and MARY ABIGAIL WHITE SAVAGE
(My 3rd great-grandparents, Nana's great-grandparents)
-taken from their auto-biographies on Family Search
David Leonard Savage was born July 25, 1810 in Canada, but later moved to Knox County, Illinois and accepted the gospel there in July 1840. His first wife passed away in 1936 at the age of only 24, two months after she gave birth to his first daughter. In 1841 he married Mary Abigail White at Walnut Creek, Illinois.
Mary Abigail White was born March 30, 1823 in New York, but moved with her family near Kirtland, OH when she was 12. Her father said to her mother that he had heard of Smith and the Mormons and he decided to investigate. After reading the Book of Mormon, they were both baptized in Kirtland and received their patriarchal blessings from Joseph Smith Sen. Mary was baptized in 1838, 3 years before she married David.
David's next assignment was to work on the Nauvoo Temple. The living conditions of many families working on the temple was described in the journal of another temple laborer:
"I have seen those that cut stone by the year eat nothing but parched or browned corn for breakfast and take some in their pockets for their dinner and go to work singing the songs of Zion. I mention this not to find fault or to complain but to let my children know how the Temple in Nauvoo was built, and how their parents as well as hundreds of others suffered, to lay a foundation on which they could build and be accepted of God".
There was sickness and death in nearly every household at this time, very few provisions, and at night the men formed an armed guard to protect the temple from their surrounding enemies. Yet they were humble, grateful, and courageous despite their sufferings. In the winter of 1846, he and Mary received their endowments in the Nauvoo temple.
Unfortunately, like the rest of the Saints, David and Mary were forced to leave their home behind and flee from the mobs' persecution. By trading his last cow for an old wagon with no box he was ready to leave Nauvoo. In it he carefully packed the necessities that they would need for the trip. His wife Mary wrote, “That was the way we left Nauvoo and were glad to get away. We were in poor circumstances but we did not feel to complain for it was for the gospel’s sake and we were willing to endure all for the good cause.”
By this time their first child, a son, had died and their second child, a daughter would die in 1847. They wintered at Swap Creek, where there daughter died, and a new daughter was born. Mary A. describes their home at the time of the birth of their daughter. "It was late in the Iowa winter, cold and snowy. She was born in a little log hut with no windows, no doors and no floor. By hanging things up to the door we were kept quite comfortable and warm". David presided over a branch there, before they joined the Saints at Winter Quarters in May. From there they joined the wagon company of Parley P. Pratt, arriving in Salt Lake on September 24, 1847.
Mary A. adds detail, "David found a man who needed a teamster, so we got a chance to go with him. My husband was to do the night herding, yoke up the cattle and hook up the teams. I was to do the cooking, dish washing, unpacking and packing up again. We were to bring our own bedding. The two little ones were to ride, but instead after we got some distance out I was compelled to walk and carry my baby and the little girl (Amanda Polly), ten years old, trudged along at my side. This man later apostized from the Church and went to California".
Life didn't get any easier once they reached the valley. The old Oddie Fort was commenced, but no houses were as yet finished. Mary Abigail said, “But to us it looked good and we felt that we had gained a resting place where we would be free from mobs and persecution for awhile at least. Our provisions were scarce and during the winter we had to subsist on anything to sustain life. Even the hides of oxen were used, the hair was scraped off and we boiled a little piece. When an oxen was killed every bit of the carcass was eaten and we used weeds and thistles, roots, anything we could find that was edible.”
Like many others they had planted a crop the following spring and hoped soon to have plenty. Mary Abigail writes, “Our hopes were again banished for with sad hearts we saw the great army of crickets swarming down to destroy our much needed crops. But the Lord was on our side. He had not brought us there to starve, and he sent the Gulls to destroy the crickets. How beautiful they looked with their white wings as they came down and destroyed the crickets, and we felt the hand of the Lord was over us, and we felt to thank His holy name and to rejoice in all these dark days we were going through. We thought we would be left to starve. We dug segos and picked thistle greens and cooked them without meat or vinegar and all in all we were happy because we had gained our freedom and never once was sorry we had left our homes for the Gospel's sake. ”
David and Mary moved around quite a bit, helping to colonize first Lehi, Holden, Cedar, Bear Lake, and finally Snowflake, AZ. While in Cedar David took a job as a mail carrier between San Bernadino, CA and Salt Lake City. It was considered extremely dangerous with the prevalence of hostile Indians on the trails, but David was unharmed during the 8 months of his job. He then took charge of a company bringing Saints to the valley from San Bernadino, with many hardships along the way. In 1856, he was called to go to Salt Lake City to bring down some of the hand cart company who were nearly frozen to death. They had a very cold and tedious trip, the snow being very deep. He arrived home on the 14th of Dec. and three days later their seventh child, Ann Eliza, was born. David was home for two weeks, rested up and then fitted himself to 6 go to San Bernardino with Brothers Rich and Lyman to help bring a few Saints who were called back. Johnston’s Army was approaching Utah, which caused the church Authorities to advise all of the members from the outlying settlements to return to the safety of the mountain valleys. President Brigham Young sent men to assist the families to return and David was one of them.
One of their most difficult settlement experiences was in Bear Lake, ID, where they suffered extreme cold and hardship, returning to Utah in 1868. In 1874, David served a mission in Canada and the the U.S. for 13 months, and later served a mission to the Indians at the Salt River in Mesa, AZ. Their son David W. Savage went to St. George also in 1874 and worked on the temple there. He was later murdered in 1890 by a Mexican sheepherder, much to his mother's sorrow. They eventually settled in Snowflake, AZ, where David died at the age of 76 on April 26, 1886 from an asthmatic illness. He was known as a peacemaker, interpreter, and friend to the Indians and died in full faith of the gospel. He left three wives and was the father of 19 children. Mary lived until May 23, 1904 and was buried in Snowflake.
What great examples they are of faith and courage, of enduring all manner of hardships and trials for the gospel's sake, and never giving up.
