Meet Amelia Evans, my 3rd Great-Grandmother on my father's side. She was born April 8, 1838 in Gwespyr, a village on the north coast of Wales to Peter Evans and Anne Blydden Evans. Her family moved to Lancaster, England where they met missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and were baptized into the faith.
Amelia Evans
Though her entire family wanted to emigrate to the United States to join members of the Church, they were victims of the economic depression and couldn't afford to travel together. Amelia, being the oldest, left her family and sailed from Liverpool on the ship "Thornton" on May 3, 1856. The rest of her family was unable to make the trip until five years after Amelia arrived in New York.
She traveled by train to Iowa City and joined the over 400 members of the ill-fated Willie Handcart Company. They left late in the season with inadequate food and supplies. Throughout their treacherous journey, Amelia was known for her kindness and given the nickname "Charity."
At Rocky Ridge, the company encountered a severe snowstorm that halted their progress. When Amelia and another woman saw that one of the men in the group was missing, they walked back many miles to find him. When they did, they put him in his handcart and pushed him through the snow back to camp. That same night, 13 emigrants died making the 16-mile trek up the Ridge.
Willie Handcart plaque at Rocky Ridge
A rescue group came from Salt Lake with provisions, saving their lives. The Willie Handcart Company didn't reach the Salt Lake Valley until November 9, 1856, six months after leaving England. Sixty-seven died on the journey, but Amelia survived.
Three months after arriving in Salt Lake, she became the sixth wife of Williams Washington Camp. She was 18 and he was 56. Within six years of marriage, she gave birth to five children—Amelia Ann, Williams Peter, Charlotte, Laura Jane and Mary Magdalene. Williams Peter was the only one that lived to adulthood. After Charlotte's death, they adopted a baby girl named Deseret.
Williams Washington Camp, Amelia Evans Camp, and two of their children
When Amelia was 25, she was arrested for manslaughter. Williams accused her of the murder of their daughter, Laura Jane, who had died at 5 months old. She was arraigned Monday, March 16, 1863. Aurelius Miner appeared for the prosecution and James Ferguson was appointed the defense in the case of the people of Utah v. Amelia Camp. After being in custody for a week, the jury returned a not-guilty verdict.
She returned home to her husband and stayed with him until September of 1864 when, at 8 1/2-months pregnant, she filed for divorce. According to the divorce record, Amelia was happy the first year of their marriage, but the following five years were miserable. She stated that Williams often "beat her with his fists, struck her with horse whips and inflicted wounds and bruises upon her body, head, face, and arms of the most brutal character and otherwise treated her in an unfeeling manner, and that she was living in circumstances where she was in constant fear and danger for her life."
December 16, 1864, Amelia married William Davis in a ceremony conducted by Brigham Young when she was 26 and he 25. Together, they raised Williams Peter and Deseret and had 10 children together—William Henry, Martha Ellen, Robert, Albert Franklin, John Edward, Rhoda, David L, Arthur Edward, Phoebe and Thomas Morgan. John died at Birth and David died at a year old.
In 1876, they moved to Samaria, Idaho, where William built a rock house. Amelia's children remember her as an excellent cook and seamstress. Her youngest child was just five years old when she died October 8, 1886. She was 48 years old.