The WCB Orrock Story-- almost an Ogden

There are occasional introductions that need to be made if you are ever to understand the bigger picture of the William Ogden family.  One such person already mentioned is William Cummings Bryant Orrock.  He was most commonly referred to as WCB Orrock.  When he was about 6 years old his widowed mother brought WCB and his sister Mary Elizabeth to Bolton where they settled and found employment at the cotton mills.  It was there they began their association with the William Ogden family and soon joined the LDS Church.   

WCB was the same age as Thomas and they became fast friends.  At some point a romantic relationship developed between Mary Anne Ogden and WCB.  However William Ogden did not want his children to marry in England for fear they would be hesitant to leave when the time came. He wanted his family intact and therefore any possible marriage for the two young lovebirds had to wait.  So it was no surprise when William and his sister joined the Ogden's when they left the British Isles and were part of the family from then on.  Their mother followed and joined them the next year.  One year after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, WCB Orrock and Mary Anne Ogden were sealed together in the Endowment House. So Orrock grew up with the Ogden family and then eventually married one of the daughters; almost as if to cement the bond further.  


Here's a quick peek at the future: The couple had 8 children together and then Mary became ill, apparently with appendicitis, and died shortly after the dedication of the Manti temple in May 1888.  At that time their oldest child was 16 and the youngest was one year old.

Just nine months prior to this tragic event, John Ogden, the second to the youngest of the Ogden children, died suddenly in August of 1887, leaving his wife Marie Outzen a widow with two little children.  They had been married only five years at the time of this tragedy.  So with these two Ogden spouses widowed, and with young children to care for, it was only natural that they marry one another, which they did about a year later.  They subsequently had an additional four children between them. So the Orrocks’ became a very blended family where the earlier children, who had once been only cousins, now took on the additional relationship of step brothers and sisters.  It was a very early rendition of yours, mine, and ours.

W.C.B. had a feed store on Main street in Richfield and townsfolk good naturedly referred to him by what they claimed his initials stood for: Wheat, Corn, and Barley.   He preceded his close friend Thomas in death by only two years and their graves are within comfortable visiting distance of one another at the Richfield cemetery.

This little synopsis of the life of WCB Orrock is but a brief glimpse of the life of a fine gentleman.  His full biography will be posted later.

Building the transcontinental RR

As the William Ogden family continued their journey from Benton to Utah, another interesting drama was unfolding.  The Union Pacific Railroad was working at a feverish pace to extend their portion of the transcontinental railroad as far as possible before meeting their western counterpart, the Central Pacific.  Huge financial rewards were being paid by the government for each mile of track completed and the competitors were anxious to garner as many dollars as possible.  

The UP, coming from the east,  had made great progress as they laid track over the relatively flat plains states, but when they started into Utah and hit the rugged Echo Canyon, work slowed considerably.  Forced to blast through quartzite and black limestone, and dig long tunnels and bridge canyons, they finally experienced what the CP, who started in California, had gone through crossing the Sierras. 

The typical railroad workforce was spread out over several miles. At the very front were the surveyors followed by the graders and the telegraph crew, just ahead of the actual rail laying. At the end of the laid track, workers unloaded wagons of rail. Gaugers set the tracks in place, followed by spikers and bolters who affixed the rails together. Camps for thousands of men -- workshops, offices, bunks, food supplies --advanced half a dozen miles each day.

Communication from Church leaders in Utah advised that any able bodied men in the emigrant companies should seek employment with the railroad and earn some hard currency for their labors.  They would probably need it for apparently during that summer of 1869 there had been an invasion of crickets in the valley (again) which had created a serious food shortage.  The record states that Thomas, James, and William Jr. along with W.C.B. Orrock followed that advice and when the company arrived at Salt Lake they then departed for Echo Canyon to build track for the Union Pacific Railroad.

However it was not long before James took very sick, and after a period of no improvement, the young men were advised to take him to join the family in Santaquin where they had settled.  A relative named Levi Openshaw volunteered to take them by way of Coalville, Heber City, and down Provo Canyon to eventually join the group south of Provo.  No description of the illness James suffered is ever provided, nor of his recovery, but in later years he suffered again from poor health and was released from his mission in England, having served 14 months.  Perhaps he had contracted mountain fever, a not uncommon ailment of the time.  James eventually died in Richfield in 1894 at the relatively young age of 49.
He was a good man and faithful throughout his life.

After all was said and done the Mormon men who had labored hard building track probably didn’t get paid a dime.  The UP plead poverty and claimed to have no cash to pay workers for the several months of labor prior to the completion. One of the most shameful facts in the construction of the railroad was that the Church had to go to New York and Boston seeking redress for back wages and then finally received only partial payment in the form of railroad equipment and other assets; but there was no cash to pay workers. The Union Pacific officers, crooks that they were, plead poverty while pocketing millions of dollars in profit through a enterprise known as the Credit Mobilier, the Enron of its day. 


Thus ends the railroad experience for the Ogden’s, but also heralds the beginning of life in Zion as the family reunites and looks for a permanent home.

Don't leave your manners at home!

Dear Miss Manners,

I desperately need some advice on a matter of proper etiquette that will surely come up in the next few weeks.  We are a company of emigrants travelling to the Salt Lake valley from England.  We rode as far as the railroad had been built and from there we are being transported by mule train to Salt Lake City.  The leader of the train is a very kind mule whacker named Captain E.T. Mumford.   We also have been blessed by four charming young Teamsters; all from either Tooele or Grantsville.  Being unfamiliar with this new country and the customs of proper etiquette, I am quite perplexed as to whether we should tip these men for their kind and generous services, and if so, how much?  

Most humbly,

Annie from England.

 Dear Annie,

I am most delighted to address the newly minted customs of propriety and decorum that should be present in any lady of proper upbringing.  You will no doubt bring a splash of culture to this territory of Utah.   Let me first explain some background and history.  You might not know that assignments have been made by Pres. Young throughout the various communities of Utah for wagon teams to come and assist the newly arriving saints and help them into the valley.  They are to provide their own teams and animals (some have oxen and others mules). Therefore, their labor is one of service and done to fulfill a Priesthood assignment.  However they are also compensated somewhat by the issuance of something called “tithing script” which can used to pay tithing on other earned income.  Barter for tithing! Don’t you just love the new economy??    So just to clarify; they are performing service, but receiving a little financial benefit in the process.  One would not tip a servant of the Lord for performing a duty, but perhaps if you could rustle up a little tithing script of your own you may pass that along with an expression of thanks.

Another side benefit of volunteering for this assignment is that the young teamsters, as you have no doubt noticed, are usually good healthy, single, young men.  What an opportunity for them to get to know the eligible arriving young women before anyone else back home.  You have also noticed how they enjoy teaching the English lassies to dance at the campfire socials and all the fun they all have.  But remember… its all in the act of service!

My best wishes to you, Miss Manners

They came when Brigham called

Before rushing recklessly ahead with this historical account, it would be prudent to pause and explore some very important context surrounding the journey of the Ogden’s. The first matter to address is how they were able to afford financially to undertake the journey. They were a rather large family of nine people and although they had scrimped and saved for years, the economic collapse of the Manchester textile mills during the Civil War had taken a toll on that savings. In fact they were helped, as were many others during this period of time, by the Church’s Perpetual Emigration Fund or PEF. This fund was created through generous contributions of already settled saints which was then used to help fund the trip for those who could not otherwise afford it. Then once established, these grateful recipients would become gainfully employed and pay back the debt, which in turn would be used to help the next family come to Zion. The names of William and Mary Ogden are recorded on the ledger books of the fund, as having been assisted, but with no amounts indicated.

Brigham Young was a leader with vision, and even those who dismiss him as a prophet of God will admit to that fact. He could see clearly that once the transcontinental railroad was completed, probably somewhere in Utah in 1869, that this new transportation route would open up western migration to thousands more gentiles eager to claim land of their own. It therefore became urgent to hasten the immigrating saints to Zion to colonize as much of the Great Basin as possible. The invasion of the gentile competition was on the horizon, and the clock was ticking.

At the general conference of the Church in October 1867, President Young urged that every effort be made to bring more souls to Zion. After instruction regarding the laws of life and happiness, he added that he would send to every ward in the territory and ask men of wealth how many of the poor Saints yet in the old world they would help to emigrate the next year. The president's efforts succeeded beyond all expectations. $70,000 was raised, helping the largest surge of saints yet to make the trip. William and Mary Ogden and their family were right in the thick of those that would come. In fact, the English and Scandinavian saints that started on the Emerald Isle ship were the last two companies of "rail and trail" pioneers to arrive in the valley before the completion of the railroad a few months later.

The Saints meet the Wild West

After a nearly 8 week miserable sea voyage, it must have seemed like heaven to board a train for the next stage of the journey. But not so fast… this was not the Amtrak of today, but a freight train where the folks were loaded in box cars. They travelled across the plains until they reached the end of the tracks at Benton Wyoming. Benton was about midway through the state close to what is now I-80. You have never seen Benton because it does not exist today, in fact its whole lifespan was about 3 months; from July to September 1868.

Benton must have been a real shocker for these English and Scandinavian saints on their way to the promised land. It boasted twenty-five saloons and five dance halls. Gunfights were common and it is is estimated that over 100 souls died in shoot-outs in those 3 months. One visitor referred to Benton as "nearer a repetition of Sodom and Gomorrah than any other place in America." Saloon keepers, gamblers, and soiled doves plied their respective trades. As the tracks were extended the inhabitants of the towns would pack up, load their wagons and move to the next town, hence the expression, "Hell on wheels." This environment was the unwelcome, but unavoidable, evil that followed along with the railroad construction.

During the months of August and September 1868, Benton was the jumping off location for about 5 companies of pioneers, totaling 2,000 Saints, heading to Utah. Edward Mumford was the captain of a 28 wagon mule team that awaited the saints in this frightening place. For whatever reason Mumford had been waiting with his teamsters for the emigrant passengers for nearly nine weeks. He had arrived in Wyoming about the same day the Emerald Isle had set sail from England! It’s no surprise that during that time several of the company's livestock were stolen. But despite his apparent calendaring problems he at least has the foresight to make camp about 6 miles outside of Benton and hopefully out of reach of the flock of soiled doves and hucksters.

When the company finally arrived on about Sept 25, 1868, we can imagine Mary Ogden hustling her young brood very quickly from the train to the safety of the waiting wagons. They went so fast they left their treasured trunk with the other baggage to catch up with them later!

One unrecognized stowaway on the packet ship Emerald Isle in 1868 was my paternal DNA. It was actually contained in the biological structure of my Great Grandfather Thomas Ogden, (with a backup in his father William). Of course neither of them had any knowledge of DNA strands or markers or even genetics in general. My genetic blueprint was just along for a free ride. But this particular voyage, according to written records and journals, was miserable and very deadly due to contaminated water, inadequate supplies, and a poorly disciplined crew. At one point when a crew member attacked a female passenger, he was yanked away by the scruff of his shirt by a rather larger Scandinavian saint. The surrounding crew immediately rallied to their shipmate’s defense and tension between crew and passengers escalated to the level of a British soccer match. The leader of the saints intervened and pointed to the Captain of the ship reminding him of prior agreements that had been made as well as rules of common decency. To make the point complete, he patiently explained that the Scandinavian men on board would have no problem sailing the vessel and could probably do it better than the existing crew. The not-so-subtle message was quickly understood and civility restored.

Of course my DNA strand heard none of this because it had separated from the action and was hanging over the rail; green, and sick, and occasionally heaving up a few particles of genetic material into the Atlantic Ocean. To this day I am easily nauseated on any sea faring boat and it’s obvious that the source of this weakness was there on the Emerald Isle.

This is what is known as a "Clipper Ship Card," made popular during the 1850's and 1860's. They were primarily advertisements used to entice passengers, but were also designed to inspire the confidence of prospective freight shippers. These cards were mass produced and distributed liberally throughout the major shipping ports.

Most clipper cards were printed in full color on coated stock, and represent some of the finest early American color advertising artwork. Various themes and artwork were represented on the cards including knights, Indians, and nautical scenes. Cards were sometimes done with great imagination and flair making them a popular collector’s item today. This particular card advertising the 1868 journey taken by the Ogden's, recently sold at auction for $2,250.

Just think… if Thomas and his siblings would have gathered up a few dozen of these and kept them in the trunk we could share a little pocket change to share today. But I suppose a rich and solid heritage is much better, right?

Photo Day at Bolton

The William Ogden family had been saving every farthing they could towards the cost of the voyage across the Atlantic and to Utah. It took nearly 20 years to earn sufficient funds, but by working together they accomplished the task. They were also aided to some degree from the perpetual immigration fund. Prior to leaving their home country they posed for a portrait in a local studio. Several family accounts indicate that they gave copies of this picture to friends and relatives who asked them for one, feeling that they would not again meet in this life. They gave out all that they had and people still wanted more.

I would suppose that after the photo sitting they went home to pack their travelling trunk, change into their boating clothes and climb aboard the sailing ship Emerald Isle for an adventuresome oceanic trek. However they may have had serious second thoughts if they knew in advance that this particular voyage would be remembered by church historians as the worst voyage of any that any of the saints had to endure during the pioneer migration. The culinary water was bad and serious bouts of measles and other malady's claimed the lives of no less than 37 people, mostly children, before the ship finally arrived at the New York Harbor after an 8 week journey.

What makes the above photo even more interesting is that another English family, the Edward Gledhill family, apparently also had their photo shoot in the same studio prior to their departure on the same ship. Coincidentally they would also settle in Richfield Utah (or in Vermilion to be absolutely precise). To stir the

pot of coincidence a bit more, their sons Joseph Ogden and Elder Gledhill, were called to return to England as missionaries leaving and also returning together. And just one more little connection; Thomas Ogden's daughter Jane would one day marry Thomas Gledhill's son Ivo in 1910. Can there be more??? Yes... William Ogden and Edward Gledhill each died in 1888 just 3 months apart.

More Collaboration and More Boxes

While conversing with some newly introduced extended cousins, I learned of an even bigger box. This one is in the Pioneer Museum of my old hometown Richfield, Utah.

The museum is a restored log cabin on first East just next to the library. Many a time I have driven past the quaint old structure, but never have I dared enter. Well... here is the story of the box that became a trunk:

TRUNK

“The outside of this trunk is 36 inches long, 21 inches wide and 23 inches high. It weighs forty pounds. It has a wooden frame. The outside is covered with heavy canvas, wooden braces, metal corners, and metal reinforcement strips. It has four tiny wheels at the bottom. It has leather straps metal clasps, and a lock. The inside has cloth glued to the wood frame, something like wallpaper. There is a place for a box to sit in the upper half of the trunk, but the box is missing. A black stamped number is on the bottom possibly put there by the manufacturer: 34NO.282. Handwritten painted letters are also on the bottom: GEE.
A paper sticker is on the side with printed letters. Part of these letters are torn and missing. The remaining letters say:

...NION PASSENGER ST...

CHICAGO

The trunk belonged to William Ogden, Sr. and his wife Mary Vickers Ogden. They were converts to the church, baptized in 1848 and 1849 in Bolton, England. The trunk left Bolton with them and their seven children in 1868 when they immigrated to Utah to be with the saints. They took the trunk from Bolton to the docks at Liverpool Harbor. There they boarded the old, tall-masted, full-rigged, three decked sailing ship Emerald Isle. It was a difficult voyage with the harshest treatment from officers and crew of any emigrant company. They docked in New York Harbor and traveled 1,900 miles west by train through Chicago to the end of the tracks at Benton Wyoming, somewhere near present-day Rawlings. They traveled with a down-and-back wagon train 300 miles to Salt Lake City and then on to Santaquin. Their wagon train was the last to cross the plains before the completion of the railroad, except for a contingent of the sick. They moved to Richfield in 1872.

This trunk was kept by the William Ogden, Jr. family and then by the Owen Ogden family in Richfield until 2005, when they presented it to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers.”

Bruce Ogden, descendant

Thanks Bruce for the story and the trunk!