Daniel Davis

Daniel Davis did the actual work of building Kimball's mill. A Massachusetts man converted at Nauvoo, Davis was adopted into Heber Kimball's family — a common bond in that era — and driven west with the Saints in 1846, helping raise Winter Quarters along the way before reaching the valley in 1848. When Kimball wanted a gristmill at this spot, then called North Mill Cañon, it was Davis who cleared the ground, starting on July 18, 1852, and Davis who saw the cornerstones laid the next spring. The powerful man ordered the mill; this one built it.

What the plaque says

Daniel Davis was born on December 18, 1808, in Amesbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, the third child of Wells Davis and Mary Kelly Davis. As a young man Davis traveled to Nauvoo, Illinois, where he was converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and was adopted into the Heber C. Kimball family. On April 20, 1846, Davis was forced from Nauvoo and joined the Saints' western migration. During the migration, Heber C. Kimball assigned Davis to assist in building Winter Quarters at Council Bluffs, Iowa. Davis reached the Salt Lake Valley September 24, 1848. Pursuant to Kimball's desire to erect a flour grist mill on this site, which was then known as North Mill Cañon, Daniel Davis began to clear this ground on July 18, 1852. On April 20, 1853, the mill's northeastern cornerstone was laid by Issac Hunter, the southeastern stone by Daniel Davis. The next day Heber C. Kimball dedicated the site. Upon the mill's completion Davis assumed its management, living in an adobe house southeast of this site. The three-story mill was then the largest in Utah Territory. In 1869, the Kimball grist mill was purchased for $8,000 by Bishop John Stoker and others of the Bountiful Cooperative Mercantile from the trustees of the Heber C. Kimball estate. Later, the mill became an entertainment center. Daniel Davis died at age 84, on February 25, 1892. Now, a century later, we recognize his many contributions to the mill and the community.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ensign Peak — 6.3 mi
  A short hike to the spot where Brigham Young surveyed the valley
• Lagoon Amusement Park — 7.3 mi
  A beloved family amusement park operating since 1886
• Salt Lake City — 7.6 mi
  Utah's capital and largest city — where the Wasatch Range meets the Great Salt Lake.
• Temple Square — 7.6 mi
  The spiritual and architectural heart of Salt Lake City

More markers nearby

• George Quinn McNeil — steps away
• Original Gristmill Stones — steps away
• Heber C. Kimball Gristmill — steps away
• Bountiful Lumber & Supply Company — 0.7 mi