Thomas Parry was born to William Parry and Mary Ann Thomas Parry, at Ely,
Glamorganshire, Wales, on September 16, 1845, where he lived until May 16, 1861, when he sailed to America on the
ship, "The Monarch of the Sea", which left Liverpool on May
16, 1861. On board the ship were 955 people under the direction of Jobez Woodward and O.H. Hansen. The ship arrived in New York City on June 19,
1861. He was at St. Joseph,
Missouri when the Civil War broke
out and all the passengers on board were searched for firearms. His father,
William Parry, died in Wales
when he was a little boy. His mother and part of the family sailed earlier in
the same year and stopped at Florence,
Nebraska, to wait for him. He
crossed the plains in 1861, in Joseph
Homes and Homer Duncan's
company, walking most of the way. They arrived in Salt Lake City, September 13, 1861.
From there he moved to Brigham City, and in the
fall of 1865 he came to Malad and got enough logs to
build a house. He returned to Brigham
City and remained until the spring of 1866, when he
and his family, consisting of his mother and brothers and sisters, moved to Malad to make their home.
In 1864, an Indian by the name of Pocatello, was with Thomas and some other men who were hauling grain
for Ben Holiday who had the contract to haul mail. Pocatello was sent with the men in case any
trouble arose with the Indians. He was a good friend to the white people and
stopped a great deal of trouble for them as the Indians very often stole cattle
from the white men. The men who were freighting went as far as City of the
Rocks and filled all the stations with grain. At another time when Thomas was
herding sheep with his stepfather, Mr. Hobbs, where Bear River City
now is, five young Indians came into their camp and were using his comb. He
ordered them to leave, but they refused. He got his gun and they fled. He was
afraid they might return, but they didn't.
In the fall of 1868, about three years
after moving to Malad, Thomas' brother, William was killed
while attending a dance. A man named Benson from Cache Valley
had a dispute with a man named Thorpe. The manager of the dance hall asked
Benson to leave. He did, but fired through the door as he was leaving, and the bullet intended for the manager
hit William. Some of the men, including the Peck boys, went in pursuit of the
fleeing man. As Thomas was going for the doctor a bullet from the gunman came
very near hitting him. Bensonescaped but some years later. after
killing another man, was captured and paid for his crimes with hislife. William was taken home. and
his body was laidon the floor in front of the
fireplace . He died a few hours after being taken home. The blood stains that were
on the rock could not be removed. Large flat rocks were used at that time for
floors and steps. so the rock was turned over.
Sarah
Hannah Colton was born 30 May 1860, at Scranton,
Pennsylvania. She was the daughter
of Joseph and Ellen H. Colton. Her parents were from England and were converted to the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The family,
consisting of Joseph and Ellen Colton, and their daughter, Ann Elizabeth, left Liverpool. England, on April 26, 1855, and sailed for America on the
ship "The William Stetsen". After a long
and tiresome journey, they arrived at New
York on June 24, 1855.
From New York, they went to Pennsylvania where Joseph worked in the
mines for six years. They lived near Scranton,
Pennsylvania. It was here that
Sarah was born. A son, Joseph, was also born here. Joseph and Ellen left Scranton in the spring of
1861. Sarah was less than one year old. This was at the beginning of the Civil
War. They traveled by train to where the emigrant trains were made up, and it
was dangerous to travel. The men were searched for firearms and often the
Southern soldiers would shoot at the trains when they stopped or started up
from a station. Coincidentally, they crossed the plains in the company of Joseph Homes
and Homer Duncan. In this same company was a 15-year old boy, Thomas Parry, who
some years later would marry Sarah Colton.
Sarah's mother carried her most of the way
across the plains. They arrived in Salt
Lake City on September 13, 1861. They remained in Salt Lake City only a short time when they moved to Weber Valley,
where Joseph worked on a farm. For one whole winter they lived on wheat ground
in a coffee mill which they had brought from England. The family left Weber Valley
and came to Malad in October 1866. There were only a
dozen families living in Malad at that time. They
located a farm and spent the first winter in a dug-out near the home of Jesse
H. Dredge. They built a one room home of logs and later two log rooms were
built on their farm. No nails were available at that time and wooden pegs were
used in place of nails.
Most of
the houses at that time had fireplaces, and it was the girls'job
to shine the brass candlesticks which were placed on the mantle above the
fireplace. They also shined the brass buckets. Sand was used to do most of this
work. Sarah attended school but a short time each year. She indicated that when
she was a girl things were hard to get and she went barefoot most of the time.
She often walked quite some distance to take the cows to pasture and bring them
home in the evening. Her father died in 1882, leaving Ellen with the family to
care for and for almost 40 years Ellen was a widow and raised her family of
eight children alone.
On January 25,
1882, Sarah Hannah Colton and Thomas Parry were married in Malad.
Thomas entered a homestead and began breaking up the ground for fanning. It was
a hard and tiresome task with the machinery he had to work with at that time. Thomas
and Sarah worked very hard on the farm, clearing sagebrush and fighting
grasshoppers and crickets. At one time Thomas wore a shirt made from a flour
sack with the words, "Salt Lake Tithing" written in large letters
across the back, and a pair of buckskin trousers which, after he got them wet,
were shrunken almost to the knees, but nevertheless, he had to wear them
because they were all he had. He spent 15 years freighting from Corinne, Utah, to Montana, during which
time the Indians were very troublesome.
Nine children were born to Thomas and Sarah:
Lillian, William, Joseph, Sarah, Thomas, Ellen, Paul, George, and Mary Ann.
Thomas died November 17, 1933, in Malad City, Idaho. Sarah died June 12,194 1, in Malad City,
Idaho. They were both buried in the St. John Cemetery.
Submitted by: Joan Williams
