Samuel George Ellsworth

Samuel George Ellsworth was born on June 19, 1916 in Safford, Arizona to James Clarence and Julia Claridge Ellsworth. As a child Ellsworth grew up living in a number of places including Arizona, Utah, California, and Missouri. He graduated from high school in Kansas City, Missouri in 1934 and attended Kansas City Junior College between 1934 and 1936 where he studied pre-architecture. Ellsworth then served an LDS mission to the North Central States Mission (headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota) between 1936 and 1938. As a missionary he was the Mission Supervisor of Sunday Schools and Mutual as well as the Mission Secretary. During this time, Ellsworth's interests in history replaced his previous ambitions in architecture and after returning home to his family in Logan, Utah he attended the Utah State Agricultural College. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in History and Mathematics in June 1941 he moved to Bunkerville, Nevada, to become principal of the Virgin Valley LDS Seminary and a teacher at Virgin Valley High School from September 1941 to November 1942.

On July 4, 1942, he met Maria Smith, daughter of Asahel Henry Smith and Pauline Udall Smith of Snowflake, Arizona. George and Maria were married in the Mesa, Arizona, LDS Temple on October 24, 1942. Shortly after he married, Ellsworth enlisted in the United States Army Air Force. During the Second World War Ellsworth served as a staff sergeant, clerk, and administrative inspector at Hammer Field in Fresno, California. From January 1945 to June 1946, Ellsworth served as a Chaplain in the Philippines.

After leaving the Army Ellsworth continued his education. Between 1946 and 1951 he attended the University of California at Berkley. He received his Master of Arts degree in History in 1947 after finishing his thesis and four years later he received a Ph.D. in History and Philosophy. His completed dissertation was entitled, "A History of Mormon Missions in the United States and Canada, 1830-1860." During his time in graduate school Ellsworth was a teaching assistant for the University of California at Davis as well as at Berkley. During the summer session of 1949 Ellsworth worked as a visiting instructor in History at the Utah State Agricultural College in Logan, Utah.

After receiving his Ph.D. in 1951, Ellsworth returned to Logan where he would teach history for the next thirty-one years. In 1954 he was promoted to associate professor and in 1963 to full professor. From 1966 to 1969 Ellsworth served as the head of the Department. His teaching included classes in Western Civilization, Greek History, Roman History, History of Utah, Social History of the United States, American Philosophy, Recent United States History, Hispanic American History, Colonial Latin America, Sources and Literature, Historical Method and Research, and Ancient World Civilization. During his career Ellsworth served as a visiting professor at West Virginia University in 1954, and Brigham Young University in 1956. In 1983 Dr. Ellsworth retired becoming an emeritus professor.

In addition to his long teaching career Ellsworth was also a member of many local, state, and national historical associations including the American Historical Association, the Western History Association, the Mormon History Association, the Oral History Association, the Utah State Historical Society, the Cache Valley Historical Society, the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, the Heritage Committee of the Utah American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, and the Utah Endowment for the Humanities. Ellsworth served two terms as president of the Cache Valley Historical Society between 1954 and 1956. He was the president of the Faculty Association at Utah State University during the 1962-1963 school year and was the co-founder (along with Leonard Arrington) of the Western Historical Quarterly and became the managing editor of the journal from 1969 to 1979. Ellsworth also served as a member of the board of directors for the American Issues Forum and a member of the executive committee for the Utah Endowment for the Humanities.

George Ellsworth received a number of prominent awards during his career in History. In 1959 he was the Faculty Honor Lecturer of the Utah State University Faculty Association. In 1965 Ellsworth received the Robins Award from Utah State University. He was awarded the Mormon History Association book of the year for Utah's Heritage in April 1973. He became a Fellow in the Utah State Historical Society of September 1973, and one year later was given the Award of Merit by the American Association for State and Local History. In 1984 he became an Honorary Life Member in the Western History Association, and in 1990 he received the Distinguished Service Award from Utah State University.

During his career, Ellsworth wrote numerous articles, reviews, and encyclopedia entries dealing with LDS and Utah history. In addition to Utah's Heritage he also published Dear Ellen: Two Mormon Women and Their Letters (1974), Samuel Claridge: Pioneering the Outposts of Zion (1987), The Journals of Addison Pratt (1990), Seasons of Faith and Courage: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in French Polynesia, A Sesquicentennial History, 1843-1993 (1994 with Kathleen C. Perrin), and The History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, which came out after Ellsworth's death in 1997.

Dr. Ellsworth also played an active role in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and with his own family. George and Maria Ellsworth had two sons: Stephen George and Mark Addison and four grandchildren. Samuel George Ellsworth passed away in his home in Logan, Utah on December 22, 1997.

Maria Smith Ellsworth

Maria S. Ellsworth was born in 1918 in Hunt, Arizona. Later she moved to Snowflake where she grew up in a family of eleven, including her twin brother Marion. She graduated from Arizona State Teaching College at Flagstaff on May 29, 1940, and taught Kindergarten and First grade.

A couple years later Maria was visiting Salt Lake City and met and became engaged to George Ellsworth. They were married on the 24th of October in 1942. They had two boys, Stephen and Mark, and four grandchildren: Guinevere Julia, Margaret Ellen, Andrew Mark, and Joseph Henry.

Throughout Maria's life she was active in her community. She taught school in Arizona, California, and Utah and served in local PTA's. She also served two terms on the Logan City School Board where she was the only female member, and later became a member of the State Accreditation Committee. Maria was the President of the Old Main Society and President of the Faculty Women's League at Utah State University. She served in various positions in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 1993 Maria Ellsworth was awarded the prize for the best biography of the year by the Mormon History Association. Her book was titled Mormon Odyssey: The Story of Ida Hunt Udall, Plural Wife, which was published by the University of Illinois. She also published seven book reviews. She died on December 1, 1999, in Logan, Utah.