Life Sketch of Squire Hepworth As told by his grandsons and granddaughter, Charles T. Hepworth, Wells Hepworth, and Gay Hutchison Additions and compilation by his great grandson, ELwood Dennett

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Squire Hepworth, son of Joseph Hepworth and Mary Hirst, was born May 4, 1843 in Drighlington, Yorkshire, England. When Squire was four years old, in 1847, the L.D.S. missionaries came to their home preaching the gospel. Joseph and Mary (Squire's parents) joined, being baptized into the Church - Mary, August 11th and Joseph, December 19th, 1847. When Squire was eight years old, he too was baptized, August 11, 1851.

At the age of nine, Squire went to work in the coal mines, and it appears that he continued to work in the mines until he was at least twenty years old for he is listed as a coal miner on his marriage certificate. At the age of twenty, August 9, 1863, he married Emily Dyson, daughter of John Dyson and Amelia Lambert. Emily was born January 28, 1845 at Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England. Emily did not join the Church in England.

The following is taken from the emigration records of the British Mission and the Leeds Conference:

Squire Hepworth, age 21 (a miner)
Emily, age 19
Sailed May 21, 1864 - Ship General McClenan

Emily was in the later months of her first pregnancy when they landed on the shores of America, a land which was to be their new home, a land of Zion, a land where some of the greatest battles known to man had just been fought, and were still being fought because the great Civil War was still in progress. However, the major battles were shifting farther and farther to the south by the time Squire and his wife landed in America. Undoubtedly, the family saw some of the destruction which had been caused by the war.

The road traveled by many of the Saints making their way across the plains was the same as traveled by those who were forced out of Nauvoo. At Garden Grove the road forked; one road going north, one south, and another west. The western road is mentioned by some as leading westward from Council Bluffs, but another western road is also mentioned which leads by way of Nebraska City. It is possible that this is the road which Squire and Emily took, and they were on their way northward toward the other western road when the birth of their son, Thornton, took place. Thornton was born July 14, 1864 at Wyoming, Nebraska, a little place eight miles up the Missouri River from Nebraska City. The records state that it was at Wyoming, Nebraska, where the family joined with the William S. Warren wagon train which was part of the Samuel D. White Company. Thornton was but five days old when the family resumed their travels toward Zion, and Thornton used to say that he was the youngest child ever to drive an ox team. The family arrived in Salt Lake City, October 4, 1864.

After arriving in Utah, Squire and family joined with his brother, Edmund Hepworth and wife and together they went to Smithfield, Cache County, Utah to make their home. Emily Ann, first daughter of Squire and Emily, was born in Smithfield, December 12, 1865. On the 10th of April 1866 Squire's wife, Emily, was baptized into the church. The following spring, March 9, 1867, Squire and his wife, along with Edmund and his wife, Hannah Cowling, went to the Endowment House to receive their endowments and have their sealings done.

Soon after this, Squire moved to the Oxford Branch in Idaho. Here their third child, Amelia Jane, was born on October 11, 1867 and on April 22, 1869 a second son, Squire Edmund, was born. On January 28, 1871, their fifth child, Joseph Ephraim, was born. He died as a child. On August 12, 1872 James Henry was born in Oxford.

On July 20, 1871, Squire married his second wife, Margaret Ellen Cox. They were sealed in the Endowment House on that date according to the Endowment Records. On December 1, 1872, Margaret gave birth to her first son, John William, in Oxford. Eliza Ellen, first daughter of Margaret and Squire, was born in Oxford, December 19, 1874.

It appears that from here, Squire moved Emily and her family to Stockton, Idaho, a place not far from Oxford, because it was here that their seventh child, Charles Dyson, was born on August 17, 1874. He died as a child. The eighth child of Emily, Clara Elizabeth, was born in Stockton, May 14, 1876.

Squire then moved both of his families to Springdale, Washington County, Utah. Springdale is situated at the entrance of what is now known as Zion National Park; at that time it was known only as Zion Canyon. Zion was dedicated as a National Park, September 15, 1920 but for a year or two prior to that date it had been designated as a National Monument by the Federal Government, and had been attracting people of prominence including a few great artists who had been captivated by the great beauty of the canyon.

The little town of Zion, situated seven miles up the canyon from Springdale, in the area where the Union Pacific Lodge is now located, was first settled by Isaac Behunin. He settled there in 1862 and was the one to give the canyon the name of "Zion." Behunin first settled at Northup then moved to Springdale and soon after moved into Zion Canyon. Behunin and his family raised tobacco and almost all of them used it. He had five sons and one daughter; his daughter was the only one who didn't use tobacco. President Brigham Young on one of his trips into the canyon went as far as the settlement called Zion. Nothing is recorded about his remarks about the beauty of the canyon; what he saw was Behunin's tobacco crop, and then exclaimed: "Brethren, this is not Zion; no, no, not Zion. Zion is the pure in heart." He turned around and went out of the canyon, followed by his company.

Edmund Hepworth and his wife, Hannah, also moved to Springdale at the same time Squire moved there. The St. George Temple records show that Edmund and his wife and that Squire and his wife, Emily, did work there in 1880.

According to the Springdale records, Squire was very active in the church. Some of the Springdale records were burned when Squire's home burned but enough of them were saved to reveal that Squire was Presiding Elder at the time Springdale was organized into a ward, November 6, 1887.

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