The little church closed its doors July 2, 1967, but fond memories still linger. In March 1863, Brigham Young called Robert H. Williams, Henry Gasman and John F. Carlson, who lived at Logan, Utah, at the time, to come to the Bear Lake Area and settle. These three men with their families came through Emigration Canyon by ox team and stayed in Paris that first winter. In late February the men began covering the countryside for settling spots. By March of 1864, a choice of the present site of Ovid had been made and the three families settled the town of Ovid four and one half miles north of Paris. Immediately others followed. Among them were Thomas C Peterson, Niels Christian Edlefsen, Peter Jensen, Rasmus Jorgensen, Jens Hansen and Henry Peterson. Most of this early group came from Denmark, Norway and Sweden and were among the first companies of Mormon pioneers who crossed the plains.

First settled as the community of North Creek, it was organized on July 6th 1864. Later, it was changed to Ovid. It is said that Joseph C. Rich in one of his more poetic moods named the community in honor of the Roman poet who lived from 43 B. C. to 17 A.D.  It was Joseph C. Rich who surveyed the town laid out in 10 acre squares and giving each family four acres of ground. Securing titles to the land did not come until after it had been officially surveyed in 1871 when it became apparent that the community was in Idaho and not in Utah as the settlers previously thought.

Ovid is centrally located so it is a little colder than the other towns.  The pioneers experienced much difficulty in maturing crops.  the first land plowed in Bear Lake County was in Ovid by Robert Williams.

The first dwelling in the area was built by Thomas C. Peterson. It was a dug out home made by scooping out a place i n the ground and placing logs around the upper part and covering with a roof of willows and dirt. The next year, John F Carlson built the first log cabin and Thomas C Peterson built the second.

In 1866 there was an Indian scare and the people fled to Paris, but they soon came back.  Ovid had good pastures and plenty of good wild hay in the lower lands. Within months they were back working in their fields after building a fort where the present school-house now stands. Fort Ovid was constructed out of logs and willows, the building featured ramparts, rifle slots and a lookout tower.  In spite of the fact that the Fort was never used for a military campaign, it did tend to unite the community. It did train the Ovid Militia. Directly beside it, the first church was constructed the next year. It was made of logs and served for all gatherings, Church, school, recreation, and elections. Later a better church was built and dedicated in December of 1880. The present church was constructed a block south in 1896. A Methodist Chapel was erected nearby in 1890 but it failed because of lack of members.

John Kunz, recognizing the dairying potential of the area, started a dairy and cheese factory in Ovid in 1871. It was later moved to Bern. Jorgen Jorgenson, a miller, soon had a grist mill going and Erastus Peterson began the construction of furniture. Nicolas Wilson was a blacksmith, Thomas C. Peterson served as carpenter and cooper and Peter Jensen developed a crude, but comfortable shoe by shaping wood with brass toecaps and leather thongs.  These were mostly worn in his family and he made no effort to sell them, but many of his friends received them as gifts and liked the shoe.  The glue that he made from animal hoofs was much sought after and this was a product he did sell or trade for things his family needed. Soon the community was as self-sufficient as any in the area.

Robert H Williams became the first Justice of the Peace in the county. Fred Woods built a store in the Ovid area in 1872. He operated it successfully for about two years before selling and moving on to Canada.  Ditches were built from the hills west of Sharon and were completed in 1873. Called the Liberty Ditch, it ran for a distance of nine miles. Mail came from all directions by horse and was delivered to Niels C. Edlefsen, the first postmaster. The first official Ovid post office was established in 1873.

It was during this time that Ovid established the first curfew law in all of Bear Lake Valley.  It called for all young people to be off the streets by nine p.m. and all unescorted women of any age to be indoors by ten p.m.  The curfew was first announced in a church meeting in 1872 and was posted on the door of the public meeting house.

Crops of the first few years failed because of the heavy frosts and the settlers lived on the abundance of fish and fowl in the area. Ground was first plowed for crops in 1870 by Robert H Williams. Community life was on a cooperative basis and recreation lead toward home dramatics and dancing. Christian Peterson, accomplished on the accordion and violin, was in constant demand for dances.

Lars Peter Jensen was the first white child born in Ovid. He was born November 24, 1864 and survived a severe winter in a tent home, made from the canvas of their covered wagon. Charles Ellis was the first death in the community in 1865 of pneumonia. He was also the first person interred in the Ovid Cemetery. Casty Peterson, at the age of 14, was the first to marry. Isaac Tunks Sr. became the first school teacher and handled as many as 22 youngsters in a term.

During the first few weeks of settlement, members journeyed on Sundays back to Paris for services.  Once home were established they met in private homes until the first meeting house was completed in 1867.  Four presiding Elders took turns of conducting the affairs of the community until it was organized into a ward on August 26, 1877. They were Robert H. Williams, Henry Gasman, Niels Christian Edlefsen and Peter Jensen.  Peter Jensen also became the first Bishop. There were ten bishops, Peter Jensen, Philemon Lindsay, Lars Peter Nielsen, James Clarence Lindsay, John T Petersen, Oliver L Petersen, James Olsen, Russell Sorenson, Don K Jensen and Wayne D Johnson.

The Meeting House now standing was built in 1896 at the cost of $3000.  The church gave $500 toward it. It was built under the direction of Philemon Lindsay and dedicated by President William Budge.  The carpenter were Joseph Olsen, Lars Jensen and James McCurty. They received $2.00 a day for their labors and the members who donated their labors were allowed $.75 a day for their work. Horses, pigs, cows and chickens were given as donations.

After the church was finished, dances were given every Saturday to help finish paying for it.  Lars Peter Nielsen was the floor managed and had charge of these dances. He and his family took care of the building, taking the benches in and out, and keeping the lamps in shape and polished.  There was a great deal of drinking in those days, but Brother Nielsen was pretty husky, so he didn't have much trouble.  One night, however, there came a large group of tough cowboys, led by a big bully.  They made it their business to break up dances.  No one had been able to handle this fellow. there was a nice quiet fellow, pretty good sized, he stepped up to Brother Nielsen and said "Let me handle this."  He walled over and invited the leader outdoors and there was a terrific fight.  There was blood all over the walks for a long time.  That fellow had enough and never bothered the dances again.

Those were the good old days, calico at $.06 a yard, gingham, $.10 a years, eggs $.10 a dozen, and shoes, nice high buttons at $.90 a pair.  Thomas Passey ran a store between Montpelier and Ovid. Ovid traded with him and sold their milk to him.  He skimmed the cream and measured it with a ruler and paid accordingly.

Isaac Tunks Sr. was the first school teacher.  Sam Van Tunks, his son was the first college graduate from Ovid.

The Ovid dance hall belongs to the history of Ovid.  It was built by the Olsen brothers, who were very prominent people in Ovid.  People came from far and wide to attend these dances.  Sometimes the big new dance hall in Paris and the one in Montpelier were empty.  It was called the "Den of Iniquity"  The Stake President, who lived in Paris, informed the Bishop of Ovid, he should do something about it. So the good Bishop attended some of the dances and couldn't see much wrong. He conferred with the Olsen brothers and they told him to choose a floor manager of his choice. This he did, he chose Clarence Lindsay. The dances were still well attended until it was finally burned down.  When it burned it was never rebuilt.

Ovid was outstanding for its social life and hospitality. Of course, this was built around the church.  They were a very musical ward, they loved to sing and they had a lot of talent.  There were whole families of musicians.  The Chris Sorenson family were all good singers and could play instruments too.  Chris was one of the oldest choristers.  The Charles F Carlsen family were all musicians and Charley was a genius, he could do anything. He could repair anything from a plow to a car.  When he was a chorister, President J R Shepherd said it was the finest choir he had ever heard.

He had all kinds of male quartets, women's quartets. One of these ladies quartets helped campaign for one of the governors.  Other musical families were the Andrew Johnson family, Niels Johnson family, Olsen family, Mathensen family, John Myres family and many more.

The Relief Society was extra, they didn't just make quilt, they made prize winners.  Ladies had to watch their stitches if they quilted on these quilts. Some of these fine quilters were Nellie Olsen, Agnes Nielsen, Hazel Peterson, Mandy Myres, Hannah Petersen, Maggie Jensen.  When Ovid put on a supper, it was something.  They had the best cooks, Mernthe Lindsay, Lila Humphreys, Mary Lisa Sorenson, Maria Nielsen, Maggie Jensen, and Agnes Nielsen.

They had one of the finest Scout Leaders, Lorenzo J Shurtliff, he was a real boys man.  At one time they had 14 Eagle Scouts and a winning baseball team.  Nine of these boys are college graduates.  When a missionary was called, although Ovid was small, they made up for it in their generosity.

When a new baby was born to a family, the kitchen table of that family was heaped high with choice dishes brought by friends and neighbors.  people who moved away missed this closeness. A new generation has grown up and new ones have moved in, by marriage and there is still that love, goodwill and fine quality.  Lucky Liberty!

Ovid reached its peak in size in 1930 when 214 people lived there.

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