15 Apr 1861 – 2 Nov 1943
Granddaughter of Philip Cardon and Martha Marie Tourn
Daughter of Louis Philippe Cardon and Susette Stalé
Mary Katherine Cardon
by Carl Goodman March 2017
Mary Katherine Cardon is a granddaughter of Philip Cardon and Martha Marie Torun. She was born to Louis Philip Cardon and Susette Stalé April 15, 1861 in Logan, Cache County, Utah. She was the third of five children, Joseph Samuel and Emanuel Philip being older brothers and Louis Paul and Isabelle Susette being younger.
Regarding the move from the Ogden area to Logan Aunt Katie, as she was known to many, said that her parents had hoped, by moving to Logan (a frontier village), they would avoid the unpleasant incidents caused by the great agitation going on over plural families in the heavier populated towns. Per Lucille Cardon Mathews, the hope for peace was short lived. As more settlers reached Logan, so did the persecutions. This prompted the family to move to Oxford, Cache Valley’s most Northern boundary and considered part of Utah until 1872. It was here that Mary’s youngest sister Isabelle was born. In May of 1874, Isabelle died being only a year and half old.
While living in Oxford, Katie learned how to quilt and sew. In 1876 a Federal Judge in Utah reached up into Oxford, now part of Idaho, and had both men and women arrested for what was called “UC” (unlawful cohabitation). It was about at this time that Brigham Young called them to Arizona. Aunt Katie gave this detail: “Father, very concerned, made a trip to Salt Lake City to seek advice from President Young. He reported to his family, President Young rose from his chair, smote the palm of one hand with the doubled fist of the other and said “Brother Cardon, it is time for the Saints to settle Arizona as I have been thinking about. Be here in a week with your wife and belongings. The company will be ready to leave then.”
Of the 1876 trip South, we know that the family split at the deserted fort near Moenkopi (about 136 miles north of Obed). Here Emanuel with the mule teams went on accompanied by Ameila, his wife, Katie and Louis. Joseph with the oxen teams wintered at the deserted fort so that his wife Selina could give birth to a child, Sarah Elizabeth. Unfortunately, the child died shortly thereafter (25 January 1877). In March of 1877 Louis Philip and another son returned to Moenkopi and helped move Joseph and the oxen teams and wagons on to Obed.
October 27, 1877, Mary Katherine married Joseph Inkley Clawson. In 1879 on the 16th of October, Mary Katherine and Joseph went to St. George, Utah and were sealed. The family, consisting of Katie’s father, brothers, and her husband formed a company and took freighting contracts. They also worked on the railroad.
In 1884, Louis Philip and his son Joseph Samuel moved their families to the colonies in Mexico. The remaining family members including Joseph and Katie Clawson stayed in Taylor Arizona. While in Taylor, on the 7th of August 1887, John LeRoy was born and later adopted by Katie and Joseph. Katie and Joseph had no natural children of their own.
Between 1895-1897 Emanuel made the move to Mexico. In 1896 Louis Paul answered the missionary call and moved his family along with his mother Susette to Dublan to set up a school system. Mary Katherine and Joseph Clawson went with him as well.
From “Joseph Inkley Clawson History” posted online at familysearch.org we learn that in Colonia Dublan:
Joseph and Kate built “The Clawson Mansion” where Kate took in boarders. Plural marriage was still legal in Mexico and Joseph married Celestia Durfee (Lettie) August 9, 1900 in Calico on the prairie. The marriage was performed by Seymour B. Young. The two families lived together for about seven years. Joe, Carl and Orin were born in the big house. Sarah was born in a brick and lumber home. Leslie and Celia were born in a two-story home near the railroad tracks. The children enjoyed watching the trains go by.
Joseph owned land on the prairie east of town where he farmed. He also had a 40-acre apple orchard on the river bank. He continued to do contracting work on roads and railroad grades.
In 1912 due to the revolutionary activities in Mexico the women and children were evacuated by train to El Paso, Texas. There was no room to take much except a few bags and the clothes on their backs and what they could carry. After several hours, they arrived in El Paso and were herded into an old lumber yard. There was no privacy and little room. After a few days, the U.S. Army provided tents and operated kitchens for a while.
After Joseph arrived they moved in with relatives near El Paso. Joseph went by train from El Paso to Tucson, Arizona where a deal was made with a land developer. Water would soon be available for a new undeveloped tract. The rest of the family then came by train. Sagebrush, big catclaw trees, and mesquite trees were old with large root systems. It required a lot of work to clear the trees from the land.
Joseph built two houses on the land. Kate had one home and Lettie and her children had the other.
The second-year Joseph made a trade or swap and moved his family to Binghampton over next to the foothills and near the river.
Joseph injured his eye from cutting a piece of railroad iron with a chisel and hammer and was blind in that eye for several years. He had it operated on just about a year before he died. His son, Leslie, had a Scotch collie dog (Rollo) who was always with Leslie. When Joseph was crossing the bridge, the dog would go to him and guide him in the middle. Then he would go back to Leslie. The dog just knew when Joseph needed help.
He was sawing a piece of wood. It got caught in the saw and was thrown into his chest. This caused him to have a stroke from which he never recovered. He died December 20, 1924 at the age of 68 years. He was buried in the Binghampton Cemetery which is now in Tucson.
In 1927, Mary Katherine moved to Mesa Arizona to work in the Temple. She did so until a few months before her death November 2, 1943. The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) reported on the 3rd of November, 1943, page 17 the following:
MESA – Nov. 3 Funeral services will be held at 4 p. m. Friday from the chapel of the Meldrum Mortuary for Mrs. Mary Katherine Clawson, Arizona Temple worker, who died Tuesday night at her home on South Mesa boulevard. A native of Logan, Utah, Mrs. Clawson was 72 years old.
She came to Arizona in 1876 and settled on the Little Colorado River near Taylor. Sixteen years ago, she came to Mesa to work in the Temple. She retired from such work when she became ill several months ago.
She is survived by a brother, L. P. Cardon, of Mesa. Interment will be in the Mesa Cemetery.
November the 5th the same newspaper reported on page 19 that “Services, conducted by Bishop L. M. Mecham, will be held at 4 p.m. today from the Meldrum Mortuary Chapel. Internment, Mesa.”
Mesa City Cemetery, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona
