Happy Birthday William!!

William James Spencer was born July 26, 1841, in Gosberton on Risegate, Lincolnshire, England, and christened there 01 Aug. 1841. He was the son of George Mitton Spencer and Eliza Ann Smith, who were married Dec. 14, 1837. His father died when William was two months old, on Sept. 20, 1841, leaving his mother a widow with two young sons to support. William’s older brother, George Mitton Spencer, was born Sept. 19, 1838. Both sons proved loyal, supportive, and kind to their mother throughout her lifetime.   As a widowed single-mother, Eliza Spencer now had to provide for herself and two small sons.

In 1845, William Spencer’s uncle, William Joseph Smith, converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. William’s mother and his Smith grandparents, his grandmother Ann Spencer, as well as William and his brother, George, were also converted and baptized. The family departed Liverpool, England, on the ship "Ellen Maria," Feb 01, 1851, arriving in New Orleans Apr 07, 1851. Ship’s records list Eliza as 35 yrs. old, accompanied by her sons, George (age 13) and William (age 9). William and his family arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, Oct. 01, 1851, and went directly to the home of Eliza’s brother, Uncle William Joseph Smith. Eliza Smith married her second husband, Joseph Harker in 1851. Joseph’s first wife was Susannah Harker, with Eliza being his second wife through polygamy. In 1853, President Brigham Young advised the construction of the English Fort, as protection against marauding Indians. Eliza, with sons William and George, moved into the fort. Also occupying the English Fort were the Bennion brothers, John and Samuel, and their families. The association between the Spencer brothers and the Bennions would be long and enduring. Both William and George married John's daughters.  Shortly after his marriage, William left again on a short mission into Utah’s Dixie “to help strengthen the Muddy settlements.” This was called the Muddy River Mission, located about 100 miles southwest of St. George, Utah. It soon became apparent that the location was unsuitable. William, with most of the company, returned to their homes in Salt Lake County. Soon after, he built a home on Redwood Road in Taylorsville, where the children of William and Rachel were born. Since their arrival in Utah, William and brother George, were of tremendous support to their mother. Of her five children born to Joseph Harker, only one, Eliza Harker Bennion, survived to adulthood. When Eliza’s original two-roomed, dirt-roofed adobe house became dilapidated, William and George built their mother a two-roomed house. William James Spencer was a diligent and honest worker, and devout family man. He is noted many times in the journal of John Bennion, as doing farming, building, and continually supporting his mother and the community. William held public office, and performed many public duties, among which were road supervisor in 1876, and helping supervise and build the South Jordan Canal. He was a justice-of-the-peace, and his judgment and ethics were highly trusted. He was a school trustee for a number of years, and with the Bennions, and his brother George, William often built desks and classrooms to support the growing number of children in the Taylorsville area. Like his mother, he recognized the need for education. He died Oct. 11, 1919, or a “cerebral hemorrhage and paralysis,” at the age of 78 years. He is buried at the Wasatch Lawn Cemetery, In Salt Lake City. Rachel Bennion Spencer, his wife of 51 years, died Mar. 31, 1933, at 84 years of age.