Essentials
Born: 21 January 1863 or 1864; Hyde Park, Cache County, Utah
Daughter of: John BLOOMFIELD and Harriet WILKINSON
Married: Joseph Henry JAMES, 10 January 1879; St. George, Washington County, Utah
Died: 8 February 1957; Ramah, McKinley County, New Mexico

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One-minute history
Article published on Eliza's 91st birthday

BY DARYL JAMES
FROM 'JAMES/HATCH ONE MINUTE HISTORIES' (1994)
     Mary Eliza Bloomfield was born Jan. 21, 1863 or 1864, at Hyde Park, Cache County, Utah, to John Bloomfield and Harriet Wilkinson. Mary usually went by her middle name, Eliza. She was the third of four children.
     When Eliza was 11 years old, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called her parents to help establish a branch of the United Order at Sunset, Ariz. At this settlement Eliza's sister, Elizabeth, met Joseph Henry James and married him July 12, 1877, in the St. George Temple in Utah. About 18 months later, when Joseph was 23, Eliza became his second wife. Eliza and Joseph were married in the St. George Temple on Jan. 10, 1879, about two weeks before Eliza turned 16.
     The trip to St. George took Eliza and Joseph about two weeks. When the couple arrived at Lee's Ferry on the Colorado River, the ferry was across the river with no one to bring it back to them. Joseph decided there was nothing else to do except to swim across the river and bring the ferry back. He left his bride-to-be standing on the bank full of fear that he might not make it across. The river was wide at that point, so in order to come out where the ferry was launched, Joseph waded a mile up river, knowing the current would carry him at least a mile downstream. Eliza said she never prayed harder in her life than she did as she watched the tiny speck as it battled the swift current, visible one minute and out of sight the next.
     About three-and-a-half years after Joseph married Eliza, he married a third woman, Orpha Amelia Rogers, in the St. George Temple. Joseph moved in 1883 with his wives and other Mormons to an unsettled area in Chihuahua, Mexico. Eliza was 20 at this time and already had three children.
     The travelers settled at Colonia Diaz, about 70 miles from the United States border, and lived in dugouts for the first few years.
     Eliza had 11 children in Mexico, giving her 14 total. Her husband operated a sawmill in the Sierra Madre Mountains but died in a logging accident in 1908.
     In 1912, after spending nearly 30 years in Mexico, Eliza and most of the other Mormons evacuated during the Mexican Revolution. Eliza left behind a home, cattle, and 15,000 acres of land. She arrived in El Paso, Texas, with just the clothes on her back and a few blankets for bedding. Housing was scarce in El Paso and she spent the first two months sleeping at a lumberyard with 300 others waiting for news of whether or not it was safe to return to their homes in Mexico.
     When Eliza decided it was not safe to return, she moved with eight children to Ramah, New Mexico.
     Besides her remaining children, Eliza helped raise six orphaned grandchildren. One of these grandchildren built her a home in Ramah, where she stayed the remainder of her life. She died Feb. 8, 1957, at age 93.
     Eliza was a small woman and weighed only 90 pounds at her death. She was industrious and energetic. She never missed a square dance, rodeo, or Indian festival. Many times thoughtful neighbors would come to visit her, thinking to cheer her up, but after they were with her a short time, she had them laughing and cheerful.

-- Sources: 1. "Joseph Henry James." Stalwarts South of the Border, pps. 321-323 (On record at Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah). 2. "Mrs. Eliza B. James" (three-page, unsigned history, including poem by Catherine E. Berry.)

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Legend of the West

BY MRS. EARL STAFFORD
FROM THE NEWS BULLETIN OF BELEN, N.M.
JANUARY 21, 1955
     Few People can boast of as many descendants as this tiny lady who weighs only 90 pounds and is 91 years old today. She is the mother of 14 children, 74 grandchildren, 196 great grandchildren and 46 great great grandchildren, making a total of 330 direct descendants. Eliza Bloomfield James was born January 21, 1864 at Hyde Park, Utah, to Mr. and Mrs. John Bloomfield, active workers in the Mormon Church. They were called to Obed, Arizona as pioneers in religious work when Eliza was 11 years old.
     Romance entered her life three years later when she met and fell in love with Joseph James, 11 years her senior. Their faith decreed that they be married in the Mormon Temple and since there was none in Arizona, they started the long trek back to St. George, Utah, a distance of several hundred miles. When they arrived at Lee's Ferry on the Colorado River the ferry was across the river with no one on hand to bring it across to them. After taking in the situation, Joseph decided there was nothing else to do except to swim across and bring the ferry over, while he left his bride-to-be standing on the bank full of trepidation and fear that he might not make it across. The river was wide at that point, so in order to come out where the ferry was launched he walked a mile up river, knowing the current would carry him at least a mile downstream. Eliza says that she had never prayed harder in her life then she did as she watched the tiny speck as it battled the swift current, visible one minute and the next out of sight. After 77 years she says she has qualms when she thinks about it and wonders what might have happened to her there alone in the wilderness if Joseph hadn't made it across.
     Before she was twenty and already the mother of three children, her husband decided to go to Mexico to establish a church (this probably meant another call from the church for the group to go). They with five other families started the long dangerous trip by covered wagon, many of them becoming ill on the way. They settled at Colonia Juarez, and lived in dugouts for the first few years. They were eyed with suspicion and distrust by the natives who did everything to make them leave, even coming into their dugouts at night and stealing their clothing while they slept and at times taking the bedclothes off their beds.
     The pioneers took sacks of grain for seed the next year, hauling them high in the trees away from the horses. Imagine their surprise next morning when they found only empty sacks dangling from the branches. The natives had punched holes in the bottom of the sacks, taking the grain as it trickled out. Smallpox broke out the first year, adding to their hardships. Besides nursing her own family, Eliza found time to care for many others who were ill. The little colony with all the grit and determination of early pioneers, stuck it out and finally prospered in spite of all their difficulties and hardships. They accumulated land, herds of cattle and a saw mill in the nearby mountains. It was at the sawmill that Joseph lost his life while trying to save a worker who was deaf and couldn't hear the logs rumbling down the mountainside and both were crushed to death. Two of their 14 children died while they were in Mexico.
     In 1912, after spending 30 years there, these families were given 24 hours notice to leave when Pancho Villa started a revolution and tried to overthrow the government. The accumulation of all those years, amounting to about $50,000, had to be left behind. Eliza, who had been a widow for four years, took her family and a few personal belongings and started for Ramah, N.M., where her parents had gone more than 30 years before as pioneers.
     None were harmed by the rebels, but such incidents as this took place. Several renegades entered the home of an old grandfather, taking his rocking chair, which they tarred and feathered with feathers from his bed. They then took the chair to the public square as a warning to the people if they didn't leave. Besides her remaining 12 children, Eliza helped raise six orphaned grandchildren.
     She is the mother of Mrs. J.W. Ashcroft and grandmother of John, George and Joe (Blackie) James, all of Los Lunas.
     Her ready wit and humor has carried her over many a trying situation, and she has a zest for life that many people only half her age lack. She lives alone in Ramah, although several of her children insist on her living with them. She does all her own work except her laundry, never misses a square dance, rodeo or Indian festival and says she expects to be around for a long time yet.
     Mrs James has made one trip back to her old home in Mexico. Five years ago her daughter, Mrs. Ashcroft, and a grandson, Joe James, and family took her back. But everything had changed so much in the 40 years since she left. Only the house and apple orchard were still there. The mountains had been cleared of all timber and the river that ran past their house had dried up. But after seeing the old place once more, Eliza is being reconciled to burying her memories along with the past.

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John BLOOMFIELD Jr.
John BLOOMFIELD Sr.
Mary Eliza BLOOMFIELD
Lydia DAINES
Harriet WILKINSON

CHILDREN WITH JOSEPH HENRY JAMES