Henry Heath

Henry Heath (November 22, 1828 – April 4, 1908) was a Mormon pioneer and lawman in the Utah Territory, United States.

Family and early childhood Heath was born in Hanley, Staffordshire, England on November 22, 1828, to John Heath and Barbara Hulme. He was the second of five children Henry's father was a decorator of fine china, while his mother started out as a cook before practicing medicine for a short time.

Shortly after Heath's birth in 1828, his father became ill with typhoid fever. The illness left John Heath debilitated and unable to practice his trade. To supplement the family's income, Barbara Heath bought a bakery. and his father, John Silcock, was a carpenter who was in and out of work until he died in 1847.

John Heath died of tuberculosis on September 8, 1841.

In the early 1840s, members of Heath's family, including his mother, converted to Mormonism.

Emigration to Nauvoo At age seventeen, Heath left England with his mother and two brothers on September 1, 1845. The family eventually settled in the Mormon community of Nauvoo, Illinois.

Nauvoo was in turmoil when Henry arrived after the death of Joseph Smith sixteen months earlier. Since that time, mobs of anti-Mormon agitators regularly harassed residents. By October 1845, the future of the Latter-day Saint settlement at Nauvoo was increasingly in doubt. Pressured by the state militia and continued mob violence, most residents were preparing to depart the city, ultimately for settlement in the American West. (See Mormon Pioneers article.) Edward Hunter and Nicholas Silcock secured a wagon (likely built by Silcock) and trained Henry and the boys to drive teams. They were scheduled to leave Nauvoo in February, but stayed behind with Hunter while he attempted to sell his considerable property in Nauvoo. When that proved futile, Barbara Heath and her three sons left Nauvoo in April, 1846 along with Edward Hunter and his family. The Heaths lived in Nauvoo for only six months. They traveled to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and then on to Winter Quarters at the North part of present-day Omaha Nebraska, arriving in September 1846. Nicholas and Jane Heath Silcock remained behind for one more month while Nicholas assisted in the final work on the Nauvoo temple. Several volumes in his own writing, plus numerous compilations of family history indicated Nicholas and Thomas did not immediately follow with the saints west. Poor and without funds, they would move to St. Louis where Thomas became the leader of the sixth ward of saints. Edward Hunter, a couple of years later back in St. Louis would encourage Thomas and Jane to move west to avoid a bad fever plague hindering Jane's health in the St. Louis area.

Orphan At Winter Quarters, the sudden influx of approximately 2,500 settlers strained local resources. Despite efforts to trade with local residents and American Indians, many suffered from scurvy due to the lack of fresh vegetables in their diet. Still weak from a battle with malaria ("ague") contracted en route from Nauvoo, Barbara Heath contracted scurvy and, "lay ill for fourteen weeks." She died October 20, 1846, from either scurvy or malaria and was buried in an unmarked grave. Her name is listed, however, on a memorial to Mormons who died at Winter Quarters. Barbara's death left Henry (aged 18) and his two brothers, Thomas (15) and Frederick (13) orphaned.

Trek to Salt Lake Valley Edward Hunter became the Heaths' surrogate father. He led a wagon company of 155 people and 59 wagons from Winter Quarters to the Great Salt Lake Valley. Henry, and most likely Thomas Heath, were teamsters in the company. They are listed as members of the company in a letter sent from the trail by Hunter to Church leaders on August 17, 1847. Henry departed Winter Quarters June 19 and entered the Salt Lake Valley on October 1, 1847. Henry Heath was one of the 47 men in the company who explored as far south as the confluence of the Virgin River and Muddy rivers (south of present-day St. George, Utah). They traveled over 526 miles, identified more than 26 sites for future settlement, described soil, vegetation and watershed and charted the transportation routes used in settlement.

The expedition departed at the beginning of winter and soon encountered bitter cold and deep snow. The original plan was to go to the southern end of the Virgin River gorge. By the time they reached the Muddy river, supplies were running low. (Several men on horseback did explore part of the Virgin River gorge.) On the return journey they traveled north, encountering deep snow that made travel with the wagons extremely difficult. At one point they even removed the wheels from the wagons and attempted to pull them like sleds over the snow. They survived mainly on rabbits and sleeping in holes in the snow. Although a rescue party was sent back, it was seven weeks before the snow was melted enough to return with the wagons. Henry and Sarah gave birth to 12 children born from 1852 to 1878. All of the children were born in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Frontier lawman Henry Heath worked as a law enforcement officer from as early as 1862 until at least 1868. During that time he participated in several cases that typified the rough-hewn legal system in the American West. The most famous, the apprehension of a grave robber, has been widely embellished, prompting at least one article attempting to debunk some of the more fantastical claims. to support his large family. He was well known in the community and was celebrated later in his life as one of the original Utah pioneers of 1847. He died in Salt Lake City on March 30, 1908.