History
of Morgan David
Morgan David was born 3
March 1804 at Llanelly, Carmathenshire, South Wales. He
was the son of Thomas and Mary Johnson. Old Thomas was a collier and
lived all his days in Llanelly. The
David family consisted of Morgan the eldest son, John, William, Henry, Nancy
and Margaret. A daughter Elizabeth died in 1847, she
was married to William Rosser. Two other daughters, Ann and
Catherine, died as children.
Morgan married
Elizabeth Bowen, the daughter of old William Bowen the blacksmith and his wife
Mary Griffith Bowen. There were six daughters born to this
marriage. They were Mary, Elizabeth, Ann, Hanna, Emma, and
Rachel.
In 1847, Morgan David
and his family joined (the) Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Morgan
was baptized 26 May 1847. They continued living at Llanelly until 1849 when they began preparations to
leave for America.
On 14 February
1849, Morgan David with his family and many other families from areas in South
Wales left Veonovoil __________ and Llanelly for Swansea. The following
families were with them: Samuel Leichand
family, Daniel Leich and family, Morgan
David and family, and David D. Bowen and family. David D. Bowen was
married to Mary David 25 December 1845, they
had two children, Morgan and Ann.
They all lodged in Swansea that
night in the same public house. About 9 a.m. they went
aboard the “Troubador” and sailed for Liverpool. There
were about 500 Saints under the Presidency of Elder Dan Jones. All the
passengers with few exceptions were very sick. At Liverpool they
were counseled by Elder Orson Pratt to move to the music hall for the
night.
All the group
went on board the “Buena Vista” but were told to move to another ship “James
Hartley.”
They lived on board
the ship for three weeks while it made ready to sail. Then on 8
March 1849 they were towed out to sea and set sail for America. After
a voyage of seven weeks and five days, they landed inNew
Orleans. The passengers were English, Scotch (sic), and a few Irish
and 71 Welsh. They stayed in New Orleans for two days then
sailed up the Mississippi by steamboat to St. Louis.
While on the river,
Cholera broke out among the passengers and before they reached St. Louis,
60 had died. On the morning they landed, Morgan David’s wife
Elizabeth was stricken with cholera. Ann, Rachel and Mary were also
sick. David D. Bowen took Elizabeth and his wife, Mary, to the
charity hospital. When they went to the hospital the next morning, Elizabeth had
died and was buried.
Leaving his family on
the boat, Morgan David and his son-in-law went out to seek a place to live and
find work. They went to a place called Dry Hill, six miles from St.
Louis where there were coal mines and a branch of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints. John Gibbs was the presiding Elder.
Thomas Green and
William Stone brought a team and helped Morgan David and his son-in-law move
their families and possessions to Dry Hill. There were ten in number
and three were very sick. Morgan David bought a little cabin for
fifteen dollars and all the family had improved in health except Mary the
eldest daughter and wife of David D. Bowen. She departed this life on
the 23 May 1849 at the age of 24 years. She left her
husband and two small children, Morgan and Ann. Then in a few days
little Ann, nine months old, died and was buried in the county graveyard six
miles from St. Louis.
Morgan David took his
little grandson to live with him and his five daughters while David Bowen
looked for work. John Hughes, Pres. on the ship came from the Bluffs
to work. The Morgan David family in 1850 were residing
at a place called Gravis _____.
David D. Bowen then
married Phoebe Evans at Council Bluffs 13 May 1850. Now he
could take care of his little boy.
About this time, there
came a great many Welsh Saints to St. Louis under John Morris. In
1851, Morgan’s daughter Ann married David Harris, and their first child Elizabeth was
born in St. Louis.
Early in the spring,
they started making preparations to leave for Utah. On the 6
April 1852, they camped a few miles from St. Louis. They camped
on the banks of the Missouri River. The trip was rough and
hard. They crossed the river and headed for Council Bluffs. They
spent ten weeks in Council Bluffs preparing for the long trip across
the plains. Apostle Ezra Taft Benson went to their camp and
organized as follows: Captain David Evans was Captain of the first ten and
his wagons were the first in the train. Morgan David’s family
traveled in the 13 company under Captain William Morgan. They
traveled each wagon in its place until they reached Fort Laramie. The Platte River was
very high and they lost many things in crossing.
After a long hard
journey, they reached the mouth of Emigration Canyon. They
stayed in Salt Lake (City) and went on to Spanish Fork (on) 1
October 1852. After a long journey of nearly three
months and a distance of 1011 miles.
Morgan David lived in
Spanish Fork the remainder of his life.
Then Ann
married. In turn each of Morgan David’s daughters married, Elizabeth married
William Thomas (endowed 1856), Hannah married Morgan Hughes 3 December
1853, Emma married Alfred Reese 14 August 1858, and Rachel married George
Chambers 5 December 1863.
Morgan David married a
widow, Martha Lloyd. He was a faithful member of the church and at
the time of his death, held the office of High Priest. He was
ordained a High Priest 4 November 1855 in Salt Lake Cityby David Pettigreu, and
on 6 November 1855 he received his endowments in the Endowment House
at Salt Lake (City).
He died the 12
September 1888 in Spanish Fork and is buried in Spanish Fork City cemetery.
