Alice Howard Hammond’s Life Sketch

Alice Howard Hammond: 30 SEP 1845 –28 JAN 1873

Alice Howard was the 2nd wife of Francis A. Hammond. 

Written by Mary Alice Hammond Sorensen

Alice Howard Hammond (my great, great—grandmother) was born September 30, 1845 in Southport, Lancaster, England, the daughter of Richard Howard and Mary Ann Blundell. She was the fifth child (third daughter) in a family of eleven children: five boys and six girls. She was baptized in 1857 as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, along with the rest of her family. Her people were poor and, because there was a large family, they all had to work as soon as they were large enough. Her Father and brother worked in the coal mines and had a coal business. Their coal yard was on the opposite side of the street from where they lived. Alice started working when very young, doing housework in the homes of the aristocracy. Her parents died when she was quite young: she was thirteen when her Father died at sea on March 20, 1858, and seventeen when her Mother died on August 20, 1862. Alice was always a very devoted member of the Church, often walking five miles to attend meetings. After her parents deaths, she, and some of the other children, desired to come to Utah where they might be with the main body of the Church. In 1863, when she was eighteen, she came to Utah with her elder sister Hannah (20), younger sister Eleanor(11) called Nellie, and younger brothers Hyrum (9) and Richard (6). She later read, in a letter of her Mother’s, that her eldest brother, Hugh, was in Utah. He was a cripple in a hospital; they did not know how or when he got to Utah. Those who remained in England were Catherine (23), Henry (20), Jane or Jenny (14), Heber (l3 ), and Elizabeth (7). Thus, the family was separated. It must have been quite an undertaking for a group of inexperienced children to cross the plains to a new and strange country; but it was ever so with those who had faith enough in the Gospel, that they were given strength to carry on and overcome obstacles that would seem beyond their strength. Many tears were shed at being separated from their brothers and sisters left behind in England. In reading over old letters, we find they did miss each other very much and wished many times they could see each other again. Alice was much concerned for the welfare of those left behind. In her letters back to England, she asked about the younger children, especially Heber who was a little wayward. She gave him much good, advice, asking the older ones to be especially kind to him. They crossed the plains in George Q. Cannon’s ox team Company. It was Alice’s chore to look after the younger children. Richard, the youngest, said in later years that he remembered how she cared for them like a little mother. She had charge of them until after they arrived in Salt Lake City, when Elder Hill and Bishop Moon took them in and gave them homes for awhile. Alice lived at the hospital for awhile, nursing her brother Hugh, who was being treated there. Later she worked for the families of George Q. Cannon and Lorin Farr. When she was nineteen, she was married in the Endowment House as a second wife of Francis Asbury Hammond (my great, great-grandfather) on July 26, 1864 about a year after she reached Utah. Shortly after marrying Alice, Francis was called on his second Mission to the Hawaiian Islands and was advised to take his young wife, Alice, with him. *He went ahead, intending to send for her later. But, after he left, his first wife, Mary Jane Dilworth, took matters into her own hands, borrowed the money, and followed her husband to the Islands, leaving Alice to work for her living with the family of Lorin Farr. Alice’s first child, John Howard, was born November 15, 1866, in Huntsville, Weber, Utah. Her second child, Mary Alice, was born April 14, 1869, also in Huntsville, where the family home was located. They lived in a little log house, about a half block from the first wife’s home. Mary Alice was not quite four when her Mother died, but she remembered the house faced the east with a door and window in front. The window was on the right side of the door. In between the door and the window, on the inside, were shelves covered by a curtain. There was another six—pane window on the west, with a table by it. On the south side of the room were two beds, one for Alice and one for the two children. On the north side was a Charter Oak stove and, in the northwest corner, an old fashioned cupboard. The floor was bare board, scrubbed white and clean. The walls were whitewashed. The beds were old fourposters with strips of rawhide, crisscrossed, for springs. These things, with a few chairs, composed the furniture of the little home. The roof of the house was covered with dirt and weeds grew on it in the Summer. Mary Alice remembered her Mother, on Christmas, standing by the table, rolling out dough and cutting out dolls for presents for the children. They used currants as eyes for these dolls. There was an old grainery to the north of the house; it was used as a kitchen in the Summer. The woodpile was on the south side of the house. Alice was a good alto singer and was a prominent member of the choir. One time Moselle, Francis oldest daughter, had a part in a Christmas program. Moselle could not sing at all, so Alice stood back of the curtain and sang, while Moselle acted the parts of the song. Alice held Mary Alice while she sang the song. Alice’s third baby was a little girl born January 15, 1873.She was named Hannah after Alice’s eldest sister. She did not enjoy the company of this baby long for Alice died when Hannah was two weeks old, on January 28, 1873, in Huntsville, Weber, Utah. She died of child bed fever, as it was then called. She was twenty—eight years old. Her sister, Hannah, was with her during her sickness and death. Nellie and Richard, who lived in Salt Lake City, came to the funeral. Mary Alice sat on her Aunt Nellie’s lap and rode to the funeral in a bobsled. It was a cold hard Winter. The snow was so deep that a road had to be shoveled from the meeting house to the graveyard. The fences were covered with the snow. As Alice had been so highly respected and loved as a member of the choir, a special musical program was put on in her honor. This beautiful young Mother was laid to rest, mourned by all who knew her because of her sweet noble character and her patient loving ways. Three young children were left without a Mother to guide them. John, the eldest, was only seven and Mary Alice was not quite four, and Hannah was only two weeks old. Alice lived a short, useful life and, although she was a polygamous Wife, she was happy for she loved her husband and children and had the respect of all her husband’s first family as well as the love of a good husband. Plural families were as happy as other families when they lived in purity and unselfishness, as it was designed they should live. Perhaps, at times, little difficulties arose, as they do in most families, but Francis’ two wives loved each other, or learned to do so, through the close association with each other, helping each other all they could, waiting on and nursing each other during childbirth. Mary Jane, Francis’ first wife, was with Alice when Mary Alice was born in her home; thus, you see, they helped each other. Mary Jane was the postmistress for a time, so Alice went into her home and helped with the work. Alice’s brother, Richard (Dick), became embittered and dissatisfied after her death; he went back to England and said Alice had been mistreated, which was not true. John and Mary Alice, though young, remembered their Mother as a sweet, beautiful woman. They had the greatest love and respect for their Father, who was truly a remarkable man, a kind and loving Father who, with his wives, made the world better for having lived in it.

SOURCES: 1. History written by Mary Alice Hammond Sorensen. 2. Family letters sent to and from England. 3 . History and Genealogy of the Hammond Families in America. 4. Temple records in the L.D.S. Church Archives. 5. England Records obtained by Thomas Alston, G.S. Read in DUP Camp Patchwork in April 1986

 

*According to Francis’ journal, there was an argument in the family as to which of his wives would follow him to Hawaii. Francis says that it was finally agreed that Mary Jane would make the trip to the islands \and that Alice would stay behind and work for Lorin Farr. When it came time for Mary Jane to follow him however, one of her children was ill and she did not go. Francis spent his second mission in Hawaii alone. Both wives remained in Utah.