Joshua Brigham Morgan was born 9 December 1862 at Millcreek, Utah. He was the 7th child of John and Ann Gillett Morgan. The children were Mary Elizabeth, Ann Maria, Ameilia, John, Joseph, Mary, Joshua Brigham, Samuel George, Annetta, Alberta, Rhoda, Rueben, Wilford, Franklin and Lillian Audria.
His early life was spent in assisting his parents on the homestead at Millcreek and making many friends while attending school—J. Golden Kimball was one of his friends while he was growing up.
When he reached the age of 21, he went to Idaho with a group of church members who were looking for an area to homestead. They came to the LaBelle area. Joshua and his brothers took up homesteads in the same area. He then went back to Utah and married Lucy Jane Taylor. Lucy’s parents were George Bernard Taylor and Lucy Hughes.
Lucy Jane Taylor and Joshua Brigham Morgan were married in the Logan Temple 15 December 1886.
After their marriage, they went to LaBelle to live on their new homestead and farm. There were no canals, no water, just a lot of sage brush. Joshua began to clear the sage brush and try to bring water to his land. His brothers, John, Joseph and William (half-brother) were close by to offer a helping hand. Joshua constructed a canal several miles long to reach his farm. It is still in use (1977) and is called “Brig’s Canal.”
Joshua and Lucy Jane lived in a log cabin on the home place for many years until Joshua built a nice two story home. He had a sawmill on Antelope and he sawed and planed all of his own lumber for his new home.
They cleared the land of sage brush by railing it –they put a horse on each end of a rail road tie and pulled it through the sage. This broke off the sagebrush and pulled it into piles. The women and children would then pile it into larger piles and burn it.
Joshua and Lucy Jane established a good farm and raised, among the usual things, sugar beets. Brig (as he was called) loved good animals. He had many horses and some good cows around all the time. He was one of the first people to have a registered Guernsey bull on his farm.
Brig ran a steam threshing machine for many years. The engine burned coal and had a place for water which was heated to make the steam. He threshed grain for many people and was known all over for his fair dealings. While threshing, he had a bad accident. He caught his arm in the big belt on the drive shaft and was hurt really bad. He asked to be administered to – having faith that he would be all right. He had some bad cuts on his faces, a broken jaw in two places and his hand and arm were also cut. After the blessing, he seemed to heal miraculously. In two weeks he was ready to go back to work. The doctors realized that he was healed by faith.
Joshua Brigham Morgan was baptized 1 September 1870. He was ordained an Elder before he came to Idaho. He was ordained a High Priest 17 October 1915 by Joseph F. Smith, Jr. He was set apart as the Bishop of the LaBelle Ward 5 march 1922 by Melvin J. Ballard and remained a Bishop until 1928. He was released, but still remained the people’s “Bishop Morgan.” He was in the Bishopric for 11 years before he was the bishop.
To Lucy Jane and Joshua Brigham Morgan were born 9 lovely children: Eugene, who was born in Millcreek, and the rest who were born in their LaBelle home: George Elmer (who died in infancy), Lucy Lovenia (Vin), Elva May, Minnie Ann, Elwin Taylor, Alice Alberta (who died in infancy), Edith Pearl and Vera Chloe.
The children were a great joy to their parents. Many had musical talents. Vin and Vera became accomplished pianists, which gave Grandpa Morgan great joy.
Lucy Jane died 14 January 1923, after a lingering illness. This was a sad time for Grandpa Morgan, as he lived alone for 10 more years. Aunt Vera and her family came to live with him. He adored the children and enjoyed the visits he made to his other children. He continued to run the farm and care for his cattle.
Our family had many happy days visiting with him. My mother lived close by and helped him with his housework.
He drove an old Dodge car, which had to be hand started with a crank. He was at my mother’s house (Elva Smout). He had Barbara (Aunt Vera’s daughter) with him—she was a little girl. He went around to the front of the car to crank it and it slipped into gear and ran over him as it started. It dragged him across the road and into the barrow pit. The car crushed his chest. He was taken to the hospital in Rigby, where he lived a short time, then died 5 June 1933.
(Written by Ruth Smout Ormond, granddaughter, 1977. Re-typed by Sherie Goring 2008)
