William Fisher Tolley

Baptized into the Mormon Church and sailed on the ship Thornton to New York, America in 1856. Later migrated to Salt Lake City with the Edward Stevenson Company

William Fisher Tolley was born in 1823 in Devonshire, England, and farmed there until he and his wife, Sarah Warren Tolley, were baptized into the Mormon church and sailed on the ship Thornton to America in 1856. Their young son Charles was sick when they arrived in New York, so they stayed in New York and William worked until their circumstances improved. This prevented them from being with members of the Willie Handcart Company, which took other passengers on the Thornton to the Salt Lake Valley. The Willie Handcart Company left the Eastern United States too late in the season and were trapped in the Wyoming mountains freezing to death with little provisions. The Tolleys later migrated to the Salt Lake Valley with the Edward Stevenson Company and settled in Nephi, Juab County, Utah. There they raised their family of 4 sons and 5 daughters. William later took a second wife, Sarah Gadd, who was much younger than he, and was a survivor of the Willie Handcart Company (they met on the Thornton years earlier). William and Sarah Gadd Tolley had 14 children and she later moved with her children to southeastern Idaho and Canada. Many of the Tolleys are buried in the Vine Bluff Cemetery in Nephi, Utah.

Death: Feb. 13, 1906 Nephi Juab County Utah, USA

Son of Roger Tolley & Susanna Fisher

Married Sarah Warren, 1 Apr 1849, South Molton, Devonshire, England

Children - Maria Tolley, Sarah Jane Tolley, Elizabeth Ann Tolley, Hyrum Warren Tolley, Samuel J. Tolley, George Warren Tolley, Susan Tolley, Charles Tolley, Emma Tolley, Charles William Tolley

Married Sarah Gadd, 11 Jan 1869, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah

Children - Lovina Eliza Tolley, Louis Roger Tolley, Eugene Tolley, Amy Ruth Tolley, Leah Evelyn Tolley, Leola Tolley, Mary Lois Tolley, Joseph Fisher Tolley, Alfred Charles Tolley, Albert Tolley, Samuel William Tolley, Isaac Bertrand Tolley, Edith Tolley, Grover Tolley

Married Sarah Bardell, 20 Oct 1870, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah

Married Elizabeth Bardell, 10 Apr 1871, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah

History - William Fisher Tolley was born in 1823 in Devonshire, England, and farmed there until he and his wife, Sarah Warren Tolley, were baptized into the Mormon church and sailed on the ship Thornton to America in 1856. Their young son Charles was sick when they arrived in New York, so they stayed in New York and William worked until their circumstances improved.

This prevented them from being with members of the Willie Handcart Company, which took other passengers on the Thornton to the Salt Lake Valley. The Willie Handcart Company left the Eastern United States too late in the season and were trapped in the Wyoming mountains freezing to death with little provisions.

The Tolleys later migrated to the Salt Lake Valley with the Edward Stevenson Company and settled in Nephi, Juab County, Utah. There they raised their family of 4 sons and 5 daughters.

William later took a second wife, Sarah Gadd, who was much younger than he, and was a survivor of the Willie Handcart Company (they met on the Thornton years earlier). William and Sarah Gadd Tolley had 14 children and she later moved with her children to southeastern Idaho and Canada. Many of the Tolleys are buried in the Vine Bluff Cemetery in Nephi, Utah. HISTORY OF WILLIAM FISHER TOLLEY · 24 March 2013 · 0 Comments By his daughter, Ruth Tolley Sorensen Some of this history I copied from a book that was published in 1904 called "Prominent Men of Utah and Idaho" Some I have gathered from other sources and some from memory. William Fisher Tolley was born on November 23, 1823, at South Moulton, Devonshire, England, He was a son of Roger and Susan Fisher Tolley who were descendants of a long line of English farmers of Devonshire. where his father maintained his home and died In 1880 at the age of 88. His mother was the daughter of William Fisher and the granddaughter of a William Fisher, who though born In England, descended from ancestors who long resided as permanent people in the sunny land of France. His mother died at the age of 72 in 1870 at the family home in South Moulton. This couple had seven children. The book says Father was early initiated into the art and mystery of agriculture as conducted on the rich Devonshire farms where he remained until he was 21 years of age. There- after for six years he was identified with railroad construction of the South Wales Railroad near Neith. Later in Cornwall, England, he worked on the railroads and also in the mines. Father married Sarah Warren in 1848. He was 24 when he married and she was 19 months younger. They had 10 children, 5 sons and 5 daughters. One son died when a small child. Sarah Warren was born in South Moulton, England, where her parents) William and Ann Hobbs Warren, resided all their lives. Her father was a tanner by trade. I don't have the exact date of this but it was probably somewhere along here when Father became interested in the Mormon Church. He was the only one of his family that ever joined the Church that we know of. Father and Auntie (as we of the second family always called her) emigrated to America in 1854 so their three oldest children were born in England. They landed in New York City and stayed there about 4 years. In New York he worked on the Williamsburg and Brooklyn Reservoir which was a most magnificent piece of iron work and masonry. Father was boss over about 200 men and their horses that were used to excavate this reservoir. There were two boys born to them in New York. One of them died the following year after birth, Both of these boys were named Charles. In 1859 they crossed the pains to Utah with a caravan of fellow Church members consisting of 72 wagons drawn by oxen under the command of Captain Edward Stevenson. Upon arriving in Utah they settled in Sanpete County where he helped to build the settlement and resided there six years. During this time he was in action against the Indians In the Black Hawk War. As a souvenir he was given a badge which was designed especially for and given only to veterans of this war. From Fountain Green they moved to Nephi where he farmed for one year. Father again became identified with railroad construction and improvement for the, next 20 years. During this time he assisted in laying the rails of nearly every railroad running through Utah, filling the position of foreman. Some of these were, The Union Pacific, Central Pacific, Utah Central, Utah South & Western, and the Utah Northern. Later he was a foreman of construction on the Montana Central and the Great Northern along the line from Helena, Montana to St. Paul, Minnesota. During this time Father maintained a farm about two miles north of Nephi. There was a large two story house with lots of shade trees around it on this farm where his family grew up. His sons were old enough by this time to do the farm work. Father also had a home In Nephi just north of what they called the Big Hollow. This place still belongs to the Tolley family. Auntie lived there until she died. The following item was taken from "The History of Juab County". About 1881 Edward Jones Sr., and William Fisher Tolley purchased all the, land owned by the Norton Brothers as well as all the land owned by others which was a large tract and was known (and still Is) as Nortonville1 Juab County, Utah. Mr. Jones' two sons, Edward and William, who married Mr. Tolley's two daughters Jane and Elizabeth, moved on the land and began farming in an efficient way and became successful farmers and cattle men. Mr. Tolley's sons, Charles and George, also lived on this tract of land. They established themselves therein permanent homes, each couple raising large families. Father was ordained a Teacher in the LDS Church by George Q. Cannon of the Twelve Apostles. He was a High Priest at the time of ??? In political faith he was a Republican. While in Nephi, Juab County, he was elected to the office of Probate Judge, water master and sheriff. In all he demonstrated wise administrative ability. The office of sheriff particularly In that formative period required not only tact but unflinching and undaunted courage. In 1869 Father married Sarah Gadd, my mother. She was just a few months past 18 years old and Father was 45, 27 years older. They tell the story that his oldest son who was 19 was courting Mother when Father stepped in and won her for himself. Sarah Gadd was the daughter of Samuel and Eliza Chapman Gadd and was born In Cambridge England. Her father, mother and their 8 children left Iowa July 15, 1856 to cross the plains with the Captain Willie Hand Cart Co. Mother was then 6 years old. This company consisted of about 120 hand carts, 6 wagons and 500 saints~ Starting so late in the season, bad weather came with snow and blizzards and the company suffered severely from hunger and the cold. 66 of them died and many more were sick. On this journey my grandfather Gadd and two small sons, one two years and one ten years old, took sick and died within a three week period. They were buried somewhere on the plains. Grandfather was 41 years old at the time of his death. He and Grandmother were the same age. Her oldest son was about 19 so he and his mother and the 5 younger children went on with their hand carts and settled in Nephi. Grandmother was set apart as a mid- wife there and assisted in the birth of at least 2,000 babies. She died in 1892 at the age of 76 years. Mother grew up in Nephi and married Father January 11, 1869 in the Endowment House, Salt Lake City. They had 14 children, 8 sons and 6 daughters, all born in Nephi except the youngest. 10 of these reached maturity and 4 died in childhood. There were 24 children altogether in both fami1ies. In 1893 Father traded his farm in Nephi to a Bro. Parkins for a farm in Idaho. Father, Mother and 9 children loaded what they could into the wagons, drove the cattle, and moved to Milo. This communality at that time was called Willow Creek, later Leorin and is now known as Milo. It is about 10 miles north of Idaho Falls which was then called Eagle Rock. This must have been quite a hardship on all of them, having to leave their friends and relatives in Nephi and moving to a strange community and into a house not nearly as nice nor as large as the one they had been used to. It was miles and miles to Church and schools and much of the land had to be cleared of sagebrush. However they made a comfortable home there and grew up with the country. I was born the year after the family moved to Idaho. Nine years after moving to Idaho my mother died, April 23, 1902, at the age of 52. Father, Mary (18), Leah (16), Gene (10), and I (8) lived there until Father passed away four years later. Father was 70 years old when I was born so he would be 75 or 76 before I could remember him but I remember he was a well built and well pre- served old gentleman. His hair was still quite black and thick with just a bit of gray and his beard and mustache were white. His eyes were dark brown and still had a twinkle in them. I think he must of had quite an influence on his daughters because all ten of his daughters had dark brown eyes and most of them had black hair although both of his wives had blue eyes and light brown hair and I don't believe there were any blue eyes among the sons. I can remember him riding over the farm on horseback; also mowing the hay, planting potatoes, plowing and other farm work. He loved animals and was always kind to them. Even all the cats and kittens I kept around didn't seem to bother him. He could sneeze louder than anyone I ever heard. He often said, "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise". He was healthy and wise but I don't think he was ever wealthy. He loved a circus and would take us the 10 miles to Idaho Falls in the white top buggy (and the roads would always be so dusty) to see Ringling Bros. or Barnam & Baily Circus. If he couldn't bake us he would find some other way for us to go, with the money for our tickets tied in. the corner of our handkerchiefs. He was very strict about some things but in other ways he was easy going. When Gene and I got into mischief we never knew how he would take It. Sometimes he would scold us and say we were more trouble than the rest of his children put together and I wouldn't doubt it. I can only remember 1 spanking, when I was about 10. He thought I had told him a lie but I hadn't. Later when he found he was wrong, he was very sorry and asked my forgiveness and that hurt more than the spanking. although he had only three months of schooling, I think he could be called well educated man. We always had newspapers, magazines and books In the house and he encouraged us children to read. He took the "Deseret news up until the time he died. It came on Tuesday and Friday and he read much of it aloud to us children. He always had the Bible and other Church books handy. He would tell Gene and I stories about his early life and sing us songs as we sat by the fire on long winter evenings. He liked to play High Five and often during the winter months some of the neighbors would come in for a game. I especially remember Mr. Jackson and Old Man Mr. Lee (as we called him). This was Orin Lee's father. Orin Lee was the nearest neighbor north us. They had the post office in their home before R.F.D. started. The post office and the school were called Leorin after Orin Lee When the first LDS Ward was organized it was named Milo and all that community is now known as Milo. In about 1954 a new highway from Idaho Falls to Palisade Dam was built and it went right through my father's farm where the house used to be. So the house and out buildings and trees were all torn down or moved. Nothing is left of the place we once called home except memories. Father's oldest daughter, Marie Nowlin, and her family lived about five miles from us at Willow Creek now. called Ucon. At Christmas time 1905, Father, Marie and her daughter, Thersa Jordan and her two children went to Nephi on the train to spend the holidays and to visit the folks there. Soon after the New Year, Father took sick and died February 13, 1906, at the age of 82. He was buried in the Nephi Cemetery. Auntie, his first wife, lived ten years longer. She died August 1916, at the age of 91. I visited her two years before she died and she was still active and healthy both in mind and body. She took care of herself and her home, keeping both clean and tidy. She always kept busy. She sewed carpet rags and had them made into rugs and carpets. Whenever she sat down to visit she would have them handy and her hands were never idle. She was loved by all who knew her. In 1925 when her family held a reunion they gave the number of her descendants. as 412. And that was over 30 years ago. We have no count of the descendants of William Fisher Tolley and his two wives but we know they left a wonderful heritage for all their numerous posterity. Although Father, William Fisher Tolley, was. the only Tolley we know of that joined the LDS Church and came to Utah, we do know one of his relatives came here from England on a visit. It was in 1912, about six years after Father died. It seemed to bad Father didn't live to see him as he would have enjoyed it so much. He was Father's sisters grandson, a young man about 25 named Edward Gleason, born and raised in London. He had dark brown eyes and black hair and was always dressed neatly. He was well educated and very citified. I often wondered what he thought of his country cousins. He was working in an office in Salt Lake City and he put an add In a Paper asking anyone that knew the Tolley family to write to him. My sister Vinie (Lavina) who was living in Idaho Falls at the time saw it and wrote to him and told him where to find the family. He visited in Nephi several time and came to Idaho to visit too. He also spent a summer in Montana with my brother Bert. During WWI, he was in France and Vinie's son Albert was also there. They wrote to each other and when they had furlough Edward took Albert to London with him to visit his family. Albert visited them several time and thought they were lovely People. We heard that Edward and one of his sisters were living In Canada after the war but could not find out just where and this was a long time ago.

HISTORY OF WILLIAM FISHER TOLLEY 1824 -- 1906 I hope you will use your imagination for a little while because I would like to take you back a good many years to a place called South Molton, Devonshire, England, where a young couple were living when they heard Mormon Missionaries preaching a very unpopular religion. I wish we knew more about this couple when they were young. We know that William Fisher Tolley was the only one of his family that we have any record of that accepted this religion and came to America. There are two Sarahs in this story so I will call each by their maiden name. William Fisher and Sarah Warren Tolley were married August 1,1848 so it would probably be around 1 850 when they first heard the Missionaries. We do not know much about the life of Sarah Warren, some of her relatives- -a brother and sister and their families came to Utah and Idaho about 1900 on a visit. I am sure they did not belong to the Mormon Church then Maybe some of you have done research on this line and will tell us about it. William F. and Sarah Warren Tolley were baptized in 1854, and soon migrated to the United States with their three children. Samuel, Maria and Emma. These two oldest children, Sam and his sister Maria Tolley Nowlin, are the ones the folks in Canada trace their family line through to William Fisher and Sarah Warren Tolley. After they arrived in New York, Father Tolley soon began working on construction of the Williamsburg and Brooklyn Reservoir. He was supervisor over 200 men and their horses that were used to excavate this reservoir (no modern machinery then, like we have now). He had worked in the mines and on the railroads in South Wales and in Cornwall, England. So, it Is easy to see why he would be interested in this kind of work. Two children were born to them while living in New York. A boy named Charles lived less than a year. Another boy was born December 7, 1857 named Charles William. He is the grandfather of our family representative John M. Tolley and of Wallace who was our reunion president, and of many others. Charles William and his wife Melvina raised a large family. After living in New York four years, either the work was finished or they had a great desire to go to Utah and be with other members of the Mormon Church. In 1858 we can suppose they went by train as far west as it went at that time, and from there to Utah with ox team and covered wagon. Can you imagine coming along with a caravan of 72 wagons drawn by oxen? How dusty and inconvenient it must have been. We probably go farther in one- half hour than they did in a whole day. In 1961 my husband and I took a Hill Cumorah Pageant Tour and visited many interesting places where the first Mormon people had lived. In New Salem Park, near Springfield, Illinois, we saw some oxen hooked up to a covered wagon. I asked the man If I could pat them. He said, "They have just been sprayed and are still damp." I told him my father drove a team of oxen and covered wagon across the plains in 1858. He said, "I bet he didn't spray them every day to keep them cool and to keep away the flies etc." I'm sure he didn't and I don't suppose they were as fat and good looking as these were. To get back to my story--Father Tolley and Sarah Warren first settled in Fountain Green, Sanpete County, Utah. After living there a few years they moved about twelve miles to Nephi, Juab County. For years they lived on a farm about two miles north of Nephi, on the main highway going to Provo, Salt Lake, etc. They had a nice two story adobe house, lots of shade trees and nice out buildings. It was probably as convenient as any farm home around there at that time. After moving to Utah, five more children were born to this couple, ten altogether including the little one they buried in New York, Five daughters and four sons grew up and raised large families of their own. Father Tolley must have been a very busy Man. Besides taking care of his farm and family, he was a probate judge, water master and a sheriff. His history says being a sheriff in that formative period required not only tact but unflinching and undaunted courage. He was also active in the church. George Q. Cannon, one of the Twelve Apostles, ordained him a teacher. Some years later he was ordained a High Priest. He was also building railroads. He was construction foreman on the railroads being built through Nevada and southern Utah. By now his children were growing up and helping with the work, his older sons going with him on the railroad when they were only 15 or 16 years old. Now comes the second part of his life. First we must remember the law of polygamy was given to our Prophet in the early days of our church. The records say only about 2% of the male members had more than one wife and they had to have the sanction of the church authorities before taking a plural wife. Of course there were some who abused this privilege. Being a daughter of a polygamist, I've been asked many questions about it. This is the way I have answered some of them: We in these latter days were given all of the other keys of an ancient church, why not polygamy? It was practiced all through the old Bible days. Our church teachings are not new, but a restoration of that which once was. And here is another idea-- Our Heavenly Father may have wanted a people he could call His own. All of the first Mormons were converts, not one had been born a Latter Day Saint. Polygamy was one way of getting a lot of children who would be Latter Day Saints without any other religious training. Also, many more women than men joined the church and that too must be considered in polygamy, because we are taught we cannot gain the highest degree of glory without being sealed in the Temple. You will find on the records in the Archives at Salt Lake City, that William Fisher Tolley was sealed to two women. As far as I can find out they were just sealed to him for eternity but not for time, meaning he could claim them as wives in the next world if not in this one. January 11, 1869, when William Fisher Tolley was 46 years old he married Sarah Gadd, a little blue-eyed, fair haired girl who had just passed her 18th birthday. They were married in the Old Endowment House In Salt Lake City. So now he has two Sarahs. Sarah Gadd was born in Orwell, Cambridgeshire, England, September, 1850. Her parents joined the church and came to the United States in 1856. They had eight children. They started across the plains from Iowa City with the Capt. Willie Handcart Company. Sarah Gadd had her sixth birthday while crossing the plains. If you think it was hard to travel with oxen, what do you think about walking and pulling, or pushing, a clumsy handmade handcart, loaded with everything one possessed. Some of the handcart companies got along fairly well but this one got a late start and was caught in snow and blizzards along through Wyoming. Sarah's father and two small brothers died within fifteen days and were buried somewhere on the plains. Her mother and the six children that were left settled in Nephi and Grandmother Gadd was set apart as a midwife by President Brigham Young. Later, two of her sons returned to England as Missionaries. Grandmother and the children would glean wheat, using the wheat for food and the straw for making brooms as well as weaving it into straw hats. Hard work was a part of Sarah Gadd's life. After I was grown, I visited my mother's brother Uncle Isaac Gadd, who was then living in Provo. I asked him, "How come my mother married a man twice her age, didn't she have any other beaus?" He said, "OH, yes, plenty of young men liked her, in fact she could have married the son if she had wanted to." The girls were taught that being a plural wife was a part of their religion and their reward in the hereafter would be much greater. (I certainly hope so. I have often wondered which needed the most sympathy, the older woman who had to put up with her husband‘s young wife or the young wife going into the home of another woman and starting a family of her own. Father Tolley's oldest son was a year older and his oldest daughter a year younger than his new wife, and they had gone to school together. I have been told the two families got along very well together. Much better than some did. It seems the two families lived together about ten years or more. Father Tolley bought a home in Nephi next to the Big Hollow and Sarah Warren and her children that were not married moved into town and she lived in this house the rest of her life. She was 92 years old when she died. This home is still In the Tolley family. It is owned by Rex Tolley, youngest son of Charles and Melvina, and grandson of William Fisher and Sarah Warren Tolley. The history of Juab County, Utah states, About 1881, Edward Jones, Sr. and William F. Tolley purchased all the land owned by the Norton brothers, as well as land owned by others, which was a large tract and was known and still is known as Nortonville." Two of Mr. Jones' sons, Ed and Will, married two of Mr. Tolley's daughters, Jane and Elizabeth. Charles and George Tolley had farms on this tract of land. Also, the oldest son, Sam, lived here until he and his wife and nine children moved to Canada about 1900. By now the first family were all grown, but there were plenty of children in the old home. Sarah Gadd Tolley gave birth to thirteen children while living in Nephi. The first child was named Samuel William (Samuel after Grandfather Gadd, William for Father Tolley). Little Willie died before his first birthday. Next was Lavina Eliza, who married Harry Downs. They lived in Mt. View, Alberta Canada for a number of years. Next there were three sons, Joseph F., Isaac B., and Louis R., then Edith, next was Alfred C. who died when three years old. Another son, Albert (Bert), then Mary Lois. The tenth and eleventh were twin girls Leah and Leola. Leola died soon after birth. Four years went by and another son was born) named Grover) who only lived a little while. Two years later in 1892) Eugene was born. He lived to be 62 years old and was the only one of the family that grew up and never got married. This brings us to the year 1892. For several years the Federal Officers had been trying to arrest every polygamist in Utah. They would put them in jail at hard work for two or three years and without any trial. They had to wear convict clothes. I have wondered why Father Tolley was not arrested. Perhaps because he was working away from home. Along about this time, Father Tolley had money trouble. This is the way it was told to me. He was foreman of construction work on a railroad going through Nevada. The bookkeeper, or whoever was supposed to bring him the money from a Salt Lake City Bank, skipped off to Old Mexico with all the payroll in cash, which would amount to quite a sum of money. They did not pay with checks in those days and only every three or four months or when the job was finished. Father Tolley had to borrow the money to pay the workers and this left him deeply in debt. All this may have had something to do with his decision to move his young family to Idaho in 1893. All the first family were married except the youngest son, Hyrum, who lived with his mother in Nephi. After he was married they remodeled the house for two families, and he and his wife and children lived there for several years, then moved to Nortonville, Charles and his family moved in and lived there until they passed away. His son still lives there. The oldest daughter Maria Tolley Nowlin, had been living in Idaho for years. Father Tolley left Nephi in June, 1893 with his wife Sarah Gadd and nine children, the oldest daughter Lavina, 22, oldest son Joe, 20, and on down to a year old baby, Eugene. They took what they could in two covered wagons with a few extra cows and horses. They settled on a 160 acre farm about ten miles northeast of Idaho Falls, which was then called Eagle Rock. At that time their Post Office was Leorin, but now all that area is Milo. The Nowlins lived about six miles from Leorin at Willow Creek (now Ucon). On this place they had moved to was a small four-roomed house and a few sheds: much different from the nice place they had left in Utah. A big swift canal ran through this farm. It was less than a half block from their back door. All they had was the few things they could bring in the wagons. They had no money to build it up and hardly enough to live on. Although Father Tolley was now over 70 years old, he again turned to the railroad for a living. He took one son and went to Montana and worked on the railroad they were building from Helena, Montana to Saint Paul Minnesota. The older boys took care of the farm work. Much of this land had to be cleared of sagebrush before crops could be planted. The girls did house work for the neighbors and life became easier for them. This was new country and seemed somewhat wild to some of them. There were several people who had moved there from different parts of Utah. The people, young and old, worked together The young folks had a good home life. Sarah Gadd Tolley was 44 years old. She was expecting her fourteenth child. When her other children were born she always had her mother with her (Her mother died two years before Sarah moved to Idaho). This time she would have to depend on a stranger. Her last child was born March 16, 1894. They named her Amy Ruth or was it Ruth Amy? She has always been called Ruth, and is Aunt Ruth to at least five generations. She is the only one of the William Fisher Tolley children alive. (1969). Father Tolley was the father of twenty-four children. Sarah Warren had ten: five sons and five daughters. Sarah Gadd had fourteen: eight sons and six daughters. Of the twenty four children, nineteen of them grew up: nine sons and ten daughters. Isn't it wonderful that one good man and two lovely women have left such a posterity. Sarah Gadd Tolley died at Milo, Idaho April 23, 1902, age 52. Sarah Warren Tolley died at Nephi, Utah August 13,1916, age 92. William Fisher Tolley died at Nephi, Utah February 13,1906, age 82. (Written by Amy Ruth Tolley Sorensen) Read at the Tolley Reunion 1967 at McCleod, Alberta, Canada by AT. (Al) Sorensen When my granddaughter Shelley was about seven years old she said, "Grandma what was your name before you married Grandpa?" I said "Tolley - You know when we go to the reunions you meet a lot of people by that name and your daddy's middle name is Tolley." "Oh, yes know - I like that name. I'm going to name my boy Tolley - I'm going to name all my boys Tolley," said little Shelley Let's be glad we are Tolleys and related to them. Poem written for William Fisher Tolley by -- Deanna Tolley Fowkes

For 1979 Reunion We gather together in Nephi this year To pay tribute to a father that we all revere. William Fisher Tolley is the name he is known by And from most recollections he was really quite a guy. Jolly old England was the place he was born In 1824 on a cold November morn, Roger and Susan were his parents of old Who did lots of faLming1 or so I am told. There were seven children in this family But only William came to the land of the free. Sarah Warren became his wife #1 And she bore him five daughters and five sons. They traveled to New York in 1854 And stayed there approximately four years more. Then on to Utah in a covered wagon train They went through many trials crossing the plains. William built up towns and fought in wars1 He worked on Railroads and his farm chores. He was also sheriff of the land A probate judge and a wise man. A second wife William soon took to be His through a belief in Polygamy. Sarah Gadd was the name of wife #2 And the Endowment House was where they said I do. They had 14 children - eight sons and six daughters So with 24 children he became quite a father. He eventually had three and then four wives And they all lived rich and full lives. William lived until he was eighty-two And he left a great legacy for me and for you. He lived a long life on this good earth And he has many descendents that have been given birth To a rich heritage that we all have received By taking his name and his dream he believed To raise his family so they all could be Together throughout all eternity. There are many names in the Tolley tree But together we are all one big family. So let‘s all get to know each other better And make William Fisher proud that he's our ancestor.

Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah - 1859 PIONEERS AND PROMINENT MEN OF UTAH-1859 TOLLEY, WILLIAM FISHER (son of Roger Tolley, born 1792, and Susan Fisher, born 1798. both of Devonshire. Eng.). He was born Nov.23. 1824, South Molton, Devonshire. Came to Utah Sept, 16, 1859. Edward Stevenson company. Married Sarah Warren Aug. 1, 1848 (daughter of William Warren and Ann Hobbs), who was born June 24, 1825, and came to Utah with husband. Their children: Samuel b. June 20, 1849, m. Sarah Jane Picton; Maria b. Oct. 1, 1851, m. Jabez Nowlin; Emma b. Nov.12, 1853, m. Joseph Bryan: Charles b. Sept. 28, 1855, d. 1856; Charles William b. Dec. 7. 1857, m. Mary Melvina Christenson; George b. Sept. 3, 1860, m. Esther F. Christenson; Sarah Jane b. Feb. 7, 1863. m. Edward Jones 1881; Elizabeth Ann b. March 27, 1865, m. William Jones 1885; Susan b. Sept. 7,1867, m. John R. Downs; Hyrum Warren b. May 10,1870, m. Bessie Whittaker. Family home Nephi, Utah. Married Sarah Gadd (daughter of Samuel and Eliza Gadd), who was born Sept. 8, 1850, Cambridge, Eng. Their children: Samuel b. Nov. 1,1869; William, died; Lovina B. b. Jan. 4.1871. m. Harry Downs; Joseph F. b. May 13,1873, m. Etta Herring; Isaac B. b. Nov.24, 1875, m. Violet Herring; Louis R. b. Oct. 13. 1877. m. Miss Crowley; Edith b. Dec. 3, 1879, m. William Cook; Alfred C. b. June 10, 1880. died; Albert b. July 4, 1882; Mary L. b. April 6,1884, m. Christopher Peterson; Leah C. b. April 2,1886; Eugene b. In 1891; Ruth Amy b. In 1894. High priest; counselor to Bishop Charles Sperry. Judge of Juab county. Farmer; railroad contractor. Died Feb.13, 1906, at Nephi.