Philip Pugsley Will and Probate, Funeral

The Pugsley Family originally lived in the Nineteenth Ward, but on March 31, 1889, the western part of the ward became the Twenty-second Ward, and that's where Philip attended church until his death on August 7, 1903. Here are a few notes on the people in the Philip Pugsley funeral. The list reads like a "Who's Who" of Salt Lake City.

Presiding: Alfred Solomon. Solomon (1836-1921) was a British convert. He came to the United States in 1857. He was first involved in boot and shoe manufacturing, then later in the wholesale and retail business as Solomon Brothers. He served for a time as chief of police. He was called as bishop of the Twenty-second Ward when it was formed in 1889 and was still bishop at the time he presided at Philip Pugsley's funeral.

Speaker: Philip Margetts. Margetts (1829-1914) was a noted actor in Utah and the brother of Philip Pugsley's deceased business partner, Richard B. Margetts.

Speaker: James Sharp. Sharp (1843-1904) was a Scottish immigrant and the mayor of Salt Lake City from 1884 to 1886. He was the son of the "Railroad Bishop of Utah," John Sharp.

Speaker: Bishop George Romney. This is long-time Salt Lake City resident George Romney (1831-1920) and not George S. Romney of the political Romney family. Bishop George Romney was a well-known business man, church worker, and was active in politics.

Speaker: Elder John Henry Smith. Smith (1848-1911) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Speaker: Angus M. Cannon. Angus Cannon (1834-1915) was the Stake President at the time of the funeral. His name is familiar as the appellant in the Supreme Court case Cannon v. United States.

Speaker: Bishop Solomon (see above.)

Soloist: Lizzie Thomas Edward. Mary Elizabeth Thomas Edward (1866-1936), a Welsh convert, was a beloved singer and was frequently found providing musical selections at funerals. She left the next month to study music in the East.

Opening Prayer: N. V. Jones. Nathaniel Vary Jones, Jr. (1850-1921) was a lawyer. He was married to a Barlow, so the two families were somehow connected.

Closing Prayer: A. Milton Musser. Musser (1830-1909) was a banker and involved in the development of the railroad in Utah and was involved in many church and community activities. In 1902 he was appointed as assistant church historian.

Philip Pugsley Will and Probate, Funeral

...And, the funeral...

Philip Pugsley Will and Probate, Obituary

Before Philip Pugsley's will could be probated, he had to die, which he did on August 7, 1903. Here is the notice of his death in the Deseret Evening News. More on this topic on subsequent days...

Deseret Evening News. (Salt Lake City, Utah), August 07, 1903, Last Edition, p. 2.

Philip Pugsley Will and Probate, Part 4

As we start the final part of the case, the Court is still discussing Sawyer’s Heirs v. Sawyer. Even if you are not too interested in the Pugsley case, the next to the last paragraph is still worth reading ("In this case, as appears from the record..."). During the next week, we will look at the coverage of the case in the newspaper and then look at the case in its historical context.

Mr. Justice Redfield, delivering the opinion of the court, said: “The exceptions claimed in the present case are, first, on the ground of the pension which the widow obtained, as such, upon the decease of her husband. This is not different, in principle, from her being possessed of ability to maintain herself in any other mode, so as not to require assistance from the estate. And indeed the general ability of the appellee, or the widow in this case, from her living with her father, and the wealth of the family, and the very great improbability of his making any personal claim against his daughter for her board, was also alluded to in the argument, and is stated in the case, and seems to us to come fairly under consideration in the same connection. But we are not prepared to say that any such exception can fairly be ingrafted upon the statute. If it had been the purpose of the Legislature to allow maintenance only in the case of such widow [sic] and children as were without the means of subsistence in any other mode, it is difficult to conjecture how it occurred that the provision should have been expressed in the general and unlimited manner it here is. It is incomprehensible that, if the provision were intended only for the indigent and necessitous, it should have been made general. It is at all events, sufficient for us that, the provision being general, it must be allowed to have a general application.” 1 Woerner, Am. Law Adm. 77-83, 87, 88; Griesemer v. Boyer & Rex, 13 Wash. 171, 43 Pac. 17; In re Welch's Estate, 106 Cal. 427, 39 Pac. 805; Strawn v. Strawn, 53 Ill. 263; Cheney v. Cheney, 73 Ga. 66; Brown v. Hodgdon, 31 Me. 65.

     In this case, as appears from the record, the widow is about 75 years old, and all the children and legatees are over the age of maturity—the oldest one being about 51 years old—and there is nothing to show that they are not all able to support themselves. The appraised value of the estate is over $50,000—savings of a lifetime, which this aged wife and mother assisted in accumulating, doubtless in the hope of having ample in her old days for her support and maintenance. Under the will, however, this wife of more than half a century found the provision for her so meager that she chose to renounce it and rely upon the mercy of the law of inheritance, and, as a result, received, the respondents say, for her portion, real estate of the value of $4,200; and when, in addition to this paltry sum, the aged wife and mother comes into court and asks for but a reasonable allowance out of her own savings for her support during administration, she is met with resistance, on legal technicalities without merit, and a refusal. There seems to be nothing in the record to justify this. In our judgment, this is a case in which the circumstances warrant a liberal allowance for the support of the widow during the whole time of administration.

     The judgment is reversed, with costs, and the cause remanded, with directions to the court below to set aside the order refusing an allowance, and proceed in accordance herewith. It is so ordered.

BASKIN, C. J., and McCARTY, J. concur.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Thank you to a reader for sending the actual legal citation for this case:

In re Pugsley’s Estate, 76 P. 560, 27 Utah 489 (Utah Sup. Ct., 1904)

And this is my source for the case, although it is also available in other collections:

The Pacific Reporter, Vol. 76 pp 560-63. (1904.)

Philip Pugsley Will and Probate, Part 3

The language of the first part of this last provision is express and mandatory; that of the latter part, discretionary. Upon proper application therefor [sic], some allowance must be granted as of absolute right; but the amount thereof rests within the sound discretion of the court, and is not subject to interference by the appellate court, except in case of a clear abuse of discretion. The period for which an allowance must be granted, under this statute, is “during administration” of the estate. In fixing the amount of the allowance, the ages of the survivor or survivors, their health, their social position and standing, the education of the children, the value of the estate, and its solvency or insolvency, are proper subjects for consideration; but the court has no right to refuse an allowance altogether, and thereby make the support of the family out of the estate, while administration continues, depend upon conditions which the Legislature did not see fit to impose. “In determining,” says Judge Woerner, “the amount necessary for such purpose, regard may be had to the state of the health, age, and habits of the widow, the number and age of the children immediately dependent upon her, as well as the value of the estate, and of her dower and distributive share therein. It may also be considered whether or not she is accustomed to hard labor, and thus enabled to support herself, or if, by reason of ill health or other circumstances, she is unable to do so. A smaller amount will be proper in the former case than that which may be necessary in the latter. When the statute fixes the time for the duration of which the allowance is to be made, it must, of course, be sufficient to secure the reasonable comfort of the family during the whole of such period, if used with ordinary prudence and economy. If the estate is large, apparently solvent, and the allowance merely an anticipation of the widow's distributive share, a more liberal allowance will be justified than where it is small or insolvent; and what would be a reasonable allowance for one accustomed to privation and labor might be very unreasonable for one raised in affluence.” 1 Woerner, Am. Law Adm. § 79.

In the case of In re Lux, 100 Cal. 593, 35 Pac. 341, the Supreme Court of California, after holding, in reference to a similar provision of statute for family allowance, that “its language is express and mandatory,” said: “The allowance is to be sufficient to provide all the necessaries of life, and this will include all those things which are reasonable and proper for use in the home and in social intercourse, in view of the condition and value of the estate and the station and surroundings of the family.” The question here presented was before the Supreme Court of Vermont in Sawyer’s Heirs v. Sawyer, 28 Vt. 245. There the statute provided that “the widow and children constituting the family of the deceased, shall have such reasonable allowance out of the personal estate, as the probate court shall judge necessary for their maintenance during the progress of the settlement of the estate, according to their circumstances.” It was urged that the widow was not entitled to an allowance, because since her husband’s death she was in receipt of a pension from the United States, and was living with her father, who was a man of wealth, and made no charge against her for support. The court held that the financial ability of the widow to support herself without aid from the estate was immaterial, that the statute was one of general application, and that the probate court had a discretion only as to the amount of the allowance, and could not refuse it altogether.

To be continued...

Part 1

Part 2

Philip Pugsley Will and Probate, Part 2

The appellant insists that this action of the court was erroneous, and, in support of her contention, relies upon section 3846, Rev. St. 1898, which, upon the subject of “Family Support,” provides: “When a person dies leaving a surviving wife or husband or minor children, they shall be entitled to remain in possession of the homestead and to the use of the property exempt from execution until otherwise directed by the court; and during administration shall receive such allowance out of the estate as the court may deem necessary and reasonable for their support. Such allowance may date from the death of the decedent, and in insolvent estates shall not continue for longer than one year after the granting of letters, and must be paid in preference to all other charges except expenses of the funeral and of administration.” It is contended for the appellant that, under this statute, the widow has an absolute right to a family allowance during the administration of the estate of her deceased husband, notwithstanding that a portion of the real estate was set apart to her as her share of the estate. The respondents insist that the setting apart and acceptance by the widow of such portion, she having renounced her rights under the will, is a waiver and bar to any subsequent allowance to her out of the estate, and that the purpose of family allowance is to provide for the “present support” of the widow or children until such time as the court may set apart to her her distributive share in the estate. We think the contention of the appellant is well taken and that the position of the respondents is not sound. We are not disposed to adopt such a narrow and rigid construction of the statute as is insisted upon by them—a construction so utterly at variance with the spirit of legislative liberality so manifest from the context. The construction insisted upon would do violence alike to the spirit and terms of the statute. The ground upon which this contention is based, that the widow has received her share of the real estate of the deceased, is not materially different in principle from that of instances where it is insisted that the widow is not entitled to family allowance because she has abundant means of her own for her support. The statute was not enacted merely for the purpose of providing properly for indigent widows and children during the administration of their decedents’ estates, but for all persons mentioned therein, regardless of their ability to provide for themselves out of their own private property. Such statutes, like homestead and exemption laws, are enacted because of a benevolent and humane consideration of the helpless condition and distress of families occasioned by the death of those who had furnished their support and protection, and they must be construed with the same spirit of liberality that prompted their enactment. By the enactment of such laws the Legislature under a wise public policy, seeks to guard and protect the family, which constitutes the foundation of the state itself, during the trying period of affliction and need caused by the death of the one who directed the family affairs. The statute under consideration, as will be seen by an examination of it, does not make dependence on an allowance a prerequisite to such an allowance. It grants to the surviving wife or husband or children who may constitute the family of the deceased the use of the homestead and property exempt from execution until the court shall otherwise direct, and then provides that during administration they “shall receive such allowance out of the estate as the court may deem necessary and reasonable for their support.”

To be continued…

Part 1

Philip Pugsley Will and Probate, Part 1

(27 Utah, 489)

In re PUGSLEY'S ESTATE.

(Supreme Court of Utah. April 20, 1904.)

DECEDENT'S ESTATE—DISTRIBUTION—ALLOWANCE FOR SUPPORT.

     1. Rev. St. 1898, § 3846, provides that when a person dies, leaving a surviving wife, she shall be entitled to possession of the homestead and to use the property exempt from execution till otherwise directed, and during administration shall receive such allowance out of the estate as the court may deem reasonable and necessary for her support. Held that, though a portion of the real estate of a decedent is set aside to the widow as her share of the estate, she has an absolute right to the allowance during administration; the amount being a matter in the court's discretion.

     2. In fixing the amount of the allowance for support during administration of the estate of a decedent, the age of the survivor or survivors, their health, social position, and standing, the education of the children, the value of the estate, and its solvency or insolvency, should be taken into consideration. 

     Appeal from District Court, Salt Lake County; W. C. Hall, Judge.

     Proceedings in the matter of the estate of Philip Pugsley, deceased. From an order refusing an allowance for support during administration, Martha Pugsley appeals. Reversed.

     Chas. W. Boyd, for appellant. Wilson & Smith, for executors. N. V. Jones, for objectors.

     BARTCH, J.   This appeal is from an order of the district court, sitting as a court of probate, denying and dismissing the petitions of the appellant, Martha Pugsley, widow of Philip Pugsley, deceased, for family allowance pending the administration of the estate. It appears from the record that Philip Pugsley died testate August 7, 1903, in Salt Lake City, leaving his wife, the appellant, a number of children, and Clarissa Ames Pugsley, his plural wife, who are his heirs and legatees, surviving him. The inventory and appraisement of the decedent's property showed real estate of the value of $16,700 and personal property of the value of $34,415.81. His will, which was duly admitted to probate, made certain bequests—among others, directing his executors, who were to hold his property in trust, to pay his wife, the appellant, $50 per month during her natural life, from the time of his death, and to his plural wife $40 per month, and, if a surplus of income remained each year after payment of taxes, expenses, etc., to divide one-half of such surplus between his wife and plural wife, in the same proportion as the monthly payments. The appellant elected to renounce the provisions of the will, and on September 25, 1903, filed a petition for a partition of the real estate of which the testator died seised; asking that one-third of the real estate be segregated and assigned to her. Thereupon commissioners were appointed, who on October 20, 1903, reported to the court the apportioning and setting over to the appellant of certain real estate, appraised at $4,200. This report was confirmed November 26, 1903. Before any real estate was apportioned and set over to her, the appellant filed her petition for family allowance of $80 per month for maintenance and support. To this petition the plural wife and her children filed an answer, protesting against the granting of a family allowance to the appellant. The hearing upon the issues thus raised was on October 9th set for December 14, 1903, and on the same day the court made an allowance to the widow of $50 in gross, pending the hearing. On November 18th the widow filed another petition for a further temporary allowance of $300 pending the hearing of the first petition, which was also objected to, and at the final hearing both the petitions were denied and dismissed.

To be continued...

Scandinavian Genealogy—Mormon Emigrants

The website "The Journey is the Reward" has information about the 19th-century immigration of the Scandinavian members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some of the information is also useful for emigrants of other nationalities.

The author of the website has provided a free PDF download of the 700+ page book The Journey is the Reward: Tracing Scandinavian Latter-day Saints from the Scandinavian Mission (1852-1881).

Download the Table of Contents here.

Download the book here.

Some of the contents:

• Research suggestions
• Ship registers
• Ship descriptions
• Diaries
• A history of the church in Scandinavia
• Notes on life in Utah for the emigrants

 A typical account of a ship's voyage is represented here by an excerpt from Charles R. Savage's account of the voyage of the John J. Boyd (December 1855-February 1856). The John J. Boyd was carrying over 500 Mormon emigrants.

About midway on our passage we fell in with the clipper ship “Louis Napoleon,” from Baltimore to Liverpool, laden with flour, with all her masts and spars carried away and leeward bulwarks stove in; upon nearing the ship we found her in a sinking condition. The captain and crew desired to be taken off, which was done. This acquisition was of great advantage to us as the bad weather, sickness and exhaustion from overwork had made quite a gap in our complement of sailors. We had much sickness on Board from the breaking out of the measles, which caused many death) among the Danish, chiefly among the children. In the English and Italian companies we lost three children. The weather got worse after crossing the Banks, so much so, that we were driven into the Gulf Stream three times, and many of our sailors were frost-bitten. Our captain got superstitious on account of the long passage and ordered that there should be no singing on board; the mate said that all ships that had preachers on board were always sure of a bad passage; however, the Lord heard our prayers, and in his own due time we arrived at our destination. On the evening of the 15th of February we were safely anchored, having been 66 days out from Liverpool.

Our supply of water was almost exhausted. We had on our arrival only about one day’s water on board. The provisions were very good and proved abundant to the last. On our taking the pilot on board he informed us that there had been many disasters during the months of January and February; many ships had been wrecked. We had made the passage without the loss of a single spar.

 If you are doing Mormon Scandinavian emigrant research, remember the sites:

• Mormon Migration (ships' registers and accounts)
• Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel (pioneer companies)
• The Journey is the Reward (mentioned above)
• Family Search Research Guides (look under the topics Denmark, Danish, Sweden, etc.)
• Cyndi's List (index of research resources)

The picture of the William Tapscott is from www.xmission.com/~nelsonb/ship_desc.htm.

Linton Morgan at Work

Morgan cousin Chris sent some more wonderful family photos. To begin, here is one of Linton Morgan at his work.

Chris also sent a note about the location:

I found the place that was once Richard Linton Morgan's realty business in Oakland CA, on Google Maps, at the corner of Telegraph & 42nd. They've added a brick facade, but the [scroll] trim bit at the right of the top of the door matches, and so do the 2 vertical windows and chimney on the 2 tone house behind, across the street. The white house with the stairs is gone now.

Son John Waldo "Jack" Morgan in uniform.

Another photo of Linton's wife Eudora.

Thank you for the photos, Chris!


A Brief Biographical Note

Linton was the oldest son of John Morgan and his third wife Mary Ann Linton Morgan. John Morgan died when Linton was three, his brother Harold two, and youngest son Mathias was six weeks old. Mary Ann moved with the three boys to live with her parents in Nephi, Utah. When Lin was twelve years old, his mother remarried David King Udall and moved to the St. Johns, Arizona, area where he and his two younger brothers were raised among the many sons of the Udall family.

Linton Morgan attended Brigham Young High School in Provo, Utah. He graduated in 1912.

When Lin was about 20 years old, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he attended Georgetown University and later George Washington Law School. When he was 26, he married 22 year old Eudora Eggertsen in the Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. She graduated from Brigham Young High School in 1913, the year after Linton.

After his schooling, as explained in his obituary, he took a job with the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., and in 1920 was sent to Vallejo, California, as head of the U.S. Housing Administration there. When he left that position, he practiced law in Nevada and then returned to California where he established a real estate sales business.

Linton died in 1951 in Oakland. His wife Eudora died in 1982.

Richard Linton Morgan (1890-1952) and Eudora Eggertsen Morgan (1894-1982)

Cousin Chris W. sent these photos of the Linton Morgan family. Thanks, Chris! It is always very enjoyable to "meet" cousins, and I always appreciate contributions to the family record.

You can see a photo and history of Linton Morgan here.

Eudora Eggertsen Morgan. 

Eudora was born in 1894 in Provo, Utah. Her parents were Simon Peter Eggertsen and Henrietta Patria Nielsen Eggertsen, both of Danish pioneer families.

A picture of Eudora around 1970.

Two of Linton and Eudora's children, Dixie Morgan Wise and John Waldo "Jack" Morgan.

Linton and Eudora's second daughter, Merline Morgan McCullough, on the left.

Linton Morgan's obituary.

David and Dixie Morgan Wise. There is certainly a marked family resemblance between first cousins Dixie and my grandmother Maxine.

The Pugsley Reunion

I can't identify any of the people in the photo (is that John standing at the right with the bow tie and moustache?) but I imagine the man sitting in the middle is supposed to be Philip Pugsley. See what you think...

"Lagoon 1940" from page 17 of John Wessman's scrapbook.

Clarissa Ames Pugsley

Clarissa Ames Pugsley
b. 16 December 1827  Shoreham, Addison, Vermont
m (1): 1843  Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois
m (2): 27 December 1850  Kanesville, Iowa
m (3): 24 August 1855  Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
d. 24 July 1910  Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
b. 27 July 1910  Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Father: Ira Ames
Mother: Charity Carter
Husbands: (1) Thomas Munjar, (2) John D. Williams, (3) Philip Pugsley

Clarissa Ames Pugsley, my mother, was born 16 December 1827 at Shoreham, Addison County, Vermont. Her father, Ira Ames, joined the Church in 1832, moving from place to place with the Saints. Her mother, Charity Carter, died from exposure caused through traveling when she was 12 years of age.

After the death of her mother, my mother went to live with Lydia K. Knight, who was the mother of Jesse Knight, taking care of the children while Mrs. Knight attended to her millinery shop.

Mother’s people were neighbors to the Prophet Joseph Smith in Kirtland, Ohio, and she was baptized at the age of 8 years in the Mississippi River in the month of December, the ice having to be broken for her baptism.

Her mother was a close companion to Emma Smith, the Prophet’s wife, who gave her a bead necklace which she had made herself.

The Prophet Joseph was also a close friend of grandfather Ames and spent many evenings at their home, my mother then being a child but remembered having sat on his knees many times.

Mother attended a school which was called the School of the Prophets, which convened at night, in which the Prophet Joseph was the teacher. At the age of 14 years she was taken ill, and having great faith in the gospel, went to her uncle Jared Carter for a blessing, not knowing he had left the Church, not being able to stand the persecutions.

In 1843, at the age of 16, she married Thomas Munjar, having one child. After the death of her baby she left him as he failed to provide a living, and she returned to her father’s home in Ohio.

In December 1850, she married John D. Williams, and in the following spring came with him to Utah, locating in the 19th Ward. Mr. Williams died in February of 1852, just two months before the birth of their son [Charles John Williams, 1852-1867]. In 1856, she married Philip Pugsley, who was my father. Like most pioneer mothers she could spin, card, weave, and knit. She belonged to the first Relief Society of the 19th Ward.

Mother and Father had four children (Sarah, Mary, Clarissa and George). Father died August 7, 1903 at the age of 81 years. Mother died July 24, 1910 at the age of 83, they having been married 48 years.

Clarissa Pugsley Barlow, "Pioneer Mother and Father"


Photo of Shoreham, Vermont, from www.flickr.com/photos/redjar/113906872/. Photo of Salt Lake City showing the area where the Pugsleys lived to the right of the photo from www.flickr.com/photos/edgarzuniga/3681272162/.

Wessman 15: Martha Roach Pugsley

Martha Roach Pugsley
b. 14 December 1829  North Curry, Somerset, England
chr. 10 Jan 1830  North Curry, Somerset, England
m. 28 June 1851  Bristol, Gloucester, England
d. 23 June 1906  Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
b. 25 June 1906  Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Father: John Roach
Mother: Mary Knapp
Husband: Philip Pugsley

Martha Roach was born December 14, 1829 in North Curry, Somersetshire, England. She was the daughter of John and Mary Knapp Roach. Her father died when she was thirteen years of age, leaving her mother with a family of five to provide for after his death, four girls and one boy. They moved to Bristol where the opportunities were better for making a living and her mother took in sewing. She must have had a good education for those times as I have heard mother say she wrote letters for all the neighbors, none of whom could write.

Mother went out to service and lived for some time at a young ladies’ boarding school. She told of going to a woman fortune teller at this time who almost foretold her life as it afterward occurred. She was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1850 by George Halliday and was married to father in Bristol, England, on June 28, 1851 by George Halliday who was the Presiding Elder of the Conference at that time. Her family was much opposed to the church, being very staunch Church of England people and her mother died soon after her daughter’s marriage. At this time she took her youngest sister to live with her and this arrangement lasted until she left Bristol for Utah.

In common with all who became members of the church, the spirit of gathering took possession of them. Mother was especially anxious to leave before they had much family, so they took three young men as lodgers in order to get the money with which to come. In April 1852 her first son was born and they left for Utah in April 1853 with the famous ten pound company, sent to this country by Apostle F.D. Richards.

They crossed the ocean in the ship Falcon commanded by Captain Bennet and arrived at New Orleans after a voyage of eight weeks. I have often heard Mother tell of the storm which they ran into before they left the English Channel and in which it looked as though they would be wrecked. She was sick all the way over.

The Ten Pound Company was made up of people who were able to pay their way here without any aid from the Church, the ten pounds referring to the money necessary to pay for the entire trip. At Keokuk a company was organized to start for Council Bluffs with wagons but before they got started it was found necessary to throw away about two thirds of their luggage and it was later found necessary to lighten up still more on the plank road opposite Nauvoo.

The company under the command of Captain John Gates started with ten in a wagon and all badly supplied with provisions. They arrived in Salt Lake City on the last day of September and camped on what is now the site of the West High School. At this time Father had ten cents in money, a wife, a son, and one small box which contained all their clothing. Mother had been very sick all the way over the plains with ague and fever and was still very ill when they arrived. They camped in a wagon box for a while and here was formed a friendship which lasted as long as she lived.

Sister Eliza Broadbent heard that there was a sick sister at the square and came up with a loaf of newly baked bread. To a woman who had been sick for months it was a Godsend and mother was the kind who never forgot a favor done for her.

They lived in a tent for several weeks until the snow got very deep and then moved into one room of an old house which looked as though it would fall in on them at any time. Money and provisions were very scarce but father managed to get a few beets which mother boiled down in a bake kettle, pressed the juice from them, and then made molasses. Father finally got work at the Ames tannery and with the first twenty-five cents he earned, bought a piece of leather which he traded for a shin bone of beef. This was boiled every day for two weeks until broth could no longer be made from it. For the first candle they had father scraped the fat from the inside of the hides and mother rendered it down until after several weeks of this, they had enough for a candle and borrowed a mold to make it in. You can easily imagine how precious this candle was so it was only lit in extreme cases. The fire on the hearth furnished most of the light at night.

I am the oldest daughter and was born on December 23, 1854 (Elizabeth Ann Pugsley). At that time they were living in a one room log house with dirt floors. It was a terribly stormy night and the wind blew the snow through the dirt roof. A quilt was tacked over the bed in an effort to keep that dry. Under these conditions her first daughter was born. Some time later father bought the house on Fourth North St. where nine more children were born.

The Philip and Martha Pugsley Family.

Front row (L-R): William, Martha, John, Philip, Philip

Back row (L-R): Elizabeth Ann, Emily, Joseph, Minnie, Adelaide

In 1858 Mother moved south with the rest of the Saints and lived in Springville until the trouble was over, Father remained in Salt Lake as a guard. In 1865 Father was sent to the Sandwich Islands by the church for the purpose of determining the advisability of starting a tannery there. The trip took six months.

At this time Father was running a tannery and a flour mill besides being interested in a butcher shop and several other industries. During the six months of his absence, mother attended to all the details of his business and directed the drying of hundreds of pounds of fruit which was later shipped to the mines in Montana and proved to be quite a source of income. Father returned in October and the following January mother’s second pair of twins were born after three days of labor and nearly at the expense of her life.

At the time of her death she had six children living, four daughters and two sons. She had suffered the loss of three sons, one fourteen years of age, one twenty-one and one thirty-one, also two infant daughters, so that in her life she had known many sorrows as well as joys. Father and Mother celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in June 1901 and Father died in August 1903. Mother died in June 1906 at the age of 76.

She was a very reserved woman having but few intimate friends but the respect of many. She never forgot old friends and was always generous to those in need. Even in her own time of need during the grasshopper war she never refused to share what she had with others. She had a strong sense of justice and always tried to see both sides of a question. A daughter-in-law who had lived in the family for forty-five years when questioned as to what could be said of her mother-in-law replied, “One of the best women that ever lived.” She never worked in any church organization her early years being occupied with the care of eleven children and her later life being devoted to the care of Father who was sorely afflicted with rheumatism.

I feel that her Patriarchal blessing was certainly fulfilled since it said that “Her children shall rise up and call her blessed and her name shall be handed down and revered by her posterity.”

Hayward, Elizabeth Ann Pugsley. “Biography of Martha Roach Pugsley.”

• • •

Deseret News, June 23, 1906, 2.

MRS. PUGSLEY DEAD

Mother-in-law of Mayor Thompson Passes to Rest after Useful Life

In another column of today’s issue of the Deseret News the serious illness of Mrs. Martha Roach Pugsley was announced. Subsequent to its having been written Mrs. Pugsley passed to her rest from general debility in the presence of her loved ones, who watched the gradual extinguishment of life’s last spark.

The deceased was in all respects a good woman. She loved to do good for good’s sake. And she did it without ostentation or show. Generosity was a part of her very nature. She was the friend of the poor and those in distress never appealed to her in vain. The hungry who came to her door went away filled, and those who mourned obtained comfort from the words she uttered. The frills of fashion and the glitter of modern society never appealed to her. The substance she liked better than the shadow and that was the gospel she taught.

Mrs. Pugsley was the wife of the late Phillip Pugsley, a native of Somersetshire, England, and was born December 14, 1829. She became the wife of Phillip Pugsley in 1850, and three years later came to Utah, and settled in Salt Lake City, where she continued to make her home up to the time of her death. She leaves six children, Joseph, Phillip, Mrs. H.J. Hayward, Mrs. Ezra Thompson, Mrs. S.M. Barlow and Mrs. Adelbert Beesley.

The funeral services will take place from No. 1 Pugsley’s court, on Fourth No. between Second and Third West St. at 4 o’clock, Monday afternoon. Mayor Thompson, one of her sons-in-law, is in Denver, and it is not known at this time whether he will return in time to attend the obsequies.

Salt Lake Herald, June 24, 1906, 6.

Salt Lake Herald, June 24, 1906, 18.

Many thanks to Wessman cousin Toni for sending the family photo! The Bristol image is from wikipedia.

Wessman 14: Philip Pugsley, Part 6 of 5

There have been numerous other interests of the industrial and manufacturing class in which Pugsley has invested his money. After the move south he purchased the flouring mill in the Nineteenth Ward originally known as “Old Samuel Snyder’s flour mill,” which has been running ever since; and ten or fifteen years ago he added a salt mill to it. Last year it ground 900,000 pounds of salt, brought from the Great Salt Lake. It grinds nearly all the fine table salt of the country. Several years ago he helped to start a soap factory, of which Pugsley, Snell, and R.T. Burton are the principals. Burton is the president of the company, and Pugsley's son is the "boss" of the soap works.

Another item may be named which, though not in the manufacturing class, is quite historical. For the first two years after General Connor's command came to Utah, Pugsley & Wood supplied all the beef for the troops—Pugsley furnishing the money for the venture. His last enterprise is the introduction of rubber roofing into the Territory, which commands a portion of his attention and investment of his means at the present time.

And thus it will be seen in this biographical sketch, what we affirmed at at [sic] the opening—namely, that Philip Pugsley has been one of the foremost men in developing our industries; and it also illustrates what we have so often said—that out of the lives of these representative men of all classes, who founded Utah and developed her enterprises will be wrought the best and most complete history of Utah.

Article from Edward W. Tullidge, Tullidge's Quarterly Magazine. "Philip Pugsley," Vol. 2 (1883).

Added by granddaughter: The first home he built is now destroyed but it stood on 4th North between 2nd and 3rd West. A portion which was later added now stands there. Later the home in Pugsley Court was built where he lived up to the time of his death.

He retired from active business for several years before his death because of feeble health. He died on August 7, 1903. In the church he was a teacher, elder, priest, and High Priest. On 24 August 1855 Philip Pugsley married Clarissa Ames, daughter of Ira Ames (mentioned earlier).

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Editor's Notes—The map of Salt Lake City shows a Pugsley Street and Pugsley Park in the same area as that mentioned by the granddaughter, although it is now located between 3rd and 4th West.

 View Larger Map

Here is a link to a Salt Lake City Capitol Hill Neighborhood Council newsletter (February 2005) with an interesting story about the two Pugsley homes, which were to be demolished that year.

Some of the additional notes found in my original copy of the article were written by granddaughters Florence Barlow Manwaring and Bess Edwards and "others." A note mentions a history of Pugsley compiled by Bess Edwards. Does that mean this history, or something additional?

And, finally, I must disagree with the final statement in the article: that history should be written from the lives of great men. It should also be written from the lives of the humble and poor, and, as Abigail Adams said, "Remember the Ladies." But, I found the life of Edward Tullidge, the author of the biography, to be worth a note or two and as I will note in a blog post sometime next week, the author of this article actually did remember the "ladies," and wrote a lengthy book on the women of Utah, among other accomplishments.


Coming next... Biographies of Philip Pugsley's wives.


Picture of the salt flats from www.flickr.com/photos/23912576@N05/3656533088/. Picture of the soap from www.flickr.com/photos/ieatwaffles/3531167189/. Picture of the adobes from www.flickr.com/photos/chanceprojects/2815570468/. The article about the Pugsley homes mentions that the oldest part of the older of the two homes was built out of adobe bricks, so the previous home may have also been constructed out of adobe.

Wessman 14: Philip Pugsley, Part 5 of 5

[If you are not too interested in the history of industrial development, you may want to skip the long paragraph quoted from the Salt Lake Herald.]

Pugsley returned from the Islands [Hawaii] and arrived home in October 1865, and again turned his attention to home manufacturing industries. In 1867 Randall, Pugsley & Co. built a woolen factory near the mouth of Ogden Canyon, of rock, at a cost of $60,000. They commenced the manufacture of linseys, jeans, cassimeres, and all kinds of domestic goods. The water right was bought of Lorin Farr for $6,000; Lorin Farr and W. C. Neal were the Co; Randall was the managing partner for awhile, but James Whitehead was the practical man in charge of the factory. Pugsley put into the concern $20,000; and with President Young, R. T. Burton, and Abraham O. Smoot may be classed as the industrial list as one of the first importers of woolen machinery into our Territory. Randall continued with the firm about four years, after which, the firm became Pugsley, Farr & Neal, by whom the concern is still owned.

Our enterprising citizen has also been largely identified with the Utah iron and coal interests. About eight years ago he bought out the Salt Lake Foundry from a New York company and organized a new company, with George Atwood, William Howard, Philip Pugsley, George W. Thatcher, John W. Young, R. J. Golding and Albert Dewey as the incorporation [sic]. William Howard was president; George Atwood, vice-president; Philip Pugsley, treasurer and secretary; William Silver, superintendent and manager. 

Having this industry in view Pugsley went into Iron City, Iron County, and bought $76,000 worth of stock in the Great Western Iron Co. For the foundry he purchased the first iron made in the company's works—about 400 tons. This company tried to get the privilege for making the water pipes of the city and finally failed for lack of public patronage necessary for so vast an undertaking. 

Relative to the Salt Lake Foundry it is to be observed that Howard bought out the original company and sold it to Thomas Pierpont, but a law-suit occurring between the partners, Pugsley and others came to the help and the company was re-organized under the name of the Salt Lake Foundry and Machine Company. Richard B. Margetts was president; Elias Morris, vice-president; P. Pugsley, secretary and treasurer; directors, William White, William Howard, Thomas Pierpont, and C. F. Culmer; Pierpont, superintendent of the works.

Richard B. Margetts and Philip Pugsley also purchased coal lands of the Government in Pleasant Valley and patented it [sic]. At the onset there were associated with them W. S. Godbe and others who, however, went out of the concern, leaving the coal claims in Pleasant Valley to Margetts and Pugsley. Under Pugsley’s direction the first coke ovens were built and started up. The coke was brought to the city and sold to the smelters [via a railroad running directly to the coal beds, owned by the railroad company]. Margetts and Pugsley next agitated the question of the iron and coal enterprises in the Salt Lake Herald. Their project was digested [compiled or written] by both, but the communications were in the name of Richard B. Margetts. A few extracts will illustrate their projects. He wrote:

It is a very remarkable thing that there is scarcely one industry in this Territory that is worked upon the natural productions of the country. True, we have our foundries and machine shops, our blacksmiths and wagon makers, and various other industries in our midst, but the material they work on is mostly imported.

To come to the point: The first question to be asked in this case is, what stands in the way and where is the hindrance to the development of our home industries? The answer flashes back like lightning—the lack of cheap fuel! We have abundance of the raw material. We have at hand very large deposits, I might say mountains, of rich iron ore carrying from 40 to 65 per cent. of metallic iron; we have very large deposits of good coal, suitable for all purposes, right in this Territory, and much better than that imported; we have a railroad running directly to the coal beds; this coal can be put on the cars at say 75c. or $1 per ton; the cars will run at least fifty miles of the distance without a puff of steam, and yet we lack cheap fuel. The question arises, why is this? The answer is very plain, and will be understood by all—the railroad companies own coal land; other parties own coal land also, containing as good coal as that owned by the railroad companies, and in some cases easier of access, but the railroad companies are not common carriers and will not transport coal over their roads for other parties, hence all competition is shut off. The only alternative is to pay the price demanded, or go without and "grin and bear it." I do not hesitate to say if we could get a good quality of coal put down in this city, or the nearest point to iron ore, at a reasonable price, iron smelting would be commenced, and when started on a proper basis who can form any idea how it would extend? and then would start up many other industries equally dependant [sic] for success on cheap fuel.

The only way to accomplish this is to build a railroad of our own from this city to the coal fields of Pleasant Valley. Experience has taught us that no private enterprise of this kind can be long held in the interests of the people, and it appears to me the only way to obtain relief from the burdens we are now oppressed with, it is for Salt Lake City to obtain a special grant from the Legislature to built a railroad and issue bonds for the construction of the same; then run the road for all parties, not so much for large profits, but for the benefit of the people; it would require very little, if any, extra taxation to pay the interest on the bonds. If any were necessary it would only be during the construction of the road, and who would not gladly respond to a demand of that kind, when the benefits to be derived therefrom are understood?

The partners, however, were not able to accomplish this public enterprise, and Richard B. Margetts dying during their efforts, the Pleasant Valley coal claims were sold by Pugsley to the Utah Central [Railroad] directors for $33,900 in behalf of himself and the heirs of his late partner.


Tomorrow... Part 6 of 5 (!)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 6

Article from Edward W. Tullidge, Tullidge's Quarterly Magazine. "Philip Pugsley," Vol. 2 (1883).

Photo of the train tracks in Pleasant Grove, Utah, from www.flickr.com/photos/a4gpa/179495147/. Photo of the coke ovens (in Arizona, not Utah due to copyright restrictions) from www.flickr.com/photos/desertmodern/459477065/.

Happy Easter!

Over the past three years, I have presented the histories of many families on this blog. Many of them joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in America or in Europe. Most of the histories assume knowledge about the history and doctrines of the Church. It is easy enough to learn more about the church on mormon.org or lds.org or even the Wikipedia entry about the Church. But always, throughout all the histories, the primary message and belief of the members of the church is of the life and mission of Jesus Christ. Since we are celebrating the resurrection of Christ at Easter time, here is a scripture from the Book of Mormon, and the text of a curious little hymn by James Montgomery, who wrote the words to many hymns including "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief," "The Lord is My Shepherd," and "Prayer is the Soul's Sincere Desire."

 • • •

And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection.

But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.

He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.

(Mosiah 16:7-9)

• • •

Go to dark Gethsemane, 

All who feel the tempter’s pow’r;

Your Redeemer’s conflict see. 

Watch with him one bitter hour;

Turn not from his griefs away; 

Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.

See him at the judgment hall, 

Beaten, bound, reviled, arraigned;

See him meekly bearing all! 

O the pangs his soul sustained!

Shun not suffering, shame, or loss; 

Learn of Christ to bear the cross.

Calvary's mournful mountain climb; 

There, adoring at his feet,

Mark that miracle of time, 

God's own sacrifice complete.

"It is finished!" hear him cry; 

Learn of Jesus Christ to die.

Early hasten to the tomb 

Where they laid his breathless clay;

All is solitude and gloom. 

Who has taken him away?

Christ is risen! He meets our eyes; 

Savior, teach us so to rise.

(James Montgomery)

Photo of the daffodils from www.flickr.com/photos/anvica/3435319380/.

Wessman 14: Philip Pugsley, Part 4 of 5

In the spring of 1858 his folks [family] were with the community in their "move South," but Captain Pugsley was left with the detail to guard the city, he belonging to the police force. Sometimes there was only himself in the city. But he kept the tannery going notwithstanding, working by day and guarding by night. Nathaniel [V.] Jones and James [W.] Cummings at that time owned the Fifteenth Ward tannery, but being principal officers in the militia they were out with their respective commands; so they sent down their unfinished leather to Pugsley—700 large kips and calf skins, and 500 sides of harness and sole leather.

The exodus of the people South had suspended the planting of crops, but there was a great deal of self-sown grain in the fields near the city, which promised a fair harvest. Much of this was in danger of being destroyed by the camping of the companies on their way back to the northern settlements, but Captain Pugsley was appointed by Marshall Jesse C. Little to station himself on the State Road from Gordon’s to Salt Lake City, to prevent the companies from camping within that boundary; and this guard duty being effectually performed, the self-sown wheat was saved and good crops were cut at harvest.

On the return of the people to their homes Ira Ames concluded not to start his tannery again. It was just at this time that Cache Valley attracted so much attention, and the community having been disturbed by the exodus, multitudes poured into Cache Valley and founded the cities which  now constitute Cache County; and with these settlers of the north went Ira Ames, who sold out his tannery and bark to Philip Pugsley. Nobody had peeled bark that season and Pugsley had the only bark in the city; so he sold bark to re-start the other tanneries—Mr. Wm. Jennings' and also that of Golding & Raleigh—and thus was renewed the home manufactory of leather. He now left the police service, and attended solely to the manufacturing business, and from that time Philip Pugsley has been one of the foremost in nearly all of our home manufacturing enterprises.

In 1865 Pugsley was sent to the Sandwich Islands [Hawaii], by President Young, to investigate the propriety of starting a tannery there, to be worked by the native Mormons, but he found it not practicable or promising and so reported. He traveled over the Islands, visited Kalakaua [Kealakekua] Bay, saw the spot where Captain Cook was massacred and wrote his name on the stump of the cocoanut tree—covered with copper by a sailor—on which visitors write their names in honor of the great voyager who “sailed around the world three times” and then was massacred by the natives of the Sandwich Islands.

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The story of Philip Pugsley and his early efforts to build industry in Salt Lake City was used as an inspirational story in the Primary (children's) organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1918, the subject for the year was "Material Development Among the Latter-day Saints." The subject for the month of June was "Early Industries," and the story to be used in the third week of that month was that of Philip Pugsley, quoted out of Tullidge's History of Salt Lake City. The Children's Friend, Vol. 17, No. 4 (April 1918). Included with the lesson were some memory gems for each age group. The one for the First Grade was as follows:

Try, try, and try again;
The boys who keep on trying
Have made the world's best men.

The recommendations for "Suggestive Songs" for the month included "Shine On," "The Busy Bee," "Be in Time," "Dare to Do Right," and "In Our Lovely Deseret."


The photo of the monument commemorating Captain James Cook's death in Hawaii is from http://www.flickr.com/photos/disneykrayzie/2853071019/. This monument is later then the one that Philip Pugsley saw.

Wessman 14: Philip Pugsley, Part 3 of 5

When the spring opened, and the tanners got out a little leather, times grew better with Pugsley and his family, for leather and shoes, being among the most essential needs of the community, those articles, more readily than others, commanded the limited supplies of the country in those times. The women could even do without their tea and sugar, the men without their tobacco, but shoes to the workers who plowed the land and went into the canyons to haul wood, for building purposes and for fuel, were nearly as needful as the "staff of life." Philip Pugsley "kept pitching in," to use his own homely but suggestive word-painting of the hard work and constant struggle of those days, when all our self-made men were "pitching in" to get their own start in life, found cities and settlements in the Great American Desert, and to establish the many industries of the Territory of which we now can boast. As we have already said, Pugsley was among the foremost of these industrial men, and the branch of business in which he engaged was the earliest of our manufacturing activities. He made some means in the leather trade, which was the basis of the capital which he has since controlled and invested in other branches of enterprise as fast as they developed.

In the early times much military work had also to be done by the settlers. Our citizens were often in the saddle day and night, protecting the country from Indian depredations. Some "Gentile" writers, either in malice or ignorance, have repeatedly told the public abroad that the Utah militia, and especially the famous Nauvoo Legion, were organized on purpose to engage in rebellion against the United States, but the veteran settlers of this Territory, who had to leave their wives and families, in seasons of great scarcity and privation, for months at a time, well know that this military organization was for the protection of the country from the Indian depredations which constantly threatened. Pugsley entered the Nauvoo Legion in the spring of 1854, and was first adjutant under Captain Barnes. In 1855 he was appointed captain, and received his commission from the lieutenant-general Daniel H. Wells.

But it must be confessed that the “Utah War,” as it was called, came, and then the famous Nauvoo Legion was ordered out into Echo Canyon to resist "invasion," as the Mormons considered it. Pugsley’s company was out, but its captain was left in the city, with the duty to recruit the men and send them out to strengthen the forces in Echo. One bitter night, or rather three o'clock in the morning, when a fierce snow storm was falling he was aroused from slumber by a messenger with an order from the adjutant-general's department, for him to arise immediately and call out men for a company to start that morning for the seat of action. His own horses had been out in the service for months, with Lot Smith's command, so Captain Pugsley had to start on foot in the face of the beating snow storm, the wind fiercely blowing from the northwest. Going down to Lorenzo Pettit’s to arouse him to have his men out to meet the other companies at the Council House early [in] the morning, he lost his way in the snow storm. At last, however, he succeeded in getting on the right track and the men were ready to start for Echo Canyon in the morning. He will never forget that bitter night and fierce snow storm in which he lost himself and nearly perished calling out men for service.

The version of the history in this page is from Edward W. Tullidge's History of Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Star Printing Company, 1886) and is slightly expanded from the version found in Tullidge's Quarterly Magazine.

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The picture of Echo Canyon is from www.flickr.com/photos/tochichi/2542033691/.