Archives West Finding Aid

Mathew A. Forster was born July 10, 1867, in Mendon, Utah, to Robert and Agnes Forster. Mathew A. lived in Mendon until 1891 when he found employment in Anaconda, Montana, working as a store clerk and manager. By 1905 he had returned to Mendon, and was working as the town postmaster and a photographer. In 1913 Mathew A. was elected to serve as secretary for the town mayor, and he later became city treasurer. According to the Herald Journal, Mathew A. was an artist and involved with the early theater and dramatic companies of Cache Valley, apparently "producing scenes for their plays" (July 4, 1916). In 1916 Mathew A. became ill with typhoid fever and died on July 2, 1916.

Sources for Mathew A. Forster:

Obit., Herald Journal, July 4, 1916

Mendon City Cemetery, Index F:

For additional information on Mathew A. Foster, see Coll Mss 238: Bound Manuscripts: Bd Mss 34 and 35; The Mendon Postmaster Records.

John E. Buckland was born on May 14, 1872, in Bountiful, Utah, to Silas Kenneth and Luella Camilla Pack Buckland. In 1904 John married Dorothy Reid and had four children, two of whom died in infancy. During his life he also married Floy Hawley Clay and Nellie Searle Branson. Dorothy Reid died on October 11, 1911, in Archer, Idaho. John E. Buckland died on August 31, 1942, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and was buried two days later in Archer, Idaho.

Sources for John E. Buckland:

Carter, Kate B., The Ship Brooklyn Saints, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, 1960. (USU Special Collections & Archives: 979.208 D265 no. 214)

Mathew McCullough Forster was born March 29, 1860, the first male child born in Mendon, Utah, to Ralph and Margaret McCullough Forster. As a young man he worked for a railroad company laying track between Utah and Montana. During his time working the railroad, the Desert News reported that Mathew M. "rescued one of his fellow workers, single handed, from a bear which attacked him" (Nov. 22, 1935). In 1893 Forster purchased $60.00 of stock, amounting to sixty acres of land, in the Mendon North Pasture Company. From 1893-1898, he served as director of the Mendon North Pasture Company, and in 1896 he also served as trustee.

In 1899 at age 39, Mathew M. was called to labor as a missionary in England for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During his time as a missionary in England, he was present at the Sheffield Conferences, serving in conjunction with Franklin H. Wyatt (see Mss 113: The Franklin H. Wyatt Papers). After serving as a missionary for two years, in 1901 Forster returned to Mendon and became a councilor of Mendon's Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association. In 1903 Mathew M. sold his stock in the Mendon North Pasture Company, moved to Salt Lake City, and began working as a streetcar motorman for the Utah Light & Traction Company. On November 9, 1904, in Salt Lake City, Mathew M. married Caroline Malena Sorenson (of Mendon). Thereafter, Mathew M. worked for the UL & T Company for 25 years until his retirement in 1930, when he moved back to Mendon and volunteered his time working in the Logan Temple. On November 21, 1935, Mathew McCullough Forster died in Mendon at the age of 75.

Sources for Mathew McCullough Forster:

Mathew M. Forster Photograph Collection: P0010

Sorenson, Isaac, History of Mendon, Publishers Press, Salt Lake City, 1988. (979.27 M523)

Mendon North Pasture Company Records: Coll MSS 166, Fds 4-6.

Obit., Desert News, November 22, 1935

Obit., The Herald Journal, November 22, 1935