Elizabeth Edwards age 78
Elizabeth (George William) Hanks
LDS immigrant, mother and farmer
1927 Utah Death Certificate. Pneumonia

1851 Census Lower Methyr Tydfil, Wales
David Edwards 36,
Sarah Edwards 32
Edward Edwards 9
William Edwards 6
Eliza Edwards 1
86 Blaenys(r)has, Cyfarthfa Parrish

1863 Glamorganshire, Wales
Father: David Morgan
died 18 September 1863

May 1864 Immigration
128th Sailing, General B McClellan
An original pioneer, Eliza crossed the plains the fall of 1864 with her mother and two brothers. The young family came from Wales to Utah Territory, during the trek, the family did not stop at Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania to visit their Morgan grandparents who had immigrated to the Pennsylvania coal fields years earlier.

1870 Census Paragonah, Iron, Utah
George Wm Hanks 30, shoemaker
Elizabeth Hanks 20
George E Hanks 3
Elizabeth S Hanks 1

1880 Census Paragonah, Iron, Utah
George W. Hanks 47 (51), farmer
Elizabeth Hanks 30
George E. Hanks 13
Elizabeth J. Hanks 11
Sarah A. Hanks 9
William D. Hanks 6
Heber T. Hanks 3
Elizabeth Gribble 77 mother-in-law

1884 Paragonah, Iron, Utah
MIL Elizabeth Hanks Gribble died 9 December 1884

1889 Paragonah, Iron, Utah
Husband: George William Hanks, died 21 March 1889

April 1893 Salt Lake City, Utah
Attended dedication of the Salt Lake Temple.
After travel expenses, she had 50¢ left. She bought oranges for her family at home. How happy they were with such unusual fruit.

1900 Census Paragonah, Iron, Utah
Elizabeth Hanks 50, 8 children, 5 living
William D Hanks 26, day labor
Heber T Hanks 23, school teacher
John S Hanks 19
Sarah Edwards 81, 8 children, 5 living

1901 Paragonah, Iron, Utah
Mother: Sarah Ann Morgan Edwards
died November 7 1901

1910 Census Paragonah, Iron, Utah
Elizabeth Hanks 60, 8 children, 5 living
Own home with own income
Living adjacent to William A McBride

1923 Paragonah, Iron, Utah
Paragonah Notes
Eliza Hanks has gone to Milford to spend the winter with her son Heber.
Iron County News, Dec 7, 1923, P7

1924 Paragonah, Utah
Paragonah Notes
Samuel Hanks of Salt Lake is here, having come to bring his mother home and to attend to other business.
Iron County News, Feb 29, 1924, P12.

1927 Obituary:
Prominent Paragonah Woman Passes Away
Another sad parting for the people of this county came last week when Mrs. Elizabeth Hanks of Paragonah, prominent woman of that community since 1865, passed from this life on Dec. 28th in [1172 2nd Avenue] Salt Lake City where she was living temporarily. She was brought home for burial. Funeral services were held at Paragonah Dec. 31, and she was buried beside her husband in the family plot in Parowan Cemetery.
Elizabeth Edwards Hanks was born on Dec. 1, 1849 in Myrther Tydville, South Wales.
At the age of fourteen she emmigrated to Utah in company with her widowed mother Sarah Edwards, three brothers, Edward, William and David, all of whom have preceded her in death and one sister, Sarah Ann Robb, who is now living in St. Anthony, Idaho.
She walked the entire distance across the plains arriving in Salt Lake City in October 1864. With the family she came immediately to Paragonah and was married a year later to George William Hanks. She lived at the present family residence sixty-two years. To this union were born eight children, three having preceeded her from this life. The living children are George Edward Hanks of Portland, Oregon, Mrs. William H.(Sarah Ann) Barton of Paragonah, Utah; Heber Thomas Hanks of Los Angeles, Calif.; William David Hanks of La Grande, Oregon and John Samuel Hanks of Salt Lake City. She was president of the Primary association of the Paragonah Ward for fourteen years.
For the past few years she has spent each winter with one or another of her sons, having passed away Dec. 28, 1927 at the home of John Samuel Hanks (1172 2nd Ave.) in Salt Lake City.
Parowan Times, 4 January 1928

Notes about Elizabeth:
"Great responsibility was hers for most of her life. A bride at 16, a mother at 17, and a widow at 40 with six children to raise is far more weight on a pair of shoulders than most people can stand. Yet she never lost courage. Her cheerful attitude towards life was contageous. Elizabeth took care of her aged mother-in-law Elizabeth Hanks Gribble in her declining years. For five years she nursed her invalid husband who suffered from Brights disease, and for over 20 years she took care of her aged mother Sarah Ann who was blind and bedridden for most of that time. She raised six of her eight children to honorable manhood and womanhood and is an undying insiration to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren beyond measure. Her presence and influence is still felt. She died at the home of her son John Samuel Hanks.
As a widow, she continued to farm, including homesteading land north of Paragonah. To comply with the Homestead Laws, Elizabeth was required to live on the land a certain number of nights, this meant she would need to leave her family alone, walk to the homestead to stay overnight.
At such a great sacrifice she "paid" for her large farm She was a real business woman. She never wasted a thing that possibly could be salvaged, and was very keen of mind about money matters. When her boys grew up and needed college educations, she was able to sell or rent the land she had worked so hard to get in order to educate her sons.
Always a great reader, she did not learn to write until 1902 at age 53, during the same time her son, John Samuel Hanks, was attending the University of Utah soon to graduate as class valedictorian.
Economy was a ritual with her. In spite of years of drastic material adversity she said she always had something laid away for an emergency."

MIL Elizabeth Hanks Gribble
Son George Edward Hanks

Siblings
Edward Morgan Edwards 1842-1923
William Edwards 1844-1927
David Edwards 1857-1919
Sarah Ann Edwards Robb 1859-1934