Historical Summary
John A.
Lewis was of Welsh descent, born and raised in Cardiff,
Wales.
His ancestors were farmers, mechanics, merchants, and master builders. He
married Ann John. They had two daughters (Ann and Mary) and two sons (Fredrick
and William).
John was very prosperous in his business affairs. In addition to
being a Methodist Minister, he was a master builder. John and his brother,
Edmund, were the master builders for the Cardiff
docks. These docks were built starting in the late 1830's to provide port
facilities for shipping coal from Wales. By 1850, John owned 12 homes and was living
very comfortably off of the rents and his merchant activities.
Ann John suffered from
"consumption" and died at age 33 when Margaret was 13 years old.
Her death was a great loss to the close Lewis family. A few years
later (1851) John married Priscilla Merriman, a widow with a daughter named
Louise. The Lewis children got along very well with their step mother.
The Mormon
missionaries first came to Wales
in 1840. After Dan Jones started his mission in 1845, there was a large
increase in baptisms. Dan Jones's style of missionary work was
very different. He wrote and published missionary tracks in
Welsh. He used newspaper articles to advertise that he would be coming to a
specific town on a specific date to convert the town. This ensured that he
always had a large turnout to hear his message. Opposing churches published
scathing and outlandish stories against the Mormons. Dan Jones, who could no
longer get the local papers or printers to publish his response to these
attacks, was
able to get his brother, John, a Congregationalist minister in Wales to
publish his articles.
There was much persecution of the Church and Dan Jones was often at target of
death
threats.
John Lewis listened to Dan Jones and read his publications. After
two years of study he joined the Church. The Lewis's knew many of the
missionaries (Dan Jones, Elder Henshaw, George
Taylor, and Daniel Spencer) and at times would house them.
The Saints were encouraged to immigrate to Utah and this is what the Lewis's did in
1854. They sold their store, all their homes, and other possessions. John Lewis
used his wealth to pay for 25 other families to emigrate. Few of these families
ever paid him back. They left Liverpool on February 4, 1854 on the ship Golconda. Unlike most
other Mormon emigrants, they traveled in first class all the way to Utah.
The Golconda arrived in New
Orleans on March 18, 1854. They then took a paddle
wheel up
the Mississippi River to St. Louis.
They joined the Darwin Richardson Company which was
gathering at McFee's camp ground just outside of St. Louis (near Westport,
Missouri). John
Lewis bought most of the camp outfit gear and provisions for the families he
was helping
emigrate as part of a ten pound company. Ann Lewis gave this description of
outfitting her
family:
"We had in our outfit to travel across the plains 2 wagons,
12 head of oxen, 1 yoke of cows and a beautiful riding mare, saddle, etc. We
had two teamsters. We had all kinds of provisions: bacon, hams, flour,
crackers, and everything to eat one would wish. We even had a churn and used to
put the milk from the cows in the church in the morning in the wagon and by
night we would have butter. We were clothed comfortable and had plenty of good
bedding."
While the Lewis's were traveling in comparative luxury across the
plains, the journey was still vastly different from their circumstances in Wales. Ann
recalled:
"The Indians were our dread as there
were so many of them and they were all on the
warpath and we had to be so careful for fear they
would kill us. One day we came
upon a large number in Ash Hollow, of Sioux
Indians, we were very frightened of
them. They
were on their way to war with another tribe. My father gave them a large barrel
of crackers and all the company gave them something and we got past them in peace.
I had never seen an Indian before. I was frightened of the Indians and of the panthers
roar at night. The loneliness of the plains nearly drive
me wild. Mother and
the children were like me and we were wishing
every day we would reach our
destination that night. There were a great many deaths
in our company. We just had
to sew the corpse in a sheet or blanket, dig
a deep hole and bury them and go on."
Priscilla Merrimen Lewis gave birth to John Samuel on July 13th near
Ash Hollow, Nebraska.
While Ann may have grown up in a life of luxury, she would become a true
pioneer
experiencing hardship and few luxuries for most of her
life. Later in life in Heber, at the
Clegg store, the Indians would only trade
with her.
Upon arriving in Salt Lake,
Ann describes their circumstances:
"Father now bought a home in the 19th Ward. Just one room and a small lean-to kitchen. We soon got
located in our new home and began our first experiences in pioneer life. While
we were in Cardiff
we were desirous of obtaining a home so when we got here we would have some
place to stay. Father spoke of this to Elder Dan Jones who was laboring there
as a missionary and he proposed to sell one to father. He represented to us a
good farm in Utah
that he would sell for $2,900. Father, thinking he could trust him, bought this
farm and paid him money down for it before we left Cardiff. When we arrived in Utah and located this property it was
nothing but sagebrush with no house on it all as he had said. He told us it was
a beautiful farm with a nice dwelling house on it. Father had been deceived
beyond measure, both in this project and in bringing emigrants to this country.
When we came in the valley and told Brigham Young, he held a council and had
Dan Jones up before it and he promised to pay the money back, but he never did.
All he gave father was a pair of mules and a buggy. Thus father had gone
through a fortune but had never lost faith or turned from the gospel. Daniel
Jones on his deathbed years lather send for father and begged for father to
forgive, which he did, and he died in peace. When father got in the valley he
had to start out with 12 heads of oxen, _ cows, 2 wagons and a tent and a nice
mare, some provisions and some money and all of us well."
Ann Lewis
would meet Henry Clegg, Jr. a year later in the Public Square when he arrived in Salt Lake.
They were married a little over two months later.
John Lewis
moved to Toole for a short while, then Brigham
City (where he planted the first orchard in 1856),
then Spanish Fork. He went back to serve a mission in Wales in 1872-1874.
His son Fredrick also served a mission to Wales in 1883-1885.
John A. Lewis gave up his riches to live his religious
convictions. Even when he was taken advantage of by many individuals, he was
able to differentiate between the failings of men and the teachings of Christ.
