My Great Grandmother Matilda Josephine Zundel

Matilda Josephine Zundel Harding

*Compiled and Edited by W. Craig Burrell

Key Points

Born: 16 January 1845, Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois

Parents: John Jakob Zundel and Sarah Forstner

Spouse and Marriage: Charles Harding, 30 September 1865

Death: 29 December 1922, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah

            Matilda’s parents were born to two families that left Wiernsheim, Worttemberg, Germany in the pursuit of religious freedom. The Johann Eberhart Zundel family and the Johann Georg Forstner families Joined the Rapp Society in Germany. They were among the 800 members of the society that immigrated to America settling In Harmony Pennsylvania in 1805.

            In the spring of 1814 the society moved to New Harmony, Indiana along the Wabash River. Georg Rapp later sold this land and the society moved to Economy, Pennsylvania in 1825. John Jacob Zundel Matilda’s father was born in Germany in 1796 and her Mother Sarah Forstner was born in New Harmony Pennsylvania in 1809.

            Both of these children were raised in the Rapp society. They dressed like simple Swabian peasants of the 18^th century. In school they learned German and the three R’s. They attended religious meetings almost daily and studied the bible. People in the society had an appreciation for art and music. Children were taught to work hard. When a boy became 14 years of age, he was trained in a trade of his choice.

            Georg Rapp taught that men and women should live a celibate life and never marry. For this and several other reason’s John Jacob Zundel and Sarah Forster left the society in 1831 and were married. They settled in Phillipsburg, Beaver County Pennsylvania. John Jacob made his living there as a butcher. This was the trade he learned as a boy in the society.

            In 1836 John Jacob heard a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints preach the restored gospel and shortly thereafter he and Sarah were baptized in the Ohio River. Soon after this he sold his business and moved to join the saints in Missouri. He was driven with the saints out of Missouri and into Illinois.

            John Jacob bought a farm in Nauvoo and built a brick house. They enjoyed the association with the members of the church. Here he was able to utilize his German language skills in a special way. He taught language lessons to Joseph Smith.

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            Matilda Josephine Zundel was born January 16, 1845 in Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois. Joseph Smith had been martyred and members of the church were facing much persecution. The saints including her father were working hard to complete the Nauvoo temple. Her parents were able to have their temple work done before they left Nauvoo in the spring of 1846.

            When they left Nauvoo, they traveled to Winter Quarters where they remained for one year. In 1847 they moved to Pottawatomie County, Iowa where they lived until they made their trek to Utah in 1852.

            They traveled west in Captain Wood’s company. Melena, Matilda’s older sister made the wagon cover by hand. Two wagons carried their possessions and provisions. One was pulled by horses and the other by oxen. Matilda was six years old and traveled on foot most of the way following the slow wagons. Every morning her mother would fasten her churn to the wagon so they could have butter for their evening meal. The weather was pleasant. Men guarded the circle of wagons at night to protect them from Indians and buffalo. Their worst trial was Cholera. Twelve of the company died. The camp was moved twelve miles from the ones that were infected. Matilda’s parents remained with the sick to administer to those who were dying and to bury the dead. They bathed and washed their clothes before returning to their family. None of the family was infected with the disease.

            Matilda crossed the plains when she was six years old. Like most children she loved dolls; however, she did not have one. As they traveled along the trail they often saw piles of clothes in a heap near a grave. They would ask their mother why the clothes were left there, and she would only look sad as she returned to her work. One afternoon while walking behind the wagon, she and some older children decided to get some of the clothes. They found a whole heap of them and made beautiful dolls. When they looked up from their play there were no wagons in sight. They could see a man coming towards them on horseback; however, they were not frightened. When he reached them, he told them the company was miles ahead. He made them follow him on foot. When they came to a large stream, he made them wade into the water. As the reached the middle of the stream he had them throw the clothes away. They did this with tears in their eyes and continued to follow their guide. Upon their return to camp, their mother took off Matilda’s clothes and washed them. Matilda was given a bath.

            Matilda learned that the clothes were left by people who died of Cholera. The children had exposed themselves to the disease by handling the clothes. With all this worry, mother got some toasted bread from a barrel in the wagon. She made some milk gravy and put jerked meat in it. This was poured over the toast. The ordeal was forgotten, and the children did not get Cholera.

            Herds of buffalo were on the prairie in those days. At one time a herd of about one hundred head came very near to the company. They feared that the herd would stampede and run through their little wagon train that was circled for the night. The next morning a lone buffalo was standing inside the circle of wagons. The men got their rifles and killed it, and the company enjoyed the meat while it lasted.

            Matilda’s family reached the Salt Lake Valley in August of 1852. They camped near their Aunt Magdaline Moesser’s home near the Jordan River for a period of time. After their rest, they moved to North Willow Creek. Their first home consisted of a one room log house and their wagon boxes which were set on logs. Their furniture consisted of three bed frames with bed cords stretched across them which John Jacob had made himself. They had carried them all the way across the plains. They also had a few maple chairs with rush bottoms, a few shelves and a home made table. The floor was covered with bunch grass. It made a wonderful floor. The native grass was abundant in the area and was plentiful. It could be changed every day if desired

            They had brought to Utah dried apples, sugar and a supply of various seeds. A supply of dry goods was also included. The following spring they planted barley, oats, wheat, corn, potatoes and other vegetables.

            In the first years they lived in Willard they had problems with Indians. One night after dark about one hundred Indians threatened to kill them and burn their home. Sarah Zundel took her children and walked three miles to a neighbor’s home. The older children carried the younger ones. The oldest son Abraham remained to guard the home. The next morning every family in the area moved into what is known as Willard City and formed a fort. The following day Major Moore and his officers came from Ogden to help dig a trench around them. It was ten feet deep on the outside of the dirt pile and poles were placed on the inside near the houses. Living quarters were fashioned out of boards and wagon boxes. There was one bridge to enter and exit the fort.

            Shortly after the trench was completed the Bannock Indians came. The band consisted of one hundred braves, three squaws, the chief and an interpreter. They rode toward the fort in style giving a war whoop with every beat of their horse’s feet. They stopped near the entrance to the fort and asked if they could come in and spend the night saying they would not molest them. The Indian band was allowed into the fort; however, every man stayed up with his gun loaded.

            At three o’clock in the morning the three squaws were awake by the wagon boxes crying and all the bucks were up ready to fight. Mother Zundel said, “Children, you must pray and the Lord will protect us. A wagon drew up by the side of the Zundel wagon box. The chief stood in the wagon and preached about an hour to his braves. He reminded them that they had promised that if the people would let them sleep inside the fort they would not molest them or kill them. He added, “You keep that promise. I will not allow any of these people to be harmed.” The braves all went back to bed and the next morning they left peacefully.

            Another time while they were all staying in the fort, a big band of Indians came. The older women and children were put under the wagon beds with the children. They were all very worried. Some of the older women noticed when they peeked out that the braves had brought their squaws with them. This brought relief to them, and they all laughed. The Indians would not attack with their squaws along.

            When Brigham Young heard about what was happening in Willard and other areas he said. “The Indians have done something I could not do. I have told you people to move into small towns where you could attend church. But you would never do it until the Indians forced you to.”

            A large band of Indians camped a few miles from the fort and the men had to take turns standing guard. As the town grew, they built a wall around it so they could live in safety. This wall was built by making a form out of boards and filling it with mortar and mud. It was built one section at a time. A trench was dug on the inside to get the dirt to mix with the mortar. 

            When the Indians became friendlier, they furnished the pioneers with ducks, geese and feathers. They dried service berries so they could be used like raisins. None of the white folks could ever figure out how these berries were processed. The Indians would trade a sack of berries for enough flour to make a batch of bread.

            One May a few years after the Indian problems had settled down, a late snow storm dropped over two feet of snow. Nearly all of the horses and cattle in Willard died. John Jacob and Brother Ward had a lot of grain harvested. They used their grain sparingly to keep their animals alive.

            Fifty Danish people came to Willard that next winter. Grain was scarce, but John Jacob rationed out a portion of grain to all that came to his door. He had a log granary, and when he started giving out grain he made a notch to show how deep the grain was in the structure. He gave away grain every day; however, the depth of grain in the granary never fell below that mark. There was a famine all over the state that year. Brigham Young sent men all over the state to make sure that everyone was provided for. A Mrs. Hatch was found nearly starved to death. She was taken into the Zundel home and provided for.

            Matilda Zundel attended school in a one room school made of rock. She was exceedingly handy with the needle. She preferred to sew by hand even when a machine was handy. No small piece of cloth was wasted. It was hemmed and used as a table cloth or a dish towel.

            In her teen age years she became skilled with spinning, and was noted to be the fastest spinner in town. People would hire her because she could not only spin fast, but could join the yarn perfectly. She would spin a knot and a half in a day. Her first calico dress was earned by spinning. She worked ten days at fifty cents a day to earn the money to purchase ten yards of gray calico. She made the dress by hand and later wore it to the Willard dances. Everyone thought that her dress was the prettiest dress they had ever seen. She had long black curls that set off the gray dress with the white collar. She told her children that they would dance until the morning. In fact, they would dance until the fiddlers were too tired to play.

            Matilda loved her mother and as a young girl was usually found by her mother’s side. Often they would prepare meals for travelers coming from the gold rush in California. One day some men came and said they would pay ten dollars for a meal. Ten dollars was a great amount of money in those days. Sarah had the only step stove in town and could prepare a meal quickly. She killed a chicken and made noodle soup and hot soda biscuits. With plenty of butter and fruit the men said they had never eaten so fine a meal. Sarah was paid the ten dollars in gold dust. These men had an entire wagon full of small sacks of gold dust. They asked to spend the night and asked if they could bring the gold into the house. They never doubted for a minute that it would be safe. In the morning the man told Sarah Zundel that he would give her the entire load of gold dust for her daughter.

            Matilda was very attractive and was very popular in the community. She loved to dance and enjoyed simple forms of recreation then common to pioneer families such as: rag bees, fruit cutting, drying bees and quilting.

            She was married to Charles Harding in the old Endowment House in Salt Lake City on September 20, 1865. It was a two day journey to Salt Lake with a horses and covered wagons. Her brother Isaac and Charles Harding’s sister Elizabeth were also married in the Endowment House on the same day.

            Charles and Matilda had twelve children and raised eleven of them. They lived in a large stone home that can still be seen today while driving through Willard. Matilda was a real home maker with the instincts of the pioneer woman: making the bedding for the large family, curing the meat, preserving the fruits and vegetables and doing the serving for her family. Other duties were making candles, knitting stockings, making bread, churning butter and making other home prepared food that was served on her well set table. No one was turned away from her door hungry, and many were hospitably entertained from her well stocked larder. Here was a happy and well-regulated home. She was a good neighbor and an efficient housekeeper. She was a member of the Relief Society of Willard, and it can be said of her that she did her full share in contributing towards the needs of the association and to the needy and worthy poor. With her, to see a need either in her own family, her neighbor’s home, or with the passing emigrant was to supply it.

            After her husband Charles died and nine of her children were married she bought a home in Salt Lake City. She moved there; however, every spring she prepared to return to her old home in Willard for the summer. She continued to do this until her death.

            She passed away at her home in Salt Lake City on December 26, 1922. Her funeral was held in Willard and was greatly attended by friends and relatives. She was buried next to her husband in the Willard cemetery.

*Source: Dwight Harding Family Book, 1968, Glen F. Harding M.D. and John Jacob Zundel Family Book, 1973, Glen F. Harding M.D.