Henry William Cleverly (Stella's version)

A history of Henry William Cleverly (1870–1955), written in 1951 by a daughter, Stella Camille Cleverly Mann (1907–1991)

Henry William Cleverly was born the son of James and Mary Alexander Cleverly August 6, 1870, with a twin sister Sarah Cleverly, at Calne, Wiltshire, England. At the age of one year, he with his parents, brothers, and sisters, left their home and traveled to Liverpool, England. Here, with 300 Saints, they sailed to America on the steamship Nevada on September 18, 1871. George H. Peterson was in charge of the group. The company arrived at New York on November 1, 1871. The Cleverly family arrived in Salt Lake City on November 11, 1871. They had used the Perpetual Emigrating Fund to come from England.

Henry William’s sister, Ellen Cleverly Salter, met them at their arrival in the Salt Lake Valley and took them in a wagon with oxen to her place, which consisted of one log room and an attic. The name of the place was Bountiful, but it was later renamed Woods Cross. The family stayed with Ellen until they got a place fixed near the river, where they lived until Grandfather [James Cleverly] bought a place from Jasper Perkins near their daughter Ellen. The place had one log room and many acres of land. There were some locust trees growing near the hut, and today two of those trees planted by Jasper Perkins are still growing. The family built on another log room, and this was their home for several years. Later two rooms were built of brick.

As Henry William grew, he had things to do, as well as his brothers and sisters. When he was eight years old, he herded cows for people at ten cents a day, and then sometimes he wasn’t paid. His father died in June of 1878. Henry William was away herding cows at the time. From then on his mother was father as well as mother to her children.

In 1879 a contagious disease called diphtheria was among the people. Father’s twin sister, Sarah, died of this disease, but the other children got over it. The children were very sick, and Grandmother thought her children would die, but she prayed and had faith that they would get well. While they were getting well again, the children couldn’t eat. Henry William and his brother Abel went out and ate gooseberries. These were the first thing they could eat and retain since their sickness.

When Henry was twelve years old, he used to help his Uncle Able Alexander bind the wheat. He rode the lead horse day after day while his uncle did the binding. Abel Alexander did the binding for all the people in the neighborhood. The Lucerne grew so high and thick that it would have to be moved with a fork before it could be moved. His uncle gave him good counsel and advice and always liked to work with him.

Henry William and Tom Burtenshaw, a neighbor boy, played together and had fun as well as getting into mischief. They got the cream jar once and ate cream until they couldn’t eat anymore then they poured the rest down the well. They paid for this stunt because they never liked cream after this.

His schooling was limited because of the cost, but he would go when he had the money. Henry went as far as the fourth reader. The school was held in homes, and these were the homes he went to: Belle Noble, Sarah A. Howard, Mary Mills, and Rebecca Brown.

Henry was a good religious boy and would go to Sunday School and all other meetings regardless of what kind of weather. The roads used to be so muddy that when they took horse and wagon they would have to get out and walk because the horses couldn’t pull the wagon through the mud. The first ward he belonged to was Bountiful. It was then divided into the East Bountiful, West Bountiful, and South Bountiful Wards. He then belonged to the South Bountiful Ward with Bishop William Brown as their leader. He tried to do whatever the bishop asked him to do.

His brother Abel was digging a pit, and he got too close and was hit in the head with the pick.

When he was about fourteen years old, he went to the sheep camps to help his brothers. He did most of the cooking, and then later he herded sheep with his brothers. Later he herded for the Hatch brothers and then when the Deseret Livestock Company was organized he herded for them. He farmed in the summer, herded sheep in the winter.

When he was eighteen, Henry decided to smoke but never out in public or in the house. He smoked for twenty years and then quit. He tells the other men and boys they can quit if the want to because he did.

Henry took care of his mother and farmed her place. When the school house, the second one, was built he helped build it. We called it the red schoolhouse. It was across the street from Tom Burtenshaw’s place.

Henry was twenty-eight years old when he got married. He married Olive Ellen Ritchie on December 21, 1898, at the old McDuff place. He began working at the brick yard, which wasn’t too far from where they lived. He helped make the brick for the West Bountiful church and the South Bountiful church house. He made all the brick that went into his home, which was built in 1904. His wife carried the bricks while he laid them with the mortar. They lived with his mother before they built their own home.

Henry liked to sing and was very good at it. He was a member of the choir until the South Bountiful Ward was divided in 1938. Then he belonged to the Orchard Ward. He belonged to a male quartet called Diamond Quartet and to the Bonneville Dramatic Club. He played the violin, guitar, banjo, and harmonica. He had several quartet groups that he taught, and they would sing at various wards and special programs. He often sang in contests the Mutual had. He took vocal lessons from Professor David Mann and some from Horace Ensign.

Henry was a good sportsman, liking fishing, hunting, wrestling, boxing, baseball, and basketball. He was a great duck hunter and for years sold ducks and rabbits to the eating places in Salt Lake.

Henry kept the commandments of God and taught his children by principle as well as example. He was a ward teacher for over fifty years. He and his companion, Joseph Moss, were ward teachers together for twenty years and didn’t miss a month.

He played ball with the fellows of the community, and he played many games at the Bountiful ball diamond. This was just a block south of the Bamberger station and east of the Hales Hall Dance Building. A welding outfit has the building today. 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 William Cleverly’s place with the neighbor boys and girls, as well as his own children.

He has had several narrow escapes from what seemed sure death. He liked to wrestle and would show his boys how to get the holds. After one of these wrestling sprees one day he passed one of the boys in the dining room, made a pass at him, and slipped and fell, hitting the china closet. A piece of glass pierced his lung, going in through the back. The doctor took the glass out, and Father has the glass yet. He has been in automobile accidents, but has been blessed by not being seriously hurt.

Henry William was a hard working man and had his children work along with him. He was a farmer and also a truck gardener. He worked at Cudahy Packing Company as a bricklayer and plasterer. When it became hard for the farmer to sell his produce, he bought cows and cared for them, selling the milk to Moss Brothers Dairy. Then he became ill and was getting at the age where he had to take it easy, so he let his son Elwood take over the place.

When Henry’s second son, a twin Eldred, was kicked by a horse, and he had to be operated on, he watched the operation. It was a real sorrow for Father. Eldred lived ten days after the accident.