William FRESHWATER

                   Block 2 Lot 28S

Freshwater, William - Christened 21 July 1822 - son of Samuel Freshwater and Martha Hertford, All Saints and St. John, BTS, Hertfordshire, England 1559-1875

«b»Naturalization«/b» - William H. Freshwater - Minute Book - Vol. 1 & 2 Pg. 38 - District Court, Provo, Utah - Date of naturalization 5 Dec 1876.

«b»Naturalization«/b» - William Freshwater - Minute Book Vol. 1 Pg. 498 - District Court, Provo, Utah - Country of birth England - Date of naturalization 26 January 1869  - Witnesses Thomas B. Clark and L. John Nuttal.
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Orange Freshwater book«/b» gives the following information:  William born 26 June 1822 at Hertford, Hertfordshire.  Married Martha Gooch on 17 Feb 1843. Came to USA in May 1862. Stayed in New York for 12 months. Went to Utah and joined the Mormon church. died in Provo, Utah on Feb 13, 1887

«b»Utah County Death Index«/b» - William Freshwater - born 26 June 1822 - died 13 February 1887 - Provo Cemetery
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Utah Burials and Cemetery Index«/b» - William Freshwater born 26 June 1822 Hertford, England - died 13 Feb 1887 Provo, Utah - buried Provo City Cemetery Block 2 Lot 28
S Freshwater and Martha Griffen Freshwater - marker updbl
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Find a Grave«/b» - William Freshwater - born 26 June 1822 in England - died 13 Feb 1887 -
Born in Brickendon, Hertfordshire, England to Samuel Freshwater and Martha Griffen Freshwater
Children:  William Henry Freshwater (1852-1937)
Spouse: Martha Gooch Freshwater - 1822-1903)
Inscription:
William Freshwater
June 26, 1822
Feb 13, 1887
Martha Gooch Freshwater
Feb 13, 1822
June 6, 1903

Burial: Provo City Cemetery, Provo, Utah, Utah, USA

«b»Journal entry written by his son William Henry Freshwater  of an experience the family had on their journey to Utah - "Stories of Young Pioneers by Violet T. Kimball -  Pg. 180
«/b»In the Line of Fire
By 1862 the Civil War was raging in the states, but traffic on the trail had not ceased.  Most emigrant companies were stopped and searched for deserters.  Some pioneers had firsthand experiences with Yankee and Rebel soldiers.  William Henry Freshwater, age eleven, left from England by ship, then by train from New York City in 1863.  He had a scary experience in Missouri and wrote about it in his diary:  "Just before we arrived in St. Joseph, Missouri, the rebels, or bushwhackers, fired two cannonballs through our train.  One shot went through the passenger car. . . destroying a great amount of baggage.  We stayed in St. Joseph three or four days, afraid to go on because of the rebel soldiers being all through the country.  I can truly say I saw a little of the War between the North and the South."

«b»Provo City Cemetery - http://provo.org/parks.cemetery_records.html
«/b»William Freshwater - born 26 June 1822 in Hertford, England - died 13 February 1887 in Provo, Utah, Utah - burial 13 February 1887 - Block 2 Lot 28 - age 65 male - Spouse:  Martha Googh Freshwater d. 1903 - Parents:  Samuel Freshwater & Martha Griffin Freshwater

Excerpts from diary of William Henry Freshwater
After reaching the US and entering through Castle Gardens, "William Freshwater; mother, Martha Freshwater and sister, Valora L. Freshwater moved to 136 North 2nd Street in Williamsburg, New York.  We stayed there about a month and then moved to Conselea Street, Williamsburg, where we stayed eleven months until we left for Utah during which time Father worked for a plumber by the name of william Cozer of Williamsburg.

June 26, 1863, In company with my father, mother and sister, Valora, I left Williamsburg, New York with a company of Mormon emigrants for Great Salt Lake City, Utah.  Just before we arrived in St. Joseph, Missouri, the rebels, or bushwhackers, fired two cannon balls through our train, one shot went throught the passenger car exactly eight inches above the peoples' heads and the other through a baggage car destroying a great amount of baggage.  We stayed in St. Joseph three or four days, afraid to go on because of the rebel soldiers being all through the country.  While we were there, some fifteen rebel soldiers were taken prisoner, right from among our company, by the norther soldiers.  Two companies of Union soldiers surrounded the depot and made the rebels surrender or they would have killed them.  I can truly say I saw a little of the war between the North and the South.  . . Arrived in Great Salt Lake City, thursday, September 15, 1863. . . Arrived in Provo, Utah County. . Father hired a house of John E. booth where is now First West and Fifth North.  We lived in Provo four years, then moved to Spanish Fork where we stayed about four months.  We did not like the place; terrible winds down Spanish fork Canyon, so we moved back to Provo.

June 19, 1867.  The army of grasshoppers lit in Provo this afternoon by the millions.  Everything in the way of vegetation was eaten and destroyed before night.  We had several large tobacco plants growing and they were covered with hoppers in a few minutes.  Father cut them and ran into the house and save most of his tobacco.  We also saved some other of our stuff by taking it in the house and shutting the doors.  Our chickens ate so many hoppers they could hardly move.  We save our green corn which was in good roasting ears.

June 20, 1867.  About half the grasshoppers raised in a cloud and went off in a southwest direction.  Our garden looks almost as bare as it does in winter.  About the only thing the hoppers didn't clean was rhubarb.  They ate part of that.  Mother put up quite a lot.

William Henry freshwater died in Provo, Utah, January 27, 1937.  His wife, Sarah Ann, passed away January 11, 1924, in Provo - Beulah Freshwater Spencer.

William Freshwater opened a business in the summer of a871 Iin Provo), dealing in homemade candy and other confectionery.  a few years later his son, william H., joined him, and they established general merchandise store, located at 213 West Center.


«b»An Enduring Legacy: Volume Nine: Early Stores - W.H. Freshwater Store, Provo, Utah
«/b»William Henry (Billy) Freshwater, immigrant from Hereford, England, and early Provo merchant, had his introduction to merchandising as a young man of twenty when he joined his father, William Freshwater, in a confectionery business in Provo, Utah.  The elder Freshwater established his store on 4 July 1871, on what was then the Commercial Bank corner in Provo.  There he sold homemade candy, popcorn and other confections.  On that first day of business he cleared over fifty dollars - an auspicious beginning for what was to become a very successful enterprise.

Billy became associated with his father the following year and, one year later, on 27 March 1873, they bought a building lot on the south side of Center Street near the corner of Second West in Provo and built a new building in which they operated a general store.  After he married Sarah Ann Davies on 23 May 1877, Billy took over the business from his father and moved to 136 West Center Street.  This store, where he sold general merchandise, became known as the W.H. Freshwater Store.  It housed a grocery store on one side and a stove and hardware store on the other.

The original construction of the store was adobe with a false front.  The floor was made of lumber that had been brough down from the mountains in Slide Canyon east of Provo.  The W.H. Freshwater Mercantile Store was noted for the amount and variety of its stock.  It was also known as a gathering place for the men of Provo, who would congregate around its old potbellied stove to enjoy comradery and discuss the events of the day.

In 1932, Mr. Freshwater closed out the hardware store and sold the guilding to John T. Taylor.  William Henry Freshwater died 27 January 1937 in Provo.