Alice Brooks Anderson, daughter of Samuel Brooks and Sarah Ashley, was born at Bolton, Lancashire, England on January 16, 1835. The area of Bolton was settled many centuries ago. Near the latter part of the 16th century a family by the name of Botheltons or Bolton lived there. Apparently it was from this family that it acquired its present name.
From the early days it was famous for its woolen manufactures. Cotton goods were first produced there in 1641. Richard Arkwright was living in Bolton when he invented his spinning machinery about 1768. Bolton is 11 miles northwest of Manchester; 25 miles northeast of Liverpool; and 175 miles north northwest of London.
Alice was raised by a stepmother, as her mother died when Alice was but a child. Her father married again to a widow with three children. Her father was a painter by trade and she was the oldest of 3 living children. Alice had a younger sister Nancy, born 8 December 1838, and two brothers, Richard, christened 15 December 1839, who died the following spring and buried 17 April 1840. A second brother by the same name Richard was born 7 February 1841 and grew up in Bolton.
When Alice Brooks was old enough to work, it was to one of the cotton mills of Bolton that she went to seek employment. She was given a job as a weaver. When Alice Brooks was still a young girl and her sister Mary heard the Latter Day Saint Elders preach the Gospel, as it had been restored in the latter days, and were convinced that it was true. It was seldom that her parents would allow her to visit the Latter Day-Saints. She and her sister would often steal away from home and walk long distances in order to hear the missionaries preach. She wanted to be baptized but her parents opposed to that. She was 12 years old before she obtained permission from her parents, after a good deal of coaxing and earnest prayer to the Lord. She was baptized on June 26, 1847 by Elder Squire Farnsworth and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on July 2, 1847 by Elder Robert Holt. The young boys and girls thought nothing of walking 10 to 12 miles to Sunday School. They often left home at 6 o'clock on a Sunday morning and walk this long distance to be on time for Sunday School and get home again about 10 or 11 at night, then go to work the next morning early.
After her baptism the spirit of emigration came upon her. She asked her parents it they would give her permission to go to Zion, but they would not hear of it. After she reached 21, however, she decided to go regardless of what her parents said. She felt determined however, to come to Zion. After a good deal of persuasion her parents gave their consent. As the time drew near for her departure, her father became opposed to her going and her preparations were made secretly. One night when her parents were away from home she took her clothes and emigration money which she had earned herself working as a weaver on a cotton mill, and left home and went with a family of Saints the remaining two weeks before she would set sail for Zion. Her father came home at night and found her missing and demanded her sister to tell where she had gone.
Then at 2 o'clock in the morning he went to the place where she was stopping and ordered her to come home, but she refused, saying "she would never come home again". He then became angry that he went to search for the police, since she was not of age, but he could not find one. He then went back and ordered her to give up her clothes which she did. He thought by this he could stop her from going. When he got back home, Mary had gone while they were in search of Alice. Whenever Alice saw her father on the street, she asked him for her clothes. She received her clothes shortly before sailing.
At the last Fast Meeting which she attended before leaving she bore her testimony and said farewell to her friends. When she had finished her testimony, a man arose and spoke in tongues. When he had finished, another man arose and gave the interpretation. The interpretation was that, "Alice Brooks would go to Zion through much tribulation and would become a mother in Israel." This strengthened her greatly and proved a source of inspiration to her on her journey.
The reason that her parents were opposed to her going to America was because they loved her. She likewise loved them. Because of their love for her they could not stand to see her leave. After she did leave, her father almost lost his mind worrying about her and what would become of her in that faraway land across the sea and with its strange people amongst whom she was going to live. The fact that she was loved in her home as she was only made the sacrifice of leaving and going to Zion much greater and harder to endure. Then, too, she was not only leaving behind a family who
loved her but also a young man who loved her and whom she loved and would have married had she remained in England. So she was making a double sacrifice by leaving.
Alice was engaged to a young Mormon boy before she left England. She promised him she would wait a year before marring someone else. At that time it took six months to cross the ocean. After she left, feeling that she would be better off with her fiancé than friendless and alone in America, her father gave the young man his fare and told him to hurry to America and marry Alice. He caught the next boat (a number of weeks later). His Company waited until spring before starting West.
At this time Alice was light complexioned, had grey-blue eyes, was rather small, and had a lovely voice. She sang in the choir in England before immigrating to America. She left England for America 25 March 1856, on the ship "Horizon". There were 856 Saints on board, the largest company that had ever set sail. They were 5 weeks on the ocean, reaching Boston 30 June 1856.
Alice traveled by rail then to Iowa, arriving there 8 July 1856. They traveled the rest of their journey with handcarts, but had to wait 3 weeks in Iowa for the handcarts to be made. Most of the early converts to the church from Europe were poor people, yet the spirit of gathering took possession of them and they had a strong desire to go to Zion. Not long after the first pioneers came to Utah, the leaders in Salt Lake City established the "Perpetual Emigration Fund" which aided a great many of the poor people in their journey to Zion. Due to severe drought in 1854 many of those who borrowed from the Fund were unable to pay off the debt and the Fund became exhausted.
If only the more wealthy Saints could make the trip to Zion emigration would surely drop to a trickle. This is not what the Lord had ordered. The proclamation had gone out in the early days of the church that the Saints were to gather to Zion. President Brigham Young knew that emigration must not be stopped by lack of funds. The Lord revealed to him how the poorer Saints were to get here. He was shown that they were to walk across the plains and pull their luggage in carts. So the call and the following instructions were issued in the 13th general epistle of the First Presidency dated Salt Lake City, October 29, 1855.
"Let All the Saints who can, gather up for Zion, and come while the way is open for them; let the poor also come . . . let them come on foot, with handcarts or wheelbarrows: let them gird up their loins and walk through, and nothing shall hinder or stay them. In regard to the foreign emigration another year, let them pursue the northern route from Boston, New York or Philadelphia, and land at Iowa City, or the then terminus of the railroad: There let them be provided with handcarts on which to drag their provisions and clothing; then walk and draw them, there by saving the immense expense every year for teams and outfit for crossing the plains. We are hopeful that such a train will out- travel any ox team that can be started. They should have a few good cows to furnish milk, and a few beef cattle to drive and butcher as they may need. In this was the expense, risk loss and perplexity of teams will be obviated and the Saints will more effectually escape the scenes of distress, anguish and death which have often laid so many of our brethren and sisters in the dust. We propose sending men of faith and experience with some suitable instructions to some proper outfitting point, to carry into effect the above suggestions; let the Saints, therefore who intend to immigrate the ensuing year, understand that they are expected to walk and draw their luggage across the plains, and that they will be assisted by the
Perpetual Emigration Fund in no other way."
Alice was assigned to travel with the Martin Handcart Company. Edward Martin was the captain of this company and Samuel Richards was the President. The Martin Company left on July 28, 1856. Brother Taylor advised them not to start that late in the season with so large a company, but President Richards insisted on going. Captain Martin's company on the start consisted of 575 persons, 146 handcarts, 7 wagons, 6 mules and horses, 50 cows and beef cattle. The route followed by all the pioneers and travelers at that time went from Iowa City to Florence, Nebraska. After leaving Florence, Nebraska, they followed the North Platte River as far as the present town of Casper, Wyoming. There they crossed the North Platte River and headed southwest toward the Sweetwater River. They crossed the Sweetwater River and traveled on to the Continental Divide, crossing the Divide at the South Pass, then forward to the Green River to Fort Bridger to Echo Canyon, on to Emigration Canyon and finally into the valley of the Great Salt Lake.
The company left Iowa City, 28 July 1856 and left the Missouri River 12 August 1856. The Martin Handcart Company arrived at Florence, Nebraska on August 22, 1856. There, owing to the lateness of the season, the importance question was debated whether the immigrants should winter in that vicinity or continue the long wearisome journey to Salt Lake. Unfortunately it was decided to finish the journey the same season. They made good headway until they passed Fort Kearney, when during the night they lost 15 head of cattle. These had been used to haul provisions, which had to be taken from the wagons and added to the all ready heavy loaded handcarts of the company. Some time was spent in searching for the lost cattle, but they were not found.
There were 2 persons to each handcart, and 17 pounds of bedding, a few cooking utensils were allowed each couple to start with. Two ox teams carried provisions for the entire camp. They traveled from 2 to 30 miles a day. Some days they would have to travel 20 miles in order to reach water. As they walked along pulling their handcarts behind them, people living along the way would come out and gaze at them, it being a wonderful sight to see so many people traveling along with their handcarts.
When travelers became tired they would rest themselves and rejoice that they were on their way to Zion. They also sang a song. the chorus of which is, "As we go marching up the hill, as merrily on the way we go, some must push and some must pull, until we reach the valley, Oh". While they were traveling, the children and old folks would start early in the morning to get as far as they could until the others with the handcarts would overtake them. The ox teams that hauled the tents and provisions usually traveled behind the handcarts.
On September 7, 1856, a short distance west of Loupe Fork, Nebraska, a group of returning missionaries overtook the Martin Handcart Company. These were the brethren who had been supervising the emigration that year and who had seen the Martin Handcart Company off when they left Iowa City. These missionaries realized that these handcart pioneers were going to run short of food before reaching Salt Lake, so they decided to travel on to Salt Lake as fast as possible and report to President Brigham Young that this handcart company was on its way and would need help. These
missionaries promised to send help back to the Martin Handcart Company as soon as possible.
On October 3, 1856 President Brigham Young wrote a letter to George Q. Cannon, telling him of the unqualified success of the handcart experiment. Three companies of pioneers had pulled their belongings from Iowa City, to Salt Lake City and had arrived faster and in better condition than wagon companies. The next day, October 4, 1856, the returning missionaries brought him his first word of the last two companies just as he was preparing to preside over the semi-annual conference of the membership of the church. The next day he said,"My subject is this, on this 5th of October 1856, many of our brethren and sisters are on the plains with handcarts, and probably are now 700 miles from this
place. We must send them assistance. The text will be `to get them here'. This is the salvation I am now seeking for, to save our brethren. "When ox teams were volunteered he replied, "I do not want to send oxen: I want good horses and mules. They are in the territory and we must have them; also twelve tons of flour and forty good teamsters."
The relief party left Salt Lake City on October 7, 1856. The next day, Redick Allred reports, "It snowed all afternoon and evening." The snow in the mountains continued to pile up and the drifts made the progress of the relief party hard and slow. The snow storm was headed north towards the handcart travelers. On October 8, 1856, the Martin Handcart Company arrived at Fort Laramie. There they were able to buy a few supplies but not nearly enough. Up to this time the daily ration of flour had been regularly served out, but it was never enough to satisfy the hunger of the travelers.
Soon after leaving Fort Laramie it was deemed advisable to curtail the rations in order to make them hold out as long as possible. The pound of flour was cut to three-fourths of a pound, then to one-half, and subsequently lower. Still the company toiled on. At Deer Creek, Wyoming on October 17,1856, owing to growing weakness of immigrants and teams, the baggage, including bedding and cooking utensils, was reduced to ten pounds per head with children under eight years to five pounds. Good blankets and clothing were burned as they could not be carried further, though needed more than ever.
The members of the Martin Handcart Company became more apprehensive each day relative to the situation they were in as they noticed each day clearer signs of an approaching early winter. October 19, 1856 was a terrible day in the life of Alice Brooks. On that day she, with other members of the Company, crossed the Platte River for the last time. They crossed at a place called Red Buttes, Wyoming, which was about five miles above the bridge near the present town of Casper. The Platte River where they crossed was wide, the current strong, and the water exceedingly cold and up to
wagon beds in the deeper parts. The bed of the river was covered with cobblestones. Some of the men carried some of the women across the river over their backs or in their arms, but others of the women tied up their skirts and waded through, like the heroines they were, and as they had done through many other rivers and creeks.
Soon after all the members of the Martin Handcart Company had climbed up the bank on the south side of the Platte River, hail, sleet, and snow began to fall, accompanied by a piecing north wind. They made their camp there on the south side of the river that night. The wind blew their tents asunder and scattered their camp fires; the weather was very cold and their provisions were almost gone.
After Alice Brooks had laid down to sleep that night between the chilled covers of her bed, and listened to the howling wind outside and the snow piling up on her crude temporary home, she began to realize the nature of the "tribulation" that she would be called upon to endure on her journey to Zion as had been promised. to her in a revelation from the Lord before she left England.
The next morning the Martin Handcart Company gathered up their equipment and supplies and pushed slowly on through the snow. During three days of heavy snowfall they traveled on toward the Sweetwater River. As these wintry days lingered on Alice Brooks realized more fully each day the extent and severity of this tribulation. Every night there would be nine or ten persons who would perish from hunger and cold and the men became so weak and famished that they were unable to dig graves for the dead and they were left on the open prairies to be torn to pieces and eaten by wolves.
Finally, when they could go no further, they camped in a ravine at a place called Red Bluff, (now known as Devil' Gate) never expecting to get out alive. They had only four ounces of flour a day for each person and only enough of that last four days. They had no salt to put into it--nothing but flour and water to mix together. They went upon the mountain side and broke icicles off the sagebrush to melt for water. When the oxen became exhausted, they killed them and roasted their rawhide and made soup of their bones. While at this camp many of them perished and it was so difficult to dig graves because of the frozen found they had to bury as many as 16 in one grave. In this discouraging and heart-rending condition, Alice thought of the blessing that had been given her before she left England and wondered is she ever would become a "mother in Israel" as she had been promised.
The Willie Handcart Company was about 100 miles ahead of the Martin Company. They were caught in the snow at a place two miles below Rocky Ridge, near the Sweetwater River. The rescue party reached the Willie Company on October 20, 1856. They left supplies with them, then most of the relief party went on toward the Martin Company. They expected the Martin Company to be at least as far as Devil's Gate Fort. When the Martin Company was not at Devil's Gate Fort, the men of the rescue party decided to send on a fast express to find where the people were and not return until they were found. Joseph A. Young, Abel Garr, and Daniel Jones were selected. With picked saddle horses and a
pack mule they started out. On the second day of travel they came upon a white man's shoe track in the road. They started out again at full speed as they knew the company was camped nearby.
Meanwhile, on this same day, October 28th, over in the Camp of Martin Company where their provisions were almost gone the whole company, or what was left of them, fasted and prayed for their deliverance. A fast meeting was held at which the President of the company asked if they were willing to perish for the gospel's sake if the Lord saw fit, and every person answered "yes." This was a most pitiful and tragic sight to behold. Then almost at the same moment, they witnessed the approach of Joseph A. Young on a white horse. He was hailed by the company as though he was an angel. Men and women surrounded him, weeping and holding on to him and pleading with him to save them from
death. Abel Carr and Daniel Jones followed Joseph A. Young down over the hill.
Soon after the Martin Handcart Company left Iowa City, there were two wagon trains that left there en route to Salt Lake City. One was under the command of Benjamin Hodgett and the other was commanded by John Hunt. When these three brethren of the rescue party found the Martin Company, they also found the Benjamin Hodgett wagon company camped nearby. They discovered the Hunt wagon company about fifteen miles further back. After these three brethren of the rescue party had found all these companies, they went back to Devil's Gate Fort and reported to the brethren there that they had found them. They immediately took supplies to them and helped them to get into Devil's Gate Fort, where the provisions of the rescue party were divided amongst them.
The wagons of the Hunt and Hodgett wagon companies were loaded with valuable freight. Yet they needed these wagons to haul the handcart travelers to Salt Lake City. They decided to unload the freight at Devil's Fort and leave someone there to guard it. While they were unloading the wagons, due to congestion in the limited area and poor camping facilities in the area of the Fort, they decided to have the Martin Handcart company move to a more suitable campsite over across the Sweetwater River. Leaving Devil's Gate Fort, the handcart travelers came to the river and found it full of floating ice. The wagons rolled through, but to those pulling handcarts, the river looked most uninviting.
The water was not less than two feet deep, a little deeper in the deepest parts. The hunks of floating ice were three or four inches thick, and the bottom of the river was muddy or sandy. It was thirty or forty yards wide. Four eighteen year old boys of the rescue party helped to get the handcarts through, but the women, children, and weaker men just stood still. How could they, in their emaciated condition, half frozen already, even hope to successfully fight their way across that ice-filled stream. Their problem was suddenly solved. On the same shore with them again, the four boys of the rescue party, David P. Kimball, George W. Grant, Stephen Taylor, and C. Allen Huntington, stepped forward. Each lifted a member of the company on his back and carried him or her across the river. To the astonishment of everyone, nearly everyone was carried to the opposite shore.
Later, when President Young heard of this heroic deed, he wept like a child and declared, "That act alone should insure those young men an everlasting salvation in the celestial kingdom, worlds without end!"
They camped at a place which was given the name of Martin's Hollow. They stayed there about three days longer and by that time the wagons were unloaded and they made a start on their journey to Salt Lake City, many of them still walking. The Rock Ridge and South Pass of the Continental Divide were crossed on November 18, 1856, a bitterly cold day. The snow fell fast and the wind blew piercingly from the south. For several days the company had been meeting more relief trains, which had been urged on by Joseph A. Young and as the company was crossing South Pass, there was a sufficiency of wagons for the first time to carry all the people and henceforth, the traveling was more rapid. They plodded onward and arrived in Salt Lake City on Sunday, November 30, 1856, about noon.
There were 440 of the original Martin Handcart Company who survived the journey. 135, or 28% died enroute. They endured sorrows and hardships almost unbelievable---sickness, death, frozen limbs, hunger and everything that the physical body can be called upon to endure.
Alice Brooks tells her story about this experience as follows:
“Some days we traveled from 10 to 15 miles and one day we journeyed 30 miles. Two persons were assigned to each handcart and only seventeen pounds of baggage was allowed each passenger. Two ox teams accompanying the handcart company carried tents and rations. We usually pitched our tents at night near water and gathered buffalo chips for fuel. Having left most of our clothes behind, we were compelled to spread gunnysacks on the snow for bedding. We often sat and held our feet in our hands at night to keep them from freezing. Our eatables consisted chiefly of flour, tea and sugar, and we had to depend upon the killing of buffaloes for meat. We had to wade rivers, and finally in a very exhausted condition we were helped to the Valley by teams sent out to meet us, but we had spent three weeks in the snow before relief came. During that time, when our cattle gave out, we boiled their bones for soup, as there was no meat. We also roasted raw hides and ate them. At last we found ourselves encamped in a ravine near Devil's Gate with just 4 ounces of flour to each person per day for 4 days. A great number of our people died, sometimes half a dozen a day, and on one occasion 16 persons were buried in one grave. People would walk until exhausted and then drop down by the wayside dead, leaving their bodies to be eaten by the wolves, as the survivors, on account of the frozen ground, were not able to dig graves deep enough to secure them from ravenous beasts.
In their starving condition both men and women seemed to become devoid of all human feeling and lost all affection for each other. The children's faces sometimes assumed the appearance of monkeys and they would frequently grab pieces of food out of each other mouths and die crying for bread. We climbed mountains to get icicles off the sage brush and melted snow to obtain water where with to mix our flour.
At Devil's Gate the people were called together for prayer and asked if they were willing to die if the Lord so willed it, or if they were sorry they had come. They all answered that they were willing to die if the Lord so willed it, but they were not sorry they had come. Almost at the same moment was witnessed the approach of Joseph A. Young on a white horse. He was hailed by us as the arrival of an angel. Men and women surrounded him, weeping and holding onto him pleading with him to save them from death. Elder Young went back and reported, and the next night we received a pound of flour each. In traveling through Echo Canyon, camp fires were built every quarter of a mile to thaw out those who lingered behind. At last we arrived in Salt Lake City, November 30, 1856."
Alice Brooks stayed in Salt Lake City only a few weeks. Sometime during December she went to Plain City, Weber County to live. There she met Andrew A. Anderson. They became good friends and were married on March 26, 1857 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. When her sweetheart from England arrived, he found her the wife of another man, although he came within the year she had given him. He died heart-broken, and never married.
Andrew and Alice left plains City sometime during 1857 and went to Sessions Settlement, located about 8 miles north of Salt Lake City, where Bountiful is now. It covered about 5 miles along the road where the best farming land was used by the pioneers. On February 27, 1858 their first child a daughter was born. They decided to name her Sara Marie. The Temple Index Bureau card of Sara Marie states that she was born at South Weber Ward, Davis County. She was blessed March 1858 by J. Stoker.Together with her husband she participated in the great "Move" south upon the approach of Johnston's Army. With others they piled straw around their homes before leaving with the view to setting fire to them if necessary. After peace was declared, they returned to Session Settlement, where they remained 2 years.
On September 1, 1859 a second child, a son, was born to Andrew and Alice Anderson. He was given the name of James Andrew Anderson. The Temple Index Bureau card of James Andrew Anderson states that he was born at South Weber Ward, Davis County, Davis Stake. He was blessed October 1859 by J. Stoker.
Andrew and Alice Anderson were not too satisfied with South Weber, so during the winter of 1859-1860 they began making preparations to move to a new location. In March 1860 they joined with Ira Allen and a few friends and journeyed north to settle in Cache Valley. They arrived at Wellsville on April 1, 1860. After considering a place to settle they decided to settle in Hyrum. They arrived at Hyrum on April 8, 1860.
They were frequently exposed to unfriendly Indians. She writes in her journal,"Indians were hostile, we camped in an Indian type wickiup with a fire in the center. One day a rattlesnake wrapped itself around the willows in the wickiup, and a small boy helped me and we succeeded in killing it. There were 25 rattles on that snake." There were many snakes and crickets around camp. The pioneers selected a place to set up their camp about one mile east and a few blocks north of the present town site of Hyrum and called it "Camp Hollow." The main attraction of this area was a small stream of water that was running down the hollow.
Each family of the settlers, except one began building a "dugout" home beginning just north of the stream of water. The one exception was Andrew Arne and Alice Anderson. This couple built a log house in line with the others just south of the stream of water. Andrew and Alice can, therefore claim the distinction and honor of building the first log house in Hyrum.
Later the same year two of the Presiding Brethren of the Church, Apostle Ezra T. Benson and Peter Maughan, came to inspect the settlement and learn of the welfare of the people there. They were not pleased with the low ground and checked an area southwest that was higher ground which they liked better for a settlement. So the pioneer families decided to locate their new town on the higher plateau. Then they changed the name to Hyrum, in honor of Hyrum Smith the brother of the Prophet
Joseph Smith.Each family was given a lot on which to build a home. The settlers then began building log houses on their respective lots. Since Andrew and Alice had already built a log house in Camp Hollow they put it on skids and pulled it over to the new location and set it at the present address of 45 east Main Street.
By fall enough log houses were built, 21 in all, in 2 rows facing each other in a fort fashion to protect themselves against the Indians with the east boundary at 200 East Main Street. As the danger of Indians attacked lessened Andrew And Alice ventured outside of the Fort area and built a home on the Northeast corner of Second East and Main Street. On July 5, 1861, a second daughter was born to Andrew and Alice. They named her Phenetta Alice. On May 12, 1863 Nancy Ann was born. On October 18, 1865 Martha Marinda was born. Another happy event occurred in the domestic life of Alice that same year. For eight long years Alice had been cooking meals for her family over a fireplace. Then one day in 1865 her husband, Andrew, brought into the kitchen a shiny new black stove. What a pleasant and exciting task it was to set up that new stove. How much easier and more pleasant it would be to prepare meals now. Alice had not enjoyed good heath since coming to America, so this kitchen stove would indeed lighten her load. How she did appreciate having it!
Three more children were born to Andrew and Alice at their log home at 201 East Main St. Samuel, 8 July 1867; Joseph, 2 October 1871, and Hyrum, 25 August 1873. Then the next important thing to happen to them was the building of their new home at 364 North 2nd West. Andrew and Alice were the planners and Andrew and their son James, now 16, were the builders. With seven children in the family now, it was a happy day when this pioneer family moved into their new home, a home they
had built with their own hands.
The honor of being the first child born in the new home went to Lovina. She was born on July 17, 1876. The fifth son, tenth and last child of Andrew and Alice was born in their new home on August 23, 1878. He was given the name of Gilbert Nathan.
With this large family of ten children, surely Alice Brooks Anderson must have cast a few reflections back over the past years of her life, approximately half of which was spent in England and half in America. Did she not remember the true joy that had come to her when her children was born. Was she not thankful to the Lord for bringing her safely through those days of tribulation while coming to Zion. And now that she had become the mother of ten children, did she not consider once again the marvelous and wonderful promise which the Lord had made to her by revelation that she would become a mother in Israel. She had lived righteously during those years and had served the Lord in her daily walk of life, and truly the Lord had kept His promise to her.
Two sons, James and Hyrum, fulfilled missions for the church, which pleased her greatly. She witnessed the marriage of eight of her children for time and eternity. The other two died without being married. Sara at the age of 20 and Samuel at 43. Alice loved her home and kept it neat and clean. She was thrifty by nature and did not waste anything, neither food nor clothing. She dressed neatly and was very particular about having her clothes fit properly. Every stitch had to be in just the right place.
When Alice was about 60 she was given a blessing by Patriarch Ollie L. Linquist. He promised her that her last days would be the best and that when her time in mortality was finished life would pass quietly and quickly as snuff of a candle. When Alice Brooks Anderson was 75 she decided that the big house at 364 North 2nd West was too large for her so she moved to a smaller house at 185 West Main Street.
On August 24, 1915, at the age of 80, Alice passed away at Hyrum, Cache, Utah, the town which she had helped to build and which had been her home for over 55 years. The life's mission of one more of the handcart pioneers had been completed.
Sources:
1. Biographical and character sketch of Alice Brooks Anderson by LaVawn R. Owen. Presented at the reunion of the Andrew Arne Anderson family organization at Wellsville, Utah, September 6, 1958.
2. Biography of Alice Brooks Andersen 1836-1915 by Horace Ralph. “This biography of Alice Brooks Andersen has been compiled from family records in my possession and research and my recollection of my grandmother Alice Brooks Andersen. I used to visit her often as a young boy 12-15 years old during three summers I worked for her son, Uncle Hyrum (Hivy), on his farm in Hyrum and College Ward, etc.”
Rewritten 29 December 1977, by Horace Fred Ralph, Salt Lake City, Utah.
