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Histories of Joseph Newman &
Elizabeth Hughes
"Let a record be made of the men and things
of today, lest they pass out of memory tomorrow and are lost.
Then perpetuate them, not upon wood or stone that crumble to dust,
but upon paper, chronicled in picture and in words that endure
forever." -Kirtland
"Of all obligations of man, those which connect him with
ancestry are among the most natural and generous; they enlarge
the sphere of his interests; multiply his motives to virtue; give
intensity to generations to come, by the perception of obligations
to those which are past." Josiah Quincy
"KNOW YE THE ROCK WHENCE YE WERE HEWN." Isaiah 51:1
Our NEWMAN progenitors lived in the coal-mining town of Willenhall,
Staffordshire, England, which is three and one-fourth miles from
the larger town of Wolverhampton. The early history of Willenhall
reveals that Willenhall lies in the southern part of Staffordshire.
It is situated in a saucer-shaped depression surrounded by the
Rowley Hills on the south, Sedgley Beacon, the high ground of
Wolverhampton and Bushbury Hill on the west, Easington on the
north and Bentley Hay on the east. Within the township there is
a ridge of higher ground running roughly east and west, along
which lies the road from Bilston to Walsall. Willenhall lies in
both the South Staffordshire and Cannock Chase coal fields. The
mining of coal in Willenhall reached its peak about 1860, when
most of the pits were run by colliers. Because of prolonged strikes,
Willenhall coal fields were shut down, labor was withdrawn from
the pits, until by 1910, mining had virtually ceased in Willenhall.
In 1760, the population of Willenhall was about 350; by 1811,
it was 3, 523; by 1841, it was 8, 695 and in 1853, when our Newman
family emigrated from Willenhall, the inhabitants numbered about
17,000.
Houses were constructed in Willenhall of timber and thatch from
the Cannock Forest. However, after numerous fires, which destroyed
much property, brick houses were built as early as 1660.
In 1800, an epidemic of smallpox came to Willenhall and nearby
towns. Willenhall was visited by cholera in 1849, and in 49 days
292 persons died.
Willenhall is now primarily an industrial town and its chief business
is the making of locks and keys. The trade came there in the reign
of Queen Elizabeth, when coal and iron were found in abundant
quantities and iron was manufactured there. Originally the lock
trade covered the three towns of Wolverhampton, Bilston and Willenhall.
Now the industry has become concentrated in Willenhall, where
today the bulk of the locks and keys manufactured in England,
are made. Originally locks were made by master men in tiny shops
in the rear of their homes. No machinery was used and as late
as 1856 even large manufacturers made their locks entirely by
hand. The locksmiths were assisted in their business by their
wives and members of their families, together with one or two
apprentices. Children in those days were set to work at the age
of nine or ten years. The file and hammer were the locksmith's
most important tools.
The earliest record we have of our NEWMAN family is my Great
Grandfather Samuel Newman. According to the family and the Temple
Record, he was born about April 11, 1763. He was by trade a locksmith.
On December 18, 1785, he married Ann Coleburn at St. Peter's Church,
Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England. They were the parents of
fourteen children, all born in Willenhall. (See Family Group Sheet)
The COLBURN family originated in Bilston, a town just three miles
beyond Willenhall, in the Wolverhampton Parish and District of
Staffordshire. Bilston is a center of hardware trade. "Smoke
from the furnaces continually obscured the air and incessant noise
and bustle banished all repose." Cholera attached 3, 568
of the inhabitants and carried off 742 in 1832 and in 1849 there
were 723 deaths from cholera. This so aroused attention to sanitary
measures as to occasion much improvement. Great trade is carried
on in coal, iron and stone from the neighborhood; also brass working,
bell and rope making.
In this environment, Richard Colburn (also Coleburn) the father
of Ann was christened July 22, 1724. He was the son of Joseph
Colburn and Rebecca Bate. Joseph Colburn was the son of John Colburn
and Rebecca Fellow, all of Bilston.
Richard Colburn and Diana Woolley, the parents of Ann, were married
in Walsall, Staffordshire, on October 23, 1750. Diana was the
daughter of Walter Woolley and Elizabeth Wilkes. Ann was christened
April 9, 1765. She was the seventh child in a family of ten children,
all born in Willenhall. (See Family Group sheets.)
Grandfather Joseph Newman was the thirteenth child of Samuel
and Ann Colburn Newman. He grew up at home, served his apprenticeship
learning the locksmith trade with a Mr. Colburn and eventually
had a good business of his own at Willenhall. He was born May
20, 1809.
On October 27, 1834, Joseph Newman married Elizabeth Hughes at
the Old Church of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England. She was
born at Alrewas, Staffordshire, which is about five miles from
the larger town of Litchfield, on September 16, 1811, the daughter
of Joseph Hughes of Carsington, Derbyshire, England, and Ann Partridge.
At the time of their marriage, December 31, 1810, Joseph Hughes
and Ann Partridge were both residents of Alrewas, Staffordshire.
They resided there for several years before moving to Bloxwich,
Staffordshire. Their first three children were born at Alrewas
and the last three children were born at Bloxwich, Staffordshire.
(See Family Group Sheet) We do not know the parents of Ann Partridge,
only that they died during a smallpox epidemic, and left two daughters,
Ann and Mercy or Thurza.
The HUGHES family lived in Carsington, Derbyshire, England. Joseph
was the oldest child of James Hughes and Elizabeth Andrew, christened
January 4, 1789. James Hughes was the son of Joseph Hughes and
Mercy Orme. Elizabeth Andrew was the daughter of William Andrew
and Elizabeth Hole of Crich, Derbyshire. The Andrew family originated
in Ashover, Crich and surrounding towns in Derbyshire. (See Family
Group Sheets)
Carsington Parish in Wirksworth, County Derby, contains 270 inhabitants.
The village is situated in a valley surrounded by hills, in which
there are quarries of limestone and lead mines.
Wirksworth is a market town and parish of great antiquity in Derbyshire.
The chief employment arises from lead mines. They also engage
in cotton manufacturing and there are establishments for the production
of hosiery, hats, tape, silk and for wool-combing.
A researcher when sending genealogical information to me, wrote
the following: "At Whitsuntide (the seventh Sunday after
Easter, commemorating the Day of Pentecost) in these Derbyshire
hills, they "dress" the wells, which means that great
pictures of Biblical scenes are made behind them entirely of flower
petals pressed into damp clay. The pictures take many hours to
make, and last only a few days. No doubt your ancestors used to
do this."
Crich, a township and parish is partly in the Hundred of Wirksworth.
It has fairs on Old Lady-day (the day of the annunciation of the
Virgin Mary, March 25) and Old Michaelmas-day (the feast of St.
Michael, a church festival celebrated September 29). Lead mines,
in limestone at Crich-Cliffs, are very valuable. Crich-Cliffs
are at an altitude of 995 feet above sea level. Many of the inhabitants
are employed in the bobbin-mills and in stocking-weaving. There
are limestone and gritstone quarries. The chief employment is
frame -work knitting and factories for the spinning of candle-wicks
and for bobbin-turning.
Some of our Newman and Hughes families lived at Bloxwich and
at Walsall, Staffordshire, where there are extensive forests .
The towns are pleasantly situated on a rock of limestone. There
are villas and much beautiful and varied scenery. The principle
articles of manufacture are bridle-bits, stirrups, spurs, saddle
trees and every kind of saddle ironmongery. They are mining and
manufacturing districts, abundantly supplied with coal. Hanley
is a market town containing 5, 622 inhabitants. It is situated
within the populous district of the potteries. The principle articles
of manufacture are china and earthenware.
When missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints came to Willenhall and Joseph and Elizabeth Hughes Newman
listened to their teachings, there must have been some real soul-searching
before they were willing to leave his lucrative locksmith business,
her brothers and sisters who lived nearby, and his family, for
a new religious cause.
It was in the year 1850 that the glad tidings of Mormonism came
to Joseph and Elizabeth Newman in Willenhall. Joseph Newman was
baptized December 15, 1850, and his wife was baptized January
14, 1851. In 1852, they began paying into the Church Immigration
Fund, preparatory to coming to Utah to be with the Saints. In
obedience to the spirit of "gathering to Zion, " they
left their all and faced the trials of emigrating to a new land.
However, they were fortified by their faith and testimony of this
great latter-day work.
Millennial Star, Vol. XV, pp 154, 288 and 361, records this trip
across the ocean:
"Under the direction of Joseph W. Young, who had presided
over the Preston Conference, a company of 345 Saints sailed from
Liverpool on February 15, 1853, on board the ship 'Elvira Owen'.
"On March 23, 1853, after a most speedy voyage lasting only
36 days, the 'Elvira Owen' arrived at the bar at the mouth of
the Mississippi River. Three births, three marriages and three
deaths occurred during the voyage. There were a few cases of small-pox,
which, however, did not prove fatal, and the disease did not spread
to any great extent.
"Captain Owen treated the Saints with much kindness, especially
the sick, and a memorial, expressive of their gratitude for his
fatherly conduct to all, was presented to him by the passengers.
"After being detained at the bar several days, the 'Elvira
Owen' was towed up the river, and the emigrants landed in New
Orleans on March 31. Proceeding up the Mississippi River, the
emigrants arrived at Keokuk, Iowa, on the 13 April, being two
days short of two months from Liverpool, which was considered
an extraordinarily rapid journey."
The Church Emigration Records #6184, pt 1, and #38335, pt 6,
state that among the 345 passengers aboard the 955 ton ship 'Elvira
Owen', was the Joseph Newman family, from Willenhall, Staffordshire,
England, listed as follows:
Joseph Newman, jobbing smith, age 43
Elizabeth Newman, age 41
John Newman, age 14
Ann Newman, age 12
William Newman, age 10
Joseph Newman, age 7
James Newman, age 5
Thomas S. Newman, age 11 months
Keokuk, Iowa, had been selected as the outfitting place for the
Saints crossing the plains in 1853. Therefore, it is likely that
these Saints made necessary preparations at Keokuk, for their
wagon train trek across the plains.
Journal History of the Church (#38335, pt 12) records that this
company of Saints crossed the plains in the Claudius V. Spencer
Company.
Not too much is known of this eventful trip, the hardships, the
sickness, the weary feet and backs, the Indian raids, the heat,
or the happy times around the wagon enclosures at night, but,
as in all such treks in the 1853's, they had their sorrows and
their joys.
A letter written by Claudius V. Spencer to President Brigham
Young, tells us the care and concern Claudius V. Spencer had for
the members of his company, which letter I here quote: (Journal
History pt 12)
"Revered and Beloved President Young:
"I have received your notice to emigrating Saints and improve
the first opportunity to forward the list of our camp, which I
believe is correct. Provisions with us and with other camps are
very short and we are making as much haste as possible to reach
the Valley, but the inexperience of the English brethren in these
canyons makes slow progress and much trouble and will forbid my
leaving camp until all the wagons are safely landed at the foot
of Emigration Canyon. Any instructions you might choose to send
by the bearer of this, respecting disposal of the camp, that point
will be thankfully received.
Very truly yours,
(signed) Claudius V. Spencer."
A list of the immigrants, which included the Joseph Newman family,
was sent with the above letter to President Brigham Young.
Journal History of the Church, dated Sep 17, 1853, p 3, records
that this Company of Saints, under the able direction of Captain
Claudius V. Spencer, arrived at their destination on Sep 24, 1853.
On their trek westward, how often their eyes must have turned
to the sunset horizon, for the coolness and quiet of the night
and their much needed rest before another day's journey. They
must have become weary of the shifting sands, the sameness of
the scenery, but always they were spurred on by their great purpose
in coming, "to gather to Zion." No doubt, burial mounds
were in evidence along the route and brought sadness to their
hearts. The life of a pioneer is ever one of labor, of privation
and hardship.
As the Company entered the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, no
doubt their fatigue was partially forgotten in the glad welcome
they received. How the Saints in the Valley must have looked forward
to the emigrant trains, with friends and loved ones en route.
They must have watched for the cloud of dust which told of the
coming of the wagons .
We can little realize the joy of our forebears as they arrived
to settle down among the Saints in Zion; nor can we realize their
anxiety or fully understand the urgency of the planning and the
work necessary in late September, to again establish a home and
provide food and clothing for the family, with winter so close
at hand, in a city about six years old. In the Joseph Newman family
there were six children between the ages of fourteen years and
sixteen months, to house, clothe and feed.
Perhaps Joseph Auslander expresses their feelings in these lines:
"Here, at Freedom's door, they stand;
Here, at Freedom's door, they start;
A new life takes them by the hand;
A new hope takes them by the heart."
It is a tradition in our family that President Brigham Young
assigned the Newman family to settle in Big Cottonwood, located
in the southeast part of the Valley, some ten miles from the Church
headquarters in Salt Lake City. For two years they lived in Big
Cottonwood Canyon. Then Joseph Newman acquired considerable acreage
by purchase from a Mr. Henry Lee and the Newman family built a
home and became tillers of the soil. This was an entirely new
occupation from that of a locksmith. Joseph Newman had learned
blacksmithing in England and this trade he also followed here.
My family tell me that Joseph Newman was a good, honest man.
He was broad shouldered, ruddy complexioned, quite stout of build,
of medium height, with blue eyes and auburn colored hair. I did
not know him, as he died fifteen years before I was born.
I well remember Elizabeth Newman, our grandmother, as being a
little woman, perhaps five feet tall. She was small boned and
slender. She had blue eyes and light brown hair. She was a delicate
type of woman, refined and quiet in her ways. She was a happy
person to be around.
I must tell you something about Big Cottonwood. The land was
fertile and productive of good crops. There were many trees and
wooded areas of Cottonwood trees. There was low growing shrubbery
of haw, squaw and sarvice berry bushes and there were choke cherry
trees. The land had to be cleared, for wild sage brush and scrub
oak were abundant. Sego and sand lillies, buttercups, dog-tongues,
cowslips and musk were on the low hills. The shady areas under
the oak trees grew yellow violets in profusion. Big Cottonwood
Creek wended its crooked way an eighth of a mile below the Newman
home.
Big Cottonwood was originally known as Holladay's Settlement
and Holladay Burgh. It was settled in the spring of 1848 by John
Holladay, (Captain John D. Holladay) Peter Doudle, William and
Benjamin Mathews, Washington Gibson, Allen Smithson and others,
who arrived in the Valley with the pioneers of July 1847. This
group of Saints settled on Spring Creek, about three miles below
the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. They settled close together
and built a number of log cabins. This village was the first founded
in Utah outside of Salt Lake City and was called Holladay's Brugh,
in honor of John Holladay, one of the first settlers, and its
first acting Bishop. He presided from 1849-1851. After his departure,
there were others appointed as acting Bishops. By October 1853,
the population in Holladay Settlement, then known as Big Cottonwood,
had increased to 161 souls. In 1856, David Brinton was made Bishop
of the Ward. On May 3, 1857, Joseph Newman was ordained a High
Priest by Alexander Hill. Joseph Newman and Elizabeth, his wife,
and their children attended meetings in the Big Cottonwood Ward.
Opportunities for education in the school room were limited at
that early day. In 1852, a one room adobe building was built south
of Big Cottonwood Creek, and later other school houses were built
and good teachers were provided. The children learned to read,
write and do arithmetic in school in the winter months, but the
Newman children were kept busy helping their father on the farm
in the spring, summer and fall seasons. They "learned to
do by doing, " and were pretty much self-taught and self-educated.
They had little time for formal education.
In 1858, on account of the approach of Johnson's Army, President
Brigham Young counseled the Saints of Big Cottonwood to remove
to Beaver Valley. However, the Saints went only as far as the
Provo River and were told to remain there and a few months later,
in July, they returned to their homes.
Joseph Newman married in polygamy, Elizabeth Paine, for his second
wife. They had one daughter named Elizabeth Ann, born April 6,
1863. This wife left him and Elizabeth Hughes Newman reared the
daughter Elizabeth Ann with her own family.
Joseph Newman had now been in the Valley about seventeen years.
He continued to farm his land, to care for the vegetable garden
and to follow his backsmithing trade.
Because Joseph Newman could get a better price for produce from
his farm, he sold it to Fort Douglas instead of through the Church
channels, and he also did horse-shoeing for Fort Douglas. For
this he was cut-off the Church. The Church Record states that
he was cut-off the Church on July 3, 1870, which was seven years
before his death. (Early Church Information File) In 1923, Thomas
Samuel, the youngest son of Joseph Newman and Elizabeth Hughes
Newman, interviewed a member of the First Presidency of the Church,
explaining the situation to him. The matter was taken up with
the First Presidency of the Church, consisting of Presidents Heber
J. Grant, Charles W. Penrose and A. W. Ivins, and they wrote and
signed a letter to the Salt Lake Temple (and I have a copy of
this letter) authorizing the baptisms and confirming of all former
blessings upon Joseph Newman and Elizabeth Hughes Newman. This
is a matter of record in the Salt Lake Temple in Book 3 "O"
, pp 176, 755, dated February 20 and 21, 1923.
About 1870, Joseph and Elizabeth Hughes Newman moved to Salt Lake
City. This left in the home in Holladay the two sons James and
Thomas, who fared for themselves. However, in May 1877, the youngest
son Thomas was married and went into his newly built adobe home
not very far from his father's home.
On July 21, 1877, Joseph Newman died of apoplexy in Salt Lake
City. He is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. The Deseret
News gives the following obituary:
"In the Seventh Ward, Salt Lake City, Utah, at 11 o'clock
p.m., July 21, 1877, JOSEPH NEWMAN, age 68 years. Deceased was
born at Lanehead, Staffordshire, England."
After the death of her husband, the home in Salt Lake City was
sold and Elizabeth Newman then lived in the old home in Holladay
with her son James, as her other children were married and living
in homes of their own. When she was older, Grandmother Newman
lived with her sons James and Thomas, as Joseph's wife had poor
health.
I well remember Grandmother Newman when she lived with us. She
used to shell peas, fresh from the garden. She would hull strawberries,
peel potatoes, prepare fruit for drying and help all she could.
Now her eye-sight was fast failing. For a number of years she
was totally blind. Mother and Aunt Annette Newman were very good
to Grandmother Newman. They cared for her every need. Grandmother
always seemed to be appreciative of their kind attention to her.
Mother, busy with household tasks, would often say to one of us
children, "Go see how your Grandmother is." Grandmother
loved to have us sit by her bedside when she was very old and
she would tell us about old England and her early life there.
Grandmother Elizabeth Newman lived on for another thirty years.
On June 4, 1907, at twenty minutes to eleven in the evening, she
passed away at the home of her son James. She was in her ninety-sixth
year. She is buried beside her husband Joseph Newman in the Salt
Lake City Cemetery. The marker at Joseph Newman's grave became
broken and the identification thereon missing, so in May 1971,
a new marker was placed at his grave.
Joseph Newman and Elizabeth Hughes Newman were blessed with a
family of seven children, all born in Willenhall, Staffordshire,
England, or at Portabello, a small hamlet within the town of Willenhall.
We are indebted to entries in the Joseph Newman family Bible
for the exact date and time of night or day that the children
were born.
There now follows a brief life sketch of each of these children:
SAMUEL NEWMAN
SAMUEL, their oldest son was born December 28, 1836, at twenty
minutes past nine o'clock in the morning. This child died about
a month later, on January 22, 1837.
JOHN NEWMAN
JOHN NEWMAN, their second son was born January 27, 1838,
at half past seven o'clock in the morning. He was fourteen years
of age when the family came to the Valley. In Big Cottonwood,
he was a real help to his father on the farm. He learned the blacksmith
trade from his father. He was also a carpenter.
At the early age of twenty-one years, he and Sarah Matilda
Marchant of Peoa, Summit County, Utah, were married on December
25, 1859. She was born in Bath, Sommerset, England, September
1, 1841, daughter of Abraham Marchant and Lydia Johnson.
Their first three children were born in Big Cottonwood. They
moved to Peoa, Summit County, Utah, where ten additional children
were born to them, making in all, a family of thirteen children.
Later he moved with his family to Idaho, settling in the vicinity
of Milo, Bingham County.
He was a farmer of many acres. He also did blacksmithing. He
made his own shoeing hammer and clinching iron.
He was a good man, full of faith and good works. They reared
their family according to Latter-day Saint ideals. He was a faithful
ward teacher. He was a kind-hearted man. He would cry after he
had punished one of his children.
His family say that he enjoyed hunting. He was a good friend
to the Indians and sometimes went hunting with them. One time
he was hunting and saw two deer. He shot and killed one of them.
As he raised his gun to shoot the other deer, a voice said to
him, "Don't kill more than you need." There he saw a
man with a long white beard. He turned to look at the deer and
when he looked back the man had disappeared.
Their children are John Henry, Abraham William, Sarah Matilda
(dec at age 10 days) Lydia Marie, Joseph Alma, Elizabeth Mae,
Robert Marchant, James Johnson, Albert Samuel, Mary Ann, Amelia
Sophia, Emily Florence and Franklin Hughes. (All deceased)
John Newman passed away full in the faith of the Church, on July
18, 1902, at Milo, Bingham County, Idaho, age 64 years. His wife,
Sarah Marchant Newman died January 20, 1910, at Milo, Idaho, and
is buried by the side of her husband, in the Milo Cemetery.
ANN ELIZABETH NEWMAN GIBSON
ANN ELIZABETH, the third child, was born on June 29, 1840, at
thirty-five minutes past four o'clock in the afternoon. She being
the only daughter in the family, was most helpful to her mother.
She had dark hair, blue eyes and was of medium build. She grew
up with her brothers on the farm in Big Cottonwood.
At the early age of sixteen years, on March 15, 1856, she was
married to George Washington Gibson, who was born June 17, 1800,
in Union County, .South Carolina, son of Robert Gibson and Mary
Evans.
Their first two children were born in Big Cottonwood, where the
father had land on Walker's Lane. Their next three children were
born in Grafton, about seven miles from Virgin, Washington County,
Utah. Later they moved to Duncan's Retreat, also in Washington
County, and here their sixth and last child was born.
Their children are Ann Elizabeth, George Andrew, Sarah Jane, Mary
Ardilca, Joshua Newman and James William. (All deceased)
George Washington Gibson was a farmer and he also raised horses
and cattle. He passed away on August 17, 1871, at Duncan's Retreat.
Later, Ann Elizabeth Newman Gibson married a man named Bradshaw.
After the birth of a stillborn child, Ann died February 8, 1875,
and is buried in the Holladay Cemetery.
WILLIAM HUGHES NEWMAN
WILLIAM HUGHES NEWMAN, their fourth child was born July 21, 1842,
at fifteen minutes past two o'clock in the morning. He was ten
years of age when they came to Utah. He helped his father on their
farm, with chores, farming and fruit raising.
On April 13, 1867, he married Jane Ann Allen, daughter of James
Home Allen and Susanna Smith. She was born February 21, 1838,
at Eaton, Yorkshire, England.
In 1873, William Newman was called to the mission field. On November
21, 1873, he wrote a letter to his mother from Hamilton County,
Nebraska. I give this letter in part as follows:
"Dear Mother:
I take the opportunity of writing you a few lines. I am well at
present as I hope this will find you. I got two letters from Jane
Ann and one from Ellen (Jane Ann's sister) when I got here last
night. Glad to hear they are all well and hope they and yourself
will continue to until I get home, which I expect will not be
until spring, if then. I will be glad to see you all again but
as duty calls me here, this is the place for me. You know the
Savior taught, 'Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness
and all other things shall be added.' I have met a few men in
my travels who denounce the Bible and God Himself and of all men
they are most miserable.
I wish, if you have any of the Millennial Stars that we brought
from England, that you would take care of them for me, or if you
would ask the boys if they have any, and get them for me. I want
to read them. There is a lot of information in them in relation
to the rise and progress of the Church.
Give my respects to all and my love to the boys and the family.
You can let them see this letter and Jane Ann also, and give my
love to her and accept the same yourself.
From your affectionate son,
(signed) W. H. Newman"
We are happy to have this letter from William Hughes Newman,
for we knew little of him. He built a house on Casto Lane in Big
Cottonwood, where he resided until his passing on November 23,
1883. Aunt Jane Ann Newman continued to live in the home. They
had no children. She spent much time visiting those who were lonely
and sick and helped where there was sickness among her family
and friends.
Jane Ann Newman passed away February 19, 1927, at the advanced
age of eighty-nine years . She had been a widow for forty-four
year. William Hughes and Jane Ann Newman are both buried in the
Holladay Cemetery.
JOSEPH PARTRIDGE NEWMAN
JOSEPH PARTRIDGE NEWMAN, the fifth child, was born February 20,
1845, at half past eight o'clock in the evening. He was reared
in Big Cottonwood and worked on the farm with his father and brothers.
At the age of thirty-one, on May 1, 1876, he married Eliza Ann
Moses, who was born August 9, 1850, at Kanesville, Council Bluffs,
Pottawattamie County, Iowa, daughter of James Moses and Eliza
Spencer. They were the parents of nine children, all born in Big
Cottonwood and were reared in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
Joseph Newman acquired considerable acreage near his father's
home in Big Cottonwood, which he later sold to his brother Thomas
Samuel. He bought fifteen acres of land from his father, which
had to be cleared of sage brush and undergrowth. He built his
home nearer the settlement. He had a comfortable house, with beautiful
evergreen trees planted in the front yard. He grew wheat, alfalfa,
also corn and potatoes and had orchards and vegetable gardens.
He was business-like in his ways. He also acquired a number of
other pieces of land in the county. Wherever he had fruit trees
and vegetable gardens, he always shared with his neighbors and
was especially kind to widows and those in need. He, like his
brothers, could shoe horses, as a blacksmith.
Joseph Newman was a self-educated man. He served as Constable
of Holladay. At one time he was on the school board as Trustee
and also Treasurer. For one year he freighted by ox-team to Great
Falls, Montana.
Joseph Newman is listed in the book "Biographies of Salt
Lake City and Vicinity" published in 1902. Here he is given
as a well-informed man and that he is numbered among the most
successful men in his community and a prominent agriculturist
of Salt Lake County. I quote, "He always voted for men whom
he considered the best men for the office." In the biography
he is mentioned as a consistent member of the Mormon Church. Also,
"that while making a name for himself as a thrifty, honest
and upright man, he has at the same time, won and retained the
highest regard of those with whom he lias associated, both in
business and private life."
The children of Joseph and Eliza Moses Newman are:
Joseph Samuel (dec), Martha Edith (dec), James Moses (dec as
child), John Spencer (dec at age 9 mo.), Ann Elizabeth (dec),
Frank William (dec), Fredrick Partridge, Eliza and Adelaide.
Eliza Ann Moses Newman passed away April 7, 1902, after a long
illness and is buried in the Holladay Cemetery.
In 1910, Joseph Partridge Newman moved to Salt Lake City and
resided at 2148 South 8th East, in the Forest Dale Ward. He died
October 19, 1923, and is buried beside his wife in the Holladay
Cemetery.
JAMES NEWMAN
JAMES NEWMAN was the sixth child of this family, born April 4,
1847, at four o'clock in the afternoon. He, like his brothers,
helped on the farm and learned the blacksmith trade from his father.
After his father's death, he and his mother lived at the home
in Big Cottonwood.
As early as 1875, James Newman homesteaded 80 acres near his
father's home in Big Cottonwood. The deed to this property was
dated September 10, 1875, and signed by President Ulysses S. Grant.
On this land James Newman and my father, Thomas Newman, erected
an adobe home, for these two brothers helped each other build
their houses.
At the age of forty-five years, James Newman married Annette
Olsen, on November 23, 1892, She was born in Oby, Sweden, January
23, 1869, the daughter of Paul Olson and Charsti Matson. They
were the parents of seven children, all born in Big Cottonwood.
Uncle James Newman's farm joined father's land. He raised alfalfa,
grain, potatoes, corn and he also had fruit trees and a vegetable
garden. With the implements of that day, it was quite a task to
till the soil and make it productive. I remember the sugar cane
that he and father grew, and the great vat and the horse going
round and round as the juice was squeezed out of the sugar cane,
and how we enjoyed the sorgum and molasses.
James Newman was musically inclined like my father and played
the violin by ear. He also made a violin.
My sisters and I attended the Twenty-eighth District School with
the oldest of the James Newman children, and we have pleasant
memories of our association with our cousins.
Aunt Annette Newman was a charming woman , who had such a sunny,
pleasant face and was quick of speech and had such industrious,
energetic ways. She was an immaculate housekeeper and had a wonderful
flower garden which was admired by one and all.
Uncle James Newman was a kindly, thoughtful man, with keen blue
eyes and reddish hair. He was rather slender of build.
The children of James and Annette Newman are James Leroy, Alice,
Ann, Eva Mildred, Ershel William, Maude and David. Eva and David
are deceased.
James Newman passed away August 31, 1935, at Holladay and is
buried in the Mount Olivet Cemetery, at Salt Lake City. His wife,
Annette Olsen Newman, died December 23, 1947, in Holladay and
is buried by her husband in the Mount Olivet Cemetery.
THOMAS SAMUEL NEWMAN
THOMAS SAMUEL NEWMAN, my father, was the youngest son and seventh
child of Joseph Newman and Elizabeth Hughes Newman. He was born.May
8, 1852, at twenty-five minutes past eleven o'clock in the morning.
He was about sixteen months old when the family reached the Valley.
As soon as he was old enough, he helped his father and brothers
on the farm in Big Cottonwood. He also knew something about black-smithing,
for he worked with his father and later continued to shoe horses
he used in his farm work. I remember father shoeing horses and
the forge and bellows, the anvil and the heavy hammer and horseshoe
nails.
Thomas Newman had a span of mules and a wagon and hauled logs
and lumber from Big Cottonwood Canyon and he hauled ore down to
the smelter. He was sturdy and strong of build, of medium height.
He purchased acreage from his brother Joseph and commenced forming
on his own.
Father and his brother James learned to make adobes and they
used this skill in making the adobes for their own homes. Father's
home was located about a mile north of the mouth of Big Cottonwood
Canyon.
When he was twenty-five years old, he married Caroline Mariah
Wayman, daughter of Emmanuel Wayman and Margaret Johnston Wayman.
She was born January 25, 1857, in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were
married May 14, 1877, at the Church Historian's Office in Salt
Lake City, by Daniel H. Wells. Later, when the Logan Temple was
completed, they were endowed and sealed for eternity in the Logan
Temple, on June 15, 1887, and they had their first five sons sealed
to them. They were blessed with a family of eleven children, nine
of whom grew to maturity. Their names are: Samuel Reuben (dec),
Joseph Emmanuel (dec), William Thomas (dec), Albert James, Robert
Howell (dec), Elizabeth Mariah, Margaret Ann, Ethel Cecilia, Florence
and Gertrude (twins, dec. soon after birth) and Clarence Jay,
who is known as "Jay C."
Through their thrifty habits, father and mother acquired considerable
land in Big Cottonwood (Holladay). He built an eleven room more
comfortable home nearer the settlement. Father made a good living
for his family.
Father was always actively engaged in church work, as a home
teacher, a stake missionary and Sunday School teacher. He was
a man of great faith and was often called to the homes of relatives
and ward members to administer to the sick.
Between 1894-1896, father filled an honorable mission for the
church to the British Isles. While there, in Willenhall and nearby
towns he visited with Newman and Hughes relatives and saw the
place where he was born, the old shop where his father worked
in Willenhall and the old shop in Lanehead where his father served
his apprenticeship with a man named Colburn.
In "Biographies of Salt Lake City and Vicinity, " published
in 1902, a sketch was given of father. It states that he had one
of the finest homes in Salt Lake County; that he had acquired
considerable acreage and farm land; that he was prominent in educational
affairs; that he is an active and faithful member of the Mormon
Church and that he had a large circle of friends in the community.
Father was a Trustee of the Twenty-eighth District School for
many years. He was also a Director of the Upper Canal Irrigation
and Holladay Water Companies in Holladay.
After an active life in Church and community, father passed away
at home, after several months of illness, on December 5, 1925,
at the age of seventy-three and one-half years. He is buried in
the Holladay Cemetery. Mother lived for another thirty-two years.
She died on January 7, 1957, at the age of one hundred years,
less eighteen days. She is buried by the side of father.
ELIZABETH ANN NEWMAN SMITH
ELIZABETH ANN NEWMAN, the daughter of Joseph Newman and Elizabeth
Paine, was born April 6, 1863, in Salt Lake City. She was reared
by Elizabeth Hughes Newman.
When eighteen years of age, Elizabeth Ann. was married on October
28, 1881, to George Fred Smith of Farmington, Davis County, Utah.
They made their home in Big Cottonwood, where they had seven children,
namely, Orson James, Thomas Reuben (dec), Florence Elizabeth,
Catherine Debora, Hazel (dec. as child), George Earl (dec) and
Nellie Ann (dec).
The members of this family have all been actively engaged in
Church service.
Elizabeth Ann Newman Smith died February 1, 1895, and is buried
in the Murray City Cemetery. Her husband died May 14, 1942.
IN CONCLUSION:
To our progenitors, we should be most grateful that they made
it possible for us to be born in this favored land of America;
that they heeded the Gospel call; that they were willing to leave
relatives and friends who were near and dear to them and come
to this distant, unknown land, trusting in the Lord to preserve
and bless them in their endeavors.
President J. Reuben Clark has beautifully expressed it in these
words:
"Urged by the spirit of gathering and led by a burning testimony
of the truth of the Restored Gospel, thousands upon tens of thousands
of these humble souls, one from a city, two from a family, have
bade farewell to friends and homes and loved ones, and with sundered
heart strings, companioned with privation and with sacrifice even
to life itself, these multitudes have made their way to Zion,
to join those who were privileged to come earlier, that all might
build up the Kingdom of God on earth, - all welded together by
common hardship and suffering, never -ending work and deep privation,
tragic woes and heart-eating griefs, abiding faith and exalting
joy, firm testimony and living spiritual knowledge - a mighty
people, missioned with the salvation, not only of the living,
but of the dead also, saviors not worshippers of their ancestors,
their hearts aglow with the divine fire of the spirit of Elijah,
who turns the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children
to the fathers."
We should be humbly proud of these our forebears. Rosannah Cannon
expresses my feelings about them, in the following lines:
"Such a deep and reverent pride is in my heart,
Such thanks for this wide land; there is no part
Of my impassioned soul but raply cleaves
To every native thing - these tawny leaves,
These dusty hills, this hazy stretch of plain,
October sun and chill, November rain.
Why should I not feel kin to this dark earth?
My race it was to which this soil gave birth.
The sturdy folk I spring from toiled and fought
Here to build homes, and slowly, slowly, wrought
Familiar miracles with seed and plow -
The once dry wastes are fertile valleys now.
Heroes were they, this eager, questing line
Of men who perished in a cause divine,
Of women, fragile instruments of fate,
To usher in a new race, strong and straight,
A tribe of gallant leaders, still unbowed -
Of these am I - why should I not be proud?"
As a tribute to the past, a record for the future and a message
to posterity, I dedicate these pages to my loving progenitors.
I am indebted to various family members for facts regarding my
father's brothers and sisters.
Compiled and written by Margaret Ann Newman Wells, granddaughter
of Joseph Newman and Elizabeth Hughes Newman, and daughter of
Thomas Samuel Newman.
Dated June 4, 1973.
Pedigree Chart and Family Group Sheets Follow
[This document was retyped and prepared for the web in June 2002,
by Russell Thomas McMullin, great great great grandson]
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