19 Feb 1788 – 1 Feb 1844

Son of Reuben and Margaret McCarter Tolman

We are indebted to Eileen Pollman (wife of Richard Pollman grandson of Marian Brice Bartleson) for the invaluable history notes on Nathan and Sarah Tolman after they left Maine. My letter to Marian Dunseth regarding Sarah Tolman’s bible was sent to Eileen, Marians’s sister-in-law, who sent me copies of history notes made by Jessie Bartleson Kincaid, a great granddaughter of Nathan and Sarah Tolman. Apparently, Jessie wrote to and visited with many family members and then made the following notes. You will find some inaccuracies, (which Jessie later corrected in a letter to her cousin Mark Smith, grandson of Lucy Tolman Brannen Bishop) but, please refer to the documented sheet for correct dates and places. We are fortunate to have this material and I have made no attempts to change it or correct spelling.

The Tolman’s Trip from Maine and Early Life in Iowa

When the Nathan Tolman family was preparing to come west, their married daughter Sallie, who had contracted an unfortunate marriage planned to accompany them. Piqued by parental opposition to a love affair, Sallie had declared she would marry the first man who asked her and promptly married Hiram Pevy, an eccentric sort of fellow. Soon he developed symptoms of insanity and finally, there being no insane asylum near, was confined in the local jail while Sallie went to live with her parents. Released from his confinement by his relatives when they heard of Sallie’s plan, Hiram sought out his wife and persuaded her to remain in Maine.

The Tolmans left Maine about 1836, taking a ship to New York, thence up the Hudson to Albany where they connected with the Erie Canal which crossed New York to Buffalo. From there they proceeded by boat across Lake Erie, connecting at some place with the Ohio and Erie Canal which linked up with the Ohio River, then via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the Des Moines river. Here, somewhere on the Des Moines, they located. All were very ill of Malaria and Sarah Hewitt Tolman vomited so hard that one eyeball burst. Nathan Tolman, her husband and their youngest child Jimmie, aged six died on the Des Moines. There Esther Tolman met and married (3 July 1838) Samuel McMillan Brice and their first child was born there in 1840 and died at the age of three or four months. Nathan Tolman II who married Sallie Palmer in Maine and had one child Albert also came west with the family and lived at Red Rock, Iowa. Sarah Hewitt Tolman remained on or near the Des Moines river until about the middle 1840’s when she and single sons Judson and Benjamin and probably her son Cyrus, wife and child went to Center Point, Iowa. John Tolman married a girl (Emily) who worked for the Tolmans and they later settled at Border Plains, Iowa. Cyrus other son, also married on the Des Moines and probably came to Center Point with his mother. Two single sons, Judson and Benjamin, came at the same time.

Sometime about 1841, Samuel and Esther Brice go to Carroll County, Illinois where the elder Brices lived at or near Elkhorn Grove. They live with Samuel’s parents and Samuel studies medicine with a Dr. Cissna. While there, Washington Brice, a brother and his family came to live with the Brices. About this time Samuel decides to go to Iowa and while he is there looking for a location Esther stays with a Mrs. Stormer, because of jealousy on the part of Lucinda, wife of Washington.

When Samuel and Esther Brice started to Illinois, young George Tolman climbed into the wagon and declared he was going with them. So he accompanied them there and remained with them even after they went to Linn County, Iowa where he died at the age of sixteen.

Samuel and Esther Brice arrived in the vicinity of Center Point, Iowa late in 1842 and Marian Brice was born there 17 Jan 1843 in a one-room log cabin.

The Brices took their wool to market tied up in Sarah Hewitt Tolman’s linen sheets. (In Center Point, Iowa)

When a small child, Marian Brice pulled wool sitting on Grandmother Tolman’s out-stretched feet. Grandmother thought children should learn to be industrious. So Marian pulled wool for ten minutes then had a play period of the same length.

The Brices had the first cook stove in Center Point. It was a four-lid stove with the two front lids on a lower leven than the back lids.

The Brices had a fine leather-topped carriage upholstered in tan cloth and Marian had a fine riding mare called Jennie. Marian had a melodian, but did not learn to play it well.

Nathan and Sarah Hewitt Tolman, parents of Esther Tolman Brice, lived at or near Hope, Maine in a large brick house and there were three brick barns for the stock. In winter they cooked huge kettles of potatoes and turnips to feed the stock. When winter set in, Nathan went down to the sea to get a supply of fish which he hauled back on a large sled. The fish were so large their tails dragged in the snow. Whether he caught those fish himself or bought them is not known.

After the death of Reuben Tolman, Nathan’s father, who also lived in Hope, Nathan’s mother, Margaret McCarter, lived with him. Her nick-name was Peggy and she had a rich Irish brogue and was deeply religious. When Nathan’s large family of boys got unduly noisy on a Sunday, she would say, “B’ys, b’ys, you must na make a n’ise – it’s sabby day!” When the children could not longer endure the restraint they would slip out of the house and hunt spruce geese in the woods.

Sarah Hewitt Tolman and her daughters spun the thread and wove the cloth for all of their clothing, linen sheets, towels and all woolen material. One day when the minister called and found several girls busy at their spinning wheels, he remarked, “I perceive this is an industrious family.”

Margaret, eldest daughter of Nathan and Sarah Tolman, was probably named after Nathan’s mother whose maiden name was Margaret MacCarter. Sarah Hewitt Tolman’s mother was Sallie King and the mother of Sallie King was Sallie (Sarah) Taylor.

Sarah H. Tolman was 48 years old when Jimmie (James) her youngest child was born. Married daughter Sallie was provoked that her mother was pregnant and mother was hurt by her daughter’s stinging remarks.

When a small boy, Cyrus Tolman ran away from home and was sent by his parents to board with the minister.

Both Sallie Tolman Pevy and Nathan Tolman her brother had daughters named Esther Ann. Probably a name repeated in successive generations of the Tolman family.

Judson Tolman settled at Bountiful Utah and Cyrus at Provo, Utah (Cassia County, Iidaho). The story was told that Cyrus had a dream in which he saw his second wife. Later in Utah he met the girl of his dream (even her dress was the same) and married her.

S. M. Brice and wife visited in Iowa in 1874 – at Atlantic where Lucy Tolman Bishop lived and in Center Point where they stayed with John Shaws. S. M. Brice preached at Marysville in Iowa and Marian sometimes accompanied her father. They drove up on Saturday afternoon, returning on Sunday afternoon.

Sarah Hewitt Tolman was a Methodist and her large bible was printed by a Methodist publishing company. Her small leather bound hymnal was compiled for Methodist churches.

Esther Tolman Brice told about her father going to Augusta, Maine for supplies, leaving the impression they lived in that locality, possibly near Windsor. (Later note: Lucy Tolman Bishop said their home was in Hope, Maine and that most of their relatives also lived there. She said Aunt Hannah Payson lived in Hope. She must have been Sarah Hewitt Tolman’s only sister. (She had only one sister, so Lucy said.)

Cyrus Tolman, wife and child came to Center Point probably about the same time his mother did. In fact, it is very likely, they all came together since Nathan, her husband, had died down on the Des Moines and she could not make the trip alone. Whether Judson and Benjamin, single sons, came at that time is not known. Cyrus and family lived in a cabin down the lane beyond the graveyard – a small plot of ground surrounded by a picket fence under a large oak tree that stood on a corner. Cyrus’ wife, who was pregnant, was thrown from a sleigh and died in pre-mature childbirth. After her death, Cyrus’ mother kept house for him and cared for his small child. One night when the grandmother and the child, who were ill of “putrid sore throat,” were sleeping on a pallet on the floor in front of the fire-place, a spark from the fire ignited the grandmother’s large woolen cape spread over them and they probably would have been badly burned if Cyrus had not wakened and extinguished the fire .

Judson Tolman was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on January 12, 1845. The timing of Judson’s conversion coincided very closely with that of his three brothers, Cyrus, Benjamin and George. Although George died at age 16 and did not come west, the other three were never separated in their faith and seldom in geography for well over a decade. (Note: When Judson did the endowment work in the Logan Temple, November 19, 1886, for his brother, George (who died in 1849), he gave George’s baptismal date as April 1845, indicating George was baptized after Judson was baptized and before Cyrus or Benjamin were baptized.)

We have no record of these three sons ever having corresponded with nor visiting their mother or non-Mormon siblings after leaving Iowa. (It would not be surprising, however, to learn that Judson attempted to locate his family in Iowa while traveling to or from his mission assignment to Maine in 1877.)

Sarah Hewitt Tolman was very religious and the grand children playing outside her cabin, peer through the window and seeing her, dressed for church, kneeling in prayer before a split-bottom chair, steal quietly away. In Maine, the Tolmans were strict observers of the Sabbath. All food for consumption on Sunday was cooked on Saturday and kept warm in the large brick oven at the side of the fireplace. The family walked to church as a matter of discipline.

It was the task of Sarah Hewitt Tolman’s mother to care for the alter cloths – the linen used for the communion service of their church in Maine and once when washing the linen, Sarah, then a young girl, complained at having to perform the task. This act of impiety so troubled her that shortly before her death, in Mound City, Kansas, she expressed a desire to talk with the local minister, known as “Father Broadhead,” and confessed to him her “sin.” He was able to ease her conscience of her self-imposed guilt and she was greatly comforted.

Esther Tolman Brice told about her father’s fishing trips when he went down to sea to fish for halibut, cod and sturgeon to provide food for his large family during the winter. He would be away several weeks and came back with a sled-load of fish some of which were so large their tails dragged in the snow.

Esther Tolman Brice corresponded with the Paysons and Hewitt relatives in Maine living at Hope. Her mother’s sister married a Payson, said to have been a large shoe manufacturer.

Sallie Tolman Pevy, Esther’s sister who remained in Maine, lived for many years at Copper’s Mills.

The first home of the Brice’s (Samuel and Esther at Center Point) was a large one-room log cabin.

Visit FamilySearch to learn more about Nathan Tolman.  Also visit the Thomas Tolman Family Organization to find out how you can get more involved in family history.

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