Richard Douglass was a mormon leader. The son of George
Douglass and Ellen Briggs, he was born 27th February 1828, in Downham,
Lancashire, England. (Some records spell his name Douglas)
He
assisted in bringing in immigrants to Utah, arriving on 28th
August 1852. He was a member 26th quorum seventies and a missionary to
England.
Married Elizabeth Wadsworth June 21, 1849 (daughter of
James and Agnes Wadsworth), who was born Aug. 10, 1833, Manchester,
Eng., and came to Utah with husband. Their children: Ellen b. April
14, 1850, m. James Wilson; Elizabeth Ann b. March 31, 1852, m. John
W. Hooper; Richard b. Jan. 23, 1854, died; Agnes Vilate b. July
29, 1856, m. Charles O. Wheat; James Henry b. Aug. 29, 1858, m.
Irintha Pratt; Mary b. July 31, 1860, died; Jeannetta b. Aug.
10, 1861, m. George B. Smyth Jr., m. John Brown; Isabell b. Oct. 7,
1863. m. A. McLaren Boyle; Benjamin Edmund b. Nov. 8, 1866, died;
Alice b. Nov. 29, 1867, m. Ashby Stringham; Mariah; Joseph b.
July 1, 1870, died; David George b. Oct. 25, 1871; Charles
Walter b. Oct. 19, 1873, died; Wealthy b. Nov. 11, 1876; Ada
Catherine b. Jan. 4, 1879, m. Charles P. Carlson. Their family home
was in Ogden, Utah.
Married Eliza Joyce 1857, Salt Lake City
(daughter of Thomas and Mary Ann Joyce, who were married in
Bedfordshire, Eng.). She was born in Bedfordshire. Their children:
George b. Nov. 22, 1867, died; Thomas Moroni b. July 12, 1859, m.
Sophia Larson; John b. Feb. 4, 1861, m. Lettia Shurtliff;
William b. March 2, 1863, m. Chloe Leischman; Ralph Heber b. April
2, 1865, m. Jennie Pickering; Sarah Eliza b. July 30, 1867, m.
William Reeve; Mary Ann b Feb 22, 1870, died; Roseltha b. Jan.
8. 1873, m. David Georga Revore; Walter Joyce b. Sept. 2, 1880. ,
He kept a record of the journey to utah.
Notes by Richard Douglas,
1909-1910.
Article No. 1.... He assisted in ferrying the
saints across the river at the time of the expulsion from Nauvoo. Father
[Richard Douglas] was in Sugar Creek during the time the church was
gathering for the trip to the west. There was a company there called the
pioneers, who labored under the direction of Apostle Cha[rle]s C. Rich.
They were called the Pioneer Company. There were about twenty seven
persons in the company. This company were the men, that built the
bridges and very materially assisted the saints after they started west.
Father remained in this country about three months and helped make the
roads, build the bridges and also to erect the first house that was
built at Garden Grove after the Saints left Nauvoo. He assisted also in
fencing and planting grain for those that followed of the saints. After
laboring for three months with the Pioneer Co. Father received an
honorable discharge from Apostle C. C. Rich and returned to Nauvoo.
. . . During the time that his parents were in St. Louis, they
accumulated sufficient means to emigrate to Utah and finally started to
Utah in connection with his mother, his mother's husband, John Parker
and their family, John Pincock and his family and Edmund Robins and his
family. There were eleven wagons in all. Their company left St. Louis in
the Spring of 1852 and drove overland to Salt Lake valley with ox teams.
They landed in Salt Lake valley on the 28th of August, 1852. There were
no accidents on the way.
Article No. 3. The following is a brief
history of my father's family coming to Utah as given to me by my father
himself.
--We left St. Louis for Utah April 14th, 1852. The
company consisted principally of our own family. My step-father John
Parker was the captain of the company, which consisted of eleven ox
teams and wagons all belonging to the family excepting one. Father
Parker had two brothers-in-law named Edward and William Carbridge [Corbridge].
Father Parker emigrated [with] William Carbridge from England to Utah.
We travelled all the way with ox teams from St. Louis to Salt Lake
City. In the early portion of our trip, we passed through Jackson Co.,
Mo. from where the Saints had been driven some years before. We crossed
the caw river near where Kansas City now stands on a Ferry boat. From
there we made our way to Fort Leavenworth where we received our goods,
furniture etc. which had been shipped from St. Louis to Fort Leavenworth
on steam-boat. We loaded up and started for Salt Lake on the south side
of the Platt[e] River arriving in Salt Lake City, Utah on Saturday,
August 28, 1852. . . .
The entire company who started from St.
Loious [Louis] consisted of John Parker, Edward Carbridge, William
Carbridge, Richard Douglas, Edmund Robins, John Pincock, George Douglas,
William Parker, Isabel Douglas Pincock, Ann Douglas Robins, Mary
Douglas, Vilate Douglas, Elizabeth Parker, Ann Parker, William Parker
and Elizabeth Douglas, my wife. Also our two children Ellen and
Elizabeth, the children having been born in St. Louis before we started
to emigrate.
Ralph Douglas, my older brother was called as one of
the Mormon Battalion and made the trip through old Mexico going around
through lower California and returned to Salt Lake, then continued his
journey on east and brought his family back to Utah landing in Utah in
1850 as Captain of the company. James Douglas, my father's brother was
also one of the Mormon Battalion making the same journey that my brother
Ralph Douglas made except that he came to Utah the second time and then
went west and died in California.
See also:
The Mormon migration
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