It all started out with my mother's story. When she was eleven years old, she and her parents and siblings began to take discussions with the LDS missionaries. Although it required her family to makes some big changes, they embraced the gospel and joined the church together. Four and a half long years later, her parents were able to save up enough money to travel from Michigan to the closest temple, which was in Washington D.C. They were finally able to be sealed as a family. It was because of my mom's conversion to the gospel that allowed me to grow up in the LDS Church. And I think it was my mom's love for the example of her parents that led me to my interest in family history work.
While my area of emphasis is the British Isles, I have always had a great interest in Latter-day Saint converts and pioneers. I have always wondered which ancestors of mine brought the great blessing of the gospel into my life. While doing some research on the Tonks in Staffordshire, England, I came across records suggesting that Susannah Tonks (Timothy's daughter) joined the LDS Church in England. I later found out that Timothy and his wife had also joined the church. This information brought a world of questions to me about this family. I have since decided to spend some time discovering more about the Tonks family who brought the gospel to me. This blog is a way for me to begin sharing the information I have found.
Thats awesome! I'm a convert to the church too. My dad married my stepmom who is Mormon and he got baptized and he later baptized my brother and I. I love learning about my ancestors who made me who I am and worked so hard so I could have what I have. Can't wait to read your next post!
ReplyDeleteInteresting find. I think we might be related. Susannah Tonks had a sister, Tabitha, and she is my 3rd Great Grandmother. She was also a convert to the church. They lived in Diamond, Utah (now a ghost town). She married a Richard Gough. Gough is maternal grandmothers maiden name.
ReplyDeleteBen, that's awesome! Tabitha is definitely the sister of the same Susannah, because I have that same information. So we are related! It's pretty crazy how small this world is.
DeleteYour story made me want to look up my great-grandparents who converted to the LDS church too! Thanks, Melanie
ReplyDeleteHello
ReplyDeleteMy name is Sophie Rayton (maiden name Barrass). I joined the church 10 years ago when I was 15 in Doncaster England. I was the only member of my family to join
While researching my family history - I discovered some of my ancestors were early members of the church! My direct blood relative is Martha Pearson who was married to George Tonks. Timothy Tonks is George's brother!
I've only started looking into it properly tonight so don't have much extra information for you yet. I live in Cheltenham which is about an hour from Willenhall. I believe the ward Willenhall is in is Wolverhampton. It is my plan to contact the Bishop in Wolverhampton and ask if there is any local church history books / stories he could tell me. I also plan to go to Willenhall and search out the graves and local history there too. Isn't it wonderful that Tonks is such a unique name - I'm hoping for an easy time finding others named Tonks and the history of the Tonks'.
My email address is sophie_barrass@hotmail.com if you'd like to correspond - this is for all of you who have posted a comment too saying that we're all related. I'm on Facebook as Sophie Rayton. I'd love to hear your stories. It's so exciting for me who as a convert of 15 assumed that I was the pioneer in my family - to now discover I have a huge LDS family (although very distantly related :-) )
Thank you for all the research you've done - great blog!
Sophie