Item Detail
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Roberts, Mary Adeline Ensign
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1852-1893
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MSS SC 404
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Life History
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Mary Adeline Ensign Roberts was born November 10, 1852 in Centerville, Utah to Martin Luther Ensign and Mary Dunn. Mary was the oldest of four boys and five girls. The family moved many times but eventually settled in North East Brigham City, Utah. She was married at 18 years of age to David John Roberts, in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City on November 29, 1869. Shortly after their marriage, Mary's husband and his brother left to find land that would be more suitable to make a home. They both filed on a homestead in Malad City, Oneida County, Idaho, and returned to get their families. In 1881, her husband married Elizabeth Ann Dredge in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City in obedience to the practice of polygamy in the church at that time. Around 1884, the two families moved to Rexburg, Idaho, due to the lack of water in Malad and motivated by their 'Pioneer Spirit.' The journey from Malad to Rexburg took two weeks. Rexburg was 'new country,' and they again struggled to get settled and suffered the trials of early pioneers. They lived with Jane Ricks and President Thomas Edwin Ricks for a short time after which they lived in a cellar during the summer months while her husband built three log homes, one for each family and one for the livestock. Sometime shortly after their moved to Rexburg, Mary, her husband, and all their children except two, moved to Brigham City and lived with Mary's mother. They then moved to Wellsville near their Aunt Georgia Hill where their children attended school during the winter. In the spring they returned to Rexburg where they lived until 1887. They were then forced to move to Alberta, Canada to escape the US Deputy Marshalls. There were 12 polygamist families in that area, and they eventually built a meeting house for church meetings and social gatherings. In 1888, Mary and her husband returned from Canada and lived in Rexburg again. Mary was the mother of seven boys and three girls. She passed away August 6, 1893 in Salem, Idaho, leaving a baby who was only six days old.
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Mary's biography was written by her granddaughter Marjorie Ricks Romrell on June 19, 1937 in Sugar City, Idaho. There is little information about Mary's childhood and more about her later life. While living in Canada to escape polygamist persecutions, the family lived in a one-room log home with a dirt roof and a dirt floor covered with gunny sacks. They had beds made of quacking aspen logs, a cupboard made of two wooden boxes, and a table made of a box with four boards nailed on for legs. Every day in Canada, the Indians would approach Mary and ask to have her 'papoose,' her youngest baby at the time. After returning to Rexburg following their stay in Canada, her husband built a granary near Mary's home. She was described as a 'well built women' who was about five feet tall with dark hair. She was neat and clean and very dedicated to her home and children. She didn't go out much and 'was very hard to get acquainted with.' Her firm faith in the teachings of the Church is evident in her patient endurance of the hardships of pioneering. From April 1891-August 1893, five of her children contracted Black Diphtheria, which was a dreaded disease at that time. One daughter was healed by a prayer offered by Pres. Thomas E. Ricks, and Pres. Frank Brammell in her behalf. However, Mary lost four boys and one girl. During that summer of 1893, Mary raised chickens and ducks, and the money she made was used to pay for her burial expenses in August of 1893.
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1844-1925