Great, Great, Great Grandma Elizabeth is Scottish

I didn't even know I had Scottish blood, until great grandmother Patterson popped up on the horizon while preparing a report on an ancestor. Born October 6, 1822, in Devon, Scotland, she was the oldest of three children and loved to help rock her younger brothers to sleep. Tragically her dear dad died when she was only five years old. Her new father, Thomas Sharp, expected Elizabeth to earn her keep.

At seven she began to work in the coal mines, crawling through the narrow tunnels looking for coal. The carts were too heavy for her to push, so she used her head with those strong little arms to get them moving. After years of working with all her earnings going to her step-dad, a lump formed on the top of her head. This didn't keep her from being happy and singing her heart out down in those mines.

As a teen she began to learn the Highland Fling and other Scottish dances with such precision that she won many contests. She got the attention of her first cousin, Adam Patterson Hunter, who also worked in the mines. A quiet, hard working, honest young man four years older than Elizabeth, really admired her. His mom and Elizabeth's father, William, were siblings.

When Elizabeth was nineteen, Adam surprised her by proposing. They married April 25, 1842. After starting a family in 1847, they met the Mormon missionaries and were impressed. Many of their questions were answered. Both were baptized in September after receiving strong witnesses that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was true. She had thirteen children. All but one lived to adulthood. Once when someone asked how many she had she stated proudly, “I ha’ thirteen and na’ne to gie away!"

I will share more interesting tidbits next time, because I know you are anxious to hear more.