Born 21 April 1832 at Ruthland, Tiago County, Pennsylvania. A
daughter of Enos and Ruth Franklin Curtis. This was two years after the Church
was organized. Her father was away on a mission at the time of her birth. Her
father was a Patriarch in the Church. He had preached the first sermon Brigham
Young had ever heard, and helped in baptizing him. She was the youngest of 14
children.
The family was driven from place to place during the mobbing of
the Saints. Celestia's mother became very ill. The mob would come and order
them out of their house. They would carry the mother out on a sheet, when the
mob would leave, they would carry her back in the house. This happened several
times, then the mob came and set fire to their place and burned all they
possessed, This time her mother had to lay out in the rain on a peppermint bed,
until the dark of night, when the men could come and get her as they could not
be seen during the day.
Ruth Franklin Curtis died the 6 May 1845 at Council bluffs,
Pottawattamie Co., Iowa, from worry, excitement and exposure. Celestia was only
13 years of age at that time. She came to Utah with her father and others in
the "Bill Miller's"Company. (This Captain Bill Miller was not the one
that dressed in disguise of Pres. Brigham Young.)
When they were crossing the Missouri River on a Ferry boat with
all of their belongings a wind storm came up. It was taking them down in a
whirlpool where all would have been lost; The people were screaming for they
thought there was no help for them. Celestia’s father (Enos Curtis) raised his
hand and commanded the wind to cease and for the boat to stand still in the
name of the Lord. The wind did cease and the boat stood still until the men on
the bank could get ropes to them to pull them to safety. Then the wind blew all
night. They could hardly keep the wagons from blowing over. This happened on
Celestia’s 18th birthday. They reached Salt Lake City on the 17 Nov. 1856. They
came with three oxen and one cow. They had bought a wagon from Jabez Durfee, he
had made it all out of wood.
Celestia had nursed and taken care of Jabez's mother, Magdelena,
called Laney Pickle Durfee, when she was very ill. She asked Celestia if she
would marry her son Jabez. His father, Edmond Durfee, had been killed by the
mob.
She said she hated to die and leave Jabez alone. Celestia said,
"I don't even know whether he wants me for a wife or not." At last
she said if Celestia would promise to marry Jabez she could die easy. Celestia
promised her she would marry Jabez. Laney Pickle died 17 May 1850 at Council
Bluffs, Pottawattamie County, Iowa.
Celestia married Jabez Durfee 25 Dec. 1850 by a bishop and was
later sealed in the Endowment House 21 Mar. 1857. They lived in Big Cottonwood,
then later moved to Springville, where their first child, Maria, was born. Then
Pres. Brigham Young called them to go to Cedar City, Iron County, Utah to help
build it up. They lived there about 9 years where their sons Erastus and Elial
and a daughter Deseret were born. Elial died when he was about 18 months old.
He was buried there in Cedar City.
They planted the first orchard there and raised the first fruit.
Jabez made the first molasses mill. One time when Pres. Brigham Young came
there for Conference Celestia made some pies out of dried peeled peaches,
sweetened with molasses they had made themselves. They thought that would be a
fine treat for Pres. Young. It was a treat to them.
The Lord blessed them and they became more prosperous. When they
were released from Cedar City they came back to Springville. After they began
to get settled again a storm came up and they lost nearly all they had. Jabez
made a wooden molasses mill to try to get a start again. Later he got some iron
rollers. They faired better. They made their own candles out of tallow with a
string in the middle of it to light it. Sometimes they would put grease in a
dish with a rag in it to light. Jabez gave Celestia a present of a lamp the
first she ever had that was when her daughter Chloe was a baby that was in
1864. At that time coal oil was $11 a gallon. Then in 1867 when John was a baby
she got her first cook stove for Christmas. The first meal cooked on it was
Christmas dinner. Celestia made her own soap by putting water on wood ashes
then putting grease in it and boiling it until it was thick. She also made soap
out of...... ? or alkali and boiling it with water and grease.
Jabez made a loom for Celestia she would weave cloth for clothes
and carpets and rugs to help make a little money. They built a larger - 2 story
brick home on main street in the south part of town. Upstairs they had a large
room where the towns people danced and put on shows, a large orchard was
planted on the land by the house. The children, Edmond, Chloe, John, LeGrand
and Vilate were born after they moved back to Springville making 9 children in
all.
Celestia had another great sadness come into her life when her
daughter Deseret married George Holdeway and on Sept. 30,1878 gave birth to a
little daughter. Deseret passed away leaving the little daughter for Celestia
to raise. Celestia loved the baby with all her heart and raised her as one of
her own.
They lived through the grasshopper war also the Indian uprising.
Jabez did all the finishing work on the first meeting house in Springville. He
was a carpenter by trade. Then in 1877 Jabez went to Willow Bend, later called
Aurora to take up a homestead. He became a successful farmer. Celestia stayed
in Springville, with the younger children, raising a garden taking care of the
orchard, drying fruit. Then in the fall of 1879 she moved to Aurora. A ward was
organized on a Sunday, Feb. 27, 1881. Jabez was made a Bishop and was a bishop
until he died the 27 Dec. 1883.
Celestia carried on the work, also nursing the sick, caring for
the dead. She was loved by all who knew her. Celestia Curtis Durfee died on 17
June 1891 in Aurora, Utah at the age of 59 years.
Chloe was born Aug 7, 1864. (She is the child who wrote this
history?)
The year Jabez died had been a bountiful year. He raised 5,600
bushels of grain, besides a good deal of hay and other crops.
Vilate - 18
Dessie - 13
(Jim, your mother - Leora - knew all of Jabez & Celestia's
children except Elial and Deseret. Aunt Chloe and Uncle Legrand were very
special relatives. I probably knew them the best although I was well acquainted
with Aunt Mariar and Vilate. I also remember Grandpa Jabez Erastus Durfee even
though I was only five years old when he died when a team of horses ran away
with the buggy he was driving. I remember his blacksmith shop in Aurora and
spending time in their home with Grandma, Sarah Elizabeth Kendall and Grandpa.
I don’t remember John Deuvaldi either. The Uncle Deuvaldi that I knew so well
was the son of Jabez Erastus Durfee and Sarah Elizabeth Kendall - my
grandparents so he was my uncle.)
All of the children of Enos Curtis
with their spouses and children need to be listed and storied the best we can
by whoever has the best documentation and insight.
Ursula Curtis, 5th daughter
and 12th child of the 14 children of Enos and Ruth, married Abraham
Durfee in 1846 in Iowa. Abraham’s
subsequently widowed sister, Tamma, later married then widower Enos after they
arrived in the Valley. Ursula was born
14 Dec 1826 in Sullivan Township, Tioga Country, PA, six years after 1820.
Sabrina
Curtis Harwood
More stories of her descendants ARE on FSFT
Celestia
Curtis
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