Great Great Great Grandfather JOHN SOMERS HIGBEE (Compiled from information in Isaac Higbee and Sophia Somers Family Organization 1955-56) John Somers Higbee was born 7 March 1804, Tate, Clermont, Ohio, to Isaac Higbee and Sophia Somers. John’s parents and older siblings had lived in New Jersey. In the year 1802, Father Isaac and his family moved to Tate Township, Clermont County, Ohio (near Cincinnati). “By the time the Revolutionary War was over, the fertile country down the Ohio River induced many to go there and establish new homes. Several Higbee families of New Jersey joined in the migration--Isaac Higbee, with his wife and family being among them. They helped form what was known as the ‘Collins Jersey Settlement.’” (Sheila Jessop History, RootsWeb). From John’s journal: My father’s family consisted of three boys and three girls and I was the youngest. I went to school about five years and, at the age of fourteen, went to learn the cabinet trade with Peter Cliver, my brother-in-law [married to John’s older sister, Mary]. Here I stayed five years. Then I went home, fishing with a net with my father for a living, moving from place to place. Other times I did carpenter work.” (Isaac Higbee and Sophia Somers Fam. Org, 1955-56) John was married to Sarah Ann Voorhees on 16 February 1826, at Batavia, Clermont County, Ohio. (See Clermont County Marriage Records, 1800-1850: Sary Ann Voris to John Higbee 16 Feb 1826 byChapman Archer, JP) John and Sarah. along with his parents’ family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mav 1832. They heard the Gospel from Elders Calvin Wilson and Lyman Wight who baptized and confirmed them. They sold their property in Ohio and moved to Jackson County, Missouri, in February 1833, where they bought land and planted corn. John and Sarah’s oldest son, John Mount Higbee, was born in Ohio in 1827. Their two daughters, Sarah and Harriet, were born in Missouri, and Silas, the younger son, was born later when they moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. From his journal: “The Mormons were mobbed and driven out and in November, I moved out with a sick wife and only what we could carry on our backs to Clay County. In this condition, five families made huts out of the bark of trees for the winter and depended entirely on the success of my hunting wild game with a flint-lock shot gun, as the enemy had taken all our guns. I was very successful with the old shot gun. We had many deer to eat that winter. For bread we crossed the Missouri River in the night to steal our own corn from my brother’s farm (we had not sold it), a distance of six miles.” “The mob kept threatening us, so my parents, brothers, and other families moved to Caldwell County, Missouri, near Far West. Then the state rose up against us. The army took our guns and I was forced to sign a deed giving all my land in Jackson and Caldwell Counties for the use of the executives of the state. They selected 57 of us, taking us to Richmond. After 29 days we were tried and nothing found against us. We were ordered to leave the state, which we did, January 1838, going to Illinois in a rickety old one-horse wagon. There were three families on this trip. After arriving in Quincy, Illinois, my father, Isaac Higbee, died from fatigue, at 75 years. In May 1838, we moved to Nauvoo for a few years. In Nauvoo. John was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Nauvoo Legion. He is listed in the Hancock County Tax Record, is found in the 1842 Nauvoo Census and received his endowment in the Nauvoo Temple on 23 December 1845. He was a High Priest in the Priesthood. At one time he went to rescue Joseph Smith with a posse of men in a skiff on the Mississippi River. From his journal: “February 1846, I enlisted in Colonel Markham’s Company and was elected captain over ten men. On the 9th of February, I commenced to ferry across the Mississippi to Montrose, Iowa, all those that wished to join the company. The people lock up their homes, leaving all they could not take with them or sell. Very few ever realized anything on what they left. I hunted wild game for the camps, stood guard, split rails for farmers in Northern Iowa for horse feed, etc. At the Sheridan River, I was appointed general hunter for the Heber C. Kimball Company. Sarah Ann and the children crossed the Mississippi River 29 March 1846, with John M. driving. John S. went back to meet his family and all arrived at Mt. Pisgah the last of May. From his journal: “We stopped at Mt. Pisgah, Iowa, and planted a garden. Here my wife took sick and died through want and exposure, 15 June 1846, 41 years old, leaving four children, John M. [19 years], Silas [5 years], Sariah [12 years], and Harriet [9 years]. About this time, John heard of the recruitment for the Mormon Battalion. He traveled to Council Bluffs, with his son John where they could join, but discovered that the Battalion had left twenty-four hours earlier. The three younger children had been left with neighbors in Mt. Pisgah. Instead of going with the Battalion, he was asked to run the ferry across the Missouri River. While living in Winter Quarters, John was married, 17 August 1846, to Judith Ball Tate, a widow from South Carolina. In November 1846, he was called as Bishop of the 19th Ward of Winter Quarters. He served until April 1847, when he was again appointed hunter for the Heber C. Kimball Company going to the Rocky Mountains. Leaving his family, he started with the company on April 9. Upon reaching the Platte River, John was asked to remain behind to help run the ferry until his family arrived in August. He then continued on with them, arriving in Salt Lake on 26 September 1847. He was called again as Bishop in October. From his journal: "In January 1848, I went with Parley P. Pratt, J. Tibbets and others on an exploring, hunting and fishing expedition, south of Utah Lake, crossing over the point of the mountain between the two valleys, taking our wagons with a skiff in it. We crossed without cutting a brush or making a road. My son, John, was teamster. In March 1849, I was sent to make a settlement in Utah Valley at Timpanogos which we called Provo. In the fall of 1849, John S. was called to England on a mission, returning home on 8 January 1852. He was asked to preside over the 333 Saints on the ship returning home. One of the passengers was Ann Grainger Carr, a widow with one daughter. John and Ann were married 11 March 1852. With President Brigham Houng, he explored the Salmon River area. He and his family moved onto the Weber River in April 1858. In February 1865, John moved with his wife, Ann, and children Sarah Ann, Charlotte Jane, Sophia and Sabra (twins), Richard Tate and Isaac William, to Toquerville, Washington, Utah. John Somers Higbee died 27 September 1877, at Toquerville. His wife, Ann, died two years later, 27 September 1879, at Toquerville. Both are buried there. The children of John and Ann are Sarah Ann, 1853; Charlotte Jane, 1855; Sophia and Sabra, 1857; Richard Tate, 1859; and Isaac William, 1860.