THE FIRST SETTLERS OF VIRGIN CITY, UTAH

Virgin City was the first little town site chosen on the Virgin River. The word “City”, was used in connection with the name of the river to make it easier to designate which was which, whenever it was recorded. The town never boasted of more than 500 population at any one time. It was called Pocketville by the Indians because it is situated in a low spot or pocket on the bank of the Virgin River, about 20 miles west of Zion National Park in Washington County, Utah.

In the spring of 1857, Seth Johnson and his brother Nephi, Darius Shirts and his brother, Carl Shirts, Anthony J. Stratton, James Bay, Andrew J. Workman, William Haslam, and Samuel Bradshaw camped on the La Verkin Creek and made a road up the face of the great Hurricane fault so they could explore the upper Virgin River country. One man had to stay at camp all the time to keep the Indians from stealing their food. They were about a month making the road and named it Johnson’s Twist. Seth Johnson was the first man to drive over the road, and he took two yoke of oxen with an empty wagon into the upper Virgin River valley. As soon as the road was passable. Nephi Johnson got several families from Cedar City and New Harmony to come and settle at Virgin City.

In the late fall of 1863, a number of families were “called” at the October Conference in Salt Lake City to the “Pinto” mission to raise cotton. They were John Parker, John N. Hinton, LeRoy W. Beebe, John Wood, George Lovekin, Joseph Hopkins, James Dougherty, George B. Gardner, Thomas Burgess, Robert Reeve, Edwin Ruthven Lamb, Brigham Young Lamb, Philitus Davis, John Dalton, Alexander Wright, Jefferson Wright, Joseph Wright, Daniel Matthews, and James Jepson, Sr. with one son, 8 years old, the author of this history. 

John Wood Sr., a convert from England, came to Virgin City in December 1862. His wife drove the oxen and he drove cattle for John Parker. He farmed and helped to build several homes. Later they moved to Grafton.

William, George, and Samuel Isom, all brothers, from England, came to Virgin City about 1863. William was married to Katherine Wolf, who came with him from England. Owen and Elizabeth, his father and mother, came in 1874 and they all moved to Mt. Dell. William and Kate raised a large family. Their sons, Will, John, and Sam, all filled missions, and Will and Sam both were bishops. George Isom married Alice Parker and moved back to Virgin City. He had a good education and was the first ward clerk of the Virgin Ward. He was the business manager of the mercantile organization during the “order”. He was a farmer and builder, and died in 1885, leaving a large family of girls and only one son. His wife was an expert needlewoman and she continued in the mercantile business until about 1900, when she took her family to be educated at the Brigham Young Academy in Provo.

Daniel Matthews was a convert from England. He came in 1862 with his wife and she died (just outside of Salt Lake City), leaving him with two children. He was a farmer and joint owner with John Parker in a “Chaff Piler”. He made a trip with Mary Leah Groves Lee, widow of John D. Lee, to Salt Lake City to be married. She had seven children, and together they had three children and all these children grew up in Virgin.

John Parker was an English convert who came in 1862, with his wives and their families. His first wife had died, leaving him with several children, and he married Ellen Douglas, a widow with several children, and they had one daughter, Alice Parker Isom. Ellen was the first Relief Society president in Virgin, and she had a loom and could weave beautiful white cloth from cotton grown at home.

Maria Jackson Normington, the third wife of John Parker was also a widow with three girls. They crossed the plains with the ill-fated Martin Handcart Company. She had two children with Parker, Richard and Marie. She was a singer, a weaver, and an excellent cook.

Virgin was made a branch of the Toquerville Ward about 1860, with Nephi Johnson as Presiding Elder, with Seth Johnson and George Bryant Gardner as assistants. In 1866, the Virgin Ward was formed with John Parker as Bishop, and Nephi Johnson, and George Isom Sr., as clerk. The following men later served as Bishops and counselors; James Jepson Sr., Anthony Stratton, and LeRoy W. Beebe. On the death of his father James Jepson Jr., was appointed as first counselor. Also serving through the years were; Charles P. Burke, Joseph Hilton, and Samuel Isom. James Jepson was Bishop of the Virgin Ward until he moved to Hurricane in 1910. James Humphries served as Ward clerk for three bishops.

This copy of The First Settlers of Virgin City are the property of Lenny Wilcox Brinkerhoff and is offered for personal use and research only. This may not be reprinted or used for commercial purposes without written permission.

Copyright © 2008 by Lenny Wilcox Brinkerhoff