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Show • • • 3\ I l T L E P J.. G E PIONEER NAME MORRIS BIRTH DATE AND PLACE ' OEATH DATE AND PLACE April 251 18282 Llanfair Tahlaiarn Denbighshire, November 22, 1868, Morgan, Utah North Wal es FATHER W.. _ i l_ l_i am _._M_.. o _ rr ._.i__s_ MOTHER ~--=S=a=r=ah=-=D=a~v=ie~s=----------------------------- WHO MARR I ED AND DA TE. __ __S_ a _ ra~h_E_l iz__a b_eth-.:.H_e n_der::._s...o:_n...,:O...::..c..:.t.....o.:._b_e:r.._:1.:.6.....•:-=1..8..5::..2.:~---l YEAR ARRIVED IN ,UTAH___ _ _1."8":",. :4;1L -_________________. ...:l NAME OF COMPANY -------------------------__.JI WHO WROTE HI STORY AND DA TE __- .J..B12etwh~S~rni.t...,h,L.JT,...u1,1,.ri.:n.weur.:.__ _ -=-------~1 WHO SUBMITTED HI STORY AND DATE --=B=e=t =h-=S~m=i:t.h:~,...:T!~u::r.:n::e::;;:r..._ ________ ADDRESS 696 W. Island ·Road , Morgan Utah ________________ TELEPHONE NO. 829-6386 CAMP NAME South Morgan l COUNTY NAME - .~.H~a~r~g~A-D-----------------------~' CAMP HISTORIAN Lucille O. Williams ADDRESS ·-------'---'--.--,----------------------~ COUNTY HISTORIAN ADDRESS Barbara C. Porter JPEG-Bk13 L "t, fTI C') I a:, ';<;' w • • • A SKETCH OF THE LIVES OF ISAAC CONWAY MORRIS AND SARAH ELIZABETH HENDERSON My great grandfather Isaac Conway Morris was born Friday , 25 April 1828 , at Llanfair Tahlaiarn (Llanfair) , Denbi ghshi re , North Wales. He was the son of William Morris a nd Sarah Davies , and had nine brothers and sisters : Edward, Fanny, Margaret, Elizabeth, John , Ann, William , Evan, and Robert. William Morris Sarah Davies Written by a Great Granddaughter Beth Smith Turner WILLIAM MORRIS FAHILY (With t he exception of parents, cannot positively identify other family members) / • • BIRTHPLACE OF ISAAC CONWAY MORRIS Llanfair Tahlaiarn (Llanfair), Denbighshire, North Wales -2- • Isaac was converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and was baptized 16 July 1849 in Wales. He lived with his parents until his marriage to Elizabeth Williams. She was born to John Rowland Williams and Mary Roberts on Thursday, 15 May 1828, in St. Asaph, Flints, Wales . El izabeth was converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and was baptized December 1849 in Wales (rebaptized by proxy 12 August 1968) . Isaac and Elizabeth were married 16 October 1852 in Abergele, Denbighshire, North Wales. Both Eli zabeth and Isaac were 24 years of a ge. A few months after their marriage, Isaac and Elizabeth left their parents, brothers and sisters, and home to start to Utah with other converts t o t he Church. They sailed from Liverpool, England on 5 February 1853 and crossed the Atlantic Ocean on t he ship, "Jersey . " There were 314 Latter- Day Saints on the ship under the direction of George Halliday . They arrived at New Orleans 21 March 1853 . The ocean voyage had taken 45 day s . Isaac and Elizabeth continued their journey by river steamer to Keokuk, Iowa, which was the outfitting post f or the Latter-Day Saint emigr ants in 1853. They left Iowa for the West on 3 June 1853. They crossed the Missouri River at Council Bluffs on 11 July, and continued on their journey across the plains by ox team . When the Saints stopped f or t he ,M.... ,:,f. CD I Cl l.&J -Q,. • • In the Spring of 1856 , Sarah Elizabeth emigrated to Utah with her parent s and her younger brothers and sisters . She was 12 years of age when she crossed the plains by wagon with her family . They lived firs t in Centerville, Davis County , Utah, where her father David Eaton Henderson settled on 40 acres of farming land . When President Bri gham Young called some of the Saints t o go south and settle new towns , Sarah ' s father accepted t he call . He left the far m, and his family accompanied him. When her father was released from his mission call, he returned to Centerville and found that his farmland had been divided into city lots . Sarah ' s fa t her had hear d of t he beaut iful valley of Mor gan , at that t ime called Weber Valley , and decided t o take his family there . Their journey up Weber Canyon in 1860 was a very difficult one . The very crude road had been built just five years earlier in 1855 by Thomas J . Thurs t on, Char les S. Pet e r son , his t wo sons and son- i n-law , Roswell Stevens ; t wo Engli shmen, John Cousins , Thomas Bebing t on; and Elder Jedadiah Morgan Grant sent three men with teams to assist in putting the road through the canyon . It was a very great undertaking with their primitive ways of building roads . Their tools consisted of picks, shovels, and crowbars, with small plows . In some narrow places , t hey had to go up on the side of the canyon and loosen large rocks and boulders and then roll them down into the river below to form a foundation on which to build a road . At last they were successful in completing this very crude, - 4- • passable road, even so, the road through Weber Canyon was so narrow and hazardous that most people traveling through it left their wagons and buggies and walked the narrow stretch which was commonly known as Horseshoe Bend . The driver would then lead the horses and wagons around the bend . This road was still hazardous in 1915. Now in 1985 when we cruise up the Weber Canyon freeway (Interstate 84) , we hardly think of our early pioneers ' struggle in constructing the very first road through Weber Canyon, and the trouble they had in keeping it passable in the Spring because of high water. Trappers and Indians had traveled Weber Canyon by horseback, but this road was wide enough for a wagon . ~t ~ - t,~~j'j::·\_': DEV IL ' S GATE (HORSESHOE BEND) IN WEBER CAi'IYON -, • • evening, the wagons were placed in a circle, and guards were stationed throughout the night to help protect them from the Indians. The Saints endured hot days and cold nights, and rationing of food . They suffered many hardships, but the people helped one another physically and provided moral support to each other. When Isaac and Elizabeth arrived at Sweetwater, Wyoming 13 September 1853, their first child Sarah was born . They arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah, the 10th of October 1853. It had taken 8~ months to make the journey from Wales to Salt Lake City where they made their home. Two of Isaac's cousins, Nephi and Elias Morris, had emigrated to Utah in 1852, a year before Isaac arrived. All of them quarried rock and hauled it by ox team to help build the Salt Lake Temple . In 1862 Isaac and Elias built a bake oven at Camp Douglas for John Sharp who had contracted with the military authorities for its construction. He also worked with his cousin Elias on many other jobs (from the history of Elias Morris). When Isaac was working on a building in Salt Lake City, he accidently fell . It was a miracle that he survived . (My father told me this.) After Isaac and Elizabeth arrived in Salt Lake, seven more children were born to them, making eight in all : Sarah , born at Sweetwater, Wyoming; Mary, William, Isaac, Elizabeth, Priscilla, John (stillborn), and Thomas (who died a few hours after birth). Elizabeth, Isaac ' s first wife , died October 25, - 3- • 1865, just four days after giving birth to Thomas. She was 37 years of age. This was a real trial for the family. There were six young children to be cared for, the oldest being twelve. Records indicate that the children came to Richville with their father and stepmother who Isaac had married in polygamy just 9Yi months before his first wife died . This marriage of Isaac and Sarah Elizabeth Henderson took place on 7 January 1865, in Salt Lake City in the Endowment House, and was Isaac's second marriage . Sarah Elizabeth's early life Sarah Elizabeth Henderson, my great grandmother, was born 3 April 1844 , in Andrew County, Missouri, the daughter of David Eaton Henderson and Mary or "Polly" McFaden. The family had moved from Morgan County, Illinois, to Missouri , in 1842. They were in Missouri for the 1850 Census . Sarah's father David Eaton Henderson was converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and was baptized 29 September 1849. His wife Mary or "Polly" was baptized June 1850, and their daughter Sarah Elizabeth was baptized 29 September 1856 . She had six brothers and sisters: Eliza Jane, Joseph Lambert, John Wesley , Catherine Ann, Lucinda, and Mary . DAVID EATON HENDERSON ,M.... ~ m I c.., LLJ .a,. • • It was in the Fall of the year 1860 that David Eaton Henderson and Jonathan Hemingway located the settlement of Richville in Weber Valley. Weber Valley was later changed to Morgan, which was named after Jedadiah Morgan Grant who so greatly helped the early settlers. This community of Richville is midway between what :is now the town of Mor gan and the community of Porterville. Sarah ' s father built the first house, a log cabin, down by the creek (now East Canyon Creek) about a half mile northeast, or below, the present town. (From the book Pioneering Morgan County, and Richville Ward History.) REMNANT OF DAVID E. HENDERSON HOME Located approximatel y at corner of Richville Lane and Morgan Valley Drive -5- • Sarah Elizabeth was 16 years of age when she came to Richville w:ith her parents and some of her brothers and sisters . In the year 1861 other settlers arrived in Richville : John Henry Rich, Gillispie Walter Waldron, John Wood and Solomon Conley . David Eaton Henderson had selected a place for a t own near East Canyon Creek, but because of the flooding problem, he advised the newly arrived families to build on high ground near the base of the hills and west of the creek, where the t own of Richville now stands. There were about a half dozen log houses built during the year of 1861. Nearly all of the first settlers came from Centerville . The land was rich and productive, and the residents claimed to own the best land in Weber Valley . They started a t once to plough and plant crops . Work was immediately started on an irrigation ditch. It was built mostly with pick and shovel, some parts plowed, shoveled, and leveled by eye . This ditch became known as the Richville I rrigation and Canal Company . A good crop of wheat, oats and vegetables was produced in 1861 . A half dozen famili es spent the winter of 1861- 1862 on the present site of Richville . Sarah Elizabeth ' s fa t her did much to build up the town of Richville . He is listed in the book, Prominent Men and Pioneers of Utah. He was active in Church affairs, and in 1876 at age 67 was called on a mission to the Middle and Southern States . He was set apart by Elder Orson Pratt . To give the reader of this history a perspective in time, these were the things that were happening in America in 1861 ~ when the Henderson family was residing in Richville . :,,t. Abrahamm I c.!J LL.I a--,. • • Lincoln was elected President of the United States . There was much friction between the Northern and Southern States, and the Civil War was in the making. Salt Lake City was then 14 years old. Brigham Young was President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints . The first schoolhouse in Richville was erected in 1863. It was a log building measuring 18 x 24 feet, with a fireplace at one end for heating . This building was used for school , church meetings , and social purposes . This is where Sarah Elizabeth and her family a ttended church. Sarah worked hard helping her mother in their humble home, and her father on the farm. I don't know how she met Isaac Conway Morris but after their marriage on 7 January 1865, they resided in Salt Lake City for a while. After the death of Isaac 's first wife Elizabeth, there were six children to be cared for . The family moved to Richville in 1865, or early 1866 . Their life in Richville was typical of the early pioneers. Hunting and fishing were the main sports. Game was plentiful at this early period of time. It was an easy task to get enough fish for breakfast before the sun came up, or shoot enough chickens for dinner, or kill a deer. There were also wild animals such as bears, mountain lions , lynx and bobcats. Dancing was the social amusement . The dance would begin at sunset and last until midnight . Supper was then served . Candles were used for light, and the fireplace heated the building. Playing checkers was also popular in the wintertime. The people were frightened at the first kerosene lamp, so much so that the story is told of one fellow getting a long dry willow, opening the door a little bit, and lighting the lamp with a stick through the crack. • The Shoshone and Ute Indians sometimes made the canyons around Richville and Porterville their home during the summer months. Sometimes 500 Indians at a time would come through the Valley. Once in a while the Indians would ride through town with scalps hanging on poles . These were taken from the Snake and Cheyenne Indians by the Shoshone. The Indians were peaceful with the white settlers and did not bother them much, but did at times ask for food . President Brigham Young told the Saints it was better to feed the Indians than fight them . The only means of transportation before the railroad was a buggy or wagon, and bob sleigh in the winter . Not much traveling took place in the winter . Isaac Morris was a very good rock mason and did some rock laying in Sal t Lake when he lived there. In the early Spring of 1868 the r ailroad hired him to build a rock abutment for the railroad bridge at Devils Gate, Weber County, Utah. It is still in ~ · . ... : ' ,. ;:.'v • • good condition. A second bridge was constructed when the double tracks were laid in 1926 . Union Pacific Railway was pushing its way westward and came through Morgan in 1868 and 1869 . When the railroad was being built through Morgan, it proved a blessing to the people. Many men were hired to help move earth and make fills. Much of this grade was accomplished with wheelbarrows . Richville became a t ie center for the railroad. Men went into the canyons nearby and cut loads of ties and brought them back to Richville, and as the railroad progressed, the ties were hauled to Echo, Henefer, Morgan and further down Weber Canyon. The canyons around Richville and Porterville produced thousands of ties for the railroad . Union Pacific brought provisions into the County in schooner wagons with eight and ten mule teams. (This would have been a sight to see . ) The wages were $10 a day for man and team . Had it not been for this extra work, the people of Morgan would have suffered during the winter of 1868 and 1869 . My fa t her Conrad Alma Smith said Isaac was a very religious and good man. In the Richville Ward records , it states, "John Seamon was succeeded in the Superintendency of the Sunday School by Isaac Morris . " Two children were born in Richville t o Isaac and Sarah Elizabeth: Eliza, and Lucinda who is my grandmother . Sarah was expecting her third child when heart-breaking tragedy struck this family. Isaac became ill and died 22 November 1868, of stomach cancer . He died just three years after the death of his firs t wife Elizabeth. He was only 40 years of age and had been married -7- • to Sarah not quite four years . He was buried in the Salt Lake City cemetery near his first wife . The death of Isaac made orphans of the children by his first wife. They ranged in age from 7 to 15 years . One of the children, Isaac, wrote, "My parents died when I was very young, and I made my home with Bishop Elias Morris in Salt Lake City . I secured a job driving a wagon ." Lizzie Ann, another child, said she had to live with anyone who would take her . In exchange she did chores for ::hem. Sarah Elizabeth had a real struggle now to feed and clothe her children . A son, Conway, was born six months after the death of his father . Sarah was an excellent seamstress and would weave cloth and make men ' s suits . In this way she was able to make a living . The children thought their mother was doing all right financially, and did not want her to marry again . About five years after the death of her husband, Sarah Elizabeth married on 27 December 1873, Anthony Heiner who was married t o her sister Lucinda . Anthony was married to sisters in polygamy . He moved Sarah Elizabeth from Richville to North Morgan where she lived in what was known a t that time as Uncle George 's Carpenter Shop . She then moved into one room of her sister Lucinda's home . Anthony Heiner built a log house in Echo Canyon at the mouth of Heiner Canyon where the two wives Lucinda and Sarah Elizabeth took turns being there in the summertime . They milked cows and made butter which was taken to Echo and shipped to Salt Lake City and sold to Folger and Jennings . A~ ~ of the children had to help milk the cows and churn the butte~. (.!! LLJ -Q,. • • They made from 20 to 30 pounds of butter every other day. They had a milk house situated over the ditch to help keep the milk cold. The milk was poured into pans to raise the cream. The pans were set on shelves made of slats of wood that would turn around so it would be easy to remove the pans. Sometimes they would set close to fifty pans of milk at one time. That meant washing lots of utensils. The churn was a barrel, shaped with a handle to turn it around like a crank. The two families worked hard on the ranch in the summer and then moved back to Morgan in the Fall so that the children could go to school. My grandmother Lucinda said she remembered very well the hard, back breaking work on the ranch in the summers up Echo Canyon and was so glad to move back to Morgan in the Fall. While at the r anch, when Indians came around, Sarah Elizabeth would hide the children in the big, wooden flour bins. She told them that whenever the Indians were around, it was extremely important that the children not act like they were scared. Sarah Elizabeth would give bread to the Indians. Whenever she and the children left the ranch, the Indians would come camp there. One evidence of the Indians having been there was the pretty colored beads found in the gizzards of the chickens. The only means of transporta tion to and from the ranch was a buggy or wagon. It took a good part of a day to travel to Morgan from t he ranch. The roads were quite hazardous and they had to cross the river many times. -8- • Sarah Elizabeth had seven children by her second husband Anthony Heiner, but was sealed to her first husband Isaac Morris. The children were: Joseph Anthony, Evaline, Agatha, Royal Oscar, and twins Lafayette and Maryette . Parley George died as a very young child. ... Anthony Heiner & Sarah Elizabeth, seated. Their children: (L-R) Agatha, Evaline, Joseph Anthony, Royal Oscar, Lafayette & Maryette (twins); another son Parley George died as a young child ,M.... .:,t. ID I c.., w Q--,. • • Sarah Elizabeth worked hard caring for her 10 children (three by Isaac Conway Morris) . She still wove cloth and made clothes . She made candles for their light; they later bought a coal- oil lamp . The washing was done on a washboard , the water carried from a ditch and heated on a coal stove . Soap was made from leftover grease and lye made from wood ashes . I t was very difficult to dry clothes i n the winter months . When Anthony Heiner built his home in North Morgan , he hired Conrad Smith and Henry Rock t o lay the rock for his home . They were paid in grain and cows . The population of Morgan County i n 1880 was 1 , 783 . Taxes in 1870 were S2 . SO for 50 acres . OLD COUNTY COURTHOUSE Buil t 1814- 1887 at site of pr esent Courthouse Cost : $6,527 .19 - 9- • In the late 1800 ' s and early 1890 ' s , the people practicing polygamy were going through a very difficult time . The Government had passed a law prohibiting plural marriage . U. S. Marshals were hunting the men , fining them and putting them into prison. in 1889 Anthony Heiner was arrested by the Federal authorities for prac ticing polygamy . On Aprill , 1889 , he was sentenced by Judge Henderson to three months' imprisonment in the Sugar house Penitentiarv and fined $200 for unlawful cohabitation. He was released on June 15th , two weeks early. CHURCH CHRONOLOGY-188!J. April.-Jfon. 1.-In the First District Court, at Ogden, An t~Q!lY~~ ot :l'lor · gan, was sentenced · ~Henderson to three months' imprisonment and :$201} flnetJ_or u. c. ,Tlln c . "ciat. 15. - Preston Lewis, David A. Sanders. w;aiam Ball, William Gurney am! .~Lf_giner were discharged from the P enitentiary. .M... ~ CD I (.!J LL.I -a,. PENITENTIARY AT SUGARHOUSE |
