Sarah Lane HUGGINS

     In the onward flow of years, all that is not recorded is lost.  We know of the past only what the written page reveals; the romance, the tragedy, the joy, the sorrow, the struggles and achievements of a people.  Silent the tongue that told the tales, faded the pictures aroused by the narrative, clipping from memory are the courage and heroism.  Shall we let the stories die and be buried in the annals of the past?  While there is yet time, it would be rescued and retold:
    
     And so it is expected that the posterity of Joshua Coombs and Sarah Lane Huggins should wish to preserve a record of their pioneer heritage.  So in this event, I will relate the following historical events of my gracious pioneer mother's life:

     She, Sarah Lane Huggins, youngest child of William Huggins and Emeline Acker, was born July 2, 1850, in Tom's River, Ocean County, New Jersey and lived there the first three years of her life.  Then, together with her parents she came to Utah from New Jersey in 1853 - traveling by ox team in Captain Anthony W. Ivan's Company.  The family arrived in Springville, Utah, August 10, 1853, and lived there for awhile and from Springville they moved to Fayette, Utah, to help colonise (sic) there.  Then in the fall of 1862, they came to Fountain Green, where she lived the remaining years of her life.  The family was living in the Fort at Fountain Green at the time of the Black Hawk War.

     At the age of seventeen,  she met and married a Mr. John Reedhead as a second wife.  As he had another wife, their family life was not too happy and so they were divorced.  They had two children, a boy William Levi Reedhead, born February 24, 1868, and died at the age of two years, and a girl, still-born. 

     Two years later she married my father, Joshua Coombs, July 22 1872, at the Salt Lake Endowment House.  They made the trip to the Endowment House by ox team.  They both had a lot in common as they had both been married before, but they knew that marriage was ordained of God and that marriage was the mother of the world.  It preserves kingdoms and fills cities and churches and heaven itself. 

     Her first home here in Fountain Green as a bride was a very small 10 x 10 foot one room house built by father in 1865 and in that home my brother, Joshua, was born.  Seven children were born to add to their posterity and to bless their marriage.  They were all born in Fountain Green.  Joshua David, born March 7, 1874 and married Maria Barentson.  Harriet Emeline, born May 16, 1876 and married Andrew F. Morgan.  Hannah Amelia, born October 30, 1878, and married William T. Mathis.  Elisabeth Flarilla, born June 4, 1881, and married David Abraham Robertson.  George Ephraim, born April 10, 1884, and married Agnes Matilda Anderson.  Edward Alonzo, born October 24, 1886 and married Lula Amelia Bryan.  Wilford Henry, born April 13, 1889 and married Ellen Janet Crowther.

     Her second home was a one-room log house, 17 1/2 x 13 feet (both the first and second houses are still standing on Brother Wilford's lot).  Five of their children were born in their second log house and as she had pledged to be father's companion and helpmeet she worked very hard during the years of privation and hardships in rearing her family.  They had a few sheep and would save some wool for family use.  I remember her washing it, spinning it into yarn, coloring it and knitting socks and stockings, gloves and mittens and carding it into batts for quilts.  I remember, also, that occasionally in the fall father would kill a beef for the family use and I remember helping mother make candles from the tallow that was not suitable for food.  After rendering the tallow I would hold the twisted candle wick into the center of the molds as she would pour in the rendered grease.  These candles furnished much of our light at night.  We had a large fireplace in the south end of our room that also gave us lots of light as well as heat.  Father would place a long log on the fire that kept burning far into the night.  In member I can still see those bright embers glowing and they seemed to stand as sentinels, watching o'er us while we slept.

     Mother used to gather the long new rye straws, soak them in water to soften them and braid them in long strands and then fashion it into hats.  She would buy a little ribbon and made or buy a few flowers and put them on, sew and elastic to put under our chins and thus our Easter bonnets were fashioned.  She sewed all our clothing from undergarments to Sunday-best dresses, coats, capes, hoods, etc.  Father's farm produced most of our food and her labors in that capacity were equally as hard as in the previous one in preparing and storing it for winter's use.  Mother used to go in the fields and assist him with his planting and harvesting. 

     Father was a singer and played a cornet in the Fountain Green Brass Band. 

     In spit of mother's busy life, she always found time to visit her elderly mother.  She lived in Fountain Green, too, but in the extreme north end of town and mother lived in the south, a distance of one mile.  We had a very gentle riding pony and mother would mount the  horse, put the baby in front of her and sister Elizabeth at the back and go to her mother's for a few hours.  At times when mother was there visiting she would have Elizabeth play at the south end of the house and listen for father's cornet call.  If he returned home before mother did he gave her a signal on his cornet.  Sarah, my pretty Sarah.  She would immediately return home and prepare he evening meal while father did the chores.  Then they would spend their evenings out in the yard singing together and father playing his cornet.  In fancy, I can still see and hear them singing and playing beautiful moonlight, a favorite song of theirs. 

     They would go into the hills and gather service berries, sometimes camping overnight which was always a joy to the children in the company, sleeping out under the blue heaven and beautiful stars.  She would dry the berries and use them for pie and puddings during the winter.  They also used to dry red currants to use the same way.  Ground cherries were also gathered from the fields and made into preserves, as we used to call it.  Father was very fond of them and so mother never thought her winter storage of food quite complete without it.  She also dried corn as a winter vegetable and had corn-meal made for bread and cereal.  Whe the cows would be at their highest production of milk, she made several cheeses.  Many times I've watched her put them in her press at the south side of the house.  These were also added to her winter feed supply. 

     Mother was a counselor in the M.I.A. about the year 1878.  I remember her helping the other officers cook and prepare a dinner for the old people of the ward.  Her dear life was devoted to the real and human things in life.  She was a favorite in her family among the children and when any of them were ill they always sent for Aunt Sada, as they lovingly called her.  She would go to them all hours of the day or night and her mode of travel was either walking or riding on a horse in back of the one that came for her.  Her love and tender care to t hem smoothed many a rugged road.  I remember two different times when she had a contagious disease in her own family that she partitioned her one room off with wire stretched tight near the ceiling and hung quilts on it to keep the sick ones separated from the rest of  her family.  Mother taught her children that material things perish, wealth vanishes away, but an untarnished soul is God's greatest  handiwork.

     With soft-spoken words mother spoke of happiness, of faith and love for one another.  The world around her little home was drab enough, but when a great soul is lighted by endless eternal fires, it glorifies all about.  She lived and toiled in those little log homes until about 1889 when they moved in to the brick home now owned by brother Wilford, in which he was born.  She lived in that home the remaining part of her life.  This home was much better than her former ones had been. 

     A short life well lived was filled with her untiring love and service to her husband, her family and friends.  With her beautiful voice she sang the songs of praise and devotion to our Heavenly Father.  At the age of forty-nine, and still true to her covenants as a helpmeet, she passed to the Great Beyond, to a better home above.  This was on August 5, 1899.

     She was the mother of nine children, seven survived her, also her husband and two grandchildren, Melvin Morgan and LaVern Mathis.  All this to bless and cherish her loving memory.  The memory of my pioneer mother is a sweet and hallowed one to me and will never, never die.  So in death, as in life, she stands beside her loved ones, beckoning them on to even higher achievements, to lives of service and devotion. 

     Her posterity up to date in 1955 is one hundred ninety three, most of them living.  her two children by her former marriage preceded her in death and 4 of her children by her second marriage have followed her, and also eleven of her grandchildren.  Four of her children still are living and sixty-nine of her grandchildren, also many great-grandchildren. 

     Five of her grandsons served their country during World War II.  One, Virgil Coombs, son of Wilford, gave his life in the campaign of Italy.  Evan and Don Coombs, sons of Alonzo.  Two of her great-grandsons, Vern and Bern Chapman, grandsons of Hannah also served during World War II.  Since the end of the war, Ken Coombs, brother of Virgil, is serving in the Korean War.  Dean Coombs, son of Alonzo and Grant Fahrni, grandson of George have also entered the service of our country.  Another great-grandson, Jay Dee Coombs, a grandson of Joshua, is filling a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and is at present in South Dakota, which is in the West Central States Mission.  Bessie Coombs has filled a mission in  Minneapolis, Minnesota and will be released May 25, 1957.  A great grandson, Garn Coombs, is on a mission in Springfield, Vermont, in the New England States. 

     Her children were the jewels on earth and will be her stars in her crown of eternal life. 

Lois Jane WATT

 Lois Jane WATT

Born: 22 October 1911 in Thatcher, Box Elder, Utah.

Christened: 4 February 1912

Parents: Richard Golightly WATT & Mary Ann HARRIS

Married: Harold Ross COOMBS on 24 October 1935 in the Salt Lake City Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Mother to five children: Don, Harold, Eileen, Gae and Boyce.

Died: 5 May 1995 in Brigham City, Box Elder, Utah

Buried: 9 May 1995 in the Honeyville Cemetery, Honeyville, Box Elder, Utah

This is my grandmother.  We lived only a 15 minute drive from her, so I knew her well.  I knew she loved me.  During her last few years of life, she lived in my childhood home with my parents.  I knew she was the youngest in a family of many children.  She loved and stayed in contact with her sisters.  I personally knew Grace, Verna and Hattie.

I remember her baking (blueberry pancakes in shapes for breakfast when we slept over; homemade bread; fudge; pecan rolls; fruit leather; etc.).  I remember that she talked to my mother on the phone almost every day.  I remember her large garden, cherry trees, and walnut tree that was fabulous to climb.  I remember her standing on the porch and yelling, "here kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty" calling the cat to eat scraps from the kitchen.  My mom talks about Grandma feeding the "hobos" that came in on the train which ran right behind their house.  I remember her having her big picture window painted with Christmas scenes for Christmas and then my mother doing the same at our home.   I remember her hugs that were soft and warm and enveloped you in love.  I remember watching Lawrence Welk, her entry way that was hardly ever used (everyone came in the through the side door), and the laundry room that always had mice (according to my mom).  I remember cereal sorted into plastic containers, spoons full of protein powder and her dishwasher that hooked up to the sink. 

Her Headstone:
http://tams-hickman.blogspot.com/2007/08/harold-ross-coombs-lois-jane-watt.html
Cause of Death: Lois Jane WATT - Pulmonary embolism due to chronic renal failure due to high blood pressure.


Her Obituary:
Link: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/419395/DEATH--LOIS-WATT-COOMBS.html?pg=all

Lois Jane Watt Coombs passed away in Brigham City Community Hospital on Friday, May 5, 1995, after a short illness. She was 83 years old.

Lois was born on October 22, 1911, in Thatcher, Utah, to Richard Golightly Watt and Mary Ann Harris Watt. She graduated from Bear River High School and married Harold Ross Coombs on October 24, 1935, in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.Though Lois was awarded blue ribbons and highest honors at county and state fairs for her baking and candy making, she dedicated herself to being a homemaker and found her biggest reward in her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

All of her sons served LDS missions and each one of her children was married in the temple and is a college graduate. Lois also worked faithfully in the LDS Church, including service as secretary under three different Relief Society presidents, and was involved in various compassionate service projects in the community. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

Lois was preceded in death by her husband Ross, who passed away on December 20, 1978, and by her parents and 11 brothers and sisters.

She is survived by three sons and two daughters, Don W. Coombs of Seattle, Wash.; Harold Ross Coombs of South Jordan, Utah; Boyce W. Coombs of Vernal, Utah; Mrs. John H. (Eileen) Sorensen of Omaha, Neb.; and Mrs. Bruce O. (Gae) Tams of Perry, Utah; 24 grandchildren (one currently serving an LDS mission), and 11 great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, May 9, at 11 a.m. in the Honeyville Ward Chapel, 2620 West 6980 North. A viewing will be held at the Olsen-Myers Mortuary, 205 South 100 East, Brigham City, Monday from 7-9 p.m. and Tuesday from 9:30-10:30 a.m. in the Honeyville ward church building.

Interment, Honeyville Cemetery.

COOMBS Pioneer Crossings

Barentsen, Andrew
Andreas (Andrew), age 30, traveled w/ unidentified company with other wife (Gertrude) and 2 children (Eliza and Susannah).
Coombs, Joshua, Eliza, George
Eliza Astbury, age 51 and George, age 49, traveled with the William S. Warren Company in 1864. Son Joshua, age 22 was with them as well as 6 other children.
Golightly, Elizabeth, Richard, Isabella
Richard, 45, crossed separately with the John Tidwell Company in 1852. Isabella brought their 5 children a year later with the Appleton M. Harmon Company in 1853. Elizabeth was 12.
Harris, Thomas, Robert, Hannah
Robert Harris traveled at age 39 with the Levi W. Hancock/Jefferson Hunt/James Pace/Andrew Lytle Company (1847). Departure: 25-26 August 1847
Arrival: 11,16 October 1847
This company was composed of 117 returning Mormon Battalion veterans. They traveled over the Sierra Mountains from the Cosumnes River near Sutter's Fort in California. From the beginning, they divided and traveled separately in small groups, but generally within a few day's distance from each other. After crossing the mountains, they followed a course which took them to Fort Hall and then to Salt Lake Valley.
Later, Robert, 42, and Hannah, 32, brought their 7 children, including Thomas, age 9, with the Aaron Johnson company in 1850.
Huggins, Sarah, William, Mary Emeline
Emeline - 37, and William - 42, brought their family of children with the Anthony Ivins company in 1853. Sarah was 1. Company began in Toms River.
Payne, Mary Ann, William, Catharine
Catharine Louise Nicholas, 25, William Lauder, 34, and 3 children, including Mary Ann, 1 traveled in an unidentified company in 1850.
Watt, George, Elizabeth
George Darling, 39, crossed with the John Brown Company in 1851. He was with other wife Mary Gregson and one son. He was a captain of the third ten. Future wife Elizabeth Golightly, then 12, crossed with the Golightly family in a different company.

Cross Referenced:
Astbury, Eliza (found as Eliza Astbury Coombs)
Nichols, Catharine (listed as Catherine Louise Nicholas)
Richardson, Isabella, William (Isabella with Golightly family)

William HUGGINS - Line into France

William HUGGINS' French Mother:

[I think this is the only closely French ancestory in our line.]

Permilian GULLIN (born 1790 Tom's River, New Jersey - died 1825 Monroe, New Jersey)

Her Parents: Francois GULLIN (born abt 1727 in France) and Marie DAVEY (born abt 1731 in Saint Doucelin, Allonnes, Maine-Et-Loire, France). Line ends there.

Harold Ross Coombs - Joshua Coombs - Sarah Huggins - William Huggins - Permilian Gullin - (Francois GULLIN and Marie DAVEY)

(My 5th great grandparents)

Fountain Green Burials 5

Only one set of Maria Barentsen's Grandparents are buried in Fountain Green:

N. C. Jorgensen (Niels Christian); Born Feb. 28, 1833; Fyen Denmark

Kjersten Erecksen; Wife of N.C. Jorgensen; Born Dec 11, 1822; Fyen Denmark; Died Jan. 5, 1894; Ft Green

Fountain Green Burials 4

Joshua Coombs' grandparents were:

George Coombs: Born in Stafford, Eng. Feb 2, 1815; Died July 22, 1894

Eliza A (for Astbury - picture below); His Wife; Born in Burslam Stafford Eng; Nov 5, 1812; Died Aug 25, 1881

I learned that George Coombs (and William, his son) were stone masons. An example of their work is featured on this headstone (above) and on William's (link to be added).

William Huggins: June 2, 1811 - Jan 5, 1879

Emeline (Aker) Huggins: (In Memory) Wife of W. Huggins; Born in New Jersey; Mar 14, 1816; Died Jun 16, 1899

Fountain Green Burials 3

Maria Barentsen's parents were:

Andrew Marcus Barentse(o)n: Jan 22, 1833 - Jan 9, 1915
Petrea (Jorgensen) Barentsen: Sept 11, 1856 - Dec 4, 1936

Fountain Green Burials 2

Joshua David Coombs' (see previous post) parents are:

Joshua Coombs: Feb 4, 1801 - Nov 8, 1941

Sara (Lane Huggins): July 2, 1851 - Aug 5, 1899

Fountain Green Burials

My Grandfather, Harold Ross Coombs, was raised in Fountain Green, Utah. I didn't realize how much family that I also had from Fountain Green until my mother, her cousin and I visited several weeks ago. These are Harold Ross Coombs' parents:

Coombs

Joshua D. Mar. 7, 1874 - Jan. 31, 1952

Maria B. Sept 18, 1877 - Apr. 2 1936

Research on Cause of Death (COOMBS/WATT)

Lois Jane WATT -
(pulmonary embolism due to chronic renal failure due to high blood pressure)

Harold Ross COOMBS -
(respitory failure due to radiation fibrosis and malignant sarcoma)

Andrew Barentsen (Father of Maria BARENTSEN COOMBS/Mother of Harold Ross COOMBS) Death Certificate - Link
(Age 81 - Incompensated Heart Lesion - complicated by chronic nephritis)

Maria Barentsen COOMBS (wife of Joshua D. Coombs/Mother of Harold Ross COOMBS) - Link
(Age 58 - Bronchial Pneumonia complicated by influenza and diabetes myelitis)

Joshua David COOMBS (husband of Maria/Father of Harold Ross COOMBS) - Link
(Age 77 - Diabetes Gangrene in leg and foot complicated by diabetes myelitis and arteriole? heart disease)

Leo Joshua COOMBS (brother of Harold Ross COOMBS) Death Certificate - Link
(Age 30 - Burn Accidental from Gasoline)

Ervin Wesley COOMBS (brother of Harold Ross COOMBS) Death Certificate - Link
(Age 27 - Pneumonia complicated by Influenza)

****

Richard Golightly WATT Death Certificate - Link
(Age 72 - Coronary thrombosis)

Mary Ann HARRIS WATT Death Certificate - Link
(Age 72 - Vascular renal syndrome due to senility and arterial? sclerosis)

Thomas Eagles HARRIS Death Certificate - Link
(Age 86 - Apoplexy -contributed by old age) - which means bleeding or hemorrhaging can also refer to a stroke.

The Mormon Passage of George Darling Watt

"George D. Watt was a self-educated English convert with both unusual, for the time and place of frontier Utah, clerical skills and ambitions to improve his status. A man with intellectual pretensions, he had little formal training but a strong will, avid curiosity, and appetite for knowledge. Those traits made up for what he lacked in schooling and drew him into what served as intellectual circles among the Mormon elite and, later, to the church's disenchanted fringe. They also made him, for a time, essential to Brigham Young as a clerk and reporter but sent him into religious and social exile, due to a contest of wills with his employer that Watt had no chance of winning.

Reputed to have been the first of the many English converts to the LDS church, Watt's repeatedly demonstrated ability to learn quickly made him an early master of Pitman shorthand, just then coming into use. Employing this skill, he made two important contributions to Mormon literature: First, based on that shorthand, he, more than anyone, created the "Deseret Alphabet," which now is a curiosity but then was an innovation that, intended to create a unique Mormon orthography and pedagogy, stands well for the broad attempt to build in Utah the wholly self-sufficient culture of the Kingdom of God. Second, his efficient note taking allowed him to take down the sermons of Young and other church leaders and publish them in the Journal of Discourses, an indispensable historical record.

In addition, Watt learned, thought, and wrote about a variety of subjects, from horticulture to spiritualism, which helped define him as a resident Utah intellectual. He eventually left the Mormon Church, but the records of his domestic life before and after that decision provide a rich portrait of the working of polygamous households, particularly complicated ones in his case.
Despite his accomplishments, because of his potential, George Watt's story is at heart a tragedy. His breach with Brigham Young resulted in social isolation, poverty, and rejection by friends and associates. He never, though, lost his sense of independence or his avid mind. Whether facing an economic affront or pressing, in writing, his own conclusions about life and God, he engaged the challenge where he found it."

http://www.usu.edu/usupress/books/index.cfm?isbn=7568

Fountain Green Cemetery

William Huggins (1811)

In Memory * Emeline Huggins - Wife ofWilliam Huggins - Born in New Jersey - 1816 - 1899

(Click on photo to see detail)

Joshua Coombs (1841) & Sarah Lane Huggins (1850)

The previous photographs, taken by Trish Tolley, came from this link:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tolleygenealogy/ftngreencem.html

Vent

As I have worked to confirm ordinances, I'm always surprised to see so much work redone and redone again (in some cases as many as 10 times). Most of my recent ancestors (up to and including almost all of my Great-Great Grandparents) did their own ordinances while they were alive. Some of my Great-Great-Great Grandparents even did their own work. Though there are mistakes in the Temple Ordinance Records, it is usually pretty easy to match names and see that the work has already been done.

I realize that for years, Temple Ordinance Records were only updated irregularly and were difficult to access. Because of that, work that needed to be done was often duplicated. But now, those Ordinance records are updated almost in real time -- and are easily accessed on the internet. There really isn't any reason that these already completed and recorded ordinances should be redone. A recent example is that work on my Grandma Coombs (who just died 11 years ago) is already being redone -- as recently as 2002. Her name was resubmitted with an incorrect birthplace. Careful checks in the Ordinance Records would have showed that she had completed all of her own ordinances while living.

We receive blessings in our lives just for attending the temple. But redoing ordinances takes hours of proxy time that could be used for someone who actually needs the work done.

Stepping off my soap-box. :o)

Harold Ross COOMBS & Lois Jane WATT

Harold Ross COOMBS & Lois Jane WATT are buried in the SW corner of the Honeyville Cemetary.

Coombs Line: 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th Generations

3rd Generation -

Harold Ross Coombs
Lois Jane Watt

4th Generation -

Joshua David Coombs
Maria Barentsen

Richard Golightly Watt
Mary Ann Harris

5th Generation -

Joshua Coombs
Sarah Lane Huggins

Andreas Marcus Barentsen Sr.
Petrea Jorgensen

George Darling Watt
Elizabeth Golightly

Thomas Eagle Harris
Mary Ann payne

6th Generation -

George Coombs Sr.
Eliza Astbury

William Huggins
Emelene Aker

Christian Barentsen
Susanna Berthelsen

Niels Christian Jorgensen
Kjeistina Ericksen (Kirsten)

James Watt
Mary Ann Wood

Richard Golightly
Isabella Richardson

Robert Harris Jr.
Hannah Maria Eagles

William Lauder Payne
Catherine Louis Nicholas