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JosephSmithSr.
So shall it be with my father: he shall be called a prince over his posterity, holding the keys of the patriarchal priesthood over the kingdom of God on earth, even the Church of the Latter Day Saints, and he shall sit in the general assembly of patriarchs, even in council with the Ancient of Days when he shall sit and all the patriarchs with him and shall enjoy his right and authority under the direction of the Ancient of Days. |
MAYFIELD, Sarah[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]
1852 - 1944 (92 years) 
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Name MAYFIELD, Sarah Birth 28 Jan 1852 Arnold, Nottinghamshire, England 
[2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13] Gender Female WAC 18 Oct 1899 MANTI _TAG Reviewed on FS Death 10 Mar 1944 Escalante, Garfield, Utah, United States [8, 9, 10, 11, 12] Burial 12 Mar 1944 Escalante, Garfield, Utah, United States Headstones 
Submit Headstone Photo Person ID I54198 Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith Last Modified 19 Aug 2021
Family ID F26654 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family ALVEY, James Sr. , b. 12 Oct 1849, Arnold, Nottinghamshire, England Arnold, Nottinghamshire, Englandd. 2 Mar 1932, Escalante, Garfield, Utah, United States (Age 82 years) Marriage 19 Dec 1872 England 
Children6 sons and 5 daughters Family ID F22251 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 24 Jan 2022
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At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.
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Notes - Grandmother Alvey, left her entire family of Father, Mother, 4 Brothers and 5 Sisters For the sake of the Gospel and to follow her Husband to Utah.
They left England the 31 of August 1889. They made their home from 1889 until the time of their death in Escalante, Utah. They built their brick home in1900, it consisted of a Parlor, Sitting room, Bedroom and Kitchen. Many a time I have been under foot while Grandmother was baking bread and could hardly wait until it was baked. I used to love to sit and listen to Grandfather tell stories of England, Oh to be able to remember some of them. In the summer you could always find them both sitting on the front porch. They always had such a lovely flower garden and vegetable garden. They were the Parents of 14 children they lost one child in England his name was Aurthor they lost two more babys after arriving in Escalante Nephi and Elizabith. The other children were Mary Ann, William M, James, Thomas, John, Sarah, Samual, George, Eliza, Annie, Mable. At the time of Grandmothers death the 10 of March 1944 she was survived by 10 living children and 88 grandchildren 158 great grandchildren 13 great grandchildren.
Written by Ina Alvey Thompson
A Sketch of the Life of Sarah Mayfield Alvey Taken From Family Records and Stories That Were Told to Me by my Grandmother Mary Ann Alvey
Sarah Mayfield was born, 28th of January 1852, at Arnold, Nottinghamshire, England, a daughter of Ann Holmes and William Mayfield. She was the youngest child of nine children.
She married James Alvey, on the 19th of December 1871. He was a member of the Church at that time, but she did not join until 1888. Her son Tom was also baptized at that time.
Sarah was the youngest of a large family of nine, the only one to join the church. She left her home and her aged parents for the Gospel’s sake and never saw them again.
She was one of the sweetest people I have ever known. It was a real treat to visit her when we were real young and have her tell us about her early life in England. The big regret is that we did not write any of it down, and cannot remember names places enough to make a history.
She was a real homemaker and mother, she bore fourteen children, three of whom died in infancy. She also raised a grandson in addition to her own. She had a special insight or instinct for problems in the family, and could usually sense when something was wrong. She had a special dream, she would dream about when any of the women in the family were expecting a baby, she always knew before they told her about it
James Alvey died in 1932, so she lived alone for about 12 years, with the exception of a few years when her son Thomas, who was a widower at the time, came to live with her to care for her. Her youngest daughter Mable and her family cared for her for a time too.
Sarah Alvey died at her home in Escalante, Utah on March 10, 1944 at the age of 92.
My memories of my Great-grandmother are very pleasant, I saw and spoke to her the day before her death. She knew me and spoke to me. Her last words to me were to be a good mother and take good care of my family.
Written by Leona Boyce Spencer
4 February 1966
THE LIFE OF MY MOTHER SUSANNAH ALVEY HEAPS
My mother, Susannah Alvey Heaps, was born at Panguitch, Garfield County, Utah, December 10, 1872. Her parents, William Alvey and Mary Elizabeth Heaps, emigrated from England for the sake of the Gospel.
Early in the spring of 1876 this family, along with several other families, left Panguitch and moved to what was then known as Potato Valley. This community was later to be known as Escalante. This move was made because of the feelings of some of the men who had gone into the valley the previous summer. Here they found a better climate and good feed for their livestock.
The Alveys' first home in this new settlement was a dugout on the north side of the creek, which was then only a small irrigation ditch. Their next home was on the lot where the Frank Liston home now stands. This was said to be the first home on the new town site. This also was a dugout and only 10 by 12 feet, which not only provided shelter for the family, but for other women and children as they arrived in the valley.
They next moved about four miles north of town and built up a good farm and a fine fruit orchard. This was later known as the Bailey place. This house was constructed of bricks, made by the family, and was considered to be a fine house at that time.
My mother had a very hard life. Her family was large, she being the third child in a family of thirteen. In addition to supporting their own large family, they also helped others of the Alvey family to come to America.
In 1879 they had saved enough to help bring Grandfather Alvey's father and mother (William and Mary Beardall Alvey) along with three brothers (John, Aaron, and Samuel) to Escalante.
In 1893 they helped another brother, James, and his family to come to the valley from England. This included Uncle James, his wife Sarah, and ten sons and daughters.
Because of this pressure on the family finances, mother was thirteen years old before she had any kind of dress except ones made from denim. This dress she would wear all week, then wash and iron it on Saturdays to wear Sunday and the following week.
She wore no shoes until mid-winter and these were homemade until she was sixteen. She often joked about her feet being so tough and calloused that sparks would fly as she ran up over the rocks hunting cows. She also told of my father coming to see her shortly before their marriage. She was so embarrassed at being caught bare-footed that she sat down on the ground and covered her feet with her dress so that he could not see them.
Her school days were very limited. She was unable to go beyond the fourth grade. Her only books were a reader, speller, and a slate. It was often difficult for her to have even a slate pencil.
Because her father needed help on the farm and because she was one of the older children, she worked right along with her brothers doing a man's work. She must have been a strong girl judging from the type of work she did. She helped milk a large herd of cows twice a day, stacked grain, stripped cane, and made molasses. In the summer they would move to their dairy ranch in the Upper Valley where they would make cheese and butter. In the fall grandfather would take the cheese and butter into Salt Lake City and exchange it for the necessities they needed in the home.
Many of mother's stories show the true spirit of pioneers. She loved to tell of how each morning a new broom was made of rabbit brush for cleaning the house. She also told of how they ran to the neighbors to borrow coals for starting a fire, as they had no matches.
One of her earliest recollections was of going to the home of Lacy Larmie on a Christmas morning and getting a Christmas gift from them. (This was an old Escalante custom.) They gave her a mess of pig ribs and how she ran home with them to show her family.
One of the few recreations they enjoyed was making molasses candy. They were allowed to have the skimmings from the molasses while it was being made. This gave them a great deal of fun as well as sometimes getting to see friends.
Her parents were very severe in their discipline, so consequently she had good training. She was taught the principles of the gospel and how to live them. Her father returned to England to fill a mission and search for genealogy in his native land. She has told us that if she ever misspelled a word when writing to him, he would correct the mistake and return the letter to her.
He also gave her some foundation for music and singing, as he was a fine musician. He conducted the first choir in Escalante, which he continued to do for many years. He also taught music. At one time he taught in the home of Carl Shurtz, and at another time in an upstairs room of the James Schow home.
When my father, Thomas Heber Heaps, was 18 he came with his parents, Henry and Susannah Turner Heaps, into Escalante. They too had emigrated from England where my father was born August 20, 1860. After his family was established in Escalante, he made regular trips to see them. He was then employed in Nevada where he drove a six-horse outfit hauling gold bullion from the mines to various places in Nevada and California. Such names as Caliente, Goldfield, Panaca, Pioche, and Tonopah were part of our vocabulary.
During one of these trips to Escalante to visit his family, he met and later married my mother. During their courting days they had to walk the four miles from the ranch home and back again. Mother said it was something special to ride horseback, which they did occasionally.
At that time dancing was about the only type of recreation available. Mother tells of her first dance under a bowery. The young people toiled for hours carrying water to the spot where they were going to dance so that it would become hardened. It was also the custom to go into their homes to dance. They had few parties but always attended M.I.A. meetings. This made a change in their day of hard work.
At the age of seventeen, on June 28, 1890, my mother was married. The ceremony was performed by the Justice of the Peace, Peter Barker, at Escalante. The Justice of the Peace was always known to us as "Uncle Pete."
After her marriage mother continued to work hard. They
first went to the Upper Valley and ranched. Then father returned to his work in Nevada where he spent a great part of his time for more than fifteen hears. This left the responsibility of rearing the family mostly upon mother. She not did this, but worked at whatever she could to help out financially. She took in washings, sewed rag rugs, and made sunbonnets. She often told about sitting up until after midnight making sunbonnets after having scrubbed clothes on a washboard all day.
She saved the money father sent and bought calves so that they could get started in the cattle business. She also had the responsibility of looking after them.
As mother was gifted in caring for the sick, and as the town was badly in need of some medical help, she paused in her home duties and in October 1909, went to Salt Lake City where she took a course in obstetrics. While there going to school, she lived with Emmaline B. Wells and worked for her board and room.
After staying in the city and studying that first winter, she returned to Escalante where I (Ethel) was born on June 21. Then leaving me with my older sisters, Clarice and Grace, with Grandmother Alvey to help them, mother returned to Salt Lake the following winter and finished her schooling.
She returned home to nurse her oldest son, Alfred, who was very ill with what we know today as appendicitis. Although a doctor was called to come from Panguitch, he died on March 15, 1911. This was a heart breaking experience for her which brought her close to a nervous breakdown.
Her career as a mid-wife began July 1, 1911, when she brought Lawrence and Belle Christensen a baby boy. He was named Lionel. With this as a beginning, she did a marvelous work. During much of the time until she became too old, she was the only doctor the town had, being left to care for nearly a thousand people. She was called all times of the day and night and for all kinds of sickness. These ranged all the way from giving a croup remedy to delivering a baby or diagnosing a case of scarlet fever or appendicitis.
She delivered over 700 babies alone, in addition to assisting some doctors and Aunt Mary Alice Shurtz (another mid-wife) in bringing a great many more. She has ridden to Boulder, a distance of 36 miles, over the worst roads in the state and in all kinds of weather. Many of these trips were by horseback, as it was impossible to get a car over such a road.
The family well remembers one time when she was called to Boulder to deliver a baby. No sooner had she arrived there, than she was rushed back to Escalante for another emergency. She then had to turn around and go back to Boulder. Frank Haws, who accompanied her most of the time during this wild experience, said that she broke a record in travel time over this road. She rode a horse most of the trip.
The family also recalls when she and Aunt Mary Alice were called into an Indian camp to deliver a baby. In spite of the unsanitary conditions everything turned out fine.
She was a mother to the whole community, neglecting her own family and risking her health and even her life, for the good she could do her friends. She suffered from severe migraine headaches during many years of her life. She has left her sickbed when she had been unable to sit up all day to go to the home of sick person. She has gone into homes where poverty was so great that she would return home to get the family something to eat. She has also taken sheets, bedding, and other necessities for a sickroom from our home.
Mother always walked. When someone would come for her at night, she would tell him or her to go back home and she would come. Before leaving she always kneeled down and asked the Lord to help her. Stormy weather or darkness didn't seem to bother her. My father answered the door one night to a man coming for mother. When she was ready to go, she asked father who it was. He said he didn't know, so she started out in the dark to find the place where she was needed. Finally she saw a light, which guided her to the right place.
No matter how far her patient was from our home, mother walked twice a day to care for the mother and baby. We used to say that walking kept her young and active.
She often went to the little towns of Boulder and Widtsoe to deliver babies. If she could be spared from Escalante, she would stay for several days. She not only took care of the mother and baby, but also did the cooking and cared for the rest of the family.
As I think of her loyalty to people I recall a man from Widtsoe coming for her in the middle of the winter. It was about 10 o'clock at night and there was a lot of snow on the Escalante Mountain, which they had to cross. In addition to this he was in an old dilapidated car and he himself was half drunk. In spite of the protests from the family, she said, "I am not afraid. I have to go. These folks are depending on me." She made the man some coffee, heated an iron to put to her feet, got the old black satchel (which we children always thought carried the babies), and left.
Another time she was called to a home to deliver a baby. The father was a boot-legger. An officer of the law came to search the house. Before he had time to get into the house, the husband took his keg of "spirits" and put it in bed with his wife. The officer found nothing.
She tried her best to live the gospel as it should be lived. She was a Sunday School teacher for many years before she became a mid-wife. All her married life she belonged to the Relief Society and was chorister of that organization for more than ten years. She was honored as a block teacher for all the years of service she had rendered in that capacity.
She was a Charter Member of the Escalante Camp of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, organized May 29, 1935. She became the chorister at this time. She was always an enthusiastic member.
In September 1961, a monument commemorating a log schoolhouse built in 1876-77 was unveiled. This excerpt was taken from the Escalante Story: "Susan A. Heaps, age 89, veteran member of the D.U.P. and of long community service, unveiled the plaque which gives facts concerning the early school."
In her later life, during the 1930's, she served on the Escalante Town Board for eight years. She was acting in this capacity when water was first piped into the town in 1936. On the night of May 22, 1936, my husband and I traveled most of the night through mud hub-deep to get her to Escalante for the Dedicatory Service for the newly completed water system for which she had so diligently worked.
She also served as the Town Health Officer for over thirty years. She retired from this position in December 1954.
Mother had many hobbies in spite of her busy life. She pursued the art of rug and quilt making and loved to raise flowers. She was never too tired, regardless of the many hours she had been with the sick, or the many blocks she had walked to dig among her flowers or work with her rugs and quilts. She never knew what it meant to be idle.
Mother was always the life of the party. Nothing pleased her more than to tell a good story on herself. My father was very modest and he would usually get up and leave when she would begin a story. You could always hear him say, "Now Susan."
An incident happened the summer she was eight-nine that shows the fun and energy she possessed. Early the morning of July 24 the town band came out serenading. They stopped out in front of her house and began to play. No sooner had they stopped, than out she went in her nightgown and robe, and step-danced for them.
June 28, 1940, mother and father celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary. At that time they had six living children, thirty grandchildren, and six great grandchildren.
Alcea passed away in May of 1936, leaving a large family. Dad and mother raised one of her daughters as well as having a nephew in their home for many years.
Four years after their Golden Wedding on January 21, 1944, father passed away. Mother lived eighteen years as a widow. She passed away September 23, 1962. During all of her ninety years she was active, caring for herself and her home. During her last few winters she came to Wayne County to be near three of her daughters. Although she had enjoyed fairly good health all of her life, she suffered from gall-stones. This ailment became so severe that it became necessary for her to be operated on. Because of her age she did not recover from the operation.
Her life ended in the Panguitch Hospital. No place could have been more fitting. She was among those who, had she been able, she would have loved to serve.
Although mother never enjoyed the luxuries of the world, her life read, as do these lines:
"Not by the size of their house or lands
Or their golden coins in the bank;
The number of servants who come at their call,
And not by their titles or rank;
Not by their acres of waving grain,
Or their animals prized in the pen;
Not by the riches of forest or mine
Do I reckon the wealth of men.
I count men's wealth by their will to serve
And their power to fill the plan;
Who deepen the joy of many hearts,
And bring new joys to man;
By the number of friends who know them true,
Who are true to them in turn;
By the worth of the interests
They make their own;
By all riches they cannot burn.
Mother's posterity at the time of her death:
Six children
Thirty-six grandchildren
One hundred and three great grandchildren
Seven great-great grandchildren
Prepared by daughter Ethel Heaps Durfey
- Grandmother Alvey, left her entire family of Father, Mother, 4 Brothers and 5 Sisters For the sake of the Gospel and to follow her Husband to Utah.
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