Emma Mariah TOLMAN (photo) was born on 10
Nov 1856 in Brigham City, Box Elder Co., Utah. She died on 15 Aug 1930 in Monticello,
San Juan Co., Utah. Parents: Benjamin Hewitt TOLMAN
I and Sarah Jane ANGELL.She was married to
William Edward HYDE on 1 Mar 1875 in Salt Lake City,
Salt Lake Co., Utah. Children were: William Benjamin
HYDE, Winnifred HYDE,
Emma Louise HYDE, Truman Edward HYDE,
Esther Jean HYDE, Angeline HYDE,
Ray Lynn HYDE, Harriet Parthenia HYDE,
Polly Josephene HYDE, Sara Jane HYDE TWIN,
Truman E. HYDE.
Esther
TOLMAN was born on 18 Mar 1818 in Hope, Knox Co., Maine. She died on 9 Dec
1910. Parents: Nathan TOLMAN and
Sarah HEWITT.
George
Washington TOLMAN was born on 6 Feb 1833 in Windsor, Kennebec Co., Maine.
He died in 1849. Parents: Nathan TOLMAN and
Sarah HEWITT.
Hopestill
TOLMAN was born on 12 May 1721 in Dorchester, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.
Parents: Samuel TOLMAN and
Experience CLAPP.
James
TOLMAN was born in 1794 in Warren, Lincoln Co., Maine. He died in 1830.
Parents: Reuben TOLMAN and
Margaret MCCARTER.
James
Llewellyn TOLMAN was born in 1836 in Windsor, Kennebec Co., Maine. He died
on 24 Oct 1842. Parents: Nathan TOLMAN and
Sarah HEWITT.
John
TOLMAN was born on 4 Oct 1822 in Hope, Knox Co., Maine. He died on 28 Jun
1858. Parents: Nathan TOLMAN and
Sarah HEWITT.
John
TOLMAN was born in 1800 in Warren, Lincoln Co., Maine. He died on 2 Oct
1845. Parents: Reuben TOLMAN and
Margaret MCCARTER.He was married to Mary DUQUE in 1829.
Johnson
TOLMAN was born on 26 Apr 1716 in Dorchester, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.
He died on 30 Aug 1796. Parents: Samuel TOLMAN
and Experience CLAPP.He was married to Elizabeth
CAPEN on 31 Oct 1751.
Judson
Adonirum TOLMAN (photo) was born on 14 Jul 1826
in Hope, Knox Co., Maine. He died on 6 Jul 1916 in Bountiful, Davis Co., Utah.
Tolman, Judson, a Patriarch in the Davis Stake of Zion, is a son of Nathan Tolman
and was born July 14, 1826, in Kennebec, Maine. He comes from old Puritan stock,
his ancestors having arrived in America in 1630. Judson Tolman writes; in a brief
article, prepared for this volume, as follows: "In 1837 I moved with my
parents to Iowa, where I was baptised Jan. 12, 1845. I gathered with the Saints
at Nauvoo in the following March and was ordained a Seventy June 5, 1845. I received
my endowments in the Nauvoo Temple Jan. 27, 1846, and left Nauvoo with the Saints
under Brigham Young in Hosea Stout's company as guard and continued with the
company to the Missouri river, helping to build all the bridges, and make roads,
and raft wagons over all the streams that could not be fortied. I remained with
the company until the Mormon Battalion was organized and left for Mexico. We
were then organized into a company of 200 wagons under the leadership of George
Miller and eleven other men and started for the Mountains, but were stopped by
President Brigham Young and wintered on the Puncah river, near the Missouri river,
about 150 miles above the present Omaha. We then went to Winter Quarters in the
spring, whence we continued the journey to the Valley, where we arrived in September,
1848, in Brigham Young's company, and Daniel Garn's fifty. I helped to fight
the crickets in 1849, and in that year, together with two other families, I settled
in Toelle valley, where Tooele city now stands. We were the first three families
to settle in that valley. In 1850 I was one of a company of thirty-one called
by Gov. Brigham Young to serve as a guard on the southwestern frontiers of Utah,
under Captain Phineas R. White. I served three and one-half years in that capacity
and was in three battles with the Indians, wherein sixteen Indians and one white
man were killed. In 1852 the Indians took the last yoke of oxen and the last
cow I had. In the fall of 1854 I moved to Bountiful, Davis county, where I have
lived ever since. I might add that I helped to herd Uncle Sam's army in the "Echo
Canyon war." In September, 1877, I was sent on a mission to the State of
Maine. In 1885 I was ordained a High Priest, and in 1897 a Patriarch. I have
had three families. My first wife was Sarah Holbrook, who has 301 descendants,
namely, fourteen children, 131 grandchildren and 155 great grandchildren. There
is also one great great grandchild. My second wife, Saptia Merrill, had four
children, ten grandchildren and five great grandchildren. My wife, Jane Stoker,
who now lives, has eleven children, and twenty grandchildren. My total posterity
is 351 at the present time.
Judson is our 3rd Great Granduncle Parents: Nathan TOLMAN
and Sarah HEWITT.He was married to Sarah Lucretia
HOLBROOK on 12 Jan 1846 in Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Illinois.
He was married to
Mary REEVES on 20 Dec 1852 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah. He was divorced
from Mary REEVES.
He was married to Sophia MERRELL on 5 Feb 1856 in Salt Lake
City, Salt Lake Co., Utah.
He was married to Zibiah Jane STOKER on 5 Apr 1869
in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah.
Lucy
Ann TOLMAN was born on 3 Jul 1824 in Hope, Knox Co., Maine. She died on
8 Jul 1918. Parents: Nathan TOLMAN and
Sarah HEWITT.She was married to Lewis Conley BISHOP on 25 Aug 1859.
Margaret
TOLMAN was born on 2 Feb 1812 in Hope, Knox Co., Maine. She died on 7 Aug
1824 in Hope, Knox Co., Maine. Parents: Nathan TOLMAN
and Sarah HEWITT.
Martha
TOLMAN was born on 12 Apr 1791 in Warren, Lincoln Co., Maine. She died on
2 Jul 1858 in Barrettstown (now Hope), Waldo Co., Maine. Parents:
Reuben TOLMAN and Margaret MCCARTER.She was
married to John PRESCOTT on 12 Apr 1817 in Waldo, Waldo Co., Maine.
Nathan
TOLMAN was born on 19 Feb 1788 in Warren, Lincoln Co., Maine. He died on
1 Feb 1844 in Portland, Van Buren Co., Idaho. Parents:
Reuben TOLMAN and Margaret MCCARTER.He was
married to Sarah HEWITT on 29 Nov 1810 in Barrettstown
(now Hope), Waldo Co., Maine. Children were: Margaret
TOLMAN, Sarah TOLMAN,
Nathan TOLMAN [JR], Esther TOLMAN,
Cyrus TOLMAN, John TOLMAN,
Lucy Ann TOLMAN, Judson Adonirum TOLMAN,
Benjamin Hewitt TOLMAN I, George Washington TOLMAN
, James Llewellyn TOLMAN.
Nathan
TOLMAN [JR] was born on 8 Oct 1815 in Hope, Knox Co., Maine. He died in
Aug 1863. Parents: Nathan TOLMAN and
Sarah HEWITT.He was married to Sally C. PALMER on 29 Apr 1835.
Polly
Jane TOLMAN was born on 19 Jan 1855 in Brigham City, Box Elder Co., Utah.
She died on 30 Jan 1901 in Grantsville, Tooele Co., Utah. Parents:
Benjamin Hewitt TOLMAN I and Sarah Jane ANGELL
.She was married to Samuel Wickersham WOOLLEY on 22 Sep 1873.
Priscilla
TOLMAN was born on 20 Nov 1710 in Dorchester, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.
She died on 1 Jan 1711. Parents: Samuel TOLMAN
and Experience CLAPP.
Reuben
TOLMAN was born on 30 May 1797 in Warren, Lincoln Co., Maine. He died on
29 Aug 1859. Parents: Reuben TOLMAN and
Margaret MCCARTER.
Reuben
TOLMAN was born on 25 Jul 1759 in Bridgewater, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts.
He died on 18 Oct 1837 in Windsor, Kennebec Co., Maine. Parents:
William TOLMAN and Elizabeth "Betty" SNOW
.Children were: Nathan TOLMAN,
Martha TOLMAN, James TOLMAN,
Reuben TOLMAN, John TOLMAN.
Samuel
TOLMAN was born on 11 Jun 1676 in Dorchester, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.
He died on 18 May 1738 in Dorchester, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts. Parents:
Thomas TOLMAN and Elizabeth JOHNSON.He was married to
Experience CLAPP on 21 Nov 1704 in Bridgewater, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts.
Children were: Aquila TOLMAN,
Samuel TOLMAN, Sarah TOLMAN,
Priscilla TOLMAN, Desire TOLMAN,
Elizabeth TOLMAN, Johnson TOLMAN,
Samuel JOHNSON, William TOLMAN,
Hopestill TOLMAN, Elizabeth TOLMAN.
Samuel
TOLMAN was born on 20 Sep 1706 in Dorchester, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.
He died on 14 Jul 1707. Parents: Samuel TOLMAN
and Experience CLAPP.
Sarah
TOLMAN was born on 13 Mar 1814 in Hope, Knox Co., Maine. She died on 11
Mar 1903. Parents: Nathan TOLMAN and
Sarah HEWITT.She was married to Hyrum PEAVEY (PEVA) on 14 Dec 1833 in
Windsor, Kennebec Co., Maine.
Sarah
TOLMAN was born on 3 Sep 1709 in Dorchester, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.
Parents: Samuel TOLMAN and
Experience CLAPP.She was married to Richard HUDDLESTONE on 30 Jun 1727
in Dartmouth, Bristol Co., Massachusetts.
William
TOLMAN was born on 12 Aug 1719 in Dorchester, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.
He died on 3 Aug 1763 in Stoughton, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts. Parents:
Samuel TOLMAN and Experience CLAPP.He was married
to Mary SAVELL on 1 Nov 1744 in Stoughton, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.
He was
married to Elizabeth "Betty" SNOW on 29
Sep 1757 in Bridgewater, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts. Children were:
Daniel TOLMAN, Reuben TOLMAN.
Hans
TOMMESEN was born about 1739 in Rodby, Maribo, Denmark. He died on 16 Apr
1765 in Rodby, Maribo, Denmark. Parents: Tomme JACOBSEN
and Karen NIELSEN.He was married to Anne JORGENSEN
on 27 Sep 1764 in Denmark.
Jacob
TOMMESEN was born between 1730 and 1732 in Rodby, Maribo, Denmark. He died
on 24 May 1769 in Rodby, Maribo, Denmark. Parents: Tomme
JACOBSEN and Karen NIELSEN.He was married to
Anna JORGENSEN about 1760 in Maribo, Denmark. Children
were: Tommes Jacobsen WITH,
Karen Jacobsen WITH, Hans Jacobsen WITH.
Kristine
TOMMESEN was born about 1747 in Rodby, Maribo, Denmark. She died on 22 Mar
1800. Parents: Tomme JACOBSEN and
Karen NIELSEN.She was married to Hans Hansen HOUMAND on 10 Oct 1764 in
Denmark.
Ann
TRIPP was born about 1736 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. Parents:
Edward TRIPP and Susanna AMES
.
Arthur
TRIPP was born about 1747 in Rhode Island. Parents:
Edward TRIPP and Susanna AMES.
Arthur
TRIPP was born in 1760 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. He died
on 15 Oct 1791 in Martin, Wilkes Co., North Carolina. Parents:
Edward TRIPP and Susanna AMES.He was married
to Sally KNOWLES on 21 Oct 1787 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island.
Edward
TRIPP was born about 1709 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. He
died on 19 Mar 1780 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. Parents: Lot
TRIPP and Ann MANTON.He was married to Susanna AMES
about 1733 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. Children were:
Steven TRIPP, Seth TRIPP,
Elizabeth TRIPP, Susanna TRIPP,
Ann TRIPP, Sarah TRIPP,
Elizabeth TRIPP, John TRIPP,
Mary TRIPP, Arthur TRIPP,
Jeremiah TRIPP, Arthur TRIPP.
Elizabeth
TRIPP was born about 1735 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. Parents:
Edward TRIPP and Susanna AMES
.
Elizabeth
TRIPP was born about 1744 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. Parents:
Edward TRIPP and Susanna AMES
.She was married to George MATHEWSON on 13 Jun 1779.
Jeremiah
TRIPP was born about 1752 in Raymond, Cumberland Co., Maine. Parents:
Edward TRIPP and Susanna AMES.He was married
to Patience TRIPP on 4 Jan 1821 in Raymond, Cumberland Co., Maine.
John
TRIPP was born on 26 Mar 1746 in Rhode Island. He died on 27 Feb 1820 in
Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. Parents:
Edward TRIPP and Susanna AMES.He was married
to Catherine CROSS on 18 May 1768 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island.
Mary
TRIPP was born about 1746 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. She
died on 16 Jun 1819 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. Parents:
Edward TRIPP and Susanna AMES.She was married
to Solomon ANGELL on 17 Aug 1767 in Providence, Providence
Co., Rhode Island. Children were: William ANGELL
, Freelove ANGELL, Lavina ANGELL
, Susan ANGELL, James William
ANGELL, Joseph ANGELL,
Edward ANGELL, Asa ANGELL.
Sarah
TRIPP was born about 1740 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. Parents:
Edward TRIPP and Susanna AMES
.She was married to Nathan POTTER on 10 Mar 1769.
Seth
TRIPP was born about 1734 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. He
died on 4 Sep 1801 in Johnston, Bristol Co., Massachusetts. Parents:
Edward TRIPP and Susanna AMES.He was married
to Martha FIELD on 9 Nov 1760 in Johnston, Providence Co., Rhode Island.
Steven
TRIPP was born about 1733 in Rhode Island. Parents:
Edward TRIPP and Susanna AMES.
Susanna
TRIPP was born about 1736 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. Parents:
Edward TRIPP and Susanna AMES
.
Martha
TUCKER was born on 22 Sep 1746 in Falmouth, Barnstable Co., Massachusetts.
Parents: Thomas TUCKER and
Rachel LEACH.Children were: Margaret HANNAFORD
.
Thomas
TUCKER. Children were: Martha TUCKER.
Elizabeth
ULRICH was born in 1723 in Hanover, Batimore Co., Maryland. She died in
Huntingdon Co., Pennsylvania.She was married to Jacob
GRIPE in 1740 in York Co., Pennsylvania. Children were:
John GRIPE, Jacob GRIPE,
Elizabeth GRIPE, Sussanah GRIPE,
Daniel GRIPE, Samuel GRIPE,
Esther (Hester) GRIPE, Catherine GRIPE,
Mary GRIPE, Hannah GRIPE,
Joseph GRIPE.
Ann
UNIONChildren were: John MACKLAND.
Polly
WALTER.
Albert
V. WALTON was born on 2 Oct 1854. He died on 9 Oct 1856 in Bountiful, Davis
Co., Utah. Parents: William Harrison WALTON and
Frances Newell TAYLOR.
Alvin
A. WALTON was born on 24 Nov 1864. He died on 12 Dec 1864. Parents:
William Harrison WALTON and Frances Newell TAYLOR
.
Andrew
Jackson WALTON (photo) was born on 12 May 1835
in Mexico, Oxford Co., Maine. Parents: Arthur WALTON
and Martha Ann WALTON.He was married to Harriet
NOBLE on 6 Jul 1874 in Cleveland, Emery Co., Utah.
Arthur
WALTON (photo) was born on 10 Jun 1802 in Paris,
Oxford Co., Maine. He died on 9 May 1877 in Richmond, Cache Co., Utah.
Arthur Walton, son of Simeon and Margaret Hannaford, was born 10 Jun 1802 at
Paris, Maine. He was 19 when he and his cousin, Martha Walton, were married 6
Dec 1821, in Mexico, Maine. Martha was born 3 Nov 1798 at Alstead, New Hampshire.
Their first home was built among the fragrant pines of the Swift River valley.
When the community was incorporated, the village was named Mexico.
In his youth Arthur had had many exciting experiences in the logging camps of
Maine and Nova Scotia while engaged in cutting timber to be used in building
ships. He told of his searching through the heavily timbered mountains to
find the perfect, straight trees for the masts for sailing vessels. Masting
poles were marked with the king's arrow so that the axe men could detect them
easily. They were shipped to England where they were made into masts for battleships
and merchant men. Arthur said it sometimes took a whole winter to find a masting
pole. He told of riding the floating logs down the rivers to the shipyards on
the seacoast.
Soon after his marriage, Arthur purchased 50 acres of land lying on the east
side of Swift River from Martha's brother, Artemas, and another piece of equal
size on the west side from Reuben, at a cost of $150.00 each.
Arthur was a member of the board of selectmen for the years 1838-1839. A notice
posted on the door of the schoolhouse near Isaac Harlow's place notified the
citizens that a meeting would be held on the 5th of March for the purpose of
electing town officers. The minutes show that "Arthur Walton was voted
surveyor of highways."
He served two years as private in the Mexico Village militia under the command
of Capt. John G. Brainard. The regiment was formed from a group of Rumford infantry,
for the protection of the northeastern frontier, and was mustered into service
on 6 Mar 1839, and discharged 29 Nov the same year. Enlisted in the some company
were Arthur's brother-in-law, Samuel Walton, nephews Sylvester J. Smith, George
and Charles Walton, the army musician.
The community boasted a debating society known as the Mock Legislature. Some
of the members had actually served in the state legislature, and proceedings
in the debates presented by the society, were patterned after those in that august
state body.
A tragedy stunned the whole community when the Walton's only daughter, three-year-old
Margaret, was drowned while attempting to cross Swift River at a shallow ford.
The water was scarcely ankle-deep, but the swift current swept the little girl
off her feet and carried her a quarter of a mile downstream to the narrows where
the waters, held back by the narrow passage, collected in a deep hollow
in the rocks before plunging ten feet down into the vortex below.
A man with a rope tied around his body dived into the dark, swirling waters and
brought the tiny body to the surface. They gently laid the child on a great flat
rock where grief stricken family and friends tried in vain to restore her to
life.
Beginning about 1800 a great, restless spirit of migration gripped the people
of the eastern states, and in ever increasing numbers they headed for the fertile
lands lying along the eastern side of the Mississippi River, then the western
border of the United Stares. Arthur and Martha felt this urgency, too, and
left their lovely home to follow the beckoning hand of adventure into the vastness
of the unsettled western frontier.
They had heard the message of the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. Arthur, Martha, and two of her sisters were baptized in the Swift River
on the same day in August, 1842. The events of that day changed their whole
lives and were responsible for their decision to move to the valleys of the Rocky
Mountains.
The last mention of their names in the records of Mexico, Maine, was on 10 Jun
1843 when their son, William Harrison, and Frances Newell Taylor were married.
Two years later they, with their family, were on their way west.
William Harrison (Harry) Walton, a government guard, who traversed the country
from coast to coast, was well qualified, as captain of the Garden Grove Company
(which included others besides the Walton family) to take emigrants into the
valley of the Great Salt Lake.
The caravan started with Levi Wheeler and family of Aroostook, Maine in July,
1845. At Chester, Penobscot County, they were joined by Sylvester J. Smith and
family. The project was more fully organized at Mexico where the three Walton
families-those of Arthur, Samuel, and Harrison (Harry)--joined the caravan. Teenage
boys and girls included Dana, Andrew Jackson, Benjamin C., Samuel A., plus Samanthy,
Hester Ann, Elizabeth, and, perhaps, Rosannah, Grace, and Hannah. When the wagons
began to roll there were 14 families, totaling 60 persons in all.
The spirited horses, like their drivers, were anxious to start. Substantial covered
wagons were loaded with household necessities and provisions of all sorts.
Crates of noisy, fluttering chickens were tied securely to the backs of the wagons,
where cows were tethered; some treasured keepsake or slips of favorite plant
or shrub were nourished on the way, but few of such unnecessary things could
be allowed. This was serious business, and survival was the foremost thought
in their minds.
Cheers and tears mingled in the last goodbyes and one by one the heavy wagons
pulled out onto the dusty road. Young hearts with high hopes looked confidently
to the future.
They traveled in a southeasterly direction until they reached Bangor, where Levi
Wheeler purchased a fine team of purebred horses which later figured in a near
tragedy.
The next town through which they passed was Rutland, Vermont where they fell
in with other companies bound for the same destination: the Mississippi River.
The route they set took them through Saratoga Springs, the now famous health
resort, not far from Albany, New York where they rested for a few days, looked
over their company in general, and, as one remarked, "break the monotony
of emigrant life."
Dr. Smith wrote: "We drank freely of the mineral waters, and around the
campfire speculated on the origin of curiously formed Turkey Foot Rock. The
following morning, going down the mountainside, we beheld a most beautiful sight.
Many more emigrant wagons had joined the caravan, and as far as the eye could
see, the long line of covered wagons wound their way across the beautiful Mohawk
Valley."
On a hot July day the caravan entered the state of Ohio near Mentor, Lake County.
Martha was delighted and remarked that it would be a beautiful place to build
a home. A gentle breeze from Lake Erie and the mellow rays of the setting sun
tempered the atmosphere which, after a long day, was refreshing to everyone.
Sylvester records: "We arranged the wagons in a great circle, picketed
the horses and pitched our tents within the enclosure. This encampment was on
a beautiful grassy plot lightly covered with native oak. The children were soon
climbing trees and romping in gleeful abandon that only they can express. Some
of the men and boys gathered dead timber for campfires while others set off
for nearby farms to buy supplies for the evening meal. Supper over, they all
gathered around the campfires and told stories and sang songs until the embers
dimmed and all was dark except for the stars which kept their heavenly vigil
while the weary travelers slept.
"At dawn, all was astir with a spirited morning bustle as the tantalizing
aroma of frying bacon came lightly on the vagrant breeze. After breakfast, the
wagons were quickly readied, the horses hitched and soon the caravan was in motion."
Continuing across northern Ohio, they crossed the Sandusky River at Freemont.
From there they took the road to Perrysville on the Maumee River, a distance
of 40 miles which required many days of travel. Here terrible rains came and
swamps engulfed their wagons to the hubs. Mosquitoes came in such unbelievable
swarms that one could scarcely tell the color of the horses they tormented.
One woman wrote of the furious winds that ripped up their tents and carried off
their wagon covers. They wrote of the heavy rain and water so deep that their
skirts were fringed with mud.
Again Dr. Smith takes up the story: "Swanton, Ohio, at sunset was beautiful.
Driving a little west of town, our wagons were soon arranged in the usual circle
on a grassy plot where the road sweeps around a marsh in front of the town.
Supper over we gathered around the campfires, and being in high spirits, because
of excellent progress after passing the bad roads and swamps, we sang songs and
speculated about our new homes in the west.
"After retiring, we had just fallen asleep, when a man in great haste, hailed
us with the distressing news that our horses had escaped from the pasture we
had hired and had been seen traveling back on the road that we had just passed
over a few hours before. Dressing hastily, we ran to the pasture where we found
the gate open and all the horses gone. For a time we were at a loss to know
what to do. The night was dark and we were in a strange country, unacquainted
with the roads and the people. We decided to make a more thorough search and
finally located all the animals except the span of purebred bays, the prize beauties
Levi Wheeler had purchased at Bangor.
"Levi hired the man who had informed us of the trouble, and with his team
and buggy hoped to travel fast enough to soon overtake the horses. However,
they drove all the way back to Maumee without locating them. Altogether, they
spent four days in the search. It was later proved that the man who had informed
us was in cahoots with the hotel keeper who rented us the pasture. They had
stolen the horses and made up the story about seeing the horses on the road,
then taken Levi off in the wrong direction purposely to throw him off. When
he suspected this, Levi offered fifty dollars to induce the thieves to return
the horses, which they did.
"After this delay, the company resumed the journey and soon overtook a German
man with his wife and daughter, who were also going west, and had camped at the
same place at Swanton. The woman told how she and her daughter had seen and
heard two men with lanterns in hand, go up to the horses, tie ropes around
their necks and lead them off. Then they sat up all night to be sure that
their horses weren't stolen. They said they didn't dare tell anyone until they
were out of reach of the horse thieves.
"Leaving Ohio, we entered the state of Michigan and traveled along near
the southern boundary. This was new country and we saw much land in its
wild state, generally high and rolling and covered with a growth of maple, beech,
and oak timber. We all thought that we had never seen a more enticing place
to live. For a price, farmers were generous with fresh garden vegetables, including
new potatoes. Some of our party wanted to stay but others did not, so we moved
on together.
"We entered Illinois through Chicago which, at that time, was only a nest
of squat houses in the mud. Passing on through, we camped for the night at Joliet.
Again we had to decide what to do about continuing our journey. It was 2 Oct
1845, and our destination was the Mississippi River. The route we had set would
take us through Ottawa, Peru and on to Rock Island, but our money was running
low. However, we decided to go on to Rock Island where we found the harvest
in full swing.
"Although wearied from our journey of 102 days, we soon were engaged in
the first work we could get-hauling corn. Driving over the prairie with our horses,
and being beaten in travel time by native oxen surprised us and gave us a new
appreciation of those lowly beasts. After a day's work, we returned with our
wages paid in corn--about 20 bushels. To an eastern man who reckoned the price
of corn at a dollar a bushel, as he was accustomed to doing, it was sufficient
incentive to diligently pursue the work. It must be wonderful, we thought, for
a man to drive out 16 miles and haul a load of corn, half of which we received
as wages. But when a couple of hundred bushels of the golden grain was dumped
before his tent, and he offered to sell it, he found that all he could get was
six or seven cents a bushel-and that in goods of poor quality at fabulous prices--he
realized fully the futility of his labors.
"Winter was fast approaching, and fuel must be obtained for heating and
cooking. As driftwood had been collected to the lost stick by those who had
gone this way before, buffalo chips offered the next best choice, and were eagerly
searched for."
"The story can never be fully told. It is impossible, with pen, to describe
the unrest, the cold and bitter winds, the miserable shelters, the shortage of
food and clothing these homesick migrants endured in this strange country."
Such extreme hardships forced the company to break up at Rock Island. Samuel
Walton left his wife Susan and their children with his brother-in-law Arthur,
while he went on ahead to see if he could find work. This came in the form of
carpenter work on the Nauvoo Temple which was being built at that time. About
a year later, when Susan went to that place to find him, the exodus, so well
recorded in history, was at its peak, and Samuel could not be found. They heard
that he had gone to Carthage, where they thought he might have perished at the
hands of a mob, for, as his children said, "We never saw Father again."
Samuel had been baptized in Nauvoo 31 August 1840, and his death from typhus
fever was recorded 24 Aug 1845, age 43 years.
During the crucial time that this company was traveling from Maine to Illinois,
a nation was on the move and there was a great quickening of religious thought
among the people. Rival religionists held revivals that swept the country with
a zealous fervor, especially in the eastern section. Open air camp meetings,
which drew large crowds and lasted for days, were conducted by renowned evangelists.
Sylvester Smith relates that, "We attended many such meetings and listened
to these ministers, J. H. Jones, Alexander Campbell, founder of Disciples
of Christ, Isaac Everton, and others who possessed magnetic powers of oratory.
One day Phineas Young, a brother of Brigham, came to Pawpaw Grove on his way
home from Palestine where he had gone on a mission in the interest of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A violent blizzard came up and he was
forced to seek refuge in the nearest place that could be found."
The expulsion of the Saints from Nauvoo was heartbreaking. On the morning of
4 Feb 1846, in the dead of winter, the men drove their oxen with loaded wagons
onto the Mississippi River ferry. With anxious hearts they steered their heavy
load across the mile-wide river. Some made the hazardous trip in safety; other
not so fortunate capsized, dumping food, bedding, and supplies into the icy,
swirling torrent. The ferry was taxed to the limit, and fear gripped their hearts
each time it left the shore.
About two weeks later when scarcely settled in their rudely constructed camp
at Montrose, Iowa, a howling blizzard struck without warning, leaving snow piled
high, and greatly increasing their misery. As the weather turned bitterly cold,
thick ice spanned the river from bank to bank. Dismay filled the hearts of the
people until they suddenly realized that the ice would be a great blessing in
speeding up their exodus.
The need for haste was due to pressure from the enemy. Every solemn agreement
that had been made was disregarded by the enemy. Many of the Saints left beautiful
brick homes, plus farms, crops, and livestock which the enemy knew they did not
have to buy, and many less fortunate were without tents or sufficient food, clothing,
and bedding to protect them from their worst enemies: cold and hunger. Jane
Young said, "Children cried from the cold and tents were cheerless."
Historians have written, "There is no parallel in world history to that
which forced the migration from Nauvoo." At that time the population of
that beautiful city of Nauvoo was about 20,000 souls.
The lamentable conditions of hunger and want among the Saints encamped at Montrose,
Iowa, through the hospitality of that state, was met by their new leader, Brigham
Young, the new president of the Church. Men of experience were recruited to
perform the type of work best suited to their particular talents.
Arthur and his family had joined the refugees at Montrose where he and his sons
Harry, Dana, and Andrew, all expert mechanics, built a blacksmith shop and foundry.
Soon the sound of hammer and anvil rang out as the welding of tires, mending
of wagons, making of wheels, and shoeing of horses went on day after day. In
the little town of Montrose, only nine miles from the beautiful city of Nauvoo
which they had so recently left, a threshing machine, every cog and wheel of
which was born of Dana's ingenuity, was under construction and was destined to
play an important role in the building of Utah.
Five years of experience and preparation lay behind Arthur and his sons when
they, with their families, drove out of Montrose on that sunny April morning
in 1851, resuming their interrupted journey west. As they traveled the heavy
wheels of the threshing machine cut deep ruts in the prairie roads. Before they
reached their destination they forded dangerous rivers, their horses lunging
to keep their heads above water; they jolted down rocky canyon trails with wheels
locked to keep the machine from tipping over.
After they left Winter Quarters in southern Missouri, it was necessary to travel
200 miles off the regular route to avoid recent floods, high water, and washouts.
In taking that route, they encountered treacherous areas of quicksand that must
be avoided, and the cumbersome threshing machine added to their anxiety. This
route traversed many miles of sand dunes whipped by such furious winds that the
flying sand stung their faces and nearly blinded the eyes of the horses and their
drivers. The sand rolled up over the wheels and into the wagons. Children coughed
and cried, and mothers scolded and comforted.
The party finally got back to the Platte River, and with a prayer of gratitude,
the weary travelers stopped and camped on the trail of the first pioneers. Captain
Harry Walton's company pitched their tents beside Captain John Brown's company
and from there on they traveled the rest of the way together.
The Walton machine was portable, with a power sweep, and was propelled by 12
horses. It was the first of its kind to be brought across the plains. In regard
to this event the source further stares that "a large company of Saints
arrived in Great Salt Lake (1851) from the States bringing a threshing machine.
This was the Garden Grove Company captained by Harry Walton." This is
in harmony with journals kept by the family. Salt Lake City was then part of
Mexico.
The threshing machine was hauled to the stacked grain in the farmyard and when
attached to the power sweep, was ready for action. Through the courtesy of the
J.I. Case Machine Company at Racine, Wisconsin, a model of the machine made by
Arthur and his sons was shown in the company "Pageant of Progress"
catalog of 1837-1937. The advent of the Walton threshing machine in September,
1851, and that of Christopher Layton in September, 1852, was received with much
enthusiasm by President Brigham Young and the jubilant wheat-forming community.
Compared with the scythe and flail, its performance was nothing less than miraculous..,
an epochal accomplishment of the pioneers of Utah.
Arthur's wife, Martha, died in the spring of 1853, at the age of 55, only a year
and a half after their arrival in the Salt Lake Valley. She had lived an exemplary
life and had reared her sons in an atmosphere of love and faith in God.
Martha's death occurred in Bountiful. Their son, Andrew, then 18, was at home,
and his tender care at her bedside was a touching tribute of his love. "Her
memory lives in the boundless measure of the love she gave." Arthur
and all his children were together when they laid her to rest in the Logan Cemetery.
Arthur remarried another widow, Rebecca, whose husband and some of her children
had been killed in a steamboat explosion on the Mississippi while migrating west.
In the spring of 1854 the crops seemed to promise a bountiful harvest but as
summer approached the rains failed to come and grasshoppers devastated the fields.
Again the following year the same conditions prevailed, forcing the half-starving
people to subsist on wild sego lily roots which they dug from the hills, wild
berries, and, if fortunate, an occasional rabbit. That year of near starvation
was followed by a terrible winter. Dana said that the snow fell to a depth of
six feet, and livestock, weak from lack of forage, floundered in the deep drifts
and froze to death.
During these trying conditions the "Utah War" was brewing in Washington,
D.C., and government troops under General Albert S. Johnston were on their way
to Utah. Mail carriers arrived from Independence, Missouri, without the mail.
Brigham Young had not been informed of the government's military intentions,
and the first intimations that anything was wrong reached him while the Saints
were enjoying an outing in Big Cottonwood Canyon on 24 July 1857 in celebration
of the entry of the first pioneers in Salt Lake Valley. This was an alarming
message informing him that a powerful contingent of the United Stares Army was
nearing Fort Bridger in southwestern Wyoming. They all hurried back to the city
where plans were made for the immediate evacuation of some 30,000 people, and
as expeditiously carried out.
Only a portion of this tragic story of these heroic people is told in Bancroft's
History of Utah, in which he describes them as hastily filling in the excavation
for the basement of the temple, boarding up windows and burying treasures, filling
their houses, churches, and public building with straw ready for the torch rather
than see one of them occupied by the army. Then hastily loading what they could
into available wagons, the inhabitants fled southward to endure their exile as
best they could.
The people were poorly prepared for this indignity. Their oxen and horses, cattle,
and other animals were lean and jaded from the long, hard winter, followed by
a summer of meager grass and other forage. The shortage of wagon transportation
and the overloading of those they did have, caused many, even women and children,
to walk. Describing this unparalelled exodus, Governor Cummings, who had succeeded
Brigham Young, sped this message to General Albert S. Johnston:
"I regret...the announcement of the fact that will occasion great
concern. The people, including the inhabitants of the city, are moving from
every settlement in the northern part of the territory. The roads are everywhere
filled with wagons loaded with provisions and household furniture. The women
and children, often without shoes and hats, are driving their flocks they know
not where. They seem not only resigned, but cheerful ... Many believe their
ultimate destination to be Sonora (Mexico.)"
The story of such hardship involving so great a number of refugees on that precipitous
flight has been recorded by historians and immortalized in the hearts of their
posterity. The Walton family was among those who made that difficult journey.
Unknown to these persecuted wanderers, the truth was discovered that President
Buchanan's administration was being unmercifully reprimanded by influential newspapers
and powerful politicians throughout the east, who were demanding the fullest
investigation of the purpose for sending the best equipped army in the United
States, without the consent of Congress, into the far western territory of Utah,
and at such tremendous cost to the government.
When peace was assured, General Johnston marched his troops through the deserted
streets of Salt Lake City and established Camp Floyd 30 miles southwest in Cedar
Valley. In his Founding of Utah, Levi Edgar Young recoils, "During the
two years the army was stationed there, the camp furnished an excellent market
for the produce of the Mormon farmers who profited greatly from President Buchanan's
extravagant expedition. Army wagons, harness and other useful articles
were taken in exchange for hay and flour."
The Deseret News of 14 Jul 1858 announced the return of The First Presidency
of the Church from Southern Utah. Among those who soon followed were the Walton
families. The names of Walton men are linked with the colonization of the west
as planned by Brigham Young. They helped in the settlement of Rich, Davis, Cache,
Morgan, Carbon, and San Juan Counties, the latter being the most difficult assignment
ever given any group by President Young.
In 1859, following their self-imposed exile, the Walton family settled in
Richmond, Cache County. Arthur and his sons helped build the fort within
which the settlers built their log cabins. At night guards were posted to spread
the alarm in case of threatened attack by the Indians. Arthur and George Thompson
served as Minute Men on the Home Guard, of which Dana was captain.
F. A. Blair, who also helped build the old fort, and who in 1940 was the last
survivor of the old settlers, adds this bit of history: "When the people
moved out of the fort, Mr. Walton settled two blocks south and one west of where
the bank now stands. Later he moved east of Richmond and farmed where George
Webb now resides."
Now that the threshing machine business was ended, it became necessary to find
employment elsewhere and families said their sad farewells at the old homestead
on Cherry Creek.
In regard to his personal appearance, his neighbor, Mr. Blair, said that Arthur
was of light complexion, wore a full beard, and was slightly stooped. He also
said that he was an honest, hard working man respectfully spoken of as 'Dad'
Walton.
Others mentioned his quiet reserve and his integrity in dealings with his fellow
men. Though backward in public speaking he left a lasting legacy of some of
the finest principles of the early pioneers--hard work, honesty, and an unfaltering
faith in God.
Arthur is our 4th Great Grandfather Parents: Simeon WALTON
and Margaret HANNAFORD.He was married to
Martha Ann WALTON in 1821. Children were: William
Harrison WALTON, Margaret WALTON,
Dana WALTON, Andrew Jackson WALTON.
Arthur
E. WALTON was born on 3 Jun 1852. He died on 19 Dec 1864. Parents:
William Harrison WALTON and Frances Newell TAYLOR
.
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