Stephen Luce (1801-1872) served on a grand jury in Salt Lake City in 1858. There’s an interesting story there. This was at the end of the Utah War. Stephen had served in the re-activated Nauvoo Legion. He appears on a 20 July 1857 muster roll as Sgt. Stephen Luce, 3rd Platoon, Company B, of the Silver-greys, having on hand one-half pounds of powder and 2 pounds of lead for his rifle. Now, a...
The following is a transcript of a 1910 article about Utah freighters, including Bill Luce. Photos and photo captions are omitted. The year 1868 was known throughout this whole Rocky Mountain region as the big railroad year. The screech of the Union Pacific locomotive was heard upon the plains, and the great road was soon to penetrate the everlasting hills. Prominent Utah men contracted to build...
When our Luce ancestors converted to Mormonism, they were living in Vinalhaven, Maine. Nowadays Vinalhaven means South Fox Island, but in those days it was both the north and south islands. The Luces came from North Fox Island, then part of Vinalhaven, now called North Haven. A few days ago I came across a brief post at the Island Institute from 2015 about one of our Luce cousins, Kathy Luke...
In the early church members were re-baptized for several reasons. Doing genealogy, one thing I often see is that Mormon pioneers were re-baptized when they arrived in Salt Lake. For example, Stephen Luce and his mother Ruth Luce were re-baptized and confirmed 29 September 1850 by William Hicklenlooper in Salt Lake City, according to the Early Church History card file. I’ve always thought it...
According to Wikipedia, the Mormon Reformation was a period of renewed emphasis on spirituality within the LDS Church. It took place in 1856 and 1857 under the direction of Church President Brigham Young. This period of history has an indirect relevance to the Luces, who lived through it. “All pioneers who gathered to Utah Territory under the direction of Young, whether members of the LDS...