Joseph Hyrum Angell Holbrook

1854 - 1929

Written by Joseph H. A. Holbrook

            My ancestors on my mother’s side were of English descent, while my father’s people were of Dutch origin. Their political belief was Democratic; their religious Baptist.  Their chief occupation was agriculture.

            My father was a headstrong man, stern in nature, bold in speech and always speaking to the purpose.  My mother was patient in nature, plainness in speech.  My father was judge of county and counselor of the Church.  My mother was a member of that Church.  My mother and father both joined the church in their childhood.  They were driven from Nauvoo at the time the Mormons were driven from there.  They came here with Brigham Young and one of my mother’s sisters became his wife.  Their early life in Utah was spent in building up roads and houses, spinning, agriculture and making clothes. 

            I was born in 1854 [in] Salt Lake City in an adobe house just east of where the Salt Lake Theatre now stands.  The people at that time were all building up Salt Lake City .  When I was nine months old I came to Bountiful .  My parents moved into a log house.  The summer of “The Move” we went to Provo .  After spending the summer in “Russ Wichup,” we returned back to Bountiful .

            From four to ten years, I spent my time home with my parents.  One of the first schools I went to was one taught to read, write and spell in my own aunt’s house.  At the age of sixteen, I stopped school and worked on a farm with my father.  At the age of twenty-two, we were called to go to Arizona , where the heads of the church called us to build up the country.  While there, we plowed up the land and built bridges over the little Colorado . 

In the fall of that year, 1878, I was married to Catherine Cooper.  We lived in Bountiful in part of my father’s house.  My brothers and I worked together on my father’s farm, building houses and other building.  I went with my family to Auburn , Wyoming to work on a Ranch.  While there, I took the offices of Bishop, teacher, counselor.  In 1897 we came back to Bountiful .  For a few years, we spent the summers in Auburn and the winters here.  The remainder of my time I have spent in Ranching and gardening.  My aspirations of my childhood were to have a family, to make each one a credit in the community.  I am trying to help the world by building up churches, school houses, and to help build up the community, to help build up Banks and factories.

This sketch was written by Joseph Hyrum Angell  Holbrook in response to a request by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to have its members fill out a "Genealogical Record."  Additional information included in the record includes:

Married to Catherine Cooper:  13 Jan 1878
Baptized:  about 1862 in Bountiful by Judson Tolman
Confirmed:  8 Jun 1862 by Judson Tolman
Served as a Teacher in the Auburn Ward:  1886-1896
Called as a Seventy in the Auburn Ward:  1889; ordained by Heber J. Grant
Called as a High Priest in the Auburn Ward:  1889; ordained by Heber J. Grant
Served as a Bishop in the Auburn Ward