Ella Stewart Udall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ella Stewart Udall
|
|
|---|---|
Udall in 1875
|
|
| Born |
Eliza Luella Stewart
May 21, 1855 Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
|
| Died | May 28, 1937 (aged 82) St. Johns, Arizona, United States
|
| Burial place | St. Johns Cemetery, St. Johns, Arizona, United States |
| Known for | First telegraph operator in Arizona Territory |
| Spouse(s) |
|
Eliza Luella "Ella" Stewart Udall (born May 21, 1855, died May 28, 1937) was an American telegraph operator and businesswoman. She was the first telegraph operator in Arizona Territory. She started working there in 1871 at Pipe Spring. Brigham Young, a leader of her church, asked her to take on this important job.
Ella was a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her parents, Margery and Levi Stewart, were early pioneers. She was the first wife of David King Udall. She also had co-wives, Ida Hunt Udall and later Mary Ann Linton Morgan. Ella ran a successful ice cream shop in St. Johns, Arizona. For a time, she managed the Apache Hotel in Holbrook, Arizona. Many of Ella's family members, known as the Udall family, later became important politicians.
Contents
Ella's Early Life
Eliza Luella "Ella" Stewart was born on May 21, 1855. Her birthplace was Salt Lake City, Utah. Her parents, Levi Stewart and Margery Wilkerson Stewart, were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ella's father also had another wife, Artemacy Wilkerson. This was part of the church's practice of plural marriage at the time.
Ella went to private schools in Salt Lake City. She learned from famous teachers like poet Sarah Elizabeth Carmichael. In 1863, she was baptized into her church.
In 1870, church president Brigham Young asked Ella's father to move. He was to help start the town of Kanab. Brigham Young also asked Ella to learn Morse code and telegraphy. She trained for about six weeks in Toquerville. This training prepared her to be a telegraph operator.
A sad event happened in December 1870. Ella's mother and five brothers died in a house fire. Her aunt Artemacy, who was also her father's wife, took Ella in.
In December 1871, Ella was sixteen years old. She began working at the Deseret Telegraph Company office. This office was located in Pipe Spring, Arizona. This made her the first telegraph operator in Pipe Spring. She was also the first in the Arizona Territory. She even sent reports from John Wesley Powell's Grand Canyon expedition to Washington, D.C. from the Kanab office.
Ella's Adult Life
Starting a Family
Ella met David King Udall in 1873. David said that Ella, with her "clear blue eyes," captured his heart. They dated for two years. They married on February 1, 1875, in Salt Lake City.
Just six weeks after their wedding, David was asked to be a missionary in England. Ella went back to Kanab. She worked as a telegraph operator again. She also worked as a bookkeeper for a church store.
David returned to Utah after more than two years. He and Ella lived in Nephi and then Kanab. Their first child, a daughter named Pearl, was born in 1880. In October 1880, the Udalls moved to St. Johns, Arizona. David was asked by church president John Taylor to be a church leader there.
In 1881, David hired Ida Frances Hunt to work at the St. Johns store. Ida moved in with Ella and David. David later asked Ida to marry him as a plural wife. Ella and David had talked about plural marriage before. Ella was open to the idea in general. However, she felt a bit unsure about it in her own marriage.
Ida left St. Johns to stay with her family. She wrote to Ella asking for permission to marry David. Ella did not reply right away. In March 1882, she sent a letter agreeing, though she was not very excited.
Living in a Plural Family
Ella and her daughter Pearl went with David and Ida to St. George, Utah. Ida married David in the Latter-day Saint temple. Ella was present at the wedding. Ella and Ida spent the wedding night together. On their way back to St. Johns, they talked a lot. They read novels together and became closer. Ida moved in with Ella and David on August 25, 1882.
Life became challenging for the family. Ella, David, and Ida often faced financial difficulties. Ida Udall moved to Hunt, Arizona in 1903. There, she and her children managed a ranch.
In 1903, Ella and her daughters Pearl and Erma ran an ice cream shop in St. Johns. Ella later managed the Apache Hotel in Holbrook, Arizona for some time. Since 1887, Ella had also been the president of the Relief Society in St. Johns. The Relief Society is a women's organization in the church.
In 1903, David Udall was asked to marry Mary Ann Linton Morgan. This would be his third wife. Ella did not like this idea. However, David eventually married Morgan quietly. She and her children went to live with Ida Udall in Hunt.
Ida Udall became very ill in 1908. Ella's feelings toward Ida changed. Ella became very kind and loving to Ida and her children. This continued until Ida passed away in 1915.
Ella's Later Life
The money Ella and her daughters earned from the ice cream shop helped. They used it to pay for a city plot. In 1912, the Udalls finished building their family home. Ella continued to be the stake Relief Society president for ten more years. She served until 1922.
Ella and David celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1925. A few years later, the church asked Ella and David to serve at the Mesa Arizona Temple. Ella became the temple matron, and David was the temple president. They served in this role from 1927 to 1934.
Ella Udall passed away in St. Johns, Arizona, on May 28, 1937. She was eighty-two years old.
Ella's Legacy
Her Family's Impact
Many of Ella's family members became important in American politics. Her son, Levi Stewart Udall, was a judge. He served on the Arizona Supreme Court from 1946 to 1960. Ella's grandson, Stewart Udall, became a representative in Congress. He was also the Secretary of the Interior from 1961 to 1969.
Another grandson, Mo Udall, was a Congressman for 30 years. He even ran for President of the United States in 1976. Ella Udall is also the great-grandmother of Mark Udall and Tom Udall. Both of them served in the Senate in the 2000s.
Ella's daughter Pearl became successful too. She ran a medical practice in Salt Lake City.
Pipe Spring National Monument
Pipe Spring National Monument became part of the National Park Service (NPS) in 1923. This site included the telegraph room where Ella worked as a teenager. In 1968, a historian found the exact telegraph table Ella had used. He got it from her family. Today, the NPS still keeps that telegraph room. They also share Ella's story as part of Pipe Spring's history.
In 1969, a film company used Pipe Spring as a set. They filmed episodes for a TV show called Death Valley Days. One episode showed Ella Stewart as a telegraph operator. She was played by actress Lane Bradbury.
See also
- Northern Arizona
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Arizona
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah
- Udall family
- Women in telegraphy
