Jonathan Pugmire 1799-1876
2010
Jonathan Pugmire was born in England to Jonathan Pugmire and Hannah Hetherington. He appears to have been their only child. During his childhood he was raised by his mother and a step-father named Thomas Coulthard. Jonathan went by his step-father’s name when he was young. We don’t know if his father died or if his parents divorced. In 1820 he married Elizabeth Barnes. They became the parents of 10 children. Our ancestor Joseph Hyrum is child number five.
Jonathan was a blacksmith by trade. His services were always in demand and he had little trouble working. In 1841, Jonathan and his family heard the missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints preach the Gospel. They and their children who were over the age of eight, were baptized in the river. In 1844, Jonathan and his family migrated along with other Saints to America. They traveled from New Orleans to Nauvoo, Illinois where Jonathan worked on the construction of the Nauvoo Temple and worked as a blacksmith preparing wagons for the trek to The Valley of the Great Salt Lake. As persecution increased around Nauvoo, Jonathan moved his family across the Mississippi River to Montrose, Iowa at the insistence of his wife Elizabeth. He bought a small farm where his family lived for only a short time. By 1846, he and his family were at Winter Quarters in what is Florence, Nebraska . . . waiting for the spring so that they could move on. While there, hundreds of men, women and children died because of disease, poor rations and poor shelter. Among the dead was Jonathan’s wife Elizabeth. Before leaving Nebraska for Utah, Jonathan married Mary Baylis Haywood. After a journey of three months, the Jonathan Pugmire family arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in September of 1847. They lived the first winter in the fort and the next year built a house in the 7th Ward.
Brigham Young called Jonathan and his family to go to the “Iron Mission” which was centered in Cedar City, Utah. There, Jonathan worked as a blacksmith and at the Deseret Iron Works. In 1858, after 8 years in Cedar City, Jonathan moved back to Salt Lake City. His wife Mary died in 1861. He later married Elizabeth South, who was the cousin of his deceased wife Mary. She was his companion for the rest of his life.
Jonathan Pugmire was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. His original grave stone was washed away during a flood and a new stone put in its place. The stone carries a small plaque which is reserved for those pioneers who were part of the original 1847 group. He is our direct ancestor through his son Joseph Hyrum whose son was Justin whose son was Justin Gerald Pugmire.
The migration of Jonathan Pugmire
England to Illinois to Iowa to Utah