Person:Abigail Mead (7)

BIOGRAPHY: HISTORY OF ABIGAIL MEAD MCBRIDE

In peace and plenty, ABIGAIL MEAD MCBRIDE and family lived on a farm in the vicinity of Palmyra, New York. Her husband, Daniel MCBRIDE was a Campbelle minister. His religion appealed to all his family as being nearest to the primitive plan of salvation as taught by Jesus Christ of any of the creeds in his lifetime, but often he remarked to ABIGAIL, as they returned from church, after preaching his usual Sunday sermon, "There is something lacking, I feel that I have not the Authority. If only I could say to the people, 'Thus sayeth the Lord.'" Abigail MEAD was born January 29, 1770, at Nine Partners, Montgomery County, New York, the daughter of Gideon MEAD and his wife Martha. She was bereaved of the companionship of her husband, Sept. 1, 1823, at Stillwater, Saratoga County, New York. Their children were John, Samuel, Daniel, James, Margaret, Hyrum, Cirus Gideon, Reuben and Martha. The brave widow struggled courageously to rear her little family in the fear of God. About 1829 she heard of the mysterious visions of the Prophet Joseph Smith and believed them. Consequently, the entire family joined the new Church of Jesus Christ shortly after its organization in 1830, when a great religious revival of all churches was taking place. In company with many New York and Massachusetts families, they sold their thriving farms at great sacrifices and journeyed 135 miles to Kirtland, Ohio. In the beautiful spring time of June, 1835, they made the trip by stage coach and canal boat in about six days. Included in the party were Maria Crandle, Lydia Goldwait, Vinson Knight, his wife Martha (Abigail's youngest daughter) and Martha's daughters Rizpah and Adaline Knight. They all donated liberally to the building of the city of Kirtland and the first L.D.S. Temple, now standing in a fine state of preservation. Abigail's son, Reuben MCBRIDE (The grandfather of Wells R. McBride, of the editorial staff of the present Ogden Standard-Examiner) became custodian of the Kirtland Temple. The family enjoyed many of the first wonderful spiritual manifestations given at the dedication of the first House of the Lord in this dispensation. Of the glorious manifestations the prophet thus writes: The heavens were opened upon us, and I beheld the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory thereof, whether in the body or out, I cannot tell. I saw the transcendant beauty of the gate through which the heirs of that kingdom will enter, which was like unto circling flames of fire; also the blazing throne of God, whereon was seated the Father and the son. I saw the beautiful streets of that kingdom, which had the appearance of being paved with gold... We then invited the high councilors of Kirtland and Zion into the room... The visions of heaven were opened to them also. Some of them saw the face of the Savior, and others were ministered unto by holy angels and the spirit of prophecy and revelation was poured out in mighty power; and loud hossannas, and glory to God in the highest, saluted the heavens, for we all communed with the heavenly host. (House of the Lord, pp. 97-98.) The original manuscript of the patriarchal blessing given to ABIGAIL MCBRIDE by the first patriarch, Joseph Smith, Sr., called Father Smith, now in possession of the Belnap family, follows: PATRIARCHAL BLESSING OF ABIGAIL MCBRIDE Abigail MCBRIDE, born in Nine Partners, Montgomery County, New York, aged 66 years on the 29th day of January. My aged sister, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world, and by the power and authority of the Priesthood, I lay my hands on thy head; and on the heads of thy posterity, confer a blessing. Thou hast had sorrow and affliction, out of which the Lord is delivering thee. He has established thy faith. Thou hast obeyed the gospel of the Savior. Thy name is written in the Lamb's book of Life. Thou art of the lineage of Abraham. If thou holdest on thy way, the time will come when thou, like Job, shall see God in the flesh, standing upon the earth. Thou shalt see angels, and receive the communication of the Holy Ghost. Thy children shall stand in the covenant by the power of God. Thou shalt go to Zion, and be in good health. Thy mind shall be strong and rejoice in thy God. Thou shalt be a member of the celestial world. I seal these blessings upon thy head. I seal thee up to eternal life. Amen and Amen. Joseph Smith, Sr. Kirtland, Ohio, June 8, 1836 Abigail endured the persecutions attending the 12,000 members of the church in their migration to Nauvoo, Ill. There her granddaughter, Rizpah Knight, married Andrew S. Gibbons, who afterwards became a member of the pioneer company of Brigham Young, which arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, July 24, 1847. Her granddaughter, Adaline Knight, married Gilbert Belnap, who was selected to be the first sheriff, attorney and assessor and collector of Weber county. Her son, Reuben, married Mary Ann Anderson, and her daughter, Margaret, married David Crandall before their arrival in Nauvoo. After experiencing the terrible incidents connected with the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith at Carthage, Ill., and the driving of the saints from their Nauvoo homes, she suffered nobly the hardships of crossing the plains to the tips of the Rocky Mountains, in the open rugged west. She was cared for by her own children and Gilbert Belnap, the husband of her granddaughter, Adaline Knight. Some of the McBrides, including John, her son, pioneered Cache valley; her son, Samuel, Millard County. Others went to Springville, Utah, with the Crandalls. Reuben made two trips across the plains to escort pioneer companies enroute to Utah. Then he accompanied the Millard County Pioneers. Her great-grandson, Gilbert R. Belnap, recalled her assistance with his mother, Adaline Knight Belnap, and other women in bandaging the bleeding feet and frozen hands of the members of the handcart company, upon their arrival in Ogden. He described her as being a short, rather stout, fine old lady, with a square face and fair complexion. Her faith in her Maker was reaffirmed when she fully realized, after a lapse of nearly twenty years, the fulfillment of the words of Father Smith, the Patriarch, that she would go to Zion and have good health. She passed away at Ogden, Utah, March 12, 1854, at the ripe old age of 84 years. Her remains were intered in the family burial lot of Gilbert Belnap in the Ogden city cemetary. A suitable marker and monument, erected to her memory by her great-grandson, Hyrum Belnap designates her final resting place. --Flora Belnap, Camp C. Weber Chapter of Utah Pioneers