Samuel Jewkes

 

Samuel Jewkes/Jukes, his personal and family background, and his involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

Samuel Jewkes/Jukes (1823-1900) Biographical Sketch <object data="cid:527F772B-FA2F-4629-8974-35B234060230" type="application/x-apple-msg-attachment" alt="samuel_jewkes_1.jpg" id="72fb6798-e031-4f22-a4f5-f0f635d90984" height="253" width="150" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" style="margin-top: 3px; float: right; margin-left: 3px; width: 100px; margin-right: 3px; height: 169px; border-top-color: black; border-right-color: black; border-bottom-color: black; border-left-color: black; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; "></object>Samuel Jewkes/Jukes was born in Tipton, Staffordshire in central England. His family resided in Staffordshire or Worcestershire for several generations. His wife Sophia Lewis Jewkes was born in Dover, Kent, England. He married his wife Sophia in St. Louis in 1851. By 1853, he and his family were in Salt Lake County; by 1855, they had moved to Cedar City where he took a second wife, Mary Nash Garner. By 1861, they had moved to Moroni in Sanpete County. In the late 1860s, they moved to Fountain Green in the same county where they lived for many years. Around 1879, Jewkes relocated to Emery County where he founded grist and saw mills. In the June 1857 militia list, Jewkes, 34, was listed as a company musician. In September 1857, Jewkes was a private in one of the Cedar City platoons in Elias Morris’ Company E in Isaac C. Haight’s2nd Battalion. He was among those recruited to Mountain Meadows during the week of September 7. According to John D. Lee, Jewkes was at the military council on Thursday evening, the 10th. His exact role in the massacre the following day is unknown. Jewkes was not listed in the 1859 arrest warranty but for reasons now unclear he was named in the 1874 federal indictment issued against nine Iron County militiamen. However, he was not actively prosecuted and the charges were eventually dropped.  Additional Information: Samuel Jewkes was an Englishman of musical ability. In 1862, he was director of the ward choir in Fountain Green. (Our Pioneer Heritage, 4:165.) Samuel "Jukes" was among the nine militiamen indicted in the 1874 indictment. (History of Iron County, 270.) <object data="cid:FFBFAD74-304A-42E3-8786-9E0D117E770B" type="application/x-apple-msg-attachment" alt="samuel_jewkes_2.jpg" id="d1ac4d08-a69e-483f-83ce-aeaeee712ce5" height="200" width="164" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" style="margin-top: 3px; float: left; margin-left: 3px; width: 140px; margin-right: 3px; height: 170px; border-top-color: black; border-right-color: black; border-bottom-color: black; border-left-color: black; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; "></object>Samuel Jewkes and his family settled on Cottonwood Creek near Castle Dale, Castle Valley, Emery County, c. 1879, and built the first sawmill on the creek. He also brought the first organ to Cottonwood Creek and organized the Orangeville Ward choir. He was probate judge and selectman. The 1880 census lists Jewkes as 57 years old. The Jewkes family brought the first threshing machine, 1879 or 1880, and first gristmill, 1882, to that region. The family remained in the sawmill business for several generations. Later, Jewkes expanded his milling machinery by adding a molasses mill. Jewkes was a "church going man," yet his supper of choice was "toast and hot beer, the hot beer being poured over the toast in a large bowl from which he always ate." (History of Emery County, 66, 68, 77-78, 86 , 137-138, 141, 152, 156-157, 159.) His two wives bore him twelve children. References: Our Pioneer Heritage, 4:165; History of Emery County, 66, 68, 77-78, 86, 137-138, 141, 152, 156-157, 159; Lee, Mormonism Unveiled; Lee Trail transcripts; 1880 federal census; FamilySearch.org. Further information and confirmation needed. Please comment below or contact editor@1857ironcountymilitia.com. Thank you!