We have learned about James and Sarah Denning and John and Jane Williams’ trip to Salt Lake, but what about Mary Jones.  As I have stated in a previous post, Mary Jones is the second (plural) wife to John Williams.  They were married in February 1857.

Mary’s parents, Thomas and Ruth Jones, lived in a two-story rock home on a farm in Pant-Mawr, Carmarthen, Wales.  They had eleven children, eight growing to adulthood.  Mary was the sixth child,  born on January 12, 1837.  It was said that she was a pretty girl, with a sweet and cheerful disposition.  She did not have the opportunity to go to school and never did learn to read or write.

As discussed in previous posts, there was a Religious awakening going on in the 1840s in Wales, England.  Mary Jones was baptized into the Mormon church on March 18, 1850.  Immediately the persecution started against her and her family.  Regardless of the persecution to “Kill Mormonism”, the Jones Family remained faithful to their new beliefs.

In 1850, Brigham Young set up the Perpetual Emigration Fund (PEF) to help the poor European Saints immigrate to Salt Lake.   In 1856, the Jones Family were finally able to get everything in order to leave Wales and immigrate to the Salt Lake Valley.  They sailed on the ship “The Samuel Curling” (click ship name to see the passenger list and memoirs of passengers from that ship).   The Samuel Curling was the second ship to leave Liverpool under the new emigration program.  There were 707 passengers on the ship, of which 428 were using the PEF.  Most of the Saints were Welsh.  The ship left port April 19, 1856.

The seas were rough and most passengers were sick.  One of the passengers wrote, “between decks was an horrid mess as the ship was rolling perpetually.”  The storms did not lie down and during this time two children died.  On May 3, just two weeks into the voyage, there was a terrible storm and the ship lost two sails.  The captain said it was the worst storm that he had seen in twenty years.

The ship arrived in Boston on May 23, 1856.  Dan Jones, the church leader bringing the saints to Salt Lake, contracted with the railway to take the passengers to Iowa City.   The saints made the 1300 mile trip to Iowa City in the only thing available, cattle cars.

Once they arrived in Iowa City, the Jones Family were assigned to the 3rd Handcart company, lead by Captain Edward Bunker.   The company was comprised of about 300 Welsh Saints.  It took them three weeks to build their handcarts.  Each handcart was given 100 pounds of flour, some bacon and coffee.  The Jones family put their excess clothing in a storehouse with the understanding that it would be retrieved the following year.  The storehouse burned down and all was lost.   The following link has some interesting information on handcart companies during this time Pioneer 1848-1856 Companies.  Here is another link if interested.

The handcart journey began on June 23, 1856 and they arrived in Salt Lake on October 2, 1856.  The journey itself was not marked with any major issues, only hunger and sickness, that seemed to be a part of all these companies.

Their food consisted of flour and water cakes.  Ruth Jones remembered washing out flour sacks to make gravy.  One boy wrote “that there was scarcely enough food to sustain life.”  There were strong winds that would blow down their tents and dust storms.  If a member was sick they could not ride in the wagons, but would be placed in the handcarts.  Mary’s sister broke her leg and had to be put in the handcart.  The family had to remove clothing to make room for her.  Mary said she walked the entire way pushing the handcart with her sister in it.

The journey was not completely dismal for Mary.  She met a man named Richard Williams and they were engaged to be married as soon as they reached the Salt Lake Valley.  But when Richard heard of the gold fields in California, he headed for them and Mary never heard from him again.

After their arrival in Salt Lake City, the Jones Family moved to Brigham City to be with Mary’s older sister who had arrived earlier and move there.  That is where Mary met John and Jane Williams.  John hired Mary to work for him and then later married her as his second wife.

Mary Jones Williams