Morgan Pioneer History Binds Us Together William Henry Toone Father's fore bearers were all of English descent although the name Toone is of Irish origin. His grandfather, John Toone, because of his industry and thrift and remarkable memory, accumulated a large amount of property in Leamington, Warwickshire, England. He was the father of a large family - thirteen children. My grandfather, John Toone, was the oldest in the family. He was educated as an English gentleman, a lawyer, a fine musician and a fluent speaker. He was born in Birmingham, England on April 10, 1813, and was married in Leamington, England on June 12, 1856, to Emma Prosser. From this marriage there was one daughter and three sons, Father being the oldest son. John and his wife, Emma, joined the church in 1849 in Leamington, the only one of his family who would listen to the message of the Mormon Missionaries. They immigrated to America in 1851 with three children, Mary Elizabeth, William Henry and Charles Jabez; John Prosser being born later in Salt Lake City, Utah. In preparing to come across the plains from the Missouri River to Salt Lake City, Grandfather purchased teams and wagons and a cow. The first pound of butter Grandmother made from this cow she paid as tithing. The first winter and part of the next summer they spent in a place called Little Pidgeon, Indiana. They came across the plains in the Captain Thomas D.C. Howell Company. They left Indiana June 7,1852, for Salt Lake City and arrived there September 27, 1852. Father was about ten and a half years old. He was born March 4, 1842, in Leamington, England. Because of the large company and not many wagons Father at the age of ten walked all the way across the plains. From 1852 to 1860 he lived in Salt Lake City in what is known as the Twentieth Ward and he associated with such boys as John Henry Smith and other young men who later became general authorities in the Church. His parents were cultured and educated people. Grandfather played in the first Salt Lake Theatre orchestra and for other entertainments put on for the social life in the city and also engaged in the practice of law. Grandmother because of her culture and education was privileged to associate with people of refinement and culture. Because of this Father was placed in a position to receive some education and associate with some very fine people. During that time food was scarce and he often heard his Father say his Mother would cry over her family because they were unable to obtain any kind of food except greens and roots and sego lilies and frequently they went without bread for six weeks at a time. In 1860 he joined the Utah Militia and became active in that organization and remained with them until the spring of 1861 when he was called by the Church to make a trip to California with a company of wagons to take supplies from Salt Lake City and bring back provisions to the saints in Salt Lake City. On this trip he drove a four-horse team. In the spring of 1862 he was asked by the Church to go to Missouri and bring back immigrants, going over the same route he had walked across ten years before. On this trip he was a night herder, which meant that every night he was out guarding the oxen and the horses from being lost or driven off by Indians. This meant that the only way he could sleep was to ride in the wagons in the daytime or catch a little sleep between stops. The two succeeding years 1863 and 1864 were spent the same way only at intervals he was teamster. The only compensation these young men received was their food and clothing, and a few supplies to live on in the winter in Salt Lake City. One can hardly imagine the hardships and cold and the danger that accompanied these journeys. The fall of 1864, just arriving in Salt Lake City, walking down the street with some of his companions he saw a little dark- complexioned curly-haired English girl and through inspiration a voice said to him she was to be his wife. He told his companions he was going to marry this girl and they joked and laughed about it but on March 4, 1865, his birthday, they were married and sealed for eternity in the Endowment House by President Wilford Woodruff An interesting thing about his recommend for this occasion, Bishop John Sharp wrote a note to President Kimball stating, "This certifies William Henry Toone is a member of the Church in good standing and one of the boys who is generally on hand to do whatever he is asked to do and as such I recommend him to you for his endowments." Through the vigorous activity and hardships Father endured, he grew to be a fine specimen of man — six feet two inches tall with black curly hair and was a great athlete. On arriving in Salt Lake City in the fall of 1864 with his hair long and curly, Apostle George A. Smith took him to a barber shop and had his hair cut short and a wig made from it for himself that he wore the rest of his life. If you look at the pictures of this apostle you will see how curly Father's hair was. Soon after being married he and his wife were asked to go into Morgan County and settle in the Croydon area. There they established their home 207