12 Feb 1894 Sister Alice Hill departed this life Feb. 12, 1894. She was the daughter of James Mellor and Mary Hardman. She was born at Oldham, Lancashire, Eng. 27 April, 1815. Her family and herself were formerly members of the Old Wesleyan body of religious worshipers for many years.
In the year 1849, she was baptised into the Church of Latter-day Saints. In 1836 she was married to John Woolstenhume, by whom was had three sons and one daughter. In 1843, her husband died, leaving her with three small children to provide for. In 1849, she married the 2nd time, her husband being named George Rhodes. The same year they took passage on the ship 'Margaret" and sailed for the United States. The voyage was long, exceedingly rough, and they suffered much for the lack of bread and fresh water. They landed at St. Louis, Mo. in Feb. 1850. The issue of this marriage was one daughter, who survives her parents. (Mary Rhoades Doxey).
During the summer of 1850, her second husband was prostrated by sunstroke, which proved fatal. He survived the shock, but only for a short time. Alice Rhodes was thus again deprived of her natural protector and was also for the second time left a widow, to toil for her children's subsistence in a strange land, among strangers. She trusted in God and believed that he would provide for her, and she was not disappointed. On the 5th of Nov. 1850, she was united to a 3rd. husband, Thomas Hill. They were married in St. Louis, Mo. By this husband, she had three daughters. She survived her last husband seven years.
On the 28th of May, 1853 the family left St. Louis, per steamboat, for Kanesville, which place they reached in due time. After being detained one month in consequence of high water, they commenced their overland journey to Utah, in Captain Moses Clawson's Co. They reached Salt Lake City on the 26th of Sept. The remained in the Capitol until 1854, then moved to Kay's Ward, Davis Co. and the following year came to Ogden, which place they made their permanent home. Here, they shared the poverty of the hard winter and subsequent seasons. They pulled stakes and moved south with the body of the church in the eventful year of 1858.
On their return, they united with their coreligionists to build up the Junction City in their intermountain region. As soon as the people had rested a little from their harassment, Sister Alice Hill united with a number of others here and commenced her labors as a sister of mercy. Ministering to the wants of the needy, she never tired of doing good. Night and day, she was always on hand to respond to calls of this kind. Many a day and all day long, toiling beneath the melting heat of summer, or stemming the chilling blasts of the winter winds, she cheerfully prosecuted these labors of love in connection with Mary Ann Ellis and Kizra Davies, the latter now dead. The hungry, the naked, the sick and the dying experienced the benefits that were administered by these angelic ministers. This was not the work of a few days or a month, but it continued for nearly a decade and a half.
Obtained from Laura Stratton by email correspondence, July 19, 2010