ISAAC ALLDREDGE THE THIRD
Isaac Alldredge, son of Susannah Evans and Isaac
Alldredge II, was born in Lehi, Utah, October 13, 1870. When he became old
enough he attended a school that his grandmother had started for her
grandchildren. He loved sports and music, learning to play the piccolo,
flute, clarinet, and drums.
While in Deseret with his father's family he met and
married Sarah Annie Western on October 28, 1888. Later this marriage was
sealed in the Manti Temple by Anthony H. Lund. There were born to this couple
nine children: Roy, who died as a baby; May; Don Franklin,
who died at two and one half years; Eleazer; Marion;
Levi; John, who died the day of his birth; Eldon and
Myron.
He moved from Deseret to Ferron and took up land there.
He sold his farm to a neighbor and built a blacksmith shop and followed the
life of farming and blacksmithing. He was active in music and
dramatics.
In Isaac's short autobiography he tells this about his
move from Ferron to Mexico:
From the time I was a kid I wanted to go to Mexico.
I would get the map of North America and measure the miles and wondered how
I could get there. Time went on and we moved quite a bit. We went to Ferron,
Carbon County, [Utah]. We lived there five years. I worked in my [blacksmith]
shop. One of my neighbors would help me quite a lot as he had no farm either.
We heard of some land for settlement in Rexburg, Idaho. So we started out.
We got in Salt Lake for April Conference. After putting
our teams in stalls, we slept in the Tithing Barn on the site of the present
Hotel Utah. Three other men and us put our blankets on the hay. Two of the
other men were men that I knew as a kid in Lehi. One of them was named Jarff
and the others name was Kirkham. Early in the morning they were awake and
began to talk about things. I listened to them. One said that when they first
came to Salt Lake some of them kept their covers on their wagons expecting
to go back to Jackson County [Missouri] at any time, but one conference Brigham
Young told them to take their covers off. "We are not going back to Jackson
County that way, we will build cities south." That struck me again -- How
far south? I wondered if they may go as far south as Mexico.
After Conference we started for Rexburg. It took us two
weeks to get there. We were in a wagon that I took. I thought and thought,
so thought I would make it a matter of prayer. So I went out and asked my
Father in Heaven. I said, "We are looking for a place to settle and if this
was to be the place for us I ask to be guided to and to be able to find some
land, and if it is the place to guide us right." I not only prayed , but
fasted too. We landed in Rexburg. Soon my father came up for he thought sure
we would stay there. There was an old neighbor of ours in Deseret that had
moved there and he had a store. He and my father were old chums and he wanted
us to stay and helped look for property. He located some and was taking Father
to see it, while on the way he handed Pa a paper with a piece about Mexico.
Pa said, "Hyrum, no use going any further, we are going to Mexico." He came
back to camp and told us. He said he would go and as he had to go through
Payson he would see the man, Huish, that wrote the piece, and if it is good
he'd write us and we should come.
He wrote us and we headed for Ferron. Then we had to
go to Payson to get on the train. We put our wagons and other trimpery in
one end of the car and our horses in the other end of the car. We had two
passenger cars to ride in. They gave me the job of taking care of the horses
-- we were ready to start. I stayed with the horses to see that they would
be all right, then I got in the car with the other folks.
The first thing that the wife said to me was, "Do you
know what you're going to do?"
I said, "About what?"
And she said, "Are you going to Mexico to get another
wife."
I said, "Nonsense, can't get them anymore."
She said that she knew better because it had been revealed
to her the minute the train started. I tried to talk her out of it, but she
said that it was no use to try to talk her out of it because she knew it
was to be just as sure as we were sitting there. This talk was never mentioned
again till quite a while after we arrived in Morelos, Mexico
Isaac joined with others who were moving to Mexico. Difficulties attended every move they made to reach Morelos. However, they arrived there in January, 1901.
The family of Newman VanLeuven came over from Dublan
and located just beyond us. They had to pass our place to go to church. They
had a daughter named Delila. As she was passing one day the wife said, "I
think she would be a good wife for you...ask her." So I yelled at her to
stop and told her I would like to talk to her. We appointed a time and I
asked her what she thought of joining us. She said, "I don't know, I'll have
to think about it." (I was quite surprised, for I thought she would say,
"Get gone, I don't want such an ignorant fellow.") She said she would let
me know in two weeks.
Then I said to Father in Heaven, "If what I have done
is wrong and should not be, inspire her to say 'no.'" At the end of two weeks
she said yes.
We were married August 16, 1902. President Ivins and
Bishop being our witnesses.
On August 16, 1902 Isaac Alldredge and Mariah Delila
VanLeuven were married. To this union were born the following: Aritta,
Irvin, Nora, Lurie, Dee, and Verl I.
Many difficulties accompanied the Alldredge family. They
were driven out of Mexico with others in 1912. Their travels covered a wide
area. They finally settled in St. George, Utah. There Isaac worked at
blacksmithing. He worked in his shop and at times worked on construction
sites.
Isaac lived in St. George for over forty years. He was
a member of the local martial band and the Alldredge family band. The martial
band rode around town in a wagon or the back of a flat-bed truck to wake
up the town on the fourth and twenty-fourth of July. The family band played
in local parades.
Isaac died June 10, 1964. He was buried in the cemetery
in St. George.
Isaac Alldredge III lived a long and colorful life, enjoying
his church assignments and helping to settle and build up many of the places
where he lived. Though he had little of this world's "treasures" he considered
himself spiritually rich.
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This history was
originally posted at my site:
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