Part 3
One night, young Sarah had been sleeping in the wagon box on
the ground, in camp outside the new house. She woke in the night and cried out that Liz had pinched her. Liz denied it and Sarah got settled
down. Later it happened again, until
Green told her he’d lay down close to the wagon box by her to make sure Liz
didn’t pinch her. All went back to
sleep until they awakened by another scream, this time from Green! He jumped up and chased away a coyote! In the morning, one shot from James’ gun and
there was no more coyote!
James and Agnes’ family set up the household and life was
good on the farm in Utah. It wasn’t the
same as a tobacco plantation that had provided them such luxury before, but
here they could worship as they wished, and grow with the Saints in their new
faith. The hurts from the past had
begun to heal and they settled down with their three children William, Charles,
and Sarah, and of course Liz and Green, members of the family too.
It was a bright Sunday in May of 1849, and the Flakes were
all dressed up in the best Sunday clothes they had, sitting in church. From the pulpit, Bishop announced new
missionary assignments from the Brethren.
Agnes held her breath, but yes, James was called. This time he was to go to California to
scout out a place for the poor Saints who would come by water to the West Coast. Once again, James was to be a colonizer and
a friend to the poor and needy, as his son William would also become.
Agnes encouraged
James to go on this mission and do his duty, though it had been a shock for
her. She felt like she should be used to James being away from her. But he had tenderly stayed back from the
original treks West, to care for her and the babies. She had so loved his help and watchful care. How great it had been here in Utah at last to
farm together. Agnes focused on
enjoying every day that they spent together, working the farm. She knew there
were poor Saints arriving on the West Coast that needed his expertise. She tried once again to put her trust in the
Lord.
October came, and then, the day of her James’
departure. Just before he left for the
barn, to saddle up Molasses, the mule he’d be taking (he’d left the best of the
animals to help work the farm), James called over William. He was now almost
11. “William,” said his father, “I am
counting on you, son. You are to be the
man of the family for now. Watch over
your mother and your brother and sister.
You know how to farm, and the Lord will bless you while I am gone.” James said a tender good-bye to Charles and
little Sarah, not quite 3. Then he
pulled Agnes close. “Lady Agnes,” he
whispered, “my lovely bride. How I love
you. How good you are, and true.” Tears streamed down both of their
faces. They had been through a lot
together. He had had so many
assignments to help the Saints with their trek. But this seemed different, so final. Their embrace was extra long, and extra sweet. At last, Agnes pulled away. She knew she must be strong, and send her
darling on this mission.
Then, crickets came to Utah in the winter of 1849-50,
hundreds and thousands of them in a big dark cloud. Agnes and her family along with everyone else, were out fighting
the crickets, trying to save their little crop. If they lost it, they would starve. But James was gone, and 11-year old William in charge. He had everyone, Agnes, Charles, and Sarah,
and Liz whacking at those crickets as hard as they could, while Green kept the
awful smoky smudge pots burning. As she
whacked at those crickets as hard as she could with her hoe, while more kept
coming, some even crawling up her dress, she suddenly started to laugh! “Mother, are you all right?” asked
Charles. She had thought back to how as
a little girl, she had tried to pick up a hoe in the backyard. Father had been furious! No daughter of his would handle a hoe! And Agnes had been sent inside to sit with
the ladies and learn needlework!
The saints fought and fought until the people were falling
from exhaustion and yet the crickets seemed to be increasing. At this point, the Lord sent another miracle. “Although it was a bright day, a shadow fell
over the fields, and a noise of wings came nearer; they wondered if it was a
new calamity. They looked up and the
sky was full of gulls. For a moment
they stood in wonder. Then the birds
lit right at their feet, paid no attention to the people, but began picking up
the crickets. The people stood in awe,
and witnessed the salvation of the Lord.”
The tame seagulls “filled their craw, flew to the stream, drank and
disgorged and went back to their work, and never quit until the fields were cleaned. Then they flew away.” Agnes and her kin
dropped to her knees in gratitude for this wonderful miracle, and they knew the
Lord was watching over them. Today
there stands in Temple Square, a seagull monument, the only monument built to
honor a bird.
During his trip out to California, James and his company had
their own trials. When they passed through what would later be called
Death Valley, both the men and the animals were without water for a long
time. When they couldn’t go any
further, they unsaddled the horses, and lay down on the sand, thinking they would
soon die. One man, Brother Rich, knelt
down and told the Lord of their desperate condition and how much they were
depending on Him. After his prayer, he
went back to the other men, aroused them, and told them help was in sight. “They looked up at the bright, clear
sky. He told them to spread their
canvas out prepared to catch water.
They looked at him, and he pointed to the West. There they saw a small cloud, so small it
could hardly be seen. It grew rapidly,
and they had no more than made their preparation, than the rain fell, and they
caught all the water they needed for themselves and their horses. They prepared a meal and went on their way
rejoicing in the great blessing the Lord had showered down upon them. The cloud had quickly disappeared, and the
sun beat down on them as before. Only a
few rods from their camp, there was no evidence of the life-giving rain.” (Osmer, p. 14)
It was later on this trip that one of the men lost the cinch
for his spirited horse. James gave the
man his, as he thought this man needed it worse, and went without. But later, his own mule got spooked and
James was thrown from it. He called out
“Brethren, lay hands on me!” But these
were his last words; he died of a broken neck.
It was a terrible tragedy, and Agnes was left a widow at age 30, with
her three remaining children to raise.
Word reached her three months later, as she lay sick with
tuberculosis. Agnes was stunned and
heartsick with this terrible blow. Yet
the Spirit was once again there to comfort her. Agnes knew of the great reward to one who gave his life for his
friend, and she took comfort in the greatness of her James. He had given his means and his whole life
since joining the church to helping his fellow men. With time, she picked herself up and determined to endure.
With the memory of the struggle with crickets still fresh in
her mind, and recovering slowly from her TB, Agnes decided to leave
farming. A group of her
friends—converts from Mississippi—were leaving to go settle in San Bernadino
Valley, CA. The weather was mild and
the ocean air would be good for her lungs.
So in 1851, Agnes and her children sold their farm and took yet another
journey to California. It was another
long, hard journey, this one across the desert. The family suffered greatly many times without water. Once when she stopped to have the wagon
repaired, the family who had also stopped, who she had planned to travel with,
gave up and turned back. But Agnes
would not quit, and rushed to catch up with a group. Once when William was
going for the hobbled mule, he was chased and nearly killed by a large pack of
wolves. At first, he threw rocks at
them, but soon there were so many that he couldn’t turn his back on them and
had to back up to the mule, jump on it unhobbled, and race for camp. The other
mule followed and would grab a wolf and throw it, then stomp or kick another.
Arriving near San Bernadino, going in on the purchase of
lands took most of their means, but Agnes kept the wagon and mules to help make
a living. At first the family lived in
a fort with the other families. School
for her kids was held under a sycamore tree.
But her boys William and Charles set to making adobe bricks—in fact,
their small adobe brick home was among the very first in the new community. Agnes was proud of her boys, and she made
her kids a dried apple pie to celebrate!
The house was great--except for the sand that blew in the cracks and
drifted inches deep on the floor.
The Gold Rush brought many adventurous young men to the West
Coast. Among them was one of Agnes’
brothers, Augustus. From Los Angeles,
he heard of his sister being in San Bernadino, and came out to see her. He knew nothing of her since she had left
Mississippi. At first, it had been a
joyous reunion. “Gus!” she had
exclaimed, so happy to see family again, and hear all the news. When he found that she was a widow and
living in poverty, Gus begged her to return with him to the old home. They all had plantations of their own, and
now that their parents had died, she could have all the land of their
plantation, the home and all the slaves she needed to work it with. They would all be glad to welcome her
back. She could live as a lady, raise
her children as gentlemen and lady, give them all good educations, and never
again know want or hunger or trouble.
‘All I ask of you,” he said, “is to give up Mormonism, and have nothing
more to do with it.” For a small second
Agnes remembered her old life, but then she looked Gus in the eye, ‘You don’t
think you are asking much, do you?’
‘No,’ he said, ‘very little.’
She replied, ‘It’s more than my life’s blood. I would rather wear my nails off over my washtub to support my
children, than to take them away from the Church, for I know it is true.’ He asked, ‘Agnes, is that your answer?’ ‘Yes’ she replied, and he turned and walked
away a few steps then turned and said, ‘Agnes, if you ever change your mind,
write me and I will come for you at once.’
She answered ‘Brother, you will never get that letter.’ She never saw nor heard from any of her kin
people again.
Agnes rejoiced as faith and testimony grew in her
children. She knew her own health was
bad, however, and didn’t know how long she could live. So she found a good family, the Lyman’s, who
promised to take in her kids if she were to die. And she wrote as much in her will. She felt at peace knowing they would be in good hands with this
family, strong in the gospel.
If I had to live with sand
blowing in my home, or scrub filthy clothes all day in scalding water, I am
afraid that my thoughts may have wandered to all I had given up for the
gospel. Think of it: she gave up her life of luxury, her beautiful
clothes, her jewels, her servants. She
had left her family, had lost four sons and her husband. She had lost her beauty and her
health. But not Agnes—according to
William’s account, she refused to complain.
She did not murmur, but remained faithful and true to her
convictions.
What had she gained instead? Agnes did not get her Happily Ever After in this life, but her
riches were of the heavenly, eternal kind. When she died a year or so later,
just 35 years old, her dying words to her children told them of her strong,
treasured testimony of the restored Gospel.
She would be a Queen forever, with her beloved James. She gave her all, so that her children would
also have those lasting blessings. D
& C 132:19 tells of thrones, kingdoms, principalities and powers, and
dominions promised to those who receive their temple blessings, and a “continuation…
forever”. Generations honor her, as
they would a queen. And look what she
has given them--Us, who now number in the thousands and 10’s of thousands. The same eternal blessings, world without
end, of being Kings and Queens forever, are also ours if we are loyal to the
royal within us.
References:
Family Group Record of James Madison Flake and Agnes Haley
Love.
Osmer D. Flake, William Jordan Flake: Pioneer, Colonizer. 1933.
Roberta Flake
Clayton, To the Last Frontier: Autobiography
of Lucy Hanna White Flake. 1923.
Illustrated Stories from Church History stories.
Promised Land Publications. 1973.
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