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Martha Cragun Cox

Martha Cragun Cox

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Martha Cragun Cox

(1852 -1932)

Martha Cragun Cox was born March 3, 1852 in the Mill Creek Ward, Salt Lake County, Utah. Her father, James Cragun, was a descendent of Patrick Cragun, born in Ireland, who came to America, settling in Massachusetts.  Family tradition has it that in his early manhood he was one of the “Indians” threw the English tea overboard in Boston harbor.

Martha’s mother Elenor Lane, a granddaughter of Lambert Lane who was born in England and emigrated to America with his parents when he was about 12 years of age.

Martha’s parents joined the Mormon Church in 1843 and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1849. They received the call to pioneer the Dixie, Utah country in 1862. As a girl, Martha learned to leave on her mother’s loom. She made cloth for her own dresses and earned a little money weaving for other people. Quoting from her “Reminiscences,” we learn of an experience that had a profound effect on her life:

One day I was taking from the loom of piece that I had woven for a pair of pants for Brother Jeffreys, a cultivated English gentleman.  It had been made from nappy yarn and I told him it did not reflect credit on the weaver.  “Oh, well,” he said, “twill only be for a little while we will need it.  Twill soon be worn out and then my nappy cloth and the weaver’s work will be forgotten and the weaver too. Though she becomes round shouldered over the loom in trying to serve people with good cloth, (she) will wear out and be forgotten and no one will know that she wove.”  These words fell on me solemn-like and prophetic and I pondered them deeply.  “What profit is there finally,” I said to myself, “in all this round of never ceasing labor? Weaving cloth to buy dresses to wear out. When my day is past, my warp and woof in life and labors ended and my body gone to rest in the grave, what is there to mark the ground in which I trod? Nothing!”  And the thought maybe weep.

I went to McCarty (her brother-in-law James McCarty) and told him what brother Jeffreys had said to me. What can I do that my work and myself will not be forgotten, I asked. He answered “You might plant.”  To this I replied that the day would come that our neighbor with all his fine trees, flowers, vegetables, etc., that he had given to St. George would be forgotten by the people and his fine gardens vanished. “Plant in the minds of men and the harvest will be different,” he said. “Every wholesome thought you succeed in planting in the mind of a little child will grow and bear eternal fruit that will give you such joy that you will not ask to be remembered.” His words, though they enlightened, brought to me an awful sadness of soul. I was so ignorant. I saw that I had hitherto lacked ambition for I had been content to dance, laugh, and sleep my leisure time away, never supposing that I might reach a higher plane than that which enabled me to support and clothe myself.

Opportunities for schooling in those pioneer days were very limited and books were not plentiful, but Martha read everything she could find. She kept a list of words of which she wanted to learn the meaning and pronunciation. She would quiz available people for information, including strangers passing through the country, cowboys, miners, old timers. She started teaching school in her middle teens and taught school for 60 years of her life.

Martha married Isaiah Cox December 6, 1869 and became the mother of eight children, five of whom lived to raise families of their own. Isaiah died April 11, 1896 in St. George, Utah.

Martha taught school in Bunkerville, Nevada until 1901, then she went to Mexico to be with her daughters, Rose Bunker, Geneva, and Evelyn. She traveled by way of team and wagon with some of the David F. Stout family. Arriving on the Mexican border, they made camp and stayed for some time in Naco, Sonora. Living there was a family of Indians of the Yaqui tribe. In Martha’s writing she said, “This family of Yaquis were the finest of the human race and looks. The woman who was the honored mother of a large brood had splendid features. In fact, I thought as I looked at her that she was the noblest looking woman in face and form I’ve ever seen.”

Martha had deep sympathy and love for all the Indian tribes. When just a young girl she listened many times in the town of Santa Clara, Utah, to Jacob Hamblin relate his incidents and experiences among the Indian tribes. She felt sure the Walker War trouble in Utah came about because white men broke their promises to the Indians.

Martha taught school in Colonia Diaz in the winter of 1901-1902. The 1902 the family moved to Colonia Morelos in Sonora. By 1906 Martha had moved to Colonia Juarez and for several years taught the Mexican children there. The class was held in the rock basement of the schoolhouse. When Bishop Joseph C. Bentley informed her that the people of Juarez refused to furnish funds to maintain the Mexican school any longer, she was astonished. The Bishop, too was grieved over the condition.  “It is better,” he said, “for us to educate them than to try to control a hoard of uneducated ones.”  On visiting the home of a Mexican family Martha met the mother, an intelligent woman who spoke her mind on the closing of the Mexican classes. “You Mormons,” she said, “came her poor, you were good people. You teach our little children, we work for you, wash, scrum, anything. You are now rich, you got your riches in our country, now you say you do nothing for us, not teach our children, we are fit only to do your work. You will treat us right or we will in a little while drive you out of our country.” The woman knew more than Martha at the time thought she knew.

Martha taught school in Guadalupe, Chihuahua, the last year or so before the Exodus. Returning to the States, Martha joined her family members including her two sons Edward and Frank Cox and their families. Again she taught school in Utah and Nevada for many years before moving to Salt Lake City where she worked in the LDS Temple as recorder and did other services there. She also taught classes in the next branch of the church, and the MIA and the Relief Society.

In 1928 she commenced writing a biographical record of her life entitled “Reminisces of Martha Cox.” This record ran to 300 handwritten pages, well done and very legible. The journey to Mexico, she writes:

… was the commencement of what I term the fifth chapter of my life.  The first being my childhood to adult period. The second chapter, the time from my entering marriage until our family came separated. My third chapter seemed to be proper to my life on the Muddy, in Nevada, comprising nearly 10 years being instrumental in acquiring over 300 acres of good farmland on which the town of Overton was built. The fourth chapter might be my years in Bunkerville and the fifth of our lives in Mexico.

A six chapter, consisting of the 20 years after the Exodus from Mexico, might have been added.

Martha died at 80 years of age on November 30, 1932 in Salt Lake City and was buried there.

Emerald W. Stout, grandson

Stalwarts South of the Border page 123

A longer account of Martha’s life taken from her 300 page autobiography can be found here:

http://goo.gl/fgC179

Mary Ellen Elizabeth Wilden Lillywhite

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Mary Ellen Elizabeth Wilden Lillywhite

(1850-1922)

Mary Ellen Elizabeth Wilden, daughter of Charles and Eleanor Turner Wilden, was born December 5, 1850 at Council Bluffs, Iowa. Her parents had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England and although Charles a better work for more than 14 months, they left their home with their six children, their relatives and friends to gather with other Mormons in Utah and establish a new home. They sailed from Liverpool, England, November 10, 1849 and arrived in New Orleans on December 24 of the same year. Then they went on to St. Louis, Missouri, where they spent two years preparing for the journey to Utah. Here the youngest child, Maria, died in the next year Mary Ellen Elizabeth was born in a dugout.

In 1852, when they started their journey across the plains to Utah, they had a 50 pound sack of cornmeal supply the family on this long journey, but the father was a good marksman and was able to exchange meat for other foodstuffs. The father and the oldest son were the only members of the family with shoes when the journey began, but they were able to make use of shoes, bedding and clothing discarded by a company of gold seekers on their way to California and lost many members due to cholera.

They were among the first settlers of Cove Creek (now Cedar), Utah. Times were hard indeed. They gathered segos and other roots for food, along with mushrooms and wild berries. The women and children gathered willow twigs on which they found honeydew and from which they were able to make a syrup for sweets. Charles Wilden took the first sheep into this area. These animals were a great help to the family, not only furnishing food but also wool from which they may clothing and blankets.

In 1866 the family moved to Beaver, about 25 miles from Cove Creek, where they established another frontier home and made life comfortable and pleasant. They planted fruit trees and Mary Ellen spent some of the happiest days of her life there. It was at Beaver that she met and fell in love with Joseph Lillywhite.  She went with a group of young girls to visit him while he was recovering from a gunshot wound in the chest. He had been working on John D. Lee’s ranch a few miles from Beaver, when they were attacked by Indians. Joseph was taken to Brother Lee’s home where he received the best care and it was there that Mary Ellen went to visit him. They were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, December 5, 1867, traveling in the company of others for protection from the Indians.

In Beaver they lived in a little one-room log house with the bare essentials of furniture consisting of a bedstead, (two trestles with boards across, a straw tick and another of cat tails), a table, one home each year, as though, no stone but a big oven, one iron kettle, a brass bucket and a few dishes, most of which were wedding presents. Their clothing was made at home, spun and woven in those days. But what mattered hard work and crude furniture so long as they had each other? For the young husband was a very kind, affectionate man. On October 25, 1868, their union was blessed with a baby boy who may need Joseph for his father. On January 28, 1871, another boy, Benjamin, was born, living only a few weeks.

July 4, 1872, the liberals, joined by a Mormon apostate group, tried to “gun” the town. Their yelling and cursing aroused the townspeople and they armed themselves with clubs, guns or any other implements they could lay their hands on and met the intruders at the saloon. They were cursing and threatening to kill President Young. Joseph Lillywhite left his wife and young family in their home on the edge of town to join with his brethren to help drive the unpleasant element from town. President Murdock was out of town so his 18-year-old son took charge and told the intruders that they would not be harmed if they would leave town, which they did.

Several days later, on the 13th, Mary Eleanor was born. By this time they had been able to buy a small farm and plant fruit trees. The textile factory was operating, so spinning and weaving at home where unnecessary. By 1874 they were able to build a two-story home and the orchard was bearing fruit to help with their needs. Charles Wilden was born this year, 26 December. Lawrence was born January 29, 1877 and John LeRoy was born April 6, 1879. Six months later they decided to move to the San Juan country. Her husband’s health was not good due to his collapsed lung, so they thought a move to a warmer climate might help.

They were the first company to go through the Hole-in-the-Rock to San Juan. They were six months on the road, having to use their seed wheat and corn for food on the way. It was too late to plant crops when they finally arrived and the water from the San Juan River was not available. So they went on to Bush Valley, Arizona. They found the altitude of Bush Valley too high for Joseph. So, in October 1881, they moved to Woodruff, Arizona, having worked on the Santa Fe Railroad with his older sons to earn enough to buy their year’s provisions. They were among the first families to settle in Woodruff and lived in the Fort. They spent a good part of their lives there.

October 24, 1882, Horace Franklin was born. The dam across the river which furnished water for their gardens and farms had to be rebuilt each year so they could have fresh vegetables and irrigate farmland. Mitchell Woodruff was born December 24, 1884 and Annie Louise on April 11, 1887. When the baby was three months old the whole family came down with the measles. Eight-year-old John died from complications, while his mother was that fast. Six months later, Mary owns husband Joseph died of pneumonia. This was on January 18, 1888.

Mary Ellen knew she needed to prepare herself to care for her six children, so she took a course in obstetrics and cared for the sick. President Jesse N. Smith set her apart to do this work. During her lifetime she delivered some 300 babies including 11 pairs of twins. She was 71 years old when she attended her last delivery.

In October, 1893, when her son Franklin was 16 years old, he went with some friends to the lake to kill geese. On the way home they were playing soldier when a friend, thinking his gun was empty, shot and killed Franklin. So much sorrow in such a few years would dishearten most people, but not Mary Ellen. She carried on in spite of difficulties.

When her son Charles came home from his mission, the entire family moved to Colonia Morelos, Sonora, Mexico. Arriving there November 5, 1900, Charles became Bishop of the ward until the Exodus in 1912. They built comfortable homes for each of the sons and their families and also for Mary Ellen and her children who were not married. They also built a flour mill which they operated along with their farms. There were the usual tasks confronting the settling of a new community; canals to be built to bring water onto the farms; land to be cleared; crops  planted and harvested; school and church houses to be built. In November 1905, the Bavispe River flooded and washed away many homes and farms. Soon after, the flour mill burned. All had to be rebuilt.

The Mexican Revolution began in 1910 and soon bandits and soldiers began arriving in around Colonia Morelos, first one faction and then another. All demanded food for themselves and their horses. They also needed arms and ammunition. The colonists stood firm to remain neutral, but finally it was necessary for all to pack up and leave on short notice. By August 1912 they were all in United States, living in tents provided by the government, taking with them only what they could hurriedly pack into their wagons.

The Lillywhite families moved to Mesa, Arizona in March 1913. Mary Ellen’s children were all married now, so she lived with her son Mitchell and family. She stayed on with Mitchell’s wife and children after his death in July 1913 from complications of typhoid.  In 1920 her health was so poor that she could not be left alone while her daughter-in-law worked, so she went to live with her son Horace.

Mary Ellen was small in stature, but large in spirit.  She had a dynamic personality and was very positive in her views.  Her judgment was always considered seriously by her family. Even in her later years she continued to be of service. One incident which showed the faith and courage of this remarkable woman occureed while the family still lived in Woodruff.  A man residing in town was thrown from his wagon, inflicting a large scalp wound.  There were no doctors available, so people just stood around not knowing what to do.  As soon as Mary Ellen arrived on the scene, she called for hot water, clean clothes, a needle and thread, and a strong man to help her.  But strong men became weak, fainted or turned away with nausea, and were helpless.  Joseph Lillywhite, her oldest son assisted her and the man’s life was saved.  Years later, after they had been many years in Mexico, Charles, the second son, was on the train going to Salt Lake City.  Someone called him by name and an old gentlemen in the next seat asked, “Do you happen to know Mary Ellen Lillywhite?”  Charles answered, “She’s my mother!”  The old man said, “I want to shake the hand of the son of the woman who saved my life.”

Her hair was white and her body bent from many years of bending over patients, caring for and lifting them.  But her dark eyes still had their sparkle.  She died July 6, 1922, at the age of 72, in the home of her son Horace in Chandler, Arizona.  She was preceded in death by her husband and five of her eight children.

Compiled by Ernestine Hatch from material submitted by Ethel Lillywhite, Georganna Lillywhite, daughters-in-law and Eleanor Romney, granddaughter. 

Stalwarts South of the Border page 405.

Warren Longhurst

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Warren Longhurst

(1868 – 1951)

Warren’s parents were William Henry Longhurst, born January 22, 1817, in Little Hampton, Sussex, England, and Ann Preston, who was born April 13, 1825 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.

William Henry’s father was a shipbuilder, and the son took up the trade.  His business took him to Portsmouth where he met and, in time, married Ann.  In associating with their friends, they both heard of the Latter-day Saint Church.  She told him about it and was amazed to find that he also was interested.  So they went together to hear the Elders.  They became convinced that what they heard was true and were baptized. They then tried to convert their families and friends, but were rejected.  It took them 15 years to save up the money to emigrate to America.  They were poor and it was difficult; also, the whole sum of money had been stolen once and they had to start over.  By this time, Ann’s father was wealthy and offered her everything he had if she would give up her religion and stay with him.  If not, she was to be disinherited.  She chose to cast her lot with the Mormons and bid her family good-bye.  They set sail in the early 1860’s.  There was much sickness while sailing, but they arrived in New York in good condition, then made the trek across the plains to Salt Lake City. From Salt Lake City they moved to Bountiful, Utah, where his mother died while he was young.  His sister raised him.

Warren married Eva Allred on November 17, 1909. Eva’s parents were Byron Harvey Allred, born May 29, 1847 in Kanesville, Pottawattamie, Iowa, and Alta Matilda Rolfe, born August 5, 1855, at Lama, Iowa.  They had 12 children of which Eva was the eighth child. She was born in Garden City, Utah.

Warren, the 10th child of his family, was born March 2, 1868. They moved to Woodruff, Utah in 1872 were his mother, and Preston Longhurst, died and was the first reburied in the Woodruff cemetery. He was four years old the time and the youngest in the family so he was raised by his older sister Marintha and her husband George Whittington.  His father went to Arizona to live in the United Order with his daughter Clara. He never lived with his father after that except for a few months. George and Marintha moved to Garden City, Rich County on the shores of Bear Lake, where new tracts of land were being open. Here Warren grew up. He was baptized May 14, 1875. His childhood and young man days were very happy ones he enjoyed ice-skating and sleigh riding in the winter and swimming, spearfishing, boating, and berry picking in the summer. He attended high school over the mountain in Randolph where he stayed with his brother, Tom, sometimes hitching a ride part of the way home on the mail sleigh at Christmas time and skating along the edge of the lake the last 11 miles. He also helped on the farm where they raised pigs.

In 1885 his brothers George, Charles, and Joe and his father moved to Idaho along the Snake River and Warren went with them to help drive the cattle. They tried to get him to stay and “grow up” on the homestead but he decided to return to Garden City. He had been keeping company with Myra Irene Allred and they were engaged to be married by April, 1888. Her parents were Alta Matilda Rolf and Byron Harvey Allred, and they were moving to Star Valley, Wyoming to homestead a tract of land and persuaded Warren to go with them. He chose land near the Allreds and built a one-room house on it, made improvements on the land, and in the fall of 1889 he was ready to marry Myra. She had returned to Garden City during the summer to bottle fruit and vegetables for winter use. They were married in the Logan Temple, October 2, 1889 and returned to Afton Wyoming to live on their Homestead. Myra taught school for several years and Warren worked the land, cutting poles for fencing in the wintertime and farming during the summer. There were no children to bless this union, so they were mother and father to all the young people wherever they lived.  They were both very good at singing, drama, and teaching in the auxiliaries.

Warren’s father passed away in Idaho, May 17, 1890 in the age of 73. For several years, Warren and Myra worked hard to establish a desirable home. He was chosen to be a member of the High Council when the Star Valley Stake was organized in 1892. He had been ordained a Seventy in 1891.

In the fall of 1898 they were called on a mission to Samoa leaving their dream cottage and farm in the hands of a nephew, James Whittington. The members of the Ward gave them a nice farewell party and to their surprise gave them $75 in cash. They left Star Valley in November, went to Garden City by sleigh, bidding farewell to their relatives in the Cache Valley. They then went to Salt Lake City where they receive their instructions and were set apart as missionaries. They sailed from San Francisco Bay on the steamship Moana, making her maiden voyage across Pacific Ocean, in November 1898. They spent a five day layover at Hawaii visiting members and sizing. However most of the time was spent resting up from there seasickness. Thirteen days later they arrived in the Samoan Islands and were met aboard ship by Mission President E. J. Wood. They saw many strange sites, among which was a war waged very near the mission home. The war was a political nature and soon dwindled away into nothingness, leaving the old chief command. They felt that they were very blessed with learning the language and customs of the people.

Their main assignment was to teach school and the Gospel to the people on the island of Savaii, the largest of the Samoan group. The natives came to help build their first house, which was a far cry from the solid walls of their home in faraway, cold Wyoming. Released from this mission in the fall of 1901. Many poems written by both worn and Myra was told of their wonderful experiences there.

After greeting friends and relatives in Utah and Wyoming, they moved to Mexico in early 1902 were Myra’s parents had gone in the early 1890’s to escape persecution due to their living in polygamy. They lived in Guadalupe, near Colonia Dublan in northern Chihuahua, where many Mormons were already located. Myra’s health was not good and in 1903 she was taken to El Paso, Texas to have her appendix removed, returning soon to her active life.

When President Anthony W. Ivins was released as President of the Juarez Stake in 1907, his home, surrounded by price fruit trees and berries, became the property of the Juarez Stake Academy. Warren and Myra, recently from the Samoan Mission, moved into it. She became its matron and he the Agricultural Director for the Juarez Stake Academy and turned the Ivins block into a small experimental farm.  Student agriculturalists learned the fundamentals of horticulture by fulfilling the needs of growing trees in the orchard. They also learned first principles of animal husbandry by studying and working with the cows and horses in the barn and stable. From the flush of Leghorn hens in the coops, fundamentals of poultry were also taught. In garden spots in between the tree rows, all varieties of vegetables were grown and through experimentation it was taught what and how to plan for best results in various localities. A nursery was establish that grew into a career for Warren in later years and for his son, who took up the business when he became unable to carry on. He was among the pioneer fighters of the coddling moth when its infection was discovered. He became an authority on control of pests and of ailments that afflicted cattle, horses and chickens.

While setting up the agricultural department, he was also foremost in promoting cultural activities in the community and helped to forward every good cause. In this he was helped by his wife, Myra, who was capable and willing where and when help was needed. They were a childless couple and in a position to continue being foster parents to the entire student body. They entertained frequently, and were often a part of the programs presented by the school. Both had good voices and entertained  many a group dressed in Somoan costumes and singing Somoan songs. In fact they complement each other in public entertainments as well as they did in their home life and patterns for peaceful living.

When Warren later married Eva, Myra’s sister, the children born to Eva had two mothers. These children were: William Preston, Myra Myryl, Harvey Ashton, and Brandon. They lived a very happy life until Myra died September 9, 1912 in El Paso, Texas, shortly after the Exodus.

Warren took his family to Idaho to live for a while, but soon returned to Mexico and there, in November 1918, with all the family ill with the flu, Eva passed away, leaving her husband to care for the children. He started nursery in Dublan where they settled upon returning from Idaho. Here he married Mary Lavinia Moffat, April 12, 1919 and one child, Woodrow Wilson, blessed this union. The marriage was not a happy one and when they separated, Warren was both father and mother to his children. He lived to see them all married and settled. He died peacefully in his home May 14, 1951, and passed on to his reward awaiting the faithful.

The nursery he established has grown until it is one of the largest in the country, having over 750,000 trees all of fruit bearing types, suited to the locale. The nursery is now run by a son Ashton, the only one of his children residing the Mexico.

Nelle Spilsbury Hatch,

Stalwarts South of the Border page 409

Lemuel Hardison Redd

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Redd house Colonia Juarez, Mexico. Courtesy of www.brimhallkerby.com

Redd house Colonia Juarez, Mexico. Courtesy of www.brimhallkerby.com

Redd, Lemuel H

 

 

Lemuel Hardison Redd

                (1836 – 1910)

Lemuel Hardison Redd, eldest son and fifth child of John Hardison and Elizabeth Hancock Redd, was born at Sneeds Ferry, Onslow County, North Carolina, July 31, 1836.

In 1839 his parents moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where his father acquired a huge tobacco plantation and purchase slaves to operated it. In 1842, converted to the Gospel by John D. Lee, he was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Becoming convinced that one man should not be in bondage to another, he freed his slaves, sold his plantation, invested the proceeds in wagons and ox teams and prepared to migrate to Zion. While these negotiations were in progress, he and his wife made a trip to Nauvoo to become acquainted with Joseph Smith. There they were given Patriarchal Blessings by Hyrum Smith.

Emigrating west they joined Captain Session’s company at the Missouri River. Lem, a boy of 14, walked and drove and ox team the entire distance to Utah. Although slight in weight and short in stature, he was agile and strong and a quick and willing worker. When cholera broke out in camp, taking the lives of many, he and his father both survived an attack. Without further incident, other than fear of Indians and of being run down by buffalo stampedes, they arrived in Salt Lake Valley in October, 1850.  The family settled in Provo, then a village of some 50 families. There Lem and his sisters went to school, and one sister, Mary Catherine, died.  The next year, the Redds, with William Pace and family, moved to Spanish Fork, being pioneers in its settlement. There John, the father, built the first sawmill, which was burned by hostile Indians. Soon afterward, Lem was assigned defense service against the Indians, while his father assisted in erection of a fort. This was the beginning of the Walker War.

There seem to be no time to build the rock house which John H. had in mind to duplicate his Murfreesboro home, and it was postponed. His wife Elizabeth, and his son, John Holt, both died.  Soon after, his two older daughters, Moriah and Elizabeth, married Wilson D. Pace and Harvey Pace in a double wedding.  Lem himself married Keziah Jane Butler, daughter of John Lowe and Caroline Skeen Butler, on January 2, 1856.

All these family changes made John’s dream house pointless and his mission to help settle the Muddy was given up. Lem, newly married and still living in the fort, was called to take his father’s place in settling the Muddy.

Members of this party were chosen with care. They were instructed on what the mission entailed and learning something of the Indian’s nature and various approaches to them. All were well supplied with guns and ammunition and instructed in self-protection. They left in the spring of 1856 and, after traveling some time but seeing no Indians, they became alarmed for they were aware of nearness by signs.  Horses were driven off, and clothing and foodstuffs were stolen and unobserved moments. One Indian was seen from a distance, but he skulked out of sight. How could they make friends with such an elusive people and fulfill the mission of preaching the Gospel to them? As result, they were released and allowed to return to their homes, Lem went back to his home in the fort, and 1856 , his first son, Lemuel Hardison, Jr., was born.  Life in the fort created bonds fellowship.

Relationships were cemented between the Butlers, the Paces, the Seveys, the Redds and other first settlers of Spanish Fork.  John Lowe Butler was Lem’s father-in-law as well as that of George W. Sevey, who had married Keziah, Jane’s sister, Phoebe.  Harvey and Wilson Pace were his brothers-in-law, and all remained firm and lifelong friends.

 The year 1856 was a hard one. An epidemic of measles afflicted most of them, Lem and Keziah (Kizzie) being confined to their beds at the same time. Snow lay on the ground three and four feet deep.  Canyon roads were so completely blocked that all able-bodied men were called to keep the passes open.  In the snowbound state, telegrams came stating that immigrant Saints, late in beginning their trek across the plains, were starving and freezing in the mountains. Lem was chosen to go with his father and others to rescue them.

In 1858, Lem’s father was thrown from a horse and killed, leaving a young wife, Mary Lewis, and a year-old baby daughter besides his half-grown son, Benjamin.  That year crops were good and life seemed propitious. But the Utah War disturbed and frighten the Saints. Lem, with about 2,000 other men, became part of a standing army detailed to do guard at mountain passes in an effort to keep Johnston’s Army from entering Salt Lake City.  When the crisis was over, he settled down to help build up Spanish Fork in to a beautiful and prosperous settlement.

In 1862, a call came from President Brigham Young for settlers to go to southern Utah. Lem, the Butlers, the Seveys and Paces were among those called.  By that time, Lem was the father of four children:  Lem, six; Mary Jane, four; John, two; and William, a babe in arms.  He sold his property, invested in teams and wagons, placed heavy machinery and furniture and a sturdy wagon, his wife and children with bedding, clothing and foodstuffs in the lighter one, and his six-year-old son, Lem, and brother, Ben, to drive the loose stock, set out for St. George.  At Harmony, however where the Seveys and Paces had already located, they ended their journey and settle among relatives and acquaintances.  The settlement at this time, following a washout by the “Big Storm” earlier in the year, was moving to higher ground.  The storm had destroyed the fort, washed away a part of the farmland, and a New Harmony was being established 4 miles farther north. At New Harmony, they met John D. Lee, who had carried the Gospel to Lem’s parents in Kentucky, and was the founder of New Harmony.

Lem moved onto lot near the river. But not being satisfied with either the location of the house, he soon built more commodious Adobe home on higher ground in which the Redds lived for the next eight years.  Here three more children are born. November 5, 1866, he entered the principle of plural marriage and married Sarah Louise Chamberlain. She was the daughter, and only child, of Solomon Chamberlain and Theresa Morse her father had crossed the plains as Brigham Young’s teamster in the original group of pioneers in 1847. Soon after this marriage, Lem bought the John D. Lee home, and unfurnished two-story building against the foothills of the Pine Mountains. John D. Lee was then a fugitive from justice as the accused leader in the Mountain Meadows massacre.

Lem and his boys finished the home and made it into a duplex with Louisa occupying the north half and Keziah the South half.  Here, peaceful family living was enjoyed for 20 years and a setting was provided for a tranquil life for every child in the home. Each member willingly accepted his share of responsibilities and cooperated in the distribution of work about the house and farm. To Luisa were born 11 children and all but the two older ones, who died in infancy, were born after settling in the Lee home.  To Keziah, five were born there. Life seemed good in the future bright.

All this changed, however, with the passing of anti-polygamy legislation that made polygamy a crime and everyone who entered into it a criminal. Almost overnight, their free, wholesome life was changed to one of anxiety. Plural wives were also to be arrested. A hideout for both Lem and Louisa was made in the wash behind the house, that was used many times when the approach of U.S. Marshals was suspected.  In addition, Lem created reasons for being absent from home, going to and from places where businesses were created, under cover of night.  He went to Mesa, Arizona, to visit his daughter, Jane, and to San Juan where he that isolated section of Utah was open for colonization. Any place where safety seemed possible he went. He served as scout for the first company that set out for San Juan by way of the Hole-in-the-Rock. Lem and three Georges – Hobbs, Morrell, and Sevey – loaded pack mules with bedding and food for eight days, and went ahead to locate a possible trail through almost impassable country to the Colorado River and beyond. The eight days stretched to 28 before they returned.   

It was considered a miracle that they survived, considering the ordeals they passed through. After leaving the main company at Hole-in-the-Rock, they ferried themselves across the Colorado River. There they were confronted with many canyons leading off from the river, only one of which, of course, was the San Juan River canyon which led to the outpost for which the company was headed.  Exhausting themselves and their animals by climbing the top of ridge after ridge, and further expending their strength and food on several vain searches, they finally reached a barrier through which they never could have found their way except that a mountain goat whose trail they followed led them down. Wallowing through snow drifts, have frozen and facing hunger, they made camp wondering if they could hold out until sight of the San Juan River was gained. The next morning, Lem in formed the others it if they would go with him to the top of a nearby knoll, he would show them the San Juan River just as it had appeared to him in a dream. As he predicted, there before them lay that glinting waters of the river they sought and off to the left Blue Mountain, a landmark they sought.  This site was so cheering that although they had been without food for five days, they completed the journey to a log cabin on the San Juan River into which they stumbled half dead from hunger. Then, refreshed with food, they retraced their steps, marking a feasible route over Grey Mountain and delivered to the anxious Hole-in-the-Rockers the message of a possible way to reach their destination  their tired bodies, weather-beaten faces and tattered clothing were mute evidence of what the information had cost.

Lem later made a trip to Bluff, after a better route had been made, on vacation with two daughters, Delle and Ellen, to help his son, Monroe, move cattle, and at the same time to dodge marshals. They had not proceeded far, however, when signs behind them indicated they were being followed. To avoid being taken by surprise, Lem slept in some hideout each night and all were on the lookout through the day. Deciding one night they had outdistance there pursuers, he began to lay out his bedroll in camp. “My second thought is that I’d better not,” and he slipped into the darkness. Ten minutes later, two marshals suddenly stepped into the firelight with a warrant for the arrest of L. H. Redd.

At Bluff, Lem found a possible place to move his wife, Louisa.  For two years this to be the right decision, but marshals again put in their appearance and he realized that a better place must be found. Mexico was the place. It seemed a last resort.

In 1891, Lem loaded Louisa and her children, including baby Effie, who had been born in Bluff, but excluding Wayne, who had married, into wagons and again began the lonely trek to a foreign country. They faced water shortage in desert sections, grim fears as they passed through Indian country, and the anxiety of running out of food. They arrived in Colonia Juarez in the fall the year. There they would live the rest of their lives.

Louisa’s 13th child, Ancil, was born in the little rock house on the Alfred Baker farm above town.  And her 14th, Hazel, was born in a frame house they had bought just outside town limits. Later they built a spacious, two-story brick home on the same lot. Into it the family moved. And by industry and love beautiful they made it a show place.

For the first four years, Lem’s time was divided between his home in Mexico and that the new harmony. Hectic living of the past years have allowed his Harmony farm and home to run down.  Kizzie was in poor health with cancer, from which she died on May 15, 1895.  Lem sold his property and interests in New Harmony and spent his entire time in Colonia Juarez, of which he and his family soon became an integral part. He acted as a High Councilman to help in the deliberations that made for the best and surest growth of the community. His children were active in school and community affairs. Life was good and free from fears of the houndings of the “underground days.”

When the Juarez Stake was first organized 1895, Lem was released from the High Council to become the First Counselor to Alexander F. McDonald, who was sustained as President of the High Priest Quorum. Shortly after, he was released and made Patriarch of the Juarez Stake of Zion.  In this capacity he endeavored to give each one of his living descendants a Patriarchal Blessing before he died.  In 1897, he attended the jubilee celebration of the LDS church held in Salt Lake City and connection with the October Conference.  There, he visited Alice and Vilo, Kizzie’s two youngest daughters, who were attending the University of Utah, his son, Lem and daughter Hattie from San Juan, and other immediate members of his family.   

In October, 1902, a memorable reunion with Kizzie’s children took place in Salt Lake City. To this gathering also went to Louisa from Mexico and her youngest child and her oldest son, Wayne.  The L. H. Redd family, long separated, was able to meet for the first time since the old happy days in the John D. Lee home in New Harmony.  They attended several sessions in the Salt Lake Temple together.

In March 1907, Louisa succumbed to an attack of pneumonia, her death leaving Lem bereft of a wife, with seven unmarried children, all of whom were away from home except Hazel, the youngest. Lem sold the “show place” home, and rented a house in town where he and12-year-old Hazel settled down to care for each other.  It was not for long. Failing health, incident to a broken hip and advancing years, resulted in his death on June 10, 1910 at the age of 74. He was buried in Colonia Juarez Chihuahua, beside his wife Louisa.  His 74 years of accomplishments, of triumphs, of hardships and of steadfastness to his church were over. Love for the Gospel was ever a dominant feature of his life, and he passed this on to his numerous posterity. Of the 21 children who survived L. H. Redd, none but have done honor to his name in this respect.

In business and the professions, his descendants have been above average in their success, public service, and loyalty to their country. In World War II, for example, his descendants served in all theaters of the war, and were a part of every division of the Armed Forces, some of them rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In all, there were 70 representatives as of his family in active duty; 21 of these were officers.

Lem with his wives, Kezziah and Louisa, may well rest in peace. Their posterity do them proud.

Nelle Spilsbury Hatch Stalwarts South of the Border pg 563

Samuel Walter Jarvis

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Samuel Walter Jarvis

(1855-1923)

Samuel Walter Jarvis, third son and fifth child of George and Ann Prior Jarvis, was born in London, England, on April 18, 1855.  When he was less than three years of age, his parents emigrated to America, staying in Boston, Massachusetts, until means could be obtained to enable the family to join the Saints in Utah.

In his 6th year he walked much of the distance across the plains carrying his two-quart brass bucket, as each member of his family was responsible for some article of their few prized possessions.

At the October conference of 1861, his father answered President Young’s call for volunteers to settle the Dixie country.  This is said to have been one of the hardest pioneer settlements to develop.  Here it was that Samuel grew up under adverse circumstances, learning early to work and take responsibility.  Clothing was scant and food meager, and he helped provide it by killing rabbits and shooting wild ducks and geese in season along the Virgin River.  At times his trousers were made of wagon covers, and he often reversed them to get maximum wear.  He delighted to tell of one pair his mother made from buckskin.  Early one morning while shooting ducks, he had to wade into the river to retrieve them.  Soon his pants were much too long.  Boy-like, he cut them off, and soon cropped off a second piece.  By the time he reached home, the trousers had dried and the buckskin had shrunk until they were skintight and far too short, much to his mother’s consternation.

With practically no formal schooling, his knowledge came principally by observation and hard knocks.  He was fortunate, however, in that he parents used correct English, and he learned how to express himself clearly and fluently, as well as obtaining a meager knowledge of the three “R’s,” which stood him in good stead throughout his life.

He had contact with the Ute and Paiute Indians, and learned their customers and some of their language.  This helped him in his dealings with the Arizona Indians and with Mexicans in later years.  For a season in young manhood, he worked for George Q. Cannon in Salt Lake City.  While living with this family, he advanced rapidly in knowledge of the Gospel.

On December 4, 1877, he married Frances Godfrey Defriez, an English girl, in the St. George Temple.  Shortly after their marriage they were called as pioneers to help in the establishment of settlements in northern Arizona.   Consequently their first tow children were born in Snowflake.  They later lived in Taylor and Nutrio Ozo (now spelled Nutrioso).

In the early spring of 1885, with their family of three boys, Samuel Walter, Jr., George Josiah, and William Heber, they answered a request to cast their lot with a company of Saints seeking refuge from the officers of the law and hoping to establish homes in Mexico.  By prearrangement those leaving were to meet in Luna Valley, some miles distant from Snowflake, and travel all together by way of Silver City and Deming, New Mexico, where they were able to replenish their food supply and otherwise outfit themselves for the journey,.  Here also they caught up with a company captained by Lot Smith.  After experiencing such things as ten inches of snow on the mountain roads of Arizona, tracking and recovering stolen horses, a near skirmish with bandits, prairie fires, and trouble with natives, they finally arrived at “Mormon Camp” near Ascension, Mexico.  Ascension was at that time the custom house, or official port of entry. Here the immigrants camped on the Casas Grandes River under some cottonwood trees while legal negotiations were underway for obtaining land. These negotiations took many months to complete. Meanwhile, the men rented land from the native farmers or share cropped where possible in order to raise food for the coming winter. Within weeks of their arrival, on May 2, 1885, a daughter, Frances was born to Samuel W. and Frances G. D. Jarvis.

After an early harvest of corn, beans, and a good quantity of other foodstuffs, they joined an organized company which moved up the river to what was known as “Old Stink Town,” where a dam was built on the Piedras Verdes River.  A ditch was dug to irrigate what is now known as Cuahtemoc, which is presently owned by Mexican farmers, they yielded very good crops. A stockade was built in which meetings in religious worship were held.

Dugouts along the river helped house the company. Meanwhile a town was laid out, and holes were dug for planting shade trees along the sidewalks. During one Sunday service, Apostle Erastus Snow, standing on the platform extended his right hand over his left shoulder, declared, “There are those under the sound of my voice who will live to see the day when this (the territory embraced by the half-circle) will become one of the brightest stars in the galaxy of stars.” (This can be interpreted but one way i.e., starting at Mazatlan and ending at Veracruz, draw an arc across the Republic of Mexico and see what happens.)

Because of the ill health of his wife and baby girl, the family was advised by Apostle Erastus Snow to return to St. George for an extended visit to their parents. He took his eldest son, Sam, along and they traveled by wagon by way of Lordsburg, New Mexico and Mesa, Arizona, crossing the Colorado at Johnson’s ferry, then on to St. George. They arrived just before Christmas, 1886.

Early in the journey, his wife was thrown from the spring seat and run over by both wheels, which pressed over her body from right shoulder to left hip. She was driving the team down a sliding, sandy bank, while he and Sam walked. He realized the seriousness of the situation, and in humble prayer told the Lord that He could have the expected child if he would spare the life of his wife.  During the remainder of the trip she was confined to her bed in the wagon box. On May 4th 1887, a baby girl, Amelia, was born, and died quite suddenly in September. They resigned themselves to the loss, knowing she was a promised child.

Sam and his son spent the summer months hauling wood for the Silver Reef Mining Company.  In October 1887, taking grandmother Baker, who was blind, with them, they began their trip to Mexico, traveling by way of Lee’s ferry and arriving at Colonia Juarez shortly before Christmas. Apostle George Teasdale was by this time in charge of the colonies and called Sam to help settle the mountain colonies. They were the sixth family to settle at Corrales.  The other families were: Franklin Spencer, Eddie Durfee, William Wallace Haws, Merit Howard Stahle, and James Palmer. While the Jarvis family lived there, three more children were born: Grace, Nephi, and Clementine. He was Sunday School Superintendent, and meetings were held in his two-room log house.

In a few years Colonia Pacheco, a few miles distant, grew to be the central mountain colony. A frame meetinghouse had been erected and surrounded with a high log fort as a safety precaution against invading Indians. In the same building a school was begun.  There had been only short terms held in private homes until then. In early summer of 1894, he bought Brother Moffett’s place and moved his family from Corrales to Pacheco, at which place his son Lehi was born. The few animals they brought with them to Mexico had by this time increased to a good-sized heard and quite a band of horses. Caring for these and farming took up most of father’s time. Most of the cows, except those milked for home consumption, were loose on the range and brought in only during the rainy season, when the whole country was a waving meadow of grama grass.  At this time, the calves were branded and butter and cheese made in abundance. The butter was put into molds, preserved in a barrel of brine, and kept for winter use. Cheese and potatoes were hauled to Chihuahua City or Deming, New Mexico, in exchange for cloth, sugar, salt, shoes, nails, leather, and other necessities.

Samuel was a great scout, and when the colonists’ animals were stolen he tracked them down. He was also a leader in time of Indian trouble. He was fearless, courageous, brave, and daring. He was a man of great faith, yet humble, prayerful, and blessed with intuition and spiritual inspiration, which made him equal to any situation.

He was often asked to give readings, make a stump speech for various celebrations, or take parts in plays. He was a leader in direct public work such as road, canal, or dam building. He was never idle, working daily even on stormy days, when he mended harnesses, repaired shoes, shelled corn, sorted potatoes, or made hair ropes. If ever there came a leisure moment, it was spent in reading and study. In this way he gained understanding of the scriptures and familiarized himself with the Spanish language. He loved sports, and was quite a wrestler and foot racer.  Ever mindful of greater opportunities for his family, in November, 1896, he moved to Colonia Juarez, where schools and social conditions were more desirable for growing children. This move made possible the purchase of a reed organ from Annie Williams, which gave added pleasure to Grandma Baker who, though blind, had been a music teacher and played beautifully from memory. While living in Juarez, two more sons, Joseph D. and Benjamin Charles, were born. At this time he took railroad contracts, the first being in the states of Durango and Coahuila, where he employed native laborers. It was during this time the young man, Manrique Gonzalez, was hired. He proved to be desirable help and was given a home with the Jarvises, where he helped care for the horses. They finish the contract after being gone the greater part of the year, then returned to Juarez, bringing Manrique with them. Manrique found a home with Patriarch Stowell, attended school, and afterward joined the Church.

Almost immediately after the return from the railroad contract, Samuel Jarvis was called by Stake President Anthony W. Ivins to go to Sonora and help open up settlements there.  He took the older boys, but left the remainder of the family. In due time, after the Pioneer Canal was finished in Colonia Morelos, fields cleared and fenced, and cultivation began, he asked for release, not wanting to take Grandmother Baker there. President Ivins felt the time was not ripe for such a measure. The rest of the Jarvises were moved to Colonia Morelos. Samuel W., Jr. was married, and George is on a mission to the Central States. In Morelos, Samuel Sr. Set up a grocery store, which his wife managed while he spent the greater part of his time on the road freighting. All merchandise was purchased in Colonia Dublan, until Douglas, Arizona, came into being. In rainy seasons, with their washed out roads, high waters, and mud holes, it sometimes took two weeks to make the round-trip, which is double the usual time. This, together with attempting to farm and look after cattle, was taxing to both body and mind. Under these conditions their 12th child, Mary Esther, was born.

The fall of 1905 came what is known as the “Great Flood.”  After a week of continuous rain, the Bavispe River rose to unprecedented heights, destroying the dam and canal systems from both sides of the river and washing away and cutting up fertile fields, destroying all the crops. This act of nature forced practically every male member of Colonia Morelos to seek means of support elsewhere. A railroad line being extended from Naco to Nacozari offered a solution in the form of jobbing and freighting. Here it was that Samuel married his second wife, Pearl Dean Taylor. With his father-in-law, Edwin A..Taylor and family from Colonia Juarez, the two men ran a butcher shop that season in Nacozari.  Camped at Calabasa Flat, Pearl’s first son, Hyrum Taylor, was born.

When the railroad was completed, Samuel returned to Colonia Morelos and, with others, opened new fields north of town on the Batepito River where farming was resumed. In May, 1906, Pearl second son, Edwin Walter, was born in Colonia Morelos.  In the summer of 1907, Samuel made a trip to St. George, Utah, accompanied by his wife Pearl, their two young sons, and his daughters Frances and Grace to attend Will’s temple marriage and visit Samuel’s parents. He returned to Colonia Morelos in early October.

In the spring of 1908 he was given his release as a colonizer from President Ivins and moved his families to Colonia Dublan, where, on June 16, Pearl’s third son, Brigham Taylor, was born. Some months later Samuel purchased the Frank Wall terreno (large field) in Guadalupe, about 10 miles up the river from Dublan, where he again took up farming. Here their daughter Pearl was born on April 24, 1910. Prior to her birth, Samuel took a contract building a railroad, as the Noroeste was extending its road from the vicinity of Casas Grandes to Madero via Pearson and El Rucio.

Revolutionary movements were already brewing in Chihuahua, the effects of which brought about the Exodus from Mexico in 1912. At that time all the women and children of the Chihuahua colonies were taken to El Paso on freight cars. Finding themselves dependent on the United States government or other charities, many of the colonists accepted transportation arrangements by the Church and the railroads so they could go where they had relatives. The men came out overland on horseback, joining their families as soon as possible. Samuel Jarvis took his families and went to St. George, Utah for a season. Here, on October 15, 1915, Ernest Van Buren was born.  After attending October conference in Salt Lake City, Samuel returned to Mexico and brought teams and wagons out to Arizona. He stopped at Saint David, Arizona and traded a team and wagon for a 40-acre homestead near the Whetstone Mountains, southwest of Benson. This area was called Miramonte.  Here another shack was built to “prove” this property.

As life was rigorous and they had little to work with, being forced to relive pioneer experiences, food was plain and simple. In order to receive proper care, Pearl went to El Paso for the birth of Bessie Ann on March 15, 1916. After some six years of difficult living, helping to build dams on the San Pedro River, enlarging the Benson canal, clearing and bringing under cultivation new land and hoping to better his condition, Samuel exchanged his holdings in San Pedro Valley (Benson) for land under new irrigation system near Ysleta, Texas.  Only months after living there, Pearl was a victim of the influenza epidemic in the spring of 1919, leaving her small children to the care of Frances, Samuel’s first wife. The water in Ysleta was blamed for Samuel’s own failing health, so he moved his wife Frances and his young family back to Colonia Dublan, Mexico.  However, he never regained his health, and passed away after considerable suffering on February 7, 1923, leaving Frances and Lehi to care for the children. He was buried in the Dublan cemetery on February 9, 1923.

Samuel Walter Jarvis, Jr., son, and Grace Fenn, daughter

Stalwarts South of the Border page 329

Manrique Gonzalez

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Manrique Gonzalez

(1880 – 1976)

 Manrique Gonzalez was born October 19, 1880.  His parents, Juan Francisco Gonzalez and Juliana Rodriquez Campos, lived in a small town in the northern part of the state of Coahuila named Nadores.

Manrique’s father was a school teacher in the surrounding farming districts.  He and his wife had 15 children, ten boys and five girls.  Manrique was the seventh child.  He left home when he was 14 years old, living first with an uncle in Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico and later in San Pedro close by, but keeping his whereabouts a secret for fear of being forced to return home.

At San Pedro he was employed by American railroad contractors and for the first time heard the word “Mormon.”  He became acquainted with David A. Stevens and wife and with Samuel Jarvis and his son George.  When he came to know the principles and beliefs that actuated the lives of these men, he as most favorably impressed.  He wanted to be like them, to do the things they did, which to him seemed perfect.  They didn’t use tobacco, tea, or coffee, neither did they drink liquor, and they kept the Sabbath day holy.  Even more important, they treated their workmen with consideration and kindness.  Life could offer nothing better than to allow him to remain always in their society.  Nothing gratified him more that to take his money to Mrs. Stevens to save for him.  When it had reached the fabulous sum of sixty pesos, he sent it home to his father.

When he moved with the contractors to Chihuahua where railroad grading was continued and the job was completed, he gladly accepted an invitation to move with the company to colonia Juarez where he took up residence with the Mormons.  From 1898 until the preset time (1966) he has remained a part of society in the colonies.  The only exception to this is the period he spent in the United States in search of higher education.  In Colonia Juarez he lived with first one family and then another, all the time working to learn the English language.  Despite his age and his adult growth, he entered Sarah Clayson’s Primary Department and took his first schooling in the language with little tots in the first grade.  He was kind to them and they responded well to the friendly young man who sat on an adult-sized chair brought in especially for him because the school benches were too small.  In five years he had mastered the essentials in elementary instruction and was given the customary certificate of graduation from the eighth grade in the spring of 1903.  He was then twenty-two years of age.

His progress in the study of religion was also rapid.  His eager questions about Mormonism were answered to his satisfaction.  On September 2, 1899, at the age of  18, he was baptized by John c. Harper and confirmed the following day as a member of the church by Anthony W. Ivins.  He later said, it was “the happiest day of my life.  I was no longer alone, I had brothers and sisters who cared for me and were interested in my welfare.  I felt bound to the community in every way.”

As soon as the hands that had confirmed him and bestowed upn him the Gift of the Holy Ghost had been lifted from his head, the venerable Patriarch, John Holt arose from his seat and walked solemnly to the stand.  In the hush that followed this pretentious action, he began to speak.  His first words were unintelligible, then all realized they were listening to one speaking in tongues. When he had finished, the congregation waited eagerly for interpretation. When it came, it concerned Manrique’s conversion and future:  that if he remained true to the covenants made in the waters of baptism his power and influence for good would be felt throughout the nation; that his baptism would open the door through which many of his people would pass; that he would be a saviour to his own family. “What surprised me,” said Manrique later, “was why interpretation was necessary. I understood every word of it.”

In October, 1903, Professor Guy C. Wilson, in a characteristically discerning decision, asked Manrique to accept position at the Juarez Academy as a Spanish teacher. To fortify Manrique’s extreme lack of self-confidence, Professor Wilson promised to remain in the room to help should annoying situations arise, and bolster Manrique with his support until he grew more self-assure.  On this condition Manrique accepted. He had little formal study in the Spanish language, but because it was his native tongue, he learned quickly. In the first year he learn the fundamentals along with the other students. He also took lessons on the side. By teaching and studying together, he felt that he learned far more than he taught. He graduated from the institution in 1910 at the age of 28.

For seven years he held his place as a faculty member, taking class after class of students through De Torno’s Spanish Grammar, leading them into supplementary reading fields, drilling them on the rules to govern correct speech, and encouraging them to make use of the language in conversation groups he organize. He knew that free discussion and constant use of Spanish was the shortest road to fluency it was also his best means of learning English, and both he and the classes he taught discovered that studying two languages made each a supplement to the other.

The prediction uttered the day of his confirmation was literally fulfilled. Through him, several members of his family followed him to the colonies and life was changed for them as it had in for him. He was the first Mexican citizen to graduate from the Academy, but not the last. He was but the example that led dozens of others to follow in his steps in the years that followed.

By 1912 when the Madero Revolution broke up the Juarez Stake, he had a wife and five children. With these and little else he entered the Agricultural College in Logan, Utah, where two more children were born, and by his own efforts, coupled with encouragement from professors and friends, earned the credentials to head an experimental agricultural station. When he failed to achieve this ambition, he took position in the U.S. Department of Agriculture in New Mexico, that position he held for six years. During that time he worked for the United States government, he developed by patient experimentation and hours of hard work, the New Mexico Pinto Bean.

At the height of his career, his family life broke up and he was released from his influential position through discrimination against his religion. He returned to his native land and settled in Colonia Dublan with the words of A.W. Ivins ringing in his ears: “Manrique,” he said, “would you like to be rich and happy? “Well,” he continued when Manrique nodded vigorously, “it’s in your hands.”  In his hands! That was all he had besides what he had learned through study and experience. But with those he went to work.

He married Regina Del Palacio about 1920 and began a happy married life. In the course ofd raising six children he preached by example what he called the Gospel of Righteous Farming. First on rented lands, later on his own acres, he demonstrated correct methods of raising alfalfa, wheat and other grains and finally with orchards he used scientific methods that raised standards in farming.

Within a few years his financial standing was an enviable one. In 1966, at the age of 85 he is a contented, retired farmer living in Colonia Dublan, Chihuahua, enjoying the fruits of his labors in a comfortable and well furnished home, and is respected and esteemed by all who know him.

But only he knows how far it is from the life of a peon to the prominence of an agricultural expert, or what has gone into the fulfilling of the promise made him by Patriarch Holt, or the pride he takes in his numerous posterity. A son, Ernesto, is an eminent physician. A grandson, Carlos, appeared in “I Believe,” a column of the Improvement Era.  And there are auxiliary leaders and priesthood quorum directors and church workers sprinkled through his descendents. One grandson, Miguel, recently serving in the northern Mexican mission (1966) with his companion were having little success in the city of Zacatecas.  Other missionaries before them had failed to make successful contact, much less perform a single baptism. Returning to their room one night, Miguel said, “There must be someone in this big city ready for baptism, let’s pray about it.”  Accordingly they both knelt in first one and then the other humbly prayed for guidance to that one individual. It was 10 p.m. before their Ernest please had come to an end. Then Miguel said, “let’s go right now and find him tonight.” And in spite of the lateness of the hour they knocked on the door of the most pretentious house they could find. The doors open by the lady of the house and heard housecoat, and already for bed. “We have a message for you,” said Miguel when she met them. “Come in,” she said, and led them to a reception room. “But first,” she said, “I will call my husband to hear your message, too.”  He soon appeared in robe and slippers, having already retired. Before they could give all of the message she said, “wait! My children was hear this, too.”  Soon, tousleheaded and sleepy-eyed, they were in the room. The message was given. In six days the entire family was ready for baptism. The man, being politically influential, gained other investigators and within a few weeks a branch of 30 souls was organized.  Manrique’s determination and zeal still lives on.

Nelle Spilsbury Hatch

Stalwarts South Of the Border page 212

Samuel Keith Bowman

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Samuel Keith Bowman

Samuel Keith Bowman born November 22, 1921, in Colonia Dublan, Chihuahua, Mexico, the 5th child of Claudious Bowman and Jennie Stark Robinson, passed from this life on May 24, 2010 in Orem, Utah.

He lived a life full of service to his church, family and friends.  In his church service he served in many capacities to include service as a missionary in the Mexican mission as well as service in the Aaronic Priesthood Organization, Stake Missionary, High Councilor, Branch President, Bishop, and District President to the Tarahumara mountain territory under the Chihuahua Mexico Mission Presidency. He served as sealer in the Colonia Juárez México Temple and as a Patriarch in the Colonia Dublán, Chihuahua Stake for 15 years and most recently for 2 years in the Queen Creek, Arizona Stake.  He has served selflessly, tirelessly and lovingly and touched the lives of many people.

He is survived by his sweetheart of 64 years Mary Naoma Haynie and his nine children and their spouses, Keith LaRae Bowman and Charleen Cluff, Mary Eva Bowman Kvamme and James Douglas Kvamme, Naoma Susann Bowman Wagner and James Spencer Wagner, Samuel Kent Bowman and Marian Louise Stevens, Nancy Jenene Bowman, Patrick Tracy Bowman and Cathy Bonner, Karl Henry Bowman and Shauna Momberger, Claudia Ann Bowman Nelson and David Wayne Nelson and Anthony Esaias Bowman and Rosalee Ann Egbert.  Survived also by 35 grandchildren and 47 great grandchildren.  He is survived by his brothers Bardell Robinson Bowman, Donn Seymour Bowman and Maurice Dwight Bowman.  He is very loved and respected and his guidance will be missed. 

Funeral services will be held Saturday, May 29, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. at 56 East 600 North, Lindon, Utah. Viewings will be held Friday, May 28, 2010 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Olpin Family Mortuary, 494 South 300 East, Pleasant Grove and from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. prior to services on Saturday.  Interment will be in the Lindon City Cemetery 550 North 200 East, Lindon. 

Moroni Taylor Abegg

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Moroni Taylor Abegg

July 16, 2003, Moroni Taylor Abegg, our noble and valiant patriarch, peacefully passed away in the arms of his sweetheart Patricia following complications from cancer.

Taylor was born on July 4, 1923 in Colonia Dublan, Chih., Mexico to Moroni Lehi Abegg and Rinda Taylor. After graduating from Juarez Stake Academy in 1941, Taylor attended BYU where he was voted freshman president and preferred man. There he met Patricia Flora Ann Terry and married in the Salt Lake Temple May 27, 1944. Taylor served in the US Army during World War II and Reserves for 10 years.

After completing his Doctorate at the U of U in Fuel Technology and Physical Chemistry, he worked for Lawrence Livermore Labs in CA. Five years later, he moved his family to Albuq., NM and worked for Sandia Labs for 11 years where he was responsible for 14 patents. He then moved to Salt Lake City, UT.

LDS callings included: Stake High Councilor, Bishop and Counselor, Stake President and Regional Representative. He served selflessly and was steadfast in his testimony of Jesus Christ.

Survived by his wife Patricia of 59 years and eight children: Patricia (Daron) Ockey, Pamela Nemelka, Wendy (Mark) Ciccetti, Rinda (Rafe) Black, M. Taylor (Marie) Abegg II, Sherman (Joy) Abegg, Marjorie (Scott) Cartwright and Norman (Melissa) Abegg; 40 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and his sister Hannah Louise (John) Clarke.

Funeral services will be held Monday, July 21, 2003 at 12 Noon at the Ensign 5th Ward, 580 18th Ave., Salt Lake City. Viewing held Sunday evening from 6 – 8 p.m. at the Larkin Mortuary, 260 E. So. Temple and Monday at the Ward 10:30-11:45 a.m. Interment, Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Lavinia Bentley Jackson

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1903 – 1998

Lavinia Bentley Jackson passed away quietly on the morning of January 23, 1998, in American Fork, Utah with her daughter, Velma Keith, at her side.

She was born December 17, 1903 in Colonial Juarez, Mexico, to Maud Mary Taylor Bentley and Joseph Charles Bentley. She was raised in the Mormon Colonies in Mexico, the oldest of eight children. Lavinia graduated from the Juarez Academy in 1923 and attended one year of college at Brigham Young University. She married Armond Lorenzo Jackson, on June 11, 1924, in the Salt Lake Temple. They had been sweethearts since the third grade. Armond passed away nine years ago in December of 1988.Their five living children are Armond (Dorothy) Jackson of El Paso, Texas; Harold (Betty) Jackson of Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Velma (Wayne) Keith of Lindon, Utah; Robert (Anabel) Jackson of Provo, Utah; Dwight (Karen) Jackson of Danville, California. She is also survived by her youngest sister, Lucy Ann Priest. Her additional posterity currently consists of 22 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren.

Lavinia was a faithful, supportive wife and a loving mother. She taught piano lessons, served as PTA president, and assisted her husband with his farm work. She opened her home to friends and strangers alike. In addition, she was a dedicated and tireless church worker, as evidenced by her fifteen years of service as Stake Relief Society President in El Paso, Texas. When she was in her seventies she served as Primary Nursery Leader. More recently she assisted in Primary as a greeter and friend to all the children. She loved and appreciated the good in all she met. That love was reciprocated. She became known as `Aunt Lavinia’ to countless people. Her descendants treasure unnumbered memories of her sweetness and cheery disposition. She truly has been our `angel mother.’

A viewing for family and friends will be held at Olpin Family Mortuary, 494 South 300 East in Pleasant Grove, Utah from 7-9 p.m. on Wednesday, January 28, 1998. Funeral services will be held in El Paso, Texas, at the Fifth Ward Chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 400 Rosemont Drive at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 31, 1998. She will be interred at Memory Gardens of the Valley Cemetery, 4900 McNutt Road, El Paso, Texas.