Caroline Holland

Caroline and the rest of her parents’ family arrived in Nauvoo on April 13, 1844, having emigrated from England by way of New Orleans. Her father William Holland passed away just six months later and is buried at the Old Nauvoo Burial Ground. She was only five years old. Her mother Sarah Tomlinson later remarried, but when she grew sick at Winter Quarters, entrusted her little Carrie to a young couple’s care.

This is Robert Crookston’s account of that event:

While we were away, Ann, my wife, had been taking care of Mother who was getting old but who was pretty well. She also had been helping care for any sick in the camp. One of these whom she had visited frequently was a lady, Mrs. Holland by name, who had lost her husband. She had two or three sons, boys rather, and a little girl, Carolyn by name. It seemed that this Mrs. Holland had been influenced to remarry with the promise of getting herself and children taken to the valleys of the mountains.

She had not been as comfortable in this marriage as she had expected in more ways than one. She was very sick and very unhappy in the thought that perhaps she was not going to get well, and did not like the prospect of leaving Carry in the family into which she had married. She therefore asked Ann one day if she would take Carry in case she died. Ann did not know what to say to this. She told her she would be willing but that her husband was away and she could not do so without first consulting him. As it happened, I came home about that time. We decided to take the little girl home with us in case her mother did not recover. The poor little soul passed away in a few days and after the funeral which we both attended we took Carrie by the hand home with us and she seemed glad to go. Carrie was a good little girl and we tried to do the best we could for her. We were all fond of her, Mother took her in her bed and was kind to her.

Sarah died in 1847, when Caroline was only eight years old. The couple, Robert and Ann Crookston, also fleeing Nauvoo, saw her safely to Utah. Honored be their names.