Tarleton Lewis was born May 18, 1805, in Pendleton, South Carolina. He was the fourth child of twelve born to Neirah Lewis and Mary Moss Lewis. In 1809 the Lewis family moved to Kentucky. Tarleton grew to manhood and married Malinda Gimlin, the daughter of Samuel Gimlin and Elizabeth Moore Gimlin, on March 27, 1828.

While living in Kentucky, Tarleton and Malinda had two children, a boy Samuel and a little girl Mary. The Lewis family moved to Macoupin County, Illinois, where their son Beason was born on July 19, 1836. A few days later, on July 25, 1836, Tarleton and Malinda were baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by his brother, Benjamin Lewis.

Three of the Lewis brothers and their families joined the Saints in Caldwell County, Missouri, where they endured the persecutions of the mobs.

On October 30,1838, at a place called Haun's Mill on Shoal Creek in Missouri, a group of Mormon families gathered. Among them were three brothers, Benjamin, Tarleton, and David Lewis, born respectively in the years 1803, 1805, and 1814. Angry mobs were threatening them, and the brethren met in counsel deliberating the best course to pursue to defend the community. About twenty-eight of the men armed themselves and were in constant readiness for an attack of any body of men that might come upon them. The children were playing, and the mothers were engaged in domestic activities as the fathers stood guard. The sun shone clear and all was tranquil.

About four o'clock, a large company of armed men approached on horses and began firing upon the inhabitants of Haun's Mill. Tarleton and Benjamin were wounded and managed to get home. Their wounds were dressed, and Benjamin coughed up the pellet which had lodged in his stomach, but he died before morning. Joseph Young, one of the presidents of seventies, was among those who escaped. He hid in the thicket until nightfall and relates his experiences as follows, "I went to the house of Benjamin Lewis where I found my family who had fled there in safety and two of my friends mortally wounded, one of whom died before morning." Returning to the blacksmith shop, they found eight others already dead, and some expiring. In jeopardy of their own lives, expecting to be fired upon by the mob any moment, they gathered up the bullet-pierced and maimed bodies of their friends and threw them into an abandoned well nearby. In this wanton slaughter, eighteen or nineteen were killed. Tarleton recovered; however, he carried a bullet in his lungs Until he died. The other brother escaped unharmed. Although Tarleton was badly wounded, he managed to dig a grave for Benjamin, and the family buried their beloved brother.

Despite this shocking tragedy, the two surviving brothers never lost their faith. Soon others of the Lewis family were converted and baptized. In the year 1839, Tarleton moved his wife and two children to Quincy, Illinois, and in October of that year, they moved to Commerce, Illinois,(later called Nauvoo). In Nauvoo he was ordained a high priest and called as bishop of the Nauvoo Fourth Ward by Joseph and Hyrum Smith. On January 3, 1840, Edward Lewis was born. Tarleton helped with the erection of the Nauvoo Temple, and he, Brigham Young, and eight other men hoisted the last stone in its place, thus finishing the temple.

After leaving Nauvoo, the Saints finally found refuge in camps near the Iowa and Nebraska border. A call came for volunteers for the Mormon Battalion, and seventeen-year-old Samuel Lewis signed up. This was a terrible blow to his father Tarleton.

The winter of 1846 was spent at Winter Quarters where the Saints suffered from cold and want of food. One time when Malinda went to the river for water, her youngest son Edward tagged along. There was a hole chopped in the ice in the Missouri River for the purpose of supplying the camp with water. When the mother returned with the water, she thought Edward was right behind her. Turning, she found he was nowhere in sight. She returned to the hole, and all that she could find was the little brass bucket he had carried, sitting on the ice. His body was never recovered. This bucket is still a treasured relic in the family.

Tarleton Lewis left his family camped in a covered wagon at Winter Quarters and was with the first party of pioneers to Utah. After his arrival to the valley, he was ordained as the first bishop of Salt Lake City.

In 1848 he returned with others to Winter Quarters with supplies for the immigrant trains. On the return trip west, he brought his family safely to the valley. They stayed in Salt Lake for a year, and a daughter Martha was born here on July 10, 1849.

On December 13, 1850, Tarleton Lewis and his family were among the company that traveled to the Iron Mission with George A. Smith. They settled in Parowan, and he was soon ordained as bishop. When President Brigham Young came to visit the new settlements in May 1851. Parowan was organized with a full set of civic officials, and Tarleton was elected second alderman to the mayor. He also became Parowan's first sheriff. Another boy, Ephraim, was born to this family on June 17, 1859.

In 1858 Tarleton Lewis, Isaac Grundy, Jesse N. Smith, and William Barton were sent to explore Beaver Valley, where they discovered rich deposits of lead and iron in the mountains. After viewing the ore specimens, Brigham Young instructed the men to open the mines and locate a settlement nearby. Minersville was settled in the spring of 1859 With the first families arriving there on May 17, 1859.

The Lewis family lived in Minersville for about fourteen years; then several of the married children and their families settled the town of Joseph City, where they lived the United Order for a few years. Later, Tarleton moved to Richfield, Sevier County. In 1877 he was called bishop of the Richfield Second Ward. He served for slightly more than a year, but he was seventy-three and many of his past afflictions were beginning to affect him. He served as a bishop in every community where he had resided.

Tarleton Lewis was a large man who weighed about three hundred pounds, but he was always active and hard working. Tarleton and Malinda were the parents of eight children. From a second marriage there were two sons, William and Benjamin. He died at the ranch home of his son Beason on Fish Creek near Teasdale, Wayne County, Utah, on November 22, 1890, and was buried in the Teasdale Cemetery.

Pioneer Pathways

Daughters of Utah Pioneers

Volume 5, Pages 76-79