Meet Drusilla Dorris Hendricks.

This is Alan's 4th Great Grandmother on his Fathers Side. I came across her journal, and together Alan & I read about this amazing woman (twice now). She is the epitome of a Woman of Faith. Here are some amazing facts, and things she has said.

*Drusilla Dorris Hendricks was born on Feb. 8, 1810 in Sumner County, Tennessee.

*Her earliest memory was saying a prayer at age 5 after a earthquake in KY.

*At age 7 she was confounded to read the Hymn Book & Bible.. until she could recite pages without looking at the books.

*She survived White Swelling Disease at a young age.

*From a Early age she was baffled that no one was doing as the Bible told them.

*"My Mother taught me in all the branches of house wifery that she was capable of, for which I was always Thankful."

*At 18, May 31st 1827 she Married James Hendricks of Franklin, KY

*They had Five Children; Elisabeth, William (Alan's 3rd Great Grandfather), Catherine, Rebecca, Joseph.

*"I found that the responsibilities of motherhood were upon me. My Husband came in and found me crying. He asked if he had neglected me, or said, or had done anything to hurt my feelings. I answered him no, but I was a mother and was not capable of doing a mothers duty. He wept with me and told me I was better prepared to be a mother than he was to be a father. We had many serious hours of prayer and conversation or so it appeared to me then, as I found it no small thing to be a mother."

*She took care of her Mother, after her Father died. She made sure "used all our endeavors to make her happy". She didn't forget the principle of obedience to her parents. "It was not to gain my mother's favor; it was to show the reverence I had for my mother since a child." {Which is how I feel about helping my Mom}

*"Finally, I began dreaming and I knew there was reality in dreams. I had dreams mostly from my childhood up, and had seen many of my dreams literally fulfilled. Then my mother would call me Joseph the Dreamer".

*The Mormon Missionary's came locally, to where she had a sister living. Her Husbands Brother, wanted her to go and hear them preach. Because she knew the scriptures so well. After hearing them she said "I never heard men stick so close to the scriptures in my life. Before he got thru I believed and went home rejoicing.". Her Brother In Law was so upset he could barely talk!

*Drusilla's Husband, James was more hesitant and it took him more time before he believed. They were Baptized March of 1835.

*They were shunned from Family.

*They sold all of there possessions, & settled there finances to get ready to head to Missouri. And left in May of 1836.

*"I had been in the habit of using snuff and was just out. I knew it was a disgusting habit and had heard the Word of Wisdom read. Also my husband desired that I discontinue its use. I went quite a way out of camp. I there plead with the Lord to take away the desire of snuff from me. And if he would do this it would be a sign to me that He had caused the revelation on the Word of Wisdom to be written. I went back to camp and forgot that I had ever used snuff for four days. I never wanted it again. I had tried to quit, but this time the Lord took the desire away from me and gave me proof of the Word of Wisdom". After time she realized the health benefits in following the Word of Wisdom.

*They dealt with Mob's 5 different times thru out there lives.

*They gave up there land of 50 acres in Clay County and went to Caldwell County, Missouri.

*She said she was the happiest she had ever been while living in Caldwell County.

*She gave birth to her 5th child. Joseph Smith came to there cabin, and asked what the child's name was. When they replied they hadn't any. He said "From this day forward he shall be known as Joseph Smith Hendricks".

*While walking behind her husband she watched his form. "The thought came to me that I might never see him so straight and erect again". (Alan's 4th great grandfather on his mothers side; also later an apostle) Charles C Rich came to get James Hendricks, there was a mob on Crooked River. Doris helped her husband get ready, & while handing him his gun she said "Don't get shot in the back." Just around the time he was shot, she was aroused from her sleep. (This happened a week prior to Hans Mill, where another one of Alan's 4 Great Grandfather did Die.) Her husband was shot in the neck where it cut off all feeling of his body.

*Joseph Smith had anointed, James Hendricks, twice for Blessings of the Sick.

*"My Husband was as sore for his blood cankered and he broke out in sores all over his body. You could not put a pin on him without putting it on a sore, from the crown of his head to the sole of his feet."

*In two weeks time they had run out of food. She conflicted with her mind. She kept hearing the still small voice say "Hold on the Lord will provide". She listened and promise not to grumble. She went to work and washed everything and cleaned the house thoroughly as she said to herself "If I die, I will die clean". {A woman after my own heart :)} Brother Allred came, he lived 50 miles away. He brought them a sack of meal. And a present, of a washboard. Another 2 weeks went by and they lived extremely sparingly. They were in the same condition as they were before. "I felt awful, but the same voice that gave me comfort was to comfort me again, it said, "Hold on, the Lord will provide for His saints". I washed and cleaned as before." This time Brother Williams came with two bushels of meal. He said he was busy harvesting his crop when the spirit spoke with him saying "Brother Hendricks family is suffering so I dropped everything and came by". She said she went on to bake a cake and said "Hunger makes sweet cakes without sugar". Her testimony grew of the Doctrine Covenants. "It was the Lords duty to look after and provide for His saints, which has been proven true to me".

*"I began to take in work, sewing and washing, but mostly washing as I could make the most at that and I found from that time on. I paid $56.00 for house rent and got me two bedsteads, four chairs, and five falling leaf tables. I kept one table and let Brother Lewis have one for moving us to Nauvoo. I sold two to Sister Emma Smith for provisions. We moved to Nauvoo in March. The brethren gave us a lot and threw together a log house. I hired a man to cover it and build a chimney. I and Sister Marinda Lewis chinked and plastered it. I hired the same man to plow and put in my lot and we raised a good garden. We finished out house in 1842". There home is still standing in Nauvoo today!!! Just 2 Blocks from the Nauvoo Temple.


*They continued to work on the Nauvoo Temple. They still had one yoke of cattle so she sent William, her son, to haul rock for the Temple as a form of payment of there tithing.

*She took on boarders in there home. Along with making mittens and gloves. As well as washing for trade of bread and molasses. Winter set in early. And they were running out of food quick. She prayed and poured her heart out to the lord, and was specific in what her family needed. A man named Shaw showed up the next day with pork to sell to them. They explained they had no money. He said he had come to give it to them on credit. At first they didn't feel comfortable doing so. However after prayer and discussion, they discovered this was the lord helping them. They were able to repay and make a profit.

*"The Prophet was killed on Thursday June 27, 1844. For my feelings were such that I prayed the Lord to take them from me for it was more than I could stand. We did not know the Prophet was killed only by our feelings until we got about 6 miles and met another boat. We could not have felt worse. When we reached home everyone was in mourning."

*"It was not long before Sidney Rigdon called a meeting in order to present his claims to the presidency of the church. Some of the twelve returned from their missions and the day their meeting was held and while it was in session Brigham Young, president of the Quorum of Apostles, and others slipped up to the stand but said nothing until Sidney Rigdon was through. The meeting was in a bowery. Then President Young began to speak. I jumped up to look and see if it was not Brother Joseph for surely it was his voice and gestures. Every Latter Day Saint could easily see upon whom the Priesthood descended for Brigham Young held the keys."

*On January 22, 1846 Drusilla took out her endowments. And on January 27, 1846 she was sealed to James Hendricks in the Nauvoo Temple.

*Drusilla really struggled with letting William go into The Mormon Battalion. He was 9 when his father was shot. And was a great deal of help to her. The first group of volunteers had already left. She heard a voice that said "Let your son go in the battalion". And had felt sick because they had already left. It turned out they were lacking men. She said to William "My son, I have held you back, but if you want to go I shall hold you no longer". William ran to his father and told him what his mother had said and he said "We will see Brother Young". His father told Brigham Young, "Here is my boy, if they will take him." President Young told the clerk to put down his name. When she sent him off. She said "I had no photograph of him but I took one in my mind and said to myself, If I never see you again until the morning of the resurrection, I shall know you are my child." William, was gone for 15 months. He arrived in Salt Lake City on October 14, 1847.

*They left on the Joseph B. Noble Company. Jedediah M. Grant was in charge of there wagon train. On June 19, 1847, along with 3 other wagon trains, they left for Salt Lake. Arriving on October 2, 1847. There was 171 people in the company. They began the journey from the outfitting post on the Elkhorn River about 27 miles west of Winter Quarters, Nebraska.

*Upon arriving in Salt Lake, William helped build a house inside the fort for the family.

*"We had plenty of milk and butter and had brought some of the best cheese I ever ate. We had meat nearly all the time so we were strong to go and fight the crickets. Rebecca and Joseph, my two youngest children, carried a bed cord, one at each end, walking in the irrigation ditches and dragging the cord over the heads of the grain, thus knocking the crickets off the grain. My husband, with William would go through the corn rows by row and kill and drive them. In this doing we saved six acres of the twenty that was planted and we saved 40 bushels of wheat".

*Adeline Benson (2nd Wife of Apostle Ezra T. Benson under Brigham Young's Stewardship) and Sister Hendricks were camped at Garfield. Boiling salt for their winter supply as this was a routine chore. While they were performing this task, the men were in the canyon cutting wood. Busy at her work, Adeline glanced at the rocks a short distance away and saw a large animal crouching there. She walked over to the wagon and called, “Sister Hendricks, we have company!”. The animal crawled steadily through the rocks and towards them. Sister Hendricks said she had heard if a person would sing, and animal would not bother them. Both women took their babies in their arms and started to sing. When they stopped singing, the animal would get up and start towards them again, but while they continued singing, the animal would lie down quietly. They sang for two hours, and all at once the animal was gone. When the men returned, they examined the tracks left on the ground, and found them to be those of a large Mountain Lion. Adeline had a cow tied to the back of the wagon, and when the lion appeared, the frightened cow broke loose and ran away. They didn’t find her for six months.

*They moved to Warm Springs to build a bathhouse. "We built a log house first, then a large adobe house, then the bath house, which contained 12 rooms, 6 on each side and a large room in front. Then the warm water had to be brought about 1/3 of a mile in pipes and they had to be made of logs bored through the center length-wise, these were called pump logs, which required considerable labor." President Brigham Young dedicated the Bath House. In the Deseret News in March 1851:

DESERET BATHING HOUSE!!

The Inhabitants of Deseret are hereby respectfully informed, that the Baths are now open, and printed tickets ready for issue to accommodate families by the quarter, half year, or year. The following are the terms for privilege of the Baths, viz:

For single person per quarter, $0,50
Families of from 2 to 4 persons per qr. $1,00
“ “ 5 to 8 “ $2,00
“ “ 8 to 16 “ $3,00
“ " 16 to 24 " $3,50
Families to furnish their own towels.
Tickets for sale at the Tithing Office, and also at the Bath House.

JAMES HENDRICKS, Proprietor
March 24, 1851(8)

*James was called to be the Bishop of the 19th Ward. He served as Bishop for 9 years. He also served as Justice of the Peace for some time.

*In 1858 Johnston's Army came and they left there homes once again. They went to Springville and waited to see. After a while they returned home.

*She wove, made rope, made gloves, & kept boarders for a living. She said no matter what they always paid there tithing.

*They lived well, until the grasshoppers came and destroyed there crops. Then they struggled again.

*Photo of Elizabeth Gammel (her granddaughter) and husband circa 1868

*Her Husband, James died July 8, 1870. She said after he died, "He was a martyr for the cause of truth. I do not think he doubted the truth of the Gospel for one minute. I never heard him murmur or speak against the authorities of the church and he always gave good advice to his family".

*When they arrived to Utah there were 7 of them. When the Journal was written she had 5 children, 63 Grandchildren, 23 Great Grandchildren in the late 1800's. (Can you imagine how many she has now??!)

*Drusilla Hendricks died on May 20, 1881 in Richmond, Cache County, Utah.

Alan & I have really enjoyed researching & reading about Drusilla. Just when we thought we wouldn't find anything else, we would. We feel so grateful to have such a Strong & Amazing Example of Faith. The more we find (in all of the pioneer journals), the more we are Amazed. I am so glad that Brenton & Savannah have such Strong, Courageous, Faithful Ancestors. Drusilla & her family will always have a special place in our hearts.