William Henry Hendricks

William Henry Hendricks was born Nov 12, 1860 in Richmond to William Dorris and Mary Jane Andrus Hendricks.

History

The early life of William is unknown. William married Emily Elizabeth Traveller on Dec 11, 1879 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah. They moved in with William's mother after their marriage then moved into a home William constructed next to the mill that his father constructed. Williams daughter Florence recals life in the mill.

"Many nights the farmers would come with a load of wheat. In the autumn they were cold and hungry when they got there. They were always taken into the house and fed and bedded down for as long as it took to grind their wheat. Very often father worked all night to grind their grain."

William worked in the mill until 1900 when his half-brother Alma Hendricks took over and William began working for the railroad as a contractor. Unfortunately, due to his work, his son Walker lost his life in 1903 and William resigned as contractor because of it. 

However, this would not be the last of his children's deaths. In Sep of the same year their 12th child died only four months after his birth. In 1904, his son Denzil and daughters Frances and May died. Along with that other children died young. Henry Glen died in 1890 after only eight months old; Elmer Traveller died in 1912 at age 19; Leaniel Orville died in 1915 at age 13; William Dorris II died in 1916 at age 32. In total, William had 13 children with only four living past his own death.

However, this did not stop him from being a good father. He helped to pay for the education of William Dorris II and Emily Elizabeth when they went to school at Brigham Young College and Utah State Agricultural College.

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