Eleanor was born 1 September 1796, Londonderry Nova Scotia, Canada, of Irish descent. She was raised in Nova Scotia. When Eleanor was 19, she met a young school teacher who had come from MA to better his health. He was ill with consumption. She married Samuel Henry Lufkin 29 March 1815. He was 8 years older than she was.
They lived in Nova Scotia, Boston, MA, New Hampshire and Vermont. They had 10 children. Cyrus and Sarah Ellen were born in Nova Scotia. The next 4, all boys, Davis, James, Robert and John, were born in Boston and all died very young. The next 4 were all born in Vermont. Asenath Eleanor, b. 1827; George Washington, b. 1831; Jane Ann, b. 1835 and Charles Henry, b. 1839.
Here is part of a letter written to Eleanor from her Mother, Eleanor O’Brien Johnson, from Nova Scotia, in 1835: “I avail myself of this opportunity to inform you that I am still alive and in tolerable health for a person of my advanced age (77). I live in the same place with my son, James and his family who are all in good health. They have a family of six children alive and two died. Four boys and two girls alive. . .I am surprised you did not write and let us know your state and how your husband and children were. It would afford me much comfort to hear from you all. We heard Mr. Lufkin was dead but had no certain information. . .I am old and feeble and it would afford me much comfort before I go home to hear from you all.”
Eleanor and Samuel were living in Vermont when they joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, about in the late 30’s or early 40’s. George was teased about being a Mormon and was in many fights.
In 1845 Eleanor received a letter from her brother, James, who lived in Nova Scotia. “Dear Sister, You wish me to tell you how many of your friends embrace the Mormon Faith. I must tell you that there is not one in this place that I know of that does. . . My opinion is that Joe Smith was no prophet but an impostor of the worst sort to defraud the people of their money for his own use. Be that as it will he is receiving the rewards of the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or evil we are not the judge. I never heard a Mormon preach. There was one that preached in the great villages and up
the Deburt River but he was not suffered to preach the second time and one night in Halifax someone put him in prison to keep the mob from tearing him to pieces.”
Here is part of a letter Eleanor wrote to James in 1848. “We still belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and believe it to be the only true church of earth with which the Lord is well pleased. You wrote in your letter you believed Joseph Smith was an impostor. I believe him to be a true prophet of God as any of the old prophets were in ancient times. Brother James and sister Rachel, condemn me not for my religious principles for the judge standeth at the door, for he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him... ”
About this time they were wanting to go west but were struggling financially. Cyrus, Sarah Ellen and Asenath were married.
In 1850 Eleanor and Samuel and Henry went to Kirtland to be with church members. On arriving they were disappointed to find not even enough Mormons to hold meetings. George and Jane Ann stayed with their oldest sister, Sarah, to earn their own money to go west. George did all kinds of odd jobs and Jane Ann taught school (age 15). Sometime between living in Ohio and reaching Council Bluffs, the Lufkins were in Nauvoo, or at least George and Jane were. The 2 danced in Nauvoo.
Eleanor, Samuel and Henry went by boat to St. Louis where wagon trains were made up. Eventually they got to Council Bluffs. Sometime in this time period George caught up with them. Because the family was so poor they had to divide up among wagon trains. Samuel was to drive for “Blind Leonard”. He left first. George left next and drove a wagon for “Isaac Bullock”. He left 4 July 1852. Eleanor and Henry left last in the train of Captain Hawley’s group.
The following was written by George’s youngest child, Kate Lufkin Davenport, at his home in Logan, Utah 4 July 1917. “I well remember where I was 65 years ago. I was camped on the banks of the Missouri River about to start for the Rocky Mountains, in a company of Mormon immigrants. That was the day on which I was baptized. It was also the last time I saw my Mother. She came out to the road to bid me good-bye. She crossed the plains with my brother, Henry (13) in one company, I in another and Father in still another company. Mother died of cholera on the plains. (She died ll days later, l5 July 1852 and was buried at Loups Fork, Nebraska, with bark stripped from trees under and over her.) We did not know about it until the wagon train reached Salt Lake City. I did not see Father and Henry until three weeks after I arrived as they had gone out of the city, down to Lehi.” A sacrifice of a noble lady.
