Painter, Royal Musician, Builder, Lawyer and Doctor

(This is a post I started last year but left it in draft condition all this time. I'm not sure what I was waiting for.)

When I think of John Toone, I think first of his musical skills, for his cello playing and his singing voice. Then I think of his mission in England and his journey back in the Martin Handcart Company. In a biography I learned that he received an education in music, law, carpentry and medicine. This blog post will include a couple of ways that his talents and skills were used to serve.

In a visit to Salt Lake and a fun breakfast reunion with my first mission companion in Korea, Dianne Toone (she came home and married a distant cousin!) shared an example of his talent as a builder.  We drove over to the site of a historical waymarker for the Twentieth Ward School. 

On this site in 1857 the Twentieth Ward or Twentieth District School was erected, John Toone builder. The one large room served for school, church and recreation. In 1860 a two-story addition was constructed. Pupils came from all parts of Salt Lake Valley and other Utah counties. The first teacher was a Mr. Dixon. In 1892 an eighteen class-room school, named "Lowell" was erected. It was razed by fire in 1960 and the present building completed and occupied in 1964.

Picture of the school as it looked after the 1860 addition was made.

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm/ref/collection/USHS_Class/id/6929

In the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers publication "An Enduring Legacy" there is a short history of the settlement about an hour's drive north-east of Salt Lake City - Croydon, Morgan County, USA. 

Croydon, Morgan County, Utah

This text includes a mention of John Toone that shares another impressive talent. 


In 1874 the settlers reported a good harvest but expressed concern about a possible smallpox epidemic. Nearly all school children were vaccinated.  John Toone, painter, royal musician, and community doctor, obtained vaccine in the following manner: when his young son, Richard, got smallpox, John took the pox germ and inoculated a calf, from which he made vaccine.  He inoculated sixty persons, thus helping to end the epidemic.

How to make a smallpox vaccine. (from the website NOVA online, PBS)

So now I would love to find evidence of his talent as a painter. I did find a painting done by Emily McPhie when asked to paint a friend's ancestor, John Toone.  She did a great job.  If anyone reading this knows of any artwork by John Toone or stories about this talent, please share in the comments below. 

Finally, here is a great overview of John Toone's life written by Trent Toone, journalist for Deseret News, on his blog. Some of the same points of information I've shared but all put together in a well written article. Posted just a couple of weeks ago. I guess I should have looked for it before I started to write my last post!

Who was in Herefordshire?

Elder William R. Walker, April 6, 2014 General Conference address

In General Conference (a semi-annual conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) , Elder William Walker spoke of the conversion story of his ancestors and encouraged us to become familiar with the conversion stories of our own progenitors.

He spoke of the mission of Wilford Woodruff and the inspiration he received to leave the area he was serving in and to go south.  Elder Woodruff ended up in Herefordshire and met Mr. John Benbow in Ledbury. This meeting led to his introduction to 600 who had broken off from the Wesleyan Methodists and were actively searching for light and truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a well-known conversion story within the church and Elder Walker's admonition sent me almost immediately to my family history records. I knew we had ancestry from Herefordshire that joined the church in the early days of the restoration and couldn't recall who that was and how much we know about their story.

I soon realized it was Emma Prosser and her parents Mary Ann Morgan and James Prosser who lived in the village of Peterchurch - approximately 25 miles from the Benbow Hill Farm, Castle Frome, Ledbury Herefordshire.

However, from family records, we know that Emma's conversion didn't take place while she lived in her family home of Peterchurch, but in Leamington, thirteen years after her marriage to John Toone.

We have a brief mention of their conversion stories in a life sketch of John Toone that has been shared extensively in the family.

Elder Alfred Cordon served from 1848 in the area where there were relatives of Emma and while serving in Leamington, Warwickshire in 1849, he baptized John Toone.  Our records only confirmed that Emma and her relatives also joined this same year. Our family records don't state any direct connection of Emma and Elder Cordon but only to her husband John.  I had to dig deeper.

John Toone

Emma Prosser

Journals of Alfred Cordon

I found online the missionary journals of Alfred Cordon. I began to read, looking for references to the Toone family and trying to confirm documentation found on my online tree.  According to the records on familysearch.org, Emma was baptized on May 10, 1849 but her confirmation date is recorded as January 1, 1849, five months earlier, so already something is amiss.

Checking in the journals, Elder Cordon was teaching and serving in Watford on her baptism date, having been in Leamington on May 5 and met with Elder John Toone (Presiding Elder in the branch since April 19 of that year, only 16 days after his own baptism on April 3) in preparation for a conference to be held on the 27th of the month.

No mention of Emma's conversion in any of the entries that I can see from the time of her husband's baptism date to the record of her baptism on May 10, 1849.  And Elder Cordon was not in the Leamington area on January 1, 1849 either so no record of any relevance out of Leamington in Elder Cordon's journal other than his arrival on January 4, 1849 and subsequent dealings with Elder Smith who was serving in that area.


John Toone's baptism is recorded in Elder Cordon's journal as follows:

Tuesday, April 3, 1849, Mr. John Toone presented himself for Baptism. It was about half past five. We repaired to the water and immersed him in the water in the name of the Father  Son and Holy Ghost. We rejoiced in having the privilege of seeing him initiated into the church, he was a fine intelligent man, had been connected with the Methodists church for some time, had preached for them and had been pressed by them a many times to become an itinerant preacher, but he would not do it. I confirmed him into the church and was clothed with the Spirit of prophesy and revelation and told him in the name of the Lord that he would be called to do a mighty work in this the last dispensation, that he would be called to preach the Gospel of Christ, that his family would embrace the Gospel and be blest upon the land of Zion.

What a wonderful description we are given here.  This entry stands out in the journal. In many cases, Elder Cordon wrote simply the number of those baptized, occasionally with a name or two singled out as "amongst the company were _________ and ____________". I didn't come across another entry like this in approximately a year's worth of records which I reviewed, and although I'm sure they exist, it does speak to the type of man John Toone was.

I  then went further back and found this earlier entry. I expect that it is a record of an early encounter (prior to knowing the spelling of the name) of Elder Cordon and John Toone.

Sunday, Feb 25th 1849, I preached morning and evening, I took Tea with Mr. Tune, he was fully convinced of the truth of our doctrines, and had been for 5 years, but had not come forward for baptism, he had been troubled by night and by day and now he seemed determined to come forward and embrace the principals, but would not set any time that the ordinance could be administered.

Upon doing a search of the transcribed copy of the journal (I started by reading the handwritten copy - much more challenging!), I found 69 entries of the name of Toone.  There are many more records of the dealings of Elder Cordon in Leamington and they often include taking tea at Elder Toone's home, meetings conducted, sermons preached, letters exchanged, leisure trips to Warwick Castle or taking the waters of the spa baths and visitors hosted.

Warwick Castle by Paul Reynolds (CC license from Flickr)

I was surprised then to see my search lead me to this entry.

Monday, July 9, 1849
In the Evening, I attended Council Meeting after which I baptized eight, amongst the number Elder Toone's wife, and sister Miss Elizabeth Ross, also, she had been believing in the work for many months.
Tuesday, July 10, 1849
We met in the room, attended to the Confirmation of those that had been baptized, we had a good meeting. The saints enjoyed themselves well.

This must be Emma!  The church records match the entries of Elder Cordon's journal regarding her husband John Toone's baptism and confirmation.

Well, I may have added more questions and uncovered more problems than I had planned for but I have uncovered a bit more in the conversion stories of John and Emma Toone.

In 1851, this couple with their children crossed the Atlantic ocean to join the Saints gathering in the Salt Lake Valley. More on that story can be found here.  John did indeed serve a mission - returning to England in 1854 and keeping a journal of his service that we can enjoy today.

This is just one part of the conversion stories of my ancestors and I think some of the others will require more than a few hours one afternoon to uncover them. I'll post more as I discover them.

21 Salutes for Pioneer Day

View of pioneer camp with wagons and tents in 1866. Believed to be Thomas E. Ricks Co. at Wyoming, Nebraska.
This was the company Henry Puzey traveled with.

Tomorrow is July 24.

In Utah, there will be a big parade, family picnics, and fireworks. The parties and rodeo started earlier in the month but tomorrow is the big day. Right now, people are lining up along the parade route, ready to camp out for the evening in preparation for the parade and the day ending with fireworks from Liberty Park.

I remember celebrating Pioneer Day as a kid. We would have primary activities or ward picnics. It was best when I was staying with my grandparents on the farm. The ward would always have fun activities to remember those early members of the church who crossed the plains to settle in Utah.


The youth in our stake were meant to be part of a Pioneer Trek this summer but the floods in Southern Alberta altered those plans.  On Sunday, we sang Come, Come Ye Saints in Sacrament Meeting and I planned a pioneer lesson for Nursery. I found a fun idea through following a series of links. The Children Sing blog shared an idea for a roller box scene that would change as the pioneers walked. Instead of the roller box, we taped the long paper up along the full length of the wall and then I led the nursery children along the trail - finding a butterfly, skunk and bumblebee, stopping to fish in a pond, crossing some rivers, climbing some mountains, going through a rainstorm, camping by the bonfire, and hearing echos in the canyon. We had fun and then headed out for a "trek" around the church building.

THE TWENTY-ONE

The more I learn about my ancestors, the more I am amazed and humbled to be a descendant of these 21 people who made the choice to leave family, home and comforts to be able to live their faith. Each of their stories is special and unique. Some left early - and were part of the initial wagon trains that blazed the trail. Some chose to walk the entire journey pushing and pulling carts with all that they were able to physically carry themselves. Others came later, after many were settled and ready to receive them at the end of their journey. But all made sacrifices. All had a choice and made the more difficult one.

Each year I go back and revisit some of the stories that I collected on the wiki, Our Pioneer Heritage.  I had fun building this collection of stories and information. There are still some gaps to fill in the chart - and I add a little bit more each year.

This year I've added information about each person's age along with their picture. You can download a seven page pdf of the chart at the link below.

http://ourpioneerheritage.wikispaces.com/Chart+of+Family

The age ranges from five up to the oldest at 72.  They traveled by early wagon train, handcart, later oxen train, and rail.

CHILDREN who crossed the plains  (edited content after checking some facts)

William Henry Toone's family came before handcarts were used. He was 10 years old when he walked alongside the wagon for the entire journey from Little Pidgeon, Indiana to the Salt Lake Valley. It was a very large company and there were not enough wagons to allow him to have a chance to ride.

There were two 5-year-olds and a 12 year old who came after the use of handcarts. Five year old  Lydia Pollard traveled by ox drawn wagon with a company that experienced terrible struggles and dangerous animal stampedes. Five year old Emily Neilson was able to travel by rail when her family came in 1880.  Twelve year old David Mulholland's family traveled mostly by rail but had to complete one section of the trip by ox drawn cart because the railway tracks were washed out.


YOUNG ADULTS

Hannah Webb was 17 and came across without her family with one of the oxen company.  Her grandparents and sister both had started their journey earlier but all three had passed away before reaching Salt Lake City. I imagine how she must have felt knowing others had set off but had not arrived.  Her parents and younger brothers were able to join her eleven years later.

At 21, Henry William Puzey also traveled alone but came by rail and ox drawn wagon to join his father who had traveled two years earlier.

THREE WHO DIED before their journey was through

The oldest three never made it to the valley: Elizabeth Patterson who began the journey at 61 and William (72) and Mary Ann Hunt (66) who also began. All three passed away at the beginning of their trek.

These and other details, diary entries and stories can all be found at the wiki.  For more information on our  Puzey and Toone family pioneers, please visit Our Pioneer Heritage.

First Woman Juror?

Jean Patterson Sharp Hunter in her tartan

Jean Patterson Sharp Hunter

Jean Patterson Sharp Hunter

While at another one of my Wednesday evening research sessions at the local Family History Centre, my newspaper search turned up the following small item in the May 2 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune in 1905.

Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, Utah, Tuesday, May 02, 1905, Page 11

If that is a bit difficult to read, here it is written out.

WOMAN JUROR
____________

Mrs. Jean H. Mulholland Has Honor of Being First.

Mrs. Jean H. Mulholland has the distinction of being the first woman juror to be drawn for jury service in Utah.  She was present in Judge Lewis’s court when called, but was excused.

The Jury Commissioners are said to have made a mistake in the name and believed they were summoning a man. The name “Jean H.” on the voters’ list let them to believe that Mrs. Mulholland was not a member of the fair sex. 

So I thought I would check out a few of the facts associated with this story.

To place this in context of Jean's life, this happened in 1905. Jean is 47 years old and living in Salt Lake City.  Jean's husband and son, both called David, had already moved up to Canada in 1904. Before the year 1905 ended, Jean would also move up to Canada with her daughter Elezebeth.

Salt Lake City and County  Courthouse by JustinKrebs (creative commons licence)
Constructed by the free masons between 1891-1894 to replace the Salt Lake City Council Hall and the Salt Lake County Courthouse. It was used as the Utah State Capitol building until 1915 and also housed the city's first public library. 

Next, I wondered how much later women would be able to serve on a jury in Utah. That is when it got interesting. Most states changed the law to include women on juries between 1911 and 1921. Utah, however, became the FIRST state to allow women to be called to jury duty in 1898. (source citation below).  Salt Lake City is in the Third Judicial District  but I couldn't find out any further information on when women actually were chosen to serve on juries in Utah.  So when this news article was posted, the law already allowed Jean to serve despite being the fair sex.

Actually, Jean would have made a great juror and was more than capable of holding her own in a man's world. These excerpts from her life story show this.

• She was healthy and robust, and as boys were much needed in her family, her father allowed her to help get wood from the mountains. 

•  One day she was cutting stove-wood in the yard, when a young man saw her and came in and asked to wield the axe for her.  Not being used to wielding an axe, he broke the handle instead of cutting the wood. (That young man later became her husband.)

• Jean helped her husband dig an irrigation ditch so that they would be able to have water on their farm.  The ditch was ten miles long, and the two of them dug it themselves with pick and shovel. The cattlemen would stampede their cattle over the ditch, breaking it and causing the water to run everywhere. They had to dig a well, and to do this they used a windlass, their son led the horse, her husband dug and loaded the bucket and Jean emptied it.  The well was abandoned after going down ninety-nine feet, as the gas fumes made her husband sick. Once he had come up out of the well in the empty bucket, and as he was getting out, being overcome by the fumes, he fell, but was grabbed by his wife, Jean, and thus was saved from a fall that could have been fatal.  Jean always seemed to know what to do at the right moment.

She never had the chance to serve on a jury but she was acknowledged for all by the press that she was the first woman drawn for jury duty in all of Utah. I appreciate that she turned up to serve even though she may have known it was an unusual request. I will remember her every time I pass the downtown City and County Building in Salt Lake City. 

Lucy Fowler, Gender and Jury Deliberations: The Contributions of Social Science, 12 Wm. & Mary J.

Women & L. 1 (2005), http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmjowl/vol12/iss1/2

Roots Tech 2013

Saturday I attended a Family History Fair associated with RootsTech 2013.  They piloted sharing the conference online this year and it was fantastic. So much to learn and be inspired by.  I went out to the Cochrane church building to attend sessions there. A full house turned out to learn about researching our ancestors from 9:00 am - 4:30 pm. Overwhelming in the amount of information shared and on the website you can download all the presentation notes in a zipped file here . And not only the 13 sessions available online but over 100 handouts from presentations not shared remotely. 

Lots of highlights.  I loved the review of technology and tools shared by Valerie Elkin. She took a while to get started - too much of a set up but when she got into the meat of the presentation, we were all madly taking notes (I didn't know I could get the syllabus of the presentations until after this first session of my day).  

Another highlight was listening to the a storytelling master. Kim Weinkamp has had her stories featured on NPR and Sirius Radio and she blends humour into her touching stories of life and family. 

James Tanner inspired me to use maps to get a more complete picture of my ancestors. His tips included using Google StreetView which is something I've begun to use as I put the pieces of their lives together. It gave me a great look at East Tisted, where the Puzey family home still stands, and allowed me to virtually drive the country roads in Ireland where the Muirheads spent their lives. 

I will try to share more stories and information as I get more organized and have my weekly research date at the Family History Centre. I have so much collected over the years but it needs to be shared. Asking for stories or about people will help! Use the comments and I can share what I have. My aunt asked about the Puzey line and that is when I realized how little I actually had. And I have found so much since I began to explore a bit more on that side of the family. (Go back in this blog to read some of the previous posts of what I have learned.)  And there is so much more to do. The more I learn, the more I realize that!

Next post:  What I learned about Jean Hunter Mulholland.

Jean Patterson Hunter