Amanda Ann Andrus

About

Amanda Ann Andrus was born Nov 19, 1847 in Council Bluffs, Iowa to Milo and Abigail Jane Daley Andrus.

History

At the time of Amanda's birth, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were leaving Nauvoo, Illinois and moving across the Mississippi River to seek refuge from angry mobs. Because her father left on a mission and Amanda's mother not accepting that he was called to practice polygamy the same year, the remaining Andrus family, led by Amanda's mother, moved west. They joined the Heber C. Kimball Company of 1848 and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in the fall.

Most of what Amanda did in the Salt Lake Valley is unknown other than participating in plays and playing music.

On Oct 10, 1863, Amanda married Howard Ransom Egan in Salt Lake City, Utah. Soon after the marriage, they moved out to Deep Creek, Utah where Howard was employed by his father to help with the Pony Express. In 1870, Howard closed business with his father and they moved to Richmond where Amanda's family had settled.

Amanda's granddaughter, Vivian Marcusen Egan, remembers her grandmother:

"Grandmother did a lot of reading. She would read stories and books to her family many long hours. She was also a member of different dramatic companies for years.

"Besides cooking washing, ironing and mending for her large family, she found time to rehearse roles for plays, which she loved very much. Many trees, shrubs, and flowers were planted around the home, board walks were laid down to walk from the house to the gate and to the out buildings. In the spring of the year these boards were scrubbed with lye and soap until they glistened. A neat picket fence enclosed the place and a huge rock and hitching post were placed outside the entrance gate.

"'Aunt Mandy' as Grandmother was called by so many people in her later years, kept as clean a house as could be found. One of her favorite expressions was, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” Always clean linens on all beds, her kitchen was immaculate, Knives and forks were scoured with wood ashes after each meal. She was an excellent cook and prided herself on a good cake or pie. Different fruits were dried for home use. Meat was smoked and jerked. There was also the making of sausage and headcheese, and the pickling of pig’s feet. Feathers were saved from chickens and ducks and made into pillows, and sometimes feather beds. The usual bed had a straw tick for a mattress. Grandmother also did beautiful handwork, such as hairpin lace, netting, and embroideries and cut work. Hours of toil meant nothing to her, if only she could make her family happy. Her children’s and her husband’s well-being and comfort were her life’s devotion. Monday was washday, Tuesday, ironing day; Wednesday. the day for churning butter and sewing and altering clothing. She would purchase denim and calico by the bolt to sew overalls, shirts, dresses, and aprons for her growing family, doing most of the sewing by hand."1