Samuel Richard Brough
In 2024 the Brough Family Organization produced a 26-page all-color perfect-bound booklet about Richard Brough (1786-1873) and his Descendants, including his grandson, Samuel Richard Brough--who was a "Mormon Pioneer" and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This publication is available HERE.
Samuel Richard Brough's Missionary Journal, 1886-1891
(1,215 pages, PDF file, 306MB, posted by the BFO in July 2021)
History of Samuel Richard Brough (1857-1947) and His Two Wives and Their Children
Quoted from the 1980 RBFO book Samuel Richard Brough, 1857-1947: His History, Ancestory & Descendants with minor additions made by the RBFO after 1980
On August 20, 1857 Samuel Richard Brough, the third son and fourth child of Thomas Brough and Jane Patterson, was born in Bethalto, Madison County, Illinois. His father was engaged in farming, and it was on this farm that Samuel and his three younger sisters were born. In June 1864 Samuel's father and mother prepared for their long-awaited crossing of the "Great American Plains" to Utah. This was to be the final leg of the journey that began back in England in 1856 when this young family left to join the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in far-away Utah.
With a yoke of oxen to pull their wagon and one milk cow to provide milk for their family, this young family of eight started out with other families to spend the next three and one-half months crossing the plains to Utah. During all of this time they were exposed to Indians, buffalo and other hazards common to the wilds of America in those early days. They finally arrived in Porterville, Morgan County, Utah on September 18, 1864. About half-way across the plains one of the oxen died so the milk cow, together with one of their neighbor's cows, was yoked up in place of the oxen and the one remaining ox was placed in lead of the cows, and the journey was completed successfully in this manner.
It was so late in the year that there wasn't enough time for them to build a cabin, so a room was dug in the side of a hill (12 feet by 14 feet) and covered with brush and dirt. It was in this room where Samuel, his father and mother, four sisters and one brother spent their first winter in Utah. It was extremely cold, with snow sometimes reaching a depth of four feet.
The following spring, Samuel's father, who had been a brick mason in England, made the brick and built a two-room brick home for his family and then started to farm some of the land that he was able to obtain. For the next seven years Samuel spent his time working on the farm and helping in his father's brickyard. He enjoyed trapping and was able to catch many red fox, mink and other fur-bearing animals during the winter months.
For two years, after Samuel turned 14, he spent working on the freight road using oxen to move his loads. When he turned 16 he went to Wyoming to work on a flume, twenty-eight miles long, which brought timber from the mountains down into the valley to make lumber, railroad ties and charcoal. He spent his 18th year working as a carpenter for the Utah and Northern Railroad in Idaho.
Young Samuel Richard Brough returned to Porterville that next year and worked in a lumber mill hauling timber from the mountains for the Union Pacific Railroad. During his 21st year he worked for his father in his brickyard getting half of the brick that he made for his own use. He used this brick to build a home for himself. Late in October of his 22nd year, he went to Colorado and New Mexico to help build the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad.
In the spring of 1881 he returned home to Porterville, and on June 2, 1881, he married Phoebe Adeline Cherry in the endowment house in Salt Lake City, Utah. They then returned to Porterville to the home that Samuel had built to start their married life together. Here Samuel was able to buy some farm land and also one-half interest in a lumber and shingle mill. By hiring some help he was successful in operating his farm and mill. During the winter season he hauled timber out of the mountains to his saw mill.
During the next four and one-half years he continued in this line of work and started to raise a family. Three sons were born during this period of time. Thomas James Brough was born on February 19, 1882, Jesse Samuel Brough was born on February 12, 1884, and Ernest LeRoy Brough was born on December 12, 1885.
The year 1886 was to be a memorable year in the life of Samuel Richard Brough, for on October 1, 1886 he received a call from President John Taylor to leave for a mission to Great Britain. He was to leave on October 26, 1886. Just five days before he boarded the steamship Alaska for England, he took Ann Eliza Carter to the Logan Temple and married her for time and all eternity to live in plural marriage with his first wife, Phoebe Adeline Cherry. In order to cover his mission expenses, he had to sell half of his farm and some cattle, leaving his mill property to be rented or sold. Ann Eliza Carter returned to her family to await his return from his mission.
Elder Samuel Richard Brough left for Great Britain on October 26, 1886, going by way of New York and on the Steamship Alaska, arriving in Liverpool, England on November 10, 1886. He was sent immediately to South Wales where he served as a traveling elder for almost one and one-half years. Many were the faith-promoting experiences that he had with the Welsh people.
After serving as a traveling elder he was called to preside over the Welsh Mission. After serving in this capacity for almost one year he was called to preside over the Irish Mission until June 17, 1890, and then he was called to preside over the Scottish Mission. Each call was for a particular purpose and he witnessed the hand of the Lord in and during each call. On September 29, 1890, he received an honorable release. However, before returning to the United States, Samuel traveled to Longton, Staffordshire, and stayed for seventeen days (November 8-24, 1890) with his aunt, Mary Ann Brough and her husband Robert Evans, in their home at "58 Lord Street, Woodhouse N Longton". While staying in Longton, Samuel collected genealogical and historical information on his Brough ancestry. He also visited the Parish Churches in Longton, Trentham, Dresdon and Stoke-on-Trent, and gathered many family names (of deceased relatives) for eventual LDS temple work. He returned to Utah in December 1890. The following hand-written account is taken from Samuel's missionary journal and details what he did during the days he stayed with Mary Ann Brough and Robert Evans in Longton, England:
Saturday, November 8, 1890: Today I started to Longton [Staffordshire, England] at 12 Noon. Arrived ok about 3 PM. I met some of my relatives. I was kindly received by all. I went to Aunt Mary Ann [Mary Ann Brough Evans], my father's sister and abode with her and [her] family. I spent a pleasant evening.
Sunday, November 9, 1890: B[roke] fast this morning and go [went] to chapel with Uncle Robert Evans and from there to Aunt Martha's [Martha Lowe Paterson] residence (she being the widow of Uncle Robert [Watson] Paterson my mother's brother). She was delighted to see me. I ate dinner with her and had a chat for several hours during which time she informed me it was just 39 years to-day since she and Robert [Watson Paterson] were married and narrated the incident quiet fully which was interesting to me. At 6:30 she and I went to chapel and spent quite an interesting evening. I returned to Aunt Mary Ann [Brough Evans].
Monday, November 10, 1890: Today I attended to some correspondence and then visited Aunt Rose [Rosannah Myatt Brough] (Widow), Uncle Richard Brough's wife, and ate dinner and was very kindly received. I then started in search of records from which to obtain the genealogy of my Father's house. I first went to the Registrar of Longton District but his records only dated back to 1837 which date was too recent. I then went to the minister of St. John's church and arranged with him to search his records from 1764 (the oldest he had) to 1837 for ten shillings. I then went back in town and purchased some note books and prepared for genealogical search in the morrow. I returned to Aunt Mary Ann [Brough Evans, at] 58 Lord Street Woodhouse North Longton and brought up [to date] my journal and wrote a letter to my mother.
Tuesday, November 11, 1890: Today I searched the baptismal records from 1764 to 1837 inclusive and secured over 60 names of Brough. In the evening I recorded some in my family register and wrote two letters to America.
Wednesday, November 12, 1890: Today I went to Stoke to try and arrange with the parish registrar to search the records of the parish. I found it would cost me about four shillings [?] for each name and concluded to search through the church records as they are much cheaper. I went to [the] Trentham church minister and arranged to search the records of that church next Friday 14th inst[ant]. I returned to Longton and in the evening visited some of my relatives in company with Cousin Thomas Evans [the son of Robert Evans and Mary Ann Brough].
Thursday, November 13, 1990: Today I attended to considerable correspondence and in the evening went to the landmark where my Grandfather (Richard Brough) and some of his uncles made brick about 60 years ago. I gathered a few leaves to place in my scrap book as a Token of Remembrance of the noted place. I then went to Rev. W. B. Smith and arranged with him to search the baptismal records of St. John's church from 1837 up to the present. I expect to commence my search next Monday, November 17th 1890.
Friday, November 14, 1890: today I walked to Trentham 3½ miles to search the records of the Trentham church and on my arrival learned the minister was called away on business. I then walked back to Longton and searched the records in St. John's church from 1839 to 1890 and obtained some names. The minister of this church then kindly gave me a very favorable recommend to the minister of St. James church in this city. I went to 58, attended to some correspondence and retired.
Saturday, November 15, 1890: Today I went to St. James church and presented my recommend to the minister and at once got the privilege to search the records from 1834 to date--all they had. I obtained a good few names without the least charge and on my departure I thanked the minister most kindly and gave him two shillings and six pence and also presented him with a copy of the Voice of Warning of which he accepted with thanks and I left him feeling first class. I returned to 58 and replied to some correspondence and had a chat with Aunt [Mary Ann Brough Evans] and retired.
Sunday, November 16, 1890: B[roke] fast this morning and met in chapel with some of the followers of Smeedenbury. I observed their manner of worship... I spent some time with Aunt Rose [Rosannah Myatt Brough] and her folks in the afternoon and in the evening met with some who termed themselves a Christian Society....
Monday, November 17, 1890: Today I called on Aunt Rose [Rosannah Myatt Brough] and took dinner with her and then visited cousin Lucy [Lucy Smith-the daughter of Joseph Hinton Smith and Adry Brough] and had a nice chat with her and family. Then to Thomas Bott (Aunt Besse's brother) [and the brother of Elizabeth Bott--who married Samuel Brough, and the son of Benjamin Bott and Elizabeth Abbotts] and gave him some tracts and sold him a Voice of Warning. I had a lengthy chat on the Gospel.
Tuesday, November 18, 1890: Today I presented Uncle Robert [Evans] and Aunt Mary Ann [Brough] Evans with a most beautiful album written on the fly leaf Compliments of nephew Samuel Richard Brough and then attended to considerable correspondence and in the evening spent a little time in town [and] went to Dresden in search of genealogies. I met with some encouragement. I was accompanied by John Kelsal [John Kelsall--the husband of Ann Myatt (Brough)].
Wednesday, November 19, 1990: Today I sought after genealogy and in the evening presented Cousin Ann Kelsal [Ann Myatt (Brough) Kelsall, who was] (married) with a beautiful album written in the fly leaf Compliments of cousin Samuel Richard Brough to cousin Ann Kelsal Nov 19th 1890. I then went to Aunt Martha Paterson [Martha Lowe Paterson and] I made a similar present with the same inscription on the fly leaf except the name. Both were accepted with heartfelt thanks. I spent some time with Aunt Martha [Lowe Paterson] and returned to 58.
Thursday, November 20, 1890: I rise [arose] in good time and walked to Trentham four miles and searched the records of the same back to 1525 being ably assisted by Rev. E. B. Pigott who I found exceeding kind and would not charge me anything whatever for his service. I thanked him very kindly and on leaving presented him one copy each of the Book of Mormon and Voice of Warning. He accepted them with thanks and spoke especially of the Book of Mormon and said he would place it in his library and take good care of it. I gathered 101 names and left rejoicing and considerably satisfied.
Friday, November 21, 1890: Today I spent a good portion of the time in arranging and recording the genealogy gathered in this part, and in the evening went to the theatre with four of my second cousins (ladies) and we had a splendid time [and] the play was titled The Still Alarm. I called on Aunt Rose [Rosannah Myatt Brough] and gave her one shilling worth of ale. She accepted it with many thanks. She is over three score years old and receives much comfort from her pipe.
Saturday, November 22, 1890: Today I finished my labors in recording and arranging the genealogy I have gathered on my Father's house and have labored faithful and traveled a great deal from place to place and person to person. I have gathered near 200 names and feel quite pleased with my labors. My mind is now at rest and I feel willing to return home. In the evening I visited some of the Bott's, Aunt Besse's [Elizabeth Brough-who married Samuel Brough] relatives. Also called on a photographer and purchased a portrait of Longton Park and St. Johns Church where my Grandmother Brough was buried and sold him [the photographer] a Book of Mormon and gave him some tracts and left him feeling quiet satisfied with the purchase and our conversation. I returned to 58 and Uncle Robert Evans made me a present of a nice pair of winter gloves.
Sunday, November 23, 1890: B[roke] fast this morning and met with Aunt Rose [Rosannah Myatt Brough] and relatives at her respective residence and too dinner and had a good chat about matters generally. Cousin Ann [Ann Myatt (Brough) Kelsall] gave me a nice China Mustache Cup and Saucer and 6 China Tea Cups and Saucers. Also sent a rare beautiful cup and saucer to my mother and her daughter gave me a very pretty China Cup and Saucer for my wife. I accepted all with kindness and many thanks. I bid them farewell and left them in profound friendship. I called on Cousin Lucy [Lucy Smith-the daughter of Joseph Hinton Smith and Adry Brough] and family [and] had a pleasant visit and bid them adieu. Then called on Aunt Martha Paterson and had a friendly chat and she gave me a pair of winter gloves for each of my little boys and a pair for my mother. Also sent a present and token of respect to my wife and sisters Emily and Alice. A young man who was lodging with Aunt [Mary Ann Brough Evans] gave me a most beautiful China Mustache Cup and saucer elaborately decorated with gold and flowers and written on it in gold letters (A present to Samuel Richard Brough by John Lester). I gave him a Book of Mormon and Voice of Warning and accepted all with grateful heart and bid them farewell. I went to the place the Latter-day Saints met for worship 55 years ago when my Father and Mother were here. I returned to 58 [and] had a chat with Uncle [Robert Evans] and Aunt [Mary Ann Brough Evans] about the folks and affairs at home and retired.
Monday, November 24, 1890: I received a pair of socks for myself and a nice apron for my wife as a present from Aunt Mary Ann [Brough Evans] and packed up some of my presents and sent to Liverpool by R.R [railroad] and bid the folks farewell and many thanks for all kindness. I started for Nottingham by Rail Road and arrived about 2 PM and went to the Nottingham Cemetery and visited Jesse Yelton Cherry's grave (my wife's uncle) [who was born in 1840 in Illinois and died in 1865 in Nottingham]. He died while here on a mission preaching the Gospel in May 20th 1865 aged 25 years. I spent a pleasant evening with the Brethren here and had a chat about the folks and affairs at home.
Tuesday, November 25, 1890: Today I wrote a letter to James J. Cherry my Father-in-law and Brother to the above deceased. I took [a] train for Swansea, South Wales, at 11:50….
On December 6, 1890, Samuel Richard Brough left England and arrived in Porterville, Utah on New Year's Eve, December 31, 1890, having been away from home and his family just over four years and two months.
In the spring of 1891 he hired out to Henry Florence and Sons Company and ran their sawmill at Hilliard, Wyoming. During the winter of that year he made railroad ties in Hardscrabble Canyon and sold them to the Union Pacific Railroad Company.
In the spring of 1892, he took his wife Ann Eliza Carter and went to Fort Bridger Valley to use his homestead rights and he settled on 160 acres in what is now known as Lyman, Wyoming. During the summer he chopped cedar posts and hewed house logs in the mountains and sold them to settlers in the valley. During the fall he built a log house 16' by 24' on his homestead. He then took his wife back to Salt Lake City where his first plural child, Horace, was born on November 16, 1892.
In the spring of 1893 he took his wife Ann Eliza Carter and son Horace and returned to his homestead in Wyoming. At that time he was set apart by President Cluff of the Summet Stake as Presiding Elder of the scattered saints in that area. He was able to clear some eight acres with a grubbing hoe and in the fall, seeded them into winter wheat thus starting his first crop on his homestead. In November he located his wife and son in Fort Bridger for the winter and returned to his family in Porterville and worked in the timber during the winter.
In the spring of 1894 he returned to his homestead with a team and farm seeds for the season and found his wife and son in good health. He proceeded to clear more land and seeded for a larger crop on his homestead. In June his second son of his plural marriage, Franklin Reed, was born. He raised a crop of wheat, oats, rye and potatoes. In the fall he again placed his wife Ann Eliza Carter and two sons in a good home in Fort Bridger for the winter and returned to his family in Porterville, Utah. On November 18, 1894, his first daughter, Laura Adeline, was born to his first wife Phoebe Adeline Cherry. During the winter he worked in the timber in Hardscrabble Canyon.
For the next two years he followed this plan, returning to his homestead in the spring and clearing more land and planting and harvesting more crops and helping the saints in that area, and then returning to Porterville during the winter, working in the timber and spending some time in the temple working on the names that he had gathered while on his mission.
In the spring of 1898 he built a house on his homestead for his first wife and family, and for the first time he had all of his family together. On June 8, 1898, he was ordained the bishop of the Owen Ward (now renamed the Lyman Ward) by Apostle John Henry Smith, and he served in this position until released on February 22, 1916. During all of this time he held many positions of leadership in that community, even serving on the Stake Board of Education for the Woodruff Stake while he was still bishop. By the early 1900's, Samuel had acquired 560 acres of land in and around Lyman, Wyoming. Also, during his stay in Wyoming, Samuel gave some of his properties to the town of Lyman, Wyoming, with the restriction that "liquors" were never to be made, sold or distributed from such properties.
Between 1917 and 1920, his properties in Wyoming were sold and those who were still living at home moved to Bountiful, Utah where they engaged in truck farming. This also enabled Samuel Richard Brough and his wife to do more work in the temple for their kindred dead. On April 18, 1921 he was called to be a temple worker in the Salt Lake Temple which was to last for many years, even until 1946. Also, from 1918 to 1938, Samuel served as the first president of the Brough Family Organization--which today is one of the oldest and largest ancestral family organization and surname associations in the world.
Samuel Richard Brough was really a remarkable man. One of the outstanding characteristics of this great pioneer was that throughout the many years that he served as a temple worker, even up to the last few years of his life, he always managed to spend the summers working and saving so that he could continue to spend the majority of his time during the remainder of the year working in the temple and fulfilling his calling as a temple worker.
Samuel Richard Brough raised an exceptional family. Many of his sons became LDS bishops, high councilmen and stake presidents in their own areas. One son was ordained a patriarch. His girls were also very active and served the Lord as they had been taught by their mothers. On May 8, 1947, he passed away, having spent some 89 years, 8 months and 18 days on this earth. He raised 15 of his children to manhood and womanhood, having lost two sons in their infancy. He sent five of his children on full-time missions besides serving more than four years of his life on a mission in England. He left one of the greatest heritages for his posterity, and his two wonderful companions added their greatness to his. How blessed we are to be able to call them our ancestors, for they left us a heritage that cannot be equaled today.
History of Phoebe Adeline Cherry (1860-1935)
Quoted from the 1980 RBFO book Samuel Richard Brough, 1857-1947: His History, Ancestory & Descendants, originally written by Laura Adeline Brough Bradshaw
Phebe Adeline Cherry was born September 7, 1860, at Centerville, Utah to her father, John James Cherry and her mother, Laura Bratten Cherry who were 1847 pioneers. Most of her childhood and teenage years were spent in Centerville and Porterville. She was a beautiful young lady with natural curly auburn hair, slim and trim, a special sweet person in every way. While living with her parents in Porterville, Utah she met a fine young man named Samuel Richard Brough, the son of Thomas Richard Brough and Jane Patterson. After a few years' courtship, they were married June 2, 1881 in the L.D.S. Endowment House on Temple Square by Apostle Daniel H. Wells and moved into a lovely new brick home father had built during their courtship years. He and his father had made the bricks at their brickyard, and the house is still being lived in in 1979.
Father was owner and manager of a sawmill located in Hardscrabbel Canyon not far from Porterville and was quite well financially for a young man those days. It was a very happy marriage. Father was a handsome young man, well built six foot three with lots of curly black hair. They were very happy in their new honeymoon home. It was built just across the street from his mother and father's home.
As time passed on, their first son Thomas James was born, February 19, 1882; their second son Jesse Samuel was born February 12, 1884; and on December 12, 1885 another little son with black curly hair, Ernest LeRoy, came to bless them in their happy home. By this time father had about 25 head of cattle and a good little farm and was doing very well. He was a good carpenter and had made some very nice furniture for their home. They were both very active and faithful in their church duties, and before the Manifesto the President of the Church had asked the men to take a second wife and practice polygamy. They talked it over and decided, as it was part of the church teachings, they would try and do it. After much thought and sincere prayers they decided on a good L.D.S. girl, Ann Eliza Carter. So mother (bless her heart, what a wonderful woman) went with father to ask another young girl to be his wife.
Soon after their marriage father was called to go to Great Britain on a mission where he labored for four years as mission president. Soon after his return home, he felt like he needed more land and a larger place for his two families. Aunt Eliza, as we always called his second wife, had still lived with her family while father was on his mission. Mother worked very hard to pay for his mission expenses and take care of herself and three little boys. She took in boarders, did lots of sewing for others and anything else she could do to make a little money. They had a very good friend, Moses Critchlow, who had worked with father at the sawmill who took care of the cattle for her and helped her with other things when needed, but before father got home she had sold all the cattle for expenses for his mission. Aunt Eliza helped all she could.
Father heard that the government was opening land for homesteaders about five miles east of the Old Fort Bridger, so he and Aunt Eliza went out there and took up the land, 160 acres, and built a two-room log house. The next summer mother went up and homesteaded on her land and lived there as the law required and then in the winter went back to her home in Porterville, Utah. Their fourth son, Wallace Calvin, was born September 27, 1891, another fine little blonde boy.
Mother would live at Wyoming in the summer and then return to Porterville for the older boys to go to school. On November 18, 1893, their first little baby girl was born. They were very happy to have a lovely little daughter. They named her Laura Adeline. Laura after my Grandmother Cherry and Adeline after my mother. I was about three years old when father sold the home and farm in Porterville and moved to Wyoming to stay, but I can remember Grandmother Brough and her home across the street. I remember after her death of a little jacket with four box pleats across the back that looked like a little bustle which was given to mother. When I was big enough I wore it to school.
In Wyoming father had built another good-sized log building that mother and our family lived in, and at harvest time father had to partition to make rooms to store the different kinds of grain and we children had to sleep on top of the grain. He left a room about 15 feet square in the center for mother to cook, wash, iron and everything else needed for the family, with a homemade bed in one corner for her and father. We always had a big, lovely garden with everything in it but tomatoes and corn, (the frost came too early to raise them) and plenty of eggs and chickens. As father was the bishop we had lots of cooking to do for our big family and lots of company. She was an excellent cook and everything always tasted so good. She would make carrot pies that tasted like squash and the best ones out of dried peaches with rich cream or ice cream on top. I can almost taste them now, and the best bread and cinnamon rolls.
Father and the boys worked very hard clearing more ground of sagebrush and greasewood, as preparation to plant more grain. It would be all raked up into a big pile, and after supper he would make a big bonfire and all the family would go to see it. On October 11, 1897 another little baby girl was born, Nettie May, with big blue eyes and red hair. I was so happy to have a baby sister, but mother was very sick. When the baby was about three weeks old she caught cold in her breast. It caked and was so hard and feverish. She was very, very sick. A dear, good friend, Kate McDonald, who was staying with us and taking care of mother said if she had some Procter and Gamble soap she would make a poultice and use it on mother's breast. It was a cold and stormy afternoon, but Tom got on his saddle pony and rode to Fort Bridger, five miles away, where there was a little grocery store, and got the bar of soap. The poultice was made and kept on mother's breast all night, and the next day it was much better. Soon all was well.
After the harvest and fall work was over, father and the older boys would go to the timbers and cut and haul logs for building. We had lived in the granary about two years by then. Father had a nice five-room log house built about five blocks west of Aunt Eliza's home. Mother soon had a lovely home with new rag carpets to cover the floors. The furniture had been stored in Porterville and it was hauled out by team and wagon. We were all so glad to get into our big new log house. It is still being lived in at Lyman, Wyoming in 1979. Soon after the move another fine baby boy, Byron, was born. He was a dear little baby. I remember him so well, but he was only eight months old when he died from spinal meningitis. He was the first dead person I had ever seen. They put nickels on his little eyes to keep them closed. We were all heartbroken to lose our dear baby.
Mother was very good in helping with the sick and went to help wherever she could, and I have heard her tell of many times where there was a death. How they would have to wrap the bodies in sheets wet with salt peter and keep them wet so they would not turn dark, until a casket could be made and funeral arrangements planned. There were no morticians out there in those days, but everyone was ready to help one another and share their joys and sorrows. Mother was a very beautiful and lovely woman, and being a bishop's wife and with a large family, was a very, very busy lady, but she was very efficient and particular in everything she did. She was always loving, patient and kind to her husband and all of her children. We were a happy and healthy family. We went through the hardships of a pioneer life but they didn't seem hardships to us. She would give us younger children a flour sack and send us out to gather all the wool off the sagebrush and wire fences or anywhere. When we got it gathered she would put it in tubs of warm water and homemade soap and let us get in with our bare feet and tromp it to get it clean. We thought it was so much fun. Then she would rinse it in another tub of warm water and put it out to dry. When thoroughly dry it would be brought in and the boys and all would pull it apart in little pieces and picked out all the sticks and grass, then piled in the corner ready for mother to card into batts about four inches wide and eight inches long. It would take mother many, many hours to card enough batts to make a big quilt. All the backs of the legs of worn-out coveralls and the best pieces of coats or any heavy pieces were saved and sewn together to make heavy camp quilts, tied with carpet warp. All the lighter materials from making dresses and shirts were sewn into pretty patterns for our bed quilts.
Then a quilting day was planned and neighbors invited to help quilt them. They were fun days, big dinners and a good visit for all. I still have mother's batt carders. The same was planned for when they had carpet rag bees, and all the neighbors would help each other. But, oh, what fun when mother would get enough big balls of rags woven into strips of carpet of about 36 inches wide, then sew each strip together with carpet warp to fit the room. When all was ready Father and the boys would bring in enough clean straw to cover the floor about six inches deep and then tack the carpet to the edge of the walls. Then how we younger children would have fun rolling over it and hear the straw crackle, but mother never liked house-cleaning time when the tacks all had to be pulled out and the carpet put on the clothes line and beat with brooms to get the dust and dirt out and the old straw that would be worn to a pulp and dust, but the new straw made it nice and warm again.
Mother always made all the homemade soap that was needed for a year in the summer. The lye was made by emptying wood ashes in a barrel with a tub underneath, then water poured over the ashes. What leaked into the tub was pure lye and very dangerous, if anyone got it on them. She would save every scrap of grease and trimming from the meat and all the cracklings after rendering out the lard. Then five-gallon cans would be set over fires out in the yard. The lye and grease boiled together until it was thick as honey then poured into tubs to get cool. Then it was cut into bars about four by four inches and laid out on boards to dry. It was really a hard day's work for mother and one of the boys father would leave to help her. My job was to tend the baby and small children and keep them away from where they were making the soap.
Another beautiful baby boy was born February 6, 1902, Parley Pratt. He was her last lovely baby.
Mother was president of the Primary and the baby was loved by all the children. Mother sent to Sears and Roebuck and got a baby buggy for Parley that looked like a little Ford automobile, and it was so cute. She usually had to stay awhile, so I would take the baby and Nettie home, and so many times Clyde would push the buggy home for me.
Mother and father were always very faithful and active in all of their church duties and callings. Father was Branch president then Bishop for 18 years in all. Mother worked with the Primary for many years, then she was set apart to be the ward Relief Society President. To do their Relief Society teaching they would have to take a team and buggy and be gone all day. The homes they had to visit were so far apart.
She made many trips to Salt Lake City with father for conferences and special bishopric meetings. She would buy her such pretty hats and beautiful dresses, when she would get home I thought she was the most beautiful mother in the world. Nettie and I would always get some pretty little gift, a cute little doll or little china cup, sometimes a ring or beads, but never without something to make us happy. She was also Relief Society Stake President for many years. When they had to travel with team and white-top buggy from Woodruff, Utah to Green River, Wyoming it would always be a three to four day trip. About six ladies would go each trip, driving their own team and taking care of them.
If ever a man was blessed for living polygamy, as it was suggested by our church leaders, Father should have a crown in heaven for he never did anything or bought for one wife until he could do the same for both wives and families. I remember when he started planning to build two lovely big frame homes, it was really quite a big project as most everything had to be hauled or shipped in by train, then hauled in ten miles from Carter to Lyman. Both Mother and Eliza decided on the floor plan they would like, then father built according to their plans and both houses were being built at the same time. Aunt Eliza moved into her lovely big new home in November because she was expecting a baby. Mother moved into our lovely big home just before Christmas. We were all so happy and had such a wonderful Christmas, with a Christmas tree that touched the nine-foot ceiling. It was just two blocks from the center of town. Father put a picket fence around the yard and soon we had a nice lawn, trees and flowers that would grow in that climate. I think Parley got some of his landscaping experience while helping mother. He was her helper in the gardening, watering, weeding and mowing to keep the lawns nice.
Mother was a wonderful cook and father being bishop, all the church authorities stayed at our home, also the drummers and traveling salesmen, ranchers that would come into town for business and supplies. It really was quite a "hotel" as there was no other place in town for visitors. One salesman gave her a silver thimble with a gold band around the top. I still have that thimble. She also took school teachers to board and room with us. Mary Wanlass stayed with us two or three years. She was a lovely, beautiful young lady and was the music teacher at the school. Mother took the money she paid and bought a nice second-hand organ, and Mary gave me music lessons. I soon got so I could play for Primary and Sunday School by practicing the songs for my music lessons, and I could play quite well.
Mother and father both loved to come to Salt Lake City to do temple ordinance work, and for many years soon after Christmas they would come and rent a small apartment as close to the temple as possible and stay for January, February and March, then be home in time for spring work.
In 1920 they decided to sell the big ranch, all the livestock, machinery and everything including the two lovely homes, which were the very nicest homes in the Bridger Valley, and move to Utah. Father bought two big rock homes in Bountiful, both on the same street and about two blocks apart, and as I remember, about 20 acres of good truck-gardening ground. Mother's home was bought from a Mr. Holbrook. Father and Parley did well with truck gardening for quite a number of years. After Parley got married and moved back to Wyoming, the work was too hard for father alone, so they decided to sell and move into Salt Lake City to be close to the temple. So Clyde and I bought their place and lived there two years, then sold it to Mr. Yeager, a builder. He soon divided the acreage into building lots and built nice homes on them. Mother's home was remodeled, a street cut clear to the top of the field, and now it is a very beautiful little part of Bountiful. Father and mother bought a nice little four- room home at 850 Windson Street and were very happy there. They did a great deal of temple work. Father was soon made an ordinance worker and worked in the Salt Lake Temple for many years.
Mother always had a nice garden and lots of lovely flowers. She always kept about ten little banty chickens so she could have fresh eggs. She was so good to help Nettie and me with our big families. She would come with her little canvas valise, overnight bag and stay a night or two and darn socks, mend underwear, and patch the knees of several pair of overalls for the boys. Our children all loved her so much. Each year she would go with us when we went to Little Cottonwood Canyon for a week's vacation. She would make dolls from root beer bottles and dress them in the socks that were too worn out to mend, then she would make little boats from the bark of trees for the boys to sail down the small streams. They were all fun-filled days, cooking over the campfire and sleeping on the ground. We would go swimming in a side stream that didn't run back into the river.
Mother and father would always spend Christmas Eve with us and our family. She had a good sense of humor, and we spent many happy hours and days together. I would always try and stop to see her for a few minutes if I was going to town, and she would want me to stop and have a piece of spice and raisin cake and a cup of peppermint tea with her. I often think of it, as I still like to drink peppermint tea. Mother was always such a good sport and liked to go places and do things. She would say, " I keep my coat hanging on the back of the door, and if anyone says come and go with us, I am always ready."
We had been to a baby shower for my cousin Wanda and had such a good time, we took her home and left her feeling good. At day-light the next morning father called us from a neighbor's home (they didn't have a telephone) and said she had been very sick all night and would we come over. We got in the car and went right over. When we saw how sick she was, Clyde called the doctor. He came and said it was a gall bladder attack. He gave her a shot to ease the pain and left, and in about twenty minutes mother passed away. I have always felt the medication the doctor gave her was too strong for her heart condition. It was such a sad and sorrowful shock to all her family, relatives and many, many friends, for everyone who knew mother loved and respected her. She died 5 May 935 at her little home on Windson Street. Funeral services were arranged for and a very lovely service was held at the Bountiful tabernacle with many, many friends coming from Lyman and the Bridger Valley for the service. She was laid to rest at the Bountiful Memorial Cemetery on Oak Street. Father and Aunt Eliza, all three are laid side by side.
The Children of Samuel Richard Brough and Phoebe Adeline Cherry
(Their histories are listed in the BFO Global Brough Database)
Thomas James Brough (1882-1948)
Jesse Samuel Brough (1884-1958)
Ernest LeRoy Brough (1885-1918)
Wallace Calvin Brough (1891-1946)
Laura Adeline Brough (1893-1983)
Nettie May Brough (1897-1981)
Byron Cherry Brough (1900-1900)
Parley Pratt Brough (1902-1974)
History of Ann Eliza Carter (1866-1932)
Quoted and edited from the 1980 RBFO book Samuel Richard Brough, 1857-1947: His History, Ancestry & Descendants, written by Samuel Richard Brough
Ann Eliza Carter was born February 20, 1866 in Round Valley, Morgan County, Utah, to Samuel Carter and Sarah Davis Carter who taught her the gospel from infancy. She was a polygamist child and fully converted to that order of marriage. She was always ready to testify that she knew that it was instituted of God, and was taught and practiced by all His prophets in all the ages of the world.
She was always very spiritual minded all of her life, and in her teens was active in Sunday School and all of her church duties and was modest and lady-like in all her acts in company with few or many. As she matured in life she took great interest in church affairs and was active in the M.I.A. and a sincere student of the gospel. She was a strict observer of the laws and the requirements and manifested honesty and sincerity in the worship of the Lord. She always honored and respected her parents and would not associate with rude or light-minded company. She would not take part in plays or games that were not becoming to a lady. When she arrived in womanhood, all who knew her gave her credit of being a good faithful Latter-day Saint.
I was a little older than she, and I knew her from her childhood to womanhood. At this time the L.D.S. Church was preaching and practicing plural marriage, commonly called polygamy. I was fully converted to this principal and I decided I would obey it in my younger days. That I could care for and raise a family was my earnest desire. I talked the matter over with my wife, Adeline, and we agreed to try and live it, and decided that Eliza Carter was a good, clean and faithful girl, and if she was willing to join us, we would prepare to embrace that order of marriage as soon as convenient. I now found that the responsibility was all upon me. I tried to raise enough courage to call on Eliza, and in a reasonable time I did so. She treated me very kindly, and during our conversation I told her the purpose and object of my visit and suggested that she give it serious thought, and that I would call and see her next week and get her decision on the matter.
I called the next week as per agreement, and to my joy and happiness she told me she favored the proposition. As I have already stated, she was a polygamist child and converted to this principle. We had a friendly visit and talked over the matters in general and agreed to marry, if all were willing. I told her of my mission call, and I would soon have to start on it.
She stated that her soul's desire was to marry a good, faithful husband and fill out her creation and serve the Lord, and was willing to make any sacrifice to accomplish her desire. I informed my wife, Adeline, of our conversation and suggested that she go with me and be present when I asked Eliza's parents for their consent for Eliza and I to get married. She consented to go and later on we called at Eliza's home and talked the matter over together with her parents and all were agreeable.
On October 20, 1886, we went to the Logan Temple and were married in the House of the Lord [on October 21, 1886] and by His authority for time and all eternity. I did not do anything without the knowledge and consent of my wife Adeline. I was not deceptive in any way to her or Eliza, or to Eliza's parents. After our marriage she went to live and work with her parents until my return from my mission.
On October 6, 1886, I received a call from President John Taylor, President of The Church of Jesus Christ [of Latter-day Saints] to go on a mission to preach the gospel [of Jesus Christ] to the world. I was to leave for the British Mission on October 26, and so I prepared to leave on this date. On the way home from the Logan Temple, Brother Durrant, a counselor to the bishop of our ward, and a good friend boarded the train at Echo and told me an officer of the law was waiting at the Morgan station to arrest me for entering plural marriage. He had taken a risk of his own safety in doing this, as he was disguised as a tramp. He had left a horse tied up in the canyon and suggested that I take it and go on to Salt Lake City and go on my mission. I decided to do as he advised and jumped off the moving train, rode the horse to Salt Lake City and reported for my mission. I never saw Eliza again for over four years and could only write to her as Miss Carter in all of that time.
I spent over four years serving the Lord and preaching the gospel to the world and finally returned to my family on December 31, 1890. All this time my wife Eliza kept clean from sin and reproach and had been true as steel to me and received me with the greatest love and friendship a woman could possible manifest. Many times during my absence Eliza had spent the night alone on the oak-covered hill back of her home in fear of being held in evidence against me for entering the principle of plural marriage. She never knew when an officer would come, day or night, and so she had to be constantly on her guard.
One time a Patriarch came to their home, as was the custom of that time, to give a blessing to each member of the family. Eliza's father was scribe, and as he gave Eliza her blessing, he said "thou was promised to one before thou left the Heavens and thou hast already given him your hand." He stopped, thinking that he had made a mistake, having no idea she was not a single member of the family, but her father said, "Go on, you are alright." This was a great comfort to both Eliza and I and also her parents that we had done as the Lord wanted when we entered this marriage principle.
It now became my duty to prepare a home for her. I had spent all my means on my long and expensive mission. I had a home for my wife Adeline and her three children in Morgan County, Utah.
Having my homestead right as a native-born American citizen, and learning of some government land being recently opened in Bridger Valley, Wyoming for homestead entry, I went there at once and took up a homestead of 160 acres of good farm land. It was in a wild condition and in a frontier country, but Eliza agreed to go with me and together we would build our home and begin our family life.
I was young and able to work twelve hours a day in clearing greasewood and sagebrush off my homestead and preparing it for cultivating. The Lord blessed our labors, and soon we built us a good home where happiness and true love prevailed.
In due time the Lord blessed us with a fine son (Horace) perfect and healthy who brought with him a great boon of happiness. Eliza was overjoyed and said she could cry glory to God on High. I have now become a mother in Israel, the great blessing for which I have made sacrifices and labored for four years.
We lived in this country for twenty-eight years, and during this time the Lord blessed us with six sons and three daughters, all perfect and healthy, for which we were most thankful. We reared them in a good, clean farm home free from the evils and vices of city life. They had good school[ing], gospel and church teachings and privileges, and good, clean social life. One boy (Golden) died in infancy. The other eight children lived to maturity, and we ever praised their clean, happy farm life of their younger days. After much thought and consideration, we sold our home and property there and moved to Bountiful, Utah, where we bought a home and engaged in truck gardening.
A few years after changing our home and climate, Eliza had several spells of severe sickness. She was faithful and active in the church and held several positions. All through her life she taught and encouraged her children to be faithful in all gospel duties.
Her children were her joy all her married life, and very frequently would speak of their good traits of character and say, "God has blessed me with good, clean children and given them faith in the gospel. They have been active in His service all their lives. Not one has brought shame upon my name, or even caused me to regret I have given them birth. They all have a name and standing in the church. My sons have all received the Holy Priesthood and are honest men of faith and integrity. My daughters are women of renown, clean, virtuous and loving mothers. All my family [is] a blessing to me and I thank God for them and the conviction I have of their association in the future."
She finally had an attack of pneumonia to which she succumbed and left us on December 13, 1932. She was laid away in the Bountiful Cemetery by a host of friends and loved ones with the greatest love and respect.
I wish to say one more word to her children. You should ever cultivate a feeling of gratitude to God that you have been permitted to come to this mortal life, through the lineage of so noble and faithful a woman as your mother proved to be. She planted the love of the gospel in your hearts before she gave you birth. She taught you its laws and principles by precept and example from your infancy to the day of her death and was laid in the tomb with the hope of a glorious resurrection. She was a devoted mother and a true and faithful wife. She left a vacant place in my heart that no woman in this world can fill. God bless her memory. Signed: Samuel R. Brough.
The Children of Samuel Richard Brough and Ann Eliza Carter
(Their histories are listed in the BFO Global Brough Database)
Horace Brough (1892-1964)
Franklin Reed Brough (1894-1965)
Eliza Viola Brough (1896-1930)
Chester Richard Brough (1898-1967)
Eveline Jane Brough (1900-1958)
Hyrum Carter Brough (1901-1987)
Golden William Brough (1902-1902)
Charles Lester Brough (1904-1986)
Emily May Brough (1907-1978)