Frank Alton Tidwell

by Allen  Hackworth (son)

 

Alton’s ancestral history is rooted deeply in Mormon culture, a culture which evolved heroically through periods of planting, nourishing, harvesting, and flourishing.  His early grandmothers and grandfathers joined the LDS Church when the church was young, tender, and struggling through growth periods in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. 

 

Alton’s father, Robert Frank, and his mother, Evaleo Brighton, were only two generations away from the churning world of our founding pioneer fathers and mothers. These great grandparents included Peter Tidwell, Sophronia Hatch, Robert Nelson, Elizabeth Joseph, William Stuart Brighton, Catherine Bow, John McCarthy and Eliza Victoria Telford.  All except John McCarthy crossed the plains as Mormon pioneers at a time when hardships were sure and abundant.

 

John McCarthy came during the same period but by way of Australia and California.  Despite painful hardships and periods of great depravation, all of these hardy pioneers remained faithful to the Church of Jesus Christ, as did the next generation and the next which included Alton’s parents, Frank and Evaleo.

 

Alton has also remained a member in good standing.  At 95, he dresses in his suit each Sunday and attends his ward along with his loving wife, Dorothy Newton Tidwell.  Now in the year 2005, it has been many Sundays for Alton.  Although the years have brought several losses, yet Alton still enjoys life and continues to be optimistic and easy going.  But when you ask Alton about his early days, it is difficult for him to remember. 

 

Nevertheless, some facts are available.  Alton was born in Smithfield, Utah in 1911 to Robert Frank and Evaleo Brighton.  Alton was their first child following his parent’s marriage in the Logan LDS temple one year earlier.  After the birth, Frank and Eva purchased a farm at Blue Creek near Smithfield.  Soon, another child, Ruby, was born in 1913.  This same year, Frank sold the Blue Creek farm.  In 1918 Thelma was born, and that year, Frank traded his home, which was completely paid for, for a dry farm in Arimo, Idaho.

 

Alton was seven when the family moved to Arimo in the summer of 1918.  The next year, when Alton was eight and too young to grieve, his great grandmother, Sophronia Hatch, died in Preston, Idaho.

 

The next few years were spent in Arimo where the family struggled to make a living on arid lands and uncertain conditions.  Would it rain in time?  Would the harvest bring good prices?  The family took part in the local ward, and in 1922 Frank was called as a stake missionary.  Describing this period, Evaleo writes:

 

“As soon as spring broke, we moved to Arimo where Frank had bought a farm. We lived three miles east of Arimo at a region known as Arkansas. We were happy and contented. Frank bought me a pony, and I would ride in my spare time. Ruby and Alton had some hard bumps when they were learning to ride.

 

I would help Frank plow. He would harness the horses, and I would plow while he did other jobs around the farm. In a year or so, we bought a home in Arimo.  It was a nice brick home. We lived there for five years, and Frank would drive to the ranch and put in the crops and come back at night.  We had nice neighbors and friends and had lots of good parties. I was first counselor in the MIA for two years.”

 

Frank was honorably released as a stake missionary in 1923 and the next year, 1924, the family sold the Arimo farm and moved back to Smithfield to 91 East 3rd North.  Alton spent six years in Arimo, from ages 7 to 13.  During this time, he learned to work, and he had numerous opportunities to ride his mother’s horse.

 

After the family returned to Smithfield, Frank and Roy, his brother, rented their father’s farm.  But the next year, 1925, Frank was called to the Eastern States Mission when Alton was 14.  During a period of uncertainty and change, the family was asked to sacrifice for the kingdom.  They were asked to make do, to raise their own vegetables and chickens, to earn their own money, and to endue the daily loss of a dear husband and father.

 

I’m sure the family wondered about the wisdom of such a call.  The timing seemed askew.  Were not missionaries called when they were single, when they were young, when they had no family to support?  Frank had a wife and three young children, ages 14, 12, and 7.  They needed him near.  I am sure Frank worried and grieved about leaving his wife and family at a time when their income and future was uncertain.  But the family said, “Yes. Yes.  By golly, we’ll do it.”

 

When Frank returned home in 1927, he was called to teach Sunday school.  Then two years later, when Alton was 18, Frank and Eva had a baby girl, Barbara.  During this same year, 1929, Frank started selling insurance for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.  Two years later when Alton was 20, the last Tidwell child, Eunice, was born. 

 

Around this time, 1932,  Alton’s grandfather, Royal Tidwell, developed cancer.  Royal suffered for the next 16 months and died in 1934.  During this time, Frank and his family gave great assistance to Royal and to his wife, Jane.  At Royal’s  funeral, Alton was commended for his service to his grandfather.  One speaker, Bishop C. J. Plowman said,

 

“Alton, I commend you.  You have rendered great service to your grandma and grandpa during his illness, to give up the pleasures of youth and stay there.”

 

Alton was ages 22 and 23 during Royal’s illness.  The next year, 1935, two of the Tidwell children married, Alton and Thelma.  Alton married Iris Nielson in the Logan LDS Temple, and Thelma married Joe Jacobson.  This same year, Frank discontinued selling insurance for MET Life.  The next year Ruby, Alton’s sister, married Wayne Johnson.

 

In 1938, when Alton was 27, he divorced Iris, and later that year married Dorothy South.  Dorothy South reports that Alton “swept her off her feet,” with his daily letters and gifts of candy.  She said,

 

“I was almost twenty-three when I married Frank Alton Tidwell, only son of Robert Frank and Evaleo Brighton, in the Salt Lake Temple August 25, 1938. Alton had four sisters: Ruby, Thelma, Barbara and Eunice.”

 

“The same day we had a wedding breakfast at his aunt's home, a sister of Evaleo named Stella, and we went directly to American Fork, Utah where we made our home.  It was in this beautiful city where our two children were born: Shirlene September 22, 1939 and Robert Allen December 27, 1940. We were divorced November 19, 1941. We met at a mutual dance in Idaho Falls. My parents had been told by a man who knew Alton that he'd been married before and had a little girl. Nothing my folks said dissuaded me.”

 

“All people have some good qualities, and Alton had some that impressed me such as being an organized person. He knew what he had and where everything was; he was very meticulous in his dress and always took care of his own clothes.  He taught me how to darn his socks, and he knew more about cooking and canning fruit than I did. He always paid our current bills on time. He liked older people, and they seemed to appreciate him.  Women liked him too.  In fact, they would ask Alton to take them for a ride on his motorcycle, and naturally, he couldn't turn them down.”

 

“In retrospect, I know we should have gone to the temple more than we did. Another thing, he didn't want me to see my folks often, but I thought I needed to do that, especially to have Mother make baby clothes since I didn’t sew. She made darling baby clothes for both Shirlene and Allen when I was expecting.”

 

In 1941, Alton’s second marriage was not going well, and Alton and Dorothy decided to divorce.  Soon after, in 1942 Alton married the woman he became acquainted with while married to Dorothy South.  His third wife was Dorothy Newton.

 

After high school, Alton studied at the Henniger Business College, and he spent time in the Coast Guard.  Later, he worked for the Salt Lake Tribune.  This job required that he traveled in Utah and Idaho and lived for a time in Twin Falls, Idaho.

 

Eventually , Alton developed his own business and became his own boss.  He was a manufacturer's representative for many products.  He sold to numerous stores in the western states excluding California, Arizona, and New Mexico.  Some of the merchandise would be drop shipped from the manufacturer to the customer; but some of the merchandise was stocked on Alton’s own shelves.  This aspect of his job required that he constantly fill and ship numerous orders.

 

Not everyone can generate their own capital, but they must connect to an established business for an income.  But Alton generated his own capital.  He made it work.  He created his own job.  And he was very successful at this endeavor.  But I remember one activity that was not financially successful.  Around 1957 or 1959, Alton raised chinchillas.  He lost money on these soft, little creatures.

 

Alton had several qualities that made him a good businessman.  He was honest in his dealings.  He was prompt with his orders.  He had great energy and drive.  He made wise decisions.  And he kept good records.  Because of his industry and skill, he acquired some wealth, but later in his life when he should have been thinking about retirement, through some bad decisions and dishonest partners, he lost his money and financial security.  Luckily for Alton and Dorothy Newton, Peggy, his loving daughter, gave her parents a place to live.  Peggy owed a home in Clinton, Utah that she bought for an investment, and this is where Alton and Dorothy Newton moved.

 

During a portion of Alton’s life, he sold model cars and airplane, and he built and flew model airplanes.  He was good at the building of models.  He also made his own clocks, developed a specialized calendar, and created pictures using yarn.  I was particularly fascinated with his hydroponics greenhouse where he raised tomatoes.  At 95, he still likes to grow tomatoes each summer; however, now he used the conventional method, dirt and water.

 

Recently, I was driving with Dad along the Wasatch Front.  He pointed to a high mountain peak and said, “See that mountain.  Would you like to climb it?”

 

I said, “No. Heights scare me.”

 

He said, “I would like to climb it.”  This is a great attitude for a 95-year-old man.  I am grateful that God has blessed this child of the pioneers with a long and eventful life.