Biography
Alvin Bemis was born 1797 in Brattleboro, Windham County, Vermont, United States to Samuel Flagg Bemis (1797-1837) and Elizabeth Bigelow (1796-1842) and died 9 November 1847 Winters Quarters, Douglas County, Nebraska, United States of unspecified causes. He married Jerusha Garnsey (1795-1872) 1824 in Wardwell, Jefferson County, New York, United States.
Alvin Bemis joined the Mormon church shortly after it was founded by Joseph Smith in upstate New York. In 1838 he moved to Kirtland, Ohio, the small town chosen by Smith as his headquarters.
Bemis arrived there shortly after the local Mormon-owned bank went under, mainly because of a severe financial panic in 1837. Although Smith and many of his followers left Kirtland following the bank failure and headed for another Mormon settlement in Missouri, Bemis stayed.
By the following year, virtual civil war had broken out in Missouri. Mobs terrorized Mormon colonists by burning, raping, pillaging and murdering. Thousands were driven from the state, while Smith and his leaders were imprisoned for six months, charged with treason, before being allowed to flee.
When the Mormons fled to what they thought would be utopia at Nauvoo, Illinois. Bemis decided to follow them.
Jerusha was pregnant with her last child at the time; so the family paused for a few days in Michigan, where baby Jerusha was born. They were continuing on to Gainsville, Iowa when disaster struck. Alvin Bemis suddenly became ill and died. The baby also passed away a few weeks later.
... it was Alvin's dying wish that they complete their westward journey, Jerusha and her 10 remaining children ...
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Amos Wilson Bemis (1828-1905) | |||
| Nancy Augustus Bemis (1829-1908) | |||
| Samuel Nines Bemis (1830-1868) | |||
| Edwin Bemis (1833-1884) | |||
| William Wallace Bemis (1834-1899) | |||
| Clarissa Ann Bemis (1836-1909) | |||
| Henry Harrison Bemis (1836-1917) | |||
| Harriet Bemis (1838-1918) | 3 April 1838 Kirtland, Lake County, Ohio, United States | 28 April 1918 San Bernardino, San Bernardino County, California, United States | Richard Thomas Roberds (1837-1915) |
| Charles Franklin Bemis (1839-1920) | |||
| Nephi Bemis (1842-1866) | |||
| Jerusha Bemis (1844-1844) | |||
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Elizabeth Bemis (1793-1886) | |||
| Alvin Bemis (1797-1847) | 1797 Brattleboro, Windham County, Vermont, United States | 9 November 1847 Winters Quarters, Douglas County, Nebraska, United States | Jerusha Garnsey (1795-1872) |
| Lydia Bemis (1800-1867) | |||
| Clarissa Ann Bemis (1802-1854) | |||
| Nancy Bemis (1808-1818) | |||
| Chauncy Bemis (1808-1898) | |||
| Samuel Bemis (1811-1883) | |||
| Merrick Bemis (1820-1904) | |||
| Frederick Freeland Bemis (1821-1880) | |||
| Fitz-Henry Bemis (1823-1903) | |||
| Ann Elizabeth Bemis (1825-1903) | |||
| Samuel Flagg Bemis (1828-1902) | |||
| Maria Louisa Bemis (1830-1863) | |||
| Frances Emily Bemis (1832-1906) | |||
| Daniel Webster Bemis (1835-1908) | |||
Residences
See Also
- Alvin Bemis
- Bemis in Jefferson County, New York
- Bemis in Douglas County, Nebraska