David King Udall and Ella Stewart Udall, A Love Story Intertwined with
Their Resolve to “Seek First the Kingdom of God.”
Four Stories from David K.’s Autobiography: Marriage and Mission,
A Unique Family Business Partnership ‘Founded on the Feeling of Brotherhood,’
Pioneers to St. Johns, Arizona and Family Life, and
David K. and Ella Udalls’ Pioneering Temple Service in Mesa, Arizona
by Margery Boyden © 2021, Scudder Association Foundation Historian, with permission to
Scudder Association Foundation Historical & Biographical Journal. All rights reserved
David King and Eliza Luella (Ella) Stewart Udall, Golden Wedding, 1925
Marriage and Mission
When David King Udall met Eliza Luella (Ella) Stewart, he says it was love at first sight. David K. Udall confides this fact in his autobiography that he wrote collaboratively with his eldest daughter Pearl, Arizona Pioneer Mormon.[1] Pearl narrates some of the book to shorten its length, but the biography is also rich with many of David K.’s recollections and quotes from pages of his journal and from his children. David K. Udall and Ella Stewart Udall are the grandparents of Stewart L. Udall, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, featured in this issue of the Scudder Journal (Stewart Lee Udall’s Life Sketch Part I), and the couple set the tone for their remarkable posterity. David K. Udall confides:
In the summer of 1873, Bishop Levi Stewart called on our family in Nephi as he was on his way from Salt Lake City to his home at Kanab. He had with him his daughter Eliza Luella, known as Ella. They ate dinner with us and went on their way that afternoon. The fair, slender girl with clear blue eyes took my heart away with her, just as on first sight Eliza King had captured my father’s heart in Old England.[2]
Eliza Luella Stewart Udall (Ella)
Eliza Luella (Ella) Stewart is a 9th generation American Scudder whose Scudder pedigree goes back to the Puritan migration to New England:
David K. Udall continues:
During the next winter I was more than glad to make the five-hundred-mile round trip to Kanab ‘to take my father a load of flour.’ I was not unmindful that Ella was living there. After corresponding for the year following that trip, I went to Kanab again to bring away Ella who had promised to be my wife.
Gratefully I recall her father’s words to me when I asked him for Ella’s hand in marriage. He said, ‘Yes, David, I would rather give Ella to you than to any other man I know.’ In Kanab I bought a lot of pine nuts from the Indians and sold them in Salt Lake City to help defray the expense of our wedding trip.[3]
When David2 K. Udall’s father, David1 Udall, had been called on a mission to Kanab in 1870 to assist in its settlement, for the time he was away, nineteen-year-old David2 K. Udall had been left responsible to care for his father’s home and farm in Nephi, Utah. David2 K. continues the story of the romance by saying that his sister Mary accompanied the couple from Kanab to Salt Lake City where they were married on 1 February 1875 in the Endowment House on Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
Endowment House, Salt Lake City, Utah
The Salt Lake Temple was not yet completed, then only about half-way through its 40-year building project. The newlyweds, with their sisterly chaperone then traveled back to Nephi, by wagon and mule team, nearly an 800–mile round trip in all. David2 K. says, “It was worth the effort for in the Salt Lake Endowment House we were married for time and all Eternity—not ‘until death do ye part.’” The Endowment House was the authorized substitute for the temple as a place for Latter-day Saint marriage sealings to be performed until it was razed in 1889, after completion of the St. George, Logan, and Manti temples in Utah. The Salt Lake Temple would be completed and dedicated April 6, 1893.
Salt Lake Temple, 1899[5]
To more fully understand the rest of their story, one must see their history from their point of view. This requires a reasonable understanding of their religious beliefs and family cultures. Fortunately, for the benefit of history, and for their many relatives, the Stewarts and Udalls left journals, letters and David K.’s autobiography to tell us how they felt, what their motives and purposes were, and why they made the very difficult choices they made, often knowing it might bring some several trials upon them and possibly even persecution for their religion.
David2 K. continues: “The joy of our honeymoon received a shock when soon after we were married, I was called to go to England on a mission. The letter arrived only six weeks after our marriage.” The letter from “Box B,” Salt Lake City, “meant to a young man in my day a call to go on a mission to some faraway state or country. Ella and I wept together as we opened and read that letter.”[6] How would they handle this call to service at such an inconvenient time? David K. remembered his religious convictions from his boyhood. In his autobiography, after discussing the testimonies he heard from early Latter-day Saint leaders and neighborhood mentors who had shaped him, he reflects about his youth:
Yes, we had our work, we had our fun and we had our religion. It was a living, burning reality to many of us youngsters that God through Joseph Smith had restored the Gospel of old, had organized His Church according to revelation and had established Zion in the tops of the everlasting hills. We had a conviction that we belonged to a great Cause and that we were needed. With many of my companions I was fired with determination to carry on the work of redeeming the desert, and of giving to the world the message of the restored Gospel. This determination became the guiding star of my life.[7]
A love so dedicated fosters one’s desire to seek first the kingdom of God which also translates into a love for others of God’s children. Rarely is a call to missionary service convenient and is usually a financial sacrifice, and means time away from loved ones, but David K. and Ella Stewart, as in New Testament, Luke 9:62, “put their [newlywed] hands to the plow and [never] looked back.” David accepted the call and would spend the next two years on his mission to England. It was decided by Church leaders that his father David1 Udall would be released from his Kanab mission duties to return to Nephi, Utah and that David2 K. Udall would take his father’s place at Kanab upon his return from England. During his absence, Ella would return to Kanab, as David K. says, “to resume her duties as clerk and bookkeeper in the Co-op Store and as telegraph operator for the Deseret Telegraph Company. Ella would receive her salary in produce and tithing office orders, convertible into local merchandise or labor, but not into cash which might have helped with my mission expenses.” As David K. reminisces about their painful parting:
The next morning we journeyed on, Ella and I, in a small buggy behind our fathers’ wagons. We delayed as long as possible the goodby that must be said. Old [Mt.] Nebo looked very unrelenting that morning. The memory of it still clings to me.[8]
Mt. Nebo, Utah Valley, Utah[9]
On 18 May 1875, David K. Udall docked at Liverpool, England to begin his two-year missionary service in England. He was assigned to work in the London Conference that included the land of his fathers in the region around Glassenbury, about 45 miles southwest in the county of Kent. None of his relatives were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the church that had called him on this mission. His relatives kindly received him and on July 31st, his cousin David Udall had taken him to meet his father’s brother John Udall at Goudhurst, Kent, the place where David K. Udall’s father was born. Having been born in America, David K. records his feelings about visiting the home of his forefathers for the first time:
Goudhurst Parish Church[10]
We visited the church and churchyard where lie my grandparents and my great-grandparents and two or three great-uncles and aunt. I looked around the place in silence, thinking what the passing of time brings about. I visited the church they attended…The deacon took us around and the feeling I felt while in and around the place I cannot express. This church was built in the twelfth century.
Sunday, August 1…Uncle John was waiting for me and took me to Goudhurst…I am now on the ground where father was born and reared, two miles from Glassenbury. We talked on “Mormonism” and about my folks.…I am now on the ground where father spent his young days….I am now by the old fireplace and on the same old bench where father sat. The bake oven is the same and so is the brick floor. In the back of the fireplace is a plate put there in 1776….We went to the spring from which father lugged many a bucket of water. I had a good drink and thought of father at the time. I cannot tell just how I feel visiting where my father and mother have been. Uncle John looks like father and has his ways. He is pleased to see me, and I am to see him.[11]
Thus was born David K.’s lifelong love of family history. It is interesting to note that the land of David K. Udall’s fathers in Goudhurst, Kent was only twenty-five miles southeast of Horton Kirby, Kent where his wife Ella Stewart’s Scudder ancestors had lived two and a half centuries before they had immigrated to New England in 1637.
About 25 miles from Horton Kirby, Kent to Goudhurst, Kent, Google Maps
David K.’s journal reveals his struggles and his successes over the next two years, his feelings for Ella and mentioning of her letters. He includes many of his preaching experiences and opportunities to teach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ that he loved, sometimes to his relatives. On December 31st, he writes, “I was writing to my wife when the New Year came in. I can look back on the past and have nothing to regret under the circumstances. I desire to improve my time and help to build up the Kingdom of God. By His help I will be a man of God. I feel well in my labors.” On March 22, he writes, “I started from Cousin David’s at 2 o’clock p.m. They treated me very kindly. He is poor and works very hard. Cousin Louisa walked with me a short distance and she wishes to be baptized the first opportunity. Some of her folks are not happy about it and she feels sad.”[12] That year he spent Christmas at his aunt Kate Stanley’s. After a wonderful meal and an evening of singing and playing the piano, he laments, “I am discouraged about these dear relatives. They seem to think mostly about worldly matters and are not interested in the Gospel.”
David K. Udall, London—1877
On January 1, 1877, David K. reveals deep feelings of his heart as he records his prayer of that day: “I ask God to direct me through this coming year as well as through my coming life, that I may do all things with an eye single to his glory….I desire to benefit my fellowmen…If I should go home this year, wilt Thou bless me there, that we may live pure and upright lives as saints of the Most High…Bless us with power to overcome every power that is not of Thee. Father I ask not for riches, but for faith, hope, charity and wisdom, that I may be Thy servant in both word and deed.”[13] David K. also comments about later reading a report of the dedication of the St. George Temple in southern Utah on January 1, 1877, that made him feel full of hope and thankfulness. Like many others in southern Utah, the Stewarts had been involved in supplying materials and labor to complete this first temple built in Utah Territory. Its completion brought great joy that they now again had a temple. It was their first temple since the Latter-day Saints were forced to leave their beloved temple and city at Nauvoo, Illinois, thirty years before.
St. George Temple, circa 1880[14]
David K. had many more mission experiences before he received a letter of release from his mission dated 2 June 1877. He records:
It can only be imagined the satisfaction this news brought to my heart. I here thank my Heavenly Father that I have had a mission and that I have been preserved from the powers of darkness so that I may leave this land rejoicing in the Gospel and my labors here. God preserve me in the future. I rejoice that the time has come for me to return home to my wife and other dear ones, void of offense to any man, that I can go home feeling I have done the best I know while here on my mission.[15]
After ten days by ship, he landed in New York on June 23rd. It was another eight days on the train from New York to Ogden when he entered in his journal on 3 July 1877:
This morning my wife and my sister, Mary, and father Levi Stewart came to Ogden on the seven o’clock train from Salt Lake to meet me. As our train was passing slowly by I recognized them and jumped off and then came the happy meeting. No pen can describe the emotions of the heart under such circumstances. Our cup of happiness was full. My dear ones looked so natural and welcomed me with all candor and earnestness. I met them with a clear conscience and a pure heart. As husband and wife, we have been spared to meet again, as was promised me by Apostle Erastus Snow when he set me apart for my mission. He said I would go in peace and return in peace.
Meanwhile, Ella (Stewart) Udall had willingly made sacrifices and suffered loneliness to support David K. during his missionary service. , the couple spent some precious time serving together at the St. George Temple. After a few months at Nephi, that included some unanticipated financial reverses, and after the death of his father-in-law Levi Stewart at the age of sixty-six, David K. and Ella determined it was time to move from Nephi to settle at Kanab. David K. and Ella would be starting anew to build up their temporal resources and means of making a living.
A Very Unique Family Business Partnership ‘Founded on the Feeling of Brotherhood’
Three brothers-in-law, Levi Stewart’s son William Thomas Stewart and Levi’s sons-in-law David K. Udall and Lawrence C. Mariger decided to form a business partnership. Their commitment to service to God and others was written into their partnership arrangement.
In his journal, David King Udall, describes the partners involved, their financial and other objectives and the very unusual provisions of the 1878 business partnership agreement he made with his brothers-in-law in the Stewart family.[16]
Pearl Udall describes, “The object was to engage in stock raising, farming and general mercantile business. It was mutually agreed that the name of the company should be Udall, Mariger and Stewart. [The three boys decided that this was the best combination of their names.] Their respective ages were 30, 27 and 25 years. Brother Mariger had a wife and one child. Brother [Tommy] Stewart was a married man having lost his first wife, Tamar Hamblin, daughter of Jacob Hamblin, and [then] being married to Fanny Little, daughter of James A. Little, with one child, the daughter of Tamar. Brother Mariger married Bishop Levi Stewart’s daughter, Sarah.”[17]
The top line of these photographs shows the Stewart siblings. The second line of photos shows their spouses below at the time the partnership was made on the second line. Tommy had already buried his first wife, Tamar Hamblin, and their little son Thomas, who had both died in 1877. Tommy and Tamar had married on 22 September 1873 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. On 4 May 1879 in the St. George Temple, Tommy married again to Fanny Maria Little.
Pearl Udall continues the account: “(David K. Udall was married, having for his wife, Luella [Ella], a daughter of Levi Stewart. They had just recently lost their only child. [David Stewart Udall who was stillborn on 8 November 1878.] These three young men were brothers-in-law, William T. Stewart being a son of Levi Stewart).”[18]
David K. picks up the narrative:
Being about equal as we thought, in real values of property, we became equal partners. In our voting on questions, it was not so much based on capital stock, dollars and cents, but more the feeling of common brotherhood. Brother Tommy Stewart, previous to the organizing of this company, had built him a nice, rather pretentious home in part of which my wife and I lived, with Tommy’s family in the other side, Lawrence and Sarah occupying their own home.
Mariger Home
Our first business venture was a city block in Kanab, which was improved and owned by and was known as the property of President Brigham Young. This was the choicest piece of property in all the land. We bought it from the heirs of President Young’s estate. The lot was well fenced, as President Young would have it done, and it was planted to orchard, alfalfa and grapevines. Said property was located across the street south from Brother Tommy’s home.
We immediately took steps to build on the northwest corner of this block a lumber store building which was occupied by a retail store and telegraph office. At this time, we agreed that Brother Mariger supervise and give special attention to the mercantile business, etc., and that Brother Stewart tend to our stock raising, and I to look after the farming. The condition of the country was such that it appeared there was nothing but a bright future before us. The grazing opportunities were seemingly boundless. It, in fact, was a free range, the forest of the Buckskin Mountains and the Upper Kanab country, were for use of the settlers, as they [were] needed. There were great canyons and mountain cliffs that kept back the cattle and horses on an immense range of country, which included the country lying west and north of Kanab to the banks of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. Just west of the Kanab wash, the Church established and developed a magnificent cattle range, which is known as Pipe Springs to this day. Little farming was done in this entire region. The population was mostly pioneers of the old stock and converts to our Church, [the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints], who had ventured to make their homes in this country which was recognized as a desert.
We had liberal patronage in our mercantile business. Many Indians from east of the Colorado came to Kanab to trade blankets, pine nuts, etc. The Mormon emigrants, going to Arizona by way of Lee’s Ferry, patronized us. We stocked our store with merchandise, purchased from Z.C.M.I. in Salt Lake City, which we hauled with our teams. With all our youth and vigor, we entered into the business that was before us and were prospered in it. Our company was recognized as having a good standing. St. George had ‘Wolley, Lund and Judd’ with a much greater field of operation, but ‘Udall, Mariger and Stewart’ was recognized as a good firm to deal with. The partnership contract, dated November 22, 1878, was unique in that it was agreed by the parties:
That if any member of this company shall at any time be called on any local or foreign mission by the authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his family shall be provided for during his absence and money be furnished to him to take him to his field of labor; also, if two members of this company shall be called at any time to locate in any other section of the country by the above-mentioned authorities, the other member agrees to accompany them if agreeable to the presiding authorities of the above-mentioned Church, and if it is deemed wise by the company to do so.
‘We agree to sustain each other in practicing all the principles pertaining to the Church of Jesus Christ, and to endeavor to be moral in our intercourse with each other and with all men, also to strictly observe the law of tithing as recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, and to donate to the poor and to assist in the building of Temples, and all other good works, which amounts may be determined by the controlling power of the company which shall be two-thirds of the said company.
‘We also agree that our property and all God has entrusted in our care shall be subject to the presiding priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In case any member desires to withdraw from this company he may do so at the expiration of five years from this date, and be satisfied with the amount allotted to him by his partners. We also agree to use due diligence in establishing a good library and to promote education among ourselves.
(Signed) David K. Udall
Lawrence C. Mariger
Wm. T. Stewart[20]
Lawrence C. Mariger tells in his journal of the preparations he made to establish the firm:
About July 1st, I started to Salt Lake City, taking my wife and daughter with me. On July 13, 1878, I purchased my first bill of goods from Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution, Horace S. Eldredge being Superintendent of that firm. I purchased merchandise to the value of $868.07. I arrived back home again on July 29th opening my goods for sale on the next day. I was very successful in that business and I sent for other bills of merchandise, etc. I, at the same time, had charge of the Kanab telegraph office for which I received $25.00 per month. I took that office October 1, 1877. (I was 29 years of age.)
On the 20th of September, 1878, I purchased from Charles S. Burton one city block in Kanab known as President Young’s block, which had fallen to Burton through heirship. I gave him $650 for same. This purchase was made in view of a partnership to be formed between David K. Udall, W. T. Stewart and myself, which we succeeded in forming on November 22, 1878, on which day I turned all my merchandise, cash and all property to the company.”[21]
To fully appreciate the uniqueness of the terms of the partnership agreement, and of the character of each man involved, one must look to their recorded histories, the history of the communities in which they lived, and the honor with which their families remember them. Additionally, the isolated settlement was only 8 years old. The three men were young, but loyal to God, each having already been tried in the fires of affliction in some way, for the Lord and for His gospel’s sake. They were loyal to family commitments to serve God and build Zion. From their youth, they had willingly devoted their lives to the Lord. Their collective experiences included leaving homes and family when called to serve, eking out their living in a harsh desert, at times suffering hardships, etc. They had seen firsthand persons whose hearts and examples were true to their cause; they had also seen spiritual immaturity and selfishness of others and from experience, the three partners knew that not all persons in Zion were Saints, but these three men gave it their best efforts.
Lawrence and William T. [Tommy] had been residents in Kanab during the abortive attempt of that community to live the United Order, the Latter-day Saint version of “being of one heart and one soul,” having “all things in common” in the spirit of Acts 4:32 in the New Testament. The underlying purpose, of course, was to make Saints.[22] [During part of that time, David K. Udall was on his first mission to England.] Although some persons failed to be successfully molded by the United Order experience, others used the experience to become less selfish, and more consecrated, peaceable and forgiving. The partnership agreement of the brothers-in-law voluntarily retained, in spirit, some United Order principles.
Chief Justice Levi Stewart Udall,[23] who was the son of David K. and Ella Udall and the father of Stewart L. Udall, expressed that he felt this to be the most unique contract he had seen in his years in the law. Mark F. Mariger, Lawrence’s son, records an incident in which Justice Levi Stewart Udall shared the unusual partnership agreement of the firm of Udall, Mariger and Stewart in a speech he gave at a national convention of state Supreme Court justices. Mark, describes:
The late Levi Udall, former Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, remarked that it was without a doubt the most unique legal document he had seen in all his years of practice as a lawyer and judge. He read it at a convention in Washington, D. C. in which supreme justices from every state were present. One remarked that he would bet that it started the darnedest fight and row of all time. He was informed it did not, each did their share of the agreement and died the best of friends, and that each family still loves and respects the others.[24]
Chief Justice Udall shared how the men and their agreement would soon be tested. It appears that these brothers-in-law, however, were serious and sufficiently advanced in the ways of Christian brotherhood to be successful at voluntarily living, on a family scale, the New Testament idea of having all things in common,[25] principles of which their generation viewed as a United Order-like arrangement. Their objectives were the welfare of each other, as well as of themselves, and a maintenance for their families, should one of them be called on a mission.
In his journal Lawrence Mariger adds more detail about founding the firm of Udall, Mariger and Stewart:
On January 24, 1879, I commenced on the foundation to a store house for the company, Elijah Averett laying the foundation. The building was 16 feet wide and 28 feet long. On February 21st, the building was completed and on the 22nd we opened the new store to our customers. Business was very good during the summer in the Mercantile Department. D. K. Udall took charge of our Farm Department, raised a very good crop of wheat, etc. William T. Stewart took charge of our stock department, which, was somewhat injured in consequence of the drought and want of salt.
On July 4th and 24th, I acted as Committeeman in connection with Brigham Y. Baird and William Lewis. We arranged a very good procession on the 24th, better than Kanab was accustomed to, and had a general good time that day.
On the morning of July 25th, I was somewhat startled when Brother Udall handed me a letter which he had brought from the post office, which read as follows:
Salt Lake City, Utah
July 17, 1879
Elder L. C. Mariger
Kanab.
Dear Brother:
Your name has been suggested and accepted as a missionary to Scandinavia. President William Budge and President Lygare request a number of faithful, young, energetic men to be sent at as early a date as possible to carry on the work of God in Scandinavia, openings for doing good appearing in numerous directions. Among those selected is yourself, and if there are no insurmountable obstacles to hinder you from going, we would be pleased to have you make your arrangements to start as early as September 1st. Please let us know at your earliest convenience what your feelings are with regard to this call.
Your brother in the Gospel,
(Signed) John Taylor[26]
On July 26th, I started with the carriage and Mac and Chess to DeMott Park on Buckskin Mountains, where my wife was staying with her mother at their dairy 55 miles southeast from Kanab. I arrived there on the 27th about 11 o’clock. I stayed there two days, then returned to Kanab, devoting my time to posting our books before my departure. The books showed our liabilities to be $1,502.11 and our resources to be $2,697.20 and all the goods in the store as no inventory was taken of them.
On the 20th of August, I bid goodbye to my wife and little girl and friends and started on my mission…
Lawrence Christian Mariger, Danish Missionary, 1880
On Sunday, June 27th, 1880, Lawrence noted in his journal the 36th anniversary of the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith in Carthage Jail. His entries continued to mention his ill health and additional baptisms. Somehow Sarah sent him $10.00 in her letter, but Lawrence notes, “All was well at home, but their financial affairs were not good.” Lawrence’s daughter Dagmar later described how the family survived financially in Lawrence’s absence, when Dagmar was about three years old. It is also an example of how the children took responsibility at a young age. Dagmar said:
My brother Lawrence was born when I was twenty-two months old, September 16, 1879. That was the day Father sailed from New York on his mission to Denmark. While Father was gone, Mother took care of the Mercantile business across the street from Uncle Tommy’s house where we were living.
Mother also ran the telegraph office, so I watched for the signal for Kanab and then ran across the street to tell my mother at the store to come answer it. I also helped tend Lawrence when he was crawling around.[27]
The autobiography of David K. Udall includes the text of the unusual partnership agreement, followed by his expression about the partners’ unique relationship:
We were soon put to the test, almost before we were established in our new venture. Brother Mariger was called on a mission to Denmark and left August 19, 1879. Sometime later Tommy was called to fill a mission in New Zealand. I was called by President Taylor to move to St. Johns, Arizona, to preside there as bishop, and was instructed to be at Kanab Stake Quarterly Conference in June 1880, to be set apart for my calling….
Ella and I realized that this call to Arizona meant a life’s mission. We were thwarted in our financial ambitions for we had to sacrifice our good start in Kanab. Our faith was tested. We were happy with our relatives and friends. When the time came to go, they said, ‘God bless you, you have been good neighbors to us.’ That cheered us, though we felt we were going into another world, strange and far away. We dreaded it all the more because Ella was frail and our baby less than three months old.[28]
The Udalls call in 1880 came while Lawrence Mariger was serving in Denmark. Lawrence received the letter from home on the 11th of July, informing him of David K. Udall’s call as bishop at St. Johns, Arizona. This call dealt the final blow to the firm of Udall, Mariger and Stewart. Udall’s call to Arizona also had serious financial implications for the Mariger family. Lawrence’s well-laid plans for the maintenance of his family during his missionary service were now set aside. Resolutely, he and Sarah would accept this challenge, and put their trust in God to help see them through financially during Lawrence’s absence.
In preparation for their mission to St. Johns, Arizona, David K. tells how they dissolved the partnership:
Before I left, Tommy and I with Lawrence’s wife, Sarah, agreed on the division of the property. The amount assigned to my family was two new wagons, two pair of horses, a saddle pony or two, and a bunch of cattle—about 40 head. These cattle were received on account at the store in part settlement of the Stewart Estate account run at the store. I also received one stand of choice bees and about $100 in cash. The balance of the property was divided among the other two partners in a satisfactory way, which meant that Tommy took his home back, and the store interests and the block [were] divided between them on a fair basis.
William Thomas Stewart
In conclusion, there was never any consideration to our individual services in the company in our adjustments of the accounts. I remember, with a degree of pleasure, that I, representing the company, took some of our farm implements with teams to the Buckskin Mountains in the autumn of 1879 and worked a month or more. We located a ranch and plowed from 50 to 75 acres, expecting to farm the next spring and the following years. The land was formerly owned by the Stewart family. It was DeMotte Park (also known as the V.T. Park) and is now on the main highway to the Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim.
In the spirit of appreciation, I recall my association in the firm of ‘Udall, Mariger and Stewart.’ Lawrence Mariger and Tommy Stewart stand among the finest men I have ever known. Our hopes ran high in that business undertaking; prosperity attended the beginning of our efforts and we had bright promise for success. Our love for each other has been steadfast through the years.[29]
During the two years we operated I made several trips to Salt Lake to buy merchandise for the store. I raised two crops of grain and hay in Kanab, and one good crop of wheat on our ranch in DeMotte park in the Kaibab Forest. We took over the ranch from the Stewart estate…We were successful those two years. Our neighbors were our friends, and supported us loyally. We had good prospects for growing into a firm of some magnitude, and we were happy in our dreams for the future, but they came to a sudden end when Ella and I were called by the Church to pioneer in Arizona.[30]
Pioneers to St. Johns, Arizona and Udall Family Life
New pioneering challenges would definitely present in their remote part of Arizona as they laid out a new town from scratch. David K. relates:
…President Jesse N. Smith and I walked from Salem to San Juan and up the river looking over the country….I said, President Smith, where would you suggest that we locate the corner of the public square? He said, ‘Why not right here?’ ‘Good enough,’ I said, ‘this cactus will be a landmark for me to remember.’ A day or two later when we began surveying the town plat we started from said cactus, using it as the southeast corner and ran our first lines around a tract of ground to be known as the public square measuring twenty-four rods each way….[31]
In time there were disputes over land rights with an earlier set of settlers claiming squatter’s rights and financial challenges to work out and irrigation ditches to dig, crops to plant and homes and buildings for town use to build. There was a congregation to build and a cohesive community to establish.[32] This was indeed pioneering. Udall paid tribute to his counselors Moses Thatcher and William H. Gibbons saying, “Before closing this chapter, would that I might pay adequate tribute to my counselors for their loyalty and devotion to me and to the Lord. Brother Moses Thatcher once said, ‘Our Church government is a theocratic, patriarchal, democratic, republican form of government.’ I think he is right. Throughout our ministry we trusted in God and fathered our flock and worked together as a unit in guiding the activities of our very democratic ward….During the seven years I served as bishop in the St. Johns Ward, I can say truthfully and with gratitude that I enjoyed my labors and the spirit of my calling.”[33]
In 1882, there would be another new pioneering challenge for his family. David felt that it was time to enter into the practice plural marriage.[34] It is a difficult doctrine that one did not take lightly. David K. was of the last generation of his church to practice plural marriage because its practice was rescinded by the Church in 1890 due to the extreme persecution Latter-day Saints were suffering because of it and apparently by then its purposes had been sufficiently achieved. David K. writes:
In doing this I conformed to a deep conviction of the divinity of the doctrine of plural marriage—a conviction I had reached in studying the Gospel while I was on my mission….Ella and I had both been reared in homes where there was more than one wife and one mother. Ella told me during our courtship that she believed the doctrine of plural marriage to be uplifting and divine. This belief was a natural reaction to her happy home life in her father’s large family. The test now came to Ella and it proved to be a severe trial to her…..She was sustained in meeting this experience with a firm faith…[35]
On May 6, 1882, I started on a second wedding trip. It was in another covered wagon, but this time it was to increase not to begin my family circle. Ella showed her good sportsmanship by complying with my urgent request that she go with us to the St. George Temple in southern Utah where Ida [Hunt] and I were to be married. It was an unusual trip. The girls read several books aloud as we jogged slowly over the desert. Baby Pearl was talking and proved to be our safety valve in conversation. At night in my roll of camp bedding, I slept on the ground guarding the wagon in which my precious ones were sleeping. In contemplating the future, as I lay there under the stars, I realized I was placing myself in the crucible to be tested for better or for worse. With all my faith I prayed constantly that I might measure up to the standard that Ella and Ida had a right to expect of me. My heart went out in great tenderness to my two brave sweet girls.[36]
…Woven in with [Ida’s] chronicle are many of my letters and a number of letters written by Ella and Ida, also a few other letters very precious to us. These…pages…will enable you, my children, to look into our hearts during a trying and testing time when we were still young.[37]
Lovely Ida is the daughter of John Hunt and Lois Barnes Pratt, then of Snowflake, Arizona and granddaughter of Jefferson Hunt who coincidentally was the man who baptized Levi Stewart in Missouri in 1837.
Ida Hunt, 1882
In that same spirit of the earlier partnership agreement with the brothers-in-law, Ella and Ida did not distinguish between whose children were whose. David K. also admired their willingness to supplement the family income. He writes:
Ella and Ida were always industrious and more than willing to do all they could to lighten my financial load. At Hunt, Ida cooked for our family and for passengers, during the course of years taking in hundreds of dollars from the latter. Ella boarded schoolteachers and students for many years in St. Johns….[They] saves us many dollars by looking after the express and passenger business incident to our mail contracts. At one time in the early days Ella had a millinery shop, the first in St Johns. At another time Ida clerked and kept books for the branch store of A.C.M.I. at Eager. As soon as the girls were old enough, they were prepared for teaching and found schools at or near home. Altogether my girls taught school for some eighteen years. A good part of their salaries they pooled into the family funds and it was a great help in maintaining our financial standing and in providing the necessities of our family life. They were glad to do this, with one exception, that of repeatedly buying barbed wire with which to “fence Hunt,” as Pauline and Luella said, for they had stood helplessly by and seen their fences washed down the creek or buried in mud several times. This was too much for even their pioneering spirits.[38]
In the summer of 1903, while Ida and Pauline were busy as bees in Hunt, Ella and her girls in St. Johns decided to undertake paying off a $750 debt hanging over our city lot in St. Johns. I had turned this property over to Brother Joseph B. Patterson for money I borrowed from him to settle some of our outstanding accounts. In May after school closed, the girls out of their salaries paid Brother Patterson one hundred and twenty-five dollars and told him of their plans to pay off the note that summer, asking that he say nothing to me about it. He was touched by the spirit of their plans and when he gave them their receipt, he took off all interest due on the note.[39]
This new business they began in the Udall family and the town, was an ice cream parlor which was of “much satisfaction to the town.” They ordered a hundred pounds of ice to be delivered each day and set to work with enthusiasm. David worried they were working too hard. “Ella was, of course, the head manufacturer and business manager. Our Levi, of twelve years, poor lad, was chief chore boy. The ice cream was made and frozen at home and then ten gallons at a time were put into Levi’s red wagon and hauled to the ice cream parlor. I often joked the girls about what they were doing with all their money and then wound up saying I thought perhaps it was enough for me to know that they looked prosperous and well-dressed and that I had seen no grocery or other store bills all summer.”
Little did I dream that Ella and the girls were making substantial payments every week on that note to Brother Patterson. When my birthday came the following September and they presented me with the cancelled $750 note and the deed to our much-loved city lot my surprise was so complete that my knees shook and I could not find my voice.[40]
Financial blessings followed with years of good crops and in 1911–1912 they were finally able to build their dream home on their “loved lot” in St. Johns. It took many months of hard work in which the family assisted the tradesmen. “The family agreed that the house must be large enough to make us all comfortable and to take care of visiting friends from time to time; also that it must be modern and substantial—a ‘monument,’ the children said, to our efforts in pioneering,”
We moved into our new house in the spring of 1912 and it has been home to us ever since even when circumstances have taken us away from it. It is comfortable, spacious and beautiful. It has been my cherished dream to have the house free from debt and I am thankful to say that we do not owe a dollar on it now. The home truly stands as a ‘monument’ to our years of effort in building up St. Johns, and what I deem more important it bespeaks the solidarity of our family circle.”[41]
In 1908, seven years before her death, Ida suffered a stroke that paralyzed the left side of her body.
Her son Don states, “However she remained ambulatory through those fearful years of affliction and uncertainty, refraining as much as possible from imposing her infirmities and troubles on others.” For most of this time, her daughter Pauline and son-in-law Ashael H. Smith “lovingly cared for her.” Don continues, “It should also be remembered that Aunt Ella graciously waited on Ida and gave much time and attention to her needs when she was living in the family home at St Johns. Ida’s philosophy of life seemed to be: ‘Why should we add to the misery of others through our own afflictions? No matter how heavy our loads, there are others far worse off than we are….She believed…that God is Love, and that the surrender of her life was God’s Will.” Much to the sorrow of her loved ones, Ida passed from this life on 26 April 1915. Sadly, within a month, David K.’s daughter-in-law, Ruth (Kimball) Udall, the young wife of John H. Udall, also died, leaving a young son Nick and John H. a widower.[42]
Ida’s Family Photo in 1909.
L to R. Back Row: Gilbert, 14, Jesse, 16, Don 1
Front Row: Ida, 51 and Pauline, 24
Missing Grover Cleveland Udall, 22, and John Hunt Udall, 20, who were away as missionaries.
This story of the David K. Udalls and their partnership agreement, and the Udall’s later family life in Arizona, is based on those same feelings of “brotherhood” and teamwork; the story should not end without mention of the dedication exhibited by David K. and Ella Stewart in their many years of service in the Arizona desert, both civic and church, where they helped to firmly establish the community of St. Johns, David serving first for seven years as bishop of the St. Johns Ward and later as president of the St. Johns, Arizona Stake from 1887–1922; at that time, the stake was composed of seven wards and two branches. David K.’s public service also included his term in the Arizona Twentieth Territorial Legislature beginning on 16 January 1899, which example inspired three of his sons by Ida to be elected to the Arizona state legislature, John H., Jesse A. and Don.[43] John H. Udall was the mayor of Phoenix from 1936–1938 and his son, John Nicholas Udall (usually Nick) served as mayor of Phoenix from 1948–1952. Jesse A. Udall also served as a justice of the Arizona state supreme court from 1960–1972. Jesse A.’s son Lee Kenyon Udall served as mayor of Gilbert, Arizona from 1956–1959. This commitment to public service among the posterity of David K. Udall is legendary, spanning over 100 years and four generations. These public servants also included his and Ella’s son Levi Stewart Udall who, as previously mentioned, served as justice and Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court from 1946–1960, prior to Jesse’s term. As mentioned in other articles in this issue, Levi Stewart Udall’s sons Stewart L. and Morris K. Udall served in the U.S. House of Representatives and Stewart L. as Secretary of the Interior. Their sons Tom Udall and Mark Udall served as U.S. Senators until recently. Like so many of their Scudder cousins, their family culture was “service to others.”
Members of the David K. Udall and Joseph Udall Families, 1926[44]
Standing, L. to R:Gauis, Joseph K., Joseph, David K., David K., Jr., Jesse, Pratt
Sitting: John, Don, Levi, Gilbert, Harry, Grover
When David K. Udall was released in 1922 as stake president of the St. Johns Stake, after thirty-five years of service in that capacity, his son Levi Stewart Udall was called as his replacement to lead the St. Johns Stake. David K. candidly writes:
We were very happy in this opportunity that came to him for we knew that it would be for his development and we felt that he would fill the position with honor. I have watched the growth and work in our stake with great joy.
After some thought I decided to see what I could do in dry-farming our land west of town. Those who had public responsibilities realize the difficulties of readjustment to private life. I am honest when I say that I was happy to be released from my public work. I am honest also when I say it was difficult to adjust myself to the change. I felt a loneliness—a lostness for something definite and important to do.[45]
At the time of his release as stake president, David K. was called and ordained a patriarch to serve the St. Johns stake. David K. describes what a privilege and opportunity being a patriarch means: “Whenever the Church of Christ is established on the earth there should be a Patriarch for the benefit of the posterity of the saints, as it was with Jacob [the Old Testament prophet and grandson of Abraham], in giving his patriarchal blessing unto his sons.” A patriarchal blessing includes a declaration of the person’s lineage in the House of Israel,[46] prophetic statements about the life mission of the recipient, “together with blessings, cautions and admonitions as the Patriarch may be prompted to give for the accomplishment thereof. The realization of the promised blessings is conditioned upon the faithfulness of the individual recipient in living up to the principles of the Gospel of our Lord. I thank the Lord for giving me the spirit of my calling as a Patriarch, for I did enjoy blessing my people.”[47] This he did until 1927.
No history about this couple would be complete without sharing one more story about the “crowning” opportunity that came to David and Ella’s life of Christian service together.
David K. and Ella Udalls’ Pioneering Temple Service in Mesa, Arizona
David says, “The call to renewed activity, this time in a field that had always been dear to my heart, came out of a clear sky.” In December of 1926, David received a letter dated December 16, 1926, from the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, calling David to be the President of the new Arizona Temple, soon to be finished in its construction and then dedicated as the seventh operating temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The letter states:
We feel that this appointment will be the crowning glory of your life and that you and your good wife will no doubt very much appreciate spending the balance of your days in the Temple of the Lord.[48]
His daughter Pearl, then living in Salt Lake City, shares her fortuitous encounter the day after the letter was written with Apostle George Albert Smith. This memory preserves a well-deserved tribute to Ella (Stewart) Udall:
He said he was glad to see me because he had something wonderful to tell me, something that made him very happy. Then he told me of Father’s and Mother’s call and said it was an honor they shared equally and had earned together, and that had mother not been a woman of faith and wisdom, and even had she been an untidy housekeeper, she could not have been qualified to serve as Matron in the House of the Lord. If she had not qualified in the eyes of the leaders, father probably would not have been called to fill the position. He added, ‘often in these calls, in our Church, the wife becomes the deciding factor.
There would be months of training, settling of personal affairs and their move to Mesa, Arizona before the Arizona Temple was dedicated on 23–26 October 1927 by President Heber J. Grant.
Arizona Temple and Arizona Temple Workers, circa 1927
Ella (Stewart) Udall and David K. Udall, 8th & 9th from Right on 2nd Row
Ella (Stewart) Udall, Matron and David K. Udall, President of the Mesa Arizona Temple
No temple was in Arizona prior to this time. This would present another pioneering opportunity. He asked that he have two counselors to assist him which is now standard procedure but was not at the time of his call. David’s counselor Frank Anderson writes:
In the beginning of his Presidency at the Arizona Temple, in a work new to all of us, Brother Udall constantly admonished us to go slowly, build conservatively, but well…He felt that the dignity of the institution and the sacredness of the work were far more important than record-making or comparisons, that the increase was bound to come…In all decisions he leaned toward the sanctity and rich sentiments of the work…He was a safe man, a tried man, in whom unlimited confidence might be imposed and without reservation.[49]
The increase did come, just as David K. predicted it would. Under his seven-year leadership, attendance and sacred ordinances completed increased from 12,770 in 1927 to 152,998 in 1934.[50] He also oversaw improvements to beautify the grounds and the interior to better facilitate the work. It just so happens that there is now a rare opportunity for the public to see the building’s interior, this hallowed place where David K. and Ella Udall served for seven treasured years that were indeed “the crowning glory of their lives.”
The Mesa Arizona Temple is now a timely topic, for it will be rededicated on December 12, 2021 after it was closed in July of 2018 for a three-year renovation to upgrade and refurbish the ninety-four-year-old edifice. Great effort has been made to restore the building, as much as possible, to 1927 décor while making the needed upgrades. There was an open invitation to all to tour the interior at the the public open house from October 16–November 20, 2021, https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/mesa-arizona-temple/.
Virtual tours of the renovated temple are available at the above link under Video Presentations that include titles “Mesa Arizona Temple Renovation Complete” and “Mesa Arizona Temple Media Day” and “Arizona Governor Visits Mesa Arizona Temple.”
Mesa Arizona Temple Celestial Room
Now, ninety-four years later, and from their heavenly vantage point, David K. and Ella Udall are likely rejoicing over the role the Mesa Arizona Temple has played in the community and in the progress the Mesa Arizona Temple has made since their pioneering days.
On November 22, 1934, Apostle Charles A. Callis, came to Arizona to thoughtfully, personally deliver a letter of release for David K. from his duties as president of the Mesa Arizona Temple. Elder Callis convened a special Chapel service and invited all of the temple workers to speak, as well as some other church leaders. The meeting lasted for five hours. David K. shares:
With hearts full of gratitude and voices choked with emotion, Ella and I responded to the words of commendation that had been spoken; telling of our appreciation for this opportunity that had come to us for service in this sacred Temple; that we considered it one of our greatest blessings; of our love and appreciation for the pleasant association we had enjoyed with the fine and loyal group of Temple workers and we left our blessings with them. Our hearts are full to overflowing. We expressed the hope that we would be able to continue with genealogical and Temple work and to accomplish more good before we ‘pass on.’[52]
David K. and Ella moved back to their dream home in their beloved St. Johns. Pearl continues the narrative:
On May 28, 1937, Ella had been very busy. The $20 worth of plants she had brought from her beloved Utah to beautify the outside of the big home place must be planted for the great occasion—The Golden Jubilee in July—the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the St. Johns Stake. She wanted the home to be beautiful for the homecoming of her family, as they were expecting a great reunion on that occasion. In the afternoon she had a heart attack and did not rally therefrom. They sent for the doctor, who gave her a sedative. At about one a.m. she suffered a second attack, and as her loved ones gathered around, she passed over the great divide.[53]
While much of this article focuses her husband David K. Udall, Ella (Stewart) Udall is a very accomplished 9th generation female Scudder descendant, who deserves more notice. Her son, Justice Levi Stewart Udall, wrote a sketch of her early life that includes these insights into her character:
Ella’s earliest recollection was of their home at 4th South and State Street, in Salt Lake City. When she was ten years of age the family moved to Big Cottonwood. She attended private schools in Salt Lake, which included President Young’s school located near Eagle Gate….The knowledge thus gained, inspired and remained with her throughout her life. She could and frequently did repeat many poems and stories from the famous old ‘McGuffey Readers.’
All of the Stewart children were brought up to love the restored Gospel. Their father had personally known and guarded the prophet, Joseph Smith, and was also a confidant and devoted follower of Brigham Young….Their father told them never to turn away a hungry person and they didn’t. The family firmly believed that the Lord increased their supply of flour as He did the widow’s meal in biblical days.
As a part of their early training the Stewart girls were taught to cook, and learned to ‘stitch a fine seam;’ make tallow candles, homemade soap, and to dry and preserve fruit and cure meats. Furthermore, their mother, who had had some training in health problems, particularly hydrotherapy, passed this knowledge onto her children. All of these practical accomplishments stood Ella in good stead when, in her own rights, she became a pioneer mother on the outskirts of civilization.[54]
He describes that Ella’s pleasant youth in Salt Lake City included season tickets to the Salt Lake Theater, dances at the Social Hall, summer picnics in City Creek Canyon and sleigh rides in the winter. While they lived at the farm at Cottonwood, they learned to skate and swim. Ella learned finance skills and thrift from her successful businessman father. Her son continues: “These traits became a part of her, and throughout her life she manifested a keen business sense, fully understanding the value of money.”[55] Justice Udall says of the great tragedy of the fire in Kanab that took the life of Ella’s mother and five siblings, “This tragic event left a deep imprint upon Ella, turning her from a carefree, fun-loving girl of fifteen to a serious woman.[56]
Justice Udall continues: “To the end of her days she was a scholar and displayed great intellectual powers; her perception was keen, her memory clear. She was a woman of unusual foresight and good judgment.” He notes her skills as a hostess are representative of all that a woman should be. Medical help was scarce and “because of her early training and the knowledge gained from a prized book by Dr. Hall, entitled, ‘Health at Home,’ became known as ‘an angel of mercy.’ Having known her all her life, at the time of her passing, Isaac Barth, wrote an editorial for the local newspaper stating:
Ella Udall’s life was dedicated to untiring and unselfish service to her neighbors. She aided the helpless, she ministered to the sick and wounded, and comforted the afflicted. She not only taught the Gospel of the Lord—she lived it.
She always found time to help the Spanish-speaking people, by advice, by teaching them how to sew, by helping them with their sick children or helping restore someone one of them to health and in a hundred ways was useful and helpful to those people…[57]
Justice Udall notes how Ella’s dignified example of refinement and culture, through her woman’s Relief Society work at church, set a standard for the homes of her neighbors. She also advocated for “Woman’s Suffrage” and fostered civic responsibility among the women. He says, “In her maturity Ella developed a wealth of human understanding which made it possible for her to be patient and forgiving…There was always room in her heart and in her home for the motherless…and…the stranger… He concludes, “Wifehood and motherhood were of course, Ella’s greatest achievement.”
David K. and Ella Udall Family
NOTE: Ella’s 9 children were Stewart (who died at birth), Pearl, Erma, Mary, Luella, David King, Jr., Levi Stewart Udall, and two others who died in infancy, Paul Drawbridge Udall, d. at 14 months, and Rebecca May Udall, who died at 7 months of age.
David K. seemed to have a premonition that he would not be long separated from his dear Ella. Pearl writes: “As the lid was placed on her coffin, he said: ‘Mother, I will be with you in a short time.’ He lived only ten months after she was gone. Probably the last public function of note attended by Father was the celebration commemorating the 50th anniversary of the organization of the St. Johns Stake, held on July 23, 24 and 25, 1937. This included the annual celebration of Pioneers’ Day, being the 58th consecutive time that this important even had been celebrated in St. Johns.”[58] [Pioneer Day is July 24th, the date that the first company of Latter-day Saint pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847].
Pearl concludes: “The press, in referring to father’s passing, acclaimed him as one of Arizona’s greatest pioneers.”[59]
David2 King Udall wrote a precedent-setting letter to his children and grandchildren, in which he gave a charge to his family. Although much shorter, some of David K.’s message echoes in the letter written by his grandson Stewart L. Udall to his grandchildren about seven decades later.
Mesa, Arizona
June, 1930
My Dear Children and Grandchildren:
Today I am beginning the narration of the simple tale of our family life. I shall compile and write it especially for you; also, for any of our kinfolk or friends who may be interested in it. If you follow our story through, you may be able to trace therein the pattern of faith by which we of my generation lived; by which we founded and developed the Mormon communities which are now your homes….
You my children are living in a new age, but you, too, will have your frontiers to explore, your divides to cross, your own deserts to subdue. Most important of all, you will have home and state problems to solve that will challenge the pioneer blood that runs in your veins. Trust in the Lord, be true to yourselves and all will be well with you.[60]
[1] David King Udall, Arizona Pioneer Mormon: David King Udall, his story and his family, 1851-1938, written in collaboration with his daughter Pearl Udall Nelson, (Tucson, Az.: Arizona Silhouettes, 1959),
[2] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 15.
[3] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 15.
[4] Charles Roscoe Savage, “Endowment House on Temple Square,” circa 1890, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EndowmentHouse3.jpg. Public domain.
[5] “Temple Square, Salt Lake City, in 1899,” Attribution, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, from the United States Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division, ID cph.3g11353, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_Square,_Salt_Lake_City,_1899_retouched.jpg, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Temple_Square%2C_Salt_Lake_City%2C_1899_retouched.jpg.
[6] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 16–18.
[7] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 4–5.
[8] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 18–19.
[9] Mt. Nebo, Explore Utah Valley, https://www.utahvalley.com/plan/day-trips-and-itineraries/10000-steps-a-day-traveler-itineraries/a-complete-guide-to-nebo-loop-where-to-camp-hike-and-play/.
[10] John Salmon, “Goudhurst St. Mary Kent,” geography.orguk, (2001), https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/File:Goudhurst_St_Mary_Kent.jpg. Licensed for reuse, Creative Commons Licence.
[11] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 28–29.
[12] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 31–34.
[13] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 40.
[14] C. R. Savage, St. George Temple ca. 1880, Charles R. Savage Photograph Collection, LDS Church History Library, PH 500, https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/Savage2/id/344. Public Domain; Courtesy Church History Collections, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
[15] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 43.
[16] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 60–64.
[17] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 61.
[18] Ibid.
[19] “Mariger Stewart House,” Kanab Heritage Walking Tour, https://visitsouthernutah.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/KANAB-HERITAGE.pdf.
[20] Op. cit. David King Udall, p. 63-64.
[21] Op. cit. Lawrence Mariger Journal, pp. 12–16.
[22] P. T. Reilly, “Kanab United Order: The President’s Nephew and the Bishop,” Utah Historical Quarterly, Vol. 52, (Spring, 1974): 144–164.
[23] Levi Stewart Udall was a justice on the Arizona Supreme Court for fourteen years from 1946–1960. He served two terms as its Chief Justice, from 1951–1952 and 1957–1958.
[24] Mark F. Mariger, “Lawrence Christian Mariger, Sketch of His Life by His Son Mark Farnsworth Mariger,” p. 6 of retyped version.
[25] Acts 2:44–45, New Testament, Holy Bible.
[26] Op. cit. Journal of Lawrence C. Mariger, 18.
[27] Op. cit. Journal of Lawrence C. Mariger, 85–86 and Oral History of Naomi Dagmar Mariger.
[28] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 63, 67.
[29] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 64-65.
[30] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 65
[31] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 78.
[32] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 78–96.
[33] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 95–96.
[34] Quote from Life History of Levi Stewart, [LINK]
“In Old Testament times, the Lord commanded some to practice plural marriage—the marriage of one man to more than one woman. By revelation, the Lord commanded Joseph Smith to institute the practice of plural marriage among Church members in the early 1840s. For more than half a century (between 1852 and 1890), plural marriage was practiced by some Latter-day Saints under the direction of the Church President.[14]
“Women and men who lived within plural marriage attested to challenges and difficulties but also to the love and joy they found within their families. They believed it was a commandment of God at that time and that obedience would bring great blessings to them and their posterity. Church leaders taught that participants in plural marriages should seek to develop a generous spirit of unselfishness and the pure love of Christ for everyone involved.
“The reasons for this practice are not known. But the results are known. Plural marriage resulted in the birth of large numbers of children within faithful Latter-day Saint homes. It also shaped 19th-century Mormon society in many ways: marriage became available to virtually all who desired it; per-capita inequality of wealth was diminished as economically disadvantaged women married into more financially stable households; and ethnic intermarriages were increased, which helped to unite a diverse immigrant population. Plural marriage also helped create and strengthen a sense of cohesion and group identification among Latter-day Saints. Church members came to see themselves as a “peculiar people,” covenant-bound to carry out the commands of God despite outside opposition. It is estimated that only 5 to 15% of Latter-day Saint men in their communities practiced plural marriage.
“Plural Marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” Gospel Topics Essays, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/plural-marriage-in-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints?lang=eng.
“The Mormon Church officially renounces polygamy,” History.com Editors,
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-mormon-church-officially-renounces-polygamy.
[35] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 97–100.
[36] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 101.
[37] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 102,
[38] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 173–174.
[39] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 174.
[40] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 174–175.
[41] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 178–179,
[42] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 179–181, 266–267.
[43] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 168.
[44] Joseph Udall was David K.’s brother.
[45] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 182–183.
[46] Genesis 27:30; 48:14–15; 49:1–28, Old Testament, Holy Bible; and “Patriarchal Blessings,” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/patriarchal-blessings?lang=eng.
[47] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 214.
[48] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 214–215.
[49] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 220–221.
[50] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 222.
[51] Mesa Arizona Temple, Gospel Art Temples Collection, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/image/mesa-temple-9d96b53?lang=eng
[52] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 224–225.
[53] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 251.
[54] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 245.
[55] Ibid.
[56] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 250.
[57] Ibid.
[58] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 231.
[59] Op. cit. David K. Udall, 232.
[60] “Prefatory Statement,” David K. Udall, iv. He signs it:
“My love and blessings are yours always, David K. Udall
“Written in my office in the Arizona Temple.”
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