The Life History of Gomer and Jane Roberts
Hughes
Gomer Hughes was born July 28, 1846 at
Georgetown, a suburb of Merthyr Tydfill,
Glamorganshire, Wales, the son of James and Margaret Jones Hughes. He had four
brothers and sisters as follows, named in the order of their births: Maria,
Taliesin, Mary, who died in Wales when a small child, Mathew, Lewis, Daniel,
all born in Glamorganshire, Wales and Sarah Ann born at Pottsville,
Pennsylvania. Near or about 1850 the Hughes family was contacted by the Mormon
missionaries and converted to this faith. Evidently, soon after becoming
converted, they were imbued with a desire to gather to the headquarters of the
Church in America. Acting upon their desire, they with many others started on this
journey, leaving Wales, their native land, in 1855 for their destination in the
alleys of the Rocky Mountains. Gomer was nine years old.
On Tuesday April 17, 1855 the sailing ship
Chimborazo left Liverpool, England for America. Among the passengers was the
Hughes family. After a pleasant and successful voyage the Chimborazo arrived in
the mouth of the Delaware River on the 18th of May, being on the ocean
thirty-one days. On the 22nd of May the ship anchored in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. Some of the immigrants continued on to St. Louis by the way of
Pittsburg, but James Hughes and his wife, Margaret, and family went to
Pottsville, Pennsylvania where the father secured employment. At this place
Sarah Ann, the last child, was born. A short time later the family moved to
Illinois, just a few miles east of St. Louis at Caseyville, St. Clair County,
where the father secured work running an engine at a coal mine. On September 5,
1858, Margaret Jones Hughes, died and was buried on the bluffs over looking the Mississippi River near Caseyville,
Illinois.
Daniel Jones Hughes,
apparently crossed the plains before 1859. Soon after Margaret’s death William
Jones, Margaret’s brother, returned to Caseyville, Illinois to bring the family
to Utah. With the consent of James Hughes he brought the children across the
plains in a company of Saints in charge of Captain Horton D. Haight in August 1859. A record of their arrival was
printed in the Desert News on Wednesday, August 24, 1859 page 197. Taliesin
Hughes’ name was recorded; we know that all members of the family were on that
train. Maria, being the eldest of the family, acted as mother to them. The
youngest, Sarah Ann, was under three years of age. The father, James Hughes,
did not accompany the family to Utah, but remained in Illinois working and was
to follow later. Instead of coming to Utah, he returned to Wales, his native
land, where he married a widow by the name of Margaret Jenkins. So the children
never saw their father again. Shortly after the arrival of the Hughes children
in Salt Lake City, they were taken to Willard, Utah by their uncle, William
Jones, with whom they lived for a few years. Sometime in the early sixties the
family moved form Willard to Logan, Utah, which
became their home for a number of years. Gomer herded sheep for a man named
Harding when he was thirteen years old.
The Journal of National Guard records states
that Gomer Hughes was enlisted in the National Guard to protect settlers in
Cache County against the Indians. The name of Gomer Hughes, 6th Private in
Company D, First Platoon, appears. The equipment was listed as one hors, one saddle, one rifle, one
revolver, one pound of powder and four pounds of lead. The military
organization was known as the “Cache County Brigade.” The men enlisted were
issued orders to assemble for inspection and drill, the 9th, 10th, 11th, of
November 1865. The home of the Hughes family at Logan, Utah, was on the west
side of town on or near Center Street not far form
the Union Pacific Depot. In the late 60s, thinking most of the best land was
taken, he decided to make Malad Valley his permanent
home.
During the time Gomer Hughes lived at Logan,
he became acquainted with Jane Roberts. After the usual time of courtship, they
were married in the Salt Lake Endowment House March 3, 1872, he being 26 and
his bride 22 years old. After their wedding Gomer took his bride and returned
to Malad Valley to live. On the west side of this
beautiful valley, where all the Hughes brothers decided to make their homes, a
small settlement was formed which they named Samaria. The
name undoubtedly taken from the Bible. The small Malad
River flowed south emptying into Bear River near Garland, Utah. Many small
streams from the mountains and springs from the valley flowed into the river.
On both sides of the Malad River there is a strip of
land which is covered with wild meadow grass which afforded the early settlers
with an abundance of pasture for their livestock in the summer and an ample
supply of hay for the winter.
Robert remembered his father saying many times
that when he first moved to Malad Valley the grass
grew everywhere up to his waist line. The table land, or the land between the
meadow and the foothills, consisted of a deep dark loam covered with a thick
growth of sagebrush. It often grew as tall as an ordinary man and six to eight
inches in diameter at the base. It took four or six good horses to plow the
land in order to clear it from sagebrush and get it ready for planting. It took
considerable hard labor to clear an acre of this brush land and prepare it for
seeding. It was not uncommon to have the women go into the fields to help the
men with this work, Jane worked right along with Gomer pulling, burning
sagebrush and driving the team.
Gomer Hughes filled his Declaration of Intention
to become a citizen of the United States of America on November 18, 1873, and
received his certificate of naturalization November 28, 1891. The first home
Gomer provided for his bride was made of logs cut and hauled form the nearby
canyons. Each log was hewed and fitted to space and further made tight with a
plaster of clay. The climate in Malad Valley was
quite arid. The rainfall was about fourteen inches each year. In order to grow
crops successfully it was necessary to supplement the rain and snowfall with
irrigation. The next step was to get permission from the state of Idaho for a
right of water in a natural spring. Gomer Hughes was one of the men to help
with this. There was a large spring of water about fifteen miles north of
Samaria. This was the water they filed on and then built canals to bring it to
their fields. With Gomer’s help and company was formed, stock issued, and men
paid for it by building canals. This helped the new settlers as they had very
little money. After the canal was finished, no more stock was issued. Gomer
Hughes was very active in all of this work, being one of the large stockholders
in the company. For several years he was the director of the company, he was
also the secretary and the treasurer of the company. Gomer Hughes was a devoted
Latter-day Saint. He attended church regularly, paid a full tithing, always
offered the bishop his donation both in money and labor. He was always willing
to work in anyway that he could help out. He was very
retiring and never took part in the praying and preaching at church. He never
criticized a church leader, and always upheld his Bishop and other ward
leaders. He was honest in all his dealing with all mankind and good to his
neighbors. He was never at ease until all his debts were paid. One could say
his word was as good as his bond. He had a host of friends, was always welcome
and warmly greeted wherever he went. One thing Robert remembers about my father
was that he taught us never to waste food or clothing. He knew what it was to
go without many things that make life pleasant today.
Father and mother sold their farm in Samaria
to their sons David and Daniel, and moved back to Logan and bought a home. In
Logan Gomer raised a garden, milked cows, and raised
chickens. He sold vegetables, mild and eggs to his neighbors. He also made one
trip a day to the depot with his horse and buggy and hauled the mail and
packages to the post office.
He was the father of nine children, seven sons
and two daughters. All grew to adult age except one, Thomas William, who died
at the age of three. The others all married each rearing a family. The children
are as follows: David, born March 24, 1873 Daniel, born January 22, 1875, James
R. born December 27, 1876, Gomer born December 27, 1878, Margaret born March
22, 1881, Thomas William born July 17, 1886, died December 15, 1889, Catherine
born March 31, 1888, and Rowland born January 17, 1891.
Gomer Hughes died at Logan, Utah March 13,
1923 at the age of 76 and was buried at Samaria. At the close of his life he had
a posterity of six sons, two daughters, forty-one
grandchildren, and one great grandchild. This account was written by his son—Robert
R. Hughes.
Jane Roberts, daughter of David Roberts and
Catherine uch (meaning of daughter of) Thomas ap Richard, first saw the light of day in North Wales, in
the little town of Llanfrothen, Merionethsire,
January 11, 1850. Her parents were already members of the Latter-day Saints or
Mormon Church, having joined several years before her birth. North Wales is a
beautiful green country with lovely hills and dales. Jane spent the first years
of her life playing by the little river, Pandy, that ran through her father’s farm. There were lovely oak
and ash trees around the house, also a flower and vegetable garden. The birds sang
in the trees. It was a wonderful place for a little girl to play. Jane had
three older brothers and two sisters; she was the youngest of six children, so
had plenty of companionship and love.
Shortly after the Roberts family joined the
church, they began to save and make preparations to leave their dearly beloved
home in Wales and go to Zion. When Jane was six years old they had saved enough
money to take them across the ocean and on to Utah. On the morning of April 9,
1856, they left their home, putting their belongings into a wagon, bid adieu to
Festiniog, people and relatives and commenced their
journey toward the setting sun. As they reached the brow of the hill that
divided the towns of Festiniog and Tolan, they took their last long look at Merionethshire, the slate quarries, their good friends and
neighbors, knowing that they would never seen their
native land again. After shedding a few tears of sadness, they turned their
faces westward and continued their journey. They arrived in Liverpool, England
April 10, 1856, remained there until April 20th 1856 when they set sail on the
ship Samuel Curling for America. After a very rough voyage they arrived at
Boston Harbor, Massachusetts May 24th. I can imagine the happiness of Jane
being able to run on the ground again after so long a time aboard ship. The
cost of the trip from Liverpool to Boston was fifty pounds in English money for
the entire family of eight. We can see the difference in cost of then and now.
The conditions of travel were very poor then. The family furnished their own
beds, either straw ticks or feather beds; cooking utensils and cooked their own
meals. The food was measured out to them, so much for adults, small portions
for the children. The Roberts family came steerage
along with the rest of the saints. They kept their quarters very clean. The
floors or decks were scrubbed as white as snow by the passengers. The
quarantine doctor praised them very highly for their cleanliness and good
health. He also joked to them about taking so many good looking women to Utah.
The landing of seven hundred Mormons on the
wharves at Boston caused much excitement among the ministers of that city who
were on hand to advise the travelers against going to Utah where such terrible
things awaited them. Arrangements were soon make to take the saints to Iowa
City. The Roberts family were among the ones to go.
Their railroad fare was eleven dollars for all over fourteen years of age. The
amount of the railroad fare for the entire family was about eighty-four dollars.
They were allowed to take one hundred pounds of baggage each. They left Boston
May 26th for Iowa City and arrived there sometime in June and were assigned to
Captain Edward Bunker’s Company. They were the third handcart company to leave
for Utah. They arrived at Florence, Nebraska July 19th and set out on their
journey across the plains on July 30, 1856. At this time Jane was six and one
half years old. She walked most of the thirteen hundred miles in her bare feet.
They arrived in Salt Lake Valley on October 2,
1856. A few days later the Roberts family moved to Farmington about twenty
miles north of Salt Lake City, settling in a one room adobe cabin with a dirt
floor and roof. They labored hard to get the bare necessities of life. The
neighbors were kind to them. The news of Johnston’s Army came to the people of
Farmington the next spring. Jane’s father was called to help guard Echo Canyon.
That winter the family suffered untold hardships. Jane was seven years old, and
could remember about being both cold and hungry. The next summer the family
moved as far south as Glover Creek, eight miles from Nephi, Utah, stayed three
months, then returned to Farmington. The family contracted
mountain fever and Jane’s father was very ill. He died November 9, 1858,
leaving his wife and children to provide for themselves in a strange new land.
Jane, a girl of nine, had her days of joy and fun was well as sadness. She and
her sisters were so afraid of the Indians, their
mother would often hide them in the straw ticks. In 1859 Jane’s’ brother,
Thomas went to Cache Valley and settled at Logan. In the spring of 1860 the
entire family were living in Logan. Here Jane grew to
womanhood learning to sew, weave, knit and keep a home. Everyone worked hard to
improve their surroundings. Jane had little time for school. Through the
experiences of life she gained her education.
One day while Jane and her mother were busy
two men and a lady called to see them. They gave Jane a picture of a lady and a
horse. Mother Roberts said it was her husband’s father and mother visiting them
in spirit to see if they were all right. This experience impressed Jane very
much; she never forgot the event. In time, Jane Roberts met Gomer Hughes, a
fellow Welshman. They soon became attached to each other, and their friendship
blossomed into love. Gomer tells of his proposal to Jane. He needed to get a
log chain welded at the blacksmith shop so he gathered up the chain and called
for Jane to take a walk with him. On the way he proposed to her. It was at
Logan on Third West Streed between Second and Third
North. He got the chain welded and made the proposal. He and
Jane, in company with Antone Anderson and his
sweetheart, traveled by ox team to Salt Lake City, Utah. Both couples
were married March 11, 1872 in the Endowment House. The honeymoon trip took one
week. Soon after this marriage they moved to Samaria, Idaho, located in Malad Valley.
Their first home was a two room log house.
Later they built a larger home of which they were very proud. It had two rooms
with a mantel dowstairs and two bedrooms upstairs. It
was in this house that Robert their fifth son, was born. Mother Hughes said
that the plaster was very damp. The family worried about her and the baby. This
house was finished in January 1883.
Jane was the mother of nine children. Seven
sons and two daughters comprised the family. The children were: David, Daniel,
James, Gomer Jr., Robert, Thomas (who died when a child), Margaret, Catherine,
and Roland. Jane worked very hard for her family, weaving, spinning, knitting,
and sewing. She was a real pioneer, knowing all of the hardships of that time.She traveled by ox team, horses and wagon, then by
buggy. Finally she and Gomer enjoyed traveling from Logan to Samaria in their
own car. Jane helped to build their home and taught her children correct
principles. She helped her husband clear the sagebrush from the land. They
moved from Samaria to Logan so she could labor in the temple.
Jane Roberts Hughes lived to see all her children
grow up and build homes of their own, except Thomas, who died at the age of
four. She always talked of him as a lovely little boy who died too soon. Jane
passed away on Maay 27, 1925 at Logan, Utah. She was
laid to rest in the Samaria Cemetery at the side of her husband, Gomer who
preceded her in death by two months and two weeks. She was seventy-three years
old at the time of her death. She was survived by eight children and forty-one
grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
A tribute to Mother Hughes as I knew her: She
was small of stature, with large brown eyes, lovely white hair, and a kind and
gentle nature. She was very firm in her ideas, stood for what she thought was
right. No one could turn her form the path of her religious convictions. She had
a wonderful love in her heart for the Welsh people, and was a friend to all.
Her firmness with her children was a trait we loved most dearly. May we love
and honor our little pioneer mother always as a family may we meet her some
future day.
