John Jones his wife, Elizabeth Barclay, and their family lived in a small village in Wales called Northrop.  Benjamin Bennett had lived in the nearby village of Flintshire Wales, near the shores of the Dee River, since his birth, March 15, 1796. As Benjamin grew up, he met and fell in love with a young lady, by the name of Catherine Jones the daughter of John Jones and Elizabeth Barclay. They were married December 31, 1818. It was a happy New Year’s Eve that night, and the gathering place for many of the Jones and Bennett family members.

The following story has been handed down through the family generations: Catherine’s father, John Jones, had a dream where he saw some men coming to them with a book and bringing a new gospel. He told Benjamin and Catherine about this, and promised him that when the men did come, he and his family would join with them and would go to a new land and see a copper-colored people.

On the last day of October 1840, Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball took a short trip to Hawarden, Wales. As they preached, John Jones recognized these men and told his family that these were the men he saw in his dream and this was the true church of our Lord Jesus Christ. John Jones was then an old man but he insisted that they take him to be baptized. Several members of the family were baptized at that time. They had faith in their leaders and were willing to do all they could for the new church. It became a dream for the family to come to America.

For many years, the Bennett family taught and lived the teachings of the gospel. Their home was used as a meeting place for members in the area. The Sabbath day was observed and was very spiritual. The yearning to gather in Zion never left them. John Jones died in 1859 never fulfilling his dream of going to Utah.

Sometime later, Benjamin, Catherine, and their youngest daughter Elizabeth prepared for their voyage to the “New World. They lovingly packed their belongings sorting through and packing what they could. They had to leave behind many possessions, due to weight restrictions, only bringing the bare necessities with them. The plan was for Benjamin and Catherine to establish a home among the saints and be ready to welcome others when they arrived.

The married children of Benjamin and Catherine stayed behind in Wales, and included: John and Jane Bennett, Benjamin and Elizabeth Bennett, Jonathan and Jane Bennett, and Catherine Bennett and her husband, Thomas Hewitt. Their children; John, Catherine, and their families did come to America later.

On May 11, 1860, the William Tapscott sailed from Liverpool with seven hundred and thirty saints aboard. They were on their way to Zion! The voyage was stormy and unpleasant. When the vessel arrived at the quarantine point in New York harbor June 15, 1860, they could not go ashore because some of the passengers had smallpox. Finally, on June 20, they were allowed to leave the ship. The trip from New York to Florence, Nebraska was a route that until the year before, no other group of Mormons had taken.

On June 21, the emigrants left New York by steamboat Isaac Newton and sailed up the Hudson River to Albany, where they arrived on June 22. This was Benjamin’s last ship voyage. No more would he ride on the ships that he loved. No more would he smell or hear the sounds of the docks and sea. He had no regrets, and with faith, led his wife and daughter to Zion.

 From Albany, the journey was continued by railroad via Rochester to Niagara Falls, where the train stopped for about seven hours, giving the passengers the pleasure of seeing the great waterfall and the grand suspension bridge. The journey then continued through Canada following the north shore of Lake Erie, along the bottom of Lake Michigan, crossing the Mississippi River arriving in Florence Nebraska on July 1.

A new way for the Saints to travel on to Salt Lake City was available for Benjamin, Catherine and Elizabeth. Men with teams of horses and oxen, were called to journey from Utah to Florence to bring the emigrants on into Utah. Later they were called the “Up and Back Trains.” They left with the William Budge Company. The trip was long and hard. Remember that Benjamin at sixty-three years old, what was considered an “old man” in those days. Catherine was soon to have her sixty-eighth birthday.

Nephi Johnson, a member of their company recorded in his journal on Thursday, September 27: “Started before breakfast. Traveled about eight or nine miles to the Station on the Muddy near some springs where we camped for the balance of the day and night, at this place we buried Sister Bennett, an aged Saint from England, who had died the day before.” Thus, Catherine’s death day is September 26, but they waited to bury her until the next day as they were near the cross roads at Muddy Creek and a nicer place to bury her. The journey had been just too much for Catherine.

Benjamin had to say a good-bye to someone he so dearly loved. The price for him to lead the family on the road to Zion was growing. Catherine had made it to Utah, as at that time Muddy Creek was part of Utah.

–Marc “Hutch” Hunter – TFHC Granite Stake