Emma Dewey Allred Hayward

Saturday, July 1, 2023

Emma Dewey Allred Hayward

Emma Dewey Allred Hayward

Emma Dewey was born on 21 April 1826

EMMY DEWEY ALLRED HAYWARD Emma Dewey was born on the 28 April 1826 in Babton, Wiltshire, England, the daughter of Sara Ranger and John Dewey. Her father died when she was about four years old and her mother married James Targett of Cadford, Wiltshire, England, and to this union was born four children: Ann, Eliza, John, and Mary. When Emma was just a young girl, she heard the gospel from a missionary by the name of Isaac Allred. She was converted to the truth of his words and braved the condemnation and ridicule of family and friends to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was baptized 6 July 1852. Her mother and stepfather disowned her so she packed her few belongings in a trunk and left England, never to see her family again. She worked her way to America, the land of Zion in 1852. On opening her trunk after her arrival, she found that someone had poured ink all over the few clothes and belongings she had brought with her. It was three years later when she left Mormon Grove, Kansas, on 1 July 1855, with the Richard Ballantine Company to walk all the way to Utah. Somewhere during the crossing of the ocean or the first year in the United States, she met William and Ruth Hayward who were also converts. They arrived in Utah in 1853. Emma's company arrived in Salt Lake 25 September 1855. The Haywards and Emma Dewey became great friends and they settled in Ogden, Weber County, Utah. Plural marriages were being practiced in the church at this time, and Emma Dewey became the third wife of the missionary who converted her. She was sealed on 7 October 1856 to Elder Isaac Allred who was born in Bedford County, Tennessee on 28 June 1813. He married his first wife, Julia Ann Taylor, on 10 October 1832. A daughter, Emma, was born to Isaac in Ogden; they then moved to Ephraim where a son, Adelbert, was born. In 1859 Isaac moved his family to Mt. Pleasant, where he was engaged in sheep raising. On the 12th of May he was accidentally killed by a lifelong friend, Tom Ivie. They had been sitting at the campfire when they began arguing over some sheep; in the heat of the argument Tom pulled an aspen pole from the fire and hit Isaac on the head. The blow killed him instantly. His friend and murderer was tried and condemned to death, but he escaped and went East. President Brigham Young prophesied that Tom Ivie would apostatize from the church and buzzards would pick his bones. This prediction was literally fulfilled as the remains of Mr. Ivie were subsequently found in a cornfield devoured by buzzards. Thus, Emma Dewey Allred has left a widow with two small children. During this period of bewilderment, William and Ruth Hayward came to her aid and befriended her. Emma had known nothing but hardships and hard work from her early childhood, and being a widow with her small babies to provide for was just another chapter in her life to strengthen her character. William entered into polygamy and took Emma as his second wife on 6 June 1863. He made a home for her in Moroni, Utah. On 26 April 1864 a son, Thomas Henry, was born to them. Thus in the triangle of plural marriages, Thomas had half brothers and sisters that had half brothers and sisters that were no relation to Thomas. Being a second wife obliged Emma to do whatever she could to earn a living for herself and three children. They went barefoot, poorly clothed, and often hungry while their mother bent over the washboard or perspired over hot irons to earn a few cents from her neighbors. They grew up in the very poorest of their surroundings. The children assisted their mother as they were able in the chores, and they indeed learned the value of money. William had been called to help settle the Sevier Valley (later called Richfield) in about 1859. He later built a double house and moved Emma and her children to Richfield. They saw much poverty and because of Indian disturbances were forced to leave their home and move to Nephi. Here a daughter, Ruth, was born to Emma, but she died while still an infant of dysentery. William was called to help resettle Richfield in 1870; he took Ruth with him, but Emma remained in Nephi. Her daughter married Thomas West and moved to Chester in 1875; Emma followed her two boys. She was the first school teacher in Chester. Through all of Emma's hard work, she always found time to give her time and talents to the church. The Chester Ward Records show that she was very active. She was a teacher in the first Sunday School and on 2 December 1883 was sustained as second assistant in the Sunday School. She held this position until 1892 when she was advanced to first assistant--a position few women have ever held. She had been sustained as Second Counselor in the Relief Society on 13 January 1878 and when the Primary was organized on 22 June 1880 she was its first President. She was released from the Primary in 1893. She followed the pattern of the Master Teacher of teaching by doing. She would take her primary children out into the wheat fields and follow along behind the thrasher gleaning the grain they left. Her hands were often raw and bleeding. When they had gleaned all they could, she would have it thrashed and give the wheat to the bishop, thus teaching the children both the value of work and the blessing of giving. William Hayward died from internal injuries sustained from over lifting; this happened on 27 September 1891 at the age of 74. He was buried at Richfield. Emma left Chester and moved to Mt. Pleasant to make her home with her daughter in 1893. While there she furnished the bread for the sacrament for 12 years. She would take the bread in a little egg basket lined with a white napkin and covered with a lid. She would carefully gather any pieces of bread left over and be very sure that not one piece was wasted; she explained to the grandchildren and neighbor children that it was an honor to eat these pieces of bread as they had been blessed. Her kindness to children and loved ones was most outstanding and she was affectionately known wherever she went as "Aunt Emma." Her grandchildren called her "Grandma Great." On Tuesday, 20 April 1909, at the age of 83, she gathered her family together and walked several blocks in the rain to have a four-generation picture taken. Soon after returning home she became ill and slipped peacefully away during the night. She was buried at Mt. Pleasant. Her obituary read, "Another of Mt. Pleasant's pioneers has passed to the Great Beyond in the person of Aunt Emma Hayward. She died early Wednesday morning, 21 April 1909."

Grandmother was very modest and unassuming. She never had much to say about her life nor did she leave any stories that would help complete her history. One letter from her half-sister Ann in England was found among her papers, so she did hear from her family. In asking some of her grandchildren what they could remember about her, one of them said, "I remember her little cape and bonnet trimmed with a feather and lace which she always wore to church." Others said about all they could remember was her kindness and hard work. All of them said she was one of the hardest-working persons they had ever known. One remembered her beautiful flower garden and the bouquets she always sent home with them, and another has a favorite spot in his flower garden where some of her Lily-of-the-Valley grow. I was just a year old when she died and cannot remember her, but I have been told by my mother many times how she used to play with me and laugh at my actions until the tears would roll down her face. She laughed at my hands when I was born because they were so big. She said, "When she puts them over her face they are so big they cover her whole face. What greater gift could a father and a grandmother give you than hardworking hands?"