Ira Stearns Hatch and Wealtha Bradford 5G Grandparents

Ira Hatch with his third wife, Nancy Julia Pipkin Kirk Hatch, and their children. The older children are Hatch's with his second wife Sarah Marahboots Dyson (1843-1873) who I think was from the Paiute tribe; the younger children are his with his third wife, Nancy Julia.

Ira Stearns Hatch, born 9 February, 1800, Winchester, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, the son of Ira Hatch and Lucinda Rice; married January 26, 1824, in Farmersville, Cattaraugus County, New York, Wealtha Bradford. She was born November _ 1803, at Turner, Oxford County Maine, the daughter of Simeon Bradford and Martha True. Wealtha died 3 November 1841, burial at Eton Farm, Illinois. Ira Stearns died 30 September, 1869, burial at Bountiful, Utah. Ira Stearns Hatch had three other wives (2) Abigail Whitely (3) Jane Bee Mc Kechine (4) Jane Ann Stuart.

Ira Stearns Hatch and wife Wealtha, while living in state of New York, heard missionaries preaching gospel of Jesus Christ; the wife believed and read the Book of Mormon. They decided to visit the Prophet in Kirtland. After a three day journey they arrived and was directed to place where Prophet Joseph was. As they approached the Prophet, he came toward them with out stretched hand and greeted them, with “Brother Hatch, I have waited three days for you, the money you bring will be used to build the pulpit of the temple. Ira Stearn’s testimony stayed with him all his life.

Information taken from

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~socrateselder/hatchsurname.html

Wealtha Bradford - 1804-1841

Wealtha Bradford, daughter of Simeon Bradford and Martha True, was born at Turner, Androscoggin County, Maine, November 1, 1804. Wealtha’s father was a great-great-grandson of William Bradford, the second governor of the Plymouth Colony. Her parents, former residents of Kingston, Massachusetts, moved to Farmersville, New York. They were among the very earliest settlers there. Some evidence points to Simeon Bradford building the first good frame home where the Farm Station now stands, but it was later abandoned. Little is known about Wealtha’s childhood. She is described as being tall and slender, with a fair complexion, light brown hair, and blue eyes. We first find her living in the sparsely settled, heavily wooded western part of New York State at Farmersville, Catteraugus County, as the wife of Ira Stearns Hatch, married January 26, 1824. The newlyweds set up housekeeping near his father’s farm and began their family. Ira and his father and brothers began to build up a modestly prosperous farm. Their farm was not a palace nor a mansion but they were ambitious and thrifty. Their time seems to have been fully occupied at this time by clearing of the land and the planting of the crops. The weather was always unpredictable and sometimes very devastating. The family depended upon the skills of Wealtha to preserve enough of the harvest to last through the winter. Ira and his sons were of necessity good hunters. Life in Farmersville was not all work. Wealtha and Ira were often drawn to social occasions such as annual election day, town meeting, quilting bees, and temperance meetings. Traveling was sometimes tedious but everyone looked forward to being together on these occasions. Wealtha and Ira also looked forward to the visits of traveling peddlers who came seasonally. These men brought eagerly awaited news of family members left behind in other parts of the territory. There were many Indian tribes camped around Farmersville, but there was a friendly truce between them. Wealtha and Ira always treated the Indians kindly and dealt with them fairly. Wealtha was very interested in her Indians friends and listened to stories of their traditions and heritage. She often would talk to them concerning their origin. Their origin was a fascinating one, but there were few written records which she could read. Wealtha and Ira also seemed to survive the ever present threat of sickness and epidemics that went through the community, often leaving neighboring families grieving over the loss of loved ones. By 1830 Wealtha had borne three sons, Meltiar, Ransom, and Orin, who required much of her time. Wealtha was ever mindful of her heritage and of the responsibilities which fell to her to maintain the purpose of life by providing a happy home for her husband and children. Wealtha was the perfect helpmate. Church activity in Farmersville did not seriously being until around 1830. Up to this time Ira and Wealtha had not connected themselves with any church. Wealtha had always said, “No, there were none on the earth that agree with my conviction.” At this time, Elders Oliver Cowdrey, Peter Whitmer, Jr., Ziba Peterson, and Parley P. Pratt were in the vicinity visiting the Catteraugus Indians, preaching with a book which represented a history of their progenitors, the Indian race. Wealtha obtained a copy of the book and was not long in reading it. she said, “That’s what we have been looking for.” Being thoroughly convinced of its origin, she desired to be baptized immediately. Upon the insistence of her husband and her nearby relatives, she decided to wait a short time. Wealtha hoped that by her waiting, more of the immediate family would be converted. Although most favorable to the idea, none of the other relatives were ready to join the unpopular sect. Wealtha and Ira stayed in Farmersville to be a help and comfort to Ira’s father, who was in declining years. Early in 1832 Wealtha applied for baptism. The rite was performed after a hole had been cut in the ice of the river. Wealtha was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at this same time. Wealtha became the first in the Hatch family and the second person in the neighborhood to join the Church. The year Wealtha joined the Church, a new baby girl, Rhoana, was born to her and Ira. Ira did not join the Church until 1834. He was cautious about joining the Church because of the persecution. He decided to go to the headquarters of the Church in Kirkland, Ohio, where he could examine their leader, Joseph Smith. When Wealtha and Ira saw the man Joseph Smith, Ira’s impression and testimony of the prophet’s divine mission was so great that it became of great assistance to him in withstanding the trials and hardships that were to be his lot and that of others who had joined the Church in those days. Both Ira and Wealtha hoped that Ira’s parents and brothers and sisters would join the Church, but they did not. Ira’s father said that, “A man without religion stood equal chance with the religious man with the Lord for salvation.” When Ira and Wealtha decided to leave the family farm and follow the “Saints” west, it caused a great deal of distress and uproar in the family. The brothers, to whom Ira and Wealtha had sold the farm, said they would give the farm back if they would stay. But Ira shook his head and replied, “No, I will go West.” So soon after the birth of Ancel in 1840, Ira and Wealtha loaded their household furnishing in two wagons and traveled the distance across Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, to the western side of Illinois. They joined the saints at Eton’s Creek, some twenty miles from where Nauvoo was being built. Wealtha’s joy became full, for she was at last with the saints and her family. But one day Wealtha shivered and hugged her shawl, suddenly she realized she had grown cold and weary. In this weakened condition she told Ira and the children that they would find a home in the Rocky Mountains, but she would not. Wealtha and many of the other saints were strickened with cholera, which was prevalent at the time. She died on November 3, 1841. Wealtha’s devotion to the Church was an inspiration to her family. Her spirituality was ingrained in the characters of the young children she bore. She endured the persecutions and trials of pioneering, and yet always held steadfastly to the Church. Source: “Wandering Home, Stories and Memories of the Hatch Family”, Ira Stearns Hatch, Meltiar Hatch and John Henry Hatch, and their wives and children, with historical-genealogical and biographical data on their ancestry and descendants. By The Hatch Historical Committee, Community Press, Provo, Utah, 1988. This book was a single printing of the history of the Hatches. Thanks to Dan Hatch for typing and sending this to us. Available at: http://www.geocities.com/familyquilt/game/card/wb1802c.html (Last visited May 20, 2007). Ira Stearns Hatch - 1802-1869 Utah Pioneer of 1849 When the News of the successful venture of the Pilgrim Fathers’ reached the homeland, other honest, sincere people were seized with a desire to also seek a haven of religious freedom in the new land. The Hatches were mostly middle class, neither rich nor poor, mostly small landowners and farmers, pious industrious people, in fact good citizens. One of the descendants of the above mentioned Hatches was Ira Hatch, the son of Jeremiah and Mary Stearns Hatch, who was born at Tolland, Tolland, Connecticut in 1772. The family later moved to Winchester, Cheshire, New Hampshire, where a son, Ira Stearns, was born to Ira Hatch and Lucinda Rice Hatch on February 9, 1800. The early settlers of our country were constantly on the lookout for opportunities to better themselves temporally, so the Hatch family again pushed out and established themselves in the sparsely settled, heavy timbered western part of New York State at a place named Farmersville, Cattaraugus. Here the family spent much time and energy clearing the land. The boy, Ira Stearns, when but eleven years old, made himself useful in the community by supplying wood for seven families whose husbands and fathers were engaged in the War of 1812. On January 26, 1825 Ira Stearns married Wealtha Bradford, a daughter of Simeon Bradford and Martha True, who was born at Turner, Oxford, Maine in 1803. Wealtha was a direct descendant of William Bradford, the second Governor of the Plymouth Colony. This couple resided on the Hatch Farmstead at Farmersville, where the following seven children were born: Meltiah, July 15, 1825, Ransom, November 13, 1826, Orin, May 9, 1830, Rhoana, May 19, 1832, Ira, August 5, 1835, Ephraim, November 30, 1837, and Ancel, June 9, 1840. Being averse to the intolerance of the religious leaders of the day and satisfied to live peaceful, honest, industrious lives, these people did not affiliate themselves with any religious sect. When the early missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were preaching the gospel to the Cattaraugus Indians, the Ira Stearns Hatch family had the privilege of hearing the gospel message and readily accepted it. Wealtha, who was the first to read the Book of Mormon and recognize it as truth, wished to join the Church immediately, but her husband advised waiting on account of the persecutions. Ira and Wealtha were baptized in 1832, and were the only members of the Hatch family in those parts to join the unpopular faith. Soon after this time the construction of the Kirtland Temple was commenced and they soon decided to make a contribution to it. Ira was also very eager to visit the Prophet Joseph and feel the spirit of the man, so they prepared to make the trip to Kirtland, taking their contribution of $200.00 with them. Three days were required to make the trip and upon arriving at Kirtland Ira inquired for the Prophet. After being informed that he could be found in the grove where they were cutting timber for the Temple, Ira Stearns made his way to that place. As he approached the workmen, one of them stuck his axe into a tree and came toward him. When close enough he shook the hand of Ira Stearns Hatch and said ‘Brother Hatch, I have been expecting you for three days; the money you have brought will be used to build the pulpit in the Temple.” Thus, left with no chance for doubt, Ira Stearns Hatch was convinced that Joseph Smith was indeed a true Prophet, and his testimony was steadfast for the remainder of his life. No one in Kirtland was acquainted with Ira nor knew of his visit with the Prophet. Ira returned to his home and in 1836 with his wife was given a blessing by Joseph Smith, Sr.. Later he returned to Kirtland to assist in the building of the Temple and on July 4, 1838 was ordained a Teacher in the Priesthood. In 1840 the family joined the Saints at a place near which the beautiful city of Nauvoo was to be founded. They lived at Eaton Farm on Job’s Creek, Hancock, Illinois, at which place Wealtha was stricken and died on November 3, 1841, of a fever that was epidemic [cholera] among the Saints. Thus leaving Ira with the responsibility of a family of young children. In 1842, Ira Stearns Hatch was ordained an Elder. He and his oldest son, Meltiar were members of the Nauvoo Legion. At the time of the expulsion from Nauvoo, the Hatches went with the Saints and made their home at Bonary Lake on the Missouri River. While living there, recruits for the Mormon Battalion were called for and Ira’s sons Meltiar, who was 21 years old, and Orin, who was just 16 years and 2 months, were enlisted as members of Company C. The Hatch family left without the assistance of these two young men was unable to accompany the Saints to the Rocky Mountains at that time, so they rented a farm near St. Joseph, Missouri, where they remained until the summer of 1849. About one year after the death of his first wife, Ira Stearns hatch married Abigail Whitney, who in February 1847 gave birth to a son and both mother and child died. After their discharge from the Mormon Battalion, Meltiar and Orin journeyed eastward to the Rocky Mountains, the gathering place of the Saints. Coming over the route followed by the California Gold seekers around the north end of the Great Salt Lake, they went directly to Sessions Settlement (present day Bountiful, Davis, Utah) where they found that there was little opportunity to obtain a suitable piece of land on which to locate. Upon going about one and a fourth miles west of the Settlement, they found a spring upon which they made some minor improvements and camped near it for some five weeks or from the latter part of July until the last of August 1847-48. Early in September of the same year, they resumed their journey eastward to the Missouri River, where they had left their loved ones. With their assistance, the Hatch family was able to make the preparations to immigrate to the Rocky Mountains, which journey they commenced on July 4, 1849. They were members of the Enoch Reese Ten of the Taylor Allen Company, which company after three months of time filled with usual incidents of pioneers journeys, arrived in the valley just prior to the October Conference of 1849. Soon after their arrival, the Hatch family was taken to the land adjacent to land upon which Meltiar and Orin camped on in the summer of 1848. Here they erected a log cabin and were soon comfortably established with daughter Rhoana, the Miss Hatch in Utah in 1849 as the housekeeper. The spring near which they settled was some three hundred yards south of what was in 1939 the O.S.L. Depot at Woods Cross, Davis, Utah, and the one hundred sixty acres of land to which they acquired a squatters right extended one fourth mile south of what in 1939 was the Deseret Livestock Street and one mile west of the State Highway. On November 27, 1852, Ira Stearns Hatch married Jane Tinto Bee, a widow with three children, who had recently immigrated to the area from Scotland. Eight children were born to them, Stearns, Philander, Abram, Rueben, Lucinda Jennette, Leonard, Ira Etta, and Alvin Willard. On March 20, 1857, Ira Stearns Hatch married Jan Ann Stuart, a handcart emigrant from Scotland. Three children were born to them, Wealtha, Gilbert Stuart, and Stephen Cornelius. Most of the children of Ira Stearns Hatch and his three wives, married and located near their original home in Utah. Their descendants are numerous and have helped in the settling of many new communities in the inter-mountain region from Canada on the north to Mexico on the south, where they are known for their honesty and integrity, filling many important positions both civil and ecclesiastical. Ira Stearns Hatch’s son Ira performed missionary labors among the Indians from his early manhood until his death. He spoke 13 languages and spent most of life working with the Indians in Southern Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. Another son, Ephraim, served in the Black Hawk War. Ransom, Orin, Ephraim, and Ancel married pioneer women and settled in Woods Cross; Rhoana married James Henrie and settled permanently in Panguitch, Utah. Ira Stearns Hatch was appointed one of the three trustees of the first day school established in Bountiful, Utah in March 1850. He and his sons were associated in farming, stock raising, dairying, brick making, and sheep raising, thus helping in the establishment of the great inter-mountain commonwealth. Ira was ever mindful of the weary emigrants and to many of them he gave material assistance. The Indians were very proud to own him as their friend and called him “Bobuke”, meaning “truly a great man”. Ira Stearns Hatch was always true to the faith he embraced. He was a true friend of the Indians. At the close of his life he was a weary traveler. He was found dead one morning lying by his wife. He had passed to the great beyond September 30, 1869, after a long and useful and active life. By Edith Folsom Hatch (1937) Edited by Jason Hatch (2001) Available at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hatch/ISH.html (Last visited September 26, 2002).

Taken from a website about the history of Woods Cross, Utah

"Another prominent early settler was Ira S. Hatch. The Hatch family played an important role in the establishment and operation of several brickyards in Woods Cross. Descendants of Ira S. Hatch and his three wives were well represented among the ninety-five original shareholders of the Deseret Livestock Company which was organized in 1891 by Woods Cross sheepmen. It remained a Woods Cross company until 1933, at which time much of the stock was sold to Henry D. Moyle and his brothers and the offices of the company were transferred to Salt Lake City and the company's mercantile store in Woods Cross was closed."

---- I have recently learned that an Ira Hatch reportedly had some role in the Mountain Meadow Massacre.  He reportedly helped track down three men who escaped and those men were later killed.  I have read a lot of information over the past couple days about the Mountain Meadows Massacre.  It is one of the darkest points in Utah history and the history of the West.  
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A recent comment has informed me that the Ira Hatch involved in the Mountain Meadow Massacre was the son of Ira Hatch  and Wealtha Bradford.
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http://www.olivercowdery.com/smithhome/1880s-1890s/1886Dunn.htm#pg305a