Susannah Wallace Roundy, 2nd wife of Lorenzo Wesley Roundy
Chapter 3
The next stage of Lorenzo's life came in Nauvoo with his marriage to Adaline Whiting on May 1, 1842. The ceremony was performed by Amasa Lyman1. Just a month or so prior to this, Joseph Smith organized the Relief Society on March 17, 1842, in Nauvoo. Lorenzo's mother, Betsey joined at that time. The record shows that Adaline joined the Relief Society shortly after their marriage on May 13th.2
It appears that Lorenzo and Adaline either lived with his parents or at least on their property in Nauvoo, because the Nauvoo Tax record in 1843 shows him as a tenant on their property (between 118-1 and 118-2).
It is well known that many leaders of the church were also Masons, members of the Masonic Lodge in Nauvoo. Shadrach was a leader in the organization. In the roster of Men Initiated, Passed, and Raised, for Nauvoo between November 21, 1842 and Sept, 26, 1843, both Lauren and Lorenzo were listed as initiated, passed and raised. In researching future involvement with the Masonic, there is no evidence that any of the Roundy family continued in the order after coming to Utah. The Utah Lodge has no record of them.
During this time in Nauvoo, trouble was beginning with an increasing threat from apostates who threatened the Prophet Joseph Smith. Is it not known when this exactly happened, but it it is reported that three young men, including Ezra Grant and a son of William Marks, approached Lorenzo stating that Joseph Smith should not live any longer and desired that he join them in the plot to kill the prophet. Lorenzo reported this to his father, who then warned the prophet. William Marks was once the Stake President of Nauvoo. Marks was also a good friend of Sidney Rigdon and in a conference held in October 1843, Joseph Smith explained why he did not trust Sidney Rigdon. It can only be surmised that there was a connection in this matter. At any rate, Joseph thanked Lorenzo and prophesied that "within a week there would not be one of them alive, and no man should raise a hand to harm them and that they might employ all the doctors they had a mind to and they could not cure them nor what ailed them."3
At this time, according to records4, Lorenzo was a member of the Nauvoo Legion.
There is nothing recorded for the next few years concerning Lorenzo. At the time of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith, June 27, 1844, in Carthage, Illinois, Lorenzo and Adeline lived in Nauvoo. Their first son, Myron Shadrach was born a few months earlier on February 8th of 1844, but no details of the birth are recorded. The next recorded information concerning Lorenzo comes in 1845 when it is recorded that Lewis Robbins ordained Lorenzo into the Second Quorum of Seventy on April 8, 1845.5 Later it is mentioned that he was ordained a high priest in May of 1845.6 In many later references (in Utah) Lorenzo is listed as a member of the Second Quorum of Seventies.7 On December 30th he received his patriarchal blessing from John Smith.8 By the end of 1845, the Nauvoo temple had been completed to the point that ceremonies could be preformed there. Lorenzo's parents and two sisters, Samantha and Laurette received their endowments in the temple on Christmas day. Lorenzo and his wife, Adeline received their endowments a month later on January 22nd, 1846, and were sealed on the 31st. Others of the family also received ordinances in the temple during this time.9
Difficulties persisted in Lorenzo's life, however, particularly in 1846. Adeline gave birth to their second son, George Whiting, on May 13th, but Adeline died a few weeks later on May 27 from complications of that birth, the baby also dying soon afterwards. Now Lorenzo was alone with a young 2-year old son to care for. It was at least a blessing that the family had been sealed earlier in the year.
It is not certain when Lorenzo left Nauvoo to go west with the saints, but family tradition, as recorded in the history of Susannah Wallace Roundy (Lorenzo's second wife) states that Lorenzo hired on with Barnard family as a teamster and helped them move out to the west.10 Susannah Wallace was with this family so it was here that Lorenzo met his future wife. The history also records that Lorenzo's young son, Myron, was in the care of his mother, Betsey, at this time. It appears that Betsey and family waited behind as Shadrach moved the first companies west into Iowa, joining these groups in the summer of 1846.
The family is found next in Bethlehem, Iowa, 19 miles south of Council Bluffs. Family tradition records that Lorenzo's new son, George Whiting, died there on July 30th and was probably buried there. By November, it appears that many of the saints had settled in the wards of Council Bluffs where Shadrach was the bishop of the 5th Ward. In the Winter Quarters Project of the LDS church, there are web pages for each ward and the members listed.11
Life in Winter Quarters was brief for the Roundy family. Though some families stayed there a few years, Shadrach and his family were to be involved in the leading groups to continue on to the west. Lorenzo's father, Shadrach, was called to be a captain (one of the captains of fifty) in the first pioneer company that came west to Utah, arriving in July, 1847. Most of the men of the company left their families behind in Winter Quarters. Lorenzo, his mother, and much of the family came a little later in Samuel Russell's group of the "Big Company" that arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September 25, 1847. The Roundy family members list in this company are:
Roundy, Betsey Quimby (53)
Roundy, Bryon Donalvin (3)
Roundy, Jared Curtis (20)
Roundy, Lauren Hotchkiss (32)
Roundy, Lorenzo Wesley (28)
Roundy, Myron Shadrach (3)
Roundy, Nancy Jane (13)
Roundy, Susannah Wallace (26)
Roundy, William Heber (1)
It was during this westward process that Lorenzo married Susannah Wallace. They were married on May 16, 1847, "along the pioneer trail." 12 The trail history records that the company left Winter Quarters on June 13th, which would have been less than a month after their marriage. Now a new adventure lies ahead for the both of them.
1 Mounteer, "Shadrach and Betsey Roundy- Their Roots and Their Legacy," appendix F, item #4
2 From Mormon Historical Studies, Fall 2002, page 178 (article starts on p 86):
ROUNDY, Adoline; 13 May 1842; Adaline WHITING; b. 24 Mar 1822, Dover,
Strafford, New Hampshire; parents Nathaniel WHITING and Mercy YOUNG;
m. 1 May 1842, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, to Lorenzo Wesley ROUNDY; d. 27
May 1845, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois. (AF, NAU, NDM, NJ2, SEB)
While in Kanarra on this day, Bishop Lorenzo W. Roundy made the following statement to President Brigham Young in the presence of Elders George A. Smith, A Milton Musser and Robert C. Lund, which was reported and filed in the Historian's Office:
Bishop Lorenzo Roundy said that three young men, named respectively Ezra Grant, (a son of) Wm Marks and (names forgotten) swore in his hearing (while in Nauvoo, Ill.) that Joseph Smith, the Prophet, should not live a week linger, for they had laid a plot to kill him and desired him (Roundy) to join and aid them. They alleged that Joseph was a very corrupt man and deserved killing. Bishop Roundy then reported the circumstance, through his father, to Joseph who thanked the son for the information, and there and then prophesied that within a week there would not one of them be alive and no man would raise a hand to harm them and that they might employ all the doctors they were a mind to and they could not cure them nor tell them what ailed them. Bishop Roundy took pains to watch the saying s of Joseph and the prophesy was fulfilled to the letter.";
From the LDS Church International Genealogical Index, Ezra Foote Grant of Nauvoo died Oct 27, 1842. Two of William Marks's sons died in 1842: Ephraim Robinson Marks and Henry Marks. It should be stressed that all this is circumstantial and these may well not be the young men spoken of by Lorenzo in the assassination plot, but it seems to help place the date of this event to 1842. Also interesting is the fact that Joseph Smith gave an address at the funeral of Ephraim Marks. The recorded words are as follows:
"It is a very solemn and awful time. I never felt more solemn; it calls to mind the death of my oldest brother, Alvin, who died in New York, and my youngest brother, Don Carlos Smith, who died in Nauvoo. It has been hard for me to live on earth and see these young men upon whom we have leaned for support and comfort taken from us in the midst of their youth. Yes, it has been hard to be reconciled to these things. I have sometimes thought that I should have felt more reconciled to have been called away myself if it had been the will of God; yet I know we ought to be still and know it is of God, and be reconciled to His will; all is right. It will be but a short time before we shall all in like manner be called: it may be the case with me as well as you. Some have supposed that Brother Joseph could not die; but this is a mistake: it is true there have been times when I have had the promise of my life to accomplish such and such things, but, having now accomplished those things, I have not at present any lease of my life, I am as liable to die as other men.
"I can say in my heart, that I have not done anything against Ephraim Marks that I am sorry for, and I would ask any of his companions if they have done anything against him that they are sorry for, or that they would not like to meet and answer for at the bar of God, if so, let it prove as a warning to all to deal justly before God, and with all mankind, then we shall be clear in the day of judgement.
"When we lose a near and dear friend, upon whom we have set our hearts, it should be a caution unto us not to set our affections too firmly upon others, knowing that they may in like manner be taken away from us. Our affections should be placed upon God and His work, more intensely than upon our fellow beings. (April 9, 1842.) D.H.C. 4:587" As recorded in "Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith" compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, published Deseret News Press 1938 - pp 215, 216.
4 Everett E. Roundy, "The Roundy Family in America," p 251.
5 Lewis Robbins, biography, bonwilkerson (Internet name), 29 Oct 2007
7 For example, a number of references are found in Chapter 5, including mention of his status in the roster of missionaries called to the Southern Utah Indian Mission in 1854.
8 Patriarchal Blessings, Nauvoo, no. 1599 - Nauvoo, Illinois, December 30, 1845, Vol 9:544
Lorenzo I lay my hands upon thy head and by the authority vested in me to bless the fatherless and in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, I place upon thee all the blessings of the new and everlasting covenant, even the priesthood which hath power over all things even to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead which shall be sealed upon thee in due time, in fulness. Thou art of the house of Joseph and of the house of Ephraim, which are to push the people together from the ends of the earth. Thou shall have power to accomplish a great work in gathering the remnants of Jacob, for thy mission lieth in the wilderness among the Lamanites upon the mountains and in these valleys, to hunt up those who have been cast and scattered far ages, to bring them to a knowledge of their fathers and also of the Lord their Redeemer, and they will flock around thee like a father and will rejoice in the good news thou wilt communicate unto them, they will receive the doctrine and thou shalt baptize thousands of them and gather them to the appointed place with all their riches. Thou shalt have power to work miracles when it is necessary to forward thy work, thou shalt be blest in thy family they shall have health and preserved in life until they are old and be summoned and be clothed with all the power that I sealed upon thee, which is to continue with them from generation to generation without end. If thy faith does not fail, thou shalt live to see the heavens unveiled, the Savior descend in the clous of heaven and enjoy all the other blessings of his kingdom which without end. Amen.
9 Nauvoo Temple Endowment Register, FHL #962798, Dec, 16, 25 1845; Jan 7, 22 1846
Also see http://www.crockettclan.org/pioneers/121845.html
10 "A Story of Susannah Wallace," written by Wavie Williams Peterson, unpublished; location, as of June 21, 2009: http://myerscraig.blogspot.com/2008/07/dear-susanna-wallace-roundy.html
11 On the page http://winterquarters.byu.edu/pages/Ward5.htm, it lists the Roundy families, including Lorenzo and his son, Myron. In a survey of his ward, Shadrach listed both Lorenzo and Lauren, his brother as "absent," meaning they were probably out on assignment to assist others. [Willard Richards, Holograph, 4.] Lorenzo was listed as a farmer and as owning a wagon, 1 yoke of oxen and 1 cow.
12 There is a letter written by the wife of Amasa Lyman, Louisa M. Lyman, where this marriage is mentioned. The letter is dated June 6, 1847, so the marriage happened before this date. In the letter, she reports: "Married: Walter Gardner to a Miss Tuttle, Lorenzo Roundy to Miss Wallace, A Mr. Allen to Eliza Berry. Oliver Miers to Mrs. Hules, Father Sprague to Mother Newton, Br. Tinney lives near Fathers." Original Internet address: http://students.cs.byu.edu/~heath/family/tanner/a5156.htm (no longer an available web page)