Joseph N. & Sarah Grow Morris : Pioneers of Hunter, Utah
The Joseph & Sarah Morris family
They were tireless homesteaders whose grit, sacrifice, and vision helped
build the foundations of the Hunter community.
Joseph N. Morris was born in 1853 to English immigrants who had arrived in the Salt Lake Valley by wagon in September 1848. He grew up in a world where survival depended on hard work. From a young age, Joseph participated in the daily labor that sustained his family: chopping wood, hauling ashes, milking cows, and tending animals. Though life was austere, the Morris family was resilient and resourceful.
Joseph found joy in simple pleasures—carpentry, singing, candy pulls, dancing, and laughter. He was known as a shy man with a fine singing voice and a talent for woodworking and bookkeeping. He met and married Sarah Ann Grow, a young woman also born in the Salt Lake Valley, in 1871.
Sarah came from a remarkable lineage. Her father, Henry Grow, was the architect and construction foreman of the Salt Lake Tabernacle. As a girl, she would bring lunch to her father and had rare access to the building during its construction. Orphaned young, Sarah was raised by an aunt who was also a plural wife. Her childhood included rugged experiences like pre-dawn wagon trips through sand dunes with oxen teams, and summers spent near Bountiful.
After marrying, Joseph and Sarah briefly lived in the mining town of Alta in Little Cottonwood Canyon. They were snowbound there one winter, and by 1872, they left mining life behind. A few years later, Sarah was seriously injured by a runaway cow while protecting her children. Joseph lost his job to care for her, and the family fell on hard times.
In the early 1880s, when the U.S. government opened the western Salt Lake Valley to homesteaders, Joseph quickly filed for land in what would become Hunter (Section 34, Range 2 West, Township 4 South). At that time, the land was desolate—nothing but sagebrush and toughweed. There was no canal, no irrigation, and not a single tree in sight.
Joseph and Sarah lived five years on the land to secure their claim. Their first home was a modest 18-by-20-foot one-room cabin near present-day 4100 South and 6400 West. It had plain wood floors, a pitched roof, a single window, and burlap curtains dividing the space. Water had to be hauled five miles from the valley’s “bottoms” using barrels and a horse-drawn wagon. In winter, snow sometimes had to be swept from the stove before lighting a fire.
Despite these hardships, the Morris family pressed on. Joseph traded firewood for hay in Millcreek, donated tithes and sold their extra in Salt Lake City, and labored tirelessly to support his family. In 1880, when the Utah & Salt Lake Canal finally reached the area, Joseph and Sarah built a new four-room brick and adobe home below the canal. Their original cabin became a wash house and later a garage.
They raised ten children—nine of whom lived to adulthood—and eventually dug a 120-foot well to access clean drinking water. Around 1890, Joseph was called to serve an 18-month LDS mission in West Virginia. Upon his return, he worked as a carpenter on the area’s first school and helped construct the original Hunter Ward meetinghouse. Over the years, he built hundreds of homes in the valley and, with the help of his sons and neighbors, a large barn, granary, and outbuildings.
Joseph also cultivated one of the area’s first orchards and vineyards, known for producing exceptional apples and grapes. He was among the first locals to own an automobile, which he drove in the summer and stored on blocks during the winter.
Joseph died at age 71, leaving behind a legacy of determination, craftsmanship, and community building.
Sarah remained on the homestead, managing the land and maintaining self-sufficiency. She knitted gloves and socks, churned butter, gathered eggs, and traveled to town to trade goods for supplies. Whether by buggy or sleigh, Sarah made the trip—through summer heat or winter snow.
She passed away in 1933, having lived a life of quiet strength, ingenuity, and enduring love for her family and community.
Together, Joseph and Sarah Morris laid the foundations of Hunter, transforming barren land into a thriving homestead. Their legacy is woven into the fabric of what is now West Valley City
Sometimes, history brings a tear to your eye and a lump to your throat. Reading about the hardship, sacrifice, and grit it took just to bring water, build homes for others, and establish the first school and church in our area—it humbles you. Joseph and Sarah Morris were truly outstanding people. Their legacy still shapes our community today, and I’m honored to share their story.
With love,
Sheri Kimball Biesinger
