Joseph Heber Thurber (1858-1948) was born in Spanish Fork, Utah. He married his first wife, Laura Ann Keeler (1859-1909) in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1876. Together they had 9 children. He took Anne Christina Christensen (1866-1944) as his second wife in St. George, Utah in 1885 and had 7 children with her.

Joseph Heber Thurber served time in the Utah Penitentiary from December 1886-February 1889 for polygamy and unlawful cohabitation. Joseph Heber Thurber received his sentence in December 1886. Laura Ann Keeler had just born twins in June 1886, and Anne gave birth to her first child in August of the same year.

Joseph Heber Thurber died on July 26, 1948 in Dingle, Idaho near Bear Lake and was buried in Richfield, Utah.

Anne (Annie) C. Christensen (1866-1944) worked as a grade school teacher in Greenwich, Piute County, Utah, in 1884-1885. She boarded with Joseph and Laura Thurber during the winter of 1885 and became well acquainted with the family. Joseph proposed to Annie, and she accepted his offer to enter into a plural marriage. Together they parented 7 children. Annie enjoyed a close association with Joseph’s first wife, Laura Ann Keeler (1859-1909).

Annie C. Christensen studied obstetrics in Salt Lake City and became a renowned midwife, delivering more than 1,000 babies during her career. She also contributed greatly in various capacities in the Latter-day Saint community, particularly in Primary, Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association, and Relief Society presidencies. Annie C. Christensen also travelled to Washington, D.C. in 1904 to participate in the Reed Smoot trial.