Missouri, and from that point walked a distance of one hundred and fifty miles
to Council Bluffs, where he and his father obtained work and thereby earned the
money that enabled them to continue the journey. The sister and father died,
however, before a further start was made to Utah and in 1853 John Rees came
without kindred to Utah, making the journey with a train of fourteen wagons.
He soon afterward obtained work at Sessions, how Bountiful, with William Muir,
with whom he remained for four years. He went to meet a handcart company at
Greenriver and in 1857 went to meet Johnston's army. In the year 1860 he re-
moved to Hyde Park and made his home with a Mr. Rogers until his marriage,
which was celebrated on the 31st of July, 1862, Miss Sophronia Molen becoming
his wife. Theirs was the first wedding ceremony performed in Hyde Park. The
young couple began their domestic life in a dugout, which was in keeping with
the times and the frontier experiences which they faced. As the years passed
they had a family of twelve children, five of whom survive. There are now
also thirty-five grandchildren and thirty-three great-grandchildren.
Mr. Rees was a man beloved by all and his death, which occurred in February,
1919, was the occasion of deep and widespread regret. His wife died January
20, 1911. She was born in Springfield, Illinois, December 16, 1837, and her
parents were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They
passed through all the persecutions experienced by members of the church in
Missouri and Illinois and in the fall of 1847 came to Utah. For many years Mrs.
Rees was president of the Primary Association in Benson and she took a deep
interest in all the church work. Mr. and Mrs. Rees took great pleasure in enter-
taining their relatives and friends and they were a most hospitable and highly
honored couple. The memory of the upright life of John Rees should serve as a
source of encouragement and inspiration to all who knew him.
ELiAS W. ERICKSON.
Elias W. Erickson is occupying a high place in educational circles in the west.
For a considerable period he was connected with the schools of Sevier county and he
is now occupying the position of county club leader of the Sevier County Farmers Club,
to which office he was called through appointment of the department of .agriculture.
cc
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 369
Mr. Erickson was born in Spanish Fork, Utah county, September 8, 1887, his parents
being Einar and Gudrun Erickson, who were natives of Iceland. They came to Utah
in 1880 and the father took up the occupation of farming and ranching in Emery
county. He was a devout churchman of irreproachable conduct and occupied many
offices in the church, passing through the priesthood to the position of high priest.
Elias W. Erickson was educated in the common schools in the Emery Stake Academy
at Castle Dale, and in the Brigham Young University of Provo, from which he was
graduated with the class of 1908. He also took extension work from the University
of Utah. In 1908 he took up the profession of teaching in Cleveland, Utah, an,d de-
voted his attention to the work of the schools until 1913, when he was sent on a mis-
sion to Iceland, while subsequently he was transferred from that mission to the Lon-
don conference. He labored in the foreign field until recalled in 1914 by the church
as a result of the outbreak of the great World war. Returning to Utah, he again taught
school for two years at Monroe, Sevier county, and in 1916 he became principal of the
graded schools of Richfield. In 1917 he was made supervisor of the grammar grades
of Sevier county and continued to occupy that position until the close of the school
year of 1919, when he was appointed by the department of agriculture to the position
of county club leader of the Sevier County Farm Bureau. Here, his work, too, is of an
educational character and he is organizing the forces of the farmers for a continued
and progressive development of the district along agricultural lines, endeavoring to
meet every requirement of the farmer, who must needs 'have a scientific knowledge
of the condition of the soil and the quality of his land if he would make his farm of the
greatest productiveness.
In 1907 Mr. Erickson was married in Salt Lake temple to Miss Leona Cox, a daugh-
ter of M. A. Cox, a retired farmer of Provo, who ranks high as a citizen and faithful
churchman. Their children are De Lile, Ronald, Refell and La Rue.
Mr. Erickson has found time from his school duties to discharge many duties in
relation to the work of the church. He has ever been an active member of the Young
Men's Mutual, has been assistant superintendent of the Richfield Third Ward Sunday
school and is a member of the Eighty-first Quorum of Seventy. Whatever he under-
takes he attacks with a contagious enthusiasm and this has made him a most capable
factor in the educational field. If he could be said to have a specialty along that Hue
it is in penmanship and art, and it is his desire if possible to devote his talents to
those particular branches of learning.
MAGNUS C. NELSON.
Magnus C. Nelson, vice president and manager of the Standard Meat & Produce
Company at Richfield, is a living example of what America has to offer to the youth
of foreign birth who possesses steadfastness of purpose, inherent integrity and a keen
discrimination that recognizes and utilizes opportunity. He was born in Denmark in
1870 and at the age of thirteen years came to America, making his way at once to
Utah. He arrived in Richfield in the fall of 1883, friendless and penniless, but he
possessed energy and determination and soon obtained work. He was also ambitious
and proceeded at once to master the language of the people among whom his lot was
now cast. His education was obtained in the graded schools and in the Sevier Stake
Academy. In 1892, having saved up some money, he went on a mission to New Zealand,
where he remained for three years. Upon his return he turned his attention to the
mercantile business in Salt Lake City but in 1907 he again became a resident of
Richfield, where he established the Standard Meat & Produce Company, of which he
became vice president and manager. Their business is located on Main street, between
First and Second, North, and the company enjoys a trade that covers most of southern
Utah and gives employment to eight people. Mr. Nelson feels that much of his success
in life is due to the kindly assistance of the late Hans P. Miller, who gave to the youth
of thirteen all of the advice and encouragement that has constituted the foundation
of his life work. Mr. Miller was one of the pioneer settlers of Sevier county and
built the first substantial home in the city of Richfield. He was for many years the
tithing clerk of the stake and a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. In every way he was a most excellent citizen.
In 1896 Mr. Nelson was married in Salt Lake temple to Miss Leonora Miller, a
370 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
daughter of the man who had practically reared him. Their children are Waldo M.,
Verna, Lyndell and Duane. The eldest, Waldo M., is associated with his father in
business. Verna is a student in the University of Utah, and the other children are
attending the schools of Richfield.
While interested in all civic matters, especially everything that means progress
and growth for Richfield, Mr. Nelson has never been an active politician nor held
public office. He is, however, a member of the Richfield Commercial Club and cooperates
in all the plans and projects of that organization for the benefit of the city. He is
a stockholder in the Richfield Commercial & Savings Bank, the Sevier County cheese
factory and other progressive enterprises. His business affairs and churchly duties
claim the major part of his time. He has been prominent in the Young Men's Mutual
Improvement Association, has been president of the Deacons Quorum, assistant super-
intendent of the stake Sunday schools and a member of the Thirty-sixth Quorum of
Seventy. Kindly in thought and action, with no bigotry, Mr. Nelson is a citizen of
whom any community might be proud.
MARTIN LUTHER ENSIGN.
No history of Utah would be complete were there failure to make reference to
Martin Luther Ensign, whose eighty years of life were crowded to the full with activi-
ties of a most useful character in relation to the material and moral development of
this state. He was born in Little River Village, near Westfield, Massachusetts, March
31, 1831, a son of Horace and Mary (Bronson) Ensign, who were converted by the
preaching of Edwin D. Wooley and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints in 1845. In the following spring they started for Nauvoo, Illinois, their son,
Martin Luther, being then fifteen years of age. The residence of the family upon the
western frontier precluded the possibility of his acquiring an education, yet in his
life of eighty years he accomplished a marvelous amount of work that resulted for
the benefit of his fellowmen as well as his own interest. Before the family reached
Nauvoo most of the people of their faith had been driven out and they continued their
journey to Winter Quarters. There the father died at the age of forty-eight, leaving
six children to the care of the widowed mother. About the 15th of May, 1847, Mrs.
Ensign and her family started for Utah and Martin L., then between sixteen and seven-
teen years of age, drove three yoke of oxen from Winter Quarters to Salt Lake City
for John Eldridge, arriving at his destination on the 15th of September. His eldest
brother, Datus Ensign, helped to plow the first furrow turned in Utah, bringing the
plow ready for use from Winter Quarters. This plow is now in the museum at Salt
Lake. The mother's home was built of logs from Immigration canyon and covered
with poles and canes. It was located in the north section of Salt Lake, which was
added to the first ten acre tract of the city. Their first crop of wheat was raised just
north of where the City and County building now stands.
On the 8th of January, 1852, Martin L. Ensign wedded Mary Dunn, daughter of
Simeon A. Dunn, who was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, November 18, 1833. That spring
the young couple moved to Centerville, at which time their furniture consisted of a
table, a long bench, a bedstead and two stools, which Mr. Ensign made. They bor-
rowed a bake kettle and the mother furnished a set of knives and forks and some
bedclothes. From Centerville they moved to Ogden and thence to North Ogden with
the intention of making a home there, but Simeon Dunn had already become a resident
of Boxelder county and there Mr. Ensign and his wife joined him in 1853. Their first
home was made of logs, which were cut, hewed and nailed together in North Ogden
and then moved on the running gear of a wagon to where Brigham stands. They occu-
pied that primitive dwelling for about six weeks and were then advised to move into
the fort. Mr. Ensign said that he was obliged to move his house three times in one
year. In 1854, accompanied by Simeon Dunn, he went by ox team three hundred miles
to the Humboldt river to get iron left there by California immigrants. Part of this
Iron was afterward sold to buy flour, which cost ten dollars per hundred pounds. In
1854 or 1855 Mr. Ensign built a home at the corner of Second South and Third North
streets, which has since been known as Ensign's corner. In 1855 he was called to go
to the Cache valley and build houses on the church farm. He built the first house in
Cache valley. In 1856 he aided in building the grist mill in Brigham and the following
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 371
year was called to fill a mission to England. He walked from Salt Lake to the Mis-
sissippi river and pulled a handcart filled with provisions. There were seventy-two
in the company and they made the trip in forty-eight days, traveling without purse
or scrip.
Mr. Ensign remained in England until June 1, 1858, when he returned to Brigham
and worked in the canyon and at farming until 1862. The following year, in associa-
tion with Jarvis Johnson, he built a shop on Boxelder creek and installed machinery,
which was operated by water power. They did carpenter work, wagon repairing and
wheelwright work and they, also built a sawmill at the head of Boxelder canyon. In
1866 Mr. Ensign organized a company which sent east for a portable sawmill, which
was' set up on Paradise creek and operated for a year. In 1869 Mr. Ensign built tent
frames, houses and camp furniture for the railroad company and in this way earned as
high as twenty-five dollars per day. In 1873, associated with Mr. Johnson, he built a
sawmill in Paradise canyon and from 1874 until 1877 he had charge of the Brigham
Young cooperative carpenter shops and also built a bridge over Bear river at Bear
River City. He likewise had charge of a steam sawmill in the Logan canyon and
he did the finishing carpenter work on the Logan Temple. From 1877 until 1884 he
assisted in building bridges over Bear river at Hampton and Corinne. His industrial
activity contributed much to the development of the districts in which he operated. He
possessed much mechanical skill and ingenuity and could do almost any kind of work in
wood or iron. Mr. Ensign was elected justice of the peace in 1882 and filled that office
until 1892 and from 1886 until 1892 he was also county coroner. On retiring from that
position he organized a company and built a creamery on North Main street in Logan
at a cost of five thousand dollars. From 1894 until 1911 he did grading work and
thus continued in a life of activity and usefulness until he had reached the advanced
age of eighty years. He never ceased to feel the keenest interest in the work of the
church and for many years was high counselor. He was likewise associated with the
Fife and Drum Corps of Brigham city in the early days. He passed away May 18, 1911,
survived by forty-three grandchildren and sixty-six great-grandchildren. Three of
his grandsons, Carl, Lee and Horace Ensign of Brigham, and George Ensign Smith of
Logan, served in the World war. It would be impossible to overestimate the value of
the life work of Martin Luther Ensign, who from earliest pioneer times was connected
with the development of the state. He was closely associated with those first activities
that marked the colonization and settlement of Utah and as the years passed he bore
his part in the task of continued progress and improvement. He came indeed to an
honored old age and left behind a memory that is revered and cherished by all who
knew him.
LYCURGUS ARNOLD WILSON.
Lycurgus Arnold Wilson, of Richfield, whose writings and researches along
genealogical lines have exceeded those of any other man in the state, was born in
Salem, Utah, in 1856, his parents being Lycurgus and Lois Ann (Stevens) Wilson. He
is a representative in the Wilson line of one of the oldest families of America, repre-
sented on this side of the Atlantic since 1638. His father came to Utah in 1853, settling
at Salem. He was an eminent churchman and for many years was the bishop of Salem.
Lycurgus A. Wilson obtained his early education at Fairview and pursued his col-
lege course in the University of Utah. For three years he engaged in teaching school
at Fairview and afterward entered the Brigham Young University at Provo, from which
he was graduated with the class of 1878. During the succeeding three years he fol-
lowed the profession of teaching in Pleasant Grove and in. 1881 he returned to Provo
as superintendent of schools, a position which he occupied for three years. During that
period he took up the study of law in the office of Judge John E. Booth and in 1886
was admitted to practice by the federal district court, after which he became associated
with Judge Booth in a partnership relation under the firm style of Booth & Wilson.
He practiced his profession in Provo until 1890, when he accepted the position of gen-
eral counsel of a railway then building from Deming, New Mexico to Topolobampo bay,
old Mexico. There he remained but a year, after which he returned to Utah and for the
succeeding two years he served as tithing clerk under Presiding Bishop William B.
Preston, during which period he wrote the genealogy of the Preston family. In 1893
Vol. IV 24
372 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
when the Salt Lake temple was dedicated he became one of the recorders of the temple
and while thus serving prepared the "Life of David W. Patton." In 1905 he published
"Outlines of Mormon Philosophy," a volume which has won him undying fame as a
student, and soon after the publication of that work he wrote "The Genealogy of
the Stevens Family," of which his mother was a member. During a vacation in his
temple work, at the suggestion of President Joseph F. Smith, he journeyed to Tops-
field, Massachusetts, the original home of the Smith family, and traced the family in
all its branches, preparing its genealogical history for temple ordinances. In like man-
ner, he prepared the genealogy of Lorenzo Snow and the family record for temple ordi-
nances. The records of the families of Brigham Young, Bishop William B. Preston and
President Wilford Woodruff were also prepared by him for temple work. His labors
as a writer, and his researches along genealogical lines have far exceeded those of
any man or woman in the state. In 1908 he went on a mission to India, with head-
quarters at Bombay. After leaving India he traveled around the world in church work
and finally arrived at Cardston, Alberta, Canada, where he remained until 1911, serving
as stake clerk and secretary and also as treasurer of the town. He afterward removed
to Salt Lake, where he practiced law and became editor of the Municipal Record under
the Hon. Noble Warrum, who at that time was secretary of the city commission and
recorder of the city.
After editing the Record during 1913 and 1914 Mr. Wilson removed to Richfield
and associated himself with Judge Henry N. Hayes in the practice of law, being thus
engaged until the elevation of Judge Hayes to the bench of the sixth district, since
which time Mr. Wilson has practiced his profession alone. He is an able lawyer, pos-
sessing a naturally analytical and inductive mind, and he seems to lose sight of not a
single point that bears the slightest weight upon his case, while at the same time he
gives due prominence to that vital point upon which the decision of every case finally
turns.
In 1876 Mr. Wilson married Miss Ellis Marie Tucker, a daughter of Amasa Tucker,
who for many years was bishop of Fairview. Four children were born of this marriage:
Lycurgus Amasa, of Richfield; Guy A., of Salt Lake; Mrs. J. R. Lowe, of Hooper; and
Mrs. Fraser Richardson, of Texas. In 1885 Mr. Wilson wedded Melissa Patton, a daugh-
ter of Thomas Jefferson Patton, of Provo, who was a nephew of Apostle David W.
Patton, a martyr to the Mormon faith. Eleven children were born of this marriage:
Arnold, who died in infancy; Laron A.; Iris; Derby S.; Marcius Booth; Lorenzo
Snow; Granger S. ; Zina; Mary E.; Maeser; and Lloyd A. Derby S., Marcius B., Lorenzo
S. and Granger S., all served in the American army during the war against Germany,
as also did Fraser Richardson, a son-in-law, and Wilson Taylor, a grandson. In 1890
Mr. Wilson married Zina Lyons. One child was born of this marriage, Preston Lyons
Wilson, of Salt Lake. In 1907 Mr. Wilson married Julia Glines, by whom one child
was born, Arnold Wilson, who died in infancy.
Mr. Wilson's life has not seen an idle moment. At fifteen years of age he was a
participant in the Black- Hawk war as a telegraph operator, and since reaching man's
estate his brain and pen have been always busy. A prodigious worker, wide reader and
deep thinker, he has made his activities of benefit to his fellowmen, to his church and
to the 7 community at large.
JOHN F. SCHIRMEISTER.
John F. Schirmeister is an active factor in the commercial and industrial circles
of Logan, where he is dealing in wall paper and in connection therewith does contract
work in painting and decorating. He is also the proprietor of the Logan Auto Painting
& Trimming Company on Federal avenue and thus his business interests constitute an
important element in the material development of the city. Mr. Schirmeister was born
in the province of Hanover, Germany, December 22, 1875. His father, Gustav Schir-
meister, was a native of Prussia and a tinsmith by trade. He carried on business quite
successfully along that line. His wife, Marje (Johnsen) Schirmeister, is also a native
of Germany and is still living, but her husband has passed away. They were the parents
of seven children, three sons and four daughters, all of whom reached adult age.
Mr. Schirmeister of this review was the third in order of birth. He pursued his
education in the schools of Germany and when fourteen years of age was apprenticed to
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 373
learn the carriage painting and top making trade, which he followed as a journeyman
until he reached the age of twenty-five. In 1906, attracted by the business opportunities
of the new world, he came to America, making his way direct to Salt Lake City, Utah,
where he was employed as an upholsterer. He continued to work in the capital city
for eighteen months and then removed to Logan, where he immediately found employ-
ment at his trade, at which he engaged for two years. On the expiration of that period
he established his wall paper business in a small way and from a humble start has
developed a trade of large and satisfactory proportions. In connection with the sale
of wall paper he has always engaged in contract work in papering and decorating and
his handiwork is found in many of the best homes of Logan. In the fall of 1918 he
likewise established the Logan Auto Painting & Trimming Company and has the only
business of the kind in northern Utah. His establishment is situated on Federal avenue
and he does all kinds of auto painting and trimming and top making. He also replaces
isinglass and puts in plate glass windows and in fact makes a motor car look like
new.
In Hamburg, Germany, on the 12th of May, 1903, Mr. Schirmeister was married
to Miss Marguerite Geitel, a native of Mecklenburg, Germany, and they have become
the parents of six children: Marie, born in Hamburg, Germany; Hyrum, born in Salt
Lake; and Enoch, Aaron, John F. and William, all born in Logan.
Mr. Schirmeister was converted to the faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints in 1902 in Hamburg, Germany, and since that time has been active
in its work, serving on a local mission in Germany and also assisting in the church
work since coming to the new world. In 1914 he became an American citizen, having
taken out his naturalization papers. In politics, however, he maintains an independent
course. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new
world, for he arrived in this country a poor man with a wife and one child to support.
As the years have passed he has built up a business of gratifying proportions and is
now the possessor of a comfortable competence.
CARL JOHN MALMSTEN.
Carl John Malmsten, proprietor of one of the finest mercantile establishments of
Richfield, was born in Oakland, Nebraska, in 1877, a son of L. J. and Mary (Morell)
Malmsten. The father was a horticulturist, thus providing for the support of his
family, with whom he removed to Gothenburg, Nebraska, when his son Carl J. was but
twelve years of age. The boy there attended the graded and high schools and after-
ward became a student in the Grand Island College at Grand Island, Nebraska. Fol-
lowing his graduation he entered upon mercantile pursuits as a clerk and was thus
employed until 1909, when he was employed by the J. C. Penney Company at Kem-
merer, Wyoming. There he remained for a brief period, after which he was transferred
by the company to their store in Bingham, Utah. In 1911 he was sent to Richfield to
establish a store for the J. C. Penney Company. Arriving at his destination, he sought
and obtained an excellent location and opened a dry goods store that is a credit to
southern Utah and a monument to his executive ability. In addition to his partner-
ship in the Richfield establishment he also holds interests in several other J. C. Penney
Company stores in this section of Utah, as well as in other stores owned by the Penney
Company in the middle west. During his nine years' residence in Richfield he has
become known as a wide-awake, thoroughgoing merchant and has given to the city
one of the finest dry goods establishments in the state. The Richfield store carries a