Look On The Side That’s Bright-The Life of Henry Clegg, Jr.

"Look On The Side That’s Bright" - The Life of Henry Clegg, Jr.

Henry Clegg - My Hero

Bishop Henry Clegg is one of my heroes.  His life is evidenced deep faith, sensitivity, great love,  and kindness.  His musical talent has been passed onto many of his descendants.  He lived looking for goodness in all situations. He could be the poster child for the modern #share goodness.  

Henry Clegg wrote a poem that I have often enjoyed reading:

Look on the side that’s bright;

Let Hope your bosom swell;

All things will turn out right

So whisper:  “All is well”.

I have one 90 page book entitled “Oh, Henry” that has been written about the life of Henry Clegg, Jr.  by Noal C. Newbold in 1998.  At one time Clegg descendants produced a play about his life.  (Another more complete 261 page pdf  “From England to Utah” compiled by Chris Christiansen is available at the amazing Clegg Family History website:  ww.clegghistory.org.)

Below are a few of the more interesting details about Henry’s life.

Henry was 12 years old when Heber C. Kimball and other LDS missionaries from America arrived in Preston England with the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  Tradition says Henry’s father (Henry Sr.) ran a race to the River Ribble in Preston to see who was to be the first baptized but lost the race to George D. Watt, a younger man.  (See Blog of August 2014- Deep Roots, Henry Clegg, Sr. and Ellen Cardwell.)

River Ribble in Preston, England

Pic of Preston England

Henry Clegg, Jr., was baptized at age thirteen by Joseph Fielding in Preston and was associated with the Church in Preston for eighteen years, meeting Brigham Young, Orson Hyde, Parley P. Pratt, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, and John E. Page.   (See: http://welshmormon.byu.edu/Resources/pdf/7512.pdf page 188.)

Henry was following the boot and clog making trade of his father in Lancashire, England.  He and his wife of eleven years, Hannah Eastman, were saving means for ten years to immigrate to Utah with their two sons.  

 Prior to leaving England, Henry had already suffered the loss of his oldest son, Thomas, who was accidently burned to death in 1853.

In March of 1855, the Rose Place Branch of Liverpool Conference, presented their Branch President, Henry Clegg, a “testimonial” before leaving for “Zion”.  (The original testimonial is in LDS Historical Archives.)  It begins:

Dearly Beloved President,

In presenting this testimonial to you, we feel that words are inadequate to convey those sentiments of esteem and regard that we have for you as a Brother, A Man of God and an Elder in Israel.” 

They also composed a three-stanza poem which reads in part:

“Farewell, dear Brother Henry, Till we all shall meet again;

And may Brigham’s God defend thee, Till Mount Zion thou doest gain,

Then may his spirit still attend, And be with thee until the end.”

The Clegg family sailed from Liverpool, England in the American steamship “Juventa” on March 31, 1855.

Ship manifest from Juventa says Henry was a “clockmaker” but it probably should have read “clogmaker”.

Juventa Ship Manifest

Liverpool, England to Philadelphia
7 May 1855

http://www.immigrantships.net/v4/1800v4/juventa18550507_01.html

145*

Henry       Cleg        29     M Clockmaker     England     US    3 Packages

146* Hannah      Cleg        36     F Wife           England     United States 

147* Israel      Cleg         5     M                England     United States 

148* Henry J.    Cleg           10m M                England     United States

Six weeks later they landed in Philadelpia.  They took a train to Pittsburgh and then a steamboat down the Ohio River to St. Louis.

In June, Hannah died of cholera and was buried at Mormon Grove (near Atchison, Kansas) along with her one year and 3 month old son, Henry James. (Some sources say he was 3 years old).

Henry Clegg, Jr. and his son 6 year old son, Israel, joined the Richard Ballantyne Company of 42 saints and 45 ox-drawn wagons.  They left 1 July 1855 and four months later arrived in Salt Lake Valley on September 25 1855.  Thirty year old Henry was greeted by a Welsh girl, Ann Lewis who eventually became his second wife.  They settled in the 19^th Ward in Salt Lake City.

There still exists a copy of a paper signed by Brigham Young giving Henry permission to be sealed to his third wife, Margaret Ann Griffiths. 

Signature of B. Young in the lower left quadrant.

Some sources say Brigham Young sealed them in the Endowment House.  Margaret Griffgiths was a young 17-year old immigrant girl who lost three members of her family in the early snows faced by the Martin Handcart Company in 1856.  Margaret was taken into the Clegg household while she was recovering from frostbite.

In 1859, Henry moved his family to Springville and then joined other men in Echo Canyon holding back the invasion of Johnston’s Army.  He decided to stay in Springville, UT where he became a leading citizen.  He was a fine musician and he played the dulcimer for dances.  His dulcimer can still be seen in the Provo Museum on 5^th West and 6^th North.  There are 3 surviving dulcimers that were built by Henry and his sons.  All were built out of wood from Big Cottonwood Canyon. The wire and pegs were brought from England.

Henry Clegg's Dulcimer in the Provo City Museum on 5th West 6th North.

Henry organized and directed a 60-voice choir in Springville.  Both of his wives were good singers and would sing with him when he gave lectures in nearby wards and towns.  He continued his shoemaking trade and managed to make one pair of shoes a year for each member of the family.

In 1872, Henry Jr. and his family moved on to Heber City in order to better provide opportunities for his sons.   

Sons of Henry Clegg, Jr.

In Heber, he homesteaded the southeastern portion of Heber and he farmed, raised stock, and worked a saw and shingle mill in Clegg’s Canyon.  The Clegg family also worked a rock quarry. 

Clegg Canyon near Heber City, Wasatch County, Utah.

Apparently there is a hiking trail up Clegg Canyon in Wasatch County.

Henry taught in a private school with 40 students that met in one of the lower rooms of the court building in 1882.  He was so popular that his classroom was full and he had to “refuse admission to seventeen who recently applied to him for instruction, having no room to accommodate them.”  (See article in Heber City paper, Feb 3, 1882)  as well as organized and directed the “Band of Hope”.   He would become an honored Bishop of the Heber City West (2^nd) Ward for many years.  He also served as stake clerk, Sunday School Superintendent, and in the Wasatch Stake High Council. 

Bishop Clegg wrote many poems and hymns. His Christmas Hymn was published in the Springville, UT Telegraph and can be found at the Clegg Family site (www.clegghistory.org).   

Henry Clegg was an expert mathematician and helped with surveying the canals in Heber Valley.  (While searching for other family members we found the documents for the transfer of property in Strawberry Reservoir area in the Duschene County records before the Wasatch County was formed.)  He was part of the director of the Lake Creek Irrigation in 1888.   He was Justice of the Peace for a number of terms.  In 1884 he was an officer of the Heber Dramatic Combination.

Later he worked the mercantile trade and ran the store on Center Street that also helped support his wives after his death.  Elsie Clegg Condie wrote,  “Tenderhearted Henry Clegg, Jr. never killed a living creature.  He hired his pigs butchered and stayed away from home until they were dressed.”

Henry Clegg died at the age of 69 years on 30 August 1894 of a heart attack while working in the store.  He left two widows, Anne Lewis Clegg and Margaret Griffiths Clegg to provide for the family.  His funeral was noted in the local paper with “A Good Man has Gone.  The people universally mourn his loss.  The Stake House was profusely draped.  The longest funeral Procession ever held in the County.”  (See the article at the

There were 12 pall bearers carrying the casket from the Clegg home to the Stake Tabernacle.  The Tabernacle was still draped for the mourning of the death of President Garfield who was assassinated in July.  There were 120 teams in the procession to Heber City Cemetery.  (Wasatch Wave, 4 Sept. 1894).

Clegg headstone in Heber City, Utah Cemetery. Many of our ancestors are buried here. We would do "grave rubbings" of Henry's headstone when we visited the cemetery.

Henry Clegg, Jr. and his wives Ann Lewis and Margaret Griffiths are buried together in the Heber City, Utah Cemetery. There is a tall monument with the west facing side having the inscription:

IN MEMORY OF

HENRY

CLEGG

BORN

JUNE 7, 1825

BAMBER BRIDGE

WALTON LE DALE

LANCASHIRE. ENG.

DIED

AUG. 30. 1894

The base of the monument is inscribed with:

CLEGG

A loving husband a father dear

A faithful friend he has been here

He lived in love he died in peace

We hope his joys will never cease

Inscription on Henry Clegg headstone in Heber City Cemetery.

The North facing side is inscribed for Ann Lewis Clegg, and the Southside is inscribed for Margaret Griffith Clegg. Their graves are in front of the monument, with Henry in the middle, Ann to the North and Margaret to the South.

Clegg Family Headstone in Heber City, Utah.

Another interesting fact was that the old Clegg home was used from 1920-1925 for LDS Seminary classes.  When the old Clegg home was torn down, the materials were used to build the Seminary Building. Today the location where the old home once stood (next to the old Heber High School) is a City park.


Widowed Margaret Griffiths Clegg lived at 100 West and 300 South until her death in 1929.  This "newer" home is still standing on the northwest corner.

Clegg home in Heber City, UT today.

Here is the entire poem about “Look on the Side That’s Bright”:

I like to think that these might have once been lyrics to a hymn that Henry sang with his two wives:

Look on the side that’s bright;

Let Hope your bosom swell;

All things will turn out right

So whisper:  “All is well”.

Suppose the times are hard,

‘tis useless to look sad.

It can no help afford

And invites the sad..

If troubles fill your breast-

They also come to me;

It may be for the best,

That grief at times we see.

If we the bitter taste

We more enjoy the sweet,

And oft’ from dregs of waste,

Spring joys that are complete.

Seas are not always still

Oft’ angry billows roll,

And test the sailor’s skill

His vessel to control.

Our hearts can find relief

Our burdens be made light

If we in facing grief

Look on the side that’s bright.

And so Henry Clegg, Jr. lived, looking on the side that’s bright.

It seems that Henry’s motto was similar to that of a modern prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley:

“It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don't worry. I say that to myself every morning. It all works out in the end. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers.”
― Gordon B. Hinckley

May we “sing” with our most honorable ancestor, Henry Clegg:

Look on the side that’s bright;

Let Hope your bosom swell;

All things will turn out right

So whisper:  “All is well”.