they call him Moses

I'm taking a genealogy class and my ancestors are awesome! Right now I'm most interested in learning about my great, great grandpa, Moses Clawson.
Moses was born on October 8, 1801 in Dryden, New York. In 1821 he married Cornelia Brown. I found a little bit of information about them joining the church. In his journal he wrote:


“In the fall of 1830 Col. John Stevens an old Gentleman came to my house and said to me; Reports say in the papers there is a Golden Bible found, which thrilled through me like an electric shock which caused me to reflect materially, not being a praying man my desire was to get the Book forthwith which in a few months was put into my possession. [ I ] read it carefully and believed that God had again manifested himself unto men by giving them history of this American continent.”

Then this one was written later on:

“ ....2 Elders from Kirtland Ohio came to our settlement by the name of John Gould and George Babcock, being of inquiring mind I invited them to come to my house. They preached a number of times in the settlement. On the 2nd of March 1835 myself my wife and my youngest sister Lola went into the Waters of Baptism under the hands of John Gould. After being confirmed [ and ] promised the gift of the Holy Ghost [ I ] was visited with a feeling for several days as though my whole frame was on fire – through which I received great knowledge as pertaining to the things of God.”

I love this journal entry. Moses wrote this himself. I'm grateful that he took the time to write in his journal so that I could know how he felt. He knew the church was true and it's easy to see that after learning a little bit about his life, but I reading about how he felt personally.

After joining the church Moses and his family went Kirtland, Ohio. While they were traveling to Kirtland, his oldest son, Ebenezer was run over by a wagon giving him some severe head injuries. Some missionaries in the area gave him a blessing and the next day he was almost completely healed and was ready to drive the wagon.
In Kirtland, Moses and Cornelia received their Patriarchal blessings from Joseph Smith Sr, who was the first Patriarch of the church. They then traveled to Missouri. When the saints were driven out of Independence they settled about three miles from Far West.

Mobs continued to follow the Mormons. About 1838, Moses was imprisoned for over two weeks in the Richmond, Missouri jail, along with sixty to seventy others. Joseph Smith Jr. was included.

Later on, Moses was sent to a mission to the eastern United States. He returned in 1844. Shorty after that he went on another mission to the East, but returned home when Joseph Smith Jr. was murdered.

In 1847, Moses was ready to head west, but was asked to stay behind and help build wagons for future companies.
Finally he and his family arrived in Salt Lake City in 1849. The next spring he was called to serve a mission in England. He served there for three and a half years. When returning back home he presided over the LDS immigrant ship Ellen Maria, which had 299 saints aboard.
Then later he led a company of 56 wagons across the plains to Salt Lake. They arrived in September of 1853.

While he was leading this company, he heard that his wife Cornelia was very sick. So he went ahead of his company to be with her. Right before Cornelia died he married Sarah Ann Inkley. Sarah is my great, great grandma. I didn't know that they were married before Cornelia died.
Sarah and Moses met in England. They got to know each other a little better while traveling on the Ellen Maria. Moses got sick on the Ellen Maria and Sarah nursed him back to health.

I've been reading about Sarah and it's weird that they even got married in the first place. I don't think they loved each other. Sarah was in love with a young man named William Taylor. They were engaged in England, but William emigrated many years before she did. When she got to Salt Lake she saw him and learned that she probably wouldn't be his only wife (later this man married four wives). In one history of Sarah Ann Inkley it says, "Just what occurred to bring Moses Clawson and Sarah Ann Inkley together at this time is not known. Both had disappointments and tragedy in their lives." This makes me so curious! Moses was 32 years older than Sarah and their marriage doesn't make sense. Hopefully I can find some more information later on. Anyway, Moses and Sarah were married on September 25, 1853 by Brigham Young in his office. They had 13 children. (Cornelia gave birth to 12 children. Moses had a total of 25 kids!).

I have learned so much already, but there's a lot more to learn! So far I'm lovin' this. I feel like I know them better :) They're my family. It's interesting because my great, great grandpa was born in 1801. There is only four generations between us. Four generations in 200 years! Isn't that crazy?