John Bloomfield
 
The following was received on July 20, 1995 from a cousin, Doug Bloomfield who lives in Ramah, New Mexico. These are accounts of the lives of my Great-grandfather John Bloomfield his wives and my Great-grandmother Harriet (Wilkinson) Bloomfield and  his second wife Elizabeth Ann (Barton-Ashcroft) Bloomfield, who he married after the death of Great grandma Harriet. (Great-grandpa was not a polygamist! The first is a dialog and the second is an autobiography.) Also included is how Bloomfield, New Mexico got it's name and how Colonia Juarez was founded.
 
John Bloomfield
 
....... I am John Bloomfield.  I was born at Bungay Field, Suffolk County, England on May 2, 1831.  My grandfather was Richard Bloomfield and my grandmother was Elizabeth Smith. From this union there were born three children, William the oldest, John, which was my father and Robert the baby.  Uncle William married Amy Page and they had ten children.  My father married Martha Riches; Uncle Robert never married.
 
....... My mother and father, John Bloomfield and Martha Riches had six children; five girls and myself.  I was the youngest.
 
....... We lived in Bungay, Suffolk County, England, during the years I was growing up.  My father was a farmer and we lived a very comfortable live having those mater things which made life very pleasant.
 
....... I helped my father on the farm and visited with my Uncle Robert.  Uncle Robert had acquired a great deal of property in Suffolk County and in London, England.  He gave me to understand that at his death I would inherit all he owned.
 
....... The year I reach my 19th birthday proved to be the crossroad of life for me.  I chose the road that was to completely change my whole life and that of my posterity.  I had heard the Mormon Elders preach the gospel and had decided in my own mind that it was the true church.
 
....... Uncle Robert told me that if I was baptized into the Mormon Church he would disinherit me.  The realization that the gospel was true meant more to me than all the property and money in the world.  I chose to be baptized into the church.  Elder Job Smith baptized me at Homersfield, September 1, 1850.  My father and mother were baptized with me on the same date.
 
....... About this same time I got small pox and the doctor said I could not peaceably live until morning.  I asked my mother to have the Mormon Elders come and administer to me.  They came and they laid on each side of me and talked to me for a long time.  They anointed me all over with olive oil, laid their hands upon me, and prayed for me.  They promised me I would recover and not one scar would be left on my body.  The next morning I was up and walking around outside when the doctor came.  When he first saw me he was frightened because he thought he was looking at my ghost.  I calmly reassured him I was alive and completely well.
 
....... About three months after my baptism I was ordained a priest on December 1, 1850 by Thomas Smith and labored as a missionary in Norwhich conference.  About two years later, while accompanying some Saints, there cam upon us a mob who were waiting for us.  They swore they would take my life; they threw me down and tried to choke me with my tie.  But there was a Deliverer.  When they had almost accomplished their desire, one of their own party attacked those who were holding me down, with a walking stick, saying that he was out to have some fun, not to commit murder. This called their attention away from me and they all attacked my rescuer, leaving me in the street alone.
 
....... In the year 1854, Elder Horace Jackson and myself gave notice that we would hold a meeting at the old gravel pit.  A short time before the meeting was to begin, a sectarian minister gathered a large congregation and proceeded to our place of meeting.  He then chose as his subject, "Who's on the Lord's Side?" and began speaking to the people, thinking tin this way to prohibit us from holding our meeting.  The meeting was well underway when we arrived; therefore, we waited until he had finished his discourse.  When he walked off singing I took his place, choosing for my text the same subject he had spoken upon, and endeavored to show that those who were on the Lord's side were those who kept his commandments, also what those commandments were.  The minister disappeared in the congregation.  No sooner had he done so than rocks began whizzing around u; they fell at our feet and all around us.  One brushed Brother Jackson's head and yet we were not hit once.  One man filled his hat with rocks and advanced to within a few steps of us said he would hit me and threw all at me.  The rocks fell all around my feet but not one hit me.  The man crawled to my feet and picked up his hat and beat a retreat.  This ended the disturbance and we then continued speaking to a congregation of about five hundred people; thanks to the minister for the same, for he gathered the people for us to speak to.
 
....... This persecution, if so it may be called, served to strengthen my testimony as it proved to me that the Lord will protect His servants, if they will do His will.
 
....... I labored in the Norwich conference until May 4, 1856 when with a company of Saints, I started across the Atlantic leaving Liverpool, England on the ship Thornton arriving in New York on June 14, 1856, after a voyage of nearly six weeks.  There were 764 passengers on this ship. Elder James G. Willie was president of the group.
 
....... I then went to Chanceville, Monmouth County, New Jersey, where I was ordained an Elder by John Taylor in 1857.  While residing at this place I was promised a coat of tar and feathers like they gave Joseph Smith.  I never did receive the coat.
 
....... In this same year of 1857, I decided to get married.  I chose as my bride Miss Harriet Wilkinson, whom I shall now introduce to you.  She will tell you of our life together.
 
Harriet Wilkinson
 
....... I am Harriet Wilkinson.  My father and mother are Nathaniel Wilkinson and Lydia Daines.  They were married on October 26, 1831 at Wissett, Suffolk County, England.  Of this union there were born four sons and four daughters, all of who were born in England.  I was the sixth child.  I was born July 4, 1839 at Chediston, Suffolk County, England. 
 
....... I was 13 when the Mormon Elders first visited our locality.  My mother attended their meetings and said it appeared to her that they were preaching the truth and she invited them home to dinner.  She was very good to the Elders, making them welcome in our home.
 
....... In 1855 our family, in company with other Saints from our locality, left our homes to join the Saints in Zion, arriving in New Yolk on New Years Day, 1856.
 
....... We lived in Chanceville, Monmouth County, New Jersey for three years.  It was here that I fell in love with my future husband, John Bloomfield.  We were married November 11, 1857.  On the 10th of October, 1858 a little girl came to bless our home.  We called her Ellen Maria.
 
....... In 1858, my husband John and myself, together with my mother and father, traveled with the Saints westward to Omaha, Nebraska and remained there during the winter of 1859-1860.
 
....... This winter was to bring great sorrow into our lives.  Our baby girl Ellen Maria, who had only been with us one short year, was called home on the 14th of October, 1859.  As if this were not enough sorrow, my dear father passed away the same winter, leaving my mother with my sister Lydia and brother William to care for.
 
....... We remained in Omaha for one year at which time the whole company began the long journey across the plains.
 
....... I'll let John tell you of the hardships we went through
 
John Bloomfield (continues)
 
....... On our trip across the plains we suffered the usual hardships of insufficient food and water and constant fear of attack by unfriendly Indians.
 
....... One night I recall vividly:  I was watchman over the camp, when I heard a wailing noise.  I thought at first it was a panther, then was afraid it was an Indian call, but I listened and finally decided it was neither and went to investigate.   Some distance from the camp, in a wash or arroya, I found a mother and new born baby.  The mother was dead and the wailing was the half starved, cold baby.  There was nothing to identify either.  I gathered up the baby and took it to camp where it was fed and cared for by the women and the next morning the men buried the mother, who seemed to have been dead several days.  Our only guess was that she had strayed from another party and got lost and had had her baby all alone and then died.  Just one of the unsolved tragedies of our early pioneer days.
 
....... We arrived in Salt Lake City safely in the fall of 1860.  We went immediately to the Church Office Building and inquired about some of my wife's relatives who had preceded us.  We found they had settled in Hyde Park, Utah; we went there, reaching Hyde Park on October 9, 1860.  It was certainly a joyous reunion.
 
....... In the next few years, a great deal happened to Harriet and me.  First we had another daughter born to us on September 17, 1861;  we named her Elizabeth Salome.  My mother and father arrived in Hyde Park in 1862 after the long journey from  England.  They left England April 23, 1862 on the ship John J. Boyd.  They crossed the plains with Captain Isaac Canfield's ox train.  My father gave his age as 62 and mother 61 years at that time.
 
....... For two years we had wanted to go back to Salt Lake City and be sealed to each other.  On November 14, 1862, Harriet and I journeyed to Salt Lake City where we were sealed to each other in the Endowment House for time and all eternity.
 
....... (1863-64)
....... About this time the Indians began giving us a lot of trouble and I was commissioned an officer in the Black Hawk Indian War.  I was also sent back to Council Bluffs, Iowa, to help another companyh of Saints coming to Salt Lake City.
 
....... On January 21, 1864, Mary Eliza was born to us.  She is still living today (1952).  Another two years passed before anything of importance happened.  On March 23, 1866, a son was born to us;  we called him John Parley William.
 
Note: The following came with the other papers but was not part of this text.  It does belong here, however.) 
......... The story goes that when John and Harriet Bloomfield were expecting their second child she stitched into her pin cushion the name John  On September 17, 1862 they had a daughter and named her Elizabeth.  When they were expecting again she stitched the name Parley after the John in her pin cushion.  They had another girl, named Mary Eliza on January 21, 1864.  The next time they were expecting she stitched in William, they had a boy, so she named him John Parley William (JPW).  JPW"s dad lived nearly 50 years after his birth, so he couldn't be called John.  The people here (Ramah) all called him JPW
 
....... Two months after this, my mother passed away on the 3rd of May, 1866.  My wife Harriet was with me on this earth only 11 years.  On the 2nd of January, 1868, she left this world to join our baby girl who had died in Omaha.  Three months later on April 1, 1868, her mother (Lydia Daines) went quietly to join them.  In another eight months, on November 30, 1869, my father left this earth to join mother.
 
....... After so many of my loved ones had passed away, I was filled with sorrow and a great loss, facing the future with three small children to raise.  If it hadn't been for my strong testimony and faith in the Lord, I as sure I could not have gone on.
 
 
....... About this same time my good friend, Henry Ashcroft was very ill.  He called for Robert Daines and myself, who were his ward teachers, to administer to him.  He knew he was dying and he asked us if we would care for his families; we promised him that we would.  Brother Ashcroft died May 9, 1867, at Hyde Park, Utah, age 32 years, 4 months, and 4 days.  Almost two years later, on January 11, 1869, I married his widow, Elizabeth Ann Barton Ashcroft, who had three small boys.  Brother Daines married Mary Glover Ashcroft, Brother Ashcroft's first wife.  He is Elizabeth.  Let her tell you her story.
 
Elizabeth Ann Barton Ashcroft Bloomfield
 
....... I am Elizabeth Ann Barton.  My father and mother were Josiah Barton and Margaret Woods.  They were married in Pemberton, Lancashire, England, June 24, 1838.  I was born June 3, 1839.
 
....... My dear sweet mother, who was very small, died March 24, 1854 and left us there with our irate father.  I say irate because after mother passed away we children and the work were almost too much for him.  He would come home sometimes in a very bad temper.  There were times I thought he had been drinking and not just water.
 
....... When he was in this temper, we had to all be at home and be good too.  If we quarreled he would whip us very hard.  My sister and I talked it over one day and decided we would tend the children while I hurried up the work; that way we would get through before father came home and sometimes saved ourselves from a whipping.
 
....... We seldom would attend church.  Once or twice I went with a girl friend and heard the Mormon missionaries talk;  they usually spoke on the street.  Once I went to a house where they were preaching to a small group.
 
....... By the time I was 13 years old, I knew I wanted to join the Mormon Church for I believed the things they told us at those meetings and felt it was a true gospel.
 
....... On May 11, 1853, my sister Eliza and I were baptized by the Mormon missionaries.  When my father found out about my baptism, he swore terribly and told me to go away.  When I started away, he brought me back and shipped me so hard that I was very ill for days.  He almost broke my fingers off trying  to get my mother's ring from my finger.  He had given me the ring the day they buried my mother.  It was too large for me then and I put it on a string around my neck and wore it that way until my finger was large enough to keep it on.  I had taken very good care of it, as it was the only thing of mothers that he ever gave to me.  Whew he took it back, it almost broke my heart.
 
....... He wouldn't let Eliza, my sister, come with me anymore when I went out to shop for food, and threatened me if I did not hurry home in almost no time at all.  He made me work harder than ever before.  For over a year my father kept all of us children virtual prisoners.  I was not allowed to go to any meetings and my father stayed at home to see that we didn't go anywhere.  He seemed to take delight in punishing the other children along with me.  Home never seemed the same to me after that. Eliza and I became scared of him and wanted to run away.
 
....... He wouldn't let Eliza, my sister, come with me anymore when I went out to shop for food, and threatened me if I did not hurry home in almost no time at all.  He made me work harder than ever before.  For over a year my father kept all of us children virtual prisoners.  I was not allowed to go to any meetings and my father stayed at home to see that we didn't go anywhere.  He seemed to take delight in punishing the other children along with me.  Home never seemed the same to me after that. Eliza and I became scared of him and wanted to run away.
 
....... I managed it finally, and with the help of the Saints, I got on the boat Monarch of the Sea April 16, 1861 and arrived in New York USA the 19th of June, 1861 with some of the missionaries who were returning home.  My sister Eliza didn't come then.  She started working for a neighbor woman who was very kind to her and the smaller children.  She gave them many things they were sorely in need of.  My sister wrote to me several times here in America, and in about one year she came over.  She left Liverpool May 6, 1862 on the Ship Manchester and arrived in New Yolk June 12, 1862.  After I came to America I worked for a woman for a while.  I then came with the Saints to Utah.  My sister came to Utah with John and Elizabeth Benton and family.
 
....... Life was very hard for me during this time.  I crossed the plains when I was very young, and walked all the way.  I was not a large husky girl, but very small and of slight build.  When we started I had a good pair of shoes and when we arrived in Utah, my feet were bare and bleeding and calloused.  My shoes were gone, so I took some cedar chips, laced them with cow hide and wore these as shoes.  My clothes had almost worn out, but I still believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ was the right one.  I arrived in Utah on September 22, 1861 and went to Hyde Park, Cache County, Utah to work in the home of William Hyde.  I had known Brother Henry Ashcroft as a missionary in England and on October 26, 1861, when I had been here but one month, I married him and was sealed to him for time and all eternity as his second wife in polygamy.  We lived in Hyde Park and two sons were born to us, James Barton Ashcroft born March 28, 1863 and Josiah Emer Ashcroft born September 7, 1865.  My husband was 32 years of age when he became very ill.  He called his two good friends, Robert Daines and John Bloomfield to administer to him.  They were also his Ward Teachers.  He knew he was going to die and he asked his friend to care for his families.  They promised they would.  Henry died May 9, 1867 five months before my third son, Walter Ottual was born on October 14, 1867.  After that we just had hardships for some time, one right after another.
 
....... Brother John Bloomfield, who had lost his wife and one infant girl, asked me to help him raise his two small girls and baby boy.  I married him and became his wife on January 11, 1869.   Having previously been sealed to Henry Ashcroft, John and I were married for the duration of our life on this earth only, although John treated me with great love, kindness and tenderness all my life.  We, John and I, had seven children:
 
........... Name................................................... Born......................................................... Place
........... Joseph W............................................. November 17, 1869.................................... Hyde Park, Utah
........... Richard H............................................. March 6, 1873........................................... Hyde Park, Utah
........... Harriet Martha......... ............................. July 31, 1875............................................. Hyde Park, Utah
........... Margaret Emma...... ............................. December 27, 1879.................................... Sunset, Arizona
........... George Riches...................................... November 28, 1882.................................... Ramah, New Mexico
........... Helena................................................. December 6, 1884..................................... Ramah, New Mexico
........... Alexander Finley..... ............................. August 4, 1887                                  Colonial Juarez, Old Mexico
 
....... With my first three boys form Henry and John's three children by Harriet we had quite a family to care for.
 
....... I had to help shear the sheep when we had some and always wash the wool, pull it to pieces, and dry it.  I would then card and spin it into yarn.  For years I knit all of the stockings any of us had until the girls got big enough to help with the knitting.  One time when my step-son John was working at Bluewater, New Mexico, he came home to Ramah, where we then lived, and I went out and caught a sheep, sheared it, and washed the grease and dirt out of the wool.  I dried it and carded it, then I spun it into yarn and knit son John a pair of socks to wear back to work the next morning.
 
....... John, you can tell our children where we lived and moved to during our lifetime together.  I feel tired, and want to go and make me a good cup of hot English tea.  Yes, dear, I know you don't drink tea with me, but I will fix you your customary cup of hot water and plenty of sugar and cream.
 
John Bloomfield (continues)
 
....... We continued to live in Hyde Park until October 2, 1876 when we were called to help colonize Arizona.  I first located at Obed, now known as the Meadows.  This was a very swampy place and soon every one was ill with the chills and fever, except Bishop George Lake and his wife Mary.  Some became so weak that they were not able to help themselves, and the place was abandoned.
 
....... Some moved to Joseph City just on the opposite side of the Colorado River.  Some went to Brigham City, near Winslow, Arizona.  In 1877, I moved to Sunset which was then known as Lot Smith's Camp.  It was while living here that I was ordained a high priest by Erastus Snow on January 27, 1878.  We lived at Sunset for about four years. While we lived here we lived under the United Order. 
 
....... In 1881, I was called, together with others, to establish a colony at Cibola, New Mexico.  When we reached Cibola, there were only two or three families living there.  Others had become discouraged and left.  A little later wed all moved to a larger valley a short distanced away, and established a colony.  We named the place Navajo, Valencia County, New Mexico.  Some time later Brigham Young, Francis M. Lyman, Jediah M. Grand and the presidency of the St. John's Stake came to visit and encourage the people.  President Young changed the name from Navajo to Ramah, giving the colony the name by which the Hill Cumorah was know in Book of Mormon days.
 
Elizabeth Ann Barton Ashcroft Bloomfield (continues)
 
....... John, let me tell a good joke on you.
.......
....... On one of the journeys when John was called to settle up a new place, we were traveling in a company and had some ox teams.  John had a yoke of oxen.  At night when camp was made the oxen were turned out to graze.  Next morning when some of the men went to bring  in the oxen they ran across a long horn skull of a steer.  They kicked at it and one of the horns fell off, so they got  both horns.  They ten had the idea of playing a joke on John.  they fitted the horns on over the horns of one of his oxen, drove them into camp and told John that his oxen was lost but they found another and brought it in place of the lost one.  John looked at it and said:  "It looks like my ox, but mine never had such horns as that."  They told John to hitch it up and take it.  He refused telling them the Lord would not bless them if they stole.  they delayed all they dared to, but finally had to pull off a horn.  with everyone laughing John was resolute in his honesty and was just going to turn the ox loose when they had to give in and show him the joke.
 
John Bloomfield (continues)
 
....... In 1885 when so many men were being arrested and tried for polygamy, Peter Nielson and I, with our families, left Ramah for Old Mexico.  We camped first near Colonial Diez.  We then moved farther in and rented some land near Casas Grandes, where a number of families were camped.  We raised a good crop of corn and cane.  We also had some nice gardens there.  The church was buying land near or at what is now called Conial Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.  We lived here about five years and then moved to Sonora, later called Colonial Quxaca, Sonora, Mexico.  We lived here for some time when Elizabeth and I decided that we would move back to Ramah.  We had lived in Mexico for nine years, and with Apostle George Teasdale and Alex F. McDonald and others we assisted in the colonization of the country.  We moved back to Ramah in 1894.
 
....... We stayed in Ramah a short while, then moved to Kirtland, San Juan County, New Mexico in 1900  Here we planted more fruit trees and berry bushes.  Elizabeth said:  "I can't see what good all this tree planting will do."  I told her it would teach our children how to take care of themselves and even if we didn't get to harvest the fruit, perhaps our children or our grandchildren would.  I have made it a practice in my life to always plant fruit trees and berry bushes where ever I went.
 
....... We sold our home in Kirtland to my son-in-law, Jesse Biggs and moved back to Ramah in January, 1908.  Some of our children needed our help there.
 
....... I am home in Ramah.  My dear wife Elizabeth has now left me for the Great Beyond; she passed away September 15, 1913 at 73 years of age.  I have traveled a long way in my life and I have worked hard ever since I can remember.  I have gone where ever the church has called me to go.  I have had many wonderful experiences and I have made lots of friends, many many of whom have stayed at our home through the night or through a storm, or just until they were strong enough to travel on their way.
 
....... We have raised good honorable children, all of them have a good testimony of the gospel.  I hope their children will be so blessed.
 
....... I am now left alone, and and i realized that I haven't many years left to live, but before I go I wish to tell you how much the Gospel means to me.  I gave up a lot in material things for the Church.  I and my loved ones have gone without, we have suffered privation and want, sometimes barely existing.  It hurt me most to see my family go without.  But I know that the material things of this life are unimportant.  The thing that really counts is to prepare ourselves for the life after death.  If we could only be as faithful as our Father Abraham.  He was called to sacrifice his son Isaac, but because of his faithfulness, the Lord sent an Angle to stay his hand before he had to take his son's life.
 
....... Remember, it is only a step to the great beyond, live your lives so that I will always be proud of you.  Always stand for that which is right.,  Be honest in all your dealings. Try always to serve your God, with all your heart, might, mind and strength, and in so doing you will prepare yourselves for a glory that defies the description of man.  This is my humble prayer for you.  Amen.
 
....... John Bloomfield died January 7, 1916 at Ramah, McKinley Country, New Mexico, age 84 years 8 months, and 5 days.
 
.......
HOW THE TOWN OF BLOOMFIELD GOT ITS NAME
 
....... In 1882, John Bloomfield Sr. was living in Fruitland, New Mexico and had been going east to the town of Porter and Hammond to assist them in getting homes built and to help colonize that area.  The ward or branch at Hammond had made some kind of an agreement with the LDS church in Salt Lake City to borrow some money to complete a canal to irrigate their land.  The president of the stake and the other officials of the Hammond ward were in a controversy with the church leaders concerning tjhe payment of the debt and the need for more capital to finish the canal.  On May 17, 1882, the people of Porter and Hammond together voted in a public meeting to change the name of these two places to the name of Bloomfield.  The Stake President then went to John Bloomfield Sr. and asked him if he would come and live in the new town of Bloomfield and become the Bishop of that ward.  He declined this offer because as he said:  "You people are in controversy with the leaders of the church and it is your job to clear this controversy up.  I do not want to ever be in a position where I find myself opposing the leadership of the church."  So he declined the offer and did not move to Bloomfield but the name Bloomfield still was kept as the name of the new town.
 
....... For information on this offer, see the Aztec Industries - Review December 6 & 13, 1973.  We quote a short article from the section called the Bloomfield Banner.
 
....... "The Village of Bloomfield, known as Porter till 1882, came about its name from an early pioneer to the San Juan County, John Bloomfield.
 
....... "Mr. Bloomfield who lived on his farm at Fruitland spent much of his time in the Village of Porter helping to settle the village and to establish the  Saints Mormon Church i Bloomfield.
 
....... "The villagers voted to change the name Porter to Bloomfield on May 17, 1882, in hopes of  bringing Mr. Bloomfield and his family from their farm at Fruitland and settle here.
 
....... "Mr. Bloomfield decided to remain on his farm but continued to give his assistance in settling the village and help the Mormon Church in its programs."
 
N.B.: For those who are not familiar with Mormon terminology, I will compare the terms with those of other Christian organizations.  Ward - Parish.  Stake - Diocese.  Bishop - Minister or Priest.  President (Stake) -  Bishop (R.C.)    High-Priest - Older male members who meet special qualifications.  Elder - Older male members who meet special qualifications..  Apostle - Cardinals  Prophet - Pope
 
 
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF JOHN BLOOMFIELD
(by himself)
 
....... I was born at Bungay, Suffolk County, England May 2, 1931.  I was baptized a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at Hammers Field, England by Elder Jobe Smith on September 1, 1850.  About three months later I was ordained a Priest and labored in the Norwhich Conference.
 
....... Two years later while accompanying some Saints home one evening, we came upon a mob who were waiting for us.  They swore that they would take my life;  they threw me down and tried to choke me with my necktie but there was a deliverer.  When they had almost accomplished their desire one of their own party began beating those who held me down with a walking stick.  This called their attention away from us for they all attacked my deliverer leaving me in the street alone.
 
....... In the year 1854 an Elder Horace Jackson and myself gave out notice that we hold a meeting at an old gravel pit.  A short time before the meeting should have begun, a sectarian minister gathered a large congregation and proceeded to the place of meeting.  He then chose for his text these words:  "Whose on the Lord's side?"  He began speaking to the people thinking in this way to prohibit us from holding a meeting.  The meeting was well underway when we arrived.  Therefore, we waited until he finished his discourse and he walked off singing.  I took his place, choosing for my text the same he had spoken upon and endeavored to show that who were on the Lord's side were those who kept His commandments, also what those commandments were.  The minister disappeared in the congregation and no sooner had he done so than rocks began to whiz around us,  they fell at our feet and on every side of us.  One brushed Brother Jackson yet we were not hit with one.  One man filled his hat with rocks and advanced within a few steps of us saying that he would hit me, throwing all of them at me.  The rocks fell all around me and the hat at my feet, but not one stone hit me.  The man crawled to my feet, picked up the and and beat a retreat.  This ended the disturbance and we continued to speak to a congregation of about five hundred people.  thanks to the minister for he gathered the people.
 
....... This persecution if it can be called such, only served to strengthen my testimony as it proved to me that the Lord will protect his servants, if they will do His will.
 
....... I labored in the Norwhich conference until may 4, 1856, when, with a Company of thirty Saints, I started across the Atlantic.  We arrived at New York on June 17, after a voyage of six weeks. 
 
....... I then went to Chanceville, Monmouth County, New Jersey, where I was ordained an Elder by John Taylor in 1857.  While residing at this place I was promised a coat of tar and feathers like they gave Joseph Smith.  I never did receive the coat.
 
....... In April, 1859 the Saints in this district were advised to go as far west as they could, which we did arriving at Omaha on April 29 of the same year.  Here I remained for one year.  Then the whole company began the long journey across the plains, reaching Salt Lake in safety.  i made my home at Hyde Park, Cache county, Utah and I remained there until 1876 when I was called to Arizona to help colonize the country.
 
I located at Obed on the Little Colorado River; this proved to be an unhealthy place and i moved to Lot Smith's Camp (Sunset).  Here on January 26, 1878 I was ordained a High Priest by Erastus Snow.  In May 1882 I was called to Navajo, now Ramah, New Mexico.
 
....... I remained here only three years when the call came to move again, this time to Old Mexico.  Here I remained for nine years and with Apostle George Teasdall land A. F. McDonald and others, assisted in the colonization of that country.  In January, 1894 I returned to my old home at Ramah, New Mexico, where I hope to remain the time I shall yet live on this earth in quiet and peace
 
Signed: John Bloomfield
 
 (Page 85, Chapter VII from the The Founding of Colonia Juarez  from
The Mormon Colonies in Mexico by Thomas Cottam Romney)
 
....... The temporary camps that furnished the pioneers of colonia Diaz, sent a stream of colonists still further up the Casas Grandes River where other temporary settlements were located at intervals, one of the most important being at San Jose, five miles northwest of Casas Grandes.  From this came a group of families proceeded to a point on the Piedras Verdes River, a tributary of the Casas Grandes, and laid the foundations of Colonia Juarez.  The first to arrived on the spot are George Sevey, George C. Williams and family, Isaac Turley and family, Joseph A. Moffat, William G. Romnay, Hyrum C. Nielson, Peter N. Skeuse, Hyrum Judd and Ernest L Taylor.  This was on the 7th of December, 1885.  Two days later Miles P. Romney and Thomas Hawkins and families joined the camp and on the 18th of the month, John Bloomfield and Joseph Hancock arrived.  Before the close of the year the town site was surveyed by Joseph C. Fish.  Town lots were apportioned the heads of the several families and soon some sort of shelter wads provided for the winter.  For the most part they consisted of wagon boxes and dugouts in the side of the river banks.  Miles P. Romney has the honor of building the first dugout and in that humble abode was born to his wife the following spring the first child of the new colony, a boy.  Picture, if you can the courage of a woman, who, under such adverse conditions will consent to bring into the world offspring.  No doctor, no comforts, no shelter from the elements except a mere hole in the ground.  All honor to these self-sacrificing pioneer mothers. 
 
(The John Bloomfield mentioned as arriving on the 16th of December, 1885, is the father of Joseph William Bloomfield who later married Olive Parintha Gale.)
 
(Pages 115-116, Chapter X from the The Founding of Colonia Juarez  from
The Mormon Colonies in Mexico by Thomas Cottam Romney)
 
....... The founders of Oaxaca may be said to be a company recruited from several of the Chihuahan colonies, notably from the mountain districts. Leadcedr of the group was "Parson Williams," chiefc purcharser of the land and accompanying him were Peter Eillman, Robert B. Vance, W. B. Millet, Martin Mortensen, Sixtus E. Johnson, Oscar Gruell, William B. Maxwell, James H. Carlton, John McNeil, Alvin D. Nelson, Harlem Hohnson, John Nicols, James H. Martineau and his daughter Anna and sons Maroni, and Theodore, John Bloomfield and two sons, David Johnson and a son and a doughter, D. Biglow, and Mrs.; J. M. Nelson and J. W. Ray.  Fourteen of the number had their families, the whole company numbering 100 souls.  The first part of the groujp left William's Ranch on February 20, 1892, and at intervals along the way their number were augmented until, by thre time they had reached the Beresford ranch beyond the Janos River, the company was complete.
 
(The John Bloomfield mentioned here is the father of Joseph William Bloomfield who later married Olive Parintha Gale.)
 
 (From Pages 222-3  Our Problems.  Heritage  That  They May Live Again.  "John Bloomfield Finds a Baby."  Although this story is told earlier, it is repeated here from a second source. and is more detailed.)
 
....... I was born May 2, 1831, in Bungay, Suffolk County, England.  I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Hammersfield by Elder Jobe Smith, September 1, 1850, and started for America in 1856.  I joined the Saints who were going west and in the spring of 1860 our company began the long journey across the plains.  I was assigned guard duty for about one hundred nights and take up my guard duty at midnight. 
 
....... As we traveled along we decided that there must be a caravan of immigrants about two days ahead of us.  We had been told at Omaha that one such company had left, bound for Oregon and their campfires and tracks indicated they were a couple days ahead.  About the fifth day out we camped near a little dry arroyo or wash.  I went on duty as usual at midnight.  It was my job to circle the camp about every two hours.  Along about dawn I heard a queer noise.  I stopped to listen but the noise stopped too.  Soon I hear it again and I wondered if it could be a panther.  (Please note that mountain lions were call panthers in those days.)    I heard that sometimes made noises like a baby crying.  Sure enough!  There it was again.  The noise seemed to be coming from up the small wash.  I shouldered my gun and walked up the was about a quarter of a mile and there came upon a fearful sight, a woman lying there, also a little naked baby boy.  I spoke to the woman but she gave no answer.  Then I knew she was dead.  The poor child was cold so I took off my coat and covered it.  I then ran all the way back to camp and got two of the women and two men and we hurried back.  The Poor mother had evidently died soon after her baby was born, from a hemorrhage.  The naval cord was dried up but still uncut.  I took out my pocket knife and cut it and one of the women wrapped the little orphan in my coat and took it back to camp.  After getting some shovels the two men and I dug a shallow grave and soon after sunrise we buried her.  We were never to know who she was, her name or why she was there.  We surmised that she knew her time had come, and had walked up the wash to give birth to her baby while the camp slept, then died and no one knew her whereabouts.
 
....... Well, sir, one of the good ladies who was a member of the company had a baby three weeks old.  She said she had plenty of milk for the two babies and was sure the Lord would bless her so she could feed them.  There was a cow along in the camp and the owner gave the kind mother milk to drink so she could feed both.  The sister said, "Our gospel teaches us that we should care for those who are hungry and cold, the poor and needy and the orphans, and this little boy qualifies on all counts."  The company traveled on and the baby grew and thrived and was loved by all.
 
....... When we arrived in the Salt Lake Valley the family who took care of the baby boy was sent north to colonize and I never heard of them again.
 
 (This was his dad's will)
 
(Please note that the attorney who prepared this document did not spell the family name correctly.  I do not believe he could read or write as they asked for his "Mark" at the end.  He therefore could not correct this spelling error.)
 
LAST WILL & TESTAMENT OF RICHARD BLUMFIELD
 
....... In the name of God Amen I Richard Blumfield of the parish of Bramfield in the county of Suffolk Farmer do make and publish this my last will and testament in manner and from following  that is to say first I desire to be decently buried at the discretion of my Executrix and Executor hereinafter named also I give and bequeath all my money goods chattels and effects of what nature kind or quality so ever or wherever situate (after payment of all my just debts, funeral and testamentary expenses ) unto my dear Wife Elizabeth Blumfield to and for her own use and benefit absolutely during her life and at her decease all my farming stock implements in husbandry and household furniture and effects to be sold by auction and the money arising from the sale together with all money securities for money which may be in her possession to be equally divided between my three sons William John and Robert and I also request that my said son Robert should superintend the farm for his mother as long as she remain in the same and I do hereby request that a double gravestone be erected after my decease one part of the same with an inscription to my memory and the other part left blank to be lettered after the decease of my said wife and I do hereby nominate and appoint my said wife Elizabeth Blumfield and Mr. Charles Paine of Bungay Executrix and Executor of this my last will and testament made In witness whereof I have to this my last will and testament contained on one sheet of paper set and subscribed by hand and seal this twenty first day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty seven
 
................................................................... The mark of
 
................................................................... Richard Blumfield
 
....... Signed sealed published and declared by the said testator Richard Blumfield as and for his last will and testament in the presence of us who at this request in his presence and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as -------------   Sheres of Stephen Capon of     John Stigall of
 
....... This was proved at Bungay in the county of Suffolk on the seventh day of October, 1837 before the Reverend Thomas Bewicke clerk Surrogate duly appointed of the Worshipful deaconry of Suffolk lawfully constituted and Administration of all and singular the good rights chattels and credits of the said testator deceased was duly granted to Elizabeth Blumfield and Charles Paine the Executrix and Executor named in the said will they being duly sworn and so forth ----Savings and
 
effects sworn
under #100................................................... Exam.
Testator died
27th May 1837............................................. Wm.  Jessop
Salt Lake Library call number  F Suff 6  Pt 113  Fed. Ser. 14356  No. of will - 100
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