Youth Settlers
PRESERVING THE PAST FOR THE FUTURE
Children and Teens Who Helped Settle Kaysville
To be considered a pioneer, people had to have come to Utah before the railroad entered the territory in 1869. After the two transcontinental railroads met at Promontory, those who immigrated to the Kaysville area may still have suffered hardships crossing the ocean and entering the United States. They, however, were able to ride by train instead of walking across the plains. Their sense of adventure or willingness to face hardship was similar in both situations.
CROSSING THE GREAT AMERICAN PLAINS
The 1850 census counted almost 100 youth in the settlement of Kay’s Ward. A decade later their numbers had risen, but for many their circumstances remained unchanged. Of the group of settlers who were living in Kay’s Ward by 1851, most had originated in England, but some came from New England while a few were from the southern states. They came primarily as family groups including children of all ages. Sadly, some young people had lost their parents in what was known as Indian Territory, on sea in the Gulf of Mexico, or crossing the plains. Having been orphaned, they traveled on their own or were incorporated into family groups. Most walked across the plains, but some were young enough to be carried by their parents. Very few were allowed to ride even a portion of the way. After having walked so far, it is easy to imagine that the majority of young people would have wanted to make this mountain desert home, but some parents moved their families on in search of more land. And so, the children either helped to build a home along the creeks of what is now Kaysville and Fruit Heights or picked up and trekked on.
Stories of Young Pioneers and Settlers
Rebecca Phillips
1852 – 1906
Rebecca was said to be the first white girl born in Kaysville, although other indigenous babies were born in the area earlier. When grown into childhood, she attended public schools and attended a singing school conducted in her home where the music professor boarded for free so the children could learn cultured activities. Her family loved music. Later she attended the University of Deseret, now the University of Utah.
George Tilton Hyde
1866 – 1906
Christmas in Kaysville, when he was about twelve, was a time George remembered his whole life. He came down the cold stairway, reached around the corner and took down his stocking from the fireplace mantlepiece. His presents that year were a jelly dough-nut, a singing top, an orange, and some peanuts. He and his siblings had cornmeal mush for breakfast with milk and cream and hot biscuits. For dinner, they ate turkey, beef and mince pies, made by his sister.
Everett Clark Van Orden
1834 – 1911
When he was an older man, Everett told his son that he wore out his shoes while walking across the plains and was forced to continue barefoot. He left a trail of bloody footprints. His span of horses got loose one night, and the next morning he followed their tracks for about two miles. A native on horseback returned the animals, having apparently seen the footprints. The horsemen generously gave him his own moccasins, which were worn throughout the rest of the journey.
Robert James Burton
1863 – 1939
James arrived in Kaysville from England at the age of two years old. He was so young that his mother may have carried him part way on the trek west. After settling in Kaysville, mostly he remembered eating bread and molasses, but occasionally some potato or squirrel meat. He wore made over clothing until he was sixteen, went barefoot from spring until fall while herding cattle and plowing fields.
James Burrup
1831 – 1888
James was eighteen years old when his extended family left England for Utah. Because he traveled with his elderly grandmother, he was the male head of the house. Together they moved in with two uncles and their families into a log cabin in Kaysville. Their families were among the first permanent settlers in the area. He later married one of the daughters of Mr. Kay for whom the town was named.
Thomas Evans
1846 – 1916
Born in Wales, Thomas was ten years old when his father and step-mother brought him to America. He arrived in Kaysville at the age of ten having walked with the assistance of a cane all the way. He had broken his leg when younger and it had not been set correctly, leaving him with a limp. His aged grandmother accompanied him step for step as she set the pace he would need to keep as the handcart company proceeded.
William Wilkie Galbraith
1838 – 1898
Just as he was leaving his teenage years, William and his friend William Blood were called to meet Johnston’s Amy. The job the two Williams were given was to guard the town. They were told to set fire to everything in town including houses, barns, and haystacks if the army approached. Wearing blue and white checked shirt his mother had made, he watered crops and watched for the soldiers who never made it so far north.
Emily Stewart
Emily was five years old when her family came to the United States by ship. Her recollection of the Mormon Cricket invasion when they ate all the crops. She also remembered that the first winter was very cold because they were living in the wagon. Her mother would get a tin pail full of hot coals and put them by the children to try to keep them warm. She only had a little blue jacket to wear. When the wolves got close to the wagon box, the children were very afraid, but their parents kept them safe.
Horton David Haight
1832 – 1900
Horton was born in New York, but trekked across the plains in 1847 when he was fifteen years old. While walking and at each camp, his job was to take care of the oxen. When the wagon company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, his family was the first to settle on Haight’s Creek in Blooming Grove on the border between Kaysville and Farmington.
Martha Simmons
1851 – 1936
Martha’s family arrived in New York by ship from England on New Years Day, but they were robbed. Her father had his pockets picked and suddenly they were almost penniless. The whole family was forced to work for another five years while sometimes begging on street corners to earn enough to cross the plains. After arriving in Kaysville at the age of ten, Martha and the other children were so hungry that a stolen raw potato seemed like a feast.
Joseph Barton
1848 – 1932
All children dream of what they will be when they grow up. Joseph became a pioneer, surveyor, railroad construction engineer, Utah State legislator, and railroad superintendent. For fun, he was also a member of the Kaysville Brass Band. He was 18 old when was selected to be the band’s captain and musical director.
Martha Ann Henderson
She was an orphan when she crossed the plains in the summer of 1847, her parents having died in Nauvoo Illinois. The children were divided up amongst relatives and friends, so she pioneered with one family and was said to have been a ward of another. She was able to meet up with her uncle when she arrived in Kaysville at age 15.
Charles Barnes
1848 – 1926
Born in England, Charles lived close to his grandparents in a beautiful little village along a river. When his family emigrated by ship to the United States, his grandparents and uncle traveled together. During the trip across the Atlantic Ocean, he fell into a flour barrel upside down. Because he was just five years old, he couldn’t get out by himself. Luckily, someone rescued him, but that scary moment was forever imprinted on his memory.
Susannah Ellen Ellison
1855 – 1938
At the age of 13, while helping make molasses, Susannah’s right arm was ground in the cogwheels of a machine. Before a doctor could reach her, gangrene had set in. She endured extreme pain, but with the doctor’s skill and her parents’ faith, her arm and her life were spared. When she married a Kaysville man, she became the mother of ten children.
Daniel Harvey
1860 – 1942
Having emigrated in 1863 at age three, the family moved to east Kaysville as one of the first settlers there. Daniel and his father herded sheep on the mountainside. They had much trouble with coyotes and bears killing the animals. He recalled often meeting Native Americans of the Washakie and Little Soldier bands picking choke cherries on those foothills.
Rebecca Phillips
1852 – 1906
Rebecca was said to be the first white girl born in Kaysville, although other indigenous babies were born in the area earlier. When grown into childhood, she attended public schools and attended a singing school conducted in her home where the music professor boarded for free so the children could learn cultured activities. Her family loved music. Later she attended the University of Deseret, now the University of Utah.
George Tilton Hyde
1866 – 1958
Christmas in Kaysville, when he was about twelve, was a time George remembered his whole life. He came down the cold stairway, reached around the corner and took down his stocking from the fireplace mantlepiece. His presents that year were a jelly dough-nut, a singing top, an orange, and some peanuts. He and his siblings had cornmeal mush for breakfast with milk and cream and hot biscuits. For dinner, they ate turkey, beef and mince pies, made by his sister.
Everett Clark Van Orden
1834 – 1911
When he was an older man, Everett told his son that he wore out his shoes while walking across the plains and was forced to continue barefoot. He left a trail of bloody footprints. His span of horses got loose one night, and the next morning he followed their tracks for about two miles. A native on horseback returned the animals, having apparently seen the footprints. The horsemen generously gave him his own moccasins, which were worn throughout the rest of the journey.
Robert James Burton
1863 – 1939
James arrived in Kaysville from England at the age of two years old. He was so young that his mother may have carried him part way on the trek west. After settling in Kaysville, mostly he remembered eating bread and molasses, but occasionally some potato or squirrel meat. He wore made over clothing until he was sixteen, went barefoot from spring until fall while herding cattle and plowing fields.
James Burrup
1831 – 1888
James was eighteen years old when his extended family left England for Utah. Because he traveled with his elderly grandmother, he was the male head of the house. Together they moved in with two uncles and their families into a log cabin in Kaysville. Their families were among the first permanent settlers in the area. He later married one of the daughters of Mr. Kay for whom the town was named.
Thomas Evans
1846 – 1916
Born in Wales, Thomas was ten years old when his father and step-mother brought him to America. He arrived in Kaysville at the age of ten having walked with the assistance of a cane all the way. He had broken his leg when younger and it had not been set correctly, leaving him with a limp. His aged grandmother accompanied him step for step as she set the pace he would need to keep as the handcart company proceeded.
William Wilkie Galbraith
1838 – 1898
Just as he was leaving his teenage years, William and his friend William Blood were called to meet Johnston’s Amy. The job the two Williams were given was to guard the town. They were told to set fire to everything in town including houses, barns, and haystacks if the army approached. Wearing blue and white checked shirt his mother had made, he watered crops and watched for the soldiers who never made it so far north.
Emily Stewart
1846 – 1932
Emily was five years old when her family came to the United States by ship. Her recollection of the Mormon Cricket invasion when they ate all the crops. She also remembered that the first winter was very cold because they were living in the wagon. Her mother would get a tin pail full of hot coals and put them by the children to try to keep them warm. She only had a little blue jacket to wear. When the wolves got close to the wagon box, the children were very afraid, but their parents kept them safe.
Horton David Haight
1832 – 1900
Horton was born in New York, but trekked across the plains in 1847 when he was fifteen years old. While walking and at each camp, his job was to take care of the oxen. When the wagon company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, his family was the first to settle on Haight’s Creek in Blooming Grove on the border between Kaysville and Farmington.
Martha Simmons
1851 – 1936
Martha’s family arrived in New York by ship from England on New Years Day, but they were robbed. Her father had his pockets picked and suddenly they were almost penniless. The whole family was forced to work for another five years while sometimes begging on street corners to earn enough to cross the plains. After arriving in Kaysville at the age of ten, Martha and the other children were so hungry that a stolen raw potato seemed like a feast.
Joseph Barton
1848 – 1932
All children dream of what they will be when they grow up. Joseph became a pioneer, surveyor, railroad construction engineer, Utah State legislator, and railroad superintendent. For fun, he was also a member of the Kaysville Brass Band. He was 18 old when was selected to be the band’s captain and musical director.
Martha Ann Henderson
1835 – 1922
She was an orphan when she crossed the plains in the summer of 1847, her parents having died in Nauvoo Illinois. The children were divided up amongst relatives and friends, so she pioneered with one family and was said to have been a ward of another. She was able to meet up with her uncle when she arrived in Kaysville at age 15.
Charles Barnes
1848 – 1926
Born in England, Charles lived close to his grandparents in a beautiful little village along a river. When his family emigrated by ship to the United States, his grandparents and uncle traveled together. During the trip across the Atlantic Ocean, he fell into a flour barrel upside down. Because he was just five years old, he couldn’t get out by himself. Luckily, someone rescued him, but that scary moment was forever imprinted on his memory.
Susannah Ellen Ellison
1855 – 1938
At the age of 13, while helping make molasses, Susannah’s right arm was ground in the cogwheels of a machine. Before a doctor could reach her, gangrene had set in. She endured extreme pain, but with the doctor’s skill and her parents’ faith, her arm and her life were spared. When she married a Kaysville man, she became the mother of ten children.
Daniel Harvey
1860 – 1942
Having emigrated in 1863 at age three, the family moved to east Kaysville as one of the first settlers there. Daniel and his father herded sheep on the mountainside. They had much trouble with coyotes and bears killing the animals. He recalled often meeting Native Americans of the Washakie and Little Soldier bands picking choke cherries on those foothills.
Rebecca Phillips
1852 – 1906
Rebecca was said to be the first white girl born in Kaysville, although other indigenous babies were born in the area earlier. When grown into childhood, she attended public schools and attended a singing school conducted in her home where the music professor boarded for free so the children could learn cultured activities. Her family loved music. Later she attended the University of Deseret, now the University of Utah.
George Tilton Hyde
1866 – 1958
Christmas in Kaysville, when he was about twelve, was a time George remembered his whole life. He came down the cold stairway, reached around the corner and took down his stocking from the fireplace mantlepiece. His presents that year were a jelly dough-nut, a singing top, an orange, and some peanuts. He and his siblings had cornmeal mush for breakfast with milk and cream and hot biscuits. For dinner, they ate turkey, beef and mince pies, made by his sister.
Everett Clark Van Orden
When he was an older man, Everett told his son that he wore out his shoes while walking across the plains and was forced to continue barefoot. He left a trail of bloody footprints. His span of horses got loose one night, and the next morning he followed their tracks for about two miles. A native on horseback returned the animals, having apparently seen the footprints. The horsemen generously gave him his own moccasins, which were worn throughout the rest of the journey.
Robert James Burton
James arrived in Kaysville from England at the age of two years old. He was so young that his mother may have carried him part way on the trek west. After settling in Kaysville, mostly he remembered eating bread and molasses, but occasionally some potato or squirrel meat. He wore made over clothing until he was sixteen, went barefoot from spring until fall while herding cattle and plowing fields.
James Burrup
James was eighteen years old when his extended family left England for Utah. Because he traveled with his elderly grandmother, he was the male head of the house. Together they moved in with two uncles and their families into a log cabin in Kaysville. Their families were among the first permanent settlers in the area. He later married one of the daughters of Mr. Kay for whom the town was named.
Thomas Evans
1846 – 1916
Born in Wales, Thomas was ten years old when his father and step-mother brought him to America. He arrived in Kaysville at the age of ten having walked with the assistance of a cane all the way. He had broken his leg when younger and it had not been set correctly, leaving him with a limp. His aged grandmother accompanied him step for step as she set the pace he would need to keep as the handcart company proceeded.
William Wilkie Galbraith
Just as he was leaving his teenage years, William and his friend William Blood were called to meet Johnston’s Amy. The job the two Williams were given was to guard the town. They were told to set fire to everything in town including houses, barns, and haystacks if the army approached. Wearing blue and white checked shirt his mother had made, he watered crops and watched for the soldiers who never made it so far north.
Emily Stewart
1846 – 1932
Emily was five years old when her family came to the United States by ship. Her recollection of the Mormon Cricket invasion when they ate all the crops. She also remembered that the first winter was very cold because they were living in the wagon. Her mother would get a tin pail full of hot coals and put them by the children to try to keep them warm. She only had a little blue jacket to wear. When the wolves got close to the wagon box, the children were very afraid, but their parents kept them safe.
Horton David Haight
Horton was born in New York, but trekked across the plains in 1847 when he was fifteen years old. While walking and at each camp, his job was to take care of the oxen. When the wagon company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, his family was the first to settle on Haight’s Creek in Blooming Grove on the border between Kaysville and Farmington.
Martha Simmons
Martha’s family arrived in New York by ship from England on New Years Day, but they were robbed. Her father had his pockets picked and suddenly they were almost penniless. The whole family was forced to work for another five years while sometimes begging on street corners to earn enough to cross the plains. After arriving in Kaysville at the age of ten, Martha and the other children were so hungry that a stolen raw potato seemed like a feast.
Joseph Barton
1848 – 1932
All children dream of what they will be when they grow up. Joseph became a pioneer, surveyor, railroad construction engineer, Utah State legislator, and railroad superintendent. For fun, he was also a member of the Kaysville Brass Band. He was 18 old when was selected to be the band’s captain and musical director.
Martha Ann Henderson
She was an orphan when she crossed the plains in the summer of 1847, her parents having died in Nauvoo Illinois. The children were divided up amongst relatives and friends, so she pioneered with one family and was said to have been a ward of another. She was able to meet up with her uncle when she arrived in Kaysville at age 15.
Charles Barnes
Born in England, Charles lived close to his grandparents in a beautiful little village along a river. When his family emigrated by ship to the United States, his grandparents and uncle traveled together. During the trip across the Atlantic Ocean, he fell into a flour barrel upside down. Because he was just five years old, he couldn’t get out by himself. Luckily, someone rescued him, but that scary moment was forever imprinted on his memory.
Susannah Ellen Ellison
At the age of 13, while helping make molasses, Susannah’s right arm was ground in the cogwheels of a machine. Before a doctor could reach her, gangrene had set in. She endured extreme pain, but with the doctor’s skill and her parents’ faith, her arm and her life were spared. When she married a Kaysville man, she became the mother of ten children.
Daniel Harvey
Having emigrated in 1863 at age three, the family moved to east Kaysville as one of the first settlers there. Daniel and his father herded sheep on the mountainside. They had much trouble with coyotes and bears killing the animals. He recalled often meeting Native Americans of the Washakie and Little Soldier bands picking choke cherries on those foothills.
1851 Roll Call of Honor – Names of the Earliest Pioneer Children
Follow name links to read biographies about some of the earliest children in Kaysville. Learn about how they lived. Those considered to be pioneers came across the plains before the railroad in 1869.
The first children to come to the area north of Blooming Grove were those that belonged to the Phillips, Green, and Kay families. They had come by wagon, horse and foot until they reached a creek that was first named Sandy but later changed to Kay’s Creek. Everyone was busy building shelters and planting crops. Other people learned that this would be a good place to settle so soon many new children had arrived. A year later there were almost 100 unmarried boys and girls under the age of twenty in the area.
19 years: Mary Holmes
18 years: James Burrup, Thomas Carlos, Ellen Gadbury, Horton Haight
17 years: Oliver Holmes, Everett C. Van Orden
16 years: John Adams, Frances Beavans
15 years: Julia Bernhisel; Ann Green, William Haight, Joseph Harris, Martha Henderson, Augusta Hawkins, John Hill, George W. Holmes
14 years: Ann Adams, Henry Roberts, Mary L. Taylor, Sarah Van Orden, Chauncey G. Webb
13 years: George Adams, Catherine Halford, Elizabeth Harris, Mary Ann Kay
12 years: Catherine Adams, Maria Van Orden, Mary M. Wilch, Harriet Beavans, Martha Clifford, James T. Kay, Charlotte Green, Susan Coleman, Edward M. Webb, Joseph Hill, William Taylor
11 years: Mary Woolley, William Blood, William Harris, Caroline Roberts, Alice Hill
10 years: Thomas Harris, Mary Beavans, Joseph Adams
9 years: Elias Adams, Caroline Adams, Louisa Driggs, Sarah Taylor, William Haight, Mary Woolley, Joseph Robins [Halford]
8 years: Robert Green, Phebe A. Roberts
7 years: James Green, Hannah Driggs, Enoch Harris
6 years: Ann Eliza Webb, Sarah A. Hunter, Sarah Paine, Elizabeth Layton Smith
5 years: Maria Driggs, Sarah Harris, John D. Phillips, Clarissa Taylor
4 years: Jennifer Kay, Marinda Roberts, Mary Taylor, Nancy M Taylor, John M Bernhisel
3 years: Elizabeth Woolley, Mary Ann Phillips, Elizabeth Green, Elizabeth Robins
2 years: Adelia Curtis, Mary Paine, Daniel Harris, Sarah Kay, John Green, Joshua Adams, Mary A. Grant, Margaret Hunter, Joseph Taylor
1 year: Louisa Holmes, Edward Phillips, Sarah O. Grantm Jane Driggs, William A. Taylor, Harvey G. Taylor, Clarissa Taylor, Harriet Roberts
Infant: Edward Curtis, Joseph Woolley, Deborah Kay, James Robins, Mary Robins, Susan Paine
Sources
- Barnes, Claude T. The Grim Years or The Life of Emily Stewart Barnes. Inland Printing Company: Kaysville, Utah; 1964.
- Census Enumeration of Kay’s Ward section of Davis County, Utah Territory. Edited to include only unmarried persons who were under twenty years old.
- Individual autobiographies and histories accessed on FamilySearch, Utah State Archives and found in the KFH Museum library.
Notes
The 1850 Utah Territorial Census in the Kay’s Ward settlement of Davis County did not complete enumeration of all citizens until 1851.
More resources surface regularly that add to local history. KFH Museum welcomes stories of the children and young adults that give glimpses into their lives. Email to ourkaysvillestory@gmail.com.
Graphics created by students at the Davis Catalyst Center, Kayla Adams and team, under the direction of graphics design instructor, Eric Scholer. 