THOMAS WILLIAMS
and
HARRIET
DAVIES
Carno is a
small village in the mountainous region of north central Wales. In about
1850 there were 166 homes in the village
of Carno
that housed 969 residents. It is noted in history as the place where a battle
that proved decisive in the sovereignty of North Wales
was fought in the year 946 A.D. More
important to us is the fact that the area around the Carno
parish was the birthplace of the Williams family for over one hundred
years. In at least three generations of the Williams family there was a
son named Thomas. The child named Thomas was not necessarily the first
born, or even the first born son, but until the mid-seventeen hundreds, a
Thomas Williams was always the one through which our pedigree threaded back in
time.
As it
did in every country progress touched, the Industrial Revolution of the 19th
century transformed the face of Wales.
Machinery needed fuel, and rich veins of coal wound under the craggy
countryside of southern Wales.
Soon, access to the mines pockmarked the region. Young men and boys were
drawn into urban environments from the villages and farms settled by their
ancestors by the magnetic promise of higher wages.
The
last Thomas Williams to be born in Carno was in 1821.
His father, also Thomas Williams, farmed in the hill country where they raised
wheat and oats. Their little farm was entirely self-supporting as they
also had dairy cows and made their own butter and cheese to eat with the bread
and oatmeal mush made from their own grain. His mother, Susannah, was
artistically talented. She had a fine oak loom on which she wove
beautiful Welsh flannel that was in constant demand by the local
citizens. Even after her husband died of a liver disease when he was
sixty years old, Suzannah regularly walked ten miles
over the mountains to the nearest market in Newtown to sell her cloth. It was this farm and this life
that had been lived without much change for generations that young Thomas left
when he moved south to Monmouthshire and became a
coal miner. In Tredegar he found an unexpected
treasure in a new religion that changed his life even more drastically.
Not
long after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints was organized with six members in 1830, missionaries were sent to the British Isles to spread the good news of the
restoration. Seventeen years later, Thomas heard the message and
believed. He was baptized in 1847 about the same time the Saints in America were
driven out of Nauvoo.
Thomas’s
wife, Ann, died from the effects of childbirth in February 1851 in Tredegar, Wales. Thomas and Ann had a son named William
who was purportedly born prior to their marriage. After Ann’s death
William lived with Thomas’s mother, Susannah.
Also
in 1851, a petite 17-year-old young woman by the name of Harriet Davies joined
the church along with her mother, Martha, and brother, John. Two years
later, Harriet married 32-year-old Thomas and became a mother for little
William. In due time, they gave William three sisters: Hannah, Martha
and Susannah.
It was
the fervent desire of all the truly converted members of the LDS church to join
the body of the Saints in America.
Thomas was further motivated by the effects of his chosen profession.
Time was proving that coal miners did not live very long. It was a very
unhealthy environment. Added to that, Thomas had been seriously injured
in a mine explosion and was no longer able to work as a
miner. The cost to immigrate was prohibitive. It was decided that
Thomas would go ahead to Utah,
find work and save enough to send for Harriet and the children. His
actual departure date is not verified. The Mormon Immigration Index shows
a Thomas Williams who was born in 1824 leaving on the William Tapscott in 1860. However, that gentleman was
traveling with two family members by the name of Selena & Enoch Williams
who were born about 1805. Those names are not identifiable as relatives
in any family records.
Nevertheless,
tradition says Thomas came first and Harriet and the children waited for him to
send for them. How long Thomas had been in Utah before Harriet arrived in 1862, is unclear. Harriet and the girls were scheduled
to leave in April on the ship John J. Boyd, but transferred to a vessel
named Manchester
leaving two weeks later. What necessitated the change in
plans will probably never be known. What is known is that William
was left behind. One report claims William “was enticed and literally
kidnapped” by relatives who didn’t approve of the Mormons and didn’t want
him to go to America
to be with them. Other records suggest that
William was too sick to travel with Harriet and the girls, so he stayed in Wales with his
paternal grandmother, Susannah Hughes Williams. There is no indication that
William was listed as a prospective passenger on either voyage.
Whatever
the reason, William remained in Wales,
never again seeing his father, siblings, or Harriet. At the age of 26, he
married a 31-year old woman named Mary, who was also his first cousin, the
daughter of his father’s sister Mary. In the 1851 Census, both William
and Mary, who were born out of wedlock, were living with their grandmother,
Susannah Williams. At the time of William’s marriage to Mary, she had
been a widow for five years and already had three children. William and
Mary had an additional five children together. Early in the 1950’s, one
of Thomas’ descendants located William’s children in Wales and a long correspondence between
the cousins was commenced. Some of those letters revealed a few
interesting facts about William, the son who was left behind.
Only
a few weeks before he died, Roger [my half brother]
mentioned that when the family went [to America], father [William] had
been taken to Carmarthen as he was in a bad state of health and that was the
reason he did not go with them.
How
William felt about being left in Wales one can only imagine. His
daughter seemed to think her father mourned for the loss of his family.
If that were the case it seems odd that he didn’t eventually follow them to America.
In those days it was common for a youngster to travel alone or with other
members of the church since it was difficult to obtain passage for all members
of the family at the same time. It is entirely possible that both versions of
the explanation why William remained in Wales may have elements of
truth. It certainly seems logical that had William wanted, or been
allowed by relatives, to join his family in Utah, he would have made the journey when
his health improved. Perhaps he felt abandoned. Another letter
said:
Two
young men called here in 1925 [missionaries?] and promised to find
you [family of Thomas Williams] in Salt Lake
City, but we heard nothing further.
That seems to indicate William had instilled in the children his yearning for
the family that existed across the ocean. There is mention of written
correspondence between William and Thomas & Harriet, though nothing seems
to have been preserved.
According to his daughter, William looked very much like his father,
Thomas. At the time the correspondence between the Welsh and the Utah cousins began in
about 1953, the only child of Thomas’s that was still living was Parley.
William’s daughter was curious about Parley and sent a picture of her father to
be given to him. She thought Parley would like to see what his half
brother had looked like. She also hinted at William’s state of mind at
the time of his death. Whether his sadness was in any way related to
being torn from his family at age ten, or more recent events, we may never
know.
Has
your Uncle [Parley]
any family? He must be like father, wiry and
energetic. Dr. said he [William] died of grief.
You
did not say if there was any resemblance in father’s photo to any of the
brothers. He looks more life-like in the oil painting. He was
supposed to be like his father, Thomas Williams. Brother Tom resembles
father especially his nose and eyes and
[hair] colour, but is taller than father
was. He is also like Thomas Williams in his ways. I hope Uncle
Parley will like to have the photographs in his home.
Unfortunately, no photograph exists of
our Thomas Williams. We are told he had auburn hair, and was not very
tall. The picture of his son William that was sent to Parley does not
seem to be in anyone’s possession either. It would be interesting to locate
that picture since it was supposed to bear such a likeness to Thomas.
Anyway, we don’t know for sure the details of why Harriet sailed to the United States
on May 17, 1862 with only her three daughters and not William. Hannah was
seven years old, Martha was five, and Susannah was three. Journals of
others on the same voyage indicate it was a rough journey. There were head
winds nearly all the way, shoving the ship off course and north into colder
waters. The crossing took six weeks and six days. Many of the passengers were
very seasick. The journey was further complicated by dense fog and
icebergs. For three days off the coast of Newfoundland, the fog was so thick that men
were positioned to watch for icebergs, and the passengers warned to keep strict
silence so warning signals could be heard. Storm occasionally made it too rough
to serve their provisions. But since so many were sick, anyway, they
didn’t notice.
One of the travelers recorded:
…shortly,
another storm came on worse than the first and the waves washed over the deck
of the ship so much that the captain ordered the people all below and the
hatches all to be fastened down. There we were for the space of 40 hours
and it really seemed at times as though the ship would go down. I was
going to say under, but she did that quite often during those two days, for the
waves would cover the deck completely. But the ship would straighten
herself and the water would run off the deck. But notwithstanding the
danger we were in, we continued our daily meetings and our prayer meetings and
sang the songs of Zion
just as though the sea was calm and the sun was shining. We had faith in
the God of heaven and knew we were there by his command and knew that he was
able to deliver us from all harm and danger. So we rejoiced
together…After the 40 hours of darkness (for we were not permitted to have a
light), the storm spent itself out and we had fair sailing and made good
headway.
The
weary group of Saints was glad to arrive in New York City, grateful that there had been
no deaths aboard ship, and happy that their number had increased by one healthy
birth. But the situation in America was far from ideal.
It was the middle of the Civil War. Dirty, ragged-looking Union soldiers
were seen stationed at strategic landmarks to prevent infiltration by the
rebels. Even the civilians were in turmoil
with dock workers and deckhands striking for better wages. The company stayed in New York for nine days then made their way by rail and up
the Mississippi by boat to what was then
called Florence, and now known as Omaha, Nebraska.
One journal entry tells of a devastating experience affecting many of the
company of travelers:
…nothing
of importance occurred on the way until we were traveling through the state of Illinois. There
one of the cars that was loaded with the Saints’
baggage took fire. Instead of them uncoupling the car from the rest and
pulling it a short distance away and let the people save what they could from
the fire, they took the car six miles away to the next station. When the
engineer returned back to the train, he swore that he could not drive all the
damned Mormons to hell...So putting on all steam he jumped from his engine and
let her come at full force into the train, but thank God there was no one that
was hurt. But two cars were smashed into splinters and it took some time
to clear away the wreckage so that when we arrived at the place where they had
taken the burning car there was nothing left of it. But there were
hundreds of people around there who no doubt [would have] saved lots of things
that were in the car…but the people that had suffered the loss…in many
instances…all they had in the world…but what they stood upright in and not one
of them got any redress from the railroad company…Nevertheless, we were truly
thankful, that things were as well with us as they were, in that our lives had
been preserved, and that the Lord had permitted us to reach this far on our
journey.
The group from the ship Manchester
eventually met up with a multitude of serious illnesses. Before they
reached the Salt Lake Valley,
measles, small pox, whooping cough, diarrhea and cholera swept through the
company, taking the lives of the weakest among them. We are told Harriet
was so ill she nearly died just before they left Nebraska. Her physical condition would have been
exacerbated by the fact her children were also suffering.
On
June 21st, 1862 the company arrived in St. Joseph, Missouri
by rail. It was amazing to travel over 200 miles in one day. Their
progress across the plains would be at one tenth that speed. But the
British Saints were not accustomed to the high temperatures of the prairie that
they were experiencing. The heat was unbearable. Journals began recording
the death of children from various causes including “teething.” On June
26th they reached Florence.
Thomas Williams recorded in Welsh in his Book of Mormon that his
daughter, six-year-old Martha died on June 28, 1862. He did not enter the
cause of death. One journal entry of a fellow
traveler on that date says a child died of heat stroke. Whether that
child was Martha or not is left to speculation. Whatever the cause of
death, Harriet would have been devastated at the loss of her little one, and
they still faced the most arduous part of the journey.
The
year 1862 brought heavy flooding in Nebraska
which detained the ox teams being collected to begin the westward trek.
What was supposed to be a short preparation period in Florence
before starting the final leg of the journey to Utah dragged out weeks longer than anyone
expected.
…Thinking
at the time that we would only have to stay there a day or two before we would
again resume our journey across the plains, we soon found out that the teams
that were expected to take us to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake had not yet
arrived…in the meantime we were all camped in tents, ten persons to each
tent. And these tents were placed from 16 to 20 feet apart each way, and
there was near three thousands of Saints all there at this time, so that when
we were all housed in our canvas tents, we formed quite a large city.
On July 7th a sudden and
ferocious thunder storm with high winds descended on the tent city.
About
the middle of the afternoon a severe storm came on. Two brethren were
struck with lightning. One Brother…was killed instantly. His head split
open. Another…who had a silver watch chain on his neck which was melted
by the [bolt] had his head split open and
died during the night.
That was also the day Harriet’s baby, 3-year-old
Susannah, died. Some family records say both girls succumbed in a measles
epidemic. Others say it was small pox. Still another record speculated
that they died of cholera. Their deaths were ten days
apart. Hannah survived the journey to the Salt Lake Valley, but developed rheumatic fever
and died of its effects just nine days after her 15th birthday.
Some family history indicates Harriet’s brother John and his wife Margaret were
in the same “handcart” company as Harriet in 1862. But their names cannot be
located in the Mormon Immigration Index at all, let alone in the same ship
record as Harriet’s. The Deseret News
printed a list of all the immigrants in the Ansel P.
Harman wagon train company on September 24, 1862. The list included Harriet
& Hannah Williams, and also a John and Phebe
Davies. John and his wife Margaret had eleven children, one of whom was
named Phebe. It seems odd that all the other
family members’ names would be left off the list if they were all traveling
together. But taking a family of that size to America would require a large
amount of money. So, perhaps John and his daughter did arrive in the Valley
before the rest of the family. Though it has not been verified exactly when
Margaret and the other children came to America,
we do know they settled and died in the Malad, Idaho area.
John
was the first member of the Davies family to join the LDS church, being
baptized in February, 1851. He shared his religious discovery with the
rest of the family, though most of them did not accept the gospel.
However, John’s wife, Margaret and his mother, Martha, were baptized five days
apart in August and young Harriet joined on the 13th of December,
all in 1851. John and Margaret were sealed in the Endowment House
in 1874, so we know for certain that they had all left the old country by
then.
Although
Harriet and Hannah did not travel in a handcart company, those who were in
wagon trains also walked the majority of the way. Seven long months after
leaving Wales, Harriet and
Hannah were reunited with Thomas Williams when they reached the Salt Lake
Valley on October 5,
1862. We are told the reunion between Thomas and Harriet was so filled
with emotion that when he grabbed her in a fierce hug he knocked her bonnet
right off.
Circumstances
in Utah were
different, but not much better than what was experienced on the journey.
Thomas’s mining injury left him in poor health. It was difficult to eke
out an existence and they lived in poverty. But so did many of their
neighbors. And they were together as a family, although sorely missing
three children.
Thomas
was a hard worker. His exact injuries and/or disabilities resulting from
the mining accident are not known, though references indicate it was more
difficult for him to work because of his health issues. Perhaps his
afflictions prevented him from accomplishing as much as other men, because Harriet
defended him by saying, “There’s not a lazy bone in that man’s body.” Several
references in family history indicate he consistently refused help offered by
others and insisted on taking care of his own responsibilities, although his
family may have suffered as a result of his pride.
Thomas
wisely planned ahead for his family’s future by taking advantage of the
Homestead Act passed in 1862. In order to qualify, Thomas filed his
Intent to Become a Citizen of the United States
on March 1, 1869, and chose 160 acres of land near 45th South and Redwood Road in Taylorsville on which to settle. Under the law,
title of ownership to this land could be granted free and clear to Thomas if he
lived on, improved and cultivated the land for five years. By May 21,
1869, Thomas had built a home 15x17 feet in size, consisting of one room, one
door, two windows, and a roof. (The present address of the
location of the first house is 4505 South and Beechwood) In May, 1869 when Harriet and Thomas
moved into their new adobe dwelling, they had three more children – all boys --
named Ezra, Joseph & Parley, who was only five months old. A month
after the home was completed, 15-year old Hannah died of a heart condition on
the 12th of June, 1869. A last son, Zachariah David, was born
two years later in 1871.
On May
20, 1872, Thomas was given the following Patriarchal Blessing:
A
blessing given by John Smith, Patriarch, upon the head of Thomas Williams, son
of Thomas and Susannah Williams.
Born in Carno
County, Marmashire,
North Wales, November
15, 1821.
Brother Thomas, according to thy own desire, I place my hands upon thy head to
pronounce and seal a blessing upon thee, and I ask God the Eternal Father to
direct my mind on this occasion that you may receive that which is for thee and
comprehend that which is for thy good.
Thou art of the House of Israel
and entitled through obedience to the gospel to many blessings. Thou shalt be numbered with the Fathers in Israel and thy
name shall be honored down in remembrance with thy posterity from generation to
generation and written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
The Lord hath had His eye upon thee from thy youth and gave thine
angel charge concerning thee and has preserved thy life that you might partake
of the blessings in Zion
and do a work for thy kindred. Thou shalt be
rewarded for the trials through which thou hast passed and thou shalt have an inheritance among the saints. Seek
wisdom and the blessings of the Lord shall attend thy labor and thou shalt see better days. Be diligent and prudent and
thy guardian angel will not forsake thee, for the Lord hath heard thy petitions
and knoweth thine integrity
and thou shalt be an instrument in His hands in doing
good and thou shalt fulfill
thy mission. Thou art of the blood of Joseph and shall receive thy
blessings with the tribe of Ephraim which was the lineage of thy
forefathers. Be of good faith and of good cheer and let thy heart be
comforted, for thou shalt not lack for food, arrayment [sic] and shelter, for in the day therefore, it
shall be given thee.
This blessing I seal upon thy head and I seal upon thy head eternal life with
power to come forth on the morning of the first resurrection, a savior among
thy kindred, that they may rejoice with thee
hereafter.
Even so, Amen.
In the
five years Thomas & Harriet homesteaded the land,
they plowed, fenced and cultivated 16 acres, dug irrigation ditches, planted
fruit trees, and built a corral and stable. It was more than difficult
work. The land had originally been the site of the Old English Fort so all the
remaining rocks and debris had to be cleared away. The soil was heavy
clay and not very productive. But Thomas was granted title to
this 160-acre parcel of land by Ulysses S. Grant on March 5th, 1875. He was fifty-five years old. Two
months later Thomas died, and Harriet was left alone to raise their four little
boys. Unfortunately, her responsibilities were reduced to three sons two
years later when six-year-old Zachariah David died of diphtheria. Thomas, Hannah and Zachariah
David were all buried in the Salt
Lake City Cemetery
where Harriet’s mother, Martha, had been buried in 1865.
Martha
Williams Davies emigrated from Wales
sometime before her death in 1865 at age 74. Her exact date of arrival
has not been found even after a careful search of all available records.
Her name appears in the Taylorsville Ward records when she was re-baptized on
July 10, 1864. It isn’t likely an elderly woman would travel alone when
other family members also left Wales
for Utah,
although her name does not appear on the list of immigrants traveling with
Harriet, nor, in fact, on any immigration record. She is one of the quiet
faithful whose life mostly escaped record, but whose ripple of influence on her
posterity was so great it can never be measured.
Martha
had always been a very strict and devoutly religious woman. Her husband,
Evan, was not at all interested in formal religion and would offer to stay home
and take care of Harriet (who was the youngest of their ten children) while
Martha went to her Sunday meetings at the Methodist Church. Apparently,
when Martha left the house, her severe rules were promptly ignored. Evan
encouraged Harriet to run through the neighborhood and invite her little
friends over to play. When it was nearing time for church to be let out,
Evan would sound the warning. All the toys would be put away and the
children would be sent home. When Martha returned from church, everything
would be back in order. Martha obviously had deep spiritual yearnings,
but it may be that she never had the ability to personally read any of the
scriptures. Her marriage record shows that she was illiterate and signed
her name simply with the mark of an “X”, although her husband, Evan, was able
to sign his name.
According
to family tradition, Harriet and her brother would often go “just around the
corner” to visit their maternal grandmother, Mary Jones. Whether or not
Martha’s mother was named Mary Jones is questionable. Martha’s marriage
certificate is under the maiden name Williams, and
patronymics was no longer practiced in Wales when Martha was born in
1792. The 1851 Census shows a “lodger” by the name of Mary Jones, widow
of William Jones, living with Martha, who was also a widow by that time.
That woman was assumed to be Martha’s mother, even though the Census does not
state as much. There has never been a record located showing Martha’s
birth to verify that she was, indeed, a child of William and Mary Jones,
although there is record of one daughter named Elizabeth. Whatever her name, Harriet’s
grandmother was a traditional old Welshwoman, and
Harriet remembered her as wearing the customary dress with a stove pipe hat and
shawl over her shoulders. (A picture of a traditional
Welsh folk dress is included in the photo section. The woman in the old
picture is not a relative, but the picture was added to show the type of
clothing Harriet’s grandmother wore).
Harriet’s
father, Evan, had very beautiful curly, dark hair which was a source of pride
to him. One evening while seated at the table reading by candlelight, he
became drowsy. He lay his head down on his arms and fell asleep.
Martha turned around just in time to see his hair catch fire from the nearby
candle, and she doused the flames in time to avoid serious injury.
Evan died
at the age of 54, three years before Martha met the missionaries and joined the
new “Mormon” religion. Tredegar Wales Branch
records show that for nearly ten years Martha made regular deposits into the
Perpetual Emigration Fund to first assist others desiring to gather in “Zion,”
and then to prepare for her own voyage to America. When she finally left
her homeland, the journey from Wales
to Utah must
have been arduous for such an elderly woman. She was either very brave,
or very adventurous, and maybe both. Martha’s whole life had been spent
in the northwest district of the county
of Monmouth, noted in a
mid-19th century gazetteer as an area significant for coal mining
and ironworks. The region was also described as having “an appearance
repulsive to the lovers of tidiness and good scenery.” Nevertheless,
it was Martha’s home for more than 70 years. Having never been further
than 15 miles from her birthplace, Martha’s faith and devotion to the newfound
religion motivated her to travel thousands of difficult miles to the remote
desert in the Salt
Lake Valley.
Shortly
after arriving, she saw a man in Salt
Lake City that caught her eye. The spirit
testified to Martha and she exclaimed, “Do mine eyes behold the Prophet of the
living God?” The gentleman introduced himself as Brigham Young, and then
and there, he gave her a blessing.
A year
later in 1865, when Martha died, Harriet and Thomas were struggling to shelter
and feed their small family. They had an eighteen month old son (Ezra) and
Harriet recently discovered she was expecting Joseph. Their poverty was
why Martha was buried in the section of the Salt Lake City Cemetery
designated for the indigent, without a marker on her grave. Perhaps, a
small memorial was originally in place. But at the present time (2004), there
is no headstone in the Salt Lake
City Cemetery
to commemorate the life of this faithful pioneer.
Harriet
could be called feisty. Independent, hard-working and faithful would also
be applicable descriptions. We don’t know what she felt each time she was
faced with disaster or death of a loved one. We don’t know if she became
discouraged or depressed. But we do know how she lived. And it was
admirable.
Harriet
inherited her father’s very dark, very curly hair and “snappy” black eyes. She was described as being very strict
with her boys. After studying her photographs and several granddaughters’
descriptions of her curly hair, one could determine Harriet was pretty strict
and demanding of herself, too. There is no hint of wayward hair. No
loose strand or sign of a stray curl. Every lock was attached severely in
its proper place in an orderly manner. If Harriet stretched to her peak
height, she wouldn’t measure more than 4 feet ten inches tall. But that didn’t
prevent her from insisting on what was right from anyone who towered over her.
The Old English Fort had been built near the Jordan River for the protection of
the settlers who lived so far from Salt
Lake City. In the early days the Jordan River was wide and vegetation along its banks was
lush. It had been a prime camping ground for the Indians for hundreds of
years. When the pioneers determined that it was also a prime farming
area, the two cultures often met – and clashed. Their frequent encounters
were more frightening to the Mormons than they were hostile. Brigham
Young had advised his people to treat the natives kindly and to feed them
rather than fight them. Still, the women and children, especially, were
scared of the Indians who would appear suddenly without any warning
sound. Utah’s
first citizens took advantage of Brigham’s “feed, don’t fight” edict and the
women’s fear of them. They demanded and promptly received,
whatever looked or smelled tempting to eat.
When
Thomas and Harriet constructed their cabin on the Old Fort site, it was common
to have an occasional unexpected Indian visitor. One day Harriet was
making flapjacks (hot cakes) for her little boys. As they were cooked,
she placed them on a dish in the window sill. (There wouldn’t be much
‘counter space’ in a one-room cabin). After a time, it occurred to
Harriet that the pile on the plate was not growing. So she paused to
watch the window. Sure enough, a big brown hand stealthily appeared from
outside, poised ready to snatch a fresh hot griddle cake from the plate.
Quick as a blink, Harriet swatted the back of the hand with her flapjack
turner. Then she went outside to confront the culprit. Harriet
believed people should work for what they received. She demanded that the
Indian brave chop firewood in exchange for his breakfast.
After
Thomas died, Harriet took in washing to provide enough to feed and clothe her
little boys. Hauling water from the river, boiling it in big tubs over
the fire (even in the hottest months of the summer), scrubbing each garment on
metal a washboard or rocks with handmade soap was not a job for the weak.
After the clothing was hung and nearly dry, it was pressed with hot irons from
the fire. Harriet would carry the basket of clean laundry balanced on her
head “like they did in the old country” to deliver it back her customers.
Ezra
was eleven, Joseph nine and Parley 7 years old when Thomas died. The boys
were able to find work herding cows for some of their neighbors to help with
expenses. Harriet was very strict, like her mother, and taught them to be
scrupulously honest. She expected them to become good, upright men. They
remembered that Harriet made their trousers so large “to allow for growth”
that by the time the pants fit they were all worn out.
The
older boys didn’t have much formal schooling. It is said that Ezra went
to a school for only three weeks. Yet he was an ardent student his whole
life, reading books on religion, science, grammar, mathematics, history,
geography, literature and foreign languages. What should be impressive to
those of us who have so many opportunities to develop our talents is that
Harriet, in her poverty, made it a priority for the boys to have music
lessons. There is a dearth of written history about Joseph, but it is
recorded that Ezra was a magnificent violin player. When his children
were growing up, they were awakened each morning by his lively “fiddling.” It seems logical that once
Harriet obtained a violin, that all three boys would
have at least had the opportunity to learn to play. Joseph’s son, Elmer,
took violin lessons as a boy. It is entirely possible that Joseph,
himself, had become fairly proficient on the instrument when he was a child, as
his brother Ezra did.
Harriet
was a widow for three years. She doesn’t seem like an impetuous
woman. But the facts surrounding her second marriage cover a very short
period of time. A newly widowed gentleman named John J. Williams from Salt Lake City went to work for Bishop Samuel Bennion in Taylorsville
near the beginning of March, 1878. Williams is a common a Welsh family
name and he was no relation to Thomas Williams. We have a portion of
John’s journal which began with a personal history. His description of their
courtship and marriage was about as far from romantic as one can get:
While
I was working for the bishop I got acquainted with a woman named Harriet
Williams, a widow of Taylorsville Ward.
We came to the conclusion that we may as well get married, and so on the 15th
of May, 1878, we got married by Elder John Sedeker, Mill Creek Ward. She had three sons and they
have turned out to be good boys so far.
Unromantic, yes, but
companionship was what they were looking for, and Harriet spent the next 24
years extremely content with her decision.
John was a good man, and it was evident he and Harriet’s boys developed very
good relationships.
When
the three boys were raised, 57-year-old John was called by the Church to go
back to Wales
on a mission in 1891. After John departed that April, Harriet left the
little one-room house in Taylorsville and moved to Pine Creek in Beaver County
to live with Ezra and Joseph until John returned.
John
left a very detailed life history and journal from the beginning of his mission
and up until shortly before he died. It provides a rare glimpse of life
in the Salt Lake Valley
at the end of the 19th century. Though John was not really
related to us, he had a great influence on and love for Harriet and her
sons. (An electronic copy of the complete journal is included with this
history.)
When
John returned from his mission in 1893, he and Harriet went back to the old
homestead in Taylorsville to try and put the
farm back together. It was in a sad state and most discouraging to the
old couple. Some time after 1894 Joseph and Alfreda
and their children, Elmer and Jennie, moved from Pine Creek back to the Taylorsville farm. Carl Leslie was born there in
1897. John’s journal records:
March
1, 1897….When I came home, found Joseph had come home from sheep camp and from
then until Sunday the 4th and from then until March the 19th
the land was so wet we couldn’t get on it to work it, and on some of those days
we hauled a few loads of manure. The wagon would sink down too
deep. Bright and early [on the 19th] Grandma [Harriet]
was called up as Freda was sick. She brought Joseph a fine boy and both
doing well.
It is noted that in 1897 women did not
go into labor, they got “sick” when they birthed a baby. This entry
indicates Harriet served as a midwife for Freda. She may have delivered Elmer, also, since she was living with Joseph and Freda in
Pine Creek at the time he was born.
When Ezra
moved back to the Taylorsville homestead, the
boys built a nice little brick home for Harriet and John near their
homes. (See picture in photo appendix). It was the nicest house
Harriet ever had.
We
have no first person record of how Joseph felt about his step-father. But
Ezra spoke very highly of John. An entry in Ezra’s journal from July 14,
1885 says:
We
hitched up and I bid goodbye to my brother Parley and home, and started for the
station, accompanied by my beloved stepfather and my dear old mother.
All during John’s mission, Ezra, Joseph
and Parley regularly sent him money, for which he expressed a great
appreciation. As the old couple advanced in years, the brothers saw to
their needs and provided them a regular income. The following is a
transcription of a hand-written letter signed by Ezra T. Williams, Joseph
Williams and Parley Williams:
Taylorsville, Utah, July 27, 1900
In
consideration of the relinquishment of the claim of Harriet Williams against
the Estate of Thomas Williams, we hereby agree to let John J. Williams and
Harriet Williams have the use of the following described land viz. Bounded on
the West by the Red Wood Road, on the South by the Cemetary
[sic] on the East by the highest Irrigation Dich with
water from the North Jordan Cnal [sic]. On the
North by the Stockyard and Irrigation dich [sic].
From the South Jordan canal and containing about seven and one half Acres of
land also seven and a half Shares of water right in the South Jordan
Canal. Tax on said land and water right to be paid by us. We
further agree to pay to said John J. and Harriet Williams the sum of Six
dollars per month to be paid quarterly. This agreement
to remain in effect as long as the said John J. and Harriet Williams shall
live.
Ezra T. Williams
Joseph Williams
Parley Williams
John
continued to work with the boys on the farm. His journal entries record
details of everything from walking into Salt
Lake City to pay for his annual subscription to the
newspaper, to hauling wagonloads of grain to the tithing yard for Joseph.
One of his favorite phrases was ‘choring around.’
John’s last entries were made at the end of 1900.
Dec
25 [1900] Wife was busy preparing for Christmas.
Freda Williams and family was here and Ezra and wife and the children. We
all felt well and plenty to eat. Thank our kind Father in heaven for His
great goodness to us, His children.
Dec.
31 Doing chores. Took Freda some chicken
feed and this ends another year. Am very thankful to
Father in Heaven for His great blessings to us the past year.
Jan.
2, 3 Choring
around. The wind is blowing hard.
Jan
4 Wrote in journal and choring
around. Wife making a shirt.
Jan
5 I am very well in health and thankful to our
kind Father in Heaven for sparing my life to see my 67th birthday
and in the faith…Wife has been sick but is better now a little Have been choring around up until today.
Jan
16 Have been choring
around at one thing or another.
Jan
17 Joseph came from camp. He was 7 days
coming home.
Jan
20, 1901 The time has past away very peaceable
and [we] are enjoying good health, and as I am at the end
of the book I must quit….all’s well with us.
The
time “past away very peaceable” and so did John. He died in 1902
and was buried near their home on a portion of the Williams land in
Taylorsville that Harriet deeded to the LDS Church
to be used as a cemetery. He was a good man “who loved another man’s wife
and sons as his own” and
found great pleasure in doing his duty.
Indications
are that Harriet had suffered from heart problems for quite some time. Ezra’s
journal from July, 1886 reports:
My
brother Joe came from Taylorsville about the 23rd of October to help
me take care of the sheep and a week later I started to Taylorsville
to visit my parents. I got home in six days. It was 11:00 o-clock
p.m. when we arrived and my parents were asleep. I knocked at the door,
which startled my mother, who is troubled with heart disease, so that she could
not get her breath for a long time.
Harriet
lived six more years after John died. She was not really alone since
Joseph’s and Ezra’s families both lived nearby. In 1902 Harriet had nine living
grandchildren. They each had memories of Grandma Harriet, or “the
little Grandma” as she was lovingly called.
Never
a day passed but I would be over to Grandma’s. Grandma Harriet Williams
was less than 5 feet tall. She was chubby. She had beautiful curly
hair, very curly brown hair, and black eyes. She was a very devout
Latter-Day-Saint. She was a strong little lady. I remember riding
“piggy-back” on her back through the Lucerne
patch from our house to her house. She didn’t walk – she galloped.
Grandma loved to paint and was always changing the color of the woodwork in her
house. Just east of her house, Grandma had a cellar, the temperature in
which was very cold, and there she kept milk, eggs, butter, etc. She kept
the inside of this cellar always whitewashed. She kept the trunks of her
trees whitewashed.
Grandma
was a very meticulous lady. Her bare wood floors were warped from
constant scrubbing – they had no linoleum in those days. She whitewashed
the stones on the path to her house and also her tree trunks. She always
wore a fresh apron…One winter day a stranger came asking for something to
eat. Grandmother was alone, but the stranger was neat and clean, so she
gave him the food she had prepared. He thanked her and after he had left,
she was clearing the dishes and found money under the plate. She hurried
to thank him, but he was gone and no foot-prints in the newly fallen snow were
visible.
[Grandma]
raised chickens for eggs and meat…and often chickens in the neighborhood were
stolen. One man, nicknamed ‘Chicken Charley’ stole many and sold them to
the smelter. [Harriet] sat up [at night] guarding her
flock. Sure enough, when he came for hers, she frightened him away with a
shot gun before he could steal them.
When
John J. Williams died in May 1902, grandmother became nervous about living
alone, so I slept at her place for a period of several months or maybe years, I
cannot recall exactly. She liked to drink her tea, but would never serve
it to me. Instead she served me hot water with a little cream and
sugar. She showed me how to make ‘poor man’s broth’ of hot water, salt,
pepper and a speck of butter. I used to enjoy this thin broth with dry
bread and I still make it occasionally as a late evening snack. She also
taught me a ‘beggar’s chant’ which she had learned in childhood on the streets
of Tredegar, Wales. Harriet was noted for
her independence. If she needed help, she might ask once, and if it was
not promptly given, she would pitch in and do the task herself. Sometimes
when she wanted to go to Salt
Lake, she would be
walking half-way to the streetcar line before the horse had been harnessed and
hitched to the buggy.
Father
began teaching me violin and I used to practice at Grandma’s. No doubt
the noise bothered her, but she never complained. Suitors for her hand
used to come out from Salt
Lake occasionally.
I remember one named Plant who came on foot on a hot, hot day when I was
helping with the crop. Nothing came of these romances.
One
day when Elmer, my cousin, and I returned from a horseback ride, we saw Grandma
just sitting in the granary doorway with her hands in her lap.
This was unusual as she was a very busy sort of person. We said, ‘hello’
but she did not reply. We were puzzled, as she was a very busy sort of
person. We were about to go on, but then we noticed tears in her
eyes. We realized she was sick and could not answer us. We called
for help and got her in the house. She had suffered a stroke. When
she partially recovered, she lived alternately with Aunt Freda and us.
I remember little Grandma. I was about two and half and I can still
remember her. It must have been when she had her stroke, because I was
sitting on the rocking chair in the kitchen, just by the door of the front
room, and they came in, one on either side. There was Elmer and Father [Ezra],
one on either side of Grandma. She had had a stroke…so they brought her
in, but she could still talk a little because she looked at me and she said,
“Poor old Grandma.”
Harriet died at Ezra’s home on May 10, 1908, exactly 33 years from the day her
first husband, Thomas, died. It was a dilemma for Harriet to know by which
husband she should be laid to rest. She loved them both, but stated she
would rather be sealed to John as he was more congenial than Thomas. She finally decided to accept
Ezra’s advice and Harriet was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery
beside Thomas and her children, Hannah and Zachariah David.
We have no first-person records from Harriet. We don’t know how she
felt. But we do know how she lived. Harriet was a faithful, strong,
“busy sort of person” who worked hard, endured much, and loved many.
Harriet lived tall.
