Anderson Family Memorial at Soda Springs:
"At South Weber, Utah, June 13-15, 1862, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were in
"The Morrisite Massacre." Mrs. Andersons chin was shot away with a
canon ball that killed Mrs. Barbara Deithelm and Mrs. Joseph Marsh,
fired by Gen. Robert T. Burtons Mormon Militia into a bowery of unarmed
"Morrisites," June 13, because they refused to obey "Brighams" decrees
after Johnstons Army had left Utah on account of the Civil War. Mrs. J.
L. Bear and her baby were killed with another Cannon ball. Then many
Morrisites with their own guns tried resistance. On the third day all
surrendered under a White flag."
In his autobiography, John Lebrecht Bear 1838 - 1919 describes the incident in more detail. He then says... "We arrived at Soda Springs close to Bear River, on the 3d of June, 1863. Indians must have left there only a few hours before, as there were yet live coals in the ash heaps. That very night it snowed three to four inches deep..." In the next paragraph he says, "My sickness increased, yea, got worse from day to day. I knew the cause was that freezing I had to endure that winter up in the canyon. Barbara Dielhelm, the daughter of that widow woman who was killed and buried with my wife at Weber, took care of me while I was sick, and indeed she could not have done any better if I had been one of her own people." Note: She was probably the passenger listed as Deithelm, Catharina (Age 25).
In his autobiography, John Lebrecht Bear 1838 - 1919 describes the incident in more detail. He then says... "We arrived at Soda Springs close to Bear River, on the 3d of June, 1863. Indians must have left there only a few hours before, as there were yet live coals in the ash heaps. That very night it snowed three to four inches deep..." In the next paragraph he says, "My sickness increased, yea, got worse from day to day. I knew the cause was that freezing I had to endure that winter up in the canyon. Barbara Dielhelm, the daughter of that widow woman who was killed and buried with my wife at Weber, took care of me while I was sick, and indeed she could not have done any better if I had been one of her own people." Note: She was probably the passenger listed as Deithelm, Catharina (Age 25).
Johnnaes SIDLER
Birth:
25 Jul 1777
Ottenbach, Zurich, Switzerland
Death:
1 Nov 1834
Ottenbach, Zurich, Switzerland
Marriage:
Dec 1824
Ottenbach, Zurich, Switzerland
Susanna JENTA
Birth:
11 Nov 1804
Wetzikon, Zurich, Switzerland
Death:
18 Mar 1858
Ottenbach, Zurich, Switzerland
Children
Marriage
1
Birth:
18 Mar 1825
Ottenbach, Zurich, Switzerland
Death:
1 Dec 1895
 |
| This canon may have killed Anna Sidler. |
Anna Sidler was killed by canon fire during the Morrisite War, 1862
Death date on church records: 13 June 1861 This date is wrong and should be 1862
She and her mother lived with her mother's parents, Johannes and Susanna Sidler. Anna's mother, Anna Sidler, was born 17 March 1827, a daughter of Johannes Sidler and Susannah Jenta. She had two sisters, Barbara born 18 March 1825, and Susanna born 3 December 1832. Her father died when she was seven years old. Her mother died in 1858.
Mormon missionaries came to Ottenbach about this time. Anna Sidler and her daughter Anna, also her sister, Susanna Sidler, accepted the teachings of the Elders and were baptized. Friday March 30, 1860, Anna Sidler, her daughter, Anna Hegetschweiler, and her sister, Susanna Sidler, sailed from Liverpool on the ship Underwriter. This was the 107th company of Church emigrants. There were 594 souls on the ship, 70 of them were from Switzerland. The fare was $4.00 for adults and $3.00 for children. Elder James D. Ross was president of the company. His counselors were James Taylor and John Croft. Captain Roberts was in charge of the ship. They arrived in New York 1 May 1860. On the 3rd of May they continued their journey from New York to Florence, Nebraska.
These people left Florence on the 17th of June 1860 on the second wagon train of emigrants of that year led by Captain James D. Ross. The company consisted of 249 persons, 36 wagons, 142 oxen and 54 cows. Anna and her mother walked most of the way crossing the plains, as the wagons were heavily loaded. They were bare-footed most of the time, their shoes having worn out. Their feet were often bleeding and bruised from the rough roads, but they had a pleasant journey as there were many Saints from Switzerland in the company. They were called together by Elder Ross mornings and evenings. Prayers were held before starting on the day's journey. In the evening they sang songs and sometimes held a meeting. On the Sabbath day they rested. When they arrived in Emigration Canyon they were met by Apostle George A. Smith, Lorenzo Snow and Franklin D. Richards, who held an interesting meeting with the emigrants. They arrived in Great Salt Lake 3 September 1860.
Anna Sidler met Labrecht Baer, a native of Switzerland on the ship coming to America. They were married soon after arriving in Utah. They moved to South Weber, near the mouth of Weber Canyon. In 1861 Anna Sidler Baer gave birth to a baby girl. Her daughter Anna was happy to have a little sister. But a great sorrow soon came into her life.
A Welshman, Joseph Morris, gained the confidence of a group of men in South Weber, among them the Bishop of the Ward, Richard Cook. Elders John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff, of the Council of the Twelve, were sent to South Weber Ward to investigate rumors concerning their activities. A meeting of the members of the ward was held 11 February 1861. Bishop Cook, and fifteen others who declared their belief in Morris, were excommunicated. On 6 April 1861, Joseph Morris became head of the new church, with Richard Cook and John Banks as counselors. The Morrisites held their property in common. They located at "Kington Fort." The membership increased rapidly and soon numbered over three hundred; before the breaking up of the community that number had increased to between five and six hundred.
Labretcht and Ann Sidler Baer, her daughter Anna Hegetschweiler, the baby sister and Susanna Sidler, who had only beenin Utah a year and who could not speak or understand the English language, followed Bishop Richard Cook and were living in the Kington Fort.
Soon some of Morris' followers desired to withdraw from the United Order and take what they had consecrated to the common fund. Several of these dissenters were captured and imprisoned at Kington Fort. Two of the prisoners were John Jenson and William Jones. On 10 June 1862 Chief Justice Kinney issued a second writ of habeaus corpus, demanding the release of these men, also a warrant for the arrest of Morris, Cook and Banks. These writs were placed in the hands of Sheriffs Robert T. Burton and Theodore McKean. Acting governor of the territory, Frank Fuller, called out several companies of the militia to aid the deputy sheriffs as a posse, 150 men being sent from Salt Lake county and 100 men from Davis county. Besides these, a great many people gathered in the vicinity of the expected conflict.
Map of FortArriving on the heights that overlook the little valley in which Kington Fort was located, a written message addressed to Morris, Banks and Cook was sent into the fort calling upon them to surrender themselves and the prisoners and urging them to remove the women and children within the fort. Morris withdrew to his dwelling and soon returned to his assembled followers with a revelation forbidding them to yield to the demands of the posse and promised them not one of his faithful people should be destroyed. The people of the fort assembled, the "revelation" was read, but before it could be discussed a cannon ball crashed into the fort, killing Anna Sidler Baer and her baby girl. Her daughter, Ann Hegetschweiler, now a fourteen year old girl, picked up the shattered bodies of her mother and little sister. The confusion in the fort was great until ex-Bishop Richard Cook advised all to go to their homes and each man protect himself and his family as best he could. General Robert T. Burton, commander of the posse, ordered the surrender of all men bearing arms in the fort. They refused upon the advice of Morris. General Burton ordered the posse to fire. He, himself, shot Morris. John Banks was also shot and died during the night. The rest of the men were arrested and later tried and sentenced to imprisonment. Labrecht Baer and his wife's sister, Susanna Sidler, returned to Switzerland.
Cemetery next to the Fort, South Weber above
Men, Motives, and Misunderstandings: A New Look at the Morrisite War of 1862**
by G. M. Howard *
Typical of such events, details of the skirmish that followed are muddled. Only a few salient points are known with some certainty. Burton commanded Morris to surrender to his custody, Morris refused, and gunplay ensued, leaving Joseph Morris and two women dead and John Banks mortally wounded. Confusion then reigned for several long minutes as the panicky crowd dashed for cover amid the screams of women and children. Only after bringing forward a cannon was Burton able to restore order. He then took ninety men prisoner, fed them and let them rest that night, and then started the two-day march back to Salt Lake City the next morning.
Passenger list from Zurich website:
Passerteilungen rich
1848 - 1870
nach Amerika und Australien
1848 - 1870
Sidler, Anna, von Ottenbach, 33, mit ihrer Tochter Anna Hegetschweiler, 13, von
Ottenbach,
[gleichentags wie ihre Schwester Susanna [28] und deren Mann, Johann
Lebrecht Bär, 21, von Affoltern am Albis], nach Amerika; 20.2.1860 (PP
38.54, Nr.122).
Bär,
Johann Lebrecht, von Affoltern am Albis, Landwirt, 21, und dessen Frau
Susanna geb. Sidler, [28], [gleichentags wie seine Schwägerin Anna
Sidler, 33, von Ottenbach, undderen Tochter Anna Hegetschweiler, 13, von Ottenbach], nach Amerika; 20.2.1860 (PP 38.54,
Nr. 121)
Hegetschweiler, Anna, Jgfr., von Ottenbach, 13, mit ihrer Mutter Anna Sidler, 33, von
Ottenbach, nach Amerika; 20.2.1860 (PP 38.54,
Nr. 122).
Hegetschweiler, Friedrich, von Ottenbach, Metzger, 25, nach Amerika; 14.4.1858 (PP
38 .52, Nr. 267).Hegetschweiler, Katharina, Jgfr., von Ottenbach,-
, 36, nach Amerika; 3.9.1858 (PP 38.52, Nr. 896).
Hegetschweiler, Karl, von Ottenbach, Traiteur, 20, nach Brasilien (als Auswanderer); 2.5.1857 (PP 38.51, Nr. 413).
