Elizabeth "Betsy" Ann Henderson Brady

Life of "Betsy Brady" Elizabeth Ann Hendrickson,

Compiled by her 3-Great Granddaughter, Marilee Cornum Vannoy;

taken from http://waltonhistory.com and other family stories.  

(As I read the "Work and the Glory" by Gerald Lund, I related my Brady family to the Stead family.  Even though the Stead family was a fictitious family; they represented the lives of those who lived during that time, which my Brady family had joined the church.)

Betsy Brady was born as Elizabeth Ann Hendrickson, on October 23, 1813, in Springfield, Washington County, Kentucky.  I call her "Betsy" as that is the name she used; all the Nauvoo Temple proxy baptisms records her as "Betsy Brady".  Betsy was the first daughter and third child of Simeon Hendrickson and Keziah Paddix (Paddocks).  She had two older brothers, Jordan and Jesse; three younger brothers, Simeon, William, and Marion.  She also had one sister, Keziah, who was five years younger.


Betsy was the first wife of Lindsay Anderson Brady.  They were married October 18, 1831, in Washington County, Kentucky.  How they met and fell in love we do not know.  There first child, Simeon, was born in Washington County, Kentucky.  Here Lindsay purchased a farm on the Green River.  Two more boys, Marion H. and Warren P. were born here.


About five years after the LDS church was organized, two Mormon missionaries, Wilford Woodruff and Warren Parish, were sent into Kentucky to preach the gospel.  As a result of their labors Betsy and her parents became interested in this new message that God, our Eternal Father, had restored His church upon this earth.


Lindsay and his wife were baptized November 15, 1835 by Wilford Woodruff near Damon Creek, Kentucky.  This branch of the church was organized November 2, 1836.  Lindsay had the Aaronic Priesthood conferred upon him September 2, 1836 when Wilford Woodruff ordained him a Deacon at a conference held at Damon Creek Branch.


As a result of Lindsay joining the church his family disowned him and would have nothing more to do with him.  His sister, Charlotte, and her family became interested in the church but her parents persuaded her not to join.


April 25, 1837, Lindsay Anderson Brady and family started for Far West, Missouri to be with the main body of the church. Henry G. Sherwood was their captain. The company consisted of 89 members. They arrived at Livingston Co.,Missouri, where Lindsay purchased a piece of land on the Shoal Creek and began farming. This was to be their home for the summer. They then moved to within six miles of Far West and settled on Log Creek. Their first daughter, Elizabeth, was born here.


In 1840 mob violence in Far West became so bad that the Brady family along with other church members fled Far West and settled in what was destined to become the city of Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Illinois. Under the leadership of Joseph Smith they moved onto swampland on the banks of the Mississippi River. They drained this land, beautified it wand built a city which they named Nauvoo. In a short four year period they transformed a swampland into the largest and most attractive city in Illinois.


The family met with and became well acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith. Lindsay worked many days with the Prophet on the Nauvoo Temple. Lindsay and Elizabeth were at Nauvoo when the Prophet and his brother, Hyrum, were killed by a mob at Carthage, Illinois on June 27, 1844 . Following their deaths, Lindsay and Elizabeth viewed their bodies and they lay in state. They were both at the meeting when Brigham Young stood in the form and “spoke in the voice of the Prophet Joseph Smith”. They attended the funeral and mourned deeply with the thousands of other saints over the loss of their great spiritual leader.


Betsy having New England ancestry made her related to several modern day prophets.  I am sure she had no idea that she was a 5th cousin once removed to the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr.; and a 7th cousin once removed to Brigham Young.   She was also a 7th cousin to Vilate Kimball, the wife of Heber C. Kimball.  She was related to other prominent early LDS church leaders.

Nauvoo became the birthplace of three more Brady children, Keziah Frances, Jordan and Tranquilla. Family records show Tranquilla had a twin brother, Joseph, was still born. Lindsay and Elizabeth received their endowments at the NauvooTemple on January 1, 1846. During this period the Brady’s were called upon to bury their eldest son, Simeon.


Anti-Mormon sentiment grew in and around Nauvoo. The killing of the Prophet Joseph Smith seemed to intensify and accelerate the mob violence against the Mormons. The Lindsay Brady family suffered all the persecutions with the rest of the saints at this time. Lindsay was among the men at Nauvoo who gave up their firearms. At one time he was chased into a corn field by a mob where he hid himself in a large shock of corn. The mobsters searched the field for him and even parted the corn stalks where he was hiding. They were so close he could see the whites of their eyes, but he left the field unharmed.


Brigham Young knew as did Joseph Smith that the Mormons could not peacefully co-exist among other religious groups and still maintain and practice their own religious beliefs. To avoid conflict and persecutions they would have to go far away from other existing settlements. They would build a new commonwealth hundreds of miles beyond the last American frontier. This necessitated taking everything with them – farm implements, seed, cattle and clothing.


Mob violence increased and the Mormons hurriedly made preparations to leave. They traded homes, farms and anything they had for wagons, oxen, horses and provisions to take with them. Lindsay traded their brick home ad lot for one log chain and two stove flat irons.


The exodus from Nauvoo started on February 4, 1846. Six hundred people crossed the river on the ice. The first night after leaving Nauvoo, nine children were born and as they journeyed westward, mothers gave birth to offspring under the most trying circumstances – in tents, wagons, rainstorms and snowstorms.


The Mormons were camped on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River. Severe snowstorms kept them huddled in their camp for days. Suffering was intense and deaths from exposure, disease and malnutrition were many. They were poorly prepared for such an exodus. There were many others joining these saints who had little or nothing of the necessities for their own sustenance and the Brady’s divided their rations with them.


The trek across the State of Iowa was terrible. The teams were too thin and weak to pull the heavy loads over the muddy sad snowy roads. At times it was necessary for the young and even the aged to walk to save the teams. The Brady family, along with the Hendrickson family, traveled across the State of Iowa to the banks of the Missouri River, a distance of about 40 miles. This same year, 1846, they camped on the banks of the Missouri River. Their first home was made of sod and logs. They remained here until the spring of 1847, at which time the family moved into the Big Mosquito Creek area. Here Lindsay cleared a large tract of land and planted crops. They lived in the vicinity for about three years, making preparations for their long trip across the plains to the Great Salt Lake Valley.


The story of  "The Mighty Missouri" is loved to be heard by the descendants as a real pioneer story.  It was written by, .......... (story will be add later)

June 14, 1850, Lindsay Anderson Brady and his wife, Elizabeth, with their six children left Winter Quarters and headed west. The Simeon Hendrickson family planned to travel with this same company but the night before they were to leave all their oxen and horses were driven off and their wagons hidden so it was impossible for them to travel with their daughter and son-in-law. Jordan, son of Simeon, used this method to keep his parents from coming west with the Mormons. Family records show Susannah Ward Allen made the trip across the plains in the same wagon train as the Brady’s. She was destined to become Lindsay’s second wife.
The Brady family traveled to the valley of the Rocky Mountains with the Captain William Wall Company. As they journeyed westward, Lindsay Anderson, Jr. was born July 11, 1850, on the banks of the Platte River near Julesburg, Nebraska. Their outfit used for crossing the plains consisted of two wagons, two yoke of oxen, two yoke of cows, farm implements and provisions. On their way one of the oxen died so Lindsay hitched one of the milk cows to the wagon.


While on the plains the dreaded disease of cholera broke out. Many of the saints died and were buried along the trail. At times there were not enough well to care for the sick.


Lindsay Anderson Brady and family arrived in the Salt Lake Valley September 19, 1850. It had taken this company 96 days to travel from Winter Quarters, Nebraska to the Great Salt Lake Valley.

Betsy was the first woman to live in Fairview, Sanpete County, Utah.  This is were they made their finial home and raised many of their children and grandchildren.  In the Fairview museum there are a lot of artifacts of the Brady family, including a bed of cherry wood made by Lindsay.

This story is not complete and will will completed later.

Story about Lindsay Anderson Brady and Elizabeth Ann Henderson

Pioneer Company Trail Excerpt by daughter Elizabeth Ann Brady Huffaker