Yardley Brothers-John Yardley and Three Sons

Contributed By

“History; of Yardley Bros.-

As compiled by Gladys Oakden and Abe Murdock in 1956”

Submitted by S. Howard (from Yardley family history and D.U.P. files)

The Beaver Press �� February 16, 2006

John Yardley, born in Stafforshire, England, July 21, 1817, his Irish sweetheart, Mary Sheen born Ireland, March 15, 1824, had lived together as man and wife without any children when they first heard a missionary preaching the Gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were deeply impressed by this religion, and after becoming very friendly with the Mormon Missionary they were promised if they would join the Mormon Church and live their religion, their marriage would be blessed with children.

Having sincere faith in the Gospel preached by the Mormon Missionaries and their promise, John and Mary Sheen Yardley joined the Church and came to the United States, headed for Utah in 1843.

They landed in St. Louis where John went to work to secure sufficient funds to continue on to Utah. Being a highly skilled iron worker, he went to work for a large steel producing firm in St. Louis, where, because of his excellent service, he was importuned by the manager to continue on with the firm rather than going on to Utah. But the great faith of these immigrants, so typical of the vast number of Pioneers who came to Utah, impelled them to decline even a half interest in the St. Louis firm in order to join the Saints in Utah and keep their pledge to the Mormon Missionaries.

John and Mary Sheen Yardley arrived in Salt Lake City in 1852. Because of John’s

previous experiences as an iron worker, he was sent by Brigham Young to Cedar City, Utah, where an Iron foundry had been established. They arrived in Cedar City after their first promised child was born dead and buried in Salt Lake City. Their first living child was born December 3, 1854, in Cedar and was Sarah Yardley, later Cartwright. The Yardleys moved soon to Beaver, arriving in 1856, and on November 18, 1859 William Edward Yardley was born.

Later John was called to Scipio (Then known as Round Valley.) to guard the settlement from the Indians, and while there James Heber was born on June 21, 1862. Their stay in Round Valley was brief after which they returned to Beaver where their last son, Daniel Alfred was born December 16, 1865.

Sarah Yardley became the wife of Thomas Cartwright and from this marriage came the very large family, she numbers of which have contributed greatly in the growth of their home town.

John Yardley and his wife Mary Sheen Yardley became very; devout and faithful members of the Mormon Church. Mary was a gifted singer and sang in the church choir and frequently entertained at social and other functions with her fine voice.

The livestock industry since the settlement of Beaver has been one of its chief industries. The hills and mountains surrounding Beaver and the desert in Western Beaver were ideal summer and winter range for cattle and sheep. Early in their lives William, James, and Daniel Alfred, commonly known as Bill, Jim, and Al, saw the worthwhile future in the livestock business, and as mere boys decided on that as a source of living for them. As a result of their efforts in this line or work, the name “Yardley” had become synonymous with “livestock.”

While still in their teens these three intelligent and industrious boys formed a partnership known as “Yardley Brothers.” This firm was unique largely because of the faith, confidence, and devotion of these three brothers to each other and their indefatigable ambition and energy to make a success of their livestock venture. All three were prodigious workers and were absolutely fearless in any livestock venture that a reasonable chance of success. To be successful livestock men meant that they must accumulate farmlands and range rights. Their efforts in this line is without parallel in the history of Beaver. It was not long until the firm name of “Yardley Brothers” by either Bill, Jim, or Al were received throughout the vast area of Southern Utah as being just as good as U.S. currency. They soon became unlimited, and they were recognized as one of the largest livestock and farming operations in Southern Utah. Notwithstanding the tremendous energy and time it has taken to accumulate their livestock and farming interests, Jim found time to perform three missions for the Mormon Church. His brothers, Bill and Al, without any complaint took care of the firms interest while Jim preached the Gospel of the Church of Latter-day Saints as a Mormon Missionary in various parts of the Country. Bill and Al, while both being very religious men,

depended upon Jim to attend church and other religious functions, or, in other words, their partnership even included religion. The Yardley Bros. Firm were generous contributors to the Murdock Academy, and to every project in their community.

Bill, early in his life became very much interested in the future of mining in Beaver County and invested generously in nearly every prospect in the surrounding hills. Jim and Al never took much of an interest in mining, but never raised the slightest complaint when advised by Bill that he was putting a thousand or two in some mining adventure. All three of them, notwithstanding their time and energy-consuming livestock and farm, usually found time to participate in horse racing and other community celebrations.

This unique and fine partnership of Yardley Brothers lasted until the families of the three brothers began to mature and as they (the brothers) were becoming elderly gentlemen the great firm of Yardley Brothers was dissolved in the middle 1920’s after a very; long and successful career. It was the generation of the Yardley Brothers that largely produced and directed the farm and livestock economy of their community. Their physical contributions to Beaver were large.

The example and reputation for industry, honesty, perseverance, brotherly love and respect of the partnership of Yardley Brothers will long be remembered by all who knew it and their sterling characters who comprised it.

Al was the first of the brothers to die. His death occurred on April 27, 1927. Bill was next, August 29, 1927. Jim followed him on February 22, 1946. All three left fine families. All of whom are sincere member of the Mormon Church and are testimony to the promise made by the Mormon Missionaries long years ago and to the faith of their grandparents John and Mary Sheen Yardley.

By Gladys Yardley Oakden and Sen. Abe Murdock

Correction and Clarification by Cliff Yardley:

The above article contained some errors and inaccuracies when it was published in the Beaver Press on February 16, 2006. Except for unknown typing errors on my part, the above was typed exactly as it appeared in the Newspaper. A few items that warrant clarification/correction are:

1. John and Mary were baptized in England in September 1849 so they would not have come to America until after that date.

2. John and Mary arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, 29 September 1851, with the John Brown Company (http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/companyDetail?lang=eng&companyId=75)

3. Their first baby, John, was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, 25 June 1852 and died 9 August 1852. His birth and death documentation are attached to his Family Tree record.

4. It is interesting to note that it is almost exactly 9 months from the day John and Mary entered the Salt Lake Valley, 29 September 1851, to the day their first baby was born, June 25, 1852. Thus fulfilling the missionary promise that they would have children if they would embrace the gospel.

Note: Gladys Oakden is a daughter of William “Bill” Edward Yardley and Abe Murdock is his son-in-law. Which makes Gladys a granddaughter of John Yardley and Mary Sheen and makes Abe their grandson-in-law.