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Milo Andrus (March 6, 1814 - June 19, 1893) was an early leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Andrus was born in Wilmington, New York to Ruluf Andress and Azuba Smith.
Andrus joined the LDS church in 1832 in Florence, Ohio. He was one of the members of Zion's Camp. He helped build the Kirtland, Nauvoo, Salt Lake, and Saint George Temples. He served as a missionary in England in the early 1840s.[1] He led three wagon trains of Mormon Pioneers from the Midwest to the Salt Lake Valley (1850, 1855, and 1861). He was a Bishop in Nauvoo, a Stake President in St. Louis, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, and was serving as a Patriarch at his death.
While in St. Louis, Andrus preached many sermons. Among those who joined the church due to his preaching was Carl Eyring, who would latter serve many years as president of the Indian Territory Mission in Oklahoma, and who was the grandfather on the noted physicist Henry Eyring.
Andrus was a polygamist, and had 11 wives and 57 children.
Andrus was a major during the Utah War and was a chaplain of the Utah State Legislature. He built many roads in Utah and southern Idaho.
SOURCE: Wikipedia contributors, 'Milo Andrus', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 4 March 2011, 17:30 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Milo_Andrus&oldid=417111900> [accessed 1 April 2011]
1830
March 23: "NOTICE. Whereas my son, Milo Andrus has left my employ, without any just provocation. I hereby caution all persons against harboring, trusting or employing him, as they will be prosecuted, according to the strict letter of the law. SOURCE: Ruluff Andrus, NORWALK REFLECTOR.
1833
Feb 21: Marriage to Abigail Jane Daley.
15 Nov: birth of Mary Jane daughter of Abigail Jane Daley of Florence, Huron Co Ohio
1836
14 June: Birth of James, son of Abigail Jane Daley.
June: Milo is listed as a "Minister of the Gospel, belonging to the Church of the Latter Day Saints" . Names include: Milo Andrus, Hiram Blackman, Jared Carter, Simeon Carter, Zebedee Coltrin, Perry Durfee, Jabez Durfee, Moses Daily, Edmond Durfee, James Daley, King Follett, Levi W. Hancock, Solomon Hancock, Nelson Higgins, Orson Hyde, Heber C Kimball, John E Page, Parley P Pratt, Orson Pratt, Sidney Rigdon, Sylvester Smith, Ira Ames, John Daily, and Joel L Johnson. SOURCE: Messenger and Advocate, Kirtland, Ohio.
1837
Fall of 1837: To avoid confusion Milo was the branch president for the Florence Huron Co.,Ohio branch. He is instructed to take the people to Caldwell Co, and the advanced party leaves in fall of 1837 or thereabouts. There is a history somewhere of their travels including the fact that they wintered in Terre Haute, Indiana. Another group comes just as the battle of Crooked River happens in 1838 See Andrus recorder Vol 15 #1.
May 31: Sarah Ann Andrus, son of Abigai,l was born in Coldwell Co. Mo near Goose Creek.
Sep 17: Milo files a homestead on land on Goose Creek in Caldwell Co., Missouri, Neighbors are James Daley, John Whitmer and Hiram Page.
1839
Sep 20: Milo filed for a land patent in Coldwell County Certificate No 11442 the document was recorded at Lexington.
1841
23 Apr: John Daley Andrus, son of Abigail, was born in Woodville, Adams, Illinois.
1843
December: Nauvoo City records indicate that a petition was granted to Milo Andurs to have Mulholland Street extended at least to the Andrus property.
1844
"... I went in company with Elder Milo Andrus on a mission to Ohio. While preaching in Ohio, we heard of the disturbance at Nauvoo. We immediately left our place of labor and returned in haste to the Saints at Nauvoo. About one hundred fifty miles below, we met a boat coming down that gave us the news of the Prophet's death. A perfect shout was set up by the devils incarnate on our boat, who were on their way to Nauvoo to fight the Mormons. Had I possessed the strength of Sampson, I would, like him, have sunk the whole mess in one gulf of oblivion and sent them to their congenial spirits, the howling devils of the infernal regions..."
"On the morning of the 29th of June, we arrived at Nauvoo and went to the Mansion House, saw the bodies of the Prophet and Patriarch, lacerated and mangled with the gun shot wounds which they had received while prisoners and under the protection of the law. They were surrounded by hundreds of the Saints, crowding to get a last glimpse of those they dearly loved..." SOURCE: Journal of John Loveless
Milo is listed as the bishop of Nauvoo 5th ward. The ward boundaries were Cutler Street on the north; Mulholland Street on the south; the river on the west and east at least as far as the city limits. (Surveyed city blocks extended for 32 blocks east from the river).
1845
Milo lived in the 5th ward in Nauvoo, 2340 East and 800 North or about 30 blocks east of the river on Mulholland St. This ward included the Nauvoo temple site.
31 Aug: Millenium Andrus, daughter of Abigail, born in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois.
1846
Circumstances under which he left Nauvoo, he said:
"...We overtook the main camp at Mt. Pisgah, and from there went to Council Bluffs, where the government called on us for a battalion of 500 men to go to Mexico. After the battalion was started, I was sent forward with others to the number of one hundred and fifty wagons; went as far as the Pawnee Indian Village, then went 150 miles to the northwest among the Ponca Indians. After staying there two months, we went back to Winter Quarters. Stayed and farmed in that county in the year 1847; and in the spring of 1848, I was sent on a mission to England. Shortly before I left, Sarah Ann Miles was sealed to me, and she accompanied me to England.
1847
19 Nov: Birth of Amanda Ann, daughter of Abigail, born in Mosquito, Pottawattamie, Iowa.
1848
Mission to England. Milo Journal see Andrus recorder Vol 15 # 1page 12 +of 73 Arrives in England on 6 July 1848.
1 Oct: Birth of Milo Jr., son of Sarah Ann Miles, born in Liverpool, Lancanshire, England.
1849
October, 15:
"...Still in Liverpool. I have just received a letter from William Lang of Madina, Madina Co., Ohio bearing the date 11 September 1849 bringing the news of the death of my father who departed this life on the 27th of June, 1849, at the advanced age of seventy-six years in the Township of Henrietta, Lorain Co. Ohio. He was buried by the side of my mother, who departed this life on the 1 Jan 1831 in the township of Norwalk, Huron Co., Ohio, in the fifty-seventh year of her age. She died about one year after the Gospel was restored by an Angel. They are interred in the Church yard in Henrietta near my brother's house. Thus our ancestors are gone, and their children grow up to manhood and womanhood. They are ten in number, four sons and six daughters. Milo, the youngest son, has embraced the fullness of the Gospel as revealed by the Lord in the Last Days, in consequence of which the balance of the family have cast me out of their feelings. The Lord be thanked I feel to rejoice that I am counted worthy to suffer for the truth's sake..."
1850
Milo, Sarah Jane Miles, and Milo Jr. returned on the ship Argo departed on Jan 10 arrived March 8 New Orleans, 402 LDS aboard "...In 1850 the ship Argo was sailing blind in pitch darkness off the coast of Cuba when she narrowly escaped disaster. Suddenly the heavens were brightened by a strange light which showed a huge rock dead ahead. Captin Charles Mills, a veteran mariner, was able to turn the vessel and avoid what had seemed an inevitable collision...", The Saints interpreted the light as providential. SOURCE: Church Immigration records as reported in Saints on the Seas by Conway B. Sonne, University of Utah Press, 1993.
June: Milo leads the first company of saints that year west including Sarah Ann Miles and Milo Jr. 55 Wagons.
31 Aug: Milo arrives in Salt Lake City with 56 Wagons.
1851
1 January: Wife Abigail Jane Daley divorces Milo.
June: Milo marries a widow named Lucy Loomis Tuttle.
November: Sarah Ann Miles dies.
1852
March: Milo marries Adaline Alexander.
December: Milo Married Mary Ann Webster.
1853
27 January: Birth of Laron Alexander, son of Adaline Alexander, at Big Cottonwood, (Holiday), Salt Lake, Utah.
1854
30 Jan: Birth of Marlin, son of Mary Ann Webster.
28 Feb: Birth of Lavenia, daughter of Lucy Loomis Tuttle.
Milo leaves on a mission to St. Louis, Missouri.
Erastus Snow organized a stake of Zion in St. Louis, Missouri, with Milo Andrus as President, Charles Edwards as 1st Counselor and George Gardiner as 2nd Counselor In the Stake there were six wards in the city of St. Louis plus the following branches: Balfontaine, Keokuk, Ia., Bluff City, Iowa., Fairfield, Iowa, Centerville, Illinois, Maquoketa, Iowa, Alton, and Dry Hill (a total of 15 Wards and branches with a membership of 1,820).
2 November: Birth of Henrietta, daughter of Adaline, in Big Cottonwood (Holiday), Salt Lake City, Utah.
1855
Aug 5: Milo departs from Mormon Grove, Kansas leading 461 church members bound for Utah. They arrive on October 24, after traveling for 80 days.
30 August: Lewis, son of Adaline Alexander, born in Big Cottonwood (now Holiday), Utah.
22 November: Milo marries Adaline Alexander, Mary Ann Webster, Elizabeth Brooks, Ann Brooks, Jane Lancaster Munday in Salt Lake City.
Milo Jr. reports that his father brought the first peach orchard to Utah when he returned from St Louis. Milo must have also brought a thrashing machine in. Probably this was freighted with the Hindley Company early in the year. This is the company that Ann and Elizabeth Brooks come on with the Piano. I don't think that Milo would have wanted to face Brigham Young if he had left Brigham's thrashing machine in Iowa and brought his own thrashing machine or piano to Salt Lake on the same company.
1856
July 9: Notice to farmers. "...Thrash your grain as soon as it is harvested...Having selected and brought through a machine that is well adapted to the grain raised here, and having long experience in the business, I hope to merit a liberal share of the public patronage...." Milo Andrus (living in 12 Ward and Big Cottonwood.)
1856
24 September: Birth of Millard, son of Jane Lancaster Munday, in Big Cottonwood (Holiday), SLC, UT.
September: In the DUP history of Salt Lake County is listed the donations from the Cottonwood Ward to the rescue of the Willie and Martin, Hunt, Hodget and Smoot companies Milo Sent a large amount of supplies and 3 wagons, teams etc.
1857
5 March: Birth of Alwilda Nancy, daughter of Ann Brooks, in Big Cottonwood (Holiday), SLC, UT.
5 May: Birth of Alma, son of Lucy.
18 May: Birth of Marinda, daughter of Mary Ann.
1858
1 Aug: Birth of Josephine, daughter of Jane.
1859
19 March: Birth of Lyman, son of Mary Ann.
19 April: Birth of Charles, son of Ann.
20 May: Birth of Isadore, daughter of Margaret Ann Boyce.
28 June: Birth of Helena, daughter of Emma Covert.
Birth of Jacob, son of Lucy.
19 September: Milo leaves for England in company with Jacob Gates. Jacob keeps a day by day Journal. Eight men including Milo, Jacob, and William Gibson went. Milo records" first 6 Months traveled conference last 9 Months presided over Birmingham District including Birmingham, Warwickshire, and Staffordshire Conferences.
Jacob Gates journal is recorded in the Andrus recorder Vol 3 no 2 Oct 1967 available at the FHL, or Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. The Journal itself is available at the Church Historians Library.
Nov 13: Milo Arrival noted in the Millennial Star.
1859-61
While Milo was in England on his mission his family built a hotel in Jordan bottoms where he had filed for 160 acres of Land. This area was called Dry Creek.
1860
14 April: Birth of Lionia, daughter of Adaline in Salt Lake City, SLC, UT.
1861
April 23: Milo leads a group of church members bound from England to America aboard the Underwriter a 1,168 ton ship left Liverpool to New York with more than 624 LDS members aboard.
May 22: Arrival after a passage 29 days.
1861
12 September: Milo enters the Utah valley with an independent Company.
1862
17 June: Birth of Hyrum, son of Margaret, in Big Cottonwood (Holiday), Utah.
19 July: Birth of Randolph, son of Adaline, in Bingham Canyon, Salt Lake County, Utah.
6 October: Birth of Orson, son of Ann, in Bingham Canyon, Salt Lake County, Utah.
6 October: Birth of Parley, son of Ann, in Bingham Canyon, Salt Lake County, Utah.
18 October: Birth of Selestia, daughter of Emma, in Dry Creek (Murry), Utah.
6 December: Milo marries Francenia Lucy Tuttle.
Birth of Lucy, daughter of Mary Ann, in Big Cattonwood (Holiday), Utah.
1863
Birth of Laura Elizabeth, daughter of Lucy, in Big Cottonwood (Holiday), Utah.
6 September: Birth of Byron son, of Francenia Lucy Tuttle, in Draper, Utah.
1864
2 April: Birth of Mary Emma, daughter of Emma, in Dry Creek (Murry), Utah.
14 August: Ward Court held and divorce granted for Milo from Adaline Alexander. Milo granted custody of 3 older children.
27 September: Birth of Sheriden, son of Mary Ann, in South Willow Creek (Murry), UT.
1865
24 February: Birth of Esmarilda, daughter of Lucy, in Draper, Salt Lake County, Utah.
1866
4 March: Birth of Mansfield, son of Margaret, in Big Cottonwood (Holiday), Utah.
1 August: Birth of Oscar, son of Francenia, in Draper, Salt Lake County, Utah.
28 October: Birth of Sherman, son of Jane, in Big Cottonwood (Holiday), Utah.
1867
5 February: Birth of Grant Webster, son of Mary Ann, in Dry Creek, (Murry), Utah.
4 December: Birth of Florence, daughter of Emma, in Dry Creek, (Murry), Utah.
1868
28 May: Birth of Brigham Boyce, son of Margaret Ann, in Big Conttonwood (Holiday), UT,
13 July: Milo in Echo Canyon in charge of one of 45 camps working on Railroad.
20 September: Birth of Heber, son of Jane, Big Conttonwood (Holiday), Ut.
1869
16 March: Birth of Elizabeth, daughter of Emma, in Mill Creek, Salt Lake County, Utah.
16 November: Birth of Minnie, daughter of Webster, in Dry Creek (Murry), Utah.
October: Milo served a "short mission to the States which began in late 1869 Called at October Conference.
Nov 10: from Omaha, Deseret Evening News quotes Omaha Herald ...People United..
Dec 29: Elder Milo Andurs wrote from Amherst, Loraine County, Ohio, Dec 29. His relatives were glad to see him, but had no interest in the Gospel. He had preached in six school houses, a church, and a town hall to full congregations, and had many conversations with all sorts of influential citizens. Not much interest was manifested, but two or three persons were baptized. (Siblings in area would have been Almon, Carlo, and Eveline Charlott). SOURCE: Millennial Star England)
1870
Feb 19: Milo Andrus returns from mission.
6 April: Birth of Clarence Eugene, son of Ann, in Big Cottonwood (Holiday, Utah.
1871
11 April: Birth of Ernest Amos, son of Francenia, in Draper, UT.
18 August: Birth of Newton, son of Jane, Draper, UT.
1872
17 May: Birth of Horance, son of Margret, in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah.
17 September: Birth of Carrie, daughter of Emma, in Mill Creek, Salt Lake, Utah.
1873
12 September: Birth of Robert, son of Jane, in Draper, UT.
2 October: Birth of Nellie, daughter of Mary Ann, in Dry Creek(Murry), Utah.
1874
6 June: Birth of William Spencer, son of Emma, in Dry Creek(Murry), Utah.
Milo moves to St. George to live the United Order. Travels through the Southern area with President Brigham Young, Apostle Erastus Snow and President Levi Hancock.
24 October: Birth of Margaret Ann, daughter of Margaret Ann, in Hamilton, Washington, Utah.
1875
Living in Heberville or Price (Later Bloomington) Washington County. During the season of 1875 when the farm was operated by 12 men and boys under William F. Butler as superintendent. $175.00 applied on the debt. Wages were paid in produce. But this company broke up also. A new one consisting of 9 members, with Milo Andrus as superintendent bought the farm for $4,500.00. The members earned but $1.00 per day in produce and $.75 in capital Stock for the improvements added. These consisted of a large rock house, a water ditch, and a wheel for grinding sugar cane; they also paid $250.00 on the debt. This Cooperative farming seemed to be more than the managers could stand, for Milo Andrus resigned at the end of the season, and in 1877 William Lang took charge. Under him fair crops and wages were made, and some improvements were added to the farm. ..but resigned after Brigham's death Aug 29 1877.
1876
5 January:Birth of Laura, daughter of Mary Ann, in St. George, Washington, Utah.
1877
15 September: Birth of Joseph Boyce, son of Margret Ann, in St. George, Washington, Utah.
1880
26 June: Birth of Evaline Charlotte, daughter of Margret Ann, in Price, Carbon, Utah.
1880 Census listed as living in St. George, Washington, Utah.
1881
Milo was called to help establish a settlement on the Green River, at Blake City. The effort proved to be' a failure, and while he was there he and his wife Mary Ann Webster suffered a tragedy in the death by drowning of their daughter Minnie. More than usual anxiety was associated with her death due to the fact that the body was not recovered for nearly a month. Having reported the death in an earlier issue, the Deseret Evening News, June 15, 1881, said: "...Brother Milo Andrus, writing from Blake City on the 8th instant, informs us of the recovery of the body of his little daughter Minnie, who as recorded in the News at the time, was accidentally drowned in Green River, on the 13th of May. The body was recovered on the 6th inst., after being in the water 24 days, and was not marred, but in perfect state, excepting the loss of her hair. She was buried on the 7th inst. The numerous friends of Bro. Andrus will join with him in gratitude to Providence for the recovery..."
1882
January 9: Erastus Snow nominates Milo Andrus for Chaplain of the Utah State Council (Senate) Legislature, after which Milo is elected.
February 25: Ernest Amos Andrus, the son of Milo and Francenia, was killed on a rabbit hunting trip in Spanish Fork (his mother was deceased and grandmother Lucy Loomis was raising him). The death is ruled accidental. .
1885
Milo living in Idaho.
1886
"...Information has been received from Idaho, to the effect that Milo Andrus, of Oxford, was arrested the latter part of last week on the charge of unlawful cohabitation with his wives. Brother Andrus is about 75 years of age and cannot walk without the use of two canes. The anti-pologamy howlers will no doubt feel that a "great triumph" has been achieved..." Deseret News Vol 34 no 52 (13 Jan 1886)
1887
December 7: Milo speaks at Eliza R. Snow funeral with Jacob Gates, John W. Taylor, Bishop O.F. Whitney and H. J. Grant.
1893
"...A correspondent from Oxford, Idaho, states that Mr. Milo Andrus of that place is sick and that his recovery is doubtful. He is about seventy nine years old and seems to be nearly worn out. Elder Andrus was a member of Zion's Camp and also one of the early settlers of this Territory. His name is well known among the people..." SOURCE: Deseret Evening-News, XXVI (Mary 5, 1893), p. 5.
June 19: Milo Andrus dies. The Deseret Evening News, XXVI (June 21, 1893), p. 1, and the Deseret News Weekly, XLVII (July 1, 1893), p. 61, carried identical notices of his passing in which they stated, under the title "Milo Andrus":
"...A brief notice a day or two since announced the death of Milo Andrus, of whose long and eventful life the following particulars have since been received from an esteemed correspondent at Oxford.
"His death, which occurred at Oxford, Idaho, on June 10, 1893, was attributed to old age and general debility, he having reached the advanced age of 79 years, 3 months and 13 days. Deceased was born March 6th, 1814, at Essex county, New York; was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints April 12th, 1833, in Huron county, Ohio. He moved to Kirtland the same year, and was afterwards a member of Zion's Camp; moved to Caldwell County, Mo., in 1837 and afterwards to Nauvoo, Ill, crossing the plains to Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1850.
Deceased was a president of the Tenth Quorum of Seventies, a High Priest, a member of the High Council and a Patriarch in the Church. He was president of the Liverpool conference from 1848 to 1850, filled several missions to Europe, and at one time presided over the Birmingham district in England, comprising the Birmingham, Warwickshire and Staffordshire conferences. He presided at different periods of his life over companies of Saints crossing the ocean and also crossing the plains.
He made his home the past few years of his life in Oxford, Idaho. He was a man of sterling worth, and never "flinched" from any call made upon him. He was much beloved and revered by his family and friends, and respected, and admired by his enemies, for his unswerving integrity. He leaves a numerous posterity to mourn his loss. His demise was peaceful and easy, suffering no pain. He expressed himself as being satisfied with his work on earth and his willingness and desire to join the loved throng on the "other side," His posterity numbers 59 children, 170 grandchildren, and 75 great grandchildren...."
Milo (1814 - 1893). This grave is located in the Holiday Cemetery in the area of Salt Lake City, Utah. The grave is located part way up the little hill in the south-west section of this cemetery.
[Luara K Anderson: I feel it important to put Milo's autobiography into historical context, as there are numerous points that are likely the way he remembered them, but not historically verifiable. He would have been about 60 at the writing, with no records to go from.]
Milo Andrus, the author of this biography, is the son of Ruluf Andrus and Azuba Smith. My father is a native of Hartford, Connecticut, and my mother of Rutland, Vermont. [LKA: Almon and Harriett in 1880 census say he was born in Vermont.] They shortly after marriage [LKA: married about 1795] moved to Essex County, [LKA: In 1800 he is listed in Poultney, Vermont as Rufus.] state of New York, where they resided until their ninth child was born--seven boys and three girls, namely: Oran, Almon, Carlo, Erasmus, Harwin, Milo and Milo 2nd. Erasmus, Harwin, and Milo 1st died in childhood, the dates of their deaths I cannot give in consequence of a fire that burnt up the records of my father's family. The names of sisters were Sybil, Sarah, and Emily. My eldest brother, Oran, was born in 1797[LKA:10 Apr 1798]; Sybil was born in 1799;[LKA: 23 Apr 1796] Almon was born in 1801; [LKA: 10 Apr, 1800 in Poultney, Vermont.] the dates of the others I cannot give.
The writer of the above, Milo 2nd, was born March 6th, 1814. When five years old, my parents moved to Dunkirk, state of New York, where they resided one and a half years. During that time there was a circumstance occurred, that seems to me to show the protecting hand of the Lord over me. I went to the shore of Lake Erie and got into a skiff on the shore and went to sleep, when the wind arose and took the skiff on the lake, and it was not seen until nearly out of sight. I was then picked up still sound asleep. I have always thought that the Angel of Peace then watched over me. [LKA:The timing of this story is off, as the family moves to Brownhelm, Huron, Ohio--later called Henrietta--in the fall of 1817, which puts the 18 month time frame back to about April of 1816. This would make Milo just barely 2 when he moved to Dunkirk and 3-1/2 when he left. Perhaps the family visited Dunkirk when Milo was 5 years old.]
My parents then moved up the lake into the state of Ohio, in Huron County, township of Henrietta, [LKA: Henrietta is not formed until 1827-8] where they had three daughters born, namely: Eveline Charlotte, born October 7th, 1817; Lucina, born 1819; [LKA: According to her census and her family records she is born March 11, 1816, which would have been in the Dunkirk, New York era. Milo's date for her would have her married and having children by 14.] Harriet, born 1821. At the writing of this the two eldest of my brothers are still alive and three of my youngest sisters. [LKA: This puts the writing of the biography between Carlo's death in 1870 and Oran's death in 1874.] They have all rejected the gospel. [LKA: I believe that others in the family may have joined the church and then rejected it.]
My mother died January 1st, 1832. My father died in the winter of 1848. [LKA: 1849] I shall now drop the history of the balance of the family, and give a few incidents of my own history.
After the death of my mother, I bought the balance of my time until I was twenty-one of my father, for which I paid him one hundred and fifty dollars. In the spring of 1832, I met an elder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, though I should say, previous to this, that I had my mind much exercised about a future state, and had read the views of Alexander Campbell, and that being the nearest to the truths of the New Testament, I had been baptized by Elder Orson Hyde, [LKA: We have records that the Baptist church of Henrietta with Squire Abbott at the head had united with the Campbellites in 1828.] then a minister of that section; but when I compared the scriptures with the teachings of the elder of The Church of Christ, I found that he had the truth; after trying for nearly one year, I yielded to baptism.
One month and nine days previous to my baptism, I was united in marriage to Abigail Jane Daley, whose father had been baptized into The Church of Christ about one year before. We were married February 21st, 1833, baptized April 12th, 1833. I was ordained an elder May 5th, 1833, under the hands of Joseph Wood. Started on my first mission in June, 1833, in company with Joseph Wood, traveled a distance of seventy miles preaching every day and baptized three. [LKA: Joseph Wood was a church leader who later united with the RLDS Church.] We came to Kirtland where the Prophet Joseph Smith resided with his family. The quarterly conference that came off in a few days after our arrival, changed my traveling companion, and I was coupled with Ova Truman. Joseph Wood and his fellow laborer went to Philadelphia, and I with my new companion was sent to the southern part of the state of Ohio, to return in three months to the next quarterly conference. We were not very successful and baptized only two persons. After this conference, I was permitted to return home and preach among the branches until winter, when we had a call from the Prophet Joseph by his brother Hyrum to get ready and go with the company of elders to the state of Missouri, known as Zion's Camp. Our first daughter and first child was born November 15th, 1833. During the winter of 1833 and spring of 1834, we were instructed to labor and get all the money that we could, and to get good rifles, and make ready to start by the first of May, 1834. We accordingly started from Florence, Huron County, Ohio, on the 7th of May, 1834. These were from the Florence branch; Nelson Higgins, Hyrum Blackman, Asey Fields, and Milo Andrus. My brother-in-law, James Daley, went with us [Zion's Camp] as far as Mansfield, Richland County, Ohio, where we met with the Prophet Joseph, his brother Hyrum [?] and the rest of the camp from the East. Our leader was Elder Orson Hyde. [LKA: Orson Hyde's cousin Rebbecca Hyde married a Ebenezer Andrews/Andrus of Milan about a mile from Ruluf's hotel. I do not know of a connection yet, but it is interesting.]
There was one circumstance that occurred before we joined the main camp worthy of notice. As stated before, I had bought my time from my father, and had paid him the amount agreed upon, but still I was not twenty-one by ten months. On this account, and as he was so opposed to my going with the "Mormons," as he called them, he made an effort to stop me. As we had to pass his house on our way, [LKA: The hotel that we have a picture of in Laura's Corner at the miloandrus.org site is near Norwalk on the way from Florence. I believe this is the area place that Milo is talking about.] we learned his intention to stop me at the county seat, Norwalk; and Brother Hyde had learned his plan, he went in and made inquiry about a road that we did not intend to travel, and then Brother Nelson Higgins and myself were directed to go around the city and take the road to Mansfield, [LKA: Nelson Higgins is later in the First Quorum of the Seventy with Milo, and is tied into the Henrietta settlers by a tie to the Durands. Ruluf would have recognized him and gone looking for Milo.] and he and the sheriff thinking that we would move slow, did not want to overtake us until we had camped, accordingly father, sheriff and driver drank freely, [LKA: Where were they drinking? Ruluf had a liquor license for his hotel in 1834. I believe the hotel in East Norwalk is where Orson Hyde found them and asked after the wrong road.] and when they started they took the road to Tiffin, that had been inquired after to mislead them, and they drove until long after dark, the team becoming tired they gave up the chase and heard of us the next morning forty miles on the road to Mansfield, and they felt as though they had been badly sold, and gave up and went home.
On the 11th of May, we joined the main [Zion's] camp west of Mansfield, and on the 12th the camp was organized, and the law of consecration was for the first time presented and we shelled out to the last cent, and our money went into a commissary's hands and our supplies were bought by him. I shall not try to name the particulars of this journey. We journeyed on causing considerable excitement, and receiving much good instructions from the Prophet Joseph.
After we got into the state of Missouri, or rather, before our company had crossed the Mississippi River, we went into the dense forest as a company, and there offered up to the Lord our fervent prayers, that He would spare our lives, and permit us to return to our families, and we felt that it would be so, and thanks be to the Lord not one of us were taken by the cholera that visited the camp that afternoon.
Two weeks after we landed on Fishing River, in Clay County, Missouri, where the revelation was given June 22, 1834 [D&C 105], that is recorded on page 345 in Book of Doctrine and Covenants [D&C 105]--New Edition of 1876. About this time the cholera made its appearance among us, as it had been predicted by the prophet. Thirteen of our good brethren were taken away by the dread monster. The camp broke up partly, and the Saints scattered around and the Lord turned away the scourge. After staying there three weeks, the Lord permitted us to return. We got back to our families the last of September, 1834, care-worn and much fatigued. I had the cholera on the way home, but the Lord healed me, and then we went on our way rejoicing.
The summer of 1835, I traveled in the state of New York with Nathan Baldwin, baptized several, and the following winter went to school in Kirtland, and in the spring of 1836, I was in Kirtland at the dedication of the temple and the endowment of the elders that the Lord had promised as a reward for their offerings. The blessings of the Lord were poured out abundantly. There is one thing that I would here relate, that was a great joy to me, and that was when the Holy Ghost was poured out on the elders, I saw fire descend and rest on the heads of the elders, and they spoke with tongues, and prophesied.
On our return to Kirtland from the mission in the East, I went to school in Kirtland, studied grammar, and then studied Hebrew under Professor [Joshua Seixas] of New York.
On going back to Florence, Ohio, I was chosen president of the Florence Branch, with instructions to move them to Missouri in the fall of 1836. We went as far as Terre Haute, Indiana, when being late and cold, we put up for winter. Our eldest son, James, was a babe three months old, and we came near losing him to human appearance, but the hand of the Lord was in it. We raised up a branch of the Church in that place.
Early in the spring of 1837, we started for Missouri, and arrived in Caldwell County in time to put in a crop. In 1838, we were mobbed out of the county. We had one child born in Missouri, a girl, namely: Sarah Ann. We went to Illinois in the winter of 1838 and the next summer we lost our little girl born in Missouri.
In the fall, after I had the chills and fever for two months and not able to scarcely walk, I was sent on a mission to Canada, but owing to the Patriot War, we were not permitted to go to Canada, and I spent the winter preaching in the state of Ohio--returned home in the spring of 1840, and spent my time in laboring and preaching in the counties around Nauvoo until the spring of 1844. I was then sent to the state of Ohio with Elder John Loveless. We traveled in the south part of Ohio for two months, when we heard of the assassination of the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum. We went home as quick as steam would take us, arrived in time to see their mortal remains, before they were interred. I then went to Carthage Jail, where they were murdered, and saw the floor stained with the best blood of the present generation. The people were all fleeing for fear of justice overtaking them. I called at Hamilton's Hotel to see Elder John Taylor, who was wounded in the jail. Then went to Adams County, where my family had fled for safety. Found them well but much alarmed. [ We have always assumed that he meant his immediate family of Abigail and the children, His uncle in-law Uriah Hancock, and wife Polly or Mary Smith die in Adams Co in 1850 and 1855 respectively. Many of the Hancock cousins live in Adams Co for some years. See Hancock Genealogy]
After we had mourned the loss of our prophet and patriarch a few weeks, during which time I was chosen one of the Nauvoo police, I helped to watch the city by night and worked on the [Nauvoo] temple by day--got it so that the work of the endowments commenced in the fall of 1845 and winter of 1846. I spent six weeks of the time in the temple and was much blessed.
During the past four years, we had two more children born, namely: John D. Andrus and Millennium. After the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, I was ordained one of the presidents of the 10th quorum of seventies. In the winter of 1846, my house, in the basement, was made into a wagon shop, and in the spring I started on our journey to the west. We overtook the main camp at Pisga, and from there went to Council Bluffs, where the government called on us for a battalion of 500 men to go to Mexico. After the battalion was started, I was sent forward with others to the number of one hundred and fifty wagons; went as far as the Pawnee Indian village, then went 150 miles to the northwest among the Ponca Indians. After staying there two months, we went back to Winter Quarters, stayed and farmed in that county in the year 1847, and in the spring of 1848, I was sent on a mission to England. Shortly before I left, Sarah Ann Miles was sealed to me, and she accompanied me to England.
We arrived in Liverpool the first of August, and on the 13th of August [1848] at a general conference, I was appointed president of the Liverpool Conference, which place I filled to the best of my ability until January, 1850, when I was released to come home. During my stay in that conference there were three new branches added and between two and three hundred added to the Church by baptism. I baptized thirty in one evening. The Lord made manifest His power in healing the sick and in blessing the Church with signs following the believers. Milo, Junior, was born in Liverpool, September 30th, 1848.
We left Liverpool in January, 1850, on board of the ship, Argo. Jeter Clinton presided over the company, we were eight weeks and three days on the ship from Liverpool to New Orleans; some sickness and two deaths on the passage. I was sick with the cholera, my wife had poor health all the way, Milo, Jr. was sick; we thought that he would die, but the blessings of the Lord brought us through. We came up the Mississippi River on board the steamer "Uncle Sam", Captain Van Dosen, master. We landed at Kanesville early in May; was organized in the first company of Saints early in June. I was chosen captain over 55 wagons. We had a good time on the plains, arrived in Salt Lake City on last day of August, having but one death on the journey, that of a stranger going to California. I baptized 15 persons on the journey. James Leithhead and Richard Hopkins were clerks of the company. A more full account of the mission to England is recorded in the 10th quorum of seventies record.
After one week's rest, I went to work in the 19th ward and built me a house; and about the 1st of January, 1851, my wife, Jane, and I parted. In June, 1851, I married the Widow Tuttle, and the November following my wife, Sarah Ann Miles died. I married Adaline Alexander in March, 1852. In December, 1852, I married Mary Ann Webster.
In the spring of 1854, I was sent to Saint Louis to preside over the stake there. Stayed there one year, rebaptized and confirmed about 800 saints. Was sent up the river to buy cattle for the emigration of 1855, and in the fall was appointed by E. Snow and D. Spencer to bring the last company of 63 wagons home; arrived in Salt Lake City in October, and in December same year, married Elizabeth and Ann Brooks and Jane Munday. In February, 1857, married Margaret Boyce and in February, 1858, was married to Emma Covert. Was acting bishop of Big Cottonwood ward in 1858, and in the fall of 1859 was appointed to another mission to England. The first six months I was appointed to travel in the conferences; the last nine months I presided over the Birmingham District, embracing Birmingham, Warwickshire, and Staffordshire Conferences.
In the summer of 1861, I started for home with 700 saints on board the ship "Underwriter." I was appointed president of the company, had a good passage to New York; no deaths. I was then appointed to take charge of 900 to Florence, Nebraska, on the cars. Stayed at Florence five weeks, and was then appointed captain to take a company of 66 wagons across the plains, and arrived in Salt Lake City in September, 1861. In the fall of 1870, I married Francena Tuttle. In the fall of 1870, I was again sent to the states on a mission. Came back in the spring of 1871. Since that time I have been in Utah on the home missionary list, and to work with my hands for a living. At this date, January 9th, 1875, I am living in St. George, Utah.
In the winter of 1873 he went to St. George, southern Utah, and the following year he moved a part of his family to St. George, where he later tried to work in the United Order. In 1874 he was appointed a member of the High Council in the St. George Stake, and held that position until 1881, when he was called to take charge of a mission to Green River in Emery county. This mission, however, did not succeed, and he therefore returned to Salt Lake City. In the fall of 1882 he was appointed chaplain of the council of the Utah Legislature. In 1883 he moved to Cache Valley and located in Oxford in 1884. When the Oneida Stake of Zion was organized in 1884, he was chosen as a member of the High Council of that Stake and also appointed to preside over the High Priests' quorum. He was ordained a Patriarch in 1884. Ripe in years and faithful and true to his Church to the last, Patriarch Andrus died at Oxford, Oneida county, Idaho, June 18, 1893, leaving a large posterity.
Early in the history of missionary work in the Church, Milo was recognized as a forceful and successful expounder of the Gospel and was called to fill missions at various times and in various climes. He spent 13 years in missionary labors at home and abroad. His missionary activities are summed up in the following: Southern Ohio (1833), 5 months; Zion's Camp (1834), 6 months; Temple worker at Kirtland (1834), 6 months; State of New York (1835), 5 months; Canada (1841), 6 months; Ohio (1844), 7 months; Nauvoo Temple (1845, 8 months; Great Britain (1848), 2 years; St. Louis, Mo. (1854), 9 months; Salmon River, Idaho (1856), 15 Months in England; Great Britain (1859- 61), 2 MONTHS, and Ohio (1869), [Reading over these there are some which aren't correct as to duration. Laura]
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Son of Ruluf Andrus and Azuba Smith
Married Sarah Ann Miles, 1 Jan 1848, Winter Quarters (now Florence), Douglas, Nebraska
Married Abigail Jane Daley, 14 Feb 1833, Florence, Huron (now Erie), Ohio
Married Lucy Loomis, 1 Jun 1851, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Married Adaline Alexander, 27 Mar 1852, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Married Mary Ann Webster, 23 Dec 1852, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Married Jane Lancaster Munday, 22 Nov 1855, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Married Elizabeth Brooks, 22 Nov 1855, Salt Lake, Salt Lake, Utah
Married Ann Brooks, 22 Nov 1855, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Married Margaret Ann Boyce, 15 Feb 1857, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Married Mary Emma Covert, 28 Feb 1858, Salt Lake City, Salt Sake, Utah
Married Francenia Lucy Tuttle, 6 Dec 1862, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Obituary - excerpt from Deseret Evening News, 21 June 1893, p.1
Milo Andrus - "His death, which occured at Oxford, Idaho on June 19, 1893, was attributed to old age and general debility, he having reached the advanced age of 79 years,3 months, 13 days. Deceased was born March 6, 1814, Essex county, New York, was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints, April 12, 1833 in Huron County, Ohio. Deceased was a president of the 10th Quorum of Seventies, a High Priest, a member of the High Council, and a Patriarch in the church. His posterity numbers 59 children, 170 grandchildren, and 75 great grandchildren."
Milo Andrus Tells His Story - Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 14, p. 232-240
My father is a native of Hartford, Connecticut, and my mother of Rutland, Vermont. Shortly after their marriage, they moved to Essex County, State of New York, where they resided until their ninth child was born, seven boys and three girls; namely, Oran, Almon, Carlo, Erasmus, Harwin, Milo and Milo 2nd. Erasmus, Harwin and Milo died in childhood, the dates of their deaths I cannot give in consequence of a fire that burnt up the records of my father's family. The names of my sisters were Sybil, Sarah, and Emily. My eldest brother, Oran, was born in 1797; Sybil was born in 1799; Almon was born in 1801; the dates of the others I cannot give.
I, Milo 2nd, was born March 6th, 1814. When five years old, my parents moved to Dunkirk, State of New York, where they resided one and a half years. During that time there was a circumstance occurred that seems to me to show the protecting hand of the Lord over us. I went to the shore of Lake Erie and got into a skiff on the lake, and went to sleep. When the wind arose and took the skiff onto the lake, it was not until nearly out of sight that I was picked up still sound asleep. I have always thought that the Angel of Peace then watched over me.
My parents then moved up the lake into the State of Ohio, in Huron County township of Henrietta, where they had three daughters: namely, Evaline Charlotte, born October 7, 1817; Lucina, born 1819; and Harriet, born 1821. At this writing the two eldest of my brothers are still alive and three of my youngest sisters. They have all rejected the gospel. My mother died January 1, 1830. My father died the winter of 1848. I shall now drop the history of the balance of the family and give a few incidents of my own history. After my mother's death, I bought the balance of my time until I was twenty-one of my father, for which I paid him one hundred and fifty dollars. In the spring of 1832, I met an elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints though I should say, previously to this time I had my mind exercised about a future state, and had read the views of Alexander Campbell, and that being the nearest to the truth of the New Testament, I had been baptized by Elder Orson Hyde, then a minister of that sect. When I compared the scriptures with the teachings of the elder of the Church of Christ, I found that he had the truth and after nearly one year, yielded to baptism.
One month and nine days previous to my baptism, I was united in marriage to Abigail Jane Daley, whose father had been baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about one year before. We were married February 21, 1833. I was ordained an elder May 5, 1833 under the hands of Joseph Wood. Started on my first mission in June, 1833, in company with Joseph Wood, traveled a distance of seventy miles preaching every day. We came to Kirtland where the Prophet Joseph Smith resided with his family.
The quarterly conference that came off a few days after our arrival changed my traveling companion and I was coupled with Ova Trumen. Joseph Wood and his fellow laborer went to Philadelphia, and I with my new companion was sent to the southern part of the State of Ohio, to return in three months to the next quarterly conference. Were not very successful and baptized only two persons. After this conference, I was permitted to return home and preach among the branches until winter when we had a call from the Prophet Joseph by his brother, Hyrum, to get ready and go with the company of elders to the state of Missouri, known as "Zion's Camp." Our first daughter and first child was born November 15, 1833. During the winter of 1833, and spring of 1834, we were instructed to labor and get all the money we could, to get good rifles and make ready to start by the first of May, 1834. These were from the Florence branch: Nelson Higgins, Hyrum Blackran, Asey Fields, and Milo Andrus. My brother-in-law, James Daley, went with us as far as Mansfield, Richard County, Ohio, where we met with the Prophet Joseph, his brother, Hyrum, and the rest of the camp from the East. Our leader was Elder Orson Hyde.
There was one circumstance that occurred before we joined the main camp worthy of notice. As stated before, I had bought my time from my father, and had paid him the amount agreed upon, but still I was not twenty-one by ten months. On this account and as he was opposed to my going with the Mormons, he made an effort to stop me. As we had to pass his house on our way, we learned his intention to stop me at the county seat, Norwalk. Brother Hyde had learned of his plan, went in and made inquiry about a road that we did not intend to travel and then Brother Nelson Higgins and myself were directed to go around the city and take the road to Mansfield and the sheriff thinking that we would move slowly did not want to overtake us until we had camped. Accordingly father, sheriff and driver drank freely and when they started they took the road to Tiffin, that had been inquired after to mislead them. They drove until long after dark, the team becoming tired they gave up the chase and heard of us the next morning forty miles on the road to Mansfield, and they felt as though they had been badly sold and gave up and went home.
On the 11th of May, we joined the main camp west of Mansfield, and on the 12th the camp was organized and the law of consecration was for the first time presented and we shelled out to the last cent. Our money went into a commissary's hands and our supplies were bought by him. I shall not try to name the particulars of this journey. We journeyed on causing considerable excitement, and receiving much good instruction from the Prophet Joseph. After we got into the state of Missouri, or rather before our company had crossed the Mississippi River, we went into the dense forest as a company and there offered up to the Lord our fervent prayers, that He would spare our lives, and permit us to return to our families. We felt that it would be so, and thanks be to the Lord, not one of us was taken by the cholera that visited the camp that afternoon.
Two weeks later we landed on Fishing River, in Clay County, Missouri. This is where the Revelation that is recorded onpage 345 in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants was given June 22, 1834. About this time the cholera made its appearance among us, as it had been predicted by the Prophet. Thirteen of our good brethren were taken away by the dread monster. The group broke up partly, and the Saints scattered around and the Lord turned away the scourge. After staying there three weeks, the Lord permitted us to return. We got back to our families the last of September, 1834, careworn and much fatigued. I had the cholera on the way home but the Lord healed me, and then we went on our way rejoicing.
The summer of 1835, I traveled in the State of New York with Nathan Baldwin, baptized several, and the following winter went to the dedication of the Temple and the endowment of the elders that the Lord had promised as a reward for their offerings. The blessings of the Lord were poured out abundantly. There is one thing that I would here relate, that was a great joy to me. That was when the Holy Ghost was poured out on the elders, I saw fire descend and rest on the heads of the elders, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
On our return to Kirtland from the mission in the East, I went to school in Kirtland, studied grammar and then studied Hebrew under Professor __ of New York. On going back to Florence, Ohio, I was chosen President of the Florence branch with instructions to move them to Missouri in the fall of 1836. We went as far as Terre Haute, Indiana, when being late and cold, we came near losing the human appearance, but the hand of the Lord was in it. We raised up a branch of the Church in that place. Early in the spring of 1837, we started for Missouri, and arrived in Caldwell County in time to put in a crop. In 1838 we were mobbed out of the country. We had one child born in Missouri, a girl, namely, Sarah Ann. We went to Illinois in the winter of 1838 and the next summer we lost our little girl, born in Missouri.
In the fall, after I had the chills and fever for two months, I could scarcely walk, I was sent on a mission to Canada, but owing to the Patriot War we were not permitted to go to Canada and I spent the winter preaching in the State of Ohio-returned home in the spring of 1840, and spent my time laboring and preaching in the counties of Nauvoo until the spring of 1844, I was then sent to the state of Ohio with Elder John Loveless. We traveled in the southern part of Ohio for two months, when we heard of the assassination of the Prophet Joseph and his brother, Hyrum. We went home as quickly as steam would take us, arrived in time to see their mortal remains before they were interred. I then went to Carthage Jail, where they were murdered, and saw the floor stained with the best blood of the present generation. The people were all fleeing for fear of injustice overtaking them. I called at the Hamilton Hotel to see Elder John Taylor who was wounded in the jail. Then went to Adams County where my family had fled for safety. I found them well but much alarmed. After we had mourned the loss of our Prophet and Patriarch a few weeks, during which time I was chosen one of the Nauvoo Police, I helped to watch the city by night and worked on the Temple by daylight, got it so the work of the endowments commenced in the fall of 1845 and winter of 1846. I spent six weeks of the time in the Temple and was much blest.
During the past four years, we had two more children born: namely, John D. and Millennium. After the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, I was ordained one of the Presidents of the 10th Quorum of Seventy. In the winter of 1846, the basement of my house was made into a wagon shop and in the spring of the same year we started on our journey to the West. We overtook the main camp at Pisgah, and from there went to Council Bluffs, where the government called on us for a battalion of 500 men to go to Mexico. After the battalion was started I was sent forward with others to the number of one hundred and fifty wagons, went as far as the Pawnee Indian Village, then went 150 miles to the northwest among the Ponca Indians and farmed in that county in the year 1847, and in the spring of 1848, at this time I was sent on a mission to England. Shortly before I left, Sarah Ann Miles was sealed to me, and she accompanied me to England. We arrived in Liverpool the 1st of August, and on the 13th of August at a General Conference I was appointed President of the Liverpool Conference, which place I filled to the best of my ability until January, 1850, when I was released to come home.
During my stay in that conference, there were three new branches added and between two and three hundred added to the Church by baptism. I baptized thirty in one evening. The Lord made manifest His power in healing the sick and in blessing the Church with signs following the believers. Milo, Junior, was born in Liverpool, September 30, 1848. We left Liverpool in January, 1850, on board the ship, Argo. Jeter Clinton presided over the company. We were eight weeks and three days on the ship from Liverpool to New Orleans, and some sickness and two deaths occurred on the passage. I was sick with the cholera, my wife had poor health all the way, Milo, Jr. was sick, we thought he would die. However the blessings of the Lord brought us through. We came up the Mississippi River on board the steamer, Uncle Sam, Captain VanSosen, master. We landed at Kanesville early in May, was organized in the first company of Saints early in June. I was chosen captain over fifty-five wagons. We had a good time on the plains, arrived in Salt Lake City on the last day of August, having but one death on the journey that of a stranger going to California. I baptized 15 persons on the journey. James Leithead and Richard Hopkins were elders and clerks of the company. A more full account of the mission to England is recorded in the 10th Quorum of Seventy record.
After one week's rest I went to work in the 19th Ward and built me a house and about the 1st of January 1851, my wife Jane, and I parted. In June, 1851, I married the Widow Turtle, and the November following my wife, Sarah Ann Miles, died. I married Adaline Alexander in March, 1852. In December, 1852, I married Mary Ann Webster. In the spring of 1854, I was sent to Saint Louis to preside over the Stake there as the first president. Stayed there one year, rebaptized and confirmed about 800 Saints. Was sent up the river to buy cattle for the emigration of 1855, and in the fall was appointed by E. Snow and D. Spencer to bring the last company of 63 wagons home. Married Elizabeth and Ann Brooks and Jane Mundy in December 1855. Married Margaret Boyce February 1857, and in February 1858 was married to Emma Covert.
Was acting bishop of Big Cottonwood Ward in 1858 and in the fall of 1859 I was appointed to another mission to England. The last nine months I presided over the Birmingham District, embracing Birmingham, Warwickshire and Staffordshire Conferences. In the summer of 1861, I started for home with 700 Saints on board the ship, Underwriter. I was appointed president of the company, and we had a good passage to New York, no deaths. I was then appointed to take charge of 900 to Florence, Nebraska, on the cars. Stayed at Florence five weeks, and was then appointed captain to take a company of 66 wagons across the plains and arrived in Salt Lake City in September, 1861. In the fall of 1870, I was again sent to the States on a mission. Came back in the spring of 1871. Since that time, I have been in Utah on the home missionary list and to work with my hands for a living. At this date, January 9, 1875, I am living in St. George, Utah. End of quote.
1873. After his return from his mission to England, he located on Dry Creek and was again appointed to labor as a home missionary. In 1870 he filled a short mission to the States. In the winter of 1873, he went to St. George, southern Utah and the following year he moved a part of his family to St. George, where he later tried to work in the United Order. In 1874, he was appointed a member of the High Council in the St. George Stake, and held that position until 1881, when he was called to take charge of a mission to Green River in Emery county. This mission, however, did not succeed, and he returned to Salt Lake City.
In the fall of 1882, he was appointed chaplain of the council of the Utah Legislature. In 1883, he moved to Cache Valley and located in Oxford in 1884. When the Oneida Stake of Zion was organized in 1884, he was chosen as a member of the High Council of that Stake and also appointed to preside over the High Priests' quorum. He was ordained a Patriarch in 1884. Ripe in years and faithful and true to his Church to the last, Patriarch Andrus died at Oxford, Oneida County, Idaho, June 18, 1893, leaving a large posterity.
Milo Andrus was universally known among the Saints as an eloquent expounder of the Gospel; he possessed the gift of speech to a marvelous extent and exercised influence for good wherever he associated with other men. He was one of the most successful missionaries known in the Church. His early missionary activities are summed up in the following: Southern Ohio (1833), five months; Zion's Camp (1834), six months; Temple worker at Kirtland (1834), six months; State of New York (1835), five months; Canada (1841), six months; Ohio (1844), seven months; Nauvoo Temple (1845), eight months; Great Britain (1848), two years; St. Louis, Mo. (1854), nine months; Salmon River, Idaho (1856), two months; Great Britain (1859), two years; Ohio, (1869), five months.
According to Millard, the oldest child of Milo and Jane Munday Andrus, his father sub-contracted from Brigham Young to build part of a roadbed for the Union Pacific Railroad through Echo Canyon. His older sons undertook and completed many such contracts, including the one in Echo Canyon.
From the family records, we are told that Milo Andrus acquired land in the various places he made homes for his family, including southern Utah and Oxford, Idaho. Although he was called to labor as a missionary for his Church, he retained a deep interest in his family and helped to provide for them.
Milo Andrus, First President of St. Louis Stake
The early spring months of 1854 were spent by Milo Andrus in traveling from Salt Lake City to St. Louis. He probably arrived several weeks ahead of Erastus Snow, who was sent to St. Louis to organize the Stake, and on September 12, 1854, he wrote:
Brother Andrus has succeeded well in his labors here and on my arrival he was stirring up the Saints to renew their covenants in baptism and nearly all have done so since my arrival and with them many who had never been baptized. The Lord is shedding forth His spirit upon the people [p.239] and many say they never saw such a good spirit among the Saints in St. Louis before. After this month we shall leave Concert Hall and occupy the Old Baptist Church on 4th street, a spacious building with a gallery, which will be under our entire control, including a basement in three rooms, suitable for councils, storage or a rendezvous for our emigration.…
Much of the available information as to Milo's activities in 1854–1855 is to be found in The St. Louis Luminary. This little newspaper was published weekly, starting Nov. 22, 1854, with its final issue Dec. 15, 1855.
On Christmas Day 1854, Milo performed two marriages for immigrants from England (Henry Rampton to Frances Dinwoodey and John Evans Jr. to Mary Ellison). He also delivered an introductory speech to what was called, "The Latter-day Saints' Tea Party," held in the fourth Street Church in St. Louis Dec. 25, 1854. The Luminary records it as follows:
Pursuant to announcements the Latter Day Saints met as above to enjoy a Christmas day ... at half past two o'clock p.m. The meeting was opened by the Choir ... after which President Milo Andrus arose and spoke as follows: "I wish to make a few introductory remarks to the proceedings of this day. I commence by wishing my brethren and sisters and my associate friends a happy and merry Christmas; and I prophesy back of that ... for I am a prophet enough to do that ... if you will observe the rules of order, your joy and happiness will be complete and you shall have one of the choicest Christmas gifts that can be bestowed upon mortals—a gift above that which man can give. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit. A greater portion of this spirit is held in reserve for the people when they know more what they are about and learn better the results of their doings. To us there is no difference as far as names are concerned ... I wish you to feel happy and cheerful today which is the very opposite spirit to that which reigns in the religious and fashionable world, which is a spirit of restraint, bondage and misery. To meet in their several societies would to me be a perfect Hell. I want every thing to be done here in a spirit of freedom and good feeling. The music and singing and all that is done, tend to rejoice the heart and animate the spirit and happily every person in this assembly. If there is any thing contrary or opposed to this, I hope it will be overruled, restrained and banished that the Spirit of Peace may reign uninterruptedly among us. Amen.
In the Dec. 23, 1854 edition of the Luminary a letter by Milo Andrus reports his visits to the Dry Hill and the Centerville, Illinois branches. He preached several sermons and performed several baptisms. In the same edition of the Luminary, a message titled "The High Council to all the Saints throughout this stake of Zion—Greetings" is signed by Milo Andrus. Herein he outlines and discusses the duties of Elders, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons, husbands, wives, and parents:
To Husbands: love your wives, treat them kindly and tenderly as Christ does His Church. You are appointed to be the head of the woman; then do not resign the government into her hands but sustain with honor and dignity the position you are called to enjoy. Be not austere and tyrannical, harsh and cruel, for He who has given her unto you is her Father, and He will listen unto her complaint, and unless you repent and reform she may be taken from you and given to one more worthy of her. Do you aspire to be the savior of your wives? Then learn brethren, to save yourselves. If you would have your wives obedient to you, learn to be obedient to those men who are placed over you. If you would be honored by your wives, be temperate in your words and deeds, and prove to them by your wisdom, integrity, and righteousness, that you are worthy of their love and confidence, and your wives will feel satisfied that you are the men to lead them to Celestial Glory.
To Wives: Honor and obey your husbands as your future president on earth, and your future representative in heaven; and your husbands, if good men, will bless and honor you; but if they curse and swear and take the name of the Lord in vain and give themselves to drunkenness, whoredoms, and otherwise defile themselves, then love them as you would a viper and honor them as you would the devil.
To parents: The Lord has given to your care an important charge. Your children are an heritage and gift of God; and if you train them up in the fear of the Lord they shall be the crown of your rejoicing and glory in the Kingdom of our God. Be careful that you set a proper example before them. If you curse and swear your children will be likely to do the same; if you mingle with the vulgar, the drinker, and the profane, your children will do so likewise; if you neglect your duties as a Saint of God, and rebel against the authority He has placed over you, your children will most probably drink into the same accursed spirit; and remember that for all these things God will bring thee unto judgment.
Signed in behalf of the Council
Milo Andrus, President.
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MILO ANDRUS HOME Built: 1858 Original location: Crescent, Utah Relocated: 1980 This large frame house was built in 1858 under the supervision of Milo Andrus' wife, Lucy. It was built 12 miles south of the center of Salt Lake City (present day Crescent, Utah). The home was used as an inn, and Lucy took in boarders and helped prepare meals for weary travelers. The house was home for the family as well. The 160 acre farm provided grain, vegetables and fruit to household members. The Andrus home is interpreted as a general store and family home. It was characteristic of the frontier merchant of the mid 1850s-1860s to have his store and home in the same building. Merchandice representative of pioneer times were fabric, clothing items, household goods and kitchen utensils stocked the shelves of the general store. In 1978, Z.C.M.I. purchased the property and donated the building to Pioneer Trails State Park where it was relocated and restored in 1980.
The Official Site of the Milo Andrus Family Organization∼Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847–1868
Company:
Milo Andrus Company (1850)
Narrative:
In early 1850, Church leaders advised emigrants that pioneer companies would travel on a new route on the south side of the Platte River. By taking this new route they avoided some river crossings on the north side that had proved dangerous because of high water in the previous year. They also expected to receive additional military protection on a new army supply road. This was a factor in their decision because they wanted to avoid conflict with the Plains Indians, who had been agitated during the 1849 California gold rush. The 200-mile long army road connected "Old Fort Kearny," located 50 miles below Kanesville on the Missouri River, to "New Fort Kearny" following the south side of the Platte River to the west.
The first company to depart from Kanesville was led by Milo Andrus. The company, composed of 206 people and about 55 heavily-loaded wagons, traveled 18 miles south on the east bank of the Missouri River to the Bethlehem Ferry (across the river from present-day Plattsmouth, Nebraska). There they crossed the Missouri River and spent a few days organizing the company. On June 3 they left their camp on the west side of the ferry and followed the Plattsmouth-Fort Kearny trail south. After crossing Weeping Water Creek they forged a new trail west where they connected with the northward-arching new military road, which became known as the Ox-Bow Trail.
When they reached Salt Creek (near present-day Ashland, Nebraska), they found that high waters had washed out the bridge so they spent a few days building a raft on which they crossed with their wagons. At Salt Creek his place they also had a small outbreak of measles.
The Andrus company was the only 1850 Mormon company to take the original route of the military road that crossed the drainage now known as Wahoo Creek. Later Mormon companies in 1850 took a cutoff trail (near present-day David City and Bellwood, Nebraska) that saved them 12 miles. The Andrus Company passed a large Indian village at Linwood, Nebraska, and reached the Platte at Skull Creek (near present-day Morse Bluff, Nebraska). At this point they followed the south bank of the Platte River a hundred miles west past Grand Island where they joined with the Oregon Trail coming north from Missouri. They then continued 15 more miles to "New Fort Kearny", which they reached on June 23, although the army reserved grazing rights and companies weren't permitted to camp within a mile of the fort. Continuing up the south side, they reached the Lower Crossing of the South Platte (in the vicinity of the present-day town of Hershey, Nebraska), where they began crossing over to the north side.
The Andrus company was the only Mormon company to ford here in 1850. On July 4, they succeeded in crossing the last of their wagons and traveled from there to Fort Laramie on the north side. On this side of the river they found that the grass was sparse. 1850 was a big year for overland travel as about 50,000 people bound for Oregon and the California gold fields started before the Mormon companies. They overgrazed the plains grasses, particularly on the north side of the Platte River. Cholera was epidemic among the companies bound for California and Oregon, and many graves lined the road. However, Andrus's company was spared and there was only one death in the company--a gold digger bound for California. They were fortunate too when a young girl survived a serious head injury after being run over by a wagon.
At the fifth crossing of the Sweetwater, they met four men who were sent out by Brigham Young to locate better routes and help guide the companies to the Salt Lake Valley. Elijah Ward stayed with the company and guided them on some selected new routes. Their first departure from the established road bypassed the Rocky Ridges by veering to the north through a draw. It reportedly had an abundance of feed and water, but the ground was rough and it was only a mile shorter than the ridge road, which it rejoined just east of Rock Creek. The second departure took them on a straight course leading from a point three miles below Pacific Springs. Ward was supposed to guide them 10 miles to rejoin the old road where it crossed the Big Sandy. Unfortunately he deviated from the planned new route and the company had to travel an additional 20 miles without water. Generally they enjoyed good weather except for a severe snowstorm at Green River on August 17. When the wagon train exited Emigration Canyon and arrived in Salt Lake City on August 30, Andrus sported festive banners on either side of his wagon that read "Holiness to the Lord" and "Hail to the Governor of Deseret."* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: May 25 2022, 18:11:12 UTC
1814 |
March 6, 1814
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Jay, Essex County, New York, United States
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1833 |
April 12, 1833
Age 19
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Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey, United States
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November 15, 1833
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Vermilion, Huron, Ohio, United States
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1836 |
June 14, 1836
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Florence, Huron, Ohio, United States
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1837 |
May 31, 1837
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Goose Creek, Kingston Township, Missouri, United States
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1841 |
April 23, 1841
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Woodville, Adams, Illinois, United States
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1842 |
1842
Age 27
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Utah, United States
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1845 |
August 31, 1845
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Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, United States
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1847 |
November 19, 1847
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Mosquito, Pottawattamie, Iowa, United States
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