Lightner Family History & Genealogy

The History of
Mary Ann Lightner Smith Mahoney

Written and compiled by Anjanette S. Lofgren,
A 5th great granddaughter,
Member of Daughters of Utah Pioneers,
Utah North Company, Warm Springs Camp
January 6, 2007


Mary Ann Lightner was born June 18, 1803, in Carlisle, Cumberland, Pennsylvania (1). She was the daughter of James Lightner born abt 1778, and Mary Ann born abt 1781 (1, 9).

Mary Ann married Christopher Smith around 1827 (9). Some accounts say that Mary Ann had three daughters, Sarah Ann Smith (2, 9, 10) born July 22, 1828 in Carlisle, Cumberland, Pennsylvania, Eliza Jane Smith (9) born abt 1830 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Eva Ann Smith (9) born abt 1832 in Pennsylvania.

Mary Ann’s husband was a stagecoach driver who would drive the stagecoach to and from Cumberland County, PA and York County, PA (2). One day he didn’t return home and Mary Ann was very worried. She went to York County to look for him and was directed to the home of a woman there. She knocked on the door and when the woman opened it, Mary Ann inquired about her husband. The woman informed her that she too was the wife of Christopher Smith and that he had been seriously injured in a stagecoach accident. He was too ill to speak. The two women consoled each other and both cared for him until he died a few days later.

After the funeral Mary Ann returned home to her little girls. She was very handy at nursing, so managed to make a living for herself and family at that vocation. A few years later she met and married Bartholomew Mahoney who was a silversmith (14) and a farmer (2). He proved to be a very good and considerate husband. They had a number of cows that Sarah Ann would milk (2).

They first learned about the Mormon Church while living in Pennsylvania and even had a Mormon Elder stay overnight with them (2). Later the family moved to Ohio (2) and then to Nauvoo, Illinois, also called by the Saints, "Nauvoo, the Beautiful." Bartholomew was baptized in 1842 (11). Mary Ann and Bartholomew were able to take out their endowments in the Nauvoo Temple on February 2, 1846 (1, 3).

Bartholomew and Mary Ann lived in Winter Quarters, Nebraska, and were in the Winter Quarters 3rd Ward. Their bishop was Bishop Levi E. Ritter. They are also on the branch records for the Garden Grove Branch in Decatur, Iowa and Pleasant Valley Branch in Council Bluffs, Iowa (16).

In 1843 Sarah Ann married George Frederick Hamson in Nauvoo (9). By 1850 they had three young sons and lived next door to Mary Ann and Bartholomew in Council Bluffs, Iowa (17).

On June 6th, 1852, Mary Ann and Bartholomew left Council Bluffs, Iowa for Utah with the David Wood Company. There were about 288 individuals and about 58 wagons in the company. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley sometime between September 20 - October 1, 1852 (4, 5). The Hamson’s crossed the plains in 1851 (5). It is unknown what happened to Mary Ann’s other children.

They lived in Weber County for a short time and were there in 1856 (6). They moved to Lehi, Utah (14), and by that time, Bartholomew had been called to be a High Priest. They were in the Lehi Ward, Utah Stake, where their membership records were received on Dec. 18, 1857 or 1859 (7). Their Bishop was David Evans, whom they were most likely acquainted with while living in Nauvoo (15). They lived in Lehi during an exciting time when new converts were moving in, the completion of a new meetinghouse, and the arrival of Johnston’s Army (15).

Sarah Ann Smith Hamson received word that her mother was living in Lehi and made the long trip from Brigham City to visit her. Upon her arrival, she learned that her mother had died (2).

Mary Ann had died by Oct. 1862 in Lehi, Utah (7). She was probably buried in the Old Lehi Pioneer Cemetery. Many pioneers who were buried there were later moved to the City Cemetery to make way for the Railroad (12, 13). It is unknown if she and Bartholomew were moved to the new resting place or if they are still buried the Pioneer Cemetery. Bartholomew died on Sept. 29, 1862, in Lehi, Utah (7, 8).


Sources:

1. Membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints:1830-1848
2. History of Sarah Ann Smith. Author unknown.
3. Nauvoo Temple Endowment Name Index
4. 1852 State Special Census of Iowa
5. Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847–1868
6. 1856 Utah Statehood Census Index
7. Lehi Ward, Utah Stake, Record of Members, Book A, Library No. 18179, 1856-1876, pg 82, line 8.
8. Deseret News Weekly Death and Marriage Notices, Oct 15, 1862, FHL US/CAN Film 0026589, item 1c
9. Ancestral File ™
10. Family Records
11. International Genealogical Index
12. Lehi City Recorders Office
13. Daughters of Utah Pioneers Lehi Pioneer Cemetery Monument
14. 1860 Utah Census
15. Lehi: portraits of a Utah town
16.
17. 1850 Iowa Census