Description

William Milton Bell

Again, this is making reference to the rescuers of 1856 but when we speak of rescuers who suffered the remainder of their lives with those injuries sustained in bringing in the handcart people of 1856, may I tell you a brief story of just one of those. Many of the stories you’ve heard are overblown and not true. This one comes right out of the diaries.

William Milton Bell was 23 years old in 1856 and living in Lehi, Utah when he was among those who volunteered to take supplies to those on the plains. William’s biography states:

“As these two outfits started on their way (meaning William and another man) a fresh storm struck, and the other man returned home to wait it out, but William knowing the urgency of the trip, continued on his way in spite of the bitter weather and was able to make it in time to save untold suffering of those in the company. William returned to his home on Christmas day, badly frostbitten. His feet were so badly frozen he had trouble with them until his death.”

William went on from there to marry, raise a family, and pursue the occupation of a carpenter and cabinet maker. The family records say: 

“In his last years, William had a great deal of trouble with his feet and legs probably caused in his earlier years by freezing, when he went to take provisions to the handcart company that had been caught on their way to the Salt Lake Valley by severe unseasonable winter storms. With the late years, it was necessary to amputate several toes at different times. Then a foot, part of a leg and then the whole leg but the gangrene could not be checked.”

He died at the home of his son Hiram in Salem, Idaho, November 12, 1903.

 It was written of him:

“Through his works and his family, he left his part of the world a by far better place for his having lived. By his example he taught his children thrift and industry, good citizenship, love for the Lord in his work, and love for his fellow man.”

I hope we can be more like that.

Source:

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/KWN2-CKB