Two Monuments and a Pioneer Adobe Home in Lehi, Utah

Wayne E. Clark1 Lehi, Utah, 2016 1

corrections or additions welcome, [email protected]

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My great grandfather William Wheeler Clark (1855-1934) was born in Lehi, Utah, in 1855. His father, early Lehi settler William Clark (1825-1910), lived in town, on the block that was the northeastern-most of the sixteen blocks that were enclosed by a twelve-foot-high wall. William Clark’s pioneer adobe home was on the West side of the block, facing First West Street. He had outbuilding there on his property, probably a barn, sheds and a granary. He also had a corral on the Southwest corner of the block just north of his home which was outside the fort. The old fort wall ran along the southern edge of the block and First North Street ran along the inner edge of the fort wall. The wall had been built by pioneer settlers in 1854 for protection against hostile Indians. There never were really serious hostilities in the Lehi area, however, and the wall was either allowed to crumble or actively disassembled over the years. The last remnants of the wall were removed in 1905. One source says the the last portions of the wall were in “the farmer’s corral.” That had to have been William Clark’s corral on the Northeast corner of the intersection of First West and First North Streets. Lehi city officials decided to erect a monument to the pioneers and to the wall on that site. Around that time President Joseph F. Smith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, went from Salt Lake City to Sharon, Vermont, the birthplace of his uncle, Joseph Smith, Jr., the church’s founding prophet. There in Page 2 of 7

1905 he dedicated the Joseph Smith Birthplace memorial the church had erected there. That monument is topped by a large 50’ 10’” obelisk of Vermont granite. I visited the place recently. That’s me in the photograph with my lovely wife and one of my daughters and her family in front of the monument. It looks a lot like the Lehi pioneer monument. In fact, the obelisk on the Lehi monument is composed of Vermont granite. I think the Lehi citizens sought to honor both the pioneer heritage of the Mormon pioneers of the city and the church by imitating the design of the Sharon, Vermont, monument. The Lehi pioneer monument was erected on the site of William Clark’s old corral and the last remnants of the wall in 1908. Someone kindly took a photograph of the monument in the original position (it has been moved twice since it was first put in place). The photographer must have stood on the edge of First West Street a bit north of First North Street and looked toward the Southeast at the monument. Unavoidably there were buildings and trees in the background that show up in the photograph. I believe the large wood frame building to the right of the monument was on William Clark’s property. It might have been his barn. Of greater interest is an adobe dwelling typical of the community in those days. The house is visible to the left of the monument. It would have been on the South side of First North Street. Utah County records for the block from 1869 and subsequent years show that the eastern part of the house was on property Page 3 of 7

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owned by Johannes Beck (1843-1913) and that the western part of the house were on William Clark’s property. Census records show that the house was the home of John Beck’s brother in law Johann Gottlieb Beck (1836-1920) and his family in 1870. William Wheeler Clark and his family, however, were in the home in the 1880 Census. That’s consistent with a family narrative that Page 5 of 7

say that when William Wheeler Clark married Polly Melissa Willes (1856-1887) in 1878, the newlyweds moved to a house on William Clark’s “farm.” My grandfather, Asa Jones Clark (1882-1966), must have been born while his parents were in that house in 1882. Later residents included William Clark’s step grandson James Edgar Ross and his family and his son in law Hyrum Timothy, followed by others. In 1929 the property on which the adobe home in the background of the monument stood, along with William Clark’s home and farm buildings became the property of the Alpine School District. A year later, on May 1 1930, a municipal holiday was declared and all of the buildings were removed to make way for the installation of the Lehi High School/ Junior High School athletic field. The sites of the William Clark pioneer adobe home and the home of First North are now covered by the parking lot of the Lehi Legacy Center. Note: This story is drawn from information in the following documents which contain the supporting references and documentation. The Old Fort Wall, a Herd of Cows, and a Near and Dear Neighbor in Lehi, Utah, https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5wDxipAGQN2UG02ZnVLd2JRbVE/view? usp=sharing, 37 MB Melissa Lott Smith Bernhisel Willes and three Joseph Smiths, https:// drive.google.com/file/d/0B5wDxipAGQN2RFNmLW1sdTNSMlk/view?usp=sharing, 2 MB My "Aunt Melissa:” Melissa Lott Smith Bernhisel Willes, https:// drive.google.com/file/d/0B5wDxipAGQN2OTFNUUVSR0h4TTA/view?usp=sharing, 11 MB

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William Clark (1825-1910): His Pioneer Adobe Home in Lehi, Utah, and the Homes of his Neighbors and Descendants, https://drive.google.com/file/d/ 0B5wDxipAGQN2cmRUN0Z0NklMaTA/view?usp=sharing, 21 MB Pioneer Adobe Homes on the Memorial Building and Legacy Center Blocks in Lehi, Utah, https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5wDxipAGQN2MWRJVk1GNlVPVWM/ view?usp=sharing, 16 MB These, and similar documents, as well as other stories by Wayne E. Clark, are posted at Lehi Historical Society and Archives: Historical Archive Indexes, https:// www.lehihistory.com

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