Thomas, Rees Powell - Biography

 

THE LIFE HISTORY OF

REES POWELL THOMAS 

BY

DAVID EPHRAIM THOMAS

AND

JEFFREY REES THOMAS

January 1, 2008 

Introduction

For much of my life, I have known very little about the man who is the progenitor of the American Thomas family to which I belong.  It was during college years when I met a professor at Brigham Young University who introduced me to Rees Powell Thomas and the other Welsh Mormons who immigrated to the United States.  Since that time, I have studied and tried to find out who this man was and what his life may have been like.  I have often wondered what might have motivated him and others to leave their native country, friends, family and society to come to a country so different than their own. 

I have made every effort to ensure that the history is enlightening, informative and accurate. I have included endnotes should the reader wish to read my sources and gain more detailed information.  I have included some details on historical events to help the reader understand the influences and background which shaped the life of Rees Powell Thomas.    

Historical Note-Brief History of Wales

To understand the Welsh people, we should first take a brief look at the origin of Welsh culture and peoples.  I have taken this account from several sources.  I should mention that there are a number of different theories as to the origin of the Welsh people, all of which doubtless have some validity. 

During the last ice age, the island of Great Britain was covered by glaciers, and was connected to Europe by a land bridge.  As the ice melted about ten thousand years ago, Great Britain became an island inhabited by pre-historic peoples who hunted the large mammals found there.  As the climate changed, the large mammals died off and the inhabitants of the island became more agrarian.  At some point in time, perhaps two-thousand years before Christ, the islands were colonized by a people coming from the Breton Coast of France.  Their language, Breton or Celtic, is typically classified as Indo-European or Indo-Hittite.  It is thought that the Bretons migrated thousands of years earlier from the areas now known as India and Pakistan.  They moved westward through Persia into Asia Minor and from there to Southern Europe.  The Greeks encountered this people, who were excellent warriors and made fine weapons.  The Greek name for them was Keltoi.  They were a war-like people skilled at making implements of war and in working many metals into tools of all kinds.  It is thought by some that the Celtic tribes mixed with or absorbed Aryan tribes as they moved through Europe.

Whether the Celts or Bretons invaded the British Isles or simply assimilated with the inhabitants there is not known.  By the time of the Roman occupation fifty years before Christ, the Bretons occupied every corner of the British Isles.  When the Romans arrived, they found a fierce, clannish people.  The Breton warriors were fond of stripping their clothes off, painting their bodies with red dust, and then attacking the Roman soldiers in a frontal assault. 

The Romans found that there were two dominant tribes in Wales, the Silurian and Ordovician.  These two tribes eventually came to be known as the Welsh people.  Although the Welsh may claim that the Romans were never able to defeat them, the Romans did subdue and somewhat civilize the Welsh.  More importantly, they and their soldiers from many countries intermingled with the Welsh and contributed much to Welsh language and culture.  Also important to Wales was the introduction of Christianity, which came as early as the fourth century AD to some Roman-controlled communities.  By the time the Romans withdrew from Wales in the fifth century AD, the British Isles were considered desirable targets by both raiders and colonizers.  Over the next five hundred years, the Islands were repeatedly attacked by Danes, Jutes, Saxons, Vikings and Normans.  For stability and protection, the Welsh formed into some seven or eight Kingdoms.  Perhaps the most powerful Kingdoms were Gwynedd in the North, Powys in the middle section and Dyfed in the South.  Much has been written about powerful kings like Llewelyn ap Gruffydd and Rhodri Mawr.  Probably the last great leader among the Welsh was the Powys Prince Owain Glyn Dwr, who fought against English King Henry IV. 

By the sixth century AD, the Saxons had occupied most of the Eastern half of the British Isles.  There developed considerable tension between the Saxons and the Welsh.  The Saxons sought constantly to enlarge their area of control.   The Welsh conducted frequent raids on Saxon settlements.  One of the Saxon Kings, Offa, decided to build a great wall to define the border between Saxon England and Wales.  The so called “Offa’s Dyke” was completed late in the Eight century AD, and can still be seen today in some areas.  The Norman Lords in later years preferred to build castles in Wales to provide protection and defense. 

By the late fourteenth century AD, the Welsh were largely contained and controlled by the Norman Kings.  They became participants in the many battles fought by the English and French over control of Britain.  Most famously, the Welsh were instrumental in defeating the French at Agincourt in 1415.  The Welsh used a weapon called the longbow.  The weapon of choice for the French was the more accurate crossbow.  Using very heavy arrows with iron tips, Welsh bowmen launched their arrows over the English army into the French ranks.  The French were still too far away from the English to use the crossbow.  The heavy arrows from the Welsh bowmen descended at such an angle that they were able to penetrate the chain mail worn by the French infantry on the neck and shoulders.  The French army was decimated before they had even started their attack.  This battle showed the benefit of using long-range artillery, and the principle is still valid in modern warfare. 

Later in the fifteenth century, the Welsh had reason to celebrate.  Following the War of the Roses, the Tudor family claimed the English throne.  The Tudors were of Welsh descent, and claimed lineage from Kings of Gwynedd and Deheubarth.  The Tudor Kings, however, proved a disappointment to the Welsh.  They were no more sympathetic to Welsh culture and causes than any of the Norman or Saxon Kings. 

To this day, the King of England claims lineage through the Welsh Kings.  The King is also the known as the Prince of Wales.  Among British and French subjects who speak Celtic languages today are included the Irish, Scottish, Manx, Cornish, Welsh and Bretons.^[1] 

Thomas Family Early Life

Sometime before the early 1820’s, Thomas Thomas moved from Glamorganshire to Carmarthenshire,^[2] a distance of about 80 miles.^[3]  It is not known why he chose to move from Glamorganshire.  Thomas Thomas was a native of the Llantrisant parish of Glamorganshire, and was born about 1795.   Sarah Powell was from the Llanllawddog parish of Carmarthenshire, and was born about 1794.^[4]  I have not been able to find a christening record for either Thomas or Sarah.  They were probably married in Carmarthenshire between 1810 and 1815, although no marriage record can be found at present. 

It is not likely that Thomas was the family’s surname for the generation prior to Thomas Thomas.  The Welsh practice of patronymics meant that a child was called by his own given name and the given name of his father.  For example, if a man named David Evans had a son named Owen, the child would have been known as Owen ap David, or some variation of David; i.e.  Dafydd, Dai, Dewey, Davis, or Davies.  When this name was transcribed into official English records, it most probably would have been recorded as Owen Davis or perhaps Owen David Evans.  In some English records, however, the name could be transcribed simply as Owen Evans.  The word “ap” or “ab” means “son of”, and similar designations were given for female children.  They may have had “ferch” or “verch” in their names, meaning “daughter of”.  Parliament wished to end the practice of patronymics in the late Eighteenth century; however, many Welsh people continued the practice for some time after 1800.  Therefore, Thomas Thomas’s father may well have been given Thomas as his given name, and have gone by his own father’s given name as a surname during life.  Needless to say, this greatly complicates efforts to extend the family pedigree beyond the mid to late 1700’s.  The practice is further complicated by the Welsh preference for only a few common Christian names.  Indeed, Welsh genealogical research can be like searching for the proverbial needle in the haystack.

Thomas and Sarah’s family consisted of six or seven known children.   They were: Rees, born about 1815, Thomas, born about 1822/23, Hester or Esther born about 1822/23 (there may have been an earlier Esther that died, born in May 1821)^[5], Margaret born about 1826/1827, David born about 1832 and a daughter whose name is not known who is later found as the wife of a Mr. Coldwell. ^[6][7]  There may possibly have been a child, Mary, who is listed with a family consistent with the Thomas and Sarah Thomas family on the 1841 British census.  She would have been about two years older than Rees,^[8] and she could also be the wife of Mr. Coldwell.^[9]

To be Welsh in the British Commonwealth in the early nineteenth century was difficult.  The Welsh were generally considered by the English to be an inferior sub-group of the overall population.  Among the Welsh, there was a strong cultural identity which included a healthy dislike of English language and culture.  Over the preceding three hundred years, Parliament had made many attempts to unify the disparate British people.  Generally, this was done by attempting to eradicate non-English language and culture.  For Ireland, Scotland and Wales, this meant destroying unique cultures and customs.  The so-called Acts of Union passed in the sixteenth century had made it illegal for a non-English speaker to hold office.  English became the only language of schools and in courts of law.  Welsh could claim the same rights as English citizens only by leaving behind their language and culture.  Although unstated, many Welsh felt that the intent of the laws was to completely do away with Welsh language and culture. Even though the powerful Tudor Kings claimed descent from the royal Welsh family, the Welsh of that period became unwelcome foreigners within their own native country.^[10]

Today in Wales approximately 15-20% of Welsh still prefer the Welsh language.  A strong pride in culture and tradition remains.  Welsh people speak fondly of the Hen Wlad (Old Country).  There is a Welsh obsession with poetry and music typified by local and national competitions called Eisteddfodau.  Rugby matches, especially those played against English teams, gain national attention.  There was and is lingering resentment of the Welsh towards the English for perceived mistreatment and oppression.  It is said that to properly pronounce the Welsh word Saeson, which translated means “English”, one should first scowl or grimace.  All of Thomas and Sarah’s children would have spoken Welsh as their first language and they would have had a strong sense of Welsh heritage and culture.

Rees (Rhys) Thomas was born on the sixth or seventh of February, sometime during the years of 1813-1819.  There is somewhat of a consensus among family members and researchers that his birth year is 1815, however on the various documents filled out throughout his life, he lists his birth year as any year between 1813 and 1819.^[11]  No sure record can be found of his christening.  Although his given name was Rees Thomas, later in life he would call himself Reese Powell Thomas, probably out of respect to his mother’s family. 

On a baptismal record in Salt Lake City, Rees listed his birthplace as “Escerhir, Llanfihangel Rhosycorn,

S. Wales”.^[12]  Thomas and Sarah Thomas may have been living at a farm called Escerhir with relatives as a young married couple.  Escerhir is also spelled Esgerhir, and it is a contraction of the Welsh words esgair (escarpment or ridge) and hir (long).  Thus, the name of the farm was probably derived from it’s location near a long ridge.  That part of Wales is hilly with areas of forested ridges interspersed between farm tracts.  A quick survey of modern farms in the area by a Welsh scholar found several with “Esgair” as a part of their names, but none presently named Esgerhir. He commented that many of the older marginal farms had been destroyed when the area was re-forested by the Government in the early twentieth century.^[13] 

As an interesting side note, there were entries in the Brechfa Branch records of at least one family baptized who listed as their home Esgerhir.  They were also named Thomas, and it is tempting to assume that they were kin, perhaps cousins or relatives of Rees.  The truth is, however, that the Thomas surname is so common in the area that proof of any relationship would be very difficult to obtain.  Another similar farm name for some of the Brechfa converts was Esgerydd. 

During the period of time between 1770 and 1851 Wales was in a period of rapid change.  The population of Wales, which had been stable for centuries, had increased from 500,000 in 1770 to 1,163,000 in 1851.  The great majority of Welsh people in 1770 depended on agricultural work for their maintenance.  By 1851, only one-third of the population was agrarian.^[14]  Poor economic conditions forced Welsh boys to work early at low-paying, dangerous jobs.  Many found work at the coal mines and iron works dotting South Wales.   The iron and metal works supplied the raw materials for the industrial revolution.  Those who worked in the infamous coal mines were exposed to crumbling mine shafts, explosions and deadly gasses.  Mine accidents claimed the lives of hundreds of Welsh miners during some years.^[15]  Thomas Thomas was remembered as a coal miner by his grandchild Arthur,^[16] although it is not likely that he worked as a miner in Carmarthen since much of the coal there was considered too low grade for iron smelting. 

The increasing population of Wales during the early nineteenth century was brought about mostly by two great events.  First, the Napoleonic Wars in the first fifteen years of the nineteenth century provided an unusually good market for agricultural goods.  The prices of farm products rose enough to make the farming of marginal, previously uninhabited lands possible.  This boom provided the Welsh farmers with levels of income they had never experienced before.  The second major factor was the introduction from the Americas of the potato.  The potato was cheap, easy to grow and nutritious.^[17] 

The end of Napoleon’s campaign at Waterloo brought the prices of farm products crashing back to pre-war levels.  Suddenly, families who had survived on marginal lands could no longer make ends meet.  There was a surplus of laborers and a lack of productive farm land.  Economic stresses led to the New Poor Law, immensely unpopular among farmers.  Overtaxed farmers in the Teivy (also spelled Teifi) Valley protested the new law in the so-called Rebecca Riots in the early 1840’s.  Unable to profit from farming, many Welsh farmers were not able to feed their families in the 1840’s, a situation which improved only after the start of the Crimean War in 1854 and later with the American civil War.^[18]

Economic stresses coupled with the introduction of British railways into Wales led to a great Welsh migration.  Perhaps as many as 100,000 Welsh people emigrated in the nineteenth century.^[19]  Many Welsh traveled to other places in the British Dominion, and many emigrated to America and Canada.  The Welsh were especially numerous in Pennsylvania, where they contributed much to higher education and government.  Sixteen of the signers of the Declaration of Independence had Welsh ancestry,^[20]and one signatory, Francis Lewis, was born in Wales.^[21]

During the 1820’s the Thomas family moved to the Llanfihangel-ar-arth parish in Carmarthenshire.^[22]   The name of the parish derives from Saint Michael, the Archangel, who is a popular Christian Saint of the area.  The main town is located on the banks of the River Teivy, and would have had less than 2000 people living there in the 1840’s.^[23]  It was the site of an ancient battle fought between competing Welsh forces in 1039.  There would have been several Churches at that time, most likely including the Church of Wales, Baptist, Calvinist Methodists and Independents.^[24] 

While Rees was in his twenties, the Thomas family moved to a parish eight miles east of Llanfihangel-ar-arth called Llanfihangel Rhos-y-Corn.  His father Thomas had been hired to manage a 27 acre farm called Ty-r-cae (also spelled Ty`r-cae or Tyrca), which translates to “house in the field”.^[25]  Both parishes were in the older County of Dyfed, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Saint David. 

The parish of Llanfihangel Rhos-y-Corn, located near the village of Gwernogle, derives also from the name of Saint Michael the archangel.  Saint Michael, called Mihangel Mawr (Angel Michael the Great) in Welsh poetry, was thought to be a supernatural warrior with powers to defeat any evil.  The chapel was probably built on the site of a pre-Christian cemetery that had been dedicated to Saint Michael when the Welsh were converted to Christianity.  Rhos translated means red or rose, Corn means horn or pipe.  Perhaps the meaning is a military reference to St. Michael of the red or rose-colored horn.  Originally Catholic, the Church was the meeting place for the Conformists, or members of the Church of Wales.  The parish had suffered a host of problems in the fifty or so years preceding the 1840’s.  The Church was originally built in the 1300’s.  Legend has it that the man hired to build the chapel tried to build it on another site near Penygarreg.  He would set stone throughout the day, only to return after his night’s sleep to find the stones dismantled.  In frustration, he threw his hammer as far as he could, and swore that he would build on a new site wherever the hammer came to rest.  This is how the present site, near Gwernogle, came to have the Church. 

 

During the early 1700’s, the Church suffered from a vicar named James Thomas.  Said to be a drunkard, he allowed the Church to fall into a desperate state of disrepair.  At one low point, he is said to have physically removed another Vicar from the Church during Easter services who been sent to replace him.  After Thomas died, there was a general improvement in the quality of Curate.  In 1829, however, there was the shocking murder of a poor servant girl by a local wealthy man.  He was convicted of the murder and hanged for the crime.  His body was to have been buried in unconsecrated soil, but was stolen and transported at night back to Rhos-y-Corn to be buried in hallowed ground.^[26] 

By 1841, the parish was in poor condition, both physically and spiritually.  A man had been hired to repair the Church, but disagreements had slowed the work.  The partially torn-down Church building was barely fit for attendance.  Most of the residents of the area preferred non-conformist preachers. Over 75% of the Welsh population in 1851 was non-conformist.  Most non-conformists were Baptist, Calvinists, Methodists or Independents.  In fact, during the 1851 Religious census in Rhos-y-Corn, it was said that attendance to the Anglican service was 20 persons.  At the same time, there were 180 worshippers at the Independent Annibynnwr Church, 30 Mormons meeting at Tymawr, and 29 Unitarians.^[27]  There were about 700 inhabitants of the Parish.^[28]  The presence of a nascent Mormon congregation is not surprising, since missionaries had been in the area for over five years.  Many Welsh preferred non-conformist or independent worship over the Anglican Church.  The common perception was that the Anglican Church had not kept pace with the changing needs of the population.  Many felt that the Protestant and Mormon preachers with their messages of salvation by Grace and personal responsibility better met their needs in the depressed society in which they lived.   

Into the turbulent religious times was introduced a Welsh Mormon missionary by the name of Dan Jones.  Dan Jones was a Welsh-born American steamboat Captain on the Mississippi River.  He had come to America some two or three years before 1840.^[29]  According to his own conversion account, Jones had come across part of a letter written by Emma Smith to the wife of someone imprisoned at Liberty Jail in Missouri.  He was very impressed by the letter, and felt that the letter embodied the New Testament “apostolic faith”, and the author possessed an “evangelical and pious spirit…”^[30]  He realized that this image did not match that of Joseph Smith as projected by newspaper accounts, which were most often critical of the Mormon prophet and his family.  Wishing to resolve his doubts and learn more of the Smiths, he sought out a Mormon missionary.  After studying for a few evenings, he accepted the tenants of the Mormon faith.  Although he recognized that by joining the Mormon Church, he would become subject to ridicule and persecution, Jones was baptized a member of the Church in 1843.^[31] 

A few months after his baptism, he contracted to bring Mormon English converts to Nauvoo, Illinois on his steamboat, The Maid of Iowa.  It was in Nauvoo that Jones met Joseph Smith for the first time.  He was completely charmed by the charismatic Smith, and remained a loyal friend of the Mormon Prophet for the rest of Smith’s life.  Sometime after Dan Jones arrived in Nauvoo, Joseph Smith contracted to buy a one-half ownership in The Maid of Iowa.  The two men agreed that Joseph would eventually buy out the remaining shares of the ship.  Jones was to use the proceeds of the sale to finance a mission back to Wales.  The purchase was never accomplished.  The ship suffered a number of management and mechanical problems which reduced profits.  Joseph Smith was not to live long enough to complete his end of the contract.^[32]  The ship was used mostly to haul passengers on the Mississippi, but also hauled materiel for the building of the Nauvoo Temple. 

In June of 1844, Joseph Smith was arrested and taken to the Carthage (Illinois) jail.  Smith would be killed at the jail by an anti-Mormon mob while awaiting arraignment on charges of inciting a riot.  Among those few faithful friends accompanying Smith to the jail was Dan Jones.  According to a report written by Jones, he had a dialogue with Joseph Smith on the evening before Smith was to be killed at Carthage jail.^[33]  Joseph Smith asked Jones if he was afraid to die.  Jones responded that death did not seem “to have many terrors...engaged in such a cause…”  In what is the last known prophecy attributed to Joseph Smith, he told Dan Jones “You will yet see Wales, and fulfill the mission appointed you before you die.”^[34]  Early the next morning, Jones was dispatched from the jail with a letter to a Quincy, Illinois attorney, Orville Browning, requesting legal assistance.  Upon encountering the mob outside the jail, Jones was ordered to hand over the letter he had been entrusted with.  The mob assumed that the letter was a call from Joseph Smith to bring the Nauvoo Legion, a Mormon militia, to Carthage.  When Jones refused, he was fired upon as he fled the scene on horseback.  A few hours later, he escaped two groups of men who were searching for him by taking a route to Nauvoo lying between the two groups of men.  Finally, while on a steamboat bound for Quincy, after speaking out to some of the passengers on the boat, he was threatened by a mob on the banks of the River.  As he hid under a mattress on the boat, he could hear those in the mob shouting that they would hang him on an improvised gallows near the River.  This time, the Captain of the boat was able to convince the howling mob that Jones had been put ashore below the town.  In less than forty-eight hours following the martyrdom, Dan Jones had escaped attempts on his life three times.^{[35] [36]}

Within a few months, Dan Jones was to fulfill the prophecy of Joseph Smith.  He traveled to Wales early in 1845 to begin his ministry.  When he arrived in Wales, there were about 250 members of the Mormon faith.  Jones was to spend four years on his first mission to Wales.  When he returned to America in 1849, there were some 4000 Mormon Welsh converts.  It has been estimated that one out of every two-hundred and seventy-eight Welsh citizens joined the Mormon faith during this period. ^[37]  A large part of his success in Wales can be attributed to his fearless preaching style and an exceptional ability for organization.  His greatest contribution, however, was most certainly the written word.  Often he would respond within days to attacks on the Church with pamphlets and articles.  There was at least one incident in which the simple reading of a Dan Jones tract convinced the reader to request baptism.  This was the story of William Howells, a Baptist minister of Aberdare, who received the tract from a member of his parish.  After baptism, Howells became a loyal friend and defender of Dan Jones, an active member of the Faith, and the first Mormon missionary called to France.  He later immigrated to Iowa, where he died before moving west.^[38]

There was great unity among the Welsh non-conformist preachers against the Mormons.  One of the bigger issues that they held against the Mormons was the claim that miracles accompanied the conversion of the true believers.  To the Protestants, this claim was blasphemous.  On one occasion, a blind man was recruited by the ministers of Carmarthen to help prove the “fraud” of Mormonism.  The man was to profess a belief in the Faith, then request baptism with the proviso that he be healed of his blindness at the time of his baptism.  Dan Jones and Thomas Jeremy discovered the plot, and scheduled a baptism to which the public was invited.  Many local ministers came to witness the farce only to be greeted with a two-hour sermon on the evils of seeking a sign, along with other Mormon tenets.  Finally, the man was baptized and confirmed, after which he shouted for joy, claiming that while the hands were on his head, he was able to see the candle on a table not far distant.^[39] 

The missionaries often found that meeting places were closed to them.  They began to meet in open air congregations, finding that more people attended the outdoor services.  In August of 1847, Jones wrote “These regions are like a boiling pot; the Priests mad with rage and their flocks leaving them and embracing the gospel continually.”  Jones later declared that some of the meeting halls were surrounded by “unruly characters”, many of whom would “consider it God’s service to rid themselves of me…”^[40]

Among the early converts to Mormonism was a man named Thomas Jeremy.  Jeremy was the son of Welsh farmers raised near Llanegwad, Carmarthenshire.  He had received an education to be a minister; however, upon hearing Dan Jones speak, he quickly accepted the Mormon gospel.  He was ordained a Priest the same day of his baptism, and not long after was asked to preside over a branch of the Church in Llanybydder. ^[41]  He and other Mormon Elders continued missionary work in the area, and before long several branches of the Church were formed in Carmarthenshire.  One of the branches of the Church was in Brechfa, about 3 miles south of Gwernogle. 

The details of Rees Thomas’s conversion to Mormonism are not known.  The record of his ordinances is found on records kept by David Jeremy.  There are two records that exist of which I am aware.  One contains the combined records of Brechfa and Llanybydder.  This record is a bit easier to read.  The other record is a list of members of the Brechfa Branch and the pertinent ordinances performed for each individual. 

On the Brechfa records, we read that, Rees Thomas, Ffarmwr (farmer) was baptized (bedyddiwyd) on 19 Medi (September) 1847, and confirmed (cadarnhawyd) by Thomas Jeremy in the Brechfa branch.  A few months later, Rees’s sister Esther (also spelled Hester) and his brother David were baptized by David Jeremy on Rhag(fyr) (December) 14^th, and 16^th, 1847 respectively in the Brechfa branch.  At the time of the baptisms, Rees would have been in his early thirties, Esther would have been about twenty-five, and David would have been fifteen.  All were residents of Tyrca at the time of their baptisms.^[42]  Rees’s sister Margaret (Margret) was baptized in Mawr(th) (March) 17^th, 1848.^[43]  All were confirmed within a few days of their baptism, according to Branch records.

On the combined record, which also contains a brief history of the Jeremy family, we read a few details that explain how Rees was probably introduced to the Mormon gospel.  On July 1, 1846, Captain Dan Jones and Thomas Jeremy walked from Llanybydder to Brechfa to preach to a great audience, who “listened intently”.  Two weeks later, Thomas Jeremy returned to preach with a man named Thomas Harris.  The journal comments that on this visit, they again preached to a respectful crowd. 

Some weeks later, Thomas Jeremy and Alfred Clark came again to preach, this time at a farm called Pen-Rhiwe.  The crowd this time was raucous, and there was fighting and disputation among the listeners.  Following the sermon, there were seven persons baptized.  The fourth listed was a man named Benjamin Thomas of Plasbach, and the fifth was Benjamin’s wife.  We shall eventually see that Benjamin Thomas, although not probably kin to Rees Thomas, would remain a friend of Rees for many years following their immigration to the United States.  The seventh person baptized was named David Thomas of Esgerydd. 

The next time the Mormon Elders came to Brechfa to preach, Dan Jones appointed Thomas Jeremy to serve as Branch President of the fledgling group.^[44]   From July of 1846 until perhaps September of 1846, the Church had been introduced and accepted by a few residents of Brechfa and surrounding towns.  It would be almost another year before Rees would accept baptism.  Whether he first heard the message from one of the Jeremy brothers, from members of his extended family, or from a friend like Benjamin Thomas is unknown.  Rees was the first in his immediate family to convert to the Mormon gospel. 

On the same Brechfa Branch records, the entry for the baptism of Rees Thomas’s sister, Margaret Thomas (also spelled Margret) indicates that she is “Ffarmwraig”, a contraction of ffarmwr (farmer) and gwraig (wife) usually reserved for married women.  I cannot find any other indication that Margaret was married prior to her joining the Church.  There is no sign of a husband or of children during her preparations for emigration or during the long trek to Salt Lake City.  If she were married, perhaps she did not have children and her husband rejected the Mormon Faith and chose to stay behind in Wales.   More likely is that the record-keeper for Brechfa, David Jeremy, made a simple clerical error. 

Rees Thomas remained active in the Branch at Brechfa.  He was ordained a Priest on 27 Mehefin (June), 1848 by “Captain Jones”.^[45]  In October of 1848, Rees baptized a nineteen-year old woman named Mary Thomas from Nantyperhill.  Again in February of 1849, just before he was to leave for America, Rees baptized another girl named Rachel from Llidadnenog.^[46]  Rees was apparently in good standing in the Branch, and was actively helping the missionary work in the area.  Whether either of these two young ladies were related to Rees would be difficult to demonstrate. 

By 1849, near the end of the mission of Dan Jones, many of the Welsh Mormons wished to travel to Sion (Zion).  Travel to the American “Zion”, also called California in the publications, was actively promoted by the various Welsh Mormon writers.  The concept of Zion was that of a protected place, safe from persecution.  New converts to Mormonism were encouraged to emigrate.  Left behind, new converts might be influenced by friends, family members and local customs to depart their new-found faith.  Dan Jones began to call those Mormons who were most faithful to prepare to travel with him to Utah.

Within a short time, local Welsh ministers and the Press raised a cry of alarm.  They attacked Jones for wanting to encourage emigration to the United States.  One Baptist minister claimed that the Mormon converts would be taken and sold as slaves in Cuba.  Day by day, Jones found that his life was becoming more and more threatened.  In the weeks just prior to his departure for America, Thomas Jeremy writes that Dan Jones’ home was attacked almost nightly.  Most evenings found Mormon bodyguards watching over the Jones family.^[47]  On the day of his departure from Merthyr Tydfil, he was forced to leave his home secretly to avoid a man or men who had been paid to kill him.^[48] 

While Rees remained faithful at this time to the Mormon teachings, his siblings David and Esther did not.  In 1849, they were cut off (torwyd allan) from the Church, having been found anwirau (untruthful) and anufudd (disobedient) by the Elders of the Church in Brechfa.^{[49] [50]}  Only Margaret and Rees were to answer the call from Dan Jones to immigrate to America in 1849.

The extended family of Rees Thomas remained for some time at Ty-r-cae.  In the British census of 1851 is found Thomas Thomas, age 56, farmer; Sarah Thomas, wife; Thomas Thomas, son, 28, unmarried; Hester Thomas, 25, daughter, unmarried; David Thomas, 19, farmer’s son, unmarried; John Coldwell, 6, grandson.^[51]  In 1851 the land associated with Ty-r-cae consisted of 27 acres, and in 1871 of 53 acres.  By 1881, Thomas Thomas Sr. and Sarah Powell Thomas had died, and their son, Thomas Thomas Jr., his wife and small children lived on the farm, which had increased to 58 acres.^[52]  Whether they owned the property or had a tenant lease is unknown. 

Emigration

In his book, The Call of Zion, written by Dr. Ronald Dennis, Dr. Dennis describes in great detail the journey of the Welsh Saints from their homes to Liverpool.  I have condensed his account into the next few paragraphs, and acknowledge his work as the primary source of my information. ^[53]

The Welsh Saints who wished to immigrate to America were to gather in Liverpool by February 15, 1849.  To that end, they had been counseled to pay off all debts, save money and gather in Swansea, then move on to Liverpool by Steamer.  Swansea is a port in western Glamorganshire.  The trip required sailing into the Bristol Bay of the Atlantic Ocean, and around Wales to Lancashire, England.  After much preparation, they boarded the Steamer Troubador, which departed 14 February at 9:00 am.  The passage was to take over 30 hours.   

When the Welsh saints were preparing to travel, no financial help was available from the Mormon Church.  A short time after they arrived in Salt Lake City, the Church announced the Perpetual Emigration Fund, a fund designed to loan funds to needy travelers for help in paying travel expenses. 

Local newspapers derided the Saints as “bold peasantry” who were “deluded” and hoped to escape the “general destruction and conflagration that is shortly to envelope this earth” by traveling to “their New Jerusalem”.  Not all of the press reports were negative.  In the paper British Banner, the Mormons were called a “goodly company” and that they were led by “…Captain Dan Jones (who)… seems to enjoy the respect and confidence of the farmers from…Brechfa and Llanybydder …”^[54]

Although the journey to Liverpool was actually shorter than expected by some four hours, many in the party were terribly seasick.  Dan Jones was employed in nursing those suffering from seasickness, having himself been a sailor since the age of 17. 

Liverpool at the time was a busy seaport.  Many opportunists awaited unsuspecting travelers, willing to relieve them of purse and baggage.  The Mormons had been warned to avoid shysters at the docks.  It is likely that many of the Welsh farmers had never been to a city the size of Liverpool.  To them, it must have seemed another world.  For accommodations, the leaders had rented the “Music Hall”.  It was a building large enough to allow each Mormon to have lodging for the period of time they waited while their ship was being prepared.  After five evenings, they were instructed to board the ship Buena Vista.  The Buena Vista was a one-year old American ship weighing 547 tons and measured 141 x 29 x 14.5 feet.  Sadly, the ship was too small to accommodate the entire group.  Only 249 passengers were allowed to board the ship.  The remaining 77 Welsh Mormons would have to wait another week for passage on the ship Hartley.   As soon as the Mormons boarded the ship an unexpected and unexplained delay was announced.  The Mormons would be forced to wait for another six days before they could set sail.  During this time, Protestant ministers were allowed to enter the ship to attempt to dissuade the Mormons from leaving their home Country.  The Welsh ministers called the Mormons “deceivers, false prophets, weak headed (and)… Latter Day Satanists…”  Mormons for their part, called the Welsh Minister’s messages “poison and slime”, and referred to them as the “Babylonians”.^[55]  In spite of the opposition, all in the Mormon party chose to remain on the ship and leave for America.

Rees Thomas and his sister Margaret were passengers on the Buena Vista.  Rees was passenger #99, Margaret was passenger #219.  Listed just prior to Rees Thomas was passenger #96, Benjamin Thomas.^[56]  Benjamin was traveling with his wife and child.  He will also show up in close proximity to Rees Thomas as a resident of Manti and Brigham City, Utah, and Malad, Idaho.  At first, I assumed that Benjamin was a brother or perhaps a cousin of Rees Thomas.  After researching the issue, I cannot demonstrate that they were related in any way.  I will make the assumption that they were certainly friends because they chose to live close to each other for almost 30 years.  They originated from the same general area in Carmarthen, and both listed as their occupation “farmer”.^[57]

Also on the ship were Dan Jones, listed as passenger #1 and Thomas Jeremy with his family, listed as #152.  A bit later on the list was a girl of seventeen named Mary Ellen Evans (listed as #170, Mary Evens).^[58]  She was traveling as a servant to the Benjamin Francis family.  The Francis family would tragically encounter much hardship on the journey.  Mary would then continue to travel west with the Benjamin Thomas family, which, as mentioned before, was to have a close relationship with the Rees Thomas family.^[59] 

The trip over on the Buena Vista required a payment of 3 Pounds Sterling and change.  This amount would have been equal to about $18.00 in U.S. currency.  Although this might seem a relatively small price to pay, a small family would have been required to pay as much as one-third of the annual wages of a British laborer for passage.  In US currency of 2005, three pounds would equal at least $4000.00.^[60]  Almost half again that much money would be required to purchase food on the journey and pay for transport once they had arrived in the United States.  For many of the Saints, this represented a significant if not total sacrifice of their goods.^[61]  Even though this was a considerable expense, the fare was still cheaper than average since the Mormons were negotiating travel as a large group. 

The Buena Vista finally departed from the Waterloo dock in Liverpool at about two o’clock in the afternoon, Monday the twenty-sixth of February.  The Mormons had a mixture of feelings upon departure; they were relieved to be away from the constant antagonism of the “Babylonians”, yet saddened by the loss of family, friends and country.  As the ship pulled away, the Mormons sang the hymn “Farewell of the Saints”, and watched as loved ones ran along the docks to keep up with the departing vessel.^[62] 

Steamboats accompanied the ship for about thirty miles into the Ocean.  By Tuesday, Ireland came into view.  By Wednesday and Thursday, most of the passengers were in bad spirits with seasickness.  Captain Dan Jones and a few others were employed in nursing the sick and cooking gruel without butter or salt.  It was the only food that would stay down.  The travelers were encouraged to walk frequently on the deck of the ship rather than lying in their bunks.  After a few days, most of the Saints were no longer seasick.  They were frequently entertained by large fish and dolphins which accompanied the ship on its voyage.^[63]

Dan Jones referred to the ship as a “floating branch” of the Church on the ocean.  The group had early morning prayers, sacrament meetings, administration to the sick, etc.  The food was much better than that of many voyages.  There was hard bread, sugar, flour, cheese, coffee and tea.  The provisions were dispensed by Jones and his assistants to every passenger over fourteen.  Some of the food was a gift from President Orson Pratt before the ship sailed.  On March seventh, a funeral was held for a sister who had died.  The sermon was preached by Dan Jones, and the topic was resurrection.  The topic apparently led to a number of questions about the mechanics of the resurrection, particularly if the burial was at sea.  There was to be one other burial in the Gulf of Mexico.^[64]

The fifty-day journey to New Orleans proved calm for the ship and crew.  Some of the Saints complained about the relative lack of privacy on board.  Provisions were rationed.  Among the Mormons there developed a fair amount of contention and hostility.  Eventually this contention was to result in the apostasy of a small number of the emigrants. It caused no small amount of concern among the leaders of the Church on board.^[65]

Accommodations on ships of the era have been described as “extremely primitive.”  Most commonly, emigrants were boarded on the steerage deck.  Here they lived for the duration of the voyage.  The space was six or seven feet high and smelt of the lime and vinegar used to disinfect the bunks.  There was a lingering stench of vomit from those suffering seasickness.  There would have been few lanterns and little light from hatchways.  Cholera, dysentery and typhus were common illnesses.  The bunks were narrow planks covered with straw.  Food could only be cooked on deck in communal fireplaces during good weather.  Privacy was non-existent.^[66] 

Two members of the group died during the sea voyage.  They were Sarah Davies and Eliza Williams.  They were buried at sea.  After 40 days, the Saints passed the Bahamas and Cuba.  One of the Welsh periodicals had claimed that Dan Jones intended to bring his band of converts to sell them as slaves on the islands.  They passed the Islands safely, which gave the converts something to laugh about.  Finally, the group arrived at New Orleans, being short on fresh water and bread.  Just before the group arrived at New Orleans, two members of the group were excommunicated from the Church for making false accusations to the Captain and crew.^[67] 

On the morning of April 16, two steamers were dispatched to the Buena Vista so that one might tow her into the Mississippi River and from there on to the docks in New Orleans.  Here the presence of Dan Jones proved invaluable.  As a former riverboat Captain, he was familiar with the workings of the docks.  He was able to employ the steamer Constitution to take his group and another group of English Mormons to Saint Louis for a nominal price.^[68] 

In the early to mid 1800’s, it was considered unwise for travelers to linger for very long in any of the River cities.  Cholera was at near epidemic portions, and River travelers were at particular risk.  Cholera is caused by the bacterium Vibreo Cholerae.  It is spread through the fecal contamination of waters.  Exposure to contaminated water or eating shellfish from contaminated water can produce illness.  Within a short time after exposure, intense diarrhea and vomiting begins.  The person rapidly becomes dehydrated and may go into shock within hours.  Without the replacement of fluids and electrolytes, the person may die in less than a day.  In the common medical folklore of the mid 1800’s, it was thought that the person with Cholera should not drink water during the attack.  This common belief clearly contributed greatly to the death toll from the disease.

By April 30, 1849, the group had reached Saint Louis.  The voyage was apparently uneventful, since little was said about the trip to Church leaders in letters from Dan Jones.^[69]  One young man died of Cholera just before reaching Saint Louis.  The majority of the Saints apparently felt as if their faith would prevent them from suffering the ravages of Cholera while on the River.  On the whole they were “healthy… heartened and rejoicing…” ^[70]

While in Saint Louis, the Mormons purchased provisions for the trip to the Salt Lake Valley and made arraignments for passage to Council Bluffs, Iowa.  The ship that they were to take was the Highland Mary captained by Mr. Scott.^[71]  Again, agreeable terms were negotiated by Dan Jones, and soon the ship was pulled up next to the Constitution to be loaded.  At this time, several other families left the company of the Saints.  They had probably accompanied the Mormons in order to achieve a cheaper than usual fare.  According to Dan Jones, they were set on the “road to destruction…at a gallop”.^[72]  At this point in time, the Mormons still expected a safe and easy passage up the Missouri River.

On the first of May, Cholera struck the Welsh group for the second time.  On that day, twenty-one members of the group were buried.^[73]  Among the dead was Benjamin Francis, a blacksmith from Carmarthen.  He had left Wales with his wife, four children, and the servant girl previously mentioned, Mary Evans.  By the time the family was to reach Council Bluffs, only Margaret Francis and one child were surviving.  Mary Evans was then to depend on the kindness of the Benjamin Thomas family for her support.^[74] 

In the short period between 28 April and 21 May, while covering the 425 miles from Saint Louis to Council Bluffs, forty-four of the Welsh passengers were to succumb to Cholera.  Thomas Jeremy recorded the deaths of the passengers in his journal.  Each time a death or deaths were recorded, the steamer would pull ashore long enough for the grieved family to bury their dead, then the journey would resume.  On only three days during the journey between Saint Louis and Council Bluffs did Jeremy not record at least one death among the Welsh travelers. ^[75] 

Dan Jones wrote little during this period.  Perhaps he was shocked by the devastation and overcome by the sense of loss.  He may have feared that the Cholera experience would discourage future Welsh emigrants.  When the steamer reached Saint Joseph, Missouri, Captain Scott attempted to put the Mormons ashore by force. Only the reluctance of the authorities in Saint Joseph to receive the ailing travelers prevented the abandonment of the Mormons.  Upon arrival in Council Bluffs, the Welsh Saints were so sick that even the resident Mormons were afraid to help them.  They were deposited on the banks of the River and left by Captain Scott.  After a brief visit by Apostle George A. Smith, first cousin to Joseph Smith Jr., the Mormons were ordered by Smith to take in the Welsh and give them aid and comfort.^[76] 

It may have seemed to the Welsh Mormons that they were experiencing the same type of prejudice that they had lived with in Wales.  They met a group of established Americans, most of them of English descent, refusing to help the Welsh until ordered to do so.  On the other hand, the Welsh must have been a terrible sight.  They would have been dehydrated and emaciated from their illness and their responsibilities for the other travelers.  One can only imagine the soiled clothing and linens and stench of the ship as the Welsh arrived.  Also, little was known about the transmission of Cholera at the time.  Many believed that the disease was passed by human contact or by fumes in the air.  That the established Mormons were reluctant to help is understandable, but it must have left the Welsh feeling as though they were second-class citizens again. 

It has been said that this group of emigrating Mormons suffered as much death and destruction as almost any other.  Indeed, in the famous Willey and Martin handcart companies so afflicted by winter weather and starvation, a similar percentage of the total group died during the trip when compared with the Welsh groups.^[77]

Interestingly, the wife of the Vice President of the United States, Lynn Cheney, gave a discourse to the White House Forum of History and Civics in May of 2003.  In the speech, she speaks of her great-great grandmother who was one of the Welsh passengers on the Highland Mary.^[78] 

After such a trying journey, the Welsh Saints were deeply sorrowful.  Not only were they physically weakened by illness and caring for the sick, but they were emotionally devastated by the loss of so many friends and family.   Some in the party had left the group and left the Mormon faith.  Some had stayed behind to care for sick relatives.  The Welsh had limited English language skills and needed employment to earn money for the upcoming trek to Salt Lake City. 

 On the Mormon Trail

By July 14, 1849, sixty-nine of the Welsh Mormons from the Buena Vista and Hartley groups were ready to travel to Salt Lake City.  They were organized under the leadership of Apostle George A. Smith.  The company was joined by another group led by Apostle E. T. Benson.  Isaac Clark and William Appleby kept journal accounts of the trip that give a day-by-day description of events.^[79]  In the company of Welsh Saints were included Rees Thomas, Benjamin Thomas and his family, Margaret Thomas, and Mary Evans.  Also notable on the trip was John Parry, a Welsh former Baptist minister who would later organize the choir which eventually became the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.^[80]  Dan Jones was appointed leader to the Welsh Saints on the trip. 

For the details affecting the Welsh on the trek, I will rely again on the account of Dr. Ronald Dennis as found in The Call of Zion, as well as letters written by George A. Smith.  Lucy Meserve Smith and Bathsheba Smith, both wives of Apostle Smith, also kept journals of the trip.  The Welsh Saints were assigned to travel in the George A. Smith Fifty, Fourth Company, and Rees was assigned to the Daniel Daniels Company of ten.  Margaret Thomas, Mary Evans and Benjamin Thomas were all in the Daniels Company.  According to Bathsheba Smith, there were twenty-four “Welch” wagons.  She goes on to say:

 “Twenty-four of the wagons of our company belonged to the Welch (sic) saints, who had been led from Wales by Elder Dan Jones. They did not understand driving oxen. It was very amusing to see them yoke their cattle; two would have an animal by the horns, one by the tail, and one or two others would do their best to put on the yoke, whilst the apparently astonished ox, not at all enlightened by the guttural sounds of the Welch(sic) tongue, seemed perfectly at a loss what to do, or to know what was wanted of him. But these saints amply made up for their lack of skill in driving cattle by their excellent singing, which afforded us great assistance in our public meetings, and helped to enliven our evenings.”^[81]

As observed by Mrs. Smith, the Welsh were largely inexperienced in the use of oxen to pull wagons.  During the first few weeks of the trek, they struggled with the teams and equipment.  Despite leaving late in the season, they were hampered early by rains and mud.  The rain later proved to be a blessing since grass was plentiful for the animals.^[82]  In a letter to Church authorities, Apostle G.A. Smith wrote that the rains were a mixed blessing, since high river crossings and mud hampered their movement but wild game was found easily on the trail and feed for the livestock was plentiful. ^[83]

The desert landscape must have seemed a foreign world to the Welsh.  Most had lived in wet, green areas that were relatively densely populated.  The presence of rattlesnakes, wolves, Plains Indians, and gold-seekers in a vast empty wilderness must have seemed very strange indeed.  The relative lack of water and vegetation would have been a shock to their senses. 

Early on in the trek, cattle from the wagon train stampeded twice.  The pioneers were able to recover all of the cattle and no one was seriously hurt in the stampedes.  In August, one of the oxen and later a dog suffered snakebite, but recovered.  Early in August, hunters killed a buffalo some distance from the trail.  They covered the animal during the night, but when they returned for the meat the next morning, wolves had devoured the carcass.  In one incident, a Welshman was accidentally nicked by a gunshot.  The same shot passed through the hat of another Welshman. 

On August 17^{th  while} the group journeyed on the Nebraska plains, there was a tremendous thunderstorm.  Several of the journals recorded that hail as big as walnuts or hens eggs fell on the group.  There was lightning, high winds and rain.  Isaac Clark reports in his journal that there were no injuries either to humans or animals, and it seems that after the storm, the camp was still in good humor.  Later in the month, there were some minor mishaps recorded, many involving the wagons of the Welsh saints.  In one, a Welsh family rolled their wagon while climbing out of a streambed.  In another, a collision left Dan Jones’ wagon with a broken axle. A daughter of Sister Lewis was run over by a wagon, but was not seriously harmed.  For the most part, the company and the Welsh seemed content and safe. 

By the end of August, the journals record that the temperature was becoming very cold.  By now, the group was approaching Chimney Rock in western Nebraska.  Their journey was not yet half completed.  There were frequent encounters with Sioux Indians.  For the most part, the Indians were friendly and did not try to steal livestock from the Mormons.  According to George A. Smith, the Indians feared the Cholera outbreak, and had already lost much of their tribe to the disease. ^[84]

On September 1^st, a disagreement over cattle led to a fight between Englishman Robert Barrett Jr.,^[85] and Cadwalader Owens, a Welshman.  William Appleby, Clerk of the Smith and Benson companies, called the fight a “melee”.^[86]  According to Isaac Clark, some very threatening language was used by both Robert Berrett Sr. and Robert Berrett Jr. against Owens.  The threats led to a fistfight.  The three were brought up before Clark and were reprimanded.  All were assigned to do extra guard duty and both parties apologized.  Although nothing else is said on the entry for that day, there was apparently much more to the story.  September 2^nd was a Sunday, and Apostle Smith gave “much good counsel and instruction…”^[87]  Soon after the sermon, a number of people felt the need to be re-baptized.  Among those listed as being re-baptized that morning were Owens and members of the Berrett family, but there were also four other Welsh saints re-baptized.  Later that day, after the company had moved about five miles, seventeen or eighteen more Welsh saints were re-baptized.  Included in that group were Rees Thomas, Margaret Thomas, Mary Evans, Thomas Jeremy and Dan Jones.^[88]

The ordinance of re-baptism was practiced in the early Church after the death of Joseph Smith.  There were perhaps three reasons that a person already baptized as a member of the Mormon Church might choose to be re-baptized.  First, the ordinance might be practiced as a recommitment to a new leader or practice.  For example, many were baptized when they entered the Salt Lake Valley as a sign that they were committed to the leadership of Brigham Young.  Some members were re-baptized before they entered into temple or marriage covenants.  This practice is called by some a ‘unification ordinance’.  Second, members who felt that they had sinned or had left the straight and narrow path in the Church were sometimes baptized to show a true repentance and a commitment to change their lives.  This ordinance was often accompanied by a public confession of sins, and was considered by some as a ‘healing ordinance’.  Third, a member who disobeyed leaders or broke covenants might be excommunicated from the Church.  If the person repents, begs forgiveness, and the Church acknowledges that the person has fulfilled all requirements; he or she may then be re-baptized a member of the Church.  This is sometimes called a ‘restoration ordinance’.  Of the three types of re-baptism, only the third is practiced in our times. 

It would appear that while only Owens and Berrett were listed as being involved in fisticuffs, many more of the Welsh people and perhaps many in the extended  Berrett family were involved in the incident.  Whether they were present during the fight, and were taunting or threatening each other or whether they simply rebelled against the decisions of the trek leaders to discipline Owens is not known.  It is clear; however, that they felt chastened and believed that they needed to show publicly that they were still supportive of the Mormon faith and its leaders.   The most likely explanation for the re-baptism was that of a unification ordinance. 

A few days after the fight and baptism incidents, a Welshman named Hugh Davis wandered away from the wagon train.  He is described by Clark as an “aged and infirm man of about 70 years…”^[89]  The entire wagon train halted while men searched the local area for him.  The first search party led by Dan Jones stayed out until 2:00 am.  The next day, volunteers were again sent out, but they returned when word was received that Davis had been found ahead on the trail.  The incident was described as a “great hinderence (sic) to us…” by Lucy Meserve Smith.  She was apparently annoyed that the wagons had all been held back for two days while the Welshman was sought in the hills around the trail.^[90]

The trip went well through Wyoming.  When the groups came within 300 miles of Salt Lake City, they were met by teamsters driving wagons back with fresh animals and vegetables.  During the first week of October, they were approaching South Pass, a 7000 plus foot elevation which required a steep approach.  Suddenly on October 1st, the temperature dropped and the wind became severe, forcing the company to form camp quickly.  They failed to enclose the cattle in the customary way, and many of the animals wandered off into the surrounding creek banks.  For some 36 hours, an early winter snowstorm raged.  The wind was so fierce that building a campfire was impossible.  Most of the party huddled in their wagons with little shelter or cooked food.  Elder Smith reported snow drifts of up to 4 feet.^[91]  Others sent to sleep near the stock reported that both they and their stock had been entirely covered by snow when they awoke in the morning.^[92] 

As the storm abated, the Saints were relieved to find that no one had perished.  Tragically, the animals did not fare so well.  As many as sixty-four of the cattle had died or were lost in the storm. 

Perhaps the frustrations of a long journey, the storm and the fight incident led to a bizarre meeting held shortly after the storm on South Pass.  According to the journal of Isaac Nash,^[93] Dan Jones called a meeting of all the Welsh in which he complained of discrimination among the Saints.  Jones claimed that the provisions sent by Brigham Young were sent only for the American Saints, and would not have been sent if the company had been only Welsh in composition.  He then proposed that the Welsh Saints cross the Jordan River in the Salt Lake Valley and form an independent nation with Elizabeth Lewis as their Queen.^[94]  When Jones called for a vote, all of the Welsh present voted for Queen and Nation except for Nash and Ned Williams.  Nash reportedly left the meeting and informed George A. Smith of the plot.  Apostle Smith entered the meeting and was able to convince the Welsh that the charges of discrimination were false.  Although there is no evidence of a further attempt of the Welsh to secede, it is said that hard feelings persisted perpetually between Jones and Nash after the incident.^[95]  Apparently, Rees Thomas, Margaret Thomas, Benjamin Thomas, and Mary Evans all supported the Jones proposition.  In all fairness, the incident may have been exaggerated as it was reported by Isaac Nash in his journal.  Nash and Dan Jones had clashed over a number of incidents before and during the trek and were often on unfriendly terms.    

On October 26, 1849, the Welsh arrived in the Salt Lake Valley after 108 days and almost 1000 miles on the trail.  Dan Jones wrote that none of the Welsh saints had perished on the trail.  After they had camped on the northeast side of the Old Emigration Road, they were visited by the Mormon Prophet Brigham Young.  Among the Welsh, Young was known only to Dan Jones.  Many in the group required translation to understand the Prophet.  Young requested that all mechanics and stone masons remain in the City.  All farmers were to travel four miles west of the City, where they would be given parcels of land.  For many of the Welsh, land ownership was an impossible dream.  Many had been tenants on their land in Wales, and to have ever achieved land ownership would have been beyond hope. 

Salt Lake City at the time of the Welsh party’s arrival was little more that a sprawling collection of adobe homes, log cabins and tents.  There would have been smoke from wood fires, livestock in corrals and mud on every street.  Few large trees would have been visible in the City.  Perhaps the largest structure at that time would have been the bowery, a log-supported shelter with a roof made of woven willows.  The second bowery built in Salt Lake; it stood near present-day temple square.  The residents of the City would have been somewhat used to seeing wagon trains with Mormon converts arrive.  They would also have been leery of emigrants because of the large number of non-Mormon travelers that had passed through on their way to the California gold fields.  There would have been a number of merchants catering to the needs of the travelers.  There would have been an organized effort to welcome and give some assistance to the tired Mormon emigrants.  

As discussed before, as a renewed commitment to the Church, new emigrants were sometimes re-baptized after they reached the Salt Lake Valley.  Mary Evans was re-baptized by Dan Jones in Salt Lake City on the eighteenth of November, 1849.  She was confirmed on the same date by John Young and Dan Jones.  Rees Thomas was re-baptized on the second of December, 1849 in Salt Lake City by David Phillips.  He was confirmed a member of the Church by Thomas Bullock and Thomas Jeremy on the same date.  Margaret Thomas was baptized by her brother Rees in Salt Lake City on June third, 1850.  She was confirmed a member of the Church by Rice Williams on June sixth, 1850.^[96]  Brigham Young had authorized Dan Jones to organize Welsh-language branches of the Church near Salt Lake City, with Thomas Jeremy as one of the leaders.^[97]   Most likely, the Welsh emigrants preferred attending  Church meetings at the Welsh-language Branches. 

Settlement in Zion

Most of the Welsh Mormon immigrants remained in the south Salt Lake Valley near the Jordan River.  A home built there by Thomas Jeremy became a gathering place of sorts for those preferring the Welsh language.  Some of the Welsh became members of the North Jordan Ward, others eventually became part of the Sixteenth Ward in Salt Lake City.    Rees Thomas, Mary Evans, Margaret Thomas and Benjamin Thomas were in the south part of Salt Lake City at least until June of 1850, and possibly until January of 1851.  Dan Jones had married one of the Welsh Saints, would-be Queen Elizabeth Lewis in 1849 in Salt Lake City as his second wife.^[98]    Rees, Mary and Benjamin would have been exposed to plural marriage at this point, although this was not their first exposure to the practice.  Apostle George A. Smith and others on the trek westward had plural wives. 

 

Because of the increase in wagons passing through to California, Brigham Young feared that non-Mormon wagon trains passing through Southern Utah would want to settle in Utah.  Many in the wagon trains came from areas like Arkansas and Missouri, which had been hostile to the Mormon Church in times past.  In order to prevent the colonization of the area by potential enemies of the Church, he encouraged the early exploration of southern Utah and soon after, the settlement of areas close to the California Trail.^[99] 

To this end, Parley P. Pratt was commissioned to explore the southern part of Utah and the Colorado River drainage with the idea that locations should be found for new settlements.  Dan Jones was asked by Brigham Young to travel with Pratt.  The expedition began in December of 1849 and ended in January of 1850, having covered over 800 miles.  During the trip, Dan Jones met the Ute Indian Chief Wakara (Walker) who had previously encouraged White settlement of the Manti Valley near the Sanpete River. 

Because of the request of Wakara, the Mormons left to colonize Manti in November of 1849 with Isaac Morley as their leader.  The Mormons suffered terribly during the first winter in Manti.  A letter written by Isaac Morley to Brigham Young in February of 1850 revealed the incredible hardships that the Mormons faced during the first winter in Manti.  The first challenge was an outbreak of measles, which sickened the Mormons but devastated the Indian population.  Many Indian children died during the outbreak, and they often depended on White settlers to provide medications and food.  Four of the Mormon settlers died from illness and exposure in those first few months.

Equally challenging was the cold weather.  After Christmas, the temperature had registered below zero on seven nights.  Deep snow of up to three feet led to the death of seventy-five head of cattle.  How the Mormons were sheltered from the weather is hard to imagine.  They had to cut pine logs and bring them by hand sled to the settlement, a distance of one-half mile.  By February, twenty houses had been built, but many of the Mormons still lived in tents and dug-out cave shelters on Temple Hill. 

In addition, the native Ute Indians led by Chief Walker demanded food, shelter and medicines from the Mormons.  When there was an Indian uprising in neighboring Utah Valley, Chief Walker demanded guns and blankets in return for staying out of the conflict.^[100]

Within a little more than a year of the Mormon’s arrival in Manti, the Ute and Shoshone Indians were at war.  Morley began to build a fort for protection from hostile Indians.  Brigham Young apparently asked Dan Jones to take a small group of Welsh down to Manti to swell the ranks of the White Mormons and to assist in building the fort.  He may have gone to Manti with a group of Welsh settlers as early as the fall of 1850.  While there, Jones and his charges did help build the fort at Manti.  They also ran a store and purchased and ran the first wheat threshing machine in the area. 

Another motive for the move to Manti was the belief by Dan Jones that there existed in the American west a tribe of Indians descended from Welsh people.  Jones believed the Welsh legend that Madoc ab Owain had led a group of Welsh settlers to America in 1170.  This group had allegedly colonized the New World and blended with the natives, somehow maintaining their Welsh language and identity.  They were called collectively the “Madocians”.  There were reports, impossible to verify, that Welsh-speaking Indians had been encountered by white settlers in the American Southwest.  As early as 1845, Jones had communicated with Brigham Young about the Madocians.  Brigham Young apparently believed enough of the farce to allow Jones to search for the tribe of Welsh Indians.  In fact, the reason that Jones was invited on the Southern expedition with Parley P. Pratt was that Brigham Young hoped that Jones could make contact with Welsh Indians living in the general area of the expedition.  Jones did make the trip south, which nearly cost him his life, without successfully encountering any Welsh-speaking Indians.^[101]  

Dan Jones became the first mayor of Manti in February of 1851.^[102]  But the original Welsh residents of Manti would not remain long in the City.  Trouble was increasing between the Mormons, Shoshone Indians and Ute Indians.  Soon there would be an extended war between the residents of Manti and the Ute Indians, culminated when federal troops forced the Utes to the Ouray reservation in 1869.^[103]  None of the original Welsh party that accompanied Dan Jones to Manti is known to have remained in Manti.  Many years later, other Welsh Mormons settled in an area north of Manti called New Wales. 

Sometime before January of 1851, Rees and Mary moved to Manti.  They apparently lived with the Dan Jones family and were dependant on Jones for support.  The Manti Ward records show an entry for January 15^th, 1851, in which Isaac Morley preached a sermon on the sanctity of marriage and the responsibilities thereof.  He also expounded on the principle of plural marriage.  A brief note follows that says that Reese Thomas and wife Mary Evans were married by Isaac Morley in the house of Dan Jones on the same date^[104]  The witnesses for the wedding were James Case and the widow Allis (surname illegible).  Assuming that a birth date of 7 April, 1851 for the first child of Rees and Mary is correct, nineteen-year old Mary would have been most clearly pregnant.  She was to deliver Rees Evans only eleven weeks after her wedding.  Fornication was and is considered a serious offence in Mormon theology.  It is hard to know how this event may have affected the attitudes and prospects of the young couple.  Both Rees and Mary may have faced Church discipline for their indiscretion.  I can find no record that Rees Evans Thomas was ever blessed in the Manti Ward, and even when Sarah Ann, the second child was blessed, Rees P. Thomas did not perform the ordinance.  There is a record of a Patriarchal Blessing given by Isaac Morley to Mary Thomas on the 26^th of April, 1855.^[105]  I think that this reference may apply to the recommend given by Isaac Morley on that date so that Mary could seek out a Patriarch and have her blessing after moving from Manti.  Since a Patriarchal Blessing requires a high level of dedication to the Church, I assume that Rees and Mary were in full fellowship by 1855.  There is, however, no record that their marriage was ever solemnized in a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during their lives. 

For a moment, let us consider that the above birth date of Rees Evans Thomas might be incorrect.  I can find no corroborative evidence for the date from Church or State records.  Census data from 1880 place the date as more likely sometime in 1852, although other census records support the 1851 date.  My source for the date of 1851 is from members of the extended Thomas family.  It is possible that Mary was not pregnant when married and that Rees Evans was born in 1852, clearly being conceived in wedlock. 

Mary Evans, as has been discussed before, came in the Buena Vista group and on to the Salt Lake valley with the George A. Smith Company of 1849.  Mary would have been about nineteen years old, Rees about thirty-two when they were married.  It was, so far as I know, the first marriage for both.  She traveled with the Benjamin Thomas family in the George A. Smith wagon company.  The cholera epidemic on the Missouri river had claimed the lives of most of the Francis family that had employed her.  Although the maiden name of Mrs. Francis was Margaret Evans, I find no evidence that Mary was related to Mrs. Francis. 

It is very likely that Mary was a native of the same general area of Carmarthenshire as Rees Thomas.  Her father was Evan Evans and her mother was named Rachel.  She was born on September 3^rd, 1832 or 1833.^[106] 

On the records taken when Mary was re-baptized in Salt Lake City, Mary Evans said that she was born in the Pencarreg parish of Carmarthenshire.  Pencarreg is a small village about one-half mile north of Llanybydder and about six and one-half miles north from Gwernogle.  If this were the home of Mary Evans, she would have attended the Mormon branch at Llanybydder or perhaps at Brechfa.    

In an effort to confirm or disprove the Pencarreg connection, I searched the IGI for evidence of Mary Evans or her relatives.  I found a record for Ann Evans, born 1 March 1822 in Pencarreg.^[107]  Her parents were Evan Evans and Rachel Morgan.  She immigrated to the United States before 1852.  She was married to William Lewis in Salt Lake City in August of 1852.  I think that it is very likely that Ann is the sister of Mary Ellen Evans.  Proving this has been very difficult, and would require a fortuitous discovery of family records or historical documents unknown to me at present. 

Pencarreg is a small village located on the river Teivy.  Today, there are fewer than 1200 inhabitants of the town.  It is overlooked by a mountain which shares the name of the town and is surrounded by dense woods. ^[108]

There is a possible record for the baptism of Ann Evans in the Brechfa Branch.  A person named Ann Evans was baptized there by David Phillips on the 14^th of April, 1848.  If this is actually the same Ann Evans, sister of Mary, then it is likely that Rees would have known both of the girls from Branch activities and services.  There are several possible baptismal records for Mary in the Brechfa Branch.  Therefore, it is possible that Mary knew Rees before their trip together to Utah.  They certainly became well acquainted as they traveled to Utah in the George A. Smith Company, and in the Daniel Daniels group of ten.  It has already been mentioned that Benjamin Thomas was a friend of Rees Thomas.  At any rate, by the time a Federal census was recorded in Manti in April of 1851, Rees (Reece) Thomas and Mary Thomas were listed as residents of Manti City in Sanpete County.  They were listed as being a part of the Dan Jones household, along with some 15 others.^[109]

Moving North

At some point between April of 1853 and May of 1855, Rees and Mary left Manti and moved to Box Elder, a small community later to be known as Brigham City.  While Manti is located about 125 miles South of Salt Lake City, Box Elder is some 60 miles north of the City.  Benjamin Thomas, the friend of Rees and Mary, was known to have a house in Salt Lake City in 1857.^[110]  He is also found as a resident of the Davis Fort near Box Elder as early as 1852 with his second wife, Susannah Roberts.^[111]    

I do not know the entire reason that Rees and Mary chose to leave the Manti area where some of the Welsh Saints had originally gathered.  I can speculate that when Dan Jones was called to return to Salt Lake City in preparation for his second mission to Wales in 1852, Rees and Mary lost their best connection to Welsh language and culture.  Without a doubt, they eventually grew weary of the Indian conflicts.  Rees and Mary may have returned to Salt Lake after 1853 and stayed in south Salt Lake until moving north to Box Elder.   Rees and Mary are listed as residents of the “Old Box Elder Fort” in 1854 by Fife and Petersen, but I find it more believable that they moved there closer to the late winter/early spring of 1855.^[112] 

By 1853, a small group of Welsh-speaking Mormons had gathered to a settlement with rich farm land about 2 miles South of Box Elder.  Initially, five Welsh Mormon families moved near Box Elder.  They lived under primitive conditions in or very near the “Old Box Elder Fort”.  Many settled at what was called Reeder’s Grove.  It was near enough to the fort that when Indian troubles began, all of the Welsh could gather their families and move in to the fort until the danger had passed.  The fort was basically a group of log cabins built side by side without any openings on the outside walls.  All doorways and windows opened into the common center of the fort.  Although there were openings on both ends of the rows of cabins, the openings were guarded day and night by sentries.^[113] 

The living arrangements were described as follows by the child of one of the early Welsh settlers:

“The first shelter as I recall was a sort of wickyup, built by putting up two forked

posts in the ground about 16 feet apart, then a pole across the top of them.  Small

poles were placed in a slant position resting on this parallel pole down to the ground.

It was then covered with willows, cane and dirt.  One end was open.  The structure

looked like a gable end of a house and in the structure was a table and logs to sit on.”

(John David Peters)^[114] 

Eventually the Welsh started to meet with the English-speaking Mormons from Brigham City for Sunday school.  Perhaps Rees and Mary Thomas were drawn into this small group of Welsh speakers by a personal friendship, by the promise of less Indian hostilities, or perhaps by a chance to own better farm land.    By 1853, a school was built at the end of the Box Elder Fort.  This is probably where the young Thomas children learned their first lessons in English, math and reading. 

Although there was a growing Mormon population in the Box Elder area, it had as yet not been organized as a Mormon town.  Mormon towns were normally set up following a New England-style model with wide streets, a central common area, and space for orderly growth.  Many of the residents had not been willing to stay for long in the area because of the Indian trouble and the lack of services.  Brigham Young wished to provide a more stable atmosphere in the area with Mormon leadership.  During the fall General Conference in 1853, Brigham Young called Apostle Lorenzo Snow to take fifty families to Box Elder to form a cooperative.  Many of those chosen by Snow were Danish.  Snow surveyed and organized the town and renamed it Brigham City after the Mormon Prophet. 

The cooperative concept was somewhat akin to what we might call a commune today, although the Brigham City cooperative did not require the deeding of private properties to the Church as in other communities.  It grew out of a movement called the United Order, with which the Church had experimented twenty years earlier in Ohio.  There were other areas in Utah designated as cooperatives with differing levels of the communal order.  In Brigham City, the communal effort was somehow combined with a love of private enterprise.  Snow encouraged the development of large industries like a tannery, a flour mill, a large-scale dairy, and as the crown jewel, a woolen mill.  The woolen mill, built during 1870-71, was a huge success.  Cotton from the Virgin River in southern Utah and wool from large local herds of sheep supplied raw materials.   Brigham Young often urged other communities to develop industry after the fashion of the Brigham City Co-op.  The industries at Brigham City were very important economically to the outlying areas.  Tragically, the mill burned to the ground in 1877.  Although Rees and Mary had moved to Malad before the mill was built, the Malad community was no doubt impacted by the loss of a market for their wool.^[115] 

By August of 1855, Mormon leaders feared that the United States Federal government would send troops to Utah.  They encouraged movement of Church members to the south of Salt Lake City should troops arrive at and destroy the City.  At one point in time, the flour mill machinery was removed from the Box Elder mill, boxed up, and moved to Provo for re-installation.  Happily, the Federal conflict was resolved mostly without violence and the mill equipment was re-installed at Brigham City.^[116] 

From 1851 until 1863, Box Elder County had been considered too dangerous a place for all but the hardiest white settlers.  Shoshone Indians still occupied the area and considered it a fertile hunting ground.  When the Mormon settlers came, they were hungry enough that they had to supplement their diet with berries, choke cherries, game birds and large animals like deer and antelope.  Even worse, they learned from the Indians how to dig and use sego lily bulbs as food.  The result was that the Mormons destroyed and consumed a large percentage of the natural food sources the Indians had depended on for centuries.  They clashed often with the Mormon settlers until a treaty was negotiated between the settlers and the Indian tribe.  The treaty was signed in 1863 following the Bear River massacre, in which hundreds of Indian men, women and children were killed.  A number of Shoshone Indians were later gathered at a camp called Washakie near Portage in northern Utah.  They apparently converted to Mormonism and became successful farmers.

The tradition among the Thomas family is that the first and second children born to Rees and Mary Thomas were born in Box Elder.  This tradition is incorrect.  Rees Evans Thomas was born on April 7, 1851 in Manti City, Utah.   

The second child of Rees and Mary Thomas, Sarah Ann, was born on 2 March, 1883, also in Manti City, Utah.  Her parents had her blessed in the Manti Ward on April 17^th, 1853 by Edwin Whiting and Azariah Tuttle.  Her birth date was recorded in the Ward minutes.^[117]    

On May 20, 1855, both Rees and Mary Thomas went to Charles W. Hyde in Brigham City to have their Patriarchal Blessings.  The blessing confirms that Mary’s parents were Evan and Rachel Evans, and that her birth date was September 3, 1832.  For Rees, his parents were listed as Thomas and Sarah Thomas, his birth date February 6, 1819.  Both were said to be born in Carmarthenshire, South Wales.^[118]

I do not know where the Thomas family home was or where they were farming.  I believe that Rees would have been knowledgeable about farming and probably relied on the Welsh community for assistance and social interaction.  Common crops of the day were grains for consumption and feeding cattle, vegetable crops and raising animals for meat or dairy. 

By the 1860 Federal Census taken in Brigham City, the Rees Thomas family had grown to six people.  Ephraim Thomas was born on July 11, 1855 and Thomas E. Thomas was born on February 1, 1858.  Both were born in Brigham City.  For his occupation, Rees (Reese) listed farmer.  Rees listed his age as 40, Mary as 27.  The Thomas family was listed on the census, page 189, after the William Thomas family and before the John Rees family.  Many Welsh-origin family names are to be found on the census. ^[119]

Very little else is known of what the family did during their stay in Brigham City.  The area had been a shipping point for goods going through Logan, Utah to the overland trail, and into eastern Idaho and Montana.  A major event was to be the driving of the golden spike in Promontory, Utah.  In May of 1869, the railroad being built from the east coast and the railroad being built from the west coast met on that site.  From that time on, Corrine, a small non-LDS town north of Brigham City was to become a local railhead for the Trans-continental railway.  For a brief period, Corrine could also handle river traffic for barges off of the Great Salt Lake.  After completion of the Rail line, the Thomas family, if they wanted to sell grain or other farm crops on the open market, would have probably come from or Malad to Corrine to sell to brokers near the railroad terminal. 

Gold had been discovered in Helena, Montana in 1864.  Even before that time, supplies like cloth and flour were being freighted from Ogden to Helena.  After the discovery of gold, between 1865 and 1870, freight lines using what were called “bull trains” were employed to make the trip.  Traveling 470 miles, the trip could take as much as 27 days while loaded, and return in as little as 17 days.  Often, the drivers were entrusted with safety boxes which contained gold and silver bars.  At one point, it is estimated that as much as $500,000 per month in ore was being shipped from the Helena area.  Later companies used mule trains, which could travel both day and night.  Mule trains could make the trip one way as in as little as 8 days.  Mc Clay and Company and the Diamond R were two large competing companies which hauled freight until going bankrupt.  Later routes were to use one of two Missouri River trails.  By 1883, the Northern Pacific Railroad was being built to Helena.^[120] 

At some point in time, some of the Thomas boys started to haul freight into Montana.  According to the Price family, of Avon, Montana, Ephraim, Reese E. and Tom were freighters from Blackfoot City to Corrine. They used nine yokes of oxen and three wagons.  They made three trips a year.  Their usual employer was the county clerk from Oneida County named B.F. White.^[121] He hired the boys to haul salt from the Oneida Salt Works in Idaho to Phillipsburg, Montana.^[122]  Benjamin F. White was to be the last Territorial Governor of Montana.  I assume that they were exposed to the business after moving from Brigham City.  The oldest of the boys, Rees E., would have been fourteen when they moved from the area, perhaps a bit young to handle a freight team.  They probably began hauling freight after the family had moved to Malad.  The various routes for the journey would have taken them through eastern Idaho and Montana sites like Butte and Deer Lodge.  The trips were harrowing, long and full of danger.  Often snow storms would slow or stop the wagons from traveling.  Occasional bandits would attempt to steal the safety boxes hidden under the seats of the mine drivers.  High water might make crossing a stream difficult or even impossible.  During early runs, hostile Indians were still to be found on the trails. 

The name of a familiar friend of Rees Thomas is found on the 1860 Federal Census for Brigham City.  Benjamin Thomas, the friend of Rees listed with him on the Buena Vista list and on the Manti Census, was also living with his family in Brigham City.  At that time, the Benjamin Thomas family had 9 members. ^[123]

About 60 miles north of Brigham City is a valley protected by steep hills.  The valley runs north/south, and is rarely wider than ten miles.  The elevation of the valley is about 4500 feet, and the soil is relatively fertile.  There is a lack of irrigation water.^[124]  It is a hard country, filled with rattlesnakes and known for cold winters.  The Malad Valley was first visited by Brigham Young in June of 1855.  According to Young’s journal, while passing through the valley traveling north, he commented that the Malad Valley was “pretty desolate, cold, hard (and) sterile...”  On his return trip, after visiting the even more rugged Salmon River drainage, he called the Malad area the “most beautiful valley that any person had ever beheld…”^[125]

The first Mormon settlers were in Malad by 1854, but the settlement failed because of crop failures, Indian hostilities, and for fear of Johnson’s Army.^[126]  During the 1850’s, the area was used as a summer herding ground for sheep and cattle.  In January of 1864, the Idaho legislature had created Oneida County, which comprised most of modern-day southeastern Idaho and parts of western Wyoming.  By the early spring of 1864, the Indians having been subdued, the area was considered safe enough for a few men to travel into the valley and begin farming. 

A man named Henry Peck had moved up from the Utah-Idaho border ranch owned by Judson Stoddard.  Peck built a shelter out of willows and mud while he explored the valley.  He invited a few families from Brigham City to come up and claim the land near present-day Malad.^[127]  The original four men and three boys were attracted to the area by lush meadows, easy access to timber and stone for building, and streams which flowed out of the mountains nearby for irrigation.^[128]  One of those men, Benjamin Thomas, built the first inhabited house of willows and mud in the Malad Valley.  Soon, the Malad Valley would become one of the fastest growing areas in eastern Idaho.  By 1866, the town had a general store, a sawmill and a small school.^[129] 

By 1870, Rees and his family were found to be living in Malad on the Federal Census.^[130]  By now, there were 10 members of the family.  Born in Brigham City on 30 August 1861 were Mary and her twin sister Margaret.  Also born in Brigham City was an unnamed child born about 1863 who died in 1863, and Esther, also known as Etta , born 1 January, 1865.  Two children had been born in Idaho, namely Rachel Abigail, born 12 February, 1867 and Alexander Andrew born 12 May, 1869. 

That Rachel Abigail Thomas was born in Idaho implies that the Rees Thomas family was among the early Malad Mormon settlers.  Although he was not one of the first group of seven, he must have moved there not long after his friend, Benjamin Thomas.  It is known that ten families from northern Utah settled in Malad during the summer of 1865.^[131]  The Rees Thomas family is not mentioned as one of the families that came in 1865 by Price.^[132]  I think that it is very likely that the Rees Thomas family moved to Malad in the spring or summer of 1866, possibly at the invitation of Ben Thomas.  At any rate, we know that sometime between 1865 and February of 1867, Rees Thomas had moved with his family to Malad City.  On the census, his occupation is listed as farmer.  Most of the farms in Oneida County are at a high enough elevation that they can raise some crops successfully with minimal irrigation.  It is likely that the Thomas farm near Malad City was irrigated little or none at all.  The most common crops were grains, hay, potatoes and sugar beets.  They would have probably had livestock for consumption or sale.^[133]  The Thomas family tradition implies that the family settled near Henderson Creek a few miles south of Malad. 

Benjamin Thomas was an early Mormon leader in Malad.  It was in the Ben Thomas home that the first LDS services were held.  Benjamin Thomas would later be called to serve in the first two LDS Bishoprics in Malad.  In Malad, the majority of the residents were Mormon (LDS) Church members.  However, as the city grew, there were a growing number of members of another Church, the Reorganized Church (RLDS). 

After the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, the main body of the Mormon Church had accepted the leadership of Brigham Young.  They traveled with President Young to the Salt Lake Valley, and from there to the other areas being colonized by the Mormons.  A smaller contingent of Latter-Day Saints, including many family members of Joseph and Emma Smith, remained in Illinois after the main body traveled west.  Under the influence of Emma Smith, the widow of Joseph, and under the leadership of Joseph Smith III, Joseph Smith’s son, this group formed a separate and competing Church.  Originally, the main disagreement with the Utah Mormons was succession in the Presidency.  Also, they had a very negative view of Brigham Young and the practice of plural marriage.  In early days, the members of this church were called Josephites, since they followed Joseph Smith III instead of Brigham Young.  Later, they were to be known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Today the official name of the RLDS Church is the Community of Christ. 

The RLDS wanted to have a base of operations far away enough from Salt Lake City to avoid persecution, but near enough to the Mormons to allow missionary work among them.^[134]  In September of 1866, the Reorganized Church held a Conference in Malad.  During the Conference, a district of the Church was organized, conceivably to facilitate missionary work that the Church was doing among the Mormon settlers.  John Lewis was upheld as the Branch President for Malad.  Another man present, J.W. Gillen, was a prominent missionary of the RLDS Church.^[135]   

Rees and Mary Thomas were early converts of the Reorganized LDS Missionaries.  Mary was baptized on 26 May, 1866 in Malad by William Thomas.^{[136] [137]}  Rees was baptized by J.W. Gillen and John Lewis. ^[138]  No date is given for the baptism of Rees, but he may have been baptized during the Conference in September of 1866.^[139] 

It is not known exactly why Rees and most of his family followed the RLDS missionaries rather than remain members of the Utah Mormon Church.  There were strong negative feelings between the two competing Churches.  Their conversion must have caused a rift in the friendship between Benjamin Thomas and Rees Thomas.  Rees and Mary had sacrificed much in leaving their Welsh homes and families to follow Mormon Teachings.

 

A common concern of non-members and some members of the Church was the Mormon practice of polygamy.  It is possible that the Welsh converts may not have heard of the practice until they traveled to the Salt Lake Valley.  After reaching the Valley, Dan Jones and Benjamin Thomas had both taken polygamous wives.  There is no sign that Rees and Mary ever accepted the practice. 

The RLDS Church rejected the practice of polygamy.  Joining the RLDS Church gave converts a chance to continue to follow the prophet Joseph Smith and study the Book of Mormon without the stigma of polygamy.  The highly publicized Mountain Meadows Massacre in 1857 was also an issue among the anti-Mormon teachers in the outlying settlements of the Church.  The subsequent failure to punish most of the perpetrators of the massacre left many blaming Brigham Young.  Perhaps Rees and Mary simply felt more comfortable with the Welsh-speaking RLDS missionaries and their message about Joseph Smith III.  At any rate, much of the Rees Thomas family and their descendents were to remain members of the Reorganized Church for the rest of their lives.  That Rees and Mary were devoted to the memory of Joseph Smith is illustrated by their choice of names for the two youngest children, Joseph and Emma. 

During their time in Malad, in about 1875, Mary Thomas, the twin of Margaret, died.  I would assume that she was buried in the “new cemetery” which is near the intersection of fifth north and Highway 91.  She could also have been buried somewhere near the Thomas home.  No grave marker is known to exist.    

In 1875, the family was comprised of ten individuals.  Rees Evans Thomas, the oldest son, had married Elizabeth Wilkes sometime between 1870 and 1875.^[140]  They were to live for most of their lives in Malad.  Sarah had married a Welshman, Isaac Rees Price, in 1870.^[141]  She was 16 years old at the time of her marriage.  She and her husband would continue ranching in Avon, Montana, after the death of Rees and Mary Thomas.  Besides the marriages, two children had been born to Rees and Mary.  They were Arthur, born 29 August, 1872 and Emma Etta, born 9 August, 1874.  Both children were born in Malad. 

On July 10, 1873, Rees Powell made application for United States Citizenship.  He swore an affidavit before Judge M. E. Hollister, who served in the District Court for Oneida County, Idaho Territory.  In the papers, which were witnessed by E.J. Davis and John Lewis, Rees swore allegiance to the constitution of the United States and renounced his allegiance to Queen Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland.  By so doing, he was pronounced by the judge a citizen of the United States of America. 

Rees was to become a participant in local politics and a member of the Republican Party.^[142]  As a Republican, he was going against the political sentiment that most of the Utah Mormons shared.  The large majority of Mormons were members of the Democrat party.  A prominent Democrat and candidate for the Presidency, Stephen A. Douglas, had defended the Mormons after their expulsion from Missouri.  Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln had forcefully expressed his party’s platform that polygamy must be abolished.  The post-war Congress was hesitant to admit Utah as a State because of its heavy preference for the Democrat Party.^[143]  Many Welsh emigrants were strong critics of slavery, which of course, Lincoln had vowed to eradicate.^[144] 

Sometime before 1879, a boy was born to Rees and Mary Thomas.  His name was Joseph Llewellyn Thomas, and he was born in Malad.  He died young, almost certainly before age 8, and was buried in Butte, Montana.^[145] 

The 1880 Federal Census taken in Malad, Oneida County, shows the growth of the Thomas families.  By now, there were ten members of the family living at home.  Thomas was the oldest son living at home, with his occupation listed as teamster.  The other children at home were Maggie, Esther, Abigail, Alexander, Arthur, Emma and Joseph.  Rees, age 63, was listed as a farmer.  Son Ephraim had married Margaret Naomi Thomas in 1877, and is listed on the census as having two children.  Son Rees is also listed on the census with wife Lizzy and one child.  Isaac Price and Sarah Ann Thomas Price had moved to Montana shortly after their marriage in Malad in 1870.  Isaac worked hauling supplies to miners in Blackfoot City and Lolo Forks.  Eventually, Isaac and Sarah Price would settle in Snowshoe, only a few miles from Avon, Montana, where they would ranch and raise a substantial family.^[146] 

In 1883, Margaret, the fifth child, married David Morgan Jones in Malad.  Except for a brief interval from the early 1890’s to 1900, the Jones family lived in or around Malad.  During the interval mentioned, they lived around Avon, Montana.

Move to Montana

In 1884 the family moved to Butte, Montana.^[147]  Although it is not known exactly why they moved or what their occupation was to be in Montana, we can make a few educated guesses as to their motives. 

For the first ten years or so, Malad farmers were prosperous.  Meat, milk and farm produce sold well.  Shipping of produce was easy with the stage lines running daily to the railhead in Corrine.  A two-story hotel and a Mormon tabernacle were built in Malad.  With the change in county seat, a courthouse was erected.  A new school was built to accommodate the growing student body. 

By the mid 1870’s, most of the desirable land in the Malad valley had been taken.  There were vast tracts of unclaimed land, however, the land below or near running water was gone.  During the 1870’s, infestations of grasshoppers and Mormon crickets had devastated crops.  The insects became so ubiquitous that vegetable crops were nearly impossible to grow.  Land became a near worthless commodity.  Often, men in farming families were forced to work elsewhere to make ends meet.  Some worked at freighting or caring for passengers on the overland stage.  Some worked on the many railroad-building projects in the area.  Many sought seasonal work in the mines in Butte, Montana.^[148]  Copper had been discovered near Butte in 1876.  Butte quickly grew from 300 people in 1876 to 23,000 people in 1890 as miners were employed there. 

Almost certainly, the main factor besides crop failures in their decision to move was the completion of the railroad.  A railroad spur to Corrine had been built after the driving of the golden spike at Promontory.  Corrine became the hub for farmers shipping to the East and West Coasts.  With the insect infestations, many farmers deserted their land and went to work freighting between Corrine and points north. 

Before 1879, the overland stage continued to travel through Malad on a daily basis. Going through Malad provided easy access from the Overland Trail to the Oregon Trail near Eagle Rock, known today as Idaho Falls.  Much capital had been invested in the various routes leading through Malad on roads and bridges.^[149]  After the Northern Utah railroad was built from Corrine, Utah to Butte, Montana in 1879, the stage no longer passed through Malad.  In fact, there was not a railroad spur built to Malad until 1906. Local residents who had been employed in freighting and providing hospitality for travelers were no longer able to do so.  The local economy of Malad collapsed as money from travelers and stagecoach freight bypassed the area.  This forced the residents of Malad to rely more heavily on risky agriculture for their support and income.  

Finally, perhaps the family felt pressures from the residents of Malad because of their decision to join the RLDS Church.  The religious divide between Josephites and Utah Mormons became deeper and more acrimonious.  Rees and Mary surely encountered prejudice, persecution and fewer work opportunities in the predominantly Mormon community. 

After two years in Butte working as a teamster, Rees moved his family to the Warm Springs Creek area north of Deer Lodge, Montana.^[150]  Deer Lodge is known among LDS historians as the place where many of the Morrisites, a millennium-seeking apostate Mormon group, had settled in the late 1860’s. The Morrisites had also lived in Soda Springs, Idaho and had been active in the anti-Mormon politics of Oneida County. 

After another two years, Rees moved on to Avon, Montana.  Avon is a small town located about 30 miles west of Helena and about 24 miles north of Deer Lodge.  It lies near the Little Blackfoot River in a scenic and beautiful canyon.  Hay fields and meadows with distant mountain ranges frame every vista.  The word “avon” is Welsh, and translated, means river.

In 1886, the Thomas family moved to a site about five miles northwest of Avon. Thomas E. Thomas, after having worked as a freighter and a miner, homesteaded 160 acres.  Two of his brothers did the same on adjacent land, and the brothers formed a cooperative ranching effort.  By the early 1900’s, this ranch was referred to as the “old Thomas place”. ^[151]   The house sits in a small valley surrounded by rolling hills.  The grass grows very green in the valley and surely provides good feed for the cattle.  Snowfall can be very deep in the winter.  Rees P. and Mary Evans Thomas moved on to the ranch with several of their children. 

Rees Powell Thomas died on July 19th, 1892, aged in his mid-seventies.  He is buried in the Hillcrest cemetery in Deer Lodge.  In the death notice found in The Silver State, a local Deer Lodge newspaper, there are scant details about the cause of demise for Rees.  I do not know the cause of death or circumstances surrounding his death.  I can speculate, however, that he may have possibly suffered a stroke before his death.  On a photograph sent to my mother by the Price family of Avon, Montana, an elderly Rees Thomas seems to have a mild facial paralysis on the right side of his face.  His funeral was conducted by a Reverend Tabor.  I believe that Reverend Tabor was a minister for the Reorganized LDS Church. 

An obituary was published in The Saints Herald, the official paper for the Reorganized Church.  In it, Rees is referred to as “Brother Reese P. Thomas …a devoted Christian and a noble man…”^[152]  It is apparent that Rees was an active, faithful member of the Reorganized Church until his demise. 

Mary Thomas was to live more than fourteen years after Rees had died.  According to her obituary, she died of heart and lung problems that had troubled her for several years at age 75.  She lived during that time with her son Thomas on the ranch.  She died on February 26, 1907.  Her funeral was held at the RLDS Church in Deer Lodge.  A funeral sermon was preached by Elder Isaac M. Smith.  Her obituary, published in The Saint’s Herald, describes her home as “a home for the Elders…”.  The article continues “and many of them, no doubt, will remember her.  She is a faithful follower of the Lord, and will be missed by all who knew her.”^[153]  She is buried next to Rees at the Hillcrest cemetery in Deer Lodge.  Rees would have seen four of his children buried during his lifetime, Mary five.

Hillcrest cemetery is a peaceful place overlooking the town of Deer Lodge and the scenic Clark Fork River valley below.  While we visited there, we noticed that the local residents have the custom of leaving offerings on the grave markers.  In some cases, there was a bottle of beer or wine, sometimes open, more often not.  Also common was the habit of leaving a single bullet on the grave marker.  I noticed no such offerings on the graves of members of the Thomas family. 

The Extended Family

Rees Powell Thomas’s sister Margaret apparently did not stay for any extended period in the Salt Lake Valley.  She is said to have married a man named Albert Davis or Davies in some sources,^[154] however, it appears that her husband’s name was actually Edward Davis.^[155]  They apparently moved on to California and settled in Orange County.  She later married Richard Chapman.  A Richard Chapman is found on the Foreign-born voters list of 1872 in California.^[156]  He was born about 1834 in England.  Margaret died in 1890, and is said to be buried at the Old Fairhaven Cemetery in Santa Ana California.^[157] 

I will now give a brief synopsis of what I know of the children of Rees and Mary Thomas.

Rees Evans Thomas, my progenitor, married Elizabeth Wilkes and settled in Malad, Idaho.  He worked as an itinerate carpenter and laborer.  In response to an inquiry, an attorney named J.T. (Josh) Evans from Idaho Falls sent several letters to my father.  Evans had worked with Rees as a carpenter employed by Mr. Evans’ father.  He describes Rees as a hard worker and interesting conversationalist.  He said that Rees had no regrets in life except that he had failed to homestead early when good land was available.  He describes him as non-religious, although definitely “not a Josephite”.^[158]  Rees did eventually homestead and built a small home north of Malad on highway 191.^[159]  He had ten children, eight of whom lived into adulthood.  Rees died in 1913 and is buried in Malad.  The funeral for Rees E. was held in an LDS Chapel.  Lizzy Wilkes Thomas died in 1928 in Malad. 

Sarah Ann Thomas married Isaac Price and settled in the Snowshoe area just east of Avon, Montana.   Isaac Price was a Welsh-born emigrant from Monmouth.  He came to the United States in 1855 with his parents at the age of nine.  His family settled in the Payson area South of Salt Lake City, Utah.  After the father of his family was killed in an accident, the family moved to Malad, Idaho.  Isaac was initially employed in Montana in freighting supplies to miners in Lolo Forks and Blackfoot City.  Later he turned to farming and ranching in the Snowshoe Valley.  He was one of the original founders of the public school in Snowshoe.  Later his sons Henry and John were members of the Snowshoe Livestock Company.  Isaac and Sarah Price had nine children, seven of whom lived to adulthood.  The Price family is a prominent and respected family to the present day in Powell County.  Several years ago, while visiting the Powell County fair, my wife and I noticed several entries from young members of the Price family.  To the best of my knowledge, the Price family still owns and works on the ranch homesteaded by the Thomas brothers near Avon.   Also to the best of my knowledge, members of the Price family belong to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Sarah Thomas Price died in May of 1889, and Isaac Price died in September of 1892.  Both are buried in the Hillcrest Cemetery in Deer Lodge, Montana. ^[160]

Ephraim Thomas married Margaret Naomi Thomas and lived in Malad, Idaho.  In the 1880 Census, he was listed as being employed at the Sawmill.  In his brother’s biography, Ephraim was called “a sheep man from Malad”.^[161]  Ephraim and Margaret had seven children, six of whom lived into adulthood.  I do not know whether they were active in any religion nor the circumstances of where they lived or in what they were employed.  One of their children was said to be a member of the Reorganized LDS Church in correspondence, however, another child raised his family in the LDS faith.  Margaret died in March of 1924, and Ephraim died in February of 1929.  Both are buried in the Malad City Cemetery. 

Thomas E. Thomas was unmarried.  He apparently worked from a young age in the freighting business with his brothers Ephraim and Rees.  At the age of 16, he was employed by Benjamin Franklin White to haul Salt from the Oneida Salt works in Idaho to Phillipsburg, Montana.  White was the second county clerk of Oneida County, and over a period of ten years put together a ruling party which leaned decidedly anti-Mormon.^[162]  White would later serve as the last appointed territorial governor of Montana.^[163]  Thomas grew fond of the Montana countryside especially near Avon while employed in the freighting business.  In 1889, at the age of 31, he homesteaded 160 acres northwest of Avon.  Two of his brothers’ also homesteaded adjacent properties and this later become known as the “old Thomas place”.  They prospered on the ranch, at one time owning 150 head of cattle and 30 horses.  When his parents were aging, Thomas took them into his home.  It was here that both Rees P. and Mary Thomas died.  Thomas died in February of 1931 and was buried near his parents in the Hillcrest cemetery in Deer Lodge.  An example of a working cattle ranch from that period still survives near Deer Lodge, Montana.  It is operated and owned by the U.S. National Park system. 

Mary Thomas was the twin of Margaret.  She died in early adolescence in about 1875 at about the age of 14.  She is buried in Malad, Idaho.

Margaret Thomas married David Morgan Jones.  Jones was descended from parents born in Carmarthenshire and Glamorganshire and was the cousin of Rees E. Thomas’s wife Elizabeth Wilkes.  They apparently met and married in Malad, Idaho.  They had eight children, seven of whom survived into adulthood.  They lived in Montana near members of the extended Thomas family from about 1890 to 1900.  They returned to Malad, Idaho where several descendants live today. David was a farmer in Malad.  I do not know whether they were actively involved in any religion.  One of their children, Alex, was married to a Montana girl and settled in Avon.  David Jones died in 1907 and Margaret Jones died in 1934.  I believe that both are buried in the Malad City cemetery. 

An apparently unnamed male child was born to Rees and Mary Thomas in 1863.  The child was probably buried in Corrine or Box Elder, Utah. 

Esther or Etta Thomas was unmarried.  She lived on the Ranch with her brother Thomas and their parents.  I know very little about her life, employment etc.  She died in January of 1944 and is buried near her parents. 

Rachel Abigail Thomas (Abigail) married Patrick Henry Meagher in Montana in 1884.  They lived on a “large place” in Racetrack, Montana.  The ranch was said to include a mile square of deeded property.  Racetrack is located about 11 miles south of Deer Lodge.  It was named for the one-mile horse racing track that was located there.  The track is said to be one of the three oldest venues surviving in the United States.  Meagher was a miner and rancher.  Patrick and Abigail Meagher had eight children, all of whom, so far as I know, survived into adulthood.  Patrick Meagher died in May of 1915 and Abigail Meagher died in July of 1924.  She was described in her obituary as a “prominent member of this valley…”  They are buried in the Meagher family plot in Hillcrest cemetery in Deer Lodge Montana.  Abigail Meagher had a funeral at the Immaculate Conception Church, so I assume that the family was Catholic.

Alexander Andrew Thomas was unmarried.  He homesteaded near his brother Thomas’s place near Avon.  He died at the age of 28 from pneumonia.  He is buried near his parents in the Hillcrest cemetery in Deer Lodge.^[164]

 

Arthur Thomas married Laura Beck in Montana in 1914.  She was the daughter of the Lars and Mary Beck family from Racetrack, Montana.  Laura was employed as a school teacher in Snowshoe, where she taught members of the Price family.  After their marriage, they lived on a homestead near Avon adjacent to the Thomas Thomas ranch.  In 1916, Arthur was elected to a six-year term as a Powell County Commissioner as the Republican candidate.  He owned, at one time, a ranch of 800 acres with full water rights.  The ranch was said to be one of the best in Powell County.  They had one child who survived into adulthood.  Laura Beck Thomas died in August of 1929 and Arthur died in October of 1949.  His funeral was conducted by an Elder Joe Beck at the RLDS Chapel.  Both are buried in the Hillcrest cemetery in Deer Lodge. ^[165]

Emma Etta Thomas married Frank Liebsch in 1897.  Liebsch was a cattle buyer from Helena.  They lived in Elliston, Montana until 1902 and in Helena, Montana after that.  They had one child who survived into adulthood.  Emma Thomas died in April of 1955 and Frank Liebsch died in 1968. ^{[166] [167]}

Joseph Llewellyn Thomas was born about 1878 and died about 1885 while the family lived near Butte, Montana.  I presume that he is buried near Butte, Montana. 

^[1] See Churchill, Winston S., A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, (New York, 1957), V. I and II, and Davies, John, Hanes Cymru (A History of Wales), (London: The Penguin Press, 1993).

^[2] Murphy, Nathan W., Welsh Origins of Reese Powell Thomas, published on the website www.welshmormonhistory.org, site accessed in Feb., 2007.

^[3] Maps.live.com, driving directions on line, site accessed in June, 2007.

^[4] Murphy,  Welsh Origins,  www.welshmormonhistory.org.

^[5] International Genealogical Index, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, published on the website www.familySearch.org, site accessed in June, 2007.

^[6] Murphy, Welsh Origins,  www.welshmormonhistory.org.

^[7] According to an English representative of the Coldwell family, one of the Thomas daughters most likely moved to England for a short time, perhaps as an indentured servant.  While there, she may have married a Mr. Coldwell, or even had a child without the benefit of marriage.  The child was then placed with the Thomas family in Wales, at least during the period of the census.  (Personal correspondence with Professor John Coldwell, of England, in possession of the author, dated December 2007).

^[8] Family History Library, Salt Lake City, British records section, 1841 Census, film # 0464307.  Census is for County Carmarthen, Hundred Cathinog, Registrars district Llandilofawr.  The entry is:

Thomas Thomas, M, age 46, profession Woodward, Sarah do (ditto), F, age 48, Mary do, F, age 25, Rees do, M, age 23.  All are said to have born in the same county (Carmarthen).

^[9] The surname Coldwell is not to be found in census records of the area.  The surname could possibly be Caldwell, of which a few examples are found, or the man could have been from another area of the British Empire, perhaps a soldier, merchant, etc.

^[10] Lloyd, Megan, “To Speak Welsh”, Nonsense and Subversion in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, part 1, North American Journal of Welsh Studies, Vol. II, 2 (summer 2002), 7-9, as found on http://spruce.flint.umich.edu/~ellisjs/Lloyd.PDF, site accessed in August, 2007.

^[11] As examples of the differing years listed as his birth year, RLDS records list the birth year as both 1819 and 1817.  His grave marker states that he was age 78 at the time of his death in 1892.  This would make his birth year 1814.

^[12] Early Church Information File, Family History Library film # 1750720, Rees Thomas.

^[13] Personal correspondence with David Leslie Davies, in possession of the author, dated December of 2007.

^[14] Davies, John, Hanes Cymru (A History of Wales), (London: The Penguin Press, 1993), 319.

^[15] Morris, John, “Coal and Steel”, Wales through the Ages, vol. II, Editor A.J. Roderick, (Swansea: Christopher Davies Publishers, Ltd., 1975), 181.

^[16] Stout, Thomas, Montana: Its Story and Biography…, Vol. II, (American Historical Society, Chicago and New York, 1921), 507.

^[17] Williams, David, Rural Wales in the Nineteenth Century, Wales Through the Ages, Vol. II, Editor A.J. Roderick, (Swansea: Christopher Davies Publishers Ltd., 1975), 147-150.

^[18] Ibid, 149.

^[19] Conway, Alan, Welsh Emigration in the Nineteenth Century, Wales Through the Ages, Vol. II, Editor A.J. Roderick, (Swansea: Christopher Davies Publishers Ltd., 1975), 155.

^[20] Williams, Peter N., The Long Struggle for Identity, The Story of Wales and Its People, chapter 31, as found on brittania.com/Wales, site accessed in August of 2007.

^[21] Signers of the Declaration of Independence, Francis Lewis, as found on www.ushistory.org, site accessed October, 2007.

^[22] Murphy,  Welsh Origins.

^[23] Lewis, Stephen, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, from the article Llanvihangel-Ar-Arth or Yeroth, as found on www.british-history.ac.uk/report, site accessed in June of 2007.

^[24] Ibid.

^[25] Murphy,  Welsh Origins

^[26] Thomas, Canon Patrick, Early History of St. Michaels Church Llanfihangel Rhos-y-Corn, published on the website www.cothi-churches.org.uk, site accessed in February of 2007.

^[27] Ibid.

^[28] Lewis, Stephen, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, From the article Llanmihangel-Rhosycorn, (Llanfihangel-Rhos-Y-Corn), as found on www.british-history.ac.uk/report, site accessed in June of 2007.

^[29] Dennis, Ronald D., The Call of Zion, (Brigham Young University Press, Provo,1987), 1, also may be accessed via the link found at welshmormonhistory.org.

^[30] Jones, Dan, Translation of Conversion Account, as found on welshmormonhistory.org, site accessed in September of 2007.

^[31] Personal communication with Dr. Ronald Dennis, in possession of the author, August of 2007.

^[32] Ibid.

^[33] Jones, Dan with an introduction by Ronald D. Dennis, The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith and His Brother Hyrum, published on the website welshmormonhistory.org , site accessed in June of 2007.

^[34] Ibid.

^[35] Ibid.

^[36] Dennis, Ronald, The Welsh and the Gospel, published on welshmormonhistory.org, site accessed in January, 2008.   

^[37] Hinckley, Gordon B., The Thing of Most Worth, Ensign, September, (1993), 2-3.

^[38] Dennis, Ronald, William Howells: First Missionary to France, as found on welshmormonhistory.org, site accessed August of 2007.

^[39] Dennis, Welsh and the Gospel.

^[40] Captain Dan Jones 1845-1848, mormonhistory.org, site accessed in February 2008.

^[41] McDonald, Stephan Rich, Thomas Evans Jeremy, as published on the website, welshmormonhistory.org, site accessed in August of 2007.

^[42] Murphy,  Welsh Origins.

^[43] Brechfa Branch records, 1846-1875, Family History Library, film #104167.

^[44] Jeremy, David, Record of the Brechfa and Llanybyther Branches… , LDS Family History Library microfilm #0599525.

^[45] Ibid.

^[46] Ibid.

^[47] Dennis, Welsh and the Gospel.

^[48] Dennis, Call of Zion, 6-7.

^[49] Murphy, Welsh Origins.

^[50] Both Esther and David were listed as having been excommunicated on the Brechfa Branch record.  On the combined records of Brechfa and Llanybydder, only Esther is listed as having been excommunicated.  Interestingly, they lived near a man named Methusalem Rees, a baptized member who later was excommunicated. 

^[51] Household of Thomas Thomas, British Census 1851, Llanfihangel Rhos-y-Corn parish, Household #47, Tyr Cae, Family History Library film #104243.

^[52] Murphy, Welsh Origins.

^[53] Dennis, Call of Zion, 1-31.

^[54] Ashton, M. J., Theirs is the Kingdom, (Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, 1945), 281.

^[55] Dennis, Call of Zion, 5-12.

^[56] Benjamin Thomas was born in Llanfinhangel-ar-Arth in February of 1820.  He married two women and had a large family. He settled in Malad, Idaho, where he served as a counselor in the first two Mormon Bishoprics in Malad.  He died in Malad in August of 1887.  See welshmormonhistory.org, Thomas, Benjamin-biography, by Sara Belle Thomas, site accessed in July 2007.

^[57] Buena Vista List obtained from the private papers of Dr. Ronald Dennis.  The list is also published in the Book, The Call of Zion.

^[58] Ibid.

^[59] Dennis, Call of Zion, 108.

^[60] On the website, measuringworth.com, the amount of work required to earn 3 pounds sterling in 1849 would be roughly equal to the amount of work required to earn 2060 pounds by an unskilled laborer in England in 2005.  In America in 2005, this would be equal to about $4000.

^[61] Dennis, Call of Zion, 16-17.

^[62] Ibid, 168-169, Letter from Thomas Jeremy to the Editor of Udgorn Seion

^[63] Ibid, 169-170.

^[64] Ibid, 146-168.  Letter from Dan Jones to the Editor of Udgorn Seion.

^[65] Ibid,  20-23.

^[66] Conway, Alan, Welsh Emigration 155.

^[67] Dennis, Call of Zion, 25-29.

^[68] Ibid, 37-38.

^[69] Ibid, 39.

^[70] Ibid, 38-39.

^[71] According to historical sources, the ship was captained by Mark Atchison.  (Is this the same Captain Atchison who helped Dan Jones escape?)  In the journal of Isaac Nash, however, he specifically states that the captain of the ship was a Mr. Scott.  (See A Brief History of my Life, by Isaac Nash, as published on the website welshmormonhistory.org, site accessed in September of 2007.

^[72] Dennis, Call of Zion, 41.

^[73] Nash, Isaac, A Brief History of my Life, as published on the website welshmormonhistory.org, site accessed in September of 2007.

^[74] Dennis, Call of Zion, 41-42, 108.

^[75] Ibid, 42-46.

^[76] Ibid, 46-47.

^[77] The Martin and Willey Handcart companies lost 210 of 980 (21.4%) emigrants to death on the trip. The Buena Vista and Hartley groups lost 67 of 326 (20.5%) emigrants.

^[78] Text of the speech can be found on the internet, www.whitehouse.gov/mrscheney/news/20030505.html, site accessed in April of 2007.

^[79] Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel 1847-1868, as published on www.lds.org ,site accessed in July of 2007.

^[80] Dennis, Call of Zion, 60.

^[81] Tullidge, Edward W., Bathsheba Smith Autobiography in the book The Women of Mormondom, (1877), 342-43, as found on www.lds.org in the pioneer database, site accessed November of 2007.

^[82] Dennis, Call of Zion, 51-62.

^[83] Smith, George A. and Ezra T. Benson, Letter from G.A. Smith and E.T. Benson, Frontier Guardian, 19 September, 1849, 2., as found on www.lds.org, site accessed July, 2007.

^[84] Ibid.

^[85] Robert Berrett Sr. was born in Wiltshire in 1795.  (LDS IGI), site accessed in December of 2007.

^[86] Appleby, William, Autobiography and Journal, 1848-1856, as found on www.lds.org in the pioneer database, site accessed November of 2007.

^[87]Clark, Isaac, Isaac Clark Journal, as found on www.lds.org in the pioneer database, site accessed November of 2007.

^[88] Ibid.

^[89] Ibid.

^[90] Smith, Lucy Meserve, Papers of Lucy Meserve Smith, 28-37, as found on www.lds.org in the pioneer database, site accessed in November of 2007.

^[91] Dennis, Call of Zion,  63-64.

^[92] Nash,  Brief History.

^[93] Born Isaac Bartlett Nash Davies, Nash was adopted by his grandfather.  He was trained as a blacksmith in Kidwelly, Carmarthen.  During the trip over the Plains, he and Dan Jones clashed a number of times, most emphatically over romantic interest shown by Jones for a married woman, Elizabeth Lewis.  Jones was also married at the time, and his wife was on the trip.  While still in Wales, Nash had been persuaded to trick Mr. Lewis into allowing his wife to sell property and emigrate with the Mormons.  In return, Elizabeth Lewis paid for the passage of Nash and his family to Salt Lake City as well as for others in the party.  Nash felt that Jones was ignoring his own wife and new-born child.  They also had arguments over building equipment and whether Jones’ wife should ride in a wagon with the Nash family. Nash later was called to be the Stake Patriarch for the Oneida, Idaho area.  He served prison time in Boise for being a polygamist.   

^[94] Nash, Brief History.

^[95] Dennis, Call of Zion  64-65.

^[96] Early Church Information File, Film #’s 1750675 and 1750720.

^[97] Dennis, Call of Zion, p 68.

^[98] IGI,  www.familysearch.org.

^[99] Huchel, Frederick M., A History of Box Elder County, (Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1999),  65.

^[100] Manti, Utah Centennial Committee, Song of a Century, 1849-1949, (Provo, Utah Community Press, 1978), 31.

^[101] Dennis, Ronald, Captain Dan Jones and the Welsh Indians, welshmormonhistory.org, site accessed in July, 2007.

^[102] Song of a Century, 26.

^[103]Lewis, David Rich, Utah History Encyclopedia, Ute Indians, as found on historytogo.utah.gov, site accessed in November of 2007.

^[104] Record of Members, 1849-1877, LDS Church Records, Family History Library, film #0026129.

^[105] Early Church Information File, film # 1750720, Mary Thomas. 

^[106] In the Arthur Thomas history by Stout, her birth year is given as 1835.  (See Stout, Thomas, Montana: Its Story and Biography…)

^[107] IGI, www.familysearch.org.

^[108] Genuki files, Pencarreg: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/CMN/Pencarreg/index.html, site accessed in June of 2007.

^[109] 1850 Federal census, Sanpete County, Utah Territory, as found on www.rootsweb.com/~cenfiles/ut/sanpete/1850/pg112b.txt, site accessed in June of 2007.

^[110] Thomas, Sara Belle, Benjamin Thomas, Biographies of Pioneers of Malad Valley, (The Idaho Enterprise, 1954)

^[111] Fife, Vera and Petersen, Chloe, Directory…Early Brigham City, Box Elder, …, (Utah Genealogical Association, 1976), Family History Library film #1036726, item 14, p.7.  Author’s note:  I am not completely confidant that Benjamin and Susannah moved to Box Elder until much later, perhaps 1855. 

^[112] Ibid, 17.

^[113] Ibid, 8.

^[114] Ibid, 19.

^[115] Huchel, Frederick M., A History of Box Elder County, (Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1999),  88-100.

^[116] Ibid,  77-78.

^[117] Record of Members, LDS, blessings of children, Family History Library #0026129.

^[118] Copies of the two blessings were obtained from the LDS Church archives.  Since the blessings are of a personal nature, and little personal information about Rees or Mary is contained in them, I did not include the complete contents of the blessings here. 

^[119] 1860 Federal Census, Box Elder County, Utah, page 189, as found on

www.us-census.org/pub/usgenweb/census/ut/boxelder/1860/pg00521.txt, site accessed in June of 2007.

^[120]Baxter, Robert, Early Freighting in Cache Valley, as found on www.mendonutah_utah_history/an_early_history_of_cache_county/65.htm, site accessed in March of 2007.

^[121] Personal correspondence to Bertha Thomas from Katherine Price of Avon, Montana, 1977, in possession of the author. 

^[122] B.F. White made a commercial venture of the salt works in 1866.  The salt water flows naturally from springs in a valley south of Eagle Rock.  The salt water was boiled in galvanized pans and then dried in sheds for several months.  After packaging, the salt was shipped out to many points.  At one time, White was said to employ 300 teams of wagons with nine teams of oxen and three wagons each.  In 1880, the salt works produced about 1.5 million pounds of salt.  See Our Western Empire, or the New West Beyond the Mississippi by Linus Pierpoint Brockett, 789-790. 

^[123] 1860 Federal Census, Box Elder County, Utah, page 197, as found on

www.us-census.org/pub/usgenweb/census/ut/boxelder/1860/pg00521.txt, site accessed in June of 2007.

^[124] Price, Anella J., Malad Village, (circa 1937), published on welshmormonhistory.org, site accessed in January 2008.

^[125] Legends and Stories of Malad and Oneida County, as found on http://www.maladidaho.org/legends.htm, site accessed in May of 2007.

^[126] Crump, Blaine and Marianne, Malad Valley History: Early settlers of Malad Valley, (Malad Welsh Society, Malad, Idaho, 2006),  32.

^[127] Price, Malad Village.

^[128] French, Hiram T., History of Idaho, Vol. I, (Lewis Publishing Co., New York and Chicago, 1914), 151-153.

^[129] Price, Malad Village.

^[130] 1870 Federal Census, Oneida County, Idaho Territory, page 27, as found on ftp://ftp.us-census.org/pub/usgenweb/census/id/oneida/1870/pg00025.txt, site accessed in June of 2007.

^[131] French, History of Idaho,  153.

^[132] Price, Malad Village.

^[133] Ibid, 151-152.

^[134] Crump,  Malad Valley History,  35.

^[135] History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Vol. 3, Chap 23 (1866), 447, as found on http://www.centerplace.org/history/ch/v3ch23.htm, site accessed in November of 2007.

^[136] Black, Susan Easton, Early Members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,  (Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1993)Vol. IV, 800.                   

^[137] William W. Thomas may have been a relative or friend of Rees Thomas.  He came from the same area of Wales, traveled to Utah in 1853, was baptized RLDS in Malad in 1865, and died in Deer Lodge in 1879.

^[138] Black, Early Members,  Vol. IV,  pages 800 and 804.

^[139] History of the RLDS, Vol. 3, Chap 23  447.

^[140] The marriage date had by the Thomas family records is January 1, 1870.  I cannot find any official record for the marriage.  In fact, the 1870 census, taken in August of 1870, shows Rees E. at home with his parents.  No 1870 census entry is found for the Wilkes family in Malad.  Lizzie Wilkes would have been barely 14 years old in 1870.  No children were born to the couple until 1876.  Therefore, I place the marriage at closer to 1875 than 1870.

^[141] IGI,  www.familySearch.org.

^[142] Stout,  Montana: Its Story Vol. II, 507.

^[143] Sullivan, Amy, Leap of Faith,  The New Republic Online, posted January 10, 2005, http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=express&s=sullivan011005,  site accessed July, 2007.

^[144] Conway, Welsh Emigration, Vol. II, 159.

^[145] Personal correspondence from Mrs. Katherine Price of Avon, Montana to Bertha Thomas, circa 1975, in possession of the author.

^[146] Potratz, Millie, Our Neighborhood, Avon and Powell County, (1977), 430-456.

^[147] The Obituary of Mrs. Mary Thomas, Probably from the Anaconda Standard, or The Silver State, February, 1907.

^[148] French,  History of Idaho, Vol. I, 153.

^[149] Crump, Early settlers of Malad Valley, 30-50.

^[150] Death notice of Reece P. Thomas, from The Silver State, 27 July, 1892, found at the William K. Kohrs Memorial Library, Deer Lodge, Montana.

^[151] Potratz, Our Neighborhood, 488.

^[152] The Saint’s Herald, V. 39, p. 660, Family History Library, film #1994833.

^[153] The Saint’s Herald, V. 53, p. 34 dated April 17, 1907, Family History Library film #2020538.

^[154] Progressive Men of Montana, (A.W. Bowen and Company, Chicago, 1901), 1837-38.

^[155] IGI,  www.familysearch.org.

^[156] Faulkinbury, Jim W., The Foreign-born Voters of California in 1872, jwfgenresearch.com, site accessed January, 2008.

^[157] Ibid.

^[158] Personal correspondence from J. T. Evans of Evans and Co., Law Office and Accounting, to Ephraim Moon Thomas, dated May 1, 1958 and July 9, 1958, in possession of the author.

^[159] Highway 191 no longer runs through Malad.  At one time, Main Street in Malad was Highway 191.  Now the old highway runs roughly parallel to I-15.

^[160] Potratz, Our Neighborhood ,  430.

^[161] Stout,  Montana: Its Story Vol. II, 507.

^[162] Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series, Number 335, Early Oneida County, (Boise, Idaho, 1971), as found on www.idahohistory.net , site accessed October, 2007.

^[163] B. F. White was the second county clerk of Oneida County.  He was involved in the interests representing the various toll roads, railroad sites, and stage roads running through Oneida County.  He was caught between the Morrisites in Soda Springs, Mormon and RLDS interests in Malad and the increasingly anti-Mormon legislature in Boise.  By 1874, White’s party was known as the Independent Anti-Mormon party, and they controlled the county until 1880 when they were defeated by other interests.  The anti-Mormon sentiment did not go away.  Oneida County was reshaped and pared down until the Mormons no longer had any control over local politics.  Beginning in 1885 and continuing for eight years, Mormons were not allowed to hold public office, vote, or serve on a jury.  White made his way to Montana, where he worked on organizing the county commissioners.  He was appointed Territorial Governor in 1889, and served for less than one year. 

^[164] Potratz, OurNeighborhood , 489.

^[165] Ibid,  488-489.

^[166] Ibid,  489.

^[167] Personal correspondence from Katherine Price of Avon, Montana to Bertha Thomas of Caldwell, Idaho, dated circa 1975, in possession of the author.

Appendix

i.  The authors are related to Rees Powell Thomas in the following way:  Rees Powell Thomas married Mary Evans and had Rees Evans Thomas.  Rees Evans Thomas married Elizabeth Wilkes and had Benjamin Franklin Thomas.  Benjamin Franklin Thomas married Rachel Orilla Moon and had Ephraim Moon Thomas.  Ephraim Moon Thomas married Bertha Stoddard and had David Ephraim Thomas.  Jeffrey Rees Thomas is the son of David Ephraim Thomas and Kerry Vincent.  He recently named his newborn son Rees. 

ii.  David Ephraim Thomas is a dentist, and lives in Caldwell, Idaho.  Jeffrey Rees Thomas is a student at the University of Minnesota. 

iii.  Photographs follow of the Rees P. Thomas family.  Photo one is of Rees Powell Thomas.  Photo two is of Mary  Ellen Evans Thomas.  Photo three is of the old Thomas place.  Photo four is of Alex, Etta, and Emma Thomas, Lewis and Alice Davis, and Frank Leibsch.  Photo five is of Ephraim and Margaret Thomas.  Photo six is of Thomas E Thomas.