The First One

Picture to the right is of John BIRD (b. 1806) and Ann Russon (b. 1808)

JOHN BIRD

"On Wednesday, 17 Jan 1855, the Clipper ship "Charles Buck" sailed for New Orleans, Louisiana from Liverpool, England. It was commanded by Captain Smalley and had four hundred and three souls on board, composed of about seventy saints from Scandinavia in charge of Elder Eric G.M. Hogan and a large group of passengers who were emigrating saints from Great Britain. This latter group had been transferred from the ship "Hellios." Elder Richard Ballantyne, who had recently arrived in England from a mission to Hindustan, was the acting president of the entire group.

Aboard the Charles Buck was John Bird, accompanied by his wife, Ann Russon, two sons and two daughters. Walter, the oldest son had already made his way to the New World with a friend, Thomas Tew, Jr., and they had established themselves in Springville, Utah. Eliza, the second child of the Bird family, died at the age of eighteen months in England and Rebecca, John, Ann Elizabeth, and William Henry accompanied their parents on the voyage.
John Bird was the only son of John Bird and Elizabeth Taylor, having three sisters, and all for children having been born in Solihull, Warwickshire, England. John was probably born in 1806, or shortly before, as he was christened on 12 Jan 1806. At about the age of twenty-four or twenty-five he married Ann Russon, daughter of Thomas Russon and Sarah Tongue, born in Overbury, Worcestershire, England. John and Ann evidently moved around a bit as they had children born in Yardley, Fieldgate, Elmdon, Solihull, and Aston - and the census taken in 1851 indicates that they were all living at Charles Henry Place, Charles Henry Street, Birmingham at that time.

Four years earlier, in 1847, the gospel of Jesus Christ had been preached to the Bird family and the oldest son, Walter, had been baptized. John and Ann accepted the message of the missionaries and were baptized in 1849 and soon after began to make plans to gather with the saints in Zion. Walter arrived in Utah on 30 Aug 1851 and began to accumulate funds to assist his parents, and with the assistance of the Perpetual Emigration Fund, he was finally able to secure passage for the family.

The Charles Buck docked in New Orleans on the 14 March 1855 and the family continued their journey up the Mississippi, then up the Missouri River and landed at Atchison, Missouri. They joined the saints living in an area called "Mormon Grove." John Bird, a shoemaker by trade, through necessity had worked in the lead works in England and his health was somewhat impaired. He along with all the others, was deprived adequate nourishment on the voyage, and when his became exposed to Mountain Fever, he suffered and died on 11 May 1855, leaving his grieving family to continue across the plains alone.

John was buried at Atchison, Missouri, having reached the age of less than fifty years. He joined the many others who made a courageous attempt to cross the plains and were caught short. One historian estimated that there may have been as many as six thousand souls who parrished on the plains before the railroad eased the burdens."