Daughter of Abraham Hunsaker and Ane Katherine Jensen

Married Alma Wilkinson Wagstaff, 27 Nov 1889, Logan, Cache, Utah

Children - Duery Dermont Wagstaff, LaDacy Wagstaff, Lester Wagstaff, Claude Lorin Wagstaff, Joseph Wagstaff, Ila Lila Wagstaff, Ada Lulu Wagstaff, Lorenzo Wagstaff, Esther May Wagstaff, Orpha Ellis Wagstaff, Alta Laverna Wagstaff

History: Esther, the fourth child of Katherine Jensen and Abraham Hunsaker, was born at Brigham City on February 29, 1868. As a child she had very good training as a member of a large family. At the age of 15 she went to Salt Lake City to study obstetrics under Dr. Ellis Shipp. She spent two years attending school there and acquiring practical experience. Years later, Dr. Shipp paid her a wonderful tribute by saying, "Of all the pupils I have taught, Esther has had the largest practice and has been the most successful." At the age of 17 she had her first call to officiate at the birth of a child by herself.

When she was 22, she was married to Alma W. Wagstaff, of Mendon, in the Logan Temple on November 27, 1889. They were the parents of 11 children, four of whom died at birth, one at 11 months, and two died after they were grown.

The family lived for several years at Charleston, Utah, in Wasatch County, where Esther practiced obstetrics and still found time to do Church work. She was superintendent of the YLMIA and was also a counselor in the Relief Society.

In 1910, the family moved to the Uintah Basin, near Tabiona, where they homesteaded a ranch. Esther was the only person in that part of the country who had any medical training and was the first one called upon in any emergency. She took care of pneumonia cases, smallpox cases, and set broken bones, but her main calling was to assist at the birth of babies. If a death occurred, she would lay out the body, and her husband, who was a carpenter, would build the casket, which Esther would then cover. Esther also helped make the burial clothes.

Because of the primitive condition of the roads at the time, Esther often had to ride horseback to take care of the sick. It has been said of her that Tabiona and its vicinity could not have been settled at that time if it had not been for her. She never refused to go when a call came for her, no matter how sick or tired she was. Esther delivered more than 2,500 babies that were registered, and many before registration was required.

One day, when she was answering a call, the horse ran away with the small sleigh in which she was riding. She tried to jump out and was thrown to the ground. She suffered a broken arm, sprained ankle, and a dislocated shoulder. In time the sprain and broken arm healed, but the shoulder never was put in place right, and she was never able to raise her right arm above her head afterwards and it was always a great handicap to her.

Esther's husband was made Bishop of Tabiona Ward, and she was able to do much good for the people there. She took care of those who didn't have much money without ever expecting pay. When she was asked how she could go among those sick with contagious diseases without contracting the diseases herself, she said, "When I was a young girl, my father gave me a patriarchal blessing in which I was told that I had a very important work to do, and if I went willingly and did my best, that the Lord would help me in times of need and that success would be mine." This blessing proved true as she never lost a mother and very few babies.

Esther moved to Provo for a few years, but most of her family was living in Tabiona so she moved back to be near her children and her many friends, who continued to always call upon her for advice. She died inTabiona on March 16, 1938, and was buried there.