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City of Kaysville

23 East Center Street
801-546-1235

About Us:

Hector Caleb Haight is unique in that he is claimed by two towns, Farmington and Kaysville, as their first settler. Shortly after the pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847, Hector Haight was sent north to find grazing for the stock. On a beautiful stream in the Kaysville/Farmington area, Haight soon built a log cabin and brought his family to live there.

Many more families must have arrived during the summer because, according to the 1850 census,there were over three hundred settlers in this part of the valley and it was time for the organization of a ward. On January 27, 1851 Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball came to the Phillips home for that purpose. Edward Phillips was asked to be Bishop, but feeling unworthy he suggested William Kay, who was appointed. It was not until September of 1852 that the ward formally began to function with William Kay as Bishop, Edward Phillips as first counselor, and John H. Green as second counselor. This little settlement became known as Kay's Ward. "Little" really isn't the word to use because the settlement covered a great deal of territory -from Haight's Creek on the south to the Weber River on the north, and from the mountains on the east to the lake on the west.In 1856 William Kay was called on a mission to Carson Valley in what is now Nevada. After Bishop Kay left there was a desire on the part of some of the people to have the name of the settlement changed from Kay's Ward to Freedom. The request was presented to President Brigham Young and when he bluntly asked, "When did Kay's Ward get its reedom" his reply was taken as disapproval and the matter was dropped.