William Rowe ~ Index
The Rowe name spelled either Rowe or Row, is of English origin and means "dweller at the rough or uncultivated land. One who lived at the hedgerow." William Rowe, son of David and Hannah Manning Rowe, was born in West Burlington, Delaware County, Indiana, February 20th, 1826. His family lived on a farm in close proximity to woodlands. He told of his father and mother making maple syrup, and of gathering hazel nuts, hickory nuts and walnuts in the autumn time. His scholastic advantages were limited. He was acknowledged as being a splendid speller, but as a mathematician he knew and understood very little about it. William was not a healthy robust type of boy. Early in his manhood he suffered from what he thought a paralytic stroke. At the age of eighteen years he was still in ill health. At this age he had a marvelous experience.
His physicians told his parents that he could not get well and had not long to live. One night he dreamed that two messengers came to him and said, If you will do as you are instructed to do, we promise you that you will be well again.
In the morning he told his parents of his dream and they were impressed by its promise. Within a few days two messengers called at the home. The parents recognized them as the ones described by their son. These messengers were missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They explained the gospel to them. William felt it was of God and was baptized in his 18th year. He was the only member of his family to join the Church at that time.
Sometime after his conversion he went to Nauvoo, Illinois. He told of the beauty of Nauvoo, of the beauty of the Temple and of his move to Winter Quarters with the Saints. At Winter Quarters the call from the U.S. Government came asking for volunteers to go to Mexico in defense of our country. William did not plan at first to go, but one night he dreamed he saw the battalion of men marching forward, and their loyalty and patriotism stirred him. In his dream he wished he too had enlisted and could go along. In the morning he awoke with the determination to enlist. He hastened to the camp, and after three days of enlisting, he marched forward with the battalion of five-hundred men. Five companies were formed with one-hundred men in each company. He was assigned to "D" company. He said that the pay he received from the government, he sent to the Saints to assist them in their great trek across the plains.
The activities and privations of army life were difficult for him to withstand. He became ruptured, and from this rupture he suffered all his life. Because of the hardships of the march and other adverse conditions most of the women and children as well as soldiers who were sick or had physical ailments (which included William) were detached from the battalion and were sent to Pueblo, Colorado. There they joined with a group of Saints from Mississippi. That winter of 1846 they stayed in Pueblo and the next spring they traveled north to Fort Laramie to meet Brigham Young and his company. When they got to Fort Laramie they learned that Brigham Young's company had gone ahead. They followed, and entered the Salt Lake Valley on July 29th, 1847: just a few days after the first pioneers.
From Utah, he returned to his home in Indiana. His parents pleaded with him to remain. He told them he couldn't, but if they would come with him he would take care of them. Rather than have their family separated, the mother and father consented to move west. His oldest sister, Margaret, was converted during the journey and was baptized in the North Platte River. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in October, 1848. That autumn was a cold one and William was advised not to go to the timberlands for logs to build a house because of the ice. He nevertheless went. His oxen had no shoes, and to keep them from slipping and falling on the ice, William spread his bedding on the ice for the oxen to walk on.
Sometime later William felt the urge to go to California in order to help provide more for the family. He washed gold and saw the rough life that existed there. He saw blood shed as a result of card playing, and often said if one had seen as much evil resulting from card playing as he had seen, one would never want to play. William's mother became ill while he was in California. Before her death she said she knew he was on his way home, but would not arrive in time to see her alive. Her request was that they hold a service for her when he did come. This request was duly honored. She died early in the year 1852.
One day as William was walking down the street in Salt Lake City he met Brigham Young, who asked him if he didn't want his endowment. He said yes, and hurried home to make preparations for the same, March 30th, 1852. William was sealed to Elizabeth Murdock in the Endowment House in March 1855. They moved to Parowan, Iron County, and lived within the fort. William farmed and also worked in the timber. Only thirty bushels of grain were raised that year in Parowan and William raised ten bushels of the thirty. Four children were born there to William and Elizabeth; William, Margaret Ann, David and Ruth Althea.
In 1864 William and family moved to West Weber through the persuasion of his father-in-law, Levi Murdock. Two children were born there, Joseph and Elizabeth Matilda. While there the river washed his crops away and many other misfortunes followed. William stayed in West Weber for five years. He then moved to Mendon, Cache County, to be near and to help his brother Manning, who had married Elizabeth A. Richards and had settled there. At Mendon he bought thirty acres of land on the hillside about a mile from town. There was a spring on this land and through his efforts, William managed to water all thirty acres from the spring. It was a steep climb up the hill, but he carried many sacks of grain and potato seeds up this hill on his back. He raised grain, potatoes, vegetables, planted fruit trees, raspberry bushes and about five acres of sugar cane. At one time the family had about forty gallons of sorghum on hand.
The children attended school part of the time, but since they had to pay for this advantage and their means were limited, they were unable to attend regularly. There were two children born in Mendon; Senora Electa, and Ole Delbert. In order to use his homestead right, and to give the boys the benefit of it, he went to Star Valley, Wyoming and filed on a quarter section of land (160 acres). He worked there on the farm and raised a garden. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints named a Primary organization in his honor.
His wife died January 2nd, 1902. After that he lived on the farm with his son David. He would not leave his own home. He helped put up the hay the last year he lived. He died July 24th, 1906 and was buried July 27th at Thayne, Uinta County, Wyoming.
Elizabeth Murdock Rowe
Elizabeth Murdock Rowe was born October 7th, 1835 on a farm in Indiana. Her father's family joined the Latter-day Saint church in early childhood. Her mother died when she was twelve years old. She said that the Latter-day Saint missionaries were considered next to angels in their home. When they came to Utah in 1850, she went to work for her cousin, Betsy Green White. There she met William Rowe at school.
She married him on March 9th, 1853 by Jedediah M. Grant. In 1855 they received their endowments and were sealed at the Endowment House, as there was no place to do that when they were married. Shortly after they were married, they moved to the town of Parowan where she started to weave both cloth and carpet. She continued weaving cloth and carpet for several years until homemade cloth was no longer used. I well remember wearing dresses made from cloth that she wove.