Morgan David

Morgan David, 1804 - 1888, age 84, was born March 3, 1804 in Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales, the third of nine children of Thomas David and Mary Johnson David. Thomas was a collier [coal miner], who lived all his life in Llanelly. Elizabeth Bowen was born in Llanelly on October 17, 1802, the youngest of the six children of William Bowen and Mary Griffith Bowen. William supported his family by working as a blacksmith. Mary passed away in the fall of 1810, when Elizabeth was only eight-years-old. Morgan David and Elizabeth Bowen were married July 18, 1823 in Llanelly. They had (six) daughters: Mary, Elizabeth, Ann, Hannah, Emma and Rachel. Three months after Rachel was born, Morgan's father, Thomas David died on June 11, 1842. Morgan and Elizabeth's oldest daughter, Mary was married to David D. Bowen on Christmas Day, 1845. Elizabeth's father, William Bowen died on March 6, 1847. At this time, Morgan and Elizabeth had been introduced to the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elizabeth was baptized two days after her father died, on March 8, 1847. Morgan followed on May 26th, and their daughter, Elizabeth on June 17th. Ann was baptized on March 8, 1848. Since all members of the church at that time were admonished to gather to Utah, Morgan and Elizabeth made preparations to leave for America. On February 14, 1849 they left Llanelly with their daughters, son-in-law and two grandchildren and traveled to Swansea, Glamorganshire, Wales. They traveled with Samuel and Daniel Leich's families. They stayed in a public house in Swansea, and then boarded the Troubador at 9 a.m. to sail to Liverpool, England. There were about 500 passengers on the ship under the Presidency of Elder Dan Jones. Nearly all the passengers were very sick. Upon arrival at Liverpool they were counseled by Elder Orson Pratt to move to the music hall for the night. The next day they boarded the Buena Vista but were then transferred to the James Hartley. They lived on board the ship for three weeks while the crew made ready to sail. On March 8, 1849 they were towed out to sea and set sail for America. The passengers were English, Scotch, Irish and 71 Welsh. After a voyage of seven weeks and five days they landed in New Orleans, Louisiana. They stayed in New Orleans for two days, and then took a steamboat up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri. While on the river, cholera broke out among the passengers. Before they reached St. Louis, 60 had died. Elizabeth and her daughters, Mary, Ann and Rachel were among the sick. David Bowen took his mother-in-law, Elizabeth and his wife, Mary to the charity hospital. Elizabeth died on May 12, 1849 and was buried at St. Louis. Leaving their remaining family on the boat, Morgan and his son-in-law, David went out to look for a place to live, and to find work. Six miles from St. Louis, at Dry Hill there were coalmines and a branch of the LDS Church, presided over by Elder John Gibbs. Thomas Green and William Stone brought a team and wagon and helped the Davids and Bowens move their possessions to Dry Hill. Morgan bought a little cabin for $15. Ann and Rachel began to recover, but Mary grew worse. She died on May 21, 1849, leaving her husband and two small children, Morgan and Ann. In a few days baby Ann, who was nine-months-old joined her mother, and was buried in the county cemetery. Morgan took his grandson to live with him and his five daughters while David Bowen went to look for work. In 1850 Morgan David's family were living at Gravis. David married Phoebe Evans on May 13, 1850, and was now able to raise his son. At this time a large number of Welsh converts came to St. Louis lead by John Morris. Elizabeth married William Gower Thomas on May 21, 1850, and Ann married David Harris in 1851. Morgan David's growing family secured teams of oxen to prepare to cross the plains to Utah. On April 6, 1852 they were camped on the banks of the Missouri River. They crossed the river and headed for Kanesville, Iowa [now Council Bluffs]. The trip was rough and hard. They spent ten weeks there, preparing for the long trek across the plains. Apostle Ezra Taft Benson organized captains of every ten families. Morgan David's family traveled under Captain William Morgan. The Platt River was very high, and they lost many belongings during the crossing. After they reached Salt Lake City on September 9th, they were sent on to settle in Spanish Fork, in Utah Valley to the south. They arrived there on October 1, 1852, after traveling for three months and 1011 miles. Morgan became a farmer. Sometime after arriving in Spanish Fork, Morgan married a widow, Martha Lloyd. On December 3, 1853, Hannah married Morgan Hughes in Palmyra. By this time, Ann and David Harris had two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary Ann. David decided to go to California to look for gold. He never came back. Morgan David was ordained a High Priest in Salt Lake City on November 4, 1855 by David Pettigreu. On November 6th, he went to the Salt Lake Endowment House. He received his endowments and was sealed by proxy to his beloved wife Elizabeth, and he and his second wife, Martha were sealed on the same day. William Warner was a convert from Lincolnshire, England. He'd traveled to America with his first wife, Mary and their four children. When they'd reached St. Louis, Mary had refused to go on. She and the children stayed there, and William continued on to Utah. Since William Warner and Ann David were both alone, they divorced their spouses and married each other on September 29, 1856 in Provo, Utah. William adopted Ann's two little girls. Finally, Mary Warner had a change of heart and came to Utah with her children to look for William. To her surprise, she learned she was divorced and William had remarried. On February 13, 1859 William remarried Mary as his plural wife. Emma David married Alfred Rees on August 14, 1859, and he supported their family by farming. On December 6, 1862 Rachel David married George Harrison Chambers. Now all of Morgan and Elizabeth's children had homes and families of their own. Martha Lloyd David, Morgan's second wife, died on November 20, 1881. Morgan passed away on September 12, 1888 at the age of 84, and was buried in the Spanish Fork City Cemetery. He was faithful to the gospel all his days. Dixon Ferrin Larkin