James Joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Traveled to Missouri - In his own Words

In 1831, James Lewis was a young man of 17 living in Randolph County, Indiana, presumably with his older brother Joel (often referred to as Joel Jr. to differentiate him from their father also named Joel Lewis.)  His life was forever changed when he heard the message of Mormon missionaries.  This is how he described the event later in his life.

"When about seventeen years of age, a man, an ex-preacher, came near where I was staying, late in the evening, did not dismount but said he had rode forty miles that day to overtake two mormonite preachers that have a golden Bible taken out of the earth, that they were preaching the ancient apostolic doctrine and that next Sunday they would preach in Mock's barn. All of this was said almost without taking a breath. My own thoughts I cannot explain, but my first thought was that this is the very thing I have thought would come in the course of my days. The words I had heard went through me in every part of my system. I remembered the Bible, also what I had learned of the ancient peoples of America, and above all the secret whispering now settled more strongly than ever before."

James went to hear the speakers: Thomas B. Marsh who spoke about the prophecies of Isaiah and Selah J. Griffin who explained the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the testimony of the three and eight witnesses to the Book of Mormon.

James also wrote: "Squire Jones, an ex-preacher, was put forward to talk to them. . . .Squire Jones could ask questions they could not answer, but they answered many questions he had never heard answered before. And my father-in-law, Squire John Jones, went home a wiser and better man than he came, for he never raised his voice against their doctrine." John Jones wasn't James' father-in-law in 1831, but he would become so two years later.

He described his own conversion and baptism this way: "Soon after, two other Elders came, Levi W. Hancock and Zebedee Coltrin, and began baptizing my associates and many others. . . .Of myself, I think I was better prepared to endure than many of my own age. The Elders quoted liberally from the scriptures. I was careful to see every one of them with my own eyes and knew they were in my mother's Bible. . . .Taking in all of my evidences of scripture . . . and above all those secret whisperings that no human could give, the last of the baptisms in our place was Sister Jackson, her sister Anna Jones, and myself. I was baptized by Levi W. Hancock in water and the Holy Ghost before I set my feet on dry land, where I was confirmed by Zebedee Coltrin July, 1831, Randolph County, State of Indiana." Anna Jones, of course, was James' future wife. Her sister would be Elizabeth Jones Jackson who was the wife of Henry S. Jackson.

Mississinewa River in Randolph County, Indiana.
This river is near the farm of James' brother Joel.
 James was probably baptized in a river much like this, 
perhaps even this one.

James doesn't mention exactly where he was baptized. Presumably it was one of the rivers in Randolph County. The Mississinewa runs west in the northern part of the county and is not far from the farm of James' brother Joel. The White River runs north and then west through the middle of the county not far from the county seat of Winchester. The Whitewater River starts its southward journey in the southwest part of the county.

Thus began James' devotion to a church which would require him to travel to numerous states and territories - and not always of his own choice. But he seems never to have wavered or doubted the spiritual witness he felt at the time of his baptism. He worked to help spread the word of his new-found religion. In December of that year, James traveled with an Elder Fallis as a missionary in Ohio. I don't know who this Elder Fallis was, but think he was probably a relative of James. James' brother Joel was married to Mercy Fallis and his sister Rachel was married to William Fallis. I have found reference to an Isaac Fallis living with the Saints in Missouri, but I don't know if this is the same man. If anyone has any information on this, I'd welcome it. In March, 1832, James also traveled with Levi W. Hancock as a missionary in Greenville, Ohio. Then in April, 1832, he went with Elder Jackson to the White Water River area to hold church meetings. (The Whitewater River is a tributary of the Miami River; one of its branches starts in Randolph Co., Indiana.) James noted that some who were baptized at that time crossed the plains with him in 1852. Possibly the Elder Jackson mentioned was James' future brother-in-law Henry S. Jackson.

James decided to join the Latter-day Saints who were congregating to Jackson County, Missouri. "In June, 1832, I started to gather with the saints in Missouri on foot and alone, going by Logansport [Indiana] on the Wabash River to see my sister and continued down the river and joined a company of saints also going to Missouri. Fortunately for me, as I was coming into camp, Brother Rawson, a man I had never seen before, met me and asked me if I would go with him and help him with his team.  At once, I told him yes, as I wished to go with someone. On going to the tent, to my surprise, there was sister Anna Jones. She was engaged to help Sister Rawson on the way to Missouri. I was of some benefit to the company as a kind of commissary to go ahead and purchase supplies and have them ready by the time the teams came up."

"In going to Missouri the company traveled pitching their tents by the way, stopping over Sunday and having a meeting. . . .Arrived at Independence September the 2nd day of 1832. I now set about finding a place to get work. Went to Big Blue River, worked for Father Rockwell and Porter Rockwell. Stopped over Sunday and went on to Lyman Wight's and seen him once on a mission. He directed me to the Whitmer settlement."

Obviously, James and Anna were acquainted in Randolph County, Indiana. We are left to wonder how well they knew each other, however. Did their romance blossom before they each left Randolph County, on the trail to Missouri with the Rawson family, or after they arrived in Missouri. There are various family traditions about the matter, but no specific mention as far as I know in James' writings. We do know that on May 10, 1833 James and Anna were married in Jackson County, Missouri by W. W. Phelps.

From Marriage Records of Jackson County, Missouri, the third entry is the marriage record of James Lewis and Anna Jones of Blue Township.

Ten months later they were living in Clay County, Missouri when their first son, Joel Jones Lewis was born on February 27, 1834. Anna's sister Elizabeth Jackson died in July 1835 and was buried on Shoal Creek west of Liberty. Their second son John Alma Lewis was born 22 August 1836 (that date is sometimes given differently.) James wrote that he "settled in 1837 on Crooked River, Ray County, Missouri, in what was known as the Dutch settlement of Mormons." Their next son James Ammon was born February 6, 1838; I have seen his birth given as Ray County and as Cass County.

The time James and Anna spent in Missouri was tumultuous. Here is one incident he described: "Late in December of 1832, the house that I was in, Brother Fallises, was assailed on the outside around the doorway and on top, unroofing and pitching the timbers on the inside where were three beds - all occupied and asleep, at the first. Any of the pieces pitched in would have crippled or killed any that it might have hit. Those at the doorway shot through, there being only a quilt hung up, the walls in the opposite side of the house. Was just opposite the pillow where Brother and Sister Fallis lay and about eighteen inches from it. Providentially I lay on the floor. Had I raised on my knees as naturally I would attempt to go under one of the beds, would have been shot through the body. Thanks to a kind providence no one in the house was injured."
(I would love to know more about this Elder Fallis. James' sister Rachel and brother Joel both married into the Fallis family. Was this a relative-in-law? Is that one reason JSL lived with this family before his marriage?)

This is how James described his Missouri experience in 1900: "In Jackson County, Missouri, I made a very fair start - cleared and fenced a small field, built a good log house, raised and gathered a crop just in time to be obliged to leave it to a mob. At Crooked River I rented a farm and leased land for a term of years. After putting in my crop, I surprised my employer and his neighbors by hiring some help, clearing my lease, and putting it in and raising a fine crop on it too; thus, paying my rent for several years in advance. I barely sold enough to a mobocrat friend to pay my hired help. . . .Many strong men were apostatizing, and among the number were the best friends that I had in the world, such as Oliver Cowdrey, the Whitmers, David and John, Jacob Hiram Page, a brother-in-law [Henry S. Jackson]. Some of the twelve staggered and some fell. Times were precarious. . ."

Mount Pisgah, Iowa

The place names on James Stapleton Lewis' family lines are an American history text on a pedigree chart. The families followed pioneer migration patterns and trails. Today I want to write about Mount Pisgah, Iowa.

Marker at the Mount Pisgah site showing the Mormon Pioneer migration through Iowa

From the time I was small, the place name held a fascination for me that I can't explain. It isn't one of those places that immediately comes to mind when you think of the Mormon Pioneer Trail the way Council Bluffs or Winter Quarters or Martin's Cove does. Yet it is a place I always wanted to see.

When my husband and I planned a road trip to Pittsburgh in 2007 to visit our son, daughter-in-law and grandson, we decided to make it a Mormon Pioneer Trail trip as well. Since both of us have pioneer ancestry, I researched to find what ancestors had been at the various sites and when they were there. I created a section in an accordion file for each location we planned to visit and included a family group sheet of each family that had been at that location. I also filed information from the Internet about each site, including addresses, driving  directions, and hours of visitor center operations. When we made each stop we could talk about what ancestors had been there, what their experiences must have been, and look for their names on any markers or visitor center displays. It made our experience on the trip even more personal and interesting.

When I told my husband (I have to admit I didn't allow for any negotiations on this one) that we were going to include Mount Pisgah as one of our stops, he was less than enthusiastic. It was out of our way because it is off the Interstate. But he surrendered when I told him I'd wanted to visit Mount Pisgah ever since my grandmother told me about James Stapleton Lewis living there.

Using our Rand McNally Road Atlas, I navigated our route as we meandered and zigzagged through farmland and small Iowa towns south of Interstate 80 to Union County. We arrived in the late afternoon to find a most beautiful and peaceful spot. The feeling that permeates so many of these pioneer sites is hallowed - there's no other way to describe it. No one else was near as we wandered quietly around the area.

Looking toward the Grand River from the Mount Pisgah settlement site

Mount Pisgah isn't so much a mountain as a hilly, elevated area above the Grand River Valley. The view from the settlement area looks to the valley with a view worthy of any movie scenery. We could easily see why Parley P. Pratt was taken by the loveliness of the area and chose it as another stopping point for the Mormons who were trudging their way west following their expulsion from Nauvoo. Mount Pisgah was the first permanent white settlement in Union County. About two thousand homes were built there and thousands more traveled through the place. 

Our family tradition told me by my grandmother is that James was asked by Brigham Young to stay at Mount Pisgah and plant crops to help feed and supply the pioneer companies traveling through on their way to the Salt Lake Valley. I don't know if the tradition is fully accurate, but I have found that one of the purposes of the Mount Pisgah community was to do just that. There was rich farmland that the Saints quickly cleared and cultivated. The crops grown there provided for many who were on the trail. Mount Pisgah was a site where men were recruited for the Mormon Battalion. James and Anna were there with their young family for several years.

Alva Tippits Lewis' birthplace in 1846 is sometimes listed as Mount Pisgah, but is usually given as Marion, Iowa. Today Marion is on the outskirts of Cedar Rapids in Linn County. Marion is northeast of Mount Pisgah. This birth undoubtedly shows the westward progress of the JSL family from Nauvoo. Wilford Woodruff was born in 1848 in Mount Pisgah. A monument at the cemetery reminded us that James and Anna buried a child here. William Fallis Lewis was born and died the same day in 1851 though he isn't listed on the monument.

Mount Pisgah cemetery monument

Looking downhill in the cemetery area

William Fallis was among many who are buried in the Mount Pisgah cemetery though most graves aren't marked and the monument list is only a partial list of the dead. More than one hundred fifty died in the first six months of the settlement.






A replica of a log cabin has been constructed at Mount Pisgah to show the type of shelter families like James and Anna's would have had. It is small and dark. My six-foot husband had to duck to get in the doorway. The roof is sod with grass growing on it. The cabin was so small; I think many household tasks would have taken place outdoors. That would be fine on a pleasant day such as the July evening we were there. But in the middle of a cold, wet winter day it must have been a difficult life. I picture Anna trying to wash clothes for her family of boys for example.

Mount Pisgah pioneer cabin replica

I have lately wondered about the childhoods of Joel and John Alma, James and Anna's two oldest sons. Both were born in Missouri and as young children went through the forced exodus from Missouri. Two little brothers died at age two, one in Missouri and one in Indiana. Then they settled in Nauvoo where another brother, Isaac, was born. When Joel was 12 and John Alma was 10 they again were forced from their home and began their journey through Iowa. As hard as life as a pioneer farming family in Mount Pisgah must have been, I'd like to think that maybe the six years the family spent there were a stable and happy respite from mobs and fear.

In 1852, the Saints still living in Mount Pisgah were counseled to finish their journey to the Salt Lake Valley.  James, Anna, Joel, John Alma, Isaac, Alva, and Wilford once again traveled to a new place where they had to begin to build a new life. But that's a story for another blog.