Rebecca Hughes (Samuel Claridge 2nd Wife)

Rebecca Hughes

Sex

Female

Birth

5 Nov 1847

Liverpool, Lancashire, England

Death

6 October 1923

Long Beach, Los Angeles, California, United States

Burial

9 October 1923

Thatcher Cemetery, Thatcher, Graham, Arizona, United States

This story was written by Grant Young   and tells how Rebecca Hughes joined the church and came to Salt Lake and became the 2nd wife of Samuel Claridge.  She had 15 children.  In the life history its states the following:   When she was a child she was stricken with deafness. In explaining her deafness to her children she told that the missionaries often held cottage meetings in her father’s home, that “at one of these meetings, and after a severe case of the measles” she was sitting in a draft and the deafness resulted. A governess was brought into the home to give her special lessons in reading, writing, spelling, English, embroidering, and dancing. The extent of her hearing loss at this distance is difficult to determine. There is no doubt that everyone regarded her as deaf. However, there are stories of Samuel Claridge holding her on his lap and telling her things, also of the children repeating table talk (for example) for her especially. Apparently if the sound was loud enough she could hear it, but she did not hear the ordinary noises of a household:

This story tells about Rebecca’s parents and how they joined the church in England:

The John and Rebecca (Maddock) Hughes Family Appendix C From S George Ellsworth, Samuel Claridge Pioneering the Outposts of Zion, pp 291-295 John Hughes, Rebecca’s father, was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England on 16 February 1824, the son of Thomas Hughes, a laborer, and Ellen Grimshaw. John married Rebecca Maddock on 25 December 1846 in the parish church, Liverpool. She was born 21 June 1829, the daughter of Samuel Maddock, a chairmaker, and Martha Bossen. Latter-day Saint apostles organized a branch of the church in Liverpool in 1840. Six years later the gospel reached the Maddock and Hughes families. Rebecca Maddock joined the church in Liverpool 22 November 1846, a month before her marriage to John Hughes. Their first child, Rebecca, who married Samuel Claridge, was born 15 November 1847. John Hughes joined the church 28 November 1848. Their second child, John, was born 27 June 1849. Rebecca had been born at 51 Clements Street, the same street her mother lived on at the time of her marriage. John was born at 5 Meadows Street, St. Martins sub-district. On 11 June 1850, one year after John was born, the family moved from Liverpool to Crewe, about thirty miles to the southeast. Here they remained a year or so for their next son, Thomas, was born 3 September 1851 in Dublin, where the rest of the children were born. The family may not have been active in the church for a year or so between Liverpool and Dublin for when they applied without certificates of membership for acceptance into the Dublin branch, some questions were asked. The branch clerk put it this way: Bro. & Sis. Hughes had formerly been Members of the Church. They came to Dublin without Certificates of Membership. Elder Clements wrote to Pastor S. H. Earle on the subject. He declined sending the Certificates on account of their having been a long time from the fellowship of the church and recommended their joining by rebaptism. Bro. Hughes was ordained Teacher at Confirmation having formerly held that office. The couple complied, and on 28 October 1854 John and Rebecca Hughes were baptized by Elder H. E. Bowring and confirmed. Likely at the same time John was ordained a priest. The record shows them living at Besbro Cottages, Phibsboro Place. A son Samuel was next born to John and Rebecca, sometime in 1853. James Levi was born 23 April 1856; he was blessed 12 December 1856 by elder T. H. Rutledge. At the time of the Reformation, when the church encouraged members to be rebaptized for the remission on their sins, John Hughes was rebaptized 15 March 1857 by Elder John Scott. Joseph, born 12 September 1860, died in infancy. A daughter Emily was born in September 1862, and George was born about 1864. The father’s occupation was listed as blacksmith and engine smith. It is said that he also worked in the railroad shops of Liverpool and if so he likely continued the same craft in Dublin. John Hughes is said to have received “all the education and advantages his father and mother could give him,” but Rebecca signed the marriage certificate with her X mark. John Hughes was characterized as a man who loved to work in iron and steel, yet who loved to read the English classics and was a student of the Bible. He loved to sing, and it is said that his wife also had a fine singing voice, and was a most cheerful person, making a fine home for the large family. But the daughter Rebecca was stricken with deafness. In explaining her deafness to her children she told that the missionaries often held cottage meetings in her father’s home, that “at one of these meetings, and after a severe case of the measles” she was sitting in a draft and the deafness resulted. A governess was brought into the home to give her special lessons in reading, writing, spelling, English, embroidering, and dancing. The extent of her hearing loss at this distance is difficult to determine. There is no doubt that everyone regarded her as deaf. However, there are stories of Samuel Claridge holding her on his lap and telling her things, also of the children repeating table talk (for example) for her especially. Apparently if the sound was loud enough she could hear it, but she did not hear the ordinary noises of a household. The small branch of the church struggled for survival against twin forces of apostacy and emigration. By the mid-1860’s there were few families in the church in Dublin. The emigration spirit came upon the Hughes family, too. Apparently the father decided that if they were ever to emigrate to Zion it would have to be piecemeal, a few at a time. The step was taken in 1864 when the parents entrusted their children Rebecca and John to the care of their Uncle Thomas Hughes and the three emigrated to Utah. At the Liverpool office of the church they were listed: Thomas Hughes, age thirty-three, pawnbroker; Rebecca Hughes, age seventeen; John Hughes, age fifteen. Actually, when they left, Rebecca was sixteen and John was fourteen. Their reservations made and fees paid, the three boarded the sailing vessel General McClellan, bound for New York. The ship sailed the last of May 1864. The company of 802 souls was organized in typical Mormon fashion. Favorable winds sped them on their way for nearly eleven days when they had “a little rough weather.” Then a severe storm struck on the night of Thursday, the 9th of June. The wind raged with increasing fury the whole night. Heavy seas at one time completely engulfed the bow of the ship. Throughout the stormy night, Rebecca and John held fast to a pole, not daring to let go for a moment. Homesickness hit as badly as the storm. All the while she was praying, and counseling Johnny what to do in case she was washed overboard. The General McClellan dropped anchor in New York bay at 9 p.m., Wednesday, June 22. The passengers disembarked at Castle Gardens and were put on a steamboat headed up the Hudson river to Albany where they took cars for Saint Joseph, Missouri, where they took a sailing boat up the Missouri River to Wyoming, Nebraska, the outfitting place for the trek across the plains. Uncle Thomas, Rebecca, and John crossed the plains in Captain William S Warren’s church train of about sixty-five ox-drawn wagons, a company of about 329. The young people walked the greater part of the way, the wagons reserved for those sick with the cholera. The company arrived in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, 4 October 1864. The trio entered the valley without cash. Apparently Uncle Thomas had let go the large sum entrusted to him for their security. Finding herself without money, Rebecca applied to church leaders for direction, and was asked if she would like to go to Nephi to live and work in the home of Matthew McCune. She readily agreed, and the three went to Nephi. Uncle Thomas and John likely worked out for families too, but Rebecca went into the “plural” home of a leading citizen. She soon found that the life of a young girl was quite a problem, for she had not only the young men courting her, but the middle aged, and the old. “I became so bewildered that I made it a matter of prayer and fasting, and was shown in a dream the man that was to become my husband.” From this point on, Rebecca’s story is identified altogether with that of her husband and family. What of the rest of the Hughes family? The John Hughes family left Liverpool, on board steamship Idaho, 22 October 1873, in a company of 522 Saints, in charge of John I. Hart. The company arrived at New York on November 4, and via rails reached Salt Lake City the morning of November 14. A roster of the Saints on the Idaho lists these: John, Rebecca, Samuel, James, Emily, George, and Mary Hughes. Rosters do not survive for the rest of the trip. We lose track of the family after their arrival in Utah until they show up in the 1880 census of Boise, Idaho where they are listed as follows: John Hughes, age 55 blacksmith Rebecca, age 50, keeping house John, age 30, son, single, farmer George J., age 16, son, single, home (attended school that year) Mary J., age 10, daughter, home Samuel, James, and Emily are not listed, and John (who came to America with his sister Rebecca in 1864) has joined his father’s group. A possible construct of the family [follows]. Thomas shows up later in our story, when he went to the Gila Valley with his father about 1900. He is “Uncle Thomas” to Samuel Claridge’s children. Joseph, Helen, and Martha likely died in infancy. Emily also went to the Gila Valley about 1900 with her father and brother Thomas. Correspondence survives between Mary and her sister Rebecca. It is not possible to account for the rest of the family at this time. The John Hughes family remained in Boise, Idaho, until about 1884 when they moved to Portland, Oregon. There Rebecca Maddock Hughes died 27 December 1898 and was buried in the Lone Fir Cemetery. As noted in the text, the widower John Hughes soon went to the Gila Valley to be near his daughter Rebecca. Information from Chart from Samuel Claridge, by S. George Ellsworth, Appendix C Emigrated May 21-Oct 4 1864: Rebecca Hughes, 17; John Hughes, 15. + Uncle Thomas Hughes Emigrated Oct 22-Nov 14 1873 John Hughes, 47; Rebecca, 44; Samuel, 20; James, 18; Emily, 11; George, 9; Mary, 3. Family: John Hughes b. 16 Feb 1824 Rebecca Maddock b. 21 June 1829 Rebecca b. 15 Nov 1847 John II b. 27 Jun 1849 Thomas b. 3 Sep 1851 Samuel b. 1853 James Levi b. 23 Apr 1856 Joseph b. 12 Sep 1860 Emily b. Sep 1862 George b. 1864 Helen [Jessie] b. 13 Jul 1865 Mary b. May 1870 Martha b. About 1873 As to Uncle Thomas Hughes, the man who accompanied Rebecca to Utah in 1864, little is known with certainty about him. He likely remained in Nephi the rest of his days. He purchased and sold land in Nephi, is listed in the 1880 manuscript census as single and as a clerk in a store. Thereafter he slips from our view. Citation: Ellsworth, S George, Samuel Claridge Pioneering the Outposts of Zion, Copyright 1987 by S George Ellsworth. Published by S. George Ellsworth, distributed by Howe Brothers, Salt Lake City, Utah.

This doll was made by her mother Rebecca Maddock for Rebecca Hughes abt 1850. Rebecca Hughes brought this doll from England in 1864 at 16 years old. She carried this doll to Wyoming, Nebraska, the outfitting place for the trek across the plains.  She walked most of the way to Salt Lake.  She married Samuel Claridge (his 2^nd wife) and had Rebecca Hughes Claridge Porter.  Then Rebecca gave the doll to Faye Porter Payne (her daughter), to my mother Priscilla Payne Denham.  Right before my mother died she gave me a few of the treasured dolls.  I, Dianna Denham Hadlock, gave this doll to my granddaughter Annabelle Hadlock in 2010.   My Mother Priscilla had made me this wedding outfit for my doll when I was little and put this doll in the wedding dress and veil.  In 2018, the doll is 168 years old and the dress 65 years old.