John
Russell Archibald
1846 - 1923
John
Russell Archibald
John
Russell Archibald was born 2 August 1846 in Greenrigg, Linlithgowshire,
Scotland, the sixth child in a family of ten children, to Thomas Archibald
and Elizabeth Russell. He was baptized a member of the LDS Church
on 15 September 1857 "when eleven years old," by George Law, and confirmed
on the 16th of September 1857 by Alexander Gilkerson, in Scotland.
His parents
were baptized several years before that. His father had
died 8 April 1857, five months before John was baptized.
May 30, 1863 John emigrated to America
on the ship Cynosure. They docked in New York in July. His
brother William and William's family were on the same ship, but John
appears on the ship's records alone, listed as a miner, age 18,
coming from G. Peacock. John and William's mother and four younger
siblings had already gone to America in 1862. One little sister,
Agnes, had died in Scotland in infancy. They settled in Wellsville,
Cache county, Utah in the fall of 1862, the first settlement in Cache
Valley (microfilm #0025692, pg 30).
The threat
of Indians was great. John had to herd cattle on the hillside and
help with farming. He had just turned 16 years old when they arrived
in Wellsville.
John
met Elizabeth Hendry in Wellsville and they were married on the 3rd of
February 1867 in the LDS Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah.
That must have been a cold ride in a wagon from Wellsville to Salt Lake
City in February, but they were young and strong, and in love.
To them were
born seven children — 6 boys and 1 girl. They were all raised to
maturity. The children were John, Thomas, Isabell, Michael, James,
William and Allen. William died at age 20 years and he had not married.
In John Russell Archibald's record book, it tells that he had two young
ladies sealed to William — Francis McKay Leishman and Isabell Eunice Dalton.
This was something they did in those days. Isabell, the only daughter,
died in 1909; she had been married to George T. Darley. In 1914 Michael
died in Canada where he had gone to settle; he left a wife and five children.
John loved
his family very much.
John's one
brother and three of his oldest sons went to Canada, around Cardston, to
homestead farms. John was a farmer and had some very good land, with
his home in town and his land out of town a ways.
At that time,
the LDS Church practiced polygamy. With the consent of his wife,
Elizabeth, John married a second wife on 31 October 1884. Her name
was Deseret Kilfoyle; called "Aunt Dez" by the first wife's children.
John and Deseret had three girls: Mary Ann, Clara Alberta, and Margaret
(who died when five days old). Mary Ann died at age 23, she was married
to John Jones Haslam.
John got his citizenship papers on 6 October 1880
for this great United States of America. The certificate was kept
in a Book of Remembrance kept by his son Allen and Allen's wife, Laura.
John Russell
Archibald and his wife Elizabeth went to Salt Lake City by team and wagon
to the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple; their son Allen went with them
and maybe others did also.
After the
Manifesto, when polygamous marriages were no longer allowed in the LDS
Church, John went to Canada with his second wife Deseret. It was
there that their daughter Clara Alberta was born. They came
back to Utah in December 1890.
As read in
the Church chronology, "In the 1st district court at Ogden, John R. Archibald
was sentenced by Judge John Miner to 3 months imprisonment for U.C. [Unlawful
Co- habitation]." Sunday, the 29th of March 1891, John was released
from the penitentiary.
John loved
both of his families very much and it was a very hard thing for him to
give up one family.
He was called to serve a mission to Scotland in
July 1902 and landed in Glasgow on July 24th; he was still gone in 1904
when they held his mother's 86th birthday party.
Deseret Kilfoyle
Archibald, his second wife, died 10 March 1916, and is buried in the family
plot in the Wellsville cemetery. Elizabeth Hendry Archibald, his
first wife, died 19 January 1919 of the flu. The two wives lived
in homes on the city block in Wellsville.
John helped
with the construction of the Logan Temple and enjoyed doing temple work
there, for his ancestors, after it was dedicated. Letters (replies
to letters he wrote to relatives in Scotland, seeking genealogy information)
are still in the family.
Some of his
sons filled missions for the LDS church. John went to the Eastern
States mission; Michael went to the Southern States mission; Allen went
to Scotland. There may have been others. All of his children
were good, honorable men and women, who loved and respected their good
parents.
John Russell
Archibald's home burned down after Elizabeth's death. He spent the
last years of his life with his son Allen, Laura and family. He died
29 April 1923, and is buried in the Wellsville Cemetery.
He loved and
enjoyed his grandchildren very much. He was a very devoted member
of the LDS Church and would have given all for the Gospel.
From a history written
by his grand-daughter Ruth Archibald Aston