Joseph Orgill was born to Joseph Orgill Sr. (another Joseph making him # 4) and Sarah Whetton on 22 January 1814 in England. In 1835 he married Elizabeth Lowe. Elizabeth was born on June 9,1813, to Samuel Lowe, and Sarah Fletcher. They came to America in 1872 after their son Joseph(2) had come in 1865. Their children are as follows:
Joseph and his family came to America in 1872, went to Draper for a short time, they were persuaded by the "Shipley" family to move on the Paradise, Utah and settle there. Samuel, their son, stayed in England. Elizabeth's family name is recorded with both spellings, Low and Lowe. Elizabeth and Joseph died in 1895. Joseph on June 24, 1895, and Elizabeth on November 22, 1895. They are buried in the Paradise Cemetery where there is a monument for them. Joseph was known as a great preacher. Richard Orgill said that he had been told that he was a great scriptorian of the bible, in fact it was said that he had memorized the New Testament.
Life of Joseph Orgill Jr. And Elizabeth Low Orgill As told by their Daughter Phoebe Norris Written by her Granddaughter
Joseph Orgill, born Jan 22, 1814 at Hartshorne, Derbyshire, England. Elizabeth Low born June 9, 1813, at Newhall, Staffordshire, England. They were married about 1834 and were parents of four children when they embraced the Church. They were baptized Sept 5, 1842. Grandmother as a girl worked on a dairy farm in England, she was an excellent milk maid and a very good and fast knitter. She also had a very good soprano voice and her voice rang out singing the songs of zion. After she was married she also worked at the pot works with grandfather to help support the family and earn enough money to emigrate them to Utah. Grandfather was a boss at Gresn’t pot works in Derbyshire England. He worked in the department where the dishes were packed,. He was a very ardent church member. On Sunday, he would walk six or seven miles to his meetings and be back home ready for work Monday morning at six o’clock. He was a great friend of the missionaries. They were always welcome at their home where they seldom left without a shoe shine. They had a great desire to come to Utah to be with the Saints. So they made many sacrifices to be with the Saints in order to accomplish this. As a family they worked together. Their eldest son, Joseph was married so as soon as money could be obtained to pay for he and his wife and three children’s passage they left for America. They crossed the plains to Utah by handcart and their baby was buried by the wayside. They settled at Draper, Utah. Here he stood out as a band and orchestra leader. He played both the cornet and violin.
A daughter, Mary was the next to leave. After coming to Utah she met and married Charles Housely.
Edward and Nephi came together. When they arrived in New York, there was only enough money for one to come to Utah, so Nephi stayed in the East until he could earn enough money to bring him to Utah.
While in England, Edward met with a terrible accident. There was a coal mine close where Grandfather lived and at times there would be some coal scattered at the opening of the pit and people were allowed to get this coal. It was not a good grade of coal, but at times they were glad to get it. There was machinery at the mouth of the pit and in some way, Edward’s coat got caught on the wheel, pulling him into the machinery. He suffered several broken limbs and ribs, also the loss of an arm. However he recovered and after coming to Utah, married and raised a large family. Elizabeth came next. On Dec 25, 1846, Grandfather and mother lost a baby girl by the name of Sarah. The minister of the church of England told them that they could not bury the child in the Churchyard, because he was a Mormon. The Parson made several trips to get them to join the Church of England. But Grandfather said: No! I’ll dig a hole and bury her in the garden first, before I’ll deny Mormonism. The parson later told them they could bury the child in the Churchyard but it would have to be done at nine o’clock at night by lantern.
Samuel (the second eldest son) whose wife was very bitter against the Church, did not come to America, but remained in England and raised their family.
The time finally arrived when Grandfather and Grandmother could leave for America. They still had a daughter, 16, home with them (Phoebe).
Prior to this time the boss at the pet works had given Grandfather an easier job and also had him sign papers to work a certain length of time. The boss was very bitter against Mormonism and opposed Grandfather’s eagerness to get his family to America. He was a reliable worker, and had a good sense of humor, but never missed an opportunity to preach the Gospel among his fellow workers. This agitated the boss and though he liked Grandfather for his work, he disliked when there was a discussion of religion.
The luggage all was sent in Phoebe’s name. Grandfather didn’t dare mention he was coming to America. It was taken six miles away to a friend’s home by night. Richard Salisbury. Grandfather and Grandmother asked for time off to see their daughter set sail for America, which was granted and by the time the boss found out, they had all left for America. The Orgill family were all out on the ocean sailing for the land of the free. This was the year of 1872.
The boss was very angry with Grandfather, but it would have been a lot of bother to have brought him back to hold him to his agreement. They arrived in Utah and settled at Draper, Utah, where the rest of the family members were located. Later they moved to Paradise, Cache County, Utah where they remained the rest of their lives.
However, they had a very trying experience on their way by train on the prairie of Wyoming. Phoebe went to the aid of another lady who had a sick baby. While stepping from one car to another, she lost her balance and fell from the train, leaving her alone out on the prairie.
This is an account of the incident as told by Phoebe:
My father, mother, a cousin and myself were the members of our own family, who with a great crowd of other Saints, took the train en route to Salt Lake City, Utah. Brother James Leishman, later of Wellsville, Utah, was president of the Co. Traveling in the same car with us was a lady with three small children, one of which was very ill and the Saints helped as best they could in caring for the child. When the train stopped in Omaha, Nebraska, we had to change trains. In making the transfer, we and the lady with the sick child got in dfferent cars. A little later, on making an inquiry about the little one from the president of the company. I was informed that the lady needed the assistance of some good sister to care for her child. I volunteered to go which I did immediately. I stayed all night and the next morning about 8 o’clock, I started back to my own car to get some medicine. I took along a glass tumbler to carry the medicine back. There was quite a step between cars and as a rule there was always some one to help one making the step from one car to another. This morning, however, there was no one to help, so I reached for the brake with one hand to help myself and held the glass with the other. There was a terrific wind blowing which caused me to lose my balance and I fell from the train to the ground. I landed on my feet, with the unbroken glass in my hand and to my dismay, I saw the next six cars go by leaving me alone on the open prairie. After the train had gone, I saw a long way back, and on the opposite side of the tracks a group of section men and I started towards them. Evidently they saw me for they put the handcar on the track and started towards me. I explained to them how I happened to be there and asked them to at least get word to my parents some way that I was not hurt and would join them as soon as I could. They told me it would be impossible to get word to them until the next train which would be a matter of 24 hours. I was taken by these men, back up the track to the home of the section boss. This man and his family were very kind to me although they did everything in their power to convince me I should be sorry if I went on to Sale Lake City. They wanted me to forget the Church and my parents and remain there with them as their own child. I was very troubled because I could not get word to my parents, still somehow, I felt my father would come for me. During the night, I was unable to sleep because I was tormented with what the girl called bedbugs. I had never heard of bedbugs, except being told, while at home in England, only dirty people had bedbugs. So I took my quilt and lay on a bench, but the bugs followed, so I had very little rest that night. During the night a nephew of the section boss, came in by train and came to the house. When I heard the knock on the door, I ran to the door saying Oh! It’s my father, I know! I was very disappointed at being met by a stranger. The next morning, after being convinced I would not be persuaded to stay, only by force, the gentleman flagged the train, told the conductor the circumstances of my being there. He agreed to have me in Ogden 20 minutes after my parents arrived there. During that trip all the passengers besieged my car to see the girl who had fallen from the train without breaking the glass she held and without getting hurt. When the train landed in Ogden, Brother Leishman ran into the car, picked me up in his arms and carried me to my parents, who by this time, almost distraught with grief, thinking they would never know what had become of their child.
(Signed Phoebe Orgill Norris).
Mother told us that the lady with the sick child said she would keep the tumbler for a keep sake to remember the event that happened as they traveled through the desert in the year 1872.
There was another son, William and family to come to America 1873. They also settled in Paradise Utah.
Grandfather did work in the Logan Temple whenever he could. My father Joseph Norris would take him by team. This was not an easy task as the summer months were spent providing for his family for winter, so in the spring of the year and early winter, when weather would permit they would go to the Temple. The roads were not graveled and therefore were very muddy and full of chuck holes. They would leave home at 4 am in order to get to the temple, a distance of 12 miles.
Grandfather loved to talk about the gospel principles and when it was announced that brother Orgill would be the speaker on Sunday, the church house would be filled to capacity.
Death came to Grandfather Joseph Orgill, June 24, 1895, and to Grandmother Elizabeth Low Orgill on Nov 22, 1895, at Paradise, Utah, Cache County.