A biography of William Clayton, an important figure of the LDS Church in the mid nineteenth century and author of the powerful hymn, "Come, Come Ye Saints."

The novel spans the years from early Mormonism in nineteenth-century Nauvoo, Illinois, to the 1960s, chronicling changes in moral values. Louisa, a fictional plural wife of Joseph Smith, matures through the hardships of the founding years and treks to Utah. Chris, Louisas great-granddaughter, caught up in the turmoil of the 1960s, researches her ancestry in New York. She rejects Mormonism, enters a polygamous marriage, and contends with opposition and murder. The novel explores the hostility against Mormons, and their conflicted mixture of piety and lust. In its chronological and geographical sweep, the plot moves from coast to coast. The Vander Heides have extensive firsthand experience with their subject matter. Ralph, a former Mormon, holds a PhD in Germanic and Hispanic studies and has taught in colleges and high schools. He studied writing under Brewster Ghiselin at the University of Utah. Judy earned both BA and MA degrees. She studied writing with Wallace Stegner at Stanford University. Judy has worked as a history and English teacher in high schools and as a guidance counselor. The couple has lived in the regions covered in the novel, and they are now both retired. Judy plays tennis. Ralph skis and runs. Together they travel and do volunteer work in the arts and humanities, but advise against spouses jointly writing a novel. They continue to consult each other but write separately.

What is the American Dream, truly? This American social, cultural, and working-class family history, spanning some four centuries, represents a deeply personal quest for an answer from an unlikely source, namely the author’s own European progenitors. Because of their Mormon faith, their stories have been preserved, but not told. What they have to say about the American Dream is noteworthy. For the huge bulk of the author’s immediate family, their American Dream was not the American Dream; their reports and narratives, in principle, stand well outside the fantastic story of “liberty and justice for all” in the “land of the brave.” Indeed, their economic fortunes, or lack thereof, did not conform to the pattern; and most failed to go from being the vanquished of Europe to the victorious of America. For their trouble, and largely because of their Mormonism, they were cast in the role of America’s Caliban. Their American Dream may have been only to wake up from what quickly became a nightmare, especially for the scores of women and children who paid the ultimate price. Importantly, A Most Extraordinary, Everyday Family Story of Coming to the New World, 1660–2016 is a cautionary tale in an auto-ethnographical vein, and suggests that coming to the United States of America was often not worth such sacrifice.

This book explores the roots of the Miller/Lewis family. From colonial America, the formation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the expultions and forced migrations of the early Mormon saints, to the settlement and development of the state of Utah, we learn who we are by seeing who we were. We also learn what great potential we have, for we have been blessed with a heritage rich in sacrifice, hard work and vision.

Follow the fascinating true stories of one family through the Mormon pioneer era—stories that follow four generations and several of the author’s family lines as they and their fellow pioneers help shape the early history of the Mormon Church, the American West, and even Mexico. This memorable journey is the culmination of fifteen years of painstaking research as the author carefully reconstructs the pioneer struggles from before 1830 to 1918 using information from family journals, memoirs, histories and letters. Volume III (The Last Pioneers/Refuge in Mexico, 1876-1918) concludes the family history by explaining how polygamous family pioneers moved from Utah to settle Arizona and New Mexico; how the pioneers faced Indian and mob threats again in their new home; how, because of polygamy, the threat of imprisonment forced the settlers to flee into Mexico, where they battled Indians and the elements, adjusted to Mexican culture and citizenship, and prospered; how they were soon victims of the Mexican Revolution, caught between two marauding armies; and how they were finally forced back across the border as impoverished refugees in the very states they had once pioneered. My Own Pioneers is an important work illuminating the legacy of the Mormon pioneers. It is a compilation of true chronological accounts through which their lives, their sacrifices, and their considerable accomplishments, despite terrible hardship, may be honored. With its extensive index, this book provides an excellent research tool for academics as well as history enthusiasts; and it uplifts every reader by showcasing the enduring strength and mighty faith of these pioneers.