ON the RAGGED EDGE the Life and Times of Dudley Leavitt by Juanita
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ON THE RAGGED EDGE The Life and Times of Dudley Leavitt By Juanita Brooks 1973 ON THE RAGGED EDGE Introduction CONTENTS Author's Statement.........................vii 1 From Canada to Illinois......................1 2 Tragedy and New Beginnings..................15 3 The Leavitts Head for Zion..................29 4 Settling in Tooele..........................43 5 On the Santa Clara..........................55 6 Rumors of War...............................70 7 First Indian Missions.......................79 8 The Family Grows............................91 9 The Settlement of Dixie....................100 10 At Hebron and Gunlock......................114 11 The United Order at Bunkerville............125 12 Dodging the Officers.......................140 13 The Closing Years..........................151 Appendix A: The Leavitt Coat of Arms.......163 Appendix B: Genealogy......................166 Illustrations.........between pages 99 and 100 Come, Let Us Anew Come, let us anew our journey pursue, Roll round with the year, And never stand still till the Master appear. His adorable will let us gladly fulfill, And our talents improve, By the patience of hope and the labor of love, By the patience of hope and the labor of love. Our life as a dream, our time as a stream, Glides swiftly away, And the fugitive moment refuses to stay. The Arrow is flown, the moments are gone, The Millennial Year Presses on to our view, and eternity's here, Presses on to our view, and eternity's here. O that each in the day of His coming may say, "I have fought my way thro,- I have finished the work Thou didst give me to do." O that each from the Lord may receive the glad word: "Well and faithfully done; Enter into my joy and sit down on my throne, Enter into my joy and sit down on my throne." _________________________________________________________ This has become the family song of the Leavitts, to be sung at the funeral services of the older members. Author's Statement In 1941 I was married to William Brooks then postmaster in St. George. Our "compound- complex" family consisted of my son, Ernest pulsipheer; three of Will's who were at home - Bob, Grant, and Clair; and our common daughter, Willa Nita. Walter was married and set up in his own place. (I mention this only to show that I already had more to do than I could get done.) Early that spring my came up from Bunkerville, Nevada, and my father did not wait long to state the reason behind their visit. "I hear that you are writing the life of Uncle Jacob Hamblin," he said. Who had told them that? I wondered. I had thought it a secret. "I'm not exactly writing it yet, but I have been fathering material with that in mind,"I confessed. I hadn't thought of any family tie that should make him "Uncle Jacob," until I remembered that his third wife was Grandpa Leavitt's baby sister, Priscilla. "Uncle Jacob! Uncle Jacob! Everybody talks about Uncle Jacob!" Pa broke in bitterly. "When Uncle Jacob had a job that was too big for him, who did he send? Dudley Leavitt and Thales Haskell, or Dudley Leavitt and Ira Hatch! When the whole outfit was almost dead of hunger and exposure there at Pipe Springs, whose horse was shot for food? Not Jacob Hamblin's! It was Dudley Leavitt who had to walk most of the way back to the Santa Clara. And when the Iyats were making trouble down at Las Vegas, who did he send? Dudley Leavitt and Ira Hatch! They lost their horses and almost their lives. "Now you forget Jacob Hamblin and write the life of Dudley Leavitt. Your sketch in the family record book will help, and if you look for it, you'll find material. Father was born on the frontier: he had very little schooling. From Canada to Nauvoo and on out here he proved himself always able to meet situations, though he didn't writ them down. If you talk to the family members who are still living - I mean Aunt Hannah and Aunt Sadie and the others that are left - you'll get some help. The main thing is to get started. Don't put it off! Get going!" So I promised that I would, and I really intended to start, but one thing or another pushed the project aside. When the folks came again about a month later and Pa asked how I was getting along with my book on Grandpa, I was much embarrassed. "To tell the truth, I haven't actually started to write it yet, but I went over and talked to the printer and we decided on the size of the book and number of pages. He says he will print 500 copies for $600. He wants $50 down as earnest money and $50 a month until the book is done. If it's not all clear by that time, I can have sixty days longer in which to sell books enough to settle it." Without a word, Pa pulled out his check book, wrote a check for $50, and handing it to me, ordered, "Now you get busy, and don't you stop until this is done and ready to hand out to the family." In spite of this reluctant beginning, I soon became much involved in the project. I spent some time with Aunt Hannah Terry who was then visiting with her daughter, Exie Blake, in St. George. As the oldest child of all the family, she could remember far back, indeed. If only I had a recording machine to get her stories exactly as they were told! But I did the best I could with scattered notes that later were sometimes not very helpful. Printed sources, written journals, and letters would be easier to handle and more reliable. Aunt Salena Leavitt, the family genealogist, became the best real help, for she had been making the study of family genealogy her main interest. Yes, indeed, there was material enough. Diaries of John Pulsipher, Orson W. Huntsman, Myron Abbott all mentioned Grandpa as being involved in their common undertakings; family folklore and pioneer experiences fathered from one and another, filed and used in its place - these the base on which I must build. A chapter at a time, longer or shorter as they could be crowded in among my other duties, was knocked out, carried cross-lots to the printer, and promptly set into type. In a remarkably short time the little volume was done. I was conscious of its shortcomings but made no apology. I felt that just the appendix at the end was worth it. These were depression times in southern Utah and Nevada. Many needs must come before books, so that it really took some time to sell enough to cover the cost. Fact is I had to borrow money to clear with the printer. For me, the greatest surprise and the greatest reward came several years later when I made my first trip to the Henry E. Huntington Library at San Marino, California. I had received word that the Huntington Library had recently secured some original diaries of John D. Lee. I was eager to these, so I wrote to ask if they were available. The answer, Though evasive, included an invitation to visit the library. I hadn't imagined what a deal it was to gain admittance to this place until I passed the footman at thee gate, another at the door, a man at the desk in the outside room, and at last reached the inner sanctum. Here I was greeted by Mr. Leslie E. Bliss, who said, "I'm very happy to meet you, Mrs. Brooks. I've enjoyed your book on Dudley Leavitt very much. You see, my wife is a Leavitt from Massachusetts." There on the table lay the little blue- backed volume! How he found it, I can never guess, for it had no printed advertisements. However it was, I have given this book credit for getting me acquainted at Huntington Library, which in turn gave me a project for collecting original Mormon material and finally a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to write my first real book, The Mountain Meadows Massacre. After some twenty years had passed and the Dudley Leavitt books were all sold, a printer asked if I would object to his republishing it. I now believe that he had it all done before he approached me on the subject. I supposed, of course, that he would reproduce it as it was. How sadly was I disappointed. In order to make more profit, he had printed it on cheaper paper in smaller type, making the whole volume smaller. It was not only difficult to read, but the pictures were ruined. My own father looks out at me with white holes for his eyes from a coal-black face. This issue, I understand, is now depleted. In doing further research on the family, I have found much new material which I have included in this volume, enriching it greatly and giving a better overall picture of the times and places in which the families lived. The statistical material at the end has been enlarged also. The new title, On the Ragged Edge: The Life and Times of Dudley Leavitt, refers, of course, to the numerous times he was called to move from one frontier to another. I now feel that I have truly kept the promise I made to my father so many years ago. Juanita Brooks I FROM CANADA TO ILLINOIS ON THE RAGGED EDGE FROM CANADA TO ILLINOIS Since the subject of our study is Dudley Leavitt, we shall begin with his birth at Hatley, southern Canada, on August 31, 1830.