Person:Mary Steele (25)

MARY CAMPBELL STEELE FISH BORN 23 Dec. 1840 Belefast Ireland

While Joseph Fish kept voluminous records and an almost daily diary, the information given about his wives is for the most part only incidental. Since Mary Campbell Steele died nearly 100 years ago, no one now living has any recollection of her. It is pertinent to her story, however, to give a little of her background. Joseph Fish says: "Mary's parents were of Scotch descent, although John Steele may have had some Irish blood in his veins." Mary's brother, Mahonri M. Steele, Sr., says, "On mother's side they claim to be scotch." However, Mary was born in Belfast, Ireland and genealogical records show that ancestors on both sides of her family for at least three generations were born in Ireland. The fact that Mary's father, John Steele, moved to Glasgow, Scotland shortly after the birth of his first child (Mary) may indicate that he had relatives in Scotland, although; this is only and inference, since we have nothing in writing to substantiate this. In his Journal, John Steele refers to an event that occurred in 1842 which was to change the direction of his entire life. He writes: "I heard of the Book of Mormon by seeing a hand bill posted up purporting to be about an ancient writing by an ancient people who lived in America, and that an angel of God had appeared by whose ministrations the records of Ancient America had been discovered. I borrowed a Book of Mormon from one Graham Douglas and would retire to the banks of the Clyde River on the Glasgow Green and read it through in two weeks. I read Parley P. Pratt's "Voice of Warning" and attended all their meetings and in four weeks from the first sermon I heard I was baptized." The Impulse was strong to join the Mormons in America and accordingly on Jan. 15, 1845 John Steele and his wife and three small children embarked from Liverpool, England "plowing away with a good 10 knot breeze for the land of Zion." They landed at New Orleans from which place they took a boat to St. Louis where John and his wife obtained work making boots (a trade they had learned in their youth). In July they moved on to Nauvoo where John readily found work in the boot and shoe factory. Following the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith the Steele family was caught with others in the subsequent confusion and turmoil in Nauvoo. On Sept. 12, 1845 John Steele joined the Nauvoo Legion and became a member of the 29th Quorum of Seventies. In mid December of 1845 the two youngest children, John 3 and Margaret 1 years, both died within a week of each other. (Could this have been the result of an epidemic?) No doubt little 5 year old Mary, the eldest child, must have seemed doubly dear to her parents at this time of bereavement. John Steele and his family were still in Nauvoo until May 1846, when they, too, were finally forced to leave. Having no team or wagon of his own he hired passage in the wagon of Samuel Burgess, paying by making boots and shoes for the Burgess family. The five year old Mary was subjected to the rigors and hardships of the expulsion from Nauvoo. With no conveyance of their own the Steele family may have experienced even more difficult living conditions than the average family at that time. It is possible that the hardships of this period combined with the lack of sufficient food may have become a contributing factor in the poor health, which Mary suffered, in later life. When the Mormon Battalion was formed in mid July, 1846, John Steel was one of its members and his wife, Catherine, and small daughter Mary, were among the few women and children who were allowed to accompany their husbands on this historic military march. Women and children were mentioned only incidentally in most of the biographies of our pioneer fathers, but it would be difficult to try to visualize the experiences of a 5 year old girl being carried along on such an expedition. When the order was given at Santa Fe, NM to send the sick men and all the wives who accompanied the expedition thus far, back, and not allow them to continue on the grueling journey to California, John Steele found himself among other men in a dilemma. He insisted that his wife and child should not be sent back without adequate protection, with only women and sick men in the company. And through sheer audacity and courage he won permission for himself and several other able-bodied men to accompany the "Sick" expedition northward, through Colorado and toward the Great Salt Lake Valley, where they hoped to join the vanguard of the earliest Pioneers with Pres. Brigham Young. They arrived in Salt Lake Valley only six days after Pres. Brigham Young's group had entered the Valley. On August 9 1847 Mary's younger sister, YOUNG ELIZABETH STEELE was born, the first white child born in the Valley! (She was named in honor of President Brigham Young). After enduring the hardships attendant to the first years in Salt Lake Valley when reasonable prosperity seemed about to dawn upon them, John Steele was called by President Young to take his wife and young family and move south to Iron County to help colonize that area. Thus bleak hardships and privation were Mary's lot throughout her childhood and adult life. She was never to know conveniences or the blessings of good health. The Steele family settled at Parowan where Mary met and fell in love with young Joseph Fish. She was barely 18 and Joseph was only 6 months older. According to oral tradition Joseph wore a buckskin suit and Mary was attired in a blue denim dress for their wedding. According to Joseph's Journal, "Mary was 5 ft 2 inches tall, weighing about 120 pounds, and was rather heavy set. She had very light brown hair and dark eyes, and a very white transparent skin. She was of a sociable disposition, good company, quick wit, very ambitious, high minded, and an incessant worker. She despised anything low or mean, and her social spirit never failed to win friends wherever she was placed." Mary had considerable difficulty at the time of the birth of her first child, Mary Josephine, who was born March 11, 1860. Joseph writes of this event: "She suffered spasms for about 36 hours, having a spasm every hour during which she was insensible. Her feet were badly burned from hot rocks meant to steam them." The doctor attending her finally insisted on having her bled in the ankle, in an attempt to bring the blood away from the head (this was a common medical practice at this time). Mary never had good health after this difficult ordeal, but she gave birth to five more children in spite of her frail physical condition. According to her husband, Joseph, she met her responsibilities as a wife and mother admirably. After the birth of her sixth child, Jessie May, Mary's health failed noticeably, and she gradually faded until her death Dec. 12, 1874, a few weeks short of her 34th birthday. In his writings, Joseph often expresses his loneliness for his wife's company when his work took him away from home and her. He mourned her passing and honored her memory. Again he writes, "She was a loving wife and a kind mother." Many kind friends and relatives followed her to her last resting-place to pay honor and respect to her. Her six children all lived to maturity, married and eventually had large families of their own, totaling 40 grandchildren to honor the name and memory of Mary Campbell Steele Fish.

Seal to Parents: 4 Oct 1861 LOGAN - Logan Utah