Name : Harriet Nash Welch Born: 17 April 1831 Death: 25 September 1894 Arrived in Utah: 12 September 1857. Captain Jesse B. Martin's Co . Married: Thomas Robert Green Welch . 27 August 1855 History written cy-: A daughter ., Isabella Eliza Welch Butters Date history was read : 17 October 1980, by dau. Lois Butters Peterson D. U. P Camp. South Morgan ..SoLrf h Morga n Camp Historian: Margaret McKinnon • JJI MY MOfHER BY Elizebeth Welch Butters My mother, Harriet Nash Welch, was the daughter of Charles Nash and Mary Day. Of the first twenty years of her life I know but very little. She was born April 17, 1831 at ttorsted Kaines, Sussex, England. She was the ol dest of thirteen children and early had to work away fran home to help support the family. She had a w:>nderiUl training as a housekeeper and cook in the fanilies of the rich, though she had b ut little schooling. It is a sl.ngular t hings, but the Charles Nash family was never all under t he same r oof or a home at one ti.me in all their lives . Harriet began service as a chambermaid and worked her way up until she w::is head cook in a gentleman' s family. She also worked in a Wealthy Jewish f amily and learned of their manners and customs . She seC'U?'ed a nice position in a fanily at the beautiful seashore c ity of Brighton about fifty miles from her home in London. While working in Brighton she became acquainted with some Latter- Day Saints am began to investigate the Gospel. After attending the meetings t or some t i me she was convinced of its truth and requested baptism. She was baptized into the clrurch on the first d~ of October, 1853, by Eider James Pitman and confimed a Member on the next day by the same m n t hat baptized her . Her future husband, Thomas Hobert Green Welch, was working in Brighton in a large dry goods establishment and the two were brought toPet her through the meetings of the Latter- Day Saints . He was four years her junior, having been born July 10, 1835 at Shepton Mallet Sommersetshire, l!ngland. He was baptized by Elder ~'illiam H. Kimball in Brighton o~ September 20, 1854, and was confinned on the twenty- fourth of t he same mont' h by Elder Samuel Francis. 1 • l About six weeks after joining the church she became very much exercised over a testimony for herself for the divinity of the work. She had attended her meetings regularly am had the brethern and s isters testily that they lmew the Gospel was true and that it was indeed the wark of the Lord. She beliPved this with all her heart and in reading her Bible it s eemed like a new book since her baptism am confirmation. 'Incre was still something lacking to give her that peace of mind that she so much desired. She took the _Apostle James advice and decided to ask the Lord that she might know of a surety for herself of the truthfulness of the Oospelshe had accepted. She was still working in servire ma gentlem."ln's home and she and another young lady occupied the same room t hough each had her own bed. one evening after contl.ng from meeting wiere she had he ard members, both men and wanen, bear their testimonies, she called on the lord in mip:hty prayer and told him that if' it was his work, to give her a testimony that s he might be able t o rise and bear it to any and all that she lmew the Gospel was true ae well as they. • After retirin~ she lay meditating upon the joy that f · lled her heart since her conversion, when suddenly the r oom was filled with a 1'1'¥)St glorious light and she was told of the truthfulness of the work of the Lord. The other young woman also saw the light md cried out, "Oh, Harriot, the house is on fire" . Mother told her that the house was not on f:1re but that she had just received a manifestation from the Lord of the truthfulness of the Gospel. That testimony always remai. ned with her to the end of her days and like the spark that kiooles the fire, grew brif:hter as the years went by and no matter whet trial came to her, poverty or siclmess, the loss of dlildren and loved ones, her fai t.h never wavered. She was as true as steel and fought the fi ght to the end. ; I 2 , ( . . . 1 • 1 • • She continued in attendance at meetinps and \las faithful in the pa)1Tlent of her t ithea a nd fas t donations until her Jna1Ti.ar,e. After joining the church the gospel \las so plain t o her that she went home to tell hP..r people of the glorious tidings she had receivE"d and "1.en she t old /13 her story, her fatrer turns her out doors, for he did not want anything to do with Morl"lOniSJ'I . On Aupust 27, 1855 she was marr ied to Thomas R. o. Welch and they at once beean to s ave means to eMie;rate to Zion, for they fel t that wi th the Saints their future home should be made. On July 25, 1856, a s::> n born, Tiiomas F. Welch. They workPd and saved during t he winter a nd were faithful members of the br anch. On Saturday, 1'1arch 28, 1857 t hey sailed f r an Liverpool, Eni land on the ship, "George Washingt m ," for Boston, U. S. A. There ·were e1 r ht hundred and seventeen latter- Day Saint s oo board under direction of James l- . Park bound for Utah. They were three weeks on the ocean and after arriving in Bost;lon they proceeded westward to the place of rut.fitting for trip to Utah. Father drove Ox- terun across the plains, but mother could not ride as the wagons were t oo heavily l oaded. They came in Carta.in Jesse B. Martin' s company, arriving in Salt Lake C1ty, September 12, 1857. Mother walked all the way arrl waded every stream as s he came to except the Platte River which t he company cros ~cd on a fer-ry boat. She carried her on year ol d child on he r back t he entire cti stance . After arriving in the valley the move was on and she went s outr. a s far as Lehi while Father ms sent into Eaho Canyon to help keep the soldiers back. After the winter set in and there was no neod for so macy men m the frontier fat~r went to Lehi . A daupter "'8.S born October 20, 1858. They a f ound a good friend in the person Bishop Israel Evans tobo was kind and ccnsiderate of 1hose who wer e poor and needy 3 ( / . • ... They returned to Sal t Lake City in 1860 and on April 4 t hey recei ved t heir endouments and were sealed by Pr esi dent Brigham Young • r ) ,14 Father secured work from Jesse C. Littl e who was a couselor to the r e-siding Bishop Edwar d Hunter . The wor k was in Weber Valley so he put in the summer on a f arm while mother r emained i n Salt Lake Cit y . On October 4 , 1860 , a son wa s born and when six weeks old f ather took mother int o Weber Valley . They lived in a l og shack belonging t o Elder Lit t le dur ing the l winter of 60 1 and 61 1 and had nothing but boiled wheat to e at . The log hut wa s • ' covered with willows , straw and covering of dirt and ever y time it rained the house wa s wor se t han out doors because the water uas dirt y . Who can ever tell of the poverty and hardships of t hose ear ly pi oneers in t hat valley? Father , Robert Hogg and William Hemming put part of a sack of whe~t on the ir backs and wal ked over the mountain i nto Davis Count y and had it ground and carried back t he flour t o get a little bread . Another time he l ashed two s acks of wheat to the hounds of the wagon, used the reach for the toneue and t ook his yoke of cattle and went r i ght ov~r mountains west of Morgan int o Farmin6t on to get wheat gr ound t o make br ead. There was not or has t her e ever been a r oad over these mountains and he was gone so long t hat we children t hought he would never come back home . •rlhen her third son was born , November 11, 1862, they had to use umbr ella s made of skins to keep the wate~ out of t he bed as the house leaked so badly . She was the mother of nine children , seven boys and two girls , one gi rl and one boy dying i n infancy and one boy died with diphtheri~ when ei ght een yeAr s ol d . One of t he gr eat trial s of her pioneer l i fe was cooki n~ over a fireplace and oh, how she longed and pr ayed f or a stove i n which to cook. She used to t ell of a dream she had i n the days of poverty, i n which she saw a stove that could 4 • ... • • be bought for fifteen cents but she di d not have the fifteen cents with which to m~ke the purchase . A.fter living in Littleton a year or two the family moved to Morgan , and built a log cabin on the corner where the road turns northward from Morgan , to ~:ilton , known as Welch ' s corner , where they lived until they passed away. Later they built a new home now owned by Rich Wal dron . When the Primary Association was organized in Hor gan Stake in 1878, she was chosen St ake President of that organization , which position she held at the time of her death , September 25 , 1894. At this same t ime she a cted for t welve years as president of the Ward Primary . On one occasion the children were singing the song , "Open the Door to the Children" and she r eceived the i nspiration then and there to have the·children gather means and help emigrate poor children from the old country , which was accomplished and she furnished some of them a home until t hey gre~ to man and womanhood. Her home was always filled with some poor orphan child or children as well as her own. She was sick for many years before she died and suffered a great deal , but throu~h it all she put her trust in the Lord. Of the five sons and one daughter who ~rew to man and womanhood and married, three of them filled missions and her husband mnda a trip to England befor e her death and with what the boys had done gathered considerabl~ genealogy and the work for her kindred was begun by her in the Temples of the Lord . No person was more beloved by children than t his woman and wh,~n she died she was literally buri ed in a gr ave of flowers that children and grown folks had brought f r om all over the Morgan St ake i n tokens of the love and respect in which she w~s held by all who knew her . 5 Read in South Morgan Camp D. U. P 17 Oct 1980 . By : Lois Butters Peter s on