In the Mynydd Mawer (great mountains) of Brecon lies the parish of Llanddulas (church by the Dules brook) or Tyr Abed (abbot’s land). Some of the better farm and grazing lands of Wales are nestled here in this land that was granted by Lord Rhys, Prince of South Wales to a new order of monks, the Cistercians, that came over with the Normans. These monks found favor with Lord Rhys because of their industry and sympathy with the Welsh. They were sheep farmers with their monastery at Tregaron. They had their abbot’s house at Llanddulas which was at the other end of their land.
Among the farms were Gledrhydd (ford in the glen) and Llidwith (With’s hall). Higher up in the mountain pass between Carmarthen and Brecon lies a hostelry, Spite Inn. It is a very old place dating back to monastic times. Cattle drovers used it as a port of call on the Old Roman Road. It is still in existence today.
These were the root places of David Price Davies or Davis. It was to these hideaway valleys and mountains that the ancient Britons and Celts fled before the ever-increasing raids of the continental adventurers, Anglos, Saxons, Romans, Vikings, and Normans. For the preservation of their heritage, culture and their very mortal selves, the early races of Britain fell back to Cornwall, Devon and Wales. The first two areas fell sooner than those of Wales, and though there are some traditions and strange ways preserved there, the main lode of the Celtic heritage lies in Wales.
In the fourth century A. D. Wales became christianized through the good work of people as the Cistercian monks, and in spite of the repeated invasions, retained her faith in Jesus Christ. She also preserved the musical, but difficult, Welsh language in these high unattainable places. The Saxons called these fierce people “Welsh” meaning foreigners, but they called themselves the “Cymry” or comrades. The Saxons also built Offa’s Wall named after their ruler to prevent the Welsh from raiding them in retaliation, and of course, preventing social interchange. Some parts of this wall, reminiscent of China’s Great Wall can still be seen today.
(Picture of buildings together in town with a street lamp, tree and a woman walking in front of one of the buildings. Description says: Owan Glendower’s Parliament House.)
A Welsh hero, Owen Glendower, in the 1400’s rebelled against the invaders and held sway for about fifteen years. During this time he called the first and last Welsh parliament into session at Machynlleth where several hundred years later a young Elizabeth Griffiths would walk past that building, perhaps sensing the air of freedom that is native to a Welshman. It is said that a Welshman will always fight and will always lose.
One of the most beautiful sounds known to man is the harp, which is the national instrument of Wales. It provides much of the background music for the melodious voices which rise in praise and protest of their conditions and ways of life. Where there are two Welshmen gathered together, a choir has begun. Each tiny village has its own choir. To this day there is a national competition to see which is the best.
About the 12th or 13th century, a decree was issued that all should have a last name, the Welsh were among the last to hear about it. As they have their own way of doing things, they did this edict differently from the rest of Britain. To identify two Davids, they would say “David ab or ap Rhys.” This could become David Reese, Preece, Rice or Price. The adding of an ‘s’ to the father’s given name would be another way of saying ‘the son of—.’ Thus using the given name of David would become Davis or Davies. Now the contrariness of the Welsh becomes evident. They might change the name every generation as follows: David Price was the son of Rhys Jones (a contracted form of John) who was the son of John Davies who was the son of David Owens. Again a Welsh family might decide that they liked a surname such as Howells and keep it for several generations, or each child might choose some variant of the above as he grew up. The mother might decide that she wanted to keep her maiden name, thus ist was possible that each member of a family might have a different surname. Still further, there were many other ways.
About 1812 the British government declared a halt to this variant patronymic system of naming and stated that they had to settle on a consistent surname. But the Welsh being Welsh took a foot-dragging long time at making the change, some up until the 1840’s. It is stated that they are at the present time reverting back to that old system.
Out of these national traits and mores came the founders of the Davis-Griffiths pioneer family of Samaria. David Price Davies was born 10 October 1825 and was christened a month later, 8 November 1825, at New Church in Tyr Abed. His father was David Davies who was born in 1797 at Gledrhydd farm in Tyr Abed, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Davies (This still needs proving, but from known facts, is probably true.) He used the skills and crafts of his father and followed agriculture as his trade. He worked on several as his family increased, for David was born at Spite’s Inn, Ann was christened 11 November 1827 at Llidwith’s farm, William was christened 16 May 1829 at Ddollwen (White meadow), Catherine 10 February 1833 at Nant Tyrnod (Tyrnod Brook), Thomas 10 July 1836 at Aberervill (Ervill Esturary), and the last three were born at Llidwith, John 14 April 1838, Evan in 1840* (Evans’s christening has never been found), and Margaret 29 September 1844. There they remained until at least 1851.
David was an agricultural laborer who moved from place to place where he could find work, perhaps ultimately getting a tenants lease from the landowners as he stayed at Llidwith farm for a long time. He may have met his future bride at church or at the inn she worked to help her father, who was the innkeeper of the ancient “Spite Inn ”. She waited on the cattle drovers who were passing by. Welsh farmers reared cattle as well as sheep, and men would come by to buy stock for English markets. As a herd was gathered, they were taken to a village where they were shod for the long journey on old Roman road. As a bullock’s hoff is cloven, each hoof had to have two little iron shoes nailed to it. The drover would sleep in the inn with his helpers sleeping in the open. The cattle were taken to the large markets to be sold, and then the men would make the return journey on foot or horseback carrying the money with them. Then the farmers were paid. Sometimes the drover would buy things in England for the farmers and their families and give this to them as they returned.
Catherine Price was the daughter of William Price or Prys and Margaret. She was born about 1805 at Spite Inn, New Church, Tyr Abed. She had two known sisters Anne and Gwen. Her brother John continued to run the Inn after the parents’ deaths in 1844. She married David Davies on 30 June 1826.
Catherine and Davis must have gone along with another proud Welsh trait, that of educating their children, for the Welsh instituted a system of public education as early as the eighteenth century. At first it was with the aim of making each child literate enough to read the Bible, but they didn’t want just that, so education was expanded. The people would make great sacrifices to see that at least one of their children, if not all, was able to read and write. David would use the education given to him to teach others.
Because of the distance of Wales from the central government, and because they were looked on as poor relations to an Englishman, the official Church of Wales lost hordes of members to the non-conformist churches such as Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, and Unitarian. This, plus the fact that the official Church of Wales was in reality the Church of England, the conquerors’ church.
As with the rest of the world in the mid-1800’s, Wales was embroiled in the great religious revivals, a convulsion that would produce and free the true Church of Jesus Christ. There were preachers in all corners, calling for repentance, to come their way to God. It was difficult enough when the choice was church, chapel (non-conformist) or even popish, but now came another voice saying, “God has spoken to man again. All the gifts of Heaven are now being restored once more. There is a prophet who can act in God’s name.” Possibly as early as 1841, but certainly by 1845. David heard this new, yet old, gospel, and it touched him so much that he would sacrifice everything for it. This he would be called upon to do many times in the future.
(a family pedigree line/chart of David Davies and Catherine Price. Then two separate headshot pictures with description under the first one, Evan and the second one says, Brother to David P. Both are located in the middle and then another family pedigree line/chart of William Price and Margaret.)
Hannah was the daughter of Joseph and Hannah Treherne. She was born 30 May 1838 at Llangendium, Carmarthen, Wales. She was supposed to have had a son that she named David. Very little is known or found about her.
David and Alice had a son, David Joseph born 18 February 1863. David Joseph lived with his mother in Salt Lake City in the Second Ward for a time, and then joined his father in Samaria, Oneida, Idaho.
(A brief family pedigree line/chart of David Price Davis and Alice Williams. There is a picture of a woman and child with a description underneath that says, Alice Williams.)
It is to be imagined that these two women had trouble accepting and living the Celestial Law of Marriage, for when David went to Samaria, neither of these wives went with him. As was said earlier, David would be called upon to make many sacrifices for the gospel. Three wives would not follow his lead in the church.
He would take comfort in his Patriarchal Blessing given him by C. W. Hyde on 7 March 1865 in Salt Lake City.
A Blessing by C. W. Hyde, Patriarch upon the head of David Davis the son of David and Catherine Davis born October 10, 1825 in the Parish of Tirrabbat in Wales.
David, I place my hands upon thy head and I seal upon thee a father’s blessing for the eye of the Lord has been upon thee for good, that thou should proclaim the gospel in due time with the sound of a trumpet in thine own native land and shall bring many souls into the Kingdom of God here upon the earth and lead many souls to Zion with songs of everlasting joy in as much as you live humble before the Lord, thy God. Many things shall be revealed unto thee that shall lead you into eternal lives, for the Lord will give you line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, to lead you in the way of life and salvation. Thou are of Ephraim and a lawful heir to the fullness of the Priesthood with companions and a kingdom upon the earth which shall rise up and call thee blessed and with an inheritance in Zion with all things that thy heart desires in righteousness and help rear the temple in Jackson County. These blessings I seal upon your head with crowns of glory and Eternal lives with all your father’s household forever and ever, Amen.
“A lawful heir to the fullness of the Priesthood with companions and a kingdom upon earth which shall rise up and call thee blessed.” “How could that come to pass when I don’t have a Kingdom or a companion, but the Lord keeps his promises.” David then prayed to his Father in Heaven.
It would now be suggested that he take a fourth wife. Elizabeth Griffiths was born 11 April 1841 in the Owen Glendower stronghold of Machynlleth, Montgomery, Wales. Montgomery has a most interesting industrial history dating from Roman days when lead was discovered. Because of the raising of sheep, wool spinning and weaving took place. Machynlleth is an old town, its market was chartered in 1291. It is a gathering place for anglers to fish for salmon in the river Dovey. Her parents were David Griffiths and Elizabeth Jones according to her birth certificate. David Griffiths was born about 1814.
David, perhaps with his son, John, seeing the tears in the eyes of the uncomprehending lad, wondered if there was anything else he might have said to Mary to convince her to come with him. She would die unconvinced on October 20, 1888 in the Union Workhouse in Brecon of bedridden chronic cheumatism [rheumatism]. It would sound as if she were uncared for as she was in the workhouse, but it was a common thing for the elderly to be sent there, but one can’t help but wonder what it might have been like if she had come with David to America. Life would have been hard, but she would have had a loving husband there.
The days passed uneventfully as the ship sailed westward. Church meetings were held. Prayers were said. Songs were sung. Tents and wagon covers were made for crossing the plains. Daily duties of cooking and cleaning were done.
For the most part, the sailing was smooth except when the wind came up or changed directions. Then the Saints did not feel quite so saintly. Many had a prolonged look at the sea or a bucket. One of the small ones was running and fell through an open hatchway, landed on her head which killed her instantly. The bereaved parents watched as the small body was sewn into canvas and then given to the sea. Generally, though, all was well.
On the 21st of May, a Monday, a steam-tug came alongside the ship and towed it into the Delaware Bay. The green trees and budding flowers were a welcome sight after being at sea for 31 days. They were towed up into the Wilmington Creed where they spent the night.
The next morning they were towed into Philadelphia and came to anchor. A council meeting was held and necessary instructions were given. A doctor came aboard and, finding no illness, cleared the way for them to land on the 22nd of May. Some of the emigrants[immigrants] would stay at Pottsville, Pennsylvania to earn money for their crossing, some would go as far as St. Louis, Missouri, but David and others would cross the plains that summer.
We would see the camps at Winter Quarters and Council Bluffs, perhaps hear the tales of that first great crossing which even now was becoming legendary in nature. He would hear once more the mob-killing of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his beloved brother, Hyrum, how John Taylor was miraculously saved. He would hear how the Mantle of Joseph fell on Brigham Young so that he would gather the saints in his arms and strengthen them, how he guided them across the winter waters of the Mississippi, fleeing before the mobs. How Brigham and his apostles laid their hands on the ill and they were cured time and time again.
He would hear the strains of “Come, Come, ye Saints” blended by the beautiful voices of his countrymen, all taking comfort from the last strains, “all is well, all is well”. He would see God’s hand in the foresight of the planting of the crops as the Saints crossed the land. He would catch his first glimpse of the dark-skinned Lamanites told of in the Book of Mormon. Then, oh glorious day, he would stand where Brightam stood and said, “This is the place”.
He, too, would then drive on and enter the place called Zion. The new immigrants would drive past the Temple site and arrive at what is now called Pioneer Park where they would be greeted by Brigham Young and others of the general authorities. David quickly took any job, he could to support himself, saving money for his family. He found a room for himself in the home of Alice Williams Wright. She ran a boarding house and told fortunes for a living.
Alice Williams was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England on 19 August 1833, the daughter of William Thomas and Eliza Williams. She had married Robert Alexander Wright in Brooklyn, Queens, New York and had four children there, William Alexander, Emily Ann and two daughters who died in infancy. Robert died and she came to Utah with William and Emily. She was sealed to David Price Davies on 31 January 1863 along with Hannah Treherne in the Endowment House.
On 18 May 1845, he [David Price Davies] entered the waters of baptism. Out of the 100 branches of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Wales, only 36 have been able to preserve their records, so there is no precise place where this was done. The mission in Wales was organized on 22 December 1840 in Flintshire and spread rapidly down to South Wales with many powerful Welsh converts touching the hearts of others, such as Captain Dan Jones who heard the gospel on a Mississippi riverboat at Nauvoo and returned home to spread the gospel. Abel Evans was another who was able to teach in both English and Welsh and helped to spread the gospel widely. These Missions were headed by many of the general authorities such as Brigham Young, Parley Pratt and Franklin D. richards. The Welsh were always touched by those things spiritual, because so much else had been taken from them.
David was now nineteen years of age, and since no new convert keeps the joy he feels to himself, he went preaching to bring the good news to others, perhaps to members of his own family. But as Christ stated, a man in his own country is not a prophet. No trace can be found that any member of his own family joined the church.
He moved to Llandilofan, a town about six miles to the south of Try Abed where he met the family of Daniel and Ruth Jones Williams. Perhaps he already knew of Ruth as she had been born in Try Abed. This family of eight children would be split by the message he bore. Some of them joined as early as 1847 and some of them would never join. The parents and their converted children would emigrate to Malad valley. Their daughter Ruth was married to John Evan Price who led the exodus into Samaria. Their daughter Mary attracted the eye of David, who tried to convince her of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
She was five and half years his senior, having been christened 20 January 1820 in Llandilofan. They were married about 1849 and were to have four sons, John 1850, Daniel William 18 May 1852, Albert David 1854, and Jeffrey 1856. Mary would continue to be impervious to the vibrant call of the gospel. David was torn, knowing the gospel was true, did he have the strength to break up his young family and answer the call to Zion? To strengthen the Church in the mountains of Deseret, the general authorities had issued a call for the gathering of the Saints.
(a brief family pedigree line/chart of David Price Davis and Mary Williams with their four sons. There are two headshot photos: one is Daniel William Davis. The other is Albert David Davis.)
Separation came and his family was left behind. A letter written to the Davis cousins in America, by a son of Daniel William tells a little of what happened to the family left behind. “My Father’s name was Daniel Williams Davies. For some years he worked as a farm hand as a beginner in his parish. After some years, he obtained a job on the “railway” and was at Sennybridge as a platform porter. After a two year service as a porter, he was promoted as a stationmaster at Cray Station about five miles out of Sennybridge, during which time he married. I, John P. Davies was born at Sennybridge on 5 March 1876. When I was eighteen months old, my mother died. I was brought up by an uncle of my father called Dan Price of Waunlwyd (Daniel was a son of Daniel Williams probably) in this parish. In the meantime, I understand he was promoted again to be a stationmaster at a place called Kinnersly, Herefordshire and from there again to Wargate in Kent. I know there he joined the civil services. You will please understand that for 19 years no one knew where he was or anything about his whereabouts, but he turned up all of a sudden. He then obtained a job under the Birmingham Corporation at a place called “Rhayader” in the county of Radnorshire adjoining Brecon county. He was stationed there as a head inspector of works for six years. During these years, he paid visits to us, and I would also go to see him and his family, his wife Margaret and a daughter called Ethel. The wife was a Scotch woman and a proper lady she was too. At least that’s how I found her. When he finished there, he was again transferred to Derby in England and from there to a place called Fleetwood in Lancashire, England. And that’s the finishing touch of it. I cannot give you more details about him, by this time he is in one of those two places where the dead are kept until the day of resurrection.”
It would seem that the Davis men, at least on this line, were continually separated from their families.
Hoping in his heart that the separation would not be a permanent one, David sailed from Liverpool sometime between 1855 and 1860. (It is not certain when David sailed. There is a David P. Davies, listed aboard the “Chimborazo”, but he is 10 months old. There is also a David Davis listed with a son John, but this David is 10 years too old. As the sailing of the “Chimborazo” is typical of all emigration sailing vessels, this account is included.) A typical voyage was something as follows: The day of boarding the ship was spent in organizing the Saints. Seven wards were formed out of a conference of 432 persons on board. One of the men was named president. Guards were elected to watch over the possessions of those who slept. The scheme of organization had been set up as early as 1841 when the Church leaders found that disgruntlement and frustration of the long voyage had to be overcome.
Each family was assigned a berth. It was not a berth as is on the ships of today, but a berth was more like a stall in a barn. It was expected that the traveler would bring his own food and bedding, and also take care of his own sanitary needs. Much of the illnesses aboard a ship was because of a lack of foresight in taking care of these problems.
At a quarter to nine, orders were given by the mate to cast off the moorings. The steam-tugs moved alongside and the ship passed through the gates into the River Mersey. There were tears and shouts of joy. Those on shore waved farewell to those who they hoped to join in a short time. Messages were carried to those who had gone on before.
Hours later the Welsh converts gathered at the rail to catch their last glimpse of their loved country, Wales, the land of contrasting ways. Farm lands, lush and verdant, with animals grazing on the thick grass of the meadows, were being encroached on with the everspreading [overspreading] Industrial Revolution with it belching smoke stacks blackening the land with its ever-increasing demand for coal which South Wales had in abundance.
(A missing page…)
(Two headshot pictures. One is a gentleman, the other a lady. The description says: Wilford Wight and the other is Lucy Davis.)
For his family until Elizabeth was able to take these chores over. 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 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 Lamanites. 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.
(two headshot pictures. One of a man, the other a woman. Description says: Owen Thomas Davis and the other says Anna Price.)
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 would later marry 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 county, lived with his mother until he was 12, visiting with his father occasionally, then went 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 Luch Eveline Wight. During those years, he worked freighting between Corinne, Utah and Montana.
After his marriage, he would work 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 broncs 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 came 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 chairs 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 their 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 thy brethren.” Many members benefited from these gifts.
(Two headshot photos on the right hand side of the page. One a gentleman and the other a lady. Descriptions say: David Griffiths Davis and the other Daisy Devlin.)
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 the Authority of the HOly Priesthood, I lay my hands upon they head and pronounce upon thee a Patriarchal Blessing that thine heart might by 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 and will prepare thy mind for future events. 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 in earnest 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 a wise purpose. Thou hast 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 see 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 will 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 blessing 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 dominions, 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.
(picture of a cemetery in the county. Description: Cemetery at Samaria.)