MARY WAGSTAFF BONE (1811 - 1875)

BIRTHDATE: 25 February 1811, Upper Caldecote, Bedford, England


DEATH: 20 October 1875, Lehi, Utah, Utah.


PARENTS: Isaac Wagstaff & Mary Bathsheba. Guillions


PIONEER: 12 Sep 1861, Milo Andrus Company Wagon Train


SPOUSE: William Bone, died 2 October 1802


MARRIAGE: 5 December 1833, Northill, Bedford, England


CHILDREN:
   Jane, 28 May 1835
   William, 1837 (died as an infant)
   John, 2 Sep 1839
   William, 6 Nov 1841
   Mary, 1843 (died an infant)
   Mary Ann, 5 Oct 1845
   Elizabeth, 24 Sep 1850


Mary’s father was head gardener for Esquire Harvy, who furnished a cottage for the Wagstaff family on his estate where he also gave them space for a garden and beehives.


Mary met William Bone who lived in a nearby village and they were married and had seven children. After being converted to the LDS Church, William and Mary were baptized in 1854.


On April 23, 1861, William, Mary, and their children sailed on the "Underwriter", from Liverpool, England and arrived in New York on May 21, 1861. They took the train to Florence, Nebraska, and crossed the Plains by ox team with the Milo Andrus Wagon Company.


Soon after their arrival, they moved to Lehi, Utah, to join their son, John, who had emigrated earlier. Barely two months after the Bone family arrived in Lehi, their daughter, Jane, died leaving four children ranging in age from six years to eight months.


William and Mary provided a loving home for these children. Mary also cared for her widowed mother who lived with them. About seven years later, their daughter, Mary Ann died, leaving three children under four years of age. Two years following that their daughter Elizabeth died leaving one child. What a tremendous sadness for William and Mary, to lose their three daughters, all young mothers and children.


Mary made potato yeast for some of her neighbors and exchanged it for flour so she could make bread for the family. She always kept a clean, neat house and was resourceful with what she had. She and William were united and active in civic and church affairs. She supported him in his efforts to build the town of Lehi and in his calling as general watermaster for several years.


She was religious and talented. She wrote a poem. "Farewell All Earthly Honors" that was later set to music by William R. Bradbury. This song was published in the LDS Hymnbook and was sung at many funerals. She suffered greatly during her dying months with cancer, but remained patient and cheerful.