The Welsh Saints Project

Given Name: John A.
Surname: Lewis

Gender: Male

Birth date: 11 December 1814

Birth place: Llanarth, Cardiganshire, Wales View Sources

Death date: 13 November 1887

Death place: Spanish Fork, Utah, Utah, United States View Sources

Burial date: 15 November 1887

Burial place: Spanish Fork, Utah, Utah, United States View Sources

Father: Edmund Lewis
Mother: Amelia Preece

Siblings

Ann John (1818-1850)

Married 1834 in Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales

Children

Merriman, Priscilla (1811-1887)

Married 30 August 1851 in Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales

View Sources

Left Liverpool, Lancashire, England on 4 February 1854 aboard the ship Golconda.
Arrived in New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana, United States on 18 March 1854.

Lewis, John A - Biographical Sketch
Lewis, John A. - Biography
Lewis, John A. - Biography 2

John Lewis Swenson, a great-grandson of John A. Lewis, wrote:

"John A. Lewis was the son of Edmund Lewis and Amelia Preece, and was the father of Fredrick Lewis, who was my grandfather. He was born in Llandaff, Wales, on November 12, 1814. He married Ann John who was born on May 3, 1818, in Wales. She died before hearing the gospel. He was a master builder and contractor, and was a leader in that work. He and his brother Edmund repaired the famous Cardiff docks. He was a local preacher for the Wesleyan Methodist Church. He had much opposition from friends and relatives when he joined the Latter-day Saint Church. He was the only one of his family who accepted the gospel. He was extremely kind and charitable. He had the gift of healing and discerning of spirits. He was refined, educated, gentle and modest. He was also a fast runner and a swift walker. He was worth considerable means in Wales. He emigrated all the poor Saints from his parish to Salt Lake City. While working on a mission to Wales (April 1872), he had an accident which injured his spine. He walked home after the accident, and never fully regained his health. In his later life he spent much time in visiting the sick and the poor, and those in sorrow. He was a deep thinker and very fair minded. He stood guard in Echo Canyon at the time of Johnston's Army, despite the fact that he was poorly fed, and illy clad in the midst of winter.

He assisted in building walls around the temple block, and homes of Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball. His first work in Salt Lake was the basement of the Salt Lake Temple. He planted the first peach orchard to bear fruit in Brigham City. He died in Spanish Fork, at the home of his son Fredrick, on November 13, 1887, from a paralytic stroke. He had lived with his son Frederick since the death of his second wife, Priscilla Merriman Phillips.
John A. Lewis had seven children by his first wife, Ann John. They were: 1) Ann; 2) Frederick, who died in [infancy]; 3) Mary; 4) Amelia, who died in [childhood]; 5) Frederick; 6 & 7) Twins -Lewis & William, Lewis, dying in childhood."