Mary Amelia Hamblin, 1832 — 1893
If you look closely at the fabric of Mary Amelia’s life you’ll find her mantra woven again and again and again. Not with threads of silk, or strands of gold but inauspiciously, in the vernacular of homespun cotton, “I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go, Dear Lord.”
Mary Amelia’s “goings” began February 10, 1832, the day she was born to Sarah Sturtevant and Jeremiah Leavitt II, the ninth child of what became an even dozen. Some say she was still a toddler when her parents, recently converted to the restored Church of Jesus Christ, chose to leave Hatley, Quebec, Canada to join the saints in Kirtland, Ohio. The die was cast.
When the saints were driven from Kirtland, Ohio and again from Nauvoo Illinois, the warp and weft were carefully strung on Mary Amelia’s loom. The “going” got harder at Mt. Pisgah. In one years’ time (from 1846–1847), Mary Amelia lost her father and three siblings. Disheartened, the remnant of her family made their way to Kanesville, Iowa (later renamed Council Bluffs), where everyone worked to earn enough money to cross the plains. In truth, what Mary Amelia earned were strong fibers of faith, which she wisely added to her weaving.
In the spring of 1850 they joined the wagon train company of Captain Milo Andrus. Mary Amelia was eighteen when she walked 950 miles to the Salt Lake Valley. They arrived in the afternoon of August 3, 1850 and less than three months later Mary Amelia married William Haynes Hamblin in the Old Tabernacle.
William and Mary Amelia had hoped to stay settled in Tooele but William, cut from the same sturdy cloth as his wife, was called many times by Brigham Young to go on missions with his brother, Jacob. Mary Amelia was often left alone with her young children for long periods of time. After four years of marriage, “going where the Lord wanted” included accepting her younger sister, Betsy as William’s second wife. Together, the two sisters kept their home and children happy and safe when William was away.
To Mary Amelia, “I’ll go” meant tying off the Tooele yarns and creating new beginnings in Santa Clara Valley… Clover Valley… then Parowan and finally Round Valley, Arizona. It meant giving birth to nine children and helping Betsy and Priscilla and many others do the same. It meant teaching children to not only believe in God but to trust him. It meant planting gardens in the desert. It meant accepting mission calls without conditions or reservations. It meant keeping a smile as you wave goodbye to your husband, knowing he might not come back alive. It meant trading with Indians, and hoping they were friendly. It meant burying loved ones, but not love. It meant squaring your shoulders and starting all over again after a flood. It meant weaving thirty yards of blue and white striped hickory shirting; start to finish in one season. It meant believing that one of the three Nephites might have helped you. It meant watching your husband die of poisoning and not being angry with God. It meant getting everyone to the St. George temple to be sealed together. It meant praying for miracles and recognizing them when they happened. It meant herding obstinate cattle across the Colorado River. It meant having only moldy barley bread and hogs heads to eat through the winter… and being grateful for it. It meant trying to keep the dirt out of a home that had a dirt floor. It meant being loyal to family. It meant dancing and singing at Round Valley.
On August 12th 1893, in the Graham Mountains, Mary Amelia Leavitt Hamblin was called home and she answered again, “I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go, Dear Lord.” But the tapestry she left for us to consider continues to be worked from the other side. We honor her for her courage, her unwavering faith and her noble life.
The Western Association of Leavitt Families – August 30, 2008