Personal History - House of Goates

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BIOGRAPHY OF VHLLIAM GOATES
William Goates was born at Wlmpole. Cambridgeshire, Engl and,
~ay 11, 1817. He was the son of James Goates and Ann Dockery.
He spent hi s boyhood days working with his :father, James Goa.tes,
who 'ToaS a professional gardener. The beauties of nature appealed to him as
a small boy and he loved the trees and flowers and soon became an expert
in their care and cultivation. He later became the chie:f gardener of Lord
Hardwick Kansion, v.nose grounds covered 300 acres o:f lawn, shrubs and
flowers.
William was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints, December 1840 by Elder William Pierce, and
ordained an elder the same day. He was also sent the same day to C81llbridge
to preach the gospel. By his undaunted :faith and zealous labors he vms
sucoessfu1 in establishing the :first branch of the Church at Cambridge,
under the direction of the Bedford conference president. OVer which he
was later appointed to preside. Through his earnest labors and untiring
efforts, Cwnbridgeshire afterward became a conference.
In 1844 he married Susan Larkin, a dau ghter o:fThomas Larkin and Ann
Rayner. They always made their home a home of the elders, and always
bade them weloome.
The :family emigrated to utah, sailing from Liverpool, England, Tuesday,
February 10, 1852 in the ship "Ellen Marie" with a company o:f 369 saints.
At the time they had three children. After eight weeks at sea, they
landed at lie•;. Orleans. From there they went to St. Louis enroute to utah.
They crossed the plains in a covered wagon in the Captain A. O. Smoot Co.
of thirty-cne vmgons. He and his daughter Sarah contracted Mountain Fever
and Were ill during the trip.
They arrived at Salt Lake City, September
3,1852.
About ~~ weeks after their arrival in Salt Lake Ci~ he was sent to
settle in Lehi, utah with his fa."l1i1y.
consisting o:fhis wife Susan,
daughters Sarah Ann and Martha, and son Joseph W. His daughter Mary had
died before they had left England.
In April 1857, he married a plural wife, Rebecca Pilgrim, a daughter
of Samuel Pilgrim and Betsy Coote. She had been a survivor o:f Captain
Willie's handcart company of 1856.
His early life in Lehi was a struggle with the sterile soil. He acquired land by homestead and purchase, and hi s busy hands began to build and
to cultivate. He became extensively engaged in :farming as well as stock raising and ovmed the first horse team in Lehi. He was one of the first to import bees into Lehi. Hereafter he Was engaged in bees and the honey industry.
He loved all flowers-and trees and was the pioneer nurseryman and
floriculturist of the community. His trees and flowers were sbipped to
many parts of the country. His home was a profusion of flcwers from early
Spring until Winter killed them.
The industrial matters of the people always interested h~ and he was
an ardent advocate of home enterprises. He helped to promote the Sugar
Factory, Utah Woolen Mills and Peoples Co'op. lie also became a stockholder
in them.
In 1867 his wi£e Susan died Leavti n g 'six children. She was buried in
Lehi, 22 Feb. 1867. She had stood :faithfully by him in all the trials of
pioneer life, encouraging and giving him her helping h~~d in ell ~lat he
undertook to do.
William was always active ani faith:ful in Church matters and honorably filled the positions mentioned here. He was President of First Elders
Quorum in Lehi; ordained a High Priest and set apart as First Counselor to
Bishop David Evans April 4, 1877; afterward a~pointed to preside Over the
Lehi Branch of the High Priest Quorum in Ut~~ st~~e of Zion.
He ~~s elected City Councilman of Lehi, February 8, 1875. He was a
public spirited man. He did special guard duty against the depredations
of the Indians, and helped build the old Fort wall--his only tool being a
broken spade. He built a home on t..
he first block inside the Fort Wall,
and lived at that plaoe until he died.
~e assisted in early irrigation projects and road ~~ilding. He
vms a builder in every deed, his busy hands leaving many traces of their
"7mrk, both on the farm and in the gazoden and orchard, and especially in hi s
community.
His Unflinching devotion to that v.hich he believed, rightly won
for him a host of friends vtao were al~ffiyswelcomed to his home. At his home
he spent his declining years engaged in his life-loved vrork even of his boyhood days, enjoying the labors of his ovm hands in his well cultivated garden
of flowers and fruit trees.
"He was a ~An of unblemished charaoter. His
sterling honesty was proverbial, his faith immovable and his self-control
truly astonishingll•
He died Wednesday, octo~er 23, 1895 at 5:50 p.m. of general debility.
Beloved by all, he passed to the world beyond with the honors of a busy and
well spent life upon him.
He was the father of the following children:
Mary
Sarah Ann.
Martha.
Joseph W.
James T.
John
William
George H.
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