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2023 Cemetery Tour - Kaysville "First's"
*Click on each person's name to be directed to their gravesite location*
Mary Ann Pressdee Phillips - Kaysville's "First" Midwife
December 4, 1773 - January 19,1871
Mary Ann was born in Leigh, Worchestershire, England on December 4, 1773. Mary married William Phillips on December 3, 1793. Thirteen children were born to this union, two having died young. Mary lost William in 1825. Mary Ann received much of her early midwife training while living in England.
Mary was a member of the Methodist Church, then joined the United Brethren. In 1840 she was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Wilford Woodruff in Herefordshire. She emigrated to Nauvoo in 1844, in time to see the Prophet Joseph before his martyrdom. She lived on Camp Creek, fifteen miles from Nauvoo; was driven into Nauvoo by a mob, was carried in on a bed of sickness; was driven out of Nauvoo with the rest of the Saints in 1846. She stopped at Winter Quarters, where she lost, by fire, what little property she had saved from the mob.
Arriving in the Utah Territory in 1849 and settling temporarily in the Salt Lake Valley, Mary eventually permanently settled in Kaysville in 1850 where “she officiated in the capacity of a midwife” and ran her own farm.
It is reported that at the good old age of 82, “ she gleaned over twenty bushels of wheat and raised thirty bushes of potatoes and dug and carried them into her cellar. She fatted two hogs, and gave a good yoke of oxen the same year to immigrate the poor from England. During the fore part of the winter of this same season she had a fall, dislocating her shoulder and breaking her collar bone, which affected her afterwards in her labor.”
She officiated in the capacity of midwife for forty-five years; and until she was ninety-six years of age waited upon some thirty women annually, and never lost a woman under her administration, and never a child until two years before her death.
At the time of her death in 1871 she had 11 children, 35 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren. She was said to be the oldest person in the territory.
Thomas Francis Roueche - Kaysville's "First" Mayor
February 9, 1833 - September 12, 1903
Thomas Roueche was born in North Carolina on February 9, 1833. His father was from France and his mother came from Ireland. The Roueche family moved from North Carolina to St. Louis, Missouri for better employment.
Thomas met Margaret Comish in St. Louis when her family stopped there while traveling to Utah. They married in 1854 and traveled to Utah with Margaret’s family in 1855.
When they arrived in Utah, they immediately settled in Kaysville. Thomas rented 15 acres of good fertile land to farm. He also ran a coal business. He purchased the land plus more having 198 acres in Kaysville when he died. They built a small home on the land and later built a lovely big home on the property.
Thomas was elected the first mayor of Kaysville in March 1860 and served in that position for 7 terms or 14 years. He was also very active in serving his community. He was a road commissioner, and county commissioner for 3 terms. He drew the plans for the Farmington Courthouse and served while it was built. He served the people so well that they sent him to represent them in the territorial legislature. He served in many other capacities in his church and community and was known as a man of extreme integrity. He died on September 12, 1903.
John Weinel - Kaysville's "First" Flour Miller
November 26, 1813 - February 2, 1889
John Weinel was born on November 26, 1813, in Merxheim, Meisenheim, Rhineland, Prussia, Germany, his father, George Philip Weinel, was 27 and his mother, Katherina Margaretha Heck, was 35. John was one of the first German converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was baptized by Murdock McKinze. After his baptism he emigrated to Illinois where he joined the larger body of Saints. It was there in 1842 that he married Alice Daniels, and they were later sealed together in the Nauvoo Temple. John and Alice migrated to Utah and settled in Salt Lake City. He would eventually marry 3 more times after arriving in Utah.
John was a miller by trade and after arriving in Utah he was called by Brigham Young and asked to establish a mill in Kaysville. A flour mill was needed as residents had to travel a distance as far as Willard, Utah to have wheat ground for flour. John moved with his second wife to Kaysville on a fork of Webbs Creek and began at once to erect a flour mill and a home. Grinding stones weighing 2200 pounds were brought by ox team from many miles away. Huge pulleys, shafts, and a giant water wheel had to be fashioned and shaped from native timber.
Besides a flour mill, Mr. Weinel operated a small farm, kept bees, and in general was a very industrious man. He employed a number of men in the mill and on the farm, and was known as a very generous employer. John Weinel was stocky built and corpulent. He had blue eyes and an abundance of brown wavy hair. Although he was married 4 times, he had no children but often his home was a scene of early day festivities.
John died on February 2, 1889 and the mill operation ended in 1906, when a strong east wind blew the building down. Eventually the mill stones would be distributed throughout the community. Today, one of those stones stands as a monument and flag pole located in front of the old library building on Main Street in Kaysville.
William Charles Stewart - Kaysville's "First" Shoemaker
January 23, 1824 - August 9, 1905
Stewart was a short, stout man with hazel eyes and black hair. He was born at Comworth, Bedfordshire, England on the 25th of January 1824.
William was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the 9th of May 1841 by George F. Adams in England. On the 11th of June 1843 he married Mary Ann Marriott who had also joined the church. Together they set sail from Liverpool, England on October 2, 1850 arriving in New Orleans on November 22, 1850. When they arrived in New Orleans Mr. Stewart was so weak he could barely walk. Their funds were completely depleted so he sold his watch for five dollars which paid their fare on a river boat to St. Louis where they arrived December 7, 1850.
After arriving in Salt Lake, they went north with three other families and settled in what we know as Kaysville, Utah. Their first winter was spent in a wagon box where William Stewart made shoes while other members of the group built three rooms in a row. This was covered with a big pile of dirt so that it would keep most of the rain out. They moved into a log home sometime in March 1852. In 1853 and 1854 a fort wall was built in Kaysville for protection from the Indians and many of the settlers moved into this Fort. The Stewart family moved into the fort in the summer of 1857. The log room was pulled down and moved into the fort.
In 1858 this family, along with others, left their all and moved to the west of Provo in fear of Johnson’s Army. They returned to their homes near the end of June.
The only effort to tan hides and make leather in Kaysville was by William Stewart and John R. Barnes at a point about a block south and a block west of the present day Kaysville City Hall. The business was successfully conducted until 1869 when the railroad brought in leather at a price that local competition could not meet.
After a very hard, but faithful life, William Stewart passed away 9th August 1905 at the age of 81.
William Court - Kaysville's "First" Cemetery Sexton
October 24, 1812 - December 21, 1899
William Court was born on October 24, 1812, in Dumbleton, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom. He is the son of Thomas Court and Elizabeth Newland. Little is known of his early life in England. He married Ann Parker in 1839 and later joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1849 and emigrated to Utah in the “early 50’s” and settled in Kaysville.
William and his wife, Ann had no children of their own but they reared and adopted a daughter, Carrie Webb. They also raised a nephew, George Court.
William was the first sexton of the Kaysville Cemetery and a man who lived his life according to what he considered to be his duty. It is said that Mr. Court was a man of sterling qualities. For 35 years he was a “deacon of the Mormon meeting house and unto him was given the responsibility of caring for the poor of Kaysville. No poor person ever appealed to him for aid in vain. It was part of his religion it seemed to make glad the hearts of those to whom luxuries were almost unknown. He made sure that every Christmas and Thanksgiving day was a time of special rejoicing among the poor.”
In the early hours of December 22, 1899, one of Kaysville’s “most highly respected pioneers” passed away after several years of failing health.
Thomas Evans - Kaysville's "First" Person Buried at Cemetery
September 4, 1818 - November 16, 1857
Thomas Evans was born September 4, 1818, at Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales. Thomas was the son of Edward and Hannah Morgan Evans. Nothing is known of his early life. On September 5, 1843 he married Jane Morgan, also of Cardiff. One year later they were blessed with a baby daughter. On Christmas Day 1844, Jane died, and on November 11, 1845 the baby also passed away. On February 4, 1846, Thomas married Ann John. To this union were born four children. Ann died September 18, 1853. On March 9, 1854, Thomas married Mary Norris, who became a good mother to his children in addition to having 2 additional children with Thomas.
The Evans family joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1856, and immediately made preparations to join the Saints in Zion. They sailed from Liverpool, England to Boston, where they docked. Shortly after arrival, their young son Joseph, passed away. The family rode a cattle car to Mason City, Iowa. Here they procured handcarts and joined the Edward Bunker Handcart Company. This was the third of the handcart companies, the one that made the fastest time across the plains. They had their share of hardships, especially in lack of food. The company reached Salt Lake City on the October 7, 1856,
Shortly after arrival, Thomas took his family to Kaysville, in what became Davis County, where they spent the winter in a dugout. Food was scarce, but they survived. On 28 March 1857 Mary Ann Evans was born to Thomas and Mary. In November of that year, Thomas and a young boy went to the mountains to cut logs for a house. Thomas suffered a heart attack and died. He was buried in what would become the Kaysville Cemetery.