THE Hooper, Utah Cemetery can rightfully brag about having the grave of “The Last Leaf on the Tree” – Mary Field Garner ---- The last person in mortality who was acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith, first president in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Is this not significant?
After all, Clarkston, Utah, in Cache County’s key claim to fame is that “The Man Who Knew” – the last home for Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, is buried in that City Cemetery.
(This
apparently rather obscure fact was uncovered in March of 2021 by my Sister,
Karen Arave Hugie. It was surprising news to her and this author, since our
parents, Gene and Norma Arave, were caretaker and sexton respectively of the
Hooper, Utah Cemetery for some 23 years – and they never mentioned it, nor
highlighted it. I’m sure some other Hooper residents may have known about it,
but it was never recognized historically as it should have been.)
Yes, some of Garner's descendants may know her story well, but why has the cemetery and/or Hooper City not documented or highlighted her unique place in LDS Church history?
Her grave should be highlighted in any Hooper City history and any Hooper Cemetery story or a list of famous graves there...
A Deseret
News story on August 21, 1943, by Bishop Marvin O. Ashton of the Church’s
Presiding Bishopric is the source of “The Last Leaf on the Tree” comparison.
Mary Field
Garner was born in England on February 1, 1836. She died at age 107 on July 20,
1943. At the time, she believed to be the oldest ever member of the LDS Church.
“At the time
of the (Prophet’s) martyrdom she was eight years old and remembers vividly the
day that people rose in their seats, when Brigham Young, as it were, was
transfigured into the personality of the prophet,” Bishop Ashton wrote in the
Deseret News.
Ironically,
she also had a rather embarrassing confession about that transfiguration story
– she was tending an infant on her lap in that meeting. Her parent’s had
brought a tin cup along as a plaything for that baby and yet just as Brigham
Young rose to his feet, the tin cup fell to the floor and created an
embarrassing noise.
This cannon is a landmark in the Hooper Cemetery.
Sister
Garner had lived in Slaterville, but moved to Hooper and resided there for many
years, where her last five of 10 children were born, and where she passed away.
(Some old
newspaper stories incorrectly claim she lived in Roy, probably assuming most
people would not know where Hooper even was…)
-To find the modest grave of Mary Field Garner, turn on the interior cemetery road heading east, just past and north of the 2 white buildings; When this road curves north, look for 2 tall upright markers just to the south of the curve, about 30 yards distant; her grave is a flat marker in between them.
Of course, with 107 years of life, Sister Garner has a long, long story to tell of traveling across the plains to Utah and of the territory and the State of Utah’s early history.
This writing will not delve into all of that, as the
detail of Mary Field Garner's life is substantial – but can be accessed on other sources listed below:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74672893/hooper-utahs-claim-to-fame
https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel/sources/6068/garner-mary-field-autobiographical-sketch-ca-1940-8-9
http://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/14/resources/5367
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26082465/mary-garner
https://mchangroverheritage.wordpress.com/2019/01/06/the-last-leaf-mary-field-garner/
.
