CHARLES EDWIN DAVIES' LIFE
By
Bernice R. Davies Porter
and
Fawn Lucile Davies Walker
Charles Edwin Davies was born in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire South Wales on December 4, 1859. His parents were John "Q" Davies and Ellen Rees. He was the second son and the sixth child of a family of ten children.
The other children were: Eliza, Anna Maria, Winnifred (twin), Hyrum (twin), Sarah Ann, Joseph, John, William Henry, Thomas Willard.
Milford Haven is located in South Wales on the St. George Channel. Needless to say, the children lived to watch the ships come and go.
Charles' father, John "Q" Davies, was a carpenter on the English ships where he sailed around the provinces of the English Crown. He was born in Haverford West South Wales, a town close to Milford Haven, South Wales.
Ellen Rees, mother of Charles, was born in Dale, Pembrokeshire, South Wales. This town is close to Milford Haven where Charles was born. Her parents were Charles Rees and Maria Waters Rees. She was the second child and the second daughter of a family of five children. The other children were: Louise, Charles Edwin (probably one our father was named after), Ann Waters, and Fredrick Owen Waters Rees. These children were all born in Dale, Pembrokeshire, South Wales.
The children of John "Q" and Ellen Davies were happy for even though their father was away a great deal of the time on sailing ships around the world, their mother was a kind and patient woman. She played games with her children, sang songs with them and taught them how to work. Their food consisted of fish, soup, potatoes, no milk, oranges and apples brought in by ship. Corn was called Indian meal. They never saw corn on the cob until they came to America.
The children sold water cress and other greens to the sailors for money and fish. They gathered copper rivets where ships were being built and sold them.
When father, Charles Edwin Davies, was four years old he started school and he attended shcool until he was eleven years old. While in school, the only vacations the students had were at Christmas and the Birthday of the Queen of England. There were no summer vacations.
Father's first teacher was an old maid teacher, 75 years old. The first two years he learned to read and spell. Later he studied geography, arithmetic, and writing. He was especially good in penmanship. The hickory stick was a cane, and the teacher was very efficient in using it so very little hickory was necessary.
The first job that father had when leaving school at the age of eleven years plus three months, was on a mackeral boat. At a time when taking water-cress down th a mackeral boat, he asked for a job as a cabin boy, which consisted of doing odd jobs, keeping the captain quarters clean, and carring food and messages to him. Father received fifty cents a day plus his board and room. They fished with a seine at Kinsale, Ireland, and brought mackeral by boat to Wales in heavy strapped iron bound boxes weighing 150 to 250 pounds. He transferred from the mackeral place to Arklo, Ireland to load fresh herring and then onto Hollyhead, Wales. Homesickness, however, came over him so he returned home by another ship.
The John "Q" Davies family joined the Mormon Church. Father was a little reluctant to join, but was baptized in April 1875. His mother was very kind to the missionaries, and she gave them her last food, washed their feet, and gave them clothes.
Henry Harris, brother-in-law of Charles E. Davies, and his wife Winnifred Davies Harris who were living in Brigham City, Utah, sent money for two of the John "Q" Davies family to come to Utah. At first grandfather thought he would come and bring his daughter Sarah Ann, but later decided to send father and Sarah Ann. Two older daughters from the family, Anna Marie and Winnifred had come to America at an earlier date. Anna Marie and husband, Henry Jordan Moore, lived in Provo, Utah.
On the 11th day of September 1875, at 8:00 A.M. in the morning father and his sister Sarah Ann left for Liverpool, England. Father was 15 years 9 months at the time, and Sarah Ann was 17 years. They hired a taxis in Liverpool to take them to the Mormon Church, 42 Islington Street. There they purchased steerage fare for $75.00 each, a special rate for Mormon Immigrants. Henry Harris had sent $110.00 to the Immigration Fund, so Father paid an additional $40.00. This left him a total sum of $5.71 to be used to buy food on the train after reaching New York, and their tickets to Brigham City, Utah.
Father was small in size, weighing 140 lbs. and was 5 ft. 6 inches tall. However, all that he lacked in size he surely made up in determination. No job ever seemed too large. He went patiently about his work, never thinking he would ever fail to accomplish the task in mind. Spurred on by the thought of providing well for his large family, he was successful financially. He considered it a crime to bring a family into the world to go cold and hungry. He always saw to it that his children never were without food and clothing or a good home.
Father owned 80 acres of farm land on the Provo Bench, and 12 acres in the river bottom which he kept for years and farmed. He had cows which furnished enough milk for the family, and horses to help do the farm work. He built a home on the river bottom land where he expected to live for many years, but only stayed one. My mother felt the children needed to be closer to school.
Three other homes were built by Father on one block in the Provo Third Ward. The one I knew best was located at 348 North 4th West which was a lovely brick home built high to make it look like old estates Father saw in the South. The house on the East corner, 3rd North and 3rd West, was built to rent, and the house on the corner of 4rd North and 4th West was where most of the family was born.
Father worked in Freshwater's Store, Eldredge Hardware Store, a butcher shop, and a company store in Kenilworth, Utah. He peddled fruits and vegetables in Park City, Kamas and Heber City. He started a store called Park Grocery, and a service station on the corner of 5th West and 5th North.
