Life Story of Alexander Scoby Standley and Philinda Upson Standley compiled by George Burton Standley

Life Story of Alexander Scoby Standley and Philinda Upson Standley
(Compiled by George Burton Standley, November 8, 1931)
"My great-grandfather, Alexander Scoby Standley, was born in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey, 12 May 1800, the son of Richard and Elizabeth Stuls [sic] Standley. He came to Ohio with his father's family in the year 1818. There he bought a farm covered with timber. Each year he would clear a patch and cultivate it until the farm was all in good condition. He had no opportunity to attend school, but his burning desire to learn made him use every spare moment for study. At night the firelight would serve as his light. Through his persistance, he became well enough educated to teach school and was very well liked.
My great-grandmother, Philinda Upson, was born August 1, 1814, at Randolph, Portage County, Ohio, the daughter of Freeman Upson and Sally (or Sarah) Culver.

On March 19 1829, Alexander Scoby Standley and Philinda Upson were married. They became the parents of eleven children, eight girls and three boys. The couple continued to make their home in Ohio and it was here they heard and accepted Mormonism and were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in March 1837, by Elder James Emmett. Brother Emmett organized a branch of the Church in the vicinity and Alexander Scoby Standley was called to preside. Later Great-grandfather baptized his parents and most of his brothers and sisters.
On September 10th, 1838, all but three members of the Branch left Portage County, Ohio, for Far West, Missouri, Brother Standley and his family being among them. There were thirty-one in all, with but one wagon. Most of them walked while their bedding, cooking utensils and provisions were hauled in the wagon. The rest of their belongings were sent by steamboat. They arrived in Missouri, where the Mormons were located, soon after the "Crooked River Battle" was fought. The man defrayed the expenses of the war and were required to leave the State of Missouri that year. On leaving Missouri, the Saints went to Illinois and settled on the banks of the Mississippi River and built a nice little city which they called Nauvoo. On their arrival there, Brother Standley immediately began building a log house which was ready to occupy May 1st, 1840.
In 1842, the year their seventh child was born, Alexander came very nearly losing his life. When trimming a shade tree, a large limb struck him in the breast with great force. He lived for thirteen years after this accident, but was never well again, although he improved sufficiantly to go with the boys and oversee the work that had to be done.
Flocks of sheep grazing around the country would sometimes go through fences and leave wool sticking to the wire or logs, whatever the fence was made of. My great-grandmother would go where the wool was sticking on the fence and gather, wash, card, and spin it into yarn and then she and the girls would knit some of this yarn into socks. The socks were sold and cotton yarn purchased and with this
cotton yarn and some wool yarn dyed with bark, they wove cloth for their dresses.
My great-grandmother was a member of the first Relief Society organized by the Prophet Joseph Smith in Nauvoo. She was also present at the meeting when the people received the testimony that Brigham Young should be their next leader after Joseph Smith was martyred in June 1844 and has often born testimony of this wonderful occasion. 
In February, 1846, brother Standley and his family left Nauvoo with Captain George Miller's Company to cross the Plains. Before they had traveled a great distance, they overtook a company of Saints under the leadership of James Emmett and decided to join with them for better protection from the Indians. In June 1846, came the call for the Mormon Battalion and after they were fitted out, the Saints were not able to continue their journey west. Brigham Young sent messengers to the head Companies, instructing them to select a suitable place to make themselves comfortable for the winter. They followed the Platte River for many miles, and finally stopped, and made a town which they called Punca, for the Punca Indians, on the banks of the Running Water River, in Nebraska. Here they stayed for some time. Provisions were scarce and quite a number went back again across the Missouri River and traded watches and other jewelry for food and supplies. James Emmett told the Punca Indians, unknown to most of the members of the company, that they could unite with them and they could inter-marry. In the course of time a bunch of Indians came to obtain wives and word went around the community that all girls over twelve must hide or claim to be married. This greatly offended the Indians and the white people had to kill a beef and make a feast before the Indians could be pacified.
Before leaving Nauvoo, my great-grandfather and great-grandmother had the privilege of going through the Nauvoo Temple to receive their endowments. This took place on Jan 30th, 1846. They were sealed as husband and wife on February 28, 1848. In the spring of 1847, the family went to Pottawattamie Co., Iowa, and with the help of the boys, great-grandfather put up a log house, plowed several acres of ground and planted a field of corn. He let his only horse team go to help take properties and records of the Church to Salt Lake Valley.
There was a long, dry spell in the spring and summer of 1848 and the crops were drying up. In a conference at Kanesville, the Saints united in prayer for rain and one of the presiding brethren promised if they would make a fast for the poor people among them, the Lord would send rain and before an hour had passed, a heavy rain fell which saved their crops from drying up.
Soon after conference, Ezra T. Benson and George A. Smith were making preparation to go to Salt Lake, but they lacked one animal of having sufficient teams. Great-grandfather owned two cows. He gave them one to hitch in their team. Brother Smith said, "Brother Standley, I fear you are robbing your family, but the Lord will bless you ten fold." The next spring the gold fever was on and many people were going to California. This caused a great demand for corn for food. Great-grandfather got a good price for his corn. He took the money and purchased twenty cows and as many calves. Thus Apostle Smith's promise was fulfilled in less than a year.
It was considerable work to care for the cows. Milk them, make cheese and butter and get it ready for market. Early in 1852, the Company began making preparations to go to the Great Salt Lake Valley, making yokes and bows for the cattle and training them to travel when hitched together. They fitted up three wagons with three or more yoke of cattle to each wagon and having only one yoke of cattle and three yokes of steers, they had to use several cows. At Council Bluffs, Iowa, a company of 50 families were organized with Joseph Howell as Captain. They started for Utah the first week in May 1852.
Every morning at the call of the bugle, all would make preparations for the day's journey. In the evening after the cattle and sheep had been herded on the grass for hours, they would make a corral of their wagons to shut in the cattle. There were about forty sheep and they had a fold of canvas to protect the sheep at night. While traveling, they would roll the fold up and fasten it to the side of the wagon. The family walked most of the way across the plains with the exception of the two youngest children, who were too small to walk. The four older sisters, the youngest being eight years old, walked all the way and drove sheep and younger stock. One of the difficulties to contend with was to get the sheep across the streams, for sheep seem to be afraid of water. Then the remainder would follow. Night and morning the cows had to be milked and the milk taken care of, but it added greatly to the food supply. Any milk or cream that was not used was put into a churn and carried in one of the wagons and when they stopped for camp at night, there would be a nice lump of butter for their supper and breakfast next morning.
After traveling for days, they would choose a place where wood, water, and grass was plentiful and let their teams rest for a day or more. This was the time when the women would do their washing, and bake bread and crackers to eat for lunches. The men would spend their time watching the animals not grazing and making whips and lariats out of the rawhide. Occasionally, on moonlight nights, a plot of ground was cleared and they would all enjoy a dance for a change. Sunday was observed as a day of rest and worship. While crossing the desert they had to gather buffalo chips for fuel as nothing grew that could be burned. When passing salaratus beds after a rain, it was quite hard to prevent the animals from drinking from the puddles of alkali water which was poisenous to the animals if they drank it.
The company reached Salt Lake City on October 3rd, 1852. There, breaking company and camp, my great-grandfather and his family went to East Weber where he made a dug-out. The family wintered there, where the cattle could live by browsing on the underbrush and limbs of the cottonwood trees growing near the Weber River. When winter was over, the family went to Bountiful and settled by a sping near Jordan Island where they spent the first four years in Utah.
Alexander Scoby Standley was a schoolteacher part of the time after arriving in Utah. It was his desire to gather with the Saints, and after arriving in Utah, his health failed fairly fast. He died December 29, 1854, at Bountiful, Davis County, Utah. His wife, Philinda Upson Standley, lived until January 27, 1892. She did much Temple work before her death, and was instrumental in having all of her known dead relatives endowed and sealed in the Logan Temple. She also did some work in the old endowment house in Salt Lake City."