CEDAR CITY — One hundred thirty-seven years after his death, Mormon pioneer Isaac C. Haight is finally coming home.
Family researcher Lane Peterson, one of Haight’s descendants, is spearheading an effort to have his great-great-great grandfather’s body exhumed from Thatcher, Arizona, and transported to Cedar City Cemetery to be reinterred alongside the grave of his first wife, Eliza Ann Snyder Haight.
Immediately to the other side of Eliza’s grave marker are the graves of two other of Haight’s wives, Annabella Sinclair MacFarlane Haight and Elizabeth Summers Haight. A number of other Haight descendants are also buried nearby.
A public ceremony dedicated to Isaac Haight’s memory, including historical messages, is scheduled to take place at Cedar City’s Old Rock Church building, 75 E. Center Street, on Sept. 16 at 1:30 p.m., followed by the burial at Cedar City Cemetery at 3:30, Peterson said.
Although Haight is perhaps best known for his involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857, he was also a prominent figure in the early days of Cedar City and Iron County, Peterson noted.
“He dedicated much of his life to what was going on at Cedar,” Peterson told Cedar City News during a recent visit at the cemetery. “He was sent to Cedar City by Brigham Young in 1853 to manage the Deseret Iron Company and became the first mayor, the first stake president and the first postmaster. He owned the distillery, the woollen mill and a lot of properties.”
Haight also served in many capacities in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including as a bodyguard to church founder Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois. His other leadership callings included bishop, branch president and mission president.
He was also in command of the Cedar City Militia at the time of the massacre on Sept. 11, 1857, during which some 120 emigrants from Arkansas were killed.
Although Haight was excommunicated from the church in 1870, he was later rebaptized and was a member in good standing at the time of his death, Peterson said.
In the years that passed after the massacre, Haight and several others were eventually indicted for murder and other charges. After a $500 federal warrant was issued for his arrest, Haight went into hiding, living in exile for much of the remainder of his life. He took on other last names and moved around Southern Utah as well as locations in other states, and northern Mexico, eluding capture until his death.
Haight fell ill and died in Thatcher on Sept. 8, 1886 at age 73. His grave marker bears the inscription: “A noble man has gone to his rest. He paid the high price of leadership.”
Peterson said Haight descendants and others interested in contributing funds to help pay the estimated $9,135 cost to move Haight’s body and grave marker, are invited to do so at a GoFundMe page set up for that purpose.
“As descendants, we want to fulfill the wishes of his wives and children to reinter Isaac’s physical remains and monument marker together again with his family,” reads the description on the fundraising page, which adds, “The relevant parties in both Thatcher and Cedar City have been supportive of this effort and we appreciate their understanding.”
Photo Gallery
Gravestone of Eliza Ann Snyder Haight, first wife of Isaac C. Haight, Cedar City, Utah, June 5, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News Lane Peterson, historian and descendant of noted pioneer Isaac C. Haight (1813-1886), stands in front of his ancestor's intended burial plot in Cedar City, Utah, June 5, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News Lane Peterson, historian and descendant of noted pioneer Isaac C. Haight (1813-1886), stands in front of his ancestor's intended burial plot in Cedar City, Utah, June 5, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News Historical photo of Isaac C. Haight (1813-1886) and his first wife, Eliza Ann Snyder Haight (1815-1888) | Photo courtesy of Lane Peterson, St. George News / Cedar City News Undated photo of the current grave marker of Isaac C. Haight (1813-1886) in Thatcher, Ariz. | Photo courtesy of Lane Peterson, St. George News / Cedar City News Graphic showing the locations of the graves of three of Isaac C. Haight's wives in Cedar City Cemetery, along with the vacant plot where Isaac Haight is scheduled to be reburied on Sept. 16, 2023 after being moved from Thatcher, Ariz. some 137 years after his death. | Image courtesy of Lane Peterson, St. George News / Cedar City News
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