Sarah Rees Leigh (1806 - 1892)

Home

Family Tree

Early Leighs

• Connection to Sarah Leigh's page in the Early Wales blog
• Family Group Record
• Information on the Walters Family 

Sara Rees Leigh

The following information came from the Welsh Mormon History project at BYU.
Gender: Female
Birth date: 24 Nov 1806
Birthplac:Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Father: 
Mother:
Death date: 29 May 1892
Deathplace: Wellsville, Cache, Utah
Departure:Left Liverpool on 04 Feb 1854 aboard the Golconda
Arrival: Arrived in New Orleans on 18 Mar 1854
Marriages: Married to Walters, Walter on 21 Jan 1828 at Llanelli, Carmarthenshire.
Sources: Ancestral File
Resources:

 

 
Comments: Family picture: Standing (left to right): Daniel Leigh Walters, Elizabeth Walters Owen (Evan Owen), William Leigh Walters. Seated (left to right): Margaret Walters Thomas (Henry Thomas), Sarah Leigh Walters (Walter Walters), Mary Walters Owen (John Owen).

Sarah Rees Leigh's two brothers and sister (Daniel Leigh, Samuel Leigh and Hannah Leigh) emigrated in 1849 with Dan Jones on board the Buena Vista. After their arrival in Utah, Daniel settled at Malad, Idaho, while Samuel was called to the Iron Mission at Cedar City. Hannah stayed in Salt Lake City and married Alexander Wright, a native Scotsman who had emigrated to Canada and joined the Church in the mid 1830s. (He and Samuel Mulliner were the first missionaries called to preach the Gospel in Scotland, arriving in 1839.) After Walter Walters' family arrived in Utah in 1854, Alexander Wright took as a second wife Hannah Walters, the daughter of Walter and Sarah Leigh Walters. Thus, he was married to both Sarah Leigh Walters' sister and daughter. When Alexander moved to Virgin City, Utah, his second wife (Hannah Walters) and their children went with him, while his first wife (Hannah Leigh) stayed in Salt Lake City with their one child. A photograph of Alexander Wright and Hannah Walters can be found in the DUP Museum in Salt Lake City.

Questions for future research:

1. Sarah Rees Leigh was the 4th child of Daniel Leigh and Mary Rees. The first three children of Daniel's family never associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but the records of the Mormon community in Llanelli (film number 104169) listed the 4th member of Daniel's family (Sarah, husband Walter Walters, and children Mary, Ann, Sarah, William, Hannah, and Daniel) as members in 1848-1850. Sarah and Walter and their three younger siblings all immigrated with LDS groups to Utah and Idaho. Daniel Leigh died in 1848, about a month after his grandson, William Leigh Walters, was baptized into the LDS church. This implies that Daniel Leigh probably knew about the Mormons. When did the LDS missionaries meet with Daniel's family? Did Daniel, his wife Mary, and their first three children have any involvement with the missionaries?

2. Our Family Group Record of Daniel Leigh and Mary Rees lists child #5 as Lydia Leigh. The information from the Welsh Family History project speaks of her as Hannah Leigh. What is the correct name of child #5.

The photographs of the gravestones were obtained from Marcia Mattson.