Pioneer, Leader and Prominent man of Salt Lake City, Utah
Maternal Grandfather of Lucy Lavinia Macdonald Bluth
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| John Van Cott |
Parley Pratt at the
age of sixteen came to board with his Aunt Lavina Van Cott, who was like a
mother to him. A year or so after Parley was baptized, he returned to her home. He wrote: “This
residence of my Aunt Van Cott was the place where I had spent some of the
happiest seasons of my youth.” He left a copy of the Book of Mormon with his
aunt, which she and her son, John, read and believed; but he was not baptized
until twelve years later.
On September 15th, 1835 he married Lucy Sackett, a young
lady of a very fine family. Their first daughter, Martha, was born on February
28, 1838 in Canaan. Lucy would go on to bear 6 more children over the next 13
years.
Their second daughter, Lucy, was born December 16, 1839 and their first
son, John Losee Van Cott Jr., was born January 16, 1842. Lucy and John Jr. both died young; Lucy on
September 9, 1843 and John Jr. on November 16, 1843. They were both buried in
the cemetery next to their grandfather, Losee Van Cott. Their 4th child, Mary,
was born in Canaan on February 2, 1844. The 5th, Losee, was born 23 August 1847
while the family was enroute to the Salt Lake Valley. He died in Salt Lake City on March 18, 1851 at
the tender age of 3.
The last 2 children, Fanny
(Lucy Lavinia Macdonald's mother) and Byron, were born on April 18, 1850 and
March 2, 1852 respectively. Byron like
many of his other siblings died young on November 19, 1853 in Salt Lake City.
John traveled to
Nauvoo and was baptized in 1845, but his 2 sisters never joined the Church.
Together
with his wife and mother, he left New York on 3 February 1846, starting for
Nauvoo, Illinois enroute to traveling with the Saints to Utah. While residing temporarily at Nauvoo in the
home of Parley P. Pratt, he contributed $400 in gold to building the Nauvoo temple
and also donated to the Church a number of lots which he had purchased in
Nauvoo. He received his endowment and was
eternally sealed to his wife and children in the Nauvoo Temple.
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| Nauvoo Temple |
In the fall of 1846 he left Nauvoo for Winter Quarters,
where he spent the winter of 1846-47, having built a one-room log house. Here he became acquainted with Brigham Young,
to whom he became greatly attached, their friendship culminating in the
marriage of his daughter (Mary) to the President in 1868. He was ordained a Seventy in the Priesthood
and a member of the 8th quorum of the Seventy. This ordination was done by
Joseph Young on February 25, 1847.
In the summer of 1847 John, together with his mother, wife and
two children (Mary and Martha) left Winter Quarters for the West in Captain
Daniel Spencer’s company; he fitted up an extra team and wagon which was driven
by a hired man. In this wagon his
daughter, Martha, then about nine years old, rode across the plains. He served as a captain of ten within the
company and the listing of individuals in his group shows 34 individuals
including Parley P. Pratt and his family. That number became 35 when his son,
Losee, was born near Independence Rock, Wyoming.
John and his family arrived in the Valley September 25,
1847. President Brigham Young sent John
back to help some of the saints, who were delayed on the journey to be able to
make it into the Salt Lake Valley.
Upon his arrival in Salt lake Valley he was given the
southwest quarter of the city block that is bounded by Main Street, West
Temple, South Temple and First South Street. Upon this corner he built one of the
substantial home in Salt Lake City at that time. Later he moved to the big
field south of 13th South and west Temple, that area became Farmer’s Ward. The house which he built there still stood in
1947 as a monument to his industry and taste. It was in this home that he died.
Mission to England and President of Scandinavian Mission
In 1852 he was called on a mission to England, but in 1853
he was transferred to Denmark as president of the Scandinavian Mission.
Of his first mission he wrote that he left on September 15,
1852. On the journey back across the plains he tells of an incident where the
prairie was on fire. It was coming towards them rapidly with the flames lashing
about 20 feet high. To escape the fire, they fled to the river bottoms, burned
out the grass around them and then took refuge in the river.
They generally traveled 20-30 miles a day and had to deal
with all the rain, mud, and snow along the way. On November 19, 1852 they
arrived in Montrose, Iowa, just across the river from Nauvoo. He wrote “We beheld the once beautiful City of
Nauvoo, now in a state of desolation, no Temple to be seen, except the west
wall a part of which was standing. It caused me to reflect upon the many
labors, and toilsome hours that my brethren, had spent in days that are past
and gone to make the place beautiful.”
After arriving in Saint Louis they went by boat to
Cincinnati and then on to Albany, New York by rail. On November 30, 1852 he
stopped in his hometown of Canaan to visit various family members still in the
area. He spent some time with his sister
Sarah and her husband, Dr. Clark. He
says, “I found them well, and much
pleased to see me, they listened to me attentively and appeared to receive my
testimony. My sister was willing to be
baptized, but the Doctor wished her to postpone it for the present as he wished
to investigate further, and be baptized when she was. I told them delays were dangerous if they did
not step forward and obey the Gospel now as they had the opportunity.
During my stay at
Canaan I visited my old homestead where I was born and had lived until I moved
west in the year 1846, everything appeared strange, the roads looked as narrow
again as they used to, the hills as steep again, the rooms appeared to be much
smaller than they use to be . . . I
visited the graves of my father, and my 2 children that I had lost.”
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| John Van Cott |
He left there and boarded a ship for Liverpool, England
arriving on December 20, 1852. The voyage was rough and he was quite seasick
for several days with no appetite and very weak.
He jumped right into the work going to various meetings with
the brethren and other elders. He wrote that at one conference, “I was among the number of Elders called
upon to address the meeting. This was my first speech in Public. I relied upon
the spirit of the Lord to assist me, and I can say of a truth that I was
assisted by the spirit, for I had much liberty, and enjoyed myself much after a
long and tedious journey to be in company with such a number of Elders brought
to mind the many happy meetings that I had participated in, far from this even
in the valleys of the mountains, my heart was filled with joy and
satisfaction.”
After a short while in England he was transferred over to
work in Scandinavia for the next 3 years. He returned home by way of Liverpool,
leaving there by ship on February 15, 1856.
So successful was he in this work (his mission to
Scandinavia) that President Brigham Young sent him back to the same mission in
1859, again to serve as the President of that mission. Elder John Van Cott and
the Scandinavian Saints had a great love for one another, and when he returned
to Utah three years later, he accepted a special call to labor among the
emigrants from these countries as they adjusted to their newly found religion
and homeland.
On his two Scandinavian missions he became very much endeared to the Scandinavian Saints, whose sterling qualities and integrity he learned to appreciate. He also acquired the Danish language to a considerable degree of perfection.
Leadership
He
became a member of the First Council of the Seventy about the same time and
magnified that important calling until 1883.
He was a businessman and distinguished for his ability as a
missionary. He was a man of superior intellectual endowment and known for his
eloquence as a preacher.
He also served as a member of the House of Representatives
from 1864-1866, a member of the Salt Lake City council, Street Supervisor and
City Marshal.
He died February 18, 1883 at his residence near Salt Lake City. His passing was mourned by the whole Church, especially the
Scandinavian Saints for whom he had done so much. The Deseret News of February
20, 1883 reported:
“It would be difficult to find a more exemplary or conscientious man
than Brother Van Cott. He was a good man in the broad sense, not negatively so,
but as a producer of the good fruits of a well spent life. He was one of those
whose character and motives appeared so far beyond reproach that we doubt if
they have ever been the subject of even suspicion . . . At home and abroad,
wherever Brother Van Cott sojourned, he was regarded with esteem, his very
presence and appearance inspiring sentiments of that nature.” A
humble beginning in Canaan, New York, ended nearly seventy years later and
2,500 miles to the west in Salt Lake City.
It could scarcely have been predicted that he would die respected and
loved by thousands of people who had come to Utah from many parts of the world
to unite themselves with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
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| Grave of John Van Cott and Lucy Sackett Van Cott |
1 Mighty Men of Zion, Lawrence R. Flake, pgs. 414-415.
2 LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Volume 1, pgs. 198-199
3 LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Volume 2, pgs. 728-729
4 Van Cott Pioneers of Utah. Arthur D. Coleman, pgs. 111-121
5 Diaries of John Van Cott, BYU Special Collections
6 Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, Frank Esshom, 1912 pg. 1222
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