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Born 11/16/1819, Blairloggie, Perth, Scotland
Died: 4/24/1883, Beaver, Utah
Ebenezer Gillies was born November 16, 1819 at Blairlogie Perth, Scotland, the son of John Gillies and Christina Gibb. He was the first son in a family of six children, and by the age of 21, was listed on the 1841 census as a coach wright or a builder of horse-drawn coaches. In March of 1842. Ebenezer and his brother, Robert, were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His father and 12-year-old sister, Mary Ann, followed them into the waters of baptism. His mother by this time, had passed away. Ebenezer and his brother became woodworkers, and their trades took them to Newcastle, Northumberlandshire, on the east coast of England. He belonged to the Sutherland, England, LDS branch. On March 12, 1848, he married 17-year-old Esther Whittaker, born on April 15, 1830, in Cowpen, Northumberland, England.
They had a son John Ebenezer, who died in infancy in 1850. Esther died on April 6, 1852, in Southwick, England. IN 1853, Ebenezer married Ann Burton Gaitus, the daughter of John Gaitus and Isabella Ward, in Sunderland, England. She was born October 22, 1833, in Newcastle, on Tyne, England. Ebenezer’s greatest wish now was to emigrate to the United States and join the Saints and join Utah. He and Ann departed Liverpool on April 8, 1854 on the Ship Marshfield in a total company of 370 saints and under the direction of Elder William Taylor.
They arrived in New Orleans on May 29, 1854. From there, they made preparations to join the William S. Empey Company at the outfitting post in Westport, Missouri, and started on their journey across the plains on July 9, 1854, in a company of 43 wagons. Ebenezer and Ann Journeyed for nearly four months without incident and arrived in Salt Lake City on October 24, 1854. Upon their arrival in the valley, they settled for a time in Provo, where their first two of ten children were born. Joseph Smith was born in 1855, and Mary Ann was born in 1857.
They Settled in Beaver, Utah, in 1859, and Ebenezer farmed, worked as a machinist, and excelled at carpentry. Ann tended the home and bore eight more children: Ebenezer, born 1859; Robert John, born in 1861; Margaret Christina, born 1863; Duncan Moroni, born 1865; Isabelle, Born 1867; Sara Jane, born 1869; George Burton, born 1871; and James Ward, born 1872. Ebenezer’s brother Robert, moved to Beaver with his family and the two brothers specialized in cabinet making, a trade which they had learned in their native land, and soon they were making substantial furniture for the Beaver pioneers. This was a very useful trade as they made chairs, bedsteads, and other articles of furniture. Their workmanship was perfect and some of their chairs and chests are still prized by some of their descendants. Ebenezer was a high priest.
He passed away on April 24, 1883, in Beaver, Utah. Ann Died on March 8, 1901. The Deseret Newson March 14, 1901, reported, and the respected lady died on Saturday last and was buried yesterday.
