John LEES

                   SOURCES:
    1. Ashton-under-lyne Branch film #1356 Pt 2
    2. Marriage Certificate
    3. Blackham Family Bible
    4. Moroni Ward film #026198
    5. 1900 Cansus of Utah film #124913

HISTORICAL NOTES:
    Biographical information included in notes.

HISTORY: Susannah Lees Blackham
1830-1901

HISTORY: 	Susannah Lees was born in Ashton-Under-Lyne, Lancashire, England, December 11, 1830 the fourth of eight children to John and Elizabeth Buckley Lees.  Ashton-Under-Lyne is in the southeast border of Lancashire about seven miles northeast of Manchester.

HISTORY:            Lancashire County in the 1800s was known for its large cotton mills and many inhabitants were connected with the cotton industry.  Susannah was a cotton weaver and her father was a cotton spinner and her brothers, James and Joseph, were cotton piecers.

HISTORY:             P. Blinkton baptized Susannah a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on July 18, 1848.  She was confirmed on July 22 by John Albiston.

HISTORY: 	As a young woman, Susannah had a beautiful high soprano voice, and while in England she sang in the church choir and after reaching Utah, her voice could always be heard with the singers of Zion singing hymns.  Especially at Christmas time she lifted her voice with others who went about the town singing Christmas carols.  Once in England, as she was singing at a Mormon street meeting, Brother John Taylor laid his hand upon her shoulder and said, Sister Susannah, the voices of your off-spring shall be heard in all corners of the earth.  That promise has almost been fulfilled through her sons and grandsons preaching the gospel.  All have been and are good singers, and most of them have a tenor voice.  Many of her grandchildren, both girls and boys, have been endowed with this talent.

	On 21 April 1851, Susannah was married to John Blackham in England.  They made their home at 47 Victoria Street in Ashton-Under-Lyne, Lancashire, England, where they had two girls.  Elizabeth was born March 5, 1852 and Martha on the 8th of September 1853.

HISTORY:         John and Susannah decided to emigrate to Zion and they were registered to leave on the ship "Elvira Owens" in 1853 with John's brother, James, and Susannah's parents and two younger brothers, George (13) and Josiah (11).  But for some reason John and Susannah had to wait two years and came on the ship "Samuel Curling" that departed from Liverpool the 22nd of April 1855.  Susannah's two brothers Joseph (26), and John (22), and John's wife, Martha Needham, were also on the ship with them.

HISTORY:         They were very poor and came with the help of the Perpetual Emigration Fund.  The P.E.F., as it was known, was set up by the Church to fund the emigration of the poor.  Everyone was expected to pay back the money they had borrowed so others could also come to Zion.

HISTORY:         In a meeting at Liverpool before they left, Brother D. Spencer and Franklin D. Richards both prophesied that if the Saints would do right on board the S. Curling they would have a good voyage and not a soul would die, but if we would not do right, it would prove the unhappy reverse to them.

HISTORY:         There were 581 members of the Church on board, with Elder Israel Barlow (the half-brother of Julia Ann Lockwood), a returning missionary, as their leader.  The Saints were divided into seven Wards.  During the voyage there were several storms, with one that was quite severe.  Elder Barlow afterwards told some of the Saints that while the storm was raging he saw the ship surrounded by scores of angels, who stood in a circle around it with joined hands.  This was a testimony to the Saints that the Lord was watching over the ship, and that there was no danger.  There were no deaths on this journey.

HISTORY:         They arrived in New York on May 22, 1855.  The emigrants continued by rail to Pittsburgh, then by steamboat on the Missouri River to Atchison, Kansas.  They were outfitted at Mormon Grove, Kansas on 4 August 1855.

HISTORY:         John and Susannah joined the 8th and last wagon train company of the year 1855, with Captain Milo Andrus.  There were 461 people with this company, and this was a Perpetual Emigration Fund Train.

          As they traveled westward from Mormon Grove, the sound of the bugler aroused the Saints at six o'clock.  Families would then attend prayers, prepare breakfast and make everything ready to start the day's journey by eight o'clock.  En route, each teamster walked by the side of his wagon.  All able-bodied immigrants walked most of the way, and according to Captain Andrus they "rejoiced to be on their way to Zion."

HISTORY:         Susannah and her two daughters made their beds at night on a rather small box, and they kept it all through the journey.

HISTORY: 	One day as they were wending their way over the pioneer trail, Susannah noticed that her older brother Joseph was missing.  She hurried to Captain Andrus and reported the loss of the man.  He rode back over the trail for four miles, and finally found him under a tree.  He had dropped by the way, too ill to go on.  Captain Andrus placed him on his horse and took him back to camp.  But he was not strong enough to stand the hard rigors of the pioneer trail, and passed away before reaching the valley.

HISTORY:         They were late in the season and while crossing the South Pass, ran into some snow for several days and lost some cattle.  Many men, women, and children were almost barefoot and very destitute of clothing.  Thankfully it warmed up in a few days and they did not have any more snow.  By the time Milo's company reached Green River they were so depleted of animals that they were unable "to roll."  From there, the Captain dispatched two men to Fort Bridger in quest of animals to help them in their travels.

HISTORY:         Word reached President Brigham Young of the destitute condition of Captain Andrus' train and supplies and oxen were sent to help.  Despite their problems the company arrived in good health on 24 October 1855.

HISTORY: 	As a pioneer woman, Susannah was very thrifty, and did her share of the work.  The wool from the few sheep they owned, she washed, carded and spun.  She then wove it into suits for her five boys and dresses for her two girls.

HISTORY: 	Her boys would go to the hills and gather rabbit brush, sagebrush, and other things, which she used for making the dyes to color the cloth.  The material was dyed a different color for each suit.  She always made them plenty large, as the homespun had such wonderful wearing qualities.  Her one son relates that the suit, which was made for him at the age of five, he still wore when he was twelve years old.

HISTORY: 	At one time, shortly before there was to be a May Day celebration, she decided that her boys must have some new pants, so she had to get busy at once.  In the daytime she worked very hard to weave the jeans, and made the pants at night by firelight.  May Day came and the five boys had their new pants to step out in.  She also made her husband a pair out of bed ticking, and in her own opinion, They looked very nice.

	Susannah was a professional hat maker.  The boys would gather the long clean straws together and tie them into bundles.  These were put away until early spring.  Then she would weave them into hats for summer, and make cloth caps for winter.  A pioneer friend by the name of Mrs. Hamilton, upon seeing one of these straw hats, desired one very much for her husband, so she waited upon Susannah at the birth of one of her children for one of them.  One year she made and sold five straw hats at one dollar apiece.  With this money she bought a pair of leather shoes for her husband.  This was his first pair of shoes since he came to Utah.  For her family she had also made shoes of woolen cloth with soles of rawhide.  She also sold some of these shoes about the little town.  In her spare time, she made candles and soap, and other things, and when she went to Salt Lake to conference with her husband, she would take these things, along with the hats, and would sell them there.  It was while in Salt Lake to conference, that her mother and an old friend by the name of Mrs. Knot made and gave Susannah a new shaker bonnet made from tea straw.  She brought this shaker bonnet to Moroni, thus being given the honor of introducing the new style to the women.

HISTORY: 	Susannah went through many hardships, along with her pioneer neighbors.  Once when her children were small, she was doing the family washing.  They were in very destitute circumstances, and she was so weak from hunger that she was unable to stand up to rub out the clothes, but was forced to kneel down upon her knees to finish them.  Sister Knot calling at her home, found her in this weakened condition, and calling some of the other sisters to help her, they went to the fields and gleaned a little wheat.  This they ground up in a coffee mill, made some cakes of the meal, and took her something to eat.

	While they suffered many hardships, yet they also had many happy times together.  Later, when the children were married and had families of their own, they would all congregate together at their mothers home on Christmas Eve.  Each would bring something nice toward the feast, and they would have a very enjoyable time together, visiting, eating, and singing.  Among the songs they liked to sing were, The Moon is up and in the Sky, and Christians Awake, Salute this Happy Morn.

HISTORY: 	Susannah and John had eleven children, raising nine of them.  Two died when they were small infants.  The children were Elizabeth, Martha, William, John, Josiah, Samuel, Susannah, Alma, Betsey, Benjamin, and Mary Ann.

HISTORY: 	Susannah died at Moroni on 16 August 1901, at the age of 71, loved and honored by her large family and friends.


HISTORY: (From the files of Nida H. Donaldson)







HISTORY: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Could not read or write, signed her wedding certificate with an x.

HISTORY: BLACKHAM, John	<1828>	S.Curling	1855
	Gender:	M	Age:	27	Origin:	Asthon Under Lyne	Occ:	Cotton Spinner
	Note:	BMR, p.169; "Ordered from Great Salt Lake City" (BMR).
BLACKHAM, Susannah	<1831>	S.Curling	1855
	Gender:	F	Age:	24	Origin:	Asthon Under Lyne
BLACKHAM, Elizabeth	<1853>	S.Curling	1855
	Gender:	F	Age:	2	Origin:	Asthon Under Lyne
BLACKHAM, Martha	<1854>	S.Curling	1855
	Gender:	F	Age:	1	Origin:	Asthon Under Lyne

HISTORY: Ship:	S.Curling
	Date of Departure:	22 Apr 1855	Port of Departure:	Liverpool, England
	LDS Immigrants:	581	Church Leader:	Israel Barlow
	Date of Arrival:	22 May 1855	Port of Arrival:	New York, New York
	Source(s):	BMR, Book #1040, pp. 169-191 (FHL #025,690); Customs #376 (FHL #419,652)
	Notes:	"DEPARTURE OF THE S. CURLING. -- The ship S. Curling cleared on the 21st ultimo, and put to sea on the 22nd, with 581 souls of the Saints on board, of whom 385 were P. [Perpetual] E. [Emgration] Fund emigrants, all under the presidency of Elder Israel Barlow, formerly pastor of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Conferences.  He is accompanied by Elder John Barker, late pastor; Elders John Robinson, Matthew Rowan, George W. Bramwell, Joseph Westwood, Thomas Caffall, Joseph Boath, John Perry, formerly presidents of conferences; Moses Thurston, travelling elder; also Elder William W. Willes, who is on his way home from an arduous mission in the East Indies; and Elder G. W. Burridge from Malta.  These brethren leave these lands with our confidence and faith that they will live to realize the blessings in Zion which they so fondly anticipate.   The sailing of the S. Curling closes up the through emigration from hence to Utah this season."


HISTORY: "EMIGRATION. . . . The ship S. Curling, S. Curling, master, arrived at this port on the 22nd ultimo; Elder Israel Barlow, president.  She had when she left Liverpool 581 passengers on board, and had an increase of three on the passage, and no deaths; thus she had a net increase of three.  Most of the passengers left on the 24th by way of Philadelphia, en route for the Valley; the remainder of those who were going forward, went on the 25th.  All in good health and spirits."


HISTORY: "EIGHTY-SEVENTH COMPANY. -- Samuel Curling, 581 souls.  On the twenty-second of April, 1855, the ship, Samuel Curling, sailed from Liverpool with five hundred and eighty-one Saints on board, of whom three hundred and eighty-five were P. [Perpetual] E. [Emigration] Fund emigrants, all under the presidency of Elder Israel Barlow, who had acted as pastor of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Conferences.  William Willis, on his return from a mission to India, and other prominent elders embarked on the Samuel Curling, which, after a safe and pleasant passage, arrived in New York on Tuesday, the twenty-second of May.  During the voyage three children were born, and as there were no deaths on board the net increase was that number.  Elder Peter Reid, who emigrated to America as a passenger in the Samuel Curling, in 1855, and who now resides in the Sixteenth Ward, Salt Lake City, told the writer some time ago that the ship encountered several storms in her passage across the Atlantic, but that she passed safely through them all.  In the midst of one of these storms the captain got somewhat disheartened, and declared to Brother Barlow, the president of the company of emigrants, that he, in his long experience as a seafaring man, had never encountered a worse one; he then added that the tempest had not reached its highest point yet, but that the next half hour would be worse still.  Brother Barlow, in reply, told the captain that the storm was nearly over, and would not increase in violence.  This bold remark of Brother Barlow made the captain angry, as he thought he knew more about the weather and the sea than anyone else on board; but on going into his cabin to examine his barometer and other nautical instruments, he found that Brother Barlow was right; the storm abated almost immediately.  Elder Barlow afterwards told some of the Saints that while the storm was raging he saw the ship surrounded by scores of angels, who stood in a circle around it with joined hands.  This was a testimony to the Saints that the Lord was watching over the ship, and that there was no danger.  Most of the passengers left New York en route for the Valley on the twenty-fourth, going by steamboat via Amboy to Philadelphia, where the emigrants were placed on the railway train, and left Philadelphia on Friday the 25th, about noon, arriving in Pittsburg on the morning of the twenty-seventh, (Sunday.)  The same day the P. [Perpetual] E. [Emigration] Fund emigrants of the Samuel Curling joined the like passengers who had crossed the Atlantic in the Chimborazo, and on the steamship Amazon they continued the journey to St. Louis, whence they proceeded to Atchison, Kansas.  Some of the Samuel Curling passengers remained in New York for the purpose of earning means to continue the journey to Utah.  (Millennial Star, Vol. XVII, pp. 280, 397, 399, 423, 424, 459, 461, 490.)"


HISTORY: "Sun. 22. [Apr. 1855] -- The ship Samuel Curling sailed from Liverpool with 581 Saints, under Israel Barlow's direction; it arrived at New York May 27th.  The emigrants continued by rail to Pittsburgh, thence by steamboat on the rivers, via St. Louis, Missouri, to Atchison, Kansas"