Useful to the Church and Kingdom: The Journals of James H. Martineau, Pioneer and Patriarch, 1850-1918, Volume: 1

by Noel A. Carmack (Editor), Charles M. Hatch (Editor)

Overview

After receiving a liberal arts education at the Munro Academy in Elbridge, New York, and a stint in the U.S.-Mexican War, James Henry Martineau spent his life as a surveyor, civil engineer, clerk, mapmaker, and pathfinder in Zion. After becoming a Latter-day Saint in 1850, Martineau went with Apostle George A. Smith to settle Parowan in southern Utah, with a commitment to building God’s kingdom in the West. As a leader in the Utah Territorial Militia he conducted military drills, witnessed events surrounding the Mountain Meadows Massacre and the legal trials of its perpetrators, explored wilderness areas, submitted reports, and drew maps to record his travels throughout the entire Mormon corridor.

These journals document his exploration of virgin lands in southern Utah, his laying out of townsites and farmland in Cache Valley, his participation in canal building and water projects in Arizona, and his near-death experiences while surveying rough, mountainous areas. His work for the Union Pacific Railroad through Weber Canyon and across the Salt Lake Promontory and Humboldt Desert in 1868 is one of the very few complete records of its kind. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781560854616
Publisher:	Signature Books, Incorporated
Publication date:	10/30/2023
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	648
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.70(d)
Age Range:	16 - 18 Years

About the Author

Noel A. Carmack is associate professor of art at Utah State University Eastern. He has published in BYU Studies, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, and elsewhere, and is co-editor with Karen Lynn Davidson of Out of the Black Patch: The Autobiography of Effie Marquess Carmack, Folk Musician, Artist, and Writer. 

Charles M. “Chick” Hatch was a freelance editor, demographer, and historian. He received both his BS and MS degrees from Utah State University. He co-edited, with Todd Compton, A Widow’s Tale: The 1884-1896 Diary of Helen Mar Kimball Whitney, which received the Best Documentary Award from the Mormon History Association in 2004. He died in 2022.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
General Introduction
Editorial Method
Locations of Drawings and Sketches in JHM Journal

The Journals
"My Life"

1. Beginnings, 1828-1850
2. "Trusting to the Lord for My Reward": Settling Parowan and Iron County, 1851-1859
3. "It Just Suits Me": Surveying the Northern Settlements and Union Pacific Railroad, 1860-1869
4. Federal Surveys and the Utah Northern Railroad, 1870-1883

Photographs and Illustrations

Editorial Reviews

"It is virtually impossible to overestimate the value of James H. Martineau's journal. Beneath his apparently upper-middle-class facade lies a man who was one of the poor Latter-day Saints who struggled on frontiers in Utah, Arizona, and Mexico. The journal reveals his unwavering commitment to God, the priesthood, faith healing, family, and family history. Martineau possessed a depth of spirituality unrivaled in nineteenth and early twentieth century Mormonism. Remarkably, he retained his faith despite a variety of struggles, especially during his later years. Throughout his trials he trusted unwaveringly in God's grace. The complexity of this journal reveals the story of one of the most significant Latter-day Saints who never achieved general authority status."--Thomas G. Alexander, Lemuel Hardison Redd Jr. Professor Emeritus of Western American History, Brigham Young University

"It is hard to overstate the significance of this expertly edited version of one of the 'holy grail' manuscripts of the nineteenth-century American West. Martineau's diary is a treasure-trove of sincere and revealing first-person experiences that should be read by all those interested in the history of American faith, frontier, and family. Carmack and Hatch excel in their presentation of more than six decades of Western American and Latter-day Saint history through both the extraordinary and mundane experiences of one pioneer and his family. Those who seek to understand why someone would embrace the difficult path of pioneer LDS life need look no further than this diary."--Dixie Dillon Lane, adjunct professor of history, Christendom College; contributing editor, Hearth & Field

From the Publisher