Richard Brazier

Question: What Company did Richard Brazier enlist in as a member of the Mormon Battalion in 1846?

Answer: Richard Brazier was born on December 6, 1793 in Maidstone, Kent, England, to John Brazier and Sarah Simpson. He married Sarah Luff on September 3, 1820 in Maidstone. Sarah was the daughter of Samuel Luff and Sarah Parker. Sarah was born in 1783 and was ten years older than Richard. Sarah’s first husband, Benjamin Mott, died in 1820, leaving her a widow with several children.

Richard and Sarah immigrated to the United States and arrived in New York on July 28, 1823. Listed on the ship roster are: Richard (30), Sarah (40), and several children.

Richard and Sarah became members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois to be with the Saints. They received ordinances in the Nauvoo Temple in February 1846. When the Saints were persecuted out of Nauvoo, Richard and Sarah traveled to Winter Quarters, Nebraska.

Here, at Winter Quarters, Richard Brazier enlisted as 2nd Sergeant of Company E of the U.S. Mormon Battalion. He was detached from service on 10 November 1846 and was with Lieutenant Willis’ sick detachment, which spent the winter at Pueblo, Colorado. The detachment entered the Salt Lake Valley on 29 July 1847, five days after Brigham Young’s Vanguard Company.

Richard went back to Winter Quarters in the fall. He and Sarah immigrated to the Salt Lake Valley in Heber C. Kimball’s Company in June 1848. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September 24, 1848. There were 699 people in this Company.

Sarah died on December 28, 1850 in Salt Lake and was buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery. Richard married Rebecca Ann Haughton in 1851 in Salt Lake. They had son, George, born in 1854, who died in 1861.

Richard died August 16, 1871, in Salt Lake, and is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. Rebecca died in 1890 and was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Source: Sources for Richard Brazier, FamilySearch.org; FindAGrave.com