- Margaret Shefflin was born May 1, 1817, in New York, New York, to Hugh and Margaret Brown Shefflin. Sometime before 1840, she moved with her mother and sisters, Mary Ann, Ruth, and Farah, to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It is not known what happened to her father, but he appears to no longer be with the family by 1840. While in Lancaster, Margaret met and married Joseph Stallings on May 5, 1840. It was during this time that she was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was baptized. Their first two children, William Nelson and Louisa Adelaide Stallings, were born in Lancaster.
In October of 1843, Joseph, Margaret, William Nelson and Louisa Adelaide Stallings, along with Margaret’s mother, Margaret Brown Shefflin, and her sister, Mary Ann Shefflin, left Lancaster and arrived in Nauvoo in December. Little is known about their activities in Nauvoo, except for the following: April 15, 1845 - Margaret Schefflin Stallings was given a Patriarchal blessing by Patriarch John Smith, Sept. 22, 1845 - Their son, Joseph Heber Stallings, was born in Nauvoo, and on January 3, 1846 - Margaret Stallings received her endowments in the Nauvoo Temple.
The family left Nauvoo along with the other saints and traveled to Iowa, where they stayed for a time, trying to earn sufficient money to begin the journey to the Rocky Mountains. At Krosaqua (Keokuk/Keosagua), Iowa county, Iowa, their little daughter, Margaret Amelia was born in November 1847. From there they journeyed to winter Quarters, where in the winter of 1849, Margaret passed away, leaving four small children.
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