James Price & Ann Powell

JAMES PRICE & ANN POWELL

On 28 March of 1857 or 1858, Ann married James Price. They heard the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and accepted it. They were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1861. James and Ann and some of Ann’s family desired to travel to Zion, or Utah Territory. Most of the men in the family worked in the coal mines. 

 Ann’s father, George Powell, and her brother-in-law, Edward Payne, left during the night and went to America. They found work in the coal mines in Pennsylvania and sent back every cent they could so their families could pay for passage to come over. If George and Edward had been caught as they left England, they could have been forced to stay and work longer in the coal mines. At the time, the owners of the mines treated the mine workers as slaves to some degree. 

The three families finally were able to sail on 21 May 1864 on the sailing ship General McClelland. It was a rough, stormy crossing but after six weeks they arrived at Castle Gardens, New York. The group of three families then went by train to Winter Quarters where they bought wagons, teams and supplies and joined the Joseph S. Rawlins wagon train. 

Leaving in early July of 1864 they had traveled for two weeks on the plains when James William, the little son of James and Ann, died on 21 July. They had to bury him on the plains wrapped in a quilt. They piled rocks over his grave to discourage wild animals from finding him. It was very hard for them to leave him there. 

 A few weeks later on 22 August 1864, the wagon train stopped at Ash Hollow, Nebraska just long enough for Ann to give birth to a baby girl, Maria Rawlins Price, and then they moved on. They reached the Salt Lake Valley on 20 September 1864 and were assigned to go to Heber Valley. For a time all three families lived in one room with a dirt floor and dirt roof.

-Excerpt from familysearch.org titled "Ann Powell."  A summary of available histories compiled in 2010 by Debra Edwards Plane.