After Margaret and James were baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in May 1863, they heeded the call to leave their home country of Scotland and make their way to Zion in the western United States. The family ties Margaret left behind in Scotland were severed: her parents "rejected her" and her mother warned that in America James would enter polygamy. Margaret simply replied, "Well, at least I will be the first."
Margaret and James settled in Wyoming and raised many children. Margaret was a midwife and found herself very busy at times, but never too busy to attend church meetings. On a particular Sunday, one of James' prize greyhounds desired to follow Margaret to the services. Margaret "tied a 50 pound weight" to the dog to keep him put. Despite the load, the dog, weight and all, followed Margaret, eventually jumping in through an open window of the meeting house to sit by his mistress. When Jim Ward, a neighbor, attempted to put the dog out, Jim received nothing but snarls and so the dog enjoyed the meeting right next to Margaret.
Her son Robert recalled that "[Mother] told [me] that whatever you do, it is always better to do it the right way."
Source:Viola James Reese, "Margaret Livington Haldane" www.FamilySearch.org>Margaret Livington Haldane (KWJC-6C4)>Memories>Documents
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