Charles Crismon

Charles Crismon

was born on December 25, 1805, in Kentucky, during the early decades of American westward expansion. Growing up on the frontier, he learned the trade of milling, a critical skill in rural communities where grain had to be processed locally. Charles converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1830s, joining the main body of members in Missouri.

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In 1838, during the Missouri Mormon War, Charles assisted Joseph Smith in escaping a mob, demonstrating his devotion and courage. Following the expulsion of members from Missouri and Illinois, Charles joined the migration westward, crossing the plains in 1847 with the early pioneer companies.

Milling and Canal Building

In Utah, Charles constructed early gristmills, providing essential services for the expanding settlements in Salt Lake City and surrounding valleys. He became an expert in water-power engineering, learning how to construct races and flumes to direct water onto large mill wheels.

In 1877, church leadership called Charles to lead a colonizing party to the Salt River Valley in Arizona Territory. Arriving in the valley, the party established the settlement of Lehi, which is now northern Mesa, along the banks of the Salt River. Charles co-founded the Tempe Canal Company, applying his engineering skills to construct the canals that would carry river water to the dry desert soils of the East Valley.

Legacy of Development

Charles's work on the canal system laid the groundwork for the agricultural development of the East Valley, transforming Mesa into a productive farming district. He practiced plural marriage, marrying Louise Kirstine Bischoff, a Danish convert who had immigrated to Utah. Their daughter, Josephine Louvina Crismon, married Louis Ellsworth, linking the Crismon family to the Ellsworth agricultural lineage.

Charles died in Lehi on March 23, 1890, at the age of eighty-four. He was buried in the Mesa Cemetery. His engineering of the Lehi canal system and his leadership of the early colonizing parties made him one of the foundational builders of the Salt River Valley.