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2024 Cemetery Tour
Please join us at the cemetery October 13th - 31st and take a self-guided walking tour of those highlighted below. At each gravesite is a sign with pictures and biographical information. You can find the specific gravesites by clicking on the links provided below.
Clover Vivian Johnson Sanders
November 2, 1903 - December 24, 1999
Born in 1903 in Price, UT, Clover was a beautiful, charming, caring and gracious person who personified achieving the American dream, beginning her career as a high school teacher and ending it as Chairman of the Board of one of the Intermountain area's most successful companies.
At the age of 16, Clover enrolled at Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) where she majored In music, drama and physical education. In 1923, she was the first student - male or female- to graduate in Utah State's physical education program. After graduation, Clover taught at Morgan High School, and it was there that she renewed a friendship with a man she had met at Utah State, Newell V. "Hod" Sanders. The couple was married on May 28, 1928.
After working at various jobs in New York and California, the couple decided they wanted to have their own business; so in 1938, armed with little more than enthusiasm, Hod and Clover moved back to Hod's home town of Kaysville with one simple desire to work for themselves. Taking their life savings, experiences learned while working at other snack food companies, and with a few pieces of second-hand equipment, they rented a "back room" in a vacant warehouse in Kaysville, and Clover Club Potato Chips was born.
It was Clover's job to do the cooking. Hod delivered the chips door-to-door and store-to-store hoping to sell enough to be able to buy the potatoes they needed for the next day's batch. When a shortage of money became critical, Clover sold her prize piano to keep the fledgling company going. After Hod died in 1980, Clover assumed the responsibilities of Chairman of the Board, a position she maintained until 1983, when the company was acquired by Borden, Inc.
From humble beginnings, Clover Club grew Into a major snack food company with distribution In 11 Western states. Clover credited the success to hard work, determination, and always providing a quality product.
During her lifetime, Clover was an active participant at many civic and church functions. In the late 1940s, Clover along with a group of Kaysville citizens formed the Kaysville Civic Association. She was a co-founder of the LeConte Stewart Art Gallery, a member of the Bay View Club, a member of Kaysville's Commercial Club that was forerunner to the Chamber of Commerce, a library board member, a PTA president, and one of two women to serve on the Davis County Health Board. And in 1989, at the age of 87, she worked to create a community center for the older citizens of Kaysville, now known as the Central Davis Senior Activity Center.
Mary Katherine Bonnemort Bowring
June 16, 1916 - October 25, 2002
Kaysville’s undisputed master writer was Mary Bonnemort Bowring. Mary penned poems, one-act plays, roadshow scripts, satirical stories, Kaysville Civic Assn. historical sketches, humorous readings, and newspaper columns, one entitled” Mary’s Meanderings,” which won her statewide journalistic honors. For many years, Mary worked as a reporter and new editor for The Weekly Reflex. Then, after the Reflex closed, she penned a very successful and popular Deseret News column called “Past Sixty and Still Smiling.” She was considered a friend by hundreds of Davis County residents and her love for her hometown was unequaled.
Mary Katherine Bonnemort was born in Kaysville on June 16, 1916, the daughter of Nicholas and Mary Ethel Stewart Bonnemort. Her first home was the beautiful turreted Victorian house on the corner of 100 North and 200 West – known to Kaysville residents as the Stewart-Bonnemort home. Mary’s grandfather, Hyrum Stewart, built this home in the 1890s.
Mary attended local schools and then enrolled at the University of Utah. As a youth, Mary excelled as a performer. She loved to act. Her roles in Davis High School plays and in the productions of the Kaysville Dramatic Society in the 1930s were highly praised; and, while at the U of U, she was a frequent player in the U’s Play Box Theatre. Also, she gave hundreds of humorous readings and performed theatrical skits at Kaysville carnivals and other religious and civic gatherings. Many Kaysville residents thought Mary was well equipped to pursue a career in acting. However, she chose journalism instead but didn’t abandon performing.
After college, Mary worked for a time as a teacher and then was the Davis County deputy recorder. She started working as a reporter for The Weekly Reflex in the 1940s. After joining the newspaper staff, her writing talent was immediately recognized. Al Epperson, the paper’s publisher/editor, cultivated Mary’s writing skills by allowing her to chase many important Davis County news stories.
On April 6, 1946, Mary married Wisconsin native Randall C. Bowring. The young couple settled in Kaysville and started a family. Eventually, the Bowring family would include four children, Dorothy, Rena, Stewart, and Mary Jane.
Few people in Davis County missed reading Mary’s Weekly Reflex column “Mary’s Meanderings,” which first appeared on January 10, 1952. The scope of Mary’s writing in this column was phenomenal. She interviewed and wrote about many well-known county citizens. She also wrote about holidays, school, housekeeping, parenting, unusual hobbies, washing, ironing and cooking, as well as local and national events. She was often complimented for highlighting local citizens and celebrities without mentioning the person’s name in the column. Reflex readers always knew who she was writing about even though names were never mentioned. The “Meanderings” columns were always filled with optimism, humor, and community promotion. In more than one column, Mary was the butt of her own jokes. For example, she claimed to be the “world’s worst modern housekeeper.”
Mary was also the editor/publisher of “The Clover,” a monthly magazine published for the employees of the Clover Club Foods Company. And, Mary’s very humorous personal history entitled “Growing Up, Growing Old in Kaysville” is available to read at the Davis County Library-Kaysville Branch.
Mention cannot be made of the Kaysville Dramatic Society, the Kaysville Civic Association, the PTA, the Kaysville Art Club, the League of Woman Voters, or the AAUW without recognizing Mary’s significant participation in these organizations. Her contributions to the City of Kaysville were many and most of these contributions were, at Mary’s request, unrecognized.
Mary would go on to write a book dedicated to her children and grandchildren entitled “Growing Up Growing Old In Kaysville...” She said, “it took 77 years for this book to be written. It contains legends, hearsay’s _____ and some truths. If you don’t agree with all it contains... write your own book!”
Humor was her hallmark as a journalist and is evidenced in the request that the last line of her obituary read, “Everyone please remember, vote Democratic.”
Erminnie “Minnie” Williams Jarman
May 15, 1867 - April 13, 1958
Erminnie Williams Jarman was the daughter of Ada Evans Williams and Ebenezer Williams. As a young woman, she received higher education in Logan. Minnie followed on the path blazed by her mother in working for woman’s rights. In 1891, she performed on the program of a debate regarding woman’s vote. That may have been the initial salvo into civic involvement, but it did not end there. She participated on two committees for the Grand Leap Year Ball, the 1892 Leap Year Ball, and the Grand Calico Dress Ball, events held to benefit the Ladies’ Columbian Club, a group organized to promote the women of Utah to the nation.
Minnie married Joseph Bright Jarman in 1894, the two being honored in a reception as prominent and popular young people. Together Joseph and Minnie had 5 Children.
Minnie continued her political activity as a delegate and was elected as an alternate delegate to the Davis County Democratic Convention. In December of 1894 at a meeting in Farmington, she was elected first vice president of the Davis County Woman’s Suffragist Association to work with her mother who was selected to fill the position of second vice president. A year later she was appointed to the executive committee of the same organization. After the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1920, she continued to maintain a visible civic presence.
A lifelong resident of Kaysville, the local newspaper reported on her 86th birthday that “Mrs. Jarman has always enjoyed life, and has had a fine sense of humor to help her over some rough spots. Known for her hospitality, her home has been the scene for many family parties and large reunions.”
William Robert Allen
January 1, 1849 - October 11, 1928
William Allen was born in London, England, on January 1, 1849 and remained a resident of that country until he reached the age of twelve years, at which time the Allen family left England and immigrated with other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for America. William and his family made the trip across the plains with ox team and wagon from Omaha, Nebraska. The Allen family settled in Kaysville. In June of 1874, William married Mary Sims and together they had 7 children. Early on, William worked as a farm hand before learning the mason's trade from his father. William became one of the most skilled brick layers in the territory, but he was determined to become an architect. Consequently, he took a correspondence course in drafting and architecture, finishing with high honors. Because of his training and due, perhaps, to the absence of other architects in his immediate area, William soon found himself busy preparing plans and specifications for buildings throughout the county and eventually, throughout the state. For many years he almost totally monopolized the architectural profession in Davis County and was usually perturbed when he found that a building had been designed in Kaysville without his assistance.
Most of Allen's first commissions were for houses, but as his ability and reputation increased, he confidently advertised himself in major builders' directories and business gazettes of the territory as an architect of public buildings. His ads were large, expensive, and usually featured a photograph or Fen and ink rendering of a building he had designed. His major works included the Davis County Courthouse in Farmington (1899), Kaysville Presbyterian Church (1887), Kaysville Tabernacle (1912), the Barnes Block, Kaysville Elementary School (1918), the Governor Henry H. Blood residence, the Barnes homes, the Hyrum Stuart and William Allen residences, all in Kaysville. He also designed the Farmington C & M Company (1910), Kaysville City Hall (1889), and Kaysville Academy (1888).
Those who remember William Allen recall that he was irascible, feisty, jealous, and conceited, but he was also Davis County's best architect. He was a member of the "Old Kaysville Brass Band," a stalwart Republican, but most of all he was a self-made man who worked his way upward through persistent effort and the wise utilization of hs native talents and powers.
Mary Ann “Polly” Phillips Lewis
March 7, 1848 - February 17,1914
Mary Ann Phillips Lewis, daughter of early Kaysville pioneers, Edward and Annie Phillips was born on March 7, 1848 in Council Point, Iowa as her parents immigrated with other members of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Utah. Mary Ann was raised in Kaysville and eventually married Thomas G. Lewis where together they had 10 children.
In 1880, the Lewis family returned to Polly’s hometown of Kaysville where Thomas ran a carpentry shop on the east side of Main Street. Unfortunately, Thomas died at an early age so his widow converted the shop into an ice cream parlor.
Around 1890, photography was becoming a viable profession that could support a family and Polly believed that her son, Horace who was artistically inclined, could be successful. She visited several Ogden and Salt Lake photographers, enlisting a well-respected man to teach the ins and outs of the business to mother and son. The shop was converted again, this time to a photography studio called The Gallery. In 1898, Horace and his mother opened their traveling photography business. The portable studio was horse-drawn at first and later exchanged for a photo-truck that traveled throughout Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.
It was said that Mary Ann had a passion for poetry, and a remarkable faculty for remembering anything of the sort. She was very fond of the “Songs of Zion,” which she knew and sang throughout her daily life.
Iola Heiselt Smith
February 13, 1909 - February 1, 1991
Iola Heiselt Smith was born in Colorado and attended schools throughout the west, graduating from Boise High. She affiliated with Delta Epsilon and Kappa Gamma sororities at the University of Utah. She married Dr. George Gibbs Smith in Berkeley, California where she also matriculated. Her interest in flowers led her to study arranging with Madam Obotto and Wana Durge in San Francisco.
In 1948, Iola moved with her husband to Kaysville where she continued to serve the community as PTA president at Kaysville Elementary and Davis High. Iola also served as chairwoman of the AFS program at DHS for many years. She was a founder of the Kaysville Civic Association and served in various offices in that organization. As beautification chairwoman, the south entrance to downtown Kaysville was turned into a city parkway with planted spruce trees. Today that section of Main Street in Kaysville is named “Iola Smith Parkway” in honor of her efforts. Iola also served in the second President of Oakridge Country Club, on the Women’s State Legislative Council, and American Association of University Women. She was honored by KCA in 1976 and the Kaysville Chapter of AAUW as Distinguished Woman of 1971. She shared her many talents and inspired others in the arts through summer craft programs.
2023 Cemetery Tour - Kaysville "First's"
*Click on each person's name to be directed to their gravesite location*
Mary Ann Pressdee Phillips - Kaysville's "First" Midwife
December 4, 1773 - January 19,1871
Mary Ann was born in Leigh, Worchestershire, England on December 4, 1773. Mary married William Phillips on December 3, 1793. Thirteen children were born to this union, two having died young. Mary lost William in 1825. Mary Ann received much of her early midwife training while living in England.
Mary was a member of the Methodist Church, then joined the United Brethren. In 1840 she was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Wilford Woodruff in Herefordshire. She emigrated to Nauvoo in 1844, in time to see the Prophet Joseph before his martyrdom. She lived on Camp Creek, fifteen miles from Nauvoo; was driven into Nauvoo by a mob, was carried in on a bed of sickness; was driven out of Nauvoo with the rest of the Saints in 1846. She stopped at Winter Quarters, where she lost, by fire, what little property she had saved from the mob.
Arriving in the Utah Territory in 1849 and settling temporarily in the Salt Lake Valley, Mary eventually permanently settled in Kaysville in 1850 where “she officiated in the capacity of a midwife” and ran her own farm.
It is reported that at the good old age of 82, “ she gleaned over twenty bushels of wheat and raised thirty bushes of potatoes and dug and carried them into her cellar. She fatted two hogs, and gave a good yoke of oxen the same year to immigrate the poor from England. During the fore part of the winter of this same season she had a fall, dislocating her shoulder and breaking her collar bone, which affected her afterwards in her labor.”
She officiated in the capacity of midwife for forty-five years; and until she was ninety-six years of age waited upon some thirty women annually, and never lost a woman under her administration, and never a child until two years before her death.
At the time of her death in 1871 she had 11 children, 35 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren. She was said to be the oldest person in the territory.
Thomas Francis Roueche - Kaysville's "First" Mayor
February 9, 1833 - September 12, 1903
Thomas Roueche was born in North Carolina on February 9, 1833. His father was from France and his mother came from Ireland. The Roueche family moved from North Carolina to St. Louis, Missouri for better employment.
Thomas met Margaret Comish in St. Louis when her family stopped there while traveling to Utah. They married in 1854 and traveled to Utah with Margaret’s family in 1855.
When they arrived in Utah, they immediately settled in Kaysville. Thomas rented 15 acres of good fertile land to farm. He also ran a coal business. He purchased the land plus more having 198 acres in Kaysville when he died. They built a small home on the land and later built a lovely big home on the property.
Thomas was elected the first mayor of Kaysville in March 1860 and served in that position for 7 terms or 14 years. He was also very active in serving his community. He was a road commissioner, and county commissioner for 3 terms. He drew the plans for the Farmington Courthouse and served while it was built. He served the people so well that they sent him to represent them in the territorial legislature. He served in many other capacities in his church and community and was known as a man of extreme integrity. He died on September 12, 1903.
John Weinel - Kaysville's "First" Flour Miller
November 26, 1813 - February 2, 1889
John Weinel was born on November 26, 1813, in Merxheim, Meisenheim, Rhineland, Prussia, Germany, his father, George Philip Weinel, was 27 and his mother, Katherina Margaretha Heck, was 35. John was one of the first German converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was baptized by Murdock McKinze. After his baptism he emigrated to Illinois where he joined the larger body of Saints. It was there in 1842 that he married Alice Daniels, and they were later sealed together in the Nauvoo Temple. John and Alice migrated to Utah and settled in Salt Lake City. He would eventually marry 3 more times after arriving in Utah.
John was a miller by trade and after arriving in Utah he was called by Brigham Young and asked to establish a mill in Kaysville. A flour mill was needed as residents had to travel a distance as far as Willard, Utah to have wheat ground for flour. John moved with his second wife to Kaysville on a fork of Webbs Creek and began at once to erect a flour mill and a home. Grinding stones weighing 2200 pounds were brought by ox team from many miles away. Huge pulleys, shafts, and a giant water wheel had to be fashioned and shaped from native timber.
Besides a flour mill, Mr. Weinel operated a small farm, kept bees, and in general was a very industrious man. He employed a number of men in the mill and on the farm, and was known as a very generous employer. John Weinel was stocky built and corpulent. He had blue eyes and an abundance of brown wavy hair. Although he was married 4 times, he had no children but often his home was a scene of early day festivities.
John died on February 2, 1889 and the mill operation ended in 1906, when a strong east wind blew the building down. Eventually the mill stones would be distributed throughout the community. Today, one of those stones stands as a monument and flag pole located in front of the old library building on Main Street in Kaysville.
William Charles Stewart - Kaysville's "First" Shoemaker
January 23, 1824 - August 9, 1905
Stewart was a short, stout man with hazel eyes and black hair. He was born at Comworth, Bedfordshire, England on the 25th of January 1824.
William was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the 9th of May 1841 by George F. Adams in England. On the 11th of June 1843 he married Mary Ann Marriott who had also joined the church. Together they set sail from Liverpool, England on October 2, 1850 arriving in New Orleans on November 22, 1850. When they arrived in New Orleans Mr. Stewart was so weak he could barely walk. Their funds were completely depleted so he sold his watch for five dollars which paid their fare on a river boat to St. Louis where they arrived December 7, 1850.
After arriving in Salt Lake, they went north with three other families and settled in what we know as Kaysville, Utah. Their first winter was spent in a wagon box where William Stewart made shoes while other members of the group built three rooms in a row. This was covered with a big pile of dirt so that it would keep most of the rain out. They moved into a log home sometime in March 1852. In 1853 and 1854 a fort wall was built in Kaysville for protection from the Indians and many of the settlers moved into this Fort. The Stewart family moved into the fort in the summer of 1857. The log room was pulled down and moved into the fort.
In 1858, this family, along with others, left their all and moved to the west of Provo in fear of Johnson’s Army. They returned to their homes near the end of June.
The only effort to tan hides and make leather in Kaysville was by William Stewart and John R. Barnes at a point about a block south and a block west of the present day Kaysville City Hall. The business was successfully conducted until 1869 when the railroad brought in leather at a price that local competition could not meet.
After a very hard, but faithful life, William Stewart passed away 9th August 1905 at the age of 81.
William Court - Kaysville's "First" Cemetery Sexton
October 24, 1812 - December 21, 1899
William Court was born on October 24, 1812, in Dumbleton, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom. He is the son of Thomas Court and Elizabeth Newland. Little is known of his early life in England. He married Ann Parker in 1839 and later joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1849 and emigrated to Utah in the “early 50’s” and settled in Kaysville.
William and his wife, Ann had no children of their own but they reared and adopted a daughter, Carrie Webb. They also raised a nephew, George Court.
William was the first sexton of the Kaysville Cemetery and a man who lived his life according to what he considered to be his duty. It is said that Mr. Court was a man of sterling qualities. For 35 years he was a “deacon of the Mormon meeting house and unto him was given the responsibility of caring for the poor of Kaysville. No poor person ever appealed to him for aid in vain. It was part of his religion it seemed to make glad the hearts of those to whom luxuries were almost unknown. He made sure that every Christmas and Thanksgiving day was a time of special rejoicing among the poor.”
In the early hours of December 22, 1899, one of Kaysville’s “most highly respected pioneers” passed away after several years of failing health.
Thomas Evans - Kaysville's "First" Person Buried at Cemetery
September 4, 1818 - November 16, 1857
Thomas Evans was born September 4, 1818, at Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales. Thomas was the son of Edward and Hannah Morgan Evans. Nothing is known of his early life. On September 5, 1843 he married Jane Morgan, also of Cardiff. One year later they were blessed with a baby daughter. On Christmas Day 1844, Jane died, and on November 11, 1845 the baby also passed away. On February 4, 1846, Thomas married Ann John. To this union were born four children. Ann died September 18, 1853. On March 9, 1854, Thomas married Mary Norris, who became a good mother to his children in addition to having 2 additional children with Thomas.
The Evans family joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1856, and immediately made preparations to join the Saints in Zion. They sailed from Liverpool, England to Boston, where they docked. Shortly after arrival, their young son Joseph, passed away. The family rode a cattle car to Mason City, Iowa. Here they procured handcarts and joined the Edward Bunker Handcart Company. This was the third of the handcart companies, the one that made the fastest time across the plains. They had their share of hardships, especially in lack of food. The company reached Salt Lake City on the October 7, 1856,
Shortly after arrival, Thomas took his family to Kaysville, in what became Davis County, where they spent the winter in a dugout. Food was scarce, but they survived. On 28 March 1857 Mary Ann Evans was born to Thomas and Mary. In November of that year, Thomas and a young boy went to the mountains to cut logs for a house. Thomas suffered a heart attack and died. He was buried in what would become the Kaysville Cemetery.