TBT - Andrew Hyrum and Charles Whitlock

When Megan and I were in St. George last weekend I took the opportunity to record Opa telling a few of my favorite family stories.  The text below comes directly from Opa.

Andrew Hyrum Whitlock was my great-great grandfather and he joined the Church in 1831 in Kirtland.  He'd heard of the prophet before this and came to meet him.  He was a teamster and hauled freight for the prophet.  (He eventually became president of the 7th Quorum of the 70.)

One day in Nauvoo, Andrew was told by the prophet that he needed to deliver some freight to one of the neighboring communities.  He said to him, "Joseph, I can't do it.  My boy is sick.  He's very sick.  I'm afraid he's going to die."

Joseph said to him, "Don't worry about that.  If you'll do your job, I will give the boy a blessing."

When he came back from this trip that he'd had, he thought all the way back, "I'm gonna find my son dead." And he got back and here he was in the front yard playing.  His wife told him, "The prophet gave him a blessing."  The son, Charles, had been told in the course of the blessing that he'd never have a sickness again until it came time for him to die.

Later on, when they came out to Utah, Charles, too, had become a teamster.  He'd been called upon to deliver some freight to this fort and he got up over a little rise and there were 12 Indians that were in his way.  They just saw him coming and they just parted the way.  Six on each side of the road.  He got right up to them and the fort was not too far away and he cracked the whip.  He had oxen.  They're not the greatest.  They're very sturdy but not very fast.  He cracked the whip and the oxen took off and ran like crazy.  The Indians started shooting arrows at him. They shot several arrows at him. And when he got to the fort, every one of the oxen had enough arrows in them that they all were killed.  He had an arrow that hit him in the shoulder.

He died at age 88.  And from the blessing that the prophet had given him until (his death) the only thing that he'd ever had was this shot in the shoulder by an arrow.

He said that he learned to trust the prophet.

Charles later on became one of the founders of the town of Ephraim, Utah.