Richard J. Davis
(By Curtis Lynn Hoskins)
My great great Granfather Richard Jenkins Davis was born in South Wales the son
of William Jenkins Davis and Gwenllis Thomas. His father died when he was very
young and he lived with his Grandfather Richard Thomas doing farm work. He
later worked in the coal mines. He married Rebecca Morgan who is my Great
great Grandmother.
My Great Grandmother was her daughter, Rebecca Jane Davis Hubbard. He was
baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints. He was ordained a Priest, and Elder, and was appointed counselor to
the President of the Branch where he labored until Jan. 25, 1853 when he bade
goodbye to his friends and relatives and left for America with his wife and two
year old boy.
After six weeks on the ship, Jersey, they landed in New Orleans and took a
steamer up the Mississippi to Iowa. They stayed there 9 weeks preparing to
cross the plains. After a hard trip and much suffering common to those days,
they arrived in Salt Lake City on October 10, 1853, eight and one half months
after leaving Wales. They spent the winter with Father Call in Bountiful and
in the spring they came to Willard. He entered into the activities of the
community and built one of the first substantial houses. In connection with
Will Walker he opened the first road in the Willard creek canyon. He was set
apart as one of the seven presidents of the Seventies of the 59th Quorum. He
was called on a mission to South Wales. After an absence of 12 years he met
his family again and they treated him kindly but were not interested in his
religion. A Mr. Gibbs, who settled in Portage was converted and baptized by
Richard J. Davis. They were always like brothers. They came on the steamship,
John Bright, with 700 Saints. He arrived in Willard three years and three
months to the day after leaving on the mission. He found his family in good
health but destitute. In the spring, three of the best cows he had were
poisoned on wild parsnip. Later on, the mule team he had died from eating
something poison. This handicapped but with the unusual energy he started in
to provide for his family of nine children.
In November, 1868, after being in Willard 15 years, he went to Malad valley,
entered 160 acres of land, built a log house and then returned to Willard for
the winter.
In the spring of 1869, in the company of Moses Dudley and John D. Jones, each
taking part of their family, and their cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens, they
started out to build new homes in the Malad Valley. With him was his wife,
Elizabeth, sons, William M., Richard E. and daughter, Margaret. The writer of
this sketch has a very clear memory of that April morning when we landed on a
desolate sage brush flat to live in a log room with neither roof nor floor and
very little to interest us but rattlesnakes, coyotes and wolves.
He went to work building corrals, shed and fencing hay land; also running his
farm at Willard. With all his home cares he always found time for religion and
civic affairs. He was also a good violin player and played for dances. He in
company with four others, one the school teacher, the Moon boys, and Tom and
Dick Davis, his grandsons built a good log school house and started the first
school in that part of the valley. They had held school in a lean-to near
this. The school was between Cy Moon's and Margaret Davis'.
He organized a branch of the church there, covering Willow Springs, Cherry
Creek, and Henderson Creek over which he presided for several years.
He was still on of the seven Presidents of the Seventies, also organized a Mass
Quorum in the Malad Valley by order of Joseph A. Young. In 1833 (1933?) this
became the 52nd Quorum and then he was called as the Senior President which
position he held until he died at Willow Springs where Clarks now live and Lenn
Clark has the home. He was buried at Willard.
