Conrey Bryson

There have been many guesses as to the source of the name "Bryson." Some genealogists think it is derticed from "son of Bryce." Some believe it is a derivative of "Price," which in turn was derived from the Welsh "ap Rhys" or "son of Rhys." The earliest appearance of the name which I have encountered is one Walter Bryson, who was rector and vicar of a church in Glasfurd, Scotland, in 1409. William Bryson was a Scotch prisoner of war, liberated from the Tower of London in 1413. The Temple Index Bureau records show many Bryan’s in Scotland and Ireland in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Halbert's, a genealogical organization in Bath, Ohio, has drawn up a suggested coat of arms for the Bryson family, based on a description in a heraldry book entitled Riestap Armorial General. The motto accompanying the coat of arms is "Vivit Post Furnera Virtus." My Latin is pretty rusty, but it must mean "Virtue lives on after the funeral."

A book, "The Bryson and Swearingen Families," in the Genealogical Library in Salt Lake City, states that the first Bryson's in Northern Ireland were sent there from Scotland by James the First, about 1608, to help give that part of Ireland a Protestant majority. The religious war in that part of Ireland has never ceased until this day, and it prevented us from visiting this birthplace of my ancestors during our three visits to Great Britain in 1975, 1978, and 1979.

The first of the Bryson's known positively to have been our ancestor was John Bryson, born in Dromore Parish, County Down, Ireland, in 1779. His father is believed to have been Hugh Bryson, although this has not been confirmed. The Temple Index Bureau lists many John Bryson's and quite a few Hugh Brysons in that period, but I have been unable to match up names and dates satisfactorily. Neither have 1, or other searchers, been able to find a marriage record of John Bryson and Margaret Cowan. They are believed to have been married some time before 1815. Their only child, Samuel Bryson, was born August 15, 1815, in Banbridge, County Down, Ireland. There is no record that his father ever saw him.

John Bryson enlisted in the Inniskilling Dragoons, an Irish regiment in the British Army, in 1804. His regiment participated in the Napoleonic wars, and he was decorated for bravery in the Battle of Waterloo, June 16-18, 1815. Wellington's army lost 15,000 British soldiers in the battle, but John Bryson was not among them. For years, most Bryson records have showed he died at Waterloo, but his official military record shows that he was still alive in 1825 at the Chelsea Veterans Hospital in London. This is the last reference we can find to him. There is no record that he ever returned to Banbridge.

Indeed, there is no indication from available records that he ever lived with Margaret Cowan Bryson. His military record in the months previous to the birth of his son show various stations in England prior to the departure for Belgium and Waterloo. This, of course, does not prove that he did not have a furlough and return to Ireland, but we should not be surprised to learn that this John Bryson was a wandering soldier with no home ties at all. Conrey's record of John Bryson ends with "So much for John Bryson until some researcher comes up with more reliable information."

Margaret Cowan Bryson was my Great, Great Grandmother. She was born in Banbridge, Ireland. From the stories I have read and heard about her she was quite an Irish Lady. When she joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints she was a Stalwart member as the following stories will verify.

I have a couple writings about Margaret Cowan Bryson, one that Conrey abridged from others and one by Ada Bryson Jardine, unfortunately none of them were written by Margaret herself A lot of Conrey's writing is from information supplied by Janet Jardine Williams, I assume that she is a daughter of Ada Bryson Jardine. Since Conrey's writing is a compilation of his research and that of Janet Jardine Williams I am going to use his writing here.

"Family records show three different dates for the birth of Margaret Cowan Bryson. When she received her endowment in the Nauvoo Temple, she gave it as 12 August 1789. A sheet prepared by her son, Samuel, concerning Samuel Cowan and Margaret Lockhart, her parents, gives her christening date as 26 September 1788. Her marriage and sealing record, when she was married to John Dunlap, show her birth as 24 August 1797. This is the usually accepted date, and accords with her record of emigration to Utah, in June, 1847, when her age was listed as 50. 1 located in the records of the Banbridge Presbyterian Church the marriage record of her parents, 16 February 1783, but her birth record has not been found, nor has the date of her marriage to John Bryson."

" Samuel their son, was born in Banbridge, 15 August IS 1 5. When he was 17, he enlisted in the British Army and was gone from home for five years. His mother worried about him and prayed for his safe return. She believed that the answer to her prayers came in a dream, ₍THE STORY OF MARGARET'S BUTTERFLIES) wherein she clutched one precious butterfly to her bosom and saw two more come forth then two more, and more, and more. Years later, members of her family would affectionately refer to her descendants as 'Margaret's Butterflies.' We now number in the hundreds." A note from Sam in 1994. 1 would guess in the thousands by now.

"Margaret had yet another dream. She dreamed that two young men came to Banbridge, preaching a new religion, and that she accepted it. In the year 1840, Apostle John Taylor, on a visit to the Isle of Man, home of his wife's family, decided suddenly to pay a visit to northern Ireland. With the aid of local members, he began for the first time to organize mission branches and open that part of Ireland to the preaching of the restored Gospel. When two missionaries came to Banbridge, Margaret recognized them as the men she had seen in her dream. She eagerly accepted the Gospel they preached, and was baptized 21 March 1842. At about the same time, possibly earlier or later, her son Samuel and his wife Sarah Ann Connery (or Conrey, the family shows various spellings) also joined the Church. At this time, the cry of 'come to Zion' was widely preached by missionaries in the British Isles and ship after ship was being chartered by the Church to bring the stream of converts to America. Margaret My believed she had found the truth; and even though her son was not yet ready to join her, she seized the first opportunity to seek passage on one of the chartered vessels. Saving every possible penny, and borrowing from another convert, John Hamilton, she joined 179 other converts and sailed from Liverpool January 16, 1843, aboard the Swanton under the direction of Lorenzo Snow. They arrived at New Orleans March 16, and then transferred to the steamer Amaranth for the voyage up the Mississippi to Nauvoo, where they landed April 12. It had been a voyage of nearly three months, with many hardships on shipboard, but now they had arrived in Zion and Margaret was happy."

"They were met by the Prophet Joseph Smith himself, she welcomed them all and invited the newcomers to gather at the temple site the next morning. Of equal importance to Margaret was the presence of the Prophet's brother, Hyrum. Widely renowned for his hospitality, he was always trying to help new members of the Church adjust to life in the new world. He invited Margaret Bryson to work in his home to help pay off the debt for her passage."

"Her joy at the privilege of living with the Patriarch and his wife, Mary Fielding Smith and their family, would turn to great sadness just over a year later, when Joseph and Hyrum Smith became martyrs for the Gospel's sake, dying at the hands of a mob in Carthage jail, June 27, 1844. Margaret continued to be a part of the Smith household and to render Hyrum's widow every possible assistance. In September, 1845, a mob of enemies of the Church began burning homes in the settlements outside Nauvoo. One of the first places attacked was Lima, some twenty miles to the south. This was the home of the Alger family, also a part of our ancestral heritage. As the attacks mounted, Brigham Young and the Council of the Twelve decided to leave Nauvoo for a new home in the west as soon as winter abated and the land was dry enough to travel."

"The frantic days of preparation were feverish. Even part of the uncompleted temple became a workshop for the building and remodeling of wagons for the journey. Even before it was dedicated, Church leaders prepared the sealing and endowment rooms and prepared the emigrating Saints with holy ordinances before they set out across the Iowa plains. On January 7, 1846, Brigham Young wrote in his journal "This morning, there was an immense crowd at the reception room waiting for admission. The brethren brought all kinds of provisions for the use of those who are attending on the ordinances of the Lord's house ..... 121 persons received ordinances." On the next day, 81 persons received ordinances, among them Margaret Cowan Bryson, who received her endowment."

"The throngs at the temple continued and on January 12 Brigham Young wrote: "Such has been the anxiety manifested by the Saints to receive the ordinances, and such the anxiety on our part to administer to them that I have given myself up entirely to the work of the Lord in the Temple, night and day, not taking more than four hours sleep, upon an average, per day, and going home but once a week."

"As persecution continued it was decided to leave without waiting for the end of winter, and the first wagons made their way on rafts across the ice-clogged Mississippi on February 2, 1846. Brigham Young, their leader, made the crossing on February 4. A few days later, the ice was solid enough that some wagons were able to cross on it."

"The trip across Iowa, which now takes less than 8 hours on good highways, was a perilous one. Beset by snow, rain and ice, the Saints could often travel no more than five or ten miles a day, sometimes not at all. They had not counted on leaving Nauvoo until late spring, and babies that would have been born in Nauvoo were born on the muddy and cold prairie. Hundreds of the Saints died along the way. Some were buried in the cemeteries of Garden Grove and Mount Pisgah. Others had their graves marked only by carvings a nearby tree or not at all."

"It was early September, with many of the exiles still making their slow and painful way across Iowa, when Brigham Young and the Council of the Twelve, decided to encamp for the winter at the Missouri River, instead of leading a pioneer company into the Rocky Mountains that year. On September I 1, President Young noted that Mary Fielding Smith was not among those who had successfully made the journey. He ordered a rescue mission sent back to Nauvoo to assist Hyrum Smith's widow and others who were still unable to leave Nauvoo."

"Before the rescue mission arrived, the Illinois mob was making its final attack upon Nauvoo, the so-called "Battle of Nauvoo' came to its climax on September 13, 1846, and the remaining Saints agreed to leave the city as soon as possible. Mary Smith and her household had stayed as long as possible, hoping to sell her property at a minimum loss. She gained enough from it to buy several wagons and the oxen to pull them. By the middle of September, she was on her way across Iowa, with Margaret Cowan Bryson driving one of the ox teams."

"The Smith household consisted of Hyrum and Mary's children, including Joseph F.

Smith, a future President of the Church; Mary's sister Mercy, their brother Joseph Fielding and three household servants, Hanna Grinnels, George M&, and Margaret Bryson. They traveled with a large group of refugees from the battle of Nauvoo, and it was in their encampment, woefully short of food, that the celebrated "miracle of the quails' occurred."

"This miracle was vividly described by Thomas Bullock, one of the last band of refugees from Nauvoo. Bullock was later a secretary to President Brigham Young. In a letter written from Winter Quarters to Elder Franklin Richards published in the Millennial Star, Bullock wrote: "On the 9' of October, several wagons with oxen having been sent by the Twelve to fetch the poor Saints away, were drawn up in a line on the river banks, ready to start. But hark! What noise is that? See the quails descend; they alight close by our little camp of twelve wagons, run past each wagon tongue, they arise, fly round the camp three times, descend, and again run the gauntlet past each wagon. See the sick knock them down with sticks, and the little children catch them alive with their hands. Some are cooked for breakfast, while my family were seated on the wagon tongues and ground, having a wash tub for a table. Behold, they come again. One descends upon our tabard, in the midst of our cups, while we were actually round the table eating our

breakfast. Which a little boy about eight years old catches alive with his hands; they rise again, the flocks increase in number, seldom going seven rods from our camp, continually flying around the camp, sometimes under the wagons, sometimes over, and even into the wagons, where the poor sick saints are lying in bed; thus having a direct manifestation from the Most High, that although we are driven by men, He has not forsaken us, but that His eyes are continually over us for good. At noon, having caught alive about 50 and killed some 50 more, the captain gave orders not to kill any more, as it was a direct manifestation and visitation from the Lord. In the afternoon hundreds were flying at a time. When our camp started at 3 p.m., there could not have been less than 500 (some say 1500) flying around camp. Thus, I am a witness to this visitation."

"Following this manifestation of divine providence, so like the miracle of the quails in the Old Testament record of the exodus from Egypt, the refugees continued their journey to Winter Quarters, with much less trouble than among those who had gone before. They arrived on the 27^th of November, and Thomas Bullock records they found a city of about 700 houses, containing more than 4,000 Saints, built in less than three months."

"No information is available concerning Margaret's activities at Winter Quarters. Presumably she continued to live with the widow Smith, but it is possible she made other arrangements. At any rate, Mary Smith decided to wait until 1848 to cross the plains to a new home in the rocks. Margaret Bryson could not wait. Only three women, the wives of Church leaders, were chosen for the original pioneer company which left in April, 1847, but when the next group of companies left in June, Margaret wanted to be among them."

"Before leaving, she asked for a blessing from Patriarch John Smith, brother of Joseph Smith, Senior, and Uncle of the Prophet. The Patriarch, affectionately known as Father Smith, was then 66 years old, but was making preparations himself to be with the next group of emigrants. The Patriarch's hand-written blessing misspelled Margaret's name as Brazen, but Conrey managed to find it by listing the date from Janet Williams' record. It has now been filed correctly under 'Bryson'."

"It is easy to imagine the comfort which this lonely, devoted 50 year old woman received from her blessing before setting forth to face the perils of an 1,100 mile trek from Winter Quarters to an unknown gathering place in the Rocky Mountains. The prophetic blessing is as follows:

"Winter Quarters, March 23, 1847. A blessing by John Smith, Patriarch upon the head of Margaret Bryson, daughter of Samuel and Margaret Cowan, born County Djown, Ireland, August 1797."

"Beloved Sister, I place my hands upon thy head and seal upon thee a Father's blessing in the name of Jesus Christ, inasmuch as thou hats left thy native land for the Gospel's sake, the Lord is pleased, and thy name is written in the Lord's book of life, and he will add unto thee friends, houses, lands, riches, honors, and every desirable blessing because of they honesty and integrity of they heart, no good thing shall be withheld from thee for thou art of the blood of Ephraim, and a lawful heir to the Priesthood and all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that ever was conferred upon a female. Thy children shall be partakers of the new and everlasting covenant. Thou shalt have thy desire concerning them; they shall become a mighty people, and thou shalt never want friends to assist them to accomplish all they desire. Thy name shall be held in honorable remembrance in the house of Israel and thy years shall be according to the desire of they heart. Therefore, be patient, sister, and suffer not your faith to fail in times of trial, and not one (?) Shall fail, and thou shalt be lifted up at the last day with thy Father's house. Amen."

"Thus, blessed with the protection of the Priesthood, though there was none in her household that held it, and given all the "blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that was ever conferred upon a female," Margaret felt she was ready for the long trip. She was one of 318 Saints in Abraham Smoot’s company, one of five companies, containing 1,489 people, who left Winter Quarters on June 17, 1847. The Smoot Company traveled in 120 wagons, and had a completely successful trip, being second to arrive of the five companies, reaching Salt Lake Valley on September 25."

"The following incident from the journey is quoted from Janet Williams' history of Margaret Cowan Bryson. 'She had great faith. Nothing was too big for her because she knew that her faith would carry her through. One day, one of the oxen became sick and lay down as if to die. There was only women and children in her wagon, and they all cried, thinking they could not finish the trip. Margaret climbed down from the wagon and prayed to the Lord, and the oxen stood right up. They finished the journey with no further trouble'."

"Margaret, then, was the first Bryson to reach Utah. Little is known of her activities in those earliest Utah years. Census takers in 1850 were notable careless about recording persons other than members of the immediate family, and I searched the Utah census of 1850 and 1860 in vain for any mention of Margaret Cowan Bryson. It is known that in the early 1850's she moved to Sessions Settlement, which later became known, as Bountiful. She had acquired some, thirty acres of land there by 1855, and when Samuel and his family arrived from Scotland, she had built an adobe house for his use."

"We can imagine what a glorious reunion it was for Margaret and her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. She was only eighteen when Samuel was born and she had hardly raised him to adulthood when he left home to serve in the British Army. Within a few years he was married and again left home. Then there was a longer separation, Samuel and his family to Glasgow, and Margaret on the long journey to Zion. Now, in 1855, she saw her grandchildren for the first time. Three of the, including her namesake, Margaret, had died. But now, she could embrace and hold on her lap Samuel, Jr., age ten, Sarah Ann, eight, Hyrum Smith, three, named for her great benefactor when she came to Nauvoo, and the bavy named for the great Mormon poetess, Eliza Snow."

"Within a short time, Samuel had built a new home for his growing family, but Margaret was nearby, living by herself in a house on the approximate site of the well 'known Slim Olson Service Station, in Bountiful."

"In October, 1860, at age sixty three, this remarkable woman began a new phase of her life. She could look back upon her patriarchal blessing, with its promise of the blessings of the priesthood, and realize she would now truly have the priesthood, in her home. On October 9, in the Church President's office, she became the wife of John Dunlap. We know little about him, but he was born April 15, 1799, nearly two years younger than Margaret. He, too, was Irish,

born in Cortard, Monaghan County. Family stories say she exclaimed "Now I have a man with

the Meldixon Priesthood." We can understand the difficulty of an unlettered Irish immigrant with the word "Melchizedek." Most members of the Church mispronounce it today. Her marriage to John Dunlap was sealed for time and all eternity in the Endowment House, November 14, 1860."

"That her husband was well accepted by the family is manifest by the fact that Samuel named his next son John Dunlap Bryson, and on April 19, 1895, while Samuel was still living, he was sealed to his Mother's second husband. Dunlap died in 1867."

"Margaret had thus cast her lot, in the eternities, not with John Bryson, the wandering soldier who had lived with her only casually, but with John Dunlap. Nevertheless, it was the name "Bryson she had brought from a foreign land on the long pilgrimage to Zion, and hundreds of "Margaret's butterflies" proudly bear that name today."

Samuel Bryson was my great grandfather, he was born 15 August 1815 in Banbridge, County of Down, Ireland. His father was John Bryson also of Banbridge, Ireland. His Mother was Margaret Cowan also of Banbridge, Ireland. Samuel was the source of "Margaret's Butterflies." He sired 20 children by his two wives, Sarah Ann Connery, my great grandmother and his polygamous wife Isabella Boag. From all I have read about Samuel he was quite a man, very active all of his 93 years.

Again I will go to the writings of my brother Conrey for a lot of the information on Samuel Bryson. Conrey knew a Brother Jackson in El Paso who personally knew our Great Grandfather Samuel. He told Conrey that he was a very small man, only about five feet tall, wiry and very active, with bright flashing eyes, a witty man and good company. This agrees with all of the information that I have read and heard about him. The following is from Conrey's writings:

"Much of the information I have concerning Samuel is from an article written by Ada Bryson Jardine, his daughter by his second wife, Isabella Boag, and brought up to date by her daughter, Janet Jardine Williams. Ada Jardine states that the family was Methodist. I doubt this as Margaret's parents were married in the Presbyterian Church in Banbridge, and many other Brysons in both Scotland and Ireland were Presbyterian. At any rate, Samuel and his mother

were Protestants; and Samuel in later years recalled to his family that he could remember Catholic boys throwing rocks at Protestants, and vice versa, even as they do 160+ years later."

"When Samuel was 18, he joined the sixth regiment of Scotch Grenadiers and fought in seven major engagements in the Peninsular Wars in Spain but was never wounded. AU of the engagements of the British in Spain during the early nineteenth century may have been popularly called the Peninsular Wars, but historians have labeled the Peninsular War as the war of the British against the French in Portugal and Spain, 1808-14. This, of course, was before Samuel Bryson's birth. The war in which he fought was probably the Carlist War of 1834."

"Don Carlos, claiming the throne of Spain, was supported by conservative elements, the Catholic Church and some of the northern provinces of Spain, in an effort to overthrow the constitutional government. The Quadruple Alliance of Great Britain, France, Spain and Portugal upheld a treaty formed after Napoleon's forces had left Spain, and came to the rescue of the established government to put down the attempt of Don Carlos to gain power. The Carlist war lasted until 1837, and the British sent a foreign legion into Spain, under the command of Sir De Lacy Evans. It was probably in this war that young five foot Samuel Bryson took part. The war was ended by the Conference of Vergara, August 31, 1839, and Don Carlos went into exile."

"By that time, Samuel Bryson was back in Ireland and his mother rejoiced that her prayers had been answered. She rejoiced still more when, sometime in 1839, her son, then 24 years old, married 21 year old Sarah Ann Connery. This name has been variously spelled as Connery, Conray, and Conrey, the form it has taken in later years in the family."

"Sarah Ann was born October 16, 1819, in Blares, County Down, Ireland, the first of four children of Samuel Connery and Alice Bradshaw."

"Family group sheets filed by Samuel Bryson's descendants show three dates for his baptism: 18 April 1841; 31 March 1842 and 18 April 1842. The number of entries favoring each date is about equal. More specific information was given by Ada Jardine. According to her report: 'Soon after their marriage, Samuel and Sarah Ann were visited by Appleton Harmon, a missionary; and Samuel was baptized on March 31, 1841, by David Wilkin at Hillsborough. Sarah Ann was baptized April 21, 1841 by David Wilkin, who also confirmed them both.'

Samuel’s membership record in the Glasgow Conference in 1847, where it was transferred from Hillsborough, also gives the above as the date of his baptism. This would indicate he was baptized a year before his Mother --- or perhaps that Margaret's date of baptism is incorrect."

"The first two children of Samuel and Sarah Ann died at birth in Banbridge. By 1845, the family had moved to Belfast, the principal city and the capital of Northern Ireland. There, Samuel Jr., was born April 11, 1845. The next child, Jane, who lived only six years, was born in Glasgow Scotland, January 1, 1848, and died November 30, 1854. There are conflicting reports as to why Samuel and Sarah Ann moved to Glasgow. A family history written by Ada Bryson Jardine, his daughter, says: 'severe persecution followed their conversion, so they moved to Scotland. When they left Ireland, no one would buy their possessions because they were Mormons, and they could take nothing except their clothing with them on the sailing vessel. Their fine china was left on racks on the walls. Father presided over the Glasgow Branch of the Church and held this position for a number of years."

A family history of Samuel Bryson, Jr., says 'while in his youth his father, who was a convert to the L.D.S. in Ireland, was called to preside over the branch of the church at Glasgow, Scotland, and the family moved there to live. Samuel grew up on the banks of the river Clyde. His father was a weaver by trade, making fine linen cloth and shawls, and it became the work of Samuel to deliver these articles to his customers.'"

"In the Church Historical Department in Salt Lake City, I found the records of the Glasgow Conference from 1846 to 1865. Under date of November 1, 1846, they show Samuel Bryson's records received from the Hillsborough Branch in Ireland. In 1847, the Conference minutes show a visit by Elders Franklin D. and Samuel W. Richards, these Church authorities called upon the Conference to keep more thorough records. Indeed it seems they needed such admonition, for the records do not list Sarah Ann Bryson nor their children. Samuel is shown as a Teacher when his records were received from Ireland. The records confirm the date of his baptism, March 31, 1841, by David Wilkin, in Hillsborough, Ireland."

"Before September 3, 1851, Samuel was ordained a Priest, and on that day he baptized a fourteen year old girl, Isabella Boag. Who was born 15 June 1837, in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland. Many years later, she was to become Samuel's second wife."

"On September 12, 185 1, Samuel was re-baptized. This does not indicate excommunication or, necessarily, any transgression. Church membership forms in those days contained a column for re-baptisms. The practice was quite common and constituted merely a pledge to improve one's life. Following his re-baptism Samuel is shown as the Priest performing several other baptisms. There is no indication anywhere in the records that Samuel Bryson held a supervisory position of any kind. Nor is there any record of the membership of Sarah Ann and the children."

"The fact that Samuel held only the Aaronic Priesthood should not be interpreted as a sign of inactivity in the Church. It was not until 1876, the year before Brigham Young's death, that the Aaronic Priesthood was generally given to boys. The offices of Deacon, Teacher and Priest were generally held by adults, and there are even records of Deacons acting in supervisory positions."

"Nevertheless, I think that we must conclude that Samuel Bryson was not sent to Glasgow by the Church. It seems more likely that his craftsmanship as a weaver found an outlet in the Glasgow region. Paisley, birthplace of the famed Paisley shawls, is located just across the river Clyde from Glasgow. Later, in Utah, Samuel was noted for his weaving of fine Paisley shawls, and the years in Glasgow may well have been an occasion to improve his skills."

"Twelve years after his mother had left the British Isles, Samuel and his family sailed for America on the ship Samuel Curling, which left from Liverpool April 27, 1855. There were 581 Latter-day Saints aboard, under the direction of Elder Israel Barlow. It took almost eight months for the journey from Glasgow to Liverpool to New York, and across most of the continent to Salt Lake valley, where they arrived October 24, 1855."

"There they were greeted warmly, especially by Samuel's mother, Margaret Cowan Bryson. She already had an adobe house built for them in Sessions Settlement, later to be called Bountiful. Here the little family, Samuel and Sarah Ann, ten year old Samuel, Junior; five year old Sarah Am, three year old Hyrum and one year old Eliza found a place of rest. Bountiful became the home of the Brysons in Utah."

Conrey then quotes from Samuel's granddaughter Ada, "she, Margaret, had acquired approximately 30 acres of land in Bountiful before Samuel and his family came from Scotland. She owned a comer of land on the west side of First South and Main Street in Salt Lake City, before it was cleared of sagebrush and traded it to a man for a pair of rubber boots, to protect her son while irrigating. She worked hard to accumulate land for Samuel to give him a start in this new country."

"The following spring, Samuel and Sarah Ann began building their own home, molding the adobe themselves. Samuel wove a carpet and traded it to Brother Telford for the property between 4' and 5' South on the east side of Main Street in Bountiful."

From both Conrey's and Ada's writings we learn that Samuel was a weaver by trade and that is how he made his living in Bountiful However, Conrey also says that he did gardening also and hauled his fruit and vegetables into Salt Lake to sell. I know that one of his sons, Jim Bryson carried on that trade.

Samuel also served in the military in Utah, being a Captain over 50 men under Lot Smith during the time that Johnson's Army threatened Utah in 1858. He also served in 1864 as a 1st Lieutenant in the Utah Militia during the time known as the Morrisite War.

Samuel and Sarah Ann had four more children after their arrival in Utah. David Cowan Bryson, born October 21, 1856. He lived only 18 years and died in 1874. James was born December 18, 1858. 1 remember Uncle J* he was the son who continued the truck gardening in Bountiful, I was only a child then but I do remember him. John Dunlap Bryson was born January 19, 1862. The youngest child of Samuel and Sarah Ann was Alice Bradshaw, named for Sarah Ann's mother.

I will return to Conrey's writing for an account of the plural marriage of Samuel: "Six years after the birth of Sarah Ann's 12' and last child, Samuel, at age 53, married again, entering into the practice of plural marriage. Church authorities has suggested this, for a special reason. Some fifteen years earlier, before he left Scotland, he had baptized a fourteen year old girl name Isabella Nixon Boag. Some years passed, and Isabella married Robert Gorman, in Glasgow.

When the great 'black plague' swept Europe in 1867, Robert and three of their children died. Using insurance money left by her husband, Isabella bought passage on the ship Constitution, June 24, 1868. This was a Church chartered vessel, containing 457 Latter-day Saints under the direction of Harvey H. Cluff. On the way westward from New York, Isabella's little daughter died in Michigan. Her little son was to die in Bountiful from the rigors of the journey."

"When Bishop Stoker read the emigrant lists and saw the name of Isabella Boag Gorman, and the record of her baptism by Samuel Bryson, he asked Samuel to meet the wagon train and ask Isabella to marry him, with Sarah Ann's consent. Sarah Ann gave the requested consent, and when Samuel proposed marriage to Isabella though she was but 30 and Samuel was 53, she replied, 'Yes, if the Bishop says so.' They were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, October 14, 1868.

"Ada Jardine's history of her father says that when Margaret Cowan Bryson, Samuel's mother, saw Isabella Boag she exclaimed, 'you are the woman I saw in my dream of 20 butterflies fluttering from my bosom.' So, Isabella, too, would contribute to 'Margaret's butterflies.' She bore Samuel nine children, bringing to twenty the number of his off-spring. The last was born in 1881, when he was sixty six. AR of Isabella's children, and four of Sarah Ann's were born in Bountiful with a midwife in attendance. After the birth of one of the children, the midwife raised her fee from five to seven dollars. Samuel complained, 'That isn't fair, Sister Simon. I've been a good customer'."

"Two and a half years after her husband's second marriage, Sarah Ann Connery Bryson, died of pneumonia, leaving five unmarried children. Hyrum was 19, David 14, Jim 13, John 10 and Alice 8. Isabella loved them all and became a second mother to them. They came to love her, and affectionately called her 'Aunt Bella'."

According to Conrey's and other writings that I have read, Samuel was a small wiry little man, just over five feet tall very active and vigorous and a faithful and active member of the Church. He was a jovial man and got along well with all his acquaintances. When he was ninety he entered a foot race at the old folks picnic at Lagoon. He won the race and turned a somersault at the finish. He died in September 1908 at the age of 93.