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
[Under Construction.]
[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.
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, 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. 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, 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. Further, Walker, Turley and Leonard concluded . . .
Later LIfe
Davies died within five years of the massacre.
References
FamilySearch.org; Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, ; Lee Trial transcripts; Newell, A History of Piute County, 70 fn 27; Walker, et al, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Appendix C.
External Links
For further information on William Rees Davies, see:
Further information and confirmation needed. Please contact editor@1857ironcountymilitia.com.
External Links
For further information on William Rees Davies, see:
Further information and confirmation needed. Please contact editor@1857ironcountymilitia.com.
