JUDSON ISAAC TOLMAN
21 Jan 1870 – 8 Nov 1955
Son of Cyrus & Alice Bracken Tolman
That there may be preserved for his posterity and others interested, we write herewith a brief history of the life and interesting incidents therefrom, of Judson Isaac Tolman as it came from his own lip in periods of reflection.
I was born unto Cyrus Tolman and Alice Bracken Tolman, January 21, 1870, the next to the youngest of thirteen children, seven boys and six girls, Cyrus A., William, Alice, Sarah, John A., Joshua A., Alveretta, Hannah, Mary E., Joseph A., Aaron, Judson I., and Minnie, in the city of Tooele, Utah where my father , in connection with a few other families, was called by Brigham Young to settle. My early boyhood was spent in this pioneer town, and I knew the joys and also the hardships connected with this early life in the rural settlements of Utah. My father had a small farm, upon which was produced most of what we needed for food; then wildlife was plentiful, jackrabbits and deer, our cows furnished plenty of milk and butter and we children dug sego roots to add to our supplies so that we fared very well so far as food was concerned. Most of what little schooling I had was while I was in Tooele, and some of the experiences of that early life have stayed with me and are very dear in my memory; probably the most important and of little significance generally, but it was one of the little things which touched and was of lasting influence unto me. One morning the teacher was calling the roll and called the name as it appeared before him–it was the name of the girl who was later to become my companion wife–he called the name, Emerett Bates, and the young lady jumped to her feet and called out, “My name is not Emerett Bates, it is Phoebe Emerett Bates”; all eyes were upon her and I suppose mine never turned away.
My father, with his family and a few others, was called by Brigham Young to go down to what is now Richfield to make a settlement there, but the Indians were so bad–repeatedly run off our stock, and when finally several of the settlers were killed, Brother Young advised that all return to Tooele. It was the time of pioneering, of settling the West where ever there seemed to be a desirable place, my father seemed always ready to go when asked or perhaps he just naturally had it in him to seek new experiences and help settle new places. Much had been said by the Church authorities regarding the desirability of some sections in southern Idaho, among which was the Goose Creek Valley. Father gained permission and soon was off with his family to join the few who had already come, and commenced the settlement of what was to become known as Oakley, near the point where the Goose Creek entered the open valley.
It was in October of 1881 we came to a cabin which had already been built by my brothers who had come previously; it was built of logs with chinking in the cracks on the inside, and plastered in the cracks with mud on the outside. There were two rooms which were quite comfortable. At first we used the water from Goose Creek which ran near the house, but the next spring when the thaw came, it brought a large flow of water down the valley and there were dead cattle and other animals which had not survived the winter lodged here and there along the stream making the water undesirable for use. So my brothers and I set to work and soon had a well dug from which we were able to draw very pure and desirable water. We had only to dig sixteen feet and the water came in clear and cold. We used a chain over a pulley, with a bucket on either end so that when we would pull one bucket up, the other would go down–each empty one helping to pull the full one up. Our home was some distance down the valley so that we had some four miles to drive to attend Church services for a few years. Then there were sufficient numbers to make an organization so that we had a Ward of our own, known as the Marion Ward. My brother, Alex, and I were the only Deacons and we took care of the meeting house, keeping it clean and nice to meet in. We gathered flowers along the roadside and in the fields to make it attractive with large bouquets and we delighted in this assignment. The meeting house, for awhile, served both as a place of worship and for the holding of school during a few months of the year. Our school didn’t amount to ver much at first for we had no competent teacher neither funds to employ one. I can remember going for awhile, but the teacher would lie down on a bench and go to sleep while the pupils did as they desired. The period was so very short each year, with no grades or grading and I, having had some schooling before leaving Tooele, decided to give it up and go to work, so I had in all about what children now get through the third grade. I learned to read, add, multiply, and divide and wasn’t so different from most who attended who ranged in age from youngsters of early age to adults of twenty-five and even more.
In Marion I met again the young girl who had first attracted my attention when at school in Tooele, she corrected the teacher as to her name as before referred to. She had come with her family to the Oakley valley the year before we came, and their home was just one mile from ours. When we now met, she was just thirteen years old, which was three years younger than I, our birthdays coming on the same day of the month, January 21st. I began taking her out right away and we courted for five years before we felt old enough to be married. 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 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. We really felt as though we were married, and I remember well saying to my wife, “Well we are now sealed for time and all eternity”, she answered, “Yes, we are and I guess we will stay married”, and we did, working together here in mortality for fifty eight years, when God called her back home, away from me for a short time. Our “honeymoon” was our trip back home and we had a wonderful time. (As Grandpa was recording this, a faraway look was in his eyes, a smile on his face and he seemed about to tell some choice experiences but instead seemed to think it too precious to be tole.)
Before we were married, my father-in-law had given us a building spot close by 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. My father-in-law’s farm was not the best soil, and the spot he gave us was covered with grease-wood, a sort of brush which grows on land which is not good for much else; when the brush was cleared off the ground was so white it was almost blinding to the eyes. Oh, how I have learned to dislike that kind of soil.
Well, things worked out–my brother wanted to go to Canada, and sold his place, farm and home to my sister, Alveretta, who was now a widow; her husband, George Grant, having been accidentally killed while on a rabbit hunt, and she sold us her old home. We gave my wife’s father his land back and sold him our house, which we moved up to his and I helped him fix it up to make a very comfortable home for him and his family, but he didn’t live long thereafter to enjoy it, for he died soon after it was completed, leaving my mother-in-law a widow at quite an early age to care for a large family, which she did graciously, and never married again. We enjoyed our new home, not that it was much better built than our other one, but we had more room, which we were beginning to need, and we lived there until the spring of 1906, when we sold out and moved to Murtaugh.
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 to do until the next, and after three years, 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.”
In the company with a number of Elders going on missions, we left Salt Lake City April 1, 1895; we stopped on the way at Kansas City long enough to go out to Independence Mo. To see the Temple sight; then went on to Chattanooga Tenn. which was the headquarters of the Southern States Mission, and I was assigned to the West Virginia District, with headquarters at Canowye. There I was assigned to labor with Elder Herbert W. Beers of Kanjoise, Colorado; we labored principally along the Cole River and distributed tracts among the miners. As we then traveled without purse or script, depending on the Lord to provide us the necessities of life, it seemed that sometimes it was hard to keep up our faith and courage; I recall one night of being refused sixteen times before finding a place to stay for the night. It was here I had a rather interesting experience; as we were tracting we met a man who, when he found we were Mormon Missionaries, became very angry and said, “You believe in polygamy, do you not?” I answered, “Yes we do, there was a time when something like 2% of the membership of the Church practiced that law, but it is not practiced any more since the government passed a law forbidding it, and I cannot see why you should object so much to polygamy since it was practiced by many of the old Prophets in ancient Israel as recorded in the Bible.” He jumped to his feet and said, “You find that in my Bible or you will get out of here quicker than you ever went anywhere before”; he handed me his Bible which was not like any I had ever seen before, a large illustrated one which he threw into my lap and said “Find it there.” I was quite scared, but I straightened it around upon my knees and let it fall open and I didn’t need to turn a leaf to read the account of Jacob and his wives. The man was very much confused, colored up and said, “If any man had told me that was there I would of called him a liar, but you have read it from my own book, and I beg your pardon.”
Elder Beers and I labored faithfully, distributing tracts and holding meetings where we could, but it was hard to find a place to hold meetings because of the attitude of the people. In midsummer I was given a new companion by the name of Elder Cluff, who came from Provo, Utah; he was a very fine young man, well educated and very agreeable. We were assigned to go over the Ewe Pine mountains and distribute tracts to every family we could find in the country; when we were about through, I wrote our District President telling him we were about through tracting and that I felt that if we were permitted to stay, revisit, and hold meetings, we could do a great deal of good and bring some into the Church, as quite a number were friendly and seemed willing to investigate. I received a letter right back from him saying, “Finish tracting that county and get out, we are not out here to lay around on our friends.”
Late in October Elder Cluff and I were notified to go south about seventy-five miles to meet with other missionaries in a conference, and at the close of conference we were assigned by our Mission President, Brother Kimball, to go to Kentucky as the West Virginia District was assigned to another mission. We went to the designated place, and I was assigned to labor in the East Kentucky District, presided over by Elder Rydalch, and was given as my companion, Elder Langston of Washington County, Utah, a very backward man, of slow speech, but very friendly and congenial. Elder Langston and I were laboring together in Elliot County, we were called upon to administer to a young man who had what they called, “black fits”; he had been ill so long and so seriously that he had to be waited upon as would a little child, and he was a married man with a baby; his wife, mother, and father waited on him and did the best they could for him. They had read some of our literature, observed that we believed in Divine Healing, and had faith in the Lord and His promises, so we were asked to administer unto him, which we did and then left. When we arrived to where there was timber which afforded us protection from sight, we kneeled down and thanked the Lord for our mission and asked, if it was not contrary unto His will, to heal the man, remove the affliction from him, that it might be a testimony unto this people that we were His servants. We found later that, so near as we would calculate, this very minute the man jumped out of bed and ran across the way to his father’s place and said, “Father, mother, I am healed,” and he was. He had some land that was covered with timber and he went out and with the help of some of his neighbors, cleared an acreage, planted corn and raised a crop that year, and was never bothered with this affliction any more.
Shortly after this we were asked to hold cottage meetings in the home of Jesse Waddle, whose wife was sick in bed; her father told me it had been five years since she had been up or walked a step; we held a cottage meeting in their home and were invited to spend the night with them, which we did, and in the morning when we were ready to leave and went into the room to bid the lady goodbye, we found her weeping; she asked to be carried out to be baptized. The Holy Ghost said unto me, “She can be healed and made able to walk to the water,” so I told her that if she believed in Jesus Christ, and that we were His servants preaching the restored Gospel, she could be healed so that she could walk to the water. She said, “I know that you are the servants of the Lord and that if you will lay your hands upon my head and bless me, I will be healed.” We administered to her and went out into the field to bid her husband goodbye and thank him for his kindness to us, and while we were talking one of the children came running and said, “Pa, Mother is up walking about the house.” We went on our way and a week later returned to find her perfectly well; she of course wanted to be baptized, but her husband was an atheist and wouldn’t allow it. It was a mystery to me for forty years why the Holy Ghost spoke unto me as He did concerning her being able to walk to the water, when not so long ago I received a letter from her niece who was at that time about seven years old and she told me that Aunt Judy outlived Uncle Jess, and as soon as he was dead, she walked to the water and was baptized.
In midsummer of 1897, I was given another companion by the name of Matthew Spears from Tooele who was an old playmate of my childhood. We labored together some time and then 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.
Some months later, I was given another companion whose name was George A. Lyman, son of Apostle Francis M. Lyman, and we were sent into another County away up at the head of Sandy River, where we labored for several months and made friends. We were called to come to Vansburg, a city away down the Ohio River, to attend conference; it was about one hundred miles from where we were, so we started in plenty of time so that we could tract and visit on the way. We made many friends and were able to hold meetings in many places, and arrived at Vansburg at the appointed time. Elder Lyman of the Apostles Quorum was present and we had a wonderful time.
From here I was sent to Burbon County, Kentucky with another new companion, whose name was Aaron Thatcher from Logan, Utah. Burbon County is in the blue grass country of Kentucky, where they boasted having the most beautiful women, the best whiskey, and the fastest race horses. It was a country of very large estates, and was very hard tracting for a time. Finally we made an appointment in a little town to hold a meeting in their school house, and when meeting time came the building was filled with only men. They were unfriendly and after meeting warned us to leave town and not wait for another notice. It seemed they were unwilling to wait and see if we would leave for while we were on our way to a home where we were to stay for the night, out about two miles from town, we were suddenly attacked by a group of men; the night was dark and I was carrying a lantern which had been loaned to us by a kindly young man. The rocks began to fly and hit all around us, but none found their marks. While I was carrying the lantern in one hand and my umbrella in the other, and Elder Thatcher was carrying an umbrella in one hand and his grip in the other, we never broke the walk nor put out the lantern. Elder Thatcher had been walking behind, but now came up and shifting his umbrella took me by the arm. When the mob couldn’t hit us with rocks, they began to shoot, and the bullets whizzed about us without doing us any harm; then they began to curse and swear and to come up within a few rods, cursing us with their might, but they never tried to lay their hands on us; perhaps they thought we were heavily armed. At any rate, the Lord was very good to us. They finally stopped their shooting and cursing, and we supposed that they had gone, but when we were within about a mile from where we were going, whiz, went another rock which just missed my head and struck a tree; had it hit me, I wouldn’t be here now to tell about it. The rocks began to fly thick and fast again, when all at once Elder jumped and hollered and I feared lest he was hurt, but he wasn’t for he had been to the post office that day and gotten two copies of the Deseret News which he had stuffed down in his hip pocket, and that was just where the stone landed; while it didn’t hurt, it scared him for the instant and brought forth the yell. We stopped and I told the mob that I thought it pretty tough that men who were traveling without purse or script, trying to save the world by preaching the Gospel of salvation, should be treated that way. I told them that if it was the sentiment of the county that we should leave, we would go as soon as possible. They answered not a word, but ceased throwing rocks so that we went on our way without being molested further. The next day we went down town to look around and make up our minds if we would stay and fill the appointment we had for that evening or leave immediately. We concluded to cancel our appointment and leave the following morning. Well, the next day as we were leaving, and walked through town, we came to a fork in the road and was not sure which led to where we wanted to go. There was a blacksmith shop near by and we went there to inquire; there were two young, robust men working there and when we asked the way, they inquired why we were leaving so soon and I told them that in the first place we didn’t enjoy having to go out two miles into the country to find a place to stay over night and secondly, we didn’t enjoy being rocked and shot at all the way. Whereupon one of them took an oath and said, “It is time this sort of thing stopped.” Young men, you go up to my house, it is warm and comfortable and you may stay as long as you want, then you go up to the banker, the mayor, and the postmaster, talk to them and you will find that they do not approve of such actions. We went to the house and the fire and warmth looked and felt mighty good for the weather was cold, it being just a week before Christmas. When we were warmed, rested, and fed, we went up town and talked to the men as we had been advised; we found them very friendly, they spoke very highly of our meeting and what we had taught saying nothing but what we proved by the scripture. They prevailed on us to stay and hold more meetings, which we did until the day before Christmas when our benefactors, who by the way had escorted us to and from all our meetings, advised us to leave as many pretty tough customers usually came into town for Christmas who were quite generous with their liquor and would probably make trouble.
Before leaving, we inquired the best road to lead us to Jackstown and without exception were told that either road led there, but by all means the lower road was the best if we were going to walk, so we started on our way. When almost immediately the Holy Ghost said to me, “Take the upper road,” and so as we came to the forks, I led the way into the upper road and soon my companion said, “Elder Tolman, everybody told us to take the lower road so why are we taking the lower one?” I told him the one sure counselor had told us to go the upper road. After several miles on our way, we came to a small school house by the roadside and I remarked that we might get permission to hold meetings there so the next house we came to as we were delivering a tract, I asked if there were ever meetings held in the school house and he answered, “Yes many of them.” and told us who the trustees were who had charge of the school house, who the chairman was and where he lived. His house stood up on a hill and as we passed by a house to go where Mr. Brian lived, several men stood close by and booed at us; Elder Thatcher said, “Well, if we get to speak here, there will be another mob.” Mrs. Brian met us at the door and informed us that Mr. Brian was not at home and she didn’t know where he was; she was just closing the door when a man reached out and stopped her and said, “You are Mormon Missionaries aren’t you?” and when we answered that we were, he introduced himself as John Adams, manager of a large shoe concern of St. Louis. He said that he was visiting relatives down here and then asked Mrs. Brian if she wouldn’t like to get us some dinner; she responded in the affirmative and summoned the negro maid and told her to prepare dinner for two men. While our dinner was being prepared, Mr. Adams told us that he had been to Salt Lake City representing his company and that he was never treated so graciously; he had with him some pictures of the Temple and grounds, of the First Presidency, and many interesting places, which he showed to us. When Mr. Brian came home, he introduced us as Mormon Missionaries, showed him the pictures and told him that the Mormon people had been foully lied about. Mr. Brian and the other members of the board readily gave their consent to our holding meetings in the school house, and when we had posted notices in various places around announcing our meeting for the evening, we were invited to come back to the Brian home to await the time of the meeting. They had a wonderful home with plenty of room and they invited us to stay with them for the night. Next morning Mr. Adams and Mr. Brian told us they were going to visit relatives, and would be gone for the day. They would advertise our meetings on the way and for us to make ourselves at home. The cook would care for us and they would be back and meet us at the school house.
When we arrived at the school house, it was filled with men and women, just as I had seen in a dream the night before; I dreamed that we were holding meeting in a school house, there was a little platform across the back, the building was filled with people, and I was speaking from this platform. It seemed that I wasn’t comfortable on the platform so I stood down in front in the aisle while I spoke to the people, I looked around and could see my companion still seated upon the platform and when the meeting was ended, all the people came up and shook hands with us, expressing their appreciation. All was just as I had seen them in my dream, even to the smallest detail. There was the platform from which I began to speak, and as it seemed difficult to speak from there, I came down and stood in the aisle; as I became conscious of these things, I looked around and there was my companion just as I had seen him; at the close of the meeting, the people came forward and shaking us by the hands invited us to come and speak in this school house and that one, some gave us money, others invited us to their homes, and from then on to the end of my mission, I never had to ask for a place to hold a meeting; it seemed the word went ahead of us and no sooner than we had finished with meetings at one place, we were invited to another, which shows how the Lord may direct his servants if they will only listen.
I must tell another experience we had as Elder Thatcher and I were laboring together. We had left the county seat, “Paris”, and had no idea where to go next; we hadn’t a cent in our pockets, no friends near that we knew of, there were no Saints in the county, and we surely felt dependent upon the Lord. Homes were not close together and it was almost sundown when we came in sight of a house off the road quite some distance, and the Spirit said to me, “There is where you will stay tonight.” When I told my companion he asked how I knew, and I told him the Holy Ghost had whispered unto me. When we arrived at the house the lady met us and when we told her we were ministers of the Gospel and desired a place to stay for the night, she sent us to her husband who was doing his chores. When we asked him, he told us they were not prepared to keep strangers, and that we must go on to some other place; as we talked, we went to the house where his wife joined us and for the third time he told us we could not stay but I kept on talking and explaining our message and that we were not particular as to our accommodations. He just started to refuse for the fourth time when his wife said, “Oh”, and he said “Oh, alright if you want to fix for them it is alright with me.” When he had gone out again, the lady said, “I just couldn’t see you depart from our home.” We stayed there, had a lovely rest, was fed fine, made friends with them, and taught them the Gospel, leaving God’s blessings with them as we went on our way.
I wish to relate another experience–While laboring with Elias Woodruff, grandson of President Wilford Woodruff–we were appointed to travel and visit various pairs of Elders in the District. One day as we were tracting through the country on our way to visit a pair of Elders laboring some thirty miles away, we were passing by a house standing some distance back from the road and the Spirit whispered to me, “Go in there for dinner,” I stopped, looked at my watch and it was just eleven o’clock–the people there are very prompt in having their meals on time so I felt that I must have been mistaken and started on, but I glanced back at my companion who was walking about fifty yards behind me studying the scriptures, and as he came opposite the gate, he also stopped and looked at his watch. Whereupon, I turned and went back and asked him why, and he replied, “The Spirit said, ‘Go in there for dinner.’” I told him the same had been said to me, so we went in. When we were with about thirty feet from the porch, a man came out just shaking with rage and said, “Don’t come another step, I don’t want you on my porch.” I began to talk to him, telling him what we were doing and who we were, and he said, “I know who you are, and I don’t want anything to do with you.” I kept talking to him for I knew the Spirit had directed us there, and finally he said, “Well, come on in.” As we went into the living room, the kitchen door was open and I could see that the table was set for dinner. We sat down, the wife and daughter came in and sat down, and we tried to talk to them, but they seemed to “freeze up”, and we found it very difficult. I turned to Elder Woodruff who was a very good singer and I could sing bass to most all the Church songs, and I said to him, “Why not sing a hymn?” He took out his book and we sang, “Love at Home”, and then “Oh, My Father”. When we had finished the bitterness seemed to have vanished. The mother touched her daughter on the arm and they left for the kitchen. In a few moments they came to the door and said, “Come Gentlemen, and have dinner with us.” We had a lovely dinner and then went back into the living room to talk more and in a few minutes the man was asking questions, listening to our answers, and tears were running down his face. He begged our forgiveness for the way he had talked to us and wanted us to stay longer, but we explained our responsibility, the distance we yet had to go, so after explaining the Gospel as best we could in the limited time, we went on our way, not before however they had given us the invitation to come again as soon and whenever possible. Again we had a wonderful lesson.
One day Elder Woodruff and I were traveling through a very sparsely settled district–just woods all the way almost, when very late in the evening with no place in sight Elder Woodruff said, “Elder Tolman, it looks as though we were going to sleep with Uncle Sam tonight,” and I replied, “I suppose so,” when almost immediately, there came a picture before my eyes and I said, “No Elder Woodruff, we are going to have a place to stay; it is a little log house in a clearing on the right hand side of the road.” We went on for half an hour and then, there it was just as I had seen and described it. We went up to the door and a Baptist Preacher came in answer to our knock. The house had been deserted, but the preacher had come up there to get out some timber; he had an extra bed and plenty of provisions and was glad to have us come in to stay with him. We sat up most of the night preaching the Gospel to him, then went to bed and had a very good nights sleep. The next morning the preacher said unto us, “It is just possible I have been barking up the wrong tree”, and we went on our way thanking the Lord that we had had the privilege of spending the night with a Baptist Preacher.
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 or from whom it came, but she surely did thank the Lord for it.
(As I, Clifford, am editing this history, my mind goes back and I remember some of that which happened while Father was away. Although I was so young that I don’t remember him before he left, I remember how attentive Mother’s sisters were to us. It seems I can hear them now, as it was then, when during the evening we would hear as though it were heavenly voices singing to us, they all had such wonderful singing voices, and some played the guitar, others the mandolin, and harmonized so beautifully. One of the choruses has stayed with me and it goes something like this, “Then wake lady, awake, to thy window appear, Thy friends are awaiting below to sing thee a song thy sad heart to cheer, And soon we must bid thee adieu.”)
My release came to me while at Cattletsburg, Kentucky, and I took the train for home. At Kansas City I had a stop-over for the night and in the morning when I went into the depot, there was Elder Charles Haight who came into the Field the same time I did and was now also released, so that we went on home together.
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.
For the first year after my return, I worked at whatever I could find to do at an average of about a dollar a day with board and made up my mind that I would never get ahead that way, so I talked it over with my brother, and we decided to go into the sheep business. In 1899 my brother mortgaged his farm to get money and sent me to buy a herd of sheep. I went to the ranch where Johnny McRae was running sheep and bought a band of ewes and lambs for $2.40 per head. This was quite an experience; I was new in the business, that winter was an exceptionally bad one and some of the ewes were quite old so our losses were heavy. When spring came and after we had lambed them out, we had less than the number we started with; I was pretty discouraged, but a man by the name of Lafayette Rose came to me and said, “You could give away half of those sheep, take good care of the rest and they will bring you out alright.” I was quite encouraged and took the best care of them I could, and within two years, I had paid off all the debt, had a good band of sheep of my own, and had a little money besides.
While these early years I the sheep business were sufficiently successful to be satisfying, they were hard years. During this period there was a range war between the cattle and sheep men. Some rather notorious hired gunmen were brought into the area. Among them was a man known as Diamond-field Jack. During this period of trouble my oldest brother William Augustus was shot through with three bullets from a 30-30 rifle in the hands of the afore mentioned Diamond-field Jack. He recovered from these wounds. Diamond-field Jack was later convicted of murdering another man but was pardoned by the Governor who was sympathetic to the cattle interests.
During this period my younger brother, Alexander, who was herding for me was badly chewed and clawed by a grizzly bear. He bor severe scars for the rest of his live. I stayed in the sheep business for a good many years, in fact, it was in 1916 when I sold out to Mr. Ivan Lincoln. During that time I had bought out my brother’s interest, and was getting along very well. I had run the sheep all over what now comprises the Twin Falls Tract, along the Snake River from Milner to the Hagerman Valley, and often thought what a wonderful farming country it could be with water on it. Well, finally I saw my dreams begin to be realized; I saw hundreds of teams of horses with men at work, building this great Twin Falls Canal system and my interest grew; then when I saw the first water turned into the canal, just a testing stream, I decided then and there to get me a piece of land under this system. That fall, 1905, my brother-in-law, Arlin H. Bates, a Mr. Eden and I started out to see what we could find. We traveled pretty much over the tract from Murtaugh to Buhl; I carried a shovel in my hands whenever we were looking at a parcel of land, and I made the statement that if I couldn’t dig a post hole two feet deep with the shovel anywhere on the piece, I didn’t want it. So many of the places which seemed desirable were either rocky or had only shallow soil, but finally we found a place upon which we could file and which suited us very well; there was a high knoll containing about an acre and I said there I would build my home, but as I considered and thought about the location being so far down from the head of the canal and thought that there might be difficulty getting water sometimes, we decided to go back up toward the source of the water. We stopped for the night where the bridge made the crossing on the source of the water south of Murtaugh. The man who had filed on the farm right there came out and as we talked, asked if we had found the place we liked and when I said no, he said, “Well, I will sell you this one.” It was not long until we had agreed on the price and the next day we took the train into Twin Falls, he signed all his rights over to me for fifteen hundred dollars, for which I made him a check and the place was mine. He had cleared some of the land of sagebrush, but had built no home, so the first thing to think about was to build a home for my family. Brothers Bates and Eden were anxious to get a place near to mine and as there was none for sale close by, I let them each buy a forty from me at the price I paid. Knowing that it would take some time to build the home I wanted, I set to work, dug a cellar, rocked it up on the sides, put a good roof on it, a carpet on the floor and prepared to move; I had already bought a 12 by 20 foot tent which I set up next to the cellar and we had a temporary home. In the early spring of 1906, I moved the family down from Marion, having previously sold our home there to one of the Smith brothers, and that summer I made a contract with Axel Erickson to build us a brick home. The brick was burned near the home and I paid him $3000.00 to build the first brick home on the Twin Falls Tract. The home still stands, has been remodeled some and is the home of my Grandson, Roger.
Several years later, having done quite well in the sheep business, I sold out to Mr. Lincoln as before stated, and having some extra money and having heard of an up and coming company doing business at Ogden, Utah, “The Ogden Livestock and Provision Company,” I went to Ogden and bought stock in the company, $8,000 worth. For several years it paid good dividends and I thought it was surely alright. Then after World War I, it began to fail, and before anything could be done about it, went broke and never paid anything on the stock, so away went my 8,000 dollars which was quite a sum for those times. After I bought stock in the Ogden Livestock Co. And while they were doing a good business, a bishop Wilkins, who was the first bishop in Kimberly, brought a man to see me. He was selling stock in the Hansen Livestock of Ogden. I had heard about it already and thought it alright, in fact, I investigated through my bank and both Ogden and Twin Falls, and then invested another $2000 in that company which also went broke so that I lost that along with the other which really hurt.
It was in the fall of 1917 that our oldest son, Ivan, met an untimely death. His horse fell and injured him so that he died two days later, leaving his wife and three children. Perhaps that had something to do with our unrest; we had done so well at Murtaugh, but early in 1919, we became interested in the advertising done regarding the opportunities down in the Sacramento Valley of California, and thinking that perhaps the climate would be more to our liking, we sold our farm to our son-in-law, and with Cliff and his family, who also sold their farm, went down there. I bought a home in Orland, and it was a lovely home with several lots upon which grew every kind of fruit that I ever heard of; we could pick fruit from the trees any time of the year, and also grew garden vegetables the year around and we felt it was really grand. But we were not destined to stay in California. Our little daughter Roma began to fail in health, and in spite of all the doctors could do, she grew worse and worse. We felt that perhaps it was the climate which disagreed with her, and that perhaps we had better leave; there was a chiropractor doctor came there from Salt Lake City. We became acquainted with him and finally traded homes with him and moved to Salt Lake after two years in California.
When we arrived in Salt Lake City and had our furniture moved into our new home, I had only $3.75 left to support my wife and children. Of course, I had money past due me from the sale of the farm at Murtaugh, but the depression had hit there and they couldn’t pay, so the only thing left for me to do was to find a job. I went to the Sugar House Lumber Co. And after some questioning as to what I could do, they gave me a job and were very kind and considerate of our welfare. Bishop Marvin O. Ashton was the president of the Company and as we found out was also our Bishop and he did all he could in our time of need. We took Roma to the Clinic and they did all they could for her. They found her trouble came from a condition of her babyhood for which they had no cure so she was called away from us December 24, 1921 and is buried in Wasatch Lawn. A year later, Cliff and Goldie and family also came to Salt Lake City and we both worked together for the lumber company, driving trucks and doing all else we were asked to do until February of 1924, when because of circumstances which I will relate, we moved back to Murtaugh, both Cliff and Goldie and I with our families.
As before stated, we had sold our farms to relatives and neighbors, with only a very small payment down, and when the depression of the ‘20s came, they were unable to pay, and didn’t even pay taxes or interest on the mortgage. Before we knew it the places had been sold to the County for taxes and the time of redemption was about up. The only thing that saved us was the Assessor who knew me and felt sure I didn’t know what was going on, made inquiry and learned our address and wrote me regarding the matter. There had accumulated $1750 against the property which had to be raised immediately and I had only my weekly wages. This was in October of 1923. Cliff and I talked the matter over and decided to get out there just as soon as possible. We went to our Boss, and told him what had come up and that we would expect to leave shortly after the first of the year and that we would appreciate staying on with the company so long as they could profitable use us but we didn’t expect them to keep us on during the slack months with the expectation of our being with them the next busy season. Brother Ashton said, “We surely hate to see you go, but can’t blame you. Of course, we must look out for ourselves, but we will do the best we can.” We ordered a railroad car for our furniture when the time came for us to go, and we had worked for the company every day of the time up to then. They even said “Take the trucks to load your furniture.: When after two days, we took back the trucks and offered to settle with them, they would take nothing for the use of the trucks or the gasoline used and also paid us for the time we spent. Long live the memory of Bishop Ashton, who later served the Church as a member of the Presiding Bishopric. Cliff sold his home in which he had several hundred dollars equity, with which we purchased some equipment to start all over again on the farms we had left four years before. As before said, there was quite a debt facing us and I had no money and everyone said the banks would loan none as there had been so many who couldn’t pay, but the bank where I had done business for so long was my only hope, so I went to Twin Falls and laid our problem before them and without hardly a question they handed me a note to sign for the $1750 which we needed at that time and assured us that we could have more as we needed for the years operation. So we were again in business but our troubles weren’t over. We planted forty acres to sugar beets, as we felt that the surest crop to depend upon, but while we had been gone, the white fly had moved in of which we knew nothing, and after we had gone to the expense of having the beets thinned and they were looking fine, the fly attacked them and in a few days the forty acres was good for nothing but pasture. We had planted twenty acres of wheat, and the wild oats, which had also infested the farm while we were away, came up so thick the wheat couldn’t grow and we cut it for hay. There was fifty acres seeded to red clover and we felt sure that would be a profitable crop, it always had been before we left, but this year the aphids came into that so badly that we also cut that for hay as we knew it would not make seed. It cut two crops and the alfalfa did well so that we had quite a lot of hay and nearly everyone said that hay would bring twenty to thirty dollars a ton before the next spring. Well, the time was drawing near when our notes were due at the bank and of course, we were anxious about that; then it was Sunday, Cliff and family came down to our home for dinner after Sunday School and while there, we naturally talked over our obligations and what we had to meet them; as we were talking I picked up the paper and turning to the want ads, there it was, E. J. Hunt and Sons had pulled their equipment in from a contracting job and wanted hay to feed their horses and mules for the winter and a place to feed them. We had met the Hunts while we were in California so we wrote them a card telling them what we had–hay and a good place to feed, there being open water all winter–and in a few days they came up to look over the deal. Cliff and I had talked the matter over as to price, etc., and decided we would offer to furnish the hay and feed it out for $11.00 per ton. They said that they had their own men who were acquainted with the stock and whom they kept on the payroll anyway, and that they would give us $10.00 for the hay and feed it themselves. Well, we agree and measured up the hay, it being in large stacks before the days of baling in the fields. They gave us a check for the hay, and we went the next day to the bank and paid off our notes the day before they were due. I am sure the reader will understand what I am trying to make, that the Lord will not forsake His children as long as they are honest and do the best they can; and I should state further, that while many of our neighbors thought us very unwise for selling our hay at that price, it was the highest price paid for hay in our end of the tract so far as I know. Many who held their hay, sold it the next spring for $7.00, baled and on board the cars, as there was no local market at all. We had some wheat for sale, it was a good price so we had money for taxes, some besides and when we paid our notes at the bank they told us if we needed any more money from them, not to hesitate to come, and from then on we never needed to worry about financing our operations.
When in 1935, 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.
Before selling the farms, we had made up our minds to go to Logan, Utah, and do work in the Temple there, so again we left Murtaugh to build anew. We chose a lot and built a lovely home on fifth east, just north of fourth, 462, and we had hardly moved into our new home when President Quinney came and asked us to serve in the Temple; so as soon as we were settled, we went and were set apart for the work. 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. Finally because of the ill health of Sister Tolman, I asked to be released so that I could be near her more of the time. It was during this time at the Temple that we got a leave of absence for a time and spent two winters in Honolulu with our two daughters, Lou, and Inez, who with their families were living over there on that beautiful isle, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.
It was while we were at the Temple that one morning a Brother Anderson, who was also an officiator came to me and asked that I go with him to the hospital to assist in administering to a young man who was very ill; We asked Brother Arlando Barris to go along with us, and we were shown into the sick room and found the parents of the young man weeping, as also the tears were streaming down the face of the nurse who showed us into the room; We learned that the doctors had given the boy less than thirty minutes to live. Brother Barris anointed the boy who was unconscious, and I feared he would pass away before Brother Barris finished but he didn’t, and as I was asked to seal the anointing and give him a blessing, and without knowing what was the matter, I rebuked the cause of his affliction and commanded him in the name if of the Lord to live and be made well. As we were needed in our places at the Temple, we hurried away and the next I knew about the experience was when the mother called some time later and told me that he was better. He left the hospital in a week and was perfectly well, and of course, told us what his trouble was. He had been accidentally shot, the bullet going through his lungs, through a point of his liver, past his spine, lodging in his loin, where the doctors decided to leave it, thinking it less dangerous there than an operation. The young man has since married the young girl with whom he was going at the time of the accident.
My history would certainly be incomplete did I not include more of the history of my companion wife who was at my side for so many years and who shared with me all my joys and sorrows and who helped so much in any degree of success which I may have accomplished. As before stated, she cast her lot with me when very young and soon thereafter with a small family consented to my mission for the Church which took me from her for three years while she cared for herself and three children without complaint. When I went into the sheep business and had to be away from home for so much of the time, she was still uncomplaining and with our children spent much of the time with me, following the sheep from winter to summer range and back again, living in the sheep wagon which afforded anything but the comforts of life; she with the children would often travel with the team and buckboard over a hundred miles to home and back for supplies while I stayed with the sheep, which required them going over desert trails, making the way by piling up sagebrush to mark the way on their return. In all this she never complained although she often shed tears of loneliness.
While still living at Marion, she bore us two more boys; they were husky lads, but were both taken in death from the effects of pneumonia at the early age of six months. In February of 1906 there came another girl, Lon, who was only a very young baby when we moved to Murtaugh, then there came another boy, Bion, then three more girls–Roma, preciously referred to in this history who passed away at the age of twelve, then Inez and June. It was while June was a baby that Mother had an experience which was quite unusual for that time; she began having trouble with her stomach which grew worse until she could digest very little of anything. We decided to go to Salt Lake to the doctors there for diagnosis of her trouble, and they found that the opening between the stomach and the intestines was completely closed by a growth of ulcers. They performed an operation, severing the connection, making a new opening and grafting the two together at the new place. This was comparative new for that time and quite serious, but through the skill of the doctors, our faith and prayers which brought the blessings of the Lord, she was made well and enjoyed good health as far as that was concerned the rest of her life.
It was while on our last trip to Honolulu she began to fail in health again; in fact, she was not so well before we left which had some influence on our going. We thought that perhaps the climate over there would be good for her, but she gradually became worse and the doctors advised us that it was her heart which was causing the trouble and that we had better head for home as soon as possible or she would not live to see her home again. So, we took the next boat home and went immediately to the Salt Lake Clinic where they found that her trouble was caused by a tumorous growth on one of her kidneys which was so enlarged as to press up against the heart cavity making her condition very serious and advised an immediate operation. We called the family together, those who were not too far away, and after deciding that was the only thing to do if her life was to be spared, we gathered around her bed and unitedly asked our Heavenly Father for His blessing upon her that she should be made well again, and then in the authority of our callings in the Priesthood, we administered unto her and in connection therewith, asked the Lord to bless and direct the doctors. They found the kidney enlarged to about the size of her head which necessitated making an incision half way around her body in order to remove it. She passed through the operation. We stayed at the hospital to be right near her for about 36 hours, and then as the doctor came from her room, he smiled at us and said, “Well, she fooled us, she is going to live.” We could have told him that we knew that before he did, but we only thanked him and acknowledged before the Lord our deep gratitude. After this, she was very well again and returned to the Temple for several years to render faithful and efficient service. She was always cheerful and had such a wonderful influence on all with whom she associated and with whom she was permitted to labor. In fact, her whole life was one of loving and faithful service. She served the Church well in the Primary and Relief Society, even when the Cassia Stake reached far including what is now comprised by six stakes–reaching from Raft River on the South and East to Carey on the North and almost all the way to Boise on the West. She traveled to visit these distant places in companion with other Stake officers, with horse and buggy, often camping over night on the way to the most distant places; she was blessed with a natural talent for music and became efficient in both vocal and instrumental, so that she was not only able, but did inspire her daughters to develop their musical talents which has had far reaching influences, but she gave her talent to the benefit of her Brethren and Sisters in the Church, through the developing of ward choirs and group singing for all special events.
As before stated, her health again began to fail while yet working in the Temple, and I asked to be released so as to be with her; and in spite of all we could do, she steadily grew less able to do according to her ambition and desires, so, early in 1948, we sold our home in Logan to Inez and her husband and returned to Idaho which seemed more like home than any other place. We made our home with Cliff and Goldie who were now engaged in the motel business in Twin Falls. I was able to assist some about the grounds as well as help mother to care for our apartment. We enjoyed ourselves greatly for about a year and were prepared to celebrate our birthday which came on the same day of the month, although I was three years older. We had made all the necessary preparation for the following day, friends were invited and everything seemed well for a lovely time, for mother was as well as usual, but during this night she had what the doctor called a heart attack and drifted into a coma which lasted all the day following, which was our birthday. Then about six o’clock in the evening she opened her eyes, looked at Goldie and I who were by her side, smiled sweetly, closed her eyes again and was gone; so, there passed from the activities of this mortal life, one of the very choicest of God’s faithful daughters. The end came 21 January 1949, on her seventy-sixth birthday.
Since then, I have gone on the best I can, and have felt her loving presence near me; I have done the best I could in my calling as a Patriarch, blessing the membership of the Church as they have desired, and have declared my testimony to the truthfulness of the restored Gospel and preached the Word where ever and whenever the opportunity afforded. I am now, October 1955, in my eighty-fifth year, nearing my eighty-sixth birthday. I have enjoyed very good health in the main, have spent my summers mainly with Cliff and Goldie at their home in Twin Falls, and the winters with Loa, Myral and family in San Luis Obispo, California. I think I should mention regarding my health. Two years ago, I had symptoms of something wrong with my lungs, and the doctors after complete examinations, X-rays etc., diagnosed my trouble as cancer and said that I was full of it–a very fast growing kind and that my extreme limit of life was not more than sixty days; they insisted that I not go to California that winter, and I should not be left alone for any time at all. I felt that my condition was not so serious and that if my time had come, what difference did it make if I was alone or not; so I informed them that I was going. They prescribed medication for me and told me to take with me sufficient so that I would not miss a day taking the medicine while away. Well, I got the medicine alright, got in my car and hit out for California. The first Sunday there I went to Church services, was greeted with my many friends there and while talking to President Godfrey about my health, he said “Brother Tolman, we will come over this evening and give you a blessing. You can throw away your medicine as you will not need it any more.” I did just that. The symptoms of my trouble disappeared and for two years, I have been very well, have been able to help around the house, in the flowers and garden. I have visited all of my living children, and if the Lord is willing will spend the coming winter again in California.
Father was not to go to California again; soon after the events above referred to, he contracted a case of the flu, which we thought not at all serious and which we felt had pretty much left him. One day Bion stopped, who was on his way home from a business trip and invited him to go with him to Salt Lake City for a few days. Father was as anxious as a little boy would have been, and we surely felt it alright for him to go, but the trip was too much for him in his condition and being worse upon arrival, the doctor was called, who advised that he be taken to the hospital as he had symptoms of pneumonia. They kept him at the hospital for nearly a week and then released him as he was very desirous to come back to Twin Falls and still looked forward to his trip to California. Bion brought him back, and while he was very weak, he snapped back and regained greatly his old vigor, but it seemed that when he was about back to normal, he would slip again, and each time not quite make it back so that he was content to give up his California trip. We often heard him in vocal prayer to his Father in Heaven, alone in the privacy of his room and heard him talk to God as though He was there in the room with him. One evening we heard him say, “Father, I am ready to come at any time You call me, but should You desire me to stay and continue in Your work until the Saviour comes again, that I will be glad to do.” The next morning as he sat in his chair, seemingly engaged in deep thought, I put my arm around him and asked what he was thinking about so seriously and he answered. “President Grant spent much of the night with me last night, and said that my prayers had been heard and considered, and said he, “if it was in my power, I would grant you to stay, but it is not my right, and the decree is to the contrary for your services are needed on the other side of the veil.” He seemed now to realize that he must soon go, and we often saw him looking intently at mother’s picture with tears of anticipation shining in his eyes.
On the evening of the eighth of November, he went to bed as well as usual, in the best of spirits, but was awakened at about twelve o’clock with a smothering feeling; he was in no pain only found it difficult to breathe and his heart was beating very rapidly. We called the doctor and he came right out to the house and stayed with us for about two hours and then advised taking him to the hospital, but he looked up and said, “Goldie, don’t let them take me to the hospital;” we explained that perhaps it would be better and that any time he desired, we would bring him back home, whereupon he raised himself a little on his elbow, and as we tried to assist him, he closed his eyes and was gone. Thus passed one of God’s mighty servants, and he passed as he had lived, in peace and sweet submission. I am sure he had not an enemy in the wide world, and his friends were without number; words of appreciation and condolence came from far and near.
His mortal body was buried beside that of Mother’s where they rest peacefully in beautiful Sunset Memorial Park in Twin Falls, Idaho.
All the living members of the family were present at the funeral services, each one took part in the services and while our hearts were filled to o’er flowing, it was not for grief, but with the loneliness caused with the passing of one so near and dear, realizing that his example and loving guidance could come only from our memory of him and the teachings of his life.
He left a living posterity of five children, three daughters and two sons, thirty-one grandchildren and thirty-two great grand children.
Recorded and typed by Lova Tolman Watts–Granddaughter
Edited by Royal Clifford Tolman and Bion Tolman–sons
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