Daughter of James Percy Tomlinson and Esther Walker

Married Edward Tolton, 24 Dec 1847

Children - Emily Tolton, Louisa Tolton, Clara Ann Tolton, Ellen Marie Tolton, Edward Henry Tolton, Francis Elizabeth Tolton, John Franklin Tolton, Walter Smith Tolton, Margaret Esther Tolton, Mary Adeline Tolton, Selene Alice Tolton (1870-1872), Guy Herbert Tolton, Selena Alice Tolton (1873-1879), Nellie Edith Tolton, James Percy Walker Tolton

Sketch - Mary Ann Tomlinson was born on October 9, 1831, to James Tomlinson and Esther Walker in Ayrton, Yorkshire, England. Mary Ann was one of nine children: Mary Ann, born October 9, 1831; Elizabeth Tomlinson, born August 11, 1833 in Airton, Yorkshire; Thomas Walker Tomlinson, christened June 7, 1835 in Kirkby, Malham, Yorkshire; James Henry Tomlinson, born October 9, 1836 in Bury, Lancashire, England (died as a child between 1841 and 1843 in England); Margaret Tomlinson, born October 7, 1838 in Bury, Lancashire; Susannah Tomlinson, born in November 1840 in Burnley, Lancashire (died November 1840 in Burnley); John Smith Tomlinson, born April 29, 1842, in Burnley, Lancashire (died in 1844 in Illinois or Missouri); William Tomlinson, born 1845 in St. Louis, Missouri (died July 1846 in St. Louis); Elijah Tomlinson, born 1849 in St. Louis, Missouri (died 1850 in St. Louis).

Mary Ann was born of humble but honest parentage of good old Yorkshire stock. Unlike the Tolton family, the Tomlinson family joined the Church in England before coming to America. They had moved from Yorkshire to Lancashire about 1840 where they heard the doctrines of the restored church as made known by the Prophet Joseph Smith. They swept aside the traditions of ages when a conviction of the new faith came to them.

They felt the spirit of gathering and began to make preparations to immigrate to the land of Zion in America. Accordingly, in October, 1842, just one month later than the Toltons, although on different ships, the Tomlinsons embarked upon the sailing vessel Emerald for New Orleans with Parley P. Pratt as president of the company.

The ship met with disaster in the Irish channel when only a few hours out from port and was required to return for repairs. Many of the weak-hearted took this as a bad omen and apostatized, returning to their several homes. The Tomlinson family, however, had received a testimony of the gospel and did not turn back. Other minor disasters befell the ill-fated vessel, but none to prevent their reaching their destination at New Orleans on December 25, 1842.

After a few days’ stay in New Orleans, the family embarked on a Mississippi steamboat, the “Goddess of Liberty”, for St. Louis, arriving January 1843. The Tomlinson family as well as the Toltons gave up all they had in the Old World and arrived in the New World. Such were the conditions which made it possible for Mary Ann Tomlinson to meet Edward Tolton, her future husband, and marry him on December 24, 1847, in Illinois.

Mary Ann had been employed as a waiting maid in St. Louis but her family lived at Alton, Illinois, near the Tolton farm. On one of her visits home she met Edward Tolton and through this acquaintance, they fell in love.

Edward and Mary Ann had fourteen children: Emily Tolton, born November 9, 1848 in St. Louis, Missouri; Louisa Tolton, born August 10, 1850, in Alton, Illinois; Clara Ann Tolton, born April 13, 1852, in Alton, Illinois; Ellen Maria Tolton, born October 23, 1854 in Grantsville, Tooele, County, Utah; Edward Henry Tolton, born March 12, 1857 in Grantsville; Frances Elizabeth Tolton, born September 14, 1859, in Ephraim, Sanpete County, Utah; John Franklin Tolton, born November 14, 1861, in Ephraim; Walter Smith Tolton, born February 7, 1864, in Ephraim; Margaret Esther Tolton, born September 23, 1866, in Beaver, Beaver County, Utah (died January 5, 1867, in Beaver); Mary Adeline Tolton, born May 11, 1868, in Beaver; Guy Herbert Tolton, born February 28, 1871, in Beaver (died August 24, 1872, in Beaver); Selena Alice Tolton, born April 28, 1873, in Beaver (died May 14, 1879 in Beaver); Nellie Edith Tolton, born January 9, 1876, in Beaver (died October 10, 1876, in Beaver); and James Percy Tolton, born June 9, 1877, in Beaver (died October 10, 1877, in Beaver). The last four children didn’t live to adulthood.

Edward and Mary Ann moved from location to location to settle new communities at the direction of President Brigham Young. They were in Tooele in 1857 for the “grasshopper war”. Their next location was Ephraim in Sanpete County and then Circleville in Piute County where they braved the dangers of Indian uprisings. Always there was hard work and primitive living conditions.

They would get one settlement thriving only to be called to settle another location. (See the Edward Tolton life sketch for more details.) When they first moved to Beaver their only dwelling was a cellar which flooded, damaging what few possessions they had been able to grab before being run out by the Indians in Circleville.

They used tallow candles and later the kerosene lamp before electric lights were invented. Mary Ann would sit in the evenings and relate stories of her own life and experiences to her children and help them with their studies. Each night they had evening prayer as a family.

Edward died October 26, 1896, in Beaver from severe burns caused when a lamp exploded. Mary Ann died February 19, 1914, eighteen years later in Beaver, Utah. They raised a righteous posterity and remained faithful to the end.

Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, Moses Clawson Company (1853); Age at Departure: 21