FREEMAN, ELIJAH NORMAN PVT CO. B
GRAVE LOCATION: The exact location cannot be determined, but the general area where he was buried is known. Elijah was buried east of the south end of the runway of the Soccoro, New Mexico Airport, between the bluff and the river.
ARCHIVES 351: Elijah N. Freeman on the muster-in records.
IOWA: E N Freeman, Pvt. Co. B on the muster-out rolls.
PENSION: The pension records deal with Mary Snow, his widow, and her claim on his pension.
SMOOT: Elijah Freeman, Pvt. Co. B.
TYLER: Page 191-192. Died 26 Nov 1846 and was buried four miles south of Secora, New Mexico on the Rio Grande.
FGR: Born 17 Apr 1822, Waterford, Vermont. Died 28 Nov 1847, near Socorro, New Mexico. His parents were Isaac F. Freeman and Lydia Farr. Married Mary Bingham.
NAUVOO: 28 Jan 1846. 70. Born 17 Apr 1822 Waterford, Connecticut. Married Mary Bingham, daughter of Erastus Bingham Sr.
OPH: Vol 11 page 396. Born 17 Apr 1822, Vermont. Died 28 Nov 1846, New Mexico. Also vol 4 page 87.
S. Black and L. Porter, BYU, Biographies, Mor Battalion
Elijah Norman Freeman, Sr. (1822-1846)
MILITARY SERVICE: Private, Company B
Enlisted: 16 July 1846, Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory (age 24)
Lieutenant William Wesley Willis's Detachment: Pueblo (Rio Grande), 10 November 1846.
Widow's Pension: Mary Bingham Freeman Snow, 16 February 1860, Utah
BIRTH: 17 April 1822, Waterford, Caledonia, Vermont
Son of Isaac Farwell Freeman and Lydia Farr
FIRST MARRIAGE: Mary Bingham, 17 April 1844, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois
Daughter of Erastus Bingham and Lucinda Gates
Birth: 1 April 1820, St. Johnsbury, Caldonia, Vermont Child: Elijah Norman Freeman, Jr., 20 May 1845, La Harpe, Hancock, Illinois
Death: 25 September 1893, Ogden, Weber, Utah
Burial: September 1893, Ogden, Weber, Utah
DEATH: 28 November 1846, near Socorro County, New Mexico (age 24)
BURIAL: November 1846, between the bluff and the river at Soccoro County, New Mexico
Elijah and his family were converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and migrated to Ohio and Missouri before settling in LaHarpe, Hancock, Illinois. He was married to Mary Bingham by Jonathan H. Hale (Cooke, Civil). It was said of him, "[He] always complimented [Mary's] cooking and praised her housekeeping . . . Elijah and Mary planned their future for many years ahead" (Life Sketch, Elijah Freeman).
In Nauvoo, Elijah was a member of the Nauvoo Third Ward and worked on the Nauvoo temple (Platt, Nauvoo). He was ordained a seventy and endowed on 28 January 1846 in the Nauvoo temple (Nauvoo Temple Register). Two days later he was sealed to his wife in that temple (TIB). They soon fled from religious persecution in Nauvoo to Iowa Territory.
In Council Bluffs, Elijah enlisted in the Mormon Battalion. He marched with the battalion from Council Bluffs to Santa Fe, where he was assigned to protect and aid the sick detachment in their march to Fort Pueblo. Elijah became ill with pleurisy and died on this march to Pueblo. The exact location of his burial is not known. It is believed that he is buried east of the south end of the runway in the Soccoro, New Mexico Airport, between the bluff and the river (Larson, MB p. 74).
His widow did not learn of his death until her arrival in the Salt Lake Valley on 19 September 1847. William Hyde, a battalion companion of Elijah's, wrote of his reaction to his early death: I received a letter from my wife which gave me great joy, but my heart was sad when I learned of the death of my mess mate, E. N. Freeman, whom I left on the Rio Del Nort. He was one of the best men I ever knew. (Journal, William Hyde)
Mary applied for a pension fund. She received a certificate for half pension, $3.50 a month, which she received until her marriage to Willard Snow on 16 January 1849. The other half of the widow's pension was granted to Erastus Bingham, Sr., guardian of Elijah N. Freeman (Pension File). After the death of Willard Snow, Mary reapplied for the fund and was granted $3.50 per month. By 1893 she was receiving $12 per month from the government (Pension File).