Sarah Priscilla Hamblin, 1841 — 1927
Sarah Priscilla Leavitt Hamblin was born 8 May, 1841 in Nauvoo, Illinois. She was the twelfth and last child of Sarah and Jeremiah Leavitt II. The family lived on a farm seven miles from Nauvoo and felt that at last this would be a permanent home for them.
One incident in Sarah’s life was retold many times to future generations. The family had gone to the docks on the Mississippi river to get supplies. A boat carrying some of the church leaders came into the dock while they were there. Among these men was the prophet Joseph Smith. Sarah always remembered the feeling of peace she felt as the prophet took her hand, patted her head and said, “May the Lord bless you, child.” This peaceful feeling led her to know he was a prophet of God and helped sustain her in the many trials that laid ahead.
When the word came that the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum had been killed, the family was grief stricken. This sad, dark time for the Saints seemed to strengthen the testimonies of all the faithful members. With the threat of mobs, the family was forced to leave their home and migrate west with the rest of the saints.
In August 1846, Sarah’s father died in Bonaparte Iowa. Even the death of her father did not deter the family from following a prophet of God. Pushing forward they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley August 3, 1850. With sunbonnets in hand, standing on the wagon wheel, Sarah and her sister Betsy waved and shouted “Hurrah for Zion! Hurrah for Zion!”
The family eventually settled in Tooele, Utah at the same time Jacob Hamblin and his family moved there. The two families became well acquainted, and together they moved to settle Santa Clara in southern Utah. It was while living here that Jacob asked Sarah to be his wife. They were married in the Endowment House 11 September, 1857. To this union were born nine children.
Because of the mounting rise in Indian troubles, it was felt that Jacob’s calming influence was badly needed in Kanab, Utah. They arrived at the fort in September 1869. Moving again to the outer fringes of civilization proved very difficult for Priscilla. But with hard work they built a thriving community and by 1872, there were about 100 families living there with new families arriving all the time.
In January 1873, the call came to prepare a route for the settlement of Arizona. By January 1878, Jacob and Priscilla headed with their family toward Lee’s ferry. The settlement of Arizona would prove to be the most difficult the church would undertake. As they were about to pull away from another home, Jacob noticed tears in Priscilla’s eyes. He climbed in the wagon seat beside her and said “I know it’s asking a lot of you to go with me… I won’t object if you want to stay here.” Priscilla squared up her shoulders and firmly replied, “Drive on Jacob!…”
Priscilla was well known for her skills as a midwife. President Wilford Woodruff set her apart with a very choice blessing that she would never lose a mother or a child if she prayed often and listened to the spirit. It is estimated that she delivered more than a thousand babies in the Arizona settlements, many of them her own grandchildren. Even though there were occasions when nature was not working just right, Priscilla never lost a child or mother.
After the death of her husband Jacob, Priscilla purchased a small ranch in Nutrioso, AZ. After the ten-year drought, she sold her ranch and purchased a home in Eagar, AZ. Here she lived out the last years of her life living near some of her children and grandchildren.
Sarah Priscilla Leavitt Hamblin died 24 July 1927 and is buried next to Jacob in Alpine, Arizona.
We honor here her life of devotion to God and Family.
The Western Association of Leavitt Families – August 30, 2008