Abel Alexander DeWitt, Sr.

If we go very far up this family tree we find Yankee officers there. As for Abel Alexander DeWitt, after exploring the Amazon in South America he wound up the wagon master of a freight train. Approaching Salt Lake City he worried about what the Mormons would be like. It turns out he liked one of them quite a bit, and married Margaret Miller Watson, joining the Church himself. His family of Baptists in Indiana were very concerned to hear that, and maintained relations while worrying about his fate; unfortunately, he never got back to see them again. Living in Big Cottonwood, Utah, the call came to go to Arizona. Abel Alexander was loyal to Brigham Young, so he went, and it was a difficult trip. Some turned back, but since Brigham Young wanted no one stopping north of Panguitch, he went as far as Kanab. Supplies had run out, and he settled there for a few years building a lumber business. But Brigham Young still wanted Arizona colonized, so they moved on. Living in Arizona meant living in a wagon box and eating corn meal mush and molasses as they homesteaded 160 acres at the mouth of the Nutrioso. Their calves began dying. Apaches were attacking settlers not far away. But they persevered, milking cows, churning butter, and freighting with oxen in the winter. The entire group lived the United Order, having all material goods in common. Abel Alexander DeWitt moved on to Springerville and then to Woodruff, where he died of old age. As an older man, he took the train to Salt Lake to be sealed to his parents, and to do temple work for his siblings.

Margaret Miller Watson

Born a Methodist in Glasgow, she was a short woman who loved to read and sing, and as a child learned the weaver's trade. Her father died when she was young, whereupon her mother ran a boarding house and did needlework, but also died when Margaret was still a girl. Margaret's sister Jane joined the LDS church and went to America, and Margaret went to live with another sister. When Margaret began listening to the Mormon missionaries, her sister disapproved. Jane sent Margaret money, and when she was 16 Margaret left the house as if going to the factory, carrying only a few keepsakes hidden in her dress and a night cap she took off the clothesline, and then went to a local LDS family to await a ship to America. Unfortunately, the next available ship did not leave for two weeks, and she had to hide since her family put up posters and tried to find her. The McKays helped her sneak on board the ship "Isaac Wright" in disguise, and she met her sister in Massachusetts. She found that her sister in Scotland had sent her clothes after her, and they reached America first and were waiting for her. Margaret was baptized in the Willimantic River, through a hole chopped in the ice, and went to work to earn $60.00 for the trip to Utah. She was a prompt, hard worker. In Utah she met her sister in Salt Lake, and also met Abel Alexander DeWitt while doing dishes at the Howard's home; he was hauling freight for the Howard distillery. Eliza R. Snow and Sister Woodmansee made her a wedding dress and sheets, and she married Abel Alexander DeWitt. They moved to Kanab, and then went on to colonize Arizona. She was active in the Relief Society for decades, and once sat on the steps of the church for half an hour singing old Scottish songs with President David O. McKay (not the same McKays she had hid with in Scotland, apparently). After her children grew she built a mercantile establishment, starting with $1.00 and selling it seventeen years later for $2,000. Even into her old age, she danced and sang, and retained a quick Scotch wit.

Abel Alexander DeWitt, Jr.

Born in Utah to Abel Alexander DeWitt, Sr. and Margaret Miller Watson, he went to Arizona as a child when his parents were sent colonize there. Abel Alexander DeWitt, Jr. worked hard all his life, as long as his health lasted, although his was a riches to rags story. He married Caroline Skousen, and after starting a family was called to the central states as a missionary, being set apart by J. Golden Kimball. Caroline died early, and Alex then married Ruth Leila Kempe, a woman of some means. They had a nice home in Mesa, and land, but during World War I, against Leila's wishes, he converted the land to cotton production. When cotton prices plummeted at the end of the war, they lost everything. The family traveled to California where he did odd jobs, rented farms and developed them, and tried to improve their lot. However, leaving behind $600 in cash at a camp along the way, having a car burn in a barn fire, and being fleeced in a real estate transaction set them back. When he needed cancer surgery he was too poor for it, but the doctor who did the surgery thought he was likely to die and refused to discuss finances with a "dead man"; he lived 27 more years. Alex was good at talking with people and working out deals. He was also principled, and when a neighbor underpaid a black man and the man asked Abel Alexander to intervene, the employer was amazed to hear Abel Alexander demand that he pay his workers the same regardless of color, as was promised. Alex was a stake patriarch toward the end of his life.