Francis
Burdett Webster was born Dec. 19, 1874 in Loftus, Yorkshire, England.
He lived there until he was nineteen years old, at which time he came
to America with his father, two brothers William and Ernest, and two
sisters Lizzie and Annie. They settled in Cedar City, Utah where he
spent the remainder of his life.
He married
Abbie Leigh in Parowan, on June 20th 1907. To them were born six
children. Francis L. March 24, 1908 who died at the age of six
months. Alice, Sept. 12, 1909,
Ernest, May
10, 1912. Two baby girls of whom we have no records. One died when
she was a day old the other one at a week. Then Belle who was born
on Nov. 4, 1921 and was one year old when her father died….
Frank spent
most of his life working with sheep and working on the City water
lines with Uncle [Samuel F] "Bud" Leigh. Frank became a citizen of
the United States on the 21st of January, 1901. He was
baptized a member of the Church on Feb 6th, 1921 by Samuel F. Leigh,
ordained a priest on the 28th of Feb. 1921 by Parson Webster, a year
before his death. He was a very kind and generous person. He loved
to sing and did much of it for his children, He died on Dec. 27,
1922 at the age of 49 years.
Abigail
Leigh Webster was born May 2, 1883, in Cedar City, a daughter of
Daniel Trehorne and Alice Fife Leigh. She lived her entire life in
Cedar City. As a young girl, with her parents and brothers and
sisters, she would spend the summer at their ranch on Cedar
Mountain. Here they made cheese and butter for their own use and to
sell. She attended the Branch Normal school, now C.S.U.
Abbie, as
she was called, was married to Frank Webster on the 20th of June
1907. To them were born six children, three of them dying in
infancy. Frank died after they had been married for fifteen years.
This left Abbie to raise the three children alone. It was a struggle
but they managed to get along.
Abbie, was
active in the Relief Society, and spent many years as a Visiting
Teacher, till her health failed and she had to give this job up. She
died on July the Seventh, 1950 at the age of 67. Burial was in Cedar
City, Utah.
