Family Tragedy

William Heber ROUNDY son of  Lauren Hotchkiss ROUNDY and Joanna CARTER

and wife and first cousin

Malinda PARKER daughter of  John Davis PARKER and Almeda Sophia ROUNDY

William Heber Roundy

Birth 5 Feb 1846 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois

Death 23 Jul 1899 in Alton, Kane, Utah

Husband of Malinda PARKER daughter of John Davis PARKER and Almeda Sophia ROUNDY.  William and Malinda were the parents of ten children. 

Kanab, 1899: 

William [Heber] Roundy and Daniel Seegmiller, both respected citizens, engage in a quarrel over irrigation water. Each is looking after his own family--his own special group--each wanting to make sure his family gets its fair share. Resentment grows into rage, and Roundy kills Seegmiller. Shortly afterward, he kills himself.

On July 23, 1899, Wm. Roundy, finding no water in the ditch, became enraged and going to the home of Bro. Seegmiller, he called him outside and a few minutes later shot him through the heart. The murderer then returned to his home and ... (Latter-Day Saint biographical encyclopedia:)

Resentment grows into rage, and Roundy kills Seegmiller. Shortly afterward, he kills himself... (Utah History Society)

Sun. 23 Daniel Seegmiller, counselor to Pres. Edwin D. Wooljey of Kanab Stake, wasshot and killed by Wm. H. Roundy in Kane County. Utah. (Church chronology: a record of important events pertaining to the history of ...)

... Roundy had often accused Dan Seegmiller, on whose land the reservoir had been built, of stealing other ... (Western folklore: Volume 18)

Daniel Seegmiller, Counselor to President Edwin D. Woolley of Kanab Stake is shot andkilled by Wm. H. Roundy. (Improvement era, Volume 2, Part 2By Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association)

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The proper edge of the sky: the high plateau country of Utah By Edward A. Geary p.118 -120

There is scarcely a town in Utah that has not had, somewhere in its past, a violent dispute over water rights.  Most cases have been resolved as quietly as possible and consigned to the dark unspoken underside of the community’s Memory.  But occasionally one survives in the literary record - for example, the anonymous folk ballad titled “The Recent Kanab Tragedy,” memorialize sing an event that occurred on July 23, 1899In Kanab they will always remember This Twenty-Fourth of JulyFor this year there’s no celebration, No band plays and no pennants fly.The speeches they give in the Church house,Do not boast of our brave Pioneers;There’s no shouting, no dancing, no picnic,  But there’s sorrow and mourning and tears.For two of the town’s best men are lying In their coffins awaiting the earth;[Line illegible where paper was folded]There’s no room in our hearts now for mirth.It happened because of hot anger -A quarrel about their water right,William Roundy accused Dan SeegmillerOf stealing his turn in the night.So Roundy jumped up on his pony, Rode right down to Seegmiller’s door;He shouted, “Come out and I’ll show you, You’ll not steal my turn any more!”And Dan, little thinking of trouble,Came out with his babe in his arm;His wife Emma stood there beside him,Neither yet felt the faintest alarmThen Roundy quick lifted his shotgunAimed it straight at Dan Seegmiller’s heart;Emma screamed and ran forward to stop him,[Another illegible line]Dan fell to the ground with his boyWeeping, poor Emma knelt down,Not knowing if both husband and babyWere dead beside her on the ground.Roundy turned then and rode to his own house,Where he kissed his wife fondly goodbye,Then out into the yard he staggered,By his own cruel hand there to die.So today there is no celebration,Kanab has no thought for Pioneers;Two fine men now lie in the Coffins -No wonder the town’s bathed in tears!Other reports of this murder-suicide indicate that the ballad-writer has taken some poetic license.  Roundy apparently shot Seegmiller in his farmyard after an exchange of angry words, rather than at his doorstep without warning. As the ballad suggests. And there is no indication that Seegmiller was holding a child when he was shot.  On the other hand, the killing was in some respects more vicious than portrayed here Roundy severely wounded Seegmiller with the firs shot, then pumped two additional shots into him as he attempted to escape. …But the main point of “The Recent Kanab Tragedy” is precisely that the killer and his victim were both community insiders, “two of the town’s best men.”  The Seegmillers and Roundys were large and prominent families in southern Utah, and the feud over water rights therefore threatened to divide the community.  The ballad, evidently composed shortly after the events is commemorates, can be viewed as an attempt at healing the community wounds. 

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Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia Volume 4 Biographies Seegmiller: 

Daniel Seegmiller, Daniel, second counselor in the presidency of the Kanab Stake from 

1887 to 1899, was born Dec. 6, 1836, in Preston, Canada, the son of Adam Seegmiller 

and Anna Eve Knechtel. As a youth he located in New York City, where he became a 

convert to the Church and was baptized there Sept. 3, 1853. He came to Utah in 1861 and the following year 

returned as far as the Missouri River with Church teams to assist in bringing L. D. S. emigrants to Utah

Altogether he crossed the plains six times in that capacity. He served on the police force in Salt Lake City and

at times acted as body guard for President Brigham Young. He filled a mission to Germany and Switzerland

from 1877 to 1879, during which he presided over the East Swiss, Zurich and Frankfurt on the Main

conferences successively. Previous to, going on this mission he located in St. George, Utah, where he acted as 

Chief of Police and later as Sheriff of Washington County. Later he moved to Kanab, Kane County, where he 

operated a farm and raised choice stock. On May 24, 1887, he was set apart by Apostle Francis M. Lyman as 

second counselor to Edwin D. Woolley, president of the Kanab Stake, which position he occupied until his

untimely death. For some time previous to this tragedy, a  misunderstanding had existed between himself and a

neighbor, Wm. Roundy, over land and water matters, their land being contiguous and their water interests 

vested in the same system. On July 23, 1899, Wm. Roundy, finding no water in the ditch, became enraged and 

going to the home of Bro. Seegmiller, he called him outside and a few minutes later shot him through the heart. 

The murderer then returned to his home and after bidding farewell to his family, shot himself with fatal result.   

Bro. Seegmiller had three wives, 1st, Ellen Smith (daughter of Joseph Smith and Sarah Sailor), who bore him 

three sons and five daughters; 2nd, Artimesia Snow Woolley (daughter of Erastus and Artemesia Snow, and the 

widow of Franklin B. Woolley, who was killed by Indians in 1862), 3rd, Emma Isabella Carroll (daughter of 

Charles Negus Carroll) who bore him four sons and one daughter. Bro Seegmiller was a frontiersman with a 

commanding appearance and knowing no fear. But to his family he was a kind and loving husband and father

and was highly respected by his associates in the Church. He died, as stated, July 23, 1899, at Upper Kanab.

Pioneer History of Kane County, Utah

Early History of Kane County

Pioneers of the Early Days

Malinda PARKER ROUNDY

In the spring of 1865, Lorenzo W. Roundy, Jerad C. Roundy, Myron S. Roundy and William Ford, settled in upper Kanab in that part of the county now called Alton. Walter Smith, William Smith, Charles Partridge and their families, together with a few other families also settled here about this time. These pioneers built log cabins just west of the place where the Kane county dairy was afterwards erected. That fall the Roundy brothers returned to Centerville, Davis County, to get the rest of their families. Soon after they were gone, the remaining families at upper Kanab were called to strengthen lower Kanab. These settlers left everything and did as they were bid. Lorenzo Roundy and his families came on to Kanab a little later that fall.

John D. Parker, who was also one of these pioneers, was delayed on account of sickness, but started south from Levan, Juab county, the last of November.

On account of the hostility of the Indians along the Sevier river, he went by way of Fillmore, Beaver county, Toquerville, Rockville and Pipe Springs. He arrived at Kanab the third day of January, 1866, through three feet of snow. The snow has never fallen so deep in Kanab since that winter. The same evening Brother Parker arrived his little four year old son died of scarlet fever. Three days after the Parkers had nooned at Pipe Springs, Robert Whitman and James McIntyre were murdered by Navajo Indians.

The sad news of this terrible murder was written on an envelope by a herd boy who had escaped, and was brought to Kanab by a Piute Indian.

The people looked to L. W. Roundy as a leader, although he was not a bishop at that time. However, he called for volunteers to carry the message to President Snow at St. George. Byron D. Roundy and Oran Clark answered to this call and were soon equipped. They started from Kanab at 9 p.m. and reached St. George the next morning at 10 o'clock.

Byron Roundy afterward often said that it was the fear of that dark night's ride, expecting every moment to be surrounded by Lamanites, that caused him to be bald headed.

The bodies of the two murdered men were taken to St. George where they were cared for by loving friends.

That winter the people of Kanab fought savages on one side and death by scarlet fever on the other. John D. Parker buried two children that winter and L. D. Roundy buried one. The Smith family also lost one.

The four little graves lay due west from the north east corner of the old fort on the hill between two cedar trees.

In January a company of men were sent to Kanab from the settlement in Dixie to help guard the fort as the Indians were very hostile at this time. The fort was guarded night and day. However, every dark of the moon the Indians got their booty. The settlers were never molested at full moon. However, in every raid they made they succeeded in stealing cattle, horses and sheep. The men were unable to catch them, although once the savages were forced to leave their meet broiling on the coals in order to escape. Colonel Andrews told the men not to fire the first shot, and so to the regret of some, no Indians were killed.

In February of that year a little son was born to the wife of Charles Pinney in a dug-out. It proved to be as nice as any baby.

The first of March the settlers of Kanab were asked to leave and go to Long Valley to strengthen that place. It took them five days to travel the distance of fifteen miles. The teams were poor and the loads heavy. One oxen dropped dead on the Mt. Carmel hill when Mr. Parker, one of the company, took off the yoke.

The night they camped at Three Lakes a baby girl was born to the wife of Oran Clark, who was one of the express riders. Crops were planted as soon as they arrived at Mt. Carmel.

That spring the Berry boys and one of their wives were killed near Short Creek. Joseph Berry, when found, was leaning between the wheels and the wagon bed dead. Robert and the woman were lying dead on the ground.

An Indian brought the news to Grandma Berry, written on an envelope by William Berry, a brother of the victims, and who had gone to meet them.

The dead were taken to St. George and buried by sorrowing friends.

This same month, B. D. Roundy and Orley Bliss were called to go on a mission to the Missouri river to escort a poor company of immigrants to Zion with ox teams.

The last week in June, hardly three months after arriving in Mt. Carmel the final call came for the people living in Mt. Carmel and Long Valley to move to Dixie. The crops they had planted looked beautiful, but they made ready and were soon on wheels again.

The first day out, a little four year old boy of brother Spencer's of upper Long Valley fell from a horse and was run over by a wagon and killed instantly. The company stopped for a day to bury him beneath a large tree.

President Snow sent a company of men from the Dixie country to guard the people on the way. At Short Creek they stopped to water their teams, when Colonel Andrews saw two Indian chiefs, Charlie Howed and Coal Creek John, riding down the canyon. Colonel Andrews and L. W. Roundy met them at a little distance from the company. They shook hands and talked until the wagons were corralled and the women placed in them. All of a sudden, a shot was heard; one of the boys had laid his gun in the wagon and it had exploded. This caused a great deal of excitement among the company, as the nerves of everyone was strained to the limit. In the tumult it caused, William Berry got his gun and threatened to kill the two chiefs because he thought they had killed his brothers. It took four men, his two wives, and his mother, to calm him and to take his gun away from him. The tumult subsided. The Indians promised to go back up the canyon and let the company pass in peace. The men decided not to stop to eat, but everyone took a sandwich and were soon on the way again. As darkness began to hover around them, the captain, Andrews, discovered three flickering lights on top of the mountain in a triangular shape. Andrews was an Indian scout and knew the meaning of the fire signals of the Indians. He informed the company of the signals and advised them not to stop that night for fear that they might be massacred. So on they went. All the women who were able were asked to drive a team that night, so that the men and boys might guard the stock and teams. Several mothers drove teams that night with babes in their arms. By morning the company had reached Rockville unharmed.

They crossed the Virgin river near St. George where they camped three days to rest. Word was sent to L. W. Roundy to take his part of the company and go to Kanarra, Iron county, and help build up that village. The rest of the company were allowed to go to their former homes in the Dixie settlements elsewhere.

The Roundy company got to Kanarra the second of July just in time to celebrate the fourth of July. That fall President Snow took L. W. Roundy to Salt Lake City and ordained him bishop of Kanarra, which position he held until May 27, 1876, when he was drowned in the Colorado river.

In 1872 the author of this sketch was married to William Heber Roundy and with her husband and his brother Byron, returned to upper Kanab where permanent homes were established.

I still feel that I am a pioneer of the Kanab Stake of Zion.

Malinda Parker Roundy.

[Source: Garfield County News, Panquitch, Utah, June 6, 1930, p. 4]

Family Group of John D. PARKER and A. Sophia ROUNDY

Family of
John Davis PARKER (1799 NY-1891 UT)
and
Almeda Sophia ROUNDY (1829 NY-1912 UT)
m. 3 Feb 1846 Nauvoo Temple.
-see photo above-

Childern:
1- Jared R. PARKER (1847 Kanesville, Iowa-1847 Kanesville, Iowa/ infant.)

2- John Davis PARKER (1849 Kanesville, Iowa-1868 Utah/age 19.)


3- Malinda PARKER (1851 Kanesville, Iowa-1937 St. George, Utah/ mother of ten) m. 1872 1st cousin-William Heber ROUNDY. -see both in photo left-














4- Charles PARKER (1853 Centerville, UT-1935 Kanaraville, UT/ father of nine) m. 1880 Elizabeth Ann DAVIS. -see photo right-






5- Mary Ellen PARKER (1857 Centerville, UT- 1866 Upper Kanab, UT/ Scarlet fever age 10.)

6- Betsey Jane PARKER (1859 Centerville, UT-1951 UT/ mother of seven) m.1880 John George SMITH. -see photo left-


7- Otho PARKER (1862 Weber Valley, UT-1866 Upper Kanab, UT/ Scarlet fever age 4.)



8- Lauretta PARKER (1865 chicken Creek, UT-1880 UT/ age 15.)


9- Almeda Sophia PARKER (1868 Kanarraville, UT-1947 Burley, ID mother of four) m. Eugene Llewelyn TAYLOR. -see photo left-


10- Samantha PARKER (1872 Kanarraville, UT-1915 Salt Lake City, UT/ mother of three) m. 1891 Joseph Smith BERRY.




Other Spouses of John Davis PARKER: 1-Harriet SHERWOOD m. before 1834 Nauvoo - all children died in childhood - divorced. 3-Samantha ROUNDY m. 1846 Nauvoo - no children.

Almeda Sophia and Samantha ROUNDY sisters and wives of John Davis PARKER

Known to the family as Little and Big Grandma Samantha ROUNDY and Almeda Sophia ROUNDY both married John Davis PARKER in the Nauvoo temple 3 Feb 1846.

Samantha ROUNDY PARKER

Almeda Sophia ROUNDY PARKER

ALMEDA SOPHIA ROUNDY PARKER (1829 - 1912)
Biography and memories by Esther Parker Robb (Granddaughter)

“Big Grandma” was the daughter of Shadrack Roundy and Betsy Quimby Roundy and mother to my father, Charles. She was born in Spafford, Onondago county, New York. Her family moved to Kirtland, Ohio, headquarters of the Church at that time, when she was seven years old (1836). She was baptized there after her eight birthday. Later they moved to Missouri where they suffered persecutions (1840). They settled in Nauvoo, where she grew up and met her future husband, John Davis Parker.

Grandma Sophia was very devoted to her older sister, Samantha, who had the misfortune of falling off a load of hay at the age of nine. This accident was blamed for her being a very frail child and she had never grown in height from that age on. When Grandpa proposed to Big Grandma, the acceptance was with the understanding that he would marry the both of them. Her mother had always said that whomever married one should also marry the other, because Samantha was not a strong child. So Grandpa did this. In 1846 he married the two sisters, “big Grandma” and “little Grandma”, these being his second and third wives, with whom he lived and emigrated west to Utah in 1852. Big Grandma was seventeen years of age at the time of her marriage. [John D. Parker was 46 years old] She had ten children altogether, but only five who lived to marriageable age. My father Charles, the fourth child, was the only son to live his full life with his four sisters as companions.

Grandmas lived were so welded that wherever you saw one, you usually saw the other, exception that Grandma Sophia ran around more than Grandma Samantha, as she did the chores outside, such as milking the cows and caring for the chickens, while Grandma Samantha did the house work. Their company was much sought after. The younger generation liked to go to their home and visit and hear them relate their many interesting experiences.

The social life at that time included invitations to quilting parties and weddings in which Grandmas were both active. They were ambitious at a sewing, spinning and weaving. They were also attentive to the sick, spending much of their time in caring for them. One neighbor and friend of Grandmas converted herself to the Gospel by observing the way they lived. They were so faithful that she knew for sure that they must have been fight and she was convinced enough to join the Church herself.

In 1891 Grandpa died at age 92 leaving his two wives and family. But with Charles’ help and with their many experiences. They were well able to carry on. As they had always been used to hard work and much responsibility. The warm affection of these two sister companions, sharing the responsibilities of their home and family, lasted throughout their lives.

Both Grandmas spent their last years with Sophia’s daughter, Malinda at her ranch. Little Grandmas died as a result of a stroke. Big Grandma died in 1912 at the age of 83.

[Esther Parker Robb (1886-1975) was the daughter of Charles Parker (1853-1935). Esther live most of her first 26 years living next door to Big and Little Grandmas in Kanarraville, Utah.]

Believed to be the home of John Davis PARKER in Kanarraville, Utah Sophia and Samantha ROUNDY PARKER on left the names of the mother and child on right are not known.

The Life of a Utah Pioneer
Written by Malinda Parker (daughter)
Salt Lake City, December 15, 1930

Almeda Sophia Roundy Parker, a pioneer of 1852, was a woman of faith and endurance; loyal and sympathetic to others. She was blessed with ten children and shared with her sister the love and companionship of her husband in plural marriage. In the exodus from Nauvoo to winter Quarters, Iowa, she shared the sorrow of the death of two of her brother’s wives, their death being caused by the persecutions of the mob, each leaving two little boys. She aided in caring for four little orphans until one of them died and was taken back for burial beside its mother at Nauvoo.

President young advised her and her husband to remain at Winter Quarters where he could manufacture wagons for the Saints to emigrate across the plains to Utah. For five you ear he worked at this occupation, then they suffered a burnout, burning the workshop and hundreds of dollars worth of oils, paints and wagon timber in seasoning. Soon after the loss by the fire they started across the plains with Abraham D. Smoot’s company. Occasionally they met with a buffalo stampede, causing them much anxiety and fear, but little damage. The women would walk along beside the ox-teams toward the close of day and gather buffalo chips with which to build a fire to cook supper, as wood was unknown of the plains. While on the prairie, the dreaded disease of cholera broke out among the Saints. There was a family by the name of Allen who traveled in the wagon next to Sophia’s and with whom she had become very friendly. Early one morning the father of this family came in from guard duty drenched with rain and shivering with cold. Sophia heard the first death groan from his lips and knew the warning of cholera. In a moment she was at the bedside aiding in soothing his pain, but all that friends could do for him was in vain. And he passed to the great beyond, leaving his wife and ten fatherless children to move on westward without a Father’s guidance. Another grave was dug and another stone placed to mark the trail of the Utah Pioneers. They moved on to the valley -- the widow and Sophia proved to be the closest friends.

Pioneering did not cease in the valley for Sophia. She traveled on from place to place with her husband as he was called to settle new places confronting pioneer life. In the early 1860’s during the Indian war, she buried a son and daughter in the wilds of southern Utah, from the treacherous disease of Scarlet Fever. Their requiem was the howl of the lonely wolf and the whoop of the wild savage. Soon after this great sorrow, her eldest son, 19, a noble youth, was called to the other side. Eight days after his burial she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who greatly comforted her through the trials of pioneer life. In the course of a few years, death claimed another daughter 15 years of age. Finally, her husband died leaving her one son and four daughters, all of whom were grown. A decade or so passed when her devoted and trusted sister left her. This caused her to be very lonely and she exclaimed shortly before her death, “I can repeat the words of Job, ’Oh Lord, why hast Thou forsaken me?’ I wish I could go with my family and friends and meet with the prophet Joseph.” to her he was the ideal Prophet and Seer of whom she ever bore testimony through life. She was a true Latter-day Saint, with an abiding testimony of the Gospel; not aspiring, not ostentatious, a mild amiable and loving mother; a woman of true pioneer history. She died at the age of 84 years at the home of her eldest daughter in Southern Utah.

[Malinda PARKER ROUNDY (1851-1937) was the pioneer daughter of John Davis PARKER and Almeda Sophia ROUNDY]

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So many years later we and Sophia's gr. gr. gr. gr. grandchildren wish Esther had written down the many life experiences her grandmother had told the "younger generation."