A Tribute to Joshua Alvin Tolman and Mary Jane Gorringe

1901 family photo in Oakley or Marion, Idaho. (Standing L to R: Cyrus Oakley, Owen Joshua, Mary Alice, William Alvin, Lydia Ann, Joseph Osborn, Parley Lambert; Sitting L to R: Daniel Henry, Joshua Alvin, Louisa Hancock, Fannie Burgess, Rulon Burl, Mary Jane, Front: Martha Myrtle, Theresa Lorraine)

(A tribute by William Odell Tolman to his grandparents, Joshua Alvin Tolman and Mary Jane Gorringe).

Grandmother was very special to me. Whenever I stopped at her home she would have something special for me to eat and then tell one or more pioneer stories. I will record some that I remember. Many times she told me about my father and how tiny he was when he was born. She said, “He only weighed two and a half pounds at birth and everyone told me that he couldn’t live. I said to call the elders and have them give him a blessing.” They did and he lived to have five daughters and six sons. When my father (William Alvin) was born, he was so small that they could put him in a one-quart cup. He was so little and frail they dressed him in cotton and packed him around on a pillow. When he came to the Oakley valley with his parents at the age of two, he was still so small that his bed was in a large shoebox. He was in such a bed when the gunpowder exploded as told by Grandmother in her story above.

One of my earliest recollections with Grandfather Joshua Alvin and Grandmother Mary Jane was at the age of five years when I started driving the derrick cart for Grandfather. The next haying season at the age of six I was the derrick boy for the crew full time as they stacked hay at Grandfather’s and then at each of his sons that lived in the valley. I can still see my little grandmother (in my mind’s eye) bringing the plate of cookies about 10:00 a.m. and again at about 4:00 p.m. for me to have on the derrick cart and eat as I  waited for another load of hay. But I was real scared of Uncle Burl who ran the Jackson fork, and I tried not to get him angry with me, so I just ate cookies when my team was resting. It is easy to understand why I loved my grandmother so much.

Another part of this story was that Grandfather as payment for my work in the summer of my sixth year gave me a beautiful little mare, still unbroken, for a riding pony all of my own with instructions on how to break her to ride. I did break her to ride and then trained her to pull my two-wheel cart. She was a fast trotter. I called her “Toots.” She was a faithful horse and was finally accidentally shot by a friend of my brother Marvin. On one occasion when I was kicked by a big horse that had recently been shod and knocked off Toots, I fell to the ground unconscious. She stayed right by my side and my faithful dog licked my face until I finally came back to consciousness. On several occasions Grandmother would say to me, “Willie, every time that God gave me a new baby He renewed my body. He gave me a newness of life.” That may explain why and how this little frail ancestor of mine lived until she was 90. She was full of faith, a wonderful neighbor, and we all loved her so very much.

I shall never forget the night of June 3, 1926. Grandfather was sick and dying. I was near his bedside and he called me to come closer. Then he had me kneel at his bedside where he reached out his hand, put it on my head, and gave me a blessing. I do not remember what he said except these words, “Willie, my son, you are like the great missionary, Alma the younger, in the Book of Mormon after his conversion. I want you to be as faithful as he was after his conversion.” The next morning Joshua Alvin Tolman passed away. This is the first time I have recorded that experience. (Written by William Odell Tolman).

Visit FamilySearch to learn more about Joshua Alvin Tolman and Mary Jane Gorringe. Also visit the Thomas Tolman Family Organization to find out how you can get more involved in family history.

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