Lewis, Esther Griffiths - Biography 2

Esther Lewis Gunnell

(1848-1922)

                Esther Lewis Gunnell was born 5 November 1848 in Cardiganshire, South Wales, to Thomas and Mary Ann Griffiths Lewis. The family immigrated to America  4 February 1854; Mary Ann and a daughter, Eleanor died at sea, as the result of cholera. The rest of the family arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana, 18 March 1854, where the baby Margaret died. The grief-stricken father with his three remaining children went to St. Louis Missouri, where Thomas worked in a coal mine until he was killed in a mining accident in 1856.

                Catherine and Thomas Hughes, also immigrants from Wales, ran a store in St. Louis. He died in 1854, and she married Dave Fayle. When Catherine heard of the plight of the Lewis children, she offered to help even though she had three orphans living with her: Mary Lloyd, John and Evan Owen. She took Esther and her little brother, Evan Lewis. David, the oldest, was possibly taken by relatives. The Fayles crossed the plains and stayed at Winter Quarters, until coming to Wellsville 8 September 1861.

                Esther was married to Francis Wilson Gunnell 2 July 1864 in the Endowment House and was his third wife. They were the parents of ten children: Thomas, Mary Catherine, Franklin, Zina, Lionel (twins), Laura, Evan, David, Nora, and Maggie. Francis died 20 October 1889, and Esther was left with seven children to raise. Two of their sons were drowned in Cold Water Lake; and when she raised the wagon cover and saw the bodies of her two young sons, her hair turned white. At the age of sixty, she went into the Raft River country and homesteaded a piece of land, living alone on it until she could get a clear title to sell. Her keynote was courage and endurance. She was a member of the Daniel H. Wells Camp of the DUP. Esther died 5 February 1922 at Burton, Idaho, and is buried in the Wellsville cemetery