Frederick Lewis Biography
The following information is from Our Pioneer Heritage,
Vol. 13, p. 412.
Written by Agnes Lewis Crandall, daughter of Frederick &
Agnes Ferguson Lewis.
Frederick Lewis,
the son of John A. and Ann John Lewis, was born May 29, 1844, in the port city
of Cardiff, Glamorganshire, South Wales.
His mother died just before his sixth birthday. His sister, Ann, was nearly fourteen and his
sister, Mary, 10 & ½ years old. His little brother William, a surviving twin,
was 3 & ½ years old.
Frederick's
father was a rock mason by trade and a master builder. He and his brother built the Cardiff
docks. He owned and operated a store,
owned and leased 12 houses, accumulating quite a fortune. He had private tutors and a governess for his
children and in addition, Frederick went to a Wesleyan school for boys. Frederick was known all his life for his
beautiful penmanship, was an excellent reader and expressed himself well. Cardiff was a bustling city, one of the chief
coal shipping centers of the world.
There were iron and steel works and flour mills, it was the county seat
and the City and County Hall was located there.
Frederick and his little brother often visited St. John's parish church,
and when allowed would visit their mother's grave in the ancient churchyard
that surrounded the edifice.
Frederick's
father had been educated as a Wesleyan minister and did not hear of Mormonism
until after his second marriage to Priscilla Merriman Phillips in 1851. Priscilla had a little daughter, Louise, and
her deceased sister's daughter, Caroline Mathews, when they were married. The family studied the gospel carefully for
two years before embracing it. Nine-year-old
Frederick was baptized with his sister Mary and their father in 1853, before
leaving their native land for America.
They left Cardiff by train for Liverpool, England, January 22,
1854. Here the father secured
first-class passage for his family on the sailing vessel Golconda, January 25,
1854. They arrived at New Orleans March
16, having spent seven weeks on the water.
Some days the high winds would drive the vessel back farther than it had
progressed the previous day. They sailed
up the Mississippi on the boat “John Simmons,” were delayed—stranded on a
sandbar, but finally reached St. Louis where they joined other Saints at
McFee's Campgrounds on the outskirts of the city where all were preparing to
move on to Utah. After about three
months of preparation and delay, they departed with the Darwin Richardson
Company, arriving in Great Salt Lake City, September 30, 1854.
For a short time
the Lewises remained in Salt Lake, the father working on the Temple block. One day President Brigham Young approached
him, placed four peach stones in the palm of his hand, and sent him on a
mission to begin an orchard in Brigham City.
He started the first trees to bear peaches in that community. Here and in Willard he built stone houses
with his young apprentice, Frederick, to help him. Some of the old rock houses still standing in
Willard were built by them. The family
lived in Brigham City until 1858, at which time they moved to Spanish Fork.
Frederick
continued to wear the clothing he had brought with him from Wales, which
consisted of short black broadcloth trousers and coat, black fine leather
shoes, and a black velvet cap. He was
conspicuous among the boys who wore homemade cowhide boots, canvas pants and
shirts, and home braided straw hats.
Naturally he was made the butt of their jokes, and they delighted in
tormenting him. His two sisters had
married, but young Fred had a champion—cute Agnes Ferguson, who never failed to
take his part. Perhaps it was his
forbearance and his acceptance of life, as it was, that appealed to the
diminutive Scottish Lass, who later became his wife. Agnes was not without a sense of humor. She and her twin Barbara, looked so much
alike they couldn't be identified and often wore some things of a different
color to set them apart. For a dance one
night, they added handkerchiefs to their costumes and wore them around their
necks. During the evening, they
exchanged the handkerchiefs. Fred was
the victim of the joke. Although he and
Agnes were engaged to be married, he took Barbara as far as the gate when she
laughed and told him he had better go back and get Agnes.
They were married
January 28, 1865, at the home of Barbara and her husband, Willard Orson Creer,
and the following October were sealed together in the Endowment House in Salt
Lake City.
In March 1868
death claimed their two-year-old, Barbara Catherine, and that summer Agnes'
twin, Barbara Creer, died following the birth of a baby son, William
Orson. The infant was brought to Agnes,
who was at the time nursing her own babe, Priscilla Merriman. He and his four and a half year old sister
became part of the family.
In June of 1873,
Fred and Agnes Lewis and John and Adlinda Koyle were having dinner together, as
they often did, and the question came up as to what the young women would do if
anything happened to their husbands. One
of them jokingly proposed that, if one of the men should die, the other would
marry his widow and take care of her and her family. This they agreed upon and strange as it may
seem, in just one week, John Koyle was killed in a rock quarry in Spanish Fork
Canyon. It was three years before the
promise was fulfilled. Agnes and Adlinda
were good friends and loved each other dearly.
When Fred and Adlinda were married, there were two [3] young Lewis
daughters [living], and now with Adlinda's six, the number took a sudden jump
to eleven children [with 2 children of Barbara Ferguson Creer]. Between 1876 and 1880, each wife had two
children. Altogether, Frederick fathered
eight daughters and one son, helped raise Barbara's two and Adlinda's six children.
Fred built Agnes
the home they lived in most of their lives on 1st South and 1st
West in Spanish Fork. After the death of
his father's wife, he moved him from his first house on North Main Street into
a little log house next to his own. As a
young man, Fred homesteaded a farm on Spanish Fork River and was a successful
farmer. From 1862-76, he was the leader
of the martial band of Spanish Fork.
During the Indian War troubles, he was a drive major for the county and
stood guard when raids were suspected, at which time he beat his drum to warn
the settlement. He was the City Marshal
of Spanish Fork from 1870 to 1877.
In 1883, Fred
responded to a mission call to Wales. On
arrival, he went to Old St. John's churchyard to visit his mother's grave,
where he picked flowers which he pressed and sent to his sisters. He was a good missionary, and became a fluent
speaker and upon his return home, served as counselor to Bishop George D.
Snell. He was an accomplished musician,
and played the dulcimer for dances. The
Lewis home was always open to their children and their friends. Their grandchildren still reminisce of the
holidays when they all gathered in the parlor around the flickering fire, and
listened to the scores of stories father so enchantingly told.
On January 28,
1915, Fred and Agnes celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary in the Spanish
Fork Auditorium, where about four hundred guests gathered in a social and
dance. It should be mentioned that at
this point in time, Fred had not yet lost a tooth.
In the fall of
1918, he sold the house in Spanish Fork and moved to Provo to be near the
“girls.”
Frederick Lewis
died June 28, 1920, and was buried at Spanish Fork. He was a gentleman—kind, thoughtful and
understanding. He was honored and
revered by his family for his teachings, his example, his love and his name.
This was the heritage he bequeathed them.
Agnes Reid Ferguson Lewis died three months following him, October 6,
1920. Adlinda Hillaman Koyle Lewis
preceded them by over four years—February 21, 1916.
