From: Ella Berry Leigh scrapbook, approximately 1967

Item — Folder: 1

Identifier: MSS 3319 Item 5

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Typed and printed selections of family history information related to the Leigh and Berry families. Includes some information on the death of Elder William Shanks Berry, Ella Berry Leigh's father, who was killed in Tennessee in 1884 while serving as a missionary for the Church in the Southern States Mission.

Dates

approximately 1967

Creator

Leigh, Martha Eleanor, 1879-1980 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Leigh and Berry family papers must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Coordinating Committee.

Biographical / Historical

Martha Eleanor "Ella" Berry Leigh (1879-1980) was a teacher and early resident in Iron County, Utah.

Martha Eleanor Berry, who went by "Ella" was born on 13 June 1879 in Kanarraville, Utah, to William Shanks Berry and Rebecca Rocena Beck. She attended school in Kanarraville and later at the Parowan Stake Academy in Cedary City. In May 1900 Ella graduated with the first class of the Normal School in Cedar City, and went on to attend the University of Utah. Upon graduation she returned to Iron County and was hired on as a teacher for the county school district, where she met William Henry "Harry" Leigh. On 28 April 1903 Ella and Harry were married in the St. George Temple, and made their home in Cedar City. They had 10 children together.

As a family they enjoyed traveling together. Ella was also involved in many clubs and associations, including the Home Economic Club, Art Club, American Association of University Women, Relief Society, The Round Table Club, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (Cedar Camp), and Fifty Year Club for the Branch Normal School. She also enjoyed documenting the history of her and her husband's families.

Ella Berry Leigh died on 29 January 1980 in Cedar City, Utah, at the age of 98.

Biographical / Historical

William Shanks Berry (1838-1884) was a early Utah pioneer and missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Tennessee.

William Shanks Bery was born on 3 February 1838 in Dresden, Tennessee, to Jesse Woods Berry and Armelia Shanks. While a young boy, his family joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and moved to join the Saints in Nauvoo. His father died in Nauvoo. William and his widowed mother and the rest of his siblings left Nauvoo for Utah, arriving in October 1849. They were called to settle in Palmyra, near Spanish Fork. Here he met Rebecca Rocena Beck, and they were married on 22 November 1860. Soon after William and Rebecca were called to settle in Kanarraville, Utah, and take up farming. Here they had a ranch with horses, cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens.

William was the second postmaster in Kanarraville for several years and helped organize the Kanarraville Cooperative Store. He was also president of the Kanarraville Cattle Company.

In April 1884, William left on a mission to the Southern States, where he served primarily in his home state of Tennessee. While on his mission, on 10 August 1884, he and three other missionaries were attacked by a mob, and William was shot and killed, along with Elder John H. Gibbs.

The body of William Shanks Berry eventually made its way back to Utah, where it was buried in Kanarraville.