(Contributed by the Thomas Tolman Family Organization. Excerpt from Judson Tolman: Pioneer, Lumberman, Patriarch by E. Dennis Tolman, Second Edition, 2004, pages 96-97).
Cyrus Ammon Tolman was born September 6, 1848 at Fort Bridger, Green River, Wyoming, the first of fourteen children. Cyrus had curly dark brown hair and was tall. He played the fiddle by ear and played for many dances. He built bridges and was the mechanical agent for John A. Lowe, a firm in Ogden. He took machinery that came in crates, put them together and then sold them.
Elizabeth Pickett married Cyrus Ammon Tolman October 17,1870. Elizabeth Pickett was born August 3,1850 in Chievely, Berkshire, England to Matthew and Harriet Pocock Pickett. She was of medium build and medium brown hair. They had a son, Nathan, in 1877. Elizabeth was an excellent cook and housekeeping was her “throne.” Mary Elizabeth Tolman, a niece, said that Elizabeth had two ways of doing things, her way and the wrong way. She was a worshipful reader. She could do the necessary sewing and handiwork that had to be done. Elizabeth died in about 1896 and was buried near Oakley in the Marion, Idaho cemetery.
Cyrus married Karen Sophia Isacson June 7,1875 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. She was born March 17, 1852 in Christiannia, Aggershuus, Norway. They had no children.
Mariah Louise Pickett and Cyrus Ammon married December 12,1878 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. They had two children: Mary Elizabeth Tolman and George Orin Tolman. Mariah Louise was born November 28,1856 in St. Louis, Missouri just before or just after her father George Pickett died of small pox. Mariah and her mother Priscilla Clark Pickett came west with George Pickett’s brother William Pickett and his wife Mary. They came to Salt Lake City in 1857 or 1858. Priscilla Clark married William Pickett and then divorced him. She joined some people going to Nevada and there married William Wilford and was later murdered.
Mariah Louise had a beautiful bone structure and was on the small side. She wasn’t pretty in the face, but had beautiful hands and feet. After her mother’s death Mariah Louise Pickett was placed in a boarding school or an orphanage. She was self-educated and quite a scholar. She taught school in Marion, Idaho for several years. She also taught the little ones in Sunday School and had them over to her house for a party once. She was one of the few adults who went to Sunday School. She was active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints throughout her life. Also, after her mother’s death Priscilla Clark’s property was divided. Mariah Louise received a cream colored wool and silk baby shawl with pink roses on it and some good jewelry. Mary Elizabeth Tolman Glenn had the shawl until it crumbled with age. Mariah and Elizabeth, Cyrus’ first wife, were very close. They were cousins. Mary Elizabeth Tolman said that Elizabeth Pickett Tolman was like a second mother to her.
Mariah Louise was drawn within herself and was a little sharp in her talk. She always had a come back for those who would criticize someone. She liked good sound common sense. She wrote poetry and read a great deal. She was an excellent seamstress and took tailoring classes in making patterns and fitting while in Utah one year. She made all the burial clothes for the people who passed away in Marion, Idaho. Mariah Louise Pickett and Cyrus Ammon Tolman divorced in 1890 when Wilford Woodruff gave the Official Declaration on polygamy. She married Franklin Read in June 1891.
Frank and Mariah Louisa had three children: Robert Locke Read, Walderman Pickett Read and Ulea Jane Read. Mariah Louise died on the March 27,1930 in Twin Falls, Idaho and is buried in the Marion, Idaho Cemetery, near present day Oakley, Idaho. Frank Read died in May 1951 in Burley, Idaho and is also buried in the Marion Cemetery. Mariah Louise told her daughter Mary Elizabeth Tolman that she was named Louise after a baby that had died on the ship to America at the request of her father George Pickett. The baby would be a half-sister.
Minnie Marie married Cyrus Ammon Tolman on March 15, 1896 in the Catholic Church in Shoshone, Shoshone, Idaho. She was a member of the Catholic church. Cyrus and Minnie had two children: Melba and Rhoda. Minnie Marie Manchuane was born June 10, 1864. She was from St. Joseph, Missouri. Minnie Marie was an orphan and knew nothing of her parents. She spoke German and was raised by a German family. Minnie Marie was emotional, average in looks, and of medium build with medium brown hair. She had little education, but could read and write. She did not do handwork. Her profession was cooking and she was a good cook. Their daughter Melba is a Nun in the Catholic Church and was in St. Louis, Missouri the last time anyone knew of her. The Mother Superior reads her letters and if she doesn’t think Melba ought to read them, they are thrown away. Rhoda is living in Chicago. She and her family made a trip out to Twin Falls, Idaho in about 1945.
Minnie died in Emmett, Idaho, February 20, 1911. Her obituary was recorded, February 23, 1911, in The Index as follows: “Mrs. Minnie Tolman died Monday afternoon at her home in this city of Pneumonia, aged 48 years. She was the widow of C. A. Tolman, the well known fruit grower east of town, who died about three years ago. She leaves two young daughters. The funeral was held yesterday morning from the Catholic Church. Rev. Father Marx of Nampa conducting the service.”
Cyrus Ammon Tolman died April 24,1909 in Emmett, Gem, Idaho. His obituary in the Emmett newspaper, The Index, read: “Cyrus A. Tolman passed away at his home east of town Saturday afternoon, death being caused by paralysis, with which he was stricken several weeks ago. The funeral was held Tuesday from the Mormon church, of which he was a member. Deceased was born during the immigration of his parents from the East to Utah 60 years ago, and that state was his home up to the time of his coming to Emmett seven years ago. He owned a valuable fruit farm on the eastern edge of town and he was very successful in raising fruit, the Tolman peaches always being in great demand. He leaves a wife and several small children.”
(Patricia Ann Glenn Bates recorded this information as it was told to her by her grandmother Mary Elizabeth Tolman Glenn.)