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HISTORY OF COLLINS ROWE CHARLESWORTH
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written by Josie Juantia Abraham Charlesworth
and their daughters
One day, when Freddie Lawrence Bird was doing carpenter work at the Kanosh school house he and Coll were visiting when Freddie said, "Collie, I think you have some pretty nice sons-in-law. I don't know much about Ross Cutler, but he seems to be a good fellow, and I don't know Lloyd Allen too well, but he seems to be ok, and that Willard Whitaker is a peach of a guy, but THAT Franklin Kimball, is a hopeless case!" Franklin's mother, Edith Kimball had a good laugh about this when she heard it.
Sister Annie Watts was a very close neighbor of Colls, and one day when her family was celebrating her birthday, Coll went over to wish her a happy birthday. During the fun, he stayed long enough to dance with her. When sister Watts passed away her daughters, Jean and Atelka asked him to talk in the services, along with his wife, Juanita.
He received his Patriarchal Blessing 14 Nov. 1909 at Kanosh, Millard Co., Utah by his grandfather Collins R. Hakes. Coll was ordained an Elder 14 June 1914 by Alonzo A. Kimball ordained a Seventy 3 June 1928 by Stephen L. Richards, and a High Priest 9 Jan. 1949 by Marion G. Romney.
Some of his Church callings were: Superintendent of Kanosh Ward Sunday School, Stake Missionary (released 16 Jan. 1944 by Stake Missionary President-O. Alma Anderson). He was called as Bishop of the Kanosh Ward 9 Jan. 1949. The Stake President was Preal George, a close friend and neighbor. Coll was the l0th bishop of Kanosh, and set apart by Marion G. Romney. He chose as his counselors Fred D. Whitaker lst, J Victor Rogers 2nd, with Leonard Abraham as clerk. (Victor moved to California so Earl G. Whitaker took his place.) Being Bishop was a humbling experience and he needed the support of every member of the ward, so he went to two men in town, who were holding a grudge against him and he said he went to talk to each of them about their differences, and he shook their hands so hard that he hoped to shake the devil out of them: Both became more friendly toward him.
The first funeral he conducted after becoming Bishop was that of Cleve Halsey, son of
Lill & Albert Halsev. who were close friends of Coll. This untimely death was caused from a tragic car accident, which made it doubly hard because of a special closeness Cleve and Coll had with one another. He felt that Cleve would have accepted a mission call had he lived, but maybe this was his mission!
When Coll went in as Bishop the main concern was to have a new chapel, which had been talked about for years, but not accomplished. This was one undertaking Coll felt incapable of doing, but through fasting, prayers and sleepless nights, a beautiful chapel was built, using as many skilled townspeople as they could. LeGrande George and his brothers, local
men, headed this project. A lot of volunteer work was put into this building and there were large donations from several inactive and non-members. Many fund-raising projects were held at this time, but in the beginning, the Bishopric met with the General Authorities and promised them that if they would go along with their proposals, they would meet the deadline
on time, and this was accomplished in record time. The sod was broken 23 Apr. 1951 and dedicated 7 June. 1952. Alonzo Turner, a non-member, worked hard on this building, and one day when he was showing some people through the building one man pointed to a hole and asked what it was, to which Lon replied: "That is the baptismal font, and that man over there (pointing to Coll) wants to push me in, but hasn't yet!" Lon and Coll were always good friends and joked with one another.
Collins R. Charlesworth was released from being Bishop 26 Nov. 1952. Then on 14 Feb. 1953 he and his wife were previously set apart by President Spencer W. Kimball for a 2-year Southwest Indian Mission. Gallop, New Mexico was their headquarters, with Golden R. Buchannan as President. Coll took his pick-up truck loaded with the necessary household items. There were many miles between hogans, so in order to have their own transportation, this was a must! It was a hard mission because many couldn't speak English so they had to communicate through the school children. Also, living conditions were hard to get used to, but they did enjoy their mission, and soon made many friends. During this time they were invited to eat meals with them. Some of the women were very neat, while others were not. One day they watched an Indian woman wash her hands, then use that same water to make fry bread. They couldn't figure out why the woman bothered to wash! Coll noticed an Indian boy with a three-legged dog, so asked what happened and he said they had used the leg for soup. That was very hard to
accept, but the circumstances were so poor that they did the best they knew how. The women herded the sheep, washed, corded and dyed and spun the wool, and sat for days in the hot sun or in their hogans, making beautiful rugs and blankets then sold them to the trading posts for food and money, then the men took the money to buy liquor.
One interesting event they watched, unbeknown to the Indians, was what they called a 'sweat bath'. This was done by making a fire outside then carrying the hot rocks on pitchforks into a small dirt mound (shaped like a hogan), just big enough for several Indians to get into. Water was poured over the hot rocks to make steam, and the entrance was covered with a blanket to keep the steam inside. After a certain length of time they came outside and rolled in the sand to close the pores, then they brushed themselves off.
They were released from their mission 15 Feb.1955, and on 6 June 1955 they left for a mission at the Manti Temple, which was a very spiritual experience for them. Coll took many parts and memorized long speeches until he had them perfect. One day, however, while taking the part of Satan, he was to say a certain thing, but said it wrong, causing the audience to chuckle a little. He couldn't figure why in the world he had made such a blunder! He would go to the Temple every morning, sometimes before anyone else was there, giving him an opportunity to practice in the peaceful, quiet atmosphere, and at times thought he could hear heavenly music. One morning he was standing in front of the pulpit rehearsing when the janitor and his wife came in and were startled to see Coll standing there in his white suit, as they thought they were seeing a heavenly being.
Coll was used to having a garden, so when they lived at the base of Temple Hill he planted a lovely one, and of course, his children enjoyed the harvest.
On 31 July 1957 Coll and Juanita were released from this mission.
In January 1958 he and Nita went to Garden Grove, California to visit Geraldine and Franklin where Coll became ill with an enlarged heart. The other four daughters went down with
Terrill to spend some time while their father was convalescing.
Coll recovered and they went to Salt Lake City, where they lived in several different apartments. They were called to work in the Salt Lake Temple 27 Jan. 1959, where they labored until Coll had a stroke, leaving him paralyzed on one side. He was released 18 Dec. 1959. From the hospital he was taken to two different rest homes in Salt Lake City. Nita took him back to Kanosh and cared for him until it became necessary to take him to the Fillmore Hospital, under the care of Dr. Evans for about two months. He was then taken to a rest home in Mayfield, Utah. Later, Nita and daughter Leora, took him to a rest home in Parowan, Utah. because of neglect received at Mayfield. Not
long afterward, Coll was taken to a Cedar City hospital because of pneumonia, and there he passed away 20 July 1962 at the age of 72 (lacking 4 days).
The funeral services were held in the Kanosh Ward Chapel 25 July, 1962 as follows:
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Family Prayer by Clawson Abraham
Prelude and Postlude Music by Neca Watts
Bishop Lloyd P. George conducting
Invocation-- Garvin Charlesworth
lst Speaker-- Leonard Abraham
Vocal Solo--Willard H. Whitaker "End of a Perfect Day"
2nd Speaker-- Preal George
Vocal Solo-- EvaDean Robison Iroz "Hold Thou My Hand"
3rd Speaker-- Golden R. Buchannan (President of Southwest Indian Mission)
4th Speaker--Owen C. Staples
Vocal Solo--Fred D. Whitaker "Going Home"
Benediction--Earl G. Whitaker
Grave Dedicated--James E. Charlesworth
Rededicated--Leonard Abraham
Pall Bearers: Melvin and Glen Whitaker
John and Frank Kimball
Scott and Phyll Allen
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DETAILS OF COLLINS ROWE CHARLESWORTH'S MARRIED LIFE ARE IN THE LIFE HISTORY OF HIS WIFE JOSIE JUANITA ABRAHAM.
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