| OCR Text |
Show Father, 91, Once Head of B. Y. U., Dies On Coast Benjamin Cluff, 91, father of Golden Cluff, of Hinckley, died at Redondo Beach, California, Monday June 14, of causes incident to age. .He was a grandfather of Phyllis Bennett. Cluff. Lynn and Dean Talbot, Tal-bot, and Golden Cluff, Jr., all of Hincklev. Mr. Cluff was an early pioneer of Utah, born in Coalville, Utah, February 8. 1857, son of Benjamin and Mary Ellen Foster Cluff, who crossed the plains with the early Mormon settlers in Utah. He resided re-sided there, in Provo, and in Mexico Mex-ico until 1924 when he moved to Redondo Beach, where he has lived liv-ed since. When he was a boy of six his father was called to serve a mission miss-ion for the Church' of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the family fam-ily made the trip to California by wagon train, a long and hazardous trip, including a brush with Indians. He returned from Hawaii to attend school in Provo, where he went to Brigham Young University, a student stu-dent of Dr. Karl G. Maeser, whom he later followed as principal of the institution. He received degrees from the University of Michigan, and returned to Provo where he was principal of the academy, and later when it became Brigham Young University, was first president, presi-dent, serving until 1903. As a young man Mr. Cluff served serv-ed three and one half years in the Hawaiian mission, from 1878 to 1991. In 1898 he was appointed as a member of the commission to study the problem of annexation of the Hawaiian islands, where his background as a youth in the Islands Is-lands and missionary experience made him an important addition to the commission. During his trip there he conceived conceiv-ed the idea of a scientific expedition expedi-tion through Mexico, Central A-merica A-merica and South America. The idea was approved by the L. D. S. church leaders, and 24 men were called as missionaries to complete the expedition, with Mr. Cluff at the head. . They traveled through Utah, Arizona, Ar-izona, and Mexico, and on to Boga-ta, Boga-ta, Colum-bia, making the trip on horseback The expedition lasted two years and all the horses died before the trip was over, and the final members of the expedition walked 400 miles. Only two members mem-bers of the party, Mr. Cluff, and another, completed the trip ti Bogota, Bo-gota, the rest dropping out because be-cause of illness. The purpose of, the expedition "as to discover ruins of ancient Mies in that area which were told of m the Book of Mormon and thus - aid proving the authenticity of it n0rk' Arcreological speciments Mr. Cluff collected are now exhib-"ed exhib-"ed m the Salt Lake church museum. mu-seum. Mr. Cluff returned to Mexico after aft-er the expedition, working for the Mican Rubber company. |
