Brief Life History of Joseph Bateman and Margaret Turner

Joseph was born and raised in the Manchester England area where he attended school, was married while living there and earned a living. His family was nearby and apparently were in close contact with each other.

It was not very long after the first missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arrived in Manchester, that he and his wife and family and his brother Thomas and sister-in-law Mary Street (Bateman) were baptized.

It was during the year 1840 that the early day missionaries were making arrangements for the converts to immigrate to the new Church settlement in Nauvoo, Illinois. Reports are conflicting somewhat on the arrival date of the Bateman family from England. Joseph’s father Thomas Bateman joined the church on the 7th of September 1845, his mother had died. All of the Bateman’s who were in the church sailed from Liverpool, England and arrived in New Orleans in early 1841. Some reports state that they sailed up the Mississippi River arriving in Nauvoo, Illinois on the 6th day of April 1841, the day the Nauvoo Temple cornerstone ceremony was held and other reports state it was about that time, within a few days.

His father lived with either he or Thomas until he died in Nauvoo during 1845. The family lived right across the street from where the Prophet Joseph Smith lived, so they were very much involved with all that was going on during this very eventful time in the Church. They worked on the Temple and actually had a brick manufacturing business in the Nauvoo area.

Upon the completion of the Nauvoo Temple and just prior to the exodus, the following were able to take out their endowments. [Nauvoo Temple Endowments recorded on Film No. 962798, entries 218, 210, 227 and 209.]

This was a very special experience under very trying circumstances and it was almost inmediately following this that they were to undergo the very difficult task of moving across the Mississippi River, enroute west, in that very cold February, in search of a new home. They were with the main body of the Church as they crossed the state of Iowa, which was 300 miles of very difficult travel, ending up at Winter Quarters, on the border of Iowa and Nebraska, where preparations were commenced for the trek across the great plains to the Rocky Mountains, in the area called the Great Salt Lake Basin.

He along with his wife, Margaret Turner Bateman and several others, but not all of the families in the Bateman group, crossed the plains in the Brigham Young Company with Lorenzo Snow as the sub-captain. They left Winter Quarters 26 May 1848 arriving in the Salt Lake Valley 21 September 1848. They built a small home and lived temporarily in the area now known as West Temple between South Temple and Second South.

To show how moving to new settlements was accomplished, we refer to the book entitled, “Iron County Mission and Parowan” US/Canada 979.247 H2d located in the Genealogical Library. At the Church General Conference held in October 1850, the First Presidency announced that there would be a group called to go south and establish themselves in an area known as the Little Salt Lake Valley (Iron County). All of the people were asking themselves, will it be me and the women especially would say, “I hope it is not us. We have traveled enough.” However, whoever was called would go and do as their leaders directed. Real devotion was part of their make-up.

Pages 13 through 23 under, Heading of Colonization, Part 1-George A. Smith led the group from Salt Lake City, 7 December 1850, arriving at destination on 13 January 1851. Listed on Page 17 are Joseph Bateman, age 48 and Samuel Bateman, age 18, along with all the others in this Company.

7 DEC 1850 Left Salt Lake City – Stopped for a period of time at Provo.
15 DEC 1850 Sunday meeting held at Fort Utah on ‘the Provo River – Instructions given by George A. Smith — John D. Lee, Camp Clerk.
16 DEC 1850 Left Provo going to Hobble Creek (Springville) 8 miles.
17 DEC 1850 Cold wet roads to Spanish Fork.
18 DEC 1850 Traveled to Fort Peteetneet (Payson).
19 DEC 1850 First group stayed, waited for balance of Company to catch up.
21 DEC 1850 Moved to Willow Creek, crossing divide into Juab Valley, 6″ snow.
22 Dec 1850 Moved to Salt Creek (Nephi) where meeting was held  at 4 pm.
23 DEC 1850 Traveled 15 miles to Chicken Creek or the Springs.
24 DEC 1850 13 miles to Sevier River.
25 DEC 1850 Wednesday, Christmas Day – crossed the Sevier River, 16 degrees below 0
26 DEC 1850 Hunted down Indians who had stolen cattle and oxen.
27 DEC 1850 On to Dry Valley (Scipio) snow and cold.
28 DEC 1850 Moved on to top of divide, no water.
29 DEC 1850 Sunday, moved to water 8 miles away Cedar Springs (Holden) about ½ way.
30 DEC 1850 To Camp Creek or Chalk Creek (Fillmore) 9 miles.
31 DEC 1850 Traveled 10 miles pleasant weather to Meadow Creek
1 JAN 1851 New Years Day – stayed to feed cattle.
2 JAN 1851 Moved 5 miles to Pauvan Valley.
3 JAN 1851 Long drive 13 miles, camped in a canyon.
4 JAN 1851 Traveled to Cove Creek, 9 miles.
5 JAN 1851 Sunday – organized an Iron County Choir.
6 JAN 1851 Five miles to another creek.
7 JAN 1851 9 miles, hilly country, deep snow.
8 JAN 1851 To Beaver Creek, 2 1/2 miles north of Beaver.
9 JAN 1851 To “Last Mountain” 8 miles.
10 JAN 1851 To Buckhorn Springs, 13 miles.
SAW THE VALLEY AND CELEBRATED.
11 JAN 1851 To Red Creek (Paragonah)
12 JAN 1851 Sunday
13 JAN 1851 Arrived in Little Salt Valley on Center Creek.
“THIS IS THE PLACE” said their Leader.
He remained there until the time of his death in 1855. He assisted in every way to build up the country around Cedar City.

Margaret was raised and attended school in the Manchester, England area and was married to Joseph Bateman in this same country on the 8th of September 1823. He was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Armstrong Bateman. They made their home in Manchester where their son, James, was born 28 March 1821. William was born 23 April 1824 in Bolton, Lancashire County, Mary was born 13 November 1826 in Manchester as was John on 5 January 1828 and died young. Margaret was born in Salford on 5 January 1831 and Betty, 7 October 1833 who died as a child.

Margaret and Joseph Bateman certainly had the blood of Israel in their veins because when they heard the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, preached by humble missionaries of the Mormon Church, they knew it was what they had been looking for. It is reported that Joseph was baptized on 24 May 1840. It is assumed that Margaret was baptized the same day. William was baptized the same day and Margaret was baptized in December of 1841 at the age of ten.

As early as June 1840 the Presidents of missions in Europe were booking passage for the newly converted saints to come to America. From a notation found on page 527 of “Treasures of Pioneer History,” Volume 4, the story is told of Robert Pixton a young man of Manchester, England, who lived with Joseph and Margaret Bateman’s family in England. He came to America and to Nauvoo with them in 1842 or 1843. We feel quite sure that this is our Joseph Bateman and that the Bateman family were in Nauvoo during the severe mob persecutions and the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and that they were among those who were driven out in the cold winter of 1846. These saints crossed the Mississippi River and took refuge in Mount Pisgah, Iowa and others along with them. On page 472 of the book Volume 9 of the “Heart Throbs of the West”, we find the name of Joseph Bateman – 46, Margaret Turner Bateman – 44, James Bateman 27, William Bateman 24, Mary Bateman 22 and Margaret Bateman 17, who were a part of President Brigham Young’s Company of 1,220 souls in the First Division. Lorenzo Snow was a sub-captain of the Brigham Young Company, or Captain of 100 that the Bateman family traveled with. This Company left Winter Quarters, Nebraska on 26 May 1848 and arrived in Great Salt Lake, 21 September 1848. Joseph and Margaret made their home in Salt Lake City until the fall of 1851 when they were called to settle Cedar in Iron County. This information is found on page 741 in the book, “Pioneers and Prominent Men in Utah.” The book says he was a settler in Cedar City in 1850, but according to George A. Smith’s journal records, the “History of Iron County and Cedar City,” the first settlers went to Cedar from Parowan on 2 November 1851 and began to build a fort and prepared to mine coal and iron which was found in the nearby hills. Those called to this mission had experience in mining in their native lands. Perhaps this is why this family was called to the Iron Mission.

Margaret and the rest of these Pioneer women who first endured the privations and hardships of this new area certainly have earned a debt of gratitude from those who have reaped the benefits of those who came after. “Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah” says that Joseph and Margaret Bateman assisted in every way to build up Cedar City until Joseph died there in 1855. Perhaps Margaret returned to Salt Lake City where no doubt her children were living, until her death on 20 March 1864.

It is interesting to note that she and her husband both received their endowment in the Nauvoo Temple on 28 January 1846 and were sealed in President Brigham Young’s office in Salt Lake City, on 8 October 1854, for time and all eternity.

(transcribed by Susan Carey 19 June 2013 from 8.5×14 sheets in my Book of Remembrance)