SECOND GENERATION

EZEKIEL PREECE OR PRICE (Son of William Preece and Mary Pugh)

Ezekiel Price, the second son and third child of William Preece (sometimes spelled “Price”) and Mary Pugh, was born 5 February 1833 in Lower Lye, Aymestrey, Herefordshire, England, near the Welsh borderlands. He was christened in St. John the Baptist and St. Alkmund Parish Church in Aymestrey on 14 April 1833. Ezekiel’s father, William, was a hired laborer at the farm in Lower Lye at the time of Ezekiel’s birth. Ezekiel’s parents were of modest circumstances: his father’s work was largely seasonal, and he would usually rent a home wherever his employment happened to take him. Before Ezekiel’s birth, the Price/Preece family had lived for at least three previous generations in the town of Richards Castle, just a few miles from Lower Lye and Aymestrey, and about 10 miles from the border dividing Herefordshire and Wales.

In early spring of 1840, shortly after Ezekiel turned seven, missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including Wilford Woodruff, Brigham The main house at Lower Lye Farm (above) dates to the 16th Young, Heber C. Kimball, century. This is likely the farm where Ezekiel was born in and Willard Richards, 1833. (Sketch by William A. Green: www.ewgreen.org.uk)

142 began preaching in Herefordshire. Elder Wilford Woodruff, especially, enjoyed astonishing success as he baptized hundreds of converts in a pool at John Benbow’s Farm, near Castle Frome, and baptized hundreds more in other parts of Herefordshire. According to family tradition, it was at The parish church of St. John the Baptist and St. Alkmund in this time that Aymestrey, Herefordshire, where Ezekiel Price was christened in Ezekiel’s mother, his April 1833. Ezekiel’s father, William Preece, may be buried here. older sister Ann, and (as is believed) his father became converts to the LDS faith and were baptized, possibly by Elder Woodruff, in or near Aymestrey, Herefordshire. Their conversion occurred in great part through the influence of Ezekiel’s mother Mary who had received a blessing of health from two LDS missionaries. (Ezekiel, barely seven years old, would not have been of age to be baptized at that time; it is assumed that he and his younger brother William were baptized sometime after they turned eight years old—the age of accountability for the LDS Church.)

Many of these new LDS converts made immediate preparations to leave Britain and gather with the main body of the Church in Nauvoo, Illinois. The Preece family also desired to join with the emigration to America; however, Both William and Mary Preece faced a combination of impaired health and difficult financial straits. In spite of these challenges, the Preece family kept faith that emigration might one day be possible, and they made such modest preparations as they could with the hope of eventually joining their fellow converts who preceded them to the United States.

In his youth, Ezekiel’s opportunities for education were meager. The government did not provide schooling for the general population, and Ezekiel’s learning came almost entirely through his work experience. (In 1855, when Ezekiel and his sister Ann Preece witnessed the wedding of their brother Henry, both would sign their name with an “X”; Ezekiel, however, would learn to read and write after arriving in Utah.)

143 At the age of 12, Ezekiel became old enough to be put to work. Like most boys of that age in his social class, he was now expected to find some sort of employment and either add to the family income or go out and support himself. Ezekiel found work on a farm across the border in Radnorshire, Wales. The farm owner gave the young boy his keep and a very small wage. Ezekiel was ambitious and a quick learner; he became particularly adept in the care of horses and farm animals. Ezekiel developed considerable veterinary skills; consequently, he was hired by the same farmer—probably William Morgan of Crossway Farm in Lower Kinsham—for eight successive years. Ezekiel’s wages were increased each year, and he was able to put aside some money. His financial contributions to the family were needed for, as the years wore on, both of his parents became physically impaired: Ezekiel’s father, William, crippled by arthritis and poor health, became unable to work; Ezekiel’s mother was also severely restricted in health and lost much of her eyesight. The family income became sharply limited and was dependent upon Ezekiel’s earnings.

In March of 1853, Ezekiel’s ailing father William Preece died of tuberculosis at the relatively young age of 52. Ezekiel had just turned 20. The younger members of the Preece family had almost given up their plans to emigrate to America, but Ezekiel’s mother, Mary Pugh Preece, would not hear of it. Due to Mary’s stubborn persistence, the family remained focused on their plans to emigrate. By this time, the LDS gathering place had been relocated; it was now in Great Salt Lake City—another 1300 miles further westward from Nauvoo, Illinois.

In 1855, when Ezekiel was 22 years old, the Preece family f inally qualified for emigration. They paid a hard-saved £43 toward their shipboard fare a nd were credited for the remaining £15 through the Perpetual A typical English immigrant ship of the time departs the docks of Liverpool. Emigration

144 Fund of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. James Jenkins of Presteigne, Wales, who emigrated in the same shipboard company, acted as the sponsor for the Preece family. Mary and three of her four children (Ezekiel, Ann, and The immigrant packet ship S. Curling shipped the Preece family from Liverpool to New York in one month’s time, landing 22 May 1855. William) were able to join 576 other Mormon Saints and cross the Atlantic Ocean in the sailing vessel S. Curling. They left Liverpool, England, on 22 April 1855 and landed in New York City on 22 May 1855. On the shipboard manifest, the Preece family gave their place of origin as Presteigne, in Radnorshire, Wales (William’s birthplace).

The Preece family left New York City by steamboat and train to Pittsburgh, then joined other Mormon immigrants and boarded the river steamboat Amazon. They began a journey of several hundred miles along the Ohio River to the Mississippi River and St. Louis, Missouri. From St. Louis, another steamboat transported the immigrants an additional 400 miles up the Missouri river to Atchison, Kansas Territory, which was the appointed “jumping-off place” for Mormon immigrants headed to Salt Lake City. After a delay of several weeks in Atchison, the four members of the Preece family were able to join the tenth and last wagon company leaving that year for Salt Lake City. Due to the need to gather a sizeable herd of cattle for the trek, the departure of the company had been delayed until 3 August 1855. This was far later in the season than was desirable—no group would want to cross the Rocky Mountains during winter weather.

Milo Andrus, the leader of the company, was undoubtedly concerned that bad weather might catch up to them before they reached the Rocky Mountains; in his urgency, he continually harried and bullied the 461 members of the party and hurried them along with the hope of beating the weather. Although Captain Andrus became generally unpopular, the company successfully completed an otherwise uneventful trek on 24 October 1855 with no loss of life and very little inclement weather.

145 It is likely that Ezekiel, with his innate love and understanding of animals, made a valuable contribution to the wagon train, both with the animals assigned to their family wagon and with the large herd of horses and cattle accompanying the train.

[Note: See the article, “Mary Pugh (Preece/Price),” for more specific details of Ezekiel’s sea voyage and the subsequent journey of the Preece family to Utah.]

By the time the Preece family arrived in Salt Lake City, their money was gone. Ezekiel and William improvised a winter shelter out of their wagon for their mother and sister in the Despite the approach of winter, Ezekiel’s good frock coat was traded for flour. pioneer encampment at Mill Creek, near the Jordan River, then tried to see what could be done about food. 1855 had been a drought year, and much of the valley’s harvest had been devoured by crickets and grasshoppers. The Preece family found that there was little food available for purchase; most of the pioneers were subsisting on a diet of bran meal and boiled roots. In spring, the pioneers would gather Sego Lily roots, thistles, and watercress until a new harvest could be obtained. As a stopgap, Ezekiel was able to sell his good frock coat to buy flour so they could survive. He would sorely miss it during the first winter months.

On 3 December 1855, Ezekiel, his sister Ann, and his mother were rebaptized into the LDS Church (a standard practice for nearly all Saints newly arrived in Utah). Ezekiel’s brother William was rebaptized three weeks later, on a chilly Christmas Day. It may have been about this point that the spelling of the “Preece” family name evolved into “Price.”

Ezekiel and his brother William searched for employment, but found nothing available near Mill Creek. They decided to try their luck southward. They followed the main road, going from farm to farm and business to business in search of work. They hiked over 12 miles, reaching Draperville (now called Draper), before they found good fortune. There, Ezekiel and William met George W. Bankhead, a generous man who kindly invited them to a good meal. Mr. Bankhead was relatively well-to-do and had brought some Black slaves from the South with him to operate his smokehouse. One of the slaves, “Aunt Nancy,” was mother to five young boys and

146 worked as the cook. She served the semi-starved Price boys the first full meal they had enjoyed in ages. Ezekiel and William forever afterward remembered George Bankhead’s wonderful cook “Aunt Nancy,” and both would always appreciatively remember the biscuits she baked as the very best they had ever eaten.

George Bankhead took responsibility for the two bedraggled young men. He sent Ezekiel to Ebenezer Brown, a founder of Draperville and a major landowner, who hired him immediately. William found work on George Bankhead’s recommendation with Isaac M. Steward. (After working in Draper a few seasons, William would move northward to Ogden.)

The Draperville settlement was at that time a diverse mixture of adobe homes with earthen roofs, log cabins, and one-room dugouts. In some cases, a new family might continue to live in their wagon bed, as the Price family had when living at Mill Creek. They were all clumped around the adobe fort that offered the only protection from hostile Indians. The fort, originally named South Willow Creek Fort, would later be known as Draper Fort. It had thick high adobe walls with strategically placed portholes for defense. Indian relations in those years remained unstable; thankfully, most of the altercations that had taken place between the Indians and Mormon pioneers happened in other areas. Most of the Draperville settlers walked or rode to their fields from the vicinity of the fort. A small schoolroom had been attached to the fort’s north wall—after another year, the importance of the fort would diminish, and it would be gradually allowed to crumble and disappear.

Not far from the fort, and perhaps prompting the fort’s construction, was an old Indian campground, situated at the convergence of South Willow Creek and North Willow Creek. During Ezekiel’s first years in Draperville, Indians continually visited the camp. On any given day, the numbers of wigwam brush shelters and tents might signal the presence of anywhere from two or three families up to perhaps several dozen. There were a few occasions, however, when Indians numbering in the hundreds would arrive at the encampment, each brave brandishing weapons. The nervous pioneers noted thankfully that rifles, while present, were not common among these Native Americans; however, all, even the youngest, carried bows and arrows and were expert in their use. The pioneers were still sparse in numbers, and they watched closely when the Indians donned their war paint and held their pow wows and danced through the night. Both sides knew that the nearest help for the outnumbered Draperville settlers was at Union Fort, twelve miles to the north.

Fortunately, relations between the settlers and the Indians were generally respectful. Most of the interaction occurred when Indians might go house to house seeking food

147 or handouts. (Perhaps the Indians regarded this as “rent” owed by the settlers.) Although a pioneer householder might take fright at the sudden appearance of an Indian squaw or brave at the doorway, actual instances of intimidation by the Indians were few. By and large, the visiting Indians seemed to mind their own business and were wary of creating a major incident with the settlers.

Like many early settlers, Ebenezer Brown had built his first log home close to the walls of the South Willow Creek Fort. During the time Ezekiel Price worked on the Brown farm, Ezekiel carefully set aside part of his wages to support his mother and sister and used a smaller part for clothes. The balance was frugally saved. Ezekiel was determined to acquire his own land and build a home. When the time arrived that Ebenezer Brown was able to get other help, Ezekiel announced he was leaving the job and negotiated to buy a small part of the Brown farm for himself. He paid five hundred dollars for five acres. After his purchase, Ezekiel lived in a dugout until a house could be built. He was very fond of livestock and anxious to acquire his own, and as soon as he was able, he bought a few cattle and a team of horses. Soon, he had the beginning of a thriving farm and was living in a twelve-by-sixteen foot cabin.

While building his livestock numbers, Ezekiel had to be mindful to protect his animals from predators. All the land around Ezekiel’s farm was wild country. Wolves were a danger to large animals and coyotes to small animals, even when penned; bears and cougars were also occasional visitors. Snakes, including rattlesnakes, could be encountered anywhere. On the other hand, deer and game animals were also present; Jack rabbits were all over, and antelope could be hunted on the west side of the Jordan River. Back in the Willow Creek marshes near the fort, mink and muskrats could be trapped.

Ezekiel was still building his farm in early 1858, when the so-called “Mormon War” with the U.S. Army remained at issue. General Albert Sydney Johnston’s Army, after being harassed through the winter in Wyoming by Mormon militiamen, was going to pass through the Salt Lake Valley. There was great uncertainly whether the army would be peaceful or belligerent. The settlers in Draperville and the rest of the Salt Lake Valley were advised to abandon their homes and move their livestock away from the path of the Army. Ezekiel and some of his neighbors drove what stock they had south and east from Draper and secluded them at nearby Fort Canyon and Corner Canyon. Ezekiel then decided to take his choicest stock over the mountain.

Draper is nestled against a modest mountain range that rises to the east. In Ezekiel’s day, a horse trail wound up over the mountain and then down to the community of Alpine. It was about a three-hour ride over the mountain trail on horseback. By this

148 time, Ezekiel’s sister Ann had married William Mason, a Welsh-English immigrant like herself, and was now living in Alpine. Ezekiel’s mother Mary Pugh Price (Preece) also lived with Ann and her husband in their Alpine home, and Ezekiel became a frequent visitor. Very close to the Mason home lived a family of English immigrants Ezekiel’s home in Draper as it appeared in the 1940s... from Herefordshire, the Watkins family, whose household included a small teenage girl named Rhoda Elizabeth Watkins. Rhoda’s father, Robert “Jimmie” Watkins, had the finest horses in Alpine. Ezekiel’s attention was naturally drawn to Robert’s livestock, but he also noticed Robert’s daughter.

One day, while Ezekiel was checking his stock in Corner Canyon, his eye was caught by the sight of a young girl on horseback who rode a horse as if she was born to it. When Ezekiel got a closer look at the horsewoman, she turned out to be Rhoda, the petite daughter of Robert Watkins, and neighbor to Ezekiel’s sister Ann. As Ezekiel and Rhoda began to develop a further friendship, they found they had multiple similar interests. Both loved to be outdoors and they loved working with animals, especially horses. Rhoda was an excellent horseback rider and could ride any horse as well as any man. In turn, young Rhoda noticed that Ezekiel’s sturdy good looks were complemented by an unusual strength of will and a desire to build a solid future for himself and the family he would one day have. Ezekiel, contemplating his future, began to add improvements to his cabin which included additional rooms built of brick and adobe.

Ezekiel, age 29, and Rhoda, age 17, were married in Alpine on 16 February 1862. The Price family Bible indicates the marriage was performed by Davis McOlney. The witnesses included Rhoda’s parents and Ezekiel’s sister Ann Price ...and as it appears today at 13156 South Fort Street.

149 Mason and her husband William Mason. Ezekiel and Rhoda set up housekeeping on Ezekiel’s farmland in Draper. Fifteen children—ten boys and five girls—were to be born to this union.

In 1863, a year after Ezekiel’s marriage, President Brigham Young visited Ezekiel and gave him a special “mission” for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ezekiel was asked to help provide food for the workers cutting stone at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon for the Salt Lake Temple and supply alfalfa and hay for the animals which drew the granite blocks from the quarry to the temple. Ezekiel accepted the calling; he would continue his support of the temple workmen all the days of his life. (The temple would be completed in 1893, a year after Ezekiel’s death.)

Ezekiel’s careful management seemed to be blessed by good fortune. In the early 1860s, Ezekiel’s progressive outlook prompted him to import one of the first three mowing machines ever to come to Utah; for several years, it was the only one south of Salt Lake City. It was brought across the plains by ox team and cost him nearly $400. Ezekiel also imported a horse The Ezekiel Price family, 1881. Left to right: Aaron (on lap), rake and was able to Rhoda, James, George, Porter, David, Ezekiel, Angus (on charge local farmers Ezekiel’s lap), and Ezekiel William.

150 The marriage entry for Ezekiel Price and Rhoda Elizabeth Watkins as recorded in their family Bible in 1862. (Courtesy of James L. Larsen, Salt Lake City, Utah)

151 $5 an acre for its use. The horse rake, operated by one hired man, could do the work of several men with scythes, and in much less time.

Following the 1862 Homestead Act passed by the U.S. Government, Ezekiel acquired U.S. citizenship, then in 1867 filed a homestead claim on 160 acres south of the Ebenezer Brown farm. On 15 April 1872, after a proving period of five years, Ezekiel was granted full ownership of the acreage. Ezekiel then began to acquire property on both sides of Fort Street, first purchasing sixteen acres in 1875 from David Pulsipher who held the homestead patent, then adding more property bought from Joseph C. Brown in 1876. On 1 March 1878, Ezekiel was able to purchase from the U.S. Land Office an additional 160 acres which adjoined his 160 acre homestead property. (The total of 320 acres comprised the entire south half of section 31, township 3 south, range 1 east, in the Salt Lake Meridian.) In July 1879, Ezekiel bought further land from Pulsipher near Fort Street (this time paying $900 in agricultural produce instead of cash.)

Ezekiel Price now owned property in Draper that extended from Fort Street westward for over one mile to State Road (now the present-day I-15 Interstate freeway). The property lines began at 13000 South and extended southward one-half mile to 13400 South. Ezekiel was now one of the largest landowners in Draper. In May of 1887, Ezekiel would purchase another fifty acres west of State Road (State Street) from his lawyer and neighbor, Joseph L. Rawlins, for $2,900. (After Ezekiel’s death, one of his sons would inherit part of the property and build the stone house that would became the warden’s home for the state prison; today, the property contains most of the newer prison facilities facing I-15 just before reaching Point of the Mountain.)

When Ezekiel was able to import his first fine thoroughbred race horse to Draper, he was elated, but cautious. In later years, Ezekiel’s son George Franklin Price would tell his firsthand story of what happened: Ezekiel was ready to take the horse to its first race meet, but he wanted to encourage the betting odds against the thoroughbred. Ezekiel was careful to disguise the horse’s sleek features as much as possible. He made it appear as if the horse were ill-tended and ungroomed, even working cockleburs and mud into the animal’s hide. Ezekiel’s son, young George F. Price, was small in size and was an excellent jockey. Ezekiel did not have a proper English saddle, so he and George simply tied a rope around the horse’s body. George hopped gamely on and worked his legs and knees into the rope, tight enough to hang on, but loose enough to drop off the horse if he had to.

Before the race began, Ezekiel gave George memorable riding instructions: “George, if you lose this race, don’t stop—just keep riding for home! We don’t have enough

152 Birth entries in the family Bible of Ezekiel Price and Rhoda Watkins Price. (Courtesy of James L. Larsen, Salt Lake City, Utah.)

153 money to cover all the bets!”

Fortunately, George won the race, and Ezekiel was able to collect his winnings without embarrass- ment.

Ezekiel’s great love, however, was his large herd of quality horses, many of which he Even in this much faded photograph, it is easy to tell that Ezekiel took bought or traded tremendous pride in his prized Morgan horse stock. from Porter Rockwell. Additionally, Ezekiel acquired a span of mules which for many years were thought to be the best and largest in the valley. After ten years, Ezekiel sold the mules and used the money to import the first Percheron draft horses known in the Salt Lake Valley. Ezekiel’s horse stock was well respected, and become the source of breeding stock for many other farms. Ezekiel was particularly proud of his fine breed of Morgan horses. Ezekiel’s cattle were also a source of pride, and he generally kept about 100 in his herd. Ezekiel traded livestock frequently; when doing so, his children noticed that he didn’t mind letting the other fellow have a little of the best of the bargain in any trade. He made it a point to always speak well of people, and by so doing, he made many friends.

Ezekiel was always a hard worker, and it was his belief that a man should earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. In addition to farming, Ezekiel entered into a major contract in the 1870s with the Utah Southern Railroad Company as it laid track south of Salt Lake City; Ezekiel provided the railroad with large consignments of rock cut from an area near the Rideout silica beds, southwest of Draper, to be used as roadbed. It was hard work, but the extra money earned from the railway contract allowed Ezekiel to expand the acreage of his farm and add to his livestock.

Over the years, Ezekiel had learned much about animal diseases, and he had become an excellent veterinarian. Farmers from all over the southern part of Salt Lake Valley came for Ezekiel any time they had a sick animal. If called in time, Ezekiel was able to save most of the animals. His son Angus said he rarely saw his father sleep in a

154 Death entries in the family Bible of Ezekiel Price and Rhoda Watkins Price. (Courtesy of James L. Price, Salt Lake City, Utah.)

155 bed; if Ezekiel thought he might be called upon to help a neighbor with an ailing animal, he would usually doze in a favorite chair, ready to go. Ezekiel made it a policy never to charge anyone for his help.

Ezekiel and Rhoda acquired some fine buggies, and Ezekiel often used his finest carriage to provide transportation for visiting General Authorities from the LDS Church. Ezekiel became very good friends with the George Q. Cannon family. Three of Ezekiel’s ten sons were named after sons of the Cannon family: David, George, and Angus. Angus M. Cannon, son of George Q. Cannon and president of the Salt Lake Stake, was a good friend of Ezekiel; whenever President Cannon was visiting the wards in the valley away from the railway, he always asked for Ezekiel to drive him around in Ezekiel’s light spring wagon. Ezekiel’s enterprising nature prompted the LDS Church leaders at one time to suggest he take a plural wife, as had some of the other leaders in the Mormon community; Ezekiel’s wife Rhoda, however, immediately let it be known that she was not in favor of a second wife in the home, and the matter never became an issue.

Porter Rockwell, the famous (some prefer notorious) lawman and gunfighter, operated a stagecoach stop and tavern on property close to the Price farm. In addition to operating the Hot Springs Hotel and Brewery, Porter also was a successful rancher, and he and Ezekiel shared a common love for good horses—some of Ezekiel’s finest horses and cattle were purchased from Porter Rockwell. Porter and his wife became good friends with Ezekiel and Rhoda, and they frequently visited the Price farm whenever Porter was traveling through or staying in that part of the valley. Porter Rockwell was a good friend and a frequent visitor to the Price A marriage tie between the two families had existed farm. “Port” offered Ezekiel a since 1867, when Rhoda Price, ever the horse in exchange for a namesake. matchmaker, introduced her close cousin Sarah Jane Mantle to Porter’s son Orrin DeWitt Rockwell while both were visiting the Price home. A marriage soon followed. (Years later, an additional family tie between the Rockwells and Prices would occur, when one of Porter’s granddaughters, Audrey Johnson, would marry one of Ezekiel’s grandsons, James Willard Price.)

When Rhoda was about to deliver her tenth baby at the Price farm in 1875, Porter Rockwell happened to drop by, and he kept company with Ezekiel during the delivery.

156 Awaiting the appearance of the infant, Porter made an offer to Ezekiel: if the baby were a boy, and Ezekiel named the baby after Porter, he promised to give Ezekiel one of his finest horses. Ezekiel agreed on the spot—after all, Porter Rockwell’s livestock was envied by everyone in the territory. When Rhoda’s baby boy was born on 22 April 1875, he was given the name Porter Willard Price. Porter Rockwell proved to be as good as his word, and Ezekiel gained a fine addition to his stable of horses.

As was always the case in the West, water rights were an explosive issue for farmers in the Salt Lake Valley. On 8 September of 1883, following a water turn, Ezekiel’s oldest son Will had the misfortune to forget to turn the irrigation water from the Price farm back to the canal. In the meantime, Ezekiel’s neighbor, John Heber Enniss, had noticed the lack of water for his turn, and he decided to take instant action. Ennis, 28 years old, was widely known as an unusually cantankerous man; eight months earlier, he and Ezekiel had exchanged hard words when Ezekiel had refused to accept Ennis as a visiting ward teacher. Ezekiel had purportedly insisted to others, “I won’t let a man like that into my home.” Affronted, Ennis had stood up in a priesthood meeting and publicly challenged Ezekiel to a fist fight. After that, the rancor between the two men had never healed.

Now, losing a water turn to Ezekiel Price was more than John Heber Ennis would put up with. He mounted a horse and, brandishing a shovel in one hand, galloped over to the Price farm. (The shovel is part of the Price family lore; however it is not mentioned in the existing remnant of the trial case record.) Ezekiel happened to be working in his granary with his sons Will and James when they spied the irate Ennis arriving. Will belatedly remembered that the water turn had not been changed. Ezekiel sent him back to make the change. According to later accounts given by Will and James, Ennis rode up shouting profane threats at Ezekiel. Dismounting, he approached the unarmed older John Heber Ennis man and angrily swung the shovel at him. Ezekiel turned to avoid the attack and tripped over a hoe. He grabbed the hoe and used it to deflect the blows from the shovel; then, his own dander up, Ezekiel finally gave Ennis a whack across the head with the edge of the hoe. Ennis, dazed and bleeding, threw some further cuss words at Ezekiel, then turned around and rode back home.

John Heber Ennis stubbornly refused any medical attention for his head wound, even after it began to fester. When he was finally given surgical attention, according to witnesses, the treatment of the infection was botched, and John Heber Ennis passed

157 away from the infected wound on 10 October 1883. The Ennis family blamed Ezekiel’s blow for causing the death.

As a matter of form, assault and manslaughter charges were prepared against Ezekiel in Third District Court. Ezekiel called upon his former neighbor, a young lawyer named Joseph L. Rawlins, who had grown up on the farm next door to Ezekiel before obtaining his law degree; Rawlins chose Arthur Brown, another sterling legal advocate, to assist in the case. (They were probably the two best legal advocates in the territory—in 1895, Arthur Brown would become the first U.S. Senator from the new state of Utah; in 1897, Rawlins would be elected to take Brown’s place in the Senate.)

At the trial, the case was judged to be Ezekiel with daughter, Ida May, about 1890, obvious self-defense, and Ezekiel was two years before his death. quietly acquitted. [See details of the trial in Sidebars 1 and 2 at the end of this chapter.] In later years, descendants of the Enniss family would readily admit that John Heber Enniss was an extremely difficult man to get along with. His contentious personality had already cost him his marriage. Ezekiel himself always regretted the incident, and he mourned for the death of his neighbor the rest of his life.

It was Ezekiel’s desire to leave enough land so each of his eight surviving children could have a home and a farm. He admired Brigham Young and carefully adhered to President Young’s advice to avoid debt and “pay as you go.” If he didn’t pay in cash, he always paid in kind or in service. Ezekiel was known to always dealt honestly with everyone. When he arrived in Draper in 1855 as a newly-landed English-Welsh immigrant, he literally did not have one penny to his name; yet over the years, he accumulated over 400 acres of land, 100 head of cattle, and some very fine horses, buggies, and surreys. All of this was accomplished without incurring debt.

As time passed, Ezekiel no longer had the agility he formerly had, and while working with a bull on his farm on 29 July 1887, he was gored. Ezekiel was now 54, and he found he no longer recuperated from injuries the way he used to. The wound would

158 continue to bother him for several years. In early 1892, Ezekiel contracted pneumonia. He died at his home in Draper on 24 January, two weeks before his 59th birthday. His funeral was conducted in the Draper Ward chapel on 27 January 1892, and he was buried in the Price family plot in the Draper Cemetery. The following day, the Deseret Evening News carried the notice:

Funeral at Draper Beginning yesterday afternoon, at 1:30, funeral services were held over the remains of Elder Ezekiel Price, who died on Sunday last from la grippe [flu]. The deceased was in the 59th year of his age at the time of his demise. He joined the Church at an early day and has always been known as an active and energetic man. His death will be keenly felt in the Draper ward where his general conduct made him a useful and respected member. Consoling and instructive remarks were made by President Angus M. Cannon and the Bishop of the ward and his counselors and by Elder Daniel Jones. A widow, seven sons and one daughter mourn the departure of a kind husband and an indulgent parent. The remains were interred in a neat and substantial vault in the ward cemetery.

Ezekiel died without a will. After the estate went through probate, Ezekiel’s widow Rhoda apportioned shares of the property to the children. David Louis Price eventually bought the old Price home from Rhoda. After David moved to Idaho in 1907, the property was rented, sold, and resold several times. In 1946, Janice Rawlins Johnson bought the property and remodeled the home. During the remodeling, the fireplace was covered and the original fireplace mantle donated to the city. The mantle, together with some old oxen shoes (very The fireplace hearth from the home of Ezekiel and rare) found on the Price property Rhoda Watkins Price. Porter Rockwell often shucked are today on exhibit at the Draper his furs and sat beside it during winter visits. It can Historical Society Museum. now be seen in the Draper Historical Society Museum.

159 Children of Ezekiel Price and Rhoda Elizabeth Watkins

1. Mary PRICE, born 1862, Draper, Utah; died 1862, Draper, Utah. 2. Ezekiel William PRICE, born 6 October 1864, Draper, Utah; died 29 April 1925; married 1 December 1887, Ellen JOYCE; died 29 April 1925, Idaho Falls, Idaho. 3. Henry Robert PRICE, born 30 January 1866, Draper, Utah; died 3 July 1874, Draper, Utah. 4. Mary Matilda PRICE, born 25 January 1868, Draper, Utah; died 5 September 1869, Draper, Utah. 5. James Evan PRICE, born 25 January 1869, Draper, Utah; married 23 February 1898, Fannie Harriet Louise RAWLINGS; died 12 February 1946, Duchesne, Utah. 6. David Louis PRICE, born 14 May 1870, Draper,Utah; died 6 September 1959; married (1) 29 January 1901, Emma Jane JENSEN. Married (2) about 1951, Mrs. Georgia RILEY (divorced); died 6 September 1959, Draper, Utah. 7. George Franklin PRICE, born 30 October 1871, Draper, Utah; married 19 December 1898, Emma May ALLPHIN; died 7 February 1961, Tremonton, Utah. 8. Jane PRICE, born 25 April 1873, died 5 September 1873, Draper, Utah. 9. Margaret Ann PRICE, born 25 April 1874, died 25 April 1874, Draper, Utah. 10. Porter Willard PRICE, born 22 April 1875, Draper, Utah; married (1) 5 April 1900, Dorothy Stonebanks METCALF; married (2) 19 September 1913, Mary LARSEN; died 12 February 1945, Pine Canyon (Lincoln), Utah. 11. Angus Byard PRICE, born 27 November 1877, Draper, Utah; married 18 April 1900, Lucy Ellen WILLIAMS; died 29 July 1963, Union, Utah. 12. Aaron Thomas PRICE, born 7 December 1879, Draper, Utah; died 11 April 1917; married 21 December 1907, Catherine Matilda YOUNG; died 11 April 1917, Midvale, Utah. 13. Charles Andrew PRICE, born 3 October 1880, Draper, Utah; died 3 October 1880, Draper, Utah. 14. Ida May PRICE, born 31 December 1882, Draper, Utah; married (1) 10 January 1897, Joseph Stephen CLEMENTS (divorced); married (2) 6 June 1901, James Peter JENSEN; died 28 April 1930, Oakland, California. 15. Samuel Mason PRICE, born 10 April 1890, died 10 April 1890, Draper, Utah.

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160 SIDE BAR (1): THE STORY OF THE TRIAL— THE STATE VS. EZEKIEL PRICE, 1883

Even before 1883, relations between Ezekiel Price and his neighbor, John Heber Ennis became antagonistic. Ennis was the oldest son of John Ennis and Elizabeth Boulter Ennis and a member of one of the most prominent founding families of Draperville. John Heber Ennis married Annie Marie Garfield in 1875; by 1881, Annie had given birth to four children, two of which had died in infancy. John Heber Ennis, meanwhile, both farmed and helped run a prosperous family sheep ranching enterprise.

In February of 1882, Ezekiel Price purchased thirteen acres of land in Draper from James R. Allen, paying $112.50. The new property lay close to large acreage already owned by Ezekiel. At about the same time, Allen sold property to John Heber Ennis which either adjoined or was near to the new Ezekiel Price property. The same irrigation ditch ran through both their properties.

For unspecified reasons, bad blood had developed between Ezekiel Price and John Heber Ennis. The enmity between the two became public as early as January of 1883. A deposition provided later that year by William Edwin Cox, a 26 year old resident of nearby Union, Utah, described some of the hard feelings that already existed between Ezekiel Price and John H. Ennis. During the first week of January 1883, Cox was acting as secretary of a “religious meeting” in which the assignment of priesthood home teachers was under discussion. One of the attendees remarked that Ezekiel Price had refused teaching visits from John Heber Ennis, purportedly quoting Ezekiel to the effect that Ezekiel “did not want any such man as Ennis” in his house.

At that point, Ezekiel stood up to speak and defend his actions—possibly, Ezekiel wanted to clarify that there were things to settle between Ennis and himself. Ennis, however, jumped to his feet and angrily interrupted; Cox, in his later deposition, called Ennis “mad and cross and vexed” and indicated Ennis wanted to physically attack Ezekiel on the spot. Ennis irately called out to Ezekiel: “I will settle it with you right here, on the sidewalk, or on the hillsides, or on the mountain tops!”

Cox later added, “I suppose he [Ennis] would not have sat down, but the president of the meeting made him.” Ennis already had a reputation as a hot-tempered and contentious man. Ennis’s quick temper would later in the year cost him his marriage, as his wife, Annie, would separate from him and file for divorce even while pregnant with their fifth child.

The reason for the antagonism between the two men was never made clear. It may

161 have been based on a dispute over land or water, or perhaps it was caused by Ennis’s alleged treatment of his family (Ezekial was strict about treating women with utmost respect). When the final clash between the two occurred, it seemed clearly about water—but it had actually been festering for several months.

On 8 September 1883, Ezekiel’s eighteen-year-old son Will had diverted the water in the irrigation ditch for the usual Price farm water turn. Will, however, had forgotten to release the water after the turn. When John Heber Ennis visited the headgate and discovered his water was still diverted to the Price farm, he became enraged and mounting his horse, he rode to confront Ezekiel. Ezekiel was working with Will and another son, fourteen-year-old James E. Price, at his granary. When Ezekiel saw Ennis coming, they realized Will’s oversight, and Ezekiel sent Will posthaste to change the water.

The Price family version of the story says that Ennis was brandishing a shovel as he rode into the Price property. (The shovel, however, is not specifically mentioned in the existing court records, although the rest of this story accords with the court evidence.) Ennis was a large man and, in his enraged state, extremely menacing. He was in the prime of life, twenty-eight years old, while Ezekiel was in his fiftieth year. Dismounting from his horse, Ennis charged at Ezekiel, cursing, and purportedly swung the shovel at Ezekiel’s head. Ezekiel stepped back and tripped over a hoe. According to the Price family, Ezekiel grabbed the hoe and used it to deflect further blows from the shovel, then used it to whack Ennis on the side of the head. Dazed, Ennis called off the confrontation, and returned home still cursing.

The trial record indicates Ennis at first refused medical treatment for his wound. The wound became infected, and Ennis fell seriously ill. Further injury was caused when inexpert attempts were finally made to treat the wound. On complaints from Ennis family members, a federal Grand Jury indictment against Ezekiel was issued on 6 October 1883, on a charge of “assault with intent to do bodily harm.” Ezekiel appeared in court on the charge and was released on a $1000 bail bond signed by Joshua B. Stewart and Robert Dansie Jr. A list of potential witnesses to be called in the case included the names of John Fitzgerald, Dr. R.M. Rogers, John Ennis, William Price, William Brown, Peter Garff, Willard Ennis, Norman Brown, Dr. J.M. Benedict, James Price, and William Green.

Ezekiel, by this time, had engaged Joseph L. Rawlins and Arthur Brown as his lawyers. They were perhaps the two most capable lawyers in Utah Territory. Rawlins had grown up in Draperville on the farm neighboring Ezekiel’s to the north, and Rawlin’s father at one point had been Ezekiel’s bishop. At the time of the trial,

162 Rawlins was 33 years old and still intent on building his reputation. He was a former Salt Lake City Attorney and a prime mover in organizing the first Democratic Party in Utah. Rawlins no longer considered himself a member of the LDS faith, but was professionally esteemed by the Church leadership, and he would afterward be asked to defend President George Q. Cannon, a counselor to Brigham Young, on plural marriage charges. Arthur Brown was also not a member of the LDS Church, but he was a Republican—the party favored by the Church—and well regarded professionally.

Joseph L. Rawlins was a In the future, both Rawlins and Brown would play major neighbor and lawyer to roles when Utah achieved statehood, and Brown would Ezekiel, then became a Congressman, and U.S. serve with Frank J. Cannon (son of George Q. Cannon) as Senator. (Utah State one of the first two United States Senators from Utah. Historical Society) Remarkably, Joseph L. Rawlins, after providing significant service in the U.S. Congress to help Utah achieve statehood, would replace Arthur Brown as U.S. Senator from Utah. Ezekiel Price had chosen a truly extraordinary legal team.

On 10 October 1883, little more than a month after the confrontation at the granary, John Heber Ennis died from the infection in his wound. (The infection may have been aggravated by the treatment given to Ennis by his caretakers.) Five days later, the grand jury issued a second indictment and arrest warrant against Ezekiel for manslaughter. Ezekiel again willingly surrendered to local authorities on this added charge and was released on bail.

On 25 October 1883, Ezekiel was arraigned in Third District Court on the “assault to murder” charge; he pled not guilty. The assault charge was dismissed two days later. Then, on 30 October 1883, Ezekiel consented again to arrest and was arraigned on the manslaughter charge. After another not guilty plea, Ezekiel was again released on bail. A trial date was set for 28 February 1884; however, shortly before the date, Ezekiel issued a request to the court to postpone the trial until March: Ezekiel’s lawyer, Joseph L. Rawlins, was in Washington D.C. to attend a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Ezekiel’s trial accordingly began in Third District Court on Thursday, 20 March 1884. It would finish on Friday, 28 March 1884.

There is no known transcript of the testimony and evidence given at the trial. However, jury instructions issued by the presiding judge, Chief Justice John A.

163 Hunter, have been preserved as part of the court case record. These jury instructions directly reflect the testimony given at the trial and provide a sort of commentary about the evidence given. Based on the jury instructions, Chief Justice Hunter’s interpretation of the evidence and testimony can be summarized as follows:

At the time of the attack, Ezekiel was engaged in his own business at his granary. Ennis arrived and began the altercation with threats, then jumped from his horse and attempted to assault Ezekiel. Ennis had a character and disposition defined in the courtroom as “quick to quarrel.” Ennis, larger and stronger than Ezekiel, had also made previous threats of bodily harm against Ezekiel and had the “size, known character, and ability” to inflict harm. Ezekiel, in fear of “great bodily harm” during the confrontation, was thus forced to resort to “some other implement [the hoe] other than his fists.” All of this justified Ezekiel’s means of self defense.

The defense supplied testimony that the death of John Heber Ennis resulted not from the blow itself, but from the deficient medical treatment Ennis subsequently received, referring to “ill appliances and the improper surgery of the persons taking The indictment, from the Deseret charge.” Ennis died purportedly after a Evening News, 26 March 1884. period of “neglect” and “improper surgical attendance.” Under those circumstances, in Chief Justice Hunter’s written opinion, Ezekiel Price could not be held responsible for the death.

The court instructions also strongly suggest that John Heber Ennis issued a deathbed statement exonerating Ezekiel’s actions, which the prosecution attempted to suppress. (There are hints that the prosecuting attorneys may have attempted to bury other

164 pertinent evidence which directly concerned the altercation between John H. Ennis and Ezekiel Price.)

Legally, in a case such as this, where there is no intent to kill, and the killing is by accident, there can be no manslaughter. The judge’s conclusion was that all of Ezekiel’s actions in the altercation “were excusable on the ground of self-defense and apparent necessity.”

On late afternoon of 28 March 1884, the trial finally drew to a conclusion. Chief Justice Hunter instructed the jury in absolutely clear language: “In this case, there is no evidence produced before the jury, sufficient to justify the conviction of the defendant of voluntary manslaughter.” The jury retired at 4:00 p.m. and conscientiously reviewed each part of the testimony against the judge’s instructions. At 8:00 p.m., the jury returned and William Henry Frost, the jury foreman, formally announced the verdict of “not guilty.” Ezekiel Price was discharged. The local newspapers, which at first condemned Ezekiel as the killer of a father of two, failed to report any of the testimony which clearly exonerated Ezekiel, but they did—briefly—report the final verdict.

Ezekiel for the rest of his life felt terrible about what happened at the granary. He refused to speak about it, and in respect for Ezekiel, his family members never spoke about it. Most of Ezekiel’s younger children and grandchildren grew to maturity before ever learning of the story, and even then, details were sparse.

It is worth noting what happened to Ezekiel Price’s defense lawyers after the trial. Joseph L. Rawlins helped organize the first Democratic Party in Utah and went on to be elected as Utah’s Territorial Representative in the U.S. Congress. There, he was able to draft the enabling act that brought about statehood for Utah in 1896. Rawlins has since often been called “the father of Utah statehood.” In 1897, Rawlins was elected to a six-year term in the United States Senate. Rawlins served his term faithfully and largely retired from political life afterward. Coincidentally, the Senator Rawlins Joseph L. Rawlins replaced in 1897 was Arthur Brown.

Arthur Brown was a non-Mormon who came to Utah to seek his fortune in 1879. He quickly became engaged in the political and legal battles between the Gentiles and Mormons. Although Joseph L. Rawlins regarded Brown as the most able lawyer in Salt Lake City, Brown’s private life was to overshadow his professional

165 accomplishments. The ambitious Brown had arrived in Salt Lake City having separated from his wife; Brown subsequently obtained a divorce and married the mistress who had created the rift. Afterward, Brown’s domestic life appeared respectable for several years. In 1895, Brown was elected as one of the first two U.S. Senators from Utah, assigned to serve the short term from 1895 to 1897.

After his service in the Senate, Brown returned to Utah and soon became involved with a young woman named Annie Bradley. Annie left her husband and became Brown’s mistress. For several years, as the affair continued, Brown insisted he was going to divorce his wife and marry Annie; in Arthur Brown the meantime, Annie delivered Brown’s son out of wedlock. After Brown’s wife died of cancer in 1905, Annie Bradley expected immediate marriage, but Brown only gave her a series of suspect excuses. In December 1906, Annie was pregnant with her second child by Brown. In a state of jealous suspicion, she followed Brown from Utah to Washington D.C. and discovered letters in his room which seemed to indicate he was going to marry Annie Adams Kiskadden of Salt Lake City, the mother of the actress Maude Adams. Annie Bradley confronted Brown in his room; they argued, and she shot him with a gun he had given her. Brown, weakened by a kidney disease, was unable to recover from the wound and died. By the time of her murder trial, Annie Bradley had delivered a second son by Brown. When tried in Washington D.C., she pled temporary insanity and was acquitted.

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SIDEBAR (2): TESTIMONY GIVEN IN THE TRIAL OF EZEKIEL PRICE

No transcripts of the original trial of Ezekiel Price exist; however, the territorial case files for the Third District Court include the presiding judge’s instructions to the jury and a deposition, taken 3 November 1883, from William E. Cox. Both items throw a great deal of illumination on the actual events and the testimony borne at the trial.

William Edwin Cox, born 4 June 1857, actually lived in nearby Union, Utah, but acted as the secretary of a priesthood quorum meeting held in Draper in early January 1883. During a discussion of home teacher assignments at the meeting, it was established that Ezekiel had refused to accept John Heber Ennis in his home as a priesthood home teacher. Ennis exploded in anger against Ezekiel Price and disrupted the gathering by

166 challenging the older man to a fight. Eleven months later, Cox would describe the incident in response to questions from U.S. District Attorney Ezra Thompson Sprague:

E.T. Sprague [After establishing that the verbal altercation between John H. Ennis and Ezekiel Price took place in a “religious meeting” in early January of 1883]: “What did Ennis say?”

William E. Cox: “He said that he would settle it with him – he says ‘I will settle it with you right here, on the sidewalk, or on the hillsides or on the mountain tops.’ Those are the words he said as near as I can recollect.”

Sprague: “What was it he was going to settle and who was he going to settle it with?

Cox: “Ezekiel Price.”

Sprague: “What was he going to settle with him?”

Cox: “Well, he wanted to fight him.”

Sprague: “What had been said before this – what was the beginning of it –tell the whole story?”

Cox: “There was a meeting and there was teachers appointed in that meeting and those teachers had to go around their beats and see to every family, and this Ennis was a teacher I think, I won’t be sure: I suppose he went there to see Mr. Price and Mr. Price told him that he didn’t want him inside of his house, until he had settled some difficulty between the two.”

Sprague: “You didn’t get any where near my question: I want to know what was said at that meeting that brought out this speech from Ennis – how he came to make it – had Price said anything, or any teacher said anything, or anybody else?”

Cox: “Yes sir, there was a young man by the name of Joseph Smith got up and he was telling what I was trying to bring around to tell you. He was saying that he didn’t want – he said that Mr. Price said that he didn’t want any such man as Ennis in his house and as quick as he said this Mr. Price gets up to try to justify himself, and then this Ennis jumps up.”

Sprague: “What did he say?”

Cox: “Never said much of anything. Price got up to justify himself for the reason of not having this man come in his house; that is as near as I can tell you.”

167 Sprague: “To tell his side of the story?”

Cox: “Yes sir.”

Sprague: “Do you remember what it was?”

Cox: “No sir. And then Ennis jumps up and he was so mad and cross and vexed that if he could have got at him right there, I suppose ---- ”

Sprague: “After Price had tried to justify himself what did Ennis say?”

Cox: “I told you what he said, he said he would settle it with him, he says, ‘I will settle it with you right here, on the sidewalk, or on the hillsides or on the mountain tops.’ That is the words he said and he sat down. I suppose he would not have sat down, but the president of the meeting made him.”

Sprague: “Was there any gesture in connection with it – did he make any motion?”

Cox: “He might have went that way {illustrating}.

Sprague: “Did he?”

Cox: “I won’t be positive.”

Judge Sprague concluded the deposition shortly after this point. Exactly why Ezekiel Price refused to allow “any such man as Ennis” in his home was never established.

The instructions to the jury given by Chief Justice John A. Hunter also remain part of the Third District Court territorial case record and are even more illuminating. The instructions reflect both the testimony offered during the course of the trial and the judge’s evaluation of the evidence in determining the probable innocence of the defendant. In the end, the testimony caused Chief Justice Hunter to issue to the jury instructions and advice which amounted to a directed verdict of “not guilty.”

Chief Justice John A. Hunter’s instructions to the jury:

“First. Voluntary manslaughter is the unlawful, intentional and felonious killing of another, without malice, and the jury must find that the act was unlawful and the intent felonious, or else the defendant is entitled to an acquittal.”

168 Second. If the jury find that the defendant in striking the blow with the hoe, was acting under fear or apprehension of great bodily harm being done to him by the deceased, and that it appeared to him that to save himself from such bodily harm, it was necessary to resort to some other implement than his own fists, then he would be justified in using other implements.”

Third. The burden of proof is upon the prosecution, to prove the offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt, and such burden remains and continues upon the prosecution during the entire trial, and does not shift upon the defendant by any kind of proof, but the defendant is presumed to be innocent, until the presumption of innocence has been overcome, beyond a reasonable doubt, by proof in the case.

Fourth. The burden of proof is upon the People, to establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, first, that the act of defendant in striking with the hoe was unlawful, second, that it was intentional and felonious, third, that the defendant died, within a year and a day, in consequence of the blow struck by defendant and not from any other cause.

Fifth. If the death of deceased resulted from the surgical and medical treatment, which he received from persons not connected with the defendant, then the defendant will not be responsible for such death.

Sixth. If the jury find that the wound received by deceased from the blow of the hoe in the hands of defendant, was not mortal, but that by the ill-applances and the improper surgery of the persons taking care and charge of said deceased, the party died as the result of such improper treatment, then the defendant is not guilty.

Seventh. If the jury find that the wound inflicted by the defendant on the deceased, was not, in its nature, mortal, but through negligence in the want of proper treatment became so, and terminated fatally, and that neglect, or want of prpoer treatment, or improper surgical attendance, was the immediate cause of the death of deceased, and not the wound itself, then they must acquit the defendant.

Eighth. Every person is supposed to be responsible for the natural and necessary consequences of his own acts, but he is not responsible for the acts of others, hence, the defendant can only be held responsible for such blow and injury as he himself administered to the deceased, and cannot be held responsible for the injuries inflicted upon him by surgeons, and other persons into whose custody and care he was placed.

169 Ninth. If the jury find that the defendant was engaged about his own business, upon his own premises; that the deceased came there, and, after an altercation with words, that the deceased jumped from his horse and went toward the defendant as if about to assault him, and if defendant had good reason to believe from the size, known character and ability of deceased, that the deceased was about to inflict upon him bodily injury, and that there was imminent danger of such injury being accomplished, then the defendant was justified in using such force as was necessary to repel the attack of deceased, and is not responsible criminally for the consequences of such force used, whether it resulted fatally or not.

Tenth. If the defendant used the hoe simply to repel the assault of deceased, and struck in defense against such assault, and did not design to kill his assailant, then he is not responsible from the fact that the blow inflicted a more severe injury than he himself designed.

Eleventh. Homicide is excusable when committed by accident or misfortune, in doing any lawful act by lawful means, with usual and ordinary caution, and without any unlawful intent.

Twelfth. Homicide is excusable when committed by accident or misfortune, in the heat of passion, upon any sudden and sufficient provocation, or upon a sudden combat, when no undue advantage is taken and no dangerous weapon used, and when the killing is not done in a cruel and unusual manner.

[hand-written addendum to twelfth:] If the jury find that the homicide of deceased was committed by defendant by accident or misfortune in the heat of passion, upon any sudden and sufficient provocation and that such homicide was not done in a cruel and unusual manner they should acquit the defendant.

Thirteenth. If the circumstances of deceased coming to the granary of defendant, and his conduct there, were sufficient to excite the fears of a reasonable person that the defendant was in danger of great bodily injury, then the defendant was justified in resisting such attack on the part of deceased, and if death ensued as the consequence of such resistance, defendant is not liable therefor.

Fourteenth. It is the duty of the prosecution to show fully all the circumstances surrounding the alleged crime, and if the jury find that any part of said circumstances have been concealed by the prosecution, it would be their duty to presume that if proven such circumstances would tend to show the innocence of the defendant.

170 Fifteenth. In considering the probability, and the weighing the evidence, as to whether deceased made the attack upon the defendant first, it is the duty of the jury to consider the relative strength and size of the two parties; any threats made by the one or the other, the state of feelings between said parties, and the character and disposition of deceased as to being quick to quarrel or otherwise.

Sixteenth. Threats made by the deceased, if the jury should find such to be proven in this case are to be considered by the jury, as tending to show who first made the assault.

Seventeenth. Threats made by deceased, are received in evidence, as circumstances proper to be considered in determining the question whether the deceased did, in fact, commit the first assault, and whether he had previously intended to commit the assault, and the existence of this intention creates a probability that he has in fact committed it.

Eigheenth. [Missing from court file.]

Nineteenth. If, in view of the facts in this case, the defendant believed, or had reasonable ground to believe, that the deceased would immediately proceed to inflict bodily harm upon him, and that he would do so unless prevented by some act on the part of the defendant, and such act as was then in his power, then the defendant’s acts were excusable on the ground of self-defense and apparent necessity.

Twentieth. [Missing from court file.]

Twenty First. The most unreliable of all evidence is that of the oral admissions of the party, especially where they purport to have been made during the pendency of the action, or after the parties were in a state of controversy.

Twenty Second. If the jury disbelieve the testimony of any particular witness for either side, then they may entirely reject all that the said witness was testified to, and such belief or disbelief will not affect the guilt or innocence of the defendant, and should not be considered by the jury as proving either the guilt or innocence of the defendant, the only effect is to reject the testimony of such witness.

Twenty Third. In all criminal prosecutions the inquiry is, whether the defendant intended to commit the unlawful act, and if committed by accident no criminal responsibility attaches to it. If for any other reason

171 the intent of the party was not unlawful, then the defendant cannot be convicted from the mere act alone.

[Twenty Five through Twenty Seven missing from court file.]

Twenty Eight. If the jury find that Ennis had an opportunity of making a dying declaration, after knowing that he was about to die, and that he failed to do so, the jury are justified in believing from such failure, that he had no statement to make which would criminate the defendant.

Twenty Nine. If the jury find that Ennis did make a dying declaration, which has not been produced by the prosecution, but has been suppressed, then the jury are justified in believing that such declaration would exonerate this defendant from all criminality.

Thirty. The act of defendant striking deceased with the hoe, was, in itself, an innocent act , unless accompanied by some unlawful purpose with criminal intent. The burden of proof is upon the prosecution to show that at the time of such striking the defendant acted unlawfully or with criminal intent.

[Thirty One is missing from the court file.]

Thirty Two. Human life is not to be lightly disregarded, and the law will not permit it to be destroyed unless upon urgent occasion. But the rules which make it excusable or justifiable to destroy it under some circumstances, are really meant to insure its general protection. They are designed to prevent reckless and wicked men from assailing peacable members of society, by exposing them to the danger of fatal resistance from the hands of those whom they wantonly attacked, and put in peril or fear of great injury or death, and such rules, in order to be of any value, must be in some reasonable degree associated to human character and necessity. They should not be allowed to entrap or mislead those whose misfortunes compel a resort to them. Were a man charged with crime, to be held to a knowledge of all facts precisely as they are, there could be few cases in which the most innocent intention or honest zeal could justify or excuse homicide. The jury, by a careful sifting of witnesses on both sides, in cool blood, and aided by the commands of a court and counsel, may arrive at a tolerably just conclusion on the circumstances of an assault. But the prisoner who is to justify himself,

172 can hardly be expected to be entirely cool in a deadly affray, or in all cases, to have great courage or large intellect, and cannot well see the true reasoning of all that occurs at the time; while he can know nothing whatever concerning what has occurred elsewhere, or concerning the designs of his assailants, any more than can be inferred from appearances, and the law, while it will not generally excuse mistakes of law, because every man is so bound to know that, doesn’t hold men responsible for a The original verdict sheet signed by the jury foreman, knowledge of facts, unless William Henry Frost. their ignorance rises from fault or negligence.

At the end, Chief Justice Hunter provided what amounted to a directed verdict to the jury: “In this case,” he instructed, “there is no evidence produced before the jury, sufficient to justify the conviction of the defendant of voluntary manslaughter.”

On 28 March 1884, the jury heard the final arguments and retired at 4:00 p.m. After a consideration of the evidence and a review of the directions issued by Chief Justice Hunter, the jury returned at 8:00 p.m. with a “not guilty” verdict.

Resource: “History of Ezekiel Price,” as told by his son, David L. Price, and written by Verda Price Flint Oral history of Angus Byard Price, as related to Ralph Williams Price “Ezekiel Price and Rhoda Elizabeth Watkins Price: Mormon Pioneers and Draper, Utah, Settlers,” written by Scott Price Manuscript Papers of Joseph L. Rawlins, University of Utah Library Utah State Archives and Record Service, Third District Court Records, Series 6836, Reel #1, cases 73 and 77. Memoir, by Alice Price Whitehouse

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