Mary Agnes Braithwaite was born 9 November 1858, in Kendal, England to Roland Braithwaite and Hannah Ormandy. Mary Agnes was 4 years 7 Months old when she left England with her parents, grandmother, Hannah Askew Braithwaite, her sister Hannah Elizabeth, and uncles George, William and Joseph . They left England on the fourth day of June 1863, crossing the ocean on the Amazon, a sailing vessel charted from London to carry 882 Saints to America. William Bramell was in charge of this PEF Company which arrived in New York on July 18 1863. They crossed the plains for Utah in Captain Daniel McArthur's company with ox team to SLC, arriving early October 1863. Their few possessions were brought by wagon, but the family walked most of the way.
They left Salt Lake City almost immediately to her first home in Manti, a little one-room house with boxes for chairs.


The following is an autobiography Mary Agnes wrote dated Sterling, Utah Feb. 10. 1925
MARY AGNES BRAITHWAITE DENISON. I will now try to give a little sketch of my life. I was born in England, Nov. 9, 1858 came to Manti when I was about five years old. What schooling I had I got in Manti and that was very little. When I was twelve years old I had to work out doing washings for other people to earn my own clothes. I worked out until I was about twenty years old. I got seventy-five cents to one dollar and twenty-five cents a week or I did three washings for one dollar.
In 1878, I was married in the St. George Temple by D. T. McCallister to Hans Denison who was born in Manti, July 29, 1856. We lived in Manti one year then moved out here to Sterling, Utah in 1879. Then the town was known as Pettytown.
When we came out here there was nothing here but the log house and an old rock chicken coop. the land was covered with rocks and sage brush. We have worked hard to break up the ground and we hauled hundreds of loads of rock off the land. We've lived in Sterling every since. In the winter of 1888, Jan. 7th, my husband was in the mountain for wood and got his feet frozen so bad that all his toes had to be taken off. One month after my son Hyrum was born, Feb. 23, 1888. One year after in the fall of 1889, Sept. 2nd, the hay and grain was all stacked; my husband went up to Sterling with the last load of hay to give for tithing. He got it about unloaded when he got the word our corral was all on fire. It took our stacks also a calf and all our chickens.
We have had eleven children, eight boys and three girls and reared them until they were grown. The first that died was our eldest son John Miles Denison, Feb. 6, 1912 (33 years), leaving a wife and two children. Then our son Homer B. Denison died March 16, 1920 at the age of 19 years and 10 months.
Our childrens names are as follows: John Miles, H. Leon, Mary Ann, Hannah M., Hyrum B., Edward, Rowland, Myrtle and Myrland (twins), Homer B., and Forrest.

Here are some footnotes in addition to her above autobiography: Mary Agnes and Hans, homesteaded a 60 acre farm West of Sterling Utah, near the Gunnison Reservoir and the D&RGW Railroad line.
Around 1927 Mary Agnes served as the Relief Society President in Sterling Utah.
Mary Agnes died 5 September 1937, and was buried in Manti.
Mary Agnes's death certificate states, cause of death was a Cerebral Hemorrhage.