Histories

The 10th of September in the year 1820 was a beautiful autumn day in the Parish of Pauntley, Gloucestershire, England. It was on this day that Samuel and Esther Bourne Priddy brought their Infant Son, only three weeks old, to the little church of St. John the Evangelist to be baptized. The baby Samuel had been born on August 12 about a mile from the Parish in the tiny hamlet of Pool Hill, where his Father worked as a Laborer.

During his youth, Samuel learned the art of stone cutting and stonemasonry He practiced his profession in many parts of England and later in Utah.

When Samuel was 21 years of age, he and his sweetheart, Mary James, were married on the 26th of December 1841 at the Parish of St. John the Baptist in the city of Gloucester, according to the rites and ceremonies of the Established Church. Samuel and Esther Preedy, his parents were witnesses at this marriage.

To this union seven children were born, four boys and three girls. Charles James, was born at Mathon, Worcestershire, his Mother’s birthplace. The Family then moved a distance of about 120 miles to the County of Essex, near the great city of London. It was in the vicinity of London that five Children were born - Martha Esther, Jane Elizabeth, Mary Emily, William and Sarah Ann. Thomas Samuel was born in the City of Gloucester. Mary’s younger sister, Esther James, unmarried, also lived with them.  

Four years before her marriage, Mary James became a Convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was baptized in November of 1837. It was seven years after their marriage that Samuel embraced the Gospel and was baptized 23 of June, 1848. On this day, Charles was baptized, Mary was rebaptized and the three younger Children Martha Esther, Thomas Samuel and Jane Elizabeth were blessed. All the baptisms, confirmations and blessings were performed by Elder Alfred Ballam in the Notting Hill, Middlesex, Branch of the London Conference. This was indeed a day of rejoicing for the Priday Family and the beginning of many years of devoted service to the Church.

Samuel Priday was ordained a Teacher 8 April 1849 at Notting Hill, England by Elder Ballam. He was ordained a Priest 4 November 1849 by Elder Harris and ordained an Elder 16 January 1851 by Elder Bagnall. Samuel Priday was called to take charge of the following branches of the Church, Vauxhall Bridge Road Branch, organized 6 April, 1851: Westminster Branch, organized 5 June 1852; Kennington Branch, organized 1856.  

Now at this time most of the Latter-Day Saints had a burning desire to emigrate to Zion. Therefore, the Church set apart a Superintendent or Agent to look after the welfare of the Mormon Converts. When sufficient applications were received, this Agent, George Q. Cannon, would charter a boat or sailing vessel for them. The experienced Elders who sailed with the Saints were in most cases, able to obtain better food and cleaner quarters at less expense for their organized groups.  

In 1862 Samuel Priday and his wife and all of their children, including Charles and his bride, Phoebe Proctor, reserved passage for America on the "William Tapscott" to leave the 14th of May and to arrive in New York the 25th of June.  However these reservations were cancelled. It was a full year later that passage was booked on the "Amazon", a vessel of 1350 tons, leaving London on the 4th of June 1863. By this time Martha Esther had decided to remain in England. The rest of the Family was ready to embark and all of their baggage was aboard.

At the last minute, Thomas Samuel accepted a call to serve a Mission in England before emigrating and his trunk and other personal belongings were hastily removed from the ship. Charles and Phoebe also chose to stay in England, possibly because their first child was expected within a few months (1864).

Thus it was that Samuel and Mary and their four youngest children. Embarked on this long awaited voyage with 882 other Saints. The leader of their company was William Bramall. It was his duty to provide the weekly diet for each adult consisting of 2t pounds of bread or biscuit, 1 lb of wheat flour, 5 pounds of oatmeal, 2 lbs rice, .5 lb sugar, 2 oz tea, 2 oz salt, 3 quarts of water per day and 20 pounds of breadstuffs per capita and allowances of butter and cheese. Often they used meat instead of meal or bread. All were to be in their berths by 8 PM and up before 7 AM.

Six weeks later when the ship docked at New York on the 18th of July 1863, someone was there to meet the Saints and further chart their course by rail to Iowa City or other points in the U.S.A. Crossing the plains they were ferried over some of the largest rivers. They finally arrived in Salt Lake City on the sixth day of October 1863. The Priday Family is numbered among the 80,000 immigrants coming to Utah between 1847 and 1868.

Unfortunately, 6000 of these "pioneers to Utah" died on the way. (As far as known, no Priday’s were among those who died). 

Samuel Priday and his wife, Mary James, had their endowments in the Endowment House, Salt lake City, Utah on 11 July 1868. He was ordained a High Priest by President Wilford Woodruff and Joseph F. Smith on 11 of March 1892. On the same day he was ordained a Patriarch by the same two authorities.  

Mary James Priday died of cancer 30th of October 1891 at Salt Lake City, Utah after two years illness. She was 77 years, 9 months, 14 days old at the time of her death. She was buried in the City Cemetery, 2^nd of November, 1891.  

On the 9th of September 1897, six years after Mary’s Death, Samuel was married and sealed to Mrs. Mary Ann Firkins Williams in the Salt Laek Temple. He was 77 years old at this time.  

Patriarch Samuel Priday, a resident of Salt Lake City, Utah for over 40 years, died 30th of May 1903 at his home on 330 West 7th South at the age of 82 years, 9 months, 18 days.

For a long time he worked as a stonecutter on the Temple Block in which capacity he received an injury to his eyes, which later resulted in total blindness. He was a faithful Latter-day Saint and a respected citizen of the community. He was laid to rest 1 June, 1903 in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.   Note: The spelling of PRIDDY, PREEDY, PRIDAY is written in this history as they, appeared in the records.