Jacob Hamblin

Family Background

1819. April 2: Born Jacob Vernon Hamblin in Salem, Ohio, his family later homesteaded a large tract of land in Wisconsin. When he was nineteen, Hamblin worked in a lead mine but quit when the mine caved in, killing a co-worker.

He married Lucinda Taylor in 1839 and later, Rachel Judd Henderson (1849), Priscilla Leavitt (1857), and Louisa Bonelli (1865). He was the father of twenty-four children.

1842. Hamblin was converted by the preaching of Elder Lyman Stoddard. When he told Lucinda that he intended to be baptized, she threatened to leave him.

1844. After two years in Nauvoo and a short mission in behalf of Joseph Smith's presidential candidacy, Hamblin moved his family west to Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Two years later, Hamblin and his three older children returned from a short trip to Council Bluffs to be met by Lucinda, who shoved thirteen-month-old Lyman under the fence to Jacob and screamed, "Take your little Mormon brats." "The family saw her for only one brief visit after this."

Polygamist

1849. Hamblin married widow Rachel Judd Henderson of Council Bluffs eight months later. Having dreamed that he would marry her, he knocked on her door and announced, "My name is Jacob Hamblin, I was impressed to come to your home and ask you to be my wife." She replied, "I am Rachel Judd, and am willing to marry you, but it will be impossible for us to have children." Hamblin responded, "My name is Jacob, yours is Rachel, we will have two sons and shall name them Joseph and Benjamin." They also had three daughters.

Peacemaker

1850. Sent to colonize Tooele the day of his arrival in Salt Lake. Though Indian depredations were common, Hamblin had a strong aversion to killing Indians. Assigned to bring in some Indian prisoners, he promised them safe conduct. Local authorities wanted to execute them on the spot, but Jacob stood between the Indians and the settlers, warning that it would be necessary to kill him first.

1853. Called to the Southern Indian Mission in Washington County, Utah. Four years later he established a Paiute mission in Santa Clara. He failed to convert many but suppressed the desire to give up and instead "gave vent to the mission impulse by making peace and by engaging in pathfinding and other services short of the redemptive effort."

He became the "Mormon Leatherstocking" to Paiute, Piede, Moquis, Navajo, and Hopi Indians.

"Dirty Finger Jake"

1857. Following a meeting with Brigham Young and twelve Indian chiefs in Salt Lake City, Hamblin returned to his summer home in Mountain Meadows to find evidence of a terrible massacre. "Oh! horrible!indeed was the sight. … The slain, numbering over one hundred men, women and children, had been interred by the inhabitants of Cedar City. At three places the wolves had disinterred the bodies, and stripping the bones of their flesh, had left them strewn in every direction. At one place I noticed nineteen wolves pulling out the bodies, and eating the flesh. … This was one of the gloomiest times I ever passed through."

As a prosecution witness, Hamblin earned the animosity of John D. Lee, who was executed for his role in the massacre. To his dying day, Lee referred to Hamblin as "Dirty Finger Jake" or "The Fiend of Hell."

"Apostle to the Lamanites"

1873. When three young Navajos were killed by non-Mormons near Richfield, Utah, Hamblin was invited to meet with the Navajos before they took revenge. After trying to convince the Navajos that Mormons had not been involved, he was told, "You must not think of going home, but your American friends might go if they start immediately after they witness your death."

A tense, night-long council ensued, during which Hamblin's fifteen-year record with Indians was reviewed. After answering their questions and justifying his actions, he was finally released. "Again has the promise been verified, which was given me by the Spirit many years before, that if I would not thirst for the blood of the Lamanites, I should never die by their hands."

1876. Considered by many to have known the Indians of Utah and northern Arizona "better than any one who ever lived," Hamblin was ordained "Apostle to the Lamanites" by Brigham Young. However, he never served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve.

"Red Men Rules"

"Some of my rules and ways to managing Indians: "

"2nd. I think it useless to speak of things they cannot comprehend.
"3rd. I strive by all means to never let them see me in a passion.
"4th. Under no circumstances show fear.
"5th. Never approach them in an austere manner; nor use more words than is necessary to convey my ideas; nor in a higher tone of voice, than to be distinctly heard.
"6th. Always listen to them.
"7th. I never allow them to hear me use any obscene language.
"8th. I never submit to any unjust demands or submit to coercion.
"9th. I have tried to observe the above rules for the past twenty years and it has given me a salutary influence wherever I have met with them. Many times when I have visited isolated bands upon business and have been addressing them in a low tone of voice around their council fires, I have noticed that they have listened with attention and reverence. I believe if the rules that I have mentioned were observed there would be but little difficulty on our frontier with the Red man."

Death

1886. Anti-polygamy pressure had forced Jacob and his families into New Mexico. Contracting malaria while living in Pleasanton, the sixty-seven-year-old Hamblin weakened in health and died August 31. Initially buried in Pleasanton, he was re-interred in 1888 in the Alpine, Arizona, Cemetery.

Sources
Arnold, Frank R. "Utah Piety on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon." Improvement Era, June 1926, p. 765.
Christensen, C. L. "Personal Experiences of an Indian Interpreter of the Navajo Tribe." Contributor 16 (1895):555.
Corbett, Pearson H. Jacob Hamblin: the Peacemaker. Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1952.
Little, James A. Jacob Hamblin. Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1909.
Peterson, Charles S. "Lamanites and the Indian Mission." Journal of Mormon History 2 ( 1975):21-34.
Salt Lake City, Utah. LDS Church Archives. James G. Bleak, "Annals of the Southern Utah Mission."

	A Book of Mormons Richard S. Van Wagoner and Steven C. Walker Copyright 1982, Signature Books Salt Lake City, Utah Contents


	Jacob Hamblin (1819-1886)

		Jacob Hamblin was a pathfinder and peacemaker and the "Apostle to the Lamanites." Photograph courtesy Utah State Historical Society.


	Family Background 1819. April 2: Born Jacob Vernon Hamblin in Salem, Ohio, his family later homesteaded a large tract of land in Wisconsin. When he was nineteen, Hamblin worked in a lead mine but quit when the mine caved in, killing a co-worker. He married Lucinda Taylor in 1839 and later, Rachel Judd Henderson (1849), Priscilla Leavitt (1857), and Louisa Bonelli (1865). He was the father of twenty-four children. 1842. Hamblin was converted by the preaching of Elder Lyman Stoddard. When he told Lucinda that he intended to be baptized, she threatened to leave him. 1844. After two years in Nauvoo and a short mission in behalf of Joseph Smith's presidential candidacy, Hamblin moved his family west to Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Two years later, Hamblin and his three older children returned from a short trip to Council Bluffs to be met by Lucinda, who shoved thirteen-month-old Lyman under the fence to Jacob and screamed, "Take your little Mormon brats." "The family saw her for only one brief visit after this." Polygamist 1849. Hamblin married widow Rachel Judd Henderson of Council Bluffs eight months later. Having dreamed that he would marry her, he knocked on her door and announced, "My name is Jacob Hamblin, I was impressed to come to your home and ask you to be my wife." She replied, "I am Rachel Judd, and am willing to marry you, but it will be impossible for us to have children." Hamblin responded, "My name is Jacob, yours is Rachel, we will have two sons and shall name them Joseph and Benjamin." They also had three daughters. Peacemaker 1850. Sent to colonize Tooele the day of his arrival in Salt Lake. Though Indian depredations were common, Hamblin had a strong aversion to killing Indians. Assigned to bring in some Indian prisoners, he promised them safe conduct. Local authorities wanted to execute them on the spot, but Jacob stood between the Indians and the settlers, warning that it would be necessary to kill him first. 1853. Called to the Southern Indian Mission in Washington County, Utah. Four years later he established a Paiute mission in Santa Clara. He failed to convert many but suppressed the desire to give up and instead "gave vent to the mission impulse by making peace and by engaging in pathfinding and other services short of the redemptive effort." He became the "Mormon Leatherstocking" to Paiute, Piede, Moquis, Navajo, and Hopi Indians. "Dirty Finger Jake" 1857. Following a meeting with Brigham Young and twelve Indian chiefs in Salt Lake City, Hamblin returned to his summer home in Mountain Meadows to find evidence of a terrible massacre. "Oh! horrible!indeed was the sight. … The slain, numbering over one hundred men, women and children, had been interred by the inhabitants of Cedar City. At three places the wolves had disinterred the bodies, and stripping the bones of their flesh, had left them strewn in every direction. At one place I noticed nineteen wolves pulling out the bodies, and eating the flesh. … This was one of the gloomiest times I ever passed through." As a prosecution witness, Hamblin earned the animosity of John D. Lee, who was executed for his role in the massacre. To his dying day, Lee referred to Hamblin as "Dirty Finger Jake" or "The Fiend of Hell." "Apostle to the Lamanites" 1873. When three young Navajos were killed by non-Mormons near Richfield, Utah, Hamblin was invited to meet with the Navajos before they took revenge. After trying to convince the Navajos that Mormons had not been involved, he was told, "You must not think of going home, but your American friends might go if they start immediately after they witness your death." A tense, night-long council ensued, during which Hamblin's fifteen-year record with Indians was reviewed. After answering their questions and justifying his actions, he was finally released. "Again has the promise been verified, which was given me by the Spirit many years before, that if I would not thirst for the blood of the Lamanites, I should never die by their hands." 1876. Considered by many to have known the Indians of Utah and northern Arizona "better than any one who ever lived," Hamblin was ordained "Apostle to the Lamanites" by Brigham Young. However, he never served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. "Red Men Rules" "Some of my rules and ways to managing Indians: " "2nd. I think it useless to speak of things they cannot comprehend. "3rd. I strive by all means to never let them see me in a passion. "4th. Under no circumstances show fear. "5th. Never approach them in an austere manner; nor use more words than is necessary to convey my ideas; nor in a higher tone of voice, than to be distinctly heard. "6th. Always listen to them. "7th. I never allow them to hear me use any obscene language. "8th. I never submit to any unjust demands or submit to coercion. "9th. I have tried to observe the above rules for the past twenty years and it has given me a salutary influence wherever I have met with them. Many times when I have visited isolated bands upon business and have been addressing them in a low tone of voice around their council fires, I have noticed that they have listened with attention and reverence. I believe if the rules that I have mentioned were observed there would be but little difficulty on our frontier with the Red man." Death 1886. Anti-polygamy pressure had forced Jacob and his families into New Mexico. Contracting malaria while living in Pleasanton, the sixty-seven-year-old Hamblin weakened in health and died August 31. Initially buried in Pleasanton, he was re-interred in 1888 in the Alpine, Arizona, Cemetery. Sources Arnold, Frank R. "Utah Piety on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon." Improvement Era, June 1926, p. 765. Christensen, C. L. "Personal Experiences of an Indian Interpreter of the Navajo Tribe." Contributor 16 (1895):555. Corbett, Pearson H. Jacob Hamblin: the Peacemaker. Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1952. Little, James A. Jacob Hamblin. Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1909. Peterson, Charles S. "Lamanites and the Indian Mission." Journal of Mormon History 2 ( 1975):21-34. Salt Lake City, Utah. LDS Church Archives. James G. Bleak, "Annals of the Southern Utah Mission."