GOMER HUGHES
Gomer Hughes was born 28 July 1846 at Georgetown,
a suburb of Merthyr Tydfil,
Glamorganshire, Wales,
the son of James and Margaret Jones Hughes. He had four brothers and three
sisters as follows, named in the order of their births: Maria, Taliesin, Mary
who died in Wales when a small child, Mathew, Lewis, Daniel, all born in
Glamorganshire, Wales, and Sarah Ann born at Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Near or
about 1850 the Hughes family was contacted by the Mormon Missionaries and
converted to this faith. Evidently, soon after becoming converted, they were
imbued with a desire to gather to the headquarters of the Church in America.
Acting on their desire, they with many others started on this journey, leaving Wales,
their native land, in 1855 for their destination in the Valleys of the Rocky
Mountains. Father was nine years old at this time.
On Tuesday 17
April, 1855, the sailing ship Chimborazo
left Liverpool, England
for America.
Among the passengers was the Hughes family. After a pleasant and successful
voyage the Chimborazo
arrived in the mouth of the Delaware River on the 18th
of May, being on the ocean thirty-one days. On the 22 May the ship anchored at Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. Some of the immigrants
continued on to St. Louis by way of
Pittsburgh, but James Hughes and
his family went to Pottsville, Pennsylvania
where the father secured employment. At this place Sarah Ann, the last child,
was born. A short time later the family moved to Illinois, just a few miles
east of St. Louis at Caseyville, St. Clair County, where the father secured
work running an engine at a coal mine. September
5, 1858, the wife and mother died and was
buried on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River
near Caseyville, Illinois.
Daniel Jones and Mary Williams Jones, the parents of
Margaret Jones Hughes, apparently crossed the plains before 1859. Soon after
Margaret's death William Jones, Margaret's brother, returned to Caseyville,
Illinois to bring the family to Utah.
With the consent of James Hughes he brought the children across the plains in a
company of Saints in charge of Captain Horton D. Haight
in August, 1859. A record of their arrival was printed in the Deseret News of Wednesday,
August 24, 1859, page 197. Taliesin Hughes' name was recorded; we
know that all members of the family were in that train. Maria, being the eldest
of the family, acted as mother to them. The youngest, Sarah Ann, was under
three years of age. The father, James Hughes, did not accompany the family to Utah,
but remained in Illinois working
and was to follow later. Instead of coming to Utah
he returned to Wales,
his native land, where he marrIed a widow by the name
of Margaret Jenkins. So the children never saw their father again. Shortly
after the arrival of the Hughes children in Salt Lake City
they were taken to Willard, Utah
by their uncle, William Jones, with whom they lived for a few years. Sometime
in the early sixties the family moved from Willard to Logan,
Utah, which became their home for a number
of years. My father herded sheep for a man named Harding when he was thirteen
years old.
The Journal of National Guard records states that Gomer Hughes was enlisted in the National Guard to protect
settlers in Cache County
against the Indians. The name of Gomer Hughes, 6th
Private in Company D, lst Platoon, appears. The
equipment was listed as one horse, one saddle, one rifle, one
revolver, one pound of powder and four pounds of lead. The military
organization was known as the "Cache County Brigade." The men
enlisted were issued orders to assemble for inspection and drill, 9th, 10th,
and llth of November, 1865. The home of the Hughes
family at Logan, Utah,
was on the west side of town, on or near Center Street
not far from the Union Pacific Depot. In the late 60's, thinking most of the
best land was taken, he decided to make Malad Valley
his permanent home.
During the time Gomer Hughes
lived at Logan, he became
acquainted with Jane Roberts. After the usual time of courtship, they were
married in the Salt Lake Endowment House 3 March 1872, he being 26 and his
bride 22 years old. After their wedding Gomer took
his bride and returned to Malad
Valley to live. On the west side of
this beautiful valley, where all the Hughes brothers decided to make their
homes, a small settlement was formed which they named Samaria.
The name was undoubtedly taken from the Bible. The small Malad River
flowed south emptying into Bear River near Garland,
Utah. Many small streams from the mountains
and springs from the valley flowed into the river. On both sides of the Malad River
there is a strip of land which is covered with wild meadow grass which afforded
the early settlers with an abundance of pasture for their livestock in the
summer and an ample supply of hay for winter.
I can remember my father saying many times that when he
first moved to Malad Valley the grass grew everywhere
up to his waist line. The table land, or the land between the meadow and the
foothills, consisted of a deep dark loam covered with a thick growth of
sagebrush. It often grew as tall as an ordinary man and six to eight inches in
diameter at the butt. It took four or six good horses to plow the land in order
to clear it from sagebrush and get it ready for planting. It took considerable
hard labor to clear an acre of this brush land and prepare it for seeding. It
was not uncommon to have the women go into the fields to help the men with this
work. My mother, Jane, worked right along with my father in pulling, burning
sagebrush and driving the team.
Gomer Hughes filed his
Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the United
States of America November 18, 1873, and received his certificate
of naturalization 28 November, 1891.
The first home Gomer provided for his bride was made
of logs cut and hauled from the nearby canyons. Each log was hewed and fitted
to space and further made tight with a plaster of clay. The climate in Malad Valley
was quite arid. The rainfall was about fourteen inches each year. In order to
grow crops successfully it was necessary to supplement the rain and snowfall
with irrigation. The next step was to get permission from the state of Idaho
for a right of water in a natural spring. Gomer
Hughes was one of the men to help with this. There was a large spring of water
about fifteen miles north of Samaria.
This was the water they filed on and then built canals to bring it to their
fields. With Gomer's help a company was formed, stock
issued, and men paid for it by building canals. This helped the new settlers as
they had very little money. After the canal was finished, no more stock was
issued. Gomer Hughes was very active in all of this
work, being one of the large stockholders in the company. For several years he
was a director of the company. He was also secretary and treasurer of the
company.
My father, Gomer Hughes, was a
devoted Latter-day Saint. He attended church regularly, paid a full tithing,
always offered the Bishop his donation both in money and labor. He was always
willing to work in any way that he could help out. He was very retiring and
never took part in the praying and preaching at church. He never criticized a
church leader, and always upheld his Bishop and other Ward leaders. He was
honest in all his dealings with all mankind and good to his neighbors. He was
never at ease until all his debts were paid. One could say his word was as good
as his bond. He had a host of friends, was always welcome and warmly greeted
wherever he went. One thing I remember about my father was that he taught us
never to waste food or clothing. He knew what it was to go without many things
that make life pleasant today.
Father and mother sold their farm in Samaria
to their sons David and Daniel, and moved back to Logan
and bought a home. In Logan father
raised a garden, milked cows, and raised chickens. He sold vegetables, milk and
eggs to his neighbors. He also made one trip a day to the depot with his horse
and buggy and hauled the mail and packages to the post office.
He was the father of nine children, seven sons and two
daughters. All grew to adult age except one, Thomas W., who died at the age of
four years. The others all married, each rearing a family. The children are as
follows: David, Daniel, James R., Gomer, Margaret,
Robert, Thomas William who died at the age of three,
Catherine, and Roland.
Gomer Hughes died at Logan,
Utah 13 March 1923 at the age of 76 and was buried at Samaria.
At the close of his life he had a posterity of six
sons, two daughters, forty-one grandchildren and one great grandchild.
- Robert R. Hughes, Son
