Francis Marion Ewell
1835-1905
First Presiding Elder, Johnson and Black Hawk War Veteran
This monument pays tribute to Francis Marion Ewell and the sturdy pioneers who settled here.
Mr. Ewell was born November 3, 1835, the son of William Fletcher and Mary Bland Ewell. William was a member of the famous Mormon Battalion, which helped secure the southwest territory from Mexico in 1846-47. This made it possible for the L.D.S. Church to settle under the U.S. Constitution in the “everlasting hills”.
In 1882 Francis Ewell built a two-story house directly west of here. The original well is still in use north of the house. From 1882-1889 the upper floor, called the “Ewell Hall”, was used for all the church, school, political and recreation meetings. It was at Ewell Hall where the town name Spring Glen was chosen. Spring Glen was called Ewell from 1910 to 1925 in honor of F.M. Ewell. Helper was part of Spring Glen until 1891. There, too, the plans of the townsite and Spring Glen Canal Company were first made. The Ewell’s oldest daughter, Sarah Ewell Pratt, wife of Helper’s Founder Teancom Pratt, was the first school teacher in the Ewell home.
Mr. Ewell’s wife, Frances Mary Weech, sold the farm in 1906 to Baptista Clerico. The Ewell home was destroyed by fire in 1920.
