Elizabeth Boyce 1831

ELIZABETH BOYCE 1831

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Elizabeth Boyce was the daughter of George and Ann Geldard Boyce. She was born April 19th 1831 at Laharp, Michigan. Her childhood and early education took place in that State when it was the borderline of civilization and physical learning of how to make gardens, milk cows, and make butter and cheese, raise a few sheep, shear, wash, dye and spin the wool was common knowledge among the young ladies of her day, yet she learned to spell, read, and write. She was highly intellectual and each day of her entire life added knowledge to her fine mind. In her childhood she loved to roam the green hills of her homeland and gather the wild flower and in the spring the wintergreen berries to chew. This flavor was always her favorite choice throughout her life. Her father was the fine type the Latter-day Saint missionaries found when they went proselyting the Gospel and as soon as he became a member of the Latter-day Saint faith he gathered his family and went to Nauvoo to be with the Prophet Joseph Smith and the body of the Saints. Her mother, Ann Geldard, one of God’s noble women was endowed with faith to heal the sick, drive the power of the destroyer from her habitation and her talent was to set a table of abundance of the things of the earth with very little with which to do it. She was a peacemaker and enjoyed, with her husband and children, the spirit of the Valleys of the Rocky Mountains.
Elizabeth Boyce, with her parents, brothers and sisters, was with the Saints when they were driven out of Nauvoo and spent the winter of 1844 at Council Bluffs. It was here we presume she met Jacob Mica Truman who was born August 30th, 1825 in New York State (Niagara County). He had not reached his 21st birthday when on June 26th 1846, Captain James Allen of the United States Army arrived at Mount Pisgah, Iowa and presented to these homeless, driven and persecuted refugees a circular asking for 500 men to take part in the war with Mexico. He was among the first to volunteer. He was placed in Company C. He was with the Captain James Brown Company of 90 men and 14 officers, 104 men all told. According to Daniel Tyler’s journal Jacob Truman was among the soldiers who made the entire trip to San Diego and up to Sutter’s Fork on the Sacramento River and was there when gold was discovered. He obtained work from Captain John A. Sutter. Sutter was hiring men to build sawmills, flour mills and dig a millrace. He was one of the ones Samuel Brannan met on his return trip from meeting Brigham Young and took his advice to remain in California and work the winter there.
He returned to Salt Lake in the fall of and on the 19th of April 1849 Jacob Mica Truman took Elizabeth Boyce to be his bride. They were married on her 18th birthday by John Taylor. They went down in the South East part of the valley and took up land in South Cottonwood and built a house and both went to work to plant a garden and a few acres of wheat that they might reap a harvest and be sustained in this barren desert land. Soon after her marriage she was called, in fact at the age of 19, and set apart as a midwife and doctor. This calling became her well, because by nature she was endowed with wisdom, sincere faith and keen knowledge of the functioning of the human body. The first child she brought into this world was when she was all alone. She continued the practice of midwife until she was 75 years old and attributed all her great success to the Father in Heaven, who had restored his priesthood authority to men and they were always called in to administer and bless the patient whom when with her own faith was delivered in safety and brought back from the gates of death with a wee one safe and secure. Her calls were many and on horse back or in a wagon drawn by oxen, mule or horses she answered them all, going as far as 60 to 70 miles from her home to do so. Of such women words are great symbols to praise their name, surely there are laid up for them crowns of glory for the reward of their love and unselfishness. We love them and will always revere the memory of such heroines as Elizabeth Boyce Truman.
When she had three little children, . . . her husband went back to the States (from Salt Lake) to get his mother and two sisters, Maria and Lauretta. He was gone a year and in that year she milked cows and made butter sufficient to clear the indebtedness of $300 on their place. It was one of the outstanding homes and small farms in that district. They were so proud of it and were prospering very well when the call came for them to pioneer into Utah's Dixie country. Obedient to the call, the place was sold and a wagon and outfit was purchased, and sometime in 1862 they, along with the others and their family of seven children set out.
Brigham Young had visited southern Utah and could see resources there that would make a more self-supporting people and put to use their trade and abilities. Therefore, in the year of 1857, he called 28 families who were from the cotton growing states of Virginia, Tennessee and Texas to move south. Then in 1862 many more were called so that by March 22nd 1862 sufficient numbers had responded that a conference was called and the City of St. George was divided into four wards. That fall 100,000 pounds of cotton was raised in Washington County. This trip to the south was the most trying, hard and perilous trip our pioneers encountered. Then they came to the great Black Ridge (which is the southeast corner of the Great Basin), this side (northeast) of St. George, Elizabeth Boyce could not see how they would ever get over it and the story is told how in places the gulches were so straight down and narrow (that) it was necessary to unload the wagons, take them apart, and piece by piece take them to the side. Such obstacles overcome the doubt of "how on earth would they ever be able to live in such a desolate looking place".
While on the road, George Almus, her little son of five years, fell out of the wagon and had his leg broken. The company laid over one day to set the limb and journeyed on the next day. They lived in their wagons until they could build one small adobe room. It was shelter and was dear to them with its surroundings of mesquite and arrow willows. Soon a garden was planted, trees brought from the mountain and flowers edging the walk and geraniums in the windows made it "Home Sweet Home" to everyone. The water was brackish and warm and very unsatisfactory to quenching the thirst and made the entire family ill. The first three or four summers the Truman family moved up on the south side of Pine Valley Mountains and made butter and cheese for everyone who had cows in the settlements around. In 1870 they moved to Mountain Meadows, (and) in April 1877 (they) moved from Mountain Meadows to a farm 2 1/2 miles below the town of Gunlock. Here she planted an orchard, obtained a weaving loom fro weaving homemade carpets and rugs and with her practice of midwifery lived for thirty-eight years. Gunlock was a very small place and had only a community square with a one-roomed school house and (church) meeting house combined. (It was) also used for a public amusement hall. The nearest store was at St. George, which was 20 miles away and would take a complete day of travel (each way). They received mail only when someone went to St. George, therefore, they didn't get many letters and they wrote very few.
In the month of June 1874, father and mother Truman, their daughter Emma Maria and Franklin Overton Holt left St. George for Salt Lake City in a covered wagon. The occasion was to have their young folks married by the authority of the Church in the proper way. This was done July 6th 1874 for time and all eternity and sealed for that purpose by Brigham Young. It took three weeks to make this long trip to Salt Lake City and three weeks to return home. Such faith and obedience to the principles as taught by their elders make us of today marvel at their loyalty and desire to adhere to council. When they arrived in the City they went to (visit) Elizabeth's sister, Nona Boyce Taylor. She was touch by the signs of toil and hardships as shown on brow, hands and bended back, and the poverty of dress and equipment so she said (to them), "Out yonder is plenty of corn, if you shuck it you may have all your wagon will hold." Thanking the Good Father above and loving their kind sister and auntie more than mere words can express, they set to work and in a few hours the wagon was heaped to running over with golden ears of corn. They took it, and with the bags of dried peaches, to the market and sold it, spending every cent in needed clothing, shoes, yarn and yardage goods. Oh how happy they were and Elizabeth (is) quoted (as saying), "Alright Jacob, we can go home now and be assured we are covered until prosperity and markets come to southern Utah."
We who live in the northern part of the state of Utah where the railroad came to carry our surplus to market will never know the struggle of our brethren and sisters in the southern part where it never touched, and each family raised an abundance and could neither trade, nor sell, or give away their surplus for not even a postage stamp. Her home Gunlock was situated 2 1/2 miles below the town and when Father Truman was gone from home, which was a great part of time, as his second wife, Katie and family still lived up on the farm at Mountain Meadow, mother Elizabeth would take her entire family and walk to Sunday School and Sacrament Meeting every Sunday. She was a teacher in the Sabbath School teaching the Book of Mormon class for many years. She was also appointed President of the Relief Society on November 7th, 1895 and served until 1897 when she was released. In 1896 when she was 65 years old, Elder Mathias F. Cowley, an apostle visiting them asked her how old she was and she answered, "Sixty-five." He replied, "You are good for twenty years more." She lived 22 years (after that), enjoying the fruits of her labor in the well organized home and (with) faithful living sons and daughters. They loved her and her grandchildren revered her and knew her taste for green peas, mashed potatoes and dried peaches, stewed and made into a pie with nutmeg sprinkled on it.
The summer time (in Dixie) is very warm and (so) when grandma was coming to spend the day, the children would draw water from the well and sprinkle it all over the door yard and walls of the house to cool and make pleasant the arbor where she could sit and enjoy herself as she sat and knitted and visited with them. She had many beautiful traits of character as well as beauty of feature. Her eyes were black and (had) smiling wrinkles that patience, sympathy and true devotion to her God and His children hat etched about her mouth, and with her white hair she was beautiful. Her stature was short and rather plump, and (she had) neatness in everything she did. She often remarked (that) no one had ever seen her bed unmade, nor her dishes not done. Indeed work was her philosophy - she had cut and dried enough fruit to encircle the globe, made quilts sufficient to cover the families of a city, woven miles of carpet, besides (made) tons of butter and cheese, gathered bushels of wild fruits, and followed day after day garnering wheat after the man who cut (it) with an old fashioned grain cradle. We have no count of the babies she brought into the world nor the lives she saved through her administrations. She always reminded her grandchildren to always do two jobs while you are doing one. If you went to feed the cow, bring back an arm full of wood on your return; if you went for water, draw (up) an extra bucket (and put in) the trough for the animals; if you were visiting, take your stitching or knitting with you, thus wasting not a minute of the day so that at its close you may truthfully say, "Something accomplished, something done has earned a night's repose."
These latter-day women of the past generation were Saints defending a new religion, they were also Saints of perfection as they lived their span of life. Elizabeth Boyce was the first of three wives of Jacob Mica Truman. She was the mother of the following children: Martha Ann TRUMAN (2 May 1850-26 Feb 1892)
John Franklin TRUMAN (7 Jul 1851-14 Jun 1866)
Emma Maria TRUMAN (5 Nov 1852-6 Sep 1921)
Jacob Boyce TRUMAN (24 Jul 1855-18 Nov 1873)
George Almus TRUMAN (2 Mar 1857-22 Mar 1919)
William Thomas TRUMAN (20 Dec 1858-11 Aug 1947)
Lucuis TRUMAN (5 Apr 1860-6 Feb 1861)
Lucy Elizabeth TRUMAN (8 Oct 1864-21 May 1905)
Albert Henry TRUMAN (20 Oct 1867-1 Apr 1939)
Mary Lois TRUMAN (26 Mar 1871-17 Aug 1959)
Lasina Almena TRUMAN (11 Sep 1873-13 Aug 1959)
Esther Priscilla TRUMAN (4 Jan 1876-24 Jul 1936)Two of them, John and Lucius, died young. Jacob, her fourth child, went hunting jack rabbits with a boy friend and as they were going under a fence, the gun in the friend's hand went off and Jacob was shot (and died). She also saw her daughter Emma Maria lose her beautiful daughter, Roxie, by being burned to death and another grandchild drowned.
Jacob Mica Truman died November 23rd, 1881 after a few days illness leaving Elizabeth a widow for (the next) 38 years. (She followed her husband) from this life on November 6th, 1919. Funeral services were held in the open air at Mountain Meadows on the 7th, Bishop James L. Bunker of Veyo presided. The Enterprise Choir, composed mostly of her grandchildren furnished the singing. The speakers were Elder Jacob Truman and George Henry Bowler, (both grandsons). She was laid to rest beside her husband and the grave was dedicated by Bishop Bunker.

Handwritten Note from Elizabeth dated 1897

Picture of Elizabeth Boyce (front center) with her grown children

Back row: Mary Lois, Esther Priscilla, and Lucina Almena.
Seated: George Almus, Elizabeth, and Emma Maria.