Thomas J. Udy

Thomas Udy

THOMAS J. UDYS PERSONAL ACCOUNT I was born 19 October 1884 at Farmington, Davis County, Utah, to Thomas James and Rowane Moon Udy. I was the oldest of ten children, namely: Thomas, Edmund, Rowane, Henry, Horace, Mable, Abbey, Austin, Effie and Rhea. I was about 3 years old when we left Farmington and settled on a farm one mile south of Plymouth, Utah. My father got the logs to build our house from the Plymouth hills. We lived there in the summer months and would go back to Farmington in the winter. This happened for a few years and by the time I was to start school, we had pretty well settled on the farm at Plymouth. I started school in what was then called Hessville, in a little frame building located three miles south and one mile east of Plymouth. I attended school there for two years and then went to Plymouth school. I was baptized 23 August 1895 by Harry Clark in the Udy springs, a natural hot springs located south of Plymouth, and confirmed the following day, 24 August 1895 by Parley Pierson. My brother Eddie and I helped my dad on the farm, while he went out shearing sheep. We were young and quite small to be doing a lot of things, for example, when we harnessed the horses we had to stand on boxes on each side of the horse to throw the harness over the horse. During the cold winter nights, my father would pop popcorn and we would play games and sing. My father wasnt much of a singer, but oh, how he did sing. He loved sports and he kept up a jolly hour with the family many and many a night. We always walked to school, which was 1 34 miles until my dad purchased a buggy. When the snow piled up 3 or 4 feet deep we would walk on top of the snow after it was frozen. During the summer months and when we had the time, we played baseball out in the fields. We had no ball mitts and used home made bats. My church positions have been many and varied. After I was ordained a deacon, I was president of the quorum. Later in life, I became assistant superintendent of the Sunday School at Plymouth, Don R. Lamb as superintendent. On 2 February 1905, I married Charlotte Tims Archibald in her home. Her father, Thomas Archibald, married us. On 13 May 1906 we were endowed and sealed in the Logan Temple. We went to Logan in a white topped buggy and stayed the night before going to the temple at one of Charlotte’s aunts. Our first child, a little girl named Lillian, was born 20 October 1905 at Plymouth, Utah. She died 19 February 1906 in our little home at Plymouth. On 16 December 1906 our second child was born, a son named Thomas Glenn. In 1908, we moved to our home in Riverside, Box Elder County, Utah. On 6 January 1909 our third child, a son named Newell J. was born. During this time, we still traveled by team back to the dry farm in Plymouth. My brothers and I would go up, stay all week, and come home on weekends. On 24 September 1911 another child was born, a girl named Grace. On 15 April 1914, our fifth child, Ione was born. On 5 December 1915 another daughter named Nina was born. On 8 May 1918 a son, Delose was born. On May 8, 1918 a boy, Delose, was born. My father came to see Charlotte and the baby. He was so lame that he could hardly walk. On 27 May 1918 my father died, making it necessary for us to take over the farm completely. I, along with my brothers ran the farm. My boys also began to work and to drive the milk cows back and forth to the dry farm pasture on the river bottoms. My father had been the local road supervisor, and after his death I took over his job and did this for a number of years. In the fall of 1918 an epidemic of influenza hit, and it hit my family hard. We had two nurses in daytime and a man nurse at night. We all recovered after a long and trying time. In the next few years, we were blessed with three more children: LaVoy, born 27 July 1921, Dorothy, born 4 July 1923 and Vaudis, born 16 November 1925. Dorothy died on 8 June 1924 when just 11 months old. On 8 September 1918, I was ordained a Seventy by William S. Mason. On 6 December 1919 I was ordained a High Priest by Melvin J. Ballard. In 1919 I was appointed counselor in the Riverside Ward bishopric to Bishop James T. Bigler. In April of 1926, I was sustained a counselor to Bishop Ralph C. Richards, with John H. Ward as the other counselor. On 31 March 1934, I was sustained as Bishop of the Riverside Ward with Leland Capener and Ira Z. Ward as counselors. I was really kept busy, as I was Box Elder County road supervisor, along with my church positions. With the help of my good wife, I managed, because she was so good to help me keep up on my bookwork. When I was released as bishop, I again devoted all my time to the farm and my county roadwork. Then again, I was chosen to be the Bishop for the second time in 1943, with Leland Capener and Eberhardt Ward as counselors. I was released the second time on 11 February 1945. It was on 9 May 1949 that my wife Charlotte died. I was very lonely until I met and courted Viola Kennard Hales. On 14 November 1951, Viola and I were married in the Logan Temple. We spent 3 very happy years together, but on 4 October 1954, she died which left me alone again. Viola and I had many nice trips together, touring many of the western states and Mexico. I had a very sick spell in the spring of 1955, but I have recovered sufficiently enough to get around. At the present time, 1959, my daughter Grace Allen and her husband John and family are living with me and caring for me. This concludes Thomas J. Udy’s personal account of his life. Two additional accounts were written about him. One was contributed by Hazel Udy, a daughter-in-law who recorded an interview between the two of them. The other is by his younger sister, Effie Udy Welling. Read those accounts by clicking on the buttons to the right.