1 Thomas Freestone and Ann Fall
The time came when the food supply
ran out. There was no more flour or
wheat. In desperation, she was forced to
do what was extremely difficult for her, it
was now necessary to ask someone for
help. As a last resort she walked to
American Fork and met with the Bishop.
When he learned of her plight, he told
her that she needed to find another man
capable of supporting her. Her reply to
that counsel was, "Who would want to
marry a woman with five children?" The
Bishop then told her that there was a
well-to-do immigrant from England that
he would take her to meet. He was de-
scribed as a person who was single and
had the means to provide for Ann and
her children. Not aware of any other di-
rection to pursue at this dark point in her
life, Ann agreed to go with the Bishop to
meet him.
The meeting of Ann and Andrew
Hodnett made them both realize that
both their problems might be solved by
such a union. It would provide Ann with
the means of raising her children, and it
would give Andrew companionship and
help for his farm operation. In any case, a
sudden decision was made. The very next
day the couple went to Salt Lake City and
Ann and her children were sealed to An-
drew in the Endowment House on May
17,1862.
Andrew Hodnett brought money with
him from England. He was a good pro-
vider and she probably had more finan-
cial security than she had had in her pre-
vious life.
There is no information available to
explain why Thomas and Ann never got
around to being sealed and having their
children born in the covenant. One plau-
sible explanation might be that at the
time they were married they had never
10
heard of the Church and the powers of
priesthood of sealing (binding) on earth
that which will be sealed (bound) in
Heaven. Then, as their life history re-
veals, a possible time to have a sealing
performed never came.
Andrew, Ann and her children later
moved to Orderville, Utah, and joined the
group there who had committed them-
selves to live the United Order. A valu-
able asset, their sheep, was turned over
to the administration of the Order. When
the time came that the Order was no
longer in operation, their sheep were re-
turned to them, and they had enough
money to purchase a small farm south of
Orderville at Tom's Rock, near Mount
Carmel. They seemed to have prospered
at this location. Ann and her children
helped Andrew in the farming operation
by following his plough and breaking up
the clods with a stick. Every one of the
family who could work did work in the
fields along with the men. Their help was
necessary to survive.
Hodnett was a hot tempered man,
tight fisted, a hard worker and expected
others to do the same. And Fall was a
mild tempered, kindly woman with a
great faith in her Heavenly Father. She
spoke kindly to her children and others.
She always looked fresh and clean and
dressed nice. She had dark hair and dark
eyes and as she grew older was on the
fleshy side.
There is no information available to
provide details of Ann's experiences over
the following years leading to the time of
her death. She passed away on Christmas
Day December 25, 1888 at the age of 76.
She led a hard but courageous life as a
pioneer. She endured to the end strong in
faith and testimony, the power that car-
ried her over every trial and adversity.