LIFE SKETCH OF ORSON LEAVITT ( 1871-1934 )

Submitted by Mary Leavitt, Prescott Valley, Arizona, June, 2002

Orson Leavitt was born on February 23, 1871 in a small farming community of Mendon, Cache County, Utah to Mormon Pioneers, George Leavitt and Nancy Minerva Earl. He was the 7th child born in a family of 10. The Leavitt family had experienced many difficulties prior to his arrival. Three of his siblings had died as children. Orson took his place in the family under William who was 3 years older, Charles Coulson, 10 years his senior and Joseph Wire who was 12 years older. Orson was followed by Henry in 1884, Albert in 1878 and Julia in 1882. Albert died at the age of 20.

Orson grew up in Lewiston County Utah with the children of his immediate family and his half brothers and sisters who were the children of his father’s first wife, Janette ( sp) Brinkerhoff. Polygamy was part of their lives and hey thought nothing unusual about it. Just as the wives were very fond of one another, so were the children. They were a close-knit family who worked hard and got along well together. The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, ( the gospel) was the very core of their lives.

Orson grew up under the strict tutelage of his pioneer father George, from whom he learned many skills. He became an excellent carpenter at a very young age by assisting his father in the planning and construction of several structures in Lewiston County, Utah. Among them was a new meeting house, the front main room which was called the Opera House. This was a very popular gathering place for the residents of the area from the time it was built in the mid 1880’s until it burned down after a New Years Eve party, in 1930. The Lewiston Community Center, which stands in it’s place today, was built shortly thereafter.

After the manifesto was signed in 1889, which had a tremendous impact on the lives of polygamist families, 17 year old Orson along with brothers Henry, Albert and sister Julia ( not sure about brothers Wire, Charles and William as they were all married at the time) moved with his mother to Star Valley, Wyoming where his father, under the direction of Brigham Young, had previously spent considerable time in the colonization and settlement of the area. The re-location of his family proved to be quiet an adventure for young Orson and the others. Not long after they arrived in Star Valley, their father, George died of typhoid fever in his home in Lewiston, Utah. Family members wrapped his body in cloths soaked in a salt peter solution and packed him in ice, which was not readily available, to preserve his body until the family in Wyoming could get there. The boys at Star Valley rigged up a sleigh with a stove in it in shich their mother and sister traveled to Lewiston for their father’s funeral.

Over his lifetime Orson constructed many types of buildings, homes, bridges and furniture. His children especially remember the large barn he built for Bishop Andrew Hyer in Lewiston. He will lso be remembered for the miniature wooden model he fashioned of the first motor used in the Lewiston sugar factory. Some of the fine homes he built in Nyssa, Oregon after he moved there with his own family, were the homes of Dr. Sarazan, Herman Town and Judge Graham. These fine homes are still standing today reminding us of the fine craftsman Orson was.

In 1896, at the age of 25, Orson married Margaret Delilah Marshall, of Lewiston, Utah. Their plans of a long happy life together ended abruptly when she died in childbirth approximately one year later. There were no surviving children. On March 15, 1898, Orson married British born Alice Spackman who then resided in Lewiston, Utah with her parents, Rosina Black and George Edmond Spackman. In Alice, Orson had met his match. Some even say his " task-master". Their lives together were very colorful, but not very easy. They had to move a lot to follow his choice of vocation. From Lewiston, they moved to Teton, Idaho where he sheared sheep with his brothers. The sheep camp was moved to Auburn, Wyoming for the winter. The little log home with the dirt floor which they built is supposedly still standing today. Orson and his little family remained in Star Valley for about 5 years before moving back to Cache valley, Utah where they increased their family of 3 children to 9! They were the proud parents of Alberta, Orson Leon, Elva, Elmond, Arvilla, Asa " Ace", Harold, George Edmund " Ted" and Rozina.

The following memories from Ace and Rozina who were Orson’s only living children at the time this is being prepared for publication.

Ace......" My father did a lot of traveling with his family to find work. mother followed with the kids. Dad would often walk 2 to 4 miles a day and work 8 hours or more, then walk home. He was a very hard worker and an excellent carpenter. He loved carpentry. Dad’s brothers and all their kids farmed in Lewiston, Utah, but Dad really hated farming. I remember when I was about 12 and mother and all us kids were farming 20 acres in Cornish, Utah by themselves while Dad was off helping to build a bridge across a river in Utah. For some reason, the whole bridge came down, nearly killing Dad. He was lucky, he only lost his right index finger. He didn’t have much energy when he got home in the evenings, but he loved to sing with the kids around the fire. Some of his favorite songs were " it’s my little four-leaf shamrock from galore". Ace doesn’t ever remember being spanked by his father. They were talked to when they did wrong. He thinks it’s because his Dad was just too short on energy when he got home.

Ace also notes that he remembers attending the LDS Church quite regularly, that is, when they weren’t moving! The gospel was important to Orson as he had been brought up in it, but he developed a tobacco habit which he was never able to completely quit, thus his activity in the church was somewhat stymied. At one time he was asked to be a bishop, but was unable to fulfill that calling due to the habit which plagued him.

Rozina...... remembers her gather as being a great carpenter. She is aware that much of his work in Utah, Idaho and Oregon can still be seen. She, too, like Ace can remember her mother and the children doing much of the work on their farm in Willow Creek, Idaho, a rural area that lies between Burley and Oakley, While their father was off on one of his carpentry jobs. He worked on the American Falls Dam project in Idaho and the Owyhee Dam near Nyssa, Oregon. " Father was a very gentle man. He adored his wife and children and cherished them above all else. When Elva was little, mother made her a frilly Sunday dress. She wore it out to play with her brother Orson Leon and crossed under a barbed wire fence, tearing it badly. Mother was so angry and said to daddy " Orson, you give that girl a spanking", daddy took a bow ribbon from Elva’s hair and spanked her real hard with it, then threw it in a corner, shook his finger at her and said " now, young lady, let that be a lesson to you". " he could never spank us".

Mother and dad had a special dance they did for birthdays and family get-to-gethers. They called it the " Spanish Waltz". Dad had his harmonica rigged on a wire around his neck and he would play their song as he took her hand in his, held it over her head and whirled her around under his arm. " It was the most beautiful dance I’ve ever seen".

Keep in mind how tiny Alice was and how tall Orson was when you envision the two of them dancing. Once on my dad’s birthday we all went home to celebrate. He had cancer, a melanoma, by this time and my mother had a bed made for him in the living room. He said " Mother, come on and we’ll dance for our kids". " Orson, you can’t do that, it will be too hard for you". "We’ll try," he responded. They danced around the middle of the room, it was a long room. Near the end of it dad said " I can’t dance anymore". That was the end of their dancing. Dad felt so bad because he didn’t finish it."

Orson passed away in his home in Nyssa on the 6th of May 1934 after being cared for by the family he loved so very much. He will always be remembered as a man who was strong enough to lift and hold a steel railroad tie on his knee which required several men to remove and yet so gentle he could not bear to spank his precious children with anything more than a satin ribbon! For those of his family who came after he left this world, it will be our great pleasure to get to know our progenitor in the hereafter. We look forward to that day with anticipation.