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Available on microfilm. (MIC 57, 1359-1370)
Missionary, public official, LDS apostle.
Anthony Woodward Ivins was born in Toms River, New Jersey in 1852, the son of Israel and Anna Lowrie Ivins. While he was still a baby, the family, recent converts to Mormonism, migrated to Salt Lake Valley where Israel Ivins worked at a variety of jobs, including fishing on Utah Lake. In 1861 Israel was one of a group called by Brigham Young to settle southern Utah at the present site of St. George. Israel, in fact, completed the original survey of that city in addition to serving the colony as physician. Anthony grew up in St. George where he developed what would become lifelong interests in hunting, fishing, and the Indians.
In 1875 Ivins was called by officials of the LDS Church to participate in an exploring mission to Arizona and New Mexico. On this first mission, Ivins traveled 2,400 miles and assumed the role of hunter for the expedition. A result of this exploration was the subsequent establishment of several Mormon colonies in the area. Ivins approached the mission enthusiastically and began the first of his diaries, a habit which continued to his death. He wrote in an interesting manner, with much attention paid to details. His entry for 22 December 1875, illustrates his style and also indicates his continuing fascination with the Indians:
Traveled from Sulphur Springs to Apache Pass a distance of 26 miles. This is the place where the Apaches concentrated their forces and for a long time held the U.S. troops at defiance. The ground for miles around has been moistened by the blood of their victims. There is a military post here at present which holds them in partial control but they have never been conquered.
On his return from this mission, Ivins was appointed constable of St. George -- the first of a series of public positions he held. Shortly thereafter he was called on another mission to preach to the Indians and Mexicans in New Mexico. In 1878 he married Elizabeth Ashby Snow, also from St. George, whom he first met when they were both children traveling to southern Utah. She was the daughter of Erastus Snow, one of the foremost missionaries and colonizers of the early Mormon period, as well as an apostle of the church. Anthony and Elizabeth Ivins were the parents of nine children, eight of whom grew to maturity: Antoine R., H. Grant, Stanley S., Mrs. Anna Wilson, Mrs. Florence Hyde, Mrs. Leah Cardon, Mrs. Fulvia Sloan, and Mrs. Augusta Wells.
By 1882 Ivins was a prominent figure both politically and ecclesiastically in St. George, having been elected prosecuting attorney of Washington County and member of the St. George City Council while serving also on the St. George LDS Stake High Council. However, once again Ivins was called on a mission, this time to Mexico City. To finance the mission, the people of St. George gave a benefit performance of "The False Friend" with romantic leads taken by Josephine Snow and Anthony W. Ivins. This performance provided Ivins with $109.95 which, with $56.25 in contributions from other sources enabled him to leave for a two-year stay in Mexico. This experience provided the background for later, lengthy associations with that country. Ivins learned Spanish during this period; so well that his fluency was admired frequently by native Spanish speakers, including President Porforio Diaz of Mexico, who told Ivins that he spoke as well as a Castilian.
After Ivins' return from the Mexican Mission in 1884, he once more settled in St. George; again was active in local politics; and became a rancher. He was the manager of the Mojave Land and Cattle Company and one of the owners of the Kaibab Cattle Company, the two largest owners of cattle on the Arizona Strip.
A side effect of this expansion into Arizona was Ivins' appointment as county assessor of Mohave County, Arizona. In 1888 Ivins helped organize the "Sagebrush Democrats" in a technique designed to move away from the local People's and Liberal parties to new political divisions along national party lines. Over the years he gained in political popularity and influence, serving in a number of elected positions, as well as Special Indian Agent for the Shivwits Indians. He was elected to two terms in the Utah Territorial Legislature and, in 1894, was chosen as a representative to the Utah State Constitutional Convention. In that body, Ivins made a strong impression. He copied the following, from the
Tony, as almost everybody calls him, is one of the most popular Democrats in the territory, is broadminded, fair and honest, and would be a strong candidate for any office within his party.
His name became one of those mentioned frequently as candidate for the first governor of the state of Utah. But another event intervened which permanently halted any political aspirations.
In 1895 Ivins was asked by President Wilford Woodruff of the LDS Church to go to Mexico to aid in the establishment of a series of Mormon colonies, to be used particularly by those polygamous members who sought sanctuary from what was, in their eyes, unnecessary harassment and persecution for personal religious convictions. Ivins comments on this development in his journal (p. 212), "I answered the letter rec'd from Presidency telling them that I would go to Mexico as soon as possible. I did not want to go to Mexico. . . ." He then lists and supports his reasons for being reluctant -- ranching and other business interests, a bright future in politics, an affection for the people of St. George and his aging parents. Then he writes, "I immediately commenced to make preparation to dispose of my property and go to Mexico." Ivins' first cousin, Apostle Heber J. Grant, wrote him a letter congratulating him on his new assignment,
The letter which you wrote to them [First Presidency of the LDS Church] is just such a letter as I should have expected from you, and if you had written any other kind of letter I should have been greatly surprised as well as disappointed. I feel sure that the day will come when you will thank the Lord that you have been selected by His inspiration to preside in Mexico. . . .(HJG to AWI, 8/25/95)
Ivins would spend the next twelve years in Mexico with his headquarters at Colonial Juarez, Chihuahua. He was president of the Juarez LDS Stake and vice-president and general manager of the Mexican Colonization and Agricultural Company, under which auspices the Mormon colonies were founded. He was, therefore, the final word in the running of the eight Mormon colonies in the states of Chihuahua and Sonora. Even after he left Mexico in 1907 to become a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of the Church, he continued to take some responsibility for the administration of the Mexican colonies. In 1913 when the colonists were being forced out of Mexico by the effects of revolutionary activity, Ivins wrote to Joseph C. Bentley, one of the colony leaders, "The snow is falling, it is ideal Christmas weather. Were I not worried and harassed over Mexican affairs I would be happy." (AWI to JCB, 12/28/13)
After his return from Mexico, Ivins devoted all his energy to the Church. While he participated in many different areas -- president, Utah Savings & Trust Company; president, Board of Trustees, Utah State Agricultural College; member, National Boy Scout Committee; etc. -- they were all related to his official church position. In 1921 Ivins was chosen to be second counselor in the First Presidency under his cousin Heber J. Grant. In 1925 he was named first counselor, the position he held until his death in September 1934, one week after his eight-second birthday.
Anthony Ivins was interested in a broad range of areas, including hunting and fishing, Mexico, archaeology, Indians, horses, missionary work, and the LDS Church generally. When he died, sympathy was extended to his family by prominent people of all religions and political persuasions. The funeral was held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle while the Piute Indians held a separate tribal ceremony also in his honor.
Although it would seem unlikely, Ivins was, from all appearances, universally loved. He was evidently a good, kind, and competent man with a broad range of interests. His appeal may best be expressed by a message in beadwork on an Indian leather vest sent him in 1932 which read, "Tony Ivins, he no cheat."
Diaries, journals, correspondence, manuscripts, speeches. Diaries dated 1875 to 1932. General correspondence over a wide range of topics from 1890 to 1936, that concerning the Mormon colonies in Mexico arranged separately. Notes and notebooks cover a variety of topics, but concern primarily the LDS church.
The Anthony W. Ivins Collection consists of personal papers concerning Ivins' life story, his family, his business concerns, and his church positions. Contained in the collection are Ivins' diaries, beginning with his first LDS mission to New Mexico in 1875 and continuing with a fair degree of regularity to the time of his death. The diaries vary in quantity of note, with the most detailed and lengthy entries centered on Ivins' mission experiences in the southwest and Mexico. Ivins apparently used his diaries as the basis for his journals which are also contained in the collection. These volumes follow the diaries closely, but are more polished and include items Ivins considered important to his life, i.e. news clippings of his activities, patriarchal blessings, and so forth.
The diaries and journals are original holographs, but are generally very legible, in spite of the frequent use of pencil. A few have a layered look. For example, the third diary has a news clipping on top fastened to a typed sheet which has been glued on top of a handwritten entry. In some diaries and journals, groups of pages have been cut out. The origin of this editing is unclear; one theory being that the missing entries were concerned with polygamy in Mexico and were excised by a sensitive family member or friend.
Mary Fitzgerald has compiled a name index to Ivins' diaries and journals, as well as a subject outline for each one -- a valuable tool for those wishing access to these materials.
In addition to the diaries and journals, Ivins kept a series of notebooks which he numbered himself. There are twenty-two of these in the collection, with the average one being only one-third to one-half full. Contained therein are miscellaneous facts; statistics on tithing and population for the Mexican colonies; conference minutes; religion and American history notes; and so forth.
Another major item in the collection is correspondence, most of which is of a business, as opposed to family, nature. The correspondence has generally been filed in straight chronological order. There are, however, several folders containing correspondence from a specific person, such as Heber J. Grant, Joseph C. Bentley, etc. These files had already been established by Ivins and thus retained their separate identity. Separate correspondence files are also maintained for the material on the Mexican colonies and the Ivins farm at Enterprise, Utah. Here again, the volume as well as the existence of previously established files precluded the separation of correspondence from the body of material on these subjects.
The Mexican correspondence also contains a large amount of information on the Stafford Shortage Claim, a land deal involving Ivins and D. M. Stafford of Cleveland, Ohio, along with assorted citizens and officials in Mexico for a piece of land near Colonia Dublan, Chihuahua. Negotiations and complications continued from 1908 to 1929. The Ivins collection is, in fact, an excellent primary source for those researchers interested in the development of and crises surrounding the Mormon colonies in Mexico. Besides correspondence, which highlights the history and is particularly informative on the 1912 exodus of the Mormons to Texas and New Mexico, there are land transactions and other legal documents in Spanish, clippings, transcripts, and memories.
The Ivins family organized the Ivins Investment Company to handle their financial affairs. This company figures prominently in the material on the Enterprise farm. Here, too, will be found material on other concerns which Ivins found interesting and/or lucrative -- horses and breeding, the Amalgamated Sugar Company, businesses in Canada, inventories and tax receipts from the farm at Enterprise and another in Davis County.
Following the subject divisions, the collection contains manuscript material on LDS Church history and doctrine, the Indians, and assorted other subjects; then outlines and drafts of speeches, clippings, and memorabilia.
The Anthony W. Ivins Collection is a valuable resource for those interested in Utah Mormon history between 1875 and 1934; as well as in Tony Ivins himself, a man of wide and varied interests.
Anthony W. Ivins Papers, 1875-1934, Utah State Historical Society.
Gift of Stanley S. Ivins and Ivins family, 1967.
Box 9 and autograph-value items housed in vault.
The Anthony W. Ivins Papers are the physical property of the Utah Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah. Literary rights, including copyright, may belong to the authors or their heirs and assigns. Please contact the Historical Society for information regarding specific use of this collection.
Unpublished name and subject index.
Photographs have been removed and filed as