Matthew Mansfield - by his grand son

Matthew Mansfield

            Grandfather Matthew Mansfield was born 25 Oct 1810 at Brambly Parish, Surrey, England.  He came to Utah with an ox team and settled in the place called Dixie about the time when St. George was just being colonized (about 1867).

            He was a member of the Nauvoo Legion in about 1848.  After living in St. George for a while he took up a farm in Salt Lake County just south of where Nibley Park is now situated.  He had eighty acres of land and gave his sister Miriam Ford twenty acres.  This dear old soul lived to the age of 96 years.  He did not homestead it.  On this small farm he built an adobe house, and back of the house he built a cellar.  On top of this cellar he built a room, and in this room is the place where my mother was born on the 3rd of June 1857.  There were two rooms upstairs.  At this time he owned the largest house in this part of the country and many ward dances and parties were held here before the Mill Creek Ward House was built.

            Mill Creek ran just west of where the house was built.  A wonderful spring of cold water was there, and this is said to be the head of the creek.

            At the time Grandfather Mansfield was living in St. George, he was called on a mission and spent most of his time there until he became an old man.  He traveled back and forth with ox team.  Later he rented a farm house (here) and married grandmother (Johanna Christina Winberg).  She had been married before to a man by the name of Peterson.  She was born 24 May 1824, (or May 3) in Lund, Sweden.  Matthew Mansfield married Johanna Christina Winberg and their children were:

            Isabella Maria Mansfield      who married:  Brigham Rees

                                                                                                            (my mother and father)

            Mary Ann Mansfield              who married:  ______ Bentley

            Matthew Mansfield                who married:  (2)       Annie Bastian

            Sarah Mansfield                    (died as an infant)

           

            Johnnie Mansfield     (who went hunting, shot his own toe and

                                                             died because of it) (Son of Margaret Haslem                                                                   Mansfield)

            Grandmother Mansfield came over with the handcart company and her first husband (Peterson) died on the way.  Their family consisted of three boys whose names were Fred Peterson, John Peterson and Ephraim Peterson.  Two older sons, Peter (baby) and Peter (15) died at Mill Creek.