Nettie Morgan Pierce

By Margaret Pierce Camp (daughter)

The seventh child of Samuel and Catherine Thomas Morgan was a little brown-eyed girl. She was born April 20, 1862, at Neath, Glam., South Wales. It was Easter Sunday. She was named Nyth (pronounced neath) meaning nest, according to the Welsh dictionary. Nest is soft, cuddly.

Nest's mother died when she was eight years old. Nest lived with her sister, Rebecca M. Davis near the seacoast.

She was living with her father when she was fifteen years of age. Her father was proud of her. She was a refined, well-educated young lady. And, at fifteen, she became interested in the teachings of some Mormon missionaries. She was converted and secretly went to Liverpool England with other converts where she was baptized on December 5, 1877.

She did not let her father know that she planned to sail for America until she was safely aboard ship . . . then she sent him a postcard.

The ship arrived in the New York Harbor and from there Nest came straight to Salt Lake City, Utah. She stayed there five months before she arranged to go to Malad, Idaho (about 110 miles north).

She was greeted by her beloved sister, Joan Morgan Woozley, who had come to America a few years previous. Joan and her husband, Edward Woozley, were married in 'The Old Country.' They had one child, Lucy, at the time they left Wales. They came to America because of the persecution they faced (because of their religion) in England and Wales. They came with other church members.

How happy those two sisters must have been to see each other in this new land...so far from home. Joan surely was overjoyed to learn that Nest, too, had accepted the Gospel. And the younger girl could tell her so much of the family!

Nest at this time changed her name to Nettie. It was 1878 when Nettie came to Malad in a wagon. She stayed with her sister and family about two weeks, then went to work for the Myers Koons family. Their large home was in the heart of the area that was later to be known as the business district of Malad.

One of the 'hired men' at the Koon's place was from South Wales, too. He and Nettie became good friends and, one year later, on December 18, 1879, they were married in the Myers Koon's home and became Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Pierce Jr.

Soon after the wedding, they moved to Willard, Utah, to help run the large ranch of John Edwards, his stepfather.

While they lived in Willard they had two sons. At the time their first boy was born, November 13, 1880, Nettie's brother, William, died in Wales. They named their baby William. His second name is Samuel, for her father. Her second boy was named Thomas, for his father.

The following year they homesteaded a farm in St. John, Idaho. Nettie lived there the rest of her life. At first they had only two rooms in their log house. Later more rooms were added. They had a fruit orchard north of the stream of water that ran near their tree-shaded home.

Nettie was often homesick for her native land. She had left Wales, a beautiful, lush land of trees, flowers and green, green hills. And she was disappointed in the 'Zion' out west. She did not expect to see so much dust and sagebrush! She was not as active in the church as she might have been. Her children were not baptized until they were adults and made the choice themselves.

Nettie went to Relief Society regularly with Mary Ann Monson in a horse-drawn cart. She sang in the Ward choir and loved to give readings in her native Welsh language.

St. David's Day (Welsh Patron Saint) each March meant a big celebration in the Malad area. The Welsh language was used in songs and speeches. Some of the Pierce children could recite Welsh poetry, too.

Nettie loved fine things. She would rather have a gift of a dainty dish than something more useful. She taught her children to appreciate beauty and refinement. In her home were beautiful dishes, good pictures, etc.

Her father, Samuel, came to the United States. He settled in the state of Ohio first. Later he found work in the coal mines of Penn. He was a Superintendent. His sons, Evan and John, came to Penn., too. More than once Samuel Morgan sent money to his beautiful Nettie, in far away Idaho, for train fare to come to visit him. He sent only one ticket. How she yearned to see that father she had left so many years ago. But she had a husband and a family of small children and couldn't go. The money was spent on things the family needed.

Nettie's father married a 'Mrs. Joseph Thomas' in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania. She, too, was a lady of refinement. They had one daughter. Their daughter, Annie, married a man whose last name is Pugh. The three members of the Morgan family and their families all belong to the Episcopalian Church.

Nettie's oldest brother, David, remained in Wales and raised a large family there. He was a Commandant in the Salvation Army. He came out to Idaho to see the two sisters who left Wales so long ago. He was a religious man, and brought each of his nieces and nephews a leather-bound Bible. He was given a warm welcome and seemed to feel very close to these families. How proud his sisters were of this tall, distinguished looking man!

Nettie had a good, happy life here. When she died December 17, 1914, she left a husband and a posterity that are active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many of her descendants have filled missions for the church . . . some of us have visited Wales.

(From St. John, Oneida County, Idaho: A collection of personal histories from the time of the first settlers to the present day, p. 221-222.)