EXPERIENCE ALMEDA BROWN was her given name,
but all her life she went by the name "SPEEDY" due to her quick nature.
She was born May 25, 1820 in Leeds, Upper Canada (now Ontario, Canada)
just across the border from upper New York state). Her parents,
David H. Brown and Lucinda Batchelder, were good honest people. Her
father was a blacksmith by trade. She was the second of seven children:
1. MINERVA BROWN (1818- ?)
married William B. SMITH in Michigan
2. EXPERIENCE ALMEDA BROWN (1820-1896)
married (1) German ELLSWORTH
(2) Philo JOHNSON
3. PEACEABLE BROWN (1822-1866)
married (1) Milo KING in Shelby, Michigan
(2) Daniel ELLSWORTH in 1842 in Attica, Michigan
4. JONATHAN DAVID BROWN (1824-1865)
married Eleanor Ann STOCKING in Shelby, Michigan
5. EDWARD ROSE BROWN (1826- ?)
married Sarah C. WORDEN in Columbia Co., Wisconsin
6. LUCY ANN BROWN (1829- ?)
married Lyman R. RUSSELL or Russell R. LYMAN
7. NORMAN H. BROWN (1830- ?)
married Emily J. MOSS in Davison, Michigan
Speedy's father, David H. (middle name either Hubble or Hyrum)
Brown, was born 5 Feb. 1794 in Bastard, Leeds, Ontario, Canada, and
died in Goodland, Lapeer Co., Michigan in 1866 or 1867. Speedy's mother
Lucinda Batchelder, was born 23 June 1798 in Bastard, Leeds, Ontario,
Canada and died in Shelby, Macomb, Michigan in 1831 or early 1832,
when Speedy was 11 years old. Her father then married Elizabeth
M. Smith 22 Jan 1832, in Troy, Michigan. After her death he married
Prudence Douglass, so Speedy had two step-mothers.
Speedy's grandparents were probably Loyalists who moved from the
U.S. to Canada during the Revolutionary War period. Her paternal
grandfather, Hyrum (Jesse) Brown, lived in Vermont, Massachusetts,
Pennsylvania, and later Ontario. His wife's name was Peaceable
Gifford (1770-1849). Speedy's maternal grandfather was John Batchelder
(1757-1820), of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Ontario. His wife's
name was Susannah or Sarah Bullard (1763-1838), from Massachusetts.
John Batchelder's parents were Nehemiah Batchelder (1716-1810) and
Experience Perham (1715-1799) of Massachusetts. Experience Perham's
mother was named Experience Powers. (This is where Speedy's first name
came from -- she was named after both her grandmother and her great
grandmother.)
Other family names among Speedy's early ancestors in
Massachusetts were Wilcox, Barber, Whipple, Goodale, Killiam, Woodbury,
Fletcher, Bank, Shipley, Hailstone, Shepherd, Lord, Wheeler, Warren,
Wheelock, and Wilkinson.
- Speedy lived in six localities during her life:
- 1820 - 1830: in Canada
- 1830 - 1842: Attica, Lapeer Co., Michigan
She married German Ellsworth on 22 November 1837, at age 17.
In 1842 they were converted and went to gather with the Saints. - 1842 - 1846: Charleston, Lee County, Iowa, opposite Nauvoo.
- 1846 - 1849: Kanesville (now Council Bluffs), Pottawattamie Co., Iowa
- 1849 - 1958: Salt Lake City, Utah
German Ellsworth died a few months after they arrived, leaving Speedy with six small children, the oldest not quite 10 years old.
(Seven children had been born to them, but one had died in Council Bluffs early that same year.)
In 1850 Speedy Brown Ellsworth married Philo Johnson in Salt Lake, and the family lived there until 1857 or 1858. - 1858 - 1896: Payson, Utah Co., Utah.
She had fourteen children -- seven by her first husband, German Ellsworth,
and seven more by her second husband, Philo Johnson.
ELIZABETH ELLSWORTH (1839-1857) *
b. 29 Dec 1839,
d. 1857 at age 17 in Payson)
EPHRAIM EDGAR ELLSWORTH (1841-1887)
b. 25 Jul 1841,
md. Elizabeth Rachel EDWARDS
and Mary Frew WHEELER,
d. 1887 at Spring Lake, Utah)
EVALINE ELLSWORTH (1842-1892)
b. 7 Sep 1842,
md. James Henry ELLSWORTH,
Charles McCALL,
James ALLEN,
and Charles SIMMONS,
d. 1892 in SLC)
ESTHER ELLSWORTH (1844-1918)
b. 12 Sep 1844,
md. William Franklin DOWDLE,
Phinneas DALEY,
and Amasa POTTER,
d. 1918 in Payson)
NANCY MINERVA ELLSWORTH (1846-1936)
b. 16 Jan 1846,
md. Harmon Jeremiah ZUFELT in 1861,
d. 1936 in Long Beach, California)
ISRAEL ELLSWORTH (1848-1849) *
b. 14 Apr 1848,
d. 1849 at Council Bluffs)
GERMAN ELLSWORTH, Jr. (1849-1922)
b. 29 Sep 1849,
md. Kristina NILSDOTTER in 1869,
d. 1922 in Payson)
PHILO JOHNSON, Jr. (1851-1922)
b. 15 Aug 1851,
md. Lucy Elizabeth SIMMONS in 1880,
d. 1922 in Payson)
EMILY JOHNSON (1853-1926)
b. 31 Aug 1853,
md. Joseph WIGHTMAN in 1869,
d. 1926 in Salt Lake City)
MELISSA JOHNSON (1855-1855) *
b. 15 Aug 1855,
d. 12 Sep 1855 in SLC - infant)
HANNAH MOSLEY JOHNSON (1856-1936)
b. 1 Oct 1856,
md. David Brooks FAIRBANKS in 1873,
and Elijah Asa BIGELOW in 1899;
d. 1936 in Payson)
REUBEN WILLIAM JOHNSON (1858-1863) *
b. 9 Sep 1858,
d. 25 Feb 1863 in Payson, age 4)
CELESTIA ADELAIDE JOHNSON (1861-1938)
b. 8 Feb 1861,
md. Ralph Jacob FAIRBANKS in 1877;
d. 1938 in Santa Paula, California)
SPEEDY ALICE JOHNSON (1865-1932)
b. 29 Apr 1865,
md. William Philo DOWDLE in 1884,
d. 1932)
Speedy was a stocky, light-complexioned, blue eyed lady (the
most distinctive feature in her picture was her thick, bushy eyebrows).
She continued to serve as President of the Relief Society for twelve years.
In her later years she was stricken with rheumatism, and in the end she
became very sick and weak. She died March 13, 1896, at age 75.
Her beloved husband Philo survived her only three weeks, when he too died,
on April 3, 1896 at age 81.
Of Speedy's son German Ellsworth, Jr. is written:
Another of Speedy's sons, Ephraim Edgar Ellsworth, was "six feet and three inches tall, and dark complexioned (with thick dark hair and beard)". The Johnson children were also tall and dark, and similarly quick in movement and action. This trait they inherited from their mother, "Speedy". Many descendants of both the Ellsworth and Johnson children were given the names Philo and Speedy, either as first or middle names, showing how much they revered them as parents and grandparents.
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