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Laura Matthews Barney
Compiled by Carol Barton, CSM Bluff Fort Historic Site
Laura Matthews was the third child of Milan Austuras Matthews and Sarah Slyter. She was born into a small family, four girls and one boy. She was a beautiful girl, blue eyes and light brown hair. She was known in her family for her wonderful personality and disposition. Her father had planned so much for her future. He was a wealthy man owning a large plantation. He gave his children a good education and Laura became a school teacher. She never wanted for any of the things life had to offer. They were a very close family who took part in the community and were active in the Baptist church. Laura was well versed on the Bible and she loved to go to church.
By 1850 Milan and Sarah had moved their family to Fawn River, St. Joseph County, Michigan. Later the Matthews family eventually left their home in Michigan and moved to Sauk County, Wisconsin, where they were living when Mormon missionaries arrived from the Utah Territory to preach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in 1855. Laura had never seen a “Mormon” before, but she accepted the offer from one of the young missionaries from the city of Provo to attend their meetings.
Little did Laura know that this missionary, Elder Danielson Buren Barney, had previously dreamed about her and knew she would become his wife! After attending the meeting, Elder Barney gave Laura a Book of Mormon. She read it many times in her room and pondered over it. She asked him to let her father read it. The missionary told her to be very careful with the book because copies were scarce at that time. Reading the Book of Mormon converted Laura to the truthfulness of the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
When Laura decided to join the church, her parents and her family did not share in her enthusiasm for this new religion. So when she married Danielson on 23 April 1857, probably in Sauk County, Wisconsin, she gave up her home and her family and loved ones for the sake of the gospel.
Laura and Danielson traveled back to Utah and made their first home in Provo City with Danielson’s parents, Edson and Lillis Barney. At the time of the 1860 census enumeration on 14 September 1860 they had one child, Minerva, who was born in Utah Territory in 1858. [Another account states Minerva was born in Buffalo, Illinois]. Shortly after the census, Olna Buren was born.
Their family stayed in Provo until about 1861 when they were called by President Brigham Young to go to St. George, Utah to help build the St. George Temple. Their little family went through many hardships to fulfill this mission. Their principal diet was cornbread and molasses. Two more children were born while they were living in St. George; Sarah Alcia in 1863 and Alfred Alonzo in 1865. [Again, another account indicated Sarah Alcia was born in Provo]
This was during the Civil War. Laura received word that her only brother was killed in the service. [She grieved very much over the loss of her brother]. She and her sister Nancy corresponded as long as they lived.
“My grandmother was one who beautified her yard and home. After they had built and worked to have a lovely home, once again, grandfather brought her the sad news, that church leaders had called them to go to Pine Valley, Utah.”
So in about 1868 the family moved to Pine Valley. Because Danielson was a fine saw man he was called to work at the sawmill, providing lumber to build up St. George and Pine Valley. Laura ran a boarding house and cooked for the men. For more than ten years they lived in Pine Valley, Washington County. While here the rest of their children were born, Laura May 1868, Rachel Sophia 1870, Edson Alroy 1873, Eliza Melina 1875, Bird Ella 1877, and Betsy Maud 1879. This made ten children in the family, who all lived to adulthood.
Once again they built a lovely home, hoping to raise and educate their family here. Thank goodness for Laura’s wonderful disposition and faith in God, for they were once again called by President Erastus Snow to pull up stakes and go to Arizona. This was in the cold winter of 1879. Besides his large family, Danielson could only take food and clothes and a few cattle. Travel became too difficult so they stopped at Panguitch, Utah where they joined the Hole-in- the-Rock company to Bluff, Utah and then moved on to Luna, New Mexico. Here they stayed for two years. [Once again there are conflicting stories. According to the Sheldon Burfuss account submitted to familysearch.com( May 2015) Danielson and Laura lived for about four years in the newly established town of Bluff City where Danielson helped plant crops and build a canal. The families who stayed there suffered many hardships in this isolated area. During the next cold winter they lost many of their cattle. Danielson had to find work to support his family over the border in Durango, Colorado, where he hauled lumber for a saw mill there.]
One of the hardest trials for Laura came when her husband married his second wife, Sophia Underwood [Sophia Arkansas Hulsey], a widow with 1 daughter. Although Laura had given her consent, it was not easy. [One account is that they met in Luna] However, Danielson and Sophia were sealed in the St. George temple on 6 January 1885.
Meanwhile, Laura drove one team and her son drove the other one, and the rest of the children drove the cattle on to Thatcher, Arizona. This was during the cold winter and they lost many of their cattle but finally made it to Thatcher. Their first year there they endured many hardships. Their flour supply was gone. They knew they had to wait for their grain to be harvested. There were no railroads at that time and flour had to be brought from Utah by team and wagon. Corn to make corn meal was obtained from the older settlers and Indians. Wild game was plentiful, so they didn’t suffer for meat.
When they arrived in Thatcher there were no homes, just desert over-run with Indians. The land had to be cleared, fenced, leveled, irrigation canals made and homes built. Her granddaughter, Maybelle Brown Dodge wrote, “My grandmother lived her remaining years in Thatcher, raising her large family. She held various positions in the church. She lived to see all her children except one son, marry in the church and raise large families. Her home was a place of rejoicing. No matter how busy she was when we went to see her, she always met us with a smile, always something good to eat. Once a year we all gathered to Grandma and Grandpa Barney’s. Here we were in a two room adobe house, tables sat down the middle of the house for the grand feast and here we heard the stories of our grandparents and always a program, songs, and games. “
Laura did grieve over the pioneer conditions of educating her children. She always felt if they had stayed in Utah her children could have had a better education. The people were so poor it was impossible to keep the school going a full year. Some years Laura’s children had to take turns going to school because of a shortage of books. Most of her children were only able to finish the common grade school, since by this time they were young men and women and wished to start homes of their own.
They lived on an acre of ground and it was completely covered with a beautiful flower garden, fruit trees, and a grape vineyard. Laura was known all over the valley for her beautiful flowers. One of her happiest days was the day Danielson was made a patriarch. He was ordained a patriarch on September 27, 1902 in the St. Joseph Stake, by Elder Hyrum Mack Smith.
In Thatcher Laura Matthews Barney was constantly on call to help the sick. She also served as a midwife, going night or day to deliver babies all over the valley. The babies she helped to deliver would number in the hundreds. She also helped to lay out the dead and gave help to the sick and down-hearted. One night her granddaughter’s baby was sick with an earache. She had tried all she knew to relieve its pain but finally gave up and sent for Grandma Barney. Taking a good plump raisin, Laura warmed it and then gently pressed it into the crying baby's ear. In no time at all, he had quieted down and was asleep.
Laura was loved and respected by all who knew her for her strong testimony of the gospel, her sweet smile, never complaining way and because she was always true to the faith. She died 27 December 1917 in Thatcher, Arizona at the age of 77. Before she died she had her mother’s and father’s temple work completed. Her last day on earth, she knew her parents and family were near her. She talked to them all day.
She was so loved in the small town of Thatcher, Arizona that the chapel was filled with family
and friends to mourn her passing at her funeral. Aunt Sophie (Danielson’s second wife) always spoke
dwell of Laura. She said, “God never made a more perfect woman.”
Source:
familysearch.org
stories submitted by Ruth Ireta Porter, 25 May 2013; Lorene Eagar 6 February 2015; and Sheldon Burfuss, 7 May 2015.
Right-click [Mac Control-click] to open full-size image:
Laura Matthews Barney