John Darbyshire Lea

John Darbyshire Lea

The Father-in-law I Never Met

The story of John Darbyshire Lea, was written by his daughter-in-law, Katherine Drew Lea, from information furnished by her husband, William A. Lea, John’s only living child. Valuable additions were taken from old letters, tithing receipts. patriarchal blessing, account books and part of an old diary.

John Darbyshire Lea was born February 19, 1819, at Barton, near Eceles, Lancashire, England. His parents were George Houghton Lea and Margaret Darbyshire Lea. A letter from his mother to her son when he was living in America gives us a picture of a beautiful mother-son relationship. Deeply pious, and solicitous for his welfare, she renounces his companionship with joy in his new opportunity in America. To quote from her letter of May 16, 1864: “I am glad you are satisfied with Salt Lake City and hope you will endeavor to please God anti keep I-us commandments so that you may be a pattern to those around you.” The handwriting is firm and rather flowing. The tone of the letter reveals a sympathy with his religions beliefs and ideals although I don’t believe she ever joined the LD.S. Church. She died about a year after the above letter was written.

His father was a miller and worked 25 years at the mill where John worked for 12 years before coming to America. J0hn was one of eight children, two of whom died in early childhood. The three brothers and two sisters who survived all grew up to become useful citizens. The eldest brother, James, was believed to be an engineer on a sailing ship. As a boy James was agile as a cat, from a standing position he could jump over a table on which dishes were piled without touching or disturbing a single dish. William, the brother just younger than John, also came to America and lived at Shrub Oak, Westchester County, New York, where he was a shoemaker. Brother Thomas died at the age of 21 in England in the year 1853. Sisters Ann and Margaret married—Ann to John Baldwin and Margaret to John Pearson— remained in England and sometimes corresponded with their brother in Utah.
John enjoyed telling of his boyhood days; of the fox hunts of the nobility which he followed until breathless and exhausted. It would seem only the natural curiosity of a child unless we delve into his ancestry through genealogical research, and then we find it to be a hereditary instinct asserting itself. My first gleanings reveal a business man, miller by trade, engaged in the responsible work of managing a large milling concern at Mode Wheel at Manchester, England. Here he had charge of importing the raw materials and exporting the finished product. When later he followed this work in the new world, his mastery of the details of the art of milling made his labor of great value to the struggling pioneers. They had serious problems before them in this desert land and nature was often cruel. One winter the wheat was badly frozen. The people could ill afford the loss of their flour, and bread made from frozen wheat was usually a hard unpalatable mass. But this problem was met by my father- in-law. One patron held a snowy, light loaf of bread before her friends and declared, “Can you believe that frozen wheat could be made into floor that can bake a loaf as fine as this?’ It is a source of satisfaction to my husband today, the fine English accuracy with which his father could cut the stone burrs used in the milling, for that was the secret of the perfection of the flour. When perfectly cut, no grains escaped the impact and no flour was scratched.

My next item reads “Baptized 1841 (20 June 1841) by James Harrop; ordained to the office of Priest in the same year by James Harrop; ordained to the office of Seventy in the 55th Quorum in the fall of 1863 by Brother Charles Penrose and Truman Leonard in Farmington, Utah.’’ I find among his possessions a Book of Mormon, 2nd European edition of 1849 Published by Orson Pratt. But, “A Voice of Warning’’ published it Manchester, England bears the date of 1841. Parley Pratt was doing a brilliantly aggressive work in this field, meeting in a series of open debates the best orthodox talent of the district. One series seemed to have meant much to my father—in—law as the badly worsted opponent in the rebuttal closed her Bible and said to the audience, “If the Bible is true, Parley Pratt is right and the whole world is wrong, but I doubt the Bible.” Those were stirring times when men walked miles to hear a sermon. Four miles J0hn Lea walked to these debates after his day’s labors, and always Parley Pratt called him to the stand.

Another choice memory was of the--mission of Orson Hyde to Palestine to dedicate that land to the return of the Jews. The members gave freely of their small means to furnish him with clothing and my father-in-law felt he had indeed been privileged to help buy a pair of shoes for one of God’s missionaries on such an important mission. John was a traveling elder for four years. He was stoned for his words, but undaunted he and his companion, Charles Turner, preached to thousands. Turner was a large, powerful man and while one preached the other stood on guard by the chair to protect the speaker from mob violence. At one time a ruffian started to snatch the chair on which lie was standing. My mother-in-law spoke sharply, “Here! let that chair alone.” Surprised, he drew back and the chair and speaker were not molested. When a Conference President of the Manchester Branch Sunday School was being chosen, the choice fell upon Brother Lea by the vote of the people.
Rather stern in appearance and reticent in manner, he spoke little but his few words meant much. Religious argument among his neighbors would run for hours, but my father-in-law when appealed to would settle the whole matter with a few well chosen words. As one old German convert exclaimed, “Well, law me, here we’ve talked for all evening and gotten nowhere and Brother Lea has straightened everything out in two minutes. He was staunch in his new religion and when dismissed from his work for embracing Mormonism he told his irate employer, “You have unjustly discharged me for my religious faith, but I shall yet see the day when I’ll sit at my own table in my own home and you won’t have a place to go,” a prophecy which was literally fulfilled when John received a letter from England telling him of the complete ruin of his former employer. The new owner of the mills, a Mr. Fred Moss, offered free passage home for Mr. Lea and all his family if he would return to England and resume his work at the mill, promising a job for life.
In fairness to the mill owner who had been so harsh I have read several letters from co-workers with John Lea at Mode Wheel and have tried to reconstruct the situation as it seemed to exist. Mormonism must have struck that group with force. The men were seething with its message. The mill owner undoubtedly saw it as a dangerous issue. To stamp it out he dismissed the “ring leader and so in the merciful providence of God one of their number came to America and in the Temple of the Lord had saving ordinances and sealing for time and eternity performed for those old friends of his left behind in England.

The letters bring glimpses of these old friends. I quote one; The writer mentions a letter received from John Lea and says, “I caused your letter to be read to the men, all of which expressed their gladness that you were doing well. I think if you had staid here you would not have had the cows, pigs, sheep and hens. For my own part, I am not surprised to hear that you and other settlers are prosperous at S. Lake, notwithstanding lots of tales I have heard to the contrary. I can believe you when you tell me how freely the land produces vegetables, though certain parties here argue that it won’t. I feel thankful to you for the description of the lake and country. In your next let me know what kind of birds and animals you have.” He goes on. ‘I am instructed by Jessy to send you his best respect. Jessy is still the same, drunk each week and a professed teetotaler in the middle of the week,” he offers to send the English newspaper to America and expresses concern over the postage. He launches in to a great argument over the Reform Bill and then slips into business affairs at the mill.

One letter saddens one. It is from his missionary companion, Charles Turner. It is deeply devout and full of the news of the little band of Saints at Bury and then lists names and dates for temple work and grieves over the lack of his father’s and grand—
father’s dates. He longs for the privilege of working for them in the Temple but says, “I could not do so, my body is so injured. When my day’s work is done and I go to bed the bones at the bottom of my back and my hips are black and red and sometimes the skin is off.” In another letter he mentions sending a “neck and two wrist-ties which Elizabeth has made for you.” He speaks of times being bad as Prussia and France are “liable to go to war.” He tells of war preparations being made by all Europe and is gloomy in anticipation, says he hopes to buy land in Utah and come here. In the next letter he mourns over the conditions of the Branch and says, “It’s not as it used to be. We have 55 members now and it takes all our time to get 12 to 20 out on Sunday. And it is rare now to see a stranger come to meeting.” But they were an earnest little hand. One by one that first group of Saints came to the new land. His own plans were maturing to that end. Was there a reunion here in Utah of those old co-laborers in the Lord’s vineyard?

Sorrow came to my father-in-law there in England a few years after his conversion to Mormonism. His first wife, Eliza Birch Lea and three of their chiIdren, Mary, Samuel, and Ellen, were all claimed in death within a short time. The patriarchal blessing of this first wife is of interest, the blessings promised are of such a transcendently exalted nature. As she lay on her death bed a sound resembling the humming of a tea kettle gently boiling was heard at the foot of the bed. It passed slowly along by the wall and circled around to the head of the bed. When it reached the sick woman she ceased breathing. This was June 13, 1846, and in two years the last of the three children had joined their mother in Paradise. Eliza had been a linen worker and had done quite well at the work. She was remembered as a good woman, quiet, easy to get along with, a faithful Latter-day Saint, and a wonderful wife and mother.

John’s second wife was Elizabeth Lamb, eldest daughter of Alfred and Mary Ann Crew Lamb, who with their family—Elizabeth, Sarah Susannah, Alfred, Emma, Mary Ann, Lydia and Charlotte--had recently joined the Mormon Church and its large Manchester Branch. Her brother Alfred died in 1850 in England at the age of 21. The sisters all eventually came to America. Elizabeth was born July 31, 1324, at Portsmouth, ilampshire, England; later her family lived in London before moving to Manchester. She was 24 when she married John Lea, Sept. 24, 1848.

Her father was a shoemaker with a large family to support, so as was quite usual in those days, the children had to go to work early in life. Elizabeth was placed in a silk factory at seven years of age to earn her own living. Her remembrance of her life there gives us a picture of working conditions of that time and the severity of the overseer. Bobbin ends gave trouble, threads would break in the weaving and the wrath of the overseer would be vented upon the heads of the children. Many times Elizabeth hid a tell-tale bit under her apron to escape punishment. Each night the children were searched to prevent the stealing of silk, but they sometimes risked having a bit of silk thread found on them at night, rather than punishment for “breaking” threads at work. One time while working she felt uneasy about her family; after work took her few pennies and got a meal together and carried it home. She found her people in distress, out of work and without a fire. Elizabeth and her few morsels of food were welcome. Later on she worked for a Jewish family and learned to prepare their food according to “kosher’ Jewish dietary rules.

Elizabeth was the first convert of her family. Her father was baptized next with the remark that if Elizabeth had joined there must be something in it. When her mother-in-law was baptized it was winter (December 29, 1844) and as she came from the water her clothing froze instantly. As she came out of the water the idea of going to America took form in her mind. Finally in 1863 the way was opened and they left for America, leaving Liverpool on the 23rd of May in a sailing vessel called the Antarctica, which took seven weeks to cross the ocean, arriving at New York July 10,1863

John and Elizabeth were parents at eight children, seven of whom were born England. The second baby, Jacob, had died in infancy in 1851. So there were the parents and six children, three girls and three boys, ranging in age from 13 years down to the baby of 23 months, in the little family group starting out on a great journey to a new life among the Saints in Utah’s Zion. They were leaving behind family and friends, but they were hopeful of meeting relatives in America for Elizabeth’s parents and three young sisters had gone to America about ten years before. On shipboard guards were placed over the emigrating company of Mormons to maintain discipline. One night my father-in-law had this duty. After all was quiet he saw a man slipping along in the shadows. When halted the fellow claimed that the ship was in trouble and that he was an officer and that it was urgent that he be allowed to go above. He was met with a firm refusal. Then with a great laugh the fellow confessed to a hoax to test the guard. It proved to be the Captain himself taking this means of silting out his dependable men.
I find among the family papers receipts of payments to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, which obviously establishes the means used to finance the journey. I also note the Members’ Certificates from the Manchester Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter—day Saints, recommending this little family to any branch with which they wished to unite. Another interesting certificate is the one of baptism into the United Order for Elizabeth Lea, wife of John Lea.

The journey was successful and in due time they arrived, traveling by railroad cars, at Florence Nebraska. Here they were met by Elizabeth’s father and mother. As the company left Florence she bade her mother and father goodbye and never saw them again. For years she had no news of her people. When at last a nephew found traces of them, twelve years had passed and the mother was dead, and the father was ill and died shortly after. This nephew later came to the Lea home in Cache Valley and by his brilliant personality and gift of music brought much happiness to their family. John Lea also had kissed his mother goodbye when they left Manchester, knowing that he would never see her again.
These broken ties were the inevitable price paid by the Saints. From Florence, Nebraska, Brother and Sister Lea walked to Utah. The older children also walked most of the way, while the younger ones walked as far as they could, then were carried by their father or rode on the tail gate of a wagon. They traveled in an ox team company, but most of the space in the wagons was required for hauling food, bedding, clothing and other provisions for the journey. Wolves howling at night, roving bands of Indians passing by or stopping to beg from the emigrants, great herds of buffalo so numerous that at one time they were three days passing a herd, and many streams to ford were all new experiences to the little English woman. In addition to his own wife and children, there was it many another woman and child that Brother Lea carried over the rivers on his back.

At night Sister Lea cared for her ailing baby who later died at Farming ton. At Emigration Canyon the Captain of the Company came to Sister Lea and insisted she get into one of the wagons. A woman and two grown daughters grumbled at having Sister Lea added to the wagon. They had water with them and the little sick baby boy pleaded with the woman for a drink. The refusal hurt my mother-in-law more than anything else she endured in this new land. Of course nine people in one wagon was a crowded condition, but the woman and her big daughters found room to stretch out on the floor for sleeping. But not for Sister Lea was such a blessing of rest; she must sit up with her sick child on her knees by night.

Brother and Sister Lea and their six children arrived in Salt Lake City penniless. With n0 one to meet them, they stayed for 13 days on Emigration Square where they camped without even a tent. Lorenzo Young hired Brother Lea to saw and split a cord
of wood and in payment gave him a sack of flour and a leg of mutton which probably seemed riches indeed to the struggling little family. Then they went to Farmington where they lived the first winter in Utah. In spite of all they could do—Elizabeth had walked to Salt Lake to procure medicine for him—baby Abraham continued to weaken and died at Farmington. He was buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery on October 26th.
These were hard times for the little immigrant family. Sister Lea was trying to wash and had no soap and no money to buy any and couldn’t get her clothes clean. Her natural fastidiousness was outraged and it was the last straw, and she wept and wanted to go back to England. But that was the only time of weakness. She was a worthy mate for the man she married and in this wild country she stood staunchly by his side. She soon learned to make her own soap, as well as all the other pioneering arts. Having grown up in a large city in England, the pioneer life in Utah was completely foreign to them, but hard work was not new to them; they soon learned the new ways and even eventually prospered.
Sister Lea’s Patriarchal blessing told her she would feed her Lamanite brethren. And she did indeed feed them. The Leas moved from Farmington to Richville, Morgan County, and then to Mendon, Cache County, where roving bands of Indians would make camp in the pond which was close to their house. She fed them and doctored them and was good to them at all times- One experience she related concerned an Indian buck disgruntled by the bread and butter offered him. He wanted the supper provided for the family instead. Sister Lea refused and he whipped out a knife and threatened her with it. Brother Lea shouted at him and he turned and fled. This was the only unpleasant experience with the Indians. Often they witnessed singing and dancing by the Indians in evenings around their campfires.

Here Brother Lea engaged in milling and homesteaded the ground adjoining the mill. He was always highly successful in handling his red brothers. They appreciated his rugged honesty and kindness of heart and once when a mill in another district had trouble with the redskins over the measuring of the wheat, the old Chief came for him to arbitrate the matter. They accepted his decision in the case without a murmur although obviously in an ugly mood. And the other miller was so scared that he was only too glad to have the question settled.
Living too far from either Mendon or Wellsville to get to meetings regularly the little group of neighbors-about 35 people -formed the habit of holding cottage meetings and strong friendships were cemented thereby. Bishop Maughan approved this arrangement and placed Brother Lea in charge of the meetings. It was usual to have 100% attendance at these meetings, and the neighborhood enjoyed their worship and their social life together. In 1874, the opportunity came to Brother Lea and his two teen-age boys to work on the Utah Northern Railroad for which John W. Young had the contract. In this way they were enabled to pay off the balance due the Perpetual Emigrating Fund (with 10% yearly interest) for the cost of their transportation from England to Utah.
Brother Lea and Charles Barrett of Logan were called in 1879 by the Bishopric to go to Eagle Rock and the adjoining country to hold cottage meetings and preach the Gospel. They were also commissioned to report on the advisability of planting settlements in the Snake River district where Idaho Falls and neighboring towns now stand. They were also called on similar missions to the Gentile Valley and Marsh Valley. Brother John Lea died September 17, 1896 at his home in Wellsville, Cache County, Utah. His wife Elizabeth died Jul 12, 1903 and was buried by his side in Wellsville Cemetery. —Katherine Drew Lea