Roger William Openshaw—Born in 1829 in Lancachire, England. Died in 1909 in Santaquin, Utah.
Information about him was collected from a biography which was available in the Chieftain Museum and FamilySearch.org.
Roger was sent by his family from England to prepare the way.
Roger faithfully sailed to the United States of America from England, at the behest of his family. The family could only afford to send Roger and Eli, Roger’s brother, so Roger left his wife Eliza behind in 1854.
They joined the pioneer westward migration to settle with the rest of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Roger and Eli made it to the Salt Lake Valley after five months of travel.
In early 1856, they were asked to go to Summit Creek, a space with a beautiful and clear creek south of Payson, to be two of the first permanent settlers after the Indian wars.
To protect themselves from future Indian attacks, Roger and Eli helped build a fort which enclosed the homes of the settlers. Roger also worked tirelessly to build homes for his wife and parents.
Despite the hardship of nearly starving and being almost naked, clothed in repurposed wagon covers, Roger and Eli survived.
Unfortunately, Roger’s heart was broken in November, when he and Eli traveled to Salt Lake City to watch for their family coming from England. Unfortunately, their family members were part of the Martin Handcart Company.
Roger learned that his beloved Eliza and her mother had died on the plains. Eliza had been wrapped in a sheet, and buried in a snowdrift, since the ground had been to hard for a burial. Sorrowing, Roger guided his father’s family to Santaquin.
He left the home that he had built for Eliza in the care of his family and headed off to Fountain Green, Utah.
Despite Roger’s hard times, he was a resilient man. He married again, to a woman named Elizabeth Ramsbottom and returned to Santaquin. He had a second wife, Mary Gledhill. With his wives, he had 19 children.
Here in Santaquin, he supported projects to build good roads, irrigation, a church, and schools.
He served as a member and president of the Summit Creek Irrigation and Canal Company, and for a time owned the Co-op Store.
My grandpa, Andrew Borgeson, arrived in Utah in 1862. He settled in Santaquin. My Dad was the 10th child of a family of 10 girls. All my life I grew up with pioneer stories told by my aunts and father Andrew Alvin Borgeson sr. pus many of the “old timers”. One of their stories I heard often and then read in a history of my grandfather was that Chief Santaquin really was the one who saved Santaquin. Also a history of Eric Bylund, who was alive at the time and used to race horses and spend time with Santaquin also wrote about it in his history. (I have a copy of that history) When the book Santaquin Through The Ages was published, many of my father’s pioneer friends were astounded by the story that was written. It is assumed Guffick could have also saved the pioneers in the area as in the 5os Payson, Spring lake, and Summit seemed to meld in their settling pursuits. If you are interested I would like to tell the story the Santaquin pioneers told. Actually my grandfather was one of the guards the night Santaquin gave the warning. His history notes that the men of the city then met at the Samuelson’s to make a plan to stop the expected raid. I am now 90+ years old so have even known a few of the pioneers in their old age.