There is an odd mention of David in the Ward Records on 14 February 1885. The teachers met, in Brother John E. Price’s house according to a previous appointment. Bishop J. Evans offered the prayer. The Bishop then stated that David P. Davis asked for the privilege of complying with the decision rendered against him in the Bishop’s court which was granted.
At this time, a lot of accusations were being flung about. Things like gossip, lying, drinking, and backbiting plus the more serious crimes were being explored by the Bishop’s Courts. Sometimes one wondered how many times people forgot the admonition of Jesus that they should love one another.
One hundred sixty (160) acres in Pleasant View were filed upon by David which was not far from Gwenford. David Joseph settled there and began to raise his family. Around this time, David became a justice of the peace in Malad and had the opportunity of marrying many young couples. He probably spoke to them of the seriousness of the step they were taking, of dedicating themselves to one another and making their marriage work.
Elizabeth (Griffith) contracted dropsy which allowed fluids to fill her body and without modern science to help, she died on 8 September 1890. David was left with a young family, Lucy the oldest being 17 and David the youngest just 6 years old.
He would not marry again. Lucy, who might have helped him, was engaged and married Wilford Wight a month later on 23 October 1888. This young couple soon moved to Pleasant View where they too filed on 160 acres not far from Lucy’s older brother David Joseph who had married Wilford Wight’s sister Lucy Eveline. It must have been confusing to have two Lucys in the family.
David hired women to come in to clean and to cook for his family until Elizabeth was able to take over these chores. When Elizabeth was 16 years old, she met Joseph Nicolas Arbon. He was living with his family in Arbon Valley and not liking the taste of his own cooking, made up his mind that he was going to find a better one. He went over to Samaria to find a bride. He found a prospect but she couldn’t make up her mind so he started courting Elizabeth. A daughter of this couple states that they became very fond of each other, but she thinks he also fell in love with the good bread she made. When David discovered they were serious and realized he might lose his cook, he chased Joseph from the place and told him not to come back. Joseph then went to see Wilford Wight who told him not to pay any attention as David had done the same thing to him. This encouraged Joseph to go back and ask Lizzie to marry him. This time he really got chased off with a broom. David then made a deal with Joseph. If he would give David a year to find a cook, then he could marry Elizabeth. They were married on 23 November 1898 in the Salt Lake Temple. Then they made their home in the Arbon Valley.
Edward Henry had already moved there, being one of the first settlers who had taken up the 160 acres allowed under the Homestead Act. This Congressional act provided land for those who needed it by giving people the opportunity of living there and improving the conditions by building a home and planting crops. If they could do this for five years, the land was theirs. Often the house was a one room affair with a dirt floor. The floor would be swept so often with water sprinkled on it that in time it would become like cement. Chickens, cows, hogs and sheep were brought in and places were built to contain them. Women bore the brunt of this kind of living as often the men would have to leave to earn money for the necessities of life, and the government stated that people had to live on the land.
Edward had married Esther Rebecca Arbon on 25 september 1892 and there were many times she was left on the homestead to care for the animals and the crops. On occasion, Indians would stop by and demand that she feed them. She would get very nervous when she would glance outside and see the redskins sitting on the woodpile waiting for a hand-out. Edward took with him the trait of being the “Good Samaritan”. For in time he would build a general mercantile store and often he would allow credit to the settlers and to the Lamanities. Several would have starved without it. A bonus to this was that he was allowed grazing for his cattle on the reservation and they were not touched.
Owen Thomas remained in Samaria where he recalled that he had to walk to school a distance of a mile and a half without overshoes or rubbers and having a lunch of bread spread with bacon grease. As he grew, he helped his father and worked for others wherever he could earn some money. When he was 23, he was called to the West Virginia mission where he would travel without a purse or script. Before leaving, he married Anna Price in the Logan Temple on 30 March 1898. When he returned, he went to work for a store keeper, and he and Anna made a home in a room in the corner of the store.
Ultimately, he and Anna moved to the Gwenford farm where some of their children were born. Just a few weeks after their 31st wedding anniversary, Anna died. He later married Florence Jensen on 10 December 1935.
In 1937, he was set apart as Bishop of Samaria by Melvin J. Ballard, the missionary of the Polynesian people. He served his people well.
William Price Davies was 13 when his mother died and 17 when his father died. He lived with his sister Elizabeth and his brother Owen Thomas, never marrying. He helped with the chores and worked on the nearby farms.
David Joseph, the eldest of the children of David Price Davies in this country, lived with his mother until he was 12, visiting with his father occasionally, then coming to Samaria to live. David must have felt strange and uncomfortable, for while still in his teens, he ran away from home. A kind neighbor gave him a home and work until he married on 24 December 1884 to Lucy Eveline Wight. During those years, he worked freighting between Corinne, Utah and Montana.
After his marriage, he worked in the springtime at shearing sheep which brought in much needed cash. In a few years, he was able to build a larger and better home. One night in December Eva was quite ill; she had just lost a premature baby. The little log cabin where they had been living caught fire. David slipped quietly out and battled the blaze until it was out, never telling his sick wife about it until the following morning. A hired girl had left a coal oil lamp burning too low. A chest with David and Eva’s marriage certificate, valuable records and treasures were completely destroyed.
David Griffiths Davis quit school to help his father with the farm and so his formal education stopped with the eighth grade. At the age of 12, he had started to haul grain from Malad to Collinston, Utah. He remembered helping to break broncos to be used by the British Cavalry in the Boer War. As his father died when he was 21, he traveled around seeing the country and taking all sorts of odd jobs such as shearing sheep and herding them. He also got to see the World’s Fair in California.
Back to Arbon Valley he went to form a partnership with his brother-in-law Joseph Arbon on a 320 acre farm. Later he got 320 acres for himself. During this time, he went to visit a friend in Salt lake City, and was introduced to a young Scotch lady who would become his first wife. They were married on 25 June 1924 in the Salt Lake Temple by Joseph Fielding Smith. When he took his bride to see her new home, she laughed at him and teased him by saying that his furniture arrangement looked like a school room. There were six children standing by one wall. Daisy Devlin was a good natured happy soul.
In the 1930’s, Dave and Daisy moved to Pleasant View. While there Dave contracted typhoid fever and was quarantined to his bed. He had to watch his small wife do the farm work while he took care of his baby daughter Della. The elders of the ward harvested his crop that year.
When he left Arbon Valley, he had quarreled with his brother-in-law Joseph and they did not speak to one another for forty years. By accident, at a family reunion, they were seated across the table from one another. The ice was broken between the octogenarians and they spoke. On the way home, Dave said how good it was to be talking to Joe again. Ah, yes, the Welsh have a peculiar trait of stubbornness.
His Patriarchal Blessing stated “Many shall seek thee for council, and thou shall be mighty in healing the sick by the laying on of hands for this is thy gift, through prayer and faith for it is the will of the Lord that you shall become a mighty man in Israel and a wise counselor among the brethren.” Many members benefited from these gifts.
David Price Davies remained a widower and raised his children to become a credit to him. There must have been times when the demands were overwhelming for on 21 February 1899 in Salt Lake City, he requested another Patriarchal Blessing which was given to him by E. A. Richards. “Brother David Davis, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by virtue and Authority of the Holy Priesthood, I lay my hands upon thy head and pronounce upon thee a Patriarchal Blessing that thine heart might be soothed and comforted and thy mind be prepared for future events and thy faith be strengthened so as to understand the revelation of Jesus Christ. Thy name has been written in the Lamb’s Book and predestined to come forth in this dispensation of the fullness of times to fulfill an honorable mission upon the earth. Therefore, dear brother, seek earnest in prayer that you may be able to fill the mission which thou hast been destined before the world was. The Lord has an eye upon thee and has been from thy birth and will be in the future and has preserved thy life even when the Evil one was seeking to destroy and all for a great and wise purpose. Thou has the Gospel with a humble and honest heart and the Lord is pleased with thine integrity. Therefore, cheer up and take good courage, there is good days awaiting thee and all shall be well with here and hereafter in as much that thou shall prosper and have the desire of thine heart in righteousness with the Priesthood and you shall sit in prominence among the Fathers in Israel as you are the legal line holding the rights of heirship to redeem thy Father’s household and also the seed of Israel through the loins of Joseph and entitled to the blessings of the New and the Everlasting covenant. Seek diligently to study the still small voice of the Holy Spirit that will prepare your mind to receive communication from the other side pertaining to the work thou hast to do in the Holy House of God and thou shalt have joy in the fruits of thy labors. Thou shall have the comforts of this life and no good thing shall be withheld from you. Thy guardian Angel will guide thy footsteps and watch you by night and day predicting to your soul peace and plenty all the day long and when you will finish your career upon the earth, you shall lay down your body in peace with the Maker.
I seal this blessing upon thy head and confirm all former blessings which have been pronounced upon thee and seal thee up unto eternal life to come forth in the morning of the First Resurrection to enjoy thrones, kingdoms and minions, principalities and powers, a Savior among thy kindred in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Even so, Amen”.
David Price Davies and his wife Elizabeth Griffiths were Latter-day Saints in the finest sense of the word. They exhibited courage and devotion to a cause that would lead them halfway around the world, not knowing where it would lead them, but having the assurance that God would lead them and the kingdom where He wanted them to go. On 12 November 1904, David went home to that Loving Father, leaving behind a posterity that would form the strength of the Church.