William Ephriam Nuttall

Genevieve Nuttall Creer's Great Grandfather

William Ephriam Nuttall

William Ephriam Nuttall, the son of William and Mary Langhorn Nuttall, was born at Carlisle, Cumberland, England. His father’s ancestry came form Bury, Lancashire, England. His mother’s people were from Northern Lancashire, Westmoreland, and Northwestern Yorkshire and trace into the Taylor, Whittington, Middleton, and Hebblethwaite families of this area and thru them to the Royal families of England. Some time between the date of his birth 29 Oct 1825 and the birth of this brother Leonard John, who was born 6 July 1834, his parents moved to Liverpool, Lancashire, England. It was here that he got what schooling his parents could afford and he decided to follow the trade of his father and grandfather as shipwright. Sometime between the ages of twelve and fourteen he apprenticed out and went to sea to learn his trade. During the next ten years he sailed all over the world and learned much of its people and their customs. He learned also much that was to be of much value to him and his associates in his later life. The knowledge of how to tie knots, handle rope and cable, repair and make almost all kinds of tools, all kinds of first aid and emergency handling of the sick and injured, and how to set broken bones, pull teeth, take care of wounds and many other useful things.
Sometime during the summer of 1850 the Nuttall family was contacted by Mrs. Nuttall’s cousin John Taylor. (Third Prophet of the Restored Church). He had been to America and while there had heard of and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Now he was on a mission for that church and when he visited the Nuttalls he told them of its marvelous teachings. William E. was their first of his family to join, he being baptized on the 8th of Sept 1850. His parents and two brothers, Leonard John and Joseph were baptized on the 8 Oct 1850. About this time he met the lovely Rosamond Watson. She received the new Gospel and was baptized the 14 Feb 1851. Her parents however were not friendly toward the new church and told their daughter she would either have to renounce her new religion or leave their home. She could not give up what she knew to be true, so she left their home, never to return. For a while she lived with her married sister Caroline and on the 4 Aug 1851 in the Church of St. John the Baptist, in Liverpool, she and William E. Nuttall were married.
They soon decided to leave England and their people, most of whom were very hostile toward the new religion the Nuttalls had adopted. On the 6th of Mar 1852, William Ephraim, his new wife, his parents and two unmarried brothers left Liverpool, England, on the ship “Rockaway”, in company with the Elias Morris Company of LDS converts, to come to Utah. It took eight weeks to reach New Orleans and on the way Rosamond gave birth to and lost a tiny babe. They were met at New Orleans by Elder John Taylor and proceeded to Council Bluffs by boat. This group of converts were known as the Sugar Company because on the same ship came the sugar refining machinery, that John Taylor had bought for the Church in Europe. It is a tradition in the family that William Ephriam was to be the mechanic to take charge of the setting up of this machinery. They came with it to Provo and camped by it on the banks of the Provo River near where Highway 91 now crosses the river. It was at this camp that son William George was born on the 4th of March 1853. Their home was a wagon bed, with a wagon cover for a roof. It had been set off on the ground and banked with dirt and snow to keep the wind from blowing thru. There was still about six inches of snow and the weather was cold when little Willie was born. The sugar machinery was soon taken to Salt Lake Valley and set up at what later became Sugarhouse, but William E. and his family remained in Provo where he worked as a carpenter, blacksmith and farmer.
In 1860 he became the fourth bishop of the Provo Third Ward which office he held until 1866. The road up Provo Canyon was built under the direction of the Church by William M. Wall in the summer of 1858 and with its completion many Utah County families began to settle these upper valleys. The Nuttalls like many others first took their cattle into the lush pasturage of these beautiful valleys each summer and returned to Provo in the winter, but by 1866 the Nuttalls decided to make Round Valley their permanent home. On the 15th of July 1877 when Wasatch County was organized as a Stake, William Ephraim Nuttall became the first Bishop of the Wallsburg Ward.
His farm of about 60 acres was near the center of Wallsburg and here he lived the rest of his life. He served as the Postmaster for many years. He was town doctor, pulled teeth, set broken bones, etc. He always had a big garden, which was kept weed free. He was industrious and eventually became fairly well fixed. As Bishop he was asked by Church Authorities to accept and live the law of plural marriage, so he married Martha Fenn. The two wives lived in the same house and go along perfectly and loved and respected their husband very much. Aunt Martha never had any children of her own, but loved and helped care for and was dearly loved in return by the children of her husband of Rosamond Watson. By the sweet and kind life she lived Aunt Martha was a guiding influence to all the children of the little town of Wallsburg where she taught Sunday School and Primary for many years.
William E. was a kind and generous man who was loved my most everybody. His grand children adored him. His stories of his early life on the sea, his many tricks with ropes, the wagon, sleds, little chairs, doll cradles, and other toys, for the grand children and his children and fellow townspeople endeared him to all. In his later life he acquired a sawmill which was set up near Strawberry Peak and from it he furnished employment to his family and many of his neighbors and lumber to Wasatch County and the town of Springville. To get the lumber to Springville he built a road from Strawberry Peak down the left hand fork of Hobble Creek to where it met the road built by the farmers who settled in that canyon. About the year 1880 he had an accident at the sawmill and nearly cut off one hand. From then on he turned over most of the responsibilities of the sawmill to his son William George.
He continued to farm and served as Bishop of the Wallsburg Ward until his death 5 may 1899. He was buried in the Wallsburg Cemetery. He is survived by both wives
and eight of his twelve children. His wife Rosamond died at the home of her daughter Laura in Ogden, Utah, 22 Oct. 1916. Martha died and both wives were buried near their beloved husband in the Wallsburg Cemetery.

Children of William Ephraim and Rosamond Watson Nuttall:

Child Apr 1852 died at birth, buried in Atlantic Ocean
William George Nuttall 4 Mar 1853 Provo, Utah died 26 June 1926
John Horatio Nuttall 14 Dec 1854 Provo, Utah died 19 Apr 1931
Joseph Brigham Nuttall 9 Oct 1856 Provo, Utah died 24 Jan 1919
Richard James Nuttall 19 Sept 1858 Provo, Utah died 27 Jan 1923
Mary Eleanor Nuttall 22 Sept 1860 Provo, Utah died 18 Apr 1881
Walter Henry Nuttall 5 July 1862 Provo, Utah died 5 July 1862
Martha Agnes Nuttall 18 Sept 1863 Provo, Utah died 29 Mar 1905
Rosamond Emily Nuttall 7 Mar 1865 Provo, Utah died 1 June 1940
Ruth Caroline Nuttall 6 Nov 1866 Provo, Utah died 18 Nov 1887
David Watson Nuttall 14 May 1869 Provo, Utah died 12 Apr 1956
Elizabeth Ann Nuttall 1 Feb 1871 Wallsburg, Ut died as a child
Laura Alice Nuttall 29 June 1873 Wallsburg, Ut died 29 Apr 1928

These children had 89 children who progeny numbered several hundred by 1952, just 100 years after William E. and Rosamond Watson Nuttall came to Utah.