Charles Ora Card
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__NOTOC__ Charles Ora Card (November 5, 1839 – September 9, 1906) was the American founder of
Cardston, Alberta Cardston is a town in Alberta, Canada. It was first settled in 1887 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who travelled from Utah, via the Macleod-Benton Trail, to present-day Alberta in one of the century ...
, the first
Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...
settlement in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. He has been referred to as "Canada's
Brigham Young Brigham Young ( ; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until h ...
". Richard E. Bennett
"Canada: From Struggling Seed, the Church Has Risen to Branching Maple,"
''
Ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...
'', September 1988, p. 30.
Card was a Mormon pioneer as a teenager, traveling from the eastern United States to Utah Territory in the 1850s. After arriving in Utah, he supervised the construction of the Logan Utah Temple, served as a city councilman, and was appointed to the first board of trustees of
Brigham Young College Brigham Young College was a college and high school in Logan, Utah. It was founded by Brigham Young on 6 August 1877, 23 days before his death. He deeded several acres of land to a board of trustees for the development of a college. This was j ...
. Card was then tasked by leaders in
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
(LDS Church) to travel north to Canada and establish a Latter-day Saint colony there. He worked to make the community self-sufficient, participating in
irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
projects. Card was a practitioner of
plural marriage Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more ...
, marrying a total of four wives and having sixteen children. He served in leadership positions within the LDS Church, mainly as
stake president A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in certain denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. The name "stake" derives from the Book of Isaiah: "enlarge the place of thy tent; stretch forth the curtains of thine ha ...
. He was the spiritual and economic leader of Cardston.


Early life

Card was born in Ossian, New York, to Cyrus Williams Card and Sarah Ann Tuttle. In 1846, the family moved to St. Joseph County,
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
, and later returned to New York. Card and his parents joined the LDS Church in 1856, and that same year the family set out to join the body of Latter-day Saints in
Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th st ...
. Together they crossed the plains in one of the Mormon pioneer handcart companies. Sixteen-year-old Card assisted by standing guard, hunting buffalo, and carrying women and children across rivers. Once they arrived, the Card family settled first in
Farmington, Utah Farmington is a city in, and county seat of, Davis County, Utah, United States. The population was 24,531 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The Lagoon Amusement Park and Station Park (Farmington, Utah), Station Park transit-oriented ...
, and later moved to
Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gove ...
in 1860. There, Card built a log cabin for his family. He joined the local group of minutemen and fought in disputes with Native Americans in 1852 and 1860. He attended school in Ogden. He also worked at his father's sawmill and small farm. He later owned both.


Career

He worked as a teacher at the Sabbath Schools in
Cache Valley Cache Valley ''( Shoshoni: Seuhubeogoi, “Willow Valley”)'' is a valley of northern Utah and southeast Idaho, United States, that includes the Logan metropolitan area. The valley was used by 19th century mountain men and was the site of th ...
, and later became the superintendent over schools in Logan. Card then became the superintendent of construction on the Logan Tabernacle and the Logan Temple. In this capacity, he supervised the work and encouraged the men to spend their free time studying scriptures. Card was a coroner, road commissioner, and justice of the peace in Cache Valley. He also served as a city councilman for sixteen years, beginning in 1866; his work for education and infrastructure made him a "pillar of the community." Such infrastructure included irrigation for multiple Utah towns, on which he worked for fifteen years as "irrigation canal company director." He was in charge of five mills during the same time period. His involvement in education continued as a member of the first board of trustees of Brigham Young College.


Church service

Card was called to the 56th
quorum A quorum is the minimum number of members of a group necessary to constitute the group at a meeting. In a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature), a quorum is necessary to conduct the business of ...
of Seventy shortly after arriving in Utah. He served the church as a
missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...
in
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
,
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
,
Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
, and
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
in 1871. He was then president of the Cache Valley
Stake A stake is a large wooden or metal implement designed to be driven into the ground and may refer to: Tools * Archer's stake, a defensive stake carried by medieval longbowmen * Survey stakes, markers used by surveyors * Sudis (stake) (Latin for ...
from 1884 to 1890. As stake president, he oversaw meetings for 30 church units ( wards and branches) 4 times a year. During this time, the LDS Church was experiencing strained relations with the federal United States government over the church practice of plural marriage. Card requested to be sent to Mexico but was instead assigned to settle in Canada. Church president John Taylor instructed him to find "asylum and justice" in the north. Card took his wife, Zina Williams Card, and left for the North-West Territories of Canada in 1886, successfully escaping arrest. Travelling with twelve other families from Cache Valley, he founded Cardston, North-West Territories, Canada (in present-day
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
), on June 3, 1887, at what was then called Lee's Creek encampment. Once the Alberta Stake was established, he became its first president. He served as a stake president for more than 20 years.


Canada

The settlers created a town with a grid system and began irrigation projects. Mormon immigrants were praised by a Canadian government inspector for their irrigation efforts, but polygamy was outlawed in Canada soon after the settlement was created. In 1888, a request from John Taylor, Francis Lyman, and Charles Card to practice polygamy was denied by Canadian Prime Minister
John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (10 or 11January 18156June 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 until his death in 1891. He was the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, and had a political ...
. Regardless, the population of Mormon immigrants in Cardston and its surrounding areas continued to flourish. In 1889, Card returned to Utah to give an account of Cardston's progress to church leaders. Church president
Wilford Woodruff Wilford Woodruff Sr. (March 1, 1807September 2, 1898) was an American religious leader who served as the fourth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1889 until his death. He ended the public practice of ...
instructed him to return to Canada and expand the settlement, with a goal to make Cardston "permanent and self-sustaining." He subsequently purchased the surrounding areas and established settlements at Mountain View, Kimball, Beazer, and Leavitt in present-day Alberta. A railroad connected the colonies to the outside world, and encouraged more immigration; installation of telephones in the 1890s further developed Cardston. When the church's Alberta Stake was created in 1895, the first outside of the United States, Card became its first president. Irrigation projects were successful, and businesses and thousands of Latter-day Saint settlers came to Cardston. Card continued to travel frequently between Alberta and Salt Lake City to give reports and receive direction from church leaders. The church directly participated in the Alberta Railway and Irrigation Company's efforts to irrigate the region. This "first large-scale corporate irrigation project" benefited from the involvement of the Mormon settlers under Card's direction. Card selected two sites for new settlements along the irrigation system: Magrath and
Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...
. In 1902, he declared the Canadian colonies self-sufficient.


Personal life

Card's first wife was Sarah Jane "Sallie" Birdneau, whom he married on October 4, 1867 in
Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...
. Card's memoirs reveal that theirs was a "strained relationship." Birdneau divorced him by March 24, 1884, testifying against Card "on charges of unlawful cohabitation" in court. Card had married a second wife, Sarah Jane Painter, on October 17, 1876. Then, while visiting his children who were attending Brigham Young Academy, he met the school's matron,
Brigham Young Brigham Young ( ; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until h ...
's widowed daughter, Zina Presendia Williams (née Young). The two were married on June 17, 1884, in Logan, Utah. Card then married Lavinia Clark Rigby on December 2, 1885. Because of his polygamy, the U.S. government sought to arrest him; he often lived in hiding under conditions of poverty and hunger. He wrote letters to his wives using false names. He changed locations every few days, visiting Sarah and Zina in Utah and Lavinia in Idaho as much as he could; he wished to stay with his wives and children for long periods of time, but his situation did not allow this. On July 26, 1886, the federal marshals found and arrested him, but he fled by jumping from the train. He lived again in hiding, often changing locations, until fleeing to Canada. Fearing further persecution, Card took only one of his wives with him to settle Canada. Painter and Rigby selected Zina Williams Card to accompany him. However, he still remained married to all three of them. Whenever he returned to Utah to report on Cardston's progress to church leaders, he visited Painter and Rigby in Logan and
Rexburg, Idaho Rexburg is a city in Madison County, Idaho, United States. The population was 39,409 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Madison County and its largest city. Rexburg is the principal city of the Rexburg ...
, respectively. Dividing his time between his three families and providing for a growing number of children was challenging. He sought to provide each of them with as much love and financial support as possible. Card's many business ventures in Cardston were not very successful, so he ran a simple store from home. Zina's mother, Zina D. H. Young, visited them often. As a local leader, he enjoyed success. He introduced new farming technology and played a role in the establishing a school and four church meeting houses in Cardston. He also reportedly "reached an understanding" with the neighboring Blood Indian Reserve. He worked as a land agent for the dominion government. He is described as having "astute political sensitivity," and gained the respect of other Canadian leaders after visiting them. He was also devoutly religious, and his beliefs influenced how he led Cardston. His wealth and prominence grew, and he and Zina were visited by businessmen and government officials in their home. When Card's health began to decline in August 1903, he and his family moved back to Logan. His third wife, Lavinia Rigby, lived with him and took care of him during his last days. He died on September 9, 1906.


Legacy

"Under the guidance of Card, irrigation, a village settlement pattern, cooperative economic enterprise, and a web of cultural, social, and religious activities - all elements of a unique way of life - were transferred and adapted from the American Great Basin. A distinctive Mormon country in southern Alberta is the legacy of Charles Ora Card and the early immigrants."
Charles Card played an important role in the settlement of southern Alberta. His economic and spiritual leadership inspired Mormon immigration to Canada. His served as middle man between the LDS Church and the Alberta Irrigation Company, and was in charge of recruiting people to work on the canal project. Within two years, 115 miles were finished. The Mormon settlers were referred to as "the most successful colonizing instruments on the continent." Lee writes that, along with the Canadian government itself, "the Mormons were an indispensable element in the Canadian irrigation story." His original residence in Cardston, built in 1887, has been restored and now serves as a museum. It is one of the oldest structures of its kind in Alberta today. Ten thousand Mormon settlers lived in southern Alberta in 1911. By 1923, "80 percent of the Latter-day Saint population in Canada lived within a 100-mile radius of Cardston," the city founded by and named after Charles O. Card. That same year, the Cardston Alberta LDS Temple was finished, making it the first temple built outside the United States. According to the LDS Church's website, 82,088 members of the Church live in Alberta today. He is the great-grandfather of author
Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. , he is the only person to have won a Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula Award in List of joint ...
, author of ''
Ender's Game ''Ender's Game'' is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they ...
''.


See also

* Edward J. Wood (successor to Card as stake president in Alberta)


References


External links


Materials related to Charles Ora Card
in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library,
Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

Digitized images
of th
Charles Ora Card diaries, MSS 6024
at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library,
Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

Joseph Y. Card (Charles's son) diaries and correspondence
in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library,
Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...
*Dan Erickson (1995)
"Alberta Polygamists? The Canadian Climate and Response to the Introduction of Mormonism's "Peculiar Institution."
''The Pacific Northwest Quarterly.'' Vol. 86, No. 4. pp. 155–164. JSTOR. {{DEFAULTSORT:Card, Charles Ora 1839 births 1906 deaths American Mormon missionaries in the United States Canadian leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Mormon pioneers People from Cardston People from Logan, Utah Settlers of Canada The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Canada Canadian city founders American emigrants to Canada 19th-century Mormon missionaries Latter Day Saints from New York (state) Latter Day Saints from Michigan Latter Day Saints from Utah American city founders