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Show icut; John Higley, 1722, Simsberry, Connecticut; Job Higley, 1768, Windsor, Connect¬icut; Myron Spencer Higley, 1801, Bridgwater, New York. George Washington Higley was born in Leeds Village, Quebec, Canada, 30 November, 1831, a son of Myron Spencer and Priscilla Ebberson Higley. The Higley family roved to Port Leydon, New York, where they were converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Elder William Hyde. GEORGE EDWIN ELIZA ANN They laid plans to go west and decided that George would leave first and help pave the way. He left with a merchant wagon train from the Missouri River and arrived in the Valley in the Autumn of 1851, with 25 cents in his pocket. George found employment until Spring, then traveled to Green River where he bought a fifth interest in the Green River Ferry Company, located on the overland route to California. He was 19 years old. That Fall he met his parents and family in Laramie, Wyoming, and brought them into the Valley. In the Spring of 1855 he moved to Marsh Valley, Idaho, where he built a bridge over Marsh Creek and invested in a trading post on the Hedge Pitch Cutoff. He bought cattle from imigrant trains and obtained a thoroughbred Durham bull. He built and operated a trading post in the Goose Creek Mountains during 1854, then returned to Utah and married Nancy Ellen Wadsworth. Nancy Ellen was born 24 July, 1839, in Lincolnville, Waldo, Maine, a daugh¬ter of Abiah and Eliza Ann Hardy Wadsworth. The young couple moved to Mountain Green, Morgan County where George built one of the first houses in the Valley. With the permission of Ben Simons and the Indians, George established a dairy herd and built a 'churn run' on the Weber River near Strawberry Creek. The con¬traption was water powered. During the Summer, Chief Little Soldier and his band of some 30 Indians attacked the settlers, beating them with whips and trying to trample them under the feet of their horses. An agreement was finally reached when a messenger rushed to Salt Lake City and conferred with President Brigham Young. The Indians were pacified with gifts of food and clothing. In later years the Chief admitted that the bravery of the settlers had saved 112 |