Abner Lowry (1831 - 1900) Profile

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Abner Lowry

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Andrew Jenson, "Rasmussen, Niels," Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia

Andrew Jenson, "Rasmussen, Niels," Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol. 1.

While staying two days at Wyoming, preparing for the journey across the plains, and during the early part of that journey, across the plains, and during the early part of the journey, the mortality continued among us at a fearful rate, until about one hundred persons out of a total of between two and three hundred, who left Scandinavia in the spring, had perished by the wayside. My own brother [Hans Peter] and mother [Rebecca] fell victims to the terrible disease Aug. 16th and 24th respectively, and were, like the other dead, buried without coffins, in shallow graves by the roadside, after being sewn up in sheets. The survivors passed on, never more to behold their lonely resting places again. We traveled in the ill-fated train in charge of Captain Abner Lowry, who was ably assisted by Elder Geo. Farnsworth, of Mount Pleasant, Sanpete county. His name will ever be held in affectionate remembrance by all the survivors from that fearful journey, especially by those who recovered from their sickness through his untiring efforts in alleviating their sufferings, which he did in many instances very successfully. A relief mule train, under Captain Arza E. Hinckley (sent out by Pres. Brigham Young), met us about four hundred miles east of Salt Lake City. All the orphans, of which there were many in our company, were taken by that train. This included our family, which now had been reduced to five in number. We arrived in Salt Lake City Oct. 7, 1866, while the main company, which lost nearly half their cattle in the snows in the mountains, reached the valley about two weeks later. The day after our arrival in Salt Lake City the orphan emigrants were all provided with homes.

Transcript for Andrew Jenson, "Rasmussen, Niels," Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 1 (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Company, 1901), 597

Andrew Jenson, "Rasmussen, Niels," Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia.

DUP Pioneer History Collection

Anna Matilda Jensen Smith, Our Living Pioneer

"Anna Matilda Jensen Smith, Our Living Pioneer", DUP Pioneer History Collection, Page 1.

From New York, we continued our journey to Missouri, Nebraska and stayed there a year, where we were joined by my two older sister [Anne], Maria [Jensen Peterson] and Marianne [Jensen Hansen], along with their husbands [Peter Peterson and Neils Christian Hansen] and children. The word Nebraska always brings back memories of corn mush and bread-also pig weed greens, which I have never learned to relish to this day.


August 13, 1866, we started across the plains by ox team in Capt. Abner Lowerys Company. I remember gathering wild berries and finding blue and white beads, in ant piles, along the trail. The beads being like the ones the Indians use for decorating their clothing.


Colera broke out and among the many dead, who were buried along the trail, was my sister Maria's husband, Peter Peterson, and their baby son Parley.


We arrived in Salt Lake City, October 22, 1866.

Transcript for "Anna Matilda Jensen Smith, Our Living Pioneer," 1.

Daughters of Utah Pioneers. DUP Pioneer History Collection.

Hilda A. Erickson interview, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1966, 19-20

Hilda A. Erickson interview, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1966, 19-20.

Scott: Well, when you were a little girl, around, when you were coming across the plains do you remember what some of the big people thought about the Civil War?



Mrs. Erickson: I didn't know much about it then.



Scott: You don't remember the big people talking about the Civil War?



Mrs. Erickson: No, they didn't say much, I don't think so.



Mrs. Hicks: They were just coming…..



Mrs. Erickson: They stopped every night and made a big circle, you know…..and they'd preach and they done all kinds of things that…..they ate and danced in that circle.



Scott: You wouldn't…..coming from Sweden, you wouldn't have too much interest in American politics and…..



Mrs. Erickson: No



Scott: …..and all of their strife and problems.



Mrs. Erickson: They'd just tell us that so and so was president and that's all I know.



Scott:Do you remember the name of the wagon train that you were in,,,,,coming across the plains?



Mrs. Erickson: Oh, I can't remember it, but they have it in…..you can get it in Salt Lake, the name of it.



Scott: Would you know it if you heard it?



Mrs. Erickson: Maybe.



Scott: I thought I had a name here of a wagon train that I thought maybe would be the one.



Mrs. Erickson: Anyway, it was the last one that came over by oxen.



Scott: The last one.



Mrs. Erickson: Yes. There wasn't an oxen team after that, any more. The next one they had their train running.

Transcript for Hilda A. Erickson interview, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1966, 19-20

Jensen, Julius, [Interview], in "Utah Pioneer Biographies," 44 vols., 15:98,100

Jensen, Julius, [Interview], in "Utah Pioneer Biographies," 44 vols., 15:98,100.

They joined the company at Omaha, left for Utah 1866, and arrived in 1866. He does not remember the month. He was a small child. We came to Utah for the sake of the church. The leader was Abner Lowry, and we traveled by ox team. I recall seeing buffalo while crossing the plains. The leader called a halt. There were fifty wagons in the company. These were stationed thirty to forty feet apart, all facing the oncoming herd. We could see a dust at first but had no more than got lined up as commanded, when the herd was on us. The buffalo went in between the wagons. We were afraid the teams would stampede, but the drivers held them 
<in xmlns:its="http://www.w3.org/2005/11/its" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> control. We had plenty of buffalo meat for quite a few days.</in>

Transcript for Jensen, Julius, [Interview], in "Utah Pioneer Biographies," 44 vols., 15:98,100

John Nielsen reminiscences, 1936-1948, 21-24

John Nielsen reminiscences, 1936-1948, 21-24.

On the morning of the day that we were to make the start, all the women and children were ordered to get into the wagons. The wagons were run together into two half circles forming a corral with open spaces at each end. Presently we spied a big herd of cattle coming toward us which proved to be the oxen which were to draw the wagons. These were driven into the corral. The teamsters were very busy for sometime, each picking out his oxen and yoking them up. That was the first oxen that the great majority of the company had ever seen. When they finally got them hitched to the wagons, ready for the start all women and children able to walk were ordered out of the wagons as they were so heavily loaded with freight, that was the only way they had of getting freight to Utah. I was old enough to be considered able to walk, having my eighth birthday [.......] so I walked almost the entire distance from the Missouri River. Many times I felt as if I could not go another step, I was so tired but the Lord gave me strength to go on.



Shortly after we left the Missouri River, that dreaded disease cholera attacked the company to an alarming degree. For a time there was never a day went by without someone having to leave a loved one in a lonely grave on the plains.



The captain of the company was a husky man by the name of Abner Lowry. The outfits had come from San Pete County and was known as the San Pete Train. The captain was very considerate of the company. He had a large tent which he had pitched every evening and had his teamsters assist in carrying the sick into it in the evening and back into the wagons in the morning. Terrible was the suffering and sorrow that the saints were called to endure. The deaths were far past the hundred mark, and in history it has gone down as the cholera train.



As we neared the mountains the disease abated, but it left practically every family broken up. My mother [Magdalene Rasmussen Nielsen] took two families of children into her care, whose parents had been taken from them. What a relief it was not to be worrying every minute about a loved one lying ill. And so the going was easier though we were weary and worn.



But then we had a new experience. Just after dark we got an Indian scare. Six or seven Indians rode boldly into camp but they proved to be friendly. The captain had a tent erected for them and had some of the teamsters care for their horses and cook supper for them. They made the captain understand that they had been off to some other tribe smoking the pipe of peace and that friendship was restored between the two tribes.



Every morning the company sang a song and had prayer. The morning the Indians were there they came over when they heard the singing and joined the prayer circle. One of the Indians had a great long sword. Afterward one of the women in the company having read of the sword of Laban and the Laminites, was wondering if that was the sword of Laban which he had.



When we neared Fort Bridger we were encountered by a big snow storm and the provisions were getting short. But about that time we were met by a relief train, which brought us ample food to last us on the remainder of the journey.



One day as we were traveling along I noticed the head team stop and the next and go on till on till an irregular circle was formed. I learned that we had just crossed the line into Utah and the company all bared and bowed their heads, and Niels Nielsen the Presiding Elder, offered up a prayer of thanksgiving after which we proceeded on our journey.



On the evening of the 18th of October 1866 we camped in the mouth of Parleys Canyon, the next day drove into Salt Lake City, and camped in the 8th ward square where now the city and county building stands.

Transcript for John Nielsen reminiscences, 1936-1948, 21-24

Manti Ward, Record of members collection, 1836-1970

Manti Ward, Record of members collection, 1836-1970.

Salt Lake Herald-Republican

Mrs. M. A. Peacock Dead

"Mrs. M. A. Peacock Dead", Salt Lake Herald-Republican, April 20, 1910, Page 3.

Salt Lake Herald-Republican.

Warnick, Anders Petter, "Life Sketch of Anders Petter Warnick," by Effie Warnick Adams, in Merrill N. Warnick, Warnick Family History

Warnick, Anders Petter, "Life Sketch of Anders Petter Warnick," by Effie Warnick Adams, in Merrill N. Warnick, Warnick Family History, Vol. 1.

The Warnick family, without the companionship of their father, mother, and sister, assembled at the docks in St. Joseph with the remaining members of the company. Here they boarded a steamer for the voyage up the Missouri River to Wyoming, Nebraska. The two nights journey up the river was filled with suffering death. Wyoming, Nebraska was the outfitting place for the Mormon emigration crossing the plains in 1864 to 1866. This little place, its historic significance now almost forgotten, is located near Nebraska City, about forty-five miles south of Omaha, Nebraska. To breathe its fresh air, and drink the pure water available was a blessed thing for the harassed saints who landed there after their trying ride in crowded ships and cattle cars. Earlier companies had enjoyed days or even weeks of rest here while preparing for the remainder of the journey. This company had no time to rest or even make any needed preparations. Abner Lowrey and his sixty ox-team train had already waited a long time for their arrival. They were impatient to be on their way, for the season was late.	
The Abner Lowrey train was known as the Sanpete train, for most of the wagons and teams had been recruited in Sanpete county. It was the last of the emigrant trains to travel all the way from the Missouri River to Salt Lake City with ox-teams, as the Union Pacific Railroad was being built from Omaha westward, and the following year (1867) the road was opened by rail for several hundred miles west of the Missouri River.	
Those Mormons traveling under the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, as the Warnick family was, had a precise scale laid down for them. Each wagon was to carry 1,000 pounds of flour, 50 pounds each of sugar, bacon, and rice, 30 of beans, 25 of salt, 20 dried fruit, 5 of tea, plus a gallon of vinegar and 10 bars of soap. About ten persons were assigned to each wagon. The journey was contemplated to be two or three months in length. Emigrants were each allowed 50 pounds of baggage free of charge, but personal baggage was not great by the time the saints had arrived at the Missouri River. Many of their bundles had been opened and articles stolen. Others had brought too much and had discarded it along the way. Others had only meagre belongings in the first place and not much to bring.	
After only part of a day in which to make preparations, the members of the Warnick family started, with other company members on August 13th on the 1,500 mile journey across the plains. Families of the entire company had suffered death proportionate to the Warnick family. Some families had been entirely wiped out. There was sorrow and continued suffering in the depleted ranks. Many companions were left in shallow graves dug hurriedly by the wayside as the train wended its way to the Platte River. One noon all the men that were able were busy digging one large grave in which seven bodies were buried.	
They had not been out many days when Anders Gustave passed away, and it was only a few days after that when Charlotte Bengtsen, his betrothed, died. The new-born infant of August and Mari also succumbed, and then their son Johan Gustaf was buried also. On September 22, Christina’s orphaned daughter died.	
Andrew Jenson says of this company (See History of the Scandanavian Mission, page 194) “If the details of the journey across the plains of this “The Cavour” company were written it would probably present one of the most pitiable and heart-rending chapters in the history of the Church, but it is perhaps better to close the episode and not revive the memory of something so touching and sorrowful. At some future date, undoubtedly, more details will be published about the experience of that ill-fated company, and in the great hereafter those who laid down their lives on the way will have an opportunity to give an accurate and truthful account of their sufferings.”

Transcript for Warnick, Anders Petter, "Life Sketch of Anders Petter Warnick," by Effie Warnick Adams, in Merrill N. Warnick, Warnick Family History, vol. 1 [1967], 26-32

Warnick, Anders Petter, "Life Sketch of Anders Petter Warnick," by Effie Warnick Adams, in Merrill N. Warnick, Warnick Family History.

Warnick, Charles Peter, "The History of Charles Peter Warnick," in Merrill N. Warnick, Warnick Family History

Warnick, Charles Peter, "The History of Charles Peter Warnick," in Merrill N. Warnick, Warnick Family History, Vol. 1.

We met ox teams in eastern Wyoming and started for Salt Lake City on August 13th. But the angel of death had not finished his work. Many of our companions were left in shallow graves by the roadside. One noon as we were camping, all the men that were able were busy digging one large grave in which seven bodies were buried. 
We had not been out many days when my brother Anders Gustave [Anders Gustof Warnick] said to me "Let us pray for we don't know how soon our turn will come." How true he spoke, for it was only two days later when he passed away, and it was only a few days later when his betrothed Charlotte Bengsten [Bengtson] died. Also one of my brother August's children, and a little girl of my sister Christine. Before we reached our journey's end, another of August's children died, making eight of our number who passed away on this terrible journey. I remember especially one whole family that died, and in many instances there were just one or two left out of large families.
This is the darkest chapter in my life, but yet in this great suffering and bereavement they died in the faith and in hopes of reaching a better land.
The company we traveled with was made up of teams and men from Sanpete County. Our captain's name was Ebnar [Abner] Lowry and he was from Manti. 
We arrived in Salt Lake on October 27, 1866. Our family was John August and his wife Mary Bengston Warnick, their little girl Caroline [Augusta Warnick] and myself. Their baby, born on the way, was numbered among the dead.
I was then sixteen years old.

Transcript for Warnick, Charles Peter, "The History of Charles Peter Warnick," in Merrill N. Warnick, Warnick Family History, vol. 1 [1967], 234-35

Warnick, Charles Peter, "The History of Charles Peter Warnick," in Merrill N. Warnick, Warnick Family History.

Abner Lowry

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