Item Detail
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Lee, Ann Gordge
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1848-1915
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MSS SC 1706
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86 page autobiography
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Ann Gordge Lee was the daughter of Samuel and Merab Hancock Gordge. Her mother was converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1842, while living in Wales. Ann was born in Australia in 1848. After the death of her husband, Anns mother was persuaded by the local Mormon community to travel to America in 1854. Later that year, the family arrived in California where they remained until 1857. Merab married a man named John Phillips. The family moved to Utah in 1857. They first settled in Washington County, but in 1861 moved to Beaver. Ann married John Doyle Lee most likely in 1863. Ann bore three children to John D. Lee. She left John and in 1871 traveled back to her family home in Beaver, Utah. She took with her youngest child, Albert. Her two older children were raised by John D. Lee's other wives. She later remarried and died about 1915 in Tintic, Utah where her son Albert D. Lee was also living.
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This manuscript is approximately 86 pages and is an autobiography that details the life on Ann Gordge Lee. The manuscript gives insight her into youth and emigration to the United States of America. Ann Lee Gordge was born in Australia, to Samuel and Merab who originally were from Ireland. While living in Wales her family was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. The family immigrated to California in 1854, and three years later they moved to Southern Utah. Ann lived in Southern Utah during the time of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and several pages of her autobiography details her experience with the event. She makes claims about violence inflicted upon the travelers in the Mountain Meadow Massacre. She also explains that she would later marry John D. Lee. Ann also describes the temple, plural marriage, and life in Southern Utah. Ann did not get along with the other plural wives, and eventually ran away from her home leaving her children. In her autobiography she also details her travels and experience with Billy the Kid who allegedly gave her $4,000. She traveled the world, before returning to Utah where should would settle. It should be noted that this autobiography contains sensitive material regarding the temple and explicit descriptions of the Mountain Meadow Massacre. In addition, most historians agree the manuscript contains mostly fiction due to her incorrect timelines and lack of witnesses.