Hark Lay Wales Memorial
Donation protected
The Utah branch of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), descendants of the Crosby-Lay family, and Amy Tanner Thiriot, a historian of black enslavement in Utah Territory, are working with the cooperation of Daughters of Utah Pioneers, the caretakers of Union Pioneer Memorial Cemetery, to place a gravestone for Hark Lay Wales. We would be delighted and grateful to have your support for this project.
Hark Lay Wales, an enslaved man, entered the Salt Lake Valley on July 22, 1847, two days ahead of the first Mormon pioneer company. Traveling with him were two fellow enslaved men, Green Flake and Oscar Crosby Smith. Hark’s owners, William and Sytha Crosby Lay, had sent him ahead to prepare a home for them; they arrived in the Valley a year later with a pioneer company that included their large extended family and three dozen more enslaved persons.
Hark lived in the valley for almost four years before his owners took him to California and separated him from his pregnant wife and young son. By early 1856, Hark learned he was free. Thereafter he was known as Hark Wales. In the early 1870s, he returned to Utah and lived in the small black community in Union Fort and mined in Big Cottonwood Canyon. He has no known descendants, and his grave in Union Pioneer Memorial Cemetery is unmarked.
Amounts raised in excess of the cost of laying the stone (approximately $4300) will be contributed to Daughters of Utah Pioneers for the upkeep of the cemetery, the final resting place of two of the three enslaved men in the first pioneer company, as well as some of their family and friends.
We plan to have the gravestone laid by Memorial Day and will announce the date and time for a public unveiling.
If you prefer to donate by Venmo or PayPal, please contact us directly.
Please direct questions or media queries to:
Utah AAHGS: [email redacted]
Lay Family Representative Sheri Orton: sherio57 at gmail dot com
Amy Thiriot: amyancestorfiles at gmail dot com
Hark Lay Wales, an enslaved man, entered the Salt Lake Valley on July 22, 1847, two days ahead of the first Mormon pioneer company. Traveling with him were two fellow enslaved men, Green Flake and Oscar Crosby Smith. Hark’s owners, William and Sytha Crosby Lay, had sent him ahead to prepare a home for them; they arrived in the Valley a year later with a pioneer company that included their large extended family and three dozen more enslaved persons.
Hark lived in the valley for almost four years before his owners took him to California and separated him from his pregnant wife and young son. By early 1856, Hark learned he was free. Thereafter he was known as Hark Wales. In the early 1870s, he returned to Utah and lived in the small black community in Union Fort and mined in Big Cottonwood Canyon. He has no known descendants, and his grave in Union Pioneer Memorial Cemetery is unmarked.
Amounts raised in excess of the cost of laying the stone (approximately $4300) will be contributed to Daughters of Utah Pioneers for the upkeep of the cemetery, the final resting place of two of the three enslaved men in the first pioneer company, as well as some of their family and friends.
We plan to have the gravestone laid by Memorial Day and will announce the date and time for a public unveiling.
If you prefer to donate by Venmo or PayPal, please contact us directly.
Please direct questions or media queries to:
Utah AAHGS: [email redacted]
Lay Family Representative Sheri Orton: sherio57 at gmail dot com
Amy Thiriot: amyancestorfiles at gmail dot com
Fundraising team: Hark Lay Wales Memorial (2)
Amy Thiriot
Organizer
Harleysville, PA
Sheri Orton
Team member
