(From a short history of Joshua Alvin Tolman written by his daughter Louisa Hancock Tolman)
Joshua Alvin and his brothers filed on some land at Marion, Idaho. Father built a one-room cabin and returned to Salt Lake that fall for his wife and two children, William and Owen. The following spring, desiring to put in a crop but not having a team to put in a crop he didn’t know what to do. He went to Oakley to attend priesthood meeting and Brother George Whitley approached and said: “Brother Tolman, I have ten dollars I don’t need just now. You are welcome to it to buy seed to plant your crop.” And another man, Brother Klaus Carlson, stopped him and said: “Brother Tolman, I have a team you can take to plow and put in your crop.” Father went home rejoicing and thanked the Lord for his many blessings. Father had a strong testimony of the gospel, and I have heard him bear his testimony many times. He was prompt in performing his many duties in the Church, paying his tithing and other things. He spent many years in the bishopric with Adam G. Smith as bishop and Harvey Sessions and father as counselors. Father was very prompt as a ward teacher, etc. The last thing he did in this life was his ward teaching.
Joshua Alvin’s wife, Mary Jane, told it this way:
Things were very high when we first came to Oakley. For example, flour was $5.00 per hundred, potatoes $3.00 per hundred. My husband grubbed sagebrush to buy a few groceries and flour. We surely had very little and felt many times it would have been impossible to succeed if the Lord had not been with us to give us courage and strength. In the spring we were very desirous of planting some crops, but we could see no way out only to put our trust in one who rules over us. At morning and evening in our prayers we petitioned our Father in Heaven to help us, and my testimony is God answers prayers if we do our part. While my husband was in Oakley a Brother William Whittle came to him and said; “Brother Tolman, do you need a little money to help you put your crop in? If so, I have $10.00 I can loan you till fall.” Brother C. H. Carlson came to him and said: “I understand you have no team. You can take my team to put your crop in.” My husband came home rejoicing. We felt God had been good to us. The spring before his brothers had planted two acres of wheat, and this spring, of which I speak, it came up voluntary. We raised a good crop so had flour for the following winter. Al through our lives we knew the Lord’s blessings were over us. We never failed to thank him for all he did for us. We had no farm implements and no stock of any kind. We only had an ax and gun. At that time we were permitted to get wild meat, so the gun surely helped to provide meat for our family.
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