Adam Fife was born 4 July 1806 in Sauchie, Clackmannanshire, Scotland and was christened in Clackmannan. He was the second son of John Fife and Margaret Hunter. His wife Helen or Ellen Sharp was born 10 Nov 1808 in the same village. She was the eldest child of John Sharp and Mary Hunter.

Adam and Helen were married 12 Apr 1826 in Clackmannan, Clackmannanshire, Scotland and there they made their home. Adam was a collier(coal miner) in the mines close by. We learn from the "Lives and Times of Our Ancestors" by Frank Smith that coal miners are probably the most misunderstood of all occupation groups. When one considers the long fights they had for decent wages and less dangerous working conditions, the humbleness of their homes, the poor food they had to nourish them while performing hard manual labor and the constant risk they faced in injury and death, he must rank them, in bravery and hardship encountered with men who sailed masted ships.

Some coal seams were only 33 inches high. The miners had to work in a prone position. The seams were not always dry and the water coming up through the floor was very impure and caused boils and other skin diseases. The extreme narrowness of the seams in some cases hat to be cut out by young lads whose size was more suited to the contracted space. The mote of drawing the tubs of coal to the main way was by a girdle of rope around the loins, attached to the load by a hook and chain. They went into the mines as early as seven years of age. Thus we learn something about the conditions in the mines of Scotland and England at that point in time.

When the first Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints came to Scotland, Adam and Helen heard the Gospel and embraced the new faith. They were baptized by Elder Gibson 10 October 1848 and they decided to leave their native land and come to America in 1849.

They crossed the ocean on a sailing vessel, the "Berlin", taking six weeks to make the trip. While on board the ship, cholera broke out among the passengers and many died, among them their little daughter Helen who was one of the last to succumb to the dreadful disease. The sinkers which hat been used in that day to sink the bodies were all used by the time it came to bury her in a watery grave. The little body wag wrapped and thrown overboard. It followed the wake of the ship for several days while the family kept vigil over it from the back of the ship. Suddenly it went down and they knew that it hat been eaten by a large fish. (I was named after this little great aunt and Great Grandmother Helen Sharp Fife)

The family landed at New Orleans and made arrangements to go up the Mississippi River by boat to St. Louis, Missouri. They stayed there for two years getting their wagons and equipment ready to make the trip to Zion. While at St. Louis they were with Helen's brothers, John, Joseph and Adam Sharp and one of her sisters who had come to America previously the year before. When they left St. Louis in May of 1851 Helen had a baby girl one month old.

They traveled in the wagon train of David Wilkie, the journey being long and arduous especially on the women. They would travel all day and when evening came they would stop and make camp where the air would be full of dust from the movement of the pioneers and animals. The lowing of the cattle and the crying of the children, and being so far from civilization as they were was enough to make them want to turn back. When the wagons had stopped the women and children had the chore of running to collect wood to make a fire for the evening meals but many times the only fuel available was dried buffalo chips. After eating their meager supper, the Saints would visit with one another then gather and sing and pray before going to bed.

In September 1851 they arrived in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. The family stayed in Great Salt Lake City for two years while father Adam worked in Red Butte Canyon, just east of where the University of Utah Medical Center now is, quarrying stone to be used in making the wall around the Temple Grounds. They were then called by Brigham Young to go to Southern Utah to help colonize what is now known as Iron County. After staying there for two and one half years, they were relocated and they journeyed to what is now Riverdale, Weber County, Utah in 1856 to make a home. Adam took up a tract of land and they all worked to clear off the sagebrush. They were able to plant their crops and when harvesting time came they would cut the grain with sickles and the women and children would glean the fields. They were very poor and food was scarce, one of their daughters said later that she was married woman before she knew why her mother did not have a very good appetite. She then knew it was because they did not have enough food for all.

Adam's health began to fail and he desired to go to the Endowment House in Great Salt Lake City to get his Temple Work done. He was very ill so a feather bed was put in the wagon box for him to lie on and he was taken to the Endowment House. When the family brought him back to Riverdale he said he was ready to go and he died 31 December 1861. Helen was left with four young daughters to care for. She was a very religious woman and wanted her children to sing nothing but Sacred Songs on the Sabbath Day. She was a very gentle and kind woman. She passed away 24 April 1866 at Riverdale, leaving her four daughters in the care of their brother Joseph. Adam and Helen were both buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Helen Thomson Miner

Brighton Camp

Daughters of the Utah Pioneers

Far East Salt Lake County

Salt Lake City, Utah

1981