Joseph LEES

                   SOURCES:
    1. Ancestral File
    2. 1997 Ordinance Index

HISTORICAL NOTES:
    Biographical information included in notes.

HISTORY: John Lees
1801- 1886

HISTORY:         John Lees was born 25 February 1801 in Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire, England to Joseph and Susannah Gartside Lees.  John was the first of seven children.
         Ashton Under Lyne was located about six miles east of Manchester, in an industrial area of England.  John worked in the cotton factories, which spun cloth.  John was a spinner, turner and laborer.  Some worked in the iron foundries and sawmills.  These were hard times in England and poverty and want were common.
          John married Elizabeth Buckley known as Betty, the 4th of April 1825.  John was 24 and Betty was almost 22.  Betty was from the small town of Dunkinfield about a mile from Ashton Under Lyne, but across the county line in Cheshire.  John and Betty settled in Ashton Under Line and were blessed with eight children; James, Mary, Joseph, Susannah, John, Mary Ann, George Taylor, and Josiah.
          John Taylor and Cyrus Wheelock were some of the missionaries in that area that taught John and Betty the Gospel.  John and Betty were converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and were baptized in 1848, along with their children.  There was a strong branch of the Church in Manchester.
          In 1853, John and Betty emigrated to America on the ship "Elvira Owen" with their two youngest sons, George 13, and Josiah 11.  John was 52 and Betty 50.  This was made possible by the Perpetual Emigration Fund.  The P.E.F., as it was known, was set up by the Church to fund the emigration of the poor.
          Under the direction of Joseph W. Young, who had presided over the Preston Conference, a company of 345 Saints sailed from Liverpool on the 15th of February 1853, on board the ship Elvira Owen.  Among the emigrating Saints was Jonathan Midgley, who had presided over the Manchester Conference.   On the 23rd of March 1853, after a most speedy voyage lasting only 36 days, the Elvira Owen arrived at the bar at the mouth of the Mississippi River.  Three births, three marriages and three deaths occurred during the voyage.  There were a few cases of smallpox, which, however, did not prove fatal, and the disease did not spread to any great extent.  Captain Owen treated the Saints with much kindness, especially the sick, and a memorial, expressive of their gratitude for his fatherly conduct to all, was presented to him by the passengers.  After being detained at the bar several days the Elvira Owen was towed up the river, and the emigrants landed in New Orleans on the 31st of March.  Proceeding up the Mississippi River, the emigrants arrived in Keokuk on the 13th of April, being two days short of two months from Liverpool, which was considered an extraordinarily rapid journey.
          John and Betty came to Utah in 1853 as part of the Cyrus H. Wheelock Company.  The trip from Missouri to Utah was strenuous and many times John and Betty, along with others, went hungry.
          After arriving at the valley of Salt Lake City, John and Betty made their home on the corner of Fourth North and Fifth West, across the street from their son John Lees, Jr.  John and Betty lived in the Salt Lake City 19th Ward.  John Lees Church callings: Elder, Block Teacher.
          Betty died first on June 5, 1870 at 67.  John lived till he was 85 years old.  He died the 28th of January 1886 and was buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery.




HISTORY: Occupation: Spinner and turner and Laborer.

HISTORY: 1860 U.S. census,
Name: John Lees Age in 1860: 58 Birthplace: England Home in 1860: Great Salt Lake City Ward 19, Great Salt Lake, Utah Territory Gender: Male > Roll: M653_1313 Page: 278 Year: 1860 Head of Household: John Lees.

HISTORY: Elvira Owen passenger list:
LEES, John	<1802>
Age:	51	Origin:	Ashton Under Lyne	Occ:	Labourer
	Note:	BMR, p. 110
LEES, Betty	<1803>	Age: 50
	Note:	BMR, p. 116
LEES, George	<1840>	Age: 13
LEES, Josiah	<1842>	Age:  11

Ship:	Elvira Owen
	Date of Departure:	15 Feb 1853	Port of Departure:	Liverpool, England
	LDS Immigrants:	345	Church Leader:	Joseph W. Young
	Date of Arrival:	31 Mar 1853	Port of Arrival:	New Orleans, Louisiana
	Source(s):	BMR, Book #1044, pp. 104-119 (FHL #025,690); Customs (FHL #200,173)

HISTORY: 	Notes:	"DEPARTURES. -- Elder Joseph W. Young, late president of the Preston Conference, and Elder Jonathan Midgley, late president of the Manchester Conference, with a company of 345 souls, under the presidency of Elder Young, sailed on board the Elvira Owen, for New Orleans, on the 15th of February.  These two brethren have labored faithfully in this land as ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ; now they have the privilege of going home to Zion, to help still further to roll on the work of the Lord, and build up and establish his kingdom.  By letter, from Elder Young, we learn that, when the steam-tug left the vessel, the Saints appeared comfortable and in harmony, having a good prospect of a pleasant voyage.  One birth and two marriages had occurred on board, since their embarkation. . . ."


HISTORY: "SIXTY-FOURTH COMPANY. -- Elvira Owen. -- 345 Saints.  Under the direction of Joseph W. Young, who had presided over the Preston Conference, a company of three hundred and forty-five Saints sailed from Liverpool on the fifteenth of February 1853, on board the ship Elvira Owen.  Among the emigrating Saints was Jonathan Midgley who had presided over the Manchester Conference.   On the twenty-third of March 1853, after a most speedy voyage lasting only thirty-six days, the Elvira Owen arrived at the bar at the mouth of the Mississippi River.  Three births, three marriages and three deaths occurred during the voyage.  There were a few cases of small-pox, which, however, did not prove fatal, and the disease did not spread to any great extent.  Captain Owen treated the Saints with much kindness, especially the sick, and a memorial, expressive of their gratitude for his fatherly conduct to all, was presented to him by the passengers.   After being detained at the bar several days the Elvira Owen was towed up the river, and the emigrants landed in New Orleans on the thirty-first of March.  Proceeding up the Mississippi River, the emigrants arrived in Keokuk on the thirteenth of April, being two days short of two months from Liverpool, which was considered an extraordinarily rapid journey.  (Millennial Star, Vol. XV, pp.154, 288 and 361)."


HISTORY: Name: John Lees Birth Date: 25 February 1800 Birth Place: ENGLAND Death Date: 28 January 1886 Death Place: SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH Burial Date: 28 January 1891 Cemetery: Salt Lake City Cemetery Source: Sexton Records Grave Location: H-4-11-1/2-SO