The Minor Family of Somerset

Treasures of Pioneer History
Treasures of Pioneer History: Vol 4
They Came in1854
From the Writings of Thomas Franklin King
I was born in Mantua, PortageCounty, Ohio, a son of Thomas Jeff
erson King and Rebecca E. Olin. My parentsjoined the Church o
f Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in September, 1830. They bot
h died in the year 1876. They were intimately acquainted with th
e Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum. They bought a qua
rter section of land near the Temple lot in Jackson County, Miss
ouri. They, also, passed through the trials and persecutions tha
t were heaped upon the Saints in the earlyrise of the Church.
Treasures of Pioneer History
Treasures of Pioneer History: Vol 4
They Came in 1854
From the Writings of Thomas Franklin King
page 50
In 1845, they moved from Ohio to Illinois. Here they bought a fa
rm at Motleys Settlement, a short distance from Nauvoo, and rais
ed one crop when they were told by their neighbors that the mo
b [p.50]intended to drive them all out.My father was sick at th
is time, and previous to this the mob had driven outall able bo
died men, including my brother, George E., who was about sevente
en years of age. When the mob came they told my mother to leav
e at once. Father was not able to help. All they had at this tim
e was one horse and a one-horse wagon. My mother moved some of t
he furniture into the cornfield. She then put the beds and som
e of the light things into the wagon and we all got upon top o
f the load. As soon as we got started they set fire to the house
.
Treasures of Pioneer History
Treasures of Pioneer History: Vol 4
They Came in 1854
From the Writings of Thomas Franklin King
We went to Nauvoo and movedinto a large frame house that was al
ready occupied by three families, the Truman, Leonard and Clawso
n families. After we were housed, my mother took my brother, Alm
a, who was twelve years of age and returned to the farm to get t
he balance of the furniture. There was a good crop of corn on th
e farm that was ready to harvest. As we had no bread my mother a
nd brother went again to the farm and got a load of corn. The mo
b threatened her at this time. She toldthem to shoot as she wou
ld just as soon die that way as starve and she returned again. T
he third time, one of the men put a gun to her breast and said t
o her, "If you return again, I will shoot you." As she thought s
he had secured enough to last us through the winter, she did no
t return again.
Treasuresof Pioneer History
Treasures of Pioneer History: Vol 4
They Came in 1854
From the Writings of Thomas Franklin King
As all know, the Saints were given a certain time to get out o
f Nauvoo. The first recollection I have of this lifewas the par
ching of this same corn that my mother risked her life to get fo
r the sustenance of her children. The corn was parched and groun
d into flourin our coffee mill and was eaten with milk on our j
ourney Westward. We also owned two cows and they were a great he
lp on our journey. My father, at this time owned a wagon but n
o team, the team belonging to my grandfather. He and his wife we
re traveling with us-or we with them. However, his wife was no
t my grandmother as my grandmother had died some years before. M
y grandfather was quite aged and his wife, not having much fait
h in the gospel, decided to gono farther. Of course, when the
y took their team off the wagon we were sidetracked. This took p
lace forty miles from Mount Pisgah. My brother, George E.,start
ed out on foot for Mount Pisgah and secured a team which lande
d us there. We moved into a log cabin in Mount Pisgah withou
t a floor and the roof was made of bark which curled up and whe
n it rained it was just as wet insideas out. My father bein
g a Carpenter and builder soon got work a short distance east o
f Mount Pisgah. In a short time he hired a man to move us to a p
lace called Stringham where a number of our people h