Mary Richards- born 15 November 1835 in Merthyr-Tydfil, Glamorganshire, Wales
- died 2 July in Salt Lake City Utah
- came to America in 1853
- arrived in Salt Lake Valley 10 October 1853 with the Joseph W. Young Company
Mary grew up in
Merthry-Trydfil, Glamorganshire, Wales When
missionaries arrived in the city and began teaching, the William Richards
family joined the church. Mary was
baptized in September of 1845. William
(the father) and four of his children—Mary, Elias, Martha and Eleazer—came to
America together though the Perpetual Emigration Fund. Their mother Harriet had died before
this. A company of 314 saints sailed
from Liverpool 5 Feb. 1853. After
reaching New Orleans they sailed up the Mississippi River to Keokuk, then
traveled on to the Valley.
Shortly after arriving in the Valley Mary, at age 18, met
James James from the Parish of Pencarreg, Llangybi, Carmathenshire, Wales. He was eleven years her senior. They were married in Salt Lake City four
months after she arrived. Their first
five children were born in Salt Lake City.
Then, in 1862 or 1863, the family moved to E.T., named for its
founder Ezra Taft Benson (father of President Benson). The name of this farming community was later
changed to Lake Point in Tooele County.
Seven more children were born to Mary and James at Lake
Point. Three of the James sons died
young. When Thomas, the seventh child,
turned 14, Mary baked him a custard pie and told him he could eat it all by
himself because he was the first son to live to the age of 14.
Mary confined her activates to her home and family. When the youngest was five years old, the
father died and Mary, at age 45, moved back to Salt Lake City. At 135 South 5th West she had a
four room home built from adobes made by her two teenage sons, Tom and
David. Railroad track now run where this
house once stood. While living there
Tom, and perhaps David, in their teens, walked to the Salt Lake Tabernacle to
pump the bellows for the big organ.
We do not know how Mary supported her family after her husband’s
death, nor do we know any of her church callings. She died at the early age of 49.
A close bond remained with the siblings through the
years. At least four of the James
children lived in Park Valley, Utah, at the same time.
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