Written by Rulon C. Allred
A Short History of Isaac Allred
from http://www.allredfamily.org/isaac_allred4.htm
William Allred, the father of Isaac, was born in Hillsborough District, Randolph County, North Carolina. John, Thomas, William and Elizabeth Allred came to North Carolina before our Country was a republic, and settled in Randolph County near Morgan’s Mill, now known as New Salem, North Carolina. The above Thomas was the father of William, the father of Isaac. It is likely that Isaac’s father, William, was married in Randolph county to Elizabeth Thresher; their two oldest children, James and Mary Allred, were born in Hillsborough District.Sometime before the year 1788, William Allred moved with his family to Pendleton Country, Georgia. It was here that Isaac, the subject of our sketch, was born on the 27th day of January 1788. Before Isaac was two years old the family again moved. This time into Franklin County, Georgia. And it was here that William, Martha, John and Sarah were born.
When Isaac Allred was twenty-two years of age he married Mary Calvert, the daughter of John Calvert and Mary McCurdy. From the records we find that Isaac Allred and Mary C. Calvert were married on the 14th of February 1811. They settled near Farmington, Bedford County, Tennessee. It was here that Mary gave birth to their first four children; ie: Elizabeth,
Martin, John Calvert, Nancy Weekly and Sarah Lovisa Allred. It seems that the family had attained some influence and financial affluence by the year 1818 and had attained a home in the City of Nashville, Tennessee, where the following children were born to Isaac and Mary Calvert Allred, ie: William Moore, was born on the 24th of December, 1819, the twins, Reddick Newton and Reddin Alexander were born on the 21st of December 1822. Mary Caroline was born on the 9th of December 1824 and James Riley was born on the 28th of January 1827. The next born son, Paulinus Harvey Allred, was likely brought into the world back on the old farm, for he was born near Farmington, in Bedford County on the 21st of January 1829. The family moved from Tennessee shortly after the birth of this son and settled on the Salt River in Monroe County, Missouri. It was here that Isaac Allred and his family and some of the older married sons of James Allred settled and formed what was known and referred to in history as “Allred Settlement”. It was likely here, too, that these families were first visited by the Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We find this place and these people lovingly referred to in President Heber C. Kimball’s life history and by other early Elders of the LDS Church. Though James was the oldest member of the Allred family to join the Church in these last days, and was baptized into the Church the 10th of September 1832, it appears that Isaac, his younger brother, accepted the gospel at an earlier date for his Endowment records indicate that he was baptized into the Church and Kingdom of God in the year 1831.
The Prophet, Joseph Smith visited the Allred families on the Salt River and with other Elders was instrumental in organizing the “Salt River Branch of the Church.” Most of the members of these families accepted the gospel and were baptized in 1832 and 1833.
Isaac Allred and Mary Calvert had their next born son, Joseph Allred born at Allred Settlement on the 26th of April 1831. Two years later, on the 22nd of July 1833, Mary gave birth to Isaac Morley, also at the Allred Settlement.
During the expulsion of the Saints from Monroe and adjacent counties, Isaac Allred sought refuge for his family in Caldwell County where they lived until 1838. It was at this place that Mary Calvert Allred gave birth to her last born son, Sidney Rigdon Allred, on the 22nd of October 1837. We find in 1838 that the family had moved to join the body of the Saints who had been driven from their homes in Missouri and with them they settled at Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois.
When on the 12th of July, 1843, the revelation on “The Plurality of Wives and the Eternity of the Marriage Covenant” was first written and was read by President Hyrum Smith to the members of the First High Council called by the Prophet Joseph Smith, we find that Isaac Allred appears as a member of that council. He is mentioned as one of the nine faithful council members who accepted the revelation as the word of the Lord to the Saints in these last days. The other three members of the High Council rejected the revelation and in fulfillment of the prophecy made at that time by Hyrum, brother of the Prophet, they later apostatized.
Isaac Allred and his family were among the 15 Allred families who fled before the mobs when the Saints were driven from Nauvoo. They crossed the Missouri River on the ice and escaped into the bleak surroundings of that uninviting land with the faithful followers of President Brigham Young.
It is well known how the United States Government officials, after having permitted and assisted in the expulsion of the Saints from their homes and lands, later ordered that the fleeing body be overtaken and that 500 of their young men be drafted into the Army to join in the war against Mexico. The Saints were overtaken in Indian Territory and it was here that the Army Officer had been directed to get 500 men or upon failure of the “Mormons” to supply them to count them as traitors, fleeing under false pretenses, and therefore worth of extermination. This is according to the statement of President Brigham Young before the Council of the Kingdom at that time. It was under these conditions that President Young advised the young men to join the Army. He promised them that they would not have to shed the blood of their fellow men, but that this added affliction heaped upon them in this hour of their trials would turn out as a blessing upon their heads. Several of the young Allred boys joined the “Mormon Battalion: and performed with that Battalion in the longest march of foot soldiers in length of miles ever traversed by any army in the history of time.
When President Young and his advance company proceeded on to the west, he advised the remaining body of Saints to stay where they were in Indian Territory and raise crops and provide for themselves and lay up store for the others in the long march which must eventually follow. Besides, he said, at that time many of their young men now in the army could join them and assist them in their track. James Allred and his family remained and at the appropriate time in 1848 continued with a 100 wagon train, many of them Allred’s, on their march to Salt Lake City, Utah. However, Isaac Allred was selected with other brethren to go on ahead with President Brigham Young as an advance company. He was with them when on the 24th of July, 1847, when they entered the Salt Lake Valley.
Mary Calvert, mother of 13 fine children and one of those known and mentioned as one of the noble “Women of Mormondom” having a name worthy to be perpetuated through all time and eternity, died in Sanpete County on the 16th of September 1851. (According to one record, she died in Holladay, Salt Lake County. Sanpete County had not been settled at that time, so she must have died in Holladay.) We find the incident of her passing in Sanpete County referred to by her son, William Moore Allred in his diary, while he was still on his way to Salt Lake City with his delayed brethren and their families and while they were camped at “Loon Fork” on the Platt River.
On the 5th of November 1852, Isaac Allred married Matilda Stewart, the widow of John Miller, she being sealed to him for time and to her deceased husband for eternity. By this marriage, Isaac fathered one daughter Matilda Stewart Allred, who was born 12 May, 1853 at Big Cottonwood, Salt Lake County, Utah.
Isaac joined members of the Allred family about 1853 aiding in the settlement of the Allred family about 1853 aiding in the settlement of the Sanpete Valley and in the formation of “Allred Town” later known as “Little Denmark” then as Spring Town, and now as Spring City, Utah. Some of his sons were sent to establish settlements in Star Valley, Wyoming, in the Great Bear Lake, Idaho and other new places in the west.
Isaac died the 13th of November 1870 at Spring City, Sanpete County, Utah after fulfilling a noble life and leaving a name for good among all Saints.
ISAAC ALLRED (1788-1870)
Isaac Allred was the second son and fifth child in the family of eight children born to William Allred and Elizabeth Thrasher. Between 1786 and the time of Isaac’s birth the family moved from Randolph County, North Carolina to Pendleton, Anderson County, South Carolina, where Isaac was born on 27 Jan. 1788. We have no record of his early life. He may, however, have been employed in Georgia as a young man, or the Calverts may have gone to South Carolina. Whatever the circumstances, on 14 Feb. 1811, Isaac married Mary Calvert, who was born in Elbert County, Georgia. (The distance between these locations is 30 to 50 miles).
Isaac’s older brother, James, had married previously and gone north westward to the Ohio River. Then, following Isaac’s marriage, the two brothers settled together in Tennessee, near Nashville. The newlyweds, Isaac and Mary, must have prepared for the move soon after, if not before, their marriage. We might also guess that they spent their first summer traveling, for their first child, Elizabeth M., was born in Bedford County, Tennessee, on 6 Jan. 1812. (She lived only six years.).
They remained in Tennessee until 1830, when both families moved about 500 miles north westward to Monroe County, Missouri. Isaac’s son, William, described the location as, “....on the State Road (with?) in three miles of one of the three forks of Salt River....” and son, Reddick, noted in his account, “....Father purchased a home on the great highway from east to west....” Today (1982) the three forks of the Salt River are under the Clarence Cannon Reservoir and there does not appear to be any great highway in the area. (This is also very near the birthplace of Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain, born in 1835, the year the Allreds left).
According to William, they found the climate to be much colder than in Tennessee and Isaac was hard pressed to provide -- especially sufficient clothing -- for his large family, which by May, 1831, numbered eleven children. He enjoyed one advantage, however. It was the abundance of game animals. William tells of his father going out and bagging two deer before breakfast, and William, himself, killed one at age 12. We may well guess, then, that Isaac’s family was largely buckskin-clad.
Reddick has left the best explanation I have seen concerning the coming of the LDS missionaries to the Salt River Settlement (also known as Allred Settlement): “....My parents were members of a school of Presbyterians and brought up their children to reverence a God and were very exemplary in their lives, so that when a new religion was introduced they naturally looked at it with suspicion, having been taught that Prophets and Apostles were no longer needed, so some cried false Prophet. In 1831 two men preached in our settlement saying a new Prophet had organized a new church and introduced a new gospel or rather the old one come again. His name was Joseph Smith. Their names were Hyrum Smith, brother of the Prophet and John Murdock. Other Elders were passing every few months from Kirtland to Jackson County -- the gathering place for the Saints, and father opened his house for meetings....” The Salt River Branch of the Church was organized that same day.
William indicates that his father Isaac sold his farm on Salt River in 1832 or 1833 in anticipation of moving to Jackson County, the gathering place for the Church. But when the Saints were expelled from Jackson County, he rented his farm back from the buyer and remained in the area for a time, though the family had to relinquish the house to the buyer and find other accommodations. They stayed there for one more year, during which the Prophet, Joseph Smith, came to their settlement with his “Zion’s Camp” expedition in an attempt to reclaim the homes and property of those evicted from Jackson County.
In 1835, in response to the call of the Prophet to assemble at Clay County, Missouri, Isaac and his family moved. From Reddick’s account, “...In 1835 father moved up to Clay and located on Fishing River where he raised one crop, and the influx was so great that the old settlers became alarmed and the mob spirit began to raise, which was checked only by a compromise by which the old settlers were to buy out the Saints, and we to move into a new county adjoining called Caldwell County.
“1837 Father preempted land on Long Creek where he hoped to be able to build and inhabit -- to plant and eat the fruit in peace thereof. This was eight miles from the newly laid out city of Far West. On the 14th of March 1838 the Prophet and other leading men came in from Kirtland and settled in Far West and the Saints
began to gather and spread out so that two counties had to be organized, Caldwell and Davis were two Stakes of Zion was organized.”
William’s account tells us something about the circumstances and results: “...We lived there about two years and was getting a pretty good start. Broke ground for a temple in 1837. My father had quite a large family, in all nine boys and four girls, the oldest girl died before I was born, and we suffered considerable from persecution and exposure...”
Isaac and Mary’s oldest son, John, married in 1833. This left William (age 19 in 1838) as the oldest unmarried son. But William fled the area after it was learned that the Missourians were seeking him because he had been involved in the battle of Crooked River and in the defense of Far West. This left Isaac and his daughters and youngest sons -- with only one or two ox teams which had not been either stolen or destroyed -- to transport family and good in the wintertime exodus from Missouri.
At length the family reached Illinois and were reunited. Isaac rented a farm a few miles down the Mississippi River from the town of Quincey. The family resided there until the Prophet, Joseph, made his escape from Missouri and founded Nauvoo, on a bend in the Mississippi on the Illinois side. Isaac moved his family there in 1840. We have little information about him from then until the exodus from Nauvoo. Isaac’s family were not among those leaving there early. William noted that it was in the spring of 1846. Reddick’s record is that as he returned to Nauvoo after assisting some of the early movers to camps in Iowa, he found his family (Isaac, Mary and children, and his wife, Lucy) on the Iowa side of the Mississippi awaiting his return so they could resume the journey. He noted that weather conditions had improved so much that they actually had a pleasant trip across Iowa to Council Bluffs (a great contrast to the experiences of those who left Nauvoo early).
It appears that most of the quite numerous Allred clan -- Isaac and James now being the patriarchs of large posterities of children and grandchildren -- settled about five miles east of Council Bluffs at what became known as Allred settlement. According to Reddick, it was at “Little Pidgeon” (probably a stream). A branch of the Church was organized there.
About the time they reached this camp two of Isaac’s sons, Reddick and James Riley, enlisted in the Mormon Battallion. Reddick’s wife and baby remained with Isaac’s family. These soldiers’ pay was received by the Church and helped the families financially, but the great strength of the two sons was missed. Isaac, with other remaining family members, began making preparations to overwinter there.
After Reddick’s return in December of 1847 (James Riley remained in California), preparations to move west were hastened. The journey was commenced in the spring of 1849. Reddick was a captain of 50. Isaac and family traveled with him. They arrived at the Salt Lake valley on 16 Oct and remained in Salt Lake City that winter. In 1850 they located near the mouth of Big Cottonwood canyon. The next year Isaac had the sorrow of Mary’s death -- on 16 Sep 1851, at age 58. The cause of her death was apparently not recorded.
Isaac married Matilda Park, a widow with three children, on 1 Mar 1852. Thus, at age 64, after having raised a family of 12 (two of whom were still teenagers), he began raising a second family. A daughter was also subsequently born to this marriage. They apparently then moved to Kaysville, as that is where Reddick noted finding his father when he returned from his mission in 1855. Reddick’s words: “...they were quite destitute having lost their crop the two successive seasons as also many others throughout the territory, especially the last season.”
In the spring of 1858 most of the Salt Lake valley settlers moved south to the Utah valley and beyond at the approach of Johnston’s army to Salt Lake. Reddick tells us that he remained with the rear guard and sent his family on ahead. It may be that he sent them with Isaac. Then he states, “I came to my family in Nephi and instead of going back I sold my home worth $500 for one yoke of oxen worth $100. Whether Isaac had already sold out at Kaysville or whether he also made a sacrifice trade rather than return we have not been informed. All we know for certain is that he must have proceeded on to Sanpete valley immediately, because later that year he was selected as a committee member for a study of the feasibility of making a settlement at Pleasant Creek, near the north end of the valley. (Isaac’s brother, James, and others had been called by Brigham Young in 1851 to settle the Sanpete valley, but had had serious Indian problems the entire time. They had a stronghold at Manti.) The committee made the survey and reported favorably. Then Isaac was chosen as one of the committee to present the proposal to Brigham Young. Whether he met with President Young is in some doubt, as there is some indication that he was replaced by someone else. It may be that the Allreds had decided against settling there. Whatever the circumstances, Isaac and Reddick did not settle at Pleasant Creek (Mt. Pleasant), but at Spring City, a few miles to the south. Reddick claimed to have built one of the first cabins there in the fall of 1859 (though this was where his Uncle James had settled earlier only to be driven out by Indians. The settlers’ houses were burned.) He states that his father, Isaac, and a number of other Allred families, as well as others soon settled there.
Thus, Isaac, at age 72, was still extending the western frontier, building upon the ashes of home sites burned out by the Indians. Nor were the Indian problems over. One night they killed every pig and chicken in the settlement. But Indians were not the only predators. The wolves killed so many cattle that the settlers sharpened their horns that they might better protect themselves. There is indication that this measure lessened the losses, but did not stop them entirely.
In spite of Indians and wolves, Isaac remained at Spring City until his death on 13 Nov 1870.
He was 82.
Compiled by E. Morrell Allred, 1 ggson
Sources: Allred, Reddick N., autobiography, in Treasure of Pioneer Hist., K. Carter, ed. 5: 297-372 DUP. SLC.
Allred, Wm. M., autobiography, unpub. ms.
Biography of Wiley Payne Allred, unpub. ms., author unknown.
Munson, Eliza M.A., Early Pioneer History, 3 page unpub. ms.
THE FIRST CONVERTS
A History of James, Isaac, and William Allred
By Karla Monson
(Missouri Era)
"And also my servant John Murdock, and my servant Hyrum Smith, take their journey unto the same place by the way of Detroit." (Doc. and Cov. 52:8) Obeying this commandment, the missionary team of John Murdock and Hyrum Smith introduced the Allred Brothers, James, Isaac and William to the Gospel in the fall of 1831.1Previous to his conversion in Missouri, Isaac had homesteaded with his parents in the Southern States. His birth on January 27, 1788, in Pendleton, South Carolina, occurred during the month when Georgia and Connecticut were convening to ratify the Constitution. When the family of William and Elizabeth Thresher Allred moved to Franklin Co., Georgia in 1790,
Congress held its second session in Philadelphia. As friction with France and England culminated in the War of 1812, they migrated westward to Bedford Co., Tennessee.2
In Tennessee Isaac married Mary Calvert February 14, 1811, two weeks after his twenty-second birthday and four weeks before her sixteenth birthday. They remained in Bedford Co., until Paulinus Harvey was a few months old, then joined their relatives in the Allred Settlement of Monroe Co., Missouri by the Salt River. Recalling the years in Tennessee, William Moore, the second son, wrote:
My parents were very religious. I believe they belonged to the Presbyterian Church. I never had much chance for an education and it was very old fashioned at that. I remember of going to Sabbath School a few times where I was born and went a few times to the Camp Meetings but yet I was too young to understand much about doctrine.3
This same son describes the novelty of the first winter in Missouri. The snow fell two feet deep and froze so that he could walk on the crust. The deer were plentiful and with his dogs to chase them, William killed his first deer when he was 10 or twelve years old. He frosted his feet that winter and was obliged to stay inside while his brother, John Calvert, supplied wood to the house. His twin brothers, Reddin and Reddick, having no shoes, were also confined to the house and William taught them to spell and read. Missouri was a new adventure for the family and Isaac purchased land close to the state road, "…the great highway from east to the west.”, three miles from one of the forks of the Salt River.4
Two years following their arrival in Monroe Co., Hyrum Smith and John Murdock preached to the A1lreds, testifying that a new prophet, Joseph Smith, had organized a new church or rather the old one restored. They arrived on August 4, 1831, and taught the next day. John Murdock became ill and they spent a week at Salt River. According to Reddick, his parents were exemplary Presbyterians and were taught that prophets and apostles were no longer needed. They thus regarded Elder Smith and Murdock suspiciously. The two Elders passed on to found the center stake of Zion, New Jerusalem, in Jackson Co., Missouri. Later, Isaac opened his home for meetings as other elders, bound for Jackson County stopped to teach. A year passed and the faith sown in 1831 took root as George Hinkle, Daniel Cathcart and James Johnson organized the Allreds, Ivies and others into the Salt River Branch. Nineteen converts, including Isaac and Mary, one or two daughters and William Moore were baptized on September 10, 1832.5
As the Saints were amassing in Jackson County, the Salt River increased in self-sufficiency. John Ivie baptized Reddin and Reddick in March of 1833. That year, Isaac, intent on founding Zion with the Saints, sold his farm to relocate westward. However, in the fall the Saints were expulsed from Jackson County. Their departure was marked by the falling of stars, which Reddick affirms, 'I.... was witnessed in our locality in all its splendour, and many believed the end of the world had come.” Awaiting the next gathering, Isaac rented the home of the buyer of his former property and stayed with the members of the Salt River Branch. At this time, Isaac observed that Paulinus Harvey's mouth would draw down to one side when he laughed. Isaac called on the healing power of the Elders and Paulinus's mouth was normalized.6
Isaac's family met the prophet as he recruited men for the army to reclaim the lost property of the Saints in the spring of 1834. William defined his first impressions of the Prophet of Zion's Camp as follows:
I thought he had a very noble appearance, very kind and affectionate. I visited the camp several times while they were stopping at my Uncle James Allred's farm. I know he was a true prophet of God, for I have lived to see many of his prophecies fulfilled and am willing for this testimony to go to all the world.
Joseph Smith specifies in the Journal History that the company arrived on June 7, 1834 and camped in a grove by the spring waters of the Salt River, by a branch of the Church called the Allred Settlement. They rested, washed clothes and prepared for their journey until June 12th. James Allred, Isaac's brother, Isaac and Martin Allred, James's sons, and Andrew Whitlock, James's son-in-law, joined the company formed to redeem Zion.7
Returning from his mission, Joseph stopped again in the Allred Settlement to urge the Saints to abandon their irretrievable farms in Jackson County and establish themselves in Clay County. Isaac hastened to Fishing River in Clay County in 1835 and harvested one crop before mob spirit resurged. Treated with more equanimity this time, the old settlers bought out the Saints’ farms and they moved to Caldwell County. This county was sparsely populated, and in 1836 was a refuge for outlaws. Nonethless, Isaac prospered and in 1837, the year ground was broken for a temple in Far West, purchased land on Long Creek, eight miles from Far West. On March 18, 1838, the Prophet and other Church leaders moved into Far West and the population swelled enough to cause the counties to split into Davis and Caldwell. As the Church expanded, the natives panicked and violence was triggered on election day at Gallatin, Davis County. Isaac had by that time three living daughters and nine sons. William declares that, “…we suffered considerable from persecution and exposure.”8
Both William and Reddick have vivid accounts of the turbulent months in 1838 when the prophet urged all outlying settlements to Far West for their protection. Preparing to withstand a siege, a company of men supervised by Captain Buchanan dragged a horse mill from Davis County into Far West. Reddick, sixteen years old at the time, took his father’s ox team and assisted the company. This is his recollection of the events on October 24th and 25th, 1838, as he returned to the city:
I put up at Father Morley’s, not having time to go home, eight miles out, before night. I had just fed my team and was eating supper when Father came to town with a report that the mob was making a raid upon the scattered settlements on the head of Long Creek. He told me to hitch up and go home as soon as possible to guard his family. It was pitch dark when I started and as I crossed the square, Apostle David Patten was in his saddle raising his men to go out to protect our people. Having had scarcely any sleep for two nights, I could not keep awake in the wagon, so I walked by the side of my oxen, and there I even slept as I walked, at the same time not knowing at what moment I might be in the hands of the mob. I got home at one o’clock and found all safe. Father kept on the alert, and at the break of day he heard the guns at the “Crooked River Battle,” it being only five miles from our home. That morning we moved into Far West, and witnessed the approach of the army, the capture of the Prophet and others, the surrender of arms, etc.etc.9
William was listed in George Hinkle's company (the man who baptized him) during the violence in Carroll and Davis County. The company marched to the town of DeWitt to aid a settlement besieged by the mob. Their opponents repulsed their aggresion and William mentions, “…they commenced shooting toward us but the bullets went over our heads (it being a lumbered country) but there were none of us hit." They struck a truce with the mob and moved on to the support of the Saints of Davis County. William saw the altar where Joseph revealed that Adam had offered sacrifice and built a breastwork with a detachment of fifty to defend the Saints from the Missouri militia of Generals Clark and Lucas. Capitulating to superior numbers, Colonel Hinkle agreed to surrender Joseph and Hyrum and his men's personal arms and property. As Joseph left for trial in Davis County, mob threats increased and William joined a self-appointed group to protect him.10
Acquiesing to the defeat of the Saints, Joseph and Hyrum entered the camp of the Missourians and William recalls, " …such a yelling and screaming and swearing I never heard, we could hear them up to Town." They held a court martial and condemned Joseph and Hyrum to death. William marched into the square in Far West with other Mormon defenders to sign away his property as compensation for damages to the Missourians and to relinquish his arms. General Lucas or Clark (William was not certain which one) advised them to leave the state in the spring and not to hope of mercy for their leaders, for "Their die is cast, their doom is sealed."11
William Allred, Isaac's younger brother, also took an active stand against the enemies of the Church. As a Captain over ten mounted men he went to intercept a wagon of guns and ammunition, destined for use against the Mormon forces, in September
1838. The wagon was hijacked and the guns scattered. Three men, issuing from the Missouri camp, were siezed by Captain Allred who had authority from a writ to arrest any man abetting the mob. The culprits and the munitions were taken to Far West.
The inhabitants exulted in having frustrated the machinations of the mob.12
In November, 1838, after the surrender of the Saints, General Clark brought William Allred, Martin C. Allred (James's son), and Andrew Whitlock (James's son-in-law) before Judge King and charged them with high treason against the state, murder, burglary, arson, robbery and larceny. They were incarcerated with Joseph, Hyrum, Sidney Rigdon, Parley p. Pratt, and forty-eight other alleged war criminals at Richmond, Missouri. Having found no evidence to accuse Andrew, Martin C., or William of a drama, Judge King discharged them on November 18th.13
Two months after his release from prison, a public meeting was held in Far West. In attendance were the Saints from devastated Caldwell County. On a motion made by President Brigham Young, it was resolved to enter into a covenant to assist themselves and the worthy destitute Saints in leaving Missouri until all were out of danger of General Clark's extermination order.
William, Martin C. and two hundred and twelve other members signed the covenant. William was compelled to move to Pike County, Illinois where Hyrum ordained him a Bishop. He had left over 600 acres of land in Missouri.14
As William (Isaac's son) returned home, destroyed crops and property littered his path. His father had only one or two teams remaining. The family left Far West by foot in the snow. One of Isaac's daughters skirts were frozen up to her knees. In a petition to reimburse the Saints, sent in 1839 to Congress by Joseph Smith, Isaac is named with James (his brother), Martin C., and Reuben W. (his nephews) as plaintiffs for financial loss. Isaac estimated his property damage as $3,300. 00 and sued the government for redress.15
While his older brother was protecting the Saints in outlying districts, Reddick was organized by Joseph into a regiment of the fifty men and boys remaining in Far West. They attempted to shield the city from the threat of Governor Boggs' army of 4, 000. Their minimal army disconcerted stray Missourians forming battle lines for the oncoming conflict. Reddick writes that “…seeing our two companies charging into town on the east and west, they broke ranks and fled in confusion."16
Fearing recognition by the mobocrats, William left the state to spend a few months in hiding with his brother, John Calvert, in Quincy, Illinois. He returned to Missouri to help his parents evacuate. They rented a farm of a Mr. Stone in Adams County, Illinois, twenty miles south of Quincy.17
Despite the Missouri disasters, proselyting continued. At the October Conference of 1839, held in Commerce, Illinois, Reddin, Reddick, and William (no verification as to whether this is William Moore or Isaac's brother) were sustained as Elders. The twins left in November to share the Gospel with John Napoleon Calvert, Mary's younger brother, in Williamson County, Illinois. They spent a month preaching and leaving a favorable impression of Mormonism. Reddick states that "He said it was scriptural and reasonable, but he thought he could get all the salvation he needed where he was by being a strict Presbyterian." A year later, after Fall Conference, Reddick embarked by steamboat with Elders Daniel Garn and Jacob Foutz to proselyte in Cincinnati. He preached with Andrew Lamoreaux and eventually gravitated to Trenton, Indiana where he organized the branch.
While he was engaged in missionary endeavors, Isaac, sometime during 1840-41, departed from Adams County to Nauvoo, Hancock County.18
THE FIRST CONVERTS (Nauvoo Era)
Vis-a-vis fever-ridden Commerce, the Prophet reorganized his people and galvanized their energy for the building of Nauvoo. Anxious to own property in the city, Isaac places himself under bond to Hiram Kimball, a local land owner, in order to purchase land in November, 1841. He signs his name to three petitions regarding his lot. First, for the Kimball addition to be included in the boundaries of the city; second, for a well to stand at Durfee and Hibbard streets; and third, for Kimball street not to open from Hibbard to Barnett Street.1An auspicious year for all the citizens of Nauvoo, the temple was begun and the Nauvoo Legion formed in 1841. William hauled into town the first load of stone quarried for the temple. Until the completion of the temple, he labored intermittently with joiners and carpenters in the workshops surrounding the temple foundations. Reddick describes working on the temple parttime as a mason. Many of the workers were poverty-stricken and survived on bread and water.2
In Examining the Temple Carpentry Shop Account Books, it proves that Isaac also worked as a carpenter. It is probable that he worked part-time as in the Temple Stone Cutting Shop. James Allred also assisted in constructing the Temple and giving endowments.3
Accompanying the building of the temple was the restoration of ordinances for dead ancestors. William expressed his feelings on baptism for the dead:
I was present when he (Joseph Smith) preached the first sermon on baptism for the dead. I remember my father said it was astonishing to him to think he had read the Bible all his life and never looked at it in that light before. I was present at the first baptism for the dead.
The records of Nauvoo show James Allred as a witness for John Murdock and Benjamin Andrews when they are baptized on behalf of deceased relatives on August 4, 1844. 4
Endowments for the living and the dead was the next step in the restoration of temple ordinances. At the time of that restoration, Joseph came to Elizabeth Warren (James's wife) with a sacred assignment:
It was while they were living in Nauvoo that the Prophet came to my grandmother, who was a seamstress by trade, and told her he had seen the Angel Moroni with the garments on, and asked her to assist him in cutting out the garments. They spread unbleached muslin out on the table and he told her how to cut it out. She had to cut the third pair, however, before he said it was satisfactory. She told the prophet that there would be sufficient cloth from the knee to the ankle to make a pair of sleeves, but he told her he wanted as few seams as possible and there would be sufficient whole cloth to cut the sleeve without piecing. The first pair were made of unbleached muslin and bound with turkey red, and without collars.5
To guard his city, Joseph created the Nauvoo Legion in 1841. William was commissioned as Captain of the 2nd Company, 2 Battalion, 2 Regiment, and 2 Cohort of the Legion.6
In March, 1841, James Allred was appointed as a supervisor of streets and as a high constable. In actuality, this was also a calling to be one of the Prophet's body guards. James was chosen again as a body guard to Joseph in the Nauvoo Legion. At April Conference he was sustained as a high councilor in the Nauvoo Stake. In addition to his priesthood duties, he would have shared with the other high councilors the task of guarding Joseph.7
William Allred (Isaac's brother) also had close contact with the Prophet. As Bishop in the Stake at Pleasant Vale, he came to Nauvoo in March desiring Joseph to inquire of the Lord concerning His will for William. The Lord revealed that he should sell stock in the Nauvoo House, assist in building it and own stock in it. William had only four months to comply with this revelation. He died in July, 1841.8
William Moore Allred had a warm relationship with Joseph. He and Emma attended William's marriage to Orissa Bates in January, 1842. He elaborated on his friendship with Joseph as follows:
I was with him in the troubles at DeWitt, Adam-ondi-Ahman and Far West. I have played ball with him many times in Nauvoo. He was preaching once, and he said it tried some of the pious folks to see him play ball with the boys. He then related a story of a certain prophet who was sitting under the shade of a tree amusing himself in some way, when a hunter came along with a bow and arrow, and reproved him. The prophet asked him if he kept his bow strung up all the time. The hunter answered that he did not. The prophet said it was just that way with his mind, he did not want it strung up all the time.9
A Hancock County tax assessment reveals William's Father, Isaac, as a substantial property holder in 1842. His cattle are valued at $68.00 (this represents ten or more cattle), his horses at $120.00 (this represents at least two horses), his vehicles at $50.00 (this represents wagons and possibly a carriage) and his clocks and watches at $15. 00. His other personal property is valued at $100.00 (this represents furniture and possibly includes tools). The assessment discloses that he has a store in his home, or that he sold products from his home. All totalled, his estate is appraised at $353.00. Statistical studies of the records rank Isaac Allred, Sr. as one of the nineteen wealthiest men in Nauvoo. He has more personal property than 98% of the townspeople.10
Officials of Nauvoo evaluated Isaac's possessions and conducted a Church census in 1842. The assessors valued Isaac's property at $273. 00 and affirmed that Isaac lived on Block 4 and owned the north quarter of Lot 50. The real property, the land was valued at only $70.00. This indicates that Isaac did not build a house on it or the property would have been worth more. The Church census, taken in the spring of 1842, lists Isaac and Mary as members of the Third Ward (there were four wards in Nauvoo at the time) with Nancy, Reddin A., Reddick N., James R., Paulinus H., Joseph A., Isaac M. and Sidney R.11
Persecution of Church leaders increased in 1842. James T. S. Allred remembers the harassment of Joseph and Hyrum:
The Prophet and his brother Hyrum were continuously being hunted and persecuted by the mobs. Grandmother (Elizabeth Warren) often used to put potatoes in the coals in the fireplace at night and leave bread and butter and fresh buttermilk (of which the prophet was very fond) out on the table so that they could come in during the night and eat.12
While living in Illinois, James Allred (James T. S. Allred's Father and Isaac's brother) was also harassed by enemies of the Church. An affidavit, made by James in July, 1840, testifies of an unlawful kidnapping of himself and Noah Rogers by Missourians without a warrant for arrest or extradition. James and Noah were forcibly taken to Tully, Missouri. They were bound by cords and left in a room for one night. The next night James was stripped, tied to a tree and threatened with a whipping.
However, he was not severely abused and was released after several days of detention.13
Another city assessment in 1843 shows that Isaac had moved off the north quarter of Lot 50 but still owned it. A legal document manifests that he purchased the north quarter from Allen Taylor (his son-in-law). This land was located beneath the rolling hills of Nauvoo and may have been difficult to drain for farming. Other municipal accounts show that Isaac, like most Americans before the introduction of gold specie as the economic basis, operated on a barter system. His name appears for goods transactions in both the Nauvoo House Ledger and the Provision Store Ledger.14
Nauvoo Ward Records indicate that tithing also operated on a barter system. An entry from the account of donations received by Bishop Hunter for the poor in the Nauvoo Fifth Ward attests that Reddin A. gave 17 pickles and 7 3/4 cups of flour totaling $0.20.15
Reddin is appointed to a Committee of Vigilance March 28, 1843, the day of the Young Ladies and Gentleman's Relief Society, a prototype of the MIA, was formed. In July, 1843, a plot to kidnap Joseph to Missouri while he is visiting Emma in Dixon, Illinois, is exposed. Reddin joins Hyrum and other Elders for a rescue expedition on the Steamboat, Maid of Iowa. Joseph is warned of the plot and his seizure is averted.16
Seven months pass and on February 12, 1844, Reddin A. and Reddick N. are confirmed as Seventies in the Fourth Quorum. Organized by Brigham Young, this quorum includes three of James's sons. In December of 1843, William is called as a Seventy in the Seventh Quorum.17
Emotions were tense as the Prophet and Patriarch left for Carthage in June, 1844. William Moore recounts the speech Joseph gave to the Nauvoo Legion before leaving:
I was present in the Nauvoo Legion when it was drawn up in front of the Mansion when Joseph was making his last speech as he stood on the little frame opposite the Mansion on the 18th of June when he called on the Legion to stand by him and drawing his sword and presenting it to Heaven said, "I call God and angels to witness that I have unsheathed my sword. This people shall be free or my blood shall be spilt on the ground."
The sword he unsheathed was given to James Allred at the Carthage jail with these words from Joseph, "Take this – you may need it to defend yourself."18
After the martyrdom, James arrived with a wagon and team to remove John Taylor from incarceration. A sleigh was attached to the wagon and President Taylor was dragged comfortably over the prairie grass while Sister Taylor applied ice water to his wounds. Returning to Carthage the next day with a small guard, he brought home the bodies of the Martyrs. At the funeral procession, James Allred and twelve other close friends of Joseph are honored in being his bodyguards.19
Two years following their deaths, the Saints prepare for the exodus to the Rocky Mountains. There is an increase in Temple activity, especially personal endowments, as the members plan for the migration to Iowa. On January 17, 1846, Isaac and Mary Allred are washed and anointed, endowed and sealed in the Nauvoo Temple. In the Nauvoo Temple Record, Isaac is listed as a High Priest. This is the only verification of any of his priesthood ordinations. In April of 1846, Isaac crosses the Mississippi River into Iowa.20
CROSSING THE PLAINS (Iowa Era)
Brigham Young evacuated Nauvoo in February 1846 and requested James Riley (Isaac's fifth son) to serve as a guard in his company. Reddick also rode in the first company leaving Nauvoo. He traveled as far as Garden Grove, Decatur County, with Bishop George Miller's group and returned two months later to Illinois to transport his family and Father across the river. William Moore, having no team or wagon, traveled with Isaac’s family.1Enjoying favorable weather, clear roads and plentiful grass, they passed the settlements in Decatur County to put down roots for two years in Pigeon Creek, Pottawatomie County. President Young's organizing acumen caused the itinerant Saints to quickly form into branches. One of the forty L. D. S. branches in Pottawatomie County was the Allred Branch on Pigeon Creek.2
Previous to their arrival in Iowa, the U. S. Army captain, James Allen, had solicited for five hundred battalion volunteers to march to the Pacific Coast and seize California in the War against Mexico. James Riley and Reddick enlisted at Council Bluffs. James was commissioned as a private in Company A and Reddick was commissioned as quartermaster sargeant responsible for portioning rations and conveying baggage. He left his wife and daughter in Iowa and began the arduous seventeen month trek from Fort Leavenworth to Sutter's Fort and back to Iowa. They returned pitiably malnourished, having survived on rawhide, mule meat and mule brains during the trip home. However, as Brigham Young had promised, their effort was a blessing to the Saints. The wages they earned outfitted families for the journey west.3
Reddick returned home December 19, 1847 to find his spouse and child cared for by his Father, who is presiding over the Branch in Little Pigeon, the Allred Settlement. They remained in the settlement during 1848 to harvest crops of wheat, corn, buckwheat and turnips. By July, 1849, Isaac's family and Allen Taylor's family (his son-in-law) were celebrating the Fourth of July and their last week in Iowa. The Frontier Guardian, a paper published in Kanesvi1le by the Saints, reported on the festivities:
The committee which had been previously chosen found a shade under which a long table was soon constructed and our ladies (God bless them), soon had it covered with white linen and then the way the cakes, pies and chicken fixens was displayed along the table was enough to make a man's mouth water - in fact there was a splendid feast. Such as would vie with an old settled county, each family bringing with them enough for a half dozen or more. The cloth being removed, Col. Jesse Haven was called on for a speech; he soon mounted the sand and made a short but very eloquent address, at the close of which the Washington song was sung by Captain Wm. M. Allred and lady.4
Eight days later, Isaac, Reddick and Allen Taylor departed with their families for the Great Basin. Reddin stayed in the Allred Settlement as did William, who bought Isaac's land in Pottawatomie County. Allen Taylor is captain of the company with Absolom Perkins and Isaac Allred as his counselors and captains of fifty. A letter written September 31 1849 by Allen Taylor to President Young reveals the perils of the journey:
…we have got along so far with good success, our teams are in tolerable condition. We have, however, had two or three heavy stampedes and unfortunately considerable damage was sustained and one life lost, Sister Wm. Hawk, who was run over by cattle and lived only twenty four hours. The first stampede we had two wagons broken, six sheep killed and twenty horns knocked off cattle. The same morning, after we got them in the corral and yoked them up, they started again and nearly killed two men, but the brethren are nearly well now. We feel, however, as though we had got through our stampeding, having had none since we left Chimney Rock and many in our companies feel sanguine that they can go to the Valley without help, should they be so providential as to keep their cattle alive through the alkali regions.5
Reddick, with a yoke of oxen and cows, drove the lead wagon into the valley October 161 1849. The Allreds spent that winter in Salt Lake City. They left in the spring to make their first home in Utah at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Eventually, Reddick and Paulinus settled on one side of the stream with Reddin and Isaac on the opposite side.6
THE UTAH ERA
A census taken in 1851 shows Isaac, Mary, Isaac M. and Sidney as inhabitants of Salt Lake County living in the same dwelling. Isaac is registered as a farmer. Mary Calvert died later that year on September 16th. William heard of her demise as he passed Fort Bridger on his way to Salt Lake. He expressed his emotions about the news:Soon after we passed Fort Bridger we met Br. Cooley (1851) who informed me of the death of my Mother which was quite a blow to me for I was looking forward to the time and only a few days at that till I would see my Parents and Brothers and Sisters and friends that had gone ahead.1
Isaac was remarried March 1, 1852 to Matilda Stewart Park, the widow of John Miller Park. With Matilda, his own sons, two stepdaughters and a stepson, he farmed one more year in Cottonwood. Utah Territory Membership Records show Isaac Allred, Sen., Isaac Allred, Jun., P. H. Allred and Reddick N. Allred as residing in the South Cottonwood Ward.2
Though the majority of the Saints were in penurious and unstable circumstances, Brigham Young promoted missionary work. At a Conference held in Salt Lake, on August 28, 1852, Reddick and Reddin were selected to proselyte in the Hawaiian Islands. They spent three years preaching and undoubtedly associated with Francis A. Hammond and Mary Jane Dilworth, who were missionaries there at the same time period.3
During Reddin and Reddick's absence, Isaac and Pau1inus abandoned their homesteads in Cottonwood. The site was not ideal for farming. There was a sufficient water supply but not sufficient land. There was also threat of Indian attacks in such an isolated area. In 1852, Isaac moved to the more populous settlement of Kaysville. Reddick returned in 1855 to discover his wife and children living near his Father and destitute as a result of crop failure.4
Grasshoppers had devastated the harvest throughout the territory. Tragedy occurred again in 1856 as the Willie and Martin handcart companies met an early winter on the plains. The Martin Company, two weeks behind the Willie Company, suffered the worst losses. They were halted by snow and starvation at a ravine between the Platte and Sweetwater Rivers. As the supplies of the rescue party ran low, some turned back, thinking the company had perished or wintered elsewhere. Reddick and others, including Ephraim Hanks, a well-reputed Mormon Scout, refused to turn back and brought the survivors into Salt Lake Valley at the end of November. More than one-fifth of the company had died en route.5
Two years later, anticipating a conflict with Johnston's Army, President Young advised the Saints to move south. In August, 1858, Isaac migrates to Ephraim, Sanpete Co. He is chosen, as are James and Richard Ivie, Benjamin Clapp, Joseph Clement, and Reuben Allred, as a member of an exploring committee to select a location for a settlement on Pleasant Creek (known later as Mount Pleasant). When they returned to Ephraim with their recommendations, a meeting was called to discuss the requisite procedures for founding a settlement. Finally, James Allred, who participated in colonizing efforts in Manti, Spring City and Ephraim, and James Ivie were elected to seek President Young's counsel and present him with the petition for establishing the town.6
Isaac did not colonize Mount Pleasant, but he purchased property in Spring City (known later as Springtown) where Reddick, Joseph, Sidney, Isaac M., and his brother, James, and his sons were located. The United States 1860 Census, taken in Springtown, Sanpete Co., lists Isaac, a farmer, and Matilda. His real estate is valued at $200.00 and his personal property at $500.00. The 1865 tax records show Isaac remitting a total of $2.62 in taxes to the territory and county for his estate.7
This year, 1865, also marks the beginning of the Black Hawk War. The Ute Indian chief, Black Hawk, and his marauders plundered and killed homesteaders from 1865-1868. In retaliation, the pioneers organized a Territorial Militia. For varying lengths of time, Isaac served as a private, William commanded a company of infantry, Reddick served as a colonel, Paulinus as a lieutenant colonel, James as a private, Joseph as a private, Isaac Morley as a second lieutenant, and Sidney as a private. Reddick was in command of the battle at Salina where Black Hawk had made a raid on stock and killed two white men. Isaac served from April 1 to November 1, 1865 under Captain John E. Chase, Company B, Fourth Platoon. He was seventy-seven years old at the time, and his elder brother James, given a position as an officer when he was eighty-one years old, also served in the militia.
In his declining years, Isaac was cared for by the sons that surrounded him in Spring City. Deceased on November 13, 1870, at eighty-two, the newspaper account capsulized his life and honored his personal qualities as follows:
He was a faithful saint and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. The people of this city turned out en masse to pay the last tribute of respect to his memory. President O. (Orson) Hyde officiated at the funeral obsequies and delivered a very comforting discourse to the friends of the deceased.9