(Contributed by the Thomas Tolman Family Organization. Excerpt from Judson Tolman: Pioneer, Lumberman, Patriarch by E. Dennis Tolman, Second Edition, 2004, pages 144-145).
James Milton Tolman, son of Cyrus Tolman and Margaret Eliza Utley was born November 18, 1855 in Tooele, Tooele, Utah. His early life was spent in various parts of Utah. Rush Valley, Fountain Green and Richfield were some of the places that he lived. As the eldest child, the responsibility of helping his mother care for the younger children fell upon him.
His mother had a strong testimony of the gospel and was a very spiritually minded person. Her teachings helped Milton to know that the Gospel was true and to know that the power of prayer was one of the greatest things in their lives. To his dying day his faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ never wavered.
Milton did not marry until he was thirty-three years old. When he was twenty-six he met a lovely girl named Mary Emma Flack who belonged to the Reorganized Church. She lived in Fairfield, Utah or “Camp Floyd” as it was called at that time. He worked in other places and it was not until January 30,1888 that they were married.
Their happiness was not to be for long. When they had been married but a short time Mary Emma was riding with her mother-in-law Margaret Eliza Tolman and her sister-in-law, Maggie, who was about 11 years old. The horse ran away as Maggie was taking his bridle off to let him drink. Both Mary Emma and Margaret were thrown from the buggy and injured. This injury was thought to be the cause of Mary Emma’s later death. She had hurt her side very badly and it caused a growth. She was pregnant at the time. Twin girls were born prematurely at eight months, September 21, 1888. They only lived a few hours. They were named for their mother, one Mary and one Emma. Mary Emma lived about a week and then she died October 1, 1888.
This was a terrible blow to the young husband. He told his family that at that time he felt he could never survive his loss. One of his friends, an elderly man, told him that “time” was the only thing that could heal his wound. Father said that he did not believe the old man but three years later when he was working in the mines at Eureka he met a lovely brown haired, brown eyed girl. They were married September 30,1891 at Salem, Utah at the home of her parents. She had come to Salem from Denmark when she was eight years old. Karen Margrette Ericksen was born November 19,1873. She was eighteen years younger but a happier, more loving couple has never lived. Their daughter Myra’s greatest wish, when a girl, was to be as happily married. Milton and Margrette Tolman bore fourteen children. Thirteen married and had children.
Soon after their marriage they left Eureka and moved to Fairview, Wyoming. Milton, along with two of his brothers, received a contract to drive the mail from Montpelier, Idaho over the mountains to Star Valley. It was a very hard job in the winter time as there was so much snow through which to travel on their route.
Later he and his wife bought some land and he tried to farm. The season was short and this venture was not too successful. When a number of families in Fairview heard of the Big Horn Country in Northern Wyoming, the Porters, Merkleys, Spragues, and Milton’s family decided to go to the Big Horn. They drove cattle and traveled in covered wagons and white topped buggies. The trip took six weeks. They all settled at Otto, Big Horn, Wyoming. Milton was quite successful in farming. He obtained eighty acres of fertile land with a good water right.
Beatrice, the second daughter, had asthma and the doctor had said that only a warmer climate would help her so in Feb 1906 the family moved to Salem, Utah where the climate was better. They had arrived in the Big Horn 16 Aug 1901. Father was the first Sunday School Superintendent in the Otto Ward. He had served a number of years in the Fairview Ward Bishopric before going to the Big Horn. Milton Tolman was a good religious man. The family was to make two more moves. They went back to Fairview, Wyoming for two years then to the Big Horn to manage a herd of sheep for Uncle John Tolman. In July 1912 they left for Fairview, Wyoming again. They lived there for six years. The two eldest sons, Warren and Emery were in the army as they had joined in 1917 shortly after war was declared with Germany. Their son-in-law Ernest Anderson was in the army in 1918 and was sent to France after a few months training in Fort Lewis, Washington. Milton decided that dry farming was too hard for him at age sixty-three, so they moved back to Salem, Utah where mother had always wanted to live. They sold the dry farm and bought three or four lots where they grew garden produce to sell to peddlers who came to buy and resell in the mining towns of Eureka and Tintic.
In the fall of 1919 he was working in a nearby sugar factory when hundreds of pounds of sugar sacks fell from an upper floor and crushed his instep. Later, after a few months of care in a hospital, he was sent to have his leg amputated just below the knee. He had infection and spent many painful weeks in the hospital. When he returned home the doctors found that his ordeal had weakened his heart so that he never had a well day for the seven years he lived after the operation. However, he helped sort tomatoes and cucumbers and the other things they raised on the lots to sell. His heart gradually became worse and the last year of his life was pretty difficult.
One of the high lights of that last year was the visit of his beloved half brother (Joshua) Alvin. They had always been close and Milton told his family many times about Alvin and how much he loved him. It was in April of 1926 that Alvin and his daughter (Mary)Alice came to see Milton. It was such a happy visit. Milton was so ill all that spring and summer. Alvin gave him a wonderful blessing while he was there. Alvin died only two months after his visit and Milton passed away October 4 of the same year.
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