Seth Hitchcock (1802-1834)

Biography
Seth Hitchcock was born 29 March 1802 in Granville, Washington County, New York. He married Sarah Ann Rhodes (she was also known as Sally) on 29 March 1822 in Warsaw, Genesee, New York. Their first three sons were born in Warsaw, New York. The two daughters of the family were born in Rochester, and the last two children (a boy and a girl) were born in Warsaw like their older brothers.

Seth and Sarah "Sally" were still in Warsaw, Genesee, NY as of October 1833. *** I have seriously wondered and think it is highly likely that they were still in New York, on March 17, 1834. It is possible that Seth joined the Zion's Camp March from NY and left Sarah "Sally" there, with family and friends.

In the journal of Heber Chase Kimball (1801-1868) (an early missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) it says: [1832–1833] "I was ordained an elder by Joseph Young, and in company with himself and his brother, Brigham, I labored in Genesee, Avon and Lyonstown, where we baptized many and built up churches."

Zions Camp Participant
One of the most interesting episodes in the early history of LDS Church was the march of Zion's Camp (1834). The members of the Church in Missouri were being persecuted, and the Prophet Joseph made it a matter of prayer and received a revelation on February 24, 1834. The Lord instructed the Prophet to assemble at least one hundred young and middle-aged men and to go to the land of Zion, or Missouri. (See D&C 130:19–34.)

Zion’s Camp, a group of approximately one hundred and fifty men, gathered at Kirtland, Ohio, in the spring of 1834 and marched to Jackson County, Missouri. By the time they reached Missouri, the camp had increased to approximately two hundred men.

About thirty minutes after the death of John Sims Carter (1797-1834) (who was the first to die of the cholera in Zions Camp), Seth came down with the illness and then died. He was buried at Rush Creek, Clay County, Missouri.

This is what is recorded about Seth at that time:

"About 68 people were afflicted with cholera, including briefly Joseph Smith, Heber C. Kimball, severely, and Jesse Smith, the Prophet's cousin, who was one of the last to die. Wilford Woodruff might have become afflicted with the disease except for a job assignment which removed him from caring for the sick. He said that each tent group had to care for their own sick and that Seth Hitchcock, who was a member of his tent, was seriously afflicted. When Hitchcock was stricken, Brother Woodruff's duty to care for a team of horses removed him from the tent. Instead, Warren Ingles was assigned to care for Hitchcock, and both Hitchcock and Ingles, who also was soon afflicted, died. Heber C. Kimball informs us that the burial site for Hitchcock and others was "in a little bluff by the side of a small stream that emptied into Rush creek," located in the proximity of the house of Sidney Gilbert.

He also tells us that five of the deceased were buried in the little bluff, starting with John S. Carter, the first to die, and Seth Hitchcock, both of whom had camped at George Burket's, and Eber Wilcox who died at Sidney Gilbert's house. Others, too, may have been buried at that site, apparently this included Betsy Parrish. Paradoxically, the victims of cholera seemed not to have been the overt complainers of the Camp. "

This information was taken from the life story "Sarah Ann Rhodes Hitchcock Fowler Whitlock" posted 03 Sep 2012 by Mary K Francis (and shared originally by marilyn1sunshine on 20 May 2012) on Ancestry.com.

Marriage and Family
After Alfred died in 1834 and his wife in 1835, their first daughter, Amanda, was left an orphan at age 3.