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Life History of David Elmer Astle August 12, 1902 - June 6, 1974
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The harsh weather and grief of losing his wife and son to the influenza caused John Francis to leave Star Valley to find another home for his family. John Francis chose Cache Valley and purchased a large home with small acreage farm in Providence, Utah.
In June of 1920, John Francis purchased a car, returned to Star Valley and collected his children to move the family to Cache Valley. John Francis took the lead with the car and some of the girls while David followed with the team and wagon filled with the family belongings and a couple of the girls.
David was just 18 years old and was moving 130 miles to a new place he had never seen before. He knew the general direction but the roads were still rather primitive and poorly marked; never the less he set off with the wagon and two of his sisters to start a new life. They traveled two days and still had not arrived at the new home and were beginning to have concerns that they had strayed off the road. On the third day as night approached and it was getting dark they decided to camp rather than get lost any further. They made camp for the night. John Francis now was very concerned for his children who were seriously over due. He set out to try and find them. He had not gone very far when he came upon their camp and David making breakfast. It so happened that they had stopped the night before less than a mile form the town of Providence. It was a joyous reunion and they all proceeded to the new home in Providence.
The man that had purchased the Star Valley farm ran into difficulties and was unable to continue to pay John Francis. This resulted in the farm being returned to the family until John Francis was able to resale the farm. During this time, John Francis Jr. and David lived in Star Valley and ran the family farm until it was sold a second time. After the second sale of the farm, David came to Providence where he worked with his father. They developed a silver fox farm. The back side of the farm was fenced and many pens constructed to contain the foxes as they raised their pups. This became a very successful enterprise and David was recognized for the quality pelts he raised. They worked the fur business until 1945 when the fur business crashed due to the war and lack of demand for expensive furs. The fox farm was discontinued at this time. They also rented some land and farmed hay, sugar beats, strawberries, and black caps. This side of the farm was very small as compared to the fur enterprise.
In 1926, David purchased his first car a "Chevy" for $700.00. He was very proud of his new found wheels. This now gave him mobility and he put it to good use as he returned to Star Valley and courted his wife to be.
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Margarita and David Astle
Wedding, 1941
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On June 26, 1929, David married Gertrude Anderson, daughter of Marion P. and Louise Anderson in the Logan Temple. He had purchased a house on the lot at 100 East and 200 north just a block from his father's place and close to his farming enterprise. It was here that he started his new life with his bride. They were married a little over a year when Gertrude passed away on November 13, 1930. Gertrude had a heart condition that no one knew about and died rather unexpectedly. They did not have any children. This tragic event left David heartbroken and he moved back with his father. He immersed himself in the business of the fox farm. It would be 13 years before he would again marry and have a family.
In 1936, the Bishop called David to serve as a missionary to the Northern States Mission. It was at a zone conference that David met the woman who would be his second wife, Margarita Elfrieda Foerster.
David was released from his calling as a missionary a year prior to Margarita. He returned to Cache Valley and continued working with his father on the fox farm as he had been doing prior to his mission. David corresponded with Margarita a couple of times through the mail while Margarita served the remainder of her mission.
Upon completion of missions, the missionaries would return to Salt Lake City. When Margarita went to Salt Lake to report to Church officials and be released, a social for the Northern States missionaries was planned prior to her return home to New York. It was at this social that David and Margarita decided that they would correspond through the mail between Utah and New York. Margarita then returned to her family in New York City.
In 1938 Ernst, Ella, Margarita, and Dorothy Foerster decided that it was time to move to Utah after Margarita's urging them to join the Utah Saints. The family settled in Salt Lake City.
After Margarita moved to Salt Lake City, she and David continued corresponding through the mail, and began courting. David would travel from Providence to Salt Lake City on weekends. In September 1940, David asked Margarita to marry him. They were married in the Logan Temple on February 7, 1941. The young couple lived with John Francis and Clara, his second wife, in the Providence home while their home was being built on David's property up the street.
After moving his bride into their own home, David continued working with his father raising and selling silver fox furs. When the silver foxes were mature they would skin them and the furs would be marked with identification numbers and then sent to New York. The buyer in New York would then return payment according to the grade of the fur. When the market for furs began to fall apart, David decided to leave silver fox farming to raise chickens and sell the eggs. He raised 2,500 chickens that would produce four to five cases of eggs a day. Each day David would gather the eggs from the nest and then clean and grade each egg with a candle. The eggs would be delivered to the local co-op twice a week and marketed throughout the area. This was a cash crop for many years for his family.
During World War II, David worked the night shift at Utah State University. He was responsible for checking out tools to the students who were learning the skills that would allow them to work in air plane factories in California and the North West.
David's lungs had become week due to damage in his youth and the dust from the chicken coops was not helping. On one occasion David, Margarita, and Ernst (Margarita's father) were visiting Otto Wolfe who was a painter; Margarita jokingly said to Otto "Why don't you hire David to paint". Otto asked David if he wanted to work. David replied "Yes, if you have work". For the next ten years, David worked with Otto Wolfe painting the interior of buildings from Los Angeles to Idaho Falls. He painted in Temples, churches, schools, and a variety of commercial buildings. The interior painting consisted of staining and varnishing woodwork, cutting patterns out of paper then using the pattern to paint the walls. David would be gone from Sunday night to Friday night. Margarita did not like having David away so much. She needed him to be at home to help raise the children.
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