Silas Thales Smith

Silas Thales Smith was born at Manassa, Colorado, November 14, 1891, the second son of Jesse Joel and Margaret Ann Haskell Smith. He was named for his two grandfathers-Silas Sanford Smith and Thales Haskell. The first ten years of his life were spent in the San Luis Valley, Colorado; in the summer at a ranch near Blanca Mountain twenty-five miles east of Alamosa, where his father kept his stock, and winters in Manassa, where the family attended church and school. He was six when his father left for a two-year mission to the Eastern States Mission, and “remembers well the courageous efforts of my mother and older brother to make a success of our father’s affairs while he was away.” As young boy, he loved to play marbles. He wore his pants out in the knees until his mother made him promise to be careful. The family sold their property in Colorado and moved to Wyoming in 1902. Along the way, his older brother became ill and died. After arriving in Wyoming and settling on some land, Thales’ father, Jesse, passed away in 1905, leaving a fourteen-year old Thales, mother and two daughters to work the land. He was able to sell feed for horses to the C.B. and O. Railroad and earn good money for his mother and sisters. In the winter of 1909-1910, his mother took the family to Provo, Utah, to attend Brigham Young Academy, where Thales attended the first year of high school. The next winter, he attended Big Horn Academy. Thales spent very little time in school because he worked in the spring, summer and fall on the ranch, but he was able to attend enough school to get education. As his nineteenth birthday came and went, he lost interest in school and his mind was on ranching and the cattle business. He also was interested in a lovely young woman named Elvena Sessions. In August of 1911, the stake president called him and interviewed him in regards to going on a mission for the church. Thales already had plans to work his mother’s ranch and marry Elvena the following spring. In his life history he writes, “However, all the reasons why I should not undertake a mission at this time did not seem to justify a refusal to accept such an opportunity and all concerned agreed that I should begin preparing as soon as I was officially called.” As indicated by his call, he was in Salt Lake City on November 7, 1911, endowed on the 8^th, and on the train at 4:30 pm to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to the Southern States Mission. He was assigned to the North Carolina Conference. He says, “…in spite of being exposed to persecution and abuse and our motives largely misunderstood, still the knowledge that we were in the service of our Redeemer brought a joy and satisfaction to our hearts that cannot be experienced any other way. I will forever be thankful that I decided to accept the call to missionary service.” He married Elvena April 3, 1914 in the Salt Lake Temple. The children that came to their home were Thales Sessions, Jesse Byron, Arthur Callis, Scott Haskell, Thelma, and Ida Mae. Thales and Elvena built up their ranch holdings, raised cattle and grew crops to feed them. He served his community and the state in many capacities including superintendent of a water division for the state, member of the school board, director of the Cattlemen’s Association, Round-up Foreman, president of local Farm Bureau, secretary of county Farm Bureau, and director of an irrigation system. He was called on a short term mission to the North Western States, working in Oregon during the winter of 1929-1930. He also served a short term mission with Elvena from December, 1952 to June 1953 to the San Fernando Valley with headquarters in North Hollywood. He supported their four sons on their missions and all their children married in the temple. The two set up a missionary fund that helped many of their grandchildren serve missions. His church assignments included serving on stake high council from 1937-1954, in the leadership of the stake high priest quorum, stake missionary, ward/home teacher and ward high priest group leader. Thales was a loving, peaceful man, who was steadfast in his principles of righteousness and integrity, with a great sense of humor and love for his fellowman. He passed away several years after his wife in July, 1981.

Taken from records written by Silas Thales Smith in the possession of Darrell and Sherilyn Smith.

Clara Allred

Clara was born to goodly parents, Sarah Rebecca Tew and Rudger Van Buell Allred in Lehi, Utah, July 17, 1920. She was the third child and first daughter in a family of six children. She learned to work at an early age. She said, “I think my dad thought up things to keep me busy.”  She was blessed with loving relatives and friends, good teachers and leaders in Lehi. Her father, being a strict man who loved the gospel and served the Lord, would not let her cut her hair when short hair was the style. He did not want her to be popular, so she wore her hair in long braids until after her father passed away when she was fourteen.  Clara had two best friends growing up and spent many wonderful hours in their company. They could sing and play the piano, but she could not. She came to the realization that she enjoyed drama and writing and used those talents the rest of her life. Clara worked with her parents on genealogy, gathering names and organizing them. Reba, worked hard to provide for her children after the death of her husband, and all of the children worked to help the family. After graduating high school, she desired to attend BYU and found work to support her in that goal.  While at BYU, she met Thales Smith whom she married at the end of her second year there. They chose the Salt Lake Temple and were married the same day as Clara’s brother, Rulon, and his wife, Leolia, September 18, 1940. After their marriage, they moved to Wyoming to farm and ranch with other Smith families. She joined Relief Society and became a theology teacher, praying and receiving help from her Heavenly Father for eleven years in that calling.  Clara and Thales became the parents of seven children, Judith Ann, Darrell Thales, Carol, Marie, Margaret, Mark A. and Jeanne. Marie passed away on the day of her birth. Clara says, “We were poor during those years but happy. Our branch was twelve miles away and stake in Lovell thirty five miles away. We were active in both.” As their small farm couldn’t produce enough income, they enlarged their holdings and fixed up an old house to live in. Then, it burned down, destroying most of their worldly goods, but no one was harmed, and they learned to accept the love and support of friends and family. “(She) learned that the things (she) treasured were not the things of (monetary) value.”  She had to work after this and so she worked as a nurse’s aid in the hospital. Thales started teaching school in Burlington, so the family moved off the ranch to the little town, and Clara taught seminary for two years. They both took university courses in the summer and received their teaching degrees some time later. After all those years in Wyoming they felt it necessary to move where they could both teach and provide for their growing family. In 1960 they found a home in Corcoran and began their California adventure, looking for a city with a ward in it and a seminary for their children. They moved to Porterville in 1961, and spent the next eighteen years teaching school and working in the church. Clara served in the Young Women’s Mutual as ward president and then in the stake. She also attended and served in Relief Society and she and Thales drove to the Los Angeles Temple often and took members of their ward with them. They formed lasting friendships and enjoyed their years in California, sightseeing forests, beaches and the Bay Area. When they retired, they bought the home at 440 North 700 East, in Pleasant Grove, Utah. They worked in the Provo Temple and the Extraction  Program. In 1982, they were called to serve in Iceland, where Thales was called to leadership of the missionaries in Iceland and Clara helped the members get their four generation sheets into Salt Lake. “We learned in this experience that there is great joy in the service of your God.” In her biography, Clara bears her testimony and ends it with, “God has granted Daddy and I a grand family. May you all stay close to God and Jesus in prayer and your actions. Live so the Holy ghost can be your constant companion….” Clara suffered a stroke in 1996 and was bedridden for twelve years, but she never lost her sense of humor and enjoyed the company of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, of whom she had many. She passed away October 29, 2008.

Taken from Clara’s autobiography in the possession of Darrell and Sherilyn Smith.

Thales Sessions Smith

Thales Sessions Smith was born at his Aunt Julia’s home in Byron, Wyoming, to Silas Thales and Elvena Sessions Smith. Being the firstborn, he was a hard worker and very reliable.  He attended the Old Stone Schoolhouse near his parent’s ranch east of Greybull. After attending two weeks of high school in Greybull, he had to quit because of a bad accident he had had. He was riding his horse in the dark and ran into a highway warning sign and injured his leg, which caused him problems the rest of his life. He went to Lovell to be cared for by Dr. Croft. After a month’s time, he was able to start school again at Lovell High School where he graduated. He served a mission in the German-Austrian Mission, returning home in 1939, in the midst of turmoil caused by the Nazis. He attended BYU and graduated with a BS in agronomy. He was a rancher, farmer, and school teacher. Thales met Clara Allred while attending BYU and married her in the Salt Lake Temple, September 18, 1940. They had a beautiful family of seven children, two sons and five daughters, one daughter having passed away at birth. The children are: Judith Ann, Darrell Thales, Marie, Carol, Margaret, Mark A., and Jeanne. They supported their children on missions and in college. He worked with the county agriculture agent and taught agriculture classes for the farmers at the county high school in Wyoming. He served as one of the seven presidents of seventy in the Wyoming stake. He spoke throughout the stake and was responsible for church services in Yellowstone Park. He and Clara taught school in Wyoming and in California, Thales teaching fifth grade in Porterville and Corcoran, California. He was on the ward council and volunteered to meet the new people in the ward, before they were assigned home teachers. In the Bakersfield Stake in California, he was the stake Junior Sunday School Coordinator. They attended the temple in Los Angeles for many years, taking friends in the car with them, and staying with Clara’s cousin, Sterling Allred.  He befriended the youth in his ward and was kind to nieces and nephews. He loved art and spent a little time sketching and painting.  Thales and Clara made their home in Pleasant Grove, Utah, after retiring from teaching. Thales and Clara served a mission to Iceland, 1982-83, and he served as an assistant mission president in Iceland. He also served for years as an ordinance worker in the Provo and Mt. Timpanogos temples. His yard was always well cared for and he raised a beautiful garden every year, sharing his bountiful harvest with family and friends. He was a master horse shoe player, and spent many happy hours with friends and family at his pit in the backyard. He was a friend to everyone and took time to serve others. He was disciplined and orderly, and exercised every morning. Thales suffered a stroke in April, 2001, and passed away December 24, 2001.

Taken from family records and memories of Thales by Darrell and Sherilyn Smith.

Harriet Percilla Richins

Harriet Percilla Richins was born December 22, 1868, in Pleasant Grove, Utah, the daughter of Thomas Richins and Harriet Deveraux. She attended school in Pleasant Grove, and when old enough, she helped out in homes where there was sickness or where new babies arrived. She went to Vernal to help in one of her brother’s homes. While there, she married Orlando Henson Eaton. Their seven children were Flossie, Claudest, Musetta, Fon, Marcus, Ezra and Eva (Orlando’s little sister).

Percilla was a good seamstress and a splendid cook. She always had a number of cows and she made and sold butter. She raised and sold chickens, eggs, turkeys and ducks.

She was a good practical nurse and helped many babies into this world. She was there to help lay out the dead when needed, and made a lot of the burial clothes.

Two times, her home burned to the ground. She died, December 25, 1927.

1. This history is taken from the book, Henson Walker Family Record, by Jennie Walker Johnson, John V. Johnson and Floyd A. Walker, printed by Transcript-Bulletin Publishing Company, Inc.1958-1963, 211-213. Percilla’s life history was written by her daughter, Musetta Eaton Hatch. Sherilyn Smith has a copy of this book.
2. Her photo is on find a grave website.

Orlando Henson Eaton

Orlando Henson Eaton, the second of five children of Joseph Orlando Beckwith Eaton and Victoreen Elizabeth Walker, came into this world on April 29, 1867, in Pleasant Grove, Utah. “He enjoyed riding horses and rode in many races as that was one of the leading sports in those days. He loved horses and always drove a fine team. As did his brothers and sisters, he loved music and played the snare drum.” 1

Henson’s parents moved to Vernal, Utah in 1882, where he later married Harriet Percilla Richins, a childhood sweetheart. Their home was a one-room log cabin. Each year the couple returned to Pleasant Grove to visit relatives and gather fruit. When Henson’s mother died, leaving 12 children, three of them married, and a baby of 18 days, Henson and Percilla took his little sister in and raised her.

Henson worked hard farming, raising stock, freighting, and logging. He also owned Vernal Meat Market with others and later Eagle Market. He was always up before 5 am and seldom in bed before 11 pm. “He was honest and trustworthy and met his many obstacles bravely. He was very generous to a fault and extended credit to many who were unworthy.”2

Their home burned to the ground two times, losing nearly everything. After his wife passed away in 1927, he married Emily Shoel Bacon, a widow and childhood friend.

At the age of 80 years, he felled 49 trees, each long enough to cut three house logs. He had a great attitude of cheerfulness and friendliness for everyone. He passed away at 89 years on June 8, 1956.

1. The entire article is taken from the book, Henson Walker Family Record, by Jennie Walker Johnson, John V. Johnson and Floyd A. Walker, printed by Transcript-Bulletin Publishing Company, Inc.1958-1963, 211-213. Henson’s life history was written by his daughter, Musetta Eaton Hatch. Sherilyn Smith has a copy of this book.

      2.  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=40871875

Claudest Henson Eaton

                       Claudest Henson Eaton

Born to Orlando Henson Eaton and Harriet Percilla Richens on June 11, 1889 in Vernal, Utah. Claude, the second child, had two sisters and two brothers. He was baptized at the age of fifteen on August 7, 1904. He married Luella May Hatch, July 1, 1908. He and May both received their endowments and were sealed on Sept 21, 1910 in the Salt Lake Temple. Claude worked hard for his family, as a farmer, butcher, cattleman, store owner and truck driver. He was a shy man, who didn’t speak much, but he enjoyed being with his family. His wife and children loved him. He enjoyed hunting and fishing up in the Uintah’s and taught his children to enjoy those hobbies.

He sometimes worked in the mountains, chopping down trees and hauling them home. One night, after filling his wagon with wood, he tied his horses to a big tree and made camp for the night. A storm came up. After going to sleep, he felt an impression to move the horses. “Too tired,” he thought. Again he was told to move the horses. The third time, he arose and moved the horses. No sooner had he moved them, than the tree they had been tied to was struck by lightening and fell down right where the horses had been.

He died December 2, 1954 at age 65 from cancer.

Sources: memories of Sherilyn Gale Smith, Henson Walker Family Record.

Josepheus Hatch

Josepheus Hatch was born June 26, 1866, in Smithfield, Utah, to Louisa Pool Alexander and Jeremiah Hatch. He was the youngest of eleven children and his mother died when he was three. His older brother, Alva Alexander raised him. His father, Jeremiah was sent to colonize the Uintah Basin in eastern Utah in 1878.

Joe married Martha Luella Thomas on March 13, 1885. “While they were courting, they had to meet in secret because Luella’s father, Benjamin Clark Thomas objected to them seeing each other. He was a very strict person.” Joe and Luella had thirteen children: Josephus, Jr, Luella Mae, Effel, Marion Clark, Sarah Ellen, James Harvey, Louisa Pool, Norman Sharp (Oden), Oris Theodocia, Jesse and Essie (twins), Erma and Maggie Veola.

“Joe loved horses and had about fifteen or twenty. He worked in the coal mines, sheared sheep, and did what he could to make a living for his family. Joe was a kind and loving father and loved his wife very much. Sarah often stated ‘that she had never seen anyone so much in love as her father and mother.’

“Joe was hit over the head with a butt of a gun and it formed a blood clot on his brain, which later caused him to have seizures. He became so bad that Luella had to have him committed to the State Hospital in Provo, Utah. He was there about three years, and while he was there, he was killed. He died October 26, 1915 in Provo, and was buried in Vernal, Utah.” 

See Martha Luella Thomas and Josephus Hatch Family History, by Jerry Gillies Christansen Griffin, July 1985, 5.

An interesting story about Jeremiah and Josephus helping to stop an Indian massacre can be found in the above book.