AKA FRANKLIN SPENCER

The story of Nicholas Summers Perkins, Jr. (Franklin Spencer) is of more than usual interest. Nicholas' mother was born Sarah Jane Bradford. Her parents, William and Elizabeth Bradford, evidently thought so highly of Nicholas Summers Perkins, that they named their last son after him, too, and the use of the name Nicholas carried down for many years.

The Perkins family fortunes seem to have taken a turn in the wrong direction with the passing of Sarah Jane Bradford Perkins in 1841.

From all indications, Nicholas Sr. went to Missouri with his brother-in-law, Thomas Thoroughman, in the mid-1840's, taking his children with him. They located in Buchanan County near St. Joseph and it was from there that Nicholas Sr. was drawn to leave his family in hopes of striking it rich in the newly discovered gold fields. Sometime near 1849 or 1850, Nicholas Perkins, Sr. seems to have been drawn to the Gold Rush excitement in California.. There is not much known about him, other than that he died in Stockton, California in 1850. His sister, Emily Thoroughman, took over responsibility for raising Nicholas, Jr. and the others that were left behind.

Nicholas Perkins, Jr. was born in 1836 in Bracken County, Kentucky. His mother died in 1841 shortly after the birth of his sister, Eliza Mary Perkins. At the time of his father's quest for instant wealth, he would have been about 13 or 14 years old. By age 19, he was teaching school, and before the Civil War broke out, he was pursuing a career as a lawyer. At about this time, his health began to suffer and he took a great interest in religion. This led to learning Hebrew so that he could read the Bible in its original form.

Nicholas, Jr. was pro-Southern. It can only be assumed that there were family influences that caused him to join with the Confederate forces. He quickly obtained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, 11th Holmans, Tennessee Cavalry. By July of 1861, his particular unit became "spattered" (i.e. broken up into small units or individuals as a result of being "pounded".) Afterward, he joined with another element and was severely wounded while engaging in action with them. His wounds made it necessary to "winter" in Platt County, Missouri. When he returned home to St. Joseph, Missouri in the spring of 1862, he found that he was wanted by the authorities for the burning of a bridge that caused the maiming and killing of a train load of Union soldiers. As a Rebel, it had been his misfortune to be in this same area when the act occurred. He was not able to reason with anyone about the matter. It was a mob-ruled atmosphere that fostered the avenging of this terrorist attack. Nicholas took the first opportunity to quickly leave the area rather than become a victim of the situation.

Nicholas moved to Pueblo, Colorado and bought a 300 acre parcel of land near the Arkansas River. Three of his sisters were already living there and one of them helped to keep his house in order. They apparently had followed Brigham Young into the area. The sisters of Nicholas probably were Margaret Henry, Elizabeth Stroube and Maria Bryan. It would appear that all of this family moved west, with the exception of Cecelia Hollis, who remained in Bracken County, Kentucky. Young's colony of Mormons had first come in 1847. It was a halfway station on the overland route to California. In 1850 it became the territory of Utah, and Young became the first governor. News of Nicholas and his Confederate past quickly caught up with him. A confrontation developed with a group of 10 to 12 men lead by J.H. Russell. It is said that Nicholas started to use his revolver to defend himself when he heard the admonition in his head that "thou shalt not kill". Within an instant, he realized that Russell had seized the opportunity to jump on him and was trying to choke him to death. In the heat of the moment, Nicholas pulled his knife and stabbed Russell so that he would release his strangling grip. One of his sisters attended to Russell's wounds, but it was of no benefit. He died three days later.

Once again, Nicholas found himself moving on because of his involvement with the Confederate movement of the Civil War. Just before leaving the area, he married Sarah Jane Dodds at Cherry Creek, Colorado on June 9, 1864. As they made their way on to establish a new home in Oregon, she became sick in Ogden, Utah. It was there that they decided it would be best to change his name and settle down in Manti, Utah. Nicholas and Sarah had six children,: Nettie, Maude, Franklin Spencer, Jr., Sarah Helen, William Bradford Spencer, Henry Clay Spencer.

At Manti, the newly named Franklin Spencer developed a successful teamster business that supplied goods to the gold and silver mines. It was during this adventuresome period that he became totally committed to the Mormon Church. By 1874 his activity was so great that he was asked to be Bishop of Salina. This lead to becoming a member of the Utah state legislature, where he was successful in getting a bill passed to have legislators receive no pay, since their sole purpose was to serve the people.

On February 8, 1875, Franklin Spencer was married to Hannah Jane Martin, to whom were born seven children: Joseph Angell Spencer, Catherine, Sarah Jane, Josiah Fleming Spencer, Minnie Myrtle Spencer, Elinor Victoria Spencer, and Fahy Martin Spencer.

On June 4, 1884, Franklin Spencer was married to Chloe Celestia Durfee. They also had seven children, Austin Jabez , John Wilford, Ruth, Celestia, Lela May, Earl Eugene, and Raymond Mormon .

Persecution of the Mormon practice of polygamy in the 1880's caused Franklin Spencer and many others of the same persuasion to become interested in pursuing colonization projects in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico. He was convinced that his mission in life was no longer with the Indians in Utah, but with the Lamanites of Mexico. Franklin located in Juarez in 1887 and worked in the Dublan Colony until his death on December 8, 1915.

During his time in Mexico, he successfully sued the United States government for the troubles that forced him to leave St. Joseph, Missouri and the false accusations that followed him westward. The award was $50,000. A successful suit was also brought for the intimidation that forced him to leave his land in Pueblo, Colorado. He was awarded $100,000. in this matter. Just before his death, Franklin Spencer wrote the governor of Colorado and offered to renounce his claims against the state if cleared of any and all matters pertaining to the J.H. Russell case. It is presumed that when he died all of the many turbulent issues that had been part of his interesting life went with him. He was clearly a product of his times and represents a unique picture of the westward movement of Bradford descendants.

The work of various Mormon ancestors has been of great importance in bringing together the Bradford family history. Eliza Mary Perkins Elben, (1841-1928) played a big role in relating the above story and the following incident. Eliza was three months old when her mother, Sarah Jane Bradford Perkins, died in 1841. Her father seems to have placed the children with various sisters and it was probably Margaret Stroube who cared for Eliza. She was nine years old when her father died in California.

At the time her brother chose to side with Rebel forces in Missouri in 1861, Eliza was 20 years old and living in Campbell county, Kentucky. She was very caught up with the political excitement of the time. She later recalled taking the Union flag up the courthouse steps in Alexandria when no man would dare to for fear of retaliation by the Rebel elements in the county at the time. At this same time she overheard a group of Rebels plotting to steal 100 rifles and 1,000 rounds of ammunition from the Campbell county Arsenal. Eliza advised the Captain of the Home Guards, who made an immediate distribution of the weapons and ammunition, preventing a major incident from taking place.

Blocking the Rebels from taking those weapons kept them from engaging in planned actions for three months. This particular group that plotted to steal them later engaged a Union Company at what is best discerned to be Claysville. Their captain, Eliza's brother-in-law "Zacky" Stroube, was knocked from his horse and killed.