A Memorial to Moses Wade

I want to tell a bit different story for memorial day. This one is about Moses Wade, one of my ancestors. He was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and so this story will incorporate some of that into it as well — if you are not of this faith, I still think you will find value in the story and see one more unique way those who went before, dedicated and sacrificed much for our country.

Moses was a humble broomaker who faithfully lived the gospel. He was baptized into the Church on April 1, 1837 in Farmersville New York.

He was with the saints when Joseph Smith was killed and when they were expelled from Nauvoo in 1846

Moses took his family and journeyed to Far West, Missouri with the exiled saints. Soon after arriving in Far West, Moses and his son, Edward volunteered to join the Mormon Battalion. The battalion members signed up to fight a war against Mexico for the U.S. government, which had turned its back on them. They joined because President Brigham Young had asked them to do so in order to give financial support to the Saints traveling west. Moses was one of about 500 men who voluntarily enlisted, along with about 80 women and children.

Moses and his son, Edward served faithfully in Company C.

While he was in California in 1850 on his journey home, his wife died in Council Bluffs, IA before she could cross the plains. His daughter was forced to bury her mother and travel over the plains alone. Moses answered a prophet’s call and left behind his family, never to see his wife again. He walked thousands of miles and while he walked he sang his own song of faith and obedience.

The motto of the Battalion was, “The Mormon Battalion — a ram in the thicket!”, a testament to their faith that the Lord would provide for the faithful, just like Abraham of old.

This attitude of faith was evident in testimony given at a reunion festival for the Battalion in 1855 in Salt Lake City:

“I wish to say a few words for the benefit of all, respecting trials. I feel to say every one will have as hard a time of trial as any of these my brethren had when we shook hands with our wives and bid farewell. I and my wife never had a darker day. Brother Brigham and Brother Heber asked me to go, and if they had told me that I should not return any more, I do not think I should have felt it any more than I did that trial. Probably you may have to make as great a sacrifice within a few years to come. Brethren, read the Book of Mormon, for nothing will make a man feel more deeply than to leave his family under those circumstances, and by reading that book you will get comfort by referring to the trials of the ancients. There is not a man here but will be tried in one way or another, therefore be faithful or not many will stand the trying day.”

Brigham Young also spoke at this celebration and stated this about the Mormon Battalion:

“At the departure of the Mormon Battalion, I am sure that no set of men, or people, ever had more faith exercised for them than this people then had. Perhaps also, there have been no people on the face of the earth, who, according to their knowledge, possessed more faith than did these very men, when they left their families at the Bluffs.”

For me, Obedience is a legacy of Humility and Strength.

There is a painting (see below) by well-known LDS painter, Minerva Teichert, depicting Nephi, coming out of Jerusalem with Zoram in tow, carrying the plates of Brass while dressed in Laban’s armor. That painting and its constant reminder of Nephi’s attitude of obedience, of I will go and do…

I always have loved that painting, as the original hung in my home during my childhood. Nephi looks so majestic and powerful in that painting, while his brothers, unfaithful to the end, look to flee, fearful and unsure.

Minerva Teichert is my great-grandmother and was named after the daughter of Moses Wade, Minvera Wade, her great-grandmother.

Moses did not die in service to his country, but when he left his family alone in Missouri, he was never to see his wife or mother again. Both died in his absence. He was not able to be there to bury them, mourn them, or celebrate their lives. His daughter was left to cross the plains alone.  Yet, because of the belief our faith that our constitution is inspired, and that we should work for it's freedom, Moses and his son enlisted and sacrificed. 

I am grateful today for his sacrifice, for his service, and his faith. His example inspires me and reminds me of my great duty to likewise stand up and fight for our freedoms, even at great cost.