Son of Emanuel Olds and Elizabeth Uren

Married Eliza Jane Hunt, 29 Jul 1884, Scofield, Emery, Utah

Children - Levi Emanuel Olds, Lewis Olds, Louise Olds, George Thomas Olds, William Albert Olds, Charles Andrew Olds, Arthur Herbert Olds, Dewey Glen Olds, Alvin Olds, Carl Theodore Olds, Ivan Olds, Melvin James Olds

History. Thomas Auld (Olds) was born on 28, December 1854, in Newland, South Africa. He was the second child of Emanuel Auld and Elizabeth Uren." Emanuel was a lighthouse keeper. It was Thomas's job as a child to keep the monkeys out of the garden. Elizabeth was converted to the gospel in 1855 and Thomas was blessed by Elder Thomas Weatherhead on June 3, 1855, when he was five months old.

Emanuel would not join the Church but Elizabeth's convictions were strong and she was coming to America to be with the Saints. Emanuel tried to hide Thomas from a negro family that worked for them. Elizabeth found where Thomas was being hidden and took him. Thomas never saw his father again. Elizabeth and her small children boarded a ship for America, and she and her children many times cried for Emanuel. The ocean voyage was hard and food poor, Thomas remarked "that he would never go on one of those stinking ships again:" He never did.

They landed in New York and traveled by train to St. Louis. Elizabeth gathered supplies and a handcart and she and her children began to pull this vehicle to the Salt Lake Valley. They were assigned to the Oscar O. Stoddard Company which left July 6, 1860. Many times as they would cross a river Elizabeth would tie a rope around herself and the children so they would not be washed away. Five-year-old Thomas walked every step of the 1200 miles to Utah. The children traveled barefoot because their shoes wore out early in the trek.

Thomas' life was spared as he and his family traveled across the plains by the power of the priesthood and the will of the Lord. Most of the time they were hungry, tired, sick, and without water. Finally, on September 24,1860 they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.

Elizabeth married Thomas Theobald a man she was working for and the family was called to settle the "Dixie Mission." The children were not treated kindly by their stepfather and set out on their own. Thomas would work wherever and for whatever, just to survive. Years later Thomas was introduced to the Levi Hunt family and was attracted to his daughter Eliza Jane. They were married on July 29, 1884 at Scofield, Emery County, Utah. The family moved about some and they had several children including twins, Louis and Louie, a boy and a girl. Louis was taken with rheumatic fever when he was nine and died. This event was hard on the Olds family and they realized they had neglected their responsibilities at the Temple. On April 20th, 1898 they were sealed as a family at the Manti Temple.

Thomas' health began to fail, he frequently had nose bleeds so the family began to move south to see if the climate would help him. The family finally settled in Toquerville, Utah. Jane later had heart problems and died on May 21, 1917. The loss was hard on Tom. He also began to have pain in his chest and during a trip to buy a headstone for Jane's grave, he pulled his wagon under some trees for shade and died. He died on May 26th, 1924, and was buried next to Jane in the Toquerville cemetery.

Quotes from "Thomas Auld (Olds)" by Elaine Olds Hagelberg.