|
DANIEL HANMER WELLS BRIGHTON by Eunice Tidwell Merrill
Daniel Hanmer Wells Brighton was the last child of William Stewart and Catherine Bow Brighton (Scottish converts to the church who crossed the plains with the Israel Evans Handcart Company in 1857) and was born 1 Jan 1864 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
On August 29, 1877, when Daniel was 13 years old, he carried the message from Salt Lake to Brighton on horseback that Brigham Young had died. Daniel carried the first mail from Alta on horseback.
His parents built the first Brighton Hotel. When it burned down, they rebuilt the new hotel. A mortgage taken out on all the mining property, the old hotel and cottages (70 acres), and the city property at 849 East 1st South including Robert's and Dan's homes, but his father died and it was all taken over by the Moyle family who held the mortgages. [Excerpts from Treasures of Pioneer History, p. 380, 382, and 384.]
I have few memories of Grandpa Brighton. I can only remember one or two short visits. I know he lived with Uncle Harold and Aunt Bertha in Firth, Idaho.
Of course, I have no memory of a grandmother connected with him. Evaleo McCarthy, his first wife and my mother's mother, died when my mom was only 13 days old. He was left with Mom and her two older sisters, Stella and Ruby. I did not know Ruby. She was a school teacher and became ill and died at age 25.
I loved Aunt Stella. She visited us and we visited her. My mom was so much like her. You would never leave their homes being hungry. How I wish I had made record of all the things Aunt Stella used to tell us. She knew all family history, but I became interested too late.
Grandpa married Evaleo's sister, Angelena McCarthy, and had one son, Dan. I don't know how long they were married before Angelena died. I remember Uncle Dan being special in my life. He would send Barbara and me a dollar at Christmas, and I thought he was so rich. I also remember his sending me some pralines (a delicious maple-like sugar candy filled with pecans) from somewhere down south. He was a bachelor but did marry later.
Grandpa then married Josephine Scott, who died after having five children. The two girls were Aunt Catherine and Aunt Florence. As children, we were so excited when Aunt Florence's first husband, Bill Stoven, would circle our house in his airplane (which was not a common sight in those days) which would be the signal for Dad and Mom to drive to the Logan airport to get him. We also visited Uncle Harold and Uncle Elliott, but I don't remember Uncle Ernest.
Grandpa Brighton died when I was in the sixth grade. He must have been a great guy, as I found a picture in my parents' photo album of him fishing, and we know fishermen are great! |