Francis Ann Coon Hardman – Part 1, Childhood

Screen Shot 2017-08-24 at 10.15.47 PM In 1848, five-year-old Francis Ann Coon and her siblings tried to cross the Garner pasture, but the bull saw them and charged. They ran for safety. Her sister “Permilia…climbed [a] tree and…[her brother] John handed all the younger children up before he climbed up himself” narrowly escaping the animals wrath.¹ The Coon family, in route from Nauvoo to Council Bluffs was selected to go with the first pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley, but then Brigham Young assigned father Abraham Coon to remain a few years in Pottawattamie “to run a mill and help provide for the Saints…”² The “corn was scarce,” but the “bluffs, glens, and running streams” were “picturesque.”³ Francis observed her father, Bishop Coon,⁴ a former member of the Nauvoo Legion and guard to Joseph Smith, faithfully help operate the Indian Mill on Big Mosquito Creek and care for families whose men had gone to serve in the Mormon Battalion² including William Garner, the likely owner of the bull.³ At this young age, Francis experienced the faith of her parents, their determination to be endowed in the temple before leaving Nauvoo,² and their sealing in Winter Quarters.⁵ After fulfilling their assignment in Iowa, Francis and her family walked¹ most of the way to Salt Lake to carry out their hopes and dreams in Zion. It was in Salt Lake where Francis would meet her future husband.

References
1. Hardman Biographies, Ancestors of Sidney Glenn Hardman and Dorothy Mae Griffin, 2009, pg. 53, Adapted from histories written by Lehi and Francis’ daughter Amelia Hardman Sadler, as included in Goble’s Coon book.
2. FamilySearch, “Rachel Caroline Coon,” Memories, https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/KWNF-WQY, Biography by Handy, Annette Cooley, accessed 8/24/2017
3. Keatley, John H., History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co, 1883, pg. 330
4. “Settlements – Pottawattamie County, Indian Mill,” BYU The College of Life Sciences, http://winterquarters.byu.edu, Winter Quarters, accessed 8/24/2017
5. Newman, Jessie Coon, FamilySearch.org
6. “Pottawattamie County, Iowa Genealogy,” https://www.familysearch.org/wiki, accessed 8/24/2017

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About Kenneth Richard Hardman

AncestorClips are very short stories about very real people. Each clip nurtures awareness of a time, a place, and the character of a man or woman who cultivated a path for our life. The reader feels the good, the obstacles, the happiness, the sadness, and the overcoming. They cheer us, make us resilient when challenged, give us purpose, and connect us to our multi-generational family. Each story is followed by reflections from the author and readers sharing how the story strengthened or inspired them. Ken Hardman is a son, a brother, a grandson, a great-grandson… He is also a husband, father and grand-father. Ken is a professional engineer, engineering mentor, technical writer, and associate technical fellow at a major aerospace company. He is a writer of engineering and family history stories. Please join Ken in reading, reflecting upon, or writing #AncestorClips

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1 Response to Francis Ann Coon Hardman – Part 1, Childhood

Barbara S Christenson says:

August 26, 2017 at 4:30 pm

Thank you. That was very interesting. My line goes through her younger sister Rachael but I enjoy hearing about the family.