With Faith in Every Footstep

Since we came into possession of the Forman Bible and learned we are descended from the Longstreet family, this year we have more Mormon Pioneers to celebrate!

Will of Samuel Longstreet (1735-1829) naming his daughter Mary, wife of Isaac Forman

But they didn't all come by land.

Mary Ann Shinn Burtis Robbins

Samuel Longstreet had a sister Andrea who married William Burtis. They had a son Abner, who married Rachel Shinn (who emigrated from Ireland with her 3 sisters.) Abner and Rachel Burtis had a daughter Mary Ann (my 2nd cousin 5 times removed) while they lived in New Jersey. She married Isaac Rogers Robbins in 1838. They joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1840 and traveled to Nauvoo, Illinois to join the Saints there. But poor health sent them back home to New Jersey.

At the request of Church leaders, Samuel Brannan procured a sailing vessel for a company of Saints living on the east coast, to make their way to join the Saints in the west via sea voyage around Cape Horn. All but 12 of the 238 passengers were church members, including Mary Ann and Isaac Robbins, and their 3 children. They sailed on 4 Feb 1846, the same day the Saints began their exodus from Nauvoo. It was a hazardous voyage due to storms, scurvy, and low fresh water supplies. They crossed the equator on both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, went from the icy Antarctic to the tropical Hawaiian Islands and then on to California. They finally landed in Yerba Buena (now San Francisco) on 31 Jul 1846. Their nearly 6 month journey had covered about 24,000 miles.

Voyage of the Brooklyn 1846

After a year and a half, a company was formed under Ebenezer Brown which included, among others, the Robbins family and a group of returning Mormon Battalion veterans. They traveled for two months from Pleasant Valley, California, on the newly-constructed Carson Pass wagon road over the Sierras to Salt Lake Valley. The hard life took its toll on Mary Ann, and she passed away at the age of 38 on 11 Jun 1849, the same day their oldest son, Joseph Reeves Robbins (age 9) also died. Her husband Isaac took the 3 remaining children and settled in Provo. Isaac married Abiah Russell Carter in 1852, and had 11 more children!

They traveled with an unshakable faith in God. Their descendants number now in the thousands.


Faith in Every Footstep

1. A marvelous work has begun to come forth among all the children of men.

O ye that embark in the service of God, give heart, mind, and strength unto him;

For prophets have spoken and angels have come to lift the world from sin,

That Christ may reign over all the earth and bless his gathered kin.

Chorus

2. Those marvelous Saints who embraced this great work and shared it in lands far and near;

Who gave all their heart, mind, and strength to the Lord with wisdom and vision so clear;

Now stand as examples of virtue and faith, of souls prepared to hear,

Of knowledge sure, born of humble heart, and love that banished fear.

Chorus

3. If we now desire to assist in this work and thrust in our sickle with might;

If we will embark in the service of God and harvest in fields that are white;

Our souls may receive the salvation of God—the fulness of his light,

That we may stand, free of sin and blame, God’s glory in our sight.

Chorus

Chorus

With faith in every footstep, we follow Christ, the Lord;

And filled with hope through his pure love, we sing with one accord.

Copyright © 1996 LDS. All rights reserved. This song may be copied for incidental, noncommercial home or church use. This notice must be included on each copy made.