HATCH FAMILY FOLKLORE

Hatch Family Folklore

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Called to a Desert

TAKEN FROM VARIOUS KARTCHNER AND PALMER SOURCES
     After calling William and Margaret Kartchner from California to Utah to Nevada and then back to Utah, Brigham Young called them again in 1877 to help settle northern Arizona. Many people in William's company felt he was too weak to make the trip and warned him he and his wife should stay behind. However, to these skeptics William responded, in effect: "On the day they start for Arizona, I shall arise from my bed. I may fall, but I'll fall with my face toward Arizona."
      Alma Zemira Palmer and his wife, Alzada Sophia Kartchner, were called on this trip and also faced temptation to stay. Alma turned down a lucrative business offer from his uncle, Jesse Knight, saying, "The President of the Church has called, and I must heed this call." Alma and Alzada's belongings consisted of three yoke of oxen and two wagons with their necessities. Alma walked all the way guiding the oxen. The trip took many weeks.
     Once when they were crossing a rugged mountain the front wheel of a wagon went off the ledge of a cliff. Alma grabbed the opposite wheel of the wagon and yelled at his favorite ox, who pulled the wagon back onto the road. "I was so frightened I had to sit down for a while," Alma recounted. "If the wagon had fallen, all on earth I possessed would have gone into the Colorado River some 300 feet below except the bull whip in my hand."
     Alma and Alzada had their second child on the trail before finally settling in Snowflake. Although people believed William Kartchner was least able to make the trip, it had greatest effect on his wife. Three years after arriving at her new home Margaret died Aug. 11, 1881.

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INDEX OF STORIES

The Tragedy of Katie Hatch
Phoenix Gazette article summarizes the search for Katie Lavora Hatch, daughter of John Hatch and Mary Jane Standifird.

Sister's Account of the Search
Katie’s sister, Mary Jane Hatch, 11 years old at the time, recalls the tragedy in the White Mountains.

Neighbor's Account of the Search
A resident in the area recalls the search in the White Mountains for Katie Lavora Hatch.

Young Runaways
John Henry Standifird describes the time he ran away from home with his cousin and tried to find work on the Mississippi River.

Comfort from a Spirit
Lorenzo Hill Hatch describes a vision of his late wife, Alice Hanson.

Death and Back in Arizona
John Hatch enters the Spirit World but is ordered back to mortality following the prayer of his 8-year-old boy.

Called by a Prophet
"There is your patriarch," President Joseph F. Smith says. (Story of John Hatch as told by his son, George Phineous Hatch.)

Separate Ways
Alma Zemira Palmer kicks the nicotine habit.

First Sight
"I'm going to marry her some day," Alma Zemira Palmer says, upon seeing Alzada Sophia Kartchner.

Forgiven Debts
Alma Zemira Palmer shows generosity to his store customers and teaches his daughter Rose a lesson by example.

Misdirected Love Letter
Lovesick Zemira Palmer crafts a love letter for young Sally Knight, only gets her name wrong and sends the letter by mistake to her cousin.

Possessed by a Devil
Newel Knight has a devil exorcised from his body and later testifies of the miracle during a mock trial of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Vigil with a Prophet
Newel Knight spends a night in prayer with the Prophet Joseph Smith as the two struggle with a crisis in the young Church.

Borrowed Wagon
The Prophet Joseph Smith takes possession of the Golden Plates using the wagon of his house guest, Joseph Knight Sr.

Basketball Star
George Phineous Hatch gets the hot hand and leads Snowflake High School to a rout of St. John's.

White Fang
A hungry wolf -- or just a snow-covered stump. George Palmer Jr. finds out.

Halloween Magic
A Halloween superstition leads to marriage for Rebecca Jane Finch and a stranger boarding at her father's hotel.

No More Crutches
After using crutches for 13 years, elderly Elizabeth Haight is healed following her baptism.

Sealed in an urn
Margaret Jane Casteel refuses to have her dead 2-year-old son buried in the desert away from civilization.

Called to a Desert
"... If the wagon had fallen, all on earth I possessed would have gone into the Colorado River some 300 feet below except the bull whip in my hand." (The Palmers and Kartchners move to Arizona.)

Surprised in Church
George Phineous Hatch surprises his wife, Dora, by naming their 11th child Quola Mae.