Thomas Roberts

Excerpt from - Madsen, Truman G. The Defender of the Faith: The B.H. Roberts Story. Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, Utah. 1980, pp.47-48.

Chimney Rock was famous to plainsmen as the halfway point between Omaha and the Valley of Promise. Robert's impressions of it are out of chronology, perhaps because in his memory it was a symbol of extremity. It is conical shape, one hundred feet high, with a shaft about four hundred feet higher, "like the chimney straight up into the blue." It was glimpsed with glad hosannahs by the wearied company. But it evoked a different reaction in Harry and Polly. In England Polly had received a letter from their mother, telling of baby Thomas's death and describing Chimney Rock as the place of burial. Frail and vulnerable, he had contracted "sea fever" on Mother Robert's voyage, and that, combined with what was called "water on the brain," had slowly wasted him away. The child, peevish during almost every step of the journey, Harry learned, "did not permit anyone to touch him but his mother," She had even carried the little boy for three days before anyone knew he had died, because she could not endure the thought of burying him on the plains.

The name of the company captain, Horton D. Haight was enshrined in the mother's memory. A shallow grave had been dug; the babe was wrapped in a blanket and lowered into the grave. The dropping of the shovels full of dirt pierced Ann Roberts like a sword. She turned away and sank beside the grave in a faint. "Hold on," said the captain, "this is too much for me." He went to his wagon, emptied his bread box, and placed the infant, Thomas, in this improvised coffin, returned him to the grave, and then gathered cobblestones from the surrounding hills as a covering.

Thomas had suffered from hydrocephalitis and was an invalid (p. 6)

Thomas contracted sea fever on the voyage and wasted away until he died and was buried exactly halfway across the plains - Chimney Rock (p. 9).

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jan 29 2017, 5:46:28 UTC