The Thomas John Family Poem

Come, brothers and sisters,

Come, gather near,

Let's do some reminiscing

Of some memories so dear.

Here William and Charles,

And Levi, and James

And Ann, And Letitia

and Henry and Mary Jane.

Do you remember when Father

First accepted the Gospel true

So undecided, till he studied and prayed

Till he knew what to do?

Up to then we were respected,

And were doing financially well,

As an efficient shoe-maker,

Father did greatly excel.

Father was known for his shoes,

And his business grew fast,

So he taught William and Charles,

To cut and sew and use the Last.

But because we accepted the Gospel

And chose to serve the Lord,

We lost our friends and business,

The goin', I tell you, was hard.

We were beaten on the school grounds,

Stones were thrown at our windows and doors.

Our business was ended completely,

Our hearts were cut to the cores.

We were forced to move to another town,

And start all over again,

We worked and saved every dollar,

To sail to Zion 'mid friends.

'Twas an awful blow to our family,

To be persecuted for doing right,

But we held our heads up high,

And worked with all our might.

Do you remeber when we left our old home,

Many tears were shed that day,

A sister, Phoebe, was married,

So in Wales with her husband she stayed.

'Twas the New York Manchester, we sailed on,

And a very old ship it was,

It sank soon after we arrived,

We were saved for a worthy cause.

We still had trials and hardships,

For we were Mormons, you see,

And Mormons were treated badly,

Just for being what they ought to be.

While traveling on a train in Missouri,

Our baggage containing all we possessed,

Was burned, not by accident,

But was carefully planned, so we guessed.

It was all tied up in a carpet,

No fancy luggage had we,

It was clothes, and shoe-making tools,

And some thread we needed badly.

Yes, all we owned was tied up in that carpet,

But as we tearfully salvaged the remains,

We fortunately saved a few balls of thread,

So we could go on making shoes again.

Through sweat and tears, and heartache, and pain

We reached Zion, in grand old Salt Lake,

It required stout hearts with courage and faith

'Twas more than the average could take.

I remember Mary Jane was very sick,

And Mother carried her much of the way

Each night as we looked at our darling

We wondered if she'd last one more day.

While traveling on the prairie,

We boys had a lot of fun,

At night we lay and watched the stars

But in the morning we were up with the sun.

We enjoyed all nature,

As we traveled along,

With the wind in our hair,

on our lips was a song.

Even we children

Who were very small,

Had work to do,

There were Jobs for us all.

We gathered wild berries,

Along the way,

That we might eat,

At the end of the day.

We gathered sticks to build the fire,

We were happy and gay,

It seems we'd never tire.

William and Charles took a job herding sheep,

Their ability in this job was hard to beat.

They learned the art in Wales, years gone by,

They had a cure for all ills,

Their sheep didn't die.

I remember going to Wellsville, then 

With other families,

And our family of ten.

We were met there

By a Bishop Maughan,

He helped us get established,

That we might carry on.

I remember well this Bishop Maughan.

His home was open to everyone.

He took us into his place to eat,

Then out to some old friends we wanted to meet.

We moved to Portage in 1867,

This was our last move,

And it seemed more like heaven.

Father took a homestead

In North Portage, I recall,

He took enough land

That it could be divided for all.

Father settled in the center,

And we children settled around,

No greater love of Father and sons,

I'm sure could ever be found.

We built our homes and planted crops,

And blessed this bit of ground.

And since on this land, father settled,

And his family built homes all 'round,

It took on a most appropriate name,

For it was and is John's Town.

We respected one another,

We worked for the interest of all.

We helped each other plant in the springtime,

And helped harvest in the fall.

We had an interest in our families,

And tried to bring them up right.

Now, through the years our posterity,

Has grown, and it gives us delight.

And now I look out over Portage,

And see vast improvements are made,

But gone are those brave souls, who built it,

So sturdy, courageous and unafraid.

Gone are the horse and buggy,

Gone are those muddy streets,

Gone is the log church and schoolhouse,

Where all the good folks used to meet.

Gone are the beards and mustaches,

The bustles and high buttoned shoes,

Gone the old fashioned candy pulls,

The best amusement we knew.

But it's a joy to me, that one thing's the same, 

It's the love for the Gospel,

For which we came.

So members of this great family,

Remember Margaret and Thomas John,

Keep their names sacred in your home,

And may their memory Live on and on.

* * *

William married Sarah Ashton and Mary London,

Charles, the three Williams girls-

Edith, Agnes, and Elizabeth

Mary Ann Married a school teacher

His name was Edward Smith.

James Married Hannah Abbott, Mary James, and Emily Mitton

Levi - Mary Hall and Ellen Greene,

Henry married Margaret Rees,

One of the finest women I've seen.

Letitia married William H. Gibbs,

And raised a lovely family.

Mary Jane, who was just a frail child,

Became Mrs. Joseph Brigham Hawkley.