5 Jan 1852 – 20 Aug 1952
Wife of Thomas Barthelemy Cardon
Lucy S. Cardon, Logan Pioneer, Approaches Her 100th Birthday
by RAY NELSON
Lucy Smith Cardon, who will be 100 years old on her next birthday, is superbly symbolic of the fine things that come to mind when one thinks “pioneers.”
She is veritably a pioneer. With her parents she came across the Atlantic Ocean as a small child, abord a sailboat. She learned to walk during the voyage. She crossed the plains in a wagon, and a brother was born during that trip. Her early home was a log room, with no floors. She endured pioneer hardships.
Living at 109 East First North, Mrs. Cardon is in fairly good health. Her hearing and eyesight aren’t so good as they once were, but she has retained a beautiful graciousness, a gentility and an alertness which reflect a truly great personality.
Faith and Courage
A daughter, Claire, wrote about Mrs. Cardon:
“Mother’s faith and courage never falter. Her daily life is a positive inspiration to those around her. . . . Though she has been forced to give up the daily household tasks which she had always performed without complaint, she has kept her fingers busy, and has crocheted afghans for all her children, and for some grandchildren. When World War II came, she knitted for the Red Cross and would have gladly done more had she been physically able to do so.”
Caring for her are a son-in-law and daughter, Ted and Grehta Rechow.
Born January 5, 1852, in Bedfordshire, England, Mrs. Cardon is a daughter of Thomas X. Smith and Margaret Smith. The family “went south” from Salt Lake City to Farmington, before finally coming to Logan.
As a young girl, Mrs. Cardon saw the soldiers as they lined the roads while the group of Saints were returning from “the south” to Salt Lake.
Log Cabins
In Logan, the Smith home was made of logs and had no wooden floor. It was typical of those first humble dwellings which were built following the town’s settlement.
“Few families were here when we first came,” Mrs. Cardon recalled during an interview. “We had to work hard, and often food and clothing were not plentiful.”
On November 13, 1871, she was married to Thomas B. Cardon in the Salt Lake endowment house. He became a pioneer Logan photographer and jeweler.
Mr. Cardon died Feb. 15, 1898. The couple had 11 sons and daughters, seven of whom are still living:
T. T. and O. Guy Cardon and Grehta Rechow, Logan; Ariel F. Cardon, Palo Alto; P.V. Cardon, Washington, D. C.; Edna Langton, Salt Lake City, and Claire Sullivan, Los Angeles.
Besides those, her immediate family includes 24 grandchildren, 34 great-grandchildren, and at least one great-great-grandchild.
Adaptable
Whil she is in reality, a pioneer, Mrs. Cardon is not of one generation only. Her amazing adaptability makes her a part of all groups and ages. She has a keen sense of humor. Her tolerance of the short comings of others, her happiness in the success of others, make her the confidante of many.
Her daughter Claire pays this tribute: “Mother’s life has been full. She has lived through years of war and peace, love and deep sorrow, to attain in a century of experience the mien and bearing of a queenly woman.”
“It has been a life of constant service, devoted not only to her loved ones, but to all those about her. . . .”
“Mother has attained the summit of greatness for it is only in the forgetfulness of self that life is truly and richly and completely lived. Her faith in God is unswerving and everlasting.”
-Published in The Herald-Journal (Logan, UT) January 2, 1952, Page 16.
Oldest Resident of Cache, 100, Succumbs in Sleep
LOGAN (Special) – Mrs. Lucy Smith Cardon, 100, Cache Valley’s oldest resident, died quietly in her sleep early Wednesday morning at her residence here.
She was honored last January at a family gathering on the anniversary of her 100th birthday and was one of the valley’s best-known personalities. She had lived in the valley since the early 1860s.
Mrs. Cardon was born Jan 5, 1852, in Bedfordshire, England, a daughter of Thomas X. Smith and Margaret Smith. She came to America with her parents on a sailing ship, learning to walk on its decks.
She was married to Thomas B. Cardon Nov. 13, 1871, in the old Salt Lake Endowment House. Mr. Cardon was a pioneer Logan photographer and jeweler. He died Feb. 15, 1896.
Surviving are the following sons and daughters:
Dr. P. V. Cardon, Washington D. C.; Mrs. Claire Sullivan, Los Angeles, Cal.; O. Guy Cardon and Mrs. Gretha Rechow, Logan; Mrs. Edna Langton, Salt Lake City, and Ariel F. Cardon, Los Altos Cal.
B. T. Cardon, Logan, another son, died after Mrs. Cardon’s 100th anniversary.
Twenty-four grandchildren, 34 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild also survive.
Funeral Arrangements will be announced by Kenneth Lindquist Mortuary of Logan.
-Published in The Salt Lake Tribune, 2nd Edition, Thursday, August 21, 1952, Page 13.
Centenarian’s Funeral Slated At Logan
LOGAN – Funeral services for Mrs. Lucy Smith Cardon, Logan’s oldest resident who celebrated her 100th birthday on Jan. 5, 1952, will be conducted Saturday at 1 p.m.
Grant Sorenson, counselor in Logan Fourth Ward bishopric, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will officiate at the rites in the Fourth Ward chapel.
Mrs. Cardon died at her home here Wednesday morning in her sleep.
Friends may call at the home of a daughter, Mrs. t. G. Rechow, 109 East First North St., Logan, Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Burial in Logan City Cemetery will be directed by Lindquist and Son’s Mortuary.
The family requests no flowers. Mrs. Cardon enjoyed many flower contributions from friends in the years preceding her death.
-Published in the Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah, Thursday, August 21, 1952, Page 10A.
Logan City Cemetery, Logan, Cache County, Utah, Plot B_30_12_7
