A little FYI: For my Noall kids- Chester's first wife Fanny Call's parents are great grandparents (or so) to Grandma RouJean Noall.
The
Story of Colonel Chester Loveland
Written
by Craig Loveland, direct descendant
Posted
online with permission
On a wall in Grandpa Veral Loveland’s home hung a
military sword and sheath. For many
years I wondered where this sword was from, what it meant and why it was in
grandpa’s house. A look into the
Loveland family history lead me to Chester Loveland, original owner of the
sword and our pioneer ancestor. The
following information provides a brief outline of his interesting life.
Chester Loveland was born December 30, 1817 in the town
of Madison, Geuaga County, Ohio. He and
his older brother were baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints in June of 1837 by Elder Josiah Butterfield, in Kirtland,
Ohio. The same day he received a
patriarchal blessing under the hands of Joseph Smith, Sr., patriarch of the
church.
He married Fanny Call on February 15, 1838 and soon after
they moved to Hancock County Illinois.
As with most of the Saints at that time, Chester and his family suffered
many persecutions. In 1845, on account
of his religious beliefs, a mob attacked him and his sick family at midnight,
burning his home, farm and household goods.
That fall he moved his family to Nauvoo, Illinois and was appointed captain
of the Nauvoo Legion in its first organization.
During these turbulent times Chester had many brushes
with death and injury. In one instance a
leaden ball designed to take his life came so near as to graze his face, scorching
it severely enough to cause the skin to peel off.
Another time he found himself
in a precarious situation when he was assigned jury duty. He relates the incident himself: “I was on a
jury when some of our brethren who had been falsely accused were brought to
trial before eleven mobocratic jurors. I
held that jury thirty-six hours, until they were nearly starved. Two verdicts were
before us: One guilty, the other not guilty. Eleven signed the guilty verdict and insisted
I do the same. No gentleman, I said,
before I will sign that paper I will die here on this floor, and the red ants
may carry me out through the keyhole.
The result was: Every man signed the verdict of not guilty and the
innocent went free.”
Chester entered into plural marriage on January 15, 1846
when he was sealed to his second wife, a woman by the name of Rosannah
Winters. It is through her line that
Veral Loveland comes. The following
spring he went west and took up a farm in Council Bluffs, Iowa. In May, 1850 he was appointed captain of the
first 10 in Captain Willies’ company of 50 which trekked, with families, across
the country towards Salt Lake City Utah.
During the journey Chester buried his son Levi who died of cholera.
He settled first in Bountiful, Utah, and then moved to
Carson Valley (now Nevada) where he replaced Orson Hyde as mission
president. He was called back to Utah in
1857 to defend against Johnson’s Army.
In 1860 he moved to Call’s Fort, northern Utah where he resided on a
farm. He had previously been appointed
Lieutenant-Colonel by President Brigham Young, then during the United States
Civil War he was appointed Colonel and given the sword which was in Veral
Loveland’s home.
In 1865 he moved six miles south to Brigham City where he
was elected as the first mayor. He
served two terms. He served in other
positions in the community following his terms as mayor and later moved back to
Call’s Fort where he passed away on March 5, 1886.
The
End
A photo of Chester standing with the city council of
Brigham City is in the book Mayors of Brigham City 1867-2000 by Kathleen
Bradford, copyright 2000 Brigham City Corporation.
Chester and his ancestors are detailed with many short
biographies in the book The Thomas
Harper Family and some information can be found in The Loveland
Geneology, Vol. 3.
Chester is referred to in the last few pages of Joseph
Smith’s journal, the entry can be read in The Journal of Joseph Smith, compiled by Leland Smith Nelson.
The following story was found in: The Nauvoo Temple: “A Monument of the Saints” by David R.
Crockett- http://mormonhistoricsitesfoundation.org/publications/nj_fall1999/NJ11.2_Crockett.pdf
A
“Night” of Pentecost Is Experienced
On 15 March 1846, the temple was still not complete, but
many Saints in the city experienced a spiritual “Day of Pentecost” or rather a
“Night of Pentecost.” In the evening, a
small group of Saints gathered in the temple to partake of the sacrament. As
they were overcome by the Spirit, some of the brethren spoke in tongues and
others prophesied. While one brother
described a vision, a light was seen over his head. The face of another brother shone with great
brightness. Two heavenly beings were
seen in the northeast corner of the room, and the Holy Ghost was felt by all
present. This spiritual meeting continued until midnight. Thomas Bullock said it “was the most
profitable, happy and glorious meeting I had ever attended in my life.”
While this sacred meeting was taking place in the temple,
Chester Loveland was called out of
bed by his mother-in-law, who cried out with alarm that the temple was again on
fire! He dressed “as quick as lightning”
and ran outside, seeing the temple all in a blaze. He studied it for a few seconds and realized
the flames were not consuming the temple.
He also didn’t see anyone else running to the rescue and concluded it
was the glory of God. He returned to
bed.
Another brother saw the belfry on fire at 9:45 p.m. He
ran as fast as he could, but when he reached the temple, he found it dark,
secure, and unharmed. At about this time, Sister Almira Lamb, with others in
her room, saw a vision of her dead child. The vision appeared to her in great
glory and filled the room with light.
Others dreamed inspired dreams that night. It was truly a night of spiritual feast.
The
End
Some interesting facts about Chester Loveland’s life: He
was born Dec. 30, 1817. He died March 5,
1886. While living he practiced plural
marriage. He had six wives and 30 (I
believe) children. His fifth wife
Rosetta Snow was a daughter of the prophet Lorenzo Snow.
Chester was the captain of a group of pioneers heading
west. Trail excerpts mentioning and
describing him can be found online- Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847-1868,
817-19, 823. http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/source/0,18016,4976-5549,00.html
Chester was described as friendly and very brave. His physical description states -he was “six
feet two inches in height, weighed 240 pounds, had blue eyes, a high forehead
and brown curly hair. He had a fine physique.
When in his military suit and mounted on his horse he was the admiration
of all.”
