At Nottinghill, Kensington, England, On January 31, 1844, James Richard Hawkins and his wife Ann Aewell were rejoicing over the arrival of their baby son. They named him William Edward Hawkins and he grew to be a fine, industrious young lad. These good people became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When the boy was nine years old, the family immigrated to Utah. They were very poor. The boy along with the rest of the family suffered the privations and hardships incident to the settling of a new country. William Edward Hawkins was known as Bill.
Another young couple, Thomas Samuel Thomas and Mary Jane Anthony, were at this time living in Farmington, Utah. They too were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were eagerly awaiting the arrival of their first child. On July 4, 1854, they became the parents of a beautiful little daughter with blue eyes and curly brown hair. They named her Margaret.
The Thomas family moved to Malad Valley in November 1868. At this time there were about six families in the district. Bill had the only span of horses among these families, though other horses were brought in soon after. The nearest store was in Malad. Several years later this community was given the name of Samaria by Apostle Lorenzo Snow.
During the first winter in Malad Valley, Margaret met Bill and started keeping company with him. On May 2, 1870, William Edward Hawkins and Margaret Thomas were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City according to the order of the Church. They were sealed for time and eternity, and they knew that children who might bless their marriage would be theirs for ever and ever. They were indeed a happy couple that day as they embarked on their journey through life.
Bill, at the time of their marriage, had land located a mile and a half south of Samaria which he had purchased prior to the time of their acquaintance. Margaret stayed with her parents the first year as it was so lonesome at the farm, there being at that time no houses within a mile in the direction of Samaria and much farther in any other direction. They moved to the farm on July 3, 1871. The farm was not yet fenced and there were no trees, though good canyon water had been brought to the place. Later when the garden was planted it was necessary to change the course of the canyon ditch to get the water on the high ground. Margaret assisted Bill in this work by driving the team which was hitched to the wagon, the plow being fastened to the rear. Margaret placed her baby, Mary, on a bed in the wagon while she helped Bill with the work.
The garden came up well and they rejoiced in the prospects of plenty of vegetables, which, however, they did not get–as the crickets swarmed so thick that the garden was soon as though it had never been planted. There was no fruit to be had in the valley other than dried fruit, except for a few wild currants, and even these were scarce so that the garden was a great disappointment.
The first home was a small granary. This faced the east with the opening for the door in the end. There was one window on the north side. They built a cellar on the north which was cool and serviceable. They took pride in their home, small and humble as it was. So humble that at first it had not even a door, it being necessary to go to Brigham City to secure this addition. A curtain had to be substituted until this was had.
One day toward fall Margaret had been to her mother’s and in returning she decided to cut through the fields, leaving her father and Bill who were driving a small bunch of cattle by way of the road. Margaret’s father took the baby on the horse with him. When about half way down through the meadow, Margaret saw at a distance ahead what she thought looked like some calves that had been left by the boys who were handling the town herd. As she got closer, one of these objects raised up on its hind legs. This startled her considerably, for she knew then from a picture she had seen in one of her school readers that they were bears and not calves. She immediately started a hurried retreat in the direction of the road. It happened that Bill saw her running and even at a distance was able to discern the reason. At once he came to her assistance. He was on a fast, well built horse. Coming close to the bears, he found they were a mother grizzly and three cubs about the size of large dogs. The bears started on the run in the direction of the Malad River. Bill had only a lasso rope with him, but as the bears were plunging into the river, he succeeded in lassoing one of the cubs, which at once started for the horse. At this Bill put a couple of turns of the rope around the horn of the saddle, whirled the horse about and sent him on the jump. He kept the bear coming so fast that he was unable to give him much trouble, and continued this way until he reached the yard about two miles away. There the rope was replaced with a chain and the bear made secure.
They kept the cub only until the next morning when Bill got rid of it owing to Margaret’s worry for fear of having it around would cause the grizzly mother to return. Margaret heard men say they had never seen a grizzly with more than two cubs before.
It was a long hard struggle to equip and put their place in shape as they wanted it. As time went on they planted fruit and shade trees, plowed, seeded and fenced, built a new and better home, first a small one and then a large one with six rooms and a basement. Improvements after improvements were made until they finally had one of the finest farms in the valley. Bill was one of the first persons to sow and raise alfalfa in Malad Valley. Bill at first ran cattle and later sheep. Also for a time he ran a packing business, but with prices of meat so low and almost no market, he did not stay with this very long.
Twelve children were born to Bill and Margaret as follows:
Children G. Children St. G. Children
Mary – married Samuel B. Mitton 7 23 15
Mary – married Willaim Gomer Davis 8 24 22
William T. – married Mary A. Bowen 10 29 8
Ida – married Horace Turner (died 16 April 1935) 6 15
married Jake Zollinger
James Thomas – married Sophia Morris 3 15 13
He died 26 Nov 1904.
Alice – married Evan Jenkins 8 19
Thomas Edward – married Jane Price 4 7
Jeddiah Thomas – married Mary E. Barnes 8 10 1
Sarah – married Lewis Gunnel 7 20
Oswald Thomas – married Jennie Robbins 4 7
Seth Thomas – married Vera Severe 8 16
Ervin Thomas – married Brenda Smith 4 4
____ ____ ____
77 189 59
Grand total of 325 of which 21 are deceased as of April 1954. Bill was at one time president of Maughns Fort, now known as Wellsville, Utah. He also served as a guard in the Black Hawk War.
Bill told this story while living in Samaria:
In the early days, a buck Indian came to their home. He demanded Margaret give him certain things. Margaret told him no and to go away. Finally, he came into the house far enough that he could see in the looking glass and in doing so, he spied Bill lying on a bunk behind the door. This frightened him and he jumped back. Bill got up and gave him a good clubbing. Later on as Bill was going to Gwenford on a bob sleigh with a grist of wheat, this same Indian and one other caught on the back of the sleigh. Bill was afraid they would attack him. He was frightened and kept his hand on a club he had with him. However, they got off and did not molest him.
Bill said one night their horses strayed away from camp. He found them at some distance. He tracked the horses through an opening in the willows and that was the only way to bring them back. As he neared the opening, riding one horse and driving another, he spied an Indian with drawn bow and arrow. He decided there was only one thing to do and that was to speed up the horses and make them go just as fast as he could. This he did expecting to be shot in the back as he went through the opening. What a relief that he did not see the Indian the second time and decided that the Indian would wait for a better opportunity to steal the horses.
Bill said he would sleep on top of the log stable at night to protect the horses as the Indians would come at night and try to steal them. He had the door chained and at times he would be awakened with the sound of rattling chains as the Indians were trying to break in.
Bill died April 27, 1911 at the age of 67 at Bridge, Idaho, caused by an accident. Bill and Margaret had been married 41 years. Margaret died January 28, 1932 at Logan at the age of 77.
Bill’s Birth Certificate: There has been some uncertainty as to the name Hawkins. At this present date there is a birth certificate of William Edward Hawkins from the General Registers Office of London. Where born – 31 Jan 73 Devonshire St . Name – Wm Edward. Father’s name – James Richard. Mother’s maiden name – Ann Aucock formerly Sewell. Sent in by O.T. Hawkins, 1452 Murphys Land, Salt Lake City, Utah.