Jane Gardiner was born in Bankend, Lanark, Scotland on
January 16, 1867. She belonged to an extremely poor family of 11 children. By
the time Jane was 8 she was already working at the mills. By age 12 her parents
made her an indentured servant to a family headed to the United States—the
passage was uncomfortable for the girl because she was forced to sleep in the
ship’s steerage compartment.
Jane and the family settled in Little Red Stone,
Pennsylvania. At age 16 Jane married 22-year-old William Bennett Rae. By the
end of 1887, after about 4 years of marriage the couple had two children and
joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their conversion led
them to move to Rock Springs, Wyoming, so as to be nearer the Church
headquarters in Utah. While the family of 7 people—5 children and the parents—continued
to reside in Wyoming, they were sealed in the Logan Utah Temple on December 4,
1889.
Lamentably, William abused Jane, and more than likely the
children. Even so, or perhaps, mercifully, the Lord called him on a mission to
Texas around 1901. While there William wrote that he had received a revelation:
he had taken a second wife in order to live the law of plural marriage.
Understandably this did not sit well with Jane, particularly since President
Wilford Woodruff publically issued the Manifesto in 1890, a document rescinding
the previous command of polygamy. Jane was committed to the Church and
obedience to the prophet—she divorced William, and he was excommunicated in
1902.
Jane would occasionally reminisce about the trials of
providing for herself and her 4 living children—1 of the children lived less
than a year. With a prayer for help, one night Jane fed her children the last
bite of food in the house and put them to bed knowing that she did not have any
food for their breakfast. That night a man pulled into her yard and asked if he
could stay in her barn. She mentioned that she had no food to share, but that
he was welcome to the barn. The man commented that she was in luck, he had food
to share with her and the children.
On November 25, 1902 Jane civilly married George Syme, who
loved, provided, and protected her and all of the children, including the 2
children the union produced. The family was eventually sealed on September 16,
1908, after successfully obtaining a cancellation of sealing between Jane and
William. Though George deeply desired to provide for the family, his work as a
coal miner led to the contraction of Black Lung disease, which impelled him to
purchase a small farm in Logan, Utah by 1917. Jane lost her sweet George in
1933, and she moved in with her son and his wife, George and Thelma Syme.
Descendants of Jane remember her good cooking, especially
of pies, and a never-say-no-to-a-church-calling attitude. Joyce Syme Mills,
daughter of George and Thelma, recalled Grandma Jane taking care of the
children because both George and Thelma worked outside the home. Jane escorted the
children to church activities, the movies, up to Wyoming during the summers to
visit Florence (Jane’s daughter) and her husband, and over to the Uinta
Mountains to camp, and fish.
Jane was able to visit her parents and siblings twice in
Pennsylvania before she died on March 26 1959. Yet, her death does not mark the
end of remembering. Jane’s patriarchal blessing promises that “thy children and
thy children’s children shall hold thy name in honorable remembrance from
generation to generation.” Not only does this brief life history serve to honor
her, but her great-great-great-granddaughter, Jane Crawford (daughter of
Michelle Mills Crawford, who is a daughter of Joyce Syme Mills), was named
after Grandma Jane.
(Sources: Joyce Syme Mills, “History of Jane Gardiner,” as
found on www.FamilySearch.org>Jane Gardiner [KWZQ-SNX]>Memories>Documents;
Patriarchal Blessing of Jane Gardiner, available through the Church History
Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
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