Life Sketch of Squire Hepworth

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Springdale was first settled in the fall of 1862 by Albert and George Petty. James Whitlock and others, who had been called by President Brigham Young to leave their homes in Northern Utah to work as missionaries in Southern Utah, elected to establish their homes in the vicinity of a large spring of water from which the place derived its name.

The arrival of William Black and others from Sanpete County, together with those who moved in from Shunsburg into this new location during the winter of 1862-63, swelled the population to a total of twenty families. The surveying of the township was finished in 1863 and other settlers soon moved in to make their homes.

The Springdale Branch was organized in July 1864 with Albert Petty chosen as Presiding Elder. This new beginning, however, was of short duration due to the outbreak of the Black Hawk War in 1866. Its attendant dangers forced the entire population to move into the neighboring town of Rockville for protection. By 1868 the trouble with the Indians had somewhat subsided and a few felt it safe to return to their homes in Springdale, however, only two or three families became permanent settlers until the year 1874. Albert Petty continued to preside over the branch until his death, July 19, 1869.

Albert Petty was then succeeded by Zermia Palmer who presided until 1876 and then Evan M. Greene was chosen to replace him. On June 27, 1879 Edmund Hepworth was appointed as Presiding Elder to replace Evan Greene and held this position until he left with his family to go north in 1880. At this time Squire Hepworth succeeded his brother as Presiding Elder and held the position until the ward was organized, November 6, 1887, with William Crawford as the town's first bishop. Edmund left Springdale in the spring of 1880 and moved to American Fork, Utah, arriving there sometime in April. William Crawford, recently chosen as bishop, asked Squire Hepworth to be his first counselor and Oliver D. Gifford to be his second counselor.

The following is a copy of the original minutes which were taken at that meeting:

"Minutes of meeting held in Springdale for the purpose of organizing Springdale into a ward, Springdale, Washington County, Utah, November 6, 1887. The house was called to order by Squire Hepworth, Presiding Priest. After singing by the choir, prayer was offered by Bishop C. N. Smith. Singing by the choir. President John D. T. McAllister then stated the object for which himself and David H. Cannon, his counselor, had met and presented the name of William Crawford for Bishop of Springdale Ward. The vote was called for and he was placed by the authorities of the Stake, and was sustained by the people of the ward. The subject of choosing counselors was taken up. Brother Crawford wished a month or six weeks to consider the matter and learn the minds of the people of Springdale, as he was expecting to start for Salt Lake on the morrow. President McAllister then showed the necessity of having at least one counselor to preside in his absence. The name of Squire Hepworth was presented and unanimously sustained as first counselor. Freeborn D. Gifford was then nominated and sustained as ward clerk. The Bishop and Counselor retired for a short time and returned with the name of Oliver DeMille Gifford for a second counselor. A vote was called for, and he, like the others, was unanimously sustained."

Squire settled on the property later to be known as the Gifford Place, and still later to be known as the Fairbanks Place. He built two homes on this property, one for each of his wives and their families. This property is located up the street a rod or two from where the Springdale Garage now stands.

Bishop William Crawford served as bishop of the ward until February 25, 1895 and then Oliver D. Gifford was chosen as bishop. Bishop Gifford then chose Thornton Hepworth, eldest son of Squire, to be his first counselor. Thornton served in this calling until 1913 and then was sustained as bishop of the Springdale Ward. He served as bishop until August 1, 1926 making a total of 31½ years in these two positions. Thornton was well known throughout the Southern Utah area as a highly respected man. He served his community well in many civic positions as well as in Church duty.

Farms were small in Springdale and the men had to work hard to make and maintain their irrigation ditches. The angry floods coming out of the canyon always presented a problem, filling the ditches with sand and debris and usually in the hottest time of the year when the crops had to have water.

Besides farming, Squire was handy in doing many other things, such as blacksmithing and shoemaking. He loved music and played the violin very well. The following item is taken from the Springdale history written by Nancy C. Crawford, granddaughter-in-law to Squire and Margaret: "Squire Hepworth made shoes for most of the community in the first days of its existence. They were made from any leather available - hand tanned. The soles were fastened to the uppers with whittled wooden pegs instead of tacks. Tacks were not available then. The sewing was done with Irish flax thread and a coarse hog bristle was used for a needle. To make the pegs, small flat slabs of wood were cut crosswise of the grain and then thinned to the thickness desired for the peg. They were cut off this slab. They were sharpened by hand; the different lengths used for the different thicknesses of leather."

Squire was a good carpenter and while still living in Springdale, went about building homes for other people. He helped build homes in Kane County too. One of the homes he built was for Hack Jolley in Mt. Carmel, a home which has just been torn down. I, Charles Hepworth, was there to see it and talk about a home being well built. In the past few years this home has been replaced with a new one, and by way of information, I helped tear down the old one and helped build the new, doing most of the finish work such as putting in the door frames, window frames, casing them and hanging the doors.

Gay Hutchinson speaks of Squire building homes in the Muddy Valley in Nevada. Squire Hepworth was the father of 26 children, fourteen by his first wife and twelve by his second. Ten were born before he went to Dixie and fifteen were born in Springdale and one in Shunsburg, a settlement located on the East Fork of the Virgin River which junctions with the North Fork two miles below Springdale. On November 7, 1887, Squire's first wife, Emily, died and was buried in the old cemetery plot in Springdale. After Emily died, her children that were not married went into Squire's other family to live, and Russell says that she did a fine job with them.

The Springdale record states that Squire moved his families from Springdale to Idaho in 1899. Gay Hutchinson informs us of his activities after he moved into Idaho. "Squire moved to Elba, Cassia County and settled on a farm on the north side of Cassia Creek. He did quite a bit of carpenter work and shoe repairing as well as running his farm. He built the old original Hall home in Malta and he also helped build the Lynn Hall in Malta as well as building several homes, barns and graineries in Elba."

A letter from Mrs. Mary E. S. Hepworth, Edmund's daughter-in-law from Grover, Wyoming, states that in 1900 Squire went to Grover to visit with his brother, Edmund. He built a home for Edmund while there on this visit.

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