Sarah Mary Chestnut was born 20 September 1845 in Missouri, United States to William Albert Chestnut (1812-1852) and Johanna Nancy (1816-1852) and died 4 July 1886 Ogden, Weber County, Utah, United States of unspecified causes. She married Jefferson Slade (1836-1916) 20 November 1860 in New Harmony, Washington County, Utah, United States. She married John Moroni Foy (1835-1900) 13 December 1862 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah. She married Aquilla Trulock (1822-1869) November 1865 in Utah. She married Stephen Malan (1835-1926) 20 December 1869 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah.
Biography
Departing Missouri
It's 1852 and the little pioneer settlement of Salt Lake City is growing rapidly. Because of the California Gold Rush, it had become a very popular rest stop for many would be fortune seekers making the long hard journey west.
The pioneers would sell grain along with other much-needed food stocks and supplies for hard currency. But unlike the Mormons pioneers who made the trip west in large companies, many of these adventurers came across in much smaller companies or even as just individual families.
One such couple was William and Joanna Chestnut, both in their upper 30s, who had been working in Missouri for the past several years. They had three precious and beautiful young children; Ann Catherine (age 8), Sarah Mary (age 6) and William Alfred (age 4).
The tales of the immense wealth to be found across the continent in the brand-new state of California had a powerful pull on this young couple. It was not long before one and then the other was sold on the grand idea to pull up stakes and go west. They started making careful plans and saving their money.
Among their preparations was the purchase of a large, brightly-colored wagon, probably the distinctive Conestoga type. These were larger and sturdier than the more common but cheaper emigrant wagons. I imagine Will and Joanna had financial assistance from one or more of their parents to make such a purchase as they even had enough to hire two teamsters and a pair of strong oxen to drive it out west. Other purchases included food, clothing, and other supplies. And of course, there was the family milk cow that tagged along too.
Trip West
They left Independence, Missouri in early summer of 1852 on the famous Oregon Trail which soon reaches the Platte River and parallels the Mormon Pioneer Trail for the long road westward. By mid-September the Chestnuts had passed over the Rocky Mountains, but with key supplies starting to run low they started to make plans to detour to Salt Lake City to restock.
As William and Joanna were discussing their shopping plans, their two teamsters became aware that they must be sitting on quite a bit of money in that wagon, maybe even than what they could dig up in California. And soon they were about to part ways with a significant portion of it and the upcoming rest stop. When the party stopped for the night, those two would step out of earshot and started devising a sinister plan.
Somewhere near the top of Utah's Echo Canyon when the wagon had stopped, they launched their evil scheme and ambushed William and Joanna, shooting them both dead. The three children, Ann, Sarah, and William, screamed in horror at the sight of their parents bloody, lifeless bodies.
At this point, the two criminals, were stuck with a problem. While they now had both the wagon, money, and ox team, it does not seem that they had thought out what to do with the children. But there they stood facing each other.
The children cried, begged, and pleaded for their lives to be spared. The two teamsters, not having the desire to kill them, finally decided to tie them together to the family milk cow and left them to make their own way to civilization. Before parting, the killers threatened to come back and kill them too if they were to ever tell anyone what happened.
So there they were; orphaned and abandoned alongside the Mormon Trail. Neither of the children (nor the cow) having no idea where they were at nor how to defend themselves from the wild animals or other great dangers of the area, let alone find food or drink to sustain them. Where could they go? What could they do? The only option was to be brave and start making their own way down that very long, dusty trail.
Edna Irvine in the July 22, 1931 edition of the Deseret News newspaper of Salt Lake City, described it best with this summary:
"Picture three terrified children, the oldest only eight years of age, brutally bereft of parents and left on a lonely mountain in a perfectly strange locality! Just a few hours before they had been, perhaps wearily, but nevertheless happily, jogging along in a big covered wagon under the care of loving parents. No doubt, somewhere, friends and relatives often wondered why no word ever came from the little family that started for the California gold fields in 1852."
Adair Family
1861 Wagon train in Echo Canyon
Well in 1852 there was many other parties on that same trail. One such party was that of a 46-year-old Samuel Jefferson Adair (1806-1889). Samuel and his first wife had joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in upstate Mississippi where they were cotton farmers. They moved to Iowa to join Brigham Young and the migration westward, but there she died, leaving behind five young children. Samuel remarried to Miss Nancy White (1811-1880) and then added two more children to his household.
After four years in Iowa, they departed Kanesville, Iowa on June 2nd with the Benjamin Gardner 1852 Pioneer Company, a group of 185 Mormon Pioneers bound for the Salt Lake Valley. By mid-September they were close to their promised land, however the Adair family was delayed and they became temporarily separated from the company.
While driving his wagon through Echo Canyon, they came across a most unexpected sight. Alongside the trail where the sobbing Chestnut children tied to one badly confused cow. There was no sign of their parents, wagon, or anyone else around. No one could say just how long they had been abandoned there. Samuel and Nancy, stopped their wagon and ran to their aid. They untied them and then taking them into their arms, they did their best to hug and comfort them. Together they then finished their journey, reaching Salt Lake City on about September 21st.
One day shortly after their arrival, the Chestnut children suddenly made a big fuss and shout as they spotted their parent’s brightly colored wagon on the city street. Two rough men told Samuel to quiet the kids or there would be some very terrible consequences. Then they quickly took off and were never seen again.
Marriage and Family
The three children were cared for by local townspeople with the oldest, Ann, being adopted by Samuel and Nancy Adair. I do not have any information on the boy William, but can share more about the two sisters.
The Adairs first lived in Payson, Utah and then in Manti, Utah. In 1857, because of his experience with cotton, Brigham Young called on Samuel to lead a group of ten families of Southerners to start the first Church cotton farm mission in Washington County, Utah of Southern Utah. His name is recorded there on the Adair Spring Monument.
Sarah was adopted by Mormon Battalion veteran Erastus Bingham (1798-1882) and his wife, Lucinda Gates (1797-1874) where she learned about the gospel and developed a very fervent testimony of the restored church at their home in Riverdale, Utah.
Ann married her older stepbrother, George Washington Adair (1837-1909). Ann would bear him two beautiful children but then died just two weeks shy of her 20th birthday. She leaves behind a great posterity in the church.
1st Marriage: Jefferson Slade
We find the trail of her sister Sarah in the 1860 U.S. Census at age 14 living again with her married sister Ann (then age 16) in Washington, Utah. (Note for genealogical sleuths: That census is the first hard historical record that we have of any of the Chestnut children or their parentage. In it they both list their birthplace as Missouri.) Later that year Sarah married her first husband, Jefferson Slade (1836-1916), but they divorced without her ever telling him that she was pregnant with his child.
2nd Marriage: John Foy
Two years later Sarah becomes a plural wife to John Moroni Foy (1835-1900), only to divorce again soon afterwards. (No children)
3rd Marriage: Dr Trulock
One year after that she becomes a plural wife to Dr. Aquilla Trulock (1822-1869), living in Ogden, and bears him two children before he tragically passes away suddenly only 18 months after the birth of their second child.
4th Marriage: Stephan Malan
Four years later (1869) she marries again (yep, married four times by age 24). This time to Stephen Malan (1835-1926) in the Logan Temple. Together they had six children, helping to build up the Kingdom of Zion in the Ogden area. Sarah died there at age 40. Stephan was the son of the first family of converts to the Church from Italy, which is another great pioneer story that I could share at a future date.
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Jefferson Chestnut Slade (1862-1936) | |||
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Acquilla Chestnut Trulock (1866-1914) | |||
| Priscilla Chestnut Trulock (1868-1870) | |||
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Baby Girl Malan (1870-1870) | |||
| Pauline Amelia Chestnut Malan (1872-1873) | |||
| Stephen Eugene Malan (1874-1931) | |||
| Wilford Augustus Malan (1877-1948) | |||
| Cora Maud Malan (1880-1934) | |||
| Ada Flora Chestnut Malan (1883-1883) | |||
Siblings
Vital Records
1860 US Census
- Washington County, Utah/1860 U.S. Census - Household of George Washington Adair (1837-1909) in Washington, Utah.
Ogden City Cemetery Gravestone
- Location: Ogden City Cemetery, Weber County, Utah
Other Sources
- FamilySearch - Sarah Mary Chestnut - Memories recorded by children
- Article by Edna Irvine in the July 22, 1931 edition of the Deseret News newspaper of Salt Lake City
- MyFamilySearch.net - Sarah Mary Chestnut
- Adair Spring Monument
See Also
- Sarah Chestnut
- Chestnut Family
- Chestnut in Missouri
- Chestnut in Salt Lake County, Utah
- Chestnut in Weber County, Utah
