David Albert Broadbent (1871 - 1962)

Born 14 May 1871 in Goshen, Utah, Utah, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Mima Melissa (Murdock) Broadbent — married 1 May 1901 in Manti LDS Temple, Manti, Sanpete, Utah, United States

Died 2 May 1962 at age 90 in Logan, Cache, Utah, USA

Biography

"DAVID A. and MIMA MURDOCK BROADBENT"

"David Albert Broadbent was born at Goshen, Utah County, on May 14, 1871, the fifth child of Mary Jane Nuttle and his father [Thomas Broadbent], who had three divisions of his family of 31 children. Mary Jane was the second wife, and her family consisted of seven sons and four daughters.

"The parents were emigrants from England and were among the first settlers of Monroe, Sevier County. They began their life in a dugout, but were soon driven out by the Indians from their home and took refuge at Spring City, Sanpete County. Shortly after they settled in Spring City, Goshen, Utah County was opened for settlement and the family moved there.

"David was born while the family was in Goshen, and at the age of six years he was given the responsibility with his eight-year-old brother Joseph to tend the town herd of cows in the foothills of the Santaquin Mountains.

"When David was 14, the family returned to Monroe County, and it was here that David worked seven years on the farm. As he approached his twenty-first birthday he left home to gain an education. He enrolled art Brigham Young University in January of 1893, and for four years worked his way through school, receiving no assistance from any source other than his own efforts. At the time of his graduation in 1897 he had consistently been on the honor roll and had more hours of scholastic credit in the institution than any other member of the class of that year.

"At the time of graduation he was called by President Wilford Woodruff to fill a mission in the South Sea Islands, primarily to translate the Book of Mormon. However, it was later decided he should be called to organize a Church school at Graham County, Arizona. When the saints in that area could not obtain a suitable building for the school, David was appointed to serve in the Southern States Mission. He left for Tennessee on January 6, 1898, and filled an honorable mission for the Church.

"When he returned from the South he worked at the Golden Gate Mills in Tooele until the opening of schools in September, 1900, when he became principal and teacher in Charleston School.

"For 37 years, Mr. Broadbent served the people of Wasatch County and the state of Utah in public and in Church school positions. He began in Charleston, where he organized and graded the students for the first time in their history. He was the principal and teacher of four grades, with 64 students in his departments.

"The present school building was erected and an eight-grade school was operating when he was appointed principal in the Heber schools. During the six years he served there he took the lead in convincing the several boards of school trustees that Wasatch County could serve itself with a local high school for all those in the county, rather than having a few leave the county for high school training.

"The trustees supported him in the move, and the first Wasatch High School was organized, with J. William Robinson as principal. This work continued to grow into a consolidated school district.

"Mr. Broadbent served 13 years as superintendent of Wasatch school district schools, during which period most of the school buildings, including the high school, were constructed.

"While superintendent, he organized a 12-month program for all students in the county, in which work and the development of skills, as well as the regular course subjects, articulated with the home and the Church, and went so far as to give credit for work done in literature, music and other activities of the boys who spent their summers on the range with flocks and herds.

"This program, when in operation, drew the attention of Dr. E.A. Winship of New York, who declared it to be the most practical and complete of any he had found in the nation at that time.

"As he served in educational capacities, he also found time to fill civic and Church responsibilities. He served as president of the Charleston town board and also was president of the Wasatch Chamber of Commerce. He took an active part in organizing Wasatch County Fair, of which he was president several years. He also established what was known as the "Range Roundup Outing," which was primarily for 4-H Club boys and FFA members and their parents. They would go onto the ranges and in the summer and study the various feeds and their values, with experts as their instructors.

"As president of the Chamber of Commerce he was instrumental in getting the State Legislature to pass a law which privileged each county to levy a local tax for memorial purposes after World War I. As a result of this enactment and the cooperation of the citizens of Wasatch County, the present Memorial Hill and the spiral road were constructed.

"For nearly 20 years he served the Boy Scouts of America in a devoted manner. He also was superintendent of construction of reservoirs at the head of Provo Canyon.

"Since his days in the Aaronic Priesthood, D.A. Broadbent was active in the LDS Church. He was president of this Teachers' Quorum in Elsinore, and throughout his life held responsible positions. He served in virtually all the priesthood and auxiliary organizations, except for the Relief Society and the Primary, and his wife worked diligently in those organizations for more than 40 years.

"Throughout his years he served as a counselor in [the] Heber Second Ward bishopric for 12 years, was stake clerk for three years, then second counselor in the stake presidency, for four years the first counselor and for nine years the stake president. He was serving as stake president when he was called to preside over the North Central States Mission of the Church, which calling he held for some 40 months.

"After returning from the mission field he served in the presidency of the Salt Lake Temple nearly four years to climax his busy life of Church service.

"On May 1, 1901, he and Mima M. Murdock were married in the Manti Temple and began their happy years of married life. As they began their marriage they established five goals: 1. To rear a large family; 2. To have them all baptized on their eighth birthday; 3. To assist each to a college degree, or some other field of achievement to make them socially secure; 4. Have all of them married in the temple; and 5. All the boys and as many of the girls as might be possible to fulfill missions for the Church.

"D.A. and Mima lived to see all of their goals accomplished.

"Of his wife, D.A. wrote in his later years concerning the accomplishments of their family: "'The greatest share of the credit for this program's achievement is due to the noble mother. Without complete cooperation and industrious, willing hands, we would have fallen far short of our achievement. She became president of the ward Relief Society at the time of the birth of our second child, and served more than a quarter century in this field, both as ward and stake president, as well as taking an active part in all other auxiliaries, of both the stake and ward. Many of our neighbors who had less than half our number of children (four sons and ten daughters) and double our revenue, often mad the remark that D.A. must have access to a pot of gold, for we can neither send our children on missions nor to college for want of revenue. Mother's handy and efficient fingers and the practical skills she had developed in preparation for her part in life's service, as she applied her art in rennovating [sic], remodeling and making over the wearing apparels; with a strict economy in all her habits, has been really the foundation for our success. Truly the wife and mother in the home has the greater part of the load to carry. We have made ours a full, cooperative program. Mother has always, not only been willing, but also has urged that the head of the house should respond to every duty, sacrificing social pleasures for the weightier matters of the mission of life.'

"To his family, D.A. often said: 'Be ashamed to cease serving until the last breath of life has been drawn,' and he and his wife literally fulfilled this motto."

—copied by Eugene C. Rasband from How Beautiful Upon the Mountains ©1963 pp. 518-19.

Census

• 1880 US Census: Name: David Broadbent; Event Place: Utah, Utah Territory, United States; Event Place (Original): Utah, UT; Sex: Male; Age: 9l Marital Status: Single; Race: White; Race (Original): W; Birth Year (Estimated): 1871; Birthplace: Utah, United States; Father's Birthplace: ---; Mother's Birthplace: ---; Relationship to Head of Household: Son

Thomas Broadbent Self M 46 England

Elizabeth Broadbent Wife F 44 England

James T. Broadbent Son M 21 England

Mary J. Broadbent Wife F 35 England

Mary E. Broadbent Daughter F 16 Utah, United States

Annie E. Broadbent Daughter F 13 Utah, United States

Joseph Broadbent Son M 11 Utah, United States

David Broadbent Son M 9 Utah, United States

Charles Broadbent Son M 7 Utah, United States

Genive L. Broadbent Daughter F 4 Utah, United States

Sylvester Broadbent Son M 2 Utah, United States

• 1900 US Census: Name: David Broadbent; Event Place (Original): ED 164 Provo city Ward 3-5; Sex: Male; Age: 29; Marital Status: Single; Race: White; Race (Original): White; Birth Date: May 1871; Birthplace: Utah; Father's Birthplace: England; Mother's Birthplace: England; Relationship to Head of Household: Son; Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Son

Mary J. Broadbent Head F 57 England

David Broadbent Son M 29 Utah

Charles Broadbent Son M 27 Utah

Serena Broadbent Daughter F 20 Utah

Sylvester Broadbent Son M 22 Utah

Thomas S. Broadbent Son M 15 Utah

Sources

• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNSL-GJ4 : 14 November 2020), David Broadbent in household of Thomas Broadbent, Utah, Utah Territory, United States; citing enumeration district ED 85, sheet 237C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,255,338.
• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMRT-J4R : accessed 6 February 2021), David Broadbent in household of Mary J. Broadbent, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 164, sheet 37A, family 724, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,687.
• findagrave.com