History of Eliza Baldwin Pace

by Edith H. Terry

Eliza Baldwin was born in Pennsylvania in 1802. She married Elisha Pace in 1830. They lived in Licking County, Ohio. To them were born five children - Samuel (who died at seven [7] years of age), Edwin, Benjamin (One [1] year old at death), George Milton, and Amanda Pace.

Elisha and Eliza heard the LDS Missionaries and were baptized.

Shortly after, they left Ohio, joined the Lorenzo Snow Company bound for Utah. Their three children - Edwin, George Milton, and Amanda and Eliza's widowed sister Sarah Baldwin Smith, who was a school teacher, came with them.

They had two yoke of cattle, one horse, and an old wagon with which to make the longjourney.

Just across the Mississippi River on the north of Nauvoo, where a small colony of the Saints had settled, Elisha Pace died on his fortieth birthday. Eliza's deathbed promise to him was that she would take the children and go on to Zion. We cannot imagine what courage and faith this took, for she was then with child. In 1846, a little girl, Sarah, was born of this union.

The winter of 1846-47, Eliza and her children arrived in Utah and were advised to go directly to the Sessions' settlement. Since they arrived so late in the season, they were obliged to seek temporary shelter in a cave in the side of a hill one and one-half miles southeast of the site of the present Bountiful Ward Chapel. The cave was made of willows, and the mouth of the cave was covered with rushes and grass sod.

Later, a log cabin was built for the family. Eliza Baldwin Pace proved a fine wife and mother - a true Latter Day Saint. She died in 1863 and was buried in Bountiful, Utah.

It was in the spring of 1848 that Eliza Baldwin Pace with her three children and a widowed sister, Sarah Baldwin Smith (a schoolteacher), joined the Lorenzo Snow company bound for Utah. They had two yoke of cattle, one horse and an old wagon. She was fulfilling a deathbed promise to her husband that no matter what happened to him she would take their children and go with the Saints to Zion.

It was just across the Mississippi River on the south from Nauvoo where a small colony of saints had settled that Elisha Pace, her husband, had taken very ill and died on his fortieth birthday. This was October 1st 1845.

Eliza and her husband had been married in 1830, had five children (two of them died as small children) and lived in Licking county, Ohio. Here they heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and were baptized in 1837. They left their home in Ohio and moved to Nauvoo.

Later Eliza, her sister Sarah, and her children moved with the Saints from Illinois to Puncaw Village (200 miles from Winter Quarters) where they endured the severe trials incident to the winters of 1846 and 1847.

From here Eliza and her family started their trek across the plains.

They arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley in August of 1848 with the Lorenzo Snow Company. They were advised by those in authority to go to Session's Settlement (soon after called Bountiful). Eliza and her sons, Edwin & George Milton and her daughter Amanda, and her widowed sister, Sarah Smith, spent the winter on 1848-49 in a temporary shelter and their wagon. Since they arrived so late in the season they were unable to build themselves a cabin and were obliged to provide a temporary shelter in a cave in the side of a hill about one-half mile southwest of the present site of the South Bountiful Ward Chapel. The shelter was also made of willows,

covered with rushes and grass-sod over the mouth of the cave. It was necessary for them to always take a shovel inside at night so that they could shovel themselves out in the morning. The winter was very severe. Later a second home, a one roomed log cabin, was erected on property further East as they found that the land on which they had first settled would not produce, as it was too alkaline.

From Pennsylvania where she was born in 1802 to her death in Bountiful, Utah in 1863, Eliza Baldwin Pace proved to be a courageous woman, a faithful and true Latter-day Saint, and a considerate and loving mother. 

Eliza Baldwin Pace, with three of her children and a widowed sister, Sarah Baldwin Smith, a school teacher, joined the Lorenzo Snow company bound for Utah. They had two yoke of cattle, one horse and an old wagon in which to make the journey. Eliza was fulfilling a deathbed promise made to her husband that no matter what happened to him she would take the children and go with the Saints to Zion. It was just across the Mississippi River on the south from Nauvoo, Illinois, where a small colony of Saints had settled that Elisha Pace, her husband, had taken ill and died on his fortieth birthday. This was in the year 1837. Elisha and Eliza were married in 1830 and were the parents of five children, two died in infancy. They were living in Licking county, Ohio when they heard the teachings of the Mormon missionaries and were baptized. Shortly after they left their home in Ohio moving to the place where her husband passed away. Later Eliza and her children moved with the Saints from Illinois to Puncaw Village, two hundred miles from Winter Quarters.

After their arrival in the valley Eliza, with her sons Edwin and George M., daughter Amanda, and Sarah B. Smith were advised to go directly to Sessions Settlement. Since they had arrived so late in the season they were obliged to fmd temporary shelter in a cave in the side of a hill about one-half mile southwest of the present site of the South Bountiful Ward Chapel. The shelter was made of willows, then covered with rushes and grass sod over the mouth of the cave. It was necessary for them to take a shovel inside at night so they could dig themselves out in the morning. Later a second home, a one-roomed log cabin, was erected on property further east as they found the land on which they had first settled would not produce because it was too alkaline.

From Pennsylvania, where she was born in 1802, to her death in Bountiful, Utah in 1863, Eliza Baldwin Pace proved to be a courageous woman, a faithful and true Latter-day Saint; and a considerate and loving mother.