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Alfred H. Caine family correspondence

 File — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 4212

Scope and Contents

Materials include correspondence, documents, and photographs belonging to various members of the Caine-Mitchell family. The correspondence is mostly between Caine and his wife, Margaret Ann Mitchell. There are also letters written by Mitchell's father, Frederick A. Mitchell, and Caine's brother John T. Caine Jr. Most of the letters discuss personal matters and family business, including the local silk industry. Dated 1873-1903.

Dates

  • 1873-1903

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Alfred H. Caine family correspondence must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.

Biographical History

Frederick A. Mitchell (1835-1923) was an English convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and mission president over the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii).

Frederick Augustus Herman Frank Mitchell was born on July 14, 1835, in Sheffield, England to parents Hezekiah Mitchell and Sarah Mallinson. His father was a Methodist minister, but the family joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England. An eleven-year-old Mitchell worked as an apprentice at the Wade and Butcher Cutlery Factory grinding rough off of newly forged knives. In 1840, he emigrated to the United States with his family.

Mitchell married Margaret Thompson on November 15, 1855, in Salt Lake City, Utah. They had twelve children together. While married, he served three missions for the Church. He served in the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii) as a missionary in 1856-1858 and as a mission president in 1873-1875. As mission president he met King Kalakue, native king of the Sandwich Islands. He also served a mission in Great Britain in 1899-1902. He worked as deputy U.S. mineral surveyor from May 1881 until his death.

Mitchell died on July 26, 1923, in Logan, Utah.

Biographical History

John Thomas Caine Jr. (1854-1940) was an agricultural scientist, farmer, and employee of ZCMI (a department store owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).

John Thomas Caine Jr. was born on March 9, 1854 to parents John Thomas Caine and Margaret Nightingale. Caine worked as a clerk for ZCMI stores in Salt Lake City, Utah. He attended the University of Deseret and studied agriculture at Cornell University. On October 1878, Caine married Kathinka Caroline Ballif. Together they had nine children, two of whom died at early ages. He moved to Logan, Utah, where he purchased land and imported the first Jersey dairy cattle to Cache Valley. In 1888, the Board of Trustees of the Utah Agricultural College selected him as the Board's secretary.

Caine died on August 8, 1940 in Logan, Utah.

Biographical History

Alfred Henry Caine (1860-1890) was the assistant manager of the Salt Lake Herald, a politician, and a counselor in a bishopric for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Alfred Henry Caine was born in 1860 in Salt Lake City, Utah to parents John Thomas Caine and Margaret Nightingale. He married Margaret Ann Mitchell in March 1882 and they had four children, two of whom died at young ages. He also had three more wives: Ellen Christine Jorgensen, Esther Done, and Alice Cornell. He found employment at the House Coal Company and worked for many years in Coalville and Salt Lake City, Utah. Toward the end of his life he was the assistant manager of the Salt Lake Herald and served as a delegate in the People's Party and as election judge. The year before he died Caine had been serving in his local ward's bishopric.

Caine died from typhoid fever in 1890 at Salt Lake City, Utah.

Biographical History

Margaret Ann Mitchell (1859-1929) was a member of the General Board of Relief Society for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Margaret Ann Mitchell was born on August 28, 1859 in Salt Lake City, Utah to parents Frederick Augustus Herman Frank Mitchell and Margaret Thompson. In 1873, she got to accompany her parents on their mission to Hawaii. She married Alfred Henry Caine on March 16, 1882 in Coalville, Utah, and they had four children, two of whom died at early ages.

Mitchell was interested in sericulture and was in charge of the Utah silk exhibit at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. She attended the International Council of Women in London in 1899 and served as auditor of Salt Lake County. She was also a member of the General Board of the Relief Society for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1902 to 1907 and a temple ordinance worker for thirty years.

Mitchell died November 6, 1929 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Extent

14 folders (0.2 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Custodial History

Donated to the repository in 2007.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated; 2007.

Appraisal

Utah and the American West and LDS cultural, social, and religious history (19th Century Mormon and Western Manuscripts collection development policy 1.V, November 2013).

Existence and Location of Copies

Folders 8-14 contain photocopies of the originals.

Related Materials

See also the Alfred Henry Caine papers, 1881-1899 (MSS 8397).

Processing Information

Processed; Rose Frank; 2011.

Title
Register of Alfred H. Caine family correspondence
Status
Completed
Author
Rose Frank
Date
2011 June 22
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States