• • • THOMAS SHORE WADSWORTH Life Story page 1 From the "Wadsworth Family in America" we find that there are various interpretations given to the name Wadsworth. The one most generally accepted is Woods-court. or court in the Woods. from which we may infer that some ancestor held court or lived in a wooded area. Another meaning--which is preferred by some authorities-- is farm or place in the woods. Therefore it may be assumed that those who first bore the name were foresters or woodsmen. It is evidently a Saxon name, not Celtic; we are not old British stock. which fought the Romans, nor are we of Norman or French extrac-tion. Our name is not found in the roll of the Battle Abbey, nor in the peerage list. We probably were Saxons who came into England about the fifth century, before the Romans, but long after the Celts. (1) Thomas Shore Wadsworth was born on 6 ·october, , 1840~ When he was baptized into the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" in November of 184g and when he set sail from .England to come to America, on January 6. 1850 he was also 9 years old. · Thomas•s parents were Jonathan Wadsworth from Sowerby, Yorkshire, england and Ann Shore from Halifax .. Yorkshire, England. They wer mar-ried in Halifax. but moved to Bradford, Yorkshire England to raise ·~ their family. Jonathan and his father and grandfather had been in the weaving business and Jonathan may have gone to Bradford because that was where the work was. Thomas Shore was born there, followed by a twin sister and brother named Hanna and Richard. They died at birth. A second sister also named Hannah was born 7 Jun 1844. She survived and made the trip to America • Thomas•s parents were converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, by Mormon missionaries. They were baptized on 10 March, 1845. They were members cf the Bradford Branch. In February of 1849 Jonathan died- and Ann made preparations to go to America. These preparations may have been under way before Jonathan died. Ann and her 2 children left England in the company of a family friend named William John Mason. He booked passage for Ann and the children under his name. as his wife and children. Whether this was done to give Ann some protection on ship board or for financial rea-sons or both, I do not know. Th~ ships name was 11 Argb" and it docked in New Orleans. · How the family got to Utah or by what company is unknown. Will-iam may have accompanied them or may have turned them over to someone he could trust to insure their safety on the journey. They settled in Ogden, Utah. In 1853 William John Mason came to Utah. He asked Ann to marry him and the couple were joined together in a civil cere-mony on 5 June 1853• William bought property at 192 w. 20th st. and the next year he built a house on the place. It was 1000 feet long and 180 feet wide. It bordered the Ogden River. Thomas spent 15 years of his life in this home, three of his children were born there. It was where he brought his bride, Catherine Moore. Catherine and Thomas Moore met at the third ward in Ogden. They were married 2 December 1864, Thomas was 24 and his bride was 17. ti.4t1"',1Thomas made a lot of trips to lavton. a dist~nce of about 20 miles round trip , to gather sego lilJ y .. bulbs. This was during the first few years after they came to Ogden. His mother would pound these. add molasses and bread to makP. their meals. Thomas was a studious youth. He was often found ploughing or doing other chores with a book in his hand. A.s he grew older ... he want-ed to be a doctor. • • • THOMAS SHORE WADSWORTH Life Story (cont.) 3d-5° page 2 \ Wlu~e he was ~iv1.ng in Ogden and Hooper he WRS active 1n the cnurcn and in civic affairs. At the age of 18 Thomas serveq jn the Echo Can-yon war under Captain Svd.t~er. In the years 1857-8 he served as Cap-tain of the Milita in Utah. before that he was the bugler. He was alsn Captain of artillery in the Nauvoo Legion under General Chauncey W. West. In 1869 he was the bugler at the celebration of laying the "Golden Spike"• He is in the picture of this event. Between 1870 and 1873 he was the Schoolmaster in Hooper. He made 1~675.00 a year. While he was there, he organized a Sunday School and served as it•s Superintendent. From Hooper. he moved his family back to Ogden. During this time he was a member of the Jeddiah Morgan Grant re-connaissance group that surveyed Morgan Valley on horseback and pro-nounced it a good place to locate. (2) _ In 1875 a small pox epidemic broke out in Ogden. Thomas•s Step-f ather died on the 18th of April of that year, whether from small J\OX or something else I do not know. Thomas joined a mercy- squad to aicf the sick, and medicine, and to bury the dead. He came close to having a nervous breakdown. the epidemic continued into the next year. but it was tapering off. After the plauge was over, Thomas went to Keo-kuk. Iowa to get his med:i.cal de~ree. He graduated on 14 June, 1878 . and returned to Utah. Some members of _the family state that he was the first certified doctor in Utah. Something happened to his testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ··-· of Latter day Saints, either during this time or shortly afterwards. His mother had sold a piece of the property to Brigham Young, at his insistence for what the family concidered. a very inadeauite sum of money. (see Ann Shore Wadsworth life storyl Perhaps his heart was hRrdened in Keokuk.Iowa. His ,vife had borne 8 children. 1 while he was :nuiy- Only ~ l .i ved more than three years. The one born while he WRS awav was one of the dead. All of these things hav~ to be con-sidered as possible causes or contributing fRctors in this loss of -faith- The family moved to American Fork in Utah County; : t~en on to Pay-son where Kate was born. From there they moved north to Lehi. Two more children were born. One had been born in American Fork, giving ~homas and Catherine a total of 7 living children, Two more were born in Morgan making a total of 9. (for information on the children see Catheri ne Moore Wadsworth's life story.) While at Lehi, the older children were placed in the"New West School". It was a non Mormon school which did not find favor with the Community. This school was supported by a Church in the East, who sent teachers out as missionaries every two or three years. (3) The family had spent 8 years in Utah County. They then return ed to Ogden for a short stay and then to Morgan where they remained. In Morgan,Thomas resumed his medical practice. He was by todays standards. an old fashioned doctor. He did what was then known about alleviating the sufferings of his fellow citizens. He set broken bones, s ewed up cuts and deliverered babies. He also dispensed medicine, - most of which he made. (1) Martha Jane. his daughter was a valuable assisstant and often accompanied him on his rounds and helped him with his parents. She developed good nursing sldlls which she used all of her life ( ,) • • • THOMAS SHORE WADSWORTH Life Story (cont.) page 3 In a~dition to these activities. he organized the Milita in Mor-gan, drawing men !rom all over the county. Some of them were the Por-ters from Porterville. Fred White. William Platt Eugene Hibber and Ch~les R. Clark. This group cleared sage brush'from the flat and ~ drilled there. (1) In Morgan he was instrumental in opening the road fr?m the ~aurel Mortenson home to the Weber river, and in having a bridge built to shorten the distance from north to south Morgan He was part owner of Como ?Prings, with Sam Francis and Richard Fry. As manager of that hot springs resort, he assisted in building a dance hall. a long row of bath houses on the north shore of the pool where swimmers from Morgan, Ogden, Salt Lake City and Evanston could enjoy the theraputic waters. At one time the entire Salt Lale Tabernacle choir was entertained at the hot springs. (1) For many years he organized and managed the 4th of July parades. The many exciting and beautiful floats and Indians and cowboys made it a looked-for festive occassion. The parade was always led by a "Statue of Liberty" float. After the parade, games were organized for the young; there was a program of speeches and musical numbers · for the adults in the morning. A dance was held for everyone at night, generally with two bands, one from Morgan and one from Patterson. (1) Thomas was a civic leader and held many positions of trust. He was the Morgan County Sheriff in 1890, served as the Justice of the Peace for 8 years. He also served as Juvenile .Tudge and County Court Bali ff. In 1895, he aualified as a Postmaster at Morgan and held this position for 8 years. He was sssisted by his daughter, Kate and Ann. In 1900 He and his daughterKate took the u.s. census in Morgan and Summit Counties. He also operated the Morgan South Side Store for many years. (2) The Wadsworths settled first 1 in Morgan in the old Geary home. This was 1888 and Thomas was now 48 years of age. In 1889 he moved to a home where the Morgan Stake Seminary was later built. Their home was located on the corner near the High School. Instead of a l avm , the entire front yard had been planted into a · beautiful flower garden which was painstakingingly cared for by Thon.st s wife Catherine. Their home was a joyful one, particuarly when now grown-up mem bers of the family visited. It was an outgoing and cheerful group and when several members were together, the house was filled with intell-igent conversation and much laughter (1) Charles Stuart, Thomas•s grandson, gave the following tribute and description of his Grandfather. "Thomas Shore Wadsworth had dark blue eyes, medium build. about 150 pounds in weight. He had light brown hair that never turned grey. To me--as a young boy- grandpa was a special person. different from anyone I knew. He possessed great dignity and reserve and alw~ys dressed in tailored broadcloth suits with a long, Prince Albert style coat. He maintained the appe~rance of an English Gentleman. Sometimes he would have me hitch up"Old Bess11 to the buggy and take me to the business section in Morgan to pick up supplies for his store and attend to business. He never failed to stop at A~W. Francis•s store. A. W. was one of his closest friends. Grandpa seemed to have an enviable record as a man of importance in the Community. He built a sm:tl.l sub-division across the street from his home, long before the word "sub-division was in the J)ir.tionary. He gave Lake Como it• s name. Tt was named after the home of Mrs. Samuel Fr~cis in Italy. European history • • • I w THOMAS SHORE WADSWORTH Life Story (cont.) page 4 i'J..7 wa s nne of his favorite subjects. and he cli pped many items of speci.al 1nterest +.o h;m and kept them pasted in large Journals. As a boy. I knew no one who had a grandfather w:fth such a varied and interesting background. Another .. tribute comes from his daughter Primrose Wadsworth Ball. "We always had a 4th and 24th of July celebration. My father was Mar-shall of the day. He always rode a black horse. We always had a long parade and everyone in Morgan took part, and everyone was in costume. ---Well, Thomas Shore Wadsworth certainly had a full life and I was so proud of him-'' _ __ In 1904 a 50th Wedding Anniversary party was given for Thomas and Catherine at their daughter, Christmas's home in Ogden. Children and grand children came from all over. There were beds all over the house. Cousins who had never met, were together for the first time. A good time was had by all and the party was re~embered l~vingly for man:v vears. _ ·-· ·--·- · __ Over 600 people from all over the state attended. Thomas was known far and wide because of the many ci vie and professional things he had been involved in all his life. (2) Thomas retired from his medical practice in 1915. He got Doctor's Ausgood and Pugmire to take his place. He had .been a doctor for 37 years. He was now 75 years of age. During the last years of this practice, he would often fall asleep on the way home. "Old Bessi.iknew the way and would bring his master s a fely home. Catherine would listen for the buggy's return and go out and help Thomas into the house -and stable the horse • Tho~as•s wife -die d- on 16 November, 1918. - Ann Wadsworfh. Stuart saw to his comfort. Thomas followed Catherine on May 1, 1920. He was 80 years old. He and his wife are both buried side by side in the· Ogden City Cemetary. Their 5 dead babies are there as well as two of their dau-ghters. Martha Jane and Primrose together with some of their families. An infant Grand Daughterand a Great Grand Daughter are also there Ttrheeey sa. re located behind the Dee family, all together ' under the pine If anone deserves more credit tha1another for this information, it is Primrose Ball who wrote this story first. Others have refined her story and added information. Some dates and other information has been changed to agree with new facts that have been discovered. (1) Charles Stuart--Grandson (2) Primrose Wadsworth Ball--Daughter (3) Judee Woodward - I - ;:: .._ '--· ~ ~ ~- ~':s V1 "'" S'l t,~. \.: -..:. ~ "-,-.' L' ) ·~ (0 l...) ::, •