Item Detail
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Moss, Mary Buys
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1836-1877
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MSS SC 1064
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Biography
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Mary Buys was born on December 15, 1836 in New York City, New York to Hiram Debaun and Elizabeth Huntington Buys. Mary's parents were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on July 4, 1836 by Parley P. Pratt. The family was living in Hancock County, Illinois when Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred in 1844. Soon after the martyrdom they moved to Mount Pisgah, Harrison County, Iowa, staying only long enough to save for the journey to Utah. They set out by wagon in 1850 and settled in Bountiful, Utah. While living there Mary met Robert Moss. They were married on December 25, 1853. They had twelve children. Mary died on July 17, 1877 at the age of 41.
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This manuscript is four typed pages in length. It is written by Mary's grandson Robert Alvin Moss. There is some written concerning the difficulties and trials of frontier life such as the hostility between white settlers and Indians, the challenge of living on untamed land, and the wild, ferocious animals. Her grandson describes Mary as 'resilient,' writing that she was very strong and walked most of the way across the plains with her family on the trek to Utah. He also talks about the cabin that Robert built for Mary after they applied for land under the New Homestead Act enacted by Congress in 1863. Robert Alvin Moss also includes a reproduction of an article in the Salt Lake Tribune on May 4, 1863 regarding the death of Mary's brother Joseph Buys.
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1856-1911