In the little village of Newbold-on-Avon, Warwickshire, England, a few miles above Stratford, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, for many generations past dwelt my ancestors, the Toltons.
John Tolton, a Baptist minister, occupied the pulpit on Sundays and other special occasions, feeding his congregation the "bread of life" as he saw the light, and during the week overseeing the brick-making plant. Tall, serene, deeply enthused with his work and calling, he devoted himself to the interests, both spiritual and temporal, of his little flock.
The family and community rested all secure in their pastoral lives until Latter-day-Saint Elders came to their homes. Then all was changed: New conditions arose which John Tolton could not control. He might continue to teach and preach the doctrines of the Baptist Church, but a power greater than his own was working upon the minds and hearts of his congregation and on his family, which he could not interpret. He was devoted to the Master's work, but matters all seemed to be at cross purposes. While the Dew religion was in harmony with his views on the subject of baptism, the question of authority was the all-important one. He must investigate further.
The family consisted of four daughters and two sons: Maria, Hannah, Frances, Mercy, Edward and John. With the proclamation of the gospel in their neighborhood, by the early British missionaries, the leaven of their teachings began to work, and found receptive minds in two of the daughters, Hannah and Maria. Shortly after the introduction of the Gospel into England by Heber C. Kimball and his companions, these two girls, then located in Birmingham, were converted to the Restored Gospel and at once partook of the spirit of gathering. Through this .action on the part of these two girls, a spirit of unrest was created among members of the family at Newbold.
There began a breaking away of the old moorings, are-adjustment of family ties and conditions, and a decision arrived at, whereby home and business interests and family traditions were to be placed'. upon the altar of sacrifice, and a quest sought in the new land of America.
This, their native land, which for centuries had received the sacred remains of their departed dead, a history of their lives, their hopes, ambitions and traditions, was to be abandoned. 'They had set their hands to the plow, and there was no turning back. The family disposed of its home and belongings, and other possessions, during the summer of 1842, and final preparations for their voyage were completed.
Edward had been apprenticed to the firm of Charles Clark and Company of Leicestershire, in the furniture and upholstering business, for a period of two years. This had been successfully passed off. He had also served as Clerk or Brief Writer in the law offices of Word and: West, at Rugby. However, at this time, he was serving as footman to the Reverend J. Vernous, of Burton, Warwickshire.
All ties had been severed, the anchor weighed, and a fond farewell bid to "Merry England", and on 15 September, 1842, the Toltons set sail in the sailing vessel "Medford" from Liverpool for a new home in America. For six weeks the journey continued, until the ship cast anchor at New Orleans on 1 November, 1842. Many of the family had experienced seasickness, and they felt not too kindly toward the trip. and the new world. Had it not been that they would have had to re- experience those same discomforts, they all felt that they would gladly have returned to their native England.
John Tolton, the father, was born 21 December, 1787, at Church- over! the son of John Tolton and Ann Malin. He was not a robust man, but was tall and serene, with plenty of ambition, and was not afraid of work. Shortly after arriving in New Orleans, he embarked on a river steamer for Saint Louis, and though not a farmer by nature, he began to cast about for a farm to purchase. He decided it offered the best means of rearing a large family. He and his older son, Edward, made- a journey to Alton, Illinois, and purchased a farm at Monticello, about seven miles from Alton.
The girls soon decided they preferred city life, and the two boys had a similar desire, so two of the girls and the two boys returned to Saint Louis. Edward found a position in the painting and upholstering business, while his brother John worked for the railroad company.
John married Margaret Jones, and they became the parents of one- little girl. The mother died, and the little girl was placed in a convent with the Sisters of Charity. She was later adopted by a childless couple from Philadelphia, but since the convent did not require it, the. names of the couple were not given, nor recorded, so no more has been known of her whereabouts. John remarried, and became the father of three children. Later, on 15 July, 1867, he v{as killed in an accident in the railroad yards, when he was run over by a train, and his left arm and leg were severed by the wheels. He had made one trip west with the family, but returned to Saint Louis and never came west again.
In 1853 most of the Saints were organizing a company to come west to Utah. This became known as the "Saint Louis Company" and consisted of 14 wagons. It was commanded by John Tolton, until reaching Council Bluffs, where they joined the main company bound for Utah, under Moses Clawson. The company began the journey westward with 57 wagons, but it was greatly reduced in numbers by the time it arrived in Salt Lake Valley, 18 September, 1853.
Previous to their coming west, Edward had met and married on, 24 December, 1847, Mary Ann Tomlinson, the daughter of James Percy Tomlinson and Esther Walker. Mary Ann had been employed in Saint Louis as a waiting maid, but her family lived at Alton, near the Tolton farm. On one of her visits home she had met Edward, and through this acquaintance they had fallen in love.
Mary Ann Tomlinson was born 9 October, 1831, in Ayrton, Yorkshire, making her about nine years younger than her husband. She came of humble but honest parentage, good old Yorkshire stock. Unlike the Tolton family, the parents and older members of the Tomlinson family had joined the Church in England before coming to America. About, 1840 they moved from Yorkshire to Lancashire, where they soon there- after heard the doctrines of the Restored Church as made known by the Prophet Joseph Smith.
The traditions of ages were swept aside when a conviction of the new faith came to them. The spirit of gathering, so characteristic of the new Restored Gospel, prevailed with them and they began to make preparations to emigrate to the land of Zion in America. Accordingly, in October, 1842, just one month later than the Toltons, although on different ships, and entire strangers 0 them, the Tomlinsons embarked upon the sailing vessel "Emerald" for New Orleans, with Parley P. Pratt as president of the company.
The ship met with disaster in the Irish channel when only a few hours out from port, and was required to return for repairs. Many of the weak-hearted, who called themselves Saints, took this as an omen of ill-luck, apostatized, and returned to their several homes. Not s() with the 'Tomlinson family. They had received a testimony of the Gospel in the waters of baptism, and had set their faces toward the New World. There was no turning back. Other minor disasters befell the- ill-fated vessel, but none to prevent their reaching their destination at New Orleans, which occurred 25 December, 1842.
After a few days' stay in New Orleans, the family embarked on a Mississippi steamboat, the "Goddess of Liberty" for Saint Louis, where they arrived in January, 1843.
Such is the manner in which these two families gave up all they had in the Old World, and arrived in the New World. Such were conditions which made it possible for Mary Ann Tomlinson to meet Edward Tolton, her future husband, and marry him.
Mary Ann lived to the ripe old age of 83 and died in Beaver, Utah, 19 February, 1914. She \vas the mother of 14 children, eight of whom lived to maturity and marriage. A numerous posterity of grandchildren and great-grandchildren remains to honor her and her husband, Edward, who passed away in October, 1896, at Beaver, Utah.
The Tolton family accepted various calls from the Church to go and settle different parts of the territory of Utah. Their homes were at various times located in Tooele, Box Elder, San Pete and Piute counties. It was in Circleville, Piute County, where John Tolton, the "Baptist-minister-turned-Mormon", died in 1864-65. Later because of trouble with the Indians, the family moved to Beaver, where they remained during the entirety of their lives. John's wife, Ann Smith, died in 1868, and her son, Edward, in 1896. Little real history is known of John Tolton and Ann Smith, except that they endured the hardships of early pioneer life in Utah, and were real pioneers. A large posterity remains from the beginnings of this noble family.
Edward Tolton was born 2 March, 1822, Newbold-on-Avon, Warwickshire, England, the son of John Tolton and Ann Smith. He came to America in 1842 with his parents, four sisters, and brother, John, sailing on the ship "Medford" for the new world. The family lived at St. Louis, Mo. and at Alton, Illinois, before coming to Utah in 1853. In April, 1853, the majority of the members of the Church in that vicinity organized a company and started for the west. This company was known as the "St. Louis Company" and consisted of fourteen wagons, and was commanded by John Tolton, who continued in such capacity until they reached Council Bluffs.
Those of the family who emigrated at this time were John Tolton, his wife, Ann Smith, Edward and his family, Hannah Tolton Clark, Maria Tolton Donald, and Mercy Tolton Gill, and their husbands and families. These girls were sisters of Edward Tolton. On reaching Council Bluffs the company was absorbed by the main company bound for Utah, numbering in all, fifty-seven wagons under the command of Moses Clawson. To relate in full the experiences of the company would simply be making a repetition of circumstances peculiar to the times. Suffice it to say that his company, though somewhat reduced in numbers caused by death through exposure, landed in Salt Lake City, 18 September, 1853.
At the general conference of the Church on 6 October, 1853, John Tolton and family were called to settle Tooele, which at that time was presided over by Ezra T. Benson. The family stayed in Tooele until March, 1857, when the "grasshopper war", well known to the early settlers of Utah, reduced to poverty and want of many of the people of the community, and doubtless was the cause of many deaths among the people of the community.
No one can fully sense the trials through which these people passed except those who participated in them. Humble crude houses, no electric lights, no water systems, no telephones, only scant clothing, crude home-made furniture, and famine for bread and nourishing foods, met them face to face daily.
In the fall of 1857 a call came from President Young for the Tolton family to vacate Grantsville and settle Willard in Box Elder county. In response to this call, John Tolton spent the fall and winter of 1857:-58 in building a log house at Willard, and in clearing ten acres of land preparatory to spring planting. Returning home to Grantsville in early March, 1858, he disposed of his small holdings, and the family began the trek to the new home. Judge of their surprise, upon reaching Salt Lake City in time for the annual April conference to learn that they were to disregard the call to Willard and proceed at the close of conference to San Pete County and help colonize that section. The spirit of obedience to authority had at all times characterized the lives of Father Tolton and his son Edward. Though disappointed over having to forego their desire to go to Willard, they sacrificed their home there, and proceeded to Ephraim, San Pete County.
Indian depredations were frequent from hostile tribes. Chief Walker and his tribes were on the rampage, but, undaunted, this little band of people braved the dangers, trusting in a Divine Providence to protect them. A fort was built at Ephraim as a protection against Indian tribes. Those called to settle San Pete, with others, were Isaac Morley, Seth Taft, and Charles Thummaway.
One of the most intimate friends of Edward Tolton during the family residence at Ephraim was Bishop C. N. Dorius. These two men belonged to the same Quorum, sang together in the choir, and were members of the same orchestra. Edward was a rather skilled cellist in this organization.
Matters progressed favorably in their Ephraim home notwithstanding their many hardships, until the winter of 1863-64, when a call came from President Young. During the sojourn in Utah, since the arrival of the family in 1853, they remained intact, with the exception of Mercy who married Richard Gill. These two refused to move to new locations at the call of the Church leaders, and located permanently in Salt Lake. Hannah married Fred Clark, and Maria married a Mr. Donald. These two families remained with the older Toltons, and followed them in their wanderings.
In the early part of 1864, a colony was formed under a call from President Young to settle Circleville, Piute county. This colony was made up of some of the best people of San Pete among them the Toltons, Fowlers, Christiansens, and others. Early spring found them in their new locations.
Edward Tolton had been appointed Probate Judge under the seal of Governor Stephen D. Harding, and officially became head of the colony. A fort was created and crops planted, and a thriving community founded. The fort was about twenty rods square. Log houses formed the outside walls, and all faced the interior and communicated with one another by inside doors. A blockhouse was erected in the center of the fort, which answered the purpose of worship and protection for women and children in the event of Indian invasion.
This valley was picturesque and inviting, but its isolation was most appalling. To twenty or more families with meager protection from the Indians, seeking to establish homes remote from any center of population seemed the height of daring and folly.
Panguitch, about thirty miles up the river, had been founded for several years. This afforded a slight means of protection although too far distant for any emergency purposes. Midway between Panguitch and Circleville was located a small rude fort known as "Fort Sanford". This was garrisoned by volunteer men from Panguitch on the Sevier River, and from Beaver and Parowan about thirty or forty miles over the mountains to the west.
The town of Circleville grew and prospered for a period of two years, when Indian hostilities began. A small band of what had been termed "friendly" Indians oscillated between Panguitch and Circleville, securing part of their means of livelihood by begging food, clothing and ammunition. Later they made trouble for the settlers by using the ammunition they had been given.
It was during the season of their stay in Circleville that John Tolton, at no time robust like his son, Edward, attained the age of seventy-five years, and passed away. He was buried in Circleville. He was a man of high ideals, honest, upright in all of his dealings, full of integrity, and devoted to the Gospel which he had espoused.
In the midst of Indian trouble, every man provided himself with a rifle, gun or shot gun, and this he carried with him at all times, whenever he was absent from home, or was working in the fields. One day, Edward was plowing near his home, though on the opposite side of the river, which at this point was about 100 feet wide. Blackhawk, with some of his followers, rushed down from the foothills on horseback about a half mile distant. The oxen were attracted by the scent of the Indians, and became restless and unmanageable. Edward at once unhitched them, and taking a tail of an ox in each hand, made haste for home.
Upon reaching the river, the oxen plunged in and swam to the opposite bank, Edward holding on for dear life. None too soon they reached the other side and took refuge in a thicket of bullberry bushes, just as the Indians reached the bank they had so recently left. Finding they had missed him, the Indians went on up the river, where they met a man and boy homeward bound with a load of wood. The Indians surrounded the wagon, filling the bodies of the man and boy with arrows, which of course caused their deaths, and then went off, taking the wagon, and the yoke of oxen which had been pulling it.
Later, troubles with the Indians caused the settlers to vacate the valley. They hurriedly left Circleville, leaving behind personal belongings, household goods, a few head of sheep, growing crops, etc. and took only their wagons, oxen and cows.
The Toltons, numbering eleven souls, left Circleville in much the same manner as the other families, with no more of their earthly possessions than the others.
Upon their arriving in Beaver, the family found no pastures avail- able, so they turned their oxen out upon the public domain, which caused their being stolen by the Indians. The family lived for a short time in their wagon box which was their only home. Their clothing was only what they had on their backs at the time. During the next two years, they moved from One home to another where charity invited them. By this time, Edward had secured a lot and had dug a cellar for their protection.
In August, 1868, shortly after they had moved into their first-owned home in Beaver, the "cellar", there occurred a great cloudburst which submerged the streets in all parts of town with water. In their cellar home were all their earthly possessions, beds, books, boxes containing valuable papers, and newly threshed grain for food-stuff for the following year. Here the family ate, slept, and lived -- a family of ten or twelve people in one apartment, a cellar.
When the cloudburst came, of course it filled the cellar to over-flowing, driving the family from their security like rats to the home of Joseph Field, a neighbor. They remained there a week, until the water subsided from the cellar. Then they discovered that the grain. and foodstuffs were all water-logged and ruined, and all other content$ of the home were badly damaged. In the midst of all this trouble was the loss of valuable documents with which Edward hoped some day to prove his heir-ship to an immense fortune of money which was then in Court of Chancery in England. Perhaps, after all, it was better to lose these prospects than to become involved in endless litigation trying to prove a rightful ownership.
All work then was done in a most primitive way. The grain was cut with a cradle, raked and bound into bundles by hand, and threshed with a flail. This continued, as well as cutting hay with a scythe, until at late as 1875. No alfalfa was raised in Beaver until a later period, and the principal forage for cattle was wild, or meadow hay, pea-vines, corn fodder and straw and chaff.
Ten years passed after their reaching Beaver before the Toltons owned their first mower and reaper. These brought some relief from the former conditions, but still they knew little of what are termed "modern conveniences". Tallow candles for many years were their only means of illumination. Then came the kerosene lamp which prevailed for many years before the innovation of electric lights.
Study periods at home during the winter season were most interesting for Edward's children. One large lamp in the center of the study table afforded light for all members. Father Edward would sit with his back to the light, fully absorbed in fiction stories published in the Philadelphia Ledger. His wife, Mary Ann would sit and knit and often regale the children with stories of her own life and experiences. The children would read their lessons, study spelling, memorize a 'piece' to recite in school, and then at nine o'clock, all would prepare to retire. Often, if Edward would become too engrossed in his story, the children would slip off to bed. But when the hour for evening prayer came, they would be called to come from their beds to help complete the family circle. Then all would kneel and have family prayer before retiring for the night.
This was much the way life went for the Toltons, Edward being a strict disciplinarian, and taking life very seriously, which his children learned to do, also. He met death in October, 1896, when a lamp he was carrying exploded, causing him to be severely burned, from the effects of which he died in great agony a short time later.