Letitia Ann Davis


LETITIA ANN DAVIS (1874-1919) was the eldest daughter of Alma Charles Davis (b. 1848 in Liverpool, England) and his wife Margaret Ann Miller (b. 1856 in Salt Lake City). Letty was half Scottish and half Welsh. She married John Tanner Lant in 1897.


JOHN T. LANT AND LETITIA ANN DAVIS -- 1897


John and Letty made their first home in Payson, later moving to Garland, Utah for ten years, and then back to Payson. (Letitia Ann Davis' aunt Mary Elizabeth Miller Bowen, with her husband George Foster Bowen and their family, also moved to Garland, Utah from 1903-1908, working for the sugar company, and then returned to Spanish Fork. Also, Letitia's younger brother Howard Lewis Davis worked in Garland's sugar plant from 1914-1918, and several other friends and relatives from Payson lived in Garland for a time).

A short sketch of Letitia Ann Davis Lant (taken partly from the book JAMES MILLER FAMILY HISTORY:

"Mother was born in Spanish Fork, Utah County, Utah, Dec. 10, 1874, to Margaret Ann Miller (1856-1934) and Alma Charles Davis (1848-1903). She was the oldest of 12 children. She graduated from Teachers Normal School, Provo, Utah, and taught school in a one-room, all-grades school in Leland, Utah County, for two years before her marriage to John T. Lant in Payson, 1897 (at age 22). They had seven children. 

	       LUCILE LANT OBERHANSLEY,
	       DONNA LANT BARNEY,
	       DAVID LESTER LANT (who died at age one),
	       JOHN GLEN LANT,
	       HAROLD LANT,
	       ERMA LANT SHULER, and
	       one boy who died at birth.

"Mother was a witty, clever person and a skilled mathematician (it is said that she could add up numbers in her head so fast that when a train went by, with 5-digit numbers on each boxcar, she could add up all the numbers as it passed, and give the correct total). She loved to entertain and had many friends. Among her activities; she served as MIA President in the old Payson Second Ward, and was later a member of the Nebo Stake MIA Board, a charter member of Payson "Cultus Club" (a women's cultural and literary club which is still active), also a charter member of Garland "Ladies Self-Culture Club." This group organized the first kindergarten in Garland -- members of the club "boarded" the kindergarten teacher free of charge. Mother was active in local drama, directing and taking part in plays presented in the old Payson Opera House -- with all local talent. Along with Dad she was always interested and active in civic affairs."

"Mother (Letitia) died with influenza January 28, 1919 at age 44, during the terrible epidemic that also took three of her sisters and brothers, as well as many other relatives and friends in Payson." She is buried in the Payson city cemetery.

Information Compiled
by Karen Bray Keeley

INTERNET Adaptation
by Sandra S. Bray