Ruth Walkup Mowry

Ruth Walkup Mowry was born on July 13, 1798 in Uxbridge, Worcester, Massachusetts to Henderson Walkup and Susannah McNamarah Condon.

She married Charles Barton Mowry in March of 1820 and they had four sons: Syvester, Harley, Origin, and Rhanaldo.  In 1839 the Mowry family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint.  The lived in Burrilville, Rhode Island.

Their son Sylvester went to the US Military Academy and joined the army.  He later joined the family in California. Harley decided to move to Nauvoo and lived close to Joseph Smith. He was part of the Mormon Battalion.  Harley joined the family for a short time in California, but settled in the Vernal area where he lived to be 98.  The others traveled west in 1846.  Instead of traveling across country by land, the Mowry family went west onboard the Brooklyn.  There were 238 men, women and children who sailed with the Brooklyn around Cape Horn.  They landed in what was called Yerba Buena (current San Francisco).  Their leader was Samuel Brannon.  Brannon has an interesting life story in which he went from rags to riches several times and ended up dying poor.  In Yerba Buena, the Mowry family was very well known.  Church meetings of the Latter-day Saints were held in their house.

Samuel Brannon tried unsuccessfully to convince Brigham Young to go to California and not settle in Utah.  He collected the tithing from the California Saints, but never did turn it over to the Church.


Barton Mowry (Charles went by his middle name) and his sons Origin and Rhanaldo had very successful business during the California gold rush.  They had several boats and ferried people across the bay.  They ended up settling in Irvington, witch is in present day Freemont, California.

Barton and Origin were involved in a "Spiritualism" movement, where they joined a group of people attempting to communicate with the spirits of people that had already died.  Apparently they did not stay true to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Ruth and Rhanaldo traveled to Salt Lake City in 1857 with the Zacheus Cheney Company at the request of Brigham Young during the Utah war.  Ruth and her son Rhanaldo purchased land in what is now Kaysville.

Ruth returned to California in 1869 to care for her ailing husband, who died in 1872.  She returned to Kaysville and died August 20, 1887.