William and Hannah Wrighton and their peach orchard

Ken Bott
Feb 17
2 min read

William was born on Christmas Day of 1828 in Warwickshire, England. His wife, Hannah, was born nearly 7 years earlier in the same area. Hannah joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1844 and, after meeting William several years later, introduced him to the faith. He joined the church and the two were married in 1850 and emigrated from England later that year to come to Utah.

After arriving in Utah, William and Hannah chose to settle in Davis County but were called by Brigham Young to go with 49 other families and Lorenzo Snow to settle Brigham City. They followed counsel and took a lot on the southwest corner of 100 South and 100 West (South and Young Street, at the time). William was a carpenter and built a lovely home on the site that stood for many years. William helped build the courthouse, the Tithing Office, and was superintendent of the construction of the Tabernacle. He also was the superintendent of the home department during the cooperative years and built many of the other homes throughout the city.

Brigham Young counseled the people in Utah to plant trees and orchards. Water was scarce and Brigham City was known to experience heavy frosts every month of the year, at that time. In obedience to counsel, William bought 100 peach pits for $1 while in Salt Lake City for General Conference. He planted the pits in the ground on his lot and allowed them to freeze over the winter. The trees grew well and he separated them after a year to start his orchard. In 1858, the threat of Johnston’s Army led to Brigham City being nearly entirely evacuated as the residents moved south. William was a rear guard and able to water his trees until he had to leave. A friend of William’s was one of the last to leave the city and William was able to recruit him to water the trees for another month. When the concern with Johnston’s Army began to dissipate, and the citizens were able to return, William found the first peach crop in Brigham City waiting for him.

In 1904, as part of a stake effort to encourage wholesome entertainment, the idea of a day to celebrate Brigham City’s peaches led to the first “Peach Days.” The following year, the Commercial Club (later the Chamber of Commerce) took over the event. One article noted that the idea of a “Peach Days” came to the gentlemen in June. Since it was months from the harvest of peaches, they elected to have a “Strawberry Days” first. It appears that Pleasant Grove continued the Strawberry Days and Brigham City has maintained Peach Days.

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