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Orrin James Olsen collection on Orrin Orlando Barrus and Mary Elizabeth Clark Barrus family

 Collection
Identifier: MSS 3070

Scope and Contents

Contains autobiographical writings and family records pertaining to members of the Orrin Orlando Barrus and Mary Elizabeth Clark family, created between the years 1897 and 1961 in Utah. Information regarding their personal lives and ecclesiastical work are presented. Included are letters, diaries, and photographs of Orrin, Mary, their children, and their grandchildren. Also contains documents pertaining to Fred A. Turley and Edward Stevenson. Materials created 1897 to 1961.

Dates

  • 1897-1961

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Orrin James Olsen collection on Orrin Orlando Barrus and Mary Elizabeth Clark Barrus family must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Coordinating Committee.

Biographical History

Orrin James Olsen (1953-) played professional football for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1976.

Orrin James Olsen was born in Logan, Utah and graduated from Orem High School in 1971. He attended Brigham Young University and graduated with a degree in Business Management. There he played college football until graduating. In 1976, he was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs, playing one season. He married in 1974 and had seven children with his wife, Sandra Robison Olsen. He currently works for LDS Philanthropies.

Biographical History

Orrin Orlando Barrus (1850-1958) was the grandfather of Orrin James Olsen.

Orrin Orlando Barrus was born in Grantsville, Utah. At the age of 21 he attended "LDS College" and, two years after his graduation, left for a two and half year LDS mission to Samoa. Following his mission, he married Mary Elizabeth Clark and taught school in Wyoming. He also farmed. After 12 years of marriage, he and his wife were called on a mission to the Catawba Indian Nation in South Carolina from 1908 to 1910. After their return, they moved frequently between Utah and Wyoming. He served in various church callings after that, including in the Logan Temple. He died in 1958.

Biographical History

Mary Elizabeth Clark Barrus (1873-1961) was the grandmother to Orrin James Olsen.

Mary Elizabeth Clark Barrus was born in Farmington, Utah, in 1873. She attended the first LDS Primary and later on went to "LDS College," where she met her future husband, Orrin Orlando Barrus. Mary taught school throughout Utah. From 1908 to 1910, she and her husband served a mission to the Catawba Indian Nation in South Carolina. After that, they and their family moved several times between Logan, Utah, and Star Valley, Wyoming, until finally settling down in Logan. She worked extensively in the Logan temple and in other callings within the church. She died in 1961.

Biographical History

Orlando Clark Barrus (1901-1922) was the son of Orrin and Mary Barrus.

Orlando Clark Barrus was born in Fairview, Wyoming. As a young man, he left for South Carolina and Georgia to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He died on August 8, 1922, in a swimming accident while serving his mission.

Biographical History

Lucy A. Rice Clark (1850-1928) was active in politics and women's suffrage in Utah.

Lucy August Rice Clark was born March 5, 1850, in Farmington, Utah. She married Timothy Baldwin Clark in 1867 in Salt Lake City, and had 11 children. Lucy was very active in local and state political affairs, acted as postmistress for 8 years and was state vice president of the suffrage association. She died November 13, 1928, in Salt Lake City.

Biographical History

Merle Barrus Olsen (1913-2007) was the mother of Orrin James Olsen.

Merle Barrus Olsen was born in Fairview, Wyoming to Orrin and Mary Elizabeth Barrus. She graduated from Utah State University in 1936 with a teaching degree. She married in Logan, Utah, in 1938, and had 9 children with her husband. The two served two missions together for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On September 10, 2007, Merle passed away in Logan.

Biographical / Historical

Fred Turley (1895-1981) was a rancher in Arizona.

Frederick Andrew Turley was born in Snowflake, Arizona on August 4, 1895. At the age of 20, he was called to serve in the Rochester and Palmyra New York mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1915 to 1917. After his mission he entered the armed forces during WWI, where he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant right before the end of the war. He was married in 1920, and continued serving in the Church, including additional missions with his wife. He did cattle ranching throughout his life. Frederick died in 1981, in Mesa, Arizona.

Extent

2 boxes (1 linear ft.)

1 oversize box (0.6 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

Arranged in three series: 1. Orrin Orlando Barrus family papers, 1922-1958. 2. Mary Elizabeth Clark Barrus family papers, 1897-1961. 3. Orlando Clark Barrus papers, 1917-1922; Remaining files retained in original order.

Other Finding Aids

File-level inventory available online. http://files.lib.byu.edu/ead/XML/MSS3070.xml

Custodial History

Orrin James Olsen collected materials from his family members and donated them in December 2005.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated; Orrin James Olsen; December 2005.

Appraisal

20th and 21st Century Western and Mormon Americana (Utah and the American West and LDS cultural, social, and religious history, II, B, 5, VI, 2016).

General

Copy of compact disc content is on an M-disc located in box 1, folder 6.

Processing Information

Processed; John Murphy; 2005.

Processed; Andrew VanDomelen, student manuscript processor, and John Murphy, curator; 2019.

Title
Register of Orrin James Olsen collection on Orrin Orlando Barrus and Mary Elizabeth Clark Barrus family
Status
Completed
Author
Andrew VanDomelen
Date
2019 May 7
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States