Joseph Coulson and Ann Eliza Rich
Information comes from the History of Bear Lake Pioneers by Stanley H Rich
Joseph C Rich, the oldest son of Apostle Charles C Rich and Sarah DeArmon Pea, was born 16 Jan 1841 in Nauvoo Illinois. At the age of five, Joseph and his parents were driven from the city by the mob and they made their way to the Great Salt Lake arriving there Oct 2, 1847. His grandmother, Nancy O'Neal was the first pioneer to die after reaching the valley and was buried in an unmarked grave near the Pioneer Park.
Joseph Rich was a self educated man who only had six months of real schooling in his entire life. He mother, "Sarah D" as she was known in the Rich family, who was well educated and taught Joseph and the other members of the family the first principles of education. Joseph learned to read and write. He said he graduated in all the lore of Webster's Elementary Spelling Book, the only library deemed necessary and the only one he had. At an early age, Joseph became one of the pioneer teachers of the schools in Utah and Idaho.
In 1855 he accompanied his father to San Bernardino, California and there he studied surveying and was employed by his teacher, Fred Perris to assist in surveying the city and county, as well as the lots and tracts for farming purposes. He returned to Salt Lake in 1857 where he continued his education in surveying and work on his father's farm in Centerville, Utah. In 1860 he and his father served a mission in Great Britain. Joseph was one of the youngest missionaries ever sent abroad. When he and his father returned home in 1862, Brigham Young asked for volunteers to go to Bear Lake Valley and established a settlement. Charles C Rich was chosen to head the movement and Joseph was among those chosen to spend the winter of 1863-64 in the Valley.
In the spring of 1864 Joseph started work as the first surveyor of the Bear Lake and Bear River Valley region. He surveyed many of the town and farming lands from Evanston Wyoming to Soda Springs. On Jan 14, 1869 Joseph and Ann Eliza Hunger were married by President Brigham Young in the Endowment House. She was the daughter of Bishop Edward Hunter, a name almost as widely known in Utah as that of Brigham Young.
By 1896 they had three girls and three boys; Edward C, Susan J, Sarah L, Libbey, Joseph C and Stanley H. They lived on the shore of Bear Lake and had natural white sulfur hot springs as their home, which were frequented for bathing purposes by hundreds on account of the health giving medicinal qualities of the waters.
In 1880 Joseph founded Bear Lake's first newspaper, The Bear Lake Democrat, later known as The Paris Post. He also published a comic newspaper in Salt Lake City called "Keep A Pitchin In."
In 1908 Joseph moved to Centerville Utah and there built a beautiful home near his brother, Ben E Rich. However, before the home was entirely completed, he contracted a cold that resulted in pneumonia and he died 17 Oct 1908. A brief funeral service was conducted in the new home at Centerville where church and political leaders and friends from three states attended. Apostle Francis M Lyman of the Council of Twelve, a missionary companion and life long friend, was the principal speaker. Another service was held in the beautiful Stake Tabernacle in Paris and the building was filled to capacity. Joseph had always expressed a desire to be buried near his father and mother at the Paris Cemetery on the hillside west of the city and there he was laid to rest.
Ann Eliza Hunter Rich was born 7 Apr 1844 in Nauvoo Illinois and was at Joseph's side to encourage him all the days of their married life. She continued to live in the new home at Centerville with her eldest daughter Susan until Susan's marriage to Edward M Pugmire on July 1, 1921. After a few years she spent much of her time at the home of her son, Stanley in Montpelier and with her daughter Susan at Lakota Resort Utah. She died 3 Aug 1930 and was laid to rest by the side of her husband.
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Children of Joseph Coulson Rich and Ann Eliza Hunter
1. Sarah Ann Rich b-27 Mar 1870; d-18 Aug 1870
2. Edward Charles Rich b-15 June 1871; d-11 May 1942
3. George Stanley Rich b-23 Nov 1872; d-21 Dec 1872
4. Susanna Leonore Rich
5. Sarah Jane Rich
6. Libbie Hunter Rich
7. Joseph Coulson Rich b-5 Aug 1881; d-17 Feb 1967
8. Stanley Hunter Rich b-26 Dec 1883; d-5 Oct 1975