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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF

ANNA ROSINA CARDON SHAW

BY

    LAURA R. JENKINS

Anna Rosina Cardon Shaw was born in Marriott [near Ogden], Weber County, Utah,
on February 14, 1858.  She was the daughter of John Cardon and Anna Furrer
Cardon, both early pioneers of Utah.  Her father came to Salt Lake City in the P. E.
Fund Company, arriving October 16, 1853.  Her mother crossed the plains with the
first handcart company and arrived in Utah September 26, 1856. 

The Cardon family was of French descent, but had settled in the mountains of Italy,
where they owned beautiful vineyards.  They were thrifty people, by trade weavers,
cabinetmakers, and builders.  Anna Furrer Cardon was a native of Switzerland and
had been educated in medical science in that country.  This knowledge made her an
angel of mercy to the company with which she traveled.  Her labors among the sick
after her arrival in Utah will never be forgotten.  It was of this noble parentage that
Anna Rosina was permitted to enter mortality. 

The early home of the Cardon family was in Marriott ward where they owned
considerable property.  An incident might here be related showing the implicit faith
of the mother of the subject of our sketch.  Desiring a blessing from the great
prophet and seer Brigham Young, the day before the birth of the babe, Dr. Anna
walked to Salt Lake City from her home in Marriott.  The next day she walked back
and the night of her return her child was born.  Brigham Young promised that the
babe was a chosen spirit.  Satan seems to have known, for he was always on the
alert to destroy her life. 

The winter following her birth was unusually severe.  The Wasatch Mountains were
packed with snow from summit to base.  The spring brought heavy rainfalls, and the
genial warmth of the sunshiny days melted the winter snow.  Ogden River over swept
its bounds, and the farms of the surrounding country were completely inundated. 
The night on which the river gained its greatest strength Dr. Anna, with her infant
Rosina, were alone.   A neighbor, feeling impressed of her condition, came to her
rescue and assisted mother and child onto a stack of hay, where they spent the night
in safety.  Had this neighbor not heeded the warning voice, both mother and child
would undoubtedly have perished. 

When Rosina was five years of age, an accident occurred which, but for the
interference of Providence, might have deprived her of life.  Her mother had engaged
a neighbor woman to look after her three little ones while she went out for an
evening's recreation.  Locking the door behind her, she made the mistake of leaving
her darlings before the neighbor arrived. 

Rosina exerted herself in every way she knew to entertain the younger children.   A
bright fire burned in the open fireplace.  Finding that swinging a long stick caused
the baby to laugh, she continued to do so, until she suddenly found her clothing in
flames!  The door was locked!  Apparently there was no escape.  Her guardian
angel, however, was present.  She was silently prompted to break a window, climb
out, and run toward her father who was working in a field nearby.  Had she not
followed the dictates of this "still, small voice", the cabin would most certainly have
been burned and the three children would have perished in the flames. 

She succeeded in getting out of the window without setting fire to anything else.  The
father noticed the smoke and heard her screams, but thought them the wailing of a
coyote, there being so many of them in the vicinity at the time.  Soon he recognized
the voice of his child, and he ran in the direction from which the moans came, and
found the little girl where she had fallen, burned beyond all recognition. 

In relating the sad story, Rosina later said, "I was still conscious enough to hear the
agonized cries of my father as he gazed on the terrible spectacle.  'My God!'  he
wailed, 'Can this be my child?  How can I pick you up!  Your flesh is gone, and you are
failing to pieces!"'

The burned flesh dropped to the ground as he tried to move the charred figure. 
Carefully he pushed back the intestines, or they would have fallen from the
abdominal cavity.  He carried the little body home and dispatched a messenger for
the mother.  How the heart-broken woman reproached herself for her sad mistake!
With a tenacity seldom witnessed Rosina clung to life, but no one thought she could
live, and at times life seemed extinct.   In her great grief, the mother remembered the
promises of President Young in his blessing to her before the child's birth.  Feeling
that he alone could assist her, she sent him word of the terrible accident.  'Dead or
alive, bring her to me, 'was the reply.  To the great Latter-Day Prophet the tiny
charred frame was borne. 

President Young called in the brethren and held a Circle Prayer.  He then anointed
the little head and placed his hands upon it.  The prophetic power of God was upon
him and he promised her complete recovery with no visible scars or bad results.  He
told her she should live to be a mother in Israel, a savior to her husband, and an
instrument in the hands of God for the good of his children on the earth.  At the close
of the blessing a brother standing nearby remarked that those blessings might as
well have been made to a stone, for the child could never live. 

President Young insisted on the little one remaining in his home for about two weeks,
and his wife Mary Ann Angel and Sister Vilate Kimball cared for her.  She was then
taken again to her father's home.  Weeks passed with so few signs of life, she was
often taken for dead.  Friends even declared mortification had set in, but tenaciously
the mother clung to the promises of the Prophet of God.  At length, life's forces were
renewed and the little one began to revive.  Weeks of intense suffering followed, but
through the mercies of God and the vigilant efforts and faith of the mother, the little
girl's life was spared.  Though until eight years of age she walked on crutches, Rosina
lived to see President Young's promises fulfilled and today has no visible scars and
suffers no discomfort from the accident. 

When Rosina was fourteen years of age the family moved to Lynn ward, Ogden City,
and there engaged in the general merchandise business, dealing heavily in fruit,
manufacturing molasses, and operating a wool carding machine.  The delicate little
girl assisted in all these enterprises.  She had little opportunity for education, but she
advanced rapidly with the little schooling she did have.  She studied music under
Eliza Snow, daughter of President Lorenzo Snow of Brigham City, and at one time had
the honer [sic] of entertaining President Young.  In 1874 she attended school for a
few weeks under the tuition [sic] of Professor L. F. Moench, but on account of ill
health she was obliged to discontinue.

In 1876 Rosina apprenticed herself to Mrs. Carter, manager of the Relief Society
millinery store of Ogden City.  She rapidly advanced and in a short time became
head trimmer.  The practical business training she had received in her father's store
now was of great value to her.  Her employers recognized her business ability, and
she became assistant manager of the millinery store, holding the position for three
years.  On December 29, 1878, she became the wife of William Shaw of Lynn. 
Though Mr. Shaw was not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints at their marriage, he soon after received the gospel, and in 1882 the desire of
his wife's heart was gratified; they were married for time and eternity in the
Endowment House of Salt Lake City. 

William and Rosina Shaw engaged in the mercantile business and through thrift and
economy built the brick store which stands at Five Points today.  William Shaw was
always an honest tithe payer.  When he built his store at Lynn, he valued his property
and sold his only cow to meet his tithing.  He prospered greatly and lived to know
that God fulfills His promises to the tithe payer.  He was always strictly honest in all
his dealings and insisted on full weights and measures. 

Rosina always assisted in her husband's business and when, in 1896, he was called
on a mission to New York, she assumed control of his business.  She was then the
mother of five children.  Her son William Alben, aged sixteen, assisted her in the
store, while her daughter Rozina Diana cared for the home and younger children.  At
one time she had just sent out a heavy order for goods for her store.  To meet the
payment required all the money she could raise.  At this most inopportune time her
husband wrote to her from his field of labor for the sum of forty-five dollars.  She was
at a loss at how to obtain the requested amount. 

Soon after, while driving up Washington Avenue with her son, he noticed a strange-
looking parcel in the street.  They picked it up and found it to be a pocket
handkerchief in which were tied two twenty-dollar gold pieces and a five-dollar gold
piece, just forty-five dollars, the amount for which her husband had sent.  Rosina
advertised for the owner, but as the parcel was never claimed, she sent it to her
husband, feeling the Lord had sent her the money she required. 

Many instances in the life of Rosina Shaw might be related wherein she was warned
of dangers, and through these warnings enabled to avert many accidents.  Through
her great faith her children have been healed, and when death called them, the Lord
in His mercy comforted her with dreams and visions.  She was the mother of eight
children, two of whom have preceded her to the spirit world; two of her sons have
carried the gospel to the nations of the earth. 

In August 1909, William Shaw rented his store at Lynn and removed his family to
Logan, as Rosina was very anxious to work in the temple for her kindred.  In August of
1913, they were about to return to Lynn when William Shaw was suddenly called
from this sphere of action.  He had arisen as usual and was starting a fire in the
family cook stove, when he fell over on the floor unconscious and passed away
before help could reach him.  William Shaw's sudden death came not without
warning.  Both he and his wife were warned in dreams before the sad event took
place.  After her husband's death Rosina Shaw decided to remain in Logan and rent
her store to her son.  She had more work to do for her kindred dead, and she spent
much of her time in the House of the Lord. 

Rosina has held many positions of trust in the Church and faithfully performed all
duties required of her.  She has taught her children the gospel as she knew it, and
her great desire is that they may emulate the good works of their parents. 

L. M. Jenkins, author
Date: probably in 1930's
Handwritten copy made available by Daughters of Utah Pioneers
Typed copy (with minor editing for clarity) by Colleen Blankenship, Nov 2005
Anna Rosina Cardon Shaw lived 14 Feb 1858 - 20 Dec 1943

Note from Colleen Blankenship: Anna R.C. Shaw's granddaughters, Genevieve
Sherner and Marjorie Sherner Johnson, remember Anna relating the story of being
burned as a child.  Anna showed Marjorie her side, and Anna said her mother
(Anna Furrer Cardon) had cut the scar tissue later so that her daughter could stand up
straight. 

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