Highlights of a Pioneer’s Legacy: Frederick E. Eldredge

Just an note: Father and son shared the same proud name — Frederick Baker Eldredge and his son Frederick Elnathan Eldredge — their middle names help us tell these two outstanding pioneers and community leaders apart

Frederick Elnathan Eldredge: Pioneer Son, Community Builder, and Defender of Equal Rights

Frederick Elnathan Eldredge was born on September 18, 1869, the eldest son of Frederick Baker Eldredge and Almira Jane Nebeker Eldredge. His birthright was steeped in the pioneer legacy of the Eldredge and Nebeker families—two families who had crossed the plains together and arrived in Utah with the second company of pioneers on September 26, 1847. Their friendship, forged on the trail west, continued as they turned the desert into farms, homes, and churches. It seemed only natural that their children would become life companions.

When Fred was just a year old, his parents were called—along with other families—to help settle Laketown near the shores of beautiful Bear Lake in Rich County. There, Fred spent his active boyhood herding cattle and learning hard work early. At age twelve, he helped drive a herd of 135 beef cattle from Laketown to Bountiful with his Nebeker cousins. Three years later, he made another long drive—128 miles round-trip—to move cattle for his Uncle Aquilla Nebeker.

In 1882, the family moved back to Salt Lake City, and by 1884, they settled on a farm in Granger—land that would shape the rest of Fred’s life. It was while working that farm in 1883 that a horse kicked him in the forehead, leaving him gravely injured. A neighbor hauled him ten miles by wagon to Salt Lake City, where Dr. Benedict removed thirteen splintered pieces of bone from Fred’s skull without anesthetic—a testament to both pioneer grit and his will to live.

Fred met Julia Druce Lambert in Granger, and they were married on May 21, 1893. Together they raised twelve children in the same place he had helped pioneer. His life’s work was farming—cutting and hauling hay in summer and delivering it to Salt Lake City in winter by horse-drawn wagon or bobsleigh. His reputation for fairness earned him loyal customers throughout the valley. For nearly a decade, he drove the school wagon until motor buses replaced teams and sleighs.

Fred’s formal schooling began in a one-room Laketown schoolhouse and continued in the ward schools of Salt Lake City. He later attended the University of Deseret when James E. Talmage was principal. Yet his greatest education came from a lifetime of doing—whether hauling gravel for churches, building roads, or driving the first road grader in Salt Lake County in 1887.

He loved dancing and was part of the early dancing sets at Youngers Dancing School and Madam DeLany’s classes, where he even joined his daughters when the church offered ballroom lessons. Horse pulling contests were another passion, along with wrestling, baseball, and hunting.

Western pioneer history became one of Fred’s favorite studies. He was a keeper of memories and local stories—neighbors and relatives often came to him for historical details about early settlers or local events. His knowledge and remarkable memory made him a trusted source of community history, and he was proud to be a life member of the National Sons of the Utah Pioneers. He and Julia retraced many pioneer trails later in life, from the Mississippi to the Mormon Battalion route.

Civic Service, Suffrage, and Community Leadership

Fred’s devotion to his neighbors extended far beyond his farm and family. He was an active member and longtime secretary of the West Side Commercial Club, an organization dedicated to improving life in Salt Lake County’s west side settlements. Under his leadership, the club brought telephone and electric service to the area and was instrumental in helping secure the sugar factory at West Jordan—an industry vital to local farming families.

Fred also served for ten years as a director of the Utah Lake Distributing Company from the Hunter District, which managed the essential water supply for Granger and Hunter’s farms. He hauled gravel and sand for roads, schoolhouses, churches, and canals—always with his dependable teams and a spirit of service.

Education was close to his heart. In one pivotal moment, while hauling hay to Salt Lake City, Fred remembered a local school site vote was happening. He rushed home, hitched his surrey, gathered his wife and neighbors, and delivered their ballots just in time—securing a new location for Plymouth School on Redwood Road and 48th South instead of an inconvenient site near the river. His own children attended that school, and three of his daughters later taught there.

Fred’s commitment to civic duty also shone in his support for women’s rights. Women’s suffrage had deep roots in Utah—first granted in 1870, revoked by Congress in 1887, and triumphantly restored in 1895 when Utah became a state. The new constitution boldly declared: “The rights of citizens of the State of Utah to vote and hold office shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex. Both male and female citizens of this state shall enjoy equally all civil, political and religious rights and privileges.”

Fred believed in this promise and did his part to make it real. As the Registration Agent for his area, he worked tirelessly to ensure every eligible woman was properly registered to vote. He personally visited every home in Granger and the surrounding countryside, encouraging his neighbors—wives, sisters, and daughters—to claim their right to help shape their community’s future.

In his church service, Fred held many positions over the years: he began as Sunday School secretary in 1886, then served 18 years as secretary of the YMMIA under seven presidents. He was secretary of the Elder’s Quorum for twelve years, secretary of the 14th Quorum of Seventy for twenty-three more, and spent his later life devoted to temple work—carrying on his family’s pioneer legacy through faith and sacrifice.

Fifty Children and a Warm Sleigh: Fred Eldredge’s Daily Route

Fred’s dedication to the community’s children showed in the years he spent driving the school wagon. For many winters, he transported local children to Monroe School, picking up as many as fifty students along his route and safely delivering them home each day. He was paid $45 a month for the use of his wagon and team, and by about 1915 his pay increased to $70 per month—a modest sum for the responsibility he carried. In the cold winter months, he switched to his bobsleigh and always took care to heat up bricks or rocks to lay on the sleigh floor, keeping the children’s feet warm against the biting cold. Fred often shared the story of the day his sleigh tipped over in a snowbank near Inkley’s place: “The kids bawled but no one was hurt,” he would say with a smile. His steady service made the long school days possible for countless children in Granger, a testament to his commitment to education and community.

A Legacy Remembered

Frederick Elnathan Eldredge passed away peacefully at his home in Granger on August 31, 1959, just weeks shy of his 90th birthday. Julia had passed in 1951. At the time of his passing, nine of their twelve children were still living, along with 34 grandchildren and 41 great-grandchildren—each one blessed by the quiet courage, service, and steady example of a man who never stopped working for his family, his neighbors, and his beloved Utah.