ABOUT THIS BLOG

Zemira Palmer is my third-great grandfather. In 2010 I was given tons of information about him by two angel cousins. With their permission I share it all!! - Deniane Kartchner

Contact: denianek@gmail.com

Sally Knight Palmer

Sally Knight Palmer

Zemira's Wives

The photos of Zemira's two wives were contributed by Lucile Brubaker

and her mother, Lenna Cox Wilcock. Thanks!

Caroline Jacques Palmer

Caroline Jacques Palmer

BLOG SOURCES


Unless otherwise noted, the main source for this blog (including the introduction) is a history titled “ZEMIRA PALMER, 1831 – 1880, His Life and Family in Early L.D.S. Church History.” This history was prepared by Lenna Cox Wilcock and sent to Deniane Kartchner via email by Lenna's daughter, Lucile Brubaker, with Lenna and Lucile's permission to post on this blog with the stipulation it be used for family history purposes only and not for financial gain. Lenna and Lucile are descendants of Zemira Palmer through his wife Caroline Jacques.


I have posted the history in segments exactly as Lenna wrote them (with the exception of adding details needed to help the sections stand alone).


Introduction

Zemira Palmer was born the year after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints was organized in Fayette, New York. Living amongst the earliest “Mormon” converts, his entire life and that of his family was inextricably inter-woven with that of the early Saints.


The faith of the Palmer and Draper families, as with all the Saints, was severely tried and tested as they were swept along in the turbulent stream of Mormonism in its desperate struggle for survival while defending their freedom to worship their God as they chose. As Utah Pioneers they contributed greatly in making the desert blossom as a rose in the rugged western American frontier.


One month before his death, in a letter to his sister Zemira made the following statement, and by living according to what it expresses, he was worthy to gain the great reward of which it speaks:


“. . . There is one thing which seems to be true, the Lord is fulfilling His promises. He has said by the mouths of His prophets that He would send judgments on the wicked & trials on the faithful, so that everyone that can be shaken, will be, and those who cannot be shaken, shall gain the great reward of eternal life & supreme happiness.”1


1- Excerpt from letter written by Zemira Palmer to his sister Lovina Palmer Munroe Sept. 18, 1880.


* * * * *

Zemira Palmer History on this blog

2.04.2010

(62) Brief description of Orderville United Order

A sketch written by Leonard Arrington gives a brief description of the town, and of the Orderville United Order (O.U.O.), and also the first settlers, as follows:

“One of the most enduring of these United Orders was established at Orderville Utah, in 1875. Lasting for more than a decade, this semi-successful U.O. was one of the few which attempted a communal mode of living . . . The first settlers of Orderville were uniquely trained in the type of disciplined cooperation required for a successful United Order . . .

“While some of the settlers cut a canal and planted three hundred homesteaded acres to wheat, corn, oats, barley, potatoes, sugar cane, alfalfa, garden, and orchard, others surveyed the land and laid out a town-site thirty rods square.  In July, 1875, the settlers incorporated as the United Order of Orderville. All of their economic property, both real and personal, was deeded to the community corporation . . . All of the property was clear of indebtedness . . .

“There was to be no private property.  No man could say this is mine.  The property was ‘the Lord’s, and was to be used for the advancement of the Order and the Church.  However, each person was made steward over such personal effects as clothing, books, feather beds and jewelry.

“Each family was to have (but not own) a separate home, and these were to consist principally of one-and two-room apartment house units or ‘shanties,’ joined together in a semi-fort arrangement around a town square.  The typical shanty had a living room 12 feet square and an adjoining bedroom 8 by 12 feet.  Between the rows of shanties a community dining hall and other public buildings were to be constructed.  Shops and factories were to be located outside of the residence block . . .”83

Both men and women, it seemed, were assigned to work at the particular kind of labor which each was skilled at, or to fill a current need, or perhaps to something which he or she chose. 

83- Leonard Arrington, History of Orderville United Order

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Contributors


Lucile Brubaker (and her mother Lenna Cox Wilcock) are also contributing to this blog.

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