Mary Ann Knighton Childs

Mary Ann Knighton was born in Minorsville, Skull, Pennsylvania, on July 1, 1856. Her parents, John Knighton and Mary Marsden joined the church in England and immigrated to America. They first settled in Pennsylvania, then moving to Illinois, where more children were born. In 1862, the family began their journey west with ox teams in Brother Wareham's Company. The journey was made without accident or trouble with the Indians. Mary Ann, then a girl of six, remembered finding beads and trinkets at Indian camp grounds. She also remembered crossing rivers and streams of water. They arrived in Salt Lake City in September 1862, settling in Bountiful.

 In 1864 the family moved to Fort Alma, later called Monroe. During the Black Hawk days their cattle were stolen many times and always their lives were in danger. Finally Fort Alma was abandoned and the Knightons come to Fort Gunnison for protection on April 20th, 1867. As the oldest, Mary Ann was very busy helping her mother with the household work. As a young girl Mary Ann did the family spinning, making yarn for stockings, mittens and cloth used to dress the family. She made four and sometimes five skeins of yarn a day, which necessitated her walking all day using a large spinning wheel. The family of six lived in the fort in one log room having a rock floor. In the spring of 1868, the Indians stole the Knighton team and they had to give up farming. John Knighton took up shoe making as a trade instead. Mary Ann's mother, Mary, owned the first sewing machine in the fort and with the help of Mary Ann made shirts and overalls that were sold in the co-op store, managed by John Knighton.

Mary Ann married William David on November 20, 1876. They moved to Centerfield on her 21st birthday (July 1, 1877), where she lived for 60 years. In 1881 Mary Ann and one other woman cooked for 60 men who were building a railroad at Green River. That same year she and Will and two children went to to St. George to the temple to be sealed as a family. In 1890 they again went to build railroads, this time between Gunnison and Salina. This time she was the mother of eight children and did the cooking for 20 men. Mary Ann had 11 children, four of which died. Will died on September 30, 1927. Mary Ann died on April 2, 1938.