CEDAR CITY, Utah, Aug. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- When the Sarah Sturtevant Leavitt straggled over the rugged southern Utah mountains with the families
of her four sons and three daughters, she would little have imagined that
more than a century hence the little band would be memorialized in bronze.
Nevertheless, the memorializing of these hardy folks, among the very first
to settle in this southern country, is about to be complete.
When her husband Jeremiah Leavitt died, he left Sarah with ten children
bound to join the westward migration of Latter-day Saints in their
migration to the Salt Lake Valley. Three of those children died before they
reached their destination. The remaining seven, along with their mother,
were among those sent to tame the southern reaches of the territory. The
three sisters in the band are remembered for the medical attention they
gave in a land where doctors were scarce. As midwives, together they
delivered more than 1000 babies over an 80-year period.
The family of Jeremiah and Sarah Sturtevant Leavitt eventually spread
out as they participated in settling the West. They reached settlements in
Canada, southern Nevada, eastern Arizona and western New Mexico. But their
mettle was first tried, and their pioneering skills honed, at Santa Clara,
Gunlock and Hebron, Utah.
On Sarah Sturtevant Leavitt's 200th birthday, September 5, 1998, the
Western Association of Leavitt Families unveiled a life-sized statue of
Sarah by artist L'Deane Trueblood on Santa Clara's Main Street. Now, ten
years later, seven bronze busts will be unveiled, dedicated and presented
to Santa Clara City to grace the park adjacent to the new city complex. The
busts portray each of the four sons and three daughters of Sarah Sturtevant
Leavitt, who formed the first settlements along the Santa Clara River. Each
small monument will include a brief history.
The busts, sculpted by Arizona artist Tyson Snow, are likenesses of
Jeremiah Leavitt III, Lemuel Leavitt, Dudley Leavitt, Mary Amelia Leavitt
Hamblin, wife of William Haynes ("Gunlock Bill") Hamblin, Thomas Rowell
Leavitt, Betsy Jane Leavitt Hamblin, wife of Bill Hamblin and Priscilla
Leavitt Hamblin, wife of Jacob Hamblin.
The unveiling ceremony will be held Saturday, August 30. The main
gathering will be held at 4:30 p.m. at the Tabernacle in St. George, Utah.
The program will include music and short vignettes of each of those
honored. Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services, will
be the featured speaker. Leavitt is a descendant from two of the sons,
Lemuel and Dudley.
At 7 p.m. the dedication program will begin at the monument site, next
to the new Santa Clara Office complex. A reception and informal gathering
will follow the program. Event Keynote Speaker: Michael O. Leavitt, Sec. Health and Human Services
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