William Greenwood (1822-1891) was born on 7 August 1822 in Burnley, England. Against the will of his family, Greenwood converted to the LDS Church in November 1840. In 1842 he left England for Nauvoo, Illinois. A year later he married Alice Houghton, whom he had met on the voyage from England. Alice Houghton was born in Clayton, England on 8 May 1886. Greenwood and his wife migrated to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, arriving there in October. They settled first in Salt Lake City, and later in American Fork. Greenwood also married Emma Johan Mercer on 20 January 1864, and then Bertha Eyring in March 1869. Greenwood died on 26 January 1891.
The William Greenwood papers [photocopies] cover the years 1822-1889 and contain autobiographies and correspondence. In 1868 Greenwood wrote his autobiography, titled "Record and Genealogy of William Greenwood." The record begins with a copy of a patriarchal blessing given to Greenwood on 19 May 1845, by John Smith. Following this is Greenwood's typed autobiography which describes his boyhood in England, his conversion to the LDS Church, and the hardships he and his family suffered as they went from Nauvoo to the Great Salt Lake Valley. The record concludes with two handwritten notes, dated 1953, written by Alice Helen Greenwood Derrick and Charlotte Greenwood Hansen. These notes are short tributes to William Greenwood.
This collection also contains photocopies of twelve letters (1947-1886). The first letter, dated 17 October 1847, describes his journey across the plains. The remaining letters are from Greenwood to his niece Martha Turner of Burnley, England. These letters give little information about conditions in Utah. The last item in the Greenwood papers is a short autobiographical sketch of Alice Houghton Greenwood, Greenwood's first wife, written in 1881. This sketch is short and lacks detail.
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Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Gift of Josephine Voda, 1975.
Processed by Della L. Dye in 1979.
See also the following collection located at the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University:
The photocopied correspondence consist of 12 letters (1847-1886) addressed to family, but mostly to his niece, Martha Sumer.
The orignal item was created in 1869. Included in the bound volume is a patriarchial blessing and a handwritten autobiography (titled "Genealogy"). At the end of the volume is a handwritten entry by Alice Helen Greenwood Derrick stating she created the photocopy in 1953. She is William Greenwood's grand-daugter.
The item consist of a handwritten account orginally created in 1881.