An Index to the History of the Southern States Mission, 1875-1888

John Hamilton Morgan was one of the first missionaries called to serve in the Southern States Mission, and he subsequently served as President of the Mission for many years. In an attempt to grasp the details of his missionary service, I typed up and posted the histories of the Southern States Mission from the Latter Day Saints Southern Star.

After Ben Rich was called as president of the mission in June 1898, he began a mission newspaper called the Latter Day Saints Southern Star. The Southern Star featured reports from the various areas of the mission, news items, talks, devotionals, and letters, and also featured a regular history of the Southern States Mission. It is not clear what sources were used to compile the histories, but they were probably written by a succession of missionaries who served as editors of the paper. The first editor was David P. Felt, followed by Ray Ashworth and his assistant, Ariel F. Cardon. When these missionaries were released, Lewis R. Anderson, mission bookkeeper and a member of the mission presidency, ran the paper until George E. Maycock arrived from Utah and took over.

Here are links to each of the sections, and a brief explanation of the contents. The histories included on this blog stop with the end of John Morgan's service, although he continued to be mentioned in the mission history from time to time. If time permits, I will return and finish the series.

An Introduction to the Latter Day Saints Southern Star

More on the Southern Star

Lula Falls, Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

Part 1

Beginning of the mission 1875-77 under President Henry G. Boyle, with the mission containing the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Virginia.

Part 2

1877. Missionary efforts extend to Texas. Over 240 converts move to Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.

Part 3

1878. President Boyle released and John Morgan called as president of the mission. Headquarters moved to Rome, Georgia. Missionary work, yellow fever, first report of mob activity.

Part 4

January-July 1879. Missionary work in Georgia. Fields of labor opened in other states including North Carolina. Church members move to Colorado. Rudger Clawson and Joseph Standing arrive in the mission. Mobs gather.

Part 5

July 1879. Mob violence toward missionaries. Joseph Parry beaten by a mob. Joseph Standing murdered by a mob. Rudger Clawson's life spared.

Pilot Mountain in North Carolina.

Part 6

August-December 1879. The aftermath and trial for the murder of Joseph Standing. Missionary efforts in Georgia. Converts leave for Colorado.

Part 7

February 1879 (?)-March 1880.  Henry Barnett and Mathias Cowley preach in Kentucky and Virginia. Henry Barnett and Seth Langton continue working in Virginia while Mathias Cowley and Frank Benson preach to people who had heard Jedediah Grant preach many years before. Many converts.

Part 8

Links to the article “The Martyrdom of Joseph Standing” by John Nicholson.

Part 9

January-May 1880. President Morgan and Matthias F. Cowley hold conferences and open up new areas of the mission. Saints emigrate to Colorado. Baptisms in Tennessee due to the influence of the mysterious preacher, Robert Edge.

Part 10

June-November 1880. Sarah Church serves in the mission in Tennessee and Mississippi. Other missionaries come to the mission. Many new branches and converts and some persecution. More information on the mysterious Mr. Edge. The Saints from many branches, including Henderson County, Tennessee, emigrate to Colorado.

An old church in Neshoba, Mississippi.

Part 11

November 1880-July 1882. Saints move to Manassa, Colorado. Mathias Cowley and John W. Taylor preach and baptize in Georgia. Elder Cowley and others preach in St. Louis and publish in the local papers. Anti-Mormon sentiment in St. Louis. More Saints move to Colorado.

Part 12

January-June 1881. Debate in Wilson County, Tennessee. April 1881 Mission headquarters moved from Rome, Georgia, to Nashville, Tennessee. A bright period of success followed by mob threats and violence in Alabama.

Part 13

July 1881-March 1882. Due to the success of Elders Cowley and Parkinson in St. Louis, the 1881 Mission Conference was held in that city. Much success in the end of 1881 but 1882 began with much agitation against the church and missionaries in the population and press. Persecution particularly bad in Georgia so several missionaries were released home. Many elders threatened and persecuted and shot at. Very heavy rains in March flooded much of the mission and made work difficult. Emigrants led to Colorado by President Morgan and Elder Cowley. West Tennessee Conference opened.

Part 14

July-November 1882. Mission conferences help keep the morale up. Threats of mob violence in Kentucky delay the Conference meeting. A marked increase in baptisms reported with 204 the first half of 1882. President Morgan arranges with the railroads for better fares for emigrants. Mission headquarters is moved from Nashville to Chattanooga on October 10, 1882. President Morgan released as Mission President after arranging the Fall emigration. [His service actually continues until 1888.]

Part 15

November 1882-June 1883. One hundred Saints and eight elders leave for Colorado and Utah. New Elders arrive in December and another party of emigrants leaves North Carolina. In January a new set of Elders arrive from the Colorado settlements and are assigned to labor in their native states. New missionaries arrive each month. In March, John Morgan and 166 Saints and 12 or 15 missionaries leave for Utah and Colorado. Elder B.H. Roberts begins his service as Assistant President of the Southern States Mission.

A winter scene in Tennessee.

Part 16

June-September 1883. Elder J.T. Alexander is beaten by a mob. More mob violence. Meeting of the Mississippi Conference. Conference in Alabama sparsely attended due to violent threats. Other Conferences held, and one was actually held without threats of violence in South Carolina. Missionary work begins among the Catawba Indians. President Roberts continues to hold meetings. Mission statistics reported. Elder Charles E. Robinson dies in the mission field.

Part 17

October 1883-May 1884. Elder Robinson's body taken home by Elder Easton. Missionaries receive transfers and releases and arrive in the mission. President Roberts holds meetings. President Morgan comes to accompany a party of emigrants to the West. Many baptisms. More emigrants leave the South. A new Northwest Tennessee Conference organized. Judge Stark given particular notice due to his support of religious liberties. Tensions continue to build. 

Part 18

May 1884. Missionaries chased out of Etowah County, Alabama. Elder Charles Flake has tar poured on him in Mississippi. The Mississippi Conference meets.

Part 19

June 1884. President Roberts meets with the missionaries in Alabama and advises them to go to quieter areas. Missionaries harassed in Tennessee. The church building in St. Clair County, Alabama, burned by arson.

Part 20

July 1884. A mob kidnaps and severely beats Elders Joseph Morrell and John William Gailey in Neshoba County, Mississippi.

A historic photograph of a rail fence in Saint Clair County, Alabama.

Part 21

August 1884. Elders John Henry Gibbs, William H. Jones, William Shanks Berry and Henry Thompson met in Cane Creek, Lewis County, Tennessee. They planned to hold meetings on Sunday, August 10th at the home of the Condor family. On his way to the meeting Elder Jones was detained by a mob and was being held in the woods when he heard shooting from the Condor home.

Part 22

The other missionaries had arrived earlier at the Condor home and sang some songs as they waited the start of the meeting. The mob rushed upon the home and seized Brother Condor who called to his son Martin Condor and step-son J.R. Hudson for aid. Elder Gibbs, Elder Berry, and Martin Condor were killed by the mob and then J.R. Hudson was killed but not before killing mob leader David Hinson. Elder Thompson escaped.

Part 23

The mob continued to shoot into the house, wounding Sister Condor. The mob left with Hinson's body. The other bodies were washed and buried. Elder Jones, who had fled the area, met J. Golden Kimball and enlisted his aid. They traveled toward Cane Creek and encountered Elder Thompson who related the bad news. The three men went immediately to a telegraph station to notify President B.H. Roberts of the events. Roberts wired to President Morgan for assistance to remove the bodies to Utah but not wanting to wait, Roberts approached a Mr. Moses in Chattanooga for a loan to cover the costs of caskets and transportation.

Part 24

The Cane Creek Area was in a furor and it was not considered safe for the missionaries to enter the area, so President Roberts disguised himself and with the assistance of J. Golden Kimball, a Brother Emmons, Robbin Church, Henry Harlow, William Church, Robert Coleman, and other local Saints, he removed the bodies of Elders Berry and Gibbs to Nashville where they were taken to Salt Lake City.

Part 25

A discussion about the causes of the murders in Cane Creek and efforts to seek justice. Notes about the missionary service of Elders Berry and Gibbs.

A blackjack oak, a species of tree mentioned by B.H. Roberts in his account of the events at Cane Creek.

Part 26

August-September 1884. Violence and threats continue through the end of August. Elders Woodbury and Fuller were staying at the Jenkins home in Alabama and Elder Fuller was beaten by a mob. Sister Jenkins, who had been in poor health, almost died of the stress of the event but was blessed to return to health by the missionaries. Many missionaries were taken very ill in September. The South Carolina and North Carolina and Virginia Conferences meet.

Part 27

October-December 1884. The year ended much more quietly although threats continued and members had to leave the Cane Creek area. A large company of Saints emigrates in November. While B. H. Roberts was absent at various times during the year, J. Golden Kimball took charge of the mission. John Morgan and B.H. Roberts met in December and advised church leadership on the state of the mission. President Wilford Woodruff and his counselors advised the mission leadership to continue missionary work but to immediately leave contentious areas.

Part 28

January-April 1885. President Morgan visited the mission in January and sent B.H. Roberts home for a "much needed rest." A company of Saints emigrated in February. Elder Wilson was staying in Putnam County, Tennessee, when he was kidnapped and beaten before being released with a warning to leave the county. In March President Morgan returned from accompanying some Saints to Utah. He released Elder J. Golden Kimball. President Morgan returned home in April for the funeral of his young daughter Flora.

Part 29

May-June 1885. Elders Garner and Christensen arrested and charged with violating a state law against the preaching of polygamy. They awaited trial in prison in Elizabethton, Tennessee, until President Morgan arranged bail, at which point they continued their labors in the mission. Elders Cragun and Fraughton were staying outside the Catawba Reservation when they were shot at and beaten.

Part 30

July-December 1885. Georgia Conference meets in Haywood Valley. The case against Elders Christensen and Garner returned to court and Elder Christensen was indicted but Elder Garner was not. Work progressed in East Tennessee. In August Elders Christensen and Garner were sent home and President Morgan visited Elizabethton and found that their bail bond had been recorded as $5 rather than $500, so Elder Christensen was only liable for a sum of $5. Two Catawba members of the church were called to serve a mission to the Cherokee Indians. The year ended quietly.

Seneca Creek, West Virginia.

Part 31

1886. Emigration. Preaching the gospel. President Morgan tours the mission and holds conferences. Elder Harper arrested and taken to Stanardsville where he was acquitted.

Part 32

October 1886-May 1887. Mission conferences in Georgia and Tennessee. Elders harassed. President Morgan visits at home then returns to lobby in Nashville against a bill prohibiting the preaching of polygamy. Bill tabled. Emigration. Successful work. Mission to the Cherokee Indians. More use of printed materials for public relations.

Part 33

June-December 1887. President Morgan returned from the West and immediately prepared and led a company of 120 emigrants to the West. Mob violence directed against missionaries resulting in threats, kidnapping, and beatings. Many missionaries sick during the summer. Baptisms increase as the summer ends. Conference held in Mississippi then Tennessee. President Morgan attacked at the West Tennessee Conference held in Cowpens Creek, Alabama. The Alabama Conference split and work started in Northern Florida. Conference held in Georgia followed by the East Tennessee Conference. Middle Tennessee Conference created. Maryland split from Virginia. West Virginia Conference followed by the North Carolina and South Carolina Conferences. Large emigration in November. Elders Tate and Hendricks threatened and injured by buckshot. A generally successful year.

Part 34

January-July 1888. Wilford Woodruff releases John Morgan as president of the Southern States Mission. William Spry begins his service as president on January 4. Missionaries arrive and depart. In April 177 members emigrate under the direction of John Morgan and William Spry. Mobs organized and violence threatened. Elder Shipp beaten, Elder Wright almost lynched. President Spry returns and holds conferences and encourages the missionary work and cautions the missionaries to be careful during the most violent season in late summer.

Part 35
July-September 1888. Quiet summer. Elder Edmund Z. Taylor dies. Elder Stookey or Stucki of the mission office retrieves his body and sends it to Ogden. President Spry holds Maryland Conference in West Virginia. Mob violence targets Elders James Douglas, Thomas Holt, Asahel Fuller, and their host James Brooks. They are severely beaten.




Additional Southern States Mission Content

He Being Dead, Yet Speaketh
The Faucett family provides the mission publication with some letters written by murdered missionary Joseph Standing. See follow-up post on Ancestral Ties.

The First Relief Society in the Southern States
Newspaper clipping from the Deseret News. See additional information at Amateur Mormon Historian (The First Relief Society Presidency in the Southern States) and Ancestral Ties (The First Relief Society Presidency in the Southern States).

Burned the Church (Introduction—Part 1—Part 2—Part 3)
1895. The Saints and missionaries in the West Virginia Conference at Two Mile, Kanawha County, organize a conference. The church meeting was burned. The community rallies and provides support to finish the conference.

Southern Star Obituary for John Morgan
J.G. Kimball: "I picked up a Chattanooga Times one morning, and I was very much delighted to see in print these words, speaking of Elder John Morgan. It said: 'To shake his hand was to be his friend.' I have never forgotten it. When you shook John Morgan's hand and he looked into your face you always knew that you were his friend."

Pictures of the Cane Creek Area
Missionaries are still visiting this area to pay tribute to the fallen.

The photos are from the Southern Star, www.flickr.com/photos/brent_nashville/116196125/, www.flickr.com/photos/skrobotic/21197208/, www.flickr.com/photos/nataliemaynor/149312252/, www.flickr.com/photos/sminor/387003576/, www.flickr.com/photos/lonecellotheory/519362995/, www.flickr.com/photos/dwineman/153502758/, and www.flickr.com/photos/auburnuniversitydigitallibrary/2925082092/, courtesy of the Auburn University Libraries.

The 19th Century Presidents of the Southern States Mission

Henry Boyle (October 1875–January 1878)

Henry Green Boyle was born March 7, 1824 in Bluestone, Tazewell, Virginia. He died September 8, 1902 in Pima, Graham, Arizona. The date that he began his service comes from the first installment of the History of the Southern States Mission in the Southern Star. Here is a short biography of Henry Boyle. Several years' worth of Boyle's diaries including 1877 are available on the Mormon Missionary Diaries site. Search for "Boyle" in this link for an interesting story, although Boyle is actor Clint Eastwood's great-great uncle, not an ancestor like the site claims. Autobiography (c. 1831–1846) at BOAP. Served in the Mormon Battalion, Company C.

John Morgan (January 1878–January 1888)

John Morgan was born August 8, 1842 in Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana. He died August 14, 1894 in Preston, Franklin, Idaho. He was raised in Indiana and Illinois and served as a soldier in the Civil War. He traveled to Salt Lake City where he joined the church and was later called as a missionary and then Mission President in the Southern States Mission. He was one of the seven presidents of the Quorums of the Seventy. He was an educator, first and foremost. Here is a summary of the many posts about and links to sources on John Morgan. Here is a short biography.

B. H. Roberts (Assistant President, March 1883–late 1884 or early 1885)

Brigham Henry Roberts was born March 13, 1857 in Warrington, Lancashire, England. He died 27 September 1933 in Salt Lake City. After a colorful childhood, he emigrated to Utah and was later called as a missionary. He began his service in the Southern States Mission in December 1880. B.H. Roberts was going to succeed John Morgan as Mission President in November 1882, but due to Roberts' youth, John Morgan remained as president of the mission and Roberts served as Assistant President from March 1883 until sometime in early 1885. He was called as one of the seven presidents of the Quorums of the Seventy. Many issues of the Southern Star devote space to reports and editorials on the hearings about whether B.H. Roberts could take office as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Here is a short biography.

William Spry (January 1888–July/August 1891)

William Spry was born January 11, 1864 in Windsor, Berkshire, England. He died on April 19, 1929 in Washington D.C., while he was serving as Federal Commissioner of Public Lands. Spry was the third governor of Utah (1909-1917). Here is a biography in the Utah History Encyclopedia. Spry was only 23 or 24 when he became mission president. Here are some mentions of him in the Southern States History and John Morgan's diary.

J. Golden Kimball (July 1891–May 1894)

Jonathan Golden Kimball was born June 9, 1853 in Salt Lake City. He died September 2, 1938 in a single-car accident in the Nevada desert. He had served in the mission several years before his call as President. J.G. Kimball was a son of Apostle Heber C. Kimball and his tenth wife Christeene Golden Kimball. J. G. was famous among the Saints for his humor and pithy sayings. In 1927 he reminisced about his service in the Southern States: "I was in the South three years, presiding over the mission, under the greatest hardships and the greatest difficulties I have ever endured in all my life...yet I have had the greatest joy and the greatest peace and happiness."

Elias S. Kimball (May 1894–June/November 1898)

Elias Smith Kimball was born on March 30, 1857. He died on June 13, 1934. He was the other son of Heber and Christeene Golden Kimball. He hosted a visit to the Mission by Apostles Matthias F. Cowley and Francis M. Lyman in 1897. They visited every Conference of the mission. J. Golden and Elias were business partners their entire lives, starting at a young age. There is a biography of Elias on the Brigham Young Academy High School site, but it will not link and requires a new search in the alumni directory.

Ben E. Rich (June 1898–May 1902; July 1903–July 1908)

Benjamin Erastus Rich was born on November 7, 1855 in Salt Lake City. He died on September 13, 1913 in New York City. He was involved in the printing business and, as Mission President, began the publication of the Latter Day Saints Southern Star. The Ben E. Rich Papers at the University of Utah contains a scrapbook with many materials about his tenure as a mission president. Here is a biography.

Ephraim H. Nye (May 1902–May 1903)
Ephraim Hesmer Nye was born in England, joined the Church in Australia, and emigrated to Utah. He served as mission president in California, then in the Eastern States Mission, then was transferred to serve as president of the Southern States Mission when Ben Rich was called to start the new Middle States Mission. He suffered a heart attack while helping a missionary who had been severely beaten and died on May 15, 1903. President Rich was called back to the Southern States and the Middle States Mission was dissolved. Nye's papers are at BYU. Here is a short but comprehensive biography.

Nathan John Harris (Acting President; June 1903–July 1903)
Early Mormon Missionaries noted that Harris served as mission president from 1903–1903. It was during the brief period after Ephraim Nye's death and before Ben Rich returned from the Middle States Mission. Nathan John Harris was born in Harrisville, Weber, Utah Territory, in 1864, and was a great-nephew of Martin Harris. He was a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and was working as a lawyer when he was called the Southern States Mission. After he finished his mission and returned to Utah, Governor William Spry, a previous president of the Southern States Mission, appointed him as a district judge. He died in 1936.



Later Mission Presidents: Ben E. Rich was succeeded as president of the Southern States Mission by Charles A. Callis in August 1908. Callis served for 25 years. LeGrand Richards was called as mission president in October 1933 and arrived in the mission in January 1934. He served until June 1937.

Note: John Brown (1867/8–1869) is occasionally listed as Mission President, but I have never seen proof, and his autobiography does not include any such claim; the mission histories consistently call Henry Green Boyle the first president of the mission.

Sources

Berrett, LaMar C. “History of the Southern States Mission: 1831–1861.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1960. BYU ScholarsArchive: Theses on Mormonism (Paper 4525).

Brigham Young Academy High School. Alumni Directory. "Elias S. Kimball."

Brown, John, and John Zimmerman Brown. Autobiography of Pioneer John Brown 1820-1896. Press of Stevens and Wallis, Inc.: Salt Lake City, 1941.

Crow, Bruce. Amateur Mormon Historian.

"Southern States Mission: Founded 1876," Early Mormon Missionaries, database online, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.

Eliason, Eric A. "The Life and Lore of J. Golden Kimball—Mormon Folk Hero." Meridian Magazine.

Hardy, Jeffrey S. "Ephraim Hesmer Nye," Mormon Missionary Diaries, BYU HBLL Digital Collections.

Lee, John D. Journal, 1842 March–1843 August, Church History Library, MS 2092.

Lewis, William O. Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages.

Madsen, Truman G. Defender of the Faith: The B.H. Roberts Story. Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1980.

New Family Search

"Ephraim Hesmer Nye," [copy of photograph], FamilySearch Family Tree, courtesy of "BurtonWilliamHarry1."

"Nathan John Harris," [copy of photograph], FamilySearch Family Tree, courtesy of Deborah J Bayles-Hampton.

Parshall, Ardis. Comment to "Belching Out a Tirade," Keepapitchinin: The Mormon History Blog, April 15, 2014.

Rich, Benjamin. Latter Day Saints Southern Star. Chattanooga, Tenn: Southern States Mission, 1898-1900. (Volumes 1 and 2.)

Seferovich, Heather M. "History of the LDS Southern States Mission," 1875-1898, BYU Masters Thesis, 1996.

Southern States Mission manuscript history and historical reports, 1832–1964, LR 8557 2, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Utah History Encylopedia.

Webpage about Clint Eastwood's religious background on Adherents.com.

Garrard and Eliza Morgan Marriage from Ancestral Ties

Based on the information I had, it was not clear whether Garrard Morgan III and Eliza Ann Hamilton had married in Kentucky or Indiana. Family records stated that they married in Indiana.

Bessie at Ancestral Ties put up a post yesterday showing definitively that the marriage occurred in Nicholas County, Kentucky on January 1, 1833. Garrard and Eliza were married by John Rogers.

Click here to see Bessie's post and copies of the original marriage register. She also has many other very interesting posts on the Morgan and other families, if you haven't looked at her blog lately.

Progress is being made on the Morgan genealogy and family history! Thank you, Bessie!

Sources on the Hayward Family

The best source on the Gammon and Sarah Hayward family is the book Gammon Hayward: 1828-1883 by Ida Hayward Wagstaff, published in 2006. My mother sent me a copy. It is a well-documented book which tells about the Haywards and their roots in England, their conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, their move to America, and the history of the family in America. An interesting chapter in the book tells of a trip to see the Hayward family home in Deal, Kent, England.

Other sources about the Hayward family include accounts by various people about their voyage in the ship the International and their trip across the plains in the Jacob Gates Company. I also have some short anonymous biographies provided to me by my grandparents. I will post these in turn, but for some reason, processing the information on the Hayward family is proving to be a challenge. The posts for the next while might be a bit sporadic and brief!

The photo of the Deal seafront is from wikipedia.

Emigration and Immigration

Until I started this project, I tended to get "emigrate" and "immigrate" mixed up. But no longer.

"Emigrate" means to move out of a country.

"Immigrate" means to move into a country.

The word "emigrate" came from the Latin emigrare which came from the prefix e- (a variation of ex-) which means "out of" and the migrare, "to migrate."

The word "immigrate" came from the Latin immigrare which came from the prefix in-, "into" and migrare, "to migrate."

When the Hayward family left England in 1853, they emigrated from England and immigrated to Utah. Someone who comes to the United States is an immigrant.

When Johan Wessman left Sweden in 1896, he was listed in the Swedish government's emigration records "Emigranten Populär, 1783-1951." When he arrived in New York several weeks later, he was listed in the Ellis Island immigration records.

In a genealogy program like RootsMagic, there are two possible fields for this kind of data.  (Although you can always create custom fields.) The emigration field should list the date the person left his or her home country. The immigration field should list the date he or she arrived in the United States. Here is a picture of Johan Wessman's genealogical record showing the two fields.

On Vacation

The blog is on holiday for several days while I process a bunch of information on the Hayward family. So until I post again, have a nice week. And in the meantime, here are a few blogs to fill your time...


Genealogy ... Genealogy's Star

The Morgan Family ... Ancestral Ties

Mormon history ... Keepapitchinin

A kid waiting for a heart transplant ... Miracle Mason
(Mason has the same heart condition (HLHS) as my youngest, but he has the additional complication of a condition called pulmonary vein stenosis and is in heart failure. He and his family could use a lot of prayers.)


And to look forward to when I return...

The Perpetual Emigration Fund, or, how did all these poor British Saints afford travel to the United States, since, even if they traveled in steerage, it was still expensive.

The Voyage of the International, the ship that the Haywards and many other Mormon immigrants took to the United States. By the time the ship reached America, the captain and a good percentage of the crew had joined the church.

The smugglers of Deal, Kent — were the Haywards involved in smuggling, or did they just provide the boats to the smugglers?

The picture of seagulls on the beach at Deal, Kent, England, is from www.flickr.com/photos/adem/3518259672/.

Wessman 6: Henry John Hayward

This history is from my files. No author is listed. I note a few errors, such as the mention of the Deal Branch in London. (Deal is far from London on the eastern coast of England.) But this is a fine way to start on the history of the Hayward family. Henry John Hayward is the father of Jean Hayward Wessman, the author of the many postcards which have been the topic of many recent posts here.

Henry John Hayward was the oldest son of Gammon and Sarah Ann Cripps Hayward and was born in London, England, on September 2, 1852. His parents were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his father being president of the Deal Branch of that church in London. When Harry was but six months of age, he started with his parents for Utah. They were five months completing the trip and arrived in the valley in September of 1853, making the journey across the plains by ox team. His early life was the usual life of a pioneer boy with very limited opportunity for education as the parents had to pay for their schooling, and with a large family (which increased to eleven in number) there were not means to go around. 

His father had been a ship builder in England so of course had to turn to other work which naturally enough was carpentering. His father built the first boat that ran successfully on Great Salt Lake and Harry worked with his father during its construction and afterwards he worked on the boat after it was put into operation. The boat was used to tow barges across the lake to carry ties from the west end of the lake to the Promontory for the Southern Pacific Railroad when it was built through to California in 1869. This boat was built for General Patrick O’Connor, the founder of Fort Douglas, and was named in honor of his daughter Kate O’Connor. At one time they were marooned on the lake for three days. They lost their barges in the storm and it was feared that they were all lost, but after the wind subsided they managed to get to shore by means of oars. He was at this time but fourteen years of age.

At fifteen he started to learn the carpentering trade and he worked with the largest contracting firm in Salt Lake at that time, known as Taylor, Romney, and Latimer, who had a mill and lumber yard. While working for this firm, he was an overseer on many of the largest buildings in Salt Lake. He continued to work for them until he started in business for himself which was in 1881. In partnership with Oliver Hodson, John Wadrup and Bert Wooley he opened a general contracting business, their business being just west of the present Orem Station on South Temple Street. They later moved to Second West between North and South Temple streets and organized the Salt Lake Building and Manufacturing Company which business was conducted in this location for 27 years. During this time Mr. Hayward served as President of the company. The company’s plant, which comprised a planing mill and lumber yard, was burned in 1919 with heavy loss. After this he engaged in independent contracting up to the time of his last illness. Many Salt Lake buildings erected by Mr. Hayward stand as monuments to his long life of active service. Among some of the better known are the Orpheum Building, the Kearns building and the Ezra Thompson building.

He was married to Elizabeth Ann Pugsley on December 23, 1875, and nine children were born of that union, only three of whom reached maturity, namely Hazel Jean Wessman, Elizabeth Cripps Edwards, and John Ewing Hayward. After the birth of his third child, he spent six months in San Francisco working in the day and going to school at night. He also studied engineering and architecture in night school when opportunity offered. He was a very clever mechanic and understood how to handle men and he supervised the erection of many of the fine homes of Salt Lake.

He was elected a member of the city council from the third precinct for one term being elected in 1895. It was the only public office he ever held. He was a member of the L.D.S. church, a member of the Rotary Club for many years, and also a member of the Elks and Commercial Clubs at one time. He spent three months traveling in Europe in 1908.

He was a quiet, unassuming man, devoted to his family, and his whole life was spent caring for them in an endeavor to make life easy for them. He had also acquired a large group of friends in his 45 years as a contractor. He died January 5, 1927, age 74 years, after a happy married life of fifty one years.

Jean Hayward in Germany, Postcards from Friends

Jean Hayward returned home and married Henry Wessman on Wednesday, November 25, 1908. The postcard collection contains some cards sent to her and her sister Bessie after they returned home. Here are a couple from December of that year.

Dear Jean. Thank you so much for the book you gave me. I found it so interesting. The girls are both hard at work with Jonas. He has been giving some fine concerts. I wish you could have heard them....

...Trace [Tracy Cannon] has gone and we miss him so! I hear Mrs. [Helen] Kimble [Kimball Tilton] had a grand fuss with Pinchers [Jean and Rita and Helen's landlords]. I am so glad she at last found them out. I hoped—said she would if she was there long enough. Remember me to your family & Love to you from Emma Lucy [Gates Bowen].

Dec. 12th 08

My dear Bessie, Thank you very much for your card—it is with the greatest pleasure that I send this of Eitel Friedrich & his wife. For home, [?] next Friday. Dec. 18th, for Xmas. I am beside myself with joy at the prospect of Xmas at home! Please give Jean my dearest love when you see her, how dreadfully you all must miss her.

Love from Molly

Jean Hayward in Germany, Passage Home

Jean traveled home by way of London, as the last postcard mentioned. The Haywards took passage from Liverpool on August 1, 1908 on the S.S. Cedric Cymric. The Cyrmic was a ship in the White Star Line. Here is the ship's manifest showing the Haywards arriving in Boston.

They were United States citizens, so the information recorded about them and their destination was not as detailed as it was for an immigrant.

Here is a blog post with recommendations for young Utah women traveling by sea, which incidentally described much of what Jean must have experienced at the time.

Jean Hayward in Germany, July 18, 1908

Spreewald

Kochzellsgesellschaft [?]

Dear Jean;

This is a case of "tit" for "tat." I haven't heard anything but a post card from you, yet, now have I? It was my last music lesson Tuesday, and now come the holidays. I am simply revelling [sic] in spare time. Yesterday we went to see the [?] and Chamber of Horrors!! Don't you wish you had been "mit" [with]? In the afternoon of the same day we went to [?] on a picnic. It was as pretty. Miss McGrage had tea with me the other day, and after wards played for us. She had invited Miss Nichols and me the Sunday before, and treated us swell. Give my love to Bessie.

Love from Rita [Jackman]

An [To]
Miss Jean Hayward
147 Lewisham Road
London S.E.
England

[According to one source, this address was probably a boarding house.]