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HISTORY OF JOHN MARRIOTT PIONEER 1817-1899John Marriott descended from a long line of strong stalwart, and industrious people. In England, during the sixteenth century, there was a whole army of men, all of them Marriott descent, who had their own coat of arms. They were brave and steadfast soldiers, and were chosen because of their excellent health, perseverance, and powerful physiques. He was a large powerful man about 6 ft 2 in. Tall and weighed from two hundred fifty lbs. to three hundred lbs. His hands and feet were large. He was very strong. His children remember him throwing two one hundred pound sacks of wheat over his shoulders and walking to the mill to have them ground into flour to feed his four wives and thirty-five children. To illustrate his great strength, at one time his threshing machine got stuck in a hole and no one could remove it, so John lifted out this heavy machine, called a separator, without any help. Another time there were two men quarreling and John lifted them up, one in each hand and bumped their heads together and dunked them under some water. Then he released them and told them to cool off and act like men. John was the son of John Marriott and Francis Parrish of England. H was born in Rhode Northamptonshire, England March 6 18171. His parents and progenitors were tillers of the soil. He was also an able blacksmith. He had one brother, Thomas and 4 sisters, namely Mary Ann, Caroline, Eliza and Elizabeth. Both he and his parents and his brother and sisters were devout members of the Church of England. They were generous and measurable prosperous in a worldly sense. In 1841, John Marriott heard the gospel preached, by some Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He investigated it, and became convinced, that it was the true Church of God. On May 7th of the same year, he was baptized by Elder Warden of Bedford at Honeydon, Bedfordshire, England. (Honeydon is a small Hamlet 2 miles from Colmworth, Bedforshire, England.) Colmworth is a parish and village, four miles west of St. Neots2. In Mary 1842, he and Susannah Hougton Fowkes were married. The ceremony was performed by Elder Lorenzo Snow, who was then on a mission to Great Britain. This was the first marriage performed by the Church of Jesus Christ, in England. Brother Marriott, and his wife continued to assist and help to build up the branch of the Church at that place, until the end of that year. Then he and his young wife made preparations to go to America and gather with the body of the Church there. Early in January 1843, they reached Liverpool. Having engaged passage for himself his wife, and sister Elizabeth, on the ship Swanton, they went on board with 212 Saints and were detained in the docks about two weeks. Elder Lorenzo Snow, age 28 was listed as one of the passengers3. Verifying the fact that John was very well acquainted with Brother Snow, and was his friend. On January 15, on the Atlantic Ocean, his wife gave birth to their first child, who died the same day as her birth. She was buried in the ocean. Her name was Caroline Swanton Marriott after the ship they were on. The next day January 16, they set sail for their new home in the west. After a voyage of nearly three months, they landed in New Orleans on 6 March 1843. Then they journeyed directly to the city of Nauvoo, arriving April 12, 1843. Here John soon became intimately acquainted with the Prophet John Smith who presented him with 2 acres of land on the mound just east of Nauvoo. John farmed this land, worked as a blacksmith, and donated his labor to the erection of the Nauvoo Temple, as a free will offering. His wife made lace and sold it for a living. They ate corn bread, and other coarse food, or anything they could get. The Prophet Joseph Smith called John to be a personal bodyguard to him. One time he was hiding the Prophet in his home, when two mobsters on horses, with swords hanging at their sides, rode up. They asked John if he was hiding “ole Joe Smith”, Susan came out with folded arms, and stared at them with her piercing black eyes. John replied, “now why should I be hiding ole Joe Smith”? The men left cursing, and muttering, thwarted in their efforts to take the Prophet, this time. John filled this honorable and responsible position, faithfully until that noble man and his brother Hyrum, were foully assassinated in the Carthage jail 27 June 1844. John felt it an honor to be a bodyguard to this great man. His love and faith for the Prophet was so great, and John loved the church so much that his heart was sad and heavy to see his dear Prophet, imprisoned so many times and so wrongly accused. He had never known such great sorrow and loss, but his courageous heart swelled with pride for the church and a strong determination to carry on the work of the Lord, and to carry on the teachings given to the saints through their beloved Prophet. After the death of the Prophet, Brigham Young called a great conference for all the saints. While he was speaking to the people, to decide the next step in finding peace and freedom to worship, Brigham Young was suddenly transfigured to look, and sound exactly like Joseph Smith. This was a testimony to John, who was in attendance at that meeting, that he could follow Brigham Young as the leader of the church. He was ordained a Seventy in the Priesthood, by Joseph Smith, and was a member of the 16th Quorum. He and his wife Susan, were endowed in the Nauvoo Temple. Eliza R. Snow made their temple robes while they lived in Nauvoo. John’s father and his sister Caroline came to America to see their loved ones and join the Saints in Zion. They came up the river from New Orleans, to St. Louis. John’s mother, had died in 1842 in Honeydon Beds, England, Before he had left England. When his father and sister arrived in St. Louis, they sent word for John to come after them. But before he could get there, his father and sister died of cholera during the great cholera epidemic in St. Louis. Their first son was born to them 26 October 1844 in Nauvoo, Hancock Co. Illinois. They name him Lorenzo after Elder Lorenzo Snow. They remained in Nauvoo helping to defend the saints against the persecuting mobs until the year 1846. Then they were driven from their home into the wilderness. During the journey from Nauvoo to Council Bluffs, their second son John was born, on 24 October 1846, at Garden Grove, Iowa. They continued their journey to Ferry mills. At this place John procured an outfit and was ready to move west with the Saints, to the valleys of the mountains. But by the council of Bro. Orson Hyde, he gave up his team and outfit to someone else and remained behind to raise grain to assist the poor, and incoming saints from Nauvoo. While there, he took his little son Lorenzo with him and went back to Nauvoo in a wagon with others to get grain and other supplies they had left behind. He stayed at Ferryville until 1851. When his family started their long tiresome journey to Utah, Elder Orson Hyde procured a place for John to drive a team in the Livingston Kingskade Company. His brother-in-law, William Stewart, and his sister Mary Ann were in the same company. The train consisted of three groups, two of them Mormons, and one of them an Oregon company. They were advised to open a new road on the north side of the North Platte River, which they did, clearing & building bridges, which consumed much of their time. Progress was slow and having to diverge from the low or marshy land circuit, which took them two hundred and fifty miles out of their direct route. They were sixteen weeks accomplishing the overland route. At the Platte River they were overtaken by Bro. Hyde, Perry Brochins and others, who had been surrounded and captured by about three hundred Indians and robbed of several thousand dollars. Elder Hyde was again fitted out by the company, and went on to Salt Lake City. When Bro. Hyde reached there, eh told about the Livingston Kingskade Company he had left behind. He also told them that some of the company were getting short of provisions. The buffalo herds had supplied them with fresh meat while on the plains, but they hadn’t seen any for a long time. When the company reached the Little Mountain, just up Emigration Canyon, they were met by Brother and Sister B. Smith, who brought a supply of provisions. Sister Smith sat down and watched the hungry souls devour the food, with tears in her eyes. On September 15, 1851, after a toilsome journey of a thousand miles, they reached the Salt Lake Valley. John and his family lived in Salt Lake City for a while. The winters of the early years in Salt Lake City, were bitterly cold, but when spring came and the sweet mountain air scented the valley, and the clear bubbling streams made the cultivation of the land a rare blessing, the family moved on to Kaysville, Davis Co. There they settled on 360 acres of land and farmed it for four years. They lived not too far away from Mary Ann and William Stewart. John met Elizabeth Stewart there. She was staying with her brother William Stewart, and family. She became his second wife on 26 February 1854. Even though William was Johns brother-in-law, John had never met Elizabeth before. After their marriage, they lived in a small house built by her brother. Their first child was born 21 April 1855 in Kaysville. They name her Elizabeth after her mother. They only lived there about a year, then John was asked by Brigham Young, to give up his property to some of the less fortunate saints, and move to the Ogden area6. John and Susans family went first. They arrived in the spring of the year, taking up about 200 acres of ground west of Ogden, down where 12th Street is now, and west of the Defense Depot Ogden. Being one of the first settlers in that area, they endured the hardships of settlers in a new country, such as living in a dugout by the Ogden River, and eating sego roots and bran bread. Sometimes only having one biscuit a day. They had to clear off the brush and trees, fight the grasshopper invasions, crickets, famine and plagues of the early days. He prepared a home for Elizabeth and her new baby by setting up a wagon box on blocks. Elizabeth then walked the eighteen miles from Kaysville to Marriott, barefooted and carrying her six week old baby. John knew water was needed to irrigate the parched land, so he could raise food for his growing family and others coming into the community. So he took his crude shovel, and with out assistance from others, he dug a canal from the Ogden River, (west of the now existing railroad tracks on W 17th Street) to his land5. Which is a distance of 3 miles. This same canal is still used to serve this land in Marriott in 1976. He built a log cabin about six feet high, for Elizabeth. He cut willows bulrushes and wheat grass and covered them with dirt for the roof. The mice burrowed into the grass and made nests, then the snakes wriggled into it for their food. One day, Elizabeth put her baby on the bed, when she came back, a snake had fallen from the grass onto the baby. What a commotion followed. She had 9 children born in this log house, and also raised Susans six, after her death. Elizabeth said, “It was so cold in the winter, that our bread froze all the way through and had to be thawed out before we could eat it.” All the heat they had in those early years was from a fire made of green willows, taking hours to warm anything up. Quoting from Elizabeth “I would have icicles around my mouth when I woke up in the morning.” John married his third wife Trezer Southwick on 5 November 1855. He took up a farm in Warren, and that is where she and her eight children lived. When Susans baby, Benjamin was born, 15 December 1858, she called the second wife Elizabeth, and told her she was going to die. She asked her if she would promise to care for her six children, then she could die happy. She died the same day her baby was born. She was buried in the Ogden City Cemetary. After her death, Susan came to her husband three times in succession, telling him her garments were not marked. Henry Reeder, and another man at the request of John, dug her up the next day. Sister Bickinton and Elizabeth went along and found her garments not marked. After this was done, Susan never appeared to her husband again. In 1857, word came that Johnsons Army was coming to take over the land. After the saints had suffered and starved and endured all the hardships, of settling in this new land, they decided they wouldn’t give up easily. President Brigham Young counciled the people to prepare to burn their places, in case the army came. Then told the families to go south and stay until it was all over. Johns families participated in this move south while re remained with others, to guard their land. He dug pits at Little Mountain and hid his grain, so the Indians wouldn’t steal it, also to protect it from the Army. He also dug pits in Marriott by the river. He put weeds and willows over the pits, camouflaging them well. The family stayed at Spanish Fork for two months. When they returned, they found a volunteer crop of Barley. This they lived on until their crops were ready. They divided what food they had with all their neighbors. A year before Susan died, John married his fourth wife, Margaret Burton. It was on 17 December 1857. He built her a home in Ogden. They had eight children. As the saints came to the Marriott area, John gave them five or ten acres of ground according to their needs. The town was named Marriottsville, in his honor. He served as branch president of the Marriott district for about eight years, before it was organized into a ward. He built a frame house later, for Elizabeth and her family in Marriott, (located at the present address of 973 S. 1200 W.) It was made out of rough boards, one board thick. This house was only two rooms. It had four windows, a front and back door, and also a porch on the front of the house. A board fence was built all around the house and popular trees surrounded the house. John’s large farm in Warren would be flooded in the spring, from the Ogden Weber Rivers. And some of the family and livestock would be forced to go to Salt Creek, (Little Mountain), until the ground dried out. There they grazed the sheep and dug wells to water them. John traveled from Marriott to Warren to Little Mountain in a rowboat during this flood time. In warren as the family worked the ground on his big farm, he found the remains of an Indian battlefield. There were arrows, human and horse skeletons laying all over. As they dug the skeletons up while plowing, they would bury them deeper, so they wouldn’t be disturbed again4. John was a hard working man, (according to his grandson Parley Marriott in January 1976). “He was kind to everybody, and never did any harm to anyone. He taught all his children to work, and was very strict with them. He was honest with his neighbors. One time while he was away from home, his pig got out of the pen, and got into the neighbors garden, rooting some of it up. When John returned home, the neighbor was very angry because of the damage. So John said, in the old English fashion, “Brother, take him, he should have stayed home.” On the 8 January 1887, John was convicted of the infraction of the Edmunds law, for which he served six months in the Utah Penitentiary, and paid his fine. The Edmons Act was the Law against Polygamy. It became necessary to marry one wife and live with her. He asked his second wife Elizabeth to marry him. Her reply was, “I married you once and I won’t marry you again.” Then he asked his third wife Trezer to marry him, she also refused, so he asked wife number four Margaret Burton and she accepted. At this time, he decided to divide his property equally among his wives, according to deeds recorded as follows7. On 9 January 1886 he deeded Elizabeth:
On 9 January 1886 he deeded Trezer:
On 9 January 1886 he deeded Margaret:
He purchased from William Gill 38 85/100 acres for $57.00 on the same date as above.7 His wives didn’t ever live together. He built a home for each one of them. There was great love and unity between the wives and children. They all loved their husband and father. When there were any decision to be made, or problems to be worked out, John called his wives together and they reached a decision as one. He did a lot of temple work in the Logan temple for his family and friends that he had left in England. He provided well for his large family. He was a successful farmer, sheep and cattle man. When he was old, he would always travel in his surrey pulled by lovely, proud horses, to visit his wives and children. He died in Marriott at Elizabeths home, of dropsy. Three days before his death, he was ordained a High Priest by C.F. Middleton, a friend and fellow church worker. He died 10 June 1899 at Marriott, Weber Co. Utah. His funeral service was largely attended. It was held in the Marriott Ward meeting house on 12 June 1899. The speakers on that occasion were Stake President L.W. Shurtliff, Thomas Joyce, C.F. Middleton, George W. Larkin, and Bishop James Ritchie. All of whom spoke in the highest manner of the pure and faithful life of the deceased. He lived to be 82 years old and died as he had lived, in the full faith of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and with assurance that he will come forth on the morning of the first resurrection to enjoy eternal life with his family and the faithful. He was the last of eight, all of whom died in the full fellowship in the church. He has endured many hardships and trials, and has made many sacrifices for the gospels sake, but all these things he endured without murmuring. He enjoyed the love, the esteem and respect of all who knew him. John Marriott had thirty-five children, one hundred thirty-five grandchildren and sixteen great grandchildren to build up his house, and send his name through ages to the latest generation of time. Revised History of Caroline Emma Marriott Hewitt
Written by Granddaughter FootnotesInformation found: 1.Vital statistics in possession of Alice H. Spencer JOHN MARRIOTT (1) Born 6 March 1817 at Roade, Northamptonshire, England, son of John and Frances (Parish) Marriott; baptized 7 May 1841 in Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Honeydon, Bedfordshire, England; endowed 2 February 1846 at Nauvoo Temple; reendowed 9 September 1891 at Logan Temple; died 10 June 1899 at Marriott, Weber County, Utah; buried Ogden City Cemetary. He married 18 March 1841 (1842) in England to (A) SUSANNAH HOUGHTON FOWKES, daughter of Samuel and Martha (Houghton) Fowkes. Lorenzo Snow performed the ceremony which was alleged to be the first Mormon marriage in England. She was born 31 July 1821 at Bolnhurst, Bedfordshire, England and christened in the Church of England 13 July 1823 at Bolnhurst. She was baptized LDS 7 may 1841 at Honeydon, Bedfordshire, England; endowed 2 February 1846 at Nauvoo Temple; sealed to husband 1 April 1857 at Endowment House. She died 15 December 1858 in childbirth at Marriott, Weber County, Utah. Children of John and Susannah (Houghton Fowkes) Marriott i.Caroline Swanton Marriott (2) b. 15 Jan 1843: d. 15 Jan 1843
s. to p. 29 May 1976 (Note 1. No record of marriage except two conflicting dates: When Susannah Houghton Fowkes Marriott died in 1858, she left six children. Three had preceeded her in death. Elizabeth Stewart Marriott did raise these children as far as I can determine. At the time Susannah died, Elizabeth had two children, Elizabeth, age 3 (she later married David Tracy) and Moroni, age 1. You can see by the following list, that the girls were young and so they probably slept together. Baby Benjamin was in a cradle, and Moroni would have been in a small bed or cradle of some kind. The six children of Susannah:
(Bill I will call alice Hewitt Spencer and ask her how it was all managed as to living accomodations. That will be a fascinating account.)
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