• • • I l I L E P J.. G E PI ONEER NAME GEOffiE MORONI TONKS BIRTH DATE AND PLACE October 15, 1856, New York City , New York QEATH DATE AND PLACE Octobe r 5, 1932, Victor, Ida.ho FATHER William Tonks MOTHER Martha Derricott WJIO MARRIED AND DATE YEAR ARRIVED IN ..U TJ\H 1865 NAME OF COMPANY WHO WROTE HISTORY AND DATE George Moroni Tonks WHO SUBMITTED HI STORY AND DATE _ _F....l.,.ow..r_.a.-.D..,u..•-T.._.o=n..ak.lsiil. __________ ADDRESS 1;40 E. Round Valley, Mor~an, utah 84050 _________________ TELEPHONE NO. 829-3?60 CJ\MP NAME ___ __;S:~o~u~th:.::...M:~o~r~g=an~ -------,--------------...JI COUNTY NAME .. . Mor gan .• CJ\MP HISTORIAN Luci i le o. Williams ADDRESS ._ ________ .___...!.~~----------------'-------~ COUNTY HISTORIAN ADDRESS Barbara c . Porter JPEG-Bk13 lb~ • • • JPEG-Bk13 GEORGE MORONI TONKS (The information in this history was written by George Moroni Tonks. A copy of this history was obtained from his son Warren Tonks for use at the 1967 Tonks Reunion.) I was born of goodly parents, on the 15th day of October, 1856, New York City, State of New York. My father's name was William Tonks, my mother's name was Martha Derricott. They emigrated from England in the spring of 1856 on a sailing vessel, and were three months on the ocean. I . was born.two weeks after they arrived in New York. My brother Henry was also born in New York. My father, a locksmith by trade, readily received employment at his profession after landing in New York. I will here state that my parents were members of the L.D.S. Church, having joined several years previous in England. My parents remained in New York City until the early spring of 1859, when the~ took passage around by way of New Orleans, up the Mississippi- Missouri river to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Preparatory to taking out on the long and arduous journey of over one thousand miles to Salt Lake City, they engaged with a man by the name of Bucannon. They had not gone very far on their journey when their old jaded team about gave out; they decided to cut the wagon box in two, making a two-wheeled cart instead of the whole wagon. There not being much luggage, the little box cart easily held it. Also my little brother, Henry, about one year old, and myself rode in the hind end of it. Father and mother walked the whole distance from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Salt Lake City, a distance of over one thousand miles. I will here relate one of my mother's experiences. At one time while the company was camped for dinner, Mother, nearly overcome with fatigue and privation, went and sat under some trees or bushes to rest and soon fell asleep. The company soon went on its way, Father supposing that she was somewhere in the company. When she awoke from her tired sleep, she trudge~ along to try to catch up with the train. She had not gone far when she reached a river or large creek and was in the act of removing her shoes and stockings to wade across when along came a company of men on horseback. They kindly took her across the stream and without hesitation took her to the wagon train, who had stopped to search for her. In the month of October they reached Salt Lake City, tired and wcrn out from the long journey, but with thankful hearts that they had reached Zion safely and alive. At that time I was three years of age. My father helped to make the first wrought iron nails ever made in Salt Lake f9r John Taylor. The Lord blessed my people and they slowly began to gather things around them. In the year 1865, they moved to Weber Valley, in the first year of its settlement. It was in this new valley (now Morgan County) that I grew up to manhood • . Being somewhat of an ambitious young fellow, I took an active part in all the civic affairs and improvements incidental to the development of a new country. My folks took part in many of the activities, being among the first few families located there. • • GEORGE MORONI TONKS (Page 2) My father took up the blacksmith trade as there came to be much need for it when the Union Pacific came through in 1868. The arrival of the railroad brought many desperate characters and many allurements of the world. After a courtship of two years, Emily Ann Littlefield and I were married in the Old Endownment House, entering the new and everlasting order of marriage by the authority of the Lord. This took place on the 29th of November, 1878. At the time I was a little over 22 years of age, my wife being 7 months younger than myself. Our first home was a two-roomed concrete building. It stood about where the 9ld Morg~n High School is now located. Mattie, George and Lige, were born in this home. Later we moved to Round Valley, two and one-half miles east of Morgan. Grandfather gave me twenty acres of land to farm for myself. We built our house in Round Valley of brick; . it contained three rooms, a pantry and a long porch on the front. North and east of the house was the fruit orchard and vegetable garden. I was called to go on a mission to the southern states, namely North Carolina and Virginia, for twenty-six months. William J. was born five months after I left at the home of Grandmother Littlefield in Morgan on the 9th of January. I enjoyed my work very much, had good •health, and made many dear friends whom I never will forget for their warm hospitality, friendship and interest in me as a humble servant of the Lord. After arriving home in December 1888, I took the story of the Book of Mormon that had just come off the press, by George Reynolds. I was very successful in canvassing this book in Morgan, Summit, Rich and Bear Lake Counties. Having disposed of many hundreds of copies of that inspired history of the rise and fall of the ancient Nephites and Lamanites that the Book of Mormon gives a history of, I returned to my home in Morgan and engaged in farming for several years. Our other children; Violet, Garland, Howard, Wilford, and Warren were born in the home in Round Valley. Wilford a little baby boy lived only a month and was buried in the Morgan Cemetery. Uncle Henry Tonks and Aunt Lou Jones (wife of Ben Jones) and my sister, had moved to Teton Valley, Idaho in 1889. I made two visits to Teton Valley, hoping to establish myself and family in a bigger country where land was easier to be had. So I felt impressed to move to Idaho and in the Spring of 1898 -- I and my boys, George Moroni Jr. and Elijah William; in company with Brother Wm. Palmer and his three boys moved to Victor, Idaho, driving 135 head of cattle and 15 head of horses -- arriving May 7, 1898. We were one month making the journey. Mattie came on the train to Idaho Falls, and I met her and brought her on home with the team and wagon. She got here July 11, 1898. Mother and the rest of the family -- William, Louie, Violet, Garland, Howard, and Warren (then a baby one year old) came in October. That summer Mother canned and preserved over 500 quarts of fruit to bring to our new home. Fruit was a luxury at that time in this valley. The first winter in Teton Valley we lived in a one and one-half story house in the town of Victor. Sorrow came to our home that winter. George, our eldest son died after only a few days illness. On Tuesday evening in • Mutual he was taken with terrible cramps in his stomach. On Friday the latter part of February he passed away -- probably with appendicitis. How deep the snow was, it was almost impossible to break a road to the JPEG-Bk1 Jemetery to bury him. /10 • • • • • GEORGE MORONI TONKS (Page 3) The following summer we moved to the ranch and lived in a log house (near where William's home now stands). Our baby, Afton, was born in that log house. I built a new frame house on the upper part of my farm in 1900-1901. By now I had acquired about 300 acres of land. My boys and I worked hard in this pioneer country and built up a large ranch. I engaged in the livestock business, raising cattle and sheep. Lige (Elijah), Howard and Warren each went on a mission to foreign lands. Lige to Germany, Howard to Australia, and Warren to New Zealand. Louie bad been ill for two years with tuberculos is and she died i n 1902. Garland was the third of our children to pass away. He died from an operati.o n for he.r nia in the Dee Hospital in Ogden, Utah. When the Teton Stake was organized I was appointed Superintendent of the Y.M.M.I.A. My daughter, Mattie, was chosen to preside over the Y.L.M.I.A. We were zealous and were blessed in our work, traveling long distances in severe weather organizing the work and encouraging the young people in the M.I.A. work. I was called on a second mission in 1916 to England. While there I gathered some four hundred names to have temple work done for. While in England I met many of the Tonks family who received me kindly but were not greatly interested in the gospel message. I enjoyed the work very much and was honorably released to return home on account of my wife's poor health. I was asked to work in San Diego and Long Beach, California, so I took my wife there for her health hoping a change of climate would be favorable to her health. We owned a lovely home in Long Beach where we spent the winters thereafter and the summers in Idaho for four or five years. In 1921, my wife's health failed so rapidly that we sold our home and returned home to Idaho. Six months later she passed away, 23 October 1921, at the age of sixty-four. I lived with my children two years and then married Johanna Gobel, 11 April 1923, in the Salt Lake Temple. We lived in Salt Lake for eight years where I did temple work. Then in October 1931, we moved to the dear old homestead in Victor, Idaho, where I spent the remainder of my days. My second wife, Johanna Gobel, was converted to the church in Holland when she was a young girl. She lived in Salt Lake where she was employed at the Daynes Beeby Music Company for a number of years. She saved enough money to pay for her way through a two year mission in California. It was while on this mission that she met me and my wife while we were living there. We had three children born to this union. First,a baby boy who died at birth; Second, a son George Moroni; and then a daughter, Marie. George Moroni Tonks died October 5, old home. He was b~ried October 8, 1932 1932, at Victor, Idaho in the at the Victor Cemetery. 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