This site holds the stories, accounts, and histories handed to me by my parents and grandparents—and others I’ve been led to. Gathering, preserving, and sharing their legacy is my passion.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
P. H. Rex Family History Books available!
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
July 2013 trip to Wyoming's Brigham Young Pioneer Vanguard Trail.
This marker is for a crossing of the Muddy. Presently there is very little water near the site.
These large old trees are evidence of earlier moisture. Nothing more than the creek below, with a bridge built over it for modern-day pioneers to pull their handcarts across. It was beautiful and green, if not muddy.
Markers have been added at actual pioneer grave sites along the trail.
High on this sandstone rock Philo Dibble Jr. carved his name here while hiding out from Johnston's Army in 1857.
On a highway northeast of Evanston, Wyoming stands this marker that reads:
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Rex Family Memorial Day Gathering. May 27, 2013.
Flora Lee extended an invitation to interested family members to drop by her childhood Randolph home at 85 W. Canyon Street on that day. There will be visiting and refreshments and she will hold a P.H. Rex Family meeting there at 2:00 p.m.
The William and Mary Rex children are:
Charles Rex (1877-1882)
Alfred George Rex (1878-1956)
Mary Elizabeth Rex (1880-1880)
Olive Celeste Rex (1881-1882)
Samuel Rex (1883-1967)
Arthur H. Rex (1884-1952)
John Osland Rex (1887-1967)
Percy Harold Rex (1889-1977)
Ada Estella Rex Jackson (1892-1974)
Myrtle Rex (1894-1894)
Alfreda Rex (1895-1901)
Hyrum Mack Rex (1901-1902)
Monday, April 11, 2011
When did William and Mary Elizabeth Brough Rex’s home burn down? May 1937.
William and Mary Rex home, Randolph, Utah (Built prior to 1900, burned down May 1937)
William and Mary Elizabeth Brough Rex, West Canyon Street home, Randolph, Utah, and Elizabeth Bott Brough
Mary Elizabeth Brough Rex’s father, Samuel Brough, was a brick maker, and he made the brick for some of his children to build their homes. William and Mary got a lovely two-story brick home on their lot northeast of Randolph by the canal. They probably moved in it near the turn of the century. The only home Kathleen remembers them living in was their home up West Canyon Street, pictured above.
The large two-story brick home, known as the William and Mary Rex home, was then occupied by their son John Oseland Rex, his wife Edna, and their family. The brick house burned down in May 1937. Ada Rex was going to graduate that spring, and she lived with Kathleen’s family [William and Edna Rex family] until then.
Pictures from Helen Rex Frazier collection.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Thomas John Rex. 1893 letter to brother William Rex.
out thare with you and have lots of slaying with the boys and have a good time of it. Thay would like me to take them out thare again and stay out thare for good. But I cant take them out thare none for my bisness is not good enough now. Thare is nothing in it any more. I am getting pororer every year and if I don’t soon stop I will have to sell a house to liv on. I am not making any thing none my work is not stedy no more. What I make this weak I can pay it out the next, so that is how I am getting along.
see anything in it for me and I don’t want to go to work for any one else now. I have been my own bos for so long that I don’t like to have a boss now. Well Bill I am glad to hear that you are all dong well out thar and that your little town [Randolph] is improving so well and to hear that you are a granpaw the same as I am, and soon to bee a grandpa for one of Toms, for Tom [Thomas John Rex II, 1876-1963] was married last June and thar is a show for it. Well such is life in St. Louis.
I will have more to say and tell you about so give my love to all inquirings friends and except the same yourself. Ancor soon.Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Ada Rex Jackson writes of her family. Concluded.
Downtown St. Louis, Missouri, Broadway, 1910. Continued from here: When Mary Mead Rex traveled from St. Louis, Missouri to Randolph, Utah in 1871, her son Thomas John Rex stayed behind in St. Louis. Mary Mead Rex’s granddaughters, Ada Rex, and cousin Julia Rex, wrote to one another. St. Louis, Mo. Dec. 27, 1899 Dear Cousin Ada. I was very glad to here [sic] from you. I am going to be fifteen years old in April. I am in the fifth reader and I have the large Arithmetic. My teachers name is Miss Roby. Our school has 32 rooms in it. There is a park right across from our school and when it snows we have a nice time coasting down the hill. There is about an inch and a half of snow on the ground. We do not have such large snow storms here as you do there. But when we do have a pretty good snow we have good sport while it lasts. Well Ada. I am getting sleepy and tired so I guess I'll close. Your loving cousin, Julia Rex
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Ada Rex Jackson writes of her family.
We stopped to take this picture while driving north to Randolph, Utah about ten years ago. My husband carried our grandson over to see the cattle behind the fence. Those are, I believe, the Crawford Mountains behind them.
Following are two letters I received as a child:
Hobard, Tasmania Nov. 16. 1899
Dear Little Sisters Ada and Freda, It is with pleasure that I again write you a few lines to let you know how I am. I am well and hope these few lines will find you all the same. Enjoying good health and able to eat three meals a day. I wish I was close so you could come in and wash dishes for me and sweep the floor and make the bed, but be good little girls so when I have finished my mission and come home you will be able to come and see Agnes and Will and have dinner with us. Say your prayers every night, then our Heavenly Father will like you and keep you from harm and getting sick. Be good to Agnes and then she will like you. I always remember you in my prayers.
Goodbye. Your loving brother.Will Love and Kisses xxxxxxxxxxxx
Note: Ada’s oldest brother, William Thomas Rex (1875-1962), served a mission to Australia. He left Randolph on March 1, 1899, six weeks after he married Agnes Hellstrom. He was gone for three and a-half years.
(To be continued.)Picture from Helen Rex Frazier collection.
Monday, March 21, 2011
William Rex taught school in Argyle, Utah.
This picture of Flora Rex Lamborn pointing out a family history location in Randolph, Utah, was taken in 1996 at a Rex Family Reunion. She and her sister, Winnie Rex Andrus, took Rex descendants up and down the streets and lanes of Randolph pointing out family history sites, and telling stories of the people who lived there.Those are the Crawford Mountains in the background, and are to the East of Randolph. While looking for my best picture of those mountains (which I've yet to find), I came upon this one. I've gathered some additional information about great grandfather William Rex, I want to include here.
William Rex (1844-1927).
Farmers and ranchers south of Randolph formed a small settlement in about 1875 called Kennedyville. As other families joined them and their numbers increased, they received permission from the Randolph Ward to hold their own meetings, which were held in the homes of the settlers. In June 1893 Bishop Archibald McKinnon of Randolph set John Kennedy Jr. apart to preside over the Saints in Kennedyville. In 1895 it was decided at a regular Sunday meeting that the name of the ward should be called Argyle. Most of the settlers were of Scottish origin and were pleased with the new name.
A school was established in the Argyle district, and school was held in community homes. Soon after , they erected a one-room brick school building. William Rex was the first teacher. The Sunday School was organized on December 1, 1895, with William Rex as superintendent.
I didn’t learn how long William Rex taught school at Argyle, however, the school there was closed in 1915, and the students transferred to Randolph, Utah, because the roads had improved.
Pioneer Pathways, International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Printed in U.S.A. by Talon printing, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1998, volume one, pgs 147-148. I took the picture.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Mary Elizabeth Brough Rex funeral. June 3, 1939.
These pictures were taken at Great Grandmother Mary Elizabeth Brough Rex's funeral in Randolph, Utah on June 3, 1939. She died at home on May 30, 1939. They are from Helen Rex Frazier's scrapbook, and were sent to her in Oakland, California because she wasn't able to travel home to Utah for this funeral, having been there the preceding November (1938) when her mother, Bessie Morgan Rex, passed away.
These are the surviving Rex Granddaughters who attended their grandmother's funeral. The youngest girl in front is Flora Rex Lamborn. The two granddaughters on the back row to the right are Winnie Rex Andrus, and Kathleen Rex Thornock. The granddaughter on the left, middle row, is Mary Rex Rufi. I'm not certain of the others.Thursday, March 10, 2011
William and Mary Elizabeth Brough Rex. Part 2. Concluded.
Continued from here.Mary served as counselor to Sister South in the Y.L.M.I.A. (Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association). She and her mother and sisters became members of the Relief Society when it was organized in Randolph by Sister Eliza R. Snow. Mary was called as the first secretary.
Late in William’s life, while attending “a family reunion at Bear Lake, he dived off the pier. A tourist shouted, ‘Help! Get that old man out of the water before he drowns!’ William came to the surface and swam off, taking long, steady strokes through the water. He was also a perfect marksman and a good boxer.”

“Mary made hotcross buns for the family on every Good Friday—a family tradition. Humble, sincere family prayers were always a part of their lives.”
Iceland Poppies
William preceded Mary in death on the 7th of April, 1927. Mary passed away at her home twelve years later on May 30, 1939. The [Randolph] Reaper headed her obituary, “Aged Pioneer Sister Called By Death.” They are buried in the Randolph Cemetery.Concluded.
Pictures from Helen Rex Frazier collection and Wikipedia.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
12-William and 13-Mary Elizabeth Brough Rex. Part 1.

b. 22 Nov 1844, Sherborne, Dorset, England
p. William Rex, Mary Mead
m. Mary Elizabeth Brough, 6 Oct 1874, Salt lake City, Utah
d. 6 Apr 1927, Randolph, Utah

Mary Elizabeth Brough
b. 20 Dec 1858, Longton, Straffordshire, England
p. Samuel Brough, Elizabeth Bott
d. 30 May 1939, Randolph, Utah
William immigrated from England with his family on the James Pennell in 1850, and Mary immigrated from England with her family on the Cynosure in 1863. Both of their families joined the earliest settlers in Randolph, Utah.
The history of William Rex and Mary Brough’s youth is included in earlier posts.
Mary Brough; part 1, part 2.
William Rex; part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6.
On October 6, 1874 William and Mary were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah. Their trip to Salt Lake City was made in a covered wagon and took them a week. Mary’s “trousseau” was folded in an old pillow slip, she was fifteen years old and William was thirty years old.The first winter, they made their home with William’s mother, Mary Mead Rex, in the cabin William and his brother built for her. William had two cows and a team, and took care of the U. S. mail driver’s horses. He saved enough money to buy the lot on the corner of Field Street and Third East in the spring. It was north and adjoined his mother’s lot. There was a one-room house with a cellar on it.

William and Mary sang in Randolph’s first ward choir and Mary remained a member for fifty-five years. They often sang a favorite song together, “Kitty from Cork and Dandy Pat.”

William was the second missionary called from the Randolph Ward to serve a mission. In his diary he wrote : “Called on a mission Oct 6th 1884 by Pres. John Taylor at the General Conference held in Salt Lake City. Received the news on Saturday evening the 13th. On the following Sunday morning I went to the Post Office and got the Deseret News and there sure enough was my name, booked for a Mission to England, the home of my childhood and the land of my ancestors.”
“On Sunday Oct 26th gave my ‘farewell’ sermon to a large congregation of the Saints. It was very short as I could not control my feelings sufficiently to say a great deal. “
Monday October 27th 1884. I arose shortly after three o’clock and began to get ready for my journey, a cold clear morning, quite frosty. My brother-in-law, Thomas Longhurst, went with me to drive and bring the team back. Bade my wife and children [William Thomas-9, Alfred George-6, Samuel-1, Arthur Henry-2 weeks] a loving good bye at 5 a.m. and committed them to the care of our Heavenly Father.”
Mary sold a big roan cow for $13.00 and bought food for that winter. She would sell a cow once in a while and send William the money. While William was in England, Mary’s father helped the family, and her mother gave them ¼ pound of freshly churned butter once a week.
William returned home two years later and struggled to get established again. Ultimately William became a progressive farmer and homesteaded some of the best land in the valley. He taught school during some winters. They took in boarders and were able to secure a comfortable living and obtain more land. William also served as Rich County Clerk.
Their children:William Thomas Rex (1875-1962)
Charles Rex (1877-1882)
Alfred George Rex (1878-1956)
Mary Elizabeth Rex (1880-1880)
Olive Celeste Rex (1881-1882)
Samuel Rex (1883-1967)
Arthur H. Rex (1884-1952)
John Osland Rex (1887-1967)
Percy Harold Rex (1889-1977)
Ada Estella Rex Jackson (1892-1974)
Myrtle Rex (1894-1894)
Alfreda Rex (1895-1901)
Hyrum Mack Rex (1901-1902)
“William and Mary passed through many hardships during the early years of their marriage. They buried two children in one grave and another shortly before.”
(To be continued.)














