Duritha Trail Lewis

Obituary of Duritha Trail Lewis

Duritha Trail was born January 5, 1813 in Franklin, Kentucky, daughter of wealthy land owners, Solomon and Nancy (Durant or Duran) Trail. Solomon Trail was the son of Barzill Trail and Barbara Frazer. Very little is known yet of her childhood except that she lived on a beautiful plantation and was waited on by negro slaves and indentured servants having all her needs and wants fulfilled.

Duritha's first child, Arminta, was born in 1835-6. They left Kentucky in 1837 with several other L.D.S. families and traveled by covered wagons. David took up some land, built a house and began to farm on land about 18 miles from Far West, and a ¼ mile from Haun’s Mill. She endured the persecutions of hostile neighbors in the vicinity, losing a milk cow, home possessions, farm equipment, and crops to evil fiends, placing them in great distress for her and her toddler.

She survived the terror of the Haun’s Mill attack. The sights, sounds, and smells were enough to overwhelm anyone. In fear and trembling she gathered up little Arminta and ran into the hills, the thick brush a covering for them. Praying an endless prayer all for those not so lucky as to be unseen. David had been sick with malaria causing debilitating and reoccurring fever, chills and exhaustion. He was just now able to walk around after being bedfast for so many weeks. How could he survive the hail of bullets? Was she also comforted in answer to her prayers, as was David? Was it her prayers and faith that the Lord answered? We’ll have to ask her later.

David returned to their home totally exhausted and spent. She ran to him, shouldered under him and together they all headed for the protection of ground cover and thicket in the woods. What emotions must have flooded their hiding spot.

Benjamin and Tarlton had been wounded, and as the night proceeded to blacken, timid searching for loved ones began. The wounded were gathered up, scattered family members up reunited, and those out in the open were guided into nearby homes for care and shelter by the women. Families in tents gathered into the wooden framed houses as protection from bullets still popping off from the militia encampments. Some of the settlers were to terrified to be seen yet, and huddled against the cold and fear. Drunken glory, the evil fiends were still roaming the woods, shouting their threats and evil boasts. Truly the depths of hell reigned that night.

David is caring for his “sick wife” during the time after the massacre. Could she also have been afflicted by malaria or something else? David takes his family east, back to the plantation and care of her father’s family. She and the children remained in Kentucky until David had a home for them in Nauvoo. He brought them in 1841. The photo’s of Duritha was taken in 1850’s. She is shown very skeletal in figure and unwell but she completed family duties need for her family to flourish.

1847 they moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where David worked as a cooper, making wooden barrels, tubs, and kegs in preparation for the needs of the saints in their westward journey’s. 1848 they moved again to Weston Township, Platte Co. Missouri where he resumed his work. He had at least 2 more apprentices working for him. One young man who was hired by the name of George Baker or Bader eloped with Ariminta before 1850 because she is not listed with her family in the 1850 census. On the wagon train roster though Ariminta is listed with the company and as 16 years old. We don’t know when she left with her new husband.

David Jr. was baptized in Missouri in 1851, before they left for Utah.

Siney tells, “The winter was long and very cold for us as we were used to a much milder climate. Father and Jerry, the Negro, hauled wood for the fireplace from the canyon near where Ft. Douglas now stands. The wood was green and very slow burning and it was hard to keep us little children warm. The next spring we planted what little grain and seed we had left expecting a good crop. But that was the year of the grasshopper plague and we were not fortunate enough to save any of our crop.

Mother bought a little home and about 15 acres of with the money she had saved from her share of Grandfather Trail's estate. The winter of 1852-53 was just as hard if not harder for us than the previous one had been. We had very little to eat and that caused us to feel the cold more keenly. We all worked as soon as we were old enough and each had his job or chores to do. In the fall after the harvest, mother would take the younger children with her to some field recently vacated by the reapers. Here we would glean the few stalks of grain they had left, and put them in mother's apron.

When we arrived home we would thresh this grain out of the stalks with sticks or by rubbing it between our hands and blow the chaff away. It was then ground through an old coffee mill, mixed with cold water into a batter by mother and fried in an iron skillet held over the coals raked to the front of the fireplace. We were each given one of these cakes with a small cup of milk each evening and morning. There was no midday meal for us and no piecing between morning and evening meals.

When David died in the fall of 1855, Duritha was 41 years old, and left with 5 children. Preston being 16, David 12, Siney and Olive 7, and William was 3. To provide for the family Preston and Jerry chopped and hauled wood from the canyons to sell for construction and household needs. They did all sorts of day labor, Siney herded cows to and from pasture, the slaves worked to serve the family, and what ever was expedient, to help support the family.

When Preston married Virtue Ann Bowthorp on Jan. 4, 1856, being 17 years and 6 weeks, they moved into Duritha’s crowded home. Then Duritha remarried on Oct. 5, 1856 to James Hendricks. Preston states “Her husband moved her off and left me the house to live in. They took all of her house furniture, which left us destitute of anything except one broken chair and one broken skillet to cook in.”

The Hendricks had been neighbors in Kentucky. Duritha didn’t stay long with them, not longer than a year and brought her family back to the house about 1857. David Jr. was 14, Siney and Olive were 9, and William was 5 years old. Preston had been married 9 months at this time.

This event left Preston the house, and the city lot, for his new bride. She was gone about a year and then returned to the city property, house, and name. She was always identified as Duritha Lewis afterward. At some point she moved to Holladay-Big Cottonwood ward, as did Preston and his family. In 1860 census Preston is in Big Cottonwood ward area or (Mormon-Moroni District)

Slave Registration

On August 4, 1858 Duritha filed a record with the clerk of the Third Judicial District Court for the Utah Territory. …

”Duritha Lewis who being duly sworn, states on oath that she is the true and lawful owner of three persons of African blood, whose names and ages are as follows to wit; Jerry, Caroline, and Tampian, aged 38, 18, 14. That she said Duritha Lewis inherited them from her father Solomon Trail according to the laws of the state of Kentucky. That by virtue of such inheritance, she is entitled to the services of the said, Jerry, Caroline, and Tampian, during their lives, according to the Lewis of the said Territory. That she makes this affidavit that they may be registered as slaves according to the requirements, of the said Lewis of the said Territory, for life.”

If Caroline and Tampian were the two “women” slaves that diaries state that came to her from Solomon’s estate then they would have been 8 and 4 years old at the time of the Lewis’s westward trek, and about the same age as her children. Maybe A O Smoot to whom she supposedly sold them, cared for these girls until they became grown and returned them to Duritha.

David Lewis Jr. was baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1851 as an 8 year old, before the family left for the West. He received his endowment on Saturday, 3 December 1864, at the age of 21. He immigrated to California where he died two years later, on Tuesday, 30 October 1866 in Sacramento, Sacramento Co., California at the age of 23 years, 7 months and 29 days. He was buried after 30 October 1866 in Sacramento, Sacramento, California.

At some time before 1860, Preston moved out, relocating to Big Cottonwood settlement, as his wife began having babies at this location. On Feb. 4, 1858, his first son was born at Cottonwood settlement. Preston’s in-laws lived there and this was also where he met his 2^nd wife, as her family had settled there also.

Olive Lewis was baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1857 as a 9 year old. At the age of 14, on Saturday, Sept. 6, 1862 she received her endowments in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City.

Olive was sealed to David Brinton on Oct 14, 1865, at age 17 but left his family after an undetermined time claiming mistreatment from the first wife. She returned home to Duritha. David Brinton was Bishop of Big Cottonwood ward for a very long time. Duritha and Olive must have been living in this region.

She remarried to Wylie Hill on and started a family with him but the dates are not known. Olive Lewis died on Sunday, 25 January 1880 at the age of 31 years, 5 months and 24 days after childbirth.

William, Trail Lewis died Jan 25, 1867 in Salt Lake City, being 14 years, 7months, 11 days old.

Duritha died in Holladay, Utah on April 17, 1878 at the age of 65.

Preston married January 4, 1856

Johnstons Army arrival 1857

Slaves registered 1858

David Jr. Endowments 1864

Olive marries 1864

Siney ox train 1865-66

David Jr. left for California, died 1866

William died 1867 in SLC

Olive remarried 1868

Preston remarried 1869

Siney married 1874

Duritha Lewis died in Holladay, 1879 Utah at the age of 65. No Record of date or location.

This article is to show a better picture of Duritha.