14 Feb 1858 – 20 Dec 1943
Grand-Daughter of Philip Cardon and Martha Marie Tourn
Daughter of Jean (John) Cardon and Anna Regula Furrer
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
BY LAURA R. JENKINS
Anna Rosina Cardon Shaw was born in Marriott [near Ogden], Weber County, Utah, on February 14, 1858. She was the daughter of John Cardon and Anna Furrer Cardon, both early pioneers of Utah. Her father came to Salt Lake City in the P. E. Fund Company, arriving October 16, 1853. Her mother crossed the plains with the first handcart company and arrived in Utah September 26, 1856.
The Cardon family was of French descent, but had settled in the mountains of Italy, where they owned beautiful vineyards. They were thrifty people, by trade weavers, cabinetmakers, and builders. Anna Furrer Cardon was a native of Switzerland and had been educated in medical science in that country. This knowledge made her an angel of mercy to the company with which she traveled. Her labors among the sick after her arrival in Utah will never be forgotten. It was of this noble parentage that Anna Rosina was permitted to enter mortality.
The early home of the Cardon family was in Marriott ward where they owned considerable property. An incident might here be related showing the implicit faith of the mother of the subject of our sketch. Desiring a blessing from the great prophet and seer Brigham Young, the day before the birth of the babe, Dr. Anna walked to Salt Lake City from her home in Marriott. The next day she walked back and the night of her return her child was born. Brigham Young promised that the babe was a chosen spirit. Satan seems to have known, for he was always on the alert to destroy her life.
The winter following her birth was unusually severe. The Wasatch Mountains were packed with snow from summit to base. The spring brought heavy rainfalls, and the genial warmth of the sunshiny days melted the winter snow. Ogden River over swept its bounds, and the farms of the surrounding country were completely inundated. The night on which the river gained its greatest strength Dr. Anna, with her infant Rosina, were alone. A neighbor, feeling impressed of her condition, came to her rescue and assisted mother and child onto a stack of hay, where they spent the night in safety. Had this neighbor not heeded the warning voice, both mother and child would undoubtedly have perished.
When Rosina was five years of age, an accident occurred which, but for the interference of Providence, might have deprived her of life. Her mother had engaged a neighbor woman to look after her three little ones while she went out for an evening’s recreation. Locking the door behind her, she made the mistake of leaving her darlings before the neighbor arrived.
Rosina exerted herself in every way she knew to entertain the younger children. A bright fire burned in the open fireplace. Finding that swinging a long stick caused the baby to laugh, she continued to do so, until she suddenly found her clothing in flames! The door was locked! Apparently there was no escape. Her guardian angel, however, was present. She was silently prompted to break a window, climb out, and run toward her father who was working in a field nearby. Had she not followed the dictates of this “still, small voice”, the cabin would most certainly have been burned and the three children would have perished in the flames.
She succeeded in getting out of the window without setting fire to anything else. The father noticed the smoke and heard her screams, but thought them the wailing of a coyote, there being so many of them in the vicinity at the time. Soon he recognized the voice of his child, and he ran in the direction from which the moans came, and found the little girl where she had fallen, burned beyond all recognition.
In relating the sad story, Rosina later said, “I was still conscious enough to hear the agonized cries of my father as he gazed on the terrible spectacle. ‘My God!’ he wailed, ‘Can this be my child? How can I pick you up! Your flesh is gone, and you are failing to pieces!”‘
The burned flesh dropped to the ground as he tried to move the charred figure. Carefully he pushed back the intestines, or they would have fallen from the abdominal cavity. He carried the little body home and dispatched a messenger for the mother. How the heart-broken woman reproached herself for her sad mistake! With a tenacity seldom witnessed Rosina clung to life, but no one thought she could live, and at times life seemed extinct. In her great grief, the mother remembered the promises of President Young in his blessing to her before the child’s birth. Feeling that he alone could assist her, she sent him word of the terrible accident. ‘Dead or alive, bring her to me, ‘was the reply. To the great Latter-Day Prophet the tiny charred frame was borne.
President Young called in the brethren and held a Circle Prayer. He then anointed the little head and placed his hands upon it. The prophetic power of God was upon him and he promised her complete recovery with no visible scars or bad results. He told her she should live to be a mother in Israel, a savior to her husband, and an instrument in the hands of God for the good of his children on the earth. At the close of the blessing a brother standing nearby remarked that those blessings might as well have been made to a stone, for the child could never live.
President Young insisted on the little one remaining in his home for about two weeks, and his wife Mary Ann Angel and Sister Vilate Kimball cared for her. She was then taken again to her father’s home. Weeks passed with so few signs of life, she was often taken for dead. Friends even declared mortification had set in, but tenaciously the mother clung to the promises of the Prophet of God. At length, life’s forces were renewed and the little one began to revive. Weeks of intense suffering followed, but through the mercies of God and the vigilant efforts and faith of the mother, the little girl’s life was spared. Though until eight years of age she walked on crutches, Rosina lived to see President Young’s promises fulfilled and today has no visible scars and suffers no discomfort from the accident.
When Rosina was fourteen years of age the family moved to Lynn ward, Ogden City, and there engaged in the general merchandise business, dealing heavily in fruit, manufacturing molasses, and operating a wool carding machine. The delicate little girl assisted in all these enterprises. She had little opportunity for education, but she advanced rapidly with the little schooling she did have. She studied music under Eliza Snow, daughter of President Lorenzo Snow of Brigham City, and at one time had the honer [sic] of entertaining President Young. In 1874 she attended school for a few weeks under the tuition [sic] of Professor L. F. Moench, but on account of ill health she was obliged to discontinue.
In 1876 Rosina apprenticed herself to Mrs. Carter, manager of the Relief Society millinery store of Ogden City. She rapidly advanced and in a short time became head trimmer. The practical business training she had received in her father’s store now was of great value to her. Her employers recognized her business ability, and she became assistant manager of the millinery store, holding the position for three years. On December 29, 1878, she became the wife of William Shaw of Lynn. Though Mr. Shaw was not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at their marriage, he soon after received the gospel, and in 1882 the desire of his wife’s heart was gratified; they were married for time and eternity in the Endowment House of Salt Lake City.
William and Rosina Shaw engaged in the mercantile business and through thrift and economy built the brick store which stands at Five Points today. William Shaw was always an honest tithe payer. When he built his store at Lynn, he valued his property and sold his only cow to meet his tithing. He prospered greatly and lived to know that God fulfills His promises to the tithe payer. He was always strictly honest in all his dealings and insisted on full weights and measures.
Rosina always assisted in her husband’s business and when, in 1896, he was called on a mission to New York, she assumed control of his business. She was then the mother of five children. Her son William Alben, aged sixteen, assisted her in the store, while her daughter Rozina Diana cared for the home and younger children. At one time she had just sent out a heavy order for goods for her store. To meet the payment required all the money she could raise. At this most inopportune time her husband wrote to her from his field of labor for the sum of forty-five dollars. She was at a loss at how to obtain the requested amount.
Soon after, while driving up Washington Avenue with her son, he noticed a strange- looking parcel in the street. They picked it up and found it to be a pocket handkerchief in which were tied two twenty-dollar gold pieces and a five-dollar gold piece, just forty-five dollars, the amount for which her husband had sent. Rosina advertised for the owner, but as the parcel was never claimed, she sent it to her husband, feeling the Lord had sent her the money she required.
Many instances in the life of Rosina Shaw might be related wherein she was warned of dangers, and through these warnings enabled to avert many accidents. Through her great faith her children have been healed, and when death called them, the Lord in His mercy comforted her with dreams and visions. She was the mother of eight children, two of whom have preceded her to the spirit world; two of her sons have carried the gospel to the nations of the earth.
In August 1909, William Shaw rented his store at Lynn and removed his family to Logan, as Rosina was very anxious to work in the temple for her kindred. In August of 1913, they were about to return to Lynn when William Shaw was suddenly called from this sphere of action. He had arisen as usual and was starting a fire in the family cook stove, when he fell over on the floor unconscious and passed away before help could reach him. William Shaw’s sudden death came not without warning. Both he and his wife were warned in dreams before the sad event took place. After her husband’s death Rosina Shaw decided to remain in Logan and rent her store to her son. She had more work to do for her kindred dead, and she spent much of her time in the House of the Lord.
Rosina has held many positions of trust in the Church and faithfully performed all duties required of her. She has taught her children the gospel as she knew it, and her great desire is that they may emulate the good works of their parents.
L. M. Jenkins, author Date: probably in 1930’s Handwritten copy made available by Daughters of Utah Pioneers Typed copy (with minor editing for clarity) by Colleen Blankenship, Nov 2005 Anna Rosina Cardon Shaw lived 14 Feb 1858 – 20 Dec 1943.
Note from Colleen Blankenship: Anna R.C. Shaw’s granddaughters, Genevieve Sherner and Marjorie Sherner Johnson, remember Anna relating the story of being burned as a child. Anna showed Marjorie her side, and Anna said her mother (Anna Furrer Cardon) had cut the scar tissue later so that her daughter could stand up straight.
Ogden City Cemetery, Ogden, Utah
