Compiled by her son, Thomas J. Yates

Elizabeth Francis was born 8 October 1833 at South Moulton,Devonshire, England, a manufacturing town of woolen goods and laces with a population, at that time, of about four thousand people. She was one of six children -- four brothers and one sister -- all born at South Moulton. When Elizabeth was a tiny child she was sent to a maiden lady's school where she learned to read and do the intricate stitches of those days.

Her father, John Francis, was an English army officer, and was required to be away from home much of the time. There was always rejoicing when he came home for a visit -- so many interesting stories of places he had been and words of wisdom and advice. His army training made him very particular about his clothes; everything had to be exactly right. On one of his visits home from India, he was walking down a Devonshire lane with his young daughter, Elizabeth. "No lady," he told her, "ever leaves the house before her gloves are fastened." Elizabeth was very young, but she wanted to be a lady worthy of her gentle mother and her soldier father. It was impressed on her to always meet the world at her best. Although her life was changed from city life in England to the humblest conditions incident to pioneer life, living in a dirt cellar in a very small community on the frontier, when she went to Church or any place where she would meet people, she was always neat and clean, her hat was on just so, and her veil prim and her gloves fastened before she left the house.

Her father, John Francis, seldom went to Church although he was a student of the Bible, and taught his children to read the Bible. He often remarked: "We do not have the gospel that the Bible tells about, but someday it will come and when it does, you must not be afraid to accept it." Three days after Elizabeth's eleventh birthday her father died, but she always cherished his words.

When she was fifteen, she was tall and graceful, with dark hair and blue eyes; she married the administrator of her father's estate, William Williams, a man some older than herself. Their first child, Susan Francis, was born 20 October 1849 at South Moulton. Things were going smoothly.

One evening Elizabeth and some of her lady friends heard there was going to be a meeting, a new religion from America. They thought it would be fun to hear what they had to say, so they all went to meeting; there was no special interest -- only curiosity. A Mormon Elder arose and to the astonishment of Elizabeth he taught a doctrine she had not heard before and it coincided with what the Bible taught; in fact, he proved every statement he made from the Bible with which she was familiar. Before that meeting was closed she had a testimony that she had found the truth her father had told her would come, and her soul was satisfied. In ecstacy she rushed home to tell her husband of the wonderful discovery she had made, feeling that he, too, would rejoice in the light that had come to her. He was cold and not responsive. He could not or would not see, and her explanations only irritated him. He became angry, and ridiculed her for believing such trash and tried in every way to show her she was wrong. He searched out every evil tale against the Mormons, and an abundance available.

Elizabeth read the tracts and the books supplied by the Elders, and the more she studied and prayed, the more she was convinced that she had found the truth. On December 3, 1851, she was baptised, although she knew that by accepting the Gospel she must brave the scorn of her friends and relatives; she had the sublime courage to make the momentous decision. She tried to tell her mother of the beauties of the Gospel and her mother was exasperated. When she told her mother that she had joined the Mormon Church, her mother told her never to darken her door again.

Her husband was especially bitter in his opposition. Meanwhile, other children were born in this unhappy home -- Sarah Ellen, 23 Oct 1852, Evangaline Marie, 10 Aug 1854, and Jessie Elizabeth in 1856. Her husband finally forbade her to attend any more Mormon meetings, to see the Elders, or to have anything to do with them. This she could not do. He said she must choose between her religion and her family. Either she must renounce Mormonism and have nothing more to do with it, or leave her home and children forever. She wept and prayed that she might not be forced to make that choice; that some other way could be found. She could not renounce her faith, her testimony, her knowledge -- to do that she would be untrue to the truth, to herself, to God. She prayed for wisdom and strength to do the Master's will. The anguish of her soul knew no bounds. Surely no young mother with a mother's love for her four beautiful, lovely children, was confronted with a more difficult decision. In her ears rang her father's admonition -- "hold fast to the truth when you find it"-- and the words of the Master: "He that loveth father and mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth me, is not worthy of me." (Matt.10:37,38)

Mr. Williams went away and left her with no means of support. She secured employment in the woolen mills. She put her baby in a basket by the loom, and they were getting along. The hour were long, the work hard, and the pay small; but they were managing. When her husband saw she was not defeated, he returned and took the children to London where she could not find them. The law in England at that time gave the husband authority to do with his children as he pleased -- the wife had no rights. Her heart was wrung, the bitter dregs at the bottom of the cup were drained, her sorrow was beyond bounds. A destitute young woman, left alone in a cold world, in quiet Devonshire -- burdened with grief that is known only to a loving mother who has had four lovely children snatched away at once -- not by death -- but in some respects worse than death -- the uncertainty of what would become of them. She had no place to go to get comfort; her own relatives had disowned her. It was a fateful choice but so rich in eternal consequences, as we shall see.

A missionary, Thomas Jarvis Yates, came that way. He told her she could go to his father's home in Bath. She went there and secured employment in a corset factory. She spent much of her small earnings in trying to find her children but was unsuccessful. She lived with the Yates family about six years. In May, 1863, a company of L.D.S. people were emigrating to Utah. She joined the company. Thomas Yates had just finished his mission of six and one-half years, and he joined the same company. They came across the Atlantic, steerage, in a sailing vessel and were seven weeks on the ocean. Elizabeth was terribly sea-sick during the entire voyage. Just before they landed the captain said to her: "I thought sure we would leave you on the way." They landed in New York and traveled by rail to St. Joseph, Missouri. On 22 July 1863 she married Thomas Yates. Their bridal journey was as follows:

Thomas drove an ox team across the plains, and Elizabeth walked the entire distance from Florence, Nebraska to Salt Lake City. After spending the first winter in Lehi they moved to Round Valley, later called Scipio, in Millard County. When they arrived in Round Valley, there were six families living there. They, with Jesse B. Martin's family, made eight of the twelve families to make up the settlement during 1864. Due to Indian troubles in the country these people lived in a fort. When the Yates house in the fort was ready, they moved in and opened their trunks. In Elizabeth's trunk -- the big, black chest -- besides the regular clothes was her silk dress, with yards of black velvet ribbon on it; also there were her fine china dishes. A special shelf had to be built to hold them. They were always kept for special occasions. (Note by Shirley Taylor Watkins: my mother, Ethel Irene Thompson Taylor, gave me the last remaining piece of this china - a "pink luster" cup - which I have in my living room at this date, 7/5/91.) Later the velvet ribbon was taken off and traded for three ewe sheep. The wool from these sheep was washed and carded, spun into yarn; some was knitted into stockings and some woven into cloth for the family wardrobe. These three sheep were the beginning of a herd of sheep that became an important factor in supplying the spending money of the family. While Elizabeth had better clothes than her neighbors, she usually dressed about like they did so they would not be jealous of her.

While the Yates family was very poor when they first came to Round Valley, they were thrifty and industrious. Elizabeth always had a jar of yeast. The neighbors (and that meant everyone in the village) would send a cup of flour, or a few potatoes, or some other vegetable, in exchange for the yeast. This helped to feed the family, for the children soon began to come along. She had the recipes for several home remedies, and since there were no doctors, she was often called to help the sick. She made her own hats and helped others to make theirs, and also helped in making dresses for the women and pants, coats and shirts for the men, and braided and shaped straw hats. She always managed to have an outfit of best clothes and shoes for Sundays or other special occasions for herself and husband, and for each of the children.

In 1869, when her husband took over the management of the Scipio Co-op Store, she worked in the store, and for the thirty-one years he operated the store, she worked in the store long hours and went to Salt Lake City often to buy goods for the store. We always had lots of company; nearly everyone who traveled the main highway stayed at our house. Of course, Elizabeth had to prepare the meals and make the beds and do much of the work.

In 1877 the Scipio Ward was organized and Elizabeth was made president of the Relief Society. About three years later she was made Stake President of the Relief Society, and held that position for about twenty-five years. In this capacity she and her couselors would visit every ward in Millard Stake one each year. The traveling was by white-top and it would take ten days to make the trip. The meetings were spiritual feasts. Often a number of men would attend. The Relief Society women throughout the stake loved her as dearly as their own mother.

Elizabeth had always been interested in Temple work. After the Manti Temple was finished, Thomas and Elizabeth and as many of the family as could get away would go to Manti and stay several days and do temple work. After the Salt Lake Temple was dedicated, Thomas and Elizabeth would often go to the temple and do endowment work. After Thomas died, Feb. 1903, Elizabeth spent nearly all of her time working in the Temple and had great joy in this work.

While she carried on courageously in this new world, her thoughts were often with the dear ones left in England. I am her only son, Tom. When I was a little fellow and was sleeping in a little bed beside mother's, I awoke in the night and heard mother sob. Her eyes were wet with tears; and when I asked her why, her reply was, "I was thinking of some little girls I left in England many years ago." Mother was brave; she never wept over her troubles when others could see her, but many mornings her pillow was wet with tears.

What became of the children? The baby, Jessie Elizabeth, died shortly after the separation. Little Evangeline Marie, only two years old when taken from her mother, died ten years later in London, England. Susan Francis, the oldest girl, about seven years old at the separation, remembered her mother and was so axious to go to her. She remembered the Mormon Elders, and when she was eleven years of age she ran away from her father's home and lived with some friends who belonged to the Church, hoping thereby to find some trace of her mother. She was baptized in September, 1861 and remained in London.

About nine years later, Elder George Teasdale was visiting the Yates home in Scipio. He had returned from a mission to England, and told of a girl convert there named Susie Williams. Through the clue thus given Elizabeth contacted her, sent the money for her to come to Utah. What a happy reunion! Elizabeth learned for the first time the history of the children after the separation. Susie married Andrew Benzon and had six children -- three boys and three girls.

Mr. Williams was so determined that the only remaining child, Sarah Ellen, the second girl of the family, should not contact her mother that he sailed for America with her and settled in Michigan. She grew to womanhood there and married Delbert Kinkade. Through a newspaper advertisement, Susie contacted Sarah Ellen (we called her Ella). She came to visit her mother. Her husband proved untrue to her, and she lived the remainder of her life with her mother. These four children, by a former marriage, were sealed to Thomas and Elizabeth; they are with her -- hers for time and eternity.

Elizabeth spent a very busy and useful life. Besides her many cares and responsibilties, she was called night or day to wait on the sick. For forty years she was present when every child was born and when every person died in Scipio; many hours and days were spent, almost every month, caring for someone in distress, and always without even a thought of material compensation.

She built a little home next door to her daughter, Louisa Y. Robison, in Salt Lake City; and there she lived the last few years of her life. There was a local telephone between the two homes so they could call each other any time, night or day. She would visit the homes of her other children, sometimes for weeks or months at a time, and we all loved her and did all we could to make her happy, but her own little place was home.

As the year 1910 was drawing to a close, on December 31st, she slept peacefully away in her little home. At her rquest she was buried beside her husband in the cemetary in Scipio. The funeral in Scipio was probably the largest ever held there. Mormons and non-Mormons came to pay respect. She was universally loved.

(Note: The above sketch was written in 1949. The following was found about the author in the book "The Latter-Day Saints - A Contemporary History of the Church of Jesus Christ" by William E. Berrett - Page #331. "In 1912 the church adopted a proposal to establish seminaries adjacent to high schools. The first such seminary was organized in the Granite School District in Salt Lake County, where students were released for one period during the day for religious instruction. A seminary building was constructed adjacent to Granite High School, and Thomas J. Yates was employed as the first teacher."