(Contributed by the Thomas Tolman Family Organization. Excerpt from Judson Tolman: Pioneer, Lumberman, Patriarch by E. Dennis Tolman, Second Edition, 2004, pages 154-157).
Martha Ann Tolman was born July 27, 1866 in Tooele, Utah, seventh child of Cyrus and Margaret Eliza Utley Tolman. There were four girls and seven boys. The family lived in Rush Valley, Tooele County, Utah in a dug-out home cut into the side of a hill. Living in Rush Valley was very lonely for a young woman. They were never able to attend church or school, as they lived 20 miles away from the nearest settlement, which was too great a distance to cover in one day by horse and wagon. It was many years before Martha was able to even attend Sunday School or Primary. Martha had a great desire to learn and taught herself to read. She took advantage of every opportunity she could to read books. She never attended formal school until she was fourteen, and was placed in fourth grade because she could read well.
She was finally able to go to school at Provo where she was taught by Professor Carl G. Maeser. Brother Maeser took a special interest in her and did all he could to encourage her and help her adjust to the school. She became an excellent student and soon advanced to the standing she deserved. Her brothers, who had begun working in the mines, sent her money to continue her education. After obtaining a teacher’s certificate from Brigham Young University at Provo, Martha returned to Grantsville to become a teacher. There she met her future husband in 1888. It caused no little stir among the young fellows in the town to have this beautiful young school marm move into town and there were quite a few who started looking her way. However, she was more interested in her school-teaching than romancing.
There was one young, handsome fellow who did appeal to her, but she was not one to display her favoritism in an unladylike manner. She rather avoided him for fear he would think her too bold. Emery Barrus was the town fiddler and played for most of the dances. He made a hit with his ability to play by ear the old familiar tunes. Emery jealously watched her dancing with the other fellows while he fiddled, but finally got up the courage to ask if he could walk her home. She told him that she was able to walk by herself then afterwards regretted her comment and feared he would not ask her again.
Emery finally met her after a Thursday night church meeting and offered once more to walk her home. She graciously accepted. This started a romance that developed into a lifetime of love and companionship. Before the school year was ended Emery asked her to marry him. Martha knew she would accept the proposal but said he had to get her mother’s consent. Emery drove Martha to Rush Valley and they presented their plans. Everything worked out fine and the wedding date was set.
At this time people were being called by Brigham Young to settle different parts of the country. One place that was called for settlement was Star Valley, Wyoming. Some of the folks investigated the valley and decided it would be a good place to make their homes. Emery and Martha liked the things they had heard about Star Valley. There was land to homestead with plenty of water in the beautiful mountain streams. Martha had been raised in desert-like country and appreciated Star Valley. They set their marriage date to conform with the move to the new frontier. They packed their meager possessions in a wagon and started out for Star Valley. Their first stop from Grantsville was at Logan, Utah where they were married in the Logan Temple on September 20,1888 with Martha’s father and mother present. They then continued their journey to their new home and a life of many adventures.
Star Valley was a good place to live but they had many hardships to overcome. The winters were long and cold, food was scarce and it was difficult to make a living. There were many things they had to cope with that were different from living in Utah. Nevertheless, they were happy and by overcoming their problems they became stronger and more industrious. Martha and Emery’s first winter was spent in a sheep wagon on their homestead in Dry Creek canyon. They brought dried fruit, corn, and other foods with them. Wild game was plentiful and helped supply meat for their diet. One morning Emery looked out the door and saw a deer on the hill. He shot it from the doorway and it slid down the hill almost to the door.
The first summer was a most unusual one. It was so warm and frost-free that they even raised watermelons. They were so happy with the situation, they thought they had really found a bonanza. However, that was never to happen again in all the years they lived there. The next winter was so severe that most of the livestock starved to death for lack of feed. There was plenty of wild hay available the previous summer but everyone thought it would not be needed, so didn’t gather enough for the winter. The winter seemed to never end. Some men went up on the hills and gathered grass from under the deep snow and rolled it down the hill to the cattle below in an attempt to save them from starvation but it was not enough. Most everyone lost their cattle. Martha’s mother managed to pull one lone calf through by feeding her straw from inside the straw ticks on their beds and sprinkling it with a little salt water and supplementing with stew made from a deer.
The second summer Emery and Martha traded their place in Dry Creek for a place in Fairview where they spent most of the remainder of their lives and where their eight children were born. They had a very good life in Fairview. All the people at that time were members of the LDS Church so had common interests. The church was the center of everyone’s life. They made their own entertainment such as dramas, musicals, dances and all kinds of parties. Emery and Martha were especially good in drama and together with other talent they put on many good plays which helped to pass the long winter months. They had many happy times mingling with their brothers, sisters and friends. Emery and Martha’s brothers and sisters had moved to Fairview and with all the other members of the Church who were there, it made one big family. Martha’s mother had moved there with them and lived there for the rest of her life.
They both taught school for many years. Martha was an especially good teacher and did much to improve the educational system in the valley. In fact she had a strong impact on the school system in the state. She was the first to set up a kind of school lunch program. She could see the need for the children to have something hot and nourishing for lunch, instead of a half frozen sandwich carried by the children from their homes. She started by bringing a soup stock from home each morning. She would bring some meat, some of the children would bring vegetables. They would put it on the big wood heater in the school room where it would simmer all morning. By noon there was a nice stew ready for all the children to eagerly eat.
In Lena Anderson’s life history she records: “The first school house I went to was a log cabin with a dirt floor and roof, one door, and two small windows. My teacher was Martha Barrus who lived in Fairview. She would come to school in a buggy and would bring all her children with her. She would take care of them while she was teaching the rest of us. The seats we had were blocks of wood with boards nailed on them. The teacher had a table made of four tall blocks of wood with board nailed to them. She had a large slate which hung on the wall and took the place of a blackboard. The children had small slates to write on. We had to buy the slates and pencils, but we did not have to buy our books. We had six months of school a year, three in the summer and three in the winter.”
All of their children were born and raised in Fairview: Emery Milton, June 19,1890; Benjamin Mariner, September 16,1891; Orlando Tolman, February 27,1894; Foster Jusius, June 12,1896; Osmond Wendell, October 17,1898; Margaret Lovina, November 30,1901; Luella, July 4,1905; Joseph Eugene, November 9,1908.
They had a very happy family life. Many hours were spent in the home singing and reading together. There was much humor and laughter. All were taught the principles of the gospel and urged to respect authority, both spiritual and temporal. Martha was good to everybody she mingled with and often took unfortunate people into her home to try to make life more pleasant for those in need. Once she taught a brother and sister from a rather improvident family. She bought the boy a fine pair of high top shoes, and, as they lived a considerable distance from town and school, she invited the children to stay at her home for a few days. The result was not anticipated – head lice for her own family.
Much of the employment for Father and the boys was found on the farm but sometimes there was a need for more income. The boys did sheep shearing which was very hard especially on the back but they were able to make good money. Some of the men took a contract for several summers to cut railroad ties at a place called Ham’s Fork. This was in the mountains east of Cokeville. The family would live in little cabins and the men would cut ties. The women fixed the meals, washed the clothes and camped all summer. Emery took part in these contracts and made quite a business of it for a time. One summer they took a cow with them so they would have the milk for the meals.
When Sandy was just a baby Emery got a call to go on a mission for the church. Martha urged him to accept the call and she would handle the five boys and the farm. It was quite a sacrifice, but they felt that they would be blessed if he went. Sandy was sick with pneumonia when Emery left but they trusted in the Lord and everything turned out all right.
Emery was the first one to own an automobile in Fairview and the family had lots of good trips in it. They also had lots of problems. Cars were not very well-built, especially the tires. You could always depend on having at least one flat on every trip. A few years later Emery took to farming and left the school teaching to others but he always did his share of teaching in the church. Emery and Martha were always anxious to have their children get the best education they could so for this reason they planned to have them attend school in Logan, Utah. They spent several winters in Logan where they took in roomers from Star Valley.
Martha worked hard when plans were made to consolidate all the small communities into one District. She was elected clerk of the first school board in the new district and helped the other board members organize for the first high school in Star Valley, which began in a large home in Afton. Emery and Martha arranged a “high school trolley.” It helped their children and other students in Fairview to have a way to school. Foster drove the trolley part of the time which consisted of a covered wagon in the fall and spring and a sleigh in the winter. They built a home in Afton just across the street from the school. While Martha lived there she taught in the Afton Elementary School, and made a home for several high school students from other towns, besides her own family. In those days the boys and girls had to live in Afton while attending high school, as there were no good roads nor fast buses. Since their farm was in Fairview, they eventually gave up their home in Afton and returned to Fairview.
During this time Martha contracted pneumonia. The doctor didn’t seem to know how to successfully combat the disease. She was sick less than a week and passed away November 16,1919 at the young age of fifty-two years. It was on Sunday when she died, and the doctor was with her but there was nothing he could do. Mother went into a coma and started to moan. Soon she stopped moaning and was gone. It seemed like the whole world fell apart for the family. Everyone was in shock. They laid her out in the bedroom and Emery would go sit by her and put his arms around her and cry and cry.
Martha loved teaching and encouraged all she knew to seek higher educations. She taught school for a least sixteen years, chaired the Red Cross during World War I, and held many church positions. Martha was self-made. She educated herself in a full college course after her marriage, passed the examinations and held her degree. She was Stake President of the Primary for many years. She also served as assistant County Superintendent of Schools and had charge of the educational work in Star Valley. Her death left a huge void in the family. She had always been such a force for good to the entire valley. She was sorely missed.