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Friday, December 31, 2010

History of Ann Parry

Again, special thanks to the "Sunflower Lady" for getting me this article. Wonderful info on ELP's second wife!

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History of Ann Parry

Ann Parry, daughter of Thomas and Ann Roberts Parry, was born 27th April 1835 at St. George, Denbigshire, North Wales, where she spent her girlhood days.  She was one of a large family.  She had brown eyes and hair and a beautiful complexion.  She was not quite average in height.

She joined the Church of Jesus Christ in her native land, leaving Liverpool in April in 1856 for Utah the home of the Saints.  Sailed in the steamer Carling to New York.  Then by train to Iowa City.  They crossed the Plains, a distance of 1300 miles with the third company of Hand-Cart Emigrants, Edward Bunker, Captain.

She walked all the way across the Plains, waded the rivers and helped to pull a Handcart.  She came with her brother Edward Parry and his wife Ellen Roberts Parry.

At one river the men were carrying the women and girls across, but she and her cousin, Winnifred Parry, with their arms around each other’s waists, started to wade.  She could see her brother on the opposite bank of the river, acting as though some thing was wrong, when one of the men came and met them; they were drifting down stream, but did not realize it.  And her brother, having hurt his arm was unable to come to the rescue.

She was married to Edward Lloyd Parry on 19th February 1857 in the Endowment House, Salt Lake City, Utah.

She and her husband and his wife Elizabeth were at the celebration on the 24th July 1857 in Big Cottonwood Canyon, when the news came that an army was on their way to Utah to invade their homes.  We cannot realize how they must have felt at this information.  In the fall, 10th November 1857 her husband was called to go to Echo Canyon to prepare to meet Johnston’s Army, and was placed as Captain of ten and remained there three weeks, when he returned home.  In the spring of 1858 he went out again for three weeks, and after remaining home three weeks they were counseled to go south that the troops were coming in.  They got ready to burn their property if the word was given.  They went as far south as Springville in the beginning of May 1858, where they lived in their wagon and a willow shed.  Her first child, a girl Elizabeth Ann was born on the 4th March 1858, so was only two months old at that time.  They returned to Salt Lake City about the 4th July 1858.  Her second child Edward Thomas was born 10th October 1859.

In April 1862 her husband was called to go to St. George, Utah to settle there.  She left her little daughter Elizabeth Ann with her husband’s first wife Elizabeth, who had no children, she with her husband and small son Edward Thomas and foster son George Brooks left Salt Lake City with one yoke of oxen and one yoke of cows for St. George, traveling all the way alone, meeting Indians every little while. 
   
They endeavored to reach a settlement each night, but one night they were unable to do so.  When Brother Parry then unyoked and oxen and cows, they became very restless and George said, “Father they smell Indians.”  They tied the cattle to each wheel of the wagon.  The husband cleaned and loaded his gun.  They all got in the wagon and tied down the cover and the husband sat with his gun in his hand or between his knees all night.  The cattle pulled at their chains and little dog barked and ran back and forth.  Twice he thought he would make a hole in the cover and look out, but a voice said, “Don’t Edward.”  He thought it was Ann speaking to him.  When daylight came he asked her, but she said that she did not speak, as she was to frightened to do so.  They yoked up their cattle as soon as they could and started off again they met quite a number of Indians.

In telling of their experiences of the night before, they were told that if they had looked out of the cover the Indians would have known just where to have send their arrows.

They arrived at St. George the 5th June 1862 and her third child Mary Ellen was born 18th June 1862.  Being the first white girl born in St. George, they were living in a wagon box and willow shed at the time.  Six other children were born to them at St. George, John Lloyd, 6th October 1864, Artimesha, 25th December 1866, Minnie, 12th March 1869, Harriet, 1st November 1870, Bernard, 8th July 1873, Emma, 7th February 1876.  On 15th February Artimesha died and on 3rd March Minnie died.

In the spring when in St. George, Indians came round on their usual visits, one of them came to the home and asked for the black eyed papoose and when told that she was dead [he] went out and sat on the wood pile and mourned all day.  The child have been wont [going] to visit with the Indians, and especially this one when he was chopping wood.  It seemed that he thought a great deal of her.

In April 1877 her husband was called to go to Manti, by President Brigham Young, to take charge of all the stonework of the Manti Temple.  He arrived on the 24th April 1877, taking with him his wife Elizabeth, who had gone from Salt Lake City to St. George, and oldest daughter Elizabeth Ann.

In the fall he sent two young men with teams and wagons to St. George to bring Ann and the rest of the family to Manti.  They left a comfortable home and two city lots well cultivated with fruits and flowers, in St. George.

On the 11th August 1880 her husband’s first wife died.  This was a great sorrow to Ann for they had loved each other dearly, and had always lived together except the one and a half years before Elizabeth went to join them in St. George.  They were more like mother and daughter than anything else.  The children all called her mother and their own mother “Ma.”

Two boys were born to them at Manti, Hugh Evans, named for the first wife’s father; he was born 5th May 1881 and George 27th July 1883.

She died on the 6th August 1886, after a short illness, taking sick on 3rd August 1886.  Four of her children were married at this time and five were at home ranging in age from fifteen years to three years of age.  The two little boys died in November 1889.

Of her seven children who grew to manhood and womanhood, her three sons filled missions after their marriages, two in Great Britain, one in Arkansas and one daughter in Colorado.  Two grandsons and two great-grandsons, one great granddaughter and her two sons-in-law have filled missions.

Her children and many more of her descendants are and have been taking part in the Church activities.  In fact they seem to have inherited the splendid qualities of their splendid ancestry, who have enviable characters and faith.

At this time 6th December 1937 she has 152 descendants.

She of course had many trial and tribulations, but met them with all the courage that a true wife and mother could.  She was industrious, never idle, always at home, especially after she moved to Manti, going out but very little, not making many acquaintances.

This sketch was written by the Misses Harriet and Emma Parry on 6th December 1937 and typed by Alice K. Hatch, Historian D.U.P., Manti Camp.

My husband’s mother, Emeline Cox Jewkes, who is the granddaughter of Ann Parry gave this sketch to me, Dora Deane Peterson Jewkes.  Her mother was named Mary Ellen Parry and her father was Sylvester Hulet Cox.  Dated this 24th day of May in the year 1955.

Retyped by Karen Maria Jewkes Barker, Great-great-great granddaughter of Ann and Edward Lloyd Parry, June 2000.  (Some punctuation was corrected.)

Minor corrections made and pictures added August 2001 by Tammy Rae Cox Thomson, a third great granddaughter of Ann Parry.

Elizabeth Evans Parry, “The Other Mother”

Special thanks to the "Sunflower Lady" for sending me this article about ELP's first wife.

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Elizabeth Evans Parry, “The Other Mother”
Written by Harriet and Emma Parry, daughters of Ann & Edward Lloyd Parry

Elizabeth Evans Parry was born in the year 1817 at Anglsey, North Wales.  Her parents were Hugh and Ellen Evans.  Before her marriage she was Head House Maid for a wealthy family in Chester, England.

In her youth she was very beautiful with piercing black eyes and dark hair.
   
She married Edward Lloyd Parry 16th August 1846 at Chester, England.

She was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the summer of 1848 and with her husband kept an open house for Elders and Saints, providing them with food, shelter, clothing and money to pay their traveling expenses.  Their home was in St. George, North Wales.

At one time her husband went to work building cottages for a Light House at Point of Air, where he became acquainted with Samuel Brooks and family, after which their small son George Brooks visited at their home in St. George, North Wales, and they having no children of their own and being great lovers of children, became very much attached to him.

She and her husband like many others were desirous of gathering with the body of the Church in Utah, U. S. A. and when Orson Pratt, then President of the European Mission counseled all those who could to go to Utah and to do so in 1853, they decided to take his advise.  They with eleven others from the same branch of the Church, left Liverpool, England the 5th February 1853 on the sailing ship Jersey, commanded by Captain Day.  Elder George Halliday being in charge of the Saints.  It took them six weeks to reach New Orleans.  They went by steamboat from there to Keokuk, Iowa, arriving there the first of April.  They stayed there eight weeks, and by this time they had procured the necessary ox teams and wagons to commence the journey across the Plains.  Joseph W. Young was Captain of the company.  They arrived in Salt Lake City 10th October 1853.

They moved to Ogden in the fall of 1855.

In the year of 1856 Samuel Brooks and family immigrated to Utah from North Wales, crossed the Plains with handcarts in Edward Bunker’s company.  The mother died on the way and the father died on reaching Salt Lake City.  The young boy George made his home with the Parry’s.  He was treated in that home like a son and brother and remained there until his marriage.
   

Ann Parry, her husband’s cousin, came from Wales in the same company with the Brooks and went to visit the Parry’s.  Edward was not home at the time.  When he came home Elizabeth said to him, “You do not know who is here, it is your cousin Ann, and she has come to be your wife.”

She thus gave Ann to him willingly and they were married in the Endowment House, 19th February 1857.
   
In the spring they all moved back to Salt Lake City where he was called to work on the Salt Lake Temple.

They went through all the trials of the Echo Canyon War.  In the beginning of the month of May 1858, when the people were counseled to move south for Johnston’s Army was coming in, they went as far south as Springville, where they lived in their wagon-box and willow shed.  They moved back to Salt Lake City about the 4th of July the same year.

In April 1862 her husband was called to go to St. George in southern Utah to settle.  He with his wife Ann and his small son, Edward Thomas and foster son George Brooks left for St. George, arriving there 5th June 1862.

Elizabeth and their small daughter Elizabeth Ann stayed in Salt Lake City until August 1863, when he returned for them and moved them to St. George.

When Ann’s first child was born which was on 4th March 1858, she gave her to Elizabeth and weaned her at nine months so the child could sleep with her foster mother.  They named her Elizabeth Ann for both the mothers and she was almost grown before she knew that Ann was her real mother.

They lived in St. George until 1877 when Brother Parry was called by President Brigham Young to go to Manti to take charge of all the stone work on the Manti Temple.  He took with him his first wife Elizabeth and Elizabeth Ann, leaving Ann and the other six children in St. George.

Elizabeth never had any children of her own, but she was called mother, by all of Ann’s children.  They called Ann, Ma.  They all loved Elizabeth, dearly, and never knew while they were small but what they could have a mother and a ma.

The two wives always lived together and Elizabeth weaned all the children, and always spoke of them as “Our Children.”  When she had been in Manti three months she told her husband, “I cannot stand it any longer without Ann and the children.”  She chanced her way back to St. George where she stayed until the fall, when the family all moved to Manti.

On her way back to St. George she met John, a boy of thirteen years going to Manti, and he said that when he met mother, it was a question with him, what to do, whether to go back to St. George with Mother, or on to Manti to his father, he went to Manti.

At one time one of the little boys did something that was not quite right and Elizabeth said to him, “I do not like you.”  Then he cried and said, “Mother don’t like me, Mother don’t like me.  Nobody likes me.”

A playmate of one of the little girls said to her, “You cannot have a mother and a Ma, one of them is your Auntie.”  Where upon she answered and said, “Oh, no, then my Pa would be my uncle.”

At one time when Elizabeth was correcting one of the boys, he said, “You are not my mother,” and then and there Ann chided him severely for what he had said.  The children were all taught to obey Elizabeth, just the same as they did their Ma.

Elizabeth was sick for sometime before her death and Ann nursed and cared for her, as a daughter would care for her mother and said she had been like a mother to her.

She died 11th August 1880 at Manti and is buried there.

This short history was typed by Alice K. Hatch, Historian D.U.P. 20th December 1937. 
Retyped by Karen Maria Jewkes Barker, Great-great granddaughter of Edward Lloyd and Ann Parry, June 2000.  (Some punctuation was corrected.)

Minor corrections made August 2001 by Tammy Rae Cox Thomson, a third great granddaughter of Edward Lloyd & Ann Parry.