(Contributed by the Thomas Tolman Family Organization. Excerpt from Judson Tolman: Pioneer, Lumberman, Patriarch by E. Dennis Tolman, Second Edition, 2004, pages 114-116).
Judson Isaac Tolman was born January 21, 1870 in Tooele, Utah. He was next to the youngest of fourteen children. As Judson grew up in Tooele, he had some schooling, and it was in school that he first met his future wife, Phoebe Emerett Bates. After moving to southern Idaho, Judson continued to go to school for a while, but there was no competent teacher so he decided to give up school and go to work. He had only about a third grade education, but could read, add, multiply, and divide. Emerett Bates had moved to southern Idaho a year earlier with her parents and lived only a mile away, so the two of them became reacquainted there.
Judson courted Emerett for five years and they were married on Oct. 7, 1890, and sealed in the Logan Temple on October 15, 1890. In Judson’s words he said, “When the time arrived, which we had set, we went in two covered wagons, Emerett and I, Dan Gorringe, his sweetheart, and his mother, to Logan, Utah to be married in the temple. I shall never forget the time we had on the way. We talked, laughed and sang, and I think no one was ever more happy than we. Dan’s mother was a little old English lady, who pronounced all her words in the quaint English style, to our amusement, and which caused her to almost lose her patience at times, but which all added to our good time. We had to wait two days in Logan before the Temple opened for there was not enough work to require it staying open all the time; then the day came; we went into the Temple at eight o’clock in the morning, and because of the inexperienced workers, and the large number who were going through for the first time to be married, it was six o’clock in the evening when we were finally married and left the building.” They committed to marriage forever that day and enjoyed fifty-eight years married to each other, continuing on into eternity.
Judson stated, “Before we were married, my father-in law had given us a building spot close to their home. I had gone to the mountains, cut green timber, hewed it smooth on both sides down to about five inches in thickness, then piled it up in neat piles to dry. I cut timber and had it sawed for all the lumber and shingles required, then my father-in-law and I built our home.” They lived there until the spring of 1906, when they moved to Murtaugh. They bore thirteen children, with five dying in infancy.
He continued, “It was in October of 1894 that I received a call from the Church to fill a mission in the Southern States; we had two small children at that time and was expecting our third; I was to leave in April of 1895, so I spent all the winter of 1894-95, hauling cedar wood from the hills west of home to do the family while I was away; I cut into stove length quite a lot, and then the deacons of the Ward would come each week and chop enough…when I returned home there was still some left.
“I was set apart for my mission and ordained a Seventy by Pres. Seymour B. Young, of the first Quorum of Seventy at Salt Lake City on March 20, 1895. He gave me a wonderful blessing and among other things said unto me, “Brother Tolman, if you will do your duty during this mission there is no miracle ever performed by man on this earth that is too great for you to perform.” Judson Isaac served in West Virginia and Kentucky and had many spiritual experiences during the thirty-seven months that he served. As he traveled without purse or script, the Lord provided for him and also for his wife and children at home.
He continued with his life story, “I was given another companion by the name of Newton Woodruff, son of President Woodruff and we labored together for several months. He was a man of about my own age, a man of great faith and a good knowledge of the Gospel principles, and was also very congenial. Our labors together were greatly blessed and we baptized thirty members into the Church from Elliot and Rowyn counties in a very short time. We were asked to hold a cottage meeting at the home of young couple and found the house filled with people; after the services and we arose to sing, I noticed that the young man who owned the house didn’t arise or didn’t sing. I noticed that one of his legs drew up against the chair while we were singing and I knew something was wrong with him. We dismissed the meeting and were invited to stay there for the night, and the young man kept on getting worse; his legs and arms would draw up and his head was drawn back until it seemed his neck would break; one of his hands was closed tight and I tried to force it open, but could not for it held as if it was made of iron. We finally concluded he was possessed of evil spirits, and that we should endeavor to cast them out. We laid our hands upon his head and commanded the evil spirits to depart from him; immediately the evil spirits departed, and his hand came open; and he told his wife to fix the bed so we could rest. We stepped outside to engage in prayer, and no sooner than the door was shut when the evil spirits pounced upon him worse than before; his wife called and when we came in, we found him in a pitiful condition. It seemed as though he would be killed. She asked us to cast the spirits from him again which we did and commanded them to leave the house and not return. He was relieved immediately and after we had rested for awhile, we all went to bed and had a good nights sleep and rest which we so very much needed for it seemed to take all our strength from us and we thanked the Lord for the Priesthood which gave us power over unclean spirits.
“Some time after the above mentioned experience, while I was yet laboring with Elder Woodruff, we had another experience which seemed as though Satan wanted to get rid of us or scare us into leaving this part of the country. When we would retire for the night and was asleep, all of a sudden we would come awake with the feeling of being strangled, and only after great effort could we free ourselves; this thing happened the same way for several nights, then we went unto the Lord and asked Him to free us and in His name commanded the evil to depart and leave us alone, and we were never bothered again.
“The time had passed when ordinarily I should have been released to return home, for it was the custom of the Church at that time to keep the missionaries for two years but it had been nearly three since I had left my family. For awhile after the two year mark was passed, I was quite discouraged for I knew how very much my wife expected and needed me at home, but I became reconciled and enjoyed the rest of my mission. The reason for my anxiety was that I knew the responsibility which my wife had with three children to care for and she had to milk the cows as well as to climb the hay stack, cut and throw down hay for feed, besides all the other cares of a home with three children without the conveniences we have today. As before stated we had two boys when I left for my mission and my wife was expecting again. There were no telephones, so the only way of contact was by messenger, which left a person in that condition pretty much alone. One day, Aunt Sarah Bates, who had brought the two boys into the world and who lived one and a half miles away, felt impressed to go down to see Emerett, as my wife was always called. She spent the day and when night came, she concluded to stay as a thunder storm had come up and she didn’t want to leave my wife alone. Before morning our first daughter was born and everything was fine. The Bishop and the ward members, as also my wife’s family did the best they could under the conditions of the time, but even so, she had a pretty hard time keeping sufficient food and clothing on hand. One morning when she got up from bed and went to the kitchen, there on the table was a half of a large pig, already to cut up and put away, and she never knew who brought it…
“My dear wife, my father and mother, met me in Salt Lake City. It was just before the April General Conference 1898, so we stayed with relatives in Bountiful and attended Conference before coming on home. It seemed good to be home after three years.”
Judson Isaac worked at odd jobs after his mission and then in 1899, he and his brother went into the sheep business. The first two years were difficult but the business soon began to thrive. He made a good living for several years, and then sold his business in 1916. After WW I Judson lost money invested in a livestock company in Ogden. He worked for a lumber company in Salt Lake and then returned to Idaho where he farmed sugar beets, hay and alfalfa.
“When in 1935,” he said, “I decided to retire from the farm, Cliff and I went to the bank together, and when I told them I was retiring having sold the farm to Cliff, and hoped they would be as good to him as they had been to me, they said, ‘Our business relations have certainly been pleasant and you can rest assured that we have faith in a son of J. I. Tolman;’ again we were brought face to face with the value and virtue of honesty.
“We served as officiators in the Logan Temple for eight years, and it was during that time President Quinney called me to go with him to Salt Lake to see President Grant, and there I was set apart to do sealing work in the Temple both for the living and for the dead. This time which my wife and I spent doing work in the Temple brought us many wonderful and happy experiences, which I shall always cherish most dearly.”
He served as a stake patriarch for many years.
Judson was diagnosed with cancer, but received a blessing and had no more symptoms. Two years later, he caught the flu and then pneumonia set in and on the evening of November 8, 1955, he died after having had a dream in which President Heber J. Grant came to him and told him that he was needed on the other side of the veil. He left behind a large and righteous posterity to continue the important work of the gospel here on the earth.