Samuel James Rowley
Born: 12 January 1868 at Parowan, Iron, Utah Territory, USA
Parents: Samuel Rowley and Ann Taylor
Married: Margaret Ellen Black, 13 Mar 1889 at Manti, Sanpete, Utah, USA
Died: 12 February 1910 at Huntington, Emery, Utah, USA
Margaret Ellen Black
Born: 10 January 1869 at Beaver, Beaver, Utah Territory, USA
Parents: William Morley Black and Amy Jane Washburn
Died: 18 January 1961 at Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA
LIFE SKETCH OF SAMUEL JAMES ROWLEY
Samuel James Rowley, son of Samuel and Ann Taylor Rowley was born January 12, 1868 in Parowan, Iron County, Utah. He was born of pioneer stock. His father (Samuel) at age 14 having traveled by ship from England, and train to Iowa, crossed the plains into Utah territory with the Willie Handcart Company, walking all of the way and enduring sever hardships. His son Samuel James was also called to be a pioneer when he was just a lad.
When Samuel James was 11 years old, his father received a mission call to join in a colonizing effort to extend the borders of Zion by establishing outposts in the vast, unsettled, Four Corners Area, east of the Colorado River where the boundaries of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico join. This area was fast becoming a hangout for outlaws, unfriendly Indians, miner and non-Mormon stockmen. It was a sanctuary for renegades fleeing justice. One writer reports that at one time twelve hundred head of stolen cattle were driven across the Colorado at the crossing of the Fathers. Losses from these raids in sheep, cattle and horses were estimated at more than one million dollars a year. For the safety of the other settlements it was important to have law and order established in that area.
Included in Samuel’s call was his entire family. There were seven children including a one-month old baby: Mary Ann, Samuel James, Hannah Eliza, Sarah Jane, Alice Louisa, George Walter and John Taylor. Hannah’s history describes the thoroughness and neatness of the wagons:
We had two wagons. The first one mother drove with a fine pair of horses we called Prince and Polly. Mother’s wagon had our rag carpet over the wagon bows and under the wagon cover. It had pockets sewed all around to hold the most used articles, such as the comb and brush, soap, washcloths and towels, thread and needles and scissors. It was fixed as convenient as possible. There was a small camp stove in one end and a large box with a till that had sections for knives, forks and other utensils, pots, pan and dishes. Mother, Annie and the small children slept in this wagon.
Father drove the supply wagon with the oxen. There were three yoke of oxen. The head ones, Lepp and Pinto; second in the middle, Roan and Red; last next to the wagon, Broad and Stinker. Father walked by the side of the wagon all the way. This wagon had the provisions, such as flour, beans, shoes, grain, potatoes, etc.
Sam and Hannah rode horses and drove the cattle. At night Sam unhooked the teams and turned them out to feed for the night, then he would gather wood and carry water to the camp. Sam would also tie up the calf to the wagon wheel for the night so he could milk the cow in the morning.
In the supply wagon, the coal oil (kerosene) can sprung a leak and soaked through the floor tainting the flour. Ann continued to make bread from it for although it was bad tasting, it was all they had. Sam had a bad time with that. His mother knew the need of a growing boy and worried about him. Some of the sisters in the camp understood the situation and insisted upon trading some of their good flour of some of Ann’s tainted flour, and other things they knew Sam could eat. (Flour was not the only food that was damaged). He was grateful and so was his mother. It is a beautiful example of Christlike love.
The book The Incredible Passage by Lee Reay has the story of this trek with a remarkable description of the Hole in the Rock experience. Father left no first hand account of it, however his father records it in his history.
They reached the San Juan on the evening of April 6, 1880. “Before the oxen could be unhitched,” records Hannah, “my father and the other men had to give the Indians some money to keep peace with them. They named the town ‘Bluff.’”
Sam’s chief duty in the day time was to guard the cows as they grazed the hills. One day he became very thirsty. He had no water with him and it was too early to take the cows home. Sam remembered an Indian saying that if a thirsty person put a pebble in his mouth, the thirst would go away. Sam looked around for a smooth pebble. It was then he noticed a number of beautiful dark red stones. He put one in his mouth, and sure enough, his thirst began to subside. He became captivated by the lovely stones and picked up a pocket full of them. When he got home, he showed his mother who also thought they were very beautiful. She made a sturdy sack for him to keep them in. Sam had those stones the rest of his life, and it was not until after he died that his wife, Maggie, had them evaluated. They were garnets and were the birth stone for him and his wife–for they were both born in January. Much later, Maggie had some lovely garnet rings made from Sam’s collection. Those remaining stones are still in the family. (Sammy had them until late in her life when she gave them to Wanda, Orson’s daughter.) (Note: The area where Sam found the garnets is now off limits to anyone. It is part of the Navajo reservation.
The winter of 1880-81, Sam attended school in a log cabin with a fireplace in one end and a rough lumber table with rough planks to sit on. Irene Hasket was the teacher. She taught reading, spelling, and geography, and was paid six dollars a term. Annie attended this school with Sam.
Church services were held under the shade of the Cottonwood tree that stood on the piece of land allotted to Samuel and Ann. It was under this same tree that the Bluff Ward was organized with Jens Nielsen as Bishop.
In the Spring of 1883, the Indians brought measles to the town of Bluff. Sam’s little brother Johnny Taylor, got sick and died of complications. Sam’s mother could not consent to having him buried in the first cemetery. It was too close to the treacherous San Juan River. The soil was so sandy the settlers never knew which course the river would take. Little three- and-one-half year old Johnny was the first one buried up on a side hill. This became the permanent town cemetery.
In 1884 Samuel and Ann were too discouraged to stay. Samuel says in his history, “I talked the matter over with President Pratt [Platte] D. Lyman and he said, “Brother Rowley, go and God bless you.” Samuel and Ann moved their family to Huntington, Emery County, Utah, where Samuel’s oldest sister, Eliza, lived.
When they arrived in Huntington, Louisa [Eliza?] made them welcome. Young Sam helped his father haul logs from the canyon to build a home. This was a one room log house, but they were grateful for it and it was not long until forty acres were purchased and a larger more comfortable home was built.
It was here in Huntington that Samuel James met Margaret Ellen Black. The old Bowery in Huntington played a major part in the lives of all the young people. It was the center for all social activity in the summer, and played an important part in their courtship. When Sam asked her to marry him, she knew he was the man she wanted for her eternal companion, but her mother had just passed away and she felt the loss very keenly. Her mother had been an invalid and Maggie (as she was called by everyone) had taken all of the responsibility of her care. She accepted Sam, but she could not feel the peace and happiness she should have known. She was too raw from her recent loss. However, they went ahead with their plans. They got their recommends and had their trip to Manti Temple planned for that fall. But at the last minute, Maggie told Sam she just couldn’t do it. This was the night before they were to leave! She loved him, she said, but couldn’t they wait just a little longer? Sam said, “No, if you don’t want me now you never will. I’m not coming back to see you any more, Maggie, but if you change your mind just let me know.” The next thing Maggie knew, Sam was going out with her half-sister, Hattie! Maggie’s uneasiness increased as he continued to see Hattie all winter. Maggie could not bear the thought that he might marry someone else, so one day when she saw him riding down the road, she sent her brother, Orson, to meet him and tell him Maggie wanted to see him. In just a few minutes Sam was there. They talked. Sam let her know he still loved her, and she promised she would not back out this time. They made the trip to Manti the next month, March 13, 1889 and were married by Daniel H. Wells, and on her father and mother’s wedding day 38 years before, the same Daniel H. Wells had performed the ceremony.
...Their story continues at FamilySearch -- Samuel James Rowley
Sources:
1 FamilySearch -- Samuel James Rowley
2 George Edward Anderson Photograph Collection, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold
B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.
Right-click [Mac Control-click] to open full-size image:
Samuel James, Annie and Margaret Rowley, 1874
Margaret and Samuel James Rowley, 1889
Children of Samuel James and Margaret Ellen Black Rowley
Front: Alice Leona, Clara May. Back: Orson Zera, James Alphonzo about 1901.