Tiller of the Earth - William Wadley - backup

His father was a forester and fruit raiser, as was also his father's father, Edward, and his great grandfather, Thomas Wadley.2 The Wadley family lived in a homebuilt by Ann Reynolds’ Wi

Published by P.G Printers Inc Pleasant Grove, Utah

July 1986

WILLIAM WADLEY

1825 - 1912

Life Sketch of William Wadley

William Wadley joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (L.D.S.) in Wales in

1848 and left for Utah in 1853 For these two deeds we, his posterity, honor him with the publication of this book It is not our purpose to make a saint of William He was a man

burdened with faults and weaknesses, like all of us, but he was a pioneer with resoluteness and fortitude He made an important contribution to his times, and he opened the door to better life for his descendants

One source of information for this history is William's own handwritten 1 page sketch written

in 1909, when he was eighty-four years old He begins,

I, William Wadley, son of Edward Wadley and Ann Reynolds Wadley, was born October

8th, 1825, in the Parish of Newent, in Gloucestershire, England Am the oldest son of my father My father was the oldest son of his father

Our forefathers came from Scotland to England about 2 hundred years ago and settled inKempley in Herefordshire, England My great grandfather Thomas Wadley was born in Upton Bishop My Grandfather, Edward Wadley, was born in Newent Parish My father was born in Newent, and I was born in Newent Parish It was a farming district

Newent is a town a short distance northwest of Gloucester Now it is accessible by highway, but in the early 1800's it was linked to other towns and parishes by narrow roads and paths Bordering the current highways are the ancient hedgerows and rock walls which remain as theyhave been for centuries Newent is an old town historically, and we learn from modern tourist guide that it is noted in the Doomsday Book (1086) that there are "no less than thirteen

variations of the name Newent which have been used down the intervening years." One writer calls it "New In," built to accommodate travelers on the new way into central Wales Another suggests that its name came from an ancient proper noun meaning "New Place"

Most of the fields around Newent are now cultivated, but wherever there is an uncultivated area, and along hedgerows and ditch banks, there are daffodils growing which in the spring show a wave of color These wild patches of daffodils are what remain of fields planted

originally for making dye Now they flower without any attention and add greatly to England's beauty in the late April and early May.1

In 1982, Carma Wadley, a great-granddaughter of William and a writer for the Deseret News, visited Newent She wrote about the Church of St Mary the Virgin and its graveyard

In the center of Newent, as in the case in most English villages, is the church, in this case the church of St Mary the Virgin … A church has stood at that location since Anglo-Saxon times (before the Norman Conquest of 1066) they say, and on display in the church are a few Saxon artifacts unearthed there … As interesting as the old

Church is, equally fascinating is the quiet graveyard surrounding it There, under

sometimes ornately carved, sometimes crumbling markers, countless souls are, indeed, resting in peace … And way off in the corner, on a tilted, fading marker: "In memory ofEdward Wadley who died July 5, 1847, age 71 years Also of Martha the wife of the above" These were William's grandparents Later, in a little churchyard in nearby Aston Ingham, we found the grave of William's brother John, and those of several other Wadleys (Deseret News, May 1, 1982, “Spectra Page”)

ANNE REYNOLDS WADLEYMother of William Wadley

WADLEY HOME IN NEWENT, ENGLANDWilliam Wadley’s Boyhood Home

William's parents were “yeoman” farmers in Newent, which probably meant that they owned their own small plot of land His father was a forester and fruit raiser, as was also his father's father, Edward, and his great grandfather, Thomas Wadley.2 The Wadley family lived in a homebuilt by Ann Reynolds’ (William's mother) father, Joseph Reynolds.3

William had four younger brothers: John, born April 5, 1827; Richard, born December 4, 1828; Joseph, born December 23, 1830; and Henry, born December 14, 1832 A younger brother and sister died as children

The small Wadley farm in Newent furnished limited sustenance for a growing family, and at theage of seven, William was put out as an apprentice to a farmer who lived quite a distance from William's home His job was to feed and care for the farm horses and then ride the lead horse asthe horses walked single file to keep from packing too much ground They were feed about three o'clock in the morning so they could start work at daybreak Many years later, workers

on William's own farm in Pleasant Grove, Utah, said that William always liked to have his horses fed before daylight, which was probably the result of this very early training

William told a story to his family in later years of being very sleepy one morning and being unable to get out of bed The stern farmer, finding him still asleep, threw a bucket of cold water

in his face From then on during his lifetime William seldom slept in after three a.m He said his lunch during these apprentice years always consisted of bread, cheese and cider

William learned to read and write while he was young by attending a Sunday school He never mentioned if he attended regular school What samples we have of his writing, such as his missionary journal and letters, show that his writing was plain and readable, and his spelling adequate William commented in later years that he was dismissed from Sunday school because

he asked so many questions that the teacher could not answer Gloucester, England near where William was living, was the birthplace of the famous "Raikes' Ragged School" established in

1780 This was a Sunday school primarily for poor children, who were taught to read and to spell so they could study the Bible The movement eventually developed into a world-wide activity that resulted in the organization of “Sunday Schools” after which L.D.S Sunday School was patterned

When William was nineteen years old he saw an opportunity to better his lot He wrote briefly

To support the needs of the ironworks, the coal mines were expanding considerably Coal had been mined in South Wales for more than two thousand years, but the growth of the iron

industry brought great expansion of the mining activity This expansion resulted in rapid

population growth as workers from other parts of Wales, from England, and other countries came to get employment.5 To William, age nineteen, working on a farm in Newent not far away,the opportunity to do better must have loomed large Living conditions in the mining town werepoor, but they were even more depressed in his home town So when William left Newent in

1844 to work in the mines, he fully expected to better his life This betterment came about in a totally unexpected way He wrote,

There I herd the gospell and was Baptized on the 4 day of Dec 1848 in Pennydarren by Thomas Llewelin and was confirmed on the following Sunday by David John who was the president of the Penydarren Branch of the Church

The restored gospel of Jesus Christ had been introduced into England in 1837 by Heber C Kimball and other missionaries The expansion of the work was given a boost when Brigham Young and others apostles accompanied Kimball when he returned to the United Kingdom on a second mission in 1939 The L.D.S missionary work had spread to North Wales by 1840, and a convert, John Needham, took the message to South Wales and Merthyr Tydfil The work there spread, and on March 26, 1843, a branch was organized in Pennydarren, a village near Merthyr Tydfil The work continued to spread rapidly, and was given great stimulus when Dan Jones, a native of Wales, returned from America where he had met Joseph Smith and been converted to the Church Dan Jones was Welsh and could speak the local language He preached with power and fervor Under his leadership the Latter-day Saints movement realized phenomenal success

At a conference in Merthyr Tydfil on January 6, 1849, a membership of 3,603 was reported.6

William was among this number, having been baptized one month earlier, December 4, 1848 In January 1975 a stake of the LDS church was organized in South Wales with stake headquarters

at Merthyr Tydfil The church's first welfare project in Europe was also located there, a nursery

in Ynysfach.7

William was much involved in proselytizing after his baptism He wrote:

Three months after, I was ordained a teacher, and set to in that office Soon I was ordained a priest and was sent out to preach the gospel In a little wile after, I was ordained an Elder and continued to preach till April 1851

Ward records show that William was ordained a teacher May 30, 1849, by William Beynard Hewas ordained a priest on January 8, 1850, by John Jones, and an Elder on October 2, 1850 by William Beadow

William continued to work in the mines to sustain him, but devoted much time to his

missionary work His sketch in the Biographical Record says: "After his baptism he devoted a portion of the remainder of his life in Wales to the work of the Church." 8

In April 1851 he returned to England He had been in Wales about seven years He wrote:

I was released from Wales and went back to England where I continued to preach in my native place where I baptized a number of converts in the Cheltman conference which was presided over by Elder John Hyde who came and organized a new branch of about

20 members At that time I was appointed to preside over the new branch and to (two) other old branches, namely the Prencil, the Linton, and the new branch which was calledthe Cliffordsmean Branch The three branches was made a district and I was set apart to preside over the district which I did to the best of my ability till 1853 when I was released to gather to Zion with the saints

Joseph, William's brother, was more diligent in keeping record of their experiences during this time than was William Joseph indicates that the two brothers used the resources of the

Perpetual Emigration Fund (PEF) to emigrate This fund was set up during the latter part of

1852 It was the theory of the PEF that voluntary donations would be secured from church members wherever located, and those benefiting from the fund would continually replenish it after their arrival in Salt Lake Valley Joseph notes that both he and William were diligent in paying into this fund before they left England

An epistle issued by Brigham Young to the saints could have influenced William to come to Utah at this particular time Brigham Young wrote advising missionaries bringing immigrants toZion to:

come home as fast as possible, bringing your poor, your silver, your gold, and everything that will beautify and ennoble Zion, and establish the house of the Lord, not forgetting the seeds of all choice trees, and fruits, and grains, and useful productions of the earth 9

William might have been encouraged to come because he was a farmer and knew how to grow fruit Or he might have been encouraged to come because he was a coal miner, and the iron industry was struggling to become established in Utah and had generated a need for coal miners It is not known whether William brought seeds or tree cuttings with him on this trip, but in every other move he made in later years he took trees, seeds, and cuttings which would enrich and produce in his new home

The emigration lists show that Joseph registered as a laborer, and William registered as a collier(coal miner) They each deposited $2.00 for their fare, and had a balance of $31.00 due the Perpetual Emigration Fund They were booked on "The Ellen Maria," a "Square Rigger" sailing vessel, making her third trip across the Atlantic with LDS emigrants Following is an item fromthe Millennial Star, as quoted in the sketch of Joseph Wadley.

CROSSING SIXTY-FIRST COMPANY

The Ship "Ellen Maria" sailed from Liverpool January 17, 1853, after being detained in port several days by contrary winds On this vessel the President of the British Mission shipped 332 saints under the direction of Moses Clawson Among the numbers were Elder Thomas Pugh, late counselor of the President of the Church in Wales, and Elder George Kendall, who presided over the Derbyshire Conference

The voyage proved a pretty rough and stormy one, especially during the first eight days after leaving port, and considerable sickness prevailed among the saints Among others, President Clawson was sick nearly the entire voyage Five births and five deaths

occurred on board, and two marriages were solemnized On the 6th of March 1853, the

"Ellen Maria" arrived with her precious cargo in New Orleans making passage from Liverpool in 47 days 10

Among those traveling on the Ellen Maria was James Farmer, who became the Diarist for the Company On the day before the ship sailed, his entry says this about the Wadley brothers:

At 2pm Bro Moses Clawson called all the Elders together to organize us into companies There were 25 Elders on board Every 4 Elders had charge over the Saintsliving near them up to the boundary of the next 4 and so on through the vessel I, Elders Welsh, W Wadley, and Josh Wadley had charge over the portion near the hatchway and had to see that all things were in order

Another entry on the 11th of February makes note of William:

Fine morning S W Wind and sailing about 9 knots My turn to cook from 9 to 11 and from 3 to 5 I was this day appointed by Elder Duce to see that the places of

convenience were properly cleaned in connection with Bro Wm Wadley so that all might be cleanly

On the 27th Farmer makes this entry:

Being Sunday morning I and Elder Wadley took and washed each other all over with salt water It was a fine morning and we were steering N W with fair wind 11

The "Ellen Maria" arrived at New Orleans on the 6th of March The Church Emigration Agent who met them there was John Brown He was later to be bishop in Pleasant Grove, where both William and Joseph settled

It was still a long way from New Orleans to Salt Lake City, and many people were involved in getting immigrants there A summary of the activities necessary is given by Leonard Arrington

in his book, Great Basin Kingdom He writes:

Before 1854, emigrant ships landed at New Orleans From there they took a 700-mile trip by river steamer up the Mississippi to St Louis This trip usually took a week From

St Louis they took a river boat some 500 miles to Kanesville, Iowa, or whatever point was selected for outfitting This trip took two weeks and more

At each point the emigrant companies were met by an agent who had chartered boats, purchased supplies and equipment, and provided for their well-being Housing had to be provided for those who remained at each stopping place on account of

sickness or other reasons, also housing for the entire company in case of unexpected delay

When emigrant companies arrived at the frontier camp their outfit had been

purchased by the Emigration Agent and was waiting for them.12

Leaving New Orleans, William and Joseph and their company went up the river to St Louis on the steamer James Noble This boat had some extremely rough sailors on board and they gave the immigrants trouble, attempting to rob, rape and generally plunder Strong watches were needed, and William was one of these watches as mentioned by Farmer on the night of March

So although the passage across the Atlantic had been rough but not threatening, the one up the river to St Louis was filled with tension for William and the other saints

At St Louis, the immigrants left the James Noble Some of them planned to stay in St Louis until they earned enough to continue to Utah Others boarded later steamers and proceeded to Keokuk, Iowa The outfitting point moved west as facilities for transportation improved and supplies became available In 1853 Keokuk, Iowa, was the western outfitting point, and in succession the following cities: Kansas City (1854); Iowa City (1856); Florence, Nebraska (1857; Wyoming, Nebraska (1864); Benton, Nebraska (1868); and later in the 1869, Laramie, Wyoming After the transcontinental railroad was completed in March 1869, emigration

companies traveled all the way to Utah by rail Horace S Eldredge was the emigration agent at

St Louis in 1853 That year he purchased over four hundred wagons and two thousand head of oxen to take care of the four thousand saints who would pass through his care on their way to Salt Lake Valley 14

The problem of buying cattle near St Louis created a new calling for William Because stock was not available along the Mississippi River, William and thirteen others were called to go west into Missouri to purchase additional cattle The Biographical Record tells of William's assignment:

about May 1st (he, William Wadley) was appointed one of the company of thirteen young men to purchase oxen for use in taking emigrant trans across the plains They went to Saint Joseph and from there into the country a distance of fifty-three milesand purchased eight hundred and ten oxen, which they drove to Fort Keokuk, Iowa, and walking the entire distance 15

The event is narrated in another source in the slightly different way R.D Wadley, son of William, told it as follows for a family history written in 1955:

Because of the great number of immigrants crossing the plains that year, all of the available cattle in an accessible area had been purchased, so William and two other menwere selected to go farther back from the river and try to purchase the stock needed for their company

They traveled on foot over one thousand miles before sufficient stock could be

purchased for the trip to the Valley Upon returning to their settlement, their clothes were so worn they were unwilling to make an appearance in them, so they all pooled thebest of what they were wearing and outfitted one man to go into camp and get sufficientclothing for them to make an appearance and make a report

The cattle buying assignment caused a delay so that William and Joseph did not travel with other company members who crossed with the Moses Clawson Company to Utah The Wadleysleft with the Vincent Shurtliff Company This group was called "an undocumented company," evidently meaning that there was no roster of the Company, or it could have been assembled unofficially and made up of unassigned members On Church immigration records the Shurtliff Company left Keokuk on the 13th of July, 1853, 16 but according to Joseph Wadley's journal, they left Koekuk the latter part of June and on July 13th were crossing the Missouri River at Council Bluffs (Kanesville) A quote from the Journal History says:

Captain Shurtliff, who was returning from a mission to England, took charge of the eighth company, which consisted of a train loaded with merchandise consigned to Salt Lake City and a small company of emigrating saints They crossed the Missouri River atCouncil Bluffs July 13th, at which time the river was said to have been higher than at any time known since white men had set foot on its banks 17

On July 13th, Joseph recorded:

It is hot and humid There has been much rain in the night William and I are very muddy We went about 2 miles to the ferry over the Missouri River After we were ferried over the river we camped

There are a number of diaries available of people crossing the plains in 1853 giving various details about the trip The companies were all outfitted within a few weeks of each other Two companies left in May, six in June and five in July The companies passed along the way and often camped near each other and intermingled One diary states that they feasted on a buffalo shot by a member of the Shurtliff Company traveling ahead of them Most of the records indicate that these early crossings were much easier than later ones Feed for cattle and wood for fires were plentiful Supplies and wagons were adequate, although many members of the company walked most of the way There was some contact with Indians, but none of it was unpleasant 18

William wrote that he arrived in Salt Lake City September 28, 1853 They had made the

thousand mile journey from Council Bluffs in two months and two weeks It had been eight months and twenty-three days since he left his fathers home in Newent, England

Zion, of Salt Lake Valley, was a bustling, growing place in 1853 In the six years since the first settlers arrived, they had not only built up Salt Lake City, but had also settled thirty-five other communities They had established a legislature, which enacted laws, and they had built a penitentiary The Deseret Iron Company was organized England, and material there, along with workers, were being formed into a vigorous industry in Iron County, Utah The Social Hall hadbeen dedicated, and corner stones of the Salt Lake Temple were laid A series of exciting events that is, exciting to read about in history resulted in what has been called the Walker War Eighteen fifty-three was the year Fort Bridger was purchased and nearby Fort Supply started 19

All of this was happening when William and Joseph arrived in Salt Lake City, but William makes no note of any of it in his writing After recording the date of their arrival he says: "On the next morning I hired to Bro Franklin Richards to work for him." (Joseph was sent to Nephi

to work on the town's fort wall.)

Franklin D Richards was a young apostle only four years older than William He served twice

as President of the British Mission, and much to do with instigating the use of the Perpetual Emigration Fund and with chartering ships for the use of emigrating saints While in England

he had organized the Deseret Iron Company of Liverpool and had been active in encouraging iron workers and coal miners to come to Zion He returned to Salt Lake from his mission in August 1852, and spent the winter and spring trying to get the Iron Mission on a firm footing inIron County, Utah

William does not say that he had known Apostle Richards in England, but it seems likely that

he

did There might even have been some previous arrangement made for William to work for him

in coal mining or in the iron industry Whatever the previous commitment was, William's firstcontact was with Apostle Richards, and his wages for whatever work he did were twelve

dollars per month

Soon after William arrived in Utah he received his endowments This was on February 24, 1854

William's next note says:

I worked for him (Franklin Richards) one year when I got married My wife's name was Mary Chandler I was married on the 1st of July, 1854, by Phyneis Richards, father of Franklin D Richards

It would have been interesting if William had been more generous with his notes about this occasion William was approaching his thirtieth birthday His new wife, Mary Chandler, wouldsoon be forty-eight And was in poor health She came to Utah in 1853, and William could havemet her on the journey to Utah, or she might have been without means of support and the marriage was arranged as a solution to social problem As an unmarried man, William would have been the object of concern for church authorities who were strongly advocating not only single marriages, but had in 1852 made public the doctrine of celestial or plural marriage William's next note states: "I bought a lot in the 4th ward in Salt Lake City and built a house on

it and lived in it one winter."

(NOTE: The boundaries of the Fourth Ward were: East Temple [State Street], Sixth South St., Second West, and Ninth South Farming was the dominant activity of the ward There were nineteen wards in Salt Lake at this time Benjamin Brown was bishop of the Fourth Ward.) 20

William's next entry is as noncommittal as previous ones He writes: "In the spring of 1855 I went to Ogden and got a lot and built a house and sold out in Salt Lake City, and moved to Ogden There I made a nice home."

The reason for William's move to Ogden is not stated, but it is obvious Room for expansion of his farming ventures was limited in Salt Lake City In Ogden there were new areas opening up rapidly Ogden had been Fort Goodyear, and was purchased by James Brown with money received from wages of the Mormon Battalion There was good farm land available William took trees with him to Ogden, which he had carefully planted and nurtured in Salt Lake They were replanted and in 1857 one of them bore three peaches, said to be the first peaches grown

in Ogden

William was not only a farmer, but he had a reputation as a miner This suggests that his work for Franklin D Richards during the first year after he arrived in Utah might have been related tocoal mining Loren Farr, presiding authority in Ogden, knew William had experience in mining and called him to blast away a large cliff of rocks in Ogden Canyon to complete the road

between Ogden and Huntsville This spot was known thereafter as "Wadley Rock" Previous to the rock's removal, wagons going down or up the canyon had to transfer their loads at this point, turn around a return.

There were many important happenings in the L.D.S Church during the time William lived in Ogden One of them was the invasion of Johnston's Army, which had been sent by President Buchanan in 1857 to subdue the reported rebellion in the Utah Territory Brigham Young

organized members of the Church for self defense Ogden furnished many men for this purpose, and William was one who stood guard in Echo Canyon during the winter of 1857-58 while Johnston's Army was camped near Fort Bridger

During these years there were also devastating grass hopper invasions, a stock-killing winter, and a scorching dry summer, which brought the saints to near starvation There was also the tragic handcart crossings, the Mountain Meadow Massacre, and the calling home of all outlyingsettlements and missionaries William lived through these events in the 6 1/2 years he lived in Ogden, but he does not mention how they affected him

During this time the wife of Joseph, William's brother, died in Pleasant Grove, and their small son, Joseph Daniel, age two, was taken to Ogden to stay with his Uncle William and Aunt Mary 21 William and Mary had no children

William kept close to the Church and was active although there is no record of his public service He was ordained a member of Ogden's Fifty-fourth Quorum of Seventy by Loren Clarke

Another change was now pending in William's life In August of 1859 Captain James Brown's company of immigrants arrived in Salt Lake City Among these immigrants was the William McKay family, originally from Scotland, but who had spent the last three years in New York and Iowa City Being acquainted with Bishop Bunker in Ogden, the McKay’s settled there, and through circumstances unknown to us, William met the McKay’s seventeen-year-old daughter, Isabella, whom he preceded to court With a small nephew and an invalid wife to care for, there might have been more than romance on his mind when he courted Isabella and won her for a second wife

William had extensive exposure to Church teachings regarding polygamy even before he arrived in Utah There was much discussion of it wherever Mormons met This was true in England as well as other places While William and Joseph were waiting in Liverpool to board their ship, the Ellen Maria, in January 1853, a meeting was held and polygamy was discussed

L W Richards and Orson Spencer spoke to a crowed housed which "sanctioned their words with a hearty Amen." A few days after the ship was underway an Elder Kendall spoke for about

an hour on the plurality of wives at which "the saints rejoiced." Another lengthy discussion was held on "a subject of great importance, D.O.P.O.W." (Doctrine of Plurality of Wives.) 22

After William arrived in Utah the exhortations to live polygamy continued and even intensified.The great Mormon Reformation had taken place during the years 1856 and 1857 This

movement stressed cleanliness, confession, repentance, self-sufficiency, and most strongly, plural marriage It is said that there were more polygamous marriages contracting during these years than at any period in the Church A letter from Wilford Woodruff to George A Smith said: "All are trying to get wives, until there is hardly a girl 14 years old in Utah, but what is married, or just going to be." Another women wrote " this is the greatest time for marring I every knew." 23

With such pressure for compliance, it is no wonder William was ready to accept the principle

of plural marriage Evidently Isabella was also converted to the idea, for she accepted his proposal, and they were married April 8, 1860 The marriage took place in the office of BrighamYoung in Salt Lake City, and on the same date, both Isabella and Mary, his first wife, were sealed to William 24

When William married for the second time he was thirty-five years old, just twice the age of Isabella His ailing first wife, Mary, was fifty-four

Within a year William and Isabella had their first child, a boy who was born and died on

February 22, 1861 He as named David Benjamin A year later on April 17, 1862, a daughter, Mary Ellen, was born while the family still lived in Ogden

William's next move was not voluntary A call came to him and 200 other men at the October

1862 conference to take their families and help settle "Dixie," the Southern Utah mission William wrote: "In the fall of 1862 I was called to Southern Utah to help to settle the St

George country We sold out in Ogden and moved to Washington Co."

Brigham Young strongly believed that the southern area, known as Utah's Dixie, could produce cotton and other commodities to help make the saints self-supporting The 200 men called in

1862 were chosen for their skills and capital equipment so as to balance out the economic structure of the community they were going to help build.25 It was a mission of many hardships and much suffering for those who participated, but obedience to call was the structure of the saint's lives William willingly uprooted himself from his well-established home in Ogden, loaded his wagon with his started trees, cuttings, seeds and tools, and took his wives and little daughter to settle in Washington, northeast of Saint George He doesn't mention the trip by ox team, how long it took, or when they arrived Some of the saints who kept journals, who were called at the same time, recorded that they arrived sometime in December Others didn't arrive until the following summer

William Wrote:

We made our home in Washington City where we lived till 1865 where my first wife died and our only child, and I was very sick Come near dying, and the Bishop advised

me to moov out to a higher place

Malaria, with which William was afflicted, was prevalent in all the Dixie area, but it seems to have been more serious in Washington A local historian wrote:

To make matters worse came the scourge of malaria This dread affliction was present atSanta Clara, Heberville and other settlements down the river, but at Washington it was most widespread and persistent This sickness coupled with the necessity for the hardestkind of labor was enough to discourage the stoutest hearts.26

Mary Ellen, William and Isabella's only surviving child, died October 19, 1863 Mary Chandler, William's first wife, died in 1863 or 1865 The actual date has not been identified.27 Isabella's second son, whom they named William Washington, was born October 28, 1864

William likely planted his trees and worked on the dams in Washington He undoubtedly wouldhave been involved with the building of the Cotton Mill there It was into limited operation by

1866 and in full operation by 1869 He possibly worked on the temple also, for work on the temple and other public works was paid partly in "factory pay," (credit at the Cotton Factory in Washington).28 We know that William received dividends from the mill in the form of cloth afterwards His children remembered some suits and dresses they obtained from the 'linsey' sent

to the family years later from the mill One of the dividends was made into a suit for William

by a tailor in Pleasant Grove (who refused payment for making it because of past favors from William) The material in the suit was durable William wore it the remainder of his life, and at his death it was given to his son Isaac who wore it for many years

William's move to "a higher place" as advised by his bishop, was to Dameron Valley in 1865 Family members have traditionally interpreted this to mean "Diamond Valley, but William's writing states "Damrien." There was a Dameron Valley, which is now a ghost town It is in a small valley north of St George toward Pine Valley

William sold his land in Washington and moved his family and trees Their first winter in the new location was difficult They had only seven bushels of Potatoes Each time they peeled potatoes to eat they would cut a "little keeper" around the eyes The eyes were kept damp all winter and planted in the spring

Conditions improved during 1866, and he harvested three hundred bushels of potatoes Williamalso planted three pecks of precious wheat saved for seed He planted this with a hoe and had a bountiful harvest of sixty bushels per acre Here, most importantly he regained his health.However, there must have been drawbacks to this place, for William records: "When I got well

I did not like to live there, and sold out and President Snow sent me down to the Beaver dams

to help to make a settlement there."

The Beaver Dam Company was plagued with insurmountable trouble right from the first It seemed that mother nature was determined that there should be no success in anything the settlers endeavored to do William writes:

I went and took a load of fruit trees and set them out and helped to get out the water, and went back to get my family and while I was gone a cloud burst in the mountains

and washed the land and trees away

The Beaver Dam project was abandoned, and William moved his family to Pine Valley Pine Valley was a pretty valley in the mountains north of St George This was to be William's last move until he was released form this mission

Pine Valley was settled in the 1850's as a source of lumber for the surrounding towns During the 1860s there were seven lumber mills operating there employing many men The special yellow pine needed for building the Salt Lake tabernacle organ was taken from there Pine Valley was first opened to agricultural settlements in 1864 after a satisfactory division of waterwas made with the town of Santa Clara However, lumber remained its principle industry into the 1870s A large silver mine opened at Silver Reef in 1870, just over the Nevada border, and this furnished a good market for Pine Valley lumber It also made Pine Valley one of the

roughest towns in the west when outlaws moved in to pillage and rob the supply trains going from the LDS settlements to the mining towns of Nevada Pine Valley became a convenient place for outlaws to hide

When William moved there in 1867 or 1868, a few farms were operating and he added his acres

to these The history of the town says that potatoes became a basic crop, and that fruit grew well

William's name is not listed among the holders of public office or the doers of dramatic deeds while he was in Dixie He was probably one of the hundreds who did the gritty work of

pioneering without notoriety of acclaim However, there is one notation on the records of a PineValley Jubilee that Credits him with bringing some of his fruit to the Jubilee Fruit must have been his staple crop at that time (Note: R D Wadley, William's son, visited Pine Valley in

1942 and it was reported to him that trees planted by William were still bearing fruit Merrill Allen, a grandson, said he found apple trees in Pine Valley in 1977 that were likely planted by William, and still bearing fruit.)

William was a resident of Pine Valley when a unique church was built there In 1864 a

combined church and school house was built under the direction of Ebenezer Bryce It was an interesting building which still stands sturdily Bryce was a former ship builder from New Zealand He constructed the building like a ship, saying that if a flood should come, the

building would float, or in the event of a strong wind it would roll over but not crash We wish William would have recorded whether he worked on this church

During these years William corresponded with an old friend in England, Mary Byard Mary wasborn in Newent, William's hometown, December 24, 1835 Her parents were John Byard and Mary Ridett She was baptized February 13, 1857 She consented to come to Utah at William's invitation to become his wife William met her in Salt Lake City when she arrived They were married November 8, 1869 She was endowed and sealed to William that same day

Another couple was sealed that day also Edward Meridith, a friend of William's from Pine Valley, came with him for that purpose Edward had been baptized in Pine Valley by William in

1866 He married Mary Ann Eliza Williams, a niece of his first wife, who had come from England at his first wife's invitation to become a second wife The Meredith family and the Wadley family remained close friends all their lives Both later settled in Pleasant Grove.

Whether Isabella knew the purpose of her husband going to Salt Lake that fall of 1869 is not known, but when he returned with a new wife Isabella accepted the arrangement Plural

marriage was a church doctrine, and no word of criticism against the church or its leaders ever passed her lips Mary Byard was thirty-four years old at this time and Isabella was twenty-seven

Mary's first child, a daughter, Julie Ann, was born February 26, 1871 William and Isabella had two more sons, Edward Franklin, born May 9, 1869, and Joseph Isaac, born July 19, 1871 William's family now consisted of two wives, three sons and a daughter

Many happenings in the St George area would have involved William, although he does not tellabout them In 1864 Brigham Young build a home and wintered there Living in Nearby

Washington at that time, William would have helped celebrate that event The St George temple was commenced in 1871 At the ground breaking on November 9, 1871, Brigham Young said, among other things, " This is a hard land in which to get a living I am glad it is just

as it is It is a splendid country to rear saints in." 29 William would not have missed that

occasion, even if he had to travel from Pine Valley

William must have been exposed to growing grapes while he was in southern Utah Brigham Young thought that good wine could be produced in Dixie for the sacrament, for medicine, and for sale to "outsiders." This product did become an important crop in Dixie, and as many as

544 acres of grapes yielded about 1,700 tons were in production by the 1870s.30 Growing grapes later became one of Williams major projects on his farm in Pleasant Grove

William also learned about merits of alfalfa (Lucerne) while in Dixie Alfalfa seed was first brought into that area by Charles Stapley who carried it from Australia When the seed was planted it provided a great boost to agriculture in Dixie A local historian said:

Alfalfa was being produced in 1864 Since alfalfa does so well on virgin soil, its introduction soon relieved the forage problem and made possible the common use of milk, butter, and cheese as food, and farm animals could do the heavy work necessary inthe early spring after the wintering on cured alfalfa Its positive effect upon the

economy of the country can sacredly be overestimated.31

Knowledge of the worth of alfalfa, and supply of seed, were to be of great benefit to William inhis future home

William was still active in mining, or at least interested in prospecting, while he lived in Dixie

On one occasion he and Ed Meredith were up a canyon near Leeds getting wood, and they discovered where a flash flood had washed out the road and uncovered a vein of ore They tooksome samples back to President Erastus Snow in St George He told them to go about raising

food and forget the ore William followed this counsel, but Ed went back later to investigate As

he was bending over the vain, he heard several gunshots, which frightened him so much that he covered up the ore and left William thought about that ore a great deal in his life, and was planning a trip back from Pleasant Grove to investigate, but was dissuaded by Stephen L Chipman, president of Alpine Stake Later a silver mine was opened near the vicinity

(Note: If the discovery had been coal, the news might have received more welcome acceptance Since the very earliest arrival of the saints in Salt Lake Valley in 1847, there had been a search for coal The 1854 Territorial Legislature offered a thousand dollars to the discoverer of “a goodvain of coal, not less than eighteen inches thick.”)32

William turned his back on his discovery of silver in southern Utah, but would continue his search for coal in Utah Valley the rest of his life

William was released from his Dixie mission in 1872 He decided to move to Pleasant Grove, Utah County This decision was influenced by the fact that his brother, Joseph, lived there and planned to return to England on a mission He wanted William to care for his farm while he wasgone

When the move was made from the south, it was with friends of long standing, the Meredith and Golden families The tree families shared two teams and two heavily loaded wagons, and traveled the rough roads carefully It can be surmised that William brought trees, cuttings and seeds, including the precious alfalfa seed, which would serve him so well in his new home in the north end of Utah Valley

The first home of the Wadley's when they arrived in Pleasant Grove was a dugout William, his two wives, and four children lived there during the winter of 1872-73 By the following spring William found the place he wanted to settle He had walked along the sagebrush-covered foothills north of Pleasant Grove until he reached a spring of water called "Little Spring" He liked the land below the spring and the hills around it, and the mountains behind it Backed by Mahogany Mountain, the spot was protected from winds and frosts that hit the valley There was an expansive view of Utah Lake and the valley and mountains to the west It was about two miles north of Pleasant Grove

The area that interested William for his new permanent home was sparsely settled It was called

"The North Fields" by residents of Pleasant Grove The name later became "Manila" In 1873 when the Wadleys came, the land was used by settlers in Pleasant Grove for pasture There had been a few unsuccessful attempts at farming Three settlers in town, Jonathan Harvey, George Clark, and John G Holman had taken up land and claimed "Squatter's Rights." (Note: Title to lands was not granted in Utah until after the railroad came in 1869 Need to clear title for the railroad forced the government to begin honoring homestead applications The applications by Mormons had not been honored because of prejudice by the government against Mormon polygamy.)

John G Holman built what was probably the first house in the North Fields in 1869 and some

members of his family lived there part time His son moved into the house later In 1870

Jonathan Householder built a home on land which was later owned by Bishop Knud Swenson

In 1873, James Pulley built a home in the northwest area on land that was plowed about 1866 These were probably the only homes in the area when the Wadleys, Merediths, and Goldens come in 1873 Meredith channeled water from American Fork Canyon in what was probably thefirst formal ditch dug, which still retains his name

Attempts at farming the land in the North Fields had not been successful because the soil was heavy with clay and crusted and baked when irrigated by flooding (which was the customary method of irrigation) For that reason most of the land was abandoned for farming purposes George Clark had left his claim, and William was able to purchase his squatters rights to eighty acres for $350 This was land below the spring Some of the local people said the Wadleys would starve, and William's brother Joseph was so convinced of the worthlessness of the ground that he put a claim in the bishops court saying that the sellers had taken advantage of his brother William appeared in court to say that he felt he had made a fair agreement When itwas possible for him to apply for homestead rights in 1891 and 1892, he did so, including other land claimed by John West, Lars Larson, Christian Olsen, and William Stewart, his neighbors After receiving the patent, he deeded to each of them the land they claimed without charge

William needed more land, and inasmuch as he had used his homestead rights, he claimed forty acres adjoining the spring under the "Timber Culture Act of 1873" This act gave 160 acres to those who planted and kept healthy forty acres of trees not over 12 feet apart These modest requirements were reduced five years later to ten acres of trees, with 2,700 at the time of planting and 675 when the patent was granted (See Appendix Two for Land Patents.) William raised ash and locust trees from seed to meet the requirements of this patent These he planted

in many areas He planted a grove of trees behind the original Manila Ward church house, which was still providing welcome shade in 1986 He planted another area, where horses were tied for church so it would be shady for them He also planted his fence and ditch lines with these trees One project was to plant a row of trees along the two-mile road from his home in Manila to Pleasant Grove However, this was thwarted by a neighbor, William Stewart, whose land it would pass Stewart said the trees would seed and sucker too much, and he didn't want

to take care of those in front of his place All of these plantings, along with the orchards which William set out, fulfilled the requirements of his patent

The spring which William wanted was owned by Willard and Joseph Halliday, who offered to sell their claim to William for $75 William was glad to acquire the water It had drawn his original interest to the location After acquiring it he developed it by digging tunnels and prospecting for more water This spring later became a source of culinary water for the Manila area It is still known as "Wadley Springs."

Very shortly William proved the land in Manila could be productive with proper use, and otherscommenced to settle in the North Fields Many of the emigrants coming to Utah in the 1870's were Scandinavians, and to some of them the sage-covered flats of Manila looked good,

especially since the fields nearer to Pleasant Grove were all claimed

When William moved his family to this new homestead in the spring of 1873, they had a tent and a covered wagon box lifted off the frame to the ground for living quarters It was in this temporary home that two more children were born Mary Byard's second daughter was born April 11, 1873 She arrived in the wagon box and was named Elizabeth Emeline Isabella's sixth child (the forth living), a daughter, was born in the tent She was born June 28, 1873 and was named Emily Agnes

In the summer of 1874 William built a one-room dwelling that was about eighteen by twenty feet The building material was a soft rock that William found on land he owned at the base of Mahogany Mountain It was soft and porous when first exposed to the air and could be cut into blocks With exposure it hardened into a very desirable building material and provided well-insulated walls cool in summer and retained heat in winter This soft rock became the base material for many of the homes and public buildings built in Pleasant Grove and Manila during the latter part of the 1800s

The next summer (1875), a lean-to was added to the home and Mary moved into it Later the small house was expanded to four rooms

In the spring of 1874, a year after William's arrival, the United Order was established in

Pleasant Grove Prospecting for coal became William's assignment in the Order, although he held other offices also At the second meeting of the Order, May 3, 1875, he was appointed foreman for the North District, one of three districts in the city.33 He is also listed as an

appraiser of property and as a stockholder when the Order was incorporated.34 At a very early date he and a friend, Mr Daniel Golding, who had spent a great amount of time with William prospecting, were voted by the board of the United Order to continue their search for coal The board voted to assume responsibility for the debts the men had incurred if they would continue their efforts on behalf of the Order At the meeting of the board on December 29, 1875, their time and their work were valued at $1,688, and the prospecting was accepted as one of the order's projects On February 5, 1876, William and his partner reported in a meeting that they were running into delays They stated that they had to drive another tunnel below their first one

in order to drain water from their primary tunnel The board voted to continue their financial backing At the March board meeting, William seemed to be optimistic and stated that work at the coal mine was progressing with good prospects of success However, by the May meeting

of the board, William reported that work had been suspended for the present, but expressed hope of resuming operations in the short time We find no references to the coal mining

operation in the minutes again until the January 1877 meeting, when it is recorded that the committee was instructed "to take steps to continue prospecting for the coal during the winter."

Neither the minutes of the meetings nor the account books show how much the Order lost on the coal prospecting projects There is no entry indicating any income from the costly

investment There is no reference to its dissolution nor any value put on it by the board when the Order was dissolved in 1880 It most have been just dropped and written off either formally

or informally One estimate of the loss to the Order was $3,000.35

Helena Jane, Isabella's seventh child, was born June 2, 1876, and Richard David, her eighth,

was born December 17, 1878 Mary's third child, Thomas Soloman, was born and died January

23, 1878

Sometime during the 1880s, it is not known exactly when, William build two homes for his growing families The larger one on the north was for Isabella, and a smaller one on the south was for Mary These homes were still standing in 1986, but were in need of repair They were built of William's soft rock and were fine homes for their times The 1986 address was 2351 North 100 East in Pleasant Grove

In Isabella's family, three-year-old Helena Jane died in the spring of 1879 Also in 1879 a son, John Byard, was born to Mary and died at birth John Elmer was born to Isabella on March 21 ,

1881, and Nephi James was born to Mary on July 10, 1881 This was Mary's last child She wasforty-five year old

Isabella's family continued to increase Daniel McKay was born January 31, 1883; Jeanette Isabella, October 2, 1884; and Thomas Wilford, February 15, 1886 Thomas, the twelfth and last child, lived only two years

William continued in contact with his family in England by letters, and some of them came to Utah Sometime during the last half of the 1870's, William's brother John and his wife Eliza, immigrated to Pleasant Grove from England, as did Henry Wadley, a cousin Eliza did not like Pleasant Grove, so John and Eliza returned to England in the spring of 1880 When Joseph, William's brother was on his second mission to his homeland in 1880, he notes that he was treated very unkindly by John and his wife, then just back from Utah "They said some very unkind things about the Saints and me," he wrote He said they apparently held ill feelings towards him for his part in encouraging them to emigrate.36

In a letter that Julia, William's daughter, wrote to a cousin in England in 1889, she indicated that a cousin "Alice" had been here to Pleasant Grove, and in another letter written by William

in 1894 to an unidentified niece, it indicated that she had also been to Utah These visitors might have been the same person

When William started to subdue the challenging acres of his farm north of Pleasant Grove, his experience in the Southern Utah Mission, difficult as it had been, paid off for him He planted the alfalfa seed he had brought with him, and the results were remarkable It not only yielded abundantly, but it was just what was needed to lighten the heavy soil The first year’s growth ofalfalfa was not cut, but was plowed under for humus and the ground replanted again the next year After this, William introduced the method of irrigating he had learned in the southern mission Rather than flooding the entire area, he furrowed the ground and ran the water throughfurrows His ground that was thought to be worthless proved to be very productive using these farming techniques

Wherever William had previously lived, his interest seems to have been drawn towards raising fruit Probably this was because of his background in England, or even his “genetic”

inheritance, since he came from a long line of orchardmen He had planted fruit trees in Salt