Happy Pioneer Day July 24! John Lebrecht Bear (John L. Bear/Baer, Johann Bar) 1838-1919, Progenitor of the Bear Family of Cape Cod - An Introduction

Among my father's belongings was a Morman bible.  The bible is marked by notes and, unfortunately, some child had been at it with a pen, but still what was this doing in my father's stuff? 

Luckily for me and my family (and other John L. Bear ancestors) we have the luxury of an autobiography.  John L. Bear tells us much about his early life living in Switzerland, about the spiritual path that lead him to leave his family in 1860, and his overland travel by wagon to Utah to join the Church of Latter Day Saints.  What a journey he had.  You can read John's autobiography here.

Johann Lebrecht Bear (Bar/Baer) was born in Alfoltorn Am Albis, Switzerland on 9 September 1838. His parents were Johann and Anna (Steger) Bar.  He was christened 23 September 1838 at Affoltern (more than likely reformed church/Protestant as Zurich was mostly Protestant at this time).  He was the youngest of ten children. If I am to believe what recorded information is out there (believing that LDS provided a pretty good genealogy of one of its members) the Bar family is recorded in Zurich for many generations before him, though I have personally not investigated any earlier generations.  According to his autobiography, John and his family had it pretty rough.  As children, he and his siblings, as well as everyone else in their village, went out early in the mornings before breakfast to work the fields. They stopped for breakfast and returned to the work for much of the day unless attending school. They were very poor.  John was close to his mother who seemed to be often very sick, as did John himself.  

Despite illness in his youth, hard work spinning silk and straw, gleaning wheat, and overall hardships of every day life, John Bear excelled at his lessons. He was chosen to continue his education beyond the age when most children would stop in order to begin full time work at home, or to be hired out to neighboring farms.  Ultimately family hardships and illnesses were too much, and John dropped out of class in order to contribute more fully. 

Even at an early age, John Bear was intensely interested in, and taken by, religion. He met, and was inspired by, Mormon missionaries. John was mocked by fellow townsmen for his religious leaning but stayed steadfast in his beliefs. He was baptized in the Church of Latter Day Saints while in Switzerland (21 December 1856).  At age 21 on 30 March 1860, John Bear, boarded the Ship Underwriter at Liverpool.  His name on the passenger list is Labrecht or Sebreth Bar. The Underwriter arrived in New York on 1 May 1860. John would return to Switzerland, and other European cities, many years later as a missionary himself. 

 

On board the Underwriter there were 594 "Saints," 70 were from Switzerland, nearly everyone onboard was ultimately headed to Utah.  On the month long journey, there were seven marriages and four deaths.  According to his autobiography, John's marriage to "his betrothed" was one of those marriages presided over by Elder James D. Ross. (John Bear calls him a "Scottish Captain." James Darling Ross was a missionary who presided over the emigrants on the ship, and was Captain of the James Darling Ross Company responsible for the wagon train to Utah. Ross was apparently equally inexperienced in frontier living and travel.) In his written account, John never mentions "his betrothed" by name.  However, his marriage to Susanna Sidler is recorded in Zurich on 16 January 1860 (proclamation or intentions recorded 8 January 1860). John Bear and Susanna Sidler are both identified on the ship's manifest and wagon train list of passengers - Susannah still with her maiden name.  Susanna's sister Anna, and her daughter Anna Hegetschweiler, are travelling with them. All seem to have applied for passports in Switzerland about the same time.  His written account does tell us that in 1859 he had prayed for a wifely companion and found one in his church branch.  He also mentions that his soon to be wife wanted to emigrate along with two of her relatives. I cannot account for the Zurich marriage and a separate onboard marriage. 

      

John's autobiography describes a little bit of the turmoil of embarking on the wagon train, and the encounters and dealing with hustlers and rough folk along the way.  I'm sure it was strange to be in another country and not know the language, although there were several from his country, and of course his wife.  John's account touches on his disillusionment and shock at what he had expected to find in America, and what he actually found  - including concerns with the church, mainly polygamy.

               
On 13 June 1862, John's wife and their infant (John's account implies it was a boy) would be killed by a cannon ball during an event in Utah called the Morrisite Massacre or Morrisite War.  I suggest you read up on this historical event as there is a lot to it and much more than I can possibly cover here.  Basically the group consisted of followers of an excommunicated church member named Joseph Morris who organized a new church called Church of the First Born. This church was heavily geared toward preparation for an imminent second coming.  The group was soon to experience internal issues and disillusionment of its hungry and increasingly doubtful members. John Bear was one of those dissenting members attempting to leave the group.  There was an ultimate clash between the members at Kingston Fort, and law enforcement or territorial militia became involved. If you read up on it, it was quite an event.  There is a monument in South Weber, Utah to commemorate the tragedy. Several people were killed including the leader Joseph Morris. Two others killed were John's wife and sixteen week old infant who were hit by a cannonball while they were holding out in the fort.

Although John does describe the event and his families' killing, he again never mentions either by name.  Two women were killed the day prior, one was a Mrs. Barbara Diethelm, who was the mother of the woman who would be John's second wife, Barbara Diethelm.  A Mary Christofferson survived but with serious injury to her face and jaw which was shattered by a cannonball.  There are photographs of this woman that exist.  John was among a large group of men arrested for resistance (several others for second degree murder) and taken into custody, but ultimately pardoned and released.   

The "Morrisite's" scattered across the West, some to Nevada and Montana (photo above is an example of a Morrisite meetinghouse.) Another group went to Idaho chaperoned by troops. The "troops" were made up men who had joined the military to fight wiht the Union in the Civil War, led by Colonel Patrick Conner. The military created a camp near present day Soda Springs; the Morrisites created a town called Morristown which eventually became part of Soda Springs. Here John became ill, and was nursed by awoman in the group named Barbara Diethelm.  As mentioned above, Barbara Diehelm had lost her mother during the massacre. John and Barbara Diethelm married on 12 October 1863 at Soda Springs, Idaho. John Bear was baptized in the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints on 29 November 1869 at Malad City, Oneida, Idaho by Edmund C. Brand; on this day he was also ordained an elder.

John Bear states ... "We arrived at Soda Springs close to Bear River, on the 3d of June, 1863. Indians must have left there only a few hours before, as there were yet live coals in the ash heaps. That very night it snowed three to four inches deep..."

In the next paragraph he says, "My sickness increased, yea, got worse from day to day. I knew the cause was that freezing I had to endure that winter up in the canyon. Barbara Diethelm, the daughter of that widow woman who was killed and buried with my wife at Weber, took care of me while I was sick, and indeed she could not have done any better if I had been one of her own people."

Dates get fuzzy at this point in John's story.  There is a daughter named Barbara Diethelm for whom most records provide a birthdate of April 1862 (two months prior to the Morrisite incident) with a place of birth as Weber, Utah.  This couple did not marry until 12 October 1863.  I am not unclear of where an error might lie - whether in daughter Barbara's birth year, John's second marriage date, or in who was this child's mother.  Most records identify Barbara as the daughter of John and Barbara Bear, and the repeat of the first name would make that seem probable.  The couple have another daughter in 1864, a son John Jacob in April 1867 at Soda Springs, and John Lebrecht 1869 at Soda Springs.  John's wife Barbara Diethelm is my ancestral grandmother. [Note: She was probably the passenger listed as Deithelm, Catharina (Age 25).] My great great grandfather was Jacob John born in Missouri in 1872. Two more children were born to this couple at Missouri - Mary Louise in 1875, and Lilly Maybell in 1878. John L. Bear became a naturalized citizen on 4 September 1876.

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John (aged 30) and his family to include wife Barbara (aged 35), daughters Barbara (8) and Emily (5), and sons Jacob (3) and Lebrecht (1) are enumerated on 30 July 1870 at Council Bluffs Kane Township, Pottawattamie County, Iowa.

The oldest son, John Jacob, died of croup at Agency, Missouri, when he was just four years old on 2 December 1871. Additionally this death notice for son John Jacob gives confirming explanation:

John Bear was sent on a mission to Switzerland in February 1873.  He sailed on the Atlantic of the White Star Line.  He wrote to the Church on 12 February 1863 giving a graphic account of his voyage.  In 1874 he was at Geneva Switzerland.  He returned to the United States in 1874, arriving at Philadelphia on 22 December.  He returned to his farm in Agency, Missouri (10 miles from St. Joseph) on 28 December 1874.  Here his daughters were born - May Louise in 1875 and Lillie Maybell in 1878.  His wife Barbara died on 7 November 1878.

John Lebrecht Bear was again sent on a mission to Switzerland and Germany in 1880.  He needed to place his children with others for the time he would be away.  According to the Church History, homes were offered to the two oldest girls and two oldest boys.  A Morman family named Nesser offered to take the two year old, but uncertain of where five year old daughter Mary was sent.   John Bear went to Switzerland on 24 April 1880.  Census Records show that Barbara Bear, 18 year old domestic servant, was at Washington, Missouri in the home of Silas McDonald. Emilia or Emily Bear, 16 year old servant,  is enumerated in the 1880 U.S. Federal Census at St. Joseph Missouri in the home of Robert Gunn and his family.  Eleven year old John Lebrecht is a servant on a farm of John Moedrell in Agency, Missouri and my great great grandfather Jacob Bear, aged 7, is enumerated as a servant in the home of farmer F.H. Deshon at Agency.  I have currently not identified the two youngest daughters in 1880 census.

While serving in Switzerland, John married Esther Salzman Spillman.  Their daughter was born there on 27 January 1882.  

 Kansas City Journal, April 1882.

They all returned to the United States in the Spring of 1882.  Esther died 21 February 1891.

Three years later, 55 year old John Lebrecht Bear married Harriett A. Winans on 3 March 1894 at Chippewa Station, Osceloa, Michigan. Harriet died on 21 March 1906.

John Bear married one more time on 26 February 1907 to Laura A. Lunde Smith; she dies in 1934 at age 90. Note that I currently have not found an earlier marriage record for Laura. The marriage record does appear to be John L. Bear subject of this report but identifies his spouse as Laura A. Smith. Two questions: was she married before, and was she a member of the Church?

John was 81 years old when he died on 14 December 1919.

Some Sources:

https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/m/MORRISITES.shtml

https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/uhq/article-abstract/44/2/112/208044/Men-Motives-and-Misunderstandings-A-New-Look-at?redirectedFrom=PDF

https://www.rickjust.com/blog/emma-and-the-morrisite-war

https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/ddee803f-e563-4ec3-b39a-6a5d1c47afa1/0/0

"Schweiz, Katholische und Reformiert Kirchenbücher, 1418-1996", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6F8M-C26Y : Fri Mar 08 21:53:41 UTC 2024), Entry for Johann Lebrecht Bäer and Susanna Fidler, 16 Jan 1860.

https://octa-trails.org/genealogy-paper-trail/?srsltid=AfmBOopHQc2qHY5Jo6TBiIdigZPjbqPRMXbo5ULdcjHX3MzPOMnZfgml
  

• Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel Database: Managed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this is a massive free tool for finding ancestors who crossed the plains using wagon and handcart companies. You can search it via the FamilySearch Pioneer Discovery Experience to see exactly which wagon company your ancestor traveled with. [1, 2, 3, 4]

https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/6dc9975d-fdfa-40a8-a1af-829a3a5e59d8/0/0?lang=eng

"Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89CT-57F?cc=2060668&wc=ZMXM-4WL%3A352319201%2C1583573301 : 26 April 2019), Jackson > Marriage records 1905-1910 vol 7-8 > image 238 of 738; Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City.

The Saints Herald, accessed online.

Zion's Ensign, December 18, 1919, accessed online.

Kansas City Journal, April 9, 1882, page 6, accessed online.