by Allie Anderson Cardon, his wife
2nd-great-grandson of Philip Cardon and Martha Marie Tourn
Great-grandson of Louis Philip Cardon and Susette Stalé
Grandson of Emanuel Philip Cardon and Amelia Maria Merrick
Son of Emanuel Alonzo Cardon and Rosa Vilate Terry
Jesse Leo Cardon was born on August 5, 1909. He weighed in at 71b, 1/2ozs. His height was 20 inches. His place of birth was St. David, Cochise County , Arizona . His parents were Emanuel Alonzo Cardon and Rosa Vilate Terry. He was the 5th child and 2nd boy born to the family of 7children; 3 boys and 4 girls. His sisters and brothers, in order, are Dency, Irene, Emanuel Alonzo, Rosa Vilate, Faye and Terry Ivins.
Jesse was blessed on June 5, 1910, by Bishop Joseph N. Curtis, Sr., in the San Pedro Ward, Tombstone Stake, Arizona . His father, Emanuel, was farming in St. David at this time to support his family. In 1915 they moved north to Clover, Tooele County , Utah , with his father Emanuel Philip, and soon after they moved to nearby Benmore.
Concerning the childhood of Jesse, I quote from a letter written to me from his oldest sister, Dency Cardon Stout, on December 3,1981.
In his childhood Jesse was a cute, sweet, little, black-eyed, black-haired thin and wiry boy. As he grew, he was always a fast runner.
I remember in Benmore the country was so dry around our home. Jesse was four years old and he loved playing stick horse by getting a stick and putting it between his legs and holding on to it like a horse. He would run all over the place. On some of these occasions, snakes would follow this stick and papa would have to go get the snakes and kill them. Luckily Jesse never was bitten.
Emanuel and Jesse would play to together. They were very companionable. Jesse started school in Benmore. One day he was so anxious to go that he went off without his pants. I had to run after him and tell him; he had long underwear on so it gave him the feeling he had his pants on. Jesse was smart in school and was good at saying verses and poems and loved to say them at church and school.
Jesse was a good athlete. He was good at baseball. He was on a team and was one of their best runners. I took my children to see him play at the Hinckley High School football field on some Sundays one year.
Jesse was pleasant to be around. He was a kind brother. My mind is dimmed now. I can’t remember all I would like to. I did love him very much.
Jesse went to Primary, Sunday School and Church, as the rest of the family did. He was baptized in Benmore on August 30, 1917, by Albert Skidmore, who was an Elder and was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints the same day by Elder Israel Bennion. Place was St. David Cochise, Arizona.
Jesse learned at an early age to work and he worked hard at many jobs to help support the family. The family moved to Hinckley in 1921. He hauled wood from the West hills for their use for fires and also sold loads to other families to help with expenses.
He was ordained a Deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood on December 24, 1922, by Joseph W. Wright. He was ordained a Teacher on Apri1 19, 1925, by Arthur H. Reeve, a High Priest in the Hinckley Ward, Deseret Stake, Millard County, Utah . He was also ordained Priest, but I don’t have the date on that.
Jesse liked dogs and horses. He liked to dance and have a good time. He played the harmonica quite well and sometimes entertained family and friends with it.
Jesse received a certificate for completing the course of The Religion Classes in Deseret Stake on the 25th day of May, 1924.
Jesse liked all kinds of sports, especially basketball, baseball and football and he played on the varsity teams at Hinckley High School for all of these sports. He graduated from Hinckley High School and LDS Seminary on May 14,1928.
Jesse and I met at a dance in Oak City Canyon. Jess and his friends, Don and Frank Woodbury and others were quite a friendly bunch of guys. They were fun to be around. We had lots of fun going to different places and doing different things. My brother, Carlos, and Jess were together quite a lot of the time.
Jess was a very good worker where ever he could make a little money that was needed and he was friendly with everyone and helped where ever he could. He would help his mother wash clothes by scrubbing them on the washboard. He would mix bread for her because she had asthma and couldn’t stand the flour dust. He told me that a lot of times his lunches he took to work were sandwiches of bread and pickles.
After going together for awhile, we were married on March 16, 1934, in Hinckley by Bishop Joseph M. Wright. Jess worked that summer for Add Ekins in Hinckley, hauling hay for $1.50 a day. In the winter he worked for the WPA and was earning $45 a month. We would have liked a place where we could have a good garden, but we didn’t have the money for that. Later Jess got a job with Brigg Dahl and B.J. Anderson in Delta chopping hay for the Utah Poultry Co.
The following children were born to us while we were living in this area: Kenneth J. was born August 11, 1934, in Hinckley. Arnold A., born August 15, 1936, in Oak City. Colleen Rae was born September 17, 1938, in Hinckley. Jesse Leon was born September 25, 1940, in Delta.
I remember after we got married, Jess owned a big horse. I think his name was Duke. Jess really liked the horse and he used him at work. Fay, his sister, was graduating from high school that year and she needed a new dress for graduation. Well, his folks couldn’t get the money, so they sold the horse. At about this same time Jess got an old wreck of a car and fixed it up. The lights weren’t very good so we always had to be home before dark. Later we got a better one.
Jess was very good at helping with the cooking, especially with cooking meat and using the pressure cooker.
He told of a time when he and Lloyd Christensen went to the West hills for wood, to be gone for a week. They each had taken a grub box, but before they made it home, they ran out of food. All they had left was some pancake flour and a bottle of black molasses. He said they couldn’t eat it and just about starved. He told me that a lot of time his lunch at work was just sandwiches of bread and pickles. He said he remembered times when all they had for supper was a dish of peaches. Sometimes they would get some liver from someone who had killed a pig or a calf and they would have liver and bread and fruit, when they were living in Arizona.
In September, 1941, we moved up to Tremonton, where Jess was working for the Utah Poultry Co. He heard of a job opening in Lehi and we moved there in December 1941. Jess worked for the Utah Poultry Co. driving a semi-truck hauling feed and different things to other towns. He would be gone for days, working 16 hours a day. After awhile he got on at the plant in American Fork. He also worked for a farmer in American Fork, raising celery and other vegetables. The three older boys often helped him at this.
The rest of our children were born in Lehi. they were: Donna Mae, born November 9, 1942, Margo Elaine, born July 19, 1944, Lois Ann, born November 8, 1945, Dolores, born April 9,1947, and Gary Lee, born March 20, 1951.
Jesse was an assistant scoutmaster to Jay Haws when we were living in the Fifth ward (about 1950). He enjoyed that very much, but he never was able to get active in the Church after we moved. Jesse could read the church books and quote them, remembering the scriptures better then most anyone. If he had just stuck with it and had been more faithful.
When the Utah Poultry Co. went out of business in about 1953 Jess got a job at the brick plant in Lehi and later he worked for Garn Holbrook on his dry farm.
He was the Father of nine children; five daughters and four sons, Kenneth J., Arnold A., Colleen Rae, Jesse Leon, Donna Mae, Margo Elaine, Lois Ann, Dolores and Gary Lee Cardon. All are still living and have families of their own.
Jess had a heart attack in October 1957 and after a week’s stay died in the American Fork Hospital on October 15, 1957. He was buried in the Lehi cemetery, October 18, 1957.
**Dad was liked by all who knew him. He was blessed with a good mind and body and he worked hard to support his family, which he loved very much. He loved the Lord and the Gospel.
The sad note which must be told, was the cause of his inactivity in the Church, and of his early death was tobacco and alcohol. Alcohol is a disease and when it gets a hold on you it is difficult indeed to overcome.
I close by expressing a very heart felt belief that Dad has or will overcome and mercy with repentance and then forgiveness will find him with his family in the Kingdom where our Father in Heaven lives.
**Closing comments by Kenneth J. Cardon, his son.
Lehi City Cemetery, Lehi, Utah
