Martha Morgan:A Journey to Zion
Story by Allen Morgan Kendall
Pictures added by Lois C. Berrett
Life in Levan
Life in Levan
William
Morgan was one of the two men given responsibility for temporal affairs in
Levan by Elder
Erastus Snow. Each family was allotted half a block, or 2.5 acres of land
within the town boundaries,
as well as twenty acres farm and pasture land outside. William and Martha
selected a
lot at what was then the center of town at the southwest of the junction of
Main Street (now 1st West)
and Canyon Lane. Here William built a log house, consisting of three rooms, all
in a row. The
roof was constructed of cottonwood sticks supporting a layer of clay and straw,
covered with
a layer of soil.39
The
Morgans shared their block with Jacob Hofheins, Mormon Battalion veteran, his
two wives and
large family. The Hofheins family had lived in Parowan and had been part of the
first group sent
to support the Iron Mission. They had also moved from Chicken Creek and so the
two families
were undoubtedly well acquainted. In the years to come intermarriage would make them
closer yet.40
The
United Order was introduced into the Levan Branch in 1875. In late October and
early November, William and Martha entered into the Order by covenant through
the token of baptism. Children Martha Ettie, James Nathaniel also joined, as
well as married son Daniel with his wife. A total of 113 persons joined the United
Order at that time, with the number increasing to 273 by 1878. In spite of
growing numbers, the Order eventually ceased to function in Levan, as it did in
most Utah communities where it was attempted.41
1870 Census
The United Order
From the Encyclopedia of Mormonism:
"United orders" refers to the cooperative enterprises established in LDS communities of the Great Basin, Mexico, and Canada during the last quarter of the nineteenth century in an effort to better establish ideal Christian community and group economic self-sufficiency... Economic goals of consecration included relative income equality, group self-sufficiency, and the elimination of poverty. Under this plan, the head of each family would consecrate or deed all real and personal property to the
Presiding Bishop of the Church and would receive, in turn, a stewardship, or "inheritance," from consecrated property. Thereafter, Church members would consecrate annually all surplus production from their stewardship's to the bishop's storehouse.
Here in Levan their last son, Ira Robert Morgan was born, 25 February 1868.
Ira Robert Morgan
William
Morgan appeared before the First Judicial Court in Provo in October 1871 and
became an
American citizen.42 By virtue
of her marriage to William, Martha now became an official citizen
herself, renouncing legally her allegiance to Queen Victoria of the United
Kingdom.
After
years of sacrifice and travel, the Morgans were settled into a pastoral
lifestyle on land of their
own, surrounded by family. It was to be altogether too brief.
If
family tradition is correct, William suffered from the symptoms of asthma.43 There can be no doubt
as to the source of his affliction. A glance at the history of his fathers, and
his own occupational experience
in the mines tells the story. His decline would have been gradual, the great strength
from years of hard labor being sapped by his respiratory weakness. William
Morgan died
on 24 November 1876 in Levan.44 He was 59 years old when the cold specter of the coal
mine
which had haunted generations before him finally claimed his life also. He was
buried in the
cemetery southeast of the town. It was the location he himself, as one of the
city fathers. had helped
to select just a few years earlier.45
Martha
was 52 years old and a widow. Within two years she suffered further sorrow when
she
lost
her dear sister Jane, still living in Beaver and a highly respected midwife, to
a relatively
early
death.46
She
remained in Levan for the rest of her life. She watched from under the shade of
the fruit trees
planted by the hand of her husband47 as the plot of tall blue grass grew into an industrious little
town. Many businesses sprung up, including a broom factory operated by son
Daniel.48 She
witnessed the raising of three church meeting houses, from the simple log
structure a few blocks
north of her home, to the present stately brick church with gothic windows, under
construction when she died. And before the end of her life, even the miracle of
telephone had reached
this former frontier settlement.49
Martha's
life was certainly one of industry. While her sons toiled in the fields, she
would have supported
them planting and harvesting gardens, preserving fruit from the orchard,
cooking and
mending.
Wrestling with the notoriously hard water coming from the canyon springs must
have been
a massive chore on wash day in and of itself. It was a life of labor, but that
had become the only
life Martha knew.
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