Percy Harold and Mary Elizabeth Herbert Rex were married, 25 August 1941, in the Salt Lake Temple. Mary’s biography is here.Percy continued to work at the B. Q. Ranch. His son Harold married Diania Haycock, 14 October 1940. in the Salt Lake Temple. They lived in Washington, D.C. Daughter Winifred married Theron Roscoe Andrus, 22 November 1941, in the Mesa, Arizona Temple, ultimately settling in Marion, Utah.
In 1945 Percy leased the “Wimmer Place” enabling him to feed his own cows there, and he bought out the Mary Brough Rex Estate heirs in 1950, running his cattle on some of his father’s original land.
In the late 1940’s Percy was called as a Woodruff Stake high counselor and as a member of the Stake Agriculture Board. As a board member, he asked stake members to donate heifer calves to build a stake welfare herd. These men kept and fed their donated heifer, giving its new calf to the stake herd each fall, thus growing the herd. The stake also purchased two farms near Evanston, Wyoming. Percy took great pleasure in working on the farms; haying, branding, and tending the cattle.
His youngest son, Maeser, served a tour of duty in the South Pacific before the end of the war. Upon his return to the states, he married Dorothy Tipton, 23 July 1947, in the Logan Temple. And on 8 December 1948 Percy’s youngest daughter, Flora Elizabeth, married Richard Dawson Lamborn.
A story to remember. Percy Harold Rex had two grandsons who liked to ride his horses. The older of the two, John, would drive from Salt Lake City to Marion, Utah, in Summit County, to pick up his younger cousin, Millard. They would drive the hundred miles to Randolph for a weekend so they could ride their grandfather’s horses. There were three horses at that time; Prince, Margo and Button.
On this occasion the cousins were going horseback riding to Rex Peak in the mountains east of Randolph. John was going to ride Prince, who was only a partly broke horse. Millard wanted to ride Margo. Grandpa Rex, however, wanted Millard to ride Button, an older, not nearly as spirited horse as Margo. Millard really wanted to ride Margo, but his grandfather convinced him otherwise.
They got partway across the valley and came to a closed gate. John could not get off of Prince to open the gate. The only way he could get on Prince was to snub him to the fence in the corral before they left.
So, John told Millard, he’d have to get off and open the gate. Millard said, as he got off, rather than take his left foot out of the stirrup, he swung down. There was snow on the ground and his right boot slipped as it hit the snow, and he fell onto his back, his left foot still in the stirrup. Button didn’t even jump or move. He just turned his head around and looked at Millard as he lay there in the snow.
Millard wrote later, had he gotten his way and been on Margo, she would have run, and he would have been dragged with his foot caught up in the stirrup. At that time, he said, “I was sure glad I’d listened to Grandpa.”
He was able to roll over onto his stomach and get his foot out of the stirrup. He opened the gate, they went through, and were able to finish their ride. He learned from that experience, how valuable Grandpa’s hard earned knowledge of horses was to his grandsons. “I will ever be grateful to Grandpa for his insistence that I ride Button, saving me from possible injury.”
On this occasion the cousins were going horseback riding to Rex Peak in the mountains east of Randolph. John was going to ride Prince, who was only a partly broke horse. Millard wanted to ride Margo. Grandpa Rex, however, wanted Millard to ride Button, an older, not nearly as spirited horse as Margo. Millard really wanted to ride Margo, but his grandfather convinced him otherwise.
They got partway across the valley and came to a closed gate. John could not get off of Prince to open the gate. The only way he could get on Prince was to snub him to the fence in the corral before they left.
So, John told Millard, he’d have to get off and open the gate. Millard said, as he got off, rather than take his left foot out of the stirrup, he swung down. There was snow on the ground and his right boot slipped as it hit the snow, and he fell onto his back, his left foot still in the stirrup. Button didn’t even jump or move. He just turned his head around and looked at Millard as he lay there in the snow.
Millard wrote later, had he gotten his way and been on Margo, she would have run, and he would have been dragged with his foot caught up in the stirrup. At that time, he said, “I was sure glad I’d listened to Grandpa.”
He was able to roll over onto his stomach and get his foot out of the stirrup. He opened the gate, they went through, and were able to finish their ride. He learned from that experience, how valuable Grandpa’s hard earned knowledge of horses was to his grandsons. “I will ever be grateful to Grandpa for his insistence that I ride Button, saving me from possible injury.”
Percy Harold’s grandchildren loved to visit him in Randolph. If there weren’t enough horses to go around, he had a jeep that the grandchildren loved to drive and ride in. They’d pile in as many grandchildren as would fit, and drive the old dirt roads.
History, Descendants, and Ancestry of William Rex and Mary Elizabeth Brough of Randolph, Utah, compiled and edited by Ronald Dee Rex, 1999, pg. 268. Pictures from Helen Rex Frazier collection. P. H. and Mary Rex. P. H. with Maeser. P.H. with Maeser and Flora Rex. P.H. shoeing his horse. Rex grandchildren with P. H. on the right, and one of his brothers on the left of his jeep. Grandchildren L-R Judd, Jeff, Rex, Yara (in front), Richard behind P. H. Thank you to cousin Millard for recording (2004) and sharing this account.
Millard's story is quite a lesson. I hope he used it while raising his children. I don't remember Prince. Margo would have bolted but I'm surprised Buttons didn't shy. Dad did not like us kids to ride Buttons because he would jump side ways some times for no apparent reason. The story I got was that he was gored by a pig once. Folklore, who knows? It is Uncle Oze with the Jeep and Split Rock picture.
ReplyDeleteThank you for identifying Uncle Oze [John Oseland] and naming the location. I've never been there. I was more into gazing through the china cupboard windows at the salt and pepper shakers.
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