A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname

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Notes for Martha Ann PULSIPHER

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The Genealogical Record of the Barnum Family erroneously gives Martha's surname as "Prelsy."

In the 1920 US Census for Mesquite Township, Clark, Nevada, Martha Ann (Pulsipher) Barnum and her son Robert were enumerated as follows:
Dwelling #33; Family #34
Barnum, Martha A.; Head; Owns farm home free or mortgage; W; 61; Married; Can read and write; b. Utah; Father b. Vermont; Mother b. Wales; Speaks English; No trade or profession
Barnum, Robert; Son; M; W; 17; Single; Can read and write; b. Nevada; Father b. Utah; Mother b. Utah; Speaks English; Farm Laborer; Working Out; Wage earner

A Short Sketch of Martha Ann Pulsipher Barnum's Life, written by Annie Maria Barnum Leavitt: Martha Ann Pulsipher was born in Salt Lake City Utah on December 21, 1858. She moved to Hebron, Utah, when very young with her parents, Martha Hughes and Zerah Pulsipher. As she grew old enough to help her father, she would go with him to herd the cows and help milk them. She would go to the farm with him and ride the horse while he furrowed the corn and other crops. She helped him constantly till he died. He died and was buried in the old cemetery in old Hebron. I do not know just which year he died. Mother met my father, Aschel James Barnum, in Hebron and was married April 24, 1878 in the Saint George Temple. After grandmother Martha married Dudley Leavitt; it was so that my mother, Martha, took her two brothers, Zeddie and Andrew and for a long time mothered them. Mother had four children in Hebron; thereafter, they moved to Gunlock. Living there only a year or two, they then moved to Bunkerville in 1889. They bought a good house and farm in Bunkerville. The first year or two there, father had chills and fever very bad. For a while they had a hard time when they began to raise good crops - hay and grain. We used to glean grain and pick cotton and do anything to make us a Fourth of July dress. Mother was a hard working woman. She was a mother to everyone. She never turned anyone away from her door hungry. She always had lots of visitors. She was a very good cook. It was said of her many times that she could fix a meal the quickest and make it taste better than anyone in the country. Mother was president of the Relief Society for seventeen years there in Bunkerville and there were lots of poor families that had to be helped. She did so much work for them; made quilts and did so much serving. She was also president of the M.I.A. (Mutual Improvement Association) for a period of five years and Primary for many years. Mother made so many beautiful quilts for people there; she didn't charge too much and took anything that people would give her for the pay. She donated much of herself and time to others and did anything to help make a living. Mother was counted the best quilter in the country. Folks brought so much of their nice clothing that needed mending to her and you could not hardly tell it was mended, she did it so neat and nice. Mother was a very good singer and father was choir master for years and years. He and mother would sit nights and practice; he with his tuning fork would read the music and learn the tunes or they would learn them together and then teach them to the choir. I remember well when President Woodruff died, father learned "Hark From A Far A Funeral Knell" and taught it to the choir to sing at President Woodruff's memorial services. Mother was a great hand to laugh. If anyone ever got hurt a little, if it looked funny, she would laugh and I've seen her fall down herself and laugh until she couldn't get up. She sure liked a good joke. Father had two women and nineteen children. Mother had ten; five girls and five boys. She had sixty-eight grand children when she died. Mother was never lazy. She surely did all she could to help father to make a living. I would like to tell an incident that happened. I don't know why father took both wives and went to Hebron, but he did. When he got there he hadn't been there more than twenty-four hours until the US Marshals heard they were there. Of course, father took them up the canyon and the marshal's followed them. Aunt Jane was heavy with child but she took her shoes off so they couldn't track her. She climbed up the side of the mountains whereas, she could see them but they couldn't see her. They already had mother, but it was Aunt Jane and father they wanted. Mother stayed at the wagon with three babies. Father took Uncle Henry Barnum's horses a very small animal with a blind eye. Two of the men were after father and the other stayed to look after mother. Now mind you, it was in the night. The men who were after father shot two or three times at him, or right over his head, and father just layed down close to the horse's back and put the whip to him and the horse jumped a ravine twenty-one feet. If you don't think the Lord had a hand in that! I do. He went through the mountains to Bunkerville. The men were going up a wash and there was a small stream of water in it and they were following the road when they came to where the water whirled in against the rocks and they had to back out. They said if they had gone on two or three feet more they would have been drowned. Now, back to mother and Aunt Jane. Just as it was getting light, the marshal that was left to look after mother, wandered off looking for Aunt Jane, so mother took the three children and started for town. She had one in her arms and one on each side holding to her dress. Mother met my Uncle before she got to town and he helped her and she went into Aunt Mary Laub's place nearby and hid. Those men followed her and they searched the sage brush and country all around. They searched every house in town - but the one she was in! The folks then got Uncle Billie Truman to take mother and Aunt Jane and the three children in a buckboard by team out to Hamblin's Ranch, which is way up at the head of Beaver Dam Wash, way beyond the Terry Ranch. Of course, Uncle Billie was traveling as fast as he could for he was frightened. He looked back and saw a dust and thought the marshals were following them and he said, "If it's them I'll just leave you and throw the harness off one horse and go." But the dust proved to be his own dust. In the meantime, father was in Bunkerville trying to get some one to go after the women and everyone was afraid. Lister Leavitt, (now my husband), said, "Get me a horse and I'll go." He said he was not afraid of them. He went through the mountains to Hebron and got another horse, then went to the ranch for the women and let me tell you they were pretty homesick. They saw him coming a long way off before he got there, but they couldn't tell who it was until he got off his horse. The horse was one that had raised our whole family, but mother couldn't tell it she was so excited. Well, they took the buckboard and started back when they got in sight of the Terry Ranch. There stood a black-topped buggy just like the one the marshals drove. Mother said, "What are you going to do?" And Lister said, "I'm going right by on a big swinging trot and they'll have to drive faster than I do if they catch us." But they didn't follow so it may not have been them. Well, they arrived home safe, but I forgot to say when telling of father's escape how the marshals found and measured where the mare had jumped the ravine, twenty-one feet, and they said they would pay any price for that animal. They offered a reward for Bunkerville Jim, that's what they called him. I don't think this story has ever been recorded, but every word of it is true. My husband, Lister Leavitt, is right here today to testify to it. Mother was a great hand at harvest time to have loaves of hot salt rising bread with butter waiting for the men when they rested. She made her own butter and cheese. All of the men traveling through the country, or any bums along the highway made it for mother's place for a bite to eat and to rest awhile. When Robert, my youngest brother was born, father left on a mission to the Central States. Mother and Aschel (my oldest brother) had the full responsibility of financing his mission. At one time, father had wrote for some money; mother and Aschel were counseling how they could get the money. Grandfather Dudley Leavitt came to the house the next morning and said, "Ann, how is Jim?" "Oh fine" she said. Grandfather asked, "Does he need any money?" She said, "Yes, we were trying to rustle some." Grandfather Dudley pulled out $l00.00 in cash and told them to send it to him. Grandfather had just received his Indian money and he distributed it among the missionaries. Mother and father lived in Bunkerville for about twenty-five years when they moved to Mesquite, Nevada, Mother never complained of moving or of the places she lived in. She always fixed them so it was a home, not just a house. Finally the time came when father wanted to move back to Enterprise. He wanted mother to go but she had been told in a dream never to go back to Enterprise to live and her children were all down here, so she wouldn't go. Father took his second wife and went to Enterprise, but mother got along fine. She boarded and roomed school teachers and did any kind of work she could and made a living. She made quilts and sold and she made Temple aprons for the dead and also to work in the Temple with and she surely made beautiful ones. She worked in the Temple lots herself. Mother never neglected her church activities; she went to everything. Sunday School meeting, Relief Society, M.I.A. and everything that went on, she was always there. When the picture show started in Mesquite - they were the old silent shows - the manager gave the widows free tickets and she never missed one. People got more kick out of watching her if it was a little exciting. She would yell out and carry on just as if it were real. Finally her health began to break and she didn't go out too much. But she lived for her family. I have been happy ever since her death knowing that she spent her last days with us and that my husband and I had the privilege of taking care of her and being with her in the last seventeen days of her life. By her request, father was there with her at the last and she didn't want him to leave her. But when she had to get up or be moved, father or Aschel would go to help her and she would say, "Oh let Lister do it, he knows how better." When she died, she died in List's arms. He had to send all the rest of us into another room so she could die. She died September 9, 1936, and was buried in the Mesquite Cemetery. She was seventy-eight years old when she died. The names of her family are; Lillie May Barnum Leavitt, Aschel James Barnum, Jr., Annie Maria Barnum Leavitt, John Henry Barnum, Mary Esther Barnum Wittwer, Charles Andrew Barnum, Zera Eugene Barnum, Martha Barnum Leavitt, Carmillia Barnum Hardy, and Robert Barnum. There are only three of us living today - Annie Marie B. Leavitt, Carmillia B. Hardy and Robert Barnum.
History of My Mother, Martha Ann Pulsipher Barnum by Carmillia Barnum Hardy: My mother and I were always great pals and it is a joy indeed for me to write a few things of her life. She was a wonderful mother to all of us, but as I was her last daughter to be at home it seemed our companionship was especially near and dear. Mother was born in Salt Lake City, December 2l, 1858, the first child to be born to her mother, Martha Ann Hughes Pulsipher (the 4th wife) and the 13th child of her father, Zerah Pulsipher. At her arrival her mother was fifteen years old and her father was 69. The family lived in Salt Lake until mother was nearly four years of age, then they were called by President Brigham Young to come south in October of 1862, so she celebrated her fourth birthday on the road. The Pulsiphers went directly to Shoal Creek, or Hebron where my Uncles John, Charles and William were already located. Mother often told us how she spent as much time as she could with her father herding the cows and milking them. Hebron was quite a wild, lonely place in those days, the Indians sometimes were unfriendly, but she always kept close by her father so no harm would come to her. She loved him dearly and she was very lonesome without him and missed his wise council and advice when he died January 1, 1872. Mother helped with all the house hold tasks, spinning, weaving, knitting and sewing. She also assisted with the making of butter and cheese and cooking the family meals. In those days there were no handy grocery stores and bakeries to purchase prepared foods from. Rather, everything had to be prepared from what was raised at home or hauled a long distance by wagon. After grandfather Pulsipher died, grandmother and her four children worked harder than ever to make a living. It wasn't long, however, until Brother Dudley Leavitt invited grandmother to be his 5th wife and bring her children and share her lot with his other wives and children. She accepted as he was a good faithful man. Uncle John Pulsipher's second wife was Esther Barnum, a young widow with three sons from Wanship, Summit County, and Utah, whom he married and brought to Hebron. Aschel James was the oldest; he was born January 6, 1861, in Peoa, Summit County. He spent most of his life in Hebron and it just seemed natural that he and mother would fall in love and get married. This event took place April 24, 1878, at the Saint George Temple. They were united for time and eternity by President John D. T. McAllister. They made a home in Hebron where five children were born to them. Their names and who they married are as follows: Lillie May, born March 9, 1879 - married, Charles Albert Leavitt; Aschel James, Jr., born September 28, 1881 - married, Almira Leavitt; Annie, born April 12, 1883 - married, Christopher Lister Leavitt; John Almos, born January 9, 1885 - married Almeda Potter; Esther Mary, born October 8, 1886 - married Albert Wittwer. Father farmed and assisted his step-father with his summer dairy business at the ranch at Little Pine Valley, near Hebron. He had a few cattle of his own, then to get a little cash, he freighted to the mining camps in Nevada and other places. Mother was active as a home maker. She worked very hard but managed her home well so that her family were clothed and fed. She never neglected her Church duties, she served in the different organizations where ever she was needed. The water condition became so acute there in Hebron that the people were obliged to look elsewhere for a lively-hood. Grandmother, along with the rest of the Dudley Leavitt families had moved to Gunlock down on the Santa Clara Creek. This was a thriving little community, so in 1887 father and mother took the children and also established a home there. Here they were happy to welcome their sixth child, whom they named Charles A., born March l3, 1888, (married Jennie Hughes). Plural marriages - still the style, so father decided he wanted to take another wife. He married Sarah Jane Leavitt and eventually had eight children by her. Of course it was with mother's consent, but nevertheless, it was quite a trial for her although they lived congenially as a family. The families moved on to Bunkerville, Nevada in 1889 where four more children were added: Eugene was born January 31, 1890 - married Harriet Woodbury; Martha, born November l3, 1894 - married Ernest Leavitt; Carmillia, born October 25, 1896 - married Leo Hardy; Robert, born December 20, 1902 - married Ida Leavitt. This was a hard locality to make a living in also. The water had to be taken out of the Virgin River in ditches. Crops were dependent on irrigation. It often happened that when the water was needed most in the heat of the summer, flash floods would come roaring down the river and wash out the ditches. In the face of difficulties, it was a nice place to live because of the tropical climate where most everything could be raised. The folks bought a good house and farm. With such a large family every one of us had to help out with making a living. Mother even went out to work and assisted in families such as the J. J. Earls. There were no conveniences in the homes in those days. Everything was done the hard way. Mother made beautiful quilts, so her services were much sought after in this respect. She was called by many, the best quilter in the country. She learned early in life the art of sewing. It is said that "practice makes perfect," consequently, she became very efficient along this line. Besides sewing for her large family, she did lots for other people. She was often asked to mend the nicer things of the town's people, such as dresses, coats, and suits. She could blend the thread in with the weave of the cloth so expertly that it was hardly noticed. Another thing that she was skilled in was making Temple aprons. She made these aprons for the living to work in the Temple with, and most of her relatives and friends were laid to their final earthly rest with one of her beautiful Temple aprons on. I have always felt that mother's keen sense of humor carried her over many of the rough spots of life. She could always see the funny side of everything. She laughed with people and not at them however, unless the joke was on herself. I always loved to hear mother father sing the old songs. They were both good singers and entertainers. Her joyful spirit went a long ways toward making our home life happy was another thing that mother was noted for. Her surroundings were never drab and uninviting. She had all kinds of flowers growing around her house where ever she lived. Her faith in God never wavered. When father was called to fill a mission, even though it left her to look after her large family she urged him to go filling an honorable. She was a born leader, and worked constantly in the ward auxiliary organizations, both in Mesquite and Bunkerville. She was President of the Y. W. M. I. A. for four or five years. Also, President of the Relief Society for 16 years. When the Primary or Sunday School needed her services, she worked gladly in those organizations. I never knew of mother missing Sunday School or Sacrament meeting, and even in her declining years she often spent a pleasant evening at Mutual (MIA). We didn't live in Bunkerville all the time, however. But eventually took up a homestead two miles out of Mesquite. After we moved into the town of Mesquite where mother lived the rest of her life. Father was quite a hand to like to move from place to place. Mother always went without complaint until he wanted to go to Enterprise in Utah to be among their old Hebron friends. Through a dream mother was warned not to go, so father took his second wife and moved up there. Mother was contented and happy to be with her children in Mesquite. For means of a lively-hood she furnished board and room for the school teachers. She loved to prepare nice meals and "mother" these fine young people who shared her home. Later her health became so poor she had to give up this business. When death came to her at the age of 78, even though we knew we would miss her greatly, we realized she had lived a good life her on earth and had earned the right to take one step higher in the round of progression so we felt reconciled to her passing. She left behind her a living monument of sons and daughters, along with many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, We will always appreciate the fine heritage that is ours and may we always live up to our honored name.
She was buried in Mesquite City Cemetery.

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