Setting Enoch Utah
submitted by: Peter Cowley
Johnson-5 Joel Johnson Brand |
Johnson-4 High-on-a-Mountain-Top 1 of 1000 songs Joel wrote |
Johnson-3 Joel Johnsons sawmill wood for Kirtland Temple |
Johnson-2 Peter Crowleys Ancestors back to Joel Johnson |
Johnson-1 Joel Hills Johnson |
SUP CC Chapter 4th Grade Ancestor Awards |
Biography by: Peter Cowley
Mrs. Branden's 4th Grade Class
In this biography you will learn about the man who settled Enoch, Utah. He was a man who worked hard and got things done. As a new convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was given important jobs to do within the church. This man's name is Joel Hills Johnson, and he is my fourth great-grandpa through my mother.
Joel Hills Johnson was born to Ezekiel and Julia Johnson in Grafton, Massachusetts, on March 23, 1802. He was named after his uncle, Joel Hills. According to the Family Search app, Joel had 15 siblings. That's a lot! Joel traveled with his father and family to many different states. He married his first wife, Miss Anna P. Johnson, who was the daughter of Timothy Johnson, on November 2, 1826. They had the same last name! I investigated Joel's journal, and he wrote this, "In the year 1829, I invented and patented the single cutter or machine now used for making or cutting shingles throughout the United States and Canada." He did all of that with very little education.
This paragraph is more about Joel's important activities in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Before we can talk about these important things, we have to talk about how he was converted. Joel studied with the missionaries for one year and got baptized in June 1831. After tat he was a very religious man. He attended the very first general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ohio in 1831. President Smith, the prophet of the church, told Joel to go to Kirtland, Ohio, to "buy out certain obnoxious individuals." He built a sawmill in Kirtland to help built the temple. I have been to that sawmill. Joel was at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple. Later, Joel was sustained a member of the 70 (a group of priesthood leaders in the church). He was eight miles away from Joseph Smith, the prophet, when Joseph and Hyrum were killed. While Joseph was alive, Joel seemed to work closely with the prophet.
Joel wrote many - over 1,000 - songs, but he said in his journal that many were lost. One of those songs is still in the Latter-day Saint Hymnbook, "High on a Mountain Top." Joel wrote, " have written nearly 1000 spiritual hymns and sacred songs now in manuscript entitled "Zion's Songster" or the Songs of Joe, a few of which have been published in the Church works. ..."
Johnson's Fort was settled in 1850. Forty years later, it became known as Enoch, Utah, in 1890. Joel Hills Johnson settled the fort with permission from George A. Smith. When Joel saw the land for the first time, he exclaimed while stretching out his amrs, "Mine, all mine by right of discovery!" to the company he was with. In 1901 (the farthest back we could find population information), the population of the area wa 58. By 2021, Enoch had reached just over 8,000. My family of six moved to Enoch in 2021, so we added six people to this population.
As you can see, Joel Hills Johnson was a very important man in Enoch's history, Utah's history, and the Church's history. 32 years after settling Enoch, Joel died on September 24, 1882, and was buried in Johnson Cemetery in Southern Utah. I think it is cool being related to a family member who settled the place I live in. I think he was an awesome and amazing person, just like most of my family.