Milo Andrus was born in Wilmington, New York on March 06, 1814 to Ruluf and Azuba Smith Andrus. He was baptized into the Mormon Church on April 12, 1833 at the age of 19. He married my ggggreat-grandmother Abigail Jane Daley the same year. His parents were very much opposed to him joining Joseph Smith and his organization, there was a bounty out for him, but Milo was never caught. His parents also disowned him and he never spoke to them again. Milo later married ten more women and had a total of 57 children. He came west with the "Saints" Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and went on several succeful missions. He also was the author of the book "Trumpeter of God" and the town of Milo in Idaho was named for him. Milo Andrus died on June 19, 1893, in Oxford, Idaho.He was a president of the Tenth Quorum of Seventies, a High Priest, a member of the High Council and a Patriarch in the Church. He was president of the Liverpool conference from 1848 to 1850, filled several missions to Europe, and at one time presided over the Birmingham district in England, comprising the Birmingham, Warwickshire and Staffordshire conferences. He presided at different periods of his life over companies of Saints crossing the ocean and also crossing the plains. This was what one newpaper said about him at the time of his passing: "He was a man of sterling worth, and never "flinched" from any call made upon him. He was much beloved and revered by his family and friends, and respected, and admired by his enemies, for his unswerving integrity. He leaves a numerous posterity to mourn his loss. His demise was peaceful and easy, suffering no pain. He expressed himself as being satisfied with his work on earth and his willingness and desire to join the loved throng on the "other side," His posterity numbers 59 children, 170 grandchildren, and 75 great grandchildren."

Howard Egan was born in Tullimore, Kings County, Ireland on June 15, 1815. He was orphaned at the age of 13 after imigrating to Canada. He became a sailor at a young age and eventually settled in Salem, Massachusetts where he married Tamson Parshley(my gggreat-grandmother). She was 14. It was in Salem that the couple joined the Mormon Church and moved with that group to Nauvoo, Illinois where Howard was chosen as a guard for Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet. He was an officer on the city police force and a major in the local militia, hence the title Major Howard Egan.Howard was among the first company of Utah pioneers led by Brigham Young. He kept a daily journal of the expedition which is published in Pioneering The West. The original journal is now in the library at Yale University. Over 300 miles of the Pony Express route was over the trail established by Howard Egan. He had many business interests including a store at Ruby Valley, a ranch and store at Deep Creek, and several businesses in Salt Lake City. He also sold beef in California and started several mines in Nevada. Things changed when the railroad was completed and traffic and mail disappeared from the old Egan Trail. Howard moved to Salt Lake City where he became a member of the Salt Lake City police force and a deputy sheriff. He was also a protector and a nurse to Brigham Young before the Mormon leader's death in 1877. Major Howard Egan died in March of 1878 after becoming ill while guarding Brigham Young's grave. He "got his feet wet one dark night and took sick, which resulted in inflammation of the bowels, and died at the age of sixty-three." Howard Egan was a strong, skilled frontiersman and trailblazer who worked to establish safer and faster routes between Utah and California during the first two decades of settlement in the Salt Lake Valley. He was also the defendant in one of the first felony trials in the Territory of Utah. His cattle brand is shown above. He was a Mormon patriarch with three wives when he went to the gold fields of California in 1849. He returned to Great Salt Lake City in 1851 and found that one of his wives, Tamson Egan, had become pregnant during his absence. James Monroe, the seducer, was a dashing young school teacher who had been employed by Emma Smith, Brigham Young and many of the Mormon Church authorities in Nauvoo for instruction of their children. Tamson Egan , who must have felt very much alone knowing that every short visit from her husband must be shared with his other two wives. She must have found the company of her old friend, James Monroe, a great comfort. To avoid a confrontation with Howard Egan, James Monroe left Salt Lake City for the States during the winter of 1850-51. Tamson's child was born the following summer. Several months after the birth of the child, Howard learned that James Monroe was returning to Utah from the states in a freight wagon train. Howard met the freight train at Yellow Creek near what is now the Utah/Wyoming border. He shot James Monroe virtually in the presence of several witnesses and told them, "I have just shot the seducer of my wife. This vengeance is sweet to me" He was tried in the First Judicial Court of the Territory of Utah and acquitted. Howard raised the child as his own son. The child, William Monroe Egan, carried the names of both his biological and nurturing fathers.

Coburn/Hill/Poppleton/Leatham

On the other side of my grandma's family we have the Coburn/Leatham/Poppleton/Urqhart/Bryce/Riggs/Hill families. My great grandfather, Louis Fred Coburn was born in Wellsville, Utah on May 04, 1913 to Fred Leatham Coburn and Celia Poppleton Hill. Fred's mother, Annabelle Leatham came from the Leatham/Urqhart/Steele family that immigrated to Utah from Milneroft, Lanark, Scotland and Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, Scotland. Fred's father, John Preston Coburn was from Mickelwaite, England. Celia's great grandparents were Daniel Currie Hill and Elizabeth Bryce, also from Scotland; and William Bannister Poppleton and Sarah Stennet from Lincolnshire, England. All these people were also Mormon Pioneers, not as famous as Milo Andrus and Howard Egan, but they helped build what is now Cache County in Utah. And if you were to visit the Wellsville Cemetary in Wellsville, Utah, you would find nearly all of the above mentioned individuals there, in their final resting place. My great grandfather Louis died on January 14, 1977, in Smithfield, Utah, he is buried in Wellsville. My great grandmother Fawn Andrus died on July 28, 2000 in Ontario, Oregon. And my grandma, Carol Jean Coburn died on May 08, 1979 and is buried in Nyssa, Oregon. >Back