Jesse Bigler Martin Diaries

Are you a descendent of Jesse Bigler Martin? This book contains the transcription of the handwritten diaries of Jesse Bigler Martin found in the archives of Brigham Young University. Transcribed by Trent Bowen a descendent of Jesse. The three volumes included in this work cover the years of 1853-1857, with volume one having been previously transcribed from handwriting to type but was corrected and retyped for inclusion in this work. The second and third...
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Are you a descendent of Jesse Bigler Martin?

This book contains the transcription of the handwritten diaries of Jesse Bigler Martin found in the archives of Brigham Young University. Transcribed by Trent Bowen a descendent of Jesse.

The three volumes included in this work cover the years of 1853-1857, with volume one having been previously transcribed from handwriting to type but was corrected and retyped for inclusion in this work. The second and third volumes cover the time from 1854 to 1857. A typed copy of the first diary, covering the years from 1853 to 1854, was transcribed by Dewey Esklund a grandson of Jesse.

Jesse writes about his work as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England. He returned to the United States in 1857 and traveled by rail to Iowa City, Iowa. Martin writes in detail about preparation for the overland journey. He left Iowa City for Florence, Nebraska, where he continued the overland journey by ox team to Utah. The diary ends near Chimney Rock, Nebraska. Martin's diaries are very detailed, describing traveling conditions and trail geography, his duties as captain, deaths from disease and accident, and several disputes within the company. Martin also gives a record of his expenses, the names of his family and their birthdates, and a list of addresses at the end of the diary which are located in the appendix of this book.