John Neff II

A conglomeration of many sources (mostly from "Neff Times" Spring 2000 and summer 1995)

On October 12, 1821 John’s mother died. In January on the 12^th , John Married Mary Barr, daughter of Christian and Susanna Brenneman Barr. John’s mother would have certainly been missed. In October, their firstborn, Barbara Matilda was born. Followed by Franklin 18 February 1824. Eight more children followed.

In 1825, John Neff, Jr. was 31 years old. The responsibility for running all the family business fell on his shoulders. John’s father had fallen victim to the economic times and overextended credit. John JR set out to pay his fathers debts. In May of that year, a third child, Amos Herr Neff was born.

From 1825 to 1833 John acquired a large amount of land. He purchased most of it at estate and tax auctions. In 1830 when John SR’s house came up for sale at auction John bought it for $9540.35 a price much lower than market value. None of the neighbors would outbid John out of respect for the family. Whether he was acting on his father’s direction or whether it was John’s own plan, no one knows. But one can note that John Neff JR was a shrewd businessman.

Also during that time John became the father of three more children, Cyrus N., Mary Ann, and Susannah.

In 1834, Benjamin Barr was born. Followed by Amanda. In July of 1837, John's father passed away at the Beaver Run farm. He could certainly be proud of his son and Mary, the family they had raised to date, and their achievements in overcoming past business hardships. In December the 9^th child was born they named him John Neff III most likely after the passing of his grandfather.

John and Mary were starting to reap the benefits of their hard work and planning. John was teaching his children to run the business, The Empire that was intended for the children as a legacy. Then Sadness once again came their way when their little girl Amanda died. It was during this time of morning that they met up with Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They must have been encouraged by Mary’s Sister to go and listen to the Missionaries. Anna, Mary’s Sister, had been living in Quincy Illinois with her second husband Abraham Bitner. Then When Abraham died, she came back to Lancaster to be with her family.

The Doctrine that the missionaries taught must have been very comforting to John and Mary. They were already a very Religious couple. But to hear the missionaries teach the doctrine that family’s can be together forever. Must have struck a responsive chord in light of Amanda’s passing. They were ready to be baptized when the missionaries came back in Feb of 1842.

They must have been driven to meet this man called prophet, the leader of their newfound religion. Family history tells us that in May 1844, John and Mary took their daughter Barbara and traveled to Nauvoo, Illinois to meet the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith and other Church leaders. They stayed with Joseph Smith and his family in the "Mansion House" and had many conversations with him in private as well as hearing his prophetic voice from the pulpit. They left fully satisfied that Joseph Smith was the prophet his disciples professed him to be. It was their plan to sell a part of their holdings in Strasburg and move to Nauvoo. They returned to Lancaster, where John learned of the Mormon leader's martyrdom six weeks after their visit with him.

John and Mary Barr Neff sold some of their land holdings in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania during May of 1846. They were still at Strasburg in July of 1846 when they retained Lancaster attorney Samuel P. Bowers, Esq. of Strasburg Borough to handle their affairs regarding their property after they had departed. Bowers was to handle all financial matters and to collect all rents, etc. The letter of attorney was signed 7 July 1846 by John and Mary Neff. (Lancaster Letter of Attorney Book 5, page 249). John, Mary, and their family likely left Strasburg just after the Letter of Attorney was signed. This was just over a two months before the last Mormon Pioneers left Nauvoo, Illinois for Iowa and the "Camp of Israel," or Winter Quarters, in the Omaha Indian Territory, now Nebraska. Family history states "They traveled overland to Nauvoo, arriving just as the last of the Mormon inhabitants, the sick and the poor, were being driven by the angry mob across the Mississippi River into Iowa."

This 1000-mile overland trip by wagon from Lancaster to Nauvoo would have taken about 70 days. During this portion of their trip, Mary's mother Susanna Brenneman Barr died at Strasburg on September 8, 1846. We can only imagine the feelings of the Neff family when they arrived at Nauvoo in late September. The city they had seen two and a half years before was now nearly deserted. The mob was using the beautiful temple, once the pride of the city, as a headquarters. The streets, once lined with its lovely homes, stores, and shops, were mostly deserted. Riverboats, which had carried passengers and goods from Nauvoo to points both north and south now skirted the wharf without stopping to load or unload.

On the Iowa side of the Mississippi River across from Nauvoo, there was a menagerie of tents, covered wagons, and camps, set in the open air where the sick and the poor were huddled together to survive. What thought must have entered John's mind that he had left a comfortable home where neighbors were kind and there was plenty and to share? How easy it would have been to turn around and go back to Lancaster. No one would blame him, especially not his family and friends, who thought he was crazy to cast his lot with the Mormons in the first place.

During this time, they must have remembered their ancestors and the sacrifice they had made for the freedom of choice. They chose to follow the members of their church who had gone before them and were now scattered over the plains of Iowa.

They traveled another 260 miles to Winter Quarters, passing through Garden Grove and Mt. Pisgah. The total trip would have taken about 3 months. It was possible Mary Barr Neff's sister, Anna, and her children were in that company of wagons. Family traditions tell how she and her children were forced to cross the Mississippi River from Nauvoo to Iowa with the poor and the sick.

Winter Quarters was built on the west bank of the Missouri River at the present site of Florence, a suburb of Omaha, Nebraska. When the first Mormons arrived, it was too late to plant much grain. They spent the summer preparing for the winter. There were 538 log houses built that summer, and 83 sod houses. There were thousands of tons of hay cut with scythes and stacked for winter use. The riverbank was lined with wild berries, which were picked and preserved for the winter. Hunting parties were sent out to find game and meat was preserved in strips of jerky for winter use, and to supply food for the long trip across the plains. After swimming the cattle across the river and taking sheep across by ferry, boys were assigned to herd the animals in shifts, to keep them from straying or being stolen by Indians. The Neff family had a part in all of this.

From the personal journal of Brigham Young, now leader of the Mormons, we can place the events involving the mill at Winter Quarters. On August 13th Young tells the Church's Council about the cost of having their wheat ground locally which would ".....justify us in getting a small set of millstones and irons to move by two, three, or four horsepower, and with out labor added to our means, would make a great saving of money." He asked approval for "..... two sets of burr stones and mill fixtures to carry with us over the mountains."

On Sunday, August 16th, "I informed the brethren that the council had estimated the expense to two sets of four feet burr stones with the fixtures would cost about eight hundred dollars, weight about five tons, and their on might be carried on the wagons that carry the stones. I wished the brethren to form a company to buy all the necessary materials and carry them on and build a good mill in the mountains. All were in favor of the plan."

On Wednesday, September 9th, Brigham wrote there were twelve teams ready to return to Nauvoo for the poor and sick members still there. The return trip to Nauvoo would have taken about two and half weeks and their arrival would have corresponded with the Neff's arrival at Nauvoo from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

At Cutler's Park on Tuesday, September 22nd, "The Council concluded to build a water mill, and appointed me (Brigham Young) to superintend it, they consenting to assist me by every possible means." Cultler's''s Park was on the east bank of the Missouri River near what is now Council Bluffs. On Wednesday, September 23rd, the camp began to move to Winter Quarters, in Omaha Indian Territory on the west bank. On Thursday, October 1st, "Dr. Richards and I started on horse back up Turkey Creek, and viewed the mill site." The following week, on October 6th, "The mill dam commenced." From this entry we can conclude John Neff and his family had not yet arrived.

Family history says Brigham Young was very glad to see John Neff when he did arrived at Winter Quarters. As an experienced miller, he would have the knowledge to correctly fix the mill's location. On Sunday, November 1, 1846, Brigham Young writes: "The location of the mill site having been removed downstream, men were called for to dig on the lengthening of the race." This decision to change the location in all likelihood denotes the arrival of the Neffs. On Sunday, November 8th, "Brother Joseph (Elder Joseph Young) proposed to the Seventies to dig the mill race on Saturday." On Monday, November 3rd, "I informed them (several members of the Church's Council) that my plans were laid to pay every dollar for the building of the mill, and that it would do good for years to come." John Neff and the money brought from Pennsylvania were certainly the support behind this comment by Brigham Young.

At this time in 1846, in addition to John and Mary, the Neff family consisted of Barbara Matilda, age 24, who had married Julian Moses at Lancaster on March 25, 1845. Franklin, age 22, newly married to his second cousin Elizabeth Musser (Anna Barr Musser's daughter). Amos, age 21; Cyrus, 19; Mary Ann, 17; Susanna, who had just turned 15; Benjamin, 12; John III, who was 8; and Elizabeth, 6 years of age. Family history says they arrived with three good teams and wagons, plenty of food, a herd of dairy cattle, and a money belt around the waist of each of the adult. This made a powerful force in the hungry camp at Winter Quarters.

Considering the several thousand Mormons now at Winter Quarters, Brigham Young writes on Monday, December 14th that "Dr. Richards walked on the ice over the Missouri and visited bro. Neff who was sick." On Saturday, December 19th, "I reported the lower story of the flouring mill completed." On December 24th, Hosea Stout records the population as 3,483, including 75 widows, 502 well men, and 117 sick men. One described Winter Quarters as the "Valley Forge of Mormondom." (Rich, Russell R., Ensign to the Nations, BYU Press, Provo, UT 1972 pp. 90-92).

Brigham's entry on December 31st reads: "....there has been considerable difficulty to get flour and meal in sufficient quantities to feed the Camp; a little grain has been ground at Week's mill, twenty-five miles distance, built by government for the Pottawatomies, the balance of the mills in Missouri, upward of one hundred and fifty miles distant, made very coarse flour and meal. The inhabitants of Winter Quarters have had to grind wheat and corn by coffee and hand mills, which in many instances only cut the grain, others pounded it with a pestle suspended to a spring pole and others boiled their corn in lye and made hominy while some boiled corn in the ear until it was sufficiently soft to be grated, many pieces of old tin were converted into graters for this purpose. Much anxiety is manifested for the completion of the mill."

The first of January, New Year's day 1847, was ushered in at Winter Quarters, (subsequently known as Florence, Nebraska)," by the firing of a cannon. About an inch of snow fell; wind northwest, very cold." At the same time the anti-Mormons at Nauvoo, Illinois, gave a grand military and civic Ball in the Mansion House, formerly Joseph Smith's home. Gen. Brockman and his military colleagues there, who had distinguished(!) themselves on the occasion of the expulsion of the sick and helpless remnant of Mormons from Nauvoo that past September, were managers. The next month Amos Herr Neff was baptized into the LDS Church by Ezra Taft Benson March 2 1847 at Winter Quarters. (Jenson, Andrew, LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol.II, p. 108, 1914). [Franklin was baptized March 16, 1847, also by Ezra Taft Benson.]

Among the many who died from the ravages of disease at Winter Quarters was Cyrus Neff. He was a young man with great promise and had recently passed his twentieth birthday. Brigham Young writes on Friday, March 6th; "I preached at the funeral service of Bro. Neff's son (Cyrus Neff)." The same day "Dr. Richards and I walked up to the (mill) dam, found Elders Woodruff and (Ezra Taft) Benson with about fifty others busy at work." Finally on Saturday, March 20, "The grist mill commenced operation this afternoon. It ground 11 bushels of corn per hour; the machinery ran smoothly."

Three days later, on March 24, "I sold the grist mill to bro. John Neff who paid me Two thousand five hundred dollars for the same, which enabled me to pay the debts on it." The next day, "I met with the brethren of the Twelve and the High Council in the evening. It was voted that John Neff might take one fifth of the grain for toll (or operation) of the mill."

Quit Claim Deed to the Winter Quarters Mill. Signed by Brigham Young. The text is as follows:

Know all men by these presents, that I Brigham Young, of Winter Quarters Omaha Nation, Missouri Territory, for and in consideration of the sum of Twenty Six hundred dollars ($2600), to me in hand paid by John Neff of the above named Winter Quarters, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have remised, released, and forever Quitclaimed, and by these present do remit, release, and forever quitclaim unto the said John Neff, his heirs and assigns. A certain Grist Mill lately built by the said Brigham Young, in the aforesaid Winter Quarters, with all the privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging or in anywise appertaining. To have and to hold the aforesaid premises, with all the privileges and appurtenances, to the Said mill and water power whatsoever thereunto belonging to or in anywise appertaining, Unto the said John Neff his heirs and assigns to his and their sole use forever, so that I the said Brigham Young, nor my heirs, nor any person or persons claiming under me or them, Shall at any time hereafter, by any way or means, have, claim, or demand any right or title to the aforesaid premises or appurtenances, or to any part or parcel thereof forever. In testimony whereof I have here-unto set my hand and seal this twenty fifth day of March A.D. one thousand Eight hundred and forty Seven. Signed and sealed in the presence

 

Years later Brigham Young paid tribute to the work of this mill and the generous donations given by John Neff at Winter Quarters. He said, "Do you want to know how many of you survived in Winter Quarters? Well, I'll tell you so you won't forget. It was the money that John Neff brought from Pennsylvania which saved the lives of thousands of men, women, and children."

In late April of 1847, John and Mary Neff claimed to be "living in the State of Missouri" and executed a power- of-attorney. Appointing Samuel P. Bower Esq. of the Borough of Strasburg in Lancaster County to handle the estates of Mary's parents, Christian and Susanna Brenneman Barr (d. 8 Sept 1846). Both had died intestate. The document was signed before Judge Solomon S. Leonard of the 12th Judicial Circuit for Andrew County on April 29,1847 and certified the same day in Savannah, Missouri. (Lancaster Co., PA Letter of Attorney Book 5, page 500). Savannah (today part of St. Joseph, Missouri) would have been the nearest location where John could have a legal document filed and sent back to Lancaster. This was about 90 miles down the Missouri River from Winter Quarters.

In the early years of the Salt Lake Valley, many of john’s friends and neighbors were with out work. John hired many of them to help with building the flour mill, lumber mill, shingle mill, digging ditches for irrigation, sawing logs, etc. John Neff managed it all. He had an interesting way of determining whether a man was a good worker or not. When a man applied for work, John would tell him that he had a sickle or an axe to grind. The man would be asked to turn the grindstone while john would hold the axe. after a minute of grinding John would raise the axe from the stone to feel its edge, if the man stopped turning; John would take the man to the house, give him a good meal, and tell him he had no work for him. If the man continued to turn the grindstone while John tested the sharpness of the tool, the man was considered a good workman and was employed.

In the Spring of 1848, Brigham Young returned to Winter Quarters, John also returned. When He arrived, John helped Franklin pack up the mill stones and other necessary items they would need in their new home. John was with the newlyweds, Amos Herr and his wife Martha Ann as well as Franklin and his family when they joined the 1220 individuals in Brigham Young's company that left Winter Quarters 5 June 1848 and arrived Sept 1848 in Great Salt Lake.

According to family tradition, John had a working arrangement with Orrin Porter Rockwell that was more than the lumber contract they had. The tradition is that for many years, Porter acted as John’s agent to help those in need. Over the years he did much to gather the poor from foreign lands as well as helping them after reaching their destinations. Later, Porter became a member of the family when he married Mary Ann Neff, John's Daughter.

John often went to Salt Lake and before returning home would always visit President Brigham Young and give him several hundred and many times a thousand dollars or more. One of those times he gave one thousand dollars to assist in the construction of the first penitentiary. (Which was Ironic because of the number of his relatives and neighbors that spent time in that jail on charges of unlawful cohabitation).

In the late 1850’s when there was talk of establishing the United Order, John Neff turned over all of his real and personal property, the real estate by deed, to President Brigham Young. Sometime later, President Young returned it all because the Saints weren’t ready to live that covenant.

We could be left to wonder whether the Neff family ever yearned to return to the beautiful green lands of their former home in Pennsylvania. This is answered by a letter from Major Charles E. Wentz to a friend back in Lancaster County after visiting the Neff home in East Mill Creek. It stated in part that "Mr. John Neff, formerly of Lancaster County, is one of the best farmers in this Territory. He has nearly two thousand acres of land embracing some of the best soil in the world; the greater part, however, is a desert. He has a large gristmill and a sawmill and is building a large mill for sawing shingles, lath, etc. He has cattle and sheep by the thousands to be seen grazing upon the mountain benches. He is considered one of the wealthiest men here. He has no desire to return to Lancaster, and is exceedingly happy in his religion. His wife is a perfect lady, one of the sweetest women of her age I ever saw. Mr. Neff told me with perfect sincerity that he had everything that his heart could desire. We passed a delightful day with them. ...They gave us a magnificent Lancaster County dinner ...Among the preserves was watermelon butter. The edible part of the melon boiled down without sweetening of any kind. It was delicious."