HISTORY OF DAVID LEWIS AND ANN LEWIS
During the early 1800s, Pentre Estil was a hamlet in the rural area near Swansea, Wales.
It was also the home of the John Lewis and Martha Evans family. Here were born their nine
children: John, Enoch, David, Thomas, William John, twin .boys Elias and Daniel, and two girls
who died in infancy. One little daughter is unnamed; the other lived long enough to be given the
name of Martha, after her mother.
Coal mining was the most important industry in Wales, although iron ore, copper, and
zinc were also mined. Probably at the age of eight or ten the Lewis boys joined their father in the
mine.
On July 15, 1840, Martha, the mother of the family, died, leaving the family to shift for
themselves. Daniel, one of the twins, also died about this time. We know little about what
happened to the family except that John Jr. was married to Anne Davis and they took William
John, who was eight, and Elias, who was six, into their home for about a year. The boys weren't
happy there and soon left to fend for themselves. They went to Aberestiv, where they found
work in an iron foundry.
The family seems to have been devout. We find their records recorded in the
Llangyfelech Parish, as was required by law. We are told, however, that they were Free
Thinkers, with the exception of the son John who was a deacon in the Methodist Church. He
often was called on to preach and took the place of the minister when asked to do so. On April
28, 1849, Enoch joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. John greatly resented
this. He was further disheartened when David and William John were baptized on July 19 of the
same year, and Elias in September. We have no record of Thomas having been baptized, but he
may have been, as we know he was planning to immigrate to America with his four brothers
when he was killed in a mine accident.
David Lewis had brown eyes and dark brown hair. He was considered to be a tall man for
his day. His manner was quiet and he had a kindly twinkle in his eye.
We don't know how he met Ann Lewis, the daughter of Edmund Lewis and Mary
Thomas. Ann lived in Fluer de Lis, Monmouthshire, England, and as far as we know was no
relation. She had become a member of the Church in 1850, so perhaps it was through the Church
that they met. She was almost nineteen and he was twenty-seven years old when they were
married on February 8, 1853. Ann was small with brown eyes and auburn hair. Her skin was
very fair, but didn't freckle.
The Elders were encouraging the new converts to go to Zion. David and Ann saved all
they could, hoping to be able to immigrate. In 1852 Ann's parents and brothers and sisters left
for America. Finally, on April 18, 1856, David and Ann, with their three children, Joshua 5,
Mary Ann 2 1/2, and baby John, boarded the ship, the "Samuel Curling," and left Liverpool,
England, for America. On board with them were Enoch and his wife Jane Ann Morgan, William
John and his new bride Jane Davis, and Elias.
After sailing for just over a month, the Lewis brothers and their families arrived in Boston on
May 23, 1856. From there they boarded a train which took them first to Chicago and then on to
Iowa City. They were delayed temporarily in Iowa City until enough handcarts could be
completed for all those crossing the plains. David and Ann's arrival in Iowa City was saddened,
however, by the death of their baby John who had been unable to stand the hard conditions of the
long journey. He died June 6, 1856, and was buried in the Iowa Camp Hill burial plot. On June
23, 1856, David and Ann and their two remaining children left Iowa City in the third handcart
company. Edward Bunker, who was just returning from a mission to Great Britain, was in
charge of the group.
The journey across the plains was not an easy one. The handcart company began their
journey by not wearing shoes so as to harden their feet and save their shoes for the more rugged
terrain ahead. Provisions grew scant until the point was reached where each family was allotted
only one pint of flour a day. Providence was with the company one day when they were able to
surround and kill a lone buffalo. The fresh meat was a welcome relief. The Edward Bunker
Company finally arrived in Salt-Lake City on October 2, 1856, a week after the first two handcart
companies had arrived.
After arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, the four brothers went their four separate ways,
each trying to get settled before winter arrived. William Lewis went to Ogden until Johnston's
Army came, at which time he moved his family permanently to Provo. Elias settled near Spanish
Fork and Enoch settled in Bountiful. David and Ann went to Willow Creek, now called
"Willard", where Ann's parents had settled. Ann was heartsick, upon arriving at Willow Creek to
find that her parents had left there to go to California. But Ann's sister Elizabeth was still living
at Willow Creek and so David and Ann settled down here for the winter. The next fall on August
19, 1857, a daughter, Martha, was born to them here at Willow Creek.
When workmen were needed for the construction of the temple, David moved his family
back to Salt Lake. There they stayed from 1859 to1864, while David helped cut stones for the
temple. Five new children joined the family during this time period: Margaret (February 15,
1859). David (September 4, 1860), Edmund (February 17, 1862), Daniel (January 8, 1863) who
died the same day, and William (December 14, 1864).
In 1864 the family decided to look for a farm where they could raise part of their food.
They settled down near Enoch Lewis in Bountiful. The soil was rich and David and Ann did
well. They soon had a neat brick home and a well-cared for garden and orchard. Soon after
moving to Bountiful, twin daughters, Emily and Amelia, were born (December 8, 1865), but they
did not live long. On November 25, 1866, a daughter, Elizabeth, the twelfth child of David and
Ann, was welcomed into their home. Little Elizabeth was only three months old, however, when
her mother Ann died (February 10, 1867). Joshua was sixteen. Mary Ann, who was thirteen,
took over the "mothering" of the five children who were under the age of ten. Enoch Lewis and
his wife Jane took little Elizabeth from this time on and raised her as their own.
Four years passed before David Lewis married a second wife, Harriet Wood, who was a young
widow with one son, Adam. The day David and Harriet were married (January 9, 1871), David
first had Ann, his first wife, sealed to him. A peculiar circumstances took place at this time.
Ann had not had her endowments and endowments for the dead were not being done at the
Endowment House, yet David was still permitted to have Ann sealed to him. It was not until
twenty-four years later that Ann's endowments were performed for her by proxy by her daughter
Mary Ann. Harriet, David's second wife, was not to be with the family long, however. On
December 22, 1873, she died and was buried in the Lewis plot in the Bountiful City Cemetery.
Now the home was without a mother again, but Mary Ann, who was now married, helped out
when she could.
David stayed active in the Church and eventually was ordained a High Priest. On April
10, 1882, he had the opportunity to return to his homeland to fulfill a mission there. After
fulfilling an honorable mission he returned to America. On the ship home David met a Mrs.
Gwynne and her two daughters. Mary Ida and Margaret. Margaret had been baptized earlier by
Elder Benjamin Allen on July 14, 1883. David continued his friendship with Mrs. Gwynne and
her daughters and by June 5, 1884, he had persuaded Margaret to become his wife. She was
twenty-three and he was fifty-eight at the time. They spent twenty-one happy years together and
were blessed with six sons: Gwynne (August 28, 1885), Enoch (September 24, 1887), Alvin
Thomas (July 10, 1889), Uris David (September 19, 1892), Frank Gwilym (Gwilym is William
in Welsh) (January 2, 1895), and Elias Gwynne (December 22, 1897). Then in his eightieth year
on February 27, 1905, David left this world to join his wives Ann and Harriet who had already
passed on before him. Margaret, David's third wife, did not die until twenty-one years later on
January 30, 1926.
