PETER MAUGHAN FAMILY HISTORY
Published
by
PETER MAUGHAN FAMILY ORGANIZATION - 1971
(Progenitor-line of Harrison Davenport Maughan)
Text transcribed via OCR by Clyde V. Maughan great-great-grandchild
Schenectady, New York
August 14, 2001
ii
PETER MAUGHAN FAMILY HISTORY
Published
by
PETER MAUGHAN FAMILY ORGANIZATION
Richard J. Maughan
President
Alvin C. Hull
Vice President
Renee McMurdie
Vice President
Leland P. Maughan
Vice President
Elna Nielson
Secretary—Treasurer
J. Howard Maughan
Historian
Walter L. Maughan
Editor
Editorial Committee and Contributing Authors: Hattie B. Maughan, Heber C.
Maughan, Mary Elizabeth Morgan Maughan, May Maughan Snow, Ragna
Johnson Maughan, George Harrison Maughan, J. Howard Maughan, Mary
Ellen Stoddard Smith, Walter L. Maughan, Lydia E. Atkin, Rachel Maughan
Wadsworth, Alta Maughan Palmer, Afton Maughan Moser, Ines Bergeson,
Lavinia Maughan, Martha Maughan Davis, Ada Maughan Barron, Richard J.
Maughan.
Copyright 1971
by
Peter Maughan Family Organization
Printed by
Unique Printing Service
Logan, Utah
THE PETER MAUGHAN MONUMENT PLAQUE
(See next page for transcription of information on plaque)
(Transcription of words on Plaque)
ERECTED TO THE MEMORY
OF
PETER MAUGHAN
PIONEER LEADER
AND
CO-FOUNDER OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS
OF
CACHE VALLEY
1856
FIRST PRESIDENT AND PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE CACHE VALLEY
STAKE OF ZION
FIRST PROBATE JUDGE OF CACHE COUNTY
LEGISLATOR
INDIAN MEDIATOR AND FRIEND
PETER MAUGHAN, SON OF WILLIAM AND MARTHA WILSON MAUGHAN WAS BORN MAY 7, 1811, AT
ALSTON, CUMBERLAND COUNTY, ENGLAND. HE JOINED THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF
LATTER-DAY SAINTS AT ALSTON, ENGLAND IN 1837 AND IMMIGRATED TO AMERICA IN 1841.
WHILE AT NAUVOO, ILLINOIS, HE WORKED ON THE TEMPLE, BECAME A MEMBER OF THE
NAUVOO LEGION, AND ENGAGED IN MINING FOR THE CHURCH. AFTER CROSSING THE PLAINS TO
UTAH, IN 1850, HE SETTLED IN TOOELE COUNTY, AND LATER LED THE FIRST COLONISTS TO
CACHE VALLEY WHERE HE ESTABLISHED MAUGHAN’S FORT, NOW WELLSVILLE, AND LOCATED
OTHER SETTLEMENTS.  HE DIED AT LOGAN, UTAH, APRIL 24, 1871. THIS MEMORIAL, ERECTED
BY HIS DESCENDANTS, REPLACES IN MORE ENDURING MATERIALS MONUMENTS RAISED TO HIS
MEMORY BY THE PEOPLE OF CACHE VALLEY.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter
I.
Page
CHILDREN OF WILLIAM AND MARTHA WILSON MAUGHAN
v
EARLY MAUGHAN FAMILY LIFE IN ENGLAND TOLD
1
PETER MAUGHAN AND HIS WIVES
5
PETER MAUGHAN: A Biography
7
The Real Monument
President's Blessing
Convert from England
Emigrates to America
Trip to Nauvoo
Threats of Violence
Difficult Times
Family Grows
Their Arrival: 1850
Fort Arrangement
Report was Cold
Going was Rough
Name is Changed
Covered with Snow
Indian Intruders
"Men With Families"
Three-Room Cabin
On the Warpath
School of the Prophets
Relief Society Head
Paying Homage
Many Businesses
Resourceful Man
7
8
9
9
10
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
18
20
21
21
23
24
26
26
29
29
30
CHIEF BEAR HUNTER: How the Life of Bishop Peter
Maughan was Spared by Divine Providence
31
DESCRIPTION OF AN EARLY PIONEER HOME
34
PETER MAUGHAN RETURNS FROM THE GRAVE
34
PETER MAUGHAN'S PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:
Description by his Granddaughter
35
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)
Chapter
II.
III.
Page
RUTH HARRISON
37
MARY ANN WESTON
41
ELIZABETH FRANCES PREATOR
52
THE FIRST FAMILY: CHILDREN OF PETER MAUGHAN
AND RUTH HARRISON
56
JOHN HARRISON MAUGHAN
58
AGNES MAUGHAN TEASDALE
75
WILLIAM HARRISON MAUGHAN
80
THOMAS HARRISON MAUGHAN
96
MARY ANN MAUGHAN ATKIN
98
My Dream of Mother Atkin
106
RUTH MAUGHAN
107
THE SECOND FAMILY: CHILDREN OF PETER MAUGHAN
AND MARY ANN WESTON
109
CHARLES WESTON MAUGHAN
110
Postscript
118
PETER WESTON MAUGHAN
119
JOSEPH WESTON MAUGHAN
120
HYRUM WESTON MAUGHAN
126
WILLARD WESTON MAUGHAN
134
ELIZABETH MAUGHAN COLE
149
MARTHA MAUGHAN FERGUS
155
PETER WESTON MAUGHAN
161
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)
Chapter
IV.
Page
THE THIRD FAMILY: CHILDREN OF PETER MAUGHAN
AND ELIZABETH FRANCES PREATOR
169
FRANCES MARY MAUGHAN
170
HEBER CHASE MAUGHAN
171
Early Conditions
School Days
Early Work
His Marriage
His Mission
His Career
The Peter Maughan Family Organization
Summary
ADA LUCILLE
APPENDIX
174
175
176
177
179
182
184
185
187
188
THE FIRST MONUMENT
190
A MONUMENT OF STONE
191
THE NEW MONUMENT
193
PETER MAUGHAN MEMORIAL ERECTED
195
THE DEDICATORY PRAYER
195
PROGRAM OF FIRST REUNION IN 1925
197
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
PETER MAUGHAN FAMILY ORGANIZATION
Organized June 12, 1925
OFFICERS OF THE PETER MAUGHAN FAMILY
ORGANIZATION, 1970-71
198
202
vi
CHILDREN OF WILLIAM AND MARTHA WILSON MAUGHAN
Thomas Maughan--Born February 10, 1800, Cumberland, England.
Mary Maughan--Born August 17, 1802, Cumberland, 'England.
John Maughan--Born October 14, 1804, Cumberland, England.
Jane Maughan--Born January 16, 1807, Cumberland, England.
(Wife of Mr. Bell)
William Maughan--Born March 10, 1809, Cumberland, England.
Peter Maughan--Born May 7, 1811, Cumberland, England.
(Came to America 1841)
Margaret Maughan--Born September 8, 1815, Cumberland, England.
(Wife of George Hymers)
Joseph Maughan--Born December 9, 1815, Cumberland, England.
(Went to Australia)
Sarah Maughan--Born May 13, 1817, Cumberland, England.
Tullidge, the Historian, says of Peter Maughan: "To Peter Maughan belongs the honor
of being the pioneer of the settlements of Cache Valley. A man of great force of character, of a
rugged and exacting nature, whose word was as good as any man's bond. It was this type of
men that gave to the inhabitants of Cache Valley their solidarity. "
8
9
EARLY MAUGHAN FAMILY LIFE IN ENGLAND TOLD
So that readers of this book may understand the surroundings from which the Maughan family
came, we reprint an article which was received in 1931 by Heber C. Maughan, a son of Peter Maughan.
The article came from the Cumberland Evening News in Carlisle, England. It detailed the home life of
one John Maughan, a relative of Peter’s, and a minister of the Cumberland district in the early 1800’s.
This article was reprinted in the Herald Journal, Logan, Utah, December 17, 1931:
THE LARGE FAMILIES OF A BY-GONE AGE
A fortnight ago I referred to the large families which used to be reared in the
Cumberland farm houses and cottages. Tens and twelves were a common number of “olive
branches,” twos and threes the exception. My remarks have brought me the pedigree of a
Cumberland farmer’s family, typical of many more at that period. It is that of the family of
Maughan, locally known as “Maffen,” but pronounced in educated circles “Mawn.”
John Maughan farmed Lanercost Abbey Farm, then a holding of not more than a
hundred acres. He married in 1795, Mary Moses, a slip of a girl seventeen years of age, and
before the pair had been married twenty years they had thirteen children. A remarkable thing
about these unions is that, as a rule, both parents and children were extremely healthy and
virile. Twice over in the Maughan family there were twins.
Some members of the family--notably the oldest son Nicholas, who went into the Royal
Artillery, and John, well-known as the learned Rector of Bewcastle, the first man to read and
translate with any degree of accuracy the inscription of the Bewcastle Cross--were
distinguished by an activity of mind almost amounting to genius. Mary Moses, the mother,
lived till the year 1863, and died at the age of 85. From the youngest of the thirteen children,
George Maughan, was descended the late John Maughan, managing director of the Maryport
Brewery and a well-known West Cumberland Magistrate.
The Maughans inter-married with other farming families in the district, such as the
Dodgsons, the Twentymans, the Tweedles, and the Hislops. How many descendants came from
the union of the Maughan and Moses families in 1795 it would be impossible to say, but the
great bulk of them made excellent use of the opportunities that came their way, and showed the
grit and determination derived from generations of struggle with the forces of nature on the
farms that were their native sphere.
A Cumberland Farmhouse A Century Ago
Life was, of course, very different a century ago from what it is today. The friend who forwarded
to me the Maughan pedigree has lent me a manuscript account of the life in a Cumberland farmhouse a
century ago. It was written by a distant relative of the Maughan family, and we may take it that on both of
these farms, and hundreds of others, life was pretty mud the same.
In the house itself, industry and regularity reigned. Thirteen young men and girls were occupied
every day in useful work either about the house or on the farm. When lamps were lighted, the lady of the
house brought out her spinning wheel and the daughters prepared the wool to supply it, while the master
read aloud for the amusement and edification of his family. Breakfast was at seven o’clock, dinner at
twelve, tea at four, and supper at eight. In those days it was customary for the male and female servants to
10
take their meals with the master and mistress. They occupied the further end of the table and were helped
to what they required. Ale was brewed at home, and at supper-time circulated freely. It was drunk out of
horn cups.
A bounteous hospitality prevailed, and it was rarely that the family sat down alone to meals. A
beggar was never turned away without food of some kind being given to him, and many a poor,
wandering tramp was allowed to rest on clean hay or straw in an outhouse. Plain and excellent was the
fare. Buttered eggs, rashers of home—cured bacon, and spiced beef graced the table, varied occasionally
by cold game and fresh fish from a nearby stream. Mutton hams and other country luxuries were also
provided. The only fuel used was wood and peat, which was cut in summer and stored in huge stacks for
winter use. During winter hardly any fresh meat was eaten. Salted meat prevailed, and one of the delicacies of the winter was salted goose, preserved for winter use.
Wonderful Four Poster Beds
The best parlor was a room of the ‘museum” type. A gay-looking carpet covered the floor, and
curtains set off the bureaus and ancient furniture that had done duty for more than two generations. Here
was kept the great family Bible with its long record of births, deaths and marriages. A portrait or two in
oils occupied prominent positions and some colored prints and engraving, then thought valuable, adorned
the walls.
The room was rarely used by the family, and when a visitor expressed a wish to see it, someone
had to go first and admit the daylight, as the shutters were kept closed. The Sunday dresses, bonnets, and
the best hats covered the table and couch, and in the corners were fishing rods, walking sticks, and gig
whips, placed there for security.
The bedrooms were mainly on the second story of the house, and each contained a
wonderful “four-poster,” surrounded by heavy, dark drapery through which, when drawn, no
light could penetrate. The beds were so large that they could almost accommodate a small
family, and from their height it could be surmised that each one of them had three or four feather
beds upon it. Indeed, it required some dexterity to get into bed, and when once landed there, the
occupant was conscious of being let slowly down between two high walls of puff and feathers.
If the weather was cold, the warming-pan was brought into requisition to take the chill off the
sheets.
A large stock of poultry was kept, and as goose feathers accumulated, new feather-beds were
continually being made, to be given away as marriage presents to the daughters of their children. To set
up house-keeping without a feather-bed was looked upon as a bad beginning in life. The clothes worn by
the family were all made at home from wool grown on the farm and spun at home. It was then sent to a
local mill to be dyed and woven.
Queer looking little fellows were the boys of those days, when it was the fashion to dress them in
short-tailed coats, knee breeches, long vests, and ribbed stockings, all of which had been made at home.
On Sundays, in the summer, the good man of the house would ride to church with his wife seated on a
pillion behind him, his sons each carrying a sister similarly mounted.
It was in such surroundings that John Maughan and other embryo parsons were reared. The picture
is idyllic. Not all the farmhouses, however, were such models of peaceful and useful living. In many of
them far too much liquor was drunk and far too much time and money were expended on sports, but
where the conditions were such as existed in the Maughan household, the life was remarkable for plain
living and high thinking. John Maughan became a B. A. of Trinity College, Dublin, possibly attracted
thither by the fact that his father’s landlord, the Earl of Carlisle, was then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He
was ordained by the Bishop of Chester in 1833, and became curate of Melling, Liverpool, in the same
year. He was Rector of Bewcastle from 1836 to 1873, and among other works built the present Rectory in
11
1837. He died without issue in November, 1873, and Was buried in Lanercost churchyard.
His Industry Equaled Only by His Modesty
The versatile Rector was almost a qualified medical man, an excellent lawyer, a schoolmaster, a
magistrate, and a farmer. Above all, he was the friend and adviser of most of the inhabitants of his extensive upland parish. But his greatest glory was that he was prepared to undertake the immense amount
of work that was needed to read and translate the runes of the Bewcastle Cross.
He was by no means the first to attempt this great task. Such men as Camden, Bishop Nicholson,
Cox, Smith, Armstrong, Hutchinson, and Henry Howard, of Corey--all of them had the opportunities for
acquiring a classical education far above any that ever came Maughan’s way--and, I dare say others had
tried their hands at the task of translation, only to reach conclusions the Rector of Bewcastle had no
difficulty in upsetting. His readings have been, on the whole, definitely supported by later scholars such
as Professor Baldwin Brown, Bishop G. F. Bowne, and Professor W. G. Collingwood.
Maughan’s industry was only equaled by his modesty. Listen to this:—-”Having made this
minute, and I fear tedious, attempt to explain the inscription on this Cross, I may now leave the subject in
the hands of those who are more versed in recondite researches, hoping that, if there be another and a
better solution of the enigma, it may be found.”
12
PETER MAUGHAN
Born:
May 7, 1811
Baptized: 1838
Endowed:
Married:
February 2, 1846
Ruth Harrison, October 1, 1831
Mary Ann Weston, November 2, 1841
Elizabeth Frances Preator, December 8, 1866
Died:
April 24, 1871
Father:
William Maughan
Mother:
Martha Wilson
13
PETER MAUGHAN
A Biography
by
Hattie Bagley Maughan
“A just man has gone to his reward and his work shall follow after him.”
This epitaph was inscribed on a monument erected to his memory by the grateful people of Cache
Valley who had been the beneficiaries of the good works of Peter Maughan and knew their enduring
qualities. But the enduring qualities of Peter Maughan were not embodied in the sandstone of the
monument, and as it weathered over the years and became unsightly it failed to reflect the true esteem of
those who loved him.
So in 1941, 100 years after his arrival in America, his descendants, in humble appreciation of their
heritage, replaced the sandstone monument with one of more permanent granite. This stands in the Logan
cemetery in the same spot as the original stone. It is a work of art as well as a fitting memorial, for on the
face of the granite is a bronze plaque by Avard Fairbanks, famed Utah sculptor. It has the bust of Peter
Maughan, the wagon train wending its way into Cache Valley, and a summary of the life and
accomplishments of this “first pioneer of Cache Valley,” as the historian Tullidge labels him.
The Real Monument
But the real monument to Peter Maughan is found in “the works that follow after him,” the
prosperity of the settlements in this area which owe part of their success to the foresight of their locations,
which he selected and supervised; the firm but just relationships with the Indians, which preserved these
infant settlements from extreme Indian depredations and possible massacre; and the kindly and wise
counsel which as presiding bishop of Cache Valley, he gave to the bishops and members who came under
his religious jurisdiction.
Through his leadership the foundation of civic and religious stability was laid, and upon this base
those other stalwarts of this area built a community of which the present generation can be justly proud.
In addressing a congregation assembled in the Bowery in Logan during 1860, President Brigham
Young said of his friend:
You have Brother Peter Maughan, who is an experienced man for your presiding bishop. We have
14
been acquainted with Brother Maughan for many years, and I will say a few words about him. If he has
enough vanity to cause my remarks to make any difference in his feelings or actions, I shall learn
something about him I have not yet learned.
In 1840 we commenced our systematic emigration from England, in which Brother Maughan
assisted; that was my first acquaintance with him. He visited us in Liverpool for instructions, and from
my first acquaintance with him ‘till now, I have found him as straight and correct in his business
transactions as any man that I have ever known to assist in any branch of business in the church.
President’s Blessing
He has always been a man that I think much of in regards to his integrity, honesty and judgment in
counseling. He has always been as willing to receive counsel as any man I have ever known in this
church, and to obey that counsel with as few words.
We wish to have him take the supervision of all the bishops in this valley. Let them be under his
dictation.
Then by way of whimsical reminder that Peter Maughan was subject to higher authority, he made
mention of Apostle Ezra T. Benson, who with Orson Hyde represented the General Authorities in the
Valley.
Brother Maughan has Brother Benson for one of his counselors, and probably he will choose me
for the other, and if we all do right, I think the brethren will be pretty well satisfied with their presiding
officers.
As the most notable colonizer of the modern age, Brigham Young recognized in Peter Maughan
the qualities of a true colonizer, one who would take counsel without questioning the “why” or the “how”
of the assignment. When asked to go on a long perilous journey, he answered as did the faithful one of the
old legend, “When?” And coupled with this willingness to follow the counsel of authority a leader must
inspire in his followers confidence in his ability to give counsel. From the record of history and the
testimony of those who knew him, Peter Maughan possessed these qualities.
Convert from England
No augury of adventure or distinction attended the birth of Peter Maughan. He was born May 7,
1811, in the little village of Milton, Cumberland County, in Northern England, the fifth child of humble
working class people, William and Martha Wilson Maughan.
At the age of 15 he went to work in the lead mines at Alston. Married at 20 to Ruth Harrison, he
found the increasing needs of a growing family made his labor in the mines more and more pressing.
But for two things of fortunate significance, the descendants of this pioneer might still be passing
on the tradition of labor in the mines of England. Nine of the 12 apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints were in England preaching the gospel of the restoration. The Maughan family were
already dissenters from the Church of England and the message which these magnetic men from America
15
brought fell upon willing ears.
William Maughan’s family, including young Peter and his wife, became converts to the church in
1838. From this time on his destiny ran parallel with that of the church.
That Peter had taken advantage of his scant opportunities for education and leadership is
evidenced in the fact that Brigham Young early recognized in him one capable of responsibility.
Tullidge gives us this account: “In the spring of 1841, Brigham Young ordained Peter Maughan an
elder in the church, and at that early day the position asked
of an elder in the mission was a very
responsible and select one, there being at that date in the British Mission about eighty elders with a total
membership of 4000.”
In cooperation with William Wanlass he organized the first Sunday School of the church in that
part of England.
Emigrates to America
That same year tragedy struck the family of Peter Maughan in the death of his wife, Ruth, 26
March 1841, shortly after giving birth to her sixth child. Brigham Young counseled the bereft young
father to take his family to America.
The apostles were returning on the ship Rochester with about 130 emigrating saints and Peter
disposed of his property and made arrangements to take passage with them. They sailed April 21, 1841,
and docked in New York May 19, having spent approximately one month in the journey.
Brigham Young’s journal gives an account of their perils and tedium of the journey with a
description of a severe storm in which cargo broke loose from its moorings and people were hurled from
their bunks, but he records with gratitude: “No lives were lost or bones broken.”
Little provision could be made for the care and feeding of a motherless child, but two months old
and so on May 5, 1841, he made this entry: “Elder Peter Maughan lost a child six weeks old this morning.
His wife died a short time before he set sail. The body of this child was committed to a watery grave by
sewing it up in canvas and tying a stone to it, sinking it in the sea on the banks of Newfoundland.” (The
record shows the child was almost 3 months old--12 Feb. -5 May)
Although the great body of immigrants pushed on to Nauvoo, Illinois, where the “City Beautiful”
was growing at an astounding rate, Peter Maughan decided to take his family first to Kirtland, Ohio.
Whether the decision was one of economic necessity or a sentimental attraction to the Temple City of the
Saints, it was a happy choice for here he met Mary Ann Weston Davis, a young widow recently’ arrived
from England. When, after a few months here, he decided to proceed on to Nauvoo, Mrs. Davis with her
traveling companion, Mrs. Simonds, decided to go with the Maughan party.
16
Trip to Nauvoo
Mary Ann Weston kept a diary which is the source of much of the details of the journeys and
experiences of her life. In it she tells of the trip to Nauvoo, partly by wagon team overland, then by river
boat and steamboat on the Great Lakes to Chicago, then again by wagon team to their destination. The
pleasant travel through the countryside contrasted sharply with the lake voyage where a violent storm
made all of them seasick.
This acquaintance of Peter Maughan and Mary Ann Weston Davis culminated in their marriage in
November of that year. This was a providential alliance for the young father so burdened with
responsibilities, for Mary Ann proved to be not only a good wife and a mother for his five children, but a
pioneer capable of carrying her end of the load in any situation.
Finding accommodations in the new and crowded city of Nauvoo was difficult and the nice things
Mary Am brought from her home in England were put to practical use in their temporary home. She
stated: ‘One of our chests answers for a table, but we have no bedsteads and the boards are laid on the
floor and I soon found that the under one (feather mattress) was frozen to the floor and I couldn’t move it
‘till spring. We had no cupboard to put my things in, so many of my nice dishes and china sets were
broken and destroyed, but we were all well and could eat our mush with my silver spoons ‘till they were
broken.”
It was characteristic of Mary Ann to waste no time in mourning the loss of china and silver when
they had health and food for which to give thanks.
Peter went to work as a stone mason on the Nauvoo temple, purchased a lot and built a house. He
saw this sprawling camp grow into the largest city in Illinois with 20, 000 people, fine substantial homes,
business houses and a house of the Lord nearing completion and already in use.
Peter Maughan became a member of the Nauvoo legion and saw the fortunes of the church rise
and be threatened by opposition from without and some treachery from within.
Then Peter’s abilities as a miner and prospector were called into service. In autobiographical notes
he left this account: “We lived in Nauvoo until the spring of 1844 when I, in company with Elders
Saunders and Jacob Peart, was sent by President Joseph Smith on the Mississippi and Rock Rivers in
search of stone coal.”
They located and purchased a fine bed of coal near Rock Island and apparently were preparing to
start the operation of getting it out and sending it down the river to Nauvoo when an event occurred which
completely changed their plans. Peter picked up a newspaper which gave an account of a battle which had
allegedly taken place in Nauvoo which killed “thousands on both sides.” Fearing for their families in the
beleaguered city, the three men started down river. Mob spirit was running high in every place through
17
which they passed.
The courage of the three men was manifest when they announced to the crowd aboard the vessel
that they were happy to discover the newspaper account false.
“The great battle had not been fought, but had to come off next Friday We told them we were
thankful at the intelligence; that we were Mormons and had families in Nauvoo, and inasmuch as the
great siege had to come off on Friday, we should have a hand in it.”
Threats of Violence
Needless to say they were subjected to verbal abuse and threats of violence, but they refused to be
intimidated and forced to leave the ship on which they had paid their passage.
Peter’s narrative continues: “We landed in Nauvoo about 7 o’clock in the evening and found the
city under martial law for the defense of our families against mob violence. After our return to Nauvoo
we took our relative positions in the Legion and continued active in the defense of the city until the
martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum, the Patriarch of the church who were murdered
in Carthage jail June 27, 1844.”
In Mary Ann Weston’s journal is given a touching account of the arrival of the bodies in Nauvoo,
and of the funeral which followed.
With John Taylor severely wounded and the other apostles not yet returned from their missions in
the east, Peter turned to Willard Richards for counsel regarding the coal enterprise. He was advised to
take his family, return to Rock Island and continue the project. To secure money for the journey Peter was
forced to sell the fine new home they had built on Parley Street for $50, the price he had paid for the bare
lot.
Shortly after arriving in Rock Island they were joined by the family of Jacob Peart, but
establishing themselves and getting the operation going was a difficult task. Anti-Mormon mob spirit was
running high in the city and they were warned to return to Nauvoo or they might be harmed.
But Peter had a strong conviction that the conduct of the people toward them would be conditioned
by their own sincerity of purpose, and this was proven true when Colonel Buford came to them and
offered lumber on credit to build their homes.
Sickness came upon them but still they completed their houses and opened a bank of coal. Mary
Ann’s diary tells of a cyclonic storm which visited the area:
“We had a fearful storm of thunder and lightning. The wind was fierce and the rain poured down
in torrents. At the sawmill three miles up the river there was a large violent whirlwind. The houses were
unroofed and the timber blown away. A yoke of steers tied in the yard were pinned together with a
handpike that was near them.
18
“The storm lasted one day and two nights. I was so frightened that the house would blow over and
the chimney falls on the children that I did not undress or sleep through the night. About 1 o’clock I
noticed the lightning running up something at the foot of the bed. I went to see what it was and burned my
hand on the gun barrel. I covered it with a quilt and the lightning was not drawn there again.”
The next spring, 1845, Peter, his wife and small baby accompanied the first load of coal down the
river to Nauvoo to attend the April conference and seek further counsel from Brigham Young who now
stood at the head of the church.
The coal enterprise at Rock Island had been launched to supply fuel for the homes and growing
industry of this thriving city, but more than coal was needed to stroke the fires of hope quenched by the
death of their prophet. Already the prediction made by the Prophet in 1842 “that the Saints would
continue to suffer much affliction” was being fulfilled, but the further prophecy that “some of you will
live to go and assist in making settlements and build cities, and see the Saints become a mighty people in
the midst of the Rocky Mountains” was rekindling the hope of survival and growth. The exodus from
Nauvoo was already going forward.
Difficult Times
Peter was advised to return to Rock Island, pay up any debts, and close out the coal enterprise,
then to put his own affairs in order preparatory to going west with the main body of the Saints. He
attended to the business for the Church but his own plans failed to materialize when he and his family
were stricken with sickness which continued throughout the winter of 1845-46. In the spring he decided
the best way to secure money for the journey west was to turn to the work he knew best and so he records:
The sickness of myself and family rendered us unable to go out with the first companies of Saints,
and as we could get no help, I determined to go to the lead mines at Galena, and get a fit out, if possible,
to help myself to follow the Church to the Valleys of the Rocky Mountains.
I landed at New Diggins (Wisconsin) twelve miles above Galena on the 15th day of April, 1846,
and there I stayed with my family ‘till April 17, 1850. The Lord had shown me in a dream, the spring
previous, where to dig to get our fit out; so my boys and I went to work and obtained eight hundred
dollars in eight weeks. Having thus obtained means for our outfit we took up our line of march for Great
Salt Lake City. After crossing the Mississippi, I was appointed captain of the company- - - We continued
so organized until we got to Kanesville, where we arrived in May safely and doing well. We were then
organized into captain William Wall’s company, and I was appointed ‘captain of ten’. We left the
Missouri River in June (1850).
Family Grows
The Maughan family now consisted of Peter and Mary Ann, the children of his first wife, John
now 19 years old, Agnes 18, William 16, Thomas 14, and Mary 11, and the three small children of Peter
and Mary Ann, Charles 6, Peter 3, and Joseph less than three months old. Agnes, having married while in
New Diggins, did not go west with the rest of the family.
19
Peter’s account of their journey is sketchy and unadorned but Mary Ann gives more intimate
details. Her story of the hardships, the sickness, the pleasant and the tragic experiences are interesting not
because they are unique but because they are so typical of all those who crossed the plains. When cholera
struck the company, the two older boys, John and William, were among those assigned to bury the dead
with the promise that they would come through unharmed.
None of the family died in this dread scourge but sorrow came in another way, when the little boy,
Peter, fell from the high seat of his mother’s wagon and was crushed beneath the wheels. When his father
in another part of the moving caravan heard of the accident to his son he fell down in a faint. This was
occasioned not by Peter’s inability to meet disaster--with that he was well acquainted--but he had a great
compassion for the suffering of those he loved and to see his son so stricken quite overcame him.
Mary Ann’s day-by-day entry is broken here by her inability to record the tragedy but later she
wrote a rather detailed account.
I emptied a dry goods box and Brother Wood made him a nice coffin - - - it was a mournful
satisfaction, for we had seen our brothers and sisters bury their dear ones without a coffin to lay them in.
We buried him on a little hill - - - someone had made a nice headboard with his name printed on it, also
his age and date of his death. This was all we could do - - - many prayers were offered to our Heavenly
Father that he might rest in peace and not be disturbed by wolves as we had seen many on our way.
Their Arrival: 1850
They arrived in Salt Lake City September 17, 1850, and were directed to settle at Tooele. Here
Peter’s responsibilities were extended from the religious field into the civic, for the community was small
and there was much work to be done. He summarizes these years of struggle, service and disappointment
briefly:
In April 1851 Tooele county was organized and I was appointed county clerk and assessor, which
offices I held until 1853, - - - I was appointed in company with Ormus E. Bates and Bishop John
Rowberry as a committee to superintend the locating of E. T. City and building a dam to get water to
irrigate with. After we had built the dam at a cost of about $700, the water found an underground passage
and would not rise; so we had to go to work and bring the water from E. T. Benson’s mill to irrigate with,
at a cost of $300 more. We did not raise much crop that season.
In 1854, I was appointed to preside at E. T. City. In 1855, after our crops were looking pretty well,
the grass-hoppers came down upon us like a cloud and destroyed our crops almost entirely. In 1856, the
most of our crop at E. T. City was destroyed by saleratus.
Orson Whitney’s History of Utah records that he was also a selectman of the County and recorder
for Tooele City and subsequently became County Treasurer.
Mary Ann’s journal fills in the details. It was good to be in their own home again even if it was
simply a one room log cabin, the windows mere openings in the walls that had to be covered with canvas
to keep out the November cold; Indians were a constant threat, stealing their livestock and shooting one of
their number when he went to recover his property.
20
Because of the Indian troubles the settlers were forced to move their homes several times during
the years they were trying to establish Tooele and E. T. City, named for Apostle Ezra T. Benson. This
latter place was even less favorable for agriculture than Tooele, since it was nearer the Great Salt Lake
and there was more alkali in the soil.
Fort Arrangement
It became necessary to move the houses into somewhat of a fort arrangement for protection against
the Indians. While assisting with the taking down and reassembling of the logs, Peter’s fourteen year old
son, Thomas, was stricken with a mysterious illness, a high fever followed by paralysis from which he
died May 25, 1851. Thus the sorrow of another death was added to the disappointments of crop failure
and the constant fear of the Indians, but here the little band of colonists had been sent by Brigham Young
and here they continued to struggle until the spring of 1856.
Two sons were born to Peter and Mary Ann while they lived in Tooele, Hyrum and Willard, and
added to the responsibilities of her growing family a new assignment came to Mary Ann. She was called
in to Salt Lake City, by request of Dr. Willard Richards, and there set apart as a midwife. She states in her
journal that she accepted the call reluctantly and with humility, but with the promise that no harm would
come to her as she traveled about, she took the training and assumed the responsibility. The record shows
that she was truly an angel of mercy as she traveled from cabin to cabin in all seasons and under all
conditions. Many a first citizen of Tooele and later of Cache Valley saw the first light of day through the
kindly administrations of Mary Ann Weston Maughan.
Although settlements had fanned out in all directions from Salt Lake City since 1847 getting into
southern Utah as early as 1850, the beautiful valley to the north was still unpeopled in the spring of 1856.
The trappers had warned that while it was a paradise for the primitive pursuits of hunting and fishing, its
winters were too long and cold and its summers too subject to frost to be favorable for agriculture.
Surveys however had shown the valley floor to be richly carpeted with grasses excellent for summer
grazing of livestock or harvested as hay for winter feeding. With this in mind Brigham Young sent men
into Cache Valley to utilize its assets in the only way which at that time seemed feasible, the feeding of
the great herds of livestock which the church and private owners had accumulated.
Report was Cold
The historian Tullidge says:
In July, 1855 Samuel Roskelley, Andrew Moffat and Brigham Young Jr. were sent up to Cache Valley by
President Young to cut hay, prepare corrals etc. for stock which was to be driven into the valley that fall- - - at that time this now beautiful and fertile valley was a cold, inhospitable region. It was deemed unfit
for an agricultural district, and was designed as a stock raising country. Notwithstanding that they arrived
21
in July, Bishop Roskelley says there was not a night during the time he stayed in Cache, which was in the
summer months, but what they could go out in the morning and write their names in the White frost that
would settle on the wagon covers, plow beams or anything lying on the ground that frost could settle upon
This was but a forerunner of the severe winter which trapped the herders and their livestock in the
valley and wiped out all but those animals which were able to make their way through the drifts into Box
Elder Valley or could subsist on the scant forage of willows and rushes around the temporary camp or
“church farm”. In attempting to save the livestock the herders suffered extreme hardship and privation but
in spite of their heroic efforts, of the more than 2000 head of livestock about 200 were saved.
The prospect of survival here was not too promising when that very spring of 1856 President
Young called Peter Maughan into counsel and asked him to take a party of men from Tooele and look
over Cache Valley as a possible location for permanent settlement. Neither minimized the hazards, nor
the prize, if this beautiful valley could be won from its two enemies weather and Indians, for this was the
hunting ground of the Shoshoni and other tribes and not to be lightly wrested from them. But Indian
troubles were no novelty to the struggling settlers of Tooele and surely famine threatened with another
year of crop failure before them. Peter recorded: “On the 21st of July, 1856, I was sent by President
Young to pick out a location in Cache Valley for a settlement. Brothers Z. Riggs, G. W. Bryan, William
Maughan, J. Tate, M. Morgan and myself started. We made a choice of the south end of the valley for our
location.’
Peter reported their findings and received permission to direct all those who wished to accompany
him in forming a northern settlement. Preparations were quickly made and about the last of August seven
families and one single man employed by Mr. Thompson started for the valley. They were Peter
Maughan, his two sons John and William, G. W. Bryan, Zial Riggs, Francis Gunnell, D. Thompson and
William Hamblin, the hired man.
Going was Rough
Mary Ann reports that the journey was pleasant and uneventful except that the yoke on the oxen of
the lead wagon which she was driving dropped down while they were crossing the Weber River but the
boys waded out and soon repaired the damage. After Leaving Box Elder the road was very rough and
steep. As the men removed rocks and held back on the wheels on the steepest grades, Mary Ann bravely
drove the first wagon into Cache Valley exclaiming, as have many later appraisers: Oh what a beautiful
valley!
They arrived on September 15, 1856, and camped on the stream at the present site of Wellsville.
The men under Peter's direction immediately set to work to cut and stack the meadow hay for winter
livestock feed. Then they got out logs for corrals and cabins, but while still living in their wagons the first
22
snowfall came on September 26. During the storm Mary Ann gave birth to the first white child born to the
permanent settlers--Elizabeth Maughan.
(Gordon Cole who has done a commendable piece of work in his master’s thesis on Peter
Maughan makes this statement regarding the claim that others hold this distinction:
M. R. Hovey disputes the fact that the Maughan child was the first child born in Cache Valley. He
quotes from a diary of William Warner stating that a child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Stolworthy before
August 4, 1856. Records of the Church Farm do not reveal that they were at the ranch at that time.
Mr. Hoveyts statement, however, has further confirmation by a baptismal record stating that the
Stolworthy child was born in the valley in July, 1856, but since the family left immediately afterwards
and never considered themselves as permanent residents, the Maughan child may still claim the
distinction as first among the settlers.)
Name is Changed
This premature descent of winter spurred settlers to more feverish efforts to get their cabins built.
They were simple one room log houses with dirt floors arranged in fort style, two rows north and south
with the ends open. The settlement was known as Maughan’s Fort until November, 1859, when it was
named Wellsville in honor of Daniel H. Wells, second counselor to Brigham Young.
Shortly after moving into their house Peter left for Fillmore to attend a session of the Territorial
Legislature to which he had been elected by Tooele county the previous August. Fillmore was then the
capitol of the Territory of Utah but after a long and miserable journey from Salt Lake the legislators from
the northern settlements found that little provision had been made for their transacting of the business of
government in their capitol city. After assembling and electing a Speaker of the House they, to quote
Peter’s journal, “Adjourned to meet on the 10th of December at the Social Hall, Salt Lake City.” Through
snow and cold they made the return trip north again. Church records report that legislators received a
second baptism upon their return from Fillmore.
Peter records that much important legislation was passed during this session and that he was
elected by the Legislature Probate Judge for Cache County. This office of Probate Judge was an important
one at that time in the history of the territory. The Probate Judge was the chief executive of the County
with all of the rights and responsibilities that go with such an office. Assisted by the three selectmen, who
were to be appointed by himself, the Probate Judge was to preside at all elections. In the event of a tie, the
Probate Judge was to choose the winner. He had the responsibility of organizing the county into precincts
and of seeing to it that a school board was chosen for each precinct. He had control of timber, water
privileges, and water courses, etc. It was his duty, with his selectmen, to care for the poor, the insane and
their families and to look out for their maintenance. They were also empowered to collect taxes and to
pass legislation for the county. (From a thesis, “Early Political Organization of Cache County from 1886
to 1870,” written by Margaret Woodside.)
23
While their leader was away at the Territorial Legislature the group at Maughan’s Fort were
having a difficult winter. Snow piled high over stock yards and woodpile making the care of livestock
difficult and the supplying of heating for their houses a major problem. Mary Ann says, “Our wood being
covered, we had to dig down to the end of a log, hitch a yoke of oxen, draw it out, cut it up and bring it
into the house and when it was burned get another the same way.”
Covered with Snow
She also relates how the boys reported one morning that their calves were drifted over with snow
and all were dead. We can imagine her regretting this serious loss, perhaps even wondering if anything
could be salvaged from the disaster but “after a while they got up, shook themselves and were a pretty
lively lot of dead calves.”
Their only contact with Salt Lake, or the other settlements, was by those carrying mail or bringing
in essential provisions. Early in January young John Gardner in attempting to get back to his family at
Maughan’s Fort froze to death in the snow. In his pocket he carried a letter from Peter to his wife and
family. Fearful for their father’s safety should he attempt the journey alone, at the close of the Legislative
session in mid January, John and William Maughan went over to Box Elder to meet him. The trip was
made by horseback and snowshoe and, presumably gravity, since the record says they slid down the
snowy mountain sides. There was rejoicing at the Fort when the party arrived safely.
In April Peter, in his capacity as Probate Judge, called the settlers into a meeting to form the civil
government of Cache County. Many new families were arriving, with the promise of many more to come.
The apportioning of land, building roads, canals, schoolhouses all called for civic government. This
proved, however, to be but a temporary set up for Cache County was reorganized in 1859.
Although the spring was late and the threat of frost hung over them, their first harvest in the fall of
1857 was a good one and saw them through the winter. But just as they were beginning to put down roots
in this new land the coming of Johnston’s army and the “Utah War” uprooted them again. In the fall of
1857 some of the single men had been asked to join the guard in Echo Canyon and in the spring of ‘58
came the call to evacuate the Cache Valley settlements. A letter from Brigham Young to Peter Maughan
warned that since they would be “so much exposed to the depredations of Indians, mountaineers and
others --- we consider it wisdom for you to come within our settlements.”
Indian Intruders
They moved out leaving their fields of grain and 1500 bushels of the previous year’s harvest of
wheat in bins. The houses were locked as best they could be but still when they returned they found the
Indians had stolen the stored grain and Mary Ann reported that “We found our house all right, but our
24
chairs, etc. were visiting all over the fort and Indian camps.”
Peter’s family had stayed for a short time in Brigham City, then on to Salt Lake where Dr. Willard
Richards extended the hospitality of his home to his old friends and then they journeyed on south to Pond
Town or Salem where many of the colonists had gathered.
Fortunately through the intercession of Col. Thomas L. Kane, a true friend of the Mormons, the
misunderstanding which had sent an army of the United States against a group of loyal Americans, was
resolved. No blood was shed and the settlers were told to return to their homes in the fall of 1858.
But in the case of the Cache Valley settlers caution was advised because of the Indians and their
isolation from other settlements. Peter and some of the other men went into the valley to harvest their
grain which, without care after planting gave them a yield of 20 bushels an acre. This in a measure
compensated for the 1500 bushels stolen by the Indians. They were told not to move back to the fort until
spring.
For the Maughan family perhaps the most unpleasant part of the exodus was the winter of waiting
spent at Roger’s Pond near Willard. In November Mary Ann gave birth to another daughter, Martha. She
records that the Indians were a constant source of irritation and when their demands were not granted
promptly “they swore that they would go and shoot my papoose.” At last the discomfort of the winter was
over and after attending conference in Salt Lake, Peter returned with his family to Maughan’s Fort.
“Men With Families”
Now the leadership of Peter Maughan was put to the test. The migration to Utah which had
stopped during the two years of threat of Johnston’s army now picked up momentum. Immigrants poured
into Utah from the East and foreign countries. Peter said to all inquiries, “Tell all who want to come to
Cache Valley to bring their families and come on. Do not spend your time in coming to see the place. We
want men with families.”
So great was the response to this invitation that Peter was kept busy selecting sites for settlements
and directing the activities of the new colonists. In that first year of their return, 1859, Logan, Providence,
Mendon, Smithfield and Richmond were located. During the summer Peter sent to the Deseret News an
account of progress in the valley.
There are four new settlements already located towards the south end of the valley; the water for
irrigation and for all kinds of machinery is abundant --- the range for stock in summer is excellent -- there is plenty of timber - - -. The crops here generally look healthy, although on account of the cold,
backward spring, they are five or six weeks later than usual. There are over 100 families engaged in
agricultural pursuits in this valley at the present time.
The Shoshone Indians immediately around us continue to be friendly, although they assert that the
Bannock Indians intend making a break both upon us and our stock - - - The citizens in the different
settlements have entered into temporary organization, so directing their labors that one half of the men
will be at home every day until they get their forts completed, so as to make it safe for their families to
25
live in them.
The new settlers came first to Maughan’s Fort and were directed out from there. This stretched to
its limit the housing facilities of the little community. Mary Ann wrote, “I have not slept in my bed for a
week at a time and my floor was covered with beds.” Moreover some were coming poorly equipped to
start life in this potentially fruitful, but then rugged, environment. The harvest of 1859 while adequate for
the needs of the small bands of settlers already in the valley could not take care of the great influx which
commenced early in 1860.
In February Peter wrote to the News:
Since I last wrote you, I have visited every settlement in this county, and can truly say that the
spirit of peace still prevails both among the red man and the whites. The stock is doing well; the cold
weather is gradually subsiding.
The emigration has already commenced coming in here, and I find that there is a mistaken idea
abroad in the Territory, many thinking that we have grain and other produce in this valley to supply any
demand that might be made. This is not so, and we wish it distinctly understood through your column,
that every person desiring to raise a crop in this newly settled county should by all means bring with them
all kinds of seed, and not be in a hurry about getting here with their families and stock until we have a
better assurance of spring.
In November, 1859, Brigham Young sent Apostles Orson Hyde and Ezra T. Benson to Cache
Valley to name the settlements and in counsel with Peter Maughan, who had been named Presiding
Bishop of the area, to effect religious organization in the wards and branches. The name of Maughan’s
Fort was changed to Wellsville and Peter’s son William became its first bishop.
Brigham Young frequently sent one of the Twelve into important areas of settlement to exercise
general religious supervision and this Ezra T. Benson was called to do in Cache Valley. He moved to
Logan in 1860.
This city, so well located on Logan River, was rapidly out-distancing the other settlements in
population. Men of means and vision and artisans with many skills had chosen Logan for their home. It
was quite obviously the logical county seat, and the center for ecclesiastical activities.
Peter Maughan, on the advice of Brigham Young, moved his family to Logan in 1860 where he
could better administer his responsibilities as Presiding Bishop of Cache Valley, President of the Cache
Valley Stake of Zion and Probate Judge of Cache County. As Probate Judge lie established the county
seat at Logan as prescribed by the Territorial Legislature of 1855.
Three-Room Cabin
They built a three-room log house on the Logan lot and shortly after moving in Mary Ann gave
birth to her eighth and last child, a son whom they named Peter Weston in memory of the other little Peter
26
buried on the plains. At last the Maughan family had reached a permanent home and here they sent down
their roots. Many transplantings had but strengthened the fiber of this pioneer leader and the wife who
stood beside him.
The Maughans and the Bensons were now neighbors and became closely associated as these two
leaders carried on their religious and civic duties. Together they visited the new settlements organizing
the wards and appointing bishops. Each respected and acknowledged the position and abilities of the
other, Peter accepting the spiritual direction of Apostle Benson and he in turn leaning on Peter’s wisdom
and experience in pioneering.
When a branch of the Nauvoo Legion was organized to afford military protection for the growing
communities Brig. General Ezra T. Benson selected Peter Maughan as quartermaster with the rank of
colonel. This position he discharged with honor in spite of the difficulties encountered by a supply officer
in such a remote area. The assistance which he rendered colonel Connor’s troops in their battle with Bear
Hunter’s band at Battle Creek won him official thanks from the United States Army.
Brigham Young told the settlers it was “cheaper to feed the Indians than to fight them” and this
policy Peter followed. But lest they be surprised with no opportunity to extend friendship, a constant
guard had to be kept in the smaller settlements, and minute men and militia organized for protection of
the entire area. It had been demonstrated that a show of strength was a good deterrent to aggressive action
on the part of the Indians.
On the Warpath
In spite of Peter’s optimistic statement to the Deseret News that “The Shoshone Indians
immediately around us continue to be friendly” the more warlike Fort Hall Shoshones and the Bannocks
in Idaho saw a threat to their lands as the settlements spread northward through the valley. In the summer
of 1861 a band of Indians 1000 in number came down from far off Oregon with the declared intention of
driving the white people from Cache Valley. They camped on the land southwest of Logan. The minute
men and militia kept a round the clock armed guard over every settlement, with teams and supplies in
constant readiness to meet attack. Finding no unguarded spot the Indians withdrew but not without booty.
In spite of the vigilance of the guards many horses were stolen. This, however, was considered small loss
for having averted bloodshed.
The story of the Indian troubles in Cache Valley is a volume in itself but an incident or two will
illustrate Peter Maughan’s policy towards the Indians. Because of his just but firm conduct in dealing
with them he not only won their respect but also their friendship. They said of him, “He never spoke with
a forked tongue” and when he died they attended the funeral in great numbers mourning the loss of a true
friend and “father.”
Whenever the demands of the Indians were at all reasonable or the safety of the settlers was at
27
stake Peter spared no means to appease them. After a clash with the soldiers from Fort Douglas, in which
a white child stolen in Oregon was rescued, the Indians accused the residents of Providence of aiding and
sheltering the troops, thus showing hostility to the Indians. Tullidge says,
About seventy men quickly started from Logan to assist the people of Providence, when the
Indians, seeing themselves unable to cope with to the militia sent an interpreter desiring a “talk.” They
demanded two beef cattle and a large quantity of flour as a peace offering; and Colonel Benson and
Bishop Peter Maughan, considering it the best and cheapest policy finally acceded to their demand. The
citizens of Logan furnished the supplies required.
In “Settlement in Cache Valley” Dr. Joel Ricks gives an account of an incident at Franklin, Idaho,
September 14, 1846, the settlers of Franklin narrowly missed disaster. Some hundreds of Indians
camping north of town, procured liquor from the settlers and became menacing. A drunken Indian tried to
ride his horse over a white woman. To save her life one of the settlers (Ben Chadwick) shot the Indian
and then escaped. The red man then seized one of the white men (Robert Hull) and threatened to kill him
unless the offending settler was given to the Indians as compensation for the wounds suffered by the
drunken redskin. While Bishop Hatch pleaded with the Indians not to kill Mr. Hull, messengers rode that
night to the other towns for assistance.
The next morning 300 minute men arrived from Logan and other places under command of Major
Ricks, accompanied by Bishop Peter Maughan. Mr. Hull was released as Peter Maughan held a
conference with Chief Washakie. The Indian chief told the Mormon leader that the whiskey sold by two
Franklin settlers cause the trouble. Peter Maughan agreed to give the Indians two yoke of oxen, and the
men who sold the whiskey were required to provide the oxen. James H. Martineau, who was an officer in
the Cache Valley Militia wrote: “Just as the head chief ‘Washakie’ was departing he said to Bishop
Maughan, ‘We have acted badly, but we don’t want you to talk to the Great Spirit about us. Don’t tell him
to do anything to us, don’t tell him what we have done.’ The Bishop answered that he talked to the Great
Spirit every day, and could not make the promise desired. The chief urged his request again and again, but
being firmly denied, went his way with a downcast look.
Two days afterwards the chief sent back a hundred horses they had stolen from the range, but kept
as many more stolen from the valley, saying they needed and must keep them.”
Peter Maughan’s wisdom, dealing justly with the Indians, illustrated how effective the great
pioneer leader proved to be in preventing serious outbreaks.
School of the Prophets
In the over all picture of Mormon colonization Brigham Young, and before him, Joseph Smith,
had made provision for more than the religious and economic welfare of their people. Education and the
fostering of the cultural arts were part of the plan. Second to homes came school houses in all the
settlements, this building often serving as meeting house and social center as well. In 1868 President
Young organized a School of the Prophets in Logan and Peter Maughan was made Vice President.
Another necessary service was communication, not only among the settlements but with the
outside world. The earliest mail service was largely voluntary and given without monetary compensation.
Before regular mail service was established anyone coming into the valley would bring in letters from
Salt Lake and as Peter traveled from settlement to settlement he would distribute the letters and gather up
those to be sent out. Mary Ann records “There were many letters brought and left with me for people that
28
had come to Cache. I remember one addressed to Mr. _____________ somewhere in Cache Valley. ‘Go
find him.’ I sent it up north; as it did not come back, I supposed it found him.”
In 1861 the mail was contracted to a company which sublet it to Frank Gunnell who carried it from
Brigham City to Wellsville. Peter’s son, William, carried it from there on to Logan where Peter had the
contract to the farthermost settlement on the north, Franklin. Assisting as carriers in this northern route
were Peter’s young sons, Hyrum and Peter.
Relief Society Head
In 1869 Mary Ann became the first stake president of the Relief Societies in the valley. Although
not given that official title her position was that of supervision over all the ward organizations. She
records, “Brother Benson was appointed to organize the Relief Society in Cache County and he thought
best to call me to be their leader. Sister Libia Benson (wife of Ezra T. Benson) was my counselor.”
Thus Mary Ann Maughan and Libia Benson became as closely associated in the work of the
church as their husbands. It was a lifelong devotion, Mary Ann being the first in the home of her friend to
lend comfort when Elder Benson died suddenly of a heart attack in Ogden, Sept. 3, l86~ As midwife and
Relief Society President, Mary Ann’s influence and service were known in every home in the valley.
Moot, on horseback, by sleigh or wagon, she responded to the calls, ushering in the newborn or helping to
lay away the dead. Here was a life bounteous not only in experience and service, but also length of years.
She died in 1901 in her eighty-fifth year.
Apparently Peter was without personal ambition to perpetuate his name in the valley, but Weston,
Idaho, bears the name of Mary Ann. Her journal records, “In September ‘64, Oxford, Weston, Clarkston
were located, Mr. Maughan naming Weston after me as my maiden name was Weston.”
In 1866 Peter married Elizabeth Preator. Of the three children born to them only Heber C. lived to
reach maturity. He was two years old when his father died. Many of the present generation of Loganites
remember Heber C. Maughan as a civic and religious leader. To all the descendants of Peter Maughan he
was affectionately known as “Uncle Heber.” He died in 1944.
Apparently one of the blessings of Peter’s abundant and busy life was good health. Tullidge
describes him as a man of action, tall, strong and vigorous. He never spared himself physically or
emotionally. Responding to the calls of those in need was apparently his pleasure as well as his duty. In
his position as judge he tempered justice with mercy counseling as their spiritual leader those upon whom
he was called to pass judgement.
It was after a busy session of the legislature and attendance at April conference that Peter was
stricken with pneumonia and after a brief illness died on April 24, 1871. Within two weeks he would have
celebrated his sixtieth birthday.
29
The account of his funeral as given in the Ogden Junction reflects not only the esteem in which he
was held but also paints a picture of the times and customs of 1871.
The funeral took place on Wednesday, April 26th, and was conducted in the following order:
At half past nine o’clock a. m. Major Moses Thatcher, marshall of the day, with his assistants-Colonels S. Collett and A. Crocket; Major W. Robinson, and Captains M. Fletcher and N. Birdno,
accompanied by the Bishops and a number of the principal citizens, preceded by the brass and Martial
bands, marched to the residence of the deceased and conducted the remains to Logan Hall, an immense
congregation assembled, a great portion not being able to enter the hall.
After the usual opening services, Elder Lorenzo Snow addressed the assembly in an impressive
manner, referring to the virtues of the late Bishop, and exhorting all to emulate them, and to acknowledge
the hand of the Lord in this affliction, and concluded with consoling remarks to the bereaved. Bishop A.
M. Musser followed bearing testimony to the strict integrity of the late Bishop, and his close adherence to
the counsel of the President, even to the very letter.
The body enclosed in a handsome coffin, partly covered with plate glass, was brought out to the
front of the hall and the congregation took a farewell look at the corpse, followed by a great number of
Indians, who each made to it a solemn obeisance.
The procession was then arranged and proceeded to the cemetery as follows:
Brass and Martial bands
Company of Cavalry
The hearse
Family and relatives of the deceased
Bishops and Priesthood
Citizens in carriages
Company of Shoshone Indians
The pallbearers were Bishop M. W. Merrill, G. C. Pitkin, H. Hughes, 0. N. Liljenquist, L. H.
Hatch, S. Roskelly, W. F. Littlewood, Thomas H. Smith.
The procession formed in order around the grave, about fifteen hundred persons being present; the
choir sang, the bands each played a funeral dirge; the coffin was enclosed in another, and committed to
the earth, and Elder C. W. Penrose - ---dismissed the assembly with a benediction.
Bishop Peter Maughan has gone to an honored grave. His many good qualities will be remembered
by the people of Cache County in years to come---Staunch and true to his conceptions of right, he was a
power in the midst of the people, and his counsels will be missed in Israel. (Ogden Junction, April 29,
1871)
Paying Homage
In this great concourse of people were the notable and the humble paying homage to a good man.
As a religious leader, his associates paid him their tribute; as an army officer he received military honors;
representatives of the Legislature and the Judiciary were present to pay their respects to one who had
served so well as a civil servant. But the great body of the crowd were simply friends and relatives, the
Indians who had found him trustworthy, those who had run afoul of the law and found his judgements
merciful, the poor and the needy who had known his generosity, and his family who knew him as always
loving, kind and wise in counsel.
Perhaps the women present felt a special debt of gratitude to this leader. In the Legislature of the
previous year, 1870, it had been Peter’s privilege as chairman of the committee on elections to introduce
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the bill giving the right to vote to the women of the Territory. This was a privilege not extended to the
majority of the women in the United States for another half century.
Peter Maughan never accumulated a great deal of this world’s wealth. Much of his life was spent
in the grim struggle to provide the bare necessities of pioneer living and in this he differed little from the
majority of settlers. Although he had the vision of the great economic future of this valley and was
instrumental in helping to bring in the telegraph and the railroad, and in encouraging the growing
enterprises that sprang up in all the settlements, he never profited financially from these activities.
Many Businesses
He engaged in several businesses, one of the earliest being a sawmill which supplied much of the
lumber used in the Logan Tabernacle and other buildings in the area. When a branch of Z.C.M.I. was
established in Logan in 1869 with Ezra T. Benson as president, Peter served as vice president. Mary Ann
had her own millinery business which she ran for many years.
That Peter found time in his busy schedule of religious and civic responsibilities to enter into the
business world is remarkable in itself. Not only was his integrity in this field beyond reproach but his
constant counsel to his people was that of trustworthiness and unselfishness. In his journal entry of June
12, 1859,
Henry Ballard says, “Went to Maughan’s Fort to meeting; had a good time. Bishop Maughan
spoke upon the necessity of obeying counsel and the selfishness of some individuals wanting to claim so
much land.”
Peter was a convincing speaker and was often called to speak in the Tabernacle when he attended
conference in Salt Lake City.
Resourceful Man
Because of the diversity of activities in which Peter Maughan engaged it is hard to fully appraise
his contribution to the early settlement of Cache Valley. That his influence was extensive and enduring is
unquestioned. But likewise, because these activities were community and cooperative enterprises, credit
for their accomplishment should be shared with others.
The historian Tullidge has said,
To Peter Maughan belongs the honor of being the pioneer of the settlements of Cache Valley, a
man of great force of character of rugged and exacting nature, whose word was as good as any man’s
bond. It was this type of men that gave to the inhabitants of Cache Valley their solidarity. In directing the
efforts of those who were sent to colonize Cache Valley under his leadership he always insisted that a
man must first of all keep peace with his own convictions; and the test of his fidelity to that precept was
shown on every occasion, when called to meet opposition, hardship and dangers for the good of his
people. He was a man who knew the value of making the Lord his friend, and received many testimonials
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that his course in life was acceptable; ever willing to yield obedience to the will and counsel of those
whose right it was to direct.
In this life story an attempt has been made to let the deeds portray the man and let his
contemporaries do the eulogizing. He never sought positions of honor or distinction, but the job came
seeking the man and Peter accepted the responsibility. He was a humble man without pretentions. To
portray him as a saint or a paragon would be displeasing to Peter whom Brigham Young characterized as
a man without conceit or desire to curry favor. Were Peter himself to write his epitaph he would no doubt
say as did Abou Ben Adhem, “Write me as one that loves his fellow men.”
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CHIEF BEAR HUNTER
How the Life of Bishop Peter Maughan
was Spared by Divine Providence
by
Heber C. Maughan
In the early settlement of Cache Valley it became necessary for the settlers to set aside and
protect certain sections of land used as pastures and hay land. Because there were few if any field
fences, loose cattle and horses were herded on the less productive grass lands, in order that the
settlers might secure for their stock hay for winter consumption, and choice pastures for their
dairy herds. One day in the early part of June, 1862, one of the community herders rode into
Logan and reported to Bishop Peter Maughan that a large band of Indians had camped upon the
hay meadows west of town, and that no persuasion or argument could move them off.
Bishop Maughan sent three minutemen with the herder, back to the Indian camp, with
instructions to use all peaceable means to move the camp off the hay land, and if they failed in
their efforts to report back at once. The minutemen found Chief Bear Hunter and his band,
numbering about one hundred men, women and children camped on a choice section of hay land,
pasturing their horses and cattle, and otherwise destroying the hay which the settlers expected to
feed the following winter. No amount of argument, persuasion, or threats could induce this
renegade chief and his band to move on, and the matter was so reported to Bishop Maughan,
who at once called together about fifty minutemen and all proceeded to the place where the
Indian camp was located.
This imposing array of fifty resolute frontiersmen headed by their chief, well mounted and armed
prepared to execute their demands and protect their lives, must have impressed the Indians with the
seriousness of the situation.
Arriving at the camp, Bishop Maughan, through his interpreter, Israel Clark, asked Bear
Hunter and his braves to sit in a council. With some reluctance Bear Hunter finally agreed to
talk, Bishop Maughan, addressing the Indians, said:
We have come into this valley to make our homes, have come to live among you, and want to be
your friends. We must have hay for our stock in the winter. We do not want you to camp on our hay
lands, when all around you there is feed for your horses, good camp grounds, plenty of game and meat for
your families. You must go.
33
Chief Bear Hunter hated the white man and had sworn in his heart to rid the country of the settlers
whom he looked upon as intruders. The old Chief said at once, “We will not go. This valley belongs to
the Indians. We own the grass, the water, the fish, the game. White man must go.”
Bishop Maughan arose, and facing the chief said: “We have spoken. You must leave. We
will give you two hours to move off our hay land.”
The minutemen returned to Logan, but did not disband. Sentries were left to watch the
movements of the Indians, all hoping for a peaceful solution of this disagreement. Just as the sun
was setting behind the western horizon, the sentries came with the report that the Indians had
broken camp and moved on toward the river bottoms and had established their camp at a bend of
Logan River in the depths of the willows.
The settlers had learned by experience to keep the Indian at arm’s length, deal with him
kindly but firmly, avoid everything that would provoke him to violence. They remembered
Cromwell’s advice to his soldiers, “Trust in God and keep your powder dry.” Therefore, a strong
guard was placed around the settlement that night for fear the revengeful Bear Hunter might
decide to attack the settlers after night fall.
When morning came on the following day the settlers were relieved and very thankful that
the Indians had caused no trouble during the night. And the events of the previous day might
have soon been forgotten, had not further developments in the movements of Chief Bear Hunter
caused the whole affair to be riveted in the settlers minds for many years to come.
Bishop Maughan lived in a two room log cabin in the Eastern part of Logan. He had set two
wooden pegs in the log wall, high over the mantle in his home, upon which rested a rifle of the cap and
ball type, common to those days. Shortly after breakfast on the day following the visit to the camp of
Chief Bear Hunter, he was prompted to take the rifle down from the wall and step to the window for
closer examination. In this position the muzzle of the gun pointed directly toward the front door. While in
the act of examining the rifle in this position, to his utter amazement and surprise the front door was
violently pushed upon and in stepped Bear Hunter, unannounced, with rifle in hand. The Indian stopped
abruptly, bewilderment written on his face. The white Chief had him covered! The man he hated had been
forewarned. Who had warned him? The Indian had not breathed to a living soul his determination to kill
Peter Maughan. The two men stood staring at each other, in astonishment, for a few seconds, then, the
Indian turned and left the house as abruptly as he had entered. Not a word was spoken. Bear Hunter
mounted his horse and disappeared in the dense willow brush of Logan River bottoms.
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Bishop Maughan always recognized the interposition of the Almighty in saving his life. It was a
narrow escape and he well knew it.
The news of Chief Bear Hunter’s visit to Bishop Maughan’s home spread through the
settlement and men became anxious about the movements of the Indians. Guards were sent out to
watch and report. A visit to the camp revealed no great excitement, but the reason for the visit of
Chief Bear Hunter to Peter Maughan’ s home was made plain. After the minutemen had left the
camp on the day previous, the Indians sat in council and a large majority of Bear Hunter’s braves
had opposed his idea of camping on the settlers hay land. Finally they overruled his decision and
moved onto the river bottom. This so humiliated the chief that he determined to kill Peter
Maughan, because he thought Bishop Maughan had influenced his braves against him. He sought
out the Bishop with murder in his heart, only to find that the Great Spirit had warned the White
Chief and revealed what was in the Indian’s heart. Humiliated and downcast he returned to his
camp and made an attempt to take his own life, but was prevented from so doing by his people.
Chief Bear Hunter was probably the most vicious and treacherous Indian of all those who visited
Cache Valley in early days. It was this renegade and his band that stole thirty head of horses from the
settlers in September of that same year. He directed the Indian fight in Providence Canyon, when the
whites recovered a white child stolen by the Indians. He was killed at Battle Creek, Idaho, during
Connor’s fight with the Indians, January, 1863.
DESCRIPTION OF AN EARLY PIONEER HOME
by
Heber C. Maughan
The home consisted of logs laid up four square. The cracks between the logs were plastered up
with clay mortar. A fire—place was built at one end of the building. The floor was of rough lumber or
mother earth. The roof was a combination of logs, willows, grass and clay soil. If glass was to be had for
windows, the owner was very fortunate. The doors were usually made of split logs with wooden or rawhide hinges. The furnishings for the interior were mostly home made and scant. Holes were bored Into the
logs, and wooden pegs driven in as a means of hanging up articles of clothing and such other articles as
needed. Over the fire—place was constructed a mantle or shelf upon which reposed dishes, cooking
utensils, etc. Such was Bishop Peter Maughan’s home at 135 E. Center Street, in Logan.
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PETER MAUGHAN RETURNS FROM THE GRAVE
The following is taken from The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, pp. 290- 291.
Perhaps I may be permitted to relate a circumstance with which I am acquainted in relation to
Bishop Roskelley, of Smithfield, Cache Valley.
On one occasion he was suddenly taken very sick--near to death’s door. While he lay in this
condition, President Peter Maughan, who was dead, came to him and said: “Brother Roskelley, we held a
council on the other side of the veil. I have had a great deal to do, and I have the privilege of coming here
to appoint one man to come and help. I have had three names given to me in council, and you are one of
them. I want to inquire into your circumstances.”
The Bishop told him what he had to do, and they conversed together as one man would converse
with another. President Maughan then said to him: “I think I will not call you. I think you are wanted here
more than perhaps one of the others.”
Bishop Roskelley got well from that hour. Very soon after, the second man was taken sick, but not
being able to exercise sufficient faith, Brother Roskelley did not go to him. By and by this man recovered,
and on meeting Brother Roskelley, he said: “Brother Maughan came to me the other night and told me he
was sent to call one man from the ward, ‘‘and he named two men as had been done to Brother Roskelley.
A few days afterward the third man was taken sick and died.
Now, I name this to show a principle. They have work on the other side of the veil; and they want
men, and they call them. And that was my view in regards to Brother George A. Smith. When he was
almost at death’s door, Brother Cannon administered to him, and in thirty minutes he was up and ate
breakfast with his family. We labored with him in this way, but ultimately, as you know, he died. But it
taught me a lesson. I felt that man was wanted behind the veil. We labored also with Brother Pratt; but he,
too, was wanted behind the veil. --JD 22:334, October 8, 1881
PETER MAUGHAN’S PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Description by his Granddaughter
Mary Elizabeth Morgan Maughan
One of the earliest incidents which I associate with Grandfather was the annual encampment held
at the old church farm near Logan. Once a year, practically all of the men in Cache Valley would gather
there for several days to receive military instruction and training. Grandfather was the commanding
officer and during these encampments he wore a military uniform. Particularly do I remember his high
military hat with a large black plume projecting from the front. He was about six feet tall, very stately and
erect and had a beautiful physique. He rode his horse like a military leader, and when the company went
through its maneuvers it was a grand sight to see Grandfather directing them. Perhaps an incident that
occurred in Salt Lake City would better describe Grandfather’s physical appearance than could be done in
any other way. One day as he was walking down Main Street in his dignified and stately manner, one of
the apostles called to him and jokingly said: “Peter, when I saw you walking down the street I thought
you were the Lord of Creation Himself.”
During my childhood I got to know Grandfather during visits to his home in Logan. He was a very
stern man and one of few words. When he spoke, his word was law. This characteristic, coupled with a
kind and loving consideration for the comfort and welfare of the members of the family, made him not
36
only loved but respected by them all.
Grandfather’s duties as Presiding Bishop brought him in contact with practically everyone in the
area. During those years there were several hundred Indians located in and around the valley, and he had
succeeded in making friends with them. They expressed their respect for him by attending his funeral.
Following the band in the procession from the meeting house to the cemetery was a procession of
hundreds of Indians in a column of twos dressed in their war-time paints and regalia.
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RUTH HARRISON
Born: January 26, 1812
Baptized: 1838
Endowed: October 21, 1885
Married: Peter Maughan, October 1, 1831
Died: March 26, 1841
Father: Thomas Harrison
Mother: Agnes Walton
CHILDREN
1. John Harrison
2. Agnes
3. William Harrison
4. Thomas Harrison
5. Mary Ann
6. Ruth
(No picture is available for Ruth Harrison.)
38
RUTH HARRISON
By
Hattie B. Maughan
It would be an unpardonable omission if no account was given of Ruth Harrison Maughan in this
history of Peter, his wives and his children. How does one write a biography of one who left no
photograph or any recorded word or writing? You take the skeleton of statistics and try to clothe it in
flesh and blood.
Ruth Harrison was born in Nest, Cumberland County, England January 26, 1812. Her father was
Thomas Harrison and her mother was Agnes Walton. She was married to Peter Maughan in Alston,
Cumberland County, England October 1, 1831, To them were born six children, three boys and three
girls. February 12, 1841 Ruth gave birth to her namesake, Ruth. When the infant was six weeks old the
mother died on March 26, 1841. She was buried at Skell Gill Plains, Alston, England. She was 29 years
old. Such are the bare statistics of her brief life.
The name Harrison is an honored one in Cumberland County, During the time of the Danish
invasion of England about 900 A. D. a Danish prince by the name of Harry settled in the area. His
descendants became the Harrisons.
Nest is a little village near Alston. Peter and Ruth were both living in Alston when they courted
and married in 1831. Peter was twenty, his bride 19. The record secured from microfilm in the Salt Lake
City archives gives the following information:
Peter Maughan, bachelor age 20 was married to Ruth Harrison, spinster, age 19, on
October 1, 1831. The space for signatures of parents or guardians giving consent is blank since
both parties to the contract were of legal age. The officiating minister was Reverend John Bigland
and the witnesses were Peter's brother Joseph (age 14), and Thomas Carr and Isaac Dawson,
presumably friends of the young couple. The account further states that banns had been posted
prior to the marriage. The publishing of banns, the announcement for three consecutive Sundays
of the intention of a couple to marry, was both a legal requirement and an ecclesiastical
command. It opened the door for any one knowing of any legal or religious reasons for opposing
the marriage to state their objections. Peter and Ruth had the consent of the congregation and the
blessing of the minister. Peter signed the marriage contract with a bold strong signature. Ruth
signed with a cross. It would be erroneous to assume that she was illiterate. Many sacred
documents were signed with a cross signifying “Christ as my witness.”
The young husband had been working in the lead mines since the age of fifteen. They established
39
their home in Alston near the mines. All of their six children were born there. Ruth had presented Peter
with four children when in 1838 they heard the gospel and accepted it. There is no indication that Ruth
was less receptive than Peter. During the next three years while two more children were added to the
family Ruth undoubtedly entered into her husband’s plans for emigrating to America, the hope of all the
British converts. She must have sustained and helped him in the church assignments which came to him.
As Ruth awaited the birth of her sixth child perhaps she had some doubts about the proposed
emigration. Would she miss this beautiful woods and river land which had been her only home? A
miner’s life was hazardous and the income hardly adequate for their growing family. Would it be better in
America? The argument which over-rode all others was the need to gather with the Saints where they
could be free from persecution and help build up the Kingdom.
Baby Ruth was born on February 12. As soon as the mother could regain her strength from her
confinement they would leave with the company of saints preparing to depart in April. But Ruth did not
recover from the birth of her child. She died on March 26 and was buried in Alston.
The bereft husband was advised by Brigham Young to take his motherless family and sail with the
company to America. Peter knew that this would fulfill Ruth’s desire and their mutual hopes. Ruth and
the baby she had sacrificed her life to bring into the world were reunited in the spirit world when the
infant died at sea on the voyage to America.
When Ruth’s son, William, went on a mission to England in 1877 he found that two of his
mother’s sisters had been living in Alston in 1870. He was unable to find them or learn anything about his
mother’s life.
Length of life is not the measure of its usefulness. Ruth did not live to rear her children to maturity
or pioneer in the Rocky Mountains, but she performed life’s essential purpose. She was born, thus
attaining a mortal body through which she could help create other beings. She accepted the gospel and
was baptized; she was married, a covenant later solemnized in a holy temple. She had helped to establish
on earth a family kingdom to be perpetuated in the eternal kingdom of our Father in Heaven. Her
posterity are eternally grateful.
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MARY ANN WESTON
Born:
March 10, 1817
Baptized:
1840
CHILDREN
1. Charles Weston
2. Peter Weston
3. Joseph Weston
4. Hyrum Weston
5. Willard Weston
6. Elizabeth Weston
7. Martha Weston
8. Peter Weston
Endowed: February 2, 1841
Married:
Peter Maughan, November 2, 1841
Died:
February 15, 1901
Father:
Thomas Weston
Mother:
Elizabeth Walker Thackwell
41
MARY ANN WESTON
By
May Maughan Snow (granddaughter)
Mary Ann Weston was born March 10, 1817 in Gloucestershire, England, the second of eight
children. Her father was a gentleman farmer and shop owner. While they were not rich, neither did they
lack the necessities of life. Mary Ann states in her journal that her father planned on buying or building a
house for each one of his children. “I do not know if he accomplished this or not, but I know I did not get
mine.”
It is evident from the journal that Mary Ann’s childhood was a happy one. Mary Ann and others in
the family sang in the church choir. They were Wesleyan Methodists. She received the common school
education of her class and also learned the millinery and dressmaking trade, later acquiring her own shop.
It was while she was apprenticed to Miss Phelps that she first learned of the church.
Through the influence of that master proselyter, Wilford Woodruff, she became converted and was
baptized by him at midnight in a pond in the village. She was the only member of her family to join.
Opposition to the Mormons which made the night baptisms necessary became more acute after her
marriage in 1840 to John Davis. When the Davises, both staunch members, opened their home for
gatherings of the Saints, mobs descended upon them, and in one of these attacks Mr. Davis was severely
beaten. He never fully recovered and on April 6, 1841, he died.
Shortly thereafter, Mrs. Davis disposed of her home and other property and set out for America
with whatever linens, china and choice heirlooms she could take with her. But her departure was not
uneventful. Her father, bitterly opposed to her affiliation with the church, resorted to every means to
prevent her leaving England. When his own importuning failed, he sent lawyers aboard the departing
vessel to prevent his daughter’s sailing. But Mary Ann’s will was quite as adamant as her father’s.
Doffing her black widow’s clothes for those of gayer mood, she mingled with the throng of passengers on
board, undiscovered and undisturbed by her father’s lawyers.
Mary Ann was one to make the best of a difficult situation. An ocean voyage in those days was
anything but pleasant. But in her journal Mary Ann had this to say about their ship: “She was clean and
the berths new. I did not see a flea, bug, or anything of the kind on the ship. We had plenty of room by our
berths. Our large, heavy chests were put down in the hold. We could have one trunk by our berth, and the
42
rest were fastened by the sailors to the masts, with ropes, along the center of the ship, thus making a
partition down the middle of our big room. Then we hung curtains in front of our berths and round our
little room and thus made ourselves comfortable.”
Their ship, the Harmony, sailed from Bristol on May 12, 1841, and Mary Ann never saw any
member of her parents’ family again. After the long journey across the Atlantic when near the Banks of
Newfoundland, the ship was in a dreadful storm, but was saved almost miraculously. A pilot guided them
into Milford Haven where they stayed two days for repairs and until the storm had abated. They then
sailed on to Quebec under the direction of Brother Thomas Kington who had been their leader from
Bristol. They chartered a steamer and went up the St. Lawrence River to Montreal and across Lake
Ontario to La Prarie, where they boarded the “railroad train” for St. Johns. Then by steamer and canal
boat they went across New York State to Buffalo. Some of the company remained in Buffalo to rest, but
Mary Ann Weston and her girlhood friend Hannah Sim(m)onds continued on to Kirtland, Ohio, going by
steamer to Fairport, on Lake Erie, and thence overland by wagon team to Kirtland.
They found only a few members of the church there, others having gone to Nauvoo. Brother W.
W. Phelps was in charge of those who remained, and meetings were held in the Temple every Sunday.
During the seven weeks they remained in Kirtland Mary Ann made dresses and “bonnets” for people
there and in Richmond, on banks of Lake Erie.
While in Kirtland she became acquainted with Brother Peter Maughan, lately arrived from the
North of England with his family of five motherless children. When they left Kirtland for Nauvoo,
Brother Maughan and Sister Davis traveled in the same company.
They reached Nauvoo on October 10th, where they found much sickness among those newly
arrived, thought to have been caused by the hot weather. Soon Mary Ann was working almost day and
night caring for the sick. But she soon developed another interest, sparked perhaps in her first meeting
with Peter Maughan in Kirtland where they had both recently arrived from England.
On November 2, 1841 she was married to Brother Peter Maughan by Apostle John Taylor. Mary
Ann wrote: “My husband had five small children, the youngest two and a half years old, but I was used to
taking care of Mother’s children so I got along very well with them.” Peter’s children always felt the
deepest affection and love for Mary Ann and thought of her as their mother.
“The snow was deep, “Mary Ann says, “and the weather was very cold. The hardest part was to
get provisions in this new country. We sold some of my goods for wood and corn. While in Bristol I had
bought some goods to bring with me, among them a lot of spools of fine cotton. My neighbors would
43
send a piece of pork for a spool of cotton.”
Things were not easy in a new frontier community. And it must have pained Mary Ann when her
fine china and other precious things were broken or lost. These things which she might have wished to
hide away for some future more prosperous time when she could have a lovely home to show them off in,
had to be used for every day. So many of them were destroyed. But the hope of a better time to come
lived on in the hearts of the people. Nauvoo was a rapidly growing community with many fine homes and
business houses going up. Peter Maughan worked as a stone mason on the Temple and built a home for
his family. The future looked bright.
Even when he was asked to leave Nauvoo to open a coal mine for the church, Peter felt that he was
contributing to the welfare and the progress of the community. And Mary Ann shared in his hopes. But
the dream burst like a bubble with the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum in
1844. Persecution had been mounting over the years, sparked in part by the seeming prosperity of the
Saints in a frontier community. Soon after the murder of their leaders, it became apparent to the Saints
that they could not remain in Illinois. Those families who were able left for an unknown haven in the
west.
Peter Maughan had put all of his resources into the coal mining venture, even having sold his fine
home in Nauvoo. On the advice of the “brethren” he closed out the mining enterprise, paying off the
remaining debts in preparation for the trip west. But he was totally without funds. The Maughan family
had no immediate means of outfitting themselves for the difficult treck to the Rocky Mountains.
They found their way to New Diggins, Wisconsin, near the lead mines, where Peter and his sons
worked to earn money for teams and wagons. Through all of this Mary Ann followed her husband, caring
for him and the children in the time of sickness and hunger. Meanwhile the family was increasing.
Charles Weston was born at Nauvoo in 1844, just a short time before the martyrdom of the Prophet
Joseph. And two more sons, Peter Weston and Joseph Weston, were born while the family was living at
New Diggins.
The marriage of Peter’s oldest daughter, Agnes, to Jonathon Teasdale must have been one of the
great social events in the little mining community of New Diggins, with more than 60 couples sitting
down at the wedding supper. We can imagine Mary Ann sewing for days beforehand to prepare for the
wedding.
Mary Ann also did sewing for others outside her home in order to help with the family budget.
From her journal we learn the interesting fact that English money was in common use in the community.
44
Mary Ann also mentions the fact that most of their neighbors were not members of the church. They did
not make an issue of it, and for the most part they got along very well in the community.
In the spring of 1850, after having earned the money for their outfit, the Maughans prepared for
their treck west. They started on April 17 in two wagons. Baby Joseph was only three weeks old. All her
life Mary Ann remembered this day of starting as the coldest day of her life.
On the 22nd they reached the Mississippi River and camped on the bank, and that evening Mary
Ann attended Sister Lund at the birth of a daughter. At this camp more groups ready for the West
gathered. A company was organized, Peter Maughan being chosen Captain. These rules for travel were
formulated and accepted.
Rule 1. It is the duty of the Captain and the Counselors to provide hay and feed for the cattle and
horses.
Rule 2. That we retire to rest at 9 o’clock at night and rise at sunrise in the morning.
Rule 3. That each man take his turn to watch the camp and cattle.
Rule 4. That the camp come together at eight o’clock each night for prayers.
Rule 5. That there be no swearing by said company, for the benefit of the rising generation.
Rule 6. No shooting allowed within twenty rods of the company. No loaded guns allowed in said
company except by order of the officers. No loose powder allowed near the fire, or in the
wagons.
Rule 7. That the camp commence to travel at seven o’clock in the morning.
Rule 8. That each and all assist each other in case of sickness, or broken wagons, or any other
accidents that may happen.
At Kanesville (later called Council Bluffs), on the Missouri River, Brother Maughan’s Company
joined with Captain Wall’s Company of Fifty, with Peter Maughan Captain of the first ten.
The items mentioned by Mary Ann in her journal are typical of those made by many pioneers
crossing the plains. Each day’s record is brief, mentioning always the number of miles traveled, and
where in reference to some town or fort or river they camped; the kind of a camping place it was,
especially mentioning whether there was plenty of water, grass for the cattle, and wood to burn; telling if
any members of the Company were sick; also the number of graves by the roadside passed that day. Here
descriptions are sometimes very graphic as she tells of the graves that have been dug up by wolves. Often
there are items like this: “We are obliged to wash and bake today enough to last a week.” When the
weather is pleasant that fact is always mentioned in the most cheerful manner. Pleasant weather means
more when one is traveling, with all one’s earthly possessions in a wagon, than when there is a dry,
comfortable home to retire to in the evening.
A day or so after passing Fort Kearney (Nebraska) an event occurred which brought an end to the
record keeping for a time. Apparently it was too painful for Mary Ann to write about.
The July 11 entry reads: “This is the last I wrote in my journal for some days for the
next day I was called to pass through one of the hardest trials of my life in the death of my little
Peter.” She goes on to explain that even though many years have passed since the event, and she
45
is only now able to write of it, the details are still clear in her mind. As an elderly lady she took
time to finish the record.
July 12, about noon as we were traveling along on a good plain road, my little Peter, about
3 years old, was sitting in the front of the wagon between his brother Charles and his sister Mary
Ann. They were looking at a cow that had lost one horn. He leaned forward, lost his balance, and
fell before the wheels. The first passed over him and he tried to escape the other one. But alas, the
wagon stopped just as the hind wheel stood on his dear little back. The brethren from behind ran
up and lifted the wheel and took him from under it. He was bruised internally so that it was
impossible for him to live long. We done all that was possible for him, but no earthly power could
save him. He did not suffer much pain, only twice for a little time. The people left their wagons
and gathered around mine, and all wept for the dear little boy that we knew must soon leave us. I
had talked to him many times to be careful and not fall out of the wagon, or he might be hurt very
bad. He only spoke twice. I said to him, “Pete, did you fall?” and he said, “Yes,” and seemed to
know that he would leave us, and asked for his father. I did not know that his father had fainted,
for the Brethren stood to hide him from my sight. On my asking for him, they said he would
come soon. As soon as he was able he came to the wagon, covered with dust. But his little boy
could not speak to him. He opened his eyes and looked so lovingly at us, then gently closed them
and passed peacefully away, and left us weeping around his dear little bruised body. Then loving
hands tenderly dressed him in a suit of his own white linen clothes. He looked so lovely. I
emptied a dry goods box and Brother Wood made him a nice coffin; and it even was a mournful
satisfaction, for we had seen our brothers and sisters bury their dear ones without a coffin to lay
them in. We buried him on a little hill on the North side of the road. The grave was consecrated
and then they laid him to rest. Some one had made a nice headboard, with his name printed on,
also his age and date of death. This was all we could do, and many prayers were offered to our
Heavenly Father, that he might rest in peace and not be disturbed by wolves. We turned away in
sorrow and grief.
A few days after, we heard that his grave had not been touched, but another little one made
beside it, and afterwards some more were buried by them. This was a great satisfaction to us, to
know that he remained as we left him. Our dear one’s name was Peter Weston Maughan, born in
New Diggins, Wisconsin Territory, May 20th, 1847.
They could do nothing but move on... continue their journey and meet whatever obstacles stood in
their way. The big problems would be remembered always. But the accumulation of little difficulties was
what weighed them down. Words cannot adequately describe the feelings of despair and exhilaration they
experienced as they passed through the ugly and the beautiful on their journey. But Mary Ann comes
close to it in some of her journal entries:
I was very sick this morning with the Mountain fever. As I lay in my wagon today I
thought the wheels went over every rock there was in the road.... After camping, Mr. Maughan
laid my bed in the shade of the wagon. On the outside, chains were fastened across the wheels to
keep some sheep in. Thinking my bed would stop them, my wagon wheels were not chained.
Seeing a open place, the sheep darted through and every one sprang over me. I clasped my baby
close to me, lay still and was not hurt, not even touched by one of them. I think the sheep were
worse frightened than I was.
When we came in sight of the hollow, we saw steep precipices and deep ravines; among
46
the rocks are growing Ash and red Cedar. This is a very romantic looking place.
The Company arrived in Great Salt Lake City September 17, 1850. The Maughan family was sent
to Tooele to settle, and Brother Maughan was instructed to prospect in the mountains for lead ore. Both he
and Mary Ann were active in the affairs of the County. Soon after her arrival Mary Ann received a letter
from Dr. Willard Richards, appointing her midwife for Tooele, saying she would have the faith and
prayers of the Council of Health and should be blessed and prospered in that calling. Because her family
was large, she thought she might not be able to do all that was expected of her, and went to Salt Lake to
see Brother Richards. He told her to accept. And with the blessing given her when she was set apart, was
the promise that no harm would come to her while in the performance of her duty, nor to her family while
she was away. This was a comfort to her many times as she rode horseback alone, on lonely roads, or
through snow or storm. Early in 1851 the first Sunday School in Tooele was organized, and Sister
Maughan was one of the teachers, When the County was organized Brother Maughan was Clerk and
Assessor, later being County Selectman and City Recorder. Finally he was elected a member of the Territorial Legislature from Tooele.
But these were trying times for the family. Indians stole their cattle. Grasshoppers ate their crops.
A son, Thomas Harrison, aged fourteen years, died of a mysterious disease.
In the summer of 1856 they gladly accepted a call to settle Cache Valley. After the first
preliminary exploration of the valley by Peter Maughan and others, seven families decided to move north.
They left Tooele in September, 1856. By this time Mary Ann had four living children of her own, Hyrum
and Willard having been born in Tooele County.
Mary Ann wrote in her journal: “The road was good until we came to Wellsville Canyon,
which was very rough and narrow in some places, and a very steep hill..,. My husband, driving our
other wagon, was behind me at the time, and thus it happened that I drove the first wagon that came into
Cache Valley for a settlement.” This was the same wagon in which the family had crossed the plains on
their way to the west. Mary Ann wrote: “My first words were, ‘Oh, what a beautiful valley!’”
They camped in their wagons on the present site of Wellsville. Less than two weeks after their
arrival, on the night of the 26th and 27th of September, they had their first snow storm. And in the midst
of this storm, Mary Ann gave birth to her first daughter, Elizabeth Weston Maughan. She was the first
child born to the permanent settlers in the valley.
Two weeks later Mary Ann “waited on Sister Riggs,” who gave birth to a daughter. It was the first
of many such calls that would come to her during her life in Cache Valley. Mary Ann was to become
47
truly an angel of mercy unto the people of the area. And even after she had reached an advanced age,
when she would rather not have been called, those who knew her well--particularly those of her own
family--would continue to ask for her in time of need. Sickness and death would become familiar specters
in her life. But so would the magic of birth. In her gentle efficiency she was a fountain of mercy and
courage flowing out endlessly to those who were in pain.
Soon after finishing a small cabin for Mary Ann and the children, Peter started for Fillmore to
attend the Legislature, to which he had been elected while in Tooele. During his two month absence Mary
Ann had the family to take care of by herself. It was a very severe winter. Snow fell so deep that trenches
were dug in the snow around hay stacks to keep the cattle off the top of the stack. A young man, John
Gardener, froze to death while crossing the mountains from Box Elder. And there was some concern for
the safety of Brother Maughan on his return trip from Fillmore. His two oldest sons, John and William,
crossed the mountains, met him at Box Elder and accompanied him back to his home in the valley.
After living in the valley a little over a year, the Cache Valley settlers were counseled to go south
on account of the threatening “Utah War,” Mary Ann, without complaint, packed up her things and
started with her family for “some place in the south.” They went first to Box Elder, then to Salt Lake City,
and finally to a place called Pond Town (Salem). Later in the summer they moved north again, but were
advised not to return to their homes in Cache Valley because of the Indian threat. They camped for the
winter in a house near the present city of Willard. Mary Ann was alone during part of this time, Peter and
the other men having gone into the valley to harvest their crops. The Indians became very bold and
insolent while the men were away. They would often visit Mary Ann’s house and demand that she cook
food for them. During this time her second daughter, Martha, was born.
In the spring of 1859 the settlers returned to their homes in Cache Valley. And soon there were
many others coming to find homes in the new land. Peter Maughan proved himself to be a capable
colonizer, founding no less than eight communities in that one summer. Mary Ann’s responsibilities were
no less burdensome than those of her husband during this time. She reported in her journal that “Sometimes I have not slept in my bed for a week at a time, and my floor was covered with beds.”
The responsibility for the care of the children fell more and more on Mary Ann’s shoulders. Peter
was serving as Presiding Bishop for Cache Valley, Probate Judge for the County, and as supply officer for
the military. Any one of these jobs would have kept most men busy. It is not surprising therefore to read
this rather wistful entry in Mary Ann’s journal: “During this time Peter was at home but very little.”
Perhaps the hardest times for Mary Ann were Peter’s annual visits to the Territorial Legislature, when she
48
was totally alone with her family. It was particularly difficult when sickness came into the home during
Peter’s absence.
Mary Ann served as the first president of the Cache Valley Stake Relief Society, holding that
office from the organization of the Relief Society in 1868 until May 18, 1874. In those days the Stake
included the whole valley. Often she would leave Logan at dawn in order to arrive in time for Relief
Society meetings in the north end of the valley. Sometimes she would travel on a white horse, and would
carry a basket of food or clothing for the needy.
It is perhaps typical that a man so dedicated to the service of his fellow men as was Peter Maughan
did not find the time nor the means to provide grandly for his own family. They had the necessities of life.
But it was not until shortly before Peter’s death that they commenced work on a new home. Up until that
time they had lived in a log cabin. In 1861 they had moved from Wellsville to Logan, where their last
child, Peter, was born. But the move did little to improve their financial fortunes. If Peter Maughan had
been ambitious for his own welfare and personal aggrandizement, he could have become a wealthy man.
He was in a position to do so. But such was never his goal. And Mary Ann shared in his sentiments.
Through all the years of waiting and of service she stood by him patiently and lovingly. What they did
leave as an inheritance to their children was a tradition of service and honor and an unwavering faith in
the Church and the God who brought them from England to a choice land in the top of the mountains.
Perhaps the greatest test of Mary Ann’s courage came with the death of Peter in 1871. And
perhaps the greatest period of service in her life came after his death. She continued to be active in
community affairs and to serve as a nurse and midwife. Hundreds of babies in Cache Valley saw the first
light of day in her arms.
She had the satisfaction of doing much of the temple work for her loved ones after the opening of
the Logan Temple. Peter’s children, John and William and Mary, assisted her in this. It was a tribute to
Mary Ann’s dedication to her family. For these children thought of her as mother.
Mary Ann never lost her sense of humor nor her delight in the new and the innovative. In short she
loved life. The coming of the railroad to Cache Valley during her later years was a profoundly interesting
event for Mary Ann. And what might have been a terrifying experience for some, an earthquake, was for
Mary Ann a tremendously exciting and interesting experience. She tells of it in her journal:
“November 10, 1884. I was staying with Martha, her husband being absent. About 2
o’clock in the morning I was lying awake. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and all was still
when suddenly I felt my bed shaking, and dishes and everything in the cupboard rattling, and
everything in the room rocking like a cradle. My bed, being by a window, I raised the blind and
looked out. Then not wishing to alarm Martha, whose health was delicate, I lay still until she
49
spoke, saying: ‘What ails the house, Mother?’ Willie said: ‘Who is shaking the bed, Mamma?’ I
said: ‘It is the wind.’ ‘No wind about that, Mother.’ I said: ‘Well, do not be frightened as the
danger is past, if there was any.’ It was a earthquake, and the first one I ever felt. ... My family
slept through the night and did not know anything about it and could not believe there had been
an earthquake.”
She loved to visit with her friends, particularly those she had known from England and Nauvoo.
She died February 15, 1901, in her 84th year. She was loved and respected by all who knew her.
50
ELIZABETH FRANCES PREATOR
Born:
April 20, 1848
CHILDREN
Baptized:
November 24, 1864
1. Frances Mary
Endowed:
December 8, 1866
2. Heber Chase
Married:
Peter Maughan, December 8, 1866
3. Ada Lucille
Died:
March 30, 1930
Father:
William Preator
Mother:
Mary Jones
51
ELIZABETH FRANCES PREATOR
by
Ragna Johnson Maughan
Elizabeth Frances Preator. She had her beginning in Chalford, England, where she was born April
20, 1848. She was the youngest of ten children. Her parents were William and Mary Jones Preator.
At the age of sixteen she was baptized and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints (November 24, 1864). Two years later she left her family and her native England and
came to America on the ship Arkwright, With the George Coatman family, from Gloucester, England, she
traveled by ox train across the plains to Salt Lake City, arriving there September 29, 1866.
She said of the journey, “I walked the entire distance from Wyoming, Nebraska to Salt Lake City.”
The journey was made easier by the anticipation of rest and peace at the end. But there were some
difficult times; and she would find that Utah was very different from England. At one point she was
terrified by the visit of a group of Indian braves. Elizabeth was combing her long black hair as the Indians
rode into camp. The leader of the band came over and took her hair in his hands. Then as he let it slide
through his fingers he said, “Wyno, heap wyno.” Her fear that he might be “considering it for a scalp
lock” did not prove out and he left her in peace.
After arriving in Salt Lake City, she continued her journey north into Cache Valley to the town of
Richmond, where her brother, Richard Preator, was living.
The Richard Preator home was moderately comfortable, typical of the pioneer homes of the time,
but it could not compare with what Elizabeth had known in England. The family tried to make her feel at
ease. But she was terribly homesick. She said of that time: “I went out into the barnyard, sat down by the
haystack and cried and wished that a miracle would come and carry me back to England.”
No such miracle occurred. But she did meet a gentleman who, like herself, had emigrated from
England. Even though 25 years had passed since Peter Maughan left his homeland, his memories of it
were still firm in his mind. He must have felt great sympathy for this young girl so much alone and at
loose ends in a new and unfamiliar land.
As Presiding Bishop of Cache Valley he had served his Church, his community and his family. He
had never seen fit to enter into the covenants of plural marriage, though his sons had done so, He
recognized and accepted the wisdom of the commandment in a land and a time when the men were
outnumbered by the women needing the protection and comfort of a home.
Now Peter felt that the time had come to enlarge his kingdom here upon the earth and in heaven.
52
According to the commandment and the law which had been dictated by his church, he took Elizabeth
Frances Preator to be his wife on December 8, 1866. The union was consummated in the Endowment
House in Salt Lake City. And of course it was done with the full consent and the blessing of Mary Ann
Weston Maughan, who in this case was the first wife.
There can be no more eloquent evidence of this consent than that shown in Mary Ann’s
subsequent behavior. Three years after Peter had entered into the covenant with Elizabeth, Mary Ann, as
president of the Relief Societies in Cache Valley, presided over mass meetings in the various
communities around the valley. The purpose of these mass meetings held by the women (and which the
brethren were forbidden to attend) was to protest the passage of laws by the congress of the United States
forbidding the practice of plural marriage. The sisters, led by Mary Ann, were united in their convictions
that the laws were unjust. After all, it was not only the men who were being punished. It was the women
and their families, which would be left fatherless if the dictates of the law were followed to the letter.
These were laws which would inevitably have the effect of breaking up pioneer homes, and the sisters
were loud in their condemnation of such action,
So Peter entered into his plural marriage with Elizabeth Frances Preator with the blessing and
consent of his family. And from this union three precious souls were brought into the world, with all of
the rights and privileges the blessings and the inheritance of their father.
Elizabeth was left a widow at the age of 24, when Peter Maughan died April 24, 1871. It was a
terrible blow to the young mother who was left with her three small children: Frances Mary, three years
old; Heber Chase, one and one-half; and Ada Lucille, seven weeks old. The baby, Ada, died just four
months later of whooping cough.
Frances Mary lived to bless her mother’s home with laughter and the joys of childhood until she
reached the age of accountability. She died at the age of nine, January 7, 1877.
Heber grew to manhood and became a leader in his community and in the Maughan family
organization. The completion of this book of history is due largely to work which was instigated by Heber
Chase Maughan.
Several years after the death of Peter Maughan, Elizabeth married John Crookston. They had eight
children. For a number of years the Crookston family lived in Cache Junction, which had become the
major railroad center in the valley. Their hospitality was enjoyed by many friends who went there to wait
for trains.
After the death of Mr. Crookston on October 29, 1919, Elizabeth moved back to Logan. She spent
her last years in the home which Peter Maughan had built for her (at 40 North 1st East Street in Logan).
She passed away March 31, 1930.
53
JOHN HARRISON MAUGHAN
JOHN HARRISON MAUGHAN
Born:
SARAH MARIAH DAVENPORT
October 8, 1830
Born:
November 22, 1836
Baptized: October 1842
Baptized: 1847
Endowed: June 4, 1856
Endowed: June 4, 1856
Married:
Sarah Mariah Davenport, July 24, 1853
Mary Nibley, August 18, 1863
Hannah Sophia Toombs, October 31, 1868
Married: John Harrison Maughan,
July 24, 1853
Died:
October 31, 1912
Father:
Peter Maughan
Mother:
Ruth Harrison
54
Died:
November 19, 1914
Father:
James Davenport
Mother:
Almira Phelps
CHILDREN OF JOHN AND SARAH
1. Sarah Agnes
6. Ruth Emma
10. George Davenport
2. Mary Almira
7. Peter Davenport
11. Ambrose Davenport
3. John Davenport
8. Martha Ann
12. Elsie Medira
4. Harrison Davenport
9. Hyrum Davenport
13. Margaret Alice
5. William Davenport
55
SECOND AND THIRD FAMILIES
MARY NIBLEY
Born:
HANNAH SOPHIA TOOMBS
May 4, 1836
Born:
January 15, 1848
Baptized:
Baptized:
Married: John Harrison Maughan,
August 18, 1863
Married: John Harrison Maughan,
October 31, 1868
Died:
Died:
May 3, 1877
January 30, 1939
CHILDREN
CHILDREN
1. Jane Nibley
1. James Toombs
2. Charles Nibley
56
JOHN HARRISON MAUGHAN
(First child of Peter and Ruth Harrison Maughan)
by
George Harrison Maughan
and
Joseph Howard Maughan
John Harrison Maughan was born October 8, 1830, in the city of Alston, England. Halfway around
the world, in America, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints had been organized just six
months before. Eight years later, as John reached the age of accountability, the gospel would be preached
to his parents. They would accept the message. And from that time on, John’s destiny would be shaped by
the Church.
The country where John spent his youth is within twenty miles of the Scottish border. Alston was a
farming and mining town on the south fork of the River Tyne where it flows northward down from the
highlands of north central England. It is a beautiful area with high forest-covered mountains to the south
and west. The Nant River flows westward through the city of Alston. Small fertile farms along its course
add to the beauty as this stream circles in from the south and east.
There is a rolling-hills country to the north, part of the broad river valley of the Tyne that empties
into the North Sea fifty or sixty miles eastward. The whole is an important and historic area in English
history. The city of Carlisle, twenty miles northwest, is on the Firth of Solway, a branch of the Irish Sea,
and Newcastle and Gates Head are important port cities to the east on the North Sea.
From Alston there is a road leading up another, swifter branch of the Tyne which has its source
among the tallest peaks of England. This road drifts westward over a ridge on its way toward Preston and
Liverpool, passing through the picturesque lake district where poets like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey
and others produced some of their best literature before and after John Maughan was born. This road was
the one John’s father, Peter, followed on his trips to the Mormon Church headquarters in the late 1830’s.
Had John remained in England he probably would have gone to work in the lead and copper mines
of Alston, just as his father had done. But that was not to be.
John was eleven years old when his mother died in 184L That same year Peter Maughan took his
family and sailed to the new world of America. John and Agnes were old enough to be of some help and
comfort to their father during this trying time. They were also old enough to sense some of the import of
events that were taking place. They felt most keenly the loss of their mother. And the death of two month
57
old sister, Ruth, while they were at sea was almost as cruel a blow to them as it was to their father.
John was old enough to remember all his life the terrible storm they passed through, where their
lives were in danger both from the high seas and from loosened boxes and trunks that slid and plunged
across the decks where they ate and slept.
During this time of stress, Peter Maughan needed a man to help him, and John began to take upon
himself the responsibilities of manhood. As a boy of eleven, he helped his father build a new house on
their lot in Nauvoo.
When John was fourteen and his brother William eleven, they went with their father to develop a
church coal mine at Rock River, one hundred miles up the Mississippi from Nauvoo. This was a time of
tragic events in the history of the Church. The Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were
martyred while the Maughan family was on Rock River. Persecution of the Mormons was rampant, and
the Maughan boys must have had a great many unanswered questions in their minds. Their father was
always a great example of faith and dedication to the gospel.
Mary Ann Weston had joined the family soon after they arrived in Nauvoo. As a wife to Peter and
a mother to the children, she proved to be a rock of strength. But there came a time, while they were
living at Rock River, when the resources of the entire family proved to be inadequate. It was only through
the kindness of friends that they survived. During one entire year they were plagued with illness
(malaria). At its worst the family was so stricken that not one of them was able to wait on the others.
In the fall of 1845 they returned to Nauvoo, and saw the Mormon people making ready to cross the
plains. They witnessed the sad exodus of hundreds of families across the Mississippi River westward in
the winter and early spring of 1846.
John Maughan’s father had put his time and resources into the mines. He could not leave with the
body of the Church for the Rocky Mountains because he had no equipment, but he had skill as a miner,
and two boys who were willing to work. They moved in April 1846 to Galena, Illinois and then to New
Diggins, Wisconsin in a lead mining area. Father and sons worked together. New Diggins was a family
venture and John’s success along with his father and brother. Together they shared the joy of being ready
for the journey west in the spring of 1850. John was going on twenty.
They purchased twelve head of oxen and four cows and two prairie schooners. Then with most of
their cattle hitched to these great wagons, they began a fifteen hundred mile trek that lasted five months.
John drove one of the wagons, walking beside the oxen. It was an historic, often thrilling, sometimes sad
march for him. He grieved with the rest of his family at the death of his little three year old brother, Peter,
who was crushed under the wheels of one of the heavy wagons. He was buried in a little unknown grave
58
somewhere on the plains.
This type of natural disaster was difficult enough to accept. But when the dread disease cholera
broke out in the train, the people were utterly helpless. They were miles from skilled medical aid. But
even if that help had been available, it would have been baffled in the presence of this ghastly marauding
disease. At that time the germ theory of disease had been barely announced, and it was not until twenty
seven years later (1877) that the theory of contagion by microscopic organism received experimental
proof and was accepted. No one knew what caused cholera, except that it was very contagious, and to be
attacked by it was almost certain death. There was no known cure. Cholera was feared with a mortal
terror.
At the appearance of the disease John Maughan who was under twenty, his brother William just
over sixteen, and two Parker boys about the same age were appointed to dig the graves and bury the dead.
They were promised that while they did their duty they would be protected from harm.
There were seventeen cases of cholera in the company, and sixteen burials. On the appearance of a
case a grave was immediately dug. No one was allowed to come near the body excepting these boys, One
night after digging a grave in a drizzling rain they returned to camp where, guided by a lone flicker of
candle light in a wagon, they found a little girl keeping watch over her dead grandmother who was the
victim of the grim reaper. At another time as they dug a grave for a little boy who had become ill they
were notified that another case had appeared; and as they were in the process of enlarging the grave they
were again notified that still another case had come down. That night they buried the three small boys of a
single family in one grave.
Finally the last case was reported. The grave was dug. And then the unexpected happened. The
victim a young woman, recovered, and journeyed to Utah where she lived to rear a family.
None of the boys who had come so closely in contact with the dead were attacked by the scourge.
Soon after arriving in Salt Lake City, Peter Maughan with his family was called to go to Tooele,
where they lived for four years. There John found a young woman by the name of Sarah Mariah
Davenport, whom he married July 24, 1853. An interesting story is told of their first meeting. On the
journey to the West, as the Davenport family approached the campground, they saw a blazing campfire.
Sarah Mariah was cold in the chill autumn air. She is reported to have said to her parents that if the
builder of the fire would let her warm herself by it she would marry him. The pioneer campers were the
Peter Maughan family. Evidently it was John who had built the fire.
James Davenport, Mariah’s father, had been the blacksmith in Brigham Young’s first company
59
which arrived in Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. He later went back to the “States” and brought his
family west.
The years spent in Tooele Valley were fraught with hardships, with frequent Indian scares and
crop failures. The Maughans were happy for a change when in 1856 they were sent north to settle Cache
Valley.
John and Mariah, with their two-year-old daughter, Sarah, and six-week-old Mary, were among
the first seven families to settle permanently in Cache Valley, under the capable leadership of John’s
father, Peter Maughan. On September 15, the company landed on the creek near the present site of
Wellsville, where they founded Maughan’s Fort. During the winter following, with scanty provisions in
camp, John, in company with others, journeyed over the mountains on snow shoes to Brigham City where
food to replenish the stock of this little company was secured. At one time, to the delight of the home
folks, he returned with a 50 pound sack of flour on his back.
Sickness among the people was often a problem In a pioneer community. The capable midwife
who brought the babies often gave general health aid, as well. The administering to the sick by Elders of
the Church was also a health calling. For sickness a variety of remedies were tried.
The first winter in the valley an epidemic of boils on the bodies of people plagued the community.
This was especially severe in the case of children. Mariah, the wife of John Maughan, told how she was
led to discover a remedy.
One night Mariah dreamed they went out to the rose bushes along the nearby creek. Removing the
covering of snow she dreamed they found a blue mold among the rose leaves beneath the bushes. With
this mold she dreamed they poulticed the boils on the children.
Mariah was so impressed that she awakened John and told him her dream. John, too, was
impressed.
The next morning they went out and found the blue mold. With it they poulticed the boils on the
children. This resulted in a speedy recovery.
Could this have been the discovery of penicillin? John and Mariah thought it to be an intercession
of Divine Providence.
John and family lived in Maughan’s Fort for six years, except for parts of the years 1858 and 1859,
when they were ordered to move south on the approach of Johnston’s Army (March, 1858). John took his
family to Grantsville, Mariah’s old home near Tooele. Returning to Cache Valley, they lived at Willard
the winter of 1859. John, with most of the men who had taken their families out of the valley in the
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spring, returned to harvest crops in the fall and plant for another harvest, for they always expected to
return. In April, 1859, the Maughans--Peter, John and William--went back to Maughan’s Fort, their
Cache Valley home.
On April 4, 1857, Cache County was organized with Peter Maughan, judge of probate; William
Garner, Orange Thompson, John Garr, selectmen; William Garr, sheriff: Francis Gunnell, recorder; and
John Maughan, treasurer.
In 1864 John, with a small company, went into Bear Lake country and pioneered the settlement of
Paris. In the early spring of 1865, while the snow was still deep in the mountains, he, in a party of five
men, returned to Logan, journeying on snow shoes up over the mountains from Paris and down through
Cub River Canyon. Camping at night at about the forks of the Cub River, the party was driven by a
piercing wind down into the bottom of the canyon, where the snow was deep. Here, by means of a fire,
they thawed down through eight feet of snow and eventually dried the ground. They then extinguished the
fire and made beds for the night with the blankets which they carried on their backs.
On the following day they journeyed down the river to the present site of Franklin. There they
found the stream swollen and difficult to cross. As they were debating the question of how to effect a
crossing, a large piece of ice broke with a crash from the opposite bank a short distance upstream, and as
if guided by an unseen hand swung crosswise of the stream as it floated down, spanning the entire width
of the river. Seizing the opportunity as it came, the men crossed this temporary ferry to safety on the other
side.
In 1866 John and his family returned to Cache Valley, and with six other families settled the town
of Weston. But a part of their hearts would always remain in Bear Lake country, where they had buried an
infant child, William Davenport.
During these years of founding settlements, contact with the elements of nature and with the living
things of the plains and mountains were intimate and oftentimes stern. The red men, whose native haunts
had been invaded, presented an ever present problem. Many times, the very existence of the settlers
depended upon the skill and tact with which the Indian was handled.
Proceeding on the premise laid down by Brigham Young that it was easier to feed them than to
fight them, it was usually not too difficult to live at peace with the Indians--as long as the supplies which
could be spared by the pioneers were sufficient to satisfy the native tribesmen.
But in the early years the demands of the Indians often far exceeded the ability of the settlers to
give. Soon after the founding of Weston, Chief Pocatello of the Shoshones, a warlike and aggressive
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leader, with nineteen of his braves came and camped a short distance below the town. By messenger he
communicated with John Maughan, demanding four fat beeves and flour. He threatened that if they were
not forthcoming he would order the massacre of everyone in the little settlement.
John Maughan sent word back that he could not have four beeves, but only one small beef,
because they did not have that many beeves for their own squaws and papooses. At that,
Pocatello led his band up to the town. They were dressed in their breechclouts and streaked with
war paint. Pocatello repeated his demand.
In the face of this peril John answered chief Pocatello that a messenger would be dispatched to tell
Peter Maughan; and if the Indian chief carried out his threat, before he could get over the hills he would
be overtaken and killed. At the mention of Peter Maughan Pocatello’s countenance changed.
Withdrawing into conference with his warriors he decided to accept John Maughan’s offer of one beef.
Years later Chief Pocatello returned, this time bringing also the squaws and papooses of his tribe.
The settlers were in better circumstances by this time, and they gave him the amount of beef he had
demanded in his first encounter.
It should not, however, be thought that all the Indians were of the temperament of Pocatello. There
were many friendly Indians who visited the settlements. Trade with the red men was often a distinct
benefit to the pioneers. At one time in the early days of the settlement, a destitute little band of Indians
came to Wellsville from east of the mountains asking for food. In response to a request from Peter
Maughan that food be supplied, John gave them a yearling steer, almost the only one he had. The Indians
never forgot this. Thereafter, as they returned to the settlements with their wares of meats and skins for
sale and barter, they always came first to the home of John Maughan, giving him a chance to take freely
what he wanted.
John’s wife, Mariah, told of how she selected, from the Indians’ pack, some beautiful, almost
white buck8kin, from which she made a skirt to wear to Conference in Salt Lake City.
One autumn evening, as John and his little household sat around the family hearth, the door
opened and an Indian rolled a fine, freshly killed deer from his shoulders onto the floor.
At another time this Indian came with a strange request which troubled John. The Indian
wanted his gun. On the advice of Peter Maughan the request was granted. A few days later the gun
was returned by the Indian, who came leading some horses.
This brief explanation was given: “Indian take horses. Indian take horses no more.”
“Where did you find them?” asked John
Pointing over the mountains the Indian answered, “Long way.”
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“How many Indians stole your horses?” he was asked.
Holding up four fingers he said, “That many.”
After this the Indian borrowed the gun many times and usually returned with game which he
divided with his white friend.
Perhaps the greatest struggle which the settlers had was with the land itself. What with scourges of
grasshoppers and lack of water they went through some slim years. But gradually they conquered.
Irrigation ditches were dug, and the land began to fulfill its productive promise.
John Maughan homesteaded a good piece of land, three-hundred-twenty acres extending down the
Bear River “in the south field.” George Harrison Maughan, a grandson, recalls the abundance of that farm
in later years:
What a delight it was to go down to ‘the old ranch’! There was good fishing in the river,
and duck hunting in the sloughs, in the fall. Just to ride over the broad, level fields, or to work in
the haying, to ‘tromp’ hay and play in the big barn was a real vacation and a boy’s delight. To sit
by the cold spring in the hillside between the barn and the house and drink of its refreshing water
and to eat the crisp watercress are delightful memories. We stood the buckets of milk and jars of
butter in that spring to keep them cold in summer.
John’s love for the land is evident in the following story which he related to his grandson, George
Harrison Maughan:
Spring had come. We were plowing and planting the grain and hay crops and had come
to a field with long, level furrows. By our measurements it contained just five acres. That
morning I left the barn with my fine young yoke of steers while some of the stars were still
shining and reached the field before it was quite light. I chose to plow around the field, which
would leave the ‘dead furrow’ in the middle when the plowing was finished. Those steers
could pull that fourteen-inch plow and move as fast as I could walk holding the handles. When
noon came, I undid the ox-bows and let down their yoke and the oxen began to graze on rich,
young grass where they stood. I ate my lunch, watered the oxen and we were plowing again at
the end of half an hour. Without resting, we moved steadily and rapidly up and down that
field, the moist earth flashing over the glistening mouldboard, landing beautifully upside down
in the previous furrow. As the stars came out that night we plowed the last furrow and finished
that field, five acres in a day.
Along with his farming John also had a store in a one-room log building in Weston. Wilson
Robbins, who became his son-in-law, was partner in this venture. Robbins married Sarah, John’s oldest
daughter.
John was also busy in civic and church affairs. He served as bishop of Weston for eight years,
between 1867 and 1875. The people prospered during this period and a thriving ward was developed.
They built a combined meeting house-school house in 1868. It remained in use for both purposes until the
late 1890’s. Before this, school was held in a small log house belonging to John Maughan. The first
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school teacher was William Dees with five pupils.
John served two terms as justice of the peace in Weston. One of his cases was when two travelers
came to town and stayed several days. One of the pair was a great talker. He could solve the perplexing
problems of the day. He was most critical of government and knew how to save the world. It was a
Sunday afternoon and many of the boys and men sat around on John Maughan’s lawn and listened enrapt
to his discourse.
Next morning word spread that the Preston Brothers’ store had been robbed. All the cash in the
till, some eighteen dollars, had been taken. Tobacco, clothing, some ammunition and other goods were
also missing. The two strangers were suspected. Who else could it be. Everybody else lived in Weston.
All they did and much of what they thought was common knowledge, and they were all known to be
honest.
“John Henry” Campbell, the biggest and most silent man in Weston, was constable. He was just
the man to capture and bring back the criminals. It took him one week. The next Sunday he was back with
both his prisoners handcuffed together. He had followed their trail northward through the other
communities, where they had disposed of some of the stolen articles. When they were overtaken they
were wearing some of the stolen clothing.
The night they were brought back they slept on the bare floor in the sitting room of the justice of
the peace, John Maughan’s home, with the deputy sheriff between them handcuffed to each. Next day
they were tried and convicted and sent to jail in Malad, the County Seat.
The family of John Maughan was growing rapidly during this period. In 1863 he had taken a
second wife, Mary Nibley, and in 1868 he married Hannah Sophia Tombs. In 1875 the civil authorities
were arresting men who were living openly with more than one wife. Idaho officials, where the Mormon
population was less than twenty percent, was trying with greater success to enforce legislation against the
practice of polygamy. Since Weston was in Idaho, John Maughan was affected.
He was advised to move south for a while, which he did, taking Mary Nibley with him. At Kanab
he was asked by President Brigham Young to go on a mission to the Zuni Indians.
The Zunis were a proud, agriculturally oriented people living in the semi-desert territory of
northwestern New Mexico. They were discovered by Francisco Vasques de Coronado in 1540, when he
was searching for the fabled seven cities of Cibola. The seven cities were supposed to be inhabited by
beautiful people who were immensely rich with gold. The Zunis had no gold, but they were a happy
people who were making a success of life in their chosen territory. They kept flocks of sheep, planted
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corn and beans and depended somewhat on hunting and livestock for subsistence, When John Maughan
went to them they were living much as they had when Coronado made his visit three hundred years
earlier.
The early Mormons in the region settled about twenty miles east of the Indian village of Zuni.
They called their settlement Savoya. John and Mary Nibley Maughan came as missionaries to the Zunis
about the time that Savoya was first settled. They had with them their eleven-year-old daughter Jane
Nibley Maughan. The journey from Weston was covered by team and wagon, a distance of more than six
hundred miles.
Mary became pregnant and was confined on May 10, 1877. She and the baby died in childbirth.
Stories of this tragic death are found in the diaries of several women. One a Mrs. Hunt, who was present,
describes her own sorrow and sympathy for this poor missionary woman no one was able to help. John
made a headstone out of the colorful sandstone nearby, to mark her grave. This marker has not yet been
found.
During the summer John journeyed to Mexico. He took his young daughter, Jane, with
him, leaving her at times in the care of other missionaries. John went ostensibly to study the
prospects for other settlements. Edward Eyring, in his eighty-eighth year in 1958, remembered
John visiting his father in Colonia Juarez, Mexico. He described John as a dignified, important
man.
John Maughan and his daughter, Jane, returned home to Weston in the fall of 1877. During John’s
stay among the Zuni Indians he had become intimately familiar with their customs and philosophy, and
knew the Indian chiefs of several tribes. His descriptions spoke of their dependability after they had given
their word, their pride of tradition, and the family honor. He had been greatly impressed by their physical
endurance and stamina.
One story he told of a young buck (Indian) who went for a sheep in the flock of a neighboring tribe
miles away. This young Indian left one morning on a slow trot, which speed he maintained all the way to
the other village. After a short parley with the other Indians he went to the flock, found the sheep, and
began to follow it on his slow run, driving the sheep and working it out of the flock and finally over the
hills toward his own village. The distance both ways between the Indian villages was covered with no rest
and at a slow run. It lasted the greater part of the day. John gave this as an example of the Indians’ lasting
power and patience. He said they were very fleet of foot as well.
John was a man who would appreciate such physical strength. For like many another Maughan
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since, he possessed a sense of competitiveness and athletic skill. It was said that he could toe a mark and
jump eleven feet, turn and toe the mark left by his heels, and jump the same distance back.
Perhaps the most prosperous years of John Maughan’s life came between 1877 and 1885.
Railroads were building. John, with his sons, helped build the Utah Northern Railroad into Cache Valley,
and later the narrow gauge Utah and Northern into Montana. Successive contracts for building the grades
kept up with the progress of railroad construction until it reached Deer Lodge, then the terminal in
Montana.
He spent some time hauling freight with well-equipped wagons and teams from Corinne, Utah to
Boise, Idaho. He spoke of the difficult roads over this three-hundred-mile stretch of semi-desert. He
described the descent into the deep, lava— sided valley of the Snake River, near the site of what is now
Twin Falls, Idaho. He described the ferry there and the one at Glenn’s Ferry farther down the river. He
told of the great sturgeon in the river, far up stream from their ocean habitat. Some were “as long as a
boat” and caused concern lest they inadvertently run into the slight craft which he was rowing. This was
at Glenn’s Ferry below the twin falls, above which they were not found.
John Harrison Maughan was a reserved, dignified, and modest man. He met life in the fields. He
was tough, morally and physically. He loved life and living things, and was out in his garden at dawn, He
was loved and respected by his own. His life was an example all his descendents might well follow.
As a bishop counseling his flock or as a father testifying to his children, John always expressed his
gratitude for the missionary program of the Church. The missionaries had found him and his father’s
family in England and had brought them to the promised land of America, with the Gospel as their way of
life. He rejoiced in seeing his sons fulfill missions. Two of his sons, James Toombs Maughan (mother,
Hannah), and Hyrum Davenport (mother, Mariah), were on missions at the same time. James, after filling
an honorable mission, had but recently returned home when Hyrum, still on his mission and making
excellent progress was stricken with appendicitis, at that time called inflammation of the bowels, He died
in Anderson, Indiana, June 3, 1899. He was twenty-seven years old, The loss of so promising a young son
did not embitter the family. He had died in the service of the Lord.
The family of John Maughan is extensive and growing. To the first wife, Mariah, were born
thirteen children; to the second, Mary, three; and to the third, Hannah, one--a total of seventeen. From that
beginning the family has increased to a multitude. May they keep the faith of their fathers.
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ADA LUCILLE
(Third Child of Peter and Elizabeth Frances Preator Maughan)
by
Walter L. Maughan
Who knows why an infant is born into the world to stay but a few weeks and die without ever
having experienced the fullness of life? To what purpose? God in his wisdom knows. And the spirit that
paused so briefly on the stage of life knows. The mother who sensed the sweetness of an infant
personality, so rich in its simplicity, she knows the purpose and meaning of that life.
And though the reason for her passing after so brief a stay may elude all human understanding, the
mother would not for a moment have wished that the child had not been here. Her life has been enriched
beyond measure by her association and her communication with the child. And though some may see fit
to question--and some may scoff--the mother knows that death did not signal the utter end of their
association.
That vibrant personality cannot be killed by death. She lives on in the memory of those who loved
her. She is a part of her mother now. And soon they will walk together in a land of sunshine and flowers.
For that is the secret message that passed between them in the language no one knows.
Ada Lucille Maughan was born in Cache Valley, March 3, 1871, less than two months
before the death of her pioneer father. She was almost six months when she contracted whooping
cough and followed her father to the grave, August 31, 1871.
Let her name be recorded in the book as a princess and an heir equal with her sisters in the house
of Maughan.
[Note by CVMaughan: Included because of the message and author.]
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APPENDIX
THE 1931 MONUMENT
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THE 1931 MONUMENT
THIS MONUMENT ERECTED IN HONOR OF THESE PIONEER MEN AND THEIR
FAMILIES WHO ON SEPT. 15, 1856 FOUNDED THE FIRST WHITE SETTLEMENT IN
CACHE VALLEY THEN KNOWN AS MAUGHAN’S FORT NOW KNOWN AS
WELLSVILLE, UTAH
PETER MAUGHAN
MARY ANN WESTON MAUGHAN
CHARLES W. MAUGHAN
JOSEPH W. MAUGHAN
HYRUM W. MAUGHAN
WILLARD W. MAUGHAN
GEORGE W. BRYAN
ZIAL RIGGS
EMELINE KNOX RIGGS
EGBERT Z. RIGGS
CELIA K. RIGGS
ROBERT K. RIGGS
DELIA K. RIGGS
JOHN MAUGHAN
SARAH M. DAVENPORT
SARAH A. MAUGHAN
MARY A. MAUGHAN
WILLIAM H. MAUGHAN
BARBARA MORGAN MAUGHAN
RUTH M. MAUGHAN
FRANCIS W. GUNNELL
POLLY ANN EDWARDS GUNNELL
FRANCIS C. GUNNELL
SARAH E. GUNNELL
O. D. THOMSON
DEDICATED FOUNDER’S DAY 1931
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THE FIRST MONUMENT
This monument was erected by the people of Cache Valley in appreciation of Peter Maughan’s
leadership. It was made of sandstone. In approximately seventy years of standing, the sandstone
weathered until the writing on it was not legible. Accordingly, the Maughan family replaced this
monument with a granite shaft and bronze marker in 1941.
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A MONUMENT OF STONE
By
Walter L. Maughan
After the death of Peter Maughan the grateful citizens of Cache Valley raised a monument to his name. It
was an impressive column of sandstone which they placed over his grave, a suitable memorial to the man
who had served as colonizer, political leader, and religious counselor to the people during the early
settlement of the valley. But with the passage of the years, the sandstone began to weather away, The time
came when the monument was no longer a suitable memorial.
Strangers visiting the cemetery passed it by without understanding its importance, The children and
grandchildren of the pioneer saw something of their own identity disintegrating with the decaying stone.
Since they were proud of their heritage, they decided that this could not be. Heber C. Maughan, the only
living child of Peter and president of the Maughan Family Organization, spoke the mind of all when he
suggested that something be done to insure that the pioneer would not be forgotten. Two projects were set
in motion. A committee was appointed to investigate costs and other requirements for a new monument to
be erected at the grave of Peter Maughan. And the various branches of the family were encouraged to
write their own histories. These histories have been read at the biennial reunions of the Maughan family.
And now they have been compiled in this work.
The monument committee was set up in 1935. It consisted of the following members representing the
twelve branches of the family.
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BRANCH OF THE FAMILY
COMMITTEE MEMBER
John Maughan
William Maughan
J. Howard Maughan, Chairman
Guy H. Maughan
Peter M. Maughan
Charles N. Maughan
Isabella Crockett
Frank Atkin
Fred Wadsworth
Alta Palmer
James Maughan
Lavinia Maughan
Elizabeth Budge
Martha Davis
Ella M. Hull
Heber C. Maughan
Agnes Teasdale
Mary Ann Atkin
Charles Maughan
Joseph Maughan
Hyrum Maughan
Willard Maughan
Elizabeth Cole
Martha Fergus
Peter W. Maughan
Heber C. Maughan
It took the committee six years to bring the project to a successful conclusion. In the first two year, the
main effort was to determine and select the type of memorial to be erected and to raise funds. After
painstaking investigation it was the unanimous decision of the committee that the monument should be
composed of Utah granite bearing a bronze plaque presenting a study of Peter Maughan. The next two
years were consumed in selecting an artist to design the memorial and in preparing the design. Dr. Avard
Fairbanks, a sculptor of Ann Arbor, Michigan, (a Utahn by birth) was chosen by the committee and
engaged to do this work. During the last two years the design was perfected to the satisfaction of the
committee, the bronze plaque was cast, the granite monument prepared and the monument erected. The
Brown Monument Company of Logan did the granite work and erected the monument. In the Brown
Company were the son and grandson of the original Harry Brown who did the work on the original
monument erected at the grave of Peter Maughan which this memorial replaced.
The monument consists of a Utah granite column almost without flaw or blemish, dimensions 7 1/2’ x 4’
x 1’, resting on a 2’ x 5’ x 1’ base of the same material and a bronze plaque 32” x 46” attached to the
smoothed face of the slab. The plaque bears the bust relief of Peter Maughan and depicts a background of
mountains and a wagon train entering Cache Valley [see photo of this plaque in front (and below)].
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THE NEW MONUMENT
This granite monument with the bronze plaque was erected by the Maughan family organization in 1941.
It replaced a weathered sandstone monument which had stood over Peter Maughan’s grave for seventy
years.
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THE PETER MAUGHAN MONUMENT PLAQUE
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WORDS INSCRIBED ON THE PETER MAUGHAN MEMORIAL
ERECTED TO THE MEMORY
OF
PETER MAUGHAN
PIONEER LEADER
AND
CO-FOUNDER OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS
OF
CACHE VALLEY
1856
FIRST PRESIDENT AND PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE CACHE VALLEY
STAKE OF ZION
FIRST PROBATE JUDGE OF CACHE COUNTY
LEGISLATOR
INDIAN MEDIATOR AND FRIEND
PETER MAUGHAN, SON OF WILLIAM AND MARTHA WILSON MAUGHAN WAS BORN MAY 7,
1811, AT ALSTON, CUMBERLAND COUNTY, ENGLAND. HE JOINED THE CHURCH OF JESUS
CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS AT ALSTON, ENGLAND IN 1837 AND IMMIGRATED TO
AMERICA IN 1841. WHILE AT NAUVOO, ILLINOIS, HE WORKED ON THE TEMPLE, BECAME A
MEMBER OF THE NAUVOO LEGION, AND ENGAGED IN MINING FOR THE CHURCH. AFTER
CROSSING THE PLAINS TO UTAH, IN 1850, HE SETTLED IN TOOELE COUNTY, AND LATER LED
THE FIRST COLONISTS TO CACHE VALLEY WHERE HE ESTABLISHED MAUGHAN’S FORT,
NOW WELLSVILLE, AND LOCATED OTHER SETTLEMENTS.  HE DIED AT LOGAN, UTAH,
APRIL 24, 1871. THIS MEMORIAL, ERECTED BY HIS DECENDANTS, REPLACES IN MORE
ENDURING MATERIALS MONUMENTS RAISED TO HIS MEMORY BY THE PEOPLE OF CACHE
VALLEY.
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The cost of the memorial was $850. 00: (Plaque, $500, 00; granite monument erected with plaque
mounted, $350. 00). It is worthy of note that the artist, Dr. Avard Fairbanks, gave the Maughan family a
special price for his work. Quite frankly he told the committee that a plaque of this quality and size might
have sold for double the price. But it was a work of love and a subject he was particularly interested in, he
being a native Utahn. Funds to pay for the monument were raised by the twelve branches of the family
during the six year period preceding its erection.
The formal unveiling ceremonies of the monument were held at the Logan Cemetery August 2,
1941. A summary of the program follows:
PETER MAUGHAN MEMORIAL ERECTED
Unveiling Ceremonies - 10:00 A. M., August 2, 1941
Logan Cemetery
God Bless Our Mountain Home... musical rendition by mixed quartet, Wellsville Branch.
Dedicatory Prayer... After a few words of tribute, the dedicatory prayer was offered by Elder
Joseph F. Merrill, a member of the quorum of the twelve apostles, Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Unveiling Ceremonies... by twelve girls representing the twelve branches of the Peter
Maughan Family (Selected by members of the monument committee)
Tribute and discussion of the contributions made by the pioneer, Peter Maughan. . . Discussion
by Heber C. Maughan, the only living child of Peter Maughan and President of the
Maughan Family Organization.
Come, Come Ye Saints... Hymn sung by the congregation.
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In the final report of the committee, chairman J. Howard Maughan made this statement which
sums up the real purpose of the monument:
“It is just one hundred years since Peter Maughan immigrated to America. It is most fitting that we,
his posterity, should thus honor this great forebear. He was a pioneer leader who gave his life in the New
World to the service of his fellow man, but most of all he gave to his family membership in the Church
and all that this implies and by leaving all that was dear to him, save the gospel, he brought his family
here to live in Zion. Where would his posterity be today but for his courage and faith and service which
he rendered to his family?
May this monument, erected to his memory by his descendents be the means of drawing all of the
members closer together and of keeping ever fresh in their minds the great service which he rendered to
them. May the memory of Peter Maughan grow brighter in this family with the passing of the years.”
THE DEDICATORY PRAYER
by
Elder Joseph F. Merrill
0, God--Our Father--In the depths of humility and with grateful hearts we, the family of Peter
Maughan, and our friends, do bow before Thee in worship this beautiful morning.
We have met at this sacred spot, 0 Lord, to do honor to one of Thy chosen servants, who heard Thy voice
and was obedient to Thy commands, and wrought, by Thy Power and Influence, his part in the Pioneer
movements of Thy people.
Our hearts go out in praise to Thee, and we are indeed grateful for the heritage that is ours, through this
noble family. We thank Thee that our lot has been cast in pleasant places for the philosophy of
redemption of the children of men which we have received from our forebearers. We are thankful for all
the blessings that have come to us, and pray that we may receive faith and strength to serve Thee and
keep Thy statutes.
In this same spirit of humility, 0 Lord, we present unto Thee this spot of ground as a memorial
to our Father, and ask Thy divine care and blessing to be upon it. May it be shielded from the unnatural
ravages of the elements of nature and the acts of man.
And now, 0 Lord, we dedicate it to the purposes mentioned and may the strength of the stone
and bronze be a symbol of our faith in Thy plan of redemption, and our love and gratitude to our
ancestors.
We pray in the name of Christ, Our Lord, that the descendants of Peter Maughan and all those
who join them, may ever look on Thee for deliverance through the Gospel of Christ.
Let the rains and snow moisten its dry surface; the sun and moon bless it with light; and may
the gentle zephyrs whisper Peace--Rest.
In Christ’s Name--Amen.
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CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
PETER MAUGHAN FAMILY ORGANIZATION
Organized June 12, 1925
Preamble
WHEREAS, the Almighty in his infinite wisdom has planted in the hearts of men a natural desire to
know their ancestry; and
WHEREAS, He has even condescended to call His servant, Elijah, and given him the special mission to
labor among the children of men endeavoring to turn the hearts of relatives, one to the
other; and
WHEREAS, the descendants of the Heir William Maughan of Cumberland County, England, desirous of
advancing in the scale of intelligence and wishing to promote the feelings of kinship as
well as to encourage friendly relations and social intercourse among themselves do, for
and in behalf of every member of said Peter Maughan Family Organization, hereby adopt
the following constitution and by-laws:-
CONSTITUTION
Article I
Name
The name of this Association shall be the “Peter Maughan Family Organization.”
Article II
Organization
Section 1. This Association shall consist of a general organization with object, membership, officers, etc.,
as hereinafter provided and district branches as may be provided by the Executive Council.
Section 2. This Association shall be organized on the 12th day of June, 1925.
Section 3. Failure to hold elections or meetings shall not disorganize the Association.
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Article III
Object
The object of this Association shall be:
1. To perpetuate the memory and genealogy of our family fore-fathers; to prepare and preserve
their history.
2. To cement the ties of kinship between relatives, dead and alive.
3. To invite and encourage kindly feelings and fellowship in general among living members by
frequent association and friendly communication.
Article IV
Membership
All descendants of the heir William Maughan and all persons who join the family by marriage or
adoption are automatically members of this Association.
Article V
Fees
There shall be a biennial membership fee of $1.00 for each individual family, payable on or before
the date of the family reunion, or when designated by the Executive Council. The funds obtained from
this fee shall be used to defray the general expenses of the organization, genealogy and other appropriate
activities. Additional funds may be collected as needed for genealogy and other activities of the
organization.
Article VI
Officers
Section. 1. The officers of this organization shall consist of a president, first vice president, second vice
president, secretary-treasurer, general historian, chairman of the genealogical committee, and
one council member to be appointed by each family branch of the Peter Maughan Family.
These officers shall constitute the Executive Council of the Association.
Section 2. The Executive Council shall be the governing body of the organization. It shall fill vacancies
that may occur, appoint standing committees and special committees as necessary, nominate
officers, to be voted upon at reunions, and perform other appropriate duties of the
organization.
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Article VII
The Constitution and By-Laws may be amended at the biennial meeting by a two-thirds vote of
those present.
Article VIII
The suggested order of business at the biennial meeting of the association is as follows:
Singing, invocation, singing, roll call, minutes, reports of officers, reports of committees, new and
unfinished business, elections of officers, singing, benediction.
BY-LAWS
The president shall preside at meetings, shall call meetings when necessary, and shall exercise
general supervision of the association.
The vice-presidents, in order of precedence, shall preside at meetings if a senior officer is not
present or if otherwise called upon to do so, and shall assist and counsel in all matters pertaining to the
activities of the Association.
The secretary shall take and record all minutes and perform all work usual to this office.
The treasurer shall receive all funds of the association and shall keep an accurate account of the
financial transactions of the Association. He shall be held responsible for funds entrusted to him and shall
exercise due care in paying out money and in this respect be in close touch with the president and
Executive Council and be guided by their decisions.
The general historian shall collect and record all historical and biographical matter pertaining to
the Association. From time to time as may be determined by the Executive Council, aids shall be
appointed to assist the historian in the performance of his duties.
The chairman and members of the genealogical committee shall gather genealogical data, preserve
the same, arrange the data for temple work, institute temple excursions, and otherwise stimulate,
encourage and promote the genealogical and temple interests of all members of the Association.
All standing committees shall consist of a chairman, secretary and as many members as may be
deemed necessary.
(Approved as amended at family reunion, June, 1946)
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Officers of
THE PETER MAUGHAN FAMILY ORGANIZATION, 1970-71
PRESIDENT: Richard J. Maughan
VICE PRESIDENT: Renee McMurdie
VICE PRESIDENT: Alvin C. Hull, Jr.
SECRETARY.-TREASURER: Elna Nielson
HISTORIAN: J. Howard Maughan
FAMILY REPRESENTATIVES
J. Howard Maughan (John Harrison Maughan)
Inez Bergeson (Hyrum Weston Maughan)
Mrs. Myrtle D. Lyon (Agnes M. Teasdale)
Lavinia Maughan (Willard W. Maughan)
Mrs. Audra VonAlmen (Agnes M. Teasdale)
Nettie M. Dames (Willard W. Maughan)
Mrs. Rena M. Leishman (William H. Maughan)
Elizabeth Budge (Elizabeth M. Cole)
Lydia T. Atkin (Mary Ann Atkin)
Mrs. Clarence T. Smedley (Martha M. Fergus)
Renee McMurdie (Charles Weston Maughan)
Ruth Maughan Mitchell (Peter W. Maughan)
Alta Palmer (Joseph W. Maughan)
Mrs. Ada M. Barron (Heber C. Maughan)
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