Biography of Alvin Crockett: 1st Mayor of Logan
Dates in Office: 1866-1870
Terms in Office: 1
Age when elected: 35
Alvin Crockett was born 19 October 1831 on Fox Island, Maine. His parents were David Crockett and Lydia Young. He married Sophia Reed and Annie Naomi Peel and had eighteen children and sixty grandchildren. He died 9 July 1902 in Logan, Utah. [1]
Alvin's family moved from Maine to Nauvoo, Illinois in 1841 after joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In Nauvoo they were eyewitnesses to and sharers of the manifold hardships until the great exodus in 1846.While there the family became ill, being confined to their beds with fever, and Alvin alone cared for them. He was only 12 years old at the time.While he was not in the woods with ax and wagon getting fuel to keep them warm, he was at their bedsides administering to their various wants. This duty was discharge manfully.
Subsequent to the banishment from Nauvoo, the family settled in Davis County, Iowa, where they made their living by farming on shares until the spring of 1849. In April of that Year they traveled to the Missouri River, where they remained in camp until July 4, 1849, when they took their departure for the Great Salt Lake Valley. They arrived October 19, 1849, Alvin's birthday. His father located the family in the First Ward, and after a great struggle he was successful in building up a comparatively comfortable home.
Shortly after his arrival in Salt Lake City, Alvin set out in company with several other men for the fields of gold in California. It proved to be a very valuable experience to him, although he returned two years later with but very little of the object of his visit. June 26, 1851 he married Sophia Reed and settled in Payson, Utah County, where for several years he was known as a useful and a prominent citizen, both from a social and a religious standpoint. He distinguished himself in the military organization of that day, which organization was effected to protect the whites from the ravages and fierce attacks of the red man. He held the position of colonel for twelve years before circumstances ceased to require his military services.
In 1861 he moved to Cache Valley and became one of the early settlers of Logan. In 1863 he was sustained as a member of the High Council. November 29, 1867 he took a second wife, Annie Naomi Peel. His first wife, Sophia bore him twelve children and Naomi, six. In 1872 he went on a mission for the LDS Church. He went back to Fox Island to preach the gospel to his friends and relatives there.
Mr. Crockett was the first mayor of Logan, Utah, in which capacity he served two terms. He was also the sheriff of Cache County for nearly fifteen years. In these capacities he was faithful to his duty and loyal to the people he represented.
In 1888 he was arrested on the charge of unlawful cohabitation and boldly and prayerfully, he faced his sentence to six month's incarceration in the penitentiary.
His second wife, Naomi, died March 24, 1898 and one year later his first wife, Sophia, died. This was a great sorrow in his life. He was a counselor to his children and grandchildren, all who grew to love and revere him.He set an example of usefulness, devoid of ostentation, inoffensive and harmless yet devoted to the development of the kingdom of God.[2]
Alvin Crockett was an honest man. a quiet, unassuming citizen, loyal to his country, and to his convictions, he was honored and admired as a man of worth and character by all who knew him.
He was a member of the first High Council of the Cache Stake, and still belonged to that organization at the time of his death. He was a faithful consistent Latter-day Saint, and died with a glorious hope for the future.[3]
[1] Family Group Record, (Family Search Ancestral File v4.19)
[2] Andrew Jenson, ed., Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, (Salt Lake City, Publishing Press, 1971) 1:418-419
[3] Obituary , The Tri-Weekly Journal, Logan, Utah July 10, 1902
