HISTORY OF OWEN OWENS

(Given to his grandson, William W. Owens, December 30, 1912)

My grandfather, Owen Owens, was born in Merionethshire, North Wales, on December 21, 1836, the son of William and Elenor Evans Owens.  It was a farming and slate quarrying district.  William Owens was a farmer, he rented a large tract of land for which he paid ninety pounds per year.  He was allowed to keep his own livestock on the farm and he usually had from one thousand to two thousand head of sheep and twenty milk cows, necessitating a small dairy. 

The family were Baptists, the father not being very religious.  When grandfather was about eleven years old, the family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and he was also baptized.  Arrangements were shortly made for emigrating to America.

Before leaving England, however, four of the eleven children died including grandfathers twin sister who died at the age of twelve.  The family of nine left Liverpool in the spring of 1849 sailing seven weeks and one day in reaching New Orleans.  From New Orleans they started up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers to St. Joseph.  Enroute the cholera attacked them resulting in the death of father, mother, two boys and two girls of the family leaving only grandfather, a lad of thirteen, Margret Owens his twenty year old sister and Cadwalder Owens his twenty-four year old brother.  From St. Joseph they proceeded by wagon to Council Bluffs where they fitted themselves out with one yoke of cows, two yoke of oxen and started for Salt Lake in George A. Smith’s company arriving about the time of fall conference 1849.

The three of them spent the first winter in a dug-out across the Jordan with a Welsh colony.  The two older ones soon married and grandfather was left to shift for himself.  In the spring of 1850 he hired to John Mercer for eight months at eight dollars per month for general farm work just south of the city.  In the fall of 1850 he hired to Captain Dan Jones and went with him to Sanpete for a year, still at farm work.  In the winter of 1851 he stayed with his married sister in Salt Lake and attended school.  He had only attended a few months out of each year while in Wales.  The summer of 1852 was spent in Salt Lake in the employ of John Bauch at farm work.  In February 1853 he went to American Fork, made his home at Mercers and worked wherever he could.

On October 2, 1857 he married Jane Parsons.  In April 1859 they came to Willard, Utah, her parents coming along also.  He bought the eight acre piece of land south of town and soon after the lot where he now lives and commenced building a log house.  Nails cost one dollar per pound so the floor was put down with wooden pegs.  A wooden roof was put on, the first and only one in Willard at the time (1860).

He married Martha Waite in February 1871.  From his first wife he had nine children, from the second wife eight children.  He has worked as a farmer all his life, always being able to support his family.  He quit work at the age of sixty-eight.  He never took much part in politics, was a Republican.  He served as assistant superintendent in the Sunday School and as Bishop’s Councilor.

After being confined to his bed four days, grandfather died June 13, 1913 and was buried in the Willard, Utah cemetery June 15, 1913.