This is a picture of the Iowa countryside that taken about 8 miles North East of the old Kanesville Tabernacle in 2006 by a great grandson of Feargus, Edward Lowe Willden. Because records were not kept of land purchases until 1853 there is no record of where the actual farm of Charles and Eleanor Willden was.

Feargus O'Connor Willden and his second wife, Mary Hibbard Smith Willden. Feargus and Mary were the parents of three daughters, Mary Hannah Willden Warby, Alice Rebecca Willden Warby, and Matha Eleanor Willden Haslem. Mary died in childbirth with their fourth child, a baby boy. The mother and son were buried together in the Beaver Utah City Cemetery.

Condensed Biography of Feargus O' Connor Willden

Written by Gladys Haslam Drennan (Grand-daughter) March 6, 1975.  read more »

Feargus O'Connor Willden was the fourth son of Charles William and Eleanor Turner Willden. He was born in 1840 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England

Feargus O'Connor Willden Resources

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Charles William Willden was born in Anston, England, in Yorkshire county, on the 27th of July, 1806. His eternal mate Eleanor Turner
was also born in Yorkshire county, in the village of Laughton, on the
9th of April, 1810. They met and were married in Laughton on January  read more »

When the Endowment house in Salt Lake City was finished in 1855, Charles and Eleanor made the trip to Salt Lake with team and wagon from Cedar City to be sealed in the Endowment House. They were sealed 9 October, 1855.  read more »

By 1859 the iron works had become a failure, and great numbers of people
moved away to seek new homes. The Willden's moved to the badlands or sinks
southeast of Beaver, then called lower Beaver. They arrived there Sunday,
March 24, 1859. Here Charles Willden and his four sons, Ellot, Charles,
John and Feargus each took up 10 acres of land.

Many times Charles had thought of making a home on Cove Creek and as
their land in Beaver proved to be poor, Charles bought 160 acres there
from Matthew McEwen of Beaver who had sheep there. - John Willden  read more »

After the Willdens arrived in Salt Lake City, Charles Willden was making
a deal with Lorenzo D. Young to be his farmer, but as soon as Lorenzo heard
the name Willden he wanted to know if he was Charles Willden, the steel
refiner by trade. Being answered in the affirmative, Lorenzo said he could
not make any other arrangements as he had heard his brother Brigham speak
of him and that he rather expected that his brother's intentions were to
send him to Cedar City, then known as Coal Creek, to work in the iron industry
there.  read more »

The Willdens left St. Louis 12 April 1850 on the steamer, "Correy", and arrived in Council Bluffs, Iowa, a new settlement, 4 May 1850. At Council Bluffs they bought a farm from a man named Solomon Walker, a farm consisting of 50-60 acres and two houses for the small sum of $20, as Walker was going to Salt Lake City. After paying for the place they had only two dollars left with which to buy necessities, and they were strangers in a new land, but they were able and willing to work.  read more »