Udall family

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Udall family
Standing:  Gauis, Joseph K., Joseph, David K., David K. Jr., Jesse, Pratt. Sitting:  John, Don, Levi, Gilbert, Harry, Grover (1926)
Information
Place of origin	United States
Notable members	Stewart Udall Mo Udall Tom Udall Mark Udall Gordon Smith
Connected families	Hunt, Stewart, Lee, Kimball

The Udall family is a U.S. political family rooted in the American West. Its role in politics spans over 100 years and four generations. Udall politicians have been elected from 4 different states: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oregon. If viewed as a combined entity, the Udall-Hunt-Lee family has been elected from 6 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah.

Three Udall family cousins were nominated by the two major American political parties for the United States Senate elections of 2008, of which the two Democrats were successfully elected and seated in 2009.

Contents 1 Pioneer generation 2 Sons of David King Udall 3 Grandchildren of David King Udall 4 Fourth generation 5 Family tree 6 Anecdotes 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Pioneer generation

David King Udall can be considered the family's founder. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri to David Udall and Eliza King, recent Mormon converts from England. They immigrated to the United States in 1851. The family travelled across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains by ox cart and settled in Nephi, Utah. The elder David later became a Mormon bishop.

In this environment, the younger David grew up to be a fervent Mormon as well. He married Eliza Stewart and they settled in Kanab, Utah. Shortly after their marriage, David left to serve as a missionary in England for two years. In 1880, he was called by his church to move with his family to St. Johns, Arizona in order to become the local bishop and facilitate further Mormon migration into that community.^[1] This made David unpopular with established residents of St. Johns, who didn't want the Mormons there, but it did make him instantly prominent in the community.

David took a second wife, Ida Hunt, in 1882. She was a granddaughter of Jefferson Hunt. David was prosecuted for, but not convicted of, bigamy in 1884. In 1885, he was indicted for perjury steming from a sworn statement he made backing a land claim for Miles Romney (grandfather of George W. Romney). His bail was posted by Baron Goldwater (uncle of Barry Goldwater). The trial and its aftermath received heavy regional press coverage. David was convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment at a federal penitentary in Detroit, Michigan. Later the prosecutor and presiding judge at the trial both wrote letters to President Grover Cleveland supporting a pardon, as they that believed David had simply misunderstood the law and that he lacked any criminal intent. President Cleveland issued a pardon after David served just three months of his sentence.

In 1887 David was made a stake president, a higher position in the Mormon hierarchy. In that position he oversaw Mormon affairs over a broad portion of Arizona.

That same year, Tommy Stewart, David's double brother-in-law, was elected to serve in the Utah Territorial Legislature. David's wife, Eliza, was Tommy's sister, and Tommy was married to David's sister, Mary, making Tommy a member of the Udall family by marriage. Tommy would later become mayor of Kanab.

In 1890, the Mormon Church banned most instances of polygamy. After this, hostility toward Mormons in many communities outside of Utah decreased. Between improved relations with non-Mormons, and an ever-growing Mormon population in eastern Arizona, David's popularity improved such that he was elected to a single term in the Arizona Territorial Legislature in 1899, as a Republican. He died as a widely respected member of his community in 1938, living long enough to see several of his sons elected to public office.

David's younger brother, Joseph Udall, also settled in Arizona, and became active in local politics. He served as chairman of the Apache County Board of Supervisors from 1906-1920.

[edit] Sons of David King Udall

Twelve of David King Udall's children lived to adulthood; six by each of his wives. Four of his sons became attorneys; of those, all were elected or appointed to political and judicial offices. Interestingly, all of the Udall politicians descended from David's wife Eliza have been Democrats, while most of the politicians descended from his wife Ida have been Republicans.

The first of David's children to seek office was Levi Stewart Udall, who ran for clerk to the Arizona Superior Court in 1922 as a Democrat. His older brother, John Hunt Udall then filed to run for the same office as a Republican. John won.

John was later elected mayor of Phoenix, Arizona and he served in that office from 1936-1938. He later served as a judge, and was narrowly defeated as a candidate for U.S. Congress in 1948. He was first married to Ruth Kimball, sister of Spencer W. Kimball and niece of Joseph Smith, Jr.. Ruth died at a young age, and he remarried to Leah Smith, daughter of Jesse Nathaniel Smith.

Levi followed a career in the judiciary, and was elected Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court in 1946. He served on that Court from 1947 until his death in 1960, and he was Chief Justice from 1951-53 and 1957-59. Levi was married to Louisa Lee. His brother Jesse was married to Louisa's sister Lela Lee. For this reason, their respective descendants are double cousins. The Lee sisters were granddaughters of John D. Lee and Jacob Hamblin.

Jesse Addison Udall served in the Arizona House of Representitives from 1931-1938. Upon his brother Levi's death, he was appointed by the governor to fill the same seat on the Arizona Supreme Court. He served from 1960-72, and he was Chief Justice in 1964 and 1969.

Don Taylor Udall served as Representative to the Arizona State Legislature from 1941-42. He resigned to serve in World War II, and would later become a judge.

[edit] Grandchildren of David King Udall

Nick Udall, son of John H. Udall, followed in his father's footsteps, and served as mayor of Phoenix, AZ from 1948-52. Unlike his father, he was a Democrat. He also served as a Superior Court Judge in Maricopa County, Arizona from 1952-56. Many kinships between the Udalls and other politicians and well-know people come through Nick. This is not so surprising when considering that Nick was a great-grandson of Utah Lieutenant Governor Heber C. Kimball, who had 43 wives,63 children,176 grandchildren and 564 great-grandchildren. Among Nick's cousins is U.S. Ambassador J. Reuben Clark.

Stewart Lee Udall : Son of Levi S. Udall, served as a Democratic U.S. Representative from Arizona (1955 - 1961) and also as Secretary of the Interior (1961 - 1969). Point Udall, U.S. Virgin Islands, the easternmost point in the United States, is named in his honor.

Morris King "Mo" Udall : Stewart's brother, also served as a Democratic U.S. Representative from Arizona (1961 - 1991) and ran for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 1976. Point Udall, Guam, the westernmost point in the United States is named in his honor.

David K. Udall, son of Jesse A. Udall, served as a city councilman in Mesa, Arizona for eight years.

[edit] Fourth generation

Thomas Stewart "Tom" Udall, Stewart Udall's son, was the first of David King Udall's great-grandchildren to hold political office. He was a practicing attorney and ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Democrat in New Mexico in 1984 and 1988. In 1990 he was elected Attorney General of New Mexico, a position he held from 1991-99. He was finally elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from New Mexico's 3rd District in 1998, and he served as Representative from 1999-2009. During this period he served in Congress beside his cousins Mark Udall and Gordon Smith (see below), marking one of the very few times in history when three members of the same family have served in Congress simultaneously. In 2008 he was elected to the U.S. Senate from New Mexico in a landslide victory. He took office in January 2009.

Gordon Harold Smith, Jesse Udall's grandson through his daughter Jessica Udall Smith, was the next to venture into politics. His father, Milan Dale Smith, Sr., was an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, and he later built a successful frozen foods empire. Gordon obtained a law degree and initially pursued a career as an attorney, before later taking over the frozen food business. In 1992, he was elected to the Oregon State Senate, as a Republican. He became president of that body in 1995. In 1997, he was narrowly defeated when running for the U.S. Senate in a Special election to replace Bob Packwood. Later that year he won election to Oregon's other U.S. Senate seat, the only time anyone has ever run for the Senate twice in the same year. He served in the Senate from 1998-2009. In 2008, he was narrowly defeated for reelection, following a shift in Oregon politics over the preceding decade toward the Democratic Party. He was the last remaining Republican to hold statewide office at the time. Most Udall politicians have also been either Hunt or Lee descendants. Gordon Smith is unique in being descended from both additional lines.

Mark Emery Udall, Morris Udall's son, pursued a 20 year career as an Outward Bound instructor and director before launching a political career in 1996 with a successful campaign for the Colorado State House of Representatives as a Democrat. He served a single term there, before a successful bid for the U.S. House from Colorado's 2nd Congressional District in 1998. He held that office for ten years. In 2008 he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Colorado, and he was seated in January 2009. Raised Presbyterian, Mark is the first non-Mormon politician in the family. With Barack Obama's nomination of Ken Salazar as Secretary of the Interior, Colorado's other Senate seat was vacated January 20. 2009, and Mark became Colorado's senior Senator after just three weeks in office.

Milan Dale Smith, Jr., Gordon Smith's brother, was nominated to the federal judiciary by George W. Bush in 2006. He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate (including his brother), and he currently serves on the U.S. Ninth Circuit.

David King Udall, son of Mesa councilman David K. Udall, serves as a Superior Court Judge in Maricopa County, Arizona (since 2001).

[edit] Family tree

[edit] Anecdotes

In his autobiography Too Funny To Be President, Mo Udall describes the efforts of himself and his brother Stewart to get a dam built on the Colorado River (a position they later opposed). A citizen, who lived in Saint Johns, Arizona as a boy, dictated the following letter and mailed it to a number of politicians:

“

Dear Sirs: I am an old man and I know a lot about... this Udall outfit. My father had a ranch on the Little Colorado River when I was a boy. We had cattle, sheep and goats and horses. In the bottom land we raised our corn and beans and chile and we were contented and happy. Then David K. Udall moved down to Saint Johns... and he and some other men like him put in a dam across the Little Colorado. We objected because it was a dangerous place to put in a dirt dam but they went right ahead and put it in anyway. When it broke, it ruined our land and drowned our cattle and goats and...I have been poor ever since. They never paid us a cent for the damages. I confess I do not like the Udalls and this is one reason. Another reason is that you cannot trust any of them. The whole tribe were Republicans and David K. Udall and his brother Joe Udall tried for years to get the Mexicans, who were then all Republicans to give them a public office. But Don Lorenzo Hubbell, who was a great leader, saw through this scheme and never would let them get on the Republican ticket. And the Mormons, who were nearly all Democrats, would have none of them. But when Franklin Roosevelt came in, some of the Mexicans switched to him and the Udalls went along, or most of them did. However David K. Udall, the big shot, had a second wife hid out down the river at a place called Hunt and this wife had some boys who stayed Republican and one of them got to be mayor of Phoenix. In this way the Udall family can now work both sides of the street. I want you to check up on this because I am an old man and want to be sure of my facts. But my granddaughter tells me this Stewart Udall is trying to steal the water from the Colorado and I can believe it. Because this is the way it happened fifty and sixty years ago. The Udalls have been at this business a long time. Respectfully yours, Jose (Joe) Chavez

”

[edit] See also

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Arizona

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Udall, David King and Pearl Udall Nelson. Arizona Pioneer Mormon; David King Udall: His Story and His Family. Tucson: Arizona Silhouettes Press, 1959. Full text online.
• Udall, Morris King. Too Funny To Be President; New York, New York. Henry Holt and Company, 1988.
• "In Arizona, you have a choice: Vote for Udall, or for Udall" Robert Gehrke, Associated Press, November 9, 2001.
• "Joseph Udall and his extended family." Published by Ronald Earl Wiltbank. ISBN 0-9713437-0-5 Feb. 1996.

[edit] External links

• "Showdown: The Udall Boys lead the Democratic charge for the Senate"
• The Political Graveyard: Udall Family of Arizona
• Gordon Smith's U.S. Senate Homepage
• Mark Udall's Colorado 2nd District Congressional Homepage
• Tom Udall's New Mexico 3rd District Congressional Homepage
• Morris K. Udall collection at the University of Arizona
• Stewart L. Udall collection at the University of Arizona
• David King Udall collection at the University of Arizona
• Levi S. Udall collection at the University of Arizona
• Jesse A. Udall collection at the University of Arizona