Jesse G. GOLDTHWAITE

                       From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.
                  

                       From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.
                  

                   HISTORICAL NOTES:
    Biographical information, marriage info, and patriarchial blessing info are included in the notes section of this record.

From: http://members.cox.net/jameshistory/l_goldthwaite.html

Lydia GOLDTHWAITE 
Essentials 
Born: 9 June 1812; Sutton, Worcester County, Mass. 
Daughter of: Jesse G. GOLDTHWAITE and Sally BURT 
Married: 1. Calvin BAILEY, fall of 1828; 2. Newel KNIGHT, 23 November 1835, Kirtland, Lake County, Ohio; 3. John DALTON, 1851, Utah; 4. James McCLELLAN, 1861, Utah 
Died: 3 April 1884; St. George, Washington County, Utah 

Page contents 
   One-minute history 
   LDS Biographical Encyclopedia 
   Patriarchal blessing 
   Lydia Goldthwait Knight's History, Chapter 1 

External Links 
   Complete text of "Lydia Goldthwait Knight's History" 
   "Lydia Goldthwait Knight Helps the Prophet Joseph" 

BY DARYL JAMES 
FROM 'JAMES/HATCH ONE MINUTE HISTORIES' (1994) 
       Lydia Goldthwaite was born June 9, 1812, in Sutton, Massachusetts, the third of 12 children of Jesse Goldthwaite and Sally Burt. Lydia worked hard on her family's farm and earned a reputation among her siblings for her industry. 
       When her father would kill a sheep, the skin would be rolled up and saved until the wool was ready to be separated from the hide. Lydia would work at pulling the wool from the hide even after her siblings had tired of the task; thus, her family formed the proverb: "Lydia never leaves 'til the last lock is pulled." 
       Around 1820 Lydia's family moved from Massachusetts to the western part of New York state. When Lydia was about 15, her parents sent her away to boarding school. During her second year, she married a man named Calvin Bailey. After about three years of marriage, Calvin left Lydia with one child and pregnant with another. Lydia returned home ashamed and despondent. In February 1832, a boy was born to her who died almost at birth. Then, less than a year later, her first child became ill and died. Lydia became more despondent than ever. In hopes of reviving her spirits with a change of scenery, she accepted an invitation to stay with a married friend and her husband, Freeman Nickerson, in Mount Pleasant, Ontario, Canada. 
       In October 1833, word came from the United States that Freeman's parents had joined the newly formed Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and were coming to Mount Pleasant for a visit. Elder Sydney Rigdon and the Prophet Joseph Smith accompanied Freeman's parents. After sharing their message, Elder Rigdon and the Prophet baptized Lydia, her host family, and about a dozen others. Lydia spoke in tongues at a meeting the next night. 
       Lydia returned home in 1834 confident her parents would join the Church; however, neither did. Although skeptical of the Mormons, Lydia's parents were kind and gave her $50 to establish herself in Kirtland, Ohio. 
       When Lydia arrived in Kirtland in 1835, the Prophet was in prison. Lydia volunteered her $50 to free him but then had no money left for herself. The Prophet's brother, Hyrum, invited her to stay with his family, and it was here Lydia met Newel Knight, a widower from Vermont. 
       Newel proposed marriage to Lydia, but she refused because she still considered herself bound to Calvin Bailey. However, Newel spoke with the Prophet and the Prophet inquired of the Lord. A revelation was received through Joseph Smith that Lydia was free of Calvin and that her marriage to Newel would be pleasing in the Lord's sight. Lydia and Newel rejoiced and were married Nov. 23, 1835, in Kirtland by Joseph Smith. 
       Lydia and Newel were present at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in 1836 and then left for a home in Clay County, Missouri. They experienced many problems with enemies of the Church in Missouri and soon left for a new home in what later became Nauvoo, Illinois. 
       After many sicknesses and trials, Lydia and Newel headed west with seven children in an early company of Saints on April 17, 1846. Newel died on the trail, but Lydia arrived safely in Salt Lake City on Oct. 3, 1850. 
       She entered plural marriage with John Dalton in 1851 but, after one child was born, the marriage ended in divorce. In 1860 Lydia married James McClellan, who died in 1880 after 20 happy years of marriage with Lydia. Lydia worked in the St. George Temple near the end of her life and died in St. George on April 3, 1884. 

-- Sources: 1. Lydia Knight's History: The First Book of the Noble Women's Lives Series. Juvenile Instructor Office, Salt Lake City, 1883. (On record at Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University; Provo, Utah.) 2. The Jesse Knight Family: Jesse Knight, His Forbears and Family, by J. William Knight. The Deseret News Press, 1940. (On record at Harold B. Lee Library, BYU, Provo, Utah.) 3. "The Knight Family: Ever Faithful to the Prophet," by William G. Hartley. The Ensign of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, January 1989, pps. 43-49. 


Pioneer child 

BY ANDREW JENSEN 
LDS BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA, VOL. 2, p. 775 
       Knight, Lydia Goldthwaite, wife of Newel Knight, was born June 9, 1812 in Sutton, Worcester County, Mass., the daughter of Jesse Goldthwaite and Sally Burt. When fifteen years old she was sent to a boarding school in a village where she met a young man by the name of Calvin Baily, to whom she was married in the fall of 1828. This marriage proved an unhappy one (though it was blessed with two children), and three years after her marriage she was deserted by her husband. 
       She then returned to the home of her parents. During a visit to Mt. Pleasant, Upper Canada, she first became acquainted with the Latter-day Saints, the Nickerson family living at that place being visited by Joseph Smith the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon in October, 1833. A number of meetings were held, and the Nickerson family, Lydia and others were baptized. 
       When Lydia, in the summer of 1834, returned to her fathers home in New York State, her relatives did all they could to persuade her to leave Mormonism. At length she grew restless and unhappy on account of her religion, and therefore decided to go to Kirtland, Ohio, which at that time was a gathering place of the Saints. Immediately on reaching Kirtland in the spring of 1835 she met Vincent Knight, who approached Sister Lydia, saying: Sister, the Prophet is in bondage and has been brought into distress by the persecutions of the wicked, and if you have any means to give, to would be of benefit to him. 
       She at once emptied her purse containing $50, which was all she had. Bro. Knight looked at it, counted it and fervently exclaimed, Thank God, this will release and set the Prophet free. The young girl was now without means, not having enough to procure a meal or a nights lodging. For six or eight months after that she lived a pleasant life in the home of Vincent Knight. In the fall of 1835 Hyrum Smith asked Lydia to come to his house and assist his wife. She complied with the request and while living there she became acquainted with Newel Knight, who boarded at the place while working on the Kirtland Temple. Newel Knight (who was not related to the Vincent Knight previously mentioned) is described by Sister Lydia as a tall man with light brown, a keen blue eye and a very energetic and determined manner; he was a widower, whose wife, a delicate woman, had died the previous fall, in consequence of the trials and persecutions she had suffered, and left an infant only two days old. 
       Bro Knight, in course of time, made Lydia an offer of marriage, which she after some hesitation accepted, and the two became man and wife Nov. 23 1835, Joseph Smith the Prophet performing the marriage ceremony. It was the first marriage ceremony the Prophet ever performed. The young married couple gladly accepted the offer of Hyrum Smith to spend the winter at his home. In the meantime Newel Knight continued his labors on the Temple and generally attended the school of the Elders in the evenings together with his wife he also attended the dedication of the Temple and witnessed many marvelous manifestations of the power of God. After Sister Lydia and her husband moved to Clay county, where a girl (Sally) was born to them Dec, 1 1836. 
       In February, 1837, Newel Knight purchased 40 acres of land from the government near Far west, Caldwell county, Mo. A boy (named James Philander) was born to Lydia April 29, 1837. She passed through the persecutions of the Church in Caldwell county, Mo., and afterwards in Illinois, and she left Nauvoo with her family April 17, 1846, in the exodus of the Saints for the Rocky Mountains. While on the way, and while stopping temporarily together with many other Saints at a place known as Ponca, her husband died, Jan. 11, 1847. Thus she became a widow with seven helpless children and for several years after that she battles with all kinds of odds to support herself and family and to raise her little ones as best she could on the frontiers. 
       Finally the way opened for her to come to the Valley; she crossed the plains in 1850. For several years she resided in the City and on a farm near the City. She subsequently located in Provo, where she taught school. Next she resided at Payson and Santa Clara, but when the St. George Temple was finished in 1877 she was called by President Brigham Young to labor in that sacred building as an ordinance worker. She responded cheerfully, made her permanent home in St. George and attended faithfully to her duties in the Temple till the day of her death, which occurred in St. George April 3, 1884. Sister Lydias life was full of events and her character full of integrity; she possessed a lovely disposition, gained the confidence and good will of all who knew her and died a most devoted and faithful Latter-day Saint. 

   
Patriarchal blessing 

FROM JOSEPH SMITH, SR. 
SYLVESTER SMITH, SCRIBE 
       For Lydia Knight, who was born in Sutton, Worchester Co., Mass., June 9th 1812: 
       Sister Knight, in the name of Jesus Christ, I lay my hands upon thy head and ask my Heavenly Father to give me wisdom and power to pronounce such things as shall be according to the mind of the Holy Spirit. I also ask God to prepare thee to receive blessings, and pour them into thy soul even a fullness; and to give thee wisdom to abide all things that shall come upon thee; and bless thee in thy out-goings and in thy in-comings. I seal a fathers blessing upon thee and thy posterity. For thou shalt be a mother of many children. And thou shalt teach them righteousness, and have power to keep them from the power of the destroyer; and thy heart shall not be pained because of the loss of they children, for the Lord shall watch over them and keep them. And your children shall raised up for glory and be ornaments in the Church. 
       "Thou hast been afflicted much in thy past days, and thy heart has been pained. Many tears have fallen from thine eyes and thou hast wept much. But thou shalt be comforted. The Lord loves thee and has given thee a kind and loving companion for thy comfort. And your souls shall be knit together, and nothing shall be able to dissolve them. Neither distress nor death shall separate you. You shall be preserved in life, and go safely and speedily to the land of Zion. Thou shalt have a good passage, and receive an inheritance in Jackson County. Thou shalt also see thy friends in Zion, thy brothers and sisters, and rejoice with them in the glory of God. Angels shall minister unto thee; thy heart shall be comforted. Thou shalt receive all the hearts desire. Thy soul shall be enlarged, and thou shalt stand to see Israel gather from their dispersion, the tribes come from the land of the north country; the heavens rend, and the Son of Man come in all the glory of His Father. And thou shalt rise to meet Him and reign with Him a thousand years, and thy offspring with thee. Great are thy blessings. I confirm blessings on thee in common with thy husband. Blessings of the earth, and all things which thou neediest for thy comfort. And thou shalt be a mother in Israel. Thou shalt relieve the wants of the oppressed and minister to the needy. All needed blessing are thine. I seal them upon thee, and I seal thee up unto eternal life, in the name of Jesus. Amen. 

   Lydia Goldthwait Knight's History, Chapter 1 

BY "HOMESPUN" 
THE FIRST BOOK OF THE NOBLE WOMEN'S LIVES SERIES 
JUVENILE INSTRUCTOR OFFICE 
SALT LAKE CITY, 1883 
       A little girl with light-blue eyes and fair hair sat under the shade of the forest tree pulling a sheepskin. One by one her brothers and sisters, older and younger than she, had grown weary of the work and wandered off to play. 
       Oh, Lydia, how can you sit there over that tiresome work. Look at the shadows under the trees, and the squirrels calling to us to come and chase them from limb to limb. Lets have a play, said the last boy as his patience at length had ebbed away. 
       No, replied the fair-haired maiden, and the firm little mouth took another line of determination as she spoke, I shall not leave the sheepskin till the last lock is pulled. 
       A clearing in the forest of the western part of New York State, a large comfortable cabin on the rise of ground near the center of the space, with wide-open doors and floors of gleaming white, waving grain on one side of the house and a large vegetable garden on the other side constituting the scene of a home in the forest wilds, which was a common one in those days--the years between 1810-1820. The circle of high waving trees gave a grandeur and beauty to the view that nothing else could possibly do. 
       The little girl who sat so steadily at work had been brought by her parents two years previously to this wild western home. 
       She was born in 1812, in Sutton, Worcester Co., Mass., and eight happy years had been spent in her earliest home. 
       Shall I tell you about her father, whose name was Jesse Goldthwait? He was a medium-sized, well-built New Englander, prudent, industrious and the possessor of a firm will. Her mother was a quiet-spoken woman, but she had an ardent temperament and a great deal of natural refinement. She had some scholastic advantages and was ambitious for her children. Five sisters and six brothers had Lydia, and a very happy and peaceful family they were. 
       Dont you know what wool pulling is? Well while my little girl is finishing her work I will tell you: 
       When the sheep was killed for family use, the skin was rolled up by the thrifty farmers in ashes or lime and laid away for some time. Then the wool could easily be separated from the hide. This last piece of labor generally fell to the children. And Jesse Goldthwaits family none of the children would keep the work but Lydia. So that it soon passed into a proverb, when Lydia exhibited that determination in anything which was so striking a point in her character, they would say to each other: 
       Its no use trying to make her give up her design. You know Lydia never leaves till the last lock is pulled. 
       The years passed on and Lydia grew apace. But as she attained to early womanhood, she did not lose the slender form, the quiet voice she had inherited from her mother, or the firm will her father bequeathed to her. she was brought up to habits of work and she had also recived religious training from her parents. 
       When the girl was about fifteen years old, a council was held concerning her by her father and mother: 
       Let us send the girl to school, father: you are comfortable for means, and Ly is a good, obedient girl. 
       That she is, replied the father, and studiously inclined. I will think it over, mother. 
       After some deliberation, a boarding-school ws chosen, and the girl placed under proper care. 
       Who cannot fancy the life of a school-girl of fifteen? Happy, careless as to the future, mindful of the husking-bees and quiltings, and with bright, shy glances for the yoths who begin to wish to see you home. 
       Among Lydias accquantance in the valley where she was attending school, was a young man whose name was Calvin Bailey. One who was a stranger in the village, but his smart, dapper ways, 
                  

                       From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.
                  

                       From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.
                  

                       From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.
                  

                       From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.
                  

                       From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.
                  

                       From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.
                  

                       From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.
                  

                       From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.
                  

                       From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.