WILLIAM
ROBERT JOHNS
William R.
Johns was born August 27,
1855 in St. Brides, South Wales to
William and Elizabeth Williams Johns.
When he was a small boy, his father died. He and his mother went to live with her
parents. His mother worked as a maid,
dying early in her life, leaving him to be reared by his grandparents. Schooling commenced at the usual age in St.
Brides. After the school day was over he
tended sheep. The Mormon missionaries visited
them and told them of the wonderful new religion. Immediately they knew that it was the faith
they had been searching for. William R.
Johns was baptized in the sea near Ogmore, Wales
by
Whatever doubt
that seemed to be in his mind, there was unquestionably very little about the
new church and of Zion. He was not the only one, for there were many
more in the small quaint town of St.
Brides in the South of Wales. William R. Johns was only 10 years old when
he left Wales
with its abundance of Lush green foliage, the warm sunlight giving warmth and
the moist climate keeping the rolling hills and country side heavy with growth.
In 1866
William Williams, his wife and grandson William Johns decided to leave their
native land for America in
order to be with the Latter-day Saints in Salt
Lake City. On May 18, 1866, a group of
600 saints left their cozy cottages and most of their belongings to climb
aboard a train in the picturesque town of Bridgend
to journey on to Liverpool,
England, where
they stayed for one day. The following
day they boarded the sailing ship named the Arkwright,
and at last after weeks of preparation they were on their way. Their food consisted of salt bacon and salt
beef, which was soaked in the sea water before cooking on large community
galley or stove. The also had sea biscuits
which were put on rations. I was at this
time that the first successful cable was being laid across the Atlantic Ocean.
No sooner had
they landed at Castle Gardens, Ellis Island, till they again boarded a
river steamer and were off to Buffalo. From here by train they went to Canada,
this being due to the Civil War at that time.
They crossed the St. Lawrence River by Niagara Falls
to Michigan. Across the state to Chicago, Illinois,
they went by way of train. From here
they traveled in cattle cars with wooden slabs for benches. In this manner they traveled very slowly as
the rebels were burning bridges. They transferred
to boat on the Missouri River for two days until they reached a small town in Nebraska situated on the Little Blue River near Nebraska City.
Here they camped on the banks of the river awaiting the arrival of the
wagon train from Utah. Some Welsh people at this place tried to
persuade the Mormons to stay where they were and not try to cross the long
dreary plains, but William Williams said, "No, I am going on to Zion if I
die on the way." After traveling a
short distance the oxen were stampeded, causing one of the teamsters to break
one of his legs. During their travels
the company had to be put on rations, each person being allowed one pound of
flour and a little bacon each day. Often
water was not fit to drink and many people died or became seriously ill. After much suffering, William Williams died August
1866, on the Nebraska Plains. His last
words were, "I am at peace with all men and on the road to Zion." A shadow of sympathetic gloom rested upon the
whole company. Jane Williams was
permitted to keep her husband’s body in the wagon until the company camped for
their noon meal. His body was wrapped in
a piece of bedding and placed in a shallow grave covered with sod and a few
rocks. Grass growing nearby was put on
top. Following the North Platte and the
South Platte they came to Laramie and Fort Bridger them on down through Echo
Canyon to Parleys Canyon and finally the
long awaited arrival at Salt Lake City late in November 1866. It was raining when they arrived. Jane Williams and the boy William Johns sat
down on a box in the old tithing office, where Hotel Utah now stands. They were waiting for a friend or saint to
tell them what to do, or where to go.
She said, "Well, well, if this is Zion
I wish I were back in the land of my birth, dear old Wales."
They stayed a
few weeks in Salt Lake City
until just before Christmas then came to Spanish Fork with Ed and Llewellyn
Thomas. After a winter with them,
William R. Johns worked four years for William Banks for his board and clothes. Him first team was yoke of oxen for which he
paid $50 dollars each and $100 dollars for a wagon. He then began logging and hauling poles from
the canyon. He and his grandmother lived
in a small house on the northeast part of town known as Denmark. For 20 years he sang tenor in the Spanish
Fork choir, going to Salt
Lake to compete with
other singers, where they took the prize, although they were called the "Hay
Seeds." The song they sang was
called, "The Voice of Armany," by Evan
Stevens. Professor Henry Giles came to
town once a week to train them. They
were called the Silvers Greys and have all passed
away now, William R. and Mrs. Ellen Thomas were the last survivors.
William R.
Johns married Ann Llewellyn on November
27, 1879, in the Endowment House at Salt Lake City. Daniel H. Wells performed the ceremony. They drove to Salt Lake
in a covered wagon and Team. They went
from home to the Point of the Mountain the first day, camping there that
night. He paid 50 cents for his bride
for a bed at Dunions and he slept in the covered
wagon, watching the team during the night.
Returning to Spanish Fork they lived with his grandmother until the following
spring. They then moved to Eighth North and Third West in a two room adobe house. Two daughters blessed their home, Annie and
Sarah Jane. Then they moved on a farm
down where David Gull lives north of the Airport. Three more babies were born, a daughter Lilly
Latitia and two sons Llewellyn and William
Grover. The little home consisted of two
rooms, a kitchen and a bedroom. During
the First World War in 1917 and 1918 there was the flu epidemic. Hundreds of people died form its effects. Most of the people were so frightened but not
William R. Johns. When anyone needed help
or death knocked at their door he was right there to get the body prepared for
burial.
A few years
later three sons and two daughters were born, David, Arthur, Francis, Irene, Ruby in town at 257 West Sixth North.
For several
years he hauled freight to Pioche, Nevada (and surrounding areas like Alamo and Delmar),
also working at railroad construction in Colorado,
Nevada, New Mexico
and Arizona. In Connection with this work he was honored
at the Golden Spike Jubilee in Ogden
in 1919.
Later in his
life he took up farming in the year of 1884 and continued till 1933 when he
retired from active labor.
In the earlier
days of Spanish Fork he was set apart by the church as one to care for the bodies
of the dead. He did this until
professional undertakers made his service unnecessary. He was one of the larger stock holders in the
First National Bank of Spanish Fork, and also of the Farmers Mercantile Association. In 1929 he and his wife celebrated their
golden wedding with a family reunion which their five living children
attended. During his life, he felt the
principles of Mormonism were right and tried to live up to its teachings.
He was the
father of 10 children; five died before him.
Two died later and there are three boys now living. There are 11 grandchildren, 23 great
grandchildren, 20 great-great grandchildren now living.
William R.
Johns died on January 20,
1937 in Spanish Fork,
Utah.
