(A short history written by Minnie Elizabeth Tolman)
Minnie was born January 5, 1874 in Tooele, Utah to Cyrus and Alice Bracken Tolman, the youngest of fourteen children. Minnie was reared in Tooele for the first few years of her life and then she moved to Goose Creek Valley, Idaho with her parents and some of her brothers and sisters. She surely was acquainted with the hardships of pioneer life on this new frontier.
Minnie met, was courted and married Hyrum Ether Emanual Pickett in September 1892 in Marion, Idaho. Their marriage was solemnized in the Logan Temple October 21, 1892. Hyrum is quoted as saying, “They say Ben Franklin discovered electricity by flying a kite. Still, he didn’t know what to do with it after he had found it. I discovered it when I married your mother, Minnie Tolman. She has been my constant source of power and energy ever since. By this I mean comfort in sorrow, understanding in distress, and sincere companionship in success.”
There marriage was accented with hardships, adversity, sorrow, pleasure and success that they shared together. That sharing of love can mitigate the bad things and magnify the good things in a well founded marriage. Hyrum told one of his sons that someday he would also get married and he prayed that God would give him the same good luck he had given him.
Minnie and Hyrum became the parents of seven children: Myrtle Camorah, known as Emma (born November14,1996), Zina Alice (January13,1902), Mark C. (September 3,1904), Rodney Sherman (October 24, 1906), Stanley Leon (September 5, 1908), Francis Arden (December 5, 1910), and Medina Pickett (born abt 1912).
Hyrum was very proud of the family name and the respect it commanded in the community. He said, “My greatest inheritance is an honorable name. I intend to leave it to my posterity undiscounted.” Then added with that wry twinkle in his eye, “None of us has ever been hanged for horse stealing, or another man’s wife, or hauled into court for not honoring a debt.”
Hyrum liked to kid a lot about his relatives, especially his in-laws, but I noticed he never pulled that stuff unless the butt of the joke was within earshot. When telling the neighbors about some of our capers he used to say, “It’s that nasty Tolman blood coming out in them.” Minnie could always hear it, and although it was as well worn as the leather of his saddle, she never failed to come up with a fresh phrase of retaliation. This Hyrum liked.
Hyrum said, “We Picketts would be a sorry lot if it were not for our in-laws.” He told a story to the children that their Uncle Alex and Uncle Judson, Minnie’s brothers, never wore shoes until they were twenty years old, and when they ran they would strike sparks from the rocks with their feet! It was just the type of story children love to hear.
Their son, Mark, was accidently shot June 27, 1912, which was a heartache for the family. Francis drowned May 2, 1920 at the age of nine, which was another tragedy for his parents and brothers and sisters.
In a bold moment one of his sons asked Hyrum if he really believed in Mormonism. His father loved to stir up a good, rousing discussion on politics or religion. His son knew it was prying too deep, but Hyrum replied,
“If you mean do I have a testimony, like your mother, that never admits a doubt, and can never, never under any circumstances, be shaken, then the answer is, No! But if you mean have I ever found anything better the answer is, No! As your Uncle Oliver said at Fran’s funeral, ‘There is help for the living and hope for the dead.’ And certainly, if you can with faith embrace Christianity, you can with a stronger faith embrace Mormonism. It offers so much more than the mere hope of a personal resurrection – it offers the hope of Eugene, Minnie and Hyrum reunion with all of your people. Yes, that will be the dammdest, and grandest reunion you will ever see. Then too, there is another thing to consider. Remember your great, and great great grandparents – not only the Picketts, but the Pococks, the Cleggs, the Dodds, Thorpes, Ogdens, Armstrongs, Tolmans, Brackens, Whites, and God knows who all. They were not adventurers, ready to take to boot and saddle to seek the loot told about in a tavern. They had roots in the United Kingdom as deep as the roots of the Charter Oak. They were not satisfied with the barren poverty of the religion they were born to, and reached for the richness of hope and promise held out by Mormonism. They were not adventurers, but they were tough pioneers who did not falter in the face of hardship, or wilt before ridicule and persecution. As your Uncle Eugene said to me when he returned from his mission to England, ‘You may not believe the Gospel wholeheartedly, but you can thank God that your fathers did.’”
When Hyrum invited strangers and the downtrodden to sit at their table, Minnie seemed to willingly make the extra preparations. If they had lived closer to the main line railroad there house would have been the way station for every hobo in the land.
Minnie died September 18, 1956 in Nampa, Idaho and was buried in the cemetery in Marion, Idaho. Hyrum proceeded her in death on July 18, 1950 in Twin Falls, Idaho and was also buried in the Marion, Idaho cemetery.
Visit FamilySearch to learn more about Minnie Elizabeth Tolman, Hyrum Ether Emanuel Pickett, and other ancestors. Also visit the Thomas Tolman Family Organization to find out how you can get more involved in family history.