Susanna Goudin was born 30 July 1833 at Prarustin, Piedmont, Italy, the daughter of Bartlemy Goudin and Martha Cardon. Her father died when she was five years old, leaving the family to struggle harder. At nine years of age she left home and worked to support herself. She picked mulberry leaves and cared for the silk worms earning 10 cents a day. At the age of 12 she learned to reel silk and earned 20 cents a day.
She was the last of her immediate family to join the church and the only one to leave her native land. She was baptized by Jabez Woodard in Piedmont. The Gospel was more precious than all the wealth of the world to her.
Franklin D. Richards told the converts that they should leave for Zion. They left Prarustin for England then America. The ship "John J. Boyd" sailed from Liverpool on the 12 Dec. 1855 with Knud Peterson in charge. There were 512 souls that arrived at New York[1]. She was in the company with Pierre Stalle[2], his wife and 8 children, Giovenna Rashon, his wife and 4 children, Pietro Chilelain, Madelona Malan, Enrichetta Chalelain and Catherine Goudin, all close friends and relatives.
They went by train to Nebraska. Then remained in Florence, Nebraska for three months. They sought any honorable employment which would bring the bare necessities of life.
The first Hand Cart Company left Iowa City on 9 June 1856. Of the 273 souls in the company, 33 gave up the trip and 12 died. On 26 of Sep. 1856, 228 men, women and children arrived in Salt Lake City.
Before leaving her home in Italy, Susannah had become an efficient weaver and had accumulated many very beautiful patterns which she brought with her.
At Florence, all clothing, except that worn or carried in handcarts had to be thrown away. Before entering the valley, the teams became so weak that a sack of flour was put on each of the handcarts. Such clothing as they had, had to be worn all of the time and in all kinds of weather. When they entered the Valley, they had scarcely enough to cover them; no food and no place to go.
The Cardons lived at Binghams Fort, (Ogden). The Cardons understood how to produce flax and hemp, from which rope and cloth was woven. Susanna made thread which was sold at 25 cents a knot. The demand was so great she could not supply enough. When Johnston’s Army came, the Saints moved south. Susanna accompanied them carrying a small babe in her arms and walking much of the way. Six sons and five daughters were born later to this marriage.
In the fall of 1856[3] Paul Cardon was called by President Brigham Young to go to help settle Cache Valley. He returned in the spring of 1860 to bring his family. During the first spring in Logan, they sowed 40 bushels of wheat and reaped 7 bushels on account of the grasshoppers. In 1870 the Cardons build their large beautiful adobe home located one-half block west of Main Street and on 1st North. It was used as a hotel and named "The Cache Valley House." It was the only hotel north of Salt Lake for many years. They continued to operate this hotel for 10 years.
Susannah was an officer and
teacher of the Relief Society. She
was the 2nd or 3rd member to join in Logan.
Her husband died 12 Feb. 1915 and she passed away on the 8 Dec. 1920
at the home of her daughter in Logan.
I can remember this little white-haired lady. I was only 10
when
she died. All I can remember about Grandfather Cardon was a
little
old man with a long white beard. I can remember eating
raspberries
from their garden.
Notes
1: The official New York ship's manifest for the John J. Boyd is dated February 18, 1856. Susannah and the other Italian saints are listed on the last two pages of the manifest.
2: Existing histories of the first handcard company don't list Susannah or any of the other Italians mentioned in this history except Pierre Stalle, who is listed as Peter Stalley in the handcard roster. Peter's wife and children are not listed, but the first handcart company logbook says that "Brother Peter Stalley died today. He was from Italy." This was the entry for August 17, 1856.
3: Other sources say 1859, which makes much more sense. This is probably a typo.
Revisions
December 2010: Added notes.
August 29, 1999: Converted to HTML by Matt Young from a WordPerfect file transcribed by Quinn Young. Taken from Utah 28, vol. 4 "Heart Throbs of the West" Daughters of Utah Pioneers, page 87
