| Name |
Thomas Mabey |
| Birth |
15 Oct 1812 |
Mapperton, Dorset, England  [1] |
| Baptism |
20 Dec 1812 |
Mapperton, Dorset, England [2] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Occupation |
1 Jan 1839 |
Upper Kingcoombe in the Parish of Tollar, Dorset, England [3] |
| Thatcher |
| Census |
Jun 1841 |
Cattistock, Dorset, England [4] |
- Thomas Maby, M, 25, Thatcher, born in county
Esther Maby, F, 25, born in county
Maria Maby, F, 2, born in county
n.k., F, 1 month, born in county
|
| Census |
1851 |
Wraxall, Dorset, England [5] |
- Thomas Mabey, Head, Mar, M, 38, Thatcher, born at Mapperton, Dorset
Esther Mabey, Wife, Mar, F, 37, born at Powerstock, Dorset
Maria Maby, Daughter, F, 12, Scholar, born at Toller Porcorm, Dorset
Jane Maby, Daughter, F, 9, Scholar, born at Cattistock, Dorset
Albert Mabey, Son, M, 7, Scholar, born at Wraxall, Dorset
Joseph T Mabey, Son, M, 5, born at Wraxall, Dorset
Esther Mabey, Daughter, F, 8 mos, born at Wraxall, Dorset
|
| Census |
1861 |
Lascombe Gate, Powerstock, Dorset, England [6] |
- Thomas Mabey, Head, Mar, M, 48, Thatcher, born at Mapperton, Dorset
Esther Mabey, Wife, Mar, F, 47, Ag Lab., born at Powerstock, Dorset
Albert Mabey, Son, M, 17, born at Wraxell, Dorset
Joseph T Mabey, Son, M, 15, born at Wraxell, Dorset
Esther Mabey, Daughter, F, 10, born at Wraxell, Dorset
John J Mabey, Son, M, 3, born at Powerstock, Dorset
|
| Emigration |
6 May 1862 |
Liverpool, England [7] |
- from the Book Our Father's House
In the company were Thomas Mabey and his wife, Esther, their oldest daughter, Maria, with her young son, John, Albert, Joseph, Esther and John James, a child of five years. Albert Holt [Maria's husband to be] had already preceded them to America and was to meet them on their arrival in Salt Lake Valley.
They set sail on the American ship "Manchester" on Tuesday, May 6, 1862. The ship arrived in New York on June 12th, consuming five weeks and two days on the way across. The marriage of Jane to William Holt [Albert's brother] was also celebrated on the crossing to America.
In New York, the journey had just began... After a long rail journey to St. Joseph, Missouri, they boarded a steamboat bound upstream for Florence, Nebraska, an outpost previously called "Winter Quarters." The family was fitted with horses and wagon, mules and ox teams, food and clothing. By the 24th of July all was in readiness for the westward march. The company consisted of about 500 souls and was under the command of Ancel Harmon.
The Mabeys arrived on October 5, 1862, totally without means. Like others who had come to this desert land, they had to depend upon the kindness of others until work was secured. To add to their trials their beloved father, unable to stand the climate and altitude, sickened and died in March, 1863. He was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.
New York, Passenger Lists, of 13 June 1862 for the ship Manchester lists the following passengers:
Thos Mabey, 49, M, Thatcher
Hester Mabey, 45, F, Wife
Maria Mabey, 22, F, Spinster
Jane Mabey, 20, F, Spinster
Albert Mabey, 18, M, Thatcher
Joseph T Mabey, 16, M, Thatcher
Hester Mabey, 11, F, Child
John J Mabey, 4, M, Child
John C Mabey, 4, M, Child [Maria's son]
|
| Anecdote |
- "Thomas Mabey was born October 15, 1812 in Mapperton, Dorsetshire, England, the sixth child of William Mabey and Sarah Ackerman. Thomas married Esther Chalker, daughter of Joseph and Mary Hoskins Chalker, in the village of Powerstock on May 7,1837.
Thomas and Esther were the parents of six children: Maria, Jane, Albert, Joseph, Esther and John James. The Mabey family was poor, but hard working and respected, in the local area of Dorset where they made their home as tenant farmers. Thomas augmented his family' s income as a basket weaver and thatcher. He owned no property, and so in following his trade as a thatcher it was necessary to move his family quite frequently. The first two children were born in different hamlets and christened in two still different locations. Only two of the other four children were born and/or christened in the same parish. Thus, the Thomas Mabey family lived, at times, in Upper Kingscombe, Hooke, Merryfields, Cattistock, Wraxall, Upper Wraxall and Loscombe all within approximately a five mile radius.
Western Dorset was beautiful with its villages and hamlets among the low rolling green hills, the fields dotted with white sheep enclosed by hedgerows. The narrow roads, which could more accurately be called lanes, wound from hamlet to hamlet. The many clear sparkling streams could be crossed by shallow fords or, occasionally, by precariously narrow bridges.
Typical of the times, the stone houses, barns and outbuildings had quaint thatched roofs, perhaps some were thatched by Thomas Mabey.
For generations, the family had been associated with the established Church of England, so it was with reluctance and careful consideration that the Mabey's heard the doctrines of the early Mormon missionaries. The eldest daughter, Maria, was first to accept the teachings of the new religion and was baptized on her twenty-first birthday, December 3, 1859. Nineteen months later, the parents, Thomas and Esther, and their other children (except for John who was then only four years old) were baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on July 4th, 1861.
At about this same time, the two oldest daughters, Maria and Jane, married, respectively, Albert and William Holt, two brothers who had also recently embraced the Mormon religion.
For the next year, the Mabeys and Holts combined their energy and frugality in accumulating the necessary funds to immigrate to America where they might join the main body of the church. The father, Thomas, with his maturing sons and sons-in-law, continued laboring on the soil with spade, hoe and mattock; and the older daughters sought service with neighboring gentry and in the town of Bridgport. At last, their united efforts resulted in sufficient funds to obtain ship's passage to America for the entire combined families. They hoped to obtain additional resources from the Church's Perpetual Emigration Fund for the remainder of the journey to the Rocky Mountains. The few personal belongings and furniture owned by the Mabey's were sold for additional small revenue.
Usually at that period of time, when individuals affiliated themselves with the so-called Mormons, the result was estrangement and rejection from other relatives. This did not seem to be the case with the Thomas Mabey family. It was with much affection, tears, and kisses that they bade good-bye to aunts, uncles, and cousins when they boarded the train for the first leg of their journey. Close and loving relationships existed between the departing family and their non-Mormon relatives who remained in England.
The railway journey took them to Bristol and on through Monmouth, Hereford, Shropshire and Cheshire to Liverpool, the second largest port of Britain. Liverpool's huge grain ships, its cotton mart, its flags of many nations flying from the masts of so many vessels, the long line of docks, the city's museums and public buildings, and the thousands of brick chimney pots must have filled the unsophisticated Mabey family with awe and trepidation, especially in view of the uncertainty and concern they must have felt at leaving their homeland for a new and strange country.
At the wharf, on the day of sailing, 376 converts were gathered under the direction of Elder John McAllister. These had assembled from all sections of England and for the most part were composed of citizens of the middle and lower economic classes. Like the Mabey's, they had joined the Church and through hard work and careful saving had secured the means to transport themselves to America. They set sail on the ship `Manchester' on Tuesday, May 6, 1862.
Shipboard conditions for the steerage passengers were anything but pleasant. The decks and holds were cluttered with bundles and bags of emigrating people. There were no lights on deck, and when one went down to the hold he had to take candles to see. There were no port holes and the stench was overwhelming. Bunks were in tiers so close together one could barely squeeze among them.
Food consisted of sea biscuits about 3½ inches in diameter and ¼ inch thick, so hard they had to be soaked in water before they could be eaten. The sailors received better food, including some salt beef. Most of rhe passengers became very seasick when the vessel tossed about on the North Atlantic. For two weeks, the miserable shipload made its way among the huge icebergs off the Newfoundland coast, many of them towering high above the ship.. After a total of five weeks and two days, they landed in New York on June 12, just two hours ahead of a fierce windstorm, which could have destroyed them at sea.
It will be recalled that the American Civil war was then in progress. On the return voyage to England, the Manchester, a ship of U.S. register, was met and burned by the Confederate cruiser Alabama.
After landing in New York, the British travelers had completed only about half of their journey. They went by rail to St. Joseph, Missouri where they boarded a steamboat bound for Florence, Nebraska. The camp known as ‘Winter Quarters' had been settled there in 1846, and by 1862 it had become the staging area for the westward trek of Mormon immigrants.
English and European converts were divided into two groups; those who could pay their own way for the overland journey by purchasing teams, wagons and supplies; and those who could not. The Mormon Church had established the Perpetual Emigration Fund in 1849 to assist those Mormons who were unable to finance their own travel from. Winter Quarters to the Salt Lake valley. For this help, each promised to repay the Church as soon as they could after arriving in Utah. Those needing assistance were placed in units called `Church Trains' which were usually designated by the name of the man chosen to lead them.
The wagons arrived at Florence from Salt Lake on July 16, 1862, and preparations were speedily undertaken to outfit and organize the company. The Mabey's traveled with about 500 people in a unit known as the Fourth Church Train, or Ancel Harmon's train, averaging about eighteen persons per wagon. By the 24th of July, all was in readiness for the westward march.
All the baggage and possessions of three families - the Mabeys, the Holts, and the Henry Wallaces - were loaded on the same wagon. A few days before departure westward, which began July 25th, young Esther was stricken with measles and was allowed to ride in the wagon the first two days of the journey. After that, she and all others of the family walked, the wagons being used only for the transporting of goods and babies and the sick.
The distance between Florence and Salt Lake City is over 1,000 miles. The company traveled about fifteen miles each day. The roads were actually only trails made by previous pioneers; and since this was late summer and early autumn, the dust raised by more than 30 ox-drawn wagons can easily be imagined. Day after day, there was more dust and heat; yet, they walked on, singing and laughing to cheer themselves.
The danger of Indian attacks always lurked about the train of wagons. The Indians were particularly ferocious in 1862. Many stagecoaches and stations were raided, and a great battle had occurred, in April, on the Sweetwater near Devil's Creek. Immigrants were warned repeatedly. Stage, freight, and emigrant trains began using a more southerly route to avoid attack. Esther later recalled that they gave food to the Indians, were friendly towards them, and the trip was accomplished without difficulty with the native Americans. Wild animals could also be seen everywhere.
Sometimes, the men organized hunting parties in quest of deer, elk and buffalo to add to their food supply. This was also augmented with ducks, geese, turkeys and prairie chickens. The emigrant train's route took them through the Platte valley in Nebraska; past Chimney Rock, on the south bank of the Platte; through Fort Laramie in Wyoming. Then the Laramie Peak in the distance, gave the emigrants their first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. The journey became more arduous, with hills to climb and rough places to cross. The steady upgrade tested the endurance of both men and animals. The river became narrower, the banks more precipitous, and the trees less plentiful. At the junction of the Sweetwater and the Platte, they left the main stream and followed up the course of the tributary. The magnificent Wind River Range, in Wyoming, lay to the north.
At South Pass, they attained the summit of the Rockies. Each successive step then gradually took them to a lower elevation and they knew their goal was nearer as they wended their way down Pacific Creek and Big Sandy to Green River, Wyoming, which was crossed in late September. They reached Fort Bridger, Wyoming; and from here to the crossing of the Bear River took three days.
Leaving the river, they passed over the ridge separating it from the Weber river and slowly entered Echo Canyon with its sheer, rising ramparts. Then they came down the Weber, approaching East Canyon with its difficult gorge.
The crests of the highest peaks were covered with autumn snows. Up one slope and down another, the last summit was fmally reached and the vista of the land of promise broke on their view. After two months and ten days, seeing the peaks, the valleys, the already thriving communities, and the shimmering lake must have seemed like a vision of paradise to the tired walkers.
At the mouth of the canyon, welcoming Mormons met them with fresh fruits. Several black men, servants of President Brigham Young, brought peaches. Some of the children in the train were frightened because they had never seen anyone of the black race before, but the peaches helped to quickly make friends.
The wagon train arrived at Washington Square in Salt Lake City on Sunday, October 5, 1862, at 3 p.m.
The long trip from Liverpool had taken 6 months and 21 days. Hundreds of the church members met them and took them to their various homes for the night.
Albert Holt, husband of Maria Mabey was one who met them. He had emigrated earlier and was already establishing himself as a building contractor. The Mabeys were entirely without means and, like many others who had come to the gathering place of the Saints, had to depend upon the kindness of their brethren until they could secure life's necessities for themselves.
Thomas, having been a basket weaver and thatcher in his homeland, was kindly allowed to gather all the willows he could use from the John Moss farm. A large wagonload was laid in for Thomas to turn into baskets during the winter. Esther, Thomas's youngest daughter, said that sickness overtook her father and the willows were used for fuel. Just five months after reaching the Salt Lake Valley, on March 8, 1863, Thomas died of what we now know as appendicitis, although at that time it was an unknown disease.
More than sixty years after Thomas Mabey wove his last basket, his daughter, Esther, recalled-"If I could see my father's hands, I would recognize them, I'm sure, as I used to watch him as he worked at his trade of basket weaving. But strange as it may seem, I cannot remember his face - only the memory of those dear hands remain with me."
|
| Reference Number |
15158 |
| Death |
8 Mar 1863 |
Bountiful, Davis County, Utah [1] |
| Burial |
City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah [9] |
| Person ID |
I15081 |
Maybee Society |
| Last Modified |
7 Apr 2024 |
1812 - 1863 (50 years)
