ARCHIBALD McKL~NON born 8 June 18J6. Areyleshire Scotland died 22 April 1916. R~ndolph, Utah 1·'.ilo Andrus Con:pany, Oct 24, 1855 l•i. ft.a.ry Z.:cKay 9 Aug 1861 E. Jane Broue;h to July t879 cornp11ed by !·:art:aret .s. I·:cKinnon 1979 Presented to South Morf ,:n Camp D.U.F. April &hay 1981 South }1-;oru ,rn C~rnp historian: t,;a.rf.a ret he.Kinnon ARCHIBALD McKINNON - 1836-1915 ARCHIBALD McKINNON b6iin Argyleshire Scotlci.nd 8 June t8J6 died Randolph Utah 22 April 1916 emigrated .Milo Andrus Con.pany 24 Oct 1855 narr1ed t'.a.ry ·McK?..y 1 861 Jane Broueh July 1879 ; e,.,. -- A-CJ/Jid.» "-- "1-11- ~ -I-~/.,? μ7 " _::: . _.. ... JANE BROUGH, wife of Archibald McKinnon. Born 1879. Died 1927 NOBLE WIFE She was allowed to ride across the plain For polio had crippled her for life But she, undaunted managed to sustain Her valiant roles; God's servant, mother, wife. I ' A BRIEF HISTORY OF ARCHIBALD McKINNON 1836 - 1915 Mormon pioneer of 1855, Archibald wore many hats: a skilled leather worker, successful in his trade; a lover of song, student of George Carless; a devoted servant of the Lord, member of the School of the Prophets, Bishop, Counselor in Stake Presidency, Choir Leader, Sunday School Superintendant; a trusted civil servant, Legislator, County Assessor, Secretary of the short lived United Order; husband of two stalwart women, Mary McKay and Jane Brough; father of twenty-two children, nineteen of whom lived to maturity; devoted son and broth~r. Native of Scotland, he was born in Argyleshire, Scotland, 8th of June 1836. His father was a tailor and cloth merchant who traveled from city to city, making clothing for the nobi1ity. Young Archibald learned many brogues and dialects. He was especially proficient in the Galic tongue, remembering the lilting songs of his youth to the delight of his grandchildren. When he was nine, his father and an older sister died in Greenock of typhoid. His mother moved to Paisley in Renfrewshire. Here at the age of thirteen, he was apprenticed to a leather worker. About this time, 1852, the family received the missionaries. An older brother, Peter, was a Presbyterian minister. It was a hard decision for this family to join the Mormon Church. He was baptized July 25th in Paisley, Scotland. After his apprenticeship, Archibald went to Glasgo to earn money for passage to America. He worked at his trade. Early in 1855 he wrote his mother that he had earned enough for the voyage and would soon have enough for a trip home to say good-bye. His mother instructed him to book passage with the first emigrant ship that would take him and not· to come home for she could not stand another parting. He never saw his mother again. He kept in constant touch by letter, until her death. He sailed April 14, 1855, on the packet ship, Samuel Curling. Ships chartered by the Latter Day Saints, although very crowded, had fewer health hazzards than others of the day. There were daily devotionals and much song. Singing was much a part of Archibald's life and we may be certain that this nineteen year old, entered whole heartedly into the activities aboard. The journey to Zion took more than six months. He crossed the plains with the Milo Andrus Company. He was assigned to drive a heavily loaded wagon. He soon learned to manage the multiple teams of oxen. -2- Traveling through buffalo country he experienced a buffalo stampede. His head team was knocked to the ground by the thundering herd . On another occasion, the wagon train had been moving steadily all day through troublesome Indian country. Hurrying to make a certain camp by nightfall, they were abruptly ordered to stop and make camp. All were amazed at having to make dry camp when water and their destination were so near. The animals went without water and some of the company went thirsty to bed. Next morning, as they moved on, they found evidence that there had been a band of Indians camped just beyond a small hill where they had reluctantly spent the night. They were thankful that they had been spared trouble, perhaps even bloodshed. They arrived in Salt Lake City, October 24, 1855. Also, emigrating from Scotland, were one brother and one sister. Peter, the minister, came in 1855. He settled in Tooele. He died in 1889. Jane McKinnon McPhail, her husband and daughter emigrated in 185 . They crossed the plains with the illfated Edward Martin handcart company. Jane's husband died near the Sweetwater. Archibald had ·gone south at the time of "the move" in 1857. Later, moving back to Salt Lake City and finding employment with the firm of Curtis and Jenkins, he was able to look after his sister. Shortly after her arrival she married Robert Wright Baxter as a second wife. To them John M. Baxter was born. The marriage did not work out. Mr. Baxter and his first wife moved to Brigham City. Archibald continued to look after his sister and her two children, taking them to Randolph with him when he moved there in 1871. In Randolph, Jane became known as "Aunty Swartz" (Swartz, a third husband). She was midwife and benefactor to all. A few weeks after his arrival, October 24, 1855, Archibald found employment as a shoemaker with a firm in Provo, which also carried on a leather tanning business. Here he was ordained to the office of Teacher. When the Saints were instructed to evacuate their homes in 1857, as Johnston's Army approached, Archibald went south with friends to what was then the Palmyra Fort. He heard of employment in nearby Spanish Fork. With only a few cents in his pocket, he set out on foot. He was concerned about his situation. He went behind a tree to pray. Within a few minutes, and as he continued his journey, he noticed some children playing. They came to him. He found them to be the children of some very good friends with whom he had sailed to America. These children took him home. There was great rejoicing. It was as though a son had come home . -It was about forty years later, in writing his biography, that he mentions that Stephen -3- Markham was bishop of Spanish Fork. This would indicate his close association with the bishop. From the time of his conversion until his death his faith and devotion to the Lord and to His Church, never wavered. Late in the fall of 1859 he returned to Salt Lake. He worked at his trade, employed by the firm of Curtis and Jenkins, for about five months. He was then asked, by Howard Eagen, to take charge of the Pony Express Station, which was situated 19 miles south of the city at the point of the mountain. It was a lonely post. He was plagued by Indians. One day a burly fellow came into the station demanding liquor. When Archibald refused him, he attempted to get it for himself from behind the counter. Young Archibald threw him out. He slept in a little room behind and next to the hill. As he retired he was worried lest the offended Indian return, bringing his friends, to take revenge. With his gun beside him he tried to sleep. In the night he heard something just outside the open window. There was a thud on the floor under the window. He could see nothing. The night was very dark. In terror he fired his gun. The intruder turned out to be a skunk. After a few months ·of this isolation which he did not enjoy, he returned to the city. It was autumn of 1859 when at a prayer meeting in the home of President Brigham Young, he met a blond immigrant girl by the name of Mary McKay. She had recently come with her parents from Glasco, Scotland. They soon became great friends. Two years later they were married. He often stood guard in President Brigham Young's office and became his personal friend. He was often asked to serve as a special policeman in the Salt Lake Theatre. (His son, Ben, remembers that the seats in 11 nigerheaven 11 were wooden benches with curved backs that extended high above the head, serving as a railing for the row behind). It is said that, at times, he was to throw out unruly fellows that were twice his size. We read in "The Life of John M. Baxter" that his uncle, (Archibald), "then a married man, was a member of the School of the Prophets, who held meetings in the old Tabernacle on Saturday afternoons. 11 He goes on to tell how he would watch the shop for him while he attended those meetings. He had opened a harness shop, in company with Foster Curtis, in 1864. His shop was on East Main Street (now State Street between Second and Third South Streets). Baxter goes on to tell, "My uncle and his family lived in a little house of his own on the corner le of Main and Sixth South street. 11 His house was in the Eighth Ward. Here he was called to be Superintendent of the Sunday School. (From the dates, it is presumed to be the first Sunday School organized in that ward). ''t' -4- Five of his children were born in Salt Lake City. One died as an infant. Mary was especially proud of their little home . She loved flowers and had a beautiful garden that must have been a welcome sight to the immigrants arriving in the square opposite. They were happy and prosperous. Archibald studied under the famed choir leader, George Carless. Singing was always an important part of his life. It is said that in his later years he loved to sing the Galic tunes of his youth to his grandchildren. He had what is known as true pitch. He had a fine voice. He often said in his later years, that singing was the only thing that kept up his courage. One granddaughter remembers him in his seventies, straight and erect, walking briskly past her house on his way to town .•. always hurrnning to himself. In the L.D.S. Bibliographical Encyclopedia we read in his own words, "Agreeable to the council from President Brigham Young, he removed with his family to Bear River Va 11 ey and sett 1 ed in Randolph , Rich County, Utah. 11 It was the beginning of May 1871. He had sold his business and his home, said his good-bys to his many friends and associates, and purchased wagons and teams. There were ten people in the little caravan, two wagons and nine animals. Archibald, now 35, his wife, Mary, and four children (one had died in infancy); his sister, Jane, then 45; his nephew, John Baxter, 12; his niece, 18, and her husband, George A. Peart. We read from the "Life of John M. Baxter": "Uncle had a team of old grey horses that were so balky that we had to leave the wagon on a downhill slope, when we unhitched them, so that we could push them to get them started. He also had two old cows named Polly and Peggy. Brother Peart had an old team called Jack and Charley ... He also had two or three cows. We were eight days making the journey, a distance of about one hundred and fifteen miles .•. There were only a few houses in Randolph when we arrived. (The first settlers had come the year before and had experienced a rather mild winter). We also lived in a tent the first summer we were there .•. One Sunday, in the fall when we all went to meeting, my sister put to rise a large pan of dough and left it on the table. She had hatched out quite a number of chicks but most had died of starvation for we had nothing to feed them. On returning from meeting we found that the hungry chickens had gotten into the tent; some of them were sticking fast in the dough and others were running around the place with their feet covered and the other chicks were chasing them for the dough that clung to their feet. Another time while we were away from home a heavy 1~2 -5- ( ~ wind came up and blew the tent down, scattering its contents over the lot. 11 11 Before leaving Salt Lake City, Uncle (Archibald) and Brother Peart had secured a lot of young fruit trees: apples, pears, plums, etc. They had set them out along the bank of the creek but the creek overflowed in the winter. The ice was over a foot thick around the trees. This proved the end of the fruit orchard." "During the summer of 1871 we went into the canyons for logs to build a house ... Uncle, who had been a harness maker, had no experience in farming. It was very hard to establish himself as a farmer .•. ! assisted Uncle in breaking up new land, he having traded his horses for oxen. He held the plow while I drove the oxen. The sage brush had to be gathered by hand, which was a very slow and tedious process, hence it required a great deal of time and labor to put the land under cultivation. 11 ' The "old settlers" were entering their second year. They welcomed the McKinnons. Within weeks, June 1871, the Randolph Ward was organized. Archibald was called to serve as second counselor to Randolph H. Stewart. He immediately organized a choir. Assisted by George A. Peart and William Rex, he organized a Sunday School with fifteen pupils. From 1872 to 1876 he served as assessor and collector of Rich County. Always interested in public affairs, he was elected to the Territorial Legislature. In 1871 there was an attempt at living the United Order. Archibald was named secretary. A very large haystack, belong to the Order, was stored in the McKinnon yard. It caught fire and burned to the ground. It was after the "Order" was dissolved that he was asked to be the Assessor of Rich County. It proved to be the allocation of lands. The colonization of Bear River Valley was to severely try the faith of the saints . The extreme climate was to cause great suffering. Winter came un-expectedly, after that first exciting, adventurous summer of 1871. The deep snows forced father McKinnon, his wife Mary and their four children, to move out of their tent and into the wagon box where they lived until the house was ready. Their crops had not matured. Food was scarce. They suffered from hunger and -6~ from cold. Another child was born that winter. The crude cabin with the oiled paper windows must have been a luxury after the wagon box. Spring brought heart-aches with its sunshine. Mary had tenderly nursed her rose bushes through that first, previous sunmer. She wept when they showed no life. The dead bushes seemed to symbolize the end of the little refinements that had been part of her life with Archibald in Salt Lake City. The crops froze year after year so that the men had to leave home to seek employment. They went to St. Charles, Idaho, and dug . potatoes on shares. John Baxter records that he and his Uncle Archibald made a trip one year to Coalville, Utah, for a load of flour each. Archibald had acquired an old team of oxen in a trade for his balky horses. John drove his old team, Jack and Charley. It took two weeks to make the round trip. J. Golden Kimbal (one of Rich County's early settlers), said of the weather, 11 There are nine months of winter and three months late fall. 11 The winter of 1875 and 1876 was a very severe one. Because of the abundance of wild hay, big herds of cattle had been brought in from Texas. The snow came in November to the depth of three feet and remained all winter. Hay became very scarce. It was necessary for the men to take the cattle four miles, across the river, to the rugged Crawford Mountains, where the wind had blown the snow from the slopes. By tramping trails through the hollows, men were able to move the cattle from one ridge to another. They walked the four miles every other day, all winter to accomplish these moves. A great many of the cattle were lost. An amusing incident occured one day. Seeing a Texas cow stuck in a snowdrift, they argued as to whether an animal would feel gratitude for helping him out. Father said, "No, an animal has no sense of reason. It would feel no gratitude. 11 Brother Peart insisted that it would. He tramped the snow in front of the trapped animal, to form a trail, then got behind to help it up. He got it onto its hind legs then took hold of the horns to assist the front parts. The cow struggled to her feet. Brother Peart then ran ahead of her but as soon as they got to dry land it took after her rescuer, who ran like the wind with coat tails flying. She caught up to him and kept bunting him at every jump until he came to another snowdrift. Luckily the snow held him but the cow broke through and remained there. Brother Peart said, "You may lie there and die for all I care." Father McKinnon was in charge of building the first canal. It extended three miles, from Big Creek across the foothills to their farmland on Little ~ Creek. It was three miles long, six feet wide and eighteen inches deep. The digging was done with a hand plow and shovels . Thus water was provided for the crops on his homestead. He also taught in the first public school that was opened in Randolph. -7- In August of 1884, the Woodruff Stake was visited by President John Taylor and others of the general authorities. They held meetings with the settlers. After the regular services were closed and some of the people were leaving, President Taylor called them back and addressing them, he briefly prophesied that if the Saints would live their religion and trust in the Lord, the climate would be modified on their behalf so that their crops would not be destroyed by frost. This prophecy has been fulfilled. Son Benjamin relates, "I can never remember the frost killing our garden. We always raised beautiful potatoes. We always had good crops of wheat and barley. There seemed to be a hard pan under the fertile top soil so that frequent irrigation was unnecessary. As I remember we raised no corn nor beans." In the early days of Randolph the men left their homes and went to Almy, a distance of about thirty miles, to work in the coal mines, during the long cold winter. They left behind their most skillful hunter to provide food for their families. In 1871 there was an attempt to live the United Order. Archibald was named secretary. A very large haystack, belonging to the Order was stored in the McKinnon yard. It burned to the ground. The wild grass had been gathered from the swales of the Bear River where it grew abundantly. In 1872, father McKinnon was named County Assessor and Collector. His chief responsibility was that of portioning out the land. He served until 1876. The Homestead Act of 1862 granted 160 acres to any citizen intending to develop it as a farm. It was to provide a home, including the land, and out-buildings. Father McKinnon staked his claim, cleared and developed the land, but he continued to live in his house in town. A prominent Randolph man "jumped his claim11 • • • in other words he contested the right to the land in court and won. He then filed on the land and ·obtained it for himself. Ben remembers that his father owned a piece of rich meadow land which he sold. "He probably needed the money", says Ben. "I think that it was about the time when he bought the house in town. We moved from the house on little Creek to a house in town just before he died •.• A much more suitable place for Mother's declining years." If there is one word that would characterize his Church affiliation, it would be the word "obedience". Obedient to the emigration call from Scotland; obedient to the call to colonize; obedient to every request or calling that (~ came to him. In 1871, one month after his arrival, he became second counselor to the bishop. In 1876, first counselor; and in 1879, after eight years, he -8- ( ~ reluctantly gave up his position as choir leader to become bishop of the Randolph Ward . He was bishop until 1901 when he was made counselor to the Stake President John M. Baxter, where he served faithfully for 14 more years. or until he died in April of 1915. - The Woodruff Stake was very large. It included wards and branches in Evanston, Kemmerer, Dianmondville, Lyman, Mountain View, Fort Bridger and Manilla, all in Wyoming. His visits would take two weeks. He was dearly beloved by the stake members. One branch was having trouble with their mail. There was another town in Wyoming with the same name . After one of father's visits, the townspeople decided to name their town McKinnon, in his honor. In his biographical account, recorded in the L.D.S. Biographical Encyclopedia, we read: 11 • • • on July 10, 1979, he yielded obedience to the law of plural marriage by taking to wife Jane Brough. 11 His first wife, Mary, went with them to Salt Lake City where he and Jane were sealed in the Endownment House. He was greatly respected for his obedience. The year after his marriage to Jane he was made bishop and was elected to the Territorial Legislature. Eight years after his second marriage, after the 11 manefesto 11 which forbade plural marriage in the church,he again submitted to authority. It now being a federal offense to have more than one wife, he did not evade arrest. On September 3, 1888, he was cited to appear before U.S. Commissioner Goodwin at Logan, Utah, within ten days. His 17th child, Katherine, Jane's sixth, was to be born on the 25th. Bishop Lee of Woodruff and Bishop McKinnon traveled together to Logan. Mr. Goodwin put them under bonds to appear before the grand jury in Ogden on the 20th . On the appointed day the two bishops, each with their two wives, were in Ogden but the brethren made the appearance of their wives unnecessary as the:1furnished sufficient evidence themselves to have indictments made out for unlawful cohabitation. Accordingly, on December 14, 1888, Brother McKinnon was sentenced to three months in the territorial penitentiary, with costs of suit. One month after his incarceration he learned by letter that his little George, just 2! years old, Jane's fifth child had died. He was released in March. In October he moved his wife, Jane and her family to Fish Haven, Idaho, where he had purchased a home for them and where they resided for five years. Her seventh and eighth children (Adria and Ernest) were born there. This move was necessary in order to avoid a second arrest. It was a common practice. It was called "living in the underground". These two good women, able to get ' -9- along as plural wives, now had .to accept the fact that legally only one of them could continue as wife. As Mary's children were older, some of them grown, and Jane's were very young, it was decided that legal separation from Mary was the only way to satisfy the law. Jane's father, Samuel Brough, helped to build a house for her on little Creek. She and her six remaining children were brought home to Randolph where her nineth (Phoebe, 1895), her tenth (Benjamin Richard, 1897), and her eleventh (Ray Baxter, 1901) children were born. Archibald was especially honored on two occasions. When he was released as bishop the members of the ward gave him a big banquet and a dance, and presented him with a buggy which was all set up on the stage. It was a one seated black top with shaves for one horse. It was greatly used in his new calling, making many trips to Woodruff for Stake Presidency meetings. Ben remembers, "One time he came from Woodruff, driving Black Bess who loved to trot, she was all lathered up. Father took out his watch. He was very surprised. They had made the trip in record time. Father said that he hadn't urged her at all." Upon his death, 22 April of 1915, his funeral was held in connection with Stake Conference, which was held in Randolph on the 24th and 25th of April. Speakers were Apostle Heber J. Grant, President Joseph W. McMurrin and others. Many beautiful floral offerings and many manifestations of esteem were tendered this good man. At his funeral it was said of him, by President Baxter, who resided in Woodruff, "President McKinnon was like a father to me when I was a child. I grew up under his care and instruction. In my young manhood he was my bishop. He directed my spiritual activities. When I became a man, Uncle and I became companions and were very much attached to each other. When I was chosen as bishop of the Woodruff Ward we became more closely associated than ever. We traveled together and discussed the problems of our respective wards. With our unity and affection the people of Randolph and Woodruff became very closely united. When I was called to be President of the Woodruff Stake, he was still Bishop of Randolph Ward. He fully sustained me as president. When President Sessions was released as my counselor, Uncle was chosen to replace him. He continued in that position until his death. President McKinnon was faithful until the last moment of his life •.. He was ·wise in council, kind to everyone, honest in his dealings, strict in obedience to all the commandments of God, and devoted all his life freely to the service of the Lord. Compiled by 1'.argaret B. McKinnon } resented, D.U .I·. Sep, Oct 1979 147