Charles Ora Card 1839-1906

Homestead in Cardston, Canada

Charles Ora Card Zina Presendia Young

Orson Rega Card (One of Charles and Zina's three children)

Tullidge's Histories, p 346

The president at this writing of the Cache Valley Stake, was born November 5th, 1839, in the town of Ossian, Alleghany County, New York.  He is the son of Cyrus W. Card, who was one of the founders of Logan City.  His mother was Sarah Tuttle Card, and she was the daughter of a revolutionary soldier, Jesse Tuttle, who fought at Bunker Hill, at which battle he was wounded.

Cyrus Card was baptized by Elder William Corey and he emigrated in 1856.  The family settled in Farmington, where Cyrus Card remained until March, 1860, when he moved to Logan and became one of the founders of that city.  Cyrus Card and his son Charles put up the first shingle and lath mill in Logan, and later, a saw, lumber, shingle and lath mill.

Charles O. Card was early one of the minute men of the county.  He was appointed superintendent of the construction of the tabernacle and in May, 1877 was appointed by President Young to take charge of the building of the Logan Temple.  When Bishop Preston was appointed president of the Cache Valley Stake, Charles O Card was appointed his second counselor.  He is at this writing the president of Cache Stake, but his useful and busy life has called him on a colonizing mission into Canada, and George O Pitkin is now acting in his stead for a while in Cache County.

Second source:  Our Pioneer Heritage, Volume 18, Origin of Mormon Place Names

The first settlement, Cardston was so named for its founder, Charles Ora Card, the region being on Lee's Creek, on the southern boundary of the Blood Indian Reserve. The colony was sustained that first year by good crops. There was very little money among the people, so these pioneers had to depend entirely upon the land. Wood was obtained along the valleys of Lee's Creek; then a vein of coal was discovered four miles from the settlement. By the end of summer, each family had its pioneer home built of logs, sometimes plastered in and out with mud. Only rough lumber was available for the flooring; other necessities such as doors, windows, tar paper and nails had to be purchased in Lethbridge.

According to Archie G. Wilcox, no one felt self-conscious about the crudeness of either his home or its furnishings because everyone was experiencing the same difficulties. The settler built his own table, benches, stools, washbench and cupboards. The bed frame was constructed of peeled poles and nailed to the wall. When bed springs were available these were placed on top the frame and in other cases a mattress of straw was used. The larger families found it necessary to put extra mattresses on the floor at night and pile them up on the bed during the daytime. Three coal oil cases, two on end and one across the top, served the purposes of a dressing table. Covered with curtain material and a scarf, this could be made quite an attractive piece of furniture. Tallow candles, coal oil lamps and various toilet articles were placed on the vanity and a mirror was nailed to the wall above the table. Large packing cases fitted with shelves and lined with paper, made useful cupboards when fastened to the wall in a convenient place. The wood stoves usually had four holes and a wide, removable hearth which covered the ashpan. The oven doors swung out and were fastened with a latch. Reservoirs and warming ovens were conspicuously absent. With their iron teakettles, iron pots and skillets, bake ovens and sheet-iron dripping pans, the Mormon women were able to prepare such tempting things as salt rising bread, graham gems, corn meal Johnny cake, pancakes, buttermilk or baking powder biscuits and others. Of course, this was only temporary equipment which, in most cases, was replaced within two years by more useful furniture and utensils.