Capitol Reef History and George Teasdale

Capitol Reef is a beautiful National Park in the Middle of Utah, with so much Pioneer History still intact today. The National park started as a protected area, then was changed to a national monument, and in the 1970’s became a National Park. The Capitol Reef area is a beautiful place to visit and explore, it is worth the drive.

One of the towns closest to Capitol Reef is a town named Teasdale, Utah. Teasdale is a small community that renamed itself in the early 1900’s after George Teasdale. George Teasdale was a member of the quorum of the twelve apostles, he was called in 1882.

Never having heard of George Teasdale I was determined to find some good stories of this man. He must have been pretty great if the town wanted to name itself after him. BYU did a little synopsis of his life that you can find here:

https://rsc.byu.edu/prophets-apostles-last-dispensation/george-teasdale

Here is a fun story with George Teasdale that gives a little more insight of what kind of man he was. This snippet was from a talk in the Church archives called ”My Call to the Apostleship.” It is told by Heber J. Grant on Oct. 1942 when both he and George Teasdale were called on the same day to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Heber J. Grant said:

“I have decided to tell in detail one or two very remarkable things that have happened in my life.

I was made one of the apostles in October, 1882. On the 6th of October, 1882, I met Brother George Teasdale at the south gate of the temple. His face lit up, and he said: ”Brother Grant, you and I”—very enthusiastically—and then he commenced coughing and choking, and went on into meeting and did not finish his sentence. It came to me as plainly as though he had said the words: ”Are going to be chosen this afternoon to fill the vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.”

I went to the meeting and my head swelled, and I thought to myself, ”Well, I am going to be one of the apostles,” and I was willing to vote for myself, but the conference adjourned without anyone being chosen.”

Heber J. Grant received a letter telling him that he needed to be in Salt Lake.

”So I went to the Presidents office, and there sat Brother Teasdale, and all of the ten Apostles, and the Presidency of the Church and also Seymour B. Young and the members of the Seven Presidents of the Seventies. And the revelation was read calling Brother Teasdale and myself to the apostleship, and Brother Seymour B. Young to be one of the Seven Presidents of the Seventies.

Brother Teasdale was blessed by President John Taylor, and George Q. Cannon blessed me.

After the meeting I said to Brother Teasdale, ”I know what you were going to say to me on the sixth of October when you happened to choke half to death and then went into the meeting.”

He said, ”Oh, no you don’t.”

”Yes, I do,” and I repeated it: ”You and I are going to be called to the apostleship.”

He said, ”Well, that is what I was going to say, and then it occurred to me that I had no right to tell it, that I had received a manifestation from the Lord.” He said, “Heber, I have suffered the tortures of the damned for ten days, thinking I could not tell the difference between a manifestation from the Lord and one from the devil, that the devil had deceived me.””

Conclusion

The ’human-ness’ of this story is easy to love. These two men, were both excited about the prospect of a new calling, Heber J. Grant said he let ”his head swell.” Then, realizing their mistakes went back to the Lord and made it right with Him. It’s a simple story of two people trying to be better. Making corrections and trying harder to be better. These are lifelong lessons for each of us.

Town of Teasdale Today

The small town of Teasdale was small back in the day and it is still small today. They only have a population of 194, according to the United States Census report. How fun that 140 years later that the name of the town is teaching us about great men of the past!

Now, on your way to Capital Reef National Park and you drive through the small town of Teasdale teach your family a little about George Teasdale, a member of the quorum of the twelve apostles in 1882, and what it what happened the day he got his calling.

It’s pretty awesome that the name of a small town can teach us about great men of the past.

George Teasdale is buried in the Salt Lake cemetery:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6348640/george-teasdale

References:

“My Call to the Apostleship” By Heber J. Grant, Conference Report October 1942. pp. 24-26

https://www.utah-demographics.com/teasdale-demographics