LOCATES IN BOUNTIFUL—GENEROSITY OF NEIGHBORS—RECOGNIZED HOME SHOWN HIM IN DREAM—BURNED OUT—RUNS A SAW MILL—DEATH OF WIFE—CHILD TERRIBLY SCALDED, RECOVERS—BRIGHAM YOUNG'S PROMISE—MARRIES AGAIN—COMFORTING TESTIMONIES.
THOMAS and his family spent a few days in Salt Lake, studying over the question, of where to locate. While wondering what to do, the thought occurred to him to inquire where an old-country friend of his, named Joseph Reed lived, of whom he had heard nothing for fourteen years. While walking up towards the Temple Block he felt prompted to inquire at the Deseret News Office. He was there informed that a man of that name lived at Bountiful.
The next morning he took the stage for that place. He found the man he was looking for, and they had a long and friendly chat. Brother Reed advised Thomas to come and make his home in Bountiful, where he could find plenty of feed for his cattle, and where he might also obtain work. Or, if he preferred to go to a new region, where he could locate on as much land as he desired, Bear Lake Valley was suggested as a good place, though rather distant.
Thomas felt that he had done all the traveling he cared to for one year, and preferred to establish a temporary home to determine where he could locate permanently to the best advantage. He accordingly returned to Salt Lake City and took his family to Bountiful. They arrived there Saturday evening, and attended meeting the next day—the first time he had been so privileged for over ten years.
The family lived in their wagon for the first two weeks, and during that time Thomas was given the privilege of helping his friend husk corn, getting every sixth bushel husked for his share. Then he rented a one-roomed house at $3.00 per month and set up housekeeping in it. They had no furniture, but converted a large box, (which they had their clothing packed in while making their journey across the plains) into a table, and made seats by buying a few slabs and boring holes in them, in which to insert sticks to serve as legs. For want of bedsteads, they made their beds upon the floor. The room was not plastered, and they felt the cold severely at times, but they were thankful for the comforts they had. Under these conditions his son James was born, on the 6th of December, 1864, and, notwithstanding the winter was long and cold, the mother and babe continued to do well.
His nearest neighbor, John Spencer, proffered to lend Thomas two hundred pounds of flour until he could afford to repay it, and when he learned that it was the proceeds of wheat which Sister Spencer and her daughter had gleaned in the fields of their wealthier neighbors, after their harvest was over, his heart overflowed with gratitude therefor.
When their flour was exhausted, and they didn't know where to obtain any more, Joseph Reed offered to lend him flour or anything else in the edible line he had, and told him not to allow his family to suffer for want of food as long as he had any.
The generosity and unselfishness of these offers will be apparent when it is mentioned that flour at that time would sell at from $20.00 to $24.00 per hundred pounds.
He had not been living in Bountiful long when he recognized one particular locality as the very spot shown him in vision while sick in Wisconsin where he would build a house and make a home, and pointed it out to his wife. Upon inquiry of the man who owned the ground (two acres in extent, and unimproved) he found he could buy it for the sum of $100.00, and upon learning that he had no funds with which to buy it, the man was willing to give him time in which to pay for it. He bargained for it without hesitation, and after his first harvest paid for it in molasses at $4.00 per gallon.
In the early spring of 1865 he rented a few acres of land and planted the same to onions, beets, carrots, sugar cane and corn; he cultivated the land well, and obtained a good crop. In the meantime he built some sheds to shelter his animals, and a stackyard, and mowed quite a lot of hay on vacant land, and stacked this and his other produce in his yard.
In the early part of the following December, while he and his son Ephraim were away in the canyon after a load of wood, his stable and stackyard and their contents were accidentally burned to the ground. His first impulse on learning of it was to inquire if the family was safe. Being assured on that point, he said all that he had he had dedicated to the Lord, and if the Lord chose to make a burnt offering of it he had nothing to say. He would go on and work for more.
The fire not only had the effect of testing Thomas, but of developing the sympathy and generosity of his neighbors. Some of them gave him hay, others flour, etc., so that his loss by the fire was largely offset.
Soon afterwards Newton Tuttle proposed that Thomas go in partnership with him and buy an abandoned saw mill, in Holbrook canyon, and he did so. His activities during the next two or three years were largely in the line of lumbering, at which he worked very hard and effectively, first as a partner of Brother Tuttle, and later as sole owner of the saw mill.
On the 3rd of April, 1867, their daughter Hannah was born.
On the 23rd of March, 1868, he was elected school trustee, which position he filled for many years.
During that year also, the crops in this region suffered severely from the ravages of grasshoppers, and he, being called to act with two others in devising means and directing the work of destroying the pest, spent a good deal of time for the public good in that line.
In the latter part of that year he was called upon to help supervise the amusements of the young people, and prevent them from drifting into evil.
On the 13th of September, 1869, his wife gave birth to twins—Thomas E. and Elizabeth.
In that and succeeding years Thomas was used very extensively under the direction of the Bishop, as a kind of special teacher and peace-maker in the ward, in settling differences between neighbors, and laboring with backsliders to get them to do their duty.
On the 1st of June, 1872, his daughter, Martha, his ninth and last child, was born.
In the latter part of November, 1874, he fitted up a room in his house for a night school, for the benefit of any who could not attend school during the day time, and he himself, as well as many others, attended it.
About this time strong efforts were made to effect a species of co-operation among the residents of Bountiful, in the raising and marketing of garden products, and Thomas was appointed to take charge of the company that was organized; but, although he devoted much time and attention to it, the business did not prove successful, because of lack of union and experience on the part of the members.
His wife's health being very poor, he found it necessary to remain at home, and devoted himself to market gardening. He made a specialty of starting tomato, egg plant, and a few other vegetables (that up to that time had only been raised in very limited quantities in Utah) in a room of his house, in which he kept a fire constantly burning, and then setting them out much earlier than usual, on an extensive scale, and made it profitable.
He purchased some land on the bench above Bountiful, and also located quite an extensive tract, and extended the scope of his operations, his sons Ephraim, David and James working in company with him.
During the early part of 1876 his wife's health, which had been bad and growing worse for a long time, became such that he hardly dared to leave her. She was affected with dropsy, and much of the time almost helpless.
About this time he had a dream, which indicated to him that he would have to part with her, and when, on the 15th of July following, she suddenly died, the circumstances were in fulfillment of the dream, thus confirming what was predicted in tongues in 1849: that his trials should be shown him beforehand.
She had been a good and true wife, and mother, and he felt her death all the more keenly because of being in very poor health himself at the time. His leg, which was never free from pain, and always discharging, had been so much worse for some time that he could scarcely stand, and yet he felt compelled to assist in the work of the household, as well as to attend to his duties in the ward. Soon after the death of his wife, his youngest child, Martha, who was then four years old, in accidentally falling, plunged her arm into a pot of boiling brine which had just been lifted from the stove, and as she had a woolen dress on, which held the heat, her arm was practically cooked to the bone. From the top of her shoulder to her finger tips was like a piece of raw beef, and her father was the only one she would allow to wait upon her. As she could not lie in bed, she was kept seated in a rocking chair, and Thomas watched and waited upon her devotedly both night and day for three months. When he would dress her arm her agony would be so intense that she would tear the hair out of her head by the handful. It was only by the power of God that her life was saved and the use of her arm spared. When she did finally recover, her injured arm was just as good as the other.
The Temple in St. George had been completed by that time, and Thomas was strongly reminded of his father's dying injunction to "never forget the dead." He was so strongly impressed with the fact that it was his duty to go to St. George and have the work done for all of his ancestors whose names he had, that he talked the matter over with his neighbor, Newton Tuttle, who became so enthusiastic on the subject that he proffered to go to St. George with him, and to furnish the team to convey them on the trip.
Though impelled by the Spirit to go to the Temple, he still had doubts as to whether he would be allowed to engage in ordinance work therein, because of having the running sores on his leg. He accordingly conferred with Bishop Anson Call on the subject, but the Bishop was unable to answer his query.
Thomas then appealed to the Lord in prayer to know whether it was His will that he should go, and whether the dead knew what was being done on earth in their behalf. He had perfect confidence that the Lord would hear and grant his wish, as He had heard and answered his prayers many times in the past.
Directly afterward he had a dream in which he thought he was traveling from the north to the south, and that his wife's sister, Sarah, was with him. They were walking along the road, and he was talking to her of the things of the Gospel. They came to a very large field of wheat—the finest he had ever seen. He saw a number of men at work harvesting, as the wheat was ripe. Other men were seen lounging in the shade, and neglecting the crop, which seemed to be in danger of being wasted.
He asked his companion to observe the scene before them, as it was typical of worldly conditions—some doing their utmost to save the master's crop, while others are careless and indifferent.
All at once it seemed to grow dark—so dark that he could not see where to go, and he lost his companion. While standing still, wondering where to go, he saw a small light a long distance away, and as he approached it, it grew larger and brighter. Then a large white building appeared in view, such as he had never seen before. A number of steps led up from the east side, and the door stood open; but he could see no one around, and everything looked white as snow. He entered the door and looked around, and saw another flight of steps. At the top of the steps stood a woman whom he recognized as one of his neighbors, and who came towards him and embraced him.
He awoke and pondered over his dream, and came to the conclusion that the Lord had another wife for him, as the woman he saw seemed to be waiting for some one.
Some time after that he asked Bishop Call some questions concerning the dead, which the Bishop did not venture to answer, but suggested that he go and talk with President Brigham Young, and offered to go with him.
They accordingly visited President Young, who answered the questions that Thomas wanted to be enlightened upon in a way that was satisfying and very comforting to him, and explained Temple work to him in a way that he had never fully understood before.
After conversing about an hour, he said: "Brother Briggs, how many of the names of your dead kindred have you?" On learning that he had only seven names, he asked:
"And have you faith to travel to St. George, over three hundred miles distant, to do the work for seven dead persons?"
Thomas told him he had, and seemed surprised at his asking, for it had not occurred to him that it required a great amount of faith to do so.
"Well, the Lord bless you for your faith!" said President Young. "Go to St. George, and have the work done for those whose names you have. Travel comfortably and independently, making your own camp and sleeping in or under your wagon. Put the people along the way and in St. George to as little trouble as possible. If you require hay, bread or other supplies, pay for them. Then all the honor will be yours. You shall be blessed on the trip, and you shall never want for names of the dead to work for as long as you live."
He and Brother Tuttle secured their recommends to admit them to the Temple and commenced preparations for the journey. He also called upon Mrs. Ann Ashdown, the sister whom he had seen in his dream, and told her he was going to St. George, and asked if she would like to go along and become his wife and a mother to his children. He advised her to think about it, and give him a reply the next day.
The following day she gave her consent, and he told her to prepare for the journey. He then went to his son Ephraim and announced that he intended to marry, but didn't suppose that anyone could guess who his prospective bride was.
The son replied that he knew who his mother had said he would sometime marry, and named Sister Ashdown.
He then called upon his eldest daughter, Emma, and broke the news to her, as he had to his son. She too was prepared for it, and informed him that her mother, some time before her death, had predicted to her that Mrs. Ashdown would yet become her father's wife, either in time or eternity, as it had been made known to her in a vision. This was an additional evidence to Thomas that it was the Lord's will, for his wife had never even hinted to him that she ever had such an impression. She had, however, a short time before her death told him of two old maids with whom she had lived during her childhood, and who had sent her to school. She asked him to have the work done for them in the Temple, and to have them sealed to him.
Brother Tuttle and his daughter Emily, and Thomas and his daughter Emma, and prospective wife soon set out for St. George, where they arrived on the 24th of May, 1877.
They called upon Apostle Wilford Woodruff, who was then in charge of the Temple, the same day, and after he had endorsed their recommends, Thomas explained to him his condition, and asked whether he should keep the bandage on his leg or remove it. Brother Woodruff remained silent a few moments, as if communing with the Lord, and then told him to come to the Temple early the following morning and to remove the bandage.
Thomas recognized the Temple as soon as he saw it, as the building he had seen in his dream, and when he entered the Temple the scene was enacted that he had witnessed in the interior, although he had said nothing to anyone about the dream.
When his daughter Emma was baptized for his grandmother he received a powerful testimony that his ancestor had accepted of the work done in her behalf.
They all greatly rejoiced in the work they were privileged to do in the Temple, and felt amply repaid for the trouble and sacrifice which the trip involved.
They worked in the Temple during the whole of the week, and Thomas each day removed the bandage from his leg when he entered the Temple, as he had been advised to do, and noticed with interest and gratitude to the Lord, that there was no discharge whatever from the ulcers, but when he left the Temple in the afternoon each day, the suppuration recurred and continued until he entered the Temple the following day. Nor did he suffer any pain while in the Temple.
After finishing the work for all the dead whose names and genealogies they had, they drove out on their return journey a few miles and camped. That night, soon after Thomas had retired to rest in his bed under the wagon, his mother appeared to him. "You have made a mistake in giving in my genealogy," she said. "You have given the date upon which I was married instead of the date of my birth; but you need not go back now, as some of the family will soon come here, and then you can have the error corrected." She disappeared when Thomas was about to embrace her. This visit and the purpose of it, were testimonies to Thomas that the dead have a knowledge of the work being done in their behalf. It was also an answer to the prayer offered by Thomas when he sought for information upon that point. It was an evidence too, that the dead have some foreknowledge of things that are going to transpire; for, although Thomas was not aware that any of his family would visit the St. George Temple soon, he was informed by his son, David, almost as soon as he reached home, that he had decided to marry, and he accepted the father's advice to go to St. George and be married in the Temple.
UNSTINTED SERVICE—INSPIRATION—GOES TO THE NORTHWESTERN STATES AS A MISSIONARY—HEALTH FAILS AND HE RETURNS—SHOCKING DEATH OF SON DAVID—LIMB AMPUTATED—PATRIARCHAL BLESSING—INCIDENT IN LOGAN TEMPLE—TRIP TO ENGLAND TO OBTAIN GENEALOGY.
DURING the succeeding few years Thomas spent more time even than usual in the performance of his public duties in the ward, and the marvel is that he was able to make a living and do so much gratuitous work. He pays a high tribute in his memoir to the devoted service and efficient help he received from his wife, who was as kind to his children as if they had been her own, and of great assistance and comfort to him.
He and his sons generally worked in partnership in the raising and marketing of garden produce. In this they were prosperous, and their relations harmonious. The following is casually mentioned in his narrative, and will serve to illustrate the inspiration Thomas frequently enjoyed.
One day his son David had started to town with an extra big load of garden truck, and some time later, while Thomas and his wife were eating breakfast, he said to her: "Ann, David has broken his wagon, and is in a bad fix, as he is some distance from where he expected to sell his load."
It was learned when David returned in the evening that he had broken his wagon, and had great difficulty in securing another wagon and transferring his load to it, all of which delayed him about three hours, and when he arrived in town all the stores were supplied. Feeling very much discouraged, he was about to start for another part of the city, when a man from Park City happened along and looked at David's load, and, as he found it included just the things he wanted, he bought the entire load. The father told him it was through the power of the Lord that the man was sent to him, so that he might sell his produce.
One day when he and his wife were eating breakfast an impression came over Thomas that they were going to have trouble of some kind before night, and he mentioned it to his wife. Just then his son Ephraim came in and remarked that he was going to the canyon. His father asked him not to go, but to remain at home and work, as he thought that some trouble was going to occur. However, after the father had started to the city, Ephraim went to the canyon, and, in felling a tree, accidently killed one of his horses, by the tree hitting it.
About this time the Bishop of Bountiful was absent from home a great deal, and Thomas, acting as head teacher, was required to assume the Bishop's duties to a large extent; indeed from his memoir it appears that his public service consumed nearly all of his time. It is little to be wondered at that his sons and son-in-law, who had been associated with him in the raising and marketing of garden produce, decided to dissolve partnership and operate separately. Thomas, in his memoir, expresses gratitude to them for their forbearance in having been willing for him to devote such a large share of his time to caring for the poor, and other public duties.
One member of a company or association may feel willing (as Thomas did) to devote the whole of his time, if necessary, to gratuitous service, but if his interest in the partnership or association is based upon the assumption that his time belongs to the company, his associates in business necessarily become servitors when he serves, whether willingly so or not. Thomas' sons and son-in-law were good men, and not ungenerous, but were not prepared in their feelings to make unlimited sacrifice for the public good, and their revolt was quite natural. Later, however, his son Ephraim decided to still work with his father, and they built a greenhouse to be the better able to carry on their business.
The year 1882 marked the half century of Thomas' life, and he was deeply grateful to the Lord for having spared his life so long—much longer than he had hoped to live, and the joy he experienced in contemplating the future of his posterity. His love for the poor found expression on the first day of the year in his entertaining the poor residents of Bountiful, about fifty in number, at his home, and on the following day all of his children and all of his wife's children by a former husband came to his home loaded down with good things, and gave him a genuine surprise party, and had a time of rejoicing.
Having received a call from the First Presidency to fill a mission to the Northwestern States, a number of his relatives and friends gave him another surprise party on the 22nd of April, 1883, and presented him with a purse of $30.00 to help defray his expenses, for which he felt very grateful. He mentions in particular one poor widow who had to work for her living, who sent him $1.00 and a silk hankerchief.
On the 1st of May he left his home to labor as a missionary under the direction of Elder W. M. Palmer, and in his diary expresses a doubt whether a missionary ever set out under such circumstances as he did. The two running sores on his leg were very painful, and he walked with difficulty. While on the way Elder Palmer evidently realized for the first time how serious Thomas' ailment was, and expressed a doubt about his being able to endure the hardships incident to missionary life, and especially the damp climate prevailing in the northwest.
On reaching Minnesota, he was assigned to labor with Wm. H. Wright, of Ogden, but was taken so desperately sick soon after reaching his field of labor in Wisconsin that Elder Palmer hastened to release him, lest he might die there.
He arrived home a little less than four months after he left, having slightly improved in health during the journey home.
As soon as he was able to walk about, he resumed his former labors of caring for the poor and comforting and encouraging those who were weak in the faith. He records in his diary the fact that he was prompted by the Spirit to visit a poor woman who had been abandoned by her husband. As she had not previously been dependent upon the ward for help, he disregarded the prompting until the Lord warned him a second time to call upon her. He found then that she had been subsisting upon a few potatoes, and was really in need of food. He soon provided her with what was required to make her comfortable, and asked the Lord to forgive him for failing to act promptly upon the warnings of His Spirit.
About the middle of June, 1884, Thomas had a visit from his son David, who informed him that he had been so greatly blessed, and done so well materially, since he was married, that he had decided to go to school during the following winter, and prepare himself for a mission. Nothing that he could have proposed would have pleased his father more than this for he desired above all things that his posterity should devote themselves to the service of the Lord.
Only a few days later, June 19th, 1884, David stepped in front of the sickle bar of his mowing machine to unhitch his horses, after having been engaged in cutting grass about two miles from home, when the horses suddenly started, catching his feet in the sickle bar and nearly severing them. He had to go ten miles for medical aid, and the doctor amputated his feet. The weather was very warm, and blood poisoning set in, and on the 27th of June, eight days after the accident, he died.
Thomas was quite sick at the time, and was grief-stricken over his son's death. He had counted so confidently on his son's death. He had counted so confidently on his son's future development as a good and useful man, and the head of a large family, that he felt the disappointment very keenly, and could hardly be reconciled to his death.
During the summer of 1885, his sons were necessarily absent from home much of the time, and Thomas was under the necessity of working alone. While doing so he accidentally fell from his wagon one day, and hurt his lame leg very severely. The neighbors carried him into the house, and persuaded him to send for a doctor. The doctor came, and said the leg was very badly hurt, and that his patient would have to lie in bed for fully a month.
One night soon afterwards Thomas had a vision. He saw a bright light come through the east window of the room in which he lay, which seemed to move along the wall until it was opposite to where he was lying, when it stopped. A voice came from the light, which said: "Go to the hospital, and have that limb taken off; for you have a work to perform which you cannot do with the limb on."
Thomas was amazed, and kept looking at the light, when the voice was again heard, saying: "You doubt it, as you think if you go you will leave your family in debt, as you have not much money; but you need not fear, for means will be provided for you. And when you get the limb off, send for another limb, and you will astonish both saint and sinner, as you will be able to put it on as soon as you get it; and the train which shall bring your limb shall be delayed for a short time."
This was the vision, as far as he could relate it, and the light vanished the same as it had come. He told his family of it, and requested his son Ephraim to see Dr. Anderson, and tell him he was ready to have his limb amputated.
He went to the hospital on the 15th of December, 1885, and two days later the leg was amputated six inches from his body. Many of his friends, knowing his condition, expressed the belief that he would never come out of the hospital alive, but all went well, and on the 31st of January, 1886, he rode home from the hospital in a surrey.
While lying in the hospital, Brother Briggs asked a patriarch who called to see him, if he had a blessing for him. After looking at him for some time, the patriarch said he had, and placing his hands upon the patient's head, told him not to fear, for he should get well. He also said that angels were watching over him, and that he would live to accomplish a great work in the Temple—such as he had never conceived of.
For many months after Thomas returned from the hospital he experienced the sensation of pain in the missing foot. He could get no relief from it day or night, and found that it was wearing his wife out, waiting upon him. After much persuasion he induced his sons to exhume his leg, which was buried in the cemetery, straighten out the toes, which he felt must be in a cramped position, and put it in a larger box. About the time when the leg was dug up and the box opened, Thomas, though fully two miles distant, felt two sympathetic throbs in the stump of the limb, and then it turned ice cold. He remarked to his wife that they had taken the lid off the box. After the limb had been carefully wrapped in absorbent cotton and placed in a larger box, he felt very comfortable.
Early in March, 1886, he received a bill from the hospital for $85.00 and one from the doctor for $100.00, but had no money with which to pay either. Besides, the Spirit told him to get an artificial leg as soon as he could, and that would cost $100.00, if paid in advance. Money was very scarce at the time, and loans hard to obtain; but after praying to the Lord to direct him where to go to get some money, he had his son take him out with a horse and buggy for the purpose of borrowing some, without having any definite idea where to go to.
They had only driven a short distance when they saw some one coming towards them with a horse and buggy, and Thomas asked his son to stop his horse when they met. It proved to be Ether Coltrin, and Thomas told him he would like to borrow a little money. Brother Coltrin immediately asked if he could get along with $100.00, and was told that he could. The loan was immediately arranged for, and part of it paid to the hospital and the balance to the doctor.
Thomas then appealed to the Lord to know where he could go to obtain the price of the artificial leg, and a few days later Daniel Davis came to him and said: "Thomas, if you want to get a little money, I can let you have some." When told that he needed $100.00, he said he could have it.
He had the stump of the limb measured and the limb ordered in April, and in due time received, and the delay predicted occurred while the train bearing it was on the way. He was able to wear it immediately, and during the latter part of the year he and his family were laboring in the Logan Temple (which had just been dedicated) for the living and the dead.
Brother Briggs has recorded in his diary this circumstance, which occurred in the Temple while he was present: As a great many persons were on the stairs of the assembly room, President Taylor discerned in the multitude a woman unworthy of admission. He did not know her, but he said to President Card, "Turn that woman back." He afterwards explained that the Spirit had told him that she had no business there. It was subsequently discovered that she had a forged recommend.
Being unable to cultivate his land that year, Thomas let it out on shares to his sons, who planted it to tomatoes and cucumbers. Just as they had made sufficient growth to be looking fine, a terrific hail and wind storm occurred, one of the worst ever known in that region, but, although nearly all the surrounding crops were destroyed, those in Thomas' field were not injured—which he naturally considered very providential, and thanked the Lord for favoring him.
With the advent of 1888, Thomas was strongly impressed with the fact that it was his duty to go to England and seek genealogical information; in fact, this feeling had been with him ever since he was in the hospital, at the time his leg was amputated, and when many regarded his recovery as very doubtful. The Spirit of the Lord had said to him then, "Prepare to go to England in 1888, and hunt up your genealogy."
He was in poor health and without funds, but didn't feel that those facts would excuse him from complying with the requirement of the Lord, if he could borrow the funds, for whenever he had borrowed anything in the past because duty required it, the Lord had afterwards provided a way for repaying the loan. With a desire in his heart that the Lord would enable him to obtain the necessary funds, he attended the April Conference, and as he entered the Temple Block gate he saw a man standing there whom he was prompted to apply to for a loan. He explained the purpose for which he wanted it, and obtained the desired amount without hesitation.
He went to England, traveled 1800 miles after he arrived there, met many relatives, was kindly received, collected two hundred names of his kindred dead, and arrived home seventeen weeks after he started.
In the spring of 1889 prospects indicated a great scarcity of water to irrigate with, and Thomas was worried as a consequence. Besides, he found himself burdened with a heavy indebtedness as a result of his trip to England, but, by cultivating four acres of land in addition to his own, he paid off all his indebtedness and had enough left to keep his family well provided, so that he felt that the Lord had blessed him for following the promptings of His Spirit.
HIS LIFE'S MISSION FOUND—EXTENSIVE GENEALOGY OBTAINED—BLESSED IN HIS WIVES AND CHILDREN—DEATH OF WIFE AND OTHERS—THIRD MARRIAGE—LEG AMPUTATED A SECOND TIME—HIS BENEDICTION.
FROM the time the Salt Lake Temple was completed in 1893 Thomas felt it to be his chief mission in life to obtain genealogical information and labor in the Temple for his dead kindred, and he devoted every dollar that he could spare as well as his time scrupulously to this cause.
He heard of a man in England who was engaged in the business of tracing up genealogies, and employed him to trace up his—which he was able to do all the better for the start Thomas made while on his trip. He succeeded so well that after awhile it taxed Thomas' limited resources to obtain means to pay for the names he was getting for him, and a request had to be sent to suspend the genealogical research until more funds could be accumulated. The English genealogist, however, had got the spirit of the work, found unusual opportunities for getting the information and became so enthusiastic that he didn't want to quit, and furnished quite a lot of names without charge.
Thomas was so grateful to the Lord for inspiring him to undergo the operation and to recover therefrom, and experienced such a feeling of relief in being rid of the diseased limb, with its running ulcers, after having been encumbered therewith for thirty years, that he felt that he couldn't do enough to show his appreciation for what the Lord had done for him. He could put up with the inconvenience of wearing an artificial limb so long as he could feel assured that personally he was clean and wholesome and not offensive.
It must not be supposed that he was entirely free from pain, even after his severed leg had been exhumed. It might be comparatively painless when at rest, but the exertion of walking after he got his artificial leg always caused more or less pain. The pain, however, had been so much more intense before his leg was amputated, that, instead of feeling disposed to complain, he rejoiced over the improvement.
Nor did he feel that his labors in the Temple ought to excuse him from serving in the ward. He could only serve in the Temple three, or at most four, days in the week, and even on those days got home early enough to do some work in his garden or some visiting among the poor who were his special charges, it being his duty to receive and distribute the fast offerings among them and see that none were allowed to suffer. Then during the three or four days a week when he was not required to be at the Temple he devoted himself almost exclusively to home and ward duties.
Sunday was usually one of his busiest days. Attendance at meetings and visiting and exhorting the High Priests (over whom he helped to preside) or others who, because of sickness or sorrow or grievance required his fatherly attention and care, kept him constantly employed.
It was natural for him to be doing something. He was always an early riser, and if his own needs didn't furnish him with a sufficient incentive for constant exertion, his concern for others never failed to. He neither had the time nor disposition to be idle. Work to him was a tonic. He gloried in doing things, and in seeing the results of his labor. He many times felt the better for his exertion. At other times when fatigue might have furnished him ample excuse for refraining from further exertion, the work served as a counter irritant, in making him partially forgetful of his constant pain, and so he praised the Lord for his ability to work.
He had other things also for which he praised the Lord. He was grateful to the Lord for the faithful humble, congenial wives he had been blessed with, who found pleasure in simple lives, who could make the most of the bare necessities, who were good, economical and thrifty housekeepers, who preferred to make home attractive by its simplicity, to incurring a burden of indebtedness by incumbering it with incongruous luxuries. If their tastes had differed from his, if they had been extravagant and wasteful, and scattered while he gathered, if they had been lacking in sympathy or interest in the public duties to which he devoted so much time and attention, Thomas would have had a different story to tell of his life. His service would have been minimized and his suffering must have been greatly aggravated.
His children also had brought him much comfort and comparatively little sorrow. They developed no criminal tendencies; they were virtuous, honest, industrious and frugal, and if not as full of zeal as their parents, they at least retained the faith and enjoyed and deserved the respect of their fellows. They manifested great love and respect for their parents also, and the numerous occasions upon which his posterity assembled voluntarily around the parental hearthstone, to show special honor, afforded grateful relief to his pain-racked and strenuous existence. On one of these happy occasions his posterity presented him with a gold headed cane; upon another a costly gold watch, which, of course, he appreciated—not so much for their intrinsic worth as for the love that prompted their bestowal.
If any man ever loved his children, and gave them good counsel, and set before them a good example, and frequently and earnestly testified to them of the truth of the Gospel, Thomas Briggs certainly did. And if any of his children ever depart from the faith, adopt bad habits or fall into sin, they will not have their father to blame for it.
As his posterity increased, and many of them scattered out into distant parts, he was no longer able to exercise the patriarchal supervision over them that he formerly had. His sons, James and Thomas, removed to Star Valley, and made new homes, and soon afterwards the latter met with a shocking accident through his team running away. One of his eyes was almost put out, and his skull was laid open for three of four inches, but through the blessing of the Lord he recovered. Wm. Ray Briggs, a grandson, met with a shocking death in Idaho, while digging a well, through having a horse fall down the well on top of him. His daughters, Mary Ann and Ann E., also died in Idaho. On the 3rd of July, 1898, his wife, who had been his faithful companion and shared his joys and sorrows for almost twenty years, passed away.
All of these and other minor incidents of a fatal or sorrowful nature added to the burden of his suffering, but he bore up manfully under them, regarding death philosophically, as only a temporary separation, and never doubting that in the economy of an Allwise Creator he would yet enjoy with his loved ones an eternal reunion.
The death of his wife left him bereft and lonely, and subjected him to additional hardships, but he sought and found solace in work and in devoted attention to the poor and unfortunate, a comparison of whose circumstances with his own made him frequently feel that he had very much to be thankful for.
On the 11th of May, 1904, Thomas married his third wife, after living alone for nearly seven years. She was a widow named Ann Williams, whose husband died in England, where also she had left three children when she migrated to Utah for the Gospel's sake.
Two months after his marriage his wife started on a trip to England, which she had contemplated long before her marriage, and for which she had money of her own to pay. She also made a subsequent trip to England two years later, to visit relatives.
On the last day of 1905, Brother Briggs entered in his diary the following summary of his spiritual work for the year—blessed twenty-six children, gave thirty-four patriarchal blessings, attended eleven funerals, administered one hundred and ninety-four times to the sick (and adds his testimony that the Lord had heard his prayers;) also had done or caused to be done in the Temple in Salt Lake City one hundred and thirty-three baptisms, seventy-seven endowments and one hundred and twenty-four sealings.
This year's work was not thus summarized because the showing was in excess of any previous year, but rather because he had never previously thought of totaling up his year's doings.
In addition to the foregoing, he mentioned in his diary that during the year he had dedicated a number of newly erected homes and settled differences between several of the brethren.
In January, 1906, Thomas records in his diary that his eyes were very bad, and he made it a subject of fervent prayer to the Lord that his eyes might be strengthened and his sight preserved for a few more years. He arose the next morning with his eyesight greatly improved, and was grateful beyond his power to express therefor.
On the 24th of May, 1906, Thomas recorded in his diary that he was called to administer to Sister Mark Waddoups, whom he found to be suffering from intense pain. He earnestly besought the Lord to ease her pain, and He did so; but while his hands were still upon her head the Spirit made it known to him that she would die that day. He confidentially informed the nurse of the fact, and when he called later in the day he found she had passed away. This was in contradistinction to the positive impression he frequently received, when administering to a sick person, that he would recover.
In the latter part of September, 1906, according to a casual entry in his diary, he and a number of other brethren were called to the home of Sister McNiel, in Bountiful, to administer to a very sick child who seemed to be dying. The doctor who had been treating the case was present, and afterwards admitted that he really supposed every breath the child drew, before it was administered to, would be its last, but, to his great surprise, the child immediately afterwards fell asleep, and the next morning was well. The doctor declared it the greatest manifestation of the power of God he had ever witnessed.
Several entries in his diary in the early part of 1909 indicate that about that time Brother Briggs suffered an unusual amount of pain in the stump of his severed limb, due, as the doctors said, to the first operation not having been performed properly. It was accordingly deemed necessary to make a second amputation, but grave fears were expressed lest he might not be able to stand it, as he was in his 77th year. However, he felt himself that he would rather submit to it, notwithstanding the risk, than to continue to suffer indefinitely, and on the 6th of April, 1909, he underwent the operation. He rallied in a manner that surprised his friends, and six weeks later walked to meeting and back without a crutch.
In November, 1909, while Sister Briggs was absent on her second trip to England, her husband had a stroke of paralysis, which has somewhat affected his speech ever since, and greatly interfered with his activity. His tongue throughout his life had been to him a specially useful member. It has been well guarded, and never had brought him into trouble. He had, by his wise counsel and fatherly advice, been able to comfort and bring peace to many of his fellows. He had for many years filled the office of a patriarch and blessed and brought solace and hope to many others besides his own posterity, but his service to others during the past five years has been very much curtailed. His mind is unusually clear and strong for one who is eighty-two years of age, his eyesight good enough for him to read without glasses, and his body fairly strong; he suffers less pain than he formerly did, and is able to walk about to a limited extent.
He still works in his garden, which, however is greatly reduced. He has sold off his property, including the house he lives in (with a proviso for the support of himself and wife while they live, and their burial when they die,) and invested all the surplus in the work which he has had done for the dead.
The enormous number of five thousand dead persons have been officiated for by Thomas, or by persons whom he has employed, in all the ordinances necessary for their salvation, and he still has the names of hundreds of his dead kindred to officiate for. Thus has the prediction uttered by President Brigham Young, when Thomas had but seven names, and didn't know where to obtain any more, been fulfilled. His father's charge uttered on his dying bed, to "never forget the dead," has been so faithfully obeyed that it is safe to say that Thomas will have no shame in meeting that father when he passes from mortality.
The memoir and diary which Thomas compiled, and which was brought down only to the date when he was stricken with paralysis, ends with the following address to his posterity:
To My Dear Children:—
"I wish to say a few words to you. I can see that in a few years from now I shall not be with you; therefore I pray for the Spirit of the Lord to be with me, to lead my mind to write such things as will be for your good. I hope that you and your children will carry them out in your lives, and that the same spirit with which I write these few lines will give you to fully understand them; for when my tongue is stilled in death, these words will live in my posterity.
"I bear my testimony to you, that this is the work of the Lord, and I ask you to teach it to your children, and teach them to pray, and keep the commandments of the Lord, so that they may be free from sin.
"Teach them to understand their calling in the priesthood, and impress it upon their minds, that it is of God, and not of man.
"Teach them to read good literature, for trifling reading begets trifling thoughts, and trifling thoughts beget a trifling life; for bear in mind, that impressions firmly fixed on the mind, and long cherished, are not easily erased. Then, oh, how important it is that these impressions are good ones. Teach them that foolish spending is the father of poverty. Teach them never to be ashamed of work, however much learning they may be able to acquire. See that they are proud, but let their pride be of the right kind. Teach them self-reliance, and to never give up, without conquering every difficulty that they may be called upon to pass through in life.
"Teach them to be too proud to wear clothes that they cannot afford; too proud to be in company that they are unable to keep up with in expenses; too proud to lie, to cheat or steal; and also too proud to be stingy to the poor, sick or afflicted, or widows, and to fatherless and motherless children.
"Always have kind words to give, for they are as refreshing to the troubled heart, as rain to the parched ground. Bear in mind that little drops of rain brighten the meadows, and little drops of kindness brighten the world.
"My Children, my heart is full of love for you all, but I cannot write the blessings that the Lord has in store for you if you are faithful. I hope you will preserve these few lines, and read them over as often as you can, also the 5th chapter of Alma, and live up to it, for it is the word of the Lord in these latter days, as well as in those days. And when I am in my grave, you will look upon these lines, and say that I am not forgotten, for I tell you my children, that some great things are about to transpire, that the world knows nothing of; but be of good cheer, and be humble and prayerful, and watch as well as pray, that you may stand the day of trial, for it is coming, and it is near to our doors, and so is the coming of the Son of Man.
"Never give up, but stay on board the ship; she will take you safely through.
"My children, for this cause I left my native land; that you may make good and valiant soldiers.
"The Savior said to Peter, 'Lovest thou me?' Peter answered, and said, 'Yea Lord, thou knowest I love thee.' Then the Lord said, 'Feed my sheep.' And again he said the same words to Peter, and then, 'Feed my lambs.' And now, my children, try to realize that you have both sheep and lambs in your charge; and remember you will be called upon to give account for them. And if you can say, on the last day, 'I have done the best that I could, Father; I have fed them, and clothed them, and when the wolves were howling at them, I have watched over them night and day; and now Father, none of them have I lost,' it will be well. But if, on the other hand, you have been careless, and He should say to you, 'Where are the sheep and the lambs that I gave you,' and you are unable to give a strict account of them, you must draw your own conclusions as to the result.
"Teach your children to honor the Sabbath Day, and honor the holy priesthood in all things, and do it by example. Teach them never to find fault with the prophets of the Lord. Teach them to honor their father and their mother, that their days may be long upon the land, which the Lord their God giveth them. For these promises will carry us beyond this life, to a time when the Saints will receive their inheritance on earth.
"And now, my children, whatever of my follies you have seen, forgive me for the same, and I freely forgive you. You have been very good to me all the days of my life, and may the Lord bless you all for it.
"I have many things to say to you. I have just been thinking of the time when I used to call all my posterity together once a year, but now they are scattered far and wide. At that time I could give them instruction, but it now rests with my children to finish the work.
"My children, do not make light of the composition of these few lines, for they were written with a desire for your salvation, and if you will carry them out in your lives, they will aid you in reaching the Kingdom of God.
"In conclusion, I will say that my Father in Heaven has been good to me, and may the angel of peace be with you all, through all the days of your lives. God bless you, Amen."