Philemon and Marintha Lindsay
Source:
Progressive men of Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Fremont and Oneida counties; By
A W Bowen & Co; Published 1904
Bear Lake county, Idaho, has possessed many prominent citizens, but in all of their number there cannot be found one who has been more truly representative or more widely and actively awake to the interests of the community in either a temporal or a spiritual way than Philemon Lindsay, whose long years of beneficent service in the welfare of the people fully entitle him to a representation in any compilation treating of the prominent or progressive sons of this commonwealth.
He was born at
Kaysville, Utah, on August 23, 1857, a son of William B. and Parmelia (Blackman)
Lindsay, who, natives of Canada, emigrated thence to Utah in 1848, thereafter
engaging in farming and stock raising and, to increase the field of their
operations, coming in 1867 to the new town of Paris, Bear Lake county, Idaho.
The father there being prominent in church as well as in civil affairs until the
time of his death, in January, 1887, his capable and efficient wife, the mother
of the subject of this review, surviving him an honored pioneer, until the last
sad summons called her from earth on August 15, 1899.
Passing his school days at Paris, Mr. Lindsay early
began to wrestle with the activities of life, but remained at home until he was
twenty-two years of age when he was employed in the Temple sawmill at Logan
Canyon, Utah, and, manifesting decided mechanical ability, he was soon made
head-sawyer, not long afterward becoming foreman of the camp, holding this
position for nine years to the great advantage of the business. Following this
service he was called to fill a mission in the Southern states of the Union and
was consecrated an elder of the church before his departure.
Two years of
profitable mission labor was succeeded by his leadership of a company of Mormon
emigrants to the San Luis Valley of Colorado, after the successful
accomplishment of the settlement coming to Idaho, where he resumed secular
occupations by taking his former position in a sawmill and continuing to be thus
employed until 1888, when his church had again need of his services, calling him
to Ovid, in Bear Lake county, to preside over the destinies of the settlement as
the bishop of the ward, of which important office he is still the incumbent.
In temporal affairs the practical common sense,
continuous industry and business ability of Mr. Lindsay have been well repaid.
He is the owner of an eligibly located and finely improved ranch of 220 acres at
Ovid, which responds to its culture with large annual crops of hay and grain,
and is also one of the representative stock raisers of the valley, and he is
accounted one of the solid financial men of his section and' a public-spirited
citizen of integrity and great official capacity.
As a staunch member
of the Republican political party, he was elected in 1895 and served as the
coroner of his county, and in 1899 he received the nomination of his party for
the office of county commissioner of the county, the nomination being ratified
at the polls by a decidedly complimentary election,' and his administration of
the duties of that important position was so eminently satisfactory to the
people that he was elected as his own successor, thus serving until 1902, in
which year he was tendered a nomination as the member of the Legislature, but
declined it.
On September 29, 1881, the marriage of Mr. Lindsay
and Miss Marintha Athay, a daughter of James and Ellen (Norris) Athay, was
celebrated. She was born on July 25, 1861, in London, England, with her parents
coming to Salt Lake City from England in 1863, and in 1864 they made their
permanent home in Bear Lake County, the mother dying on November 24, 1893, and
the father now maintaining his residence in Paris, living a retired life. For
further particulars we refer the reader to the memoir of Mr. Athay, appearing on
other pages of this work.
To Mr. and Mrs. Lindsay has
come a family of ten children, namely: Marintha, born February 22, 1883;
Philemon LeRoy, born June 25, 1885 ; Ellen L., born January 6, 1889, died in
infancy; Hazel, born May 22, 1890; James C., born May 7, 1892; Willard, born
January 27, 1895; Lyman, born December 11, 1897: Beatrice, born August 1899,
died in infancy; Blanche, born November 5, 1900; William Wallace, born August 7,
1903. The two oldest are diligent and proficient students of the Fielding
Academy at Paris, and the social, domestic and religious life of the family
places it high in the esteem of the entire community and a much broader range of
cultured acquaintance and circle of friends.
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Philemon Lindsay 1918 Obituary