The Minor Family of Somerset

REFN: 17CB-F8
Our living Pioneer of 1847. Abt 1940
"At 97, Mrs. Mary Ann Park Brockbank was a miracle of human life
. Of all the 2,000 pioneers who cameto this Utah haven in th
e historical year of 1847, she is the only living in1940. Sh
e has good health with every organ of her body functioning prope
rly; her senses are all active; she uses glasses for close wor
k only and can still thread a needle without them; her hearin
g is only a bit foggy so that one must raise the voice a littl
e to be clearly heard; she has an upper plateof false teeth bu
t her lowers are her own. She remembers well and talks freely a
nd intelligently of past experiences. Only recently has she giv
en up summer housekeeping in her own little cottage, partly beca
use of a brief illness, but mostly because of the solicitous anx
iety of her loving sons and daughters.
She is not idle. Fingers that have carded, spun and woven nativ
e wooland flax and done all pioneer duties willingly and effici
ently are not useless now; until recently they knitted and croch
eted copiously; the Day we visited her she was hemming a dish to
wel and proud of her work. Her daughter showed us a knitted sha
wl with wide crocheted border made by her dear pioneer fingers n
ot long ago.
Mary Park Brockbank was born in Toronto,Canada on July 17, 1843
, the daughter of John and Louise Smith Park. At the age of 4 sh
e crossed the plains with her parents in the John Taylor Company
, arriving in Salt Lake in September 1847. Soon after, Presiden
t Young called John Park to take his family and assist in settli
ng Utah County. Mary remembers the trip from Salt Lake to tha
t section; she says there was no dugway around the point of th
e mountain so it was necessary to travel over it; all of the cat
tle were hitched to one wagon going over and then were taken bac
k to pull each of the other wagons after it in turn, the women a
nd children walKing up the hill on one side and down on the othe
r. It was necessary to live within the Fort for years, and sh
e says the settlers were in constant fear of either Indians or r
attlesnakes, or both.
Mary's father was a Scots weaver which made him a useful pioneer
; he raised flax and wove the fiber to make fine clothing and ta
ught these arts to her.
At the age of 18, Mary left Utah County and made herhome in Hol
laDay, Salt Lake County. There she married Isaac Brockbank fou
r years later. She became the mother of 12 children, six sons a
nd six daughters. Half of her children are living--all marrie
d with families; she has 46grandchildren, 86 great-grandchildre
n and three great-great-grandchildren.
She has been a widow for 13 years; but because of her own fine c
ourage and theloving attentions of her many proud descendants
, she has been spared traditional trials and deprivations of wid
owHood. It is gratifying indeed to see peaceful, comfortable, u
seful and appreciated old age. Annie C. Kimball, SaltLake Co
.
page 34 Isaac Brockbank journal
work. We had been counselled totake jobs in companies as muc
h as we could on the first job. I joined witha number of other
s and finished the work assigned us and returned home in July.
While at work on t his job, my wife's (Kate) parents came along
, they travelling with a company of the brethren going East, som
e to Europe and some tothe states. They encamped for the nigh
t close to our work and I enjoyed a good visit. Mr. Howard ha
d been called to tkae a mission to England and as hehad plent
y of means, he had the option of taKing his wife with him that t
hey might both visit among them old friends and preach the gospe
l and o wall the good in England or Ireland. Their leaving at t
his time was a great blow to my wife Kate. she had lost four o
f her children and was in delicate condition again. Her mothe
r had always been with her and she felt the loss of hersociet
y very much. In addition to this, I was