Henry William Cleverly (Louisa's version)

A history of Henry William Cleverly (1870–1955), written in 1950 by a daughter, Mary Louisa Cleverly Day (1901–1980)

Henry William Cleverly was born August 6, 1870, at Calne, Wiltshire, England. He was a twin with his sister, Sarah Cleverly. They were son and daughter of James and Mary Alexander Cleverly.

At the age of one year, with his parents and brothers and sisters, he sailed to the United States of America. They came to Utah to make their home. Henry William had two brothers, Francis and Jesse, and a sister, Ellen Salter, already living in Utah.

Henry William has lived at the same place for nearly all of his eighty years. Upon arrival in the new country, the family stayed with the daughter, Mrs. William Salter, until they got a place near the river, where they lived until they bought the place where the home now stands, located on Highway 91 [now numbered as Highway 89], the Salt Lake and Ogden highway, just about six or seven miles from Salt Lake City and three miles from Bountiful City. It was a two-room log house, and later two rooms were added of brick. Jasper Perkins did the finishing inside.

Henry William when a small boy herded cows on the foothills and river lands for ten to fifteen cents a day. He was used to going barefooted because it was hard to keep a large family in shoes. He was the eleventh child of twelve.

When he was eight years old, his father died, and his mother had to be father as well as mother to him. His twin sister died of diphtheria. His youngest sister Mary died with it also just before his father died.

Henry William had blonde hair, blue eyes, and sandy complexion. He is about five feet nine inches in height. In his teen years he went sheep herding for Hatch Brothers and then later herded for the Deseret Livestock Company.

He belonged to the Bountiful Ward and then when it was divided into other wards he was in South Bountiful Ward. He attended the meetings, dances, and every recreation he could. His schooling was limited because of the cost, but he went as much as he could and passed the fifth reader. The old rock school house where he went to school was south of where he lived about a mile or more, near the Davis County–Salt Lake County line, next to the home of Samuel Mills. Wiesers have the property now and have houses on it.

Henry William loved music and played a violin as well as sing.

He married Olive Ellen Ritchie on December 21, 1898. Then on June 14, 1899, they were married in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity.

Henry William worked at the brickyard not far from his home, where he made bricks for the people around the community. After children came to bless them, the house wasn’t big enough, because Father and Mother lived with Father’s mother. Father made all the brick and laid them with the help of Mother to make a really nice home. Then the two log rooms were used for washing rooms and storing things. I was big enough to remember those rooms and the way we used to play house there. Father dug the wells on the place with help from the neighbor. He did all the plastering of the house.

When Dad was a boy he and Tom Burtenshaw, a neighbor boy, got in the cellar one day and ate all the cream off the milk, said they were hungry for it, instead of having it all made into butter. Well, both lads found out that cream wasn’t so good after all so much at a time. Neither of them liked cream after the steal.

Father and Mother had a large family, thirteen children, twelve living and one stillbirth. Two pairs of twin boys. Seven boys and six girls. He taught us to sing, play ball, and be good sports. He was a farmer and did brick laying and plastering.

Dad kept the commandments of God and taught his children by principle as well as example. He was a ward teacher for over fifty years. Joseph Moss and Dad were ward teacher companions for nearly thirty years. He belonged to the choir and sang tenor and was a member of the South Bountiful choir until the ward was divided in 1938. Dad then belonged to the new Orchard Ward. He had several quartet groups that he taught, and they would sing at the various wards and on special programs. Some of the men involved in these quartets included Bill Yeiter, Bill Hatch, George Salter, Joe Hart, Dick Gwynn, and Elmer Day.

He loved sports of all kinds and played ball with the fellows of the community. He taught his children to play ball and played with them. Almost any day of the week, while resting from the farm labors, you could see a ball game going on at the William Cleverly place. Neighbor boys and girls played, as well as his own.

He was a duck hunter and a good one. When ducks were plentiful, and the hunter could sell his kill, and there wasn’t a limit on them, Dad used to sell ducks to the restaurants and cafes in Salt Lake City.

He has had several narrow escapes from what seemed sure death. He was wrestling with the boys one day, and then when they were finished as he passed one of the boys in the dining room he made a pass at him and slipped and fell into the china closet, and a piece of glass pierced his lung, went in the back. Then he has been in car wrecks and hit by rocks, which have laid him up for a few days or so.

When his second son, Eldred, one of the twins, was kicked by a horse and had to be operated on, that was a real sorrow for him. The son lived ten days after the accident.

He was very good to his mother and cared for her until her death.

Every Thanksgiving was quite an event at the Cleverly place. With Grandma and Grandpa and all the aunts and uncles and everyone making such a do about things, it really was something for us kids to remember. Then when Dad’s kids began getting married and had their children, they joined in the singing, stories, etc. from nearly everyone.

One year, after the crops had turned out good and there was a rest before the fall work started, Dad and Mother loaded up the Ford and with some of the younger children started to Idaho to visit with Dad’s brothers. When they got to McCammon they put the Ford in a garage because they were going to stay all night there. During the night a fire broke out at the garage, and Dad’s Ford was burned with several other cars. This didn’t stop Dad’s trip. They took the train and went on to Uncle Frank and Uncle Jesse’s place.

The daughters and sons were getting older now and would soon be getting married. Daddy advised each one about the responsibilities of getting married. He had many joys and sorrows, and the biggest sorrow was when his wife died in 1945. Dad and Mother had gone to a basketball game to watch their three sons, Wayne, Ivard, and Irvin, play at the Deseret Gym. It was at this game that Mother had a stroke, resulting in her death three days later.

Dad and brother Elwood lived alone then until Dad’s health wasn’t so good, and then he had Sarah and her family move in with them.

In 1948 his brother’s wife died, and he went to Idaho Falls to the services, then over to see his brother Frank (Francis) at Rigby. While there he broke his ankle. It was fixed, and they wanted him to stay in the hospital there at Idaho Falls, but he wouldn’t. He said he wanted to come home, so brother Elwood, who had taken him up there, brought him home, and he wore a cast for months, but he felt better being home. He gets around well and doesn’t show any effects of having broken his ankle.

At the time of this being written, Dad is eighty years young and still enjoys the baseball and basketball games. He has a grandson who plays on the University of Utah basketball team.

He has eleven living children, ten of them married, and forty living grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren.

Each year on his wedding anniversary, which is December 21, we have a family Christmas party. Even after Mother passed away, we continue having the party. Each year there are more at the party.

When the Orchard Ward was under construction, Dad worked there day after day cleaning the bricks for the facing job, and many more jobs he did also.