Susannah Ogden

  Susannah Ogden Bigler was then left a widow in the care of her son, Jacob “G” and her daughters. After the estate of Mark Bigler was settled, she and her family moved to the city of the saints… Nauvoo. She must have enjoyed seeing the building up of that great city and the growth of the church. But it was not to last long, for again the saints had to move on due to persecution. Susannah with her son and his family decided to stay in Nauvoo when the others left, because Jacob’s wife was expecting a baby soon. They stayed behind not knowing when their home might be fired on or attacked by mobsters. They had patience and faith and were blessed. The people gathered on the Iowa side of the river at Sugar Creek, where the organization of companies of hundreds and fifties and tens was proceeded with as rapidly as possible. On Feb 18th the weather being extremely cold, Brother George A. Smith, her son-in-law, organized members of the family into a company with Captain Henry Bigler. There is some question of the exact date they crossed the Mississippi River. But they did cross the river and started for the west with a poor outfit for the journey. The Lord blessed them, however and they arrived at Winter Quarters on the 18th of August 1846. As they arrived there, near what is now Omaha, it appeared that the season was too far along for them to continue the journey into the Rocky Mountains. As they arrived they began to settle on both sides of the Missouri River. Kanesville (now Council Bluffs) eventually became the center point of this resting-place for the saints. The Biglers, whether they lived in their wagon, or in a dugout or in a crude shanty cabin, found little protection against the icy blast that winter. The wind, always blowing on the plains, swept powdered snow through even the smallest cracks of their “homes”and drifted into great snow banks around them. Before winter released its chill grip on the open plains, Susanna Ogden Bigler passed away as a result of consumption on March 14, 1847. She was buried on the plains, as were many other saints who did not live to see their Zion established in the top of the mountains. Today her resting-place can be seen in the beautiful Winter Quarters Cemetery in the northern part of Omaha, Nebraska.  

Susannah was a member of the Nauvoo 3rd Ward.¹

Sources

1 Black, Susan Easton, compiler. Membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1848. 50 vols. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center, 1989. Private Donor. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5333/records/67087

2 Baptism: 27 May 1964 but endowed in Nauvoo Temple 17 Dec 1845