HENRY UTILIS RUSSELL
Henry Utilis Russell, second son of Horace Russell and Lydia Ann Hobson, was born March 30, 1863 in Fillmore, Millard County, Utah. His uncommon middle name was made up by his grandfather Hobson, who named one of his sons Utilis.
When Henry was fifteen, in September 1878, his father's family migrated by covered wagon from Utah to Arizona. They crossed the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry and proceeded to a small Mormon settlement called Sunset, now St. Joseph. Lot Smith, a church leader, encouraged them to settle in Forest Dale. Here they traded their wagons and stock for thirty acres of land. They built a log house and planted corn. When the corn was about ready to harvest, they were told that the settlement was on the Apache Indian Reservation and they would have to leave. (This later proved to be incorrect, the indians just wanted their crops.) They accepted a team of oxen for their property and moved to Bangel Hollow, a short distance from Showlow, Arizona.
As a young man Henry took an active part in church work, he belonged to the City Brass Band, playing the cornet, and he played the fiddle for most of the dances. He composed music and set words to them. He had a lot of friends; he liked people and they liked him. He had a good body, tall and handsome with a twinkle in his eye. He was somewhat of a perfectionist and knew how to do many things well, although it took him a long time to complete a project.
Henry married Harriet Louisa Brewer in Snowflake, Arizona on March 7, 1887 and to this union eleven children were born. Henry was called on a mission to the state of Kansas, Indian Territory, as it was called, when his family was very young. In preparation for his mission, he took his family as far as St. George, Utah, to the temple to be sealed. This trip was made by team and wagon.
While Henry was on his mission, his wife, Hattie, as she was called, moved with her father's family to the Gila Valley, settling in Cactus Flat, later named Lebanon. On his return, Henry homesteaded land and worked at various jobs to support his growing family. Their crops failed and in 1903 they moved to Pima, but the next year they moved back to Lebanon, where he served in the bishopric. Two of his children, Carl Rex and Ina, died suddenly and are buried in the old Lebanon cemetery. Henry made their little caskets, lining them with the softest, most delicate material that could be had. Following the death of these babies, Henry was awakened from his sleep hearing heavenly music. He was able to write down that music and later perform it.
Years of illness, both physical and mental, followed the death of Carl and Ina and his financial disasters. The family moved to the Salt River Valley in 1914, settling in Chandler, on a small farm Henry had rented. They moved to Winkleman for a short time, where he set up a fruit and vegetable business. It was there that Henry and Hattie decided to get a divorce so they could go their separate ways. There was no animosity between them, they just couldn't live together.
Hattie moved to Glendale, where the older boys were working, and Henry moved back to Lebanon, where he again served in the bishopric and was called on another mission to his old field of labor in Kansas.
Following his second mission, Henry lived for a while with
his brother Dan in Idaho and then moved back to the Salt River Valley. Here, in 1934, Henry married a widow, Helen Isabel Pilling Kleinman, and did temple work until his death a year later on March 22, 1935.