Daniel and Hannah Smuin Harvey

Daniel and Hannah Smuin Harvey were the parents of James Smuin Harvey.  They homesteaded the Harvey Farm, the area of which is pictured at the bottom of this blog. These pictures are found in the book, East of Antelope Island, which tells the histories of early Davis County residents.

The following narrative comes from a history on Daniel. The author is unknown to me.

DANIEL HARVEY

Daniel Harvey was the son of John and Elizabeth Eastwood Harvey.

He was born at Stanford Le Hope, a small town near the sea, in Essex Co. England, on May 29, 1830.

He, and his twin brother spent their childhood and youth working with their father and brothers as farm hands. There were 10 children in tile family; four brothers and two sisters older and one brother and one sister younger than the twins. He spent his boyhood working on farms carrying plow shears to the blacksmith to get them sharpened, and driving crows off the fields. He told a story about that time.

He had a gun to shoot crows and he would put a small piece of rag, or paper in the gun and when he shot, the paper would get on fire, then he would light the tobacco in his pipe. One day he thought how bad smelling the tobacco was, and resolved to quit using it. He threw his pipe on the ground and set his foot on it and never smoked again.

As a young man he worked in a saw pit for builder Jarvis making lumber, and in London he carried milk by means of a wooden yoke across his shoulder, with a can of milk hanging from each end. The milk was measured out to the customers.

While in London he met and married Hannah Smuin, who was a member of the L.D.S. church. They were married in May, 1853. He soon heard the gospel preached and accepted it in full faith to the sorrow of his brothers and the scorn of his friends. His faith was tested when the elder who converted him, robbed the saints and disappeared with the money. He trusted the Elder so much that he said he would have gone through fire for him. The shock made him doubt the truth of what the elders taught. He prayed for light and received it. That he had put his trust in a mortal man and had been deceived should not his faith in the principles of the Gospel.

He told another little story, which shows that though he had a very humble, peaceable disposition, he could be riled up to a point of fighting. After he joined the Church, a man who was a competitor in the milk business, sneeringly called him a destroying angel, and made a pass at him, but Daniel was too quick and knocked him over his cans of milk and spilled the milk. Then the man wanted him to pay for the milk, which he refused to do. Some men who witnessed the scrap decided that Daniel was right, and should not pay for the milk.

They had three children born to them in London; Ann, James and Daniel, Jr. When Ann was seven, Jim five, and Dan three, they left with a company of Mormon emigrants, with George Q. Cannon in charge, on the ship Amazon, bound for America.

There were 920 (882) passengers, mostly Mormons. It was the first ship to sail down the Thames River into the open sea. The ship left on June 4, 1863 and was six weeks on the ocean. The family consisted of five Harveys and two nieces, Rachel and Matilda Smuin, who were very seasick. Hannah was ill all the way across. Daniel did not suffer that way so had to wait on all the others.

They landed at Quebec and came by boat down the St. Laurence River to New York, then by train to Omaha. The Civil War was on and they were hindered by the railroad being torn up by the rebels. They were met at Winter Quarters by teams and wagons, and they started their journey across the plains in the Rosel Hyde Company. Daniel paid part of their emigration by driving one of the ox teams across. They walked a great deal of the way. They arrived in October 13, 1863.

They stayed a few days with Hannah's sister, Harriet Clark. Then Daniel walked to Kaysville where he found work at Winnell’s flour mill. Their first home was in a dugout near the mill, then the family soon moved to Kaysville where they made their home on the mountain road.

Near their home was the barn where the horses were kept and changed on the old stagecoach line from the east to S.L.C. They lived there about eight years then homesteaded 160 acres now the home of Brigham Harvey (1942) east of Kaysville City.

He worked at various things, sawing lumber in Bear Canyon, helping neighbors on their farms, herding sheep and working his own farm.

He married Ellen Wooton in 1867 to whom one son, George W. Harvey, now of Lehi, was born. Ellen. He died Sept. 13, 1899, at the home of his wife. He was a quiet even-tempered man. Always willing to help others without complaining.