Life Story of James Ephraim Twitchell

    • April 22, 2026
    James Ephraim Twitchell
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    James Ephraim Twitchell1

    My great grandfather was born 19 October 1834 in (McCame)2, McDonough County, IL. That is just 101 years before my birth. McDonough County is the county in which Carthage, IL is located. His parents, Ephraim and Phobe Knight joined the Church there in 1842 when James was almost 8 years old.

    …. It wasn’t long after( Joseph Smith’s) death that the mobs… caused the Twitchells to …sell their farm but could not, so they abandoned it and moved to Nauvoo…until…forced to leave in 1846.

    They went as far as Council Bluffs, IA. Here they stayed a year and planted corn and potatoes for the saints that were to follow. They left Council Bluffs in (1848), one year after Brigham Young… They were in the Ezra Chase (Company) arriving in Utah in September. James Ephraim was now 13 years old. He drove an outfit of two oxen and took his turn like his dad, standing guard against attack from hostile Indians.

    They came to Ogden and built one of the first log cabins other than the ones the trappers had built. (Here, his sister, Sarah Celestia, was born 22 October 1848. The first white child born in Ogden.)2 The next spring, however, I think they saw gold in “them there hills,” in California. They left (Ogden) and went to work in the (California) gold fields. (His oldest brother was already in California as he had come with the Mormon Battalion.) James Ephraim was apparently an excellent rifleman. When he was 14 years old and on their way to California, he was in the wagon, sick with scarlet fever, but they were short of meat. They got him out of bed as they found some buffalos and got him to shoot one of the herd.

    They spent the winter of 49 and 50 on a claim on the Sacramento River. His father took out about $150 and abandoned the claim. They… went to San Bernardino, (California) where they once again took up farming. While living here Mr. Brown, a widower, left two of his children with them. One of the girls’ names was Margaret Moore, his stepdaughter. Years later, James Ephraim ends up marrying (Margaret) when she was 17 and he was 22. Mr. Brown never returned for his children.

    The family then decided they wanted to move back to Utah, so in 1857, they moved to Beaver, UT. They were some of the first to settle the town. They built a home there but soon found good farmland a short distance away on Indian Creek, which is now Manderfield. Their homes consisted of small log houses, dirt roofs and fireplaces at one end. Here they had 480 acres of land. They raised grains, hay, cattle, sheep and pigs. One pig is remembered to weigh 510 lbs.

    …The year 1866 brought many Indian disturbances and all able-bodied men were called to go wherever called to defend a community against the attacks. They were known as minutemen. James Ephraim was such a person.

    …He loved to hunt and the country around Beaver was a paradise to him. …One day while hunting up Indian Creek Canyon, he… came to a tiny stream. It was very poor water, having wigglers in it, but he was so thirsty he decided to strain the water through his handkerchief.… After quenching his thirst, there stood before him two buck Indians. They appeared to be very hostile, but because he could speak their language, he was able to reason with them,(so) he was left unharmed.

    …He was very strict in his home, never allowing his boys to do any scuffling in the house. (Now I know where my dad got his strictness).

    …He was a shareholder in the old Beaver Woolen Mills which was erected in 1878 and provided work for (several) men, women and girls. It was closed in 1900 and stood idle for(several) years. Finally, it was converted to a mattress factory but was destroyed by fire in 1920.

    Some six years after his first marriage, he took another woman to wife, Francis Manhard. …He had 11 children with each one of his wives.  …This second wife tells how often unlawful searches took place in her home in order to catch him.  He was finally arrested, refusing to deny his second family.  He was sentenced to six months in jail and a $500 fine.  When asked to deny his family or go to jail, his reply was, “if it means losing my family and my salvation, I’ll take prison.”

    He was always active in the church… (and)… served as the (Manderfield) Branch President…

    He lived for 48 years in Beaver.  Three of his sons, one of them, my grandpa, Willis Twitchell, had moved to Manila, Utah and settled there.  They moved (James) and his wives to Manila…where… he died in 1917. 2 3

    1. Photo from Familysearch.org, James Ephraim Twitchell memories ↩︎
    2. Familysearch.org verifying articles written by Gayle Hendricks and Mary Olson Almond ↩︎
    3. Main Article submitted by a member of SUP Ogden Chapter ↩︎

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    Pioneer John

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