WALLACE HOLBROOK TOLMAN
13 Apr 1867 – 8 Nov 1935
Son of Judson & Sarah Lucretia Holbrook Tolman
Wallace Holbrook Tolman was born on the 13 April 1867 in Bountiful, Utah. He was the son of Judson Tolman and Sarah Lucretia Holbrook.
He was reared in Bountiful. At the age of 21 he married Annie Mary Hofhine in the Logan Temple. She was the daughter of Alexander Mode Hofhine and Mary Ann Weatherbee. After their marriage, he took his bride to Chesterfield, Idaho, where he homesteaded some land. Three sons and three daughters were born to them here.
In 1901 they moved to Blackfoot Idaho where Wallace purchased the Rising Sun Dairy. He made a livelihood in the dairy business. Milk was delivered by a horse-drawn cart. My Mother, Vivian, as a girl, complained because she had to wash the dairy equipment—which to her was an unpleasant task. In Blackfoot two more girls were born to them.
In 1913 Wallace moved his family to Logan, Utah. He purchased a home there and continued dairy farming. He served as water master of Logan irrigation company for six years.
Wallace was an ardent Temple worker and devout church member.
When I visited my grand parents, I remember waking up many times to the sound of grandfather chopping wood, or the sound of his emery wheel as he sharpened mower blades or other tools.
Grandmother was afraid of being alone at night when he delivered milk. She always left the light on with newspapers hung around it. She died August 5, 1926.
After her death Wallace married, a year later, Elsie Jensen Peterson. Wallace died in November 1935.
By Mary Lue James, a Granddaughter
The following is a brief history of Wallace Holbrook Tolman submitted by his granddaughter Blanche T. Yonk, Petersboro Utah. The Chesterfield Foundation book has a picture of Judson Tolman Sr. (Fig. 2-31) with twenty of his children and two wives. Judson had called his family together for a family celebration and had the picture taken. My father, Wallace Richard, his brother, Alexander Judson, and their father, Wallace Holbrook Tolman, attended. Wallace Holbrook was the thirteenth child of Judson Tolman sr. and Sarah Lucretia Holbrook Tolman.
The article with the picture noted that six of Judson Tolman Sr.’s children settled in Chesterfield. The sixth child was not mentioned by name. He was my grandfather, Wallace Holbrook Tolman. He was very young when he went to Chesterfield. He lived with an uncle and helped with his logging and sawmill operation. Wallace also made railroad ties in Chesterfield and in Wyoming. The railroad ties were made by hand using an adze, a tool to shape wood. The ties were made for the Oregon Shortline railroad that was building and extending lines throughout the west at that time.
When Wallace Holbrook Tolman was old enough, he homesteaded a piece of land. The first thing he did was plant trees, a row of fast growing poplar trees that provided shade and protection from the wind. I think this property may have been near that of Alexander Hofhine. Wallace later married Anna Mary Hofhine, July 5, 1888 in the Logan Temple. They farmed in Chesterfield for the next 12 or 13 years. Six of their eight children were born in Chesterfield: Wallace Richard, August 7, 1890; Mary Vivian, August 1, 1892; Alexander Judson, March 22, 1894; Katie Faril, April 3, 1896; Susie LueRilda, September 16, 1898; and Lewis Appleton, April 29, 1901.
In the winter months Wallace often went to work in the lumber mills in the area and for the railroad. He helped his brother, “Add”, with the building of the brick church house even donating a cow to the cause. He used his skills and helped build several homes and other buildings in the area. Wallace said he had good teachers and that building was in his blood. He was a hard worker and an early riser, up at 5 a.m., even after he retired.
Due to continual harsh weather and poor crops Wallace Holbrook Tolman gave up farming in Chesterfield. He sold his 160 acres for $100.00 to a man by the name of Meacham. In 1901, he and his family moved to Blackfoot, Idaho. They later settled in Groveland, Idaho, where he built a nice frame home. He raised sugarbeets, potatoes and became a dairyman.
He called his dairy “The Rising Sun Dairy.” He delivered milk, cream and butter to his many customers. Wallace and Anna Mary had two daughters in Groveland, Almeda Dwane, April 3, 1905; and Gladys, September 15, 1907.
My father, Wallace Richard Tolman left grandpa shorthanded when he was called to serve an LDS mission in Germany in November, 1912. By the time he returned, Wallace and Anna Mary and their family had moved to Logan, Utah.
In Logan, grandpa ran a small dairy and worked for the railroad. He and grandma moved to California for a couple of years where he worked for the railroad, from which he retired with a small pension. They returned to Logan, built a lovely red brick home in the island area, grew a garden and kept a milkcow or two. Anna Mary Hofhine Tolman died August 5, 1926, Wallace Holbrook Tolman died November 8, 1935.
Newspaper Clipping:
Wallace Tolman
LOGAN—Wallace Tolman, 68, died Friday at 11:29 a.m. at his home following a lingering illness.
He was born at Bountiful, April 13, 1867, a son of Judson and Sarah L. Holbrook Tolman. He had been watermaster of the LDS Seventh and Eighth wards during the past six years.
Surviving are his widow, Mrs. Elsie Jensen Peterson Tolman; eight children by a former marriage, Wallace R., Alex J. and Louis A. Tolman and Mrs. J. E. Taylor, Logan; Mrs. Horrace Taylor, Los Angeles; and Mrs. Don Hughes, Alameda, Cal. and six step-children.
Funeral arrangements under the direction of the Richards mortuary have not been completed.
Card of Thanks
We wish to express our most sincere thanks to the many kind friends who were so solicitous and helpful during the illness and following the death of our beloved wife and mother. We thank, also, all who took part in the funeral services or who have in any manner shown sympathy in our period of sorrow.
Wallace Tolman and Family
A history of Wallace Holbrook Tolman, a native pioneer born April 13, 1867 in Bountiful, Utah. He was the son of Judson Tolman and Sarah Lucretia Holbrook.
Married—Annie Mary Hofhine, 5 July 1888 in the Logan Temple. She was the daughter of Alexander Mode Hofhine and Mary Ann Weatherbee.
Written by Mary Lue James, a granddaughter
September 20, 1978
Read in Camp Paradise, Weber County, Far South Company, Ogden, Utah
Date—September 21, 1978
Submitted 21 September 1978
To Weber County, Far South Company
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