EZEKIEL JOHNSONand JULIA HILLS

EZEKIEL JOHNSONand JULIA HILLS
(my Great Great Grandfather and Mother)
Much of this document fragment was difficult to read. Areas that could be "guessed" are shown in red. Areas that could not be read at all are left as "???". While much is missing, there is still much to be gained by what is here.
Ezekiel Johnson was not very communitive, neither did he leave any written account of his life and labors. All that can be gleaned from statements handed from his children is that his father died in the Revolutionary war before he was born, and the name of the father is not given. It seems that his mother Sethia or Bethia Gernzey (?) married again to James King.
Family records tell us that Ezekiel was born in Uxtridge Mass. 12, January 1776. At an early age he ran away from home or away from his step-father, and never returned as far as we know. Where he went is a mystery, until 1797 we have a record of a note found in an old purse, dated at Albany New York, March 1st of that year. I n the Grafton Mass. Church files, recorded the intentions of marriage, dated December 18, 1800 of Ezekiel Johnson and Julia Hills, also that they were married there January 12, 1801 on his twenty-fifth birthday, Julia almost eighteen, the daughter of Joseph and Esther (Ellis) Hills, was born in Upton Mass. 26 January 1783.
The sojourn of Ezekiel and wife at Grafton did not continue long after the birth of their first child 23 March, 1802. He was called Joel Hills, after Julia’s favorite brother. The little family then began a series of long tracks and short stops. The record of the births of their children furnish a good part of the information by which their trail is marked. Their second child, Nancy Maria was born 2 August, 1803 at Northborough Mass. They named her Nancy for Julia’s sister. They could not have stayed long at Northborough, for their third child was born 14 February, 1805, Ko?alton Mass. He was named Seth Gernzey, in honor of Ezekiel’s Maternal grandfather…
-- find that Diadamia Forbush was Julia’s half sister who she was very fond of.
They remained in Westover about seven years. Ezekiel worked as a carpenter. Two more daughters and a son were born while at Westford, Julia Ann 9th November, 1808, David who was named for Julia’s cousin David Partridge, born 10 September, 1810, and Almera Woodward, named for Julia’s cousin, daughter of Lois Woodward, born October 12, 1812.
On the 27th of June 1813, they left Westford, Vermont and later we find them in Pomphret Chatagua County, New York. This we learn from a letter from Julia to her mother, Esther Hills Forsbush, dated October 13, 1814. In this she gives some information of their travels. Julia’s brother Joel Hills, who married his cousin Rhoda Partridge, came to visit Ezekiel and Julia at Westford Vermont. He told them he was traveling to Cincinnati, where Julia’s sister Nancy Taft was living with her family, so the son Joel H. was allowed to go with his uncle, who decided to settle across the river from Taft’s at Newport Kentucky. Later Ezekiel left his family at Pomphret and went to Newport to look over the county, he was not satisfied, so took Joel, then a lad of 13 years and made the journey of 500 miles on foot to join the family at Pomphret, where Joel first saw his baby sister who was born December 16, 1814. Her name was Susan Ellen.
Ezekiel was a typical ‘Pioneer’ wandering off into the wilderness, break some ground, plant a crop, build a rude cabin and return fro his family and their few goods. During those years, eight more children were born to them, Joseph Ellis, April 28, 1817. Benjimen Franklin, July 28, 1818. Mary Marie, February 7, 1820. Elmer Wood, May 26, 1822. George Washington, February 19, 1823. William Derby, October 27, 1824. Esther Melita, January 27, 1827. Amoz Partridge, January 15, 1829.
After all these trials and hardships, no wonder Julia was thrilled and glad to accept the message of the humble Elders and become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She and the children were baptized into the church without the father’s knowledge and soon went to Kirtland Hoio, where they assisted with the temple and all the accomplishments of those early days, as well as suffered along with the saints. Ezekiel finally came to the family, and while loyal to the Prophet, could not accept the Word of Wisdom, so never joined the church. He died at Nauvoo Illinois, January 13, 1848. Julia died May 30, 1856 at Council Bluffs Iowa, still valiant to the cause of truth.
(Extracts from “Ezekiel Johnson” by Rolla V. Johnson, ‘Bulletin’nine)
Uncle Ben. F. Johnson relates: “The cruel death of the Prophet, brought a new feeling and spirit over my father (Ezekiel who had never joined the church) he deplored his death and cursed bitterly his murderers, and would gladly have assisted in bringing thim to justice, and this feeling never left him again, but on the contrary he defended the saints whenever an opportunity came to him.”
Uncle David LeBaron relates that at one time ‘Ezekiel’ met a mob that was entering Nauvoo, and alone, singlehanded, with his old shotgun, defied them and would have shot the captain if they had advanced. They retreated and tried to enter by a side street, where Ezekiel from behind a tree, again turned them away, which gave the saints time to prepare for the attack. But after that he was a ‘marked man’. Joel knew this and when he was driven from Hancock Co. by the mob, to Knox Co. in 1846, he sent his boys back to get their grandfather. That winter was spent in poverty and discomfort as there were eight persons living in a floorless cabin 12x16 feet square. When Joel left Knox Co. for the west, Ezekiel decided to return to Nauvoo and live with his daughter Esther LeBaron. They were the custodians of the Nauvoo Temple, showing it to the tourists, until it was burned down, 19 November, 1848. The keys are still kept by the family.
It is doubtful that Ezekiel realized the danger that awaited his return.
The following is an excerpt from a letter written by David Ellis Johnson ---
“I have heard my father, (Sixtus Ellis Johnson son of Joel) tell of his grandfather, Ezekiel, (he was there) when he was whipped by a mob, which caused his death. I also heard father and President Wilford Woodruff talk about it when I was 10 years old. It made an impression on me and I asked father about it when I was grown. Bro. Woodruff said, “I know your grandfather was one of the first martyrs to the cause of Christ in this dispensation and is worthy of the kingdom.”
The following is taken from “Johnson Pioneers of the West” by Rolla V. Johnson.
Ezekiel and Julia Hills Johnson were the parents of sixteen children. The record of births of the children shows the places where the family lived as it pioneered the western wilderness. Ezekiel’s youth had been spent roving from place to place as he made his way in the world. This roving did not cease with his marriage, for he took his family with him into the wilds of the new territory recently added to the United States as a result of the second war with England. When it was necessary for his wife and family to rest for a short time to catch up on sewing, mending or other necessary tasks, Ezekiel would wonder off along into the wilderness and find a new home. After breaking ground, planting crops and erecting a rude cabin on the frontier, he would return and load his family with their few household goods into his wagon and move them to the new prospect. As soon as a neighbor or two settled along side, the place would be too crowded for Ezekiel. He would seized with an itching desire to see the country further west and the exploring and moving continued. He was a pioneer clearing the timber and brush from the land was a strenuous job which taxed Ezekiel’s strength to the upmost, as he was not a large man physically. A page from the life review of his son, Benjamin F. Johnson, gives us a rather vivid picture of the situation at that time.“At this early period so soon after the war of 1812, and in what was then a wild and almost frontier region with heavy primeval forests to be cleared away before a crop of any kind could be planted or taken from the virgin soil for food, it seemed to require a giant fortitude, and great patience on the part of all to wait for results. My father, Ezekiel Johnson, for a series of years, wrestled with the Herculean task of clearing off the forests, but worn with the incessant labor, and the care of the numerous a family, he sought for a stimulant and in my earliest childhood, became addicted to the use of ardent spirits. Neither his labors nor the love for his family seemed to diminish, yet the fiend of intemperance had entered our home to break the bonds of union between our parents and to destroy their happiness.My father, Ezekiel Johnson, was a man of full middle stature, about five feet and ten inches in height, and of solid build, fine light brown hair, a mild but piercing blue eye, with light, smooth skin, and a natural personal attractions. He was beloved and sought after by his friends, and for his words only was he feared and avoided, for with no other blow than words, was he ever known to strike any living thing”
Their food, clothing and what few comforts of home they possessed were produced with the labor of their own hands. Flax was grown and prepared for clothing, table linens, towels, sheets, etc. Butter and bread making were tasks for the mother and older children. Cheese was made and stored for winter. Lye was processed from ashes to be used later in the manufacture of soap, and candles furnished their only means of lighting the house in the evening. It was necessary that the children be trained tin the art of candle making. The hot tallow had to be poured into the molds and wicks trimmed. No doubt the small children took trips into the woods where they helped the father pile and burn the brush to make the clearing and they must have aided in the dropping of the seeds and the cultivation of the small field. Nuts and wild fruits were gathered and prepared for winter. It would be very interesting indeed to peek into their small cabin and watch them spend the evening hours round the winter fire after the toil of a busy day.
It might seem easy to criticize as we look back more than 100 years into the lives of these early settlers, but when we think that little was known of the evils of intemperance in that day; in fact the use of strong drink was rather common, it is doubtful if Ezekiel had the slightest idea that he was injuring himself or his family. There is so much fine timber in his character that we would like to justify his notion and his belief that the use of ardent spirits gave him more strength and made more courage to meet the tasks before him. It is indeed sad to note what developed from the habits which he established, but we must not blame nor condemn him because he did not have the foresight to see what the result would be. The day came when he had to pay for the mistake which he had made. His son, Benjamin, does not reprove him; w, his descendents, should not.
The courage and stamina of the man is shown.
…the undertaking of a journey of one thousand miles from Pomphert to Cincinnati and back. Such a trip may be considered as somewhat as an achievement in this generation, and although Ezekiel took it as a matter of course, the boy Joel remembered this experience and wrote of it in his journal. The description while vague due to the fact that he did not write it earlier, gives us a -- complete picture of the trip to Cincinnati with his Uncle and back to Pomphert with his -- . We copy as follows:
In the Fall of 1813 my parents, concluding to go to the west, let me go with my uncle, Joel Hills (for whom I was named) who was then on his way from Canada to the western country. I cannot recall many of the incidents of the journey, being small, but recollect passing the Aleghany mountains in Pennsylvania and going to Pittsburg, Pa. where my uncle bought a boat or what was then called an “ark” on which he took his family with several other families, who had sent their teams by --. We descended the Ohio River to Cincinnati, -- which was then a small town. My uncle settled himself in the town of Newport in the state of Kentucky on the opposite side of the river from Cincinnati, whiere I lived with him until the spring of 1815, when my father, Ezekiel Johnson, came to Newport to look at the country, having moved his family from Vermont to Lomphret, -- a county, New York, and not liking the -- at Newport, concluded to return to New York. Accordingly about the first of May my father and myself (about 12 years old) went on foot to accomplish a journey of about -- miles to the state of New York, through -- a new and heavily timbered country. We saw several houses where the inhabitants had been butchered the year before by the Indians. We arrived at Pomphret, New York about the first of -- , 1815.
-- t a rare opportunity young Joel had in making this journey with his father as a companion. What Boy Scout of the present age would not like such an adventure? What pals they must have been, thrown as they were upon their own resourcefulness, depending only upon themselves and each other for companionship and help. Imagine their thoughts and feelings; their conversation, when they came upon the charred homes of the massacred settlers. Certain it was that the boy Joel drew closer to his father on these occasions an the friendship thus established held through the years.
Following is the letter mentioned that was written by Julia Hills Johnson to her mother Esther (Ellis) Hills Forbush, who still lived at the old Home town, Grafton, Mass.
October 13, 1814My dear Mother: After my love to you, I would inform you of our welfare, and hope these few lines will find you in good health and prosperity. Through our journey we have been blest with health and we are now all well and hearty. We started from Westford, Vermont on the 27th of June and came on over some one hundred miles and one of our horses became lame and we laid by for a week. We then came awhile but was obliged to stop again for three or four days, and then came on as far as Hamburg, this side of Buffalo where we stopped about seven weeks. I was very discontented there, yet the people urged us to stay. They gave Mr. Johnson one dollar a day with house rent, garden vegetanles, milk, etc. He thought it was best to stay until our horses got recruited up and we got rested, as he had the money for his work. But I could not be contented to stay any longer for there was no neighbors short of about two miles, and all Sabbath breakers and could not feel at home there. We started from there on the 24 of September and was four day coming to this place on account of bad roads. This is a beautiful country and we have concluded to stay here until spring if not longer. (They built a house on block 21) Mr. Johnson intends to go on himself and see the country before he moves his family any further for fear he would not like it so well as he does here. There is many moving to the west, some days ten or twelve wagons in a company and some have come back to this place. This country is very healthy indeed and good for grain which is plenty and cheap. Markets at present are distant. Such corn I never saw before as I have seen here. It is only seven years the first settlements were made here. There begins to be fruit of almost every kind; I never saw such sight of peaches before, thousands of bushels rot on the ground, they make sauce of them and brandy. The trees bear in three years from the stone and apples in six. We have hired a little house about two miles and a half from the village of Canadaway (now Fredonie) which contains three societies, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodists. There is also mills and schools near at hand with neighbors who appear very friendly and kind. If Mr. Johnson does not like it better at Cincinnetti, he intends to settle here before any other country he ever saw. It is a good place for his trade which demands one dollar and fifty cents per day, but the Lord knows what is best and I hope that I shall be reconciled to his will. The Lord only knows whether we shall ever see each other again on this earth. I hope he shall put our trust in Him and be reconciled to His will for he knows what is best for us. All things shall work together for the good of those who love Him. If we are afflicted it is for our good, for he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. Therefore let us put our trust in him, for he hath said, “They that put their trust in Him shall be as Mount Zion which shall not be removed.”My children sent their love to you all. Remember my love to all inquiring friends. Tell Almera I wish they would write to me. Do write as soon as possible. I shall write as soon as Mr. Johnson gets back, if not before.This from your affectionate children, E and J. Johnson