1872; A difficult year for Sarah Ann Kidgell.

1872 is a Leap Year.  President Ulysses S. Grant would be re-elected as President of the United States.  Yellowstone is established as the worlds first National Park, and 

the first color photograph is created. 

 The Kidgell family start the new year with a newborn son, Fred and their four other children; Ellen Maria, she is seventeen and in a year will marry Joseph Bithell. (30 Dec 1873), son William is twelve and will be thirteen in July, son James is ten, and daughter Sarah Ann (my great-grandmother) is seven and will be eight in March.  Charles and Sarah Ann are grateful, knowing they are very blessed to have these children and know how delicate life is after loosing four small children; such heartache.  

Charles's father Charles Sr. is no longer living in their neighborhood; he and his wife Ann have moved to Kansas to be with members of the Reorganized LDS Chruch. 

 Charles's sister Caroline Higson and family still live in the neighborhood, also 

Sarah Ann's mother and father,  Edward and Maria Cashmore are living next door.  Life in general is good but, oh how a 'moment in time' can change everything. 

( From Kidgell and Cashmore Histories sent to me 3 March 2011  from D. Gedge, descendant of Fred Kidgell) 

"Charles is brought home in great pain from being kicked in the chest by a horse. 

This wouldn't have been a quarter horse that did the kicking--this would have

 been a draft horse.  One must remember that there were

 no miracle drugs available to help fight pneumonia.  

It would only take a few days for the inflammation to have the upper hand."  Charles is only thirty eight years old!

One year before (24 April 1871)  Charles's death he received his Patriarchal Blessing, given by John Smith.  (Sarah Ann was also given a Blessing)  He was faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the very end. My feelings of great great grandfather Charles Kidgell Jr. are he was a loving and supportive husband to Sarah Ann and a great father to his children.  

Deseret News

Obituary

May 1, 1872

"Died ----In this city, on the 25th [22] instant, after one week's illness, of inflammation of the lungs, Charles Kidgell, Jr. Born Aug. 29 [21] in 1832 Birmingham, England.  Bap. Apr. 1852. Arrived in this city, Sept 5 1855.  Lived and died in the full faith of the Gospel." 

This isn't the end of Sarah Ann's grief.  Four months later a diphtheria epidemic broke out in the area.  Sarah's two sons William and James contracted the disease.  One can imagine how Sarah Ann with the help of her mother desperately cared for the young boys day and night fervently praying for their recovery.  I suspect, daughter Sarah Ann  was also very sick because written on the back of a picture I have of Great grandmother (Sarah Ann) states it was "taken after being sick for a year."     
The younger son James Edward will die first followed fourteen days later by William Henry. 

In my possession are two acrostic's written by Francis Tuft Whitney to help comfort Sarah Ann and Ellen Maria.  I have no idea how Brother Whitney knew the Kidgell family.  He lived in Parowan, Utah which is over two hundred miles from Salt Lake City.  

   To refresh your memory; an acrostic is a composition usually in verse in which sets of letters (as the initial or final letters of the lines) taken in order form a word or phrase.  In this case the acrostic's begins with letters;

   S A R A H  A N N  K I D G E L L                    J O S E P H  J A M E S  K I D G E L L   

This is my great grandmother Sarah Ann Kidgell Hepworth  b1864-d1947

I will close this post with the words of great great grandfather Charles from his letter dated 17 June 1853 (posted earlier) " I feel to praise my God that he rose up a prophet and established his church and kingdom and I have had the opportunity of embracing the gospel and I know that it is the Church and Kingdom of God and besides it  there is no other."