Written by Beatrice Hyer Brown, a Great-great-grand-daughter

John Coltrin was born on the Atlantic ocean on the way over from Wales. He was born about 1738, the son of William Coltrin, a physician. He married Rebecca Maxon, or Maxsum. They lived on a plantation where Eden, South Carolina stands. Later they moved to New York.

John Coltrin Jr. was born 30 July 1775 at Tolland Co. Connecticut, died near Council Bluffs Iowa on the way to Utah with the saints. He married Sarah Graham, born abt.1779 at Petersburg, Mahoning Co. Ohio. They had 11 children and great grandfather Graham Coltrin was the 2nd child. He was born 11 Dec. 1796 at Colrain, Hampshire Co. Mass. and he married Anner Norwood, who was born 12 Oct. 1808 at Ancrom, Columbia Co. New York. She died in 1835-36 in Kirtland, Ohio. Great grandmother Anner had five (5) children: Henry C., Lavinna, Sarah Matilda, (Grandmother), Heman & John who both died soon after birth.

Grandmother, Sarah Matilda was only 4 years old when her mother died. She was born 2 dec.1832 at Painsville, Lake Co, Ohio. After g.grandmother's death he married Harriet Heckman; she helped him raise his children and they had five more children. They crossed the plains and came to Utah. He died at Centerville, Utah on 16 May 1851.

The Graham Coltrin family came to Utah in 1850. Graham was a carpenter and worked on the Nauvoo and Kirtland Temples. The family came to Bountiful, Utah to make their home, which was a large house and stood where the ball grounds now are, by the Bamberger Track. Grandfather had twins Julia and Julius, and they and grandfather all died within 6 weeks in the spring of 1851. Henry Coltrin went to California in the gold rush. Lavinna married Charles Park and Aunt Anner Helen lived with her until she was married to Harvey Perkins. Ether (my father-in-law) went to live with Uncle Heman, a brother of Grandfather's. He was with him for a long time. In the mean-time Uncle Henry had come home and he and Ether owned a strip of ground going from Tom Roberts place, going west including Dr. Stringham's and John Fackrell's. This they traded for a span of mules and wagon and Uncle Henry started freighting, while Ether rode the Pony Express. This they did for about two years, then he went back to freighting and Henry went back to California and on to Mexico where he owned some rich gold mines. He came back to California where he was working at his trade, (carpenter) when he fell from a scaffold and he died in 1868.

John Dodds and Sarah Matilda (Coltrin) Telford

Sarah M. Coltrin married John Dodds Telford and they made their home in Lewiston, Utah, where he died in 1907. Some of her family still live there. After Uncle Henry's death, Ether (my husband's) father went to Mexico. He was there for 3 years overseeing the mines with Colonel Bess, who was Uncle Henry's partner. The next year he spent in Utah and freighted for another year in Colorado, then back to Mexico and was gone nearly a year. He had chills and fever and came home a very sick man. At that time he was a very heavy smoker, smoking cigarettes as fast as he could roll them. He stopped using tobacco, also tea and coffee. With the money he made in Mexico he started in the horse and cattle business. He had a ranch in Randolph and Woodruff.

The first brick house built in Bountiful, Utah was built in 1868 by Ether Coltrin and where most of their children were born. He married Louisa Winegar and seven children were born to them. They are: Harvey, Lois, Lavinna, Graham, Stephen, Orla, and Ira. Lavinna died when a baby and Graham & Stephen were drowned in Snake River at St. Anthony, Idaho, when they were little boys.

After the children married, grandmother went to live with her youngest son Ether and his wife Addie. She lived with them most of the time but with other children occasionally. I remember her staying with mother and we sure loved her. In later years she did a lot of genealogy and temple work. She hired a researcher to find records of her mother's people, the Norwood and Coltrin lines. She did a lot of temple work for them. When she died the records of her mother's people were given to my mother (Lizzie Helen) and before mother died she gave them to me. I am still working on them and have done a lot of temple work on them, especially sealings, which hadn't been done.

Grandmother lived to be 75 years old and died suddenly at home of her son William in Lewiston 12 December 1907, and was buried beside her husband in Richmond, Cache Co., Utah.