BRIEF HISTORY OF WILLIAM WALLACE CASPER
William Wallace Casper was born March 12, 1821 in Bellville, Richland, Ohio. He
was the son of William Casper and Avarilla Durbin. He was one of a large
family, most of them having joined the Church in the early days.
He was baptized June 7, 1834 by Solomon Hancock. He moved with his father's
family in 1837 near Far West, Missouri. Two years later they moved to Quincy,
Illinois. After two months they moved to Fairfield Prairie for a year. In the
Spring of 1841 they moved to Nauvoo, where he joined the Navoo Legion, Francis
igby's Company, who was suceeded by Chancy Higby.
In 1843 he moved to Adams county with his brother Thomas Durbin Casper. On
August 29, 1844, william married Sarah Ann Bean and moved back to Nauvoo and
remained there one winter.
He left with the First Camp of Isreal for Council Bluffs, and enlisted in the
Mormon Battalion, July 20, 1846. He parted with his wife and small child who
were left in their wagon to go with the rest of the company to the Rocky
Mountains. He traveled from Council Bluffs to Fort Leavenworth where they were
outfitted. They walked the entire distance to California, much of the time
withour water and very little food. He received his discharge July 16, 1847 at
Los Angeles. He went from there to Sacramento, crossed the California Mountains
into Death Valley, from there to St. Mary's River, then to Fort Hall and on to
Salt Lake City arriving October 16, 1847.
He and Ephriam Hanks bought horses with thier discharge money and rode to Salt
Lake where he joined his wife and baby, who had arrived with her teenage
brother, George Washington Bean.
On Febuary 18, 1848, they moved to Mill Creek and settled on the property now
known as 4167 Highland Drive. The Winder Ward building is/was built on part of
this property.
He spent the remainder of his life here with the execption of time spent on a
mission to the Muddy River where he was called to help build a settlement.
He served at the Walker War at Provo in 1849. After returning home William was
elected Major over a Battalion of one hundred men, and Archibald Gardner was
elected Captain over 1st Company. He also served in the Black Hawk Indian War
for which he received a pension the latter part of his life.
He entered into plural marriage on March 22,1864 when he married Elizabeth Ann
Erickson. William was the father of twenty-two children, fifteen of whom lived
to maturity. He helped build the Mill Creek Ward Meeting House. William was
the watermaster over the Lower Canal for a number of years. This time was spent
without pay. It was frequently said by people who knew him, that they seldom
saw a man who could do as much work in a day as "Bill Casper". he donated the
ground for the Winder Ward Building. He and Elizabeth Ann did work in the Logan
Temple before the Salt Lake temple was finished. Sarah Ann, his first wife, had
died April 24, 1882.
When the Salt Lake Temple was completed, they did work for hundreds of their
ancestors. They drove a horse and buggy each day in all kinds of weather to
Salt Lake in order to do this work. At that time it took all day to do the work
of one couple.
William was ordained a High Priest into the Granite Stake, June 20, 1892. He
passed away in his home July 17, 1908. The funeral service was held in the
Winder Ward Chapel with President Joseph G. Smith as one of the speakers. he
was buried in the Mill Creek Cemetery now known as