ARCHIBALD ORRELL LAMOREAUX
Archibald Orrell Lamoreaux was born on January 9, 1857 at Farmington, Davis County, Utah to David Burlock Lamoreaux and Nancy Miriam Orrell.
Archie, as he was called, was raised in northern Utah. He married Lydia Lovera Crockett, and after a couple of years in Logan, they moved to Preston, Idaho in 1886. He was a farmer and they were buying a small farm.
When Archie was 25 years old he went hunting on New Year's Eve and a blizzard set in, making it so he could not get home. Only the body heat of his faithful dog kept him alive, but both his feet and the little fingers on both hands were severely frostbitten. After miraculously getting back to civilization, to save his life his feet and later his fingers had to be amputated. This was done very crudely, without anesthesia, with a long healing period and much pain. At the end of his legs were round stumps, covered with leather that rested on thick blocks of leather covered wood. He could move around only with the help of a crutch and cane or by crawling on his knees.
Because the harsh winters of Idaho were difficult for him, and because his wife was also very ill, they moved their family of seven, including newborn daughter Nora, by covered wagon to the Gila Valley in Arizona in 1894. This trip took three months. After first settling in Matthewsille, across the Gila River from Pima, they moved to Hubbard, across the river from Thatcher. So his children could be closer to school, Archie bought a place on First Street in Thatcher, where he built a small house made of lumber.
Archie was always active in the Church, serving in various capacities, including ward chorister, which he enjoyed. Archie farmed and raised cattle and horses for a living. He irrigated the desert farmland, changing the water and doing other farm tasks on his knees. He was an excellent horseman.
When their family was grown, Archie or A. O., as he was sometimes called, and Lydia moved to Mesa. Lydia died in 1930, leaving Archie a widower for eleven years. He spent his last years of life doing genealogy and temple work. He was an early riser and was at the temple when it opened. He also had very strong opinions about what was right and wrong and did not hesitate to let people know how he felt.
Archie passed away in San Diego, while visiting his daughter, on July 12, 1941, and was buried in Mesa four days later.
(One of Archie's grandsons, Harold O. Lamoreaux, wrote a story called "Trek to Arizona" about the trip of Archie and his family from Idaho to Arizona by covered wagon in 1894.)