Further history of Philip de la Mare

Philip de la Mare,
LDS priest

Philip De La Mare was born on 3 April 1823, in Grouville, Jersey

Philip's father was Francois De La Mare and his mother Janne Esther Ahier.

Ordination

Philip was baptised into the Latter Day Saints Church in 1849 by Elder W C Dunbar. One week later he was ordained to the priesthood. Later he assisted Elder John Taylor in translating and publishing the Book of Mormon into French. Three months after this had been accomplished Taylor received a communication from Mormon President Brigham Young urging him to further his endeavors in getting ideas and machinery to send to Utah to build up her industries.

In the spring of 1851 Taylor and Philip De La Mare left Paris for Arras and investigated the possibility of introducing the sugar industry in Utah. They were among those responsible for purchasing the machinery and bringing it to Utah. Philip was accompanied on the journey by his wife, Mary Ann Parkin, and their three small children, the eldest of whom, Mary Jane, died and was buried in St Louis.

The trip across the plains, with 52 wagonloads of heavy machinery, was slow and difficult. Each wagon was drawn by from four to eight yoke of oxen and carried from 5,000 to 9,000 pounds of iron machinery. Through the long hot days of summer, through the fall and early winter they travelled, arriving in the latter part of November, 1852; five months were spent in making the journey from Fort Leavenworth to Utah, a distance of 1,200 miles.

Second marriage

After his arrival in Salt Lake he married a second time. His wife Marie Chevalier was born in Jersey and had crossed the plains in his company.

In 1853 he came to Tooele, as one of its early pioneers. He followed his trade of blacksmithing and opened a shop. He built a large platform scale for the government; also the anchor for Capt Patrick O'Connor when he launched his boat on the Great Salt Lake.

In 1855 Philip was called by Brigham Young to go with Colonel Steptoe's surveying party to California. He was blacksmith and machinist for the party. This trip lasted for over a year. He was in California during the hard times in Utah and he was able to send money to his family which was used to buy flour and other provisions for the family and other settlers. It was necessary to haul all this from Salt Lake and his wife made the trips with an ox team. After his return from California he married a third wife, Jennette Mickeljohn, daughter of Robert.

In April 1860 he went on a mission to France where he presided over the Channel Island conference, laboring in all three years and eight months. On his return, in company with John Needham and Samuel H Smith, he brought back a company of 600 emigrants.

At the age of 80 he was set apart as a Patriarch and acted as such until the time of his death. At his death he was the oldest citizen of Tooele City, and was not only well known and honored in Tooele County, but was respected throughout the State. He died at his home in Tooele City on 16 October 1915, at the age of 93.

Tooele settlement

The Tooele settlement was almost four years old when the De La Mare family arrived. En route they had crossed the Jordan River on a ferry boat which almost capsized with them. Their wagon was drawn by a four horse team, which made the trip in one day, very good time for the period. Philip De La Mare remembered that when they reached Tooele, a churn full of cream placed on the wagon in Salt Lake City had turned to butter.

He described Tooele Valley when he first saw it as a waving mass of grass three to four feet high, growing from the Stockton Pass to the lake shore. Antelope and deer had their habitat throughout the valley, which was an ideal range for them at that time. Because of the abundant forage, winter feeding of domestic livestock was not then necessary.The water level of the Great Salt Lake was low.

Kennebec

On 10 January 1852 the 1,070 ton sailing ship Kennebec sailed from Bramley-Moore Dock, Liverpool, with 333 Mormon migrants on board. The Kennebec was bound for New Orleans, Louisiana, on the Gulf of Mexico, although one report mentions calling at New York after 6 weeks. The passengers were bound for the Mormon homeland of Utah.

The following is a list of the De La Mares who were aboard the Kennebec: Marie Chevalier (29), Mary Ann Parkin (31), Philip (29), Philip Francis (3), Theophilus (1)

The Company had originally chartered the Devonshire, but were not happy with the condition of the ship. The Kennebec was 'much newer and stronger'.

Among the passengers were George and Hannah May (who is thought to have been suffering from tuberculosis), together with their seven children. Also in the party was Henry Ballard. But, like many others on board, not all the Mays would reach their destination.

The members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latterday Saints on the Kennebec were under the leadership of Elder John Higbee, who was appointed President for the voyage, together with Elders John Spiers, Thomas Smith and William Dunbar, who served as Councillors.

Voyage

Some of the migrants were funded by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company, while the rest had to fund their own passage. The ship would have been crowded by today's standards, and there would be a foul stench below decks in steerage.

The ship was described as being 'large, new and commodious', and had been delayed at Liverpool for two days by a gale. The voyage was 'safe and pleasant' apart from one storm, lasting three days and nights, which swept the deck clean of everything movable. However, some Irish emigrants also on board who had insufficient provisions for the voyage, stole food from the Mormons with the result that all on board were on short rations for the last few days of the voyage when the Kennebec became stuck in the mud of the Mississippi for ten days.

On 19 March 1852, the Kennebec docked in New Orleans, and the passengers transferred to the steamboat Pride of the West for the next stage of their journey, several hundred miles up the Mississippi to St Louis, Missouri. Pride of the West was in such poor condition that it was held together by chains.

From there they transferred the paddle steamer Saluda for the journey up the Missouri River to Council Bluffs, opposite Omaha, Nebraska.

At Brunswick, Missouri, Eli Kelsey, together with George and James May, decided to take the overland route to Council Bluffs. Further upstream, at Lexington, they heard that the Saluda had exploded. Many lost their lives, The Mays only suffered an injury to Harriet's left foot, but they lost most of their possessions.

The Saluda was a side-wheel, wooden hull packet measuring 179 feet by 26.7 feet, and displacing 223 tons. She was mostly built at Ohio and finished at St Louis. Her owner and Master was Francis Belt and her Pilot was Charles LaBarge, brother of Capt Joseph LaBarge

In a previous incident in 1850, five miles below Rocheport,she snagged and sank, and was subsequently raised and rebuilt.

On Good Friday, 9 April 1852, with Mormon emigrants aboard, the boat was headed for Council Bluffs, Iowa. Upon arrival at Lexington, the current being swift, the pilot pushed her too hard into the rapid water and her boilers blew up. The pilot and 26 others died. This was the worst steamboat disaster on the Missisippi River. The roof bell from the Saluda was auctioned off and went to the Christian Church of Savannah, Missouri. It is still in possession of that church.

The company arrived in Salt Lake Valley, Utah, on 14 October 1852.

Family tree

De La Mare family tree