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Geddes, William, a prominent Elder of Plain City, Weber county, Utah, was born Dec. 8, 1832, near Glasgow, Scotland, of humble parentage. At the age of fourteen he first heard the gospel, was convinced at once of its truth, and was soon after baptized. He told his father of what he had done and explained the principles of his newly adopted faith; but his father rejected the gospel, turned the boy out of his house and told him never to enter it again, unless he renounced "Mormonism." William walked for three days hunting work, and on the evening of the third day he secured employment in a coal mine, and that evening worked enough to pay for his supper, which was the first food he had tasted since leaving home. After an absence of two years he returned to his home and found his father sufficiently softened in heart to receive and welcome him, but didn't want to hear anything of "Mormonism." He had been home but a short time when he was seized with the cholera. He asked his father to have the Elders come and administer to him, but the father would not let a "Mormon" Elder enter his house. The boy grew worse and was thought beyond recovery, and as a dying request the father yielded to the boy's desire. The Elders were sent for and, under their administration, the boy was instantly healed, arose from his supposed death bed and went to meeting with the Elders. After this miraculous manifestation of the power of God, he spent much of his spare time preaching on the streets, and was soon styled the boy preacher. In 1854 he came to Utah, but he instead of using the money he had saved by hard work to pay his passage, he worked his way and paid the passage of a poor widow. His training in the quarries and mines of Scotland served him well in his new home, where he found employment in quarrying granite for the Salt Lake Temple. He was associated with John Sharp in the work for several years after his arrival in Utah. During the Johnston army troubles he went out to Echo canyon and passed through the many trials and hardships of those memorable days; he was one of the most cheerful, willing defenders of God's cause. In 1859, he, together with fourteen others, settled the town of Plain City, and it was due to his determined persevering nature that the place was not abandoned, as the settlers had nine miles to bring the water through a difficult country before a crop of any kind could be raised. Before moving to Plain City, Elder Geddes married (at the age of 21) Elizabeth Stewart, and about a year later he married her sister Martha Stewart. In his new home at Plain City he passed through all the hardships incidental to pioneer life. In 1872 he was called to fill a mission to Scotland; but soon after his arrival there he was called to Australia, where he filled a most successful mission. While in Australia he saw the power of the Lord made manifest many times. On one occasion he was prepared to take a journey on a certain boat, but was warned in a dream not to do so; he heeded the dream and learned later that the boat he had intended taking had been wrecked and all on board lost. During the crusade against polygamy he was arrested and served six months in the penitentiary, which was very trying to his constitution, and his health was much impaired through the changed conditions he was forced to accept while there. Elder Geddes was always a public spirited man, and was particularly interested in the education of the young. Consequently, he did much toward the betterment of the schools of his town and county. During the early military days in Utah he was one of the most active, serving with distinction as captain in the Utah militia. He died suddenly of heart failure at Plain City, Aug. 23, 1899, at the age of sixty-six years. His life's ambition was to raise a family that would be a credit to his name after death. Whether his ambition was realized or not can best be answered in the words of Pres. Lewis W. Shurtliff who, while speaking at his funeral service, said: "Bro. William Geddes leaves behind him a large family of boys and girls, than whom I know no better, and who among us has done more?"
Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 4 vols. Salt Lake City 1:462 |
Biographies 
