Levi Stewart
Encyclopedia
Mormon Pioneer
The Mormon pioneers were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Latter-day Saints, who migrated across the United States from the Midwest to the Salt Lake Valley in what is today the U.S. state of Utah...
and a founder of Kanab, Utah
Kanab, Utah
Kanab is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Utah, United States. The area was first settled in 1864 and the town was founded in 1870 when ten Mormon families moved into the area. The population was 3,564 at the 2000 census...
.
Early years
Stewart was born in West EdwardsvilleEdwardsville, Illinois
Edwardsville is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,293. It is the county seat of Madison County and is the third oldest city in the State of Illinois. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, then Governor of the Illinois...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
in 1812. His parents divorced when he was 12, and he lived with his mother and brothers until adulthood.
He married his cousin Melinda Howard in 1833, and moved to Vandalia, Illinois
Vandalia, Illinois
Vandalia is a city in Fayette County, Illinois, United States, northeast of St. Louis, on the Kaskaskia River. From 1819 to 1839 it served as the state capital of Illinois. Vandalia was the western terminus of the National Road. Today it is the county seat of Fayette County and the home of the...
.
Conversion. Missions, Mormon Migration
In 1837 they were visited by MormonMormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
missionaries. Melinda was quickly converted to the faith. Levi traveled to Far West, Missouri
Far West, Missouri
Far West, Missouri, was a Latter Day Saint settlement in Caldwell County, Missouri.-Foundation and early history:The town was founded by Missouri Mormon leaders, W. W. Phelps and John Whitmer in August 1836 shortly before the county's creation. The town was platted originally as a square area,...
to learn more. There he was baptized by Jefferson Hunt
Jefferson Hunt
Jefferson Hunt was a U.S. western pioneer, soldier, and politician. He was a captain in the Mormon Battalion, brigadier general in the California State Militia, a California State Assemblyman, and a representative to the Utah Territorial Legislature.-Early years:Hunt was born to John Hunt and...
.
Stewart and his family moved to Ambrosia, Missouri in 1838. Later that year Governor Boggs
Lilburn Boggs
Lilburn Williams Boggs was the sixth Governor of Missouri from 1836 to 1840. He is now most widely remembered for his interactions with Joseph Smith and Porter Rockwell, and Missouri Executive Order 44, known by Mormons as the "Extermination Order", issued in response to the ongoing conflict...
of Missouri issued an Extermination Order for Mormons in that state. The Stewarts returned to Illinois in early 1839.
From April to October 1839 Stewart served a mission with his boyhood friend John D. Lee
John D. Lee
John Doyle Lee was a prominent early Latter-day Saint who was executed for his role in the Mountain Meadows massacre.-Early Mormon leader:...
as his companion. Lee’s own conversion to Mormonism was greatly influenced by Stewart, as Lee would later reveal in his autobiography. Together they preached in Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and they baptized a number of people into the Mormon faith.
Stewart moved his family to Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...
in early 1840. There he was a member of the Nauvoo Legion
Nauvoo Legion
The Nauvoo Legion was a militia originally organized by the Latter Day Saints to defend the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, . To curry political favor with the ambiguously-political Saints, the Illinois state legislature granted Nauvoo a liberal city charter that gave the Nauvoo Legion extraordinary...
, and he helped to construct the Nauvoo Temple
Nauvoo Temple
The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly known as the Mormons. The church's first temple was completed in Kirtland, Ohio, United States in 1836. When the main body of the church was forced out of Nauvoo, Illinois in the...
. He took part in the School of the Prophets
School of the Prophets
In Mormonism, the School of the Prophets was a select group of early Latter Day Saint leaders who began meeting on January 23, 1833 in Kirtland, Ohio under the direction of Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. for both theological and secular learning...
and developed a friendship with Joseph Smith, Jr..
Stewart was called on a mission to Gallatin County, Illinois
Gallatin County, Illinois
Gallatin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 5,589, which is a decrease of 13.3% from 6,445 in 2000...
, together with James Pace in 1843. Again in 1844, he was called to be a missionary in Illinois and also to secure electors to vote for Joseph Smith, Jr. for President of the United States. Smith was murdered that June.
Stewart entered into the practice of polygamy
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
, when he took a second wife, Charity Holdaway, in January 1846. The marriage quickly dissolved when Charity decided that she could not support that lifestyle.
A few months later the Stewarts were forced from their home by a mob, and they relocated to Winter Quarters, Nebraska
Winter Quarters, Nebraska
Winter Quarters was an encampment formed by approximately 2,500 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they waited during the winter of 1846–47 for better conditions for their trek westward. It followed a preliminary tent settlement some 3½ miles west at Cutler's Park. The...
. They remained encamped in that general vicinity for two years. During that time Levi served as a courier, delivering mail between the Mormon encampments and Nauvoo. In August 1847 Stewart was present at the General Conference
General conference (Mormonism)
In the Latter Day Saint movement, a general conference is a meeting for all members of the church for conducting general church business and instruction....
at which Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
was proclaimed the Prophet of the Church. He later testified that he beheld Young’s transfiguration
Transfiguration (in religion)
Transfiguration, in religion, refers to the assumption by spiritual masters, or its perception by their followers, of momentary divine radiance....
at the event.
The following spring, the Stewart family traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
as members of the Brigham Young Company, arriving in September 1848.
Years in Salt Lake Area
Stewart was granted a prime lot in central Salt Lake where he set up a home and a successful mercantile business.He took another wife, Margery Wilkerson, in 1852. His first wife, Melinda, died in 1853 due to complications of child birth after delivering twins. In 1854 he also married Margery’s sister, Artemacy Wilkerson.
At Brigham Young's request, Levi moved to Mills Creek in the Big Cottonwood Canyon to set up a paper mill in 1865.
He took a contract for grading a section of the Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
in 1868, which became part of the First Transcontinental Railroad
First Transcontinental Railroad
The First Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad that connected its statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska The First...
the following year. He employed 100 men for this task.
Kanab Years
In the winter of 1869, he accompanied Brigham Young to southern Utah to seek out locations for new Mormon settlement. In 1870, Young directed him to form a settlement at the abandoned outpost of Kanab. Stewart arrived in June. He led a number of families to the area. Stewart became the Bishop of Kanab in September 1870. Over the next several years he directed the construction of dams and roads in the area, and he helped build a good relationship with the local Indians.On December 14, 1870, his wife Margery, and 5 of his children, were killed in a fire. Stewart’s good friend Brigham Young traveled to Kanab to offer his condolences.
John Wesley Powell
John Wesley Powell
John Wesley Powell was a U.S. soldier, geologist, explorer of the American West, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions...
and fellow explorers passed through Kanab in 1872, and Stewart furnished them with food and supplies. His daughter, Eliza, telegraphed news of the expedition to Washington, DC.
Stewart took a final wife, Susan Eager, in 1874, but the marriage was short-lived.
The last of Stewart's 29 children was born in April 1878. A few months later, Stewart died of a stroke while traveling to Salt Lake City to buy supplies for his mercantile business. His death was mourned by Mormons and Indians alike.
Legacy
A statue of Stewart now stands in central Kanab on the site of the fort fire that killed his wife and children.His noteworthy descendants include:
- William Thomas StewartWilliam Thomas StewartWilliam Thomas Stewart was mayor of Kanab, Utah, U.S. 1889-91, and a Representative to the Utah Territorial Legislature in 1887 & 1889....
, his son; mayor of Kanab; Utah Territorial Legislature - Eliza Stewart, his daughter; 1st telegraph operator in Arizona
- Levi Stewart UdallLevi Stewart UdallLevi Stewart Udall was a U.S. lawyer who served as Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. He was a member of the Udall political family....
, his grandson; Chief Justice Arizona Supreme Court - Ivy Stewart (Houtz) WoolleyKimball-Snow-Woolley FamilyThe Kimball–Snow–Woolley family is a U.S. political family. It is linked by marriage to the Smoot–Rowlett Family and linked by blood to the Udall Family.-Heber Chase Kimball:*Lieutenant Governor of the Utah Territory 1851–68...
, his great-granddaughter; Delegate to 1932 Republican National Convention - Stewart UdallStewart UdallStewart Lee Udall was an American politician. After serving three terms as a congressman from Arizona, he served as Secretary of the Interior from 1961 to 1969, under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B...
, his great-grandson; U.S. Secretary of the Interior; U.S. Congress from Arizona - Mo UdallMo UdallMorris King "Mo" Udall was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Arizona from May 2, 1961 to May 4, 1991...
, his great-grandson; Pro basketball player; U.S. Presidential candidate; U.S. Congress from Arizona. - Mark UdallMark UdallMark Emery Udall is the senior United States Senator from Colorado and a member of the Democratic Party. From 1999 to 2009, Udall served in the United States House of Representatives, representing . He also served a term in the Colorado House of Representatives.Born in Tucson, Arizona, he is the...
, his 2nd great-grandson; U.S. Congress from Colorado - Thomas Stewart UdallTom UdallThomas Stewart "Tom" Udall is the junior United States Senator from New Mexico and a member of the Democratic Party. He had represented as a member of the United States House of Representatives since 1999. Udall was elected as the junior United States senator from New Mexico on November 4, 2008,...
, his 2nd great-grandson; U.S. Congress from New Mexico