Daughter of Samuel King and Mary Ling
Married George Clutton, 25 Oct 1826, St. Peter, South Elmham, Suffolk, England.
Married Henry Seamons, 9 Sep 1832, St. Michaels, South Elmham, Suffolk, England. He died 14 Jan 1860, Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska.
History of James Thurston and Mary Seamons and her parents – Henry Seamons and Mary King, as written by Mary Bake Woolf
(My mother's family history – Sarah Elizabeth Thurston, wife of John Alfred Bake, Sr.)
My maternal great grandparents were Samuel King and Mary Ling. Mary Ling was born on July 12th, 1765, at All Saints, [South Elmham,] Suffolk, England, and she died June 17, 1852. Their daughter, Mary, my great grandmother, was born on March 5, 1801, at St. Michaels, [South Elmham,] England, and died January 12, 1875, at Hyde Park, Cache, Utah. She was married to Henry Seamons in January 1832, at Suffolk, England. To this union was born my grandmother, Mary Seamons, on March 17, 1833, at St. Michaels, [South Elmham,] Suffolk, England. She was married to James Thurston on April 6, 1954, in England. She died May 17, 1914, at Hyde Park, Utah. Their daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, who was my mother, was born October 22, 1857, in New Jersey.
My paternal grandparents were William Stockdale and Hannah Seamons. Their son, Henry Seamons, was born May 5, 1809, at Rumburg, England, and died January 14, 1860, at Omaha, Nebraska. He was married to Mary King in January 1832 at St. Michaels, [South Elmham,] Suffolk, England. My grandmother [Mary Seamons Thurston] was born at this place on March 17, 1833.
While in England, my great grandparents had been members of various denominations, lastly the Church of England, but they found these different faiths unsatisfactory. Three missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Claudious V. Spencer, Cyrus H. Wheelock, and Isaac Morley, were sent to Suffolk and held cottage meetings there. They often held their meetings in my great-grandfather's home, where they found a ready welcome. My great-grandparents and their family heard this new doctrine preached and felt it to be the truth. They immediately became converts.
They made preparations at once to come to America. My great grandmother, Mary King Seamons, had some property, consisting of a small shop, left to her by an aunt, and this she sold, using the proceeds to pay passage for herself and her husband, their eight children, and their three eldest daughter's husbands. The passage cost 42 lbs. 10 shillings.
The sailship Caravan set sail from Liverpool, England, on Monday, February 18, 1856, with Captain William Sands in command. There were 454 Saints on board, under the leadership of Daniel Tyler. The company arrived in New York on March 28, 1856, after being on the sea for five weeks and two days. They had a rough voyage. The Caravan was disabled and driven back nearly one hundred miles, one mast broken off, one sailor killed and another had his thigh broken. Two days later my grandmother's sister, Rachel, gave birth to a boy. He was named Jimmy [James] Sands Hancey in honor of the captain of the ship.
The night they landed, March 28th, my grandmother had a baby girl, Mary Casalina, who later died on July 31, 1856, in New York. When this baby died my grandfather was ill with chills and fever, and out of funds. My grandmother was forced to walk the streets for three days, trying to find someone to take the baby and give it a burial. She finally found a man who agreed to do this and bought a nice casket for the baby. He took the child's body away but refused to let grandmother accompany him, saying she would only feel worse. Her youngest brother, Samuel Seamons, however, followed the man, and saw him take the child's body to a pit of quick lime outside the city limits and dumped it in, afterward taking the casket back to the city with him.
On October 22, 1857, my mother, Sarah Elizabeth was born in New Jersey. They remained in New Jersey for the next about three years before coming to Utah. In Omaha, Nebraska, on their way westward, my grandmother gave birth to a boy, Stephen. He was born on August 25, 1859. She also buried her father in Omaha on January 14, 1860.
By dint of much hard work and saving my grandparents managed to buy a wagon, a cow, and an ox for their trip across the plains. My grandmother walked every step of the way across the plains and carried her baby and a gun. Once on the way the ox gave out, and my grandmother made a gruel of the food intended for the family's supper and carried it back about two miles to feed him. By morning the ox had regained his strength sufficiently to continue on the way.
This immigrant company was captained by Franklyn Brown. They arrived in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, September 4, 1860. They immediately started on to Hyde Park, Utah, to make their homes. The Seamons, Thurston, and Hancey families arrived in Hyde Park, September 9, 1860. My grandfather [James Thurston] at once constructed a dugout, which was their first home. Later he built a one-room log cabin, and still later the first good house in Hyde Park. This was a modern four-room house with a basement, fireplace, built-in cupboards, etc., and it is still standing. They spent the remainder of their lives on the same ground where they first settled, and these lots are still owned by the Thurston Family.
My grandfather was a framer and a high-class horticulturist. He raised the first apples and plums in Cache Valley. He also had the first rose bushes. He and James Mack paid either $40.00 for the two roses, or $40.00 each, I'm uncertain which. Grandfather was always a lover of the finer things of life. His home was a favorite gathering place for his many friends, and they always found a hearty welcome there. I have heard my grandfather say the three things he could not abide in another person were dishonesty, laziness, and the failure to keep one's word.
My grandmother [Mary Seamons Thurston] was a very capable manager, housewife, and cook. She did her spinning, knitting, etc., in addition to her housework and the care and raising of ten of her twelve children, two having died in infancy. She was on hand to visit among her neighbors, but in cases of sickness, she was always called upon and always responded cheerfully and willingly. At one time she left her own family to go into the home of John A. Woolf to nurse them when they, six in all, were down with typhoid fever. She nursed them through this by herself, and only one died. She was eighty years and two months old at the time of her death.
Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude, DUP, Vol 4, p. 2717
Mary was born in St. Michaels, South Elmham, Suffolk, England. Early in her life, she owned a donkey and cart. She would ride around disposing of staple articles to her neighbors and friends.
At the age of twenty-five, she married George Clutton. They had been married only nine months when her husband died in an accident at a sand pit. She remained a widow for five years, supporting herself by peddling and keeping a small store.
She married Henry Seamons in September of 1832 in St. Michaels, South Elmham, Suffolk, England. Their first child, Mary, was born in St. Michaels, and their seven other children were all born in the same home in All Saints. Mary had a good education and at one time taught school.
The Seamons family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on June 23, 1852. The missionaries were welcomed and often cared for in their home.
Using the inheritance money she received when a maiden aunt died, Mary paid for the tickets necessary to bring her husband, eight children, and three sons-in-law to New York. The family sailed on the ship, "Caravan," and arrived in America on March 28, 1856. The family first settled in New Jersey. Three years later, they moved from New Jersey to Omaha, Nebraska.
After her husband, Henry passed away, the family left Omaha to cross the Plains to be with the Utah saints. They traveled with the Ferezmore Little Wagon Company and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September 9, 1860.
The following day, they joined another group of Saints who were going to Cache Valley. They built a log home.
Mary had a very cheerful and hopeful personality. She had a great love for flowers and nature, an ability to be thrifty, and had a compassion and desire to assist the needy and sick. She was a beautiful singer and a great lover of children. She was true to the work of God and beloved by all who knew her.
She spent a busy and useful life providing for herself and helping to care for her family until she passed away on January 12, 1875, in Hyrum, Cache, Utah.
Married George Clutton, 25 Oct 1826, St. Peter, South Elmham, Suffolk, England.
Married Henry Seamons, 9 Sep 1832, St. Michaels, South Elmham, Suffolk, England. He died 14 Jan 1860, Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska.
History of James Thurston and Mary Seamons and her parents – Henry Seamons and Mary King, as written by Mary Bake Woolf
(My mother's family history – Sarah Elizabeth Thurston, wife of John Alfred Bake, Sr.)
My maternal great grandparents were Samuel King and Mary Ling. Mary Ling was born on July 12th, 1765, at All Saints, [South Elmham,] Suffolk, England, and she died June 17, 1852. Their daughter, Mary, my great grandmother, was born on March 5, 1801, at St. Michaels, [South Elmham,] England, and died January 12, 1875, at Hyde Park, Cache, Utah. She was married to Henry Seamons in January 1832, at Suffolk, England. To this union was born my grandmother, Mary Seamons, on March 17, 1833, at St. Michaels, [South Elmham,] Suffolk, England. She was married to James Thurston on April 6, 1954, in England. She died May 17, 1914, at Hyde Park, Utah. Their daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, who was my mother, was born October 22, 1857, in New Jersey.
My paternal grandparents were William Stockdale and Hannah Seamons. Their son, Henry Seamons, was born May 5, 1809, at Rumburg, England, and died January 14, 1860, at Omaha, Nebraska. He was married to Mary King in January 1832 at St. Michaels, [South Elmham,] Suffolk, England. My grandmother [Mary Seamons Thurston] was born at this place on March 17, 1833.
While in England, my great grandparents had been members of various denominations, lastly the Church of England, but they found these different faiths unsatisfactory. Three missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Claudious V. Spencer, Cyrus H. Wheelock, and Isaac Morley, were sent to Suffolk and held cottage meetings there. They often held their meetings in my great-grandfather's home, where they found a ready welcome. My great-grandparents and their family heard this new doctrine preached and felt it to be the truth. They immediately became converts.
They made preparations at once to come to America. My great grandmother, Mary King Seamons, had some property, consisting of a small shop, left to her by an aunt, and this she sold, using the proceeds to pay passage for herself and her husband, their eight children, and their three eldest daughter's husbands. The passage cost 42 lbs. 10 shillings.
The sailship Caravan set sail from Liverpool, England, on Monday, February 18, 1856, with Captain William Sands in command. There were 454 Saints on board, under the leadership of Daniel Tyler. The company arrived in New York on March 28, 1856, after being on the sea for five weeks and two days. They had a rough voyage. The Caravan was disabled and driven back nearly one hundred miles, one mast broken off, one sailor killed and another had his thigh broken. Two days later my grandmother's sister, Rachel, gave birth to a boy. He was named Jimmy [James] Sands Hancey in honor of the captain of the ship.
The night they landed, March 28th, my grandmother had a baby girl, Mary Casalina, who later died on July 31, 1856, in New York. When this baby died my grandfather was ill with chills and fever, and out of funds. My grandmother was forced to walk the streets for three days, trying to find someone to take the baby and give it a burial. She finally found a man who agreed to do this and bought a nice casket for the baby. He took the child's body away but refused to let grandmother accompany him, saying she would only feel worse. Her youngest brother, Samuel Seamons, however, followed the man, and saw him take the child's body to a pit of quick lime outside the city limits and dumped it in, afterward taking the casket back to the city with him.
On October 22, 1857, my mother, Sarah Elizabeth was born in New Jersey. They remained in New Jersey for the next about three years before coming to Utah. In Omaha, Nebraska, on their way westward, my grandmother gave birth to a boy, Stephen. He was born on August 25, 1859. She also buried her father in Omaha on January 14, 1860.
By dint of much hard work and saving my grandparents managed to buy a wagon, a cow, and an ox for their trip across the plains. My grandmother walked every step of the way across the plains and carried her baby and a gun. Once on the way the ox gave out, and my grandmother made a gruel of the food intended for the family's supper and carried it back about two miles to feed him. By morning the ox had regained his strength sufficiently to continue on the way.
This immigrant company was captained by Franklyn Brown. They arrived in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, September 4, 1860. They immediately started on to Hyde Park, Utah, to make their homes. The Seamons, Thurston, and Hancey families arrived in Hyde Park, September 9, 1860. My grandfather [James Thurston] at once constructed a dugout, which was their first home. Later he built a one-room log cabin, and still later the first good house in Hyde Park. This was a modern four-room house with a basement, fireplace, built-in cupboards, etc., and it is still standing. They spent the remainder of their lives on the same ground where they first settled, and these lots are still owned by the Thurston Family.
My grandfather was a framer and a high-class horticulturist. He raised the first apples and plums in Cache Valley. He also had the first rose bushes. He and James Mack paid either $40.00 for the two roses, or $40.00 each, I'm uncertain which. Grandfather was always a lover of the finer things of life. His home was a favorite gathering place for his many friends, and they always found a hearty welcome there. I have heard my grandfather say the three things he could not abide in another person were dishonesty, laziness, and the failure to keep one's word.
My grandmother [Mary Seamons Thurston] was a very capable manager, housewife, and cook. She did her spinning, knitting, etc., in addition to her housework and the care and raising of ten of her twelve children, two having died in infancy. She was on hand to visit among her neighbors, but in cases of sickness, she was always called upon and always responded cheerfully and willingly. At one time she left her own family to go into the home of John A. Woolf to nurse them when they, six in all, were down with typhoid fever. She nursed them through this by herself, and only one died. She was eighty years and two months old at the time of her death.
Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude, DUP, Vol 4, p. 2717
Mary was born in St. Michaels, South Elmham, Suffolk, England. Early in her life, she owned a donkey and cart. She would ride around disposing of staple articles to her neighbors and friends.
At the age of twenty-five, she married George Clutton. They had been married only nine months when her husband died in an accident at a sand pit. She remained a widow for five years, supporting herself by peddling and keeping a small store.
She married Henry Seamons in September of 1832 in St. Michaels, South Elmham, Suffolk, England. Their first child, Mary, was born in St. Michaels, and their seven other children were all born in the same home in All Saints. Mary had a good education and at one time taught school.
The Seamons family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on June 23, 1852. The missionaries were welcomed and often cared for in their home.
Using the inheritance money she received when a maiden aunt died, Mary paid for the tickets necessary to bring her husband, eight children, and three sons-in-law to New York. The family sailed on the ship, "Caravan," and arrived in America on March 28, 1856. The family first settled in New Jersey. Three years later, they moved from New Jersey to Omaha, Nebraska.
After her husband, Henry passed away, the family left Omaha to cross the Plains to be with the Utah saints. They traveled with the Ferezmore Little Wagon Company and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September 9, 1860.
The following day, they joined another group of Saints who were going to Cache Valley. They built a log home.
Mary had a very cheerful and hopeful personality. She had a great love for flowers and nature, an ability to be thrifty, and had a compassion and desire to assist the needy and sick. She was a beautiful singer and a great lover of children. She was true to the work of God and beloved by all who knew her.
She spent a busy and useful life providing for herself and helping to care for her family until she passed away on January 12, 1875, in Hyrum, Cache, Utah.
Daughter of Samuel King and Mary Ling
Married George Clutton, 25 Oct 1826, St. Peter, South Elmham, Suffolk, England.
Married Henry Seamons, 9 Sep 1832, St. Michaels, South Elmham, Suffolk, England. He died 14 Jan 1860, Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska.
History of James Thurston and Mary Seamons and her parents – Henry Seamons and Mary King, as written by Mary Bake Woolf
(My mother's family history – Sarah Elizabeth Thurston, wife of John Alfred Bake, Sr.)
My maternal great grandparents were Samuel King and Mary Ling. Mary Ling was born on July 12th, 1765, at All Saints, [South Elmham,] Suffolk, England, and she died June 17, 1852. Their daughter, Mary, my great grandmother, was born on March 5, 1801, at St. Michaels, [South Elmham,] England, and died January 12, 1875, at Hyde Park, Cache, Utah. She was married to Henry Seamons in January 1832, at Suffolk, England. To this union was born my grandmother, Mary Seamons, on March 17, 1833, at St. Michaels, [South Elmham,] Suffolk, England. She was married to James Thurston on April 6, 1954, in England. She died May 17, 1914, at Hyde Park, Utah. Their daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, who was my mother, was born October 22, 1857, in New Jersey.
My paternal grandparents were William Stockdale and Hannah Seamons. Their son, Henry Seamons, was born May 5, 1809, at Rumburg, England, and died January 14, 1860, at Omaha, Nebraska. He was married to Mary King in January 1832 at St. Michaels, [South Elmham,] Suffolk, England. My grandmother [Mary Seamons Thurston] was born at this place on March 17, 1833.
While in England, my great grandparents had been members of various denominations, lastly the Church of England, but they found these different faiths unsatisfactory. Three missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Claudious V. Spencer, Cyrus H. Wheelock, and Isaac Morley, were sent to Suffolk and held cottage meetings there. They often held their meetings in my great-grandfather's home, where they found a ready welcome. My great-grandparents and their family heard this new doctrine preached and felt it to be the truth. They immediately became converts.
They made preparations at once to come to America. My great grandmother, Mary King Seamons, had some property, consisting of a small shop, left to her by an aunt, and this she sold, using the proceeds to pay passage for herself and her husband, their eight children, and their three eldest daughter's husbands. The passage cost 42 lbs. 10 shillings.
The sailship Caravan set sail from Liverpool, England, on Monday, February 18, 1856, with Captain William Sands in command. There were 454 Saints on board, under the leadership of Daniel Tyler. The company arrived in New York on March 28, 1856, after being on the sea for five weeks and two days. They had a rough voyage. The Caravan was disabled and driven back nearly one hundred miles, one mast broken off, one sailor killed and another had his thigh broken. Two days later my grandmother's sister, Rachel, gave birth to a boy. He was named Jimmy [James] Sands Hancey in honor of the captain of the ship.
The night they landed, March 28th, my grandmother had a baby girl, Mary Casalina, who later died on July 31, 1856, in New York. When this baby died my grandfather was ill with chills and fever, and out of funds. My grandmother was forced to walk the streets for three days, trying to find someone to take the baby and give it a burial. She finally found a man who agreed to do this and bought a nice casket for the baby. He took the child's body away but refused to let grandmother accompany him, saying she would only feel worse. Her youngest brother, Samuel Seamons, however, followed the man, and saw him take the child's body to a pit of quick lime outside the city limits and dumped it in, afterward taking the casket back to the city with him.
On October 22, 1857, my mother, Sarah Elizabeth was born in New Jersey. They remained in New Jersey for the next about three years before coming to Utah. In Omaha, Nebraska, on their way westward, my grandmother gave birth to a boy, Stephen. He was born on August 25, 1859. She also buried her father in Omaha on January 14, 1860.
By dint of much hard work and saving my grandparents managed to buy a wagon, a cow, and an ox for their trip across the plains. My grandmother walked every step of the way across the plains and carried her baby and a gun. Once on the way the ox gave out, and my grandmother made a gruel of the food intended for the family's supper and carried it back about two miles to feed him. By morning the ox had regained his strength sufficiently to continue on the way.
This immigrant company was captained by Franklyn Brown. They arrived in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, September 4, 1860. They immediately started on to Hyde Park, Utah, to make their homes. The Seamons, Thurston, and Hancey families arrived in Hyde Park, September 9, 1860. My grandfather [James Thurston] at once constructed a dugout, which was their first home. Later he built a one-room log cabin, and still later the first good house in Hyde Park. This was a modern four-room house with a basement, fireplace, built-in cupboards, etc., and it is still standing. They spent the remainder of their lives on the same ground where they first settled, and these lots are still owned by the Thurston Family.
My grandfather was a framer and a high-class horticulturist. He raised the first apples and plums in Cache Valley. He also had the first rose bushes. He and James Mack paid either $40.00 for the two roses, or $40.00 each, I'm uncertain which. Grandfather was always a lover of the finer things of life. His home was a favorite gathering place for his many friends, and they always found a hearty welcome there. I have heard my grandfather say the three things he could not abide in another person were dishonesty, laziness, and the failure to keep one's word.
My grandmother [Mary Seamons Thurston] was a very capable manager, housewife, and cook. She did her spinning, knitting, etc., in addition to her housework and the care and raising of ten of her twelve children, two having died in infancy. She was on hand to visit among her neighbors, but in cases of sickness, she was always called upon and always responded cheerfully and willingly. At one time she left her own family to go into the home of John A. Woolf to nurse them when they, six in all, were down with typhoid fever. She nursed them through this by herself, and only one died. She was eighty years and two months old at the time of her death.
Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude, DUP, Vol 4, p. 2717
Mary was born in St. Michaels, South Elmham, Suffolk, England. Early in her life, she owned a donkey and cart. She would ride around disposing of staple articles to her neighbors and friends.
At the age of twenty-five, she married George Clutton. They had been married only nine months when her husband died in an accident at a sand pit. She remained a widow for five years, supporting herself by peddling and keeping a small store.
She married Henry Seamons in September of 1832 in St. Michaels, South Elmham, Suffolk, England. Their first child, Mary, was born in St. Michaels, and their seven other children were all born in the same home in All Saints. Mary had a good education and at one time taught school.
The Seamons family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on June 23, 1852. The missionaries were welcomed and often cared for in their home.
Using the inheritance money she received when a maiden aunt died, Mary paid for the tickets necessary to bring her husband, eight children, and three sons-in-law to New York. The family sailed on the ship, "Caravan," and arrived in America on March 28, 1856. The family first settled in New Jersey. Three years later, they moved from New Jersey to Omaha, Nebraska.
After her husband, Henry passed away, the family left Omaha to cross the Plains to be with the Utah saints. They traveled with the Ferezmore Little Wagon Company and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September 9, 1860.
The following day, they joined another group of Saints who were going to Cache Valley. They built a log home.
Mary had a very cheerful and hopeful personality. She had a great love for flowers and nature, an ability to be thrifty, and had a compassion and desire to assist the needy and sick. She was a beautiful singer and a great lover of children. She was true to the work of God and beloved by all who knew her.
She spent a busy and useful life providing for herself and helping to care for her family until she passed away on January 12, 1875, in Hyrum, Cache, Utah.
Married George Clutton, 25 Oct 1826, St. Peter, South Elmham, Suffolk, England.
Married Henry Seamons, 9 Sep 1832, St. Michaels, South Elmham, Suffolk, England. He died 14 Jan 1860, Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska.
History of James Thurston and Mary Seamons and her parents – Henry Seamons and Mary King, as written by Mary Bake Woolf
(My mother's family history – Sarah Elizabeth Thurston, wife of John Alfred Bake, Sr.)
My maternal great grandparents were Samuel King and Mary Ling. Mary Ling was born on July 12th, 1765, at All Saints, [South Elmham,] Suffolk, England, and she died June 17, 1852. Their daughter, Mary, my great grandmother, was born on March 5, 1801, at St. Michaels, [South Elmham,] England, and died January 12, 1875, at Hyde Park, Cache, Utah. She was married to Henry Seamons in January 1832, at Suffolk, England. To this union was born my grandmother, Mary Seamons, on March 17, 1833, at St. Michaels, [South Elmham,] Suffolk, England. She was married to James Thurston on April 6, 1954, in England. She died May 17, 1914, at Hyde Park, Utah. Their daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, who was my mother, was born October 22, 1857, in New Jersey.
My paternal grandparents were William Stockdale and Hannah Seamons. Their son, Henry Seamons, was born May 5, 1809, at Rumburg, England, and died January 14, 1860, at Omaha, Nebraska. He was married to Mary King in January 1832 at St. Michaels, [South Elmham,] Suffolk, England. My grandmother [Mary Seamons Thurston] was born at this place on March 17, 1833.
While in England, my great grandparents had been members of various denominations, lastly the Church of England, but they found these different faiths unsatisfactory. Three missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Claudious V. Spencer, Cyrus H. Wheelock, and Isaac Morley, were sent to Suffolk and held cottage meetings there. They often held their meetings in my great-grandfather's home, where they found a ready welcome. My great-grandparents and their family heard this new doctrine preached and felt it to be the truth. They immediately became converts.
They made preparations at once to come to America. My great grandmother, Mary King Seamons, had some property, consisting of a small shop, left to her by an aunt, and this she sold, using the proceeds to pay passage for herself and her husband, their eight children, and their three eldest daughter's husbands. The passage cost 42 lbs. 10 shillings.
The sailship Caravan set sail from Liverpool, England, on Monday, February 18, 1856, with Captain William Sands in command. There were 454 Saints on board, under the leadership of Daniel Tyler. The company arrived in New York on March 28, 1856, after being on the sea for five weeks and two days. They had a rough voyage. The Caravan was disabled and driven back nearly one hundred miles, one mast broken off, one sailor killed and another had his thigh broken. Two days later my grandmother's sister, Rachel, gave birth to a boy. He was named Jimmy [James] Sands Hancey in honor of the captain of the ship.
The night they landed, March 28th, my grandmother had a baby girl, Mary Casalina, who later died on July 31, 1856, in New York. When this baby died my grandfather was ill with chills and fever, and out of funds. My grandmother was forced to walk the streets for three days, trying to find someone to take the baby and give it a burial. She finally found a man who agreed to do this and bought a nice casket for the baby. He took the child's body away but refused to let grandmother accompany him, saying she would only feel worse. Her youngest brother, Samuel Seamons, however, followed the man, and saw him take the child's body to a pit of quick lime outside the city limits and dumped it in, afterward taking the casket back to the city with him.
On October 22, 1857, my mother, Sarah Elizabeth was born in New Jersey. They remained in New Jersey for the next about three years before coming to Utah. In Omaha, Nebraska, on their way westward, my grandmother gave birth to a boy, Stephen. He was born on August 25, 1859. She also buried her father in Omaha on January 14, 1860.
By dint of much hard work and saving my grandparents managed to buy a wagon, a cow, and an ox for their trip across the plains. My grandmother walked every step of the way across the plains and carried her baby and a gun. Once on the way the ox gave out, and my grandmother made a gruel of the food intended for the family's supper and carried it back about two miles to feed him. By morning the ox had regained his strength sufficiently to continue on the way.
This immigrant company was captained by Franklyn Brown. They arrived in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, September 4, 1860. They immediately started on to Hyde Park, Utah, to make their homes. The Seamons, Thurston, and Hancey families arrived in Hyde Park, September 9, 1860. My grandfather [James Thurston] at once constructed a dugout, which was their first home. Later he built a one-room log cabin, and still later the first good house in Hyde Park. This was a modern four-room house with a basement, fireplace, built-in cupboards, etc., and it is still standing. They spent the remainder of their lives on the same ground where they first settled, and these lots are still owned by the Thurston Family.
My grandfather was a framer and a high-class horticulturist. He raised the first apples and plums in Cache Valley. He also had the first rose bushes. He and James Mack paid either $40.00 for the two roses, or $40.00 each, I'm uncertain which. Grandfather was always a lover of the finer things of life. His home was a favorite gathering place for his many friends, and they always found a hearty welcome there. I have heard my grandfather say the three things he could not abide in another person were dishonesty, laziness, and the failure to keep one's word.
My grandmother [Mary Seamons Thurston] was a very capable manager, housewife, and cook. She did her spinning, knitting, etc., in addition to her housework and the care and raising of ten of her twelve children, two having died in infancy. She was on hand to visit among her neighbors, but in cases of sickness, she was always called upon and always responded cheerfully and willingly. At one time she left her own family to go into the home of John A. Woolf to nurse them when they, six in all, were down with typhoid fever. She nursed them through this by herself, and only one died. She was eighty years and two months old at the time of her death.
Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude, DUP, Vol 4, p. 2717
Mary was born in St. Michaels, South Elmham, Suffolk, England. Early in her life, she owned a donkey and cart. She would ride around disposing of staple articles to her neighbors and friends.
At the age of twenty-five, she married George Clutton. They had been married only nine months when her husband died in an accident at a sand pit. She remained a widow for five years, supporting herself by peddling and keeping a small store.
She married Henry Seamons in September of 1832 in St. Michaels, South Elmham, Suffolk, England. Their first child, Mary, was born in St. Michaels, and their seven other children were all born in the same home in All Saints. Mary had a good education and at one time taught school.
The Seamons family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on June 23, 1852. The missionaries were welcomed and often cared for in their home.
Using the inheritance money she received when a maiden aunt died, Mary paid for the tickets necessary to bring her husband, eight children, and three sons-in-law to New York. The family sailed on the ship, "Caravan," and arrived in America on March 28, 1856. The family first settled in New Jersey. Three years later, they moved from New Jersey to Omaha, Nebraska.
After her husband, Henry passed away, the family left Omaha to cross the Plains to be with the Utah saints. They traveled with the Ferezmore Little Wagon Company and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September 9, 1860.
The following day, they joined another group of Saints who were going to Cache Valley. They built a log home.
Mary had a very cheerful and hopeful personality. She had a great love for flowers and nature, an ability to be thrifty, and had a compassion and desire to assist the needy and sick. She was a beautiful singer and a great lover of children. She was true to the work of God and beloved by all who knew her.
She spent a busy and useful life providing for herself and helping to care for her family until she passed away on January 12, 1875, in Hyrum, Cache, Utah.
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