Roots and Branches: Randall

Randall histories, including Alfred and Margaret, Click Here

Alfred, son of Jason and Martha (or Patty) Thompson Randall was born June 13, 1811 at Bridgewater, New York, the second child in a family of nine. With his parents he moved to Kirtland, Ohio February 19, 1819. As a boy he helped to clear land, it is said, where the Kirtland temple was afterwards built. At the age of twenty-one he bought a home at Munsen, Ohio and two years later married Emeretta Davis and moved there; but in 1838 sold out and moved to Chardon, Ohio and still later to Quincy, Illinois. It looks as if he was being led nearer to the church of the L. D. S. as he was converted and baptized by Orson Hyde May 13, 1840.

With his wife who had been baptized previously and his two children he soon moved to Nauvoo. February 13, 1841 he was ordained a deacon by Jacob Crouse, ordained an Elder by Frederick G. Williams, ordained a Seventy by Heber C. Kimball and made a member of the 15th quorum. He worked on the Nauvoo temple and attended the first meeting held there by the Prophet Joseph Smith. He loved the Prophet and was often in his company as well as with other leaders of the church. At Nauvoo, Council Bluffs and other places we find him entertaining Brigham Young, Ezra T. Benson and others.

From the “Journal History” in the Historian’s Office in Salt Lake City we find on June 24, 1844 that Alfred accompanied the Prophet Joseph to Carthage. It has been stated that he was one of the last to leave the jail, and was pushed by a bayonet backward down the steps. From history, “June 26, Alfred Randall was in Carthage about ten o’clock as the troops under General Ford were in squads around the square. He went up to them and heard one say, ‘When I left home I calculated to see Old Joe dead before I returned.’ Several others said, ‘So did I, So did I’; and ‘I’ll be d---d if I don’t’ was the general reply. One fellow then spoke up and said, ‘I shouldn’t wonder if some d---d Mormon isn’t hearing all we say.’ Another one who stood next to Alfred said, ‘If I knew there was, I would run him through with my bayonet.’

“Alfred then went to another crowd and heard one say, ‘I guess this will be the last of Old Joe.’ From here Randall went to the Hambleton’s hotel where Governor Ford was standing by the fence and heard a soldier tell Gov. Ford, ‘The soldiers are determined to see Joe Smith dead before they leave here.’ Ford replied, ‘If you know any such thing keep it to yourself.” Alfred arrived in Nauvoo when Gov. Ford was delivering his notorious speech to the citizens of Nauvoo.

The history also says he went from Nauvoo to Winter Quarters in 1846 and came to Utah in 1848 in Heber C. Kimball’s Company arriving September 24. He planned to come to the “Valleys” in 1847, but was detained by a broken leg and let Heber C. Kimball take his outfit. January 29, 1848 he married Margaret Harley as a plural wife, Brigham Young officiating. At Council Bluffs he was appointed with others by Brigham Young to take care of families who were left by volunteers in the Mormon Battalion.

After arriving in Salt Lake City he obtained land on West Temple north of the Tabernacle Square and built an adobe house for himself and family.

He was a wheelwright and carpenter by trade and helped to build many private and public buildings, among them a saw mill for H. C. Kimball, a woolen mill for Archibald Gardener on the Jordan River, the court house of Salt Lake County, church at Bountiful, etc. He and his son Charles Franklin helped to build 100 houses for Johnson’s army after the army passed through Salt Lake. He and his family were in the historic “move” south before the army came in, when the houses were left in condition to be burned if the soldiers stopped in the city.

March 28, 1854 in a report of the 15th quorum of Seventies, we find him one of the presidents and the quorum meeting at his home regularly at 6:00 p.m. the first Sunday of every month.

In response to the call of the authorities he made four trips east assisting immigrants and bringing in badly needed supplies. These were slow, hard, and arduous trips calling for courage and fortitude.

April 6, 1855, he was called on a mission to the Indians in Beaver Valley. While there he converted and baptized ten of them.

May 1, 1865 he was set apart by John Taylor for a mission to the “Sandwich Islands” (Hawaiian).

After Alfred arrived back in Utah he married three more wives - - Mildred E. Johnson, May 30, 1860; Hannah Severn, May 7, 1863; Elsie Anderson, May 13, 1865.The rest of his life he spent mostly farming on the farm at North Ogden. He was a great worker, a splendid manager and good provider, always planted orchards with all kinds of fruits and had good gardens. He was a large square built man, but not fleshy, had light hair and blue eyes. He was extra good-natured, never unkind, loved to tell clean stories and jokes, and never heard to profane.

The rest of his life he spent mostly farming on the farm at North Ogden. He was a great worker, a splendid manager and good provider, always planted orchards with all kinds of fruits and had good gardens. He was a large square built man, but not fleshy, had light hair and blue eyes. He was extra good-natured, never unkind, loved to tell clean stories and jokes, and never heard to profane.As stated before, father could do most anything being a carpenter and wheelwright, he made wagons, sleighs, tables, cupboards, chairs, etc. and they were well made. He was strong in his young days and could work hard all day. During his life he had every limb broken, I heard my mother say. In his latter years he had rheumatism and very sick spells with kidney trouble. But when he passed away on the 31st of March, 1891, he had been out looking over the farm telling the boys what to plant. He went in the house, sat on the sofa talking with members of the family and just laid down and went to sleep to wake no more in this life. His maker had called him home.

Alfred's Temple Work

Baptized 13 May 1840

Endowments (21 Jan 1846)

In Nauvoo Temple

Sealed to Spouse (31 Jan 1848)

Sealed to Parents (3 Jun 1921)

in Salt Lake Temple

Alfred's Nauvoo Land and Records file Click Here

Margaret Harley 1823-1919

Margaret Harley, daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Harley, was born January 13, 1823, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Her mother died when Margaret was eleven years of age. She was always a delicate child, and it was said of her that she would not live to be twenty years of age. However, she lived to the ripe old age of ninety-six, dying April 5, 1919.

In their Pennsylvania home Margaret and her brother Edwin, four years her senior, were converted to the gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Records are not available to show when and by whom they were baptized. Their father was a kind and loving man, but not being converted himself, felt sad to have his son and daughter join so unpopular a religion. Naturally, he would do nothing to help them join the Saints. However, he told Margaret to come back home when she found out her mistake.

Margaret and her sister had been kind to a lonely old man who lived near, and when he died he left one hundred dollars to each of the girls. Margaret used her portion to take her to Nauvoo to join her chosen people, but did not arrive in that city until after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith. At Nauvoo Margaret Harley hired out to work for Alfred Randall and his wife Emeretta Davis. She was very anxious to go with the pioneers to Utah, but being all alone she had no way to go. The Randalls wanted to help her, but Alfred said the only way he could take her was to marry her. Margaret knew he was a good man and decided that this was the best thing to do, so at Winter Quarters, a temporary settlement on the west bank of the Missouri River, she was united in marriage to Alfred Randall by President Brigham Young on January 29, 1848. She thus embraced the principle of plurality of wives, being the second wife to Alfred Randall. Her husband later married three other wives. Margaret was true, kind, and benevolent in all her family relations. There was not one of her husband’s wives or children who did not like to visit “Aunt Margaret” and they all did so whenever convenient and often stayed several days at a time.

The family traveled in the Heber C Kimball Company and arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake in September 1848, having been delayed a year by a broken leg of the husband. They lived for some years in the Seventeenth Ward of Salt Lake City, just west of West Temple Street on First North. They were in the historic “move” of 1858, going as far south as Provo and returning when the danger passed. Margaret was also taken by her husband and lived for a short time in the following places - - what was then called “Over Jordan”, Bountiful, and West Weber.

During these years times were hard and food scarce. One year the crops were almost an entire failure. They dug roots and whatever they could find to cook. At one time they were without flour in the house for three weeks

In 1862 Alfred bought a farm and home in Centerville, Utah, and moved Margaret there. Margaret remained in Centerville the rest of her life except the last two years when she was taken by her daughter, Alice Clark, to Georgetown, Idaho to be cared for until she died.

From 1871 to 1901 Margaret was president of the ward Relief Society. If anyone in the community was sick, “Sister Randall” was called in, and was always there either day or night helping, often staying days at a time with persons sick with any kind of disease. It was said of her that she was truly a ministering angel. Besides caring for the sick and preparing dead for burial she was often taking food and needed articles to those in need, but never, never mentioning it. She would quietly slip it out of the house. If her daughters happened to see her doing it she would say, “If we give it to them maybe we won’t need it.”

Margaret was a small woman with dark eyes and hair, very active and energetic. She was truly a wonderful woman with unusual good sense in managing her home and helping others.

Much of the food for the family was produced at home. From the farm came wheat, potatoes, corn, squash and hay for the cows; from the garden, all kinds of vegetables for both summer and winter use; from the orchard all kinds of fruit then raised in Utah. There was also milk, cream, butter, chickens and eggs. Meat was not as plentiful but sometimes there would be a beef or veal or pork. Money was scarce. A dozen eggs or a pound of butter would buy a little sugar and other staples. In later years many a grand meal was made with all home-grown foods except sugar, salt and spices. Even the vinegar was made on the farm and honey obtained from a few hives of bees.

Margaret was an excellent cook and loved to give small dinner parties to her friends, of whom there were many. The married sons and daughters who lived in Centerville often came with their families, especially on Sundays.

Margaret worked in her garden, dried fruit, tended her cows and chickens and did everything there was to do in a pioneer home such as carding wool, spinning and dyeing cloth, making quilts and carpets, sewing clothing, etc. Her sewing was all done by hand as she never owned a sewing machine. She was also engaged in raising silk worms for the silk industry of Utah.

She rejoiced in her knowledge of the gospel, and never found it to be the “mistake” her father thought it would be. She bore testimony to the truthfulness of the gospel to the end of her life. She was loyal to the Priesthood and all presiding officers, and always paid her tithing and donations. How she did love and obey every word of President Brigham Young!

She was the mother of seven children; two sons, Orrin H. and Melvin H., and five daughters, Mary Elizabeth, Margaret Ellen, Thurza Amelia, Alice, and Emily. As the latter part of her husband’s life was spent mostly in North Ogden, she depended upon and took comfort in her two sons.

Her life was happy in the main because of her faith and fortitude, and because of her love for her family and friends and religion. Her time was spent in the service of her family and the poor and sick in her community.

The latter years of her life were spent in blindness, at first partial and then total blindness, caused by cataracts. To one who all her life had been a busy worker and who loved to read, especially the scriptures and the Deseret News, this was naturally a great trial. Yet she never complained but said, “Some folks can’t hear. I can go to meeting and hear what is said and can talk with my friends.” The last few years her memory failed her also.