WILLIAM SPENCER RODERICK
William Spencer Roderick was born in Pendoylan Parish,
Glamorganshire, Wales,
on July 20, 1853. He was
the son of David Roderick and Hannah Spencer. Short of stature, probably around
five feet two inches in height, he had twinkling black eyes and a good sense of
humor. He loved adventure, loved horses and wanted the most spirited ones he
could find, and they were always groomed well. He loved to have the prettiest
bridles and harness on them. His buggy was the classiest one in the valley. He
and the country doctor would try to outdo each other on speeding. He delighted
in frightening people by driving at the outrageous speed of fifteen miles an
hour.
In Wales William was employed as a carpenter. He worked
for a wealthy man who liked William very much and offered to make him his sole
heir of Hensel Castle
and all of his estate, but he would have to give up his Mormon religion to stay
in Wales. The
message of the Mormon missionaries rang true and the family of William all
joined the Church with the exception of his sister, Mary who was married.
Margaret, another sister, had come earlier with elder William Jones and others
of the LDS Church.
She later married Elder Jones.
William and the rest of the family, father, mother,
brother John and sister Elizabeth, left Liverpool on the steamship Minnesota
in 1869 and arrived at Ogden, Utah, June 25, 1869, (page 4 of Journal
History). They came on the first train bringing converts. William was just
sixteen years of age at this time. They settled a few miles north of Ogden.
He worked there a short time then went to work for William Jones. Mr. Jones had
a great deal of work to do and many cows to milk. He was a hard man to work
for; no one ever did enough to please him. William hated milking, so would run
straight pins through the callouses on his hands thus
causing the cows to kick. Mr. Jones watched this a few times and decided
William couldn't milk the cows. He never knew what caused the cows to kick.
William worked there for two years.
The family moved to Pole Patch (Pleasant View), Utah,
then to Samaria, Idaho.
At Samaria he met and married Ann
Maria Price on December 2, 1873.
She was also born in Wales
and had walked across the plains; her family had come two years earlier then
the Roderick family.
To this union sixteen children were born: Ruth Hannah,
David, William, John, George, Daniel, Ann Maria, Mary Jane, Isaac, Samuel,
Devinah Elizabeth, Esther, Naomi, Pearl,
Evan, and Alice. William was on a
frightening trip to Montana when
his first little girl, Ruth Hannah, died and was buried when he returned home.
William was a good provider. He bought everything in
large quantities and always seemed to have a surplus on hand. He was a hard
worker; he would freight from Montana
to Corinne and Ogden. Sometimes he would be gone six weeks at a time. He was a
good farmer and a very good manager. He was also a sheep man and had a big
flock of sheep for years.
He loved his grandchildren and played a lot with them.
Every grandchild remembers him dancing them on his knee, giving them peppermint
candy or horehound candy and either five cents or a dime. He was generous with
any request for donations.
In later years, he moved to Malad where he really enjoyed
the movies, but while living there he took Rocky Mountain Fever and was very
sick for a long time. He always maintained his life was saved through the power
of administration [sic].
Orderliness was implanted in this family by starting the
day with family prayer. All the chairs would be turned with backs toward the
table and the entire family would kneel and pray before breakfast. The Sabbath
Day was observed to the letter. They respected the Priesthood and believed
implicitly in administration of the sick.
William was a fast reader and would read a couple of
books a day. In his declining years he lived with his children and passed away
on the 24th day of March, 1942 at 4 a.m.
at the home of his daughter, Ann Bailey. He was buried on March 26, 1942, in Samaria.
At the time of his death he had eight living children, 68 grandchildren and 87
great grandchildren. He was nearly 89 years of age at this time.
- The Roderick Family
