William Green Bickley Jr., by his son Nephi Bickley

Dear family: Good morning! Here is another family history taken from the CD which I have, and thought you might enjoy reading. Have a wonderful day. Jim

HISTORY OF WILLIAM GREEN BICKLEY JR.

By His son Nephi Bickley

After William Green Bickley and Jane Walton were married, they moved to Eagle Valley, This was a very primitive area. Here William Green Bickley Jr. William Green Bickley's first son, was born 3 January, 1868. William found work at Minersville, Beaver County, Utah, and took his family there to live. Later they moved to Beaver City, Utah. Where William lived the rest of his life.

After reading family histories and having heard stories told about his young life, one comes to the conclusion that he was a very dutiful son, His father, having filled a mission for the church, in Great Britain, and being a man who devoted much of his time to the church and civic work, much of the raising of their family fell upon the shoulders of Jane. She depended so much upon her son William, And he responded nobly.

William Green Bickley, Sen. was a very gifted song writer and Musician. William naturally fell in line and displayed much musical talent. When he was Quite young, his father, who played for dances, took William with him to play the organ for him while he played the violin. It has been said that when the father had selected the next number to play, he would indicate the key to play it in „ by saying, "G Billie" or whatever the key was, and they were off on another tune.

In April, 1885, Malinda Griffin, a thirteen year old girl, came with her mother from Lambourne, Berkshire, England. They settled in Beaver, Utah. Martha Griffin Harris, a sister of Malinda, operated a store in Beaver. William just happened into this store to make a purchase. Malinda was in the store, trying to fix the chain on her purse, which was broken. William volunteered to fix the chain. They became good friends, and on 31 Jan. 1894, they went to the Manti Temple and were sealed for time and all eternity.

In those early pioneer days, it was very hard to provide for a family. William had a small piece of land. He built a home on a small piece of city property, which he purchased. The house was never finished. He completed two rooms, and a temporary addition, but died before the house was completed. When he was married he worked for farmers, herded sheep and played for dances. He accumulated a team of horses and a wagon and such things that would indicate that he was thrifty.

William's first child, Nephi Bickley, was born 10 June, 1895. Marcus, the second son was born 19 Feb. 1897. He never saw his third son, William. He died two weeks before William was born.