Thomas Ross History

Thomas Ross
(Information from Ella P. Ogden, granddaughter)

Thomas Ross was born 15 September 1814 in Guilford County, North Carolina. He married Rachel Smith on 30 September 1835 in Tennessee and died 12 October 1898 in Joseph, Sevier County, Utah where he was also buried.

Thomas was the son of Andrew Jackson Ross (born 12 August 1784 in Guiford County, North Carolina) and Mary Ann Kimmins , and a grandson of John Ross (born about 1758) and Sarah (probably Jackson) of North Carolina. His grandparents on his maternal side were Robert Kimmins and Elizabeth Gilbert (daughter of Edward Gilbert). Robert Kimmins’ father was Joseph Kimmins.

Thomas was the sixth child of eight. His siblings were: Mary Ross (born October 1800), Elizabeth (Betsey) Ross (born 12 March 1805), Robert Kimmins Ross (born 25 February 1807 or 1809), Melvin Ross (born 1811), Nancy Ross (born 12 July 1812, Sarah Ross (born about 1816) and Polly Ross (born about 1818).

Thomas’s granddaughter, Ella Ogden described him as follows:

Thomas Ross was a large, strong, stalwart man with high ideals and rare judgment. His motto was, “Be sure you are right, then go ahead.” He was very kind-hearted but firm in his beliefs, a good, understanding father and a most wonderful grandfather and an excellent provider. We all loved to see inside his smoke-house and get a whiff of the cured meats of all kinds which he raised, butchered and cured. Also their buttery, and the aroma of fresh salt-risen bread, gingerbread and cookies was always there. He always had a good garden and stored vegetables for winter. He had a pit where he covered carrots, beets, turnips etc. with sand and another large one for potatoes. Squash and pumpkins were buried in the straw-stack. Cabbages were placed in trenches with only the end of the root out. Beans were ripened and dried except for the cut-short beans, which were strung on strings while green and dried. Sometimes squash was cut in rings, peeled and strung on sticks to dry. All were very good.

Thomas and Rachel Smith were married in Tennesee and their first three children were born there: James Andrew on 20 September 1836, Margaret Ann on 3 March 1839, and Leah Lucinda on 14 January 1842. Their fourth child was born after they moved to Hancock County, Illinois (Mary Elizabeth on 4 March 1845).

Thomas and his wife Rachel (Smith) Ross lived on a small farm just three miles from the city of Nauvoo (first known as Commerce, but changed to Nauvoo meaning beautiful). Rachel would describe Nauvoo in a voice that made her grandchildren understand how much she had loved it and how sacred she felt the Nauvoo temple was. While the Ross family were living near Nauvoo, mobs attacked many homes. Thomas was sick and was carried out of his home and hid in his cornfield until the mobs passed. Some accounts say his home was burned to the ground. Others say he watched his friends homes burn, but his was spared. All tell the story that he and his family and their possessions fled to the cornfields to hide from the mobs.

His children record that Thomas Ross was one of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s body guards in Nauvoo while he was being persecuted by mobs. At the time of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, the Ross family were witnesses to the terrible darkness, gloom, and depression of Spirit that hung over the city Nauvoo and the surrounding country. They said, “We prepared breakfast for the family, but no one cared to eat. Later when the news reached us of the death of our beloved Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum, we knew and understood the reason for all the gloom.”

When the meeting was held to select a successor to the Prophet, Thomas took his family in a covered wagon with a bed made in it for his wife Rachel who was ill. The meeting was held in a bowery and they sat in the wagon and listened. According to her grandchildren, Rachel said, “When Brother Brigham arose and began to speak, his voice was exactly the same as that of the Prophet. I got out of my bed to see, and his appearance was also the same as the Prophet and we knew he was the one to fill the vacancy and that the Lord had not forgotten his people. The mantle of Joseph Smith, our Prophet, truly had fallen upon Brigham Young, one of the most wonderful testimonies ever given.”

Thomas and his family fled Nauvoo with the rest of the Saints and crossed the Mississippi River entering into the state of Iowa. They stopped for about two years in Harrison County, Iowa. It was there that their daughter Nancy Jane was born on December 11, 1848. In 1850 they proceeded on their journey across the plains toward the Rocky Mountains. They traveled with two wagons, one drawn by a team of oxen and the other by a team of cows. The cows provided milk and milk products for the journey. They were well equipped as they traveled with Aaron Johnson’s Company, arriving in the Salt Lake Valley on September 6, 1850. They had no serious adverse incidents. They settled in Provo, Utah County where the last three of their eight children were born. Thomas William was born in 1851, Robert Francis in 1853, and John Franklin in 1866. Their baby John died two years later in Provo.

While living in Provo Thomas took a second wife. Plural marriage was being practiced in the Church at that time and when Margaret Maria Mecham was 15 years old, she was encouraged to marry Thomas Ross as his second wife. He was good, mature, religious, and quite well to do for those early days, and the Mecham and Ross families were good friends. They were married in Provo on 3 December 1855 and were sealed in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City on 7 August 1867 according to family records.

Margaret was born in Springfield, Illinois on 24 February 1840 to Lewis Mecham and Lydia Wells Mecham and was the third child of fourteen. Her parents had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the spring of 1836 and had left New York state to gather with the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio and then on to Jackson County, Missouri. Being expelled from there, the prophet had led them to Nauvoo. When Margaret was twelve years old she made the trek across the Plains. The Mechams were asked to go south to Provo in Utah County. They were an industrious and religious family and were an asset to the community.

After her marriage, Margaret moved in with Rachel and helped with the household duties. After Margaret’s first child was born, Thomas moved her into a ranch in Heber Valley. Margaret and Thomas had nine children. She was 26 years younger than Thomas.
The Ross family often related the story of an incident that occurred while living in Provo that made them know they were being watched over by the Lord.

It was the Fall. The pioneers were without sugar for winter, the weather was already getting cold, and it was too late to make the long trip East to get it. They were quite worried, not knowing how they would manage. One morning they discovered the willows and cottonwood trees all covered with a white substance which looked very much like frost, but upon examination proved to be sugar. They prepared large kettles and tubs of water, then they broke branches and shook them in the water washing the sugar off. It was then put in the kettles over the fire and boiled down to make sugar. They said it was the best sugar they ever had.

Thomas moved with his family from Provo in 1861 and went to Heber City, Wasatch County, Utah where they remained until about 1867. During this time their eldest son, James Andrew Ross, and their two sons-in-law, Sidney R. Carter (husband to Margaret Ann) and Joseph F. Parker (husband to Mary Elizabeth) were made Indian scouts during the Black Hawk War (1865-1867). After President Brigham Young had made peace with the Indians, the old chief made the remark that he didn’t care if peace had been declared, “he was at least going to kill Joe Parker.” So Thomas took his families along with his married children and their families and moved to Kanosh, Millard County, Utah. Their business there was mostly dairying and livestock. In Kanosh the land was plentiful but the water was scarce. They remained in the area about four years before going over the mountain to Joseph, Sevier County.

Thomas Ross and his extended family found that Sevier County offered them the opportunity for bigger farms and better homes. At the time they arrived in Joseph there were only about twenty families living there. John A. Parker recorded in a book for Sevier County, “A number of our people came here from Kanosh, Millard County in the years 1878 and 1879. Among them was a company of relatives. This was the Thomas Ross family and his sons. They are James A. Ross, Thomas W. Ross and Robert F. Ross, and sons-in-law Sidney R. Carter and Joseph F. Parker. ”

Thomas settled Rachel in Joseph and Margaret in Cove four miles away. They remained in Sevier County for the rest of their lives. Thomas and Rachel’s home was furnished to a great extent with furniture that Thomas made. He was quite an excellent cabinet maker and made many of the chests in their home and several rocking chairs. Their large round dining table was beautiful.

Thomas always had a good sense of humor. His granddaughter recalled,

I remember one morning just before grandfather died – I had been sent over to see how he was. He had lost his speech, but not his sense of humor which he had in abundance, and would let us know that he heard and understood everything. When I asked, “How do you feel this morning?” he raised his hand and rubbed his fingers together and smiled – showing me that he knew and could still feel with his fingers. I believe that was just the morning before he died.

Thomas’ died in Joseph City on 12 October 1898 at the age of 84 and Rachel died two years later on 21 December 1900 at the age of 87.. Both are buried in Joseph City. All of their children except the baby Johnny who died at the age of two were at their bedside when they died. Their children said that neither Thomas nor Rachel seemed to be sick or suffering. They were just tired and worn out. Their long lives had been rich and full of wonderful experiences and they left a numerous posterity. They had been married 63 years. Thomas’ second wife, Margaret died 9 February 1909. She is buried in the family plot in Joseph City beside her husband Thomas Ross.

Thomas and Rachel (Smith) were the parents of eight children:

1. James Andrew, born 1836, died 20 September 1917.

2. Margaret Ann, born 3 March, 1838 and died 2 February, 1922.

3. Leah Lucinda, born 4 February, 1842, and died 2 December, 1912 – all born in Gibson County, Tennesee.

4. Mary Elizabeth, was born 4 March, 1845, on a small farm on the outskirts of Nauvoo in Hancock County, Illinois, just nine months after the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, June 27, 1844, in Carthage Jail.

5. Nancy Jane, born 11 December, 1848, Harrison County, Iowa, married Albert Eals McMullin, died 31 October1936 in South Jordan, Utah and is buried in Heber, Utah.

6. Thomas William, born 25 June, 1851, Provo, Utah County, Utah, died 3 November, 1919 in Salt Lake City.

7. Robert Francis born 18 October, 1853 in Provo, Utah County, Utah, died July 1940 in Joseph, Sevier County, Utah.

8. John Franklin born 15 May, 1856, died 13 July, 1858 in Provo, Utah County, Utah

Thomas and Margaret Marie Mecham had nine children:

1. Polly Ann Ross, born 18 October 1858 in Provo, Utah, married Culbert Levi King.

Her given name may have been “Mary Ann”, but she was called Polly Ann.

2. George Lewis Ross, born 30 April 1862 in Heber, Utah, married Mary Ann Anderson

3. Joshua Josiah Ross, born 8 October 1864 in Heber, Utah, died 11 October 1864.

4. Lydia Lucinda Ross, born 13 October 1865, died 6 November 1887 in Heber, Utah, married George Charlesworth.

5. Sarah Luticia Ross, born 3 June 1867 in Heber, Utah, died 17 July 1867.

6. Daniel Thompson Ross, born 8 November 1868 in Heber,Utah, married Elizabeth Ann King.

7. Maria Emeline Ross, born 24 April 1871, married Volney King.

8. Samantha Matilda Ross, born 13 February 1874 in Kanosh, Millard County, Utah, married Horton Edward Height.

9. Sarah Lutsia Ross born13 February 1875 (Verify)