SARAH JANE GRAY

By Claudia Spencer Slader

Sarah Jane (the 6th wife of Daniel Spencer) was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England, July 6, 1842.She was the eldest of three children born in the family. Her father, John Gray (1810-1853) was an inventor and designed parts for train engines. Her mother was Sarah Jane Cowup McConochie (1813-1889). The family lived in Brighton and Hull before settling in Liverpool. They became acquainted with the Church and were baptized in Liverpool in 1849. Orson Pratt baptized Sarah on October 11, 1851. Her home was visited often by the elders. Apostle John Taylor made his home with them, for several months, while he served as President of the French Mission (1850-51). In 1852, Daniel Spencer arrived in England and during his four-year mission made acquaintance with the Gray family. Sarah's family was making preparations for their departure when cholera took the life of her father and brother Olinthus William (age 7), October 1853. Her mother felt that if she procrastinated she would not live to see Zion. Daniel met Mrs. Gray and her daughter Sarah Jane and Margarita, in Liverpool and helped them to board the Juventa. He assisted them in preparing for their journey and introduced them to other saints immigrating to Utah. Although they traveled on a Mormon immigrant ship chartered under the Perpetual Emigration Fund, they were among that group of immigrants who were classified as "L10 travelers". This meant they each paid L10, which covered travel and food from England to the valley. On Saturday, March 31, 1855, Mrs. Gray and her daughters sailed from Liverpool under the direction of William Glover with 573 saints on board. They arrived in Philadelphia on May 5, then went by rail to Pittsburgh, then by steamboat down the Ohio River until they docked at St. Louis. Her mother did not wait to travel with a Mormon immigrant train but instead purchased her own wagons and oxen and she hired men to drive them to the Great Salt Lake Valley. She either came in an independent train or a freighting train, arriving in the valley in the fall of 1855. Daniel arrived home from his mission on October 4, 1856. Sarah (age 14) married Daniel (age 62) on December 21, 1856 in Brigham Young's Office. Her mother and sister lived in the adobe home along with the other wives and children. On February12, Sarah had her endowment in the Endowment House and also was rebaptized, along with her mother and sister, by Daniel in the Jordan River, February 12, 1857. The following day she was sealed to Daniel in a joint ceremony in the Endowment House performed by Brigham Young with William W. Phelps and Samuel S. Sprague as witnesses. When Daniel died in1868, Sarah (age 26) had three children to support from ages 9 to 6months. The court action brought on by Emily Thompson caused a split in the family, and Sarah moved out of the home in 1869. After Emily received more money, the other wives did not have sufficient funds to support themselves without working. Sarah moved her young family and her mother into the 17th Ward and resided at 2nd West and South Temple on the southwest corner. Sarah and her mother took in sewing to help support her family. Part of the pay she received was in script or orders on the Tithing Office. The food selections at the Tithing Office were limited to what was brought in that day by tithe paying farmers. After her mother died (1889), Sarah and her son Grove lived with her son Mark for a short time. When Mark settled on State Street (#1656), he moved his mother next door. When her daughter, Sophronia, with three small children became a widow, she moved in with Sarah. Together they cooperated to make a living with Sarah taking in boarders and sewing and Sophronia doing practical nursing. At age 71, Sarah died at her home on May 10, 1914. She was buried in the City Cemetery May 12. She had been a widow for 46years.