Plaque on Ynysymond Isaf

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Ynysymond Isaf - Plaque Inscription:

According to the 1841 census, William Morgan and his wife Sarah (formerly Davies) were living at Ynysymond Isaf with their five children. William was eleven years old at that time; Elizabeth was nine; Evan was six; John was five; and David was just eight months old. A short time later, this family was left motherless, and it appears that William raised the family by himself from that time on. He lived until he was nearly ninety-one years old. He died in 1891 at Alltwen. His son, Evan, back in Wales as a Mormon missionary, was with him at his passing.

In about 1849 William's son, William, left home to work in a colliery some distance away. While there he became converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the "Mormons." While home on a visit he left a copy of the Book of Mormon for his father and siblings to read. The father did not ever come to share his son's new beliefs, but he offered only mild resistance as each of his other four children were immersed in the waters of baptism at the hands of the Mormon Elders.

William (the son) went to America in 1856 and helped to settle the community of Tooele in the State of Utah. He died in 1877 at the age of forty-seven, leaving eight children. Evan left Wales the following year and was among the first settlers of the town of Liberty in the State of Idaho, directly north of Utah. He died in 1913 at the age of seventy-nine, leaving five children and numerous grandchildren. Elizabeth married while still in Wales and emigrated with her husband and two children during the 1860s. She died in 1913 in Parker, Idaho, at the age of eighty-two. John and David, the two younger brothers, lost their lives in the Bryncoch mine accident in 1859. John was twenty-two, and David was eighteen.

The children of William and Sarah Morgan linked their lives to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. William, Elizabeth, and Evan helped to tame the wild frontiers of Utah and Idaho, and were true pioneers in every sense of the word. Their descendants have placed this plaque on their birthplace here at Ynysymond Isaf, this 19th day of July, 1994, as a token of their esteem, appreciation, and love for these, their Welsh forebears.