In 1888 Parley was born Marion in the home of his parents, Joshua & Mary Jane Tolman. Parley was taught by his good parents, but much credit for his testimony must come from his grandmother Gorringe. He was quite young when Fannie Burgess Gorringe came to live in their home. They built a special log room with a dirt roof for her, and it was in this room where Parley was taught to read the Book of Mormon and heard many faith promoting stories from his beloved grandmother. He was especially impressed with the story of her conversion to the Mormon church.
When he was six years old he started attending school in the log building (14’x28’) which was built for both the grade school and the meetinghouse for the Marion ward (both a new brick church and a new school were built in 1906). At first, they only had school for 3-5 months a year because of little support from taxes, until the sheep and cattle trade increased.
On July 2, 1896 he was baptized by Harvey Sessions, a bishopric counselor with his father, and confirmed by his father, Joshua Alvin. The next day a great tragedy occurred. While driving a team of horses for his brothers as they loaded hay, he was knocked from the wagon and onto the horses, breaking his leg. He suffered pain the rest of life when doing farm work.
For his first years he grew up with several uncles living close by – William August, Cyrus Ammon, Aaron Alexander, Judson Isaac, John Albert and aunts Alvaretta and Minnie Elizabeth. He had plenty of brothers and sisters and cousins to work and play with and they all attended the same Marion ward along grandparents Cyrus and Alice Tolman and Fannie Burgess Gorringe. There would have been hunting trips, family gatherings and all the fun things Tolmans do when they get together, which is often. No one would have to travel very far for blessings, baptisms, ordinations, etc. They would have shared all the work that farms had during that period of time. As time went on he would have many of his cousins move to Canada and Murtaugh and other places.
In 1900, at 12 years of age, he received a patriarchal blessing from his grandfather, Cyrus Tolman.
This event deeply touched him, and had a great deal to do with his staying true and faithful to the church during his lifetime.
In 1901 Bishop Smith ordained him a Deacon and a teacher in 1906.
As Bishop Adam G. Smith listened to him give a lesson one day he was impressed, and said, “We need men like you in the elder’s quorum”. Thus he was ordained an elder, never becoming a priest. In his early life and as a teenager, he was blessed with good teachers. Among those he mentioned were Moroni Pickett and Lavina Bates. Parley was known as a great teacher throughout his life.
He was ordained an elder in 1910 and about that time he chanced to meet his second cousin in Sunday School, Vilate Tolman. She was visiting her sister, Hattie Tolman from Bountiful, Utah. When visiting her in Bountiful, he put her a big rock and would not let her down until she promised to marry him. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple, June 22, 1911.
Visit FamiliySearch.org to learn more about Parley Lambert Tolman and other ancestors. Also visit Thomas Tolman Family Organization to find out how you can get more involved in family history.
Story Tags: Parly Lambert Tolman, Marion Idaho