Daniel E. Price
My
father, Daniel E. Price, was born 17 November 1852 at Talgarth, Breconshire,
Wales. He was a son of John Evan Price and Ruth Williams. In Talgarth, where
father was born, people were very religious and proud and considered Mormons
beneath their notice. Undaunted, grandfather preached there and distributed
books in every house in the town.
Not
many details are known about father's chance for schooling in Wales, but we do
know that his parents were poor because grandfather moved and spent most of his
time preaching for the Church after his conversion to Mormonism in 1847 and
until his release from that work around 1856 when he was told by the
authorities that he could go wherever he pleased to earn means to take his family
to Utah. When he was released from the full work of preaching, grandfather left
Breconshire and settled for a time in different villages near Merthyr Tydfil.
In his diary he stated that he finally took his family to live at Cwmbach,
Aberdare, Glamorganshire where he worked for Mr. Powell, an important and
prosperous coal agent, sawing timber. He says, "I worked for years here
with my little boys to make money to leave for Salt Lake City. I attended
meetings also and baptized many and preached a great deal in Cwmbach, Mountain
Ash, Cap Coch, Aberdare, and in Aberaman."
From
this we realized that the Price family knew many of the people from that
district who later came to Malad Valley as pioneers. Captain Dan Jones, who was
responsible for converting more Welshmen to Mormonism than anyone else, had
headquarters at Merthyr Tydfil and it was there that grandfather was ordained a
priest by him as early as January 1848. It was easy for my father as a little
boy to go to Merthyr to the branch conferences with his parents once they had
established their home at Cwmbach, Aberdare, a distance of about 6 or 8 miles.
He was baptized by grandfather when he was 8 years old.
Life in
Wales was hard for children in those days as they were taken to the coal mines
at the age of 6 and 7 years. When father was 12 years old, he had his leg
broken in the coal pit. Since there were only two boys in the family to help
their father, every shilling possible had to be saved for the time of
emigration. The chance came for the family to leave for Utah in May of 1865.
They sailed from Liverpool on the ship, Bridge Water and were 5 weeks
and 2 days on the Atlantic. Salt Lake City was reached July 25, 1866 [??].
Shortly after arrival, the Price family went to Brigham City where they joined
Ruth and Mary, the daughters who had come to Utah in 1864. In February of 1867,
grandfather and his family moved to Malad City and on February 10, 1868, my
father, who was then just 3 months beyond 15 years of age, came to Samaria with
grandfather where they staked out a claim of 160 acres, a dugout was built and
on the 16th of April, the family moved over from Malad to become the first
white family in Samaria.
Daniel
E. Price, like his father, was very active in church affairs. He was ordained a
deacon in 1868 in Malad. On 18 December 1874 he was ordained an elder in
Samaria. He was made a high priest and
became a member of the high council July 26, 1884 in the Oxford priesthood
meeting by Apostle Moses Thatcher. William D.
Hendricks was then President of Oneida Stake. The stake conference was
being held at Oxford at that time.
On the
llth and 12th of February 1888, the first conference of the Malad Stake was
held and Father was then made a member of the Malad Stake High Council by
Lorenzo Snow, Seymour B. Young, and George Dunford.
The
first Mutual Improvement Association was organized at Samaria on January 11,
1878, with David Bowen as president and Daniel E. Price and John Jenkins as
counselors. On January 1, 1891, Father became treasurer of the Samaria Ward and
on September 16, 1891 he was made president of the Mutual Improvement
Association with William E. Morse and George Davis as counselors.
Father
was called on a mission to Great Britain on February 11, 1895 and was told to
report to Salt Lake City by the 30th of March. He left Samaria in company with
Thomas Williams who was also called to the British Mission March 25, 1895. His
diary states, "We left Samaria at 9 a.m. by team for Collinston with David
Roderick as driver. We ate dinner at Washakie, Utah in the home of Lewis Dan
Jones. Arrived at Collinston at 6 p.m. Stayed at Mrs. Bigler's house. No charge
made."
The
entry for 30th March 1895 is also interesting. "At Salt Lake City at Ed
Harman's. Went to the station with Ed Harman's team. He and his wife came with
us to the station, also David Harman. Brother William H. Gibbs was at the
station. We left there at 8 a.m. by D.R.G. Railway. Saw good places from there
to Provo and many canyon views in Utah."
Thus
father was on his way to serve his church. When he returned in March of 1897 he
had many more years of service to render. The diary for 16 May 1897 continues,
"Ogden. At 9:15 a.m. I took the train for Collinston. I here met my
daughter, Anna, and Mr. Owen Davis with a team to take us to Samaria. Mr. Cecil
James Holding came with us to work for me. Arrived in Samaria at 5:30 p.m.
Found my family at home and glad to see me.
There were many relatives and friends at my home also. In about two
hours the Samaria Brass Band came out and played several tunes to welcome me
home. Many more of my friends came with them and we spent a very pleasant
evening in singing, preaching, and shaking hands. Two of my daughters, Mary and
Sarah, were just getting better from
the measles."
Shortly
before leaving for home, father had received news of Bishop Jonah Evans' death
little thinking how that event would affect his life. However, on June 13,
1897, he was ordained Bishop of the Samaria Ward with William E. Hawkins and
Jeremiah H. Williams as counselors. Later Evan Jenkins became first counselor
when W. E. Hawkins moved to Logan. He held this position for 16 years. In 1902
the new meeting house was built for the Samaria Ward, but Father assumed the
added responsibility in stride. Later, he became a member of the high council
for the second time.
There
were few positions of a civic nature that father did not render service in one
capacity or another. Over a period of several years he was on the water board
and acted as school trustee. His was a life of service to the church and to his
community.
Father
married Mair, daughter of Anna Evans Jenkins and her second husband, Thomas
Williams, on March 15, 1875, in the Salt Lake Endowment House. To this union
were born 13 children. Only four reached maturity. They were: Anna, who became
Mrs. Owen Davis; Mary, who became Mrs. Silas L. Anderson; and Sarah, who became
Mrs. Edgar Davis; and Esther who died single on May 4, 1914.
Daniel
E. Price was a very successful farmer and cattleman. His property was always in
a good state of cultivation and he was shrewd in management.
Like
his father, he too, wanted to excel and be the first to accomplish things. He
achieved this aim in many ways. It was not too many years before his first log
home was replaced with a very fine brick home consisting of five rooms and
summer kitchen. The brick for this home was made by Tom Hawkley in a kiln west
and north of the village. The first installment on these bricks was a fat pig.
Since not much ready cash was available to the pioneers they often paid in
produce or exchanged labor with each other. Years later paved walks were put
around our home and we were the first to have a bathroom. It was made possible
by using a Delco unit which generated electricity for the home and pumped the
water for the house as well. All of these modern conveniences were a great
asset to the family and added immeasurably to our comforts.
During
horse and buggy days of travel between villages a place to stay over night was
in great demand at the time of the year when quarterly conferences were held in
the stake and at these times our home was always filled. My parents considered
it an honor to accommodate the officials of the church and I will venture that
they could find no other place where hospitality was more graciously given. My
father was a good provider and my mother an excellent cook so I have only happy
memories of the bounteous meals that were served to all who came to our home.
Service
to others seemed to be a very part of Daniel E. Price's life. Even when he left
home for his mission all the older residents of Samaria, as well as many living
in Malad, asked him to visit their kin overseas. Fortunately he was sent to
Wales soon after his arrival in Great Britain and therefore, was able to comply
with these requests. I will quote from his diary written 12 August 1895.
"Llanelly, Carmarthenshire. Raining again today. I went to see Mr. William
Owen, Scale Cottage, Seaside Road, who is a nephew to Richard Morse of Samaria.
They were glad to see me and wanted me to come again. Then I went to see Mrs.
Roberts, sister of Maria Morse. She gave me some dinner and she said that she
thought I was very foolish to come to Llanelly as a Saint and said that Richard
Morse should have told me not to come here because there was no good in us
coming to this place. In the afternoon, I went to Mr. William Owen's house
again. After tea, Mr. Owen and I went for a walk up on a hill nearby and we had
a grand view of Llanelly and surroundings. We also saw the village where the
ancestors of Richard and William Morse were born. Mr. Owen and his wife were
very kind to me."
During
the years after father's return from his mission, he delighted in giving the
Malad Valley friends the messages and news of their relatives. He had had the
great satisfaction of retracing the places where his parents had lived and saw
the old home where he was born as well as the places of birth of his parents
and grandparents while visiting relatives in Breconshire. None of his kin were
converted, but he was none the less ardent in giving them his message. Most of
his father's people were prosperous farmers of Breconshire.
My
father saw the growth of Malad Valley from the beginning of its settlement when
crops were poor and scanty because of the lack of proper equipment on the farms
to the time when power machinery brought maximum production everywhere. He
supported the development of all that he considered worthwhile in industry, in
civic betterment, and in the preservation of the ideals of his religious faith.
He was one of the first to have a telephone in his home, one of the first to
own an automobile in our part of the valley and very liberal in its use if he
thought
he
could take friends or relatives with him on his trips. He never missed
attending conference in Salt Lake City while he was Bishop of the Samaria Ward
and attended after that service ended as long as his health permitted.
Daniel
E. Price died at his home in Samaria February 18, 1926. He had a very large
circle of friends and with his passing, Malad Valley lost one of its stalwart
citizens. He had truly been one of its foremost pioneers.
- Mary
Price Anderson, Daughter
