John S. Humphries

John Samuel Humphries, his personal and family background, and his alleged involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

John S. Humphries (1826-1903)
Biographical Sketch

John Samuel Humphries was born in 1826 in Gosberton, Lincolnshire, England, the oldest son ofSamuel Humphries and Rebecca Thompson. After contact with Mormon missionaries, he converted to Mormonism and later immigrated to America. In 1849, the 23-year-old Humphries crossed the plains to Utah Territory.
During the 1850s, Humphries lived in Cedar City, where he farmed and labored at the Iron Works. Iron Works records reflect that at some time Humphries worked as a filler, keeping the charge in the blast furnace. He owned lots for a home and garden plot in Cedar City. In 1855, he married Hannah Baugh of Shropshire, England, the daughter of John Baugh and Rachel Bailey.
In 1857, Humphries, 31, was a fifer in Company F, one of two companies in Major John M. Higbee's3rd Battalion of the local militia. It is uncertain whether Humphries was actually at Mountain Meadows. He is not listed in Judge John Cradlebaugh's 1859 arrest warrant, which listed so many other Cedar City militiamen implicated in the massacre. Nor was he listed in the text of John D. Lee'sMormonism Unveiled or any other of Lee's statements. The only early source to identify him wasWilliam Bishop, John D. Lee's attorney, who listed "John Humphreys, of Cedar City". However, since Bishop's "list of assassins" appended to Mormonism Unveiled, virtually always follows Lee in identifying massacre participants, it may be that Bishop was mistaken in including Humphries in his list. At any rate, if he was at Mountain Meadows at the time of the massacre, he did not occupy a leadership position in either the militia or church. His role, if any, during the massacre is unknown.
Judging from the fact that the Humphries gave birth to a baby in Payson in late 1857 or early 1858, it appears that they were among the first families to abandon Cedar City after the disastrous massacre at Mountain Meadows and the many failures of the Iron Works.
By the early 1862, the Humphries had moved farther north to Cache Valley where they settled in Wellsville and stayed for many years. In the early 1880s, they moved to Park City in Summit County.
Over the years, the Humphries had 15 children. John S. Humpries died in 1903 in Salt Lake City, survived by his wife, Hannah, and twelve surviving children.
References: Fielding, ed., The Tribune Reports of the Trial of John D. Lee; Heartthrobs of the West, 10:457; Lee, Mormonism Unveiled; Lee Trial transcripts; New.FamilySearch.org; Shirts and Shirts, A Trial Furnace: Southern Utah's Iron Mission, 293, 394, 486, 492; Walker, et al, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Appendix C.
Further information and confirmation needed.
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