(Contributed by Todd Merrell. A Tribute to Sarah Lucretia Holbrook.)
“She died as she had lived, being sure and certain of a glorious resurrection.”1 That phrase sums up the life of Sarah Lucretia Holbrook who packed a lot of living into 37 years. As we have just recently passed her death anniversary in February, it would bear repeating all that she accomplished in such a short amount of time.
She grew up in a family steeped in the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints with exposure to Zion’s Camp, fleeing mobs in Missouri and Illinois, saying goodbye to Nauvoo. Her miles covered across the plains in wagons and on foot, numbers more than her hundreds if not thousands of descendants. She reads like a biography of the many pioneer Saints that have been celebrated in countless Sunday School lessons and July 24th celebrations throughout history.
Named after others
She made a name for herself
At the age of Ten
Lonely
Young Sisters
Young brother
Bereft of their mother.
So bitter the hate
That drove them from
Home
Across valleys and plains
To roam.
A young mother to
Many.
A heart stilled so
Young.
A life filled with tears
Passed beyond the
Mortal veil
To life
Without Years.
Sarah Lucretia Holbrook left a legacy as the Matriarch of the Judson Tolman family. Facts won’t show the many tears that she shed and I am sure the sheer exhaustion that she must have experienced in her life, but thanks be to the faith in every footstep that she left to her descendants.
Visit FamilySearch to learn more about Sarah Lucretia Holbrook and other ancestors. Also visit the Thomas Tolman Family Organization to find out how you can get more involved in family history.
1 Deseret Evening News, February 10, 1869, LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, microfilm #0026901.