Biography of Joseph Henry Owen by his daughter Luella O Lambert, Rawson-Coffin Family Book, pag 117

My father, Joseph Henry Owen, was born Oct 14, 1857 at Ogden, Weber, Utah, son of James Colegrove and Sariah Rawson Owen. He spent his boyhood days there in Ogden, attending the public schools and Weber Academy. He taught classes here during his last year under Professor Moench.

At the age of 14, he was self-supporting. His first place of employement was at the Ogden Broom Factory. He went to work as an Engineer for the railroad in 1882. His train was a helper train from Beaver Canyon - going through Camas, Idaho (lg thriving mining town at the time).

It was here that he met mother, Mary Abigail Grow, who he married Aug 5, 1883, the marriage being solemnized at the Logan Temple. She was the daughter of William Moyer and Esther Hunt Coffin Grow and born at Huntsville, Weber, Utah.

Because the railroading took Father away from home so much they decided to homestead a farm. In 1889 with their two small children, Mary Ethel and Charles Henry, they went to South Iowa, Bingham Co, Idaho and here they homesteaded a quarter section of land.

Four of father's brothers, William, Albert, Nathaniel and Daniel also homesteaded each a quarter section. This was later known as Ammon and later, through division the county was named Bonneville.

Father never liked farming. 10 years after moving to Ammon, he went to Ogden to try to get back working for the rialroad, but he would havee had to start from the bottom all over agian. He did not want to do that, so he returned them to Ammon and stayed with the farm.

Father drove the first buggy out of Idaho Falls. Ethel says she still remembers the day he came home from town, driving the buggy, a shiny new one.

He was a quiet, unassuming man, never given to temper or harsh words. In 1891, he was set apart as Ward Clerk of Ammon and in September of 1899, he was set apart as First Couselor to Bishop Christian Anderson of the Ammon Ward.

He was also Clerk of the Ammon School Board and Justice of the Peace. He still held all of these positions at the time of his death, which occurred April 18, 1902. He was a High Priest. He had been released as Ward Clerk.

In the spring of 1902, father was preparing wheat for his spring planting. He had not done any hard work all winter. It was strenuous work, lifting bags of wheat into a barrel of vitroil and then out onto a platform. He went to bed, having eaten a hearty supper and apparently well, but lifting the bags had ruptured a blood vessel, causing a Cerebreal Hemmorage.

He never regained consciousness and died forty-eight hours later, leaving a widow and seven living children. The youngest child of the family was born five months after his death. This child was Goldie Alverda. Three children had preceded him in death, the first child having been born prematurely.

The Ammon school was closed during he funeral so the school children could attend. They all marched in and past the casket. He was buried April 21, a cold, windy day.