Emmanuel Wayman and Margaret Johnston

“When father promised us anything, he always gave it to us—even a whipping.”

This father of whom the child spoke was Emmanuel Wayman—sailor, builder, logger, pioneer, farmer, good neighbor, a kind husband and father, but stern.

 Emmanuel Wayman was born the second son and third child of James Wayman and Martha Golthrop, 31 March 1892, and christened in the Parish of St. Peter and St. Paul, 26 April 1829, at Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire, England. Before we continue with his story, perhaps we should tell you of his forbearers.

James Wayman, the father of Emmanuel Wayman, was christened 6 July 1794, in Chesterton, Cambridgeshire, England, the son of James Wayman and Mary Cole. His [Emmanuel’s] mother Martha Golthrop was christened 22 September 1797, at Histon, Cambridgeshire, England, the daughter of Richard Golthrop and Elizabeth Ratford.

 James Wayman and Martha Golthrop Wayman, following their marriage at Histon, moved to Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire, England, where all their children were born. According to the baptism or christening and marriage records of this family the name is spelled Wayman, Waiman or Wayment. Our family has always been known as Wayman. Golthrop is also spelled Gawthrop.

 James Wayman was a man of large stature with blue eyes and of light complexion; a farmer by occupation. His wife Martha Golthrop Wayman was medium tall, with dark hair and brown eyes. She was rather plump. She was a very thrifty woman and kept a tidy home.

Emmanuel, his brothers James and Robert and sisters Elizabeth Mary and Maria had a happy childhood. They were a religious family, for when the Gospel found them, they welcomed the missionaries in their home. The Gospel was taught to them by J. V. Long, a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As he conversed with the family on Gospel principles, it is remembered that he would walk back and forth and often stop at the table and take a lump of sugar from the sugar bowl. The children having good singing voices joined in singing the songs of Zion and neighbors and others passing their home used to stop and listen to them. Emmanuel  had a fine tenor voice. The entire family, with the exception of James, the oldest son, became members of the “Mormon” Church. James worked in Yorkshire, married Susan Brichino, and reared their family in England. Maria died when she was twenty-eight years of age and was buried in Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire, England. Our Emmanuel Wayman came to Utah prior to his parents.

 In 1868, the James Wayman family decided to come to Zion. Emigration Records of the Liverpool Office, British Mission, pt. 3, give an account of the ship “John Bright” on which the James Wayman family crossed the ocean. The “John Bright” was a sailing vessel of 1444 tons; its Master was John Towart. On page 162 of the Application Book, it gives as among its passengers:

            James Wayman, laborer, of Fenstanton

            Martha Wayman

            Mary Wayman

            Robert Wayman

In the year 1868, some 3,232 emigrants crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Great Britain and the European countries. Emigration Records, pt 3, give the following account:

“The 144th Company was the “John Bright.” The packet ship “John Bright” sailed from Liverpool, England, bound for New York, on Thursday, June 4, 1868 with a company of Saints numbering 722 souls of whom 176 were from Scandinavia and the rest from the British Isles.

These emigrating Saints when sailing were in fine spirits, being full of joy at being on their way to Zion, an event for which they had labored and hoped and prayed. Most of them had been members of the Church for many years, some of them as long as thirty years.

“A meeting of the passengers was called on the deck of the ship and President Frankin D. Richards addressed the emigrating Saints upon their position and prospects and the duties which they ought to perform on their journey. Cleanliness, order, unity, good feelings toward each other, kindness and assistance to the aged, sick and infirm, and obedience to counsel were topics principally dwelt upon. Elder James McGaw was appointed President of the Company, with Elders Christopher O. Folkmann and Frederik G. Andersen as his counselors. Elder Carl Widerborg addressed the Saints in the Danish language and Charles W. Penrose dedicated the vessel.

“About 4 o’clock p.m. the noble vessel bearing her freight of thankful and happy Saints, sailed away upon her voyage to the west. The weather was cheerful and pleasant, the sun shone brightly, the sky was clear and everything seemed propitious.

“In was intended that the emigrants this year should have crossed the Atlantic by steamers, but on account of the high price demanded for steamship passage, the voyage had to be made by some sailing vessels, as in previous years, so that those of only limited means could be accommodated. During the voyage there was very little sickness and only an aged sister from England, who was sick when she went on board, died. A Swedish couple was married during the voyage. The captain was very kind and obliging towards the Saints. The Company arrived safely in New York, July 13th and on the following day (14th) was conveyed by railroad westward.

 “The emigrants traveled via Chicago and Omaha and on the Union Pacific Railroad to Laramie City (Wyoming). The fare from New York to Omaha was $14.00 and to the terminus on the plains $35.00. The Company arrived at Laramie, 573 miles from Omaha on July 23rd. At that time Laramie City was the western terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad, and also temporarily the outfitting place for the emigrants en route to Salt Lake City.

 “At Laramie City the companies were met by Church trains [wagon trains], and most of the Saints on the ship “John Bright” left Laramie on July 27 in Horton D. Haight’s Company and arrived in Salt Lake City August 24, 1868.” (Captain Horton D. Haight’s Company was spoken of as a mule train with freight and 275 passengers.

Journal History of the Church for Monday, August 24, 1868, records that the weather was fine, though somewhat sultry in Salt Lake City, when Captain Horton D. Haight’s Company arrived. On August 19, 1868, Captain John R. Murdock’s train of emigrants arrived in Utah, according to Church Chronology, page 78, by Andrew Jensen, and since no list of emigrants is available, our James Wayman family arrived with the Horton D. Haight Company or with the John R. Murdock train. The John R. Murdock was a mule train, which also left Laramie City, July 27, 1868, with 50 wagons and about six hundred emigrants.

What must have been the joy of James and Martha Wayman and their son Robert and daughter Mary to reach their destination and to be reunited with family, for Emmanuel Wayman awaited them. James and Martha Wayman and their children Robert and Mary settled at Huntsville, Weber County, Utah. Here James Wayman continued his English occupation of farming. He was not permitted to stay long with his family, for he died 10 November 1870. His wife Martha Wayman lived with her daughter Mary Wayman McKay, wife of William McKay, until her death on 20 January, 1879, at age 89. She was buried by the side of her husband in the Ogden City Cemetery. Robert Wayman married Eliza Millard (Harding) 1 January 1877.

As a young man Emmanuel Wayman did not take to the land and farming as his father had done before him, but to the adventurous sea life. His round, open earrings, which all the children and grandchildren well remember, were a maritime trademark of those who sailed the China Seas, which occupation he followed until he was twenty-four years of age, when he returned to his father’s home in Fenstanton. At this time, through the missionary teachings of Elder J. V. Long, Emmanuel Wayman joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When Elder Long as released from his mission to England, Emmanuel Wayman came to Utah with him.

 Emigration Records of the British Mission, Pt 1, #1044, page 29, record that the “Windermere” Ship’s passenger list included Emmanuel Wayman, age 24, labourer, of Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire, England. The “Windermere” as a 1299 ton ship, with I. W. Fairfield as Ship Master. An account of this eventful trip, written by W. W. Burton is on file at the Historian’s Office in the British Mission History 1854, p 3-6. The following is condensed from W. W. Burton’s account of the Voyage of the Ship “Windermere.”

“On Wednesday, February 22, 1854, the Ship “Windermere” sailed from Liverpool with 460 passengers. As the vessel started in motion the songs of Zion, blending in soul-inspiring harmony, thrilled the souls of the passengers and their many friends standing on the shore gazing at the departing vessel, shouting farewell, goodbye, with eyes streaming with tears, doubtless recalling that only the night before seven vessels with all on board went down in the depths of the Channel.

“As the land disappeared in the distance the sweet singing ceased and many began to feel sick. About 8 p.m. the first day at sea, an old gentleman named Squires died. All that night the wind howled fiercely, the sea was rough, the ship was driven from its course toward the Isle of Atan. About 11 p.m. off Holly Head, which is a most dangerous point, the scene of frequent shipwrecks, was passed. On the morning of the 23rd, Father Squires, who died the night before, was thrown overboard. The sea was rough and the wind blowing. During this day the “Windermere” sailed by the remains of a wrecked vessel. Masts, sails and other fragments were floating around. Likely a few hours previously many despairing souls had tenaciously clung to these same objects for relief that never came. All had been consigned to a watery grave, for no signs of life remained and the rolling waves swept over the bodies of the lifeless sleepers, while the wind howled its requiem for the dead.

 “Some were now beginning to recover from sea sickness, but many were still ill, and some confined to their berths. About this time flying fish were seen which would rise from the water and fly a short distance and drop into the water again. Life on the “Windermere” was now growing monotonous, for its accommodations were poor for so many passengers, and then it did not sail like the ocean steamers now do which are propelled by steam. The “Windermere” was eight weeks, four nights and five days sailing from Liverpool to New Orleans, which can now be made in six or seven days. (This same trip can now be made in ten hours by plane.) We were on the Atlantic Ocean about seven weeks without seeing land.

“On the 12th of March, from seven to eight in the morning an exceedingly fierce storm arose. The wind roared like one of our mountain winds; the masts cracked and the sails were cut to pieces. The Captain of the “Windermere” expressed fear that the ship could not stand so heavy a sea, and in speaking with Daniel Garn, the President of the Saints on board, said: ‘I am afraid the ship cannot stand the storm, Mr. Garn; if there be a God, as you people say there is, you had better talk with Him, if He will hear you. I have done all I can for the ship and I am afraid with all that can be done she will go down.’

“Elder Garn went to the Elders, who presided over the nine Wards in the ship and requested them to get all the Saints on board to fast and call a prayer meeting to be held in each Ward at 10 a.m. and pray that we might be delivered from danger. The waves lashed into white foam, the storm continued with all its fury. But precisely at 10 a.m. the prayer meeting commenced and such a prayer meeting few have ever seen.

“The ship rolled from side to side. On one side the Saints were hanging by their hands, and on the other they were standing on their heads. Then the ship would roll on the other side which reversed their positions. About this time the large boxes which were tied with ropes under the berths, broke loose and with pots, pans and kettles rolled with terrible force on each side of the vessel.

“Although the prayers were fervent and earnest, the pleading of poor souls brought face to face with danger and death, they ceased their prayers to watch and dodge the untied boxes, and great confusion prevailed for some time. The wind roared like a hurricane. Sail after sail was torn to shreds and lost. The waves were of angry white foam. The hatches were fastened down. This awful storm lasted about eighteen hours; then abated a little; but it was stormy from the eighth of March to the eighteenth. Observations taken by the quadrant showed that the ship was in the same latitudes as it was on the eighth.

“On the 14th of March, which was two days after this terrible storm, the small pox broke out. One of three sisters was taken down with it. She had a light attack and recovered, but her two sisters then came down with it and both died. After that, thirty-seven others, forty in all, came down with it. Three days after the breaking out of the small pox, the ship took fire under the cooking galley. At this time we had not seen land for three weeks or more. When the cry of ‘Fire, the ship’s on fire,’ rang through the vessel, the wildest excitement and consternation prevailed everywhere. The sailors plied water freely. All the water buckets on board were brought into use and soon the fire was under control.

“When the last of the three sisters, who took the small pox died, it was evening. W. W. Burton thought he would get a good place from which to see the body thrown overboard, so he got outside the vessel and seated himself on the ledge extending out from the deck, placing each arm around a rope that led to the rigging; his feet were hanging over the ocean, and the ship was sailing about ten miles an hour. By this time darkness was fast setting in, but here he sat waiting to get a good view when the corpse should be thrown into the watery grave. Some said that sharks were constantly seen following for prey. Brother Burton went to sleep and the funeral passed without his knowledge. The sound of feet walking on the deck roused him from his slumber. A chill ran through him, his hair almost stood on end when he sensed his condition. Here he had been asleep, his feet hanging off the side of the vessel which was rocking to and fro. He wondered how he had escaped falling overboard. It was now totally dark. He climbed into the ship and resolved to never so expose himself again.

“About this time the stench of the small pox was fearful in every part of the vessel. Emma Brooks was the name of the young lady just thrown overboard. Her sister Fanny had died the same day about half past one o’clock and was thrown overboard about two o’clock. The funeral services were very impressive. A funeral at sea is a most melancholy and solemn scene, perhaps ever witnessed, especially when the sea is calm. A stillness like that of death prevailed while an old sailor, at intervals, would imitate the doleful tolling of the bell of some old church, such as is heard in some parts of England. Funerals were becoming frequent.

“About this time the “Windermere” had been about six weeks out from Liverpool and the passengers had never seen land from the time they had entered the Atlantic. The days were now generally mild and the weather very pleasant. The sun set in grandeur and the bright pale moon seemed to be straight above our heads. On the eighth of April a voice called out, ‘There is land.’ Excitement prevailed and there was a rush to see land once more. This land was the Isle of Santa Domingo. “On the ninth we came in sight of the Island of Cuba. On this day about 10 o’clock a.m., a young man by the name of Dee died of small-pox. At the time of his death the wind ceased blowing, not a ripple upon the water. The sea appeared bright and clear, and seemed as smooth as a sea of glass. The young man that had just died was sewed up in a white blanket, and at the feet was placed a heavy weight of coal. A plank was then placed with one end resting in the port hole on the side of the ship and the other near the main hatchway. The body was then placed on the plank. Then a doleful tolling of the bell began. Elder McGhee made a brief address suitable to the occasion and offered a short prayer, after which the body and bedding of the young man were thrown overboard. The ship was standing perfectly still and the body could be seen sinking until it appeared no longer than a person’s hand. Some thought it was seen sinking for full fifteen minutes, others longer; some said half an hour.

“The passengers of the “Windermere” had passed through a terrible storm, the panic created by the ship taking fire, their numbers decreased by small-pox, and still another fearful calamity threatened them. The fresh water supply was getting short, and the store of provisions was failing. The passengers were now limited to one small, hard sea biscuit for a day’s rations.

“The Captain sent some sailors in a small boat to intercept a ship that was passing, in hopes of getting more provisions, but they failed. The “Windermere” now passed the western points of the Island of Cuba . The passengers had a good view of the lighthouse located on the most western point. The Gulf of Mexico was now before them. The Gulf Stream flowed in it like a vast river. Just think of this stream five hundred miles across it, very deep and constantly flowing.

“On the morning of the 20th of April the ship entered the mouth of the Mississippi River. The passengers were more glad to look upon the plantations of orange groves that bordered the banks of the river than the great surging waves of the Atlantic which they had left behind them. ”

An additional account of this trip is given in the British Mission History for 1854; also the Church Emigration Record, Vol. 2 for 1854. We quote from the Millennial Star, Vol. 16:

“Wednesday, February 22nd, 1854, the ship “Windermere” with Captain Fairfield, sailed from Liverpool, England, bound for New Orleans, on this date, with four hundred seventy-seven Saints on board, the company being the 77th Company in 1854, and being in charge of Elder Daniel Garn. Included in the company were seven ex-presidents of conferences, namely, Abraham Marchant, Robert Menzies, Job Smith, John T. Hardy, John A. Albertson, J. V. Long and Graham Douglas.

“The Windermere” arrived at New Orleans April 23rd, 1854. During the voyage contrary winds were encountered, arising at times to heavy gales; but at the end of five weeks a favorable wind set in, and the ship made one thousand miles in four days. After fifteen days sailing from Liverpool, the small-pox broke out on board and spread rapidly as the vessel approached the tropics, until thirty-seven passengers and two of the crew were attacked, but at this crisis the malady was suddenly checked in answer to prayer. Six marriages were solemnized on board and six births and ten deaths occurred.

“On the morning after arriving at New Orleans, eleven persons suffering with the small-pox were sent to the Luzenberg Hospital, agreeable to order from the health officers at the port; and Elder Long and five others were selected to remain at New Orleans to attend to the sick until they were sufficiently recovered to go forward. The rest of the company continued the journey from New Orleans April 27th, on board a steamboat, and arrived in St. Louis a few days later, from whence the journey subsequently continued to Kansas City. ”

One of the five men selected to remain in New Orleans with J. V. Long to care for the smallpox patients was Emmanuel Wayman. In retrospect: What depth of feeling must have filled the heart of Emmanuel Wayman as he reviewed his past life: his acceptance of the Gospel teachings; his leaving his home in Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire, England; his leaving his parents and sisters and brothers; and his hazardous voyage across the stormy ocean.

He encountered on this voyage terrific gales, the smallpox epidemic, fire on the ship, the burial of Saints at sea and shortage of food and water. He was one of the 477 Saints on board the ship, all with the same purpose and desire, that of gathering in Zion. Through his fasting and praying the Lord blessed him and preserved him, and thus this newly-baptized member was tested and proven.

How glad Emmanuel Wayman must have been when he heard the voice call out, “There is land’.” Even though he was a seafaring man and was used to ocean travel and the sight of land in the distance, in his heart he knew this was different and that the land he was approaching was America, with new experiences for him among the Saints in Zion.

Upon the recovery of the smallpox patients in New Orleans, Emmanuel Wayman with J. V. Long and others arrived at Kansas City, the outfitting place for the westward trek. Emmanuel Wayman came to Utah with William A. Empey’s Company of forty -three wagons and ox teams, with J. V. Long as Captain of the Ten in which he traveled .

Emmanuel Wayman being a strong, robust man, walked most of the way across the plains. Having no family responsibilities, he was able to assist others and make the journey easier for the Saints in his Company. He was a good marksman with his gun and was assigned to help provide game for the Saints for food. Church Chronology by Andrew Jensen, p. 52, records that this Company of William A. Empey arrived in Salt Lake City on 24 October 1854.

Having arrived at his destination in the Valley, the first thought of Emmanuel Wayman was work for a livelihood, and this led him to getting out logs in Big Cottonwood Canyon. While working there he met James Johnston, also a logger and through him he met his sister Margaret Johnston Finlayson.

But, now, we are getting ahead of our story.

 On the shores of the Arctic Ocean,

By the North Sea’s shining waters,

Dwelt a fair and lovely maiden

By the name of Margaret Johnston,

Daughter of the man, Hugh Johnston,

Seaman, fisherman of note.

Lived she here among her kinsmen,

‘Mong the hardy, thrifty Scotsmen,

‘Mid the joyous scenes of childhood,

Lived she on the Graemsay Isle.

Yes, on this Isle of Graemsay, which is one of the smaller inhabited islands, in the Orkneys of Scotland, on 29 October, 1829, the home of Hugh Johnston and Cecilia Yorston was blessed with their first daughter, and second child, Margaret. Her grandparents William Johnston and Barbara Cromartie and James Yorston and Cecilia Slater and all her known ancestors were also of the Orkney Islands.

Margaret Johnston was the only daughter of Hugh Johnston and Cecilia Yorston Johnston. Her brothers were Hugh, James and William.

It would be most interesting to know the history of the locality in which this family was born and reared; where they worked and worshipped and visited among relatives and friends.

The Orkney Islands of Scotland is a group of islands bordered on the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Pentland Firth, on the east by the North Sea. There are sixty–seven islands in the Orkney Islands group, off the north coast of Scotland. Twenty-nine of these islands are inhabited, four of them have lighthouses only, with attendants. It has been said that on the Orkney Islands life is wedded to the sea. From almost every home the North Atlantic Ocean can be seen. The common feeling among the Orcadians is that they would not like to live shut in with trees and hills or where they couldn’t see the sea. Gales periodically lash the islands and everyone has salt on his lips on these occasions.

The Orkney Islands are separated from the mainland of Scotland by the Pentland Firth. The Islands are built up wholly of red sandstone. The climate is mild, frosts very rare; the summers are often chilly and always moist. The soil is fertile. Peat, which is decayed vegetable matter resembling turf cut out of bogs, is used for fuel. It is cut out manually with an L-shaped cutting spade. It is dried in the yards and is used in the winter to heat their cottages. Agriculture is more advanced in Orkney than in any other county in Scotland. The chief agricultural products are barley, oats, potatoes and turnips. Sheep and cattle are raised. Fishing, and hunting for wild birds and eggs and raising of poultry are important occupations. Herring fishing industry is of importance. On some of the smaller farms, crofters (farmers) eke out their livelihood with line and lobster fishing; so that it has been said that the Orkney man is a “crofter with a boat.”

The Orkneys are so far north that they have scarcely any daylight in winter and scarcely any night in summer. Many tourists visit the islands ‘to enjoy the long summer days.

The World Book gives us history of the early Orkneys. We quote: “In early times a Celtic people lived on the. islands, and the Norse men often visited there. In the 900’s Norse earls settled and ruled the Orkneys. Scottish nobles replaced them in 1231, but the islands remained under the Kings of Norway and Denmark. About 1468, the Orkneys were promised to Scotland as security for the dowry of Princess Margaret of Denmark, engaged to marry James Third of Scotland. The dowry was never paid and Scotland took over the islands in 1472. Most of the Orcadians are of Scandinavian and Scottish descent today.”

From “Let’s See the Orkney Islands” by George M. Brown, we give the following: “The Orcadians of those early days were fierce, violent men, proud of their strength and the booty they could take by force. The modern Orcadian is of Norse descent, having to do with Scandinavia, the land of the Northmen. As all over Scandinavia, the ancient warlike spirit has died out from among the people. The modern Orcadian is peaceable in all things, a kindly host, a lover of nature, realistic and practical in all his dealings. What he does retain from his remarkable ancestors is their intellectual sweep and drive. Many notable modern writers, artists and scholars claim the Orkney Islands as their birthplace.”

The islands are an important naval base. Scapa Flow, a strait or sound, being the waters off the coast of Graemsay, was the base of the British Grand Fleet during World War I. Early in World War II, October 1939, a German U Boat sank the British Battleship “Royal Oak” as it lay at anchor in Scapa Flow. After the sinking of the battleship, Mr. Winston Churchill visited the area and engineers soon began the titanic task of filling up with huge concrete blocks, the east end of the Flow, which sunken block ships had failed to protect.

The islands of the Orkneys in which we are most interested and where our ancestors lived are Graemsay, Hoy, Walls & Flotta, Evie & Rendall, Orphir, Pomona, Kirkwall, South Ronaldsay and Caithness, Scotland.

It was on the Island of Hoy (meaning high island) which is the second largest island of the Orkneys, that Hugh Johnston was born. This island has an area of 53 square miles; is a lofty island; its shoreline much broken. It is rocky and mountainous. In this setting on 9 January 1800, Hugh Johnston was born to William Johnston and Barbara Cromartie. He had a brother William and a sister Isabel.

Hugh Johnston had his own fishing smack, which is a small coasting vessel with one mast and a fore and aft rig, with trawler (trailing nets). He would sometimes be absent from home six months at a time on herring fishing trips which extended as far north as Greenland.

Cecilia Yorston, wife of Hugh Johnston, was born 20 July 1798, at Graemsay Island. This island is small, with less than one hundred inhabitants. It is surrounded by shoals or shallow water and has two lighthouses, one on each end of the island. Cecilia Yorston’s parents were James Yorston and Cecilia Slater. She had a sister Isabella who was married to William Johnston, brother of Hugh Johnston.

Hugh Johnston and Cecilia Yorston were married at the Nance of Hoy, 12 December 1826. Four children were born to them: Hugh, born 1 October 1827, Margaret born 29 October 1829, James born 1 November 1836 and William born 16 November 1839.

Cecilia Yorston Johnston’s brother Hugh Yorston, worked with Hugh Johnston in the fishing and whaling industry. During a storm on one of their fishing trips, near Greenland, Hugh Yorston was washed overboard and lost at sea. His widow, Margaret Slater Yorston, Cecilia’s sister-in-law by marriage and also her niece (her brother George Slater’s daughter) thereafter made her home with Cecilia and Hugh Johnston.

Because of the absence of her husband on long fishing trips, Cecilia Johnston became the manager of the household and a very good one she must have been, for there was a substantial amount of money tucked away for the time of need. She and the children cared for the croft and kept a small store at “Clookhouse,” the name of their dwelling.

The oldest son Hugh, named for his father, went to sea and made his home in Cardiff, Wales. He married Jane Thomas John 18 May 1861, at Cardiff, South Wales. (Since 1955, through correspondence with Charlotte Smith Noyes, a granddaughter, we have learned to know and appreciate this family.)

The daughter Margaret Johnston was married at Stromness to David Finlayson, a lighthouse builder, of Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland, 26 February 1850. To them was born in Graemsay on 21 February 1851, a daughter Janet, who died 15 November 1853.

The Gospel was first introduced in the Orkney Islands by Elder William Petrie, “who visited the land of his birth from Sunderland, England, having permission from Orson Pratt, then President of the British Mission, to teach the Gospel to his native brethren.” Elder Petrie taught the Gospel and baptized and confirmed as members of the Orkney Branch of the Edinburgh Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hugh and Cecilia Johnston, on the 22 May 1851; Margaret Johnston Finlayson on the 14 July 1851. James was baptized and confined on the 2 May 1853, by Elder Thomas W. Brewerton. (See copy of the original record of the Orkney Branch; also see Certificate of Membership. )

 We are indebted to Peter Green Johnston, of Blackfoot, Idaho, formerly of the General Church Auditing Committee, for a copy of the original record of the Orkney Branch. He and President David O. McKay were missionary companions in Scotland in 1897. We quote from the last leaf of the record: “The above record has been copied from the original by David O. McKay, while laboring as a missionary with Peter G. Johnston. ”

You will note from the original membership record that Margaret Slater Yorston, widow of Hugh Yorston, both sister-in-law and niece of Cecilia Yorston Johnston, although baptized the same day as the earliest members of the family, emigrated to Zion on the 1 December 1852, being the first Saint to leave directly from the Isle of Graemsay, for Utah.

The spirit of gathering soon prevailed in the Hugh Johnston household and as early as the fall of 1853, Hugh Johnston sold his fishing smack and left their beloved home known as the “Clooks” in Graemsay for Zion. His brother William and his wife Isabella Yorston Johnston remained in Graemsay. Their son William, with his wife Isabella Green Johnston were very active in the Branch and they also stayed in Graemsay. However, the large family of sons and daughters of William Johnston and Isabella Green Johnston emigrated to Zion. (See Orkney Branch Record.)

We know more about this kith and kin of ours because of correspondence in recent years with John Alexander Johnston, whose common ancestry with us is William Johnston and Barbara Cromartie. We quote from his letter dated 12 December 1949; “1 work the croft of Clooks, the very same place that your forbears and mine were born. You are correct in what you say that Hugh Johnston was a fisherman, as in that day people did not do much with their crofts (farms). The fishing boat they had was called the “Diana” and they used to go to the herring fishing in the summer and leave the women folk home to work and look after the crofts. The build of the boat was called the “Firthy type” and was about 25 to 30 feet of keel.” Again he writes: “In the winter time the days get very short; it is not daylight until 9 a.m. and dark again at 3:30 p.m. On the mainland, electricity is being put in but we do not have it on the Island of Graemsay.”

Knowing the type of home, the occupation, their relatives and friends, and their church activities, we can well understand that there would be heartaches in leaving their beloved Graemsay. Nevertheless, this family of Hugh Johnston, with means from the fishing industry and the savings of the thrifty wife, was able to pay for their emigration to America. They left Graemsay the 23 January, 1854, and after a short stay in Edinburgh, at the home of Thomas W. Brewerton, President of the Edinburgh Conference, they set sail from Liverpool, England. on Sunday, 12 March, 1854, on the 1146 ton ship “John M. Wood.”

This voyage across the Atlantic Ocean is described in the Contributor Vol. 13, page 510, and the British Mission Record 1854-1855, as follows:

“Sunday, March 12, 1854. On this date the ship “John M. Wood” with Captain Hartley, sailed from Liverpool, having on board three hundred and ninety-seven souls, of whom fifty-eight were from Switzerland and Germany. Elder Robert Campbell was appointed President of the Company. Elder A. F. McDonald and Charles Derry, Ex-presidents of Conferences and Jabez Woodard, who had presided over the Italian Mission, also sailed on board this vessel.

“The vessel encountered adverse winds in the Irish Channel the first week after sailing from Liverpool, after which the weather was favorable during the remainder of the voyage. Six persons – two adults and four children died on board. Two children (twins) were born and one couple was married and one new member was baptized. On April 28th, the vessel arrived at Balize where it waited for a tug a short time. Proceeding up the river, the Company landed at New Orleans May 2nd. They started the following day on board the steamboat, “Josiah Lawrence”, for St. Louis. In the due course of time the emigrants arrived safely at the outfitting place near Kansas City. ”

The following letter from Robert Campbell, a missionary returning from England, gives further information of the voyage, in a letter addressed to President S. W. Richards, written at New Orleans, 2 May 1854, which is found in Millennial Star Vol. 16, page 366, and in the British Mission Record for 1854-1855: “Having safely landed this morning and having agreed for our passage up the river, to start tomorrow, I desire to write you a few lines to inform you that we have had a first-rate time.

“We had adverse winds in the Channel the first week but since then we have been much favored indeed, and the Saints generally feel it has been like a pleasure trip to them. The Organization entered into at Liverpool proved efficacious and we still mean to sustain it as far as practicable up the rivers. There have been two deaths of adults… also four children died; otherwise the passengers were very healthy. Sister Poulteg gave birth to twins as we neared the West India Isles. A lively spirit was kept up on board by the Saints. Meetings being held every night by the branches in some part of the ship, and we had interesting lectures delivered by Elders Jabez Woodard and A. F. McDonald. Our provisions were good and plentiful. We have as much as would last up to St. Louis, were we to confine ourselves to the ship’s rations. We all mean to go up the river together and not leave one soul here who wishes to go with us.

“We held a Conference on board last week, when we sustained the Authorities of the Church and our own organization unanimously, counseled the Saints to help one another, to all keep together, and gave what necessary instructions and counsel the Saints needed, previous to starting up the river. The good Spirit of God prevailed with us and we all felt much drawn together. This is certainly a good Company of Saints. There have been no murmurings but all have felt full of sympathy and good will one towards another, and this has caused the Spirit of God to abound among us.  We preached forenoons on Sabbaths on deck, and invited the Captain, officers and cabin passengers. We bore them a faithful testimony of the truth and we feel to part with them in peace and good feelings. The fare is high up the river, $3-one-half each, but we all go together and get ample accommodations, and we believe, a fine Captain. Our agent, Elder J. Brown, has agreed to go with us. Some of the Saints left sick from the “Windermere’s” Company are here.

            “There has been some cholera in companies ahead, but I firmly believe our company will be healthy, and with the blessings and kindness of our Heavenly Father extended to us, we shall be preserved to land safely amongst our Brethren in the Valley, which is the desire of all our hearts.

“My love to you, Brother Samuel, and through you to my brethren and sisters in my own native land.

“Hoping soon to see you all in the mountains of Israel, I remain,

Your brother in the Gospel, (Signed) Robert Campbell.”

Among the list of Latter-day Saint emigrants who crossed the Atlantic in the ship “John M. Wood,” en route to Great Salt Lake Valley, according to the original list contained in Emigration Book #1040, P. 41- 59, and the British Mission Record 1854-1855, were–

Hugh Johnston age 54 fisherman

Cecilia Johnston age 55

Margaret J. Finlayson age 24

David Finlayson age 32 laborer

James Johnston age 17

William Johnston age 14

Peter Sinclair (single) age 24 joiner

At Kansas City, Missouri, which was the outfitting place, this Hugh Johnston family was placed in William A. Empey’s Company, which was the 8th and last Company for the year 1854. William Taylor was Captain of their Ten.

Journal History of the Church of August 26, p. 1, September 12, p. 2; October 3, p. 1 and October 25, p. 1 records:

“Elder William Empey, one of the original pioneers to Utah, after returning from a mission to Great Britain early in 1854, assisted with church emigration business on the frontiers…   Before the emigration season had fairly opened, they found themselves confronted with a number of unlooked-for difficulties on account of the high prices demanded for river passage and also for outfitting goods; for the previous year the fare from St. Louis to Kansas City was only $1.00 per capita; transportation and luggage cost from 25 to 50 cents per 1000 lbs.; the freight on wagons ranged from 50 to 55 cents each. But in 1854, passengers were charged from 3 to 5 dollars each; luggage cost from 1 to 2 dollars and upwards per 100 lbs. and the wagons from 10 to 15 cents each. These unusually high rates were caused by the low water in the Missouri River, which made navigation very difficult.

“In 1854, a yoke of oxen commanded prices ranging from 75 to 110 dollars and cows cost from 25 to 40 dollars per head. The price of wagons in St. Louis was $67.00. The first companies were also detained at the camping ground west of Kansas City three weeks longer for want of wagons.

“In the end of June, after Elder Orson Pratt and the other Brethren had left for Salt Lake City, Elder William Empey gathered all the immigrants remaining at Westport and organized a company, the last of the season and with 43 wagons started soon afterwards for the West. He was assisted by Elders William Taylor and Dore P. Curtis.

“Leaving the Missouri River about August I5, the Company crossed the Big Blue River about 60 miles below Fort Kearney on August 4th and on August 15th met Apostles Erastus Snow and company traveling East. Elder Snow remarked that the Company seemed to be in excellent condition and quite hopeful in spite of the fact that they had still a thousand miles to travel. Elder Snow added: ‘Unless the Lord stays the snow later than usual, they will have some cold fingers before they cross the last mountain. ‘ But the Company was able to complete the journey without disaster and arrived safely in Great Salt Lake City, October 24, 1854. They had passed Captain Robert L. Campbell on the road a few days previously.”

Church Chronology by Andrew Jenson, p. 52, records: “Tuesday, October 24, 1854, William A. Empey’s Company of immigrating Saints (with 43 wagons) arrived in Great Salt Lake City, Utah.”

Fortunately for the late trains, the weather continued extremely mild and pleasant until all had safely arrived in the Valley in 1854.

It is regrettable that no roster of even one of the eight organized companies in 1854 is available, which is probably due to the fact that publication of the Deseret News for the six months during which details of the emigration only were given with considerable detail, was almost suspended in 1854, owing to lack of paper.

Church Emigration Record states: “The resting place of many who started the trek across the plains will never be known to mortals until the trump of the Angel shall sound for the faithful to rise from their tombs, clothed in immortality.” This applies to Hugh Johnston, the beloved husband and father and faithful member of the Church, for his final resting place was on the plains; he was buried by the Sweetwater River in Wyoming.

The following entry is given in the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Manual for 1956 (#979.2 B2d, p. 475) and in the Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, for 1956, which gives the names of those who died en route to the Valley:

“Hugh Johnston, age 54, born 9 January, 1800,

Scotland, died in Wyoming.”

Cecilia Yorston Johnston gives the following account of the passing of her husband, Hugh Johnston:

“I am sorry to say that he died the 29th of September, 1854, at half past 9 p. m ., 300 miles from the Valley. He died without any pain, of seven days slow but gradual and fated weakness, no other visible disease. We all mourn his loss, but if faithful expect soon to meet him in the first resurrection, and the Apostle John says such are blessed. During his sickness he did not murmur, only said he would like to get to the Valley alive, that he might receive more blessings.”

Cecilia Johnston used to say when speaking of her husband’s death, for he died and was buried the same day, that “they buried Hughie before he was cold.”

The above quotation was taken from a letter dated 6 January, 1856, written in a contemplative mood by Cecilia Yorston Johnston, to her son Hugh Johnston who lived with his family in Cardiff, Wales. This letter, or copy of it, was found among her personal effects at the time of her death. We give with this history, the letter in her own handwriting. The span of time, the paper, the ink, all had a hand in the deterioration which has taken place. However, many years ago, about 1916, this letter was typed from the original, and we give also the letter as it was deciphered at that time.

When William A. Empey’s Company of Saints reached Salt Lake Valley, 24 October 1854, a number of the Saints met the newly arrived group at Pioneer Square (now Pioneer Park). This block was designated as headquarters for the immigrant companies. While Cecilia Yorston Johnston and her children Margaret, James and William and David Finlayson were encamped at Pioneer Square, they were met by Sidney Algernon Knowlton and his wife Margaret Slater Yorston Knowlton, niece and sister-in-law of Cecilia Yorston Johnston, and taken to their home for better lodgings. The home was located on 3rd North between 1st and 2nd West, in the Nineteenth Ward of Salt Lake City:

Because of their acceptance of the Gospel and their giving heed to the “spirit of gathering, ” Cecilia Yorston Johnston and her children were now in Zion. Their joyous anticipation of being with the Saints was finally realized.

They had left their beloved Graemsay on 23 January 1854 and after many days of anxious waiting, of traveling by ocean and by land, they arrived in the Valley 24 October 1854, nine months after leaving their home. We can well imagine that they were tired and weary and most happy to get into a home again.

Here Cecilia Yorston Johnston and her children found themselves transplanted into an entirely different environment from the Isle of  Graemsay, where the ocean was at their very door, with the sight and sound of the lashing waves on the shore, the call of the sea birds, the salt spray on their lips, their croft (farm) and small store, and the occupation of fishing.

She was now in the fertile Valley of the Great Salt Lake. However, she was without her husband to provide and care for her. She had her married daughter and sons seventeen and fourteen years of age. Our hearts are deeply touched by this saddened woman, with her grave  responsibilities. Her deep and abiding testimony of the Gospel and her implicit faith in the Lord were her guides and day by day the way was opened up to her. For thirty-two years she lived a good and useful life in Zion.

We quote the lines of Robert Burns:

“Oh, wad some power the giftie gie us,

To see oursel’s as others see us. ”

It is with humility and family pride that we contemplate and now “see” the lives of these true Latter-day Saints – Hugh and Cecilia Yorston Johnston, from the Isle of Graemsay.

Later Cecilia Yorston Johnston was married to Sidney Algernon Knowlton for time only.

Hugh and Cecilia Yorston Johnston’ s second son, James, married Bianca Jane Gibson, 1 September 1862. They lived in Salt Lake City for many years and later moved to Teton City, Idaho, where they reared their family.

The youngest son of Hugh and Cecilia Yorston Johnston, William, remained unmarried. He lived with his sister Margaret in Holladay, Utah, for a number of years. In his later years he lived with members of the Charles Wayman family in Emery County, Utah.

While living at the Knowlton home with her mother, Margaret Johnston Finlayson’s husband, David Finlayson, got the “gold rush fever” and although his wife was quite soon expecting their second child, and against the advice and wishes of his wife and her mother, Cecilia Johnston, he left with a group going to California gold fields to make their fortune. “These were the days of fortune hunting, for on January 24, 1848, gold was discovered in Sutter’s mill race, at Sacramento, California, which had been dug by the Mormon Battalion boys. This discovery soon put the whole country in a fever of excitement.” (Church Chronology, by Andrew Jenson, P. 35) Margaret was in no condition to accompany her husband on this arduous, gold seeking trek. David Finlayson had never joined the Church. He did not return from California. The child Jemima Cecilia Finlayson was born 6 November 1855.

Margaret Johnston Finlayson accepted the loss of her daughter Janet, in Scotland, the loss of her husband, and the birth of her daughter Jemima Cecilia, with fortitude and with a firm determination to make the best of the situation and of the future which lay before her. They left her mother’s home and lived by themselves. Margaret earned their livelihood by weaving straw bonnets and dress making. But a change was to come and many worthwhile experiences were yet in store for her. So, let us lose no time in knowing about the courtship and later marriage of Margaret Johnston Finlayson.

            Emmanuel Wayman, now twenty-five years of age, worked in the canyons getting out logs. While working in Big Cottonwood Canyon, James Johnston, a young Scotsman of eighteen years, one of the workmen in the logging camp, became ill and when the workmen were asked who would volunteer to take him to the Valley, Emmanuel Wayman offered and took him on his horse. It was at this time that Emmanuel Wayman met the Johnston family and became acquainted with Margaret Johnston Finlayson, the sister of James. He also met their mother, Cecilia Yorston Johnston, and the youngest son William.

As they visited, Margaret remembered hearing about a young hunter who was in their same emigrating company. having his hand badly shot while en route. Now Emmanuel told her that turpentine was the only remedy used but the hand had healed perfectly. As they discussed the events of their journey across the plains, for they were both in the William Empey Company from Kansas City to the Valley, their interest in each other grew. This friendship ripened into love and on 10 April, 1856, they were married in Salt Lake City.

We think the following poem by Susan Marr Spalding could have been meant for this stalwart from a Shire in England and the Scotch lass from the Orkney Isles:

“Two shall be born the whole wide world apart,

And speak in different tongues and have no thought

Each of the other’s being, and no heed;

And these o’er unknown seas and unknown lands

Shall cross, escaping wreck, defying death;

And all unconsciously shape every act

And bend each wandering step to this one end –

That, one day, out of darkness they shall meet

And read life’s meaning in each other’s eyes.”

For a time Emmanuel and Margaret Wayman lived at the home of Cecilia Johnston Knowlton, Margaret’s mother, in the adobe home provided for her by Sydney Algernon Knowlton. The first two children of Emmanuel and Margaret Wayman, Carolina Maria and Charles Emmanuel were born at this home, on 25 January 1857 and 1 March 1860, respectively. Later they lived in the First Ward of Salt Lake City in a home belonging to Barney Adams.

Emmanuel Wayman cut logs in City Creek Canyon, for Barney Adams for the saw-mill of President Brigham Young. The following incident happened there and is well remembered by members of the family:

Emmanuel Wayman was chopping a tree when President Brigham Young came a long and said to him, “That tree will fall right over here,” indicating a certain spot, but Emmanuel Wayman said, “I think it will fall right across the old stump.” The tree finally was felled and it lay right across the old stump. The President remarked, “You are a better woodsman than I am.”

For a short time Emmanuel Wayman’s employment took him to Provo, Utah. Then he was back in Salt Lake City, living in Sugar House Ward, where he worked for Feramorz Little.

For a time they lived in Little Cottonwood Canyon, where Emmanuel Wayman worked for John M. Woolley, at his sawmill. It was while living here that their son William James was born, on 20 February 1862.

Their next move was to Cedar Fort in Cedar Valley, which was the site of old Camp Floyd, near Utah Lake. Here Emmanuel Wayman worked a farm belonging to J. V. Long, the missionary who converted the Wayman family to  Mormonism, and with whom Emmanuel Wayman came across the plains to the Valley. They lived here for about three years. Here Margaret Ellen was born 24 July 1864, in their one-room log cabin, which had a roof made of a few split pieces of wood, over which were willows of all sizes, straw, and finally a covering of dirt.

The following incident is told of those days in Cedar Fort:

“During the warm days, the mother and tiny daughter were constantly disturbed in their rest as they lay in their crude homemade bed, which had a rope mattress, which was placed in one corner of the room. Later the father and the older children moved the mattress from the bedstead into the middle of the floor and bringing fresh bean leaves from the garden, they made an enclosure around the bed. This solved the difficulty and the mother and babe were bothered no more until the bean leaves gave out. When there were no more bean leaves in the garden, the bed with its two occupants were moved into the granary. The granary had no BEDBUGS, so the mother and babe were undisturbed.”

In Cedar Valley they lived in a home at the edge of the clearing. The two oldest daughters, Cecilia and Caroline were often sent in the evening to hunt for the oxen in the cedars. The oxen each wore a bell and unless the oxen kept moving, the children did not know where to find them. Because of the Indians, the children were frightened as they went through the cedars and the fields of wild peas. (The wild peas were often cooked for food.)

Here at the edge of the cedar clearing, the Indians were quite troublesome at Cedar Fort. They often came demanding food. Sometimes the Indians were on the warpath and Margaret Wayman and her children were terrorized by them. At one time some Indians came demanding bread. Margaret Wayman and her small children were alone. She gave her children some bran bread and offered some to the Indians, which they refused, saying, “We want white bread.” Margaret Wayman told them: “My papooses are eating the bran bread and you will have to be satisfied with it too. ” The Indians took the bran bread and went away grumbling among themselves.

The two children Cecilia and Caroline commenced school in Cedar Fort. One day the teacher caught them chewing pine tree gum, and for punishment a string was tied around each of their necks and then tied to the rafters of the schoolhouse. How embarrassing!

Emmanuel Wayman had a roving disposition, perhaps from his seafaring life, and again they were on the move. They went to North Weber for two years. On a flat east of the Weber River and across from Morris Site was the William Kendall farm which Emmanuel Wayman worked. Drinking water had to be carried from a spring a block and a half away. One of the children remembers that once when she went for water from the spring and returned with some dirt in the water, that she received a whipping for the offense, and was sent right back for more water. Whenever the children were disobedient, they always knew they would get a willowing. Their mother would say, “Father, see to her, ” which he did with a little willow. Then the mother would say, “Now, father that is enough.” We are sure those last words were welcome to the ears of the offenders.

In a two-room log cabin, in North Weber, Weber County, Utah, John Henry was born on 22 November, 1867. While Margaret Wayman lay in bed with her new son John, the following incident occurred:

“A box had been fastened to the wall above the bed for a medicine cabinet. It was open-faced and bottles containing medicine were placed both in the box and on top of it. As Margaret Wayman lay in bed, her daughter Cecilia heard a rattling noise coming from the medicine cabinet and looking up saw a snake lying on the top shelf, with its head visible from behind some of the bottles. She told her mother about the snake, who very calmly said, ‘Go tell your father to come.’ When Emmanuel Wayman came he said, ‘Now, lie still mother, the snake won’t hurt you.’ A second later the snake was dead from a well-aimed pistol shot and not even a bottle fell from the shelf.”

About this time a Mr. Aldous persuaded Emmanuel Wayman that he could do much better on his Aldous farm which was in Huntsville, Utah. He moved his family there and bought a home.

            In July, 1868, Emmanuel Wayman’s parents, James Wayman and Martha Golthrop Wayman, his brother Robert and sister Mary arrived from Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire, England, and made their home in Huntsville. Here in Huntsville, Arthur Welsley was born 27 April, 1869, and Mary Ann Martha was born 7 November, 1871. While in Huntsville, Emmanuel Wayman suffered financial reverses. His team was stolen from the field; another horse and his barn were destroyed by fire.

At this time, he accepted a Mr. Swaner’s offer to move to Big Cottonwood in Salt Lake County, Utah. The first to leave for their abode in Big Cottonwood (now Holladay) were the father Emmanuel Wayman, the daughter Caroline and the oldest son Charles. Emmanuel Wayman drove the team of horses and wagon, with the household goods and Caroline and Charles drove the cows and calves. They came in April, so Emmanuel Wayman could commence the spring plowing. They first went to the home of Mr. Swaner where they lived in two rooms of his house.

Here in Big Cottonwood, Emmanuel Wayman purchased a home on the north side of Casto Lane, from a man named Niels Johnston. On this property there was a one-room, adobe house, with a slab lean-to. One night a wind storm blew down the lean-to, in which Charles was sleeping. Charles called his father and together they propped it back up so Charles could go back to sleep. Emmanuel Wayman later built a two room log house and the adobe house and the lean-to were pulled down. He later added two rooms at the back of the log house and covered the entire house with siding, painted slate color. Green shutters adorned the windows on the west side.

This home on Casto Lane in Holladay still stands. The roving days of Emmanuel Wayman were over. He settled in Holladay for keeps. Although Margaret Wayman had helped her husband establish nine homes during their married life, she never complained but said that she had been “well appointed.”

Their house and grounds in Holladay portrayed some of the good qualities of its builder. Good workmanship and fortitude were two outstanding traits of character of Emmanuel Wayman. He was clean and tidy in his person and kept all of his belongings in ship-shape condition. His buildings and tools were always in good order and his neat, red barn was always clean. His horses, harness and carriage were his especial pride. The harness was adorned with ornaments. His two-seater surrey, with the drop curtains, had fringe on it and the grandchildren loved to ride in it and watch the fringe wave in the wind. He made a two-seater sleigh and his horses wore sleigh bells. Never were any of his tools and machinery left laying around, but were always put in the tool-shed and locked up. The clothes line was attached from the north side of the house to the buggy shed. The milking stool was just inside of the barn. The stool had legs of horns.

He was a good gardener, as some of his children have also turned out to be. Usually his radishes, lettuce and other produce were among the first in the community each spring. Many times the grandchildren have picked gooseberries and red and black currants at grandfathers, and helped him keep his orchard clear of falling apples. One of the fond remembrances was apple cider from the cider press.

The ditch of water on Casto Lane ran past Emmanuel Wayman’s gate. In those days ditch water from the canal was all the water they had to use. The banks of this ditch were lined with spearmint and tall pottowatomie plum trees hung over its north bank along the fence. Near the gate some boards had been placed to make a bridge over the ditch and in the ditch a board put to make a waterfall, so it would be easy to catch buckets of water there. Under the bridge was a deep hole which the waterfall had made. Several time when trying to get a drink, using the tin cup which was always turned over the top of the gatepost, or endeavoring to get through the heavy gate, grandchildren have slipped into the waterfall and gotten a good soaking. The gate opened in and was held shut by a heavy weight on the outside. After you managed to push the gate open and got through and out of the way before it banged shut, you walked up a board walk to the kitchen door. This walk was bordered on each side by rose bushes with a dozen or so red currant bushes in the background. These bushes were enclosed by a pole fence so the animals could be turned into the orchard on the west of the barnyard.

One of Emmanuel Wayman’s outstanding accomplishments was the cutting of grain with a cradle. This implement is a scythe with a number of tines fastened together to carry the grain as it is cut. When the amount of grain was right to form a bundle, it was allowed to fall in a pile. Several strands of the grain were then twisted together to tie the bundle. The ends were then tucked securely under to hold the bundle together while it was shocked and hauled to the stack for threshing. It took strength and skill to cut and leave just the proper amount for each bundle. Emmanuel Wayman could keep several men busy tying the bundles after him. He was one of the best in the community in grain cutting with a cradle and cut many acres of grain in his time.

Emmanuel Wayman was a rather quiet man. He was strict with the children. He had a kind heart and a fine sense of fairness. Although Cecilia was his step-daughter, she received from him the same consideration and love as all the children. He seldom borrowed or lent anything. He would go without rather than to go into debt. He had forceps and pulled aching teeth and sometimes the grandchildren had a lot of love and respect for him, mingled with trepidation.

Emmanuel Wayman was a large man. His eyes were brown with a kindly twinkle in them. He wore his brown hair quite long, parted in the middle and hanging in natural curls around his neck, with just his large round earrings showing. He was a proud man and would not even go to the store unless his shoes were shiny black. He wore a necktie even around the home and farm.

The grandchildren were always welcome in their home. In the winter when they could not help grandfather, then grandmother would have them thread needles for her and put them in a large cushion on the window sill, with the thread hanging down. The bright spot of the day was when their grandmother would go into her bedroom and bring out a few pieces of striped hardtack candy. The grandchildren all remember these treats. On the way home from school they would drop in to see Grandmother and always she had candy for them.

Margaret Wayman had sharp but kindly brown eyes and brown hair. She parted her hair in the center and it was flat on each side of her head, with a sort of loop over each ear. She had a twisted bob at the nape of her neck. She was a calm person and quiet and efficient. She was small of stature. Her nose was sort of turned up and pointed at the end. Her picture with her bonnet and her “better must dress” shows that she was a beautiful woman. She wore black buttoned shoes and white knitted stockings.

Margaret Wayman had a decided Scotch accent to her speech. She used Scotch words such as “wee’ for small; “bairn” for child. Her mother, Cecilia Johnston Knowlton, used to say, “I kenna be fast with you,” meaning that I cannot be bothered with you. Margaret Wayman’s Scotch thrift prompted her to keep on hand a small supply of needles, thread and such household necessities, and these were exchanged with her neighbors for eggs or butter and such. She was a tidy housekeeper and a good cook. She is remembered for her good vegetable soup, the pies and molasses cookies. She was never heard to use slang or profanity, except when she burned herself and then she would say, “demmet.”

If one complained around Margaret Wayman, she was many times heard to say, “You’re a poor tender garten (girl) and you couldn’t be hanged but what it would gnaw your neck.” At the dinner table when she was asked if she would have more of this or that, she would say, “No thank you, I’ve had sufficiency.” She used to say, “A patch by the side of a patch is neighborly, but a patch on top of a patch is beggarly.”

During her later years, Cecilia Johnston Knowlton lived at the home of her daughter Margaret Wayman in Holladay, where she died 17 December 1886. We find no record of her burial in the Holladay Cemetery. We presume from family hearsay that she was buried in the Knowlton burial plot in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, although we find no marker for her and very few markers appear for the many buried there.

The children of Emmanuel and Margaret Wayman had few schooling advantages as we know them today. In those early days the schools were taught in private houses or in places of worship. Since the population was scattered, the schools were not very close. About 1852, one of the first school houses was built south of Big Cottonwood Creek. It was a one-room adobe building about fourteen feet square.

About 1857, Big Cottonwood bought a small one-room adobe house, which stood a little north of the 28th District School, where the Olympus Junior High School now stands. School was taught in this house for a number of years. Some of the seats were slabs turned flat side up. The writing desk was around the wall of the room and the pupils wrote in turns. The teaches received $1.00 per month for each student, boarding a certain length of time with each family. Each pupil was supposed to furnish his portion of firewood for the school stove.

By 1876, there was a two-room brick school house built by taxation, under the direction of the trustees. The pupils would number from 125 to 150 and two teaches were employed. In about fifteen years the population had become so great that this school house was too small to accommodate the pupils.

In 1893, a $5,000 school house was built. It was graded and four teachers were employed. By this time the trustees had fallen in line with the “free school law” of 1890, and the “free text system” had been adopted.

Although the family was kept busy with work, there were also many hours for socials. There were rags to be sewed for carpet making, quilting bees and molasses candy pulls. Out-of-door games and contests were enjoyed. The musicians at their dances were fiddlers. Sometimes these dances lasted until the early hours of the morning. Emmanuel Wayman liked to dance. He taught the children to play games, to run races, to play baseball and horseshoes. some of the sons became quite proficient in the game of horseshoes. Even when Emmanuel Wayman was older, he still had a good singing voice and at family gatherings, he was always asked to sing. He would often sing “Guy Faulks” and “Lady I Have Come a Courting.”

Emmanuel Wayman and Margaret Johnston Wayman enjoyed a useful, happy life together for fifty-one years and nine months. Joys and sorrows they shared. They had established many homes during those years; had reared and cared for eight children. They had varied experiences; years of plenty and times of adversity; and quiet days in their later life. They saw their children established in homes of their own, living good and worthwhile lives. They had around them sons and daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who loved and respected and enjoyed them.

            On 9 January 1908, at the age of nearly seventy-nine years, Emmanuel Wayman died and was peacefully laid to rest in the Holladay Cemetery. The loss of a loved one is great but Margaret Johnston Wayman, with her natural fortitude and trust in the Lord, lived on for another eight and one-half years; years with her loved ones around her. As she lived serenely, so also she passed quietly out of this life, on 11 October 1916, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years, at the home of her daughter Margaret Ellen Poulton, in Salt Lake City. Her final resting place is beside her husband, in the Holladay Cemetery .

Ours is a choice heritage – forbears from Cambridgeshire and from the Orkney Islands, who heeded the Gospel call and who carne to this favored land, a land “choice above all other lands.” This insured to us a goodly birth and opportunities in America.

Those of us who are of the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh generation, give homage and heartfelt thanks to these progenitors of ours. Their example of courage and faith in God and in their fellowmen, will carry on in the lives of us who are numbered among their numerous posterity. “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” Let us therefore keep these dear ones alive in our hearts always and honor their memories by our exemplary lives and good works.

To keep us mindful of these our Pioneer forbears, and our responsibility to them as their offspring, it would be well for us to keep before us the following pledge:

“We pledge ourselves to be loyal to the light which led you to this land;

“To spend our days with glad hearts in gratitude for the privilege of living;

“To remember that though our paths are beset with difficulties, so were yours, yet you found much pleasant humor by the way and time for many a deed of kindly service.

“We pledge ourselves to lives of industry, thrift, integrity, tolerance and helpful good will.

“Though our best-laid plans may ‘gang aft a-gley’, we know that neither dishonor nor failure can overtake us if we but understand as you understood that the abiding values in life are not material but spiritual.”

Anon

These histories have been compiled and written by Margaret Ann Newman Wells, granddaughter, and Rae Wright Moss, great granddaughter, of Emmanuel Wayman and Margaret Johnston Wayman, 1 June 1966.

 

We are indebted to family members for the use of their mementos and photographs and for assistance in photography, which have made these more complete and interesting histories.