“Some were Latter-day Saints.”
It appears the
descendants of David T. LEWIS and Kezia YATES had two pair of Progenitors who
joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England and Wales
before coming to America.
First, as recorded in
the Biography of Esther Lewis GUNNELL, sister of David T., their parents,
Thomas LEWIS and Mary Ann GRIFFIS (or JONES), joined the Church in Wales before
embarking at Liverpool for America the 2nd of February 1854, their
destination to have been Salt Lake City, Utah.
Second, the parents of
Kezia, John YATES and Agnes LOW, and also joined the Church either in North
Wales or at Manchester, England. It seems there is no
written confirmation of Agnes’ baptism but John YATES was baptized July 12,
1842, ordained to the lesser Priesthood May 12, 1843 and ordained an Elder in
the Melchizedek Priesthood, March 2, 1845. (See copy of the ancient document,
“Certificate of Ordination,” dated May 2, 1847, Manchester
England.
Copies of both this document and John YATES Family Bible Records were supplied
by Mrs. Lillian We Pickering,
R. #3, Manhattan, Kansas – grand-daughter of David and Kezia
LEWIS.)
According to family
tradition the John YATES family landed at New York, and instead of going on to
Salt Lake City they came only as far west as St. Louis, Mo. and chose to settle
in the southern part of the city. At that time about 10,000 saints lived in the
area of St. Louis, may who had been driven from
their homes in Nauvoo, Illinois,
and others who more recently had come from the British
Isles and other ports. As late as 1871 there was an LDS Chapel at
Gravois near where the Lewis and Yates families lived and where Melchizedek
YATES, married Martha WAGSTAFF, April 26, 1871.
There were also many
groups of the WAGSTAFF family who had joined the Church in England and came to America
at that time, their destination, as given in Ship Records, “Salt Lake City, Utah.” Having landed at New
Orleans and coming up the River to St. Louis,
some of them also chose to remain in St.
Louis, as did Martha’s father, George WAGSTAFF. (See
Microfilms of Ship Records, Liverpool to New Orleans from 1849 to about 1860,
also 1870 Census Records of St. Louis Township, St. Louis County, Missouri, and
1880 Census Records, Ward 26, St. Louis, Missouri – Central Public Library, 14th
and Olive Streets, St. Louis, No.)
Note: George WAGSTAFF also had a son John WAGSTAFF family who had
joined the Church in England
and came to America at that
time, their destination, as given in Ship Records, “Salt Lake City, Utah.” Having landed at New
Orleans and coming up the River to St. Louis, some of them also chose to remain
in sty. Louis, as did Martha’s father, George WAGSTAFF. (See Microfilms of Ship
Records, Liverpool to New Orleans from 1849 to about 1860, also 1870 Census
Records of St. Louis Township, St. Louis County, Missouri, and 1880 Census
Records, ward 26, St. Louis, Missouri – Central Public Library, 14th
and Olive Streets, St. Louis, Mo.)
Note: George
WAGSTAFF also had a son John WAGSTAFF who married Emma WEBB, older sister of
Fran Charles WEBB who married Esther Rosella LEWIS, daughter of David and Kezia.
As great bodies of the
saints moved westward the LDS Chapels disappeared and those who chose to remain
behind turned to other churches, as did David and Kezia who joined The Holy
Innocents Episcopal Church, (Church of England), in 1872 and Melchizedek and
Martha YATES sometime later. (See record of Holy Innocents Episcopal Church,
now kept by the Reorganized St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (Office), 4712 Clifton, St.
Louis, Mo.)
Also, according to
family tradition the given names, “Jemima, Kezia and Keren-happuch,” taken from
the book of Job, Chapter 42, Verses 12-15 – were given the Lewis and Yates (and
Low) daughters for seven (7) generations, the seventh being the daughter of
Gertrude Webb CARROTHERS and great grand-daughter of David an Kezia. It appears
the custom may have originated in the LOW family and was carried into the YATES
and LEWIS families.
Quote: Job 42: 12-15,
“So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than the beginning - - - - “He
had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first
Jemima; and the name of the second Kezia; and the name of the third Keren-happuch.
And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job; and
their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.” – End of the Book of
Job.
Pleae note: John and Agnes YATES named their three daughters in this
order “Jemima, Kezia and Kerenhappuch. They also gave their four sons Biblical
names, “Thomas, Ebenezer, Jabez and Melchizedek.” - - “Melchizedek, king of
Salem,” Genesis 14: 18 and Hebrew 7: 1; “Christ, the most High Priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek; The Holy Melchizedek Priesthood of God and the
Higher Priesthood of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Hebrew 5: 1, 5 & 6; 3: 1.
(Myrtle Williams Gunderson – Dec. 1976)
