Item Detail
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Chipman, Caroline Abigail Mayhew
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1842-1924
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MSS SC 3296
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Biographical Sketch
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Caroline Abigail Mayhew Chipman was born on 18 December 1842 in Edinburgh, Indiana to Elijah Mayhew and Lydia Farnsworth. She was the seventh child of their 9 children, the others being Lucinda, Laurana, Otto Lyman, Austin Ship, Elijah, Elisha, Elijah Warren, and Walter Franklin. Unfortunately, Lucinda, Laurana, Elijah, Elisha, and Elijah Warren all died within their first years of life, leaving the family with just 4 living children, Caroline included.
The family was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by missionaries, and soon they were all baptized. From their home in Indiana, they moved to Missouri to join the gathering Saints there in 1853 before leaving for Utah on 8 June of that year. On arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Carolines family settled in Pleasant Grove in Utah.
Caroline was a fastidious worker and loved participating in the organizations of the church. She was part of the Pleasant Grove dramatic troop and traveled from place to place performing with them.
On 30 May 1868 in Salt Lake City, Utah, she married Stephen Washburn Chipman, Sr. of American Fork. Together they had 5 children, Otto Lyman, Lydia Lucinda, Austin, Walter Franklin, and Caroline Florella.
Caroline was not Stephens first wife. He had married Mindwell Houston in 1855 and Margaret Vance McNichols in 1860, making Caroline his third concurrent marriage. When Mindwell died in 1874, Caroline took on the task of raising her 6 children along with her own. She treated them with equal love and devotion.
She was an excellent homemaker, with skills in knitting, painting, making soap, and braiding hats.
Her eldest son, Otto, married Martha Hoggard in February 1892, and it was an occasion of much joy for Caroline and her family. Tragedy struck, however, just 6 months later, when he died on his mission to New Zealand. The night of his death Carolines husband in particular had been unable to sleep, and wrote a letter telling him to be careful of his health. One month later, they had news of his death. However, one of Ottos cousins, Lillie, reported seeing him in a dream, which gave the family comfort that his spirit lived on.
Caroline was very active in her church service. She filled capacities in the Primary and the Relief Society organizations for many years. In the Relief Society, she served as a teacher until the time of her death on 30 November 1924 in American Fork, Utah. Caroline was 83 years old, and she had been struggling with a tumor and a strangulated umbilical hernia. She passed after having an operation for the tumor, and was remembered, loved, and missed by many. -
This manuscript is a photocopy of a 3-page typescript life biography entitled, A Short Sketch of the Life of Caroline M. Chipman. It is written by Lydia Houston, Carolines daughter, and it covers how Carolines family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and moved to Utah with the Saints. It also talks about Carolines marriage to Stephen Washburn Chipman, Sr., and the family she raised, as well as the church callings she filled throughout her life.