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Charles Porter Brizzee Sarah Ann or Sarah Angeline Hall
By, Glenda Wardell, as told to me by various family members.
Charles was the son of Henry Willard Brizzee and Emily Amanda Rockwell. His mother, Emily, was the first child of Orin Porter Rockwell and Luana Beebe. Sarah was the daughter of Thomas Hall and Hannah Ann Stephens. Charles and Sarah were married February 1873 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Sarah was only 16 years old and Charles was 21. Together, they had six children. At some time they came to settle in Rexburg, Idaho, a farming community founded by Mormon homesteaders. I believe that some of Sarah’s father’s family lived there, and that is what brought her to Rexburg. They homesteaded 160 acres, which means the government provided free land to any person if he or she lived on the land for five years and improved it. Charles rode his horse all the way to Blackfoot, Idaho to stake his claim. It was only about 30 miles away, but since there were no roads or bridges, it meant crossing the rivers and sleuths. In Rexburg, the wind blew constantly, strong and blustery, with windstorms in the winter. You could see the trees bend and the wheat lay down in the fields. Since this was a farming community it was devastating to the farmers. In the summer the wind was reduced to a breeze. The winters were very cold. The wind caused the snow to drift across the roads, and in only a few hours, you would be snowed in-forcing everyone to stay close to home. The means of transportation was sleigh and horse and buggy. When Charles and Sarah homesteaded their property, there must have been a very small, old house on it. After awhile, they built on to the front of it, making one large room where the family lived also used as the kitchen and one bedroom off the large room. Charles loved horses, and it’s been said that even his bank checks had a horse on them. Among his horses was a stallion. Each day, the stallion brought the horses down from the dry farm to drink, while the proud stallion stood, seeming to stand guard. Charles had his prize horse that he rode, and he told Sarah that she was to guard that horse with her life. Whether this was the stallion, I do not know. On the property was a chicken coup and a barn. The barn was made from chicken wire, stuffed with straw, making the barn very warm in the winter for the stallion. This was a difficult marriage for Sarah. For a long time, she endured many hardships from Charles until she divorced him on May 11, 1900. The divorce paper stated that he was drunk much of the time, and didn’t support his children. It was up to Sarah to provide for the children. Sarah remained in the home after the divorce. Along the right side of the house was a row of trees with a gate leading into the yard. Prior to the divorce Charles stood there at the fence begging Sarah to take him back but she had endured too much abuse and could not take him back. Following the divorce, it was only two years later that Charles passed away on July 24, 1902 in Salt Lake City, Utah, just before his 50th birthday. He died from cirrhosis of the liver, which can be the result of heavy drinking.
Read more about Charles and Sarah Brizzee and their children on the www.BrizzeeRockwell.com website. |
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Children of Charles and Sarah Maybell, Emily & Hilda photo’s courtesy of, Glenda Wardell Henry Willard Brizzee photo courtesy of, Paul Brizzee
Maybell Brizzee - She was a real beauty and well liked. She had such a Queenly manner. Her son, Harold, was the only one who had children. She lived in Washington. Letter from her grandmother Emily Tyrrell
Charles Porter Brizzee - Lived only a couple of days.
Henry Willard Brizzee - Since he was given the 60 acres, the property is of course next to Sarah’s home and has been passed down in the family. Henry’s first wife was Ruth E. Arnold, and they had one son named Henry, whom they called young Henry. After Ruth passed away, he married Nora Gunnell. Their children were Ireta, Frances, Charles, and Barbara. Mother remembers Nora as a really good cook and eating over at their home. They had fried mutton with milk, gravy and apple pie. Nora usually had an apple pie and said her husband wanted apple pie for breakfast. Story & photo
Emily Brizzee Anderson - Emily married Alfred S. Anderson May 22, 1901. They had a small farm in Rexburg, Idaho. Seven children blessed their home. Grace, Eva, Rulon, Beulah, Opal, Orin and John Allen. They left Idaho in November 1920 and moved to Utah. From there they move to Long Beach, California. Soon after being in Long Beach, Alfred and Emily were divorced.
Emily had a wonderful disposition and everyone loved her. Her children adored her and they never had an unkind word to say about her. She worked hard all her life doing whatever she could to support the family and later herself.
Later in life, she moved to Washington and was cooking in one of the restaurants. While living in Washington, she took a vacation and went to Arizona to see her Aunt Esther Brizzee and her cousins. On her way back to Washington she stopped in California to visit with her married daughters. While at the home of her daughter, Opal, she had a massive hemorrhage and died suddenly on February 28, 1943. Emily was only 60 years old.
Hilda Brizzee - Hilda married Olaf Carlson from Idaho; he may have been from around Burton. They had 4 children - 2 boys and 2 girls. Their marriage ended in a divorce. She did housework, and the boys had paper routes and so forth to help support their mother and sister. Three of Hilda’s children never had children. They moved to Kalispell, Montana.
Charles Roy Brizzee - Charles Roy left home and wrote for a while but then the letters stopped and no one ever heard from him again. No photo.
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