Son of John Ockey and Elizabeth Taylor

Married Eliza Brewer, 22 May 1841, New York City, New York, New York

Married Sarah Cole, 12 Jun 1849, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah

Married Esther Jones, 26 Dec 1856, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah

History - Edward Ockey was born in Bishop's Frome, Hereford England on 27 February 1816. He was the tenth child of twelve children of John Ockey and Elizabeth Taylor.

Edward Ockey was one of the fortunate ones who heard the gospel when Wilford Woodruff preached in England. Wilford Woodruff was preaching the gospel in northern England. Suddenly he told the Saints he would not be with them longer. They asked him where he was going and he said "I don't know." That night in his room the Holy Ghost whispered to him, "Go south." Next morning he got on the stage with a new member of the church named William Benbow, and traveled South. William Benbow said to him, "I have a brother and his wife, John and Jane Benbow. Perhaps you can go to them and tell them of the gospel." Wilford said, "We shall see where the Lord directs us."

They traveled by stagecoach all day, rested one night and traveled all day the next day until they reached the town of Worcester. He got off the stage at Worcester and began to walk the dusty roads to Hereford. They walked all day until they came to the home of John and Jane Benbow. They rejoiced at seeing their brother, William. William introduced them to Wilford Woodruff and told them he had a message for them to hear. They prepared supper and then listened to the gospel.

Two days later they were baptized with some of their friends. I know he could not have found his way to Ben Bow farm without being guided by the Lord. The people there were very religious. They had studied the Bible and although they felt many churches taught a lot of truth, they felt they lacked the authority to preach the gospel. They were praying that they would be guided to the church, having the authority on earth.

John Benbow was a very wealthy man. He had on his farm a large meeting place where people could meet to study the Bible and pray. He called the people together to hear Wilford Woodruff speak. In thirty days he baptized 45 preachers and 160 members of the United Brothern church. One who heard the gospel and recognized it to be true was Edward Ockey. He was baptized in August 1840. While he was in England Wilford Woodruff baptized eighteen hundred saints.

Edward was a wealthy young landowner from the area. When he was a teenager his mother had died. His father died when he was 23, leaving Edward the farm. He had two sisters who also joined the church. The next April he sold his farm and traveled with his sisters, and other saints, to Liverpool. His brothers were very bitter about the church and tried to prevent them from going to America. The night before they left Wilford Woodruff spent the night with them. They talked most of the night with his brothers who were trying to stop him from going.

When they arrived in Liverpool they found the other apostles preparing to go to America. There were a number of saints gathered there to go with them. His sisters became discouraged and decided to return home. Edward joined the saints gathered there. There were seven saints who lacked the funds to sail. One of these was Eliza Brewer. Edward stepped forward and paid their way. They sailed with the apostles Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, John Taylor, Willard Richards, Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith. They were 28 days crossing. They had a tolerable good passage except for one rough storm when the deck was filled with water and some sails torn away.

They arrived in New York on May 20th, 1841. He married Eliza Brewer in the home of Brother Foster in New York in the presence of the Quorum of the Twelve. Brother Wilford Woodruff performed the service. It was his first marriage ceremony. They traveled to Pittsburgh and took a boat down the Ohio River to Nauvoo. The river was very low and they had a tedious trip. He tells how thrilled he was when Joseph Smith met them at the dock, shook his hand and welcomed them to Nauvoo.

They arrived in Nauvoo on the first day of July 1841. They stayed in Nauvoo for three months, then bought a sizeable farm six miles east of town. He built a comfortable home and planted grain, hay, peach trees, and vegetables. He had $2000 left after he paid for his property. He donated it to the fund to bring Saints to America. They were happy in Nauvoo, but the persecution increased and life became more difficult.

After the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum he began to make plans to go west with the saints. When the Nauvoo temple was completed they received their endowments and were sealed together as a family. At this time they had two little boys, John Edward Brewer Ockey and Charles Richard Brewer Ockey. Eliza was expecting their third child. He sold his home and farm for a mere trifle, fixed up his wagons and prepared to find a new home.

Trusting in the Lord to direct the leaders, he crossed the Mississippi River in June 1846. When they came to the "sand openings, near to the Potawattomie Indian village," under a wagon, Eliza gave birth to another boy. They named him Heber Brewer Ockey. Edward suffered much illness after leaving Nauvoo (malaria fever) and Eliza was never strong after her baby was born. They arrived in Winter Quarters on the west side of the Missouri river in Oct of 1846 and began to prepare for the winter as best they could. They built a small cabin and set about cutting hay and planting winter wheat. It was a very bad winter for them. Edward, Eliza and their two oldest boys became ill with Black Scurvy (black leg fever). On the 20th of April, Eliza died.

Many saints died that winter. There is a cemetery built there in their honor. I was deeply touched as I read 'Eliza Brewer age 27'. Carved in stone around the border of the marker are the words 'And should we die, before our journey's through, Happy Day, All is well.' And she did die before her journey was through, but because of their great faith, all is well.

In the spring, Edward was able to raise an outfit and gathered his little family around him for the trek into the unknown. They left with the second company of Saints in June 1847. Edward was ill much of the way and had a great deal of trouble because he had no one to care for his children. They arrived in Salt Lake Valley on the third day of October in 1847. The family consisted of three sons, John Edward Brewer Ockey, age 5, Charles Richard Brewer Ockey, age 3, and Heber Brewer Ockey age 1. They immediately set about planting winter wheat and preparing for winter. That winter was a hard one and they had little food. The four of them lived for some time on 2 pints of meal a day with a little water stirred in, one pint in the morning and one at night. They ground their corn by hand and ate even the bran and were grateful to the Lord for that which they had. They were greatly blessed by the Lord and enjoyed good health that winter in spite of the poor rations.

Tragedy struck in the spring. Edward was at a meeting of the Presidents of the Seventies at the saw pit to discuss the building of a home for someone. He had his children with him because there was no one to care for them at home. The sawyers had carelessly left a log rolled part way up on the skids, blocked by a chip. The children played on the logs and the chip was dislodged and the log rolled down on his oldest son, John. He was killed instantly on 27 Feb 1848, just a month before his sixth birthday. He was buried in the old cemetery. (This was located east of what was then called Pioneer Square, now known as Pioneer Park, in downtown Salt Lake. A few years ago this cemetery was moved because buildings were going to be erected in that area. The contents of the graves were removed and reburied at the pioneer park near the 'This is the Place' monument.)

Spring brought a busy time for the saints in the valley. They planted corn, buckwheat, beans, melons and other seeds they had brought with them. Edward had brought a pocketful of peach stones from Nauvoo and he planted these. In a few years, he had some of the finest peaches grown in the Valley. He had some really great crops growing and was very encouraged. Then the crickets came. Just when it looked as if all would be lost, the seagulls flew down and devoured the crickets and the crops were saved. Because of the blessings of the Lord, Edward's crops grew and he was able to have not only enough for his family but for others as well.

Edward married Sarah Cole on 12 June 1849. They had ten children. In the fall of 1852, they were called to move to Nephi. It was late in the year when they arrived and winter came early. He had no chance to harvest any hay, and he lost many of his cattle that winter for lack of food for them. He took with him the pocketful of peach stones he had brought from Nauvoo. He had the first peaches in Nephi.

In December of 1856, he married Esther Jones and they had 6 children. Edward was always faithful to the Lord. When he sold his farm in England and gave his money to bring some of the saints to America, Wilford Woodruff made him a promise that because of his sacrifice neither he nor his descendants would ever lack for bread. There were some very hard days after they left Nauvoo but he always had something to feed his family. He was always generous with others, caring for his fellow man and the less fortunate. He always paid a full tithing and served faithfully wherever he was called. He was a man who gave his all to the Lord because he knew the gospel was true. He would expect as much from each of us as his descendants.

Edward Ockey died August 14, 1871, in Nephi and was buried in the Nephi cemetery.