Amos Sweet Warren
Compiled by keith Fisher
Judging by the number of different places that his children were born, Zenos Conger Warren must have had the 'wanderlust'. His son Amos Sweet was born on June 10, 1831 in Niagara County New York. he was the fourth child of Zenos Conger and Sarah Grace Sweet Warren. Amos was a child that grew into a a man with a very colorful life. Upstate New York during the time that he was born, was a flurry of activity. there was a territory to tame and empires to build.
Amos had a New England heritage, but his father was born in New Jersey. His mother was born in New York. Zenos and Sarah spent the first part of their married life in New York State. Then, when Amos was three or four, the family went to homestead a farm in Michigan. Not much is known of his childhood, but while growing up, he learned the blacksmith trade and farming. In 1836, Zenos died, leaving his young widow and family. A year later, Sarah married Daniel wood. It was on his homestead that Sarah embraced the gospel and was baptized a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In 1850, the family came across the plains to Utah and settled in Springville. According to the Sons of the Utah Pioneers early pioneer list, they came in Aaron Johnson's company across the plains from Council Bluffs to Salt Lake. Then they continued south to Hobble creek. (Later called Springville.) The journey from Salt Lake to Springville took three days because they had to make roads and go over the mountain at Jordan Narrows instead of going over the point as they do today. The company built a fort and proceeded to prepare for winter by taking in hay and gathering fruit and berries. Amos took up many trades and he followed the council of Brigham Young to make friends with the Indians. He homesteaded a farm in Springville but because he was away from home so much, he rented most of it to others. The anvil and bellows were old friends of his, so he went to work as a Blacksmith. He also made a living as a Beekeeper, Carpenter, and an Indian Agent. It was in Springville, that Amos courted and married his sweetheart. Abigail Ardilla Childs was the first born child of Moses and Polly Patten Childs. She born in 1835 in Jefferson County, New York. There is a family tradition that says that Amos met Abigail in new York and fell in love with her. Amos' sister told him that she felt they would be together again. If you add up the numbers, then you will realize that the only way this could have happened is if the Warren family went back to New York to visit the home folks before leaving for the Rocky Mountains. But it is a good story. The were married on New Years Day 1853 in Springville.Together they started a large family and were the parents of 10 children. They made their home in a part log, part frame, two room house with a lean-to attached to the rear. When the family outgrew the house, Amos built a larger one.
Amos took an active part in all the Skirmishes with the Indians. He always believed that if the whites would only take the time to understand their Indian neighbors, there would be peace. Amos kept a portion of his farm reserved as a campground for his Indian Friends, and they used it whenever they were passing through. He became respected by them and he knew many of the great Chiefs of his day. He also had many of them to dinner. Amos' children remember the custom of having to wait while the guests were fed, then it was their turn to eat.
Amos was called on by the government to go to Fort Duchesne and work as a blacksmith and interpret for the Indians. He spent two years on the reservation and was paid seven dollars a day. This is a high amount for the time period. Therefore there is some dought as to the accuracy of the source. His superiors also taught him to read and write. Because of his friendship with the Indians, Amos became respected by many of the tribes around. Some of his friends gave him the name of "Muelliadds", Which supposedly meant "Little Night Hawk. There is a story that is worth retelling here, Once while amos was home, there were a group of Indians camped on Amos' land. They brought a little girl to stay with Amos in the Blacksmith shop while they were out doing their buisness. The baby's mother had died and the baby was sick. Amos Tried to explain to them that the baby needed care or it would die. When the Indians were ready to leave, He knew the baby would not survive the journey. He tried to convince them to stay for a few more days but the old man replied, "You give me a blanket and you keep the papoose." Amos told him that he had three children of his own but the old man replied "Give me two blankets and Muelliads Keep the Papoose." In order to spare the childs life, Amos gave them two blankets. They left the baby in Amos' care and never returned. Abigail nursed the child back to health even though it was a hardship for her, having to care for her own children. After awhile a woman in the settlement heard about the child and asked to raise the child. Many years later, the child returned as a grown woman and came to visit her old friends in Springville. At that time she was working in Colorado as the head nurse in a hospital. Amos was not a very large man. What he lacked in height, he made up for in strong muscular developement. Years of swinging his hammer, and of handling the metals that he forged, showed in his biceps. He had dark piercing eyes and black hair. As a young man, he wore a mustache but let his beard grow in later life. He had a very quiet manner and was not very talkative. When questioned about his early life, he would reply, "I'm a Blue blooded Yankee from the east and that's enough". He possesed a rather sentimental nature and he kept keepsakes that brought back memories for him. Most of those keepsakes are in the possesion of the decendants of John R. Warren a son of Amos. In the Keepsake box, were things like a well worn Ox shoe, some of the square headed nails that he made on his anvil, A honey capping knife that he used while gathering honey for sale, there was a printed business envelope with an inscription that read,
A.S Warren
Dealer in all kinds of Honey Springville, Utah The envelope is postmarked may 20 1898 from twin bridges, Montana. Also in the box was a bullet mold, and a tool that he made for tearing the husks off of corn cobs. Amos Sweet Warren was a very colorful man. on the surface one would
look at his picture and deside that he was an outdoors man. He used the outdoors to provide for his family at a time when it was hard to make ends meet. Through it all there was Abigail. She stood by him and was a help meet for him. She took care of the children and made sure that the chores were done. She was the one that cooked for Amos' guests. She was the one that provided stability for the family and kept it all together. It can truly be said that it was "a man's world" but if it werent for the women, the men would not have made it. In all the family stories, there wasn't much written about this noble lady. I say, Praise be to this good woman!
In later years, Amos was honored as one of the surviving participants in the 'Black Hawk War' they took a picture of the vetrans and Amos was there and he was carrying a rifle instead of the canes that the others were carrying. In 1903 Amos and Abigail celebrated their 50th wedding aniversary. They marked the occasion by having a picture taken in the same spot that they were married 50 years before. If you look at Amos in
the picture, you can see that he has a drooping eye lid over his right eye. Could that be an indication of a stroke that he had suffered? He was a strong willed man so if he did have a stroke, he probably forced himself to keep going until he died.
Amos Died 11 October 1909 and was buried next to his mother in the springville cemetery. I have been told that before the wind blew it over, Amos had a tall memorial that could be seen from anywhere in the cemetery.
Abigail Died 27 February 1915 and was buried next to her husband. They left a large posterity of good people.