was very good feed for the oxen & it was decided best for us to camp right there until our emigrants came along. Some of the other trains went on to Laramie and got the emigrants that came in the earliest companies. We were the last train going down & we had to wait for the very last company of the season & they did not arrive till the first of September. We had taken supplies of flour bacon & beans with us enough to last us & our emigrants back home. But having to wait so long our stores would have come short, so Captain Holman took a contract to haul some hundreds of cords of wood to some of the railroad camps & us teamsters soon filled the contract & in that way raised money to buy all necessary supplies. The North Platte river was still quite high when first reached it & the best feed was on the other side of the river. So we had to take turns going over to herd the oxen we used the horses to get over & back & they had to swim. That was the only time in my life that I ever rode horses in swimming water & I was lucky in always getting a horse or mule that was easily managed. Of course we had lots of leisure time while lying over on the river but we enjoyed ourselves very well when off duty sing songs or playing games & visiting other camps as they came along on the return journey with their emigrants on their way to Utah In these trains I met several persons that I had worked with in the coal mines in Scotland. John Livingston, Wm Wilson & James Elliot among the rest. Of course we were very glad to see each other but they had to go on with their train. I met an old Scotch lady named Osborne who had been an invalid for 20 years but she had a very great desire that her body might be buried with the Saints in the land of Zion that was her great ambition & to get her daughter who was with her settled down among the Saints. The Dear old sister was very frail but she had faith that she would live to reach the valley which she did. She died at Grass Creek & was buried in the Coalville cemetery & had a Latter Day Saint funeral & a nice coffin to lay her body in."

The Pioneer Overland Travel Website, 1847-1868, repository includes accounts of all the Mormon pioneer treks, including other accounts of this journey. William Lindsay's group is listed as being assigned to the Ogden settlement in John Gillespie's account book.

Below is a list of folks assigned to William Lindsay's care for the journey (from John Gillespie's account book):

Ogden City Wm Lindsay Good teamster Good wagon 3 yoke good oxen Emmigrants lbs Luggage
William Nichols 232
Ellen Nichols
Catharine Nichols
Isabella Nichols
Mary E Nichols

Robert Broun [Brown] 178
Mary Broun [Brown]
Henry Jones 100
Rachael [Rachel] Jones
John Stevins [Stevens] 100
Mary Thomas 100
David Thomas


Ann Bryan Osborn, who died September 12th, 1868 in Coalville, Utah was disheartening for me since she was so close!

*More on Benton, Wyoming, no longer in existence but an interesting place as described here:

"Benton was Wyoming Territory's first ghost town. Benton, 11 miles east of present day Rawlins at UP milepost 672.1, lasted only three months from July to September 1868, and attained a population of 3,000. During that period, however, it provided an interesting contrast. On one hand, it had twenty-five saloons and five dance halls. During its brief existence, reputedly over 100 souls met their Maker in gunfights. One visitor referred to Benton as "nearer a repetition of Sodom and Gomorrah than any other place in America."

Grant during his 1868 visit to Wyoming visited the town. Additionally, the town in August and September 1868, provided the jumping off location for 2,000 Saints in 5 companies heading to Utah." Source: http://userpages.aug.com/bdobson/photos9.html

Indian War, 1866-1867

Source: Peter Goddfredson's "History of Indian Depredations in Utah"

At the age of 19, William Lindsay was enrolled in Utah's Blackhawk Indian War on the 26th of May, 1866. He served until November 1st and then did it all again the following year. He was under the command of Captain John Murray Murdoch [his future wife's uncle and through his remarriage his future father in-law]. Below are his reflections on the war taken from his reminiscences.

In the fall of 1865 the Blackhawk war started in Sanpete & in May 1866 Robert T. Burton & some others came to Heber to organize the Millitia Knowing that the Indians would be sure to make raids on the stock in this valley. Men were requested to enroll companies were formed & officers appointed & all regulations made so the people could protect themselves & their stock. I enrolled in John M. Murdock's company of Infantry. We had to furnish our own arms & ammunition I had never owned a gun up to that time in fact only a few did have guns and we did not have money either. So John Turner & I got a few head of stock & took them to Salt Lake city to trade for fire arms. We had a horse or at least John did & we managed to drive them there & got what we could that answered the purpose all right I took a 2 year old steer for myself a heifer for my brother James, & a cow for Geo. Muir. I was called on to help build a stockade up in what was called the Ross hollow where the young cattle could be shut in at night men were kept with them to guard them in the daytime. Not long after I was again called to help move the stockade as it was too close to the hill we moved it up to where Geo. Fishers ranch now is.

Of course we were all called to stand guard on the outskirts of the town also & when we went to the canyon we went in groups & some of us usually stood guard while the others got their loads of wood. Men were also kept out as scouts on the Pole canyon & Lake creek ridges to watch for Indians & see that none came on this side of the ridge but with it all they came at 7 different times & made raids & all but once they got away the stock. This was the time they came right into Heber & took Tom Hundley's oxen & a cow out of his corral. The scouts reported Indians in the valley the day before the Indians got the cattle & men were sent out in squads of 4 that night not knowing any cattle had been stolen. But one squad got on their trail & found they were driving some cattle. They followed them away down on the Duchesne river & took them by surprise killed one Indian & wounded one another & the wounded Indian got away. They had killed a cow & was skinning it when the boys caught them. The boys Andrew Ross, Sid Carter, Joe Parker & Isaac Cumings brought the oxen & 3 Indian horses back with them.

All through the summer months of 1866 & 1867 we were called out on guard quite often to prevent the Indians from coming into our town & committing depredations. One man Brad Sessions lost 7 cows in one raid it was all he had practically outside of his little log cabin home & a large family. None of the men belonging to this county were killed during the Blackhawk war by the Indians. However there were 70 persons killed mostly in Sanpete & Sevier counties. But some hundreds of cattle & horses were driven away in these seven raids. When the war had just got fairly started Brigham Young who had tried to avert the war & had failed to stop it. Early in 1866 or as soon as the snow was gone between this valley & the Uintah Reservation. Sent a few men to this valley with a fine herd of young fat cattle some 75 or 80 head with orders to have a company of men from this valley take these cattle out to the Indians & try to persuade them to make peace And to tell them Brigham Young & the Mormons wanted peace. But anyhow they were to take the cattle because if they still want- ed war they would need lots of beef to make them strong as the Mormons would of course try to defend themselves. Wm M. Wall with some 25 men on horseback & 4 wagons loaded with flour bacon sugar & other necessaries drawn by ox team with their drivers took these supplies out there & runners were sent asking the Indians to come & make a treaty & receive the cattle & provisions But the Indians were mad & stubborn & would not come at all for 3 days & when they did come they would not talk peace either & they did not want the Mormons beef anyway. Colonel Head Indian Agent had gone out with our boys & he thought to buy the cattle for the government & give them to the Indians as he wanted to gain their favor but Captain Wall told him these cattle were not for sale & if the Indians eat them they would eat Mormon beef. Head really acted as a traitor at that time rather encouraging the Indians in their warlike actions. Mr. Whitney another government man informed our men of his purpose & it looked very much like there would be a battle.right there & if it had come Wall & his men" made preparations to get rid of Mr. Head the very first. When he found our men were likely to kill him if trouble started he then was anxious to pacify all parties & get the Indians to accept the cattle & supplies which they did but did not agree to make peace As soon as the cattle were turned over to them the Indians began to shoot them down & cut pieces from them to eat raw dripping with blood

To show how anxious Pres. Young was to avert the Blackhawk war he sent Al. Huntington an Indian interpreter out alone to the indians before the cattle were sent to try to induce them to make peace & he promised him if he went he should return safely. So he went & found the Indians practically all anxious for the war to go on. They were surprized that any man should dare to come among them alone. They gathered round him but would not listen to his peace talk. He finally sat down & cocked his 2 pistols & they had him surrounded & to make matters worse word had come to the Indians that Sanpitch had been killed in Sanpete & his squaw came up crying & asking them to kill the Mormon quick so she could eat his heart while it was warm. This of course increased the excitement & it looked every moment as though they would devour him. Finally old Sowiet a chief who was old & blind stepped in front of Huntington & said you Indians are cowards you are like a pack of coyotes after a poor lone sheep. You know Brigham Young has always been our friend he sent this man all alone to talk peace & this is they you treat a brave man who came here to do us good. At this the Indians cooled down & slipped away. Huntington of course expressed sincere thanks to brave old Sowiet & got away from there as quickly as possible. I heard him relate this experience in front of Joseph S. Murdock's log cabin here in Heber on his return from that trip.

Clark Allen "Al" Huntington, and statue of Chief Sowiette, Captain William Madison Wall
Sources:here,here, and here

I will relate an incident that took place in 1866. At the same time that Captain Wall & his men were out to the Indian camp & were returning home by way of Lake creek canyon. Another scouting party of Infantry were also up there looking for tracks of Indians who were thought to be lurking around on this of the ridge & they came on to the tracks made by Wall & his men. They felt sure they were Indian horse tracks not thinking of any of our men being anywhere near. They followed the tracks that led into a shady place it was about noon & very warm. The men on foot crept cautiously up & finally could see some parts of the other men & without orders two men fired at the objects they could see & the result was N.C. Murdock & George Bonner were shot in the legs. Of course as soon as it was done & Walls men spoke the others saw their mistake & of course were very sorry that they had wounded their own men. I was on guard the night these men were brought home to Heber neither wound proved serious & these were the only casualties that occurred in this valley during the Blackhawk war as far as I know. There were some however in other ways Brigham Meachem was one.

During those 2 years 1866 & 1867 the cows were all herded closely by day & some of the corrals were watched by night beside the men who stood guard on the east south or north sides of the town. While every man from 18 to 50 years of age was urged to enroll in the Territorial Militia to help protect the lives & property of the people no one at that time seemed to ever expect any pay therefor. But in the last ten years the government has seen fit after being urged by our Senator Reed Smoot & others to grant a pension to those who enrolled & served 30 days or more. The first 10 years the pension was $20.00 per month. Now it is raised to $50.00 & I happen to be one who is now receiving that amount for which I am very thankful. A majority of those who did their part nobly at that time however has passed from this life before any pension was granted Some of their widows however lived to get $12.00 per month the first ten years & those still living get $30.00. Out of 275 men enrolled in 1866 in this county only nine men are living here now & there are only a very few alive anywhere, there are some 12 or 13 widows also. Of course our whole time was not taken up around home during these 2 years we felt fairly safe in hauling wood or coal between Coalville & Salt Lake city or Camp Douglas & I spent most of my time hauling with 2 yoke of oxen on my wagon when I was not required to be at home standing guard or other duties.

Pgs. 280-282

The accounts of some of the events of Utah's Blackhawk Indian War in the Heber area were written by William Lindsay at the request of author Peter Gottfriedson and recorded in his "History of Indian depredations in Utah" published in 1919 (available free here).

Another account of the Indian War was given by William Lindsay to reporter A.F. Philips for the Salt Lake Herald and was published among other historical accounts of Heber on July 6th, 1930.