Hannah Boyack was born March 12, 1835 in Dundee, Frofarshire, Scotland, a daughter of James and Elizabeth Mealmaker Boyack; there were l4 children in the Boyack family, eight boys and six girls.

As a girl in Scotland, Hannah was strong and very active. She delivered milk daily from the farm on which she lived to many families in the town Or Dundee. She used a large hoop to carry the milk. It helped to hold the buckets away from her side and made it easier to carry them. Hannah spent many hours herding sheen along the ditch bank3 and streams.

The Boyack family was converted to the gospel in Scotland in 1842, when Hannah was seven years old. They left Dundee early in the spring of 1855 crossing the ocean in a small sailing vessel.

As a girl of 20, she walked most of the way across the plains as there wasn't a place in the wagon for all to ride. She carried her sister, who didn't have very good health across many streams on their way to Utah. Her feet were cracked and very sore from exposure to the weather. She endured many hardships uncomplainingly.

When the family arrived in Utah, they settled at Spanish Fork, 60 miles south Or Salt Lake City. Hannah worked in the home of John Sharp, where many of the men working on the Salt Lake Temple boarded. Sometimes the men received supplies as pay for their labors, in turn they would take them to the Sharp home to pay for their board. Hannah often said that when serving the men at the table she would go from one plate to the next cutting only a portion of bread for each. It was while working at the Sharp home she met James McFarland a son of William and Margaret McFarland. Hannah and her mother walked all the way from Spanish Fork to Salt Lake, to marry James McFarland.

At first the couple lived at American Fork, where two children were born to them. Later, the small family of four moved to West Weber. They stopped their wagons on a small knoll just west of the sand hill (today that spot is directly north of the railroad at the end of the lane of Elmer Ray McFarland's home. They took the wagon boxes off the running gears and placed them on the ground, so they could use the running gears to get logs to build houses.

The following children were born to James and Hannah Boyack McFarland: Elizabeth, B. Jan 18, 1857,md Willard Bingham; William Boyack, b. May 22,1858, md Eliza Fife; Margaret, b. Mar 12, 1860,md Parley P. Bingham; Mary, b. Nov 12,1861, died Jan 22, 1866; Hannah, b. Apr 30,1863, md. Willard Eugene Pingham; James Boyack; b. Aug 7, 1866, md Zina Tracy; Peter Fenton, b. Jun 1,1868, md. Esther C. Etherington; Robert Boyack, b. Jun 1,1870, md Christine Jensen; Isabel, b. md 7,1872, md. Parley P. Bingham; Annie R., b. May 1,1876; md H.H. Tracy; Rose, b. Nov 16,1878, md William Neilsen; their 6th child was stillborn in 1865; their 12th child WQS stillborn 1876.

Besides raising 11 children of her own, Hannah helped Eliza McLean take care of Will and Jimmy Hunter for about one year after they arrived in Utah. Their mother died in Wyoming during the journey across the plains. Hannah McFarland was always ready to help in the care of the sick ones. She was an active teacher in the Relief Society, her district being the east end of West Weber. She worked with Sister Royle and Sister Frances Dance.

Hannah gleaned wheat in the fields at harvest time, gathering sack after sack. She also carried apples from the small orchard, peeled and dried them for food in the winter time; squash was also dried for winter use. She gathered the wool from the fences and bushes, cleaning and cording it for quilts and making clothes.

Hannah was a very saving, most industrious person. Many times she walked to Ogden, carrying her products to barter for the bare necessities of life. She lived to be 80 years of age. At the time of her death, January 31, 1915, she was survived by 9 children, 64 grandchildren, 51 great-grandchildren and one great great grandchild.

The above account was told by Hannah McFarland Bingham, to Margaret McFarland, a daughter of Peter F. and Esther Etherington McFarland in 1937.

Source:

In The Bend Of The River

History Of West Weber 1859-1976