Sarah Wagstaff Sears

Daughter of Isaac Wagstaff and Mary Bathsheba Guillians.

 Sarah Wagstaff was born at Caldicote, Northill Parish, Bedfordshire, England, 2 September 1824. She died at Salt Lake City, Utah, 18 November 1902. In the year 1842 she married John Sears, and eleven children were born to them. The part played by the wife and mother was not one which occupied the center of the stage, nor was she ever in the lime-light. Yet her life was full of that quiet heroism which usually goes unsung. A wonderful helpmate, a devoted mother and a loyal friend. Patient in trial, uncomplaining in adversity and conscientious in all things. Her disposition was sunny and her love for the wild birds and flowers of England amounted almost to devotion. This feeling never left her and her hobby in later life was to have the finest flower garden in the neighborhood. The care of flowers sweetened her life and lengthened her life. All kinds of flowers and shrubs seemed to thrive and grow under her magic touch.


The schools of rural England at the time of her girlhood were hardly worthy of the name, but she was endowed with a native intelligence, keen intellect, and quick perception. As she grew in stature and developed in mind there came a comeliness, grace, and beauty which caused many a swain to sigh and John thought himself fortunate when he led to the altar. Sarah came from stock that was as solid as the rock. The Wagstaffs were conservative, thorough going, and thrifty. Not brilliant, but honest, dependable people. Their name was a symbol of honor. With such ancestry and a reasonably favorable home environment, Sarah had the foundation for the part in life she played so well as wife and mother.

Heber J. Sears
by Drucilla Sears Howard

My recollections of my grandfather and grandmother Sears dates back to my earliest childhood. They lived next door to my mother’s home until I was about sixteen years old. As a small child I used to carry a pail of milk to them from our cow each evening, climbing over the stile in the fence which separated our back yards. I remember grandmother’s lovely flowers, and how much she loved them, also that she often used to give me a piece of hard candy or homemade currant cake. (I wish I had a piece of it right now). Also there was a long boardwalk which led from the house to their barn and a grapevine trellis which arched over the walk. When the grapes were ripe we children used to like to walk down the boardwalk just to see fi the grapes tasted as good as they looked (they did). It was grandfather Sears who selected the verse which was painted in our old beloved 11th Ward Meeting House and which read, "Ye shall keep My Sabbaths and Reverence my Sanctuary - I am the Lord".

John Sears

husband of Sarah Wagstaff Sears

John Sears, eldest son of Joseph Sears and Elizabeth Cutler, was born at Southill Parish, Bedfordshire, England, Oct 18, 1822 and died in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 1, 1902.


He married Sarah Wagstaff of Caldicote, Bedfordshire, England December 26, 1842. They had eleven children, Septimius W., Isaac, Maria, Nathan, Maria Ann, David, John, Mary, Sarah Elizabeth, Daniel John, Mary and Sarah Elizabeth died in infancy.


John grew to manhood in Bedfordshire following the occupation of a farmer. When married he lived in a little thatched cottage in Upper Caldicote. Here the young couple began housekeeping in three rooms; one upstairs and two down. In the south room, the largest, John taught school in the evening, for he enjoyed the distinction of being the best educated man in the family and perhaps in the neighborhood. His brother David has told of how clever John was in writing short-hand he gained the great speed of 60 to 70 words per minute. He was also a great reader and at times met clergymen in debates. David told of how John once held a four hour debate with a minister and still had plenty of argument left over.


It is said that John "set the pace" in reaping, mowing, or any kind of farm work. In those days all grain was cut with a scythe with cradle. At the house in Upper Caldicote, seven of the first eight children were born and the family struggled against adversity so common in those days and in that section of the country. As soon as the children were all taught to plait or braid straws for making hats, and this was their occupation until they were large enough to heavier work. The mother and children would plait every spare moment of the day and often well into the night.


In 1849 the whole family joined the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and here began a new epoch in their history. On June 3, 1864, John Sears with his wife and four children, Nathan, maria Ann, Heber and anna left England on a sailing vessel called the "Hudson". The Captain was Israel Pratt. It took them six weeks and six days to cross the Atlantic. There were about eleven hundred passengers on the boat. One thousand of them being Mormon emigrants. Needless to say that in the intimate companionship formed on this long sea voyage friendships were established which lasted throughout life.


They danced, they sang, played and held diving service on shipboard. The ship pulled into New York harbor on July 20, 1864. On the evening of July 21 they boarded a magnificent steamer, the first steamboat they ever saw, and went up the Hudson River, arriving at Albany, New York the next day. At Albany they took train for Buffalo. The trip from Buffalo was made in cattle cars.


The landed in Chicago on Sunday July 24 and as at that time no trains left Chicago on Sunday, they remained until next morning, when they went to Quincy, Illinois. But as there were no hotel accommodations they were compelled to stand up all night in a shed at the railway station. From Quincy they took a train fir St Joseph, Missouri. This was also a train of cattle cars, with no seats and with manure in some places a foot deep. The cinders from the engine poured in on them and one car took fire. The passengers all got out but the car was burned up. The train left in three sections and some accident befell each section. Two sections rolled down an embankment but no one was hurt. the railroad men said it didn’t matter much if some of them were killed as they were only Mormons. This was during the Civil War and travel was dangerous on account of many bridges having been burned by rebel soldiers. At St Joseph, Missouri, they were permitted to go on a steamer, on August 1, up the river to Florence. Here they were camped and ready for their journey across the plains with ox teams, which began on August 12th. These ox team companies were in charge of captains. There would be one captain over fifty people, and these fifty were again divided into tens, with a captain over each ten. The captain of the company in this special case was William Hyde, from Hyde Park, Cache Valley, Utah. John Sears drove one of the ox teams but his wife and children were in another wagon driven by Daniel Wolstinholme. The wagon was loaded with merchandise to the top of the double bed, with eight passengers besides the teamster in the bows. In this particular wagon was Sarah Sears with her children: Nathan, Sarah Ann, Heber and Anna R. Besides three other women. There were about thirty-five wagons in the train. some forty or fifty of the immigrants died on the way owning to change of food, cholera and hardships. The Indians were very hostile that year. Eleven men killed by them in a company of freighters just ahead of this emigrant train, but this company was not disturbed by the Indians. They had plenty of provisions and although buffalo were scarce at this time, the antelope were plentiful. One of the children, Heber, was sick all the way. He had measles when o the ship and did not fully recover from them. As they journeyed westward across the plains he grew gradually worse and on the day he was three years old they expected to have to bury him on the plains. However he served and lived to a greater age than any of his brothers or sisters.


They arrived in Salt Lake City, October 26, 1864, making their journey across the plains in fifteen weeks and one day. After being entertained for a few weeks by the wife’s brother William Wagstaff, who lived just opposite, west of what is now the City and County Building, (1933) the family moved to Morgan, Utah, but the winter was so severe that they left there and moved to Kaysville, Utah, where they found a friend in one Charles Layton, who divided his one room house by a partition and made them as comfortable as he could and for a year permitted them to farm part of his land on shares. The following fall they rented a neighboring farm belonging to Mr. Horton Haight and stayed there for two years. although he though the grasshoppers were a great pest, these years were prosperous ones.


The building of a rail-way down Weber Canyon created a demand for improved farm products and the financial condition of the family was much improved. live stock accumulated, corps were good and wild game was plentiful. At the end of two years they were persuaded to move to Pleasant Grove, to which place they went Oct. 1868. Here there last son John Joseph was born. This move was unfortunate as the land was poor and returns small. At the end of the year they decided to move to Salt Lake City and for a year or two the did a little farming on the bench south of the city.


In the year 1871, John Sears began to work for Zions Co-Operative Mercantile Institution. For a number of years he was manager of the produce department and stayed at the institution until 1888, when he resigned and retired from active business. During all this time the family ;moved in the 11th Ward and most of the time at what is now known as 746 East 2nd South St., while living there their last three children were reared so that number is known as the old estate of Sears family.


In 1888 John Sears made a visit to England which lasted tow months. The object of this trip was to visit again the haunts of his boyhood and to gather the family genealogy.


In the year 1890 Salt lake City had a real estate boom and the old home on 2nd south with had been occupied for more than twenty years was sold for a good price. With part of the proceeds they built a cottage in a southern suburb of the city on 5th east just below 17th south, and here they spent the remainder of their days. John Sears was a man of sterling integrity. One who rose from obscurity to a sphere of usefulness. From illiterate youth to a well-read man. From poverty to comfort. He rose above any of his brothers and sister in material, intellectual and spiritual attainments. He was a worthy citizen, a good neighbor and a devout Latter-day Saint. It is certain that the faith he espoused in his native land, fired him with enthusiasm, gave purpose to his life, and brought him to the land of opportunity. He lived to be 80 years old.

A Pioneer Home that Grew

by Drucilla Sears Howard

Isaac Sears, a Utah Pioneer of 1864, was born in Caldicote, Bedfordshire, England, 2 December 1845. His parents were John and Sarah Wagstaff Sears. He being the second born of their eleven children. At the age of twenty-two he married Sarah Jane Gailey in the Old Endowment House in Salt lake City and proceeded to Kaysville where these young people lived until there were two children. Returning to Salt Lake City he became an organizer and a part of the business firm of "Sears and Jeremy", dealers in hay, grain and seeds. This venture proved successful and as his life’s employment, enabled him to support his large and growing family to the end of this days.


The memorable trip from Kaysville to Salt Lake City was made in a wagon drawn by a horse and a mule and loaded with all kinds of accumulated possessions as well as the young family. Their precious cow was tied to the back of the wagon and so the twenty-five mile journey must have taken a whole day at least. Little Mary Ann, still only two years of age, kept asking her patient father to get out and milk the cow as she was so thirsty, which took additional time. However, they arrived and located in the Eleventh Ward where they pitched a tent to live in while building the first section of their pioneer home at 756 East Second South Street. This was built of adobe, two rooms, one above the other, but before it was finished their baby son died and this sad event was followed by further misfortune. While they were absent for their new home, all the furniture was stolen. But, they had pioneer courage and undismayed they plodded on together and in this small bedroom upstairs, four children were born: William G., Sarah Drucilla, Etta May and Jessie. the following were born later: Ira, Harold Ernest, Albert Eugene, Wilton Henry, Ethel Irene and Afton.


A summer kitchen or shanty was built at this time on the back of the first two rooms into which the kitchen stove was moved during hot July and August days. I remember standing in that uncomfortable spot washing dishes. Also we had a long metal bath tub with a hinged lid that we used fora a table when it was not in other use. Later on this tub was converted into a drinking trough in the barnyard for the horses and cows.


As our lot extended half way through the block, Father planted a number of fruit trees including plum, cherry, peach, apricots and apple trees, which flourished and gave us much happiness. The irrigation ditch was between the sidewalk and the street and provided water for the surrounding gardens. How we loved that ditch. There was no dearth of activity as long as we could make dams, tiny irrigation systems, waterfalls, water wheels and day dreams with the interesting and fascinating liquid treasure.


As the years passed by and children kept coming the house became too small ans so was enlarged by the addition of a two-story adobe part built in 1879, which contained four more rooms, two upstairs, and two downstairs with a commodious cellar and a fireplace in the parlor. One of the first telephones to be installed in the residential district was in this home and for a number of years the room in which it was placed became known as the "telephone room". In emergencies neighbors and friends from blocks around came to use our phone. I remember one local belle who came frequently to talk with her beau, and if mother was not close by so that she could reprimand us, we curious children listened in.


In 1886 still another addition was built back of the original two rooms. This new part was of brick and included a dining room, up to date kitchen pantry and bathroom. It did not show from the front of the house and so cannot be seen in the old photograph. By this time we had running water in the house with a kitchen sink, a larger water boiler attached to the range, and bathroom conveniences. How modern we felt. However, we still had kerosene lamps to fill and clean daily. When we went upstairs to bed we would carry lighted candles amusing ourselves with dropping tallow "warts" upon our hands.


Once a year, in the spring, we would clean house. All of the carpets must be taken up, carried downstairs and out of doors where they would be beaten and swept. Our heavy beds and ticks were similarly treated. After all walls, woodwork and glass were made spotlessly shining, aired and ready, new straw was spread upon the floors under the carpets and new straw also placed in the bed ticks. In the winter we frequently had fires burning continuously in four or five rooms, for which all of the fuel had to be carried into the house from the outside coalshed and when reduced to ashes and refuse, carried out again. Truly, the essential work in keeping up these early loved poems provided plenty of physical exercise.


Among the outdoor interests we were especially proud of our carriage steps. At first they were placed in front of the house near the street but later moved to the outside lane which led to the barnyard. The trick was to drive close enough for passengers to step easily into or from the vehicle, but, we children, when driving, had a way of hitting steps with the wheels and occasionally bringing upon ourselves ridicule and embarrassment.


Father built a large adobe barn in which were the harness room, the buggy room, and a large loft where several loads of hay could be stored. Along the south side of this barn were the stalls for the horses and good old family cow. We used to give neighborhood plays in the place where the buggy was kept, using the harness room for costume needs. Besides the barn there were wooden sheds for baled hay and straw and to house the sheep to be fattened for market.


Mother always canned and dried an abundance of fruit and in the winter made a barrel full of mince meat. There were ample stores of fruits in the cellar and a year’s supply of flour. The bins in the kitchen were enormous and were also kept full. Apples, molasses and cider, of which there was plenty, helped with informal entertaining, parties and general hospitality.


About the time when I was nearly grown "Block Meetings" were being held in some of the large-enough poems. Often they came to our home and such good times we had. After the formal meetings we pushed the big old dining table against the wall and danced to father’s accordion music, or one of the boy’s mouth organs. Quilting bees were also delightful occasions. Friends and neighbors would come and chat while they worked. We children learned many new strange things from just listening in while we threaded the needles.


One of the most popular home entertainments was the surprise party, at one time this was what was called "the rage" and it seemed as though everyone of any importance was being "surprised".


We had many good times in the old home but perhaps those at Conference times were the most memorable. All of our relatives would come from distant parts. Beds were made in almost every room of the house and the table and pantry were laden with favorite foods.

Mother was an excellent cook and father was most hospitable and generous. We had music, dancing, visiting, sermonettes, testimonies and family love which have left a golden treasury of memories which include all of life spent in the dear old home that grew.