EMMA REESE DAVIS JENKINS
Emma Reese Davis was born August 28, 1851 in Aberaman, Aberdare which is not
very far from Merthyr Tydfil,
Glamorganshire, Wales. She was the daughter of David Reese Davis who was born
at Capel Ddewi,
Carmarthenshire, to John Davis
and Mary Rees or Reese. Her
mother was Elizabeth Thomas who was born at Fontigary
(near Cowbridge) Glamorganshire to William Thomas and
Jane Jones. Grandfather Davis went by the name of David Reese in Wales
so Mother used Reese for her last name after coming to America
and until her marriage. She then had to use her official name to keep the
records straight.
Over there her parents lived on a small farm and had a
horse, cow, sheep, geese and turkeys. Her father was a miner working at night.
He taught her to milk, pluck the geese and gather the turkey eggs.
Emma went to school and learned to read the Bible. It was
the main study book at school. She was a good writer and very good with
figures. She also learned to sew. She was a neat dress and shirt maker. She
could knit, crochet, card wool and make quilts.
Emma was seventeen years of age when she came with her
parents to America.
The family sailed on the steamship Colorado
from the port of Liverpool
Tuesday, July 14, 1868.
There were three other children in the family: Jane, nineteen years; William,
thirteen years; and Mary Ann, who was seven years old. The ship was dedicated
by Charles W. Penrose.
There were some storms while crossing which was better
for the passengers as they could stay on deck in the cool air rather than in
the excessive heat of a cloudless sky day after day. Some were sea sick but
most of the Saints enjoyed the voyage. The ship docked in New
York, July
28, 1868. It took only an hour or two to pass customs at Castle
Gardens and then they were taken to
the Hudson River Railway Station where they spent the night. At 5 P. M. the
next day they left by rail toward Albany, New
York. Nine and one half days later they arrived at Benton,
Wyoming, which was on the 7th of August, 1868. It was the longest
railroad ride that any of them had ever taken at one time. They all appreciated
it, especially over the plains, and only regretted it could not have continued
for about 48 hours longer into Salt Lake City.
Benton is 750 miles west of Omaha.
It was the terminus where all goods and passengers were landed to continue
their westward journey by ox trains. It was a dusty place, full of people that
had no particular reverence for law or order. It was a town mostly built of
tents and shanties. The companies camped about a mile and a half from the city.
Two ox trains left Benton,
Wyoming, August 13, 1868, under the command of two Captains, Capt. Molen and Capt. Daniel D. McArthur. Neither company kept a
roster so we are not certain of the company in which grandfather's family
traveled. Both companies arrived in Salt Lake City
the 2nd of September 1868.
Her parents came on to Brigham City.
Emma stayed in Salt Lake City. Jane
went to Ogden. Then Grandfather and
Grandmother went to Marsh Valley, Idaho
to make a home, taking the two younger children, William and Mary Ann with
them.
Mother stayed in Salt Lake City
for six years, working in homes. She never liked Marsh
Valley. It was so isolated and in
the winter would be snow bound and couldn't get out, only by snow shoes. She
spent only one winter with her parents. In the spring the freight wagons
started to go to Montana passing
their home. One nice morning a man came with a violin and played "The Last
Rose of Summer." Emma said, "This song described how they had felt
all winter." She learned this song, sang it often and it was her favorite
song throughout her life. The violin was her favorite instrument. Next to the
violin she loved the mouth organ and could play it.
In Emma's native country they kept the Sabbath Day and
went to church. Her parents had joined the church before she was born, so she
was always a Latter-day Saint. Everything was done on Saturday to last over the
Sabbath. She knew the Bible very well. The first Sunday she was in Salt
Lake City she saw a man
cutting hay. She said in astonishment, "No, not in Zion,
breaking the Sabbath." However, she said. "This man must not be a
good member of the Church; if he was, I would feel like returning to Wales."
Emma worked for one lady for three years. She knit the
children's stockings after the housework was done in the evening.
My father, David Jenkins, knew the Reese family in Wales
as he lived in the same shire or county, so he renewed their friendship in America.
Seven years after Grandfather Davis' family arrived Emma and David were married
in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City,
November 1, 1875. Then they
came by covered wagon to Samaria, Idaho
to live. Father had a one-room house, a lean-to bedroom and a fruit room ready
for them. They lived on Main Street,
which ran north and south. The street running east and west was called Jenkins
Street as Grandmother Jenkins and all her sons
lived on this street.
Emma was the mother of ten children, four girls and six
boys. The children are: David R., Elizabeth, Evan Thomas, Anna May, William,
John, Daniel, Alvin, Rachel and Jane. Four boys: Evan Thomas, John, Daniel and
Alvin died in infancy.
Emma taught her children the Ten Commandments, Articles
of Faith, and some references from the Bible, Book of Mormon
and Doctrine & Covenants. They subscribed for the Era and Juvenile
Instructor. She read the poems and taught her children to recite them.
She attended her meetings; helped with the sick. During
the diphtheria epidemic she went in every home to sew and lay the dead away.
She was careful when returning so none of us would get this dreaded disease.
She helped her neighbors quilt, taking her children with her to play with the
other children who came with their mothers.
We carried the drinking water from Grandma Thorpe's
spring across the street. We had a surface well, but the water was too hard to
drink. In later years we had a barrel to haul fresh water each day from the
city springs a block and half from our home.
Emma made her own candles and soap, dried herbs for
medicine, churned butter, and made wonderful bread and currant biscuits.
We moved to Gwenford,
Idaho in 1890. A brother Alvin was born
April lst and died seven days later. Mother was good
to the Indians, and always gave them bread. We all learned to be kind to them.
She baked a loaf of bread every day as a test for the millers while we lived at
the mill at Gwenford. Even on the Sabbath she had to
make a loaf for the test.
She dried and preserved her fruit, made jam out of
currants and gooseberries. She made all the family clothes, knit all the
stockings and socks, made the men's shirts and the boys' pants and coats while
they were young. She milked the cow when Father wasn't at home, raised chickens
and sold eggs.
When the weather was good we walked to school at Samaria
from Gwenford, four of us, Dave, Liz, Mae and Will.
Sister Rachel was born at Gwenford October 24, 1893. When she was four
weeks old we moved back to Samaria
to live, making it more convenient to go to school and church. Sister Jane was
born October 22, 1895 in Samaria.
Emma died April
8, 1904 in Samaria at
the age of 53. She had been ailing for a long time. Will was on his mission in
the Northwestern States when she died. He came home for her funeral, bringing sister Mae along, who was working at San
Francisco at the time.
Emma was universally respected as was attested by the
largely attended funeral services. She was buried in the family plot at the Samaria
Cemetery.
Elizabeth J. Hughes & Rachel J. Ricks, Daughters
