Elizabeth Birch Fagg Swain Harker

"With a jar of fruit and an umbrella I can take care of myself", she asserted.  Along with a good, sharp hoe, Elizabeth proved that more than once.  For example, not long after moving to Rush Valley (near Vernon and Grantsville, Utah), her abilities were to be put to the test.

The story goes that one day she discovered she had visitors.  Two "Indians" had entered the yard, demanding that she give them bread.  Elizabeth replied that she didn't have any at the moment, but expected to be able to make some that afternoon.  If they would come back in the evening, she'd have some for them.  "Give me bread, now" was the response.  "I'll have some this afternoon.  Come back then."  "You lie!" the man accused her.  Quickly Elizabeth moved to the side of his horse, grabbed the Indian by the arm, and jerked him from the saddle, into the dirt.  "Nobody calls me a liar . . . " she forcefully told the surprised man.  "Come back later, and I'll give you some bread."  Brushing himself off and remounting his horse, he commented somewhat amazedly, "Heap brave squaw!".  They came back in the evening and were properly fed.  Afterwards Grandmother had no trouble with the Indians.  They would bring her game, she would give them bread, and she was known to take their children into her home for protection when the epidemics struck the Indian camps.

Elizabeth Birch Fagg Swain Harker

Pedigree to 5th Generation

Elizabeth Birch was born in 1830.  One of eleven children, she learned at an early age to work hard and to take responsibility.  At around 18 years of age she went to work on a farm, or estate, where she met John Fagg.  They were married, but John disappeared before their son, John Birch Fagg, was born.  Whether he was killed in a railroad accident or what isn't clear, but Elizabeth found herself delivering her child in a "Poorhouse" - the infamous "Workhouses" of Charles Dickens' novels.  The poorhouses were designed to encourage people not to want to be there,  and the design seems to have been effective, at least for Elizabeth.

In 1852 she tried her hand again at marriage, this time to a big, handsome policeman named Robert Swain.  Together they studied the restored gospel and were baptized into the church.  They had two daughters, but when the youngest was about 6 years old the marriage ended.  Pride, a wandering eye, and seemingly a bit of a temper, were more than she could take.  It is reported that she was so upset that she threw her wedding ring into the ocean when they separated.  I don't have an exact date for that event, but it must have been around 1860.  For the next 7 years Elizabeth did the best she could to support her daughters, working in a hotel as a cook and living above the Mormon missionaries' quarters in exchange for doing their cleaning, etc.

Robert Swain makes for an interesting side story here.  The popular policeman, nicknamed "The Flower of Kent", seemingly took the separation and his subsequent excommunication from the church hard.  But he must have still believed the gospel, because as a single man, excommunicated, disfellowshipped, and pretty much alone, he crossed the plains to be with the Saints in the Salt Lake Valley.  He took a job in the Granite Quarry on the lowest level and proceeded to get his life back in order.  He was re-baptized, and eventually was able to progress through his new profession until he became a chief stone mason for the Salt Lake Temple.  That is one of the things I love most about the gospel of Jesus Christ - the opportunity to fully repent, be forgiven, and return to full fellowship.  Sins can be forgiven through the grace of our Savior, and we can be healed "with His stripes".

L-R  Esther Birch Bennion, Sarah Birch Waters, Elizabeth Birch Fagg Swain Harker

But back to Elizabeth.  In 1868 she had finally saved enough money to make the journey to Zion, arriving one year before the railroad was completed.  Within three months she had become the plural wife of Joseph Harker.  At least two of her sisters had also converted to the church and were in Zion, as was at least one of her daughters.  The reunions were joyful, even if a bit stressful (you'll have to read more of the story elsewhere to find out why).

Years of independent living didn't help her adjust to life as the third wife of a polygamist.  In a short time Joseph let her move to his ranch in Rush Valley, where she looked after the ranch and provided a good place for Joseph's older sons to stay when they were working the ranch.  Elizabeth was "set apart" as a mid-wife, and her old white horse and buggy became a common sight in the Tooele Valley area.

Life was good for her there until one day, when she was out, some children got to playing with gunpowder.  They laid a trail through the yard, the house, and the outbuildings and succeeded in burning the entire homestead to the ground.

Elizabeth moved back to the West Salt Lake Valley (Taylorsville) where Joseph built her a home on 4800 South.  It is still wondered why he built the house with every interior doorway just short enough that Elizabeth would have to either bend her knees or bow her head to pass through.  It rankled her enough that before she died she threatened dire retribution if anyone dared to bury her even on the same side of the Jordan River as "that man".





Again, I feel guilty about doing such a brief story about such an interesting person and her life.  Faithful to the end, through personal trials and sorrows and loneliness, she is one of my all-time heroes (I know - I'm gender-incorrect grammatically, but you get the message).  I look forward to the day when I can meet her and tell her how much I admire her spirit, her tenacity, her spunk, and her faithfulness.  I only pray that I can hold out faithful to the end, as she did.

Sources: (in no particular order)
"Heap Brave Woman) by Beverly Squires Muir,  DUP publication)
Fagg Family Book - "The Family of Charles William & Martha Sophia Price Fagg"
Wikitree.com /wiki/Birch54  Profile manager Rena Brewin from SalmonTree.get
Wikitree.com/wili/Birch51  ibid

A special to Ellen Fagg for permission to use ideas and words from her essay "Stalking My Own Pioneer", published in the Salt Lake Tribune 20 July 2008.  She is to blame for getting me started on this quest of finding my family stories.  A great hobby, and a good way to not be too tedious at family reunions, this is.