History of Thomas Reese and Margaret Jones Reese
Thomas Reese, a coal miner married Margaret Jones of Aberdare, Glamorganshire, South Wales.
There were three small children when Thomas, the father was trapped in a
coal mine and an explosion or such killed him.
The L.D.S. missionaries were
frequent callers at their home and in 1845, Margaret
Jones Reese was converted and baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints. We are not sure that her husband joined the Church before
he died. This little family wanted to
come to Zion, but were
unable to do so, until 1856, when they emigrated with a Welsh company to Utah. At this time George was 15, Ann 13, and Lotwick 11.
They crossed the Atlantic Ocean
in a sail boat. It took them six weeks
to make the voyage. They landed in Boston, then came by train to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Here they joined Captain Edward Bunker's
handcart company. Margaret Reese and her
three children walked and pulled a handcart carrying supplies and all their
possessions the entire trip from the Missouri River to Salt Lake City, Utah. They had very little food and clothing and
this caused them many hardships and suffering.
After a long journey, they arrived October 2, 1856 in Salt Lake City, Utah,
where they stayed for the winter. Early
in the Spring of 1857, they moved to Willard, Utah, and when Lotwick was 19 years old, in the Spring of 1864, he was
called by President Brigham Young to go into Bear Lake County, Idaho and help
to settle and organize and to build up all of Bear Lake County. Lotwick and his mother
went and together they endured and suffered many hardships, food and clothing
and all necessities were very scarce, but they worked and saved and did much
good each day. The aim of Margaret Reese
and her sons was to help and do good to others. George Reese and sister
Ann a few years later, moved to Bloomington
and lived with Lotwick and their mother in a two room
log cabin until George built a home on the hill one mile south of town and Ann
married Thomas Ward.
Margaret Jones Reese died in 1892. She was such a good, outstanding, faithful
saint. She lived from September 27th,
1809 until January 9, 1892.
