Susanna Goudin was born in a little village in the Piedmont Valleys, called Prarustin, Italy. Her ancestors were of the Vaudois peoples, sometimes known as Waldenses. These people have been known as martyrs for Christianity since the time of Christ.

Because I have explained their struggles through several generations of ancestors, in the history of John Paul Cardon, her husband, I will not go into detail here.

Susanna Goudin was born in the midst of such conditions and environment. She was of the Vaudois peoples who had found a place of refuge in the Italian Alps during the awful persecutions that raged in the Piedmont Valleys. She was born July 30, 1833, at Prarustin, Piedmont. Italy. Her father was Barthelemi Goudin and her mother was Marthe Cardon.

When she was five years old her father died and left the family to struggle for their livelihood. At this very young age she had to work and help support herself. She had to pick up potatoes, glean and get sticks ready for the vineyard, as that was one of their sources of making a living. When she was about 9 years old she had to leave home to get work to support herself. She did this by picking leaves from the mulberry trees to feed the silk worms. She earned ten cents per day doing this. When she was 12 years old she learned to reel silk and earned twenty cents per day. She continued in this work until she left Italy to come to Utah.

Susanna Goudin was the last one of her mother's family to join the church and this she did in 1853. She was baptized by Brother George Dennis Keaton and confirmed by Brother Jabez Woodward in Piedmont, Italy. She left for Utah in 1855 with some relatives of hers, named Pierre Stalle family.

She was the last member of her family to join the church because she was not living at home when the rest of the family was converted. Her mother, who was a poor widow, had little but her home and what she could earn to support her family. One of their neighbors tells that when this family joined the church the elders wanted this poor widow to sell her home and give the money to them to do as they saw fit with it.

She refused to do this as she wanted the money for herself and family so that they could come to Utah. Also she could not attend her meetings regularly because she had to work. Because of this, and other reasons, this family was cut off from the church.

Susanna was not at home at this time, and when the Elders talked with her they urged her to come to Utah. She was filled with the spirit of gathering and under these trying conditions she decided to leave her loved family and come away to Utah all alone. She was the only member of her immediate family to come to Utah and she joined with the family of a near relative, Pierre Stalle, and traveled with them. Because of the anger and persecutions of the people of Italy against the people who had joined with the "Despised Mormons" they had real difficulty in getting enough together to permit them to leave.

Susanna and group traveled the same way that all these people had to travel in those days. They left Piedmont and traveled by carriage to Pignerol (Pinerolo) from there to Turin, the capital of Piedmont, thence to the town of Suza by railway; then up the steep Mt. Cenis in a large coach placed on sleds and drawn by sixteen government mules, much of the way being covered by perpetual snow and ice. Then to Loundsburg on the Savoy side, where the carriages were taken from the sleds, and then by coach to Lyons, France. From Lyons they traveled by railway to Paris and from there by rail to Calais by steamer to London and by railway to Liverpool, where they remained a short time while waiting for the ship to sail.

On Dec. 12, 1855 they sailed on the ship John J. Boyd. In the company were Pierre Stalle, wife and four children, Michel Bosio, wife and eight children, Giovanni Roshon, wife and four children, Pietro Chatelain, Madelona Malan, Enrichetta Chatclain, and Catterina Godin. These were Susanna's close friends and relatives. On the same boat were 437 Saints from Denmark, Norway and Sweden and 42 from Great Britain. Canute Peterson was in charge of the company.

The following is taken from a letter written by C. R. Savage and published in the Millenial Star, Vol. 18, page 209. He tells of the journey by ship: "The Saints were, by the sound of the trumpet, called to prayer mornings and evenings. Meetings were also frequently held in the Danish, English and Italian languages.... The weather got worse after crossing the Banks, so much so that we were driven into the Gulf Stream three times and many of our sailors were frost bitten. Our captain got superstitious on account of the long passage, and ordered that there should be no singing on board: the mate said that all ships that had preachers onboard, were always sure of a bad passage; however the Lord heard our prayers, and in His own good time we arrived at our destination. On the evening of the fifteenth of February we were safely at anchor having been sixty-six days out from Liverpool...Our water supply was almost exhausted. We had on arrival only about one day's water on board."

They landed in New York March 15. 1856, and from there they went to St. Louis by train. Susanna stayed there some time and then went to Florence, Nebraska. While in Florence, Susanna worked for a man by the name of Samuel Lee. He had a store but she helped in the house and also helped picking fruit. (She has mentioned raspberries). The Lees were good to her and when she left they gave her a new dress and bonnet. They went to the river where they had boats and gave her a feather tick but she could not take this with her.

Susanna and the Stalles crossed the plains in the First Hand Cart Company, under the direction of Edmund Ellsworth, and they arrived in Salt Lake City, Sept. 26, 1856. There were five hundred English people in the first Hand Cart Company. They were divided into smaller companies.

The first day they traveled but a few miles to a place called "Brigham Young's Grave Yard".

Susanna had brought enough clothes to last her for sometime but the captain told her that she could not bring them and said she would have to throw their things away. He was not good to the French saints. After they had thrown away their clothes he permitted some of the English girls to take their things and wear them.

Susanna and some of the French saints felt so badly that they decided to pile their things that they could not take with them into a pile and burn them rather than see them taken and worn by others who did not need them. The following is taken from the autobiography of Margaret Stalle Barker who was of the family of Pierre Stalle, was related to Susanna and traveled in the same company: "The Mr. Ellsworth who had charge of the company, for some reason, badly mistreated the French saints, even depriving them of food. It is claimed by the children of Pierre Stalle (Peter) that he died of starvation. It is claimed that Mr. Ellsworth sold part of the food that should have gone to the saints.

When Pierre (Peter) Stalle was dying, his wife climbed to the wagon to have a few last words with her husband. Ellsworth came with a rope and cruelly whipped her until she was forced to get down. This was verified by the French families who came. The captain was a very mean man. At one time a man died and they whipped and kicked him and threw him under the tent. His wife took his shoes to wear and some lady called her a dirty Italian".

Susanna thought she would get it back on them, so one day an English boy told her he would give her some fire wood for a kiss. She took the wood and then slapped him. His mother called her bad names. The next day it was raining and she had buffalo chips as well as some wood to burn. They always gathered wood by day for their fires at night. She pulled a hand cart all the way across the plains".

My grandfather Cardon's second wife was only a small child of two years at this time. Her name was Magdelene Beus and she rode most of the way across the plains in Susanna's hand cart. Little did they know that they would both, some day, be married to the same man, John Paul Cardon.

The following is taken from the diary of the company: "August 17: The camp moved out at a quarter to 9 A.M. and traveled 12 miles. We crossed Wold Creek and ascended the Sandy Bluff. We crossed the Bluff to the left instead of going up the old track. It is easier for hand-carts and ox teams. The road today was very sandy for several miles. Passed over several creeks. Camp at 4 P.M. on the side of the Platte opposite to Ash Grove. Brother Peter Stalle died today. He was from Italy".

My grandfather, John Paul Cardon, with his parents and 3 brothers and 2 sisters had arrived in 1854. They had settled at Brigham's Fort, Ogden. Upon hearing of the arrival of the Hand-Cart Company, he and his brother Phillip, immediately went to Salt Lake City and brought Susanna and the Stalle family back to Brigham's Fort, where they assisted in building them a crude dug-out in which to live this first winter. The winter was very severe and at times the Cardons had to go and dig them out of the snow as they were completely covered up. Margaret Stalle Barker writes, "while in Ogden they were snowed in in their dug-out, without matches or a clock. They did not even get out of bed as they could not tell the time or make a fire. Paul Cardon came and dug us out. Susanna Goudin went to live with the Cardons".

Paul Cardon asked Susanna to marry him. She had fallen in love with a young Englishman while working in Florence. Neb. She could not marry him as he was not of her faith, but she still loved him. She was alone in Utah and did not have any money.

The following is also taken from Margaret Stalle Barker's account: "The Cardons came in 1854 and the others in 1856. Susanna Gaudin married Paul Cardon. He was 16 and she was 22. At this time she was very much in love with a young Englishman but because she was alone and was influenced by Father Cardon she married Paul. She grieved over this for years. In fact until she went to the endowment house. She wept bitterly, when she went there. Brigham Young, seeing her, sensed her trouble and told her to go through and all would be well with her. And this was literally fulfilled, as when they were old I have seldom seen a more devoted couple." They were married March 16, 1857. They had six sons and five daughters.

Susanna's early trials and experiences were numerous. In 1858, when Johnston's Army came she went south with a baby about two months old. She carried the baby in her arms, while she walked and drove cattle. Her husband stayed behind to guard the property. There were two families that had but one yoke of cattle between them. They came back in August. While in Ogden they earned a living by farming. Flax and hemp were raised and Susanna prepared it and spun it into thread and sold it in Salt Lake City for twenty-five cents per knot. The demand for it was so great that she could not supply it.

The Indians gave them considerable trouble. At one time an Indian came and wanted her to go away with him. She refused to do so and he took her oldest son, Phillip, and threw him on his horse, thinking she would follow. She pulled him off twice but could not get him away. The men were all in the field some distance away, so her mother-in-law got up on the house and whistled for them. The men heard her and came running to see what the trouble was. When the Indian saw that his purpose was defeated, he left the child and went to a neighboring house and threw their things all out doors in his anger.

In 1860 she came with her husband, to Logan to help settle Cache Valley. She had two children at this time. During the first spring in the valley they sowed over 40 bushels of wheat, but reaped only 7 bushels, due to grass hoppers. There were only a few families in the valley at this time and the Cardons entered, at once, upon the activities necessary to protect themselves and neighbors against the then savage Indians and to the work of building a new "Mormon Settlement".

After the grasshoppers ate most of their grain, they managed to save enough wheat for flour and with care they had bread enough to last through the time of famine. They lived on bread and water and greens and whatever else they could get.

Susanna’s husband was one of the leading citizens in the community, being a 1st Lt. of Cavalry in the militia and the first treasurer of the city of Logan and also acted as Marshal for many years. He had charge of building the Temple Mill in Logan canyon which furnished most of the lumber for the Logan Temple. He assisted in the surveying and building of the Logan Canyon road, thus connecting the Bear Lake Region with Logan. He assisted in building the first house in Logan. It was made of logs. He and his family lived in a log house, themselves, for some time and in about 1869 or 1870 he built the first house of any size to be erected in Logan. It was made of adobe.

In 1870 they were called upon by the church authorities to build this large home, costing in the neighborhood of five thousand dollars, which was to be used as a hotel and rooming house. This was requested to be built so that the people coming to Logan to do work in the temple would have a suitable place to stay. This building was located one half block west of main street, on 1st north, near where the Dean C. Pack Motor Company is now located. It was called the Cache Valley House. They were instructed to listen through a thin partitioned wall, to the plans of the U. S. Deputies who were trying to track down and punish polygamy offenders. Many plans were revealed this way and many saints were warned in time to save them from being caught. My father has told that many times he went out the back door of a home, after warning the saints, just as the deputies came in the front. They continued in this work for about ten years and when the deputies became suspicious of my grandfather he went into the North West to work on the railroad, taking part of the older family with him. His wives were left to run this house, and they did not feel able to continue alone, so it was sold.

The following is taken from "Heart Throbs of the West", Vol. 3, page 131. "To the Italian origin of Paul and Susanna Cardon, Cache Valley owes its mulberry trees and its attempts at silk culture. Quote: They were quick to see the similarity of conditions in Cache Valley and their native northern Italy, and as they were both familiar with all of the branches of silk culture they decided to try it here.

Mr. Cardon sent to France for mulberry seeds. These were planted and the trees grew well and were the first ones to be grown in northern Utah. When they were large enough to produce leaves, Mr. Cardon sent to France for eggs of the silk worm. These eggs were hatched by putting them in a bag and keeping the bag warm by hanging them around their necks. These worms grew and others were raised and when the supply was sufficient they began to reel the silk. Mr. Cardon made the reel and Mrs. Cardon did the reeling. It was the twisted reed and was much better than the flat silk. The silk was sent to Salt Lake to be woven and was found to be of such high quality that Pres. Brigham Young called Susanna on a mission to Salt Lake City to teach others to reel silk. She left a baby a year old and six other small children and spent three months in Salt Lake City, without pay, in this work.

In 1878, the Relief Society of Logan decided to try and raise their own silk and Mrs. Cardon furnished the eggs of the worm and taught classes of young women to care for the worms and sell the silk. This was all done without pay but as a service to her church and community.

The biggest and best worms were saved to let the moth come out and lay more eggs, and this silk was used to make coarser clothes. The other cocoons were placed in tubs of hot water to loosen the silk and was then reeled into hanks. Mrs. Cardon's silk was of very high quality and she received medals for the excellence of her silk from New Jersey, California, Chicago and St. Louis. Mrs. Cardon gave over two rooms of her house for the silk industry and kept at this work-for about 15 years..."

From Margaret Stalle Barker's biography: "Susanna G. Cardon was called as a missionary by Brigham Young to introduce the culture of silk worms and the silk industry in Utah to the Relief Society sisters. As he watched her work he thought she must have some trick in handling the silk threads. So she put her hands in his and took it through the process giving it a quick flip and putting it on the reel, thus showing that it was all in knowing how to handle it. The silk she wove was of a very high grade and was as good as any from Italy. Susanna went to S.L. several times with Zina Young to teach this".

She was a teacher in the Relief Society and she was the 2nd or 3rd member to join that organization in Logan.

In 1892 the family moved to Benson Ward where Mr. Cardon had purchased a large farm. They lived there for 20 years. Susanna was a teacher in the Relief Society for 9 or 10 years. Later she was made first councilor to President Roundy. She held that position for 9 years. She loved the people and they likewise loved her. Her faith in the promises of the Lord was great.

When her children were sick she would always call on the elders to administer to them. When she was unable to get the elders she would pray for them herself, as she was alone many times. She obeyed all of the principles of the gospel which she had embraced. Her charity and integrity were known everywhere she went. The Lord blessed her with inspiration and dreams which were a great guide to her.

My mother, her daughter-in-law, asked her how she could raise so large a family so well, without any education or advantages of any kind and she said she "raised them on her knees." My mother has told me that she was a wonderful mother-in-law, always praising her and never interfering in any way. She was a kind and loving mother full of patience and long suffering and would rather suffer herself, anytime, than to cause others to do so. She was a good neighbor. She took pleasure in doing good for others.

She was a loving wife. I have been told that she took pride and pleasure in the appearance of her husband and children. They were always clean and well clothed. She, herself, was always neat and clean, and well dressed even in old age. She was very talented with her hands and did many beautiful things in the line of sewing, weaving, knitting and crocheting.

In 1913, after living in Benson Ward for twenty years, they decided to retire from the farm and come back to Logan where most of their children lived. They also wanted to be near the temple so that they could do the work for their Kindred dead. They located in the Logan Seventh ward, and there they lived until the death of her husband in 1915.

I remember visiting them in their Benson Ward home many times while I was still a small child. It was always a thrill. One of the most fascinating things about their farm home was the boat house that stood down on the Bear River. We could look at it but must never get into the boat. I remember that Grandmother Cardon and Aunty Cardon always lived in the same house, each having their own side and their own furniture and personal belongings. We always went into Aunty's side of the house to visit for a little while when we were visiting in Benson Ward. The two wives and families never seemed to have any trouble and I have never learned of any quarrels or strife in their home. They loved and respected each other and I was a big girl before I knew for sure, which were my father's own brothers and sisters instead of half-brothers and sisters.

After the death of her husband, Susanna spent the remainder of-her life with her daughters, always keeping busy and useful. She did many beautiful pieces of knitted lace and I am the proud possessor of a pair of pillow slips with knitted lace on them about six inches wide, which she made. She passed away Dec 8, 1920.

"She was a splendid neighbor, a loving wife and mother and took pleasure in doing good to others, always having in her mind the happiness and welfare of others. Few persons, if any, have ever been more loved and revered than has Susanna Cardon. Her faith in God and His glorious work was indeed sublime, and she radiated the spirit of love to such a wonderful degree as to impress all who ever associated with her. She goes to a well earned reward, a realization of a well spent and beautiful life, filled with service and satisfaction:

Her funeral was held December 11, 1920 in the Stake Tabernacle. The large assembly hall was filled with relatives and friends to honor one whom they dearly loved and revered. At the time of her death she had sixty grand-children and forty-five great grand-children to bless her memory. Her posterity now goes into the hundreds. She is buried in the Logan City Cemetery and her grave overlooks the beautiful valley which she helped to settle and to build.