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| James Hendricks and Drusilla Dorris Hendricks |
The James and Drusilla Hendricks Family
and
The Hendricks Family Flees to Illinois
and the amazing and comprehensive site by Robert Raymond:
Historical Sketch of James Hendricks & Drusilla Dorris Hendricks, his wife
ALSO, additional information is found at the Far West History site about the
Crooked River Battle! - with biographical info here!
We even have our own James and Drusilla Hendricks Camp for the Daughters of Utah Pioneers!
AND you will see sweet comments from one of our dear nieces on this post about
Drusilla Dorris Hendricks on the LDS Women's History Blog!
Another Cousin's Blog Post: Meet Drusilla Dorris Hendricks
And yet, another Cousin's post on letting go of fear and using Drusilla Dorris Hendricks as her example!
A new 2012 book, "Women of Faith in the Latter Days, Vol. 1" is highlighted in Ardis E. Parshall's Keepapitchinin Blog, which includes a chapter on Drusilla Dorris Hendricks by Susan Easton Black!
"The Saints were blessed by priesthood power through the laying on of hands by brethren who held the priesthood. They were also sustained by the sisters’ faith in God, charity, strength, and prayers.
With illness rampant, the sisters served as doctors and nurses to their own families and to one another, as they had in Nauvoo. Drusilla Dorris Hendricks recalled, “There was not a wagon in the whole camp, but what had sickness in it, [but] we bore it with the patience of Job."
And not to be left out, is the 1996 General Conference Address by Elder Jeffrey R Holland, "A Handful of Meal and a Little Oil" which is quoted as following:
I began with a story of diminishing cornmeal. May I conclude with another. Amidst the terrible hostilities in Missouri that would put the Prophet in Liberty Jail and see thousands of Latter-day Saints driven from their homes, Sister Drusilla Hendricks and her invalid husband, James, who had been shot by enemies of the Church in the Battle of Crooked River, arrived with their children at a hastily shaped dugout in Quincy, Illinois, to live out the spring of that harrowing year.
Within two weeks the Hendrickses were on the verge of starvation, having only one spoonful of sugar and a saucerful of cornmeal remaining in their possession. In the great tradition of LDS women, Drusilla made mush out of it for James and the children, thus stretching its contents as far as she could make it go. When that small offering was consumed by her famished family, she washed everything, cleaned their little dugout as thoroughly as she could, and quietly waited to die.
Not long thereafter the sound of a wagon brought Drusilla to her feet. It was their neighbor Reuben Allred. He said he had a feeling they were out of food, so on his way into town he’d had a sack of grain ground into meal for them.
Shortly thereafter Alexander Williams arrived with two bushels of meal on his shoulder. He told Drusilla that he’d been extremely busy but the Spirit had whispered to him that “Brother Hendricks’ family is suffering, so I dropped everything and came [running].”17
[Elder Holland's concludes: "May God, who has blessed all of us so mercifully and many of us so abundantly, bless us with one thing more. May he bless us to hear the often silent cries of the sorrowing and the afflicted, the downtrodden, the disadvantaged, the poor. Indeed may he bless us to hear the whispering of the Holy Spirit when any neighbor anywhere “is suffering,” and to “drop everything and come running.” I pray in the name of the captain of the poor, even the Lord Jesus Christ, amen."
17. Drusilla Dorris Hendricks, “Historical Sketch of James Hendricks and Drusilla Dorris Hendricks,” Historical Department, Archives Division, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, typescript, 14–15.
AND, here's our Blog Post in 2010 highlighting another time Elder Holland told this story!!
UPDATED 23 Jun 2012:
The Deseret News LDS Church News published an article: "Men and Women of Faith- Mormon Pioneers with Disabilities Highlighted" and included the following:
"James Hendricks and his wife, [Drusilla], were witnesses to the early persecutions of the Saints. He became disabled when he was injured in a conflict with a mob at the battle of Crooked River in Missouri. Shot in the neck, he was paralyzed from the neck down. His wife, [Drusilla], restored some feeling and movement by rubbing his arms and hands with strong vinegar, salt and liniment to aid circulation. He received frequent priesthood administrations from leading Church members.
In Nauvoo, the couple ran a boarding house across the street from the temple block. At Winter Quarters, they departed for the Salt Lake Valley in the Jedediah Grant company in 1847.
In Salt Lake City, Brother Hendricks served as a bishop and helped to fight the cricket infestation by crawling between rows of corn and pounding the ground with his fists. For 10 years, the couple eked out a living by managing a bathhouse located north of the city. They then moved to Cache County, where Brother Hendricks died in 1870.
Brother Fifield noted that in the audience were fourth-, fifth- and seventh-generation descendants of Brother and Sister Hendricks."
[The article incorrectly identified Drusilla as Priscilla. I've contacted the Church News Staff Writer about his mistake.]
UPDATED 23 Sep 2013:
A new Facebook page has been created to honor James Hendricks and Drusilla Dorris Hendricks. "LIKE" the page to join the cousins that are linking to this page:
Drusilla & James Hendricks Memorial Page
And you won't want to miss the Seminary teacher's blog with an inspiring post:
Church History Heroine: Drusilla Dorris Hendricks
Here's another Blog post with downloadable PDF files and photos for James and Drusilla:
Once Upon A Family
If you are visiting Brigham Young University, you will find the following in the Harold B. Lee Library:
Historical sketch of James Hendricks and Drusilla Dorris Hendricks, ca. 1877.
Mormon woman and pioneer. Typewritten copy of an autobiography. Drusilla married James Hendricks (1808-1870) in 1827. They joined the Mormon Church in 1835 and lived with the Mormons in Clay County, Missouri and Nauvoo, Illinois. They migrated to Utah in 1847 where they lived in Salt Lake City, Springville, and Richmond.
AND - don't forget to click on the this link to view a beautiful NEW painting of Drusilla Dorris Hendricks:
"As A Sparrow Alone" (Drusilla Dorris Hendricks) painted by Elspeth C Young
On the Easel: The faith and courage of Drusilla Dorris Hendricks Detail from In Every Time of Trouble by Elspeth Young (In Progress)
Since April of 2012, Elspeth has studied the life of Drusilla Dorris Hendricks (1810-1881), western pioneer and wife of James Hendricks. In August of last year, Elspeth began a painting of Drusilla Hendricks, portraying one of the most anguished moments in Drusilla's courageous life.
This will be an open Blog post and I will add additional links to their wonderful and inspiring history!
