Ann Davis (Dalley)

So, Here's a little for the Dalley side :) 

Ann Davis (Dalley)

My 4th Great-Grandmother

Birth Date: 31 Mar 1791
Birth Place: Hereford, Herefordshire, England
Parents: John Davis and Elizabeth Prosser
Death Date: 21 Mar 1875
Death Place: Pleasant Grove, Utah, Utah

Spouse: William Dalley
Marriage Date: 6 May 1819
Marriage Place: Hereford, Herefordshire, England

 

 

Ann Davies Dalley, daughter of John Davies and of Elizabeth Prosser Davies, was born at Vow Church, Leominster, Herefordshire, England, on March 31, 1791. Her childhood was spent in Vow Church, and it was there that she married William Dalley, son of William Dalley and Susana Powell Dalley, of Peters Church, near Malvern, Herefordshire, England.

William Dalley, died July 10, 1832, at Leominster, being 50 years old at the time of his death.

Ann, the eldest daughter, was married to Thomas John Baker, a businessman of considerable wealth, and moved with him to Birmingham, England.

About the year 1841, Ann Davies Dalley and her other children heard the LDS Gospel from Elder Franklin D. Richards and others and they were at once converted by Spillsbury and confirmed by John Spiers on January 2, 1842. William Dalley was baptized by T. Morgan and confirmed by John Spiers, at Leominster, on January 15, 1842.

Information on the baptism and confirmation of James Dalley is not available, but he was ordained a deacon by Levi Richards or John Spiers in November 1841. Edward Dalley was baptized by George Spillsbury on January 3, 1842, and confirmed the same day. Susanna Dalley was baptized by Elder Thomas (or John) Morgan, probably 1842. No record of Mary Dalley's baptism is available.

The Dalley family was filled with the desire to join the main body of the church in America since many people in England were bitter against the Mormons at that time. William, the eldest son, immigrated to America about 1843, and set up in Nauvoo as a tailor, frequently writing to his mother and others of the family, all of whom had recently moved to Birmingham, that wages were very good in America.

He urged the family to come on to America as soon as possible. However, it was not until Sunday, February 20, 1848 that Ann Davies Dalley and her sons, James and Edward, and her daughters, Susanna and Mary, together with Mary's husband, Robert Denham, and small son, Robert Crook Denham, left England, on the barque "Carnatic." They were bound for New Orleans and later, the valleys of the mountains of western America.

The Carnatic was in the charge of Captain McKinsey and was towed about a mile from the harbor, and the anchor was cast. On board the ship were 130 Mormon "Saints," nearly half of whom were from Scotland, and the others from various parts of England. The ship remained at anchor until Tuesday, February 22, 1848, and then set sail for America.

On the day that the ship sailed, the company of Saints was organized into a church group, with Franklin D. Richards as President, C. H. Wheelock and Andrew Cahoon as Counselors and, and S. W. Richards as clerk. Meetings were held each day and religious instruction given to the company.

After three months on the ocean, the vessel reached New Orleans and the Saints immediately took boats up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, thence to Council Bluffs, or Winter Quarters by wagon train. The trip had been a very difficult one and they were glad to reach the haven that the Mormon community would give them.

The Dalley family established a home in Kanesville near Council Bluffs, and there they remained for a number of years, all except Susanna, who was married to George Sheffer Clark in March in 1850, and had left soon after with her husband and others to make the long journey across the plains to Salt Lake City.

 

They arrived in Salt Lake City on 5 September 1850, and a few days later led a group of seven families to a site in Utah Valley where they established homes. This was the beginning of a new community which George Clark named Pleasant Grove.

In 1852, Ann Davies Dalley and her other children crossed the plains to Salt Lake City, and a short time later, settled in Pleasant Grove to be near Susanna and George. Robert Denham had been killed in a fall from a ladder while painting a building, only a few weeks before the Dalley family set out to crossed the plains, but Mary and her two small sons, Robert Crook Denham (who was born in England) and Hyrum Denham (who was born near Council Bluffs) traveled to Utah with the family group.

Several months after the family arrived in Pleasant Grove, Mary met Robert Campbell, then secretary of the church, at the home of her sister, Susanna. He was a widower with two small children. Before many more months had gone by, Mary Dalley Denham and Robert Campbell were married on New Year's Day in Salt Lake City. Then joining their two little families of children they took up permanent residence in Salt Lake City. The marriage ceremony was performed by Seth Taft.

From that time on, Ann Davies Dalley divided her time between the homes of her two daughters, spending a few months with one and then a few months with the other, first in Pleasant Grove and then in Salt Lake City. In each home she was made most welcome and the grandchildren looked forward to her visits with delight because of the stories of England which she told them and the many kindnesses she lavished on each child.

Ann Davies Dalley received her endowments in the old Endowment House in Salt Lake City on September 7, 1855, and later, according to the custom followed at that time by many widows, that of being sealed to prominent men of the church, she was sealed to Franklin D. Richards.

Ann Davies Dalley was a very gifted and capable woman, and a fine mother. She was a devout Latter-day Saint, and her courageous and God-fearing nature were reflected in the personalities of her children, who were all gentlemen and gentlewomen of the first-order, being kind and cultured and gracious at all times.

She passed away on March 21, 1875 at the home of her daughter, Susanna D. Clark, in Pleasant Grove, Utah, and the few days later was laid to rest in the Robert Campbell lot in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. Franklin D. Richards erected a monument at her grave.