Dates

• Existence: 1837 - 1927

Biographical History

Isaac Brockbank Jr. (1837-1927) was an LDS convert and polygamist, grocer, tanner, farmer, miner, and railway worker. He helped build stretches of the Union Pacific and Saltair Railroads, served in the bishopric of the Eighth Ward (SLC) for twenty years, and was a Salt Lake City Council member and Salt Lake County Bailiff and Deputy Sheriff.

Isaac Brockbank Jr., eldest son and child of Isaac Brockbank and Elizabeth Mainwaring, was born in the area of Liverpool, England, on July 13, 1837. As a youth, Isaac was educated at various religious schools and briefly attended the Mechanics Institute and Advanced School; he also made deliveries and collections for his father's meat business, and later worked as an office boy in a legal firm. His parents joined the church in 1851, emigrating to New Orleans on the Ellen Maria in Feburary 1852. In the course of the family's journey to the Salt Lake Valley (which they reached in September of the same year), Isaac's mother disappeared and was never heard from again. Within a month of their arrival, his father married a Sarah Brown who had sailed on the same ship, primarily for the sake of his children. The family eventually settled in Spanish Fork, where Isaac was Elder's Quorum clerk. Here he opened his own dry goods/grocery store, with a partnership contracted to carry U.S. mail south of Salt Lake. In 1858, he met Katherine Howard; the two courted and were married on June 25, 1860. Isaac then joined his father-in-law in the tannery business. Isaac and Katherine bore seven children, all of whom survived to adulthood. In January 1865, being asked to support another family, he married Mary Ann Park; she bore twelve children, losing two in infancy. In 1867, Isaac helped to build a section of the Union Pacific Railroad stretching from Echo Canyon to Promontory Point, and was also briefly employed in Mr. Howard's mining operation (the claim failed). He served in the bishopric of the Eighth Ward from 1871-1891, and was also called in 1871 as a clerk in the Tithing Office. In 1878, he served on the Salt Lake City Council. After the passage of the Edwards Law in 1882, Isaac was charged in September 1886 with unlawful cohabitation, fined $300, and sentenced to six months in the State Prison (both maximum sentences for that offence). After his release, he worked by contract on what would become the Saltair Railroad, did excavations for various Salt Lake City buildings, and served as Salt Lake County Bailiff and Deputy Sheriff. He also attempted mining several more times, usually with disastrous results. He died in Holladay, Utah, on March 4, 1927 at the age of 89, at one time (with Katherine) holding the honor of being the oldest married couple in the state.

Citation:

Albert King Thurber family papers, circa 1826-2011 (parents Isaac Brockbank, Elizabeth Mainwaring, eldest son/child; born 13 July 1837; parents baptised 1851, emigrated 1852 on Ellen Maria, mother disappeared; father married Sarah Brown 2 October 1852)

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=30492454, September 24, 2013 (born Liverpool; education at church schools, Mechanics Institute; delivery boy/wage collector for father, legal office boy; settlement in Spanish Fork, clerk of Elder's Quorum; opened dry goods/grocery business, mail carrier contract with government; married Katherine Howard June 25, 1860, went into tannery with father-in-law; seven children, all survived; married Mary Ann Park January 1865; twelve children, ten lived; helped contract-build Echo Canyon-Promontory Point stretch of Union Pacific Railroad, Saltair Railroad; attempted mining several times, usually failed; bishopric of Eighth Ward, 1871-1891; Tithing Office clerk, 1871; Salt Lake City Council, 1878; fined $300 and jailed 6 months for polygamy under Edwards Law, September 1886; Salt Lake City excavator, County Bailiff, Deputy Sheriff; died March 4, 1927, Holladay, UT, 89 years; with Katherine, oldest married couple in state).

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