Susannah Lees
1830-1901
Susannah Lees was born in Ashton Under
Lyne, Lancashire , England Manchester
P. Blinkton Baptized Susannah a Member
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on July 18, 1848. She was confirmed on July 22 by John
Albiston.
As a young woman, Susannah had a
beautiful high soprano voice, and while in England
she sang in the church choir and after reaching Utah ,
her voice could always be heard with the singers of Zion England Mormon street
On 21 April 1851 Susannah was married
to John Blackham in England 47 Victoria Street Lancashire , England Elizabeth
John and Susannah decided to emigrate
to Zion Liverpool
the 22nd of April 1855. Susannah's two
brother's Joseph,(26) and John,(22) and John's wife, Martha Needham were also
on the ship with them.
They were very poor and came with the
help of the Perpetual Emigration Fund.
The P.E.F. as it was known, was set up by the Church to fund the
emigration of the poor. Everyone was
expected to pay back the money they had borrowed so others could also come to Zion
In a meeting at Liverpool
before they left, Brother D. Spencer and Franklin D. Richards both prophesied
that if the Saints would do right on board the S. Curling they would have a
good voyage and not a soul would die, but if we would not do right it would
prove the unhappy reverse to them.
There were 581 members of the Church on
board, with Elder Israel Barlow (the half-brother of Julia Ann Lockwood) a
returning missionary was their leader.
The Saints were divided into seven Wards. During the voyage there were several storms,
with one that was quite severe. Elder
Barlow afterwards told some of the Saints that while the storm was raging he
saw the ship surrounded by scores of angels, who stood in a circle around it
with joined hands. This was a testimony
to the Saints that the Lord was watching over the ship, and that there was no
danger. There were no deaths on this
journey.
They arrived in New York Pittsburgh , then by steamboat on the Missouri River to Atchison , Kansas Mormon Grove , Kansas
John and Susannah joined the 8th and
last wagon train company of the year 1855, with Captain Milo Andrus. There were 461 people with this company, and
this was a Perpetual Emigration Fund Train.
As they traveled westward from Mormon
Grove, the sound of the bugler aroused the Saints at six o'clock. Families would then attend prayers, prepare
breakfast and make everything ready to start the day's journey by eight
o'clock. En route, each teamster walked
by the side of his wagon. All
able-bodied immigrants walked most of the way, and according to Captain Andrus
they "rejoiced to be on their way to Zion
Susannah and her two daughters made
their beds at night on a rather small box, and they kept it all through the
journey.
One day as they were wending their way
over the pioneer trail, Susannah noticed that her older brother Joseph was
missing. She hurried to Captain Andrus
and reported the loss of the man. He
rode back over the trail for four miles, and finally found him under a
tree. He had dropped by the way, too ill
to go on. Captain Andrews placed him on
his horse and took him back to camp. But
he was not strong enough to stand the hard rigors of the pioneer trail, and
passed away before reaching the valley.
They were late in the season and while
crossing the South Pass ran into some snow for
several days and lost some cattle. Many
men women and children were almost barefoot and very destitute of
clothing. Thankfully it warmed up in a
few days and they did not have any more snow.
By the time Milo's company reached Green river
they were so depleted of animals that they were unable "to
roll." From there, the Captain dispatched
two men to Fort Bridger
Word reached President Brigham Young of
the destitute condition of Captain Andrus' train and supplies and oxen were
sent to help. Despite their problems the
company arrived in good health on 24 October 1855.
As a pioneer woman, she was very
thrifty, and did her share of the work.
The wool from the few sheep they owned, she washed, carded and
spun. She then wove it into suits for her
five boys and dresses for her two girls.
Her boys would go to the hills and
gather rabbit brush, sagebrush, and other things, which she used for making the
dyes to color the cloth. The material
was dyed a different color for each suit.
She always made them plenty large, as the homespun had such wonderful
wearing qualities. Her one son relates
that the suit, which was made for him at the age of five, he still wore when he
was twelve years old.
At one time, shortly before there was
to be a May Day celebration, she decided that her boys must have some new
pants, so she had to get busy at once.
In the daytime she worked very hard to weave the Jeans, and made the
pants at night by firelight. May Day came
and the five boys had their new pants to step out in. She also made her husband a pair out of bed
ticking, and in her own opinion, “They looked very nice.”
Susannah was a professional hat
maker. The boys would gather the long
clean straws together and tie them into bundles. These were put away until early spring. Then she would weave them into hats for
summer, and make cloth caps for winter.
A pioneer friend by the name of Mrs. Hamilton, upon seeing one of these
straw hats, desired one very much for her husband, so she waited upon Susannah
at the birth of one of her children for one of them. One year she made and sold five straw hats at
one dollar apiece. With this money she
bought a pair of leather shoes for her husband.
This was his first pair of shoes since he came to Utah Salt Lake Salt Lake Moroni
Susannah went through many hardships,
along with her pioneer neighbors. Once
when her children were small, she was doing the family washing. They were in very destitute circumstances,
and she was so weak from hunger that she was unable to stand up to rub out the
clothes, but was forced to kneel down upon her knees to finish them. Sister Knot calling at her home, found her in
this weakened condition, and calling some of the other sisters to help her,
they went to the fields and gleaned a little wheat. This they ground up in a coffee mill, made
some cakes of the meal, and took her something to eat.
While they suffered many hardships, yet
they also had many happy times together.
Later, when the children were married and had families of their own,
they would all congregate together at their mother’s home on Christmas
Eve. Each would bring something nice
toward the feast, and they would have a very enjoyable time together, visiting,
eating, and singing. Among the songs
they liked to sing were, “The Moon is up and in the Sky,” and “Christians
Awake, Salute this Happy Morn.”
Susannah and John had eleven children,
raising nine of them. Two died when they
were small infants. The children were
Elizabeth, Martha, William, John, Josiah, Samuel, Susannah, Alma, Betsey,
Benjamin, and Mary Ann.
Susannah died at Moroni
(From the files of
Nida H. Donaldson)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Could not read or
write, signed her wedding certificate with an x.
BLACKHAM, John <1828> S.Curling 1855
Gender: M Age: 27 Origin: Asthon
Under Lyne Occ: Cotton Spinner
Note: BMR,
p.169; "Ordered from Great
Salt Lake City
BLACKHAM, Susannah <1831> S.Curling 1855
Gender: F Age: 24 Origin: Asthon
Under Lyne
BLACKHAM, Elizabeth <1853> S.Curling 1855
Gender: F Age: 2 Origin: Asthon
Under Lyne
BLACKHAM, Martha <1854> S.Curling 1855
Gender: F Age: 1 Origin: Asthon
Under Lyne
Ship: S.Curling
Date of Departure: 22 Apr 1855 Port of Departure: Liverpool , England
LDS Immigrants: 581 Church Leader: Israel
Date of Arrival: 22 May 1855 Port of Arrival : New
York , New York
Source(s): BMR, Book #1040, pp. 169-191 (FHL #025,690); Customs #376 (FHL
#419,652)
Notes: "DEPARTURE
OF THE S. CURLING. -- The ship S. Curling cleared on the 21st ultimo, and put
to sea on the 22nd, with 581 souls of the Saints on board, of whom 385 were P.
[Perpetual] E. [Emgration] Fund emigrants, all under the presidency of Elder
Israel Barlow, formerly pastor of the Birmingham Zion Utah
"EMIGRATION. .
. . The ship S. Curling, S. Curling, master, arrived at this port on the 22nd
ultimo; Elder Israel Barlow, president.
She had when she left Liverpool 581
passengers on board, and had an increase of three on the passage, and no
deaths; thus she had a net increase of three.
Most of the passengers left on the 24th by way of Philadelphia, en route
for the Valley; the remainder of those who were going forward, went on the
25th. All in good health and
spirits."
"EIGHTY-SEVENTH
COMPANY. -- Samuel Curling, 581 souls.
On the twenty-second of April, 1855, the ship, Samuel Curling, sailed
from Liverpool with five hundred and eighty-one Saints on board, of whom three
hundred and eighty-five were P. [Perpetual] E. [Emigration] Fund emigrants, all
under the presidency of Elder Israel Barlow, who had acted as pastor of the
Birmingham and Warwickshire Conferences.
William Willis, on his return from a mission to India, and other
prominent elders embarked on the Samuel Curling, which, after a safe and
pleasant passage, arrived in New York on Tuesday, the twenty-second of
May. During the voyage three children
were born, and as there were no deaths on board the net increase was that
number. Elder Peter Reid, who emigrated
to America as a passenger in the Samuel Curling, in 1855, and who now resides
in the Sixteenth Ward, Salt Lake City, told the writer some time ago that the
ship encountered several storms in her passage across the Atlantic, but that
she passed safely through them all. In
the midst of one of these storms the captain got somewhat disheartened, and
declared to Brother Barlow, the president of the company of emigrants, that he,
in his long experience as a seafaring man, had never encountered a worse one;
he then added that the tempest had not reached its highest point yet, but that
the next half hour would be worse still.
Brother Barlow, in reply, told the captain that the storm was nearly
over, and would not increase in violence.
This bold remark of Brother Barlow made the captain angry, as he thought
he knew more about the weather and the sea than anyone else on board; but on
going into his cabin to examine his barometer and other nautical instruments,
he found that Brother Barlow was right; the storm abated almost
immediately. Elder Barlow afterwards
told some of the Saints that while the storm was raging he saw the ship
surrounded by scores of angels, who stood in a circle around it with joined
hands. This was a testimony to the
Saints that the Lord was watching over the ship, and that there was no
danger. Most of the passengers left New
York en route for the Valley on the twenty-fourth, going by steamboat via Amboy
to Philadelphia, where the emigrants were placed on the railway train, and left
Philadelphia on Friday the 25th, about noon, arriving in Pittsburg on the
morning of the twenty-seventh, (Sunday.)
The same day the P. [Perpetual] E. [Emigration] Fund emigrants of the
Samuel Curling joined the like passengers who had crossed the Atlantic in the
Chimborazo, and on the steamship Amazon they continued the journey to St.
Louis, whence they proceeded to Atchison, Kansas. Some of the Samuel Curling passengers remained
in New York for the purpose of earning means to continue the journey to
Utah. (Millennial Star, Vol. XVII, pp.
280, 397, 399, 423, 424, 459, 461, 490.)"
"Sun. 22. [Apr.
1855] -- The ship Samuel Curling sailed from Liverpool with 581 Saints, under
Israel Barlow's direction; it arrived at New York May 27th. The emigrants continued by rail to
Pittsburgh, thence by steamboat on the rivers, via St. Louis, Missouri, to
Atchison, Kansas"
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