Born at Johnstown, Grenville, Ontario, Canada

Daughter of Arza Judd and Lucinda Adams

Married James Henderson, 13 Feb 1841, Carthage, Hancock, Illinois

Married Jacob Vernon Hamblin, 30 Sep 1849, Council Bluff, Iowa. Children: Lois Hamblin, Joseph Hamblin, Rachel Tamar Hamblin, Benjamin Hamblin, Arminda Hamblin.

The Proposal

Jacob Hamblin married widow Rachel Judd Henderson of Council Bluffs. Having dreamed that he would marry her, he knocked on her door and announced, "My name is Jacob Hamblin, I was impressed to come to your home and ask you to be my wife." She replied, "I am Rachel Judd, and am willing to marry you, but it will be impossible for us to have children." Hamblin responded, "My name is Jacob, yours is Rachel, we will have two sons and shall name them Joseph and Benjamin." They also had three daughters.

The Jacob Hamblin Home

The Jacob Hamblin home was built of sandrock quarried from the red hills behind the home. In 1863 stone masons, including Elias Morris and the Averett Brothers, were called by the Mormon Church to build a home for the Buckskin Apostle to the Lamanites (Indians), The builders left "Irontown" near Cedar City, crossed the mountains to Santa Clara. In a short time a two story home was constructed, built into the hillside so that the second story could be entered from the outside at ground level.

The home has a regular gabled roof with shed extension in the rear, and two porches running the full length of the house. The upper porch floor slopes so that fruits could be dried on it. The main entrance is on the south, opening into a hallway that leads to the rear of the home into the kitchen and storage areas.

Because Jacob had two wives at the time the home was built, the room to the right (east) and the room to the left (west) are nearly identical with beds, fireplaces on the outside walls, and small stairs ascending to the second floor from the back outside corner of each room.

On the second floor is a large room, used for religious, civic and social events. People could enter it directly from the outside without going into the main private quarters. Behind the main room, in the lower shed portion of the back room, were two small, short-cei1inged sleeping rooms used by the smaller children.

Hamblin's two wives, Rachel Judd and Priscilla Leavitt, apparently dearly loved each other. Together they had five and three children respectively and cared for some of Jacob's older children by his first wife. Later Jacob married a young Indian girl as a fourth wife, and finally Louisa Bonelli, as a fifth. It seems probable the house may have been home to as many as ten to fifteen children and three or four wives. His second wife, Rachel, died in the home in 1865. However, Louisa preferred to live by herself and other arrangements were provided.

Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel

Note: After the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the surviving children were taken north to Jacob Hamblin's Ranch (not farm). Rachel Hamblin did her best to calm the children. - Note by Steve Ingham.