Ellen Melissa Barker Halls

By Nina Halls Braithwaite and Kristine Halls Smith

Ellen Melissa Barker's parents, Joseph Barker and Mary Ann Doidge Barker joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England and came to America after the birth of their first daughter, Sarah Jane. Joseph obtained work driving a team across the plains to Utah and Mary Ann followed in another company. She walked most of the way and did the laundry for the captain of the group in order to get transportation for her baby and possessions.

The family settled in Parowan and eventually five more daughters were born - Mary Ann, Emma Amelia, Catherine Maria, Ellen Melissa, and Georgina Madora.

Ellen Melissa Barker was born on April 20, 1871 in Parowan, Iron County, Utah. She was usually called Ella. She was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by William E. Jones on June 17, 1879 and confirmed by John Robinson the same day. She had been blessed by William C. McGregor at Parowan.

Like many others, they had very little of this world's goods and Ellen's mother and older sisters were forced to earn a living by gleaning in the wheat fields, husking corn, and working in the homes of others. Her father, being a tailor, found it hard to earn a living at his trade and spent much of his time freighting to Pioche, Nevada. He eventually established a tailoring business in Eureka, Nevada.

Ellen's mother was advised not to take a family of daughters to the rough mining camp where Joseph found work as a tailor, and so Grandmother was forced to care for her family alone. She taught school in their home taking produce or materials for her pay. She also did washing and anything she could to provide a living.

One cold Christmas eve, the little girls had retired and their stockings were hanging for an expected gift. Mary Ann scraped the last flour from the bin to make some sugar cookies as a surprise. She had made a rag doll for each little girl. A knock came on the door and she opened it to see a neighbor lady with small baskets for each girl filled with molasses candy and other sweets. The girls remembered this as the happiest Christmas they ever had.

Finally Ellen's mother divorced Joseph Barker and remarried into polygamy to James Dunton. From this union came her first son, John Harvey Dunton.

Some years after this, Ellen's father, Joseph Barker, died when the theater building in which he had his shop and where he was sleeping burned. The "Eureka Sentinel," telling of the incident, described him as a kindly man known as "Mormon Joe."

In the year 1879, a call came from the church presidency for a company of men, women, and children to settle the San Juan country in southern Utah. Ellen’s four older sisters were put into other homes to work for their living, and James Dunton, Mary Ann and her three youngest children, Ellen, Dora, and John joined others in putting as many of their possessions as they could into a wagon and starting on the long trek across the Escalante Desert toward the "Hole-in-the-Rock."

Ellen was allowed to ride in the wagon to care for her little brother who was less than a year old. She was a motherly type and spent many hours caring for her little brother and carried him astride her hip. He was a husky child and she was just eight years old at the time. Thus developed a fondness for him that lasted throughout her life.

After descending the precipitous road down through the Hole-in-the-Rock, they crossed the icy Colorado River on January 28, 1880 and arrived in Bluff City on April 6th. The first year was spent at Montezuma Fort.

Mr. Dunton hauled lumber from Durango two summers and one winter, after which they moved to Mancos, Colorado and spent the next winter living in a dugout. Later they hauled logs and built a one-room log cabin.

At first, the girls were unable to attend school because of a lack of clothes to wear. They had received some schooling in Parowan and also instruction from their mother. The school was two miles away and it was necessary to cross a river on a plank. One day their mother sent Dora and Ellen to town to get some groceries. She told them if they were able to cross the river without falling in, they could go to school the following year. On the way home Ellen had crossed safely, but Dora became dizzy when halfway across. She called to her sister for help. In going back for Dora, Ellen fell into the swollen stream and was washed several yards down the stream. A woman and her son, who lived close, had been watching the little girls, and when they saw her fall, the young man ran to the stream and rescued Ellen who was able to grasp a willow on the bank. They were finally allowed to go to school. Winters were cold with deep snow. Their mother used to wrap their feet in burlap to keep them warm.

Ellen grew to be a beautiful, slender young lady with lovely, clear skin, wavy, dark brown hair, and blue eyes. She was about five feet four inches tall. She loved to dance and take part in sports. Many times after dancing nearly all night, she would go home and put on her house dress and help her mother in doing washing. She and her sister would ride horseback to gather and deliver the clothes which they washed for others.

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