JOHN BILLS By Shelly Jeppson (a Great-Great- Great- Great Granddaughter)

BORN: 17 September 1819 COMPANY: Mahonan Township, Blairsville, Brigham Young’s 2nd Indiana County, Pennsylvania Company- 1st Division

DIED: 19 February 1850 Pacheco Pass, San Joaquin ARRIVED IN UTAH: Valley, California 21 September 1848

FATHER: Alanson Bills MOTHER: Electa Hill SPOUSES: 1- Elizabeth Scott 2- Elizabeth Hall

John Bills

John Bills was born 19 September 1819 in Mahonan Township, Blairsville, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Alanson and Electa Hill Bills. His grandfather, Elijah Bills, had fought in the American Revolution.

John married Elizabeth Scott in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania while they were quite young! They eventually had six children, all sons, together. William Andrew Bills, their eldest, was born 5 August 1835. He was followed by John A. Bills who was born about 1839. John A. died on 14 August 1843 while the family was living in Nauvoo and was buried in the Nauvoo Cemetery. Robert was born in 1840, and Charles Colson was born in 1842. Franklin Richard was born on 22 May 1845 and Samuel, their youngest son, was born on 22 March 1848.

John was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 1 July 1836. Elizabeth had been baptized a short while before John joined. Being a tailor by trade, John moved his Elizabeth Scott Bills Lazenby family to Far West, Missouri where he established a clothing store. While in Missouri, John lost almost all his possessions because of the persecutions that the mobs inflicted upon the saints. His son, William Andrew, wrote in his history that his mother “Stood with me in her arms ready to be killed and for me to be killed as well.” After being driven from Far West, the family moved to Rushville. The family later moved to Commerce (later named Nauvoo), Hancock County, Illinois. John once again set up his tailoring 1

business making clothing for many people including Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Page

Because John was a tailor by trade, he made most of the uniforms for the . John was a General in the Nauvoo Legion and he made a cloak for the Prophet (shown at right)!

John and Elizabeth Bills were in the Nauvoo 4th Ward along with Joseph and Emma Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Newell K. Whitney, and many of the other early Church leaders. Their property was very close to the Smith family homestead, which made

it very convenient to have Joseph and Hyrum try on their clothing.

The family helped to build the beautiful city of Nauvoo which eventually had about 20 thousand people and a beautiful temple to the Lord.

His son, William Andrew, writes about going to the Mansion House and visiting the Smith family. William Andrew wrote the following about Nauvoo: John Bills Property in Nauvoo next to Joseph Smith Sr.

“I was well acquainted with the Prophets Joseph and Hyrum and their father and mother, as also William and Don Carlos Smith. We were close neighbors. Father, being a tailor, made their clothes. I used to take Joseph and Hyrum’s clothes to Joseph’s house. His mother once showed me the mummies, they were in appearance as natural as any other person would be after being dried up as they were. They were the color of cork sole leather, common size, five in number, if I recall correctly.” William Andrew Bills History William Andrew Bills While in Nauvoo, John was ordained a Seventy. He was a president in the 29th Quorum of Seventy which was organized on 27 July 1845 in Nauvoo. John and Elizabeth were also endowed and sealed in the on 7 January 1846.

While in Nauvoo, John was once baptized for the purpose of health; which was a common practice for the saints at that time. “…[In] December 1842,…Horace S. Eldredge cut holes in the frozen river seven mornings in a row for the purpose of baptizing John Bills for rheumatism and bleeding lungs. For the Mormons of Nauvoo, baptism for health was both a priesthood ordinance and a dramatic demonstration of personal faith.” Quinn, D. Michael BYU Studies,

Vol. 18, No.2 p. 230.

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John also married Elizabeth Hall as a plural wife in January 1847 at Council Bluffs, Iowa. They had two children together. Martha Bills was born on 8 February 1848 and Thomas Wesley Bills was born on 6 March 1850. John and his second wife Elizabeth also lost a child! Martha died on 19 March 1849 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In the spring of 1846 John and both of his wives (Elizabeth), along with most of the saints, moved west to Winter Quarters and stayed until he raised a Elizabeth Hall Bills crop in 1847. He then gathered an outfit together and in the spring of 1848 he moved his family west to the Salt Lake Valley. They left Winter Quarters, Nebraska on 26 May 1848 and they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 23 September 1848. This was a huge company which included 1220 people! After arriving in Utah, they lived in the fort which had been built by the pioneers the previous year. In the spring of 1849, the family moved out of the fort and settled on Little Cottonwood, a half mile below where the Union Ward Meeting House was later built in Salt Lake County (700 East 7200 South). There they raised crops.

John later moved Elizabeth Hall (Eliza), his second wife, to Pleasant Grove. She was assisted by friends while John was away. But when John decided to go to Southern California on a business trip, she moved back to Salt Lake to try and find work. It is apparent that there was friction between the two wives because on 14 November 1849, John wrote the following in his journal: “I wish Elizabeth would be more kind to Eliza, at least help her find a job.” [John Bills journal.]

After making his family as comfortable as possible, John started on a business trip to Southern California on 9 November 1849. Before he reached his destination, he became sick and grew steadily worse until he reached San Joaquin Valley, at the Pacheco Pass. He died and was buried on 19 February 1850 near San Joaquin, California. His son, William Andrew, was with him at the time of his death.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. History of William Andrew Bills Sr. (son of John Bills). 2. Family Group Sheets 3. Nauvoo Temple register 4. 1842 Nauvoo Census 5. Temple Index Bureau 6. History of the Church. The Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price was translated from rolls of papyrus that were found with the mummies. The mummies were later sold to a museum and later destroyed in a fire. 7. Quinn, D. Michael. BYU Studies, Vol.18, No.2, p. 230. 8. Mormon Emigration, International Society of Daughters of Utah Pioneers. 1963. P. 256. 9. Utah LDS Early Members Kirtland- Nauvoo- Missouri 1836-1846. Family History Library Film # 0581219.

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