HISTORY OF ALONZO THOMAS LEAVITT

By Roxie Leavitt

Alonzo Thomas Leavitt was the fifth child and fourth son of Dudley Leavitt and Mary Huntsman Leavitt. He was born the 13th of November, 1862, at Santa Clara, Washington County, Utah; a small settlement on the Santa Clara River in Southern Utah. His father and his Uncle Jacob Hamblin and others were missionaries, working with the Indians. He knew the hardships of pioneer life, as all other boys of that time did.

After the Park was established at Bryce and Zions Canyon, and everyone was talking about their beauty he said, "I rode after cattle there many times when I was a boy and young man and never once thought of it being anything out of the ordinary.

He never had the privilege of going to school but six weeks in his life, but he read all of the Church magazines and read the Book of Mormon continuously. He was always quite disgusted because the children weren't better writers and used to say, "I only had six weeks of school but if I couldn't write better than they do I would eat my old hat."

Father had a very short foot and it was hard to get shoes that were wide enough and not too long so his shoes always seemed to turn up a little at the toes. He told about one time when he wasn't too old, he was helping to herd the sheep and one night he sat by the fire with his feet pretty close to the coals to keep warm. He fell asleep and his shoes caught on fire and burned the end of his shoes pretty bad, but his toes were so far back that he awoke before his feet got burned.

He was always interested in listening to Grandfather's stories about his work among the Indians. He told me about Grandfather taking some of the children out to see an Indian Ceremonial dance. He was surprised to hear what perfect rythum they kept with their crude instruments. He always seemed to have an interest in the Indians. I heard him say that about every time the Indians came to molest their settlement it was because some white man had mistreated an Indian.

Father didn't marry too young. I think he must have been waiting for Mother to get old enough. In Mother's history, she says they were about to get married when she was 16, but decided to wait until she was 17. Because he was at home longer than some of the boys he seemed to take over his younger brother and two sisters. Uncle Dan and Aunt Mayme (or Mable) and Aunt Mary Jane.

He was exceptionally good to his mother and taught we children to love and respect her and go to see her as often as we could. We never had very much money but as she was older he always gave her some money whenever he could and the dear old soul always got more pleasure out of giving than receiving, so she wanted him to give her some of it in pennies or nickles so that when the younger grandchildren came she would have something to give them. I never remember going to her home that she didn't have something to give us. When we were smaller, on Christmas morning we knew there would be a bag of candy and nuts hid somewhere that Grandmother had left. I remember one Christmas when they had a Comunity Christmas tree, she gave all the granddaughters about my age a little silk handkerchief which I treasured very much.

He always had great reverence and love for his father.

From Mother's history Father first met her, Udora Hunt, when she was about 10 and he was 18. Then Grandfather Leavitt moved with his family to Mesquite and quite a lot later Grandmother moved down there with her family. Here Udora and Alonzo met again and were married in the St. George Temple November 16, 1887. He was 25 years old and she was 17 years old.

Their first home was at Bunkerville, a one room house down by the water ditch just down from his brother Dudley's home. Later he built a rock house on the lot where Agnes now lives.

To this union seven children were born, two boys and 5 girls. Alonzo Ralph born December 9, 1889, Roxie Charlottie born December 22, 1891, Agnes Melinda born May 18, 1894, Hannah Inez born November 6, 1898, Elva Udora born October 15, 1902, Alton Clemont born April 3, 1906, Mary LaRue born September 24, 1909.

I don't remember ever hearing any quarreling nor cross words between Father and Mother.

Father loved all children, especially his own and no matter what happened, if father was there we children all knew everything would be all right. I remember when we children were small and all the neighbors were leaving their children home at nights when they went out, father never would if it wasn't something we could go to he would stay home with us. And as we were older if we weren't home at a reasonable time in the evening Father came to see where we were. I never remembered that he scolded me or did anything that made me resent him coming. One time especially I remember after I was in High School we were preparing for some school activity at one of the teacher's home. It was quite late when father came to see where I was and he did it in such a way that it just made you feel like he would always be there if you needed him.

He was the doctor in our home and was a good one. Yet he and Mother both had perfect faith, believed very much in the healing power of our Heavenly Father and when any of us were seriously sick if father was away mother had us kneel down and ask our Heavenly Father's help and when Father was home he would administer to us and we always got relief.

When Ralph and I were about 10 and 12, Father was working in the old flour mill in Bunkerville, his shirt sleeve got caught in a big belt and pulled his right arm in and crushed it. There were no doctors but there was an old Brother Burgess in Mesquite who had had a little experience with broken bones. He came and put some splinters on it. I remember that they had Ralph and I go down in the orchard where the ground was damp and get angle worms and bound them around the arm. It was a long time healing up, then every time he bumped it he had to carry it in a sling for awhile. It was a real handicap to him for the rest of his life.

Father never held any high position in the Church but he loved the Book of Mormon and he taught a Book of Mormon class in Sunday School, and middleaged men who were in that class never speak of Father without mentioning that wonderful Book of Mormon class that "Uncle Lon taught." But he had a firm testimony of the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He always paid an honest tithing. At that time they payed one tenth of what they produced as there was very little money. When he killed a pig he cured the meat good then paid one tenth of the best for tithing. One man said, "When I want to buy some pork I wait until Uncle Lon pays his tithing meat and I buy that because I know it will be the best." He was very much opposed to going in debt for anything. About the only time he would was for sickness.

When I think of Father I think of the poem "About Ben Adam." The angel came taking the names of all who loved the Lord and Ben Adam said, "Put me down as one who loves his fellow men."

He was always ready to help anyone in need. If they needed anything he had they got it, if they needed comfort he was there to comfort them and if they had done something wrong he wasn't there to condemn them but he was there with his arm around them to help them to do better.

I remember Mother when someone in our little comunity had done something wrong and everyone was talking about them she would say to we children, "You know how we would feel if it was one of us." That's how they taught us.

He worked hard all his life. When we children were small about the only thing they could do to get any money was to go down to St. Thomas salt mine, blast the rock salt out of the mountain, haul it to St George and sell it. He also frieghted out to the Grand Gulch Mine and carried the mail from Bunkerville to St. Thomas horse back. They went right down the Virgin River and a lot of the time they went in the night because it was so hot in the day time. I remember how I used to worry about Father starting out at night especially in bad weather.

Though we didn't have much money we always had plenty to eat. Father always raised a good garden. In fruit time we always had fruit of our own at first we had peaches raised from the pit and later a nice orchard of budded fruit besides grapes, pomegrants, almonds, figs. Every summer he always had a big patch of melons.

I remember once in his Parent's Class in Sunday School they were discussing about the children going into their neighbor's orchard or melon patch and taking some. Father listened to them talk for awhile, then he said, "It is only natural for children to want fruit or melons when they are around and I think the best remedy is to have plenty at home in your own yard so they don't have to go looking some where else for them.”

Father loved corn bread and molasses though some of the people his age said they had eaten their share of those things when they were young and didn't want any more. He always raised cane, had a molasses mill and made the molasses himself and it was real good molasses. He raised a patch of corn every year, it was a nice soft corn, they called it Indian corn. As we shucked the corn in the fa11, the best ears were put in one pile, it was shelled and taken to the mill (and ground into corn) meal. And he...(can’t read bad copy).

Every winter he killed a beef and a lot of it was given to relatives and neighbors. But as there was no other way of keeping the meat then, he always dried a nice lot to be used during the winter. They put a clean tub of water with plenty of salt in it over the fire outside. The lean beef was then cut in long strips and dipped into this boiling salt water and left awhile, then strung in long rows to dry in the sun. When it was perfectly dry it was taken down and put into clean flour sacks to be used later.

He always had milk cows so we had plenty of milk and butter and our own chickens for eggs and meat. A lot of the fruit was dried as bottles were very scarce then. But father had a good Solder iron and they filled five gallon cans of peaches, grapes and tomatoes and he soldered a clean tin over the whole in the top of the can and they kept very well. When we had emptied some bottles we would open one of these cans, heat up the fruit and put it into bottles. Every summer they put a barrel of cucumbers in salt and when they wanted pickles they took some out of the barrel, put them in water to soak the salt out and then pour vinegar over them. As he always raised wheat which was hauled by wagon to the flour mill in Washington about 5 miles North of St. George and ground into flour, he was sure his family was going to have something to eat.

Hannah Inez died when she was 11 months old, the rest of the children grew to maturity, were married in the Temple and raised families of their own.

Alonzo Ralph married Elise Caroline Lewis April 3, 1913 and bought a farm down at Overton.

Agnes Melinda married Lemuel S Leavitt September 24, 1913 and lived at Bunkerville.

Roxie Charlottie married Calvin Memmott May 17, 1917 and they made their home at Scipio, Utah.

They were always having trouble keeping the water in the ditch at Bunkerville and as Father got older it was hard for him to work in the water as they had to so much to get the water in the ditch. So he finally decided to sell out at Bunkerville and moved down to Overton near where Ralph was and buy a small farm. Elva, Alton and LaRue were still at home then.

As he got older his legs went bad on him so he was hardly able to get around, when he went anywhere he rode his old horse. But he didn't stop work, he sat and worked at things he could do sitting down, he mended the machinery, split wood and even rode the binder and cut grain, besides helping Mother as Elise had passed away leaving Ralph with four boys and Mother and Father helped them all they could.

When the people moved out of St. Thomas because of Lake Meade, Father bought a house from there and moved it up onto his own land.

Elva went to teach school at Ursine, Nevada and married Samuel Hollinger June 5, 1905 and they made their home in Ursine.

LaRue married Lewis Christian from St. George June 18, 1931 and they made their home in St. George.

I didn't get to visit very much with Father and Mother after I was married but the few times they were able to come and visit us I was so thankful that our children could have a chance to really learn to know and love them.

One day in July 1933, Father told Mother he would like to go back to Bunkerville and visit with all his brothers and sisters and friends there and with Agnes and her family. Ralph took them up to Bunkerville, they visited a day or two, then Mother went back with Ralph and left Father to visit a while longer. When he had had a good visit with them all he said he wanted to go home so they took him home.

Within the next few days he had several sinking spells. They were preparing to take him to the doctor the next morning when he had another spell. He came to and talked to them about doing genealogy and Temple work. Then he said he felt better and wanted to go to bed. Ralph and Alton went to help him but before they got him to the bed he had slipped peacefully away the 31st of July 1933.