William R. Davies

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

William R. Davies

1827-1862

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 son of John Rees Davies. In the 1840s (??), the Davies were converted to Mormonism.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

Immigration to America and onto Utah

In the early 1850s, the Davies immigrated to Utah. By the mid-1850s, William R. Davies and his family had settled at Fort Harmony in southern Utah, roughtly 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, 30, 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.

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," but that preliminary judgment does not seem to be sustained. Historian Linda King Newell concluded that Davies and his father along with Elisha Hurd Groves were at Mountain Meadows. (Newell, A History of Piute County, 70, fn. 27.)

However, neither Davies' father, John Rees Davies, nor Elisha Hurd Groves were included in any of the earliest lists of participants -- 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, in appendix C to Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Walker, Turley and Leonard make no mention of Davies in their list of militiamen confirmed or suspected of having been at Mountain Meadows.

Later LIfe

Davies died within five years of the massacre.

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.