Jason Luce was probably connected with Bill Hickman and the Danites as early as 1844, when he was 13. He seems to have been one of the young boys who operated as a spy network in Nauvoo. Joseph Smith wrote in his journal in June 1844: “Jason R. Luse reported that Ianthus Rolf said, while the press was burning that before three weeks the Mansion House [Joseph Smith’s residence] would...
Over the years the only cause of death I’ve ever seen for Stephen Luce is “apoplexy”. That is, he died of what we would now call a stroke. I’ve been to his grave in City Cemetery (Plot F12), seen his red sandstone headstone (now mostly sunken), and looked at the sexton’s index cards for the burial. “Old guy dies of stroke.” I can’t think of anything...
Malatiah Luce was an early Mormon convert. He died 6 February 1849, but where? Did he die in Nauvoo? Or in Salt Lake City? According to a family tradition recorded by several of Malatiah’s descendants, he died in Nauvoo. Based on that information, Malatiah’s name appears on a memorial plaque in Nauvoo. And because he died in Nauvoo, it has been widely believed the Luces came to Utah...
I don’t remember what year it was, but some time when I lived in Salt Lake City (1977-1987), the city was doing some work at Pioneer Park. I’ve done some searches. From what I find, it seems it must have been 1986. Construction crews were digging a foundation for a new apartment building near Pioneer Park, when they found a human skeleton. And that discovery led to finding Salt...
The Luces have a connection to Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. Or maybe I should say we have a connection to Uncle Joe and Uncle Brigham. The connection goes through Annie Quarmby (1842-1904), the wife of Wilford Woodruff Luce. Annie was born in England and came to America as a baby. Her father died at Nauvoo in 1845, probably of swamp fever, and her mother died, they say, at Winter Quarters in...