William
Spencer Roderick, the son of David Roderick and Hannah Spencer, was born July
20, 1853, in Pendoylan, Wales. Before William was born his
father and mother had both been baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
As a young man William worked with his father and brother, John, in the mines.
In 1869, the opportunity
came for William's parents to immigrate to Utah. On June 2, 1869, William with his
parents, David and
Hannah, his brother, John, and sister, Davinah Elizabeth,
boarded the Minnesota in Liverpool,
England. Hannah
had packed a basket of food for the family to eat on the ship. Once the
family's food
ran out, they had to eat the sea biscuits that were available on the ship. They
landed in New York, and
then traveled to Omaha, Nebraska,
where they took the train into Ogden.
They lived
in Brigham City, then Pole Patch, which is now
Pleasant View, Utah.
In 1873, they moved to Samaria,
Idaho. William was twenty. Ann Maria Price, the daughter of John Evans Price
and Ruth Williams was born June 14, 1859, in Merthyr
Tydfil, Wales.
The Price family had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before
Ann Maria was born. When Ann Maria was six, the family left for Utah. They left Liverpool, England,
in May of 1865 on the Bridge Water. They arrived in New York. It took them another year to get
to Utah. John
had to stop along the way and earn money to continue the journey. In 1866, they
traveled with Captain Haliday's Company across the plains.
Seven year old Ann Maria walked most of the time barefooted, causing her feet
to crack and bleed.
In 1867,
the family moved to Malad, Idaho.
The next year they settled in Samaria,
Idaho. Their first home was a
dugout. There were encounters with the Indians and other pioneering adventures.
Ann's mother was an invalid and so much of the care of the home and family fell
to Ann. She did not have the opportunity to attend school with her brothers.
She would get lesson material from the teacher and work on it at home.
When Ann
was fourteen her mother died (1873). Ann's father brought another one of his
wives to Malad to live and care for the family. Ann
felt she could not accept this. She left home and worked from place to place.
It wasn't long until she met a handsome young Welshman named William Roderick. They
were married December 2, 1873.
William
and Ann were blessed with sixteen children, eleven grew to adulthood. In 1898,
they took their eleven living children to the Logan Temple
to be sealed to them. The trip was made in a covered wagon. Ann made each of
the children clothes to wear in the temple.
William
was a handsome man with dark twinkling eyes. He stood about five feet two
inches and had a wonderful sense of humor. He was a hard worker. He cut logs in
the canyon and built a house in Samaria
for them to live in. He also had a herd of sheep which he and the boys spent
time in the hills tending. He had an irrigated farm and at times another dry
farm. They had a garden and fruit trees and preserved much of their food for
winter.
With such
a large family, there was plenty of work to do. All of the children were taught
to work. The boys worked with William on the farm. The girls all learned to
cook, wash the clothes and care for the house. Both the boys and girls learned
to do the milking and feeding the pigs and chickens. Work was well planned out
so there were certain chores to do on certain days. Each child had specific
chores to do. The family worked hard together.
William
loved horses and adventure and had the most spirited horses he could find. He
always kept them very well groomed. He always had the best looking bridles and
harnesses he could find. He had a surrey with fringe all around the top of it. The
whole family would go to church in the white top buggy. Ann would always prepare
the Sunday dinner on Saturday. When any of the family would get sick, William
would administer to them. They instilled the principles of the gospel in everyone of their children and taught them to be honest in
all their dealings.
Ann made
all the children's clothes. She knitted all the children's stockings and
gloves. She could knit very fast and seemed to make the needles fly. She would knit scarves and wrist
bands. She also crocheted beautiful doilies. She didn't have a washing machine,
and so she washed on a washboard in a tub. The children's clothes would have to
be washed out at night so they would have clean clothes to wear the next day.
She washed this way until the younger children came along, and she got a wooden
washer which had to be turned by hand.
In the
evenings the family would gather together and sing, recite poetry or tell
stories. Ann would read to them. In the winter, they would gather around the
stove and read. William loved to read and in his later years often read a book
a day.
William bought a Ford car when they were first manufactured. It had button down
curtains and plastic windows sewed in the curtains. He was very proud of his
car.
Ann was a
loving and devoted wife, a wonderful mother,
who worked hard, and it was often said by her neighbors that no one
worked harder than she did. She had a sunny disposition. She enjoyed people, everyone was welcome in her home,
and no one went away hungry. She was a good cook and made the most of
everything. She was very tenderhearted, and no woman ever sorrowed more over
her children's troubles than she or was more happy
over their successes. She loved her grandchildren and often sang Welsh songs to
them.
Ann Maria died November 21, 1924. She was buried
in Samaria.
William
went to live with his children. His grandchildren all loved him. He was a very
kind and understanding man. He would bounce his grandchildren on his knee and
sing songs to them. He always had peppermint candy in his pocket and was always
treating the children. When the grandchildren were ready to go home, he always
gave them five or ten cents. Both his children and grandchildren loved him
dearly. He died March 24, 1942, and was buried at Samaria, Idaho,
March 26, 1942.
Much of the
information was taken from
histories written by:
William and Ann's
daughters, Esther and Ann.
Submitted by: Marianne Crump
