Joseph Lewis
by Mark G. Hodge, Oct 2014
Joseph Lewis was born November 24, 1858, in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire, Wales. She was the daughter of David and Elizabeth Evans Lewis. They
had two children, Mary Ann, born October 29, 1885, in Dowlais, and Joseph. David and Elizabeth were converts to the LDS Church in Wales, having been
baptized in 1857. David was a miner and in 1860 the family moved from Dowlais to Aberdare, also in Merthyr Tydfil.
Elizabeth, Mary Ann, and Joseph sailed to America aboard the General McClellan, which left Liverpool, England on May 21, 1864, and arrived in New
York on June 23, 1864. The family was in the company that was under the leadership of Elder George G. Bywater. While at sea, Mary Ann’s mother gave birth
to a son named William. The company proceeded to Wyoming, Nebraska, where they crossed the plains to the Salt Lake Valley with the William S. Warren
Company, arriving on October 4, 1864. Sadly, baby William Lewis passed away somewhere on the journey to Salt Lake City, as he is not listed in the company
roster of arrivals.
David Lewis sailed for America aboard the Belle Wood, which left Liverpool, England, and arrived in New York on May 31, 1865. He was in the
company under the leadership of Elder William S. Phillips. David's occupation was listed as a collier (coal miner). It is not know exactly when he arrived
in the Salt Lake Valley. At this point, nothing further is known about Elizabeth in Utah. David, Mary Ann, and Joseph eventually settled in Fairfield, Utah
County, Utah. Joseph is listed on the records of the Young Men's Mutual improvement Association of the Fairfield Ward from March 1881 to March 1886. Given
his age, he may have been an adviser to the young men.
David Lewis died August 1, 1881 in Fairfield, Utah County and was buried in the Fairfield cemetery next to Edwin Butler, a step-brother of Lyman Hodge.
Joseph Lewis married Abbie Marie Lawrence on July 1, 1889, in Provo, Utah County. They had two children: Lester, born in 1887 in Salt Lake City; and
Tillie, born in 1892, in Provo. Abbie remarried in 1894 to Lorenzo Bate, and her children from Joseph took on the last name of Bate. Joseph and Abbie were
later divorced about 1893. Joseph was living in Idaho by 1910, where he worked as a farm laborer. He died on November 16, 1938, in Archer, Madison County,
and was buried in the Sutton Cemetery in Archer.
