Esther Walker
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Esther was the daughter of Thomas Walker and Elizabeth Readyhough (or Redioff). At some date her Mother married a John Rook as her second husband.
Esther was 21 years old when she married James Percy who was 19. They were considered humble but honest people, good ole Yorkshire stock. About 1840 they moved from Yorkshire to Lancashire, where they soon thereafter heard the testimony of Joseph Smith and doctrines of the Restored Church. The generations of religious traditions had to be set aside, as they believed and excepted this new faith in Jesus Christ. Esther and James Percy with some of the older members of their families joined the church. Records show that Esther was baptized May 30, 1840 and that James was baptized some time in 1840. Mary Ann was 8 1/2 and oldest of the children but there is no record of her being baptized at that time. The spirit of gathering to Zion was strong. By October 1842, Esther and James and their five children (age 11 through 3 years old) were able to sail on the vessel "Emerald" for New Orleans. Parley P. Pratt was president of the company. The ship met with a disaster in the Irish channel when only a few hours out from port, and was required to return for repairs. Many of the weak-hearted took this as an omen of ill luck, apostatized and returned to their several homes. But not so with the Tomlinson family. They had received a testimony of the Gospel and had set their faces toward the New World. There was no turning back. Other minor disasters befell the ill-fated vessel, but none to prevent their reaching their destination at New Orleans, December 25, 1842. After a few days stay in New Orleans, the family embarked on a Mississippi steam boat, the "Goddess of Liberty" for Saint Louis, where they arrived in January 1843. In 1847 the Tomlinson family was living in Alton, Illinois. In the year 1849, disaster came to the family. James Percy died, and also their 14-year-old son, John died. (Records did not give exact dats so do not know if they died at the same time or how.) Esther was 40 years old and that same year [1849] gave birth to son Elijah. Esther's second daughter Elizabeth was married in 1849. Mary Ann was married in 1847 and had her first baby in 1849. The deaths and marriages left Esther with three children at home. Margaret age 12, James Henry age 11, and a new baby. The Tomlinsons and the Toltons lived close by each other in Alton. That is how Mary Ann met and married Edward Tolton. Mary Ann and Edward were living in Alton when two of their children were born. I feel Esther and Mary Ann were a help and comfort to each other. In 1853, Mary Ann's in-laws, the Toltons, formed a wagon train going to the Salt Lake Valley. Esther must have felt very sad and lonely to see her eldest daughter and grandchildren leave. Esther Walker Tomlinson remarried in February 1853 in St. Louis to William Rook. Esther died August 30, 1892 in Rosebud, Randolph, Illinois or St. Louis, Missouri. material edited from "Edward Tolton Family" written by Lula Tolton Tanner
Story written by Alice Jo C. Ellsworth: 1999 |