Throngs Applaud Mr. and Mrs. Martin Luther Ensign

Brigham City Parade 

[before 1911]

 "The parade was led by the Brigham band, and followed by the only two surviving Brigham Pioneers of 1847. Mr. and Mrs. Martin Luther Ensign. These old people formed the center of attraction as they passed down the laine of parade, and were applauded by the hundreds of people who witnessed the parade." 

Martin Luther ENSIGN 1831-1911 a 16 year old pioneer in September 1947.

Mary DUNN 1833-1920 a 14 year old pioneer in June 1948.

4 Generations - Mary DUNN ENSIGN and Martin Luther ENSIGN

1901 grandfather Martin uncle in-law and cousin

1-Martin Luther ENSIGN with son in-law 2-Severin Nielson LEE and great grandson 4-Irvine Knowlton LEE (1900-1902) the son of Severin Norman LEE.

Grandmother Mary, Grandmother Camilla, Uncle and Cousin 1907

left to right: 3-Isaac (Ike) Samuel SMITH, 1-Mary DUNN ENSIGN, 4-Luther Yates SMITH born 1905, 2-Harriet Camilla ENSIGN SMITH

Grandfather Martin, Aunt, and Cousin Abt 1907

Abt 1907 1-Martin Luther ENSIGN, his daughter 2-Emma Lovinia ENSIGN LEE with Emma's son 3-Severin Norman LEE, and 4-Ora Knowlton LEE b.1903 daughter of Severin Norman.

Grandmother Mary, Aunt and Cousins 1917

clock wise:1-Mary DUNN ENSIGN 1833-1920, 2-Effie Celestia ENSIGN MERRILL 1871-1965, 3-Lola Ensign MERRILL WEBSTER 1895-1984, baby born 1917 4-Edna Lucille WEBSTER 1917-2004.

Ancestry Chain: Martin Luther ENSIGN and Mary DUNN, Harriet Camilla ENSIGN, George Ensign SMITH, Camilla SMITH, Lark, JR.

Family Photos Shared at Ancestry.com and familysearch.org

 The grandfather of the sibling above: Simeon Adams DUNN

Ancestry chain: JR, Lark, Camilla SMITH b.1926, George Ensign SMITH b,1898, Harriet Camilla ENSIGN b.1859, Martin Luther ENSIGN b.1831 and Mary DUNN b.1833, Mary's father Simeon Adams DUNN b.1803 

Martin Luther ENSIGN

Mary DUNN ENSIGN dark dress

1917 grandson Lynnwood Ensign MERRILL with grandmother Mary DUNN ENSIGN

(Mother and daughters begin to look very much alike)

Emma Lovinia Ensign Lee

Mary DUNN ENSIGN 1833-1920

Isaac Smauel SMITH 1878-1936, Mary DUNN 1833-1920, Luther Yates SMITH 1905-1957, Harriet Camilla ENSIGN 1859-1930.

Journal: Martin Luther and Mary DUNN ENSIGN

They cut desire into short lengths and fed it to the hungry fires of courage.

Long after, when the flames died --Molten gold gleamed in the ashes,

They gathered it into bruised palms and handed it to their children

And their children's children!

Click on images to read.

DUNN Home in Nauvoo Restored

See newly added historical information above and below home photos.

Deed for the sale of the Dunn Property on Hyde and Parley Street old Nauvoo, Illinois

The Prophet Joseph Smith sold Simeon Adams DUNN the property where Simeon built the first two story home in Nauvoo in about 1841, Joseph Smith congratulated him on the home. Simeon lost two wives while living in this Nauvoo home. First Adaline RAWSON who he had married 11 Jul 1828, died in 1841 she was mother of seven children, three daughters lived to marry. Second 19 June 1842 Simeon married Margaret SNYDER mother of two, one daughter lived to marry. She died Before May of 1846. Margaret was sealed in life to Simeon the same day he was seal to Adaline 22 Jan 1846 NAUVO - Nauvoo (original). From memories of Adaline's daughter Mary DUNN's: "After joining the Church, they moved to Nauvoo, where Simeon A. Dunn purchased land upon which to build his home, from the Prophet Joseph Smith. The house he built was in a good state of preservation in August 1941, when his grandson, Adams Wesley Ensign and his wife visited that city. The house, which was then occupied by an elderly couple, showed them the deed of conveyance to Simeon A. Dunn, signed by Joseph and Emma Smith and also a deed of conveyance from Simeon A. Dunn to them. The house has since been restored with donations from the Dunn descendants and is owned by Nauvoo Restoration, Inc. The home is now used as a residence for couple missionaries and upon request a personal tour can be arranged by contacting the current resident missionaries. A great-grandson, Leslie Smith Dunn, Jr. and his wife, Marion of Brigham City, Utah, placed a registration book in the home to be signed (name and address) only by descendent's of Simeon Adams Dunn." "We settled on what was called Hyde and Parley St., not far from the home of the Prophet that then was called The Mission House." "On one occasion my father, Simeon A. Dunn was sick and the Prophet came to our house to administer to him. He commenced to joke to him about our house. He said, “I didn’t know as I would have had faith to administer to you if you hadn’t built your house two stories high. It can be seen from all over town.” Ours was the first two-story house in Nauvoo." (Mary Dunn Ensign Mormon: Autobiography)

1962 Courtesy of the Church Archives, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1965 Courtesy of the Church Archives, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1967 Courtesy of the Church Archives, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1970 Courtesy of the Church Archives, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

1976 Courtesy of the Church Archives, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Thanks to Paula Paradise for sharing many of these photo.

2002 pictured are four 4th great grand daughters of Simeon Adams DUNN and Adaline RAWSON

On 18 October 1844, Shadrach Roundy, Simeon Dunn, and Joshua Smith were in Aaron Johnson's court in Nauvoo. Aaron Johnson, a Mormon, was also a Justice of the peace for Hancock County. That day each of them registered their deeds with the County as the owner of their properties. The next day justice of the Peace Johnson found the men guilty of three judgment counts against them collectively for $90, $80, and $79.90. After discussing the best way to pay off the debts, the three men decided to work together. The three men quickly put each other's names on their deeds [without registering them with the county] and then mingled the properties into one mortgage deed. They received $300 to pay off their judgments from John A. Forgeus, who had been excommunicated from the church for standing up for Sidney Rigdon. Whether they asked Mr. Forgeus for the money, or whether he bought the judgments from the court is not known. They had until 18 April 1845, to repay the loan or lose their lands.

(Shadrach and Betsey Roundy Their Roots and Their Legacy, By Renee Rich Mounteer, p.149) Around the 7th or 8th of February 1845, Hosea Stout made a number of observations in his diary regarding the old police, one on those observations being that the old police had "spent the entire winter thus far without any remuneration and kept up the guard to the satisfaction of the Twelve and other authorities and now they in return were willing to put some business into our hands to afford us a small compensation for our support. It also was an encouragement to us to persevere in the discharge of our duty as policemen." Hosea usually met with the police every evening to review the day and make the next day's assignments. So the reason Shadrach and Simeon Dunn had been unable to pay their bills may have been the siple fact that they had not been paid anything for their full-time service protectiong the city of Nauvoo, the temple, and leaders of the church; possibly since the death of the Prophet Joseph.... (Shadrach and Betsey Roundy Their Roots and Their Legacy, By Renee Rich Mounteer, p.151) The mortgage payment for Shadrach & Betsey's home, Simeon Dunn's home, and Joshua Smith's property was due on the 18th of April. In those days if mortgages were not paid on the exact due date, there was not usually a problem. On 3 May 1845, Shadrach and Betsey sold the southeast quarter of their lot to John P. Barnard for $300. This was for the exact amount the three men owed John Forgeus. So he did not get their properties. John P. Barnard was an acquaintance of Shadrach's from Missouri where they had both been witnesses in the Lyon's appeal Case. John had done well for himself financially. Perhaps he bought this quarter of Shadrach's property not as a friend to help save all three men from losing their lands, but as an investment Simeon Dunn and Shadrach were both working full time for the church's protection. They definitely were not getting wealthy. (Shadrach and Betsey Roundy Their Roots and Their Legacy, By Renee Rich Mounteer, p.153) On 4 November 1845... That day Joshua Smith died as a result of poisoning by the militia at Carthage. He had been one of the city council members who had to return to Carthage on writ of "inciting a riot" with the Expositor affair. He had been searched by the militia when he went into Carthage. They found a small knife under his arm pit. They threw him in jail and fed him a meal. Immediately after wards, he started to vomit. after returning to Nauvoo, he continued to grow worse until he died. Because he accused the militia of poisoning him with the food, an autopsy was performed by three doctors; and his accusations were confirmed. he had been the third individual on the mortgage deed with Simeon Dunn and Shadrach Roundy. (Shadrach and Betsey Roundy Their Roots and Their Legacy, By Renee Rich Mounteer, p.160)

Move from above thanks Karen for your help.

Dunn Home 100 North 200 East,  in Brigham City 

Brigham City Cemetery - SMITH - ENSIGN - DUNN -

This marker lists the families of all five wives of Samuel SMITH plus Samuel's history.

click on photos to read

Samuel SMITH (1818-1896) and Sarah Jane INGRAM (1839-1872)

Samuel SMITH born 22 May 1818 Sherrinton, Buckshire, England, died 2 Oct 1896 Smithfield, Cache, Utah. Son of Daniel William SMITH and Sarah WOODING.

Sarah Jane INGRAM (Ingarham) born 9 Jun 1839 Worcester, worcestershire, England, died 4 Sep 1872 Brigham City, Box Elder, Utah. Daughter of William INGRAM and Susannah GRIFFITHS.

1- Mary Ann LINE
2- Sarah Jane INGRAM was the second wife of Samuel SMITH they were married 19 May 1853 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah. Jane was the mother of nine children, Thyrza Ann SMITH TIPPETS, Daniel William SMITH (teen), Isaac SMITH, Sarah Elizabeth (Eliza) SMITH EVENS, John Wooding SMITH, Susannah SMITH EVENS, Frances May SMITH FORSGREN, Franklin Richard SMITH (infant), Alice Rosesella SMITH EMPEY.
3- Frances Ann INGRAM
4- Janett Maria SMITH
5- Caroline SMITH

History - Samuel was an ambitious young man: one who was determined to make his mark in the world. He was not a tall man: early records indicate his full height was a scant five feet. But he was a stoutly built person who was agile on his feet and physically able to take care of himself. Economic conditions were rapidly deteriorating in England. England was in the grip of a severe recession, which, in many places was actually a pinching depression. Though the Smiths were not engaged in mining, the repressive economic downturn affected business everywhere.

Samuel and wife Mary Ann longed to find a new place where they would have freedom to take full advantage of their opportunities. They were even willing to consider leaving England (and its bitter memories of their two lost children) if the right opportunity presented itself.

Samuel removed from Sherington to London in 1835. It was in the year 1841 that the Smiths first heard the Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their chief contact with the church was through Elder Lorenzo Snow, who was later to become the fifth President of the Church. Both Samuel and Mary Ann studied the unique new religion very carefully and soon, not only they, but Samuel's parents as well, were listening to the missionaries on a regular basis. They joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Dec 1841. They sailed from Liverpool with his parents and family for America 15 Jan 1843. They came to Salt Lake City in 1850 and moved to Big Cottonwood.

Each time Samuel Smith took another wife he had them stay for two weeks at the beginning of their marriage with his first wife, Mary Ann Line Smith. She taught them how to live in polygamy and consequently there was practically no trouble or jealousy between the different families.

Samuel was called to Brigham City in 1855 where he was chosen as counselor to Lorenzo Snow who was presiding in Box Elder Stake. He was appointed postmaster of Brigham City in 1855 and continued in that position about 17 years. Samuel was elected Probate Judge of Box Elder County in 1859 and served the people in that office for 15 years. Samuel was also elected as mayor of Brigham City in 1879 and reelected in 1881.

After the reorganization of the Stake he was chosen President of the High Priest Quorum and was ordained a patriarch to the Stake which the latter position was held at his death. (Family Histories of the Smith Family)

History - Jane, as she was called, was born in Worcestershire, England. Her parents William Ingram and Susanna Griffiths were strong and good honest workers. They joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when it was first brought to England. They emigrated to America in the year 1841 coming over in a sailing vessel [Yorkshire]. They came to St. Louis but was not there but a short time when the black measles broke out and they both (parents) died within a week, leaving three small children, a boy 8 yrs old, Richard by name, Jane 6 yrs. and Frances (Fanny) Ann 2 yrs. Their Uncle Richard Griffiths and his wife Mary took the children and gave them a home, they moved several times. At one time they lived near a forest of trees and the children would get the nuts in the fall for winter. Her uncle used to do a lot of trading horses and cattle, one night he came and told Richard and Jane to put the horses in the stable. When they went to do as they were told they heard a strange noise and ran to the house, the horses ran away in the woods. The children's uncle was angry at them and was going to whip them but their aunt would not let him ¬ so he went to see what it was and found a large wild hog in the stable, it came after him so he did not say anything to them. After that they soon moved from there. They were acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith and saw him and his brother, Hyrum, after they were martyred. One night just after they had gone to bed the mob entered the town and drove the saints out and set fire to their homes. The Saints grabbed what they could and ran to the river and crossed on the ice. Jane crossed the plains with an ox team walking all the way. She never had a chance to go to school and as her Aunt Mary had no children of her own she expected Jane to work like a grown woman. Her childhood was not in flowery paths for she was expected to do the housework at home while her aunt went to work for others to help make a living and if she did not have it done she was punished. This made her a quiet and of a discouraged nature. She never expected to be their equal to those who had an education but longed to learn. While crossing the plains her Aunt Mary took the cholera and died in the year 1849. After they arrived in Utah she went to live with Samuel Smith's mother (Sarah Wooding Smith) as Samuel and family did not arrive until the fall of 1850) who gave her a home. Jane married Samuel Smith in 1852, they moved to Cottonwood, where her first baby was born. Jane came to Brigham City in 1854 (1855), she was industrious and did all she could. When her third child was about three weeks old she was dressing him and accidentally swallowed a pin, (needle) which caused her much trouble later. Speaking of the time when the U.S. Army threatened to invade Utah, Jane, with the rest went south, walking most of the way carrying her baby so that the two little ones could ride, she like all the other in the company never complained but put their trust in the Lord and never asked why. After they returned, she helped her husband and the other families to keep a hotel for years. In the year 1864, Jane with her children, five in number, went to homestead in a place called Blue Springs, there were but a few settlers, about eight in number. They had a hard and a lonely time, it took two days with oxen to go from there to Brigham City. In the year 1867, the Indians threatened to attack the settlement and every one moved, the boys took all the stock and grain and left her with her little family, a girl 15 and her oldest boy 13 years. There were four other families left but they went three days after. The hired hands left her alone and as it was fall, a heavy snowstorm came and it was ten days before they could get to her. But she had no fear, she put her faith in the Lord and her calling that she knew that the Lord would protect her. The storm had caused the Indians to camp about 30 miles from her, so her (Jane's) prayers were answered. About nine years after she had swallowed that pin (needle) an abscess came on her left side just below the last rib. She suffered for years with that. She was bed-fast for eighteen months, then died (36 years old). She had lived a good life, was a good mother, a faithful Latter-day Saint and a good wife. She was the mother of nine children, eight were living at the time of her death. They were all home at the time, and none of them were married. She died the 4th of September 1872 at Brigham City, Utah. Sarah Jane was a very attractive woman; slender, with pretty brown eyes, long eyelashes and beautiful brown hair. She was of a quiet, retiring disposition, not given at all to quarreling. In fact, there were times when she would not defend herself even when such action was justified. Sarah Jane certainly had the sincere love and admiration of her sister Frances Ann Ingram. (Family Histories of the Smith Family)

Simeon Adams DUNN (1803-1883)

Simeon Adams DUNN born 7 Aug 1803 Groveland, Williamstown, Ontario, New York, died 22 Feb 1883 Brigham City, Box Elder, Utah. Simeon was orphaned as a child. He was the son of Simeon A. DUNN and Sarah/Sally BATH.

Simeon married:
1- Adaline RAWSON (1811-1841) married 1826 likely in Rawsonville, Wayne, Michigan, she died 1841 in Nauvoo. Adaline was the mother of seven children, Adaline DUNN HAWS, Francis DUNN (toddler), Mary DUNN ENSIGN, Maria DUNN (infant), Mosiah DUNN (infant twin), Amariah DUNN (infant twin), Betsy DUNN HAWS.

2- 1842 Margaret SNYDER two children. Margaret died 1846 in Nauvoo.
3- 1846 Jane CALDWELL WAITE KELSEY one child divorced.
4- 1847 Harriet Atwood SILVER seven children. Harriet died 1858 Brigham City.
5- 1858 Abagail BRANDON STODDARD divorced.
6- Keziah FOWLER BRANDON.
7- 1865 Elizabeth WICKHAM two children divorced.
8- 1868 Mary MCCREE BLACK BROWN.

The Dunn Family--My grandparents, Simeon Adams Dunn and Harriett Atwood Silver were married at Winter Quarters, January 3, 1847, by President Brigham Young. They arrived in Utah September 28, 1848, and established their home in Brigham City. On December 31, 1857, to their family were added twin babies, Harriett and Henry Silver. The tiny girl died shortly after birth, and two days later, on January 2, 1858, the mother, Harriett, closed her eyes in death, having given her life for her family and the religion she had espoused. Twice before, this good husband and father had been called upon to lay away a devoted wife and .companion. This time his heart was almost broken as he placed the form of his lovely young wife in the crude, home-made casket and laid her lifeless bady daughter in her arms.

Three months later, in April 1858, the call came for all Saints to leave their homes in northern Utah, and journey southward. Simeon Adams Dunn loaded a few provisions and household effects into his covered wagon, assisted his motherless children to their place in the wagon box, and cracking his long whip over the backs of his oxen, commenced his journey. He had also provided a wagon for his eldest daughter and her three little girls, and they traveled together. The husband and father of this little family, Martin Luther Ensign, at that time was serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As they proceeded on their way, baby Henry became very ill. They camped on Kay's Creek, (now Kaysville) and there they saw the life depart from their lovely three-months-old baby son and brother. The father made his little family as safe and comfortable as possible in this temporary camp, and with a sad and heavy heart slowly wended his way back to the lonely grave in the Brigham City Cemetery. Very near to it he dug a very small, new grave, and in it tenderly laid the remains of his baby boy.

He found the town empty, except for a few men who had remained behind, ready at a moment's notice to touch a match to the homes and buildings if the enemy should enter the city. He went into his house, expecting to spend the night there, but it was so quiet and lonely it was more than he could endure, so he went to the stable, laid down by his faithful oxen, and spent the night near them. Early the next morning he was on his way to rejoin his family. He found them safe and well and they continued their journey as far south as Payson, where they made their camp and remained until the Saints were counseled by the Church leader, to return to their homes.

From the diary of my father, Charles Oscar Dunn, who was four years old at the time of the move, I quote: "On our return home we passed the soldiers at the point of the mountain. It was a great sight to see them march by us. As we watched them pass, the wind blew my hat off and it rolled down a steep dugway and into the Jordan River, so I had to go on home without a hat, which made me very sad. We reached home alright but found all of our possessions gone, and our house empty." (Eva Dunn Snow, Heart Throbs of the West, Kate B. Carter, Vol. 10, p. 259)

Martin Luther ENSIGN (1831-1911) and Mary DUNN (1833-1920)

Martin Luther ENSIGN was born 31 Mar 1831 Westfield Hampden Massachusetts, died 11 May 1911 Brigham City, Box Elder, Utah. Son of Horace Datus ENSIGN and Mary BRONSON.

Mary DUNN was born 2 Nov 1833 Belleville, Wayne, Michigan, died 7 Nov 1920. Daughter of Simeon Adams DUNN and Adaline RAWSON.

They were married 8 Jan 1852, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah. Martin and Mary were the parents of nine children, Mary Adaline ENSIGN ROBERTS, Georgianna ENSIGN HILL, Emma Lovinia ENSIGN LEE, Harriett Camilla ENSIGN SMITH, Martin Luther ENSIGN Jr., John Henry ENSIGN (infant), Horace ENSIGN (infant), Effie Celestia ENSIGN MERRILL, Adam Wesley ENSIGN.

Martin Luther Ensign--My grandfather, Horace Ensign, and his five sons of Westfield, Massachusetts, were all carpenters. They joined the L.D.S. Church in 1843 and arrived at Winter Quarters in 1846 where they built a fine home, with a living room large enough in which to hold public meetings. Grandfather died of malaria that winter, but the eldest son Datus Ensign came with the first company to Salt Lake City and later moved to Ogden. Grandmother Ensign, with four sons and a daughter, arrived in Salt Lake City with the second company on September 18, 1847.

My father, Martin Luther Ensign, moved to Brigham City in 1852 with the Lorenzo Snow Company. He, with a partner had a carpenter shop on the bank of Boxelder Creek so that they could procure water power for their machines. Father made the furniture for our home and many others. He made dining room chairs, bureaus, wardrobes, bedsteads, shelves for books, etc. I have one of the dining chairs now. It has a carved back and is very sturdy. Besides building furniture they also helped erect buildings. private and public and he also helped build two bridges.
(Effie Ensign Merrill, Heart Throbs of the West, Kate B. Carter, Vol. 12, p. 376)Follow the name labels for more pictures and history.
The SMITH's and ENSIGN's are the grandparents of George Ensign SMITH (1898-1967), DUNN is a great grandfather.

BOX ELDER NEWS, BRIGHAM CITY 9 Nov 1920 Obituary - Mary Dunn Ensign

9 Nov 1920 THE BOX ELDER NEWS, SEMI-WEEKLY PAGE ONE

FAITHFUL MOTHER GOES TO REST

Mary Dunn Ensign [1833-1920], pioneer of Utah and one of the very first settlers of Brigham City, passed in a sweet sleep into the world beyond Sunday morning at 3:30 o’clock. The end symbolized the life of this noble woman for it was peaceful, sweet and without regrets nor complaints and thus one of God’s truly noblewomen completed a career which has been an inspiration to all those who have become acquainted or in any way connected with it.

Mrs. Ensign was born near Ypsilanti, Mich., November 2nd, 1833 and had therefore just recently celebrated her 87th birthday. She had been making her home with her daughter, Mrs. Emma L. Lee for a number of years past and there it was that the angel of death summoned her spirit while she was being tenderly and lovingly ministered unto by members of her family.

The family of Mrs. Ensign became associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and gathered to the city of Nauvoo with the rest of their coreligionists. Mrs. Ensign very vividly recalled to her dying day, the terrible scene enacted at Carthage jail on June 27th 1844 when the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were slain by a mob. She was not there, of course, but she was at Nauvoo when the bodies of the beloved leaders were brought home for burial and she, with the thousands of other mourners, passed before their bier and gazed upon their cold and still features for the last time in life. And following the martyrdom, Mrs. Ensign and her people were driven from the beautiful city which they had assisted to build in the dead of winter and forced to cross the mighty Father of Waters on the ice to find a refuge upon the bleak frontier where the Red man reigned supreme.

The family made arrangements to go “to the vallies” as quickly as possible and succeeded in getting away in 1848, making the trip overland successfully with ox team. The family located at Salt Lake city and there the subject of this sketch met Martin Luther Ensign whom she married in January, 1852. The following spring, the young couple came to Brigham City and joined twelve other families which had gathered together in the old fort in order that they might have some protection against the Indians. Since that time, the early part of 1853, Mrs. Ensign has worked and watched Brigham City develop into its present beautiful proportions and during all that long time of sixty-seven years, she has never been heard to complain at anything that came to her but has preserved a demeanor that was angelic and an inspiration to all who came under its influence.

Mrs. Ensign gave birth to nine children and for many years, during the time when she was rearing her family, she was an invalid and forced to keep her bed for the most part. Her physical strength seemed to return with advancing years and she enjoyed excellent health right up to the very last. She was an earnest worker in the various organizations during her younger days and in her later years she devoted all her energies to promulgating the activities of the Relief Society. She, like the other pioneer women of this community, passed through all the early day hardships brought about through the pranks of the elements and the Redskins but the latter Mrs. Ensign always befriended and thereby won their love and confidence.

Mrs. Ensign’s husband, her eldest daughter and two sons have preceded her to the other life and surviving her are the following children in their order: Mrs. Georgiana E. Hill, Logan; Mrs. Emma L. Lee, Brigham City; Mrs. Harriet Camilla E. Smith, Martin L. Ensign Jr., Mrs. Effie C. Merr[i]ll and Dr. A. W. Ensign of Logan. Mrs. Ensign had 61 grand children, 151 great-grand children and 2 great-great grandchildren. Her posterity numbers 152 living and 39 dead. She is also survived by several brothers and sisters.

Mrs. Ensign’s life stands as a monument of devotion to the principles of righteousness as she believed in them. No person ever heard a word of criticism of those whom she revered as spiritual leaders pass her lips but she gave her undivided support to even the humblest man or woman who had been called to any position of trust and responsibility. She was truly a beautiful and saintly character and the world has been made infinitely better by her having lived in it. She is also the last remaining member of that little band which so courageously set to work at the very beginning, to build here a city, the fruition of that unselfish labor being our own dear mountain home.

Funeral services are being held this afternoon in the Third ward Chapel under the direction of Bishop H. W. Valentine.

12 Nov 1920 THE BOX ELDER NEWS, SEMI-WEEKLY PAGE EIGHT

Local Items
The following people from out of town were in Brigham City Tuesday to attend the funeral services held for Mrs. Mary Dunn Ensign: Dr. and Mrs. Isaac Smith, Mrs. Jorgenson, Dr. a. W. Ensign and sons, Wesley and Coleman, Mrs. Emma Sorenson and daughter Della, Mrs. Georgina Hill, Dr. and Mrs. E. Hawkins, La’preal Hawkins, and M.L. Ensign all from Logan; Mrs. L. Nielson, Miss Maggie Ensign, Martin L. Lee, and Carl Lee fo Salt lake City; Mr. And Mrs. Wardliegh, Mr. And Mrs. Edward Ensign Bishop and Mrs. Mrs. Horace Ensign, Mr. Horace Ensign, Mrs. Lori Herrick, of Ogden; Mrs. Kenneth Webster of Rexburg, Idaho; Mrs. Alfred Rich, Mr. John L. Roberts and Mr. Lloyd Roberts of Sugar city, Idaho.

See: Box Elder News article under Our Pioneers Box Elder New, 1 Sep 1910, page 5.

The Mosiah Lyman Hancock connection ...

Of interest is how the lives of Mosiah Lyman Hancock who became the husband many wives and father of many children for a brief moment touched the life of Mary DUNN ENSIGN. That moment in her childhood is perpetuated among the HANCOCK descendants, often with mistaken ages, date and places.

[found on internet]

The ADAMS FAMILY CONNECTION

January 2010

Dear Family; I wondered if any of you would be interested in a time when I received some help in doing genealogy. One time, many years ago, Joyce and I went to the Genealogy Library when it was still in the old Montgomery Ward building in Salt lake City. I remember walking through the isles of books and one binder of group sheets was sticking out too far to walk by comfortably, so I reached up and took it out instead of pushing it back in. It opened to the group sheet of Martin Luther Ensign and it said that his wife, Mary Dunn, had been sealed to Mosiah Lyman Hancock in the Nauvoo Temple on 31 January 1846. We had been wondering what had happened to her. As you can tell from the dates, they were married and sealed before the exodus from Nauvoo. Mosiah and Mary were 14 [Mosish 11 and Mary 12] years old and were instructed to not live together, as husband and wife, until they were 16. Mosiah tells of meeting her once more before they got to the Valley. Mary immigrated to Ogden area and married Martin. [Mary married Martin L. ENSIGN in Salt Lake at age 18 they went together to Ogden for a few months then moved Brigham City were they spent the next 80 years in .] Mosiah didn’t go north, he went south, ending up in Eden, Arizona.

Love and Merry Christmas. Verl and Joyce.

[found on new.familyseach, also parts of this on internet in M. L. Hancock autobiography]

Mosiah Lyman Hancock Journal

" I was sealed to a lovely young girl named Mary, who was about my age, but it was with the understanding that we were not to live together as husband and wife until we were 16 years of age. The reason that some were sealed so young was because we knew that we would have to go West and wait many a long time for another temple."Page 31 Personal Memoirs of Mosiah Lyman Hancock. "While we were at Winter Quarters, Mary Dunn came to our camp and wanted to go with us, but Mother said we could not take her because we had no room. Mary's mother had died and her father had gotten a stepmother for his children. She came with a bundle of clothes to our wagon, and with joy I hailed my noble beautiful wife! But Mary had to go, and oh what sorrow as I saw her depart. We were separated for life." Page 38 Personal Memoirs of Mosiah Lyman Hancock. Mary was later married to Martin Luther Ensign 8 Jan 1852 in Salt Lake City,Salt Lake,Utah,U.S.A., and became a mother to many children.

Nauvoo temple records:
Last Name, First Name / Birth Date / Endowment Date
Hancock, Mosiah / 9 April 1834 / 31 Jan 1846 age 11 and 9 months
Dunn, Mary / 2 Nov 1833 / 31 Jan 1846 age 12 and 2 months

Mary DUNN was never a wife of Mosiah Lyman Hancock, she had been seal as a 12 year old girl to him when he was an 11 year old boy. This was because the Saints would leave the temple when they left Nauvoo. Did children have a say in the matter? Mosiah’s father Levi Hancock had ordained Mary’s father Simeon Adams DUNN so we know that the fathers were acquainted. What I find interesting is the fact Mary DUNN remained in the Hancock family history records. Mary DUNN has been sealed and resealed to Mosiah many times over the years. She made her choice in life when she marry and was sealed 8 Jan 1852 to Martin Luther ENSIGN in the Endowment House at the age of 18 years. Martin and Mary had nine children. Mary died in 1920 at Brigham City she was 87 year of old.

Box Elder News, 1 Sep 1910, page 5

Our Pioneers
Mary D. Ensign

"O! woman-mother; Woman-wife --
The sweetest name that language knows;
They breast, with holy motives rife,
With holiest affection glows,
Thou queen, thou angel of my life."

When one thinks or speaks of Mary Dunn Ensign [1833-1920], it is with the profound admiration and devotion that clings to noblest womanhood. Gentle, patient, humble, affable, loving, faithful, and genuine through the through. The mother of noble women and men, who pay to her today the same homage that her sweet disposition drew from them when they were children upon her knee. Over them she exercises the same solicitude as of old, and with the increase of years her heart has enlarged so that her tender love extends to all mankind.

Mary Dunn was born nera Ypsilanti, Mich., November 2, 1823, and came to Salt lake City with her parents in 1848. In January, 1852, she married Martin L. Ensign, to whom she has borne nine children: Mary Adelaine E. Roberts, deceased; Georgiana E. Hill, Logan, Utah; Emma Lavinia E. Lee, Brigham City; Harriet Camilla E. Smith, Logan, Utah; Martin Luther Ensign, Jr., Brigham City; John Henry Ensign, deceased; Horace Ensign, deceased; Effie Celestia E. Merrill, Salt Lake City; Dr. A. W. Ensign, Brigham.

Mrs. Ensign has borne with heroic fortitude all the hardships and vicissitudes that attend pioneer life, and her sweet, cheerful disposition has maintained throughout, and you will rarely meet one today who will give you more hope and courage and cheer and make you feel that life is indeed a grand and noble thing than this good sister. When we called to see her we found her, despite her 87 years, on a ladder in the top of a cherry tree picking fruit, as happy and gay as a young robin, foreseeing, as we imagine, how her children and grandchildren will, when dreary winter comes again, put their feet under grandma's table,a and will tell her how they enjoy her cherries. May she live at least to round out her full century of years, and as much longer as she may desire.

Heart Throbs of the West, Box Elder County

Box Elder County

Heart Throbs of the West, Kate B. Carter, Vol.10, p.259

The Dunn Family--My grandparents, Simeon Adams Dunn and Harriett Atwood Silver were married at Winter Quarters, January 3, 1847, by President Brigham Young. They arrived in Utah September 28, 1848, and established their home in Brigham City. On December 31, 1857, to their family were added twin babies, Harriett and Henry Silver. The tiny girl died shortly after birth, and two days later, on January 2, 1858, the mother, Harriett, closed her eyes in death, having given her life for her family and the religion she had espoused. Twice before, this good husband and father had been called upon to lay away a devoted wife and .companion. This time his heart was almost broken as he placed the form of his lovely young wife in the crude, home-made casket and laid her lifeless baby daughter in her arms.

Heart Throbs of the West, Kate B. Carter, Vol.10, p.259
Three months later, in April 1858, the call came for all Saints to leave their homes in northern Utah, and journey southward. Simeon Adams Dunn loaded a few provisions and household effects into his covered wagon, assisted his motherless children to their place in the wagon box, and cracking his long whip over the backs of his oxen, commenced his journey. He had also provided a wagon for his eldest daughter [Mary DUNN ENSIGN] and her three little girls [Mary Adaline, Georgianna, Emma Lovinia], and they traveled together. The husband and father of this little family, Martin Luther Ensign, at that time was serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [in England].

Heart Throbs of the West, Kate B. Carter, Vol.10, p.260
As they proceeded on their way, baby Henry became very ill. They camped on Kay's Creek, (now Kaysville) and there they saw the life depart from their lovely three-months-old baby son and brother. The father made his little family as safe and comfortable as possible in this temporary camp, and with a sad and heavy heart slowly wended his way back to the lonely grave in the Brigham City Cemetery. Very near to it he dug a very small, new grave, and in it tenderly laid the remains of his baby boy.

Heart Throbs of the West, Kate B. Carter, Vol.10, p.260
He found the town empty, except for a few men who had remained behind, ready at a moment's notice to touch a match to the homes and buildings if the enemy should enter the city. He went into his house, expecting to spend the night there, but it was so quiet and lonely it was more than he could endure, so he went to the stable, laid down by his faithful oxen, and spent the night near them. Early the next morning he was on his way to rejoin his family. He found them safe and well and they continued their journey as far south as Payson, where they made their camp and remained until the Saints were counseled by the Church leader, to return to their homes.

Heart Throbs of the West, Kate B. Carter, Vol.10, p.260
From the diary of my father, Charles Oscar Dunn, who was four years old at the time of the move, I quote: "On our return home we passed the soldiers at the point of the mountain. It was a great sight to see them march by us. As we watched them pass, the wind blew my hat off and it rolled down a steep dugway and into the Jordan River, so I had to go on home without a hat, which made me very sad. We reached home alright but found all of our possessions gone, and our house empty."--Eva Dunn Snow.

Martin Luther ENSIGN - Utah Since Statehood

back row left Martin Luther ENSIGN Jr. and Martha WRIGHT E.,
center Siveren Nelson LEE and Emma Lovinia E. LEE,far right Isaac SMITH and Harriet "Camilla" E. SMITHmiddle row left Georgianna E. and William John HILL,
center - parents Mary DUNN ENSIGN and Martin Luther ENSIGN,
right Mary Adaline E. ROBERTS and John Lloyd ROBERTS
front center Adams Wesley ENSIGN, Effie Celestia ENSIGN.

(not pictured John Henry ENSIGN died Aug 1866 age 2, Horace ENSIGN died Mar 1866 as infant.)

Martin Luther ENSIGN is the great-grandfather of Camilla SMITH.

Martin Luther ENSIGN and Kirt DeMar WOOD are 7th cousins 3 times removed. Their common ancestors are John HOSKINS Immigrant and Ann FYLER Immigrant.


Utah since statehood By Noble Warrum, Charles W. Morse, W. Brown Ewing, p.370-371
p. 370

MARTIN LUTHER ENSIGN

No history of Utah would be complete were there failure to make reference to Martin Luther Ensign, whose eighty years of life were crowded to the full with activities of a most useful character in relation to the material and moral development of this state. He was born in Little river Village, near Westfield, Massachusetts, March 31, 1831, a son of Horace [Datus] and Mary (Bronson) Ensign who were converted by the preaching of Edwin D. Wooley and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints in 1845. In the following spring they started for Nauvoo, Illinois, their son, martin Luther, being then fifteen years of age. The residence of the family upon the western frontier precluded the possibility of his acquiring an education, yet in his life of eighty years he accomplished a marvelous amount of work that resulted for the benefit of his fellowmen as well as his own interest. Before the family reached Nauvoo most of the people of their faith had been driven out and they continued their journey to Winter Quarters. There the father died at the age of forty-eight, leaving six children to the care of the widowed mother. About the 15th of May, 1847, Mrs. Ensign and her family started for Utah and Martin L., then between sixteen and seventeen years of age, drove three yoke of oxen from Winter Quarters to Salt Lake City for John Eldridge, arriving at his destination on the 15th of September. His eldest brother, Datus Ensign, helped to plow the first furrow turned in Utah, bringing the plow ready for use from Winter Quarters. This plow is now in the museum at Salt Lake. The mother’s home was built on logs from Immigration canyon and covered with poles and canes. It was located in the north section of Salt Lake, which was added to the first ten acre tract of the city. Their first crop of wheat was raised just north of where the City and County building now stands.

On the 8th of January, 1852, Martin L. Ensign wedded Mary Dunn, daughter of Simeon A. Dunn, who was born in Ypslianti, Michigan, November 18, 1833 [correction needed here - Simeon Adams DUNN father of Mary DUNN ENSIGN was born in Groveland, Williamstown, Ontario, New York, August 7 1803]. That spring the young couple moved to Centerville, at which time their furniture consisted of a table, a long bench, a bedstead and two stools, which Mr. Ensign made. They borrowed a bake kettle and the mother furnished a set of knives and forks and some bedclothes. From Centerville they moved to Ogden and thence to North Ogden with the intention of making a home there, but Simeon Dunn had already become a resident of Boxelder county and there Mr. Ensign and his wife joined him in 1853. Their first home was made of logs, which were cut, hewed and nailed together in North Ogden and then moved on the running gear of a wagon to where Brigham stands. They occupied that primitive dwelling for about six weeks and were then advised to move into the fort. Mr. Ensign said that he was obliged to move his house three times in one year. In 1854. Accompanied by Simeon Dunn, he went by ox team three hundred miles to the Humboldt river to get iron left there by California Immigrants. Part of this iron was afterward sold to buy flour, which cost ten dollars per hundred pounds. In 1854 or 1855 Mr. Ensign built a home at the corner of Second South and Third North streets, which has since been known as Ensign’s corner. In 1855 he was called to go to the Cache valley and build houses on the church farm. He built the first house in Cache valley. In 1856 he aided in building the grist mill in Brigham and the following

p. 371
year was called to fill a mission to England. He walked from Salt Lake to the Mississippi river and pulled a handcart filled with provisions. There were seventy-two in the company and they made the trip in forty-eight days, traveling without purse or scrip.

Mr. Ensign remained in England until June 1, 1858, when he returned to Brigham and worked in the canyon and at framing until 1862. The following year, in association with Jarvis Johnson, he built a shop on Boxelder creek and installed machinery, which was operated by water power. They did carpenter work, wagon repairing and wheelwright work and they also built a sawmill at the head of Boxelder canyon. In 1866 Mr. Ensign organized a company which sent east for a portable sawmill, which was set up on Paradise creek and operated for a year. In 1869 Mr. Ensign built tent frames, houses and camp furniture for the railroad company and in this way earned as high as twenty-five dollars per day. In 1873, associated with Mr. Johnson, he built a sawmill in Paradise canyon and from 1874 until 1877 he had charge of the Brigham Young cooperative carpenter shops and also built a bridge over Bear river at Bear River City. He likewise had charge of a steam sawmill in the Logan canyon and he did the finishing carpenter work on the Logan Temple. From 1877 until 1884 he assisted in building bridges over Bear river at Hampton and Corinne. His industrial activity contributed much to the development of the districts in which he operated. He possessed much mechanical skill and ingenuity and could do almost any kind of work in wood or iron. Mr. Ensign was elected justice of the peace in 1882 and filled that office until 1892 and from 1886 until 1892 he was also county coroner. On retiring from that position he organized a company and built a creamery on North Main street in Logan at a cost of five thousand dollars. From 1894 until 1911 he did grading work and thus continued in a life of activity and usefulness until he had reached the advanced age of eighty years. He never ceased to feel the keenest interest in the work of the church and for many years was high counselor. He was likewise associated with the Fife and Drum Corps of Brigham city in the early days He passed away May 18, 1911, survived by forty-three grandchildren and sixty-six great-grandchildren. Three [four] of his grandsons, Carl, Lee and Horace Ensign of Brigham, and George Ensign Smith of Logan, served in the World war It would be impossible to overestimate the value of the life work of Martin Luther Ensign, who from earliest pioneer times was connected with the development of the state. He was closely associated with those first activities that marked the colonization and settlement of Utah and as the years passed be bore his part in the task of continued progress and improvement. He came indeed to an honored old age and left behind a memory that is revered and cherished by all who knew him.

(Utah since statehood By Noble Warrum, Charles W. Morse, W. Brown Ewing, p.370-371) http://books.google.com/books?id=nvQJwgSmTVIC&pg=PA456&lpg=PA456&dq=%22#v=onepage&q=dunn&f=false

Biographical Record of Martin Luther Ensign

Mary DUNN 1833-1920 and Martin Luther ENSIGN 1831-1911

Martin Luther ENSIGN is the great-grandfather of Camilla SMITH.

Martin Luther ENSIGN and Kirt DeMar WOOD are 7th cousins 3 times removed. Their common ancestors are John HOSKINS Immigrant and Ann FYLER Immigrant.

(Portrait, Genealogical and Biographical Record of the State of Utah, p. 236)

Biographical Record.

p. 236
Martin Luther Ensign is one of the few surviving pioneers of Utah, being a lad of sixteen years when he made the trip across he plains in the second company of 1847. He is the son of Horace [Datus] and Mary (Bunson) [Mary Bronson] Ensign, the father a native of Massachusetts. The Ensign family is an old one in this country, there being two generations of Isaacs. The first Isaac was a child when his father died, and never knew his surname. As a lad he was employed as cabin boy on board a ship, and his mother married a ship steward. They refused to give the child a home, and smarting under his sense of wrong and injustice, he would not take the name of the man his mother had married, but adopted instead the name Ensign, which was the name of the office he held on the ship, and thus the Ensign family was founded in America. The family of which our subject is a member became converted to Mormonism and emigrated to Nauvoo, Illinois, where they remained about three weeks, and from that place went to Winter Quarters with the main body of the Church. Here the father died in the fall of 1846, and the following spring the mother and family of six children joined Daniel Spencer’s company of one hundred, and crossed the plains, our subject driving three yoke of oxen belonging to John Eldredge.

[James Ensign son of Thomas ENSING and Constance PLICHER immigrated about 1632 from England to Newton (now Cambridge) Massachusetts. James is a direct ancestor of, Martin Luther Ensign (1831-1911), a Mormon convert, moved to Nauvoo with his parents and then to Brigham City, Utah.]

Mr. Ensign was born in Hamden [Hampden] County, Massachusetts, on March 31, 1831 and there received the most of his scholastic training. He remained in Salt Lake City until May 18, 1853, when he came to where Brigham City now stands being one of the pioneers to this place, and took up a piece of land. He is by trade a carpenter, furniture maker and wheelwright, and has followed these different occupations throughout life in addition to his farming. He built a good home on his land, surrounded by fruit and shade trees, and is now in very comfortable circumstances.

The marriage of Mr. Ensign and Miss Mary Dunn was celebrated on January 8, 1852, in Salt Lake City. Of their nine children, six are now living - Mary A., grew up and married and died at the age of forty-two years, leaving a family of ten children; Georgiana is now Mrs. William Hill; Emma, now Nrs. Lee; [Harriet] Camilla, wife of Isaac Smith of Logan; Martin L., living in Box Elder County; Effie C., wife of Professor L. Merrill of Logan, and Adam W.

Mrs. Ensign is the daughter of Simeon [Adams DUNN] and Adoline [Adaline] (Rawson) Dunn, natives of Michigan, who came to Utah in 1848, Mrs. Ensign [at age 14] driving a wagon to which was hitched one yoke of oxen, the entire distance across the plains. Mr. And Mrs. Ensign celebrated their golden wedding on January 8, 1902, the occasion being a most pleasing one. The reception was held in the fourth Ward meeting house in Brigham City, and among other numbers on the program was an excellent paper prepared and read by Professor Merrill, of the Utah Agricultural College at Logan, being a resume of the life and work of our subject and his estimable wife. They have had nine children, forty-six grand children and thirteen great-grandchildren. Of these there are living six children, thirty-three grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

In 1857 Mr. Ensign was called on a mission to Great Britain, and in order to comply was compelled to leave his wife and little family of three children in destitute circumstances, dependent upon the exertions of the wife for their maintenance. He made the trip east in company with the hand Cart brigade, which he left at Omaha. Upon his return in 1858 he found his family had gone south with the general move, returning home that fall. Since 1877 he has been a member of the High council of Box Elder Stake, and a faithful worker. One of his sons, S. W., served on a two years’ mission to Tennessee.

In politics he is a believer in the principles of the Democratic party, of which he has been a member ever since the division in 1891. He was Coroner of his country for six years and ten years Justice of the Peace. There are but few men in Box Elder County who are better known or more generally popular than is Mr. Ensign, and his career has been one of which he and his children may justly be proud.

(Portrait, Genealogical and Biographical Record of the State of Utah, p. 236) http://books.google.com/books?id=_uQDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA236&dq=%22isaac+smith%22+Logan+Utah#v=onepage&q=%22isaac%20smith%22%20Logan%20Utah&f=false

click on the labels ENSIGN Martin Luther and DUNN Mary to find more detailed histories of this couple.