Description

Crippled But Not Helpless

James Barker was born in England in 1827 and along with his family he immigrated to the United States in 1830 eventually joining the church in Watertown, New York in 1844. The family arrived in Utah in 1849 and settled in the Ogden area.

It was while living there in the Ogden area with his wife Paulie and their three children that the call came from Church headquarters that men were needed to assist in the 1856 rescue of those handcart wagon companies stranded out on the plains.

Now the call began in October, but Brother Brigham was still calling for volunteers even up into late November and early December. It was December 2, 1856 when James Barker and others started East to bring in the last of the handcart immigrants still out on the plains. They were not of course the first rescuers to go out but their service was nonetheless sorely needed and noted.

They would have been among those critical teamsters who loaded up the last of the trudging handcart pioneers still required to walk as they came towards Salt Lake and drove them the rest of the way into Salt Lake thus saving many lives.

Now what’s interesting about James Barker is not that he was the first rescue out there and did all the wonderful things that they make movies about. It’s that one night out on the trail, two of the draft animals in Barker’s company, wandered off.

James and another man went out to find them. When they finally located these necessary animals, they turned back toward camp but the fires of the camp had burned down and there was no way to know for sure where the camp was.

James and his companion wandered and searched until finally they found their way back to the camp. The record states,

“Through the exposure to the cold, James contracted rheumatism which crippled his hands and feet. He was unable to work the rest of his life.”

Well, James may have been crippled in the service of the Lord but it certainly didn’t stop him. What became of James Barker?

“James Barker developed one of the finest farms in Utah. He was an agricultural leader in the community, Ogden. The first red apples in Utah were raised by him and he encouraged others to raise the red apples that he helped make Utah famous for. They had a wonderful farm and orchards where they raised all kinds of fruits and berries, apples, peaches and pears as well as corn, tomatoes, potatoes and onions. He being still quoting, one of the first men in the country to attempt raising onions and that in which he took special pride and one year harvested a crop which yielded 1400 bushels to the acre. James was deeply interested in the development and improvement of his country and helped build many of the roads and bridges and was interested in many local enterprises.”

Crippled but not helpless, James Barker served the Lord and the Lord remembered James all his days.

Source:

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/KWJ4-G5B