Biography of WILLIAM LEYSHON
William Leyshon was born March 1, 1849, in Dowlais,
Glamorgan, Wales. His
parents were Lewis Leyshon (coal miner), born April
2, 1813 and Alice Jones born May 2, 1813. Both of his parents were born in Cefn Coed-y-Cymmer, Brecon, Wales. They were married
Aug. 6, 1844 in the Vaynor Parish of Brecon, Wales.
William had two brothers, both died young. Griffith was born December 1, 1846, in Dowlais, and died February 28, 1854. Lewis was born July 8,
1854 in Aberdare, Glamorgan,
Wales.
He died July 9, 1887, leaving behind his wife, Dinah, and a few small children.
William also had three sisters. Elizabeth
was born Aug. 8, 1844 in Dowlais. She married John
Lewis 25 July 1861 in Wales
and had seven children. She and her family immigrated to Iowa
where she died Feb. 22, 1912 in Des
Moines. Mary was born January 29, 1852 in Aberdare, and died April 17, 1867. Margaret was born June
12, 1857, in Aberdare, and died Jan. 8, 1859.
William's
grandfather, William Leyshon, after whom he was
named, joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shortly after
missionaries opened the Wales,
British Mission. He was baptized Dec. 12, 1850 in the Cefn
Coed-y-Cymmer Branch. Although baptism records have
never been found for William's parents, Lewis and Alice Leyshon,
it is believed that they also joined the church as their daughter; Elizabeth was baptized in
1852 at the young age of eight. William was baptized Mar. 6, 1868 at the age of
nineteen. William served a home mission in Aberdare, Glamorgan, Wales as a young man. He
was said to have been a "hero in the cause of the Gospel" by one of
his Welsh friends who knew him when he was serving his mission.
William met and
married Lettice Davis, sometime in June of 1870. Lettice Davis was born September 22, 1853 at Mountain Ash, Glamorgan, Wales. There were four
children born to William and Lettice. Their first
child Griffith was born June 27, 1871, and lived only one hour and forty five
minutes. They next had a girl named Margaret, born March 2, 1874 who also died
shortly after birth. Both Griffith and Margaret were born and died in Aberdare. Their next child, a girl named Alice Ann, was
born in 1875 in Aberdare. She later died in Salt Lake City, Utah
in 1912. Their fourth child, a boy named Joseph, was born on August 3, 1876, in
Aberdare. He died in Los Angeles, California.
In the year 1876,
shortly after his wife's death, William decided he would take his two children
and join the saints living in Salt
Lake City, Utah, USA. He came on the ship "Wyoming" which
sailed 25 Oct 1876. William was age 28, Alice Ann was age 3, and Joseph was an
infant. When he arrived in Salt
Lake, he left his
children with their aunt while he went to look for a job. He found work in the
coal mines of Winter Quarters, near Schofield,
Utah. While in Schofield
William was reunited with an old friend from Wales, Emily Crofts. Emily worked at the Boarding house in Schofield where
William was living. This friendship soon developed into a loving
relationship.
Emily was born Oct.
23, 1862 in Aberdare, Glamorgan,
Wales.
She was the daughter of Ezra Crofts and Jane Ponton. When
she was young her father passed away and her mother married Joseph Arnold.
Emily immigrated to America
in 1880 with other members of the Arnold family
on the ship, ?Wisconsin?.
William & Emily
were married in Provo, Utah, June 15, 1881 by John E. Booth. They
built a two room log cabin at Winter Quarters, Carbon, Utah and decided that a new room would be
added after the birth of each child. While there they were blessed with seven
children and their house became quite large. They decided to travel to Salt Lake City and have
their children sealed to them; Lewis born Jan. 15, 1883, Sarah Jane born Dec.
14, 1884, Lettice born Sept 17, 1886.,
Emily born Apr. 5, 1888, William born Jan. 8, 1890, Martha born Dec. 17, 1891,
and Hyrum born Mar 13, 1894. This was done on February 26, 1896. While at the
temple, William and Emily did work for Lettice,
William's first wife, and her two small children. Later in Winter Quarters
William and Emily were blessed with three more children; Ezra born Sep. 16,
1896, Lorenzo born Jan. 19, 1899, and Mary born Dec. 1, 1901. They then moved
to Spanish Fork, Utah
where their last two children were born; Nephi born May 13, 1904 and Rachel Munerva born Apr 19, 1905/6.
Shortly after Emily
and William were married, William's two children Joseph and Alice came to live
with them. At a young age Joseph ran away and joined the Navy. Nothing was ever
heard from him until William's death, Joseph then came to his father's funeral.
He was then again never heard from until one day the State of California notified Sarah, his step-sister, that he was found dead in an ally. He was buried in California and his flag
was given to Hyrum, his step-brother. During the time Alice was with William and Emily, she gave
birth to a baby out of wedlock. She gave the baby to some people by the name of
Meadows, in Pond Town
(later known as Salem, Utah). Later the Meadows moved to Canada and Alice
went on to Salt Lake City
where she married and later died.
Six years after
William and Emily were married there was a bad flood in Winter Quarters which
took all their clothes and home. But the miners came and helped build a new
home and supply food and clothes. A few years later a big boulder rolled into
their house and again the fellow miners aided in the repair.
William and Emily did
a lot of ordinance work for the dead in the Salt Lake Temple. William who worked mostly in the
coal mines was also known for the good he did with herbs. Although he never had
any formal training, he was called "doc" by many people. William's
father who was also an herb doctor had taught William how to use herbs for the
benefit of healing. William not only helped but saved many people in Winter Quarters
and around the country with the herbs he mixed. Emily was often by his side.
She was also a midwife. Friends referred to them as "doctor" and
"nurse".
William and Emily
never forgot the mine disaster of May 1, 1900 when their eldest son, Lewis, was
killed. William told his son to stay home but Lewis knew they were in need of
money and that his father was too sick to go so he went. When they moved to
Spanish Fork, they lost their second son, Leland, who was only nine. After all
their trials, William said, "Em, my dear, console yourself and let us call on the Lord and do our duty
unto Him and He will carry us through." William was truly a man of great
faith.
Sixteen years before
his death, William was injured which was caused by working in the coal mines of
Winter Quarters. It left him paralyzed for the rest of his life. Six of those
years were spent in bed but he kept up his courage and hope, and succeeded to
recover enough to provide a living for his family until he died. Despite all of
his troubles, even during his sickness, William never failed to pay his tithes
and offerings. When sorrow and death prevailed, William strove to live the
gospel and be a wonderful father and husband.
William loved sports
and the outdoors. Fishing was one of his great pastimes. Emily shared in his
enthusiasm for fishing by bottling the fish for winter. A game called
"Chicken Fight" was one of William's favorites. William also had a
dog which he loved dearly. Often times the dog would pull the children with the
wagon on the sleigh.
William tried very
hard to teach Emily how to read and write, but later as sickness and children
came there wasn't much time. Emily received no form of formal schooling and
never knew how to read or write. When signing her name, she simply made an
"X".
One of the mines in
Winter Quarters was called for many years the Leyshon
mine. However the name was later changed when William was unable to make money
on the mine and a new man took over.
William and Emily and
their family did such odd jobs as clean school, churches, washed and ironed for
the miners, to help with expenses. Emily cooked in a boarding house to help
with expenses. William was the first to arrange for playgrounds for the
children in the community. He also was the first in organizing baseball, hopscotch
and other games. Lettice, Sarah, Alice, Lewis, and
Joseph kept the playgrounds clean every day.
William loved his
family dearly, and even during his sickness when confined to a wheelchair or
bed, he was more than happy to have one of his children sit on his lap. He
often read them stories and when confined to a wheelchair gave them rides on
it. While Emily and William were living in Leland, their crop of wheat was
destroyed. William said, "Never mind, Em,
some chicken will come and eat the wheat that's left."
While in Leland, the Leyshon?s lived in a four room house on a farm. William
didn't know much about farming however. Being sick & crippled,
William, spent most of his days in bed.
William Leyshon (age 56) died August 5, 1905 in Spanish Fork. He
left his wife, Emily with eleven children and the 12th on the way. Rachel, was born eight months after his death. William felt
much love for his family as expressed in his last words which were, "Em, don't work too hard, but do keep the children together.
All my love to you and the children."
Emily Crofts Leyshon (age 85) died Nov. 25, 1947. She was a
faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout
her life. She and William are buried in the City cemetery in Spanish Fork,
Utah
