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Arabella Hailey Bird






















This is Arabella Hailey Bird. She married Walter Bird in 1855 in Springville, Utah. She was born in 1838 in England and came to America/Utah in 1852. Her family moved back to Independence, MO after a tragic event occured between her father, Thomas Hailey, and some members of the church who painted their faces and horsed whipped him in the middle of the intersection of 1st East & 2nd South (according to Dean Bird). Thomas Hailey refused to allow a group of men to borrow his horses for a second time to rescue saints on the plains heading to Utah, after the first trip his horses were taken care of so poorly.

Arabella stayed behind to be with her husband and young family. She later gave birth to 13 children and left behind a wonderful posterity. She died in 1906 in Springville, Utah. In memory of this great woman and grandmother, my wife and I chose to name our second child after her: Presley "Arabella" Bird who was born December 9th, 2007.
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Unknown said…
This story of Thomas Hailey is not a simple story. Thomas' parents William Hailey and Catherine Coles were in the ill-fated Willie handcart company and perished crossing the plains with the company. They, fortunately for them, perished before they reached the awful snows in Wyoming where so many others perished from the elements. William was 70 years old and Catherine seven years younger and were walking across the plains. I speculate that Thomas harbored some resentment at how these Saints were left so unprepared for the journey. I was always told as a youth that the "issue" with Thomas and the LDS leaders was plural marriage. My sister has been corresponding with some of Thomas' descendants in Missouri and they has asked that she do their Temple work in the LDS temple after their deaths. Some have even returned to the LDS Church.
October 18, 2009 at 7:51 AM
Devin Bird said…
John,

I just noticed you made two comments on my blogs. Sorry I didn't respond earlier! I can't access your blog as its private I'm guessing. I'm very interested to learn more about the Hailey story crossing the plains and them moving back to Missouri. Dean Bird, the only living grandson of Walter and Arabella Bird, told me the story about Thomas getting whipped by a group of men with painted faces. I'd never heard the plural marriage story. Thanks for sharing. Please email me if possible.

My address is dlbird24@gmail.com

Thanks,

Devin Bird
Springville Utah
November 27, 2009 at 12:06 PM
Olan L. Smith said…
This is my family also, Thomas Hailey is my line, and I find this so very interesting, having hear tales of this since a youth from my father.
In Kindred Spirit,
Olan L. Smith
son of Walter W. Smith, Sr.,
son of Paul Smith and Lillie Pearl Hailey,
dau. of William Francis Hailey, son of Thomas Hailey.
June 17, 2014 at 8:49 PM
Unknown said…
I'm Bob Barton, Nellie Bird was my mother. I'm very impressed with your 'A Bird's Eye View of Family Hitory. Great job!!.
July 18, 2014 at 3:08 PM
Unknown said…
As stated in the original post, William Hailey died en route to Salt Lake City and was buried in Nebraska near the North Platte river. In the Willey handcart group, William and Catherine were part of William Woodward's "3rd hundred" group. They were assigned to the 4th tent of this group. Catherine, age 66 at the time, did not perish but at some point during the trip left the company and returned to the United States. There are two instances in the Willie Handcart journals where she might have turned around. The first occurred on September 28 when the Willey Company encountered a group of approximately 100 "apostate" members going East from Salt Lake City. But her return most likely occurred at Fort Laramie on or about October 1st. This is speculation, but Paul Lyman's journal/commentary for this date indicates that "the temptation for several of the women to stay at Fort Laramie proved too great."

Catherine joined the RLDS church and lived for another 17 years. Her obituary can be found in the RLDS records.

There is a great deal of history to be filled in between this journey and her death in Missouri on 26 Dec. 1873.

My mother is Kay Bird and William and Catherine are my 4th Great Grandparents.
July 17, 2015 at 11:37 PM
Unknown said…
I had no idea this site existed! Arabella is my great great great grandmother who I'm named after, and I always wondered what information there was about her life besides birth and death. It's so cool to find this!
February 26, 2017 at 8:48 PM
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