RICHARD and MARY MORGANS
THOMAS family
By
son Morgan M. Thomas
My
father, Richard Thomas, was born in 1816 at Glamorgan,
South
Wales. He died in 1856, same place.
My
mother's maiden name was Mary Morgans. She was born July
10, 1819 at Dawlais, South Wales. She died at Spanish Fork, Utah, October' 5, 1882. There were the parents of nine
children, seven sons and two daughters.
Two sons died very young in Wales. Both of their names were Edward. The other children's names were:
John born 01 Jan
1842
' at Merthyr, Tydfil, Wales
Thomas 01 Mar 1844 ' '
Alice 02 May 1846 ' '
Hiram (Hyram) ' 23
Sep 1848 ' '
David 20 Dec
1852 ' '
Morgan M. 21 Dec 1852 ' ' '
Cecilia 13 May
1854
' ' '
My
father was a coal miner. He was accidentally
killed in a mine cave-in on October 14, 1856, at the age of 40. My mother was left penniless with a family of
seven to rear. My mother supported this
large family by working for the iron company.
She had to follow the ore train seven miles to the smelter. (The train was pulled by six horses). She had to pick up the ore if it fell off the
cars. She left home at 7
am
and returned at 7 pm on the empty train. When not employed at the mines, she took in
washings and helped houseclean around the neighborhood. My eldest brother was 14 years old when
father died. He
helped mother as much as he could to support the family. My sister Alice, who was 11 years old, kept
house for the family while mother worked.
My
father heard of Mormonism in 1847. He
joined the Church soon after. My mother
was converted and was baptized at the same time as father. He was ordained an Elder in the Church that
same year. He preached this doctrine and
lived it until he was killed. He would
walk from town to town to explain Mormonism.
About
1862, my oldest brother John, 20, came to America, settling in Illinois. He worked in the coal mines there. Soon after he sent for his sweetheart, Anna
James, from Mountain Ash, South Wales, and they were married.
In
1869, brother Hiram, 21, came to America with the Elias Morris
Company. He settled first in Logan, Utah, working with the farmers
there. Later he went to Tintic, Utah, and worked in the Mammoth
Mine, where he saved between $250.00 and $300.00 to send for my mother, sister,
brother and myself to come to America.
In
1873, my mother, brother David, sister Celia, and
myself, in the company of Elder John Hart of Ogden, sailed the Atlantic in the vessel Idaho. We were on the ocean three weeks. We arrived in Spanish Fork, Utah on 18 November 1873. We had
several friends from Wales who had settled there. They were Thomas Lloyd, Benjamin Isaac,
Howell James, Mary James, Rees James and William H. Davis. Brother Hiram had met and visited with these
people many times before we came.
We
rented John Babcock's log house on Main Street for one year. It was a two-room log house for which we paid
$40.00 a year rent. My brother Hiram
bought the furniture for mother. My brother
David then went to Tintic to work in the mines with
Hiram. I stayed in Spanish Fork and went
to work on Jack Jones' farm earning $150.00 per year, but I remained there only
three months.
In
the meantime, Hiram and David had left Tintic and
gone to work at the mines in Bingham Canyon where I joined them. after leaving the farm.
I helped in a boarding house at $1.50 per day plus board and room, until
I could get a better job. Finally I got
a job sorting ore at the mines. From
then on I was a miner, going with my brothers to different mining camps,
working hard days and singing nights.
In
1874, David bought half a city block in Spanish Fork from Jack Jones for
$750.00. 'The same
ground on which we now live.' It
has been my home for sixty-six years.
The original house on this property was an adobe house, five rooms: two
upstairs and three downstairs. David,
Hiram, and I all clubbed in together and paid for this property. We worked I the mines and sent mother a
certain amount each month to pay the installments to Jack Jones. My brother Hiram later sold his third to
Thomas Jones, an old Welshman who lived alone.
When Thomas Jones died, about 1898, he willed this property to Thomas Bons of Spanish Fork.
The Bons family had cared for him during his
last few years, taking him fuel, food, medicines and other necessities. For this service he willed this property to
them. This property is now owned by a
granddaughter of Thomas Bons, who now lives in California.
We
brothers worked at Bingham, Mercer, Frisco, Winter Quarters, and Scofield. 'Scofield is where I met Ella Clarke, whom I married in
1885. We have lived together 55 years,
August 19 of this year, 1940.
Morgan
M. Thomas dictated this account of his life to his daughter, Mary Thomas
Clifford in the summer of 1940. He died 29 December 1941.
