Biography

During the last two decades of the nineteenth century, members of the Bowdidge Berry family became entangled in the ramifications of the evolving racial policies of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that barred members with known African lineage, no matter how minute, from entering the temple to receive the higher ordinances offered only there. The ban directly affected Mary Elizabeth Bowdidge Berry Crowton’s mother and sister. Although no evidence remains to document an attempt by Mary to gain access to temple blessings, the fact is that she was never endowed nor married in the temple and eventually left Utah and the Church.[1]

Mary Elizabeth Bowdidge Berry Crowton was born on October 21, 1866, in Great Salt Lake City to James Preston Berry and his wife, Mary Bowdidge Berry Smith. She was the younger of their two daughters. Mary Elizabeth’s mother, born on the Isle of Guernsey, converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1847 while she and her family lived on Jersey, another of the Channel Islands. Not long after Mary emigrated to Utah Territory in 1863, she married James Preston Berry, a non-Mormon biracial barber who had been born in the South.[2] The couple lived in downtown Salt Lake.

On October 21, 1866, Mary gave birth to the Berrys’ second daughter. At the time of her birth, the Berry family consisted of James and Mary, Mary’s eldest daughter, Alice, and the couple’s twenty-one-month-old daughter, Lorah Jane Bowdidge Berry. On November 11, 1866, James and Mary took their newborn daughter to the local Latter-day Saint meetinghouse to receive a name and a blessing. Bishop Abraham Hoagland of the Salt Lake Fourteenth Ward performed the ordinance, naming the baby after her mother, Mary Elizabeth Bowdidge Berry.[3] As a child, Mary Elizabeth’s family called her “Polly,” likely to distinguish her from her mother.[4]

Polly grew up without her father in the home, never benefiting from his financial or emotional support. According to Mary Berry’s divorce petition, the spring following Polly’s birth, early in 1867, James Preston Berry left his family in Salt Lake and joined his brother in Austin, Nevada, to work at his brother’s barbershop. He, evidently, asked his wife to join him in Nevada, but Mary refused to leave her friends in Utah. James never returned to Salt Lake City and his family. In the autumn of 1871, Mary sued for divorce on the grounds of desertion.[5] The court granted the divorce and awarded her the custody of Lorah and Polly in December 1871.[6]

It must have been very soon after the divorce was finalized that Mary married James Frank Smith. Mary gave birth to his son, James Frank Smith, Jr., on July 10, 1872. Polly did not have her stepfather in the home for long, either. Smith died soon after his marriage to Polly’s mother. Although the exact date of his death is unknown, Mary described herself as a widow and the head of her household on the 1880 census. On that census, Mary reported her occupation as a dressmaker. She must have supported herself and her children by that trade.[7]

As a girl, Polly attended St. Mary’s Academy, the first Catholic school for girls in Salt Lake. Polly’s older half-sister, Alice, eventually converted to Roman Catholicism, and it might have been through her influence that Alice attended the parochial school. St. Mary’s offered a rigorous, but somewhat expensive education for non-Catholic students. Choosing to send a daughter to St. Mary’s was a controversial educational choice for a Mormon family to make. Even so, non-Catholic girls comprised approximately thirty percent of the student body. According to an account in the school’s archives, the Sunday before the school opened, a Salt Lake Latter-day Saint bishop spoke against Latter-day Saints sending their children there, threatening to “cut off” such parents from the Church.[8] However, by the school’s twenty-fifth anniversary, even the Deseret Newswas singing its praises.[9]

By 1884, Mary Berry Smith and her three youngest children had moved into the Salt Lake Eighteenth Ward. Her eldest daughter, Alice, had married and left home. When her son, James, turned twelve years old, all three of her younger children were baptized on August 5, 1884. Polly was baptized by James Leatham and confirmed two days later on August 7 by Thomas Crawford.[10]

In 1886, Polly’s older sister, Lorah, married Hyrum Barton as a plural wife. Church leaders denied Lorah access to the temple based on her racial background and consequently did not sanction the marriage. The Barton marriage fell on the wrong side of both federal and ecclesiastical governance. When Lorah and Hyrum’s first child was born within a year of the marriage, federal authorities began an investigation to ascertain whether Hyrum Barton should stand trial for polygamy. On July 9, 1887, Polly and her mother, Mary Berry Smith, testified in a Utah Commission hearing designed to ascertain the parentage of Lorah’s child. The Salt Lake Herald’s account of the hearing described Polly Berry as a “pretty and modest young girl” who was in “great distress and testified with difficulty.” She told the commission, “I’m sure I don’t know who the father of the child is. We have felt too badly about it to discuss it.”[11]

Around 1890, Polly moved to Denver, Colorado, where she lived for a short time. The reason may have been to accompany her sister, Lorah. Lorah and Hyrum Barton continued to live as husband and wife after the commission hearing. Lorah became pregnant with their second child and temporarily relocated to Colorado, likely to escape federal prosecution. Unmarried, Polly also had a child while she lived in Denver. Her son, David Royal Berry, was born there on November 23, 1891.[12]

By 1900, Polly had moved back to Salt Lake City with her son. She settled into a neighborhood in the northwest part of town, not far from the Capitol Hill area where her sister, Lorah, lived. Her home was in the Salt Lake 22nd Ward, but neither Polly nor David appears in the records of the ward. It seems that David was not baptized into the Church. Polly declared herself a “widow” on the census of that year, thereby avoiding any raised eyebrows about raising a child alone.[13] From this point forward, she appeared as “Mary” on all documents. Mary worked as a book canvasser and lived alone with her son until 1904, when she married an English Latter-day Saint convert. 

Mary married Frederick Crowton, Jr., on March 23, 1904. Crowton had migrated to Utah with his father, mother, and siblings.[14] He worked as a cement contractor. Mary’s son, David, took his stepfather’s surname and used the name “David Royal Crowton” throughout the remainder of his life.[15]

Rather than bringing stability to her life, Mary’s marriage brought turmoil.[16] Four years after they were married, on April 17, 1908, Mary filed a complaint against Crowton, asking for a divorce. She accused him of cruelty and “inhuman treatment.” She “asserted that one of the diversions of her husband was the use of abusive and vile language towards her.”[17] Crowton did not stop at verbal abuse, Mary averred. The previous month, in addition to the “Billingsgate talk,” he “knocked her down with his fist” without provocation.[18]Crowton, she said, “threatened to break up their home.” When Crowton struck her, he blackened her eye and caused her “great pain and distress. This treatment . . . had undermined her health.” Her son, David, corroborated her complaint.[19] Judge George C. Armstrong granted Mary Elizabeth a divorce within an hour or so after he received her petition. Crowton did not appear in court or contest the case.

Despite Mary’s complaints of physical abuse in their first marriage, Mary remarried Crowton. Seven months after their divorce was granted, Frederick Crowton, Jr. and Mary Elizabeth Bowdidge Berry reconciled and remarried in Farmington, Utah, on November 30, 1908.[20]

Their second attempt to live as man and wife went no better than the first. Within six months, Mary left Crowton again because he “treated her so badly.”[21] This time, she asked for separate maintenance. Mary believed that Crowton owned real estate valued at $8,000 in addition to having $1,000 in cash, and she wanted a share. The acrimonious aftermath of their second marriage played out in the local newspapers for several years. The main arguments were about finances.[22]

Mary charged that Crowton had deserted her, failed to support her, and treated her with cruelty.[23] She described Crowton as “surly and ill-tempered” while they lived together.[24] Furthermore, Mary claimed that when she became ill, Crowton demanded that she agree to bequeath all her property to him or he would “eject her from the house.”[25] Crowton responded to his estranged wife’s pleas for a larger settlement with a counter suit in which he argued that Mary had moved to Seattle in June 1909. Prior to her departure, they had come to an agreement that after receiving $1,200 in cash and all of the household furniture, she would “release him from all future claims for alimony.” In addition, since she had taken up residence in Washington, he maintained, she was not qualified to sue him in a Utah court.[26]

The separate maintenance suit was finally heard on January 6, 1911, in Utah’s Third District Court.[27]Crowton followed up with a notice to Mary’s creditors on July 19, 1911, stating he would not be responsible for any of her debts, “she having left my bed and board two years and two months [ago] and has received all separate maintenance and all dower rights” in his property.[28] The court granted Mary an interlocutory decree of divorce on January 12, 1912.[29]

After having moved to Seattle, Washington, with her son, David, in 1909, Mary remained there for the rest of her life. David lived in her home as a single young man and continued to live there with his wife after he married in 1917.[30] Mary must have relied on her son for financial support, evidenced by David’s claiming an exemption from the draft in 1917 on the grounds of needing to support his mother.[31] 

It seems Mary did not participate in Mormon worship in Seattle. Instead, she joined the Women of Woodcraft. The group was a women’s auxiliary to the Fraternal Order of the Woodmen of the World. The order may have given Mary a trusted circle of friends and some financial security.[32]

Mary never appeared in any record as biracial. All censuses and civil documents listed her as white. Unlike her sister Lorah and her mother, Mary may have never asked for access to a Latter-day Saint temple and therefore, may have never been denied. It is possible that after her mother and her sister were barred from the temple, Mary decided to distance herself from the Church.[33]

Mary Elizabeth Bowdidge Berry Crowton died on November 11, 1922 of pernicious anemia.[34] A funeral service was held at a mortuary in Seattle, followed by the cremation of her body.[35] In addition to a death notice in the Seattle Daily Times, The Salt Lake Tribune and Salt Lake Telegram also published obituaries.[36]None of them mentioned her membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints nor gave any indication that her funeral was presided over by a Church representative.

By Tonya S. Reiter

[1] Tonya S. Reiter, “Lorah Jane Bowdidge Berry Barton,” Century of Black Mormons; Tonya S. Reiter, “Mary Bowdidge Berry Smith,” Century of Black Mormons.

[2] “J. P. Berry,” Salt Lake City Directory (New York: G. Owens, 1867), 22; “RUSSELL HARRIS & BERRY,” Salt Lake City Directory (New York: G. Owens, 1867), 88; “Police Report,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah), 21 September 1864.

[3] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection, Fourteenth Ward, 1856-1909, microfilm 26,695, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[4] United States, 1870 Census, Utah Territory, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, Ward 13. I will also use her nickname in this biography to distinguish her from her mother, Mary.

[5] Mary Berry vs. James P. Berry, Divorce Petition Filed 30 November 1871, Series 373, Reel No. 19, Box No. 14, Folder No. 142, Salt Lake County, Probate Court Civil and Criminal Case Files, Utah Division of Archives and Records Services, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[6] Mary Berry vs. James P. Berry, Divorce Decree.

[7] United States, 1880 Census, Utah Territory, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City.

[8] Archives Narrative of Saint Mary’s Academy, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1875-1908, 2, Congregational Archive and Records of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana, as quoted in: Andrea Ventilla, “The History of Saint Mary’s Academy in Salt Lake City 1875-1926,” Utah Historical Quarterly, Vol. 80, No. 3. 2012 (accessed 1 May 2023).

[9] “St. Mary’s Academy,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah) 16 June 1900. As quoted in “History of Saint Mary’s.”

[10] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection, 18th Ward [1849]-1912, microfilm 26,740, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[11] “A Startling Case,” Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, Utah), 9 July 1887, 8.

[12] United States, Colorado, Denver, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, David Royal Crowton, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC.

[13] United States, 1900 Census, Utah, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, Third Precinct. Mary Elizabeth’s mother and sister, Lorah died in 1900. Lorah’s three children were taken in by Mary Elizabeth’s half-sister, Alice, and her brother, Frank and his wife. It appears Mary Elizabeth did not bring any of her orphaned nieces or nephew into her home.

[14] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church History Biographical Database, Fredrick Crowton.

[15] Washington, U.S., Death Index, 1940-2017, Washington State Department of Health, Washington State Archives, Olympia, Washington; Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel: 1847-1868," database, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

[16] Newspaper reports covering the Crowton divorces alleged that the trouble between the couple arose over Mary Elizabeth’s son, David and his actions. See, “Husband Declares Wife Not Qualified to Sue,” Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 30 June 1910, 16; “Man and Wife Can’t Agree on Disagreement,” The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 5 January 1911, 11.

[17] “Mrs. Kooyman Gets Divorce And Custody of Fourteen Children,” Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, Utah), 18 April 1908, 5.

[18] “Talks Billingsgate,” Salt Lake Telegram (Salt Lake City, Utah), 17 April 1908, 7.

[19] “Decree Is Granted,” The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 18 April 1908, 14.

[20] “Mary E. Crowton Has Taken Back Husband,” The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 20 December 1908; “Marriage Licenses,” Davis County Clipper (Bountiful, Utah), 11 December 1908, 4.

[21] “Two Unhappy Women Are Seeking Freedom,” The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 14 June 1910, 14.

[22] “Two Unhappy Women Are Seeking Freedom,” The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 14 June 1910, 14. The cash amounts vary from newspaper to newspaper.

[23] “Man and Wife Can’t Agree on Disagreement,” The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 5 January 1911, 11; “Mrs. Crowton Sues,” Salt Lake Telegram (Salt Lake City, Utah), 14 June 1910, 3.

[24] “Would Be Single Again,” Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, Utah), 14 June 1910, 3.

[25] “She Would Break the Welded Link,” Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, Utah), 18 October 1910, 2; “Asks Second Decree From F.E. Crowton,” The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 18 October 1910, 16; “Mrs. Crowton Now Replies,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah) 18 October 1910, 2.

[26] “Husband Declares Wife Not Qualified to Sue,” The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 30 June 1910, 16; “Remarriage Was a Bad Experiment,” Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, Utah), 30 June 1910, 12.

[27] “City and Neighborhood,” The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 7 January 1911, 14.

[28] “Notice,” The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 19 July 1911, 10.

[29] “City and Vicinity,” The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 12 January 1912, 3.

[30] “Washington, U.S., Marriage Records, 1854-2013,” D. R. Crowton and M. De Laney, Washington State Archives, Olympia, Washington.

[31] United States, Colorado, Denver, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, David Royal Crowton, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC.

[32] The Woodmen of the World was founded in 1890. The original purpose of the fraternity was to give financial security to its members through life insurance. For the first few decades after its founding, the Woodmen marked graves of deceased members with a stone carved in the shape of a tree with distinctive designs called “Treestones.” The ladies auxiliary of Woodmen of the World was called the Pacific Circle, Women of Woodcraft. These groups met in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

[33] Tonya S. Reiter, “Lorah Jane Bowdidge Berry Barton,” Century of Black Mormons; Tonya S. Reiter, “Mary Bowdidge Berry Smith,” Century of Black Mormons.

[34] Washington, State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificate of Death, Record No. 2643, Registered No. 2771, Mary Elizabeth Crowton, Washington State Archives, Olympia, Washington.

[35] “Deaths and Funerals,” Seattle Daily Times (Seattle, Washington), 12 November 1922, 28.

[36] “Deaths,” The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 12 November 1922, 18.

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