Ann Daniels Ellis
Ann Daniels was born Oct. 27, 1830 in Abergwilly, Carmarthen, Wales, the second daughter and child of 12 children born to John Daniels and Ann Thomas Daniels. She was baptized Jan. 23, 1831, in the Parish Church at Bwlchyronen. She died Mar. 8 1893 in Small, Clark County, Idaho, and was buried in Smithfield, Cache County, Utah.
Ann's family was known to be fun-loving. As Episcopalians, they sang and danced, unlike their more austere Puritan countrymen who were dissenters from the Church of England. In 1849, Ann was converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), as was her sister Hannah.
Thomas Job, Hannah's husband, left for America and Utah before his wife, taking one daughter, Eliza, with him. Hannah, remaining behind, lost an infant daughter also named Anne, to illness. Ann and Hannah, dissatisfied, moved from their parents' home, taking employment. Their uncle, Daniel Daniels, talked Hannah into making the passage to America and so she and her remaining daughter, Mary, decided to emigrate in 1856. Again, Ann went with her. They secured passage through the Perpetual Emigration Fund, getting a loan for their voyage from the church by agreeing to repay it so that the money could, in turn, be lent to others. Preparing to leave, they spent six days at a cost of one shilling and sixpence a day per person in a six-storied building in Liverpool. The ship, the S. Curling, departed April 19, 1856. Before they passed the Isle of Angelsey, according to reports, nearly everyone aboard the ship was seasick. En route across the Atlantic Ocean, which landed in Boston May 23, 1856, Ann undoubtedly met John Francis Ellis, also a passenger, but from North Wales. The company was under the direction of Elder Dan Jones, a returning missionary.
In 1855, Brigham Young, president of the Mormon faith, pressured by curch financial problems, instructed that the "poor saints" coming from Liverpool to the United States and taking the train to Iowa City should "walk and draw their luggage" overland to Utah. Ann and Hannah likely embarked with the third handcart company under Edward L. Bunker. Ann's name is not on the roster, however, and one family story has it that she remained behind in Iowa as a cook, coming across in 1857. In either case, the trip was 1,300 miles from Iowa City to Salt Lake City. It was long, arduous, and dangerous. By 1859 she was in Salt Lake.
A carpenter, John likely remained in Iowa to help with the handcart construction, not crossing the plains until the last group. He commenced his journey on Sept. 2, 1856, with the John H. Hunt and Hodgett wagon train. They followed the Martin and Willie handcart companies which had to be rescued from disastrous early blizzards in Wyoming. Since the rescuers used the wagons to transport survivors, their belongings were unloaded at Devil's Gate, a Wyoming fort. Twenty men under another Dan Jones, Daniel W. Jones, including John F. Ellis, were delegated to stay and guard the possessions on November 20, 1856. They nearly starved that winter, but by April 15, 1857, John reached Utah.
John and Ann were married by Elder Joseph L. Heywood on Oct. 26, 1859, in Salt Lake City. By that date, he was living in Farmington, Utah, according to the Deseret News marriage notice, and she was living in Salt Lake. Family traditon says he worked on the Salt Lake Temple, possibly to repay his debt to the Perpetual Emigration Fund. He is also reputed to have worked at Fort Douglas. They are documented at the Endowment House in 1859 and 1865. The couple was sealed or remarried under the LDS covenant, April 29, 1865. Their first six children are listed as being born in Salt Lake City: John Daniels Sept. 29, 1860; Margaret Ann Feb. 10, 1862; Hannah Ann Jan. 29, 1864; Ellen J. (Nell) Oct. 7, 1866; Lewis W. April 7, 1868; and Elias Daniels (Ted) May 27, 1870. Owen F. Aug. 10, 1871/72, and Laura E., born Feb. 4, 1874 were born in Malad City, Oneida County, Idaho. Some uncertainty about the birth places exists. By February 22, 1870, John Francis was involved in an ecclesiastical court proceeding over the ownership of a heifer with Mary Ann Swanner in Smithfield, Cache County, Utah. Possibly Ted (Elias) was born in or near Smithfield if the family were in residence there.
By 1873-74 the family shows up on the Malad City church records and is listed there in the 1880 census. On April 9, 1883, Ann saw her husband set apart to serve an LDS mission back to Wales. Laura, the youngest, would have been nine years old. J.D. the eldest, was already freighting to Virginia City, Montwana by then, according to the 1880 census. According to the custom of the time, the wife and children would have to be self-supporting during his absence, a great trial for Ann. He returned April 9, 1884, on the SS Nevada.
By her death on March 8, 1893, Ann and her husband had joined their homestading sons at Small, near Dubois, in Clark County, Idaho. The family returned her body to Smithfield, Utah, to be buried by her sister, Hannah, as they supposed. Hannah, however, had moved to Mink Creek, Idaho, where she is buried. Lacking funds to re-transport the body, Ann was buried in Smithfield, where her husband was buried ten years later. Her son, Owen, was buried nearby in 1905, and her daughter Ellen, called Nell, is also buried there.
Bibliography
Brimley, Bliss J., The Book of Thomas Job, 1988, n.p.,
Ellis, M. Eugene, Ellis Family History, Watertown, NY: Storey House, 1982.
Waring, Leila Ellis, family and genealogical records, Smoot, Wyoming.
submitted by Jerry Cowley
