Eli Archer Clayson
(1876 – 1933)
Eli Archer Clayson was born at Payson, Utah, on November 12, 1876. He was the son of Nathan and Annie Harriet Butler Clayson.
Eli’s father, Nathan Clayson, had been baptized into the Church at the age of fourteen. At seventeen, he had left his birthplace in Northamptonshire, England, and emigrated to America. After a passage of 46 days between London and New York City, Nathan’s family went by train to Florence, Nebraska. From Florence, Nathan drove a team of oxen to Salt Lake City, suffering from frostbite and frozen feet on the plains. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on December 3, 1864, moving on to Payson, Utah, where the family made its home. In 1877 the family moved to Lake Shore, where they cleared land for a farm. They lived in a dugout for years until a home was built. Eli Archer was one of twelve brothers and sisters.
In 1881, with Eli was 14 years of age, his parents went to Colonia Juarez, Mexico where they were instrumental in colonizing the settlement of the Latter-day Saint Church. It was there that he met Mary Louise Naegle, who had come to attend school. The Church had an academy in Colonia Juarez. In 1896 and 1897, Mary attended Brigham Young Academy in Provo, Utah. The following August, Eli went to Utah and they were married in the Salt Lake Temple, August 6, 1897. They then returned to Mexico and made their home in Colonia Juarez.
In 1908, Eli was called to serve a mission in England. He left his wife and four children to give himself to this calling. He returned in 1910.
His father ran a harness shop in the colony. They also have an interest in the local tannery. They were expert in making shoes, harnesses, callers, settled, bridles and other leather articles. Eli also purchased tracks of farming and rangeland and stocked them with valuable cattle and horses. In addition to this, he owned two homes in Colonia Juarez.
In 1912, the Mexican Revolution made the lives of Mormon colonists miserable. The Revolutionary forces hoped to drive Americans from Mexican territory and divide the land among themselves without giving compensation for what they took. During 1912, Mexican soldiers repeatedly invaded the vicinity of Colonia Juarez, trespassing on private property, tearing down fences and pasturing their horses on the lots and fields without the least regard for the rights or objections of the owners. They took anything they wanted from the tannery and other stores, never making payment of any kind. On one occasion, in the latter part of June, 1912, and Mexican army officer entered Eli’s shop and demanded that he produce all the equipment they wanted, saying that they knew it had been concealed. They impressed him with the seriousness of their demand by threats of violence, accompanied by thrusting a pistol in his side. Needless to say, Eli produced merchandise which they took without payment. On another occasion, a group of colonists gathered on Eli’s lawn, discussing the situation confronting the colonies. They were becoming increasingly concerned for the safety of women and children. On this occasion, a soldier walked by the group of men observed a box of crackers that one of them had purchased from the store, yet wrapped in paper.
The Mexican immediately he rushed to the schoolhouse where his officers were holding a meeting and said that they had some dynamite, apparently referring to the box of crackers. He said they were on their way to blow up the schoolhouse where the Mexican officers were located. Immediately one of the officers led troop pf soldiers to the place we the Americans were still discussing and arrested Eli, marching him as a prisoner to the schoolhouse.
Before this happened, Eli had given one of the Mexican officers a saddle horse. When the arresting officer said he was going to shoot Eli at once, the individual to whom Eli had given the horse stepped forward and remonstrated, saying he should not be executed, at least for the time being. They continued to hold the prisoner until one day when Mexican scouts rushed in stating the force of Yaqui Indians under the command of General José de la Luz Blanco, a federal, was approaching town. The rebels lost no time in saddling and packing their horses and departing, leaving Eli behind. But for this occurrence, it is likely he would have suffered the same fate many others had met, that of cold-blooded murder.
Because the help the Americans of hoped for did not materialize it was necessary to leave homes and properties behind and go to the United States. Many years later, in February 1936, the Mexican government made a financial settlement with the people who left Mexico and had been disposed of their properties. Eli had calculated that the total of his expenses due to the Revolution amounted to $10,872. The total value of his property loss was placed at $13,202. The family therefore submitted a claim of $24,074. They received from the Mexican government only a percentage of what was asked, nothing in the actual amount that was lost.
After leaving Mexico, Mary Louisa, with her children and mother-in-law, went to Bountiful, Utah. Eli followed several months later, finally securing a job in a harness shop in American Fork, Utah. His family later relocated in American Fork. Three years later they moved to Spanish Fork, Utah where Eli spent the rest of his life. It was there that he purchased the harness and saddle shop from the Spanish Fork Co-op, and oversaw it until illness forced his retirement in the early 1930s.
Eli Archer Clayson was always active in the Church and was a member of the Bishopric in Colonia Juarez. He was a member of the Superintendency of the Spanish Fork Third Ward Sunday school for an number of years and was the Chairman of the Genealogical Committee until his final illness. He was ill for 16 months, following a stroke. He died on November 27, 1933 in buried Spanish Fork, Utah.
Roslie Clayson Mikkelsen, daughter and Mary Louisa Naegle, wife.
Stalwarts South of the Border, page 111