George McKay Pugmire was the first child born to Jonathan Pugmire, Jr. and Elizabeth McKay. He was born 31 March 1846 at Montroe, Lee, Iowa, just across the river from Nauvoo, Illinois. His parents, both converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had been in America only two years. Due to persecutions, they were forced to leave that area. Three weeks after George was born, his family began the trek across Iowa to Winter Quarters near present-day Omaha. The day after their arrival, George's father was called away with the Mormon Battalion. Mother and baby were left without housing and Elizabeth had to build their own shelter. In spite of serious illnesses, both survived the winter.
George was about sixteen months old when his father returned to Winter Quarters and the family began making preparations for a move west. Traveling with the Heber C. Kimball Company, the family arrived in the Salt Lake Valley 24 September 1848. At age two and a half, George was a Utah pioneer, along with his brother who had been born on the way.
The 7th Ward area of Salt Lake City was George's boyhood home. It was there that an unusual event took place. From his father's autobiography we read, "On the 28th of October 1852 Patriarch John Smith (Uncle to the Prophet Joseph) came to my house by invitation with his secretary and gave me and my wife our Patriarchal Blessings which blessing confirmed ones previously given by other Patriarchs. He also blessed my son George M. and at the same time ordained him at the age of 6, a High Priest and pronounced him a literal descendant of Aaron and entitled to all the blessings of that Priesthood." No reason is given for this unusual ordination, but it was recorded in both the 7th Ward records and the High Priest records.
In 1864, George's father responded to a call to settle in the Bear Lake Valley. The area was at that time part of Utah, but later boundary changes placed it in Idaho. At age eighteen, George became one of the first settlers of St. Charles, Bear Lake, Idaho, along with other members of his family. It was there that he met and married Maria Adelia Young, also an early settler. George and Maria were married 6 March 1866 at St. Charles by President Charles C. Rich.
St. Charles was home to George and Maria for the remainder of their lives and all nine of their children were born there. George was a farmer and a rancher. In 1888 he obtained a land patent for 400 acres in Caribou County through the Desert Land Act. That land was later owned by the Bear Lake Grazing Association, a cooperative of about 54 area ranchers. George was one of them. In 1908, he also obtained a 100 acre homestead in Bear Lake County.
George McKay Pugmire died in St. Charles 2 March 1910 of heart problems. He was sixty-four years old. His tombstone in the St. Charles Cemetery is inscribed, "Ye visited the sick and comforted them."
See history of Jonathan Pugmire, Jr. and Elizabeth McKay
Maria Adelia Young was the second child born to William G. Young and Adelia Clark. She was born in Pottawattamie County, Iowa on 29 February 1848, as her parents prepared to move west with other Mormon pioneers. She was only a few months old when her family made the long trek across Nebraska and Wyoming with the Brigham Young Company of 1848. They entered the Salt Lake Valley 21 September 1848, with Maria less than a year old.
Maria grew up in Utah, in the Salt Lake area and at Grantsville in Tooele County. When she was sixteen, her father was called to help settle the Bear Lake Valley. They made a new home at St. Charles where she met George McKay Pugmire. They were married there 6 March 1866. During her life time in St. Charles, Maria bore nine children, five boys and four girls. All of them were given the middle name of Young.
It was said that Maria did fine needlework. In addition to sewing for her large family, she was talented at making quilts, carpets and various items that added comfort and beauty to the home and surroundings. Many of her handmade items were treasured as keepsakes by family members.
Maria was a widow for ten years. She died 1 November 1920 in St. Charles at the age of seventy-two.
See history of William Goodall Young and Adelia Clark
[Note: Some records give her birth as 1847 which is not possible. The marriage of her parents and the birth and death of their first child are well documented. In the light of those dates, Maria's birth would have to have been in 1848 as engraved on her tombstone and supported by the 1860 and 1880 Census.]
See history of Brigham Young Pugmire and Mary Ann Hall