William Coe Critchlow was the grandson of another William Critchlow (1760-1830), the acclaimed American hero of the Battle of Saratoga. This battle was a crucial turning point in the American Revolution, the outcome convinced France that the military forces of the American colonies were prepared and able to defend their freedom in their new country. France agreed to supply them with munitions. During the heat of that critical battle near Saratoga, New York in 1777, the first William Critchlow bravely volunteered to crawl through the meadow separating Colonel Morgan's riflemen from the ranks of British grenadiers. As those redcoats advanced, William rose up and fired at their commanding officer on a hilltop behind them. That officer, General Simon Fraser, fell from his saddle, creating confusion among the British who suffered defeat in what historians consider to be one of the most decisive battles of history.
From: History of Utah Volume IV, Page 568-569:
The late William Coe Critchlow, ex-justice of the peace for Weber County, was the son of David Critchlow and Margaret Coe Critchlow, and was born July 8, 1809, in East Deer Township, Allegheny County. Pennsylvania [about nineteen miles from Pittsburgh]. He came of a long line of Presbyterian ancestors, but in 1824 his parents were converted to the Baptist faith under the preaching of Andrew Clark, one of Sidney Rigdon's co-laborers. In 1830 William also joined the Baptists, as did subsequently his wife, Harriet Hawkins, of Indiana County, whom he married February 14, 1832.
 
William Coe Critchlow and wife, Harriet Hawkins, 1880
His life from the first was busy and eventful, and he endured much suffering and privation. At nine years of age his system received a severe shock, through bathing in cold water while in a heated condition, and as a result he was confined to his bed for a whole year, and could then walk only on crutches. After his recovery he lived with his grandfather until his father's death in 1828. At nineteen he became the support of his widowed mother and eight children, his elder brother Benjamin Critchlow having left home to study for the Presbyterian ministry. This condition of affairs lasted four years. After his marriage in 1832 he left his father's family in the care of his brother Joseph Critchlow, and moved to Leechburg, in Armstrong County, where he built a home. Soon, however, he removed to Saltsburg, and labored on the Pennsylvania canal [which extended from the Susquehanna River to Pittsburgh]. While at work on July 27, 1838, age 29 years, he was accidentally thrown from the top of the lock gate to the bottom of the pit, a distance of eighteen feet, his back striking on the mitre sill of the gate, inflicting' severe physical injuries and rendering him a cripple for life [paralyzed from the waist down].
{While convalescing from his accident,] in May, 1839, three months after first hearing Mormonism preached [by Mormon Elder Freeman Nickerson who left William copies of the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, the latter containing Joseph Smith's "Lectures on Faith". William's persistent reading and studying those books while lying in his bed of recovery grievouly irritated his wife Harriet, who was certain that such reading and study would jeopardize his eternal salvation. Her great animousity was spurred on by the many circulating false rumors about Mormons, but especially aggravating was the recent conversion of her own mother, sister, and brother-in-law in February 1839, and their baptism by a Mormon Elder in the Allegheny River choked with ice.
William's pleading with Harriet for understanding culminated one evening with his wife storming from their bedroom exclaiming, "If there is no other way of getting to heaven without being a Mormon, I'll go to hell first."
During the night Harriet had a marvelous experience as she lay alone in the room next to their bedroom where William lay paralyzed. An angel surrounded by brilliant light appeared on the hearthstone of the fireplace holding a clump of rough clay which the angel transformed before Harriet's gaze into a beautiful vase. Instantly Harriet knew exactly the meaning of the angelic visit. She was that clump of rough clay and could become a beautiful vessel if she were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ. Clutching her baby, William Fuller Critchlow, Harriet hurried to her husband's bed to apologize and announce to him that she would be baptized.],
William was baptized by Elder Samuel James, and ordained an Elder in the following August. In May 1840 he was called to preside over the Leechburg branch of the Church, which position he held for three years, and then traveled and preached among his relatives and friends. [Encouraged by Erastus Snow to move to Nauvoo, Illinois with his wife Harriet and their three surviving children, Benjamin Critchlow, Rhoda Critchlow, and William Fuller Critchlow, they packed up and sailed down the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers then up the Mississippi by steamship.] April 21, 1844, was the date of his arrival at Nauvoo, where he first met
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the Prophet Joseph Smith, [Hyrum Smith, and William Smith. Shortly after the brutal assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith] William ... purchased a farm of twenty-five acres in Hancock, Illinois twenty-seven miles south of Nauvoo, and lived there with his family until September, 1845, when they fled to Nauvoo for safety from the mobs that were plundering and burning Mormon homes. While at Nauvoo he was successively ordained a Seventy and a High Priest.
[It was a bad time for Mormons living in Hancock County during this time. Many of the non-Mormon residents wanted all Mormons exiled from Illinois. To expedite the driving of Mormons out of Hancock County nightriding bands of Mormon haters committed wanton destruction of Mormon crops, cattle, barns, homes, - even human life, ultimately forcing a Mormon evacuation of the region south of Nauvoo.]
[Although William Critchlow's farm wasn't vandalized, rumor had it that the mob would soon burn the "cripple's" place. Consequently, men with wagons helped move the Critchlow's and other persecuted Mormon families of Hancock County, to Nauvoo to avoid the mob violence. Orrin Porter Rockwell was helping move Mormon families to Nauvoo when Sheriff Jacob Backenthos, being chased by anti-Mormon horsemen, pulled up in his buggy and ordered Porter to shoot the leader of the chasing horsemen. That leader was Frank Worrell, one of the men accused of the murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Worrell had been captain of the Carthage Greys guarding the jail on that fateful day - June 27, 1844. It was easy for Port Rockwell to carry out the sheriff's order because Port had sworn previously to kill Frank Worrell -the murderer of prophets. Aiming carefully at the lead horseman's belly, Port fired but one shot. That was enough to drop Worrell dead from his saddle. William Coe Critchlow was a witness to that shooting.]
{The Critchlow's residence in Nauvoo was a little over one year during which they witnessed the completion of the Nauvoo Temple, where William was endowed February 6, 1846, and the frantic preparations for the Mormon migration to the West. Leaving Nauvoo with the faithful Saints, he and his family crossed the Mississippi River on May 7, 1846, and arrived in Garden Grove, Iowa twenty-nine days later.]
In the exodus from Illinois he and his household pitched a tent at Garden Grove, Iowa, at which place, because of his paralysis could not help with the building, he was advised by the brethren to temporarily move down the Missouri to seek employment. Success attended his move. He taught school for two years in Missouri, supporting his family, and saving a bit for their move to Utah. However in 1848 he was called back to Garden Grove where for three years he and his wife taught school, and he was elected the first justice of the peace, [necessitated by the influx of fortyniners heading for the California gold fields].and during the last year of his stay presided over the Garden Grove branch. May 17, 1851, was the date of his departure for Utah.
[The Critchlow trek to Zion in 1851 was quite a site to behold. Their wagon was pulled by a yoke of oxen, followed by two yokes of cows, and a single mule pulling in the lead. William drove the wagon, strapped to the wagonseat with a strap harness contraption that kept him from sliding or falling from the wagon. Ever since then, within the Critchlow family it is traditional that William Critchlow invented the saftey seat belt.]
He arrived at Salt Lake City on the 24th of September. A few days later he proceeded to Brownsville, [on October 8, 1851] where he took up residence at Browns Fort. Later he moved into the town, renamed Ogden around 1863, at which he maintained his permanent residence till the day of his death.
[A year after his arrival in Utah, William married a second wife, Nancy Brown, on November 6, 1852 in the President's office in Salt Lake City, Utah. Nancy was an older sister of Captain James Brown, one of the founders of Ogden, Nancy was 19 years older than William. Little is known of this relationship because it was kept a secret to avoid severe persecution and prosecution of Mormon "cohabs". As a result the Critchlow family records are silent about William's marriage to Nancy Brown. However, it should be noted that William's headstone in the Ogden City Cemetery refers to both of William's "Beloved Wives", naming both with their dates of birth and death. Nancy Brown Critchlow was not the only relative of Captain James Brown in the William Critchlow family. Captain Brown's daughter, Mary Eliza (McRee) Brown - the second white girl born in Utah - married William Critchlow's son, William Fuller Critchlow.]
William. taught school. He was an active, prominent and faithful public servant. As early as August, 1852, he was elected justice of the peace; re-elected in 1854. In March, 1853, he was chosen alderman of the First Ward. As clerk and recorder of Ogden City he served for eleven years. In August, 1856, he began twelve years of service as recorder for Weber County. In all these offices the remuneration was small, but Mr. Critchlow never complained. In his physical affliction - a confirmed cripple- he was equally stoical, recognizing the hand of providence in his calamity. He was the father of four sons and one daughter. He died June 7, 1894,one month before his eighty-fiveth birthday, and holding the office of a Patriarch in the Weber Stake of Zion for over 13 years, ordained by President George Q. Cannon on October 24, 1880..
William Coe Critchlow met the challenge of his 56 year paralysis with unstinting service to his Father in Heaven, his community, and his fellowmen..
WILLIAM COE CRITCHLOW, LIFE & HISTORY
AS WRITTEN BY HIMSELF
William Coe Critchlow, the son of David Critchlow and Margaret Coe, was born July 7th, 1809 in East Deer Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on the headwaters of Roaring Run, that empties into the Allegheny River, about 19 miles above the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
My father, David Critchlow, was born November 3, 1787, and died March 11th, 1828.
My mother, Margaret Coe, was born April 12th, 1788, and died August 7th of ship fever, 1849 and was buried in the graveyard of the town of Freeport, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. My father and brother Daniel Critchlow were buried in the graveyard of the Bull Creek 2 meeting house about six miles northwest from the Allegheny River.
My grandfather, William Critchlow, lived in Butler County, Pennsylvania, where he died in April, 1830, aged 70 or more. He was born February 7, 1760 and died May 30, 1830 at the age of seventy. He had three sons and four daughters, David, James [John] and William, Amy [Emily], Matty [Martha], Margaret and Mary Polly. A fourth son, Samuel, died at the age of eleven years.
My grandfather Coe lived and died on Bull Creek two miles from the town of Tarentum, Pennsylvania on
1 This heading is preceded by a note that the autobiography was written in "Ogden City, Weber County, Utah Territory."
2 Bull Creek flows in a southerly direction through the northeasterly portion of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and empties into the Allegheny River at the south end of Tarentum.
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the Allegheny River [He] had five sons and five daughters, Joseph, James, Daniel, Benjamin, Moses, Jane, Rachel, Margaret, Abigal, and Phebe.
My father's brother James [John], [en]listed in the U. S. Army in 1812 or 14 and went out to Black Rock and never returned.3 My father's brother, William, if now alive, (August 17, 1870) is living near the Ohio River below New Albany in the State of Indiana.
His [my father's] sisters lived in Butler County, Pennsylvania, the last I knew of them. Amy [Emily] was married to Robert McCandeles, and had a large family of children. Matty [Martha] was married to John Gray and had many children. Margaret, if married, I know not to whom. [Mary] Polly was married to John Cochran and had many children and lived near the county seat of Butler County, Pennsylvania.
Mother's sisters were married. Jane to James Skilland. Jane lived in the State of Ohio and had many children. Rachel was married to Gideon Miller, was living July 5, 1869, and had a large family of children, viz, James, John, Gideon, Benjamin, Joseph, Robert, Margaret, Patsey, and Rachel, youngest. Rachel lived in Alexander, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
Mother's sister Abigail was married to James Robison, they had sons and daughters. Mother's sister Phebe was married and widowed three times. Phebe's first husband was Alexander Given, by him she had six children, viz: John, Benjamin Given, Margaret Given, Jane Given, Rachel Given and Eliza Given. Phebe's second husband was James Newman. By him she had one daughter Amarilla Newman, who married John Kenady of Tarentum.
3 Black Rock was an army encampment during the War of 1812, located on the New York side of the Niagara River a few miles from Buffalo and opposite Fort Erie. William Critchlow here refers to his father's brother John as "James."
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Phebe's third husband was named Rev. Richard Armstrong.4
My father's children are as follows, viz: Benjamin Coe Critchlow, born December 14, 1807, lives in the town of New Brighton, Pennsylvania, has sons and daughters, has been a minister of the Old School Presbyterian Order for over 30 years [as of} August 17th, 1870.5
I,William, was born July 7, 1809. Now live in Ogden City, Utah Territory, where I have been living for nearly 19 years. More of my history hereafter....
Daniel Critchlow was born November 29th, 1811, and died December 14th, 1822, age 11 years.
Joseph Critchlow was born March 7th, 1813, and is now [August, 1870] living in the state of Indiana. 6
Mary Critchlow was born November 29th, 1814, and is now living in the state of Indiana near New Madison. 7
John James Critchlow was born August 19th, 1817, is now living at Tonawanda, state of New York, was compelled to leave his home in Vicksburg, Mississippi during the war between the North and South.
Margaret Critchlow was born February 18th, 1819. The date of her death I know not. I think she died in 1843. Andrew Clark was born November 25th, 1820, now lives in McKeesport, 9 miles above Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania."
4 A notation apparently added to the life history after the death of Phebe Coe states, "She died Feb. 22, 1884 and was the last of the Coe family on my mothers side being 84 years."
5 A statement apparently inserted in the life history after the death of Benjamin Coe Critchlow states that he died April 21, 1882, at which time he had been a minister for 46 years.
6 Following the death of Joseph Critchlow, a note was inserted in the life history that Joseph died March 28, 1875, in Kansas.
7 A notation inserted in the life history following the death of Mary Critchlow, who had marred Alexander Boyd, states that she died December 29, 1882, in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.
8 A note apparently added to the life history April 9, 1883, declares that Andrew Clark Critchlow was then living near Cleveland, Ohio. His death occurred July 10, 1897.
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Emma Jane Critchlow was born October 26th, 1822, is now living in Illinois. 9
David Critchlow was born September 10th, 1825, is now living in New Brighton, Pennsylvania. 10
Phebe S. Critchlow was born June 26th, 1827, is now living in the town of Jackson, Jackson County, Ohio.11
In the month of June, 1818, I, in company with my uncle William [Critchlow] and brother Benjamin C., Critchlow went to the Big Conogenesing Creek about two miles from my father's in Butler County, Pennsylvania to swim or wash, and, being warm, jumped into the cold swollen stream.. I, after coming out, was much chilled, and after getting home, was affected for some days in my left arm, then in my left leg and ankle. Soon I was taken down with a severe pain in my ankle which soon developed itself in the white swelling which kept me in bed for almost one year, then I was on crutches for a long time.
After recovering so that I could walk tolerably well, my father took me to live at my grandfather Coe's, where I lived till the death of my father on March 11, 1828. Then I took charge of my father's family of eight children. My brother Benjamin C. having gone to the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to learn the bricklaying business could not then take charge of the family, and wishing to get a collegiate education for the Presbyterian ministry. It fell to my lot to see to them, which I did for four years or until the 14th of February, 1832, when I took to wife Harriet Hawkins of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, daughter of Caleb Hawkins and Sarah Griffith. 12
9A note inserted in the autobiography in April of 1875, states at that time Emma [Emily] Jane Critchlow was living in Kansas City, Missouri. She died October 25, 1894.
10 An addition that appears to have been made to the life history after the death of David Coe Critchlow gives the date of his death as January 1882.
11 Following the death of Phebe Salina Critchlow, a statement was added to the life history that she died in West Virginia November 27, 1889
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At this time I was living near the town of Freeport on a farm belonging to my aunt Phebe Critchlow Given. I then left the family in charge of my brother Joseph and moved to the town of Leechburg, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. There I built a small comfortable
12 Caleb Hawkins was born in Baltimore County, Maryland in 1761. Some time after 1790, he moved to Pennsylvania, where he lived in Bedford and then in Indiana and Armstrong Counties. He died in 1839, at Leechburg, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. He married Sarah Griffith, daughter of David Griffith and Hannah Garrett, who was born in York County, Pennsylvania in 1762 and died in 1841 in Leechburg, Pennsylvania. They had six children as follows: Rebecca Hawkins, born about 1799, died in November, 1837, married John Llewellyn; Matilda Hawkins, born about 1790, died at Nauvoo, Illinois about 1844 or 1845, married John Walker; Sarah Hawkins, born June 1, 1803, died March 29, 1866, married William H. Hickenlooper; Harriet Hawkins, born in McConnelstown, Bedford County, Pennsylvania April 4, 1805, died March 28, 1887 in Ogden, Utah, married William Critchlow; Jesse Hawkins, born about 1809, married Margaret Huston; and Julia Hawkins, born November 6, 1801, died April 4, 1890 in Monroe County, Iowa, married Thomas Hickenlooper.
Caleb Hawkins' father was John Hawkins, who was born in Garrison Forest, Baltimore County, Maryland, December 23, 1713, and died August 30, 1790. He married Mary Simkins, daughter of John and Priscilla Simkins, who was born August 6, 1716 and died in 1779. They had thirteen children: Priscilla Hawkins, born January 2, 1733, married Robert Hudson; John Hawkins, born February 14, 1736; Elizabeth Hawkins, born June 1, 1738, died March 9, 1739; Joseph Hawkins, born January 11, 1740; Moses Hawkins, born October 11, 1742, died October 24, 1742; Rezin (Reason) Hawkins, born November 21, 1743; Ruth Hawkins, born June 6, 1746, married Andrew Mercer; Thomas Hawkins, born June 8,1748; William Hawkins, born October 5, 1750; Nicholas Hawkins, born March 28, 1753; Charles Hawkins, born in 1755; Rebecca Hawkins, born about 1758 married first to a Mr. Pierpont and second to Richard Dorsey; and Caleb Hawkins, born as aforesaid in 1761 and died in 1839 and married to Sarah Griffith.
Caleb Hawkins' paternal grandfather and the father of John Hawkins, was Joseph Hawkins, who was born about 1685, probably in Baltimore County, Maryland. He died in Baltimore County in 1725. The name of his wife is not known. His children, all born in Garrison Forest, Baltimore County, Maryland, were: Ruth Hawkins, born in 1709, married Josephus Murray; Sarah Hawkins, born in 1711, married Abraham Murray; John Hawkins, born December 23, 1713, died August 30, 1790, married Mary Simkins; Jemima Hawkins, born in 1715; Elizabeth Hawkins, born about 1718; and Augustine Hawkins, born April 15, 1721.
It does not appear who Joseph Hawkins' parents were or when they came to America.
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house and labored on the Pennsylvania Canal 13 until the 27th day of July, 1838. But previous to this, in the fall of 1837, I moved to the town of Saltsburg to be handy to my work on the said Canal. Here I lived with my family until April, 1839, when I moved back to my own house in Leechburg. During the time above specified, I had five children born to me by my wife Harriet, namely:`
Lazerus, born May 18th, 1834, and he died March 4th, 1835;
Benjamin Chamberlin, born December 20th, 1835, is now living near Ogden with a family of four children living and one dead;
Charlotte Rhoda, born February 24th, 1837, is now living at home with us but [is] married to Israel Canfield;
William Fuller, born February 8th, 1839, is now living near or in the City of Ogden {and} has a family of three children. 15
On the 27th of July, 1838, while engaged on the eastern division of the Pennsylvania Canal on the Juniata River in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, in taking down some lock gates to repair the hollow coins which
13 The Pennsylvania Canal extended from the Susquehanna River to Pittsburgh. The Canal's eastern division ran westwardly from the Susquehanna River along the Juniata River and its tributaries to Holidaysburg at the base of the eastern slope of the Allegheny mountains. The western division of the Canal commenced at Johnstown at the foot of the western slope of the Allegheny Mountains and ran along the Conemaugh, Kiskiminetas and Allegheny Rivers to Pittsburgh. Between Holidaysburg and Johnstown, passengers and freight were carried by wagon and stage over a mountain road that was replaced after 1834 by a railroad. Alvin F. Harlow, Old Towpaths (New York, 1926) pp. 92-139.
14 While William Critchlow states five children were born to him by his wife Harriet Hawkins, he names only four of them, omitting to name their first child, Charles George Snowden Critchlow, who was born January 4, 1833 and died March 2, 1835.
15 A notation added to the life history March 7, 1877 declares that as of that date William Fuller Critchlow had seven children, and an addition to the history February 23, 1885 gives the number of children then as ten. In all, William Fuller Critchlow was father of fourteen children.
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had been injured by high water in June previous, I was tipped or thrown from the coping of the lock to the bottom of the lock pit, about 18 feet, and my back struck the miter sill of the lock, the gate windlass and all the tackling coming down at the same time. Some Germans being engaged in cleaning out the lock pit, came and took hold of me to carry me out on the bank of the River. I begged of them to let me alone, for it appeared to me they would pull me into pieces. They, not understanding me, kept hold of me until they got me on the high bank of green grass, where I was examined by many friends and by physicians from the town of Williamsburg two and a half miles distant. While lying here, it appeared to me as if every breath would be the last, and as if every bone in my lower extremities was mashed to pieces. But the doctor, after examining my body, said there were no bones broken but the spinal marrow had a concussion which caused my lower extremities to be paralyzed. I wished to know of him whether I could live long enough to have my wife and children brought, for I wished to see them before I died. His reply was he could not then tell as I might be ruptured inside and it would take time to develop my true situation. But, said he, send for them by all means. I then sent James Frame, a young man that was working with me at building a bridge across the Juniata River. He crossed the Allegheny Mountain by stage, rail and canal, 117 miles and back, in three days with my wife and children.
Doctor Robert Hammel of the town of Williamsburg did everything for my relief that he could, and the citizens of Williamsburg were truly very kind to me and my family.
For the first ten days after my injury, it appeared as if there was no hope for my recovery. About the tenth day I took a turn, and from that time I mended slowly, til in two months I was able to cross the mountains to my home at Saltsburg. Under the care of Doctor Hammel,
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I seemed to recover quite fast, being washed with brandy and cayenne pepper very often and also being electrified every day. My nerves came to their strength under this kind of treatment. But after coming to Saltsburg and getting under the care of Doctor John McFarland, my recovery was very slow. Yet, I believe Dr. McFarland did the best he knew for me.
I passed the winter of 1838-39 in the best way I could. But in the month of February, on February 12th, 1839, I first heard the Gospel as taught by the elders of the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elder Freeman Nickerson came to my house and talked with me on the principles and faith on the Saints and loaned me a Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. He also marked many passages in my large family bible for me to read. Being confined to the house in my affliction, I concluded to read my bible through, which I did. During the winter I read the lectures on faith in the forepart of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. In the meantime, a hungering and desire was created in my bosom to know my true position before God and Jesus the Redeemer.
In the month of April, 1839, I moved down the Canal twenty-one miles to Leechburg, to my old home. Here I came in contact with some of the members of the Church of Latter-day Saints." I did not have much talk with
16 Freeman Nickerson was an early convert to Mormonism. In 1834, he was a member of Zion's Camp in its march from Kirtland, Ohio to Missouri for the purpose of effecting the return to Jackson County of the Mormon settlers who had been expelled from the County in the winter of 1832-1833.He filled several missions for the church, and was one of the first settlers in Nauvoo. He died January 22, 1847, en route from Nauvoo to the west.. His efforts as a missionary in the Freeport-Leechburg, Pennsylvania area are related hereinafter.
17 As early as 1836, Mormon missionaries were active in western Pennsylvania, and between April 16 and December 29, 1836, Erastus Snow made a number of converts and organized several branches of the Mormon church while there as a missionary. On August 22, 1836, Snow narrowly escaped personal violence from an armed mob that gathered at Cherry Run to drive him out of Armstrong County. Between January 2, and June 3, 1838,
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them about their religion for some time, but about the second Sunday, I think, of this month (April), I received a powerful testimony of the truth of Mormonism, as it is called. From this time until this day,18 I have not doubted the truth of Joseph Smith being a Prophet of God.
Snow again visited the branches of the church in western Pennsylvania as a missionary. In August of 1839, Samuel James wrote to Don Carlos Smith, brother of the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith and editor of the Nauvoo Times and Seasons, that since leaving Nauvoo on a church mission in May, he and his brother Lewis James had "visited several churches in Pa., who are generally strong in the faith; there is one church at Leechburg, 40 miles east of Pittsburgh on the canal, that was raised last winter by Father Nickerson of 41 members"; it was during this mission that Samuel James baptized and confirmed William Critchlow a member of the Mormon church. On April 28, 1840, Erastus Snow and Samuel James again left Nauvoo as missionaries, and it was during this mission of Snow that he and Zebedee Coltrin ordained William Critchlow to preside over the Leechburg branch. On July 18, 1840, at a conference of members of the various branches of the church held in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Lewis James reported that the church at Leechburg consisted of between thirty and forty members in good standing, and Orson Hyde preached to the members of the church at Leechburg in August, 1840. In May of 1841, William Smith, another brother of Joseph Smith, wrote to Don Carlos Smith from Armstrong County, Pennsylvania that he had arrived in Armstrong County as a missionary, and then reported,
"The course of truth in this part of the vineyard is moving with a slow but steady pace. The brethren are in good spirits and strong in the faith.... I have held several meetings and baptized three.... I am happy to say, that the religion of Christ is continuing to gain ground in this vicinity; there is a church of about 40 or 50 members in this place, and are some of the most respectable and intelligent part of the community."
Andrew Jenson, The Historical Record (Salt Lake City, 1886) Vol. V, pp. 145-150; Times and Seasons, Vol. 1, No. 3, January, 1840, p. 44; Vol. 2, No. 1, November, 1840, pp. 104, 106; Vol. 2 No. 16, June 15, 1841, p. 444. Among the members of the Mormon church with whom William Critchlow came into contact upon moving to Leechburg in April of 1839, were his own mother-in-law Sarah Hawkins and his wife's sister Sarah and Sarah's husband William H. Hickenlooper, who had been baptized into membership in the church in February of 1839.
18 Above the words "this day," the date February 23, 1885, has been written. While it is possible that this portion of the life history was written by William Critchlow on that date, this appears unlikely, it being more probable that this date was inserted long after this portion of the life history was written. The previous part of the life history was clearly written in August of 1870, and it seems unlikely that William Critchlow wrote this portion of the life history fifteen years after writing the preceding part.
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And now I must give some account of the religion of my fathers as well as my own.
My grandfathers on both sides were Presbyterians and were born and brought up in the state of New Jersey. My father and mother were also members of that church. And father, under the preaching of Andrew Clark, became a Baptist in 1820, and mother, under the preaching of John Winter, became a Baptist in 1825. Most of my relatives on both sides were Presbyterians. I was a Baptist until I found the Latter Day Saints.
I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and confirmed by Samuel James 19 in the month of May, 1839, and ordained an Elder in August of the same year under the hands of Peter Dustin 20 and William H. Hickenlooper.21
19 Samuel James was very active as a missionary for the Mormon church. (See footnote No. 17) In 1841, he was one of the incorporators of the Nauvoo Agricultural an Manufacturing Assn., and in 1844, he was living in
La Harpe, southeast of Nauvoo in Hancock County. Following the destruction of the presses of the Nauvoo Expositor, the event that led to the arrest of Joseph Smith and his imprisonment in Carthage jail, James was dispatched to Springfield, Ill. with letters and documents for delivery to Governor Ford justifying the act, but he missed Ford who had left for Hancock County when James arrived at Springfield. On Sept. 8, 1844, the day after the excommunication of Sidney Rigdon (see footnote 35), James and his brother Lewis signed a circular protesting the "illegal and unwarrantable" assumption of authority by the Council of Twelve Apostles under Brigham Young and declaring that "in rejecting Sidney Rigdon the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints no longer exists, except in connection with him." Thereupon James joined the church organization of Rigdon and was appointed Counselor to Rigdon in the presidency of the Rigdonite Church of Christ established at Greencastle, Pennsylvania. After Rigdon left Greencastle in the fall of 1846, James claimed he had received a commandment from God to take Rigdon's place and to organize a first presidency for the church with himself as president and George Hinkle and James Blakeslee as his counselors, and that even earlier "while he was operating with Rigdon in the fall of 1845, while in Philadelphia, three personages in the garb and appearance of women, whom he believed to be angels appeared to him, and contrary to his wishes placed Rigdon's crown upon his head." Ensign of Liberty of the Church of Christ (Whitmerite), December 1847, p. 35. The Ensign of Liberty, May, 1848, p. 90 reported, "Samuel James and George M. Hinkle, during '47, found their way from the death-groans of Rigdonism in the [Cumberland] valley, to the fertile plains of Illinois, and there tried to resurrect and again rear up the fallen kingdom; but a late letter from a valued friend in that region [says] `There is nothing more of James, and his man George - their ism has breathed its last."' Dale L. Morgan, A Bibliography of the Churches of the Dispersion, Western Humanities Review, Vol. VII, No. 3, Summer 1953, p. 107, at pp. 124 and 131.
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In the month of May, 1840, I was chosen and ordained to preside over the Leechburg Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, under the hands of Zebedee Coltrin22 and Erastus Sno w. 23
And in the month of May, 1843, I was released and Elder Thomas Hickenlooper 24 was called to preside over said Leechburg branch. I was permitted to travel among my friends in Westmoreland, Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Armstrong, and Indiana Counties in Pennsylvania that season, in doing which I had much pleasure in.
20 Peter Dustin was president of one of the branches of the Mormon church in Far West, Missouri. In July of 1851, he was ordained a member of the bishopric of the Second Ward in Salt Lake City.
21 'William Hainey Hickenlooper, born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, September 22, 1804, was William Critchlow's brother-in-law, having married Sarah Hawkins, sister of William Critchlow's wife Harriet, on
August 29, 1837. Hickenlooper and his family emigrated to Salt Lake City in 1847, where he served as a city councilman and for many years as a bishop. He died in Salt Lake City January 14, 1888.
22 Zebedee Coltrin, like Freeman Nickerson, was a member of Zion's Camp in its march from Kirtland, Ohio to Clay County, Missouri. He was born in Seneca County, New York, September 7, 1804, and was one of the first Seven Presidents of Seventies of the Mormon church from 1835 to 1837, when he was ordained a High Priest. In July of 1847, he was one of the Mormon Pioneers who first entered the Great Salt Lake Valley. For many years he was a resident of Spanish Fork, Utah, where he died July 21, 1887.
23 Erastus Snow, born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, November 8, 1818, joined the Mormon church in 1833. Thereafter he was active as a missionary and visited Pennsylvania several times in that capacity. He also was one of the first group of Mormon Pioneers to enter the valley of the Great Salt Lake in July of 1847. From 1849 until his death May 18, 1888, he was a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles.
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24 Thomas Hickenlooper, like his brother William Hickenlooper, was married to a sister of the wife of William Critchlow, his wife being Julia Hawkins. With their eight children, Thomas and Julia Hickenlooper moved from Pennsylvania to Nauvoo, and then started west with the exodus of Mormons from Nauvoo. The family, however, settled in Monroe County, Iowa, and remained there, with the exception of a son, William Finley Hickenlooper who joined the Mormon Battalion and marched with Company A of the Battalion to California, where he stayed to work in the mines anddoes not appear to have been heard from again by his parents. A greatgrandson of Thomas and Julia Hickenlooper, Bourke Hickenlooper, became governor of Iowa and United States Senator from that state.
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expounding unto them the fulness of the Gospel. Yet I found some of them ready to condemn without investigating.
In the fall of 1843, I, in connection with Elder William H. Hickenlooper's family, moved down the Pennsylvania Canal to the town of Freeport, Pennsylvania, where I rented a room close to our dwelling house, and I taught a small school during the winter of 1843 and 1844, and in connection with Elder William H. Hickenlooper held meetings Thursday and Sunday evenings, resulting in the baptism of three persons in the spring, viz : one man Jesse Morgan and two girls by the name of Rolley. The material for making good vessels in that town was not of the best quality as the three persons who were baptized in that town all apostatized and left the church in less than one year from the time they came in.
On the ninth day of April, 1844, I, in connection with my family and Thomas and William H. Hickenloopers' families, started for Nauvoo, Illinois. At Pittsburgh, we took the steamboat Charlotte of Alabama and were landed by her at Nauvoo on the 21st inst.
We met the Prophet Joseph Smith on the boat and were introduced to him by his brother William. We then after landing, moved up onto Parley Street where we lived till the month of November following. During the time we stayed in the City, there was much commotion, both inside and out of it. For sometime towards the latter end of June, 1844, Joseph Smith was taken to Carthage, the county seat of Hancock County, Illinois, where on the 27th of said month, he was cruelly murdered by a painted mob of about 150 or 200 men who broke into the jail.
25 At this time, William Smith, a brother of the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, was a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles. In October, 1845, he was dropped as a member of the Council and excommunicated from the church. Following his excommunication, he associated with James L. Strang in Strang's attempt to establish himself as successor to Joseph Smith as head of the church, and later identified himself with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He died November 13, 1894.
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where Joseph, Hyrum and John Taylor and Willard Richards 26 were being held, killing Joseph and Hyrum and wounding John Taylor in four places but Willard Richards escaped unhurt, among the lead missiles. After Joseph's death, he was brought into Nauvoo, where a great concourse of the Saints were gathered to behold the bodies of their Prophet and Patriarch who were killed by a band of as wicked men as those who crucified Jesus of Nazareth.
After the death of these brethren, we remained in Nauvoo until the first of November following, then moved 27 miles south to what was then known as the Hancock Settlement, 27 where I bought 25 acres of land from William Garner .28 Here we remained until about the 13th of September, 1845 unmolested.
But on that day trouble again commenced. A band of men, about twenty in number, armed themselves and, keeping themselves in the woods, moved out on the Saints in the southwest part of the County of Hancock and commenced burning houses and grain and shooting at the brethren who attempted to resist their actions. Many of the brethren whose houses were burned fled to the eastern part of the settlement and camped in the woods for a time. Soon the whole settlement was requested to move
26 Hyrum Smith, brother of Joseph Smith, was patriarch of the church; John Taylor was a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles from 1838 until 1880, at which time he succeeded Brigham Young as president of the church; Willard Richards was an Apostle from 1840 until 1847, when he was ordained second counselor to Brigham Young, which position he held until his death July 25, 1887.
27 Hancock Settlement, also known as Morley's Settlement, Bear Creek Settlement and Yelrome, was located in the extreme southwest portion of Hancock County. On October 22, 1840, a branch of the Mormon church was organized there with 424 members.
28 William A. Garner was a son of David Garner and Jane Stephens. He was born in North Carolina January 22, 1817. Following the expulsion of the Mormons from Nauvoo in 1846, he and his two brothers, Philip and David, joined the Mormon Battalion. He died in Iowa March 29, 1894.
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into Nauvoo. Hundreds of the brethren left their houses and fled to the City for refuge from house burners. 29
In the meantime, Sheriff Backenstos issued three calls for the loyal people of the county to come out and put down the mobbers who were continuing their depre dations. But finding the old citizens did not come to, assist him, he went to Nauvoo and called five hundred [as a posse] who soon put the houseburners to flight. 30
A short time after the houseburners dispersed, Frank Worrell pursued the sheriff and another man in a buggy about 12 miles from Nauvoo and the sheriff commanded the man in the name of the Commonwealth of Illinois to shoot, and the result was Worrell was killed. 31 And then there was a hue and cry. Worrell's horse, being bloody, was taken to Quincy City and paraded through the streets, which stirred the whole
29 0n September 10, 1845, attacks commenced upon the homes and buildings of the Mormon settlers in the southern part of Hancock County. Because of the attacks, the church authorities called the members of the church to bring their families and whatever property and grain they could, to Nauvoo.
30 Being unable to raise a posse among the non-Mormons of Hancock County to put a stop to the house burning in the southern part of the County, Sheriff Jacob B. Backenstos called upon the Mormons in Nauvoo to provide men for such a posse. A part of the Nauvoo Legion under command of George Miller and Stephen Markham responded and marched into the southern part of the County, whereupon the persons who had been attacking the Mormons disbursed, many of them fleeing to Missouri.
31 'Concerning this incident, Governor Thomas Ford of Illinois wrote in his History of Illinois (Chicago, 1854), p. 409, "The sheriff also was in continual peril of his life from the anti-Mormons, who daily threatened him with death the first opportunity. As he was going in a buggy from Warsaw in the direction of Nauvoo, he was pursued by three or four men to a place in the road where some Mormon teams were standing. Backenstos passed the teams a few rods, and then stopping, the pursuers came up within a hundred and fifty yards, when they were fired upon, with an unerring aim, by some one concealed not far to one side of them. By this. fire, Franklin A. Worrell was killed. He was the same man who had commanded the guard at the jail at the time the Smiths were assassinated; and there made himself conspicuous in betraying his trust, by consenting to the assassination. It is believed that Backinstos expected to be pursued and attacked, and had previously stationed some men in ambush, to fire upon his pursuers. He was afterwards indicted for the supposed murder, and procured a change of venue to Peoria county, where he was acquitted of the charge."
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State. From this time, there was men called upon to confer with the Saints to leave the State. After some time there were terms entered into between the parties that the Saints should {leave} the following spring as soon as grass grew."
Among those who left the State, we crossed the Mississippi River the 7th day of May, 1846. And after toiling through the mud for over 160 miles, we landed in Garden Grove 33 {on the} 9th of June; thence down into Missouri where we remained two years; then returned to the Grove and remained three years." Thus during the five years, we made a fit out for the valleys of the mountains. Starting from the Grove the 17th day of May {1851}, and after a long and tedious journey, we landed in Salt Lake City {on the} 24th of September, 1851. After remaining there two weeks, we started for Ogden, landing {there} October 8th. Here we have lived and toiled til we are now nearly worn out. During the time herein mentioned, many incidents might have been mentioned. But we forbear.
32 Following a series of meetings between Mormons and non-Mormons from neighboring communities, a delegation of citizens from Quincy, Illinois was informed by a council of citizens of Nauvoo that the Mormons would leave the state if the people of the neighboring counties would assist them in disposing of their property and leave them at peace until they could prepare for such a move.
33 Garden Grove was one of the temporary settlements or way stations founded by the Mormons on their way from Nauvoo to the west in 1846. 34 William Critchlow taught school both in -Missouri and at Garden Grove during this time. His wife also taught school in Missouri.
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A FURTHER AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM COE CRITCHLOW
March 5th, 1887
I was brought up by religious parents, and taught somewhat after custom of the Presbyterians. Both my father and mother were of that sect. I was about 15 years of age when both became identified with the Baptist sect under the preaching of Andrew Clark, an able minister of that Order. Said Clark was identified with.
Sidney Rigdon 1 in his early ministry among the old Calvanistic Baptists. I was sprinkled, not to say baptized, while my parents belonged to the Presbyterians. I was taught and adhered to that Order til the summer of 1830, when I went to hear a talented speaker by the name of William Shadrack of the Baptist Order. The first sermon I heard him preach was from the text found in Second Thessalonians, First Chapter, 7th and 8th verses.2 This discourse made considerable impression on my mind. And in August, in connection with nine others, I was baptized, one of the nine was my aunt Phebe Critchlow Given, in the Allegheny River at the mouth of Buffalo Creek 3 Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.
In the fall of this year, 1830, under the pastorate of William Shadrack, J. Thomas and others, a church was organized in Freeport, which increased for some time.
Soon after this, I became attached to a young lady by the name of Sarah Lowrey, to whom I paid my addresses for some time. She in the meantime having removed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to her brothers, James Lowrey, at which place I visited her, and we became engaged to be married, and we had agreed that I should take her out to her brother Robert Lowrey's in Freeport, Pennsylvania and there be married. Accordingly at the time appointed, I went for her. But previous to going after her, I dreamed we were on the floor to be married, and all at once she leaned away from me. This was repeated more than once. And we supposed it was only a dream. We paid no attention to it. Accordingly, when I went for her, she wished me to put it off for a time, not giving me any good reason for so doing. I told her it was now or never. I then left her and returned to my home on Bull Creek three miles above Tarentum, Pennsylvania.
In connection with this, I will relate a dream my uncle Benjamin Coe had about me in relation to this girl. He knew I was going to Pittsburgh for her, and the night before I was to go, he dreamed I was fishing in Bull Creek near his tenancy [or tannery]. And there came a fine looking fish and was about to take hook, but all of a sudden it dashed away. He then awoke his wife and told her that he was going to tell me in the morning I would not get the girl I was going for. But I went past his house in the morning and he did not get to tell me his dream or his interpretation, not til after I returned without her.
I will here say that God did overrule for my good the matter of my disappointment. Notwithstanding, I had been warned in dreams, as well as my uncle, that I would meet with a failure. In reflecting about this matter, I can see the hand dealings of a kind providence over me. For since this circumstance above narrated, I did find a companion, to whom I was united on the 14th day of February, 1832, and who has been a kind and affectionate wife up to this March 5th, 1887. It was in the month of September, 1831 I first saw my present wife with whom, as I have said, I have lived happily, for 55 years and 19 days.
Soon after we were married, we moved to the town of Leechburg, Pennsylvania, where I engaged to labor on the Pennsylvania Canal, and continued to labor til on the 27th day of July, 1838, I was precipitated from the top of a lock and coping into the lock pit, striking the miter sill of the lock which nearly cost me my life, being cut and bruised to a terrible extent. But I was soon visited by a physician named Robert Hammel. He also had two other physicians called for consultation. And everything was done for me that human skill could do. But in the course of a few days, Mr. McConnel, the superintendent of public works, called to see me, after which he desired that I would allow him to send down an old physician by the name of Coffee of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania that he might judge of my injuries and do me good if possible. I replied there were three doctors now here, and if they could not help me I thought it was little use for any others. But he insisted, telling me it should not cost me or my family one cent.
Accordingly, he sent the old doctor down eighteen miles to see me. When he came in, he felt my pulse, at the same time having his watch on his knee. After some time, I asked him what he thought of my case. To which he replied a little good attendance was all I would need for a few days, as much as to say I would soon pass into the spirit world. We took the hint as he intended. He then went to the town to see Dr. Hammel, my regular physician. While he was absent, I called my wife and brother Joseph, who had come over the Allegheny Mountains a few days before this. I then told Joseph I wished after I was dead and buried for him to take my wife and children back to my home in Leechburg, Pennsylvania and fix them as well as he could. My wife was sorely affected at the sudden turn of affairs.
After some time, the old doctor and my regular doctor came back. And Dr. Hammel came in, leaving the old doctor out on the porch. When he came, I told him what Dr. Coffee had said. He then said the old doctor should not have talked so. For I was going to live many days and years yet. Soon the old doctor came in and, taking my arm again, felt my pulse and looked at me with surprise for some time, then remarked, "I have more hopes for you than I had when I was in before." He then stated when he first felt my pulse, it was 170 in a minute. The second examination proved more favorable. And from that day, I took a sudden turn, having suffered intense distress for about ten days. After my suffering, my sudden turn caused me to feel so comfortable that it seemed almost beyond description. At this time my water came naturally, it having been drawn by the use of a catheter.
After remaining two months in the town of Williamsburg, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, I returned to the town of Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, where I remained under the care of Dr. John McFarland til the first of April, 1838.
1 Sidney Rigdon became a member of the society of "Regular Baptists" when twenty-five years of age, and was soon a very popular preacher of that faith. In 1824, he withdrew from the Baptist church and became a Campbellite preacher. In 1830, he joined the Mormon Church, and from 1833 to 1844 he was first counselor to Joseph Smith. Shortly before the death of Joseph Smith, he left Nauvoo for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but upon the death of the Mormon prophet, he hurried back to Nauvoo and offered himself as guardian of the church, but was rejected and the Twelve Apostles were recognized as the head of the Church. In September, 1844, he was excommunicated from the Church and moved to Pennsylvania.
2 The seventh and eighth verses of Chapter I of the Second Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians state, "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."
3 Buffalo Creek runs in a southerly direction along the boundary line of Butler and Armstrong Counties, Pennsylvania into the Allegheny River below Freeport.
Here end the autobiographies of William Coe Critchlow. Since he was seventy-five years of age when he wrote the second of the two autobiographies here printed, it would appear that his failure to complete the autobiographies was due to the infirmities of old age.
Biography of William Coe Critchlow
Reprinted from Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia
Salt Lake City, 1936, Volume 4, pages 127 to 129.
William Coe Critchlow, Utah pioneer of 1851, was born July 8, 1808, in East Deer Township, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania, at the head waters of the Roaring Run, which empties in the Allegheny River. It seems that William Critchlow was destined to endure a life of suffering; yet he was never known to complain, but felt that the hand of the Lord was over him. When he was about nine years old he received a shock from plunging into a river to bathe when his body was overheated. A white swelling in his ankle was the result and for about a year he was confined to his bed and walked with crutches for some time afterwards. After the death of his father on March 11, 1828, he was for four years the sole support of his widowed mother and eight children, as his elder brother was away training to become a Presbyterian preacher. His brother having returned home, young William married Harriet Hawkins of Indiana County, Penn., on Feb. 14, 1832, and moved to Leechburg, Penn., where he built a home. On July 27, 1838, while supervising the building of a draw bridge on the Pennsylvania Canal, at a point near Saltsburg, he fell a distance of eighteen feet, striking his back on a log, and sustained an injury to his spine which resulted in the complete paralysis of his lower limbs. Such a handicap, to most men would have been a stop to future progress, but to a man of Wm. Critchlow's caliber, it meant only another obstacle which must be overcome.
In the month of February, 1839, he first heard the Gospel preached by the Elders and was visited by Elder Freeman Nickerson, who left with him a copy of the Book of Mormon and one of the Doctrine and Covenants. Receiving a strong testimony of the truth of the Gospel by reading these books, Wm. Critchlow was baptized in May of the same year by Samuel James and ordained an Elder in the month of August following by Elder Peter Dustin. In May, 1840, Brother Critchlow was appointed to preside over the Leechburg Branch of the Church. On April 21, 1844, he arrived in Nauvoo on the Steamer "Charlotte" and was met at the pier by the Prophet Joseph Smith to whom he was introduced by the Prophet's brother William. After the martyrdom of the Prophet, Brother Critchlow moved to a settlement 27 miles south of Nauvoo, where he purchased and operated a twentyfive acre farm, but in 1845, on account of mob violence, he fled with his family to Nauvoo, where he received his blessings and was ordained a Seventy and later in 1845 was ordained a High Priest. After the exodus of the Saints from Nauvoo in 1846, Brother Critchlow and his family settled in Garden Grove, Iowa, where both he and his wife taught school. Here they remained three years and Brother Critchlow was appointed the first Justice of the Peace at Garden Grove and during the last year of his residence there, presided over the branch.
On Oct. 8, 1851, Brother Critchlow, wife and three children arrived in Utah and located in Ogden where he made his permanent home and taught school for a time. In August, 1852, he was elected Justice of the Peace, reelected to this position in 1854 and also served as an alderman of the First ward in Ogden. In 1855 he was elected clerk and city recorder, which offices he filled with fidelity for eleven years. He then served as recorder for Weber County for twelve years.
Brother Critchlow never held a grudge against any who micht have wronged him. On one occasion he was thrown from his buggy and lay in the road unable to get up without his crutches. A man passed whom Brother Critchlow, in his capacity of judge, had sentenced for some misdemeanor. This man jeered and laughed at Brother Critchlow in his pitiable condition and passed on without rendering him any assistance. But when, some time later, on account of drought many of the people in Weber County were destitute of bread stuff, this man was one of the first to receive a supply of flour from Brother Critchlow.
On Oct. 24, 1880, Brother Critchlow was ordained a Patriarch by Pres. George Q. Cannon, and he died in Ogden, Utah, June 7, 1894. He was survived by two children, namely, Benjamin C. Critchlow (bishop of the Ogden First Ward), and William F. Critchlow. His only daughter, Charlotte Canfield, (with whom he made his home after his wife's death in March, 1887), died the year previous to his death, and two children, Lazarus and Charles, died in infancy. Brother Critchlow's life was very happy. During fifty-four years of married life, Brother and Sister Critchlow were scarcely separated for a day and they were greatly devoted to each other.
William Coe Critchlow was of Scotch descent. His grandfather, William Critchlow, was called the Hero of the Battle of Saratoga in the Revolutionary war, because of distinguished service at that time. William's maternal grandfather, Lieut. Benjamin Coe, came to America about 1635 and his many descendants have been known throughout the United States ever since as citizens of outstanding character and accomplishments, numbering among them the subject of this sketch.
Brother Critchlow was paralyzed for fifty-two years from his waist down, but this handicap did not prevent him from accomplishing more than most men do who have the use of all their limbs. He not only took up land and supervised the work on it, but with his arms and hands did many things which were necessary to be done in pioneer times, and he became comfortably well off financially. He was a devout student of the Scriptures and the reading of the Bible was a part of the family worship strictly adhered to night and morning in his home. He made God his friend and one could not be in his presence long without being made aware of this close communion. He acknowledged the hand of God in all of his afflictions and felt that they were for his good.
The Gospel was uppermost in his mind and the desire to spread it paramount in his soul. He devoted much of his time writing to his relatives in the east explaining the Gospel to them. They, in turn, felt that his accident had affected his mind for in no other way could they understand his affiliation with such a despised people as the "Mormons." He sent his two sons and two grandsons upon missions before his death, and, through his correspondence was able to gather a considerable record of his relatives and have work done in the temple for them. His life was a benediction to his family and his memory will ever be cherished by them.
Extract from Biography o f William Hainey Hickenlooper, reprinted from Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia (Salt Lake City, 1901) Vol. 1, pp. 607, 608-609.
. . . In the winter of 1838-39 William H. Hickenlooper and family were residing in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania - at the time that the Latter-day Saints were being so bitterly persecuted in Missouri.... At this time many of the Saints who had remained in New York were emigrating to Missouri, going by raft down the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, then traveling up to the gathering place. One of these rafts, containing three families, on its way down, was anchored on the Allegheny river for the night, about two miles from Williams' farm; that night it froze so hard that the raft could not be got loose, and the voyagers were compelled to land. Although many similar rafts passed down during the winter, this was the only one frozen in. Elder Freeman Nickerson, or Father Nickerson, as he was familiarly called, was the leader of the detained company, and he at once began to preach the new and everlasting gospel to the people in that vicinity. One day, shortly afterward, William met Father Nickerson at a neighbor's house and invited him home, being anxious to see a "Mormon" - a real, live "Mormon," though he looked very much like an ordinary mortal and appeared to be an intelligent man - and to learn the principles of "Mormonism," about which so much was being said, and which many thought was a "Yankee trick." Father Nickerson accepted the invitation, and was introduced to William's wife, Sarah Hickenlooper, and mother-in-law, Sarah Hawkins, who was also mother of William Critchlow's wife Harriett Hawkins, as a "Mormon" preacher. The whole family were of the Baptist persuasion.
Supper was provided, and Father Nickerson consented, by the earnest request of William, to remain all night. When William asked what was the difference between the "Mormons" and other religious sects, the Elder answered, "We believe the Bible; they do not." William disputed this, but was forced to yield point after point to his opponent, throughout a long argument. During the evening the remainder of the family treated the Elder so coldly that William felt ashamed, and when the latter went out late in the evening to attend to some outside chores, Father Nickerson departed, to the great annoyance of his host.
Shortly afterward the Elder called and told William that he was going to preach at a certain time and place, and gave him an invitation to be present. His wife objected, however, saying if he went, his horse would fall and he would have his neck broken. The night before the meeting it stormed and the road being so slippery, William decided to stay at home. Again Father Nickerson called, and announced another meeting, and William's wife insisting that if he attended she would go with him, they both went.
William took his New Testament along, intending to expose every error, but found no use for it; he learned that the Elder was strictly truthful in his statements and correct in his references. Father Nickerson's daughter, who had recently lost her husband, and was in mourning, exercised the gift of tongues in the meeting. This puzzled William considerably; at first he thought it ridiculous, but the more he reflected the more he was forced to the conclusion, by the appearance of the lady and other circumstances, that she was at least sincere, and there might be something in it after all.
Mrs. Hickenlooper borrowed the Book of Mormon for a week, and William read it through to discover whether it was an imposition. When Elder Nickerson asked what he thought of it, he answered that if he was going to write a fraud he would make it more mysterious; the book was too plain. The Elder replied, "The Lord delights in plainness".; which fact William had to admit. Mrs. Hickenlooper partially believed the first sermon she heard preached, but her husband had met with a number of impostures, and thought he would be wary.
Mrs. Sarah Hawkins, mother-in-law of both William H. Hickenlooper and William Critchlow, was at this time severely afflicted with rheumatism, and Father Nickerson, who made another visit to the family, told her if she had faith she could be healed, and after some argument, she began to think of the matter. One day the old lady, having been born in 1762, she was then 76 years of age, was lying on the bed, fully awake; suddenly she sat up and began to repeat - William and family being present in the room, and hearing plainly every word - the 55th chapter of Isaiah. Going through the entire chapter, she followed with the chapter immediately preceding, and then with some from the Book of Mormon. William was greatly surprised at this, for he remembered the part which came from the Book of Mormon; he knew well the old lady had never read that book, or had any opportunity of learning its contents.
When asked to explain, she declared she had had a vision; that the Bible had been presented to her, and she had read the two chapters in their order; that the Book of Mormon was also placed before her, and she also read from it; that the letters in the Bible were very plain and seemed as large as her thumb, while those of the Book of Mormon were much smaller and could not be seen so easily. She was a conscientious woman, and was very careful in her statement.
The next morning Father Nickerson again came to the house, and was told of the events of the day before. He knelt down with the family and prayed, then laid hands on Mrs. Hawkins, rebuking her sickness in the name of the Lord; the rheumatism immediately left her body, as did also a pain she had felt for some time in her side. The old lady at once expressed a desire to be baptized. Mrs. Hickenlooper did the same, and William, who had by this time pretty thoroughly. investigated the claims put forth, was convinced of the divinity of the message, and the following Sunday was appointed to attend to the ordinance in the Allegheny river, then frozen over.
On going down to the river, where they expected to have to cut the ice on Sunday, they found that that very morning the ice had broken, and they, with five others, were baptized. This was in February, 1839. A branch of the Church numbering about forty members was organized, and William was ordained to the office of an Elder by Elder Freeman Nickerson, March 24, 1839, and was appointed to preside over the Leechburg branch which shortly increased to about one hundred members.
Children of William Coe Critchlow and Harriet Hawkins:
1. Charles George Snowden Critchlow -child
Born: 4 Jan 1833 Place: Leechburg, Armstrong, Pennsylvania
Died: 2 Mar 1835 Place: Leechburg
2. Lazarus Critchlow -infant
Born: 18 May 1834 Place: Leechburg, Armstrong, Pennsylvania
Died: 4 Mar 1835 Place: Leechburg, two days after his brother Charles.
3. Benjamin Chamberlin Critchlow
Born: 20 Dec 1835 Place: , Leechburg, Armstrong, Pennsylvania
Married: (1) Martha Ann Garner on January 1, 1861; (2) Elizabeth Frances Fellows April 5, 1891
Died: 31 Aug 1924 Place: , Hyrum, Cache, Utah
Buried: 3 Sep 1924 Place: Ogden, Weber, Utah
4. Charlotte "Lottie" Rhoda Critchlow
Born: 24 Feb 1837 Place: Leechburg, Armstrong, Pennsylvania
Married: Israel Canfield on May 2, 1870 at Salt Lake City, Utah.
Died: 18 Jan 1893 Place: Ogden, Weber, Utah
5. William Fuller Critchlow
Born: 8 Feb 1839 Place: Saltsburg, Indiana, Pennsylvania
Married: Mary Eliza Brown, daughter of Captain James Brown and Mary McRee Black Brown, on December 9, 1862, at Ogden Utah.
Died: 10 Jan 1906 Place: Ogden, Weber, Ut
Buried: 14 Jan 1906 Place: Ogden City Cemetery, Ogden, Weber, Utah
HARRIET HAWKINS CRITCHLOW
1805-1887
Harriet was born in the County of Bedford, in the State of Pennsylvania. Her family was living in Indiana County, Pennsylvaia where she met and married William Coe Critchlow. They moved to Leechburg, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania where he built a small comfortable house for this family.
William was working on building the Pennsylvania Canal when he fell about eighteen feet to the bottom of the canal. His back landed on a log and he was paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life. By this time, Harriet and William had four children and Harriet was expecting their youngest child.
Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came to their home to teach them the principles of the Gospel. When they moved back to Leechburg they learned William's sisters and their husbands had joined the Church. William received a powerful testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel and was baptized a member. Harriet was baptized the following year in 1940.
Each place they moved William taught school. They had to move so often due to the persecution of the Saints. The family had a very meager existence and went hungry often. Harriet taught school in her home and William taught in another settlement some distance away, boarding arund among the parents of the school children.
After the Saints left Nauvoo, Harriet and her family lived in Garden Grove, Iowa, and surrounding settlements until 1841. They gather the provisions necessary for the trek West.
Harriet, William, and their three surviving children crossed the Plains in 1851 in the Garden Grove Wagon Company with Harry Walton as the captain. They experienced the stampeding of their cattle, broken wagons and mountain fever.
They arrived in Salt Lake Valley, September 24, 1851. In October they moved north to Brown's Fort which is now Ogden, Utah. William taught school in a log house in the center of the fort. They lived the rest of their lives in the Ogden, Weber, Utah area.
Harriet and William were married for fifty-four years and were greatly devoted to each other. They were faithful and loyal members of the Church and contributed much to their community in spite of William's physical handicap.
WILLIAM COE CRITCHLOW'S FOREFATHERS
1. James Critchlow, (1708-1762) paternal great-great-grandfather. The first Critchlow to settle in America appears to have been James Critchlow, who was born about 1708, and died February 16, 1762, in East Nottingham Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. His will was proved February 26, 1762, and his sons James and David acted as administrators of his estate. His property apparently passed to his widow, whose name we do not know, as she was taxed for the property for the year 1762-1763.
Where James Critchlow came from and when he emigrated to America do not appear, but it seems likely that he came to America from either England, Ireland, or Barbados.
That he came from England is indicated by the fact that Critchlow is an English name, being derived from two Anglo Saxon words Cruchis (cross) and Hlawe (hill), and probably originated to designate a remote ancestor who dwelt on a hill by a cross.
While Critchlow is an English name, family tradition is that the first Critchlow in America was Irish, and this tradition is supported by the fact that the first Critchow in America lived in a predominately Scotch-Irish area in Pennsylvania.
But even before James Critchlow is recorded as living in America, a branch of the family was already established in Barbados. A Colonel Critchlow was appointed Governor General of Barbados during the reign of James I of England, and on April 6, 1679, a son of Henry and Susannah Critchlow was christened in Christ's Church in Barbados and given the name James Critchlow. So quite possibly the James Critchlow who died in Chester County, Pennsylvania on February 16, 1762, emigrated to America from Barbados, rather than from England or Ireland; however, it would appear that any Critchow in Barbados must have emigrated there from England or Ireland.
The name of the wife of James Critchlow or the date of their marriage does not appear. Nor is it known just how many children he had, but it is certain that he had four sons. Two of them, James Critchlow (1731-?) and David Critchlow(1735-1811) , have already been referred to, and the other two were Edward Critchlow (1732-Revolutionary War) and William Critchlow (1734-?). He may have had other sons also, and it is believed that he had a daughter, Jean Critchlow Leech . All of these children are believed to have moved west from Chester County to Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.
James Critchlow's son James is believed to have been born about 1731. In 1769, he married Jane Andrews. From Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, he moved on to Kentucky. He was the father of the following children: Margaret Critchlow, who married Geoge Abidil; Jennie Critchlow who married Samuel Brown; Nancy Critchlow who married William Plunkett; Polly Critchlow who married Joseph Williams; James Critchlow, whose wife's last name was Barnett; Elizabeth Critchlow, who married Jacob Debrulier; Sarah Critchlow, who married Paul Barnett; and John Andrew Critchlow, born August 31, 1794, died May 7, 1869, married Susan Duncan.
Edward Critchlow was born about 1732. His activities are unknown, except that he left Cumberland County, Pennsylvania and enlisted as a soldier from Virginia During the Revolutionary War.
James Critchlow's son William Critchlow, apparently lived in Bullitt County, Kentucky after leaving Pennsylvania. The name of his wife does not appear, but she and William Critchlow had the following children: John Critchlow, who is more particularly referred to in the discussion of the descendants of James Critchlow that follows; William Critchlow, married Elizabeth Carter; Agnes Critchlow, married Jonathan Irons; Sarah Critchlow, married Samuel Grable; Elizabeth Critchlow, married Samuel Johnson; Nancy Critchlow, married John Moore; and Jane Critchlow, married Samuel Rawlings.
James Critchlow's fourth son, David Critchlow, born in 1735, became paternal great-grandfather of William Coe Critchlow, the writer of the foregoing autobiographies.
James Critchlow's daughter, Jean Critchlow, married John Leech. She was widowed when her husband and daughter, Margaret, were captured and killed by Indians February 26, 1779. Her son David also was captured by Indians and was never heard of again, and the mother of her husband was tomahawked during an Indian raid. Her son James Leech, a captain in the Revolutionary War, was captured by the British and taken as a prisoner of war into Canada, but was released in 1782 after letters of administration of his estate had been issued to his uncle David Critchlow and Charles Foreman.
2. David Critchlow, (1735-1811) William Critchlow's Paternal Great Grandfather. David Critchlow, son of James Critchlow, was born in 1735, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. His wife's name was Martha Leech. She was born in 1736 and died in 1789. From September 22 to November 25, 1792, David Critchlow served under Captain Torr in the militia, for which he received pay in the amount of ten dollars. He died in 1811, and was buried in Lairds cemetery. He and his wife Martha had eight children as follows:
James Critchlow was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania in December, 1754. He married Mary Leech. During the Revolutionary War, he served in the Continental Army for three years, for one of them as a member of Colonel Morgan's regiment of riflemen. He was in all of the engagements at Saratoga and was present at the surrender of General Burgoyne on October 17, 1777. James died March 2, 1834. He and his wife had eight children: John Critchlow, born September 24, 1784, died in 1823, married his cousin, Sarah Leech; Martha Critchlow, born about 1786, died in 1838, married Albion Beale; James Critchlow, born about 1788, died December 9, 1858, married Sarah Likens; David Critchlow, born about 1790, died in 1878, was a deaf-mute; Jane Critchlow, born about 1792, who died in 1836, and Eleanor Critchlow, born about 1794, who died in 1876, also were deaf-mutes; Archibald Critchlow, a twin brother of Eleanor born about 1794, died July 6, 1886, married Isabella Graham on February 10, 1818; and Mary Critchlow, born in July of 1797, died March 9, 1831, married William McGeary, Jr.
David Critchlow's second son, John Critchlow, was born about 1756. He never married, and died September 15, 1795, leaving all of his property under his will to his parents.
William Critchlow, the paternal grandfather of William Coe Critchlow.
Martha Critchlow was born about 1765 and died October 4,1856. On April 4, 1788, she married William McGeary, and they had eleven children.
Joseph Critchlow, born about 1767, went to Kentucky; nothing further is known of him.
Margaret Critchlow, born about 1769, married John Cratty. Jane Critchlow, born about 1770, married Samuel Skillen. David Critchlow, born about 1773, married Mrs. Nancy Shields Coe.
3. William Critchlow , (1760-1830) Paternal Grandfather of William Critchlow.
William Critchlow, grandson of James Critchlow and son of David Critchlow, and grandfather of the author of the foregoing autobiography, was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, February 7, 1760. He was one of the first school teachers in western Pennsylvania, where he taught at Poke Run, Washington Township in Westmoreland County. During the Revolutionary War and between 1778 and 1783, he was a private soldier in Captain Leech's company of Westmoreland County Rangers (Pennsylvania Archives, Third Series, Vol. 23, p. 328). He married Mary Polly Burnsides, daughter of John Burnsides who had been born in Scotland, and by whom William had eight children. After her death he married Mrs. Polly Mann, and when she died he married Margaret Horton. On March 17, 1796, he bought two hundred acres of land in Washington Township, Westmoreland County for forty pounds from his father-in-law (recorded in Westmoreland County Deed Book, Vol. II, Page 67), and on January 18, 1803, he sold the land for one hundred nineteen pounds to William McGeary, who had married his sister Martha. The Butler County Township Tax Lists for 1803 show assessments of farms of William Critchlow and his brothers James and John, and a deed dated 1820 shows a transfer of one-hundred fifty acres of land in Butler County, Pennsylvania to William Critchlow from John Cratty, husband of William's sister Margaret. William Critchlow died May 30, 1830. His children, all by his wife Mary Polly Burnsides, were:
Margaret Critchlow, born about 1784. Margaret Critchlow married David Isaacs. They had three children who took their mother's family name of Critchlow. These were Samuel W. Critchlow, born February 4, 1834, died December 12, 1912, married December 24, 1857 to Cynthia Jane Beebe; Lavinia Cratty Critchlow, born about 1836, married James Critchlow, a cousin; and Margaret Critchlow, born about 1838, married Frank S. Berry.
John Critchlow was born March 3, 1786. He married Sophia Gray. John Critchlow served in the War of 1812 and was sent to an army encampment at Black Rock, near Buffalo, New York, where he either was killed or died from some sickness. He was survived by two children; Mary Critchlow was born in 1806 and died in 1882; Thomas Critchlow was born October 5, 1812 and died December 29, 1889. Thomas married Eliza Dodds. With the death of his father, Thomas helped support his mother. He became a school teacher and storekeeper in Butler County, Pennsylvania.
David Critchlow was the second child of William and Mary Polly Critchlow. As the father of William Critchlow, the author of the foregoing autobiography, he is more particularly referred to hereinafter.
Emily J. Critchlow, referred to in the foregoing autobiography as Amy, was born about 1789. She married Robert McCandeles and they had two children, James born about 1811 and Joseph born about 1813. She died about 1850.
Martha Critchlow, born about 1790, died in 1878, married John Gray. They had twelve children: Thomas, William, Samuel, Mary, John W., Amelia, Elizabeth, Margaret, Matilda, Jane, Boyd and Ann.
Samuel Critchlow, born about 1792, enlisted in the War of 1812 and was killed.
Mary Polly Critchlow, born February 3, 1802, died June 13, 1846, married John Cockran. They had four children: Charles, Nancy, Mary and Emily.
William Critchlow, born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania October 30, 1804, died May 16, 1884. He married Elizabeth Gilleland on December 28, 1824, and they had thirteen children: John Critchlow, born November 3, 1825, died February 2, 1826; William Gilleland Critchlow, born May 7, 1827, died May 2, 1893; married Nancy Hazlett, served four years in the Civil War; Mary Jane Critchlow, born June 23, 1829, died December 4, 1838; Sarah Bell Critchlow, born August 29, 1831, died May 8, 1909, married Elisha McCurdy; Hugh Gilleland Critchlow, born January 27, 1834, died June 12, 1840; James Critchlow, born February 11, 1836, died February 16, 1885, unmarried, served four years in the Civil War; Walter Lowry Critchlow, born June 5, 1837, died December 6, 1885; Elizabeth Critchlow, born July 10, 1839, died June 20, 1875, married Lewis H. Miller; Harriet M. Critchlow, born December 17, 1841, died October 26, 1927, married Chadwich Burton; Clarice Critchlow, born May 7, 1843, died August 12, 1912, married William M. June; Robert Addison Critchlow, born August 15, 1846, died July 19, 1932, married (1) Emma Viola Biggs and to (2) Mrs. Nancy Chilcote Corwin, enlisted in the Union Army October 1, 1864 and was captured and imprisoned in Libby Prison until the war was over; David Walker Critchlow, twin brother of Robert Addison Critchlow born August 15, 1846, died August 19, 1910, married Celestia Blakely, also served in the Union Army; and Kessiah Critchlow, born May 3, 1849, died May 7, 1850.
4. David Critchlow, (1787-1828) Father of William Coe Critchlow. David Critchlow, second child of William Critchlow and Mary Polly Burnsides, was born November 3, 1787, in Butler County, Pennsylvania. He married Margaret Coe, daughter of Benjamin Coe and Margaret Biegle, who was born April 12, 1788. David Critchlow died March 11, 1828, at the age of fortyone years, survived by his widow, who subsequently died August 7, 1849, and by ten of his eleven children.
Benjamin Coe Critchlow, was the first child of David Critchlow and Mary Polly Burnsides. Benjamin was born December 14, 1807, was ordained a minister and was pastor of the Presbyterian church at New Brighton, Pennsylvania for many years. He died April 21, 1882. On August 10, 1837, he married Eunice Hatch, daughter of Ebenezer Hatch and Satira Blanchard. Their children were: Eunice Hatch Critchlow, born June 9, 1838, married W. A. Hooper; Elizabeth Loring Critchlow, born September 22, 1839, married June 24, 1863 to W. W. Waters; Satira Blanchard Critchlow, born May 2, 1841, married November 8, 1860 to Thomas M. McCord; Benjamin Dwight Critchlow, born February 26, 1844, married Alice Classon; Samuel Edwards Critchlow, born February 26, 1844, died October 27, 1929, married July 14, 1868 to Mary Gales; Margaret Emma Critchlow, born April 9, 1848, died September 10, 1881, married Edward P. Townsend; Mary Ada Critchlow, born December 1, 1850, married September 15, 1869 to Harrison J. Chandler; and Geneva C. Critchlow, born September 14, 1852, married Thomas Kennedy.
William Critchlow, subject of this webpage autobiography, was the second child of David Critchlow. He was born July 7, 1809, died June 7, 1894, and married Harriet Hawkins February 14, 1832.
Daniel Critchlow, the third child of David Critchlow, was born November 29, 1811 and died December 14, 1822 at the age of eleven years. He was buried beside his father in the cemetery of the Bull Creek Presbyterian church near Tarentum, Pennsylvania.
Joseph Critchlow, David Critchlow's fourth child, was born March 7, 1813. He married twice, the first time to Mary Girts and the second time to Elizabeth Galbraith. He moved from Pennsylvania to Indiana. Shortly before his death March 28, 1875, he moved to Kansas. After his death, his family moved from Kansas to Salem, Oregon.
His second wife, Elizabeth Galbraith, was the mother of all eight of his children. These were: James Madison Critchlow, born about 1840, died March 23, 1865; Henrietta E. Critchlow, born February 13, 1840, died March 14, 1876, married November 8, 1866 to Milton Boyd; Cornelia Critchlow, born February 20, 1843, died December 22, 1893, married to (1) William Evans and to (2) John Burns; Robert Galbraith Critchlow, born September 26, 1847, died in 1923, married Jennie Fleming; William John Critchlow, born March 9, 1850, died July 6, 1925, married Rosa May Ward; Samuel Classen Critchlow, born August 24, 1853, married to (1) Anna K. Spiers and to (2) Claudia Ardella French; David Andrew Critchlow, born April 10, 1857, died June 20, 1926, married December 13, 1855 to Linda Ann Terhune; and Benjamin Elmer Critchlow, born September 4, 1862, married January 2, 1910 to Emma E. Christensen.
Mary Critchlow Boyd, fifth child and first daughter of David Critchlow, was born November 29, 1814, and she died December 29, 1882 at McKeesport, Pennsylvania. As William Critchlow points out in the foregoing autobiography, she lived for several years near New Madison, Indiana. She married Alexander Boyd, and they were parents of seven children.
John James Critchlow, sixth child of David Critchlow, was born August 19, 1817. He moved from Pennsylvania to Mississippi, but because of hostility toward Northerners during the Civil War, he moved from Mississippi to Tonawanda, New York. In April of 1875, he moved to Uintah Valley, Utah Territory, to act as Indian Agent. He died in Salt Lake City, Utah June 29, 1884. He married Mabel Mehitable Ayers, who was born in western New York February 6, 1831 and died December 19, 1914.
Their children were: Mary E. Critchlow, born in Mississippi in May of 1857 and died in May of 1858; Edward Benjamin Critchlow, born October 2, 1858 in Mississippi, died December 19, 1920, married Mary Miles Martin; Helen E. Critchlow, born in Mississippi November, 1860 and died in September, 1863; Anne L. Critchlow, born in Mississippi in September, 1862, died November, 1894, married Francis Bascom; Arthur Burtis Critchlow, born March 10, 1865 in Tonawanda, New York, died in April, 1943, married Mary S. Mitchener; John Franklin Critchlow, born September 24, 1867 in Tonawanda, New York, died July 24, 1924, married Mary Edna Taylor; and May Uintah Critchlow, born May 15, 1875 in Uintah, Weber County, Utah, died January 25, 1955, married George Prentiss.
Margaret Critchlow Weaver, David Critchlow's seventh child and second daughter, was born February 18, 1819 and died in 1842. She married Samuel Weaver.
Andrew Clark Critchlow, eighth child of David Critchlow, was born November 25, 1820. He married Mary Patterson. In 1870, he was living in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, but moved thereafter to Ohio, where he lived near Cleveland. He died July 10, 1897.
Andrew Clark Critchlow and Mary Patterson were the parents of nine children: Benjamin Benton Critchlow was born about 1845 and died in 1849; Margaret Jane Critchlow was born about 1849 and died in August, 1876, and married Samuel Barrows; Emma Critchlow was born about 1850 and died in 1858; Elizabeth Critchlow was born about 1855 and died in 1856; William D. Patterson Critchlow was born May 6, 1862 and died about 1902; Eleanor Patterson Critchlow was born about 1858 and died in October, 1880; Myrta Ophelia Critchlow was born May 17, 1867, died June 6, 1937, married Arthur C. Coit; John Samuel McCune Critchlow was born October 14, 1870 and died in 1930; and Grace Diessman Critchlow was born July 29, 1874 and died January 23, 1900.
Emily Jane Critchlow Critchlow, ninth child of David Critchlow, was born October 26, 1822. She married her cousin, Daniel Graham Critchlow. Her death occurred October 25, 1894.
She and her husband Daniel Graham Critchlow were the parents of five children: Mary Elizabeth Critchlow, born January 28, 1842, died in 1919, married Charles Lewis Dew; Isabella Graham Critchlow, born August 20, 1843, died February 19, 1908, married Thornton Benson Peeples; Margaret Coe Critchlow, born April 4, 1846, died September 17, 1855; Cordelia Cormanda Critchlow, born June 6, 1847, died May 26, 1883, married John M. Allen; and Emily Jane Critchlow, born August 31, 1848, died in 1936, married William E. Whiting.
David Coe Critchlow, tenth child of David Critchlow and Mary Polly Burnsides, was born September 10, 1825, and died January 11, 1882. His first wife was Sarah Chess, daughter of Andrew and Mary Chess. She died July 7, 1852. On March 28, 1854, David Coe Critchlow married Caroline Pugh Miner, and she was the mother of all of his children. These were: John Miner Critchlow, born February 7, 1855, died November 12, 1931, married Duira Elizabeth McGinness; Mary Emily Critchlow, born July 17, 1857, died June, 1910; Edward Coe Critchlow, born June 16, 1860, died September 27, 1941, married Maud Columbia Schilling; Caroline Townsend Critchlow, born September 11, 1865, married George Whysall; Louis Warren Critchlow, born March 4, 1868, died August 5, 1936, married August 5, 1905 to Kathryn Dwyer; Helen Critchlow, born October 7, 1870; George Reid Critchlow, born August 19, 1872, married Kate Buell; and Charles Ditwell Critchlow, twin brother of George Reid Critchlow, also born August 19, 1872.
Phebe Salina Critchlow Jackson, eleventh and last child of David Critchlow, was born June 26, 1827, died November 27, 1889. She married Robert Francis Jackson of Allegheny, Pennsylvania.
WILLIAM COE CRITCHLOW'S FOREFATHERS
MATERNAL ANCESTORS
1. Robert Coe, (1596-1659) Third Great Grandfather of William Critchlow's Mother. Margaret Coe, mother of William Critchlow, was a direct descendant of Robert Coe, who emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1634.1
Robert Coe was born at Thorpe-Morieux, Suffolk County, England. He was a son of Henry Coe, who probably was a clothmaker. Robert's date of birth is not recorded, but he was baptized October 26, 1596. How long he remained at the place of his birth is not known, but in 1625, he was living about eight miles away in Boxford, also in Suffolk County, and that year he was elected to the office of overseer of cloth at Boxford, which implies that by then he had learned the trade of clothmaking. When he was thirty-eight years of age, he and his family became a part of a band of eighty-three Puritans who sailed for America, from Ipswich, England April 30, 1634 on the ship Francis, commanded by Captain John Cutting. With him were his wife Hannah ,2 whom he had married five years before following the death of his first wife, and his three sons, John, age eight, Robert, age seven, and Benjamin, age five, all three of whom were his children by his first wife whose first name was Mary but whose surname does not appear.
After a voyage of about ten weeks, Robert Coe and his family arrived in Boston in July, 1634. They immediately moved to Watertown, a suburb of Boston where other Puritans who had emigrated to America from the vicinity of Boxford since1620 had settled. There, on September 3, 1634, he was admitted as a freeman of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, under the leadership of Governor Winthrop.
1 More detailed information concerning Robert Coe and his descendants is provided in J. Gardner Bartlett, Robert Coe, Puritan, His Ancestors and .Descendants, 1340-1910 (Boston, 1911), pp. 71-146. Bartlett also traces in considerable detail the ancestry of Robert Coe at pages 15-67.
2 Hannah's name is given as "Anna Cooe" in the Record Office in London, where the roll of the ship's passengers taken at the Custom House in Ipswich is still preserved. The roll of the ship's passengers lists her age .as forty-three.
Robert Coe stayed less than a year at Watertown. Considering the settlement to be becoming overcrowded, he then moved with his family in June of 1635, to Wethersfield, Connecticut. There he resided for about five years, when disagreement arose in the church at Wethersfield, so a faction from that church, including Robert Coe and his family, withdrew from the church, and in the spring of 1641 he moved again, this time to Stamford, Connecticut, where he received a grant of fourteen acres for a home. At Stamford, he was appointed a magistrate on April 5, 1643, and served as deputy to the General Court at New Haven. However, difficulties again arose in the church, so Robert Coe became one of a faction from Stamford who moved across Long Island Sound when a new town was established on Long Island named Hemstead. There he was instrumental in organizing a church and was chosen elder.
After living in Hemstead eight years, Robert Coe became the leader in the spring of 1652 in the formation of a new settlement nearby that was eventually called Newtown, where he lived until 1656. In that year, he transferred his land holdings in Newtown to his eldest son John, and with his youngest son Benjamin and several others, he purchased a large tract of land south of Newtown from the Indians on which they founded the town of Jamaica. He was appointed magistrate for the town by the Dutch government and held that office until 1664, a year after the English revolted from the Dutch and transferred their allegiance to Connecticut.
Robert Coe married three times. His first wife was named Mary, but her last name is not known, and she was the mother of all his children. She and Robert were married about 1623, and she died in October of 1628 and was buried at Boxford, England October 27, 1628. On April 29, 1630, Robert Coe married Hannah Deardslay in Assington, a parish in Suffolk adjoining Boxford; she was the wife who accompanied him to America. After Hannah's death, he married Jane Rouse, widow of Edward Rouse, in February of 1674. Edward Rouse had died about two years previously in the Carolinas. Jane Rouse had formerly been married to John Smith of Taunton, Massachusetts, who was killed in an Indian raid at Mespat, Long Island in 1643.
Apparently Robert Coe died about 1689 at the age of about ninety-two years.
Robert Coe and his wife Mary had four children who are now known, but there may have been others.
Their son John Coe was born in 1625, and was baptized August 20, 1625. His wife's name is not known. The names of his children who have been identified were: John Coe, born about 1657, died June 22, 1735, probably unmarried; Robert Coe, born about 1659, died June 21, 1734; Hannah Coe; Mary Coe; David Coe, born about 1665, died December 21, 1728, probably unmarried; Jonathan Coe, born about 1668, died about 1750; and Samuel Coe, born about 1672, died in 1742, married December 23, 1712, to Margaret Van Zandt.
Robert and Mary Coe had two children born in 1626, and both were baptized September 19, 1626. One of these, a daughter named Mary Coe, evidently died before the family emigrated to America in 1634. The other, a son named Robert, died about September, 1659 and was buried at Stratford, Connecticut; he married Hannah Mitchel about 1650, and their children were Hannah Coe, born December 14, 1651; Susanna Coe, born August 16, 1653, died April 2, 1746, married January 11, 1671 to John Alling; Sarah Coe, born about April, 1656, married about 1680 to Timothy Gibbard and about 1687 to Jeremiah Osborne; and John Coe, born May 10, 1768.
The fourth of the children of Robert and Mary Coe who have been identified, was Benjamin Coe, who became a direct ancestor of William Critchlow and his mother Margaret Coe, and so will here be considered further.
2. Benjamin Coe, (1628-1696) Second Great Grandfather of William Critchlow's Mother. Benjamin Coe, Robert Coe's youngest son, was born at Boxford, Suffolk County, England. His date of birth does not appear, but he was baptized October 18, 1628, so it must have been some time during the year 1628. In 1634, when he was five years of age, he was brought to New England with his father and stepmother, and in 1658, he helped his father and others found the town of Jamaica, Long Island. Some time before 1660, he married Abigail Carmen, daughter of John and Florence Carmen .3
Very little appears of record about Benjamin Coe, and nothing appears about his daughters, if he had any, but he had four sons who have been identified. These were Benjamin Coe, born about 1660, Joseph Coe, born about 1665, John Coe, born about 1670, and William Coe, born about 1675. He died about 1694; his widow, Abigail Carmen apparently thereafter married Daniel Whitehead.
Not very much is known about the four sons of Benjamin Coe. One of them, named Benjamin after his father, was married twice; the name of his first wife, whom he married about 1684, does not appear, but by his first wife he had a son Daniel Coe, born about 1685, and a son John Coe, born about 1687 and died about 1722. About 1700, Benjamin married Mary Everett, and they had a son Benjamin Coe, born April 4, 1702, a daughter Elizabeth Coe, and also a daughter Patience Coe, born about 1707, died January 7, 1785, and married about 1726 to Benjamin Pierson.
3. Joseph Coe, (1665-1743) Great Grandfather of William Critchlow's Mother. Benjamin Coe's second son, Joseph, grandson of Robert Coe and great grandfather of Margaret Coe, was born in Jamaica, Long Island about 1665. About 1703, he was married; his wife's name was Judith but her surname is not known. About 1720, he sold off his holdings of land in and around Jamaica and moved to Hanover, New Jersey, and he is listed as one of the early members of the Presbyterian church that was established at Hanover in 1718. In 1733, he and several others withdrew from the Hanover Presbyterian church to form a new church nearby in the town of Morristown. Joseph Coe is shown by the records to have been living in 1742, and it does not appear how long after then it was that he died; nor is the date of death of his wife listed. They appear to have had several children, but the only ones now identified.were Joseph Coe, born at Jamaica, Long Island December 11, 1704, died November 22, 1760, and married about 1727 to Esther ; Benjamin Coe, hereafter more particularly referred to; and Thomas Coe, born about 1715 at Jamaica, Long Island, died some time before 1794, and married first about 1743 and second to Sarah Douglas January 11, 1749.
3 John Carmen was one of the original patentees of Stamford, Connectiut in 1641. He emigrated to New England, and there in 1631 he married Florence Fordham, who had emigrated to America with her parents' family on the ship Lyon and had settled in Lynn, Massachusetts and then in Weathersfield and Wallingford, Connecticut before settling in Stamford. John Carmen was one of the residents of Stamford who formed a committee to negotiate the purchase of land on Long Island from the Indians on which the town of Hemstead, Long Island was then established.
4. Benjamin Coe, (17091800)-Grandfather of William Critchlow's Mother. Benjamin Coe, the second son of Joseph Coe and the grandfather of Margaret Coe, was born in Jamaica, Long Island about 1709 and moved about 1720 with his parents to Hanover, New Jersey. Like his father, he was one of the seceders from the Hanover Presbyterian church in 1733 and helped organize the Presbyterian church at Morristown, New Jersey. On September 12, 1777, he was dismissed or transferred by the Morristown Presbyterian church to the Redstone Presbytery in Westmoreland (now Fayette) County, Pennsylvania. After the Revolutionary War, he crossed the Allegheny river and built a stockade on the river about twenty miles north of Pittsburgh near the present town of Tarentum that was called Coe's Station. There he lived until his death some time after 1790.
About 1735, Benjamin Coe married Rachel Prudden, daughter of Joseph Prudden 4 and Joanna Lyons of Morristown, New Jersey. She was born about 1718 and died at Morristown December 20, 1776 at the age of fifty-eight.
She and Benjamin Coe had fourteen children. They were Ebenezer Coe, born about 1736, died July 25, 1827 near Dalton, Wayne County, Ohio, married September 17, 1761 to Eunice Jagger; Abigail Coe, born about 1738, died about 1760, married July 4, 1759 to John Primrose; Sarah Coe, born January 17, 1739, died August 14, 1762, married March 10, 1757 to Nathaniel Condit; Philip Coe, born in 1742 and died May 8, 1818; Phebe Coe, baptized December 23, 1743, married July 15, 1762 to Edward Byram; Patience Coe, baptized December 29, 1745; Uzal Coe, baptized June 7, 1747, died October 11, 1784, married August 29, 1779 to Mary Burnett; Benjamin Coe, hereafter more particularly referred to; Moses Coe, baptized October 7, 1753, died March 27, 1813, married March 26, 1778 to Sarah Howell, settled in Washington County, Pennsylvania and served during the Revolutionary War in the Westmoreland County Rangers; Peter Coe, baptized January 21, 1753, died March 27, 1813, married to Mary ; Patience Coe, baptized February 29, 1755; Rachel Coe, baptized June 6, 1757, married November 21, 1773 to Uriah Allen; Jane Coe, baptized April 22, 1759, married first about 1778 to Matthew Lamb who was killed by Indians and second about 1783 to Abram Fulton; and Elizabeth Coe, baptized April 19, 1761, died June 19, 1847, married June 5, 1780 to Aaron Williams.
4 John Prudden was born in 1692, and died in September, 1776. He was a grandson of Peter Prudden, who emigrated to America in 1637 from England.
Peter Prudden was born near Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire, about twenty-five miles from London in 1601. The names of his parents are not known. He began his high school education in 1617 in the London Gram mar School, and on June 20, 1620, he was admitted to Cambridge University. In 1637, he left England and landed in Massachusetts in about June of 1637, where he declined a written invitation of the town of Dedham dated June 6, 1637, to settle there. Instead, he settled on part of a tract purchased about that time from the Indians, which became the town of Milford, Connecticut. There he made his home. On April 8, 1640, Peter Prudden was ordained pastor of the Milford church. He died in 1656, at the age of fifty-six. He was married twice. The name of his first wife does not appear, but his second wife, and the mother of all of his nine children, was Joanna Boyse, daughter and fifth child of Rev. John Boyse and Joanna Stowe (daughter of John Stowe and Joanna Baker) of Halifax, Yorkshire, England, who had come to America and settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts with her sisters Silence Robinson and Anna Reyner and their husbands.
Peter Prudden's second son, John Prudden, was the father of Joseph Prudden. John Prudden was born November 9, 1645, in Milford, Connecticut cut, and died December 11, 1725. He graduated from Harvard College in 1668, and in 1671 he settled in Jamaica, Long Island, where he served as pastor of the church until 1692, except for a period when he acted as pastor at Rye and at Bedford, New York. In 1692, he became pastor of the church in Newark, New Jersey, where he served until his death December 11, 1725. When or whom he married does not appear, except that it is known that his wife's first name was Grace.
Joanna Lyon was a granddaughter of Henry Lyon, who with his brothers Thomas and Richard were born in Scotland and, after serving as soldiers in Cromwell's army, emigrated together to America. On February 24, 1649, Henry Lyon became a member of the church at Milford, Connecticut of which the Rev. Peter Prudden was pastor. After living four or five years at Milford, Henry Lyon moved to Fairfield, Connecticut, and in 1666, he moved to Newark, New Jersey, where he died in 1703. In May of 1652, he married Elizabeth Bateman, daughter of William Bateman, who probably came to New England in 1630 and who took oath as a free man at Boston May 18, 1631 and thereafter moved to Fairfield, Connecticut, where he died in 1658. Benjamin Lyon, son of Henry Lyon and Elizabeth Bateman and father of Joanna Lyon, was born about 1668 in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, he married Berthia Condit.
5. Benjamin Coe, (c. 1748-1833) Father of William Critchlow's Mother. Benjamin Coe, eighth child of Benjamin Coe and the father of Margaret Coe, William Critchlow's mother, sometimes referred to as Lieutenant Benjamin Coe, was born in Morristown, New Jersey. The date of his birth does not appear, but he was baptized November 6, 1748. About September, 1776, he moved to western Pennsylvania with his father and brothers, his mother having died a year earlier, and in 1786, he was listed on the tax rolls of Pitt Township of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. For many years he was elder of the Bull Creek Presbyterian church. He died at Coe's Station, now Tarentum, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania about 1833, and his will was recorded that year. He was buried in the cemetery of the Bull Creek Presbyterian church about five miles upstream on Bull Creek from the Allegheny river.
During the Revolutionary War and between 1778 and 1783, Benjamin Coe served in the Westmoreland County Rangers under Captain Samuel Cunningham and his uncle Moses Coe (Penn. Archives, Vol. 23, pp. 216, 308). He also appears as lieutenant of the Washington County Militia in a list of Revolutionary War soldiers who received depreciation pay for their services (Penn. Archives, Series V, Vol. 4, p. 395).
On March 26, 1775, Benjamin Coe married Margaret Biegle. They had nine children. Jane Coe, born about 1777, married James Skillen; Daniel Coe, born in 1780 near Tarentum, Penn
sylvania, died in 1854, married January 8, 1808 to Mary Boyd, daughter of John Boyd and Mary Fulton; Rachel Coe, born in 1783, married Gideon Miller; Moses Coe, born in 1785, moved to Ohio; Margaret Coe, born April 12, 1788, died August 7, 1849, married to David Citchlow; James Coe, born July 13, 1790, died November 1856, married first to Eliza Jane Collins and second to Elizabeth Todd, was graduated from Jefferson College in 1812 and served as pastor in Miami and Warren Counties, Ohio; Abigail Coe, born September 30, 1792, died March, 1869, married in 1813 to James Robertson; Benjamin Coe, born March 17, 1795, died 1873, married Nancy Shields; Phebe Coe, born in 1800, died February 22, 1884, married first to Alexander Given, second to James Newman, and third to Rev. Richard Armstrong; and Joseph, born in 1803.
DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM CRITCHLOW
I. Charles George Snowden Critchlow
Charles George Snowden Critchlow, first child of William Critchlow and Harriet Hawkins, was born January 4, 1833, at Leechburg, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. He died March 2, 1835, at the age of two years.
II. Lazarus Critchlow
Lazarus Critchlow, second child of William Critchlow and Harriet Hawkins, was born in Leechburg, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania May 18, 1834; nine and a half months later, he died at Leechburg, on March 4, 1835, two days after the death of his elder brother Charles George Snowden Critchlow.
III. Benjamin Chamberlin Critchlow
Benjamin Chamberlin Critchlow, third child of William Critchlow and Harriet Hawkins, was born in Leechburg, Pennsylvania December 20, 1835. He died August 31, 1924, in Hyrum, Cache County, Utah, and was buried September 3, 1924, in Ogden, Weber County, Utah.
On January 1, 1861, Benjamin Chamberlin Critchlow married Martha Ann Garner, daughter of Philip Garner and Mary Hedrick. Martha Ann Garner was born January 18, 1840, and died July 3, 1923. They had five children. These were:
1. Benjamin Philip Critchlow, born November 5, 1861, at Ogden, Utah; died January 16, 1923; married March 3, 1886 to Georgina Fellows. Their children, all born in Ogden, Utah, were:
A. Fredrick Benjamin Critchlow, born January 11, 1887 died December 22, 1938; married September 27, 1911 to Angelina Coop Jarmin.
B. Martha Critchlow, born May 21, 1889; died May 31, 1966; married February 27, 1913 to Raymond Everett Richmond.
C. Inez Critchlow, born January 4,1.892; married December 10, 1913 to Roscoe Cook Bassett.
D. George Philip Critchlow, born January 8. 1894; died March 12, 1950; married February 23, 1916 to Alice Jolaire Denkers.
E. Helen Critchlow, born February 19, 1896; died February 2, 1934; unmarried.
F. Viola Josephine Critchlow, born February 15, 1899; married November 30, 1922 to Alexander Earl Lemon.
G. John Bertram Critchlow, born May 11, 1901; married December 7, 1923 to Mildred Hannah
H. Alvin Chamberlin Critchlow, born January 11, 1903; married December 17, 1923 to (1) Kathryn Kelly and following their divorce married August 5, 1939 to (2) Amelia Spaich.
I. Carmyn Critchlow, born January 12, 1909; married 1, 1929 to (1) Lanning Terrill and then December 1, 1948 to (2) Harry Gorman.
2. Martha Luella Critchlow, born December 15, 1862, at Ogden, Utah; died August 25, 1865, at the age of two years and eight months.
3. William Chamberlin Critchlow, born May 11, 1865, at Ogden, Utah; died at Ogden, Utah, July 4, 1951; married October 20, 1886 to Rebecca Berthenia Vest. "They had ten children as follows:
A. Martha Louise Critchlow, born July 21, 1887, at Ogden, Utah; married April 24, 1913 to Milton Edward White.
B. David Chamberlin Critchlow, born April 16, 1888, at Ogden, Utah; died March 13, 1960.
C. Jane Berthenia Critchlow, born September 21, 1891, at Ogden, Utah; married September 2, 1914 to Wilford Myron Thornock.
D. Ruth Alminia Critchlow, born September 13, 1893, at Ogden, Utah; died December 21, 1929; married April 20, 1912 to William Hutchinson.
E.. Mary Netta Critchlow, born January 19, 1896, at Ogden, Utah; married August 6, 1918 to Foshay Miller Corbett.
F. Lucian Vest Critchlow, born April 23, 1898, at Ogden, Utah; married October 2, 1918 to Erma Jane Stratton.
G. William George Critchlow, born September 23, 1900, at Ogden, Utah; died August 20, 1901 at the age of eleven months.
H. Wilford Vest Critchlow, born September 23, 1902, at Pleasant View, Utah; married September 24, 1930 to Elberta Wilson.
I. Edmund John Critchlow, born April 27, 1905, at Pleasant View, Utah; died May 11, 1908 at the age of three years.
J. Joseph Vest Critchlow, born May 3, 1909, at Pleasant View, Utah; married September, 1928 to (1) Florence J. Maero and following their divorce, married (2) Dorothy Agnes Drysdale, and following their divorce, married (3) Mrs. Helen Vanderlip Woods.
4. Mary Ann Critchlow, born November 30, 1866, at Ogden, Utah; died October 22, 1946; married September 7, 1887 to George Gibson Wareing, and they had five children as follows:
A. Edith Luella Wareing, born May 15, 1888, at Ogden, Utah; married Edwin Quayle Cannon.
B. Norma Josephine Wareing, born April 8, 1893, at Ogden, Utah; married Charles E. Brown.
C. George Wareing, born September 16, 1896, at Ogden, Utah; married Dora Montague.
D. Clarence Leroy Wareing, born September 22, 1898, at Ogden, Utah; married Ruth Lawton.
E. Margaret Lucile Wareing, born May 16, 1906, at Salt Lake City, Utah; married Mac B. Harrison.
5. Sarah Harriet Critchlow, born April 16, 1868, at Ogden, Utah; died November 17, 1964; married James Edward Ballantyne March 3, 1886, and they had the following five children:
A. James Leondale Ballantyne, born January 3, 1887, at Ogden, Utah; died January 9, 1888, at the age of one year.
B. Benjamin Franklin Ballantyne, born July 23, 1888, at Ogden, Utah; died April 9, 1923; married Elsie Browning June 25, 1913.
C. William Edward Ballantyne, born April 17, 1890, at Ogden, Utah; died December 26, 1957; married August 3, 1918, to June Price.
D. Belva Ballantyne, born January 30, 1897, at Ogden, Utah; married (1) James H. Higgins and upon their divorce, married (2) Edwin Russell Talley on November 28, 1934.
E. Dorothy Beatrice Ballantyne, born June 8, 1904, at Ogden, Utah; married Paul Brown Gaines November 25, 1931, but they were subsequently divorced.
On April 5, 1881, Benjamin Chamberlin Critchlow married his second wife, Elizabeth Frances Fellows, daughter of George Fellows and Frances Goodwin. Elizabeth Frances Fellows was born December 7, 1855, in Bloxwich, Staffordshire, England. She died September 30, 1944, in Hyrum, Cache County, Utah. They had six children, who were:
1. Georgina Bolette Critchlow, born December 21, 1885, at Hyrum, Utah; married October 23, 1907, to Alf Emil Sorenson, and they had the following daughter:
A. Alfarette Elizabeth Sorenson, born December 12, 1910, at Hyrum, Utah; married Wallace Jorgenson Liddle. Following the death on October 19, 1911, of Alf Emil Sorenson, Georgina Bolette Critchlow married Danford McArthur Bickmore on June 14, 1922, and they had four children as follows:
B. Jean Bickmore, born April 12, 1924, at Hyrum, Utah; married John Stephen White.
C. Martha Bickmore, born May 19, 1926, at Hyrum, Utah; died February 28, 1927, at the age of nine months.
D. Barbara Bickmore, born May 28, 1928, at Paradise, Cache County, Utah; married Sterling David Sessions.
E. Danford Critchlow Bickmore, born October 16, 1929, at Paradise, Utah; married Marilyn McFarland.
2. George Quincy Critchlow, born September 27, 1887, at Salt Lake City, Utah; died May 21, 1888, at the age of eight months.
3. Charlotte Rhoda Critchlow, born July 31, 1890, at Afton, Lincoln County, Wyoming; married December 1, 1909 to Eric William Ryberg. They had six children, as follows:
A. Gertrude Laura Ryberg, born November 2, 1910 at Hyrum, Utah; married October 11, 1935 to Mark Brimhall Garff.
B. Eunice Elizabeth Ryberg, born November 10, 1912, at Salt Lake City, Utah; married August 1, 1941, to Reed Albert Stout.
C. Eric Critchlow Ryberg, born January 8, 1916, at Salt Lake City, Utah; married August 8, 1941, to Maridean Munk.
D. Afton Ryberg, born October 26, 1919, at Salt Lake City, Utah; married October 29, 1948, to George Nibley Cannon.
E. Enid Ryberg, born March 6, 1923, at Salt Lake City, Utah; married September 12, 1946, to Hyrum Nebeker Adams.
F. Benjamin Critchlow Ryberg, born November 21, 1927, at Salt Lake City, Utah; died November 21, 1927, the day of his birth.
4. Charles Chamberlin Critchlow, born April 29, 1894, at Afton, Wyoming; died February 6, 1936; married April 22, 1923 to Eva Margery Peterson, and they had the following son:
A. Lynn Martin Critchlow, born March 24, 1924, at Preston, Nevada; married Roberta____
Following the divorce of Charles Chamberlin Critchlow and Eva Margery Peterson in 1929, he married Louise Larsen in 1930, and they had two daughters as follows:
B. Verna Frances Critchlow, born January 13, 1931, at Beverly Hills, California; married Karl Alfred Quilter.
C. Carolyn Critchlow, born August 9, 1935, at Logan, Utah; married Donald LeGrand Rice.
5. Frances Elizabeth Critchlow, born November 3, 1895, at Hyrum, Utah.
6. Jessie Caroline Critchlow, born August 25, 1898, at Hyrum, Utah; died June 12, 1915, at the age of sixteen years.
IV. Charlotte Rhoda Critchlow
Charlotte Rhoda Critchlow, fourth child of William Critchlow and Harriet Hawkins, was born February 24, 1837, at Leechburg, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. She died January 18, 1893. Her husband was Israel Canfield, Jr., and they had four children, as follows:
1. Carrie Arthusa Canfield, born February 11, 1871, at Ogden, Utah, died November 25,1956; married George Brown Oxnam, and they had the following children:
A. Gordon Israel Oxnam, born March 1, 1897, at Ogden, Utah; married Clara Stiltz.
B. George Canfield Oxnam, born October 15, 1898, at Ogden, Utah; married June Vilate Higgenbotham.
C. Charlotte Helen Oxnam, born June 15, 1900, at Ogden, Utah; married Walter Otto Lucas.
D. Frank Bradner Oxnam, born February 10, 1912, at Ogden, Utah; married Mamie Irene Krall.
2. Israel Critchlow Canfield, born March 22, 1873, at Ogden, Utah; died March 12, 1948; married Minnie May Browning, and they had the following children:
A. Kenneth Israel Canfield, born June 30, 1900, at Ogden, Utah; married Edna Stallings.
B. Clifton Bradner Canfield, born April 19, 1902, at Ogden, Utah; died January 21, 1965; married Elvira Rawson. -
C. Carrie May Canfield, born March 22, 1905, at Ogden, Utah; married Vernor Francis Gibbs.
D. Belva Rachel Canfield, born May 19, 1910, at Ogden, Utah; died May 17, 1913, two days before her third birthday.
E. Stella Martha Canfield, born September 16, 1907, at Ogden, Utah; married Eden Beutler.
3. Amariah Bradner Canfield, born November 1, 1875, at Ogden, Utah; died December 19, 1934; married Helen Collins, and they had only one child:
A. Lloyd Canfield, born February 7, 1897; married Vilate Tronk.
4. William Hawkins Canfield, born May 21, 1879, at Ogden, Utah; died November 3, 1879 at the age of five months.
V. William Fuller Critchlow
William Fuller Critchlow was the fifth and last child of William Critchlow and Harriet Hawkins. He was born February 8, 1839, at Leechburg, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, and died January 10, 1906. On December 9, 1862, he married Mary Elizabeth Brown, and they were the parents of fourteen children:
1. Mary Harriet "Hattie" Critchlow, born January 31, 1864, at Riverdale, Utah; died April 4, 1948; married May 1, 1884 to Ephraim Peter Jensen, and they were the parents of eight children as follows:
A. Earl Ephraim Jensen, born May 10, 1885, at Brigham City, Utah; died January 16, 1941; married to (1) Mary Katherine Ascher, and upon their divorce to (2) Irene Valentine, and upon their divorce to (3) Neva Christensen, and upon their divorce to (4) Marylee Peterson.
B. William Critchlow Jensen, born September 19, 1886, at Brigham City, Utah; married to (1) Allice Miller, and upon their divorce to (2) Gladys Lillian Lyon.
C. Vera Jensen, born July 13, 1888, at Brigham City, Utah; married David Robert Anderson.
D. Keith Royal Jensen, born February 23, 1892; died November 11, 1962; married to (1) Florence Langford, and upon their divorce married (2) Edith Clair Rynders, and married to (3) Dorothy Rynders.
E. Don Fuller Jensen, born January 20, 1890, at Brigham City, Utah; died July 5, 1906 at the age of sixteen years.
F. Bryan Critchlow Jensen, born September 27, 1897, at Logan, Utah; married Naomi Adeline Ellsworth.
G. Ruth Jensen, born February 16, 1903, at Salt Lake City, Utah; married Dr. Thomas Alfred Clawson.
H. Alice Virginia Jensen, born December 17, 1906, at Salt Lake City, Utah; married to (1) Paul Lincoln Holbrook, and upon their divorce married to (2) Dr. George Woodward Buchanan.
2. Charlotte Rosabelle Critchlow, born April 15, 1866, at Ogden, Utah; died December 6, 1935; married October 31, 1882 to Joseph Stahr, and they were parents of nine children, as follows:
A. Mary Geneva Stahr, born February 7, 1889, at Ogden, Utah; died April 2, 1906, at the age of seventeen years.
B. Ruby Charlotte Stahr, born September 2, 1885, at Ogden, Utah; died January 24, 1965; married Charles Leon Lightner.
C. Margaret Jeanette Stahr, born December 16, 1887, at Ogden, Utah; married Frank L. Burgess.
D. John William Stahr, born March 20, 1890, at Ogden, Utah; married Zina Hannah Saunders.
E. Hattie Eliza Stahr, born May 17, 1892, at Ogden, Utah; married James J. Roach.
F. Glenwood Critchlow Stahr, born January 4, 1897, at Ogden, Utah; married Virginia Bell York.
G. Alice Critchlow Stahr, born January 30, 1899, at Ogden, Utah; married Harrison Hedger.
H. Afton Octavia Stahr, born December 6, 1902, at Ogden, Utah; married Fredrick Charles Feil.
I. Dorothy Critchlow Stahr, born at Ogden, Utah; married Gayland Drury.
3. William James Critchlow, born May 8, 1868, at Ogden, Utah; died June 9, 1948; married May 9, 1889 to Anna Christina Gregersen, and they were parents of five children, as follows:
A. William James Critchlow, born August 21, 1892, at Brigham City, Utah; married August 20, 1924 to Anna Marie Taylor.
B. Marcus Lauritus Critchlow, born February 24, 1895, at Brigham City, Utah; died August 27, 1950; married November 12, 1919 to Verna Van Dyke.
C. Victor Dewey Critchlow, born November 12, 1897, at Brigham City, Utah; died September 12, 1964; married October 6, 1924 to (1) Jessie Rose Farino, and July 23, 1946 to (2) Florence Hunt.
D. Carlos Coe Critchlow, born January 5, 1900, at Brigham City, Utah; married June 15, 1918 to Jessie Iris Bingham.
E. John Quincy Critchlow, born February 27, 1902, at Ogden, Utah; married April 17, 1924 to Mabel Collins Miller
4. John Quincy Critchlow, born December 20, 1870, at Ogden, Utah; died January 22, 1930; married May 15, 1895 to Florence Phebe Snow, but they were subsequently divorced after having one child, as follows:
A. Lucile Snow Critchlow, born September 30, 1896, at Brigham City, Utah; married Roby Kellogg Akridge.
5. Margaret Jeanette Critchlow, twin sister of John Quincy Critchlow, born December 20, 1870, at Ogden, Utah; died July 23, 1886, at the age of fifteen years.
6. Alice Vilate Critchlow, born July 21, 1873, at Ogden, Utah; married to (1) Harry McKinney, and subsequently to (2) Burkett Benson Brooks. She and her second husband had one child, as follows:
A. Clyde Critchlow Brooks, born February 3, 1892, at Ogden, Utah; died in December, 1894.
7. George David Critchlow, born January 2, 1876, at Ogden, Utah; died November 17, 1877, at the age of twenty-two months.
8. Charles Robert Critchlow, born November 14, 1878, at Ogden, Utah; died October 1, 1957; married to (1) Julia Cole, and thereafter to (2) Lorena Lacey. By his first wife, he had one child as follows:
A. Mary Eliza Critchlow, born October 31, 1900, at Ogden, Utah; married David Llewellan Roberts.
9. Joseph Fuller Critchlow, born June 4, 1881, at Ogden, Utah; died October 31, 1961; married March 2, 1888 to Julia Otterbeck, and they had nine children, as follows:
A. Lettie May Caroline Critchlow, born May 28, 1900, at Ogden, Utah; married Frank Henkle.
B. Virginia Julia Critchlow, born June 29, 1902, at Ogden, Utah; died September 2, 1902.
C. Thelma Critchlow, born August 9, 1903, at Ogden, Utah; married Lloyd Carrol Murdock.
D. Gladys Eliza Critchlow, born September 17, 1908, at Ogden, Utah; married Harry Eldredge.
E. Joseph Fuller Critchlow, born January 18, 1908, at Ogden, Utah; married August 12, 1931 to Ruby Pearl Farley.
F. Phyllis Critchlow, born October 6, 1909, at Ogden, Utah; died October 7, 1909, at the age of one day.
G. Blanche Sylvia Critchlow, born October 30, 1910, at Ogden, Utah.
H. Florence Goldie Critchlow, born June 17, 1912, at Ogden, Utah; married Forest Maurice Rodgers.
I. Roy Jesse Critchlow, born November 18, 1913, at Ogden, Utah; married March 21, 1937 to Ruth Virginia Robinson.
10. Benjamin Andrew Critchlow, born September 27, 1883; at Ogden, Utah; died December 12, 1958.
11. Alphonso Brown Critchlow, born January 24, 1886, at Ogden, Utah; died October 1 1886, at the age of eight months.
12. Jesse Brown Critchlow, born August 26, 1887; at Ogden, Utah; died in 1892.
13. Ray Brown Critchlow, born July 18; 1890, a Ogden Utah; died September 8, 1890,
14. Roy Brown Critchlow, twin brother of Ray Brown Critchlow, born July 18, 1890, at Ogden, Utah; died October 11, 1890.
Sources:
PAF - Archer files = Captain James Brown + (6) Mary McRee Black > Mary Eliza Brown + William Fuller Critchlow < William Coe Critchlow + Harriet Hawkins..
PAF - Archer files = Captain James Brown + (7) Phoebe Abbott > Orson Pratt Brown.
History of Utah Volume IV, by Orson F. Whitney, George Q. Cannon & Sons Co., Pulblishers, October 1904, Salt Lake City, Utah. Page 568-569:
A four and a half page biography of William Coe Critchlow without author or date, only that it is written about "my great, great grandfather William Coe Critchlow".
Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude , International Society of Daughters of Utah Pioneers. Vol. I Page 709-710. Story of Harriet Hawkins.
All additions, bold, [bracketed] material, and pictures were added by Lucy Brown Archer.
Copyright 2001 www.OrsonPrattBrown.org
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