The Life of Ann Jewel Rowley
submitted by: Max Young
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Ann lived near Preston, England with her husband William Rowley. William had been married once before, but his wife died while giving birth to his one daughter, Elizabeth. He then met and married Ann Jewel Rowley. Together they had 7 children. There were 8 children total. Elizabeth, her only stepchild, Louisa, John, Samuel, Thomas, Charlotte, Richard, and Jane. I come through the line of Richard, who is my four time Great-Grandfather. William and Ann were taught about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by a missionary named Wilford Woodruff that later became a Prophet. When a mob came to take Wilford Woodruff in England to stop him from teaching and baptizing others, William stopped them and was beaten badly. 6 months later, he died from his injuries he got during the fight. Ann was left alone to raise 8 children. She made a family goal to get to Zion with other church members in America. Elizabeth age 12, and Louisa, age 11, worked as seamstresses to earn money to pay to live as well as save for the long trip to America. The oldest boys, John age 9 and Samuel, age 7 worked in a brickyard tramping mud used to make bricks. After 6 years, Ann's family was able to take the trip. This was made possible mostly with help from the Perpetual Immigration Fund the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had set up. Ann Jewel wrote in her journal that without this loan, they would never have been able to leave.
The Rowley family made the trip from England to America on the S.S. Thornton boat, which docked in New Orleans. From there, the family went to Council Bluffs. They ended up being assigned to the Fifth Willie Handcart Company. This handcart company faced many hardships. They left later than they wanted which made it so they were traveling in cold, winter months. At one point, a bunch of oxen were lost and the company spent days trying to find them. Not only that, they spent much of that time in cold water. The time spent and cold water proved to be deadly for many. Ann and her children were some of the poorest to take the trip. At one point they found themselves starving and with no food. Ann said a prayer. She wrote in her journal, "She then remembered 2 sea biscuits left over from the sea voyage. They were small and so hard they could not be broken. Surely that would not be enough to feed 8 people, but 5 loaves and 2 fishes were not enough to feed 5,000 people either. I found the biscuits and put them in a Dutch Oven and covered them with water and asked for God's blessing. Then I put the lid on the pan and set it on the coals. When I took off the lid a little later, I found the pan filled with food. I kneeled with my family and thanked God for his goodness. That night my family had sufficient food."
The family of 9 eventually made it to Utah except for the oldest of the children, her only stepdaughter, Elisabeth. She died 3 days before crossing Rocky Ridge. After making it to Salt Lake they were assigned to settle in Nephi, Utah. They were still very poor. Ann had to provide for all her children and pay back the immigration fund loan. In spring of 1857, she married Andrew Bastian who paid off her loans and they eventually moved to Parowan, UT. Andrew died less than a year after they were married. She later married Luke Ford in 1859. He died in 1866. She never married again. The last few years of her life she lived Huntington, Utah with her son Samuel. She died in 1888 at age 81.
Ann Jewel Rowley has taught me to be brave and go after my dreams. She also taught me it requires a lot of hard work and faith to make those dreams happen. She was able to make her dream come true. Through her life story I learned that miracles are real.