Married John Pledger Thomas, Jr., 1846, Crossing the Plains
Children - John Mathis Thomas, Mahala Thomas, Mary Jane Thomas, Martha Ann Thomas, Penelope Thomas
Married Richard Cannine Gibbons, 15 Aug 1865, Hanksville, Wayne, Utah
Children - Andrew Mathews Gibbons, David M. Gibbons
Married Samuel Burgess, 18 Nov 1872, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 16, p. 261
Grandmother Thomas became the official midwife at Pine Valley. She married Andrew Gibbons and they had two boys, Andrew and David, and then separated, and my grandmother became a widow again. As to my mother, she started to school after she reached the age of six. In the springtime of her first year of school she and a little school friend got permission to spend the week-end exploring along the Pine Valley Creek. They took their lunch and made a day of it, going up creek toward the eastern side of the valley. It was a beautiful day and the creek was lined with trees and shrubbery of many varieties. Wild flowers grew in profusion everywhere. The chirping and singing of birds lent enchantment all the way. The little girls enjoyed themselves in picking up the pretty rocks, examining bird nests, bending young saplings over improvising them for teeter-totters, and everything else little girls could think of. Returning home early in the evening mother found herself feeling quite tired out. She lay down and went to sleep. When grandma Thomas went to waken her, she found that she had some fever. Grandma gave her some sort of medicine and put her back to bed as she didn't feel like eating. Next morning she woke up with a raging fever and soon she was unconscious and for several days she was in a semi-coma. Grandma diagnosed it as scarlet fever. Her life hung in the balance for several days. Then gradually improvement was shown, but after a few days it became apparent that she had a serious hearing defect, and later it was discovered that she had become stone deaf. Never did she hear again. Also she had lost the sense of smell. I heard her say many times in later years, that the last sound she could remember was the singing of the birds. What a blessing it was to her that she had spent the day along the banks of Pine Valley Creek. She continued attending school even though handicapped with total deafness. She faced her dilemma with courage and vigor, so that she did learn to write a legible hand and could talk coherently. Her vocabulary was somewhat limited. Still being of a friendly nature she gathered around her many friends. She was a very proficient pioneer housewife and a wonderful home organizer. At about 18 years of age she got a job at Iron City, cooking and waiting on tables. At that time Brigham Young was trying to establish an iron foundry in Iron County.
Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel; Edward Hunter - Jacob Foutz Company (1847); Age at Departure: 19
Married John Pledger Thomas, Jr., 1846, Crossing the Plains
Children - John Mathis Thomas, Mahala Thomas, Mary Jane Thomas, Martha Ann Thomas, Penelope Thomas
Married Richard Cannine Gibbons, 15 Aug 1865, Hanksville, Wayne, Utah
Children - Andrew Mathews Gibbons, David M. Gibbons
Married Samuel Burgess, 18 Nov 1872, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 16, p. 261
Grandmother Thomas became the official midwife at Pine Valley. She married Andrew Gibbons and they had two boys, Andrew and David, and then separated, and my grandmother became a widow again. As to my mother, she started to school after she reached the age of six. In the springtime of her first year of school she and a little school friend got permission to spend the week-end exploring along the Pine Valley Creek. They took their lunch and made a day of it, going up creek toward the eastern side of the valley. It was a beautiful day and the creek was lined with trees and shrubbery of many varieties. Wild flowers grew in profusion everywhere. The chirping and singing of birds lent enchantment all the way. The little girls enjoyed themselves in picking up the pretty rocks, examining bird nests, bending young saplings over improvising them for teeter-totters, and everything else little girls could think of. Returning home early in the evening mother found herself feeling quite tired out. She lay down and went to sleep. When grandma Thomas went to waken her, she found that she had some fever. Grandma gave her some sort of medicine and put her back to bed as she didn't feel like eating. Next morning she woke up with a raging fever and soon she was unconscious and for several days she was in a semi-coma. Grandma diagnosed it as scarlet fever. Her life hung in the balance for several days. Then gradually improvement was shown, but after a few days it became apparent that she had a serious hearing defect, and later it was discovered that she had become stone deaf. Never did she hear again. Also she had lost the sense of smell. I heard her say many times in later years, that the last sound she could remember was the singing of the birds. What a blessing it was to her that she had spent the day along the banks of Pine Valley Creek. She continued attending school even though handicapped with total deafness. She faced her dilemma with courage and vigor, so that she did learn to write a legible hand and could talk coherently. Her vocabulary was somewhat limited. Still being of a friendly nature she gathered around her many friends. She was a very proficient pioneer housewife and a wonderful home organizer. At about 18 years of age she got a job at Iron City, cooking and waiting on tables. At that time Brigham Young was trying to establish an iron foundry in Iron County.
Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel; Edward Hunter - Jacob Foutz Company (1847); Age at Departure: 19
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