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Mary Buys Moss
Mary Buys and her twin sister, Sary, (who died in infancy) were born Dec. 15, 1836 in
Amsterdam, New York. Her parents were Hyrum D Buys and Elizabeth Huntington Buys.
Mary and Sary were the second of ten children.
Her father had been a Methodist Minister, but at the time of her birth he and his wife had
joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In May of 1840, when Mary was
three years old, her family gathered with the saints in Hancock County, Illinois. They
suffered the persecutions and tribulations with the saints and were driven out in 1846.
They stayed in Mount Pisgah, Harrison County, Iowa until they were able to get an ox-team
and other necessary facilities to cross the plains to Utah. They arrived on Sept. 15, 1850
when Mary was 14 years of age. They came with the David Evans Company.
Only the very young and very old were allowed to ride, so Mary and her brothers and
sisters walked ahead of the wagons. They were not allowed to get too far ahead because
of the Indians. She would sit beside the road and knit until the wagons caught up with
them. At night they gathered fuel for the fire, cooked the meals, and washed the clothes.
After their work was done, they danced and sang by the camp fire.
When they arrived in Bountiful, in Sept. 1850, they lived on First East and Second North.
Three years and three months later, when she had just turned 18, she married Robert
Moss, who was 18 years her senior. She died on July 17, 1877 from blood poisoning.
She was 40 years old and left 11 unmarried children. One son died in infancy.
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