TITLE PAGE PIONEER (full name) Thomas Henry Rishton BIRTH (date and place) 2 Feb 1866 Huntsville, Utah DEATH (date and place) 27 May 1947 Salt Lake City, Utah PARENTS MARRIED (who and date) Mary Hannah Judd – 6 July 1893 Selena Ann Judd Bowen—2 Oct 1913 ARRIVAL IN UTAH (date) born here [Native Pioneer] (Company arrived with) HISTORY (who wrote) (date written) (who submitted) Grace Kilburn (address) CAMP & COUNTY SUBMITTING Hardscrabble Camp Morgan County (Camp Historian & address) Lois B Peterson 82 W 200 N, Morgan, Utah 84050 County Historian & address) Dena C. Rich 1266 n Morgan Valley Dr., Morgan, Utah 84050 SOURCE OF INFORMATION & PAGE NUMBERS: History of THOMAS HENRY RISHTON Thomas Henry Rishton was born 2 Feb, 1866 in Huntsvillie, Weber County, Utah, the 6th child and third son of Edward and Mary Ann Slater Rishton, He spent his early childhood in Huntsville, then moved with his family to Utah County and lived in American Fork. Riverton, Draper, Bluffdale and Sandy. His father was a rancher and fruit farmer. As a lad of 10 years old, Thomas went, with older men to take cars of what they called the 'Co-op Sheep' 1. A group of men, each with a small band of sheep, put them together and sent them to pasture in one herd, taking turns tending them with the help of small boys of the towns, As he grew older he worked for other sheep men. Their winter range was in Corinne, Park Valley and what they called "Mud Lake" where the Dugway Proving now is. When he was about 17 or 18 years old he took sheep belonging to the Bennion Livestock Company to Upton. Summit County for their summer range and became acquainted with James Judd. who also had a herd of sheep in those same hills. James, being a friendly man, invited Thomas to his home and to a basket Dance, where Thomas bought the basket of Mary Hannah Judd, the daughter of James and they became sweethearts and were married 6 July 1893, traveling by horse and buggy to the Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. They purchased a farm in Hoytsville Summit Co, Utah, where five of their six children were born: James Edward born 31 July 1997 died 12 Sept 1898 Hoytsville. Summit Co, Utah Floyd Vern born 1 Oct, 1899 died 14 Dec. 1899 Provo, Utah Co. Utah Bland Judd born 29 Apr. 1901 died 28 Sept. 1915 Naf, Cassia, Idaho. Maida Pearl born 28 Feb . 1904 died 11 Oct . 1905 Hoytsville, Summit Co. Utah Ruth Zelma born 25 June 1906 Mary LaVon born 11 Apr. 1913 in Roy, Weber. Utah Floyd V. had the misfortune to be born with a club foot and was unable to walk without a crutch throughout his life. And when Bland J. was about one year old both he and Floyd were attacked by a serious illness with extremely high fever which left them with brain damage which was a handicap to them as long as they lived. Their little golden-haired sister Maida was drowned when she was 20 months old , the shock of which impaired the health of their mother Mary. With the birth of another brown-eyed curly haired little girl her health improved but she was never as well afterward. So in Oct. of 1910 they moved to Roy. Utah in the hope that the warmer climate and more adequate medical treatment would be beneficial to Mary and the children, and they were better for several years. The boys were very much helped in being treated so that they were able to walk with the aid of crutches,but diseases were always around and the boys got both types of measles which caused cataracts to form on their eyes and caused blindness which made it necessary for them both to have eye operations. The mother Mary was expecting another baby and her health became very poor and when the baby was born prematurely, they both were very ill and Mary died 26 April 1913. Thomas took the body back to Hoytsville for burial by her other children. Thomas was left with the tiny sick baby LaVon, Ruth, Just seven years old and the two crippled boys. His wife's sister, Selena Ann Judd Bowen had been a widow for eleven years and her family was pretty well grown up so she consented to help him with his family. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on 2 October 1913 for this life only. In June 1915 they bought a 300 acre dry farm in Nat, Idaho, but after three plantings of grain and no harvest due to lack of rain , they moved to Rupert, Minidoka Co. Idaho where Thomas obtained work as a ditch rider on the canals west of Rupert. When Selema's son Raymond was called to the service of World War I, Thomas transferred to Cassia County and was ditch rider on the big canal which runs from the Minidoka Dam to pumps in Declo. This Job he held until he decided to move to Salt Lake City, Utah. Along with his job, he ran the farm in Jackson Idaho for Raymond while he was in the army in 1918 and 1919. Thomas also bought 71 acres of rough farm land for himself in Delco and built a house with the logs he brought from the dry—-farm. The logs were squared on four sides and he placed them upright side by side. On the dry-farm they had been laid flat and cement put in the cracks. The up—right position made a tighter fit and they were plastered on the inside. They moved to Delco 8 Nov. 1919 after Raymond returned home. Thomas had been appointed Superintenent of the Sunday school in the Jackson Ward in 1918 and was kept in that position after he moved to Delco. He drove a team of black mares to the church the seven miles each Sunday morning many times getting there in time to start the fires in winter. His favorite speech to the family early in the morning was, "Let's hit the ball , and don't be late". And we never were. Selena was appointed Relief Society President and she too drove a horse on, a buggy each Tuesday to her duties and made the most of the fires and swept the house. She acted as mid-wife and practicle nurse on many occasions. Selena's daughter Grace and Thomas's daughters Ruth and LaVon all held positions in the Jackson Ward while they lived in Delco. Ruth was only 12 years old when she was a Sunday School kindergarten teacher and the children loved her. Thomas bought a Modle 'TT' Ford car which allowed him to make the run an the canal much faster and gave him more time to Visit with the people on his route. He loved to converse with the men as he changed their water and they loved to talk with him. He was always affable and willing to give a helping hand when needed , friendly and kind. Selena learned to drive the Ford and it helped in her work. However, when the Modle 'A' Ford came out and Thomas bought one, the gear shift bothered her and by that time Mary LaVon was old enough to drive, so Selema never drove the Modle 'A' . Floyd attended school when they lived in Roy, Utah, and for one year at the Blind School in Gooding, Idaho. He was an apt student who learned by listening to the others recite and could remember what he learned. His co-ordination was not so good so he was unable to write, but he could sing and take part in the other activities in school. The two girls rode the school bus and attended school in Delco. Ruth graduated and then went to the high school in Rupert Idaho, for two years then in 1923 she went to Ogden, Utah and worked in the homes of several wealthy people there. She married Wesley R, Johnston 28 March 1925 in Ogden and then they moved to Stockton. Calif, where they still live. They are the parents of 3 children, Donna, Wesley Jr. and Robert, and have 4 grandchildren. Mary LaVon always had quite poor health so was not able to attend school regularly but was able to take Ruth's place as teacher in the kindergarten class of Sunday School and also acted as chorister. When she was about 18 years of age a young man, Earl Dale Souder from Ohio bought a farm across the street from the Thomas farm. They became very good friends and he soon joined the Mormon church. Their friendship ripened into love and they were married 2 Nov. 1932. Their son Dale Thomas Souder was born 25 Nov. 1933 by caecerian section in the hospital in Twin Falls Idaho. When he was 6 years old he started school in Delco. Earl and Mary La Von were divorced 7 March 1941. -3- Thomas and Selena were by this time getting to an age where the farm work was getting too hard for them and they were feeling the weight of the years of hard work, so they sold the farm and moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in the tail of 1942. Mary LaVon and her son Dale went with them and she went to work for the government during the 2nd World War. Thomas was not one to sit and twiddle his thumbs, so he got a job as an elevator operator in the Constitution Building on Main St. and kept it until the time of his death from pneumonia on the 27 May 1947, aged 81yrs. He was buried in Hoytsville beside his wife and children. He was survived by 3 children and 4 grandchildren. His son Bland Judd Rishton died while they lived on the dry farm in Naf Idaho and was taken to Hoytsville for burial. Selena kept the home in Salt Lake City until her health failed her in 1950. The home was then sold and the money put into a trust-fund for the support of Floyd, who was unable to work so he lived in American Fork and Orem, until his death in the hospital at Provo, on Dec . 14, 1970. He spent summers with his sister Ruth in California whenever he was able to leave American Fork. He is buried beside his parents in Hoytsville, Utah. Mary LaVon was married 10 Jan. 1933 to Morris Jensen in Pocatello, Idaho, where they now live. Her son Dale married Sharon Apel of Pocatello Idaho. They also live in Pocatello and have 2 children. Gary and Debbie. Selena lived with her children, a few months at a time with each one and was able to enjoy fairly good health and was very independent also until just a few weeks before her death 15 Sept.. 1954 age 86. She is buried beside her husband, John Jenkins Bowen in the cemetery at Hoytsville, Utah. The following quotation given by Pres. Hugh B. Brown in one of the conferences could very well apply to Thomas H. Rishton and his wives, Mary Hannah and Selena Ann Judd (sisters). "We ask for strength and GOD gives us difficulties which make us strong. We pray for wisdom and GOD sends us problems, the solutions of which develope wisdom. We plead for prosperity , and GOD gives us brain and brawn to work with. We plead for courage and GOD gives us dangers to overcome." Elbert Hubbard. -4-