Joseph Smith Wing & Rebecca Pierce Davis

CHAPTER ONE


Joseph Smith Wing (JSW) is my great-great grandfather. He is also a study in complexity. He seemed to have a brilliant knack for always being right even when he was outrageously wrong. But, in his mind, it seems if he could justify it, he was right. He appears in his pictures to have been a reasonably handsome fellow, maybe a little on the short side for this day and age, but well built, even stocky and portly in his older age. A man who seriously disrespected women but who always seems to have honored his mother.

JSW was married to at least ten different women, at least one and possibly two were bigamous. He had at least eighteen children but only thirteen are mentioned in his will. He will always be fascinating if only because of his complete and utter refusal to conform to any higher power, any standard of the day, any conventional form of society. How wise that was is still being tested in the generations that followed him.

He left not only women behind but he left children behind too. While I don't want to burden JSW with more than his share, I would like to suggest that his lack of parenting may have had a detrimental effect on the generations that followed him. As this particular site develops, I hope to examine that more.

I decided to move his history to his own site because the man lived enough in his life that he could fill twenty sites probably. Also, not everyone is so interested in JSW. You have to be descended from him to want to explore his history. Thanks to Ross & Jane Bonny, I have alot to share about the old fella. Suffice it to say, if you are his descendant and you sometimes find yourself fighting demons you never knew you had, you have the right. You probably inherited it from him.


Joseph Smith Wing came into the world on September 18, 1830 in the lackluster township of Mecca, Trumbull County, Ohio. Joseph Smith Wing was born to Joseph Wing & Amy Pettis Wing.

According to a description of Mecca in the book, HISTORY OF TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES by H.Z. William & Bro, Mecca is divided by Mosquito Creek into East & West Mecca. Mosquito Creek sounds downright disease ridden and even frightening. This same book states that Joseph Wing was an early settler at West Mecca corners. The book records that Joseph Wing sold out to Jacob Powers of Youngstown, who resided there for several years.

Because Joseph Smith Wing became a Mormon it has often been debated whether he took the middle name of Smith in honor of the founder of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith. However, oral family history claims that his mother, Amy, gave Joseph the middle name of Smith for the doctor who helped deliver her 8th child & 5th son. In fact, in the book I have referred to...in the same section, there is a record of Joseph W. Smith and his father, William Smith, who were early settlers in the northwest of the township.

Joseph & Amy Pettis Wing had 9 children, most were born at Locke, Cayuga County, New York. The first exception was Stephen Wing, the 3rd child, the first son. He was born at Danby Rutland County, Vermont on March 19, 1810. It happened that his grandfather, Matthew Wing died in that year. Was Stephen born there because they went to Danby to be with Matthew when he died? I think it is a credible possibility. Joseph Smith Wing was born in Mecca, Trumbull County, Ohio and his youngest brother, Benjamin was born "somewhere in Pennsylvania". I believe that when Benjamin was born they were en route to a family crisis or celebration and Amy gave birth along the way. Either way, Mecca, Trumbull County, Ohio was not a long place of residence for the Joseph Wing family. When Joseph Smith Wing was about 5 years old, they loaded up the wagons, tethered the cows to the rear and along with the Davis families & the Stephen Pettis families, traveled to Pike County, Illinois.

According to all accounts, Joseph Wing was successful at Pike County, had a nice farm with an impressive acreage and was doing well when Joseph & Amy traveled back to Trumbull, Ohio to visit with their son, Stephen Wing & his family. It was there that Joseph died on February 12, 1844. It was in Ohio that Joseph Wing remained, place of burial is unknown at this time. Perhaps he is buried in the oldest graveyard in Mecca, Trumbull County, Ohio that is situated south of East Mecca where Olive Hutchins Pettis & Enos Pettis are both buried.

Joseph Smith Wing furnished the OWL with a short biography;

"I am a self-made man; got what little schooling I ever had in a log school-house, sitting upon a slab bench and but three months after I was twelve years of age. Six years after I was born my parents removed to Pike county, Ill. Both places were new and I have ever been on on the frontier marching westward, until I reached Utah in 1862, and since that time have been in the frontier settlements of Utah and in the mountains in the mining camps. I was the first discover of gold in Mary's Vale, Pinto County, in 1865, and returned to the county again in 1898. I am very busy in the practice of medicine which I began in 1857."



Not to disparage my ancestor, JSW, but he traveled a fairly scrambled path to ever march westward. His pathways grew tumbled with the shattered lives he left behind. His "marching" trampled dreams and hearts.





Sometime in 1846, Isaac Vannorman Davis & his wife, Margaret Robidoux Davis packed up a lifetime and transferred as much as possible from Montreal, Canada to join Isaac's several older sons and their families at Pike County, Illinois. Isaac was the father of 16 children from two different marriages, eight from his first marriage to Mercy Rogers and eight from his second marriage to Margaret Robidoux. Among the several children that accompanied Isaac and Margaret to Pike County, Illinois was Rebecca Pierce Davis.

Rebecca Pierce Davis

Nothing survives that we know of at this writing that explains how Rebecca met JSW. It seems logical to assume that because of the close kinship between the Stephen Pettis families and the Davis families that JSW & Rebecca were probably thrown together on many occasions. Even more logical after you go through the census for 1850 at Pike County, Illinois.

The Davises, the Pettises & the Wings were a close knit bunch at Pike County. The 1850 census indicates that Isaac & Margaret Robidoux Davis were living right next to Stephen Pettis at what would later turn out to be Newburg Township, Pike County, Illinois. Stephen Pettis was the brother to Amy Pettis Wing. When Stephen married for the first time, he married Catherine Wing, sister to Amy's husband, Joseph, Catherine and Joseph both being the children of Giles Wing and Mary Jane Cornell.

From searching the land records online it appears that Stephen Pettis bought land from Detroit to Newburg, Illinois and perhaps later sold it to family members. On July 10, 1831 Stephen Pettis made his first purchase Detroit (SENE Section 29, 05s 02w). I am no expert at reading land tracts, but if I understand it correctly, Stephen bought the southeastnortheast of Section 29, which would have been 200 acres in SENE Section 29, Township, 05s, range 02w, 4th meridian. I call it Detroit but it could just as well have been Newburg. The whole area was described in the first census by the legal description. Eventually lines were drawn and they named the areas, Newburg and Detroit. From the first purchase to the last he made all together 9 purchases of land ranging from the first in 1831 to the last that is recorded on June 24, 1851.



There were 167 familes and approximately 740 people that lived in township 5s 3w in the 1850 census, easily 18 families (at least 127 related people plus) for sure were comprised of the Davis, Pettis & Wing families. Marriagable young women did not constitute the larger constituenecy. But, there were a number of girls to pick from the community. However, there were a lot more young men to pick from, especially from the Pettis and Wing families. In the 1850 census the Davis, Pettis & Wing families all lived a good country mile next to the next one. The 1850 census is a genealogy delight for any of us that descend from those groups. There are others that are farther away but at least seventeen of the families are often right next door or down the road a piece. Rebecca would have come into contact with many a marriageable young man.

When Rebecca moved to Pike county with her folks in 1846 she was sixteen years old. She was a new face to the community, a pretty girl with an exotic French history, a new delight for the young men who by now were anxious to start sowing the wild oats that their mother's worried about. Joseph Smith Wing worked fast so that by 1848 he took Rebecca Pierce Davis for his bride. JSW & Rebecca Pierce Davis were married on June 8, 1848 at Pike County, Illinois



On September 11, 1848, Tragedy struck. Elizabeth Chenoweth Wing, the wife of Matthias Wing died as a result of giving birth to her last child, Norman Allen Wing. Elizabeth was the daughter of Samuel Chenoweth and Nancy Orr. Only twenty-seven years old when she died, she left her husband, Matthias and four young boys; Commodore Perry Wing who was eleven years old, Samuel Joseph Wing who was six years old, John William Wing who was three years old and the infant, Norman Allen Wing who was born on September 1, 1848. According to Samuel Joseph Wing's granddaughter, Bertha Nicholes Sager, Matthias was left to work alone on a large farm with the assistance of a negro man and his negro mammy, she would buy him with a large slice of bread with molasses on, to rock the baby in the cradle, while she did the family work. Unfortunately that couples names have not survived memory. However, with family literally surrounding Matthias and his young sons, I would imagine he got a lot of help from all of them as well. Not to mention that several of his female cousins were nursing their babies and probably helped to nurse Norman Allen Wing. In fact, this awful period for Matthias and his sons is probably responsible for the closeness that developed among Joseph Smith Wing and both of his nephews, Samuel Joseph & John William Wing that caused them to emulate him in many ways and eventually go with him to Utah.

Some time in 1850 gold fever hits Pike County, Illinois. Sidney William Davis, Ebenezer Rogers Davis, Orange Runnels Davis Jr., and Giles Nelson Wing , among others, catch the gold fever and go to California by covered wagon. Ebenezer Davis does discover a substantial amount of gold and is considered wealthy by his relatives. Giles Nelson Wing took the gold he discovered and had a ring made for his wife, Polly Matilda Pettis Wing.

It is simply conjecture to suggest the Joseph Smith Wing wanted to go with the men to California. Evidently, in view of his later life, JSW did have the fever but for some reason did not go along with the other menfolk. Maybe he didn't have the money or maybe because Rebecca was near to having a baby.

June 20, 1850...Adelia Wing is born to Joseph S. Wing and Rebecca Davis Wing

August 22, 1850...United States Census.....Joseph S. Wing lists himself as a cooper, lives at 5 S 3 W, Pike County, Illinois, and names a wife: Rebecca who was born in Canada. Joseph is listed as nineteen years old, Rebecca is eighteen years old...there is no mention of Adelia on this census.

My question is, why wasn't Adelia mentioned on that census? I have looked for her...thinking maybe she was at someone else's home at the time, but she is not on the 1850 census! How do you forget your infant daughter? Was there a reason to hide her birth that I am not aware of?

November 6, 1852...Joseph Wing is successful in a lawsuit brought against John L. Hosford in Pike Co., Illinois for amount unknown...the costs of said suit were $1.25. There is not enough paperwork at this time to determine what the lawsuit was all about. From the number of lawsuits I have found at the Pike County Courthouse in Pittsfield, Illinois, the whole gang was pretty sue happy. This poses another tantalizing question. Why would JSW sue his nieces husband? Eunice Hatch, daughter of Elizabeth Wing and Edy Hatch married John L. Hosford inn 1843.

November 22, 1852...Byron Wing is born to Joseph S. Wing and Rebecca Davis Wing

Spring, 1853...Joseph S. Wing leaves for Wisconsin on business for his brother, Stephen Wing. JSW wasn't the only one with wander lust in his eye. Orange Runnels Davis, Charles Pettis and Sidney William Davis have a hankering to see what Minnesota has to offer. Orange allows his daughter, Sally to accompany him, while Charles takes his son, Stephen and his daughter Catherine. It seems likely that they all would have left Pike county together. In fact, that was probably the plan all along. JSW would travel with the Davis & Pettis gang and check out Minnesota as well. Minnesota wasn't far from where he had business to attend to in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. Charles Pettis, who was like JSW's older brother since he was the child of JSW's uncle, Stephen Pettis and JSW's aunt, Catherine Wing, probably planned to help JSW all he could in the way of advice. My gut feeling is that something happened on this trip. Maybe business in Wisconsin took longer than the Davises and Charles wanted to stay, maybe they got some kind of hint about what was going on with JSW. Maybe the Davis men were writing home that JSW wasn't quite living up to his marriage vows, who knows? Either way, their paths took completely different roads.
We have yet to know what "business" it was that JSW had to attend to for his oldest brother, Stephen. However, while running around JSW must have enjoyed the wanderlust of doing what he wanted when he wanted.

September 5, 1853...Joseph S. Wing marries Frances E. Jarrad in Iowa.
The story that is legend in our family is that Francis's father and brothers had somehow learned the truth about JSW and that he was a married man with two children. The story goes that JSW was at a dance when confronted by Francises male relatives. It didn't take long for JSW to run like hell, find his horse and get the hell out of Chickasaw, Iowa.

October 23, 1853...Isaac Vannorman Davis Sr. died at Pike County, Illinois. Seventy-eight years old at the time of his death, the father of eighteen children and dozens of grandchildren and great grandchildren, Isaac had lived a long and eventful life. At this time it is not known how he died.

In fact, it may very well have been Isaac's death that caused JSW to be exposed as a bigamist. Surely the Wing, Pettis and Davis family were trying to locate Joseph Smith Wing. He had been gone since the spring, Orange, Sidney and Charles had long since returned, having already claimed their stakes in Minnesota. John and Stephen Pettis had stayed on at Kasota to watch over their father's interests there. Thanksgiving must have been a strange combination of saddness and excitement for the Davises and Pettises in particular. For the Wing family there was surely much worry about JSW and his whereabouts. It had to have been a wretched Thanksgiving for Rebecca.

For Stephen and John Pettis, Thanksgiving turned out fairly well according to this report by Mrs. George Clapp;

Thanksgiving Day, 1853
From the letters of Mrs. George Clapp written in 1853 and printed in Marge Haesecke's LIBRARY LETTER, St. Peter Herald;

"When Thanksgiving Day came round the "settlers" thought they must have a big dinner and all gathered together to have a good time. So the day before, the men went into the woods with their guns to get a deer, perhaps, for the occasion; but they saw none so shot a few partridges, enough for our dinner, and took them up to Mr. Marks on the bluff where we were to gather. They wanted I should furnish the bread for the occasion as the bread I baked in my old Dutch bake kettle was sweeter than any they had ever tasted. So I carried bread and squashes. Mrs. Rankin and Mrs. Butters (the first wife of Reuben) furnished pies and cakes. There were 19 in all, I think, who were present. Frank Adams, a bachelor, kept a little grocery in the neighborhood. he furnished candy and nuts, and we had apples. Taking all things together, we thought we never had a better dinner or more voracious appetites and a jollier time than that Thanksgiving Day.
The names of those present were Jesse Mack and wife and son; Mr. and Mrs. Rankin, Emma and Nellie Rankin; George Clapp and wife, Ella and Isadore Clapp; Reuben Butters and wife; Frank Adams, Mr. John Hawl, John and Stephen Pettis. I think there were a few more but have forgotten who they were. I think Dr. Humphrey and wife and Johnnie were there -- am pretty sure they were -- as they were living there in Kasota among the first settlers. Whenever the men went out to a neighbors, they always took their guns along not knowing what they might see on their way. We were all poor and had to work hard and had many obstacles to overcome. I did not see another white woman from that Thanksgiving Day until the next March when I rode over to Mr. Rankins on a log which Mr. Henderson was taking to the mill."

Rebecca's heart must have been as cold as the ground in Pike County that Christmas of 1853. No word from JSW and talk that was being whispered all among the households in the general vicinity. Letters home from John and Stephen Pettis and some of the young Davis boys who had been charged with locating the whereabouts of JSW and finding him in Chickasaw, Iowa, married and living with another woman. It wasn't only the Jarrad menfolk that wanted to horsewhip JSW, the Davis men wanted to get their hands on him too.

Finally the year turned to 1854 and finally some word from Joseph Smith Wing.


Letter # 1

Letter # 2

Letter # 3

June 20, 1854...Rebecca Indentures her children to their Uncle, Stephen Wing

June 28, 1854, JSW files a Pre-emption Claim at Lacrosse, Wisconsin.

Rebecca Davis Wing Seeks Joseph Smith Wing through the newspaper

September 25, 1864...Stephen Wing Testifies for Rebecca

September 25, 1864...Divorce is Granted

September 25, 1854...Rebecca Wing secures her divorce from Joseph Smith Wing. However, this will not be the last we hear from Rebecca.

CHAPTER TWO - CHAPTER THREE - CHAPTER FOUR- CHAPTER FIVE