Possible Origins
Over 70 years ago Grandma Foy began her quest to find the genealogy of our Foy family. While other lines fleshed out over time, the search for the Foy line beyond the American shores has evaded us. Thomas Birk Foy's father was said to have immigrated prior to the Revolutionary War. Our mythology states that he was either of German, Irish or French ethnicity. It was also said that Welsh was spoken in the home, perhaps because his mother was said to be of Welsh decent. The Chidester descendents remember that "Thomas Birk Foy always said the name Foy meant faith." Since that meaning comes from the Old French word foi, one wonders if that is the origin of the French ancestry legend. The search continues...
The following history of Thomas Birk Foy was written my uncle, Leslie Tuttle Foy, and reproduced with his blessing. I had a little formatting problems when I copied from his original document so, please forgive the funky spacing. Some days I just can't force myself to wade into the HTML.
His Story
Those who lived in frontier America during the 1800's
left very few footprints on the pages of history. Most had little or no education. Therefore, most could not leave any
record. Most became forgotten or just a
footnote mentioned in passing by someone else.
So most became a fading memory to future generations. Such is the story of Thomas Birk Foy.
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| Thomas Birk Foy |
Thomas was born on the 30th of December 1802
in Rapho Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to Frederick Foy and
Elizabeth Phillips Foy. This was not
long after the Revolutionary War and the change from Colonial government to the
creation of the United States of America.
Lancaster would have been near the edge of the frontier at the time of
his birth. He was the last of twelve
children according to family tradition.
Soon after his birth, his family moved further into the frontier to what
would become Halfmoon, Centre County, Pennsylvania. Information about the Foy family in America
in earlier times is very sketchy and full of speculation . Family traditions indicate that the father,
Frederick Foy, came to America as an indentured servant a few years before the
start of the Revolutionary War. He
served as a servant for about seven years in Chester County, Pennsylvania as a
cooper to pay his passage to Colonial America.
Seven years was the longest period of time that a person could serve as
a servant. This would mean he would have
been the poorest of the poor when he came.
This is our best conclusion based on what records can be found. At the end of bondage, the only choice for
most was to become a hired hand.
As best as we can tell, his father, Frederick, rented
land to provide for his family.
Frederick could be found working around mills and mines as well. Family traditions indicate that he was a
maker of flour casks. Family traditions
also state that he drove a wagon freighting coal or charcoal. There were several iron foundries in the
region. Two of Frederick’s sons became
colliers, and one was a wood chopper.
Frederick’s son William was known as a master collier. Colliers would burn wood slowly to change it
into charcoal to be used in the steel industry and by blacksmiths in their
forges. Frederick’s son, Samuel, also
did some work as a collier. Frederick
owned one cow and one horse most of the time he lived in Centre County, which
means they did not have much livestock.
It would also show they were not well off.
Thomas was only seventeen when his father died. No death record or burial record of Frederick
can be found. He may have been buried on
the family farm because the family stayed close by for years after his
death. No church records show any close
link with a particular religion. Thomas
would have had no memory of having lived in Lancaster County. His earliest memories would have been those
of frontier life in Centre County. As
far as can be found, Thomas had no formal education. What skills he did have, he would have
learned from his father and from family and friends. He grew up with his brother Samuel and his
sister Polly. Some of his other siblings
lived near-by in neighboring counties.
The others left no record that can be found so far. An older sister, Elizabeth, married Thomas
Vaughn the younger. The Vaughns were
well to do and owned land in both Halfmoon and Taylor Townships. Thomas Vaughn also owned a mill. Thomas Foy’s sister’s children would have
been the closest cousins that Thomas Foy would have grown up with. Theirs would be names that he would
remember. One of her children married Susannah Sharrer. Her father owned a powder mill. Another married John Speer Fink. Thomas Foy ‘s older Brother William was also
married and lived in near-by Huntingdon County.
It appears that William’s first wife was a Fink. When she died, William married his sister’s
sister-in-law, Mary Vaughn. As far as we
know, these were his only siblings to have a posterity. It also shows a connection between the Foy,
Vaughn, and Fink families. With few
families on the frontier, neighbors married neighbors. Family names of these three families are
passed on for generations. Naming
patterns give us clues as to relationship and ancestry.
When a boy reached manhood at twenty one, he was listed
as a single freeman. This meant that he
was old enough to serve in the military, to pay taxes, and to own land in
Pennsylvania. He was taxed for his
occupation if he did not own property.
Thomas was shown being taxed for his occupation beginning in 1824 and
every year after that until 1828 in Halfmoom Township, Centre County,
Pennsylvania. On the 1823 tax records,
he was not listed. In 1828 he was still
listed as a single freeman but that he was gone. This means that he left the county. His older brother Samuel had transferred what
land the family still had back to Christian Van Pool, the owner. Thomas needed to find work. In 1820 the census record for Halfmoon
Township showed Samuel Foy as the head of the house. His mother is listed as living in the
home. Thomas was also living there.
Thomas followed the frontier west to Indiana County,
Pennsylvania. Here he became acquainted
with the John Fink family. Thomas met
and married Catherine Fink, the daughter of John Fink and Sarah Goshorn
Fink. No marriage records can be found. The census record for 1830 lists Thomas Foy
living in Wheatfield, Indiana County, Pennsylvania between the ages of 20–30
with his wife, Catherine Fink Foy who was between the ages of 20–30. They had one female child under the age of
5. That would be their daughter,
Elizabeth. Living next to them was John
Fink, Catherine’s father and her mother Sarah.
John and Sarah had 3 male children under 5, 3 female children under 5, 2
male children 5–10, 1 female child 5–10, 1 male 10–15, 1 female child 10–15,
and 1 male child 15–20. It appears that
the sister of Thomas Foy, Elizabeth Foy Von (Vaughn) who was a young widow,
came with her youngest children and their mother, Elizabeth Phillips Foy to
visit as the census was being taken.
Elizabeth Vaughn and her mother returned to Centre County when the next
set of records were made. Elizabeth Foy
Vaughn had 3 sons and four daughters at that time.
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| Catherine Rebecca Fink Foy |
No record can be found to indicate what Thomas did for
work while they were living in Indiana County , Pennsylvania. His father-in-law, John Fink, was a
carpenter. His grandfather-in-law,
Leonard Goshorn, was a blacksmith.
Family tradition indicates that Thomas became a wheelwright. A wheelwright had to combine the skills of a
carpenter, a cooper, and a blacksmith to make wheels out of wood. Producing wheels required strength and
ingenuity and precise skills in measuring.
The skills of a wheelwright could transfer over to work needed to
produce water wheels. Each place where
Thomas Foy lived, was also near where mills could be found. Workmen who produced wheels would soon find
themselves out of work. Once the job was
done, they had to look for new opportunities for work.
Conversion
Family records show that the following children were born
to Thomas and Catherine Foy while they were living in Indiana County,
Pennsylvania. The first was Elizabeth
Foy. She was born on the 30th
of October 1829 at Wheatfield, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. She was named after the mother of Thomas,
Elizabeth Phillips Foy. Their second
child was Susannah Foy. She was born on
the 4th of April 1831 in Wheatfield as well. Her name is one of the names common to the
Vaughn family in Centre County, from where Thomas came. Two of the siblings of Thomas married into
the Vaughn family. Their third child was
named John Moroni Foy. He was born on
the 6th of November 1835 in Wheatfield. He was named after his mother’s father, John
Fink and after the Prophet Moroni who is mentioned in the Book of Mormon. This would indicate that Thomas and Catherine
had heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before John’s
birth, yet they had not yet joined the Church.
Because of the spacing in the birth of child number two and child number
three, it appears that Catherine may have lost a child. The family next moved to Strongstown, Indiana
County, Pennsylvania. That is where
child number four was born. He was named
William Bosley Foy. He was born on the 9th
of September 1837.
After the dedication of the temple in Kirtland, Ohio,
missionaries such as Erastus Snow went to Pennsylvania to preach the restored
gospel of Jesus Christ. Thomas and
Catherine were taught the gospel in the Strongstown area and were baptized by
Erastus Snow in 1836. Concerning this
event, Erastus Snow recorded, “I returned to Indiana County and preached in the
Court House on Friday Evening. Saturday
I returned to Brush valley and Sunday I preached to an audience of between two
and three hundred people, some of whom rejoiced and others were angry because
their foundations shook... I returned the next day and preached in Brush valley
and on Wednesday baptized three and preached again in the evening.” One of his companions was William Bosley who
traveled with him to Pennsylvania in 1837.
It is from this missionary that William Bosley Foy got his name. He was also named after the older brother of
Thomas, William Foy. At a Conference
held at Strongstown in May of 1838, Thomas was ordained a Teacher in the
Aaronic Priesthood by Erastus Snow on the 26th of May 1838. Strongstown was one of the strongest branches
of the Church in western Pennsylvania.
On the 1st of April 1839, Thomas was ordained a Priest in the
Aaronic Priesthood by William F. McIntire at Strongstown. William McIntire was probably the first
convert to the Church in Indiana County.
He was well known and was used as a mission companion of Erastus Snow
from time to time. Thomas and Catherine
joined the Church before most of the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants
were given and before it was published.
It was also before the history of the “First Vision” was published. This was also a period of gathering for the
members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There had been two gathering places. One was Kirtland, Ohio, and the other was
Missouri. It was also a time for
persecution for members of the Church wherever they had a congregation. However, the members of the Church were
driven out of Missouri so Illinois became the new gathering place. Sometime between being ordained a Priest and
the 6th of February 1840, Thomas and Catherine left with their small
children and settled in Warsaw, Hancock County, Illinois to gather with the
body of the Church near Nauvoo.
Elizabeth was their oldest child so she would have only been ten at the
time they relocated. The early childhood
memories of the children would be limited.
They would have been able to remember the names of relatives, but of
little else.
Warsaw
The move to Warsaw would have been at the request of the
leaders of the Church. The Lord had
commanded the members of the Church to build a temple. They needed to gather to a central location
in order to do so. This move meant that
Catherine was expecting her fifth child during the winter when they moved. Sara Jane Foy was born on the 6th
of February 1840 at Warsaw, Hancock County, Illinois. She was named after the mother of Catherine
Fink Foy. There was not enough work for
all who gathered at Nauvoo so many
settled near by. Warsaw was a port city
on the Mississippi River. It had a
population of about 500 during the time that the Foy family lived there. It was a place of portage where goods had to
be unloaded and then reloaded above the rapids to be shipped further up
stream. The community was in direct
competition for commerce and trade with the city of Nauvoo. Thomas and Catherine do not show up on the US
census of 1840. They do show up on the
tax records in Hancock County, Illinois, of August 1842. These records are interesting. Because most of the people listed had no real
property, they listed other things that could be taxed such as wagons,
livestock, clocks, watches, tools and household items. From these records we can tell that Thomas
was below average in taxable personal property.
There was another Foy listed on these tax records. He was Jonathan Foy of Le Harpe. Warsaw is in the far southern part of the
county and Le Harpe is far to the north.
Jonathan was not a member of the Church.
He came from New York.
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| Warsaw, Hancock County, Illinois -- late 1840s |
Life in Warsaw during the 1840's for a member of the
Church would have been difficult. Thomas
Sharp moved to Warsaw after the Foy’s arrived there. He purchased a news paper company that would
become an anti-Mormon publication. It
was also a time that mobs from Missouri would freely cross the Mississippi
River and created problems for the Mormons.
Some property belonging to the Mormons was damaged or destroyed. Some were kidnaped and taken to
Missouri. It was while they were living
in Warsaw that Thomas and Catherine signed a petition by the Church listing
grievances against the State of Missouri for loss or damage of property that
could be presented to the US Congress for reparations.
Nauvoo
These hardships did not prevent Thomas and Catherine from
traveling to Nauvoo and keeping close contact with the leaders of the Church
and participating in meetings. These
hardships did not prevent Thomas and Catherine from doing their duty and helping
where they could. Some time during this
period, Thomas was ordained an Elder by Willard Richards. It was not done on April 6, 1840 as one
history shows. Willard Richards was
still in England on his mission on that date.
It could have been done after August 16, 1841 when Willard returned from
England or as late as April 6, 1842 by Willard at April General
Conference. Never the less, it was done
by Willard Richards.
Also Catherine received her Patriarchal Blessing from
Hyrum Smith on October 5, 1841. This was received in conjunction with their
visit to Nauvoo for the October General Conference of the Church. Hyrum had been made the Patriarch to the
Church in April General Conference 1841 replacing his father, Joseph Smith Sr.,
after his death. She would have been one
of the first to receive a blessing from Hyrum Smith. This blessing was given before much was known
about ordinance work for the dead. It
was given before temple ordinances for the living had been revealed. It was given at the time when Joseph revealed
that baptisms for the dead should stop until the baptism font in the temple had
been finished and dedicated. Joseph did
say at that conference that “It is no more incredible that God should save the
dead than that he should raise the dead.”
The first baptisms for the dead in the Nauvoo Temple font took place on
21st November 1841. The blessing stated that Catherine had been born
in Wheatfield Township, Indiana County, in the State of Pennsylvania. It listed her birth date as the 18th
day of October 1810. This is a
conflict. The year has also been listed
as 1804, and 1809. The sextant in
Minersville, Utah Territory recorded on her death certificate, that the birth
date of Catherine was 1809. That seems
to be the most recent and the most accurate.
Her blessing gives her “a multiplicity of blessings because of your
patience in tribulation and in sore afflictions and have not forsaken the
Lord”. It also states that “thou art a
daughter of Abraham and shall be blessed in his lineage”. Not only did she already have many
tribulations but many more would yet come into her life.
Some of the events leading up to the April 1841 General
Conference of the Church in Nauvoo included the laying of the cornerstones of
the temple. The conference in April 1842
was wet and cold. There were no meeting
houses. Meetings were held outside in
what was known as the grove. This may
have been the time when Thomas was ordained an Elder. In March 1842 the Book of Abraham, which is
now part of the Pearl of Great Price, was published in the Times and
Seasons. It was also in March 1842 that
the Female Relief Society was organized.
Catherine was at some of these early meetings.
Thomas received his Patriarchal Blessing on January 30th
1842 in Nauvoo from Hyrum Smith. It gave
his birth place as the State of Pennsylvania.
His blessings were to be many both in time and eternity. But he was bless to “have an inheritance with
the remnants of the seed of Jacob, not in Joseph, but in Issachar, with the
remnants of the seed of Jacob, in the covenant unto the House of Israel,
together with your Father’s House, in the dispensation of the fullness of times
, in the deliverance of the dead and the living”.
On the 23rd of July 1842, Emma Smith Foy was
born in Warsaw, Hancock County, Illinois.
Her name shows there was a close association of Catherine Foy and the
Prophet Joseph’s wife Emma. Thomas and
Catherine named their children in honor of those they respected so their
children would always have someone to look up to in bringing honor to their
name.
Persecution intensified, but so did revelation and
sacrifice by the members of the Church.
Thomas and Catherine spent many hours working on the Nauvoo Temple. As far as we can tell, Thomas and Catherine
did not do any baptisms for the dead in the Nauvoo Temple. There are records of the proxy baptisms that
were done in the Nauvoo Temple by Edward Rigby for his wife’s relatives. They include the names of Edward Foy, Thomas
Foy, and Sarah Foy, all of Lancashire
England. This looks interesting for
future research. The proxy baptisms were
done on 28th of July, 1844 about a month to the day after the death
of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.
Thomas Sharp wrote in the “Warsaw Signal”, that “war of
extermination is inevitable”, on the 12th of June 1844. He urged all the “old Citizens” of Warsaw to
assist the mob in driving out the Mormons.
On the evening of the 27th of June 1844, sixty men arrived
for a late supper at Mrs. Fleming’s Tavern bragging about killing the Smith brothers. Thomas and Catherine Foy and their family
were still living in Warsaw at that terrible time. Most of the saints who lived near-by rushed
to Nauvoo to see what need to be done to protect the members of the Church and
to pay their respects to their beloved leaders and their loved ones. It stands to reason that the Foys were
present.
Catherine gave birth to her seventh child, a son, whom
they named Frederick Lehi Foy, on the 3rd of October 1844 in
Warsaw. There is a conflict on his birth
year. However, his baptism record in
Farmington, Utah Territory, lists this as his birth date. This son was named in honor of the father of
Thomas Foy and the Prophet Lehi in the Book of Mormon. Both had left their homeland for a promised
land.
Thomas was ordained a High Priest on the 29th
of December 1844 by G. W. Harris and others in Nauvoo. He was received into the quorum on the same
date. He received his license as it was
called then on the 26th of January 1845. They remained true to their faith.
Living in Warsaw became so dangerous for members of the
Church that Thomas and Catherine moved with their family to Nauvoo for
safety. We know that it was after the
death of Joseph and Hyrum. We know that
it was after the birth of Frederick Lehi Foy.
Just when the move took place is not certain. Thomas B.Foy was the purchaser of Town Lot #2
Block #125 in the Nauvoo Plat, in the Town of Nauvoo on the 30th of
May 1845 from William and Mary Ainscough for $50. William W. Phelps was the Notary Public. This move would have been during the winter
season. They would not live in Nauvoo
very long. Work continued on the temple
as rapidly as possible. Some worked
while others stood guard.
It appears from looking at city maps of Nauvoo, that the
Foy family in Nauvoo, would have been in the 4th Ward. Other members of that ward would be Winslow
Farr and his family, Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruf, Levi Hancock, Edward
Partrige, Vision Kight, Francis Lyman, Philo Dibble, Lucy Smith, the families
of Joseph Smith and Don Carlos Smith, Perrigrine Sessions, Shadrack Roundy,
William Law, Wilson Law, George W. Harris, N. K. Whitney, Brigham Young,
William Marks, and Orson Hyde. Even
though these families lived near each other for just a short time, many lasting
friendships grew form their association one with another. Chidester’s lived in the 1st
ward. The Isaac Freeman family lived in
the 3rd ward as did Edward Rigby.
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| Nauvoo, Illinois. Color print by A. Henry Lewis. |
The Nauvoo Temple Endowment Register records that Thomas
B. Foy and Catherine Fink were part of the first endowment session on the 22nd
of January in 1846. There were 44
persons on that session. 25 were female
and 19 were males. Of the males, 7 were
High Priests, and 12 were Seventies. Six
were from Pennsylvania. It listed Thomas
as having been born on December 30, 1802 in Lancaster, Lancaster,
Pennsylvania. Present day historians in
making a modern record of the endowment record have put in the name of Harriett
Foy as the wife of Thomas B. Foy. That
is in error. Harriet Foy was the
daughter of a William Foy who was from New Hamshire. She would have been 14 years old at the time
of the endowment. Harriet was born in
New York. Harriett did join the Church
and did come west to Utah but she has been linked incorrectly to our line and
has created a major error for researchers who follow that path of
research. She is the one who goes into
the Foscue line which is not our Foy line. People being endowed are done so
with their birth name and not their married name.
On February 4, 1846, the first wagons left Nauvoo to
start their flight into the wilderness on their trek west. It was during that same time frame when the
temple work for the living was being done and the start of the trek west that
the Grand Jury was trying the leaders of the mob for the murders of Joseph and
Hyrum Smith. None of the jurors were
members of the Church. None of the
witnesses for the prosecution dared to show up.
The witnesses for the defense lied on the stand. The jury had no other option than to declare
the defendants, to be not guilty.
Jonathan Foy of Le Harpe was member of that jury.
It is not known for sure when Thomas and Catherine left
Nauvoo to head west. It would have taken
some time to get supplies ready. Men
with skills in working wood to make wagons were pressed into service helping to
get wagons ready. Not much time was
given to the members of the Church by the mobs.
Thomas and Catherine had experienced the mobs once before in Warsaw so
they would not want to take chances with them again. Most had left by May of 1846. We know that they were in the Council
Bluffs area of Iowa by the 28th of March 1847 because that is when
and where their eighth child, a daughter, Catherine Rebecca Foy was born. It is probable that Catherine was expecting
this child as they were driven out of Nauvoo.
It is also probable that Catherine’s flight west was during the
winter. The daughter was named in honor
of her mother, Catherine Foy.
Over the Missouri
There were two main temporary gathering places after the
saints were driven out of Nauvoo. One
was at and around Winter Quarters, Nebraska on the west side of the Missouri
River. It is part of Omaha, Nebraska
today. This was where the ones chosen to
be part of the vanguard pioneer company camped to get a jump start to the
west. The other was on the east side of
the Missouri River at and around what was then known as Kanesville, Iowa and is
known today as Council Bluffs, Iowa.
This is where the majority of the saints gathered to prepare to go
west. The Foys were located south and east
of Kanesville at Pleasant Valley in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. This was still Indian Territory. It was named for the Pottawattamie Indians
who lived there. The right to live in
Indian Territory had to be obtained from US Government leaders. This right was granted for two years in
exchange for the volunteers who served in the Mormon Battalion. It was a matter of survival for the saints to
live near the Missouri River. There were
few ferryboats. Most boats could take
only one or two wagons across the Missouri River at a time. Crossing the river in the springtime was very
dangerous because of the high water in the spring.
More people died in these two locations after being
driven from Nauvoo than from those who were driven from Missouri and those who
crossed the wilderness to Utah by wagon or handcart combined. About 1,000 out of 12,000 died in those
humble makeshift surroundings. Dwellings
were what ever could be built in the short time they had after being driven
from Nauvoo. Some were caves dug into
the bank of a hill. Others were huts,
sod houses, even wagons. Some few where
able to build a cabin. Very few crops
could be grown the first two years after leaving Nauvoo. Livestock was taken by the Indians for
food.
After the death of Joseph Smith, some would-be leaders
tried to convince others to follow them.
The first of these was Sidney Rigdon.
Fortunately the vast majority of the saints followed the leadership of
the Quorum of the Twelve. They had the
keys of authority. Perhaps one of the
greatest legacies left to us by Thomas and Catherine was that they remained
true to the faith. They did not
falter. They followed the leaders of the
Church.
During the time that Thomas and Catherine were members of
the Church up until the time they moved to Iowa, they had never met any of the
three witnesses to the Book of Mormon.
Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer had been excommunicated. Martin Harris had stayed in Kirtland. In October 1848, Oliver and his wife and
their daughter, came to Council Bluffs, Iowa to reconnect with the Church and
to make the trek west. Orson Hyde was
presiding over the branch of the Church in that area at the time. Oliver asked Orson Hyde if he could be
rebaptized into the Church. At a
Conference of the Church held on October 21st, the request was
granted. Oliver asked, “Brethren, for a
number of years I have been separated from you.
I now desire to come back. I wish
to come humbly and to be one in your midst.
I seek no station; I only wish to be identified with you. I am out of the Church. I am not a member of the Church, but I wish
to become a member of it. I wish to come
in at the door. I know the door. I have not come here to seek precedence. I come humbly and throw myself upon the
decisions of this body, knowing as I do that its decisions are right and should
be obeyed.” George W. Harris of the high
council moved that Brother Oliver Cowdery be received back into the Church. Shortly after, Oliver was baptized by Orson
Hyde. Thomas and Catherine and their
children would have likely been to this conference. They would have listened to the testimony of
that great witness of the restoration.
The Cowdery family stayed in the Council Bluffs area making preparations
to go west. The following spring in
1849, they requested to take a short visit back to Richmond, Missouri so that
Sister Cowdery could say goodbye to her parents before they departed for the
west. It was here that Oliver died of an
illness that he got during the winter.
David Whitmer wrote of Oliver’s death as follows, “Oliver died the
happiest man I ever saw. After kissing
his wife and daughter, he said, “Now I lay down for the last time: I am going
to my Savior’; and he died immediately with a smile on his face.”
Pioneer Trail
The vanguard pioneer company led by Brigham Young made
the trek west to the Salt Lake Valley starting in the spring of 1847. They laid out the trail. They planted crops. They built some dwellings and then most of
them returned to Winter Quarters.
Included in that group were Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards. Upon their return, several important events
took place with the Foy Family. On 24th
of April 1848, Thomas and Catherine crossed the Missouri River and went to the
dwelling of Willard Richards in Winter Quarters and were sealed by Heber C.
Kimball. Willard Richards and Thomas
Bullock acted as witnesses. The Richards
home served as a home, postoffice, and Church headquarters.
Also the week before the sealing on 30th of
March 1848, Thomas received a second Patriarchal Blessing. This was given by Isaac Morley in the home of
Jesse P. Harmon on the east bank of the Missouri River. Thomas Bullock, the official Church clerk,
made the record. In the blessing it
states, “thou hast had much trial and tribulation in the cause of God, yet thou
shalt be blessed and numbered with the seed of Abraham, and rejoice with the
sons of Isaac and Jacob...thy faith shall reach the heavens; and thine
influence realized among all good men through out the world...and be an instrument
in aiding and assisting in rearing temples to the most high...”.
Tithing records for the Pleasant Valley Branch for 1848
reveal how poor the members of the Church were after their exodus from
Nauvoo. Thomas paid the following as a
tithe for the year:
10
bushels of potatoes
1.50
1
load of pumpkins
1.00
15
bushels of turnips
1.50
cucumbers
& radishes .15
one
days hauling
1.00
2
chickens .10
1
peck of corn meal .061/4
1 day
hauling corn in shock 1.00
1 day
work .75
1
cord of wood 1.00
8
bushels of corn in ear .80
Total-------------------$8.861/4
Thomas was not the poorest nor was he the wealthiest. This shows that he was a humble
farmer. It shows that the food he
produced was the kind that could last through much of the winter. It shows the value placed on food in
relationship to a days work. John
Dingman was a single man living in the same branch. He paid .50 cents tithing with 1 cord of wood
cutting. Thirty-one individuals showed
up on the tithing list in Pleasant Valley Branch in 1848. The next records for the branch show that
four branches had been consolidated into one branch. During 1850 most of the families emigrated to
Utah.
On the 23rd of November 1848, the oldest
daughter of Thomas and Catherine, Elizabeth Foy, was married to John BoydDingman. They were married in the
Council Bluffs area of Iowa. John was a
convert to the Church from Dundas, Ontario, Canada. They had three Children. The first was named Orson Hyde Dingman. ,
after the presiding officer of the Church in the Kanesville area of Iowa. Orson Hyde was also a member of the ward that
Elizabeth lived in while the family was still in Nauvoo. This was the first grandchild for Thomas and
Catherine. Both mother and daughter were
having children about the same time. The
other two children of Elizabeth Foy Dingman were born after her parents moved
with the rest of the family to Utah.
That would have been a hard parting for all. William Dingman was born the 18th
of December 1850 in the Council Bluffs area of Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Her Uncle William Foy must have somehow made
a lasting impression on her or her younger brother. Her third child was named Susan Dingman,
after her sister. Family ties were
strong. Susan Dingman was born on 18th
of February 1852, at the same place in Iowa.
Unfortunately, Elizabeth died on the 13th of November 1853
before their little family could go west to Utah.
 |
| Crossing at Council Bluffs on the overland trail to the Far West. Frederick J. Piercy sketch. |
Family tradition states that Thomas Foy had been asked to
stay in Iowa for a period of time helping to build wagons for those who would
make the trek to Utah. Their ninth
child, a son, was born during that time.
He was named Thomas Didymus Foy after his father Thomas and the Apostle
of Christ in the New Testament. This
part of Iowa was still listed as Indian Territory. No birth date has been found but he is listed
on the 1850 Census in Salt Lake City as being one year old. That means he was a baby when the Foy family
made their trek west.
The leaders of the Church did not want to have the
members of the Church become so attached to Iowa that they would not move to
the Salt Lake Valley. So in 1850, many
wagon trains started west. This was also
the time of the gold rush to California and the rush for free land in
Oregon. According to Church records, 27
wagon companies of the Church went west in 1850. Some of those were just freight companies and
some were small fast moving private groups.
Thomas and Catherine Foy were in the 14th company in
1850. This was under the leadership of
William Snow/ Joseph Young. It departed
from Kanesville, Iowa on the 21st of June 1850. They were in the second group of fifty under
the leadership of Gardner Snow. They
were also in the 6th group of ten in that fifty under the leadership
of Thomas Rich. Winslow Farr and his
family that they lived in the same ward with them in Nauvoo were part of their
group of ten. So was Amos P. Stone and
his family part of this group of ten.
There were 87 families, 509 people, 133 wagons, 758 cattle, 42 horses, 4
mules, and 58 sheep that started the journey in that last group of fifty. Of that number, Thomas had 1 wagon and 8
cattle and l gun. Eight are listed in
the official record as being part of his family when it arrived in the Salt
Lake Valley. That would be the
children. Thomas and Catherine could not
keep up and came into the valley in an unidentified group a short time
later.
Because of the large numbers of travelers on the way
west, water became polluted and many died from infectious diseases such as
cholera. Catherine Foy contracted this
disease early, along the Platte River bottoms.
Amos P. Stone had taken a course in medicine. He was able to help Catherine recover. Amos P. Stone would become a future
relative. Minerva Stone wrote a letter
to her family on the 4th of July 1850 which states, “Sister Foy and
two sisters with Bro. Farr have had the cholera but have recovered; there have
been one or two children die with it. I
have heard some say that if Mr. Stone had not been there in this company, there
would have been a great many more deaths.
Bro. Farr says he is confident that the syringe with proper medicine has
saved his life and two others in his family and he is grateful as anybody can
be.” Catherine was about four months
pregnant when she got cholera. All those
who did keep records of this journey recorded the large number of graves that
line the trail west.
Utah Arrival
The first ice on the water was recorded on the 12th of
September 1850. The main part of the
William Snow/ Joseph Young Company arrived in the Salt Lake valley between
October 1st and the 4th.
Because of the weakened health of Catherine because of the cholera and
the advanced stages of her pregnancy, all the children went on into the valley
ahead of Thomas and Catherine. They were
picked up as part of an unidentified company.
Elias Adams was part of that company and he made mention of Thomas and
Catherine traveling with them. It would
have been later in the fall that they arrive.
Mary Ann Foy was born in Salt Lake City on the 13th of
December 1850. It was almost the same
day that Catherine’s daughter, Elizabeth Dingman gave birth to her child. This child does not show up on the 1850
census in Salt Lake City, so the family was all together in the valley at the
time of the census but before the birth of Mary Ann Foy.
One can not help but see the parallel between this trek
through the American wilderness and the trek taken by Lehi and his family in
the Book of Mormon. Their women were
made strong to compensate for the hardships that they had while traveling
through wilderness as well. It was
almost prophetic that Thomas and Catherine had named one of their sons,
Frederick Lehi Foy. One might wonder why
this daughter was given the name of Mary.
We can only speculate. Mary, the
mother of Jesus, also had to make a long journey during the last stages of her
pregnancy. Mary is the name of the
second wife of William Foy. Mary is the
name of the mother-in-law of Elizabeth Foy Vaughn. “Polly” is a nickname for Mary. “Polly” was the sister just older than Thomas
Foy whom he grew up with. A few sisters
in the same wagon company that the Foy family traveled with were named Mary
Ann. This little girl had a lot of fine
people to model her life after.
Not much is known about where the Foy family lived in
Salt Lake or how long they lived there or what Thomas did for a living. Erastus Snow was a member of the Stake
Presidency. They could have lived near
him. The 1850 census lists him as a
farmer. Thomas was enrolled in the High
Priest Quorum in Salt Lake City on the 2nd of April 1851. Catherine Foy and her older children were
rebapized on 12 April 1851 in Salt Lake City.
The children were Susannah, John Moroni, William Bosley and Emma Smith
Foy. Rebaptism was a common practice in
the early days of the Church. On October
23, 1851, Susannah Foy married John Peck Chidester. They had known each other in Nauvoo and in
the Kanesville area before coming west.
John Peck Chidester was in the
Warren Foot wagon company in 1850. It
left a few days before the one the Foy family traveled in.
An article
appeared in the Deseret New on Thursday October 7th 1852 which
states: “General Conference was continued in Salt Lake City.... McGee Harris
was sustained as President of the Teachers Quorum, also Thomas B. Foy and
Reuben Perkins his counselors.” Then on
April 7th 1853 the Deseret News General Conference report stated:
“McGee Harris was sustained as President of the Teachers Quorum; also John
Grove was voted to be his counselor in the room of Thomas B. Foy, who had moved
to another valley; and Reuben Perkins second counselor.” These quorums were presided over and made up
of members of the higher priesthood then.
This is the time that Thomas received his third
Patriarchal Blessing. This was given on
the 25th of January 1853 by the Patriarch of the Church, John
Smith. He was the Uncle of the Prophet
Joseph Smith. Two items are noteworthy.
First the blessing states; “you are of the blood of Joseph that was sold into
Egypt and lawfully entitled to the priesthood and in as much as you have come
up through great tribulations your robes shall be made white in the blood of
the Lamb...The Lord hath designed you for a great work to save your father’s
house back to the days of Noah or to where they died in the Gospel, that there
shall not be a broken link in the chain from the days of righteous Able to the
dispensation of the fullness of times, when all shall be gathered in one.” This second part of the blessing becomes a
family responsibility to fulfill.
Some time after that blessing but before April
Conference, Thomas moved his family to help Willard Richards build his mill in
Farmington, Davis County, Utah Territory.
On the 13th of November 1853, Thomas and Catherine had their
eleventh child. She would be the last
for Catherine. They named her Rhoda
Marie Foy in honor of the sister of Willard Richards. It appears that Thomas had worked on mills
off and on through out his life. Once a
mill was finished, so was the construction job.
While they were living in Farmington, Frederick Lehi Foy
was baptized in the Farmington Ward by William Flint and confirmed by his
father Thomas B. Foy. This record gives
the birth date of Frederick as the 3rd of October 1844. These ordinances were done on the 11th
of December 1853.
It would have been while the Foy family was living in
Farmington or just after their move to Ogden, that they would have received
word that their oldest daughter, Elizabeth Foy Dingman had died. This was one more hardship to bear. Yet true to their blessings, they did not
murmur against the Lord or the Church.
Thomas B. Foy moved his family to Bingham’s Fort, just
north of the Ogden River. In 1854, there
were 732 people living in the fort.
Thomas Foy’s cabin was in the north west corner of the fort. Inside the fort, there was a molasses mill
and a one-room school house. The
Binghams would become future relatives.
Also the Goodale and the Jones families would also become future
relatives who lived in the fort. There
was a Church census taken in 1856 in Weber County, Utah Territory. This listed the members of the Foy family
that were still living at home.
Sarah Jane Foy married Thomas Wilkins Jones on th 3rd
of April 1856. Sarah was 16 years
old. They moved into the fort that
fall. John Moroni Foy married Alice Jost
on the 28th of August 1856 and also live in Ogden. Emma Smith Foy married Isaac Goodale as his
second wife when she was 15 years old in 1857.
He was the next door neighbor to the Foy family in the fort.
 |
| Sarah Jane Foy Jones |
The United States Government sent an Army to Utah which
became know as Johnston’s Army. The
event was known as the “Utah War”, although there was very little that took
place other than saber ratling. The
Mormons vacated their settlements and moved south to get out of the path of the
Army. In the move south, young Thomas
Dydymus Foy must have died. He was on
the 1856 census. Yet he does not show up
on any records after the brief flight from the army.
After the Foy family returned from their move south
during the “Utah War”, Thomas took a second wife. Her name was Louisa Potterill. She was a convert to the Church from Sacom,
Herford, England. She was Christened on
the 9th of February 1840.
They were married on the 13th of January 1860 in Salt Lake
City, Utah territory in the Office of the President. Brighan young sealed them as husband and
wife. John Peck Chidester was one of the
witnesses. They were sealed again on
November 7, 1870 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City Utah, Territory.
The 1860 census lists Thomas as 53, Catherine as 50,
Louisa as 20, and the children as Fred R. age 14, Catherine L. age 13, Mary A.
age 10, and Rhoda M. age 7. Notice the
middle initial for Fred and Catherine were switched by the census taker. The older children were married or living
away from home. Thomas Didymus Foy was
not listed.
The first child of Thomas and Louisa was named Mary
Elizabeth Foy. She was born in Ogden on
the 4th of January 1861. She
died on the 11th of July that same year in Slaterville, Weber
County, Utah Territory. She was named
after the mothers of Louisa and Thomas.
The family had moved from Ogden to Slaterville after the 1860
census. Farming was better in Slaterville
than Ogden.
The second child of Thomas and Louisa, Sarah Ann Foy, was
born in Slatersville on the 9th of October, 1862.
Cotton Mission
Almost two weeks after the birth of this child, Thomas
and his family received a mission call to the Cotton Mission in Southern
Utah. The Deseret News reported that
on Sunday October 19, 1862 the following
event took place as it was recorded in the Journal History of the Church. “ The day was pleasant in Great Salt Lake
City. Two meetings were held in the
bowery. Elder Daniel Spencer and Heber
C. Kimball preached in the forenoon and in the afternoon. Thomas Bullock read the names of 200
missionaries called to the Cotton Country, after which Elders Wilford Woodruff
and Enoch Reese spoke. Following are the
names of persons called to go to the Cotton Mission:...William B. Foy, Parley’s
Park,... Thomas B. Foy, Ogden....(William was 199 on the list and Thomas was
number 200). No trade was listed for
either one. John M. Chidester and his
sons David and John Peck Chidester were also listed. John had a trade as a turner. The others did not. John Peck Chidester was also listed as
residing in Parley’s Park. That would be
where the Syderville and Park City areas would be today. It was noted for lumbering and milling of
lumber products and cattle ranching at the time.
President Heber C. Kimball met with the Cotton
Missionaries at 6:30 p.m. at the Tabernacle.
He told them that there was not one required to go...they could go as
well as not, that they were hand selected good men– not one was being sent to
get rid of him, that they want a settlement down there of men who can be relied
on. God is inspiring this mission, we do
not know the results of it. They would
not wonder if we (President Young and Kimball) would go down.”
On the 24th of December 1862, William Bosley
Foy, the son of Thomas and Catherine Foy married Lucinda Bingham. The Binghams and the Foys had been neighbors
in Bingham’s Fort in Ogden. They had
made the move south together during the Utah War. They were also neighbors in Slaterville. It may be that it was from his father-in-law
that William developed an interest in the livestock industry. Both the Bingham and the Foy men helped build
the canal to Plain City. Sufficient
water was not obtained so the canal was later extended to the Ogden River. Erastus Bingham Jr., father of Lucinda, also
was engaged in the lumber and shingle milling industries.
Thomas and Catherine’s son Frederick Lehi did not make
the move to the Dixie Mission in Washington County with the rest of the family
in 1863. He stayed in Slaterville and
married Rachel Slater. She was the
daughter of Richard Slater for whom the community was named. Slaterville was only six miles north of
Ogden. There was a sharp contrast
between the farm the Foys left in Slaterville, and what they had to look
forward to in Washington County.
The 1860's was also the time that the Civil war was being
fought. The supply of cotton was cut off
both to the Northern States and the Western States. It seemed logical that cotton could help the
economy of Utah. That is part of the
reason why the Cotton Mission was established.
The mail had to be protected from Indians. Frederick Lehi Foy became a part of the U. S.
Army stationed in the west. Many more
troops came to Utah to prevent Utah from leaving the Union. They were stationed at what is now Fort
Douglas. The soldiers had nothing to do,
so many became prospectors in their spare time.
That started the mining industry that could be found near where the Foy
families were living in Washington and Beaver Counties. They did not mine because of the directions
of the Church leaders. They did profit
by selling products that the miners needed.
Washington is located about five miles northeast of St. George
in Washington County, Utah and about 314 mile southwest of Salt Lake City,
Utah. Although Brigham Young strongly
believed cotton could be grown there to supply the Saints with enough cotton
and be an exporter of cotton to markets in the east, the plan did not work
out. Poor alkali soil, cricket and grasshopper plagues, spring
floods caused small dams to burst and flood the fields, malaria, and summer
droughts caused some of the settlers to leave.
William Bosley Foy would moved his family to Minersville in Beaver
County later on. Thomas and his family
would stay.
Louisa Foy gave birth to her third Child, Rachel Foy on
the 25th of November 1864 in Washington, Washington County. Two months later, Rachel died on the 17th
of January 1865. Conditions did not get
much better. Louisa gave birth to a son,
Willard Richards Foy, on the 17th of January 1867 in Washington,
Washington County. Baby Willard died the
same day. Then on the 31st of
March 1868, a son, Joseph Foy, was born to Louisa. He died the next day. He was named after the father of Louisa. Their sixth child, a son, was named James
Collin Foy. He was born on the 3rd
of February 1869 and died on the 6th of February 1869. These were times of famine. All the families were starving. The families were reduced to eating alfalfa
greens and pigweed for food. This may be
the reason why four of the babies died.
Louisa did not have enough nourishment for them.
It was not only a difficult time for Thomas and his wives
and children living at home, but it was just as hard for their married children
living near by. William and his young
wife had their first child in Washington, Washington County on January 8, 1865.
They had watched as two of their father’s children died for lack of food. They moved to Minersville, Beaver County,
Utah the next year where their next six children were born. Catherine and her three youngest girls move
to Minersville to be near William so she could help with the grandchildren. It was too difficult to support two families
in a small home in Washington anyway. U.
S. Marshals were starting to look for families living together in plural
marriage as well. William had learned
the trade of cattle ranching for which Beaver County was much more suited.
While Catherine and her girls were still living in
Washington County, they worked in the cotton industry. They help pick the cotton, spin it, and weave
it. Until 1869, the carding, spinning
and weaving were home industries. The
girls would swim the Virgin River to pick the cotton. For lunch they would eat bread made from cane
seed and sorghum, syrup.
Catherine Foy, the daughter of Thomas and Catherine, met
and married Jehu Blackburn in 1866. Jehu
had been one the first pioneers to go to Pine Valley. Pine Valley would become part of what is
known as the Cotton Mission. Pine Valley
is at the head waters of the Santa Clara River.
Isaac Riddle, Robert Richey, Lorenzo Roundy, and Jehu Blackburn built a
sawmill in Pine Valley in 1855. They
supplied lumber and shingles to the residents of the Cotton Mission.
Catherine Fink Foy lived out the rest of her life in
Minersville with her children and grandchildren. Most of her other children lived too far away
to be much of a help to them. Catherine
lived long enough to see all but her last daughter get married. Catherine lived
true to her blessings. She died true to
the faith on May 21, 1870 and was buried in Minersville. No tribute is great enough that can be put
into words for this beloved mother and grandmother. The only tribute worthy enough for her is
that her posterity live the kind of lives that would bring honor to her.
 |
| Minersville, Utah |
The seventh child of Thomas and Louisa, Lucinda Marie Foy
was born on the 14th of February 1870. She was named in honor of the wife of William
Bosley Foy. She survived the harshness
of the desert life. When this baby was
about nine months old and after the death of Catherine Fink Foy, Thomas and
Louisa traveled the long distance from Washington County to Salt Lake City to
the Endowment house where Louisa received her own endowment and the two were
sealed on November 7, 1870.
Louisa would give birth to one more daughter. Louisa Rebecca Foy was born on the 23rd
of July 1873. Her father Thomas Birk Foy
died on the 28th of July 1873 in Washington, Washington County, Utah
just a few days after his last child was born.
On March 2, 1873, Thomas received the last of his patriarchal blessings
from Wm. G. Perkins. It was given as a
fathers blessing. The majority of this
blessing referred to a future time after this life was over. It said, “You will go to the center
stake. There you will assist in building
a holy temple. You will see that house
finished off, and be at the dedication there of. There you will witness a great display of the
power of God. There you will see brother
Joseph and Hyrum with many of the Saints that have received their resurrected
bodies. There your joy will be full, you will do a great work in
that house for yourself and your dead.
It will be common with you to see the graves open and the dead come
forth. There you will see Jesus your
Redeemer.”
This is not the end of the story. One may wonder what was the pull that kept
Thomas in Washington after the purpose of the Cotton Mission failed? Was it that he still had family and friends
there? Was it that he had made
commitments to the leaders of the Church that he would stay? Was it out of love and respect to Erastus
Snow who had brought him into the Church and who was the presiding officer as
an apostle of the Lord called to preside over this mission? Was it because he was engaged in the
construction of the St. George Temple?
Was it out of weariness to pick up his family and try to start over
again? More than likely it was yes to
all of the above.
Land claims filed in the Washington County probate court
show that Thomas B. Foy owned land next to Erastus Snow, John M. Chidester, and
near Levi Hancock, and Brigham Young.
On November 9, 1871, the site for the St. George temple
was dedicated. President George A. Smith
gave the dedicatory prayer. He knew of
the suffering of the local saints. He
knew of their faith and their dedication.
He had shared many of the hardships with them. He prayed:
“May thy peace be upon the pioneers of this desert and
upon all those who have labored to reclaim the same; may eternal blessings rest
upon them and their posterity forever.
Yes, bless all thy servants who have done this great work, bless their
wives, their children, their substance and do thou bless them in all their
labors.”
On the very same day that the dedicatory prayer was given
on the construction site, work started on grading the site. This was difficult because it had to be dug
out by picks and shovels. Surplus dirt
was shoveled into wagons and hauled away.
The foundation was dug down to twelve feet below the grade level.
Digging was relatively easy. Soft
sandstone was on the north side. The
other three sides had mud and water. A
drain was installed to dry it out. Black
volcanic rock was hauled in to fill the foundation site. Other material like sandstone or limestone
reacted adversely to the moisture and minerals that were present. A pile-driver was made from an old canon to
drive the rock down to form a firm foundation.
About the only work that Thomas could have done was to haul dirt from or
rock to the foundation the foundation site.
Tithing funds from all the Saints in the Cotton Mission and as far north
as Beaver County were used in the construction of the temple.
On March 10, 1873 the corner stones were laid. This was about a year after the High Priest
Quorum compiled the history of Thomas and the year he got his last
blessing. It would also be the year that
Thomas died. Thomas did not live to see
the temple finished but he lived long enough to know his blessings had been
fulfilled as a temple builder.
 |
| Thomas's Headstone |
Susannah Foy Chidester was also a part of the Cotton
Mission. Her husband John Peck Chidester
played a major part in the construction of the cotton mill. He was the foreman in charge of the timber
works for the construction of the cotton mill.
Later he played a major role in the engineering and construction of the
Pile Dam on the Virgin River. After the
temple was completed, in August of 1877 Susannah and her son John had much of
the temple work done for her father’s and mother’s families. Not enough can be said for her seeing that
this great work was done. The temple
records give us valuable information as well.
Not enough good can be said for the many who have written
the biography of Thomas Birk Foy previously.
This will not be the last history of him I am sure. This is a work in progress. Every effort has been made to document this
history. Just because you may see the
names spelled differently does not mean they are different people or that the
ordinance work was done incorrectly.
What is done is done. Please use
this as a means to add to or update your records.
Sources:
Prints of Nauvoo and Council Bluffs found on Utah To Go site.
Photograph of gravestone found on Find a Grave site.
Photograph of Sarah Jane Foy provided by Jones Family.
