By Hattie Parkinson McGavin- June 28, 1959 

My grandfather’s father–my great grandfather, Thomas John, was born at Wood Roach Parish, Pembrokeshire, South Wales, January 29, 1820.  His parents were William and Letitia Phillips John. 

Thomas John was a shoe maker by trade.  He worked at home as a journeyman.  Farmers would buy leather and hire him to make their shoes.  He worked very hard day after day but he had a hard time supporting his family, as money was scarce and wages were low.  

He was deeply religious and was affiliated with the Independent Sect.  He could practically quote the Bible from memory in Welsh.   

He married Margaret Thomas, July 14, 1840 when he was 20 ½ years and she was 25 years old.  To them was born nine children.  When their fifth child, James, was nearly two years old the father decided to try his luck in the new land of America.  He got a chance to work his way across the ocean as an assistant cook.  He left in 1848. 

He roamed around from place to place, wherever he could find employment.  When he got a felon on his finger and couldn’t work, he became discouraged and decided to return to his native land. 

He left America in the spring of 1849.  When he landed in Liverpool he saw a great many friends ready to leave for America.  He told them of his great disappointment and how foolish they were to leave their homeland.  They answered him that nothing could stop them, as they were determined to go to the land of Zion.  He told them he never had even heard of such a place, but instead he had found only hardships and wickedness.  They told him the angel, John had seen , as recorded in Rev. 14:6 had truly come and had restored the true gospel of Jesus Christ to a boy prophet named Joseph Smith. 

Soon after his return, his Aunt Mary Phillips came to visit him.  She told him she had joined a strange church which she was convinced was the true church.  She told him she was impressed by its name–The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  He loved his aunt and had faith in her judgement.  He was not only impressed but convinced, as she proved the doctrine of this new church from his Bible.  His aunt’s daughter, his cousin, who belonged to the Catholic Church left home when her mother became a Mormon and vowed she would never return. 

As his Aunt Mary read prophecies of the restoration, Thomas got a desire to read more and more.  He was especially impressed with Isaiah’s prophecy that “The mountain of the Lord’s house should be established in the tops of the mountains and all nations should flow unto it.” 

He was convinced this was the true church.  Then he thought of his friends and how they would look down on him if he joined the despised Mormons.  He spent many sleepless nights trying to decide what to do.  Then one night from out of the darkness the words came to him, “He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me.”  That was his answer.  He knew the gospel was true and that it was the greatest thing that had ever come in his life. 

He was baptized on April 22, 1851.  His struggle to support his family became real, for now every avenue of support was closed to him.  His father looked down on him with scorn and contempt.  He had to work for other shoe makers to get any employment at all. 

As time went on, the weight of oppression became so heavy he felt it would crush him.  He felt that he could not stand the contempt and ridicule of those who used to be his friends another day.  One day, feeling friendless and alone, he stopped his work, knelt at this work bench and humbly and earnestly asked his Father in Heaven to forgive him if he had done wrong and to guide him to the right. 

Suddenly he felt a light resting upon his head, which warmed and penetrated every fibre of his body.  This feeling continued until he seemed encompassed in light and floating in the air.  With unspeakable joy he said; “ It is enough, I am satisfied.  Father in Heaven, I thank Thee.”  From that moment he never doubted again. 

Persecution continued.  The boys couldn’t get work.  They were beaten severely by school mates and the school teacher, they were obliged to quit school.  After enduring this treatment for five years the family moved to Haisford, about eight miles away.  This was in 1856. 

Thomas started  in the shoe business again.  Being very adept and expert in his profession, everyone brought work to him.  He had so much to do he had to have his sons, William and Charles, help him.  He was now making enough that he could pay into the Perpetual Emigration Fund. 

By 1861 he had saved enough money to cross the Atlantic to New York.  They now had nine children, which made eleven in the family.  Phoebe, the oldest, married James Cusworth and refused to go to America with  her family. She moved to London, corresponded with her family for a few years, then they lost all trace of her.  (She was born December 18, 1838) 

The children who came with their parents were – William, Charles, Ann, James, Levi, Henry, Letitia, and Mary Jane. 

They crossed the ocean in a sailing ship, the New York Manchester, and were 33 days crossing the ocean. 

When they landed in America the Civil War was at its height.  There was a great demand for military equipment, shoes, boots, belts, knapsacks, etc.  Thomas rented a house across the Hudson from New York and here he and his sons were kept very busy for the next 14 months.  Then they started the long journey to Salt Lake Valley, with just enough money to reach Winter Quarters.  They left by train.  The car with their baggage burned on the way, which literally proved his vow…he would never complain, if he could only reach the valley, if he didn’t have a shirt on his back. 

They camped at Council Bluffs for six weeks while waiting for wagons.  They lived on wild berries and fruits and endured severe thunder and lightning storms. 

They left Council Bluffs with a caravan of sixty wagons, furnished by the Church Emigration Fund from church members living in Cache Valley in 1862.  There were 60 wagons- 265 people.  Twenty eight persons died on the journey.  Henry Miller was captain of the group. 

William and Charles, who were 21 and 19 years of age, were hired to drive teams across the plains for which they got board and passage. 

It was September and nights were cool.  They ate sparingly and saved flour so they could trade it to the Indians for blankets. When the captain heard this he ordered that they get no more flour until they used up what they had.  The snow came early that fall so they suffered greatly with the cold. 

They arrived in Salt Lake City on October 17, 1872.  They camped in a tent on Emigration Square.  They were given some warm bread and molasses for their supper by an old friend, Sister Twig. 

The next afternoon their trains pulled out for Cache Valley.  They camped the first night between Brigham and Mantua and arrived in Wellsville, October 22, 1862.  Ten weeks after leaving Council Bluffs. 

Brigham Young was in Wellsville holding a meeting and all the John family was invited to eat dinner at the same place where Brigham Young was invited.  They were hesitant to accept because they were so dirty.  Brigham Young told them it was not the outside apparel that counted, so long as their hearts were clean and pure.  They went to dinner with Brother John Maughan.  His family was dressed in home made grey clothes, made by mixing black and white wool.  No feast could have tasted more delicious to this weary hungry family.  It was a special treat for them to sit up to a table again. 

The next day the children started working for Brother Maughan, pressing sugar at the molasses mill.  They obtained thousands of gallons, that was clear as amber and sweet as honey. 

The people were poor in worldly goods but wealthy in spirit.  Everyone helped everyone else and shared their belongings, talents and time. 

They fixed up a house given them by William Rigby, in the new fort, to live in that winter.  It had no doors or windows- just an opening to crawl through.  The roof was supported by quaking asp trees, with willow sticks covered by straw and a foot of dirt to make the roof.  The floor was swept with sage brush and the opening covered with a pile of boards.  The room was 14’ by 16’ and each corner was packed with straw to make a soft bed.  By Christmas they had a door that would close and a window installed. 

They dug an acre of potatoes for John Thirkell and got one fourth of the crop.  Then the boys were paid in potatoes for their work, which gave them a winter’s supply. 

When Charles and William arrived they helped thresh, for a bushel of wheat per day.  With wheat, potatoes and molasses they were really living well. 

Late in November 1862 they were all re-baptized.  When the harvesting was done Thomas and his son, William, started their shoe making trade.  They had a tannery in Wellsville and a man in Paradise made some shoe lasts.  The leather they used was inferior, as they could not wait for it to ripen. 

School was held three months each year.  James Lieshman was the school teacher.  Pupils took turns doing janitor work and chopping wood.  The teacher was paid with food.  Any book in the town was used as a text book and was loaned around. 

In 1864 trade began between the gold fields of Montana and the farm areas in Utah which brought in the first money and a measure of prosperity.  Soon a city was laid out and two rock school houses were built to accommodate the many children. 

James John, my grandfather, was 15 when his family emigrated to America. His main job was delivering shoes for his father in Wales. When he was 19 years old he married Hannah Sophronia Abbott who was 16.  She was born at Council Bluffs, Iowa. 

Their first child Thomas Jacob, named after his two grandfathers, was born August 22, 1866 and died the same year. 

October 19 1867 a daughter was born  whom they named Mary Jane.  She was my mother. 

That same year, 1867 the entire John family decided to move over the mountain into Malad Valley at Portage in Box Elder county.  Large streams of water were coming down from Middle and North Canyon and they figured they could do much better on irrigated lands.   Each of the John boys took up a homestead of 160 acres adjoining each other and this settlement was, and is still called Johnstown, 

Grandpa (James) did so well on his farm that in 1889 he bought 500 acres more land at $1.50 an acre.  It took him years to grub the sage brush and clear the rock from it.  He raised good crops and sold calves.  He has many good horses and cows.  

Just before the birth of his eighth child, Angelina, October 4, 1877 he married in polygamy Mary James, May 16, 1877, who was a few years older than he.  She was a convert from Wales.  She had two small daughters whom he adopted and raised as his own.  They were Aunt Emma Ashton and Aunt Annie Heaton.  They traveled to the St. George Temple to be married.  At this time the government authorities were persecuting the polygamists.  Two of grandpa;s brothers ( William and Charles) had gone to Colorado and Arizona to escape imprisonment, as they too had married in polygamy.  Just when the government began taking drastic steps, grandmother died- July 30, 1886, after the birth of her 13th child, a girl whom they named Rosella and who died the same day she was born. 

Of these 13 children only 8 were living when grandma died.  A great deal of responsibility fell on the shoulders of my mother, as she was the oldest and was left with the care of the young children.  She was nearly 19 years old.  She (Mary Jane) married my father, Henry E. Parkinson.  To them was born 8 children. 

Elizabeth married Frank Hall and died when her second child was born.  Harriet married Charles W. Hall and died at the birth of her 3rd child.  Emily married Edwin Vaughan and died after the birth of their 9th child.  Angeline married Joseph W. Olson and died after the birth of her 6th child.  Margaret Sophronia died two years after her mother at age of 8 years.  David, the only son to live to maturity, married Reba Heaton.   Letitia married Samuel Smith.  They had 14 children.  She is the only surviving child of James and Hannah at this writing (June 1939).  To James John and his second wife were born 5 children.  Thomas married Rose Ward.  They had 8 children.  He is an ordinance worker in the Logan Temple. 

Sariah married Lee Howell and they had a family of several children and she died in 1948 at the age of 68 years.   

Minnie married Lorenzo Hoskins.  She died when her 3rd child was born in 1907 at the age of 25 years. 

Irene married Richard Ward and has a family of 11 children.  She is still alive living in Pocatello, Idaho. 

Edgar married Ethel Buick.  They had 3 children and she died in 1938 at age 52. 

Grandpa continued to live on his big farm at Portage  He built a nice addition to his log home, then eventually tore down the log house and built another frame addition. 

I remember many delightful visits I have had there and some occasions when I stopped over night with them.  We called Aunt Mary, Grandma.  She lived until November 1923- age 70 years. 

In 1914 Grandpa married Emilyl Bough Thirkell of Wellsville.  She was a lovely, sweet, gracious soul, whom we all accepted as our new grandma. 

Grandpa was a deeply religious man.  What I remember most is how he loved to dance and sing and be with young people.  He was our ward teacher for many years.  He would seat the family around him and talk to every one of us personally and ask such questions as: “Are you a good girl?  Do you obey your parents?  Do you go to Sunday School and Primary?  Do you pay your tithing?  Do you have any bad feelings toward any one you would like us to straighten out?” 

In 1914 when grandpa was 68 years old he sold his big farm to James Darley and moved to Logan.  Here he spent the remaining years of his life working in the Logan Temple.   

He died at Logan, December 23, 1937 at the age of 82 years.  He was buried in the Portage Cemetery.   

This ended the life of a good man.  I am sure he was welcomed and greeted heartily when he entered the heavenly portals with the salutation, “ Well done, thou good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful over a few things, now I will make thee Lord over many.  Enter into the joy of the Lord.”