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Parowan Minutes 28 Dec 1878
David William Savage
Born: 11 July 1849: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah USA
Parents: David Leonard Savage and Mary Abigail White
Married: Julia Henrietta Merrell, 20 January 1878, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah USA
Died: 3 July 1890: Show Low, Apache, Arizona Territory
LIFE SKETCH OF DAVID WILLIAM SAVAGE
Early Life
David William Savage
David William Savage's father, David Leonard Savage, was called upon by leaders of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to assist in the founding and strengthening of several communities in
the west, including Las Vegas, Cedar City, Holden and the area around Bear Lake in Utah and Idaho.
He is also credited with helping rescue (1856) Handcart Pioneers from Wyoming and aiding in the exodus
(1857) from San Bernardino.
His ever-increasing family, including as many as twenty souls travelled with him to Bear Lake, then Cedar City,
and Holden. David Leonard was then called to settle in Snowflake, in Arizona.
David William, the eldest son, appears to have been well-schooled in the ways of the frontier,
herding and being a teamster. He may have even accompanied his father to Las Vegas and San Bernardino, certainly
the trips to Bear Lake, back to Cedar City and, then, Holden. If so, he would have become personally
acquainted with pioneer Church leaders, Amasa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich, in whose company the Savages
crossed the plains, and likely Erastus Snow, who along with Lyman and Rich promoted new settlements.
By his 29th birthday, settlements were being established in Arizona and promoted in the related San Juan River country.
To San Juan
A neighbor in Holden, Alma Stevens, wrote: "In 1877-78, I attended the Brigham Young Academy. In the fall
of 1879, I and my brother, Joshua and David Savage were called to go to San Juan, Utah, to help settle that country. We left Holden for that
mission 29th of October, 1879." At or about the same time, David Leonard Savage was called to settle
Snowflake, Arizona. In fact, a number of those travelling to San Juan were actually in reality headed to
the Arizona settlements, as the route by way of St. George and Lee's Ferry was known to be very difficult.
Since the language of the "call" to San Juan was phrased "Arizona or as directed" at the December 1878 Parowan conference, some with earlier calls to Arizona and even Colorado joined the company, as did several who volunteered to go to San Juan. The general community, however, spoke of going to San Juan. With his father headed to Snowflake, Arizona, David William may have used this opportunity to go with the group to San Juan, and then head towards Arizona, himself. What role, if any, he played after the dugway at Cottonwood hill is unclear. He has not been found in the 1880 census.
His children, Mary Eliza, and, Edna Miranda, are born 1879 in Holden and 1882 in Snowflake, suggesting he joined his father
in Arizona. Four more children are born in Show Low, Arizona, the last of which was born five-months
after David William was ambushed and killed. An account of the death was published in St. John on
July 17, 1890.
Compiled and adapted for the Hole-in-the-Rock Foundation by:
David L. Walton.
Sources:
1. Autobiographical sketch of David Alma Stevens, FamilySearch
3. Parowan Ward general minutes, 1851-1926 Volume 6, 1872-1887, page 176 accessed 3 April 2020
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Parowan Minutes 28 Dec 1878