First Converts to Mormonism (Part One)

First Converts to Mormonism  (Part One)

(Owen, Clegg, Griffiths, Moulton Stories)

I was once counseled to search out who were the first converts to the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in our family history.  That was easy since my father, James Austin Owen, was the first member of the LDS (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint) Church in my paternal line.   He was about 23 years old.  

1942  James A. Owen and his mother Ida Ellen Fish Owen

The Owen family was living in Lincoln, Nebraska when he joined the church. It was during WWII and James was in the Army. A buddy in radio school, LeGrand Lee, shared the gospel message with him.  Dad joined the church, later came west to attend BYU, and met my mother at the Heber J. Grant Library.  They were married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1948.

No one in my father’s immediate family ever joined the LDS church but my dad was motivated to get all the names of his extended family and do their temple.  I was enlisted in his cause and in the 1970’s we did much of ordinance work in behalf of the Owen Family.  I was in my 20’s and I was hooked.  Searching out the stories of my dead relatives became a hobby.  Researching for my paternal family lines became especially important to me. 

Henry Clegg, Sr.  1788-1865 was among the first baptized members in Great Britain.

On my maternal side, we definitely claim old pioneer stock.  In fact, Mom’s great great-grandfather, Henry Clegg, Sr. raced to the River Ribble in Preston, England to be among the first baptized members of the church in Great Britain by Heber C. Kimball.  I grew up hearing wonderful stories about these amazing Mormon pioneer ancestors.  (There will be more about the Clegg, Cummings, Jones, and Jensen lines in future blogs.)

Mom’s great-great grandfather, John Griffiths, was a branch president in the London area, building up the church for fifteen years before he was able to make the journey to America and gather with the Saints in “Zion”.  He was blessed to bring his second wife, two daughters, and two sons with him. 

They left England on the ship Horizon in 1856 and made their way to Iowa City, Iowa and joined the ill-fated Martin Handcart Company.  (Think the movie “17 Miracles”.  See trailer on youtube.com.)  They were caught in early winter snows and he watched his two sons die on the trail.  Eleven year old John Griffiths, Junior froze to death about 50 miles outside of Devil’s gate and the 5 year old Herbert Griffiths died near Independence Rock.  The step mother of the Griffiths children, Elizabeth Webb, “couldn’t stand the thought of frozen earth falling on the little lad’s bare face, so from her pitifully few cherished possessions from her distant England she took a white nightgown.  This she pulled over the little frozen body like a sack.”  (See more details about the Griffiths family in Andrew D. Olsen, The Price We Paid.)

In Jane’s Griffiths Fullmer autobiography (on LDS Family Tree) she wrote:  “One morning when I awoke, my brother John, age 15 years, lay dead by my side. He died of starvation and cold. During that night 19 people died. They dug a trench and laid them in it. We had to leave them there and resume our journey. Two weeks later my brother Herbert, age six years, died the same way.”

Drawing of John Griffiths

John’s two daughters lived to see the Valley as did John, Sr., but in his weakened condition, his strength ran out and he died the night they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. His two surviving daughters, Margaret and Jane, ages 16 and 8, were placed in the homes of strangers and separated from their step-mother.

John Griffiths died the night after arriving in Salt Lake Valley. Buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Jane Griffiths (later Fullmer) married and settled in Cache Valley.  I’m sure she was thrilled to watch the building of the Logan Temple and saw many of her own posterity marry in that Holy House of God.  My second great grandmother, Margaret Griffith (Clegg), ended up in Springville and eventually moved to Heber City, Utah.  Both recognized that their father sacrificed his life in serving others and enabled them to come to America and gather with the Saints in Zion.   Both were ever faithful to their temple covenants. 

About this same time period there was another family, the Moultons, in Irchester, England.  They were likewise attracted to the message of the restored Gospel as taught by Heber C. Kimball and others.  Heber was their family friend and the Moultons named one of their children after “their” missionary.  (Actually, they were part of the British immigrant group that decided to name their city after “their” missionary and settled what became Heber City, UT.)  

Thomas and Sarah Denton Moulton

Thomas and Sarah Moulton had seven children, four girls and three boys. When they received news through the missionaries about the Perpetual Emigration Fund (PEF), they began making preparations for their voyage.  Their faithful mother, Sarah Denton Moulton, had a fruit jar in which she had saved money for fifteen years.  Combined with the funds from Brigham Young’s PEF, they were able to join their fellow saints in America!

The family received a Priesthood promise that they would all safely gather to Zion.  They got on the ship Thornton and three days after setting sail, their seventh child was born.  He was so small and frail that he was carried on a pillow until after they got to Utah.  He miraculously survived the ordeal.

For two weeks the sailing was fine, but the ship ran into icebergs and a storm.  Many were sick.  Then a fire broke out aboard ship destroying much of their food supply.  They ate seabiscuits and rice for the remainder of the voyage.  Six weeks after leaving Liverpool, they sailed into New York harbor.   Then they boarded the train going through Albany, Buffalo, Chicago and arriving at Iowa City.  Where they joined the  the ill-fated Willie Handcart Company.  (Again, think the movie “17 miracles”.)  Every member of this family was preserved according to the promise given them.

(The history written by Verda Hicken, great-granddaughter of Thomas Moulton, is a great resource for more details: www.ourgrandmasandgrandpas.com.)

Mormon Handcart Pioneers

Little seven-year old Heber was tied with a rope to the handcart to keep him from straying away.  An older woman held onto his hand as they made their way through the early snows and freezing temperatures in Wyoming. He had frostbite in his left hand and part of his fingers were later amputated upon arriving in Salt Lake, but his right fingers, warmed by his kindly older friend, were saved.

Mormon wrote:  "And as surely as the Lord liveth, will he gather in from the four quarters of the earth all the remnant of the seed of Jacob, who are scattered abroad upon all the face of the earth"  (3 Nephi 5:24).   I have witnessed that gathering of the family of Jacob.  In fact, I am the result of that gathering.

How thankful I am for these valiant pioneers who prepared the way for me and my posterity.   These “blessed, honored pioneers” braved the difficult journey to come to America in hopes for a better life for their posterity.    

As Vilate C. Raile so eloquently wrote:

“They cut desire into short lengths 
and fed it to the hungry fires of courage.

Long after, when the flames had died, 
molten gold gleamed in the ashes.

They gathered it into bruised palms 
and handed it to their children

And to their children’s children 
forever.”