Ephraim Moroni Perkes was born in the village of Kates Hill, city of Dudley, Worcestershire, England, on October 5th 1853, a son of James Perkes and Eliza Rollason Perkes. Ephraim spent his childhood and early youth in England with his mother, his father having came to America with converts to the Mormon Church, when Ephraim was not yet one year old.
He came to America with his mother at the age of sixteen arriving in Ogden, Utah on the first emigrant train in 1869, they settled in Hyde Park, Utah and lived in a small log cabin, built for them by his brother Reuben.
Ephraim was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, on October 3rd 1869, by Nels Christiansen, in Hyde Park, Utah. He spent the next seven years there with his mother. On the 4th of November 1876 he married Harriet Louisa Clark, a daughter of Israel Justice Clark and Emily Jane Pearson. She was a pleasant, hard working, devoted wife and companion to him. "She was a saint and an angel," were the words of her sister, Clarissa. "Their life together was indeed a happy one in spite of all the trials and hardships" said Clarissa, "There was a strong bond of love between them that lasted through their many hardships."
In the Fall of 1877 Ephraim and Harriet Louisa, along with Israel Clark family, at the request of Brigham Young went to Ashley Valley, in Eastern Uta. There Ephraim worked in a blacksmith shop owned by Archibald Hadlock, and on the 28th of May their firsr child was born, a tiny girl, whom they named Nettie. In the Spring of 1879 they returned to Hyde Park, where in the Fall their twin sons, Israel and James were born, James lived only a short time. And the end of October found them back in Ashley Valley, just in time for the hard winter of 1879-1880.
During that Winter they lived in a sixteen by sixteen cabin with their two babies and Harriet's brother Jesse Clark, and Peter Percy and Fet Harris. The cabins were in a "U" shaped fort, there were eighteen of them, with one cabin in the center which served as a school and meeting house. During the hard winter the people of the valley went through the most trying circumstances of their pioneer days. They actually went hungry and lived on daily rations. There were no vegetables or fruit at all.
There were deer but they were so poor that when they boiled in a pot no grease would raise on top. There was no way out for supplies. The cattle huddled under ledges or anyplace that offered a little shelter and there they perished. Several hundred perished and by spring they had only a few left and milk was really a luxery. This was the coldest winter ever recorded in Ashley Valley. The snow was deep and the temperature dropped, there was no windbreak, there were no barns nor sheds for shelter and the cattle were swept away in large numbers by the cold hard wind. Some recall counting the dead cattle where they had huddled together to keep warm. Besides this situation the crops of 1879 had been badly damaged by grasshoppers. The scourged the fields and left waste in their wake, they saved almost no grain, but were grateful for a crop of sugar cane that made molasses in th fall.
As if this wasn't enough, they had trouble with the Indians. This was a result of the Meeker Massacre. The Ute Indians were friendly with some of the settlers, they were told to build a fort in case they needed protection, and if trouble occurred they were to raise a white flag over the fort under which conditions they would be protected. The fort was constructed where the J.C. Penney store and the Uintah Bank now stands. Log cabins were to be placed in the square facing in, with a space between so that log buttresses could be put up for fighting purposes, however it was not finished so it formed a "U". So in the winter of 1879-1880 it was jovially called "Jericho".
That winter was indeed the most trying in the life of Ephraim and Harriet. They stayed in Ashley Valley another winter and in the spring of 1881 they went back to Hyde Park, where another son, Johnnie was born. He was killed by a horse while he was a small child. With some members of the Clark family they went back to Ashley Valley in 1883, with a load of flour and seed. Here Simmie (Simeon) was born, and lived only a short time, here again Ephraim was working as a blacksmith. In May 1886 they were agin in Hyde Park, where on the 5th of that month Inez Agnes was born. Here Ephraim was engaged in farming. On September 30th of 1887, Benjamin was born, and on July 1st of 1889 another daughter, Emily Jane was born.
In the fall of that year they went to Ashley Valley again, and on March 4th 1891 another son, George Albert was born to them. George Albert was the only one of my father's family that I really knew, he lived near us in southern Utah. When I was a child, he used to rock me to sleep sometimes when he was at our house in the evenings.
They then decided to try their luck in Teton, Idaho, where they stayed four years and Ephraim farmed and did some blacksmith work. On October 1st 1895 Lucy Ann was born. Again in early 1900 they went back to Ashley Valley to stay, except for short trips to Hyde Park to visit with Eliza, his mother. One more son Owen Orson was born to them on the 16th of August 1900. He died just one day after his brother Benjamin, on January 27th 1919. Ephraim passed away at 6:00PM April 29th 1907, at the age of 54 years, 6 months and 23 days of pneumonia after an illness of 19 days. He also had a contributing heart problem and had suffered a heart attack on January 10th 1907. He is buried in Vernal City cemetery.
Ephraim was a rather short man (5 ft, 7 inches) he had dark reddish brown hair and brown eyes. He must have been very close to his mother, having spent his early years alone with her in England, after his father had come to America. This may be why they spent so much time in Hyde Park, when they really would have rather lived in Vernal, Utah. Ephraim has his name on the honor roll having spent the "Hard Winter" of 1879 in Ashley Valley.
I have tried to put together what information that I have on
Ephraim Perkes, my grandfather, my sources of information are;
Personal knowledge of my father, Israel Justice Perkes.
L.D.S. Church archives, Salt Lake City, Utah
Information and records of Leah Rudd, Denver, Colorado
"Builders of Uintah" by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers of Uintah
County
By Harriet Lena Perkes Ames
submitted by:
llipari@xmission.com