James Hyrum Baird, 1848-1910 and His Wives and Children
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Remembrances and Biographies Of James Hyrum Baird, 1848-1910 And His Wives and Children First Wife Fannie Emmorett Sessions Baird, 1855-1908 Married 7 March 1870 Second Wife Margaret Ellen Randall Baird, 1858-1931 Married 8 July 1880 Published By Baird Genealogical Association, Inc. Compiled By Frederick Eldredge Baird, Grandson Assisted by Gilbert Lee Cooper, Great-grandson James Richard Baird, Grandson 2012 Table of Contents 1 Compiler’s Comments 4 By Fredrick Eldredge Baird 2 The Life of James Hyrum Baird 5 By Edwin Baird, Clyde B. Lee and Ruby Baird Andersen (As published in the original document) 3 Incidents in Father’s Early Life 27 By Wilford Baird 4 History of James Hyrum Baird’s Family 29 By Abner Harley Baird 5 A Brief History of James Hyrum Baird, his Wives and Children 31 By Fredrick Eldredge Baird 6 Fannie Emmorett Sessions Baird And Some History of Her Children 40 By Gilbert Lee Cooper and Fred Eldredge Baird 7 Margaret Ellen Randall Baird 45 Written by Herself in 1926 8 A History of My Mother’s Life 48 By Maggie Baird Evans 9 Reflections on A Wonderful Mother’s Life 55 By Ruby Baird Anderson 10 A Brief History of James Hyrum Baird’s Children 59 By Frederick Eldredge Baird 11 Matilda Rutledge Baird Greer Church 74 By Blaine B. Blake and Fred Eldredge Baird 12 Life of Perrigrine Sessions - Taken from his Diaries 76 By Hannah Sessions Burningham 13 History of Fanny Emmorett Loveland Sessions 90 By Lucille Smith Hansen 2 14 Ancestors of Margaret Ellen Randall Baird 93 By Frederick Eldredge Baird 15 Fannie and James H. Baird’s Children’s Short Biographies 96 Hyrum Walter Minnie B. Walker Chauncey Chloe B. Lee Clarence Zina B. Reed Samuel Asa Reese Eliza B. Sessions 16 Ellen and James H. Baird’s Children’s Short Biographies 116 Wilford Abner Margaret (Maggie) Evans Chestina (Christy) Larsen Orrin Ruby B. Andersen Edwin 17 Selected Family Pictures 133 18 Selected Documents: 142 Patriarchal Blessings James H. Baird Fannie Emmorett Sessions Baird Margaret Ellen Randall Baird 19 “The Spirit of Christmas” 150 By Clarence Baird, 1919 20 Information Sources 153 3 Chapter One COMPILER’S COMMENTS By Fredrick Eldredge Baird In 1982, uncle Abner asked me to assemble a biography of my grandmother Ellen Baird. Moreover, he asked that a biography be compiled on aunt Fannie Sessions Baird. Uncle Abner followed up with letters in 1983. About 1960, I had read some information written by Aunt Maggie but the current ease of making copies did not exist at that time so I did not obtain a copy. Many requests were made over several years before the information written by Aunt Maggie was received. When I finally obtained Aunt Maggie’s writings, in the late 1980's, a copy of the hand written information was accepted with the express stipulation that it could not be recopied and distributed to family members. I finally made a decision in 2004. If I “translated” her writings to my computer then a copy was not technically made and the stipulation was not violated. The biography would not be complete without reference to the aforesaid information. During 2004, a draft of the autobiography by Uncle Edwin and the writing about her mother by aunt Ruby became available. These two sources contained significant additional history. It is unfortunate that this history was not compiled during uncle Abner’s lifetime so that he could read this history and offer additional information and corrections. In addition to the request of uncle Abner, the history was compiled so that it will be recorded for future generations on the microfilm at the LDS Church Genealogical Library, which has branches throughout the world. The children of James H. Baird always considered themselves as children of James and Fannie or James and Ellen. Moreover, they also always considered themselves as members of the one “James H. Baird, family”. I knew many uncles and aunts. With the exceptions of Samuel, and Chloe, who died in California in 1928, I visited in all of their homes, usually more than once, including Chauncey in San Bernardino, CA. My parents took their three eldest sons to the joint funeral of Minnie and Daniel Walker in Syracuse, 5 January 1935. I also visited in the home of Minnie Walker long after she died, when the home was occupied by her daughter- in-law. Never did I hear the term half-brother and half-sister. They always spoke of their brother or sister. Because my uncles and aunts never used the term half-brother or half-sister, when differentiation was desirable, I have always spoken of an aunt or uncle as a son or daughter of aunt Fannie; or a son or daughter of my grandmother. Some of my cousins have used the term half-brother or half-sister, but I do not remember using those terms. 4 Chapter Two THE LIFE OF JAMES HYRUM BAIRD 1848 -1910 As COMPILED & PUBLISHED BY EDWIN BAIRD, A SON 1968 James Hyrum Baird James Hyrum Baird was one of those fearless, hardy, pioneers who was willing to face all kinds of physical hardships and privations to redeem the western desert and build a culture, the like of which the world had never seen. He had implicit faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ and its leadership. He knew that Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and their successors were prophets of God; and he tried to live according to every word which they taught, to the best of his ability. Thus James hoped that his life would be above reproach, so that his family, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances would find nothing but good in his words, acts, and relations with everyone. James' parents, Samuel Baird and Matilda Rutledge, joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Marion, Perry County, Alabama. About 1840, they moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. Shortly after they arrived there, the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred and the exodus of the Church to the West began. Unable to outfit themselves for the westward movement, the Baird family purchased a houseboat and moved down the Mississippi River to Quincy, Illinois. They made their home on the boat for several years. While living at Quincy, Samuel Baird was employed as captain on a freight boat between St. Louis and New Orleans. James, the tenth and youngest child, was born on the fifth of February 1848, while the boat was moored in a quiet inlet of the river. About 1850, Matilda moved with the children to St. Joseph, Missouri, where they lived near the river for a number of years. Several other families went with her, and since there was an organized branch of the Church there, they could associate with others of their faith. Samuel Baird wrote to his family periodically and counseled the older boys to take good care of their mother. James was very small when his father worked on the river and saw very little of him. Soon after a trip down the river, the family received a letter from a nurse in New Orleans stating that Samuel Baird had contracted yellow fever during an epidemic there. His son Joseph took the next steamer down the river, but was unable to find any trace of his father. 5 During the epidemic the dead were buried in a long trench and no records were kept. One day in late summer, James, his older brother, and some other boys, got a row boat and went across the river to gather fruit, nuts and berries that grew wild on the banks and provided much of their food. When the boat was loaded, there was insufficient room for all the boys. Because two of the older boys could not swim there was discussion about how to get home and while they were arguing, James quietly undressed, threw his clothes in the boat, and dived into the river. He was the first to reach the opposite shore. Previously, his mother had worried about him going swimming in the river, but she changed her opinion when told what he had done. Since it was James responsibility to herd the cattle along the river banks, he had many opportunities to be in the water and became a very fine swimmer. Another day, James and some friends found a skunk in a hollow log. They poked it with sticks until it had ejected all of its musk. James then took it home and caused quite a commotion. Even after the skunk was released, James was not very welcome in the house for a day or two. When the Civil War started, two of James' brothers, Andrew and Joseph, enlisted in the army on the Union side. His older sisters married and one of them died while the family lived at St. Joseph. They next moved to Atchison, Kansas. In the spring of 1863, his mother, with her sons Brigham and James, and several other families, outfitted a small company with ox teams to go to Utah. They crossed the plains on the regular Overland Trail, arriving in Salt Lake City that fall. Soon after reaching Salt Lake City, they moved to the northwest part of the settlement near the mouth of the Jordan River where they spent the first winter caring for some cattle. Food was not plentiful that first winter. Cooking fat was so limited that in order to fry a fish James caught in City Creek it was necessary to drop water into the frying pan until the fish was cooked to keep it from burning.