Lysander Gee & Marietta Rowe were Pioneers
(Parents
of Caroline Rowe Gee, Mother of Emma Isabella McGavin, Mother of Caroline Oleta Jensen, Mother of Alan J White)
Lysander Gee was born in Austinburg,
Ashtabula, Ohio in 1818 where he learned the trades of plastering and
carpentering. His family joined the church in 1832 when he was the age of 14.
His family moved to Missouri to be with the Saints there, and for some time
before coming to Utah he worked as a ship carpenter on the Mississippi River.
He was twice married, but his first wife passed away before they left for Utah.
He brought his family, including his wife and two children, across the plains
to Utah in 1849. He made the trip in the company of George A Smith.
After
arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, he was married a third time to Maryetta Rowe.
He had a total of 21 children.
While
living in Nauvoo, Maryetta was endowed and married to Hyrum Gates in the Nauvoo
Temple 6 Feb 1846, which was about the time the Saints were making their exodus
from Nauvoo. At that time she was only
15 years of age, and Hyrum was 44. By
his first wife, Sarah Maria who was in her late thirties, he had 6 children
some of which were near Maryetta's age.
The Gates family settled in Council
Bluffs where Maryetta gave birth to a daughter, Francis Gates on 15 Jan
1847. From Council Bluffs the family
moved on to Winter Quarters (Florence, Nebraska). The family left Winter
Quarters on June 2, 1848.
They were in the Brigham Young
Company and arrived in Salt Lake Valley on September 20, 1848 where they were
then assigned to the Pioneer House under the leadership of Bishop William
Hichkenlooper. On January 11, 1849 Maryetta gave birth to another baby girl,
Elizabeth Gates. A few months later, Hyrum Gates went on to Goldfields of
California with a new bride, Emily Amanda Rockwell, the daughter of infamous
Porter Rockwell. Hyrum died the first week of September 1850 in Greenwood,
California.
Faced with severe problems; Crickets
etc., Maryetta tried to cope, along with Hyrum's first wife, Sarah. Maryetta
was then dealt another blow in August 1849 as Sarah died of heart failure at
the age of 41. Now Marietta, along with her two little girls and two of the
sons of Sarah who were 14 and 16, had to make it on their own. It is believed
that in order to survive, Maryetta gave her daughters away.
On February 12, 1850 Maryetta, who
was now 19 years of age, entered into another polygamous marriage, as she
became the third wife of Lysander Gee.
Their marriage was sealed 18 July 1850 in Lysander Gee's house by Brigham
Young.