The Obituary for Sarah Sprague Bates 1951
2010
Sarah Sprague was the third child of five born to her parents Ithamer Sprague and Sarah Stedwell. Sarah’s mother of the same name had been married twice before she married Ithamer, Sarah’s father. Her life had been full of tremendous heartache. When Sarah was eighteen, she married Nephi James Bates 1848-1921 in Washington County, Utah. They became the parents of twelve children. Their second child, Nephi James Bates 1875-1958 is our direct ancestor.
An account of the life of Sarah’s mother is on this site. When Sarah’s mother tried to take her children with Ithamer to her family rather than move hundreds of miles to Washington County, Utah near present-day St. George, Ithamer persuaded the authorities to pursue her. The children of Ithamer and Sarah Stedwell were taken from her and given to Ithamer. Sarah Sprague Bates did not see her mother again until her mother was eighty years of age.
When Sarah’s husband Nephi took a second wife, life became difficult for everyone. Eventually Sarah and Nephi divorced. She did not re-marry. She lived to be ninety-seven years of age and died at the home of a daughter. She is remembered first-hand by many of her great- grandchildren who are alive today. She was buried in the Monroe City Cemetery in Monroe, Sevier County, Utah.