A Tribute to Nelson Arave...a legacy to live after.

On Memorial Day, Nelson, Tara and I went to a couple of graves to honor those who have passed away. There is no better time to celebrate the lives of our ancestors and friends. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to tell the life history of a wonderful man named Nelson Arave, whom my husband is named after. Nelson Arave is my husband's great, great, great grandfather. His example gives us an invaluable legacy of faith that Heavenly Father can do more with our lives than we can. Through his dedication to the gospel of Jesus Christ, he overcame sorrow and hardship of earth life to obtain an eternal family. The information I will present was compiled by Alvin E. Arave in 1997.

Nelson Arave was born on October 14, 1832. Nelson's father drowned in 1837 and he became the foster child of Jesse and Ruth Lampson. Nelson was privileged to be able to hear the revelations of the Lord from the lips of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. He knew of their humilty and integrity by personal conversations with them and hearing them speak in Priesthood meetings. Nelson remembered well many sayings and teachings of the Prophet Joseph and often testified in private and in public of Joseph's divine mission. Joseph Smith was Nelson's neighbor in Nauvoo and liked him very much and would often take time to talk with him. One day Joseph gave him a blessing. He told Nelson, among other things, that he would become the father of a large posterity. This blessing literally came true.

Nelson's foster father, Jesse Lampson, was aged and blind and Nelson grew up working very hard. Jesse passed away when Nelson was just 16 years old, leaving him to be the man of the house. When he was 15 years old he went to work for Abiah Wadsworth. Abiah had lived in Nauvoo and was converted by Elder Orson Hyde. He taught Nelson the carpenter trade which Nelson followed all of his life.

At the young age of 17, Nelson courageously followed the admonition of Brigham Young to go to Zion in the Salt Lake Valley. Three years after arriving in the valley Nelson married Susanna Aroline Wadsworth. They were endowed and sealed in the Endowment house in Salt Lake City on October 16, 1855.

After ten years of a happy marriage, Nelson was asked to take a second wife. He and Aroline chose Mary Ann Williams. My husband's paternal line comes through Nelson and Aroline's sixth son, Frank.. After giving birth to seven sons(can you imagine!), Aroline finally gave birth to her first daughter, Elnora. My husband's maternal line comes through Elnora.

At one time the Saints ran into trouble with the Indians. They entered the village angry and excited. Nelson was sent to talk to them since he could speak a little of their language and understood them better than anyone else. The Indian chief complained that he had been told that Brigham Young was going to drive them out of the country with soldiers. Nelson assured the Chief that he knew the rumor was false. He told the Chief that he would walk to Salt Lake, a distance of 35 miles, and ask Brigham Young if the rumor was true. This pleased the Indians and after that they considered Nelson to be their friend.

Nelson was a man blessed with many talents. He would gather up discarded barrel staves and make tubs and buckets. He owned a turning lathe which he used to build the pillars for the Wright Brothers Store in Ogden, Utah. He invented a hand-powered washing machine which took the drudgery out of washing clothing by hand on a washboard. He invented a hay baler and a method of measuring hay in the stack that is still in use today. Nelson and some of his sons helped build the first railroad in Idaho.

Around 1895, Nelson and his second wife Mary Ann moved to Basalt, Idaho. It was with sadness that Nelson left his first wife Aroline in Hooper, Utah but knew that she was good hands with her older sons to take care of her. Nelson Arave passed away in 1906 from heart failure. Nelson had 23 children in total, which indeed brought him a wonderful posterity.

Nelson was known for being such a hard worker and being willing at all times to aid the sick and the poor. He gained many friends wherever he went. He was faithful his entire life, never waiving from his pure testimony. What a wonderful man. I am so grateful for his amazing example and strong testimony. I hope that my husband and I can create a life that would make Nelson Arave proud of his posterity.