Genealogy Do-Over ~ Cycle 4 ~ Week 8 ~

We are going to discuss and focus this week on Collateral Research and Reviewing Offline Education Options. This is my second round in the Genealogy Do-Over. I learned so much from Thomas MacEntee, from the Genealogy Do-Over Facebook Group and others during this time that some days, I felt like I was on information load. Since March, when the original group ended I started putting into practice the things I have learned and I can see major changes in how I approach my research now. 

Conducting Collateral Research 

When I began my genealogical research quest into my children's paternal line I was pregnant with my first child. We lived in Montgomery, Alabama back then and it was one of the hottest summers I have ever seen. I began going to the Alabama State Archives and trying to find records for the Kitts family of Grainger County, Tennessee. I had no clue to what I was doing but I gave it my best shot. I wrote down everything I found for anyone with the surname of Kitts (did I write down source info, ummm no!). I had a few generations written down courtesy of my children's 2nd great grandaunt, Betty, who had written down everything she had been told and remembered. Over time I learned by trial and error that (1) what I thought were good research practices and (2) what I thought were the right records but I didn't have a clue as to whether what I was doing was the right or wrong way of doing research. However, the one thing I did with every single family and continue to do so now is collateral research. 


When I began researching I started by doing collateral research. For me collateral research is paramount to my research of any family. How can you research a family and not research everyone in that family? I can't and it is my own personal bright shiny object (BSO) because I have this overwhelming need to know what happened to each member of the family. I believe this need comes from not only nosiness but also because I am adoptee. It is a powerful need in me to find out as much as possible for every member in the family I am researching. 

Of course, my parents come from small families. My Mom has two siblings while my Dad only has one. Researching their siblings and their respective spouses was an easy choice to make. I have included all of their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren as well. I have also researched my three brother in laws and my sister in law's families as well. For me this is a labor of love for my family. My plan is continue doing collateral research within the main families of our tree and to scale  back on the extended family unless there is a story that peaks my interest and then I will follow it right down the rabbit hole and to see where it will take me.

After finishing the original cycle of the Genealogy Do-Over, I wanted some type of  a collateral research sheet to help me with my research. I call it, Who? What? When? Why? Where? and How? of Collateral Research, click here,  It is a really easy way to write out the information I have on ancestor and a way to track him through the available records. I have also found that it keeps on track when I am researching at libraries or archives 
because I can see what I have and don't have for this person.

Reviewing Offline Education Options

After the original cycle of the Genealogy Do-Over, I tried to see if the local community/technical college offered any type of computer course in hopes of finding a beginning Excel program, no luck. As a matter of fact they don't offer much for adults in the way of non-credit courses such as computer skills, cooking, crafts or genealogy. My only option is to continue with online webinars. I have tried contacting the local chapter of the South Carolina Genealogical Society but I am not getting a response back. 

For now I will continue with as many webinar classes as I can that are more advanced in nature. I am also going to see what is available online as far as improving my computer skills. I am looking at states where I do the bulk of my research who offer conferences to see if attending events next year might be a possibility. Next year isn't even here yet and already my calendar is looking very full! I am also going to begin the National Genealogical Society Home Study course working toward the goal of becoming a certified genealogist.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2015 Edition - Week 23 - June Weddings

I went back six generations (from my grandson) and I could only find three weddings in June. It seems that his paternal lines prefer fall, winter and spring weddings. The first photo is of Easton's 5th paternal great grandparents and the second is of his paternal great grandparents.The third marriage is of Easton's other paternal great grandparents.

                                

This is Easton's 5th paternal great grandparents, William Points Williams & Sarah Elizabeth Lucas, who were married on June 25th, 1902 in Covington, Kenton, Kentucky. They celebrated 35 years of marriage on June 2,1937 and Sarah died on September 24th, 1937. I just love the hat she is wearing in her wedding picture.

This is my parents and Easton's paternal 1st great grandparents William "Bill" and Nina. They were married on June 4th, 1955 in Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky. Last week they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

Easton's other set of paternal great grandparents, Simeon Lester Kitts, Jr and Ursula Floride Plowden had their marriage license issued on June 7th, 1947 in Columbia, Richland, South Carolina. I do not have a picture from their wedding and I have ordered their marriage record but do not expect for at least another week. 

I am still working to catch up on my 52 ancestors challenge but this just happened to be good timing.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 16 - My Mormon Pioneer - Joseph Rich (1786-1866)

Today I would like to introduce you to  my first cousin seven times removed, Joseph Rich. Joseph was born April 16, 1786 in Cecil, Washington County, Pennsylvania to Thomas Rich (1763-1818) and Ann Pool (1761-1836). Joseph married Nancy O'Neal on June 3, 1808 in Boone County, Kentucky. Nancy is the daughter of Charles James O'Neal (1750-1814) and Jane Shaw (1750-Unknown) Joseph was raised in the Quaker faith. I am not sure what the circumstances were that lead him to join The Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints. 

Joseph migrated with his parents Thomas and Ann Rich from Pennsylvania to Ohio around 1794. Then the family moved again to the counties of Boone and Campbell in Kentucky. They likely traveled by river in these early migrations of Joseph's family. The family would likely have had a journey with rough traveling conditions, facing a hostile environment with large forests, heavy underbrush, wild animals and Indians who were dissatisfied with the government for occupying their lands and the dangerous waters of the Ohio River.

Joseph, Nancy and their son Charles Coulson Rich would leave Kentucky behind and migrate to Switzerland County, Indiana around 1810.  Joseph and Nancy had four more children: Artemisia Rich (1811-1880), Jane Ann Rich (1813-1895), Minerva Rich (1816-1840) and Nancy Rich (1821-1857). It is one of two census record (1840 being the second) I cannot find for Joseph and his family. The 1820, census records show that he and his family were living in Posey, Switzerland, Indiana. 

By the 1830 census this family is living in Tazewell County, Illinois. In Tazewell, Joseph brought property totaling 160 acres between 1831 and 1839. Joseph with the help of his son would clear this land to build his family a new home and planted crops. On April 1, 1832 Joseph, his wife Nancy their son Charles and daughter Minerva were baptized and confirmed into the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints in Tazewell County, Illinois by Elder Hinkle. 

In July and September of 1838 Joseph and Charles bought land in Caldwell County, Missouri. According to land records they were co-owners of the property. Together they built a home for the family and one for Charles and his bride to be, Sarah DeArmon Pea. 

By  January 1, 1846 Joseph and Nancy  went through the ritual of Endowment in their Temple at Nauvoo, Illinois. On January 26, 1846 Joseph and Nancy had followed the custom of the Sealing ordinance. The purpose of the Sealing of a spouse and/or family members is so that they are bound together in this life and for all of eternity. 

During the 1840's when members were endowed at the Nauvoo Temple it consisted of two phases. The first phase was initiation, which consisted of washing and anointing the endowed after which they were dressed in temple undergarments. These garments were to be worn at all times especially when entering their temple. In the second phase the endowed would be instructed and then would move into a testing phase. The instruction consisted of the endowed's understanding of what was required of him or her by the Church such as rituals, prayers, gestures and symbols. Once the initiation was completed they would be tested on their instructions.

During the year of 1846, Joseph and Nancy along with their son Charles and their daughters Jane and Namcy and their respective families began their journey to Utah. According to the LDS Pioneer and Handcart Companies, 1847-1856, Joseph and his family traveled in their son Charles's company known as First Ten of Charles C. Rich's Guard. They arrived in Utah in July 1847. 

This was a perilous journey across difficult terrain and over the Rocky Mountains. The family would have had traveled by wagon, the men may have ridden horses and/or walked during this journey. They would have experienced all kinds of weather, hunger, diseases, birth's and death's. About three months after Joseph and Nancy arrived in Utah, Nancy died on October 5, 1847 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Joseph Rich was sealed in marriage to Elizabeth Howard (widow of both William Standage and William Thackham) on January 18, 1853. He was then sealed in marriage to Harriet Edwards on March 29, 1857. Harriet came from overseas and between the voyage to America as well as the perilous journey to Utah she was very ill by the time she arrived. She died not long after she and Joseph were sealed. He would wed again on July 26, 1857 to Maria Bentley Christian Linford (widow of John Linford). Joseph and Maria were not sealed because she was already sealed in marriage to her first husband, John.

At the time of the 1850 US Census, Joseph is living in Davis, Utah Territory. Living with Joseph are a Elizabeth Rich age 60, Minerva Rich age 10 and a Thomas Miles age 21. I believe that this Elizabeth is possibly Joseph's second wife, Elizabeth Howard (1792-1870) and that Thomas Miles could be a relation of hers but so far I have not been able to prove this. Little Minerva is Joseph's granddaughter, her mother was Minerva Rich Earl who died a few weeks after Minerva was born. Her father, Asa Colton Earl asked his wife's parents to raise his daughter since he felt he was not able to at the time.

The 1860 Census record shows that Joseph is living with both Elizabeth and Maria in Centerville, Utah along with Maria's sons Joseph Linford and Amasa Linford. Sometime in the spring or summer of 1865 Joseph and his family moved to Paris, Idaho. Joseph Rich died at age 80, on July 23, 1866.

Sources:

Ancestry.com. LDS Pioneer and Handcart Companies, 1847-1856 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com, 2013.

Ancestry.com. Membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1848 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.


U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “Land Patent Search,” database & digital images, General Land Office Records (http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=IL0520__.012&docClass=STA&sid=sbsyqvfu.ywf : accessed 4 September 2014) entry for Joseph Rich, Springfield, Illinois, Document #: 4105, Accession #': IL0520__.012.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management, "Land Patent Search," database & digital images  General Land Office Records, (http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=IL0570__.106&docClass=STA&sid=um0poif1.hkx : 4 September 2014), entry for Joseph Rich, Springfield, Illinois, Document #: 6828, Accession #: IL0570__.106.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management, "Land Patent Search", database & images, General Land Office Records (http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=IL3350__.145&docClass=STA&sid=um0poif1.hkx : 4 September 2014), entry for Joseph Rich, Springfield, Illinois, Document #: 16025, Accession #: IL3350__.145

U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “Land Patent Search,” digital images, General Land Office Records (http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=MO1230__.148&docClass=STA&sid=htw0ucg3.1lc : accessed 4 September 2014), entry for Joseph Rich, Lexington, Missouri, Document #: 9180, Accession #: MO1230_.148.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “Land Patent Search,” digital images, General Land Office Records, (http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=MO1250__.476&docClass=STA&sid=vkrtfivj.d4q : accessed 4 September 2014) entry for Joseph Rich, Lexington, Missouri, Document #: 10551,  Accession #: MO1250_.476

U.S. Bureau of Land Management, “Land Patent Search,” digital images, General Land Office Records ( http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=MO1250__.477&docClass=STA&sid=vkrtfivj.d4q : accessed 4 September 2014), entry for Joseph Rich, Document #: 10552, Accession #: MO1250_.477

Zula Rich Cole, Pioneer Joseph Rich 1786-1866 Father of Charles Coulson Rich

Jordon Dodd, Kentucky Marriages, 1802-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1997.

Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi: accessed 30 August 2014.

"United States Census, 1820," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XHG4-D1X : accessed 04 Sep 2014), Joseph Rich, Posey, Switzerland, Indiana; citing "1820 United States Federal Census," Ancestry.com; p. 171, NARA microfilm publication M33, roll 14, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.; FHL microfilm 0205608.

"United States Census, 1830," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XHPY-K8S : accessed 04 Sep 2014), Joseph Rick, Northern Precinct, Tazewell, Illinois; citing "1830 United States Federal Census," Ancestry.com; p. 166, NARA microfilm publication M19, roll 23, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.; FHL microfilm 0007648.

"United States Census, 1850," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MCS6-Y62 : accessed 04 Sep 2014), Joseph Rich, Davis county, Davis, Utah Territory, United States; citing family 39, NARA microfilm publication M432.

"United States Census, 1860," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MH24-QZN : accessed 04 Sep 2014), Joseph Rich, Centerville, Davis, Utah Territory, United States; citing "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," Fold3.com; p. 28, household ID 169, NARA microfilm publication M653; FHL microfilm 805313.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 15 How Do You Spell That?

I cannot tell you how many times a day that I am asked to please spell my name! In case you haven't noticed my last name it is spelled K-O-G-U-T-K-I-E-W-I-C-Z, all the vowels but "A" and it is my married name. The next question I am asked is how do you pronounce that? One of my husband's cousins told me that when she would put reports together for her husband she would put the pronunciation next under or beside his name. If you were in area where there is a predominant Polish or Eastern European population you would pronounce our name as Ko-vay-ka-vitch however, here in the south it is pronounced Ko-gut-ke-witcz, two very different pronunciations.

 My husband's grandfather, Casimir Kogutkiewicz is on the left and his brother Martin is on the right. Photo Courtesy of Patricia R. Kogutkiewicz

My husband is a second generation Polish-American. His grandparents, Casmir Kogutkiewicz and Josephine Araszyn came to the United States in 1906 and 1912 respectively. They each settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and married circa 1914. They raised a family of seven sons and one daughter. I have very little information on Josephine and so far she is proving very difficult to get to know. I have been working with my husband's 2nd cousin since 2013 on the Kogutkiewicz line and we have made headway but there is still much that needs to be done for me to consider the search beyond "exhaustive".

The eldest child and only daughter was Valeria (1915-1997), Roman W. (1916-1973) was the eldest son followed by Sigmund Joseph (1917-1988), Theodore (1919-1919), Raymond (1920-1921), Leon Peter "Leo" (1921-1990), Eugene J. (1924-2005) and my father in law, Henry Casmir "Hank" Kogutkiewicz was the baby of the family. Roman, Sigmund, Leon, Eugeune and "Hank" all served in Army during World War II.

My husband's grandparents Josephine (Araszyn) & Casimir Kogutkiewicz c. 1940's Milwaukee, WI

While serving in World War II in the European theater, "Hank" kept a small photo scrapbook where we found these pictures. From what my husband and I can tell of these photos it would appear that his Dad, spent time in France. We are not completely sure of how long he was stationed there or where else he might have been stationed at this time. We need to get a copy of military records. At some point, "Hank" was stationed in Greensboro, NC where he met his future bride, Ruth Orea Butler. "Hank" and Ruth would have been married 64 years this month. 

Above: My husband's parents, Ruth Orea (Butler) and Henry Casimir Kogutkiewicz c. late 1940's Greensboro, NC

My husband's parent's on their wedding day, 7 April 1951 Greensboro, NC

Copyright © Dawning Genealogy/Dawn M Kogutkiewicz 2014-2015, All rights reserved.  

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 14 - Favorite Photo

This week for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks the theme is "Favorite Photo". I have so many favorites but I have narrowed it down to pictures my paternal and maternal grandmothers. Both of them died way too early. I wish that they had been around much longer than the few short years I was able to spend with them. They are in my top 15 list of ancestors I wish I could interview now, if only it were possible! They both led very different lives, came from different backgrounds and different areas of Kentucky. 

Peggy Scott Rich

The photo on the left is my paternal grandmother, Peggy Scott Rich. This is a high school picture of Peggy circa 1929-1930. Peggy was born on June 2nd 1911 in Erlanger, Kentucky, to Robert Lincoln Rich and Lillian Bergamot Lanahan. 

My grandmother's parents divorced when she was a young girl. She was the second eldest daughter of four girls. Peggy married my grandfather, William Elmer Williams about 1930, while in her senior year of high school. They eloped and used a variation of their names, I have had no luck in finding their marriage records. 

Peggy's paternal lines are very deep rooted in northern Kentucky and are primarily of English descent. While Peggy's maternal lines are of Irish descent with her maternal grandfather a first generation Irish-American. 

Their first child is my Aunt Sally was born in 1931 and my Dad was born four years later in 1935. My paternal grandparents didn't have a lot of time together as a married couple because my grandfather died of tuberculosis in August 1935, just 8 months after my Dad was born. My Dad and his sister were shuffled back and forth between their Mom in Florida and her sister Helen Elizabeth "Libby" Rich Buck

Losing my grandfather after such a short time and two children under 6 must have been very difficult for Peggy. She found a job working for Pan-Am and worked in Miami where she met her second husband, Glendell L. Hammond while he was stationed in Miami during World War II. They were married in 1944 in Broward County, Florida. She and Glen had one daughter.

I have many memories of my grandmother but what I remember most is that when we went to visit her she always had a pack of Pall Mall cigarettes (the red package) and the mini bottles of Coke-Cola she always let us drink. Peggy died of lung cancer at age 62 in Polk County, Florida on December 30th, 1973. 

Mary Myrtle Behrle

The photo to the left is my maternal grandmother, Mary Myrtle Behrle. Like my paternal grandmother Peggy this is also her high school picture, circa 1930-1931. She was born on May 2nd, 1913 in Louisville, Kentucky, the only child of Dr. Raymond Alexander and Pauline M. "Lena" (Orth) Behrle. 

Myrtle married my grandfather, George Kenneth Rueff on September 26th, 1936 in Louisville, Kentucky. Their first child is my mother, Nina, followed by my Uncle Kenny and my Aunt Bonnie. Myrtle never worked outside of the home. 

Myrtle is German through and through! Her maternal grandfather was born in Kentucky shortly after his parents immigrated to the United States from Germany while her maternal grandmother was her immigrant ancestor and also from Germany. 

I also have many wonderful memories of Myrtle. She smoked Bel-Air cigarettes, she wore what she called "pedal pushers" or capris pants and sneakers. She would always make us "brown cows" better known as an ice cream float. We went outside to play we could not go further than the houses on either side of her house, even as teenagers! The year before she died I went to visit Myrtle with my Mom who was attending her high school reunion. I remember that summer so well especially when my cousin Becky, instead if asking our grandmother for permission to go to the shopping center with the boy next store we asked our grandfather who of course said yes! Myrtle was not happy with us that day. 

Myrtle died of cirrhosis on her 41st wedding anniversary, September 26th, 1977 in Louisville, Kentucky she was 64 years old. 

Copyright © Dawning Genealogy/Dawn M Kogutkiewicz 2014-2015, All rights reserved.  

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 13 - My Mormon Pioneers - Charles Coulson Rich - The Later Years

Charles C. Rich's legislative duties in Salt Lake City and his church responsibilities kept Charles's life full and added to his family income. Charles would leave in April 1862 for a mission with Amasa Lyman to Europe. They would return in late summer or possibly early fall of 1862. 

In September 1863, Charles was called upon to begin the colonization of the Bear Lake Valley region. He made two trips to the Bear Lake area in August and September 1863 to explore the area and begin plans for colonizing the area. In June 1864 the Rich family moved to Bear Lake. The photograph of Charles to the left is from The C.R. Savage Collection at the BYU Harold B. Lee Library Digital Collection.

In 1879, at age 70 he began organizing an expedition to build a Mormon community in Star Valley, Wyoming about 40 miles from Bear Lake. I would imagine that his decades of experience in planning & organizing large expeditions, as well as his knowledge of building Mormon communities would have make him invaluable. At around this same time, Charles was involved in the building of the Temple in Logan. He and the settlers of the Bear Lake community were tapped to supply labor and supplies for the building of the Logan Temple. This was a great sense of pride to the Mormon community. Charles and those who followed him were never idle for very long. They were always given new challenges and new opportunities as a result of these challenges.

Charles suffered his first paralyzing stroke in October of 1880. This first stroke affected the left side of his body and he nearly lost his ability to speak. As was his nature he fought to reclaim his capabilities of movement and speech. When news of the stroke was learned, Church President, John Taylor stayed in constant communication with Charles's eldest son Joseph C. Rich. President Taylor also sent for Charles's wife, Sarah DeArmon Pea Rich and her family so that they could get to Bear Lake and be with him and the rest of their family. Joseph reported to President Taylor that he had had a conversation with his father and that it had been decided that it was best if he returned to Utah for the winter. However, Charles was requesting the advice of fellow Church brethren for their advice in the wisest course of action and that he would abide by their decision.

So in early November 1880 the Rich family including Mary Ann and Emeline began their trek to Logan, Utah. They then boarded a train in Logan bound for Salt Lake City. Charles would spend the next for months receiving treatments and recuperating at the home of his first wife, Sarah DeArmon Pea Rich, the only one of his wives who still lived in Utah. Emeline wrote in a letter to Charles O. Card, (founder of Cardston, Alberta, Canada, the first Mormon settlement in Canada) she described Charles's condition as a gradual improvement in his limbs and appetite. She also said that twice a day she would get him to sit up in chair for two to three hours each time and that his speech was improving as well.

When Charles returned to Paris, Idaho in late January or early February of 1881, the Union Pacific Railroad Company provided Charles with a private car which would take him to Evanston, Wyoming. Upon arriving in Evanston, he was met by his sons who would take their father by wagon back to Paris. They arrived in Paris on February 22nd, 1881. Many of the settlers of Bear Lake were there to greet their highly respected leader.

Through the tender loving care of his wives, who made him as comfortable as they possibly could, saw little change in Charles's condition. Not long after arriving back in Paris, Charles began putting his affairs in order to the best of his ability. He struggled to pay his debts that were incurred from his illness. He wrote his will and left instructions for his funeral and burial. One source of strength during this period in Charles's life were the letters he received from his friends. One such friend was Niels Wilhelmsen of St. Charles, Idaho. Niels was in Scandinavia serving on mission and he wrote several letters to Charles in which he expressed his thanks for the many encouraging letters he had written to Niels.

It was also during this time that his thoughts turned to his family. He and his fifth wife, Emeline Grover lost their eldest son, Thomas Grover Rich in July 1878 when he was thrown from a racehorse. His second wife, Eliza Ann Graves had passed away in June of 1879 and his daughter Phoebe Jane with his fourth wife, Sarah Jane Peck died of typhoid fever in October of 1879. At this point in time, 14 of his children were deceased. His wives Sarah DeArmon Pea, Eliza Ann Graves, Emeline Grover and Harriet Sargent each lost one child either in infancy or childhood. His third wife, Mary Ann Phelps, lost four children and his fifth wife, Sarah Jane Peck, lost six children. The pain and loss of child is never easy but during the time period of the 1840's and the 1870's the infant mortality rate was very high on the western frontier. 

Charles would continue to have "attacks", I am thinking that these attacks were likely  mini or mild strokes between late 1880 and his death in November 1883. By October of 1881, Charles was completely paralyzed and confined to bed. These "attacks" would have left the state of his health in fragile circumstances in these last years. In April of 1883, President John Taylor and several of his church colleagues were in Bear Lake Valley and stopped to visit Charles and described him as being feeble. They returned in mid summer of the same year to find that Charles was confined to his bed and no longer able to speak. He lapsed into unconsciousness in November of 1883 and died on November 17th, 1883. 

Charles left specific instructions for his burial and requested that his wives wash and prepare his body as was the custom of the Church. He would have been dressed in the customary white clothes along with his Mormon Temple clothes. His funeral was on November 20th, 1883 and attended by many people from his community and the surrounding area as well as by many officials of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints. He is buried in Paris Cemetery, Paris, Bear Lake, Idaho.

Charles Coulson Rich led an extraordinary life. A life that saw him as leader. He fought for his beliefs in Missouri and Nauvoo where he was a general with the Nauvoo Legion and again in the Mormon War of 1857. He answered the call of the Church for many missions that took him all over the Midwest, Utah, California, Idaho and England. These missions caused him to be away from his family from weeks or months to a few years. He helped to settle the city of San Bernadino, California and the community of Bear Lake Valley, Idaho.  He served as a politician for two years in the Utah Territorial Legislature for Davis County.  Charles lived his life to the fullest and with distinction, devotion and dedication in his belief of God, his family and the foundations of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints. At the time of his death in 1883, Charles had been an Apostle in the Church for more than three decades and was third in seniority behind then President of the Church, John Taylor.

He knew the movers and shakers who formed and built the community known as the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints. He knew the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., as well as his father, Joseph Smith, Sr and brother Hyrum Smith. He knew Brigham Young, the first President of the Church and answered his call time and again to settle and build communities in San Bernadino, California and Paris, Idaho. When President Young called Charles to go on a mission to England he went and spent nearly two and half years away from his family. The Charles C. Rich Family Association held a memorial hike and dinner in April of 2014 to honor Charles and other settlers of the Bear Lake area which also coincided with the 150th Anniversary of the Rich family's move to the area.

This is not the end of Charles Coulson Rich's story however, it will be the last piece for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge for now in regards to Charles and his family. I am currently working on several pieces that specifically deal with areas of Charles life that I have only briefly touched on in previous posts. These pieces will be posted in my blog series, My Mormon Pioneers at a later date.

Sources:
Title: [Charles G. Rich bust portrait], Call Number: MSS P 24 Item: 149, Photographer:Savage, C. R. (Charles Roscoe), 1832-1909, Photographer: Charles Roscoe Savage, Collection: Charles R. Savage Photographic Collection, Original Publisher: Fine Art Bazar, Salt Lake City, UT, Date of Original: ca. 1870-1875, Electronic Edition File Name: 207_MSS_P_24_B2_F7.jpg , Digital Publisher: L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Date Digital: 2004-07; (http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/Savage/id/831 : accessed 5 Sept 2014) 
Ancestry.com. LDS Pioneer and Handcart Companies, 1847-1856 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com, 2013.
Ancestry.com. Membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1848 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
Charles C. Rich - Mormon General and Western Frontiersman, Leonard J. Arrington, Brigham Young University Press, Provo, Utah, 1974, pp. 293-296, PDF Download digitally imaged at _ Family Search_ (https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE96564&from=fhd : accessed 14 September 2014).
Nina W. Palmer, Compiler, Charles C. Rich and His Six Wives, PDF Download, digitally imaged at (https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE4786662&from=fhd : accessed 1 March 2015).
Nina W. Palmer, Compiler, Charles Coulston Rich - San Bernadino Years 1849-1856, PDF Download, digitally imaged at (https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE4530532&from=fhd : accessed on 1 March 2015)
Jeanene Watkins Scott, Compiler,  Ancestral File 4.23 printouts for Charles Coulson Rich and wives : Pea, Sargent, Phelps, Peck, Grover and Graves, PDF Download (https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE4573484&from=fhd : 1 March 2015).
Find-A-Grave, database (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6495544&ref=acom : accessed 5 September). 
Charles C. Rich Family Association, (http://www.ccrich.org/ : 1 March 2015). 
 
Copyright © Dawning Genealogy/Dawn M Kogutkiewicz 2014-2015, All rights reserved.