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Archibald Gardner (1814 — 1902) was a 19th century pioneer and businessman who helped establish communities in Alvinston, Ontario, Canada, West Jordan, Utah and Star Valley, Wyoming. He was also an early leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As a businessman, Gardner built 36 mills, 23 in Utah, six in Canada, five in Wyoming, and two in Idaho. Gristmills often formed the economic center of a community.

In Alvinston, Ontario

Alvinston grew up around a gristmill Gardner built in 1837 on the east end of the sixth concession of Brooke township. Later, Gardner built a sawmill. Interestingly, Archibald Gardner's gristmills were "built without nails. Wooden pins and mortises were used instead. All shafts, bearings, cog wheels, etc. were of wood..." The area, a hill that faces Alvinston, was later called Gardner's Mill. Under pressure from disgruntled business associates, Gardner sold his mill to the Branan family at a reduced price and left Canada for the United States.

Mormon pioneer

In 1845, while living in Brooke, Kent, Western District, Canada (near Sarnia, Ontario), the area that was later named Alvinston, Gardner followed the example of his family and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His mother, father, sister and brothers had already become church members. Arriving in Utah in 1847, Gardner first attempted to build a mill near Warm Springs, but moved to Mill Creek where the water flow was greater where he claimed to have sawed the first lumber in the Salt Lake Valley.

Life in the West

In 1859 Gardner became Bishop of a ward of about 600 members. He also was a miner and land developer and sold several mining properties. The biggest was in Bingham Canyon, south of West Jordan, Utah that was found in 1863 while logging with a partner. From 1878-1882 Gardner served in the Utah Territorial Legislature.

Gardner's life is memorialized a plague in Alvinston and a monument in Afton Wyoming.

Notes

1. Gardner Mill and the Birth of Salt Lake Valley's West Side, by Becky Bartholomew, History Blazer, November 1995, as found May 2, 2007 on "Utah History to Go" section of utah.gov
2. History to Go from Utah.gov
3. Qquirrh Mountain from media.utah.edu.
4. Alvinston History
5. Afton Monument

References

• Bartholomew, Becky. Gardner Mill and the Birth of Salt Lake Valley's West Side. History Blazer, November 1995.
• Carter, Kate B. and Daughters of Utah Pioneers. "Archibald Gardner, the Miller." Heartthrobs of the West, vol. 3, Salt Lake City, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1948.
• Carter, Kate B. and Daughters of Utah Pioneers. "Journal and Diary of Robert Gardner." Heartthrobs of the West, vol. 10, Salt Lake City, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1951.
• Dedication West Jordan Church. Deseret News, 1867-08-14.
• Furse, B. S., editor. 'A History of West Jordan. Salt Lake City, City of West Jordan, 1995.

External links

• BYU Collection - Photograph
• Rootsweb.com - Geneology
• The Sprague Project - Family Information
• millpictures.com - Picture of Gardner Mill in West Jordan
• Journal (1814-1857) of Archibald Gardner
• Alvinston History

• Mormon pioneers
• Leaders in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints