Show b V r ric ta k 0 thomas henry dark clark was the son of thomas dark clark he was born on the seventh of may in 1805 at acton herefordshire Hereford shire england in early life he became inter ested in religion and became a weslynn methodist minister but had later withdrawn from fellow ship with many other sects and had joined other seekers after the truth in a religious organization known as the united brethren he was also a minister of this new organization whose chief purpose was to search for truth and light about 1825 he married charlotte gailey galley daughter of wiliam gailey galley she was born january 1803 the young couple made their home at bishop frome herefordshire Hereford shire in england it was there that two sons and five daughters were born to them in january of 1840 wilford woodruff a latter day saint mis arrived in england on march 1st he received an ingui tion or presentment to go to the southern part of england where he would find many souls awaiting his message on march ath he found himself at hill farm in herefordshire Hereford shire and on march ath began to hold church meetings at the end of the month he had bap sized the entire six hundred in cluing ng 45 preachers after this thomas henry dark clark became a traveling elder for the latter day saints church one year later in 1841 the dark clark family desiring to gather with the saints in zion left their native england on the good shipp cath enne crine they arrived at nauvoo on july ath 1841 after having been on the way for three months for some time the family lived in an old blacksmith shop while thomas henry and his son john wiliam worked on the mansion house of nauvoo for pay they took such produce as they could obtain but in such small quantities that the family was unable to have more than one kind of food each day during these days the family en dured many hardships two daugh died there and two others were born at the time of the exodus from nauvoo thomas henry was threat ened by mob leaders and with others of the saints they crossed the mississippi river and took their journey into the wilderness they had been given only sixteen hours to prepare to leave their homes and so were not properly equipped for the long journey a head shortly after the dark clark family arrived in winter quarters will lam henry was called on a mis sion to missouri this was in 1846 and one year later he was ca led to go to england he was in E eig 19 land for two years in 1849 the dark clark family moved to florence nebraska on sunday september the 2nd 1849 the ship james pennel with two hundred thirty six saints und er the direction of thomas hen y clark sailed from liverpool eng land for america they landed at new orleans october leaving new orleans he joined his family in florence nebraska with him he brought a girl by the name of ann the elder thomas henry jokingly told his son john that he had brought this young woman for him john was not pleased at this but later he coed and won ann for his wife they were married august 2 1850 in the spring of 1852 thomas henry with his family began their journey across the plains the journey was uneventful except an an epidemic of camp cholera b oke out and many died thomas henry the captain of the company took the disease but due to his great faith he recovered on october 10 1852 they arrived in salt lake city from there tiey came directly to grantsville Grants ville where they made their home the following year thomas hen ry was ordained the first beshoo of the grantsville Grants ville ward with till othy parkinson and james B walk er as his counselors he served the people many years in that capa city he followed the occupation of farming and stock raising he al ways worked for the uplift and advancement of the community he entered and patented the land where now stands the high school the district school and the opera house he was a very devout m man min in in his church duties he passed through many hard ships and incidents pertaining to pioneer life having at that time but little to subsist on the family consisted of nine children and follows john W el eanor eliza hannah ann thomas II I 11 I sarah mary ann and char lotte his posterity is numerous num bering about five hundred they are settled through out the states of utah idaho montana oregon california massachusetts and the dominion of canada the subject of this sketch died at grantsville Grants ville utah on october 19 1873 his wife having preceded him april 18 1869 submitted by J alien allen parkinson |