The Boy Who Lived

One of the few stories I knew from my family history before embarking on this journey is that one of my ancestors was a Pony Express rider. Pretty cool! Even cooler, he was one of the last living Pony Express riders at the time of his death in 1930. (He lived to the ripe, old age of 93!) His passing kind of marked the end of an era, or as one obituary put it, “the end of the frontier.”

William Streeper, the Pony Express rider, is my great-great-great-grandfather. That’s three greats for those of you that lost count. And here’s why, in my estimation, he’s pretty great.

The Boy Who Lived

When William Streeper was born, nobody thought he was going to live. He was so frail as an infant that his mother had to carry him around on a pillow for four months! Well I guess that unusual prescription worked because he lived.

When he was still a young boy, his parents were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, where the main body of the church resided. William Streeper recalls playing ball as a boy with Joseph Smith, the first leader and prophet of the LDS church.

There’s this scene in the movie “Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration," which I saw countless times while I was a missionary for the LDS church, where Joseph Smith is playing baseball with a bunch of kids. It’s just so cool to think that not only did Joseph actually play ball and that wasn’t just a scene to romanticize him, but he played ball with my third great-grandfather! (William Streeper was quite proud that he personally knew all the prophets of the LDS church. He had lunch with Brigham Young after he was mistakenly reported dead following a deadly encounter between Native Americans and Pony Express riders. He worked for John Taylor hauling freight. And so on…)

Pioneer Work Ethic

When I think of the pioneers who settled the American frontier, I think of men and women who had a great determination and an excellent work ethic. I’m sure there were a few lazy pioneers, but William Streeper was not one of them.

William began working when he was 8 as a lamp lighter in St. Louis. He was responsible for lighting 125 lamps every night and extinguishing them every morning. (Okay, I couldn't help but think of the lamplighter in "Le Petit Prince!" So please indulge me this picture.) And he was paid a whoppin’ $5 a month! William saved the money to help his family purchase cattle so they could make the long trek to Utah and join the Mormon pioneers. At age 13, his family had saved enough money to travel west. On the journey, William learned how to drive cattle, a skill that served him well throughout his life.

When William was just 17, his father passed away. As the oldest, William was suddenly the provider of a large family. He began carrying mail for the Pony Express to support his mother and siblings. After the Pony Express was replaced by stagecoach (and then rail), William began hauling freight from L.A. to Salt Lake. Sometimes, his work carried him as far as Montana or Missouri.

William was absent from home for months at a time, but on one of his breaks at home, he met Miss Mary Amelia Richards. William continued hauling freight to save money so he could settle down with Mary. On his last journey, his mules (63 head) were stolen by a band of Indians, and he was left stranded with his freight a hundred miles outside of Omaha. He was discouraged, but he didn’t give up. He made his way back to Omaha, got a loan to purchase a new team and finished the haul.

After Mary and William were married, they were given the unpleasant assignment to settle the “Muddy,” a wasteland somewhere in Nevada. These were difficult days for the new couple. Just when things were starting to flourish and their hard work was paying off, a fire destroyed everything they had except the clothes on their back. Literally. And they weren’t wearing much either because of the unbearable heat in Nevada. After putting out the fire, he found his wife sitting on a stump in only her petticoat looking defeated. Never one to let a situation beat him, William announced that this was just the opportunity they had been looking for! They were going to move closer to family and start fresh. He gathered clothes (to cover their petticoats and long johns) and food from neighbors--just enough to make it to Centerville, Utah where they lived for the rest of their lives.

In Centerville, William’s hard work finally paid off. He was an industrious man and all his business, agricultural, and merchandising endeavors thrived.

Pure religion undefiled is this…

From an early age, William sought opportunities to serve others as Jesus Christ would have. In October 1856 (when William was 19), a group of immigrants traveling by handcart to the Salt Lake valley got caught in a series of early winter storms that blew through the Rockies. Decimated by hunger and freezing temperatures, the immigrants had little hope of survival. After news of the handcart companies reached Salt Lake, a rescue company was assembled. William Streeper was one of the first to volunteer.

Because of his kindness, William avoided many confrontations with Native Americans. Rather than treating them as hostile savages, he treated them as friends. He tried to learn their language. He shared food with them and farming tips. He was also the beneficiary of kindness on their part.

William also believed in defending others. In one humorous account, he retells helping a woman who was being harassed by the local sheriff for “parking” her horse in front of ZCMI, a large department store downtown.

He was always giving food to neighbors and those that were in need. His daughter recorded that "he never went empty-handed to Salt Lake or anywhere. He bought meal and flour supplies for widows and 'underground' widows. He always had pockets full of candy for the children." He reminds me of an old man in my congregation as a child that we called "Grandpa Gumball." I loved that man! I'm sure William had many fans as well! Maybe they called him Grandpa Gumball too.

 He and Mary were also generous hosts. They loved to have company and rarely was their house without guests. In the wintertime, William would take friends and neighbors out on his beautiful sleigh. He never neglected to take the widows of Centerville out for a ride each winter. One year to repay him for his kindness, the widows of Centerville threw him a birthday party!

William’s kindness reminds me of a verse from the Bible. “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27) It’s one of my favorites because it captures the essence of being a Christian. How can we profess to love God if we don’t care about His children that need our help?

So that’s why William, the boy who lived, is so great! Not only did he have a cool job, but he worked hard and he knew what it meant to be a Christian.

Source: "A Documentary History of William Henry Streeper and Mary Amelia Richards Streeper" published by William Henry Streeper Family Organization, August 1989