(Contributed by the Thomas Tolman Family Organization. Photos from Judson Tolman: Pioneer, Lumberman, Patriarch by E. Dennis Tolman, Second Edition, 2004, pages 72-73).
Julia Ann Tolman was born May 1, 1844 at Wapello County, Iowa. Her parents were married in 1843 in Keosauqua, Van Buren, Iowa. Lydia was a young bride of fifteen years and became a young mother to Julia at sixteen years.
In February 1844, just before Julia Ann’s birth, her grandfather Nathan Tolman died. Her grandmother Sarah Tolman wanted to move to Center Point, Linn, Iowa, so Cyrus moved his little family to Center Point.
Julia’s mother, Lydia, accidently fell from a wagon or sleigh when the horses ran away in November 1845. She went into premature labor with her second daughter. Both of them died in a day or two following the accident.
Julia Ann’s Grandmother Tolman lived with Julia Ann, who was only a year and a half, and her father, Cyrus, to help care for their needs. Some have speculated that she and her father went with relatives to join the Saints in Nauvoo. However, the bulk of the saints vacated Nauvoo by February 1846, so they may have joined the saints somewhere in route as they crossed Iowa.
We do know that Cyrus and his second wife, Alice Bracken, met and married at Mt. Pisgah, Union, Iowa in the fall of 1847 and fifteen year old Alice became Julia’s stepmother.
Julia Ann crossed the plains with her father and Alice Bracken in the pioneer company of Brigham Young, entering the valley of the great Salt Lake, September of 1848. Her baby brother, Cyrus Ammon, was born September 6, 1848 at Fort Bridger, Wyoming.
By the fall of 1849 Julia Ann, her parents and new little brother, Cyrus Ammon, are among the first settlers of Tooele, Utah. Like most pioneer children Julia Ann was taught to do all kinds of work. She could knit, sew, cook, make soap, milk cows, etc. She had to work very hard all of her life.
We don’t have a record of Julia Ann’s courtship with Alexander McDougal Fraser, but we know he was born in Roselis, Ross, Scotland, August 16, 1829, the son of James and Margaret McDougal Fraser, who were the parents of nine children. When their children were quite young, James and Margaret moved to Dundee, Ayershire, Scotland where the children grew to adulthood. Alexander was trained as a miller, a trade he followed after coming to America. He heard the gospel in Scotland and was baptized September 11, 1853. Alexander left Scotland with the Andrew Gowans family, sailing on the “Samuel Curling” on April 22, 1855, and arriving in Utah that same year in the Milo Andrus Company.
Alexander and Julia Ann married March 22, 1859 in Grantsville, Tooele, Utah. They moved to Richville (Mill Pond), Tooele, Utah where Alexander operated a flour mill for a number of years. Later he operated a flour mill at the mouth of Settlement Canyon. In addition to these occupations Alexander was a postmaster in Tooele, a good farmer and loved flowers. Julia Ann and Alexander were the parents of twelve children: Lydia Ann (August 6, 1860), Alexander Tolman (June 18, 1862), Allan James (July 4, 1864), all born at Richville; James Tolman (November 9, 1866), Emily Tolman (April 18, 1868), George Washington (September 7, 1870), Cyrus Edmund (September 14, 1873), Margaret Tolman (July 29, 1876), John Alvin (September 3, 1878), Alice May (June 9, 1881), Flora Mar (March 30, 1884) and Annie Laura (September 5, 1886), all born at Tooele. Five of their children died before maturity: Lydia Ann (died at age 5), James (died at birth), Emily (died at 12 years), Cyrus (died at 7 years) and Alice May (drowned when two years old). All the other children, except George, married and had families.
At one time when Julia was crossing the street in front of their home she was gored by a stray cow. She suffered from this injury the rest of her life and it is very likely that this injury shortened her life. She died at the age of 60 years.
She was a very sweet, patient mother and grandmother and everyone loved her. Her grandchildren remember how good she was to them and they remember the delicious homemade bread, butter and honey she always fixed for them when they went to see her.
She was baptized June 1853 and endowed September 6, 1861. She died at her home in Tooele, December 10, 1904. She was buried in the Tooele City cemetery. Alexander died November 9, 1915 in Grantsville at the home of one of his sons and was also buried in Tooele City cemetery.