Lewis J Lewis Family & Matthew W Hill Family

by Hazel Hill West, Verla Rae Hill Mortensen, Helen May McDaniel

Lewis J. Lewis, born July 29, 1825, at LIandebie, South Wales, and Eleanor Davis Lewis, born May 15, 1826, Hirwaun, Penderyn, So. Wales, my mother's parents, settled on a farm in St. John, after a short stay in Malad, in 1873. They had joined the Mormon Church in Wales, traveled via sailing ship to the East Coast; wagon train to the Salt Lake Valley with their seven children namely: Nephi; William; Margaret Ann (died while they were in Malad); Mary; Catherine; and twins, Eleanor, my mother, and her twin sister, Elizabeth.

In Wales, my grandfather had been a mine superintendent, and after visiting a coal mine last summer in Wales and seeing under what conditions the miners worked, it was understandable why they wanted to come to America. I went down 300 ft. in a lift, spent one hour down there, while a guide showed us the typical mine of that era. Those mines are all closed now. They only use 'open pit' mines now.

My grandfather died in 1900, before I was born, and I was only two when my grandmother passed on, so I did not know them personally. However, I have learned that Grandfather Lewis was Bishop of the Mormon Church in St. John for many years and that he had well-developed a "Gift of Healing" the sick and troubled and was held in high esteem. The family are all deceased now and buried in the St. John Cemetery.

Matthew W. Hill, born May 20, 1844, Lanark, Scotland, and his wife, Catherine Nelson Hill, born June 4, 1851, St. Louise Missouri, settled on a farm in St. John in 1868. Their first son, Andrew, was the first white child born in St. John and was my father.

My grandfather, when only sixteen years old, had traveled to this country. He got a job driving wagon trains to Utah for the Mormons. He worked for one winter in Salt Lake City helping with the Temple. Then he walked to Logan, Utah, where he had a job awaiting him with John W. Nelson, a prominent member of the church, who had come from Scotland some years earlier. While there he met my grandmother and a few years later, when she was sixteen, they were married. She was the daughter of John W. Nelson, who had come to Utah for the Gospel. She was the fourth of five children, three born in Dumfarrline, Scotland, Catherine and her younger brother born in Missouri. Her father was chosen by the church leaders to colonize Logan. His name is on the Tabernacle grounds in Logan. She grew up there and was baptized in the Logan River. In those days the girls helped to spin the yarn to be woven into cloth and then made into clothes. Catherine spun the yarn to make the cloth, which was used to make the trousers for Grandfather Hill's wedding suit. She worked very hard; milked cows, made butter and cheese, and carried the household supply of water from the river.

In 1868 when they moved from Logan they settled in a place that was afterwards called St. John. They built their first home on a place called the Dan Kent place, but the Indians were numerous and they moved closer to the other settlers in the vicinity. Chief Pocatello was a frequent visitor to their home. Generally speaking, the Indians were quite friendly and would carry messages to relatives in Logan.

The settlers in this community provided their own entertainment. In the winter they would have dances in the homes. When they decided to have a dance, one of the men would drag a log from door to door, through the snow to make a path for all to get to the dance. They took their children with them. At first each couple had two children with the exception of one who had three. The parents would each carry a child and an old bachelor in the group would carry the third.

Finally the township broke up when Tom Stevens homesteaded the ground and Grandfather also took up a farm under the Homestead Act, 160 acres, south of St. John, the present Lawrence Hess farm. This is where the rest of the family of eleven boys and one daughter was born and reared. After my father, Andrew, came John, born in 1872, died 1913; William, 1874 to 1954; Matthew, 1876 to 1942; Edward, 1878 to 1955; George, 1880 to 1949; James, 1882 to 1935; Thomas, 1884 to 1958; David, 1886 to 1949; Alex, 1889 to 1951; Bruce, 1890 to 1915; Catherine (Katie) 1894 to 1982. This large family grew up, married, and had families of their own, and stayed mostly in Oneida County. I think all are buried in the St. John Cemetery, except George and James who are buried in Ashton, Idaho and Katie buried in Malad.

The sagebrush on their homestead was as tall as a man and had to be cleared off by chopping each bush with an axe, piled up, and burned. About four acres of brush were cleared each year. When cleared, it was planted into alfalfa, grain and oats. He had cattle and at one time bought a herd of sheep. They were industrious people; my grandmother did spinning for other people, as well as make clothes for her own family. Later, Grandmother took up a homestead at the north end of Malad Valley on what is called Kent's Bench. This was a dry farm where they raised wheat. These were the days of the horse-powered threshing machines, the scythe and sickle. They raised their own pork, honey, eggs, milk, butter and cheese. There was barter and trade among the settlers. He was always planting trees; some of the trees he planted are still standing in St. John. In addition, he planted two orchards, which supplied fruit for the family for many years.

Grandfather was mechanically inclined and had his own workshop where he did most of his repair work. He built a waterwheel in the ditch, which was used to drive the grindstone. He surveyed ditches for himself and for the Water Co. using a homemade tripod and a spirit level. He would walk to Malad in the winter to work with the carpenters. He helped build the Courthouse in Malad and helped his father­in-law, John W. Nelson, my great-grandfather, build the first Grist Mill in Malad.

Andrew, his oldest son and my father, married Eleanor Lewis, my mother, who grew up on the joining farm. They had eight children, namely: Elizabeth, born 1893, died 1918, leaving three children, Franklin Hess, Lewis Hess, who died in 1983, and Elizabeth Hess Kuhn. Both Elizabeth and Frank live in San Francisco, California. Catherine Greenlee, 1896 to 1979, leaving no children; Lewis Hill, 1900 to 1978, leaving one daughter, Beth Burdett, living in Salt Lake City; Hazel Hill West, 1902; still alive and writing this; Wallace Hill, 1905 to 1959, no children; Isabell Hanson, 1907 to 1983, leaving four children: Glendale Jones, Ely Nevada; Eleanor Prouty, Spokane; Darrell Hanson, Salt Lake City; Patricia Hanson, Salt Lake City. Two children died as babies, Mary Ellen and Andrew.

In later years when their family was all grown and had homes of their own, Grandpa and Grandma Hill sold the old homestead, keeping a corner lot for building themselves a smaller home. It was really for their son, Matthew and his family, and they planned to live in Logan. However, they only stayed in Logan one year, then returned to St. John. Grandmother died in 1925 at the age of 74, and Grandfather died in 1928 at the age of 85. We, my brothers and sisters, were all grateful that we lived near our grandparents from our birth until their death. We had the privilege of seeing them often and hearing all the stories of their pioneer days. Sorry I missed knowing my mother's parents for I know they could have told me many interesting stories of their days in St. John.

Our family, Andrew Hill and Eleanor Lewis, all grew up in St. John and attended Malad High, all except my oldest sister, Elizabeth, Lizzie as we called her, attended the New Jersey Academy in Logan, because there was no high school at the time she was ready, and Wallace, who moved to Boise with our family and graduated from Boise High. Most of us left the St. John area after high school, except Isabell who lived in Malad for a number of years before moving to Ely, Nevada.

(From St. John, Oneida County, Idaho: A collection of personal histories from the time of the first settlers to the present day, pp. 197-198.)