Fanny Wilkinson Morley, Written by her granddaughter, Fannie Samuelson, 1966
Fanny Wilkinson was born 18 September 1840 in Dunkenfield, Cheshire, England to Allen Wilkinson and Mary Ann Morris. Fanny married Isaac Morley, Jr. on 18 February 1857. They were blessed with seven children, Mary Jane (my mother), Allen Amasy, William Alonzo, Calista Cordelia, Alzada Ann, Chelnisha and John Isaac. She was baptized in England into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 1 August 1849 by Orson Hyde and endowed 18 February 1857.
Her parents joined the church in England, then came to America traveling by wagon to Utah. I remember hearing of an incident that happened on the plains where Fanny was nine years old. She was the oldest of four children, the yougest was a baby just a few days old. The family had traveled for several days when they stopped to rest awhile. There was much to be done, her mother had a cold and was not very strong, having just given birth to a baby. The first night the Indians raided their camp and took their horses and some cattle. Her father, Allen, needed to go find the animals but was worried about leaving his wife. He came back four different times begging his wife, Mary, not to do the washing. As soon as she was sure he had left, she did the washing. He finally located the horses they had been hid among the willows, he untied them and returned to camp and found his wife very ill. She died that night.
Fanny being the olest had the responsibility of taking care of the children, it seems her life was filled with hardships that plagued most of the pioneer families. At age sixteen she went to work as a maid in the home of Isaac Morley, Jr. After working there about a year, Isaac asked his first wife for permission to marry her. Permission was given and Isaac and Fanny were married. Even though they were married she was still treated as the maid by the first wife. When Fanny announced she was expecting a baby, things changed, when the baby was born she was told she had to leave and have a home of her own. My mother, Mary, remembers how her mother had to walk a mile or more to her husbands home and beg for milk for the children. Her father let the first wife handle everything when it came to the families.
One morning my mother was sent to the first wife's home to get milk, she was refused and fainted on the spot from hunger, when she was revived she was given the milk. Their family lived on potatoes, roots of Sego lilies and edible greens from along the ditch bank. Shomehow they survived. They gathered wool from the bushes where the sheep had been driven, this wool they corded, spun thread and wove materials for clothes.
On a wintry day there was nothing to eat in their home, they were praying for the Lord to help them. The church leaders told them they should gather the dew drops from the weeds, this proved to be food which was a sweet as honey.
Fanny Wilkinson had a wonderful faith in her Father in Heaven. There were four children when the Manifesto was issued, stopping further plural marriages. Her youngest child was six weeks old. The men had to choose one wife or go to jail. Grandfather could not support his family in jail, therefore he chose his first wife. In her weakened condition, Fanny thought she could not keep his name and her children would have been born in sin. She grieved and lost her mind, they had to strap her to her bed. This condition lasted for some time until an authority from the church came to see her. It was decided to rebaptize her, it took six men to handle her, but when she came out of the water she was healed, never to have that experience again. Her husband came back to her after it was settled that they could keep the wives they had, but must not marry more.
A group of their neighbors decided to live the United Order. They left their homes, settling in a new place where they would not be disturbed. Fanny did not like the idea and stayed home. But her husband left to join them. Isaac had not gone very far when he was stricken with a "spell" that paralyzed him momentarily. He fell injuring his hand. He knew he had not done the right thing leaving his families, he returned to them but suffered from these "spells" and his injured hand the rest of his life.
A young Dr. Henry Charles Longmore came to the area, Mary, my mother was sixteen at the time. Since Isaac was away from the home, Fanny decided the doctor would make a good husband for Mary and arranged the wedding. Mary worked cranking the sewing machine while a lady sewed her dress. It was a beautiful white dress, the best she had ever owned. The day of the wedding, Mary dressed in this dress, she felt so out of place in it, she took it off and was married in her old calico dress. The wedding dress was later made into baby dresses. All was well with the marriage until Mary's father returned home, he kicked the doctor out of the house and gave Mary a spanking. The marriage was finally accepted, "Doc" and Mary had ten children, I am next to the yougest.
When I was young, mother, my brother, Isaac and I went to Moroni, Utah to visit Grandma. When Grandma saw my mother, Mary, she could not believe who she was, it had been twenty years since they had seen each other. My mother no longer had blonde hair, it had turned a dark brown. After tears and conversation she was finally conviced that it was her daughter. Grandmother's home was a small adobe house her husband had built for her. It was said that he built the first houses in Moroni he also made barrels and buckets of wood. Although I was named after my grandmother I always felt she never liked me as well as my little brother, Isaac. One day she lost her paring knife and she blamed me. I knew I had not lost it, we later found my brother had taken it. I do not remember her ever saying she was sorry she had accused me.
Grandma came to visit us in Arizona, when I was twelve. We lived on a ranch two and a half miles from Mesa, the place was called Alma. We were so happy to have her with us. She was always neat and clean and carried herself with pride. When she worked in the garden she always wore a bonnet and long gloves made from stockings. Her complexion was beautiful, never wore powder or rouge, her cheeks were naturally rosy. Our home was adobe with a lumber kitchen lean-to, a living room and one small bedroom. There were ten of us children, I really have never been able to figure out where we all slept. We also had a parlor that was a large lumber room that had been hauled in and put next to our living room, there was not a door through, so we had to go out along a porch to enter the parlor. In this room we had beautiful furniture, a loveseat, bookcase, desk with beautiful china brought from England. We also had an organ that was brought into the parlor the day I was born. In the corner was a large easel holding a life size picture of my Granfather, Isaac Morley, Jr. Grandmother would go into the parlor several times a day, I guess she went there to pray, one day I saw her praying in our parlor..
Fanny was a very faithful lady, every fast Sunday during her visit whe would bear her testimony of the goodness of God to her. I tried very hard to please her, so one day while she was away, I swept our big yard, I was so happy and proud. She begrudgingly said, "You're a good girl, Fannie."
We received letters from her, she lived alone, was very frail, but she always had her garden. Her children lived near her and made sure that she never was in want for anything. I think she was happy as long as she was able to go to church, see her children and her grandchildren. She died on 20 February 1924 in her home in Moroni, Utah.