"a dweller on the path by the hedge"

a letter to the editor of 
the Sun-Telegram

sorry we don't know what town or state this newspaper was published in ...
anyone having a copy of the article this letter is referencing, and or 
contact info of  this Newspaper ... please be sure to share that with us ...

"Mohave Massacre"   By: Mary Hedgpeth Ash

---

        Editor of the Sun-Telegram, My cousin, Mrs. Godfrey, in
your city has sent me a clipping from your paper dated
December 9, 1951, with the story, "Mahave Massacre of Wagon
Train Brings War, Fort."

        As I am one of the surviving daughters of the Thomas
Hedgpeth of that party, I thought I would send you a line or
two on the story.  It is a very accurate story, as I often
heard my mother tell it.  At the time, my father, Thomas
Hedgpeth, and his wife Jane, had four sons.  They were
Demetrius, Henry, Caloway and Charles.  Charles was the
youngest, a babe in arms.  He was about four months old,
having been born September 14, 1857.  He is now a retired
doctor living in St. Joseph, Missouri.  As he is 94 years old
I have an idea he is the only surviving member of that party.

        My mother had a remarkable memory for places and dates.
I can remember her telling us children of the trip and giving
camping places, how long they remained along with incidents
that happened along the way.  My father Thomas Hedgpeth, died
at Rock Port, Missouri, March 24, 1887, a comparatively young
man.  My mother, Jane Elliott Hedgpeth, passed away at St. 
Joseph, Missouri, April 10, 1917, being 84 years old.

        After the Indian fight, the family went back to Albuquerque
with the wagon train where they spent the winter, father working
in the stock yards until spring when he returned to Missouri
with his wife and sons.  My grandfather, Joel Hedgpeth, his 
wife, and three sons and a daughter went on to California.
Grandfather had five sons.  All were ministers.  Two of them,
Thomas and Henry, were of the Northwest Missouri Methodist
Conference.  The other three, Lewis, Joel and William, preached
in California and Arizona.  Many descendants of Lewis Hedgpeth
live in and around Phoenix.

        The Hedgpeth family has been a pioneering one. Its members
came to Missouri at an early date, settling in Hathaway County.
There my grandfather, Joel, was the first county judge.

                                                        Mary Hedgpeth Ash
                                                         Sheridan, Wyoming

---

transcribed  March 2003, by Ken Hedgpeth, received a xerox copy of this [undated] letter,  in 1978 from Beth Mc Elfresh, eldest daughter of Mary (Hedgpeth) Ash ... presume this letter was written in late Dec. 1951 or early in 1952 ... Mary was born in 1864 at Nodaway Co., Missouri ...

Note: Mary mentions that her grandfather Joel Hedgpeth [Sr.], was the first judge in Hathaway County ... we believe that should be Nodaway ... although we have not located a record of it, but the claim to that fame continues to be past on to each generation ...

check another bio or family story    or    Return to Home

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