William R. Davies

William Rees Davies, his personal and family background, and his alleged involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre

William R. Davies

1805-1865

Biographical Sketch

[It has not been confirmed that William Rees Davies was present at Mountain Meadows on the day of the massacre.]

A native of Somerset in South West England, William Rees Davies immigrated to the United States and became a pioneer and frontiersman in southern Utah.

Early Life in South West England

Davies was born in Bristol, Somersetshire in South West England. He was the father of John Rees Davies (1827-1862). In the 1840s (??), the Davies were converted to Mormonism.

Immigration to America and onto Utah

In the early 1850s, the Davies immigrated to America and made their way up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers to disembark. They joined the William Morgan Company, which departed for Utah Territory in late June. Davies, 46, was traveling with his wife, Rachel Morris Davies, 49. However, there is no mention of their children.

The Mormon Trail

They passed the usual milestones on the trail: Fort Kearney, the South Fork of the Platte River, Chimney Rock, Fort Laramie, the Sweetwater River, Independence Rock, Devil's Gate, Green River, Fort Bridger, Bear River, and Weber River. After suffering the usual hardships of overland trail they arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake in late September.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

Fort Harmony plaque.jpg

To Fort Harmony in Southern Utah

By the mid-1850s, William R. Davies and his family had settled at Fort Harmony in southern Utah, roughly twenty miles southwest of Cedar City.

In the Iron Military District: William R. Davies, adjutant to Major John D. Lee, 4th Battalion

In 1857, the Iron Military District consisted of four battalions led by regimental commander Col. William H. Dame. The platoons and companies in the first battalion drew on men in and around Parowan. (It had no involvement at Mountain Meadows.) Major Isaac Haight commanded the 2nd Battalion whose personnel in its many platoons and two companies came from Cedar City and outer-lying communities to the north such as Fort Johnson. Major John Higbee headed the 3rd Battalion whose many platoons and two companies were drawn from Cedar City and outer-lying communities to the southwest such as Fort Hamilton. Major John D. Lee of Fort Harmony headed the 4th Battalion whose platoons and companies drew on its militia personnel from Fort Harmony, the Southerners at the newly-founded settlement in Washington, the Indian interpreters at Fort Clara, and the new settlers at Pinto.

In 1857, William Davies, 52, was a company adjutant but that summer he was elected as adjutant to Major John D. Lee in Lee's 4th Battalion. See A Basic Account for a full description of the massacre.

Map southern utah 1.jpg

Davies's role in the massacre is uncertain. Indian Superintendent Jacob Forney's included "Bishop Davies" in Forney's 1859 list of "persons most guilty." Presumably, this refers to William Rees Davies (1805-1865), and not his son, John Rees Davies (1827-1862). Historian Linda King Newell concluded that Davies and his son along with Elisha Hurd Groves were at Mountain Meadows. (Newell, A History of Piute County, 70, fn. 27.) However, neither of these judgments appears to be sustained.

Neither his son, John Rees Davies, nor Elisha Hurd Groves were included in any of the earliest lists of participants -- not in Judge Cradlebaugh's 1859 arrest warrant, Jacob Forney's 1859 list of the "most guilty," the list in Rocky Mountain Saints published in 1873, the names identified during the Lee trials of 1875-76, those listed in Lee's 1877 Mormonism Unveiled, nor those in the list of "assassins" appended by Lee's attorney, William Bishop, to Mormonism Unveiled. Furthermore, there is evidence that William Rees Davies, John Rees Davies, and Elisha H. Groves all remained at Fort Harmony during the time that the Arkansas train were besieged and massacred at Mountain Meadows. Finally, in Appendix C to Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Walker, Turley, and Leonard make no mention of either William or John Davies in their list of militiamen confirmed or suspected of having been present at Mountain Meadows.

Later LIfe

Davies died roughly eight years after the massacre, while his son John Rees Davies died within five years of it.

References

Bigler and Bagley, ed., Innocent Blood: Essential Narratives, 123; New.familysearch.org; Newell, A History of Piute County, 70, fn. 27; Walker, et al, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, 394, fn. 2.

For full bibliographic information see Bibliography.

External Links

For further information on William Rees Davies, see:

• http://mountainmeadowsmassacre.org/appendices/appendix-c-the-militiamen
• Deseret Iron Company Account Book, 1854-1867: http://www.footnote.com/document/241905844/

Further information and confirmation needed. Please contact editor@1857ironcountymilitia.com.