Sarah Ann Arterbury Chruch

Southern Devotion

 Sarah Ann Arterbury – Married to a Missionary

            We know very little about Sarah Ann Arterbury. Therefore liberty has been taken to write between the lines of the facts we do have. 

            Sarah’s heart was full and almost breaking as the events of the past few months flooded her memory. So much had happened. Haden W. Church, the missionary that had taught her had come back to Perry County Alabama. She married him in December 1844 just one year after her baptism.  Immediately after their marriage Sarah helped Haden and the missionaries prepare for the very first church conference in Alabama.  Her married sister Martha Jane was there.  Martha and Sarah were just a year apart and had been so close growing up.  Four days before the conference the Arterbury family was devastated when Sarah’s younger sister Mary Louisa age 10 passed away.  Then a few days after the conference another sister, Rebecca age 12, also died.  

As Sarah and Haden prepared to return to Nauvoo she thought her heart would break having just buried two sisters.  She watched Paralee Amanda her little 7 years old sister who was very excited about her upcoming birthday and baptism.  Sarah watched as Manda sidled up to Haden and said, “Tell me again what the prophet Joseph Smith taught about baptism for the dead. Can I get baptized for Mary Louisa and Rebecca too?”

            Manda’s excitement and simple faith seemed to bring an understanding and eternal perspective.  Sarah would miss Manda and her tiny little sister Matilda as well as her two brothers James, John, and their parents. 

As Sarah and Haden returned to Nauvoo they looked forward to helping finish the temple and joining the saints.  Sarah was 8 months pregnant when they entered the Nauvoo Temple to be endowed. Saints had already started preparing to leave the city. What a powerful experience it was to have Brigham Young seal them and to know that this child would be theirs through all eternity. 

Sarah had lost two sisters at conference time last year. Now her heart ached with the recent news that her married      sister and best friend Martha Jane had also passed away. 

Leaving Nauvoo was hard.  Looking back at the beautiful city brought tears to their eyes.  The saints began leaving Nauvoo in February. of 1846.  Little Hyrum was born in March.

On the plains of Iowa Sarah held little Hyrum close as she listened to the request for a Mormon Battalion.  She knew that Haden would surely volunteer. She knew she would not stop him, she would encourage him but being alone on the plains seemed undonting. 

When Haden joined the Mormon Battalion Sarah found friends from Alabama. She traveled in the A.O. Smoot wagon train that left for Salt Lake City one year after the Battalion.  

The Smoot Company had been on the trail for two months when on August 16th Sarah heard a cry, “Sarah! Your husband has come! Haden Church is here!”  Haden, had walked miles to meet the wagon train. It was a warm reunion and blessed day to be a family again. 

The Year 1848 and 49 were eventful years with good and bad sandwiched together. In June crickets attacked the Mormon crops and Sarah’s father Elias Arterbury died.  In September their second son was born.  Then they received word that Sarah’s baby sister Matilda had passed away.  Young Paralee Amanda and the two boys were the only children left to comfort her mother in Alabama. 

In 1849 the Perpetual Emigrating Fund was established to help poor Saints gather to Zion and Haden was called as one of the first missionaries to leave Salt Lake to serve with Orson Pratt in the British Mission to gather those saints.

            As winter approached Sarah prepared the supplies for Haden to carry on his journey.  It was cold, so cold. The baby was small.  The house was small.  Sarah did not know how she would provide for the two children but she would and she would find enough to send to England to help Haden on this mission.  She wrote letters as often as she could.  She told of the Sunday School being organized, the death of her mother and the death of Haden's father and all the things that happened in the Salt Lake City 14th ward. Haden returned after three years.
          Sarah received a Patriarchal blessing.  The blessing proved to be much comfort and direction to her. The blessing by John Smith Patriarch stated, “. ...Thou shalt be a mother in Israel and thy name shall be had in honorable remembrance among the saints, thou shalt have faith to heal the sick, ... All mysteries shall be revealed unto thee, and thou shalt comprehend all things in Heaven and Earth,  ...be patient sister and endure in faith to the end and these words shall not fail even so Amen”

Their 3rd son Abraham was born in Feb. 1854.  What a challenge it was to send Haden on another mission when Abraham was only 2 months old.  She packed his things and tucked letters in for her family since he was going back to the Southern United States to preach. 

Sarah received letters from Haden telling of miraculous experiences, blessings of the spirit and speaking in tongues as the people were converted to the gospel. 

Sarah labored to care for her 3 little children, keep up the home and earn a living. Sarah and Haden had been married for a little over 10 years and Haden had served in the Battalion or on missions for almost half of that time. She allowed herself to become so discouraged and blue, she almost thought she could not go on any longer.  She went to a quiet lonely field to pray.  She told her maker if He would make known to her that the Gospel was really true, she would go back and be able to face it all, and go on with her life's work.  She said that the most wonderful Spirit possessed her whole body and she proceeded to speak in tongues, and she was able to understand the message. From then on she never had a doubt of the truthfulness of the Gospel. Because of this experience she had a greater understanding of the mission experiences Haden was so excited about. 

            Sarah Ann had a little social life during her husband’s absence. She and nine other women whose husbands were on missions attended a party that included songs, music and dancing, held in honor of veterans of the Mormon Battalion.  (On February 7, 1855)

            Sarah took up the practice of being a Midwife and brought many young babies into the world and cared for them. Her wages were very meager, but they did help.  Sister Lottie Carter said Sarah waited on her at the birth of her first baby.  Sister Carter suffered as she thought she could never have another child.  She said Sarah told her she would have another child and would suffer no pain. Her very next baby came without pain and so fast they did not have time to get a Doctor.

            At Conference time in Oct of 1856 Haden returned home. Abraham, the new baby was now two years old and the boys 8 and 10.  

That spring Haden was asked to take a second wife Catherine Gardner.  Catherine was born in Hampshire England and arrived in Utah in 1856.  She was seven years older than Haden and was 46 when they married.  Catherine needed a home and Sarah could use extra help. As midwife Sarah went to help birth the baby and then for the next nine days she went to the home to take care of the household chores and children of the new mother.  

The next July Sarah was overjoyed when her first and only daughter was born.  They named her Paralee Amanda or Manda after Sarah’s only living sister.  When their last son was born in 1859 they named him after Haden’s brother Robert Robbins Church.  David Cannon of St. George said he was a friend of Robert Church, and visited the home many times.  He said as Bob (Robert) was being born, a man was being hung at the court house just across the street. 

            In 1861 the church family was called with over 300 other families to the Dixie Mission. In this desert country they met with many hardships. Sarah worked to make the community a success; She was present along with 23 other sisters at the organization of the Relief Society in St. George. She gave many hours of service and worked to support her husband and help him in his labors.

The story is told that the only time Haden got white bread, was when it was his turn to water the land all night, then somehow, Sarah would manage to come out where he was watering, with a slice of white bread and molasses.  (Kate Church Clark DUP Jan 1820)

Sarah supported Haden on two more missions. Haden passed away while on his last mission to Tennessee in 1875 when Sarah was 51 and their youngest son was 15.

Sarah Ann worked as a Temple worker for many years her granddaughter noting that she occupied room 8. She accomplished much genealogical and temple work for her relatives. 

            Sarah was a member of the Board of Directors of the Ladies Co-op when it was organized in St. George, Utah.   (1876)

            Sarah Arterbury Church, devoted to the end did some missionary work of her own.  In a history written on the Southern States mission it states, “In June, 1880, Sister Sarah Church, of Utah, visited the south, and while thus engaged made a number of appointments to preach, bearing her testimony to the Gospel as revealed through Joseph Smith. She traveled through portions of Tennessee and Mississippi. I'd like to find out more about this woman.” (http://theancestorfiles.blogspot.com/2009/04/history-of-southern-states-mission-part_09.html)  

In 1881 Sarah’s sister Paralee Amanda come to Utah. She took out her temple endowments in the St. George Temple in June while still in St. George she passed away.

Eight years later in Oct of 1989 Sarah Ann died at the age of 65. On her deathbed, her last words were, “Tell Abe, I know the Gospel is true.” (Kate Church Clark DUP Jan 1929)