Chandler Holbrook

1807 - 1889

Compiled and written by Carolyn Barkdull Rowley, great great granddaughter   
April, 2003

 

    Chandler Holbrook was born September 16, 1807 in Florence, Oneida, NY to Moses and Hannah Lucretia Morton. He married Eunice Dunning on June 22, 1831 in Weathersfield, Genessee, New York.  This union  was blessed with 7 children.             

Diana Eliza:             Born-27 Oct 1833       Died-11 Jan 1906     |
Mary Maria:              Born-17 May 1836      Died-23 Apr 1906 
Eunice Emma:        Born-16 Apr 1838       Died-6 Jun 1903
Orson Chandler:    Born-2 Nov 1841         Died-26 Aug 1917
Joseph Hyrum:       Born-22 Sept 1844      Died-15 Apr 1900
Lafayette:                  Born-7 Sept 1850        Died-1 Jan 1941
Erasmus:                  Born: 7 Dec 1852         Died-2 Oct 1863                     

 

    Chandler and Eunice adopted an Indian girl named Ruth who married Moshoquop, a War Chief.  Eunice taught her to cook and clean New England Style.

    Chandler had a second wife, Ann Long. They were married 3 Dec 1859.  She was born about 1807.   

    Chandler Holbrook was the second of three children.  He had 1 brother and 1 sister.   

Joseph Born-16 Jan 1806 and Died-17 Nov 1885 and is buried in Bountiful, Utah.  
Phebe Born-16 Mar 1810 and Died-18 Mar1874 and is buried in Willard, Utah. 

     When Brigham Young left Nauvoo to find Zion, Chandler and his family were members of his company.  They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley September 21, 1848. 

    In October of 1851, two companies of men were formed by Brigham Young.  One group under President Young, would  choose a building site for the new State Capitol and to survey the city.  The other company under the direction of Anson Call was to create the settlement around the new site.   Chandler Holbrook was a member of one of these groups though it is unclear which one. At the suggestion of President Young, the new site would be called Fillmore.  Several weeks after their arrival, Apostle George A. Smith came to Fillmore on a return trip from Little Salt Lake now called Parowan.  He asked for reports from the citizens of everything they had learned about the resources of the country around them.  Chandler Holbrook and Orange Warner reported that good timber could be found ten miles up the canyon but the road would be difficult to make and due to the lateness of the season, they would have to be content with the plentiful cottonwoods which grew along the banks of the creek.  President Smith advised them to get as much of the road built as possible but to go in large numbers for protection against Indians. 

    Once settled in the new town of Fillmore, Chandler moved his wife and 6 children from Davis County to Fillmore.  They arrived in Fillmore on Feb 11, 1852. There they remained for the rest of their lives.  Holbrook’s return trip caused the little settlement much concern as the Indians had stolen two of his cows and a yoke of his oxen while his party was camped for the night.  This incident caused the men to enlarge the corral to twenty rods square and to guard the stock at night.  

    Early in the Spring of 1852, Chandler Holbrook, who had been commissioned Surveyor and Public Notary surveyed the fields on the creek west of town, taking his line from the east line of public square which Jesse W. Fox had surveyed the previous autumn.  Public Square was the acreage set apart for the capitol building.  Chandler was elected to the surveyor position in the fall of 1852, and remained surveyor for many years.   With the arrival of new immigrants needing additional home sites and land, the surveyor position kept him very busy.

    He was dedicated to his religion, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  There are many accounts of Chandler and his wife Eunice participating in leadership positions of their church.  He was the President of Mass Quorum of Seventies, and she the first Relief Society President in Fillmore.  He participated in “The United Order”.  This was a practice of the “Mormons” but it was reported that not all members were asked to follow this rule.  Brigham Young thought it best to try it out in different locations and Fillmore was selected.  It was reported that not all church members in Fillmore participated in this practice.  However, a lengthy, signed copy of the agreement of Chandler Holbrook assigning all his earthly possessions to the Church was found in the “Milestone of Millard” (1951), thus proving his dedication to his religion.  This practice was later abandoned in Fillmore because dissatisfaction arose among the participants.  In 1874, at the age of 67, Chandler served a mission for the church to the Eastern States.

    Chandler was an industrious man, a born leader and businessman.   He owned and operated a molasses mill just East of his home on main street and was one of the first directors of the co-op store called the Fillmore branch of the ZCMI.  In the fall of 1859, Chandler Holbrook and 8 other men petitioned the county court for the right to utilize and control the waters of the Sevier River.  This petition was approved.  He participated in the construction of the St. George, Utah Temple and beginning in 1867, the first rock schoolhouse in Fillmore was constructed under his direction. The school still stands today (2003).  He held the position of trustee of the school.  The reference to this position tells of him hiring teachers. Chandler homesteaded a large amount of land in the “sinks” area West of Fillmore.  His sons, Joseph and Orson C. Holbrook later owned this land.  Joseph’s land was then left to Frank, Grantley and Conrad Holbrook.  The Sinks area, which houses remnants of a volcano, was reported to be a hiding place for practicing polygamists when the U.S. Marshall came to call. 

    It is apparent he was among the number of outstanding citizens and leaders of Fillmore.  It was written in the Milestones of Millard that “Chandler Holbrook was a builder, surveyor and a leader in many ways”.   

    Chandler died September 3, 1889 in Fillmore, Utah.  His wife, Eunice, who was born April 6, 1810 and died December 30, 1890, is buried at Chandler’s side in the Fillmore, Utah cemetery.  

All of the above information was taken from the “Milestones of Millard”, 1951.  Genealogy gathered from the LDS Genealogy website:  www.familysearch.org  

Younger photo of Chandler courtesy of Matt Powell