Lemuel Hardison Sr. Redd
Born: July 31, 1836; Onslow County, North Carolina
History
Lemuel Hardison Redd was born on July 31, 1836, in Onslow County, North Carolina. He joined five brothers and sisters already born to his loving parents, John Hardison Redd and Elizabeth Hancock Redd. His father was a seafaring man well respected among his peers and was affectionately referred to as Captain Redd. In total, Lemuel would be the sixth of eight children. The others were Edward, Harriet (who died as an infant), Ann Moriah, Elizabeth Anne, Mary Catherine, (Lemuel), John Holt and Benjamin Jones.
Lemuel’s parents moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 1838. They purchased a large plantation and a few African American slaves. Four years later, when Lemuel was six-years-old, his family heard the gospel and joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His father legally freed their slaves through an act of court, though two of the slave women and their children decided to stay on with the family. Burning testimony gave the Redds the courage to join the Saints in Nauvoo, and then to journey to the Salt Lake Valley in 1850. By that time, Lemuel was fourteen-years-old, and that was old enough to do his share. He drove an ox team from St. Joe, Missouri across the vast plains to Salt Lake City. Cholera made the arduous journey of these faithful Saints even more difficult, and Lemuel and his father both suffered greatly from the illness. Eventually they recovered and were overjoyed to reach the Salt Lake Valley and begin a new phase of their lives. Stories of what he experienced, witnessed, and felt while traveling the long miles with his family and others were close to his heart, and Lemuel shared them time and again with his awe struck children and grandchildren for years to come.
After safely arriving in Salt Lake, Lemuel and his parents established a home for themselves in Spanish Fork, Utah. There they set up the first sawmill south of Provo and began pioneering the new terrain. W.W. Wellis baptized Lemuel a member to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on June 2, 1852 in Spanish Fork. He was ordained to the office of a priest the same day and remained faithful to his duties as a priesthood holder throughout his entire life.
Fighting with local Indians broke out in 1853, and consequently the sawmill and town were destroyed, at a loss of $6000 to the family. They moved to Palmyra hoping to start again on safer soil.
Time as a Fearless Soldier
Lemuel could always be counted on to defend his freedom and country. Patriotism ran in his blood. He was a direct descent of John Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence, and many of his ancestors fought valiantly for the cause of freedom. Lemuel was a soldier in the Walker War, which broke out in July 1853. He was a soldier again in the Black Hawk War that erupted in 1863. Threat of Indian invasion was ever present in the minds of the early settlers of this untamed land. Lemuel was part of an army of soldiers commissioned with tracking the Indians and discouraging them from bloodshed. His company lost one man and one horse in the war, which gratefully lasted only one month. He and his fellow soldiers were given a medal for their bravery. Lemuel was also called to be one of two-thousand soldiers organized by Brigham Young as a ready force, prepared if a need arose. As part of this force, he was assigned to meet the U.S. Army, who upon hearing false reports, were given orders to disband the Mormons in Utah. Determined to set straight the supposedly unruly Mormons, the Army brought Mr. Alfred Cummings with them, and he was assigned to be governor of Utah. A compromise and understanding were reached without bloodshed, and in time, Governor Cummings became a great support to the Mormon colonizers.
Source:
Researched and written for the Hole-in-the-Rock Foundation by:
C.S.M. Jones LLC, Family Heritage Consulting:
Another Version of Life Sketch
Bibliography
Author Unknown. “History of Lemuel Hardison Redd.” Unpublished history from
the files of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, UT.
Carter, Kate B., Our Pioneer Heritage, vols.8 and 18, Salt Lake City, UT:
Daughters of Utah Pioneers,1958-1977.
Collett, Carol Ivans. “Lemuel Hardison Redd, Pioneer of 1850.” Unpublished
history from the files of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, UT.
Embry, Jesse L. La Sal Reflections: A Redd Family Journal. Provo, Utah:
Charles Redd Foundation,1984.
Jenson, Andrew, ed., Latter-Day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A
Compilations of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Salt Lake City: D.U.P. Memorial Foundation Publishers, Reprint. Available digitally online through Brigham Young University.
Mitchell, Regina Redd. “Lemuel Hardison Redd.” ca. 1986. Unpublished history
from the files of the Daughters of the Utah Pioners, Salt Lake City, UT.
Perkins, Cornelia Adams, Marian Gardner Nielson, and Lenora Butt Jones. Saga
of San Juan. Monticello, Utah: San Juan County Daughters of Pioneers,
1957.
i Author Unknown,“History of Lemuel Hardison Redd,” unpublished history from the files of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, UT, 7.
ii Ibid., 8.
iii Ibid.
iv Ibid.
v Ibid.
vi Lemuel Hardison Redd as directed to his daughter, Jessie L. Embry, ed., “Life Sketch of Lemuel Hardison Redd,” La Sal Reflections, Provo, Utah: Charles Redd Foundation,1984, 100.
vii Ibid., 101.
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